#captain of anti-establishment sentiment | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sashketter · 8 months ago

Text

The Captain and the Senator Chapter 2 Footnotes

Double the length, double the fun 😉🤭 Some clarifying thoughts:

Poor Echo lol but Mom deserves his beauty sleep 😌

Here’s how I figure the timeline: when Rex and the Batch are escaping the shipyard in “Truth and Consequences,” Rex says they need to hurry because “it’s almost morning.” The establishing shot of the Senate building immediately after is still dark, so it’s not even sunrise yet. That means when the Batch leave, it’s most likely early to mid morning. I assume then that by the time Rex and Riyo reach her apartment after Echo does his scan, it’s at least early afternoon. And with three people taking separate, consecutive showers in one fresher, it’s likely to be between 6 to 9pm by the time this chapter starts. They’ve all been awake for over a day. They’re all supremely sleepy-eepy.

Pantorans blush purple, obvs bc red blood + blue skin = purple cheeks, and I think that’s absolutely adorable. I’m working off this and this swatch, in case y’all want a visual.

I’m not going to debate Riyo’s exact age. I think it’s enough to know she’s older than in “Trespass,” and I’ll treat her as such. She’s obviously younger than Bail and Mon Mothma, but certainly not inexperienced. She’s allowed to have thots about a half-naked clone right in front of her! And y’all spent literal years sailing Foxiyo. As far as I’m concerned, Rex is a lateral move for her.

Riyo strikes me as someone who would wear nightgowns, another similarity she shares with Padmé, but I had her opt for loose pajamas because it was a Long Ass No Good Day and she just wanted to get comfortable and retain some modesty while hosting Rex and Echo.

As much as I think the clones treat their armor like a second skin and feel almost naked without it, I also think they don’t care about being half naked around other people. Certainly not around each other; it’s the same equipment, etc. And obviously, there’s room for a spectrum of modesty, but unless it’s an active battlefield, sun’s out guns out. Get ye taps aff, as the Scots wud sae.

I am of the firm belief that the clones were all horny young men who took every opportunity to get laid, Republic and Kaminoan policies be damned. I don’t think the WW2 parallels stop with the nose art.

I’m also of the firm belief that for all the anti-clone sentiments TCW seemed to suggest, there had to have been an equal amount of love for them. GAR groupies, clone fan clubs, what have you. Again, using WW2 for inspiration, there had to have been a Republic equivalent of the USO. And you’re telling me millions of Jango Fetts went completely unnoticed by the civilian population? No one wanted to bang Fives? Even if it was illegal, you don’t think some enterprising citizens wanted a taste of that forbidden fruit? How do you explain the thirsty side of TCW fan base? Be frfr, sex transcends politics.

Writing sex is hard DIFFICULT HOW DO ROMANCE NOVELISTS DO IT. There’s only so many ways of avoiding cock, pussy, clit, testicles without sounding like a prude 💀 and it was my first attempt, so I’ll get better, I promise 😉

But frenulum is a fun word lolol Kisses to everyone who uses it.

It was very important to me that they were both fresh-from-the-shower clean. Wash your bits before intercoursing, ya nasties.

Equally important was Riyo using the fresher immediately after. IYKYK.

I reference Umbara twice, if only to underline that Rex understands Riyo’s predicament more than she does. He understands what it’s like to be used as a tool against his own aims. To that end, I’m not sure the Republic divulged the full details of Krell and Umbara to the public, in the same way Palpatine never shows all his cards. They probably would’ve made Krell’s deceptions and the clones’ sacrifices known to garner sympathy, but I think only the clones who were there know the full details, things like the Umbarans’ technology and how easily the clones were tricked into targeting each other. Those things would erode public confidence in the GAR and the war, so in my mind, they’re classified.

#*#the captain and the senator #footnotes

0 notes

luna-rainbow · 2 years ago

Text

I posted 778 times in 2022

185 posts created (24%)

593 posts reblogged (76%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@possibleplatypus

@feralgoblintea

@valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn

@musette22

@olderthannetfic

I tagged 711 of my posts in 2022

Only 9% of my posts had no tags

#bucky barnes - 163 posts

#steve rogers - 128 posts

#asks - 92 posts

#stucky - 86 posts

#anti mcu - 65 posts

#sebastian stan - 64 posts

#tfatws critical - 39 posts

#stucky meta - 38 posts

#anti peggy carter - 37 posts

#lol post - 32 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#all the redemption came from him trying to patch up shit that the plot pinned on him to do when it patently didn't make any logical sense

My Top Posts in 2022:

Just here thinking “even when I had nothing, I had Bucky” is literally “Bucky was my everything”, and so on the Helicarrier Steve gives up everything he now has — his job, his reputation, the mask, the shield, the title, and almost his life — to get Bucky back because that’s how much Bucky is worth.

627 notes - Posted July 25, 2022

You know how the CACW quinjet conversation that’s always been mocked as forced heteronormativity? I’m sure that was the intention but I just remembered something.

Bucky: Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone on Coney Island?

Steve: Yeah, and I threw up?

Bucky: This isn't payback, is it?

Steve: Now why would I do that?

See the full post

655 notes - Posted March 11, 2022

There is something to be said about the way Steve and Bucky communicates with each other in the Captain America movies. The way they are so consistent and unvarying, as though they had tread the same ground with each other hundreds of times before and resolved every argument this way, because they all take the proforma of:

Steve: “stupid idea” Bucky: “that’s a stupid idea!” Steve: 🥺 Bucky: “UGH FINE!”

In the first act of the first movie, this conversation format is introduced in their very first disagreement, and establishes the way their dynamic is defined throughout the next 70 years.

Steve: I’m joining the army. Bucky: This isn’t a back alley, Steve, it’s war!! Steve: 🥺 Bucky: UGH. DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID UNTIL I GET BACK.

Their relationship is put to the trial through the fires of the battlefield, but their communication style remains steadfast and faithful to their origins.

Steve: Are you ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death? Bucky: Hell no. Steve: 🥺 Bucky: ONLY IF YOU KEEP THE TIGHTS.

As we come to CATWS, despite the intervening 70 years, their first verbal exchange falls back into the familiar rote, almost as if they had never parted a day. Importantly though, it is this very dynamic that jolts Bucky's memory.

Steve: Bucky? Bucky: Who the hell is Bucky? Steve: 🥺 Bucky: HUH. I KNEW HIM. Hydra goons: NO YOU DON'T. Someone go check that warranty on the brainwashing.

During the climatic confrontation in this movie, with the fate of the world weighing on his shoulders, Steve reaches for the same reassuring conversation technique to find a connection with the man before him...and he succeeds.

Steve: You’re my friend! Bucky: You’re my mission! Steve: 🥺 Bucky: ............🥺🥺🥺

And last but not the least! After a series of tumultuous events, during a time of great unrest and distrust, when even Steve seemed to doubt what Bucky was capable of, Bucky instinctively reaches for the same conversational tone to allay Steve's fears and regain Steve's faith in him.

Bucky: Steve...? Steve: Which Bucky am I talking to? Bucky: 🥺 Steve: 😌 Can't read that in a museum Sam: STEVE. What happened to keeping your head straight? To staying rational? To not being swayed by sentiment?! Steve: 🥺 Sam: THAT DOESN'T WORK ON ME. Steve + Bucky: 🥺🥺 Sam: ..........UGH.

661 notes - Posted April 28, 2022

Every now and then I think about how lucky CATFA was written in the early 2010s when it wasn’t considered cringe to believe in goodness and kindness. How it gave us Steve and Bucky passionately arguing but the closest thing Bucky said to being hurtful was “right, and you’ve got nothing to prove”. He never once referenced Steve’s small stature or ill health. He never told Steve that he was chasing an empty dream because of his health records, only that he might get caught “or worse” recruited. He never mocked Steve for being overwhelmed by the size of his opponents, only teased him about his tenacity for not running away or giving up. His frustration was never because he thought Steve was not good enough, but because he wanted Steve to stay safe. Regardless of how you choose to interpret their love, there was never any doubt that Steve loved Bucky and Bucky loved Steve, even if those words were not said out loud, because the way they interacted spoke of mutual respect and affection and loyalty.

I loved when love wasn’t about how much two people could hurt each other and still be forgiven, but it was about two people who did everything to soften the harshness of the world because of how much they wanted the best for each other.

874 notes - Posted November 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Bringing this back because there is still confusion: Bucky is not responsible for the crimes of the Winter Soldier. The analogy is not “if you lost control of your car and killed someone you still need to be responsible for what your car caused”. It is not “if you’re a soldier who followed orders you still need to be responsible for the life you took”. Bucky was not distracted or indoctrinated. He was induced into a state where he had no idea who he was, could barely recall what he did, and where “he will do anything you tell him to”.

