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eddie-boii · 5 years

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Never Let You Go (Part 3/14)

Fic info: Both Eddie and Stan live because I do what I want. Multichapter.

Rating: Teen and up (may change). Strong language.

Pairings: Reddie, Benverly.

Ao3 link: here

Summary: The Losers prepare for a wedding. Here’s a dinner gathering including Stan that we were robbed of.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

“Time to place bets,” said Richie as the Losers - including Ben who they’d met with on the way back from shopping - stepped foot over the threshold of the restaurant. “How long ‘til we get kicked out of this place?”

“Ten minutes,” said Stanley.

“Harsh.”

“Five if you sit next to Eddie.”

Richie placed a hand over his heart in feigned offence. “You wound me.”

“He’s guh-got a point,” said Bill and Richie thumped his arm.

The waitress who met them at the door led the group to their reserved table in a private corner where they’d be least likely to disrupt other guests. It was so familiar, the Losers Club all taking their seats around a large round table to eat and laugh and catch up on each other’s lives after so long apart. But it was so different, too. They still had their memories, there was no weight of a malevolent entity resting in the air above them, and there were no seats left empty.

Stanley sat between Bill and Beverly, glasses perched on his nose as he scanned the menu. “So everything's on you, right Ben?” he said, looking up at his friend with a playful and slightly mischievous smile.

“You wish,” said Ben, flicking a crumb of complimentary bread at him. “I know for a fact every one of you is well off.”

“I vote Bill pays,” said Richie. “He’s just got that new hit book out. Bestseller. With an actually decent ending.”

“Fuck off,” said Bill, the corner of his mouth tilted up. “Didn’t you just get a contract for a rrr-r-radio show? If anyone’s paying, it's you, jackass.”

“That was supposed to be a big surprise!” Richie protested. “Now the big reveal I planned is ruined!”

“You’ll just have to think of something else,” said Mike. “Congrats anyway, man.”

“Let’s save the toasts ‘til we have drinks,” said Beverly, flagging down a waitress.

“Do you have a gluten-free menu?” Eddie asked once the waitress had arrived.

“No fucking way are you hypoglycaemic too,” Richie snorted.

“No, but there have been studies to suggest gluten increases your risk of intestinal cancer-”

“That’s such bullshit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you a doctor?”

“Three minutes,” said Stanley which shut them both up for the time being.

“Alright, I’ll need you to give the chef a list of my allergies,” Eddie said, returning to speaking with the waitress, the poor girl looking a little terrified under his intense expression. “It’s very important. I could realistically die.”

Richie listened to him ramble off a list of food items about a mile long and marvelled at how he had anything left to eat. He spoke so fast, so passionate about everything, his hands flying all over the place as he spoke, and Richie felt kind of bad for the waitress who was frantically trying to scribble everything down in her notebook, but Ben would no doubt give the girl an enormous tip to make up for everything, so he didn’t dwell on it much, just watched Eddie’s face as it cycled through about a million expressions.

“Richie?”

Richie blinked and looked up to see that another waitress had arrived to ease off some of the workload from the first, and the rest of the Losers were looking at him expectantly.

“Drinks?” Beverly prompted when Richie just stared at them all blankly.

“Shots!” said Richie instantly, clapping his hands together. If he was already getting distracted by Eddie, he sure as hell needed alcohol to get through the rest of dinner.

“No way. You are at least staying semi-sober tonight,” said Beverly. “He’ll have a beer.”

Richie pouted at her but didn’t protest, and the waitresses finally went away. Drinks arrived, then food - a huge sharing platter of sushi - and the Losers slipped easily into comfortable conversation, laughing and joking and reminding each other of embarrassing moments from childhood, then catching up on their lives.

“So, Stan, you and the missus went on a trip with Mike, right?”

“Yeah, it was great until he tried to push me into the grand canyon.”

“That was an accident!”

“It so was not!”

Another round of beers came and went, empty bottles piling up in the centre of the table.

“So the divorce finally went through, Eds?”

“Yep.”

“Did your mom make it difficult?”

“Her name is Myra, and no, it was fine.”

“That easy?”

“We had a prenup. I’m a fucking risk analyst, you think I wouldn’t be prepared?”

The sushi plates emptied and the second-course was served. Richie finally persuaded Beverly to let him order shots and downed three in one go.

“So you two, like, got a dog? What’s its name?”

