#Broken Star Liberation Army

[deadsuperhero]

Dominic the Dominator hangs his head, defeated and feeling sorry for himself. Liberal amounts of concealer hides his many bruises and black eyes. A cloth mask, used to hide his broken nose and missing teeth, sits on the stained yellow table next to a bowl of chili, a cup of black tar, and an ashtray full of stumps.

"More coffee?" the waitress asks him before filling up his cup with more steaming sludge. Dominic the Dominator feigns a close-lipped smile, nods, and takes a sip. It almost tastes like the ashtray nearby. In other words, it's perfect.

He fights back tears as he thinks about the day. The kitchen fire, the island invasion, the laxatives in the punch bowl at a party of businessmen. It had all been going so well! He had been doing a great job of dominating the world around him. But then...

Submarine Man, he thinks to himself and grits his remaining teeth together. That spandex twink stood in the way of victory for the last time.

Dominic the Dominator aggressively spoons up some chilli between his swollen villainous lips, trying his best to eat away his sorrow without getting dry socket. He swallows, lights a cigarette, and tries to let his mind wander.

It had all started, here, at Rita's Diner. A chance encounter, swapping comic books, a night spent looking at the stars and wondering if anything had meant anything. That was the day that Dom had decided to become a supervillain.

Dom smiles, and for a moment, remembers the good times. Jared had been a hell of a guy. Brilliant beyond his years, hysterical beyond belief. Being a mad scientist had changed him. But on the other hand, Jared's experiments had changed him, too.

Best get back to the Dugeon of Agony, Dom thinks to himself. He chugs the steaming hot ooze, slams the cup down, pays. As he walks towards the old jukebox, he takes a longing look at his favorite Dolly Parton song. He reaches into his pocket, just as the door swings open and pins him against the machine.

"Shit on a shingle," a familiar voice politely requests at the counter. There's a drawl dragging at the corner of each word, bending the vowels as words string together. Dom swivels around. Dolly can wait.

"Dad?!" Dom cries out in surprise. A lanky figure wearing flannel and a John Deere hat looks up at him, his thin smile twisting at the wrinkles on his face. He motions to Dom to sit beside him.

"That's Tractor God to you," Dom's father whispers under his breath.

"Not in public. You're still my dad, anyway."

"You look like hell, son."

Before he can respond, a steaming plate of bread and gravy clatters gently onto the bar. Tractor God nods, smiles, and digs in to his country breakfast.

"My plan failed," Dom sighs, "my right-hand man betrayed me, my army scattered to the wind, and my nemesis beat me to a pulp."

"Heck, that Submarine kid still beating you?"

"He's a grown man, Dad. So am I, for that matter."

Tractor God thinks for a moment, and takes a few bites of breakfast.

"You know," he chews thoughtfully, "something similar happened to me back in the 70's."

"Really?! You?!"

"Oh, yeah," Dad smiles, "General Disruption and I were trying to do an invasion run and occupy Pekin. It was going well, but the General didn't think having me in the picture was a good insurance policy."

"What did he do?!"

"He sent all of my followers into a trap. Got them all arrested and deprogrammed from their hypnosis. Then, Captain Industry got the jump on me. We fought in a steel mill. He ended up smashing my head into a grain silo."

"I was worried that I wasn't cut out for this business. I thought you never lost."

"Heck," Tractor God let his jaw go slack, "It took me a long time to get where I'm at. The best villains have to struggle. None of us come flying out the gate all perfect and invincible."

Dom sighs, relieved.

"I was worried that I was just a failure."

"Ha!" Tractor God laughs, "You're just failing, you aren't a failure. You're a chip off the old block, sport. One day, you'll be at my level, maybe even further."

A villain nurses their loss in a quiet diner when an equally tired person enters, and orders a coffee in a very familiar voice.

[paperpatchnotes]

City of Ghosts Session Report 1

System: Worlds Without Number

I've recently begun a campaign in the WWN system, using my own setting but liberally stealing from the WWN setting as I enjoy the concepts presented there.

Previously I have run Alien one shots, hefty D&D 5e campaigns, and have been fortunate to play a pf2e campaign, several Call of Cthulhu one shots, a Star Wars (FFG) campaign, a Vampire campaign, and a MOTW campaign. At this point the only thing missing from my experience is something more OSR adjacent so I was actually very excited to dive into this.

My 5e group is what I would call a "hardcore" gaming group. They are good at number crunching, dedicated to the system they're playing (only players I play with who will read the rulebooks unprompted "for fun"), and have strong thoughts and opinions on things like the difficulty and frequency of encounters and magic/martial balance.

We're also young. A lot of the people I run into in the gaming space are older. The oldest of us is still under thirty. We came up on 5e - something oft forgotten by angry Redditors is the reason a lot of us have only ever played 5e isn't because we're stupid but simply we were the prime age for that to be our main game. the timing of it hitting the mainstream and us being old enough to have both the free time and energy to buy and read books and run campaigns go hand in hand. I've noticed in my other groups there's a similar bias towards whatever system welcomed them into the TTRPG space (shout out to my friend whose first game was Werewolf).

So given that, as pretty serious gamers and 5e players, we all think the DM tools are trash, consistently challenging combat is hard to craft, and the caster/martial disparity is annoying to work around (and the magic item system and crafting is hopelessly broken) - for our next game we wanted to try one of the D&D replacements.

Having played pf2e (the favorite suggestion of many) our thoughts were this: it's too much. An overcorrection. While much was also done to reduce the way modifiers stack, there is a general consensus it would be very difficult to play without a VTT and we simply didn't "vibe" with it.

The common desire we have is deadly or challenging combat and a better balance between martials and casters. Working crafting systems are a bonus.

While we have been eyeballing Shadow of the Weird Wizard as an alternative to Shadows of the Demon Lord and a potential option, I have long been using WWN as a worldbuilding tool in my 5e games and pitched trying it out instead. We are two sessions (and a session 0) into a small scale campaign.

Disclaimer: This is a city based campaign instead of a hexcrawl exploration. I love a city game and am of the opinion a lot of principles of exploration apply, but it may color my opinions.

The most frustrating thing so far has been the lack of organization in the rules, hampered further by no online codex.

I had a discussion with a friend about this. No one has ever claimed that 5e was the pinnacle of organization, so I do wonder if this is just a familiarity gap, but I struggle to find rules and information. What I do find is scattered, requires multiple re-reads, or strong interpretation.

People constantly bemoan confusing rulings in 5e and the onus put on the DM but it certainly doesn’t seem like WWN, at least, changes that at all. It’s not really a knock against the system either. As I understand it WWN and its sister games are made by a one man army so editing, parsability, etc, is probably quite different. It’s probably also very different for someone already familiar with the OSR scene to parse versus myself coming up on 5e. 

The main thing though that I find frustrating that is a genuine talent of the 5e writing and design team even if other games do it better, is the lack of “rhyme”. I bet there’s a better word for it, but when design decisions across the game rhyme, it makes it easier to fill in gaps or make rulings on the spot. Things like Proficiency Bonus per Day, subclasses at level 3, AOEs coming in a general subset of sizes and shapes. You don’t want total homogeny but some idea of the general rhyme scheme of game makes it easier to navigate. WWN has some of this...but it also often doesn’t. Trying to rule of the spot can be so tricky, and often I think rules have been left unwritten because of a desire to “rule it as you would real life”. But in real life I can’t see the future or read minds so it gets a little tough to adjucate situations. It doesn’t help my players are incredibly clever.

