#Wasteland 2011

[noizchild]

Where Did the Year?

We only have three more months left in the year of 2024. Where did the year go? There is so much that will be going on this month. I am starting up my LGBT Scream project again. Look forward to that. Another big thing coming is my new D.Gray-Man fic, When Angels Deserve to Die. I can't wait for that. I should be wrapping up the season for Tengoku.Chikyu.Jigoku this month. (I might wrap the series up in a year or two. I will have to see.) Mafia might be done this month or the next. I will have to sit down and count out the days I will be working on it. Speaking of work, I am still writing Pale Lace and Ghosts. The good times keep on rolling.

This Week's Work:

Tea Leaves and Pale Lace

Ghosts of Wonderland

Tengoku.Chikyu.Jigoku

Winter Blossoms

When Angels Deserve to Die

Leo and Kana

Assassin's Game

[davidreadthat]

9/19/23

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland, by Patton Oswalt, 2011.

[mischiefprincess]

 "I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day. Bring about an alliance, bring about a permanent peace... through you."

How

How?

HOW????????

What did Odin have in mind when he took Loki? How was he going to forge that alliance? Through marriage? Was he going to tell Laufey that the son he thought to be dead this whole time was actually alive and well and living as the second prince of Asgard? And then he'd offer to marry Loki to someone in Jotunheim so he could take Laufey's throne?

Laufey had already rejected Loki as a newborn, why on earth would he want to have his son back especially when he was basically Odin's puppet? And another thing, would the Jotuns accept Loki as their ruler? He's a runt and grew up in Asgard being raised by Odin, a man they no doubt hate with their entire souls, what made Odin think that his plan would work?

Not to mention the fact that Loki himself would probaly go fucking INSANE once he realized that his purpose in life was to be Odin's puppet in that frozen wasteland while Thor was destined to sit on the golden and glorious throne of Asgard

"But those plans no longer matter"

When

When did they stop mattering?

When did Odin realize that what he had in mind when he adopted Loki would never work out? When did he start seeing Loki as his son instead of the political pawn he was initially?

In WML Loki says that Odin didn't like to send him very often in missions throughout the nine realms, I know the book is it's own universe but maybe that's how things were in the movie timeline too, Odin didn't want to have Loki deeply involved in the politics of the nine realms and decided to just confine him to the palace

"So I'm no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?"

This could indicate that Loki was in fact trapped inside the palace at least to some level, only allowed to leave and travel through the nine realms when Odin approved it unlike Thor who was probably free to come and go as he pleased, so Loki had only the company of his mother (bc he didn't have friends of his own) while being desperate to have his father's attention and approval, desperate to have a chance to prove that he could be just as competent as Thor (if not more) as a ruler and still being treated as some kind of possession instead of a person

This is tragic but so delicious at the same time, and I know this makes more sense for movie Loki bc series Loki is very different from the original canon, I kinda miss the hungry look he had in Thor 1 tho, that boy who was just standing in corners, lonely and rejected, with so many storms inside himself that barely anyone could notice bc he kept them hidden under a facade of calmness and politeness, that stiff posture of someone always living under pressure, the neutral expression in his face and the ocasional picking of the hands that betrayed how nervous he truly was, being silent and only speaking to people when he was spoken to, the layers and more layers of clothing, covering everything from neck to toes, the submissive and kinda fearful look in his eyes whenever his father spoke to him (until of course the Jotunheim incident), the curly hair severely straightened so he could appear more collected and calm, so many things about him fascinate me, I could talk about it for hours...

How I wish we could go back to the 2011-2013 Loki era omg there's so much potential and things to explore there, take me back to those simpler days

[kissedmeinsane]

mitski, i guess / madeline miller, the song of achilles / paterson (2016) / good will hunting (1997) / jill s. alexander, paradise / notting hill (1999) / fleabag (2019) / little women (2019) / saudade (2017) / lemony snicket , the beatrice letters / sylvia plath / sally rooney, normal people / la belle personne (2008) / goodbye first love (2011) / margret atwood / hozier, wasteland, baby! / euripides

[dreameralive]

Here's my probably incorrect assumptions about what social media sites the undersiders would use if it was 2023 instead of 2011 or something

Taylor: Tumblr. Will post really sad, in depth posts talking about her experience with bullying and her family and how alone she feels sometimes and then reblog a bunch of bug photos (like, at least 20 in a row) and then go dormant for like 2 months and then repeat the cycle when she finally regains the energy to post

Alec: reddit, twitter. Reddit but only so he and Aisha can post like really outlandish obvious troll posts in aita and legaladvice, tumblr so he can stare at princecore aesthetic moodboards and nod approvingly (he will only like it but never reblog, his blog is like a barren wasteland)

Aisha: tumblr, twitter. All fucking over the scene kid aesthetic. Reblogs and retweets Kandi making tutorials and sparkledog ocs and 2008 geocities blinkies or something. Everyone always sends her asks and makes vague posts about forgetting they have her as a mutual

Brian: reddit, twitter. Retweets exercise advice and goes on a fuckton of exercise subreddits but also frequents parenting subs and asks questions on how to properly deal with whatever Aisha has done this week and everyone who comments thinks he is actually a dad and not just the world's most emotionally repressed 17 going on 45 yr old boy. Gets into arguments with obvious trolls all the time on both sites and gets really needlessly upset and personal over it. The person who argues with him most on Twitter is actually Aisha on an alt account (she knows it's him and is doing this for the bit, he does not know it's her)

Rachel: can't read or write v well :( but if she could it'd be tumblr maybe? Or twitter? Unsure. All I know is that her account would be filled with really blurry photos of her dogs with no captions or tags or anything with the occasional all caps really angry rant post about people petting her dogs without permission. The people that follow her are mostly there to study her like they're a scientist and she's an interesting discovery they've found under their microscope. They also all assume she's like 60 and not like 15

Lisa: twitter, reddit. Have few thoughts on her but if she were to get into arguments she would use "sweetie" "honey" and ":)" condescendingly to whoever she's arguing with. This isn't Lisa hate btw i just think she truly is That Person

[bitimdrake]

pssssst hey quick question on the dl - who is helena bartinelli??

i cannot answer anon questions on the dl, so answer on the up-high, which she deserves:

HUNTRESS

a.k.a. Helena Bertinelli, a.k.a. Gotham's coolest and most notable antihero, crossbow-wielder, and purple bat-associated vigilante.