“She’s called Ember-”

“Is that after that fucking poem?!”

“That’s adorable.”

“I just threw up in my mouth you two are disgusting.”

“Shut up, Trashmouth.”

Once Richie was drunk enough that he lost any trace of verbal filter he may have possessed, the Losers inevitably turned the conversation on him.

“So about this radio show,” said Ben.

Richie was leaning his chair back on two legs precariously, eyes closed and smiling vaguely at the warm, full feeling in his chest, though whether it was being around his friends or just the surplus amounts of alcohol he wasn’t sure. “What about it?” he said, slurring the words a little.

“Come on, man, I know you’re dying to brag about it,” said Mike. “Why the big change?”

Richie tipped his chair back to all four legs and shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you guys. My manager booted me after I bombed my show and fucked off to my childhood home to do shit I couldn’t tell him about, so I ended up with a new guy who thinks I’d be a great radio personality.”

“Are you actually gonna do your own jokes?” said Eddie.

“You know what, Eddie-spaghetti? I am.” He waved his hands in the air vaguely. “Whole fresh start, ya know?”

“That’s great, Rich!” said Bill, leaning across the table to give Richie a friendly bump on the shoulder.

“Wait, wait,” said Stanley, “how come you weren’t writing your own jokes before?”

“Hey, it wasn’t like I didn’t try!” said Richie suddenly feeling a little sick and wishing he had listened to Beverly telling him not to drink so much. “My old manager just didn’t go for it.”

“How come?” said Ben.

Richie waved his hand and grunted. “I dunno, jj-just uh -” Shit he was really drunk. “It was a lot of, like, personal shit, ya know? Dude said no one would relate and it would flop I guess.”

“What kind of personal shit?” said Eddie who suddenly seemed a lot more attentive.

Richie swallowed. “Just- just shit.” He waved a hand again and suddenly became very aware that all the Losers were looking at him. “I- fuck.” He rubbed a hand down his face, dislodging his glasses, then grabbed a glass of water and splashed a little on his face. He was way too drunk to start talking about personal stuff, but here he was. “Guys, I gotta tell you something.”

“What’s up, man?” said Bill, concern clear on his brow. Damn that bastard for being such thoughtful friend.

“I, uh, shit.” Richie pressed his palms to his eyes to avoid looking at his friends, his glasses pushed up over his knuckles. “I’m, uh, I’m… How do I put this eloquently? Super fucking gay.”

The room was silent with just the lull of other customers in the background, and Richie lowered his hands just enough to peek through his fingers at his friends, a part of him expecting awkward silence, disgust, loathing… But they were all grinning.

“That’s great, man,” said Bill.

“Proud of you, Rich,” said Stan.

“Thanks for telling us, honey,” said Bev, squeezing his knee under the table.

Richie blinked at them. “You, uh, don’t seem surprised…” His friends glanced sheepishly at each other. “Don’t you fucking dare tell me you already knew!”

“Of course we didn’t know!” said Stanley. “You never told us, how could we know?”

“We suspected,” said Mike slowly. “A little…”

“You overcompensate a lot, man,” said Ben apologetically.

“Way too many ‘your mom’ jokes,” agreed Eddie.

“Well, that’s just fucking great!” said Richie, throwing up his hands. “This shit’s been eating away at me for fucking years, I had that dumb fucking clown mocking me for it, and you’re telling me I was a fucking coward for nothing!”

“You're not a cuh-c-coward, Rich, you’re the b-bravest of us all,” said Bill, his expression one of utmost honestly.

“No one can blame you after growing up in that crap-town,” said Stanley. “Be proud, Rich. You’re the first of us to openly say anything.”

“The first-” Richie repeated, then stopped, looking around at his friends with wide eyes as they all nervously fiddled with drinks and avoided eye contact. “Are you fucking telling me I don’t even get to be the token gay in the Losers Club?!”

“Oh, honey, this has always been more of a ‘token straight’ club,” said Beverly, nudging her thumb not-so-subtly at Ben.

“I was born this way, I can’t help it,” Ben shrugged.

“Seriously?” said Richie, looking at each of his friends in turn before his eyes finally landed on Eddie. “Et tu, Eduardo?” he said, part of him dreading the answer, whichever it may be.

Eddie glanced up at him, pulling that awkward white boy, no-lipped smile. “Why do you think I got a divorce?”

