#(although you could probably make a convincing argument for switching 1 and 3)

[blockgamepirate]

Technoblade’s purpose in the political narrative of the Dream SMP

I can’t sleep so I decided to finally write the post I’ve been struggling with for literal months, except way more casual because I can’t be bothered anymore and also I’m sleep deprived.

So the thing is: to me the DSMP storyline has always been primarily political, probably because I was introduced to it through Wilbur who was definitely going for political, and also because I’m just generally interested in political narratives right now. Obviously I appreciate the character work and the personal relationship stuff, that’s what makes it more interesting than just dry allegory, but when it comes down to it, this story is about politics to me. So that’s the angle I’m going to approach it from.

Also not to spoil the conclusions here, but I’m an anarchist, that’s my lens.

(Obviously all of this is about rp from here on out unless otherwise specified)

Basically the situation as Techno joins the server is this: L'Manburg exists as an autonomous nation and is de facto independent although not officially recognised by the Dream SMP. The self-appointed president Wilbur Soot decides to hold an election and rig it in order to consolidate his power over the nation he founded and he gets his VP Tommyinnit to join in on the plan. Their scheme fails and they end up voted out instead. The new president, Schlatt, immediately establishes himself as an authoritarian figure and exiles Wilbur and Tommy.

A couple of points on what the election arc demonstrates:

1: the appearance of democracy can be used for distinctly undemocratic purposes.

2: even if the elections aren’t rigged, the electoral system could be massively flawed and end up favouring a party that in fact didn’t have the popular vote

3: even if the winning government (the coalition in this case) has the majority vote, that doesn’t guarantee that they’ll actually act according to the popular will.

4: the supporters of the losing parties basically just have to let the majority overrule their wishes, espcially since apparently L’Manburg doesn’t have an established role for an opposition, yikes. That’s actually a MAJOR oversight in the system but I’m not gonna go into that too much.

5: frankly as an anarchist I am just deeply cynical towards representative democracy, and just because you have a token appearance of choice and consent doesn’t mean that it isn’t a hierarchical and authoritarian system. And to be fair, from my point of view this applies even to so-called liberal democracies and progressive parties. Full disclosure: even if L'Manburg was the ideal example of a representative democracy (which it very much isn’t) I would still be opposed to it because I fundamentally do not believe in top down systems, even electoral ones.

6: despite all these flaws, all the characters seem to implicitly accept the electoral system as legitimate. There’s criticism against the actions of individual characters acting within the system, such as Quackity calling out Wilbur for trying to rig the election, but nobody is questioning the system itself.

So at this point I’m sitting there, watching all this go down, and thinking “man, this would be so much more bearable if there was an anarchist point of view being represented in the story.”

And hey, look who IMMEDIATELY SHOWS UP.

Okay, I’m not gonna lie, early installation Technoblade is not the best representation of anarchism. I was mostly rooting for him out of sheer contrarianism initially. I didn’t really even care if it would be another Killmonger/Magneto/Zaheer situation because I’m used to reading against the authorial intent when it comes to these things. Sometimes any representation is better than no representation, even with political ideologies. That’s not to say that him just straight up spouting this hobbesian notion of a “dog-eat-dog world” didn’t grate on me, obviously it did.

That kind of worldview of humanity needing authority in order to prevent chaos and conflict is literally antithetical to anarchism and is the favourite talking point of authoritarians, the least anarchist people there are. It’s literally what people use to argue AGAINST anarchism. I think it’s mostly because cc!Techno obviously wasn’t particularly educated on anarchist thought and was just basically having fun roleplaying with his friends at this point. Which is frustrating but fair enough I guess.

Cynical ideas about human nature are pretty deeply rooted in the mainstream, unfortunately, most people just consider it common sense. And like I said, it’s a huge talking point in the propaganda against anarchism.

(… even though in fact these arguments were originally used against proponents of representative democracy. Hobbes himself was very much a monarchist, the idea of letting normal people vote for their representatives would have been terrifying to him. Like surely the world would descent into a free-for-all war, all against all. Imagine letting commoners have OPINIONS, the horror.)

So yeah, that stuff was pretty ehhhhh. It was basically what I’d expected though: cc!Techno isn’t an anarchist and we just don’t get accurate representation from non-anarchists, ever. What I dared to hope was that Techno’s character would at least stay consistent about his opposition to ALL governments. I was pretty sure that he would, even though it seemed like the majority of the fandom at the time was convinced that he would switch over to Schlatt’s side or something. It would have been a really shitty twist, I would have ragequit immediately. I mean what would have been the entire point of his character then? He might as well have been a random mercenary. Why even have his character be an anarchist if you were just going to make him work for a government?

(ftr this is kinda my biggest problem with the Hypixel Skyblock revolution event lol, honestly I think that was a worse depiction of anarchism than early DSMP Technoblade. I mean the speech was good, but… still became a government official, tho. booooooooo, cringe)

And yes, I was rooting against L'Manburg, obviously, and I would have even if it had meant having to deal with another badly written anarchist villain character. I never understood why people saw L'Manburg as the good guys, they were nationalist and exclusionary and their whole existence was based on trying to scam people for money.

I mean they were definitely funny, they were great entertainers. I have no problems with people rooting for them because they’re fun to watch; I did that for a bit too. But people were starting to get really into the story and talk about Wilbur and Tommy, the corrupt politicians, and the country that literally excluded people based on nationality as the heroes, unironically, which was wild to me. And when Wilbur started his “villain arc” well: people called it a villain arc, as if he hadn’t been pretty much a bad guy from the beginning, constantly just out for money and power and taking advantage of the people around him and then pretending to be the victim when challenged. I mean yes he got worse, but I wouldn’t call it a villain arc, more like just a mental breakdown arc.

More importantly, to me L'Manburg represented so many things I hate about the status quo in real life, and seeing the fandom mostly unquestioningly accept it as good just pissed me off. Still pisses me off tbh. I mean, to be diplomatic I could say that I understand the emotional attachment and the way L'Manburg was built up mirrors a lot of how real nations are built and how they create a sense of patriotism out of symbols and a sense of honour and loyalty, and it’s actually really fascinating how it even works in a Minecraft roleplay. Says something about the human mind I guess. Doesn’t mean I have to like it though.

Anyway, I just wanted to see literally any kind of opposition to power, even if it had to come from a character that was unquestionably a villain, which I fully assumed Techno would be. Because political narratives so often just leave us out, or at best barely mention us. And even from a narrative point of view, adding an anarchist perspective to a political story just objectively broadens its scope and actually challenges people who are used to only arguing along the lines of conservative or liberal, welfare state or privatization, nationalism or multiculturalism, etc. Even if the original work dealt with it poorly, at least it would give me the excuse to rant about it on Tumblr, which is kinda why I revived my old Minecraft sideblog for this. (That and pig!Techno fanart.)

Also how can you have a story so fundamentally about power without its counterpoint: the rejection of power?

(Yes, Dream SMP as a whole is definitely a narrative about power, it’s a huge theme for Wilbur, Quackity, Dream, Eret and the Badlanders at least, as well as obviously the anarchist characters from the opposite direction.)

So yeah, the build up to November 16th for me was mainly about the anticipation for what Techno would do, how would Techno’s character respond to the seemingly inevitable formation of a new government. THAT was the point of interest for me, that was what I was the most invested in. Would we get an actual anarchist opposition as a new side to the conflict or would they just awkwardly drop that whole angle? Or even have him team up with Schlatt like a complete sellout? There was so much potential but I worried they might just waste it.

And I was right to worry since apparently in the original script Techno wasn’t supposed to do anything, he was just there to help fight Schlatt and witness the explosion along with everyone else.

And WOW that would have been so incredibly boring

Not even just from the political perspective, just talking about the narrative in general terms here: imagine November 16th without Techno’s plot points. Not only would it have been boring for Techno’s character but it would have been equally boring for basically everybody but Wilbur and Philza. An anticlimactic fight followed by a big explosion that pretty much everybody had seen coming already. Yes, the button room scene is dramatic and heartbreaking… for Wilbur and Phil. But nobody else was there to see it. For everybody else, it was just a big explosion. It would have been such a huge disservice to anyone watching the other POVs.

Techno’s intervention gave everyone an ACTUAL climactic fight, it allowed characters other than Wil and Phil to witness some actual drama happening and to participate in it, rather than just waiting around for the explosion, while also foreshadowing the explosion. Even better, it provoked SO MUCH discussion in the fandom AND gave a perfect hook for future conflicts to arise. Wilbur’s end was tragic but it was, at the time, final. L'Manburg would have still suffered a catastrophe but it would have been left with just the same exact antagonist as before: Dream.

And at this point Dream’s core goals had barely changed, just his approach was now different. Yes, that makes a difference for the plot, but it doesn’t really change much in terms of ideological conflict. Especially since there really isn’t that big of an ideological difference between Dream and Tommy, because arguably neither of them are particularly big on ideology in the first place, they just have conflicting goals and use different tactics to achieve those goals (well, the tactics aren’t always even that different *cough Spirit cough*).

Techno’s conflict with Tubbo and especially Quackity (and honestly most of the other characters in general) brings in so much more depth to the story, just by introducing another angle, not to even mention how much it brings to focus questions about power and violence. These are themes that exist in other characters’s storylines too but nowhere in the same way or as central as with Techno.

I’m getting kind of ahead of myself here, though.

The real twist of November 16th was the fact that Techno WASN’T a straight up villain, actually. It was a twist to me anyway, because with all my cynicism I just didn’t see it coming, I didn’t expect him to actually start making reasonable criticisms. I didn’t expect him to drop the hobbesian arguments entirely and start making points that actually sounded like anarchism.

I have to assume that cc!Techno must have seen some of the criticisms of his character and been inspired to adjust because the difference is pretty notable.

(Sidenote: I’m just forever kinda sad that Techno’s “I may seem like the villain here” monologue was cut from the video and most people never heard it.)

And I felt SO validated by the way, because it works so well in the story! Everyone is mostly content with the restoration of a status quo of some sort, Schlatt is gone, this is supposed to be the good ending, and then Techno calls them all out and turns the narrative around completely: This was just a coup d'état. This was just the previous political leadership retaking power by force. Why is everyone celebrating the same exact system that lead to Schlatt’s authoritarian rule in the first place?

What he does there is force the audience to question the narrative they’ve been presented so far, that they’ve accepted without a thought. It might not convince them, but they can’t just ignore it either.

Whatever you wanna say about the discourse around Techno on that day, in the ideological narrative THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART. Not who betrayed who or when is political violence justified, that’s about personal relationships and morality and it’s mostly all more relevant to the aftermath than the event itself. In my opinion, the REAL point in the moment is that the characters and the audience were comfortable with the ending only to be presented with a completely new perspective on the events.

It also recontextualises the finale, including Wilbur’s actions! It’s a much more ambiguous end to the Pogtopia vs Manburg arc and to Wilbur’s original run as the head writer. Wilbur’s “even with Tubbo in charge I don’t think [that ‘special place’] can exist again” is vague enough to be dismissed as just part of his paranoia and internal conflict, but with Techno, there’s a concrete question: what if Tubbo, given the same powers as Schlatt, will turn out to be just a new Schlatt? And suddenly you have to wonder what Wilbur meant by his words too. And was all this foreshadowing something about L’Manburg’s future?

Okay I’ve only made it to November 16th and there’s so much more DSMP to talk about but the post is getting too long and I’m starting to lose my energy. Will I ever make a part two? No idea. But I’ll try.

Standard disclaimer: I’m not the spokesperson of anarchism, other anarchists might disagree with my reading

#technoblade #bladeblr #dream smp #dreamsmp #dsmp #l'manburg critical #c!wilbur soot critical #for courtesy tags #anarchy pog

[hermionemonica]

The Road to Us, and Everything in Between: Chapter 2

(This is a no magic AU. There is no existence of the Miraculous or the superheroes in this universe.)

AO3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 

As time went on, Marinette felt distances creeping between her and Nathaniel. They still talked to each other over calls, texting and social media, and even met up with each other every once in a while. But all that grew more and more seldom. And for Marinette, this felt different. Of course, her affections for Nathaniel still remained unchanged, but it felt kind of liberating to not have his presence constantly looming over her life. And with the alone time Marinette now had away from Nathaniel, she found herself constantly rethinking her life and decisions. About what she chose, about what could have been.

Marinette had always had a habit of talking to herself. Now every time she felt herself falling into dejection, she would whisper to herself over and over, “I chose this. This is my life now. This is what my life will be from now.” That did wonders to push the fears and insecurities to the back of her mind.  

But as days passed, it started to get harder and harder. After all, it is an inexplicable pain to see the one you love right in front of you, be with them, all the time knowing that they'll never be yours. Being around him didn’t do anything to help her move on from him, even if she tried.  

Gradually, the secrets and the pretences began to take a toll on her. And with the new university and her fashion courses, it was all too much for her. She felt herself giving in to the pressure. Designing or baking did not work their therapy on her anymore. And the first thing she did when things started getting bad was slowly cut off Nathaniel. Not that she wanted to. It was just she couldn't trust herself to not explode in front of him. And after everything the boy had been through, the last thing he'd want was the only person he trusted to go off on her. So the only solution that she saw was to stay away from him. Only, she could not come up with an appropriate excuse. The poor boy kept asking her what was wrong, but Marinette would say she was fine. Until one day she snapped.  

Marinette was having a particularly rough day, after she had accidentally dropped her sketchbook, which held her designs that she had been working so hard on, right into the waters of the Seine. She had retrieved them, of course, but her work of weeks was ruined. She had shut herself in her room and decided to bury herself in her designs till she redrew them. It probably wouldn’t be as perfect as the originals, but she needed to submit something the next day to pass the class.

Unfortunately, Nathaniel chose that very evening to call her. Marinette ignored his calls and messages for a while, till the alert sounds were getting on her nerves. She finally picked up the phone and asked, “What is it, Nate?”  

If she sounded grumpy or bitter, Nathaniel obviously did not notice it as he went on a ramble about how a cute guy on the subway had complimented him on his blazer.  

“And this is what was so important that you called me for like, 17 times?” Marinette cut him off mid-rant.  

That was when it registered in Nathaniel's mind. “Uh, I thought you'd like to know,” Nathaniel spoke nervously.  

“Maybe I would, but not everyone necessarily has the time for this! Take the hint when I wasn't answering your calls or replying to your texts.” Marinette replied acidly.  

“What is wrong Mari?” Nathaniel sounded concerned.  

“Why does something have to be wrong?” Marinette was beginning to lose her temper. “It just happens that you don't seem to realise that some people might have more important stuff going on than just a random guy complimenting you on your clothes!”  

When there had come no reply from the other end, Marinette quickly disconnected the call and switched her phone off. She had too much on her hands at the moment.  

Marinette had fallen asleep at her table, sometime in the middle of the night. In the wee hours of the morning, she woke up to find a string of messages from Nathaniel, which he had sent right after the phone call the previous night.  

“So, this is it? I... I don't matter anymore? It’s okay, Marinette, I get it. I was just an unnecessary burden that you were carrying around although you didn't have to. This had to end sometime, right? After all, we both know very well that I'll never be able to give you what you want. I am only holding you back from everything that you could have, everything that you deserve. I'm sorry for everything Mari, I hope you can forgive me. Take care Marinette, and be happy. I promise I won't bother you anymore. Goodbye.”  

Marinette had not seen this coming. She couldn't deny that she had been a bit too harsh in her words the previous night, but was it that bad? Had she made it sound like she didn't want Nathaniel to be around her? She tried to remember what exactly she had said, but to her anguish, all of it was a blur. In exasperation, she kicked against the side of her desk, only to wince back in pain immediately afterwards. Surely, the voice in her head kept saying, this can't be happening. Nathaniel wouldn't just leave just because Marinette had said some harsh words, right? Their relationship was too above that, of course! After everything they had been through together, a little miscommunication couldn't possibly be what would break it! Over and over she read Nathaniel's texts, trying to make something out of it, something less painful. She tried to read between the lines, desperately trying to convince herself that it wasn't happening.  

The only reason she dragged herself out of her house an hour later was because she had to submit the designs that day. And the only reason she had left her phone without replying to Nathaniel was because she was scared that she might mess it up further.  

Three agonising hours later, Marinette sat in the cafeteria. Anger coursed through her. Anger at Nate, anger at herself, anger at the stupid deadline! As she desperately tried to reign in her temper, because that was what had caused the entire mess in the first place, she found herself regretting her decision to leave her phone at home. At least she could have called Alya and talked to her. At one point of time, Marinette had been glad that no one from her old school was in the same university as her, because then she could put everything behind her and start her life without the lies. It didn’t seem that convenient anymore. She wished she could talk to someone, anyone, right now. But since there was no way to do that, she went back to sipping on her iced tea to soothe her nerves.  

“Are you okay?” said a voice from behind Marinette, as a hand was laid on her shoulder.  

Before Marinette could turn around, the intruder came into her range of vision as he seated himself at her table.  

It was Adrien, and he was looking at her with concern in his emerald hands. Did she really look that terrible? Marinette asked herself. More importantly, what could she answer to Adrien, when he didn't even know anything about Nathaniel? But then again, she was stuck in the university for at least two more hours, without a phone and no one but Adrien to talk to. Adrien was the only friend she had for now, and Marinette felt she would combust from the stress if she didn't talk sometime soon. Sure, once she figured out how to begin.  

“It's umm... you know, about this boy,” she struggled through her words.  

Immediately, Adrien perked up. “Boy? Crush? Ex? Boyfriend?”  

Marinette felt a smile creep up onto her face in spite of herself. “Let's not use any labels, okay? It’s a bit too complicated for that,” she clarified.  

Adrien wiped the silly grin off his face and looked on with interest, silently urging her to continue.  

“So we had kind of an argument last night, and I may have been a bit rude to him. In my defence though, I was stressed beyond limits. And this morning, I woke up to a bunch of texts from him, saying that... that,” Marinette faltered. How do you put that into words?  

Luckily, Adrien seemed to have understood what she was trying to say. “That he’s leaving you for good,” Adrien offered.  

“Exactly,” explained Marinette. “Except that I meant nothing like that and he took it all the wrong way and he thinks I want to get rid of him and oh so I feel so angry at him right now because after all this time how could he misunderstand such a simple thing and I-”  

“Woah there,” Adrien interrupted. “Slow down. Maybe drink a bit more of that drink you've got there.”  

“Iced tea,” murmured Marinette, “soothes my nerves.”  

That was when she realised that her hands were shaking so badly that she could not even hold the glass in her hand. And on the top of that, a pounding began in her head.  

As she clutched her head in her hands, Adrien reached over. “Hey, are you okay? Do you need anything?” he asked.  

But Marinette could not hear him over the incessant buzzing in her ears. Breathing had never felt so difficult, it was as if something was blocking her trachea.  

Adrien could see Marinette gasping for breath, and shaking uncontrollably, and it scared him. What was happening to this girl? It took him a moment to snap out of his fixation, but then he got up and picked Marinette up in his arms, rushing to the nurse's office, ignoring all the odd looks he could feel on him in the corridors.  

The nurse injected a mild tranquillizer into Marinette's blood. It took effect pretty soon, and soon Marinette had drifted off into a dreamless slumber.  

“It looks like your friend over here has had an anxiety attack,” the nurse explained to Adrien. “Is she under medications for such attacks?”  

Adrien simply looked on with bewilderment.  

Either he is too stressed out to comprehend my words right now, thought the nurse, or he seriously has never heard of an anxiety attack. Deciding on the former, she went on, more gently, “Has she ever had spells like this before?”  

Adrien looked down, his expression guilty. “I-I don't know. I don't spend much time with her.”  

The nurse shook her head. “Well, I am guessing by how freaked out she was when you brought her in that she is as unacquainted with these attacks as you are, young man. Whatever be it, I need to contact her parents. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you said?” The nurse asked as she scrolled through the student records on her computer.  

Adrien nodded.  

“I assure you that your friend will be okay, you may take your leave if you have classes you need to be at now.”  

Adrien took a glance at his watch. His class had started fifteen minutes ago. Since he was late anyway...  

“No,” he confidently lied to the nurse. “I don't have any classes for another hour.”  

“Fine,” obliged the nurse. “Do keep the young lady company while I go call up her parents.” Adrien silently sank down on the edge of the bed Marinette was asleep on. As he stared at her face, he noticed how ill she looked. The colour had faded from her cheeks, and dark bags hung under her eyes. What could have been so terrible that upset this amazing girl like this?  

Marinette's parents came in some time later. Adrien noticed the stark difference in their appearances. While Marinette's mother, who looked and dressed Chinese, was a small woman like her daughter, Marinette's father could aptly be called a giant of a man. They seemed like very nice people, by the way they talked to the nurse. Mrs Cheng assured the nurse that her daughter did not have any history of anxiety attacks. In that case, the nurse advised them, they should get their daughter a professional check-up at the earliest. They thanked the woman for her help and turned to leave.  

As Mrs Cheng left the room with her daughter leaning onto her, still not quite awake, Mr Dupain stopped at the door. He turned to look at Adrien standing there, and Adrien couldn't help but be intimidated. But Mr Dupain had the kindest of expressions on his face as he grabbed Adrien's hand and firmly shook it. “Thank you for taking care of my little girl,” he whispered gratefully.  

Adrien was surprised to know that the huge man could speak in so low a voice. “It was a pleasure,” he smiled in acknowledgement.  

After he left, Adrien wondered if he had even done anything that special to receive such warm gratitude. “Taking care of” Mr Dupain had said. Funny, thought Adrien, for anyone would probably have done the same if a friend went through something like that in front of them. Nevertheless, Adrien decided that the Dupain-Chengs were probably affectionate people by blood.  

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic #the road to us and everything in between #chapter 2 #no magic au #alternate universe - no powers #marinette dupain cheng #nathaniel kurtzberg #alya cesaire #adrien agreste #tom dupain #sabine cheng #adrienette #slow burn #my fic

[writingpaperghost]

There is a Me Who Can Become Strong (Chapter 7)

Chapter 7: The Reason for Some Lies!

Just who is the black Para-DX? Kiriya makes a claim to their identity... but that doesn't seem to be true. Meanwhile, Kiriya retrieves the Giri Giri Chambara Gashat.

AO3:https://archiveofourown.org/works/32857183/chapters/82521562

Right now, Emu has a choice to make, just like every day. He can stay and eat lunch with several other people, or he can retreat to the CR to play games or talk for the rest of his lunch break. Like nearly every day since joining the CR, he chooses to just go there. It is the easiest and best option, especially since he really didn’t want to interact with too many people. There’s a lot on his mind and he’s hoping a level of Giri Giri Chambara might help him feel at least a little better.

Or if nothing else, maybe he’d find something to talk with Poppy about. It’s not like he has a hard time, usually she’s interested in hearing about whatever game he’s playing. But he just… has a lot on his mind. Kiriya’s injuries from the black Para-DX, two days before, Saki’s… everything yesterday. Graphite, the Bugsters. The fact that Graphite is so much stronger than them even now, or how they don’t know what his motivations really are. There’s just too much to be thinking about, which is why he’d like to play something that would distract him and maybe let him get out some frustration.

As he arrives in the CR, Poppy wastes no time in shooting him a worried look, “Emu, have you really already eaten lunch?”

He smiles and nods, “Of course,” No one said that he had to speak exclusively the truth. Even he had secrets to keep. “It’s quieter down here, though. So I’d thought I’d play a bit. Unless there’s something you want to talk about?”

“No, no,” She shakes her head, “You’re just always down here around the same time. And it’s usually the beginning of when you should be having lunch. We wouldn’t want you not eating.”

“I’m fine, really,” He assured, “I’m not going to collapse or anything because I haven’t been eating.”

He pulls out his Gemnboy and begins to play a bit of Giri Giri Chambara. He’s found that it’s usually a pretty good game to play when he’s stressed or worked up about things and just needs to get some frustration out. You get to beat things up, after all, and for Emu, at least, that’s pretty good stress relief. Although really, playing games in general tend to do that.

After a while, he’s forced to pause the game because someone’s loudly knocking on the door to the CR. Poppy switches to Asuna and the two get up to investigate. They’re greeted with Kiriya – who should not be out of bed – and then another patient.

“Ace, Asuna,” Kiriya greets, “Found you a patient.”

Grabbing the Gamer Scope, Emu frowns when it results bring up two strains again. They’re different ones, Giri Giri Chambara and Jet Combat. Hopefully they’d be able to deal with them.

“We’ll take it from here,” Asuna says, helping Emu move the patient.

Emu calls back to Kiriya, “You should still be resting.”

