#being in conflict is a national sport and clearly no one is winning

[bopinion]

2023 / 45

Aperçu of the Week:

"Conflicts come and go. Money stays."

(Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, ex-President of the Russian Federation)

Bad News of the Week:

It was feared for a long time, now it's happening: the Ukraine war may not be losing its horror, but it is losing its attention. As happened with Syria. And with Yemen. How is Iraq actually doing? Or Libya? New times bring new headlines. People's attention span is limited. And people's empathy too. It is not only in the US Congress that voices are getting louder questioning support for Ukraine. It would be a bottomless pit anyway. And you can't take care of everything.

In this country too, people are now taking to the streets for or against Palestine, for or against Israel. The aggression of Hamas or the Netanyahu government is obviously closer to us than the aggression of Putin. At least now. But perhaps also in Europe in general, to which Israel is often counted. France has a not only flattering history in the region and a large Arab population, Germany's special relationship with the Jewish people ("reason of state") need not even to be mentioned.

And now there is growing evidence that Ukraine does not always wear white shirts either. Research by the Washington Post, among others, into the background to the explosives attacks on the North Stream pipelines leads to Ukraine. Former intelligence officer and special forces commander Roman Chervynsky is described in security circles as the "coordinator" of these attacks, responsible for the logistics of the sabotage commando. If Ukraine is now behind the biggest act of sabotage of all time, no German, whose energy prices have tripled as a result, will be pleased. If, at the same time, direct military aid is doubled to 8 billion euros, the purse strings will be tight. In real terms, but above all in terms of feeling.

I very much hope that the solidarity that has united us Europeans up to now will only crumble and not collapse. Because it is still true that European values are being defended in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin must not be allowed to win. But I am increasingly worried that his calculations could work out. Time is clearly working in his favor. Sidenote: the Russian economy is currently doing better than the German.

Good News of the Week:

Jeff Bezoz and Elon Musk are known as negative examples of capitalism. Attacking competitors, exploiting employees and paying as little tax as possible. Virtually all investors and almost every multinational corporation try to structure their balance sheets in such a way that as little as possible goes to the state(s). Even though those depend on tax revenues for their public welfare tasks. Tax evasion is how all our companies work.

The problem is, on the one hand, the well-known tax havens such as Cayman Island and, on the other hand, competition between nations as to where which company with which activity sets up shop. Because of jobs and because of taxes. I have remembered a creative example of tax avoidance in Europe from recent years: the sporting goods manufacturer Nike.

Its German business - the largest market on the continent for Nike despite its domestic competitors Adidas and Puma - generates enormous sales, but strangely enough no profit, which would be relatively highly taxed in this country. The trick: for every pair of sneakers etc., Nike Germany pays a license fee for patents, design, brand use etc. to Nike Ireland, where the tax rates are significantly lower. And strangely enough, always in the exact amount so that nothing is left over. Thank you very much.

My criticism is less directed at the company, whose nature it is to generate as much profit as possible. But rather to Ireland, which allows tax evasion at the expense of its European colleagues. But this will soon come to an end. Because the global minimum tax is just around the corner. The German tax office calls it "one of the biggest reforms in the international taxation of companies".

Until now, the taxation of multinational corporate groups has largely been organized on a national basis. A group only has to pay taxes on its profits in the countries in which it has a physical presence. This is becoming less and less important in the increasingly cross-border movement of goods and in the digital economy in general. And even within Europe, tax rates vary greatly: from 9% to 35% according to the OECD.

Now 138 countries around the world, including all G20 states, have committed to a global minimum tax of 15%. Experts call its introduction a "game changer" in the fight against decades of tax dumping by large corporations. Estimates are based on this. The global minimum tax will generate an additional 200 billion euros a year for the international community. This will finance their commonwealth, from which all citizens will benefit. And not just the investors on the stock markets and the shareholders of companies.

Personal happy moment of the week:

Senta Berger. One of our greatest actresses. As a young woman in the 60s and now, at 82, she still is. I have always admired her. For her artistic work and for her humanity. She fights for the protection of wildlife and against leukemia. And admitted to having an abortion in 1971 (!). She was and is a great woman. I bumped into her in the elevator today. And told her exactly that. She said I made her day. And she made mine.

I couldn't care less...

...for the carnival. On 11.11. at 11h11 on the dot, tens of thousands of "Jecken" celebrated the start of the Rhineland carnival and the foolish season in Cologne. As if the time before had been normal in any way.

As I write this...

...I'm fighting a nascent cold. And a stomach virus. And muscle tension. And tiredness. It's November. But maybe I'm just getting old.

Post Scriptum

Nikki Haley could become a serious challenger to Donald Trump in the Republican primaries. Last you heard from Ron DeSantis? Exactly.

#thoughts #aperçu #good news #bad news #news of the week #happy moments #politics #dmitry medvedev #ukraine #israel #palestine #russian agression #europe #germany #empathy #solidarity #capitalism #tax evasion #nike #senta berger #carnival #november #getting older #nikki haley #donald trump #ron desantis #welfare #commonwealth #ireland #north stream

[chirag34]

week 2

5 leadership strength

Self-awareness-You can respond more effectively to circumstances or individuals that can trigger you if you practise self-awareness. This is an excellent trait for a leader to possess. Gaining self-awareness will better prepare you as a leader to recognise your emotions and create a toolkit for how to manage them in a work environment. Self-awareness can help one avoid pointless conflict. Being able to focus on something positive when in a negative situation. In my school time in 10th standard, I was not scoring good marks in exam meanwhile I didn’t get depressed but work on my mistake and passed my class with good grade.

Situational awareness-Situational awareness necessitates an external gaze. Making decisions requires a leader to listen, observe, and consider the dynamics of a situation. To make the best decisions, you must also have a sharp inward focus and consider both your strengths and weaknesses. With so much at stake, situational awareness is an essential part of leadership. Example, in my school time I was national level player in ping pong, so I was team captain, and we had a state level competition. In that match our opponent is strong at back hand drive skill, and I know that because I played with them before, so I made decision to put me in 3rd round to win that match. I made decision according to my weakness and strength.

Leadership is communication-As a leader, you need to be a skilled communicator in relationships at many levels, and with a wide range of different audiences. Therefore, it is vital that you can think clearly, and critically you must learn to handle the rapid flow of information within your organization, and among customers, partners, employees, and other stakeholders and influencers. Example: I said before I play ping pong in my school, I also used to give training to students in my school like beginners, so I was keeping my communication simple and direct, which help them to understand easily.

effective negotiation skills -will enable you to cope with a variety of different situations. Whether you are working on a complex deal, mediating in a difficult situation, or negotiating a new contract, it is likely there will be some compromise needed to reach a desirable solution. Example in my school day we student union wants to host a event on self-safety so we want permission as well as funding from college so we three leaders from union had a words with president or chairmen of college and he dined the permission for fund but in the end we explain whole procedure and effect after than events than we are able to negotiate them for that.

Courageous decision makers- Making the right choices is only one aspect of being a successful leader; in fact, some of the most effective leaders are those who can make difficult choices despite anxiety, uncertainty, and doubt. One essential trait of effective leaders is the capacity to meet these challenges head-on. Because of this, even when things appear uncertain, their team is confident that they can always count on their leader to make the right decisions. This kind of power gives followers a sense of security and contributes to the formation of successful teams.

One I picked is-

Leadership communication- right now I am Canada and you good to know that I am representing my college February in ping pong. This all happen week before I was not aware of clubs in college, I just go for playing usually in college one day club coordinator was me playing and we had a words together I told her mine previous background in sports than she take my trial and now finally I am president of that clubs as well playing for college to only because of my good communication skills.

[frenchly-anxious]

I'm laughing so hard. I can't imagine how baffling this must be to foreigners. "What do you mean you can't agree on where is located a tidal-island??"

#welcome to France #being in conflict is a national sport and clearly no one is winning #french #french culture #france #up the baguette #mont saint michel #bretagne #normandie #being french #funny #learning french

[skania]

The Final Stroke: Thoughts on Haru's conflict (+Rin)

Okay so reading all the summaries of The Final Stroke Part 1 has left me with A LOT of thoughts. About Haru, about Rin, about Rin & Haru and how all the different character conflicts will be tied together in Part 2.

BUT since I have been waiting YEARS for Free! to feed me some juicy Haru conflict, of course I'm sinking my teeth into that first because peeling off Haru's layers has always been my favorite Free! sport.

It's been a long while since I've tried to get into Haru's head AND I haven't even watched the movie yet so I'm probably wrong, but here goes nothing. As per usual, it will be long and image-heavy because I can't keep things short and sweet to save my life.

Also, it's heavy on spoilers about The Final Stroke so please do not read without reading Fencer's summary first!

AND since it's basically impossible to discuss Haru without discussing Rin and vice-versa, please do also expect a healthy dose of RinHaru.

Utsumi: Indeed; it’s a path Haruka never would have chosen himself. But despite claims that he doesn’t care about winning or losing or scoring certain times, he’s always been attentive to Rin’s presence. [x]

Please assume there's a huge "IMO" attached to this whole post.

In Season 1, we saw Haru struggle to understand that the reason for his emotional turmoil was quite simply that he wanted to swim with Rin again.

In Season 2, we saw Haru struggle because he wanted to follow Rin into the Pro world, but he felt like he didn't deserve to do so because he didn't have a dream and thus, no strong feelings about competitive swimming itself.

Needless to say, there's a pattern.

In Season 3, the series kind of took a detour. Still, it did plant some seeds, the most important IMO being the following:

"After I hit 20, I will be..."

"If you ask me what lies ahead of me, I..."

"You can't survive without throwing something away. I didn't want to throw anything away. But I lost."

"Maybe I don't deserve to compete at the global level."

Road to the World adds some extra layers to all that by showing us just what else is connected to that fear of Haru's.

Because, what do we see after Rin tells Haru that no matter what wall [Rin] faces, the one thing that doesn't change is his desire to keep swimming with [Haru]?

We see the moment Rin tells Haru "aim for the world with me, Haru!". Then, the moment Rin asks Haru what his dream is—right when Haru finally felt free after achieving the dream he had that season, that of swimming with Rin again. Lastly, we see the moment Rin asks Haru "what will you do?" when it comes to choosing between swimming in a recreational pool, or the one used by the National Team.

Every single one of these moments brought Haru closer to his dream—and Rin is the common factor in them all. So when Rin tells Haru,

It's obvious by those flashbacks alone what Haru's answer is. He, too, wants to keep swimming with Rin in that world.

But before the thought can fully form in Haru's mind, Albert flashes through it. We immediately see Haru's disposition change, and the result is the most telling of all.