“Coz you married your fucking mom!” said Richie because this seemed obvious.

“Other reasons, too,” said Eddie, acting way too interested in his glass of water. “We never, uh-” He coughed. “Never managed to… consummate anything.”

Richie gaped open-mouthed at him, then burst out laughing. “Holy fucking shit, Eds!” he exclaimed, tears in his eyes as the other Losers tried to hide their own snickers behind their hands. “Are you still a fucking virgin?”

“No, I’m not a fucking virgin you fucking asshole,” said Eddie, instantly back to his usual defensive self.

“Are you sure about that?”

“If anyone’s a fucking virgin here, it’s you, dickwad!”

“Just coz I managed to fuck your mom and you didn’t.”

“We just established you’re fucking gay and you’re still at it with the ‘your mom’ jokes?!”

“Guys, GUYS!” Beverly interrupted, having to shout just to be heard over their bickering. She held her glass aloft. “I propose another toast before we get kicked out again.”

“To you and Ben,” said Bill, raising his glass too.

“To leaving that shit-hole town behind us,” said Mike.

“To Rich,” said Eddie, glancing at Richie and smiling slightly in a rare moment of softness.

“To not being straight,” said Stan.

“Do I join this one?” Ben whispered to Beverly.

“Sweetheart, you’re marrying me, you have to join whether you like it or not,” Beverly replied.

“To the Losers Club!” yelled Richie, and they all brought their glasses to the centre of the table, the chimes ringing out across the restaurant as they clashed lightly together.

They all downed their drinks and fell back into their seats as one, and Richie leaned back and looked around the table at each of his friends in turn. To Beverly, Ben, Stan, Bill, Mike, and to Eddie. His family, who loved him unconditionally, who accepted him as he was and always would. He smiled softly to himself.

To the Losers.

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#reddie #benverly #the losers club #it chapter 2 #fic #fanfic #writing #fluff #fix it fic #EB writes

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swipestream · 5 years

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Sensor Sweep: Horrors of the Hyborian Age, Tarzan, Keith Taylor, Atomic Tunnels!

RPG (Modiphius): Horrors of the Hyborian Age is the definitive guide to the monstrous creatures inhabiting the dark tombs, ruined cities, forgotten grottos, dense jungles, and sinister forests of Conan’s world. This collection of beasts, monsters, undead, weird races, and mutants are ready to pit their savagery against the swords and bravery of the heroes of the Hyborian Age.

Drawn from the pages of Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories, this roster also includes creatures and alien horrors from H.P. Lovecraft ’s Cthulhu Mythos, to which Howard inextricably bound his Hyborian Age. Other entries are original, chosen carefully to refl ect the tone and dangers of Conan’s world.

Fiction (Mercatornet): This well-known Lord of the Jungle has many characteristics that any reader would be glad to check off from their favourite hero’s must-have list: strength; courage; resourcefulness; dignity, and nobility. And he uses them all in abundance as he wins his way to the top of the food chain. As well as winning over all who get to know him, he captivates the imagination when he kills lions, out-wits savage cannibals, avoids becoming a human sacrifice, foils the treachery of rogue Russian spies, and, not the least, successfully navigates the complicated reefs of the human heart in search of love.

Writers (DMR Books): Keith Taylor’s birthday has rolled around once again. Keith informed me today that he’s enjoying the anniversary of his nativity in his sunny hometown of Melbourne, Down Under. Rather than reviewing one of Keith’s books–as I did last year--this year I thought I’d apprise the Gentle Readers of the DMR Blog of what Mr. Taylor is working on now and what his fans can look forward to in 2019.

Book Review (DMR Books): When the gods of Blood and Thunder drop a book on you from a great height, there’s an implicit demand that one ignores at one’s peril.

A couple of months ago I was heading out on a business trip and was casting about for an engaging, immersive — and most importantly fun — read; one that strummed the right chords but wasn’t related to a project or anything that feels like work. That can be a problem for me. I kept running across an author named Jonathan French and a book titled The Grey Bastards.

“Sons of Anarchy in Middle Earth!” or “Mad Max in Tolkien’s Middle Earth!”

Science (Yahoo): In the 1970s, Los Alamos National Laboratory explored a science-fiction approach to tunneling: using nuclear power to literally melt holes through rock and turn the melted rock into tunnel lining.