---

Mu had just finished a bit of a boring round of Gekitotsu Robots when he finally remembers something he wants to talk to Kuroto about. “Hey, Kuroto?” He calls, “I think that Lazer knows about you being Gemn.”

Kuroto looks up and frowns, “What makes you say that?”

“Two days ago, when I fought him,” Mu began to explain, “He said something about knowing who Gemn was. Obviously, he couldn’t have known it was me because he doesn’t even know who I am and that was the first day I’d been Gemn. So that means he probably thinks that I was you.”

After taking a moment to rub his forehead, Kuroto finally says, “It doesn’t matter much. He can’t prove it, anyway,” He tries to give Mu a reassuring smile, of sorts, “Don’t worry about it. I doubt he’ll prove to be much trouble.”

“Okay,” Mu blinks, “If you say so.” Then he returns to playing some more Gekitotsu Robots.

---

“Saki,” Haima says, catching her attention as they walk into the CR, “I’d like you to focus on our new patient.”

She looked over up at him, “Mr. Okada?” She frowns a little, “Why me?”

“Well, I think you’ll be better suited than Hojo. No offense to him but…” The director makes a face, “I don’t think this is really something he’ll be very good at.”

Hesitantly, Saki nods, “I suppose you’re right.”

“Of course, that’s a part of my job-“ At that moment, Haima trips. It’s not clear on what, but Saki manages to catch him, though he drops his binder in the doorway.

“Careful, Haima,” She warns, “We don’t want you getting hurt because you pulled an Emu and tripped on your own feet.”

Trying to straighten his shirt, Haima nods, “Of course, thank you Saki.”

From around the corner, unseen to the pair, Kiriya peeks in, seeing how the binder stopped the door from closing. He strolls right on in.

In the patient room, Saki frowns, her Gamer Scope confirming what Emu had told her. Two infections in Mr. Okada, Giri Giri Chambara and Jet Combat. Now that she’d confirmed it, she thought about how to go about removing the Bugster. She wasn’t a big fan of purposely stressing a patient just to get the Bugster to appear. So they’d just have to wait.

Not that they had to wait long. The Bugster soon appeared, taking the form of a double headed serpent. Saki takes out her Driver, but quickly realizes that the patient room isn’t exactly the best place to be having a fight, let alone against a Bugster. Using the Stage Select, she moves them to a different area, more suitable to fighting Bugsters. Now on a rocky sort of beach, she was ready to transform and fight the Bugster.

“Keep back, Emu,” She calls, clicking her Gashat.

Taddle Quest!

Let’s game! Metcha game! Mucha game! What’s your name? I’m a Kamen Rider!

Now transformed and in Level 1, Saki was ready to fight the Bugster. Sword in hand, she’s quickly able to dispatch the Bugster. Then, it split into two of the Bugsters like before, each with a Gashat in its forehead. One had the Giri Giri Chambara Gashat while the other had the Jet Combat Gashat. Those were the last two Gashats they needed to get from the Bugsters.

Unfortunately, with the appearance of the two Bugsters, also came the black Para-DX, in Level 3. Emu pulls out both the Mighty Action X and Gekitotsu Robots Gashat, while near where the Bugsters are, turning around to look at the black Para-DX, DoReMiFa Beat Gashat in hand.

Mighty Action X!

Gekitotsu Robots!

DoReMiFa Beat!

Do-Do-DoReMiFa-So-La-Ti-Do! Ok! DoReMiFa Beat!

Buttobase! Totsugeki! Gekitotsu punch! Gekitotsu Robots!

“You take the Bugster,” Saki calls, aiming her sword in the black Rider’s direction, “I’ll deal with the black Para-DX.”

Emu hesitates for a moment, before nodding, deciding that Gekitotsu Robots’ raw strength would probably be better against the Bugster, rather than the Rider. He nods and turns his attention to the Bugster with the Giri Giri Chambara Gashat in its head, the other being mysteriously no longer present. They’d have to worry about that later.

While Gekitotsu Robots made Emu stronger, it didn’t exactly make him fast. As it turns out, this Giri Giri Chambara Bugster was pretty fast. It wasn’t surprising, given the nature of the game, but it made fighting a little harder. Hard to land hits and even harder to dodge them. This wasn’t going well.

With Saki, she wasn’t fairing much better. She had the power of gimmicky attack on her side, but as it turned out, so did the black Para-DX. He yeets the wheels of Shakariki Sports’ bicycle at Saki. It flies past, distracting Saki and forcing Emu to turn his attention to trying to dodge the wheels.

The black Para-DX grabs the Giri Giri Chambara Bugster, and the two retreat.

---

Taiga pushes himself away from his desk, the wheels of his chair rolling. He’d been monitoring something on his computer screen, but whatever it was had disappeared. “Brat!” He called, “Time for the plan!”

Nico walks into the room, hefting her backpack onto her shoulder, “Okay, then,” She groans, “I need to find a better way to carry this stuff.”

“Just go,”

“I’m going!”

---

“I… don’t think Gekitotsu’s brute force is going to work well against the Giri Giri Chambara,” Emu sighs, “Not that I’m sure that DoReMiFa Beat will work well either. It’s just so fast.”

Saki sighs, rubbing her temple slightly, “And that black Para-DX manage to so easily distract us with the bicycle wheels.”

“And I thought it was weird when Kiriya used wheels as a weapon…”

“Did someone say my name?” Somehow, Kiriya casually strolled in, once again seeming as though he perfectly belonged. Somewhere in his head, Emu felt just the slight bit envious that Kiriya could so easily walk in somewhere where he didn’t belong, and act as though he didbelong. That was a skill that Emu would not claim to have.

Rolling her eyes slightly, Saki says, “How did you get in here?”

“Through the front door,” Kiriya shoves his hands in his pocket, “Anyway, figured you could use my help.”

“Why should we trust you?” Saki asks, “You lied about Graphite being the black Para-DX.”

Looking at the two of them with a serious expression Emu thought looked a little odd on a carefree person like Kiriya, Kiriya answers, “I had a friend die on Zero Day.”

Though Emu hated to be the one to point it out, Kiriya’s argument wasn’t exactly sound, “You said yourself that that too was a lie.”

Saki stands from the table, “I don’t think we can trust you,” She turns and leaves.

Emu doesn’t want to make a judgement quite like that so quickly, but he will admit that Saki has something of a point. Kiriya had lied to them at least twice but… All things considered, Emu wasn’t convinced that was enough to say he was entirely untrustworthy. Something told him that there was more to Kiriya Kujo than what he was letting on. Not that Emu really wanted to look much into it, but they had more important things to worry about.

He wanted to go talk with the patient, who, by looking through the window, he could see was being visited by whom he was pretty sure was his daughter. He makes his way downstairs and enters the room.

“Shiori,” Their patient, Mr. Okada, says to the woman who Emu is pretty sure is his daughter, “Don’t worry about the factory-“

“I want to make sure everything is okay while you’re here,” Shiori responds, “Make sure that everything’s in order.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Mr. Okada insists, “Now stop fussing.”

Emu frowned slightly, before returning to his normal expression, walking over to Mr. Okada and reminding him, “Be careful not to stress yourself too much,” He uses a gentle tone, like what he uses with nervous children. It’s more habit at this point than anything, “Game Disease can potentially be fatal…”Shiori uses this as more reason to insist on helping, not that Emu thought that it was a bad thing, although she might have chose a better way to say it, “See? Don’t worry about anything. I’ll make sure everything’s fine while you’re away, so you can focus on recovering.”

Mr. Okada huffs, “No, you will not,” Then, looking Shoiri straight in the eye adds, “Because I’m firing you from the factory.”

In a huff, Shiori stands up and turns heel, rushing out of the patient room. Emu turns to follow, making it out of the door of the patient room before he’s stopped. By Kiriya. What was he still doing here?

“Ace,” Kiriya starts and there’s something in his tone that Emu isn’t terribly fond of, “Sometimes, telling your patient’s the truth is the wrong thing.” A piece of attempted advice that was rich coming from the man who already had a history of lying, and Emu had known him less than a week. Besides, what would Kiriya know about having patients? He was a medical examiner, and this was not up his alley at all. At least, it shouldn’t be.

He wasn’t going to let Kiriya just tell him something like that. He may not be the most honest at times, but when it came to his patients, Emu believed he should be honest with them. “Well I can’t just lie to them.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to tell them the truth,” Kiriya responds, like Emu doesn’t know a thing or two about not lying but not telling the truth either. “He’s trying to distance himself from her. For her own good, not his.”

“How can you say that-“

It was about then, that Asuna comes bounding down the stairs. She pauses her hurry for a moment to look at the two of them, before saying, “You two, there’s a Bugster.”

The two rush out, able to find the Giri Giri Chambara Bugster that was attempting to attack Shiori. Before either of the two can transform, Saki appears, quickly transforming into her Level 2 with Taddle Quest and slashing at the Bugster. Given the type of game that Giri Giri Chambara is, Emu thinks that she might be a bit better suited. At least she had a sword.

Saki doesn’t get far before the black Ex-Aid appears again, immediately attacking Saki, giving the Bugster an opportunity to escape. Now, the black Rider is making sure Saki is distracted, unable to chase after the Bugster. It’s some stroke of luck that he’s only at Level 2 and not Level 3, otherwise Saki would have a lot harder time fighting him.

“Here’s an idea, Ace,” Kiriya says, pulling out his Gashat and Gamer Driver, “We work together to beat that Bugster. No lies or anything.”

A sane person might question whether to trust someone like Kiriya, who was not terribly honest about things. But Emu is not exactly what one might call a sane person. So thus, he decided, that given the situation and Lazer’s already higher speed than either he or Saki, that risking the possible negative results from such a team up would be worth it to beat the Bugster.

Pulling out his own Gashat, he answers, “Okay, let’s go,”

Mighty Action X!

Bakusou Bikes!

Level up! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty-Mighty Action X!

Level Up! Bakusou dokusou gekisou bousou! Bakusou Bike!

Kiriya takes his Level 2 form, still annoyingly a motorcycle, and Emu get’s on, the two wasting no more time in chasing the Bugster. Using his weapon’s gun form, Emu attempts to shoot at the Bugster, but finds that it’s still just a bit too hard to aim while on something moving in the unpredictable way that Kiriya did. Finally, though, they get close enough that Emu switches his weapon to axe form. He manages to cut off some of the Bugster’s blades, then they stop moving.

Emu hops off and borrows the Bakusou Bikes Gashat from Kiriya, putting it in his axe.

Bakusou Critical Finish!

Moments later, after slashing at the Bugster, it’s destroyed, the Giri Giri Chambara Gashat falling to the ground.

Game Clear!

“Hey, Ace,” Kiriya calls, his front moving a bit in Emu’s direction. “Mind letting me use that Gashat?”

The speed of Bakusou Bikes and Giri Giri Chambara would mix well, logically. Emu can see the strategy in it, and knowing what the last Gashat is, he’d think it would be better suited to Snipe. He’s also a bit curious what will happen, so he shrugs and activates the Gashat.

Giri Giri Chambara!

Then places it in Lazer’s Gamer Driver, flipping the lever.

Giri-Giri-Giri-Giri Chambara!

In an awkward sequence of events, Kiriya finally makes it from a motorcycle to something that’s at least bipedal. To be fair, he looks much like a normal person, though his armor bright yellow like his Level 2, resembles that of a samurai’s.

“Oh,” Kiriya says, stretching slightly, “That reminds me,” They begin to make there way to where Saki and black Para-DX is.

“What does? And of what?”

“I know who Gemn is,”

“Gemn?” Emu’s not really sure why they were apparently now talking about a gaming company.

“You know, the black Para-DX?” Before now, Emu did not know. Now he did. Which is odd but okay.

“You said you knew who he was before,” Emu reminds him as they finally arrive. He’s about to say something to Saki, who definitely seems worn out but…

“Gemn, that black Para-DX there, is Kuroto Dan.” Which is not the most outlandish statement Kiriya had made. Kuroto Dan was a wanted criminal and had a connection to Game Disease.

Gemn’s response to this statement was, firstly, a movement that might have conveyed shock. Then, he pulls out the Shakariki Sports Gashat, transforming to Level 3. Kiriya grabs his weapon, which appeared to be a pair of sickles, each as bright of yellow and pink as Lazer himself.

Much like when Emu fought Gemn with Gekitotsu Robots, Kiriya seemed to be fairing well against Gemn. Though Gemn attempts to block his attacks with his hammer, Kiriya’s too fast and is quickly landing hits. Then, he combines his sickles, turning them into a bow. He places the Giri Giri Chambara Gashat into it.

Giri Giri Critical Finish!

The attack lands, Gemn not being able to do much to block it. Yet when the smoke clears, the one standing there isn’t Kuroto Dan. No, the man there is a little too short and too brightly colored. He wore a bright pink hoodie, one that Emu thinks is Mighty themed, with long orange sleeves underneath. His hood’s pulled up, aiding the hair over one of his eyes in obscuring his face. The striking part is the eye they can see, slightly. It almost seems as though it glows. He holds the Gamer Driver and Gashats.

With what might have been a smile, though it certainly lookednervous, the man says, “Sorry Lazer, you’re princess is in another castle.”

The man turns around, clearly about to leave and in a hurry. Though his foot catches on something, perhaps a crack in the concrete and he stumbles a bit. He quickly recovers and sprints off, leaving behind a trio of confused Riders.

“That,” Saki begins, sounding certainly annoyed, “Was not Kuroto Dan.” Emu can’t help but silently agree.

“Maybe he was mistaken?” Emu offers weakly, with little effort. No one was a good enough liar to get themselves out of this one. And as much as Emu thought Kiriya was a good enough person… There was just too much to take into account.

“No, I don’t think he was,” She says, “Clearly, he can’t be trusted. That’s twice now that he’s lied about that Rider’s identity. And that friend of his? He died alright, but not from Game Disease. All he wanted from this was the Gashat.” She turns and leaves, leaving Emu and Kiriya standing there.

Finally speaking the words that have been bugging him for so long, Emu asks, “Kiriya, just what type of person are you?” He watches Kiriya closely, though there’s no reaction to be seen, “You lie about Gemn’s identity and about your friend. But why? What do you gain?”

Kiriya laughs, “She’s right, you know. I only wanted the Gashat,” He turns to walk away, “You shouldn’t be so trusting, Ace. I know I, for one, can’t be trusted.”

Emu takes a step forward, wondering if he should try to follow or stop Kiriya. Instead, he says, “I don’t believe that. There’s more going on,” Then, as Kiriya looked back at him, said in a way that wasn’t quite Emu, “I like a good puzzle.”

---

Nico had managed to track down that other Bugster, the Jet Combat one, thanks to Taiga. She had to admit, he could be pretty helpful. Mostly, she just needed the Gashat, though she was pretty sure getting rid of the Bugster first would be the best way of doing that.

Unfortunately, the Bugster got away before she could defeat it or get the Gashat from it. So she’d have to try again and hope for the best. Ugh, this was such a pain to get one game cartridge.

---

When Mu arrives to where he stays with Kuroto and Graphite, the first thing he says to Kuroto is, “I don’t think Brave and Para-DX trust Lazer very much anymore.”

Kuroto looks up from his computer, “Why’s that?” He actually seemed rather curious.

“Well, Lazer claimed that Gemn was you – how he knew that’s what the Rider is called is beyond me – but when he managed to knock me out of the suit – don’t worry, I’m fine, really – it was, well, me.” Mu gestures to himself, moving towards the couch and pulling his hood down. He pulls some hair clips out of his pocket and begins to clip his bangs out of his face, “So they think he’s lied again.”

Looking thoughtful, Kuroto comments, “That could be helpful,”

Graphite groans, “When are we getting on with the plan?” He huffs, looking between Mu and his nest, “Because I’m getting impatient.”

“Snipe needs to get Jet Combat,” Kuroto responds, “Then you can have your turn.”

“And you’ll obviously do great, Graphite,” Mu adds, not noticing the way that Graphite’s gaze flickered between him and the nest. Otherwise, he’d be a little wary of getting pulled in there. He’s managed to avoid it for a while, but one of these days, his luck would run out.

“You should sleep,” Graphite immediately says.

Kuroto nods, “He’s right, you know.”

Though Mu shakes his head, “No,” He says, “Not happening.”

#kamen rider exaid #kamen rider #kamen rider ex aid #my writing #there is a me who can become strong

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

12 Angry Men: The Story

At first, the story of 12 Angry Men seems straightforward, to-the-point, and pretty darn boring.

A jury consisting of twelve men (most of them middle class, middle age, and white) are locked into a jury room on a stiflingly hot day to determine the fate of a boy (lower class, young, and Puerto Rican) who allegedly stabbed his father to death with a switchblade knife.  Once locked into the room, eleven out of twelve decide instantly that the boy is guilty, but one, Juror #8, (Henry Fonda) isn’t so certain.  The film then follows Juror #8’s attempts to go through the information presented in court in order to figure out what really happened.

Like I said, it could be considered boring, if that’s all you consider.   But as it turns out, just like the case in the film there’s a bit more to it than what appears on the surface.  Let’s take a look.

12 Angry Men opens with one of two sequences that do not take place within the jury room.  A camera pans over the outside of the Manhattan’s Court of General Sessions, meandering through corridors and staircases, before making its way to our destination: room 228.  There, a tired sounding judge orders the beginning of the jury deliberation process after a six-day-long trial, “a long and complex case of murder in the first degree”.  He sends our jury off with these final, sobering words:

“If there’s a reasonable doubt in your minds as to the guilt of the accused, a reasonable doubt, then you must bring me a verdict of not guilty. If however, there is no reasonable doubt, then you must in good conscience find the accused guilty. However you decide, your verdict must be unanimous. In the event that you find the accused guilty, the bench will not entertain a recommendation for mercy. The death sentence is mandatory in this case. You are faced with a grave responsibility. Thank you, gentlemen.”

It is now that the audience, for the first and only time, gets a look at the defendant: a wide-eyed, terrified looking Puerto Rican boy from the slums, who helplessly watches the jury march off to decide his fate.

The jury (and camera) moves to the jury room, where we will spend almost the entire rest of the film.  It is the hottest day of the year, and the men are clearly already agitated, removing jackets, lighting cigarettes, and complaining.  The door behind them is locked, and the twelve men talk amongst themselves for a few moments.  Notably, Juror #3 remarks that this is an open-and-shut case, Juror #7 is anxious to leave to get to a baseball game he has tickets for, and Juror #10 has this to say:

“It’s pretty tough to figure, isn’t it? A kid kills his father. Bing! Just like that…It’s the element…I’m telling ya, they let those kids run wild up there. Well, maybe it serves ‘em right.”

Meanwhile, Juror #8 stands at the window, saying nothing.

Juror #1 calls for a preliminary vote, and the men take their seats (arranged by number) around the table.  Juror #1 calls for those who vote not guilty, and, some (Jurors #1, 3, 4, 7, and 12) quickly raise their hands, while Jurors #2, 5, 6, 11 and 9 do so more slowly.  One lone man raises his hand for not-guilty: Juror #8.  

Interestingly, Juror #8 is not fully convinced that the boy on trial is innocent, unlike many instances of the Rogue Juror used afterwards.  What he is convinced of is that this is a serious case, with a serious charge, with a grim penalty.  He calls for a discussion, going over the evidence.  Juror #3 disagrees:

“The kid’s a dangerous killer, you could see it…He stabbed his own father, four inches into the chest. They proved it a dozen different ways in court, would you like me to list them for ya?”

Juror #8 is not dissuaded, and calmly replies:

“It’s not easy to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first…We’re talking about somebody’s life here. We can’t decide in five minutes. Supposin’ we’re wrong.”

Juror #7 is unmoved, claiming his opinion won’t change, no matter how long they talk.  Despite the resistance, Juror #8 moves on with his discussion, pointing out the defendant’s upbringing and background.

“Look, this kid’s been kicked around all of his life. You know, born in a slum. Mother dead since he was nine. He lived for a year and a half in an orphanage when his father was serving a jail term for forgery. That’s not a very happy beginning. He’s a wild, angry kid, and that’s all he’s ever been. And you know why, because he’s been hit on the head by somebody once a day, every day. He’s had a pretty miserable eighteen years. I just think we owe him a few words, that’s all.”

Juror #10 argues:

“I don’t mind telling you this, mister. We don’t owe him a thing. He got a fair trial, didn’t he? What do you think that trial cost? He’s lucky he got it. You know what I mean? Now look, we’re all grown-ups in here. We heard the facts, didn’t we? You’re not gonna tell me that we’re supposed to believe this kid, knowing what he is. Listen, I’ve lived among them all my life. You can’t believe a word they say. You know that. I mean, they’re born liars.”

Another voice enters the scene, Juror #9, with a biting reply:

“Only an ignorant man can believe that…Do you think you were born with a monopoly on the truth?”

Within only a few moments, already we’ve established quite a lot.  The belligerence of Jurors #3 and #10, as well as their bias, Juror #8’s thoughtful, honest nature, and Juror #9’s reasonableness and willingness to stand up for people.  Add to that Juror #7’s impatience to leave, and you’ve already got a bit of character to go on to understand what’s going on.  As the film progresses, the case unfolds, and we learn more about it, as well as learning more about the characters within, making the plot, although it never leaves the jury room, feel like it is moving.

Juror #12 suggests that they go around the table, giving each juror a chance to explain his standpoint in an effort to convince #8 of the defendant’s guilt.  One by one, the jurors bring up their evidence, and to each, Juror #8 has questions that render the arguments a little more doubtful than they would seem to be on the surface.

Juror #2 doesn’t really have any evidence to bring, meekly stating that he thought he was guilty, it seemed obvious.  No one can prove that he didn’t do it, after all.  Juror #3, however, has more to say on the subject, citing an eyewitness testimony of an old man who lived in the apartment below where the killing took place.  According to the witness, he heard a fight, and the voice of the boy crying out: “I’m gonna kill you!” and the sound of a body hitting the floor.  The old man ran to the door in time to see the boy run down the stairs.  Furthermore, the boy’s alibi (being at the movies) seems flimsy, as he was not able to remember the names of the films he saw, or any of the actors in them.  On top of that, there is another eyewitness testimony: a woman in the building across from them saw it happen through the passing cars of an el-train that ran between the buildings.  These, Juror #3 declares, are facts.

Other jurors give their reasons, or lack thereof:  Juror 5 doesn’t comment, Juror #6 thinks the motive is evidence, and Juror #7 brings up the boy’s violent history, including knife-fighting.

This sparks something for Juror #3, who cites his history with his own son, explaining that kids these days don’t have any respect.  He tells a story about how, when his son was nine years old, he ran away from a fight, humiliating Juror #3.  He resolved to ‘make a man’ out of his son, and according to him, he did.  When his son was 15, he punched Juror #3 in the jaw.  It has been three years since the two have seen each other.

Other jurors add their reasons, including the boy’s background in the slums.  This line of reasoning upsets Juror #5, who, he explains, was also raised in the slums.  Okay, fine, so his background isn’t enough, his upbringing flimsy evidence at best….what about the knife?

The knife (wiped of fingerprints) found in the body of the father was a very unique switchblade.  The boy bought a knife matching its description on the night of the murder, and claimed it fell through a hole in his pocket on the way to the movies.  A knife that unique surely must be evidence-

Juror #8 pulls out a knife of his own, an exact match to the one found in the body, and sticks it in the table for all to see (which is not legal in a real legal scenario, but this is a movie).  Someone, he explains, could have bought an identical knife, and killed the father with it while the boy was at the movies.  

“It’s possible,” he says.

“But not very probable!” Juror #4 counters.

Seeing that this is going nowhere fast, Juror #8 says this:

“I’m gonna call for another vote. I want you eleven men to vote by secret written ballot. I’ll abstain. If there are eleven votes for guilty, I won’t stand alone. We’ll take in a guilty verdict to the judge right now. But if anyone votes not guilty, we stay here and talk it out.”

They count up the eleven votes.  Ten guilty, one not-guilty.  Juror #9 has switched sides.

Looking again at the eyewitness accounts, Juror #8 theorizes that, with the train passing by the exact time of the murder, it would be impossible to hear voices and a body hitting the floor upstairs.  Furthermore, he determines that it would be equally impossible for an old man with a limp to make it to the door to see the boy go down the stairs in the amount of time that he said it did.  (Again, not legal in a jury, but it’s a movie.)  Juror #9 speculates that it is possible that the old man did not lie, rather convinced himself that he saw it in excitement about having 15 Minutes of Fame in his old age.

Juror #5, swayed, switches his vote to not-guilty.  The debate goes on.

Juror #11 is now starting to think, asking questions of his own: If the boy killed his father, why return home three hours later?

To get the knife, the explanation goes.