Just like always, the imagery is on point. Rin and his desire to swim with him give Haru strength and purpose and Haru clenches his fist—but this time, Albert seeps that strength from him until his fist goes limp. And suddenly, Haru doesn't know what to say to Rin anymore.

Because, what Albert makes Haru wonder, is this:

From my limited perspective (like I said before, I haven't watched TFS yet), I think that might just be where the heart of Haru's issue in The Final Stroke lies.

I think a big part of why Haru wants to win against Albert so badly is probably because he wants to prove to himself that he does deserve to be in that world—like Rin. That all his friends are right to believe in him.

And he feels even more pressured because he thinks he's running out of time.

All this pressure to win—not to feel the water better or to be the best in the water he loves so much, but simply to win before he's "ordinary"—does not let Haru swim freely. He doesn’t swim like himself.

He is probably terrified of his own limits and of how close he might be to hitting them, and this fear and pressure are binding him.

Moreover, while Haru decided that he wanted to swim in that world, the truth is that he doesn’t know what the future holds for him.

He has no long-term, tangible plans. Unlike Rin, who wants to win a gold medal, Haru just wants to swim "in the whole world". This, added to the fact that he thinks he’ll be ordinary by 20 and that he has not managed to beat Albert, makes it so Haru is basically blinded to what the future can bring for him. He can’t see that sight.

Part of the reason for this, I feel, is that the series has never addressed the big elephant in the room.

What exactly does Haru get out of competitive swimming, besides swimming with Rin? Because "swimming in that world" is nice and sweet and idealistic, but it doesn't cover the fact of racing itself.

I used to talk a lot about why Haru needed to find a reason to enjoy competing even when it isn't against Rin. That he needed to find a reason to want that for himself. I even thought S3 may finally go for it, but it ended without Haru finding meaning in that "world of wins and losses", as he used to call it.

Usually, he’d look at Rin to point the way forward. And it is knowing that Rin (and to a lesser extent, Ikuya) is there fighting with him and aiming for the world as well that gives Haru some reassurance.

However, from what we know from the summaries, Haru isn’t thinking of them when he swims. He is entirely caught up on needing to beat Albert because of what it has come to represent to him.

There’s also the issue of Haru’s competitiveness. Haru spent a long time suppressing it and only indulging in it with Rin. But he has always wanted to be the best in the water—the one who "feels" it best.

It wasn’t that he wanted to win, or that he hated losing; it was just that he couldn’t simply accept that there was someone who could feel the water more than he could. (x)

So when you combine all of this, I feel like Haru has lost sight of the most important thing—that instead of swimming just to win, like it’s a job, he should swim to feel the water he loves so much and, most importantly, for the team (with his friend’s feelings in his heart).

That way, he could swim like himself and the water won’t be sad nor lonely.

This all sounds like a lot and it is. Haru is all but suffocating under this weight.

So, when Rin comes and tells him that [Haru] will be facing Albert alone—that they aren’t fighting him together, like Haru hoped for—Haru snaps.

It’s not only that what Haru perceives as the biggest obstacle to his dream (Albert) is standing before Haru (alone) and Rin won’t be there to share his struggles, but also that Rin is the reason he’s there in the first place because Rin is the one that made Haru stop wanting to be ordinary.

He’s the reason why he’s gotten to this point and the reason he came into the global stage and ran into Albert. He’s also the biggest thing Haru will lose if he can’t win against Albert—because if Haru’s dream ends, he won’t get to swim with Rin in that world anymore.

And now Rin’s walking away from swimming free and leaving him alone with this beast of a swimming machine and with [Haru’s] own limitations. And Haru feels trapped. He feels bitter. He feels betrayed. Terrified.

And, of course, lost. Because just like Rin once said, "Without you, I have nothing to aim for, you know?"

So, he snaps.

And by burning bridges with Rin, the very embodiment of "For the Team", the one person that he has always wanted to swim with most of all, the one whose feelings he was still connected to above all—by virtue of swimming together in that world, by sharing a dream—Haru now feels like he's truly alone in the water.

Haru is essentially turning his back on the very reason he swims for—in more ways than one. So, he’s becoming a second Albert. Only there to win, not to have fun.

Because that’s the thing. Haru says he’s doing it for his dream, but since he can’t see that dream clearly, he lacks direction. All he can see is the immediate future and all that stares back at him are his own limitations—embodied by Albert himself.

Albert represents, then, the road Haru must not take. Haru can’t be all about becoming stronger simply for the sake of winning—and he must definitely not do so alone. Like Ikuya said in S3, if Haru isn't gaining that strength for someone else (the team), there's no point.

So, since this is Free!, Haru needs to go back to his roots and truly swim for the team once again. But I feel like he also needs to re-contextualize his dream and truly define what it entails, for once and for all. Which, if we go by everything we've seen so far—should involve swimming with Rin.

Only then will he be able to swim freely again.

There's A LOT of foreshadowing and things from S3 that will most likely play a role in that and I haven't even touched Rin's choice to not swim free anymore, but this has gotten really long and I've run out of image slots lmao so I'll just have to ramble about those some other time 🙇‍♀️

#rinharu #harurin #nanase haruka #sharkbait #me: swimming idiots #the final stroke spoilers #skip this if you don't want any spoilers! #I am so sorry for this huge wall of ramblings but Haru is back to being fascinating and I'm loving every second of it #this post has a huge brain storming feel to it because it's basically while I wrote while trying to make sense of my thoughts on haru's #I may be 100% off though since visual cues are essential in getting haru and I haven't watched the movie #but making a fool of myself is part of the fun so speculating here I come lmao

[tribow]

So I watched Alderamin on the Sky & One Outs

If you happen to know what these two anime are (which is unlikely) then you're probably very confused as to why I would be talking about both of them in the same post. They have no similarities outside of the fact that they were both animated by Madhouse.

Alderamin is a military-focused story set within a fairly unique fantasy world. The military equipment mirrors the type of technology the real world had right about when we were transitioning into gun warfare. ....One Outs is about baseball.

Well okay, that isn't entirely accurate. The reason why I'm comparing these anime is because they both have main characters that excel at strategic psychological warfare. They outsmart and completely dismantle their opponents and it never seems like they truly lose. Some people find these characters frustrating because if you know the character is going to win how is it interesting? I'm not writing this post for that question though. To give the short answer; it's not about if they'll win, but how they win. What I actually want to answer is why One Outs was fun to watch while Alderamin was much less interesting despite clearly having the more complex story.

One Outs is a VERY stupid show. The main character is completely ridiculous. He's a pitcher that can pitch exactly what he wants without fail and can completely read what his opponents are thinking just by paying attention to their body language. He adapts to his opponents strategies on the spot and counters them perfectly. Not saying he is completely without flaws, but he covers up those bases too well for any of his adversaries to take advantage of it. I call it "stupid" because it's unrealistic for a person like that to exist. Not only that, but the skill a character has in baseball almost never comes into play here. Characters might as well be chess pieces that are only able to do specific things, but will do that specific thing perfectly every time. That is not how the world works.

But in One Outs, none of that matters, the story isn't trying to be realistic and does not waste time attempting to convince the viewer otherwise. It jumps right into the psychological warfare and takes you along for the ride.

Alderamin on the other hand, is much more complicated. It's about war after all. the strategies applied to a war has a lot more to it than a sport. The trauma of war is not a trivial matter either. Being able to lead an army requires trust and belief in what you're fighting for. There's nothing I can say to briefly summarize the deep nuance of war and Alderamin does not attempt to hold anything back either, but if I can praise it for believable battles why did I find it less fun than One Outs?

Well it's all in the introduction. No matter what your settings and characters are you need to establish it first. This is where Alderamin misses for me. The viewer should know what goals the characters may have and what are the conflicts in the story ESPECIALLY if your main character is a master strategist and will rise above many of these conflicts.

In the first few epispdes of Alderamin I felt like I accidentally started on a season 2 and that feeling never went away. I didn't know why the nations were even in wars and their goals are vague. I only knew that there is a war. Relationships between characters aren't explained well despite them clearly having a long history with each other sometimes. It became hard to believe the actions of a character because I simply did not fully know who they were.

These two anime made me realize just how important it was to establish a story before it really gets going. One Outs may lack realism, but it does not share Alderamin's problems. Despite how silly it can get I was immersed and ready to watch the next episode without having a bunch of lingering questions waiting to be answered. In fact, One Outs is actually really good at leaving you hanging at a perfect time. You'll only have one question at the end of an episode, "What will happen next?"

Establishing story is not the only problem All the ramen has though. Something that I really appreciate in many of the anime I watch is when there is never a wasted moment. Every single thing that happens has a meaning whether it be a metaphor, foreshadowing, developement, or whatever. As long as the scene said something about the narrative/character then it isn't wasted. I can't recall a single moment in One Outs where I felt like it was wasting my time outside of recaps when I was binging through some episodes. The fact that the main character doesn't attend team meetings says something about both his personality, relationship with the team, and motivations. For Alderamin, the main character immediately trying hit on every girl he sees says nothing about the narrative or himself. Maybe you can make the argument that it plays into how he wants to act lazy/carefree, but him sleeping in a hammock in the middle of the day does that already.

No, I'm not irrationally against horny/sexual topics in a story. The main character having an affair with a fellow soldier's mother before being assigned to the same platoon is a very fair way to make the entire unit distrust him at first. This allows him to win their trust later with his battle strategies and philosophy even if he's a sketchy dude. Alderamin does not frequently waste time, but when it does I could really feel it because of the other huge mistake it already makes.

Now this issue could be due to how it was being adapted in the anime. The ending of the show closes the book on an arc and pretty much tells you to, "Go read the light novel". A full adaption of the story was never planned to begin with, however, the same could be said for One Outs. Even if it isn't a full adaption, it doesn't mean what is adapted is just fated to be bad.

That all being said, One Outs is a cool show...as silly as it is. Could be a fun watch if you're interested. The soundtrack for One Outs slaps too (except for the opening, opening is kinda wack). Alderamin on the Sky is an alright anime. I wouldn't say it's bad, but it does have very noticeable flaws. It is worth watching for a fairly unique setting and its surprisingly respectful take on warfare. That light novel might be worth looking into. This post was less a review of these anime and more a discussion of how they handled their characters/world building, but I don't make any rules here. You read this whole thing I only wrote it.

#anime #One Outs #Alderamin on the Sky #review #writing #long post #I felt like I should have said something more about Madhouse here #both of these shows are animated pretty well #wish full adaptions were more common in anime tbh

[seokiloquy]

Sniff - Kuroo & Kozume

AU: Werewolf (with hardly any werewolf content, I’m sorry)

Requested (I may have changed it a bit, oops)

Word Count: 2.1k+

Miyagi prefecture was home to many subsidiary pack groups that often were at odd ends with each other. Other prefectures had more balance, forming alliances and annual gatherings to share resources and information. Tokyo was a good example of such, though there were smaller groups that covered less ground, they had a balance. Miyagi did not. Though you were never at the forefront of the various battles that happened between the packs, typically spending your time working on the gardening side of things (which had its own conflicts), you often watched from the sidelines as the various hunters and athletes competed against each other. Training, practicing, getting stronger.