America’s Mad Scientists Wanted to Use Nuclear Power to Create Tunnels in a Shocking Way

Digging out deep underground complexes or undersea bases could be expedited the Atomic way, in an alternate universe where the wildest ideas of the 1950s, 60s and 70s came to pass. Although our own timeline relies on mega-engineering for transportation, energy and architectural infrastructure, for the past half-century we’ve mostly relied on conventional power sources and design principles.

Lovecraft (Murray Ewing): Earlier this year I read Bessel van der Kolk’s book on the effects and treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, The Body Keeps the Score (2014). Its description of what happens to the brain under traumatic stress and afterwards, when the trauma is re-triggered, was fascinating, as were the various methods that could be used to treat PTSD. One that really got me thinking was van der Kolk’s description of how taking part in reenactments of Ancient Greek tragedies helped traumatised combat veterans.

Culture War (Paul Lucas): I’ve never subscribed to any of the big SFF magazines because whenever I’ve picked up a copy, a load of the stories have been rather smug and unengaging – a polite way of saying ‘dull’. Yes, some of the stories are exciting and interesting, but not enough. The characters have always been too passive, and we’ve all heard about stories which have been ‘workshopped to death’.

As Rawle Nyanzi said, the stories are ‘written for other writers, not an actual reading audience’. Look at the big awards in science fiction like the Hugos and the Nebulas. The Nebulas are voted on by other writers – peers, not punters. The Hugos today are voted on by people who want to be writers – wannabes, not doers. These people without skin in the game get control of an industry, and run it according to their view of the world, and not according to reality.

Fiction (Scott Nicolay): Campbell’s novella “Who Goes There” in particular—his most successful story and probably the most obvious selection we’ve tackled—has left an enormous footprint on science fiction, horror and The Weird. This time around we explore “The Black Destroyer” and “Discord in Scarlet,” a pair of closely related stories by A.E. Van Vogtwhose combined impact may just be to “Who Goes There” what King Ghidorah is to Barney. The shadow of these two tales falls heavily over some of the most famous films and franchises in the speculative fiction universe. From tiny eggs, my friends…

Tolkien (Middle Earth Xenite.org): Q: Was J.R.R. Tolkien a Racist?

ANSWER: No, J.R.R. Tolkien was not a racist. In fact, he would have struck many people as a very enlightened man for his generation. Nonetheless, many people falsely allege that J.R.R. Tolkien was a racist because they believe that The Lord of the Rings was written as a “white people against all other skin-colored peoples” story, which is simply not true.

There are many white-skinned characters in The Lord of the Rings who are engaged in the most egregious evil, including Saruman and Wormtongue.

Gaming (Walker’s Retreat): I welcome the coming collapse of the current pop-culture machine.

Marvel’s zeitgeist ends this year with the fourth Avengers film, which will open the door to all of the SJW bullshit that’s killed Marvel Comics. The tell is Captain Marvel, which is all about that poz, and if that film fails to meet expectations I will be pleased. Depending on what is done to undo The Snap, we’ll see if the SJW meme-disease comes quick or if they’re going to be sly about it.

Mouse Wars whimpers its last this year. Be grateful.

Culture War (Niche Gamer): Jack Thompson has returned for an op-ed on Tallahassee Democrat blaming the Parkland school massacre on violent video games.

The former lawyer pointed to Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz playing “hyperviolent” video games “up to 15 hours a day,” and that a “neurobiological age-based differential” between teens and adults is what led him to go crazy and shoot up a school.

Gaming (Gaming While Conservative): Remember kids: Girl D&D is Fake D&D. It’s a perversion of the wargame cake with RP frosting added in post-production. It’s all frosting with a few crumbs to maintain the semblance of respectability. That metaphor is so perfect that whenever the YerTerbs algorithm crams another LiveD&D Let’s Play Cast into my pristine SDL and Bear-Fest heavy feed I think of this scene from Death Becomes Her.

Sensor Sweep: Horrors of the Hyborian Age, Tarzan, Keith Taylor, Atomic Tunnels! published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

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trendingnewsb · 6 years

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The Problem Isnt Just Trump. Its Our Ignorant Electorate.

For many of us, mornings have taken on a certain nauseating sameness. We roll out from beneath the blankets and, before the scent of coffee has reached our nostrils, we are checking the news feeds for the latest semi-literate tweet coughed up by the ranting, traitorous squatter occupying the Oval Office.

