#excalibur immigration

[excalibur-immigration12]

https://www.scribd.com/document/737280264/Top-Rated-Immigration-Consultants-In-Canada-Excalibur-Immigration/

[lilliesofinspirationvalley]

Soul Eater Revised Overview!

In case you didn’t know, I have a fan project in the works called Soul Eater Revised, a rewrite/personal interpretation of Soul Eater’s world and narrative. It’s primarily a written piece, but I also have a lot of designs and stuff for it too! has its own blog @souleaterrevised and chapters of the fanfic here on AO3 (they're only accessible if you have an account just to prevent AI scanning).

There’s so much I can get into, and I want to leave at least some surprises… but I can’t help myself. I might as well give some sneak peeks at everything I’m cooking!

Obviously there will be a good amount spoilers for everything I’m planning, so reading all of this is to your own discretion!

Lore & Worldbuilding

Y’know the whole thing at the end of Fire Force where it ends as like… a “prequel” to the SE world out of nowhere? Yeah, some people find that cool while others find it incredibly forced. I… I think it’s both. I have some thoughts on how I would rework Fire Force myself, and part of that is the ending and how it connects to SE. Essentially, the world of flames and infernals dies, but is reborn into a world of souls and magic. The supernatural and fantastical become inherently tied to this new world thanks to Adolla’s whole deal with shared human perception and all that.

Excalibur is the most obvious piece of evidence of the Old World existing— He’s essentially the personification of Arthur’s escapism and loneliness. He got pulled out of the spiritual realm and can’t really get back… so he’s just kinda been hanging out in the physical world for multiple centuries. Truth be told, he just misses his dad, man.

So yeah, Shinra, Iris, Tamaki, etc… they all kinda die??? But they also like… become these fun deities known as Patrons. Much of what’s known about them in the New World is this weird mix of myth and fact.

Speaking of deities, I got more information on how those work!! Essentially, there are multiple deities that work with and look after their associated cultures. For example, death deities such as Anubis/Anpu focus on collecting the souls of those living in Egypt.

Most deities focus on their respective groups (but obviously intermingle and all that), but there are a few deities who work more internationally! These include Lord Death (obviously, lol), Lady Gaia (also known as Mother Nature), and Arcane (Observer of Magic)

There may or may not also be a goddess of madness and chaos whose stuck in a distorted realm of flesh and black ooze. But she’s not trying to get back out into the physical world or anything… right? @hollyhuedhorror may know more about her ;3

Due to deities and magic and all of this fun stuff being more commonplace, not only has global transportation developed a little earlier (especially for supernatural communities), but there was a lot of intervention (especially when LD shows up and sets up DWMA) of “HEY. DON’T COLONIZE AND ENSLAVE EACH OTHER.” Immigrants learn to coexist with indigenous communities, people travel across the world because they wish to and not by force, all that good stuff. Essentially we replace most of the racism/cultural prejudice with… soul type prejudice. Call that what you will.

Soul types are a lot more developed as a concept— it honestly deserves its own post, but to get a major, mostly relevant thing out there: Monsterfolk (associated with animals and magic as a whole) and fae (associated with the elements) were essentially the overseers of humans in much of ancient history due to their sheer power and longer lifespans. Witches are initially created as the offspring between Monsterfolk and humans, though their soul type can pass down through further generations. Enchanters are essentially the same thing, but the offspring of fae and humans. Many of these magical people were genuinely benevolent and helped humans… but a lot of them were also very tyrannical, finicky, all that stuff

Living weapons generally discover their powers around puberty (the average being around 13-14 years old). Just about every soul type is capable of carrying weapon abilities (through genetics and whatnot), so it’s not too uncommon for powerful soul types to unlock their powers much earlier. This is the case for Fire and Thunder! They’re 5 year old nymphs (Fae) and already have phenomenal control of their gauntlet forms.

Aside from deities and corrupted souls like kishins/afreets and phantoms, there are 3 categories for soul types: Human, Monsterfolk, and Fae. These three categories each have their own “enhancements”— incredibly rare variants of the average soul’s capabilities.

Humans - Warrior, Seer, Grigori, Pixie

Monsterfolk/Witches - Sorcerer

Fae/Enchanters - Shaman

Lord Death was… essentially sent down to the physical world as a “janitor” in the Middle Ages (around the 1200s to be more specific). A lot of deaths have been happening to the point where people aren’t really performing the proper rituals to help souls pass on. So LD is sent in to help collect leftover souls and figure out the sorta things causing so much destruction

While he’s getting adjusted there, he ends up meeting some supernatural people such as the sorcerer Eibon and witch Arachne. They form a fun little travel group going around the world and helping people/hunting down corrupted souls. Arachne was incredibly passionate about wanting humans and the supernatural to see each other as equals.

During these adventures, Arachne finds an orphan child who’s village had gotten destroyed and he lost his parents. Arachne, having so much maternal instinct as she does, takes the boy in as her own kid (even though her sisters aren’t too much older than him lmao). This totally doesn’t have a domino affect on anything, I promise :)

But yeah, what do you do when you’re personally hit with the fact that humans are far more vulnerable and die easily compared to you and your supernatural companions? That this vulnerability is what many supernaturals exploit for their dominance in society? You want to find ways to help humans defend themselves, right? And if you already travel with what is essentially an overpowered living weapon… you’re gonna get some ideas, right?

Just because you may have the ability to bring the dead back to life… does that mean you should? What if the revived have no idea what to do with the sudden powers and rejuvenated, unnatural body you’ve given them? What if they don’t remember their past lives? What if they eventually or already do? To literally die and be reborn… it could cause u to go a little cuckoo bananas one way or another.

None of this leads to the divorce between a Reaper and the Spider Witch. Or the first fully corrupted Kishin to be born. Or an octopus merman becoming eldritch. Or witches fearing for their lives on all sides and creating their own pocket dimension for refuge. Nope. Not at all. (In case you genuinely can’t tell, this is sarcasm. So much shit goes down but we don’t have time to unpack all of that)

DWMA Details

The Death Weapon Meister Academy/Association is an international organization that focuses on fighting against corrupted souls, along with teaching living weapons (and meisters) how to control their powers.

The DWMA has several regional branches, each with their own overseeing staff and representative Death Weapon (also known as Death Scythes).

Normally Overcome Target (aka NOT) courses are available at each region’s headquarters, while the Especially Advanced Talent (EAT) program is held exclusively in Death City, Nevada.

The academy predominantly teaches middle-high school students, between (U.S.) grades 7-12. They also provide a large amount of university/college courses for graduates. In most cases, students enroll in whatever grade they would continue in normal school, or the grade most applicable for their age.

If a weapon or meister in a partnership graduates before the other, they remain with their partner but don’t have to continue schoolwork (or they simply move forward with higher, college-level courses)

In order to be in EAT you have to be at least in 9th grade/3rd year, which usually means you spent at least 2 years in NOT courses.