The other thing that’s definitely become noticeable is that I think, in general, I prefer more niche protection in the form of exclusive mid power abilities scattered across classes than a few very powerful ones. This is still cooking, I may change my mind, but I find myself missing what felt like mechanical diversity in 5e - which is not something 5e often gets praised for.

I’m going to keep eyes on it though. I will probably include more narrative details in future as we go but for now this campaign is mostly to evaluate the system :) 

[umwmun-blog]

Antilles Academy Wins F zero galactic cup!

Wedge him self would sub in as the Pod Racer for the Antilles Academy during the F zero galactic cup on Taris. Wedge would be the Red Rancor racer Ben Quadinaros jr. by 0.5 seconds.

in other news

THE SECOND GALACTIC CIVIL WAR!

"Battle of the Mid-Rim". The New Republic faces the 7th fleet within the Mid-Rim. The full might of the New Republic and Imperial Remnant forces facing off in a series of titanic, fast paced battles. Despite pleas to both Luke Skywalker and the Coalition of Free Worlds to reinforce them, neither can arrived. Supported by an unknown force, the 7th Fleet is able to prevail against the New Republic, forcing the New Republic into a retreat. While the New Republic fights for it's life, decisions that may change the course of the galaxy occur. Separatist Betrayal!

Following the resumption of active civil war, the Coalition of Free Worlds does not support the New Republic in the Mid-Rim, instead pushing directly towards Coruscant to deliver a knockout blow against their rivals. The newly formed "Galacitc Liberation Army and Navy" arrives over Coruscant, placing themselves in orbit. In a dark and striking move, the commanders, Ryder Azadi and Admiral Ackbar, give the order for GLN ships to bombard the capitol world of Coruscant, to destroy the Core once and for all. However this action does not go as planned. The forces of the GLN, while detesting the New Republic government, still considered the New Republic as friends against the Empire and brothers in arms. Refusing the order, fights break out in the GLN fleet as Calrissian's battle droids attempt to carry out the order, while the organic forces against all odds fight to prevent the deaths of billions. The soldiers of the GLN are successful in capturing Calrissian and forcing him to disarm the battle droids, taking control of the GLN fleet and arresting their nominal leadership. Just as this happens however, the 7th Fleet drops out of hyperspace. The recovering GLN and the broken New Republic fleet rally for a desperate defense of Coruscant.

The Galactic Liberation fleet and the New Republic fleets set aside their differences to fight the Empire one last time. The battle is fierce, but the 7th Fleet begins to prevail. All hope seems lost, however at the last minute Wedge Antilles arrives with Luke Skywalker and the "Outbound Flight" star squadrons. Luke breaks through the 7th Fleet's screens and boards Pellaeon's flagship. There, Luke offers Pellaeon mercy, however Pellaeon is killed by none other than his sister, Leia Organa, a new Sith Lord.

Luke refuses to join the Dark Side, and the two duel on the bridge of Pellaeon's flagship. Luke wins, however Leia escapes with the help of the true leader of the 7th Fleet, Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Thrawn leads the 7th Fleet back into retreat, where a new Imperial Remnant government is born from the Unknown Regions, birthing a new Sith Empire under a council led by Thrawn and Leia Organa. All the while, chaos unfolds in Coruscant, with Hera Syndulla seizing power. This plan is foiled by none other than Mas Amedda, who leads a popular revolt to take back control of the Senate. Mas Amedda is killed in this battle, however Coruscant is saved from military dictatorship. Mon Mothma becomes effective leader of the Republic in the wake of these events, given emergency powers by the Senate. This emergency power allows the new Universal Species Rights to be passed. However with a failure to reform the Senate representation, it becomes visible that the New Republic may be doomed to oligarchy and power struggles for the forseeable future. Lando, Azadi and Ackbar are all placed under arrest by the Coalition of Free Worlds for treason. Han Solo, a leader of the GLN mutiny, becomes leader of the CFW while the government restructures.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.30 (after 1940)

1942 ��� World War II: Japanese forces invade the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies. Some 300 captured Allied troops are killed after the surrender. One-quarter of the remaining POWs remain alive at the end of the war. 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Cisterna, part of Operation Shingle, begins in central Italy. 1945 – World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people. 1945 – World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: One hundred and twenty-six American Rangers and Filipino resistance fighters liberate over 500 Allied prisoners from the Japanese-controlled Cabanatuan POW camp. 1948 – British South American Airways' Tudor IV Star Tiger disappears over the Bermuda Triangle. 1948 – Following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in his home compound, India's prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, broadcasts to the nation, saying "The light has gone out of our lives". The date of the assassination becomes observed as "Martyrs' Day" in India. 1956 – In the United States, Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott. 1959 – The forces of the Sultanate of Muscat occupy the last strongholds of the Imamate of Oman, Saiq and Shuraijah, marking the end of Jebel Akhdar War in Oman. 1959 – MS Hans Hedtoft, specifically designed to operate in icebound seas, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard. 1960 – The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties. 1964 – In a bloodless coup, General Nguyễn Khánh overthrows General Dương Văn Minh's military junta in South Vietnam. 1968 – Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies. 1969 – The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police. 1972 – The Troubles: Bloody Sunday: British paratroopers open fire on anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 people; another person later dies of injuries sustained. 1972 – Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh. 1974 – Pan Am Flight 806 crashes near Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa, killing 97. 1975 – The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary. 1979 – A Varig Boeing 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo. 1982 – Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner". 1989 – The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is closed. 1995 – Hydroxycarbamide becomes the first approved preventive treatment for sickle cell disease. 2000 – Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ivory Coast, killing 169. 2006 – The Goleta postal facility shootings occur, killing seven people before the perpetrator took her own life. 2013 – Naro-1 becomes the first carrier rocket launched by South Korea. 2020 – The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

[werewolvesandaccordions]

Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food and electricity shortages. And it was during the August of 1944 that French citizens and the Allied army worked to push the Nazis out. Messiaen had been working on this suite around the time, and the subject matter seems reflective of the Advent season; the darkness, living in a broken world sick with sin, and longing for the promised Savior, longing for redemption and freedom and love.Originally to be a set of twelve works accompanying poetry by a different artist, Messiaen expanded it into twenty pieces, each with their own poetic titles and descriptions. Messiaen was a devout Catholic, and was enraptured by Christian Mysticism, and so he expressed his spirituality through music depicting Mystic images and ideas. So, the Vingt Regards is, for the most part, a collection of works trying to express different perspectives of the Nativity, mostly abstractions such as the Holy Spirit [the Spirit of Joy], the star, the cross, time itself, and the gaze of the Son upon the Son [that is, the mystery of Jesus as fully human and fully God].The music is long, and full of very difficult piano playing, with extended harmonies and uses of Eastern rhythm and color [Messiaen loved the rhythm of Indian music, and he also loved the sound of Javanese gamelan music], along with interjections of imitated birdsong [because Messiaen believed birdsong to be the purest music]. There’s even jazz thrown in! The suite was hated by critics at the time for a few reasons. First, the music itself has a lot of fantastic, theatrical, and flashy moments, which seems inappropriate for the intimate and sacred subject matter. Secondly, Messiaen’s poetic and spiritual descriptions are somewhat detached from the music itself; hearing what each piece is titled and its subsequent epitaph suggests that the listener should expect direct representation of the ideas portrayed, and so they are thrown off when they can’t hear a clear connection.But it is a great piece of music. One of the greatest solo piano works in history. It’s so long that it is rarely played in its entirety, but the work is thematically connected by three main themes and listening to it at once in order feels like a spiritual journey, listening to the transformation of the music over time. It’s hard to really go through and describe each work as it happens, so you should listen for yourself. The soft chimes of bells in the opening, the contemplation of the Son on the Son, the intensity and chaos of the universe, the tambor and harp of the spirit of joy, the angels, and eventually the consolation of the sleeping mother and child… Movements: Gaze of the Father Gaze of the Star The Exchange Gaze of the Virgin Gaze of the Son upon the Son By Him was Everything Made Gaze of the Cross Gaze of the Heights Gaze of Time Gaze of the Spirit of Joy The First Communion of the Virgin The All-Powerful Word Christmas Gaze of the Angels Kiss of the Infant Jesus Gaze of the Prophets, the Shepherds, and the Magi Gaze of Silence Gaze of the Terrible Unction I Sleep, but my Heart keeps Watch Gaze of the Church of Love

mikrokosmos: Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food…

[tinas-art]

Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food and electricity shortages. And it was during the August of 1944 that French citizens and the Allied army worked to push the Nazis out. Messiaen had been working on this suite around the time, and the subject matter seems reflective of the Advent season; the darkness, living in a broken world sick with sin, and longing for the promised Savior, longing for redemption and freedom and love.Originally to be a set of twelve works accompanying poetry by a different artist, Messiaen expanded it into twenty pieces, each with their own poetic titles and descriptions. Messiaen was a devout Catholic, and was enraptured by Christian Mysticism, and so he expressed his spirituality through music depicting Mystic images and ideas. So, the Vingt Regards is, for the most part, a collection of works trying to express different perspectives of the Nativity, mostly abstractions such as the Holy Spirit [the Spirit of Joy], the star, the cross, time itself, and the gaze of the Son upon the Son [that is, the mystery of Jesus as fully human and fully God].The music is long, and full of very difficult piano playing, with extended harmonies and uses of Eastern rhythm and color [Messiaen loved the rhythm of Indian music, and he also loved the sound of Javanese gamelan music], along with interjections of imitated birdsong [because Messiaen believed birdsong to be the purest music]. There’s even jazz thrown in! The suite was hated by critics at the time for a few reasons. First, the music itself has a lot of fantastic, theatrical, and flashy moments, which seems inappropriate for the intimate and sacred subject matter. Secondly, Messiaen’s poetic and spiritual descriptions are somewhat detached from the music itself; hearing what each piece is titled and its subsequent epitaph suggests that the listener should expect direct representation of the ideas portrayed, and so they are thrown off when they can’t hear a clear connection.But it is a great piece of music. One of the greatest solo piano works in history. It’s so long that it is rarely played in its entirety, but the work is thematically connected by three main themes and listening to it at once in order feels like a spiritual journey, listening to the transformation of the music over time. It’s hard to really go through and describe each work as it happens, so you should listen for yourself. The soft chimes of bells in the opening, the contemplation of the Son on the Son, the intensity and chaos of the universe, the tambor and harp of the spirit of joy, the angels, and eventually the consolation of the sleeping mother and child… Movements: Gaze of the Father Gaze of the Star The Exchange Gaze of the Virgin Gaze of the Son upon the Son By Him was Everything Made Gaze of the Cross Gaze of the Heights Gaze of Time Gaze of the Spirit of Joy The First Communion of the Virgin The All-Powerful Word Christmas Gaze of the Angels Kiss of the Infant Jesus Gaze of the Prophets, the Shepherds, and the Magi Gaze of Silence Gaze of the Terrible Unction I Sleep, but my Heart keeps Watch Gaze of the Church of Love

mikrokosmos: Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food…

[dariaandjanelanefanboy]

Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food and electricity shortages. And it was during the August of 1944 that French citizens and the Allied army worked to push the Nazis out. Messiaen had been working on this suite around the time, and the subject matter seems reflective of the Advent season; the darkness, living in a broken world sick with sin, and longing for the promised Savior, longing for redemption and freedom and love.Originally to be a set of twelve works accompanying poetry by a different artist, Messiaen expanded it into twenty pieces, each with their own poetic titles and descriptions. Messiaen was a devout Catholic, and was enraptured by Christian Mysticism, and so he expressed his spirituality through music depicting Mystic images and ideas. So, the Vingt Regards is, for the most part, a collection of works trying to express different perspectives of the Nativity, mostly abstractions such as the Holy Spirit [the Spirit of Joy], the star, the cross, time itself, and the gaze of the Son upon the Son [that is, the mystery of Jesus as fully human and fully God].The music is long, and full of very difficult piano playing, with extended harmonies and uses of Eastern rhythm and color [Messiaen loved the rhythm of Indian music, and he also loved the sound of Javanese gamelan music], along with interjections of imitated birdsong [because Messiaen believed birdsong to be the purest music]. There’s even jazz thrown in! The suite was hated by critics at the time for a few reasons. First, the music itself has a lot of fantastic, theatrical, and flashy moments, which seems inappropriate for the intimate and sacred subject matter. Secondly, Messiaen’s poetic and spiritual descriptions are somewhat detached from the music itself; hearing what each piece is titled and its subsequent epitaph suggests that the listener should expect direct representation of the ideas portrayed, and so they are thrown off when they can’t hear a clear connection.But it is a great piece of music. One of the greatest solo piano works in history. It’s so long that it is rarely played in its entirety, but the work is thematically connected by three main themes and listening to it at once in order feels like a spiritual journey, listening to the transformation of the music over time. It’s hard to really go through and describe each work as it happens, so you should listen for yourself. The soft chimes of bells in the opening, the contemplation of the Son on the Son, the intensity and chaos of the universe, the tambor and harp of the spirit of joy, the angels, and eventually the consolation of the sleeping mother and child… Movements: Gaze of the Father Gaze of the Star The Exchange Gaze of the Virgin Gaze of the Son upon the Son By Him was Everything Made Gaze of the Cross Gaze of the Heights Gaze of Time Gaze of the Spirit of Joy The First Communion of the Virgin The All-Powerful Word Christmas Gaze of the Angels Kiss of the Infant Jesus Gaze of the Prophets, the Shepherds, and the Magi Gaze of Silence Gaze of the Terrible Unction I Sleep, but my Heart keeps Watch Gaze of the Church of Love

mikrokosmos: Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food…

[hushilda]

Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food and electricity shortages. And it was during the August of 1944 that French citizens and the Allied army worked to push the Nazis out. Messiaen had been working on this suite around the time, and the subject matter seems reflective of the Advent season; the darkness, living in a broken world sick with sin, and longing for the promised Savior, longing for redemption and freedom and love.Originally to be a set of twelve works accompanying poetry by a different artist, Messiaen expanded it into twenty pieces, each with their own poetic titles and descriptions. Messiaen was a devout Catholic, and was enraptured by Christian Mysticism, and so he expressed his spirituality through music depicting Mystic images and ideas. So, the Vingt Regards is, for the most part, a collection of works trying to express different perspectives of the Nativity, mostly abstractions such as the Holy Spirit [the Spirit of Joy], the star, the cross, time itself, and the gaze of the Son upon the Son [that is, the mystery of Jesus as fully human and fully God].The music is long, and full of very difficult piano playing, with extended harmonies and uses of Eastern rhythm and color [Messiaen loved the rhythm of Indian music, and he also loved the sound of Javanese gamelan music], along with interjections of imitated birdsong [because Messiaen believed birdsong to be the purest music]. There’s even jazz thrown in! The suite was hated by critics at the time for a few reasons. First, the music itself has a lot of fantastic, theatrical, and flashy moments, which seems inappropriate for the intimate and sacred subject matter. Secondly, Messiaen’s poetic and spiritual descriptions are somewhat detached from the music itself; hearing what each piece is titled and its subsequent epitaph suggests that the listener should expect direct representation of the ideas portrayed, and so they are thrown off when they can’t hear a clear connection.But it is a great piece of music. One of the greatest solo piano works in history. It’s so long that it is rarely played in its entirety, but the work is thematically connected by three main themes and listening to it at once in order feels like a spiritual journey, listening to the transformation of the music over time. It’s hard to really go through and describe each work as it happens, so you should listen for yourself. The soft chimes of bells in the opening, the contemplation of the Son on the Son, the intensity and chaos of the universe, the tambor and harp of the spirit of joy, the angels, and eventually the consolation of the sleeping mother and child… Movements: Gaze of the Father Gaze of the Star The Exchange Gaze of the Virgin Gaze of the Son upon the Son By Him was Everything Made Gaze of the Cross Gaze of the Heights Gaze of Time Gaze of the Spirit of Joy The First Communion of the Virgin The All-Powerful Word Christmas Gaze of the Angels Kiss of the Infant Jesus Gaze of the Prophets, the Shepherds, and the Magi Gaze of Silence Gaze of the Terrible Unction I Sleep, but my Heart keeps Watch Gaze of the Church of Love

