#The Trial of the Angry Brigade

[auguste-marmonts-only-fan]

Marmonts memoirs: that one time a general killed a man for no apparent reason

Uh....yea the title is self explanatory 😨

After returning to Split, I was greatly saddened when I found out about the terrible crime that happened during my absence and almost in my name. A certain General Guillet, a native of Savoy, who once served in the bodyguard of the king of Sardinia, was assigned to me in the Dalmatian army. Since the brigades of my units already had commanders, I appointed him commander of the Split district. Nothing could escape this very intelligent, cunning and perceptive man, he knew everything that was happening. He was of great use to me during the war with his reports. Going to Kotor, I tasked him with taking over the island of Brač from the Russians. In the last months of the war, that island was the enemy's stronghold, plots were hatched there, which were supported by numerous inhabitants, loyal agents of the enemy. Its inhabitants had even equipped pirate ships and made several attacks on us. They should have been punished appropriately. That is why I ordered General Guillet to conduct an investigation as soon as he took control of the island (no one was more suitable than him), to arrest the main culprits and wait for my return. However, General Guillet did not arrest the real culprits, but the richest residents, and in order to show his power to the detainees, he had one of them shot without a trial, accusing him of equipping a pirate ship, and released the others by paying in money. When I returned, everyone was silent and shocked, but such an injustice had to be revealed sooner or later. When I found out, I was very angry. During the interrogation, General Guillet persistently denied. I call the freed people, they told me what happened and how much money they gave to Guillet's assistant, who fled as soon as the affair became known. I warned General Guillet that he would be court-martialed if he did not return the money immediately. He didn't need to repeat it twice. After he returned the money in my presence, I dismissed this unfortunate man from the army. The emperor deleted him from the list of generals and since then he served in customs.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 5.30 (after 1930)

1937 – Memorial Day massacre: Chicago police shoot and kill ten labor demonstrators. 1941 – World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb the Athenian Acropolis and tear down the German flag. 1942 – World War II: One thousand British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany. 1943 – The Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwitz concentration camp. 1948 – A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless. 1958 – Memorial Day: The remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. 1959 – The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham. 1961 – The long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. 1961 – Viasa Flight 897 crashes after takeoff from Lisbon Airport, killing 61. 1963 – A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis is held outside South Vietnam's National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year presidency of Ngo Dinh Diem. 1966 – Former Congolese Prime Minister, Évariste Kimba, and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu. 1967 – The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war. 1968 – Charles de Gaulle reappears publicly after his flight to Baden-Baden, West Germany, and dissolves the French National Assembly by a radio appeal. Immediately after, less than one million of his supporters march on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This is the turning point of May 1968 events in France. 1971 – Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars. 1972 – The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom. 1972 – In Ben Gurion Airport (at the time: Lod Airport), Israel, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others. 1974 – The Airbus A300 passenger aircraft first enters service. 1975 – European Space Agency is established. 1979 – Downeast Flight 46 crashes on approach to Knox County Regional Airport in Rockland, Maine, killing 17. 1982 – Cold War: Spain joins NATO. 1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10-metre high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators. 1990 – Croatian Parliament is constituted after the first free, multi-party elections, today celebrated as the National Day of Croatia. 1998 – The 6.5 Mw  Afghanistan earthquake shook the Takhar Province of northern Afghanistan with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), killing around 4,000–4,500. 1998 – Nuclear Testing: Pakistan conducts an underground test in the Kharan Desert. It is reported to be a plutonium device with yield of 20kt TNT equivalent. 2003 – Depayin massacre: At least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy are killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi flees the scene, but is arrested soon afterwards. 2008 – Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted. 2008 – TACA Flight 390 overshoots the runway at Toncontín International Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and crashes, killing five people. 2012 – Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War. 2013 – Nigeria passes a law banning same-sex marriage.

[theonlydramailove]

The Trial of the Angry Brigade by G. White ♦️ BBC Radio 4 (2002)

If you want to hear Tom only then start from 18:00 and 44:00

The Angry Brigade were a group of young anarchists who planted a series of explosives in Britain in the late 1970s. This dramatisation marked the 30th anniversary of their controversial trial, which became the longest in British criminal court history.

Duration: 59 minutes

Director: Peter Kavanagh Narrator: Juliet Stevenson Cdr Bond: Kenneth Cranham

Ian: Mark Strong John Matthew: Gerard McDermott Sgt Davies: Tamer Hassan Howard: Ian Masters John Barker: Tom Hiddleston Anna: Helen Longworth Hilary: Fiona Clarke James: Carl Prekopp

Broadcasted on August 9, 2002. All rights go to BBC Radio and all its contributors.

[miscellaneous-af]

I’m gonna defend Amber Heard till the end. Yes because the evidence supports what she alleged and because the issue I have with this whole trial is much bigger than Amber. Regardless of anything the fact remains that she is being sued by her ex for writing an op-ed about abuse, powerful men and the culture and institutes which protect them. She didn’t name Johnny as an abuser and in fact talked about her exposure to abuse from childhood to college and how she spoke out about abuse and was harassed and sent death threats (which she was). But the bigger picture to me is that there is something that feels so icky about suing a woman for vaguely writing about abuse. It feels like Amber is being punished for speaking out. The absolute witch hunt and misogynistic rhetoric that this has entailed. It has converted me I am now well an truly a misandrist. It’s like everyone decided to hang her up as an example, as a mascot for all the women whose ever lied (although her claims were actually proven in a court of law but alas) it’s like you guys want her to suffer for every woman whose ever lied meanwhile the Harvey Weinsteins of this world are a dime o dozen. Also the fact Johnny’s team is trying to weaponize a diagnosis against her just leaves me angry but also sick to my stomach. For anyone upset I’m not defending the Johnny I’m sure he won’t miss one wee person from the millions in the J*stice4J0nny brigade. #IStillBelieveAmber #YesAllWomen

[jbreenr]

⚠ SHE-HULK 103 SPOILERS ⚠

Or not anymore, I guess…

I know I was supposed to post this days ago but life's been crazy busy lately and I just had time to watch the episode, so…

I'll start with how I live for Jennifer saying that it is not a cameo show, except for Bruce, and Emil, and Wong (and Megan Thee Stallion, and Matt Murdock, and…).

Those mean comments about female heroes? I see you Marvel. I know you used real comments from your posts on Instagram. That was funny.

Also, i laughed at that guy's “I'd smash.” I get the joke but also the reference.

I honestly don't know how to put this nicely, but I just hATE the She-Hulk CGI. Like, the Big Green Woman doesn't look as real as the Abomination does.

I know there were some people saying that there was a continuity error with the Abomination fighting in Shang-Chi and him being imprisoned, but it is revealed Wong freed him to have a worthy opponent to prove himself as the Sorcerer Supreme.

Also, i did understand those references to erasing people's memories and that mention to the dark dimension and mirror dimension.

The elf quoting Thor's speech was 🥲, but she was stupid enough to shape-shift into the judge. 🤦🏻‍♀️

nOW, we have Emil turning into the Abomination during his trial, scarring the s out of everyone in the room.

The thing I didn't like was that it was still his voice, and not a distorted, deeper, scarier voice, the one he spoke with when transformed.

Did y'all also hear that reference about a rumor of a Mafia hit gone wrong?! She-Hulk's origin in the comics!

And well, we have these… asgardian workers?! Attacking and trying to get Jen's blood.

Just because she remembered she is a Hulk she was able to fight them back.

And now that I think about it, these guys could be the Demolition Brigade, working for *drums* the Leader.

Because you remember one of them saying that the boss wouldn't like it.

And finally, I don't understand why everyone is yelling and angry about that post-credit scene of Jen and Megan twerking? Like, it was a funny scene in a comical show.

[georgefairbrother]

On January 12th, 1971, two bombs exploded at the home of Heath government Employment Secretary, Robert Carr.

BBC News reported;

“…The first device went off soon after 2200, near the kitchen of the house in Barnet, where moments earlier Mr Carr's wife Joan had been preparing some drinks. The second went off a few minutes later. A policeman answering an emergency call after the first explosion was blown off his feet as he hurried towards the house. The explosions blew out windows and extensively damaged the ground floor of the house. Mr Carr, his wife and their youngest daughter, Virginia, 13, left the house after the first explosion and took cover in a neighbour's home. No-one was hurt…”

The attack came during heightened tensions over the (Tory) government’s Industrial Relations Bill, in the cause of which Robert Carr had been coordinating negotiations with union leaders. It was hoped the bill would limit crippling industrial action by the introduction of ballots and a cooling off period, and the phasing out of closed shop agreements. (Labour continued to support the closed shop until 1989, when it controversially abandoned this policy to comply with European law).

Responsibility for the explosion at Robert Carr’s home was claimed by The Angry Brigade, which had also targeted the Spanish Embassy, the Miss World Contest and the Department of Employment.

At the end of 1972, after a trial of 111 days, the longest in British history, two men and two women, out of eight defendants, were jailed for 10 years for conspiracy, although those who actually planted the bombs were never identified.

In a fascinating twist, one of those convicted, Jake Prescott, later apologised to Robert Carr by means of a Christmas card. Carr wrote back accepting the apology.

In the 1990s BBC epic social drama by Peter Flannery, Our Friends in the North, Nicky Hutchinson (Played by Chris Eccleston, left) had a brush with The Angry Brigade in the early 1970s as they were planning a campaign. His chosen target was the Ministry of Housing.

Sources: BBC news, BBC On This Day, The Observer.

[upsettingandunfortunateclasshate]

I've just finished listening to these clips of Hilary Creek talking about her experiences during the stoke newington 8 trial and in holloway prison. They provide great insight for anybody interested in the angry brigade / radical history. But be warned, her experiences in prison are truly horrifying.

[inkprintedfox]

OC Study

Tagged by @advena87 to fill out -THIS- OC question prompt.

I tag @starsandskies @1orweth @kanawolf

This is time consuming so I can understand if you guys don't want to do it, so no pressure. I spent roughly a week and a half, almost two weeks on this? No regrets, mostly took so long for me because I work full time and I tend to space out a lot and ramble. Lol

It is quite a bit of fun and a good exercise to help develop your characters so I do recommend It! Don't recommend doing more than three OCs at a time though, three was hard for me and usually I'm an over-achiever. Go easy and dont burn yourself out! Also would be a good exercise if you're writing with a canon character and want to get a handle on working with them.