Shiratorizawa was at the top of the food chain in Miyagi, they had the strongest hunters and the largest pack. Aoba Johsai was a rising opponent but never quite made it to the top. Other groups often watched the competitors duke it out when they crossed paths, practice or otherwise. Karasuno, your home base, was small. Most of the buildings in the surrounding area were short and the ground was great for harvesting. Other packs came to your home in need of rice or other vegetables. It had been years since Karasuno was seen as a pack with a fighting chance in the annual trials. The generation that had been known to be award-winning athletes had now grown out of their peak metabolic state, moving on to join the workforce. Very few continued in their sport.

Your family was the head of harvesting. Your father worked with roots and your mother took charge of the pickings, and in your free moments outside of school, you worked in the rice fields. Breaking your back (and others) to gather all the grain when you weren’t learning through the day. 

It was crunch time this year. By some odd chance, three of your town’s teams had made it to the national tournament, beating out the arguably stronger teams of Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa. Because of this, you (and everyone else in the community that weren’t part of the training teams) had to gather as many resources as possible to award the winning communities in their respective fields at the end of the tournament. 

Everything hurts your brain nowadays. This time of the year was a drag. Despite being happy about your pack’s success, you desperately wished that only one team had succeeded. Now, you had to gather three times more rice than you normally did. 

Sadly, Karasuno never qualified for any of the traditional competitions. Hunting, tracking, and speed wasn’t in high demand for a mostly harvest based group. It was the new age games that Karasuno managed to succeed in. Soccer -just like every year-, Tennis, and Volleyball. The latter two were the surprising wins.

“(L/N), do you want a hand with that?” Yoshida was in his final year of participating in these games but as a member of the pack’s soccer team, the two of you had gotten to know each other over years of competition.

You gladly handed over the large wicker basket that held the harvested paddies, “Thanks.”

“You’ve got your work cut out for you this year, don’t you?” the dark-haired player asked rhetorically.

You sighed, “I still have to mill every grain,” you sniffed, “You know what, give that back.”

“Huh? Why?” he asked, handing the large basket back.

“Oujiyama.”

Without warning, besides the brief name you had given, the tennis captain railed into the side of the soccer player, tackling him down. The large wolf easily shifted into his normal form, laughing at the startled man below him. Yoshida growled, easily retaliating and turned the quaffed hair of Oujiyama into a bird’s nest. Bouncing the wicker basket in your arms, you sighed and left the two competing wolves to wrestle in the dirt.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you two were alpha’s fighting for a mate’s attention.”

Oujiyama was the first to recover from the tussle on the ground, brushing off the dirt from his shoulders, “I am an alpha!”

Yoshida, a beta, took the comment as a compliment. He started skipping to catch up to you.

“Maybe, but I know better. Your guys’ egos are just massive.”

Yoshida stopped skipping and swiped the basket from you with a pout.

The three of you travelled to the outer edge of Karasuno’s community, where a small truck was parked. Yoshida dropped the basket in the back along with all of the other containers of food and draped the tarp over it all. 

“Are you guys heading in early?”

Nodding, you tied the blue tarp down to the edges of the truck. “Ya, we have to finish preparing the rice and help set everything up before all the packs show up.” You let out a whining breath, “It’s too much work. Luckily others from other packs will be there to help and the teams that are already in Tokyo will be helping too.”

With the help of some of the other paddy workers across Tokyo, you managed to mill all of the rice that had been brought in three days. Those days were spent waking up before the hunters came back from their treks at dawn, and working on your knees until long after the sun had set. Now your muscles hurt, your nose was stuffed and you desperately wanted some tea.

Stupid sniffer.

“(Y/N), you’re off work right? Can you go to the sport competition sites and bring some of these towels?”

“Huh? Oh sure,” you held out your arms to carry the stack of soft materials. “Which ones should I go to?”

The suit-clad woman checked the list in her hand before pointing behind you. 

“If you walk south you can take a circular route from the wolf and human sprint courses, through the tennis courts and basketball gyms to end up at the volleyball gym. The Tokyo teams are practicing and all of the other packs are expected to arrive later this evening, make sure that there are enough. Oh, those too,” she pointed to a towel filled cart.

Your brain felt numb again. You laughed pitifully as the woman walked away, watching as she yelled at a few brawling wolves on the path. Dropping the towels onto the rolling cart to your side, you began pushing the large weight in the direction of the tracks. You desperately wanted to smell the clean cotton but your nose was clogged. A whine escaped you.

Most of the competing players were taking breaks, a lot of the boys had shifted into their wolf forms to lounge in the sun and pant while a majority of the girls decided to stick to the shade and drink water. They both thankfully took the towels you delivered, though a few came close to biting your hand as they did.

While at the tennis court Oujiyama ran up to you, racket held tightly in his mouth whining for you to pour water over his head. You complied but weren’t too happy about it.

It was only when you made it to the volleyball courts where the players had been playing rigorously. You delivered the towels to the girl’s teams before making your way to the boys, who were yelling much louder than you would expect them to.

“Excuse me, sir, I brought some towels.”

The old man looked your way. His arms were tightly crossed over his chest and his eyes seemed to be set in a permanent glare meant for scrutinizing every movement before him.

“Oh, thank you,” he said, flicking his wrist to look at the watch that was hidden under his red sleeve. “I guess it is a good time for a break. Boys!”

All the heads on the court turned your way, including those that were clearly from different packs. The old man looked sent a questioning look in the direction of the other coaches, who gave a positive nod.

“Break!”

Immediately all the players ran in the direction of their water bottles. Some shifted in hopes to get there faster than the others, nearly breaking their bottles in the grip of the wolf jaws, and startling their managers in the process. Some began to line up before you, politely asking for towels to which you responded by gently holding them out or dropping it around furry necks.

“You seem tired,” the last one said in a hushed tone.

You let out a sigh, “I’ve been preparing rice for the winning prizes for the past few days, and now that that’s done I need to help with other preparations before all the packs arrive.”

The boy hummed, taking a sip from his bottle, “do you at least get to have a break to watch the games?”

“Thankfully,” you said as you leaned against the now empty cart, sniffing. “It’s like this every year to an extent but this time we have three groups competing which means three times the work.”

The boy took the space beside you, letting his weight shift the cart slightly. “What pack do you come from?” He asked.

“Karasuno.”

“Ah, do you know Shoyo?”

You shrugged a shoulder, “I’ve never actually spoken to the volleyball team, but I’ve seen them around. I tend to spend most of my time working, so any of the people I talk to are mostly out of convenience.” You thought about Yoshida and Oujiyama for a moment, “Or they just pester me for food.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing, sorry.” You dug your shoe into the wooden floor, “So what’s your name any-”

“Hey Kenma.”

“It’s Kozume. That’s Kuroo.”

“Tetsurou.”

The tall black-haired player that had interrupted the boy you were speaking to -Kozume- walked over with his hands placed on his hips. He breathed deeply before letting out an amused huff. Kozume huffed.

“You’re willing to talk to a stranger you just met over your own team? That’s new.”

“The stranger’s name is-”

“(Y/N).”

“That. And unlike the team (Y/N) actually relaxed and not loud.”

“Are you saying that that’s not relaxed?” Kuroo asked, throwing an arm out to gesture back to his teammates.

The boys he was referring to were all sprawled across the floor breathing heavily. One, in particular, was in his wolf form rolled onto his back while holding the squeezable water bottle between his teeth, squishing it, and chugging down the contents that poured out. Kenma pushed off the cart to stand next to Kuroo.

“That’s exhaustion, not relaxation.”

As the two bickered back and forth, you spun around to grab the handle of your cart.

“I’ll just go. I’ll see you two around.”

They paid you no mind, continuing to argue over Kenma’s relationships with his teammates. Despite the topic being focused on the dyed blonde, Kuroo seemed to be the more passionate of the two regarding the topic.

Nodding, you shuffled backwards while chewing your lip. The coaches, having caught your exit, sent you grateful smiles and waves that you returned before scooting yourself out of there.

Meeting your own packs volleyball team was an interesting experience. As soon as the bus doors opened a few of them, in the canine forms, jumped out and began running around the open parking lot. They howled continuously until their captain had to yell them down. You started speaking to Ukai and Takeda, showing them a map of the area.

When the Nekoma volleyball team came to greet them it seemed as though all hell broke loose. Nekomata came to your side, gently taking the map from your hands and began leading the coaches in the right direction.

You began walking behind the older men, silently listening in to their conversation and chiming in wherever there was a turn to be made.

Kozume began to walk alongside you, taking who turned out to be Shoyo with him. How you managed to participate in their conversation was beyond you, but you mentally thanked Kozume’s ability to keep the energetic orange talking for the lack of silence.

When the Karasuno volleyball team managed to get all their bags inside their rooms you sighed happily, now free of work. 

“You should go rest, a lot of the games start tomorrow and you don’t want to miss them.” Kuroo had popped up, startling you slightly.

You turned to face his hunched figure head-on. “I’m mostly planning on watching tennis and soccer games. My friends are playing.”

“Well, using that criteria you should be planning to watch our games too.” Kenma had somehow managed to get away from Shoyo and sneak up behind you. He looked a bit drained but not much more than he normally would.

“Huh?” you sniffed again.

Kuroo smiled cheekily and leaned a bit further down, making it easier to see both of his eyes through the hanging black strands.

“Well, you should come to see us play. Don’t you think, mate?”

Despite being the person that controls posting these, I don’t tpically have things to say.... oops - Bacon 

Posted: 03/07/2020

#haikyuu x reader #kuroo tetsurou #kenma kozume #kuroo x reader #kenma x reader #Haikyuu #x reader #oneshot #oneshots #haikyuu oneshots #haikyuu reader insert #reader insert #aus #haikyuu aus #fluff #haikyu #anime x reader #anime #manga x reader #manga

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Here's the Dirt on Every Beef in Haikyu!!

  This article written by Noelle Ogawa was originally published on January 31, 2020

  Sports anime is about many things — the power of friendship, the want to see your fave on top, but also some good old-fashioned sports rivalries. You don't hate your rival, but they sure get you riled up. You want to do your best to prove yourself, but also you want to prove your worth to them by beating them at their own game. To that, Haikyu!! is no exception, filled with a great many rivalries that hurt, that heal, that push everyone to do better. In no particular order, here are some of our faves!