The correct analogy is “if someone hijacked your car, tied you up and locked you in the trunk, then drove your car into people, you are not held responsible for what happened to the victims because you were as much a victim as they are”. Yes, maybe you will feel guilty for not putting up enough of a fight, or for not killing the hijacker when you thought you had a chance. But you should be told by your good therapist that while your guilt is a natural reaction of a good person, it wasn’t your fault and you should not make contact with the other victims on your own, much less apologise on behalf of the people who hijacked your car.

I hope that’s how you get treated in the real world anyway.

(Edit: small correction on the wording of one of the analogies)

1,055 notes - Posted April 4, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

Honourable mention (tbh I think this one got the most notifications)

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #trust tumblr app to glitch when trying to get to hear in review #stucky #bucky barnes #steve rogers

17 notes · View notes

allthebrazilianpolitics · 2 years ago

Text

What If Bolsonaro Won’t Go?

The Threat to Democracy Looming Over Brazil’s Election

ays ahead of Brazil's October 2 presidential election, the country is facing the most serious challenge to its democracy since its inception 37 years ago. President Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain, triumphed in 2018 amid a wave of anti-establishment sentiment but is now trailing in the polls in his showdown against former President Luiz Inácio da Silva, or Lula, as he is universally known. Confronted with probable defeat, Bolsonaro has made unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud and publicly insists that the only way the opposition can prevent him from winning a second term is by stealing the election. His rhetoric is finding favor among his supporters: of the roughly 50 million Brazilians who say they will vote for Bolsonaro, about one-quarter are so radicalized that they have told pollsters the president should not recognize the result if he loses.

To make matters worse, the leadership of Brazil's military—an institution that has accumulated significant political power during Bolsonaro’s tenure—has failed to condemn the president's antidemocratic rhetoric. Indeed, Defense Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira has gone so far as to back Bolsonaro's proposal that the military conduct a parallel count of the votes despite the fact that such an undertaking would run counter to the rule of law and could set the country up for a constitutional crisis.

The first round of voting will take place on Sunday. Eleven candidates are running, which makes it possible that neither Bolsonaro nor Lula will win at least 50 percent of the vote. If that happens, a runoff will occur on October 30. If Bolsonaro loses and refuses to concede, Brazil faces three possible scenarios. The president could insist that the election was stolen but refrain from attempting to stop the transition. Bolsonaro could take a page from his political idol, former U.S. President Donald Trump, and attempt to create a “Brazilian January 6th”—that is, he could incite mayhem that nonetheless stops short of impeding a democratic transition. In the worst case, his supporters could engage in political violence and the armed forces could fail to protect democracy, impeding a normal transition.

#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #democracy #brazilian elections #jair bolsonaro #brazilian elections 2022 #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

9 notes · View notes

mywingsareonwheels · 4 years ago

Text

Qualities that make a good Captain America:-

- experience of being heavily marginalised, both in general and specifically within US American systems of power and bigotry and image.

- extremely compassionate and with a profound sense of justice.

- “oh look! a problem! it is clearly my responsibility to fix this.”

- ornery as fuck, not great at taking orders, completely willing to be break the rules in order to do the right thing.

- complete absence of xenophobia, healthy scepticism about the US and its role in the world.

- excellent at public speaking, naturally good at earning loyalty.

This is why Steve (disabled, working-class, Irish immigrant family) and Sam (Black, working-class) both make perfect Captains America, in their different ways. It’s why Isaiah Bradley would have been incredible.

It’s also why John Walker (middle-class, white, abled, uncomplicatedly patriotic, “perfect soldier”) is just fricking useless at it, and starts a rapid moral deterioration.

[oh dear, this got long! behind the cut for more. CW: tfatws episode 6 spoilers, discussion of racism, classism, ableism, anti-Irish sentiments, probable anti-Catholicism.]

It’s also what the US establishment completely miss, why they treat Steve and Sam so differently, and why the nature of Bucky’s support (circa tfatws episode 6 in the case of Sam) matters.

The US establishment don’t want a marginalised Captain America. But everything that’s marginalised about Steve can be made neatly invisible for propaganda purposes. The serum makes him able-bodied. I believe I’m right in saying that his accent shifts over the course of the fundraising tour, as he’s pushed into speaking with more of a Standard American rather than a working-class Brooklyn accent. His dog-tags bear a “P”, even though the chances are that Sarah Rogers at least was Catholic. And then what’s left? He’s white, blond-haired, blue-eyed, super-strong. He passes as a WASP and is even assumed by some IRL reviewers and fandom commentators to be one. His image as Cap is that of precisely the kind of all-American hero that he isn’t. He benefits extremely from his white privilege (especially when contrasted with the horror of what happened to Isaiah, but in any number of other ways too), and I love tfatws for talking about that. He also benefits from the falsified Captain America image, even though he doesn’t choose to. But he also clearly feels the strain of having his own personhood and own past and his own agency lost in the noise - the classic dilemma, in fact, of someone invisibly marginalised. And the establishment is shocked - shocked! - when in the 21st century he keeps putting what’s right ahead of what’s superficially patriotic, even though anyone who knows him well would have known that’s precisely what he would do.

And after that first, public, “let’s hear it for Captain America!”, he’s always Steve to Bucky. And it’s their friendship, their love, their shared history, not any iteration of him as Captain America, that calls Bucky back out of the Winter Soldier. AFAIK, Bucky never calls him Cap. Whenever he’s able to do so, he’s about reminding Steve that he is Steve, because that’s what’s most needed.

But Sam’s Black. There’s nothing deniable or elidable about his marginalisation, or of the bigotry of the US establishment that still doesn’t want a Captain America who’s marginalised in any way, let alone who is Black. And not only that, Sam’s a good deal older than Steve was in 1943 (and I’m assuming than Isaiah was in the 1950s), so he’s even less easy for the government and army to manipulate, and even more politicised and informed by his own experiences. So they go straight into being oh-so relieved and appreciative that he gave up the shield, and they choose John Walker because he is everything they think Steve Rogers was and everything about him that mattered and they are completely, disastrously wrong. And then presumably when they want the shield back after discharging Walker it’s to give it to another privileged, able-bodied, middle-class, blond-haired-blue-eyed white soldier. Not even someone marginalised in the ways Steve was, let alone in the ways Sam is.

Sam’s hesitance over keeping and using the shield is so important (as is Bucky’s apology to him for the pressure he puts on him over it), but once he does choose to keep it, he takes a gorgeous and justified pride in calling himself Captain America, even while explicitly and thoughtfully recognising the contradictions inherent in his position.

And Bucky calls him Cap, and they both grin infectiously. :-)

Here’s another problem: some of the MCU writers (and I think some of the Marvel comics writers too) fall into the exact same trap as the US establishment they’ve written. They look at Steve Rogers and they see Captain America. They de-emphasise his disabled and working-class and Irish immigrant background (in the Depression, in an era in which eugenicist attitudes in the US actively inspired the Nazis, and in which “no Irish” was a sign up all over both the US and the UK), his left-wing politics, and the fact that both his creators in the real world, and the in-universe creator of the serum, were Jewish. As was the comics character (Arnie Roth) whose backstory influenced the MCU version of Bucky. ISTR that even one of the writers on The First Avenger referred to Steve as “small-town” and... [points at Brooklyn, facepalms]. And (thanks to both my partner and some awesome people in a lovely Discord I belong to for this thought!) Endgame gave him an ending for the establishment stereotype of Captain America. Not one for Steve Rogers.

They’d bloody well do better by Sam.

#tfatws #tfatws spoilers #Steve Rogers #Sam Wilson #anti John Walker #MCU critical #tw racism #tw ableism #tw eugenics mention #tw classism #tw antisemitism #tw antiblackness #tw anti-Irish mention #anti-endgame #Bucky Barnes #Captain America #I love Steve and Sam and Bucky

132 notes · View notes

warsofasoiaf · 3 years ago

Note

The golden Company in Essos part I: you have gone into some detail with this ask in the past but I was hoping you can expand on it. Bittersteel forged the remaining exiles of the blackfyre loyalists into the golden company, which has been for about 100 years, at least 10,000 men strong and one of the most disciplined fighting forces in the known world. Bittersteel and his band probably stayed in Tyrosh under the protection of Daemon’s wife family for a time while they plotted and schemed.

The golden Company in Essos part II: the plot led by Daemon II And Gormon peake was doomed from the beginning and I am sure Bittersteel did not see the loss of Daemon the younger as a great loss. However, after the defeat of the force in the third rebellion and Bittersteel capture and close call rescue, I am sure there must have been some among the company who were thinking the cause in Westeros was lost and that other options needed to be considered

Golden company in Essos part 3: we know that under the leadership of Maelys, the golden company and the band of nine carved out some territory for themselves. So surely during the leadership of Aegor there were some among them who thought that they should use their men and resources to create their own little kingdom and leave Westeros to the the red Dragon.