Helena was born to an Italian mob family, but spent her childhood blissfully unaware of the family business--until her entire family was slaughtered in front of her when she was eight. She stayed with family overseas for the rest of her childhood, learning how to fight and protect herself.

She came back to Gotham for both vengeance and justice, and became one of Gotham's many vigilantes. Though her focus is on the mob, she'll step in to stop any crime.

She's also a schoolteacher! Good for her.

She is discerning in who she chooses to kill, but she does kill. As you can imagine, this put her at odds with Batman for a long time. Helena is pretty much the premiere example of Bruce trying to claim control over every vigilante in Gotham, no matter how little right he has. The argument on killing/ethics is valid, but his default was basically "do exactly what I say and fall in line under my command, or stop completely," which is why he's an asshole control freak and why I'm constantly mad about how she was treated 👍

She was an absolute mainstay of the Batfamily before Flashpoint (2011) and it is personally hurtful to me that people don't know her. (Like, to be frank? She had far more of a presence than Damian or (living) Jason in the post-crisis era.)

You could count on seeing her in any major Batfamily crossover, from Cataclysm to Battle for the Cowl.

She was central to the biggest Batfamily crossover ever, No Man's Land, where Gotham was locked off from the rest of the country and turned into a lawless wasteland. Bruce left to sulk for the first couple of months and in absence of any other vigilantes in the field (only Oracle having remained in the city), Helena donned the mantle of the Bat for herself to protect the city. And when Batman came back, in return for all she'd done, she got...yelled at, assigned impossible tasks and criticized for not achieving them, her costume stolen and given to someone else, lied to, abandoned in the face of impossible odds, and shot multiple times protecting kids. Absolute fucking hero, honestly.

She also was on the Justice League for a while, though admittedly I have barely touched that run. To my understanding, despite nominating her for the position, Bruce was also the one to revoke her membership there.

Fortunately! things improved!!

In the early/mid 2000s, Helena joined the Birds of Prey, Oracle's team, and found legit friendships and support there with teammates like Dinah Lance/Black Canary. She finally got more respect in the community, and had a much better time.

Additional relationships include:

A big sister/annoying little brother type thing with Tim, who may disapprove of her killing but simply likes making friends too much :)

A great relationship with Vic Sage/the Question

One single issue where she met Steph that presented SUCH interesting potential that I desperately wish had been followed up on

On and off romantic/sexual tension with Dick, depending on the writer, which culminated in a single hook up that apparently most people around here would rather pretend didn't happen, though I really don't think it's that bad

A complicated relationship with Barbara, partially due to clashing personalities and conflicting morals (with Babs being nearly as much of a control freak as Bruce), and partially due to a shared history with Dick because DC loves making women be catty

Surely others from her first solo or time on the JLA that I don't know well enough to list!

She's rad and determined and takes no shit but cares a lot, and I love her. We deserve more stories tying her teaching day job into her night work. We also deserve more stories with her in general.

If you would like additional Helena beyond just cruising my tag, I recommend:

Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood - far more Huntress than Batman, this is a great 6-issue miniseries about Helena reckoning with her past, ft the Question.

Batman: No Man's Land - if you have the time for it, a big storyline but worth it.

Birds of Prey vol 1 (1999) - Helena starts to appear around issue #57 and becomes a central character from there.

[str8aura-draws-horses-and-stuff]

fuck it, i was gonna wait til christmas, but ill post now.

Fallout Equestria was finished Christmas of 2011, meaning it will soon be twelve years old. Happy Hearthswarming to all the Wastelanders still out there. I truly do love you all.

[ritchiepage2001newaccount]

JinJiyanAzadi #BijiRojava “No. This is a Genuine Revolution” [UPDATES]

Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics, activist, anarchist David Graeber had written an article for the Guardian in October, in the first weeks of the ISIS attacks to Kobane (North Syria), and asked why the world was ignoring the revolutionary Syrian Kurds…

RELATED UPDATE: Syriac fighters prove their mettle in battle against ISIL

RELATED UPDATE: Dozens of U.S. civilians are in Syria fighting against ISIS

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/dozens-of-us-civilians-are-in-syria-fighting-against-isis/

RELATED UPDATE: The Ruins of Liberation: Reclaiming Raqqa

RELATED UPDATE: British anti-terror fighter says the government is ‘playing with fire’ in Syria

RELATED UPDATE: Calling the shots: The Syrians behind air attacks on Raqqa

https://www.syriahr.com/en/133366/

RELATED UPDATE: THREAT TO WEST - ISIS ‘evolving into a new beast’ to strike the West as fanatics build Africa Caliphate, warns Brit who fought fanatics

RELATED UPDATE: American Orphans in the Wasteland

RELATED UPDATE: The Islamic State’s Shadow Governance in Eastern Syria Since the Fall of Baghuz

https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-islamic-states-shadow-governance-in-eastern-syria-since-the-fall-of-baghuz/

FURTHER READING:

[scappu]

when bridges become intact ↳ my tav x astarion playlist

the fruits by paris paloma

hardest of hearts by florence + the machine

the book of love by the magnetic fields

drumming song by florence + the machine

earth angel by the penguins

wasteland, baby! by hozier

bedroom hymns by florence + the machine

nobody by hozier

angel of small death & the codeine scene by hozier

good old-fashioned lover boy - remastered 2011 by queen

i’ll be your mirror by the velvet underground, nico

spectrum by florence + the machine

as the world falls down by david bowie

like real people do by hozier

make up your mind by florence + the machine

the rockrose and the thistle by the amazing devil

to noise making (sing) by hozier

breath of life by florence + the machine

farewell wanderlust by the amazing devil

would that i by hozier

from eden by hozier

cardigan by taylor swift

francesca by hozier

eat your young by hozier

dance me to the end of love - bonus by the civil wars

de selby (part 2) by hozier

help by hurts

fair by the amazing devil

[lowqualitygarbage]

I said I would do it and I did! now to list how I thibk the map would go...