If you enter the academy at an older age, you still need to be enrolled in the NOT course for at least 2 years (some exceptions depend on whether your partner is also able to enroll)

Character Notes

To be completely honest I plan on expanding more background and development on almost every character (because lord knows we need it) so I don’t think I can list everything and everyone. However I will cover some general highlights and details I think are very swag.

First things first, I don’t write Blair as a gross fan-service baiting creep! She’s still very playful but only gets coy and flirtatious around actual adults. I’m making her the big sister/maternal figure bad bitch she deserves to be! She’s also getting more of a backstory— She was adopted and raised by an incredibly powerful sorcerer who… will be quite involved in the later stages of SER’s main storyline. Blair gets her own sample of the horrors, I’m so sorry queen.

Ah yes. We’ll be diving a lot deeper into horrors and madness as a whole. Of course I’ll do more with Soul, Stein, etc… but we’re gonna make madness a little more gender inclusive. That is to say, Maka’s gonna have more unhinged grinning to do! Tsubaki’s gonna become an Omori kinnie! Not even Liz and Patty are safe!

Get ready to explore and learn about more characters’ families and upbringing! It’s… it’s actually a pretty big recurring topic.

I will be including and reworking NOT as the first few months of the school year before the main SE plot kicks in! You will learn to enjoy Tsugumi and her girlfriends… hopefully.

Shaula has more of an independent and chaotic personality compared to Medusa and Arachne. She has a history of pulling major conspiracies and stunts, especially around DWMA. Why does she do this? Mostly for shits and giggles. Don’t be fooled, she is not above manipulating an already traumatized girl and making her memory repression even worse.

Princess Ponera and Nars Garnier from the Wii Game, Monotone Princess, are included! They’re gonna be associated with Noah. Ponera is a haughty, pompous princess dead-set on vengeance. Nars is an arrogant, deceptively friendly man who blends Phantom of the Opera with Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Ponera and Shaula are girlfriends. They’re actually very healthy despite being y’know. Evil.

While we’re on the subject… Noah Grimoire is a sorcerer Eibon took in and mentored 600 years before the main story (but sadly, Eibon thinks Noah died in an accident… this isn’t the case). His associated animal is worms, and it’s very easy to joke he is a major bookworm himself. That term goes even deeper than you can imagine :)

Noah thinks he’s the next Xehanort Kingdom Hearts (guy who makes multiple copies of himself and seeks knowledge no matter the ethics to become a god). He negotiates/coerces multiple people to work with him— including a teenage boy from early 19th century Russia. The kid’s a real angel, he doesn’t experience anything bad ever.

Ragnarok is going to be known as the Dragon Sword! He’s a dragonborn (type of monsterfolk) that just. Showed up in Norway 200 years ago and started causing havoc. Marie’s ancestors at the time were the ones who imprisoned him in his weapon form, and he was sealed away for a long time. Until… someone managed to steal him for Medusa Gorgon herself. You already kinda know what happens next

Pls don’t kill me for this but… Crona is going to be a very tragic character (I’m following the manga plotline because I think it’s super interesting). They doom themselves in the narrative more than anything. You can’t wait around for everyone else to figure out how to deal with you, after all.

Crona and Maka’s relationship is… not that healthy, all things considered! Their “guardian angel” needs to survive a codependent, homo-ambiguous teenage friendship.

Everyone pour one out for Soul as his meister repeatedly ignores his obvious discomfort over being around the person who nearly killed him. And for all their friends kinda getting ignored by Maka too, and also being pushed into hanging out with someone where neither party is that comfortable.

Marie becomes a school counselor/therapist for EAT students (and especially Crona) when she arrives after Asura’s revival. She is the Death Weapon of Northern Europe (Scandanavia) and looks after Justin a lot until LD felt he was “ready” (since he becomes a Death Weapon at such a young age and all). She’s going to go through so much guilt of feeling like she failed to guide the young people she cares so deeply for!!!

Justin is like. Baby Claude Frollo to me. If that makes sense. Tezca (“I can fix him”) and Giriko (“I can make him worse”) both take him in as their lil brother

Giriko doesn’t do the gross descendant possessing thing because that’s just. Not fun to think about! Instead he’s more or less a living golem, frequently creating new bodies for himself out of the earth. He absolutely still has a ton of kids/descendants though like the deadbeat sleazeball he is. If Denji Chainsaw Man were in SE, we unfortunately all know who would be the father.

Eibon’s narrative relevance actually becomes a big thing!! I love when all-powerful characters are actually just. Really chill and nice. He’s like that with so much guilt from all of his past actions. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and all that.

Proper background, time, and development for characters such as Mifune and Angela, Eruka, Free, the Mizune Family, Tabatha, and Taruho (aka Lisa and Arisa from Chupa Cabra’s)

More on the Hoshi family of meisters/martial artists and how the Star Clan branched off from it! BlackStar doesn’t just have to deal with strangers associating him with corrupted assassins, but much of his actual blood family is really restrained and they don’t want Shiroto (WhiteStar)’s kid to end up the same way.

Mabaa and the Witch Realm! The fox Witch Judge is named Netsuki and she’s Mabaa’s wife <3

Kid getting flashback dreams of Asura and more of him playing detective to uncover the mysteries his dad keeps hiding from him. Some are easy to expect and others… not so much.

Tons of OCs

Maka’s mother, Kumiko Kami-Albarn! She was originally Azusa’s partner until she caught onto Stein experimenting on Spirit when they were all students. She’s a bitch who needs to be better than everyone else (and gets jealous of her own kid rip). I like her so much

Chupa Cabra’s owner, a literal chupacabra vampire! His name is Raul, he’s the brain cell and wants to convince everyone he’s sane and normal.

Squirrel witch Nui Harime kinnie who can checkout people’s mindscapes!

Shadow fae butler dad so Kid isn’t in Gallows Manor all by himself as a child! His name is Lungelo, he’s super cool and dilf material.

EAT classmates based on several things! Magical girls! No Straight Roads! ENA! Undertale/Deltarune! They all get their own little bits to shine and be interwoven in the narrative

More Death Weapons and their meisters to match more distinct regions! For example, Southern Europe, Southeast Asia, South America (Tezca is Central America because... he's Mexican. Literally based on Aztec myths which is in Mexico), South Asia, actual regions of Africa (North, East, etc).

Characters created by my friends such as @starkitters @chalkanthit @teaableu and @silvvergears!

[derpcakes]

Okay, I’m never actually going to write this (for reasons I’ll go into in a moment) but do know that a few years ago I was playing with a fanfic idea where a glitched out Holy Grail manifests in rural New South Wales. An ordinary teenager just trying to scrape by ‘til graduation in this tin-pot dairy town is out on a beer run for some crappy country high school party when two supernatural beings crash through the bottle’o wall, one with a spear and one with a pair of shiny, impossibly fast pistols. She survives being caught in the fight but inevitably ends up on her arse looking up at the glowing gunslinger, who says something about being a Heroic Spirit needing a Master. Our heroine then replies “Yeah nah, get fucked”. Nonetheless, she’s dragged into this battle, and the adventure begins from there.