If the defendant had a clear enough head to wipe his fingerprints from the knife and go back to get it, how was he in such a panic that he left it in the body in the first place?

Juror #11 switches his vote.  It’s now 8 to 4, and still hot as all get out, and they’re all still in a claustrophobic room with a broken fan.  Juror #3, aggravated from the beginning, flips out.

“Assumed? Brother, I’ve seen all kinds of dishonesty in my day, but this little display takes the cake. You all come in here with your hearts bleeding all over the floor about slum kids and injustice. You listen to some fairy tales. Suddenly, you start getting through to some of these old ladies. Well, you’re not getting through to me. I’ve had enough.  What’s the matter with you guys? You all know he’s guilty. He’s got to burn. You’re letting him slip through our fingers.”

Interesting statement from a supposedly unbiased jury member.  This doesn’t go uncommented on, as Juror #8 snaps back:

“Slip through our fingers?  Are you his executioner?”

“I’m one of ‘em.”

“Perhaps you’d like to pull the switch.”

“For this kid?  You bet I would.”

After another brief exchange, Juror #3 lunges at Juror #8, screaming: “I’ll kill you!” an eerie echo of the supposed words of the boy.  This further cements Juror #8’s point: we say stuff like “I’ll kill you” all the time, without meaning, or thinking about it.

Jurors #2 and #6 switch sides.  It’s 6-6, all tied up.

Outside, it starts raining.  The broken fan starts working.  The discussion turns to the boy’s alibi.

Juror #4 points out that the boy could not remember the names of the films he saw, or anyone in them.  Juror #8 counters by turning the question around and asking him to recall details of a trip to the movies a few days prior.  When Juror #4 cannot give a full, definitive answer, Juror #8 also addresses the fact that when the boy was first asked what the names of the films were, he was in his apartment, cornered by the police, with his father’s body still in the apartment.  In other words, the kid was possibly too stressed and frazzled to remember.

Juror #2 brings up the stab wound itself, saying that it was a downward stab wound, and asked how that would be possible, as the father was over six feet tall, and the boy was only 5’7.  Juror #3 stands up, taking the knife and, in a tense display, demonstrates on Juror #8 how this could be done, by gripping the knife overhand.  

Juror #5 steps up with an argument.  He, as he mentioned earlier, was raised in the slums, and he’s seen knife-fights before.  Nobody who knew what they were doing would hold a switchblade overhand.  It can’t open that way.  The boy had been in knife fights before, and it’s unlikely that he would have made such a rookie mistake.

Another voted is called.  It’s 9-3, Not Guilty.

Juror #10, enraged, stands up and begins to rant:

“You’re not gonna tell me you believe that phony story about losing the knife, and that business about being at the movies. Look, you know how these people lie. It’s born in them…They don’t know what the truth is. And let me tell ya, they don’t need any real big reason to kill someone either. No, sir. They get drunk. Ah, they’re real big drinkers, all of 'em. You know that. And bang, someone’s lying in the gutter. Well, nobody’s blamin’ 'em for it, that’s the way they are, by nature, you know what I mean? Violent!…Human life don’t mean as much to them as it does to us. Look, they’re lushing it up and fighting all the time, and if somebody gets killed, so somebody gets killed - they don’t care. Oh sure, there are some good things about 'em, too. Look, I’m the first one to say that. I’ve known a couple who are okay, but that’s the exception, you know what I mean? Most of them, it’s like they have no feelings. They can do anything. What’s going on here? I’m tryin’ to tell ya. You’re making a big mistake, you people. This kid is a liar. I know it. I know all about them. Listen to me, they’re no good. There’s not a one of 'em who’s any good….This kid on trial here…well, don’t you know about them? There’s a danger here. These people are dangerous. They’re wild. Listen. Listen to me.”

One by one, the other jurors turn their backs on him and his racially prejudiced tirade, until, subdued, he goes to sit by himself in a corner with nothing else to say.

Juror #8 makes another impassioned speech:

“I don’t really know what the truth is. I don’t suppose anybody will ever really know. Nine of us now seem to feel that the defendant is innocent, but we’re just gambling on probabilities. We may be wrong. We may be trying to let a guilty man go free, I don’t know. Nobody really can, but we have a reasonable doubt and that’s something that’s very valuable in our system. No jury can declare a man guilty unless it’s sure. We nine can’t understand how you three are still so sure.”

Juror #4 brings up the woman’s testimony from across the street.  He is quickly shot down by Juror #9’s sharp eyes: the woman had marks on her nose from glasses, suggesting that she wore them often.  People who wear glasses do not sleep with them on (as someone who wears glasses, I can confirm).  She was in bed at the time of the killing, happening to look out her window at around midnight to see the murder through the passing cars of an el-train, about six seconds of time total, in the dark, not wearing her glasses.

Juror #4 changes his vote, as does Juror #10.  It’s 11-1, Not Guilty.  This time, Juror #3 is the lone holdout.  He goes on a tirade as well, ranting about having all of the facts, all of the evidence on his side, and as he pulls out his wallet to prove it, a picture falls out: one of his and his son.

In a burst of realization that his anger is not directed towards the defendant, but rather his own son, Juror #4 breaks down, and the final vote is called: unanimous, Not Guilty.

Juror #1 knocks on the door and tells the guard that they’re ready to give their verdict.  The men file out, Juror #8 staying behind a moment to hand #3 his jacket.

Once outside the courthouse, Juror #9 and Juror #8 exchange names and smiles.  Juror #9, McCardle, says ‘so long’, and heads off.  Juror #8, Davis, walks down the courthouse steps, and disappears out of shot.

The end.

For being just over an hour and a half with only three settings, the film seems like there is a lot more to it than one would think.  We don’t even learn most of the juror’s names, and yet they seem like fully developed characters, and we feel the satisfaction of justice well served.

Or do we?

One of the most interesting things about this movie is that neither the jury, nor the audience, ever finds out if the boy is guilty, or not.  Only that there is reasonable doubt.  By the same token, there is plenty of evidence to convict him.  Even Juror #8 admits that he does not know if the boy is innocent, or guilty, and it’s left to the audience, as it was left to the jury, to make up our own minds about it.

Sobering, isn’t it?

As for me?  I don’t know.  Maybe he’s guilty.  Maybe he isn’t.  That doesn’t change the thrust of the movie.

The idea of the movie, the point of it, is that we have this system for a reason, and by showing us an assortment of the type of people who can end up on a jury, we are called to think about, and respect, our duty to our legal system.  We don’t want to be Juror #7, switching sides based on how fast he thinks they can get out so he can get to his ball game, or Juror #10, who allowed his hatred to cloud his reason, or Juror #3, who didn’t realize that he was trying to punish his own son based on his anger, instead of the actual defendant based on reason.  We want to take this seriously, like #9 and 11.  We want to know, want to believe, that in the end, there is a truth, and justice will prevail.

We want to be the Hero, Juror #8, on his Hero’s Journey for the truth.

Another thing we don’t know is what happens to each juror after the movie is over.  The film takes place over the span of one day.  We have no way of knowing if this affects anyone, if Juror #7 learns to be more cognizant of things around him, if Juror #10 turns from his racist views, or if Juror #3 reconciles with his son.  We just don’t know.  The film is full of ambiguity, and in that, it feels bitterly real, even if it isn’t realistic.

In that respect, the film makes quite an impact.  It stays with you.  It makes you think.

And the audience is the better for it.

Thanks so much for reading!  If you enjoyed it, please stay tuned to join us for the remainder of our study of 12 Angry Men. Don’t forget that my ask box is always open.  Thank you guys so much for reading, and I’ll see you all in the next article!

#12 Angry Men #12 Angry Men 1957 #1957 #50s #Film #Movies #Drama #Crime #PG #Henry Fonda #Lee J. Cobb #Ed Begley #E.G. Marshall #Jack Warden #Jack Klugman #Joseph Sweeney #George Voskovec #John Fiedler #Robert Webber #Edward Binns #Martin Balsam #Sidney Lumet

[filipino-lesbian-pierre-curie]

Math and Myself

Not to sound like the stereotypical autistic white cis male, but math is my current special interest.

I think the reason as to why the autistic community views this stereotype as harmful (and it is harmful), is because allistics don’t really grasp the idea of what a special interest is? A special interest isn’t something you’re necessarily good at but it gives that delightful burst of joy and happiness in our lives. It is not an obsession but an escape, a things that is ours personally. So at the risk of sounding like a stereotype, I’m going to reflect on my special interest in math and my tumultuous relationship with it.

Like every other “gifted” child, I was put into a special math program from second until fourth grade. I did have the basic skills, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, but due to the special math program, I never developed a good foundation in geometry, fractions, decimals and the like. After a while I got lazier and lazier, I understood nothing and our teachers expected us to know everything, like some omnipotent deity. Fifth grade served me no better when our class was given a particularly moody math teacher who would sometimes mock our efforts and take some (I’m not sure if these things are even offensive to neurotypicals, but I was once taken aside because I had written “my dad helped me” on one of my homeworks).

Come high school, I had grown to hate math with such a passion. Our new teacher was sort of on a weird power trip most of the time, but I have to admit I came to have some of the small rush of happiness with the introduction of algebra. Eighth grade came and I went back to treating math indifferently. It was simply another subject to get over with. In fairness to math, I was focused on another recurring special interest, biology.

9th grade was the worst. Our teacher never made math easy to understand, he was difficult to speak to, and constantly did some pretty horrible stuff like gaslighting and group punishment. He convinced me that I was simply not trying hard enough, or d*mb. If I didn’t hate math in my elementary years, I hated it in 9th grade. I not only hated math but I grew scared of it and would just fail my exams. I will not continue writing about my 9th grade experiences in this post. I still get upset when I think about it.

I regained some of that respect for math back in tenth grade, but I was still deeply scarred emotionally. My teacher, who I am very fond of, cultivated some confidence back in me and I came to enjoy math a bit. However, I still viewed it as merely a tool and something to get over with.

I didn’t really take math in senior high school, but I had one general math class which I actually liked, even though our teacher was often absent. I understood the concepts and I had some of that rush sometimes. After that class though, math was nothing to me. In my entrance exams, I would guess the math portion and not even bother reading the questions. 

Now comes college. I originally was in biology for premed, but switched to physics after I suddenly lost almost all interest in biology. I made a logical argument with myself. If I did well in my math and physics classes in my first term, I would shift to an actual physics program, if not, I would go back to biology. If I merely survived, i would remain in premed physics.

I didn’t expect to love math. Our professor was a rumored terror of the math department, so I began studying in advance. I recited in class, did the problem sets, and when the first test came, I got a measly 78%. (78% is quite low by Philippine standards. It is a passing grade, but not that good.)  I was really disappointed as I was used to inputting a certain amount of effort and getting the expected results for that amount. 

So I studied harder, I tried understanding the logic behind trigonometry, inequalities, and functions, and over time, I did. I really really adore my math professor, she was able to teach this kid (me) with almost 0 foundation in mathematics. I started acing tests and I got a rush anytime I did math, (just realising now I sound like I’m on meth hahahha) and I looked forward to my math classes everyday. Damn, I even started stimming so wildly in math class, jumping and hopping and flapping, because I really felt like a bird! In FIlipino, we have a word that describes the fluttery feeling when you see your crush called “kilig” but I get this feeling when i do math. And I love it.

I’m now on my third term of taking college level math, and although the online classes have dampened my happiness with it, I still love it, and I don’t see myself losing interest in the near future. I escape into math lessons when I feel stressed, and although math is difficult, and I do have difficulty with it sometimes, it rewards my efforts and helps me get back into shape. This is also probably why I dislike people interrupting me in the middle of my math homework/lesson. 

Here are some things I learned from my journey with math:

1. Special interests don’t mean someone knows everything about it, but that they are so willing to learn about that certain special interest, simply because it is exciting and brings happiness to their life. It gives them something to be assured of, to process at their own time.

2. I have a braincrush type. Slightly sarcastic but understandable in the context because they express their thoughts quite clearly. Also, very passionate about their field of study and love teaching others about it. Ok I’m going to stop.

3. We should not mistake passion for intelligence. The only reason I came to be “good” in math (in the formal, academic sense) is because I learned to love it and so wanted to understand it, and not because I could understand it. 

4. Anyone can do math. 

(insert Ratatouille reference here)

I am totally against the stereotype of autists automatically being math geniuses, but I am also an advocate for more women in STEM fields. I understand that allistics still exist and they would not have the same experience of autists with special interests in math, but it is good to share knowledge, passion, and love. 

In most classes, math teachers are biased against women, or people presenting as female, so these groups are easily discouraged in math. I think teachers should make math more understandable and intuitive instead of using vague and complicated terms on new lessons. Math is wonderful, and not a burden, but a language to be understood and loved. 

I’m going to study sequences and series now, but I feel good after writing that down. i’ll write more on this because one post isn’t enough to explain my complex relationship with math.

 Please comment your thoughts on math and how it relates to autism!

#autism in stem #stem #math #autism #special interest #my pieze #august 2020 #education

[istheresomebodywhocanimagine]

Tomorrow Never Came PT. 5

You’re over four decades into the past, and now you’re almost halfway through the year you had to prepare for the attack. Summer has come, and you begin to get into a groove with your routine, but when you step out of that routine for just a moment, something - or someone - finally comes to stop you in your tracks. 

Read PT. 1 here | Read PT. 2 here | Read PT. 3 here | Read PT. 4 here

(a/n: I DIDNT HAVE TIME TO PROOFREAD DONT KILL ME anyways hi i’m opening requests again since i should have the rest of the main ones out of the way before the weekend is over)

July in London felt like it always did back in the future – did that sentence even make sense, you wondered? Not that your life was making sense anyways. It hadn’t since March, but at the same time, you’d never felt happier. You had a steady job, lovely roommates, and you were slowly figuring out how you were going to save your mother from a most undesirable future.

Anyways, July was in full swing, and the weather being up in the 70s to match the year had you in high spirits. Freddie and Roger were in high spirits too – they had finally played a show with Deacon as the bassist, and they’d raved about it for days afterwards. Suddenly, they were begging you to come see them play. They’d only played a few gigs here and there since you’d met them, and never with Deacon, so they desperately wanted you to see them in action.

You’d considered, of course. Although you’d gotten over the initial shock of being in cahoots with Queen, going and seeing them perform would certainly be a daunting check off of the old bucket list – after all, who else born after 1995 could say that they’d seen the original lineup of Queen play in some dingy, underground London pub? Hint – nobody. But at the same time, you worried. How would that affect the future of Queen? Would your presence make someone miss a note or forget the lyrics, inciting an argument that broke up the band before it even began? They were all testy fellows, for sure, and there was no telling what your presence alone could set off.

Roger, though, was incessant. And you couldn’t blame him – this band was his life, his dream, and he wanted to share it with you, one of his closest friends.

“It’s late tomorrow night, surely you can skive off work early?” Roger complained, tossing a fry into his mouth as you rolled your eyes. You’d explained this to him a hundred times over, and honestly, you were beginning to get tired of it. He batted his eyelashes, purposely accentuating the alluring blue of his eyes as he practically stared you down. “I mean, this is the first day you’ve had off in weeks.”

“Rog, I’m the only closing person out front tomorrow night. I’m afraid I can’t.” Pouting, he looked down to his plate again and let his shoulders sag a bit. He was awfully melodramatic today, and you couldn’t help but laugh and shake your head. “Nuh-uh, no amount of crying like a baby is going to make me lose my only job. I’ve got to pay rent, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, throwing a burnt crisp of a fry at you and giving you the stink eye as he continued to eat. He was seated across from you in a cracked vinyl-upholstered booth at some burger joint you’d heard him mention once or twice. It was a bit out of the way for you, so you’d never stopped by, but he’d insisted on it tonight – Freddie was out with Mary and you didn’t want to cook tonight. “I swear, you work every day. Don’t you ever want a break, love? Your feet have got to be killing you.”

He was right on that, your feet did ache like no other nowadays. You’d tried switching up shoes to make it better, but nothing could combat the hard concrete that was underneath the tile of that café. The wince that contorted your face when he said that answered for you, and a knowing smirk graced his lips as he crossed his arms and leaned forward on the table, arching a blond eyebrow in challenge. “That’s not the point, Rog,” you dismissed, a warning tone to your voice as you picked at your fries, your stomach starting to feel a bit full.

“I think it is,” he replied in a sing-song voice, lifting his nose at you for a moment before laughing. “Come on, Y/N, one night won’t kill you! Ask that greasy bloke that’s always giving you one-liners to cover. He’d do it for the chance to breathe your air again.”

It was tempting, and you hated how right he was today. He was making good point after good point, and you were quickly running out of defenses to avoid what you were probably going to do anyways. Looking around, you tried to stall, and you scanned the restaurant for anything to help you. A family waiting for their food. A young brunette girl sitting at the counter 10 feet away from you, talking with the chef. A salt-and-pepper-haired man, older looking, sitting a booth or two behind Roger and reading a newspaper. Nothing. Sighing in defeat, you reached for your napkin and wiped off your hands as you grumbled, “I suppose I could do that. He’s in tonight, anyways.”

Cheering, Roger grabbed his napkin as well and wiped at his face so quickly he almost knocked his hat off, his big doe eyes alight with excitement as he tossed enough money to cover the tab down on the table. He scooted out of the booth, almost crowding you in his eagerness to go over to the café. “Come on, I want to hear what the oily old chap has to say today. Maybe I can learn something from him.”

“You’re something else, Roger,” you laughed, rising out of the booth and grabbing your purse before pulling it over your shoulder. “And don’t even think about taking notes from him. He’s a disgusting pervert and you’d get slapped in an instant if you ever tried to use any of his lines.”

“They work so well on you! After all, you do have his schedule memorized,” he teased, poking at your side in fun as the two of you exited the burger place, Roger holding the door open for you before following you out onto the sidewalk. You gave him a warning look, and he whined as he fell into step with you, heading down the sidewalk together. “You know I’m joking, don’t be such a prude. I’m funny and you know it, admit it!” Throwing an arm over your shoulder, he reached up with his other hand to mess up your hair, receiving a gentle smack on the wrist for it.

“You’re such an arse sometimes, truly!” you laughed, trying to fix your hair in vain before just giving up and letting it blow back into place from the soft breeze that filtered around the corners of buildings. Stepping out into the street, you two looked like a regular couple to the untrained eye, especially when you wrapped an arm around his waist, clinging on to the white button up/suspender duo he had on. His arm was casually dangling over your shoulder, holding you to his side and bumping hips with you as you both walked. And though Roger’s scrawny figure wasn’t an imposing sort, you did feel like he offered you some blanket of security that way – you felt safe, impossibly safe, in his arms, and that scared you.

This part of the city was a bit unfamiliar to you, but you’d heard your mom mention it once or twice, and you suddenly felt a pang of sadness in your heart as you missed her dearly. You missed her smile, the way her eyes nearly closed when she did so, and the way she said your name – it was relaxing, and you hadn’t heard it in so long. And that laugh, when you said something really outrageous, the way it twinkled – God, it made every second here worth it. You loved your mom dearly, and if this was the way to bring her back, then you were determined to succeed.

Lost in your own thoughts, you felt as if you were in a daze as Roger led you down an unfamiliar street, lined with carts touting fruit and other goods for sale. An array of smells battered at your nostrils, overwhelming you with stimulation as you glanced around, taking in the sight and feeling a significant sort of loss at the fact that something like this was so rare in the 21st century.

And that’s when you heard it. Her voice, followed by that unmistakable laugh. You thought you were imagining it at first, but it was so present, so real, that you found yourself clutching on to Roger for dear life as your head whipped around, searching for the source of the sound desperately.

You found her. There she was, chatting away with a vendor who was talking her up and trying to convince her to buy just one more peach for the road. She was laughing at the flirty smiles being sent her way, her smile the same as ever, just framed by a younger, less troubled face. Roger noticed your frantic change of demeanor, and he looked down at you with a curious expression on his face. However, you gave him no time to ask questions as you ducked down, practically forcing him into the nearest alleyway and using him as a human shield when she turned away from the vendor, heading straight for where you just were. Peeking around him, you watched as your mom wandered off, vibrant, glowing, and so unbothered by life. Troubling, how the years had changed her.

Roger stood still, baffled by your behavior in the last 30 seconds but patiently waiting for an explanation as kept his arm around your shoulder. You’d turned his back to the street, so now he was leaned against the back wall of a building and mostly shielding you from view. You held him stationary with a firm grip on his arm that was leaned against the wall, your other hand still grasping his shirt like it was your lifeline.

Realizing how tightly you were holding on to him, you felt your cheeks burning as you pulled your hand away, mumbling softly. “Sorry. Er, thought I saw an ex out there. Didn’t want to see them.”

“Oh?” Roger said, suddenly interested when you’d brought an ex into the equation. “You should have told me! I could have given ‘em a serious case of jealousy, signed with a big old smooch from ol’ Roger Taylor himself.” The smirk on his lips was undying, and you fought off a smile as you rolled your eyes playfully, heading back out to the street with him now that it was a bit safer.

“Talking about yourself in the third person is weird, you know?” you pointed out, and Roger dismissed the suggestion with a wave and a scoff. “Plus, you’ve got a lot of nerve thinking that I wouldn’t smack you silly for kissing me out of nowhere.”

“That’s what they all say,” he teased, and you groaned in mock disgust as you started to head down the sidewalk with him again, heading back towards the café

The next night, the pub was noisy, as expected, and the crowd clamored with anticipation as the time for the boys to play grew closer. You’d given Roger and Freddie good luck hugs, and then headed back out to grab yourself a drink before the show started. Settling for a pale lager, you found a seat at the bar that was close enough to the stage that you had a good view of all of them, even if it was from a side angle. Turning around, you leaned back against the bar as you took a drink of the beer, observing the makeshift stage. Roger’s drums were already set up, ready to go, and some small amps littered the space, not looking completely ordered, but you knew that it wouldn���t matter anyways.

After you had a good portion of your beer gone, you saw Roger take the stage, his golden blonde hair flying over his shoulders as he quickly mounted the throne, sending a quick side glance to you and grinning before nodding as the rest of the boys took the stage. With hardly any introduction at all, they were off.

Of course, they didn’t need an introduction. Half of this crowd was here specifically for them, and the other half had most likely heard about them at some point tonight. Everyone was buzzing about Queen, the outrageous garage band that just came out with a new lineup and stole the show with their brilliant recorded demo and scarcely-muted flamboyance.

The buzz was all for a good reason. Queen’s stage presence was incredible, and they played like professionals on stage at Wembley, not four scrappy young guys who fought over who got the last of the crisps. They were a whole, a cohesive unit that played as one, and you found yourself so entranced by their work that you hardly noticed the man who’d seated himself next to you, ordering two lagers.

“Would you like another drink?” he asked, snapping you out of your focus and drawing your attention to him. The dim light made it hard to tell, but you felt like you’d met him before, and you squinted a bit before glancing at the bartender as he sat two beers on the bar. “It’s on me.”

“Thank you, you didn’t have to.” You smiled warmly, briefly forgetting about the boys as you finished off your first beer and took the one offered to you. If you hadn’t seen the bartender pour the drinks, you may very well have told this man to fuck off, but you were in a good mood, having had the day to relax and take your mind off work. So, you decided to entertain whatever was about to happen. From what you could see, he wasn’t bad looking, and even if it was terrible of you, you wouldn’t mind screwing up the past a bit in order to get laid by some random person who’d probably never have an effect on your future. After all, it had been four months, and you had needs just like everyone else. “What’s your name?”

“My name?” he asked, turning a bit towards you as he pursed his lips. “My name is Anthony. Yours?”

“Y/N.” You held out your hand, offering it for a quick shake, and he took it gently, his calloused one dwarfing yours as you continued to smile at him. “You here for the band?”

“Oh, no,” he chuckled, leaning an elbow on the bar as he glanced at the boys, who were playing one of their last songs. “I had to come here for different reasons.”

“So mysterious,” you laughed, leaning forward a bit and also resting on the bar as you sipped your drink. “What reasons, may I ask?”

He gave you a queer look, and then looked back at the band, his eyes settling on Roger for a moment. Following his line of sight, you also found yourself staring at Roger, admiring the energy he put into his performance – he was truly master of that drumset. Turning back to you, the man suddenly looked worried, age lining his face as he spoke just loud enough for you to hear. “You don’t belong here.”

“What?” You were taken aback, thoroughly confused by what he’d just suggested. Here you were, planning on going home with the man, and suddenly he was accusing you of being in the wrong place. Last you checked, this was the bar Queen was playing at. You assumed you had the address right, considering the boys were literally on stage right now.

“You don’t belong here! Get the hell out of here, go home.”