The rest of the day is spent in a kind of horrified suspension, holding our breath, waiting for whatever outrage will inevitably belch forth from the White Houseonce a bastion of seriousness and decorum, now ground zero for the demise of western democracy. How many lies will Trump spew today? Which dictators will he suck up to? Will he smear a Gold Star family? Attack a woman who dares to call out his smarmy predations? Unveil a puerile, racist nickname for a Senator or member of his own cabinet?

As much as we loathe it, however sickening it might have become, every day seems all about him, a former game show host and real estate failure, a hawker of rot-gut vodka and bullshit degrees from a fraudulent University who once styled himself as the Donald. The cable news shows lead with his most recent flatulence, the op-ed pages brim with intimations of doom, late night comedians are having a field day.

He is the president and, thus, bears watching. But we would be mistaken to think that he is truly the center of our universe, a man with a plan, commanding the heights, directing the action.

Virulent as he may be, Donald J. Trump is a symptom not the disease. Without us, he would amount to nothing more than what he had always been before the bizzaro presidential election of 2016: a foppish narcissist desperate for any measure of affirmation; a joke; a nothing. He did not create his voters. They have been there all along, seething with sometimes justifiable anger and suffering their various insecurities. They created and enabled Trump. And make no mistake, in all their vulnerable humanity, they are us: Gullible, compliant, distracted, marinating in irony.

At root, we the people are the problem.

We are understandably reluctant to impugn the intelligence and integrity of our fellow citizens. It is arrogant, uncivil, bad form. Who are we, any of us, to hold ourselves superior? When Hillary Clinton referred to some Trump supporters as deplorables, she was roundly castigated on all sides. How dare she? Yet it is an uncomfortable reality that anywhere from a fifth to a third of our electorate can be fairly (if gently) described as low-information voters. If the results of numerous polls and questionnaires are to be trusted, they know very little about the world they inhabit and what they do know is often woefully incorrect.

Surveys conducted every two years by the National Science Foundation consistently demonstrate that slightly more than half of Americans reject the settled science concerning human evolution. They are not unaware that virtually all credible scientists accept the overwhelming evidence that we evolved from earlier species. They simply choose not to accept that consensus because it doesnt comport with their deeply held beliefs. Many also embrace the absurd notion that the earth is only six thousand years old. Astonishingly, in the early 21st century, around a quarter of our citizenry seems unaware that said earth revolves around the sun.

It is a mistake to regard concern about such ignorance as effete snobbery or elitist condescension. While misapprehensions about basic astronomy, earth science and biology may have little impact on these folks daily lives, does anyone actually believe that similarly uninformed views arent likely to affect their grasp of policies regarding, say, climate change? Income inequality? Gun violence? Immigration?

Profound knowledge gaps like the aforementioned reveal an inability to think critically and leave a person vulnerable to all manner of chicanery. We are all ignorant about many things. Dont get me started on my dismal grasp of mathematics! But the hallmark of a sound education is not glorying in what you think you know, but, instead, appreciating the vastness of what you dont know.

If ignorance is the key that opens the door for charlatans like Trump, improved education, whether in school or in the public square, would seem to provide an obvious solution. But here we confront the perverse Dunning-Kruger Effect identified by psychologistsessentially, the less we know, the more certain we become of our superior knowledge. We have also discovered that exposure to facts and evidence does not always have the expected impact. Many people, when confronted by irrefutable proof that some core belief is incorrect, dont change their minds but dig in their heels. What feels right to them must be right and no amount logic and reasoning will dissuade them. Emotion trumps evidence.

Not too long ago, I fell into conversation with a woman aboard an airplane. Our chat somehow turned to health care. She offered the opinion that people who couldnt afford health insurance didnt deserve medical services. Why should she pay for someones care when they were obviously too lazy to earn their own money?

Because Im my own kind of fool, I rose to the bait. Did that mean they should be allowed to die in the street? I wondered. Well, no, she said. That would be inhumane. They could always go to an emergency room. So she was willing to pay for their care, I observed, but only in the least efficient, most expensive manner. This gave her momentary pause, but she quickly regrouped, simply repeating her prior assertion: Why should she pay? I didnt ask who she planned to vote for in the then-upcoming presidential election, but given that she had also voiced the opinion that women were, by virtue of their gender, unqualified to be news anchors, Im guessing it wasnt Hillary Clinton or Jill Stein.