I had most of a cast of Servants laid out: some smartypants mage decides to summon Ned Kelly--an Australian Heroic Spirit if ever there was one, and who is naturally depicted as a hot lady--before remembering that Ned Kelly was famous for being an outlaw who embodies the quintessential Aussie lack of respect for authority. Summoned as the Archer, Kelly has a degree of independence but ultimately needs a human to keep her anchored, hence going “wait, shit” after breaking her own contract, then reluctantly teaming up with our country town hero in the scene above. Since Ned Kelly’s homemade armour is so famous (to the point where a lot of art just depicts the armour, and it’s way more recognisable than his actual face despite photographs of him existing!) the armour would be constantly on, but invisible, in the same way that Arturia obscures Excalibur. Plenty of potential here for dramatic reveals, not to mention the Themes and Motifs. 

I also liked the idea of each Master having a kind of disjointed cultural relationship with their Heroic Spirit, e.g. a young mage who’s grown up as part of the Greek diaspora in Australia summons a hero from Ancient Greek legend; a character whose noble family fled Russia during the revolution (and hasn’t lived there since) summons a staple of Russian folklore like Baba Yaga (as Rider, you know, for her walking house). These old stories are part of these characters’ heritage, but the versions that exist in lore and legend are unrecognisable from anything they’ve known due to the passage of time and the transformation of culture through the immigrant experience. I thought that could be a fun thing to play around with, you know? Especially with the Australian setting.

I also messed around with the idea that someone summons what they think is a Valkyrie (back before they turned up in FGO!) but, in a third act reveal, turns out to actually be Loki in disguise. Loki would be Very Gender and extremely fun as an amoral pseudo-villain who gets into some cheeky chats with Ned Kelly about the way humans mythologise their troublemakers while also shooting them down.

Oh! It was also going to be gay. At least, in terms of the rowdy teen heroine having a female love interest (in the form of a traumatised but deeply powerful girl from an abusive, traditional mage family. She was gonna be full of plants. The heroine was going to throw it all away and go feral to save her in the end, probably punching God in the face to do it. Do you see what I’m doing here? You gotta have the archetypes).

Anyway, while there were some Cool Ideas floating around here, I ultimately shelved and buried this thing. a) it was going to be a SUPER research intensive project, not only in reading up on the myth and history to get the Servants right, but getting my head around the intricacies of Nasuverse worldbuilding not only enough to understand it but enough to mess with it in way that would be satisfying to the reader. These plot bunnies were bouncing around my head when I was in the middle of my Honours year, and heading towards my doctoral studies, so unfortunately, much like real bunnies in Australia, they were deemed an invasive species that would suck up too many of my resources. 

And I was alright with this, because b) I realised that the thing about Fate that makes me want to write fic is its characters, not its world. So staying in the world but taking the characters out felt... well, not like my kind of creative direction. And I would need bucketloads of passion to get me through this thing, because naturally as the story of my very own Grail War it would need to be at least novel-length. And not a thin novel, either...

I thought to myself “If I’m going to do this much worldbuilding and develop this many OCs for a novel-length fic, I may as well be writing my own original fantasy novels”. Which I’m doing! Some ideas that started here have ended up being folded into other, more successful projects. My interest in exploring a trickster god character flowed right into my PhD work, which is largely about trickster god characters; and I’ve nicked and repurposed a few other elements, too, like the idea of a mage family who get their mana from a freaky symbiotic relationship with plants that they grow in their own body. I feel like my angry, take-no-shit, typically Aussie Ordinary Heroine--the girl I placed in Shirou’s archetypal role--will wander into an original project too, since she has a lot of presence and I think would be really fun as a protagonist. 

Anyway--I’m not going to come back to this, but the idea echoes in my brain every now and then, so I figured I’d share it here. What do you all think? If you could devise your own Grail War from the ground up where would you set it and who would you throw in the ring? 

[roguestorm]

My headcanon has always been that Betsy's mother was French; this is undermined slightly by Excalibur v4, where her maiden name is revealed to be Hartwood, which sounds pretty English to me.

I think about Elizabeth Braddock (née Hartwood) a lot; she was chosen to be "genetically compatible" with James Braddock, so that she could give birth to good and heroic children. (Her first child was Jamie Braddock, so clearly that didn't work out so well.) We don't have any idea what this selection process was like, how much agency James had in falling in love with her or she with him. We also don't know anything about how much she knew of James's past.

She has extraordinarily few appearances, and all of them relate to Brian, and most of them relate to Brian's guilt over the fact that he was making out with a girl in his car while his parents were being murdered by his father's supercomputer. There's no information on how Betsy feels about her mother. There's no information on who Elizabeth really was, outside of her role as dutiful wife and mother.

I'm not mad at this exclusion; Betsy and Brian have enough going on without getting too into their mother's history. But I find it a really fun space to play in, to play with the idea of her living with her husband's secrets. Her husband exists at this weird space where he is on the cutting edge of technology, even while he is steeped in magic. What does it mean to stand outside both of those, to be human, but to be just outside it, so that it affects your life and your children's lives in ways you can't imagine?

I think I like her as French because it marks her as an outsider in a way that parallels the way she is outside magic and technology but also parallels how deeply enmeshed she is in all those things that she is outside. The histories of France and England are very much intertwined; to the English, France is an enemy or an ally, a great nation or a weak one, an economic partner or threat, depending on the time period, but it's always been very important.

I also like Elizabeth as French because if she isn't British, then Betsy and Brian are 0% British by blood. One way of saying that is that they are the children of immigrants, but I think that's a weaker and more boring reading; the framing I want to put on it is that the Braddocks are playing at being British, that they are trying to be like what they think old-money British aristocracy should be like. They are stereotypes of themselves whose entire history is lies, and, yes, they are representative of Britain itself.

In my dreams there's a gothic fantasy graphic novel (illustrated by Stephanie Hans) about the young French woman who comes to a foreign country to marry a brilliant inventor who is building something strange in his basement and who believes in other worlds and whose family no one will speak about. I love the idea of this incredibly unsettling world, with a first son who wants to drive too fast and has a strange gleam in his eye, and what it would have been like for the woman who was asked to navigate it her whole adult life. It would also be like a tragedy, with an end that was terrible but unalterable, where the eldest son grows up to be a supervillain and the invention in the basement does come alive and kill her.

[s3mi-ch4rm3d]

Case File - Casimira "Heretic" Broz

A/N: ok hi this is my first time posting anything i've written rip... hopefully this helps me get a bit more confident !!

