#active era imminent

[valyrfia]

I’ve been thinking about it, and I now firmly believe that Charles signed a pre-contract with Red Bull in the week before COTA. Initially, he did it with the intent of putting pressure on Ferrari but then over the course of the triple header he slowly started to realise that maybe honouring that pre-contract MIGHT be his best chance at a WDC. This is heavily reflected in the socials and PR of Red Bull, Ferrari, and Charles himself and ties together all the Lestappen interactions of the past couple of months from Max’s answers at press conferences to the infamous padel date. Buckle up, because it’s going to be a ride.

So I believe to pinpoint the start of the current PR wave/movement that we've coined as Lestappen Gate 2023 we have to look all the way back to Monza. Around Monza, there were numerous rumours that a huge Charles contract renewal was imminent and it was going to be announced, etc. etc. Charles did put these rumours to bed by saying if there were a contract like the one that had been rumoured, he would've signed it immediately. Now, I believe that with Charles confirmed to be unsigned (at around the same time that the George/Lewis and Oscar renewals would've been happening), Red Bull Racing approached Charles to reopen talks.

But I think Charles stalls them, isn't open to talks, until Singapore where Carlos Sainz wins. This throws Ferrari into complete disarray as Fred suddenly can't open talks with Charles as it would then be clear that he will not be re-signing Carlos Sainz. I think it then becomes obvious to Charles and his team that in order for the contract talks to begin they need pressure to negate Santander and the Sainz family breathing down Ferrari's throat. So Charles actively enters talks with Red Bull with the intent of putting that pressure on Ferrari. Also worth noting, Singapore also marked Charles as something special, a generational talent who is also willing to be an exception n2 driver when the team requires it of him, especially when his teammate starts on pole. I think this makes Red Bull even more eager to begin talks with Charles. Interestingly, this is where we get the first Red Bull Lestappen post of this current era, the Lecstappen alert.

This brings us through Suzuka to Qatar, Max winning his 3rd WDC, Charles congratulating him and then effuse about Max and Red Bull in interviews. Seeing the level of success that Max has had is what pushes Charles to decide that he is going to sign a pre-contract with Red Bull for a seat in 2025 because either way, he wins. He either manages to put pressure on Ferrari to get a contract with all the clauses he wants (external brand deals, his own branding, car development to suit him, etc.) OR he gets the MOST talked about seat in F1.

Now this is a key point. I believe the padel date was an excuse to get Max and Charles in the same room. Specifically, for them to have a frank and honest chat about whether they could work as teammates and two n1 drivers on the same team. This is probably the first serious heart to heart that these two have had, which then explains their attitude and closeness in the triple header and them being more ready to be vulnerable and honest with and about each other. Then, in the week before COTA, satisfied that he could be teammates with Max if push came to shove, Charles Leclerc signs a pre-contract with RBR for 2025.

(It's also worth noticing that in the week before COTA, the Lando Norris to RBR rumours and talk noticeably died down, despite Oscar winning the sprint in Qatar).

Now this brings us to COTA, where Charles instantly starts to make PR moves to build a brand for himself. His first big move is signing with WME, a talent agency, and something that Ferrari drivers typically aren't allowed to do. The WME signing solidifies in my mind that a pre-contract exists, because if there is one thing Charles wouldn't do, it's jeopardise his chances of racing in F1. If there's a chance that Ferrari would drop him for this, he just wouldn't do it. However, if he has a guaranteed seat in 2025 no matter the outcome, he would totally do it. It must be said, I believe that Charles is using the pre-contract fully as leverage against Ferrari at this point UNTIL the strategy fuck up. After the strategy fuck up, Charles is noticeably angry and outspoken about it, and Fred starts to freak out a little bit. RBR in the mean time, are starting to try and change the Lestappen narrative from rivals to a duo, with Charles starting to feature heavily on RBR socials.

Moving on to Mexico, Charles does well, considering. But what's important about Mexico is that this is the first time that Charles has truly been treated like a villain by the fans at the track. This is key, not only because of RBR's reaction to it (which I will explore), but also because this is Charles's first taste of what a move to RBR could be like, of what it would feel like were he to become the antihero rather than the golden boy of F1. However, the real clincher is that rather than RBR playing into the narrative of Charles the villain, even despite him literally being involved in the DNF of their own driver (Checo) at his home race, they instead make sure to capture all angles of Charles and Max interacting and one of their own pays special attention to Charles on the podium. In a way, this is the weekend that shows Charles that even though Red Bull and Ferrari are completely different, Red Bull can still be as much of a family to him as Ferrari has been if he wants them to be. Moreso, in fact, considering Ferrari didn't even bother showing up to Charles's P3 podium.

So entering the weekend in Brazil, Charles is pictured wearing his own clothing line that it was rumoured Ferrari forced him to discontinue and Fred Vasseur is starting to get shit scared and starting to talk to anyone from media who will listen about how talented Charles is. Charles does put it on the front row, but there's no real Forza Ferrari about it, and Charles has stopped wearing Ferrari merch in the paddock. A Red Bull employee (Max's PT Brad) is the first person to congratulate Charles on the front row.

Then, the DNS happens. A completely avoidable thing that happened due to Ferrari incompetency, and all hell breaks loose. Charles leaves the paddock before he can finish his Ferrari PR duties like a post-race video, and makes it very clear that he is FURIOUS in all his interviews. Now, laughably, at this point is when Ferrari-Charles contract negations began, or at least, that's what was leaked to the media. In my mind, Charles communicated very clearly to Fred at this point that his pre-contract with Red Bull is a very real threat, and Charles himself is beginning to seriously consider honouring it, and if Ferraro don't get together, they WILL lose their Il Predestinato to Red Bull. At this moment, Fred Vasseur is absolutely terrified. The world is very obviously on Charles's side and sympathetic after the DNS, while being at best apathetic and at worst hostile toward the Scuderia. Meanwhile, Red Bull continue with their Lestappen antics across all social media channel, again publicising the idea that Max and Charles are close and may have once been rivals but are buddies now, like in their tiktok of Max doing the "just an inchident" trend.

Now I haven't mentioned the onboards yet, which were spotted by some eagle eyes fans during the Mexico and Brazil GP weekends, in which Charles's onboard was displayed very clearly alongside their actual drivers, Max and Checo. But the existence of the onboards on the Red Bull pitwall make perfect sense if Charles did sign a pre-contract. Red Bull are gathering data to sway Charles further, almsot a "yeah so here's exactly where Ferrari fucked your race, and here's is what we would've done differently."

The break in the triple header, Charles is noticeably refraining from Forza Ferrari-ing. Rather, he calls the paps on himself on more than one occasion and make sure he is seen with several high profile celebs, strengthening his public image and building his own narrative. Meanwhile, Ferrari is in full damage control mode, taking responsibility for the DNS, acknowledging Charles in a way they haven't fully done since Singapore. There are more leaks of contract negotiations, but Charles does not engage with them. Meanwhile, Red Bull are keeping up their Lestappen propaganda. Charles is making it clear to all parties that this pre-contract that he initially intended to just be a bargaining chip has suddenly become a serious threat to Ferrari.

Finally, this brings us to last weekend, Vegas. Charles, again, refuses to Forza Ferrari. Ferrari PR have put Charles and Red Bull content on absolute LOCKDOWN with not a HINT of Lestappen anywhere, and Max is making comments about the choice of team being important in winning even for generational talents while Charles fidgets and looks away. Fred praises Charles to hell and back again, implying that Charles will obviously be prioritised over Carlos by diminishing Singapore, but in the post-race, Charles still gives nothing. Just a thinly veiled comment about how good it feels to be fighting at the front again. Meanwhile, Red Bull amp up the Charles content even more, even fully posting a picture just of Charles's car. There are also not one, but two questions about Max and Charles's karting past. In discussion with my academic colleagues (@tsarinablogs, @thearchercore, @gaslightgirlsummer (further thanks for all three of them, for entertaining a much rougher draft of this essay a few days ago)), we've talked about the possibility that these questions might have themselves been planted in the media rooms, in order to further cement the idea and control the narrative of Charles and Max, childhood rivals turned dynamic duo. The sort of narrative one might find intriguing around teammates.

So this concludes my essay. I am almost sure that Charles has a pre-contract with Red Bull, which is why he is suddenly so outspoken about the problems and failings of Ferrari. Although this pre-contract originally began as a bargaining chip, I believe that Charles is seriously considering honouring it. Ferrari are desperate, and Red Bull have the upper hand and are starting to pave the way for a media shift in how Charles and Max as a pairing are perceived.

[raenegade-accio]

Beware the following mindless deranged rambling that randomly hit me at 3am, but I can't be the only one who felt this way when playing for the first time...

Not having Officer Singer conspiring with Rookwood was a big fat missed opportunity

And whether it was intentional or not, it was all perfectly laid out for a plot like this since the start!

From her first theatrically heroic appearance in Hogsmeade:

As a Magical Law Enforcement Officer, I assume Singer is equipped with the basic knowledge of evacuation procedures e.g. steeling all persons away from the ongoing threat and ensuring they exit the area safely.

But what did she do instead?

Luring the massive troll into rampaging further into Hogsmeade, leaving a pair of 15-year-olds completely out in the open, vulnerable to new imminent dangers. And sure enough, as soon as MC and Natty/Sebastian were alone, another troll bursted in, mere seconds after Singer left the scene.

