#@ criminal minds evolution writers: takes notes | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lavender-lotion · 3 years

Text

Fanfic Writer Asks

I was tagged by @asarcasticwitch - thank you so much!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

737, which is an ugly number :(

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,890,054 words, which ... AH I might actually get to 2mil by the end of the year!

3) How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

thank you, ao3 dashboard for this handy list:

Teen Wolf (TV) (377)

X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies) (187)

Marvel Cinematic Universe (93)

Glee (29)

Young Justice (Cartoon) (11)

Kingsman (Movies) (9)

Original Work (9)

The Avengers (Marvel Movies) (8)

Criminal Minds (US TV) (7)

Thor (Movies) (6)

Deadpool (Movieverse) (5)

Weird City (TV) (5)

X-Men (Original Timeline Movies) (4)

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga) (4)

Ragnarok (TV 2020) (4)

Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies) (3)

Teen Wolf (TV) RPF (3)

Iron Man (Movies) (3)

The House in the Cerulean Sea - T. J. Klune (2)

Venom (Marvel Movies) (1)

Stranger Things (TV 2016) (1)

Captain America (Movies) (1)

Fate: The Winx Saga (TV) (1)

Power Rangers Ninja Storm (1)

X-Men - All Media Types (1)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan (1)

Riverdale (TV 2017) (1)

X-Men Evolution (1)

Push (2009) (1)

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

With You, I Belong

Mates and Marriage Proposals

The Perceptions of You and I

(baby) maybe that matters more

Breathing You In

5) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

ughh so, fair warning, I have a lot of works. I definitely do not remember all of them, however I do have four works tagged as Unhappy Ending and then another nine works tagged Ambiguous/Open Ending, which is way more than I’d thought I had!

however, there is one fic that stands out in mind when I think about which of my works has the angstiest ending! Heed the tags :)

And Now?

Stiles Stilinski finds out who his soul mates are by setting one on fire.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

ughhhhhhhh I truly do not know???

7) Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I don’t write many crossovers at all! I have some mcu/teen wolf cross overs, I have a teen wolf/glee cross over plotted (that i’ll probably never write), but my strangest is probably this teen wolf/x-men cross over!

what-ifs (don’t fuckin’ matter to no one)

Teen And Up Audiences | No Archive Warnings Apply | M/M | X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)Teen Wolf (TV) | Logan (X-Men)/Sheriff Stilinski | Logan (X-Men), Sheriff Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski | Memory Loss, Telepathy, Mentions of War, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Child Neglect, Grief/Mourning, Telepath Stiles Stilinski, Telekinetic Stiles Stilinski, Nightmares, Cuddling & Snuggling

There’s somethin’ there. Somethin’ that has him sleeping curled up on his side with a pillow tucked to his chest, somethin’ that has him splittin’ up his food ‘fore he eats ‘cause he don’t need as much as a baseline. Has him turnin’ to tell someone shit that ain’t there. There’s just...there’s just somethin’ there that’s missin’ and it shouldn’t be missin’.

8) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

sometimes! I don’t write a lot of smut because I actively dislike writing it, but the smut I do write is super super soft and sappy and full of emotions lol

9) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I respond to almost all of my comments! comments i won’t respond to: negative comments, unsolicited criticism, comments that aren’t relevant to the fic itself, comments simply asking for more

I love love love responding to comments! I love every single comment that I get and I want to show how much I appreciate getting them, and personally I think responding to comments is the only way to do that! everyone has different comment philosophies, but for me, if someone is taking the time to comment on my fic like I so badly want them to, I think it’s important to respond to show my appreciation!

10) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

aha YEAH I DO. this past weekend I actually got a number of shitty comments and had to file two ao3 abuse reports for harrasment (: I love it

I am no stranger to hate comments. I write copious amounts of age difference fic. I write copious amounts of incest. I am not going to apologize nor am I going to feel bad for enjoying either.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

ughhh I sure as heck hope not!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I have a number of them :) I always always do my best to make sure it’s linked to the original fic, AND that I add a tag noting that there’s a translation!

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have made a few attempts! the only successful attempt is there's nothing i wouldn't do to make you feel my love which is a collaboration with @flightinflame, not quite a co-write!

14) What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I am unable to answer this lol I don’t have an all-time favourite. mutli-shipping forever.

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

god okay this is such a good question! imma ramble about a few so bear with me here! (i may have 700 posted works but I also have a few hundreds wips & ideas floating around in my gdrive, too)

gone & past - this is a starrish wip i’d started in 2017. I ended up deleting it from ao3 to rewrite it and never got there, but I have about 20k of content! I built my home, inside of you - thorki human au with college jock thor and high school dancer loki. i’ve got a start and nothing else Sheriff Stilinski Gets Some Sweet Sweet Lovin’ - massive wip where... well, the sheriff fucks his way through the entire pack. I want to write it but. trans allison au - this is an au where allison is trans and that changes the entire season 1 canon. it features stallison, petopher, and a looooooong ass outline that will never exist beyond my wips You Fill My Heart (With Such a Gentle Love) - this is a stetopher a/b/o au with pregnant omega stiles and alpha pair petopher falling in love. it started as a labour of love to someone I no longer have in my life. I have about 30k, a full outline, but idk. makes me sad to think about it they slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered - this is my big x-men first class rewrite that I honestly don’t think i’ll ever finish. I have a few thousand words, a full outline, but no love lost for cherik so. doubtful Physiotherapy (I'll Be Your Baby) - this was a fic I was SO excited about, and then it kinda flopped and stayed a wip because I didn’t have a plan or the motivation to finish it. it’s a winterspider human au with amputee bucky and science twink peter that I adore the premise of but who knows breathing you in chapter 2 - I have a massive second chapter planned for this fic but the first did so good so fast I am way too intimidated to write more in case everyone hates it lmao

there are more arjgoirjeg there are so many more but these are the bigger ones I can think of right now!

16) What are your writing strengths?

ughhhhh I hate answering this because I have, like, seriously bad imposter syndrome around my writing BUT I do think i’m able to weave poignant backstory into narration & i write strong, distinctive narrative voices!

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

literally I can’t write settings at all. I don’t know how people vividly describe settings but I absolutely cannot do that and it’s one of the reasons I haven’t delved into original fiction. I need to write the town my characters live in?? fuck that imma just use a location we’ve seen on screen & let readers fill in the blanks lmao

I am also shit at long fic. I don’t have the mind for long and interesting plots, and I don’t have the focus to write long fic (which is why every long fic i’ve ever posted has taken me literal years to complete smh).

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I like it! both as a reader and as a writer. as a writer, I generally only use a few words, or small sentences that can be understood by context, and I generally don’t

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

the last thing I wrote and posted was this one:

Languish

It was a really, really hot Saturday, and most of the school was outback, enjoying the sun, not caring about the heat, and having the time of their life.

Everyone but Bobby, of course, who was melting away.

“I just want to remind everyone that I make ice. I am the Ice Man. I am not built for the heat and soon enough I’m going to melt away into nothing.”

20) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

this is another impossible question! I have a few I really enjoy, but I really don’t think I have a favourite that stands out above the rest!

i’m tagging: @4magicandmayhem @insertmeaningfulusername @midrashic @wynnefic @ikeracity @stronglyobsessed @elledelajoie @wolfnprey & anyone else who sees it and wants to do it! seriously! go ahead :)

blank questions below the read more!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

3) How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

7) Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

8) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

9) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

10) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

14) What’s your all-time favorite ship?

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

16) What are your writing strengths?

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

20) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

#lavenderlotion #my writing #writing tag #writing meme

24 notes · View notes

george67611-blog · 4 years

Text

Heroes of the Enlightenment – Time Journal

Introduction

What is stuff we value a lot about in the modern world? freedom, to enjoy ourselves, to argue and discuss, to express our view, to find things out, to read and write, and the science and technology that made these possible. I’d like to share the amazing trips I took to visit some of the heroes of the enlightenment who changed how we live life now. None of this happened by accident these freedoms were one from courage and vision, in an extraordinary period of human history. It began in 17th century Europe which was called the Age of Enlightenment. A little more than a century, religious faith yielded to reasoned argument and the power of aristocracy gave way to the power of knowledge. In this journal, we will talk about the trips I took to the 3 great enlightenment innovators. Isaac Newton, who opened up the knowledge to everybody by inventing modern science. Voltaire who had been known for his writings that completely inspired literacy and the different forms of historical writings. And Erasmus Darwin whose discoveries deep underground mantid a direct challenge to the church's claim to truth.

Isaac Newton (December 25, 1642 – March 31, 1727)

In 1661, I visited a very good friend of mine in England, Isaac Newton. The founder of modern science which was to become the greatest challenge to the power of the church. When I met him at his Woolsthorpe Manor, he was very mad and furious. I didn’t understand why. He later told me that most of the people’s lives were based on obedience and belief. He never agreed on that, he felt that the information was procured not by daze confidence however by perception. He set down widespread principles for what we currently call science and one of those guidelines was that it was available to everyone. I was amazed to see how knowledgeable he was, I picked up a few concepts while at it. He later told me about the many theories he has including lights and color. “In the letter, it contained theories that light consists of deform rays, some of which are more than others: And Colors are affirmed to be not qualifications of light, derived from refractions of natural bodies” (A Letter of Mr. Isaac Newton, 2003). Newton’s method was to see things most people wouldn’t be able to see. One day we were sitting beneath this apple tree and a sudden thought was triggered. He watched an apple fall off the tree to the ground something he’s seen hundreds of times before, but this time was different. He questioned himself and was furious about why the apple always falls. I didn’t know how to help him since I was only majoring in cybersecurity. He was seeing things most people wouldn’t be able to see even if they tried. His brain was like no one else’s, quick at discovering things. He told me that instead of an empty space between the apple and the ground; he saw an active force pulling things towards the earth, the force of gravity. At the time, I didn’t understand any scientific thing he said, but once I left and visited my good friend Voltaire he had come up with the law of universal gravitation.

Voltaire (November 21, 1694 – May 30, 1778)

I started traveling again in the 1700s. I had visited Paris, France in 1718 to see the best-known play, the Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus. That’s where I first met Voltaire. I was amazed by his approach to tracing the movement of world human advancement by concentrating on social history and expressions of the human experience. Voltaire was a critic about the Bible and establish religions believing them to be the source of animosity between people. He had a lifetime passion for religious liberty and strongly believed that no one should be penalized by the government for their disposition. There was a multitude of economic and civic barriers against non-Catholics who also faced religious persecution and injustice. Voltaire had always come to me for advice since he hated fighting vigorously with society because they never listened to him. On a bright sunny day, we went for a walk in Toulouse. On the way we found a guy named Jean Calas getting tortured. This brought interest to Voltaire since he was all about criminal law reforms. “The panel reversed Calas’s conviction on March 9, 1765, and the government paid the family an indemnity” (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). Voltaire valued the free flow of ideas and especially the ability to dissent. His published works often put them in the crosshairs of government sensors, and he risked his life on several occasions to disseminate his controversial works. “Voltaire was a prolific writer, producing more than 20,000 letters and over 2,000 books and pamphlets. Despite strict censorship laws, he frequently risked large penalties by breaking them and questioning the establishment” (Pettinger). I decided to stay with him until a major problem came his way. He was banished to England after being associated with a fight with a French aristocrat. The man utilized his riches to have him captured, and this would make Voltaire attempt and change the judicial system.

Erasmus Darwin (December 12, 1731 – April 18, 1802)

To finish up my trip I visited my dad’s friend, Darwin. He was one of the few people who were determined to do about anything. He was a doctor, poet, philosopher, and inventor. Darwin’s wide-raging interests would inspire him to mount the enlightenment ‘s ultimate challenge to the authority of the church. When I went over to Lichfield, England in 1778, he was trying to create a machine that can possibly copy from paper to paper. It didn’t take him long because he had other inventions in mind. I had lived with him for couple years because I was amazed to see the inventions that came to his mind! He was intrigued by enlightenment thinking and its application to reality. For Darwin, the key was to comprehend, oversee, and direct the quickly changing world. Inspired by his friends he recorded his ideas and inventions in a book called Common Place Book. A couple of ideas he drew out were new weaving machines which completely transformed the English textile industry. A new kind of toilet, one which Darwin notes won’t be annoying because it won’t smell. He was the first Briton to explicitly write about evolution. “His main prose on the topic appears in the first volume of Zoonomia in 1794” (Plant Morphology). In the book, he intended to characterize realities about creatures, to set out laws depicting natural life, and to catalog diseases with their medicines. In contrast to some contemporary doctors, Darwin supported dynamic mediation with drugs and mechanical devices. However, he later passed away due to Dysentery a serious illness. I couldn’t stand enduring all this pain, so I headed home to Gainesville, Virginia. I had an amazing trip and plan to go on another soon. Everyone should be able to learn more about these important people who has impacted our life completely.

WORK CITED

“A Letter of Mr. Isaac Newton ... Containing His New Theory about Light and Colors.” A Letter of Mr. Isaac Newton ... Containing His New Theory about Light and Colors (Diplomatic), Jan. 2003, www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/view/texts/diplomatic/NATP00006.

“Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802).” Plant Morphology, plantmorphology.org/portfolio-item/erasmus-darwin/.

Pettinger, Tejvan. “Voltaire Autobiography: .” Biography Online, 7 Feb. 2018, www.biographyonline.net/writers/voltaire.html.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Jean Calas.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 15 Mar. 2020, www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Calas.

#Final #HopewegetanA

1 note · View note

aion-rsa · 4 years

Text

Paramount+ Streaming Service: Launch Date, Price, Shows, and Movies

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

One day the streaming wars will slow down, but alas that day is not here yet. On Feb. 24, ViacomCBS confirmed all the details of its upcoming all-encompassing streaming service: Paramount+.