Massive massive thanks to @charliemwrites for letting me use the character sheet template !! i hope u guys enjoy, i have a few fic ideas for heretic inspired stuff later (:

Character File

Name: Casimira  Angelika “Heretic” Broz

Aliases: Mira / Cass, Gwiazdko (by her grandmother, meaning star), Grandma (her original squad), Little Guy (in reference to herself)

Age: 31

Gender and pronouns: AFAB, she/her (?) (but also calls herself “little guy” often, and seems indifferent to masculine terms in general)

Marital Status: Single

Surviving family: grandmother, younger brother, mother (estranged)

Physical description:

A well-built figure – a lot of muscle, with the majority of her strength kept in her legs, with thick calves and hefty thighs. She often claims to be “working on her upper body strength,” although no discernible change to her upper body strength has been made. She stands at 5’3  5’4 (161cm) and 127lbs. Casimira’s hair is long, almost pitch black in colour with a slight wave to it. It’s constantly pulled back into a crisp ponytail – you can usually tell when she’s having a bad day by the neatness of her hair. Has been heard cursing loudly in Polish when frustrated at the styling. Her eyes are pools of (mostly) light brown, rimmed with deep eyebags (no matter how much or how little sleep she gets). 

Identifying/Unusual features:

A small speck of blue in her left iris

A beauty-mark under the right-hand side of her lip

A few facial scars: one cutting up through both of her lips on the left-hand side of her face, another just above her eyebrow on the same side.

A few other innocuous scars littering her arms, entirely tattooed over

A burn scar that curls up her entire right leg, worsening at the bottom and gradually fading at the top.

Tattoos:

(where to even begin………………)

A patchwork sleeve on her right arm with small, seemingly random symbols/images (including a pair of scissors, a rosary, an icepick, a bar of soap, a dog baring its teeth, like five different beetles, some skulls of different animals, a singular tooth, a duck skateboarding, etc etc)

A set of 4 swords on her left thigh, seemingly from media she enjoys. (Sting and Andúril from LOTR, Excalibur, the Master Sword from LoZ)

‘Should I Stay?’ above her left knee, ‘Should I Go?’ underneath the same knee – a reference to her favourite song

An effigy to Laika on her left bicep surrounded by a scattering of scars, with the message “patron saint of one way trips”

Special file note: Do not dare her to get a tattoo, she will do it. She will regret it. And then she will proceed to do it again the next time someone dares her. DO NOT LET HER OWN A STICK AND POKE KIT. 

Early Childhood:

Broz’s earliest memories revolve around worship; the wave of incense invading her nostrils, being bathed in a kaleidoscope of rich colour as the sun refracted through the stained glass windows of her local church with the taste of salty wafer heavy on her small tongue. There, under the roof of the small chapel, strangers united by their shared devotion. 

Her mother was undergoing her postulancy and in the process of becoming a nun when she found out she was pregnant with Casimira (out of wedlock, no less). The embarrassment and stigma pushed her family out of their small, rural Polish town, and as such they immigrated to England when Broz was still an infant.

There was a distance between her and her mother growing up, marked by a mutual understanding of disappointment – on drunken evenings with too much wine in her stomach, Iga would complain loudly about the life she gave up to have her. 

Her Babcia, on the other hand, adored her. While she was never one for verbal expressions of love, hidden between half-hearted jabs, tuts and constant worrying was proof of her adoration. Knitting her scarves and gloves and blankets because you’re always wearing such little clothing, pilling her lunchboxes full of home-cooked food because when did you get so thin, mały Gwiazdko?

As Broz grew older, mindless devotion grew less enchanting. The church became a stuffy little place instead of a second home, and she often left with more questions than answers. As she grew more doubtful, her mother grew more evangelical and fanatical in her beliefs, which was only worsened with the birth of her younger brother to another nameless father. 

In school, it seemed as though nothing academic came to her naturally. What other students could do as easy as breathing, she had to devote herself fully to in order to make good grades. She felt as though she constantly had something to prove, had to fight to be praised for her efforts and be noticed. 

Athletics, on the other hand, came to her like breathing. She joined almost every athletic club her school had to offer – from archery, to track, gymnastics. Team sports specifically; netball, football, cricket, rounders – she excelled at them all. There was something about working as part of a group; following signals, obeying commands, non-verbal communication was where she thrived. Always willing to make the risky play in order for her team to excel. 

Around the time of her brother’s birth, at age 15, was when she started considering joining the military. As her home life grew more tumultuous, she grew desperate for any way to escape. The comradery witnessed at careers fairs enticed her. The idea of working together to actually achieve something, to influence the world in an important way, to help! 

She joined shortly after turning 17. 

Military Career:

Broz originally wanted to enter the military with the aim of becoming a Chaplain, but changed her mind shortly before enrolling.

Unwaveringly loyal, endlessly patient and respectful, she hastily rose through the ranks. She made fast friends with everyone in her first squad, quickly earning the nickname Grandma due to her constant faffing and dry humour. 

She grew to be well-liked by her superiors also; her history in team sports and devoted nature made her a brilliant soldier. She was cooperative, level-headed, and very eager to impress. Excelled at stealth, hand-to-hand combat and at sniping. A jack-of-all-trades type soldier, she fell easily into any role. 

Her only flaw was her tendency for martyrdom. She would do anything for her team to succeed, even if it meant pulling the self-sacrifice play. It landed her in many difficult situations – the only issue on her disciplinary record. 

The trajectory of her career was altered dramatically with the death of most of her team, with herself and her Lieutenant being the only survivors.

Broz fought tooth and nail against the idea of honourable discharge in the wake of this tragedy, and her determination caught the attention of Kate Laswell. Heretic, after her recovery, now serves by flitting between squads under Laswell’s purview. Whether it be helping with gathering intel and infiltration, ambushing and sabotage, she offers her services to teams temporarily to fill whichever role is needed of her. 

While she still proves to be dependable and loyal, she seems to have developed an issue with fraternising with new teams. Her issues with self-sacrifice still place her in trouble for insubordination often. 

[adamwatchesmovies]

Shrek the Third (2007)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

The drop in quality between Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third is so steep you'll wonder why anyone bothered. There’s nothing inspired here in terms of plot, character development, humour or even pop-culture references. It’s a devastating letdown that disappoints more the longer you watch.

King Harold (John Cleese) is dying and names Shrek (Mike Myers) and Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) as his successors. Convinced an ogre will be unfit to rule the kingdom of Far Far Away, Shrek decides to track down her cousin, Arthur “Artie” Pendragon (Justin Timberlake). With the help of Donkey (Mike Myers) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), our swamp-loving hero is off, but not before Fiona reveals she is pregnant. Meanwhile, a washed-up Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) vows revenge.

The story by Andrew Adamson - adapted by Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, Chris Miller and Aron Warner - is so flawed I don’t know if there was any salvaging it. By and large, it’s really just the same plot as the original film. Shrek and Donkey - plus Puss - have to find a royal and bring them to a castle so Shrek can get his swamp back the way he wants it to be. Oh sure, there are slight differences. Obviously Artie doesn’t fall in love with the green meanie the way Fiona did but they do have that big “lover’s quarrel” scene once true intentions are revealed.

