#this is where you are caucasian fan (i think)

[reisakumaproducer]

can we do this on tumblr

[myfandomrealitea]

I always want to wholeheartedly agree with the "create what you want, just label it" argument. I really want to. Right up until people defend unexamined bigotry. For example, I once ran into a story where Martha Jones was actually about to fail out of medical school when she met The Doctor, because she was "incapable" of learning human anatomy and medicine, and despite "bribing her teachers". I wrote in my journal that I thought the story was racist, in a public post, and people scolded me for being censorious and not letting people "have fun". (This was back when LJ was viable.) I have a pile of other experiences like that. I would never agree with the antis that Someone (aka them) should prevent people from writing whatever, but I feel like to completely agree with "create what you want, no limits, nothing matters but creating," I have to agree that a fan of color has no right to be hurt by a story that turns an intelligent Black woman into a cheat and an idiot, even in that fan's own space. What do you think?

You have every right to feel offended or hurt by a story. But your hurt and offense does not negate someone else's ability to create. Nor does it dictate that you can tell them what they can and cannot create.

How do you know the author wasn't a person of color themselves? How do you know they weren't writing the story based on their own emotions, difficulties or experiences? Is painting a person of color as 'unintelligent' a common theme in their works or was it just the plot device of this specific story? If Martha Jones was Asian or Indian or Caucasian, would you have still been offended on her behalf that an intelligent woman/intelligent woman of color was being turned into 'an idiot'?

These are questions we have to ask ourselves when trying to determine if a work was genuinely created with the intent of being harmful. Because individually not liking or being hurt by the content's of a story is not a good enough reason to advocate against it.

The 911 fandom, for example, saw a lot of it with Eddie Diaz. People were so entrenched in fandom virtue signalling that pretty much any depiction of Eddie Diaz in fanfiction was getting bitched about as 'out of character' or 'racist' including works written by actual people of color. It got to the point where for quite a while fanfiction production within the 911 fandom dropped way down because people were too annoyed with or upset by the constant accusations no matter what was being written.

And I know it probably sounds like I'm just smokescreening for racism or excusing it. but I can promise you, I've blocked and reported authors and fandom creators before for being blatantly racist in their content. But fanfiction and literature become trickier because the purpose of stories is not to be palatable or feel-good. Stories do not have to be pleasant. Fanfiction does not have to conform to the source material.

Describing someone as "incapable" is typically a turn of phrase and has nothing to do with trying to allocate unintelligence to a specific type of person. Plenty of people would be classed as "incapable" of learning medicine because its a hard fucking thing to learn. You need to dedicate more or less five-ten years of your life to studying it before you even really get anywhere with actually practising it.

If you're someone who's easily distracted or has trouble remembering things and vice versa, you're unlikely to go into a career field that especially demands these things of you.

I imagine in any case her failing out of medical school was likely the plot point that leads her to going off with The Doctor. Which is a simple narrative and not a case of "unexamined bigotry." Its just as likely that if the author had had Martha Jones simply give up her aspirations and career to follow The Doctor, someone else would've been offended by the trope of a (black) woman giving up everything for a (white) man and deemed the story sexist or racist. Possibly both.

When analysing literature you have to be critical of if something is offending you personally or if it was intended to offend people of color as a whole. If the answer is only the former, then its a situation where you just have to recognise the work is not for you and move along.

[reality-liver-n0]

Big Boy post, this time on Revy

I guess this will cover the basics of Revy as a character and the fundamentals of understanding her.

First off, her nickname is not “Two Hands.” It’s “Two Hand.” Which I barely learned myself, I think the anime uses Two Hands which is the source for the added s. But at least in the manga and by Hiroe himself she’s “Two Hand.” This name originated from a character in a novel he read, “Run” by Douglas E. Winter. (I recently bought it like a fool so I’ll try and connect the character to Revy when it arrives). But I think the English dub makes the mistake of Two Hands which caused the confusion. I guess in the sub version it’s correct.

Revy is a Chinese American. But she is ethnically full Chinese. The American is just her nationality. Hiroe confirms this in an interview where he states Revy is a minority, her physical appearance is based on Mangoloid features rather than Caucasian. He also states that she faces a lot of discrimination in life.

Which is why I think I figured out why Revy in the anime as a kid has black hair when she shoots her father. She dyed her hair burgundy to look less Chinese. Think about it. If she is facing a lot of police brutality in Chinatown, NYC, and her own father beats her she would want to remove herself as far from that demographic as possible. This is why she doesn’t know any Mandarin and chose to not directly align with Chang’s triad. Also she wore hoop earrings as a kid too, at least in the anime.

There is no way she’d want to be seen first by her race. As she said, all the cops saw was a “little chink bitch.” She absolutely loathes to be viewed by her appearance rather than skill or personality.

This may link to her exposed clothing style. Not only is it practical for movement, which is all she does in combat, but it prevents her from overheating. But the most important factor is that she shows a lot of skin; exposing her arms, legs and stomach. Therefore, her athletic build is on display. And the implication of it is clear. She is proud of her body, she will kill you, and it does not matter what she’s wearing. On a level it may be a subconscious decision of the aftermath of her rape. The number one thing the victim is blamed for is what they’re wearing, or rather the lack of clothes, which must obviously signify they wanted it. This is below the lowest bar you can go in blaming victims. Unfortunately, it’s likely that Revy in hopes of getting a reaction or letting it slip, told her dad about what happened.

And what would he say? Something about dressing like a slut or whore if I had to bet.

So, by her current attire, Revy is saying the exact opposite, she’s rebelling against that idea. Or at least mocking the idea that less clothing makes a woman weaker/vulnerable.

Also, she wears the same boots as Dutch. They don’t share the same belt but Revy’s matches the boots: both U.S. military. I find it cute that she could’ve had any other boots but chose to match him. She really does look up to him, and he’s basically her only father figure. It’s heavily implied that he came up with her nickname; Two Hand. Since Benny says that Dutch is good at creating nicknames and right when Rock joined, he made one up for him.

Now I will cover the basic ground for Revy’s personality.

Anger: Yeah, obviously this is at the top of the list. It’s the most obvious to new black lagoon fans; how many times does she yell and curse? But I would argue that this is the emotion she’s most familiar with, not what defines her character. This is a defense mechanism for when she feels threatened. Calm down two men showcases this the best. When she can’t talk down to Rock she gets pissed and tries to kill him. When he pulls the gun away, she punches him, and she sounds like a kid when she yells at him. She is scared and confused on how anger is not making him stop. After all, it’s what stopped her dad and everyone else who got on her bad side.

I will say that the anime focuses on this and makes it a larger trait of her character than the manga. But she does use humor as her last defense mechanism. Again, in calm down two men when she obviously can’t shoot away Rock or scare him with anger in the manga she says, “Screw you. You’re way more out there. Gump. Dork. Fool-in-a-suuuuit.”

This is something I’ve only recently discovered. Due to only watching the anime I missed a lot of differences that the manga makes. Revy in the latest chapters actually does expertly use humor to deescalate things. Specifically, between Le Majeur and Eda where she insists they settle their tempers through drinks instead of a gunfight.

Another one is with Roberta’s Blood Trail when they meet the addict. Revy plays along with his conspiracy theories, which gets them inside and talking to him. She does threaten him but in a tactful way of offering him much pure product if he complies.

There are other moments too where she uses it, the documents for Chang, some interactions with Fabiola, Japan, etc. So, it is a natural progression of her learning how to use her strengths and her own use of wordplay alike Rock.

And I would argue that Revy is as smart as Rock. Not academically of course but she matches his wit by her street smarts and gut feeling. A prime example in Roberta’s blood trail where she purposely knocks a bottle over to start the gunfight. They save Fabiola and she remarks that she knows Fabiola has never shot before. Just by shaking her hand and her unsteadiness getting out of the car, she knows that Fabiola got frazzled up. She actually offers a lot of advice with Fabiola and Garcia.

Also, with the Feng arc she uses a soda to cause an enemy’s gun to jam. Knowing that it will soak up in the metal and prevent it from firing. She also manipulates him by playing cat and mouse. She openly mocks him by saying his brother’s last words were for the “devil to ream him out on ass fucking street in hell.” So yeah, she just leads him straight to a firing squad then ducks as he gets shot to death. She’s very aware of how to lead a team as well.

In Roberta’s blood trail she does it with Shenhua, Sawyer and Lotton. She openly yells at Shenhua for trying to kill Roberta, since it’s a death sentence. They would’ve gotten the Americans if Hotel Moscow didn’t step in.

Also, Revy is very well connected to the criminals of Roanapur. She has a snitch on hand, a drug addict that she supposedly supplies, knows one of Hotel Moscow’s men, speaks openly to one of Abrego’s men, etc. She is aware that having a lot of connections is a good thing, so no doubt that she checks up on her contacts or knows a lot of the regulars at the Yellow Flag.

Surprisingly there are moments where she predicts how a party will move/think. A few times she does it with Hotel Moscow, the vampire twins, escape routes in the city that someone can or will take, and the deserted meetup with Chang’s clients, Shenhua and the Irish driver.

I’ll try to update this later as much as possible. It’s just hard due to the manga being digital for the later volumes so it takes longer to go through each page to find references.

[mysterybooks-world]

Hello guys

I have another one of the reincarnated storys

it's from the Hazbin Hotel series

warning: To watch the series, you must be of age 18 or above

but there is a twist.

y/n reborn as Alastor's father

I've seen many fan art & comic dubs & animatic about Alastor's father being a terrible person.

But some others make him such a good father in the aus.

I read this about Alastor's mother

But not much information about his father

Just this information: Around the late 1800s, she became involved with a Caucasian man and would go on to have a son who became known as Alastor. Shortly after Alastor's birth, her partner abandoned both her and Alastor to avoid possible persecution for being involved with a woman of Creole descent, leaving her to raise Alastor on her own.

So listen

y/n is big fan of (hazbin hotel)&(helluvaboss)

y/n 've read or Watch everything about them Such as theories & fan stories & they songs & y/n even read the comic Origin of hazbin hotel

you can say y/n they are a nerd

One day, y/n are now dead Then you became Alastor's dad

When y/n died they woke up they found themselves In another body,

At first they understand what is happening And when they looked in a mirror It was a reflection of a young man.

y/n when they touch the mirror Suddenly images of memories the owner if this body

(Important note: I couldn't find Alastor's father's name So choose a name for him. else I found on that Alastor fall name is Alastor Hartfelt)

So your name :(Oliver Hartfelt)

y/n they jaw dropped Out of shock. Then y/n took a deep breath Until they nerves calm they down And you understand the situation.

y/n: Okay, I'm in a stranger's body and his name is Oliver Hartfelt

mmm Why the name of Hartfelt sound Familiar

What kind of world am I in.