She is hardly the worst example of an unthinking voter. Bill Maher once invited onto his show former GM Executive Bob Lutz. One supposes that such a fellow has benefited from an adequate education and that hes open to reason. Yet, when the subject of climate change arose, Lutz denied it was happening. A bunch of nonsense as far as he was concerned.

As it happened, Maher had also invited Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist, educator and Director of the Hayden Planetarium. Tyson patiently explained why Lutz was misinformed. The planet was warming. Humans were largely to blame. This is how we know.

You might expect an educated person to respond by at least engaging on the topic. Tyson was, after all, vastly more knowledgeable on the subject at hand. Had their roles been reversed, with the topic being cars, I have no doubt he would have deferred to the automaker, asking questions, trying to improve the state of his own knowledge. Not Lutz. You could see him shutting down before Tyson had even warmed to the topic (no pun intended). As Upton Sinclair famously put it, Its hard to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it.

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Anyone who has watched the focus groups of Trump voters has seen this sorry dynamic played out again and again. Everything, no matter how tawdry or malicious, is excused or minimized. You get the feeling these folks would accept the sexual molestation of teenage girls as a trade-off for Neil Gorsuch. In fact, many did in supporting Roy Moore.

Welcome to the Post-Truth Era.

Much has been written about the impact social media and the internet in general have had on how people receive and absorb information. By now, we are all familiar with bots, trolls, phony scandals and the tendency of folks to hunker down in their own info-silos. The old adage that a lie is halfway round the world before the truth gets its socks on has never been more salient.

Consider the recent attacks on one of the young Parkland shooting survivors. A teenager who had just witnessed classmates being gunned down at his own school quickly discovered that speaking up for common-sense gun regulation resulted in vicious trolling and the viral lie that he was a paid crisis actor. This was similar to what befell the grieving families of the small children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Imagine waking one morning in a state of searing grief over the violent death of your baby to discover that some odious prankster like Alex Jones is telling his gullible audience that the whole tragic incident was staged, that your child was actually a paid performer doused in artificial gore and posed in a gruesome tableaux of death.

That Jones and his ilk have not been thoroughly shamed and driven from the public sphere says a lot about our growing tolerance for vile nonsense.

Trump did not invent Fake News. The Big Lie has been the stock in trade of con men and tyrants since time immemorial. But he understands its value. Alternative facts as his lickspittle factotum, Kellyanne Conway infamously put it, has long been his metier. Hes a bullshitter, a phony and now hes our president.

This shouldnt have happened. But we let it happen, though Trump did have plenty of help

Unsurprisingly, the Fox propaganda machine and any number of right-wing radio ranters enthusiastically clambered aboard the Trump Train. They were abetted by many in the mainstream media who, mindful that Trump lured eyeballs to advertisers and too timid to call him out as the carnival barker he so obviously was, went along for the ride. A number of Republicans in Congress dismissed him at first. But when it became clear he had a shot at winning and that his devotees comprised at least half of their party, they scurried to adopt him as their useful idiot.

Its true that we are not all equally culpable. Roughly three million more people voted for Trumps chief opponent. But the right-minded among us didnt do enough to forestall the plainly looming disaster. The proof of that is the Trump presidency itself.

So, if we in our various incarnations are the problem, then what is the solution? Is there any way out? Wed better hope so. Whats certain is that its on us. We made a wreck of our government and its up to us to fix it.

There are positive signs:

A once compliant media has begun to take the gloves off. Genuine conservatives, outraged that their movement has been hijacked by philistines, are sounding the alarm. People are rising up and calling BS. For every Sean Hannity there is a Rachel Maddow, Jake Tapper or even Shepard Smith (at Fox News, no less!). For every Paul Ryan, there is a David Frum or Max Boot. Frothing crowds at CPAC are countered by the #MeToo movement and impressively eloquent teenagers fed up with politicians of any stripe who cower before the gun industry. On a good day, a John McCain or Jeff Flake will stand up to the cringing accommodationists in their own party. And, of course, Donald Trump himself, along with his corrupt lackeys, face a formidable foe in the person of Robert Mueller.

NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers recent testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee should mark a turning point, though he merely confirmed what has been apparent for some time: that even as our nation is under attack from a Russia determined to subvert our democracy, the president has not directed any relevant agencies to defend the country. This is a violation of the oath Trump swore on inauguration day and smacks of treason. We have entered uncharted waters.

Whats clear is that we need to use all non-violent resources at our disposal to rid ourselves and our country of the dangerous infection spreading from the White House into our body politic. These are not normal times and our usual reflexes will no longer suffice.

Trump is a problem of our own creation. We must become the solution.

Ron Reagan is an author and political commentator who lives in Seattle and Arezzo, Tuscany.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-problem-isnt-just-trump-its-our-ignorant-electorate

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2Daf3yw via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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Peter's Picks for the 2017 Anime Awards

It’s that time already. The 2017 Anime Awards are upon us and competition looks even fiercer than last year. Now that voting is open, I assume you all are fulfilling your civic duty and making your voice heard by voting. In case you find yourself stuck on a category, however, I’ve laid out all my votes and the reasons why I think each deserves to win on February 24th.

Best Action: My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia has all the best features of shonen series when it comes to fighting. The battles this season were creative, strategic, and possessed an emotional heart. Feelings are a tangible force in shonen that can both determine the outcome of a battle and ensure the struggle possesses real meaning. The fight between Deku and Todoroki put the absolute best of the series on display and Bones brought out the big guns, ensuring all the highlights were given unforgettable visual sequences.

Best Drama: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

On my shortlist for best anime this year, Rakugo is difficult to summarize; a story tackling many different themes and spanning over half a century. Following the practitioners of a niche form of Japanese theater, Rakugo tells the story of one performer's life, his influence on his loved ones and the future of his art, and his struggles with intimacy and his own mortality. It’s a disservice to this anime to describe it as anything other than a true masterpiece from the story, to the voice performances, to the wonderful visual direction.

Best Comedy: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

Although some of the other series on this list may have drawn out more consistent laughs, I don’t feel like any of the provided such a complete package as Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, effortlessly weaving jokes in between cathartic moments and the daily life of one supremely bizarre found family. The series tackled humor from a number of directions so it never grew stale and often felt inventive, even using it in service of the plot. Discovering this series may have been one of my most pleasant surprises of this year.

Best Slice of Life: Tsukigakirei

This may be my most selfish pick among any of the categories, but I really feel like Tsukigakirei was something special, offering a romance that wasn’t about getting together but staying together. Kotaro and Akane experience firsts together, step outside their comfort zones, and force each other to grow. It’s a wonderfully affirming reminder that we’re all awkward. The series dips slightly into melodrama from time to time but the resolution is inevitably a message to do the right thing and put in your best effort. You may not always get what you want, but you can be satisfied in the end.

Best Continuing Series: March comes in like a lion

I’ve been onboard this train since the very beginning, but the new season of March comes in like a lion surprised even me, taking everything that made the first season great and turning it up to 11. Seeing Rei growing and learning to rely on his support network is indescribably rewarding and the new subplot with Hina absolutely devastating. This season delivered what I consider to be one of the best single episodes this year, introducing a conflict so frustrating and authentic you’ll be left feeling genuine bitterness until it reaches its resolution.

Best Girl: Chise Hatori

While many seem focused on a certain bone-headed magus, I was originally drawn to The Ancient Magus’ Bride by Chise. One of the joys of the series is watching her slow emergence from a dark place, the victim of abuse and certain that there is no person or place in this world that will have her, into a confident and capable individual with a sense of belonging. Chise finding satisfaction in the opportunity to help others and learning to allow herself selfish happiness are one of the features that make the series truly magical.

Best Boy: Rei Kiriyama

Rei is probably the most moving portrayal of an individual suffering from chronic depression and anxiety I have seen in fiction, full stop. The series has tracked his progress of overcoming his self-isolating instincts of feeling that he is a burden upon others to reaching out to those who bring him happiness. Where Chise may be able to one day find contentment, Rei’s quest feels less certain, but he’s gained the conviction to find and hold onto as many moments of happiness as he can.

Best Hero: Izuku “Deku” Midoriya

All-Might describes Deku and the quintessential hero and who am I to disagree with All-Might? Horikoshi’s vision of what defines heroism is one of the features which I believe elevates My Hero Academia to the stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the other legendary shonen series and Deku is the personification of that ideal. A person who instinctively reaches out to those in need, even to his own detriment, even if he knows he will regret it. Honesty, empathy, and altruism made him a true hero even before All-Might gave him the power to realize the demands of his heart.