What you essentially get is Shrek but without anything that made it magical. The characters aren’t fresh the way they were before. Worse, the well of fairytale-based jokes has been drained dry, leaving this movie with few opportunities to make you laugh. I know you could argue whether Red Riding Hood or the Three Blind Mice really fit the fairy tales motif but King Arthur? Sans excalibur and with only a couple of lame scenes where an exaggerated, incompetent and loopy Merlin (Eric Idle) appears? It feels completely out of place.

Tonally, director Chris Miller misses the mark so thoroughly it's almost like it's on purpose. The first scene has a humiliated Prince Charming mourning his now-dead mother. Next a parade of scenes of Shrek grumbling about how much he hates Far Far Away and how much he doesn’t want to rule. He then finds an excuse to abandon his wife so he can pawn the kingdom off on some schmo he’s never met. In no time, you're sympathizing with the villain rather than the hero. Yes, Charming turns out to be malicious but it feels like the character was re-written to be the antagonist. From what we saw previously, there was nothing to indicate he had any volition of his own; he was just a mama’s boy raised to believe he should rule. Couldn’t Fiona wear the crown? How about the still-living Queen? What if Artie had been this megalomaniac who, after obtaining power, used it to get revenge on everyone who bullied him at high school? Shrek would’ve come off as an even bigger jerk than he already is.

Even the choice of songs doesn’t feel right. Whereas Livin’ La Vida Loca, I’m Holding out for a Hero and All-Star in Shreks 1 & 2 either subverted your expectations in a novel way, drove the story forward through non-litteral music, or both, there’s nothing about the short clip of Immigrant Song and the cover of Live of Let Die during the royal funeral that comes close. Where’s the wit? Where are the unusual choices that don't seem to fit on paper, but in execution work so well?

I doubt anyone who saw Shrek the Third upon its original release remembers it. They might remember some of what happens, but the way the movie made you feel? No way. That’s because this comedy has no heart. It’s diet water served after two classic animated comedies. I’d say I hated it, but that's incendiary, passionate - too good for Shrek The Third. The people behind the scenes knew this movie would be a hit so they rushed out a mediocre product because they knew they could. (On DVD, August 9, 2019)

[molsons112000]

So in Arizona, I worked with all arab parties. It was all Persians. At Excalibur, we had all-black parties. No white people, no Hispanics, no Asians, it was black only... So I don't get it, but in today's world, if a white person has a white-only party, they're racist????

We're having open and honest conversations. Doesn't it have to go both ways or neither can have... You can't have all-black fraternities and sororities. Al fraternity, we had a black member named James... We had to consider all minorities...

So how does this play out in court? Because if one side and only 1 side is constantly sued for racism, we have the United States, where it's almost 50% minority. That means any acts they do against white people. Isn't racism considered????

So as I told you growing up and I was well aware of the nation of Islam and well aware of his statements about killing white people and about anti. Semitism.... But most white people don't even know who he is running the nation of islam... They've never listened to his speeches....

The racial demographics of the United States vary by region and have been changing over time:

White

In 2022, 251.6 million people identified as white, which is the largest share of the population in every region. However, the white population share has been declining, dropping nearly 10 percentage points since 2019. In the Northeast, non-Hispanic white people make up 90% or more of the population.

Hispanic

In 2020, 18.7% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino. This group has been growing due to immigration and high birth rates.

Black

In 2022, 45.4 million people identified as Black or African American. Black populations are highest in the District of Columbia (45%) and some Southern states. The median age of Black people in 2022 was 32.1 years, which is almost six years younger than the national median age.

Asian

In 2020, 6.1% of the population identified as Asian American, including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. This group has also been growing in recent years. 



Wikipedia

Race and ethnicity in the United States - Wikipedia

Historical trends and influences. The growth of the Hispanic population through immigration and high birth rates is noted as a partial factor for U.S. population gains in the last quarter-century. The 2000 census revealed that Native Americans had reached their highest documented population, 4.5 million, since the U.S. was founded in 1776. ... Throughout American history, efforts to classify the increasingly mixed population of the United States into discrete categories have generated many difficulties. ... Historical trends influencing the ethnic demographics of the United States include:



Brookings Institution

The nation is diversifying even faster than predicted, according to new ...

Jul 1, 2020 — The Asian American population share (including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders) grew to 3.8%, while the white population share dropped nearly 10 percentage points, to 69.1%. The new data shows that, by 2019, the white population share declined nearly nine more percentage points, to 60.1%. The Latino or Hispanic and Asian American population shares showed the most marked gains, at 18.5% and nearly 6%, respectively. While these groups fluctuated over the past 40 years, either upward (for Latinos or Hispanics and Asian Americans) or downward (for whites), the Black share of the population remained relatively constant.



Visual Capitalist

Mapped: Visualizing the U.S. Population by Race

Dec 28, 2020



brookings.edu

Mapping America’s diversity with the 2020 census | Brookings

Sep 21, 2021



Pew Research Center

Facts About the U.S. Black Population - Pew Research Center

Jan 18, 2024 — Notably, the Black Hispanic U.S. population is not necessarily the same population as the nation's Afro-Latino population, as not all people who say they are Black and Hispanic identify as Afro-Latino and not all Afro-Latinos self-identify as Black, Hispanic or with both identities. Age structure. All Black. Single race, non-Hispanic. Multiracial, non-Hispanic. Black Hispanic. The U.S. Black population is young. The median age of Black people in 2022 was 32.1 years, nearly six years younger than the U.S. population's median age of 38.0. Roughly 30% of the entire Black population was below the age of 20 while 12% were 65 or older.



NCBI

Population Data and Demographics in the United States

Asian [or Asian American]: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent; for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. Black or African American: A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. Hispanic or Latine: A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Statista

Population by race in the U.S. 2022 | Statista

Oct 6, 2023

Other racial demographics include American Indian and Alaska Native, with a population of 4.38 million in 2022. 

Anti-Defamation League

www.adl.org

Farrakhan: In His Own Words

For more than 30 years, Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI), has been a notable extremist figure, railing against Jews, white people and ...

So we're talking about fairness? That's why God is interested in righteousness. Injustice, you can't condemn one side for it and then allow another side to trample all over the same laws.... You hold one side highly accountable. And the other side literally gets away with murder......

And like I told you, I didn't start this in. Asian pastor started this. And so as I'd been getting attacked. Left and right by minorities, now. I'm just letting it all. Hang out. We're saying we're getting real right. I wanted to go down another route, but since you wanna attack me and consider me constantly racist. And you f****** did all kinds of evil to me, throughout my f****** life. And I turned the other cheek, but no fucking more..... So let's get open and honest. And the bar association better be reforming, it's fucking shit.... 😤 Yes, the legal association, the bar better be reforming it s*** And so should the courts because East equal justice, right? And they haven't understood. They've been getting away with literal murder... OJ wasn't brought up on hate crime charges? But many white people got off of murder and then they brought them back up on hate crime charges and put them in jail.... So where is the balance here? Why aren't they going after minorities for hate crimes? And putting them in jail the same way they do. They think white people got away with it well. I want them to be stuck in jail for that as well... So being open and honest right equal. Justice, everybody says they want equal justice... Well, that can happen when you say a place that's an all black dormitory or all black college, and then you sue a white place for being discriminatory....