What's not to say she was only there to clear of any potential civilian witnesses, using the first troll to scare them away under the guise of doing her job, while the second troll quickly comes crashing in, with MC being served up in a silver platter.

Later we saw Singer comes running back and is understandably surprised to see MC unscathed. We get this strange piece of dialogue:

She didn't bother assessing, or at least securing the crime scene when it's literally the first step to ensure an initial investigation can later be conducted properly. Instead she does the complete opposite by having someone else to practically wipe it clean of anything worth further investigating; there definitely would’ve been debris or bits of damaged armour with lingering traces of dark magic, now all gone. Then she just vanished, leaving a couple of teenagers alone in an deserted area, again.

Later we meet Rookwood for the first time.

From here we learned that Rookwood watched the whole incident unfold, implying he planned to abduct MC at the first chance he got, one which Officer Singer very conveniently provided. The only thing stopping him was seeing the new kid had absolutely Thanos-ed a troll using an unfamiliar form of magic.

And he wasn't exactly discreet either. Rookwood, an infamous criminal gang leaders was allowed to so nonchalantly wander around Hogsmeade in the broad daylight and it was clear he could to barge into public establishments whenever he wanted while openly threatening a pair of minors. A Dark Wizard who was now actively stalking a literal child got to walk away scot-free. Pretty lenient...

At this point it wouldn't be too outrageous to say Singer is systematically participating in organised wizarding crime. Here's an interesting piece of dialogue from Rookwood:

"Favours." now we have proof that Rookwood somewhat has a little power in the Ministry. There could've been a transactional relationship between Rookwood and Singer too.

British policing wasn't exactly well liked; venal and corrupt as it was, elite officers colluding with criminals weren't new.

Assuming it applied to the Wizarding World too.

At the era HL takes place (the 1800s), bribery and cover-ups were daily occurrences, which could garner favours that often came from the very criminals from whom corrupt officers have collected in exchange for "turning a blind eye".

This one's a bit of a stretch to be honest, but it may have explained how Rookwood evidently was able to be as active as he was for "months." And it certainly would make more sense in how Singer maintained keep her position a lawwoman that's reputable and admired by the locals as long as she did despite her blatant inactions, considering the possibilities he helped pulled some strings.

It'd be too easy to claim Officer Singer was never fired simply by theorising the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were as unfit, unintelligent and incapable as the forces from the Victorian Metropolitan Police.

But it's later found out the locals felt very differently:

People trusted her, relied on her. They felt safe whenever she's near and all have nothing but praises for her.

Imagine the potential - the level of public outrage and betrayal - among the common folk, that the person who was supposed to defend them has been aiding the Ashwinders extorting, threatening and bullying them this whole time, possibly allowing said group access to all the needed private information to terrorise them even further (e.g. their names, private residences, workplaces and occupations, and all that of their loved ones, too)

This can easily be backed up by Natty’s questline: A Basis for Blackmail

We meet a few of the victims - targeted by Theophilus Harlow, another notorious Ashwinder leader and Rookwood’s right hand man - most notably Mr Isko Rabe and his wife.

Harlow knew their names, where Mrs Rabe worked (Gringotts), what she and her husband do for a living (bank security and curse breaker) and where they lived (to plant the threatening note and destroy their garden). Both careers are as high profile as they are dangerous, so it’s not surprising Mrs Rabe was approached about extorting the bank itself. What is disquieting was that their private homes were infiltrated a little too easily, especially concerning her husband is a talented curse-breaker.

Interestingly, Mrs Rabe and officer Singer were likely colleagues (as per the cutscene of the first Hogsmeade troll attack, you can see Mrs Rabe following closely behind Singer). Someone with Singer’s position would have all the necessary connections and know-how to learn all she needs to someone of lower rank, especially when divulging them to a powerful gang leader she may had been conspiring with…

—

I got so excited because I was convinced there would be a twist of some sort, where we may get to pull a Houdini or a Scooby-Doo then unmask Singer as another sleazy dark witch that's been undercover and lying to the locals for years, secretly exploiting with Rookwood and manipulating the same people she's meant to protect.

I was so mentally prepared for the scandal, already so gleefully imagining the reactions of the villagers, the teachers or students from the sheer betrayal after speaking so highly of her and putting so much trust in that woman.

Imagine my disappointment when I find that she really was just hilariously incompetent 😂

Shit, even MC themselves pointed this out ( after local businesses were being extorted and a student was just kidnapped by a group of adults:

I can always incorporate this post in the fic, that'd be fun.

[stari-hun]

The Foundation vs Manus Vindictae

This idea was inspired by @ihaveforgortoomany ‘s post here!

It’s so fun that the story makes sure we know and see that the difference between The Foundation and Manus is the head start the Foundation has on being an established organization, and whether they pretend to be good. This is also like you said, a big part of why the Foundation wants to restore time. They had a massive advantage in being a long time establish organization. In Regulus’ time, it was implied from her reaction the Foundation had full authority to approach Arcanists and register them, or at least strongly convince them to join. Manus tries to have a persona of salvation over pure goodness but this is maintained moreso because they can’t actively gaslight people.

If you look into The Three Doors and see how people were affected by the incomplete version of the Artificial Somnambulism. They were going insane because it was never a good machine with good intent. It was made to use frequencies to manipulate the mind of an arcanist. While Laplace employees use the machine in order soothe injured arcanists or panicking ones, that doesn’t mean they’re not brainwashing members. They bend reality for these people to comfort them but that comfort is built on dependence and complete trust of the Foundation. Which is why on of my theories is that the AS is a reason Arcanists have mental breaks so frequently in the Foundation, the Manus has breakdowns within their ranks however that’s from exposure to the Manus Masks carrying The Storm chemical within them. Name Day in Getian’s character story event even has a mention that the AS is very dangerous for the way it gets into someone’s head, and Getian breaks into it because he had experienced something similar. He’s then able to have them see what he wishes. Taking what Jessica saw in [The Old One Flew Over the House], the AS is also used as a training tool for arcanists and a way to get true test answers out of them. Why would she need to take her exam in the AS when she could simply answer Foundation staff 1-1?? There’s no point of it besides getting into Arcanist’s subconscious. The reason this doesn’t work on Vertin anymore is because she holds zero trust for The Foundation anymore.

I think Arcanists in general tend to take a lot more mental stress from contradictions in their heads, for instance people create false memories if they have a gap in their memory because the brain doesn’t like having gaps there. We’d rather lie to ourselves or create a false reality than deal with pure unknown, but with The Storm no one knows what anything will be next.

After the events of Book 3, Vertin no longer places her trust in the Foundation because she knows what Constantine did. Madam Z wasn’t able to find out in time to save them, so Vertin watched her classmates disappear in front of her because Constantine wanted to unlock the potential in her. She then went on her own journey to record the eras directly, without being able to save anyone. Vertin won’t ever leave The Foundation because their goals align, but she might one day near the end of the story work with Madam Z to overturn the current system. Sonetto on the other hand has an imminent fate of her loyalty breaking towards the Foundation. She already suspects them of being morally corrupt at least to her standards, and she’s torn between choosing them and Vertin. From how we see her trust Vertin in [A Nightmare at Greenlake] + how she doesn’t make any comment on following the rules when Horropedia is blatantly breaking them, I think her loyalty switches to Vertin at some point.

Also a big theme is that Manus and Foundation both very much consider people expendable. The Manus treats weaker arcanists and humans blatantly as canon fodder, but Constantine sacrificed a group of children because they were defectors (Horropedia makes a note about how their actions had the entire school talking to the point they ran out of space to discipline them) and it might push Vertin to want to go out into The Storm to find a cure in the Name of Peace.

[piduai]

AITA for kind of hoping that my enemy manages to beat the shit of my useless subordinate, leading to his imminent death?

I know it sounds kind of bad but hear me out. While I was involved in a kidnapping and escaping from my enemies (I kidnapped a 13 years old girl), one of them has jumped on the vehicle I was on and engaged in close combat with one of my subordinates. He is allegedly protecting me.

The problem is, I really don't like him. First of all, he's 10-15 years way too old to be effectively manipulated and meaningfully brought to my side, which is a great turn-off. Second of all, he is literally a spy for the central government, and he's been sent to observe my actions and report back, with the final intent being getting rid of me. Third, he keeps stealing my hair wax. He has a habit of pocketing things that aren't his own and I know damn well that I didn't use two entire bottles in one week. It's the good stuff. I dedicate a good portion of my pay to that. He had no right. Also, he's a smoker, and I find the smell and the act revolting.

It is time sensitive as I type this with one hand on my Meiji era smartphone while in active combat and I have important plans afterwards (mental torture of a minor) so I need a clean conscience.

[missameliep]

Title: Once Upon a Summer - Part 1

Book: Desire & Decorum AU

Pairing: Prince Hamid x Elizabeth Foredale (OC)

Rating: Teen

Word count: ~2k

Summary: Once upon a summertime, eleven-year-old Elizabeth befriended a boy at a beach. Returning to England in a rush, she didn't even say goodbye to her friend Hamid, and had little hope to ever see him again. What would happen if fate brought them together four years later? This is how their story goes...