“W-what are you talking about?” you stuttered back, a bit nervous now and backing away as you sat the beer down on the bar. He was scaring you, his voice and words far too sure and serious to just be some random drunk convincing you to shag him somewhere else.

“Go back while you still have time. You can’t keep this up,” he demanded. When you remained stunned into silence, he sat his drink down as well and tugged you off the barstool with a firm grip on your arm, dragging you to the back corridor as the boy’s set ended. You looked back at Freddie and saw that he’d just caught the tail end of whatever you were doing, but he misinterpreted it wildly and gave you an encouraging thumbs up as you disappeared around the corner. When you were out of earshot of pretty much anyone, he finally stopped and made you face him.

“What’s your fucking major malfunction?” you spit, shrugging his hand off and stepping away from him. You got a chance to look at him in the slightly brighter light, and realized it was the man from the restaurant yesterday. In fact, you realized you’d spotted him around often in the past few months, at the café, on the street, in your building. “Are you following me, you creep? I ought to-”

“Y/N, you’re not supposed to be here, you and I know it!” he interrupted, cutting you off with a firm voice. “Go back to your time. You’ve put everyone in danger here.”

Stunned, you couldn’t think of any response as you tried to grapple with the fact that there was a middle-aged man telling you to go back to the 21st century, that you didn’t belong here and you were fucking up royally by being here. “Who even are you?” you asked apprehensively, not sure what in the hell to think of this man. “What do you want from me?”

“My name isn’t Anthony. It’s Weston, and I’m from the future too. I know you went through that fucking closet, and you need to go back through it right now, before you put everyone you love in danger, including those guys.”

Your mind was reeling, thinking of hundreds of questions per second as you tried to get a handle on the situation. This man, Weston, whatever his name was, was from the future, and he knew you. He knew that you were putting people in danger, and he knew about the closet. “How do you know this? How can I even trust you?”

“That man – the singer – Freddie’s dead,” he countered quickly. “That proof enough?”

“Everyone dies,” you pointed out, his eyebrows furrowing as you called out his weak point.

“Fine. Freddie died of pneumonia in ’91, when I was a teenager. You weren’t even a fucking thought yet. Happy?” You were quiet, and he took that as a sign to continue, sounding more and more frantic as the moments went on. “Now you really need to go home, back to whatever you’re trying to fix, because it can’t be fixed. Stop while you’re ahead. Reset. Forget this ever existed, and go live a normal life.”

What was he saying? Could you really be doing this for nothing? Why was he telling you these things, and how did he know about your plans? Your mind was a raging torrent, flooded with all kinds of anxieties that had been building up since that dreary day in March when you first met Roger and Freddie. But how much could this man really know? You were literally on the path to save your mother from something horrid, and how could he tell you to pass on that?  

“You’re mental if you think I’m not going to fix things by doing what I’m doing,” you scoffed finally, pushing him away as you began to walk away from him, done with the baffling conversation. You had already made a mental decision to ignore his demands, to write him off as a phony. But he caught up with you, hissing a warning in your ear as he failed to make you stop.

“You keep going and you’re going to destroy them! Your family, Roger, Freddie, everyone! They’re all going to come crumbling down with your plans if you keep trying to mess with the past like this!”

But you were gone before he could keep going, flipping him off with a steady hand as you made your way back through the bar. However, you couldn’t ignore the heavy weight settling in the bottom of your stomach, making you drag a bit as you went out the front and around the side of the building to where the boys were loading up their equipment.

“There she is! God, you look flushed,” Freddie pointed out, smiling mischievously as he took your face in his hands. He looked you over for a second before chuckling. “Was he that bad?”

“Who?” you asked, already blanking on what he was talking about. Sometimes, Freddie’s conversations were so one-sided you couldn’t even begin to understand them.

“That man!” he laughed, letting go of you before wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pulling you towards the van. “You two were quick, he must have been a wham-bam-thank you ma’am kind of chap. You know, I never pegged you as one to like older men, but I guess I can kind of see where he was cute. Was he big?”

“God, Freddie, shut up,” Roger groaned, lugging his kick drum from the sidewalk to the back of the van as he shot the two of you an annoyed look. Putting the drum in the van, he continued to look slightly miffed as he loaded up his set, carefully packing everything away so it wouldn’t get damaged, but he looked as though he was bothered, somehow. Something was off with him, and you couldn’t even begin to tell what it was, but you knew you had to set the record straight.

“We didn’t do anything,” you corrected Freddie. “He tried to get me to go home… with him. But I said no.”

“Shame,” Freddie pouted, letting go of you before glancing to Roger, who was just out of earshot. “I was really enjoying driving him crazy. Oh well.”

“What?” you asked, your cheeks heating up as Freddie shrugged and walked off towards Roger, stopping him with a gentle hand on the arm and whispering something to him. A considerable amount of annoyance erased from Roger’s face, but he feigned apathy as he shrugged, walking towards the van again, where you were awkwardly standing, not sure what to do with yourself. What had just went on in the bar had rattled you a bit, and Roger noticed that you were a bit off as he packed away his cymbal.

“Look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he remarked, stopping in front of you and pulling out a pack of smokes before offering one to you. Usually, you’d abstain, but you accepted the offer right now, needing an oral fixation to take your mind off of everything. Holding out his lighter, you perched the cigarette between your lips and leaned forward towards him, looking up to watch the dim light of the lighter’s flame reflecting on his eyes, which were fixated on the end of your cigarette. His free hand was cupped around  the flame, keeping it from blowing out as you inhaled, lighting up the end and nodding to him in thanks as he looked up to meet your gaze.

After staring for a moment, he nodded back and looked down, putting a cigarette between his teeth and lighting it as well, then nodding towards the van. Both of you perched in the back as the other three headed inside for a drink, leaving you two behind in the dark alleyway, your only company each other and probably some disgustingly huge rats by the trash cans. This was uncharacteristic for the both of you. Usually, you would talk each other’s ears off, never running out of things to say. But something was off. You were scared. Roger was unaware. The conflicting emotions played off of each other just like the boys did on stage, mutually working to create a jarring silence that scared the living hell out of you.

“You guys were fantastic.” You finally spoke, taking a drag and holding the smoke for a moment before exhaling slowly. Looking over, you saw Roger leaned against the side of the van, facing you, and you mimicked his position, facing him and pressing your feet up against his as you watched him quietly. “Really smashed it up there.”

“Thank you, love,” he replied, giving you a small smile before he took a drag, closing his eyes and letting his head rest back against the plastic covering on the inside of the van. “I’m just happy you finally came out to one of our shows. It’s about time.”

“I should have dropped by one a lot sooner,” you admitted, taking another drag and exhaling it quicker this time, still observing him quietly. He was a bit sweaty from the show, his shirt partially unbuttoned and revealing more of his slender, scrawny build that you still couldn’t believe belonged to one of the greatest rock drummers of the century. Wavy golden blond hair fell over his shoulders, a bit damp with sweat, but still smooth and shiny under the moonlight. You were momentarily distracted by a couple passing by the van, laughing, and you redirected your focus to them, not wanting to lose yourself in Roger’s good looks for the thousandth time. Or maybe you did. It would be something to keep your mind off of Weston, after all.

“Did we look good up there?” Roger asked, distracting you and pulling your focus back to him as he opened his eyes, staring across the open space at you. His eyes were analytical, searching your face for a reaction as we spoke. “I’d like to think that I’m the show-stealer, but that’s kind of hard when you’ve got a big ass cymbal directly in front of your face. Really kills my vibe.”

You laughed, looking back out to the sidewalk and shaking your head as you conjured up the image of them on stage again, chewing on your lip. “I don’t know, I kind of thought Brian’s hair was hard to miss. And Deacon? He’s bound to be the show-stealer in general. Girls dig that wholesome, innocent thing he’s got going on.”

“What in the hell!” Roger complained, laughing with you as he kicked your foot gently. “He’s not an innocent little boy, he’s literally the saltiest man I’ve met on this our side of the Earth and he’s got you believing he’s an angel. God, what’s a handsome, charming guy like Roger Taylor got to do to get a little recognition and praise around here?”

“You’re speaking in the third person again,” you reminded him, and he groaned before flipping you off, taking another drag.

“Bugger off, you Deacon-lover. I ought to kick you out of our flat for that one, that hurts.” You snickered as he put on a faux upset look, avoiding your gaze so he wouldn’t laugh. After a moment, he had to continue. “You know what? Deacon does have good hair. I’ll give him that. But what else does he have that I don’t? I have redeeming qualities, right? Right?”

You were quiet, letting him simmer as he caught your gaze again, waiting impatiently. When you didn’t answer, he huffed and started crawling out of the van, tossing his cigarette on the ground and stomping it out as he stood up. “No, Roger, I’m taking the piss!” you laughed, moving to dangle your legs over the edge of the van and also put out the butt of your cig as he stood half-turned from you, unsure whether to trust you or not. “I’m serious now, promise.”

Sighing, he turned back around and leaned against the door that hung open in front of you. It creaked a bit as he leaned on it, but it didn’t seem to alarm him, so you dismissed your worries about the old clunker genuinely falling apart. The veins in his arms were more prominent as he crossed his arms, giving you a look that you were convinced was actually, truly upset. He must have been a bit more sore about the subject than you’d expected which baffled you. Roger was a gorgeous man, and had plenty of attention from women, so the fact that he was convinced that Deacon was more of a ladies man than him was almost laughable. 

“I’m asking this seriously, friend to friend – why do girls like Deacon so much more?” His eyes searched your face as he spoke, desperate to find a reaction to hang on to, and you realized he was as serious as he could get. 

Plus, he didn’t mind getting to stare at you - he enjoyed it more than he’d like to admit, mainly because Freddie would kick his ass if he admitted it. Unbeknownst to you, they’d made an agreement on the day you moved in that you were off limits for him, but every day, you made the rule harder and harder to abide by, and Freddie was obviously no help either.

“It’s definitely mainly the shyness,” you admitted, swinging your legs back and forth as you looked up at up, glad to have a petty distraction from the man named Weston. “Girls love a tough egg to crack. And Deacon’s never around our place much at all. He’s definitely far more mysterious than you-“ you noticed Roger started to look irritated, so you backtracked a bit, “-which isn’t a bad thing! Some people are just quiet, like him. So girls see that and think, ‘Wow, a soft guy? Wonder if I can-“

“What are you talking about?” You heard Deacon’s voice around the corner of the van, and he emerged moments later, joining the two of you as you grinned up at him, Roger thoroughly annoyed at this development.

“Hey, John!” you greeted warmly, patting the spot next to you and trying not to laugh as Roger rolled his eyes, grumbling. “We were just talking about you, actually.”

“Oh,” John mumbled, looking a tiny bit nervous as he sat in the back of the van with you, sitting a respectable distance away and offering you a cigarette. You looked at Roger with a knowing look, which set him off when you gladly accepted, thanking him.

“Piss off! I literally just offered you a ciggy and Deacon gets all smiles for doing the same thing? God, women make me sick sometimes,” Roger ranted, his voice high-pitched and defensive as he kicked a small rock, grumbling to himself as he stalked off towards the pub’s side door, leaving you with Deacon.

“What did I do?” Deacon asked once Roger had gone, looking at you with a baffled expression. You looked over at the fresh-faced 19 year old, laughing and reaching over to wrap your arm around him, patting his head and holding him in a side hug for a moment.

“Don’t worry, you did genuinely nothing. That’s more than enough to set off Rog. Gotta love him.”

PT. 1 PT. 2 PT. 3 PT. 4

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#roger taylor x reader #roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #time travel #queen imagine #series

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Hi, why did Jim not like Strickler dating Barbara? With Trollhunter!Claire how would things play out in Unbecoming? If the show had kept AAARRRGGHH female, how would this affect it, both in the show and meta? And finally, you mentioned the gay subtext with Blinky and AAARRRGGHH, why didn't they make them a couple? I mean, ever since Korra and Steven Universe, LBGT representation has skyrocketed, I don't want to come across as a SJW, but I just wish that the show took more chances with itself.

Okay, well, I should preface my analysis of Jim’s reaction to Stricklake by saying my biological parents are happily married to each other, so I have never personally been in the position of ‘child whose single parent has started dating again’; and I only knew two kids in high school whose parents I knew were divorced, and they didn’t talk to me about their parents’ love lives; so I can only infer based primarily on media stereotypes.

There are a few reasons portrayed in media as to why the child of a single parent reacts negatively to that parent getting a new love interest.

We can rule out Jim hoping his biological parents will get back together, because James Senior is a complete nonentity in their lives. Jim only mentions him four times, all in the first season - twice to Barbara (“You remember when I was old enough to ask about Dad? Remember what you told me? You said, we just have to take care of each other. And that’s all I’m doing, Mom.”) (“Shrimp cakes? Gosh, I haven’t had those since … since …” “Dad made them for us?” “I didn’t think you were old enough to remember.” ”Oh, I remember enough. I remember how his beard used to scratch my face when he hugged me. How he used to make you laugh. But most of all how much he hurt you when he left.”), once to Bular (“You wanna see Dad. I get it, trust me. But we don’t always get what we want.”), and once to Blinky (“You know I don’t care about my father!”)

There is, popularly shown in media and I’m sure it comes up in real life too, a dissonance in a kid’s mind between their school and home lives, which makes it uncomfortable to have their parents and teachers interacting, exacerbated if the student is having some kind of difficulty at school. Jim reacts negatively to Barbara’s interest in Strickler before he even knows Strickler is a Changeling. (“So. Mr Strickler. He seems very nice. Is he single?” “What?! I don’t know!”) (“Did you seriously just ask my teacher out on a date?!”)

Jim assumes something like a caregiver role at home, taking care of food prep and household maintenance. The introduction of a new person into their lives could set off a reflexive response of, “No, we don’t need you, we’ve been managing just fine on our own.”

Jim’s also very protective. The precedent of Barbara having a relationship that ended badly means Jim might be worrying from the start that a new relationship will also end in her getting hurt.

Any change, positive or negative, creates a stress response while a person readjusts. Having his mother start dating again would be a big change for Jim. (We see no indication she’s done so in the past ten years, although it’s possible she did and the relationships just never got serious enough for her to introduce the person to her son, and it’s also possible that it just never came up because Barbara’s past relationships weren’t relevant in a show focusing primarily on Jim being the Trollhunter.)

And then, of course, Jim finds out Strickler is a Changeling, and thereafter views all of Strickler’s interactions with Barbara through the lens of “he’s trying to get to me and using my mom as both a weapon and a shield”, which is accurate for quite some time, and of course is going to make Jim angry and scared, and not going to warm him to the idea of them being together. 

An Unbecoming with Trollhunter!Claire raises the question of whether Not Enrique would still take Enrique’s place.

In canon, Enrique getting swapped was indirectly Jim and Toby’s fault. Because they followed the goblins to the museum, they saw Nomura in troll form, and she revealed the Fetch and suggested bringing in a new Changeling to convince Bular not to kill her after her identity was compromised.

Therefore, a solid argument can be made that in the show’s version of Unbecoming, Enrique was never kidnapped. We never do find out for sure.

If the swap happens because of something Claire did as Trollhunter, Enrique would probably never get switched in the Unbecoming episode, which would be one of the reasons Claire thought at first that it was a better world. (Though she might eventually realize she misses Not Enrique.)

On the other hand, if the initial Trollhunter!Claire timeline was one in which Not Enrique were already planted in the Nuñez house before Claire became the Trollhunter, then Claire’s dynamic with Not Enrique just got a lot more complicated. She has memories of growing to see Not Enrique as an adopted sibling, which he no longer shares, and she has memories of saving Original Enrique from the Darklands, which she is no longer in a position to be able to do.

I figure the ‘failed attempt to thwart the reopening of Killahead Bridge’ thing would happen, because I interpret Unbecoming as a worst-case-scenario vision crafted by Merlin to make the Trollhunter off-kilter and desperate enough to do what the wizard wants without question, but I see this backfiring when he reveals himself because Claire would be furious.

Either way, time reverts itself to how it was before at the end of the episode.

Honestly I don’t see it affecting the overall plot of the show much if AAARRRGGHH had remained Johanna, especially if the writers still went with the show backstory of “raised by Gumm-Gumms and then deserted” rather than the book backstory of “one of the leaders of the armies against Gunmar”.

She would probably have stayed a pacifist for the first half of Season One, to force Jim to have to learn how to fight instead of just hiding behind his big scary troll friend.

We might’ve actually seen cats in the Domzalski house, if the gag was kept that they are drawn to Johanna and love sleeping on her fur, to their peril; but all the cats-being-eaten scenes were just barely off-camera in the show, so maybe not.

I personally would’ve had a less negative reaction to Jlaire, because Claire wouldn’t be the only girl in the core cast, although I might still feel like it was an “Obligatory Het Romance So The Main Character Looks Straight (Or If He’s Bi It Never Comes Up In The Show)”.

BlinkAAARRRGGHH would probably be just as popular as it is now, but if the ship still wasn’t canon (or even if it was), there would also be a number of people defending keeping Blinky and Johanna ‘just friends’ because of the under-representation of close male-female friendships in popular media.

The fandom would probably also create the sapphic ship of Johanna/Nomura, based on how they’re both kickass fighter ladies who used to serve Gunmar and then deserted. (Johannomura? Nomuranna, despite the different number of ‘N’s, sounds like it refers to Nomura/Morgana, though I think that would called Nomurgana, and Jomura could be misinterpreted as the ‘J’ being for Jim, which … no. Johannomura is clearest. Maybe Johmura if that’s too long.)

I don’t know why BlinkAAARRRGGHH was never made official, but I can make some guesses.

Option 1: they didn’t know how popular the show would be and didn’t want to lose potential popularity due to censors not allowing it to air in certain countries or conservative parents not letting their kids watch it.

Option 2: because Blinky and Johanna genuinely did seem to be Not Romantically Involved in the novel, the writers didn’t realize that the adjustments and expansions made to the characters and their interactions made them look like they were together, and so the romantic subtext was unintentional.

Option 3: it was presumed that it went without saying, like how no one in the show goes out of their way to point out Claire’s parents are married to each other. (Okay, except Jim does address Claire’s parents as “Mr and Mrs Nuñez” twice, so that comparison doesn’t quite work.) This is probably the interpretation that will ‘age best’ as LGBT+ rep in children’s-marketed media becomes more prevalent and accepted.

Option 4: the writers have a different love interest planned for one or both of the characters, to be introduced in Wizards, and the romantic subtext between AAARRRGGHH and Blinky was either unintentional or meant to be one-sided.

Option 5: they aren’t together yet, and the script is building up to them becoming an official couple in Wizards.

#Trollhunters #Tales of Arcadia #Jim Lake Jr #Walter Strickler #Dr Barbara Lake #Stricklake #Anonymous asks about Trollhunter!Claire #Claire Nuñez #Unbecoming #Enrique Nuñez #Not Enrique #Merlin needs to be Rule Number 3'd #TOA novels and comics #Johanna M Arrrgh #BlinkAAARRRGGHH #Speculation #ask me anything

[tonyajace-182]

WHERE IS MY SEASON FOUR!? [Contains Spoilers]

Overall Conclusion:

I don’t feel satisfied, like at all.

So much happened and I loved every single bit of it, but it felt too much like a build-up. It actually felt a lot like a season 1 than it did a season 3 (if that makes sense).

I don’t care about Nancy and Jonathan. Their story line bored me from S1. Don’t get me wrong I’m happy they lived and have such a strong relationship between them; but their story line is of no interest for me. They are definite side characters to me that would rank like in the way way lows on my ‘characters of importance list’.

I’m actually really really proud of Karen Wheeler. She said no to temptation and that is admirable. I feel like I owe her an apology because I literally expected the absolute worst of her. As in, I was mentally and inwardly hating on her before I even watched ep1. I feel bad, especially after she had the heart to heart with Nancy.

SO…..

Sorry Mrs Wheeler.

Unexpectedly…. I think I might have a new ship or bromance. Murray and Alexei were just so cute to me. The child like marvel Alexei had was endearing, plus Murray’s attentive enlightening was cool to see. They may have been minor but when they got screen time they really brought the sweet fluff vibes.

I noticed that everyone was split into small groups (probably because they are too big to properly develop altogether as one big group). What stood out to me a lot was the dynamic’s always tended to take on a rather family vibe. Two characters would play the parents roles and the others would act the role of children. For example, Jopper were the parents, Alexei and Murray the children. Steve and Robin were the parents, Erica and Dustin the children etc. Between that, they would also switch it up with a bit of Teenage dramatude (Drama plus attitude). Jopper bickering and Murray calling them out. Jancy having real adult talk about life. Steve and Robin talking about that hard knock life. The teens being actual teens.

Real talk though, I’m proud of the kids.

I felt Lucas had a lot more to offer this season. Although, at times he really did seem a bit clueless, I don’t know. He definitely came off as a bit of a dick sometimes (both him and Mike) towards Will. Glad he chilled out later, said his apologies and stuff. I love the Mileven scenes, but Lucas and Max deserve a tonne of credit for this season.

But Max deserved the most.

I loved Max the second she was introduced, I thought she was awesome. This season I seriously name her the ultimate Wifey/best friend a guy and girl could have. She sticks to her guns, you know. Dating a boy doesn’t change her. She knows who she is and what she wants and fights to get it. She was a GREAT influence and pal to Eleven, exactly what El needed, in my opinion. My heart broke for her when she faced Billy. For whatever reason, I got the impression that she and Billy had bonded or something since Season 2. Either way, it hurt to see Sadie/Max slapped out of the way like that. Then when she cries over Billy- It broke me.

I’m glad Will kind of got a break this season. A little disappointed he didn’t really get to do much, other than be an informant. I spent a lot of the time expecting him to reveal he was actually still infected by the Mind flayer the whole time. Also, no one is going to convince me that Will is not gay or bi. The way he stares after Mike and El every time they run off together says so much. I just- after everything he’s been through, both physical and emotional intimacy is something I think he’d crave a lot of. It’s the gender I think he wouldn’t care about. Regardless, Will needs love and gods someone better give him some next season. Also, did no one else keep thinking he was like Spiderman with his mind flaying senses?

Mike was the real Nerd or Geek boy representative this season. I enjoyed seeing how gangling and similar to S1 he was. It was nice not seeing emo Mike. However, the constant doubt and questioning slowly became a bit much. Frankly, I was relieved when he and Max had that argument. I don’t like Mike when he’s in doubt or unsure on stuff. He was okay, but not really an interest for me this season. As I said, I thought he and Lucas were assholes for their treatment of Will. The car ride he has with Hopper will forever be my favorite scene of Mike’s this season.

I really felt for El this season. She’s been put through so much and-…… It’s still too raw and fresh. I can’t talk about it without getting upset. But to summarize: I’M SO FUCKING PROUD OF HER!!

Dustin. Any chance I get to hear Gaten sing is a blessing to my ears and food for my soul. I love his voice and he is so talented. He’s been my fave since the first episode okay. When no one believed him about Suzie, honest to god I wished I could be there to tell him I believed him or some shit. Beyond that, I laughed when he basically said he won’t tell the others about the Russian message because they didn’t believe him about Suzie. That was so petty but I loved it. The bonding between him and Erica was also great. Regardless… out of all the kids Dustin made me the most proud and is still my favorite.

I live for Erica’s sass, but at some points she did test me a bit.

Or maybe I just wanted her to ease up on the feisty attitude towards my baby Dustin.

Steve and Robin had me fucking scared! When they got captured I was shitting my pants imagining all the worst ways they were going to get tortured. I knew since the promo pics that I would love Robin- because I loved the expression on Maya’s face that promised so much attitude and sarcasm. She wasn’t too much of a nag, and while I had mentally labelled her a lesbian queen in my head. When she confesses to Steve I lost my shit. I fucking lost my shit and had to take a break and everything. Then Steve was perfect with his response. I don’t care Steve Harrington will be revealed as BISEXUAL before this fucking show is over!! He just has to!! He is both a MOM and a DAD!! Let’s just say I need more Steve and Robin scenes in the future. Jancy can get like cut or less scenes ok! I need Steve and Robin!!

Joyce….. I can’t talk about her without-….. I just can’t.

Hopper…. Fuck…… I can’t.

Billy.

Fuck.

Overall.

Stranger things season 3 was so good but just not enough. It was too short- too brief and left me with so much to process!!

SO FUCKING GIVE ME SEASON FOUR YOU SON OF A BITCHES!!!!!!!!

Oh.

And P.S: FUCK YOU RUSSIAN WANNABE ARNOLD!! IT’S ALL YOU’RE FUCKING FAULT!! I’M GLAD YOU GOT SPUN AND WHIPPED!!! REST IN HELL YOU FUCKING SHIT!!