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

The First of Its KindOn February 25, 1837, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania became the nation's first Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

https://cheyney.edu › who-we-are

The First HBCU - Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

So when are we gonna get truly honest? And truly get laws that are applied correctly. No matter your race or gender, no matter your age... Just like I wanted George Ryan and Denny hastert. Two white people to die in prison... I didn't want them to get compassionate release. F*** them. They should die in prison.... And that's the way I feel with minorities as well, rot and die in fucking prison.... So, we need to get fair about everything.... And we haven't been being fair.... So God watches and looks. Are you being truly righteous and just not in my book.... I sit here in absolute poverty and loneliness every f****** day. And everybody gets to travel. The world and pursue their lives and pursue their dreams and mine have been destroyed over and over. And over since i've been a child.... Shouldn't I be able to live every f****** dream? I want to go wherever the fuck I want... As god said, I deserve excellent and I should be able to live the life I want to pursue... I never have been able to go in the prada or gucci, or coach, or wherever by high designers by exotic cars have nice condos or houses or anything, i've had nothing... And I've continuously had anything that I had stripped away from me just as now with my health. Not only did you not help me. You piled on and made everything 10 times f****** worse. You gave me new illnesses that I never had before.... And you say that you're good people? I think you're disgusting pieces of fucking filth.... Backstabbing lying cheating and deceiving.....

[pipelinelaserraygun]

🆓 motion picture, a movie ALL Christians should watch:

King Arthur's archetype 🗡️ Excalibur teaches us how to wield "Sword of the Spirit", aka Scripture 📖, the GREATEST of weapons that shall never be outperformed.

Do not make 🫂 nice: 🔚 all "kumbaya" with 👿 enemies.

Wield Swords/Bibles ⚔️/📖.

Not everything is conspiracy. Apply SPIRITUAL forensics.

NEVER 🛑 STOP DIGGING FOR TRUTH. There aren't any stupid questions. Leave no 🪨🪨 stones unturned.

Our tech is NOT 🇺🇸👽 Sci-Fi.

🆓 BOOK 📚 PREVIEW ⬆️ .

The truth is out there Mulder.

Dress rehearsal war games?

In a perfect world, 🌎 there'd be MORE religious tolerance, but that's NOT reality. In 💤 biden, 👺 we have demonic operatives out to HURT you.

KEY word: "KINDRED" spirits 🆚 irreconcilable differences.

He 🇺🇸 obliterated the ratings:

"By the time the debate concluded, the pre-recorded 46-minute Carlson-Trump interview had amassed more than 80 MILLION VIEWS, a number that will almost certainly exceed the debate’s viewership." -- TIME

Reports are coming out of Tucker Carlson's interview with Donald Trump 24 hours later (see below), that it's NOW the most watched interview of ALL time: above 300 million views❣️

Finding common ground, or continuing to harp about irreconcilable differences, aren't immediate urgencies. In fact, they can be counter productive distractions.

Heading into elections, these are my priorities for Trump:

1) It's the ECONOMY, stupid. 2) 🔚⚖️ law weaponization. 3) 🇺🇸 A focus on Sovereignty. 4) Only LEGAL immigration.

[wikibiofact]

Liam Neeson Net Worth 2023 unveiled: Wiki, & Biography

Liam Neeson made his professional acting debut in 1976 at Belfast's Lyric Players' Theatre. He subsequently relocated to Dublin and began working at the Abbey Theatre. In 1981, he had his breakout role as the lead in the film "Excalibur." He has starred in other films since then, including "Schindler's List," "Taken," and "Love Actually."

Neeson is also noted for his stage appearances. He made his Stage debut in 1993 as Matt Burke in Eugene O'Neill's reanimation of Anna Christie, for which he received a Tony Award nomination Best Stylish Actor in a Play. In 1998, he played Oscar Wilde in David Hare's The Judas Kiss. He submitted an alternate Tony Award candidature for his performance in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, which was revived on Broadway in 2002.

Career

Liam Neeson has a long and renowned acting career. The Northern Irish actor has proven his flexibility and brilliance in a range of roles, including dramas, comedies, and action pictures.

In Steven Spielberg's 1993 film "Schindler's List," Neeson plays Oskar Schindler, a troubled man.His portrayal gained him great praise and established him as a major actor.

In the years after, Neeson has continued to take on demanding parts, notably the lead in the 2008 action-thriller "Taken," which solidified his image as an action star. Friends, you must have seen the ever popular  television serials such as "Star Wars" and "The Chronicles of Narnia." he also starred in these.

Apart from performing, Neeson has provided narration for a number of projects, including documentaries and video games. He's even narrated a few films on his own Ireland.

Despite his fame, Neeson has encountered personal difficulties, including the untimely death of his wife in 2009. He has, nevertheless, continued to work and inspire audiences with his performances, establishing himself as a great artist and a popular person in the entertainment sector.

The Creation of Schindler's List and the Rising of Liam Neeson

Schindler's List is without a doubt one of the most widely appreciated films of all time.

Steven Spielberg's film depicts the tale of a German shopkeeper who rescued the lives and prevented the deaths of over a thousand Jewish immigrants during the Holocaust. The film's main character, Oskar Schindler, was performed by Irish actor Liam Neeson, who rose to international prominence and established himself as a major Hollywood actor. This article delves into the creation of Schindler's List and  Neeson's ascent to celebrity.

Offering the Role to Liam Neeson

Steven Spielberg had planned to produce a Holocaust film for years before deciding to make Schindler's List. When he saw Liam Neeson's performance in the Broadway play Anna Christie, he immediately offered him the lead role in his upcoming movie.Nevertheless, Neeson was not the only actor considered for the role; Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, and Warren Beatty were all considered.Beatty even auditioned for the role. However, Spielberg eventually chose Neeson to play the part after he auditioned for it in December 1992.

Getting into Character

To prepare for the role, Neeson read Thomas Keneally's book, Schindler's Ark, on which the movie is based. He found that his character was not just a hero, but a flawed and complex individual who enjoyed manipulating the Nazis. As per Keneally's book, the Nazis viewed  Schindler as a fool. "If the Nazis were New Yorkers, he was from Arkansas," Neeson said. "They don't entirely take him seriously, and he exploited that to full effect." Neeson's subtle and dramatic performance in the film won him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, as well as accolades for BAFTA and Golden Globes..