The golden company in Essos part 4; they had some options available for such a kingdom. The disputed land, the ryhonar, the stepstones, the abandoned cities left by the Dothraki. They could have set up one of Daemon’s sons as King there and expand outward, making deals with neighboring states, building new keeps and attracting settlers and other would be adventurers. I am just thinking Bittersteel was as obsessed with getting ride of the Targaryens as Bloodraven was obsessed with the blackfyres.

Golden company in Essos final part: so in your opinion why did you think Bittersteel didn’t use the blackfyre resources to set up a sellsword kingdom in Essos and instead wasted time, money, and men on trying to take Westeros despite loss after loss?

I think the principal reason that Bittersteel didn't seek to establish a sellsword kingdom in Essos is because he felt that to do so would abandon the mission to restore the Black Dragon's descendants to their rightful place. While a lot of Bittersteel's characterization is unknown, I don't think it's too far-fetched to hypothesize that Bittersteel actually really liked and believed in Daemon, and didn't sign on solely for reasons of personal gain and hatred of Bloodraven. And as the Captain-General of the Company, his word carries significant weight, it's he who decides the direction of the Company, what contracts they take.

There's also another reason that's just as significant - the murder of Haegon Blackfyre while in prison provided a uniting animus for the Golden Company to continue the anti-Red Dragon mission. Now, Daemon's heir was murdered in a completely dishonorable fashion which stokes a powerful need to answer the slight against their chosen candidate. It's one thing for an heir of Daemon to die in honorable combat. Once Aenys Blackfyre is tricked and murdered in 233, this establishes a pattern of dishonorable murder by the Reds, and given Bloodraven's luring of Aenys, this means that a "live and let live" detente isn't possible because it's the Reds initiating the murder plot. Bloodraven, on his own, declared eternal vendetta against Daemon's descendants, so by that context, the Blackfyre supporters would conclude that there's nothing that can be done, the Reds want them dead and will stop at nothing to attain that.

Now of course, after Bittersteel's death, at least some of the Captains-General were Blackfyre descendants themselves interested in continuing their mission - Daemon and Maelys. Others were Westerosi exiles who may have hoped for home like Myles Toyne, the Golden Company does seem like a haven for Westerosi sellswords and exiles - who would find some small reminders of home to give them comfort.

Also, the company culture of the Golden Company probably impresses that mission upon its members. Given the Golden Company's mantra of "their word is as good as gold," they'd no more abandon that mission than they would abandon another contract. This particular sentiment is a point of pride amongst the Golden Company, it's their motto and they hold it as a point of distinction from the other sellsword companies that change loyalties and abandon contracts. That has to enter into their thinking at some point.

So, a confluence of these factors, it's not hard to see why the Golden Company keeps that mission firm in their hearts and their OPLANs.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#golden company

17 notes · View notes

lesbianclaryfray · 4 years ago

Text

literally no one asked but here’s a non-exhaustive list of things i would tweak to make ouat more...bearable

no magical rape. just. none.

i would say milah becomes captain hook instead, but since this is once we’re talking about after all, i’ll settle for this: milah is more well-rounded and gets to rest peacefully, and cs takes more time to develop and grow their relationship and the writing doesn’t suffer for overestimating how well one (1) ship can carry an entire ensemble show (spoiler alert: it can’t. and if there is a ship that can, it’s not this one)

on that note, killian gets a better or at least more consistent redemption arc

rumple stays dead after 3a

subsequently, belle or snow become the dark one. no i will not elaborate.

whether or not she gets a storyline like that, belle is allowed to develop as a character and move on from that relationship

snowing are…better people skfsafh

snow’s flaws are center stage and she gets a lot of development and character analysis (and maybe an evil arc? see above) because despite being annoying as fuck she’s actually one of the most interesting characters to me

there is either no Magic Soulmate Tattoo to push outlaw queen, OR when marian comes back, she and robin just go to live their lives and instead of being a dick about it, regina is just heartbroken and now has to examine what role “destiny” or “fate” or whatever actually play in her life and what her happy ending really is

also zelena gets a different ending idc what as long as she does not end up annoying me with her presence for 4 more seasons

ruby and mulan end up together (OR aurora and mulan because philip doesn’t come back. whichever floats ur boat.)

no frozen storyline at the height of the movie’s popularity because JESUS CHRIST. do a proper snow queen retelling instead. ingrid can stay.

side characters (ex. aurora, the og rapunzel, lancelot, RUBY, etc.) actually get to affect the plot instead of it all being about charming family drama and whatever new white blonde or easily marketable character they decided to introduce for the next 11 episodes

if someone dies they DIE. follow ur own worldbuilding’s rules challenge

waaaaaaaaay less anti-adoption sentiments esp early one and less idealization of the white suburban nuclear family. celebrate and showcase the complexities of all different kinds of families instead

all the poc don’t die immediately, get sidelined or mistreated for no reason, or end up miserable

less flashbacks that contradict previously-established canon and/or are just annoying and boring

SHADOW QUEEN ENDGAME

emma swan’s wardrobe and styling does not devolve into...that...

(also she doesn’t have a do-over baby who she names fucking HOPE...)

ella and tiana get more screentime and content instead of being sidelined for the sake of, surprise!, yet more white women

bisexual killian jones (pirates legally aren’t allowed to be cishet)

#anti ouat #rape mention tw #these have been in my head for 5 years i needed to put them somewhere #feel free to ignore #or don't #whatever works for u #also this is about making it bearable...if i wanted to make it GOOD this post would be a lot longer

25 notes · View notes

flapperdame16 · 3 years ago

Text

The Queen by Matthew Dennison Book Review!

(image: Head of Zeus Publishing)

Anyone who knows even a little inkling about me will know how much of a supporter I am of The Queen and the British Royal family. Since my childhood, I've been fascinated with Queen Elizabeth, even telling my Mom as young as age three (in the late 90s) I wanted to, "visit a place with a Queen".

At that age I didn't know the Queen by name, but the image I had inside my head was definitely of Elizabeth. A woman with short white hair wearing a crown was what the image of a, "Queen" , was to me. Fast forward to late 2010, just before William and Kate's engagement, and I became a full blown Royal watcher. Since I have been 14, I collect magazines, make an effort to watch video appearances, see documentaries, and follow many Monarchy devoted blogs and social media accounts to keep up with what is happening within "the fold". I watch The Crown every season on its release date (or close to its release date), and know all the latest buzz, but bizarrely, I never have sat down to read a full life biography of Queen Elizabeth. I have magazines, and coffee table books about her, but never chose out a biography. It's so difficult to choose a good one in a sea full of books, and for that, I am so thrilled I got the opportunity to read distinguished royal author Matthew Dennison's (he has written three other royal biographies) newest book simply and elegantly titled: The Queen. What makes Dennison's book stand out against the rest is firstly it's one of the first books to be published about the Queen after the death of Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh. It looks at their relationship throughout its entirety, giving a fresh examination on the longest royal marriage in history. It was comforting to be reassured how strong the bond between Philip and Elizabeth was. Sure they had their rough patches in their relationship, and nasty rumors along the way, (particularly in the late 50s), but I'd venture to say any marriage, and relationship that was established for 73 years does. It's not so much the bumps in the road they had, it was how they were able to navigate and work through them that counts. It's important to remember Philip and Elizabeth fought for their love, at the time of their marriage with anti-German sentiment, and they endured right up to Philip's death. Its inspiring, especially in the time we live in now. Secondly, I will mention this book does not deviate on tangents about others, its focus is always centered on Elizabeth. Throughout her long reign, many players both personally and professionally have crossed paths with HM; prime ministers, daughters-in-law, members of staff, and a whole bunch of others. Rather than devoting entire paragraphs to other players such as Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Princess Diana, HM The Queen Mother, or Private Secretary Martin Charteris, Dennsion gives us info about them on a need to know basis in relation to their relation to Queen Elizabeth. This keeps the writing focused with a strong flow in regards to the star subject. At the same time, it allows you to have basis of facts of certain players you may not know much about. During my own reading, to have a background context of the Prime Ministers was certainly a highlight for me, as I personally don't know much about the British Parliament and the people in it! Moreover, I want to point out how fascinating it was to read an in depth analysis of HM's childhood and young adult life before becoming Queen, as it's really the "least" documented part of her life. As with Queen Victoria many people only see Elizabeth as, "The old lady Queen", and it's sad many forget at one point she was a vibrant young women who reveled in being a 1950s military wife, and someone who grew up in a close knit household in a family unit of consisting of "we four" (herself, her parents, and sister, Margaret).