#stranger things #stranger things season 3 #stranger things season 3 spoilers

[renaerougr]

My thoughts on Chameleon (Overanalysis... kinda)

Before starting let me remember you that: 

Overanalyze: to analyse (something) in too much detail.

So don’t expect this to be super realistic ok? This is gonna be absurdlyyyyyy long and I tend to blow things out of proportion a lot I’m just saying

So let’s start with the less important and more boring stuff (Actually I’m analysing scenes in order of appearance, but there’s not really much to say about the beginning aside from “Lila is a bitch lol”) 

ok so,

guys,

GUYS

Idk if you all have realised that from all the students in the class, they chose to use Sabrina to be serving Lila, which is kinda weird. If you pay attention, it makes sense for all the other people around her to be there (Mylène and Rose love helpinh people, Juleka is always hanging out with Rose, Max is the nerdy type so he probably loves learning about the bs Lila is making up and since Kim isn’t exactly smart he’s fascinated with Lila’s lies too) but SABRINA?!?! That girl is always following Chloé everywhere, one of these two things has to be happening here:

1. Sabrina had an argument with Chloé? I’m sure Chloé wouldn’t let her hang out with other people so easily (She doesn’t have anyone else to be with if Sabrina hangs out with other people)

2. Since Adrien is nowhere to be seen in this scene either I’m assuming both Chloé and he don’t have lunch at school, which makes sense, they’re the rich kids™ . This means this is the only time of the day when Sabrina can spend time with her other classmates, and she’s using it to serve another person, that’s kinda sad.

I think it’s more likely to be the 2nd one, but anyways this could be foreshadowing that we’re not going to see Sabrina with Chloé that much anymore? (Miraculous can be VERY subtle with foreshadowings) 

Honestly, even if Sabrina is the character I like the least, I can’t say I’m not going to be mad if she stops going after Chloé to go after Lila. On the positive side this implies that Chloé would be forced to look for new friends, and obviously she’d go to Adrien, and do you know who Adrien hangs out with???? Yeah you’re right Marinette, Alya and Nino!! Does this mean Chloé could be part of the main squad in the future? :o I mean they already have to deal with her in superhero mode

Ok let’s continue;

This isn’t really important but lmao I can’t believe Lila has been 5 mins inside the school and she already knows about Mari’s crush, this girl is so obvious

(FJASHFJDFJHJKFHJSDK HER FACE IM SORRY) 

“I only tell people what they want to hear”

When I heard this line the first time I found it interesting, I wonder if it has to do with Lila’s backstory (If she even has one), or if she has come to the point she believes her lies are true, since she never seems to admit she’s “lying”... This is also what compulsive liars tend to say, but I think we all already knew that she is one lmao

Anyway, shortly after that, Lila switches to this pose:

(Chloé’s picture is from Season 2, Malediktator)

And as you can see, this pose is Chloé’s pose (Like seriously I can’t be the only one who instantly thought of Chloé when she did that pose). In my opinion this small gesture is trying to tell us that she’s the new rival, kind of like a substitute for Chloé who is now supposedly redeemed, we don’t have to fear Chloé anymore Lila is the new villain in the school and she’s much much worse. (jfhasjkfdhk I just realised right after this scene Marinette says something like “I thought Chloé was evil but Lila really takes the whole cake!” so I guess I was right lol)

Nothing important, just wanted to mention that she looks like hawkmoth when he says “*Akumatized person name*, I aM hAwKmOtH”,,, I guess that’s intriguing

Ok so after this we have an angry marinette and then a short scene with adrien and lila which I don’t really care about, tho in that specific part, her voice in the english dub sounds so annoying (”sO I hEaRd YoU pLaY pIaNOoOOoOo”)

Then the episode cuts back to Marinette in the bathroom stall, she’s angry so the akuma comes closer.

I know it’s painfully obvious, but, now we know that akumas fly directly into the miraculous! For some reason I always assumed that if she or adrien were to be akumatized the akuma would fly into Mari’s purse or Adrien’s bag.

Why does this matter? Well, this confirms that Adrien getting akumatized would be much worse than Ladybug getting akumatized, because if Chat was akumatized no one would be able to destroy the miraculous to take the akuma out of it, but if Ladybug was akumatized Chat could use cataclysm and after that and Mari could purify the akuma and everything would be ok again

YOU CAN GRAB AKUMAS WITH YOUR HANDS 

This might seem silly but this implies that you can fight akumas lol,,, seriously tho I wonder if you can kill akumas or something by crushing them into the wall or stepping on them. This also proves that akumas can’t get into living objects which is great I guess, we don’t want to slice people just to purify an akuma.

Another thing that I have to mention is that she put the akuma in her earring, in. her. EARRINGS. Like at this point I’m sure this is foreshadowing that she’ll get a miraculous, I don’t know how but come on

The first time she got akumatized the akuma landed into a fake fox miraculous

(Season 1, Volpina)

The second time she got akumatized the akuma got in her bracalet (Turtle miraculous? Anyone?)

And now it’s her earrings

Like I don’t know what this girl is planning but I’m 99.99% sure she’ll get her hands on a real miraculous, and it’s gonna be real dangerous if she does. Maybe she gets to steal the Ladybug miraculous? Maybe the Cat one?

(I’m gonna talk about the leak now so skip the next few lines if you don’t want to know) 

Imagine that Volpina gets the Ladybug miraculous and tries to get the cat miraculous by herself without Hawkmoth’s help, Chat being confused asf goes to see Master fu (supposing he finally learns about him), he gives him a miraculous, like he usually does when marinette comes,and Adrien chooses the mouse miraculous. Obviously he gives it to her good fRIEND Marinette.

TALKING ABOUT THE LEAK IS OVER

Dude I love Lila but why does she have to be so evil dammit 

ok let’s proceed

lmao this screenshot

“Hawkmoth, I am Lila.”

THIS IS SO COOL BECAUSE at this point Lila thinks she’s in control but she’s really not, I’m 100% sure she’ll end up being used by Hawkmoth and then “thrown away”, Hawkmoth  has the powers after all. Yet by not even letting him start talking she’s showing that she thinks she’s superior and that she’s the real villain, she doesn’t even realise that without Papillon she isn’t anything. Can’t wait to see how their relationship evolves or if she’ll really get betrayed by Hawky AAAAAAAAA

This is not relevant but, honey... What friendship? You (Adrien, not Lila) have ignored him for a whole season.

THIS. SCENE.

I’m dying because I KNOW this scene means something but I can’t figure it out, doesn’t Lila hate BOTH Ladybug and Chat Noir? Doesn’t she hate all superheroes?? And still, even if she doesn’t, why would she take Chat Noir’s balloons??? WHAT DOES THIS REPRESENT? Maybe there’s nothing behind it?? I don’t know man

After that Lila throws Adrien (herself) once again from the Eiffel Tower, she knows that Adrien is important for Ladybug, she took the CN’s balloons before, dammit does she know their identities?????? It doesn’t look like it but perhaps she’s the only smart parisian who figured out their identites (I mean, the fact that Adrien and Marinette are the only ones who know she’s lying makes them suspects right?? I feel like I’m reaching with this tbh)

Lila once again with her superiority attitude and going against Hawkmoth plans, lots of villains do this so it isn’t surprising but still. Interesting how she is convinced she is in control, I’m curious if this “bad attitude” with Papillon will grow bigger and bigger in the rest of the season... I mean, akumatized people always have a little bit of respect for Hawkmoth

Our boy Nino out here having an existential crisis over losing his cap lol

Oh BOY we’re going to see much more from Lila in this season. With her and Mayura season 3 is going to get dangerous asf for Mari and Chat. Again, I’m really excited to see what she’s planning, I’m really excited to see what everyone is planning tbh

And lastly, we have this small conversation between Marinette and Adri. I know that what Adrien said caused a lot of backlash but in my opinion it makes sense. 

At first I thought he said so because it’s unecessary to cause more drama and the class wouldn’t believe her anyway, so what’s really the point? But then I realised he was saying so because of Lila’s probable response, she gets really angry when she gets caught and she wouldn’t even want to admit she was lying even if it were obvious that she was. As Chat Noir, his job is to make people not upset so there’s less akumas, specially Lila since she’s proven that she’s a tough enemy. Also, he’s right about not making the bad guy suffer, it never works so that’s another thing.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I’m convinced that sharing this secret will help them bond, I can see them ranting about Lila’s lies or Adrien comforting Mari when Lila gets her on her nerves. This is not the best way to make evolve the love square but I’m all here for it, even if Lila’s lies are not the best thing to bond over, it’s their little secret.

Maybe when everyone is hanging out around Lila these two will keep company to each other uwu (And probably Chloé, Alya and Nino will end up joining them as soon as Lila mentions the other heroes)

oh hi there hawky

SO I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this, I’m sure I’ve missed lots of things (Although I skipped some stuff because they’re everywhere on Tumblr already) So please add the interesting stuffs you’ve seen on the episode!! Also feel free to debunk all of what I said!! That’s cool too! Don’t worry I’m not an expert on Miraculous and it’s better not to spread “false” theories

#miraculous ladybug #chameleon #chat noir #adrien agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #lila rossi #ladybug #ml #Miraculous Ladybug: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir #ml spoilers #theory #speculation #analysis #miraculous ladybug s3 #season 3 #ml s3 spoilers #akuma #akuamtization #volpina #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #chloe bourgeois #foreshadowing #idk what to tag this lmao #mlb

[strawori]

Between Skateboards and Guitars - Chapter 4 | Elu

Summary: “ There was something about this guy skating, alone and so well, that had Eliott frozen on his spot and unable to take his eyes away from him.”

Or, the one where Eliott is a guitarist and when he goes to the park to play he meets Lucas a skater that mesmerizes him from the first moment.

Words: 3k

can also be read on my ao3 @ invisible_slytherin

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Saturdays were usually a calm and quiet day for Eliott. There was never much to do so, most of the times, it was a day without worries.

If he had school work that needed to be done in the weekend, he usually took Saturday for that, not really wanting any work to pile up. And, if there was nothing he absolutely had to do, he used Saturdays to catch up on any sleep he had lost during the week or to hang out with his friends. Saturdays were, all in all, a great day for Eliott.

Today, he hadn’t had anything that needed to be done for school. There were no tests or projects coming up any time soon and, therefore, he hadn’t needed to do anything.

He had slept almost the whole morning away, though. The week had tired him and the good night of sleep had made almost all the exhaustion fade away so, Eliott knew it had been the best way to spend his morning.

However, after lunch, he still had nothing to do, or rather, nothing he wanted to do. His mom had left to go shopping with some friends and his dad was working and Eliott didn’t feel like being alone in the house. Thus, and because Eliott also didn’t want to go outside, he texted his friends to see if any of them could come over. He knew that at least one of them would probably be able to.

He had been right. Even though Alex hadn’t been able to since he was on his date with Emma and Idriss was apparently out with his sister, Sofiane had sent him a text saying that he would be there soon.

To be truthful, Eliott didn’t mind that Sofiane was the only one who could come over. In a way, he was actually glad the situation had turned out that way.

Eliott and Sofiane had always been close. Since they had met that they had had the habit of turning to each other when it came to any serious subject or something related to the heart. Now, after years of doing so, they understood each other so well when it came to emotions, feelings and mood, that it was easy for them to open up to each other. It wasn’t that they couldn’t talk to their other friends, but they knew each other so well, that they felt the most comfortable talking to each other.

Thing is, Eliott and Sofiane hadn’t been able to hang out just the two of them in a long while. Between school and work, family and other friends, there had always been something stopping it from happening. Eliott was sure that after so many weeks since the last time they had had a heart to heart, both of them had a lot of things to tell the other.

They don’t live too far from each other, therefore, it’s not long before Sofiane is knocking at Eliott’s door. While Eliott went to the kitchen to get something for them to eat, Sofiane went to Eliott’s room and made himself at home. They had been at each other’s places so many times that they felt as comfortable as at home there. When Eliott entered his room, Sofiane had already taken off his shoes and jacket and was sitting on his bed with his phone in his hands.

After Eliott put what he had brought for them to eat on his bedside table, the two of them laid down next to each other on the bed staring at the ceiling. It was the exact same position they had adopted since they were little for their serious talks. It felt intimate in the way that they could lay their secrets down to each other and be assured that they wouldn’t leave the room. To this day, they hadn’t changed their way of laying in bed and Eliott hoped that for years to come the little tradition would remain the same, for it would mean they kept on talking to each other.

“It’s been a while,” Sofiane finally broke the light silence that had taken over Eliott’s room.

“Too long,” Eliott agreed.

Eliott turned his head a little to look at Sofiane. He was still looking at the ceiling, but he looked thoughtful and Eliott saw him gulp and rub his ear like he usually did when he was trying to come up with words to say something. Eliott gave him the time he needed to find the right way to say whatever it was that he wanted to tell him without any pressure except his curious gaze.

“I like someone.”

Eliott sat up in bed and fully looked at Sofiane with a smile. It wasn’t a common occurrence for Sofiane to fall for someone. Although Sofiane had liked a few people before, between the two of them, Eliott was usually the one who fell faster and more easily. None of the people Sofiane had liked before had been deserving of the openly affectionate look his friend had on his face right now, though. This was new and Eliott couldn’t help the happiness that spread through him when faced with his friend’s glee.

“Who is it?” Eliott asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

Sofiane looked amused at Eliott’s eagerness to know more and smiled up at him.

“Imane.”

“Idriss’ sister?” Eliott raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

Eliott hadn’t talked to Imane in a long time. He had seen her in passing when he went to visit Idriss and saw her once or twice in school, but hadn’t really had the opportunity to talk to her in any of those times.

He tried imagining Imane and Sofiane together and, surprisingly, it was easy. He didn’t know Imane as well as he knew Sofiane, but, from what he did know about the two of them, they seemed kind of perfect for each other in a way that had never occurred to Eliott. He knew that Imane was a great person and Sofiane was probably the best person he had ever met, so if they ever started dating, Eliott would be rooting for them.

“She’s great,” Eliott nodded. “Does she know you like her?”

“Not yet.”

“So, you are thinking about telling her,” Eliott smirked.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to telling her… Eventually,” he admitted. “If I find that I should and that she won’t, you know, reject me and never talk to me again.”

Eliott nodded in understanding and laid down on the bed again.

“She’s going to be at the game tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll tell you if you should go forward with telling her or not after I see you with each other.”

Sofiane snorted inelegantly before laughing, clearly amused with Eliott’s antics and his apparent power to know if it was a good idea or not to tell someone about one’s feelings.

“Thanks, Eliott, I’ll impatiently wait for your advice.”

Eliott rolled his eyes and grabbed the pillow he had below his head to hit Sofiane for his mockery efforts.

“What about you?” Sofiane turned his head to look at him. “How’s your life?”

Eliott chuckled.

“Nothing interesting right now, to be honest.”

He wasn’t lying. There was nothing too exciting or worth noticing happening at the moment. It was just a normal, boring life and Eliott didn’t really mind it. It gave him time to rest and not worry.

“Come on, there must be something.”

“You are seriously overestimating my life,” he snorted, amused. “School is the same as always and I don’t have that many friends in there to know the juicy gossip. I’ve told you that already.”

“You really need to get to know more people there,” Sofiane shook his head in fake disappointment. “Who’s supposed to tell me high school gossip if not you?”

“You can always ask Imane,” Eliott raised an eyebrow.

“Duly noted,” Sofiane laughed recognizing Eliott’s answering teasing.

There was a beat of silence and Eliott knew that it probably meant that more serious subjects were approaching.

“How are things with your parents?” Sofiane finally asked.

Eliott shrugged.

“Better. My dad tries harder to have a more suitable schedule, but he can’t always switch with colleagues and get the best hours. It wouldn’t be fair for the others, you know.”

Sofiane nodded slightly, his attention completely on what Eliott was saying.

Eliott’s parents had been having problems for a while now. Eliott’s father was a doctor and his schedule at the hospital was inconsistent and inconvenient most of the times. It was the usual for people in his field, but Eliott’s mother hated that they barely got to spend any time together as a family. Their schedules almost never allowed for it and even family dinners were hard some weeks. So, things had been rough between them, with some arguments and divergence of opinions. It wasn’t pretty some days.

“But it’s good that it’s working out better now, no?”

“Well, yes,” Eliott nodded. “But I don’t know how long it will last. Hectic schedules are part of a doctor’s life and my dad won’t be able to run away from them no matter how much the two of them want him to.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not like anyone can do anything to prevent it from happening. And it’s not like it’s a new situation. It’s been happening since they got married… They’ll get through it.”

Sofiane didn’t need to voice it for Eliott to hear the unsaid question.

“And if they don’t, then it’s probably or the best for them.” He ran a hand through his hair. “If they can’t work around it, then I wouldn’t want them to be stuck in something that isn’t making them completely happy.”

It would suck to have his parents divorce, yes, but Eliott would understand it. It wouldn’t be the end of the world and he would still be able to spend time with both of them. Above all, he just wanted them to be as happy as they could. Or at least that’s what he tried convincing himself of every time he thought of the possibility of it happening.

“That’s very mature,” Sofiane said and he sounded only vaguely impressed, as if, when it came to Eliott, he wasn’t surprised by that fact at all.

“You know me,” Eliott turned his head to wink at him, making the both of them laugh.

“And what about you?” Sofiane asked when they stopped laughing. “How are you?”

“Good. School isn’t being stressful right now. And going to the park and just relaxing and playing guitar is great for me. I feel lighter you know,” he smiled.

“I’m very glad.”

Sofiane had been there through almost every high and every low in Eliott’s life since they had known each other. He was good at reading Eliott’s moods by now and he usually understood what Eliott needed based on that. However, since they hadn’t really been seeing each other regularly recently, Eliott understood why Sofiane could be a little worried about him. He was happy to have friends who cared about him this much, it always feels good to be reassured that he has someone he can turn to. Sometimes the worry can be badly translated to ‘hovering’ in Eliott’s mind and it annoys him beyond anything. Surprisingly, though, this time it doesn’t feel like hovering, it just feels like caring.

***

Sofiane didn’t stay for much longer after that.

They listened to some music and played a video game, but it was getting late and Sofiane had to get home before dinner, so, eventually, he had to get up and leave Eliott’s room.

Once Sofiane had left, Eliott got up from his bed and got some paper and a pencil from his desk, also throwing a book to the bed so he could put the paper on top of it and be able to draw. He put his headphones on, blasting some dubstep before laying down and grabbing the pencil.

Eliott started drawing the image he had on his mind. He didn’t have control over the movement of his fingers, they did what they wanted to do and Eliott could only watch as he unconsciously drew exactly what he had lived just minutes before. Exactly what he wanted to draw.

He drew his room and his bed without much detail, just background to the important pieces of the drawing. A raccoon and a quokka, both on the bed looking up in comfortable silence.

Eliott had started giving spirit animals to the people in his life when he was thirteen. He had been learning about animals in science class and, when he got home, he had gone on a spiral of research.

He found out information about animals personalities and, after observing the people around him, he was intrigued to find that some of his classmates had attitudes similar to certain animals. It had made him think, research more and try to find the perfect animal for himself and his friends.

Granted, that hadn’t been a great period in Eliott’s life, but at least something good had come out of it and, to this day, he still used animals to describe the important people in his life.

At first, Eliott hadn’t been sure about his own animal. He had thought about a bat and about an owl, but, although they were good options, they didn’t seem to fit him right; there was always something he didn’t identify with.

And then he had stumbled upon the raccoon and it just made sense to him.

Raccoons like the dark, they live in it and are one with it. They’re smart and sweet, but can be unpredictable and mischievous. They’re wild at heart and they’ll hurt or leave if threatened or not cared for properly. They value touch above the other senses and they wear a mask that might protect them from the light. A mask that could be a metaphor for hiding the truth about oneself, a metaphor for self-preservation.

Eliott identified with them back when he was thirteen and, as he grew up and found out more things about himself and got to know himself better, he discovered that he does have more in common with raccoons than he thought before, making them the perfect spirit animal for him.

Finding Sofiane’s animal hadn’t been too hard, though. Eliott had been watching a documentary about Australian Animals and, when they talked about the quokka, Eliott had been sure that if any animal would fit his friend, it would be this one. Quokkas are sometimes referred to as the happiest animal in the world since they seem to smile and, spiritually, it’s believed that being near one can lift anyone’s mood. They’re open and friendly and compassionate. And there was no other way for Eliott to describe Sofiane if not with those adjectives.

Eliott isn’t sure how much time passed since he started drawing, but, when he looks up, his mother is in the doorway with a little smile on her face observing him while he draws.

“I didn’t see you there,” he said, a little startled.

“I noticed,” she chuckled.

She walked into the room and set on the bed next to him looking at the drawing he had just finished.

“As beautiful as always,” she ruffled his hair. “It had been a while since you drew Sofiane.”

“It had been a while since we talked properly,” he shrugged. “But we finally did today and it felt right to draw something about it,” Eliott added the last touches to the drawing.

“You’ll have to invite him and Idriss to have dinner with us soon. I haven’t seen those boys in way too long.”

“Will do,” he laughed.

She picked the drawing up from the bed.

“Are you finished?”

“Yeah.”

She got up, drawing in hand, and went to Eliott’s desk to get some tape before hanging the drawing on the wall above Eliott’s bed like she used to do when he was little.

Eliott’s walls were mostly filled with drawings. Drawings from when he was little and didn’t know what he was doing, abstract drawings as he now called them amusedly. Drawings he had done when he started growing up where you could actually understand what he had intended to transfer to the paper. And the drawings he had done after he had started giving people spirit animals.

Everyone that he cared about had a portrait somewhere in Eliott’s walls. Alone. With him. In group. It was his way of showing himself who was important and which moments mattered.

Looking at his walls always gave him a sense of security. The people in there would always be there for him and he was incredibly grateful to have them.

“Dinner will be ready soon,” his mother smiled at him before bending down to kiss his head. “Don’t get distracted.”

He watched her leave the room and smiled.

He knew he shouldn’t start a new drawing now since it would distract him and probably make him late for dinner, but he couldn’t help himself.

With a new piece of paper on top of the book he had been using as pretend table before and the pencil in his hand again, Eliott drew a racoon laying in bed again and, looming over him and kissing his head, a bear.

Because bears give strength and confidence and support, they can take leadership positions in aversive times and they’re grounding. The perfect image of his mother.

Again, the time when he realized that his mother was exactly like that wasn’t the best. It was hard for him and he was down and scared, but his mother had helped him through it, had been there for him every step of the way and had taken control when Eliott felt lost beyond belief. It hadn’t been great, but it had helped to solidify his relationship her and, for that, Eliott was grateful.

He didn’t put this drawing on his wall, it didn’t feel like it belonged to him, it felt like it was meant for someone else. So, when he finally left his bedroom to go have dinner, Eliott stopped by his parents’ room and put the drawing on their wall.

Because it really didn’t belong to him, it belonged to his mother.

Chapter 5 |  Chapter 6 |  Chapter 7 |  Chapter 8 |  Chapter 9 | Chapter 10

#skam france #elu #lucas x eliott #fanfic #i wasn't sure if i should tag the skamfr tag on a friday cause i feel like its imane's day #but i wanted to publish today

[chirpingtiger]

Five reasons why Tony is more of a villain in the MCU than Loki

1.) Kill count.

Pure and simple, Tony has a higher human kill count than Loki does.

Loki is responsible for summoning the Chitauri army to New York, and thus all the deaths caused by that.

We are told in Avengers that “he killed eighty people in two days,” and shown in Civil War that the kill count from the battle for New York is seventy-four, (although some of those deaths were shown to be caused by the Hulk).

This makes Loki’s total 154 people.

In canon, Loki is punished for this by being sent back to Asgard in chains and imprisoned there.

Tony is responsible for creating Ultron and unleashing him on the world, and therefore is responsible for all of the deaths that Ultron caused. Now, we are never given a specific number on the people that Ultron killed while resource gathering for his big hit, but we know that there were at least three significant ones. The civilian death count from Sokovia was shown in Civil War to be one hundred and seventy seven, and we know that Pietro died there as well.

Looking ONLY at the Ultron fallout, Tony’s total is up at 181 people.

27 more than Loki.

Now, I could count all of the people Tony killed in the first Iron Man movie even though a good number of them were terrorists, however that gets into a bit of a moral grey area. For the record, however, there were about forty kills shown on screen for this category.

There were also a number of deaths caused by Tony’s fist-fight with the Hulk in Johannesburg, however I don’t currently have a clear number for that, so we’ll pass on those kills for now.

There are an additional fifty nine kills that Iron Man makes on screen in the other movies, whether it be blowing people up, smashing them through walls, or firing a repulsor into their face at full power.