mikrokosmos: Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food…

[girlactionfigure]

Survivor Sought Revenge – Martin Greenfield

He aimed the machine gun at her chest.

Martin Greenfield was a teenage prisoner at the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp, slowly starving to death, when he was forced to perform labor at the mayor’s bombed out house in nearby Weimar.

Martin spotted a broken rabbit cage with some rotten lettuce inside. For him, such “food” would be an upgrade. As he reached for the wilted leaves, a female voice shouted, “Why in the hell are you stealing my rabbits’ food?!”

It was the mayor’s wife, standing nearby holding a baby. She called the Nazi guards over, and Martin was beaten badly.

Until that moment he had thought only of surviving the surreal horror which had already robbed him of his family and all that he knew – including his own mother and baby brother.

Now a new desire would drive him forward: he vowed to return and kill the woman who had treated him so cruelly.

He got his chance.

Liberated by the U.S. Army on April 11, 1945, Martin and two buddies immediately grabbed machine guns from the pile of confiscated arms outside the camp, and made their way to the mayor’s house. They found the woman, again holding her baby.

Martin writes: ************************* “Remember me?!” I yelled. “Do you?!”

Her blond tresses shook violently. She hid her face behind her upraised hand as if shielding herself from the sun.

“You had me beaten because of the rabbits. I’m here to shoot you!” I said, sounding like an SS.

“No! Please!” she quavered. “The baby, please!”

I aimed the machine gun at her chest. The baby wailed. My finger hovered above the trigger.

“Shoot her!” one of the boys said. “Shoot her!”

The woman’s outstretched hand trembled in the air. My heart pounded against my chest like a hammer.

“Shoot her!” the other boy yelled. “That’s what we came here for! Do it!”

I froze. I couldn’t do it. I could not pull the trigger. That was the moment I became human again. All the old teachings came rushing back. I had been raised to believe that life was a precious gift from God, that women and children must be protected.

Had I pulled the trigger, I would have been like Mengele. He, too, had faced mothers holding babies — my mother holding my baby brother — and sentenced both to gruesome deaths. My moral upbringing would not allow me to become an honorary member of the SS. *********************** Martin went on to become one of the most successful tailors in the world, dressing movie stars and multiple American presidents.

For maintaining the light of his learning even in the place of darkest evil, we’re proud to honor Martin Greenfield as this week’s Thursday Hero.

Accidental Talmudist

[dabifixation]

the importance of knocking

dabi x fem!reader

summary: When Dabi told you to wait at the bar because he was going to "Take care of things" you shouldn't have humored him. You shouldn't have gotten drunk on a mission. And most of all you shouldn't have ignored your gut feeling by looking for the blue flame user and discovering exactly what he meant by taking care of things.

warnings: nsfw, smut, voyeurism, unprotected sex, squirting, MINORS DNI

word count: 2.4k

~

You really didn't like villains. They were temperamental bigots who were hard to work with and cared very little about their environment.

Blue eyed, flame wielding, two-toned nuisances were not the exception to this.

If anything, having Dabi tag along on your mission didn't really help with your dwindling impression of the man.

Said mission was going downhill very fast, losing your chance to achieve funds from your organization's formidable benefactors, all because somebody thought it was funny to set Mr Park's hair on fire after the man passed a comment on somebody's unprofessional attire.

You hated him for that. Truly hated him. However you knew he wasn't just messing up your mission for his own amusement. You weren't stupid, you knew a field test when you saw one. This mission was set up to see how well you'd do now that the Meta Liberation Army was under siege from the League of Villains. Dabi was your examiner.

And you failed the test.

So it came as a surprise to you when the bane of your existence suggested that he'd take care of things, which made you wonder if he was a comedian in his past life cause what could he possibly do to fix things.

You spent the next hour by yourself with an endless supply of whisky in hopes of coming up with a good plan in order to leave Japan undetected.

When the next hour passed by you began to wonder where your flame wielding partner went and how long he'd be. You were convinced that he was just hunting down one of the benefactor's and stole their suitcase filled with money. But you doubt killing someone took a full two hours, so you began to worry.

Not for him of course. That would be out of character for you. You were just worried about disappointing Shigaraki by coming empty handed and not on time. At the end of the day, you were a sucker for praise and didn't mind getting it from someone who ruined the goals and reputation of the Meta Liberation Army.

You had a serious problem.

Checking your wristwatch one last time, you decided now was a good time to phone Dabi. Snickering to yourself when you saw his contact was saved under 'If Menstruational Pain Was A Person'. You clicked on his contact, hoping he wouldn't be those annoying people who answered after the fifth ring on purpose.

He wasn't.

"Whoever this is, it better be important. I'm in the middle of something." He sounded slightly out of breath, and from the soft rustling of something in the background you could tell he wasn't in any danger. It made you sigh in relief.

"Where the fuck are you?"

"Oh it's you. Miss me already?" You didn't need to see him smirking on the other end, cause you knew he was.

You ignored his question, "Where are you?"

There was pause that lasted long enough for you to hear a muffled cry in the background and an unknown squelching sound. You didn't take him for someone that tortured his victims.

You learn new things everyday.

"Room 3406." You heard a groan this time, making you frown. Why was he dragging his torture session out so long, the least he could do was put the poor person out of their misery and take their money.

Wait.

"You're still in the hotel. You damn asshole I thought you were dead in a ditch!" You raised your voice, not caring that people passing by gave you concerning looks.

"Didn't realize you cared so much about little old me." He let out a sound crossed between surprise and a laugh, which caught you off guard.

He hung up before you could give a response.

That was weird.

You looked down at your naked arms, noticing the goosebumps.

Yeah, very weird.

❦

It didn't take you long to find the hotel room, thanking your lucky stars when you found out the room was unlocked and didn't require a key card.

Once you entered the room, you glanced around noticing that nothing was out of place or broken. There was no signs of struggle, which was a good thing. It made cleaning up easier.

Your eyes landed on a pair of familiar boots placed adjacent to a pair of red bottom heels that were laying on its side.

You picked the heel up, examining it to see if there was any blood on it. There wasn't.

That's strange.

"Uhnnnggg~"

Your head snapped in the direction of the main bedroom when you heard the sounds of someone whimpering in pain. The warning bells in your head grew louder when you decided to check out what was going on.