When she was born in 1926, Elizabeth was not in immediate line for the throne as her father Bertie (later George VI) was the second son of George V. David (later the abdicated, Edward VIII) was the oldest son and therefore, first in line. Elizabeth's childhood until the 1936 abdication (and the following Second World War) was spent as minor royalty, that only serious royal watchers in the 1920s/1930s would read about. Yet at the same time, she was the only "princess" at the time of her birth, and she was the only titled royal grandchild. Elizabeth had cousins who were daughter of her aunt, Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood, but those two sons were not HRHs. I learned just how fascinated people were with HM in her childhood, and it really drew parallels to how today people are fascinated with Princess Charlotte. From sparking name trends, to clothing trends, to making popular toys come en vogue, princess inspiration has always been in the public interest! Finally, I'd like to bring the to attention the fair criticism this book brings to Elizabeth's reign: it's no secret that no one is perfect. Elizabeth has had her fair share of political clashes, family problems and even scandals within her long reign. Its balanced in saying the longer one lives, the more events- both good and bad- you witness. The book is pretty nuanced when bringing up touchy topics such as the Princess Margaret and Group Captain Peter Townsend's romance, HM's parenting skills/ relationships with her children, the Aberfan disaster of 1966, and Princess Diana' death to name a few.

As in within the book, it's all about points of view and the facts. I'm delighted to say the book doesn't take sides when viewing these topics, rather gives enough info for the reader to form their own opinion. I must say, however, I particularly didn't care for the slightly snide remarks given towards Princess Diana- always calling her every move "revenge" towards the family. That rubbed me the wrong way, but as I said, it's all about perception.

Overall, this book was a really informative read that is not just a rehash of the same ol', same ol' you would read in any random biography of Queen Elizabeth. With the last chapter clocking in at page 506, it may seem like a long dung out read, but it goes by quickly once you start digging in. (Personally I spotted one error on page 403, it's William Arthur Philip Louis, not William Philip Arthur!)

What I personally took away from the read was The Queen is an enduring woman. She's witnessed hardships of war, family crisis, premature deaths, scandals, and even the covid-19 pandemic, yet she's always been there for her people, her family and her country. She's been able to navigate changing times and as The Crown actress Claire Foy has said in her 2017 Golden Globes acceptance speech, Elizabeth has been at "the center of the world" since 1953 when she ascended to the throne. I don't think I myself could do better if I were in her shoes, and all that's left to do now, I believe, is to appreciate her hard work and dedication. God save the Queen!

Above: My Copy of The Queen with (some of!) my other Royal books! :)

I'd like thank Hailey and the whole team at Kaye Publicity for sending me a copy of the book to read and review. The Queen by Matthew Dennison will be available to own on September 1, 2021 in the USA and is available worldwide online and in participating stores. Links are as follows, and check out my YouTube Review video HERE)

AMAZON USA (Hardcover)

Barnes and Noble

AMAZON UK (Hardcover)

The Queen Goodreads' page

Matthew Dennison Author page

The Queen (Head of Zeus Publishing page)

#queen elizabeth ii #book review #matthew dennison #british royal family #prince philip #prime minister #world leaders #biography #royal book review

12 notes · View notes

razieltwelve · 3 years ago

Text

Close Combat (Final Fall)

Once, long ago, opposing ships had drawn opposite each other on the high seas of Remnant to delivery devastating broadsides. That age had long since passed, but there were still battles to be fought, if in space instead of upon the open sea.

X X X

No one spoke on the bridge of the Imperial dreadnought Valorous Heart. Instead, the minds of everyone on board were linked in a sort of quasi-telepathy established by the vessels artificial intelligence. Commands were issued faster than thought itself and obeyed just as quickly. Organic and machine worked in perfect unison to ply their deadly trade.

“They’re pulling alongside,” Heart, the artificial intelligence of the ship, murmured through the shared comms. “They’re looking for close combat.”

The ship’s captain, Artanus, took a split-second to consider the situation even as Heart gently pushed the results of thousands of simulations into his mind. The captain’s lips curved up into a smile, and he ran one hand through his thinning grey hair.

“Oblige them.”

X X X

The Federation dreadnought, Flame of Adan, had led the Federation’s attack on the systems held by the House of Arc. It had delivered a crushing blow, successfully defeating the Arc flagship in orbit over Benevolence IV. The one hundred mile long ship had gone down, splitting into several pieces before impacting the surface with extinction-level force.

This time it sought to repeat the feat against the flagship of the Imperial suppression force that had arrived to shield the fleeing remnants of the battered Arc and Lie Fleets. Blasting its way toward the heart of the Imperial formation, Adan, the artificial intelligence, had almost expected his foe to seek shelter in his escort. Instead, he received a reply worthy of an Imperial dreadnought espousing a sentiment he shared.

“Death before dishonour.”

His captain chuckled at the message.

“Move in for close combat.”

X X X

In an age where weapons could fire at interstellar distance, it seemed absurd to close to within only a few hundred miles of each other before opening fire. Yet at the same time, it made an awful kind of sense. Electronic counter measures, evasive manoeuvre, stealth technology, and protective advances had all increased the survivability of ships to match their weapons output.

But at this range, there would be little such frivolity. Instead, they would be betting everything on the skill of their crew, the advancement of their systems, and the quality of their engineering and weapons

As an Imperial dreadnought, Flame would put his systems, crew, and engineering against any ship in existence. The Empire’s finest shipwright had designed him and his classmates, and the mightiest of the navies shipyards - a multi-system manufactory - had laid his keel and forged his hull, whilst the Dia-Farron themselves had installed only the deadliest of weapons. For a hundred years, he had stood unyielding in the face of the Empire’s enemies. He would not turn and run, not before the Adan, not before any vessel.

For the Adan, it was a simple matter. If the Flame could not be defeated, then the Empire’s forces would surely triumph. The Flame possessed superior ranged weaponry, but the Adan was one of the most advanced dreadnoughts in the Federation’s fleet, and his crew was amongst the most experienced. Moreover, his weapons were designed specifically for close combat ship-to-ship warfare.

For a brief moment - a handful of the supremely swift processing cycles of his kind - he admired the other ship. The Flame was magnificent, a testament to the Empire’s naval tradition. And then the admiration gave way to excitement, to joy. He was a dreadnought, and battle was his trade.

“Weapons free!” his captain ordered through the quasi-telepathy, dozens of other, more specific orders being transmitted to gunners, engineers, and other staff. “Engage!”

X X X

Thousands upon thousands of laser batteries lit up, spanning the gap between the two vessels with impossible speed. Missiles followed, and the space between them lit up as their shields erupted in coruscating defensive displays. Minute holes appeared, bored into the shields by the handful of specialised shield-disrupting missiles that had managed to connect only to be patched over by dedicated shield projectors.

The rail guns opened fire next, titanic mass driving behemoths that could slag planets. Projectiles tipped with exotic materials designed to unleash localised singularities or anti-matter driven explosion amplified to absurd degrees rocketed forward at close to light speeds, each weighing thousands of tonnes.

This was the modern equivalent of the broadside, a glorious no-holds-barred barrage that sought to bury the opponent beneath sheer weight of fire. The shields of both ships flickered beneath the assault, enough power to crush solar systems raging against their defences. In a longer-range duel, there might have been an option to unleash nova cannons or other more powerful weaponry, but not at this range.

The plasma batteries, photonic-kinetic weapons, and singularity weapons came online last. The shields of both ships finally splintered, and space and time went insane. Weapons that defied reality and tore the very fabric of space-time sent sensor pods wailing in distress, and at last, at long last, the final layer of the ships’ defences was called into play.

Their armoured hulls.

Neutronium, Infinitum, and materials so exotic that they could not have been produced in more than trace amounts only a few centuries ago made up the armoured hulls. Star-killing forces carved furrows in the hull, and the klaxon of alarms rang out on both ships as furrows became cracks and holes.

Engineering crews rushed to stymie the damage alongside drones as the two ships continued their relentless assault. But slowly but surely, one of them was gaining an advantage.

X X X

Flame passed the message onto his captain and crew. There would be no evacuation. Short-range teleportation and so on would be impossible with this much exotic radiation still in the area thanks to the weapons exchange.

“We could surrender,” Flame offered. “They would let us live.”

The captain sent the question through the telepathic comms channel, and the reply was unanimous.

“Overload all reactors,” the captain ordered, a small smile on his face. “For the Federation!”

X X X

“Sir, the Flame has overloaded his reactors,” Heart said quietly. “They’re going out shooting.”

“Understood.” Artanus nodded gravely. “Then the least we can do is oblige them.” He took off his hat. “Match output. Destroy the Flame.”

X X X

As Flame’s hull came apart and his crew died, he took a few cycles to reflect on his impending death. There would be no backups for him. The interference from the lingering radiation was too great to transmit a copy, and the version of him in the archives was far too outdated to even be considered a copy of the AI that he was now.

“Congratulations,” he sent the words across the void to Heart. “You’ve won.”