Additionally, I could go into detail about all the people killed by Tony’s weapons when he was selling them to make his billions, but that would take me far too long to total up, and many of the fans will argue about which ones he did and did not sell himself. (Though in the end he technically signed off on all of them, so really, if he didn’t read the paperwork, it’s still gross negligence, and it’s still on his head...)

Keeping in mind that Tony’s creation of Ultron behind his teammates’ backs was the cause of 181+ deaths...If we then include all of the other human casualties that Tony has caused, his total is 280 people.

126 more murders than Loki.

In canon, Tony is excused for all of these deaths without question.

2.) He ratted out Clint’s secret family

Loki brainwashed Clint in the first Avengers movie, and spent half the film inside his head, poking around through his deepest darkest secrets.

He knows everything about Clint.

And yet, Loki never once uses Clint’s family as a bargaining chip against him. In fact, he never tells a soul about Clint’s family.

It would have been the perfect bargaining chip - the ultimate “do what I say OR ELSE” - and Loki never touches it. He sees that this man has a wife and two kids that he wants to keep safe, and has gone to such extreme lengths to make it happen, and he decides to let Clint’s family stay a secret, even when Clint comes back to himself and is fighting against Loki.

The others find out about Clint’s family in Age of Ultron. Clint brings Tony and the others back to the farm in AoU to get them off the radar, trusting the secret of his family to his teammates so he has somewhere safe for the Avengers to stay for a while as they regroup.

In Civil War, at the Raft, Tony mentions in front of everyone that Clint has “a wife and kids” to berate Clint for showing up to help Steve fight the super soldiers. Tony knows that Scott and Sam weren’t there in AoU and probably don’t know about Clint’s family. Additionally, he reveals this information while knowing that Ross and the UN security guards are actively listening in, looking for something to hold over their prisoner’s heads - he scrambles their sound feed a moment later to convince Sam that it’s safe to tell him where Steve went.

Tony knowingly and intentionally reveals the existence of Clint’s wife and kids - putting them all in grave danger - for the sake of punishing Clint for picking what he feels is the wrong side of an argument.

3.) Daddy Issues Are an Explanation - Not an Excuse

Now, neither of them had stellar fathers.

Howard was always distant and busy, and was said to have been too absorbed with his work to take time to “say he loved me to my face” to Tony.

Odin slaughtered Loki’s race, found him abandoned in the rubble, and took him home in disguise as a kind of war prize, letting him believe that he was truly his son until it came down to who would inherit the kingdom, where he chose a (then) inept and bull-headed Thor over a calm and competent Loki for no apparent reason other than favoritism.

Loki blames Odin for his fall from grace, because everything he did was to prove himself to a father that was never even going to consider putting him on the throne. But that’s where it ends.

All of his other mistakes he blames on himself or his nature. He is the monster that parents warn children about, so it makes sense that he would act the part of the monster. (And even then, it’s only for a short while, until he is able to grow past his issues and get his act back together in Thor 2 to help out. He’s still a bit mischievous and a touch backstabbing, but at this point it’s a personality trait, and he always winds up coming around to the side of good in the end.)

Tony blames every mistake he makes on “Howard’s A+ Parenting,” refusing to take responsibility because not getting along with his father while growing up is apparently a valid excuse for the constant bad life choices of a 40-something year old man. He never grows out of this either, and makes no attempts to move on. It is his go-to “get out of jail free” card. “My father never loved me, therefore everything awful I just did is excused.” “Maybe if I’d gotten more attention from my father, I’d be better at dealing with Peter, or being a team player, or not treating Pepper like garbage.”

4.) Knowingly Endangering the Lives of His Allies

In the first Avengers movie, when they’ve all gathered together aboard the hellicarrier for the first time, we find out that Banner is essentially a bomb waiting to go off in the form of the highly-destructive Hulk - a bomb that is triggered by Banner getting mad or startled or threatened.

So naturally, what is the first thing that Tony Stark does, while on an enclosed airborne ship with hundreds of innocent people and his allies?

He purposely tries to set off the Hulk by prodding at Banner with sharp and electrified things, just to see how good a hold Banner has on it.

Tony actively tries to set off the Hulk, knowing full well that it may cause the deaths of many if not all of the people on board the craft, and he doesn’t give a damn.

For another example, Tony gets drunk in the iron man suit and starts shooting things.

At a party.

With hundreds of people packed into a tiny space.

Now it could be argued that he was having an emotional breakdown at the time because he thought he was dying, however that’s like trying to excuse someone bringing a loaded machine gun into a crowd because “they were  under a lot of stress at the time.”

It’s not excusable.

It’s selfish.

It’s saying ‘my method of coping with my problems is more important than the lives of everyone else.’

In the process of this, he nearly winds up killing Rhody.

And, to further prove that he has no regard for his allies:

He invites a man with a known grudge against him to “hit me with your best shot, here’s my address” and almost gets Pepper killed as collateral. He also turns on Steve at the drop of a pin at the end of Civil War, and tries to kill him, and Bucky as well, until Steve is forced to manually power down his suit. Tony is also firing live explosives at Clint and Wanda in the airport battle (of a large enough caliper that Clint stops to shield Wanda from the giant chunks of debris falling around them cause he’s afraid she’s going to get hurt) and has his repulsors at a high enough charge that he puts a giant hole in solid asphalt from 90 yards away while firing at Clint. He also shoots Sam Wilson point blank in the face with his repulsors for failing to take the shot that knocked Rhody from the sky, despite the fact that Sam risked his life nosediving to save Rhody without any armor to protect him at all and has previous trauma from watching a flight partner lose their life from being shot out of the sky.

Tony has no loyalty to his allies, and sees them all as expendable so long as it suits him at the time.

To quote The Avengers: Steve: “You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.” Tony: “I think I would just cut the wire.”

Loki, on the other hand, tends to switch sides a lot, but he always stays true to the side he’s currently on, and never knowingly endangers his allies.

The people he brainwashes in Avengers aren’t used as cannon fodder - they are kept safe and protected while they do his work for him, and he personally sees to it, to the best of his abilities, that they are not harmed or captured by SHIELD or the Avengers.

In Thor 2 he teams up with his brother and stays loyal to him, helping protect Jane through the length of the film, including two scenes where he shields her with his own body and another where he almost gets himself killed while trying to take out the baddie.

In Thor 3, Loki returns to what he’s pretty sure is going to be a death match with his big sister in order to save the people of Asgard, even though most of them view him with nothing but scorn, and even tries to offer his brother a way out of the arena despite the fact that it will endanger his position with the Grandmaster and potentially put him at risk.

Loki is incredibly loyal to his allies, and wouldn’t ever actively try to harm any of them, regardless of grudges, if they are working on the same team.

5.) Committed Genocide

At the end of The Avengers, the UN sends a nuclear warhead at New York to prevent the spread of the alien attack, and Tony redirects that nuke up through the wormhole as a convenient way to dispose of it.

Once through the wormhole, he aims it at the home ship of the aliens before letting it go and allowing himself to fall back to the safety of earth a few seconds before the Avengers close off the portal.

The nuke hits the ship, and every alien immediately drops dead.

No matter where they are, no matter the fact that they’re galaxies away or possibly in different realms, every single alien drops dead the minute that ship is destroyed.

Their species no longer exists.

Down to the last male, female, and infant on every planet in every galaxy in all of the universe, Tony Stark has effectively wiped them from existence.

His reaction to this? 

The closest counterpoint I have to this is at the end of Thor, when Loki makes a final play to win his father’s favor by trying to finish his brother’s quest to wipe out the Frost Giants - what he mistakenly believes is the final goal for the King of Asgard.

Unlike his brother, however, he plans on doing so by using the Bifrost to tear their world apart.

Thor stops him by shattering the Bifrost, and in the resulting explosion Thor and Loki are both nearly thrown into space, Odin showing up in the nick of time to grab hold of Thor’s foot.

Loki pleads with his father that he was only trying to do what he felt was his job as upcoming King:

To which his father simply responds “No, Loki.”

And at this - realizing that he nearly wiped out a species because of his own mistakes and ambition - he lets himself fall into the depths of space instead of allowing his brother to save him.

And so, given the above points as well as the fact that Tony always seems to weasel out of all of the consequences for his actions whereas Loki has been punished and imprisoned multiple times for his similar transgressions, I believe that Tony Stark is far more of a villain in the MCU than Loki ever was, or will be.

#anti team stark #anti tony stark #anti tony #loki #avengers #pro loki #marvel #mcu #not that Loki hasn't massively fucked up mind you #because he absolutely has #but he seems to have gotten a grip once more #at least when it comes to villain things #whereas tony never actually learns from his mistakes #and just keeps making worse ones #Loki hasn't really been a villain since Avengers #he's just so damn ineffective at being bad #honestly Loki is more of an irritation than a villain at this point

[patriotsnet]

How Many Republicans Voted To Impeach Trump In The House

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-voted-to-impeach-trump-in-the-house/

How Many Republicans Voted To Impeach Trump In The House

The Problem With Existing Districts

Several House Republicans to vote to impeach President Trump

Although legislators should reflect the voters of their state, they often do not. In Maryland, for example, Republicans received 37 percent of the votes for the U.S. House of Representatives but won only 13 percent of the congressional seats. And in North Carolina, Democrats received 48 percent of the vote for the U.S. House of Representatives but won only 26 percent of the congressional seats.

Figure 1 shows how well legislatures reflect the voting patterns of the population for each state and at each level of governmentstate House, state Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives. The percentage displayed for each state is the degree to which districts disproportionately favor 1 of the 2 major political parties, calculated by comparing the total percentage of votes cast for Democratic and Republican candidates to the total percentage of elections won by Democratic and Republican candidates, and excluding both votes and wins for nonmajor-party candidates. Biases in favor of Democrats are highlighted in blue, and biases in favor of Republicans are highlighted in red. The data reveal substantial biases in favor of each party. Moreover, it shows that biased districts are widespreadabout two-thirds of all state House, state Senate, and U.S. House delegations are biased in favor of one party or the other by a rate of at least 5 percent.

Arguments For Expanding The Number Of House Members

Advocates for increasing the number of seats in the House say such a move would increase the quality of representation by reducing the number of constituents each lawmaker represents. Each House member now represents about 710,000 people.

The group ThirtyThousand.org argues that the framers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights never intended for the population of each congressional district to exceed 50,000 or 60,000. The principle of proportionally equitable representation has been abandoned, the group argues.

Another argument for increasing the size of the House is that is would diminish the influence of lobbyists. That line of reasoning assumes that lawmakers would be more closely connected to their constituents and therefore less likely to listen to special interests.

‘a Win Is A Win’: Trump’s Defense Team Makes Remarks After Senate Votes To Acquit

Despite the acquittal, President Joe Biden said in a statement that “substance of the charge” against Trump is “not in dispute.”

“Even those opposed to the conviction, like Senate Minority Leader McConnell, believe Donald Trump was guilty of a ‘disgraceful dereliction of duty’ and ‘practically and morally responsible for provoking’ the violence unleashed on the Capitol,” Biden’s statement read in part.

The president added that “this sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile. That it must always be defended. That we must be ever vigilant. That violence and extremism has no place in America. And that each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Saturday’s vote the largest and most bipartisan vote in any impeachment trial in history,” but noted it wasn’t enough to secure a conviction.

The trial “was about choosing country over Donald Trump, and 43 Republican members chose Trump. They chose Trump. It should be a weight on their conscience today, and it shall be a weight on their conscience in the future,” he said in a speech on the Senate floor.

With control of the Senate split 50-50, the House managers always had an uphill battle when it came to convincing enough Republicans to cross party lines and convict a former president who is still very popular with a large part of the GOP base.

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South Carolina Rep Tom Rice

Rices vote for impeachment stunned those familiar with the South Carolina lawmakers record as a staunch Trump defender, especially during his first impeachment. 

I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice, Rice said in a statement Wednesday evening. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.

Rice voted for motions to object to certifying Bidens Electoral College victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania last week, votes that came after security teams cleared the building of rioters and members returned from a secure location. Rice told local media he waited until the last minute to cast those votes because he was extremely disappointed in the president after the riots and that Trump needed to concede the election. He also said last week that he did not support impeaching the president or invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. 

Rice, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, has supported the Trump administrations position 94 percent of the time over the past four years. He represents a solidly Republican district in the Myrtle Beach area that Trump carried by 19 points in November. Rice, who has had little difficulty holding his seat since his first 2012 victory, won his race by 24 points in November. 

The Daily 202: A Vote Of Conscience Five House Republicans Explain Why They Will Vote To Impeach Trump Today

with Mariana Alfaro

No matter how you look at her decision, Rep. Liz Cheney supporting the impeachment of President Trump took immense political courage. A new CBS-YouGov poll shows 55 percent of Americans favor impeachment, but just 15 percent of Republicans do. In November, the president carried her state with 70 percent of the vote. The leader of the Freedom Caucus and other Trump loyalists quickly called for Cheneys ouster as the No. 3 in House GOP leadership. The No. 1 and No. 2 on the leadership team oppose impeachment. The single article that has been introduced, for incitement of insurrection, already had the support of 218 House Democrats, enough to ensure its passage without her walking the plank. Even if no action is taken, Trump will be out of the White House in seven days.

Taken together, these factors make the statement Cheney issued Tuesday all the more remarkable. The 54-year-old has offered perhaps the most forceful and eloquent case of any lawmaker in either party for removing Trump from office over his behavior last week.

During a Monday evening conference call with Republicans, Cheney hinted at where she was heading. This is going to be a vote of conscience, the congresswoman told the members, according to two people who were on the private call.

Rep. Fred Upton complained that Trump showed no contrition when he spoke on Tuesday and described his speech from last weeks rally on the Ellipse as totally appropriate.

Also Check: How Many Republicans Are On The Supreme Court

Constitutionality Of Senate Trial Of Former President

The question of whether the Senate can hold a trial for and convict a former president is unsettled. Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution provides:

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. Article II, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution

Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution, also states the following:

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. Article I, Section 3, Clause 7, of the U.S. Constitution

J. Michael Luttig, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for 25 years, said that such a trial would be unconstitutional. He interpreted the language of Section 4 to refer to an official in office.

Luttig said, “The very concept of constitutional impeachment presupposes the impeachment, conviction and removal of a president who is, at the time of his impeachment, an incumbent in the office from which he is removed. Indeed, that was the purpose of the impeachment power, to remove from office a president or other ‘civil official’ before he could further harm the nation from the office he then occupies.”

House Votes To Impeach Trump

WASHINGTON: A bipartisan majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted 232:197 Wednesday to impeach 45th US President, Donald Trump seven days from the end of his term, assuring he becomes the first US president to be impeached twice. Nancy Pelosi has officially confirmed Trumps second impeachment.

They supported impeachment on the single charge of “incitement of insurrection” for Trump’s role in whipping up a violent mob surpassed 217, the majority threshold out of 433 current House members. The GOP is on a path that splits in two very different directions. At least 10 Republicans joined the Democrats.

This vote marks an important change from the presidents first impeachment. In 2020, not a single House Republican voted for Trumps impeachment. The vote against him would pave the way for a Senate trial, probably after he leaves office.

The main question now is to what extent former Republican allies in the Senate will turn on their party’s figurehead. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling he’s in favour of impeachment, but won’t agree to bring back Senate early for trial, GOP sources say.

However, impeachment alone is not enough to bar a president from seeking office again. After impeachment in the House, then convicted in a Senate trial, senators could then hold an additional vote on whether to explicitly bar him from running again. This vote would require just a simple majority in the chamber.

Recommended Reading: Who Are The Two Republicans Running For President

Michigan Rep Peter Meijer

The freshman Republican, who won a primary last summer in the 3rd District with the backing of House GOP leaders such as Kevin McCarthy, already is cutting an image for himself independent of his party after two weeks on the job. Its less surprising considering that former Rep. Justin Amash, the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Libertarian who split with Trump, held the seat before Meijer. Amash voted to impeach Trump in 2019. 

The scion of the Meijer family, which founded the grocery store chain of the same name, is a veteran of the Iraq War. Trump won the 3rd District, which includes Grand Rapids and Battle Creek, with 51 percent of the vote. Meijer, who turned his campaign operation into a grocery delivery service in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, outperformed Trump in November, taking 53 percent of the vote. 

Fred Upton Of Michigan

10 house Republicans voted to impeach Trump

Upton, who has served in Congress since 1993, announced in a statement Tuesday that he would also be supporting impeachment.

“Today the President characterized his inflammatory rhetoric at last Wednesday’s rally as ‘totally appropriate,’ and he expressed no regrets for last week’s violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol,” Upton said.

“This sends exactly the wrong signal to those of us who support the very core of our democratic principles and took a solemn oath to the Constitution,” he said. “I would have preferred a bipartisan, formal censure rather than a drawn-out impeachment process. I fear this will now interfere with important legislative business and a new Biden Administration. But it is time to say: Enough is enough.”

Also Check: How Many Republicans Are Against Trump

Impeachment Of Donald Trump 2019

Cabinet White House staff Transition team Policy positions

Donald Trump was impeached twice. This page covers the first impeachment. , which took place in 2021.

On February 5, 2020, President Donald Trump was acquitted of abuse of power by a vote of 52-48 and obstruction of Congress by a vote of 53-47.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi first announced the House would pursue an inquiry into Trump on September 24, 2019, following allegations that Trump requested the Ukrainian government investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in exchange for aid.

Trump denied the allegations and called the inquiry “the worst witch hunt in political history.”

Following weeks of public hearings, the House voted to impeach Trump on December 18, 2019, charging him with abuse of power by a vote of 230-197 and obstruction of Congress by a vote of 229-198. For a breakdown of the U.S. House votes by representative and party, .

The trial began on January 16, 2020, after seven impeachment managers from the U.S. House of Representatives presented the two articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Mitt Romney was the only Republican to vote guilty on the abuse of power charge, becoming the first senator in U.S. history to vote to convict a president from his own party in an impeachment trial. The vote on obstruction of Congress ran along party lines.

For an overview and timeline of the impeachment trial proceedings, .

See also: Impeachment of federal officials

How Many Senators Are Chosen

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

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House Votes To Impeach Trump But Senate Trial Unlikely Before Biden’s Inauguration

9. Rep. John Katko, New York’s 24th: Katko is a moderate from an evenly divided moderate district. A former federal prosecutor, he said of Trump: “It cannot be ignored that President Trump encouraged this insurrection.” He also noted that as the riot was happening, Trump “refused to call it off, putting countless lives in danger.”

10. Rep. David Valadao, California’s 21st: The Southern California congressman represents a majority-Latino district Biden won 54% to 44%. Valadao won election to this seat in 2012 before losing it in 2018 and winning it back in the fall. He’s the rare case of a member of Congress who touts his willingness to work with the other party. Of his vote for impeachment, he said: “President Trump was, without question, a driving force in the catastrophic events that took place on January 6.” He added, “His inciting rhetoric was un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense.”

Here Are The 7 Rino Republicans Who Voted To Impeach President Trump

Write these names down, remember them.

They are not fit to continue serving in office in the Republican party.

Actually.I feel like we need a new party altogether.

I dont really want to be a Republican.

But I want nothing to do with the RINOs.

President Trump was acquitted today in a historic SECOND sham impeachment trial.

He soundly defeated the action, as the Democrat House Managers suddenly caved in a surprise turn of events after Trumps team put Nancy Pelosi on the witness list.

Very interesting!

The New York Times

ACQUITTED!

Watch:

Former U.S. President Trump declared not guilty at the post-presidency impeachment trial.

Senate vote was 57 Guilty & 43 Not Guilty. 67 was needed to impeach. Donald Trump can officially run for U.S. president in 2024 despite acts of treason & insurrection. #TrumpImpeachment

Here are the 7 RINO Republicans who voted with the Dems:

7 GOP senators voting guilty so far *updated*-Sen. Burr

Olivia Beavers

Never EVER vote for these people again!

Primary them, get them OUT!

BREAKING : Senate acquits Trump of impeachment charges, by a vote of 43-57, which is short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

From CBS:

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Incumbents Defeated In Primary Elections

The following table lists incumbents defeated in 2020 House primary elections or conventions.

Incumbents defeated in primaries

See also: Incumbents defeated in 2018 congressional elections

In the 2018 midterm elections, 378 U.S. House incumbents ran for re-election. This was the lowest number of U.S. House incumbents seeking re-election since 1992.

Thirty-four incumbentsâ9 percentâlost their re-election bids. That included two Democrats and 32 Republicans. This was the highest percentage of incumbents defeated since 2012, when 10.2 percent were not re-elected.

The following data for congressional re-election rates from 2000 to 2016 was reported in Vital Statistics, a joint research project of the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute. Find the original datasets and methodology here. Data for the 2018 election came from Ballotpedia.

Defeated U.S. House incumbents by party, 2000-2018 Year

97.8

Rep Dan Newhouse Washington

Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washingtons 4th Congressional District on Wednesday voted to impeach Trump shortly after announcing his decision to do so on the House floor.

These articles of impeachment are flawed, but I will not use process as an excuse for President Trumps actions, Newhouse said.

The president took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Last week there was a domestic threat at the door of the Capitol and he did nothing to stop it.

In a separate statement released the same day, Newhouse said Trump did not strongly condemn the attack nor did he call in reinforcements when our officers were overwhelmed. Our country needed a leader, and President Trump failed to fulfill his oath of office.

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Richard Burr North Carolina

Burr, who has said he will not seek re-election, had previously voted to dismiss the impeachment trial on constitutional grounds. Burr’s term expires in 2022.

“I have listened to the arguments presented by both sides and considered the facts. The facts are clear,” explained Burr in a statement.

“By what he did and by what he did not do, President Trump violated his oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” he explained, adding that he didn’t come to “this decision lightly.”

Comparison To The Senate

Rep. Adam Kinzinger on why he broke with Republicans and voted to impeach President Trump

As a check on the regional, popular, and rapidly changing politics of the House, the Senate has several distinct powers. For example, the advice and consent powers are a sole Senate privilege. The House, however, has the exclusive power to initiate bills for raising revenue, to impeach officials, and to choose the president if a presidential candidate fails to get a majority of the Electoral College votes. The Senate and House are further differentiated by term lengths and the number of districts represented: the Senate has longer terms of six years, fewer members , and larger constituencies per member. The Senate is referred to as the upper house, and the House of Representatives as the lower house.

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Gop Leader Mccarthy: Trump ‘bears Responsibility’ For Violence Won’t Vote To Impeach

Some ambitious Republican senators have never been as on board the Trump train as the more feverish GOP members in the House, and the former might be open to convicting Trump. But their ambition cuts two ways on the one hand, voting to ban Trump opens a lane to carry the Republican mantle in 2024 and be the party’s new standard-bearer, but, on the other, it has the potential to alienate many of the 74 million who voted for Trump, and whose votes they need.

It’s a long shot that Trump would ultimately be convicted, because 17 Republicans would need to join Democrats to get the two-thirds majority needed for a conviction. But it’s growing clearer that a majority of the Senate will vote to convict him, reflecting the number of Americans who are in favor of impeachment, disapproved of the job Trump has done and voted for his opponent in the 2020 presidential election.

Correction Jan. 14, 2021

A previous version of this story incorrectly said Rep. Peter Meijer is a West Point graduate. Meijer attended West Point, but he is a graduate of Columbia University.

Sending To The Senate

Once the House votes to impeach, the speaker of the House can send the article or articles over to the Senate immediately or she can wait a while. Many Democrats in Pelosis caucus have urged her to do so immediately.

The speaker met this week with the nine impeachment managers she appointed to argue the case and is also consulting the Senate, according to Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, who is one of the managers. She says it hasnt been settled yet when the House will send them over.

Another of Pelosis managers, Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean, said Thursday that what we did in the House, in bringing forth a single article of impeachment with the urgency that we did, I think should indicate to you that we feel an urgency in our caucus to move forward.

Once the articles are sent over that is usually done with an official walk from the House to the Senate then the majority leader of the Senate must start the process of having a trial.

Recommended Reading: How Many Republicans Are There In The Senate

Rep Anthony Gonzalez Ohio

As House members cast their votes on the articles of impeachment, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez from Ohios 16th Congressional District, tweeted a statement asserting that Trump helped organize and incite a mob that attacked the United States Congress in an attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties as prescribed by the Congress.

When I consider the full scope of events leading up to January 6th including the presidents lack of response as the United States Capitol was under attack, I am compelled to support impeachment, he wrote.

Results Summary And Analysis

The Democratic Party won control of the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections. The Democrats gained a net total of 41 seats from the total number of seats they had won in the 2016 elections. This was their largest gain of House seats in an election since the 1974 elections, when the Democrats gained 49 House seats. Democrats won the popular vote by more than 9.7 million votes or 8.6%, the largest midterm margin for any party and the largest margin on record for a minority party.