I wanted to answer this in character originally but it would have been twice as long and probably taken me a month or more. 😅 Perhaps I'll do something like that one day....

Dragon Age OCs per usual for me.

Warden-Commander and Hero of Fereldan (DAO & DAOA)

Growing up in the Denerim Alienage has made Feiell a very bitter, angry, and agressive person. Biting and scrabbling to survive she also had to fight to keep her family and neighbors safe from the rich humans that liked to exploit the destitute elves. She gained a reputation as a protector but also a very hard woman.

She redibly accepted her conscription into the Grey Wardens, not only to escape the persecution of the law, but also to escape the narrow world of the Alianage. Collecting the people that would later be affectionately called "The Blight Brigade" exposed her to many new adventures as well as lifelong friendships, love, and personal growth that could not have happened otherwise.

The Champion of Kirkwall (DA2)

Laid-back, vain, and honestly somewhat lazy, Aiden has never wanted to be anyone's savior let alone a whole city's. Family has been the only thing that mattered in his life and after his father's death, he naturally took on the role of protector and main provider for his mother and siblings. This also made it very natural to take in the stray band of misfits that became almost like family and also why it is so natural for Aiden to constantly help people, even at times he would rather not.

His bleeding heart drags Aiden into the center of conflict far more often than he likes and he constantly berates himself for it. This automatic altruism has jaded him which fuels his sarcastic and sometimes bitter, self-deprecating humor. A tad over dramatic at times means that while he rarely, it ever, says no to aiding someone in need, it certainly doesn't mean he has to be quiet about it either.

The Inqusitor (DAI)

Max has been fortunate for most of his life, from growing up in the wealthy Trevelyan family, to his good looks and, quiet frankly, fantastic smile it's easy to assume he'd be another spoiled rich brat. You'd be giving in to a stereotype that doesn't, quiet, fit him though. From a young age Max has always been outgoing and adventurous which made him a handful to raise. His father frequently grappled with finding things to keep his youngest son occupied in ways that he hadn't had to do with his previous three children.

Born with a naturally sharp mind and quick wit, Max picks up new concepts quickly and with ease. Which means he often grew board with tutors, burned through the family library in a handful of years, quickly became very competent on horseback as well as the breeding and rearing of them (part of the family business), and often terrorized his siblings as well as the hired staff. Once he exhausted most of the interesting things at home he started running off to search for new adventures. Boredom and frequent arguments with his father often lead to habitual bouts of running away from home. Hence where Max got to truly learn about the world and open his eyes to the kind of privilege he's been so lucky to be born with. Unfortunately this also has ingrained his habit of running away from problems he doesn't see a forward solution to. (*cough*theinqusiton*cough*)

OC Study

Featuring:

Warden-Commander Feiell “Fe" Tabris

Champion of Kirkwall Aiden Hawke

Inquisitor Maxwell “Max" Trevelyan

1. Is your OC easily bothered by things?

Feiell – Small things don’t really bother her but she is a tad hot-headed so if you give her a hard time you might not be in for the best experience. She also has zero tolerance for idiots or assholes.

Aiden – He’s a petty bitch that mostly whines and complains to annoy his friends. Also whining about petty things is a good cover for the bigger worries and anxieties he hides underneath.

Max – Mostly an easygoing, carefree type. It takes the numerous responsibilities of the Inquisition weighing down on him all at once before he starts cracking.

2. How easily does your OC make friends?

Feiell – Most defiantly not a people person. Her natural stoic demure and biting sarcasm keeps people at bay. You have to spend quite a bit of time around her before she warms up to you.

Aiden – For reasons he doesn’t really understand people like Aiden. It’s probably his easy smile and sense of humor which he uses to get what he wants or needs out of them. Not really manipulative just doesn’t feel like he deserves the attention. The humor mostly hides his pain and keeps people at arms length, mostly unintentionally. He hates to burden those he loves.

Max – Max loves people, mostly entertaining, or teasing them. His signature charming smile and good looks usually put people at ease which makes him very likable. It also lets him get away with the mischief he often gets into.

3. Does your OC go beyond what they have to do or do they usually do just enough work to get by?

Feiell – Has almost literally killed herself to get where she is. Her work ethic is legendary and she’ll do almost anything to support her family and friends.

Aiden – Will do the barest minimum to get by. Her lazy as hell, even though he is incapable of saying no when someone needs help.

Max – Believes in doing things right the first time and if not the first time then defiantly the second time. Whatever the job needs to get done he willing to do and if it’s a favorite project he can lose himself in it indefinitely.

4. Is your OC respectful of others?

Feiell – She will be as respectful to you as you are to her, but will out match you if you’re a dick to her or her friends.

Aiden – Respectful enough to not cause trouble and get people to leave him alone.

Max – Perfect manners, and ridiculously charming. He believes everyone deserves respect unless they prove otherwise.

5. Is your OC imaginative or more down-to-earth?

Feiell – Defiantly no-nonsense and down-to-earth. She believes in hard work to active your goals.

Aiden – More of a day-dreamer but pulls a practical side together to care for and help family and friends. Dreams are nice but plans put food on the table.

Max – Total idealist, truly believes even the most impossible is attainable if you work at it long enough. Most of that idealistic optimism is broken after Trespasser, but that’s a long story.

6. Is your OC comfortable with themselves?

Feiell – She’s always been comfortable with who she is and has never felt any shame for it. She owes that to her parents and cousin.

Aiden – Feels like a constant failure and a burden despite how hard he tries not to. Doesn’t feel comfortable with opening up about his feelings and weighing others down with them. Is also terrible with expressing more painful emotions.

Max – Is mostly comfortable with himself. Always felt like a disappointment to his family because he never had the kind of goals for his life he thought they would want from him. Also never really saw himself as reliable but the Inquisition changed all that.

7. Does your OC plan things and stick to it or do they make it up as their go?

Feiell – Always has a plan and is a master of adjusting things on the fly if needed. Prefers to stick to the plan but has accepted how rarely that can happen.

Aiden – He’s been winging his whole life and it somehow hasn’t killed him yet.

Max – Usually has more of an outline than a hard plan. Trial & error are his best friends and somehow he’s still alive, that’s probably because he uses educated guesses more that throwing things to the wind.

8. Was their life eventful before the start of the story, or was it more dull?

Feiell – Depends if living in poverty and oppression is dull to you. I guess since it was normal for her it was boring.

Aiden – The stress of hiding a mage father and sister was more than Aiden ever wanted. He would have preferred boring.

Max – While the constant mischief Max got himself into means things were never dull they certainly seem boring when compared to life in the Inquisition. Josephine certainly had her hands full going through all of Max’s past exploits.

9. Do they have the habit to insult other people?

Feiell – Is a salty, little bitch so defiantly yes. She has a sharp tongue.

Aiden – Bit of a smart-ass and occasionally he can’t help it so it gets him in trouble.

Max – Mostly no, it takes quite a bit to get on his nerves enough to make him snap at you. Usually very polite.

10. Would your OC be described as “the life of the party”?

Feiell – She can be described as the death of the party.

Aiden – Likes to think he is.

Max – Is the actual life of the party if he wants to be. Usually he is.

11. Are they critical of others?

Feiell – To a degree, yes

Aiden - Mostly critical of himself

Max – Not really, he’s pretty non-judgmental

12. Do they like art? what is their favorite type (paintings, songs, fashion, etc)?

Feiell – The art of war perhaps, but music is good too.

Aiden – He considers Fenris a work of art if that counts.

Max – Paintings, music, nature, pretty clothes (mostly on Dorian), Max loves it all. He was especially fond of watching Solar paint his murals.

13. Are they more accepting or more controlling of the people in their life?

Feiell – As long as you’re not bothering her and no one gets hurt she doesn’t really care what people do.

Aiden – He has no control over his own life let alone any one else.

Max – Very accepting of people but not above a subtle nudge to do things he feels might benefit them.

14. Is your OC a good listener?

Feiell – She listens more than she talks, so yes.

Aiden – The one who’s always there to listen when you need him.

Max - Yes, he also has a great memory so he's very good at keeping track of all the drama in life. Lol

15. Are they opinionated or more willing to change their minds?

Feiell – Pretty opinionated but not impossible to change her mind, not that it is easy to do so mind you.

Aiden – Too changeable at times and mostly keeps his opinions to himself.

Max – A few solid moral opinions that he won’t move on but open-minded on nearly everything else.

16. Are they the kind of person who’s always on the defensive?

Feiell – Much less than she use to be but definitely yes.

Aiden – Only when he feels blamed for everything, which he is often.

Max – No, he dose his best to own up to his mistakes and rarely takes things personally.

17. Do people like hanging around them? do they have a positive, friendly energy?

Feiell – I will file this under HELL NO. She scares the crap out of most people if she doesn’t piss them off. It can take quite awhile for friends to warm up to her, if at all.

Aiden – People love Aiden, but the older he gets the less Aiden likes people. They demand too much from him but he’ll never be able to say no, or miss a chance at a passive-aggressive joke. Or a regular bad joke for that matter.

Max – People love Max almost from the moment they meet him. There is just something about him that puts everyone at ease and makes it easier to trust and smile. Must be the charming smile, yeah, has to be. He’s not bad looking either.

18. Is your OC a procrastinator? if they are, what’s an example of how much?

Feiell – People die if she puts things off, so no. Some days she wishes she could put many things off though. Like dying anytime soon, there’s too much to accomplish.

Aiden – What is productivity? If nobody is dying or it’s not dragging him, kicking and screaming, by the hair then its probably not getting done. At least no time soon. Guilt trip him hard to speed things up.

Max – Important things get done but if it’s not a pressing issue then it often can be temporarily abandoned for more enjoyable activities. Even if it’s set aside, the thing will still be done in a reasonable amount of time. Unless he forgets, which can happen frequently.

19. Do they tend to panic in certain situations or are they more calm?

Feiell – Always calm, if something bothers her you’ll never know.

Aiden – Panics constantly. Somewhat hides it well…somewhat…

Max – Takes most things in stride, the sudden dump of responsibility and people’s lives was really stressful but he adjusted to it.

