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lacrimosathedark · 4 years ago

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Hamilton Inaccuracies/Corrections (because why not?)

Okay so, I saw a post on reddit that was like, “what’s some inaccuracies in Hamilton off the top of your head?” and I got a whole bunch...and then I had to double check to make sure if I was right...and I’m pretty long-winded...and now I have this 5,000ish word monstrosity. And apparently you can only post 1000 characters at a time on reddit. Laaaaame. So here’s some Hamilton facts I’ve gathered in my brain. Since it was kinda off the top of my head despite being so long, it’s kinda vague in some places, so if anyone wants to expand on anything (or correct me if I oopsed somewhere) please do! Though nicely please.

Also I am also awful at citing things, but I know I learned some of this from @john-laurens and @ciceroprofacto so thank you.

LET’S BEGIN!

Act 1

Rachel Faucette was not a prostitute, but she was a “whore” in the sense that she did what she fucking wanted with her body. During her first marriage she may or may not have been sleeping around, but she refused to stay with John Lavien, her husband, anymore. So he had her arrested. And he could do that. Because patriarchy and theocracy. And she was essentially put in solitary confinement. You can see why she tried to leave, right? She tried to get their marriage annulled or get a divorce. I forget what the issue was but she couldn’t and eventually she just moved to another island where she met James Hamilton.

The intro song makes it seem like Alexander was an only child. He actually had an older brother, James Jr., but he kinda fucked off after their mother died, working and taking care of himself. They also had an older half-brother Peter Lavien, but I don’t think they really knew him other than as the son of their mother’s abusive ex who took everything from them when she died. John Lavien was able to do that because when Rachel was with James Hamilton, she had not been able to get legally divorced from him so she wasn’t really married to James Hamilton, so James Jr. and Alexander were illegitimate ie bastards. He was an asshole. I don't think Peter had anything against the Hamiltons, but I think he grew up to be a Loyalist so. He actually made some trouble in South Carolina for Henry Laurens, John's dad! But I think I read somewhere he also left money for Alex and James Jr. In his will, which is sweet.

This is more visual since it’s not specified in the song, but in the show, Hamilton’s cousin mimes hanging himself. Peter Lytton’s cause of death if I recall was inconclusive, but he was in his bed and there was a lot of blood. So, yeah, he didn’t hang himself.

Alexander did not punch the bursar. However he did return to Princeton later during the war and blew a canon through the school and apparently decapitated a painting of King George lololol. He was under orders, but yknow. Probably felt pretty good after he was rejected for accelerated courses. He wasn’t the only bastard rejected, though! Ben Franklin’s bastard son was too. The guy in charge of admissions, Witherspoon, hated bastards as a concept and Princeton was a very religious school at the time I believe.

It may have been the plan by Aaron and Esther Burr for Aaron Jr to graduate Princeton, but like, he couldn’t really be sure of that? He was like 2 years old when they died, and his older sister Sally was 4 I believe, maybe 5.

Hercules Mulligan met Alex in 1772. His older brother Hugh knew Alex’s old employer in St. Croix and helped him get to mainland America. Alex and Hercules lived together for a long while, and Hercules is actually who got him interested in the revolution.

John Laurens was in England in 1776. He wouldn’t meet Hamilton and Lafayette until he accepted his post as Washington’s aide-de-camp upon his return in August of 1777.

Lafayette couldn’t have met Hamilton before August 1777 because that’s when he met Washington, and he was appointed as a volunteer to the Continental Army only a week prior, and before that he had been in France. But Lafayette later declared their relationship to be like that of brothers, Alexander his closest connection in the states besides Washington.

Lafayette admired and absolutely adored Laurens and they were besties, but neither of them knew Mulligan. They may have met in passing, or heard about him from Hamilton, but nothing more.

“Lafayette” was actually a nickname based on his title of “Marquis de la Fayette”. In his autobiography, he wrote: “It’s not my fault I was baptized like a Spaniard, with the name of every conceivable saint who might offer me more protection in battle.” I’m glad he thought it was funny at least. His name is Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de la Fayette.

Hercules Mulligan is not known to fuck horses.

The Revolution had already sorta started. Actually, Hercules and Alexander had been part of local militias before 1776.

This is more of a miscommunication since the actors are close in age, though the lyrics try to get it across. There’s a reason Mulligan says he’s got the others “in loco parentis”. In 1776 Hamilton and Lafayette would have been 19, Laurens would have been 22, and Mulligan would have been 36.