    Kageyama vs Hinata

The one that started it all! This rivalry seems to propel the series forward, and despite them working together for four seasons to beat some really powerful teams, they still really annoy each other. Hinata and Kageyama started out on opposite sides of the court and have kept that mentality despite being mutually beneficial when it's game time. But that's the fun of Haikyu!!, right? They are constantly pushing each other to climb higher and they probably wouldn't evolve if they weren't butting heads and comparing each other all the time. With Hinata in an especially sour mood now that Kageyama is at a special training camp, it'll be really fun to see what Hinata does to try to get the upper hand.   

  Tsukishima vs Hinata

The sun and the moon, which one shines more? Tsukishima has a natural gift, being one of the tallest members of Karasuno, but what he has in talent, he lacks in motivation. To him, volleyball is just a game, and games don’t need his full attention or effort. It's an attitude that can cost him early on. On the flipside, Hinata doesn’t have the height to give him an advantage, so he has to work twice as hard. Hinata loves volleyball despite the odds. That high energy and enthusiasm is nothing but annoying to Tsukishima, who for the longest time, held himself back. There's also no avoiding Tsukishima's sharp remarks and verbal daggers, which Hinata has no defense for. Spirit's not enough to block a well-timed insult. 

  Hinata vs Ushijima  

Not only is Shiratorizawa extremely powerful, but they also consistently sweep the Miyagi competition to go to Nationals. It's not hard to say they're one of the biggest threats in Miyagi, if not more than Seijou. One of the top three spikers in the nation, the powerhouse Ushijima Wakatoshi, has long since believed that results speak for themselves. Ambition without any backing is pointless, and so Hinata challenging him really grinds his gears. Hinata wants to win and will work as hard as he needs to succeed, and even confronts Ushijima on his own territory. Talk about bold! The battle between them isn’t just about skill, but about ideals and whether the determination to break through is enough. Force vs force!

    Hinata vs Kenma

Who will become the true dark horse to make their way to the top? Nekoma and Karasuno are fated to fight; the battle of the trash heap has been building for years. They may be friendly, but eventually, only one of them will come out the winner. There are many standout matchups in this fated duality — the polite yet firm annoyance between Kuroo and Sawamura, the mutual tough respect between Tanaka and Taketora — but there’s something brewing between Kenma and Hinata. The two are friendly, but Hinata has the rare privilege of being one of the few people to get Kenma motivated. Kenma's a bit of a slacker; he's the furthest thing from a jock, and he's not very ride or die for the sport. But when he puts in his all, he can outsmart everyone on the court. The brain of Nekoma surely has some tricks up his sleeves. The resulting clash between these cats and crows is sure one to remember.

  Bokuto vs Kuroo

They’re friends, they’re rivals, they’re both maniacs who stay late to practice the sport when everyone else takes a break. Bokuto, as one of the hardest-hitting spikers, is a threat, and Kuroo is one of the few people capable of shutting him down. Bokuto and Kuroo are a fun pair, they play off each other well and are good friends. On the court, they get rid of the formalities and fight to their heart's content. Knowing someone well also means knowing what they're capable of, and neither gives the other a single chance when they get serious. Bokuto has raw power, able to smash the ball all the way into the crowd, but Kuroo's got a sharp brain and some quick defenses. Sword against shield, friend against friend, and only one walks away the winner. 

      Kageyama vs Kindaichi

The King of the Court once had subjects who rebelled against him and toppled his reign. For Kageyama, that betrayal was a wound that still hasn't healed, and the title of King haunts him to this day. Kindaichi and Kunimi still feel that resentment, but are working to be players in their own right. At the same time, there’s still a lot of bitterness there, one that sparks into a conflict. They’re on different sides now and they have to defeat the other in order for their teams to advance. There's so much missed potential here. They could've been great, but it didn't work out, and everything's turned sour. For now, it isn’t just how they work to defeat each other, but how they all manage to grow away from each other.  

  Kuroo vs Daisho

The two of them clearly have some sort of history. Kuroo is cunning and two-faced (and has no problem making fun of Daisho getting dumped by his girlfriend) but Daisho is cunning and two-faced as well. While Nekoma operates in letting their strategies trip up their opponents, Nohebi relies not on their team strength, but through the judge’s goodwill. Daisho knows that the referee is making the calls and people love a nice and charming young man, don't they? They are model and polite, and sympathy is a weapon that can be wielded to gain the upper hand. Worst of all: it works. We all know the annoyance of seeing that in action! It’s a battle of the brains, who can outwit the other, with underhanded tactics galore. 

    Oikawa vs Kageyama

The ultimate showdown of talent vs hard work, of senpai (teacher/master/upper classman) vs kouhai (student/lower classman), of setter vs setter. The first two seasons built up to this stellar face-off. Although Kageyama has always looked up to Oikawa’s abilities, Oikawa saw Kageyama’s budding talent as a threat. Their beef isn’t just about who deserves to carry their team to Nationals, but who is truly deserving of the title of setter. Building all the way up from middle school, this rivalry has history. It's an explosion that's been years in the making! Theirs is a heated rivalry, through which we see the true might of a setter and how it’s up to the conductor to orchestrate the movements on the court. It shouldn't be forgotten that this bad blood runs so deep, Oikawa showed up to the Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa match just out of spite!

       Oikawa vs Ushijima

From the very start, Oikawa has been cornered by two geniuses: his kouhai Kageyama and the insurmountable wall Ushijima. Seijou is plenty of a powerhouse on its own, but that is constantly thrown into doubt with Shiratorizawa’s supremacy. Ushijima, being the same age as Oikawa is another reminder that genius can often power through effort, that sometimes your all isn't enough. They're both driven, they're both highly devoted to the sport, and they're both true menaces from Miyagi that are out to defeat each other. Oikawa hits hard with his cutesy nicknames and taunts, and Ushijima ... he's as frank and polite as ever. They're rivals alright, but it's definitely more one-sided from Oikawa's side. 

  Hinata vs the World

Hinata has a lot to prove. Not only is his height seen constantly as a disadvantage, but he is on a team that is long past their former glory. As a result, nobody expects anything of him, and this season, we see that most people see his results as something largely attributed to Kageyama’s help. Hinata may have the spirit, but he needs to prove himself to everyone who doesn't believe in him to show that he can be as much of a small giant as the legend he's chasing. After all, most of the series tends to be Hinata inadvertently picking fights with people. Show the world what you've got, Hinata!

  What's your favorite rivalry in Haikyu!!? Let us know in the comments!

      Noelle Ogawa is a contributor to Bubbleblabber and Cup of Moe. She can be found on Twitter @noelleogawa.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Guest Author

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

[kingjinxii]

Ren’s Ryoma Rewatch: Episode 1

In Which I Fall in Love with Soft Tennis Goro Akechi

Introduction

So, I’ll be honest. Ryoma is the reason I started watching Stars Align in the first place, because he looks like one of my other favorite characters, Goro Akechi from Persona 5 (the similarities end at appearance). I basically came into the show already attached, and the more I think about him, the more I believe that understanding him could be key to understanding Toma and possibly Maki’s character arcs.

The setup of these posts are simple: I mark down anything I feel may be key to understanding Ryoma, along with bits of Toma and Maki’s characterization that may help. Explicit canon and information are marked in bold, whereas my own speculation and inferences are marked in italics.

I hope people can use these posts to help understand Ryoma and the Shinjo/Katsuragi family dynamics!

7:28 - Middle school team hasn't won a match in 4 years

9:22-9:36 - First Ryoma appearance

Ryoma seems to wake up later than Toma. Figures, considering he’s a college student.

Ryoma is closer to Maki than Toma is to Maki in the beginning. They're close enough that Ryoma knows Maki moved back while Toma doesn't.

Ryoma calls Maki just “Maki” with no honorific. This is called “yobisute”, and denotes that Maki is an incredibly close, almost familial friend. However, Maki is also younger than Ryoma, so while the no honorific thing is important, it’s common for older Japanese people to refer to younger people by their first name, especially if they’re kids.

Ryoma also knows Maki likes astronomy.

Flower motif - white lilies. In Japanese flower language, white lilies are associated with purity. They’re also associated with girls who love girls, but I doubt that’s a meaning they’re implying here lol

10:49 - Flashback to little Toma from Maki’s POV. It’s done in pastel tones. Lucky 4-leaf clover!

11:05 - Book was a surprise gift from Ryoma. It appears to be brand new, in a bookstore shopping bag. It seems like Ryoma knew clearly in advance that Maki was coming, if he knew to buy a “welcome back” gift, and what day Maki would be at school.

Maki addresses Ryoma by his first name with no honorific, whereas Toma is referred to by his last name, with no honorifc. Maki referring to Ryoma in this way would usually be highly disrespectful (since Ryoma is 5-7 years older than Maki), unless they are just that close. Considering what I said about Ryoma referring to Maki in the same way, it’s pretty safe to assume they’re basically like best friends. Maki deosn’t seem as close to Toma, despite them being the same age. Still, even though he refers to Toma by his last name, he still uses no honorific, so they’re still friends(ish), even if Maki isn’t as close to Toma.

The book is the Astronomical Almanac, a star calendar and map.

Toma doesn't answer when Yuta asks if Maki is a friend. Toma doesn’t consider Maki a friend at this point in the story? However, he does smile, so they must still be friendly. It’s probably just evident of how long it’s been since they’ve seen each other last.

13:30 - Astronomical Almanac appears again

13:50 - Toma refers to Maki by his last name with no honorific, mirroring Maki doing the same.

14:55-15:53 - Ryoma appearance, in Ryoma's room.

Ryoma's room: Lots of leafy houseplants, green and brown earth tones. People have established that Toma is usually associated with green. Looks like Ryoma is similar!

15:10 - Magazines on Ryoma's bed: Both about sports. The top one features a soft tennis team, the bottom one is explicitly a soft tennis magazine. Might belong to Toma, as they are next to him rather than near Ryoma.

Ryoma notes that Maki just transferred so he might not have many friends. He believes this is the original reason Toma wants to invite him to the soft tennis team

15:18 - Ryoma is surprised the soft tennis team maybe get disbanded, and seems conflicted, but has a lukewarm reaction.

Nature photography on his corkboard. Right to left, an orca, two forest scenes, a fox, and a giraffe. While the riverbank is an important location in the show, you don’t see really anyone associated with water. So the orca is an interesting choice.

15:22 - Ryoma is a club alumni, who went to nationals.

Ryoma appears to understand what his brother is thinking well, practically finishing his train of thought (of Toma thinking Ryoma would want him to keep the club alive) before he could.

Ryoma believes in whatever the team decides. He doesn't think he should have a say, whereas Toma expected him to be upset.