This new streaming service will replace ViacomCBS’s existing option, CBS All Access, and is designed to keep the major media conglomerate competitive with its peers like WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, NBCUniversal’s Peacock, and Disney’s Disney+

“In today’s entertainment landscape, ViacomCBS stands aprt as the only media company to fully embrace every segment of the streaming universe across free, premium and pay,” said Bob Bakish, President and Chief Executive Officer, ViacomCBS. “The launch of Paramount+ supercharges our strategy with a broad pay service that will be home to everything consumers love, all in one place: live sports, breaking news and a mountain of entertainment, at scale.”

Here is everything you need to know about Paramount+.

Paramount+ Launch Date

Paramount+ is set to launch on March 4 in the U.S., Canada, and 18 Latin American countries. Nordic countries will receive Paramount+ on March 25 as will Australia (thought the service will be called “10 All Access”). There is no announced U.K. launch date yet but ViacomCBS notes that additional markets are planned.

Paramount+: How is It Different From CBS All Access?

To keep things simple off the top: Paramount+ is CBS All Access, just rebranded and expanded. If you currently have a CBS All Access subscription, it should automatically convert into a Paramount+ subscription during the March 4 release date. That sounds simple enough, but as HBO users who went through the HBO Max transition know, there could be some complications. Be sure to check out Paramount+’s website should any issues arise on launch day.

But why is CBS All Access rebranding to Paramount+? Well the name of the game in the streaming world at the moment is consolidation. Major media companies own many different channels of distribution and are seeking to consolidate them all onto one platform. CBS All Access was always more of an “extra” CBS. But the recently combined conglomerate ViacomCBS owns and operates many other sources of entertainment, including: CBS, Paramount Pictures, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and more. Paramount+ will incorporate ViacomCBS content from all of these channels and more, rather than just CBS

Why exactly did ViacomCBS settle on “Paramount” as the brand to incorporate its many subsidiaries? That’s anyone’s guess. WarnerMedia ultimately decided that “HBO” was the most recognizable brand for its streaming service. ViacomCBS, whose demographic usually skews older, perhaps thought its viewers would be most emotionally attached to the iconic Paramount mountain logo.

Many other ViacomCBS properties had their own streaming service like MTV Hits and Comedy Central Now. Those will be sunsetted and existing content will be incorporated into Paramount+. The SHOWTIME streaming service, however, will continue and be offered as a separate add-on to Paramount+ in the U.S. It will come included internationally.

Paramount+ Price

Paramount+ will feature two different price points but only one will be available at launch. The first pricing tier is Premium at $9.99 and will include complete access to all Paramount+ content, except for the Showtime add-on. The premium tier will also feature live sports, news programs, and access to a live feed of CBS.

The other pricing tier will be available in June and is $4.99. This will include much of the same content but will also feature advertisements. In case you’re wondering what kind of ads you might experience in the second pricing tier, ViacomCBS has announced that its lead sponsors will be General Motors, Expedia, and Procter & Gamble.

Paramount+ Shows

Paramount+’s plans for television series are extensive. Like other similar streaming services, Paramount+ will play host to existing TV series on ViacomCBS channels, while also producing its own original content.

During the ViacomCBS Streaming event presentation, the company revealed that it plans to launch at least 50 new original series over the next two years, with 36 arriving in 2021. Here is a list of all the announced original series, with descriptions from ViacomCBS:

Drama

Criminal Minds – top rated series in broadcast and streaming returns with a new scripted series that brings the team back together to investigate a single, fascinating case over 10 episodes.

Flashdance – a young woman struggles to make her mark in the ballet world while navigating romance, money, art, friendship, and how to love herself. Award-winning Mad Men writer Tracy McMillan is writing and executive producing the drama series which will pick up from where the story left off, but in present-day. True Blood’s Angela Robinson will direct and executive produce the series with Lynda Obst.

Halo – based on the iconic Xbox® franchise, Halo’s epic universe and cast of characters come to life in this new original drama series. In the new television adaptation, Halo will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001, dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. Halo will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.

Land Man – set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas, Land Man is a modern-day tale of fortune seeking in the world of oil rigs. The series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.

Love Story – Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the executive producers of Gossip Girl, The O.C., and Looking for Alaska, are bringing to Paramount+ a series based on the award-winning perennial film, Love Story.

Mayor of Kingstown – follows the McLusky family, power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality, the series provides a stark look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – the next installment of the popular Star Trek franchise is based on the years Captain Christopher Pike manned the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series will follow Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the decade before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise.

The Italian Job – when the grandchildren of the legendary Charlie Croker inherit his old safety deposit box, the quest for the infamous Italian bullion is reignited. The series, from Paramount Television Studios, is executive produced and written by Matt Wheeler (Hawaii Five-0), and produced by Donald De Line.

The Man Who Fell To Earth – starring Oscar-nominee and BAFTA-winner Chiwetel Ejiofor, is based on the Walter Tevis novel of the same name and the iconic film starring David Bowie. The series will follow a new alien character who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution, and must confront his own past to determine our future.

The Offer – a scripted limited event series from Paramount Television Studios, based on Oscar-winning producer Al Ruddy’s extraordinary, never-revealed experiences of making The Godfather. The 10-episode event series is written and executive produced by Michael Tolkin (Escape at Dannemora, The Player). Ruddy will also serve as executive producer, alongside showrunner Nikki Toscano (Hunters), and Emmy® Award-winning producer Leslie Greif (Hatfields & McCoys).

The Parallax View – a scripted series from Paramount Television Studios, based on the iconic film. The series will be executive produced by Paula Wagner.

Y:1883 – follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. It is a stark retelling of Western expansion, and an intense study of one.

Yellowstone Spinoff, 6666 (Working Title) – founded when Comanches still ruled West Texas, no ranch in America is more steeped in the history of the West than the 6666. Still operating as it did two centuries before, and encompassing an entire county, the 6666 is where the rule of law and the laws of nature merge in a place where the most dangerous thing one does is the next thing… The 6666 is synonymous with the merciless endeavor to raise the finest horses and livestock in the world, and ultimately where world class cowboys are born and made.

Comedy

Frasier – Frasier’s back – and he’s more exactly the same than ever. Kelsey Grammer reprises his role as the Dr. Frasier Crane.

Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies – with both classic and new songs, and a diverse cast, the series is a prequel to the unforgettable musical film, Grease, and tells the story of how Frenchy’s older sister, Jane, founded the Pink Ladies. The series, from Paramount Television Studios, is executive produced by Annabel Oakes (Atypical, Transparent), Marty Bowen (Twilight) and Erik Feig (La La Land).

Guilty Party – a dark comedy starring Kate Beckinsale as a discredited journalist who finds herself in over her head when she latches onto the story of a young mother sentenced to life in jail for murdering her husband – a crime she claims she didn’t commit.

Inside Amy Schumer – the Peabody, Emmy® and Writers Guild Award-winning franchise returns with five specials starring Amy Schumer, one of the entertainment industry’s leading forces as a stand-up comedian, actress, writer, producer and director.

Reno 911! The Hunt For QAnon – a super-sized event based off the long-running hit, critically-acclaimed Comedy Central series. Most recently, Reno 911! received two 2020 Emmy® Award nominations for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series and for Outstanding Actress in A Short Form Comedy or Drama Series (Kerri Kenney-Silver). In 2021, the show is nominated for a Critics Choice Award.

The Game – the popular BET sitcom returns with a mix of original cast and new players, and will offer a modern-day examination of Black culture through the prism of pro football.

The Harper House – an animated family comedy that follows an overconfident female head of a household as she struggles to regain a higher status for herself and for her family of oddballs after losing her job and moving from the rich side to the poor side of an Arkansas small town.

The Weekly Show with Trevor Noah (Working Title) – Trevor Noah will star in and produce an initial six episode series looking at stories across the societal landscape and talk with the people behind the headlines: people you know; people you don’t know; and people you didn’t even know you didn’t know.

Younger – Darren Star’s critically acclaimed smash-hit, Younger, follows Liza Miller (Sutton Foster), a talented editor navigating the highly competitive world of publishing — while juggling the complications of mixing business with pleasure and facing the lie she created about her age to land her dream job.

Untitled Beavis & Butt-head Movie – Emmy® Award-winning Mike Judge reimagines MTV’s seminal, Gen X-defining Beavis and Butt-Head who return for another movie adventure to kick-off the new series.

Workaholics Movie – made-for-streaming movie based off the popular long-running Comedy Central series starring Blake Anderson, Adam DeVine, Anders Holm and Kyle Newacheck.

Kids and Family

Avatar – Nickelodeon’s new animation studio division dedicated entirely to creating content based on the wildly popular world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Led by the series’ original creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, in partnership with the Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Avatar Studios will produce for Paramount+ a wide-range of Avatar-inspired content, ranging from spinoffs and theatricals to short form.

Dora the Explorer – a new live-action series based on the iconic character, designed for an older audience of kids 6-11 and their families.

iCarly – a new chapter for the most successful kids’ sitcom of all time, where original cast members Miranda Cosgrove, Nathan Kress and Jerry Trainor join new friends for a look at these characters’ present-day lives, adventures and comedic mishaps.

Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years – the first-ever spinoff of SpongeBob SquarePants, Kamp Koral is a CG animated original series that takes viewers back to when the iconic characters of Bikini Bottom met for the very first time, in a summer camp like no other.

Rugrats – an all-new series featuring Nick’s iconic babies, back together with the original voice cast in new CG animation.

Star Trek: Prodigy – the first-ever Star Trek for the kids and family audience, combining the Nickelodeon sensibility with the action and adventure hallmarks of the Star Trek franchise.

The Fairly OddParents – a live-action take on one of Nick’s longest running and most successful animated hits.

Reality

Big Brother Live Feeds – offers an in-depth, exclusive pass to the show where fans have the opportunity to watch all the action inside the Big Brother house.

Dating Naked – the most vulnerable social experiment returns to bring dating back to its most honest, unguarded and naked form. Can these modern daters strip back their preconceived notions, carefully curated images AND their clothes to reveal their true selves and find love?

Ink Master – the tattoo competition reality series where some of the nation’s top tattoo artists battle it out in various tattoo challenges that not only test the artists’ technical skills, but also their on-the-spot creativity for the title of Ink Master.

Love Island on Paramount+ – an extension of the popular CBS reality series that takes subscribers beyond the boundaries of what’s shown in the broadcast with exclusive content and live visits to the Villa.

Queen of the Universe – in a singing competition like no other, drag queens from all around the world compete to see who is Queen of the Universe. High heels, high octaves, high competition – this drag queen singing competition will blow your wig off. From Emmy® Award-winning production company, World of Wonder.

Road Rules – back with a new roster of Road Warriors. These strangers will be abandoned in a far-flung location and stripped of their modern-day luxuries by boarding a restricted life in an RV, traveling from location to location. They will be guided by a set of clues, odd jobs and missions for money. If they last to the end of the trip, they walk away with the life changing prize.

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars – the best of the best from the Emmy® Award-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race return to compete for $100,000 and a coveted spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame. In each episode, legendary queens will battle it out until only one drag queen is crowned the winner.

The Challenge: All Stars – twenty-two of the most iconic, boldest, and fiercest Challenge All Stars from the original Real World and Road Rules have been selected to return for a second chance at the ultimate competition. All have history, but when relationships are the key to survival, will these legends be able to form new bonds or will their past lead to their demise? With $500,0000 and their legacies on the line, which of these All Stars will prove they are still the best of the best?

The Real World: Homecoming: New York – almost 30 years later, the original “seven strangers” that paved the way for modern reality TV are moving back into the New York loft where it all began. Viewers will be reunited with the cast from the very first season of The Real World in a brand new multi-episode docuseries to find out, once again, what happens when they stop being polite… and start getting real. Series begins streaming on Thursday, March 4th.

Music

Behind the Music – Behind the Music is back! The groundbreaking and prolific music documentary series returns with several new episodes and the best of the vault remastered and updated for today’s audiences with artist interviews, a creative refresh and reimagined visual style.

From Cradle to Stage – this new six-part, unscripted television series from Director Dave Grohl was inspired by his mother, Virginia Hanlon Grohl, and based on her critically-acclaimed book, From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars. The series is a dynamic personal exploration of the special relationship between successful musicians and their moms. Each episode features a famous performer and their mom as well as Dave and Virginia.

Unplugged – MTV’s most iconic musical performance franchise will come to Paramount+ several times a year as special intimate MTV Unplugged events featuring some of the world’s biggest artists.

Yo! MTV Raps – MTV is bringing back its most storied hip-hop series and music franchise Yo! MTV Raps for Paramount+. The return of Yo! MTV Raps will include hosted segments, live performances, cyphers and lifestyle content, and will serve as a comprehensive deep dive into the current state of hip-hop. After its debut 33 years ago on August 6, 1988, Yo! MTV Raps became the premiere destination for all things hip-hop. The advent of the series was crucial to the rise of rap music worldwide, creating a global passion for the genre and greater hip-hop culture, which has since become the most dominant force in mainstream music and pop culture worldwide.

CBS All Access Originals (Which Will Continue as Paramount+ Originals)

No Activity – a half-hour police comedy, starring Patrick Brammall and Tim Meadows, which was previously a live-action series, will be completely animated for season four.

Star Trek: Discovery – the series, starring Sonequa Martin-Green, follows the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new life forms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself.

Star Trek: Lower Decks – a half-hour animated comedy series, focuses on the support crew on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi have to keep up with their duties and their social lives, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.

Star Trek: Picard – features Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The series follows this iconic character into the next chapter of his life.

Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News – a daily news satire series featuring a cast of animated characters, led by anchor James Smartwood, lampooning real-world news stories and interviewing live-action guests.

The Good Fight – the critically acclaimed drama starring Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart follows her next chapter at one of Chicago’s preeminent African-American law firms. The wide-ranging topicality of the series captures the current sociopolitical era as the firm confronts real life issues of today.

Why Women Kill – a dark comedy created by Marc Cherry, is an anthology series that examines how the roles of women have changed over the decades, but how their reaction to betrayal… has not.

Documentaries

76 Days – a look at life in the earliest days of the COVID-19 crisis in Wuhan, China, the Oscar Shortlisted 76 Days focuses on frontline hospital workers and their patients, bearing witness to the human resilience that persists in times of profound tragedy.

