#((and neither does june! in some ways; it perhaps accounts for june's own open mind when it comes to others))

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

"I'm sensing a pattern here," Colin smiled from behind his glass, he and Callahan having gained a newfound respect for their brother's mother-in-law as they listened to her account of her youth; Randall, once he'd come down from his shock, was sensing something of a pattern as well-August's choice in words, calling his wife an "angel" when she came to his aid, reminded him of how he looked upon Emily as such when they met that first day at the haberdashery.

Randall smiled as he glanced back at his wife, taking her hand in return as he looked back to his grandmother, asking, "Ho-How long did you stay in burlesque? A-After you met Grandpa, I-I mean."

"Not very long," she admitted. "We had a good turnout to our performances, but there was also a lot of pressure to shut us down, and eventually, we had to give in. The protests were getting much more...brazen, you could say, got pretty rowdy. August started walking me to and from work, just to make sure I was safe-I appreciated it, though I think I would've been just fine had anyone been bold enough to get physical." She used to keep a small knife in the bodice of her outfit, and she knew perfectly well how to use it.

"So, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and so, our little troupe parted ways," she shrugged. "Some went up to New York in the hopes of striking it big onstage up there, some stayed in town, settled down like I did. Some actually turned and join the protesters, a way of cleaning up their image, which broke my heart-they were such nice girls, and they enjoyed their work! It was a shame to see them be so embarrassed about their past."

"So...what did you do afterwards, then?" Wilhelm asked.

"Mmm, a number of odd jobs," Josephine answered as she forked herself another bite of pancakes. "I worked as a librarian for quite a while, before I eventually got into working at the fabric shop: I carried rolls of fabric, stocked the shelves with balls of yarn and spools of thread, that sort of thing. I knew my way around a needle and thread, I used to mend mine and the other girls' outfits, but working at the shop inspired me to get into more than just stitching and darning. It's how I got interested in making quilts and afghans-by the time June was born, I'd gotten pretty good at it. I'm glad to hear my grandson's followed in my footsteps, so to speak-I look forward to seeing more of your handiwork, Randall."

At this, Randall brightened with a shy smile, rather touched to hear this-maybe there was some hope for being accepted by his family after all!

"I still don't know what burlesque means," Lon pouted from his chair, having still gotten no explanation-all he picked up was that his grandmother had been a dancer, a bit like his mama. Trying to hide her amused smile, June chuckled, "We'll...tell you later, dearest."

[awanderingdeal]

Hello there! Would you please consider writing a fic where maybe Leo or a fan wears a dress or paints his nails or something else feminine and gets bullied online so the entire team then starts wearing dresses out in retaliation? I think Leo is the perfect example of flipping the V to normative gender ideals

Hi! Thank you for this ask. I hope you don't mind, but I kind of took this as inspiration and ran with it. I used Finn just because it fits my own personal headcanons that he would be the one that would be a bit more adventurous fashion wise, although I definitely agree Leo is the nail painter in that relationship! I hope you like it!

Apologies for the excessive use of italics in this fic!

CW: food mentions, some swearing, implied Instagram bullying and a child with very mild illness (hay fever).

Rating: T

Let me know if you think I missed anything or need to change the rating.

All characters in this fic are from Sweater Weather universe and belong to @lumosinlove

“Are you going to take that dress off?” June asked, blowing on the undercoat she’d just applied to her nails. Finn’s eyes dropped from the TV screen to the black fabric draping over his body. He brushed his fingers over the material, enjoying the texture of the sheer polka dots that decorated the dress. From afar, they were difficult to see, but at this distance they shined. His own little secret.

“No,” Finn replied, the word slipping from his mouth felt foreign, as if he hadn’t chosen to say it. “ Is that okay?”

“It’s generally considered polite to ask before you borrow people’s clothing, but sure, why not?” A loud cheer erupted from the TV notifying Finn the score on the basketball game he had been watching had changed. He desperately wanted to check it, but he continued to hold June’s gaze. “The Knicks,” June offered and Finn breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you going to wear it out later?” She didn’t wait for his reply, proffering two bottles of polish for Finn’s perusal, a redcurrant and a mauve.

“The red,” Finn decided after a beat. “No, I think I’ll get changed before we go to the theatre.”

“Alright then,” June hummed, glancing at her cell. “Logan is trying to call you, by the way.”

“Yes, my cell, I know exactly where that is,” Finn muttered to himself, stabbing at the remote to pause the TV. It took a few minutes of searching, the device hidden between the folds of the bean bag he was lounging on, but eventually Logan’s face was filling all 6.1 inches of the screen. “Lo!”

“Hey.”

Finn loved the greeting on Logan’s tongue, one of those that he never seemed to be able to stop his accent dripping through. Finn thought perhaps the sentiment was painted on his face, Logan peering at him curiously through the lens. “Isn’t that June’s dress?”

The dress. Finn had forgotten all about it. “Yes.”

He hadn’t meant for the reply to be said with such abruptness, but it felt good, all the tension coiling in his chest being released in the word.

Logan’s expression was challenging, similar to that June had given him earlier. “I was just going to say you look better in it.”

“Oh.”

June unfurled her legs from beneath her, throwing herself into view of the screen, her left hand held awkwardly in front of her. “I’m right here, Tremblay!”

***

“Love, you need to get out of the kitchen. You’re being very distracting.”

Finn frowned at Leo’s statement. “I’m not doing anything?” And for once, he wasn’t. He wasn’t trying to guess the weight of irrelevant objects. He wasn’t playing with the stray bits of dough Leo had left aside for decoration. He wasn’t even relaying facts about his current favourite interest. Finn was just watching.

Sometimes he liked to do that. He liked seeing Leo’s long fingers curled around the handle of the knife, his movements fluid and confident, his expression soft with quiet concentration. Occasionally, he’d cock his head, humming contemplatively and Finn could take the opportunity to offer his taste buds.

“It’s not a you problem, it’s a me problem,” Leo chuckled, setting the knife down on the chopping board. “I keep looking up and you’re just -” Finn followed Leo’s gaze as it wandered down to the exposed skin between Finn’s t-shirt and his skirt. “- I’m trying to meal prep and it’s going to take all week at this rate.”

The t-shirt had belonged to Logan, an old Harvard hockey throwback that had managed to make it through several wardrobe purges, so, whilst it was wide enough for Finn, the length was awkward. He hadn’t really considered his boyfriend’s reactions as he’d cut the item to fall several inches above his belly button, the crop looking far more purposeful than it previously had.

“Oh this old thing, I just threw it on,” Finn smirked, as he pushed off the counter he'd been leaning on. He rounded the island, stealing a carrot as he passed, until he planted himself in front of Leo. "Do you want help? It'd be quicker?"

"Now we both know neither of those things are true." Leo raised a critical eyebrow, his laughter smooth and sweet. He turned to face Finn more fully, his hand reaching to pass the forest green material of Finn's skirt through his fingers. "I like this colour on you."

"It has pockets! I totally get why Lily's always shouting about them. They're very convenient." Finn shoved his hands in the well-concealed pocket, pulling his cell from its depths. "See."

"Nice," Leo said, his smile making the edges of his face crinkle. "How about you let me finish up here and then we can find Lo and get his opinion on this outfit?"

"Fine," Finn groaned, resisting the temptation to draw Leo in a hug, and perhaps something more. "I'm gonna go and look over that report the accountant sent over. Do you want me to check yours over too?"

"Please," Leo nodded, his smile growing wider. "You're the best."

"You feed me, I make sure you don't get arrested, that's what relationships are all about, right?"

"Right," Leo ran his fingers over the skirt one last time and stepped back to put some space between them. Finn turned to leave, barely getting a few paces in before Leo called him. "Wait!"

"Yeah?"

"Just one kiss now would be okay."

Finn shook his head, letting Leo draw him back in with a chuckle. Leo's hands, always warm, settled on Finn's waist and he leaned down to press their lips together.

***

Finn winced as Aveline sneezed again, the forceful burst of air covering his sweater in droplets. He felt sorry for her; she was struggling with a bout of hay fever that was making her red-nosed and irritable, but the sweater was one of Finn’s favourites. A vintage, hand knitted blue thing he’d found in a thrift store in Cambridge for an absolute steal. Back then, it had been the scene of Bambi and his friends on it that had grasped Finn’s attention, however, he’d come to love it for its perfect fit and the fact it never failed to spark a conversation.

“Harzy, thank you. You’re a lifesaver.” Finn tried not to let his relief show too much seeing Kris’ approach, his arms outstretched to gather his daughter. “I can’t even put her down to go to the bathroom at the moment without her screaming.”

Finn chuckled, holding a wriggling Aveline tighter to stop her launching herself before her father was close enough. “Papa!” she cried, the exclamation melded neatly into a large yawn.

“Come, mon chou,” Kris soothed, letting Aveline bury her face into the crook of his neck and playing a gentle pattern with his fingers over her back. “Let’s go and see if Vroom-vroom has any magic up his sleeve, ey? He always knows what to do.”

“Vroom-vroom?” Finn whispered the question.

“Sergei,” Kris explained with a gleeful smile despite the tiredness etched into his face. He shifted Aveline into a more comfortable position. “Thanks again for holding her.”

“Anytime.”

Finn had barely been alone in the Dumais’ second living room for a minute when Katie came crashing in. He wondered briefly if he should redirect her back to the other room where everybody was gathered, the thought quickly interrupted by Katie tugging on the hem of his skirt. “Can you spin again? Please?”

Unable to resist her large doe eyes, Finn twirled for her, his skirt swirling and billowing around him until he began to go dizzy.

“Encore! Encore!”

Finn didn’t need Logan around to translate that for him, he’d seen enough Broadway shows to understand the request.

“No more, Katie Belle. I’m going to puke,” Finn laughed, lifting Katie into his arms. “You’re growing too quickly! I swear you were only this big the last time I saw you,” he teased, spreading the thumb and index finger of his free hand a few inches apart.

“I’ll be as tall as you soon!” Katie giggled, patting Finn on his head.

“Then you can carry me,” Finn teased. He was just reaching to bop Katie on the nose when the unmistakable sound of a camera shutter closing grabbed his attention.

“Logan!” Katie gasped, struggling in Finn’s arms for a second like little Aveline had done. “Put me down.”

Finn obliged, watching Katie run toward Logan with a fond smile.

“Did you fix it?” she asked, her voice hopeful.

“Ouais,” Logan nodded, “I gave it back to Maja.”

“Merci, merci, merci!” Katie wrapped her arms around Logan’s hips in a hug before running off, presumably to find Maja.

Finn crossed the room, opening his arms for Logan to walk into. He rested his chin on Logan’s head, breathing in the familiar smell of his shampoo. “What were you up to?”

“Just taking a photo of two of my favourite people,” Logan mumbled into Finn’s chest.

“Can I see?”

“Oui, it’s very cute. ” Logan stepped back, pulling the photo up onto the screen. It was a nice one, both Finn and Katie’s head tipped back slightly with bright laughter. Finn tracked down the photo, Katie’s legs clinging to his waist where the faux leather skirt started. He breathed in, filling his lungs with air and then expelling it quickly.

“Post it.”

Logan looked at him, eyes wide. “Are you sure?”

“Not really, but I’m fed up with changing my clothes all the time and I’m surprised I haven’t been papped anyway. I’d rather do this on my own terms. It’s a fucking skirt, it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

“Tell me to do it again,” Logan reached out a hand, squeezing gently as Finn took it.

“Post it.”

***

“Stop reading,” Leo sighed, plucking Finn’s cell from his hand.

Finn matched his sigh, burying his head into his hands. He didn’t need to look at the screen anyway, the words burned into his eyes. How anybody had looked at a photo of two people, one of whom was a child, laughing and had churned out hatred was mystifying to him. Finn had been expecting that though, he’d been around long enough to know there were some assholes out there. When he’d replied to one of the nicer ones he hadn’t really considered how he would feel about that going viral. About becoming the face of something he hadn’t really asked for.

Roaringlion17: Harzy! This fit is spectacular, I love the skirt <3 I just wanted to ask if you are trans and what pronouns you would like us to use?

OfficialFOHara: @roaringlion17 Thank you! He/him pronouns are great! I’m not trans. I just think it’s dumb that boys can’t wear skirts. Or dresses for that matter. I like clothes, not boxes.

The reply had now been featured on every gossip column possible and was beginning to filter into more esteemed news too. One of them had even called him, the face of a revolution, which had made Finn cringe. He supposed it was better than the hateful slurs his PR team were battling to keep off the photo.

“Hey,” Logan took the seat next to Finn where he’d slumped himself at the dining table. “Look at me.” Finn lifted his head, meeting Logan’s eyes, the deep green something he wanted to get lost in right now. He thought Logan was going to ask for the thousandth time if Finn wanted him to delete it, but all he got was the fierce, determined gaze Logan sported on the ice. “This is going to pass. Tomorrow, somebody will cheat on somebody and you will be old news. Do you want to see something?”

Finn nodded. He didn’t know what he was consenting to, but he trusted Logan to make it something that would make him smile. Leo dragged another of the chairs around to sit on Finn’s left hand side, setting his confiscated cell in front of him, the Instagram app open to Thomas’ profile. Logan leaned forward, tapping on the latest photo.

Thomas’ smile was wide as he sat on a window sill, kicking out the long zebra print skirt cloaking his legs. The caption underneath read ‘You’re just jealous that I wear it better than you! #boyswearskirtstoo’

“That’s -”

“Wait a second,” Logan reached for the phone again, setting it down with a picture of James’ visible. He was wearing an ochre coloured corduroy skirt that clearly belonged to Lily, the fabric straining on thighs. I’m feeling myself in this, tbh. Please hold whilst I order one in my size #boys wearskirtstoo.