A/N: No warnings. Just fluff and teenage shenanigans. To make the story make sense, it's settled in the early 2000's, before social media, the era flip phones were it, the epitome of modernity and style! There will be alterning POV from Hamid to Elizabeth, and so on. Enjoy part 1 of this very silly and self-indulgent fic!

September, 2005. 

Every new year was the same, for an entire week the school was vibrant and full of life. The whole days dedicated to recitals, art expositions and workshops, plays and drama reading, and so much more to welcome old and new students to the building that would basically be their second home from September to July.  

This afternoon, the school’s sport court was brimming with new students and seniors of all ages, sporting their impeccable uniforms and polished black shoes. The last rays of summer shining on hair and skins and in the happy memories of vacations that are the main topics of conversations these past days. In the imminence of the beginning of the exhibition match, the basketball court was all noisy chatter and excitement, with lines of players in jerseys, echoes of the bouncing balls on the polished wooden floor, squeaking sneakers and swishing of balls down the rims.  

Like in the savannah, it was easy to spot the new arrivals, with their awed and terrified looks, like lion cubs, and those who were comfortable in their natural environment. More than any other student, the players were naturals. The kings of this court, one could say, and the ones who attracted most of the attention, especially the ones starting their senior year.  

Sporting his jersey with unmatching pride and the widest grin, Year 11-student Hamid, one of the most enthusiastic amongst his teammates for being chosen to play for the main team. Surrounded by a group of female students willing to hear about his latest travels and maybe even catch the attention of one of the team stars, he couldn’t be more thrilled. Or so he thought... 

This was the best time of the year: no classes nor tests, no mandatory readings nor assignments, and a lot of time to do what he loves the most: socialize! Hamid loved this week with his whole heart and wished it could last longer. However, if everything must come to an end, the best way is to end on a high note, isn’t it? And in Hamid’s humble opinion, the last day is always the best. Not only it was entirely dedicated to sports, which was one of his passions and gave him the chance to demonstrate his aptitude in a variety of activities, but afterwards there will be a ball with music, dance, and girls eager for the attention of the athletes.  

Amusing some of his teammates and a group of girls, Hamid was in the middle of telling a story, when someone knocked over a heavy object near the entrance. Hamid’s eyes flicked to where the noise came from and to the influx of another group of students coming inside to fill the stands, amongst them a very beautiful girl he’s never seen in school and instantly caught his eye.  

Turquoise backpack hanging on one shoulder, she moved slowly, long curly hair bouncing around her face. A chocolate brown hair peppered with gold that seemed like the sun itself had kissed it, or maybe had just been following her for the dramatic purpose of stealing teenage boy’s breaths away. Whatever it was, her beauty was so enthralling he couldn’t look away, appreciating the long hair that reached the middle of her back, shapely lips shining with lip gloss and bright eyes. If this was one of the rom-coms his sisters love, the sound of chatter and basketballs dribbling would’ve been muted, and a bubbly pop song would play in the background while the girl glided in slow motion; when the camera focused on him to do a closeup, he’d be looking dazzled, mouth slightly parted while trying to catch his breath – which he was, having completely lost the train of thought mid-word. Nevertheless, no camera could ever capture the way his heart skipped a beat at the sight of her. 

“So, what happened then?” Theresa Sutton’s question ringed after what seemed like a dramatic pause in the narrative but turned into a play’s intermission. “Did his father notice you two were gone?”  

Stunned, Hamid blinked a few times and telling the rest of the story seemed less relevant now that he had a new goal. Offering a wide grin, he clapped his hands, “Well, this will have to wait. Now I have someplace else to go. And a record to beat!” 

“That’s cruel, Hamid,” Donna Bowman protested with a pout, but it didn’t deter him.  

Bending, he picked up the ball at his feet, never tearing his gaze from the beautiful girl, and sprinted towards Yusuf Konevi, his dearest and oldest friend at England, who was doing warm-ups with some of their teammates. She was glancing everywhere from the benches at the side of the court to the stands, possibly searching for someone, and not once looked his way. Thank goodness, he was confident enough to not let this hurt his pride, and persistent enough to change that game. 

Throwing an arm over Yusuf’s shoulder, he threw himself at him in a playful way.  

“Hey!” 

“Glad to see our star is finally joining us!” 

“We’re all stars here,” Hamid said, flashing a grin, “we shine brighter together.” 

The other laughed. “Smooth. I bet they’ll make you team captain soon.”  

Looking over his shoulder Hamid located his target, standing alone by the stands, and asked in a conspiratorial tone, “Who’s that girl? I haven’t seen her before...”  

“Which one?” the other asked before discreetly peeking at the direction he tilted his head.  

“The one who looks like an angel recently fallen from heaven…” 

Yusuf gasped with laughter. How very Hamid of him to be throwing around corny lines about girls right before a game, instead of warming up. Glancing at his friend before taking another look, he surveyed the faces and there was only one amongst them Hamid possibly didn’t know and fit his type, which he assumes is beautiful long-haired girl in any height, weight, body type, or ethnicity. 

“Do you mean Elizabeth Foredale? The one with the turquoise backpack? She was transferred.” 

Hamid smiled and repeated her name slowly, savouring every letter like honey in his tongue. 

“Foredale…” he repeated her last name once more and hummed. “Why does this name sound familiar?” 

“She’s the daughter of the Earl of Edgewater. You certainly heard about them.” 

He definitely did. The House of Edgewater is one of the oldest and most traditional amongst the British nobility, close in relationship with the Royal Family, and everything in this county is somehow related to them. And he is almost certain the Earl was one of the stuffy British men with whom his father had meetings to negotiate some sort of treaty when he was ambassador at England. 

“Is she single?” 

Yusuf clapped his shoulder and grinned, “I have a feeling you’ll soon find out.” 

Thinking about the best way to catch her attention, Hamid bounced the ball once, then twice, and smiled. Dribbling, he darted to the middle of the court, standing right at Elizabeth’s line of sight. Making flourished moves with the ball before dribbling towards the three-point line, he stepped back, flexed his knees, and shot. Without touching the backboard or the rim, the ball swished smoothly, and his face split into an ear-to-ear grin at the cheers. When he looked at the stands, the girl had her eyes fixed on her mobile oblivious to his demonstration. But this wasn’t nearly enough to discourage him.   

Someone clapped him on the back, congratulating him, and from his place by the benches, the coach waved him and the others to assemble. 

When the game begins, I’ll get her attention for sure, he hypes himself on his way to join his fellow teammates.  

And this is his best match so far, scoring and assisting in almost all the key plays. The coach is pleased to see him this motivated, and he is pleased that Elizabeth’s eyes followed him. Not the plays. Not the ball. Him.  

During halftime, he takes off his jersey, exhibiting his lean muscles and warm tanned brown skin from days sunbathing at beaches at the Türk Rivierası, and swigs a bottle of water. One of his classmates throws him a towel, and he thanks him. 

At the stands beside the team’s bench, giggles and whispers erupt, but when his gaze searches for Elizabeth, like it did so many times this afternoon, the girl is sitting by herself reading a book. A large one. He can’t read the name in the cover, but how much more interesting than the game and players can it be? He was very close to take that snub personally.   

At the other team’s bench, Yusuf throws him an amused look and teases him. Hamid shrugs and doesn’t let it affect his good spirits.   

When the match is over, her eyes are not on the book, but on him. Pleased by the attention, he rakes his sweaty hair back and flashes his best smile in her direction. Like others at the stands, she’s clapping. In an instant, he’s surrounded by teammates and classmates congratulating the team, cheering and chanting they’ll beat their rival this year for sure.

While he’s approached by Donna Bowman and her friends, he gets a glimpse of Elizabeth walking down the stairs and going straight to the exit. By the doors, she halts, sparing a lingering last glance at the court over her shoulder, one he desperately wishes to be directed to him. 

The best he could do was play it cool, wait until later, and maybe meet her at the dance. Or even cooler, waiting until classes start next week. But that look has him sprinting out of the basketball court with a silly excuse to not immediately hit the showers.

His sneakers squeak while he runs down the hallways, deflecting students and congratulations.  

Down a long corridor, he gets a glimpse of her outside. When he catches up, she’s sitting at a bench, book opened on her lap.  

Breathless, he halts a few feet away from her, fixes his sweaty dishevelled hair with a hand, takes a deep breath and a glance at the book from over her shoulder.  

The panting catches her attention, and she glances at him over her shoulder, meeting his gaze. There’s no hint of surprise in her eyes as if she expected him to come. 

“Interesting reading?” 

She bites her lower lip, and nods.  

“Very much.” 

Placing a cat-shaped bookmark between the pages, she smiles and closes the book. 

Hamid takes both as good signs, and peeks at the cover. “Lord of the Rings. Is it any good?” 

“You already asked me that,” she giggled. 

“Cut me some slack, with all the running, my brain is lacking oxygen…” he laughs, and she tries to stifle a chuckle but her laughter escapes in huffs through her nose. Hamid’s heartbeats quicken at the sight of her smile and the visible blush on her cheeks, the bronzed skin has a lovely pinkish hue, and, in this light, he notices her green eyes have gold flecks. 

Pointing at the empty space beside her, she suggests, “Why don’t you sit down before the team loses his star player, Hamid?” 