1.Vault City(Might have to remake that bit, gears are hard man) An cluster of different vaults, fomr 666 to vault 91316(clerical error), Mostly keep to themsleves, too barriekaced for the Jesus freaks to attack. 2.Pentagram City nuclear power plant. A swampy, and Highly Radioactive place, the cause of all these gamama storms. Is also the base of the local super mutants, who make a living by making and selling Fusion cores and Other Power supplies.

3.The Hazbin hotel The top part of pentgram city got blown away a long time ago, with the rubble now holding host to rock Lichen and Deer, but their still stands one building, a grand hotel... that was abodnoned pre war. But hey, free real estate is hard to come by, so you take what you can get.

4.The overgrown. The site of one to many people playing with Gecks, FEV, and wepaon testing, this fast growning forest of Sun flowers, corn and beans. Place is mostly used for both food and weapon testing.

5.Cannible town The old town of the city, now taken over by the ghoul rosie. They provide most of the cloth and leather in the Area, but also work as a dispole for corpses.

6.Factories Carmilla Carbine. War never changes, and someone has to meet the demands. Family owned, run and operated since 2011.

7. Vee's Company All manner of diversion and dalliance await those who cross the threshold with coin in hand, god I love the darkest dungeon.

8.Heavens landing zone. The jesus Freaks main outpost for the place. Mostly used to park their Airships. 9.The old Quarry No longer used,it's much easier to harvest the cars and ruined buildings, but their are rumors of something lurking down thier

10.The old camping area Still used form time to time, mostly for lumber, but also a Romantic get away spot. Remember to not feed the yao guai.

11.The old woods. As far as most will go, but some still go is to find some better game. Usally get picked off by the people living their.

!!! HOLY SHIT!

Oh my god, this is fantastic! I love the thought you've put into it! You've even put in radial areas for exploring, and plot hooks, and little bits of world building!

The other vaults in the area are loosely based on some of the other Rings of Hell, with their Sins as the current overseers. The experiments in the vaults shaped their social structures similar to the Rings we see in Helluva Boss. The wrath-equivalent would have limited resources and dwellers had to win their rights to rations, greed had a social system enforced that encouraged stockpiling and extortion, etc. I don't have numbers or much beyond bare bones for them, since I've been focusing on the Hazbin crew.

Heaven having a dedicated landing zone could be enforced by drone/turret placements, or it could be that it's easier for Wastelanders to let them keep that space clear since at least that way they know where the staging grounds are and can monitor/avoid it.

[noizchild]

Things Keep Going On

I am still going with Tea Leaves and December. For the past couple of days, I came close to not meeting the daily deadline for the latter, but I pulled through. I just need to pick out what the next year is going to be tomorrow. I asked my aunt but I haven't heard back yet. I will check in the morning. Anyway, everything is going well.

Everything I am Working on This Week:

Vessel

Tea Leaves and Pale Lace

December

Tengoku.Chikyu.Jigoku

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from EcoWatch:

There are currently more than 200 coal-fired power plants in operation in the United States, but the country has been scaling back since reaching its coal generation peak in 2011. By the end of 2026, the U.S. is projected to have retired half of its coal capacity.

Coal plants emit toxic pollutants into the air, water and soil, leaving a legacy of contamination that must be cleaned up after their decommission.

But what happens to coal plants after they shut down?

Michigan’s Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) sees retiring coal plants — once viewed as industrial scars on the landscape — as “canvases for the creation of new greenways, parklands, wildlife habitat, and clean energy development,” a press release from ELPC said.

“If you look around Michigan, and you look around many of the other states in the Great Lakes region, there is a large number of coal plants sitting on the shores of the Lakes. And lakefront property is, of course, valuable. If you look at it as a coal plant site — which is how most of us are used to looking at a plant where there’s been a coal plant operating for 40 or 50 or 60 years — it’s sometimes easy to forget that these sites are often right along the lakefront or right along a river, or in some cases, next door to a state or international wildlife refuge,” Howard Learner, president and executive director of ELPC, told EcoWatch.

From 2010 to 2019, 290 coal plants with more than 100 gigawatts (GW) of capacity were closed across the U.S.

“Once these coal plants retire, each of the sites begins a multi-year retirement process that includes decommissioning, remediation, and redevelopment,” the press release said.

Major Michigan utility company Consumers Energy has plans to retire two of its remaining coal plants 15 years ahead of schedule by 2025. Their closure presents a unique opportunity for the repurposing of the industrial brownfields they will leave behind into hubs of renewable energy, community collaboration and environmental solace.

“About 10 years ago, we began to map out where the coal plants are around the Midwest that we thought might be shutting down in the reasonably near future, either because they were very old and using old technology that was being displaced in the market, or the economics were leading to the plant shutting down, or other factors. And we came up with a list of plants from our energy expert side that seemed to be candidates for retirement over the next decade. Then we mapped that out with a natural resources perspective — not an energy perspective — but where are they located, and what added values in terms of outdoor recreational use, beaches for public use and access, wildlife habitat and conservation purposes might be achieved in some of these locations,” Learner told EcoWatch.

With its new Power Plants to Parklands (P2P) initiative, ELPC plans to reinvision the redevelopment portion of the transition from wasteland to sanctuary.

[gyunikum]

tagged by @davidstirlings thank you so much :3

rules: list ten books that have stayed with you in some way, don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard - they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you.