Black Gold – from Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa and Emmy® Award-winning Time Studios, this is a true-life conspiracy thriller about a decades-long campaign to trade our planet for profit.

For Heaven’s Sake – blends comedy and crime documentary formats for a unique take on uncovering the truth. The series follows the search for Harold Heaven, who mysteriously disappeared from his remote cabin in Ontario, Canada, in the winter of 1934.

The Real Criminal Minds – a true crime docu series, featuring a former real FBI profiler. The series will examine real cases, and real criminal behavior, illustrated by clips fans will remember from the fictional series.

Watergate – from MTV Entertainment Studios, this series will illuminate a moment in our history that parallels so much of what’s happening now.

Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In – tells the story of the legendary manager of Manchester United, and one of the most memorable figures in European football.

Stories from the Beautiful Game – an original soccer documentary series produced by Pete Radovich, the award-winning coordinating producer of CBS Sports’ UEFA coverage. Paramount+ will release several soccer documentaries every year, starting later in 2021.

Paramount+ Movies

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the future of movie theaters is in question…particularly with major entertainment entities launching their own in-house streaming options. ViacomCBS, however, will not be releasing its entire theatrical slate exclusively to streaming like WarnerMedia has with HBO Max.

Paramount Pictures films will still continue to receive theatrical releases, and then be made available on Paramount+ 30-45 days after the initial release window. Upcoming major Paramount films that will eventually arrive to Paramount+ include: A Quiet Place Part II, PAW PATROL: The Movie, and Mission: Impossible 7. Other recently released Paramount films will be available on Paramount+ at launch such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Rocketman, Bumblebee, and more.

Over time, however, ViacomCBS will produce some films exclusively for Paramount+. The first of which will be The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: Sponge on the Run, which is set to arrive at launch. Another announced Paramount+-exclusive titles include new versions of Paranormal Activity and Pet Sematary.

Paramount+ Sports

Access to live sports was always a major draw for CBS All Access and Paramount+ will continue that tradition and expand upon it. ViacomCBS reports that Paramount+ will feature at least 1,000 live sporting events per year. These include:

THE NFL ON CBS

The Masters

NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship

PGA TOUR

SEC ON CBS

The PGA Championship

National Women’s Soccer League

UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League

Concacaf

Liga Profesional de Fútbol

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

Paramount+ Apps

Paramount+ will be accessible at ParamountPlus.com and will also receive an app for both iOS and Android devices. Of course, a big issue that many new streaming services have run into is a lack of availability at launch on major smart TVs and OTT providers like Amazon Fire, and Roku. While WarnerMedia eventually cut a deal with Roku to host HBO sometime after its release, it was still a traumatic few months for HBO Roku-users.

And wouldn’t you know it – references to Samsung, Amazon Fire, Roku, and major gaming consoles like Xbox and PlayStation are noticeably absent from ViacomCBS’s Paramount+ announcement. The company only notes that Paramount+ will be available “across a wide number of platforms, including smart TVs, connected-TV devices, online, mobile, gaming consoles, and leading OTT providers.”

The good news, however, is that CBS All Access is currently available on Roku, Amazon Fire, and all other major OTT providers. Perhaps it will be a smooth transition for smart TV owners and Roku-users then, but who knows when it comes to streaming!

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post Paramount+ Streaming Service: Launch Date, Price, Shows, and Movies appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2NF1wdQ

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

0 notes

titleknown · 7 years

Photo

The Horrid Spider is a common but often misunderstood clade of the Arachnida, related to the common Arachnida but its own separate clade from “normal” spiders, related more to the ancient euriptids than any of the current arachnids, though their abilities are remarkably similar to the Areanae (IE, producing venom; webs) thanks to convergent evolution, with a parasitoidal lifestyle granting them far higher neurological capacity than typical arthropods; akin to the intelligence of a dog.

They have a high capacity for specialized evolution thanks to the way the obscenely massive amount of neurology their hosts have combines with the neurological efficiency of the arthropoda, and here are multiple examples of such individuals...

Ghoulspiders: A specialized morph of the species inhabiting areas adjacent to radioactive minerals, they direct their host towards deposits of these minerals with a form of neurological impulse towards pica. The host often expires well before the arachnid reaches full maturation due to the poisoning involved.

The Ghoulspider is actually quite peaceful for its species, much less aggressive due to the fact that its radiovoric nature means it does not require meat for sustenance, only consuming plant matter now and again for various necessary matter it may transmute into nutrients. It is, of course, deathly toxic to those individuals who become adjacent to it, but this is not due to malice on the creature’s part.

Certain individuals have bred them as a weapon of terror, in tactics that no doubt international criminal courts will be working out for years to come.

Nightmare Spiders: These are perhaps the most troubling of all the forms of this creature, as they do not keep court in conventional matter, but rather in ectoplasmic-etherial ones. It is said the evolution of this species came from the infection of a powerful psychic human with Horrid Spider eggs, who went mad before his astral body was able to wrest control from the infectious creature, and which took on a warped form akin to this creature before the mental fusion simply scuttled away to infect more.

Born from the psionically sensitive, it feeds on fear and weilds enormous psychic powers despite having no true physical body except the wispy immaterial on the ethereal plane, which is the only place where it may be injured aside from the much less likely route of inter-dream combat. While they appear tiny on the etherial plane, they are gargantuan in their realm of nightmares, where they feed, and at times may deign to reproduce.

High Spiders: These creatures are only slightly larger than the usual spiders they take after, but are distinguished by their human-level intelligence, distinctive colors, fanciful dress, and quite civilized manners. They dress in gorgeous adornments; in particular those that conceal their human half; and they speak in adorable squeaking tones.

The resin and web constructed cities they make boggle the mind, and their heavily alchemy/magic-based technology is simple, yet brilliant, and they hold quite the excellent parties and are generally quite friendly; genteel souls. Their only flaw; their great shame as a species; is that they must kill sentient beings to reproduce still.

They do say they only use the dying and those who would be killed anyway, and they do make a good try of doing so. Emphasis on the word try…

Tomb Spyder: Not resting in human skulls, this legendarily royalty-bred type was created by kings to nest in the mystical alchemist-summoned Brazen Heads [Writer’s Note: Those were an actual historical myth, go look them up] to guard tombs and store the knowledge therein for reconstruction should the tomb fade or disappear.

Their floodlight-eyes can illuminate, reveal that hidden by magic, or simply blast with a mixture of holy and unholy energies that round down to morally ambiguous blasts. They are dedicated to their job, and will relentlessly hunt those that defile their dwellings, though if one comes simply seeking knowledge, they are completely willing and eager to grant it; aside from that which their masters commanded them not to reveal...

Mountain Spiders: A subspecies incubated in the Languedire Mountains, where great stone heads of rare minerals grow naturally like plantlife, this species has been able to peacefully incubate within these stone heads, integrating themselves with their geology to create an incredibly efficient metabolism and a shockingly high; if unorthodox; intelligence via neural integration with the heads’ mineral structures

They are approximately the size of the ancient sauropods, and wander slowly, grazing on vegetable and animal alike, but peaceably. They do tend to make a point of avoiding sapient beings, leading to speculation that they may be sapient themselves. But, if they are, they keep it to themselves. They don’t seem to have much to say.

War Spiders: A sub-species of the High Spiders, these were a warrior cult sickened by the “soft” lifestyle of their brethren who left to return to their roots of killing, who it is said trained so deeply that their bodies merged with the armors and weapons they so fetishized.

They want not for heads to birth in, for that is a part of the price almost always consistent in their work as mercenaries. Their skills with their inbuilt blades is beyond compare, and the way they integrate their chitinous and steely tissues with their host head further than other species has granted them frightening regeneration beyond other species; along with enhanced growth to roughly the size of a small car.

Merchant Spider: There is only one Merchant Spider, an individual who is said to be a rare color morph of the High Spyder. She is friendly, a brilliant conversationalist, and will rob you blind if you let her. Do not trust her.

Integra Spiders: A species that suggests there may be a better way for the Horrid Spider Race, this subspecies represents a full integration of the human form and the spider’s, the spider’s sentience being symbiotic with the original rather than subsuming it, and giving the humanoid form all the Spider’s typical abilities combined with human resilience; albeit altering it into a body type more akin to the pictured chitinous; thicker; hermaphroditic form no matter what the previous sex of the host was.

The merger is almost always willing, by those who are outcasts in their communities, and the individual consciousnesses tend to perceive each other as akin to siblings; and tend to work towards their own; independent goals; which they can far more easily accomplish than any other human due to being near immortal. Many have cited the idea that they “breathe through their skin” as the reason why they so often shun clothing, but this is often viewed as an excuse, given by those individuals who prefer nudity for other reasons.

Spider God Sacrifine: Said to have uplifted the species from near extinction, this being lives like a heartbeat in the minds of all his species; constantly moving and hunting so quickly as to be invincible; with a hall of heads of lesser gods said to lie at the core of the world below the Languedire Mountains that he changes like shells.

He acts through his worshippers sometimes through subtle implication; sometimes through direct control, though even the High Spiders who shun him hear his heartbeat and hear his hunger in their minds, imploring them to gnaw, to kill.

God Spider Metabond: The first of the Integra Spiders, borne from a woman who hated Sacrifine and from the egg of the first High Spider Queen before she was slain by agents of Sacrifice through multitudes of molts she has grown into her gargantuan form.

She is rushing too, across the globe, to find a better way, but has only truly been seen when fighting Sacrifine, where they stop, two great forces clashing unbending, and when in the minds of all the Horrid Spider species; the heartbeat stops in their minds, and they can see something better in the distance…

Welp, while I didn’t win, or even get shown as a runner-up, I figured I might as well use the opportunity to show off all my Spider designs and, for the first time ever, the full worldbuilding deets there!

And, while the original picture/asset belongs to the creators of the Horrid Spider, all original elements, concepts, ect are hereby released under a CC-BY 4.0 License, Free TO Use As You See Fit in any way, as long as I, Thomas F. Johnson, am credited as their creator!

Have fun, and thank god for Jim Sterling, even if I didn’t get a runner-up, because man was the competition fierce!

#jim sterling #the jimquisition #thank god for jim #horrid spider #horrid spider contest #my art #my shoops #GIMP #photoshop #worldbuilding #open species #open source character #open source characters

13 notes · View notes

getoffthesoapbox · 7 years

Note

Hey, I hope you don't mind, but I was wondering if you could help me understand the science/biology in VK and the logic behind a cure. I understand it from a pacifist perspective, but it doesn't make sense to me in terms of classifications and genetics. Considering that Yori's grandkids attend her funeral, aren't vampires a subspecies to humans? I'm also surprised vampire-born is treated as a disease instead of human-turned-vampire. Plus, how would they go about treatment for all vampires? (O_O)

(Anon who asked about VK science) I didn’t have enough room to finish, sorry… But thinking about what I just said… I guess the cure would treat both naturally born vampires and human-turned, but I thought in the beginning there was a clear divide between the two. And in the case of just vampires, you would be looking at their DNA? Anyway, I just want to add that I just recently got back into the series, so I might be misunderstanding A LOT, but I love your (and everyone else’s) analyses :)

Oh, what a fun ask, my friend! Thanks for bringing it my way. ;)

I think a portion of the problem we have here is that…Hino is a lazy writer who knows her audience probably isn’t a bunch of scientists who can point out how crap her science is. Unfortunately, I’m a creative type myself, so I can’t point out whether her internal logic works or not on a scientific level, but I think I can help piece together what we do know, and then speculate further based on where I think she’s going with this. ;) You can let me know if I miss anything from where you’re standing.

Okay so, here’s what we know for sure:

Purebloods existed before 10,000 years ago, but they were scattered–a great climate change erupted and they suddenly realized there were more of them. (It’s kinda implied Kaname might be Dracula, since he forgot his name, lol.)

These first Purebloods are what we’d call the “Progenitors.” They are all born to human parents and were probably created by some sort of viral infection or it’s some kind of viral mutation that had permanent effects on the initial subjects (at least as far as I can tell within Hino’s worldbuilding), and something (never specified) happened to either “switch” certain people’s Pureblood genetics from “off” to “on” or it distorted an already existing gene into a Pureblood gene. Either way, the effect’s the same–something in the DNA got warped.

In other words, Purebloods are likely a species mutation or evolution, depending on how positively or negatively you want to view the genetic switch. This would make vampirism less of a disease (which would require an external parasite or bacteria) and more of an issue with the genes themselves (probably more akin to a spontaneous cancer, only one that actually effects more than just the internal organs)

Okay, so then you have the vampire “types” that spawn from Purebloods. Purebloods are the eternally lived types who can actually activate or give the vampire gene in/to other people (but this “enslaves” the new vampire to the sire thanks to the sire’s blood being in the new vampire’s bloodstream–Kaname calls this “poison” in the story, and it allows Purebloods to exert their will within other vampires). Purebloods, of course can’t be killed by anything before the invention of the anti-vampire weapons. Next up are nobles, who are probably the offspring of Purebloods and other vampires with the least amount of “human” in them. Nobles age faster, aren’t as long lived, and can’t make servants, giving them more “human” qualities (likely another mutation of the gene). Then there are Level Cs, who are likely the offspring of, say, humans and nobles (such as Aidou and Yori), who would also have shorter lifespans than nobles and be susceptible to regular weapons. Then there are Level Ds, who are the “turned” former-human vampires such as Zero. Then at last there are Level Es, who are Level Ds who go rabid because their formerly human bodies can’t deal with the vampire gene being switched on.

We can assume vampires lower than Pureblood can be killed by normal means (the literature is a little…contradictory on this; Kaname’s past implies people needed the weapons to deal with the massive army of Level D servants, but since only hunters can wield anti-v weapons, and since Takuma kills a Level E back in arc 1, at some point it must have been discovered that Level Es–who are really just insane Level Ds–can be killed by regular weapons). Ruka worries about Kain in VKM 12 after a bomb going off, which means Hino’s probably establishing that anything less than a Pureblood can be killed by normal human means. Plus, nobles and lower are no real threat to humanity since they can’t turn humans–they can only be a parasitic nuisance by stealing blood. No biggie, you can deal with them like regular criminals. The problem, as Kaname and the Hooded Woman note, is the Purebloods.