His smile turned into an ear-to-ear grin when he flopped beside her.  

“So, you were paying attention! I knew the book couldn’t be more interesting than the match!”  

“Hardly. It was a mere exhibition. And I prefer football, anyway. But you played well…”  

“Well?” He faked being wounded by her words. “I was on fire today!” 

“Oh! That would explain all the shouting from your fans... are you well?” 

Snorting with laughter, he gnaws at his lower lip, amused by the quip. 

“Unwounded. Except for my ego,” he replied, and grinned. “I’m on the football team too, and we’ll have a match in two weeks. You should come and watch me play.” 

Chuckling, she shook her head slowly, and looked away at students crossing the gardens towards nearby buildings. She was smiling to herself, and her fingers fidgeted with the bookmark. That shyness pleases him in an unexpected way.  

Trying to meet her gaze, he extended his hand for a shake, “Where are my manners? Welcome to Moorfield School. I’m Hamid Osmanoğlu. Year 11. Basketball and football team. Last year’s class president. Delighted to meet you –” His hand lingered in the space between them, waiting for her to take it and say her name.  

Instead of the expected handshake, her eyes darted to his face, and she gaped. There was too much confusion in her expression that he joked, “Haven’t you done this before? Because that’s when you say your name... Saying something about yourself is optional, but always appreciated.” 

“You don’t remember me,” she stated a little bit offended, and it surprised him. 

“Have we met before? Because I certainly wouldn’t forget a gorgeous face like yours...” 

Shoving the book inside the backpack, she got up. “I’ll let you figure that out then.”

“Will I see you again?”

“We go to the same school...” she replied without turning around. 

While she walked away, Hamid observed. He was even more intrigued by Elizabeth now.  

[agnesmontague]

buried in the dreck and despair somewhere is a fascinating discussion about how the advent of so-called "ai art" mimicking human styles, particularly digital art rendered to a high degree of fidelity, might shift the (human) art movement into an era where such fidelity is eschewed for more inimitable or expression-forward styles, not unlike how impressionism rose to prominence after photography became widespread, or whether this kind of "movement shift" is even a relevant concept in an internet age where so many types of art exist all at once and digital art still hasn't really broken into any established fine arts sphere where such movements could still be said to matter

but the imminent reality of: ai image generation being actively embraced by clients in ways that are not just financially threatening but, frankly, malicious and dehumanizing to existing artists ; the more obvious horror of misinformation being enabled en masse ; and any environmental concerns that may come with running servers of this calibre have all jumbled into this shitshow that feels* barely worth the effort of untangling just bc it's so pressing and taxing

[purplespacekitty]

Magnifying Glass: "Explorers"

Episode: "Explorers"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 3, Episode 22

Original Air Date: May 8, 1995

Teleplay Writer: René Echevarria

Screenwriter: Hilary J. Bader

Director: Cliff Bole

“Explorers” provides a window into which we, the audience, peer and see dimensions of Sisko’s character and his relationship with Jake that he is not often allowed to nurture. He’s the captain of a space station; he’s busy at all times of the day with the demands of his crew, of the governments of Bajor and Cardassia and with the imminent threat of invasion from the elusive yet brutal Dominion. In this episode, Sisko gets the time to spend doing something he is purely passionate about, exercising his creativity and the side of him that’s a big history nerd (”Why [build an ancient Bajoran lightship by hand]? Because it’ll be fun!”). We also get to see him spend some quality time with his son, Jake.

For a project of mine exploring Afrofuturism and Black masculinity, I chose this episode as one of three to study and analyze under Sisko’s importance as a character not just within the Star Trek franchise but in the broader world of television.

Benjamin Sisko’s role as a Black father is particularly pertinent to the plot of “Explorers”. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine first aired in 1993, not far removed from the hell that was the Reagan Administration. Reagan contributed grossly during his presidency to the denigration and humiliation of popular notions of the Black family and the framing of Black Americans as criminals. Mainstream films and television during and before the era, if they include Black characters at all, portray Black men as aggressive, violent and insolent, an image very much in line with Reagan’s manipulative message. Avery Brooks’ casting in Deep Space Nine as it’s Starfleet commander was an historic first for the Star Trek franchise and a step against the popular stereotypes of “welfare queens” and “absent Black fathers.” Ben Sisko - whose most defining characteristic aside from being the commander and later, captain of a space station is being a father to his son Jake - completely demolishes the “absent Black father” stereotype and all the others, firstly, by just existing. Sisko is very present in Jake’s life. Even with his duties keeping him at the station’s beck and call, he makes the time he spends with his son an unconditional priority and is quick to assure Jake of that fact. The two of them share common interests in cooking and baseball, threads that bind them to each other and to Jake’s grandfather, Joseph, who owns and runs the family restaurant back on Earth. Sisko is diligent in his care of Jake as he is for all that he loves. He is an actively loving, caring, protective and supportive father every step of the way. Sisko’s strong sense of justice means that Jake can’t really get away with his and Nog’s various shenanigans, but he is lenient and fair and always there to comfort Jake when anything goes wrong. There are multiple moments throughout the series in which they both learn from each other (this episode being one of them): a quality of their relationship that Sisko warmly welcomes. It is Jake’s care for and faith in his Ferengi friend that helps Nog earn Sisko’s respect. Their closeness allows them to have difficult conversations, to resolve arguments in a place of understanding and compassion, to be vulnerable with one another unconditionally. While initially disappointed when Jake tells him he’d rather be a writer than follow in his father’s footsteps by enrolling in Starfleet Academy, Sisko is ultimately supportive of his son’s interests because all he wants is for Jake to be safe and happy. Which is where this episode picks up from the last time the two of them discussed Jake’s future.

At this point in the series, Jake is ready to apply to college and has been hard at work writing pieces to submit to schools he’s interested in. Yet, even with his father’s enthusiastic blessing to pursue what brings him joy, Jake is hesitant to share his acceptance to Pennington back on Earth. Not because he thinks his father will be angry with him about going behind his back but because he doesn’t want his dad to be alone. By no means would they be losing each other to this new stage of Jake’s life. However, it would be the longest time they’ve spent truly apart from each other and they wouldn’t even be in the same region of space. They certainly won’t be able to go off on impromptu trips in ancient space ships on a whim or watch historical baseball games in the holosuites together as often as they do on DS9. And above all, what this episode most emphasizes is their father-son relationship, this relationship in which they are each other’s security in a turbulent, violent world that placed them at the threshold of a wormhole in the middle of a war-torn sector of the galaxy directly after losing Jake’s mother and Ben’s wife, Jennifer. Whether or not either of them are ready for it, Jake going off to Pennington means that that security in each other will change. Hence Jake’s ultimate decision to defer admission for a year to spend more time with his father and gather more experiences to write about.

This episode showcases our hero doing exactly what Starfleet is all about: exploring the cultures of other worlds and engaging with their ways of knowledge. At the same time, he is beginning an exploration of what life will be like with Jake off at school (and what life will be like with a beard) and he is also getting an insight into his son’s inner world. Both are journeys the two of them embark on together, even if one must be undertaken across many lightyears of space.

Sisko stands out as an intentionally Black character against the backdrop of the undeniably important if, comparatively, rather flat representation in Lt. Nyota Uhura and Lt. Geordi LaForge. Deep Space Nine’s writers and Avery Brooks made a conscious effort to ensure that Benjamin Sisko’s Blackness was not simply seasoning sprinkled sparsely on top of his character, but instead the essential binding factor that brought all the elements of the Captain’s personality together. Not only do we know he has his family’s Creole restaurant to thank for his cooking skills, but we get to see him be at home and with family more than once in this series. And aside from what is clearly directly tied to his Blackness, he has other interests and hobbies, like baseball, building, art and studying ancient technologies. He uses his experience as a Black man and father and his deep knowledge of Black Earth history to inform his actions multiple times throughout the series (i.e. “Far Beyond the Stars”, “Past Tense“, “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang”, “The Abandoned”, “By Inferno’s Light”, “Waltz” and “The Maquis”, to name a few). In this episode, we even see him wearing a top inspired by West African dashiki patterns.

Commissioned on Deep Space Nine, his identity as a Black man, even in the supposedly utopian Federation, positions him as someone able to sympathize with the Bajorans in a way that none of his contemporaries Kirk, Picard, Archer, Pike, Lorca or Janeway ever could: both his people and theirs have histories of violent systemic oppression and persecution, as well as continuously developing histories of liberation. He understands their need to reclaim their land, knowledge and ways of life because that is what his ancestors began and saw through. And it is what he, Jake, Joseph and Kasidy, their descendants, carry on and embody in the 24th century. He builds the Bajoran lightship in order to prove that the ancient Bajorans were capable of such technological prowess as to get all the way to Cardassia without a warp drive despite dubiety from both his coworkers and the Cardassians themselves. So not only does he connect with the Bajorans’ struggles in a way that a white human captain cannot, but he actively participates in bolstering the repatriation of their culture and history. Little wonder why the Prophets chose him as their Emissary.

[dballzposting]

I do believe that Pan needs to be the next Mr Satan.

It goes like this: Pan sort of floats around for a while and doesn’t know where to put down her roots.