20. Are they vengeful?

Feiell – I literally made a post of her being a deity of vengeance lol.

Aiden – Petty or bitter, perhaps, but not full on vengeful.

Max – Yes, touch the people he loves and see a whole different side of him.

21. What are some skills your OC has a talent for and what are some that they worked for?

Feiell – She’s has a natural flair for swordsmanship, her mother started training her and Fe kept up the practice even after her mother’s passing. Her leadership skills were…a little more rough. She had to learn how to organize and lead people on the fly because of the Blight but luckily she learns quickly.

Aiden – He’s scary good at lying, not even Varric can catch him in one. (Honestly most of his book is just Varric's best guess on Aiden's thoughts) Knife throwing took quite a bit of practice though. He can now nail someone at 100 pages and is unmatched at darts.

Max – Politics and navigating the Great Game are weirdly natural for Max even though he kinda hates it. His archery skill is something he is extremely proud of because he’s practiced relentlessly to be as good as he is. And he really is good, until a natural like Sera comes and shatters his ego. Lol

22. Are they more socially awkward or socially confident?

Feiell – Awkward, but in the way that she doesn’t care what people do or say. She dose her own thing and ignores everyone else.

Aiden – Smooth on the outside, tired wreak on the inside. Not that anyone will ever know.

Max – Social chameleon, and life of the party. Until he slips away unnoticed somehow.

23. What is something really dumb that irritates your OC a lot?

Feiell – Dumb questions about her hair: “How long is it?”, “Why do you keep it that long?”, “Is it really that red?”. Usually answered with “Why do you care so much, it’s not your hair.” Also people touching her constantly, she doesn’t see the need to constantly clap people on the shoulder or grab their arms when somethings funny.

Aiden – Orlesians, if you don’t know anything about DA then I’m sorry, this probably doesn’t make sense to you.

Max – Assuming he's stupid or that because of his wealth that he doesn't do any work. He's a natural busy-body so assuming he sits on his are all day is really irritating.

24. Do they tend to see the good in people?

Feiell – No, she’s had too many bad experiences before so distrust is her default until proven otherwise.

Aiden – Sometimes, mostly sees people in shades of grey. No one is 100% good or bad.

Max – He sees the good in people as often as he can and tries to pull some good out of those who are sometimes a little lost.

25. What does it take for your OC to trust someone?

Feiell – Doing what you say you will, not hiding things, sticking up for others when it clearly has no benefit for you, and give it a few weeks….or months and she may trust you.

Aiden – Help him out in a hard spot, or help family/friends.

Max – If you’re not openly malicious or he doesn’t feel like you’re lying/hiding anything his default if to trust until proven otherwise.

26. Do they have a lot of mood swings?

Feiell – Not really, she’s not a very emotional person. Unless you count her temper which can light like a matchstick.

Aiden - Known to be moody, to the point of it being a well known joke among friends. On bad days he can even out do Anders.

Max – Only if the stress is overwhelming him or he’s pretty sick. Otherwise he’s pretty even tempered.

27. Do they like to be the center of attention or do they prefer to be in the background?

Feiell – Hates being the center of attention and would rather be left alone. Unfortunately she’s had to get use to the attention after becoming Warden-Commander.

Aiden – If people could forget who he is it would be really nice. Likes being the center of attention among friends and family, doesn’t like it with crowds of strangers.

Max – Loves entertaining people and making them laugh which makes him great for parties. He grew up attending big gatherings and is an expert at navigating them, which means he's also very good at slipping away from them when he tires of the crowds.

28. Do people think they’re pretentious?

Feiell – Sometimes, her natural expression can give that impression but most of those people that make this mistake are racist shems that don’t like the power she has. Or the fact that she could kill them without breaking a sweat.

Aiden – No, his face is too friendly and if that doesn’t do it the self-deprecating jokes do.

Max – Yes, it’s easy for people to assume that since he comes from money. He’s never thought himself better than anyone though and tries to dispel that impression, but you can’t control what people want to think of you.

29. Is your OC detail oriented or do they focus more on the big picture?

Feiell – Details, details, you add them all up and that’s how you get a bigger picture. Other words, very detail oriented.

Aiden – Big picture. How you get there is a mystery though.

Max – Big picture first then an outline of the main details to get there.

30. Which high school movie stereotype would they fit best?

Feiell – The ice queen/The strict, scary teacher.

Aiden – Class clown/Troublemaker/Weird but laid back teacher

Max – The jock that befriends the weird kid/Hot science teacher

31. Are they good giving advice?

Feiell – Defiantly not, she’s better at giving orders.

Aiden – Only ask if you want to get in trouble. Ok, that’s not completely true, occasionally he can give good advice. Particularly to help cheer someone up.

Max – I would say yes, he’s gotten quite a bit of good advice over the years and likes to pass it on.

32. Which one of the 7 deadly sins fit your OC more? do they see it as a flaw?

Feiell – Wrath: Only a flaw if you think beating your enemies is a bad thing.

Aiden - Sloth: Regrets this flaw. If he had acted sooner on many things they might not have escalated the way they did.

Max – Pride: A flaw he has worked hard to temper over the years. Was more of a problem when he was younger than now.

33. Is your OC more likely to keep their feelings to themselves or to share them?

Feiell – Keeps them mostly to herself. A couple close friends may get a glimpse but only Zevran knows her well. He’s learned when to prod to get her to open up.

Aiden – Doesn’t like to burden others so keeps his feelings to himself even when he shouldn’t.

Max – His oldest sister is his best friend and confidant, she gets to hear everything. Max has started to lean on Dorian in this way too. Basically immediate family and good friends will know what’s up.

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 11 November 1971, an address on Haverstock Street, Islington, was raided by police searching for Angry Brigade members. Then-anarchist Angie Weir was arrested, taken to Albany Street police station and charged with conspiracy to cause explosions. She was later acquitted after a sensational trial, and became director of LGBTQ charity Stonewall and a member of the New Labour establishment. This is our 2-part podcast on the Angry Brigade with former member John Barker: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/03/07/episode-2-the-angry-brigade-part-1/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1260809360770878/?type=3

[iorvethofdunwall]

Finally, it’s done. I introduce you to Captain Harpy Black’s ship, The Siren and it’s crew

The Siren, is a magnificent ship, for sure. Over half the ships around have only two masts, the Siren has three. Mizzen, Main and Foremast, meaning extra pair of sails, which help her go faster than other ships with less masts and sails. It’s gunports have half a dozen of high caliber canons on each side, making the ship a deadly enemy for sure, even though there are other ships with more canons, considered “warships”, most can’t easily catch up to the Siren’s speed to attack her.

Now, the crew!

Jelas, most important man o’ the crew, and the one you’ll be seeing the most.

“I might ‘ave one eye, but i’ve got more swords”

Jelas, the quartermaster of the ship, first Witcher, and the first person to join the Siren’s crew, Harpy’s right hand, oldest friend, and bloodbrother. Harpy and Jelas met fifty years ago at a tavern in Poviss. At the time, Harpy was 20 years old, running from Kovir after the tragedy of his life had happened, and just arrived in Poviss, been drinking day and night at taverns. As the Witcher came in for a drink, he noticed Harpy crying while drinking in the corner. Trying to ignore him at that time, he walked out after a few drinks, but a week later when he came again, he saw Harpy still at the same spot, doing what he had before, and it took the Witcher’s interest. Joining the young Harpy with his drinking, the two talked for hours, and hours, and soon enough became good friends. As Jelas suggested Harpy to try oving on, and maybe go somewhere new, Harpy got the idea of sailing away, and eventually becoming a pirate. Jelas, being tired of taking Witcher contracts only to be paid such little in return, decided to join the young man, and eventually sailed together in a small ship called “Wallace”. Ever since then, the two stuck together, becoming best friends, then in some time, bloodbrothers. 

Aredhel, Sailing Master

(artwork by LoranDeSore on deviantart!)

“I’m sick of this war between humans, elves, all different races. Instead of killing eachother, we need to kill the ones who started it all. Ones with the crowns on their heads.”

Aredhel was an elven warrior, part of the Scoia’tael, fought in the Vrihedd Brigade during the war back in his days. The elf had spent over half his lifetime fighting wars alongside his older brother, until he witnessed him die infront of his eyes. That was the moment Aredhel called it quits. He became sick of taking orders from ones above him, fighting wars against people who had done nothing wrong to him. Sick and tired of the racism and deaths caused by it, he jumped on a merchant ship, to sail away to wherever the sea took him, until the ship was attacked by The Siren. That was when he met Captain Black. Harpy wasn’t the kind of person to kill innocents without a reason. Aredhel tried to fight back, but seeing that Harpy didn’t kill or harm the ones who surrendered, Aredhel decided to lay low. He took a huge interest in the young captain, and after a short while of watching him, how he acted, how he led his men, Aredhel offered his services to Harpy, and joined The Siren’s crew, eventually becoming the Sailing Master.

Jules, Gunner

“I am loyal to whoever i serve. Betrayal or lying isn’t in my blood. Nothing will change that.”

Jules had already been a sailor most of his life. The man stood abnormally tall, and his strenght made even the strongest warrior jealous. Even his arm muscles only were as big as a man’s head, which gave him an intimidating look and caused many to fear him. One day in the seas in the ship he was in at that time,  they were attacked by another to steal their goods. During the fight, Jules didn’t pour the gunpowder properly into the canons from his panic, and caused it to explode badly, recieving bad burn scars on his right arm, shoulder, and on his neck up to his jawline. After his ship was sunk, the man held onto a piece of wood to remain on the surface, eventually noticing a ship far from where he was, and swam to it in pain from his fresh scars. The ship being the Siren, the men pulled Jules aboard from the water, tended to his wounds, and eventually let Jules join their crew. Afterall, a strong man who is a good gunner wasn’t that easy to find.

Zlatan, Boatswain

“The only time i lie, is when i say that i don’t lie.”

Zlatan is the one person nobody remembers coming into the ship. The man was aboard one day, and a part of the crew without anyone ever noticing. Harpy had taken the man in after meeting him in Novigrad one day, cornered by a few people who wanted to kill him for not paying his debts. Zlatan is mostly known for his gambling addiction, and cheating in any game he played. Lying is most likely his best talent, as he always had to do it to get himself out of bad situations. Harpy took him aboard, and taught him to sail. After a couple of years, he slowly rose in rank, and within ten years, became the boatswain. He always wears the captain’s hat on his head, that he took from Harpy after winning a game with him. He of course, cheated to win, which Harpy knew he did, but let it slide anyway. 