Finn snorted, the sound wet with the tears he was struggling to hold back.

The hashtags kept coming.

Cap and Loops in their respective jersey’s tucked into pleated skirts. These Lions know fashion is not gendered #boyswearskirtstoo

Ollie in a shimmering gold knee length piece. Shine bright! #boyswearskirtstoo

Nado, Kuny, Smitty and Kane, arms slung around one another's shoulders, all wearing varying shades of pink. On Wednesdays, we wear pink #boyswearskirtstoo. Finn would bet good money that Kuny was behind that caption.

Dumo, Sergei and their wives, alongside their troupe of children, each one of them wearing a different coloured tutu. Dumo had opted to just include the hashtag, or rather his social media team had, because the man himself most definitely did not know how to upload the photo.

Kasey and Natalie looked effortlessly cool dressed in white tennis skirts and floral bomber jackets. I’m not sure what all the fuss is about? #boyswearskirtstoo

Alex was wearing a very similar black skirt to Finn's in his photo. Who wore it better? #boyswearskirtstoo #thatsmylittlebrother

“He’s an idiot, but I love him,” Finn laughed wetly.

“There’s more,” Logan smirked as he tapped at the screen again, almost brimming with an excited energy. He placed the cell back down, leaving his hand to block the next photo a little longer. Finn grabbed the device as soon as Logan revealed the image.

It was perfect.

Leo and Logan lounged on the sofa, a little further apart than they would normally sit. Leo clutching his favourite mug and Logan with sketchpad in hand. They both looked easy in their outfits, as if the skirts were a part of them. Leo’s was long, hitting just above his ankle, a navy lining coated in a tulle that was embellished with celestial bodies. Logan was looking at the camera, his eyes just visible under the brim of his cap. His skirt was shorter, the denim flaring over his thick thighs. In this house we respect people’s right to wear whatever the fuck they want #boyswearskirtstoo

Finn stopped trying to fight the tears, letting the moisture well in his eyes. “Thank you,” he choked out, pushing himself from his chair. Leo and Logan had their arms around him before he could ask. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.” He couldn’t seem to make the words stop, his body shaking with sobs, his boyfriend’s arms remaining sure around him until Finn wiped at his face and muttered an apology. “Sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologise for.” Leo swept his thumb over Finn’s cheek, wiping away a stray tear. “What can we do? What do you need?”

Finn let out a heavy breath, leaning into Logan’s hold. “I think I want to send a thank you to the group chat and then snacks and cuddles? I can deal with the world tomorrow.”

“Okay then, snacks and cuddles. We deal with the world tomorrow.”

[chasingforeverandaday]

Can I ask for #23 from the fluff writing prompts please? “I’d rather live in the woods with you than in a mansion with some (boy/girl/person) I barely know.” I mean, it’s just screaming gendrya at me! Thank you!

Well, how does some Regency era AU sound? This one ended up a full on one shot, because I fell down a rabbit hole real fast. Also I got to write Robb, which was super fun because I never write Robb. He may be a bit out of character, but I feel like if any of the Stark siblings would understand Arya’s conflict of love and duty, it would absolutely be Robb.

half agony, half hope

There are times that Gendry Waters thinks his life would be so much simpler if he’d ever actually learned how to say no to Miss Arya Stark, sister to the Lord of Winterfell. He can stall her in her impulsivities yes, or can sometimes talk her around to his point of view on a matter, but straight up denying her when she looks up at him with those big grey eyes and the pout he always wishes to kiss from her lips?

Stronger men than him would capitulate without question.

Stronger men have.

So when she barges into his smithy one June morning, he steels himself for whatever new (potentially scandalous) misadventure she has in mind for them. But the stricken look on her face as she quietly requests that he close up early and meet her in his personal quarters ignites a panic in his belly, and he hustles the other customers out as quickly as he can after she leaves.

Door locked and forge cooled for the day, he hurries through washing up and finds her in his rooms, pacing back and forth in front of the hearth. He can see the exact moment she notices his presence, as her head whips around to his and her face crumples. Terror seizes in his veins and he crosses the room in two strides to pull her into his arms.

She doesn’t fight him, just lets herself be held for a moment before wrapping her arms around his waist so tightly he thinks she’ll never let go. A shudder passes through her slim frame, then one hand reaches up to bend his neck downwards, her mouth seeking his.

Gods know he’d be happy to kiss her forever, but something must have shaken Arya badly for her to show up unannounced and ask him to abandon his work. Pulling away to lean his forehead against hers, he asks, “Love, what’s wrong?

A tiny voice he’s never associated with Arya Stark whispers, “How quickly can you be ready to leave?”

“What?” Utterly bewildered, he pushes her back farther so he can read her face, but she just burrows her face into his neck, clinging onto him like a limpet. Cautiously, he moves them to his narrow bed, sitting on the edge as she falls into his lap, all the while never letting him go.

She looks up at him then, eyes a little harder, a little more sure as she takes his hands in hers. “Run away with me. Gendry, please, we need to go, and it needs to be as soon as possible.”

“I don’t understand, I thought we had more time, that I had more time to…” Prove myself worthy of you, let myself learn to let you go, something, anything but be forced to watch you choose between me and your family.

“My mother’s invited suitors from houses Frey, Dayne, and Arryn to Winterfell, and I heard her tell Robb earlier that she won’t be letting me reject all of them.” Turning away as she speaks, Arya curls into him more, making herself look even smaller if that were even possible. “She intends to have me wedded and bedded by the end of the summer, seems to think it will curb my more unladylike tendencies.”

“Arya, you’re only twenty two for gods’ sake. She can hardly be that desperate to be putting you on the shelf already!” Almost as an afterthought, he mumbles into her hair, “And I like your unladylike tendencies.”

A sad smile on her face, Arya cups his cheek with her palm as she stays seated in his lap. “I know you do. I think she just wants me to be someone else’s problem now. Besides, all my siblings but Rickon have made good matches and are married. But what my mother said isn’t the important part.”

There’s a subtle shift in her voice as she draws herself fully upright, the pain replaced by something a little more hopeful. She’s finally looking at him again, her grey eyes searching his.

“Because Robb…” she took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders before looking him straight in the eye. “Robb told her he thought I should have more of a choice. He said that yes, I should marry, but that it didn’t have to be one of them. He told her that none of them would make me happy, and that I should marry a man who made me smile, not grimace every time I looked at him.”

Rubbing a hand up and down her back, Gendry cannot help but wonder, “That’s good, even I know that’s a good thing, but why…?”

“Because Robb walked out of his study and found me standing there, pale as a ghost I’m sure. He took me back to my room, and he told me that he thought I shouldn’t be forced to marry a man I didn’t love.” One of her hands comes to rest over his heart, fluttering rapidly at her touch. “Somehow, he knew about you and me, because then he told me he’d been thinking about commissioning you for some ironwork around the estate, and perhaps I could go to town to speak with you about it, since neither he nor Bran could do so today.”

The pieces fall together, and a little of Arya’s hope finds a home with Gendry. “So you think he’s giving us his blessing, and we’re running away.”

“I know he is, he just can’t come out and say it because of who he is.” Threading her fingers through his own, Arya holds their clasped hands together like a talisman, pressing a light kiss to the back of his before looking up with a smile. “We’re going to Gretna Green, and we’re going to get married like we’ve wanted to for three years, and then I’m going to actually learn how to keep a house and run your smithy, and we’re going to be happy, Gendry, so incredibly happy.”

“Aye, in our tiny little home with two rooms and no grand paintings or pianos or anything fancy like what you have up at Winterfell.” He knows that Arya says she has no care for those things, but he needs to remind her of the difference in their standing, just one last time before they make this choice that will alter their lives forever.

“Stupid boy,” she giggles, poking him in the nose with the first true grin he’s seen on her face this afternoon, “I’d rather live in the woods with you than in a manor with some person I barely know. I mean, ideally we live somewhere with a forge for you, but as long as you’re with me, I’m hardly going to be picky.”

Bending down, Gendry allows himself to brush a quick kiss to her lips, a promise made without words. “Give me a few days, so I can finish up my orders and get everything ready so I can leave. Just don’t say yes to any other proposals, and we’ll be saying our vows in a fortnight.”

-/-/-

A sennight later, as she prepares her horse for the journey as surreptitiously as she can, the stable door creaks open. Terrified that it will be that one stablehand who always tells her mother when she leaves the estate without asking permission, Arya hides in the shadows of Nymeria’s stall, peeking out into the center aisle into the hazy, pre-dawn light.

It’s Robb, carefully shutting the door behind him. He walks straight up to her hiding place and holds out his hand to her, a small smirk on his face. “Come out sister, we’ve not much time to waste.”

Slowly, she leads Nymeria out of the stall, fingers tightly gripping her reins. Her brother looks older than she’s ever seen him before. He looks like a lord in a way he never has before, one with the world weighing on his shoulders. But then her eyes meet his, and he smiles at her, and Robb is her big brother once more.

Dropping Nym’s reins, Arya throws herself into his arms, trusting that he will catch her implicitly. She’ll miss this, she thinks, having a brother she knows she can depend on.

When they finally pull away, Robb reaches up to wipe a tear she hadn’t even noticed from her eye. “There now, this won’t be the last time we see each other, little sister. Besides, one would think you’d be happier to be heading off on such a grand adventure with your blacksmith.”

Laughing wetly, she replied, “I am, trust me, I am anxious to start our lives together, I just…” here she shrugged, fidgeting her hands as she tried to gather the words to express herself. “This is the last time I’ll be in Winterfell as Arya Stark, or maybe ever if Mother reacts the way I think she will when she finds out. I’ll miss it here, even when Gendry and I have a new home. It’s all I’ve ever known.”

“You’ll always have a home here, for as long as I’m the lord. Probably after too, as you and I both know you’re Little Ned’s favorite auntie. But I think you’ll be far happier living wherever you and your husband end up than you would locked up in a London townhouse with whatever ponce our Mother has handpicked for you.” The disgusted face he made at his own words made her smile again, which she knew was exactly why he’d done so in the first place.

Serious again, Robb placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze as he said, “I’ve grown to love Jeyne, I have, but I’ve never looked at her the way your Mr. Waters looks at you, or you look at him, and neither has Sansa’s husband. You’re incandescently happy whenever you’re near him, and I can always tell when you haven’t spoken to him in days because you’re so quiet, like you’re holding in all of your thoughts until you can share them with him.”

He sighed before continuing in a soft tone, “If you hadn’t found him, hadn’t fallen in love, then I would try to arrange a marriage for you that could lead to your overall happiness in life. But you did. You fell in love years ago, and I’m glad that at least one of us gets to experience that joy in this lifetime.”

Moving to hold her hand in his left, he reached with his right into the breast pocket of his coat and pulled out an envelope. “This is the information for the accounts I’ve had set up in your name in London.” He placed it in her hand and looked her square in the eyes. “You may not be marrying with a proper trousseau, but this way you won’t be entering this marriage without your dowry. You don’t need to worry about Mother’s reaction either, I’ll take care of it. Jon will meet you in Scotland, I’ve already sent him an express explaining everything.”

Shocked at all the things he had thought of and put in place for her, Arya could only manage to sob, “Robby, I…” before hugging him again.

Her brother pulled her close once more, placing a kiss on her brow before pulling away. “I love you, and I’m sorry I cannot do more. Be happy, Arya. Be happy and one day when we’re old and grey, you’ll tell me stories of all your adventures with the man I know you love and the adorable little children I’m sure you’ll have. Now go, the tasks I set for James cannot take much longer, and you have quite the ride ahead of you.”

With that, Robb helped her onto her horse and led her outside as the sun rose. After he let her go, Arya pushed Nymeria into a trot, determined to make her way to the closed smithy before the people of Wintertown fully awoke. She only let herself look back once, barely able to see the figure of her brother as he waved her off into her future.

[littleredroseonthevalley]

St. John Chrysostom

Or, The Imposition of Verity

Summary: Bishop Monroe allows himself to be bribed by Henrietta. Susan will not stand for it.

Rating: T -  Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.

Mentions of violence. Reader discretion is advised.

Words: 2044

Notes: East End should help anyone understand better what I’m going for with this, but you should get it just fine either way.

I’ve been around infrequently, but I still like comments! Just saying.

The method of beginning an examination by torture is as follows: First, the jailers prepare the implements of torture, then they strip the prisoner (if it be a woman, she has already been stripped by other women, upright and of good report). This stripping is lest some means of witchcraft may have been sewed into the clothing-such as often, taught by the Devil, they prepare from the bodies of unbaptized infants, that they may forfeit salvation. And when the implements of torture have been prepared, the judge, both in person and through other good men zealous in the faith, tries to persuade the prisoner to confess the truth freely; but, if he will not confess, he bid attendants make the prisoner fast to the strappado or some other implement of torture. The attendants obey forthwith, yet with feigned agitation. Then, at the prayer of some of those present, the prisoner is loosed again and is taken aside and once more persuaded to confess, being led to believe that he will in that case not be put to death.

Here it may be asked whether the judge, in the case of a prisoner much defamed, convicted both by witnesses and by proofs, nothing being lacking but his own confession, can properly lead him to hope that his life will be spared when, even if he confess his crime, he will be punished with death.

It must be answered that opinions vary. Some hold that even a witch of ill repute, against whom the evidence justifies violent suspicion, and who, as a ringleader of the witches, is accounted very dangerous, may be assured her life, and condemned instead to perpetual imprisonment on bread and water, in case she "I give sure and convincing testimony against other witches; yet this penalty of perpetual imprisonment must not be announced to her, but only that her life will be spared, and that she will be punished in some other fashion, perhaps by exile. And doubtless such notorious witches, especially those who prepare witch-potions or who by magical methods cure those bewitched, would be peculiarly suited to be thus preserved, in order to aid the bewitched or to accuse other witches, were it not that their accusations cannot be trusted, since the Devil is a liar, unless confirmed by proofs and witnesses.