She feels bad about it, and wasn’t expecting this of herself - she was an opinionated and willful child, and she can’t believe that she’s lost now that she has the volition to go far. 

Her parents are settled and set. Her uncle and Trunks seem settled - Goten had told her, as to soothe her, that “hey, I was a floater for a while too. I knew I wanted a family but I didn’t know what I’d do for work - and then Trunks approached me with the sword-fighting dojo idea, and now I’m here. He was a wandering soul himself, even. It took him a while to find the sword thing. So don’t sweat it. You’ll figure it out.”

But Pan is not mollified by this at all because it does not help her now. She’s lost NOW - and doesn’t know how to get to the supposed future where she isn’t. 

Gohan, who has seen horrors unimaginable, cannot understand her attitude. There is peace. She can do anything she wants.

“But WHAT do I do?”

“Anything.”

“But WHAT?”

“Anything! There’s potential for anything! Don’t you see how that’s wonderful?”

But Pan almost wishes for another apocalypse so that her life journey would be clear.

Videl has always wanted to give Pan many options for conducting her life, and she’s affronted like Gohan when that is now somehow to Pan’s detriment. 

She encourages Pan to try teaching at her martial arts school, and Gohan encourages her to be a tutor at his university - and neither feel right to Pan.

Meanwhile, Bura’s path has always been clear. She’s thrived in the environment of Capsule Corp. She has enough training by her father to hold her own against any Earth-borne foes, and she’s free to be a fashionable and intelligent powerhouse, even more intense than her mother. A career somewhere in the structure of Capsule Corp was imminent, and when Trunks finally abdicated the President’s chair, Bura knew precisely where she was to go. She became the second youngest Capsule Corp president at 21, and she’s on course to being the CEO after her mother.

Meanwhile, Marron has never had issues with feeling lost. Maybe it’s because she was always in an environment of ease at home, where lounging about at Kame House was a preferable and regular activity. She moves on to do something sweet and docile with her time, like becoming a dance teacher, or doing something with flowers, and she lives calmly and peacefully away from the spotlight and off of the radar.

Oh, but Son Pan just cannot find her roots! She snubs the footsteps of her parents, which feel right for THEM, but their place is not her place. She abhors the drama and show of her Grandfather Satan, which is dire to him, and something that he thrives in, but is only FRIVOLOUS to her. She needs something REAL. Her other grandfather, good lord -  she could never compare if she wants to have hobbies other than fighting. Besides, fighting is only fulfilling when there is someone bad to fight - and how often will that come up? Is she meant to spend her life training and waiting?

Lastly, her grandmother is a commendable woman, but after her children grew and flew away, she had nothing much to do. Pan sees her own youthful lack of direction mirrored in her grandmother’s late age, and she is not keen on living a life where she is doomed to repeat that era again. Even if she is already pretty good at keeping a house structured and clean.

So ... what does she do?

With Goten away at the dojo, Pan is eventually encouraged to step in on the Son family farm. Her father especially encourages it, as he thinks that it will benefit her to get in touch with the reality of wild nature. Furthermore, if she is trying to find roots, then Mt. Paozu is the place to find generations of them.

So for a while, Pan lives like her father, uncle, grandfather, and grandmother have; with the elements, organic and true. In this time, she helps to take care of her grandmother, works alongside her, and spends a lot of time with her. Chichi teaches her recipes, she tells her true tales of the epic adventures of years past, she teaches her how to haggle at the marketplace; she teaches her the value of a dollar, and Pan learns how much it pales compared to a drop of rain. 

Pan vacillates in her opinion of the farm. She finds it useless, she finds it endless, she finds it secretly wise, she finds it mysterious, worthwhile, important, temporary, stifling, healing, not for her, the greatest gift, or just boring.

Her grandpa Goku, always warm yet ever absent, stands as a paragon of answers to her still. He’s a wise man to her, and she wonders more and more if she shouldn’t train with him for a maintained period of time. Then she hears his stories from Chichi, and she realizes that Goku had many wise old teachers in his day: from Korin to King Kai, he was always enabled by another. Goku himself is not a contained pinnacle of greatness, but the product of many teachers and warriors coming together and contributing their wisdom.

Pan is not prone to placing any one person on a pedestal anyway - and this is a Son family virtue in of itself - but the realization that the journey made the man and not the man the journey sinks in like new to her. Without realizing it, and without intending to follow any particular footsteps, Pan does set out on a journey like the one that Goku has in the original dragon ball. She packs a bag, and with no real agenda but to travel and see, she leaves Mt Paozu and starts walking in one direction.

She ends up being a bonafide wanderer for a few years. Trudging about with a walking stick. Swimming across rivers. Eating what she catches. And most importantly, solving problems from town to town. 

It’s a big world outside of her big city. Every town has its own customs, traditions, beliefs, realities, and it doesn’t take long for her to forget all about the small world of global fame and space-traveling that she’s come from.

And it really is a fucked up world out there. Demons. Creatures. Pirate coves and booby traps. Man-eating gourds. Bullies and con-artists alike. Pan finds herself in some real situations, much like when she was in space, and exactly like the ones that the young Son Goku found right here on Earth - just some fucked up shit that takes some creative and quick thinking to get out of. Pan learns to love and admire and venerate the Earth based on the suffering and discomfort that it forces her to persevere through.

It’s a big world out there, and every anthill is rich and every fossil a book. Every town has its own mysteries and she does what she can to remedy their woes when applicable.

As she gets more and more capable at hunting, she comes to refuse all monetary payment. She expects nothing in return, but is more than grateful to accept clothes, tools, good food, good company, a warm place to sleep, good advice, and good conversation.

Son Pan becomes the Wandering Hero. She strengthens her moral center and finds only fulfillment in navigating - and sometimes failing hard at - the difficult ethical questions and circumstances that arise. It’s nothing that she could have accomplished reading her father’s philosophy books or listening to her mother preach passionately about justice - these are lessons that she can only learn herself, in action. Her mistakes cut deep and vindicate her reality; her regrets never leave and always steer her straight; and her successes are defined by the harmony of due comeuppance that sings in all parties.

In this time, she learns of what honor and justice are really, and she comes to dedicate herself to the virtue of balance in all contexts. This is something natural to her blood, but not something that she was to come into on blood alone. She becomes more a martial artist in this time, in head and spirit, then she ever would have training in the city.

She travels the globe and finds the definition of beauty in every corner. All the actions of her predecessors in the fantastic stories she’s heard make perfect sense to her now, and she realizes not that she comes from a group of rational or well-opinionated beings, but that she comes from a group who is astute and perceptive enough to read the overt truth: that there is no choice, there is no room for opinion - the Earth NEEDS to be protected at all costs. She comes from a group who’s been courageous enough to face that.

When she reflects back on why she had first embarked, she feels silly. A quest to find her place - it’s shallow. Her place? She’s alive on the planet Earth, isn’t that enough?

In this way, however, she does come to find herself. In searching the coves and corners of the Earth, she finds herself in all of it, and realizes her consummate place to be a denizen of it.

After this, she is inflamed with the necessity to strive to protect the Earth. Whereas before, waiting to defend it seemed dull, now she sees that the point isn’t in the success, but in the time spent preparing. To spend time not working in favor of the Earth is to waste time. She does train with Goku - and all of the rest who are willing. She spends a year with Roshi, even, running milk and plowing fields, and she leaves only because she becomes self-realized and noble enough to deign it fit to strike him HARD for his lecherous attempts at her.

She dares to train with Vegeta for a moment. At first he wouldn't have her, but she proves her determination and pride enough that he allows her to disappoint him properly. She spends a time with King Kai, and she has tea with the Kaioshins, and suddenly it’s looking like her space-traveling days again.

She eventually returns home, which is the point of it all, and her Grandpa Satan is getting old. He would like to spend the rest of his golden years watching the Golden Girls, and the stress of operating as the soothe-sayer and rallier for the world has begun to weigh on him. During these late years, Uub has begun to shoulder some of the responsibility, and he fights for Mr Satan as one of his pupils in the tournaments. Mr Satan still maintains the World Champion title, though at this point it is mostly honorary, because it is Uub who actually makes an appearance on the ring.

Uub is wicked strong, he brings fame fortune and honor to the human name, he has fought alongside Goku and Vegeta and I think at this point has even made a trip to Beerus’s world once - but he is a shy lad all the same, and he doesn’t necessary want world fame as much as he wants good friends. He’s happy to lead if he must, and will find great responsibility and satisfaction in the role, but, yknow, he likes eating and laughing with Goku, and training with Vegeta, and watching The Golden Girls with Mr Satan. He gets nervous on camera. And he’s not a good yarn-spinner. He’s a sensitive, genuine, and honest kind of person; he is nothing if he can’t find a place in and serve well his community, but there are other things he is more fit to do than be World Champion. 

Pan and Uub have no doubt trained together. And TBH they’re not that far apart in age I feel like they could be gal pals. They could definitely talk. Oh they could definitely call each other on the phone and chat it up. Oh they would just understand each other so WELL. They’ve both spent time away from family and have a reserve of pain dedicated to that. At the same time, they’ve made the whole world their family. They are both dedicated to protecting it and serving it well. They have both humbled themselves before the endeavor of self-improvement.