According to the Associated Press statistical analysis, gerrymandering cost the Democrats an additional sixteen House seats from Republicans.

Voter turnout in this election was 50.3%, the highest turnout in a U.S. midterm election since 1914.

Note that the results summary does not include blank and over/under votes which were included in the official results or votes cast in the voided election in North Carolinas 9th congressional district.

â

Read Also: What Are The Basic Differences Between Democrats And Republicans

These House Republicans Voted To Impeach Donald Trump

President Donald Trump enjoyed total support from Republicans in the House of Representatives during his first impeachment in 2019but that was not the case on Wednesday when the chamber charged him with incitement of insurrection.

Ten conservative members of the House backed the resolution. Its passage makes Trump the first commander-in-chief in U.S. history to be impeached twice. Trump was impeached just a week before he is due to leave office.

House Democrats quickly drafted the impeachment article after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 to disrupt the certification of President-elect Joe Biden‘s win. Five people died in the riot, including one law enforcement officer.

Trump addressed his supporters, who gathered for a “Stop the Steal” rally, before the violence erupted. In his address, the president continued to make baseless accusations that the 2020 election was riddled with fraud and told the crowd that they would have to “fight much harder.”

Zero Republicans supported Trump’s impeachment in 2019 when he was charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in relation to his dealings with Ukraine. But that changed this time around, as a handful of Republican members signaled they would support the impeachment article ahead of Wednesday’s vote, including Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

[statetalks]

How Many Republicans Voted To Impeach Trump In The House

The Problem With Existing Districts

Several House Republicans to vote to impeach President Trump

Although legislators should reflect the voters of their state, they often do not. In Maryland, for example, Republicans received 37 percent of the votes for the U.S. House of Representatives but won only 13 percent of the congressional seats. And in North Carolina, Democrats received 48 percent of the vote for the U.S. House of Representatives but won only 26 percent of the congressional seats.

Figure 1 shows how well legislatures reflect the voting patterns of the population for each state and at each level of governmentstate House, state Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives. The percentage displayed for each state is the degree to which districts disproportionately favor 1 of the 2 major political parties, calculated by comparing the total percentage of votes cast for Democratic and Republican candidates to the total percentage of elections won by Democratic and Republican candidates, and excluding both votes and wins for nonmajor-party candidates. Biases in favor of Democrats are highlighted in blue, and biases in favor of Republicans are highlighted in red. The data reveal substantial biases in favor of each party. Moreover, it shows that biased districts are widespreadabout two-thirds of all state House, state Senate, and U.S. House delegations are biased in favor of one party or the other by a rate of at least 5 percent.

Arguments For Expanding The Number Of House Members

Advocates for increasing the number of seats in the House say such a move would increase the quality of representation by reducing the number of constituents each lawmaker represents. Each House member now represents about 710,000 people.

The group ThirtyThousand.org argues that the framers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights never intended for the population of each congressional district to exceed 50,000 or 60,000. The principle of proportionally equitable representation has been abandoned, the group argues.

Another argument for increasing the size of the House is that is would diminish the influence of lobbyists. That line of reasoning assumes that lawmakers would be more closely connected to their constituents and therefore less likely to listen to special interests.

‘a Win Is A Win’: Trump’s Defense Team Makes Remarks After Senate Votes To Acquit

Despite the acquittal, President Joe Biden said in a statement that “substance of the charge” against Trump is “not in dispute.”

“Even those opposed to the conviction, like Senate Minority Leader McConnell, believe Donald Trump was guilty of a ‘disgraceful dereliction of duty’ and ‘practically and morally responsible for provoking’ the violence unleashed on the Capitol,” Biden’s statement read in part.

The president added that “this sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile. That it must always be defended. That we must be ever vigilant. That violence and extremism has no place in America. And that each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Saturday’s vote the largest and most bipartisan vote in any impeachment trial in history,” but noted it wasn’t enough to secure a conviction.

The trial “was about choosing country over Donald Trump, and 43 Republican members chose Trump. They chose Trump. It should be a weight on their conscience today, and it shall be a weight on their conscience in the future,” he said in a speech on the Senate floor.

With control of the Senate split 50-50, the House managers always had an uphill battle when it came to convincing enough Republicans to cross party lines and convict a former president who is still very popular with a large part of the GOP base.

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South Carolina Rep Tom Rice

Rices vote for impeachment stunned those familiar with the South Carolina lawmakers record as a staunch Trump defender, especially during his first impeachment. 

I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice, Rice said in a statement Wednesday evening. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.

Rice voted for motions to object to certifying Bidens Electoral College victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania last week, votes that came after security teams cleared the building of rioters and members returned from a secure location. Rice told local media he waited until the last minute to cast those votes because he was extremely disappointed in the president after the riots and that Trump needed to concede the election. He also said last week that he did not support impeaching the president or invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. 

Rice, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, has supported the Trump administrations position 94 percent of the time over the past four years. He represents a solidly Republican district in the Myrtle Beach area that Trump carried by 19 points in November. Rice, who has had little difficulty holding his seat since his first 2012 victory, won his race by 24 points in November. 

The Daily 202: A Vote Of Conscience Five House Republicans Explain Why They Will Vote To Impeach Trump Today

with Mariana Alfaro

No matter how you look at her decision, Rep. Liz Cheney supporting the impeachment of President Trump took immense political courage. A new CBS-YouGov poll shows 55 percent of Americans favor impeachment, but just 15 percent of Republicans do. In November, the president carried her state with 70 percent of the vote. The leader of the Freedom Caucus and other Trump loyalists quickly called for Cheneys ouster as the No. 3 in House GOP leadership. The No. 1 and No. 2 on the leadership team oppose impeachment. The single article that has been introduced, for incitement of insurrection, already had the support of 218 House Democrats, enough to ensure its passage without her walking the plank. Even if no action is taken, Trump will be out of the White House in seven days.

Taken together, these factors make the statement Cheney issued Tuesday all the more remarkable. The 54-year-old has offered perhaps the most forceful and eloquent case of any lawmaker in either party for removing Trump from office over his behavior last week.

During a Monday evening conference call with Republicans, Cheney hinted at where she was heading. This is going to be a vote of conscience, the congresswoman told the members, according to two people who were on the private call.

Rep. Fred Upton complained that Trump showed no contrition when he spoke on Tuesday and described his speech from last weeks rally on the Ellipse as totally appropriate.

Also Check: How Many Republicans Are On The Supreme Court

Constitutionality Of Senate Trial Of Former President

The question of whether the Senate can hold a trial for and convict a former president is unsettled. Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution provides:

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. Article II, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution

Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution, also states the following:

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. Article I, Section 3, Clause 7, of the U.S. Constitution

J. Michael Luttig, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for 25 years, said that such a trial would be unconstitutional. He interpreted the language of Section 4 to refer to an official in office.

Luttig said, “The very concept of constitutional impeachment presupposes the impeachment, conviction and removal of a president who is, at the time of his impeachment, an incumbent in the office from which he is removed. Indeed, that was the purpose of the impeachment power, to remove from office a president or other ‘civil official’ before he could further harm the nation from the office he then occupies.”

House Votes To Impeach Trump

WASHINGTON: A bipartisan majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted 232:197 Wednesday to impeach 45th US President, Donald Trump seven days from the end of his term, assuring he becomes the first US president to be impeached twice. Nancy Pelosi has officially confirmed Trumps second impeachment.

They supported impeachment on the single charge of “incitement of insurrection” for Trump’s role in whipping up a violent mob surpassed 217, the majority threshold out of 433 current House members. The GOP is on a path that splits in two very different directions. At least 10 Republicans joined the Democrats.

This vote marks an important change from the presidents first impeachment. In 2020, not a single House Republican voted for Trumps impeachment. The vote against him would pave the way for a Senate trial, probably after he leaves office.

The main question now is to what extent former Republican allies in the Senate will turn on their party’s figurehead. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling he’s in favour of impeachment, but won’t agree to bring back Senate early for trial, GOP sources say.

However, impeachment alone is not enough to bar a president from seeking office again. After impeachment in the House, then convicted in a Senate trial, senators could then hold an additional vote on whether to explicitly bar him from running again. This vote would require just a simple majority in the chamber.

Recommended Reading: Who Are The Two Republicans Running For President

Michigan Rep Peter Meijer

The freshman Republican, who won a primary last summer in the 3rd District with the backing of House GOP leaders such as Kevin McCarthy, already is cutting an image for himself independent of his party after two weeks on the job. Its less surprising considering that former Rep. Justin Amash, the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Libertarian who split with Trump, held the seat before Meijer. Amash voted to impeach Trump in 2019. 

The scion of the Meijer family, which founded the grocery store chain of the same name, is a veteran of the Iraq War. Trump won the 3rd District, which includes Grand Rapids and Battle Creek, with 51 percent of the vote. Meijer, who turned his campaign operation into a grocery delivery service in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, outperformed Trump in November, taking 53 percent of the vote. 

Fred Upton Of Michigan

10 house Republicans voted to impeach Trump

Upton, who has served in Congress since 1993, announced in a statement Tuesday that he would also be supporting impeachment.

“Today the President characterized his inflammatory rhetoric at last Wednesday’s rally as ‘totally appropriate,’ and he expressed no regrets for last week’s violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol,” Upton said.

“This sends exactly the wrong signal to those of us who support the very core of our democratic principles and took a solemn oath to the Constitution,” he said. “I would have preferred a bipartisan, formal censure rather than a drawn-out impeachment process. I fear this will now interfere with important legislative business and a new Biden Administration. But it is time to say: Enough is enough.”

Also Check: How Many Republicans Are Against Trump

Impeachment Of Donald Trump 2019

Cabinet White House staff Transition team Policy positions

Donald Trump was impeached twice. This page covers the first impeachment. , which took place in 2021.

On February 5, 2020, President Donald Trump was acquitted of abuse of power by a vote of 52-48 and obstruction of Congress by a vote of 53-47.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi first announced the House would pursue an inquiry into Trump on September 24, 2019, following allegations that Trump requested the Ukrainian government investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in exchange for aid.

Trump denied the allegations and called the inquiry “the worst witch hunt in political history.”

Following weeks of public hearings, the House voted to impeach Trump on December 18, 2019, charging him with abuse of power by a vote of 230-197 and obstruction of Congress by a vote of 229-198. For a breakdown of the U.S. House votes by representative and party, .

The trial began on January 16, 2020, after seven impeachment managers from the U.S. House of Representatives presented the two articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Mitt Romney was the only Republican to vote guilty on the abuse of power charge, becoming the first senator in U.S. history to vote to convict a president from his own party in an impeachment trial. The vote on obstruction of Congress ran along party lines.

For an overview and timeline of the impeachment trial proceedings, .

See also: Impeachment of federal officials

How Many Senators Are Chosen

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

Read Also: How Many Republicans Voted Against Budget

House Votes To Impeach Trump But Senate Trial Unlikely Before Biden’s Inauguration

9. Rep. John Katko, New York’s 24th: Katko is a moderate from an evenly divided moderate district. A former federal prosecutor, he said of Trump: “It cannot be ignored that President Trump encouraged this insurrection.” He also noted that as the riot was happening, Trump “refused to call it off, putting countless lives in danger.”

10. Rep. David Valadao, California’s 21st: The Southern California congressman represents a majority-Latino district Biden won 54% to 44%. Valadao won election to this seat in 2012 before losing it in 2018 and winning it back in the fall. He’s the rare case of a member of Congress who touts his willingness to work with the other party. Of his vote for impeachment, he said: “President Trump was, without question, a driving force in the catastrophic events that took place on January 6.” He added, “His inciting rhetoric was un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense.”

Here Are The 7 Rino Republicans Who Voted To Impeach President Trump

Write these names down, remember them.

They are not fit to continue serving in office in the Republican party.

Actually.I feel like we need a new party altogether.

I dont really want to be a Republican.

But I want nothing to do with the RINOs.

President Trump was acquitted today in a historic SECOND sham impeachment trial.

He soundly defeated the action, as the Democrat House Managers suddenly caved in a surprise turn of events after Trumps team put Nancy Pelosi on the witness list.

Very interesting!

The New York Times

ACQUITTED!

Watch:

Former U.S. President Trump declared not guilty at the post-presidency impeachment trial.

Senate vote was 57 Guilty & 43 Not Guilty. 67 was needed to impeach. Donald Trump can officially run for U.S. president in 2024 despite acts of treason & insurrection. #TrumpImpeachment

Here are the 7 RINO Republicans who voted with the Dems:

7 GOP senators voting guilty so far *updated*-Sen. Burr

Olivia Beavers

Never EVER vote for these people again!

Primary them, get them OUT!

BREAKING : Senate acquits Trump of impeachment charges, by a vote of 43-57, which is short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

From CBS:

Also Check: Why Republicans Do Not Like Obamacare

Incumbents Defeated In Primary Elections

The following table lists incumbents defeated in 2020 House primary elections or conventions.

Incumbents defeated in primaries

See also: Incumbents defeated in 2018 congressional elections

In the 2018 midterm elections, 378 U.S. House incumbents ran for re-election. This was the lowest number of U.S. House incumbents seeking re-election since 1992.

Thirty-four incumbentsâ9 percentâlost their re-election bids. That included two Democrats and 32 Republicans. This was the highest percentage of incumbents defeated since 2012, when 10.2 percent were not re-elected.

The following data for congressional re-election rates from 2000 to 2016 was reported in Vital Statistics, a joint research project of the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute. Find the original datasets and methodology here. Data for the 2018 election came from Ballotpedia.

Defeated U.S. House incumbents by party, 2000-2018 Year

97.8

Rep Dan Newhouse Washington

Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washingtons 4th Congressional District on Wednesday voted to impeach Trump shortly after announcing his decision to do so on the House floor.

These articles of impeachment are flawed, but I will not use process as an excuse for President Trumps actions, Newhouse said.

The president took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Last week there was a domestic threat at the door of the Capitol and he did nothing to stop it.

In a separate statement released the same day, Newhouse said Trump did not strongly condemn the attack nor did he call in reinforcements when our officers were overwhelmed. Our country needed a leader, and President Trump failed to fulfill his oath of office.

You May Like: How Do Republicans Feel About Abortion

Richard Burr North Carolina

Burr, who has said he will not seek re-election, had previously voted to dismiss the impeachment trial on constitutional grounds. Burr’s term expires in 2022.

“I have listened to the arguments presented by both sides and considered the facts. The facts are clear,” explained Burr in a statement.

“By what he did and by what he did not do, President Trump violated his oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” he explained, adding that he didn’t come to “this decision lightly.”

Comparison To The Senate

Rep. Adam Kinzinger on why he broke with Republicans and voted to impeach President Trump

As a check on the regional, popular, and rapidly changing politics of the House, the Senate has several distinct powers. For example, the advice and consent powers are a sole Senate privilege. The House, however, has the exclusive power to initiate bills for raising revenue, to impeach officials, and to choose the president if a presidential candidate fails to get a majority of the Electoral College votes. The Senate and House are further differentiated by term lengths and the number of districts represented: the Senate has longer terms of six years, fewer members , and larger constituencies per member. The Senate is referred to as the upper house, and the House of Representatives as the lower house.

Also Check: Who Are Richer Democrats Or Republicans

Gop Leader Mccarthy: Trump ‘bears Responsibility’ For Violence Won’t Vote To Impeach

Some ambitious Republican senators have never been as on board the Trump train as the more feverish GOP members in the House, and the former might be open to convicting Trump. But their ambition cuts two ways on the one hand, voting to ban Trump opens a lane to carry the Republican mantle in 2024 and be the party’s new standard-bearer, but, on the other, it has the potential to alienate many of the 74 million who voted for Trump, and whose votes they need.

It’s a long shot that Trump would ultimately be convicted, because 17 Republicans would need to join Democrats to get the two-thirds majority needed for a conviction. But it’s growing clearer that a majority of the Senate will vote to convict him, reflecting the number of Americans who are in favor of impeachment, disapproved of the job Trump has done and voted for his opponent in the 2020 presidential election.

Correction Jan. 14, 2021

A previous version of this story incorrectly said Rep. Peter Meijer is a West Point graduate. Meijer attended West Point, but he is a graduate of Columbia University.

Sending To The Senate

Once the House votes to impeach, the speaker of the House can send the article or articles over to the Senate immediately or she can wait a while. Many Democrats in Pelosis caucus have urged her to do so immediately.

The speaker met this week with the nine impeachment managers she appointed to argue the case and is also consulting the Senate, according to Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, who is one of the managers. She says it hasnt been settled yet when the House will send them over.

Another of Pelosis managers, Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean, said Thursday that what we did in the House, in bringing forth a single article of impeachment with the urgency that we did, I think should indicate to you that we feel an urgency in our caucus to move forward.

Once the articles are sent over that is usually done with an official walk from the House to the Senate then the majority leader of the Senate must start the process of having a trial.

Recommended Reading: How Many Republicans Are There In The Senate

Rep Anthony Gonzalez Ohio

As House members cast their votes on the articles of impeachment, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez from Ohios 16th Congressional District, tweeted a statement asserting that Trump helped organize and incite a mob that attacked the United States Congress in an attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties as prescribed by the Congress.

When I consider the full scope of events leading up to January 6th including the presidents lack of response as the United States Capitol was under attack, I am compelled to support impeachment, he wrote.

Results Summary And Analysis

The Democratic Party won control of the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections. The Democrats gained a net total of 41 seats from the total number of seats they had won in the 2016 elections. This was their largest gain of House seats in an election since the 1974 elections, when the Democrats gained 49 House seats. Democrats won the popular vote by more than 9.7 million votes or 8.6%, the largest midterm margin for any party and the largest margin on record for a minority party.

According to the Associated Press statistical analysis, gerrymandering cost the Democrats an additional sixteen House seats from Republicans.

Voter turnout in this election was 50.3%, the highest turnout in a U.S. midterm election since 1914.

Note that the results summary does not include blank and over/under votes which were included in the official results or votes cast in the voided election in North Carolinas 9th congressional district.

Read Also: What Are The Basic Differences Between Democrats And Republicans

These House Republicans Voted To Impeach Donald Trump

President Donald Trump enjoyed total support from Republicans in the House of Representatives during his first impeachment in 2019but that was not the case on Wednesday when the chamber charged him with incitement of insurrection.

Ten conservative members of the House backed the resolution. Its passage makes Trump the first commander-in-chief in U.S. history to be impeached twice. Trump was impeached just a week before he is due to leave office.

House Democrats quickly drafted the impeachment article after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 to disrupt the certification of President-elect Joe Biden‘s win. Five people died in the riot, including one law enforcement officer.

Trump addressed his supporters, who gathered for a “Stop the Steal” rally, before the violence erupted. In his address, the president continued to make baseless accusations that the 2020 election was riddled with fraud and told the crowd that they would have to “fight much harder.”

Zero Republicans supported Trump’s impeachment in 2019 when he was charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in relation to his dealings with Ukraine. But that changed this time around, as a handful of Republican members signaled they would support the impeachment article ahead of Wednesday’s vote, including Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

source https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-voted-to-impeach-trump-in-the-house/

[perfectirishgifts]

High Price, Limited Performance Of European Electric Cars Might Boost China Minis

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/high-price-limited-performance-of-european-electric-cars-might-boost-china-minis/

High Price, Limited Performance Of European Electric Cars Might Boost China Minis

Wuling Hong Guang Mini EV

The high price of so-called “affordable” electric vehicles in Europe and their often pitiful highway cruising performance might make some hard-up buyers grit their teeth, admit the unthinkable and opt for a mini battery-powered vehicle because the alternative is a scooter, a bike, or even worse, the tube or bus.

And the possibility of a cheap but limited little electric car might well lead to dancing in the streets in Europe’s poorest countries, which have so far been left out of the electric revolution.

The cheapest electric vehicles like the Renault Zoe, and upcoming offerings like the Fiat 500E and perhaps the expected Volkswagen ID.2, start at around €20,000 ($24,300 after tax). That’s about twice the price of an entry-level gasoline-powered car, which might not even be available by 2030. EU CO2 rules, and even outright bans, threaten cheap traditional cars. Small electric cars and SUVs like the Vauxhall/Opel Corsa and the MG ZS EV cost from around €30,000 ($36,500). These vehicles all come with impressive claims for range, which suddenly dissolve when the vehicle is asked to undertake a highway journey at normal cruising speeds.

The speed limit across Europe is mainly 130 km/h, about 80 mph, and this is the accepted legal cruising mode on many highways, except of course in Germany where there are still long sections with no speed limit. You will see every type of sedan and SUV, from the cheapest to most expensive cruising at around 80. But the impact on available mileage at these speeds on battery electric vehicles (BEV) is catastrophic. Often you will lose miles at twice the rate or more of the actual miles being travelled.

So these “affordable” cars aren’t the equivalent of regular gasoline or diesel powered cars. They are fantastic city cars, but very expensive considering their limited ability. Suddenly a small car like the Wuling Hong Guang Mini EV from China makes lots of sense. It can reach about 60 mph, probably downhill with a following wind, but quite adequate in town and country driving. Base models have a range of about 70 miles. You can make an average daily commute, said to be about 24 miles in Europe, do the shopping and take the children to school. If you’re not convinced yet, try this. The base price is $4,400. That number will be enough for many Europeans with average earnings to swallow their pride. And there won’t be much of that because the little Hong Guang Mini EV looks cute and believable.

Hong Guang Mini EV

That’s the price now in China and it’s likely to be a bit more expensive if it came to Europe, but will still probably be popular in eastern Europe.

Groupe PSA of France’s Citroen is about to launch its cheap and cute little Ami, electric city car, although this in its initial form is too slow (28 mph), has only 2 seats, a range of 43 miles, and costs €6,000 ($7,300).

The idea that small is the answer isn’t exciting some European analysts.

“We don’t see a switch by European carmakers into making these little electric cars happening,” said Viktor Irle, Stockholm, Sweden-based analyst with consultancy EV-volumes.

Irle said small cars like this won’t be profitable.

That’s probably true of traditional European manufacturers, but likely not Chinese ones.

“The Citroen Ami will not be a big seller. Europeans want a car – not two – that gives them flexibility. If you have a small car, unable to go on highways, the use is very limited. Big cities like Paris, Berlin and Rome could see some sales of these. Generally, car buyers move up in segments. So Ami is likely going to replace scooters and mopeds and motorcycles in our analysis,” Irle said.   

But this assumes that “affordable” electric cars can match gasoline or diesel cars on the highway, and that isn’t the case in my experience. It remains to be seen if the latest electric cars, like the Volkswagen ID.3, perform adequately at motorway cruising speeds.   

IHS Markit auto analyst Ian Fletcher doesn’t see a shift downmarket either.

“Volumes of traditional (city car) segment vehicles have been retreating anyway. (Manufacturers) have been pulling out or reducing their exposure to this category and we see this continuing. This is partly related to the difficulty making the financials stack up compared to something larger, and recently this has not been helped by meeting new regulations in the (EU) region, particularly those for (CO2) emissions. Customers are also less interested buying something of this size as well,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher said IHS Markit predicts city cars will make up just over 1% of the European market in 2025, and just under 2% by 2030.

Fletcher reckons price won’t be a factor because leasing plans make new cars more affordable. Sales growth will come from electrifying small and medium sized family cars.  

Citroen Ami is a quadricycle and can be driven without a license in France from the age of 14. … [] (Photo by Abdulmonam Eassa/Getty Images)

 “We see far greater BEV volume growth in (VW Polo and VW Golf equivalent) segments, which are the biggest by volume currently anyway. By 2025, B segment BEVs will be around 6.5% of the entire market and 9.5% by 2030, while C segment BEVs will be around 7% and 12.5%, respectively. Obviously, there is an argument with regards to the purchase cost, but I think fewer and fewer people are looking at that now. It is more about the affordability on a monthly basis through a leasing plan or similar,” Fletcher said.

But the Hong Guang Mini EV has a been a remarkable success so far in China, which of course won’t necessarily translate to Europe.

“This new battery electric vehicle has taken the (Chinese) market by storm, breaking all sales expectations since its launch,” said LMC Automotive analyst Alan Kang.

The Hong Guang Mini EV, is a two-door micro electric vehicle launched by a joint venture between General Motors GM  and SAIC.

“The diminutive model’s eye-catching design gives it a deceptively expensive look, something that has undoubtedly contributed to its surprisingly robust performance. In September, only its 4th month on the market, the Hong Guang Mini EV racked up sales in excess of 20,000, propelling it to the top of China’s electric vehicle market,” Kang said.