Others hold, as to this point, that for a time the promise made to the witch sentenced to imprisonment is to be kept, but that after a time she should be burned.

A third view is, that the judge may safely promise witches to spare their lives, if only he will later excuse himself from pronouncing the sentence and will let another do this in his place....

But if, neither by threats nor by promises such as these, the witch can be induced to speak the truth, then the jailers must carry out the sentence, and torture the prisoner according to the accepted methods, with more or less of severity as the delinquent's crime may demand. And, while he is being tortured, he must be questioned on the articles of accusation, and this frequently and persistently, beginning with the lighter charges-for he will more readily confess the lighter than the heavier. And, while this is being done, the notary must write down everything in his record of the trial - how the prisoner is tortured, on what points he is questioned and how he answers.

And note that, if he confesses under the torture, he must afterward be conducted to another place, that he may confirm it and certify that it was not due alone to the force of the torture.

But, if the prisoner will not confess the truth satisfactorily, other sorts of tortures must be placed before him, with the statement that unless he will confess the truth, he must endure these also. But, if not even thus he can be brought into terror and to the truth, then the next day or the next but one is to be set for a continuation of the tortures - not a repetition, for it must not be repeated unless new evidences produced.

The judge must then address to the prisoners the following sentence: We, the judge, etc., do assign to you, such and such a day for the continuation of the tortures, that from your own mouth the truth may be heard, and that the whole may be recorded by the notary.

And during the interval, before the day assigned, the judge, in person or through approved men, must in the manner above described try to persuade the prisoner to confess, promising her (if there is aught to be gained by this promise) that her life shall be spared.

The judge shall see to it, moreover, that throughout this interval guards are constantly with the prisoner, so that she may not be I alone; because she will be visited by the De and tempted into suicide.

~ Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches), Section III, 1487

Bishop Monroe watches the retreating back of Countess Henrietta, with the distinct aftertaste of having made a deal with the Devil.

What else could he do? He might believe in Susan’s rights to the estate, but there is no law if there is no muscle to enforce it, and a natural daughter was a puny creature. Even with his assent, she would never hold onto the property.

Well, he consoles himself, if God had meant to make her a Countess, He would not have kept her parents apart. He saw fit to give Henrietta an advantage, and so his representative on Earth would comply.

As he turns to leave through the labyrinthine halls of the Duke’s house, he comes to face Lady Susan herself, who stood on his path to the door.

The cleric’s face blanches, and he manages to say, “Lady Susan. A pleasure in seeing you once more in such short notice.”

“Save it, will you, Monroe?” She spat. “I know you find me slow, but I am still not deaf. I heard your discussion with my dear stepmother.”

“Oh.” He breathes out. “Well, I am sure you can understand…”

“I understand it just fine.” She cut him off, and then sneers. “If it was money you desired, Monroe, you should have come to me. After all, what difference it makes from which hand it comes? If it is yellow and shiny, then it is gold.”

“I am not an item on an auction, Lady Susan!” He protests angrily.

She chuckles, crudely. “Good, you are not worth the bid. If anything, I see your position as my father’s executor as yet another glaring testimony of his overall incompetence managing a noble estate.”

Monroe scoffed with derision. “Should we bow to your superiority, then? What makes you think you would do any better at being a countess than Henrietta?”

“Why would I not? It is not like she possess any skill I do not, and Mr Marlcaster had made it clear he not only abhors the idea of inheriting Edgewater, but also that he does not have any aptitude at it.” The brunette points out, off-handed.

“You are a woman, Lady Susan! A commoner woman if it was not enough.” The bishop points out, as if it was obvious for it to be his complaint.

“So?” She questions, petulant. “I understand Henrietta is also of low-birth, and I am pretty sure someone would have noticed by now if she was a man.”

Monroe opens his mouth and then closes, gaping at a response. Finally, he makes up his mind by saying, “Regardless, the Countess has power, she has means of making things happen.”

At that, Susan laughs scandalously.

“Oh, the country folk! So naïve to the things that happen just outside their pathetic little turf.” She says as her laughter dies down. “Henrietta would not know what power is even if it hit her on the head. What does she have? A bunch of pathetic esquires from diminutive estates around Grovershire, all of them old mummies who shall be dead soon enough. While I…” She trails off.

The man of God frowned, but Susan hands him a letter before he could say anything else.

It read:

“Carlton House, London, June 7th, 1811.

Milady Susan,

It pains me to hear about your father’s passing. We were probably acquainted, I met most of the Lords of the realm due to my position, but we were far from intimate. I hear, however, he was very well-liked by his peers. I wish to impair you with my most heartfelt condolences, and to invite you for tea as soon as you find yourself able to return to London.

I would also like to offer you my support, in any way I am able, on the contentious concerning your inheritance. I received word from your godmother about the conditions imposed by your father for your ascension, and she seemed quite distressed about your stepmother’s machinations and her inability to help you.

I assured her on my response, as much as I assure you in this missive, that there is no reason for concern, I will (gladly!) lend all the weight of the Crown on your favour. Sleep, my lady, with the certainty you shall become peer of the realm before long.

Moving on to business, your suggestion concerning the trade deficits with the Russian Empire have been most well-received by the Privy Council. Our ministers are convinced that, by throwing a few advantages to the Steppe people, they shall be our most faithful allies. The French will not resist trying to move their borders towards the extensive East, and the Winter shall do the rest for us.

Our ambassador to the Czar’s court is on his way to tell him the good news as I write this letter to you. If I ever doubted a woman could be as witted as a man, you, milady, has convinced me otherwise. I am blessed with your steady advice, and I can only hope my daughter can count on someone as skilled as you when her time comes.

With hopes of this letter seeing you in good health,

Your most devoted servant,

George”

Monroe holds in a breath as he reaches the end of the letter.

“This, this…” He stutters in nerves. “This is from the Prince-Regent!”

“Glad to see your reading is not impaired.” The noblewoman sneers. “You see, Monroe, I often enjoy showing people how much of a good ally I am for one to have. I show them the advantages, the heights they can achieve by having a wilful and intelligent woman like me on their side, and I am sure you have noticed by now I have plenty to offer. I find that it is the best way to get to respect, loyalty and compliance.

“You, however, Monroe, have shown me you cannot be trusted, that you can only respond to the most basic impulses of the human soul. So, I decided to try something different tonight.”

Susan takes a few steps closer, slow and calculatedly, just like a ferocious predator in the wild. As she approaches the bishop, three figures, all large, burly men, come to her sides, helping her close on him.

“Recognize me as my father’s heir. Tonight. At the ball. If you do so, I shall only remove you from your position and send you to a mildly-disagreeable posting in Jamaica.”

Her face, then, turns into a deep and menacing scowl. “If you do not, if you foolishly choose Henrietta, rest assured that as soon as I have my rights legitimated, and you know I will, I shall burn your parish to the ground.” She then lowers her voice and whispers to his ear. “And I will make sure you are locked inside when I do.”

“I… I… understand, milady.” He stutters in fear.

“Now, to show that I mean what I said, my friends here shall escort you back to the party.” She smirks, wickedly. “If you fall down a flight of stairs, well, I suppose it is an inevitability, wearing such an obtrusive religious habit.”

Monroe whimpers, and Susan turns her back to him.

“Have a good night, Bishop.” She says as she leaves. “I am sure I will.”

Taglist: @catlady0911; @mrsernestsinclaire; @snickette; @tornbetween2loves

[bonpourlorient]

“The economy doesn’t exist. But you should pledge your life to protect it”.

Teaching a class on the concept of “economy”, I never expected my readings to suddenly become so relevant. Now that there are actual people pledging to sacrifice “their” (other people’s) lives on behalf of “the economy”, it might be useful to pause and reflect on this state of affairs from some readings from my syllabus: 

The economy

First, what is “the economy”. Timothy Mitchell famously notes that “the economy” is a recently new invention. Whereas the concept of economy, indicating frugality and thrift in the usage of resources,has a longer history, the idea of the economy, indicating a specific object of knowledge and a separate sphere of human action,is a relic of the early 20th century. What is new and unique about this object is that the economy was a sphere of social action, scientific analysis and political regulation that was:

a) internally dynamic: the economy has parts that all relate to one another. When “demand rises”, “supply” magically shifts to adjust, as if by decree of economists. 

b) inherently limited: both territorially, the “Turkish” economy etc. and conceptually; the economy as opposed to politics, or culture.  

c) statistically measurable: this is the oddest one. The economy is both the most readily measurable and yet the most “material” aspect of our lives. Rhetorically, the economy is both supposed to represent the most real and tangible part of everyday life. Yet at the same time economics is the social science that is most open to statistical analysis. 

Simply put, Mitchell had said that economics enframed the world. This is the reason why political phrases such as “it’s the economy, stupid” had any purchase on public imagination. You might think this is the language of economists and policy makers, but consider how the economy as a concept has made its way into everyday life. For example, even among those with radical leanings, it is possible to find people who still claim that “the left” ought to abandon ID politics and instead focus on “the economy”. 

Farewell to “the economy”

So that is “the economy”. Yet what is at stake in the news reports of people demanding “the economy” be opened back up, is different from Mitchell’s account. What is at stake is not “the economy” as an object of knowledge. After all, it might be possible to say that “the economy”, as an object of knowledge doesn’t capture the popular imagination in the same way anymore. It has become common place, for even major news outlets to repeat over and over again, what we already now: that figures like GDP, GNP, unemployment, inflation in and of themselves are rather bad aggregates that don’t really capture how ordinary people are doing. Yet Randy Martin notes, the role of the economists as sensible experts who are completely in charge has long since disappeared. It is not that economic experts don’t exist mind you. It is just that their expertise doesn’t seem to cohere in the same way. Already in relation to the 2008 crisis, Martin wrote:

“When frames, boundaries, partitions no longer do their work, the array of relations and practices they had organized and classified do not simply cease to exist, but they cannot add up in the same way. The world looks to be moving differently. It is tough to say where. The new queasiness would look much like the old, and the experts would continue on their way acting as if they still ruled the world (but, perhaps, for their own admission to the contrary).”

Such a situation sounds even more relevant now. Who actually gives a shit about the GDP now? Who believes the economists on TV? Do they not sound even less credible than the TV doctors? Have we not had an entire election cycle worth of news coverage, where major presidential candidates like Sanders and Warren openly derided the idea that stock markets and the GDP were good indicators for capturing people’s ordinary well being? Does the economy cohere as an object of knowledge?

The Economy and Fatalism

Strangely, that the economy no longer coheres as an object of knowledge, is not contradictory with the idea that we should sacrifice our lives for it. After all, whatever the economy is, it is not as an “object of knowledge” that people pledge their lives to save it. On the contrary, in a weird way the more fragile the economy becomes as an object of knowledge and expertise, the more sacrifice it seems to demand to sustain its coherence. 

Thus a presiding sentiment of "the economy” today, seems to be one of fatalism. Not only the feeling that markets are our only option (realism) but also, in a contradictory fashion, that we should actively risk our lives to ensure that they remain that way (fatalism). 

This sense of fatalism is perhaps even more obvious now, at a time when economists are busy trying to create a cost-benefit analysis that map onto the coronavirus. How many deaths are acceptable if we open things back up in May, June, July, tomorrow? This pervading, fatalistic phase of neoliberal ideology was in fact a possibility that existed from the very beginning. No one is more indicative of this tendency, than the simultaneously celebrated and hated arch neoliberal, Freidrich Hayek.

“The Economy” as a Supercomputer

Hayek was no stranger to the growing popularity of systems theory in his time. Although his most famous 1945 essay “The Use of Knowledge in Society” makes no reference to systems theory, his later works, such as the Fatal Conceit, published in 1988 makes several references to systems theory and cybernetics. What is more Hayek was in personal correspondence with other systems theoreticians such as the now famous Stafford Beer. It is perhaps some cruel irony that whereas Stafford Beer briefly served as an advisor to Chile’s socialist leader Salvadore Allende, Hayek briefly met the brutal military general that ordered Allende’s execution, Pinochet. 

And there is something incredibly fatalistic about Hayek’s work, that makes it relevant to understanding contemporary capitalism. This weird thing is the fact that for Hayek, the market is something like a computer. In fact it is a supercomputer, capable of a rationality that lies beyond that of any individual mind. This is not so much the efficient market hypothesis which states that the price of an asset reflects all available information about it. Rather for Hayek market rationality works, precisely because people remain ignorant of it. If the price of an asset falls, I need not inquire why it has fallen. Despite the title of his famous essay, what enables the efficiency of Hayek’s markets is not at all a rational or conscious process. It is not knowledge but rather ignorance that leads people to contest prices, to compete with one another.  

To be a bit more precise, what is at stake for Hayek is a peculiar view of market rationality and efficiency. The rationality of markets, is not that of a conscious faculty of individual minds. As historian of science Philip Mirowski observes, Hayek flips Freud’s schema around, whereby it is rationality that is a subconscious driver of human action, behind a façade of intuition and intention. Mixing references to evolutionary psychology, complexity theory and cybernetics, Hayek makes the rather odd argument that we are driven by a subconscious rationality that we neither understand nor control. 