They are both honored to be of service, but they get to talking, and Uub, in the name of paying comeuppance for the grief he’s caused himself, must lay bare his nature: he doesn’t know if he can be the World Champion after Mr Satan. He absolutely will if he must, but he scares himself when he thinks of how he’ll go about it. He can’t help but to think that he won’t inspire much confidence, that his character isn’t luxurious enough to rally an audience, that maybe it’s an ostentatious position that ought to fade from existence, that maybe the Earth doesn’t need talkers but walkers. He’s struggling at differentiating between when doubt is harmful vs when it’s a saving grace. He relents that - if his journey is to be perilous and perplexing and strenuously difficult, he will accept it with grace and graititude and stumble along. If he is to be handed the torch, the honor bestowed upon him by that action will carry him through, and he will become built for it out of necessity. He makes clear that he will be beyond humbled and will know the highest enjoyment if the Earth is to trust him with its delicacy and he is to take it in his hands, and he will conduct himself with valor, and he will believe in himself if the world does, because he would never forsake its opinion.

He’s made all the world a teacher, and he will never stop improving himself by it.

But. Well. It’s just that. He can’t help but to think. Well - he wants well for the world. And wouldn’t the world be better off with with a leader who was already fit for the job? So that it wouldn’t have to sit through a learning curve? No one can replace the King Lion that was Mr Satan, but, like, it’s just that, well Uub has been getting really into realty TV these days, and he would like to have the downtime to watch that, and also he hasn’t seen his mom in a while, and he starts sweating when you point a camera on him, and if he had to wear that hot and heavy World Champion cape he may just faint, and, like - all the world’s a teacher, and he feels that there is harmony in that, and if he has to go up on stage and rally a crowd for no good discernible reason, just to maintain a title, well, what’s the point of that? 

When Pan was young, she made clear that she did not want to be the next Mr Satan. Then she moved farther from her parents’s paths, and now in a circuitous way, she’s arrived closer to all of them than where she’s started. In the interest of finding a role, in placing roots, is there anyplace more pertinent than the life of her grandfather, whose life work has been to unify and heal the hearts and minds of the people on Earth? In studying tight niches to find herself in all of it, in traveling far to find herself in the blood she’s always carried with her - the role of her grandfather Satan is the one role of her kin that she hasn’t yet indirectly and inexorably pursued.

It’s the role to tie it all together. At a few key points, Earth would not have persevered, or navigated with much health or success, through dire circumstances without the spokesman unifying all of Earth’s various, small, beautiful corners. When the Earth at large is at stake, all the forces therein need to join their efforts together to protect what they love, and there is a necessary catalyst for that, a unifying voice that all can sing to.

The Earth has warriors looking out for it, training far in space in order to maintain Earth’s place in the broader order. There are warriors training within the Earth to enable a good cause, in swordfighting dojos and schools that bear a family name and significance. There are business leaders, presidents and CEOs, doing what they were born to do and wearing what they love to wear. There are farmers and mothers, there are scholars, there are people adding to destiny by doing what they enjoy.

And there’s a symbol for all of this, one individual who can stand at the top with solid feet and a confidence that reflects not just inner strength but the strength that comes from serving, and being loved by, others.

It’s in her blood. It’s in her roots. She’s when the unstoppable house of Goku meets the dazzling house of Satan, where the soul is of pure passion, where humility embraces confidence, where love and and devotion is multiplied beyond count.

She couldn’t have become the next World Champion when she was young. Though she was photogenic and flamed with showmanship when inspired, that was all the merit she saw in the job, and that was not enough for her; ibso facto, she was not enough for it, all the symbolic meaning being lost on her.

Now, she can do it, and may be the only one who can. It all comes together. Everything that she’s learned, seen, heard - all the values that have been endowed upon her since the cradle - can come into play.

She loves her Grandpa Satan anyway. She would be so happy and honored to take the torch, and to make him happy.

And she loves the Earth, and she loves the people on it. There’s power and hope and potential in every soul, no matter how small of a corner one hails from, and Pan would find actualization in harmonizing them all into one consolidated force. This is the Earth loving itself. Consider this her Saiyaman phase.

As World Champion, she would be very different from the lion Mr Satan was. Mr Satan had his beginnings in a genuine passion for the martial arts, but he is also grandiose and self-important by nature, and so he took to fame as fate expressly bid it. He is sustained by the veneration and adoration of others, and this served him well as he always sought to communicate to the public a version of a story that was both believable and that inspired confidence, comfort, and excitement. Despite it all, Mr Satan is still the most in-touch with the average human out of all of the Z fighters, and this has made him an effective leader. He is also a very gifted yarn-spinner. As in big fat liar. And that’s fine. It all worked out perfectly in the end. But.

That’s not how Pan is gonna be World Champion. She has no interest in lying, or gloating, or extolling, or embellishing, or fabricating. The job does require some small ... re-identifying of certain events, and Son Pan will not be too good to lie by omission. But she’s not here to make up tales. That was her grandpa’s job. Her job is to walk, not talk. 

Her presence on stage is much less for the benefit of the audience. Rather than giving them what they want to hear, SHE tells THEM what they want to hear - she steps out on stage in heavy boots, heavy belt, heavy cape and says “Alright, listen up-” and tells them what they need to hear and what she needs them to understand.

This presence of course commands so much respect, and it still runs well on camera. This is an aesthetic and presentation that the magazines can run fine with.

If Mr Satan was the King Lion, she is The Sergeant - all the command of her grandmother, all the competence of her paternal grandfather, all the conviction of her mother, and all the commitment of her father.

Despite this look, she is not into the cigars like her grandfather and mother are. She prefers to not compromise herself with substances, and when she does, it is with sweets and treats and ice cream delights.

She doesn’t humor dumb questions at interviews, and she is incredibly perceptive, knowing what’s being asked better than the interviewer - she will ascertain what REALLY wants to be known, and she won’t hold back when delivering.

She is succinct, effective, and at times laconic. She’s stoic when she needs to be, but she’s also comfortable on camera, and she knows when and how to have a little fun. As a fighter in the tournaments, she likes to prolong the battle for a while, and teach as much as she can in that time.

As a leader, she inspires obedience and confidence, and all the world can feel that she loves them more than they know. May they never know, and never have to see her fall for them.

But hey. It’s just the family business, right? Everything will always return to this, because nothing else has ever actually mattered.

And she still has Girl’s Night with Uub and Bura and Marron and you know she’s buying. After all, a dollar’s value pales when compared to a drop of rain, and its best use is when buying for friends.

[ckerouac]

Too many books came in at the same time from my library queue, so @redheadgleek suggests a poll and yes, let’s poll! Y’all can see my… varied reading interests lol

What should I read next?

Daughter from the Dark: Late one night, fate brings together DJ Aspirin and ten-year-old Alyona. After he tries to save her from imminent danger, she ends up at his apartment. But in the morning sinister doubts set in. Who is Alyona? A young con artist? A plant for a nefarious blackmailer? Or perhaps a long-lost daughter Aspirin never knew existed? Whoever this mysterious girl is, she now refuses to leave.

The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett: Wanting to organize an assisted death on her own terms, world-weary octogenarian Eudora Honeysett forges an unexpected bond with exuberant ten-year-old Rose, who drags her to tea parties, shopping sprees, and other social excursions.

Flesh and Bone and Water: André is a listless Brazilian teenager and the son of a successful plastic surgeon who lives a life of wealth and privilege, shuttling between the hot sands of Ipanema beach and his family's luxurious penthouse apartment. In 1985, when he is just 16, André's mother is killed in a car accident. Clouded with grief, André's father loses himself in his work while André spends his evenings in the family apartment with Luana, the beautiful daughter of the family's maid. Three decades later, and now a successful surgeon himself, André is a middle-aged father, living in London, and recently separated. One day he receives an unexpected letter from Luana, which begins to reveal the other side of their story, a story André has long repressed.

Geek Love: The Binewskis are a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias set out-- with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes-- to breed their own exhibit of human oddities. There is Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan. Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins. Albino hunchback Oly. And the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family's most precious-- and dangerous-- asset. As they set out across the U.S., family values will never be the same.

Same Bed Different Dreams: March 1919. Far-flung Korean patriots establish the Korean Provisional Government to protest the Japanese occupation of their country. This government-in-exile proves mostly symbolic, its petitions ignored by heads of state as Korea's nationhood is erased. After Japan's defeat in World War II, the KPG dissolves and civil war erupts, resulting in the North-South split that remains today. But what if the KPG still existed now, today-working toward a unified Korea, secretly harnessing the might of a giant tech company to further its aims?

Unholy: why white evangelicals worship at the altar of Donald Trump: Fueled by an anti-democratic impulse, and united by this narrative of reverse victimization, the religious right and the alt-right support a common agenda--and are actively using the erosion of democratic norms to roll back civil rights advances, stock the judiciary with hard-right judges, defang and deregulate federal agencies, and undermine the credibility of the free press. Increasingly, this formidable bloc is also forging ties with European far right groups, giving momentum to a truly global movement forecasted to last long after the Trump era.

Comemadre: In the outskirts of Buenos Aires in 1907, a doctor becomes involved in a misguided experiment that investigates the threshold between life and death. One hundred years later, a celebrated artist goes to extremes in search of aesthetic transformation, turning himself into an art object.