Usually When I read about This is a kind of storys I may be in a novel or game.

Is there any kind of guide or user guide

They were answered by A blue screen in front of them

and there is Info about me

y/n: Well, this is useful and I have read the writin.

and here my second time my jaw dropped From what they read

y/n:Okay, The bright side I'm in a world of hazbin hotel

OMG I do not believe this. This is like a dream come true But there is one problem

I AM THE FATHER OF AlASTOR

What a disaster

I know very well from the fandom that Alastor did not mention anything about his father

Because he was a bad person and There is also a theory that Alastor kill him

Of all the characters why me. No need to panic

As it seems Oliver have not met Alastor's mother

Then the screen changed Written on a screen say

I must get married to Alastor's mother and of If I fails to do it, then Alastor will no longer exist in the world

y/n panic again: WHAT.

Get a hold of yourself, y/n. You can do it

Although if I fails, I will destroy the future

without Alastor Things will change for the worse.

TO Make it a short

Oliver Try to win a Alastor's mother heart And there was a lot of drama

But in the end they succeeded Marry to her.

Oliver thinking about a work career to Radio host Because they knows that Alastor was a radio star host When he was alive

So you make things easier for Alastor when he grows up

This is exactly what happened

Oliver have a radio station building And Oliver became famous And learn some information about radio and he buy books about radio information or how to repair the radio for Alastor when he grows up

And when Alastor was born, He didn't realize he was crying tears of joy When he was holding Alastor in his hands And in is mind Curse The owner of the body, he knew, he would leave them in this part

But he is not him, he is someone else So he will care his family

Oliver skill set level up When he learns a new skill

Oliver hobbies

1-Playing musical instruments. 2-Hunting gun 3-Taking pictures of Alastor. (Oliver has a whole collection of books about pictures of Alastor and the stages of his life) 4-drawing 5-Making handmade things such as

Alastor is amazed at the things dad creates.

Alastor When he was young thinks his father was Kind of is a magician.

when Alastor grows up he became a Radu star like his father

And when Alastor began his career in notorious and elusive serial killer in secret After his mother died from an illness

There was a detective who caught Alastor while he was hiding the body

But suddenly Someone stabbed him behind the back in the heart

And this person is Oliver is dad

Alastor stood shocked While his father carries the investigator's body

Oliver: son Don't stand like this, quickly, let's hide the bodies

And after they returned home

The next day

Alastor asked his father How long did he knew he was the killer?

Oliver: From the beginning But I won't ask why you're doing this

Oliver: I'm not a person to judge people

Oliver: Sometimes the best people are the ones who are not perfect

Alastor hugs his father and says: thanked dad

Oliver: No problem. I think you are the most handsome killer, he added

Alastor Embarrassed: Dad no

Oliver: Dad yes

Oliver continues to tease Alastor

His father would help him kill people sometimes

Oliver told Alastor about a strange story he had with an old man

The old man tells him About hell When he was a child

Oliver lied about an old man. He wanted to tell Alastor about hell when he fell and Alastor would be prepared in hell

Of course Oliver can't tell Alastor directly

Alastor will ask him how he knows all this

So he made up a fake story about a mysterious old man who told him about how hell works when he was a child

One day

But someone tried to kill Alastor With bullets But his father protected him

And that's how Oliver died

Anyway

This is the form of a demonic Oliver.

Oliver tried to make it a coincidence to meet Lucifer And he succeeded

Lucifer like Oliver handmade things Especially the duck part

You can say Oliver became like his advisor

But after some time Lucifer started to see Oliver as father figure Not only him

Mammon Queen Bee-lzebub Asmodeus Belphegor Stolas Goetia

I've read some fan stories & fan comic that The rulers of hell are Lucifer's siblings

I imagine Asmodeus asks for love advice from Oliver And he talks about how he love Fizzarolli

You could say he became like a royal father to them

LOL

Do you guys remember (episode 5 Dad Beat Dad)

In a song

Hell's Greatest Dad Sing-Along | Hazbin Hotel

Alastor tried to annoy Lucifer by taking his daughter's attention away from him

however, Later Lucifer found the perfect revenge

Lucifer sent some pictures of him and Oliver to Alastor With a message says Your dad is my dad now

Nene Nene Nene Nene.

Alastor went crazy with anger and jealousy

Alastor Knew his dad was in hell With him Because his dad always visited him at his home

however, Oliver didn't tell Alastor With his relationships with the most powerful demons

Because he knows that his son will use him for more power

(note: y/n as Oliver is loves and adore his son Alastor. So if Alastor is sad or frustrated because of him.

Oliver will give very little power and information Until he sees him smile)

Here's the funny part of my story

In the past

Alastor with Vox talk about work

When Oliver suddenly came

Alastor: Hello, Dad how are you

Oliver: hello, son So who is your friend?

Alastor: Dad meet Vox, vox Meet my dad

Vox: Nice To meet you

They shake hands

In the middle of the conversation

Oliver said to Vox What do you think of my son

Vox: He is a good friend, even though he is Trickster

Alastor: Thanks for complimenting me

Vox rolls his eyes:

Oliver: you know Alastor

Oliver: I think you and Vox will be very wonderful couple

Alastor spat out his Coffee while Vox choke on a biscuit

Oliver smiles a devilish smile And continue by saying It's good that you found someone for you son

Alastor: DAD

Vox: Blushing with embarrassment

Oliver: so vox Let me show you some pictures of Alastor when he was a child

Alastor took the photo book and burned it

Oliver Take out another Copy photo book

Alastor did the same thing a hundred times

Alastor:How many copies do you have?

Oliver: Plenty Because I know you'll burn the pictures

Oliver show vox pictures while telling stories about pictures while Alastor hits his head on a table from embarrassment.

Yes, I know, I'm evil

[bihansthot]

hey😊👋 i see you're an enthusiastic bihan fan like me😍💙 i wanna know your favorite options about him and what you think is canon?

him being originally Asian / Caucasian or white ?

cryomancers originate from edenia so...?

his eye color? blue or brown?

him having short spikey hair (like in my fanart i tagged u) or mk1 hairstyle?

thanks a lot bc i care about ur answers 💙❄️

stay cold😵💙❄️

Enthusiastic is one way to put it! Clinically obsessed is another lol 😂

So with his ethnicity I have always assume he was Chinese, fully Chinese. To me Mama Zero has always been Chinese American because if you look at Kuai Liang’s MK2 win screen he doesn’t look biracial.

Bi-Han in MK1 doesn’t look biracial either:

And although Tony Chung is an American, (Kuai Liang’s face model) he isn’t biracial either as far as I know, I believe his parents are Taiwanese.

That and the iconic song “Chinese Ninja Warrior” always led me to believe that the Sub-Zero Bros are Chinese. They don’t start appearing to potentially be biracial until John Turk becomes the model for Kuai Liang on MK3/UMK3/Trilogy and for Bi-Han in my beloved MKM: SZ but I always assumed they used John Turk for his physique and not his appearance. In the Midway timeline their Mother is an American but like I said I believe she is Chinese American, I guess it’s open to debate though and unless Papa Tobias ever clears it up we’ll never know for sure. Please note I am not saying there is anything wrong with them being biracial, that’s not what I’m getting at in the least I’m just giving my opinion based off of their appearance and the storyline we’ve been given. If they are biracial I feel like they are like Korean Chinese or Japanese Chinese or something like that, not Caucasian Chinese. That’s just my thought though, again there is nothing wrong with them being biracial I just don’t think they are.

Cryomancers being from Edenia is a pretty new concept and we’re not introduced to that until Kuai Liang’s intro with Sindel. It makes sense though as to where their powers come from but that still doesn’t change Bi-Han being Chinese to me, he’s just half Edenian, half Chinese now but as we’ve seen throughout the games Edenians come in all flavors so Asiatic Edenians aren’t out of the realm of possibilities Mileena and Kitana have had Asian face models for a while now if I’m not mistaken. We don’t know Bi-Han’s yet but Tony Chung being Kuai Liang really solidifies their characteristics for me and I’m curious to see if they’re part Edenian in MK1.

Eye color!! Arrgh! The bane of my existence, just kidding. Bi-Han’s eye color is inconsistent at best, I have statues where they’re blue but in MK1 they look brown? My classic Sub-Zero pop funko has black eyes where both movie funkos have blue eyes. I feel like it’s something Midway/NRS can’t make up their mind about. Even Joe Taslim’s eyes change in the movie, at the beginning they’re brown but at the end they’re blue.

Personally I favor my head canon of both are the case! When Bi-Han is calm and relaxed his eyes are brown but when he’s agitated or aggressive or horny they’re blue.

Hair style, I will die on my hill he has an undercut, I don’t care that he has a man bun in MK1 he has an undercut god damn it! You hear me Boon?! An UNDERCUT. You can keep the bun and just make it a top knot kinda deal. I personally like him with short hair best because growing up both of my older brothers had stringy unappealing looking super long hair and I am about as unattracted to my brothers as you can get lol so I always associate long hair with them. I am definitely warming up to him having longer hair but to me it’s not longer than his shoulders. I’m having a moment with it ok?

Hopefully that covered everything lovely! Thanks for the ask!

[gaykarstaagforever]

Get ready for the "pronatalists," coming to a political election near you in the next several years.

They're an unofficial Silicon Valley cult that is basically just good-old-fashioned eugenicists, including the thing where they say it isn't their fault SCIENCE and MATH say rich white people are the best humans.

They unironically think Elon Musk is the paragon of human existence, and like him, a big part of their thing is romanticizing autism...or what they CALL autism, but isn't autism, it's just them being selfish assholes and declaring themselves beyond criticism because it is a "condition." Which they openly think is also the next stage of human evolution, which is why they have to quickly breed their superior genes into the race that will "save the world" from too many poor brown people existing. Because them liking money a lot is going to help save us from climate change...? It immediately gets muddled, once they've declared their practical white supremacy.

But all this, OF COURSE, isn't racist. They're just "realists" about how bad the Earth will be when uneducated brown non-billionaires who don't even own companies get to make decisions! Because it's a paradise now, since it's being run by white billionaires.

Huh.

