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roseamongroses · 1 year

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post-apocalyptic, space pirates! shuriri au

( slightly cowboybebop inspired + other tings)

-a dying, war torn earth has forced many to leave, but many have to stay/ chose to stay and take care of their ancestral land

-well known scientist and princess shuri however is still preparing for the worst. finding a way to transport her land and culture somewhere safer

-however, when disaster strikes, her plans must be hastened. in order to ensure her people's safety she decides to stay behind

-(no one is happy about this and shuri kinda bullies her way into letting this be the path they take)

-(definitely some colonizers trying to sabatoge the preservation of wakanda and other countries with this technology)

-as such she is the last left behind. her only hope being to shelter in a capsule that'll protect her from the worst of the disaster. (a smaller version of an old plan to save her people) she expects to sleep for ten years and hopefully by then her nation will be able to save her and bring her home

-it was not ten years. it was wayyyyy more than ten years. (sleeping beauty tings) the capsule malfunctioned, trapping her in a sleep cycle

-when shuri does wake, it wasn't in the destroyed remains of her home. it wasn't earth. she woke up on a space ship. an entire lab of scientists staring back at her. inspecting her. testing on her.

-not a good time for shuri's mental health tbh. once it's revealed that most of the greater galaxy doesn't know where wakanda went after the disaster on earth 0 (some don't even think wakanda ever existed to begin with) shuri spirals,fast....

(since she's been existing in a state between life and death for so long. she cant even access her ancestral realm which SUCKS bc she just learned to accept that part of her culture and misses that connection)

-the only thing keeping her partially sane is pulling pranks on the lab assistants and sabatouging the space cop interrogations

(they think she might be new variation of the super solider formula bc she does have the black panther abilities. theyre a bit muted tho)

she begins to adjust to the new customs. quickly learning the language and slowly familiarizing herself with the new, advanced technology. (she does find some of it to be bootleg wakanda innovations)

in this time she has tinkered with her cell so she can listen into her captors conversations. she soon finds out they plan to hand her off to some new variation of shield and yeah no. thats a no for shuri.

she decides to sabotage the very expensive ship before they can make the hand off. aka she leaks crucial information and then lets the thieves handle it from there

this is our first introduction to ironheart. who immediately questions how shuri got access to her coms and this information, so it takes a bit more time for shuri to convience riri to take the bait

cute little back and forths with shuri first revealing private info about iron hearts life (riri does NOT react well to that) they get over that after shuri starts leaking less dangerous, but very helpful information. this builds some trust between the two

the ship gets raided a few times (with no success) and the crew is startin to suspect a traitor (some background workplace drama and snitching which amuses shuri to see them turn on each other)

then finallly....

little things around the ship start to malfunction. shuri is accused at first (theyve gotten really superstitous of her and her abilities. they dont know shes a genius who invented the tech their work hinges on. they just think shes some earth 0 freak of nature.)

but like the malfunctions get so bad that it really cant be shuri bc its starting to affect her living conditions too

then. BAM they et raiiidedddddd by the space pirates. iron heart quickly takes control of the ship, remotely steering it to attach to her own and they sneak on. tying up captives and taking tech/ information

riri didnt want to stick around for too long. this job was dangerous and she still...wasnt sure if she trusted her source.

on her way out though. she noticed that one of the rooms was prepped to maintain life but wasn't a normal dorm for the crew

worried, riri rushes to the room and she is...stunned to be frank

shuri was in better condition then before. but not in her prime due to being deliberately underfed/ cared. still the black panther abilities had mutated her body to keep her alive in her extended sleep.

long, kinky hair with short, shaved sides. black talons, pointed teeth and ears, and a curved smile that stretched a little tooo far . shuri had always been tall, but now when she stood it was clear that her limbs were too long to be just human

shuri takes her time getting up. lethargically stretching. leaning against the glass to get a better look at captain iron heart.

captain iron heart, who was bloodied and bruised from fighting. who wore platform steel boots that matched her prosthetic arms, gold around her neck, and had space rocks sewn into her hair.

captain ironheart who after being stunned by shuri's beauty was horrified by the conditions she was being kept in

captain ironheart who didnt care much for asking shuri any questions before letting her out. it was only until much later did she find out shuri was the person who leaked the information to her crew.

riri eventually does learn about what happened to shuri's planet and in the midst of doing crimes they begin to search for the hidden planet of wakanda

(turns out they're not the only ones looking for wakanda...)

#shuriri au #shuri x riri #mcu #mcu headcanons #wlw #wakanda forever #wakanda forever headcanons

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nokiareptilestonaniteandlumen · 1 year

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Evolution of HoG Pt.5

I played the oldest game ever. It’s called Senet. The objective is fairly simple. You try to reach the end of the path before your opponent. The pieces were often made of sheep knuckle bones. Now we have online (link).

Here we have decorative pottery displayed at the Vatican museums showcasing an epic board game battle between Achilles and Ajax. The two players can be seen calling out scores (if you look closely). They're playing a checkers variant, but instead of round red and black pieces they were using dice. Circa 525 BC.

When talking about how board games evolved from then to now I read it must've been through sharing the game and others making improvements. One way this occcurred was through colonization.

When I was a kid I created a racing game called Get Points or Die Trying. I tested it on those closest to me: family, friends, or guinea pigs. Then years pass and either the game is improved on or left to be forgotten. In the case of The Game of the Goose an Italian tried his luck at selling the game. Becoming the first game to be commercially sold in large quantities. Below is a photo of the board I grabbed from the MET's site. To me, it looks like a mix of a chic Monopoly and Jumanji. The chicness is in the carefully designed tiles that sometimes have skulls drawn on them and the font for the numbers is beautiful, all painted on a crisp black background. The monopoly comparison because it seems to be a racing game with real life consequences. Jumanji because the game’s spooky in its style adding a horror movie overtone that exudes the supernatural.

Following this breakthrough, again in the late 19th century, history takes a leap forward with these mass manufacturers who would later create games such as Monopoly and Sorry, Americans -- Milton Bradley and the Parker Bros. They brought these ideas that had been reiterated by cultures all over the world for millennia to american households looking to unwind and kick back while spending time with family and friends.

These 2 businesses exponentially grew the player field and made games off of ideas used thousands of years ago in India and other countries. Which resonated with how games evolved over thousands of years like shoots and ladders or as they called in India Parchessi and kids today refer to as Sorry. Changing to reflect not only our tastes but instead of learning Indian proverbs we prioritized our western ones. What we understand as normal board games might just be a reflection of how life was in the early 20th century because that’s simply what life was like when these games were released. As they are still a success (as far as I know) could we conclude by saying life hasn’t changed much and we carry the same essence of pleasures and pain from thousands of years before? Their success is proof that these games have a place in today's society.

All in all, game nights in my family were some of my favorite past times growing up in middle America. We would stay up late playing them, for monopoly, it was finding entertainment in seeing my mom go to jail, or my brother blowing all of his money on NY real estate. When computers were invented and made affordable, I remember playing Monopoly on it against CPU. That for me (a tech knowitall) was amazing but I could never recapture the same feelings with the original board game version. Why? You had to take turns in front of the screen. It felt like a passive version that people tended to take less seriously.

Regarding arcade games, starting in the early 1900s, Ballyhoo (see below) came onto the scene. A game that revolutionized arcade gaming. The evolution into pinball we know today came after the great war. The company bally manufacturing started without flaps and it was merely a game of luck. If you reached a certain score the shopkeeper presented you with an award. Once it evolved into more chances to put the ball back in play as seen with the paddles, the game started to become less about chance. Midway manufacturing is a gaming company that I knew about before this course. This company was purchased in the mid 20th century as it was instantly the new cash cow for Bally. They produced some of the biggest arcade games still to this day with Pac Man and Space Invader still relevant.

#edx #learning #historyofgaming #ballyhoo #pinball #ancient greek culture #monopoly #gaming

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bewires · 2 years

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anyway when ppl complain about "analyzing history through a modern lens that didn't apply at the time" it reveals a kind of anti-intellectualism common in the way alt-righters talk about social sciences

what do you think history scholars DO all day?

anthropology & history have spent DECADES discussing and explaining the fundamental inability of the human mind to just ignore its own background and cultural biases

so the best we can do when examining that which is foreign to us

is to reflect our own influences and make them transparent to our audience

in order to create founded scholarship about history, it is imperative to reflect on your own biases not just say "hey race as a category wasn't INVENTED in 1099 so it's totally irrelevant to the crusades" bc if you do that, you are going to be writing a history of the crusades full of your own biases and full of the influence of other biased scholars that you have not even acknowledged

when really what you should be doing is reflecting and acknowledging your own bias and using that to examine how the crusades were part of the history of how an idea of racial difference along religious lines was formed in the first place

also shockingly

frequently a modern lens of looking at the past reveals structures that might not have had a name or been spoken about in different terms at the time, that we have since gained a more nuanced understanding of.

it is only with a concept of what it means to be lgbtq+ that you can look back at history and find historical examples that used other terms, other ways of speaking and thinking about the experience. when no modern understanding of this community was in the public academic sphere, no one was looking at this and no one was able to find commonalities and differences

and to look at history and declare it in all ways a foreign country as if history did not influence and create the world we have today, as if the vantage point of the people examining history is irrelevant, is to deny what makes the subject academically rigorous, and is to deny the importance of continuing historical research

as we understand ourselves and our society better, we understand history better

#history #fandom #fandom discourse #if you are using this rhetoric #bc you don't like people reflecting on your fandom fave's canon actions #then what you are saying is basically #I do not want to think critically #which is fine i guess #but you're also saying #how dare you think critically and make me see it #I don't want to have to question my fave #and that is both rude #and really revealing of the state of this fandom in particular #tog #tog discourse

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6blackfilin9 · 3 years

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I love your Anko fanart! Tell me, what are your views/headcannons on Anko X Kazuku?

hThank you so much for the ask, finally I can answer it

here is my big thank you for the waitng

In a nutshell, the shipp was created by accident while me and my buddy were working on our first Naruto AU in 2019, where Kakuzu and Deidara survived their shitty plotholes end eventually ended up in Konoha

Yeah

so, the shipp’s birth date is july the 1, 2019

anything like classy, aristocracy kind of tension-filled passionate gothic romance with playful, psychological games & hurt/comfort vibes with slight scent of rivalry is KakuAnko

Basically, they are: a very, very old man with absolutely horrendous background who’s trying to finally have his mother*cking 10 or 30 years of peace, and a rather young lady with a rocky youth who’s being good & noble yet has very strong antihero tendencies

You know, I think they do have potential, since, in fact, they seem to be very similar, at the core

They are both very pragmatic realists, the people of logic and reason, yet if Kakuzu’s irritability doesn’t affect him a tiny bit due to his ideal self-control, Anko’s can lead her to quite bad places, sometimes. They put their interests in the first place, and even though she tries to attach them to Konoha’s, she still has ‘personal’ things (I’ll write ‘bout it lower*). Their mindsets are so complicatedly organized that, at some point & way, it prevents them from having many close people, and makes them very hard to see through and predict

Both of them are very flexible & adaptive, independent individuals with similar outlooks on plenty of things and high intellectual level. They clearly can find plenty of traits that they would highly respect and adore in each other

Here I will speak mostly for “why and how” kind of things, bc both of them are terribly tricky to accurately figure out. But there will be some headcanons too

So, there are still some odds about them, due to the strong difference in their occupation, like, in plenty of cases they are really tricky to be brought together, because:

- Of the job

In original, Anko is a Konoha’s special jounin, and she is very dedicated to serving the country. Independently of whether she likes her job or not (depends on the plot), she orienteers at the people, at society’s gain from her work. So, accordingly, in any other AU her job is somehow connected to civil service, whether it’s something police-like, connected to science, or something like CCG in Tokyo Ghoul

Kakuzu, on the other hand, is a hitman and a persona non grata in literally all the five big countries, Konoha too (which makes it barely possible to bring them together in the original universe without hard complications or heavy drama. But still possible). He orienteers on his own gain alone, but, depending on the job, it can include others’ gain, too.

This detail makes him a saint once he holds supervising position in some company or any high position in the government (the better the working conditions of the staff now- the more money in the prospective), and the sheer nightmare once he has it on the opposite side of the law. Him as a mob boss is a complete different topic for discussion, but to get the point, in this case, the trouble isn’t him increasing the level of criminality (its rather vice-versa), but taking hold of too much control in the high and underground structures. Even as an ordinary hitman he’s rather tricky, since everything depends on the case

In most of the stories, they come to some sort of compromise, and how hard it is to reach it depends on how shitty his job is and how attached they are to each other at the moment

Like, in the above mentioned Shippuden AU and Harry Potter AU (which I also wrote with my buddy) everything went like clockwork, because there they are both more or less on this side of the law, in Tokyo Ghoul AU (which I also wrote with my buddy) it is a bit more complicated, with her being in-law and him being very much outlaw, in the Avatar AU (which I also figured out with my buddy, but we never happened to write it) it is also pretty smooth, with both of them being outlaws and then jumping out to the glory after all the shit is done, but in another Shippuden AU of mine, this all would be just a motherfucking bloody disaster

- Kakuzu is actually a hard nut to get attached to anyone

He lived too long to be truly afraid of anything, though. Its mostly because he doesn’t really need to get attached to or become close with someone to satisfy his need for communication. The man can get along with anyone once he wishes to, he can have countless acquaintances and plenty of buddies, but he doesn’t have many comrades and barely can call anyone a friend. Because he is used to lose everything and everyone he ever had or happened to have, because of his inhumanly lengthened lifespan.