I'm not really an avid book reader so these books are all I can remember:

Operation Salam - Kuno Gross, Michael Rolke, András Zboray Basically a Hungarian desert explorer who was chosen chosen by the nazis to go to North Africa during the Second World War because of his previous experiences in the Sahara, the book tells in GREAT detail his and his team's preparation and execution a daring mission to drive across where no one has driven before in the Great Sand Sea to get two spies into Aswan, and then Allied occupied Cairo. The book is filled with archived reports from MI5, telegrams, photos from private collections, as well as the authors own photos following Almásy László's trail in 2011. Oh, and the English Patient was based off of Almásy László. Also also I got an email from Mr. Zboray when I ordered the book wishing me to enjoy the book lol

Special Forces Brothers in Arms: Eoin & Ambrose McGonigal - Patric McGonigal This is one of those books I never thought I would read before, but the TV series SAS Rogue Heroes made me so so so interested in Eoin McGonigal that I wanted to know more about him. Just... to see glimpses into humans like us, before and during WW2.... puts things into perspective.

Az Ismeretlen Szahara (The Unknown Sahara) - Almásy László Written in the 30s, detailing one of his expeditions into the western part of Sahara. The adoration with which he writes about the desert and its cultures really captivated me. If i could talk with one historical figure, Almásy László would be it. I think every Hungarian should know about him. I could go on for days about him. This is one of his best books.

A Pál Utcai Fiúk (The Paul Street Boys) - Molnár Ferenc Properly traumatised at the ripe age of... idek 13? By having to read this book for school, I couldn't appreciate it until I was an adult.

Rupert Brooke: The completed poems Okay, this is the odd one out, because it's not a proper book per se. But. I love these poems.

Blackwing - Ed Mcdonald I've yet to finish the second book, but the world building, the setting and the atmosphere really captivated me, and though I've read the book years ago, sometimes I still get flashes of images from scenes. There are magically created wasteland, abominations, corruption, hopelessness, asshole gods, and Light being a thread-like material woven in looms to create magic! Fucking love it.

The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater One of the only YA books that I love. It's been ages since I read it, and I may not enjoy it by now, but it will stay with me forever.

Kings of the Wyld - Nicholas Eames Really good fantasy book about a group of retired rockstar-like adventurers who get together for one last ride to save one of the members' daughter stuck in a distant city under invasion.

Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo I just. The pinnacle of found family. Mwah.

And, that's it lol. There are some other books I've read, but I can't remember them to save my life. And I don't want to list off all of Almásy's books lol.

imma tag... uh @katinkulta @jerichoes @jerevision @lintubintu no pressure though!

[arminreindl]

Gaffneylania: Argentinian Horned Turtle

Those familiar with the reptiles of Cenozoic Australia may be familiar with the turtle family known as the Meiolaniidae. A group of stem-turtles that appear deceptively like modern snapping turtles or land tortoises, yet are not especially close to either. To those that know them, Meiolaniids bear some resemblance to ankylosaurs or even ceratopsians, possessing horns that sometimes form frill like structures and having clubbed tails. The two illustrations below are by the always talented Hodari Nundu and were drawn for the articles on New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island by The Extinctions (check them out), featuring Meiolania mackayi and Meiolania platyceps respectively.

While meiolaniids are mostly associated with Australia and the surrounding islands, primarily around the later half of the Neogene and the Quarternary, their lineage starts much earlier and far away. Meiolaniids first appeared in Patagonia some 50 million years ago. Previously one genus was known from there, the frilled Niolamia, until in 2015 Sterli and colleagues described a second Argentinian meiolaniid: Gaffneylania auricularis (Gaffney's Roamer with Ears).

Now on a surface level, Gaffneylania is a wonderfully complete animal. We have parts of the skull, most of the lower jaw, multiple vertebrae of the neck and tail, various shell plates from different specimens and limb bones. In theory great, in practice not so much, as most these elements are sadly very fragmentary and disarticulated. So it takes some creativity to put things together.

Take the horns for example. While we have parts of the skull, we lack the skull roof and most of the upper jaw (safe for a fragment of the maxilla+premaxilla). So we don't have as clear a picture of how the horns and shields of Gaffneylania should look like. We do have a horn, but its broken at the base so we can't tell how it would fit on the skull. Still we can look at it and compare it to others. Now from the front, the horns of Gaffneylania (1st from the left) are broad and flattened, similar to what we see in Niolamia (2nd from the left) yet different in having rounded, not pointed, tips. They also differ clearly from the less flat horns we see in Ninjemys and Meiolania (3rd and 4th respectively). The images below in order are from Sterli et al. 2015, Victoria Arbour, Ghedo and David Morgan-Mar.

In other parts it also generally matches other meiolaniids. The limbs are very robust and short, the lower jaw is short but differs from Meiolania in having two, not three cutting ridges, and further differs in which ridge is the bigger one. The shell tho known mostly from individual fragments does at least show that its outer edge was serrated rather than smooth. The fossil material also includes a series of osteoderms, bone that was embeded into the skin and functioned as armor. These osteoderms came in different sizes and likely covered the forelimbs of Gaffneylania. Below are elements from Gaffneylania compared to Niolamia (reconstruction by Sterli et al. 2011) and to Miolania (Richard Owen 1888).

Anatomically there isn't a whole lot more to break down, as we don't have preserved tail rings that form the tail club in derived neiolaniids (tho that would have been useful in determining relationships). So lets briefly address how it happens that meiolaniids are known from Australia and South America, despite their distance. The short answer is rather simple. Antarctica. Meiolaniiformes were a chiefly Gondwanan group that at one point or another disperesed into Antarctica, at the time not yet a frozen wasteland, and continued to diversify there. From Antarctica, meiolaniids could have traveled to both South America and Australia before the two continents split off entirely. Through this, members of the same family ended up on vastly different continents when climate began to change for the worse, becoming colder and dryer. And that's when the paths diverged. South America didn't move especially much and around the Middle Eocene turtles began to go extinct in Patagonia, unable to deal with the temperatures. Things would have gone similarily in Australia if it wasn't for the fact that the continent was continuously drifting north at the same time, balancing out the climate change with just getting closer to warmer latitudes. But even then, meiolaniids on the mainland suffered the same fate as much of Australia's megafauna while their island relatives might have survived longer, but obviously not until today.

