#entrantment of evil

[thethroneislost]

Incantation - "Entrantment of Evil" - 1990 New Jersey, US

[girlactionfigure]

rootsmetals

some Israelis are racist warmongers, others have spent their entire lives in the pursuit of peace, and most are neither. Israelis have 9 million different personalities, views, experiences, and opinions. Homogenizing us all as inherently evil or forcing us to pass a litmus test before you decide to treat us like humans is antisemitism and xenophobia. Sorry to break it to you 🤷🏻‍♀️

MAIN SOURCES

Fayez Sayegh - The Party Years 1938-1947 by Adel Beshara

The Origins and Development of Soviet Anti-Semitism: An Analysis by William Korey

[lettucebee17]

Hey if you still feel like doing Halloween requests, how about couples costumes? I love your series you're my favorite noise and it's left me wanting more floyd/riddle! That or more of the background ships of adeuce or cater/trey, even just in passing they're all so adorable ❤️ hope you have a lovely day!

So here's the thing, I made polls for this request and then I got sick and also had really bad writer's block and I didn't write it...

As an apology, I've coerced my good friend @sauiice into drawing some silly drawings. Please consider going and checking out her work and possibly commissioning her! Disclaimer: she doesn't usually draw twst but she will certainly do twst commissions.

Entrants of the NRC Couple's Costume Competition (and how they ended up in their costumes)

Floyd got Riddle with rule ???: "one must always wear a handmade outfit when it is gifted to them until at least 10:45p.m."

Riddle's hands are tied, it's the rules (of which Floyd knows all of and will use them for evil)

Cater wanted him and Trey to go to the party as Ken and Barbie until he found out Vil and Rook were doing that so he had to pull out old reliable (the sexy nurse costume)

Ace and Deuce were both under the impression that Yuu would be dressing up as Tweedle Dum when they separately agreed to be Tweedle Dee (not telling the other so they wouldn't feel left out)

Yuu did not dress up as Tweedle Dum.

They've been arguing all night about which one is Tweedle Dum

They can't leave the party to change also because of rule ???: "one must always wear a handmade outfit when it is gifted to them until at least 10:45p.m."

Azul only agreed to this to get Idia to go to the party, he is quickly regretting his decisions.

Unrelated: Idia with a mustache haunts me

Rook and Vil require no explaination.

Epel thought he was going to be the wolf and showed up to the party in the wrong outfit.

Fortunately, Rook knew about this and made him a new outfit for when he inevitably had to change

Now the important question:

Bonus Doodles:

Once again, I implore you to go check out @sauiice She's great.

[yall-hate-kids-tourney]

Is there a character you know- or even enjoy- who's a kid? Maybe they're even your favorite character- maybe you enjoyed their themes, how they utilized the innocence often associated with their age. Have you ever gone into the fandom and checked their tag, only to see post after post say they're such an evil character who deserves nothing but punishment? Then this is the tournament for you!

Rules: - Character must canonically be 13 or younger for a significant portion of the work. - No media are outright banned, but we reserve the right to reject any submissions we are uncomfortable with. - We're aiming for ~32 entrants. When we reach that goal, we will give a day's notice before closing submissions. - Two submissions guarantee a character's entry. Characters with one submission might be placed in a qualifier tourney. - Depending on the size of the tourney, it may be double elimination or single elimination. - Profile pic/banner (Amane Momose from MILGRAM) is not automatically included- well, yes she is because we are submitting her as we speak. Chara Dreemur from Undertale is also being submitted by a mod.

Tagging @tournament-announcer, @females-fucked-over-tourney

[dangermousie]

And yet another entrant into unhinged morally flexible older man drawing in and fixating on our honorable young ML (The Devil Judge and Beyond Evil say hi! And so does Strangers from Hell if that concept was given a Hannibal makeover and steroids.)

Bang Won!!!!!

My favorite in this drama!!!!!!!!!

PS For once a character has an earring.

[c-is-for-circinate]

MCU Rewatch #1: IRON MAN

General Impressions: Yes, good, it holds up, thank god.

I want to write ten thousand words of meta about how this movie redefined the superhero genre of its day. I had to cut this post down SO MUCH, guys, you don't even know.

Not only is it still really entertaining, there is enough in this movie to be really worth picking apart. It's a fascinating entrant into this whole marathon, because as the first movie, it doesn't have anything else in the franchise to fall back on. This was a standalone shot in the dark, an attempt to make a blockbuster out of a superhero nobody had heard of and a washed-up actor who'd last been notable as a random love interest on Ally McBeal. It had to stand on its own merits, no greater universe to buoy it up, and it did.

I am going to have to write a separate post about the things that Iron Man promised us for this franchise, and how the rest of the MCU did or did not deliver. Damnit.

The Hero: Tony Stark is a fascinating guy.

Iron Man does a really good job of embracing him as a flawed disaster of a man who's a victim of his own good fortune: this guy is both the smartest and the richest man in very nearly every room he's ever been in, and it has made him a mess.

His emotional journey is believable and clearly shown. Tony flips his entire life upside down to go from arms dealer to superhero, except the whole movie makes it very clear that literally every step of the way he's being impossibly, inescapably himself with it. The man who doesn't give a shit about his very prestigious award is the same man who doesn't give a shit about his stock prices tanking or weapons dev being the entire foundation of his company. Part of why it works so well for Tony to out himself as Iron Man at the end of the movie is because in every possible way, they're the same guy -- ostentatious, flamboyant, dramatic, incredibly intense about some things and super blase about others, obsessive, superhuman on the skin and very human underneath.

Compared to brooding Christopher Nolan Batman or the pressures and anxieties of Sam Raimi Spiderman, both of whom are constantly preoccupied with questions of Good and Evil, Tony feels like a creature from a completely different genre. It's effective, unique, and well-carried by the movie.

The Villain: Pretty solid!

Obadiah Stane is a well-executed foil to Tony, which is exactly what this movie needs. He's contained and responsible where Tony's wild. He's respectable. And yet, so much of this movie is about complacency. Tony was too busy being a playboy bouncing off the walls to pay attention to who his fortune and his company hurt. Obie paid attention to all of it, and decided he didn't care. The movie ends up saying some interesting things, this way, about carelessness vs. callousness. Tony and Obie working together destroyed a lot of lives, but carelessness can be fixed, if you're smacked in the face with what you've done. Obie looked the man he half-raised in the face and tried to murder him in person when the hands off method failed.

The bit where this sixty-something-year-old multimillionaire businessman decided that what he really needed to do to secure his fortune and future, was personally get in the robotic suit and try to kill Tony himself? That's definitely leaning into genre conventions at the expense of logic. But hey, it's a superhero movie. Sometimes you have to let these things go.

The Ensemble: Thematic and relevant.

There are really only three other characters who matter in the movie: Yinsin, Pepper, and Rhodey. Yinsen is a pretty standard 'older mentor who dies to set the hero off on his journey,' and he fulfills his extremely classic role suitably. Pepper's an intelligent, competent love interest whose emotions towards her boss and friend are believably complex. Both good!

Rhodey is so interesting to me, on this rewatch. He's the one person who's put forth as Tony's actual friend, rather than a coworker, although they both occupy a similar professional space. He tries hard to be a good friend! But Rhodey is a part of the military-industrial complex, and when Tony comes back from the desert and starts to rock the boat -- when he stops playing along, stops wanting to build weapons, stops playing the game -- then Rhodey is there to try and nudge him back. You must have PTSD, Rhodey and Pepper think. You're making strange decisions. We've all been living in and benefiting from this system forever, what's wrong with you that it's suddenly a problem now? It was understated, but well done for what it was.