They think of themselves as left-wing, but the progressive left hates them for obvious reasons, so they are now affiliating with the far-right. For obvious reasons.

The only things that separate them from Fundamentalist Evangelicals is that they are atheists, pro-queer, hate Trump, and are pro-choice. But the pro-choice thing is really only about them wanting the right to discard "substandard" fertilized eggs, because they use AI to tell them which embryos will be "more intelligent" than the others.

...An odd thing to claim, considering IQ is not an actual measure of anything besides how well you do one time on a test, and you CERTAINLY can't predict it by looking at genes. But the US refuses to regulate this kind of gene selection, so of course eugenicists are going to take advantage of it.

The atheism thing seems noble and progressive until you realize it is just very rich people justifying why they don't have to follow the same ethical code as everyone else.

The pro-queer thing also barely counts, because they STILL expect superior white gays / asexuals to use IVF and surrogacy to gift their awesome genes to the future. They've cut out the need for sex to do eugenics. I guess that's kind of a new innovation on the ancient stupidity.

I for one don't trust anyone who looks at Sam Altman and says "this is the Ubermensch." Including Sam himself. Who is of course a fan of all this.

And they hate Trump because everyone with a brain hates Trump, because he's an awful person, all the time, to everyone. Other rich people have always hated Trump. He brags about it. Being rich and hating Trump doesn't make you a hero.

This wouldn't be worth talking about, because these freaks have been around for years, and obviously they have been unpopular with people on both sides of the spectrum. But now, oh boy!, they've realized they are rich and have big dreams for the Earth, so they are of course getting into politics. As Republicans, of course, because any rich person who demands the right to tell the rest of us how to live ends up over there. That's most of their thing.

The family The Guardian talked to lives in my home state of Pennsylvania, because we're purple enough to let you be weird, but red enough to help you be white. I can't wait for this movement to join the coalition of angry extremists that is already the state Republican party, and start pouring money into their master plan to re-Caucasian America. Because everything must be Texas. Because Elon LOVES Texas.

Also they abuse their children. At least, this couple does.

Posting this bothers me, because talking about them is exactly what these people want. So much so that I wonder how much of this is even true, or just them being ridiculous for attention.

But the dad hitting his 2 year old in public, in front of the reporter, like he doesn't even know that's at least bad optics, is the kind of terrible that genuinely comes from a person's black little heart.

[rollingforstew]

Bill Clark (please pretend he's holding a Hurdy Gurdy instead of a Lute as Heroforge does not have a Hurdy Gurdy)

A Human Bard NPC I created when running for my siblings and their friends.

He had a midlife crisis after his kids moved out, spent all his savings on a cool outfit and a hurdy gurdy, and then his wife divorced him.

Fun Fact: was labeled “caucasian-core” after telling a PC “I like the cut of your jib”. He says white dad phrases like that a lot.

Cooking: His wife was the one who did that (he’s so sorry he spent all their money. please, Alison).

Gender and Sexuality: he doesn't “get” it but whatever makes you happy champ.

Music: dad music. Would be the biggest Beatles fan.

Reading: would love books about WWII if they existed where he is.

I haven't run D&D for my siblings in forever but they still bring Bill up all the time so I think I succeeded in making a memorable NPC :)

[alexeeeeeeeeeee]

The meaning of Goh

Even though the original script and plot of the gacha game Obey Me! are already predetermined by the developers and the choices you make to achieve the relationships or the lore revelations you're seeking to obtain, there is a loooooooooot of underestimated − or unused? − elements that we can make work of to create our own story with our own very unique MC (our main character).

[DISCLAIMER : the game has made a point of not revealing the gender (or lack thereof), ethnicity, age (although this aspect is a bit ambiguous), background or deep/real personality of the story's protagonist. This post is about my OC and my OC only, so please don't feel obligated to refer to this fictional character when playing the game.]

[SPOILERS : since this is a character analysis, of course there will be spoilers of all the seasons that are currently out. You have been warned!]

For my part, HUGO YATSURUGI is the original character I designed to be the MC of my playthrough of Obey Me! :

He is a human with non-magical habilities (like stated in the scenario and main character global description) and a male in the flesh and in the mind (he/his).

His family and friends mostly nickname him Goh, and that's because he told them to do so.

During the entire season 1 until the ellipse in lesson 19, he is 18 yo and then 19 as of December 25, 2019 − which means he's born on the Christmas day of year 2000.

He has short (at the beginning) and a bit messy brown hair, Caucasian skin, pretty average body height (1m70 / 5'7'') and shape (not very muscular or skinny, just the right body to stay healthy according to his standards), chocolate brown eyes a tiny bit stretched asianly like.

(Here is the most ressembling image I could find of how I designed him in my head → AI Art found on Google Images)

I know, physically described like that, I made him look pretty average, ''normal'', maybe even insignificant, but that's the whole purpose of this charadesign.

He has brown hair and eyes, which are the second most and most common pigmentations of their color chart categories, his body is not perfectly in shape like Beelzebub, nor is he ridiculously good looking like Asmodeus (and all the other characters, let's be honest). He has lived for less than two decades and know very little of the world he once thought he knew well before being dragged to the Devildom, and he has obviously not a single idea of how the magic looming between the three worlds and connecting them works.

In short, I made him look exactly like the weak and pathetic creature most demons and angels think human beings are and, like that, I created some sort of paradox : seven of the most powerful demons that are currently existing and who were pretty set up on their own interpretations and perceptions of the human kind are attracted and intrigued by the in flesh representative of the label ''ordinary''.

I mean, just take a look at Solomon and you'll understand what I'm saying. Solomon has everything to himself, must it be the magic, the relations, the freedom to go where he wants to or the mere power/resources. His physique screams ''I'm special! Look at how powerful and shady mysterious I look everyone'', and that's not a bad thing considering his will to remind everyone that he is the most capable and mighty sorcerer of the three worlds, but Goh isn't that kind of person and certainly don't want to be.

(Solomon's Box | Obey Me! Game Resources (fan-made) | Karasu-OS.com)

So, to summarize, Goh − physically speaking − is the definition of ordinary, of normal, of the freedom to be without the constraint of any external source (ex : being recognized as King Solomon the Wise) − at least for the time being, because the next seasons change that aspect of his character without him noticing it.

જ⁀➴

But what about the intangible parts of his existence? What about his own designation as an existing, sentient being?

I'm talking here of his name.

First name : Hugo

Last name / family name : Yatsurugi / Salvador

Nickname : Goh

Since I'm a big fan of secret meanings and symbolisms of all sorts, I think it's interesting to dig a bit deeper into the signification and origin of the names I chose when I decided to create Goh.

Let's start by his nickname, since he's most commonly called like that by the others − because he told them to call him like that, his friends didn't come up with that nickname.

If I'm honest with you, when I first started to play the game, I had just finished the recent episodes of Pokemon Journeys and I really liked the name of Goh, so I decided that it was going to be the name of my MC 😂

Of course, since it was a quick without any thoughts decision, I considered changing it, but I decided to do some research on the signfication first − because let's be honest, ''Goh'' isn't the most common or usual first name.

In fact, ''Goh'' is mostly known as a Chinese or Korean surname, but can also be found as a Japanese given name.

''Goh is a common last name found among Overseas Chinese communities around the world. In fact, “Goh” is the transliteration of several different Chinese surnames. Its meaning varies depending on how it is written in Chinese, and which dialect it is pronounced in.'' (Source : Goh Chinese Last Name Facts – My China Roots)

It's majorly popular in Singapore, United States and Malaysia, and often associated with the surname ''Wu'' because of the similarities between the two hanzi (吴 / 吳 [Wu / Goh]). Basically, it means an ''area comprising southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang and Shanghai, [and the] name of states in Southern China at different historical periods'' (Source : Goh Chinese Last Name Facts – My China Roots)

This surname is also pretty similar in minnan (Southern Min) pronunciation with gǒu (狗), which is the literal translation of ''dog'', but it's something I'll talk about in more details in an other post that'll dig deeper into the family relationships of my OC.

The Korean ''Goh'' is a romanized version of the common surname Ko (Hangul : 고; Hanja : 髙 / 高).

''According to the Samguk Sagi [a historical record of the Three Kingdom of Korea], the Goguryeo royal family claimed descent from the mythical god Gao Yang, who was the grandson of the Yellow Emperor of Chinese mythology, and thus took the surname of “Go” (高)'' (Source : Ko (Korean surname) - Wikipedia)

Its signfication is ''high'', which is not very surprising given that its supposed origin is from a mythical god, but it's still an interesting hasard to notice (*wink*).

Finally, there is the Japanese given name Gō/Go/Gou/Goh, a first name mostly masculine and one that can be written in six different ways (豪, 剛, 強, 昂, 郷 or 江). The most commonly used are 豪 (overpowering, powerful, superior) and 剛 (strong, sturdy, brave), but I tend to personally prefer this one : 昂, meaning ''rise''.

Again, you can see that there is this connection with a certain elevation, something to surpass or to reach that needs Goh to rise up and high and strong (*wink wink*).

When I did my researches for this nickname − which was originally supposed to be a first name −, I felt that those Korean and Japanese significations and meanings were pretty fitted for the character I wanted to build, so I decided to stick with it. The Chinese origin only came to use later, when I started to establish the nationality and ethnic origin of Goh.

જ⁀➴

Besides, speaking of nationality and ethnicity, you can notice in the picture I shared above that Goh doesn't look very Japanese, and his first name doesn't sound Japanese either. That's because Hugo is a metis (mixed blood). He was born American − Texan, to be more precise − of a Mexican-American mother and a Chinese-Japanese father, but he has his Japanese nationality.

Yatsurugi is obviously is father last name, inherited from his paternal grandparents, but Goh doesn't consider Yatsurugi to be his family name. For him, Salvador, his mother last name, his more a family name to him than Yatsurugi, and that's because of some beef between him and his asian family side that will be explore somewhere else.

For the time being, let's just analyze the names of Yatsurugi and Salvador.

Yatsurugi (八釼) litteraly means ''eight swords'', and just with that, I would be able to create a connection between his familial lineage and his fate, but let's elaborate a bit. 八 is the common kanji for the number eight − 8 −, but in this last name context, it can also signify ''eight times, occasions'' or ''eight in order'' as well as it can imply the action to ''divide'' or suggest the time of ''two o'clock''.