Best Villain: Stain

The obvious choice, Stain is both a villain and the central point upon which the new arc of My Hero Academia turns, inspiring an entire generation of disenfranchised individuals to rise up against the authority which has failed them. This aspect of his character also makes him the only sympathetic villain among the nominations. He sees rampant corruption among the pantheon of heroes dedicated to protecting the helpless and rejects them. Although his methods are evil, the truth of his criticisms resonates with those who have suffered as he has.

Best Manga: My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness

I don’t know if I’ve ever read any work of sequential art as real as My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness. Nagata’s experiences reach the extremes of debilitating anxiety, depression, and existential uncertainty, but have such a universal element of struggle told with such candidness that it's impossible not to engage with her autobiographical tale and draw a sense of common struggle and optimism from her hard-earned lessons.

Best Opening: “SHINZOU WO SASAGEYO! (心臓を捧げよ!)”

Of all the ways Studio WIT delivers with Attack on Titan, their OPs and EDs may be my favorite part. Each and everyone feels like they deserve a place among these nominations (if only the Anime Awards had been around during the first season), delivering a concentrated dose of the bombastic, over-the-top style of the show itself. The newest is no exception, with an energized anthem to get your blood pumping for 20 minutes of tension, violence, and horror that will inevitably culminate in a cliffhanger.

Best Ending: “STEP UP LOVE (ステップアップLOVE)”

Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond has an emotional and thematic rhythm that is very unique, portraying the extreme deadliness neighborhood of Hellsalem’s Lot in a strange, light-hearted sense, like a quirky clubhouse full of misfits that often kill each other. How is the ending sequence captures that bizarre contradiction is beyond me, but it sure is fun. I love everything about the ending, from the music to the psychedelic animation, showing off the cast at their wackiest.

Best Film: In This Corner of the World

Possibly the hardest choice on the list is between In This Corner of the World and A Silent Voice, but I have to give it to MAPPA’s creation half-a-decade in the making. The staff went in trying to tell a human story and portrayed one of the most evocative tragedies I’ve ever witnessed without exploiting the characters suffering as a selling point. The film is both devastating and inspirational, carrying with it a message that all-too-relevant at this moment in time.

Best CGI: Land of the Lustrous

2017 may have been the single greatest year for CG in anime, with several releases that really showed how it could be utilized in ways that 2D can’t replicate. I was surprised not to see Polygon Pictures’ Blame! make it into the nominations. Barring that, Land of the Lustrous was a beautiful adaptation that took Haruko Ichikawa’s framework and made its own visual world. The hand-painted backgrounds and CG characters never felt awkward against one another and the characters gestures and use of the gem’s colors on the environment were spectacular.

Best Score: Made in Abyss

I remember reaching the theatrical climax of the very episode. The camera panned across the city as the light from the sunrise broke over the top of the mountain and into the caldera then dove into the gaping maw of the abyss. The score in the scene absolutely sold the moment for me and the completeness of the experience had me sure the series was something special. It’s one of those series you know early on is going to have a vinyl soundtrack release.

Best Animation: A Silent Voice

As much as I’m a fan of Yutaka Nakamura battle cuts, Yoh Yoshinari’s absolutely wild effects animation, and the immensely evocative visual style of March comes in like a lion, A Silent Voice seems like the obvious choice since, well, it was a film that allowed the already sterling consistent quality of Kyoto Animation to put their absolute best into every moment. A necessity in a story that focused so closely on expression and gesture.

Anime of the Year: Land of the Lustrous

I can’t help but give this one to Land of the Lustrous. Haruko Ichikawa’s exploration of human nature through the unlikely lens of anthropomorphic gemstones is utterly captivating, stripping away all of our superficial layers one by one to reach some sort of ultimate truth of humanity. Orange’s adaptation is inspired, presenting one of the greatest arguments yet for the use of CG in anime. It’s gorgeous, mysterious, eerie in its ever-present sense of danger, and almost heartbreakingly tragic.

Those are my favorites for this year! Choosing between the nominees wasn't easy, but I feel confident the best of the year was represented in each category. What do you think of my picks? Do you disagree my choices? Share your picks in the comments below!

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Peter Fobian is Features and Reviews Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

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