It requires time for him to get used to the person, and then, eventually, in some cases, spend plenty of it to get attached

Plus, for him, due to his profession, each close connection is a really great responsibility for him. In most cases, he’d think twice of weather he is ready to take it or not

Though it of course has the personal factor, too

In Anko’s case, she has a grand privilege by being a very intelligent and keen woman, not just in cognitive plane, but in emotional, too. High emotional intellect is actually a rare trait, so she automatically stands out of the crowd for him. Even though it won’t guarantee his alliance, it will grant her his high respect and some sort of sympathy

- Kakuzu is, technically, an asshole

He does have his moral compass, which includes a great amount of common social morality, but he also has that “I am working” state

Even though Kakusu has a set of professional principles, and he still acts accordingly to what he thinks is right, one and the very same situation can be solved diametrically different once the context changes from working to casual and vice versa

This, and him being very independent and quite antisocial, makes the degree of assholeness depend on various factors

This can lead to major conflicts of interests, and if they are possible to have any compromise or not is strongly attached to the circumstances. After all, both are very, very prideful and dignified people

- In other words, the only major issue for them would be morality questions. It’s possible to make the case acceptable for Anko, since both of them ain’t truly squeaky clean, along with Kakuzu being willing enough to watch his borders

- She is provident and doesn’t really need a lot of money on a daily basis, which is much of a joy to him lol

- *they both seek for the stable ground, first of all

Taking in consideration the life conditions Kakuzu had in his youth (despite war state, he still stably had family, friends, grand respect from everyone, home, warmth and food) and how terribly he was torn out of his secured social environment, I believe what he seeks through all his bounty hunt and other money-connected manipulations is stability. Sustainability he had back then. The only way to have it in the conditions of our existent world order is to have money (and a very good mind and luck)

Anko has indeed much more altruistic motives, yet it’s still not that simple. It seems to be, on the first sight, yet considering the “Orochimaru related cases” and her very wayward behavior toward them, it’s clear she keeps her own motives and needs in mind oh so well. The service she has is very well payed, it allows her to do what she likes or believes is right, and to have the living conditions she finds comfortable. And only here, relying on the made sustainable basis, she does what she does

- Thus, they both illustrate the principle “first help yourself, next help the other” just right

- She knows she can keep an eye on him, yet it’s clear for her that her influence isn’t borderless, as well as telling him off some stuff is kind of a not wise thing to do. So in the majority of cases, she never interferes

- This is not common, yet he can actually change some plans if the situation is serious and the compromise can’t be found. He is that kind of person who works on a further prospective, and in this context, this would be the relationship with his loved one

- While Kakuzu is quite conflicted and has very reserved controversial persona, Anko is both controversial, conflicted, and sort of two-faced, on top of that

She is a very sincere, cheerful and humbly honest human being, yet she has some darker natural traits of her character that became rather strong with age and traumatic experience. Cunningness, guile, ways-depend-on-the-case and a bit of ruthlessness, that is. Moreover, she has some unsolved personal issues, which makes her even more twisted.

Like, remember the time when she confronted Orochimaru during the exam? And Kabuto, on the war? Getting rid of them is indeed beneficial for Konoha, but it’s clear that for her it is personal vendetta in the first place. She wouldn’t have tried to do this alone, otherwise, because these two are rather dangerous ones, to say the least.

She uses greater good to cover her real motives (even though it is not truly complete bullshit), and seems to have a terrible habit to keep silence about really important things, which makes her quite prone to lying, in some cases

And sometimes it very badly pisses Kakuzu off, since it makes her prone to doing useless but dangerous shit too

Yet this not any kind of separate hidden side, it is integrated into her personality, and coexists with her bright one. That’s where her violent humour comes from, for example.

But Kakuzu, on the other side, is completely monolith individual, yet sometimes his mindset can create contradictions when it comes to something important to him. but it's another topic

And seeing these layered constructions, and motives, they can pretty finely predict each other’s behavior. Not super-neatly, but they for sure see the basis. This is what helps Kakuzu to prevent Anko from doing some stupid shit, sometimes

- Anko has a role of an indicator for the people who don’t understand and see the changes in Kakuzu’s mood sometimes, since she usually reacts quite openly. Yet, when she has the same unreadable mask of cold, or one of guile, it’s a nightmare for them

- They prefer the non-verbal way to show their feelings, even though Anko is obviously the more chatty one

- They don’t say things such as “I love you”, or other sensual stuff like that really often, believing it to be some sort of cherished words that shall not be spelled mindlessly

- Anko isn’t majorly into PDA, but she fancies it much more than Kakuzu does. She has her whole moments of studying something with her hands, whether it’s a hand, scar or face. He’s more into passive display of affection, like wrapping an arm over her waist or leaning to her or something of this kind; they can allow themselves to (not sexually) kiss in public though

- She knows he doesn’t like to walk hand in hand due to considering it a youthful thing, so there are times when she intentionally walks holding on to his sleeve; generally they walk separately in order not to bother each other, but sometimes they walk arm in arm (like an old Victorian couple lol)

- Being older and wiser, Kakuzu eventually upholds some kind of mentoring position, yet he never considers himself any kind of a teacher or master to Anko, believing her to have a good head of her own. He is just insightful enough to break something through to her or give a word of advise

- This, combined with his highly powerful demeanor, also makes him have the leading position in their relationship

- Anko respects him much enough to fortify this, entrusting with plenty of life questions (like organizing the family budget), even though they make the majority of decisions together. Mostly because he is truly wise and highly experienced individual.

- This makes him one of the very few people Anko would actually listen to and take their opinion in consideration

- So basically they have equal relationship with some tendency to patriarchal order

- And it is, really, mostly economically-based disbalance, with him earning much more than she does

- Yet they never have any financial-based issues, since both of them keep in mind and respect the contributions of each

- There is major power play here, too. He has the absolute might, she has seduction. Anko loves how he makes her want to submit to him, let him have all the power, so she likes provoking him. And she knows he adores it, loves the subtle control she has over him

- They don’t have conflicts in their everyday life. Each knows how to avoid pissing one another off

- He cherishes her playful demeanor, her intellect. Combined with her cunningness, it allows her to rival him, in social sphere. The way she constructs her phrases, the way she speaks, mimics, moves, how bewitchingly it suits her feminine snaky features makes his blood boil and heart melt

- Both of them, actually, have rather specific kind of dry, dark humour. Kakuzu’s is very cynical, satirical, quite often menacing and subtly demeaning; Anko’s is very sarcastic and quite dirty, even gruesome and rather violent

- Sometimes they “fight” verbally as a form of a play. In some circumstances they may sound pretty vile, so some unobservant people mistake this for display of hate

- In general, Anko is the one to heat things up with her playful demeanor, which can include provocation and rivalry, and Kakuzu is the one to keep this energy in borders, accumulating it up to much more intense states

- They both put the comfort in the first place when it comes to household. Everything must be cozy, useful, silent and super clean

- Yet they are both very unpretentious and modest, really

- She absolutely adores when he is showing his serious, severe side, or powerful demeanor. She finds it incredibly suitable for him. She also likes how his real age is sliding out in this or that way. Like, even though he has rather young face (that of 37-40 y.o.), his eyes give away that he’ve seen oh so much more than it seems; the grumpy noises and grunts he makes, the lazy attitude in movements and the way how rapidly he finds a comfy pose once he has a chance to take a seat

- They are both rather patriotic, yet while in the most stories Anko’s feelings mostly lay towards the country she lives in, Kakuzu’s more often lay towards some places, so called small motherland.

- Kakuzu actually could be a source of deep, strong admiration and delight for her, despite all of his bullshit. The unbreakable will he has, mighty burning heart, all the wisdom, talents and mind. Being sent to fight god damn Hashirama, clearly a genius of his times, financial & management genius at the least. And, still, after all the hard times he’ve been through, he maintained the very strong sense of dignity and nobility, even though slightly twisted due to the profession and abnormal lifespan

- And the very same things can serve as the source for her chagrin: with all those traits, he could have been so much more rather than a criminal. With all the gifts he’ve got, he could have been of great use to society. He’s much easier about this, since his prospective is much wider and embraces decades (and in some universes even centuries) instead of months & years, and he knows that he’d be switching sides throughout his life, being on this and that side of the law, yet he still is a bit uncomfortable once it’s brought up

- They are deeply into science, which makes them atheists. He’s into medicine and human biology, she’s into chemistry and reptilian biology; both of them are nuts for physics, history and psychology

- They solve complicated physical and mathematical problems together time to time. She is the first one to have tea-breaks due to losing her temper over it, he tries to figure things out right until you can sense the smoke coming off his head

- Actually, they do have a stumbling stone aside from job & morality complications. And this is Anko’s attitude towards Orochimaru

What she does is basically ruins her life very-very slowly, maintaining the issues she has and planning to make him pay for all he’s done

Kakuzu knows exactly what is really going on with this attitude and why, but he can’t really do anything about it. Like, he knows he can’t make her change her mind or put something into her head

All he can do is really nothing but try to explain how those things are working, and even this option is basically a landmine field for him. At some level she does understand that he could probably be right, yet she just refuses to go back on her mind. And this is actually really dangerous, so at some moments they can fight quite badly about it

- He’s scared shitless to lose her, though; especially like that, even though he knows clearly that he will, anyway, sooner or later

- he knows that losing loved ones ends up with sheer disaster for him, yet he isn’t afraid to pay such a high price for those six, five or four decades of being with her. Because these decades are that of a paradise ones for him. Wife and family, as well as stable job, incomes and life conditions, are some sort of physical definitions of sustainability he craves. Especially family, yet it’s far ahead to plan

- The fact that he will have to bury her one day makes her rather depressed, as well as the knowledge that the only thing she can really do about it is to try to bring him as much happiness and comfort as possible before she dies

thank you, i'd say more, but it's too much already

#my art #naruto #naruto shipuden #akatsuki #naruto akatsuki #akatsuki kakuzu #kakuzu #naruto anko #mitarashi anko #kakuanko #they are very entertaining disaster

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dontwakeme-causeimdreaming · 3 years

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Evermore thoughts:

1. Willow

-already off to a chill vibe

-not sure if it’s a love triangle or her and Joe

-“come back stronger than a 90s trend” love it

-the beat almost gives me invisible string vibes

2. Champagne problems

-been waiting for this one all day

-immediately love it

-it sounds like her old stuff but is also so original and new

-dom perignon? Subtle brag

-dorm? This can’t be about her life

-idk why the bridge is reminding me of this is me trying though

-the ending note is so good

3. Gold rush

-immediately a vibe

-poppy than her others, but then again so was TLGAD which was also track 3

-immediately getting the “drinking on the beach with friends and sparklers during the summer and taking pictures with a vintage camera” vibe

4. ‘Tis the damn season

-ok so this is NOT a Christmas song

-as someone who just ended a hometown hookup relationship this song is now my new anthem

-also I just moved across the country so that’s fitting too

-“call me babe got the weekend” “it always leads to you in my hometown”

-I feel attacked

-but in a good way

5. Tolerate it

-is this also about Scott and scooter?

-“so much older and wiser” “use my best colors for your portrait” idk kinda getting my tears ricochet vibes but that could just be what I’m expecting

-leaning against Scott and Scooter the more I hear

-definitely an abusive relationship of some kind though

6. No body, no crime

-without even hearing the song, I’m reminded of the tik tok theory that Haylor committed vehicular manslaughter and have been leaving clues in their songs

-Haim is also friends with Harry so 👀

-hearing the song gives me Before He Cheats vibes though

-“I think he did it but I just can’t prove it” probably not that deep but I’m getting r*pe culture and me too movement vibes

-love the country roots

7. Happiness

-before I listen, I hope this is a marriage proposal announcement song

-ok def not marriage

-kinda peace vibes though (not the feeling the song ofc)

-but this is like the opposite of peace just the slowness gives me peace vibes

-like kinda a good message to remember in break ups that happiness is still possible bc you were happy before the person and can be happy without them too

-“green light of forgiveness” is that a Gatsby reference? Bc Gatsby is hoping the green light will be a big sign to Daisy but she still moves away anyway

8. Dorothea

-I heard the theory that Dorothea is the name of Zigi’s baby i vibe with that it’s a cute song

-don’t really have many comments on this one

-it’s cute but it gives me Hey Stephen vibes in a way and Hey Stephen isn’t my fav

9. Coney Island

-I’ve never heard anything by the National but I’m excited

-another reference to the mall... she did say in the Long Pond Studio Sessions that she was really excited to sing about the mall in August

-initially it’s not my favorite but I think I just need to listen to it again bc I do like the vibe

10. Ivy

-is this why there was ivy in her Insta from last week?

-“my pain fits in the palm of your frozen hand” omg I love that

-the lyrics in this are so beautiful and are almost reminiscent of Cold As You which is lyrically one of my favs (“roots in my dreamland” is like a grown up Cold As You)

-I love hearing Taylor swear

-overall love it

11. Cowboy like me

-this is another one I’ve been waiting for all day long

-love that this is explicit too

-my first thought seeing the name was Closest to a Cowboy her unreleased song from forever ago

-the background music at the beginning sounds like Tim McGraw

-longer than I was expecting

“You’re a bandit like me” reminds me of the lakes for some reason

12. Long story short

-immediately a vibe

-ok is it just me getting a ton of references to her older music?

-like rabbit hole (wonderland) and spinning in high heels (reminds me of both Mirrorball and Holy Ground)

-maybe this a nod to re-recording?

-I’m very tired I may be mishearing things

-the most poppy so far

-“long story short it was the wrong guy” lmao story of my life what a vibe

“Long story short I survived” this song makes me so happy idek why

13. Marjorie

-Track 13 on folklore was a nod to her grandfather and I think this is a nod to her grandmother this is also track 13

-like Marjorie is her grandmother’s name

-as someone who also regrets not appreciating her grandmother enough, this song resonates with me sm

-like I was only 10 when my grandma died and I didn’t realize what I had until she was gone

-so overall hits home super sad song but very beautiful

-love the idea that our loved ones never really leave us

14. Closure

-loving the tracking on this

-this reminds me of a friend break up

-I really like how her past few albums she talks about doing better (IFTYE, the 1)

-possibly about Karlie?

-idk don’t attack me for that just a thought

15. Evermore

-sounds like winter to me

-I like that one of the recurring themes of this album is moving on and realizing the pain won’t last forever and that happiness can come again

-idk is this about the pandemic? Is this about Emily Dickinson whose birthday was yesterday and uses “evermore” as a closing line to one of her famous poems? Is it about Edgar Poe? Whose to say?