The Plot: Reasonably sensical!

The plot of Iron Man is easy to follow, maintains good tension throughout, and ties well together beginning to end. I don't have a lot to say about this one that I didn't already cover above, I'm just prepared for a slog through movies where "this plot makes sense" is a sky-high bar, so the fact that Iron Man not only clears that but does so enjoyably and well is pretty great.

The Franchise: It's hard to talk about how Iron Man relates to the movies that came before it when there are none, and talking about how it inspires the movies that come next is a WHOLE separate essay. Skip this one.

VERDICT: A solid 8/10

I know that for the MCU, this is pretty high on the list of movies that manage to be good at all, but I'm entering into this experience with an open mind and a willingness to discover that many of these movies are better than I actually expect. Iron Man is a very good superhero movie. I will probably watch it again someday, and I am not sad I watched it again now.

[paullovescomics]

Superman has temporarily relocated his Fortress of Solitude closer to Metropolis, so that people can take tours of it, with the proceeds going to charity. Supes knows this is an opportunity for his enemies to mess up his fortress, so he has his super robots scanning entrants with their x-ray vision. However, two clever crooks sneak in separate parts of an explosive, which they only mix together after they get inside.

Meanwhile, Superman answers questions about the various displays in his fortress. There are a couple that he doesn't want to talk about. These prompt him to remember the stories behind them, and we get to see what happened. These vignettes fulfill the cover's premise about previous locations for the Fortress of Solitude.

In the first one, Superman has built his fortress inside an asteroid out in space. While Supes is chilling there, an evil cloud-creature phases through the wall and declares that, because it hates all life, it's going to kill Superman. To do this, it brings to life the wax statues of Kal-el's friends, and gives them superpowers equal to his. To make a short story shorter, Superman uses a sun to burn up the gas creature. I guess he didn't want to tell the tourists that story because he totally killed a sentient being, with no remorse whatsoever.

In the second one, he moves the Fortress deep within the Earth, only to be attacked by people made out of fire. They eventually figure out that he's not there to invade their turf, but Supes decides it's not the kind of place he wants to visit regularly.

As we all know, the bottled city of Kandor is in the Fortress of Solitude. Luckily for everybody, the Kandorian security forces saw the bad guys plant the bomb. (This bomb is nuclear, by the way. How you make a nuclear bomb by mixing liquids, IDK, but that's what it is.) They try to radio Superman to tell him about it, but a new trophy is causing interference with their signal. A total coincidence eventually cancels it out, and Superman saves the day.

And now we know that the Fortress of Solitude was situated in at least two other locations before it was settled at the Arctic.

I read this story in Showcase Presents Superman, volume 2. The actual issue apparently also contained a Supergirl story, and another one about Congo Bill. 1960 was still in the "all comics are anthologies" era.

[sephirthoughts]

Vincent's New Kid Just Dropped CH 10: More Deepground with Some Hojo Mischief

Rating: Mature

Warnings: hojo, canon-typical violence, referenced abuse and medical torture, two guys saying some misogynist BS, and i was gonna say nudity but it's just written, so it only counts as nudity if you imagine the character naked you dirty minded perv

NOTE: There's a scene in this chapter that was directly inspired by @siringadev 's beautiful artwork of Nero and Weiss and they gave me permission to post it with the story! Hit up their blog or twit for more awesome arts!

Unbeknownst to either of the brothers, Director Hojo had decided that now was the time to initiate his planned breeding program, for Weiss. The other scientists begged him to reconsider (out of fear for their own lives, more than any particular compassion for the twins), but he was adamant.

With Nero safely out of the way, for at least a week, including recovery, what better time to put Weiss to work servicing the various incubators he’d chosen to gestate his precious subject’s progeny (Hojo’s actual words). 

That morning, after Nero had been taken away, a handler came to inform Weiss, who was grudgingly teaching some parrying moves to Rosso, that Director Hojo had selected a group of high-performing individuals, as potential entrants to Deepground, and that Weiss was to test them and choose the best candidates, after lunch. 

When these ostensible prospective teammates were shown in to the arena, later that day, Rosso rolled her eyes and snorted audibly, at the transparency of Shinra’s intentions. All of them were female, and of a certain phenotype—small waists, round hips, and large breasts, with pouting lips and big, doe-like eyes. Most notably, none were mako-enhanced, which was the clearest indicator of their real purpose here.

As if it were a legitimate ranks inspection by their new commander, the young women lined up and stood at attention, then introduced themselves, giving their names, ages, and qualifications. They were all educated, accomplished, between twenty and twenty-five years of age, and despite their rather delicate appearances, combat-trained officers or elite troopers. 

Naturally, they had been informed of their intended breeding partner’s age and inexperience, and had been quite expecting to find a gawky teenager. Thus, they were pleasantly surprised to see that Weiss was tall, hyperbolically fit, almost shockingly handsome, and in all ways looked like a full-grown adult male. 

Their flushed cheeks and heated gazes were not lost on Rosso, who was a predator herself, and knew another when she saw it sniffing around her territory. She may not have had any interest in taking Weiss as a mate, herself, but he was her idol and leader. The idea of her leader having a gaggle of silly concubines following him around was an affront to her personal dignity, and got her hackles up.

Weiss, however, far from being enticed by the prospect of healthy, attractive females with which to mate, appeared entirely oblivious to their feminine charms. To Rosso’s endless amusement (and the flat disbelief of the observing scientists), he took the characterization of the situation as ‘vetting prospective teammates’ at face value, and proceeded to do just that.

When the introductions were got through, he ordered Rosso to test the candidates in hand-to-hand combat, then stood by looking bored, while she gleefully thrashed them, one by one.

To add literal insult to actual injury, Weiss ruthlessly rejected each one, as they were defeated, pronouncing them ‘weak’, ‘pathetic’, ‘worthless’, and so forth. 

At the end of an hour, the fifteen bewildered and badly beaten young women had all been sent limping away, to complain to Director Hojo about that evil little harpy, who wouldn’t let them anywhere near Weiss, and beat them all black and blue. 

“Well, the boy is young, and he’s not exactly versed in the ways of the world,” Hojo reasoned. “Perhaps he requires a more direct approach.”

When Weiss arrived at his quarters, that evening, two young women were waiting, lounging in a provocative pose together, on his bed. He stopped short, tense and wary, as the door shut behind him. Desiring to communicate that this was not an ambush (not that kind at least), the young ladies smiled and winked, sliding their hands invitingly up and down one another’s bare thighs.

Weiss’ silver-blue eyes flickered over their soft, curvy bodies, then he turned and slowly shrugged off his jacket, his ropy back muscles flexing and rippling with the motion of his arms. 

This only encouraged the girls, and they redoubled their seductive efforts, beckoning to him and pressing their ripe, round breasts together, under the transparent lace of the lingerie they’d been dressed in. 

Weiss hung his jacket on the hook, then approached the bed, with a beatific smile on his perfect lips.

At that point, anyone who was at all familiar with him would have been making peace with the god of their choice, but the two young ladies had never seen him before today, and took his placid demeanor for approval of their presence.

“I guess Professor Hojo sent you here,” he said mildly, looking down at them. “He really expects me to fuck this kind of haggard trash.”