Mathiya ‘Mat’, Surgeon

“I’ll shove my boot so far up your arse, that even i won’t be able to surgically remove it.”

Mat was a medic came out of Oxenfurt, mostly disliked by her friends because of her constant angry attitude and cursing. How she ended up on The Siren is when Harpy ended up needing a doctor on the ship, after finding out that Yorruid’s skills weren’t enough. He basically offered her the job on the ship for a good pay, and Mat’s adventrous heart immidiately accepted. She is a well respected person on the ship, and if anyone dares to disrespect her, she will deftinetly show them why they shouldn’t.

Yorruid, Cook 

(Artwork by my friend Ar)

“Shut the fuck up before i slap your mouth with a spoon, child!”

Known for his constant grumpy attitude, Yorruid is one of the dwarves of the ship, He joined aboard after Wallace was sunk, when Harpy was getting The Siren built, the two met when Harpy and Jelas were looking for new men to get in the crew. The pay was good, so the dwarf happily accepted.

Laxa, the Higher Vampire

“Can’t a man nap in peace here?”

Being Logar’s best friend, the vampire joined the crew along with him when he did. Laxa never really trusted Harpy at first, and rather disliked to be on board at the first time he came on the deck. But after a few years passing, he got to know the Captain better, and started to like him along with the crew. Twenty five years past, and now, Laxa would trust Harpy with his eyes closed. The vampire is mostly known for his lazy attitude, which being one of the things the crew dislike about him. But when needed, he works harder than anyone else at the face of danger.

Logar And Maté, the Witchers

“We’ve got eachother’s backs until the day we die. Which isn’t any time soon.”

Two witchers from the school of the Cat, Logar and Maté were nearly inseperetable, even when they were young. After their trial, they would even go to contracts together, working as a team. The two witchers were like the sides of the same coin. Their attitude and personalities were quite different, but they fought as one. Until one day the two took a contract to hunt down a Higher Vampire, when Maté insisted on killing the beast, Logar refused. Eventually befriending the vampire. Maté never like that, and still to this day, thirty years past, he still sleeps with one eye open when it comes to the vampire. 

Few others; 

Elves; Azari(m), Jhaeros(m), Quamara (f), Taedral 'tae'(m)

Dwarves; Arra(m), Calgrima 'Cal'(m), Dain(m), Noi(m)

Humans; Dora(f) and Tova(f) the twin sisters, Magnus(m)

[thinkofduty]

non culpa mea

"So what you're saying is," says Ingvald, far more calm than he likely feels, "That we have to argue for the right to travel with them?"

He's refusing to call them anything that could be misconstrued as friendly, Orella notes with some little amusement. Not that she can blame him: the last thing either of them wants is to be seen as sympathetic to them or their cause - whatever that cause might be. None of them have spoken of it, and none of them are likely to.

Berend shrugs and keeps walking. They keep pace with him easily; wherever he's bound, he's not trying to escape them, at least. Falling back into companionship with him was like falling into bed at the end of a long day: easily done and gratefully so. "Thought you'd be happy for some peace," he says after a moment. He shoots a knowing look Orella's way. She shrugs.

"Could give him back minus the tongue," she suggests, and when no one laughs, rolls her eyes. "A joke. It was a joke."

For all the airs of faux-disinterest they've put on, Berend can see right through them. He's always been good at that. "What do you need them for, anyway?" he asks, and his tone bores right through Orella's skull to nestle in the place where headaches are born. Not for the first time, she cannot remember why she is so insistent - why both of them are, come to think - on keeping the idea of the way their comrades used to be so firm in their minds. They are yet men, irritating as fleas, loud and proud of it, all around nuisances.

The road from Quarrymill to the Reach should only have taken five days. They'd made the journey in eight, having been stopped on the road by desperate bandits unknowing they'd stopped four of Ala Mhigo's finest. One of the birds pulling the cart had tried to bolt at the sound of steel, and a whole afternoon had been wasted recapturing the damn bird and then mending  the trace and axle it had been fixed to. Gisfrid had suggested plucking and roasting the chocobo in a fit of pique, and seemed as though he would - but then the chocobo had warked most indignant and pecked a deep gouge in his hand. Even Milleuda had laughed, and Orella suggested they present the bird with a medal.

But they'd gotten there, eventually, and when Ingvald had asked the Resistance men for help getting the sacks of grain down, they'd put Gisfrid and Milleuda at spearpoint instead.

"Can't say," Orella says, at the same time Ingvald tells him, "What's it worth?"

Berend starts laughing as they shoot startled looks at one another. For once they've traded positions; she'd thought Ingvald would be most displeased if she started haggling for their secrets.

"Cute," Berend says. "Come on, just spill it. They're not getting out of their chains anytime soon."

He has the right of it. Had it not been for the name of the Riskbreakers, neither Orella nor Ingvald would have passed through the Reach unscathed the first time they'd come through. At least these idiots have companions that might be able to help, if they're so inclined. Not that they've discussed it, though they've wanted to - neither of them have spent a moment alone, and they trust Resistance ears as much as Garlean ones.

They trade glances again, and Orella shrugs. Fine, the twist of her mouth says. "Don't go getting any ideas," she warns him.

"quo Folles," says Ingvald before Berend can interrupt. His expression turns as dark as Orella's tone. "We're after him, at their... request."

There's more to it than that, of course, but the explanation will serve for now as good as any other. "I'm coming," their friend says with utmost seriousness.

Orella snorts. "What did I just say? You're stationed here, Armsbreaker. You don't have leave to go running off as and when you please."

"Ho," says another familiar voice when Berend opens his mouth to retort. "What's all this about running off?"

In the months since Orella last lay eyes on him, Wilhelm has caught the sun. Brown as Velodyna mud and almost as shaggy as the bears that live in the area, he and his twin could not be less alike if they tried, and thank the Twelve for small mercies. Despite that, they've the same crows' feet gathering at their eyes, the same manner of standing still and straight.

"No one's running anywhere," Ingvald sighs, and swats his brother's hand as he reaches to muss his hair. It's getting shaggy. "Stop that."

"No? Pity." He's attractive, despite the way he's abandoned his looks for the wild to take over. Ingvald had been mortified to hear that from Orella's mouth; she'd teased him about it for days. "Thought you'd heard about Ser Çesaret before I came with gossip."

"Oh, dear," Berend says unsympathetically. "What's he done now?"

---

The court sits crosslegged on the ground, it being a sight more comfortable than standing for hours in judgement.

Berend had whistled when he'd seen Gisfrid and Milleuda sat in the centre of everyone; he's sporting fresh bruises and a eye nearly swollen-shut, but she's untouched. Whether it's because he opened his mouth or the guards thought hitten a woman was below them is a debate better saved for later: there they sit, hands tied behind their backs, in prisoner's rags.

Almost the whole of the Reach is here, it seems. Not every day does justice come to be meted out.

At Rhalgr's great stone feet sits Lyse Hext, all in red, young and inexperienced to this sort of thing. Orella guesses by the brightness of her eyes that she's never sat as judge before, or at least rarely enough that the trials themselves have made no lasting impression on her. Yet. Gyr Abania will do its best to weather that from her, no matter how many years it takes.

"State your names before Rhalgr, so He may know you speak true, and for the court, who have gathered to hear your crimes," she calls, still sounding half a girl despite the role she's taken on.

"Milleuda Folles," says she, and when her partner in crime says nothing, elbows him.

"Gisfrid Çesaret."

Lyse nods, satisfied. "Will you speak for yourselves?"

Beside Orella, Ingvald swears under his breath. "If he has any sense at all-"

He doesn't, of course. Gisfrid lifts his head and stares as best he can, attempting to look severe and managing it. "We do. Tell us what these charges are, for we've done nowt wrong unless travel's outlawed in this republic of yours."

"He's going to hang," predicts Berend cheerfully. "With a mouth like that he can't not. Does he not know who that is?"

"I don't think he cares," Orella murmurs back. Even if they've never met before - and they've had no reason to, as far as she's aware - he'll know Hext's name. Orella wonders how many of Curtis' men Gisfrid had killed, back in the day. She wonders if Lyse herself knows.

The girl herself is unfazed by his manner, at least. "You were arrested for your ties to the Corpse Brigade," she says loudly, and her words carry. "Men that served Theodoric's realm now serve the Resistance, but none that did not renounce his name and his crimes."

Hidden by the crowd of onlookers, Orella shifts uncomfortably.

"You, however, continued to act under his banner for the last twenty years out of Thanalan, in the heart of the mainland. Do you refute that?"

There's nothing either of them can say that isn't a blatant lie. It does not matter that they have not sworn outright to tell the truth, for their lives depend on their words, and for once, honesty appears to be the best policy. Too many here know who they are; those that don't will be having the names and deeds whispered to them. They will lie and die, or speak true and by sunset sway from a branch.

"The Ul'dahn sultanate has a warrant out for your arrest," Lyse continues, oblivious to the storm brewing in Orella's breast. "And at least one Free Company has personal grievances with you and yours. Coupled with your crimes against the free state of Gyr Abania-"

"Oh, hells," Orella murmurs. A hand touches her shoulder. She doesn't know who it belongs to; it means nothing to her. "We can't-- this can't happen."

"You want to get between them and justice?" Berend hisses somewhere behind her. "Don't be so bloody stupid."

She shakes the hand off and pushes people aside; if Ingvald or Berend say something to try and get her to stop she doesn't hear it. Blood pounds through her ears and her heart beats wildly in her throat. All she can see is the two captives at the mercy of an audience eager for their heads. Ala Mhigo has changed not a bit and she is disgusted by it.

Men and women part before her and then she stands with them at her back, back straight and cheeks flushed, hands balled into fists.

"I stand for them," she calls, and the court grinds to a halt. This close she can see Hext's daughter. She's older than Orella realised.

"You vouch for these criminals?" she asks. Her voice is flat as though she is used to people getting in the way of justice. "State your name."