The bedroom door was slightly ajar but not enough for you to see what was on the other side. You heard a deep groan as your fingers brushed the doorframe, your heart in your throat at what you'd find. So you pushed forward expecting everything but what was in front of you.

You didn't dare move.

There Dabi was, hands gripping tightly on some woman's hips. The muscle in his arms flexing, and his legs out stretched beneath her. Her hands were buried in his obsidian locks as he set the pace for her, bouncing her up and down his cock. Each time he brought her down, she'd let out a R-rated moan. She swiveled her hips as best as she could, but from the way her thighs trembled from the pleasure, you could tell it was too much for her.

Dabi's eyes were shut in bliss, letting out a breathy moan when she opted for grounding on his cock instead. From her quick movements, you could tell she was close.

"Yes, yes, yes –oh fuck!"

Dabi immediately flipped her over, preventing her from reaching her climax. His heavy cock slapped against his abdomen, smearing moisture against his defined stomach. You quickly looked away, focusing on the woman instead.

It immediately clicked in. You knew who she was.

Yui Murukami, the 34 year old heiress and CEO to the company that supplied our friends in capes with support items. She was a rich and powerful woman known throughout Japan, and one of the benefactor's that pulled out their sponsorship after finding out that the Meta Liberation Army was infiltrated with "heretics."

The same heretic that's narrow hips she currently had her long milky legs wrapped around.

What a hypocrite.

You got a good look at Dabi for the first time tonight. Your eyes traveled down his lean form. What he lacked in muscle, he made up for in flexibility. The position he was in was a testimony to that.

The subtle red hair trailing down towards his impressive length caught your attention. So he was a natural redhead? That or he had some weird hobby of dyeing his pubes.

It made you shudder.

He pumped at his veiny cock, gathering the pre-come dripping from the pink and angry head, and used it to lubricate himself further. The golden piercings keeping his two skin types together stretched as he did so.

You thanked whatever God was out there for Dabi not noticing you. They surely had your back. Now was the perfect time to escape. Dabi was clearly lost in the throes of pleasure. But just as you stepped back, the floor beneath your feet decided now was a good time to announce your presence.

Dabi's eyes immediately snapped open in your direction.

Those ocean blues stared at you intensely without a hint of shame. You were frozen in place as you held his heated gaze, eyes falling to his lips when his tongue jotted out to lick them. It had you entranced and you almost missed the way his lips broke out into a full grin when he knew exactly what position he had you in.

Hook, line and sinker.

He was taunting you, waiting on you to storm out of this room in embarrassment and anger. Dabi was a sick individual who'd take any and every opportunity to test you and your loyalty to the Paranormal Liberation Front. If you walked out now, despite how badly you really wanted to, that would be the same as failing. You weren't about to fail twice in one night.

He raised an eyebrow when you didn't barge at his challenge. Shrugging, he guided his cock back inside the woman with a soft sigh. He broke eye contact first, looking down at where their bodies joined and bottomed out into her. She let out a ridiculously high-pitched moan.

He kept her thighs far apart as he continued his ministrations despite knowing you were watching.

Your face was hot as you clenched your fists tightly.

Slapping and squelching sounds filled the room as their movements picked up. The air growing heavy with the smell of sex. Dabi was rutting into her in a way that had her breasts bouncing in a particular rhythm.

There was something so enticing about the way she pushed herself back onto him every time he gave short deep thrusts. She clawed at his chest, trying to push him away but he wasn't having it. Instead he drove into her faster and more ruthlessly as a warning.

This moment was too intimate and private, but you couldn't bring yourself to look away either.

It was intoxicating.

Suddenly a long keening sound left her lips, hands digging into the once pristine sheets, almost tearing them apart. Dabi hit a special spot inside of her that neither of you could see.

Heat rushed to your belly in an all too familiar feeling.

He continued hitting that spot, her body violently shaking and writhing. The way his hips were angled, it brushed against the little button at the top of her mound perfectly.

That was the last straw.

She came so hard, no doubt clamping tightly around his cock. Causing him to throw his head back in eye rolling pleasure with a deep throaty groan. His movements began to filter in order to prolong the feeling, but he quickly regained his composure and picked up where he left off. Triggering her into squirting all over his abdomen. Not once, twice but thrice.

His abdomen glistened with her juices and his added sweat. The way his hair fell into his eyes and clung to his neck had your heart skipping a beat.

"Does this make you feel good?" He asked her as his hips bucked up. Voice deep, too deep.

Fuck yes.

She responded in a tired moan.

"I could have you like this underneath me every night if you just–" he snapped his hips into hers to accentuate his point, "–begged nicely."

Jesus.

She continued to mewl, clawing into the sheets as she neared her second orgasm.

"All you got to —fuck— say is please and I'll be scratching every itch inside of you that those fingers can't reach." He toppled over her, dropping both hands on either side of the her head.

"Uh huh." She let out, eyes squeezed shut in concentration.

"I don't like being ignored." He looked at you this time, making you jolt. One of his hands reached out to grip around her throat, making her gasp as he controlled her airway.

When she responded in a broken moan, he ignored her and kept his eyes focused on you instead. He narrowed his eyes, something dark flashing in them before he looked back down at her. A deep growl in his throat.

Oh.

He was talking to you the entire time.

You rubbed your thighs together to ease the aching between your legs.

It didn't go by unnoticed, as much as you hoped. Dabi gave you a look that made him seem so vulnerable at that moment. All his walls came crashing down and for once you could read his facial expression. He desperately wanted you to be the one underneath him.

"Touch yourself." He commanded, hips bucking in urgency.

He was close.

Yui was long forgotten as it felt like it was just the two of you in the room. You did as he said, ignoring the voice in your head that was calling you a 'fucking idiot.'

You unzipped your pants, enough to give him a view of the shape of your pussy and the increasing wet patch at the center of your lace panties. You pushed your hand into your pants, while the other bunched your shirt up. The moment your fingers brushed against your drenched folds through your panties, you closed your eyes and let out a silent moan. Everything felt hypersensitive. You didn't care that this wasn't enough to send you over the edge, all you cared about was imagining it was him touching you like this, rubbing your clit in tight circles as he fucked you into next week.

"Fuck." He let out after a long time of being silent. "Good girl, just like that–"

A loud groan ripped out of his throat before he could finish his rambling.

Not too long and the rhythm Dabi started with began to stutter when his hips bucked up irregularly. The woman underneath him putting on a whole performance but he continued to ignore her in favor of you.

He gave you a needy look as he gave one last sloppy thrust, waves of pleasure being sent to your pussy.

Dabi let out a moan that was so guttural and so deep as he came inside of her wishing it was you instead. He chased his high in quick juvenile thrusts, making sure every last drop was emptied inside of her.

His hips continued to twitch from his intense climax, a pained hiss leaving his lips. The oversensitivity finally catching up to him.

He gave her a slow open mouthed kiss after they regained their breaths. Pulling his softening cock out of her with a wet pop. He nuzzled his face into her neck, causing her to giggle and hug his form closer to hers. And he allowed it.

He looked back up at you, an indescribable look passing through his eyes. It was quickly gone as it had come, being replaced by a smirk and knowing wink that said everything you needed to know.

Bastard

Dabi was an incredible actor and you were just another one of his victims.

You left just as Dabi started getting hard again, obviously he could go for another round, a round you wanted no part in witnessing.

You weren't going to be used by him again in order for him to find a quick release. To hell with him and his twisted version of testing someone's loyalty. You felt utterly humiliated and dirty. All you wanted was to go back to the PLF hideout and crawl into your bed and forget this all happened.