The number 8 isn't trivial as we know that, before falling from heaven, Lucifer and his brothers had a sister, Lilith, which would've brought the counter to eight demons if she had survived after the fall. When Goh appeared in their lives, he was the eight in a sequence of order to set foot in the Devildom. Without really wanting it, by forging pacts with the brothers to try and reconcile Lucifer and Belphegor, Goh was momentarily the cause of a more important dividing between the eldest and the youngest when he revealed to the former his intention. Moreover, in numerology, the miror hour of 2H02 is basically a sign of kind and comforting reminder - as if Lilith sent Goh to reassure her brothers that everything would be alright - and the raw signification of 8 is prosperity, luck and wealth.

As for 釼, it can be interpreted as ''sword'' or ''sword with blades on both sides''. The sword the name is referring to is a tsurugi (剣), ''a specific type of Japanese straight, double-edged sword used in antiquity'' (Source : Tsurugi (sword) - Wikipedia).

''Nowadays it is mainly associated with very remote historical times, as well as legends and mythology. [...] The most famous example is the legendary sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi [, which is one of three Imperial Regalia of Japan. It was originally called Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (天叢雲剣, “Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds”), but its name was later changed to the more popular Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (“Grass-Cutting Sword”). In folklore, the sword represents the virtue of valor.'' (Source : Kusanagi no Tsurugi - Wikipedia)

At first, I wasn't very convinced by the sword part of the name, even less when I realised the actual name meant ''eight swords''. Although, I thought about the utility of a sword and came to a pretty satisfying conclusion that can settle the entire meaning of this last name :

Goh enters into pacts with seven of the most powerful demons of the Devildom, seven Rulers of the Underworld, seven double-edged swords in the sense that they can hurt and protect at the same time.

But what about the eight?

Well, it can refer to the power up of Goh throughout the different seasons and the path he's choosing to follow by trying to control his immense magic strength. He's doing his best to not hurt anyone again with it, but there will always be the possibility of loosing the thin control the Ring of Light gives him.

(Also, highlights to the Japanese names translations of the legendary tsurugi : the first could be a reference to the one Lilith once represented [the heavenly one] and the second, to Goh [grass-cutting as a reference to the human world reincarnation and descendance].)

In the case of Salvador − the last name that Goh considers his real family name, but doesn't wear for some reasons −, it's inherited from his mother Mexican side, and thus arbor a spanish and latin ethymology. Salvador, meaning ''saviour'' in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese, is normally an indirect way of naming a Messiah − and a not so subtle way to refer to the unique being that is Goh.

The ''saviour'' part is not directly refering to my OC, in the sense that he is not really the one who saves, but the one who is saved − of course by his mother family side, because it wouldn't make any sense otherwise. The reason I don't see Goh as a saviour, even though he managed to help the brothers patch their familial relationships, is because he didn't really saved them, he helped them to communicate by being a bridge all along, the neutral party in the equation (Simeon just verbalized what MC always did since the beginning regarding the Belphie matter in lesson 17).

જ⁀➴

But what about is given name? Hugo doesn't sound either spanish or asian...

Actually, Hugo is of German provenance (and Latin if we go back even further in ethymology), originally written ''Hugh'' (hug if you can see through it), and means “mind/spirit” and “intellect”, as well as "soul", "thought" and "heart". Goh has a naturally unfazed personality and his curious mind never ceases to fuel an impressive memory and capacity for analysis and deduction (one of the many reasons why Satan loves him by the way).

[Source : Hugo - Baby Name Meaning, Origin and Popularity (thebump.com)]

Although, even if he is an intellect at heart, that doesn't mean that he can't be kind and attentive to others − Lucifer (and Barbatos in Nightbringer) often say that he is way to nice and gentle for his own good sometimes.

There is also an Italian version of the name, which can be written Ugo or Hugo, and that connects a bit more with the Spanish-Mexican root of Goh family.

જ⁀➴

So, yeah.

Hugo Yatsurugi is quite the extraordinary.

[something-pithy]

Notes and an Update: What's in a Name?

Chapter 16 of an echo, a stain features Astarion doing what he does best -- feeling terror, spiraling and at the very least contemplating terrible choices as a result. lol.

SPOILERS FOR ACT 2 OF BG3 BELOW

Those of you who are mostly caught up on an echo, a stain know I love me a flashback (and now the rest of y'all know, too lol). There are two in this new chapter, one of which is set in the Shadow-Cursed lands after Astarion has confessed his initial intentions toward and current feelings/desires for Tav to Tav (post-Orthon confession). As a result of that conversation, they've put a pin in the sexual aspects of their relationship, but are still together romantically. Then, the Araj Moment happens (spoiler alert: nobody bit that heifer), Thaniel is reunited with Oliver, Halsin's... admiration of Tav is becoming more apparent, and Astarion is... yes! Spiraling!

I think that flashback speaks for itself, and I'll let y'all get what you will from when / where in the story it appears.

The OTHER flashback, which is much more brief, is about this Tav's name. Now, I'm not trying to make any secret of the fact that the Tav in this story and I have a lot in common in terms of ethnic backgrounds when you remove the high fantasy fake world element from Tav's lol. FIRST I want to say, I don't give a fuck. There is no shame in my game. Nobody comes for George R.R. Martin or Robert Jordan or J.R.R. (the Rs are for REALLY RACIST) Tolkein (don't @ me -- or do, go ahead and send me an ask if you really want to know my feels on that one looool) for writing about characters whose ethnic and cultural backgrounds are Western European / British.

Second of all, maybe I'm being unnecessarily defensive because I'm an old head who came up in a time when writing a self-insert character was like THE VERY WORST POSSIBLE THING YOU COULD DO AS A WRITER, but once again I don't give a fuck.

The lived experiences of ethnic minorities, people of mixed ethnic and cultural heritage (not fucking half-elves who most of the time are just people of the Caucasian persuasion with pointy ears and shorter lifespans than regular elves), first generation children of immigrants, and all manner of permutations of non-white, non-Western "others" are in extremely short supply in all forms of media / popular narratives in the Western world (shit honestly, it ain't just the West but that's another struggle for another day). This is especially true, from what I've experienced as a lifelong nerdalerd, in speculative fiction.

So yeah, I conceived my Tav as a mixed-race (kind of, she's all high elf, but mixed sun, moon, and sea because she's a motherfucking unicorn, come at me bro looool -- no, there are other reasons too but also she's a unicorn lol), mixed-ethnic-and-cultural-heritage person whose life choices are NOT aligned with a lot of the conventions and values of the cultures in which she was raised.

Because that story and perspective is wildly underrepresented in literature, mass media, speculative fiction, and fan fiction.

So here we are. loooool

Having said all that, I got a comment from my fucking delightful beta and queen of my soul, Komo, asking about the naming conventions I reference in this chapter (or their real-world analogues).

So for the notes part of this episode of "Notes and an Update," I'm going to quote part of the comment she left on AO3 about the story and my response, which adheres to my policy of "why say it in five words if you can say it in EIGHT MILLION." Let me know what you think!

NAMING CONVENTIONS IN AEAS

(FROM THE COMMENTS SECTION OF AN ECHO, A STAIN CHAPTER 16:)

Komo wrote:

I have so many questions about naming conventions, both from the corner of the world that Tav’s family hails from and BG proper. Like, in American and Japanese culture, women take their husband’s last names when heterosexual couples get married. In the States, there are exceptions to this rule, of course, with some women hyphenating. In China, women do not change their last names, but kids are almost always named after the father’s side (the old one child policy may have affected this, but the top 100 most common surnames make up 85% of the population anyways). If Tav and Astarion do end up together, would names be a thing they’d have to navigate? Astarion is such a possessive little yandere after all.

I wrote:

OK so this Tav's ethnic and cultural background, as we know, is mixed

(I'm not even getting into her racial background I just can't with fucking elvish loool and her families on both sides are far-enough removed from immersion in elven culture where I'm like LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL SEE YOU LATER TOLKEIN).

On her father's side, she's Zakharan / DnD-analogue MENA (Middle Eastern North African, with apologies to Said for the orientalism of the term Middle Eastern).

On her mother's side, Amnian / New Amnian / DnD-analogue Latina but -- oh lordt OK without getting into the complexities of codified colonial Spanish racism and colorism, that identity is complicated. Through a combination of executive decision-making about elves and race and how they interact with culture on the material plane (aka not in the Feywild) AND really leaning into the idea of cultural analogues in Toril / the Forgotten Realms, her Latina-analogue ethnicity comprises a mix of indigenous and colonizer racial/ethnic heritage.

(I also can't with how fucking convoluted figuring this out was, is, has been, will forever be looool.)

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, for the sake of brevity (looooooooooooooooool), we'll say Tav's full name results from the combination of her parents' names using Amnian/New Amnian (Spanish) naming conventions, BUT that means her full name (which is not even as long as it could be but is LONG) incorporates both Arabic naming conventions AND Spanish naming conventions that result in impressively / annoyingly long names loool.

In modern Spain, at least, when women marry, some don't even take their husband's name. But the kids' names are composites of parents' family names.

A Spanish child takes the surnames of both their father and mother. The structure is usually [father's surname] y [mother's surname] (though in modern Spain and Spanish-speaking countries a lot of people no longer use the "y"), but the main surname would be the father's surname. So for example, someone's full last name might be Juana Garcia y Martinez or Juana Garcia Martinez, but she might just go by Juana Garcia.

ALSO, especially for children of families of some kind of note / nobility when the dad's family was not as well-known as the mother's, this would include the composite names of both parents.

So Juana's name might be Juana [Garcia de Manzanilla (dad's composite surname)] y [Martinez de Hierro (mom's composite surname)].

So Juana Garcia de Manzanilla y Martinez de Hierro. And like, when people get real into it this can go back generations. Like, I don't even remember my mom's whole-ass name. looool.

NOW, Arabic names are composites, too, but incorporate the father's first name, the grandfather's first name, then the family name -- back in the day, they'd link these things with words that indicated the relationships. So for example, if Yemina's dad is Yusuf and HIS dad is Muhammad and their family name is Rashid, Yemina's name would then be Yemina bint/bin (daughter of) Yusuf ibn (son of) Muhammad al-(of the family) Rashid.

So Yemina bin Yusuf ibn Muhammad al-Rashid.

OK SO THERE'S ANOTHER COMPLICATION (aren't you glad you asked this question loooooooooooooooooooool): with regard to Spanish naming conventions, apparently this patrilineal thing hasn't always been the case and only came to be the norm around the mid-1700s. Before that, surname transmission was often matrilineal.