To any paleoartists out there, there has seemingly never been an attempt at reconstructing this animal. Just thought I might mention that. And of course the obligatory Wikipedia page, courtesy of yours truly: Gaffneylania - Wikipedia

[il3x]

that charismatic smile by tub ring is an accord song

SCREAMS. IT EVEN HAS HIS FOLDERS.....

gonna rant, actually, because the depth and aptness of this suggestion has SO greatly exceeded my expectations.

THAT'S HIMB. GOD. details dude. AUGH. the love and care and satisfaction with which the singer sings this first line... yeah that's what it's like in his head! jeepers. "a corporation of yourself" is SUCH a good description for accord too.

This part fits his ambitious plans, and desire to get state leaders and experts and such on board with them and working together. Like, this genuinely is his vision. well, this and idk embezzlement or something but he Does want to better the world.

The repetition/parallelisms ("and soon"/"and now") here are SO important! This is his plan kicking off, and immediately going pear-shaped (in his eyes) because of the disorderly and uncooperative actions of other humans. He's catching on that his ideals will not be realised.

The backing here, too! The way it gets more urgent, more distorted, more staticky and chaotic! Combined with "and soon the room is filled with menial discussion", it hits. like. I should not be relating to Accord but god DAMN. to me that captures the sensory overload of a room full of people talking over one another, the frustration of your voice getting lost in an uncoordinated group, when they're all talking around in circles and getting nowhere. I'm chill about group projects, wdym? Anyways. It's SO easy to picture this as his Shard aggravating pre-existing frustration/OCD/overload when his plans go awry, especially with that backing.

And (accord would saw trap me for starting with an independent conjunction, but the 'net is a lawless wasteland, babey!) the worst aspect of that kind of situation is the feeling of losing control...

Which makes the next lines hit all the harder!!

"Rising above the noise" I think really is how Accord sees himself and the Ambassadors, his motive and methods of villainy, his everything. And, God, this line! That's Accord's power fantasy! This is what he dreams about at night! That loss of control was never real, you were just lying in wait, and you're going to control every aspect of this formerly chaotic, terrifying, choking world.

It will be beautiful.

These last lines are also perfect, because they (along with the new super intense backing) don't shy away from his villainy. Accord has power because Accord kills for his power. His "order" comes at the price of lives. Ruined on a whim! Cody wasn't even at the damn meeting! So, yeah, he plays rough - and I love how this ending not only acknowledges that, in tandem with his "perfect control" fever dream, but cements the two together as the very same thing. To Accord, Mr. Shardbound 2011, guy who calms himself down after seeing shitty architecture by fantasising about the most horrific ways to bring the building down, efficiency and order and control and brutality and destruction are one and the same.

Which is something I had never put together, until Tub Ring knocked it out of the goddamn park.

[quwr0fwrlccywrlfh]

HxH Ch 395: Founding, Pt 1

My thoughts on some of the newest hxh chapters, bc I’m losing my mind and need a place to just spew out every rambly little thought going through my head.

Spoilers ahead ofc

We’re staring at the beginning of the Meteor City flashback, bc tbh I’m not even caught up on the current arc yet, but everything pales in comparison to the momentousness of the PHANTOM TROUPE’S BACKSTORY. These sprawling panels alone already had me so emotional. This is a story decades years in the making: 20+ years ago, there was the *briefest* of scenes in the Yorknew arc of bb Chrollo playing catch with a VHS tape (it got like 1 panel in the manga and less than 10 seconds in the 2011 anime—even less in 1999). It’s one of my absolute favorite scenes in the series, and I even designed a big heckin enamel pin of little chrollo with the tape, but I was resigned to the likelihood that it would remain just that: a cryptic, wisp of a scene that would never be fully fleshed out or explained.

And tbh? I was totally fine with that. One of my favorite things about Chrollo and the troupe was how little we knew about them, how their characters and motives were presented by indirect information and impressions. The air of mystery made them more intriguing.

So when I saw this tape again, I had mixed feelings—I was excited beyond belief to get more spider content—and not only that, but have my pet favorite cryptic hxh scene CONTEXTUALIZED—but I was also a little apprehensive. I was worried I’d be let down by knowing the truth, that the spiders’ backstory would be hoaky. (Specifically, I was worried that their eventual genocide of the Kurta clan would attempt to be justified in some way—because, well, um, no.)

But wow was I wrong.

So that’s what this whole rambly, off-the-rails post is about: how wrong I was to worry that the spiders would LOSE their interest and appeal by getting a backstory. Bc they have only gained it, and once again, togashi is fuckign brilliant.

Also Meteor City is beautiful. Like yeah it’s a junkyard, but the vast expanse conveyed in this opening panel is breathtaking, and ever since first hearing of its existence in hxh Ive been fascinated by the concept of a wasteland city—it’s just so dystopian and unique—and now we finally get to SEE IT.

Was definitely reading through tears when I saw these three—the BABIES. We now know the two other kids Chrollo was playing catch with way back in the Yorknew flashback was Franklin & Shalnark. It surprised me a bit at first, bc I never considered the possibility that practically the WHOLE troupe were childhood friends (I suspected a few of them were, but not the whole group)—but thinking about it more, it makes sense that these three were close right off the bat. Chrollo, Franklin, and Shal. They’re the cerebral & logic-driven spiders. The brainiacs, the nerds—and the weebs (Franklin: I hope it’s anime!). These panels already establish that hunting for tapes is their thing, even at risk of trespassing on another kid-gang’s territory.