How could you be so stupid. He had this all planned out from the start. No wonder he was so quick to help you when the mission started going downhill.

You hated him so much.

You wanted to scream when you realized he told you the room number on purpose despite being in the middle of that. He wanted you come up and catch him in the act, and that's why he had no problem in you watching him do those things to her. He wanted to see what you'd do in that situation. This was all one big joke to him.

Yet you couldn't understand why you were still so horny and soaking wet.

[onceandfutureoshainspector]

- what the fuck.

- found a TERMINAL listing a bunch of films, i’ll transcribe to spare y’all the screenshots:

    - INVADERS FROM BEYOND THE GALAXY: Elliot Manfield stars once again as Blast Hannigan, dashing space rogue. As the evil Zebulon Empire plans it’s [sic] final push against the Earth colony of Neptune, Blast must make peace with the tribal Neptunians and their ruler, the intoxicating Queen Xarla. Can the Earth colonists and the barbaric Neptunians put aside their differences to repel their common enemy?

    - MANZILLOID VS. ROBORILLA - The giant man-lizard Manzilloid is back, and this time he has Seattle in his sight! But after 5 attacks, the U.S. Army is ready! They’ve created the perfect opponent. Meet Roborilla; 8,000 tons of Detroit steel and American ingenuity. He’s our only hope against the radioactive reptile![another GUILLERMO TOR DELO film i assume]

    - THE MURDER EXPRESS - Trapped on a train, no chance of escape, and a murderer is on the loose. Grant Hillman and Audrey O’Brien star in this thriller from acclaimed director Bernard Switchback. With more twists and turns than ever before, this one will have you guessing until the very end!

    (Note to Theatre Owners: The conductor did it)

    - ANIMAL MAGNETISM! - Jack Limes, Tony McKenzie, and Donna Monroe star in this madcap comedy about a couple of zookeepers vying for the attention of the zoo’s newest primate specialist, Dr. Jill Swinger [:|]. She’s an educated liberated woman, but they’re sure all she needs is a man to set her straight [:|]. Turns out, she’s about to make a monkey out of the both of them [o_o]! You’ll go bananas for this uproarious flick! Co-starring Bongo the Gorilla. [this either got a child-friendly comedy rating by accident or someone in the writers’ room would rather be writing for a different genre.]

    - INTO THE HOLLOW EARTH - Imagine a place where prehistoric monsters still roam free. At the base of a dormant volcano lies the entrance to a world within our world. Welcome to the Hollow Earth! A land of terrible beasts, lost civilizations, and savage magic. A world that Jules Verne [who exists in this universe] could only dream about, now available in spectacular DinoVision [?]!

    - (Note to Theatre Owners: DinoVision not available in most areas) [does this mean you just watch the movie without the dinosaurs??????]

- the first two were due to come out in december 2077, the murder mystery in february 2078, and the last two sometime later in 2078, so i wouldn’t have seen any of them.

- in other news, this place was Not Doing Too Well financially, raising prices to cover shortfall and so on, same old story. the two screens not working at the same time is also confirmed to be due to broken machinery.

- couldn’t find any posters for the “coming soon” movies, just ones for the two playing. also couldn’t grab the reels unfortunately, although i did find them.

[potteresque-ire]

This post is Part 3 of the five-part meta series on the Zhang Zhehan (張哲瀚) Incident, based on what has transpired up to 2021/08/22.

1) The 2nd Sino-Japanese War (1937-45) & the Yasukuni Shrine 2) Post-War Sino-Japanese Relations; “Every Chinese should visit the Yasukuni Shrine” 3) The Summer of 2021: The Brewing Storms for One 4) My Thoughts on Zhang’s Incident, Part A 5) My Thoughts on Zhang’s Incident, Part B

3) The Summer of 2021: The Brewing Storms for One

Parts 1 and 2 are my very rough, … kindergartenish introduction to the historical background of Zhang’s incident. For the sake of brevity (please don’t laugh), there are so many things I haven’t touched on (such as the role of the U.S., the geopolitics). There are even more things I’ve likely missed from my admitted ignorance (Sorry).

I think a fair summary of what I’ve written so far would be as follows, before we move on to other sociopolitical factors related to Zhang’s incident?

It is true that the Japanese government, while having shown signs of repentance, has yet to truly face its own past. 

It is also true that the Chinese government has been taking advantage of its national tragedy to fuel nationalistic sentiments, to spread hatred for the purpose of propaganda ...

... Propaganda that is highly sensitive to timing, the message the regime wants to send at the moment. 

In August, 2021, Sino-Japanese relations is at a nadir. The brief thaw in early 2020, initiated by the Japanese government donating masks to Wuhan when COVID first broke out, seemed to be as old as the Chinese poem printed on the shipping boxes:  山川異域 風月同天 (“Our mountains and rivers are on different lands, but our winds and moon share the same sky”)—from the 779 BCE work of a Tang dynasty monk who had sailed to Japan as a missionary, affirming the long cultural bond between the two nations. China would give masks back to Japan.

Fast forward eighteen months later, this good will is all but gone in Chinese news, on Chinese social media. The Japanese government had just vowed to join the United States to protect Taiwan, should the Chinese government furthers its military threat towards the island — the People’s Liberation Air Forces had already intruded Taiwan’s air defence zone 393 times between January 1st and August 17th of 2021 — or should the Chinese government attempts to take over the democratic island nation by force. 

Late July came, and the Tokyo Olympics presented the opportunity for the Chinese state to broadcast anti-Japanese sentiments among the general populace. 

Like USSR and the Eastern Bloc before, the Communists-ruled China saw the Olympics medal count as a matter of national pride. After the Games began, the hot search turned immediately from the Henan flood to stories of the Tokyo Games’ subjectively awful organisation, alleged cheatings by the Japanese athletes, and the perceived unfairness of, in particular, Japanese judges towards the Chinese team that cost the latter more and better medals. This fervour cumulated to the cyberbullying of Japanese athletes by high-on-nationalism Chinese netizens, who brought back Japan’s past as a reason why Japan and its people should be universally hated. Reminders of the horrific brutality of the Imperial Japanese Army eighty years before the Games surfaced in Chinese social media posts. The derogatory slangs 小日本 (“Little Japan”), and 鬼子 (Guizi “demons”), the latter harking back to the nickname of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, populated online Olympics discussions.

Japanese netizens are aware of the derogatory terms Chinese nationalistic netizens use against them. In 2010, they fought back the 小日本 and 鬼子 insults by designing cute anime characters for these names. (Source1, Source2). 

August, 2021 is not a good time to be accused of liking the Japanese.

August, 2021 is not a good time to be accused of liking the Japanese, especially if the accused is a celebrity in the c-ent industry. The ongoing Clear and Bright Campaign (清朗行動) includes, as its 8th aim, the “regulation of stars and the organisations behind them, internet behaviour of their official fan clubs”. Possibly as a welcome to the summer vacation for the country’s youth, on June 15th, 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) had announced it would spend the next two months focused on rectifying the “chaos caused by fan circles” (‘飯圈’亂象). 

The Kris Wu (吳亦凡) case that had exploded in July then turned the public’s attention (and imagination) squarely on c-ent and the alleged “insanity” of c-ent fandoms, particularly those of idols. Wu’s fans had been met with ridicule and cyberbullying, especially those who had tried to “save” their idol by attempting to perform, when the incident had first broken out, what is customary per Chinese fan circle culture—to drown the criticisms with their supportive messages, their defences of their favourite stars; with their offences towards the accusers and in some cases, who the fans point to as the true culprits accompanied by the necessary “evidences”. Widespread reports of Wu’s fans planning a prison break after Wu’s arrest, propagated by the state media despite the number of such fans could’ve numbered to no more than a handful, further fuelled the narrative that c-ent idol worship has become cult-like, with the fans being so brainwashed that they can no longer distinguish right or wrong. 