(This comes into play here because the year in BG3 is like, idk, 1492-98 or something? I forget whatever who cares it's before the mid-1700s and I'm just making it vaguely and very much not perfectly analogous with the time / calendar of the Western world because I don't have the bandwidth for anything else loooooooooool).

In this Tav's case, her mom ditched her dad and the kids were young enough at the time that she was able to, as a sign of DEEP FUCKING DISRESPECT TO HIM loooool, change their names to MATRILINEAL AMNIAN-STYLE COMPOSITE SURNAMES LOOOOOOOOOOOOL

(So for a while Tav's government name was Zeneida Nqa Tavares de la Torre de López Jimenez y bin Harun ibn Ishaq al-Jazairi loooool)

I mean this was like looooooooooooooool FUCKING PROFOUNDLY SCANDALOUSLY DISRESPECTFUL FOR HER TO DO TO A ZAKHARAN MAN especially one of SOME NOTE WHO WAS SELF-MADE

That shit was mad personal and a level of petty that mere mortals can only aspire to it was so deep

But TAV'S MOM DOES NOT PLAY

(Now, could she have just cut Tav's father's name out entirely? Sure, but 1) THAT MOTHERFUCKER IS NOT GETTING OUT OF CLAIMING THESE KIDS / PAYING CHILD SUPPORT esp if he ever got married again HER KIDS ARE THE FUCKING HEIRS AND HE AIN'T GON FORGET IT and 2) (possibly more importantly) FUCK HIS COUCH, PEOPLE ARE GONNA KNOW HE FUCKED AROUND AND FOUND OUT)

Even though he's deadass like "lol wtfever I don't give a fuck, I know what their real legal names are" and also this resulted in a protracted, multinational legal battle that was never actually resolved until each kid reached the age of majority and decided what their own legal name would be.

Ahem, anyway as a consequence of all this, Tav's full-ass, whole-ass, government name is:

Zeneida (first given name)

Nqa (middle given name)

bin Harun ibn Ishaq al-Jazairi (full Arabic/"Midani" patrilineal surname)

y (conjunction [means 'and'])

Tavares de la Torre de López Jimenez (mother's full surname)

So: Zeneida Nqa bin Harun ibn Ishaq al-Jazairi y Tavares de la Torre de López Jimenez

But as we know, she just goes by Zeneida Tavares, and she wasn't lying when she said on most docs it's just "Zeneida Nqa Jazairi Tavares."

Second...

tl;dr: Tavvy for short. Ms. Tavares if you nasty.

ALSO LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

If Tav and Astarion do end up together, Astarion better adjust them expectations, bc after all the drama that's existed around her name, he gonna have a hard time getting her to change it looool

Not to mention, she has a career based in part on people knowing who she is so... loooool

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO IF THE STARS AND PLANETS EVER ALIGN FOR THEM / THEY EVER GET THEIR HEADS OUT OF ASSES

[jcogginsa]

Wildbow is a very impertfect man who clearly has a lot of sunconscious biases.

But to b frank, there's a lot of people in fan circles who think hating him is a personality. Just now a post crossed my dash claiming that Wildboe was an anti-semite. Their evidence was a document describing his characters appearence (intended to be reference material for Fanart). This document claimed that one of the characters, a villain named Lab Rat, was ethnically Jewish. Later in the reblog chain, someone posted another version of the reference document. This version simply listed the character as nonspecified caucasian, with a note saying something to the effect of "When I was collecting information for the document I mistook a fan theory for something I had written. That and the implications of a character named "___ Rat" wasn't my intent"

The response to this was "He's obviously lying" and I'll admit that's possible.

But, the thing is that there is another evidence that this post uses to prove that Wildbow is an Anti-Semite. It's actually the first bit of evidence that they included. It's a moment from Worm, Where the character in question had a small appearence before becoming a lead in the sequel, Ward.

So what is this smoking gun, this daming bit of evidence that proves the character was always intended to be jewish? Well you see, in Worm, the lead character overhears the character speaking a language they don't recognize.

That's it. A caucasian person speaking a language that isn't english.

Now, this post did not screenshot the moment from worm, nor did they cite what chapter it's in. So short of reading every chapter the character appears in, I can't look at the moment to see if there is more context that can more clearly identify the language as being intended to be Hebrew.

But the post itself didn't include any such context either, so I feel perfectly justified in thinking that the poster was an idiot for acting like that was an actually convincing argument. There's a thing called credibility, and when your agument is as shallow and stupid as that, I stop believing that you actually care about this supposed bigotry and start believing that your just a jackass trying to look cool online by joining in on a bandwagon

[browngonzo888]

Small rant about fandom

So seeing a lot of “I miss my quiet fandom” from the Spiderman 2099 fans. Like yeah I geddit, got a lot of Gen A kids with their TikTok’s and their annoying Ciara track edits an such with a version of Miguel they don’t recognize. And also arguments about race and skintone.

think that’s bad?

Mortal Kombat fandom…. FULL of racism. Sexism. Homophobia. Transphobia. Deathwishes. Netherrealm Studios retconning the characters to hell because they handed the script to a guy who’s NEVER had any experience with video games (when it comes to ick, P Daniels got nothing on Dominic Cianciolo) Redesigns not able to decide who they wanna pander to. A lot of this crap because they were trying to stay relevant to an old crowd from the 90s as well as cater to a newer crowd, but there was a severe clash because the old crowd knew a simpler arcade game while the newer fans wanted FGC level BS. MK11 was the biggest fandom nightmare. Seriously atsv is MILD, and seems to try to go in the right direction by being rich with additional culturally specific art and design. MK did something like that but then also did some weird crap with it and not everyone was happy and I still haven’t exactly pinpointed just what that was! They literally changed up a skin because it was Confederate-inspired.

A mess! I got into the shittiest arguments. Never wanna go back to that ever again as long as a live, no matter how good or ambivalent my intentions are.

So I kinda left it alone

Anyway. Before atsv I went back to Psychonauts. Played it as a teen, then part 2 came out in my 30s. Of course they did small things that catered to new players. Some of the stuff the newer fans do are not always easy to relate to or understand (like the Miguel tiktok edits), but I really don’t mind it at all. I reached out to them in my own way by liking and reblogging their work and they checked me back in kind and some I chat with on a regular basis. What I’m tryna say here is that there’s always gonna be old fans and new fans. Depending on the way creators handle their audience can heavily effect the way their fandom gets along. NRS dropped the molten hot ball by being a hostile network that occasionally even fought with their own fans. Doublefine Studios is hella-casual and their fandom turned out that way too.

In real time I’m sorta watching where Sony is going with this fandom. They seem to be diverse-conscious yet also trying to ignore Miguel’s origin comic shamefully? Idk i think it fits him anyway, no matter what he looks like. Oof and I’ve seen the whole “why he white” rhetoric in Miguel fanart over at Pinterest and gosh I don’t know if I can spare to care anymore because you couldn’t swing a controller without running into that with MK art, when clearly a LOAD of their characters were default Caucasian-looking in the 90s. It’s a reoccurring design that has plenty of room to make changes with imo, but it’s tiresome to gatekeep.

I think if people are just a bit patient with the newer fans and not start a war, things will be fine and the Spiderman 2099 fandom will go back to being peaceful. I’m a newer fan. I don’t like the weird edits. I purchased the first two issues of the 90s comic to fully understand Miguel’s origin, the very comic with the cover that atsv used in his intro. It’s nice to collect something else other than DC Lobo. I think if you feel creeped out, pressured, or even downright angry at new fans, just ignore them. Ignore me. It’s possible to curate your own experience online. Except Twitter. Fuck that place in the A, I hate it. I’d join a hateocracy against the destruction of Twitter if I could. And if you a new fan, idk just have fun and don’t be mean to the old fans because they the reason 2099 came back around despite his story getting shelved several times.

Anyway, ramble over. I wanted to get a lot of that off my mind.

[landograndprix]

Oh don't worry, what I actually am isn't very loved in the fandom either 😂

I didn’t know there were nationalities that were disliked in the fandom could you explain some more about the racism/xenophobia in the fandom if you don’t mind?

I’m sorry I’m new to the fandom and as a mixed race person I’d like to know what to watch out for because this is kind of scaring me since I’ve been bullied in the past for not being white enough in a different fandom and I don’t want that to happen again

Is there a lot of racism/xenophobia in the f1 fandom? I’m just a casual fan now but I want to get more into racing. Is it even worth is as a woman of colour or should I just leave the fandom to avoid harassment?

I'm dutch, so is max & that man is not very liked by a lot of people and a lot of said people are convinced everyone in the netherlands is as bad if not worse. I'm not very bothered by it though, it's the same with the Brits and their drivers and the tifosi with theirs.

I must say, I haven't experienced any rasicm here, at least not against me but I know that some drivers on the grid do have to experience it on the daily and I'm sure there's POC in the fandom have to endure it as well– I'm Caucasian, I usually don't have to experience it.

I think the biggest concern we should have right now is the fact that we're female. This sport is not for us blah blah blah it's for the men blah blah blah blah men talking bullshit blah blah alpha male shenanigans blah blah women belong in the kitchen blah blah blah

I've been watching f1 for a while now but really got into the fandom side last year and for me it's worth it! As long as you keep your own space safe and find the right people, you'd be more than fine! ☺ (female fans are way better than male fans in my experience, they won't judge you based on ethnicity/background/looks etc)

Also, tiktok & instagram pages are the places where the racism & xenophobia are the worst in my opinion.

Again, this is how i experience the fandom so far so it could be completely different for you or anyone else. The only problem that I have according to some is that I'm being a max fan from the netherlands 😅

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

My Thoughts On The Velma Show (And Don’t Misinterpret)

even if there are some Scooby-Doo fans that don’t like the show, but there is still a possibility that some will.

and there could be different reasons why some might not like the show, and yeah anyone would be not happy with Velma using the whole “rich white person” line, but to counter point, she ain’t the only fictional character that has used that line and if I remember correctly it was a Heroine of I think it was the Marvel Comics, that used the same line about a “rich white guy”....

oh and let’s not forget, that there is that whole thing that can be said in real life too, so in theory I think it is possible while the Velma Show does show a more mature side and could possibly show Scooby-Doo later on, like him possibly becoming a part of the gang much later on in future episodes (which is just my guess and theory that could happen.) but not sure if that will happen or not...

and yeah, I know that Velma from the new series, has some trauma that is so bad that she ends up hallucinating, and I’m not sure if that can happen to someone in real life, that a very bad trauma that has happen to them to the point where they end up hallucinating, but I guess I could look it up sometime to see if it is possible.