Side notes: 1) shal’s little gap tooth smile!!! 2) they’re wary of Machi in particular--as they should be

Here’s their rival kid-gang: Uvo & Machi (bb Machi!!! ;_;) Again, after a little thought, it made sense to me that those two were a team as well—they’re both instinct-driven and reliant on brute force and physical strength (Machi just happens to double as a healer). And what a cute little duo they make too: little Machi providing Uvo with ammo :’) The way Uvo calls it his “kingdom” is interesting as well, but more on that later.

Side note: Chrollo’s soft little “Ah! So soon?”

Shal the smartass is rewarded with PAIN haha. Something that I LOVE about these chapters is how the troupe���s child selves are portrayed so consistently with their adult characters—it may seem obvious, but writing a consistent character is HARD, especially when their story spans 20+ years of real time and undergo massive amounts of life-altering development. Also, it’s cool to see that despite abandoning themselves to become hardened criminals, parts of the spiders’ personalities remain unchanged. For Shal specifically, bc we already knew he was a little psycho, so it makes perfect sense becoming a mass murderer didn’t do much to change who he is at the core: a smartass.

It also provides a neat little contrast to Chrollo, who DID change quite a bit—but we’ll get to that.

SHAL IS STILL ROLLING XD Uvo’s “9 deaths left!” conveying that despite Shal’s snide comeback, he knows very much what he said—and meant it. He’s more than just your average meathead: he’s straightforward rather than simple, and he makes his own definitions.

Chrollo, Franklin, and Shal are clearly at odds with those definitions here—hence the conflict. Where Uvo sees his personal kingdom, the brainiacs see public property. This conflict might seem tense at first, but we soon see that it’s not:

They’re grinning, clearly having some fun with this. It’s implied that this isn’t their first run-in, and it’s a repeated game for them. How else do kids stay occupied in a landfill?

It’s notable that Franklin steps forward to confront Uvo, since it implies leadership (to be fair, he’s also big, unlike Chrollo, and fully functional, unlike Shal). Franklin also delivers their scavenger group’s worldview: the harsh reality that they live in a junkyard full of discarded trash, and everyone has an equal right to it. During the conflict, Shal has only snarked, and Chrollo has only made quiet side comments—more to himself than anyone—but Franklin confronts their “enemy” directly and speaks for the group.

Uvo responds in the most Uvo way possible, and it’s a really touching line, honestly: “Only dumbasses let their surroundings define them! I’m wherever the hell I say I am!” His pride shines just as brightly as a kid as it does when he’s an adult, and it goes on to shape the whole troupe’s philosophy too: the underlying sense of pride they have at not letting their circumstances define them, and refusing to let the world silence them.

Touching philosophy and fun games aside though, they still beat each other up haha.

Enter: our third little gang! It was no surprise that Phinks and Feitan were a team, because they’ve remained close even as adults in the troupe, but what WAS a charming surprise is them bullying Chrollo. I had a pet theory that some of the troupe members used to bully him as kids—bc well, he’s a little nerd—and it was so gratifying to have it confirmed.

Notable that Phinks does all the talking—it’s consistent with the idea that Feitan may have been a newer resident of Meteor City at this point, and was still not confident enough to speak in the local language. It’s also so cute to think of Phinks stumbling upon a scared, shy little new kid and deciding to adopt him :3

Side notes: 1) the deliciously detailed shots of the junkyard meteor city rubble 2) phinks and feitan’s hairrrrrrrrr 3) phinks’s FACE 4) Chrollo being the cutest lil guy once again

The sneaky little thiiiiief ahhh. Well, not a thief yet really, since Meteor City trash IS communal property, but I love how he pulled one over on Phinks. It reaffirms 1) how much of a lovable, gullible dumbass our resident tracksuited himbo was and is 2) how crafty Chrollo was even as a kid. Also love how Chrollo doesn’t say a word the whole time—he seems pretty reserved overall, saying very little, and when he does speak it’s often side comments to himself without any intended listener, more just a way to help him reason through a situation. For all the changes that happen to the poor little guy later, that’s consistent with his adult self haha.

Also going back to phinks’s “we’re not like that meanie Uvo”: it hints at an aversion to physical conflict when he can avoid it. The bike speaks to this as well: he’d rather zoom away from a problem, which is totally fine, especially when so many ‘problems’ in Meteor City are far too big for two kids to take on alone, and escape is a much wiser option. Feitan, however, is cruising for a bruising—just look at that bat.

Side note: another really pretty strip of sheer Meteor City setting detail ahhhh. It’s clear now that a lot of the residents live in hamlets or shacks, which is definitely what I pictured and makes sense.

CHURCH BOY CHROLLO CONFIRMED!! It was so obvious I couldn’t believe it at first, but wow, there it is. A nice twist is the hodgepodge architecture of the building: it’s not just a traditional Catholic cathedral. It fits with how despite the endless jesus parallels and the louder elements of adult Chrollo’s character design (inverted cross, forehead tattoo), his shtick is more than just christian. His character has elements of Buddhism, Judaism, fatalism, etc. He’s a sampler of religion and schools of thought, not necessary an adherent to any particular one, in part because he grew up in a multifaith setting.

Philosophical and religious musings aside, this scene is so quietly touching and sad. Chrollo still has his little tape, but he’s got a basket of flowers as well, implying that he stopped to pick them before heading over to check the tape, and further implying that the flowers are even MORE important to him than the tape he and his friends risked bodily harm to collect. Looking closer we see why: the center lower panel is filled with little crosses. Graves. He laid flowers on gravestones.

It immediately brought Melody’s words about him in Yorknew to mind: “He walks with death every day of his life.”

This scene established that Chrollo is indeed a frequent visitor of the church. It’s his sanctuary: a place for him to go and study. The church itself seems surprisingly nice and well-kept too: the only finished building we’ve seen in Meteor City so far, which implies it’s supported financially in some way, and is a priority in the community. They may not have houses, but they have a nice church. The how’s and why’s of this aren’t specified yet, but it makes me very curious about the structure of the city’s society.