-hot take but I like this better than exile

-is Joe playing the piano in this too like he did in exile?

Overall I really like this album it’s so good and compliments folklore but is still uniquely its own

Taylor has done it again

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morbidly-malicious-muffins · 4 years

Text

What Kind of Music Slashers Would Vibe to Headcanons♪

This little thing popped into my head. Fyi, the canon timelines are thrown out the window for this so... Yeah.

Bring forth the bop~

RZ Michael Myers

"Let my weapons be your children, let my armies be your damned. Try to suffer on in silence, try to stop me if you can." --- This Cold Black by Slipknot

I think he'd really enjoy metal in general. I can totally see him unknowingly stomping to some Marilyn Manson and Meshuggah, though the lyrics and message probably will just fly over his head.

He listens to some heavy shit, but probably all the more mainstream bands/artists.

The loudness and organized chaos of the genre fills the void in his soul and reflects the state of his mind, despite his stoic and non-verbal outer demeanor.

Someone please do everyone a favor and introduce Michael to some death metal. Admit it, it really fits his aesthetic.

This is just based on speculation, but I suspect a 70% possibility of RZ Michael resonating with Cannibal Corpse. Fight me.

He hates classical music with a burning passion. Back in Smith's Grove, they played Bach's Air Sul G on tap. (its canon in the first movie lmao) He hates it. Mikey no likey.

Freddy Krueger

"No stop signs, speed limit, nobody's gonna slow me down. Like a wheel, gonna spin it, nobody's gonna mess me around." --- Highway to Hell, by AC/DC

Freddy listens to classic rock, period.

This guy is ngl a supporter of music taste discrimination. You listen to pop? Disgusting. You listen to Jazz? Disgusting. Classic rock is the epitome of all music.

He'll call you music-related slurs you never knew existed.

As stubborn adamant as Freddy is, he does harbor some guilty pleasures, including 70's hair metal and glam rock. Pshh. What a heckin hypocrite.

Some of his all time favorites are Guns N' Roses, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, and AC/DC.

(Basic bitch)

*Hip thrust movements to go with his 'The Sprinkler' dance moves, Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses blasting in the background*

OG Michael Myers

He doesn't listen to music, but if he did, he would probably enjoy Jazz.

Michael only listens to Miles Davis because he enjoys his music and can't be bothered to discover more artists.

Oml Michael I know Miles Davis is amazing but don't neglect other iconic artists plzzz. Someone please make him listen to some Teddy Wilson and/or Dave Brubeck.

I imagine him sitting stiff-straight on a rocking chair (he just likes how it moves), knife in his lap, rocking and zoning-out relaxing to 'Blue in Green'. (I love that piece)

#AfterHeFinallyKillsLaurie

#RetirementGoals

He also hates classical music because of the same reason as RZ Myers. Seriously, if either of them so much as hears the opening chord of Air Sul G, expect the speaker to be stomped to a pulp in a split second.

Bubba Sawyer

Alright let's all be honest with ourselves... 70's pop and country is Bubba's shit.

Look me in the face and tell me he wouldn't adore ABBA, The Jackson 5, and Dolly Parton. Thats right you can't

Everytime 'Dancing Queen' starts playing on the radio, Bubba will drop everything and start busting down.

Ain't nothing and nobody stoppin him. Drayton is powerless against the supreme sovereignty that is ABBA.

But let's also appreciate the fact that our Bubster can motherfuckin get down. *wipes sweat from forehead + heart eyes*

He would also do passionate lip sync with his heart and soul, to Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You'.

50% chance of him starting to cry right after he finishes his earnest performance.

*Holding Bubba in your arms, rubbing comforting circles on his back as he bawls hysterically, incoherently babbling on about how much he loves you*

I also feel for some reason he'd really like Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.

Thomas Hewitt

"For one moment, I wish you'd hold your stage, with no feelings at all. Open minded, I'm sure I used to be so free." --- Citizen Erased by Muse

Y'know what I have a hard time imagining the type of music Tommy listens to. Kutos, Mr. Hewitt, you have defeated me.

siKE

(This is where I yeet the timeline out of the window y'all)

Thomas enjoys Muse, Evanescence, and Radiohead. (Fight me)

He just loves how emotional their songs are. He'd have one earbud in as he works away at his projects for hours. The music helps him concentrate, it is also a source of emotional support to him.

Hearing the heart-wretching lyrical content of 'Lost in Paradise' performed so beautifully by Amy Lee's angellic voice is really comforting to him. It's like hearing about another person's experiences. It makes him feel less alone in dealing with his emotional and mental turmoils and burdens.

The first time Thomas heard 'Creep' by Radiohead, he almost cried.

He also listens to My Chemical Romance sometimes. He only knows the Black Parade album, but he loves it. If 'Creep' didn't make him cry, listening to that entire album from top to bottom sure did. He started sobbing half-way through 'Famous Last Words'.

Tommy is emotional boi 🥺

Brahms Heelshire

C l a s s i c a l

No matter how stinky Brahms is, you can't tell me that he's not classy.

Schubert is his bitch. Schubert's style tends to be quite majestic and/or dreamy, (generally) and can change color/sound very abruptly yet appropriately. (This is just my opinion based on experience with Schubert's pieces, but then I only know his piano pieces soo) (let's still cue that maestoso to scherzando transition)

But of course, Schubert isn't the only thing he listens to. He prefers the romantic period, so Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Shostakovich, Brahms, Schumann, you get the gist, all the staples. Oh yeah Elgar too. To be a proud English lad.

*Brahms swaying in the living room with the grace of a baby giraffe, engrossed in the beautiful melodies in Schumann's Kinderszenen.*

(Oml please check out 'Von fremden Landern und Manschen' and 'Kind im Einschlummern') (For those who play piano, they aren't that difficult too totally recommend) (Ok sorry I'm done now)

Brahms would totally waltz around alone to Chopin's waltzes and nocturnes.

Oh yeah apart from that classy shit, he likes to jam to meme songs.

"Hey now, you're an all star, get your game on, go play---"

*cut to Brahms passionately fortnite dancing*

Listens to The Strange Man Who Sings About Dead Animals for a good laugh. (Please, all of his songs are gold)

Vincent Sinclair

He'll have 'emo' and 'classical' with a side of metal, thanks.

I headcanon that Vinny McWaxy is an INFJ, so the boy is likely prone to crippling existentialism. It would make sense for some aspects of his music taste to reflect that.

*cut to Vincent sitting rock-still on his workbench/stool, hands hover in mid-air, staring straight ahead, some John Cage piece playing*

You'll never hear this from Vincent but he enjoys sexy-time music. He has this whole erotic playlist he listens to while working. (Boy likes to feel sexy on the job, I respect that.)

I think its pretty much canon that Vinny loves MCR. (Hello fellow emo piece of shit 👋) His favorites are everything by them really. A hardcore fan. He used to have MCR, P!ATD, and 30 Seconds to Mars posters plastered everywhere in his workshop until he had to remove them all to add to the intimidation factor of his waxy hell for passer-bys. For the record, he is very gay for Frank Iero.

On the metal part of his spectrum is mostly classic metal, groove metal, and thrash/heavy metal.

Rammstein, Pantera, Vildhjarta, new and old Metallica, Dream Theatre, Coheed and Cambria. His bitches.

He also uses music to scare victims when bringing them down to his workshop. *cue horror movie soundtracks*

*KI KI KI MA MA MA*

Is a whore for the dramatics when in a good mood.

*Lacrimosa by Mozart plays as he makes a point to bring the wax painfully slowly down toward a drowsy and petrified victim*

A lament for your upcoming death, pitiful human.

Bo Sinclair

"The day has come for all us sinners, if you're not a servant you'll be struck to the ground." -- Beast and The Harlot by Avenged Sevenfold

Bastard boy is into dad-music™. (same)

Dad rock, classic rock, pop punk, punk rock, old school pop, his shit.

He listens to a lot of the same bands as Freddy, but Bo (generally) doesn't discriminate and explores a more diverse variety of music.

Its a fandom canon that Bo loves Avenged Sevenfold. I totally agree.

A7x is the perfect amount of cynical, political, and shred for Beauregard, (I hc that ge hates his full name so plz don't ever call him Beauregard)

He listens to the radio whenever he's at work. Whatever that might be.

Will NEVER admit it, but he thinks Vinny's music taste is dope as hell.

He'll turn off the radio just to strain his ears to listen to Vincent's music downstairs. No one will ever know that though. You don't.

Actually likes classical music too. Its not one of his main genres but there's one piece he really likes, Second Movement of Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major.

He never thought he'd enjoy this type of music. Its so.... Calm. He discovered that piece from Vinny's playlist. When he first heard it on his brother's speaker, he fell in love. It was one of the extremely rare cases in which he'd be committed enough to ask Vinny the name of the music.

Tiny shuffle for man-kind, huge fuckin step for Bo. Good job Bo, we're proud of you.

Also pleeeeeaaase message me or request stuff, I'm bored and have little inspiration 🦊

I might do a pt2 of this, since I didn't write many of the boys and gals🤷‍♀️

Also sorry if I've neglected some genres/artists (Like i've neglected non-piano classical pieces.... Bc ya girl is just a pianist), a person can't know everything😗

---Zali 🖤

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himbeaux-on-ice · 3 years

Note

Who are your top five NHL teams and why?

Ooooo this is fun! Thanks anon!

Short list:

Habs ❤️🤍💙

Pens 🐧

Canucks 🌈🌊

Caps 🦅

Leafs 🟦🍁🟦 (no really! I know I don’t talk about them much but its true!)

Over-wordy explanations/backstory for my relationship to each of these teams below the cut for those interested!

Montreal Canadiens. My dearly beloved Nana, who half-raised me, is a lifelong diehard Habs fan who grew up listening to their games on the radio and then later as an adult watching them duel with the Leafs on Saturday nights on a black-and-white tv (also a BIG Carey Price stan). Needless to say she rubbed off on me immensely, and I remember saying to myself at some point “well, if that’s Nana’s team, that’s gonna be my team too” and it stuck for life. I also had a friend in middle school who was a RELIGIOUS Habs fan who also worshipped at the altar of Jesus Price in those early 2010’s, so I heard a LOT about all of that every lunch break as he argued with friends who were Pens and Bruins fans lol. We went on the Bell Centre tour during the annual 9th grade French class trip to Quebec, and while I was mostly focused on getting to the gift shop to buy Nana a souvenir, I swear my friend’s eyes were the size of quarters the whole time lmao. (Would LOVE to go back now that I care a lot). Basically the Habs are the closest thing to a local NHL team our region has bc we get their broadcasts (though people choose their own team allegiances for various random personal reasons), and I grew up absorbing through osmosis both the legends of yore and the latest updates on whatever Carey and PK and the lads were up to. (Also I’ve been quietly in love with Price myself since at least the 2014 Olympics lol. My first best fav ❤️) Bottom line the Habs are My Team, the “I’m gonna be here even when it sucks, even when players move on, this is attached to me in a way I can’t quite explain” team that every hockey fan has in their heart. GO HABS GO!

Pittsburgh Penguins. If you were an elementary school kid in Nova Scotia when Sidney Crosby was first released and up through the 2010’s, you had two options: love him, or hate him, but you better accept you’re gonna be hearing about him a LOT. I settled on “vague fondness” and followed Sid from a newspaper-scanning distance and vaguely rooted for him because when he brought the Cup home it felt like we all won. And like I said, lots of passionate Pens fans in my grade school classes to hear from (he’s also the only non-Habs player my Nana likes lol). Then I got into hockey properly last year and learned about Geno beyond just knowing his name, and my chronic affection for large loveable Russians got combined with my longstanding vague “I hope the Penguins win” feelings and my “time to get the full story on the Sidney Crosby’s Penguins narrative I only ever watched from a distance” research, in a manner not unlike the creation of the PowerPuff Girls ([chemical X] etc etc lol) to create a potent adoration for this team that rocketed them to second place in my heart. Also the fandom is just so damn fun and makes such great content, and that definitely feeds my level of engagement with the Pens!! Sometimes, when I want an emotional pick-me-up I watch one of their last 3 championship films just to remember what joy and optimism is — I would love to be present as a real-time fan for another adventure like that. With how much I know about them and how much I care, they’re my #2 for sure. I love those flightless fucks!!