"Orella Steelhand," she says easily. Before her, Gisfrid has twisted awkwardly to gawk at her. "Previously also a member of Theodoric's retinue. Now I work with the Riskbreakers."

"Do you deny their crimes?" Hext asks. Orella folds her arms.

"No. Hells no. But they meant not to stop here. That was my doing. Aldynn of Ul'dah charged us to travel to Gyr Abania for... for a reason," she amends before she can disclose to the world why they're here. It's bold of her to say, barely even the truth, but Aldynn is half a continent away, so-

The Miqo'te on Hext's right frowns. "Raubahn Aldynn is no longer Flame General," she says. "He quit the position to help the rebuilding effort here. Mayhaps we should adjourn," she adds, softer, "and send for him as soon as."

Lyse does not look best pleased at the suggestion, more a petulant girl than the woman she really is. "I wanted this done now," she grumbles. "I've little enough time to do another hearing, let alone with yet another angry mob awaiting my instructions."

Hardly believing her luck, Orella clears her throat. "Adjourn," she says, clear enough for it to carry. The crowd murmurs. "I would speak with you privately of the request."

---

"Told you," Gisfrid snaps.

The very embodiment of steadfastness, Orella ignores him. For all her stillness, one might think she doesn't even understand the Abanian language.

"I said," he repeats. Besides him, Milleuda rolls her eyes.

"Hush now," she tries, but Gisfrid will not be hushed.

"I said I didn't want to come back, and you dragged me here anyway, and look what happened-"

This time Orella rolls her eyes. "Grow up," she snaps, still not looking his way. "Are you such a child you're going to throw yourself to the floor in tantrum?"

"I'll show you childish," he threatens, but when Orella ignores him in favour of picking her nose, he goes no further.

He had told them. Several times, in fact, as endless as the breeze.

When they'd stopped in Quarrymill he'd been disgusted by the refugees. Like the fucking plague, he'd said as they'd waited. Like rats.

Both Ingvald and Orella had been disgusted with him in turn. She'd walked away to find somewhere else to sit as they waited for the fresh cart to arrive, and Milleuda had gone away to steal or make water or some such, leaving Ingvald to listen and remind him that there was nowhere else they could go for clues, and if they hadn't wanted quo Folles found, maybe they shouldn't have put in the request in the first place.

Lyse had listened, because she is younger than them, and has a better heart than old knights jaded to the way of the world. She'd listened to the whole sorry story without interrupting, and then asked a single question.

"Can I trust them?"

"No," Orella had said. "Not unless you expect them to play you for a fool."

She'd nodded at that. "What about you? Can I trust you?"

And Orella had given it plenty of thought. She was as guilty as Gisfrid for crimes long-since forgotten but no less execrable for memory's lack. Helping with one city's liberation did not wipe her slate clean.

"I said," grumbles Gisfrid. "I fucking said."

---

When Lyse comes to them, she is not alone. It seems as though the Miqo'te that sat in attendance at court determined not to let her out of sight. Behind them, two guardsmen with their helms drawn down stand at attention.

"Reached your verdict, have you?"

Gisfrid is in need of a good kicking in the ankle, and Orella moves to deliver it, but Milleuda reaches him before she can. The other woman clips him neatly around the ear and he yelps sharply. Lyse watches, saying nothing, letting this happen, and Orella wonders if she's seen this sort of thing before. Mayhaps leaving Gyr Abania meant she was couched in a gentler life as she grew up - but no, that can't be right. The girl's leaner than most her age, arms defined and back straight.

"I have, as it stands," she says. The old fashion hangs off her as easy as anything: it seems curious that she'd choose to wear such dress when the rest of the men and women that live and work in the Reach wear uniform. It's hard to think of it as anything other than sexy, though she knows it's not intended to be; the last time Orella had seen silks like those they'd been on Gisfrid's aging mother, who had been a well-known whore in her time.

When she looks, Gisfrid has his eyes trained dutifully on her feet, and she cannot quite hold back a grin.

"We've been in contact with Raubahn- excuse me, Commander Aldynn," Lyse says, oblivious to the thoughts and feelings she's stirred up. "He's of the opinion that if you're here, it's for a reason. That you wouldn't flee this way unless you had to."

"Could've been in Hingashi by now if we wanted to flee," Gisfrid grumbles. Beside him, Milleuda pinches the shell of his ear and tugs so he goes silent again. Orella folds her arms.

"You're letting them go, then?"

"With supervision," Lyse confirms, her gaze sliding toward Orella like a knife through butter. "We all agree the word of another member of Theodoric's cabinet isn't quite good enough to get them off the hook, but you told us true enough they wouldn't be here without reason, so..."

Orella wonders who we all are, but before she can say anything, Ingvald steps up. His mind works quicker than hers, and he's already arrived at the obvious conclusion. "Finding the man we're after is only going to get harder if there's more of us," he says patiently. "We're not exactly indistinct as it is."

"That's why I'm only giving you two," Lyse says, and the men either side of her step forward when she lifts a hand. One has a spear upon his back, taller by far than any Roegadyn Orella's ever seen; the other has a pair of bagnakhs hanging from his belt. "They won't be getting in your way, I assure you."

"And if we refuse?"

Milleuda's voice is soft, but it carries all the same. Lyse's right-hand woman shrugs, as though they were waiting for the question to be asked.

"Then we hang you," she says simply, and when she grins they all see the flash of fang. "Simple as that."

None of them need so much as to look at one another to know what they're all thinking. As pleasant as it would be to have silence reign once more, Orella isn't willing to bloody her hands for it.

Ingvald neither. "We'll take your men with us."

And from beneath a griffon-helm glinting in the afternoon light:

"Excellent choice, little brother."

[protect-daniel-james]

i might just go and create a Man Utd household in my The Sims 3 lmao. I already have a household consisting of Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Suarez, Dybala, Harry Kane, Jose Mourinho and Klopp, and I haven’t played with them for months since I was trying to be professional and productive. But today seems like a good day to go back to my old ways and just throw in some guys like Scotty, Daniel, Harry Maguire (i can imagine having fun with his head), Marcus and Jesse, probably David de Gea (and Victor, since you can’t have one without the other). And then maybe even a household of United 90′s players.

Guess I’m not gonna finishing my essay on the trial with the ‘Angry Brigade’ today.

[pickalilywrites]

For @imperfecteclipse who wanted to know what happened before this. 

What Was Lost

Jeankasa. Reincarnation AU. 

3210 words.

She hates waking up. It’s always the worst part because her dreams, whether good or bad, always leave her with a hollow feeling in her chest when she leaves them.

Most people insist that you don’t remember your dreams. Maybe just a fraction of them, but you’re supposed to forget them once you wake up. Mikasa remembers every one of them in vivid detail and at times she doesn’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse.

There are two boys. There are always two boys, one with blond hair and eyes like the ocean and another with dark hair but eyes like burning emeralds. Sometimes they’re children but other times they’re older, wielding sharpened blades in their callused hands. Why are they fighting?

The dark-haired boy – Eren, she remembers, that’s his name  - talks of monsters that lurk outside the Walls, that he’s going to kill all of them. He’ll join the military and become the fiercest soldier, ridding the world of the horrible beasts outside the Walls. Most people love the Walls, even worship them, because they keep them safe from the outside world, but Eren sees them as a barrier that keeps him from the freedom that he craves.

The other boy doesn’t say anything, just traces lines in the ground, but Mikasa knows he wants to leave too. Whenever Eren talks about escaping, the boy’s eyes light up before looking down. But she hears them sometimes – Eren and Armin, the dark-haired boy and the boy with the ocean eyes  - whispering amongst themselves about the beautiful ocean that exists beyond these walls.

She doesn’t understand why they want to leave so badly. What’s so wrong about being here? Isn’t it better here where they can be safe together?

Mikasa thinks Eren will never touch the outside world. His mother is against it and he’s so young, too young to understand what it really means to risk his life. He and Armin can stay inside the Walls with her. She’ll protect them here.

But Walls fall.  

She breezes through military training, but the other two struggle. She thinks that Armin should be the one having the most difficulty – he doesn’t hold up very long when they run long distances or carry weights up hills and through forests – but even he’s decent at the basics. Eren fights to stay upright when they’re introduced to 3DMG. There are nights he’s so frustrated she can see him wiping tears from his eyes, but he turns away from her whenever she gently suggests that perhaps he’s not made for the military, that none of them are. Maybe she shouldn’t have said a thing. She knows her words only make him more determined to succeed.

Another trainee, tall with a long face, jeers at Eren as he flips over once again on his 3DMG, dangling upside down instead of staying upright like he should. “Having a little trouble with your 3DMG, Jaeger?” the boy sneers. She remembers him too. Jean Kirstein. “Looks like you’re not as tough as you though you were. Maybe you should quit the military entirely. You’re only going to end up as Titan fodder at this rate.”

He speaks the truth. She thinks the same, although perhaps in different words, yet hearing them from his mouth sparks a light in her and she grabs him by the wrist, twisting his arm behind his back. “You don’t talk to him that way,” she hisses through her teeth as he yelps in pain.

She expects him to scamper away, eyes full of fright, but he takes a second to stand there with a look of awe in his eyes after she releases her grip on him. It looks as if he’s about to open his mouth to say something to her, but he thinks better of it and simply walks away, rubbing his wrist.

Eren’s sitting on the ground, slack-jawed at her little outburst. He’s seen her angry before, but he’s never expected her to come to his defense, especially if it meant supporting him with this dangerous dream.

She hates herself for the words she says next. “Why are you sitting there for? You want to fight, don’t you? Get up.”

Jean approaches her the next week, nervous and shaking. She thinks that he’s scared, perhaps offering her an apology for how he treated Eren last week, but instead he mumbles, “Your hair. It’s nice. Beautiful, actually.”

She’s never really considered her hair. She cuts it when she needs to, usually when Eren insists that it’s too long and will get in the way of her 3DMG, She holds up a lock of hair and observes the ends of it, noting a few split ends that she hadn’t noticed before. Does he really find it all that beautiful?

She looks up to thank him, but he’s already disappeared, sitting on the opposite side of the room with another trainee.

That night she takes extra time to wash her hair. It’s silly when she knows she’ll be in battle soon enough, but she does like how silky and soft her hair feels after it dries.