15:45 - Ryoma has an iPad. (lol)

Toma assumes Ryoma thinks lesser of him. He appears to have low self-esteem.

Ryoma doesn't appear to chase after Toma to explain himself.

16:00-16:36 - Ryoma appearance with his mom.

Ryoma has a smartphone. I can’t tell the model but I’m going to assume it’s an iPhone considering he has an iPad.

More flowers, different from the ones from the previous day (sunflowers). Sunflowers are associated with respect and passionate love. (Uh...I’m gonna say a yikes here folks). Interesting to note that while Ryoma’s room is full of lots of leafy plants, there are no flowering ones.

Prefers just coffee instead of eating breakfast. If he’s still an athlete, he really should be more worried about his health! [Insert “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” PSA here].

Is in college, has friends (plural).

16:18 - Shinjomom attempts to guilt him into staying for dinner. She doesn't even say anything outright, and Ryoma already knows what she’s attempting to say.

Dad is on a trip, and may travel a lot.

Mom says Toma is "nothing like [Ryoma]".

Ryoma shuts down after his initial attempt at argument.

Ryoma calls his mom "kaa-san." It’s a pretty generic way to just say “mom”, but I do want to note that technically the standard was to talk to your mom is to call her “okaa-san”, so dropping the “o-” may denote slight familiarity.

16:30 - Ryoma likes his coffee dark. Maybe black. Just a little characterization note here: stereotypically in Japan, liking sweet things and having a sweet tooth are associated with children and femininity. Since Ryoma likes his coffee dark, he prefers bitter things, so going by stereotypes (as this is a trope-filled anime), we can safely assume he’s a fairly masculine guy.

Mom has dark thoughts around Toma. It appears to be pretty common.

17:03 - Moon and Venus, with seagull. I did say that there’s basically no character associated with water, but pretty much everything in this shot (aside from Maki’s fingers) has some sort of water connection. The moon pulls the ocean tides, Venus was named after a goddess that was born from seafoam, and a seagull...is a seagull. They’re associated with the sea. It’s in their name. I know there was a meta post by someone else about this shot a while back, and I’ll hunt for it later.

Maki Kyobate. Not super important to Ryoma, but Maki’s old last name is useful to note anyways. Maki’s shit dad can, as such, be referred to as Kyobate-san. Could maybe tie into why Ryoma refers to Maki by his given name, rather than his last name, considering the last time Maki was around, he must have been going by Maki Kyobate.

The Shinjo family is well-off enough that they don’t need to worry about money. Toma can afford to buy Maki’s uniform and equipment.

19:13 - Maki forgot/didn't know Ryoma was an alum.

Toma knows Maki cares enough about Ryoma that that information could be used as leverage.

19:18-19:24 - Ryoma appearance, flashback featuring little Maki. Is this their first meeting? Also important to note that, unlike the flashback of Toma from earlier, this one is not done in pastel tones, and instead is done in the show’s usual coloring style.

Ryoma either practiced at a shrine or hung out there from time to time.

Ryoma was already in middle school and on the soft tennis team the last time Maki was around. Considering he’s a college student by now, that puts him at around 19-21 years old.

Ryoma has seen Maki injured.

Maki knew Ryoma had a racket, but didn't know Ryoma was a soft-tennis player. “He had a racket back in middle school. So that must have been a soft tennis racket?” I’m putting the dialogue here because there are some interesting implications going on just in that one line. Maki knows Ryoma had a racket, but he didn’t know it was a soft tennis racket. If Maki and Ryoma are as close as they appear to be, they must have talked and hung out a lot, so it’s odd that Ryoma never...mentioned that it was a soft tennis racket, and that he played soft tennis? Unless Maki just straight up forgot, but that seems really unlikely.

19:23 - Ryoma's racket was red. Again, Toma is associated with green. Maki is also associated with blue. Their tennis rackets match their colors. Ryoma’s, however, is red. His bedroom is very green though. I know all the rackets that are used in the show are based on real soft tennis rackets, so I may hunt down the model Ryoma is using in this image.

Maki seems to want to join now that he knows Ryoma was apart of the team and approved of him joining. Again, he’s incredibly close to Ryoma, and that fact that this is the first thing that gets him to actually consider soft tennis is telling.

Maki only joins after asking for money. Since we’ve already passed the summer tournament, I just want to note that Maki earned 40000 Japanese yen by joining the soft tennis team and winning at the summer tournament. That’s around 370 US dollars, 480 Canadian dollars, 280 English pounds, or 330 Euros! Some some fun trivia.

Toma assumes Maki accepts joining without him saying anything. Like, seriously, he doesn’t even wait for an answer.

Toma is incredibly persistent. He chased after Maki for several days, and continually sweetened the deal for joining. That boy really wants Maki on the team, even if it’s just because he wants to win and not necessarily because they’re close.

Maki’s first racket is blue. Again, they’re all based on real soft tennis rackets and I know there’s a post with Maki’s model somewhere.

22:15 - Maki’s shit dad shows up. Pretty much everyone knows this, just noting it for posterity.

Recap

What have I learned?

In order from mostly canon to mostly speculation:

Ryoma is a young college student, around 19-21 years old, and a formerly successful soft tennis player.

He’s explicitly said to be in college, and that he was an alum of the Shijo Minami boys’ soft tennis team, and ended up going to nationals.

However, currently it’s unknown whether he stuck with the sport or stopped after middle school. He has sports magazines on his bed that focus on soft tennis, but they may belong to Toma, considering they’re positioned next to him, rather than, for example, on Ryoma’s desk or shelves. In fact, Ryoma doesn’t appear to have any magazines on his shelves, nor does he have any photos of soft tennis on his corkboard. (Toma doesn’t take the magazines with him when he leaves, so they could be Ryoma’s. I think there’s evidence leaning both ways. Hell, they could just be sharing them.)

He also seems surprised that the soft tennis club is doing so poorly, and when Toma suggests recruiting Maki, Ryoma’s first thought is of the camaraderie the team provides, and not necessarily about Maki’s technique or physical talent. This possibly shows he doesn’t/didn’t necessarily take soft tennis as seriously as Toma does currently.

Ryoma and Maki were/are relatively close friends.

Ryoma and Maki both refer to each other using their given names without honorifics. Ryoma knew Maki was coming back to their city, and knew with enough time in advance that he was able to prepare a welcoming gift for Maki, the Astronomical Almanac, which Ryoma knew Maki was interested in.

Interestingly, Maki wasn’t aware that Ryoma was a soft tennis player, despite him basically being his team’s ace player. If there were truly as close as they appear to be, it’s interesting that it was...never brought up at all. This may tie into my theory that Ryoma isn’t as into soft tennis as he appeared to be. Maybe he just had natural talent, and he was more into it for the friends, rather than the sport itself.

Ryoma has seen Maki injured, and considering this was back when Maki Katsuragi was still Maki Kyobate, aka when his shit dad was still living with him, Ryoma may know a lot about Maki’s abuse. Ryoma may have even been the person Maki vented to about his dad, and he might still be, considering they seem to still be in close contact. It’s an interesting friendship for sure, considering the age gap.

Maki and Toma aren’t as close as Maki and Ryoma are (at least, not in this episode, as they do get closer relatively quickly). Maki only refers to Toma as “Shinjo” (no honorific), so while they may have been close as kids, they aren’t as close now.

Ryoma and Toma are set up as opposites and foils.

A foil is a character that “highlights someone else's trait, usually by contrast.”* 

Toma, again, is associated with the color green, which is also the color of his racket. However, Ryoma’s racket, as mentioned before, is red. Red and green are opposites on a color wheel in basic color theory. Still, it may be a stretch to say that Ryoma’s color is definitively red, because Ryoma is also associated with green and earth tones in his room.

I was going to save this for when I rewatch Episode 3, but I feel it’s worth mentioning here. Ryoma’s room is filled with leafy plants. Toma’s room has plant life too, but his plants are cactuses, plants that don’t need a lot of water, whereas Ryoma’s would. Again, opposites.

The plants they own can also hint at how their mother feels about them. Ryoma’s plants require a lot of water, and he’s his mother’s favorite, whereas Toma’s plants are ones that flourish in a dry environment, and...explicitly, Shinjomom hates him.

There’s a bit more contrast though, both in how they appear to approach soft tennis and how they approach conflict and resistance.

I already discussed in depth above how Ryoma doesn’t seem to be as obsessed with soft tennis as Toma is, despite being a well-known star player, so let me focus on the other contrast.

There’s two scenes in this episode where Ryoma is met with friction and immediately backs down, or ignores what’s going on. The first is when Toma is angsting about the tennis club shutting down, and he assumes Ryoma thinks that he can’t save it. Toma runs out of the room, and while Ryoma calls after him, we don’t see him try to explain himself, or even get up out of his chair.

The second is when Shinjomom is asking him to stay for dinner, using her hatred for Toma as leverage. She starts off subtle in her distaste for Toma, but Ryoma seems to immediately know where her train of thought is going. He tries to reply gently, but is cut off by her snapping at him, and he just...shuts up.

It’s becoming more and more clear to me that, while Ryoma is a fairly gentle and kind person, he’s really non-confrontational.

This is in sharp contrast to Toma, who spends days trying to convince Maki to join the soft tennis club. Toma knows his club is going to get shut down, he thinks his brother doesn’t believe he can keep it alive, but he doesn’t want to give up. He’s going to get Maki and his sharp reflexes on his team if it kills him, and he won’t take no for an answer.

Maybe it just has to do with maturity. After all, Ryoma’s racket was red, a color associated with hot-bloodedness and strong emotion. Or maybe, it’s just like Shinjomom says, in that “[Toma] is nothing like [Ryoma]!”

Conclusion

Both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, I think I covered a lot of ground of Ryoma’s characterization and role in this episode. Unsurprising since it is the first episode he was introduced, and surprising since...you know, it’s only been one episode. However, Ryoma doesn’t appear in most episodes in the series (he has appearances in episodes 1, 3, 9, 11, and 12, yes I did count), and this is the one where he appears the most, so I doubt most of my other recaps will be this long.

Still, I hope this was informative for some people, even if no one else is as obsessed with him as I am.

Is Stars Align and Ryoma my new special interest? Eh, maybe.

See you in the next recap!

#stars align #hoshiai no sora #星合の空 #ryoma shinjo #toma shinjo #maki katsuragi #ryoma rewatch #luxren.mp3

[accrafreepress]

Football People - Selwyn Sackey

Selwyn Sackey

Football is a game of emotions. It has its high and lows. There will always be a dip but the most important thing is how you rise up and exceed expectations. In football, there have been a number of great nations in the game that have taken the fall. Germany’s exit in the 2000 Euros brought about the famous ‘Reboot’ by the German Football Association and the German Government. 