I think we all know “Laurens, I like you a lot” does not cover the scope of their relationship but that’s rather self explanatory so unless someone asks I’ll leave it at that. And for other clarifications. But at the very least I’ll share this: Anyone who saw them knew they were like attached at the hip (without knowing how attached *winkwonk*) and you could almost always contact one through the other. Laurens was notoriously bad at answering letters, to Hamilton too (and Alex did bitch about it because he is insecure and needs love), but it became quickly known he got back to Hamilton fastest so people would be like “Tell Laurens I said hi!” or “Hey, I need to get these to Laurens, you send them to him.” Which is hilarious. I just imagine Alexander going, “Why me?”

While all of them are Revolutionaries, Laurens is the only one you could solidly call an abolitionist, and Mulligan’s even shaky on the manumission part. He was supposedly part of the Manumission Society Hamilton helped start, but Mulligan also personally owned slaves and was never known to have freed them (One helped him with spy shit. His name was Cato!). In fairness, Hamilton and Lafayette wholeheartedly agreed with Laurens, and Hamilton was the biggest supporter of his battalion plan, and both of them did try to continue working towards equality after the war, but it was never the top priority for either of them and their lives kinda went to hell, so it fell to the wayside. Lafayette actually did some nifty stuff worth looking at, and Hamilton might have tried to keep one of John Lauren’s freed men from Henry Laurens! But as slavery stuck around for a while, it clearly wasn’t anything significant.

Angelica would meet and befriend Thomas Jefferson in Europe, but she would never manage to convince him to put women in a sequel because he’s a huge misogynist and told her in multiple letters that politics isn’t for women and I think he deserves a shoe up his southern backside. Side note, it always bothered me that Lin played up the misogyny in the musical. I mean, yeah, all of them would be misogynists compared to us, but for their time, Hamilton wasn’t so bad. If there was anyone to play up misogyny with, it was Jefferson, because he would tell Angelica for years and years that politics could never make women happy, and that the women in France were foolish for trying etc.. Hamilton would actually discuss politics with Angelica frequently and openly. And there’s a proto-feminist in the cast that was never recognized—Aaron Burr! He respected Theodosia Sr. as an equal and she was his most valuable political ally, and he made sure Theodosia Jr. got the same education any boy of her time would have. He actually respected women to a decent degree. Not to say he wasn't as much of a ho as Hamilton cuz yeah that's accurate (but they were both disaster bisexuals more on Burr's sexuality later)

Farmer Refuted was an essay Hamilton wrote arguing against Samuel Seabury's posts. They weren't shouting in the public square(but Lin got the sass right. I love his face when Hamilton and Seabury are fighting over the podium). Seabury was also really really old, not young and cute like Thayne, hence the line about "mange". Blech.

General Montgomery didn’t take a bullet in the neck, it was a grapeshot from a canon in his head (and his thighs), but close enough I guess. Side note: Burr actually served a short interim on Washington’s staff, but only for like 10 days because they hated each other lolol.

Alexander didn’t bring Laurens, Mulligan, or Lafayette to Washington. Lafayette joined up with the Continental Army in 1777 and quickly convinced them he wasn’t like the other French nobles; he was a glory-seeking kid with a boner for America (for some reason???). Laurens was requested by Washington to join his military family and he arrived also in August 1777 just after Lafayette. Like previously stated, Mulligan was doing shit even before Hamilton did.

Alexander would not have been in charge of spy shit (though may have been somewhat involved). Washington had people like Mulligan for that, who actually saved Washington a few times. But also, the "King’s men who might let some things slide" was the tactic Mulligan used. He was actually very charming, and his wife was very high in British society and he was a skilled tailor, so they were thought of well among the redcoats, and he got a lot of information through chatting with his customers. He also could usually smooth-talk his way out of trouble. Actually, Mulligan blended in so well, when the war was over, people in the city wanted him out cuz they thought he was a Loyalist. So George fucking Washington paid him a visit and commissioned I think a coat from him, and that cleared that up. He got a LOT of business after that.

Alexander would not be Washington’s right hand man, or at least, not his only one if Lin was using that to mean aide-de-camp. In that case, Laurens would also be Washington’s right hand man, along with many men not named in the musical.

John Laurens may have been reliable with the ladies (comes with the territory of being hot, rich, and a perfect gentleman), but he most certainly didn’t want to be. His father noted, rather proudly at the time, that as a young teenager he expressed no interest in girls. John was also married by 1780, and at least Alexander knew. (he told John he'd found out in the well-known April 1779 letter. You know... “Cold in my professions...find me a wife...the length of my nose...” That one.) Because John apparently didn't tell people he was married. Laurens. Sweetheart. Get. Your. Shit. Together.

John also would not be at this ball. February 1779 to March 1780 he is fighting down south, and this ball was early 1780.