He’s surprised when she comes to congratulate him on placing sixth out of all the graduates. They never interacted much during their trainee days, so perhaps that’s why he doesn’t expect her to talk to him before they go their separate ways.

“Are you really joining the Survey Corps?” he asks after he thanks her. He’s made his thoughts on the Survey Corps very clear when he first joined the military. She’s sure they haven’t changed.

“Yes. You’re still planning on serving the Military Brigade?”

“…yes.” There’s a hesitancy in his voice that wasn’t there before when he discussed joining the Military Police. Before he would always speak with such confidence and gusto whenever he spoke of joining the Military Police. “I’m a coward after all.”

She’s surprised to hear his voice so soft instead of cocky and self-assured like it always is, but when she turns he’s grinning like he’s joking.

“No,” she tells him. “You’re just smarter than the rest of us.”

There’s a part of her that wishes that she could choose the Military Police as well. Not to follow him, but to be safe with Eren and Armin. Eren would never allow that though. She has no choice but to follow him to battle. It’s the only way she’ll be able to protect him.

Armin’s trying to comfort her after the trial, but she’s still livid.

While Eren joining the Survey Corps is far better than dying at the hands of the Military Police, she hates the thought of Eren being under the thumb of that cocksure captain. She thinks it might have been better if they had decided to lock him up instead. At least he’d be safe that way, away from all the Titans.

“He’s a danger to everyone as long as he’s alive,” Jean says absentmindedly as they make their way to the trainee cabins for the last time. They’ll all be going their separate ways after this- either the Survey Corps, the Military Brigade, or the Garrison.

She’s exhausted but she opens her mouth to defend Eren only to have Armin speak first.

“He’s far more powerful than any other soldier we have in the military,” Armin says coldly. “What would be the use in having him dead?”

Jean’s surprised that they’re still willing to back Eren. “He may have sealed the wall and helped secure Trost, but you know he barely has that power under control,” Jean says. His eyes flicker to the small scar on Mikasa’s cheek. “If he can’t even recognize his allies in that form, it might be even more dangerous for us.”

She hates his words, but she knows they’re true. She’s about to lunge at him, growl at him to keep his mouth shut, but Armin grabs her by the arm and tells her not to bother. Jean’s never liked Eren anyway, he tells her. Just leave it. They have other things to worry about. They wouldn’t be seeing each other after today, so there’s no point in starting a fight.

That night she traces a thumb over her scar and wonders if any of them would make it out of this alive.

The night the new recruits step forward to join the Survey Corps, Mikasa is surprised when Jean takes a step with the rest of them, shaking as he places a fist over his heart. He looks so much younger than he did when they first joined the military, so confident that he’d be safe in the walls and away from the jaws of the Titans.

“You joined the Survey Corps,” she says to him one day.

He’s polishing his gear like the rest of them, but he looks strangely alone. She remembers that he’s normally talking to someone, but she forgets who.

He doesn’t even look at her. He just looks exhausted and shrugs, smiling wryly. “I did. I guess I’m just as stupid as the rest of you guys.”

He’s not stupid though, just practical. But joining the Survey Corps doesn’t seem like a practical decision even with their newly acquired weapon.

“What changed your mind?”

He looks up at her for the briefest second before turning back to his 3DMG, rubbing at an imaginary smudge with a rag. “There are people who genuinely want to join the Military Brigade and serve the royal family. I just wanted it for safety.” He stops and a tear falls from his cheek onto his gear. “But I don’t deserve it when there are innocent people dying.”

Marco Bodt. He landed in the top ten and she remembers the first day when he proudly came forth, claiming that he wanted to protect the king. It’s only now that she notices he’s not there and realizes that he must be one of those that had fallen in Trost.

And here she was, bitter that Eren had been taken away from her and angry that they all needed to wield blades to protect themselves. But at least they were alive.

“I’m sorry,” she says. Sorry for what? That Marco died. That he had to go through horrors too. That they would have to endure the deaths of more and more comrades if they didn’t die first.

“Yeah,” he says. “I’m sorry too.”

She’s never felt shy before, but she does now as she stands in front of him, fiddling with the end of her scarf.

“Thank you.”

He raises an eyebrow. “What for?”

“The Titan earlier. You saved me.”

It’s funny because it seems so long ago that he had sworn he’d never face a Titan. He’d live cozily behind the inner wall and never know death or danger. And yet he jumped in without hesitation to save her from the monstrous beasts he had tried to hard to avoid.

There’s something so nostalgic about the way he blushes, flustered like the day she had told him congratulations. Those days seem so long ago.

“You would have done the same for me,” he mumbles. “It was nothing.”

“Still. I don’t think you’re as much as a coward as you say you are.”

Jean looks up at her and smiles. It’s been a while since she’s seen anyone smile. She forgets that there are still beautiful things left in this world, but his expression right now is a gentle reminder.

It’s difficult to say who’s more nervous, her or Armin. She trusts Armin and his plans, but have the stakes ever been this high?

“He’s going to be fine,” Jean tells them. He’s putting a wig on over his hair so that he looks more like Eren, but the two look nothing alike. Eren is noticeably shorter and his face isn’t so long. The people searching for Eren and Historia wouldn’t know the difference though.

“Of course,” Mikasa mutters more to herself than anyone else. She fixes the buttons on Armin’s blouse, smoothing out the collar so that it’s less rumpled. “Armin’s plans always work out. You’re all going to be fine.”

“I hope so.” Armin’s mumbling, his hands balled up into fists the way they do when he’s anxious. He adjusts his wig one last time, pulling the ponytail over one shoulder before frowning and putting it over his other shoulder instead. “Jean, let’s go over the details one last time with Captain Levi before we head out.”

“Fine,” Jean says gruffly. He begins to follow Armin out but before he leaves he turns around. “Mikasa, Eren’s going to be fine, so don’t worry.”

She’s grateful for his words, but it’s strange at the same time. “I thought you didn’t like Eren.”

“I don’t,” he replies. He doesn’t say it scathingly; it’s just a fact. “But you like him, don’t you? So I’ll help you protect him. Him and Armin.”

She’s too surprised to say thank you right away but when the words finally leave her mouth, he’s already gone.

She watches Armin as he continues to sleep. It’s strange to think that he can sleep so peacefully after falling from such a height and suffering severe burns. She’s always known the Titan power to be incredible, but it’s still something she can barely grasp.

Mikasa should be sleeping herself. Eren’s already fallen asleep, but she can’t shake the feeling that Armin’s breathing might slow before stopping completely. So she sits there in the dark, listening to his shallow breathing.

“Is Armin okay?”

She blinks at the figure who takes a seat next to her and it takes her a second to realize that person next to her is Jean. “Yeah, he’s…he should be fine.” They sit together in the dark, watching Armin and Eren. “Are you…okay?”

He sits there in silence for so long that she’s not sure he heard her. Just as she’s about to repeat he question again, he clears his throat. “Yeah. I mean…I guess I’m as okay as anyone can be under the circumstances.”

They should be resting. After all, the enemy has retreated for the time being. They shouldn’t be returning for a while. And yet Mikasa and Jean are both awake while the rest of their comrades sleep.

She lays her head on his shoulder, tired but still wide awake. “Is this okay?” she whispers. She’s never found it necessary to seek solace in another human being, but right now she wants to be close to someone and he’s the only one who’s awake.

“This is fine.”

They’re all different than they were before. Historia on the throne while the rest of them look out onto the ocean, the water licking their feet. The sea, the sky, and the future stretch out before them.

“What happens next?” Jean asks aloud as they look ahead.

Stay here. They could stay here and be safe. Bigger monsters live beyond the waters. But she knows the answer that lies on Eren’s lips and finds the words roll off her tongue instead.

“Move forward.”

Most of them are hesitant, but Eren insists this is the best move. Armin’s reluctant to pursue war with the Marleyans on the mainland, but Eren it’s the only way.

“If we make it out, what are you going to do?” Jean asks one night. Their meetings stretch out later and later into the night, but they’ve found that it’s been harder and harder to sleep so it doesn’t matter all that much.

She wants it to be the same as always. It’ll return to the way it was, her together with Eren and Armin, but she’s not sure all of them will make it out alive. “I don’t know,” she finally says. “What are you going to do?”

Jean doesn’t respond and she thinks at first that it’s because he hasn’t thought about it yet. It’s only when he leans down, presses his lips to hers, that she realizes that maybe it’s because he doesn’t think he has a future to think about.

“You’re going to be fine, Mikasa. All of this…you’ll be okay.”

They’re the words she should be saying to him, but he’s the one holding her and she’s the one crying.  

The dream where she dies is the one she hates the most. Not because of the pain that shoots through her entire body, the pain remaining even as she awakes, but because of the way he looks at her when he holds her. She hates the way his voice sounds, panicked and desperate as he begs her to keep her eyes open, please, just a little while longer.

She reaches for his mouth, her thumb tracing his lips and leaving a smear of blood where she touches him. “You’ll be fine,” she tells him, echoing the same words he told her so long ago. “You’ll be okay.”

“Mikasa, you can’t…Armin and Eren are still here.” Jean attempts to stop the bleeding on her side, but it’s useless. The wound is too large and she looks as if she’s in more pain when he applies pressure to it. “You said you were going to be with Armin and Eren, didn’t you? When you first started? You can’t just…”

She’s too exhausted to stay awake. She just wants to close her eyes, to wake up and find herself back in Paradis with her loved ones, to escape this battlefield. But she doesn’t want to leave him, not when he’s so distraught. Through heavy lids, she looks at him. “And what about you?” she asks because she knows she can’t stay there for very long anymore.

He’s supposed to say that he’ll be fine. That they’ll both make it out. That it’s almost over.

“I don’t know.”

“Bad dream?” her roommate asks when she finally stumbles out of her bedroom.

“Just the usual,” Mikasa mumbles. She pours herself a glass of water and takes a long sip. “It was…strange. Like I lost something.”

“Really?” Her roommate is only half-listening to her. She’s browsing through shows on Netflix right now, deciding on whether she should rewatch a show or start a new one. “Have you tried retracing your steps? Or just looking where you last had it?”

She doubts that’ll help. When she wakes up, she loses everything. But it’s just a dream, isn’t it? Eren and Armin, the monsters, the blood and the fallen soldiers, and Jean. They weren’t real.