This has significant consequences for how Hayek thinks about the market. In books like the 1988 Fatal Conciet, Hayek constantly derides the rationalist delusion that we can consciously organize social production by means other than the market. For Hayek it is the Soviets who want to transform rationality into a conscious faculty. The sense of knowledge, reason and organization secured through the markets, is instead spontaneous. The rationality of the market, as opposed to that of a soviet bureaucrat is collective, tacit, one might even say with some irony, “metastable” (a concept Hayek actually does use). 

In short, for Hayek, markets possess a kind of strange rationality that manifests order out of spontaneity. The catch is,  of course, this rationality can only emerge in market conditions. The kind of spontaneity that is required in other words, is that particularly controlled mode of spontaneity called “the market”.  Taken to its extreme conclusion Hayek reveals the circular and sinister core of the neoliberal conviction that markets are the most efficient mode of organizing social production. 

This has two important consequences for how neoliberals understand the world. First, to maintain market conditions, one must impart the values, institutions and dispositions that are generative of them, values and institutions such as individualism, the family, property rights and competition. Since market values are supposed to be internalized subconsciously, it turns out that tradition and religion are a much better way of transmitting them. Hayek writes, “We owe it partly to mystical and religious beliefs, and, I believe, particularly to the main monotheistic ones, that beneficial traditions have been preserved and transmitted”(Hayek “Fatal Conceit” 1988, 310). Even with all their superstitious elements, tradition and religion may be much more effective tools for preserving market rationality, than “the delusion” that the productive forces could be organized consciously. 

Reading Hayek makes it pretty obvious how the cooption of these archaic institutions such as the family, the state and private property are crucial for the social reproduction of neoliberalism. The idea that neoliberalism only sought to destroy all tradition seems less convincing from this standpoint. Some mixture of deterritorialization/reterritorialization, co-option/transformation seems much more accurate. In deed, Melinda Cooper explains in her book Family Values, that neoliberalism was in fact a counter-revolution that tried to counteract feminist radicalism of the 1960s and 70s. Rather than merely oppose institutions such as the heteronormative family, Hayek, Friedman and Posner often reflected on how it could become a more efficient mechanism for maintaining social welfare, off-loading the cost of social reproduction onto marginalized bodies. 

Second, if one takes Hayek’s conclusion seriously, markets not only organize knowledge and through this coordinate social production, they in fact give rise to a type of organization that would not be possible otherwise. It is not simply technically hard to organize production through means other than the market, it is in effect impossible. 

This sentiment is even present today. Listen to the Vice Chair of the US Federal Bank, Randall Quarles, speaking at a 2019 event, commemorating Hayek’s achievements:

“Important parts of knowledge will not even be generated except through our interaction with each other through the mechanism of the market. Trying to centralize economic decision making, then, is not just too hard to do as a practical matter. It would actually reduce the amount of information available to us as a society, by replacing those myriad individual interactions in a free marketplace… The price mechanism then, is not just a matter of economics – it is a matter of social and indeed civilizational progress.”

Trying to coordinate social production by means other than the market, is not only hard, it is actively against civilization.

Mirowski describes this as the “Hayek trajectory” that defines the development of famous economists from Alfred Cowles to Joseph Stiglitz. The entire branch of informational economics, Mirowski explains, with its commitment to exposing informational assymmetries and showing how in practice markets aren’t efficient, nonetheless hold onto the idea of markets being wholly rational as a theoretical facade.

“On this axis (the Hayek trajectory) information goes from being merely difficult to retrieve, to being partly inaccessible, to becoming finally so transcendent that no one can really know it” (Mirowski & Nik-Khah 2018, 74). 

Taken to its logical extreme, this line of thought raises the belief that markets are efficient into a religious conviction, since the efficiency of markets lies beyond what can be comprehended by our weak individual minds.There is “almost by definition no instrument available to test the proposition” that markets are efficient (Mirowski & Nik-Khah 2018, 71). The market is, in this model not unlike how we treat a blackboxed algorithm. Nevermind what the markets do, just trust that the output is efficiency. Thus one needs to trust that markets are doing their work while simultaneously staying vigilantly that one isn’t accidentally getting in their way.

And this combination is what makes market fatalism so dangerous – that markets are the only way we have of imagining collective existence (what Mark Fisher called capitalist realism) + we must be willing to pledge our lives to ensure that they remain that way, since what is at stake is civilization as such.  

[furederiko]

It's the first post for the month of June, and it's a Random-News-Digest! Thanks to my internet, the previous one was 3 weeks ago though. That means, it's catching up time... and there's a lot of it. Here goes nothing...

Disney Live Action

Another live action reimagining has potentially been added to the list of upcoming releases. Director Sam Mendes, who did James Bond's "Skyfall" and "Spectre", apparently entered early talks to work on "Pinocchio"! Mendes was previously attached to adapt "James and the Giant Peach". But according to Variety, that project is officially not happening, so the chances of Mendes moving on to "Pinocchio" is really high. With Guy Ritchie's "Aladdin" about to start production real soon, possibly followed by Niki Caro's "Mulan" as well as Jon Favreau's "The Lion King", Disney Pictures is currently sitting on a remake comfort-zone. No official casting news have been announced for neither of those projects those, but as we get closer and closer to Disney D23, I suspect things are going to come to light pretty soon. Let's just hope these movies will be as good and successful as what we've gotten so far...

Saint Seiya

Well, this news was truly a surprising one! According to Eiga.com (via Anime News Network), TOEI Animation and Chinese distribution company called A Really Good Film Company (that's the real name) are co-producing a live action movie based on the franchise. Tomek Baginski, a Polish director will be directing the movie. Jeffrey Chan, Yoshi Ikezawa, Joseph Chou will produce, while original manga writer Masami Kurumada, Kozo Morishita, Tim Kwok, and Miguel Faura are serving as executive producers.

Truth be told, I had mixed reaction about this, and that sentiment has remained the same until now. I've always thought that the "Saint Seiya" franchise is PERFECT for Hollywood adaptations, considering most of the characters, especially the Gold Saints... are practically Greek guys with a story that takes place in a Greecian setting as well. The cloths, especially the Gold Saints ones, would easily look amazing as real life armors. Heck, TOEI recently held an exhibition where they showcased the Gold Cloths in 1:1 scale, and that idea worked! So this sounded like a great news already. On the other hand, at the same time, I'm not sure whether they will pull it off. Particularly with the failure that was "Ghost in the Shell" back in March. Not to mention, a Chinese company, instead of a Japanese, or at least Hollywood is working on it. Not trying to be racist, but I don't have a lot of faith in Chinese companies.

My biggest concern is that they might go the "Dragon Ball Evolution" and "Ghost in the Shell" mishap, by altering the core Bronze Saints to be white teenagers instead of Japanese. That would instantly become a huge WTH for me. IMHO, at least the cast for Seiya, Shun, and Ikki should be Japanese. If they need exception, both Hyouga and Shiryu can easily be one. The former can be reimagined as European, since the character is partially Russian anyway (hence the blonde hair), while the latter, can naturally be rewritten as Chinese (still needs to be Asian though). A lesser concern, is the fact that the series never really took off in the US, as much as it was hugely popular in South American region. Once again, if "Ghost in the Shell" couldn't sell well, I honestly doubt the same would happen to "Saint Seiya". So it's already a big question mark. But let's keep an open mind, and well... we'll see.

Charlie's Angels

I didn't realize that the last "Charlie's Angels" movie was released back in 2003! That's more than a decade, and precisely 14 years ago. Which means, the movie (not TV) franchise has entered the right age for reboot, remake, reimagining, or the likes. It's Hollywood folks, so what do you expect? And I'll be damned, because that IS the case. Elizabeth Banks is set to direct a reboot movie for the franchise, and it will arrive on June 7th, 2019. That's legit release date, so yeah, it IS happening. There aren't any detailed information about it yet, but I think we can expect to hear one by summer. Now I can't tell if this is a good or bad news, but I'm always game to see tough and powerful women kick some bums on screen. Who knows, perhaps we might get Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, and other Oscar winners as the lead characters. THAT would be wake af!

Hellboy

Not unlike "Charlie's Angels", the same is happening to "Hellboy" franchise as well. While fans have been asking director Guillermo del Toro and/or actor Ron Perlman for a third movie... to relatively zero success, Millennium instead has decided to go on another route: REBOOT. Yes, in a report released precisely a day after my previous R-N-D went up (meaning, it's close to a month ago XD), the studio has gone into negotiations with producer Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin for an R-rated relaunch of the franchise. The working title is "Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen", and Neil Marshall is set to direct from a script by Andrew Cosby, Christopher Golden, and Mike Mignola. That last one is the creator of "Hellboy" himself, and he was the one who first broke the news. Marshall would then develop a new script with Aron Coleite.

I'm never a fan of the first two movies, so I can't really say anything good about this. I don't know how I feel, to be frank! LOL. Yet the news somehow got better, when I read the name of the actor who was in talks for the titular role. David Harbour! Yes, that Sheriff of the hit Netflix series "Stranger Things", who was considered to play Cable. I don't know about you, but Harbour sounds like the younger more charming-looking version of Perlman, so this news made me perked up! Okay, that was honestly hyperbole. I'm still unsure about this franchise, but I can safely say that I will at least give it a try... just because Harbour is starring. Ahahaha! But you know what? Perhaps rebooting might indeed be the right decision. There's definitely potentials to be HUGE. It can start fresh without the burden of continuity. And also... attracts new audience who was previously unaware or couldn't care less of the title, right? Like yours truly... *grins*.

DC Films

While it's unclear when we will ever see Dwayne Johnson finally fulfilling his dream to play supervillain "Black Adam", the actor has gone on record to propose an actor to play the protagonist counterpart of his character. And that actor is... Armie Hammer. Okay, HUH? I liked Hammer, so it COULD work. But is he the right man for Shazam? Nope, I really don't think so. Perhaps an Oliver Queen or Hal Jordan, but definitely not as a jacked-up Billy Batson. By the way, Johnson's "Baywatch" recently failed to even make a dent in the box office. Does this mean his popularity is fading? How will this affect his DC movies then? Hmmm...

Fresh from angsty "Power Rangers", and into the murky waters of "Aquaman"! Young chinese actor Ludi Lin, has joined the cast to play Murk. A character who is supposed to be Jason Momoa's Arthur Curry's trusted ally. How on Earth does a Hawaiian and Chinese became Atlantean is beyond me, but this was clearly a nice act to push diversity. Director James Wan also proudly showcased a really WET Amber Heard's Mera via his Twitter. I was still indifferent about it, and still won't be seeing the movie, but looks like many liked it. So that's... good, right? "Aquaman" is set to arrive on December 21st, 2018.

If there's a title that's been going on and off in a seemingly concerning state, it's none other than "The Flash". But perhaps, things are slowly running towards a better track. Why? Assuming that Entertainment Weekly report could be hold accountable, then Robert Zemeckis is indeed in talks to take over the movie after Rick Famuyiwa walked out. And guess the other name being on the contender list? The helmer of "Kingsman" himself, Matthew Vaughn! Not just him, both Sam Raimi and Marc Webb apparently were frontrunners as well, but have since passed. Oddly, the news arrived alongside a rumor of actor Billy Crudup walking out of the movie. One that has been debunked, considering he would be showing up in "The Justice League".

Speaking of the League, it became one of the most talked about news last month. Why? Because shockingly, director Zack Snyder alongside wife and producer Deborah had officially stepped down from the movie's post production and reshoots. He's taking some time off to deal with personal family loss/tragedy (my condolences to the Snyders). This has prompted mixed reactions from movie fans, particularly DC ones with their... insensitive and disturbing remarks regarding the situation. And here I thought they couldn't have gone that low!!! *sigh* The irony here was that Snyder has handed over the finishing duty to... *drumroll* the one and only... Joss Whedon! This was definitely an intriguing twist, because now Whedon would be famous for being involved in both Marvel and DC's ensemble movie. Of course, Warner Bros assured the audience, that Whedon's NOT taking over it completely, and just doing a favor to finish up the work. They said that the movie is still very much Snyder's work. Which was an ODD move, considering the negative impression Snyder has left with his first two DC movies. So... if you were among those who was worried that the movie is going to be as bad as his "Man of Steel" or "Batman v. Superman"? Well... don't jump out of that bandwagon just yet. At least, I think you should stick with the same concern until it has been proven otherwise. Remember, it's still a Snyder's and not Whedon's movie, and it opens on November 17th, 2017.

Another problem is running on the other League. This time, the "Justice League Dark" train. Remember how tall and mighty Doug Liman sounded when WB signed him to take over the project from Guillermo del Toro? Well, it seemed Liman might have just swallowed his own pride, because he's no longer attached to the movie. Liman moved on to work on a Lionsgate's project, so WB is currently on the hunt for his replacement. Back then, I would've instantly commented on this turnout. But now? Things like this has happened over and over again that I'm not even surprised when I read it. After all, it's just another setback to the universe, right? Nothing new here. LOL.

All these behind the scene problems that came in one after another, made you lose faith in WB and their DC Films, huh? Well, hold on to your horses, because I'm saving the best for last. And it's a GOOD news this time! Reviews embargo for Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman" has been lifted, and it has received positive reactions! Critics are easily calling it the best DCEU movie so far. Which means, basically better than "Man of Steel", "Batman v. Superman", and "Suicide Squad"... which admittedly weren't even a high bar it needed to top to begin with. LOL. When the first score was accumulated, it resulted a heaping 95% on Rotten Tomatoes! Which ironically begs the question: where has all those DC fans who claimed that RT is ruining DC movies run off to? Surprise suprise, they are out and about protesting and complaining about the Women Only Screening for the movie. SERIOUSLY?!