The tomcat thing may be half true. Martha Washington did supposedly name a cat Hamilton, but it was an affectionate thing. The slang tomcat meaning ho wasn’t a thing at that time, so it couldn’t be named to tease Alex for his promiscuity. I believe this was one of the many things John Adams made up to slander Hamilton.

Hamilton and Eliza had met before 1780. They had met once two years prior at a dinner her father had hosted. Also, Hamilton had been courting her friend Kitty Livingston, and his friend and fellow aide Tench Tilghman had been attempting to court Eliza, and they’d actually done at least one sort-of double date (which is adorable). So this shouldn’t have been the first time they’d seen each other. Could still be when they fell in love, though, since they started courting after this. Which is cute to think about.

Speaking of Tench and Eliza! I don't remember when this took place but Tilghman journaled it, he went out on something of a hike with a few ladies and they got to a cliff. Of course, he had to help the girls climb up. Except Eliza who started climbing by herself like a natural to the bewilderment and likely horror of the other ladies. Elizabeth Schuyler was a bamf okay?

Of course everyone knows by now, Angelica was married before Eliza. During the Winter’s Ball, she’d already eloped with Jack Carter aka John Barker Church and run away to Boston.

Their courtship was not that fast. Not like, weeks. More like months. Fun fact, Eliza is the only of the five (yes FIVE) Schuyler sisters who didn’t elope and actually got her parents permission! But here’s a heartbreaking fun fact: while Alex was courting Eliza, Laurens was taken prisoner and then on probation. He wasn’t allowed to leave the state of Pennsylvania. He was mentally in a very dark place. Alex kind of procrastinated telling Laurens about Eliza, didn’t say he was courting anyone until they were already engaged.

I can't leave this alone if I'm sad you have to be too. Alex was hella depressed during this time too. Of course he was a soldier so he couldn't see Eliza as much as he'd have liked. On top of that, he kept pushing for an exchange for John and kept getting rejected because they couldn't show preference for him. And then Laurens was sending him very few letters, of course, and the ones he did send were very depressed, even suicidal sounding. He had to work while dealing with that. He had to keep begging Eliza to write to him to be reassured that she still liked him.

No one could show up for Hamilton for the wedding. Some sources say fellow aide James McHenry showed up, but he’s the only one. Alexander even invited his deadbeat dad, offered to pay all his travel expenses and everything, guess how that turned out. So Eliza’s side of the hall was packed and his was empty. God, can you imagine how sad that is?

Another heartbreaking fun fact! John Laurens was out of probation and could have made it to the wedding, was invited (Hamilton, I kid you not, jokingly invited him to a threesome with his new wife in a letter: “I wish you were at liberty to transgress the bounds of Pensylvania. I would invite you after the fall to Albany to be witness to the final consummation.” (emphasis is original to Hamilton. As is the misspelling of Pennsylvania. Yes, seriously.)) and John did not go. Instead he went back to work trying to talk his way out of getting sent as an envoy to France and suggesting Alexander to take his place. You know. His boyfriend who just got married. Sure, he was right that Hamilton was better equipped for the job, but yknow. Another fun fact, one of the guys who voted for John to be the one to go to France was John’s ex-boyfriend Francis Kinloch. Who was a turncoat, and had been a royalist when he and Laurens split. How’s that for some twisty bullshit.

Sorry, this one isn’t about the musical, it’s a tangent, I just got excited about that quote. Both that style of innuendo and the misspelling of Pennsylvania are consistent in Hamilton’s writing. Listening to john-lauren’s podcast about the April 1779 letter can really help you understand how Hammy uses innuendo but also I just love listening to it it’s insightful and hilarious and I love John Laurens but y u do this and my heart hurts for Hamilton but he is also a ho but aNYWAY. As for Pensylvania...well, he kinda made that mistake on an important document. ...It’s The Constitution. He misspelled Pennsylvania on The Constitution. No big deal. Not like something that could haunt his legacy forever. Oh my god I’m so sorry.

Philip Schuyler did have sons. Five in fact. Two of them died pretty young though I think, considering there are three kids in a row named John Bradstreet Schuyler. The other two were named Philip Jeremiah and Rensselaer.

Laurens, Lafayette, and Mulligan were all married before Hamilton. Hercules Mulligan married Elizabeth Sanders in 1773. Lafayette married his beloved Adrienne in 1774. John Laurens was regretfully obliged to marry Martha Manning in 1776.