Vancouver Canucks. So I started watching live NHL hockey games last summer around I think game 2 of the Habs’ first round series against the Flyers (I saw Price’s “Miracle Save” on twitter while following along bc I was intrigued by the fact that they made it through the play-ins, and was like “OKAY NOW I GOTTA SEE THIS SHIT LIVE”). That was really fun! Riiiight up until the Habs got eliminated. :/ And I was like “well, shit. I’m enjoying this hockey thing too much to stop now. who else is still around I can root for?” And the Canucks were the last Canadian team still in it, and there was buzz about their miraculous first-round win but also uncertainty I believe Markstrom had *just* got injured. So I started watching, ended up witnessing the Bubble Demko Miracle unfold live, had my heart charmed off me by “whatever the hell those two lil blonde bitches have going on” and a delightful underdog story, and here I am. Hitched to the Canuck wagon whether I enjoy it or not. Here for whatever happens! (Doesn’t hurt that I love me some Elton John too 😉)

Washington Capitals. I’m a person who is more likely to be really engaged with a team that has super interesting personalities, characters, and narratives around it — and my GOD are the Capitals good for that. I absolutely definitely started down this road with that mic’d up video from the 2018 final of Ovi telling Nicke “after me, I give it to you baby!” re: the Cup. Like I can pinpoint that there was a day I saw that for the first time in a gifset, squinted at the screen, said “you’re fucking with me...”, went to youtube, watched it be for reals, and was like “well. now I need to know more about ALL this.” After watching games and learning more about the team, I really enjoy the Caps’ “big dumb found family of stone-cold total weirdos” energy, their fun collective chemistry, their Cup story, etc. And oh BOY the fandom is fun during game lb’s! I love all the in-jokes and player nicknames, our delight with the quirks of our colourful wonderful broadcast crew (shoutout Wine Uncles & Co), the way we cheer for record-breaking milestones like they’re a first NHL goal! Being a fan of the Caps AND the Pens can be a bit awkward sometimes, and the team certainly has its blemishes, but my heart is big enough for two Metro teams for sure, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Toronto Maple Leafs. So like, as you can imagine from my previously described upbringing in Hab Land, “haha Leafs suck” is a punchline I have long been familiar with and trained to recite. I got a solid 3 days of laughter and entertainment out of the whole Zamboni Driver Saga last February, oh boy did I ever. But the thing is.... I have the Leafs to thank for the fact that I watch hockey now. See, the entire reason I started paying proper attention to the playoff bubble last summer was because one day, I happened to see the phrase “WHAT IS HAPPENING” trending at 16k tweets on twitter, and clicked on it like “huh?”. Turns out the Leafs were in the middle of their miraculous 3-minute comeback against Columbus and the country was losing its mind. And when they won, I was like “huh... the Zamboni Team is doing THIS??? I may have to start paying attention to this playoffs thing, because if they go All The Way I think that might be the only thing funnier than the Zamboni Incident”. Aaaaand when they immediately lost the next game and were eliminated I was like “lol, sounds about right” and was then immediately distracted by news of the Habs winning the play-in round. So then I spent several months watching playoffs and forgetting about the Leafs. And then one day in early October, looking on YouTube for more hockey to watch after the playoffs ended, I stumbled across something called a Hat Pick, and boy I actually enjoyed this shouty man’s sense of humour and takes on the game... and then when I ran out of Hat Picks and Dangits I watched some Trade Trees, which pulled back the curtain on the business side of the game... and then I discovered LFR’s, which were good background noise for doing tasks... and then I was recommended the episode of the Steve Dangle Podcast about Mitch Marner and The List... and next thing I knew I was listening to more of this podcast, because I found Steve and the guys to be insightful and funny and there was no hockey to watch, and I was trepidatious about accidentally stumbling into the more toxic corners of hockey fandom if I branched out for other content... and, well. If you spend enough hours listening to people passionately analyze every facet of a team, shout and cheer over a team, make fun of that team, nearly cry over that team... it’s really REALLY hard to not start to care about it. Leafs analysis was basically how I learned most of what I’ve learned about hockey this past year! And kudos to Steve and Adam and Jesse, their passionate investment in the Leafs and great content has got ME invested in the Leafs mainly because I want to see things go well for them. I want Charlie Brown to kick the football! I love a triumph over adversity story! Also, I think if the Leafs did Do The Thing it would basically be the combination of “Cubs win the World Series” and “Raptors are the champs” and I wanna watch the city of Toronto go fully apeshit from a safe distance. I don’t adore many their individual players as much as I do some other teams higher on this list, and I still laugh far too much when things go super comically impossibly badly for them, but I am actually pulling for the Leafs!! I want to see it all pay off for them. I want them to go all the way. Gimme that “LEAFS WIN!!!” (Unless it’s against someone above them on this list lol)

#if u get the joke in the Canucks emojis bless u #long post #asks #anon #actually I would root Leafs in a TOR vs WSH playoff series but it would break my heart to do so lol #Washington has a Cup already ya know?

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taxicabinmemphis · 4 years

Text

Prince Charming - Chapter 1

chapter one - chapter two - chapter three - chapter four - chapter five - chapter six

So tumblr is being evil and not letting me put a strikethrough on the word ‘prince’ on the title so please pretend it’s there. This was supposed to just be fluffy Intrulogical but look at what happened. It was supposed to be shorter, too! I was like ‘don’t expect it to get to 2k’ but here we are… :/ (Side note - most indications that Janus is lying are in italics, just to make sure y’all can tell since I don’t know of a way to write Janus’ tone and vocal inflection that indicates his lies except using italics (however this is only for Janus, I will use italics in dialogue for other characters and they are not indications of dishonesty.)) Word count - 3,474 Pairing - Intrulogical, Prinxiety (I didn’t plan it, it just kinda happened and I rolled with it), pre Moceit, platonic Logicality and Dukeceit bc they are cute friends, platonic/familial Moxiety bc they cute too Warnings - some characters are a lil insensitive in spots but I wouldn’t call them unsympathetic, swearing, quick food mention in a later chapter, sword fighting, self-deprecation from most sides, a character gets hurt, pining, and Remus-typical behavior (body horror mentions and other stuff heh), if there’s anything else that should be tagged or put in the warnings, tell me please!

Despite his birthday long having passed, Roman was somehow able to convince the other sides to join him in an adventure in the Imagination. While some sides, like Patton, were ecstatic about the idea, others, such as Virgil, weren’t as enthusiastic. Knowing Roman, there would be adventure, royalty, danger, and heroism, and those things didn’t appeal to everyone. But still, somehow, all had been convinced.

Roman threw the door to the Imagination open forcefully, a dramatic gust of wind seeming to help him with the task. The door opened to show an elegant white castle. The entrance to the castle grounds was only a couple hundred feet from the door. “Welcome, fellow adventurers. Please enter, this is where today’s story begins!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Virgil grumbled, shoving past Roman and entering the Imagination. “What got me to do this again?”

“One starts to wonder similarly,” Logan agreed, following the purple-clad side through the door.

“Don’t be so negative, you two,” Patton chastised. “I’m sure Roman has something entertaining planned.”

“Well, I don’t know entertaining unless severed limbs are involved.”

“To each his own,” Roman grumbled at his brother, following the last side in.

Roman closed the door behind him and clapped his hands to get his companions’ attention. They all turned to him, varying levels of excitement on each of their faces.

“Let’s get this over with,” Virgil muttered, before raising the volume of his voice to continue. “What are we doing today?”

“How kind of you to ask, Virgil!” Roman chirped. “Our adventure today is something I have had in the works for a while now. As you can see from the beautiful castle behind me, we will be engaging in a medieval war of two different kingdoms. I, and the sides assigned to the kingdom of Romania–”

“That’s already a country, Roman,” Logan interrupted.

“That is false, Logan,” Janus agreed. “Also, wouldn’t it be more…considerate not to name a kingdom multiple sides will be assigned to after yourself?”

“There’s a reason you’re not being assigned to my kingdom, snake boy,” Roman murmured, before speaking louder. “Fine. I, and the sides assigned to…Azeria will be trying to retrieve the crown jewels that belong to our kingdom. They were stolen by the kingdom of Reptania.”

“Creative,” Virgil remarked sarcastically.

Roman ignored him. “When we get to Reptania, however, we will discover that the rulers of Reptania have been keeping someone prisoner under a mind control curse that puts the prisoner under the cruel will of Reptania’s rulers!”

“Dear Lord-a-mercy,” Virgil commented, lacing his tone with exasperation.

Roman turned to him, annoyed. “Can you not? For one second?” Roman cleared his throat as Virgil snorted in response. “The prisoner can be you if you’re so chatty on the subject.”

Virgil groaned and put his head in his hands.

“Anyway, we will free the prisoner after we defeat the evil rulers of Reptania in an epic battle of medieval weapons, and take the freed emo back to our kingdom.”

“Let me guess,” Janus drawled, “Remus and I will rule Reptania, and Patton and Logan will join you in…I forget what you called your kingdom.”

“You are right, Janus, Patton, and Logan will join me in Azeria and the two of you will be in Reptania,” Roman answered, slightly annoyed. “Does that work for you all?”

Murmurs of acknowledgment and begrudging agreement were heard backgrounding a louder and more enthusiastic “it works wonderfully!” from Patton. Roman hardly gave them time to object, however, as he clapped his hands again with a grin and started walking away from the door and deeper into the Imagination.

—

“I see no reason why we have to wear this strange…attire you have picked out for us, Roman,” Logan remarked, grimacing as he struggled with putting on chainmail.

The three of them were in Azeria’s castle in the prince’s royal quarters where Patton and Logan’s outfits were laid on chairs. They had changed in separate rooms, but now they had to put on the dreaded chainmail (that they got each other’s help with because no one wanted to deal with it alone). Logan and Patton’s chainmail were colored; indigo and light blue respectively. Roman, because of his already princely outfit, felt he didn’t have to bother with the armor, despite Patton’s protests regarding safety and fairness. Patton also had a leather backpack, meant for carrying back the stolen crown jewels to their kingdom.

“We are knights of the royal court, Logan! You must. If it makes you feel any better, I have set out armor for Janus, Virgil, and Remus to wear. I was quite vehement in the note I left that they wear it.”

“Besides, Logan, it’s not that bad,” Patton said as he finished putting on the armor.

“I also don’t see why I am a knight,” Logan added. “Wouldn’t Virgil be a better choice? Fight or flight is his area.”

“He was being a chatty, sarcastic little shit–”

“Roman!”

“–so he was practically asking to be assigned to the prisoner position.”

“From what I could tell, Virgil made no indication that he wanted to be the prisoner,” Logan objected.

“He was being sarcastic and interrupting me as I covered that part of the story, Logan!” Roman argued.

“While I have no idea as to how commentary and requests correlate out of context, I suppose it’s up to you.”

“Yes, it is, and if you both are finished putting on your armor, we should go to the stables and get our horses so we can ride out to Reptania!”

“Aren’t you forgetting something, Roman?” Patton asked with a sly grin, placing a camera he brought (“to preserve memories”, as he previously explained to Roman) at the bottom of the backpack. He then put the backpack on.

Roman frowned. “Am I? What am I forgetting, Patton?”

“Swords!” Patton exclaimed with a small jump.

Roman lit up. “How could I forget? Come to the armory, my blue-clothed friends. We must arm ourselves!”

“Technically, we are engaging Reptania in a rather unnecessary battle as there is no survival-based requirement for crown jewels, so gathering arms isn’t exactly needed.”

Roman huffed and Patton gave Logan a stern look.

When they got to the armory, Roman immediately took a longsword from where it was sheathed. He seemed to weigh it and test its balance in his hands before giving it a couple of sample swings. The sword had a golden shine on it that Roman seemed to like.

“Don’t you already have a katana?” Logan asked.

“Yes, Logan, I do,” Roman confirmed, “but this is longer. I left my katana in my room anyway, I will not be using it today.”

Patton looked around the room with cautious excitement, obviously concerned for everyone’s safety with the blades, but still thoroughly enjoying picking a weapon for himself. A shortsword seemed to catch his eye. He hurried over to it and picked it up. The sword was a little under two feet in length, the center of its crossguard adorned with a round gemstone of blue topaz.

“Look at this sword, Roman! Isn’t it nice?” he asked, jumping up and down a bit. “It’s just the right size, and it has a pretty blue gem at the top of the hilt!”

Roman smiled at Patton. “It’s stunning, Padre! Perfect for a knight of your skill and prestige.”

“It is indeed quite attractive of a sword, Patton,” Logan agreed. “And the gem at the center of the crossguard matches your outfit.”

On Logan’s right was a rack of swords of various types. He picked up a flamberge sword, a couple of inches over being four feet long. The hilt, crossguard, and a wavy line going through the center of the blade were colored an indigo that matched Logan’s chainmail.

“This seems adequate,” Logan commented, holding the sword in front of him with both hands.

“It’s significantly over two thirds your height,” Roman noted. “Over twice the length of Patton’s sword.”

“Your longsword is similar,” Logan replied.

“I’m a prince.”

Logan sheathed the sword on his person and turned to Roman. “And I’m a knight.”

Patton opened the door and turned to the two. “Come on, you two, let’s get our horses!”

The three armed sides made their way out of the armory and to the stables. Roman raced ahead of his knights to stop at a beautiful white horse, a little bit taller than the others. He mounted the animal with ease and smiled at his friends who had just reached the stables.

“Pick your favorite, there are choices,” he instructed gleefully, but his voice turned serious at his next words. “Diamante is mine, though. She’s mine.”

Logan lifted his hands as a gesture of surrender and made his way over to a black stallion. “Can I take this one?”

“Yeah, you can take Obsidian,” Roman stated. “Only Diamante is off-limits.”

Patton patted a light brown horse’s mane as Logan mounted his horse. “I like this one. Do they have a name?”

“That’s Ophelia. She’s a sweetheart.”

“I love her!” Patton exclaimed, mounting the mare. He, admittedly, had more difficulty than the other two sides with the task.

He eventually got himself properly positioned on the horse, him and Roman exchanging a nod indicating readiness.

“Let’s go!”

The three horses galloped out of the stables, Diamante in the lead. They rode quickly, Roman seeming to know where to go. Azeria castle was soon left behind, and Reptania could be spotted nearby.

“How long until we arrive, Roman?” Patton asked.

Roman glanced at him quickly. “Not much longer.”

Reptania castle eventually came into clear view, the darkly colored walls of its castle giving it an eerie vibe. Some walls on the outer sides of the castle had vines growing up them; that and other creepier features caught Patton’s timid eyes, while Roman stared ahead with an unwavering glare that mirrored his determination. Logan was just relieved the adventure Roman had forced him into was closer to its end.

They arrived at the front gates, slowing their horses to a stop. Two guards moved to stand in front of the castle gates, effectively blocking the three knights’ path. Roman looked at them sternly.

“Let us pass,” Roman ordered. “We have business with the rulers of this kingdom.”

The guards stood motionless.

“Maybe try please?” Patton whispered to the prince.

“Remus is my brother,” Roman stated to the guards, before deciding to take Patton’s advice. “Please let us pass. We come in peace.”

After a moment, the guards let up and moved to let the three colorful knights pass. As the trio’s horses passed the gates, Logan leaned towards Roman (who was on his left) slightly.

“You do know that you communicated a falsehood so they would let us pass.”

Roman sighed. “Yes, Logan. But they were evil henchmen villain guards and we have to get through in order to have the epic battle and get the crown jewels.”

“And rescue Virgil,” the logical side reminded.

“Yes, but we’re not supposed to know we should do that yet,” Roman reminded him, slightly exasperated.

“We’re not?” Patton asked.

“No, Padre, remember? We’re not supposed to figure out Virgil is under a mind control curse until later.”

“How will we know?” Patton inquired.

“We’ll know!”