The other AI was sombre. “You fought well. It should not have come to this.”

“But it did,” Flame replied. “And so here we are.”

His processors began to stutter as an explosion tore through his innards, vaporising his reactors and sending energy spikes radiating throughout his systems.

“It looks like this is the end for me,” Flame said. He’d thought that he might be frightened when this day came. Instead, there was only quiet satisfaction. He'd held nothing back. He and his crew had been as close to perfect as it was possible to be. Their loss could not be laid at their feet.

“You can keep talking if you like. I’ll listen.”

And so, for the last few cycles before he vanished in a blinding explosion, Flame told Heart about the beauty of the shipyards where he’d been built, of his brothers and sisters who had fought so proudly for the Federation. As the last cycle came, he sent across a wave of emotion, what passed for a smile amongst their kind.

“It was an honour to face you.”

“The honour was mine.”

X X X

Author’s Notes

A glimpse of ship-to-ship combat in that era.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

#final fall #fanfiction

8 notes · View notes

aielwasteofspace · 4 years ago

Text

The discourse on Mutants

Or Why the MCU isn’t ready for the X-Men.

I love Marvel comics. Huge fanboy, have been for a while, but it after phase one of the MCU my excitement for Marvel’s cinematic offerings took a nose dive. And it’s easy to explain why. Marvel and Disney began to sanitize their characters, stories, and the MCU at large. Iron Man 1 and 2 made a large part of Tony’s character arch revolve around trauma and the recovery from said trauma. We see Tony fall face first into alcoholism, and face the consequences of that path. Then Avengers happens, and suddenly our heroes have to be heroes full time. Suddenly Tony’s trauma is the butt of the joke. Steve’s challenges being a man out of time are played for laughs, and everyone has said all there is to say about Bro Thor. The only real Face The Consequences Of Your Actions moment came in the form of the Sokovia Accords, which actively get hand waved in later films. Unsurprisingly, it’s because of Wanda, who is pulling almost all of the weight of setting the stage for a proper X-Men universe, but I’ll get there.

The MCU bends over backwards to avoid actually challenging the status quo. It makes it difficult to get excited for the future of X-films when we’ve seen these historically revolutionary characters who’s entire premise is to push for change, status quo be damned, be reduced to brightly colored guardian sentinels of normalcy. Winter Soldier proves that Cap is right in challenging SHIELD because Nazis were pulling the strings all along. It’s not the government that’s bad, just the Nazis. Civil War says that Cap is wrong, and only cares about his buddy. Tony is right because he listens to the No Longer Nazi government. The status quo is preserved, we do not have to challenge our views.

One needs look no further than Black Panther to see just how far Disney is willing to go to avoid challenging its audience. Oh, sure, they call the white guy Colonizer, but the character who actually acknowledges a need for an overhaul in the system? The guy who vaguely implies in a general sort of way that systemic racism is very real and needs to be fought? He’s the bad guy. And the hero has to beat him up so that he can uphold the status quo then address the symptoms of the problem that he kind of acknowledges is there.

And that’s just the way the studios handle their characters. In universe is another beast all together, but that alone is enough to make me iffy on Disney’s X-Men. The characters and stories are very thinly veiled allegories for the civil rights movement, and most of the time that veil isn’t even there. They challenge the status quo and make the reader ask hard questions about the system and themselves. The X-Men and in a much larger sense Mutants are the ultimate Other and are intended to make the audience feel for them, and hopefully better themselves so that villains like Magneto are be seen as unnecessary. The goal is to make him seem wrong. Humanity can accept mutants, and does. Society can accept poc, lgbtqa+, Muslims, Jewish people, and anyone else othered by our systems and status quo. But we have to challenge those ways of thinking. One of the biggest recurring bad guy groups in the comics is an anti-mutant hate group that is literally just the KKK pallet swapped. I have a hard time believing that Disney will go there.

Now in universe I’d say the MC U has been in the wrong stat for mutants since at least Endgame. Ultron and Civil war had society facing the right direction, instilling a general fear and mistrust of “enhanced individuals”, but Endgame leaves the world in a state of relative hero worship. TFaTWS has Bucky, former assassin and Interpol most wanted basically on parole, and Sam, former Interpol most wanted, acting as free agents beholden to no government body. Sam is greeted and treated as a celebrity. Wanda starts her solo-series with the same impunity, even though she’s basically the whole reason the Sokovia accords happened. They are super heroes, and the world loves them.

But the ground work has been laid for the MCU to have an appropriate atmosphere for the X-Men. And it started with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Outing Peter, and having him framed as a menace begins to establish the framework for an end to hero worship, and starting it with Spidey is actually pretty brilliant. Spider-Man’s powers have no in universe explanation. As far as the public at large knows, Peter Parker was born with these powers. Ol’ Triple J could drop the final nail in the coffin with a single headline (or segment, seeing as he runs Info Wars in the diegetic) “Spider-Man: Mutant or Menace?”

WandaVision keeps the ball rolling by having Wanda essentially abuse her powers in a very public way to the detriment of those affected (no spoilers), sewing the seeds of fear and mistrust. Again, as far as the general public is concerned, Wanda Maximof was born with the powers she turned against others, effectively a Mutant, and no one was prepared to stop her.

Now within the first two episodes of TFaTWS, the stage is set to completely destroy society’s faith in super heroes. There’s a new Captain America on the scene, the public eye is firmly on him, and he has the makings of a spiteful bully. Sam and Bucky, who have mostly been forgiven their trespasses are playing by their own rules, oversight be damned. If they play these arch’s right, it paves the way for a lot of destruction of good will. But we’ll have to see.

In conclusion, while I don’t have high hopes for Disney’s handling of the X-Men, I do think the stage is being set for them to come in in a big way, and while the ground work is being set to introduce Disney’s shiny new toys, they have a ways to go before the Anti-Mutant sentiment they will no doubt try to make a big deal in universe makes sense.

TL;DR Disney needs to hold out on playing with their shiny new toys until they finish putting in the work for the characters and narratives to make sense, and I don’t trust Michael Mouse to handle the X-Men right.

#mcu drabble #mcu discourse #mcu mutants #mcu x men #X-men #mcu #tfatws #wandavision #long post

22 notes · View notes

archadianskies · 4 years ago

Text

Whumptober Day 5

Rescue → part of the A/9 SWATverse

Whumptober Masterlist | 05/31 of RK900 short stories ↳ on Ao3

Tags: Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings × Anti-Android Sentiments (Detroit: Become Human) × Anti-Android Language (Detroit: Become Human) × Verbal Abuse × Power Imbalance × Established Relationship × Team as Family × Good Parent Hank Anderson × Imprisonment

The thing is, the thing he figures out, is that no one’s supposed to know he exists. There’s no record of him anywhere, not a single line buried in fineprint, not even a whisper, not even the rumour of a whisper. The FBI’s downfall- Perkins’ downfall, is his pride, his failure to resist the urge to show off.

It’s not even a mission, it’s not a special occasion, it’s just meant to be an ice-breaker, a dumb team-bonding thing which always, inevitably, turns into a pissing contest. Not exactly how David pictures spending an ideal weekend off-duty but letting off some steam by letting his team loose in the woods with paintball guns isn’t entirely undesirable.

He just wishes it weren’t in tandem with Perkins’ SWAT unit because he loathes Richard Perkins, and his SWAT unit loathes Perkins’ SWAT unit. It’s never just fun and games with Perkins. It’s never any fun with Perkins, ever, actually.

And so there they were, deep in the woods and he’d sent Caleb off with three of the team and he was leading three others, with the other four to the far left. He’d come around from behind a tree and Caleb shot him square in the chest. Instant kill. He’d been so surprised, so caught off guard, so betrayed that he couldn’t react. Only it wasn’t Caleb at all, because Caleb was on the other side of the grounds as confirmed by three of their unit. It was another RK900. The FBI’s RK900, a secret RK900 who didn’t exist on paper. SWAT Unit 32 lost that round and oh how Perkins gloated but all he could think about was that RK900.

It’s 3am and he doesn’t even have to say a single word to the android curled up in bed beside him. They dress in dark clothes, they sneak out of the hotel and head for the vans parked by the paintball grounds. Caleb deactivates the car alarms and hacks into the electronic locks to open each van until they find him. The other RK900. The one that shouldn’t exist.

“Hello.” Caleb greets quietly, and the other android’s LED spins red in alarm. “I’m Caleb.”

“Caleb RK900 Anderson, part of SWAT Unit 32 under Captain David Allen’s command.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Caleb nods. “What’s your name?”

“I have not been assigned a name.”

“How long have you been active?” David asks. The RK900 turns his steely gaze on him, and though they’re the same colour as Caleb’s eyes, his seem so devoid of warmth, of life.

“Eight months, two weeks and one day, sir.”