Ultimately the “cure” is mostly necessary for the Purebloods, but once it’s created, it should be able to take care of any lesser form of the vampiric gene, because all vampires come from the same “source” generally speaking–the Progenitors who had the genes switched on in the first place.

In the past, Kaname begins performing experiments to see if he can do something about the Purebloods’ ability to regenerate and turn humans. His research takes him into two directions: 1.) a weapon to destroy the Purebloods period, and 2.) a potential cure for vampirism. His research on #2 goes nowhere during the Ancestor period, and he leaves his records in the Kuran Manor basement. Instead, he manages to get a breakthrough on the weapons. The breakthrough on the weapons requires the sacrifice of the blood and heart of the person who will become them.

The Hooded Woman steals the march on Kaname, throws her heart in the forge, and feeds the remainder of her blood to the Hunters (thus creating a line of men and women who carry her genetics within their bodies, although they’re still human). This Hunter line is what eventually takes us to the future where Kaien, Zero and Ichiru are born.

We know that the Hooded Woman’s genetics screw up the human birth process in women who carry hunter babies (whether the woman is hunter herself or human doesn’t matter). If that woman has twins, one twin will “eat” the other (this likely happens for vampires too). This is what is known as the “cursed twins.” Kaien is a completed one of these–a.k.a., a twin who ate his twin in the womb.

Zero on the other hand is different from Kaien. Zero is the “first” twin to not eat his twin in the womb. Ichiru is born, and the fragment is not completed. Kaname takes a canon interest in this during the course of the story. The stated “reason” for this is that he just wanted to create a weapon against the Purebloods–but uh, if that was the case, any hunter should do for that purpose. =P What was unique about Zero was that his genetics defeated the vampiric genes within the womb. That meant there was “something special about Zero.”

Obviously something backfired during the course of the original series, and probably with Zero turning vampire Kaname gave up on his research since he felt Zero would be useless if he wasn’t human. Instead he switched to just using Zero as a shield for Yuuki and a potential monster against the Purebloods later on. However, it’s important to note that Kaname had the Night Class (and Aidou) creating the first tablets that could curb vampires’ thirst, so he was still experimenting with ways to fix the vampire problem.

Last, and this is also relevant, we know that any vampire can be turned human again by a Pureblood’s sacrificing their life. Isaya’s wife did this to their child, Juri did this to Yuuki, Yuuki does this to Kaname. Hino’s world science is settled that you can “flip off” the gene, and you can also flip it back on via another Pureblood biting and feeding the formerly-vampire human and turning them back. The narrative basically is solidly established that this gene can be flipped on and off with the right sacrifice. Unfortunately, this only works on a one-to-one basis (Isaya’s wife can only turn one child, Juri can only turn Yuuki, Yuuki can only turn Kaname, etc.) It doesn’t work for a universal cure. This is where Zero, or a Zero/Yuuki combination, or Ren will come in. ;)

At the end of the original series, we have it confirmed that Aidou was able to complete Kaname’s research and create a drug that turns vampires human, which could not be used on Kaname due to his heart being too scorched from the forge. So we know for sure that some way, somehow, Aidou was able to complete the cure. The only question is “how.”

Cue events of the story, and here we are in the present time with Aidou’s research picking up where Kaname left off.

What we know about the current state of the research:

Aidou discovers that there was a “missing component” that wasn’t found during Kaname’s Ancestor experimentation days (because Kaname’s notes are from before the sacrifice of the Hooded Woman.

This “missing component” is Kaien’s special genetics. We know Kaien is a completed twin with the Hooded Woman’s genetics in him.

Now, here’s where Hino gets kinda vague–we don’t know exactly what Aidou needs from Kaien. Is it a blood sample? Is it a bone sample? Is it a heart sample? Who knows! Likely a blood sample will do for now, so we’ll just “assume” for the sake of simplicity that’s what Aidou’s working with.

We know Aidou’s research is currently failing to accomplish what he wants, which means likely whatever’s going in Kaien’s blood is a step in the right direction, but it’s not the key to the cure. This brings us back to Zero, remember, who in the womb was able to defeat the twin curse. This means Zero’s genetics likely were able to “switch off” the vampiric genes within him. Kind of like people who are born to HIV+ parents who end up immune to HIV. (Yay evolution!)

What are the potential ways the cure might come about and be created, based on what Hino’s set up?

Okay the first way is the easiest–we just need blood donations! This variant requires no sacrifice on anyone’s part; Aidou just needs the requisite amount of blood from Zero (or Ren, or Zero and Yuuki together, or Kaien), and mix it in the right quantity with whatever else he’s got in his experiment, and presto chango, we have a pill vampires can take that can switch “off” the vampiric genes.

However, we know from the forge business that most of Kaname’s research required some kind of magic “sacrifice” on the part of the person providing the solution. The “cure” may also require some sort of sacrifice, such as a specific organ like a heart or the brain in addition to the blood. Or it may require that the subject be dead so that the gene can’t be “switched back” once it’s in the body of the cured subjects. Hino has a bit of magic in this story, so this is where the science gets a little fuzzy. ;)

I had a very old theory (a long time ago, back when I thought Kaname was doing the cure solution in the original series) that you would need Zero to drink all the bloodlines of all the Purebloods in order to create the cure. (This was all based on an offhand comment Kaname makes in the 70s about feeling bad he has to “let” Zero drink from Sara). If this is the case, the cure may not be possible unless all “strains” of the genetic defect are accounted for within it–basically kind of like counteracting a bunch of viral mutations. If Zero’s blood only has, say Kurans and Toumas in it, his “cure” will only cure people who have Kuran and Touma blood in them–it won’t cure people with Shirabuki or Hiou or Shoutou blood in them. This would require Zero to have to drink from all the bloodlines, and then (probably) either sacrificed or just a blood bag for the cure.

So as far as I can tell, there are a couple routes to the cure which either lead to a full on sacrifice on the part of the person who’s the solution or to just a significant blood donation.

Phew that was long. I hope that was somewhat helpful, and that I didn’t confuse you even more. =) If not, I’m sorry! To be fair, there really isn’t too much to go on for how the cure would work; these are mostly just my speculations at this point based on Hino drawing Kaien into the fold for the cure solution. ;)

Feel free to drop by any time!

#vampire knight #vampire knight memories #vk cure theory #zero cure theory #vk science anon #guess i need a tag for the cure theory now

16 notes · View notes

reactingtosomething · 7 years

Text

Marchae Reacts to OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN

The Setup: All of us at Reacting to Something, and most of our Guest Reactors, met in the screenwriting MFA program at DePaul University, where comedy writer and quality human Brad Riddell -- whose credits include American Pie: Band Camp, Road Trip: Beer Pong, and Crooked Arrows, that last starring underrated former Superman and current Legend-of-Tomorrow Brandon Routh -- was Marchae, BOB, Adam, and Keely’s thesis advisor.

Last year, Riddell created web series Other People’s Children with Anna Maria Hozian, a quarter- and semi-finalist of the Motion Picture Academy’s prestigious Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship, and one of twelve women chosen for the first year of New York Women in Film and Television’s Writers Lab, funded by Meryl Streep. We can’t claim journalistic objectivity here, but I hope you still trust me when I say OPC is clever, charming, and filled with Chicago acting talent having lots of fun. I don’t have the pleasure of knowing Hozian, but I do know firsthand that Riddell runs a warm, humane set, and I like to think it shows. Below is noted comedy skeptic and ellipsis enthusiast Marchae with a closer look.

- Kris

If you’ve ever coached, mentored, or taught children and dealt with their parents like I have, then you will beyond a shadow of a doubt relate to hilarious new web series Other People’s Children. OPC is a fresh take on what happens when an eager, well-meaning teacher is confronted with some of the world’s most hilariously awkward and inappropriate parent-teacher conferences… EVER.

Created by DePaul University screenwriting professors Anna Maria Hozian and Brad Riddell, OPC does a stellar job of providing us with a relatable protagonist. Fresh-faced second grade teacher Ms. Margo Antler, portrayed by Atra Asdou (a veteran of Chicago’s Goodman and Steppenwolf Theaters, who’s also appeared on Chicago PD), serves as our guide for the school years parent-teach conferences. Asdou steals (well, owns) the show if for nothing else but her ability to convey what she’s thinking during these conferences without out so much as an utterance. Her facial expressions are BRILLIANT and land somewhere between a hilariously fraught cry for help and, “ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?” (A sensation that I can relate to on every. Single. Level).

Anna and Brad keep the comedic momentum going in all nine episodes of the web series and frankly, I laughed at each one. OUT LOUD **GASP** (the writers and regular readers of this blog will know that that is no easy task – I don’t generally find comedy, well… comedic). The reason OPC works for me is large in part because I’ve worked with all the children. ALL OF THEM ranging in age from 5 to 24. I’ve met and dealt with ALL of their parents. ALL OF THEM. I’ve watched the parenting styles of those parents and as a result, their children evolve over nearly twenty years, and in today’s culture we are confronted with a variety of parents: The tiger mom (and dad), the helicopter parent, the free-range parent, the parent who’s too busy to notice little Timmy is quickly turning into the star of the next episode of Criminal Minds, but in real life.

However, Brad and Anna don’t just serve us with a great lead but also with a great revolving door of parents. The cast is rich and recognizable if you’ve turned on your television or been privy to attending some of Chicago’s most dynamic theaters. In one of my favorite episodes, “The Book Exchange,” viewers can enjoy more physical comedy and quick dialogue with Karisa Bruin (writer and star of 2015 Cannes Short Film Corner selection Broke Juke) and Scott Morehead (a veteran of the Patrick Stewart-approved Improvised Shakespeare, who’s recurred on Chicago Med) as a pair of fundamentalist parents who find a book about evolution in their daughter’s backpack. We get the privilege of watching Ms. Antler try to negotiate what starts off as the parents not agreeing with the idea of evolution being taught to their daughter, to the couple announcing their divorce (????). The comedic chemistry between these three characters is amazing and makes the episode that much more fun to watch. In fact, I’d love to see the blooper reel! In fact, let me take it another step further, the comedic chemistry and timing in the entire series is IMPECCABLE.

Ed. note: In the interest of full disclosure, Karisa and Scott are not only both alumni of the storied iO Theater, but also dear friends of ours, and three of us have worked on shorts and webisodes with them.

Another favorite of mine, “Mythological Holiday Creatures,” featured Victor Holstein (Chicago Med, Chicago PD) and centered on his desire to allow his daughter to reveal the truth to her classmates about all of the holiday creatures we enjoy. I particularly like this episode not only because Holstein is hilarious but for the moment we get to see Ms. Antler get through to a parent in a way that is sort of an Aha moment. The episode is gentle and provides a bit of nostalgia to all of us as we think of the moment we finally realized that Santa might not be real (remind me to share the time I called NORAD last year for Christmas and got freaked out… he might actually still be real!).

Ed. note: MM we’re going to need you to explain this IMMEDIATELY in the group text or on Marco Polo.

Overall, Anna and Brad have outdone themselves with Other People’s Children. It’s cast perfectly, looks great, sounds great and is written perfectly! I love that the pair made me relive my own personal experiences working with children and their families and look back on those moments and laugh. I truly think that this web series is going somewhere and am glad I got to be among the first to see it!

Stay tuned for an interview with Anna and Brad in the not so distant future! In the meantime don’t take my word for it (although you should because if I’m saying it’s funny…it’s funny!) GO WATCH Other People’s Children...NOW!!

Ed. note: We’ll even make it really easy for you. Here’s their official YouTube playlist:

youtube

#Other People's Children #Anna Maria Hozian #Brad Riddell #parents #teachers #reaction #web series #Marchae #kids

3 notes · View notes

theliteraturenerd · 7 years

Text

This Year You Write Your Novel

Excerpt from This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley via Npr

Where to Begin

First words

Probably the highest hurdle for the novice novelist (and many seasoned veterans) is writing the first few words. That beginning is a very emotional moment for most of us.

There are all kinds of ways for people to cajole themselves into starting their book. Some get a special pen or a particular desk set at a window looking out on something beautiful. Others play a favorite piece of music, light a candle, burn incense, or set up some other ritual that makes them feel empowered and optimistic. If this is what you find you must do to write — well... okay. Rituals frighten me. I worry that if I need a special pen or desk or scent to start me out, what will happen when I lose that pen or I'm on vacation or a business trip and my window looks out on the city dump?

My only ritual for writing is that I do it every morning. I wake up and get to work. If I'm in a motel in Mobile — so be it. If I am up all night, and morning is two o'clock in the afternoon, well, that's okay too.

The only thing that matters is that you write, write, write. It doesn't have to be good writing. As a matter of fact, almost all first drafts are pretty bad. What matters is that you get down the words on the page or the screen — or into the tape recorder, if you work like that.

Your first sentence will start you out, but don't let it trip you up.

If you are the intuitive type, just sit down and start writing the novel:

Lamont had only enough cash to buy half a pint of whiskey at Bob's Liquor Emporium, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. Ragman was dead, and that was at least a quart's worth of mourning.

What does it mean? How should I know? Those were the first words that came out. I'm not going to worry about it; I'm just going to keep on writing until either something clicks or I lose momentum. If it doesn't seem to be working, I'll start with a new first sentence. I'll keep on like that until something strikes my fancy and I have enough of a handle on the story to continue.

The next morning I read what I wrote the day before, making only the most superficial changes, and then continue on my way. This is all you have to do. Sit down once a day to the novel and start working without internal criticism, without debilitating expectations, without the need to look at your words as if they were already printed and bound.

The beginning is only a draft. Drafts are imperfect by definition.

If you are the structured kind of writer, you might start by getting the outline of your novel down on paper. You know the story already, but now you have to get it down scene after scene, chapter after chapter.

