#Richard Council

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H I N G

[milliondollarbaby87]

Canadian Bacon (1995) Review

When the President of the United States is rating low in the opinion polls he is talked into raising his popularity by attempting to start a cold war against Canada. ⭐️⭐️ Continue reading Canadian Bacon (1995) Review

[wonder-worker]

Wild how we know that Elizabeth Woodville was officially appointed to royal councils in her own right during her husband’s reign and fortified the Tower of London in preparation of a siege while 8-months pregnant and had forces gathering at Westminster “in the queen’s name” in 1483 – only for NONE of these things to be even included, let alone explored, in the vast majority of scholarship and historical novels involving her.

[thranduilofsmirkwood]

[tophat2776]

[maybechild]

The idea was that if there were any future social problems…the government could use the trigger word and cull a whole generation by activating overwhelming suicidal thoughts.

[richard-d-sanchez-iii]

"Oh hey, I think I've heard of you! You're someone the council always mumbled about.." - Quantum Morticia (@therevivedcouncil)

Of course, they mumbled about me! I was above them in every way.

I have to admit I actually thought they were dead...

I don't think I've met you... you're one of those Morticias, aren't you?

*he leaned down to look into their eyes*

[poppetsisters]

Remember when Ultimate Reed Richards asked if he could join the Council of Reeds, and they said "lmao no universe, fucking loser."

[firelance2361]

This Is The Way I've Always Been (Kamala Kang)

"Do you want to be good, like we raised you to be, or do you want to be some, you know, this cosmic head-in-the-clouds person?"

"You think about that."

[could-they-be-a-pro-wrestler]

This is a poll blog that asks the question…could your favorite fictional character be a pro wrestler? Would you like to submit a character? Click this link if you do!

[wishesofeternity]

“Much has been written on the extent and effects of the Woodville influence on Edward of Westminster, but the nature of his mother's [Elizabeth Woodville's] role has usually been overlooked, or subsumed into the general picture of her family's activities. Initially her position was probably the most prominent in his household. She was the only member of his original 1471 council not already on the king's council and her name headed the list of those appointed as administrators in Wales during Edward's minority. It was, therefore, not only with the queen's 'assent' that the council (or four of them) made their decisions, but with her 'advise and exp[re]se consent', and this included nominating the prince's officers when posts became void. The interests of many of Prince Edward's council were not primarily focused on their role in this council, so ten new members were assigned prior to the prince's departure for Ludlow in 1473, among them the queen's cousin Richard Haute and her confessor, Edward Story. Lowe has argued that of the twenty-five members of this council, only fourteen were fully active, the three principal members being the queen, Rivers, and Haute, and that of the remaining eleven, at least eight had prior connections with the Woodvilles. The queen was one of the three members to hold a key to the prince's treasury; she travelled with him to Ludlow and she, along with the prince's other councillors, appears to have been the 'driving force' behind efforts to restore peace in the area by punishing those responsible for disorders in the previous autumn. Elizabeth, 'oure Sovereigne and Liege Lady the Quene', presided over the commission to hear trials in Hereford with the infant prince until the king himself arrived."

— J.L. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503

[rpfisfine]

dirty valentine / using a robot to cheat in a boxing match / the torn-up road / should police start using man catchers? / i had a dream about you / the mythbusters were wrong / saying your names / disney made us gay / you are jeff / the mythbusters were wrong / a primer for the small weird loves / disney made us gay / snow and dirty rain / should police start using man catchers?

[samasmith23]

Mystique and the Theories of Relativity

A little over half a year ago, I marathoned the entirety of both the 90s X-Men crossover event, Age of Apocalypse, as well as its direct prequel Legionquest in giant-sized hardcover format. One issue from the Legionquest omnibus in particular which greatly stood out to me was Theories of Relativity from X-Men Unlimited (1993) #4 by Scott Lobdell & Richard Bennett, due to how it heavily fleshes out one my personal favorite supervillain in comics, Raven Darkhölme, aka Mystique!