“I’m going out,” Mikasa says, heading to her room to change. “Do you need anything?”

Her roommate doesn’t even look at her when she responds. “This this Indian place opened up the other day and I heard it’s really good. Could you get takeout from there for me? Since you’re going to be out anyway. It’s probably a little out of the way from where you’re going but…”

She regrets ever asking, especially when she gets the address and finds out that it’s on the other side of the city. It’s worse that she’s taking the bus and there’ll be stops all along the way. But maybe it’ll be good for her to get out. It might help her forget about her dreams, she thinks, at least until she falls asleep again.

[upsettingandunfortunateclasshate]

Three days after Christmas, on one of those clear winter days during which the dark clouds are pierced by a sunlight that turns the water to silver, a group of friends gathered at Bull Island in the heart of Dublin city to say goodbye to Sue Richardson. Sue died in October1 in 2011, aged seventy, sitting at her kitchen table, waiting for the kettle to boil. At her funeral a former housemate said, ‘Sue had an uncanny knack of turning the conversation away from herself’. She had an extraordinary life, yet spoke very little about it. The story here cannot be anything but incomplete.

She was born Sarah Fenwick Owen in 1941. At 23 she became Sarah Poulikous on marrying Dimitris Poulikakos. Dimitris later became a radical actor and Greek rock-star. Though they didn’t stay together, almost fifty years later she met him again to discover that both had in the intervening years followed similar political paths. In 1972, it was Sarah Poulikous who Scotland Yard said they were anxious to interview about the activities of the British anarchist group the Angry Brigade. In the previous year, one member of the brigade had received a 15 years prison sentence and four others were sentenced to ten years for involvement in a series of bombings. So it was that Sarah Poulikous came to Ireland and Susan Richardson was born, a new name, a new birthday, a new date of birth, a new passport.

She moved to Dublin’s inner city, was involved in the burgeoning Irish feminist movement and joined the Dublin Anarchist Group. Her life changed once more, when on February the 22nd 1978, a man entered the Bank of Ireland on Drumcondra road and passed a note to the teller saying “I am armed, push out all the money to me. Hurry. No delay. Return note”. He left with a bag of money and disappeared. Sue was found nearby, holding the bag, and was arrested. At her trial, at the Special Criminal Court she refused to identify the robber and so was sentenced to three years in jail on a charge of receiving money knowing it was stolen.

Conditions at Mountjoy Women’s prison were harsh. It had changed little since Victorian times. There were only two toilets for the 16 women prisoners, both open to those around, including to male prisoners. For washing there were two small basins with only cold water. Once in their cells, the women had to use pails and slop out every morning – often in the same basins. Sue, ever the fighter, took a case to the Irish High Court arguing that the state had failed in its duty to protect the health of the prisoners. She said to the judge “I don’t know what your stomach feels like in the morning, but it can be very unpleasant to go to wash your face and teeth to find the basin filled with human waste”. Justice Barrington, upheld her complaints and directed the authorities to improve facilities at the prison.

She was released in 1980 after serving 16 months, but was told by the prison authorities that she was not to communicate with newspapers, radio or television or to engage in public controversy. If she did, she would be considered in breech of prison discipline and returned to jail. Sue went to the High Court and contested the gagging order. Once more she was successful. The judge Mr Justice Barrington prohibited the Minister for Justice and the prison governor from attempting to restrict her freedom to express freely her convictions and opinions, through newspapers, radio and television. On release she remained active in Prisoners Rights Organisation and supported other prisoners, when she could, organising friends to visit prisoners when she could not.

The Dublin she returned to was beginning to see the corrosive effects of heroin addiction spreading through inner city communities. The threatened destruction of the inner city families lead to the rise of a grassroots anti-drug campaign known as Concerned Parents Against Drugs. Mass meetings were held to expose dealers, mass pickets were placed on their houses. With Noreen O’Donohue, Sue wrote ‘Pure Murder: a book about drug use’, which detailed the effect of addiction on the area she lived in. It was groundbreaking as it contained interviews with addicts themselves, giving voice to a group who were often demonised. It was published by the Women’s Community Press, which she helped to set up, in 1983.

I first met Sue, in the early 1990s at anarchist meetings in Dublin. She was a tall, frail woman.

I was told the damp and strain of prison had destroyed her lungs. Over the months, as her emphysema worsened she could no longer make it up the stairs to meeting rooms, could no longer leave the house, until eventually she was bed-bound and dependent on an oxygen machine. We didn’t think she had long to live. Then we heard she had been flown on an Irish army plane for a heart lung operation in the UK. The operation gave her back her life, though the anti-rejection drugs she had to take, lead to dialysis and a kidney transplant ten years later, and what she described as “only a bit of cancer” last year. Despite her new lungs, she continued to chain smoke, and gave short shrift to anyone who dared suggest she stop.

When I asked people at her wake where they first met Sue they said; I met her at a Residents Against Racism meeting, through the Women’s Community Press, I worked with her in CAFE, the community arts organisation, she helped me on my mothers fruit farm in Meath, I met her when I came out of prison, I lived in her house. Solidarity and direct political action were Sue’s core beliefs. At her funeral her close friend Trish MacCarthy told how, as Sue’s lungs began to fail, a group of friends held a fundraiser and raised 200 pounds, enough to buy Sue a car. A few years later, when Trish was herself short of cash, she found 200 pounds in her bag after a visit to one of Sue’s many parties. Trish said “that was the way she felt about money, it was only something to be handed on and passed around when needed”.

The house she lived in was a reflection of her personality. Trish described it as ‘as a communal space and numerous individuals who needed support and a place to stay were made welcome there over the years”. A former house-mate remembered the dinner parties and political arguments around the kitchen table. When I visited her house I always left with ideas, the name of a new book I needed to read, a film I should watch, a radical economist worth listening to. She loved her garden and her cat. She had a wicked sense of humour and was quick to laugh. Sue was one of those rare individuals that are always worth listening too but who share their wisdom in a gentle unassuming way. She could be strong without being forceful – though young male activists would often find themselves at the butt of her questions. She had contempt for those in authority, ‘assume nothing’ she said. In the last few years she cared for her terminally ill sister Jane, went wooffering in the Lebanon and travelled throughout the Basque country with her friend Rose Dugdale. It’s hard to believe that she is dead, because she lived so well.

Sue is survived by her two nieces, and missed by friends, comrades and house-mates.

Taken from https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/xd26n2

What a human being.

[junker-town]

How sports is Seven Worlds, One Planet: Episode 7?

Christophe COURTEAU/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

David Attenborough’s new show is epic ... and sports.

We continue our extremely important mission to conduct a scene-by-scene review of the BBC’s new nature documentary, Seven Worlds, One Planet, in order to see how sports it is. We determined that Episode 1, which focused on Antarctica, was reasonably sports. Asia was very sports, as was South America. Australia was more drinking than sports, and both Europe and North America were extremely sports. Now it’s time to wrap things up with ...

Episode 7 Africa

Scene 1: Nutcracking

I don’t think we appreciate how important the invention of writing is. Not only does it allow you to transmit facts (as far as I know, bookkeeping was, more or less, its original use) writing also allows the transmission of culture across time and space. Without that, animals are left passing along knowledge through direct demonstration, generation by generation. The requirement for direct contact, as you might imagine, drastically slows down the spread of knowledge.

In the Congo, a chimpanzee mother is teaching her daughter how to crack a nut. This is a relatively delicate operation. It requires finding a suitable anvil, with a nook to prevent the nut rolling around. The hammer must be the correct hardness and weight. The mother chimp makes it look easy.

Not the Nutcracker you’re used to seeing during the festive season. #SevenWorldsOnePlanet pic.twitter.com/oRTMwYz91B

— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) December 8, 2019

But this is the ease of experience. It can take up to a decade to master the skills required to reliably crack nuts, and the five-year-old has an idea of the basic mechanics and nothing more. Trial and error is the solution, and there’s plenty of error. She tries a pebble, a boulder and a stick, to no avail. Eventually she settles on the right answer: going back to mother and having her do it.

The little chimp is too young to be a millennial but these are some highly millennial vibes.

Aesthetics 6/10

Chimpanzees are pretty cool and there’s something beautiful about watching a child learning a new skill. Even if I was worried about the poor little chimp crushing her fingers the whole time.

Difficulty 6/10

I have gone through literally hundreds of hours of wilderness survival training, and would still definitely injure myself at least twice if you gave me a rock and told me to crack nuts with it. I’m pretty confident I could eventually eat it though.

Competitiveness 0/10

No contest.

Overall 12/30

Tools are sometimes used in sports, but do not, in and of themselves, constitute sports.

Scene 2: Cuckoo Catfish

Sometimes nature documentaries show me things that totally blow my mind. This is one of those times. Lake Tanganyika’s ecosystem is dominated by cichlids, which are some of fishkind’s best parents. That may seem like a low bar, but they’re actually not bad at it. Some of the more hardcore cichlids are mouth-breeders — after laying their eggs they take them into their mouths and let them develop in a safe place. Even after the eggs hatch, the young cichlids use their mothers’ mouths as a refuge.

Nature being nature, this creates an opportunity for some dastardliness. The cuckoo catfish, like its avian namesake, is a brood parasite. And while cuckoos parasitise nests, their catfish friends manage to get their hosts to raise the catfish’s fry inside their mouths. As the cichlids spawn, the catfish eat a few of the eggs and spawn themselves. Their eggs are ingested by the mother cichlid.

A few days later ...

Peek-a-boo! I see you! #SevenWorldsOnePlanet #Wasntexpectingit pic.twitter.com/WOkBJgnugv

— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) December 8, 2019

Yep, that’s a baby catfish. And guess what it’s going to do to its adopted brothers and sisters?

Aesthetics 2/10

I’m really quite disturbed by those baby catfish coming out of that poor mother fish’s mouth.

Difficulty 8/10

A cuckoo waiting for birds to leave their nest so that they can sneak in and lay eggs is one thing. Pulling the same trick on a fish which uses its mouth as a nest is quite another.

Competitiveness 3/10

There’s not really much of a fight here. Once the catfish arrive the little cichlids are screwed.

Overall 13/30

Cuckoldry is also not sports.