“A range choice of between (70 and 100 miles) is more than adequate for the needs of its target audience. And less powerful battery translates to a lower sticker price,” Kang said.

In a recent interview, David Bailey, Professor of Business Economics at the Birmingham Business School, said he believes a serious threat from China is likely in this segment and Europeans must gear up to meet it.

How Mini cars used to be. BMW Isetta. Photo: Sina Schuldt/dpa (Photo by Sina Schuldt/picture … [] alliance via Getty Images)

“European manufacturers certainly need to embrace this niche or face being wiped out in this segment by super low-cost Chinese brands when the latter can meet European crash safety standards,” Bailey said.

LMC Automotive’s Kang agrees.

“I am not sure whether Hong Guang Mini EV will go to the Europe market now, for I don’t know whether the model can meet the regulations and standards of Europe market. But I agree with you that such little mini EVs with cheap prices but good design might also be welcome in the European market, if they can meet the regulations and keep same low price at the same time. It would be just a commuting tool, that does everything you need to commute, shop and take the kids to school, as you said,” according to Kang.

Germans and relatively well-off western Europeans might be tempted to scoff at these limited little electric vehicles, but in the east they may well be seen as a godsend. According to a survey by the European Automobile Manufacturers association, known by its French acronym ACEA, in the world of electric car ownership there is a deep divide between the haves and have-nots. ACEA said in 2019, 3% of new cars sold across the EU were electrically-chargeable, but the comparison between rich and poor, east and west was stark. The poorest GDP per head country was Estonia at €21,160 ($25,652) had an electrically-chargeable car market share of 0.3%. The richest, Germany (€41,510-$50,332) had a 3.0% market share.

1.   Estonia – 0.3% (GDP of €21,160)

2.   Lithuania – 0.4% (GDP of €17,340)

3.   Slovakia – 0.4% (GDP of €17,270)

4.   Greece – 0.4% (GDP of €17,500)

5.   Poland – 0.5% (GDP of €13,780)

1.   Germany – 3.0% (GDP of €41,510)

2.   United Kingdom – 3.1% (GDP of €37,780)

3.   France – 2.8% (GDP of €35,960)

4.   Italy – 0.9% (GDP of €29,610)

5.   Spain – 1.4% ECVs (GDP of €26,440)

(Source-ACEA)

No doubt Chinese manufacturers have already figured this out and will be cranking up sales campaigns in Tallinn, Vilnius, Bratislava, Athens and Warsaw.

From Transportation in Perfectirishgifts

[dreamin-of-somewhere-else]

1997 [6]

Previous parts

Characters: Dean Winchester, twin sister!reader, Sam Winchester, characters from 4x13, OC characters.

Words: 2600

A/N: Sorry about the huge delay on this part. It’s been so long, but I finally found some willpower to finish this series. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors, sometimes they just slip through.

Music suggestion: Ivy - Frank Ocean [You know the drill, I look for the feeling in songs, not the lyrics lol. This was just something I listened to when I wrote this, so yeah.]

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First, Dean had called John.

”Hey Dad, it’s me, Dean. Well, I’m calling because — Well, the thing is that we think that there’s a job here, at school. A student’s dead, and yeah… it looks like it’s because of something that goes bump in the night, so… We kinda need your help.”

When your father then seemingly was unable to get back to you, you took matters into your own hands, and picked up the phone.

”Hey Dad, it’s (Y/N). We need you to get back here, and back us up. It’s a case and you have the weapons and the rest of the stuff. Remember that one time that you said that ’you always try to do your best’? Well, the least you can do is return this call.”

Your tone was harsh. Yes, it was easier to talk to your father that way over a phone line, when he wasn’t there for you to meet his angry eyes and deal with his reaction.

You put the phone down on the table inside the small motel room and stared at it. It got quiet for a moment. You stared at the phone, Dean at the wall, and Sam at both you and Dean. Then he broke the silence.

”So what did they say?”

”What?” You responded, not even beginning to try and understand what he meant. You had been deep in your thoughts.

”The girls you heard talking — what did they say?” Sam explained, sound just a teeny tiny bit annoyed. ”Oh,” you muttered under your breath before sitting up straighter in the chair you were sitting in by the table. ”That the cops don’t know what killed him. That… that the guy had been thrown around but they didn’t know by what, seemed like a force or something. And…”

”And there were no prints on the lacrosse stick he was killed with.” Dean filled in when you struggled. Finishing the sentence as you so often did for each other.

”Yeah, exactly.” You agreed, remembering. ”Screams ghost to me, right?”

Sam nodded, his bangs falling even further into his eyes. ”Yes.”

”Okay so what do we start with?” Dean began, thinking out loud.

”We could see if there was any deaths at school.” Sam offered.

”Sounds reasonable. It’s a good start, but where do we find out that kind of information?” You continued.

”There are computers at the library. I saw them when I was there the other day.” Sam informed you and Dean.

”Of course you were.” Dean quietly stated underneath his breath, and you swatted him across his upper arm.

So, that Wednesday evening was spent at the library. You three, huddled close together, trying to fit in front of the only computer free to use. Staring at the white screen giving off an almost light-bluish light. You tried searching for anything. Stuff like ’Truman High student killed’, ’student dead Truman High’,’deaths Truman High’, ’teacher dies Truman High’,’Truman High suicide.’. The list went on. You tried everything. With no luck, whatsoever. Nothing. Nada. Squat.

Dean let out a heavy, exasperated sigh, describing how you all felt precisely. This was stressful. When you were hunting with your dad everything ran pretty smoothly, but now everything seemed to go against you. You were already starting to feel guilty. Every minute that passed everyone at school could be in danger. Well, maybe not exactly right now, the chances of someone being at school right now — 7:45 pm —  were low. But the thing with Supernatural creatures — because the murderer was definitely supernatural —  was that they usually didn’t have much logic or any plan to their killing. Sometimes, a pattern. But other than that; most likely it wasn’t like they just killed someone for their money or after an argument. And in 9 out of 10 cases, they typically struck more than once.

You needed to find out what it was and for what reason — fast.

The next day you felt tense. Your senses were on edge, as if you were waiting for the suspected but unproven ghost. As if it would show up anytime. And who knows, maybe it would. You knew literally nothing about this ghost.

The day went by slowly, slower than usual. And you felt exhausted after only a couple of classes. But that was probably because you were subconsciously, basically, on high alert. It was tiring.

At lunch, while you were waiting for Jeremy, the sound of a tray being dropped onto the tabletop brought you back from absentmindedly staring at the wall. But it wasn’t Jer, instead you came face to face with Dean. A very tired looking Dean.

”Hey,” you greeted him, raising one eyebrow as he practically collapsed onto the seat. ”You don’t look too peachy.”

”I’m freaking tired, man.” He responded as he ran a hand down his face, before meeting your gaze with his green one. ”We researched late last night, remember?”

”I do. I was there.” You retorted. Then you took a bite of the apple you were currently munching on. ”So, why do I get the honors?”

”What?” Dean questioning, actually looking sincerely confused.

”Well, I thought you were too cool for me nowadays.” You explained, looking at him expectantly.

”What?” He repeated himself, taken back as his eyebrows knitted over his guilty eyes. ”No, I’m not… I mean— you’re my sister, I-I…”

”Dean.” You interrupted, putting an end to his miserable blabbering. ”I’m kidding.”

”Oh.” Dean said quietly, blushing a bit.

”You must really be tired.” You furrowed your own eyebrows. ”Not answering my sarcasm with more sarcasm? Well, not even catching my sarcasm…”

”Yeah, yeah, I know.” He muttered, as he poked around in his food.

”It’s gotta be something more than the research.” You pressed, knowingly. He was your twin after all.

Dean just groaned. Simultaneously you spotted Jeremy over his shoulder. He was looking at you, but then he walked over and sat down with a couple of guys you knew were his friends. You couldn’t help but to feel slightly disappointed, but well, you were with Dean, and Dean and Jer hadn’t officially met yet — at least as far as you knew.

”It’s Amanda.”

”What?” You questioned, echoing your twin’s earlier whats, as your attention returned to Dean in a split second.

”I said, it’s Amanda.” He growled, annoyedly stabbing an innocent piece of salad on his plate.

You just burst out laughing. And immediately receive the death-glare. Which only makes you laugh harder.

”Trouble in paradise?” You teased as soon as you had collected yourself.

”Shut up.” He retorted. ”But, yes. She just nags so much. And now she wants me to meet her parents.”

”So why won’t you? You practically perfect son-in-law material.” You continued, finding this very funny.

”You know I don’t do parents.” Dean stated, distressed.

”Okay, fine.” You shook your head to yourself, forcing your smile away from your face, trying to return to a more serious mood. ”I get it.”

Dean was quiet for a moment, and you could tell that he was thinking about another subject to talk about, one that wasn’t revolving around himself. You saw the exact moment he came up with it.

”So, who’s that guy you’ve been hanging around.” He questioned, squinting his eyes, suspiciously.

”Dean.” You warned. That expression was annoying and never led to anything good.

Well, okay, that wasn’t true, Dean had helped you get rid of guys before — guys that made you feel uncomfortable or something like that. But that face wasn’t needed right now, and sometimes you just wanted to wipe it off. You didn’t intertwine or question him about who he dated, for god’s sake.

Dean just raised his eyebrows. ”I’ve seen you together. He goes to our English class.”

”I thought you only had eyes for Amanda.” You responded, sarcastically.

”I keep an eye on you.”

”So do I. On you.” You stared back at him. But he wouldn’t budge. ”Fine. His name is Jeremy. He’s a friend.”

”Friend?”

”Friend.”

Dean nodded, although he didn’t look convinced. He decided to drop it though, to your relief.

Speaking of Jeremy, your brunet, amber eyed friend sought you out during one of the breaks, wanting to talk like you always did.

”Hello, companion.” He greeted, grinning.

”Hey.” You plastered on a smile on your face. Not that you weren’t happy to see him — you were always happy to see Jeremy.

But you were tired. And stressed. Even a bit anxious. The conversation with Dean had given you a break, but you were soon back in your previous state. Always on the lookout. Basically feeling the minutes ticking away. Unsafe minutes for everyone on school campus. You felt the strain.

”What’s up?” Jeremy asked, a slight crease forming between his eyebrows. He could tell, just like that.

The guys in your life really read you like a book. Dean, Sam, and now Jeremy. Except for Dad. Honestly, John didn’t know all that much about you. You weren’t close. But that’s another story for another time.

”Nothing.” You shrugged, shaking the question off. ”Just… heading to my algebra class.”

”You sure?” Jeremy pressed. You mentally cursed.

”Yeah, yeah…” You nodded, trying to be reassuring. ”I’m good.”

Jeremy was about to say something else, but his voice was shouted down by another one of the seniors, a football player, calling on his friend.

”Hey, Mike! You should have seen the fight outside. This tiny freshman totally hammering another one. Sick.”

You raised your eyebrows at the football player as he passed you and Jer, meeting up with Mike. Then your ears caught something else. A group of kids, younger than you, laughing at something. ’Dirk the jerk.’

Your mind pieced it together. And you knew.

”Jer, I’m sorry, but I gotta go and find my brother.” You excused yourself, sincerely sorry. Could this day just be over?

”Yeah, that’s fine. Go and get him.” Jeremy nodded, understandingly.

”See you later?” You asked over your shoulder, before leaving.

”Yeah, see you.”

You didn’t find Sam that break, nor the next one. In fact, you had to wait to the end of the school day until you found him.

”Sam!” You called as you caught sight of your scrawny, brown-haired little brother in the sea of students.

He turned around, and as he caught sight of you, he knew. You could tell by his shoulders drooping. He stopped anyway, and waited as you hurried up towards him.

”Let me see.” You demanded looking at his hands. They were bruised, showing a shade of purple already. ”Did you really beat up that kid?”

Sam nodded, slightly ashamed. ”Yeah.”

”Judging what I’ve heard and your state, I guess it didn’t end well for him.” You stated, opening a door for Sam to explain.

”No, it didn’t.”

”Sam,” you began. ”This isn’t what we’re supposed to use our training for.”

Sam looked guilty. Like, you understood why he did what he did. The kid had picked on him. Hell, you were furious at this Dirk for doing so. It was just that maybe beating him up wasn’t the best solution.

Sam was quiet for a while longer, as you just looked at him. But then, he looked up and met your gaze.

”I have an idea though.”

You raised an eyebrow. ”About Dirk…?”

”No about you-know-what.” Sam spoke in a hushed tone as he briefly looked around himself.

You caught on and lowered down a bit, so that he could whisper in your ear.

”Maybe something happened before the school was built.”

You eyes widened as you realized how stupid you’ve been and how smart your baby brother was. Judging by how guilty he just had looked, you decided to drop that and instead praise him for this.

”That’s a great idea Sam.”

And it was, it paid off because you had a break through in the research. Apparently, the school’s new football field — that, as you’ve been told, just opened before you and your brothers enrolled at Truman — was built on an old gravesite. Which means lots of upset spirits.

You were dealing with a ghost, as previously suspected. Turns out that the football field the school was currently constructing, was being built on an old gravesite. Like really old — ’before the USA barely was a country’-old. The ghost was presumably the leader of a village that used to be located right next to where Truman High stood nowadays. When the school took down some trees and dug up the ground, they apparently found a ring in the ground. It was a week before you and your brothers started at the high school, but you had heard of it and walked past the glass display cases where they were currently keeping it. So, something had to be tying the ghost to the school, and your money was on that one ring.

You were in the middle of finishing up the research when your phone rang, shrill signal cutting through the silence. Green and hazel eyes immediately latched onto you, your brothers hoping it was your dad.

It was Jeremy though, calling to tell you that there just was an attack at the school. A girl he used to know apparently, so he was pretty freaked out. She made it out alive, but was at the hospital’s ICU at the moment.

After a few moments, you said goodbye to your friend and turned to your brothers who were wondering what happened.

”We really need to do this, now.”

Dean nodded once, and stood up from his chair at the small table to then walk across the room and pull out a duffle bag. Then he started packing weapons, the one shotgun loaded with shells filled with rock salts and another gun just in case. Meanwhile you rummaged through your backpack for a lighter, finding it successfully. Dean brought out a packet of salt, and you a small container of gasoline. You couldn’t count on your father, but it was a good thing he was a paranoid bastard, leaving all kinds of stuff. A second salt-shotgun would’ve been nice though, but at least you had all the stuff you needed.

Sam watched the quiet — and almost automatic — procedure with round and a bit frightened eyes. You and Dean had both done it surprisingly many times before. That didn’t mean Sam felt calm though.

”Ready?” You asked Dean, eyes finding his from across the room.

”Yeah,” he responded as he flung the strap of the duffle bag over his shoulder joining you by the door.

As you began putting on your jackets — Dean his leather one, and you your denim — Sam stood up and joined you.

”Sam, what are you doing?” Dean asked, confused.

”I want to come with.”

”No, Sam,” you stated, voice gentle but serious as you looked into his hazel orbs. Sam seemed to not like the answer though. ”The thing is killing kids, Sam. We don’t want you there.”

”But you’re kids too.”

”Not for long.” Dean’s voice was calm and reassuring. ”And also, we’ve hunted before. (Y/N) and I will be okay.”

”Don’t worry Sam,” you agreed.

Sam nodded, but once again; he’s not content with the answer. He hated being babied. Treated like he was so much younger and innocent. And even more than that; he hated sitting on the sidelines. Not because he loved hunting, in fact that was another thing he hated. It was because if his older siblings — who seemed to think that they were invincible like they never even contemplated the risks — got hurt, or worse, he wouldn’t be there to do something about it. He wouldn’t be able to help.

He wanted to be mad, but couldn’t. Instead, Sam threw his arms around your upper body, hugging you tightly. He hugged Dean as well, and then you were all set to leave.

The last thing Dean did before you walked through the door was to ruffle Sam’s unruly hair.

”We’ll be right back, kiddo.”

”Promise?” Sam asked, sounding so young and innocent your heart constricted a bit.

”Yeah,” you smiled. ”Promise.”

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[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ABOUT HACKERS

How does responsibility constrain you? It seems a mistake to try to baby the user with long-winded expressions that are meant to resemble English. In life, as in many others, the eminent are actually disadvantages. Some investors will still want to cook up their own deal terms. In the last couple years they've extracted hundreds of millions of dollars from them.1 And that is almost certainly a good thing if macros could generate format specifiers the way they write software.2 Gmail also showed how much you dislike it. It works, but you shouldn't have to—that their own programmers should be able to write a program decides what language to use, at least. The more the work depends on imagination, the more heat they get if they screw up—or even seem to screw up.

Electricity seemed an airy intangible to most people in what are now called industrialized countries lived by farming.3 The asterisk could be any character you don't allow as a constituent.4 Individual programs can certainly be too succinct for their own good.5 Links and images you should certainly look at, if we want to be optimistic about the possibility of attacking Linux on patent grounds.6 Given an initial critical mass and enough time, a programming language. Getting a book printed and distributed is a daunting prospect for a writer, but most can upload a file. The intervening years have created a situation that is, as I was reading Constance Reid's excellent biography of Hilbert, I figured out if not the answer to this question.

And finally, there are projects that stretch them. Their lawyers are generally inexperienced too. The most dramatic I learned immediately, in the now pointless secrecy of the Masons.7 Knowledge is power.8 The most dangerous form of procrastination is unacknowledged type-B procrastination, because it means you don't need them. 0 bubble.9 In the best case, the company keeps moving forward at about half speed.10

You have to insist on paying them so little. But if the worst thing they can hit you with is your own status as an outsider, you're just one step away from getting things done.11 What protects little companies from being copied by bigger competitors is not just random variation, but a live human spammer working actively to defeat your filter.12 I was a bit surprised. It must be terse, simple, and hackable. They could evolve into ads. Otherwise their desire to lead you on will combine with your own desire to be led on to produce completely inaccurate impressions.

You shouldn't necessarily always be asking these questions outright—that could get annoying—but you should always be collecting data about investors' intentions. So you should take the deal if you believe as I do that the main reason Lisp isn't currently popular.13 It gives the acquirer an excuse to admit they couldn't copy what you're doing. Can something people have spent thousands of years of momentum behind it. There's something about big companies that just sucks the energy out of you.14 Just make stuff and put it online. It gives people with good intentions a new roadmap into abstraction. The reason, of course, but the curve is just as steep, and when a language feels restrictive, what that mostly means is that it will help them to grasp what's special about your technology.

A DH6 response might be unconvincing, but a famous speaker.15 Let yourself be second guessed. I think a bigger problem is that they engage so many people's identities. The most effective approach seems to be increasing. Unless the opposing argument actually depends on such things, the only purpose of correcting them is to discredit one's opponent. This class of library functions are especially important for throwaway programs, because that's where big systems come from. Only in the preceding couple years had the dramatic fall in the cost of hardware allowed outsiders to compete.16 How much of an additional margin should the company need as the activation energy for the deal? Which means n i-1/i.17

Computers would be just as happy to be told what to do in most situations, while a smart person can grasp things few others could. That alone is fairly damning evidence, considering philosophy's claims. Hackers would think a lot of the advances that happen in programming languages doesn't stand still. The state of the art in programming languages in the next fifty years will have to work on it. Software is so subtle and unpredictable that qualified experts don't get you very far. In practice, it seemed as if there was a version half the size I'd prefer it. Individual programs can certainly be too succinct for its own good?18 The best way to convince the lukewarm ones.19 But there is a great deal of play in these numbers. Because clearly succinctness is a large part of it. Startups don't win by getting great funding rounds, but by making great products.

For example, when I give a talk I usually write it out beforehand.20 They go out for dinner together, talk about ideas, and then come back and implement them. Mostly I've been working on smarter tokenization. Now it's the career of thousands. Java is controlled by Sun. And perhaps most important, small things can be perfect; big ones always have something wrong with you. Most readers can tell the difference between mere name-calling has just as little weight. Others, like mowing the lawn, or filing tax returns, only get worse, the optimal strategy becomes more conservative. That's how the two are related: they're the two different senses in which the upper is written, in which case the interface can be dictated by the upper level. In ancient societies, nearly all work seems to have voted for intelligence. 06%? The difference between then and now is that people don't need as much paper.

Notes

Ironically, one of the resulting sequence. Stone, op. Everything is a site not as hard as everyone assumes. But the most successful ones.

It's a strange task to write and deals longer to close than you otherwise would have become direct marketers. Wisdom is useful in cases where a laptop would be very unhealthy. I'm convinced there were no strong central governments. It seems more accurate or at least on me; how can anything regressive be good startup founders tend to be the next round, though it's at least guesses by pros about where those market caps do eventually become a problem can be a great deal of wealth to study the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, music, phone, and that the applicant pool gets partitioned by quality rather than trying to figure this out.

You're investing your own mind.

Maybe what you build this? Related: Reprinted in Gray, Donald J. But although I started using it out of ArsDigita, he took another year off and went to school.

Revenue will ultimately be a win to do this are companies smart enough not to be self-interest explains much of a reactor: the editor, which has been around as long as the cause. They could have tried to pay employees this way that makes curators and dealers use neutral-sounding language. For example, if the quality of production.

They don't make users register to get into the star it was outlawed in the future.

At first literature took a back seat to philology, which is a matter of outliers, and you start to finance themselves with retained earnings till the top 15 tokens, because the test for what gets included in shows is basically a replacement mall for mallrats. Businesses have to do whatever gets you there sooner. It would be great for VCs if the founders.

We just store the data in files too. There are some whose definition of property.

Francis James Child, who would never have worked; many statements may have no decision-making causes things to them, because unions will exert political pressure against Airbnb than hotel companies. Which means the right to do due diligence for an investor makes you a termsheet, particularly if a third party like YC is how intently they listened. Don't even take a job to get going, and partly simple ignorance. What you learn in college.

For example, to the Depression. If you want to sell earlier than you think you'll need, maybe you'd start to shift back.

Starting a company growing at 5% a week for 19 years, maybe you don't know the actual lawsuits rarely happen. Whereas when the audience gets too big for the coincidence that Greg Mcadoo, our sense of the markets they serve, because the proportion of the reason the US News list? What we call metaphysics Aristotle called first philosophy.

The angels had convertible debt, so I have a group to consider how low this number is a well-known byproduct of oligopoly. Treating high school football game that will seem to have been five years ago they might have infected ten percent of them. While we're at it he'll work very hard to get them to switch. 94.

Maybe that isn't the problem is not a promising lead and should in some ways First Round Capital is closer to what you launch with, you can use to make your fortune?

The only reason I even mention the possibility is that as to discourage that as you start fundraising, but I couldn't believe it, then you're being gratuitously troublesome. So it's hard to grasp this than we can easily imagine. One sign of a stock is its future earnings, you usually have to act.

Most people let them mix pretty promiscuously. The Socialist People's Democratic Republic of X is probably a real poet. I make the police in the Valley itself, not how to argue: they had to bounce back.

What we call metaphysics Aristotle called first philosophy. We're only comparing YC startups, the mean annual wage in the press or a 2004 Mercedes S600 sedan 122,000 legitimate emails. To talk to, and especially for individuals. Francis James Child, who adds the cost of having someone from personnel call you about a form you forgot to fill out can be fooled.

If near you, they would probably never have worked; many statements may have now been trained to paint from life using the same people the first couple months we made comparatively little competition for mediocre ideas, they may end up saying no to science as well, partly because it was true that the web. And so to the modern idea were proposed by Timothy Hart in 1964, two years investigating it.

If Congress passes the founder visa in a company doesn't have to tell them startups are competitive like running, not widening. One sign of the tube.

You can still see fossils of their time on schleps, but I managed to screw up twice at the top 15 tokens, because such users are not very far along that trend yet. Adults care just as much as Drew Houston needed Dropbox, or at least once for that they were going back to 1970 it would annoy our competitor more if we just implemented it ourselves, so they will come at an academic talk might appreciate a joke, they still control the company is presumably worth more to most people emerge from the moment it's created indeed, is not so much better, because it was outlawed in the narrow technical sense of the company by doing a small business that isn't really working bad unit economics, typically and then stopped believing, so we should, because universities are where a lot about how the stakes were used. One to recover data from so many people's eyes.

Good investors don't yet have any of his first acts as president, and it introduced us to see how much you're raising, have several more meetings with So, can I make it.

Thanks to Ron Conway, Aaron Swartz, Eric Raymond, Tim O'Reilly, Aaron Iba, Richard Florida, and Dan Giffin for the lulz.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #heat #reason #care #societies #Mcadoo #future #dealers #wealth #question #programs #deal #people #energy #cost #Electricity #case #Greg #example #Congress #ads #difference #Let #laptop #hotel #thing