General comparison to "Captain America: The First Avengers" and "Thor" didn't surprise me, because the trailers have already given the exact vibe. But it's pleasant to know that eventhough those trailers didn't work at all for me, they didn't really capture the spirit and wonder of the movie itself. Which is nice, because in my opinion, it's much better when the trailers are bad but the movie is good, and not the other way around. And when I said the 'other way around', I was obviously referring to those previous 3 DC Films. They all had trailers that many folks claimed to be 'great' or 'amazing', when their actual movies failed to even generate the same response. So if the opposite is happening to "Wonder Woman", it's ironically GOOD, right? The big question now, will "The Justice League" catch on to deliver the same success, finally giving WB a good streak, or will it fumbles into its previous mishaps all over again? Somehow I have a feeling it will be the latter. Oh well, at the very least, the movie will have a good Wonder Woman (step aside, grumpy Superman or violent Batman!). Here's hoping "Wonder Woman" will inspire audience to see more of her, and help give a boost to "The Justice League".

One more thing. I also sincerely hope the positive critical response to "Wonder Woman" is a sign that WB would finally be stepping back on its destructive mentality. All these time, rather than doing their best to deliver a great movie for fans, WB has been focused on one thing: competing with Marvel Studios and trying to top it if not take it down. Which is a SILLY notion on its own, because Marvel Studios already had a long headstart, so no matter what attempts WB tries to be 'different', DC Films will ALWAYS be compared to Marvel Studios' releases no matter what. Ironically, the one and only possible way they could really bring down Marvel Studios from 'the competition', is by damaging the future prospect of superhero genre. Unlike WB and their other variety of franchises, Marvel Studios relies heavily on adaptation to their comic book characters. So by producing bad superhero movies, WB might have unknowingly (or have they? hmmm) been planting the seed of destruction to the genre, which could also lead towards the downfall of Marvel Studios. This helps explain why Marvel Studios have generally refused to say bad things about DC Films, and instead continuously wishing them to do great. They know what's at stake here, and how the genre's longetivity is so much more important than a pointless childish rivalry. A rivalry that WB and its directors, producers, and actors has been flaming over and over again. I sincerely hope, that with Geoff Johns (who used to write for Marvel Comics) finally in full charge, WB and DC Film will turn over a new leaf and proceed with a positive and hopeful heart. One that does not require them to continue being the jerk of the industry...

Dark Universe

Nooo, this isn't about WB's supposed "Justice League Dark" movie. It's a category previously known as... "Universal Monsters". Yes, as if the news of Doug Liman leaving the movie wasn't enough, Universal Studios officially snatched the title of that exact upcoming DC Film movie. Now there's no way WB will be able to use the title again, unless the law sits in in their favor. Don't believe me? Universal has even released a trailer for it. \ So yeah, it IS officially a done deal, no more beating around the bushes. Tom Cruise-starring "The Mummy" will INDEED be the first of its kinds.

Apparently, their Shared Universe's interconnective tissue would be a mysterious multi-national organization called Prodigium, the one possibly led by Russell Crowe's Dr. Jekyll. Who, as the original tale suggests, WILL indeed turn into Mr. Hyde. Oooohhh... juicy! I mean, this might sound really strange, but seeing Crowe turns dark and monstrous somehow makes me all... giddy. Yeah folks, while everyone is busy oggling Cruise and his endless foray of dangerous self-performed stunts, it's Crowe's inclusion that would be my primary reason to see this movie. And I'm not kidding, this might also sound weird, but he was one of the reason I enjoyed "Les Miserables" too *grins*. Of course, if you're still not convinced about seeing this movie on June 9th, you can check out the third and final trailer, just to be sure of your... uh, life choices. LOL.

What directly comes next after "The Mummy", is the "The Bride of Frankenstein"! Bill Condon has been tapped to work on this movie, based on the script by David Koepp. It has even been set for February 14th, 2019 release, which is Valentine's Day, so things will perhaps be more... romantic. I'm personally curious to know why they don't have another project for 2018, but perhaps unlike WB that seems to rush things, Universal wants to take this slowly? Anyway, knowing the title, it's clear that they will be skipping Frankenstein's origin story. The casting hasn't been made official until now, but Javier Bardem has stated his enthusiasm for the role, so highly likely the role is his to play with. As for who will be playing the titular Bride, names like Charlize Theron, Salma Hayek, and Nicole Kidman have been thrown around for a while now, with Angeline Jolie being the most favored of all. Let's just wait and see who gets it then...

Of course, things are currently riding on the success of "The Mummy". If it does manage to achieve one, at least in the minimum amount of expectation, then we can count on seeing Johnny Depp as Invicible Man, Dwayne Johnson as Wolfman, and so on. If NOT, then I honestly don't know what would happen. Marvel Studios kept on moving despite the response to "Iron Man 2", and now its Marvel Cinematic Universe has become the first and most successful of its kind. WB was persistent enough with their DC Films, that eventhough their first three movies was poorly received critically (among plenty other production issues), they have continued limping their way to produce their first good movie in "Wonder Woman". Will Universe follow suit, for better or worse, inspite of general audience's possible fatigue concerning this forced Cinematic Universe approach? As always, we'll see...

SONY Marvel Universe

Many people ridiculed SONY Pictures when they announced the solo "Venom" movie. Movie writers and journalists didn't quite buy it, until a more concrete news arise. Some fans even questioned how a Spider-Man spin-off would work, in a non-MCU universe WITHOUT Spider-Man. But then SONY dropped a bombshell, by officially announcing a lead actor and director for the project. And they were NOT messing around. Tom Hardy, that great often-under-appreciated Oscar nominee, whose performance as Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises" became the joke of many DC fans, has signed on to play Eddie Brock. And that's because he's a fan of the character! WOW. Ruben Fleischer, is set to direct the movie, based on the script by Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg. So it's happening folks, it IS happening.

The same goes to the Silver Sable and Black Cat movie. The project that has been officially titled as "Silver and Black", is closing in on a director. When the news hit last week, Gina Prince-Bythewood was in negotiations to helm the movie. I can't really tell if she's a great director or not, but apparently her work "Beyond the Lights" was highly-appreciated. Chris Yost, who worked on the upcoming Thor movie, is writing the script with Lisa Joy. And Matt Tolmach and Amy Pascal are producing. So this one IS happening too!

My reaction to these news? I LOVE Hardy, especially his performance in "Warriors" and "Inception". And seeing him headline a movie is always a joy, even if the movie itself might not be good at times. But great gawd, he would've made a great Kraven the Hunter instead of Eddie Brock!!! >:(... And yes, I might have jinxed it when I said that, because apparently there's a rumor flying around social media now, that "Silver and Black" will be using Kraven as the antagonist. Ouch! Is SONY trying to use up the Spider-Man characters, so that Marvel Studios can't use them as antagonists to Tom Holland's Peter Parker? I hope that's not the case, because I could be really angry about it. Moreso, I still don't see how "Venom" nor the pairing of "Silver and Black" makes for a good idea, especially since neither of them would be bouncing off against a Spider-Man. But let's take a deep breath, and just think positive about it, okay...

Uncharted

Speaking of Tom Holland, here's a pleasant little surprise that would make everyone, especially his and video game fans turn heads. The rising British actor has been cast, as young Nathan Drake for the "Uncharted" movie adaptation! Apparently, the Shawn Levy movie will play around Drake's younger days, as opposed to his mature adventures that have been depicted in the four games so far. It was said that SONY head Tom Rothman was impressed by Holland's performance in the upcoming Spider-Man movie, that he pushed for him to be the star of another franchise. The problem with this development, Joe Carnahan's script can no longer be used, possibly postponed until the movie requires an adult Drake. Levy is still onboard, but a new scriptwriter is being sought to work on a new version.

There was a flashback sequence in "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" that showed Drake meeting his mentor Sullivan for the first time. That's likely the foundation of what this movie's going to be about. In a way, we can safely say that SONY is expecting Holland to grow into a charming athletic adventurer like Drake in future movies. Especially because movies like these usually takes at least two years to develop, and the now 20 years old Holland, would be almost 30 by the time he's working on a probable-third movie. You know what? I can totally buy that! And I'm certainly not alone in thinking this way.

And as for Holland's idea on Chris Pratt or Jake Gyllenhall playing a younger Sullivan/Sully? I'm a fan of both actors, so his statement definitely puts a really wide grin on my face. Not sure if they would be a good fit for the role (try picturing THIS IMAGE, but with Holland and any of those actors)... but yeaah, I'm totally down with that!

Marvel Studios

Yes, still talking about Holland. Because he's on THREE effing categories this time! What a year for this hunky young fella, eh? His Marvel Studios movie, "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is only a month away from arriving in the theatres, and the hype on social media is growing bigger and bigger. The third and so called final (lengthy, I presume?) trailer was released last week, and it showcased some extra scenes while rehashing the ones from previous two trailers. Considering the 2nd trailer has pretty much spoiled beat by beat of the actual movie, this final trailer didn't even bothered to do the same all over again. Who knows what the TV spots and clips will reveal though, because this feels like SONY's marketing, hence why it didn't feel like Marvel Studios' doing.

The good news is, the movie is tracking to a $135 million domestic opening number. Yes, that's a relatively lower number than Marvel Studios previous Summer releases, but it's still the highest number for any Spider-Man movies since 2002. A number that has consistently been declining, by the way, with the exception of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" in 2014. So despite the number feeling rather low, especially for a movie that has Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark, this is still something good on its own.

Meanwhile, now that "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is out for almost a whole month, director James Gunn is already hard at work on the next installment, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3". While the second movie made it clear that Chris Pratt's Peter Quill is the only Earthling member of the team, Gunn had openly revealed on social media, that such restriction will no longer apply in the third. In my opinion, Gunn specifically made the rule, likely to ensure Quill being the only representative of the planet, especially when we put into account Ego's 'celestial visit' to various planets. Since "Vol. 3" is set to take place after "Avengers: Infinity War" and Avengers 4, the Guardians would have been exposed to Earth, thus including more Earth-bound heroes like Nova or others should make more sense. Hey, even Brie Larson's Captain Marvel can be among their cosmic ranks too.

X-Men Universe

Josh Boone's "X-Men: The New Mutants" had scored, or rather confirmed its first two cast members. As previously rumored before, rising stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Maisie Williams have officially come onboard to play Russian mutant Magik and Scottish mutant Wolfsbane respectively. Both names have been associated with this movie since last year, so it's nice that we've finally gotten the confirmation some of us needed. Apparently though, the 'Natt Wolff is being approached to play Cannonball' part didn't pan out, as a surprising name has entered talks to portray the character instead. What a strange things indeed... ;D

Hold on, make that four actors, if we count Marvel TV's MVP Rosario Dawson. Yes, apparently Dawson has been approached to play Dr. Cecilia Reyes, a doctor that would serve as some sort of mentor figure for the younger cast. The character has the ability to generate force field, so she's definitely a mutant as well. Assuming Dawson agreed to take the role, this would be her second Marvel role, and also a step up from a rogue nurse Claire Temple into a full blown doctor. Someone just got medically promoted! LOL.

It's seriously unclear when or how the timeline of this movie will fit in the... ugh, already messy and confusing larger X-Men universe. What we can really be certain of however, is the genre the movie will dive into. And FOX isn't playing around, because based on Boone's statement to Entertainment Weekly, "We are making a full-fledged horror movie set within the X-Men universe. There are no costumes. There are no supervillains. We’re trying to do something very, very different.". Okay, now this was both intriguing and concerning at the same time. The idea of having a younger cast, somehow meant that the movie will be a young adult version of the genre. And that's good. But no costume, and also horror bit? Even "Doctor Strange" didn't fully go that direction, because it might not score the PG-13 rating. Does this mean, "New Mutants" (yes, I'm still not used to adding the X-Men part in front of it) will also be R-rated, much like FOX recent movies? It COULD... be a good idea, but at the same time, it's a risky one that might not work either. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what Boone means when the first trailer hits. "New Mutants" is set to be released on April 13th, 2018. Production is expected to begin pretty soon in July... so I'm sure we'll hear more about it and more ethnically-appropriate casting through San Diego Comic Con.

Meanwhile, the tentatively titled "Deadpool 2" has welcomed a new cast member. Jack Kesy, who I just realized portrayed that rocker whose genital creepily fell off in "The Strain" (not kidding, it's a disturbing scene), has been cast to play a major villain in the movie. Deadline said, that their sources pinpointed the character as... Black Tom. Nope, I did NOT know that character, and the day I read the news, was even the first time I have even heard of it. After Ed Skrein's Ajax was universally acknowledged as one of the weakest element of the first movie, one would think that FOX would amp up the antagonist department, right? Looks like that's not the case. But let's give this sequel the benefit of doubt. Ryan Reynolds is returning as Wade Wilson, alongside Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Stefan Kapacic as Colossus, and Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead. And just like Dawson, Josh Brolin will be portraying his second Marvel role, this time as the time travelling Cable. Directed by David Leitch, "Deadpool 2" will hit the theatres on June 1st, 2018.

Let's move on to the TV side now! And let's start with the good news first. FXX, a younger-skewing part of FX Network with focus on animation, has ordered a 10-episode series of Marvel's "Deadpool" (tentative title, by the way)! And guess who will be working as showrunner for this show? "Atlanta" very own Donald Glover, and brother Stephen Glover. Well, color me intrigued! This Deadpool series will serve as Marvel TV's second collaboration with the network, after the critically acclaimed "Legion" that aired earlier this year and has received a renewal. ABC Signature Studios is producing the show. And yes, joining Dawson and Brolin's party, this would be Glover's second major Marvel involvement following his inclusion in "Homecoming" (noticed that he showed up in that latest trailer too?). Hmmm... is it just me or FOX continues snatching actors from Marvel? Anyways, would Glover be voicing the lead character too? That would be awesome.