They invested in community youth football making sure every community has football pitches for kids to come and train by experienced and trained coaches. The talents spotted are sent to the national team academy. All Bundesliga clubs are required to have academies. This initiative was rewarded 14 years later at the Maracana stadium, in Rio de Janeiro.

2014 World Cup was the crowning moment for German football but the twilight for Ghana football. 21st June 2014 Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza. Group G game between Ghana and Germany ended 2-2. The game was spoken about as the best game in the tournament. The happenings during the tournament and the aftermath began the wreck of the great ship, Ghana Football Association.

Out of that storm, produces the Dzamefe Commission white paper which has never seen daylight. It is obviously ignored and the wisdom in it will clearly be untapped just like other commission reports.

2019, already tops interesting years for this beautiful tropical country. Football as the passion of the nation has always been used by the government as a tool to calm the chaos. Proper investment in the preparation of Black Stars to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. The coach of the national team was quoted saying this is his best camp ever in his national team career. Good intensions by the Father of the nation, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to put in his best to make the team win the 2019 AFCON after 37 years.

This was not only for the team to win the trophy and get the four million dollar price. It was for the football loving people of Ghana. The pride of being African Champions in the midst of our lowest point in football. This was also going to be important for the grand Year of return party in Ghana this December. Unfortunately, football doesn’t reward knee jerk reactions. Football demands years of planning, investments, and developmental patience.

‘Number 12’ did to Ghana Football what the 9/11 plane did to the World Trade Center. Now we must rebuild; statutes and structures. That is the mandate of the Normalization Committee. After this, they hand over to the “Football People”. Who are the “Football People”? A football person is someone who owns a football club or is involved in football administration. But do we think it is right for the “Football People” to manage the day to day affairs of the Football Association considering conflicts of interest? Which accompanied with bribery and corruption lead to the crash of Ghana Football.

The question then becomes, who should manage Ghana Football? If you look at the history of Ghana football, it has always been a group of passionate men who take time out of their daily businesses to invest their time and money in their favourite clubs. These men have done this for years and to say you will not let them have a say anymore in Ghana Football will be difficult. Where there hasn’t been any ruling saying members of the old association have been suspended from football, they have every right to take over after the normalization.

I still believe there are honest football experts in the old regime. They have great ideas and are ready to solve the problems we faced in the past. They also understand the traditions and dynamics of the local game which no novice will be able to handle. You will have to get your hands dirty sometimes. The Normalization committee members will tell you it’s been a struggle.

The bigger struggle now is how can we trust the people to take over Ghana football to do it right? People have declared their interest to lead the football family. The politics has begun and you don’t expect it to be clean. Football people are going against each other when we need them to be together. Going forward we need a unifier, someone to calm the environment and lead the family with honesty and the right modern ideas. The league should be run autonomously rather than the Football Association like we previously did. The Association has more to do with grassroots development and management of the game.

Football is now a multi-billion global industry managed by people with football degrees and masters in various departments of the sport. Football Administration and Governance, Football Law and Intermediary, Football Business and Finance, Football Business Marketing and Sponsorship, Football Media and Broadcasting, Football Journalism, Football Stadium Events and Hospitality, Football Management and Coaching, Football Scouting and Talent Identification, Football Scientist and Psychologist. The game is being studied in universities all over the world.

Organised by the International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES) in partnership with three universities, De Montfort University in Leicester (England), SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan (Italy) and the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland), the FIFA Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport was created to promote management education within the sports world. It has grown to become a top graduate programme developing all-round managers who can cope with the increasingly complex world of sport.

The International Football Business Institute in Brussels with most of its alumni working in UEFA and major European clubs. The University College of Football Business in England with its campuses at the Wembley Stadium in London and Etihad Stadium in Manchester. UCFB also partners Real Madrid Graduate School; Universidad Europea at the Santiago Bernabeu. Most Universities in England and Europe have football courses in their curriculum. We also have the Cruyff Institute in Barcelona and Amsterdam teaching the values of Johan Cruyff and the philosophy of F.C Barcelona and Ajax. Italy known as the hub of football tacticians have their sanctuary at the Coverciano. The School that produced Antonio Conte, Carlo Ancelotti, Massimiliano Allegri, Maurizio Sarri and Claudio Ranieri. The school also houses all Italian national teams from Under 15 upwards. Other countries like India, China and USA have taken up this initiative.

Ghana is a football nation; our history defines that from the days of Ohene Djan. He fought for Africa from battling for one slot in the world cup with Asia and Oceania to Africa getting one slot in the 1970 world cup. Today, Africa has five slots in the World Cup. Top coaches like C.K. Gyamfi, Sir Cecil Jones Attuquayefio, Ben Kuofie, Lepowura Alhaji M.N.D Jawula, Sam Arday, Fred Osam- Duodu and Emmanuel Kwesi Afranie are the ones that built the Ghana Football we had. We need to tap into their knowledge and also with modern Football Professors to create a football curriculum to be introduced in our universities and then build a football university and an academy.

Not everyone wants to do the sciences, law and engineering. Passionate football students should also be flown abroad to study football courses and gain experience in the international industry There are passionate football fanatics who would love to see their professional lives in the sport. This will create jobs and contribute massively to the GDP of the country.

We talk about the decline of our ex-footballers after they retire. This is the best solution to give them a life after their playing careers. We have searched for solutions on how to reward our players without monetary incentives. Let’s give our players scholarships to study football courses in universities. Through this they gain their coaching licenses, talent id certificates, intermediary certificates and degree and masters certificates. This way we get our ex-footballers and individuals who are passionate about the game to run the clubs, the association and develop football in Ghana.

This creates an ecosystem where all the football brains together are working to develop the game and keep Ghana at the top forever. These passionate and hardworking individuals will be the Football People.

[mrjoelgarcia9]

Let’s Talk #DCSuperHeroGirls

Normally, animated superhero adaptations avoid sharing similar titles unless they are about a titular character or team such as Batman or the Teen Titans. Then there is DC Super Hero Girls, which is the name of both an ongoing YouTube and upcoming Cartoon Network series.

For my thoughts on both shows, feel free to keep reading. There will be spoilers.

DC Super Hero Girls is a toy brand by DC and Mattel aimed mainly at a young female audience that highlights the former company’s female heroes and villains. It could be seen as their attempt to compete with similar franchises such as My Little Pony: Equestria Girls and Monster High. All three franchises have one thing in common: Their characters attend high school.

The 2015 YouTube series centers around several heroes and villains attending Super Hero High. The school’s principal is Amanda Waller, while the teachers are a mixture of heroes and villains. The titular main team consists of Batgirl/Barbara Gordon, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Bumblebee, Poison Ivy, Katana, and Harley Quinn. Throughout many episodes, the group meet and confront multiple characters such as Beast Boy, Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Jessica Cruz, The Riddler, Lena Luthor, Raven, and Krypto.

What makes the show unique from other DC productions is how some of the villains are shown as being friends with the heroes. It is an interesting creative choice that mostly serves to highlight some of DC’s famous villains like Harley, Ivy, and Katana.

At the same time, it also shows that they may have wanted to highlight the villains far more than their other heroes such as Miss Martian, Black Canary, Wonder Girl, or Zatanna.

The show originally highlighted standard high school or teenage conflicts but in a superhero way, such as the characters winning awards, competing in sports, romance, and homework. By the third season, it mostly became a standard superhero series where the characters balance out their school work while also dealing with the bad guys around the school.

It has become popular enough to not only last five seasons on YouTube but also garner comic books, a half-hour TV special on Boomerang, and multiple direct-to-video films, some of which are based on the LEGO version of the franchise.

If I had to point out any flaws, it would have to be how many heroes and villains are shown as either teenagers or faculty members. The show appears to heavily imply that the only adult heroes around are Batman and Superman (neither of which appear in the web series). Similarly, only a few villains are shown to be adults such as Granny Goodness, Firefly, and Trigon. This situation is reminiscent of how the 2003 Teen Titans series never showed or referenced any adult heroes aside from Batman. Like with that show...

The flash animation is somewhat inconsistent. The first four seasons look relatively decent for a YouTube series and are vastly superior to Warner Bros’ previous flash-based series Gotham Girls.

Sadly, the recent fifth season looks terrible by the odd lack of shadows, static backgrounds, and limited character movement.

The LEGO-based productions look great by comparison, mostly due to the high quality CG animation used for that brand’s direct-to-video films and TV specials.

A major positive worth noting is the show's wide range of voice actors, some of which are reprising their roles from past series. Mae Whitman, for example, played Batgirl for the series’ first four seasons after having previously voiced the character on Batman: The Brave and The Bold. Other actors reprising their roles include Josh Keaton as Hal (from Green Lantern: The Animated Series), Tara Strong as both Harley (from the Batman Arkham games) and Raven,  Khary Payton as Cyborg, Greg Cipes as Beast Boy, and Hynden Walch as both Starfire and Blackfire (from Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!).

There is nothing offensive or insulting about the web series. It is clearly not aimed at a general audience. Longtime fans of any of the featured heroes and villains might find it either degrading or disappointing to see them just going to high school rather than fighting each other.

It has been able to coexist with DC’s other films and series as just another franchise featuring their characters. While it may have inconsistent animation and a questionable premise, it is definitely worth a watch just to hear the voice actors reprise their roles in a different setting.

As the web series is entering what may be its fifth and final season, the Cartoon Network reboot has already made its debut by “The Late Batsby” short currently being presented before showings of Teen Titans Go! To The Movies.

(As a side note, I Highly Recommend that hilarious film.)

The upcoming reboot is from Lauren Faust, the series creator of Discovery Family’s My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Based solely on the short, it heavily resembles her previous DC production Super Best Friends Forever, a series of comedic shorts featuring Batgirl (Tara Strong, reprising her role from The New Batman Adventures), Supergirl (Nicole Sullivan of MADtv), and Wonder Girl/Donna Troy (Grey Griffin) which originally aired in 2012 as part of the short-lived DC Nation block on Cartoon Network.

In fact, "The Late Batsby” is a remake of the short “Time Waits For No Girl”. The alterations made for the new short were swapping out Poison Ivy for Mr. Freeze, giving Supergirl and Freeze each a line of dialogue, and introducing the entire team.

Strong and Sullivan are reprising their respective roles of Batgirl and Supergirl for the reboot, while Griffin will reprise her role of Wonder Woman from the web series. The rebooted team retains Bumblebee from the original group but also adds the aforementioned Jessica and Zatanna.

Aside from the title and voice actors, it appears that the Cartoon Network reboot will feature a completely different story.

The team now solely consists of heroes, Commissioner Gordon is once again unaware of his daughter’s secret identity, and the new animation style looks far more fluid than the web series.