This narrative of “fans would say or do anything to defend an idol” means that if or when accusations fall on the latter, little can be said in their defence even if the defence has its merits. Fans who make the defence are accused of being “brain-disabled” (腦殘); non-fans, of being brain-disabled fans in disguise.

Political cartoon from People’s Daily, 2021/08/02, 2 days after Kris Wu’s arrest (English translations by me). The slogan at the bottom says “The Deformed “Fan Circle Culture” has turned cold”. “Turning cold” (涼了) means to lose popularity. (Source) 

Last but not least, in August 2021, the online platforms that host the content of state propaganda, of fandom talk, of c-idols’ works are also in quicksand themselves. Without getting into too much details, since earlier this year, the Chinese government has been targeting the tech giants, once considered untouchable with their significant contributions to the economy. Most international fans of c-ent are likely familiar with Tencent. Alibaba is also a major player in c-ent: it’s the owner of Youku, for example; it is also a major investor of Sina (the company in control of Weibo) and also—a piece of trivia for turtles—of Yuehua (Dd’s management company). These tech companies have been charged with antitrust violations, been the target of cybersecurity probes, accused by the state media of hurting China’s youth with “spiritual opium” in the form of video games etc, and their stock prices have been tumbling as a result. 

The tech giants, and the online platforms under their ownership, have therefore been extra vigilant, extra compliant to messages from the state, in attempts to gain the government’s favour. Just a few days ago (2021/08/21), Tencent vowed to donate 7.7 billion USD to the government, heeding Xi’s call for “common prosperity” (re-distribution of wealth), adding to the 7.7 billion USD it already donated in April for the government’s “sustainable social values” program. While both donations are officially philanthropic, most political and market watchers interpret the donations as Tencent trying to achieve a less-than-philanthropic goal—to get the state regulators off its back.

Following this line of logic then, these tech giants, and their online platforms, have got to be extra quick on their feet in August 2021 to sever ties with anyone perceived to have drawn the displeasure of the government. If that anyone is a c-ent idol, the loss for removing their works and fandom content is nothing compared to the price these companies may pay if the eyes of the state regulators train upon them: the latest fine Alibaba paid for breaking the anti-monopoly law, in April, amounted to 2.8 billion USD.  

All these factors considered, there are better days … far better days than the ones in August 2021, for a c-ent idol to have his Yasukuni Shrine visit become an item on Weibo’s hot search.

===

The Zhang Zhehan Incident Meta Series:

PART 1 PART 2 PART 3  <- YOU ARE HERE PART 4 PART 5

[scotianostra]

Eric Sutherland Lomax was born on May 30th  1919 at Joppa, Edinburgh.

The only son of a General Post Office manager Eric was educated at the city’s Royal High School. Aged 16, he successfully entered a civil service competition for a Post Office job and moved up the grades rapidly, but with the outbreak of war joined the Supplementary Reserve of the Royal Corps of Signals which recruited men from the Post Office Telephones. After intensive training he became a Second Lieutenant with the Royal Signals and was posted to the Far East. Captured in February 1942, following one of the worst defeats in the history of the British Army, the fall of Singapore, Lomax was one of 100,000 allied POWs sent to Changi, one of the most the notorious camps. Their treatment was harsh, fitting in with the belief held by the Japanese Imperial Army that those who had surrendered to it were guilty of dishonouring their country and family and deserved to be treated in no other way. From there, Lomax was sent to the Thai town of Kanchanaburi, where he was set to work on the infamous railway, including the bridge, linking Bangkok to Rangoon in Burma. In all, about 61,000 Allied POWs (of which almost half were British) and 180,000 Asian labourers worked on the 258-mile stretch of line, but the harsh conditions and inhuman treatment took the lives of over 100,000 men. In the face of malnutrition, illness and regular beatings, Lomax and other POWs built a radio with the hope of keeping up morale and finding out how the war was progressing. He also drew a detailed map of the camp’s surroundings which was to be used in an escape attempt. This, however, proved to be his downfall. The discovery of the radio, on 29 August 1943, set off a sequence of terrible repercussions. Almost immediately two members of the radio group were arrested, nearly beaten to death, then transferred into the hands of the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police. Less than a month later, four further members of the group, including Lomax, were arrested and again beaten to within an inch of their lives. “We survived but only just,” Lomax recalled. “I had both my arms broken.” He was later told by another POW that the rest of the camp had lain awake all night listening to the cries for mercy but could only pray for their survival. On 25th September a further four officers were seized and of those, Captain Hawley and Lieutenant Armitage were beaten to death and their bodies thrown into a latrine. Because of his map, Lomax was subjected to a week of intolerable torture, including waterboarding. He was then transferred to the notorious Outram Road prison, where he was kept in solitary confinement and was convinced he would go insane, starve to death or die of disease. He survived by deliberately throwing himself down a flight of iron stairs in order to sustain injuries and be transferred to hospital. He feigned paralysis and got his wish. When liberation and VJ-Day came in August 1945, Lomax felt unready to return to civilian life and signed on for another two years, becoming a Captain. He then entered the Colonial Service and was posted to Ghana in preparation for its independence in March 1957. Lomax left the army in 1955 and studied personnel management, working initially with the Scottish Gas Board before securing an academic position at Strathclyde University. He retired in 1982. Not surprisingly, Lomax was haunted for the rest of his life by his wartime ordeal, which resulted in the breakdown of his first marriage. Encouraged by his second wife, Patti, Lomax sought treatment, eventually becoming the first Second World War ex-serviceman to be accepted as a patient of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. Following years of counselling, Lomax’s intense hatred, particularly for the interpreter who had interrogated him while he was being tortured, became a remarkable journey of reconciliation outlined in The Railway Man, published in 1995. Unknown to Lomax, the interrogator, Takashi Nagase, had suffered agonies of guilt after the war and had dedicated his life to trying to make amends. He had also written a book about his experiences, Crosses and Tigers, and had financed a Buddhist temple at the bridge over the River Kwai by way of atonement. In his book Lomax documents how he met Nagase on the bridge in 1993; the meeting was filmed for an award-winning documentary ? Lomax’s book won the 1996 NCR Book Award and the JR Ackerley prize for autobiography and was adapted for TV in 1995 as Prisoners in Time, starring John Hurt as Lomax. In 2007 Nagase’s came to Britain and met Lomax. “Continuing to hate gets you nowhere,” Lomax said. “It just damages you as an individual. At some point, the hating has to stop.”