Speaking of society: the priest sheds light on the graves outside: they’re children’s graves. Specifically, children who have been abducted. So the graves are meant to acknowledge the missing rather than the confirmed dead, which is almost worse. It’s also the first little hint of what we’ve all been looking for in this flashback: the probable reason behind the troupe’s anger and despair.

The sheer weight of the information contained in these panels, wow.

Before getting into it though: we can see Chrollo’s flowers by all of the graves, and they’re nice big pretty flowers too. Zinnias, dahlias, maybe roses. He took time out of his very urgent tape mission to gather and leave those flowers. It’s heartbreaking.

Para 1: info we knew already. Meteor City residents are all unpersons, so the system doesn’t care what happens to them.

Para 2: more info we knew—MC struck a deal with the mob in exchange for protection—but then a new gut-wrenching detail that makes sense but makes it so much worse: the vast majority of the victims were kids.

Para 3: very fitting, since we already knew chrollo took one of his strongest known abilities, Sun and Moon, from a MC elder, and interesting that we now know that multiple such elders had similar powers.

Law of Retribution motto: the same as the note the spiders left behind at the Kurta massacre. There’s so much to say about it but I think I’ll save it for later, since this is meant to be a light little jaunt of note-taking lmao

Para 4: the wording confuses me a little—does it mean the troupe were literal babies when this system first started, meaning it had already been in place for a few years by the time they reached the ages they are in this chapter? Or is it more figurative timeline-wise: meaning it was still in development, and that’s why so many kids are still going missing. Togashi is occasionally very hyper-specific when it comes to timing, but most of the time he’s pretty fast and loose, so I’m guessing it’s the latter, the law of retribution is still in development--or it’s proving to not be very effective.

NNNAHHHFHFHDJADHHSKS

the BABIES T_T

It was a shock and also no shock at all that Chrollo and Pakunoda seemed to have a close friendship and aren’t surprised to run into each other at the church. Needless to say I think it’s the highlight of this chapter for me, not least of which because we already know full well how this story ends, and the flashback only makes it hurt that much more.

I’ve also seen this panel of Chrollo circulating around with the caption ‘He used to be so happy’--and yeah, yeah he was. This whole chapter is shaping up to deliver the resounding point that Chrollo used to be a bright, happy, normal (?) kid. I’ve also heard him described as having a mix of Gon’s boundless enthusiasm and Kurapika’s insatiable curiosity and intellect, and I think that really fits.

Side notes: 1) Chrollo’s “Yo!”, I cry ;_; 2) Paku’s HAIRCUT. Stranger Things inspired, perhaps? A nod to how both she and Eleven have psychic, memory-reading powers? Either way, the look is fire.

They’re so cute I am in pain ;_;

Tiny Chrollo’s little meltdowns :’))) Once again showing how EMOTIVE he was as a kid, versus the cool and collected facade he keeps up as head of the spider. As a kid he had no qualms about letting his feelings show, which is extra endearing as a boy, who are often socialized from young ages to bury their emotions (but hey, maybe Meteor City is different).

“You read us like a book, Paku!” - clearly a nod to what Paku later develops as her hatsu: psychometry. Reading memories, and therefore people.

THE LITTLE GLANCE PAKU GIVES HIM. It’s everything to me tbh. I remember when my friend first started sending me leaks of this chapter, these tiny side panels were some of the first I saw. To me it confirms what I’d already suspected: Paku had deeper feelings for Chrollo. Whether she kept up the same childhood crush is up for debate, but either way, she cared about him a lot, and I’m connecting the dots that it’s why she was unable to sacrifice him for the sake of the spider in Yorknew.

Paku’s shock at Chrollo being fluent in at least two foreign languages, paired with Rizol listening on thoughtfully, followed by a cut to what looks like some kind of MC council meeting. Chrollo is a prodigy, no doubt about it, and he’s getting noticed. What makes me pause is how they’re already pinning the hopes of an entire city on a child--it certainly adds to long list of christ figure elements of Chrollo’s character, but it’s like... are things really so desperate... that you’re going to burden a kid with this responsibility? Perhaps. Perhaps they’re looking more to the future, once Chrollo is allowed to grow up a little and rise to the role on his own, but either way, it’s clear the point of this scene is to cement Chrollo as his community’s genius golden boy, much like a certain Kurta.

We get more angles of the fascinating architecture of the church, as well as an interior that seems to be the council room. Chrollo’s penchant for burning candles on his pedestal? It was born here.

The fancy outfits of Rizol and the council member shed more light on Meteor City as well: it shows it has a distinct culture, which makes perfect sense and seems obvious in retrospect, but it’s yet another thing I didn’t really consciously think about when I used to imagine Meteor City. I didn’t picture it this organized. What bothers me though is how the priests and council members get nice, fancy outfits but the kids are running around with rags their feet instead of shoes.

THE MYSTERY OF THE TAPE IS FINALLY SOLVED. I can’t quite describe the noise I made when I saw this for the first time, but it was definitely very loud and very exuberant. As a 90s kid, I was RAISED on the Power Rangers, and that’s clearly what the Clean-Up Rangers are parodying. What a fitting parody for a city fully of scrunkly street urchins too haha: the theme of cleanliness. (For the troupe in particular it has even greater thematic weight, but we can save that for later). But once again: I cannot believe the mysterious VHS tape people have been theorizing about for 20+ years turned out to be episodes of the Power Rangers. It’s better than anything I could have ever come up with.

Chrollo mentions “yesterday,” which means they left and came back at some point, and further cements that they hang out in the church together pretty regularly. It also implies that Chrollo was right in that no one ever guesses where he goes--at least not Phinks or Uvo--and he can keep it secret for at least a day longer.

Paku’s enthusiasm for getting everyone together to watch it is so heartwarming too--it speaks to a sense of community that looks past silly turf wars (depending on who she means by “everyone,” haha).