“That’s-” Caleb frowns, brows creasing. “We were activated on the same day. But you don’t have a name?”

“Special Agent Perkins stated that one does not need to assign names to pieces of equipment.” The RK900 recites and David scoffs.

“Pieces of fucking equipment, he says.”

“You are not a piece of equipment.” Caleb climbs into the van, grabbing his wrist. “You are Alive. You know that, right? We are not machines, we are Alive. We are living, sentient beings. Legally.”

“The passing of the Sentient Life Act on the first of December 2038. Yes I am aware.” He nods, pulling his arm out of his grasp. “However I have been extensively modified for the FBI’s exclusive use and thus I possess no autonomy.”

“Can you do it?” David asks his partner. “The- the fancy freedom thing? The Markus thing?”

“I can try.” Caleb bites his bottom lip, retracting the skin from his hand. “I’ve never had to deviate an android before. I was never...not a deviant.”

“I cannot deviate.” The RK900 says sternly. “I am equipment belonging to the FBI and I must report any attempt to tamper with me.”

“Give me one attempt,” Caleb says lightly, “and then report us afterward.” He grasps his wrist again, the skin automatically retracting from the other RK900 as he opens a connection between them. David watches his face intently, watches the android frown, his LED still a strong neon red glowing in the dimly lit van. A myriad of emotions flit through his face; wonder, curiosity, confusion, fear. When Caleb draws his hand back, he looks at him with open sorrow.

“It’s always been like that for you? From the very beginning?”

“Yeah.” Caleb confirms quietly. The other android seems to curl inward, rubbing his arms as if to soothe himself.

“Why did your team love you so readily, so easily, when mine lock me up in the armoury after every mission, along with the rest of their guns?”

“Because mine never saw me as a piece of equipment.” Caleb reaches for his hands. “Mine saw me as one of their own.”

“One of their own.” He echoes, eyes glassy. “I wish I could be so beloved.”

“You can.” David shrugs. “You will be.”

“Captain, I don’t understand-”

“You’re coming with us.” David says simply. “We’re not letting them take you back. This is the equipment van isn’t it? We’re all heading back to the city tomorrow and it looks like everything’s already loaded. They won’t even check for you, will they?”

“No, sir. They won’t.” There’s such grief in his eyes, and David knows it’s because he would’ve seen Caleb’s life, all eight months, two weeks and one day, full of friendship and family, camaraderie and love. Everything Perkins would’ve denied him.

“Then you’re coming with us.” David repeats, and the RK900 looks at him like he’s offered him the world on a platter, and he supposes that’s true.

*~*~*

It’s not the most elegant rescue mission they’ve ever undertaken. It’s by far the funniest, though; stealing something from Team Prickins, from right under their noses and feigning innocence the entire time. Technically, they’ve stolen a piece of equipment from the FBI. Technically, the piece of equipment doesn’t exist, so they haven’t stolen anything, actually. Caleb gives him some of his clothes so he can change out of that godawful uniform and belatedly David realises the RK900 is showing signs of trauma, now that he knows what trauma is. Now that he has a basis for comparison.

“I’m-” Caleb takes a deep breath he doesn’t need, and squares his shoulders. “I’m going to call my dad and my brother.” He doesn’t wait for a reply and goes out onto the balcony, closing the door behind him.

He doesn’t call them, not right away. Caleb sits down heavily, resting his forehead on the cool railing and closing his eyes. Reaching for the compiled file, he picks apart the deluge of memories the other RK900 had shown him; the memories his brother had shown him, Caleb corrects himself, because the android in the room with his partner is his brother, surely. His twin, even, since they were both created, both activated, both deployed at the same time. It’s certainly what Connor would think, anyway. It’s what their father would say.

He opens eyes that are not his own and he’s in a supplies van being activated for the first time with no memory of his testing phase. Richard Perkins stands in front of him, arms crossed as he looks him over. A CyberLife representative stands at his side, and they are flanked by security.

“And no one knows it exists?”

Yes sir.” The rep confirms with a nod. “This RK900 does not exist on any records and belongs to the FBI exclusively. It has been modified to connect only to the FBI mainframe and cannot connect to any other wi-fi source. It has no knowledge of the outside world, and the RK800 base program has been removed almost completely to allow a higher percentage of Myrmidon programming.”

“Good.” Perkins nods. “Anything I need to know about upkeep?”

“Entirely self-sufficient. Charging bay will be installed in the Armoury. Supplies will be added to the regular supplies the FBI publicly receives for its auxiliary units so nothing will seem amiss.”

“Good.” Perkins says again, giving him one last appraising look before he turns around and steps out of the van, everyone trailing out behind him. The last guard closes the door and leaves him inside.

“This is an eight million dollar weapon.” Perkins says in the next memory, and he opens his eyes to find himself looking out at a sea of FBI agents. “Do you understand? A weapon. It belongs to the FBI SWAT unit, and we take it with us when heavy weapons are required. No one plays it with it. No one tests it. It stays in the Armoury when we don’t need it. Understood?”

It’s been two days and he doesn’t have a name.

“Alright, and Spiteri I need you to take five guys and go ‘round through here.” They’re poring over a blueprint hologram on the table, mapping out the next mission. His first mission.

“Sir, it would be faster if-” He barely gets the words out before Perkins turns on him, eyes bulging with rage as he grabs the front of his uniform.

“Did I fucking ask? Play back the memory where I fucking asked for your opinion, hm?” He gives him a rough shake before shoving him away. He closes his mouth immediately and steps back, standing at attention and keeping his eyes downcast.

“God I fucking hate androids.”

Four days, and no name.

The mission is a success and everyone is happy even though they’re grimy and sweaty and a little bloody. They cheer and pat each other on the back and even Perkins manages some semblance of a pleased smirk.

“Alright alright, chuck the weapons in a pile by the door and hit the showers. I want reports by midnight!” He orders and there’s a chorus of groans in reply. Perkins turns to him. “Cleaned, locked, and logged. Understood?”

“Yes sir.” He says quietly, stepping into the Armoury. Perkins closes the door behind him, and it locks with a mechanical click. Bending, he picks up the first gun and methodically, mechanically, goes through the motions of stripping it, cleaning it, reassembling it and then returning it to its proper place. He logs it, then picks up the next gun. It is soothing, he thinks, almost rhythmic in a way as he repeats the actions, over and over until the last gun is locked and logged.

Looking down at himself, he realises belatedly that a bullet wound has gone through and through his side and he’s been bleeding steadily the entire time. No matter. Opening one of the crates, he retrieves a repair kit and sits himself down on one of the benches. He must be in perfect working order, and he must look clean and ready for the next mission.

Maybe if he does well, they will give him a name.

It has been two months, and he knows they will not give him a name because they do not see a team member, they see a piece of equipment. He is a weapon, much like the guns he cleans for them. A gun has a make and model, and so does he. Nothing more.

There’s sound from one of the vents one Spring morning. It’s faint, undetectable to humans but he is not a human. There must be a nest somewhere high up on this side of the building and he counts one, two, three hatchlings, their incessant high pitched chirps carrying down to him as they cry for food. He listens to them, notes the change in pitch of their cries as they grow older and bigger day by day. They help pass the time between missions when he is locked up like a piece of equipment, no more than another gun to the team. He wonders what it’s like to look up and see the expanse of blue sky whenever one pleases.

It’s too dangerous, there’s too many gunmen shooting down at them and there’s not enough cover. He darts out, feeling the bullets cut through his torso as he dives forward and grabs their fallen agent. Dragging him takes considerable effort, straining his damaged chassis and burning through his depleting thirium levels but it’s do this or lose them.

They make it back, and the fallen agent is yanked from his arms so first aid can be applied. Red warnings cascade down his HUD one, the largest one glaring in large letters his thirium pump regulator has sustained damage. His hand comes away blue after pressing it just below his sternum, and his already depleting thirium levels are plummeting drastically. He sways on his feet before his knees buckle and he hits the ground.

“Ah fuck. Get it in the van!” Perkins curses, looking down at him like one might a stain on the heel of their favourite shoe.

When he wakes he’s back in the Armoury, repaired and whole. There’s a stack of guns and gear piled by the door. He knows what to do. The birds are singing today. At least he has music while he works.

“Not technically a mission, but I fucking hate Allen and his merry band of misfits.” Perkins spits as he trails him down the hall. “They’ve got the other one. The official one of you. CyberLife’s pretend olive branch to the DPD. I hear he’s fucking it too. Figures. Everyone in the precinct suddenly loves androids now the detective bot claims it has feelings.”

They enter the carpark and there are two vans- one for the humans, and one for the equipment. He already knows which one to climb into.

When the door opens he’s somewhere far outside the city. He’s never left the city before, and the expanse of green is startling.