At these unexpectedly harsh words, both young women bridled indignantly, jumping to their feet and dropping the femme-fatale theatrics.

“Hey, asshole! We don’t like it any more than you do,” one shot back. “We’re following orders, so just hurry up and fuck us, so we can leave, ok?”

Weiss summoned a blade to his hand. “You have polluted the bed my brother and I share, with your whorehouse perfume. Would you like me wash out the stench, with your blood?”

“Brother?” the first girl asked, confused. “Wait, what do you mean, you share a bed?”

“Please, Weiss!” the second girl begged, actually folding her hands in a supplicating pose. “If we don’t get your seed, Professor Hojo said he’ll use us as test subjects for his horrible experiments!”

“Oh—yeah, he did!” the first concurred, nodding vehemently. “You’ve seen the twisted shit he does to people, right? We’d rather die.”

Weiss lowered his blade and hesitated, furrowing his white brow. “It…would be cruel, to allow you to be taken and used for the professor's experiments.” 

“Right!” the girls agreed. “So please, help us out, ok? We promise we’ll show you a good time.”

He drew a deep breath and then nodded. “Very well, I’ll help you.”

Neither of them even saw him move. But neither of them ever saw anything, again. Hojo later remarked, (far more admiringly than was strictly proper, given the circumstances) that not even a world-class surgeon could have done a cleaner, more elegant job of severing a human being’s brain stem, let alone two, and within a millisecond of one another.

Weiss, pleased with himself for his uncharacteristically charitable deed, dismissed his blade and went to the bathroom to shower, leaving the two young beauties lying on the floor by the door, neatly wrapped up in the bed linens they had lain in, which now stank of their unpleasantly heavy, floral perfume. 

While he showered, he reached out to Nero, using their psychic link, only to find himself firmly rebuffed. He was so stunned, that he immediately tried again, from sheer disbelief. Once again, he ran into a solid wall. Weiss was dumbfounded, and immediately worried. 

It was a shared ability, but Nero’s was far stronger, so he had the power to shut Weiss out, and Weiss would be helpless to do anything about it. Only, he never had, before. Why would he do it, now? 

When he emerged from the shower, the bodies were gone, the linens were freshly changed, his supper was waiting, and there was a video call flashing on the monitor. He touched the screen to answer the call, and continued drying himself with his towel. 

The face that popped up was a thin, weathered, middle-aged man, with long black hair, a hawkish nose, and round spectacles, which reflected light in a way that often concealed his eyes.

“I see you didn’t like any of the gifts I sent you,” His nasal voice said, in a tone of exaggerated disappointment. “Well, no matter. I have many more to choose from. Why don’t you tell me what you prefer, and we’ll go from there.”

“I prefer not to find your ‘gifts’ in my room,” Weiss returned, tossing his towel into the laundry bin. He was stark naked, but had absolutely no sense of bodily modesty, having been watched every moment of every day, since he was born. 

The old man on the screen pushed up his spectacles, running his eyes over his subject’s flawless body, in undisguised admiration. This truly was the body of the perfect SOLDIER. Of all his experimental results, over the decades, there was only one who’d turned out better, so he had something of a soft spot for Weiss (as much as a eugenics-obsessed psychopath was capable of, at least). 

“Fair enough, fair enough. There’s no need to send them to pester you in your down time. I can arrange for you to visit them during training hours, if that’s more convenient.”

“Not interested,” Weiss said flatly, as he sat down at the square, steel table, and began to eat his dinner.

“Don’t be difficult, my boy,” Hojo admonished. “You were always slated to be a sire for this breeding program. I won’t hide from you that the success of the project is depending entirely upon you, now. The other intended sire has turned out to be sterile.” He said the last part with an air of grievance, as if the individual in question had been infertile on purpose, to spite him. “Since the girls don’t appeal to you, tell me what incentives we can offer, to smooth the—”

“Professor, you are wasting your time,” Weiss interrupted, setting down his fork. “I will not be acting as a breeding stud, rutting with females at your command, like a pig in a sty. The prospect is as repulsive as it is insulting.” 

Hojo was out of patience, now, and the mask of civility came off. “But it’s perfectly acceptable to you, to fuck your little brother? Who can’t even make use of the valuable genetic material your are wasting on him? Which, I might add, is proprietary Shinra biotechnology!”

“My brother is still a virgin,” Weiss replied tersely. “He’s not old enough for sex.”

“Semantics,” Hojo snorted. “Does it really require penetration, to count? Or is that just what you tell yourself, to excuse what you’ve been doing to that naïve child, who trusts his elder brother so much.”

If Weiss had the intelligence of a normal sixteen-year-old boy, or a much lower opinion of himself, this attack may have worked. However, he was neither stupid, nor plagued by paralyzing self doubt and ego shattering insecurity, like that certain subject that Hojo had been accustomed to dealing with. As such, the blow glanced off his hide like a wooden spear from the hull of a supertanker.

“I love my brother, professor. I will not betray him.”

Hojo waved hand irritably. “Oh, please. Don’t feed me that trite sentimentalism, it’s just copulation! Biology!! What does love have to do with it? Come, now. I’ve been more than reasonable, but I am growing impatient. Everyone has a price, so name yours.”

“There is none.”

“I see. I did not want it to come to this, Weiss. But if you persist in refusing to cooperate, I’ll be forced to use the stick, rather than the carrot.”

“Is that a threat, professor?” Wiess asked.

“I don’t have to make threats, my boy,” Hojo chuckled. “Don’t forget that I own you. And your precious brother. You have twelve hours to name your terms, or there will be consequences.”

With that, the video call disconnected and the screen blanked. Weiss sat perfectly still and calm, finishing his meal, betraying nothing of what was passing in his mind, through his posture or expression. Internally, however, his stomach was twisted into knots of anxiety. 

Hojo’s message was clear: do as I say, or I’ll hurt your brother. But doing what Hojo said would hurt his brother anyway, and thus Weiss was chained between two unacceptable choices. 

Agonized with indecision, and utterly lost without his other half to guide him, he tried to connect to Nero again, but that solid wall was still up.

What could he be doing, that would make him shut Weiss out like this? They’d always used their connection to comfort one another, especially when they were injured or undergoing some painful procedure or another.

Then a dark thought crossed his mind. What if the prototype prosthetic was an excuse, and they’d separated them for the purpose of making similar overtures to Nero, regarding breeding. 

What if he’d agreed, out of concern for Weiss, and was with a woman, right now? What if he’d refused, but they’d drugged or restrained him, and forced him to… 

No. That was paranoia talking. Nero himself had verified the information about the cybernetics specialist, from some handlers’ minds. He’d have known if he was being lied to.

That still left Wiess in this precarious position, alone, which was certainly Hojo’s intention, knowing the Nero was the brains of the operation. Now, it was up to Weiss to think of something, quickly. When Hojo contacted him, the next morning, he found the boy in a more cooperative frame of mind.

“Why does it have to be sex?” Weiss asked. “There are other methods of creating a pregnancy. Isn’t that how Nero and I were made?”

“Of course, in vitro fertilization is my preference,” Hojo answered. “Much cleaner and more reliable. Easier to control all the variables. But the costs for extraction and cryo-storage and implantation are prohibitive, on the scale I desire. Deepground’s budget is tight, and the board is already looking for excuses to slash it. They’ll never approve the extra expense.”