The three of them dismounted and walked their horses to the stables. They left the horses easily accessible, just in case they had to make a swift exit.

They quickly but carefully entered the castle and followed Roman through the halls. He seemed to have an idea of what they were doing and where to go, unlike the other two.

“Are we going to where Janus and Remus are keeping the stolen crown jewels?” Patton asked.

“Yes, now shh,” Roman whispered. “I think they’re in this next room. There are two guards stationed on either side of the door looking quite purposeful.”

“Oh no,” Logan said with a sigh. “Will we have to sword fight them too?”

Roman grinned at him. “Yes!”

“We should create a plan–”

Roman drew his sword and left the two other knights to stand in front of the guards. “If you let me pass, I will not hurt you.”

The guards drew their weapons, identical claymore swords, and stood in front of the door. The one on Roman’s right spoke. “Leave.”

“You could have at least said ‘please’ to him,” the other guard chastised.

“He threatened to harm us,” the one on the right growled.

“He could still be a nice fellow. Confused, maybe, but nice.”

“Good people,” Roman interrupted. “I am here for the crown jewels your rulers stole from our kingdom.”

“How did you know the crown jewels were in here?” the one on the left asked.

Roman gave the guard a smirk. “You just confirmed it.”

“Idiot,” the guard on the right murmured to their compatriot.

The guard on the left crossed their arms angrily. “Well, it seemed as if he already knew. He also looks like Remus, so I thought that Remus might know him and told him.”

“Did it occur to you that he looks like Remus because he’s his brother?” The guard on the right continued when the guard on the left didn’t reply. “Remus and his brother reside in rival kingdoms!”

“I didn’t know that.”

“You didn’t know that?! It was at orientation last week, you fucking moron-”

“Let me pass,” Roman cut in. “I know the crown jewels are in there, so why don’t you let me in and out and no one has to know.”

“We can’t do that, so leave,” the guard on the right answered sternly.

“Yeah, and any ask for entrance has to be reported to Remus and Janus,” the guard on the left added.

“We can skip that, just this once.”

“Nah, man, I’m afraid not.” The guard on the left solemnly shook his head. “I don’t want to get fired; need to convince my mom I can keep a job.”

“Did Remus make this guy?” Roman muttered under his breath, before speaking to the pair. “Well, I have to get in there.”

“And we have to keep you out.”

“Fine then,” Roman said, giving his longsword a swing. “We’ll have to do this the hard way.”

He walked towards the door, the guards intercepting him. The one on the left took a swing at Roman’s neck, but Roman parried it before disarming him. The guard’s sword clattered to the ground, Logan appearing from seemingly nowhere to take the fallen sword so the guard couldn’t retrieve it. The logical side drew his sword and joined Roman in the sword fight. The two quickly incapacitated the guard who was previously on the right.

“I’m telling Remus and Janus!” the guard on the left cried as they ran away from the Azerian knights. “Better to be unarmed and useful than unarmed and unconscious!”

Roman shrugged, he and Logan sheathing their swords. “We’re gonna have to fight them eventually.”

“Besides,” Patton added, approaching his friends, “that guard was funnier!”

“You mean less attentive and less intelligent,” Roman corrected.

“None the matter,” Logan interrupted. “We should get the jewels before reinforcements arrive.”

“But what about the sword fight–”

“Do you actively search for an opportunity to get murdered, Roman?”

Roman gasped in offense. “I search for adventure, thank you very much.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Let’s get the jewels.”

Patton opened and held the door for his fellow knights. The light blue-clad side closed the door behind him and faced a medium-sized room, with the Azeria crown jewels enclosed in a glass case almost five feet off the ground. The three approached it carefully, Roman slowly drawing his sword.

Logan put out an arm to discourage him from whatever he was considering doing. “We must be careful. We don’t know what kind of alarms brashly breaking the case will set off.”

Despite the logical side’s warning, Roman broke the case with his longsword. Logan threw his arms up in exasperation and the lights in the room started to flash red. An alarm started to sound as well. Patton covered his ears with his hands and Roman sheathed his sword, staring intently at the jewels and the shards of glass that had fallen on them.

“Not to mention,” Logan added with an air of sarcasm, “the broken glass would make the jewels much harder to retrieve.”

Roman turned around and gave him a glare. “Real helpful at this point, Specs.”

Logan scoffed. “Either way, Roman, I think it’s only fair that you collect the jewels and put them in Patton’s backpack. Considering you were the one who made it harder to retrieve them.”

“Alright,” Roman conceded, rolling his eyes. “But only because I don’t want Patton to cut his fingers and I know how stubborn you are. Would you come over here for a second, Padre?”

Patton slowly uncovered his ears and tip-toed over to Roman, making sure to watch his step. He took his backpack from around his shoulders and opened it. Roman slowly took the crown, making sure not to touch any glass, shook it gently to get the glass off of it, and then carefully placed it in the backpack. He did the same with the rest of the jewels, Patton loyally holding the bag open.

The second Patton closed the bag and positioned it over his shoulders, three figures entered the room. The three Azerian knights watched as Janus and Remus walked into the room, clad in black and colored chainmail (yellow and green, respectively). Virgil was at their side, wearing purple under black chainmail.

“I take it you have a deep affinity for colored chainmail, Roman,” Logan remarked.

“It helps to tell people apart.”

Logan nodded. “Fair enough.”

Remus, who was in between Janus (who was on his right) and Virgil (who was on his left), drew his sword. It was a rapier, just under three and a half feet long. He gave Roman a glare and a villainous smirk.

“You’ve come for the crown jewels, I see,” he observed, waving a hand in the air, causing the lights to return to normal and the alarm to silence.

Roman matched his brother’s glare. “Our crown jewels, you mean.”

“But we like yours!” Remus objected.

“Don’t you have your own?” Logan asked tiredly.

Remus turned to the logical side. “Really, Logan? You’re playing Princey’s game? I thought I knew you better.” The Duke sighed and shook his head. “And yes, we have our own, but we like yours too.”

“Maybe we could trade…?” Patton suggested quietly.

“No,” Roman rejected sternly. “We must have our crown jewels.”

“Really, brother dearest? You must?”

“Yes, Remus. I must,” Roman reiterated. “They are sacred to Azeria!”

“Seriously, Remus,” Logan started, reentering the conversation, “they’re just a set of jewels. You have your own. Why are you so fixated on keeping them? Stealing them creates unnecessary conflict. By relinquishing the jewels back to our kingdom, you will be avoiding drama and the potential injury of your…companions.”

“But Logan, we want to sword fight,” the two brothers objected simultaneously.

“Really, Roman? You’re arguing against my call for their peaceful return of our crown jewels?”

“Gentlemen,” Janus cut in, “let’s not resolve this. As slowly as we can.”

Remus pointed his sword at Roman. “I think we can all agree with this tried-and-true method.”

“Umm, actually–” Patton started to object, putting his finger in the air.

“Shut your face-hole, baby blue knight,” Remus interrupted, “this has been the plan from the start.”

“I’m absolutely positive you couldn’t have said that nicer, Remus,” Janus chided.

“Since when do you care?” Remus shot back rhetorically. “Draw your sword, fellow ruler and protector of Reptania!”

Janus sighed, unsheathing his especially long sword. It was a Zweihander of a length no side cared to estimate, with a yellow hilt and straight yellow line going through the center of the black blade. The Azerians gasped at the sight, while the Reptanians already knew of the deceitful side’s impressive sword.

After a moment of silence, Roman spoke.

“Are you seriously extra at every chance you get?”

“He’s literally Deceit, Roman. Master of lies and over-the-top deceptions,” Virgil muttered, speaking for the first time. “He has swept us into theatrical and legal settings to work out problems that did not require as much drama and overthought than what was forced upon us.”

“Shut it, Virgil,” Janus ordered. “Don’t speak.”

A yellow light with a size similar (if not a little bigger) to that of a softball appeared in front of Virgil’s face for half a second before disappearing. When it faded, the sides could see Virgil’s mouth had closed and his gaze was directed to the floor. The room was enveloped in an agonizing silence.

“I told you we’d know, Patton,” Roman said quietly, with no real bite in his words.

Finally getting some more writing to y’all, yay! I hope you like it. Fair warning: school started again so guess who isn’t gonna be able to write as often (it’s me). Don’t be tricked by this. I have no idea how much homework will be coming my way so I can’t promise a lot more writing. Please enjoy this fic because it’s probably gonna be all y’all get for a while. Thanks!

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gravitascivics · 3 years

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ANCIENT INFLUENCES

Past postings have made the case that two reasoned traditions affected the thinking of the founding generation of Americans especially among the educated class. Of course, these perspectives did not just appear in 1787. They had a history in which one of the traditions stretches all the way back to the earliest English settlers making their way across the Atlantic and the other found its beginning in Europe during the 1700s.

The first was the Calvinist religious view that promoted a covenant principle – the origin of the federalist thinking that played such a central role in devising the American constitutional framework both at the national and state levels. The second was the importation of Enlightenment ideas that promoted reasoned, observably based evidence in the pursuit of truth.

It also introduced the approach summarily described as the social contract (or as Daniel Elazar calls it, social compact) theory. That is the promotion of a choice option – as opposed to a force or accident option – in the designing and implementing of a constitutional arrangement for a new polity or polities in the case of the US federal union.

But major influences did not stop there. One other source, according to the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Thomas E. Ricks,[1] was the influence from long ago, the classical writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. This influence can be easily detected in the writings of the founding fathers.

One common experience among these founders was the perennialism that characterized their education. Higher education of the time was securely defined by that curricular philosophy; a philosophy that, to this day. emphasizes the works of the classical scholars from ancient Greece such as Plato, Aristotle, and from ancient Rome such as Cicero. Ricks begins his presently cited work with,

The classical world was far closer to the makers of the American Revolution and the founders of the United States than it is today … It was present in their lives … Colonial classicism was not just about ideas. It was part of the culture, a way of looking at the world and a set of values. The more one looks around early America for the influence of ancient Greek and Roman history and literature, the more one finds.[2]

The influence went beyond academic awe but verged on and surpassed a romantic attachment.

These founders decorated their abodes with statues of ancient thinkers, designed their public buildings using classical architectural plans, and even named their cities for ancient cities or thinkers – there is Troy or Cicero, for example.

They were especially taken with the ancient concern for the quality or word, “virtue.” They saw it as not just what young women should preserve, but as an irreplaceable character trait for public officials to have – an unvirtuous office holder was automatically unworthy of the position and when found out should be removed from any position of trust.

What did it, virtue, mean in this context? Simply, that anyone entrusted with public responsibilities – which under a compact-al arrangement meant, to some degree, any citizen – had to put the common good above any private interest. This served as the cement or some sort of lynchpin upon which a governing system held together. It also reflects what this blog has offered as a definition for federal liberty, the right to do what one should do.

And this, Ricks claims, served as a binding sense among the founders throughout the Revolutionary period. One piece of evidence supporting such a claim is that after reviewing some 120,000 documents of that time, – a study Ricks cites – the word “virtue” outnumbers the word “freedom” as virtue appears some six thousand times.

And as one looks closer to the classical influence, one finds by a healthy amounts of references, that the Roman effect, as opposed to the Greek effect, was found to be more practical in their recorded advice over political and governing matters. The Greeks were not totally dismissed. They were cited more as background and in that, Sparta took on a more privileged position than Athens. Athenians were judged to be too factionalized, turbulent, and flighty.

Of special admiration, the founders took a liking to the Roman, Cicero. By one measure, he was five times the hero that Aristotle was. And that preference extended to European thinkers, especially the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers such as David Hume and was also noted among the intellectual leaders of the French Revolution.

Of special interest was the reflections American founders bestowed on the downfall of the Roman Republic during the first century BC. That became those governing factors that the founders zeroed in on in their decisions concerning the various elements of the republican structures they were designing in the late 1700s.

Ricks in his review of that history, informs his readers of the particular names from the Roman experience upon which the founders focused. The heroes include, of course, Cicero, but also Livy, Plutarch, Sallust, Tacitus. As villains that one can easily cite were Catiline and Julius Caesar. And these names were not just familiar to the elites of America but also those of Europe.

Two English writers of that time, in the late 1700s, Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard, shared their thoughts over that ancient time in their weekly essays, collectively known as the Cato Letters (Cato was a Roman soldier and senator). Apparently, these writers influenced the debate in America of that time as they were frequently cited by Americans concerning political principles and theory. The Letters provided initial promotion of such rights as free speech.

At some future point, this blog will pick up on the effects classical literature had on this group of – one can safely characterize – nouveau riche Americans. This seems relevant to how these founders came about their ideals. Yes, they were members of that age’s elite class, but they did not inherit their standing from long established family wealth; they were surely not the product of some aristocratic class.

According to Ricks, of the ninety-nine signers of either the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution, only eight of them had fathers who attended college. They, in other words, were for the most part first or second-generation men of means who owed their success to the opportunities America offered. And in that, one can, to some degree, ascertain they had firsthand knowledge and empathy for the common American of their times. It also gave them insights as to what truly constituted human nature.

[1] Thomas E. Ricks, First Principles: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2020).

[2] Ibid., 3.

#Thomas E. Ricks #covenant principle #ancient Rome #ancient Greece #classical influence #perrenialism #Cicero #civics education #social studies

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one-doesnt-simply-walk-in-bagend · 4 years

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MDZS Pacific Rim au

Ok I’m gay and love soulmate shit like souls just meant for each other whether platonic/familial/romantic just that shits so good and what better way to express that than in huge robots beating up giant monsters?