I think I would rather wait and see if I really like or might dislike the Velma Show, maybe if there will be future episodes, I can see how it goes.

but if I had to choose between watching Velma Show on a Marathon or Spongebob Squarepants on a Marathon....

I would pick the Velma Show, because of the experience I had some year or so ago, when a broken Marathon of Spongebob kept playing the same episodes over and over again, and calling it a “Marathon”....

it was heck for me, and I really couldn’t stand it, whoever was running the Spongebob Marathon had kind of ruin it for me, and I think it did take a while for me to even stand to watch a little Spongebob again.

 I guess I might still like that show a little, but whoever was running the Marathon wasn’t doing a good job because they kept showing the same episodes over and over, without making sure it changed to the other episodes.

the same episodes are okay every once in a while, but that Spongebob Marathon that went on before, was still broken and hardly even showed any of the other episodes.....I think it went on for month.

anyway I think I will try to wait and see if I really like or dislike the Velma Show.

I also hope that the price for Coca-Cola goes back to normal, along with the other pops.....or I am still gonna have thoughts of wanting to punch Mammon.

 for the most of the day, I had the thoughts of wanting to punching him, and I guess while not thinking about that, I was playing video games or watching stuff on youtube.

anyway I think I will sign off and sign back on in a few hours or tomorrow.

and maybe once I do sign back in, I can check out more fan art on here.

also I can’t be the only one who found a Asari in the Mass Effect game, that seems to have human hands, seems to be Caucasian.

and that Asari doesn’t just appear in Mass Effect 1, she also pops up in Mass Effect 2 apparently, if you use that camera mode in Mass Effect 1 in Mass Effect Legendary at that place where you talk with the Council, you can use it to go check that one Asari at that balcony, and you will see her hands aren’t blue.

and surprisingly she appears again in Mass Effect 2, cause in that one bar in Mass Effect 2, she seems to be talking to a Turian.

there must be a reason, like maybe there being a very big secret...?

or it could just be a glitch, I’m not sure.

anyway, once again I’m gonna try to wait to see if I really like or dislike the Velma Show and maybe do some form of research to see what some fans of Scooby-Doo.

it also seems kind of silly, that Fred is always paired up with both Daphne and Velma, while Shaggy and Scooby is always left by themselves.

I mean Fred could go with Shaggy and Scooby once in a while, or Velma could go with Shaggy and Scooby once in a while as well.

I guess I can’t help but question it, I’m not sure if I have before but I am now.

and I guess other fans have starting to question that as well, and I guess there could still be those rare moments when Velma does go with Shaggy and Scooby when they split up.

 I don’t know if I’m the only one who finds it silly and a bit odd that the whole time the classic show as on, they always had Fred go with both Velma and Daphne when they split up, well it seems that way, maybe I should look it up and see if it always happen.

anyway see ya later and stay safe everyone, I’m going to do some reading before I go to bed...     

one more thing, please do not reblog this without my permission, and I did make sure to put the tag on for this.      

[readjthompson]

Well, since my novelette Cancel Toby Chalmers! (copyright me, now) has been sitting around, completed, for nearly 16 months, I’ve decided to share it for free, until it’s later released as part of a Toby Chalmers collection.

Here’s Chapter 6.

Chapter 6

Awakening in his bed, fully dressed, yet again, Toby Chalmers groaned and vowed to cut down on his drinking. He made that vow often in the a.m., though it always evaporated hours later. Days encompassed too many hours. The tedium of modern existence demanded a tonic to fuzz his thoughts and make him grin.

His kidneys ached most mightily. He was lying on his cellphone, he realized. Retrieving it, he discovered that its battery had died. I must’ve started an ASMR playlist and passed out while watching it, he thought.

After plugging the phone into its charger, he set off for his bathroom, for the usual morning routine.

* * *

Damn, that hits the spot, Toby thought to himself, polishing off the last of his breakfast burrito—leftover steak sliced into morsels, plus eggs and mozzarella cheese, enwrapped in a flour tortilla. He’d been making himself breakfast burritos nearly every day lately. Beef, chicken, bacon, potatoes, bell peppers—their contents might’ve varied, but the satisfaction they provided remained constant. He liked to wash them down with the same customized beverage: half chocolate oat milk, half organic cow milk, stirred until perfectly blended.

He'd worked out already. Time to brush his teeth. Then, to keep himself occupied for a while, he’d return to the story he was writing.

Why bother? he wondered. After all, he hardly needed the scant income that his efforts earned him. With Toby’s austere lifestyle, the trust fund he’d drained years prior would last him until death. Moreover, the days where he’d felt a pressing need to contribute to the artform he so cherished were long gone. He didn’t even write horror anymore, just puerile, perverted bizarro fiction that he could barely stand to put his name to. That was the only writing he could sell.

Well, at least I have fans, he’d told himself until recently. Eventually, my horror stuff’ll catch on and I can craft stories that I’m proud of again. But was that even the case? In his early days as an aspiring horror author, when it seemed as if he’d jump out of his own flesh if he didn’t churn out prose and sleep came irregularly and far too meagerly, he’d been inundated with ideas—morning, noon and night. He’d jotted notes down onto every paper scrap available or texted them to himself when out on the town. He’d felt as if he was but a channel for greatness to flow through, as if he’d embraced a higher calling and would soon be banging celebrities. He'd worked on four separate narratives daily, shifting perspectives with ease, researching on the fly. Now, he could hardly stand to craft a single novella, only wrote because he couldn’t think of anything better to do.

Truthfully, he didn’t even like the scant fans that he did have. Most were middle-aged Caucasian men who seemed far too interested in fucking him. They sent him flirty direct messages, even after he assured them that he’s straight. A few had even sent cock photos and ended up being blocked. One proposed marriage. Another rolled a paperback copy of The Indelible Adventures of Sergeant Thundershorts into a tube and deepthroated it. Toby had met plenty of cool homosexuals back when he’d had more of a social life, who’d sold him great MDMA, respected his sexual boundaries, and even introduced him to pretty women, but a significant percentage of his readers now seemed quite rape-hungry.

Oh well, better get to work, he thought.

* * *

Later, resting his hands, Toby read back what he’d written: “‘Keep perfectly still,’ the man said to his wife, as he stuffed her vagina with grass ’til it overflowed. ‘Once our sexy little sheep slut is eating you out with much gusto, I’ll take her from behind, rough and fast. It’ll be our first threesome. You’ll love it, I say. No, don’t look at me like that. This is all for you, baby.’”

I can’t finish writing this, can I? Toby thought. I always assured myself that I’d never write about bestiality, yet I’m just a page or two away from doing just that. That was the line I’d never cross, I’d assumed. What’s the fuck’s wrong with me?

I’m going crazy in here, cooped up all by myself. What if writing about sheep sex turns me on? I should go out to dinner somewhere, maybe flirt with a waitress. I’ll write my phone number on the check and tip exorbitantly…see if I hear back from her. Oh, that reminds me, I left my phone charging.

Retrieving his now fully-charged celly from his bedroom, he thought, Wow, I haven’t gone on social media once today. That’s gotta be some kind of record for me.

And of course, having mentally invoked social media’s specter, Toby found himself with no choice but to activate an app. Whoa, what the hell? he thought, inundated by notifications. 2,842 replies. 584 quote reposts. Most of the time, I’m lucky to have a few notifications. What did I post again, anyway?

IPA fog had swallowed all recollection of the previous night’s writing. Vaguely, he recalled the disgust he’d felt upon seeing black-on-black police brutality on TV, and how he’d decided to address it. I must’ve achieved some real drunken eloquence, he thought, just like Ernest Hemingway. Good for me.

Then he started reading the replies.

“Kill yourself, you racist pig fucker!” wrote 2Woke2Die.

“Whitey gon’ white,” wrote YUGumpin.

“Get right with Jesus!” wrote getrightwithJESUS.

PatriotiCali wrote, “Finally, somebody understands that niggers should only be allowed out at night. You’re my hero, Toby Chalmers!”

Oh my fuckin’ God, thought Toby. No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Did I accidentally write something racist? Please tell me I didn’t.

His dinner plans now forgotten, he checked out a few quote reposts.

“Look at this bitch ass Toby Chalmers, outin’ himself as a racist,” wrote SWOLLHYPHY.

“Cancel and cancel again for good measure!” wrote QuitStaringAtMyTits.

“More trash writing from a trash writer,” wrote 66picklesandchange.

Toby could put it off no longer. Guess I’d better bite the bullet, he thought. I’ll see what’s gotten everyone so worked up and attempt to explain myself. I didn’t go full edgelord last night, did I? He found his post and thought, Holy shit, it’s a long one. With an extended sigh, he began reading:

Race memory has long ascribed a stigma to darkness. Indeed, from the dawn of humanity, nighttime has provided predators with cover to skulk, stalk, and assault, then disappear back into gloom. Hazards unknown in the day manifest to purloin, rape, and murder. Sometimes those hazards arise in one’s own psyche.

By and large, as a species, we prefer to see our surroundings, to read faces and postures to discern dark intentions. We prefer the warmth of the sun to the moon’s cold indifference. Candles, lightbulbs, flashlights, phones, computers, and TV screens keep darkness at bay. When in total tenebrosity, we strive to sleep, to regain vibrancy in our dreams.

Our distaste for the darkness has even shaped our language. White magic will heal you. Black magic will hurt. A white knight will help you. A black knight will harm. Blackouts hide drunken misdeeds from your memory. You blacklist, blackball, and blackguard those you want excluded, and blackmail those whose money you covet. If you’re believed to be truly evil, some will label you a blackheart. But what of those individuals of African descent known as blacks?

Is it so much of a stretch to assume that humanity’s collective unconscious, which has long associated blackness with wrongdoing, has prejudiced each and every human, blacks included, against people of African descent? Look at the arrest statistics. Look at the black-on-black violence statistics. Look at the slave trade that shaped the United States as we know it: Africans selling other Africans to Caucasians, to treat as beasts of burden. The reasonably intelligent transcend their innate bigotry and give blacks a chance to prove themselves great, but many people are dumber than shit.

Spade, darky, spook, shadow skin, and tar baby—just a handful of the racial epithets crafted to call attention to their skin coloring. Stereotypes about blacks abound even now, perpetrated by the media and black celebrities all too happy to portray themselves as drug dealing criminals for paychecks. Do those rappers and actors feel ashamed, knowing that their actions continue to negatively shape society’s assumptions, leading to more violence and deaths? Or are they blinded by millions of dollar signs?