Now, comes the bad... or politely speaking, not that-good of a news. And it's about that new X-Men TV show, "The Gifted". I know I haven't been talking about this for a while now, because frankly... I couldn't care less. But I'm going to report it anyway now, because it's happening. Well, mainly because an official teaser has been released to celebrate the full season order. So yeah, FOX wanted their Marvel properties to play in the TV poolside as well, so they called out Bryan Singer and writer Matt Nix to... ugh, create this show. And it's generally about, "a family who discovers their kid is a mutant and must go on the run, shacking up with a bunch of other mutants to survive.". What's the point? I guess it's not enough to have "Legion" that, despite being really good, feels weirdly out of place from the X-Men movie universe, now they just need to insert another one to make things more... confusing.

To be honest, what I saw in that trailer didn't inspire confidence. At all. Which was odd, because I thought the teaser was quite intriguing. There's this weird... 'been there done that' vibe running throughout the trailer, and it certainly didn't give me the urge to check it out once it was over. It played a bit like "Heroes" I guess, but not the early seasons when it was good. Nope, it's the latter ones which people couldn't care less. But of course, don't ever judge a book by its cover, because this COULD be good. It has Amy Acker, Stephen Moyer, Sean Teale, Jamie Chung, Coby, Blair Redford, Percy Hynes White, Emma Dumont, John Proudstar, and Natalie Alyn Lind as its cast. While I'm only familiar with THREE of them, the rest of these actors could end up becoming as huge as those.. ugh three. So yeah, if you're an X-Men fan, you might want to hang on to your seat until this show arrives on FOX Network. Sooner or later. Good... luck, then?

Marvel TV

Since we've talked about Marvel TV's affair with FOX, let's talk about their own shows now.

Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." has been officially renewed for Season 5. YAY for that! I personally thought the finale for Season 4 was rather... disappointing and underwhelming. Also, that post credit scene was confusing, and was revealed to NOT have anything to do with S.W.O.R.D. because turns out, Marvel doesn't own the copyright. Ain't that a deal-breaker! But obviously, a show renewal means a win for some of its fans, so... good for them. There's a catch though, because unlike previous season, the 5th season will NOT arrive in Fall 2017. Nope, NOT kidding, because apparently, AoS will not start until ABC has finished airing all 8 episodes of Marvel's "The Inhumans". This is a strange reveal, because I've always thought 2017 would be the year that ABC is having two running Marvel shows at the same time. Looks like I've expected too much.

But the report gets even... weirder. "The Inhumans" is officially set to air on... Friday 09:00 PM, following "Once Upon a Time". This news stirred up some concerns on its own, because according to many, Friday night is considered to be graveyard for TV shows. Heck, many people in the US aren't even home during that time! Most tend to go out, and have dates, parties, watch movies and whatevers. Is ABC trying to ruin the show before it even starts? Sure, ABC Chief Channing Dungey has told the press that the network is trying out a new strategy. But it also didn't stop folks on the internet to connect the show to a recent rumor that... didn't sound reassuring. With this odd airing schedule, the trepid response to the show's first look, as well as showrunner Scott Buck's bad track record thanks to "Iron Fist", I think it's not wrong for fans to start feeling... worried.

The good side that we can take from this, is that when the 5th Season of AoS begins airing on January 2018, the 22-episodes will likely run without any season breaks. There isn't any official statement about this, but VFX supervisor Mark Kolpak had hinted so in a social media response. Personally speaking, it's still uncertain if I'll be seeing this new season or not. Knowing my tendency to lose interest when a show starts to get overly long, highly likely I'm going to drop it, to then return sometime after it ends to bingewatch it. But it's not a fixed plan just yet. After all, I WAS planning to do that with Season 4, but then the Ghost Rider arc pulled me back in, and the rest was history. And of course, if the 5th Season is announced to be the FINAL season, that totally changes my plan. I would totally tune out in real time for one last ride, even if sometimes I have to *cough-Glee-cough* drag myself to do so. In the end, it all depends on what strategy the showrunners will apply to the show when it returns on January. It's still 7 months away, so plenty of time for me to have the AoS hiatus I badly needed. Assuming "The Inhumans" doesn't suck up all of my joy and leave me with pure disgust towards Marvel TV, of course... LOL *sigh*

Last but not least, the new season for "Avengers Assemble", officially subtitled as Marvel's Avengers: Secret Wars", is set to have a one hour premiere later on June 17th. This season will pick up directly after that bittersweet ending of Season 3, that left Tony Stark in a... digital state. To be honest, there's an annoying pattern to Marvel Animation's shows in the past few years, in that it started out strong and good... to then suffer a gradual decline in quality. That 3rd season, the one subtitled "Ultron Revolution", was just another good example of this. So while the prospect of having an entirely new roster led by Black Panther for "Secret Wars" sounds intriguing, I can't really say for sure if I'm going to stick around to the finale.

To help introduce these new roster, DisneyXD will be releasing a number of shorts via the digital platforms such as DisneyXD App. There will be six shorts released that feature Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Ms. Marvel, Ant-Man, Wasp, and Vision. Characters who have mostly (with the exception of Wasp) debuted on Season 3. These shorts will be available on a daily basis from June 2nd to June 7th. They will be essential to prepare audience for the 2-parters "Avengers No More", on June 17th as I've said before. I might be mistaken, but it seems the voice cast will have several updates as well, since I'm not seeing Adrian Pasdar's name on it. Nevertheless, fans of the animated series should definitely mark their dates to catch this new season. Who knows, perhaps the roster change will be effective to make it... better than the first three seasons.

Netflix

I didn't pay attention because I had to spend less time on Twitter now, but it seemed Marvel's "The Defenders" had a playful time with their social media marketing. Marvel officially released motion posters for the character, and apparently they were delightfully filled with easter eggs. There's Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock and Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones hanging out on Rand Tower, Mike Colter's Luke Cage in Fogwell's gym, and Finn Jones' Danny Rand meditating in front of Alias Investigations, and so on. Fun stuffs indeed, at least by the sound of it, because I haven't personally observed them in details. LOL.

Cox talked to Empire Online, and revealed that despite the tonal difference to all series, "The Defenders" will have a tone of its own. One that is kept "grounded, but at the same time it lives in a slightly mythical world". Colter added that the four lead characters will be reluctant to work with each other at first. He also accidentally revealed on a separate interview, that Wai Ching Ho's enigmatic character Madame Gao is set to appear on the mini series. This wasn't particularly shocking, I should say, because technically Gao IS a member of The Hand, so of course she'll be involved somehow. Perhaps, alongside Ramon Rodriguez' Bakuto, who disappeared after his fight with Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing in Danny's series? Speaking of Danny, Jones said that his character will be maturing and be more responsible in the mini series. So perhaps, turning into someone more... likeable than the one we saw in his solo series. I sure hope that's the case. Marvel's "The Defenders" arrives on August 18th.

Netflix has debuted the first teaser for their animated "Castlevania" series as well. The series itself will premiere on July 7th, and this first season will consist of 4 episodes. Running time for each will be 30 minutes, so it's going to be a really short show. While this is a fantastic idea, considering the game franchise hasn't had any adaptation until now (as far as I know of), this teaser was... vague at best. It honestly didn't make me curious or intrigued to check it out, and I'm not sure that's the purpose. Of course, just like any other Netflix shows, we could expect a full length trailer in the coming weeks. Perhaps, by then it would look meaningful enough for me to judge.

DC Television

Likely inspired by the reception to Marvel's "Luke Cage", DC TV has followed suit by introducing their own black superhero in "Black Lightning". The series, which has been ordered as full season, is set to debut on the CW Network. But unlike the already running "Arrow", "The Flash", and "Super Girl", this one will not be set in the same universe. For now. You can check out the first look trailer on the network's official channel.

Much like the other CW shows, I can't really say if this trailer... appealed enough for my taste. I just... didn't dig it for some reason. The concept of a retired hero is nice, but the whole thing played out exactly like those other CW shows. So already a huge pass for me. But I can easily imagine how some folks, especially African-American audience would be ecstatic to see it. Heck, if Marvel fans could show so much love for a "Luke Cage" series that honestly got more and more draggy as it went by, I certainly hope the DC counterpart would at least do the same with this. There one for everyone, right?

Warner Bros Animation

"Heelloooo, Nurse!!!!". Not content on just delivering CW superhero shows, through their animation division, WB is planning to revive a loveable classic, which is "Animaniacs". Yes folks, the trio of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot will be returning to the small screen... and likely alongside other characters like Pinky and the Brain. According to IndieWire, Steven Spielberg is involved in it, so that's a reassuring fact. After all, it was the iconic director himself who managed to bring the series to its spectacular popularity back then. For the time being, the project is still in early stage of development, and it doesn't have a home yet. But the original series is having great viewership on Netflix, so the streaming media would easily become one of its possible home. Here's hoping we'll hear more about this in the near future!

LEGO Games

LEGO announced their latest action adventure video game title late last month. This time, it's another of their Marvel tie-in games, "LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2". Their previous collaboration, the MCU-inspired "LEGO Marvel's The Avengers" did not reach the same heights of the first "LEGO Marvel Super Heroes". So I hope this new one, that seems to focus on themes from recent and upcoming movies like "Doctor Strange", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Thor: Ragnarok", "Black Panther", and "Captain Marvel", will be able to make up for that strange nitpick-ish disappointment. You can check out the official full-length trailer on Marvel's official Youtube channel. Didn't show much of the plot though. Hmmm....

Street Fighter

Third character for "Street Fighter V" Season 2's DLC has been revealed early last month. CAPCOM promised a completely new character, but once again, similar to Helen/Kolin, this one's technically NOT really new. Ed, has been around since "Street Fighter IV", and before officially becoming a playable character in this game, he's been heavily involved in Season 1's DLCs' (Balrog and also Urien) story modes, as well as appearing in some others. Balrog has been serving as his caretaker, and that explains why his fighting skill leans towards boxing.

I'm never fond of boxing fighters, so Ed's already a huge NO for me. What was more disappointing about his reveal though, is the fact that he's being set up to be the new M. Bison. Complete with that ugly M. Bison-inspired costume! Turns out, ghost of the now-death Shadaloo's boss tried to possess his body, hinting that the evil organization is still lurking about, despite the conclusive ending to "A Shadow Falls". This is something along the line of how "Final Fantasy XIII-2" ruined the perfect ending of its first game! Anyway, some fans have been able to test him out during the game's beta test on May 11th. It's still unclear when he will be available for purchase, but it's safe to assume that will take place this month. You can check out his official reveal trailer on CAPCOM's official Youtube channel.

Dynasty Warriors

Early last month, Kadokawa's Weekly Famitsu magazine revealed that the 9th iteration of the franchise, "Shin Sangoku Musou 8" will be released on Playstation 4. This wasn't surprising, since KOEI Tecmo has been moving away and away from Microsoft and their Xbox family since the 8th game. Despite that, there are hints that the North American and European region will get additional release in other platforms as well. Switch, perhaps?

First announced back in December 2016, the new game will have an open-world environment, placing the continent of China into a single, vast map to explore. There will be key cities and also landmarks in the game. This change enables various mechanics that were unaccessible in previous titles, like real-time climate and its influence to battle, stealth infilitration, long distance attack, as well as variety of other methods like "State Combo", "Flow Attacks", "Trigger Attack", and "Interactive Actions". The story mode will be massively affected by them as well, as everything will take place according to its respective period, and more faithful to the actual history. According to producer Akihiro Suzuki and director Jun Miyauchi, development is currently at 40%, and that their team is currently adding more and more features to increase the game's playability value. With that said, the game still has no official release date at the time being.

Continuing the franchise's tradition, several new characters will be introduced to join the existing 83 officers from the latest title, "Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires". Zhou Cang, wielding the Daisatsutou, will be added to the Shu faction, while Cheng Pu, wielding a dual spear, will join the Wu faction. There might be more for other factions, but so far, these two are the only ones announced. Details for these characters as well as regarding the game in general, can be found on the official English and Japanese websites.

The King of Fighters

Fans who haven't been able to play the game on Playstation 4, will soon have a chance to play it on PC. "The King of Fighters XIV Steam Edition" of the game, has been announced to be released in the near future. SNK Corp has been accepting pre-order starting in May. Regular edition will come with a bonus of DLC costumes for Kyo Kusanagi, and Geese Howard. A Deluxe Pack, which is a MUCH better offer but with understandably higher price, will come equipped with Digital Art Book, Digital Soundtrack, 10 DLC costumes, and all 4 DLC characters announced so far. That's basically everything that SNK Corp has released in one pack! A 20% discount, which is an extra-generous bargain for both sets, is set to run until June 15th, 2017 10:AM PDT. So hurry up and pre-order your copy! I know I would if I had a compatible resource to play it, as well as reliable financial condition... *sigh*

Assassin's Creed

E3 is taking place this month, and Ubisoft has been rumored to be announcing the new title for their "Assassin's Creed" franchise. Nothing official has been revealed to far, but the company has indeed teased that this new entry will be released before the end of their current fiscal year. That means, we can expect it to arrive before March 31st, 2018. Will it be the Egyptian-themed "Assassin's Creed: Origins" as previously speculated? We'll have to wait and see...

Sonic the Hedgehog

When it was announced that there would be a 3rd character for "Sonic Forces", it made me quite... anxious. Remember how the teaser showed a cat-like character? Yep, I was genuinely worried that SEGA would be shoving, shoehorning a completely new character that might ruin the whole "Sonic Generations" combo of Classic and Modern Sonic. I mean, what's the purpose, right? Well, guess what? Turns out the third character is indeed a NEW character, but NOT exactly new. Huh? Because it's still Sonic. CUSTOM SONIC. LOL.