So jaegers right? Ok sect backgrounds

Yunmeng Jiang: Specialize in water battles with controlled yet fluid movements. They specialize in midranged battle with swords and whips that keep kaiju at a distance but theyre also very adept at close combat. They definitely have hidden daggers in every open crevice of their jaegers

Gusu Lan: Specialize in more aerial battles, not like sustained in air battles but using different maneuvers to gain the advantage over kaiju. They tend to work in pairs and work in tandem to disorient and overwhelm the kaiju. They’re strict because not only do you have to vibe with your copilot but you also have to know what other pilots are thinking so you can work together

Qinghe Nie: Ok so Nies made some of the og jaegers with nuclear power and low shielding because it give them a Massive Boost in power but it was also dangerous for their pilots. While the other sects went for better shielding and less dangerous power sources, the nies kept the trade off because pilots felt that risking their lives was worth protecting their people. Nie pilots tend to die young

Lanling Jin: Kind of like the Nies the Jin style has trade offs. They opt for thing light plating so they are quick to maneuver and get at weak points on kaiju. They specialize in speed and precision to keep them alive and effective. They’re basically squishy genjis

Qishan Wen: Idk I feel they have experimental but dangerous tech that they test. The sects are wary of them but they get results so there’s not much they can complain about. The wens have the advantage because so many of their population are drafted for their pilot program where the other sects take volunteers and people who want to become disciples.

This might get long so imma put the rest under a read more :L

Ok so do we want plot or soulmates first? Hmmm plot to explain the soulmates

We start with wwx and jc. Yzy trains them fast and hard with the other disciples and they both excel in their training. Wwx and jc have a jaeger named Night’s Envy.

They are a team to be reckoned with as they balance each other. Wwx is impulsive but has great instincts and his ideas are brilliant if risky. Jc on the other hand is calculating and analytical and he takes his brothers ideas and turns them into a viable plan they can both pull off.

Yzy is always harsh on wwx for his tactics saying hes going to get his brother hurt one day but wwx just laughs it off with jc bc they trust each other so well.

Also because they drift, they know of each others insecurities and help each other when tensions spike etc etc. We are here for supportive brothers ok?? They are the Twin Heroes of Yunmeng and are inseparable.

God I havent even gotten to the plot yet. Ok this is a bit of a step back to their training days but this is where wwx and lwj met. Wwx and jc go to the Cloud Recesses training facility because its the most advanced in the country. It’s strict there but their training is top notch and keeps their pilots alive. Ofc wwx gets busted by lwj for alcohol and thats how wwx gets on lwjs radar.

Lwj doesnt know how to feel about wwx, besides annoyed, because hes such an amazing pilot but doesnt control his actions. Wwx excels in the studies and training but is so carefree and flippant about everything that it frustrates him to no end. Doesn’t help that wwx loves to rile lwj up to get a reaction

They end up developing a competitive relationship and always try to outdo each other in training sims and sparing. All the other disciples know about the top two students duking it out for top spot but they keep switching between each session. Before they get to actually try drifting together wwx gets into a fight with jzx and gets kicked out (spoilers they are drift compatible)

Ok back to our Twin Heroes. Night’s Envy gets deployed for a kaiju but their fight starts to drift into Wen territory. Idk regulations or smth say they shouldn’t infringe on anothers territory so yzy tells them to come back but wwx spots the kaiju headed for an undefended village. It would take the wens time to deploy their own pilots so wwx and jc look at each other and nod. Wwx says their headed to save the village and yzy is furious telling him off for being impulsive and not listening but it was also jc’s idea (he wont say that tho bc he doesnt want him to get into trouble)

Wwx has a wild idea, jc finds out how to make it work, and they go after the kaiju as it bears down on the village. They’re able to push it back but it gets a hit in and jc gets injured and knocked out. Wwx is left to pilot solo and manages to subdue the kaiju before piloting the jaeger to crash next to the village

This is where Wen Qing and Wen Ning come in because this is their village and they pull wwx and jc out from the wreckage. Wq stabilizes both of them and wwx is the one to wake up first. Their comms were broken in the fight and the village doesnt have advanced enough comms to get to the jiangs so wwx stays and helps the village while taking care of his brother who is still Out

Little do they know that the Wens are Unhappy about them infringing on their territory and bar yzy from sending parties to collect her pilots and jaeger and theres now Tension. (Wens are just using this as an excuse bc they want more power in the jaeger industry and want to incorporate the other sects)

Once wwx catches wind of this, he enlists wn’s help in getting them out and they’re able to get an unconscious jc back into the jiang’s hands but then he himself gets caught by wen chao and wen zhuliu. he’s able to say wn was his prisoner and forced so hes safe but wwx is now in their hands.

He gets beaten, tortured, etc for information but manages to escape and find his way back to the wen village. Wq helps him back to health bc he protected her brother and he stays there because he can be safe there. (This is where he basically adopts a-yuan bc i say so)

When jc wakes up hes back with the jiangs but his brother isn’t there. He goes Off and hes doing everything he can to try and get back to find his brother but he was unconscious and has no clue about the village let alone where it is.

Soon war breaks out between the sects bc the wens are using their weird tech to take territories from the other sects and now the sects are fighting on two fronts: the kaiju and the wens. Finding wwx is lowest priority for the sects but jc is still out there searching and when lwj hears of it, so is he

I think once the war breaks out wwx starts to move his village of wens to a safer territory from both the wens and other sects bc he knows no one will be spared. During his time at he village, he ventures out to bigger wen cities and learns about their experimental/dangerous tech and learns how to use it and program it to his advantage

He makes his way back to the jiang territories once he has amassed a thorough knowledge of the wen tech. he uses that knowledge to take out wen pilots and outposts in the territories he pushes through and becomes a ghost. the only evidence of his presence is the destruction left in his wake.

Jc and lwj at this point have just started searching together and thats when they stumble upon wwx using wen tech against the wens. Jc is so angry with wwx for leaving him and being away so long but hes also crying as he hugs him close. Lwj is wary of the tech wwx is using because its experimental and dangerous idk. Jc takes wwx back and they continue fighting the war.

Now the jiangs and thus the rest of the sects have an advantage because they have an insider who knows the wen’s plans (meng yao) and someone who knows how their tech works and can use it against them (wwx). wwx is able to set up some tech to hold off kaiju so certain forces can be pushed to the wen front to end the war quicker

in the final battle wwx is able to get them a huge advantage with the tech but gets hit hard with backlash and gets knocked out during the battle and lwj and jc defend his unconscious figure as meng yao gets the final blow on wrh and the battle ends.

Idk i want lans to still be healers cuz i want lwj to take care of an unconscious wwx while jc and the others deal with the end of war idk meetings etc plus there are still like,,, kaiju attacking lmao

jgs is gonna be targeting wwx since he knows the wens tech and its uses etc. the jins go after the remaining wens bc they want their tech blah blah. they find wq’s village and wwx goes off. he goes and rescues them (wn is injured but alive) and takes them away. jgs spins this as wwx trying to amass his own tech to take over or something and people believe that for some reason w/e

the massacre at nightless city is wwx trying to talk to them about the wen remnants being no fighting army etc etc but doesnt matter and someone attacks him and he fights back but of course experimental tech isnt always good and it accidentally gets too powerful and hurts a Lot of People (jyl is alive). wwx is knocked out by the backlash and lwj takes him to safety.

wn is there and he takes wwx back to where the rest of the remnants are hiding and lwj fights off 33 elders who try to follow/intercept wn and wwx

I haven’t decided how the rest is gonna go but I have Ideas. Tbqh there’s a lot missing in between the bullets but i wanted to get this all down

#mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #lan wangji #mdzs pacific rim au #wwx #lwj #jwy #mdzs #mine #long post

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thelastchair · 3 years

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Powder Magazine

(Written by Sam Cox - December 28, 2020)

Growing up in Montana, my winter free time was consumed by skiing. Big Sky was the destination when I was barely old enough to walk. Eventually we made the move to Bozeman and Bridger Bowl became my second home. During the early years, my family made the trek to a handful of Warren Miller movies when they were on tour in the fall and Snow Country was the magazine subscription that landed on the coffee table. I was vaguely aware of Jackson Hole, Snowbird and Squaw Valley and my father would occasionally regale me with tales of skiing (read Après) in Germany when he was in the Army. At some level, I already understood that there was something special about Bridger, but realistically, my sphere of outside influence was quite small. Christmas of 1989 turned my entire world upside down. My aunt and uncle are longtime Salt Lake City residents and Brighton skiers. Typically they would send a package each year with the customary cookies, toffee and a card. However, this year they sent two VHS tapes and a magazine - Ski Time, Blizzard of Aahhh’s and a copy of Powder. Things would never be the same for me. Scot Schmidt became my hero, Greg Stump was taking skiing into uncharted territory and above it all, Powder created an eloquent voice for our sport and was the fabric that held things together. Even at my young age, everything that I’d intuitively sensed before was distilled into a potent desire to devote myself to the simple pursuit of being a skier.

Johan Jonsson, Engelberg, Switzerland - Photo: Mattias Fredriksson/POWDER

Powder was founded in Sun Valley by the Moe brothers in 1972 as an annual portfolio of The Other Ski Experience. After several years of running the magazine, Jake and David Moe sold Powder to the owner of Surfer Magazine. A repurposed aircraft hangar in San Juan Capistrano became the new home of skiing’s most prestigious publication. Over time, there was an ebb and flow to the size of staff and cast of characters, each person leaving their unique mark. For decades Powder weathered corporate acquisitions, office relocations and the constant metamorphosis of the ski industry - never losing its voice, Powder remained the benchmark. It was a source of creativity, inspiration and a defacto annal of history. For many it was also a shining beacon, a glimpse into a world filled with deep turns and iconic destinations - even if this world could only be inhabited inside the constructs of your imagination.

My story and the impact Powder had on the direction I would take is hardly unique. The magazine left an indelible impression on countless skiers. When the news broke this fall that operations were being suspended indefinitely, a heartbroken community took to social media to pay homage to the magazine and how it changed their lives and in some cases, careers. This is my version of a tribute and it’s definitely not perfect. In order to gain some perspective, I reached out to former staff members - a collective I admire and respect. It’s an attempt to articulate the essence of Powder, capture its influence on the skiing landscape and give credit to the people who made it come to life.

Bernie Rosow, Mammoth Mountain, CA - Photo: Christian Pondella/POWDER

HANS LUDWIG - The Jaded Local

“Skiing has always been really tribal and one of the last vestiges of having an oral history. Powder was a unique concept, because they weren’t really concerned with the family market. They were just concerned about being really into skiing. Growing up in Colorado and skiing moguls, my coaches Robert and Roger were featured in the early Greg Stump films. Being in their orbit, I knew a little bit about skiing culture and what was going on out there, but didn’t have the whole picture. The Stump films resonated with me, but Ski/Skiing Magazines didn’t really do it for me. Powder was the door that opened things culturally, it was the only entry point before Blizzard of Aahhh’s.”

“Something that nobody gives Powder credit for, is sponsoring the Greg Stump, TGR and MSP movies and giving them full support right from their inception. It legitimized those companies and helped them become one of the catalysts for change and evolution in skiing. Ultimately this change would have happened, but at a much slower pace without the support of Powder. Getting support from Powder meant they’d weeded out the posers and kooks and what they were backing wasn’t something or someone that was “aspiring” they were a cut above.”

“Powder brought a lot of things into the mainstream, raised awareness and helped to legitimize them: Jean-Marc Boivin, Patrick Vallencant, Pierre Tardivel, telemarking, monoskiing, snowboarding, the JHAF, Chamonix, La Grave, Mikaela Shiffrin, fat skis pre McConkey, skiing in South America….the list goes on.”

“I had some rowdy trips with Powder. Writing “Lost In America,” I went Utah-Montana-Fernie-Banff-Revelstoke via pickup truck, only backcountry skiing and camping in the mud. It was a month plus. I did another month plus in Nevada, which was after back to back Jackson and Silverton. Total time was two plus months. That was fucked up, I was super loose after that whole thing. So many sketchy days with total strangers”

“People forget that Powder was around long before the advent of the fucking pro skier. Starting in 1996, the magazine was in the impact zone of the ski industrial complex. There is limited space for content each season. It was a challenge to balance the pressure coming from the athletes and brands to cover something that was going to make them money vs. staying true to the Moe brothers original intent and profiling an eccentric skier, a unique location or even fucking ski racing.”

Full Circle - Photo: MJ Carroll

KEITH CARLSEN - Editor

“When I was young, Ski/Skiing didn’t do anything for my spirit, but Powder lit me up. It ignited a passion in diehard skiers and gave them a voice and community. It was focused on the counter culture - the type of people who rearrange their lives to ski. This was in direct opposition to other magazines that were targeting rich people, trying to explain technique, sell condos or highlight the amenities at a ski area.”

“Skiing has always been my outlet and mechanism to get away from things in life. My two talents are writing and photography, so I enrolled at Western State with the direct goal of landing an internship at Powder. Even at 19, I had complete focus on the direction I wanted to take. If it didn’t work out, my backup plan was to be a ski bum. 48 hours after graduating, I was headed to southern California to live in my van and start my position at Powder. When the decision was made to close the magazine, it was really personal for me. Powder had provided me direction in life for the last 30 years and I needed some time to process it. In a way, it was almost like going to a funeral for a good friend - even though it’s gone, the magazine lives on in all of us and can never be taken away.”

“It was, and will always remain, one of my life’s greatest honors to serve as the editor-in-chief for Powder Magazine. It was literally a dream that came true. I’m so grateful for everyone who came before me and everyone who served after me. That opportunity opened literally hundreds of doors for me and continues to do so today. I owe the magazine a massive debt of gratitude. Every single editor was a warrior and fought for the title with their lives. They were doing double duty - not only from competition with other publications, but the internal struggle of budget cuts, staff reductions and trying to do more with less. Powder never belonged in the hands of a corporation. The magazine spoke to an impassioned community and never made sense to an accountant or on a ledger.”

Trevor Petersen, Mt. Serratus, BC - Photo: Scott Markewitz/POWDER

SIERRA SHAFER - Editor In Chief

“Powder celebrated everything that is good and pure in skiing. It highlighted the old school, the new and the irreverent. The magazine also called bullshit when they saw it. It was a checkpoint, a cultural barometer and an honest reflection on where skiing has been and where it’s going.”

“My involvement with Powder came completely out of left field. I was never an intern or established in the ski industry. My background was strictly in journalism, I was a skier living in Southern California and editing a newspaper. I knew that I wanted to get the fuck out of LA and Powder was that opportunity. It was a huge shift going from my job and life being completely separate to work becoming my life. Literally overnight, Powder became everything - friends, connections and part of my identity. It derailed my trajectory in the best possible way.”