Scene 3: Cheetah Brigade

In Kenya, a cheetah family hunts as a pack. Five-strong, they can bring down prey many times larger than would be possible for a lone cheetah, but with five mouths to feed they must also hunt much more often. Using scrub as cover, the gang tries to ambush a herd of topi.

Cheetah are the fastest land animals alive, but they’re not fast enough to overcome a head start of more than a few dozen feet. That means that, once out in the open, detection could ruin the hunt. That’s what happens here: the topi scatter, the cheetahs switch targets to a nearby herd of zebra, and one promptly gets bulldozed by an angry mare.

Botched hunts aren’t just individual, momentary failures. They set the entire savannah on high alert. If the grazers know predators are on the hunt, they’re much harder to ambush. The cheetahs you can see aren’t the ones that will get you.

Incredibly, the cheetah gang uses this to their advantage. Antelope possess merely an indifferent grasp of arithmetic, so they’re well not prepared to assess just how many cheetahs they need to be keeping an eye on. So the topi end up keeping a close watch on four of the cheetahs harmlessly parading in front of them.

In formation #SevenWorldsOnePlanet pic.twitter.com/qtRyRS7Ndg

— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) December 8, 2019

The fifth? Well, that one is behind them and about to ... yeah. The topi run away from the ambush, but they’ve let the lead cheetah get too close. The four other cheetahs join the fray, and the gang can have a nice meal. Pretty clever.

Aesthetics 9/10

That running form is really something else. Cheetah hunts are special sequences.

Difficulty 10/10

The topi hunt is difficult enough — they’re fast and beefy critters — but the use of a decoy group to catch their attention while the trap is set really elevates the whole hunt. That takes a lot of careful thinking. Good work by the cheetahs here.

Competitiveness 9/10

It takes a gang of five cheetahs plotting carefully to bring down one topi, which makes this pretty well matched.

Overall 28/30

Obviously sports.

Scene 4: Vampire Birds

Big animals (and small animals, although theirs are mostly less obvious) come with parasites. Lots of parasites. This creates a niche for parasite-feeders, which is taken up on the African savannah by the oxpecker. These little birds are more than happy to keep any big animal as free as possible from ticks, lice, and whatever else they can find.

Keeping it chill, ignoring the little dude on my face.#SevenWorldsOnePlanet pic.twitter.com/c9mq8NlQmi

— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) December 8, 2019

Oxpeckers will go pretty much wherever food is.

Not what we meant when we said leftovers were yum. #SevenWorldsOnePlanet #didntgetthememo pic.twitter.com/OK6UxPIie5

— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) December 8, 2019

But while you might think that having oxpeckers around to clean you up sounds quite pleasant, there turns out to be a dark side to these otherwise benign little assholes. When they eat ticks, they also get a snack of the host animals blood — and they’re more than happy to cut out the middleman, if they can.

If an oxpecker finds an open wound, they’ll peck away at it, drinking blood and preventing the wound from healing. Hippos, territorial, aggressive and armed with dental sabres, are quite good at giving each other open wounds, and oxpeckers therefore are big fans of hippos.

The hippos try to dislodge their vampiric guests by splashing water on them, which fails to deter them. They also try a hippo special: the poop helicopter. No, I’m not embedding that gif. Don’t be gross.

Aesthetics 1/10

Every creature in this scene is pretty ugly, and then we get the hippo poop storm. Why!?

Difficulty 10/10

Being a hippo-annoyer sounds like just about the most dangerous job in the world.

Competitiveness 10/10

An oxpecker against a hippo is like David vs. Goliath except also Goliath throws his poop at people.

Overall 21/30

Disgusting sports, but sports.

Scene 5: Desert Hyena

In the Namib, an abandoned mining town still has one reclusive inhabitant. A brown hyena ghosts through the broken-down buildings, using them as shade against the desert sun. And she’s not quite alone. Her twin cubs await her in their lair, four months old and hungry. The mother hyena needs to bring back some meat.

While a dead town might provide good shelter, it’s not much of a hunting ground. The Namib itself isn’t much of a hunting ground either. It is something like the oldest desert in the world, bedecked by endless dunes of sand, blasted by the tropical sun and wind. How can there be enough food to support predators of any kind?

The answer lies with the Benguela Current, off Africa’s western coast. The Benguela brings up cold, Antarctic waters, which are nutrient rich and capable of supporting a vast quantity of marine life. Some of that marine life comes to the shore.

The shore is exactly where the mother hyena is heading. Fur seals congregate here, and she’s able to pick off a baby seal and flee back towards the dunes. She’s not the only one who wants possession of her kill however; and she has to face down a jackal pack to return her prize to her family.

Aesthetics 10/10

Everything about this scene is wonderfully dystopian. Brown hyenas are also surprisingly pretty animals, with long shaggy hair which looks extremely snuggly.

Difficulty 8/10

Killing a baby seal is obviously rather trivial, but making the trek back and forth from the desert lair in scorching heat is not.

Competitiveness 10/10

The jackal pack’s late intervention really makes this scene. Five jackals against one hyena trying to bring food back to her cubs makes this very interesting indeed.

Overall 28/30

It’s official: killing baby seals is sports. If you’re a brown hyena and live in the desert. Otherwise it’s just being an asshole.

Scene 6: Termite Quest

The Kalahari, adjoining the Namib, is slightly less hostile ground. Here there is some food, if you know where to look. A lot of it is underground, in the burrows where termites make their homes. Getting in there requires some specialist tools. Some of those tools belong to the pangolin.

Licking the plate ‍♂️#SevenWorldsOnePlanet pic.twitter.com/0008zwp4kd

— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) December 8, 2019

With an acute sense of smell to detect their prey and strong, claw-tipped front legs to dig them out, pangolins are specialist insectivores. (The protective scales probably don’t help them as much with their food, but they’re also pretty neat so I am listing them as well.) When a pangolin cracks upon a termite nest, that gives other critters, like small birds, a chance to get in on the action too.

But a pangolin can’t go properly underground, so they can only really scratch the surface of termiteville. Getting to the good bits requires an even more specialised termite-hunter. Say hello to the aardvark.

The aardvark is the world’s largest burrowing animal.#SevenWorldsOnePlanet pic.twitter.com/ySB7DNgxaK

— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) December 8, 2019

Aardvarks are big, hungry and more than capable of digging to depths of ten feet or so, enough to root out even the most well-protected termite colony. They need to be, as well — an aardvark needs to eat tens of thousands of termites a day. Climate change, however, is impacting the Kalihari’s aardvarks. Droughts have reduced termite numbers, and that has placed their predators on the verge of starvation.

Aesthetics 10/10

Pangolins are objectively some of the coolest creatures on the planet and I enjoy watching them very much.

Difficulty 8/10

You try digging ten feet down with your bare hands and get back to me.

Competitiveness 2/10

It’s not shown here but soldier termites are capable of giving some pretty impressive bites, even if they’re outgunned by the pangolin and aardvark.

Overall 20/30

Probably sports.

Scene 7: Elephants

An adult bull elephant needs to eat something like 200 lbs of food per day. That would be difficult enough in times of plenty, but during droughts, when there’s little food to be had, they have to get inventive.

There is still food about, in the dried-out forests of Zimbabwe, but it’s hard to get to. Trees are producing seed pods, but they do so up on their highest branches, well out of reach of even the elephants. Packed with protein, these pods are good eating. But how to get them?

Some elephants have learned a good trick — albeit one that requires incredible strength and balance:

“He weighs over 5 tonnes. This is a truly monumental effort.”#SevenWorldsOnePlanet pic.twitter.com/6xBohrr3KO

— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) December 8, 2019

That is some impressive stretching.

Aesthetics 8/10

Elephants are cute, but the parched forest doesn’t really do them justice compared to more verdant shots.

Difficulty 10/10

That’s a five-tonne elephant rearing back onto its hind legs. What? How?

Competitiveness 0/10

It’s not shown here but soldier termites are capable of giving some pretty impressive bites, even if they’re outgunned by the pangolin and aardvark.

Overall 18/30

Difficult enough to be a de facto sport.

Scene 8: Well This Is Depressing

To close out the series (this is our last scene!), BBC takes us on a tour of what’s going wrong with the planet. Climate change is already impacting every continent on earth. Habitat destruction is causing animal numbers to plummet. Poaching has all but wiped out some of Africa’s most majestic creatures. We are, in many ways, killing the rest of the world.

This is not merely an aesthetic question or one of being morally good versus morally not. Ultimately this is a world we all rely on, and we are contributing to its sickness. As the climate crisis deepens — climate change has been settled science since before I was born, incidentally — we will not only impact the animals showcased in this series but also deepen crises that materially affect our own communities.

Cities are starting to get close to running out of water and crop failures look increasingly likely. Sea level rise, caused by melting ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, will render coastal communities increasingly vulnerable to flooding. We’re already in the shit and nowhere near the worst of it.

It is our collective responsibility to mitigate this crisis as best we can. We must dismantle the structures which have allowed this to happen without consequences. We must accept that personal choice alone can’t save us in the face of rapacious behaviour from corporations. We must force our governments to confront the problem head on.

And we must also hold those responsible to account. For generations, fossil fuel companies have suppressed scientific knowledge about the damage they have been engineering and spreading misinformation instead, all in the name of profit. This is a crime against the rest of humanity, and the decision-makers involved then (and involved now) must be prosecuted and made to repay society.

The crisis is here and we cannot avert it. But there is hope nonetheless. We can lessen the damage it will do by mobilising to de-carbonise the economy, to move away from waste and greed and destruction in the name of “growth”. Mitigation now will save our children and our children’s children from the real brunt of the storm. We live in depressing times, but we ought never to forget that something can be done about them.

A better world is possible, and it is up to us to build it. Will it be hard? Obviously. Is it the only way? Yes.

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 11 November 1971, an address on Haverstock Street, Islington, was raided by police searching for Angry Brigade members. Then-anarchist Angie Weir was arrested, taken to Albany Street police station and charged with conspiracy to cause explosions. She was later acquitted after a sensational trial, and became director of LGBTQ charity Stonewall and a member of the New Labour establishment. This is the first of our 2 part podcast on the Angry Brigade with former member John Barker: https://ift.tt/2FlBMtz https://ift.tt/2OC6vpS