[werewolvesandaccordions]

mikrokosmos: Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food and electricity shortages. And it was during the August of 1944 that French citizens and the Allied army worked to push the Nazis out. Messiaen had been working on this suite around the time, and the subject matter seems reflective of the Advent season; the darkness, living in a broken world sick with sin, and longing for the promised Savior, longing for redemption and freedom and love.Originally to be a set of twelve works accompanying poetry by a different artist, Messiaen expanded it into twenty pieces, each with their own poetic titles and descriptions. Messiaen was a devout Catholic, and was enraptured by Christian Mysticism, and so he expressed his spirituality through music depicting Mystic images and ideas. So, the Vingt Regards is, for the most part, a collection of works trying to express different perspectives of the Nativity, mostly abstractions such as the Holy Spirit [the Spirit of Joy], the star, the cross, time itself, and the gaze of the Son upon the Son [that is, the mystery of Jesus as fully human and fully God].The music is long, and full of very difficult piano playing, with extended harmonies and uses of Eastern rhythm and color [Messiaen loved the rhythm of Indian music, and he also loved the sound of Javanese gamelan music], along with interjections of imitated birdsong [because Messiaen believed birdsong to be the purest music]. There’s even jazz thrown in! The suite was hated by critics at the time for a few reasons. First, the music itself has a lot of fantastic, theatrical, and flashy moments, which seems inappropriate for the intimate and sacred subject matter. Secondly, Messiaen’s poetic and spiritual descriptions are somewhat detached from the music itself; hearing what each piece is titled and its subsequent epitaph suggests that the listener should expect direct representation of the ideas portrayed, and so they are thrown off when they can’t hear a clear connection.But it is a great piece of music. One of the greatest solo piano works in history. It’s so long that it is rarely played in its entirety, but the work is thematically connected by three main themes and listening to it at once in order feels like a spiritual journey, listening to the transformation of the music over time. It’s hard to really go through and describe each work as it happens, so you should listen for yourself. The soft chimes of bells in the opening, the contemplation of the Son on the Son, the intensity and chaos of the universe, the tambor and harp of the spirit of joy, the angels, and eventually the consolation of the sleeping mother and child… Movements: Gaze of the Father Gaze of the Star The Exchange Gaze of the Virgin Gaze of the Son upon the Son By Him was Everything Made Gaze of the Cross Gaze of the Heights Gaze of Time Gaze of the Spirit of Joy The First Communion of the Virgin The All-Powerful Word Christmas Gaze of the Angels Kiss of the Infant Jesus Gaze of the Prophets, the Shepherds, and the Magi Gaze of Silence Gaze of the Terrible Unction I Sleep, but my Heart keeps Watch Gaze of the Church of Love

mikrokosmos: mikrokosmos: Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and…

[tinas-art]

mikrokosmos: Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food and electricity shortages. And it was during the August of 1944 that French citizens and the Allied army worked to push the Nazis out. Messiaen had been working on this suite around the time, and the subject matter seems reflective of the Advent season; the darkness, living in a broken world sick with sin, and longing for the promised Savior, longing for redemption and freedom and love.Originally to be a set of twelve works accompanying poetry by a different artist, Messiaen expanded it into twenty pieces, each with their own poetic titles and descriptions. Messiaen was a devout Catholic, and was enraptured by Christian Mysticism, and so he expressed his spirituality through music depicting Mystic images and ideas. So, the Vingt Regards is, for the most part, a collection of works trying to express different perspectives of the Nativity, mostly abstractions such as the Holy Spirit [the Spirit of Joy], the star, the cross, time itself, and the gaze of the Son upon the Son [that is, the mystery of Jesus as fully human and fully God].The music is long, and full of very difficult piano playing, with extended harmonies and uses of Eastern rhythm and color [Messiaen loved the rhythm of Indian music, and he also loved the sound of Javanese gamelan music], along with interjections of imitated birdsong [because Messiaen believed birdsong to be the purest music]. There’s even jazz thrown in! The suite was hated by critics at the time for a few reasons. First, the music itself has a lot of fantastic, theatrical, and flashy moments, which seems inappropriate for the intimate and sacred subject matter. Secondly, Messiaen’s poetic and spiritual descriptions are somewhat detached from the music itself; hearing what each piece is titled and its subsequent epitaph suggests that the listener should expect direct representation of the ideas portrayed, and so they are thrown off when they can’t hear a clear connection.But it is a great piece of music. One of the greatest solo piano works in history. It’s so long that it is rarely played in its entirety, but the work is thematically connected by three main themes and listening to it at once in order feels like a spiritual journey, listening to the transformation of the music over time. It’s hard to really go through and describe each work as it happens, so you should listen for yourself. The soft chimes of bells in the opening, the contemplation of the Son on the Son, the intensity and chaos of the universe, the tambor and harp of the spirit of joy, the angels, and eventually the consolation of the sleeping mother and child… Movements: Gaze of the Father Gaze of the Star The Exchange Gaze of the Virgin Gaze of the Son upon the Son By Him was Everything Made Gaze of the Cross Gaze of the Heights Gaze of Time Gaze of the Spirit of Joy The First Communion of the Virgin The All-Powerful Word Christmas Gaze of the Angels Kiss of the Infant Jesus Gaze of the Prophets, the Shepherds, and the Magi Gaze of Silence Gaze of the Terrible Unction I Sleep, but my Heart keeps Watch Gaze of the Church of Love

mikrokosmos: mikrokosmos: Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and…

[dariaandjanelanefanboy]

mikrokosmos: Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and food and electricity shortages. And it was during the August of 1944 that French citizens and the Allied army worked to push the Nazis out. Messiaen had been working on this suite around the time, and the subject matter seems reflective of the Advent season; the darkness, living in a broken world sick with sin, and longing for the promised Savior, longing for redemption and freedom and love.Originally to be a set of twelve works accompanying poetry by a different artist, Messiaen expanded it into twenty pieces, each with their own poetic titles and descriptions. Messiaen was a devout Catholic, and was enraptured by Christian Mysticism, and so he expressed his spirituality through music depicting Mystic images and ideas. So, the Vingt Regards is, for the most part, a collection of works trying to express different perspectives of the Nativity, mostly abstractions such as the Holy Spirit [the Spirit of Joy], the star, the cross, time itself, and the gaze of the Son upon the Son [that is, the mystery of Jesus as fully human and fully God].The music is long, and full of very difficult piano playing, with extended harmonies and uses of Eastern rhythm and color [Messiaen loved the rhythm of Indian music, and he also loved the sound of Javanese gamelan music], along with interjections of imitated birdsong [because Messiaen believed birdsong to be the purest music]. There’s even jazz thrown in! The suite was hated by critics at the time for a few reasons. First, the music itself has a lot of fantastic, theatrical, and flashy moments, which seems inappropriate for the intimate and sacred subject matter. Secondly, Messiaen’s poetic and spiritual descriptions are somewhat detached from the music itself; hearing what each piece is titled and its subsequent epitaph suggests that the listener should expect direct representation of the ideas portrayed, and so they are thrown off when they can’t hear a clear connection.But it is a great piece of music. One of the greatest solo piano works in history. It’s so long that it is rarely played in its entirety, but the work is thematically connected by three main themes and listening to it at once in order feels like a spiritual journey, listening to the transformation of the music over time. It’s hard to really go through and describe each work as it happens, so you should listen for yourself. The soft chimes of bells in the opening, the contemplation of the Son on the Son, the intensity and chaos of the universe, the tambor and harp of the spirit of joy, the angels, and eventually the consolation of the sleeping mother and child… Movements: Gaze of the Father Gaze of the Star The Exchange Gaze of the Virgin Gaze of the Son upon the Son By Him was Everything Made Gaze of the Cross Gaze of the Heights Gaze of Time Gaze of the Spirit of Joy The First Communion of the Virgin The All-Powerful Word Christmas Gaze of the Angels Kiss of the Infant Jesus Gaze of the Prophets, the Shepherds, and the Magi Gaze of Silence Gaze of the Terrible Unction I Sleep, but my Heart keeps Watch Gaze of the Church of Love

mikrokosmos: mikrokosmos: Messiaen – Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (1944) Twenty Regards [Contemplations, or Gazes] on the Infant Jesus. Messiaen lived through both World Wars, and was a prisoner of war during the Second. He returned to Paris after it was liberated from the Nazis. The city was in disarray at that point with few resources and…