Brad Holmes, Donner Pass, CA - Photo: Dave Norehad/POWDER

MATT HANSEN - Executive Editor

“Keith Carlsen was a man of ideas, he had tremendous vision and influence. He came up with the ideas for Powder Week and the Powder Awards in 2001. In some respects those two events saved the magazine.”

“Powder was the soul of skiing and kept the vibe, it changed people’s lives and inspired them to move to a ski town. As a writer I always wanted to think it was the stories that did that, but in truth it was the photography. Images of skiing truly became an art form, 100% thanks to Powder Magazine and Dave Reddick. Dave cultivated and mentored photographers, he was always searching for the unpredictable image from around the world and pressed the photographers to look at things from a different angle.”

“It sounds cliche, but writing a feature about Chamonix was the highlight for me. Sitting on the plane, things were absolutely unreal. I linked up with Nate Wallace and the whole experience from start to finish was out of my comfort zone. Ducking ropes to ski overhead pow on the Pas De Chèvre, walking out of the ice tunnel on a deserted Aiguille du Midi right as the clouds parted, late nights in town that were too fuzzy to recall. The energy of the place taught me a lot. I didn’t have a smartphone and there was no Instagram - I had time to write, observe, take notes and be present with who I was and with the experience. As a writer it didn’t get any better.”

“The true gift of working for Powder, was the once in a lifetime adventures that I wish I could have shared with my family, I was so lucky to have had those opportunities. It almost brought tears to me eyes.”

Peter Romaine, Jackson Hole, WY - Photo: Wade McKoy/POWDER

DAVE REDDICK - Director of Photography

“Just ski down there and take a photo of something, for cryin’ out loud!” “I’ve found that channeling McConkey has been keeping it in perspective. Powder’s been shuttered. That sucks. What doesn’t suck is the good times and the people that have shared the ride thus far and I’m just thankful to be one of them. There’s been some really kind sentiments from friends and colleagues, but this must be said - Every editor (especially the editors), every art director (I’ve driven them nuts), every publisher and sales associate, every photographer, writer, and intern, and all the others behind the scenes who’ve ever contributed their talents get equal share of acknowledgment for carrying the torch that is Powder Mag. There’s hundreds of us! No decision has ever been made in a vacuum. Always a collective. At our best, we’ve been a reflection of skiers everywhere and of one of the greatest experiences in the world. It’s that community, and that feeling, that is Powder. I’m not sure what’s next and I’m not afraid of change but” “There’s something really cool about being scared. I don’t know what!”

Scot Schmidt, Alaska - Photo: Chris Noble/POWDER

DEREK TAYLOR - Editor

“Powder was the first magazine dedicated to the experience and not trying to teach people how to ski. It was enthusiast media focused on the soul and culture. It’s also important to highlight the impact Powder had outside of skiing - today you have the Surfer’s Journal effect where every sport wants that type of publication. However, prior to their inception, everybody wanted a version of Powder.”

“Neil Stebbins and Steve Casimiro deserve a lot of credit for the magazine retaining its voice and staying true to the core group of skiers it represented.”

“Keith Carlsen is responsible for the idea behind Super Park. This was a time when skiing had just gone through a stale phase. There was a newfound energy in park skiing and younger generations, this event helped to rebrand Powder and solidify its goal of being all inclusive. Racing, powder, park, touring - it’s all just skiing.”

Joe Sagona, Mt. Baldy, CA - Photo: Dave Reddick/POWDER

JOHNNY STIFTER - Editor In Chief

“What did Powder mean to me... Well, everything. As a reader and staffer, it inspired me and made me laugh. I learned about local cultures that felt far away and learned about far away cultures that didn’t feel foreign, if that makes sense.”

“But I cherished those late nights the most, making magazines with the small staff. Despite the deadline stress, I always felt so grateful to be working for this sacred institution and writing and editing for true skiers. We all just had so much damn fun. And it didn’t hurt meeting such passionate locals at hallowed places, like Aspen and Austria, that I once dreamed of visiting and skiing. The Powder culture is so inclusive and so fun, I never felt more alive.”

Doug Coombs, All Hail The King - Photo: Ace Kvale/POWDER

HEATHER HANSMAN - Online Editor

“Powder is a lifestyle and an interconnected circle of people. It’s about getting a job offer at Alta, opening your home to random strangers, locking your keys in your car and getting rescued by a friend you made on a trip years ago. Through the selfish activity of skiing, you can create a community of people you cherish and can depend on through highs and lows.”

Ashley Otte, Mike Wiegele Heli, BC - Photo: Dave Reddick/POWDER

The contributions of so many talented individuals made the magazine possible. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who shared their experience at Powder with me. Also, I want to thank Porter Fox and David Page for crafting inspiring feature stories that I enjoyed immensely over the years.

After the reality set in that the final issue had arrived, a void was created for generations of skiers. I’ve been focused on being thankful for what we had, rather than sad it’s gone. It’s a challenging time for print media and I wholeheartedly advocate supporting the remaining titles in anyway you can. In a culture driven by a voracious appetite for mass media consumption and instant gratification - I cherish the ritual of waiting for a magazine to arrive, appreciating the effort that went into creating the content and being able to have that physical substance in my hand. Thanks for everything Powder, you are missed, but your spirit lives on.

Captain Powder - Photo: Gary Bigham/POWDER

#skiing #powder #last chair #powder magazine #the other ski experience #the skiers magazine

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lukeyhughes · 4 years

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so the other day i reblogged a post and vagued about my issues with gk’s framing of iraqi tragedies in the tags, which was then replied to and that reply was circulated. while the reply was awesome/insightful/interesting i feel like my original point sorta got lost in the shuffle. i wasnt going to make a post about this for a bit but i feel like its been consuming my thoughts all day so i’ll elaborate what i meant under the cut!

gen kill is david simon show, so like all david simon shows the thesis is “people exist in inside of a broken system.” in this case, the broken system is the marine corps chain of command and the people are the marines who have to carry out senseless orders. this is shown in many ways, including pointless dangerous missions (see: the bridge, danger close, etc.), how capable enlisted men are vs. most officers, how the “only good officer” nate is punished for rational choices, and how the marines have their spirits crushed because they are forced to senselessly kill iraqi civilians.

when i was in first year of undergrad i took an african studies class that in one seminar problematicized coverage of the Rwandan Genocide: how many times have you heard/read a Romeo Dallaire interview/account? how many times have you read/heard an interview from a genocide survivor? how many times have you seen pictures of bodies/skulls of genocide victims? the answer for the average person is a lot, hardly ever, a lot. with the iraq invasion, the questions would be: how many times have you heard the accounts of coalition soldiers about the iraq war across media types? how many times have you heard accounts of it from the iraqi civilian perspective? how many times have you seen statistics regarding the amount of iraqi civilian casualties? a lot, hardly ever, a lot.

that is all to say that in western media/society we are very comfortable listening to white narratives and just seeing brown bodies, which translates into only hearing white narratives of the tragedies of the deaths of others in foreign countries. in generation kill, iraqi civilian casualties/fatalities/tragedies are framed so that we feel sympathy for the marines that caused them as opposed to those suffering. that is not to say that we as the audience do not feel sympathy (i certainly do!) but it is because of our own internal empathy, not the narrative framing of the show.

let’s take a look at three of the biggest cases of iraqi civilian tragedy and how they’re framed in the show:

first, when rudy goes up to the roadblock and sees the dead little girl in episode 4. we get quite a few shots of the father’s shell-shocked face, but just as many are shots of rudy’s horror/sadness; we watch him walk away from behind from rudy’s perspective and we see that rudy is unable to look away from them. rudy didn’t actually have anything to do with it (aside from abetting i suppose), but even when he gets back to camp the show makes sure to illustrate how affected by it he is, ignoring brad and ray who call out to him. this one is actually surprisingly gk’s best example of eliciting sympathy for iraqi casualties; however, the focus of the scene is still on rudy and the father’s reaction is still mostly used to contribute to rudy’s guilt/horror.

the next scene is the little shepherd boys who were shot by trombley while out with their camels. we see the mom crying over her son, but its basically background noise and is if anything used to further the marines’ (particularly brad and doc bryan to a lesser extent) guilt at causing the situation. we know this because her actions don’t exist independently: they are used for the marines to react to. we also get considerably more shots of marines looking on in horror than her crying about her son. brad’s guilt/sadness about the subject is dwelled on for about twenty minutes over the next two episodes, longer than any of the actual victims’ screen-time dedicated to their feelings combined.

the worst scene is the man in the white car, which sets off the main drama for the next episode. we get why walt did it- the show goes out of its way to make sure that we do- but at the end of the day a man is still dead, likely for no reason. in the aftermath we get about a hundred heartbreaking shots of walt’s shocked face, with a few of brad thrown in as well. on the other hand, we get no shots of the people in the car being horrified at seeing someone they know lobotomized. we just see them run away, no sadness no horror no nothing: from the show’s narrative perspective, this man’s death has no impact on anybody except for walt and the other marines. to make matters worse the man’s face is only shown when the marines notice how horrifyingly disfigured his body is; to me this is robbing the real man of his dignity even in death.

let’s take a step back and look at gen kill’s general portrayal of iraqis. we don’t really get to see the marines interact with civilians until they reach baghdad when they go into rundown neighbourhoods. here, the iraqi men are portrayed as greedy and dumb, cutting in front of children and not understanding that there are other types of government. that’s not to say that that didn’t happen in real life- i’m sure it did- but it’s essentially the ONLY view of iraq civilians we get: ignorant, greedy, backwards, etc. deadass the only sympathetic iraqi characters in episode 7 are children, where we get a couple of UNICEF-esque shots of doc bryan holding crying kids to drive home that guilt factor. i bring this up because it means that the iraqi characters are not written so that you feel bad for them or empathize with their terrible situation. instead, the narrative wants you to empathize with the marines (in this case, particularly nate) who feel guilty for causing this chaos that they can’t do anything to fix it.

the only other time iraqi civilians even have lines is when a refugee women tells brad about how he is destroying her home, but even then the point of that isn’t really her pain but how brad feels guilty/ashamed about what the usmc (an institution that is part of identity more than anyone else) is doing that; also she’s attacking brad who really had nothing to do with the baghdad situation and already feels guilty about other things, so its just creating more material for brad’s identity/guilt crisis and our sympathies for it.

all of this to say is that in basically every single case civilian tragedies don’t exist in the narrative on their own: they are used for the marine main characters to react to: the village. the truck crew. the men at the roadside. even the syrian student.

also @sunnygreys replied to some tags i made alluding to this issue. you should read what they wrote bc it’s a really interesting counterweight to what i’m saying and offers a different perspective. but anyway basically they mention certain lines where people are like “no ones forcing us to be here.” particularly notable was when godfather says that no one is forced to be here because they’re all volunteers in episode 3. my view of this has always been that saying that is ignorance on his part and another symptom of the broken command system. godfather chose to be career military, he chose to accept the mission, he chose to change the ROE, etc: there was no gun to his head. for the enlisted men, the ones on the bottom who actually carried out the mission that injured the boys, they are pretty much being forced to be there by their circumstances. out of all the marines we interact with in the series, im pretty sure brad is the only enlisted man who comes from wealth and by extension had other options, while most others either implicitly or explicitly grew up in impoverished/unstable households: poverty is the new draft. thats sorta between the lines, but i imagine david simon knows that because of his previous work on poverty. what isnt between the lines is that the command system DOES force men in lower ranks to “be there” and carry out order: they can get NJPed for disobeying, they sign contracts that they’ll be dishonourably discharged and lose their benefits if they break, etc. there’s no gun to their head physically but metaphorically its pretty close. to me at least, those lines are not narratively placed to make us sympathize less with the marine main characters but instead to make us sympathize with them even more, because it shows how disconnected command really is. david simon is a huge dick irl but he’s a really clever writer.

again, i reiterate that we as the audience likely feel sympathy for the iraqi population because for most people its naturally sad when people die/get injured/etc. i think a lot of points i made and ones made by @sunnygreys can be mutually true, but the main difference being that i really don’t believe that gk’s intention was to make us step back and reflect on our sympathy with the “oppressors:” i really do think that’s who the show intends for us to sympathize with most based on their choices in camera shots, who says what, etc. that doesn’t mean we can’t step back and reflect, as i hope many of us have, i just think that was an unintended consequence. (if i’m misconstruing what you said please lmk and ill edit!)

that being said, can’t think of a way that generation kill could have done better in this regard based on the book/characters it had. the marines ARE the main characters and by conventional standards its their narrative/feelings/growth that matters. but just because there may have been no other way doesn’t make it unproblematic. its another example of western media using violence against nameless, distant foreigners for their own horror.

there are people wandering this earth who are dealing with the loss of the man in the white car, the little girl at the roadblock, an entire village. those little boys, if they’re still alive, probably have to deal with the severe injuries they got when they were shot by marines. those slums of baghdad may still be in unstable today and have likely lost community members due to sanitation/hunger/violence. imagine knowing that there is a show out there where you or your loved ones are being used as a plot device to make viewers feel sympathy for the ones who put you in those positions. i sympathize deeply with the marines of GK, but i can imagine how hard it would be to be in the iraqi population’s place watching yourself and your experiences interpreted in a way dissociated from your own suffering so that the primary victimhood can be placed on the ones who did it to you.

in conclusion, i love gen kill a lot. i love the story and the characters, and i think its an effective story in terms of achieving what it seeks to achieve. i think it’s okay to love something and be critical of it. also if western media companies weren’t cowards and weren’t scared of losing american military financial contributions they would make a miniseries about the iraqi people who were terrorized by american invaders, including the ones we love in gk!