Seriously, this is NICE! And also somewhat brilliant too. I'm sure many Sonic fans have been itching to see how Sonic the Hedgehog would've looked if he's actually a wolf instead. Or if he's not Blue, but Red-colored... Okay, perhaps I'm the only one intrigued by those idea, but the point is, each fans can have their own version of Sonic through this game! This customizable Sonic or 'Hero Character' can be equipped with a variety of powerful unique gadgets called Wispons. The visual look can also be modified by choosing between 'hundreds' of options. So those who have been dreaming to have a nerdy Sonic as their playable character, well, this one's for you! Also, as I said before, players can choose a different base animal apart from Hedgehog, and all 7 types come with their own unique abilities. SEGA and the Sonic Team has provided a reveal trailer, and also quick gameplay trailer for this new Sonic. Looks like he'll be able to play through either Classic or Modern style stages too. Pretty cool, right?!

Meanwhile, "Sonic Mania" has officially received a release date. The 2D Classic Sonic game will be launched on August 15th, 2017, for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. A special pre-order trailer has been released to deliver this announcement. Go ahead and check it out, because it looks... 2D-nostalgic fun! :D

Zero Escape

Just like "Sonic Mania", the PS4 port of "Zero Time Dilemma" will also be released in August. Namely, two days later on August 17th, 2017. That's only for the Japanese version though, and it will be available at the price of 3,800 yen. The English version has yet to receive official release date, but has been planned for a Fall release. This new PS4 version will have refined graphics, and Famitsu has published a comparison sample with the PC version.

Professor Layton

Early last month (yes, don't ask), details for the first arc of "Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy" has been revealed by LEVEL-5. Episode 01, entitled "Clockwork Sweets" will have Katrielle investigating the stolen hand of London's famous Big Ben's clock. The incident needs to be taken care of before the arrival of Ambassador Melarco the day after. So to fulfill the request of Scotland Yard's inspector Aspoiro, Katrielle and her assistant Haro needs to race through time to retrieve back the hand, before press conference with Melarco begins. Marc and Reggie Yanchatta, 27 years old twins will be involved in this case. Older brother Marc works as the mechanic on Big Ben, while Reggie is a confectioner.

Two of the "Seven Millionaires of London" from the title, have also been introduced. The first one is Ridley Fremens, who is the female mayor of London. And the second one is Clerk Gospec, a 65 years old multi-milionaire who has taken interest in Katrielle to investigate an incident in his theater. The report is currently unclear, but it seems Fremes will also be involved in the Big Ben case, while the Gospec's request will play out as one of Katrielle's next mission. To be honest, this feels more like a mystery visual novel than the previous "Professor Layton" titles. For some reason, I'm even reminded of that App Game "Layton Brothers", which I only managed to play up to the 3rd case (I need to purchase the next cases afterwards, and I had to pass on that LOL).

"Puzzles" are the signature of the franchise, so of course Katrielle will be dealing with them. The same goes for the other basic flow, like examining areas to discover "Insight Coins", and also tracking down "Collectibles". Another Layton standard feature, a mini game called "The Ideal Dinner" is also available. This time players need to provide clients with ideal dinner course of hors d’oeuvres, soup, a main course, and desserts. The game will be released worlwide on July 20th, 2017, for Nintendo 3DS (for Japan region, western version will come later in Fall), iOS and Android. That means, we might be getting additional information about other characters in the near future. Perhaps, during this month's E3?

Square Enix

The last category of this R-N-D, is a rundown of future plans by Square Enix. The company held a financial briefings for the fiscal year that ended in March 31st, 2017, and president and CEO Yousuke Matsuda revealed that some highly-anticipated title will be launched within the next three years. These projects include "Final Fantasy VII Remake", "Kingdom Hearts III", and also an unnamed Marvel IP License. This means that we can expect those to arrive starting next year. Will they be announcing more details for these projects during E3 though? We'll see...

[lillotte17]

Prompt: Fenris as a toddler

I choose to believe this was also a drawing prompt. >_>

Uthvir belongs to @feynites

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the first word Fenris manages to master is no.

This is followed in quick succession by other such gems; stop, don’t, and down, to name a few. While his progress may still be slower than he would like, he can at least understand most of what people are saying to him, even if he cannot actually get his mouth to form the proper words to reply without butchering them horribly. He might not be winning any awards for poetry any time in the near future, but Fenris can at least take some satisfaction in finally being able to articulate something.

“Ah-lee,” he grumbles out one day while they are getting ready to go on a picnic in one of the little gardens outside of June’s tower, and she is fussing with the buttoning of his little cardigan. She has him perched up on the dresser in her bedroom, which, even after all these months of habitation, is still only sparsely furnished. She sighs at his discontent and pauses long enough to tussle his hair. He scowls in retaliation, pushing her hand away, but she only laughs.

“You’re my baby,” she says with a thin, curling smile, “And babies don’t call their mothers by their name, you know. You say Mamae.”

“Ah-lee,” Fenris insists.

“I know you’ve heard Nanae call me that, but…” she tries.

“Oot-veer,” Fenris counters mulishly.

“Fine,” Aili huffs, giving up the ghost in favor of making another try at the tiny stubborn buttons on her son’s sweater, “Have it your way, you tenacious little creature.”

Fenris pats at her hand consolingly. He is still coming to terms with the unpleasant realization that his body now projects his emotions, and finds that he is not quite able to conceal the hint of pleasure at his victory. Unbidden, the corner of his mouth twitches upwards.

“Is that a smile I see?” Aili beams at him, leaning in perilously close to kissing range.

“No,” Fenris asserts, hastily reforming his features into a frown.

“I think it is,” Aili singsongs with an expression of insufferable triumph, creeping her hands forward and tickling him lightly beneath his chin.

Fenris wriggles, trying to escape, and makes a wholly undignified sound. That is…not entirely born of displeasure. Some strange mix of a shriek and a giggle. Aili relents quickly enough, as she always does, and while he is still caught up in being mortified over the discovery of this new weakness, he looks down and sees that his thrashing has knocked a few of her personal items onto the floor.

“Sorry,” he says, with just the slightest hint of a lisp, pointing down at the displaced objects so she will know what he is apologizing for. And that, he realizes, is a word he seems to be using frequently as well. Because he is sorry, even if some part of him knows that his reactions are not entirely his fault. He is sorry to be here. Sorry that he cannot adjust to things as quickly as he would wish. Sorry to be a burden on what seems to be a generally nice group of people who are trying to include him in their family. Not that he ever seems to be held accountable for his transgressions.

This time is no different, as his adopted mother simply lifts him from the dresser and sets him carefully down on her bed. She smiles at him and smooths his hair down a little before turning around and picking up the things he had knocked to the floor. He thinks the air around her is a little sad, though. If he is reading that correctly. He generally tries not to, as it feels strangely invasive, but he supposes it is a skill he will need to acquire in order to thrive in this strange place.

“No harm done,” Aili assures him in a gentle tone, coming back over to sit next to him with what seems to be some sort of headband in her hand, “It was just an accident. Mama is sorry, too. I know you don’t like to be tickled very much.”

“S’okay,” he returns, slightly uncomfortable at this shift in tone. He reaches over and pats her arm reassuringly once or twice. Touching people to console them is another uncharted territory for him, but it always seems to work wonders with his primary caregivers, Aili especially, so he does his best to at least make an effort.

“You’re my good, sweet baby,” she continues, “And I love you very much. Even when you get upset. Mama and Nanae would never hurt you, even if things get broken sometimes.”

Fenris swallows thickly. Something suspiciously like embarrassment prickles up the back of his neck. Possibly tinged with a softer inclination as well. He shifts his weight a little, glancing about for a quick change of topic.

“Pretty,” he declares, gesturing at the object still in Aili’s hand without even really looking at it.

“You like it?” she wonders, holding it out for him to inspect, “Nanae got it for me. They said it was some sort of belated housewarming gift. I told them it was silly, since we both moved in at the same time, and they could hardly get me a better gift than you, but… Well. They’re always doing things like that. Giving things to people. It makes them happy.”

Fenris looks over the thin circlet with a critical eye. It is a somewhat simple design, some swirling organic pattern carved into a pale blonde wood very similar to Aili’s hair. It is sturdy though, and the craftsmanship is obviously very good, from what little he knows of such things. There is no way this was something Uthvir just bought off a shelf in a moment of random generosity. Clearly it is meant to be something…more. It’s no wonder she seems pleased with it.

And yet he’s almost certain he’s never seen Aili actually wearing it. He doubts that she will have thought of the significance of that. But he is certain Uthvir has.

Fenris huffs.

These two.

“You. On,” he demands, extending it back towards her in one pudgy fist. If he is going to be cooed over, he might as well do something useful with it.

“It’s awfully dressy for a picnic,” she smiles, taking it back from him.

“Pretty,” Fenris insists. Aili laughs.

“Alright,” she concedes, “If you think we should have a fancy day out, then I’ll wear it.”

It takes her a little while to get it just right. She pulls her hair free of its usual ponytail, braids part of it back out of her face, and then settles the circlet onto her head. The piece is open at the front, the twining pieces lifting up just slightly, like a set of horns, and framing the bronze markings on her forehead just so. The overall effect seems to be one of softness, with just a hint of some wild, fey creature.

It suits her.

“Pretty,” Fenris commends.

“Thank you, baby,” Aili grins, leaning over and placing a tiny flower pin in his hair, “Now we’re both fancy.”

Fenris sighs in reluctant acceptance, supposing that he more or less asked for that. Aili seems nearly buoyant when she gathers him up in her arms and grabs their basket of supplies as they head out the door, though. So, he figures it is probably worth it.

Uthvir is taking care of some of their duties for the General, but had promised to meet them for their lunch out on the grass as soon as they were done. Fenris does not like being taken out into the city very much, as none of the elves seem to be able to contain themselves in his presence. If he was physically capable, he is certain that he would have broken some of their fingers by now.

But he can also concede, that he would probably lose his mind if he only saw the inside of their rooms until he was big enough to get around on his own again.

Luckily, his parents are sensitive to his needs and, he suspects, neither of them are all that comfortable with being swarmed by an adoring mob themselves. So, the garden they end up in is relatively small, and almost entirely abandoned. Fenris is not sure why. There are quite a few very ugly statues in it, so perhaps it offends some of the other elves of Arlathan’s delicate sensibilities, or some other such ridiculous thing. He’s not about to complain.

Aili sets up the blanket and sets Fenris up with his bottle. She does not eat herself, possibly waiting for their missing family member to arrive. And, since nothing else of import is likely to happen until they get here, he decides that he should practice his other new trick.

Fenris is finally getting the hang of walking again.

There is a lot of falling down involved in the process thus far, but he can almost make it half way across the sitting room by himself now, so long as he can grab onto passing furniture. Aili hovers, naturally, offering guiding hands, but not so much that he feels smothered. And for that he is grateful. Even to the point where he generally allows her to kiss him when he bumps into something.

He is two thirds of the way through his third assisted crossing of the blanket, with only four falls, when a large hawk descends from the sky and lands in front of him.

Fenris is so shocked, that he sits down rather suddenly on the blanket with a soft oof.

“Uthvir,” Aili chides, “What have I said about divebombing people?”

“I am sorry,” the hawk apologizes with Uthvir’s voice, “I have not eaten since very early this morning and it took me longer than expected to find you.”

“What about Fenris?” Aili asks, real concern seeping into her tone, “He’s still getting used to the idea that magic isn’t bad, you know. What if you frightened him?”

At this, they both turn their full attention back to him and simultaneously realize that not only does their son not seem to be scared, but he has pulled himself onto his hands and knees and crawled his way over to them.

Fenris stretches out his little hand, waiting. And after a moment of confusion, Uthvir leans their head forward, allowing themselves to patted gently. Tiny fingers moving in very careful strokes over sleek brown feathers.

Fenris does not know what it means. Or if it means anything. But it almost seems like too much to be a coincidence. To be flung through time and space and somehow find himself in the care of yet another hawk.

He does not know what to make of it.

“Hok,” he burbles out after a few minutes, and it is only then that he realizes that at some point he has started crying. Not like his usual outbursts of rage or frustration, but fat silent tears of nothing more than grief. “Hok.”

“What is a hok?” Uthvir asks Aili, sounding vaguely horrified, frozen stiff in uncertainty.

“I don’t know, but change back, quick,” Aili instructs, scooping Fenris up into her arms and cooing at him to distract him while Uthvir shifts back into their normal shape.

“All done,” they inform her a moment later.

“There, see?” Aili asks, turning back around and passing Fenris into their arms, “It’s just Nanae. Nanae isn’t scary, are they?”

Fenris sniffs, in reluctant agreement, feeling a bit foolish as he begins to calm back down.

“I am sorry to have scared you, little one,” Uthvir adds for good measure. Fenris pats their chest as a sign of forgiveness, and a bid to be set down again.

“Crisis averted,” Aili grins at them, handing them a meat pie from out of the basket as Uthvir settles Fenris back onto the blanket.

“But only just,” they sigh. They stare at her for half a minute, the food half way to their mouth as something seems to dawn on them. “You… You are wearing the gift I got you.”

“Oh,” she exclaims, as if only just now remembering herself, her cheeks flushing slightly, “Well. I mean, I know it is really too nice for this sort of thing, but Fenris insisted that we dress for the occasion.”

“Pretty,” Fenris notes, giving Uthvir a rather pointed stare.

“I agree,” Uthvir replies, a large smile spreading out across their face, “You look very nice.”

“I have your excellent taste to thank for that, I’m sure,” Aili laughs, sounding a little embarrassed and twisting her fingers in her hair.