Liam Neeson's Subsequent Roles

Liam Neeson rose to prominence with his performance in Schindler's List. He starred in several period pieces, including Rob Roy (1995) and Michael Collins (1996). His effort in the latter won him the Venice Film Festival's Best Leading Role award and another Golden Globe nomination. He portrayed Jean Valjean in the 1998 film version of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, and he portrayed Dr. David Marrow in The Haunting.

Conclusion

Schindler's List was a pioneering film that brought the atrocities of the Holocaust to a new generation's attention.

Liam Neeson's portrayal as Oskar Schindler was vital to the film's success, and it helped establish him as a Hollywood celebrity.. Neeson's nuanced portrayal of a complex character demonstrated his range and versatility as an actor, and paved the way for his success in subsequent roles.Schindler's List is still a compelling and crucial film, and Liam Neeson's role in it demonstrates his brilliance and talent as an actor.

Awards and recognition

The article describes Liam Neeson's illustrious and diverse career in acting, which began with his critically acclaimed performance in Pilgrim's Progress. He went on to deliver impressive performances in movies like Christiana, Excalibur, The Bounty, and TV show Play for Today. Neeson also honed his craft in theater and gained popularity for his action-oriented roles in Taken, The A-Team, and The Grey. His performances have garnered him a slew of honours and nominations, including those from the Irish Cinema and Television Academy and the Evening Standard British Film Awards. Neeson continues to captivate audiences with his recent appearances in Blacklight and Memory in 2022.

READ MORE

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

October 18th - Jubilee

The daughter of two prosperous Hong Kong immigrants, Jubilation ‘Jubilee’ Lee, was born and raised in Beverly Hills, California.  For much of her earlky youth, Jubilee lived a charmed life, attending an exclusive Beverly Hills school, hanging with her friends at the mall and taking gymnastics lessons (which she showed a terrific talent for).  All this changed on the night that her parents were killed in a mysterious accident.  Jubilee was sent to an orphanage but quickly ran away and was briefly homeless.  One night she was caught stealing from a shopping mall.  Running away from the security guard’s, Jubilee discovered her latent Mutant powers that enables her to generate blinding and explosive energy ‘fireworks’ from her hands.  

The posh, Los Angeles shopping area was bigoted toward Mutants and hired a specialized anti-Mutant security squad to come in and deal with Jubilee.  Fortunately, a number of the X-Men had come to shop and were able to rescue Jubilee from this force.  Fascinated by The X-Men, Jubilee secretly followed them through Gateway’s portal that led to the team’s secret base in the Australian Outback.  She stowed herself away on the base, secretly living among the X-Men with none of them the wiser.  The base was ultimately abandoned and Jubilee happened upon a severely injured Wolverine, strung up following a sneak attack by The Reavers.  

Jubilee nursed Wolverine back to health and the two became partners, traveling to Hong Kong to thwart the schemes of the villainous Mandarin.  Jubilee and Wolverine grew a close father-daughter relationship with one another. Jubilee needed the guidance of a parent, while Wolverine needed the peace and joyful sense of purpose offered by looking after the youngster. Furthermore, Jubilee proved quite capable in a fight and was able to utilize her powers to hold her own against such threats as The Hand, The Brood and Sabertooth.  

Jubilee would go on to become a member of the X-Men  She remained with the team for many missions and later helped Banshee and Emma Frost in forming the new team of young Mutant heroes called Generation X.   

Jubilee was among the many Mutants who lost their special powers in the wake of the M-Day Decimation event.  Although no longer a Mutant, Jubilee still fought for Mutant rights as a political activist opposing Congressman Sykes’ efforts to push through legislation for Mutant registration.  Some time later, Jubilee utilized a specialized power-suit that recreated her former powers and operated as ‘Wondra’ acting as a member of a new iteration of The New Warriors. 

Some time thereafter, Jubilee became caught up in the X-Men’s war with the forces of Dracula.  Jubilee was bitten by the vampire, Xarus, and became a vampire herself.  Rescued by The X-Men, Jubilee was helped to control her blood-thirst and she was able to use her new vampiric powers to aide the X-men in defeating Dracula.  She retained these powers and was taken in as a student of a group of vampires called The Forgiven, who had learned to transcend their need for blood and could move about in the day.  With her new vampire powers, Jubilee returned to active duty as a member of The X-Men.  

During this time, Jubilee encountered an abandoned infant boy in Budapest. She named him Shogo and brought him back to the Jean Grey School in the States.  The child had been orphaned and Jubilee was able to legal adopt him.  Whilst caring for Shojo, Jubilee became an instructor at the Grey School presiding over a new Generation X class.  Jubilee was later cured of her vampirism and had her original Mutant powers restored by Quentin Quire who used a remnant fragment of the Phoenix Force to achieve the feat.  

More recently, Jubilee and Shogo have relocated to the Mutant nation of Krakoa.  Here she has served on a newer iteration of the Excalibur team.

Versions of Jubilee have featured in the Fox Films X-men movies, portrayed by actresses Katrina Florece and Lana Condor. The heroine first appeared in the pages of Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #244 (1989).  

[nicopony79]

Something Is Rotten In The State Of Krakoa

Krakoa. You hate it, don't you? You think the storyline requires a constant state of cognitive dissonance to make sense of the plot. You question why anyone in their right mind would trust in these particular leaders. Why child murder pits are allowed to exist. Why no one is asking the right questions.

Krakoa stinks.

It's supposed to. Look at the current state of US politics. I don't know about you, but I spend a lot of time thinking: HOW THE HELL DID THIS PERSON GET ELECTED AND STAY IN POWER? Child abusers, sexual predators, conspiracy theorists and white supremacists are running our country.

Sinister, Council member, has committed unforgivable sins against humanity and walks away unscathed from whatever disaster he's created. Yes, and...? Have you seen the last US presidential administration?

Children, Fools, and Drunks speak the truth. Deadpool represents at least two of the three at any given time:

He also calls them 'jerks.' I mean, he's not wrong.

In Inferno, X, Mags and Moira discuss the possibility of siding with the machines.

"Phalanx" means a group of soldiers moving in close formation, but it was also the name of the fascist movement in Spain during the '30s. And, as many other readers have pointed out, we sure seem to be heading towards some sort of Phalanx Integration as far as Moira is concerned.

Here she is, either rocking Bastion's look, or taking cues from Gambit. In comparing the two, I'm going to say: Gambit wore it best.

We also have the Hellfire Trading Company which is supposed to be the Krakoa's version of the East India Trading Company (monopolistic trade, puppet leaders, military rule and suppression, just to name a few problematic things). And then whatever the HELL is going on in Excalibur is the glorification of colonialist BULLSHIT. And then we have Emma Frost, in literally every book, who is calls herself a QUEEN.

RE: Nightcrawler. Do we need to touch on the whole state-mandated religion thing? So. Many. Alarm. Bells.

What fascists really like is to make up a fake Enemy of the People for folks to rally against. Immigrants, minorities, women, people of different religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Oh, hi WANDA. Didn't see you standing there, Pretender.