Every day, you sit down, just like the intuitive writer, writing what it is you think your story is about. You discover new characters, add little thumbnail sketches of them; you make notes about the feeling you want to get here and there. You create the whole book out of bulleted phrases and sentences, paragraphs and maybe even flowcharts.

Finally the day will arrive when you come to the end of the outline. The story is set, at least theoretically, and now you must follow the road that the intuitive writer takes. You sit down with your outline somewhere in the room and start writing the prose. You begin with a sentence and keep on going. Maybe you will follow the plan assiduously; maybe you will be diverted onto another path that will lead you far from your original ideas.

Whatever the case, the work is the same. Some days will be rough, unbearable; some will be sublime. Pay no attention to these feelings. All you have to do is write your novel this year. Happy or sad, the story has to come out.

Stick to your schedule. Try to write a certain amount every day — let's say somewhere between 600 and 1,200 words. Do not labor over what's been written. Go over yesterday's work cursorily to reorient yourself, then move on. If you find at some point that you have lost the thread of your story, take a few days to reread all you have written, not with the intention of rewriting (though a little editing is unavoidable) but with the intention of refamiliarizing yourself with the entire work.

Using this method, you should have a first draft of the novel in about three months. It won't be publishable. It won't be pretty. It probably won't make logical sense. But none of that matters. What you will have in front of you is the heart of the book that you wish to write.

There is no greater moment in the true writer's life.

Your first draft is like a rich uncultivated field for the farmer: it is waiting for you to bring it into full bloom.

The midlands of the novel

The beginning of the novel is hard, but it's only a few sentences and you're off on your tale. The end is also difficult because it has to make sense out of all that's gone before. In the rewriting phase of your process, you may spend weeks worrying over a satisfying end point.

But despite all this, it is the middle of your novel, that great expanse of storytelling, that is the most difficult part. How, you ask yourself, do I keep the story going for all those hundreds of pages?

What you have to remember is that a novel is the one and the many. There is an overarching story, and then there are all the smaller narratives that come together to make up that larger tale.

So in the case of Bob, Ramona, and Lyle, we have many bases to cover before we can come to a satisfying conclusion. Ramona must come into sync (through conflict) with Bob and Lyle: the same is true for Lyle and his father. We also have the police, the criminals, the judicial system, and Bob's in-laws to understand. Each character and element involved in the circumstances of this tragedy must be plumbed for us to understand and feel the evolution of that character — especially Bob's.

Keeping these notions in mind, you will find that the novel in some important way writes itself. You know the characters; you know the circumstances — now you must make sure that the reader is aware of every factor that makes up the tale.

You will find yourself in the cell with more than one murderer. You will find yourself in Bob's and Lyle's memories of their lost family members. You will experience the police officer's exasperation with Bob's apparent cowardice. You will come to understand Bob's loveless life, and then you will see how, in a very different way, Ramona has always sought after love.

And with each one of these substories, more of the larger tale will be revealed. Is it a story of forgiveness or retribution, a slow death or a rebirth?

The midlands of your novel can be treacherous, but the map is in the beginning of your story, where the characters are introduced and the conflict occurs. How this conflict is resolved is the content of your tale. There are many strands that must come together into a whole cloth — this is your novel.

Research

There will be moments when you will want to dally over details. Do Georgia geese fly south in April or June? Is it physically possible for Bob Millar to hear the cult leader yelling from a mile away — even in a desert? Would the police arrest Trip if the women were allowed into the bar and were served by the owner?

All of these questions are valid. Before the book gets into print, you should have the answers. But many writers allow questions like these to help them procrastinate. They tell themselves that they can't go on until these questions are answered.

Nonsense. Put a red question mark next to the place where you have questions and get back to it later.

I almost always do the research for my books toward the end of the last draft. By that time I know the book is written and that my creative energies will not be sapped by needless fretting.

I have to admit that I'm not the best source when it comes to research. It's not one of my strong suits. I write books about places I've been and people I like to think I understand.

I've known writers who have spent years in libraries and foreign lands researching the topics of their novels. There's nothing I can say about that. If you need to go to South Africa for a month (or five years) to get the feeling for your book, then do it. When you come back and you're ready to write, my little how-to book will be waiting for you.

#write #writing #writer #writing advice #writing tips #writing tip #inspiration #work #writers

5 notes · View notes

danguy96 · 8 years

Text

In Light of Recent Events Regarding Magneto and HYDRA

So, apparently, as I’ve recently heard, in the new Secret Empire series of comic books, Magneto, a villain well-known to be Jewish, is apparently siding with HYDRA in this event. Now, normally, I would be pretty pissed off about this, and, truth be told, until more information comes out (though, I doubt that will change anything, I still think that without a good explanation, this is pretty stupid. However, on the other hand, as some of you may know, I’ve actually grown pretty sick and tired over the whole “everyone I don’t like and I disagree with is a Nazi/Nazi sympathizer” (this doesn’t mean I condone or like Nazis, it just means that I don’t like hysteria), so I’ve started to try to practice not reacting to every single thing by becoming hysterical, and I just wanted to state my thoughts on this and give a somewhat quick history of HYDRA’s in-universe backstory for both the movies and the comics, and why there’s more to it than it just being a “Nazi/Neo-Nazi organization”. I hope you all don’t mind my commentary (also, just to let you know, I also learned about this stuff from other articles and research, and I do sort of paraphrase in places, but these are still my own thoughts).

First off, I’m going to cover the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of HYDRA first, because that will take less time to explain than the long, convoluted history of it’s comic book counterpart. When they first appeared in the MCU, they were indeed once a part of the Third Reich’s advanced science branch, and received funding from them. However, the Red Skull recognized that in order to extend HYDRA’s influence and power, he and the organization would have to cut ties to Hitler and Nazi Germany (and in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, despite being a Nazi himself and adopting most of the Third Reich’s Social Darwinist theories into HYDRA, even the Red Skull kind of thought that Hitler’s “master race” theory was full of shit), and so, after acquiring the Tesseract/Cosmic Cube, Red Skull and HYDRA went rogue and planned to overthrow and betray Nazi Germany once the Allies had lost, and it’s quite possible they would be even worse than Hitler and his goons were if they got their way.

After the Red Skull’s defeat and the fall of Nazi Germany, however, HYDRA seemed to transcend their Nazi roots, though they still retained their totalitarian and authoritarian goals with the belief that humanity could not be trusted with it’s own freedom and must be subjugated for it’s own good. When looking back on the events of the war, Armin Zola concluded the whole “German master race” thing didn’t really work and also concluded Hitler’s methods were pretty dumb and inefficient, even for HYDRA’s standards. Though they gave up working for the Nazis after their fall, they did manage to extend HYDRA’s reach into the Soviet Union (something that would’ve been impossible if they remained full-on Nazis and all of the Nazis beliefs), and, secretly, into the U.S. and SHEILD. As I said before, the HYDRA in the MCU’s present-day doesn’t seem to care that much about what your genetics say or if you have “Aryan” ancestry, and is more focused on just world domination. Hell, they move away even further from them originally being just Nazis, when it’s revealed in Agents of SHIELD that the MCU version of HYDRA has roots that actually extend back centuries and to alien influence, and that the original Nazi organization was just the latest incarnation of the group, similar to it is in the comics.

Speaking of which, it’s about time I summed up the long history of HYDRA from the original comics, and I’ll start off with when it was first created in real life. HYDRA was originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in 1965, and first appeared in Strange Tales #135 (August 1965). While their inspirations from the Nazis was pretty blatantly evident in their early appearances (with them being under the leadership of guys who worked for the Nazi Party, Baron von Strucker and Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull), as various writers delved in their history and backstory Nazi connection sort of started to dwindle and become more vague until, even in early stories, the current incarnation of HYDRA was revealed as an organization which had roots in Imperial Japan. True, they worked alongside the Nazis during WWII, but they’ve always sort of had their own agenda. Their last remaining connection to outright Nazism, Baron von Strucker, was even shown to be a fugitive who allied his version of HYDRA with Germany's Third Reich in a grab for power before betraying them. Fleeing with the Red Skull, Strucker quickly abandoned Schmidt to join forces with a Japanese criminal organization also using the HYDRA name, because even he thought Red Skull was a monster. Though Strucker remained a constant part of Hydra until recent years, his ideology became less about Aryan supremacy and more about his own thirst for power. Later stories further retconned and clarified Strucker’s origins and motivations, placing him as the head of Hydra locked in a war with S.H.I.E.L.D. and other super-spy groups. The elements of totalitarianism, authoritarianism, and fascism still remained at Hydra’s core, but it sort of really wasn’t driven by white supremacy and racial hatred that much anymore.

But Hydra as a Japanese crime syndicate isn’t where the organization’s story begins, because in recent additions to HYDRA’s backstory, it turns out the group’s history spans over millions of years, including the Third Dynasty of Egypt, and has alien origins. According to Jonathan Hickman's S.H.I.E.L.D. mini-series, which explored the secret history of the Marvel Universe (for better or worse), Hydra’s roots go back to before humans evolved, when a Before the evolution of mankind, a cabal of immortal hooded reptilian aliens came to Earth, planning to start a legacy of evil (it’s comic books, just roll with it). Millions of years later, they corrupted an Asian secret society of geniuses known as the Brotherhood of the Spear. They were opposed by a group called “The Order of the Shield” (get it, SHIELD?). Over the centuries, the Order of the Spear grew and changed, eventually becoming HYDRA – an organization that was revived in the early 20th Century in Imperialist Japan with ideals based on world domination inherited from their ancient alien masters. They also included the real life Cathari Sect and the real life Thule Society, which is where the Nazis came into the picture. You see, after the end of World War II, the Nazi sub-group of HYDRA, funded by the Thule Society, was brought into the main HYDRA fold, thus explaining how the likes Baron von Strucker and the Red Skull came to join and lead their ranks.

Currently in comic books, Hydra has splintered into several separate factions , but there are two main groups: one led by Baron Zemo, who has been trying to control what’s left of the old HYDRA, and leading a much more Darwinist version of the secret society based on survival of whomever HYDRA deems the fittest to live (usually its own members) - and one being built from the ground up, led by the Red Skull, who has returned to Nazi beliefs, and, for the first time in modern continuity, has introduced a philosophy of neo-Nazism and white supremacy into HYDRA (a move which I feel was supposed to be “topical” and “relevant”, but comes off as preachy and forced, as well as a move which over-simplified and misrepresented certain issues, something which Marvel has been terribly guilty of over the past few years).

So, to answer, “Is HYDRA a Nazi organization?” Well, the answer is yes, and no. While it is clear that HYDRA’s original real world roots are planted in the idea of neo-Nazi terrorists, for a good portion of their history, they’ve also served the role as your run-of-the-mill supervillain terrorist organization, associating themselves with all kinds of tyrants and criminals throughout history, usually with whatever is considered a threat in real life at the time of when the story is written.

Now, going back to Magneto, do I think it’s a good move for him to join HYDRA? Of course I fucking don’t! Even if they’re not technically a Nazi organization anymore, he’d still hate their guts for associating with the Nazis, and he’d especially hate the like of the Red Skull. However, the important thing to remember is that while Magneto is a Holocaust survivor and a tragic figure, he’s also a character who has sought out the domination and/or extermination of humans several times in the past, as he is meant to show that if we allow ourselves to be consumed with hate and revenge, we end up being no better than the people we hate. Yes, he’s had a couple of changes of heart over the years, but still, it’s important to note that Magneto is no saint, either, even if isn’t as bad as the Red Skull (at least in the 616 universe). Still, I don’t think that Magneto would join HYDRA unless there was a reason, like him getting something out of it (though, I do think he would be wary in case they planned to double cross him), or if he was forced to do it for some reason, or if he was mind controlled, the last of which may possibly be the case (Captain America was basically brainwashed into thinking he’s a HYDRA sleeper agent, so I’m not gonna rule out the possibility of that being the big “twist”). Though, something to note is that the brainwashed Cap is currently planning with Baron Zemo to kill Red Skull and depose him from HYDRA (I take it that Zemo probably doesn’t really like how Red Skull is trying to bring back full-on Nazi ideology into HYDRA, even if they fascist terrorists, at least I assume/head-canon that, because it makes the books a tiny bit more tolerable, but not by much), and that Secret Empire looks like the result of his success in that endeavor, so one of my predictions is a combination of brainwashing to bring Magneto into the group, as well as him being a part of the anti-Red Skull faction.

The one thing I’m shocked at is that I’m probably one of the few people who sees it less as “anti-Semitism” (and believe me, anti-Semitism is a problem, but I don’t looking for it everywhere I see), and more for what it really is; a cheap gimmick made to make people talk about it, even when the story itself hasn’t been released yet. Marvel wants this kind of reaction. They want dozens of articles, blog posts, tweets, and videos fueled by anger and controversy, just like they wanted this reaction from the Hydra!Cap fiasco. If they can’t sell comics by promoting them, then they decide to sell them and get people to talk about them based on controversy. I bet you that when the actual story comes out, it’s gonna end up being one of those things explained away with “it was brainwashing/magic/whatever”. I wasn’t surprised when it turned out to be the case with Hydra!Cap, and I’m not gonna be surprised if that it turns out to be the case with Hydra!Magneto.

I feel the best way to “protest” this is to not give in to this obvious publicity stunt like Marvel wants, and just not talk about and give it no attention when the story actually does come out, and then wait until the dust has settled to talk about. Speaking of which, as i said before, this outrage is sparking before the story even officially comes out or is even finished, and while I did just say that we shouldn’t give attention or make any puff pieces about it until the story arc is over with, I still say we should wait until the actual story comes and we learn everything about it (for better or worse), before critiquing it. When it finally does come out and we a whole lot more about it, then we can complain for (hopefully) good and/or justifiable reasons.