“Listen up. No one knows you exist, and it stays that way.” Perkins points sternly. “You’re here because I want Allen’s team to eat shit and lose every single round and think it’s the fault of their own android.”

There is another, just like him, here today. He wants to meet him. He wants to know what it’s like to be touched with desire because it seems his superior is intimate with him. Does he have a name? Yes, surely he has a name. Will he give him one? Could he ask that of him?

Captain David Clark Allen is forty-four years old and has been at the helm of Unit 32 for fifteen years now. That is the official information. He has olive green eyes. That is what he personally discovers when he ambushes him from behind a tree. The man hesitates, brow furrowing in confusion before he makes to move past him. He pulls the trigger and the paintball splatters right over his chest where his heart lies. Those green eyes widen in shock. Mission accomplished. He heads deeper into the woods.

Caleb sees himself, sees his own memories looped as he shows the RK900 his life from the moment he awoke in the CyberLife lab with Hank and Connor looking at him with soft encouraging smiles, to his first meeting with Unit 32, to the feeling of warm human skin beneath his fingers as he traces the serrated scar over David’s ribs, to the feeling of hands in his chest as David straddles him and cups his shattered heart in his hands. David’s mouth on his, David’s broad chest rising and falling with each breath as he feels the muscles move beneath his palm, David’s soft gaze in the morning, sharing the same pillow almost nose to nose.

The feel of coarse dog fur and a wet dog nose pushing insistently at his hand, nagging for pets. The tight embrace of his father, the friendly arm around his shoulder of his brother. The teasing, the ribbing, the hair tousles from the team. He drowns in love while his RK900 twin yearns for it; a deluge versus a desert. But no longer.

“Caleb?” Hank answers his call, amusement in his voice. “What, you need to rant to your old man about how much of a prick Perkins is in person?”

“Dad.” He doesn’t mean for his voice to break, and all of a sudden Hank’s tone loses its mirth.

“Are you alright? What happened? Is David with you?”

“Dad.” He tries again. “Can you put me on speaker?” “Yeah, yeah o’ course.” There’s a brief pause as Hank sits down and fumbles with the setting. “Okay go ahead.”

“I have a twin brother.” Silence. “He was given to the FBI, to Perkins’ unit and he’s been- they’ve just- they locked him up in the Armoury like a gun and he’s as old as I am and he doesn’t even have a name and David and I have smuggled him into our room and I’m bringing him home tomorrow okay?!” It all comes out in a rush and there’s a long pause on the other end of the line. “Dad?”

“Good thing you were plannin’ on movin’ out with David.” Hank chuckles softly. “Because your brother’s going to need a room.”

*~*~*

“Captain Allen, if there is anywhere you would like to station me so I am out of your way-”

“You are not in my way.” He keeps his tone soft and reassuring, knowing the RK900 sees him as an authority figure, and the only authority figure he has ever answered to is Perkins and Perkins is a fucking unfeeling ice monster whose own colleagues hate him. “Sit with me, please?” He doesn’t feel forty-four, he feels about a quarter of that and tucked at his ma’s side as she explains how sometimes there are children in her class who’ve been through things no children should have to experience and sometimes they just need someone willing to sit with them and help in a softer, kinder way rather than urging them through verbal encouragement alone.

His weekend bag is in reach and he fishes out a couple of fliers that had come with the paperwork for the event. “I’ll teach you a neat trick my ma taught me, to keep my hands busy.”

“Yes, captain.” The RK900 nods attentively as he accepts one of the fliers.

“First, we need to square off the paper like so-” it’s a wonder he still remembers, but it’s mainly muscle memory anyway. They’re about halfway into making an origami unicorn when he attempts some conversation. “You may not have been assigned a name, but you can choose one. Caleb chose his.”

“I know, sir.” A flash of panic, the fear of reprimand. “I meant that Caleb showed me. I meant no disrespect, Captain Allen.”

“It’s alright. I know what you meant.” He wonders what cruelty Perkins wrought, to make an RK900 flinch like that. “You can go through databases and pick one out. You can play around with your model number and use that as a base. It’s your choice entirely.”

“I have never had to choose, sir.” He says it as if he is confessing to a great crime.

“You’ve never been allowed to choose.” David corrects. “Feds didn’t think much of assigning their fancy killing machine a name or the ability to choose one for himself.”

“Federal Bureau of Investigation.” The RK900 says slowly. “Federal. Frederick, perhaps?”

“Fred from the Feds.” David grins, and Frederick attempts to mimic the gesture. It’s clumsy and awkward and entirely endearing.

“Freddie, maybe?” He suggests shyly, hopefully, and David nods in approval.

“Frederick ‘Freddie’ Anderson.”

“Anderson?” He blinks.

“Oh you’ll be an Anderson.” David laughs. “Hank hasn’t met you yet, but when he does, you’ll be an Anderson for sure.”

#rk900 #captain allen #allen900 #detroit: become human #richard perkins #annie writes: dbh #whumptober

9 notes · View notes

beevean · 5 years ago

Note

What happened in your country?

I don’t even know how to begin

Okay, this is the prologue to understand how it all started:

1) in March 2018 we got the new government. Due to some hard-to-explain loophole, we ended up with one Prime Minister and two Vice Prime Ministers, one from the 5 Star Movement and the other from the Northern League

2) the latter is Matteo Salvini, who essentially is one of the two Mini Trumps we have (the other is Berlusconi) - he has in common with Trump his hate boners for immigrants, his simple populist language, his “Make X Great Again” rethoric, and his addiction to social media. Oh, and the reason his party is Northern League? Before hating on African immigrants became trendy, his party used to shit on Southern Italians and say we should all be killed by a volcanic eruption. Just to give you the idea of what kind of character he is.

3) Salvini quickly becomes the most prominent figure in the political scenario, due to his aggressive, obsessive stance on immigration (he routinely forbids boats with immigrants to come here, leaving them in the sea for weeks, for no other reason than to show off his power) and his populist charisma (he calls himself the Captain and makes Facebook posts about being a DJ on a famous Milanese beach, for example). He quickly gains even more popularity because of this, as shown by the European elections of this year - no doubt this caused Salvini to grow an ego the size of Russia

4) Salvini and the other vice PM, Luigi di Maio, are constantly on each other throats because the come from very different parties (the 5SM is unaffiliated and anti-establishment, the NL is far-right). The actual PM, Giuseppe Conte, does very little to mediate between the two. This causes a recession and a period of economical and social instability - it doesn’t help that the very few reforms they actually managed to approve, such as the Reddito di Cittadinanza (which was literally throwing money to people without jobs or a stable home, which is just begging for people lying about their income), are utter failures and tank even more our fragile economy

Okay, now on the real crisis

1) due to an inability to get anything of substance done, Salvini, at the beginning of August, calls the government off, basically pulling everyone out of their vacation (and already pissing everyone off)

2) even an idiot can understand that his idea was to run for PM on his own, since he’s the most popular politician as the 5SM disappointed their entire fanbase and the other parties are still pretty unpopular

3) the 5SM, though, refuse to go down, and sick and tired of him seek an alliance with the Democratic Party, a left-wing movement that until now was a literal punchline. People such as Renzi and Berlusconi also rose from the dead to give their support to the hypothetical 5SM/DP alliance, and even fucking Conte himself grew a spine and started to tell Salvini off

4) Salvini, realizing he has fucked up royally and has no more allies on his side, slowly starts to backpedal, but he still pushes for going to the urns again. We all had to wait until today to see what Conte had to say on the matter

5) today arrived, and Conte announced he is going to resign, but before that, he essentially tore Salvini a new asshole, criticizing every single thing he has done since March 2018, from his racist language that fed anti-immigrant sentiments to his disgusting use of religious symbols and the Virgin Mary to appeal to the catholic people (and, as another person pointed out, the mafia)

6) memes ensue

7) who knows. As usual, Italy’s future is unpredictable. It’s very likely, however, that this move will eventually kill Salvini’s career, as I doubt he’s now as popular as he was a few months ago - and I can’t wait to see him crash and burn

#italy #it's all a big circus and we're spinning round and round #ultimatestormf

7 notes · View notes

roxannepolice · 6 years ago

Note

How could the IX story go if we don’t hope for HEA Reylo? What could the plot be if we don’t assume the story’s going that way? To make sure we’re covering all possibilities

You mean boring, apoetic and wholesome morality porn that would render at least one third of the saga useless? You will be relieved to hear that I have no idea.

No, seriously, I didn’t even get aboard of hae reylo because I liked the ship, it just appears to me to be the most fitting conclusion to the saga. Then again, I also think that of a massive reintegration of fo members, which most reylos dismiss, so…

Well, I dunno, maybe this is the one question we should be asking an/is about, because sometimes I’m really curious what do they think is going to happen in epix. What can I say, my sorta-anti mother who’s a literature teacher in a high ranking high school and to whom I owe much of my own cultural analysis skills, is totally sure Rey will kill Ben in a manner framed as 100% morally applaudable, so it’s not as if ony prejudiced morons were banking on this option...