“That must be because they haven’t seen any results, yet,” Weiss pointed out.

Hojo pushed up his spectacles. “Ah, I see you’ve been using the enhanced brain I gave you. Well, go ahead. I’m listening.”

“Why don’t you let me show them that Deepground deserves just as much attention as SOLDIER. That it could be better than SOLDIER, like you always said. If we convince them that it’s worthwhile, they’ll increase the budget, which will free up funds for the in vitro procedures, and benefit the whole program, as well.”

“Interesting, interesting. But that’s a tall order. Just how do you plan to convince them?”

“Let me fight Sephiroth.”

Had the old man been sipping a beverage at that moment, he’d have spit it out, all over the monitor. “F—fight Sephiroth! You??” he sputtered, nearly choking with laughter, now that the initial shock had worn off. “You fool, he’d kill you six ways before you hit the ground!”

“I didn’t say I have to win,” Weiss returned, gloomily. “I just have to not lose badly enough that it’s an embarrassment to Deepground. He obeys you, right? Set up a match between us, for the executives. The board will love it, because it’ll be good PR for their poster boy, and it’ll also show them how successful the work you’re doing here has been. All you have to do is tell Sephiroth the plan, and that he has to beat me without making me look too bad. And get him to endorse the Deepground program. Unless…you can’t control him.”

“Tch, that child is putty in my hands. There’s no need to worry about his cooperation.” Hojo sat back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “The tricky part will be creating a pretext for a sparring match between Shinra’s superstar and a total unknown, like you.”

Weiss shook his head. “That, I can’t help with. I’ve never even been outside. I have no idea how things like that proceed.”

“Never been outside,” Hojo muttered, absently removing his spectacles to wipe them with the sleeve of his lab coat. “Pity, too. You’re such a good boy. The only one who hasn’t disappointed me.”

“Except for Sephiroth, you mean.”

“I mean just as I say. Sephiroth may be well ahead of you, but it’s only because he’s so much older. If you work hard and don’t get lazy, you’ll surpass him, one day.”

This was news to Weiss, and happened to stroke his ego in exactly the right spot. “You…really think so?”

“Indeed. Your genes are purer, since his parents were chosen…impulsively, whereas yours were carefully selected. Most importantly, your mentality is superior to his. You are much less morbid and sensitive, and you have drive that he lacks. You’re ruthless and calculating, and you’re not ashamed of it.”

“Sephiroth seems fairly ruthless and calculating, to me,” Weiss hedged.

“Bosh. He knows how to seem cool and in control, for the public, but it’s all a façade. That boy is moody and temperamental and capricious, like a woman. Not only that, but he doesn’t enjoy success, at all, and spends all his time moping about killing people. And he’s always on about not having mother. You don’t have a mother, and I don’t see you crying about it.”

“What does he need a mother for?” Weiss asked, with a disdainful curl of his lip. “He’s the greatest warrior of all time. He should be proud of how he was raised, without the influence of a woman, to make him soft.”

“Ha! Try telling him that,” Hojo snorted. Then caught himself and cleared his throat. “Ahem. Well. I’ll take your suggestions into consideration. One way or another, we need to arrange a demonstration of your abilities to the board. It’s high time I got a chance to show you off.”

“Professor?” Weiss said, stopping Hojo as he was about to disconnect the call.

“Hm? What is it?”

“My brother. Is he alright?”

“Yes, yes, no need to trouble yourself about that. Dr. Ikari is the best in the world. I’m going to look in on him now, in fact. I’ll make sure everything is proceeding as expected. Is that all?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

Weiss spent the next two days going through the motions of training, gazing absently off toward the surgical ward for minutes at a time, and letting Rosso follow him around everywhere, because it made no difference to him, if she was there or not.

He actually grew from grudging tolerance to tentative acceptance of her, during those few days, because she obeyed his orders without question, and didn’t try to talk to him, otherwise. Both excellent traits in a subordinate.

They were in the middle of a particularly intense virtual battle, when the simulated beasts and mountain landscape around them suddenly disintegrated, and the room went pitch dark. Then the flashing, red emergency lights came on, casting the room in bloody crimson. The floor shook, with the heavy clang of the reinforced blast doors coming down, over the top of the doors to the training room, as the alarm klaxons began blaring. 

“Lockdown,” Rosso muttered. “But we’re both here, so—”

“Nero,” Weiss said, finishing the thought. 

Rosso stood tense and ready, awaiting further orders, but after a minute had passed, and he hadn’t spoken again, she could no longer bear to remain silent. “Commander? What are we going to do?”

“Nothing,” Weiss said tranquilly. “They will come to us, shortly.”

Rosso glanced reflexively toward the doors, then back at Weiss, who was seating himself in a lotus position, with his long sword balanced across his knees.

She knew better than to question him further, so she did the same, swallowing her deep dread of being locked in a training room, in the dark, and forcing herself to take slow (though rather shaky) breaths.

Perhaps five minutes passed, then suddenly a voice came crackling loudly over the intercom, nearly startling her out of her skin.

“Weiss! There you are! Get the hell over here and control your lunatic brother!”

“Good afternoon, professor,” Weiss replied calmly, looking up toward the camera. “I’d like to comply with your order, sir, but we are in lockdown status. The blast doors have closed.”

There was rustling and some garbled cursing from the other side, then Hojo’s voice returned, sounding annoyed and impatient, but not particularly worried. “These imbeciles can’t lift the lockdown for that room, without lifting it for the entire complex. I assume you can get out on your own?”

Weiss’ eyes glinted in the red glare of the emergency strobes. “Not without causing damage to Shinra property.”

“I hereby authorize you to damage whatever you need to, just get to the surgical ward ASAP. He’s already killed three squads of guards and Hades knows how many doctors and scientific staff.”

“Yes, sir.”

Rosso was a bit confused by what she saw next. Weiss seemed to vanish, from his seated position, and almost simultaneously reappear, standing before the doors, amid multiple flashes of white light. 

“Go protect Director Hojo. Stay with him, until I am sure my brother is safe,” he said over his shoulder, as the steel doors to the training room, and the three-foot thick reinforced blast doors outside those, collapsed to the ground, cleanly sliced into dozens of geometric fragments. 

“Y—yes, sir,” Rosso answered. 

Before the words were even all the way out of her mouth, Weiss had vanished again, displacing air behind him like a small explosion. 

Rosso stood gaping, for a few seconds, before she dashed off to obey his orders. Her heart pounded and her breath came short as she sped down the hall, but it wasn’t from the running. It was from the adrenaline pumping through her body, at the sudden, staggering revelation of Weiss’ speed and strength, and the swiftly dawning realization of just how little of his power she’d actually ever seen. 

She wondered if the Shinra people were even aware of his full power. They must not have been, if they thought that lockdown doors like those were enough to contain him.

Though, Professor Hojo hadn’t seemed to harbor any misguided notions. He hadn’t questioned for a moment that Weiss could break through those doors, and only told him to hurry up. 

What was their relationship, anyway? The two spoke so familiarly with one another, and the professor seemed to have quite a bit of trust in his imprisoned test subject. Well, whatever it was, her orders from Weiss were clear. Find Director Hojo and keep an eye on him, under the pretext of guarding him, as insurance, in case Nero wasn’t alright. 

She almost wished he wouldn’t be. Not that she wished Nero any particular harm (she rather liked the vampiric little psychopath), it was just that, in the case that Nero was killed, or even irreparably harmed, Weiss would certainly revolt against their captors. 