Lastly, Chrollo’s got a plan. His first of many:

Paku and Chrollo’s interactions here are so quintessential “KID” it destroyed me :’))). First, Paku calling Chrollo ‘Li’l bro,’ - which you’d think might cancel out the romantic crush theory, but my read is it’s more along the lines of kids not fully grasping the nuances of different types of relationships yet--that or she’s in denial, which is also likely xD

Then Chrollo getting absolutely MIFFED about being called younger, when he is actually OLDER than Paku, thank you very much!! *huffy face emoji* It’s exactly what a kid would do, and once again it breaks my heart to see him be this cute and innocent and know what he becomes :’)

Paku’s “You don’t look it!” calling to mind all the other times in hxh when people have commented on Chrollo’s age vs appearance: such as Neon (a literal teenager lmao) being surprised that he was in his late 20s, and the mafia men who found Chrollo’s “body” being shocked that their forces were decimated by a “kid.” Chrollo is and always has been: baby.

They’re so adorable I just wanna dunk them in my coffee.

SPEAKING OF ADORABLE

I think it’s precious that these two babies find it very important that the three female characters in the Clean-Up Rangers get three distinct voices--because yeah, yeah it is important, good job kids (I just wanna pat their little heads ;_;) And not only that--once again we see Paku surmising Chrollo’s thoughts/actions without him needing to say anything, which attests both to her future nen abilities and to just how closely she pays attention to him.

CHROLLO’S ‘I LOVE YOU, PAKU!’ GAHHHHHH. stooooop T____T 

100% became a core memory for this girl, and Chrollo has *zero* clue what the big deal is. It could just be childish innocence, but it could also be that Chrollo’s model for attraction doesn’t allow him to see the significance of telling a girl he loves her (*cough* ace *cough*). Because on the other hand - it shouldn’t  be any more significant than for two kids of the same gender, but since we live in a world still heavily influenced by the gender binary and heteronormativity... *sigh.*

(I can just picture adult paku thinking about this sometimes though... “when we were kids he told me he loved me...” no wonder she couldn’t let him die).

Chrollo insisting on his sincerity is so endlessly precious too--because he DOES mean it, just not in the way that Paku might be hoping for. If there’s any major, overarching takeaway from these chapters it’s that Chrollo loves his friends very, very deeply.

Side note: Chrollo surprised pikachu face.

Enter: two more Chrollo friends! I love that his closest friends all seem to be girls :’) Their introduction comes with mixed emotions though, because we’ve seen Sheila before, in Kurapika’s backtory--and that’s a big shock--but we have not seen Sarasa anywhere, so... where did she go? Could she possibly be one of the unaccounted spiders: the original # 4 or # 8? Or could something else have happened to her?

Moving on past that thoughhhh - it’s neat how they have such vibrant personalities that we get a read on them right away: Sarasa is the spunky go-getter who loves trying new things, and Sheila is quietly curious, happy reading her favorite book over and over (”Your sound arguments won’t change my mind.” - I’m DED) Also love the detail that Sheila’s a bit of a klutz: she trips and falls over mid-book, and there was already a bandage on her leg before that.

Other great details: Their little nerd hideaway is called the “All Faiths Church,” confirming what was already implied with the mixed architecture. Just like Meteor City itself, the church is a bit of a hodgepodge.

“Don’t let Uvo and the guys find out!” - there’s a gender divide here, and it’s interesting how the line is drawn with Machi on the side of the “guys” and Chrollo on the side of the “girls.” (kindling for my own little theory that they’re both trans/non-binary and are most comfortable hanging out with a gender different than what they were assigned at birth).

Chrollo being a little genius once again--verging on the unrealistic, because even if it took Paku a couple hours to find their friends, it’s a tall order for even an expert translator to write up an entire script. But it sure makes a point that this kid is SMART, and on top of it, he doesn’t seem to let the praise get to his head, breezing right past Paku’s shock--which is so so so precious. Modest little guy :3

“Huh? So you’re playing everyone else?” - the significance of this didn’t hit me at first, because I was too busy being distracted by all the CUTE, but this is clearly foreshadowing to Chrollo’s struggle with identity. Right now he’s just being an ambitious little actor (and a bit of a hog - the excuse not to let *anyone* else in seemed a little flimsy to me), but in retrospect it’s easy to make the connection: so good at playing other people that he forgets who HE is.

“No way was he born here.” - I have so many thoughts about Sheila’s comment. Might Chrollo have come from somewhere other than Meteor City initially? Or is she just referring to how gifted and charismatic he seems, how it’s hard to believe a kid like that could’ve come from a junkyard? It almost makes me wonder if she suspected there was something off about him, even while they were all still just sweet, innocent kids. I also think it’s an ironic statement, considering how Chrollo grows up to become the embodiment of Meteor City: taking everything, but having no identity of his own.

Side note: Sarasa and Chrollo dancing around all excited. The cutest.

The cuteness sure gets dampened abruptly, though. Here we are: the last page of 395, and a very ominous hint once again at what might be the cause of the troupe’s rage and despair.

It’s redeemed a bit by the image of Chrollo and friends working on their dub though. Once again, never in a million years did I expect my beloved mystery VHS tape to be... Power Rangers haha. And never in a BILLION years did I expect it would lead to Chrollo forming his own dubbing company.

Final takeaways from this chapter: 1) the founding members of the troupe have ALL known each other since childhood (yeah nobu’s not here quite yet but I’m sure he’s... somewhere), and not only that, a lot of them were close friends 2) many of them seem to have retained a lot of their childhood personalities, with the notable exception of Chrollo and Paku, who are MUCH more full of life as kids than they’re ever shown as adults 3) Baby Chrollo in particular seems very different, in all the best of ways, and it makes me so incredibly sad. He lays flowers on graves, speaks at least two foreign languages and gets excited about the Power Rangers. Whatever happened to that sweet little kid? Or is he still there, somewhere?

Guess we’ll have to read the rest of the flashback.

Until next time!