It's time for humanity to finally embrace the darkness, to cherish the shadows with just as much gusto as we cherish the light. It’s time to stop focusing on black crime and see their race as it truly is, multifaceted and fascinating, just like all of the others are. I don’t want to see another black man begging policemen for mercy as they stomp the life out of him.

Limit horror to horror fiction, now and always.

Toby closed his eyes for a second, as if that could erase his past actions. What the fuck was I thinking? he thought. Suggesting that even blacks are secretly prejudiced against blacks…I mean, Drunk Me could be right, but holy fuck.

He checked on his follower count. Just under 10,000 the last time that he’d looked, it was now less than half that, and still plummeting. He was following less people now, too, indicating that hundreds of those unfollowers had blocked him for good measure.

He had gained a few dozen new followers, though, most of whom used Donald Trump as their avatars. Caucasian incels, the lot of ’em, Toby assumed, shaking his head. Should I block them or ignore them? Are they gonna purchase my books or attempt to recruit me for the Ku Klux Klan?

He checked a few more of his replies. “By ignoring the plight of the trans community, this post is advocating for violence against it,” wrote GenderOmega.

“Cisgender, straight, white men aren’t allowed to talk about race. We must take notes and nod when others tell us what to think, for the good of humanity,” wrote TheTrillestYT.

“Non-Caucasians can’t be racist. Racism belongs only to the devil race, our oppressors,” wrote HorrorHunkSteve.

Should I post a phony apology, see if that appeases these assholes? Toby wondered. Can I blame it all on the beer, maybe donate to a black charity, and be forgiven? Oh, what am I thinking? Most of these morbidly obese shut-ins have never sipped alcohol in their lives. They’re still cuddling up to their mothers, attempting to suck milk from their withered tits. If I so much as imply contrition, they’ll attack me all the harder.

Toby had seen it happen before. Two months prior, horror hack Oswald Mortenson had joked that a world without straight, cisgender, white, male authors was worse than a world without books and begged for forgiveness when the vox populi turned against him. He’d never been heard from again. Even his children disappeared from social media. Then, when Beauregard Liddell, owner of Burning Ladle Books, posted, “I’m sorry, but whites are the best horror writers,” then attempted to pass it off as a week-early April Fools’ Day prank, the publisher’s every author demanded that he cancel their contracts, and he’d retired in shame.

Damn, Toby thought, these whinging crybabies are probably leaving my books phony reviews now, to drive down their average Amazon and Goodreads ratings. He visited his Amazon Author Page and his mouth fell open in shock. There was only one title left: his self-published short fiction collection, Mementoes of Madness.

Fleshless Fingers, his every bizarro title, and every magazine issue and anthology that he’d contributed fiction to were gone. Revisiting social media, he found that all of their publishers had blocked him. Logging out of his account, so as to view theirs, he found that each had posted a press release decrying Toby’s racism, and vowing that he’d never work in the small press scene again. Those posts had gotten more likes and reposts than all of those publishers’ previous posts added together had.

On Goodreads, he found all of his best reviews and ratings absent, and his friends and followers lists drastically depleted. Is this how it all ends? he wondered. All these years of polishing my prose and working to gain a fanbase erased because I posted a single controversial theory? That doesn’t seem fair in the slightest.

He thought about it for a while. While his initial instinct was to crawl into a bottle of hard liquor, then score maximal quantities of whatever hard drugs he could get his hands on, that was quickly eclipsed by a blazing, crimson rage. No fuckin’ way, he thought. These weeping vaginas aren’t gonna make me a junkie. They’re not erasing my prose as if it never existed. I’ll self-publish all of my out-of-print stuff, then start writing horror again. I’ll search out freethinking readers and be more popular than ever.

If only it were that easy.

[newnoirstories]

Neo-Noir Sequel

(I encourage fan fiction based on these characters, to give fresh perspectives on them.)

"Losing the Dragon"

Chapter I

London, 1967, Sally Orton, known to most just as "Wailing Sally" for her frequent weeping, had died of an overdose. Her unnatural posture in the grimy alley was too much for one of the policemen on the scene.

"We know who sold her the horse, Reggie," said the policeman with stronger nerves, "It's that b*stard Smack Boy. Any excuse to take him in."

However, before the bobbies could bring in Smack Boy, an addict of the substance that was his entire identity, as well as a dealer, someone else, someone outside the law, got at him first.

Smack Boy, sensing that the police would be looking for him, cut through an alley in the seediest part of London, only to see a woman on the other side of fifty, a bit haggard, toying with a switchblade and strutting like the roughest of men in these parts.

"Where do you think you're going, Smack Boy?" asked the woman.

"What's it to you?"

"Let's get this straight, Smack Boy. I've got a better supply. You're not buying from 'enry no more, but from me. You'll be taken care of so long as you understand this."

"You say it's better?" inquired a twitching, sniffling Smack Boy.

"Much stronger stuff. Follow me, but remember, I'll shiv you soon as look at you, so mind your manners."

Smack Boy followed the brazen new queen of the neighborhood into a dark area behind an abandoned store. Paraphernalia, one could say, and the woman reached for a needle.

"Let me give you a free sample," said the woman, her eyes suddenly glowing in a fury, as she lunged at his arm.

Poisoned, Lee "Smack Boy" Carter's death was almost instantaneous. Looming, seething over him, the woman removed bits of a mask, slowly erasing the haggard Caucasian face, revealing a beautiful woman, Chinese by heritage, as we shall see, closer to forty but looking thirty, if even that, still glowering at the remains of Smack Boy.

Chapter II

About a fortnight later, a similar incident occurred in the same part of town. The Low Crow pub was much like any other gutter pub, except for its barman, a haggard, wretched, dejected philosopher, at least in his own mind.

"Gloomy" Gorman Knowles, rather than saying a greeting or trying to sell you a drink, would greet every customer with a saying such as "Science proves we are decaying already, but the heart of every poet knew it already."

Many came to the pub just to laugh at Knowles, or to prove to a friend that the stories about him were not an exaggeration. On this day, however, the focus of the deadly assassin who took Smack Boy was not on Gloomy, but rather on the bouncer, William "Billy Bouncer" Smith Jr.

Billy's great weakness was not drink, as so many of the patrons, but women, and evidently, the fair lady knew it, for, locking eyes with Billy from the first instant, she arrived as herself, catching more eyes than just Billy's. Her outfit was a gaudy mismatch of colors, as if an awkward attempt to be up to date and fashionable.

Within a minute or two, Billy was boasting that he was the toughest bouncer in London, "harder than Lenny" (likely a reference to Lenny McLean), and telling the mysterious woman, batting her eyes at him, that he was "the most man even a woman like you ever 'ad".

Using much the same wording as before, the beautiful woman said, "Well, give me a free sample in the alley. Work can wait…"

The bobbies, this time with Inspector Daniel Graves on the scene, a rather more formidable intellect than most police in the area, found Billy dead, a knife evidently thrown at him, based on the forensics, the deduction of Graves.

"Also," said Graves wrily, "I believe the assailant was kneeling when she- perhaps he, but more likely she- threw the knife, from the angle of the injury."

Chapter III

So it continued, three weeks on from Billy's death, with another target of the mysterious assassin in London's lowest areas, and this time, the target was a fence of any and every sort of illicit or stolen good, Judy "Nixer" Nixon.

The Chinese woman, this time dressed more normally, posed as someone trying to get rid of stolen goods, and negotiations began over a price. When the assassin demanded rather more than Nixer thought the items were worth, however, the conversation became heated, and Nixer grabbed the other lady by the blouse.

The assassin, however, had intentionally provoked just such a moment, and did the least expected thing, kissing Nixer on the lips.

"Have you gone mad? You're a…"

Judy Nixon fell over, dead from poison, to which her killer had taken a partial antidote.

Once again, Inspector Graves was on the scene, though a driving rain was washing away any evidence that might have been found.

"Unless there is a man wearing lipstick, this killer is a woman, the same as the first two murders. She must also be an expert on poisons. A literal kiss of death, gentlemen," said Graves.

"What motive is there? I don't see any robbery," inquired a Sergeant.

"The first two victims were both associated in some way with the Red Goats, the men responsible for the Mollyside Bridge explosion, about three years back. I was at the scene of that. If we find that this woman had the same connections, we have a motive."

"Family of a victim?"

"Most likely, but that means 32 families."

On inquiring, Inspector Graves found that indeed, Judy "Nixer" Nixon had, for a price, helped transport explosives for the Red Goats.

Chapter IV

About a month after this, during a particularly rainy November, the killer from London appeared at none other than Oxford University, seeking employment lecturing in language, as she, Pak Wai-Lam, spoke English, Cantonese, Greek and Latin.

After a few lectures as a guest, Pak was placed on staff, and as part of her research, often went to a library on campus, where she developed a close bond with the normally taciturn librarian, Wilhelm "William" Euler, one that quickly blossomed into romance. Euler was not conventionally handsome, but he had another trait Pak loved far more in men: Genius, so much so, however, that he deduced her secret.

On a bit of leave, Euler invited Pak to his home. She began to undress, but Wilhelm stopped her, explaining that was not the purpose of their visit.

"I needed to tell you two things I could not on campus: First, I know your secret. I know about those three killings in London. Second, I sympathize with you entirely."

Pak looked at him with a concern far deeper than apprehension of capture, to which she had resigned herself as a possiblity, but a fear of losing the first man for whom she had allowed herself any true feelings in years. Her eyes welled up with tears.

"No, Pak. Don't cry. I'm on your side. I know why you came to Oxford. The Political Science Professor, he is a member of the Red Goat lodge, and not only that, I know one or two other things about him that make me hate him with a passion of which I did not think myself capable."

Pak looked Euler hard in the eyes, but saw truth there, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Chapter V

A visibly haunted Wilhelm Euler explained the situation.

"It was seven years ago that I learned what Charles Whale was. Everyone heard rumors about the Red Goat, that Whale was a member. This was before Mollyside, so that did not bother me. Then Whale carried on with a student of his, Bobby Chaucer, and the Bursar made Robert's education here free to keep him quiet. Even then, Pak, I still went out drinking with Whale. That was in 1960, but as he drank, he began to tell me things, not only boasting about Chaucer. Everyone knew that. He told me he was a Red Goat. Everyone knew that as well, but after enough pints he told me… he told me about what he did on a playground, and he laughed, he laughed, Pak. I was sick for weeks. I went to Dean Clarke, but the Dean said many men make up stories when they are drinking. True enough, Pak, but I saw what he was, and I will not forget the ring of that laughter. Something of the sort happened to me as a lad. I made up my mind that Charles Whale would die, and I would have something to do with it. Patiently, I have waited seven years for an opportunity, and now you're here."