While the reboot will premiere sometime later this year, the web series is still currently streaming new episodes. The franchise’s social media accounts have called the reboot team “the New DC Super Hero Girls” and the fifth season premiere began with a teaser for “The Late Batsby”. It seems unlikely that the web series will continue past its current fifth season and presumably end prior to the TV show’s premiere.

On the bright side, Cartoon Network will soon be airing two DC animated series for the first time since 2013, the other show being Teen Titans Go!

The web series is currently streaming on YouTube. The reboot will premiere sometime later this year on Cartoon Network.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

#dc super hero girls #DC #get your cape on #supergirl #wonder woman #katana #batgirl #barbara gordon #bumblebee #zatanna #wonder girl #super best friends forever #lauren faust #mlp #tara strong #tnba #batman the animated series #the new batman adventures #btas #youtube #Cartoon network #Teen Titans #teen titans go #season 5 #flash animation #teen titans go to the movies #movie #lego #TV #animation

[missmudpie]

It’s Ice Dancing Night!!

In honor of tonight’s Olympic Ice Dancing Short Programs, I’m bringing back this old chestnut that I still intend to write one day.

It’s 2006, and Oliver Queen, at 21 years of age, is posed to have his big breakout year.  He’s got the jumps, sure, but where he really excels is his footwork and spins.  Those who tangentially watch skating know he’s something of a ‘bad boy,’ preferring to skate to contemporary rock rather than classical.  Skating insiders know that that persona extends far off the ice, as well (”Okay, in truth - Queen is kinda a douche.  But that’s waaaay off-record.”)  He’s podiumed at all his Grand Prix events, and but for a two-footed landing in his Short Program at Nationals , he would have won.  But he scores the silver, and that’s enough - Oliver Queen is going to the Olympics.

Until he’s not.

He takes a bad fall at practice a week later.  Or he crashes while skiing with some groupies.  Not sure yet how douche-tastic I want this Oliver to be, but suffice it to say - He blows out his knee.  2006 is out.  He tries a comeback later that year, but he can’t get his jumps back.  His knee just can’t support it.  And so Oliver retires.

Which, in truth, is probably for the best.  He goes to school, straightens out his life.  His little sister, Thea, has followed in his skates and become quite the skater herself.  

And now it’s late 2016.  Oliver comes home for the holidays and, as he does every so often, puts on his skates and takes a spin around the family’s private rink.  He’s still got the footwork, effortlessly moving from inside to outside edge.  He’s still got the spins.

He still can’t jump.

Little does he know, this private skate has an audience.  Anatoli Knyazev - Oliver’s former coach, Thea’s current coach - tells him that Oliver is still a master skater.  He’s in great shape physically, and mentally even stronger now, at 31 than he was at 21.  “I have friend,” Anatoli tells him.  “He’s looking to do something different with a pair.  You should call him.”

Oliver looks at the card for a John Diggle.  “But I can’t jump.”

“This is no problem.”  When Oliver gives him a skeptical look, Anatoli just grins.  “Call him.  Keep your mind open.”

“You mean keep an open mind?”

So Oliver does, because why not?  He meets John Diggle, who’s looking to earn his way back into the skating community.  He’s got the goods, and he’s got the elusive choreographer Lyla Michaels in his back pocket.  (”Michaels, really?  How’d you score her?”  Digg smiles.  “I married her.”)  Diggle just needs a team.

“Look, man,” Oliver says.  “I really wish I could help.”

“Anatoli says you still skate as well as you used to.”

“Anatoli is being kind.  And besides, I still can’t jump.”

Diggle looks confused.  “I don’t see how that’s a problem.  Jumps aren’t allowed.”

Now Oliver is confused.  “I’m pretty sure jumps are a large part of pairs skating.”

And now Diggle laughs.  “Anatoli, you son of a bitch.  He didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“I’m not looking of a pairs team,” Diggle says.  “I’m looking for ice dancers.”

And at first, Oliver is like, Hard no.  Pass.  But then he makes the mistake of telling Thea about this strange meeting, and she’s all for it.  “You loved the ice.”

“I did.  I still do.  But I don’t love who I was on the ice.”

“Then do it right this time.”

And oh, look, we’re at the end of chapter one.

So Oliver calls Diggle and says, “I’m in,” and, BTW, who’s my partner?

“Felicity Smoak.  Great skater.”

Oliver’s never heard of her.  Thea, who should know her, has never heard of her.

“Fly out to Boston.  You can see her in action.”

Digg’s right - Felicity Smoak is a great skater.

It’s just - she’s a speed skater.  Short track, to be precise.

“Promise is a promise, Smoak,” Digg says.  “You said you’d give it a try if I found the right partner.  Well, here he is.”

So, to recap: We have a man who hasn’t skated professionally in a decade, with a bum knee who can’t jump; and woman who hasn’t figure skated since she was a little girl.  And yes, Felicity is fast and has great edgework and kind of remembers how to spin - but seriously.  This is the Island of Misfit Skaters, here.

But what the hell, right?

So they start practicing.

And I haven’t figured out all the details, but here’s what I got so far, in bullet points because this is already way too long:

- Turns out Felicity was a crackerjack figure skater when she was little, but the cost of the sport was just too much for her single mother, so she turned to speed skating.  “And roller derby.  You can make some good under-the-table cash at roller derby.”

- Neither one can dance.  Like, really.  They can’t dance.  Digg has to teach these idiots how to dance off the ice, so they can dance on the ice.  “Oliver, can you please hold her a little closer.  My God, you two are adults and you’re acting like this is a middle school dance.”

- So you know how the ISU picks the theme/type of dance for the short program?  Yeah, in this fic, it’s the tango.  So, basically, sex on skates.

- They’re first performance?  UTTER DISASTER.  Horrible short program.  But they pull it together for the long and somehow it goes viral and now everyone is talking about Smoak/Queen because they got like, a million youtube hits.

- So we go through some competitions and off-ice shenanigans because the best way to get those twizzles in sync is clearly to spend lots and lots of time together off-ice.

- And now it’s Nationals, 2018.

- They’re main competition?  West and West.  As in Iris West and Wally West, a sibling team.

- Smoak and Queen come in second.  Do I want the extra drama of the US Olympic Committee not wanting to pick them for the team?  TBD  

- Other familiar faces?  The Canadian team of Danvers and Allen.  Oliver thinks their suspiciously nice.  (They aren’t.  They are genuinely puppy dogs).  (They’ve been skating together since they were four.  Their mothers have been planning their wedding since they were 13.  Little do they know, Kara is sleeping with James, their choreographer, and Barry has a mad crush on Iris West.)

- Tommy Merlyn and Laurel Lance were contemporaries of Oliver back in the day (they skated pairs), are now engaged, and serve as commentators for whatever fake channel is broadcasting the Olympics.

- Now, here’s where it gets muddy.

- Because in the movie, the woman has a fiancee, and the man sleeps with a rival skater.  And I don’t want to do that.

- So I think we need another source of conflict.

- You remember that episode of Friends where either Ross or Chandler is worried that his actress girlfriend is cheating on him with her co-star?  And Joey says if two people haven’t slept together, their sexual chemistry is through the roof, but once they have, it disappears?

- Oliver and Felicity are at peak sexual chemistry at Nationals.

- And - don’t shoot me - but I kinda want them to sleep with each other before the Olympics.  Or maybe at the Olympics.  In the Village.  The night before they’re scheduled to skate their short program for the Team competition.

- And it’s bad.

- Like - Oliver and Felicity should not have bad sex.  But they’re tired and on a college dorm twin bed and I don’t even know how they got themselves in this situation but the bottom line is they have sex and it’s bad.

- And the next morning is sooooo awkward.

- And they have to skate the tango.

- And like, with the tango, hate could have helped.  But they aren’t angry at each other, they’re just tentative.  And awkward.

- And their program is technically fine but has no fire, no passion.

- And they come off the ice and Digg just looks at them like, Fuck, you idiots screwed each other and now have screwed yourselves.

- Yeah I don’t know what happens next to fix it.

- But they do a great short program a few days later.

- Oh I forgot the part about doing a semi-legal lift or something I don’t know I’m making this up as I type it.

- So they’re in solid position for the long program and they get to skate last and Hey, this would be a great time to have an Airing of the Feelings NO KARA NO ONE NEEDS A COUGH DROP.

- And then they skate the Performance of Their Lives.

- But is it enough?  Do they Win the Gold?

- (They win the gold.)

- Why am I like this?

- Any one got music suggestions for the long program?  Because the short is clearly Assassin’s Tango.

EDITS:

- Commentary will now be done by Martin Stein (as the network guy) and Sara Lance and Leonard Snart, former pairs skaters.

- I’m now thinking Oliver and Felicity need to skate the short program in the Team competition, helping Team USA secure the bronze, and at the celebration afterwards things get a little out of hand, one thing leads to another, and yeah - either awkward sex or awkward near sex.

- Want to see their short dance?  It’s right here (Virtue and Moir, 2010 Olympics) (Although it’s a bit of a cheat because this was before they reformatted Ice Dancing from three skates to two, but whatever.  Check out the lift!)

- I have their Long Program/Free Dances picked out, too, but I ain’t telling.

#Arrow #Arrow/Cutting Edge AU #Whoops I did a thing #Bringing this back #Things I one day plan to actually write

[newstfionline]

Friday, January 15, 2021

DC locks down a week before inauguration (AP) All through downtown Washington, the primary sound for several blocks was the beeping of forklifts unloading more fencing. There were no cars or scooters and seemingly no tourists Wednesday, just the occasional jogger and multiple construction crews at work. The U.S. Capitol that proved such a soft target last week was visible only through lines of tall, black fence. Two blocks from the White House, a group of uniformed National Guard troops emerged from a tour bus and headed into a hotel as a state of lockdown descended on Washington that will last through the Jan. 20 inauguration. More than 15,000 National Guardsmen from multiple states, some of them armed, will be in Washington. “Clearly we are in uncharted waters,” said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser. The FBI has warned that armed protests by violent Trump supporters were being planned in all 50 state capitals as well as in Washington for the days leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. Between the pandemic and the security threat, Bowser is flat-out asking people not to come to the District of Columbia for the inauguration.

Republican Party faces rage from both pro- and anti-Trump voters (Reuters) After riots at the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters, the Republican Party is facing defections from two camps of voters it can’t afford to lose: those saying Trump and his allies went too far in contesting the election of Democrat Joe Biden—and those saying they didn’t go far enough, according to new polling and interviews with two dozen voters. And the choice confronting party leaders as they ponder a renewed impeachment effort—whether to continue backing Trump or make him a pariah—will almost certainly cost the party voters it needs to win future elections, Republican party officials and strategists say.