I’m sorry that this was long as shit, because I originally didn’t mean it to be like this long. I just really, really get annoyed when people simplify HYDRA as a “nazi/neo-Nazi organization”, because that just show signs of either not knowing a good amount of comic book history, or showing that you don’t actually read comics. I’m not condoning or “apologizing” for Nazism or white supremacism in any way, it’s just that I’m giant nerd who doesn’t like it when people make glaring mistakes and are ignorant of comic book history. Though, to be fair, it is a common misconception, made by both casual fans and even writers who don’t know comic history (something which they definitely should learn), but it still grind my gears when anyone makes any sort of big mistake regarding comic books (just see the numerous times I had to remind people that Harley Quinn isn’t exactly an innocent, quirky little cinnamon roll, when especially after she blows up children with bombs).

113 notes · View notes

thisiswhatwereupagainst · 8 years

Text

“Mutant Empire: Siege” Ch 5 & 6

Okay guys, here's my notes for Chapter Five and Six of “Siege” the first book in the “Mutant Empire” triology! We get some interesting Charles/Erik debate stuff, reflection on the reality of how relationships are basically all sacrified for the X-Men, some Acolytes team dynamics, and MILAN!

MILAN IS SO ADORABLE OMFG I LOVE HIM SO MUCH especially because the way he acts with Magneto is the way I've always written Anne Marie with Magneto? I want to put him with the first-gen Acolytes so he can fanboy with Anne Marie about THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR MAGNETO and so Delgado can protect him <3 This is SUPER LONG so it’s under a cut

CHAPTER FIVE This chapter is about the X-Men, not the Acolytes, so no Magneto or Milan, but here's a few bits I thought worth noting

“Where Dr. Henry P. McCoy could forget, just for a moment, that he was a member of that elite race known as homo sapiens superior.” Elite race seems a....poor word choice. But this kinda comes back to what I talked to you two about before, about how I think certain forms of bigotry are actually MORE likely among mutants (ableism, scientific racism, etc.) because so much of mutant identity and the way mutants are understood both by society and themselves is based around being the “next step of human evolution” and being able to do things other people can't, etc.

“Finally, Bobby looked over at him, raised eyebrows in place of an actual shrug. His body had filled out from the time he'd joined the X-Men as a teenager. These days he was muscular and fit. But Hank figured that tousled brown hair and open, genuinely handsome features would make him look like a college boy forever.” Is...is Hank kinda gay for Bobby here? I didn't think straight guys thought about other guys bodies filling out with muscle or having handsome features. But then again, straight girls get to straight up compliment other girls on their boobs and it's not gay, so maybe I'm just falling victim to the homophobic mindset that guys can never ever EVER notice anything attractive about another guy or it's TOTALLY HOMO which is not something I support. Normalize bros saying their bros look nice today! You go novel! Anyway, Bobby has pointed out that they're fighting for their future and their children and all that, but the reality is that none of them except Jean and Scott have been able to have a consistent relationship that lasts more than a year, so most likely none of them actually will ever have children. Deep, man. I mean, I guess if you wanted to go all selfless hero you could say “yeah but other children still matter!” but the fact is, they have basically given up their lives for this. Wolverine tells Storm he wants to be on her X-team and not Scott's because Scott at least sort of expects Wolverine to call him boss, whereas being called “boss” surprises Storm every time. Okay, I'm calling bullshit, no way SCOTT would expect LOGAN to call him boss, whereas Storm is THE BOSS OF ALL BOSSES ok, this queen led a team of X-Men at the same time she was leader of the Morlocks at the same time she was White KING of the Hellfire Club. And this is when SHE DIDN'T HAVE HER POWERS. She is THE boss. I am just gonna say Logan is trying to suck up to her. BECAUSE SHE'S THE BOSS! “Attention X-Men. This is Colonel Tomko, United States Army. You are trespassing at a top-secret federal facility. Throw down your weapons and surrender or you will be fired upon.” “Seem a little anxious to shoot a couple mutants, don't they?” Uh, no, Wolverine, I think it's that you're a group of known vigilantes with a history of leaving a whole lot of destruction, trespassing at a top-secret government facility, and carrying A HUGE PLASMA RIFLE. Like I feel like the fact they are giving the X-Men warning here proves they'd rather NOT open fire, because like...look what happens to actual minorities when they encounter racist government authorities while NOT trespassing and NOT carrying weapons and NOT known criminals? Like I feel like this warning would have been just as easily issued to a bunch of humans, especially if said humans were a vigilante group commonly believed to be terrorists by the public and also toting A BIG FUCKING GUN like sell me on this 'feared and hated' thing a bit better please. I...have a hunch this writer might be a white dude, if he thinks this is what constitutes super-obvious out-of-bounds bigotry from government authority towards a minority seen as dangerous.

CHAPTER SIX Ok, here's where we get Magneto and Milan and the Acolytes! It starts out with some stuff about Charles and Erik, and I know you guys are hella down for that, so here's the bigass quote because I love you enough to type it all out: “Xavier would see the light at last. That was important to Magneto. Once, they had been the best of friends, but their divergent dreams tore them apart. Ever the idealist, Charles would argue with him hour after hour, day after day, until finally Magneto realized he must act to make his dream real, rather than simply debate its finer points. The last time they had parted as friends, at peace with one another, the argument had reached new heights. In the heat of the Israeli summer, desert sand flying in the sweltering wind, bodies baking inside uncomfortable clothing as their Jeep bounced on rutted unpaved roads, their already-tattered friendship was torn asunder. Finally, Magneto had insisted that Charles recognized the primary flaw in his philosophy. “And what might that be?” Charles asked, eyes narrowing at this new approach to the debate. “It's so obvious, Charles,” Magneto had answered, “You see it around you every day, in every newspaper, in every city. It's something I learned in war that you have yet to accept. Human society needs someone to hate. There must be a bottom rung on the ladder. Right now, mutants are it, and I don't see anyone else climbing up after us. Therefore, as long as mutant society exists in its current form, humans will hate and fear mutants.” Charles was quiet for a long time after that, his face darkened by the shadow of his consternation. When he met Magneto's gaze again, he seemed unsettled, yet determined. “There are certainly humans who need to hate,” Charles began, “But I do not believe that is true of humanity as a whole. Humans and mutants can live in peace, Magnus. I will never believe otherwise. Never.” That stubborn quality had blinded Charles from the beginning, and Magneto believed that it still did. But not for long. In one day, he would teach Charles Xavier what he not been able to in all the long years since they had first met. Today.” I think this is really interesting for two reason. The minor reason is that the “humans need someone to hate” isn't something I've seen Magneto say before (though that could be because I've read far less of him than you, Hex) Like I feel like he's said things that are CLOSE but not this specific. The bigger thing, though, is that this points out what a lot of people miss in fandom in my opinion, that Charles is as adamant in his stance as Magneto is in his. He gets painted a lot as the soft and yielding one who compromises, but he's NOT. He does NOT compromise with Magneto one little bit, he is NOT open to Magneto's ideas, and you know what, GOOD, he shouldn't be. But I feel like that tends to get forgotten and Magneto is the only one people talk about as being hubristic in his belief he's absolutely right, even though Xavier is doing the same thing. Also, even though I really like this, I have to point out that at this point in the timeline...the claim that mutants are the bottom rung really would not apply? Mutants were NOT really cropping up enough to be noticed by the public at that point in time, Magneto and Xavier were the first of their kind each other had met, the whole “mutants as a persecuted minority” thing didn't start till the 1980s. Magneto's belief back then, if I recall right, is supposed to be that mutants will BECOME treated like other minorities, not that they already ARE. Now on to Milan, my favorite part/person. He's still mentally hooked up to a computer to broadcast a jamming signal so the US military's radios don't work (Magneto and the Acolytes have taken over the military base where the Sentinels are kept) while Magneto's magnetic force shield (MAGNETS ARE MAGIC I GUESS) keeps them out. Milan's consciousness is “completely integrated into the computer core” and the poor baby is totally slumped over like a corpse. We get a POV switch to Amelia Voght. In case you don't know who that is, Jon, she's a mutant woman (a teleporter, precisely) who is not only an Acolyte, but was Xavier's girlfriend when he founded the X-Men. But she considered that to be “asking for trouble” and wanted to live a normal life, so she left him (and he tried to MIND-CONTROL HER INTO STOPPING) It's not clear exactly what happened in her life later, but apparently she lost her family and everything else to humans, according to her, and she decided that, also according to her, since every decision she made was bad, she'd let someone else do it. But she was always one of the questioning, less hateful Acolytes despite this claim she WANTED someone else to think for her. Oh, and she's the poor lady that Fabian tried to shove in his would-be harem. I would like to note he's still dead at the time this novel takes place, and while I would like to see him, I am glad for Amelia's sake that his skeevy self isn't around. Anyway, we get this infodump on her past, and this interesting bit gets said: “When he began to build the foundations for the X-Men, their relationship became...well, competition was the only word she could think of. If she had wanted to continue her relationship with Xavier, she would have had to throw herself wholly into his dreams for the X-Men.” I guess this is something I technically knew, but never thought about: That anyone romantically involved with Xavier basically has to be involved with his dream too. They're inseparable. I'd say the same is true of Magneto too except he does end up having a tryst or two where that doesn't apply, like with Lee Forrester, but then again I think that was when he wasn't a villain? I can't remember. But I think this also goes back to what Bobby and Beast were talking about, about how they probably won't ever have kids and a family and all. And canon reflects this. Not only do a lot of superhero relationships not last, but if one of the parties is NOT a superhero, they usually DIE. I guess this doesn't really come up in RP a lot because everybody is playing a member of the X-Men or Brotherhood or similar, no civilians, but, yeah. (Or civilians who can just...somehow be buddy-pals with bad guys and never had it affect them or think twice about these people being CRIMINALS >>) Also just because Amelia questions the violence and methods of the anti-human Acolytes, we're reminded she also thinks that the X-Men are “hopeless fools all, seduced by romanticism and wallowing in ignorance” and that she will be “happy to teach them the error of their ways.” Magneto tells Amelia to watch her back in battle around Carmella Unuscione, and Amelia thinks how she expects that from Unuscione but is surprised Magneto would “deign” to mention it. For some reason, this makes her worry he has romantic interest in her. I don't pretend to understand the leap that she's making here. She then wonders if he's trying to manipulate a confrontation between her and Unuscione, which makes slightly more sense at least. Just slightly. As for what Magneto is thinking, we get back to his POV, and it's neither. He is confident that Amelia can handle herself against Carmella, but he believes the women are on a “collision course” for each other's throats and he doesn't want to see their conflict undermine the “Empire Agenda” which is what his plot is called. We never see any sign of this dymanic between Amelia and Carmella in the comics, nor any backstabbing traits from Carmella, which is why I really enjoy these novels---the comics don't have time to give a lot of development to the personalities and team dynamics to the bad guys, it's hard enough working that in with the good guys in a 25-page issue, but the novels frequently take time to develop this stuff even for the baddies that don't usually get it. Milan 'wakes up' to tell Magneto that “We're ready, My Lord” and Magneto thinks he looks like he's dying and he's all sweaty but he seems super pleased at Doing A Good and dgkgksfkg I JUST LOVE HIM SO MUUUUCH and he says all that's needed to reprogram the Sentinels now is to enter Magneto's password. “For a moment, Magneto wished he did not have to disappoint one of his most faithful Acolytes, but there was no avoiding it.” Oh no! What is Magneto about to do?! Magneto: “I'm sorry, Milan, but I must take over from here.” Milan: “My Lord? Have I offended you somehow, Lord? What may I do to salve whatever wrong I have produced. Surely, there must be...” Magneto: “Please, Milan, be still. You have done no wrong.” OH NO, THIS PRECIOUS ANXIOUS NERD HE THINKS HE DID A BAD BECAUSE MAGNETO IS TAKING OVER THE REST OF THE JOB

LOVE HIIIIM Anyway, Mags puts in his password (“Empire”) and identifies himself as “Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, called Magneto, White King of the Hellfire Club” and we learn that Shaw programmed this all in for him while he was with the Hellfire Club in the 1980s. So Magneto not only KNEW that Shaw had Sentinels, Shaw set things up for Magneto to use them! Holy shit, HOW GOOD WAS THE MAGNET DICK, SHAW?! Magneto has to put his fingers down to scan for fingerprints and cut off a swatch of skin for genetic analysis to confirm it's him (smart move, Shaw, that keeps out shapeshifters) and when it does, Magneto winces, and: “My Lord, you are in pain,” Milan said, and Magneto almost laughed at the childlike wonder in the man. Though it was possible devout piety and childlike wonder were too often confused.” OH MY GOD HE -IS- ANNE MARIE ANNE MARIE IS THE GIRL JOCK, MILAN IS THE BOY NERD, THEY ARE THE RULE 63 VERSIONS OF EACH OTHER CLEARLY SRSLY THIS IS JUST LIKE HOW I WRITE ANNE MARIE WITH MAGS AND IT MAKES ME LOVE HIM I WOULD LOVE HIM ANYWAY ALL THE LOVE FOR MILAN

Cut to some government people. Specifically Valerie Cooper and Henry Gyrich. These are long-standing canon characters, and long story short, Cooper is on the side of mutants and Gyrich is not. But bigot though he might be, GYRICH IS CLEARLY SMART because I don't think ANYONE else has thought of this in the X-series before: “Then we can only assume, as I have long believed that Professor Xavier is directly tied to the X-Men.”