Then she would be free to slash and slaughter to her heart’s content, as they fought their way out of this place. And then…and then she would find either her death, or the open sky. What a glorious day that would be.

Weiss reached the surgical ward, within two minutes of departing the training room, moving like a rush of wind, far faster than the human eye could perceive him, and blowing through the many layers of locked down security doors on the way, like they were nothing more than tissue paper. 

The last set were the double-doors leading into the ward. He kicked them open with a boom, and surveyed the situation. The lights in the main hallway were out, and with the equipment and papers and things strewn all about the floor, and the place lit only by the red emergency strobes, it looked very much like a hospital from a horror film.

Weiss had never seen a horror film, however, and wouldn’t have been frightened by one if he had, and strode into the scene of pandemonium unconcerned.

The hallway branched left and right, and he didn’t know which way Nero was. The cameras and intercom were out, as well, so Hojo couldn’t tell him. The only way was to try their connection.

When he reached out, this time, he thought he’d hit that wall again, but when he tried to draw back, he found himself unable to do so. It wasn’t like Nero holding onto his strand, but more like he’d collided with a wall of thick, sticky tar and sunk a few inches in, and now it didn’t want to let him pull himself free.

Rather than struggle like a fool, he relaxed and let himself sink deeper and deeper into the cold, clinging slime, till suddenly, he popped through on the other side…into a lightless void, so black it was like swimming in ink.

He was pondering which direction to go, when he heard screams, suddenly, and looked over, to see faintly-glowing bluish shapes, being dragged deeper into the blackness.

Seeing his bright, white light, they reached out and begged him for help, probably mistaking him for an angel, come to save them. He ignored their pleas, only following behind as they wailed and bawled, struggling impotently against the inexorable force that was pulling them along. 

This force that was pulling them along was actually thin strands of sticky, black shadow, like nightmare spider’s silk. Weiss knew this, because the strands kept brushing against him, but they never grabbed hold of him or even adhered to his body (or rather, his human-shaped psychic projection).

For what seemed a long time, he followed the doomed souls into the darkness, till at last, eight red suns rose in the black sky, a crown of immense, bloody jewels, emitting no light and yet bathing everything in their crimson glow. 

Weiss realized with a thrill that sent shivers up his spine, that these things were neither suns, nor jewels, but titanic eyes, belonging to a spider the size of a planet.

It was a colossal beast of ancient power, impossibly massive in size, wreathed in writhing shadow, blacker than the abyss, as if the essence of its being was the negation of light, rather than simply the absence thereof. Its eight segmented legs reached out from its thorax, spread wide enough to encompass galaxies, had there been any stars in the abyss. 

With careless ease, it consumed the microscopic souls, which passed in through its fanged jaws in the blink of an eye, and were no more. Then its eyes fell upon the tiny, silver-white star, that had descended into its domain. 

Rearing up suddenly in defense, as high as a nebula rising into the reaches of space, it raised its enormous forelegs and snapped its mandibles, with a sound like the crackling of thunder. 

Weiss, who alone had the strength to maintain a human form in this realm of chaos and annihilation, spread his arms in response, and a ray of light reached out from him to pierce the darkness. 

The spider shrank back, curled into itself, drew its galaxy spanning legs in tight against its black bulk, and hid its eyes from the blinding light. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of black strands of web shot out and wove themselves into a defensive mesh of shadow and confusion, to disorient and keep the angel away. 

To the behemoth’s disbelief, the light passed right through its barrier of webs, and the tiny angel kept coming, unhindered and unafraid. 

The closer it came, the more the spider curled and shrank into itself, until it was hardly larger than a human child. A tiny, pathetic thing, trembling and quaking before a towering angel of light. 

“Brother,” said a voice, as soft as a baby’s breath and as mighty as the roaring of the sea. “Why are you afraid?”

The spider shook harder, and tried to hide what it knew was its hideous, arachnid face, with fanged mandibles and eight eyes, but the angel reached out and took its head in his strong hands. 

“Nero. You are so beautiful,” he said, gently stroking the horned, oil-black exoskeleton. “Never hide your face from me. You may conceal yourself in darkness, and hide away from all the world, but never from me.”

As he said these words, he leaned in, heedless of the huge, venomous fangs, and pressed his perfect lips to the spider’s horrific maw. 

Lured by his warmth and softness, the spider reached helplessly toward him, with its black pedipalps, which seemed to suddenly look much more like human hands, where they touched his broad shoulders. 

Slowly, very slowly, its eight legs uncoiled and wrapped themselves around the angel’s silky, silver-white body, taking care not to hurt him, with the sharp tips of the arachnid appendages. As the angel deepened the kiss, the spider’s fanged jaws spread wider and wider, and began to recede altogether. At last, they revealed the smooth, white, lower half of human face. 

The angel laughed softly and kissed him again, holding onto his bulky thorax and pushing his lips apart, sliding his tongue into his mouth, eager and possessive, and infinitely tender. A kiss filled with a love so profound, it shattered the rest of the spider’s black carapace and fully exposed the tiny, fragile and vulnerable human body, that he had been trying so hard to protect. 

But that didn’t matter now. Weiss was taking him in his arms and holding him close, against his big, solid, blazing hot chest, and Nero’s mind was filled with his strong heartbeat, that sounded in his ears like the music of life itself. 

Nero buried his face in his brother’s neck and breathed a shuddering sigh. It was alright, now. Weiss had him. The spider could hide away in abyss inside, again. Weiss would protect him. Everything would be alright. 

At that time, he had truly believed it.

LINK TO NEXT CHAPTER:

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2023: #04 & #03.

04. BELGIUM Gustaph - "Because of you" 7th place

Decade Ranking: 11/116 [Above Måneskin, below Monika Liu]

HOED BEZIG DADDY!1!!1!1!!

Another wonderful example of 2023 gaslighting doing its work - I decided around April last year that Gustaph could get a top 10 and because of the, um, reception he got online, I gaslit myself into thinking 10th was his absolute ceiling. Maybe, maybe on the cusp of left side?, I thought.

In reality:

Remember when they tried to break him? Well look at him now :-)

I love a good underdog arc and the best arcs are served with casual Surprise (not rly) Top Tens, defeating the underwhelming fanfave beasts along the way. There WERE murmurs by certain fans about how PUZZLING it was Gustaph got a SEVENTH PLACE (often lumping him in with Alika, Vesna and Voyager) over TeyaLena and Blanca and (mild cringe) LaZarra and (megacringe) Iru. WHY IS IT A TOP TEN SONG? Here's a question babe. Why was it not a top six song? This is what finished ahead of Gustaph:

Let's see: A boring default winner, Käärijä, evil nepobaby with the worst song ever, italian himbot with a some song, pulpy tiktok nonsense, miserable ukrainian song about the war. What A Wonderful Top Six, how could anyone like Belgium enough for top ten.