"So… are we simply partners in what the law calls crime, or more than that?"

"Believe me, Pak, I love you. I never said that to anyone before, as I never felt it until now. But we cannot have peace together until we carry on with this. Since that day with Whale, I have kept an eye not only on him, but on the Red Goat. When everyone with a brain knew they were behind Mollyside, I recall your name as the widow of one of those… one of the ones that day."

"Colin McShane, my late husband, killed by those demons. He was the only man I loved until I met you, Wilhelm."

"I know," said Euler, wiping away a tear on Pak's cheek, "And that's why we have to finish this matter, no matter what the law thinks."

Chapter VI

Back on campus, neither Pak nor Euler showed any signs of the emotions of their painful conversation, both returning to being intellectual machines.

Pak made the acquaintance of a Comparative Religion Professor, Charlotte Norris, a prim, elderly lady. Pak soon discovered that Norris would give a chapter and verse from the Bible- not a quote, but only the book and the numbers- and said nothing else to fellow faculty.

"She is actually quite eloquent in her lectures," explained Euler, "I have myself attended them, but the rest of the time, she gives only chapter and verse."

Later that day, without saying a word, Pak went up to Euler's desk and pointed, in a book, to the name of a poison. Little by little, without anyone suspecting, by pointing at words and passages in various books, some on utterly random subjects, they constructed a plan to rid Oxford of Professor Charles Whale.

A startling interruption in their plans, however, came in the person of Inspector Daniel Graves, visiting that very college, and that very library, though technically off-duty. A friend of his, also off-duty, Special Constable Harry Higgs, accompanied him.

Higgs, however, blushed hotly at the mere sight of Pak, and Graves looked at Higgs, saying cryptically, "Oh, she was the one, was she?"

Pak knew that Higgs was a policeman, and explained this to Euler, as Graves appeared to be a mere bibliophile.

"Why did he react that way?" asked Euler.

"Two years ago, I was driving too fast. I made the Special Constable feel a little more special, and I paid no fine. I told myself it was to save the money, but really, it was for me. I was lonely. I would have done anyone in pants, honestly."

"A familiar feeling to me, except for the pants part… kind of amusing about the Constable, there. I never saw a man turn quite that shade of red."

Little concerned with Higgs, the duo were visibly shaken, however, when Inspector Daniel Graves introduced himself, by that title.

Chapter VII

One look at Graves and the conspiring duo knew that he was more formidable and clever than Higgs. He took them to a secluded parkland. Obviously, not being on duty, he could not be arresting them, but the Inspector's stern face still made even the strongest nerves tremble.

"Sorry to give you a fright. I cannot say this in front of the less than brilliant Higgs- don't misunderstand, he is a friend, but, well, you know, madam, that his judgment is not always the best, but I digress. When Mollyside Bridge was destroyed, I was the first Inspector on the scene. I will not describe what I saw, especially not in front of Miss Pak, but it made me sympathize entirely with the murderer in those London cases. However, regarding Charles Whale, I think that I know a better way to ruin the Red Goat lodge once and for all."

"What would that be?" inquired Euler.

"On what does the Red Goat depend? Some measure of secrecy. Since Mollyside, I have compiled a list of names. I know everyone affiliated with the Red Goat lodge, I am sure of it. As a prominent man at the British Broadcasting Corporation is actually on that list, they will not touch it, but a sensational tabloid man, both the best and the worst in England, he will be very eager to sell his papers that way. This is his business card."

"Handy Andy the Dandy, Sensation for the British Nation", it read, along with a telephone number and address.

"Andrew Powers is his full name," explained Graves, "He will seem a buffoon at first, but he is extremely clever, albeit unscrupulous, but also unaffiliated with the Red Goat, as he would think them superstitious for their occult practices."

"How do we know this isn't all a trap for us?" Pak was bold enough to ask.

"As one cannot prove a negation, madam, technically you do not, but if you look at press clippings, you will find that I was at Mollyside. If you decide not to pursue the tabloid option, and to take more drastic measures against Graves, I have been transferred to Oxford by my own request, and shall, of course, have to make an official investigation, but I will do my best not to implicate either of you."

Pak, who felt certain of her ability to read the soul through the eyes, turned to Euler saying, "He is telling the truth."

Chapter VIII

Pak and Euler decided to take the Inspector's advice, and ruin the Red Goat by means of the press, but their plans again shifted when Euler heard word that Whale had been with another of his male students, who was threatening to expose him.

"Between this and Whale's increased drinking of late, I fear for the young man's life," explained Euler.

Later that day, Professor Norris approached Pak, saying only, "Genesis 4:8", then leaving as quietly as she approached. Pak looked up the passage in one of the college libraries, and it described Cain slaying Abel, said to be the first act of murder.

Even amidst the horrors of their lives, Pak had not lost a certain impish sense of humor, however. Euler questioned her utter confidence that she could sneak up on Whale without the latter noticing, and in response, Euler found his trousers around his ankles.

"You did not hear me sneak, neither will he."

While reading a book on criminology, Pak was herself approached quietly, the same day, by a student, Cassandra Nolan, nicknamed "Lonely" by the other students.

"I study criminology too…" said Nolan, in a crackling voice, stammering a bit as she told Pak her name.

"Hello, Cassandra, can I help you with something?"

"M-maybe… you're very beautiful, so beautiful…"

"Thank you, Cassandra. You're pretty too."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes. I love your hair."

Stammering nervously, Cassandra finally got up the courage to ask, "Do you, d-do you like girls?"

"Technically, I kissed one," said Pak, with an ironical face, remembering Nixer, "But no, not in that way."

"Oh, okay. I'm used to that…"

Pak took Cassandra by the hand, encouraging her to smile.

"I wish I could love you that way, Cassandra, but you know how it is. Is there anything else I can do?"

"You could let me paint you. I paint women. I want to be a great painter."

"Okay, I promise you can paint me. Good day, Cassandra, and show people that pretty smile."

Chapter IX

Charles Whale, drinking heavily, had a knife in his right hand. He may have planned to use it to silence a student of his, but that would never be known with certainty, as like a cat, Pak Wai-Lam approached, and twisting Graves's own hand, made the wound, a mortal one, appear self-inflicted.

Inspector Graves, by now advanced in years and status, had indeed arranged his own transfer to Oxford, and so was assigned the case. Performing a perfunctory investigation, he kept his word to Pak and Euler by commenting only, "Probably self-inflicted", to the Sergeants and Constables.

Pak and Euler also, however, took up the Inspector's offer to send the list of names to "Handy Andy the Dandy".

"One thing baffles me, Inspector," said Euler, "Why did you not give the names to Andy yourself?"

"Because if a Yard Inspector released such information, which would be deemed irresponsible rumor by official sources anyhow, to the press, his career would be finished, a price I would gladly have paid to ruin the Red Goat, yet I wished to remain on the force to arrest them also."

With their names released, the Red Goat's leadership dissolved, membership having already declined for fear of their mysterious hunter.

Pak Wai-Lam and Wilhelm Euler were married in April, 1968, and true to Pak's word, at their wedding was Cassandra Nolan, painting both bride and groom.

The end.

[filmrelicsworld]

Jab We Met - Jab as “cub” not “cab”

The second movie that Imtiaz Ali directed, Jab We Met (When We Met; Jab is pronounced like "cub" rather than "cab"), starred Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor. I was anticipating more of the same from this movie as I really like the director's debut feature, Socha Na Tha.

I was a huge fan of Jab We Met. It was a pleasure to see a classy, uncomplicated, romantic Hindi film that is both charming and captivating after a long time. Jab We Met is a return to the very essence of feeling, which is what has made Hindi films so popular throughout most of the world outside of Western Caucasian society. Hindi movies make up for their lack of technical mastery and occasionally logical storytelling with their uncanny ability to captivate the audience via their characters and themselves.

Hindi movies emote and think far more than they do, and they emote with the audience. This explains why an excellent Hindi film may run for more than three hours without becoming tedious for the viewer. There's only so much action, storyline, and events you can do to keep your mind occupied until you need a break, and here is where Hollywood has a disadvantage.

While it's true that this predilection for the visceral over the emotional may not resonate with fans in the West, I believe Hindi cinema should truly play to its strengths since the rest of the world has a far wider audience. Jab We Met celebrates and embodies all of these innate qualities.

The storyline is straightforward. On a train, a wild talkative girl and a guy grieving for a lost love meet. What follows is a blend of character drama, road movie, romance, and comedy of errors. What makes this narrative really memorable are the characters. The protagonists, who are male and female, are unique and endearing in different ways.

They don't rely on stale stereotypes of male and female behaviour; instead, they are mature and direct in their conversation with one another. Their demeanour is innocent but not naive. They are enlightened individuals. I'd like to meet the folks in the characters. I aspire to be the individuals that the characters are. In some respects, the personalities reflect who I am already. From the first few minutes, they totally captivate you, drawing you into their story.

I am well aware that I have a huge soft spot for Kareena Kapoor's acting when she does a fantastic job, but the film's writing is ultimately what I find most compelling. In the end, I've discovered that I am a sucker for flawlessly written female characters—at least, that's my perception of perfection, as everyone has different preferences in that area.

What does the "ideal female character" mean to me? Someone who, although being a "girl," is actually a fully realised character with a personality, intelligence, and human-like behaviour. Oh, what's the point? This list is meaningless and could go on forever. I think the best way to convey this is to list some of the films that I believe have these ideal characters: Sunday in New York, The Matador, Bunty Aur Babli, Asoka, Socha Na Tha (Imtiaz Ali's earlier film), and many more.

I apologise to all the females reading this if all this perfection sounds like unreasonable expectations, but that's just the way things are. When I'm expected to be a subtly blended version of Tom Hanks from Sleepless in Seattle, Arnold Schwarzenegger from Predator, and Sean Connery from Dr. You don't think so? For birds, realism is optional. What would define us as humans if none of us sought or strived for some understanding of the concept? Hindi movies serve as a constant reminder of that, and occasionally something like Jab We Met happens and makes me appreciate that I am a member of this species once more.