Although the 4-part Wolverine: Get Mystique arc by Jason Aaron & Ron Garney’s still stands as my personal favorite Mystique storyline, Theories of Relativity is easily a very close contender! If you want to hear more about my praise for Get Mystique, here's a link to the essay "The dualistic rivalry of Wolverine & Mystique" which I posted here a few weeks ago:

Theories of Relativity is quite notable in that it not only reveals for the first time in-continuity that the X-Men member Nightcrawler (aka, Kurt Wagner) is indeed the biological son of Mystique, but it also showcases the long-awaited family reunion between Mystique and Kurt along with the latter's adopted sister/fellow X-Man Rogue (aka, Anna Marie), and half-brother/anti-mutant bigot Graydon Creed. The issue's plot centers around Nightcrawler & Rogue investigating the assassination of a US general who sold weapons to the anti-mutant hate-group "the Friends of Humanity" and its leader Graydon Creed. They soon discover that Mystique killed the general in order to send a message that she's out for Graydon Creed’s blood after he hired his father Sabretooth (aka, Victor Creed) to assassinate Raven in a previous miniseries. Nightcrawler & Rogue are then cryptically sent to the latter's old Mississippi hometown where she was adopted by Mystique. However, the two are then intercepted by Creed who reveals that he is not only Nightcrawler's step-brother, but that they are both Mystique's biological sons. She had abandoned Creed when she discovered that he was not born as a mutant, and she threw an infant Nightcrawler off a waterfall whilst fleeing from an angry mob that perceived them both to be demons (Nightcrawler's was born with his blue-fur, while Mystique accidentally reverted back to her true appearance due to the pain of childbirth).

While X-Men Unlimited #4 is not a perfect issue by any means since some aspects like Mystique's foresight about Nightcrawler & Rogue specifically showing up to prevent her from killing Creed felt rather contrived, overall this was an emotionally powerful narrative which shines a spotlight on one of my favorite characters in not just the X-Men franchise, but in comic books as a whole!

Theories of Relativity effectively illustrates what makes Mystique such a complex and multilayered villain! True to her nature as a shapeshifter, Mystique is a woman of contradictions. On the one hand she's perfectly willing to sacrifice the lives of other people if it either means preserving her own life, or if said-person fails to fulfill her own agendas. But on the other hand Raven is portrayed as being capable of showing genuine love and affection towards individuals that she see parts of herself reflected in.

This dichotomy is most effectively demonstrated through the contrasting relationships between her two biological sons and her adoptive daughter. While Mystique expresses zero regrets regarding her cold mistreatment and abandonment of Graydon Creed & Nightcrawler, she conversely shows legitimate love towards an abandoned and orphaned Rogue, with Raven stating that she could relate to Rogue’s inability to physically touch others due to her own history of utilizing her shape-shifting powers to prevent others from touching her. Raven even goes as far as to claim states that both Rogue and her then-late wife Destiny (aka, Irene Adler) were the only people she ever felt genuine feelings for.

These conflicting aspects of Mystique’s personality are elements of the character which have always made her such a nuanced and compelling villain to me. Elements which have carried over into the modern era, such as with Wolverine: Get Mystique emphasizing Raven's duplicity and willingness to unashamedly sacrifice others in order to fulfill her own interests, while it’s direct prequel X-Men: Messiah Complex emphasized said-villainous traits as simultaneously being derived from Mystique's selective love for individuals like Rogue & Destiny.

In a broad sense, one could interpret Mystique’s hardened exterior and boastful pride of seemingly only caring about for herself as yet just another contradictory facade. A metaphorical form of shape-shifting that Raven's developed over the past century she's been alive for as a self-preservation mechanism which allows her to prevent others from hurting her, consequently hiding elements of her true self from the rest of the world in the process.

This is an interpretation which Theories of Relativity supports through its climax, wherein Mystique surprisingly sacrifices herself so that Rogue can save Nightcrawler from death despite referring to her son as "unwanted" earlier in the issue. Yet another contradiction in Mystique's facade, one which heavily reminded me of the plot twist from the Wolverine Goes To Hell storyline wherein Raven betrayed the Red Right Hand after helping them banish Logan's soul to Hell upon discovering the organization's plans to manipulate Wolverine into unknowingly slaughtering his own children. And Raven did this simply out of respect Logan's friendship for her then-deceased son Nightcrawler, putting aside her own selfish hatred for the sake of someone she genuinely loved.