Fortunately as the months ticked by, the sensibles concluded that yes, "Because of you"' slaps and is iconique. Which is ofc, the conclusion I reached before the liveshows😘 Yeah okay that's supercilious of me, but I'm living the moment, let me have it, okay! Seeing the light took less time for me because granted, I am Belgian (and worse, Flemish) so I always have to convince myself our entries work if I like them (lmao tough luck Mustii!!), and when they work, they work, you know. "Because of you" IS Eurovision to its very core:

A CHARISMATIC LEAD WITH A GREAT VOICE AND A MEMORABLE STYLE

AN UPBEAT BOUNCY TUNE CELEBRATING A POSITIVE NURTURING TOPIC

A GREATLY STAGED, VISIONARY ACT (which is mandatory nowadays)

ADD SOME ░P░ U░S░S░ Y░I░ N░B░I░O ░ 

(and the not unimportant accolade of being the new jingle for misja eurovision...x)

It came together better than Imagined. The live was a meteor shower of slays and serves. Daddy slayed, his hubby that made the graphics served, the girls slayed, PussyServeCunt slayed AND the jury rightfully served up three twelves (including the Greek one lmaooo - pwnt Andrew!!) to commemorate this beautiful triumph over prejudice, pettiness and internalised homophobicuntitude. His hecklers can touch grass by faceplanting into it.

This was the best Belgian entry in a long time. Easily the best one since the terminally underrated Blanche (who is still the best winner we've never had) and that is good grief, already six years ago? Seven after the current contest? We were overdue for a good result.

Anyway, this was an erratic write-up, but honestly, I don't feel like I need to explain much anyway. Gustaph rose from an act most people pretended to dislike from an entrant that is universally well-regarded and beloved by both the fandom and critics. If that is not a satisfying growth arc, then I don't know what is. SERVE, HAT KING, SERVE.

in sum, see you in Antwerp for ESC2026 after we win it with a GUSTAPH x MEROL collab...x:

-------------------------------------------------

03. SLOVENIA Joker Out - "Carpe Diem" 20th place

Decade ranking: 7/116 [Above Barbara, below Daði]

:GASP: Only third?! Boris how could you - shush shush bish calm ur teats, my opinion on Joker Out has remained completely unchanged. Maybe that's the point? "Carpe Diem" is still probably my favourite 2023 track. On-curved indie rock with on-trend styling, what is this? Almost too good for the contest, that's what.

MI BOMO CELO NOC PLESALI LUBILI SE IN SE IGRALI KOT DA NAS JURTI VEC NE BO

And well, let's also be very clear here - Joker Out lived up to exactly what I wanted from them. It's one of those entries that does exactly what it says on the tin (see also: Pasha). The older I get, the more I appreciate the Actual Songs in Eurovision for their reliability and "Carpe Diem" was a really good song. Three minutes of unbridled indierock fun, that quickly turns addictive if you're not careful - it does get better than that, but it's a high bar that not many other entries pass. Besides, the live was you know, living up to my expectations and that's worth a lot in 2023, where most acts let me down. It was a joy to watch. Bojan devoured that live -

but it still felt like a group effort, as and the rest of the gang more than pulled their weight. Jan and Kris as the silly foils to Bojan's seductive self -

and Nace and Jure (who can both so get it 👉👈) as the two who would whip up the crowd making "Carpe Diem" well and truly feel like the concert that it was.

THEY WERE FUN

THEY HAD "RIZZ" (i really hate this word btw - or rather i hate how ESC.tv used this word to appear "cool" 🤢)

AND THEY HAD A TRUE EUROVISION LOVE STORY

(it is still wildly amusing to me that my two preshow favourites entered a bromance so electrified by reciprocal, yet unfulfilled sexual tension it felt like watching a Basement Yard Podcast 😍 Bojan x Käärijä 5ever💚)

So yeah, this was just all sorts of excellent, really. Ofc, 20th place is um... really disgusting and outrageous, specifically for an entry that brings me so much joy, but hey that's democracy for you. Results are being decided way ahead of time so the people with godawful taste that lead happy lives feel like they are relevant, or summat.

However, Joker Out didn't lose Eurovision 2023, they won it. Out of everyone, it was their fanbase that grew the most after the contest ended, so much that they're now considered a welcome staple at ESC preparties, alongside the likes of Daði Freyr, Go_A, Senhit and Anna Bergendahl, which is not a bad line-up to be a part of. They'll be back as Slovene reps in a few years, hopefully with a more immediate song and will do significantly better. 😁

Finally, yes, Slovenia went from first to third on my ranking, but eh. I figured out quasi immediately after the finale that my top 3 would be Czechia, Finland and Slovenia, and figured out just as fast that Slovenia were third in that equation. I hope it's been made clear that my feelings on Joker Out just stayed the same, while Vesna and Käärijä were subject to positive morphs, and the novelty of those arcs is worth a splitscreen ending.

WILL IT BE THE GREEN FIN OR THE PINK SISTERS?

it was actually... a very, very close call. 😲

THE RANKING

[magical-characters-tourney]

Magical Boy Tournament: Round 1

Entrant Propaganda

Saki Uno

Saki Uno wants to be an idol! Even if her singing... isn't the greatest. But it's all worth it to chase the love of her life! Except for the fact that her mum used to be a magical girl and the forces of evil are reappearing, specifically around the guy that Saki likes. So she agrees to become a magical girl, too.

Only the magic transforms her into a man! That her crush seems to like more than her...

I've not actually seen the whole of this yet, but I find it hilarious. And... even if she doesn't really use magic save for her transformation, I thought it might count.

[coldflasher]

"bring back tumblr ask culture let me. bother you with questions and statements" what's your letterboxd top 4 for books/albums/movies?

okay SO im very aware that i was all "oooh send me asks!!" and then didn't answer the asks, i am so sorry, but in my defence i was saving them for when i would be able to give a proper answer SO, onward!!

if we're getting mega technical i don't have a letterboxd account but i assume the sentiment remains the same regardless so here we go (and these are in no particular order cos i'm sooo bad at choosing favourites)

MOVIES:

The Incredibles (2004)

You all know this one, I'm sure. Superpowered family goes into hiding after a decree that bans superheroes, then Mr. Incredible, who's struggling to adjust to civilian life, gets lured to a mysterious island to complete a superhero mission for a shady benefactor who turns out to be a spurned fanboy who was obsessed with him as a kid and is now out for revenge. It's such a fun movie and probably what triggered my obsession with superhero media, if we're being honest. Also I had the world's BIGGEST crush on Violet.

Igor (2008)

In a land where evil scientists create dastardly inventions and participate in a yearly Hunger Games-esque competition to build the deadliest superweapon, Igor (who, like all other hunchbacks in the land of Malaria, is banned from inventing) creates a 10ft tall Frankenstein’s monster named Eva who desperately wants to be an actress.

Aided by an immortal (but ironically also incredibly suicidal) rabbit named Scamper and an autonomous brain in a jar, Igor illegally enrols in the mad scientist competition with Eva as his entrant, all while concealing his true intentions from Eva, who thinks she is auditioning for the titular role of a very avant-garde version of Annie.

It’s an incredibly funny movie that appealed to the kid in me that was obsessed with dark, gothic-looking shit. Not to be all *old woman grumbles* they don’t make em like this any more, but they genuinely don’t. I miss that period of time when these grungy, spooky-looking kids movies were in vogue—think Paranorman, Coraline, Corpse Bride… none of which I actually like that much but it’s the PRINCIPLE. It’s the VIBE.

I have never met another person who’s even HEARD of this movie, let alone seen it, which is a real tragedy.

Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)

The second (and infinitely superior, I say having not seen the first one in probably 20 years because seeing Scrappy Doo crawl out of Rowan Atkinson's face put the fear of god into me as a kid) live-action Scooby Doo movie, in which the Scooby gang accidentally activate a device that brings all the costumes of all their old enemies to life and turns them into real monsters. It's a banger.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Oh look, a movie that was actually made within the last decade! It's probably a toss-up between this and Endgame but I think this one wins by a hair just because I waited almost a decade to see Andrew Garfield's Spiderman finally get the acknowledgement he deserved. Multiverse fuckery occurs and a bunch of alternate universe Spidermen and spiderverse villains get dragged into the MCU, it's a fun time *Michael from The Good Place voice* we've all seen it

Books (I went for mostly fave standalones here cos if we talked about fave series I'd be here all day. Did I mention I was a booktuber for 6 years?)

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Sutanto

Meddy, a young Chinese-Indonesian wedding photographer, is set up on a blind date by her mother that goes horribly wrong and ends in her date’s sudden and pretty violent death (trust me, he deserved it).

In the process of trying to dispose of the body, Meddy, her mother, and her meddling aunts hide it in a fridge and accidentally ship it out to a huge wedding they’re working at that weekend. They then have to try and pull off the perfect wedding for a big client AND get rid of the body without any of the wedding guests stumbling upon it. To top it all off, it turns out that Meddy’s ex, Nathan, owns the island resort and wants to give their relationship another shot. Poor Meddy just wants five minutes to catch up with the love of her life but keeps getting interrupted by hijinks.

It’s genuinely one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. The author is genuinely incredible, I have no idea how she writes so fast and yet never has a single miss. There are now 3-4 Aunties books and she also wrote an absolutely hysterical cosy mystery about a teashop owner named Vera Wong who finds a dead body and then starts her own murder investigation, Miss Marple style, and that book made me cry on an aeroplane, so just. Hats off to Jesse Sutanto, she is genuinely the writer I want to be.  

You Deserve Each Other

This one is a rom-com about a newly engaged couple, Nicholas and Naomi, whose relationship kind of sucks due to various factors including (but not limited to) Nicholas' overbearing mother-in-law. Faced with the reality that she'll have to be married to a man she no longer particularly likes and deal with his mother for the rest of her life, Naomi decides to deliberately sabotage their relationship and get Nicholas to dump her, and it culminates in a huge, rapidly escalating prank war as they slowly start to fall in love again. Again, this book always makes me cackle out loud, it's so fun and I never get tired of reading it

The Bromance Book Club

This is another second-chance romance about a pro baseballer called Gavin and his wife, Thea. They're on the brink of divorce, until Gavin's friends let him in on their secret book club, where a bunch of dudes all get together and read romance novels to help them figure out their relationship problems. Again, it's just fun and funny, I really love romance novels myself (as you can probably tell from this list and my entire personality lmao) so I enjoyed the meta aspect of it, and just. It's just good stuff

The Brutal Truth

This one is a Devil Wears Prada fanfic turned romance novel where a struggling journalist named Maddie ends up getting involved with her cold, ice queen boss, Elena, who has a habit of acquiring failing magazine/newspaper businesses and then crushing them under her high heels. If you've ever thought Miranda and Andy from DWP should fuck (they should) then this book is for you. It's a 10/10

Albums

Will keep the music one brief as I have rambled enough already and do not know how to talk coherently about music

Razzmatazz by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

straight bops all the way through, some excellent villain songs, just a different sound from a lot of the music that's out there

Four by One Direction

Four was the album where they really started to find their sound and completed the transition from cheesy radio pop to something with slightly more mature, rocky influences, but it's a bit more lively than their fifth album, Made In the AM, which while technically accomplished is nowhere near as fun to listen to in my opinion

Selfish Machines by Pierce the Veil

this has been a fave since my angsty high school days and it's one of the few albums that exist in the world that doesn't really have any skips (I've been known to skip Million Dollar Houses on occasion, but generally I'll listen to it all the way through)

It's Still Nothing Personal by All Time Low, which is their 10th anniversary rerecord of their early album Nothing Personal (caveat that, like most early 2010s pop punk bands, All Time Low have been accused of some things that are less than ideal, sigh). It has all the nostalgia while also stepping up the quality and just having that more mature, polished sound that comes with 10+ years of experience making music. good stuff unfortunately somewhat tainted by The Allegations, why can't we ever have nice things, and by nice things i mean "2000s pop punk artists who didn't allegedly sleep with impressionable and easily manipulated teenagers at warped tour"

[al-kol-eleh]

Life Magazine 3/1948

1/3

Since Britain issued the controversial Balfour Declaration in 1917, about 7,500 British, Arabs and Jews in the Holy Land have been killed in political conflict. Of these about 1,700 fell in the 100 days after the evil and unworkable "partition" decision was recommended by the U.N. General Assembly. A civil war of like magnitude and duration in the U.S. would carry off 140,000 people. How many reproaches one might heap on how many heads (including our own) for all the blundering, the narrow prejudices, the petty partisanship, the ignorant goodwill which helped to shed that blood! But let us, at this moment of Easter, leave that part of the past in its grave. History will make its reproaches. But can we make a better history for the Holy Land? Perhaps not at once. Even more may die in confused, transitional clashes between embittered, frightened Jews and exultant, ungenerous Arabs. Zionist extremists may feel that force always pays-forgetting that they have not decisive force. Communists may stir up violence for their own ends. Nevertheless a new situation-not easy, but relatively hopeful-was created by the U.S. last week when it proposed that the recommendation to "partition" Palestine and set up a tiny sovereign Zionist state be reversed. Hopeful-if all concerned meet it with clarity, with charity, with courage.

The Peacemakers-Hope arises, first of all, from the credits of the past. Just after World War I there were in Palestine 80,000 Jews. Today there are 650,000. A few are illegal entrants whose citizenship should now be recognized. Many are refugees from the most brutal persecution campaign in human history, in which six million of their kin were slaughtered. Many are high-minded persons who chose voluntarily to settle in the land of their ancestors. They wanted to create a new culture in the tongue of the Bible, a culture based upon a substantial, modern community, earning its daily bread in the sweat of its brow on farms, in factories, on the sea, in shops, in laboratories and in studios. Many did not really care about a sovereign Zionist state, wanting only freedom and good relations with their Arab neighbors, both Christian and Moslem. It was above all the controversy about the Zionist state which spoiled those relations. Yet the Jewish community has grown. It has conquered and made many a patch of desert to flower, organized efficient industries, exterminated disease, given employment to Arabs as well as to Jews, helped hold the line at El Alamein against Hitler's hordes, produced interesting art and music, created in Jerusalem a fine university. For all this the Jews deserve much credit. The British, too, deserve some credit, for it is doubtful that so many Jews would be there had the British not given them, on top of the Balfour Declaration, armed protection for more than a quarter of a century. And some Arabs deserve credit, too-lowly Arabs who often sheltered hunted Jews and forward-looking Arabs of distinction like Fawzi el Husseini, a cousin of the feudal, extremist ex-Mufti of Jerusalem. Repenting of his terrorist days, Fawzi el Husseini spoke out for Arab-Jewish conciliation and was murdered by his cousin's men. Other Arabs like him live on, waiting for a chance to speak. And there is California-born Judah Magnes, president of the Hebrew University, who in season and out has called for conciliation and opposed the partition of Palestine. He has heaped on the heads of Jewish terrorists and their condoners a wrath as fiery as that of an Old Testament prophet. He calls to mind another contemporary enemy of narrow nationalism and partition, Gandhi, who also defied terrorists of his own blood. The spirit that animates Arabs and Jews like the late Fawzi el Husseini and the still-living Dr. Magnes is Palestine's prime hope for peace.