I will say the characterization in telling these stories has fallen really, really flat. There is no emotional connection to these puppets enacting the story. And the story itself has gotten so stretched out, that the allusions to fascist rule and colonial imperialism have been lost. The parts that would've made this era interesting, like emotional reunions with lost loved ones, get hand-waved or happen off-panel (I mean, Mystique and Destiny's four month reconciliation happened in four panels on one page, so there's that).

In summation, I guess what I'm saying is that Krakoa sucks for a reason. Either that, or I'm making excuses for bad writing.

[monstcrmade]

@sanguisfulgur || for emile

The Repository was quiet. It was always quiet here unless Neal played some music from the hook up that he’d requested or from the numerous magical instruments and other noisemakers that called the eldritch location of a building home. But they only kicked up is when they wanted to and today was not such a day that they chose to make much noise.

That was fine by Neal. He preferred the quiet on days when he had to take inventory. Easier to concentrate that way, especially when the Repository housed so much. From things that people agreed were universally real to what most thought were simply stories like King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur. Turned out it was, in fact, very real and very magical and also would burn the skin off the hand of anybody who was not King Arthur who touched it. Neal had had to get particularly creative with getting that item out of Wales and into the Repository without hurting himself or getting stopped by TSA.

Luckily he had a history of thieving and con artistry under his belt long before then. In fact, his past is what made him so appealing as to be given the job of Keeper by the Repository itself. It was a living building with its own intelligence and Neal took to it maybe too easily but really, he’d always taken to things like a duck to water. Nothing surprised him much.

Neal blew a lock of black hair out of his face as he finished up his monthly inventory check. He had his mother’s coloring. She was a immigrant from Syria and had met his Irish father in Grand Central Station her first month there. He was an only child and had been born with his mother’s midnight black hair and light brown skin. He’d gotten his father’s blue eyes though his left had a touch of brown in it. Sectoral heterochromia, it was called. He was often complemented on his eyes and general looks but really, nobody could resist baby blues. It helped with his career.

With clipboard under one arm, he made his way back to the front desk where he had a special little placard with his full name on it: Neal Emir Burton. Under it was his official title of Keeper.

A door materialized in the middle of the lobby in front of his desk. Not an unusual sight. This was how most newcomers got in.

A young woman stepped through the door, immediately looking tired and like she didn’t want to be wherever she was. She was pretty though and, as he did with any visitor, Neal plastered on a smile for her that was actually surprisingly genuine. He only did the fake shit when he had to seduce his way into places and it was always convincing enough to work.

“Welcome to the Repository. My name is Neal Emir Burton,” he said as he came around his desk and held out his hand, smile still firmly on his face.

[cbjustmusic]

Eighty years ago today the late singer-songwriter Guy Clark was born (November 6, 1941-May 17, 2016). His songs were recorded by countless other singers, but here he is performing “Randall Knife”.

Previously posted songs written by Guy Clark: -“Homegrown Tomatoes”/Guy Clark -“The Cape”/Guy Clark -“The Guitar”/Guy Clark -“Immigrant Eyes”/ Willie Nelson -“Step Inside This House”/Lyle Lovett -“Desperadoes Waiting on a Train”/Jason Isbell __________________________ Randall Knife Songwriter: Guy Clark

My father had a Randall knife My mother gave it to him When he went off to WWII To save us all from ruin If you've ever held a Randall knife Then you know my father well If a better blade was ever made It was probably forged in hell My father was a good man A lawyer by his trade And only once did I ever see Him misuse the blade It almost cut his thumb off When he took it for a tool The knife was made for darker things And you could not bend the rules He let me take it camping once On a Boy Scout jamboree And I broke a half an inch off Trying to stick it in a tree I hid it from him for a while But the knife and he were one He put it in his bottom drawer Without a hard word one There it slept and there it stayed For twenty some odd years Sort of like Excalibur Except waiting for a tear My father died when I was forty And I couldn't find a way to cry Not because I didn't love him Not because he didn't try I'd cried for every lesser thing Whiskey, pain and beauty But he deserved a better tear And I was not quite ready So we took his ashed out to sea And poured 'em off the stern And threw the roses in the wake Of everything we'd learned When we got back to the house They asked me what I wanted Not the lawbooks not the watch I need the things he's haunted My hand burned for the Randall knife There in the bottom drawer And I found a tear for my father's life And all that it stood for

[moriaen]

a small collection of modern young adult arthurian stories & retellings

 *i haven’t read most of these but i tried to add people’s general thoughts on them

legendborn by tracey deonn (legendborn series) : follows sixteen-year-old bree matthews adjusting to new life at college following the death of her mother. one night, she witnesses a flying demon feeding on people and is exposed to a secret society of “legendborn” people: including the heirs of arthurian characters and a mage called “merlin” with the ability to erase memories. she soon suspects they may have had something to do with her mother’s death — this one isn’t directly a retelling but more just uses arthuriana as a jumping off point for its own worldbuilding. it also takes a lot of inspiration from African spirituality! the main character is Black and there’s some lgbt+ representation from the side characters too

once & future by amy rose capetta (once & future series) : ari helix is an immigrant of an arab-settled planet. one day, she crash lands on old Earth and pulls a magical sword from the ground, which turns out to be Excalibur and reveals her to be the 42nd incarnation of king arthur. she soon meets backwards-aging now-a-teenager merlin; together, they must break the curse affecting arthur’s reincarnation and defeat the corrupt government to ensure freedom throughout the land  — have not read this one but most people seem to find it flawed but enjoyable with lots of poc and lgbt representation :)

the guinevere deception by kiersten white (camelot rising series) : amidst a kingdom crawling with magic, merlin has instead sent a changeling (whose true identity remains a secret) as princes guinevere to camelot in order to wed the king arthur and keep him safe.  — a female-focused arthurian story + female!lancelot

the once and future queen by adam p. knave : graphic novel featuring chess prodigy rani arturus who pulls the sword from the stone.  — king arthur reimagined as a multi-ethnic teenage girl + lots of other poc and queer representation

enjoy !

[maxriderg]

Hey Everyone, Emman here and these are a pair of Concept Art pieces that I've made for one of my originally planned ideas: the Logo for Disney's Excalibur in which, is going to be an animated film adaptation of Marvel's Excalibur and as well as Brittany Kirkland/Captain Britain in which, I've drawn her from four years ago from now. I've originally planned myself to make an animated Excalibur Movie that is set in the same world as with Disney's Big Hero 6 but while I do like my idea of a female Captain Britain in my very own way, I felt like it's better for me to develop more parts of the Miss Philippines franchise, an Original Superhero Cartoon show that I'm working on to turn it into a Reality. Fortunately however, one of my scrapped ideas will be saved and have this female Captain Britain of mine into a Canon Immigrant of the Miss Philippines/Powerstorm Multiverse (albeit with a Redesign and an All-New Name, along with other things to spice her up so she can have her very own unique identity while at the same time, making her a very positive British and British-American Superheroine of my very own).