I Who Have Never Known Men: A young woman is kept in a cage underground with thirty-nine other females, guarded by armed men who never speak; her crimes unremembered... if indeed there were crimes.

Road of Bones: Kolyma Highway, otherwise known as the Road of Bones, is a 1200 mile stretch of Siberian road where winter temperatures can drop as low as sixty degrees below zero. Felix Teigland, or "Teig," is a documentary producer, and when he learns about the Road of Bones, he realizes he's stumbled upon untapped potential. Accompanied by his camera operator, Teig hires a local Yakut guide to take them to Oymyakon, the coldest settlement on Earth. Teig is fascinated by the culture along the Road of Bones, and encounters strange characters on the way to the Oymyakon, but when the team arrives, they find the village mysteriously abandoned apart from a mysterious nine-year-old girl. Then, chaos ensues.

[xtruss]

Fagradalsfjall Volcano Erupting in July. In 2021, Fagradalsfjall erupted for the first time in about 800 years, kickstarting a new era in volcanic activity in Iceland 🇮🇸. Image credit: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

'Time's Finally up': Impending Iceland Eruption is Part of Centuries-Long Volcanic Pulse

Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula is now in a new era of volcanic eruptions that will last for up to 500 years, and the building magma beneath Sundhnúkur and Grindavík is part of this millenia-long cycle.

— By Hannah Osborne | Live Science

Iceland's potentially imminent eruption in the Reykjanes Peninsula is part of a 1,000-year cycle of volcanic activity that will likely cause eruptions for centuries, scientists say.

"Time's finally up," Edward W. Marshall, a researcher at the University of Iceland's Nordic Volcanological Center, told Live Science in an email. "We can get ready for another few hundred years of eruptions on the Reykjanes."

Seismic activity began increasing in the south of the peninsula in October, with hundreds of earthquakes recorded there each day. On Nov. 10, authorities evacuated the town of Grindavík, with experts warning an volcanic eruption could take place in just days.

Infographic showing the seismic activity that has hit Iceland in recent weeks. Image credit: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

According to the Icelandic Met Office (IMO), a magma tunnel stretching 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) formed beneath the ground between Sundhnúkur in the north and Grindavík. The area affected also encompasses the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa — a tourist hotspot that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.

Magma in the tunnel — also known as a dike — appears to be rising to the surface, and there is a high risk of it breaking through. The greatest area of magma upwelling is currently close to Sundhnúkur, about 2 miles (3.5 km) northeast of Grindavík, according to the IMO. Researchers believe the amount of magma in the tunnel is "significantly more" than what was present during the eruptions at Fagradalsfjall, which sparked back to life in 2021 after more than 800 years of inactivity.

That 2021 eruption marked the start of a new cycle of volcanic activity on the Reykjanes Peninsula. Geological records show periods of inactivity last between 600 and 1,200 years, which is then followed by pulses of eruptions lasting between 200 and 500 years, Clive Oppenheimer, a professor of volcanology at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., told Live Science in an email.

"It looks like 2021 kicked off a new eruptive phase which might see the several fault zones crossing the [Reykjanes Peninsula] firing on and off for centuries," he said.

Grindavík has been evacuated over fears an eruption may take place in or near the town. Image credit: Kjartan Torbjoernsson/Getty Images

The Reykjanes Peninsula sits above two tectonic plates that are being pulled apart. The strain that builds up is released in bursts as part of the cycle. "We are now in one of these pulses," David Pyle, a volcanologist and professor of Earth sciences at the University of Oxford, U.K, told Live Science in an email. "Each eruption releases just a bit more of the stored-up strain, and eventually, when all of that strain has been released, then the eruptions will stop."

It is currently unclear if an eruption will take place as a result of the magma tunnel. "These sorts of dikes are actually a tectonic, not a magmatic feature. In other words, the lava is filling a fracture, not forcing its way into the rock," Marshall said.

Should a fissure emerge, an eruption could last for several weeks. The large amount of magma involved compared with previous eruptions in the region could result in more lava flow at the surface, Oppenheimer said.

What happens next is a waiting game, Marshall said. "I predict — if an eruption occurs — that it will occur between a few days to threeish weeks. If it hasn't erupted in three weeks, I don't think it will happen. Cooling will begin to close the fractures."

— Hannah Osborne is the planet Earth and Snimals Editor at Live Science. She worked for several years at Newsweek and at International Business Times U.K. as the Science Editor. Hannah holds a Master's in Journalism from Goldsmith's, University of London.

[spopsalt]

(I'm still in my Rick and Morty era, spoilers for season 5, seriously go watch Rick and Morty it's great) So don't get me wrong, Rick is a worse person than Catra, I mean he killed a lot more people than her (mostly in self-defense but still) but I do like how he's better written than Catra, which is why I like him more despite him being worse.

I do like how they consistently show that Rick does care about Morty, they do say that while that may be the case, it doesn't make their relationship not toxic...like one show *cough* spop *cough* but it's still nice to see.

We also get to see why he's such an asshole, he lost his wife and child, they were killed in front of him, he certainly is a horrible person, but I can definitely feel sympathy for him, he seems to insult Morty so he doesn't get too attached, Morty truly seems to be the only reason why Rick is even alive right now, as we can see that he does have depression and self-loathing, to the point were he willing sacificed himself so Morty could live, see spop? This is how you make a complex character that people can feel sympathy for without excusing their actions, many people call Rick out and one of his oldest friends, Birdperson left because of his toxicity, and one of the people he loved Unity, left because he was a terrible influence and brought out the worst in them. You can show a character that is a horrible person and complex, to the point where you feel sympathy for them.

Also, we actively see Rick attempting to change, not just in a throwaway line about how he's working on his anger, and then it was never even mentioned again *cough* Catra *cough* We see in season 3 episode 2, he turned himself into a pickle so he can avoid family therapy, but in season 6 Analyze Piss and season 7 Air Force Wong, we can see that he's actively going to therapy every week, despite not even respecting it before, showing his growth. Another example is the Vat of Acid episode (That's literally what it's called) in season 4 episode 8, Rick got mad at Morty and conducted a way for Morty to be forced to support an idea Rick had that Morty didn't like when Morty tried to critique it, Rick imminently became defensive, in Full Meta Jackrick (Great episode btw) in season 6, episode 7, Rick admitted that he messed up when Morty critiqued him. In season 6 episode 10, we again see him admit that he made a mistake and that he should've included Morty instead of just shutting himself off.

The difference is one of them is well written, not shown as an innocent baby who did no wrong, and is actively trying to change with good character development, one is an abusive, toxic, catgirl who was imminetally forgiven and everybody got forgot her war crimes.

[foursaints]

ur alive! so happy to see u on my dash again ❤️ hope ur doing alright

<33 giggling ive been away from tumblr (UNINTENTIONALLY) and i think i still mostly will be less active in general (at least re: posting art or headcanons every day)... but i have some stuff in the works for you guys. fic posting era imminent i hope

[awesomecooperlove]

▶️▶️▶️▶️▶️IMPORTANT MESSAGE ◀️◀️◀️◀️◀️

⚠️⚠️⚠️

Warning: Unveiling the Shocking Web of Silence and Conspiracy in the Dark Corners of the EU

Prepare to have your perception shattered as we delve into the spine-chilling world of secretive European Union countries, covertly striking deals with the ominous connections of none other than Epstein. Hidden beneath a veil of silence, these nations have been complicit in unimaginable cover-ups, concealing sinister truths that will soon be unleashed upon the world.

Picture the catastrophic consequences when the full extent of the United Nations, CIA, and EU's involvement in the Epstein pedophile ring, along with their unholy alliance with captured governments and blackmail rings, comes bursting into the light. Brace yourself, for a tempest is gathering momentum, poised to engulf the darkest corners of society.

Behind the scenes, military intelligence, acting as guardians of the deep state's Epstein operations, have masterfully shielded these abominable activities. Their elaborate network of connections intertwines with global banks, covertly financing the abhorrent enterprises of human trafficking, sex trafficking, and money laundering. The very foundations of the world order are teetering on the precipice of destruction, as the nefarious operations of the global elite hang precariously in the balance.

Be forewarned, for the cataclysmic unraveling of this web of deceit and corruption is imminent. The guilty parties will face the reckoning they so richly deserve, as the truth, like a merciless storm, sweeps away the veil of lies and manipulation. The walls that shielded the perpetrators will crumble under the weight of indisputable evidence, exposing their vile deeds for all the world to witness.

This revelation will shake society to its core, shattering the illusion of safety and trust. The implications of this grand exposé will reverberate across nations, prompting unprecedented outrage and demanding justice on a scale never before seen.

Prepare yourself for the reckoning that looms on the horizon, for the storm of truth is gathering strength, ready to strike with unrelenting force. The era of complacency and complicity is drawing to a close, heralding a new chapter in our history, where the victims are heard, and those responsible for their suffering face the consequences they so arrogantly evaded for far too long.

Follow for more:

▶️▶️▶️https://t.me/CharlieWardFriends◀️◀️◀️

[mybeingthere]

Yoshishige Saito (1904-2001) was born at the cusp of the Meiji (1868–1912) and Taisho (1912–26) periods, two of the eras in early twentieth century Japan that marked the conclusion of the first phase of the country's fervent Westernization and industrialization and the beginning of its embrace of decadent modernity. Already as a teenager, Saito showed a great interest in art, particularly painting, and was exposed to a wide range of experimental visual and performing arts, literature, and film.