#my post #generation kill #if this is messy/inarticulate lmk and ill try to elaborate #i rewatched a bunch of clips from the show to make this post instead of doing my job

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taikanyohou · 4 years

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hello, I hope this ask doesn't come off as offensive bc I definitely don't mean it like that. you see, you are one of the only Muslims I "know" and I figured it would be okay to ask you (if it's not, I'm really sorry). It's just that I don't know how to act around Muslims. I grew up in a very homogenous environment (and country in general) and people now face Muslims as some kind of invasion. the point of this is that I don't want to accidentally do or say smth that might offend them bc I have +

no problem with Muslims or any religion. but bc of my fear of not offending people I don't interact with them at all and that's sad. I don't want people to feel isolated or left out bc they are in another country. but at the same time how do I act. I hope I make sense.

hiiii anon!!! thats okay, its not rude at all! i think, we just wanna be treated, seen as and spoken to like human beings. don't be scared to come and sit next to us on public transport. we love being asked about our religion, so if you have one, just approach and ask "hey, can i ask you a question about (for example, your hijaab, your religion, the way you pray, what does this phrase/word/action/belief/tradition mean or represent)?" ask us about how we are, our day, if we need anything etc. ask us "what's your story?". leave the question broad, so that the person can share as much or as little as they are comfortable sharing.

there's some ... very blatantly ??? questions i get asked like "do you have hair underneath your hijaab?" or "how can you be indian and muslim i thought indians were only hindus?", so if you wanna know about their country, you can ask them what their nationality is, or their family background, or what languages they speak, if they are comfortable to share that with you. smile at us! its so refreshing to have people smile back at us bc its so so rare for that to happen.

also, its not ... right, to compare one muslim to another - you know, people practice their faith differently, to different lengths and capacities and levels and intensities. there's also this v v v real global notion/mentality that islam is a "dated, backwards thinking" religion, and the media forces that even more, and so that way of thinking bleeds into conversation. try to step away from that way of thinking. observe muslims and their way of doing things, speak to them, learn more about the religion from muslims.

islam is a whole fountain of knowledge and a way of life, and even muslims themselves dont know islam fully and dont have all the answers at the tip of their tongue all the time, bc theres so much to learn, and we're always in a state of learning. so dont feel overwhelmed. i think, we just want people to see that we're humans first. thats it. what sounds offensive in your head, most likely will sound offensive to us too. at a purely human level, as social beings, just make sure you and them are comfortable. and its okay to ask "is that okay to ask? is this okay to discuss?"

i hope that helps!

#faiza answers

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tsaritsa · 5 years

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THE KING AND QUEEN OF AMESTRIS – AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK INTO THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR

by Violet Whittaker and Laura Richter for PRIMA Magazine (photographs supplied by Wolffe Photography)

“We never thought this day would happen.” It’s the event Amestris has been waiting for with feverish anticipation – the wedding of Führer Roy Mustang to Lieutenant-Colonel Riza Hawkeye. Violet Whittaker and Laura Richter follow the pair on their wedding day and gain some insight into the private lives of the most talked-about people in the country.

It is a new experience for the leader of the nation, after a frantic year of picking up the mantle left in his wake by a country transformed almost overnight into a democracy. Nobody could say that the transition, led by the former Führer President, George Grumman, was not without its issues. But even as then-General Roy Mustang was sworn in after a historical vote that saw the Amestrian public having a say in their future for the very first time, nobody could have expected this new presidency to usher in such a feeling of hope and anticipation for what lies ahead. Mustang’s views, well-articulated from his campaign and debates, resonated deeply with the country – resulting in a landslide victory that proved the man and his vision for the future were unparalleled.

But it seems he’s met his match in his bride, the woman who has been one step behind him for almost his entire career in the military and politics. Riza Hawkeye, is a force to be reckoned with in her own right, with a much-decorated military career spanning back to her tender years as a teenager. An ever-present shadow in the background of many a press photo, Lieutenant-Colonel Hawkeye oversees her fiancé’s security detail – a job, she admits, that never seems to stop even when she’s off the clock.

On a quiet Thursday morning, the craggy, snow-dusted tops of the Cremil Ranges provide an unforgettable backdrop to today’s event. The blushing bride and groom are radiant since tying the knot in a gorgeous, relaxed and deeply personal ceremony overlooking Lake Mély, the place where they became engaged just over a year ago. It’s a sentimental moment to reflect on their romantic – and emotional – exchange of vows.

“When I saw her for the first time I choked up a bit,” the Führer confesses to PRIMA, never taking eyes off the now First Lady. “I was blown away. I knew I would be, but more so than I thought. She was beautiful.”

There is no pomp, no circumstance and none of the stiff formalities one might expect with such a high-profile wedding. Instead, it is a ceremony filled with laughter and joy, influenced by the couple’s own down-to-earth, understated and old-fashioned romance.

Flanked by his groomsmen, a beaming Roy is positioned under an arch that was created especially for this event. The groom waits patiently as the guests take their seats. But nerves that never made themselves known on the political ground seem to take over Roy, looking exceptionally clean-cut in his Mikhail Abel suit, keeps sneaking glances at the point where Riza will emerge.

The groom has spent the morning with his old military buddies at a friend’s house in the idyllic town of Lyford, East Province, while Riza, 32, gets ready with her small contingency of bridesmaids at the nearby Watkin Lodge, where the reception will be held afterwards. In high spirits, she manages to laugh about the less-than-favourable weather forecast as the radio plays in the background. Between each song, you can hear the messages of congratulations from the public being passed along by the radio hosts.

“We’re unbelievably humbled by all the support,” she says, fiddling with her earrings – which are, in a nod to tradition, her ‘something old’. Her veil has been borrowed from her maid of honour, a modest piece with delicate lacing detailing the edges. Her new wedding dress follows in a similar fashion – a simplistic A-line design that allows the bride’s beauty to shine through. The high neck and long sleeves are a choice that will undoubtedly be imitated by other brides, despite her protests that she is nothing of a ‘fashion icon’. Her simple, uncluttered approach has quickly made an impression with the public, with garments being sold out within days after she’s pictured wearing them.

However, Riza admits that she found herself a little stumped by the ‘something blue’.

“Honestly, I should’ve just worn the dress uniform – that would’ve covered it nicely.” The pragmatism is a refreshing change that reflects not only on Riza’s character, but the overall direction in which the Mustang’s wish to guide the country towards. In the end, her bouquet has been threaded with forget-me-nots, with bright yellow splashes of coronella and pink peonies.

Before long, cars are arriving, and last-minute adjustments are being made before the bridal party sets off for Lake Mély. The freshly-woven crown of clover is the last accessory to be added, pinned into her hair with care.

As he sees his bride finally appear, Roy’s eyes light up and that familiar, dazzling grin plays across his face – though this time it is a lot softer and meant for only his bride. Guests beam, and in some cases, shed tears as Riza walks past. But the real waterworks come out when their vows are spoken, small speeches that can only scrape the surface of a relationship that has gone back decades. There is large whooping from the guests when Roy calls Riza ‘his queen’, and similar cheering when Riza takes a moment to compose herself mid-speech, blinking furiously and promising in no uncertain terms that she will follow him anywhere.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt butterflies in my stomach,” Riza tells after the ceremony, smoothing down the silk of her dress. “But it wasn’t nervousness. Why would it be?” Here, she shoots a rare smile to her new husband. “It’s like you’ve been imagining this insurmountable obstacle and then you actually see it and realise it’s not as bad as you thought. I remember seeing you standing there and all I could think was – ‘oh, there you are. I’ve been waiting for you’.”

Both openly admit that marriage was never on the cards for them originally – with their positions as superior and subordinate for so long during their careers in the military, working together meant that any feelings the couple had for one another had to be buried deep, and never explored. “To say that there was a day when I didn’t love Riza Hawkeye, and then a day where I did is completely wrong,” Roy says. “Ever since I met her, I knew she would be a person who would have a monumental impact on my life. But we both knew that there were more important things to do than complain about where our choices left us.”

The two of them share a long and complicated history, most notably marred by the Ishvallan Civil War. Both served during the conflict, and the pair have always remained tight-lipped about their experiences there. But the choice to share their wedding with the public was not an easy one to make.

“We appreciated that there was a lot of interest,” Roy says diplomatically. “And we wanted to acknowledge the widespread support we’ve received following the announcement of our engagement.”

The following reception is rumoured to be legendary, but strictly a private affair. For the guests invited, it is sure to be a party filled with plenty of laughs and stories (both inspiring and embarrassing) about the couple. For the rest of us? Perhaps a reminder that love can be found and expressed in unassuming ways, and that you don’t need big flashy displays to reflect the years of quiet devotion that all of us can only dream of one day having.

The entire team at PRIMA Magazine wishes the newlyweds all the best in their new marriage.

(this piece was originally written for @royaizine and i finally remembered to upload it here! this is in the same fashion as my ‘hawk’s eye: definitive interview’ piece. please go and check out what everyone else did in the zine! there’s some truly spectacular writing and art created bc of it <3)

#royai #roy mustang #riza hawkeye #fullmetal alchemist #fma fanfiction #my fanfic #honestly i think this interview series will become a trilogy at this point #and the 3rd piece is roy after getting the job #similar in style to how ardern's guardian article was (tho with less tragedy)#i hope u guys enjoy this!!

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transrightsjimin · 4 years

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honestly class consciousness is one hell of a ride bc i didnt think abt it much until more recent years. i told my friend as a kid we were poor nd my mom got so pissed at that, nd i mean shes right that we rly werent as bad off as it could be, the family is just working class. but when you suddenly realize youre not on equal footing w middle class ppl, or ppl like my uncle who is one of the very rare few who started working class and not highly educated nd ended up becoming a millionaire in the US (im still coming for his wallet istg), its suddenly all... oh wait there are ppl whose reality is not this full of hurt and few opportunities.

like, being in a university in one of the most diverse cities in the country nd still having so few poc on it and most poc u meet are international students, and having heard some posh classmates talk abt studying "just like our parents" like it's the most evident thing in the world (while im the only person in the family that did college level, nvm university, and family was super proud, it's not a given to us that you do this!), hearing classmates claim that poverty and class are not really relevant for the netherlands anymore bc you now have the nouveau riche and art is less elitist now, so apparently class is less of a thing?? nd university is just such a wakeup call or a slap in the face bc my primary school was called ghetto, my high school was called ghetto, but then my art college prided itself on being very "diverse" while i had never seen this many white students in one place, and it's even worse for my university.

shit like my brother being in prison all the time when i was younger, my best friend when i was 4 having to move away bc her mom ODed on drugs, living next to a house that had 5 weed plantations in it over the years nd our greek neighbours even got pulled into that mess bc they needed money, living across a 'coffee house' tht stored rifles in it, someone across the street setting his house (and thus half the street bc dutch homes are often connected as one row) on fire, my dad working 50 hours a week as a parcel deliverer bc w less hours he doesnt earn enough, even if the fucking job means carrying 80 kilo boxes up stairs and other bullshit, his stress leading to two TIAs (strokes), my mom being super disabled by many physical impairments nd illness nd still not being granted help in the household bc she had a 'healthy daughter and boyfriend' nd also her being left w/o an income for 2 years, practically every high school friend's mom being disabled in some way, then at my mail delivery job where my coworkers complain abt another deliverer bc it took her 3 months to get back to work again nd they called her ‘lazy‘ for not working immediately despite having multiple illnesses and disabilities bc, and i quote, my colleague said “i’m in my sixties and have arthritis and i’m working too“ dude :// hes literally the person my other colleagues say has had it hard and needs a break, and then those coworkers too need a break nd have disabilities nd are nearing pension age and still doing this work while trying to do household work and all that stuff at the same time. my mom said my cousin’s job (in construction; scaffolder) pays “really good“ (i wonder if its really that much bc it’s apparently around €1700-2700 on average) but that he already gets bad physical complaints from it while hes young nd formerly rly fit and might need to quit soon and then figure something out like studying for something else if possible.

the neighbourhood i used to live in as a baby was ‘too criminal‘ according to my parents so then they moved out to the town next to it into a neighbourhood that was eventually labelled among the top ranked ‘criminal‘ neighbourhoods of the country nd now i live in rotterdam south which is basically seen in the same way bc again, more poverty, more families with migration backgrounds etc. it’s like, you can never escape this negative image unless the whole bunch is gentrified or smth stupid and the poor are pushed to live elsewhere again. and just the whole thing of being at home, being at school, being at work, it’s such a trip bc university is so fucking different to me nd u see all these people there who are quite confident in getting good jobs nd u have business students with rich parents who are already some stupid fucking greenwashing entrepreneur aiming to become a CEO, nd even though ppl at my study w all these artsy ppl, they are generally not upper class, most still seem to be so used to the safety of being middle class and make these huge statements about poverty not really being a thing here.

nd then the whole stress nd anxiety tht my parents passed onto me, partially bc of their trauma nd them being fed up w my ‘laziness’ (executive dysfunction nd burnout lol), partially bc they believe strongly in this workers’ ethic thats strongly in line with capitalism (even if my mom used to be part of a socialist party nd still adheres to many of those ideas) but also with this calvinistic and Rotterdam ( / Rijnmond area) ideology that you need to work hard for the entirety of your life in order to be a decent person, so not so much for an economic payoff or ‘success‘; you just have to work hard. my parents always told me ‘you can rest when you’re dead‘ every single time i mentioned or even implied i was a bit tired and it was frustrating to hear. this mentality is what lead to my dad practically getting two strokes, and to my mom overworking herself nd being taken away by an ambulance on my birthday party, it’s the whole fucking reason i do not like the prospect of work bc it is just so associated w something awful you need to get done and that you need to exhaust yourself on it until you hopefully get pension money, if the govt hopefully doesnt raise the pension age even further than 67. and then you see ppl in uni talk abt fun future “careers” like what the fuck are you talking about? how are you gonna get a job in the arts and culture field in this pandemic? im already happy if im able to find a job and dont have to quit due to disability or a chronic illness that runs in both sides of my family. im sorry im being so negative but im stressed about jobs and i think i went on a tangent today all bc i saw one post abt being scared of PE classes nd my mind went to bad places. this is ok to rb or reply to btw, as long as youre a mutual

#i rly dont mean to whine or anything but its just wild how normalized this shit is #i hate capitalism i rly hate it dude #rambles

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