A tinderbox (The Media Today) Sam Lessin, an early Facebook staffer, wrote at The Information that “the move by social networks to deplatform President Trump last week was the right call.” But he added that the moment will be “remembered as a watershed moment for the history of free speech and the globally open internet. It has the potential to be a tinderbox that undoes the core of the internet as we know it.” Lessin says the moves will “create intense pressure to censor private messaging (starting with email) and that other countries will “now have a very legitimate argument they need their own control” of information platforms, and even the internet itself.

Defiance of virus dining bans grows as restaurants flounder BORING, Ore. (AP)—A line formed out the door during the lunch rush at the Carver Hangar, a family-owned restaurant and sports bar, and waitresses zipped in and out of the kitchen trying to keep up with orders as customers backed up in the lobby. Indoor dining has been banned in much of Oregon for nearly two months, but the eatery 20 miles southeast of Portland was doing a booming business—and an illegal one. The restaurant’s owners, Bryan and Liz Mitchell, fully reopened Jan. 1 in defiance of Democratic Gov. Kate Brown’s COVID-19 indoor dining ban in their county. “We’re not going to back down because our employees still need to eat, they still need that income,” said Bryan Mitchell, as customers ate at tables spaced 6 feet apart. “The statement that we’re making is, ‘Every life is essential. You have the right to survive. Nobody should tell you what you can and cannot do to provide for your family.’” Even as coronavirus deaths soar, a growing number of restaurants in states across the country are reopening in defiance of strict COVID-19 rules that have shut them down for indoor dining for weeks, or even months. Restaurants can serve people outside or offer carry-out, but winter weather has crippled revenues from patio dining.

Colombia struggles to keep social leaders safe (AP) Just taking a walk in the streets of Colombia’s capital can feel dangerous for Luz Nelly Santana. The Afro-Colombian community leader always wears a bulletproof vest. And she’s followed by a bodyguard assigned by the government. “I get death threats on the phone every month,” Santana said, “and once a man entered my office and said he was going to kill me.” Santana, who runs an organization that helps community leaders fleeing violence to settle in Bogota, is one of more than 3,700 activists given some sort of protection from Colombia’s government. The country is widely seen as one of the world’s most dangerous places to be a community leader or advocate for human rights or environmental issues. Last year 120 community leaders were murdered in Colombia according to the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights. Decades of bloody civil conflict involving government forces, leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries linked to landowners and powerful drug trafficking groups have created an atmosphere in which many factions feel little hesitation at trying to kill or intimate those who oppose them.

‘At 6 p.m., life stops’: Europe uses curfews to fight virus (AP) As the wan winter sun sets over France’s Champagne region, the countdown clock kicks in. Laborers stop pruning the vines as the light fades at about 4:30 p.m., leaving them 90 minutes to come in from the cold, change out of their work clothes, hop in their cars and zoom home before a 6 p.m. coronavirus curfew. Forget about any after-work socializing with friends, after-school clubs for children or doing any evening shopping beyond quick trips for essentials. Police on patrol demand valid reasons from people seen out and about. “At 6 p.m., life stops,” says Champagne producer Alexandre Prat. Trying to fend off the need for a third nationwide lockdown that would further dent Europe’s second-largest economy and put more jobs in danger, France is instead opting for creeping curfews. Big chunks of eastern France, including most of its regions that border Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, face 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. restrictions on movement. Overnight curfews have become the norm in swaths of Europe but the 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew in 25 regions of eastern France is the most restrictive anywhere in the European Union’s 27 nations. Others countries’ curfews all start later and often finish earlier.

Facing New Outbreaks, China Places Over 22 Million on Lockdown (NYT) When a handful of new coronavirus cases materialized this month in a province surrounding Beijing, the Chinese authorities bolted into action. They locked down two cities with more than 17 million people, Shijiazhuang and Xingtai. They ordered a crash testing regime of nearly every resident there, which was completed in a matter of days. They shut down transportation and canceled weddings, funerals and, most significantly, a provincial Communist Party conference. By this week the lockdowns expanded to include another city on the edge of Beijing, Langfang, as well as a county in Heilongjiang, a northeastern province. Districts in Beijing itself, the Chinese capital, also shut down. More than 22 million people in all have been ordered to remain inside their homes—double the number affected last January when China’s central government locked down Wuhan. The flare-ups remain small compared with the devastation facing other countries, but they threaten to undercut the success the country’s Communist Party has had in subduing the virus, allowing its economy to surge back after last year’s slump and its people to return to something close to normal lives.

The rise of Chinese financial technology (Foreign Affairs) China’s emerging dominance in financial technology, known as “fintech,” poses a fundamental problem for the United States. Washington cannot trust that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will harness its growing influence in financial markets for the benefit of all. More likely, Beijing will use fintech to occupy the high ground in global commerce, bolster its surveillance state, and lay the groundwork to challenge the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. The rise of Chinese fintech companies threatens to strengthen the world’s most pervasive surveillance state. The so-called data exhaust from billions of digital transactions supplements existing data from facial recognition, search histories, and social network connections, furnishing the CCP with GPS time and location stamps, transaction histories, travel logs, bank account details, and more. Together, this information allows Chinese authorities to closely monitor and control specific individuals and communities by reducing or canceling access to bank accounts, freezing travel routes, and denying entry to specific locations. Ominously, financial authorities in Hong Kong have recently begun asking banks to report transactions to help authorities identify pro-democracy activists.

“But in America…” (Foreign Policy) Chinese state media is still focused on the dysfunction revealed by the assault on the U.S. Capitol last week. As with Soviet propaganda about U.S. racism, Chinese propaganda is most effective when it goes after genuine U.S. failings. But the media has bent the Capitol story significantly toward Beijing’s own needs. Emerging themes include the chaos of democracy, the righteousness of China’s own censorship, and that the United States is making a mistake by going after China instead of fixing its domestic problems. One theme has especially resonated, though: guns. Like most of the world, the Chinese public views the U.S. attitude toward firearms with horror. The sight of armed marchers baffles people. In China, the issue has tragic salience in the death of Yiran Fan, a talented Ph.D. student in Chicago who was killed on Jan. 9 during a gun rampage.

‘Rent-a-person who does nothing’ in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude (Mainichi/Japan) A 37-year-old Tokyo man who says he rents himself out to other people “to do nothing” has been inundated with gratitude from Twitter users. “I’m glad I was able to take a walk with someone while keeping a comfortable distance, where we didn’t have to talk but could if we wanted to,” one user wrote. Another reflected, “I had been slack about visiting the hospital, but I went because he came with me.” Shoji Morimoto has been advertising himself as a person who can “eat and drink, and give simple feedback, but do nothing more,” since June 2018, and has received over 3,000 requests. He has about 270,000 followers on Twitter. Initially he had offered his “rent-a-person who does nothing” services for free, but he now charges 10,000 yen (roughly $96) per request. People rent him for various reasons. At times he will participate in a gaming session to make up numbers, turn up to send off people who are moving away, accompany those filing for divorce, or listen to health care workers who have become mentally unwell due to their exhausting work. It may be the case that somewhere in their hearts, everyone is longing for someone who will cheer them on. It seems that this may be why the “rent-a-person who does nothing”—who doesn’t tell you to “do your best” or that they “support you,” but stays by your side in silence, has seen endless demand.

Fire destroys homes of thousands in Rohingya refugee camps—UNHCR (Reuters) A huge fire swept through the Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh in the early hours of Thursday, the United Nations said, destroying homes belonging to thousands of people. The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said more than 550 shelters home to around 3,500 people were either totally or partially destroyed in the blaze, as well as 150 shops and a facility belonging to a non-profit organization. More than a million Rohingya live in the mainland camps in southern Bangladesh, the vast majority having fled Myanmar in 2017 in a military-led crackdown the U.N said was executed with genocidal intent, charges Myanmar denies.

Lebanon begins all-day curfew as virus spins out of control (AP) Lebanese authorities began enforcing an 11-day nationwide shutdown and round the clock curfew Thursday, hoping to limit the spread of coronavirus infections spinning out of control after the holiday period. For the first time, residents were required to request a one-hour permit to be allowed to leave the house for “emergencies,” including going to the bakery, pharmacist, doctor, hospital or airport. Authorities came under pressure to take a tougher approach after the country’s hospitals ran out of beds with daily infections reaching an all-time high of 5,440 cases last week in the country of nearly 6 million people. Even before the coronavirus, Lebanon was going through an unprecedented economic and financial crisis that has seen its national currency and bank sector collapse and locked depositors out of the savings. Hospitals, long considered among the best in the Middle East, struggled to pay staff, keep equipment running and secure necessary medical supplies as dollars grew scarce. Furthermore, the country has been without a government since the old one resigned in the wake of the catastrophic Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port, which put a further strain on hospitals, inundating them with injured. At least three hospitals were destroyed.

Central African Republic soldiers repel rebels at capital (AP) Security forces in Central African Republic repelled attacks by rebels trying to seize the capital early Wednesday after intense fighting on the city’s outskirts, officials said, in a major escalation of violence that has rocked the country since last month. At least one Rwandan peacekeeper has been killed, and another injured, according to the U.N. mission in the country. At least 30 rebels have been killed, according to Prime Minister Firmin Ngrebada. The rebels are protesting the re-election on Dec. 27 of President Faustin-Archange Touadera. Following the Jan. 4 announcement of Touadera’s victory, the rebel coalition threatened to take the capital. They had also taken towns in other parts of the country before the election. The army is supported in its battle against the rebels by forces from Rwanda, Russia, France and the United Nations.

Lack of Tiny Parts Disrupts Auto Factories Worldwide (NYT) Automakers braced for turmoil when the pandemic hit. They expected supply chain disruptions and plummeting sales. But they never figured that a year later one of their biggest problems would be PlayStations. Strong demand for gaming systems, personal computers and other electronics by a world stuck indoors has sucked up supplies of semiconductors, forcing carmakers around the world to scramble for the chips that have become as essential to mobility as gasoline or steel. Virtually no carmaker has been spared. Toyota Motor has shut down production lines in China. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles temporarily stopped production at plants in Ontario and Mexico. Volkswagen has warned of production problems at factories in China, Europe and the United States. Ford Motor said last week that it was idling a Louisville, Ky., factory for a week because of the shortage. When Covid-19 hit, automakers slashed orders for chips in anticipation of plunging sales. At the same time, semiconductor makers shifted their production lines to meet surging orders for chips used in products like laptop computers, webcams, tablets and 5G smartphones. “Consumer electronics exploded,” said Dan Hearsch, a managing director at the consulting firm AlixPartners. “Everybody and their brother wanted to buy an Xbox and PlayStation and laptops, while automotive shut down. Then automotive came back faster than expected, and that’s where you get into this problem.”

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