His encounter with Japan’s early avant-garde movement MAVO in 1923 was the first turning point in his formative years. Led by Tomoyoshi Murayama (1901–1977) who recently returned from Weimer Germany, MAVO proposed an explosive alternative to the tame academicism of Japanese modern art of the time. Their activities included the incorporation of everyday materials into art, experimental theater and happenings, as well as socially engaged design and architecture projects, all of which set a precedent for the postwar blossoming of the Anti-Art movement from the late 1950s. Saito was awe-struck by Murayama’s uninhibited creative imagination and from the mid-1920s to around 1930 he nearly abandoned his practice in painting, spending much of his time on critical writing.

During the 1930s, inspired by Russian Constructivism, Saito resumed his work as an artist, producing relief paintings and sculptures whose geometric quality proved consistently important to the artist as it resurfaced repeatedly in his postwar creations like Work from 1963 and in many other installation works produced in his last years. However, in the decade imminently facing the start of World War II, Saito’s unconventional three-dimensional works using plywood, strings, and plastic placed him against the conservatism of officially administrated exhibitions. Rather than compromising under the circumstances, the challenge only encouraged him to embark on a life-long search for the expression that lies between the realm of painting and sculpture.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group D Round 3: #D4 vs #D7

#D4: Two kids join in hunting monsters and uncovering secrets

#D7: Girl who can play the biwa and see the future. 1180 CE Japan

Details and poll under the cut!

#D4: Karneval

Summary:

While in search of his precious friend, a young boy named Nai falls captive to a beautiful woman, whose looks are matched only by her taste for human flesh. Meanwhile Gareki, a clever thief, is in the midst of robbing her luxurious home. After causing a distraction, Gareki agrees to help Nai escape, but they are discovered upon the woman's return. As she transforms into a ghoulish monster, the boys flee.

On the run, Nai and Gareki are found by “Circus,” a government defense agency that deals with criminal activity too difficult for the police to handle and protects civilians from “varuga”—terrible monsters that devour humans for sustenance. In the hope that it will lead Nai to his missing friend, he and Gareki decide to join Circus. On their perilous journey, they face dangerous varuga and begin to uncover the secrets behind a shadowy organization known as Kafka.

Propaganda:

Karneval has two of the best protagonists I’ve ever seen. Gareki is superior to every other teenage boy protagonist in anime. His character arc, even in this one season that covers just a fraction of the manga, is so well-developed. I like that his arc is an emotionally driven coming-of-age and not a power fantasy.

Along with the main characters, Karneval has fantastic characters across the board. There is not a single supporting character I don't love (even the ones who annoy me). None of the female characters are reduced to love interests and are all unique and interesting, which can be hard to find sometimes in anime.

It is made by a female writer, which is always great to see, and for people who aren't really interested in romance, the anime is extremely friendship and found family driven. The found family aspect is really at the forefront of the series as Circus is not a glorified group and they don't get to have families which makes the bond between members so important.

The tone balance is amazing. In one episode, you can go on an emotional journey from laughing to crying in seconds. The plot is engaging with wild reveals and compelling mysteries to follow. The fantastical world is unique with the contrast of the dark monsters in a bright and colorful world. If you watch it in Japanese, the voice cast is so good and the soundtrack is also really good.

TL;DR it’s an interesting story with amazing characters to whom you will get attached.

Trigger Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Misrepresentation of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

#D7: The Heike Story (Heike Monogatari)

Summary:

The Taira clan, also known as the Heike, holds immense authority over Japan. When a young girl, gifted with an odd eye that allows her to see the future, foolishly disrespects the clan, her father pays the price of her crime with his life. Soon after, as fate would have it, Taira no Shigemori—the eldest son of the clan leader—stumbles upon the same unfortunate girl, who now calls herself "Biwa." Biwa informs him that the downfall of the Heike is imminent. After learning of the great injustice Biwa suffered at the Heike's hands, Shigemori vows to take her in and care for her rather than let her be killed.

In an era of rising military tension, the Heike are in the midst of a cunning struggle for power, and bloodstained war is on the horizon. Shigemori, whose eyes allow him to see spirits of the dead, is both anxious and hopeful to prevent his clan's demise. Biwa, however, is reluctant to reveal the future to him and must adapt to her new life filled with both happiness and sorrow in this pivotal chapter in Japanese history.

Propaganda:

It’s based on historical events, so one can already know the ending before watching it, sort of like the main character Biwa. But seeing those events, getting attached to the characters as they have both fun, simple moments and difficult, painful moments and seeing the humanity in the characters and watching them grow up with the underlying promise that things won’t go well for them, and accepting that… themes of impermanence and grief… but also the art style is unique and bright and the music is great and fits the scenes, and I highly recommend watching this if you haven’t already !! It’s only 11 episodes!

Trigger Warnings: Suicide

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[cardiac-agreste]

MLB Fic Prompt: A Blast from the Past

In 1962, eccentric French fashion designer Gabriel Agreste believes nuclear war with the Soviet Union is imminent, and builds a secret fallout shelter beneath his backyard. Alarmed by the Cuban Missile Crisis, Gabriel takes his pregnant wife Emelie into the shelter. When an unexpected mechanical failure aboard an F-86 Sabre causes the aircraft to crash into the house above, Gabriel assumes the worst and activates the shelter's time-locks for 35 years. With the house completely destroyed by the crash, the Agrestes' neighbors and authorities assume they were killed and their property is left abandoned.

Emilie gives birth to Adrien, who is educated to a high standard by his father (including becoming fluent in several languages) and grows up on 1950s-era pop culture like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners, and pop standards by Perry Como and Dean Martin. Above ground, a diner opens in 1965 where a young resident named Fu Wang gets his first job working as a soda jerk. The diner is sold and turned into a pizzeria, then becomes a punk club named Akuma as the suburban neighborhood deteriorates over the decades into an inner city ghetto. By 1995, is a bitter middle-aged alcoholic living in the club's condemned remains.

When the shelter unlocks in 1997, Gabriel mistakes the now-blighted neighborhood for a post-apocalyptic wasteland of irradiated mutants and decides the family must stay underground over the objections of Emilie, who, unlike Gabriel (who enjoys the seclusion) and Adrien (who knows nothing else), has never taken to living in the shelter. With supplies running out and Emilie falling ill, Adrien leaves the shelter for the first time to obtain food. He meets Fu, who had encountered Gabriel the previous night, bursting through the floor in his radiation suit. The old man convinces himself that Adrien is a god. Marveling at the outside world, Adrien purchases supplies, but then cannot remember his way back to the elevator.

Trying to sell his father's classic ~~baseball cards~~ tuxedos at a ~~hobby~~costume shop, Adrien meets Marinette Dupain Cheng, who stops the store owner from cheating Adrien and is fired. Marinette drives Adrien to a Holiday Innin exchange for a rare cravat but returns the next morning out of guilt. Adrien asks her to help him. Unaware of the value of money, Adrien agrees to her request for $1,000 a week, while also asking Marinette to help him find a wife who is "not a mutant" and is from Paris, France, per his mother's advice. Adrien meets Marinette's housemate and best friend Alya, who provides him with advice and a fashion makeover.

Marinette and Alya take Adrien to a '40s swing-style nightclub to find him a wife. Adrien attracts the attention of several women, including Marinette's nemesis Lila. Jealous, Marinette reconnects with her ex-boyfriend Luka and gets him to provoke Adrien into a fight, relenting when Adrien demonstrates his fencing skills (having trained every day with his father). Marinette is disgusted and goes home. Alya later tells her Adrien left the club with Lila. Adrien returns, explaining that he politely rejected Lila's advances, as he could only think about Marinette. He and Marinette kiss, but when Adrien admits the truth about his past and his desire to take her to be his wife "underground", she asks him to leave.

Finding the club, where Fu has recruited a full congregation to worship him, Adrien returns to Marinette's house, where she is waiting with psychiatrist Dr. Tomoe Tsurugi and her assistant to have him committed. Initially cooperating, Adrien escapes, though not before asking Marinette and Alya to collect his things and pay his hotel bill. In his hotel room, Alya and Marinette find toiletries and clothing from the '60s and absurdly valuable stock certificates in companies like IBM (which Gabriel had previously written off as "worthless") and deduce that Adrien is not crazy and was telling the truth the whole time.

As Fu and his cult load supplies into the shelter, Gabriel prepares to seal his family inside again. Marinette spots Adrien outside the club. They embrace and Adrien takes her to meet his parents. Impressed with Marinette, Gabriel and Emma agree to set the shelter's locks for two months while Adrien and Marinette make arrangements. During this time, Adrien and Marinette sell the stocks to build his parents a new home in the country, identical to their house that was destroyed, and purchase and restore a red 1960 Cadillac convertible. They help Fu rebuild the pub into a '50s-themed nightclub called Kamiko after convincing him that Adrien is not God.

Adrien reveals to his parents there was never an atomic war and that the Soviet Union collapsed peacefully, ending the Cold War. Unconvinced, Gabriel plans to build a new fallout shelter as Marinette watches while playing with her engagement ring.