(source)

[bestcubebracket]

BEST CUBE BRACKET ROUND 1

Someone jokingly suggested a poll so i have to do it now!! Best cube bracket, 16 entrants, single elimination, all that good stuff

Round 1 Polls

Enemies: Blok vs Gelatinous Cube

Toys: Rubik's Cube vs Dice

Cubes That Speak: Weighted Companion Cube vs The Black Cube

Internet: Cube, Defender of the Polyverse vs Perfectly Generic Object

Evil Cubes: Borg Cube vs Lament Configuration

High Art vs Low Art: Cosmic Cube vs Astor Place Cube (Alamo)

Thought-Based: Time Cube vs Square-Cube Law

True Gamers: Minecraft vs Gold Lego Brick

[pwrestlingxpress]

G1 Climax 33 Participants Revealed

Back in 2014, we had the biggest G1 field at the time with 22 entrants. Last year, we had 28. This year, 32.

32 Entrants in 4 blocks of 8. Here are the following participants in this year's G1 Climax in English Alphabetical Order.

Jeff Cobb (NJPW/United Empire) - 5th straight appearance

Alex Coughlin (NJPW/Bullet Club) - First time entrant

EVIL (NJPW/House of Torture) - 8th straight appearance

David Finlay (NJPW/Bullet Club) - 2nd straight appearance

Hirooki Goto (NJPW/Bishamon) - 16th straight appearance; 2008 G1 Climax winner

Shane Haste (NJPW/TMDK) - First time entrant

Aaron Henare (NJPW/United Empire) - 2nd straight appearance

Hikuleo (NJPW/Guerillas of Destiny) - First time entrant

Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW/Chaos) - 11th straight appearance

KENTA (NJPW/Bullet Club) - 5th straight appearance

Gabriel Kidd (NJPW/Bullet Club) - First time entrant

Eddie Kingston (AEW) - First time entrant

Kaito Kiyomiya (Pro Wrestling NOAH) - First time entrant; 2018 Global League winner and 2022 N1 Victory winner

Tonga Loa (NJPW/Guerillas of Destiny) - 2nd appearance; first since 2021

Tetsuya Naito (NJPW/Los Ingobernables de Japon) - 14th straight appearance; 2013 and 2017 G1 Climax Winner

Ren Narita (NJPW/Strong Style) - First time entrant

Mikey Nicholls (NJPW/TMDK) - First time entrant

Kazuchika Okada (NJPW/Chaos) - 12 straight appearance; 2012/2014/2021/2022 G1 Climax Winner

Great O-Khan (NJPW/United Empire) - 3rd straight appearance

Will Ospreay (NJPW/United Empire) - 2nd straight appearance; 4th overall (G1 Debut in 2019)

Chase Owens (NJPW/Bullet Club) - 3rd straight appearance

El Phantasmo (NJPW) - 2nd straight appearance

Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW/TMDK) - 7th straight appearance

SANADA (NJPW/Just 5 Guys) - 8th straight appearance

Shingo Takagi (NJPW/Los Ingobernables de Japon) - 5th straight appearance

Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW) - 22nd straight appearance; 2007/2015/2018 G1 Climax Winner

Taichi (NJPW/Just 5 Guys) - 5th straight appearance

Tama Tonga (NJPW/Guerillas of Destiny) - 3rd straight appearance; 6th overall (G1 Debut in 2016)

Yota Tsuji (NJPW/Los Ingobernables de Japon) - First time entrant

Shota Umino (NJPW/Blackpool Combat Club) - First time entrant

Toru Yano (NJPW/Chaos) - 17th straight appearance; 18th overall (G1 Debut in 2005)

YOSHI-HASHI (NJPW/Bishamon) - 4th straight appearance; 7th overall (G1 Debut in 2016)

So based on this we've got a representative from AEW and Pro Wrestling NOAH competing in this year's tournament. More than that, we got 4 Pro Wrestling NOAH alumni (KENTA, Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Haste, and Mikey Nicholls) meaning NOAH past and present will be represented in this year's G1 Climax Tournament.

Not returning from last year's G1 Climax Tournament are (in English ABC Order):

Lance Archer (AEW)

Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club)

Jonah (now known as Bronson Reed in WWE)

Tom Lawlor (Team Filthy)

Juice Robinson (AEW/Bullet Club Gold)

Yujiro Takahashi (NJPW/House of Torture)

Jay White (AEW/Bullet Club Gold)

And a note about Kaito Kiyomiya appearing in the G1. His appearance in the G1 Climax Tournament most likely means NOAH is guaranteed a new N-1 Victory winner for 2023. N-1 Victory starts on August 6th in Yokohama while G1 Climax 33 will be in Osaka on the same day. N-1 Victory will be off August 12-18 meaning they'll most likely appear in the Final 4 and overall finals of the G1 Climax Tournament.

Entrants for the N-1 Victory are expected to be announced most likely on July 15th.

Stay tuned for Block announcements coming up next weekend (most likely). G1 Climax 33 starts on July 15th in Sapporo.

[triste-guillotine]

INCANTATION “Tricennial of Blasphemy” Compilation 2022 (30 year anniversary collection tracing all eras of the band's infamous history, featuring rarities and unreleased studio, demo and live songs)

1. Pest Savagery 2. Ordained by Night's Will 3. Obelisk Reflection 4. Nefarious Warriors 5. Degeneration (Revenant cover) 6. Absolved in Blood 7. Scapegoat 8. Sacrificial Sanctification 9. Thieves of the Cloth 10. Exiling Righteousness 11. Hell Awaits (Slayer cover) 12. Horde of Bestial Flames 13. Ethereal Misery 14. Impending Diabolical Conquest 15. Forsaken Mourning of Angelic Anguish 16. Nocturnal Kingdom of Demonic Enlightenment 17. Subjugation Divine 18. Emaciated Holy Figure 19. Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies 20. Profanation 21. Intro-Entrantment of Evil 22. Eternal Torture 23. Devoured Death 24. Unholy Massacre 25. Oath of Armageddon (live) 26. Portal Consecration (live) 27. Impending Diabolical Conquest (live) 28. From Hollow Sands (live) 29. Iconoclasm of Catholicism (live) 30. Absolved in Blood (live) 31. Lead to Desolation (live)

https://incantation666.bandcamp.com/album/tricennial-of-blasphemy?label=3713603563&tab=music

[dangermousie]

I got five eps of TWTWB left so I think I am gonna do It's OK That's Love rewatch.

God, that drama HIT.

It starts out as a love story between a somewhat eccentric popular writer and a quirky shrink and then ends up as something heartbreaking and darker and amazing.

(I still remember the shriek I let out when it turned out Kang Woo was not real!!!)

It's yet another entrant into a small but amazing category of kdramas which have the premise of trauma is gonna fuck you upppppp (they say he has schizophrenia but what they describe and how they deal with it is more like he has extreme trauma that manifests as his hallucination; and when trauma is addressed he can process some of it, but whatever, I don't watch kdramas for realism.)

This, Flower of Evil, Kill Me Heal Me etc. I tend to fall for them like a ton of bricks.

It doesn't hurt that JIS anf GHJ are such acting powerhouses.

(It's also trigger warning central for suicidal ideation and child abuse but that goes without saying.)