GASP! Val Cooper, who knows that's indeed the case, tells Gyrich basically pssh no, we just know that Xavier is friendly with the Beast (whose identity is apparently public? I guess because he was a member of the Avengers and Defenders for awhile) and Beast has been seen with the X-Men before, so probably Xavier passed on such and so info to Beast who passed it on to the X-Men. ...I feel like this is MORE support for Gyrich's guess, not less. But she continues she finds even this idea unlikely because Xavier has too much to lose in terms of support for mutant rights if he did something to make himself so unfavorable to the current administration. Yup, that's Professor Xavier, never puts a toe out of line, perfectly respectable law-abiding human guy! ;)

Surprisingly, Gyrich agrees with her, but now he thinks it's the X-Men who took over the facility (the one Magneto has taken over) Whoops. Back to Milan and beating himself up immediately when Magneto says he needs to take over, this reminds me of when he does that in the comics too. Like when he couldn’t get everything from Moira’s head that they needed all at once when he was trying to digitally reroute her memories on to the computer to get info they needed, he said that he felt like he had failed his brethren. Amazingly, it was FABIAN who comforted him, saying that,“You’ve done nothing wrong, Milan. The task you set yourself up for was monumental. Using your mutant ability to psionically transfer mental impulses into electromagnetic video impulses is difficult to apply under the best of circumstances. Having to fight this human’s formidable will makes it nearly impossible. I am confident that wherever Magnus is, our true lord and master has blessed you for your efforts.” AW, FABIAN Seriously, I really love this moment, not because I think Fabian has a secret soft side or something but because showing him being kind and encouraging to the Acolytes makes his manipulation and control of them more believable. If an abusive person is abusive and awful 24/7 all the time, nobody would get near them, but true abusers know how to balance the carrot with the stick. It’s ESPECIALLY common with cult leaders; they recruit with the carrot, and once you’re deep in and dependent on them, they can bring out the stick over and over, but the carrot still makes an appearance now and then so you have REASON to try and want to please them. Fabian showing that he values and appreciates the gifts and efforts of his Acolytes (or rather, acting like he does) is probably something they needed tremendously in their lives when he first approaches them, as likely no one else saw anything good about them being mutants, and that’s what enabled him to get them to stay around long enough for him to start showing his tyrannical dickbag side. Sure, he might be awful—but if they left him, they would be going to an even worse world, one that was ALWAYS awful to them, unlike Fabian, who, clearly, was not. I also notice that when he’s harsh on the Acolytes, it’s usually only on an individual to individual basis, when he’s alone with just one of them, so they probably don’t realize they’re ALL being abused, versus that they alone are being singled out like they probably think, so they’re less likely to think there’s a chance of uniting against him. But anyway, I’m getting off-topic, this is about MILAN, not Fabian. And Milan clearly wants to be useful SO BAD and he beats himself up over minor things/acts like he failed just because he didn’t 100% flawlessly succeed, and I just AW BABY especially since we see his teammates being jerks to him too. For instance, when the Acolytes were looking for Cable in the comics, Milan said that the base they were searching for him in was jamming his power, so he couldn’t use it to pick up any signs of Cable, and his teammate Javitz said “So you’re even more useless than usual.” SO MEAN, JAVITZ! WE CAN’T ALL BE TEN FEET TALL! So yeah, he gets ribbed, his powers aren’t good for fighting, maybe that’s why he stays buff, so he won’t be the scrawny nerd cliche (yes, I’m reaching to explain 90s-art anatomy, because this dork child is drawn all big and buff like every man in the 1990s) But I would just like to point out that he clearly has other talents! Milan, along with Joanna “Frenzy” Cargill and Carmella Unuscione, were the ones who found Simon “Neophyte” Hall, a young mutant who had holed himself up in a church, and they spent two days talking him out. This is just a hunch, but given the aggressive, downright mean personalities of Frenzy and Carmella, I suspect that it was Milan who did a lot of the actual coaxing, with the ladies just there to protect him in case this young mutant had dangerous abilities. Likewise, this is also just a hunch, but given how upset Milan was at Neophyte “betraying” the Acolytes later, I also wonder if he didn’t bond with him afterward, maybe feel responsible for him. It would make sense, with Neophyte being younger and someone he had personally brought into the fold at such a vulnerable point in the boy’s life. I like to imagine that Neophyte looked up these three Acolytes, seeing Frenzy and Carmella as the terrifying badasses they are, and Milan more as a kindred spirit cool big brother. Which would also be nice for Milan, since, again, it seems like the more aggressively-powered Acolytes looked down on him. I love Milan guys I love him so much ;A;

#xmen #x men #X men novels #francisco milan #mutant empire

2 notes · View notes

clubofinfo · 6 years

Text

Expert: Of genocide one thing becomes clear: the perpetrators are usually governments. The perpetrators may be cliques within the government, using the government, but the organization of such cataclysmic events is beyond the skills of amateurs. So it isn’t a surprise that the domain of preventing genocides is as tightly controlled as the mechanisms of punishment. A control not entirely foreseen by the conceptual author, Raphael Lemkin, was written-into the Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide, with the support of countries which had risen to power through colonialism. It is the word “intent” as in “intent to destroy”, which is now considered a requirement, if any attempt to destroy a “national, racial, ethnical or religious” group of people is to be considered a genocide. The mass killing has to provably have the intention of destroying one of these groups protected by the Convention. The vagaries of “intent” and the difficulties of ever proving “intention” deep within a perpetrator’s mind is a domain claimed by the government’s policy makers, academics, inevitably psychologists, and the judiciary, who keep the Convention on Genocide basically out of the hands of the people. The people are universally the victims. To move beyond this control we might put aside nationalism and look at governments on one hand, and peoples on the other as not always having the same interests. The emergency brake of puzzlement about “intent” is customarily used to obstruct application of the Convention on Genocide. It’s the standard way genocidal governments seek to avoid responsibility for their actions. Still we recognize the horror of a genocide as it occurs, which is partly that we are not doing something to stop it. For example, can the military forces of North American countries bomb the civilian water supply of Iraq, her civilian infrastructure, entire cities, museums, bomb the country “back into the stone age,” without intention to destroy the national group? Civilian casualties were falsely referred to as “collateral damage.” This assumed lack of intention spares our leaders and ourselves but is sophistry. Intention is established by repetition with a similar result each time leading to the inevitable mass civilian deaths. North Americans find the meaning of “intention” difficult. Too many dead Aboriginals, slaves, prisoners of our histories clogging our minds, never dealt with, never admitted. Denying the people their history leaves no chance for rehabilitation. The U.S. having signed and after forty years ratified the Convention on Genocide presents objections as “Reservations and Declarations”1 which specifically underscore the need for intent to be present in the destruction of a group, if it’s to be considered genocide. The Convention has already limited its own applicability to groups. It fails to specifically protect gender based and sexuality based groups, as well as the aged, the sick, ableist and groups defined by genetic traits, as well as groups defined by mental health, criminal records, or prisoners as a group. These are all vulnerable to genocide-like actions by fascist states as shown in the German Third Reich’s practices. A contemporary Convention on Genocide should include them.2 The Convention on Genocide as it appeared in 1948 was a very narrowly conceived document in one sense: it addressed the safety of the powerful victim groups of Hitler’s inhumane policies while ignoring less powerful victim groups, which in many cases continue to be victimized. Understanding #4″ of the U.S. objections to the Convention prepares the U.S. for wars such as the destruction of Iraq by armed force. It’s very simple, it says: “4. That acts in the course of armed conflicts committed without the specific intent required by article II are not sufficient to constitute genocide as defined by this Convention” (Article II is where the Convention prohibits “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group…). What could be interpreted at the diplomatic level as a threat to other countries, of war without quarter, possibly to assure their cooperation, was in Iraq a threat fulfilled. Through “Understanding #4” the U.S. could excuse itself from obligation at international courts as long as it controls the courts or interpretation of the law. Not all countries agree that the U.S. can define applicability of the Convention on Genocide to itself, which the U.S. attempts in “Reservation #1” and “Understanding #5.” The Convention is considered currently applicable to actions in all countries signatory to the Convention. Under the World Court this could include the U.S., willing or not, with applicability a political issue not reliant on any statute of limitations. Because of the U.S. extreme insistence on the element of “intent” (also specified in “Understanding #1”), as necessary to genocide, the interpretation of the Convention became slightly skewed. The difficulty rises from an awareness which keeps asserting itself, that intent is very hard to prove. It becomes harder as perpetrators learn to disguise their intentions to avoid eventual prosecution. And harder as those who struggle to be moral, repress and twist their own motives to avoid the guilt of their own actions or inaction. Protected from application of the Convention by the U.S. withdrawal from International Criminal Court U.S. writers and academics write more freely about genocides. Karen Goldsmith’s work, “The Issue of Intent in the Genocide Convention”3 discusses this within academic traditions, aware of attempts historically to trap interpretation of the Convention into serving the powerful. She encourages a more relaxed approach. Instead of acceding to an academic discussion of intention which has allowed the confusion of whether an instance of insane mass murder is a genocide or not, wouldn’t it be more wise to cede a situation to the laws against genocide without immediate consideration of the issue of intent? It may be arrogant to ever suppose to know or understand what happens in another person’s mind. It may take a long time to identify a pattern of behaviour which might prove intent through points of evidence. Realizing that the Convention attempts to shield a number of groups deserving of its protection, logically one would assign the word genocide to situations where one group as defined, is being repetitively killed or deprived of necessities or of lives for its children. It is certainly genocide to its victims. To suggest the academic or professional jurist’s difficulty with this I recommend some consideration of the work of Kai Ambos4 who is not only an academic (professor of international criminal law) but has served as a district judge and a judge at the International Court of Justice (at the Hague), and is comfortable with the differences available in “intent to destroy.” Is this general intent and knowledge of what one is doing, or a “surplus” of intention, an ulterior intention which exceeds the persecution of a group, a “special” intention? While the study of projected meanings presents its own kind of hell of devils dancing on the head of a pin, it makes no difference at all to the victims, their family, and village slaughtered most probably by an array of expensive modern technology. To ascertain guilt by identifying precisely the perpetrator’s state of mind is the result of an evolution in response to the Convention’s prohibition. It is also a distraction from what is moral. Or a distraction from the pain of confronting human nature. ‘Legalese,’ by removing a subject from day to day life and placing it in a domain which is not necessarily ruled by love, may spare the judges of humanity’s excesses suffering and an ongoing PTSD syndrome. But people at large seem to be moving beyond “dolus generalis” and “dolus specialis” as categorizations of kinds of intent to what is more simply expressed and noted by both Ambos and Goldsmith: Article 30 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The ICC holds the Convention on Genocide within its jurisdiction since one of the Court’s purposes is to address the crime of genocide. Therefore the ICC’s interpretation of the Convention can solve years of puzzlement created by patriotic lawyers: Article 30 Mental Element 1. Unless otherwise provided, a person shall be criminally responsible and liable for punishment for a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court only if the material elements are committed with intent and knowledge. 2. For the purposes of this article, a person has intent where: (a) In relation to conduct, that person means to engage in the conduct; (b) in relation to a consequence, that person means to cause that consequence or is aware that it will occur in the ordinary course of events. 3. For the purposes of this article, “knowledge” means awareness that a circumstance exists or a consequence will occur in the ordinary course of sequence or events. “Know” and “knowingly” shall be construed accordingly. The Rome Statute’s definitions end run much of the smokescreen available in discussions of general intention versus special intention. This makes it much easier for countries subscribing to the International Criminal Court to address instances of genocide. Because the path forward is in a way clear to address and consider instances of genocide currently in motion why haven’t the world nations attempted to honour their commitment to the Convention which demands some response when a genocide occurs? Because a reader might not agree with one example I’ll point out four salient instances where the situation could be declared genocide by the courts: 1. The peoples of the The Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) are being destroyed in the battle for Congo’s resources, by foreign interests. 2. Palestinians, particularly of Gaza, are being destroyed as a national and as a religious group by the Zionist government in Israel. 3. In Myanmar the Buddhist Army found few impediments to its attempted destruction of the Muslim Rohingya people. Signatory governments are complicit through inaction. 4. Indigenous peoples of Canada are subjected to extreme conditions of life, health and water by the Government over a long period of time. The government’s inability to move beyond its denial, or educate Canadians to their full rights and responsibilities under human rights law can be equated with an attempt to destroy the victim group. Any United Nations intervention to directly counter a genocide in progress would, I think, have to pass through the Security Council for approval, and could meet a U.S. veto. The attempts to effect the Convention on Genocide have been obstructed by: 1. The difficulty of proving intent as a condition required for identifying a genocide. 2. Likely obstruction at the Security Council where the political and financial interests of one of its members can veto intervention. 3. Lack of public knowledge and misinformation campaigns (demonization of a targeted victim group’s leader). 4. National reluctance to identify genocide since under law a signatory nation is required to intervene. 5. The fact that genocides are almost exclusively effected by governments and the Convention on Genocide can only be effected by governments or possibly large international organizations. While genocides are waged for national or corporate purpose by governments the Convention on genocide is a mechanism of protest, alleviation, intervention, at the service only of governments. In areas where the genocide might be of gain to many governments it is less likely that the Convention will be brought into play. Note, for example, NATO’s attempt to force the overthrow of Syria’s leadership by making conditions of life unbearable for Syria’s people. This became a concerted military effort by France, England, the U.S., Turkey, Israel and others. The resulting partial destruction of the national group was an intended genocide with a deflection of its purpose by a “civil war” waged by a minority assuming responsibility for a rebellion initiated by the foreign powers who provided funding. There are also policies which many governments can agree on and ignore when they share the guilt. A current example is the forcible transfer of children as a way of managing migrants and asylum seekers entering the U.S.. While this isn’t accompanied by an intention to destroy a portion of a “national, ethnical, racial or religious group” it could be if the U.S. were considered responsible for destruction of the refugee’s country of origin. Both Canada and the U.K. separate children from their families when officials consider it in the “best interests of the child.” The issue has stronger interface in the area of transferring children to a country’s social services and the practices of ‘sponsoring’ the children of one protected group, with sponsors outside that group. To address directly our own genocide defenses in North America: these almost exclusively rest with organizations funded by the government, at the service of government policy, staffed by academics with strong ties to government, or who have worked for the government, or will work for the government. Or who have government loans, or grants. The organizations’ political positions accommodate government policies, despite the innate confusion in identifying genocides, previously discussed here. It’s unlikely that one will find in the active agendas of the genocide related NGOs any protests or any actions hampering government policy. This is particularly notable in the controversial area of Israel’s ongoing persecution of Palestinians. If the issue may be considered within the multi-million dollar funded structure of the enterprise, or studied in a course from the hosting university, one might find that the well known NGOs are not usually allies in struggles to save the peoples oppressed criminally by the NGO’s host governments or its allies. A run down of these specific non-governmental organizations, funded through service to the government either overtly or covertly, is avoided because much of what they accomplish does address the needs of victim groups. In a sense they pay off humanity by doing a portion of their job. The difficulty is that they refuse to address the crimes of our own governments. And they provide on occasion impetus for falsely raising the issue of genocide, in the service of government programs for corporate expansion which in situations of ‘genocide’ can threaten with military intervention. Powerful NGOs concerned with genocide risk at some point supporting government policies which are genocidal. When they do not purvey genocides as genocide which is the major portion of their usefulness, they become complicit. Against these difficulties with the “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” as it stands, and the difficulties of applying it, is the fact that it corresponds deeply to the beliefs of the largest portions of humankind. We believe it’s valid and necessary – not the law of it only, as much as its affirmation of our humanity – its refusal of the horror we find unacceptable. In Rwanda after the genocide there were trials of the accused perpetrators under international law but also under Rwandan law, and then under village law in that the courts were held in the communities. In villages throughout the country people were brought together and found they had to account for themselves and explain what they did or didn’t do – their part in the genocide. These courts were known as Gacaca courts.4;5 What begins to evolve in the accounts of village trials is a world view of justice asserting itself in a landscape of the ultimate horror. And it has very little to do with arguments of what kind of intent was involved, or the mental state of the perpetrators, the Faculty coffee room, the judges or judicial chambers. It has everything to do with surviving what the people never chose of their own accord. I think this defense might well be applied to a majority of North Americans as their corporations and capital continues to destroy less powerful nations. These instances of taking life are so much more clear in the Rwandan genocide. This is the shadow which falls between the studies of genocide and the massive losses of humanity, decency, tenderness, life. Prof. Giorgía Donà’s study of “situated bystandership”6 explores the realities of the bystanders, those who were neither the victims nor the perpetrators of the genocide which by her figures killed close to a million Tutsi (April 7th through July 18, 1994). This group most closely parallels the majority of North Americans during the destructions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria to begin a longer more complicated list of massive loss of life and destruction. She notes both external bystanders such as the United Nations and signatories of the Convention who knew and did nothing, and the internal bystanders who might be thought of as the people, and bear the guilt of the people for crimes that came from beyond them, were broadcast to them, programmed into them like an experiment with Rwanda as its laboratory. A terrible thing here is that the killing was accomplished by so many and by my understanding so many were forced into the conformity of killing others lest they be killed, and under pressures that might make our judgment of them and our concept of ‘heroism’ irrelevant. In some instances those who wouldn’t kill were killed. Those who hid fugitives, if caught, were killed or forced to kill the fugitives they had harboured. Can this be considered within a context of law? How deeply have North Americans responded to the massive death caused by our inception, our wars, armaments, economic needs, when our survival has had so many options other than war? Donà’s paper suggests that in the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide the majority of people tried to separate themselves from the perpetrators whom they considered “extremists” and evil. The bystander majority would consider itself as retaining moral values. The Kagame government at first promoted the assessment of morally guilty bystanders, complicit through inaction.7 This group of bystanders then sorts out into those who acceded to the perpetrators’ actions and those who attempted to resist under the tremendous pressure from the overall program to kill. Those who remained non-violent would have to hide as did the victims.8 When refusing to participate in the killing meant death, some then participated. At a local factual level this was understood by the Gacaca courts, because how does one judge this with reference to the intent of genocide. While Gacaca courts prosecuted murder and rape they didn’t the crime of non-intervention,9 and so under the policy of the community courts non-intervention was no longer necessarily one of guilt. These courts also shifted guilt and the responsibility for a crime, from mass action to the individual. Crimes during the mass killing of the genocide were no longer abstract or collective but personal. While many of the Hutu were found guilty, many were found innocent and were freed from the condemnation of collective guilt.10 The Gacaca courts present a challenge to academic studies, and what is often an intellectual or judicial tendency to categorize and perceive through the application of abstractions. The community level courts were more realistic and humane than the courts of international law? Possibly so. But then they were addressing the people who as victim, killer or bystander, were the objects of a planned and prepared-for national atrocity.11 This focusing of attention on the bystander element of genocide may help many North Americans reconsider our own relationship to guilt, the ultimate price of silence, the relationship between our morality and what happens about us, realizing that despite the tremendous social pressures programming us by schools, corporately funded universities, from media, from history, by conformity and each other, we deserve to be judged for how we’ve responded to the crimes against others. * The “Declarations and Reservations” which at ratification the U.S. added to the Convention are generally kept out of sight so I list them here: Reservations: 1. That with reference to article IX of the Convention, before any dispute to which the United States is a party may be submitted to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice under this article, the specific consent of the United States is required in each case. 2. That nothing in the Convention Requires or authorizes legislation or other action by the United States of America prohibited by the Constitution of the United States as interpreted by the United States. Understandings: 1. That the term ‘intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group as such’ appearing in article II means, the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in substantial part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such by the acts specified in article II. 2. That the term ‘mental harm’ in article II(b) means permanent impairment of mental faculties through drugs, torture, or similar techniques. 3. That the pledge to grant extradition in accordance with a state’s laws and treaties in force found in article VII extends only to acts which are criminal under the laws both of the requesting and the requested state and nothing in article VI affects the right of any state to bring to trial before its own tribunals any of its nationals for acts committed outside a state. 4. That acts in the course of armed conflicts committed without the specific intent required by article II are not sufficient to constitute genocide as defined by this Convention. 5. That with regard to the reference to an international penal tribunal in article VI or the Convention, the United States declares that it reserves the right to effect its participation in any such tribunal only by a treaty entered into specifically for that purpose with the advice and consent of the Senate. – According to “Multilateral Treaties deposited with the Secretary-General.” Status as of 31 December 1992. United Nations, New York. * I initially stated this suggestion in “An Essay on Genocide: or why the Convention on Genocide hasn’t worked,” peacemedianews (Netherlands), 1995. Reprint: Night’s Lantern. * Karen Goldsmith. “The Issue of Intent in the Genocide Convention, and Its Effect on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: Toward a Knowledge Based Approach,” Vol. 5, 2010 (Issue 3, Article 3), Genocide Studies and Prevention: an International Journal (IAGS). * Kai Ambos. “What does ‘intent to destroy’ in genocide mean?” Vol. 91, #876, December 2009, International Review of the Red Cross. * Giorgía Donà. “‘Situated Bystandership’ During and After the Rwandan Genocide,” Vol. 20, No.1, Journal of Genocide Research, 2018; passim. * Ibid. * loc. cit., p. 8. * loc. cit., p. 14. * loc. cit., p.17. * Concerning the issue of alleged massacres of Hutu by Tutsi I suggest the work of Professor Peter Erlinder (William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota), The Rwanda Documents Project. * Alison Des Forges. “The Ideology of Genocide,” Volume 23/Issue 2/1995. African Issues. http://clubof.info/