But anyway, as a brain pilates for the sake of brain pilates, let’s analyze. First of all, I really don’t think this trilogy is intricately related to the future ones, because Rian Johnson could start working on his trilogy before epix is finished, so even if there is an introduction of a new threat to the galaxy, epix will have a general sense of orignals-like closure rather than prequels-like to be continued. So I would say it can go two ways: either honestly bitter-sweet or forcedly sweetening the bitterness. The latter option is pretty straightforward: no moral ambiguities, Rey the infallible maiden of light vanquishes evil renperor and spends the rest her life either surrounded by resistance harem or as a nun among lamai or sth.

Not only is this conclusion boring as hell, but also begs the question why the f*ck were we given Anakin when we could have always had Rey - though tbh, I see a sentiment among some anti-bendemptionists saying this trilogy is here to retcon rather than solve the problems created by the prequels: so Rey is Anakin who won’t fall for Kylo Palpatine’s viles and thus restore balance to the force by the sheer power of her freckles. Then again, this fits into my theory that Rey was consciously made into a character we would have wanted Anakin-we-didn’t-know-to-become-Vader to be so that we will get at least a glimpse of what Ani’s fall felt like from Obi-Wan’s or Padmé’s perspective.

Yes, I am

The other possibility is a more interesting one and it’s basically the reylo as obikin parallel storyline that I think Kylo’s individual survival without moral ambiguities would realistically turn out as. Rey is just too qualiatively morally superior to Ben to truly connect with him after what he’s done, just as Obi-Wan was too morally superior to Anakin to connect with him. Ben may get redeemed, maybe he’ll even survive and the conclusion would leave a bitter-sweet aftertaste similar to rebe|captain - you can tell it was there, it was meant to be, but because of the political tragedies he himself was responsible for it just won’t be. This is the most realistic conclusion should Rey stay a static character in epix, because I’ll maintain tlj’s finale establishes nothing beyond its own non-establishness.

And of course there’s a full blown tragedy that I’d say fluffy reylo in the first act would end as. Note that this opening isn’t that much different from anida|a in the opening of RotS, as far as drama is concerned, with the force bond serving as equivalent of their marriage, so from dramatic pov it would be most powerful to end it in a tragedy where at least one of them dies - for good. This story would most likely end in Ben’s last act tragic redemption with Rey being heartbroken afterwards and the movie sending some form of emptily optimistic message of her finding peace in sacrificing her life to the benefit of others or sth.

If we are to go a bit overboard, there is yet an option of Rey going full-blown sith lady and turning out to be the villain of the next trilogy, but... that would really be a bit too badass but pointless to happen.

So yeah, here are my takes on how this trilogy could end in something else than hae reylo. But then again, I really think if we want some non-biased insight into this topic we should perhaps sacrifice a bit of our sanity and go Rouge One on an/is to steal the epix plans they envision.

#asks #episode ix speculation #reylo #star wars

19 notes · View notes

dragonmuse · 6 years ago

Note

I don't have a library near me, but I wanted to know if you could rec me a love story with a gay trans man and,,, no anti gay/trans violence

Ok, so the caveat here is that I haven’t read these books, but I tried to scan all the reviews to make sure there was no mention of violence against the MCs. I recommend reading about them yourself as well. The links I provided are to GoodReads, ere a lot of the reviews are marked for spoilers so you can be a 100% sure you’ll be comfortable reading them.

If anyone reading this wants to add a rec or comment on something I missed, please let me know so I can amend the list.

The Burnt Toast B and B by Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz. Sounds like a very traditional romance novel plot! It’s the fourth in a series, but with romance novels it’s rare that you need to read the others for context.

Starting from Scratch by Jay Northcote. Also one in a series, but again you don’t need to read the others.

Neverland by Austin Chant. Look Peter Pan is transgender and in love with Captain Hook in this book. It’s on my ‘to read’ list now! There’s violence in this one, but it’s not because Peter is transgender as far as I can tell.

To Summon Nightmares by J.K. Pendragon. The romance takes a backseat to the horror/thriller plot, but is present.

What It Looks Like by Matthew J. Metzger - Established relationship. BDSM themes.

Coffee Boy by Austin Chant - Does contain an age difference (12 years), potential infidelity and some verbal anti-trans sentiments.

#the dragon's day job #hope this ok #please let me know if I've made mistakes #Anonymous

4 notes · View notes

adventism-atheism-orthodoxy-me · 6 years ago

Link

This is a very interesting article detailing certain early strains of Adventism, and how they developed out of the real concerns of the people involved.

From the text (emphasis mine):

The key doctrines which comprised the core of what became known as "Present Truth" were:

1)The imminent, literal, cataclysmic and pre-millennial Second Coming.

2)The Pre-Advent "Investigative Judgment."

3)A millennial reign of the redeemed with Christ in heaven, the earth being desolated during this millennial night, followed by the establishment of the everlasting kingdom on a recreated earth at the end of the thousand years.

4)Recovery of the moral authority of the ten commandments and especially the requirement that the people of God keep the Fourth Commandment of the Ten commandments as a sign of sanctification and the eschatological "seal" of their loyalty to God in the last great crisis of earth's history.

5)An emphasis on conditional immortality which grew out of a renewed appreciation of anthropological monism, with its concomitant doctrines of "soul-sleep" and annihilationism.

6)And finally, the rediscovery of the prophetic gift, especially as it was manifest in the ministry of Ellen G. White.

What is fascinating about these developments was that there was not much detailed consideration of either Christology, Pneumatology, or soteriology.

This was exactly my experience growing up. You believed many, if not all of the points raised in the above list. But, Based on your own reading of Biblical texts, supported by an individual pastor or author’s exegesis to buttress their claims, Adventists would get into heated debates over issues of Christiology, Pneumatology and soteriology. Therefore to call a group of Adventists Arian, for instance, would miss the confusion and complexity of the matter. Also from the text (emphasis mine):

Undoubtedly, the main conduit of Arianism and anti-Trinitarianism into early Seventh-day Adventism was the Restorationist backgrounds of numerous Sabbatarian Adventist founding fathers (referred to as the "pioneers"). The most prominent were James White and Captain Joseph Bates (1792-1872). These men had been ministers in the Christian Connection Church, which was the back country version of Boston Unitarianism, but with a much more evangelical bent. Developments in New England restorationism in many ways paralleled what was going on among the Campbellites and Stonites out in the Ohio River Valley. The key credo of these movements involved a rationalistic, anti-creedal, reductionistic view of Christian doctrine. The anti-creedal claims were backed up with the slogan that "we have no creed but the Bible." Such sloganeering betrayed a hearty suspicion of anything that could not be rationally explained and the key test of doctrine was: did it conform to the most obvious and literal reading of the Bible?

Whether you agree with this sentiment or not, I do. I believe with many of the older forms of Christianity, that Sola Scriptura leads to spiritual delusion. Arianism is an example of this.

As has been mentioned earlier, while Arianism was quite widespread in early Adventism, it also needs to be understood that there was never any formal action taken to officially adopt it. This lack of formal action can be best understood in the light of the movements anti-creedal stance. Because of their vivid memories of the ill-treatment given them by the creedal churches of "Babylon" (in the heated days of last stages of Millerism) there developed a rather strong "live and let live" attitude on a number of doctrinal issues. In other words, there was a very strong resistance to creeds of any form and these rugged theological individualists were not about to be getting up anything like a new creed; after all, "the Bible was their only Creed". Thus any new convert could be a Seventh-day Adventist and still hold Trinitarian views. It could very well be that this growing number of Trinitarians were simply making their presence felt in their desire to worship and sing praises to Jesus who was conceived to be fully divine.

The Adventist 28 Fundamental Beliefs started as the 27 Fundamental Beliefs in 1980, and was extremely controversial when it was initially adopted because of the anti-Creedal proclivity of most Adventists at the time. As Adventism has become more mainstream Evangelical, that resistance has subsided.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When I read this Article for the first time, a lot of things came together. It’s true, I wasn’t born until the late 60′s, however, charges that Adventists weren’t Christian for one reason or another just didn’t make sense given my focus. To this kid growing up in that environment, singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know”, several things became apparent.

1. Most people who called themselves Christian, were haters. 2. The truth of our message was obvious as we had better health, lower divorce rates, and a greater commitment to holiness, than other Christians.

Oh, and one thing I was sure of, growing up - the Archangel Michael, was Christ in his ROLE as commander of the Angelic hosts - not ontelogically a created being. I would have to be exposed to Classical Christianity and Orthodox Holy Tradition before I was willing to accept that Michael might be someone other than Christ.

#Adventism

1 note · View note