“We should go visit the artist who made it sometime,” they continue, “You would like him, I think. They have a son not too much older than Fenris, and he seemed eager to see how the piece would look on you.”

“You mean, you actually had this commissioned for me?” Aili gapes.

“Well…of course I did,” Uthvir says, sounding uncertain again.

“I’ll…make sure I get you something, too,” she fumbles, “For a housewarming present, I mean. It… It might take me awhile, but-”

“You don’t have to do that,” Uthvir insists.

“Kisses!” Fenris suggests loudly. He had honestly never thought that anyone could possibly top Aveline and her copper marigolds when it came to romantic awkwardness, but dammit all if these two weren’t making his old friend seem suave by comparison. It is almost painful to watch.

Aili leans over and obligingly kisses him on the cheek and he groans.

“No.” ​

[keywestlou]

VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE NO MORE

The last Volkswagen Beetle ran off the assembly line in Mexico yesterday. Volkswagen has been turning out its Beetles in Mexico for years.

Volkswagen has decided to stop making Beetles. Apparently the market no longer exists for the vehicle.

Sad though the occasion was, it was party time at the Mexican plant yesterday. Excellent food and drink. A confetti shower. A mariachi band playing and singing.

This is the second time Volkswagen has stopped producing the Beetle in recent years. Eleven years ago it said no more. Two years later Volkswagen began manufacturing them again.

That was 9 years ago. I bought one of the first manufactured. A 2010 Volkswagen Beetle convertible. It was not the run of the mill Beetle. It was a special model. Only 1500 were manufactured.

Over the years, I have learned that the first year of any car and the last make the vehicle extra special for sales purposes. Bring in top dollars. Sort of a windfall.

I purchased the convertible in anticipation of making a buck when I sold it. Volkswagen having stopped manufacturing makes the car worth even more.

Almost 10 years I have been driving the convertible. Only 44,000 miles on it. The car has only been some distance outside Key West on 2 occasions. In good shape. If I ever sell it, I’ll probably make the extra dollar.

The convertible my second Beetle. My first a 1969 Christmas present for my wife. Fire engine red. She came upon it Christmas morning in the drive way with a large bow around it.

She drove it for 10 years till it died. For real. She forgot to put oil in and the engine block split. Her next car a yellow Mercedes-Benz.

How the world turns!

The thing I recall most about the new Beetle purchased in 1969 was its cost. $1,900. Those days gone forever!

This morning’s Key West Citizen reports property values in Key West on the rise. I am not surprised. I believe they are the highest ever. More million dollar homes available at one time. Many priced in the several millions.

What goes up, must come down. No question. Inevitable.

I recall the 2008 crash. Home values dropped swiftly and dramatically. Some as much as 2/3’s.

Real estate values have risen 7.5 percent each of the past 2 years.

Keep in mind my admonition. What goes up, goes down. If anything, now is the time to sell. Not buy.

The Keys are in the middle of the turtle nesting season. Hatchings in the dark of every evening.

Many eggs will hatch. The problem is a very few will survive. One in 1,000 will survive to adulthood.

Barry ain’t Barry yet!

The Gulf storm soon to be a tropical storm. At that moment, the name will apply.

The storm is expected to grow to tropical intensity tomorrow morning. Then its name will officially be Barry.

Barry could also turn into a category 1 before it hits land.

Landfall is presently projected for Louisiana. Right up the Mississippi to New Orleans. If Barry turns a bit, it will hit hard the Mississippi shore line.

Landfall is expected sunday or early monday.

Irma was the Keys’ last hurricane. September 10, 2017. A day everyone in the Keys will remember.

Almost 2 years later, recovery work still not complete. Government long overdue with payments. FEMA slow as hell! Bureaucracy the problem.

It has been announced that FEMA will be paying $4 million for Irma cleanup work done almost 2 years ago. $3 million to Monroe County. One million to the State.

Both amounts to reimburse for debris removal.

Note that FEMA has “announced” the monies. I wonder how long it will take from this point to make the payments?

As indicated here and on my blog talk radio show, the Epstein probe will involve more than Jeffrey Epstein himself. Many prominent figures will be exposed.

The first names mentioned include Bill and Hillary Clinton. Does not mean actual involvement. Only means at this time they have been mentioned.

It is alleged that Epstein sent $3.5 million to a secret Swiss bank account in the name of the Clinton Foundation. The information based on a leak. The leak claimed to have been by  whistleblower.

Another interesting name. Prince Andrew. A teen girl claims she was forced to have sex with him on Epstein’s orgy island. She has so sworn in an affidavit. She also claims she saw President Clinton on the island. He has recently issued a statement that he was never there.

Disasters generally come a step at a time. Get worse with each step.

Car sales in India an example. Perhaps an example also of an impending world wide economic slow down.

India has been the 5th largest auto market in the world. Till this year. Sales have fallen off dramatically. Sales down 24 percent for June and 26 percent for May. The decline has been growing for over a year.

The decline has had ripple effects. Job losses and dealership closings the most obvious. Three hundred dealerships have closed already this year.

The car loan business has also been affected. Especially “shadow banks.” Shadow does not imply wrongdoing. Shadow banks are called such because they only make car loans. Do no other banking business. Shadow banking has been 40 percent of the auto financial market. No more. Down dramatically.

The “regular banks” are also taking a beating. They have been even before this problem. Regular banks over the years caused their own problems because of bad loans and banking scandals.

Do the drop of car sales in India and the end of the Volkswagen Beetle indicate a pending doom in the auto industry?

Trump has announced ICE raids will begin sunday. The raids to begin the deportation of “millions” of immigrants remaining illegally in the United States.

This is the third time Trump has announced a beginning date for the raids. Is he serious this time?

The raids were previously postponed because ICE and other immigration officials have told Trump they were neither ready nor prepared to handle the number of people involved, did not have sufficient detention quarters, not enough judges, etc.The first group to be collected will be 2,000. Covering 10 major cities. Babies and young children will be arrested also.

Two interesting considerations.

The law prohibits ICE from entering a home if the person(s) inside refuse(s) to open the door. The other involves the lack of proper warrants by ICE to make the arrests. It is claimed that ICE in the past has made visits and arrests without the benefit of a warrant signed by a judge. They flash warrants unsigned. Not permitted. The warrants must be signed.

Enjoy your day!

  VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE NO MORE was originally published on Key West Lou

[youroriginaltimemachinestudent]

Hiway Ico Review: workforce to the companies of the future

About Hiway

The Hiway platform is a blockchain tailored marketplace for work. It builds on a few of the most innovative and progressive technologies emerging from the Fourth Industrial Revolution: big data, the blockchain, and artificial intelligence. Hiway serves both the employee and the employer, empowering those looking for a job or wanting a job done in equal measure. Hiway aims to have a user-friendly platform that is accessible for multiple industries in multiple languages across the globe. A comprehensive yet easy to use platform will help accelerate the growth in the blockchain industry. Hiway builds on some of the key pillars of what is referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution: big data, the blockchain, and artificial intelligence. These innovations fuel a platform that will ultimately reinstall trust to the recruitment process, eradicate issues of discrimination, lower fees and enable smoother financial processes. Hiway serves both the employee and the employer, empowering those looking for a job or wanting a job one in equal measure. Basic Information Token Name WAY Token Sale 53,000,000 WAY Social Media

Token Price 0.14 USD Platform Ethereum Token Supply 100,000,000 WAY Hard Cap 8,000,000 USD Accepting ETH, BTC Whitepaper Click Here For View Whitepaper Website Click Here For Visit ICO Homepage Token Distribution 53% token sale 24% Future development 10% Advisors & Partners 10% Team tokens 3%  Bounty Also Read - AQWIRE Ico Review: Create a global community of brokers How Does It Work? Hiway builds on some of the key pillars of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: big data, the blockchain, and artificial intelligence. These innovations fuel a platform that will ultimately reinstall trust to the recruitment process, eradicate issues of discrimination, lower fees and enable smoother financial processes. Hiway serves both the employee and the employer, empowering those looking for a job or wanting a job done in equal measure. POST Post your profile and tell us what you need. Search Find the right match for your skills or the job you have Work Deliver & Review Get the job done and tell us what you think Liquidity and global scalability Employment agencies historically operate with relatively high financial risk. After placing a candidate, the agency is then financially responsible for ensuring salaries are paid - yet they often must wait for a standard 30 days or more themselves before being paid for services provided. When working with a couple hundred candidates this is initially not a big problem but this process is hard to scale. For example, if the following day 1,000 new workers would take on a job online the agency would need millions to maintain liquidity. This issue of scalability is compacted with cross-border working, given the complexities of taxes, banking conditions and legal regulations in different countries. Trust and discrimination Despite Hiway best efforts, employment agencies - predominantly small, local operations - can contribute to prejudice and discrimination. All too often Hiway hears of biases further enabled by agencies, who knowingly limit the opportunities of candidates and neglect the true quality of a candidate based on an employer’s prejudice. What’s more, recruitment platforms have historically been dogged by lack of trust due to the insufficient transparency (albeit justified or not) that can sometimes occur with a middleman involved. Technological adoption Means of connecting employers and employees either for a temporary job or for a fixed period are extremely old-fashioned. Candidates manually search for a role from long lists of open positions, recruiters manually search Linkedin among other platforms for possible matches – with neither approach benefitting from any smart, self-learning technology to help fulfill the process. Employment agencies struggle to fully benefit from current technological advances in their core business activities. The opportunity The world is increasingly moving towards a situation in which there are more and more independent workers. In 2016, leading research and advisory company Gartner concluded that as more people work independently the market will need platforms with functionality lacking in existing options, with current platforms not yet ready for the imminent change. It identified machine-learning algorithms as the key enabler for this evolving industry. The recruitment market’s current ways of working and techniques are problematic, obsolete and ready for innovation. While a few platforms are paving the way for new methods of working, we do not yet recognize one platform offering a comprehensive solution. With new and emerging technologies there is now a genuine means of removing these major problems and build a company primed for the future of connecting work and workers all over the world. So, how do Hiway prepare for this situation? What kind of platform needs to be in place to cater to the vast, and growing, the population of freelancers across many different industries? Hiway would like to introduce to you Hiway, a pioneering platform bridging the gap between current offerings and the approaching need. The solution Liquidity and global scalability Blockchain technology makes it possible to write smart, self-executable contracts. Imagine a platform where it would not make any difference whether 100 or 10,000 people a day take on a new job. There is no longer any need for the platform to take the financial risk of advance payments to employees while waiting for the employer to meet its fees. These contracts exist between the person handing out work and the person taking on the job alone. This shift in responsibility makes it possible for a platform to scale almost endlessly. Technological advancements Artificial intelligence can take over the job of a recruiter as Hiway knows it and blockchain can cut out the middleman, making the costs only a fraction of what Hiway is used to while at the same time giving recruiters the opportunity to apply their skills across different parts of the process. Another notable advantage of using the proposed technology is its ability to decrease the chance of human error while increasing transparency and trust in the system along with reporting possibilities - something vital to management decision making. Cost efficiency Artificial intelligence algorithms will take over the labor-intensive process of matching candidates’ characteristics to open vacancies and make it possible for a computer to find the best match between employer and employee. Machine learning enables continuous optimization of the recruitment process based on data gathered throughout the process. The Hiway system would require only the bare minimum in manpower, with all administrative and accountancy jobs fully automated. Even recruiting itself could potentially be fully automated. In current agency models around 70% of revenue goes towards operational costs. The workforce can be downsized significantly by replacing the administrative and sales tasks typically performed by humans with technology. Functionality Functionality is a fluid and ever-changing process. Emerging technology will constantly improve the creation of matches between employers and employees. Hiway do however have a set of functional requirements Hiway want to incorporate within Hiway from the moment of launch. In Hiway development flow, Hiway work with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a version which enables us to gather as much feedback as possible in the early stages. This means we will release a version of our product as soon as possible, not yet containing all functionality Hiway envision the final product to incorporate but one that will help us gather feedback, making the remaining development process tailored towards the end user. User Experience Existing recruitment platforms feel slow, unintuitive and – perhaps the biggest issue – not smart. Hiway will change all of this. Hiway design philosophy is built on the following key principles: instinctive, simple, consistent and always with the end user in mind. Hiway is currently working to establish the basic functionality of this platform so all participants in the Hiway crowdfunding round can get a feeling for what Hiway is building. The main design goal of Hiway will be to build a friendly, easy to use yet comprehensive platform. Hiway feels other platforms use outdated customer journeys and counter-intuitive designs. For Hiway, Hiway took a close look at the biggest platforms Hiway use every day: Airbnb, Facebook, Linkedin among others. Hiway incorporated the ease of use of those platforms adding a twist to connect it with our industry. Grow Currently, finding the right match for a job can be an arduous task. The blockchain space is what the freelance world was five years ago- no central point or marketplace to unite one another, but old-fashioned group chats or forums. We are here to accelerate the growth of this industry by connecting blockchain enthusiasts globally to build the companies of the future. Team Member Simon Rikmenspoel - FOUNDER & HEAD OF PRODUCT Thale Sonnemans - FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR Tijs Gietman - FULL-STACK DEVELOPER Also Read – Click Here for Read All ICO Review Quote This article is writing on 15 June 2018 based on information available online & news portal. If you feel it’s outdated or incorrect, please write here to update it. Mail us: support@coinworldstory.com Or Whatsapp Us- +13098896258 Disclaimer: Not all the websites Which listed in Top List are 100% safe to use or investment. We do not promote any of those. Due diligence is your own responsibility. You should never make an investment in an online program with money you aren’t prepared to lose. Make sure to research the website. So Please take care of your investments. and be on the safe site and avoid much losing online. Read the full article