0 notes

deadboxprime · 7 years

Text

Repost: Marriage is an Outdated Institution

Part 2 of Our Degenerate Society

I was watching a rerun of Bones the other day. The title character was remarking on marriage being an outdated institution that does not benefit the survival of the species.

I do not entirely agree, but the writers have a point. Actually, I had already formed my opinion on this. The episode just seemed like a good segway...

Marriage is outdated as it exists today. Marriage is stupid. Here's why.

I. ENGAGEMENT

A man and woman fall in love.

One day, the man surprises the woman with a piece of shiny jewelry, the most beautiful rock imaginable, based upon his knowledge of her tastes (deftly implanted in his mind by subtle hints and strategically placed jewelry ads) and his budget. He gets down on one knee in some grand romantic gesture and asks her a question about the rest of her life.

The answer, for both of them, is not based on any rationale consideration of the offer, but basically on emotion – the quality of the bribe. This agreement moves on to the next stage called a wedding, in which a witness for God and the state participates in the exchange of vows. For better for worse, for richer, for poorer…the vows themselves are essentially asking, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

What they should say is, “She will turn into a fat, lazy bitch and you’ll never have a moment’s peace again,” and “He will never change and be the man you dreamed that he had the potential to be.”

Nobody ever realizes that they are being asked to make a decision without the necessary data to make a good decision. In the movie Excalibur, after Guinivere gives Arthur a cake to heal him Merlin says, “Looking at the cake is like looking at the future, until you've tasted it what do you really know? And then, of course, it's too late. ” Marriage is the same way. Most know little of it until it is too late. Many of us (ahem...) think we know about marriage, but cognitive knowledge and experiential knowledge are qualitatively different.

This isn’t just, “Do you love Ponju?” and “Does Ponju love you?” The unasked, and hence unanswered questions include: Are you in anyway compatible? How many ways? Are you prepared to give up a part of yourself? How much and which parts? Are you willingly to spend the rest of your life doing the things you did when dating? Will you give up your free time and free money? Guys, are you willing to give up all your comfortable furniture? Ladies, are you willing to have salsa spilled on your Pottery Barn (aka Piece of Shit) sofa? What’s your intended’s credit like? How will you manage money? How will you spend your free time? (She wants to go out, and he wants to relax...) Etc, etc….In the end no one asks or answers enough of these questions, and by the time you find out, you’re married and it is too late.

Once upon a time, marriages were arranged. There was no consideration about whether the pair loved each other, no thought about their feelings at all. I'm not suggesting a return to this. A move more towards the center might be a good idea though, because marriages today are life altering decisions made based on emotion.

II. EVOLUTION: HUMAN MATING STRATEGIES

All organisms have the same goal: get your DNA into the next generation.

The female strategy relies on selection and bonding. The female discriminates between all potential mates. She selects the one whom she believes to be the most fit from those available, most well adapted to his environment. She indicates her desire to mate. After successful mating (meaning pregnancy and birth, not score!) she attempts to entice the male to remain with her to help raise the young and ensure their survival.

The male strategy relies on numbers. Mate as often as possible, with as many partners as possible. High numbers of progeny increase the chances of the survival of his genes into the next generation.

The female strategy is due in part to the limited quantity of eggs. The male strategy is due in part to the unlimited production of sperm.

Groups of humans support the female strategy, because it encourages the formation of families, which in turn encourages the formation of communities and nations, all relying on the advantages of the group. These advantages include increased ability to protect, produce and prosper.

Sounds like a great solution – unless you're male. There is no accepted way for men to realize their strategy. When you're young, 'dating,' 'tomcatting,' etc, is tolerated. You're expected to date lots of women, and your sexuality and manhood are questioned if you don't. A man is expected is get his need for sexual diversity met when he is young – but at the same time, his behavior is considered to be shameful. He can't win.

So he gets married and then he's really screwed, because while he has met society's expectations he has betrayed his own needs. Some men masturbate – also considered shameful. Other guys attempt to resolve this problem by having sexual partners outside the marital relationship – what some people call “cheating” or “infidelity.”

These terms are incredibly prejudicial. The real problem with sex outside of the marriage relationship is that it is a breaking of a vow, an agreement willfully entered into. That is a violation of a contract.

At the same time however, the contract is exceedingly unfair. Worse, there is no way to know this beforehand and no way out short of divorce. Divorces are expensive, hurtful to both sides and messy.

The current definition of marriage is unsatisfactory as it does not meet the needs of both genders.

(Granted, the above discussion of evolution is greatly simplified. You want exact decimal places, take a Biology course).

III. ROLES

Marriage has not evolved to keep pace with our society. The roles and expectations are the same today as they were decades ago – or worse, they are more confused.

Who brings home the bacon? Who cleans the house? Who cares for the kids?

Would it surprise you to learn that increasing numbers of men are responsible for all three? And that women are increasing less involved with the home?

Why would that surprise you? Women have increased and are continually increasing opportunities outside the home.

In fact, as women are increasingly put into situations that only men previously experienced, they are demonstrating an equal potential for disturbing, inappropriate behavior and socially unacceptable., even criminal acts. Check out http://www.hottforteacher.com/ (note the two 't's).

Who is the marriage role model on tv today? Is there one?

When I was growing up, and in every relationship that I have been in or seen, the man is responsible for taking out the trash. Why? Women ask men to kill bugs for them. Why? Aren't we all equal now? Why can't women kill their own bugs?

How do we reconcile the confusion that modern roles are? Women are to be treated as equals, but paid less. They are to be evaluated for the work they do and can do, not the size of their breasts, the curvature of their behinds, or the way that they dress. And yet, we constantly send them messages through the media that their sexuality is all that matters. A recent internet article discussed the outrage that parents feel because Tinkerbell is now a tart and the Disney princesses got a makeover that makes them more 'modern,' with modern meaning skimpier outfits. With all this confusion about what women are supposed to be, how can we determine what roles are appropriate in marriage?

Not only do we need to determine who does what, but it is important to recognize that how we treat each other in marriage will impact how we treat each other in society. Respecting women for who they are is important. So is sex, and the sexual relationship. Balancing both has already proven difficult, and it seems unlikely that a resolution will be found by continued bumbling. It's time to intervene in the experiment.

In the interest of keeping these posts manageable, I'll stop here.

2017 Edit: There is little to change here. The role of human mating strategies and oxytocin in marriage and relationships is a common theme in many of my posts. I believe these things explain a lot about what happens in our relationships. I recommend the reader to start with the Wikipedia article on Human Mating Strategies and Dr. Helen Fisher’s work on the brain in love. As for Roles, the hottforteacher link seems to be dead. It used to list all the female teachers who got caught sleeping with high school students. I guess the site admn got overwhlemed, because there has been an explosion of this behavior. As for the media messages about women, I should note that these are being sent both to men and women.

I’m thinking about indexing the posts that deal with this subject. If I do it won’t appear before next week.

©2017 Deadbox Prime. All opinions expressed on this blog are property of the author and may not be used or reproduced without permission. Limited permission is granted, retroactively, for reblogging or link posting for personal, not-for-profit use. Permission does not apply to material found at any page listed as a reference, nor should it be in any way misconstrued to give permission to use the work of another without citing it as such. Receive post notifications on Twitter, and between post commentary on Facebook. Comments welcome.

0 notes