Overall, X-Men Unlimited #4 is a prime testament to what makes Mystique one of my all-time favorite comic book villains. Additionally, there's a lot of fascinating queer themes which the reader can derive from this issue. These can include themes found-family through Rogue & Mystique's relationship, as well as Graydon Creed's status as a normal human who hates his two mutant parents being reflective of real-life instances of familial rejection occurring between cis-het adults and their queer parents.

The latter example is a theme which transgender YouTuber Vera Wylde from Council of Geeks mentioned in her brilliant "Mystique - Queer Icon!" video:

Plus, the issue also contains some truly hilarious scenes like Mystique shape-shifting into Abraham Lincoln whilst calling out the U.S. general's dishonesty before assassinating him!

And as a fun bit of trivia, I love how the dust-jacket of the Legionquest Omnibus which reprints this issue also refers to Destiny being as Mystique's "lover," even though this story came out in the 90s before it was confirmed that the two were a lesbian couple!

But yeah, overall, Lobdell & Bennett's work on X-Men Unlimited #4 definitely ranks highly among the quintessential Mystique stories IMO!

[fitzrovianews]

Oxford Street Mayoral Development Corporation and pedestrianisation consultation announced

Proposals for an Oxford Street Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) have been put out for public consultation. Photo: The Fitzrovia News. The Mayor of London has launched a surprise early public consultation on his plans to create a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) to regenerate and pedestrianise Oxford Street. The consultation, which opened on Friday 28 February, will run until Friday 2…

[insidecroydon]

Accountancy watchdog moves in on officials from Woking

After almost five years, not a single person in Croydon has ever been held responsible for their parts in the council’s financial collapse, the scandal of Brick by Brick or the Fairfield Halls refurbishment fiasco. But in Surrey, two former senior council officials are to face an investigation by the national accountancy watchdog. Woebegone Woking: the small borough council in Surrey has debts of…

[l8in]

When a child enters the care of a local authority, the council becomes their corporate parent. This means that every councillor has a responsibility to act in the best interests of that child, just as any parent would for their own child.

Councillors have a responsibility for all children in their communities - not just those in care. This includes ensuring access to education, healthcare and youth services. But safeguarding children is paramount...

Local authorities provide safeguarding training for councillors and officers... This training will cover everything from interfamilial abuse, county lines, child exploitation and child sexual abuse. It will also include those in a position of trust who abuse...

But what happens if councillors and officers don't attend the trainings...?

Dyfrig Siencyn, the former leader of cyngor Gwynedd council, only completed his safeguarding training on 24th September, 2024, three weeks before he resigned after refusing to apologise to the survivors of Neil Foden.

Richard Medwyn Hughes, a school governor at Ysgol Friars during Foden's reign only completed the council's safeguarding training on the 8th January, 2025. Hughes resigned after Foden's arrest but is now back as governor...

Beca Brown, the former cabinet member for Education who resigned in protest at Siencyn's actions, only completed her training on the 22nd January, 2025.

Some councillors have attended safeguarding workshops every four years or so. Other councillors have not attended any at all... . Last year, Dafydd Gibbard, the CEO of cyngor Gwynedd commissioned a piece of work to better understand the position of the council's 'looked after children'. When will that report be published?

Does it include the work of the Fostering team? How many looked after children have been excluded from school? Were any of Foden's victims looked after children..?

The Welsh Government have recently published a report - Children on the Margins

It contains a lot of information on child criminal exploitation, sexually exploited children and homeless children across Wales. It includes - Some observed that the age of children going missing is getting younger. One professional suggested that children aged 12-14 were most at risk. Others indicated that they are seeing more girls going missing than before... Also - Others highlighted the increased likelihood of neurodivergent children being excluded from education settings, which means that they do not benefit from the protective qualities of education establishments...

The full report can be found here - https://senedd.wales/media/xmhhaypg/cr-ld16844-e.pdf

How many neurodivergent children or those with ALN are, or have been, excluded from Gwynedd schools? 

In Wales, children with ALN have an IDP, of which there are two types, school/college maintained or local authority maintained.

Cyngor Gwynedd also use what they call a 'forum IDP'... This does not exist in law, but makes it look like a child is getting more support than a school maintained IDP - this is not the case....

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...