Sigh. Again with the misogyny. Anyway, I wanted to comment on the marriage as a loss of freedom. From what I can tell, Elizabeth helped Hercules with his spy work at home. John was literally fighting a war across the ocean from his wife, and probably having an illegal affair with Alexander (though to be fair to him, he was kind of running away from Martha because he didn't marry her for love, gosh, there are no winners here). Lafayette absolutely adored his wife but still was also fighting a war an ocean away, and had multiple affairs, at least one with his wife’s blessing. So yeah, losing your freedom with marriage? Bullshit.

Despite where it is in the musical and Eliza singing the beginning, Stay Alive is roughly about Valley Forge, which would be December of 1777 through June of 78. So before the ball and wedding. (Fun fact! A lot of people theorize Valley Forge as when Hamilton and Laurens’ relationship may have escalated into romantic and/or sexual territory. They may have had more privacy, as small temporary buildings were being made to better withstand the cold, and Hamilton was sick a lot during that time and did need tending a lot. West Indian boi did not like Northern winter.) But yeah, Congress being stupid and the army resorting to eating their horses sometimes and not being able to buy food and equipment? All true. It was a real bad winter.

Mulligan wouldn’t have to go back to New York, he never would have left. He remained there as a tailor and a spy throughout the war. He wouldn’t have been traveling with Washington.

Hamilton and Laurens didn't write essays so much as start working out John's battalion plan and writing letters trying to push for it.

This duel happened in 1778, so like. This timeline is so fucky.

Stay Alive makes it seem like Hamilton was the one who wanted to duel Lee, but it was 100% Laurens from the start. The off-Broadway version demonstrates it a bit better. Hamilton was Lauren's second to save his ass. Hamilton had a rough relationship with Washington, but Laurens admired him greatly and would have willingly defended his commander’s honor. John was a Good Boy who always bowed his head to his asshole father, even at first for his battalion plan, but John wouldn’t let even his father talk shit about Washington. Fun fact about this duel, Alex and John were late to the duel because they “got lost in the woods”. Oooookay. Suuuuuuure. And Baron von Steuben was straight. (Fact: Steuben was very gay and pretty much pushed out of Europe for it. And he actually also had challenged Lee! They talked things out before this.)

Aaron Burr was not Charles Lee’s second. His second was a Major Evan Edwards. Lin wanted a parallel with the final duel. To be fair, that was a really cool way to do it and I like it better that way.

Alexander Hamilton could NOT agree that duels are dumb and immature. He was in 10 duel challenges as a participant in his lifetime, 9 of which he was the challenger. One time he challenged two people at once. One time he challenged an entire politcal party apparently. No, I am not kidding. He had a bad day. And I think you know the one time he wasn’t the challenger.

Lee did not yield on the first shot, nor was Laurens satisfied. Lee was pretty much like, “It’s just a flesh wound!” and wanted to go another round and Laurens agreed, but Hamilton and Edwards managed to talk them down. Yes he was shot in the side. But that wasn’t all because Laurens absolutely roasted Lee at his court martial.

Lee: Were you ever in an action before?

Laurens: I have been in several actions; I did not call that an action, as there was no action previous to the retreat.

I love this man. So much. The sass of this man.

We don’t know if Washington was angry about the duel with Lee. We do know that Laurens, and probably Hamilton, had Christmas dinner with him two days later. When Hamilton left, it was because Washington had snapped over a misunderstanding (caused by Lafayette actually, and he really tried to make it better because Lafayette is a sweetheart), and then continued to deny Hamilton the command he requested, and he resigned. It was entirely unrelated to the duel and Laurens. However, the daddy issues are real.

I don’t know if Lafayette went to France for more funds and came back with more guns, but Laurens certainly did! Ben Franklin told him to chill, but he actually got super impatient and ended up supposedly disrespecting and maybe kinda threatening the court, demanding what he needed, and walking out. They were were kind of shocked and impressed into giving more than had been requested. Any existing deities bless John Laurens. I love him.

Lafayette actually nominated his own aide to lead the charge and Hamilton appealed for himself and Washington finally gave in to Hamilton.

Laurens was not in South Carolina. When he finally got back from France, he was sent to Yorktown. He actually was commanding the group Alexander led. (Power couple lol) He also helped with negotiations after the battle. Also, supposedly making the British play ‘The World Turned Upside Down’ on their way out was Laurens’ idea because boy is made of sass and spite.

Henry Laurens would not have sent a letter to Hamilton about John’s death. Even if he would have, he couldn’t. At that time, he’d been locked up in the Tower of London as a prisoner. We have no idea when or how Alexander found out, or who might have told him. We know he wrote to Nathanael Greene on October 25 and Lafayette on November 3 (literally 2 months after Laurens' death), and the mentions of Laurens were very short. It’s thought that he really couldn’t talk about Laurens. People have compared it to the stories of how Benjamin Tallmadge apparently couldn’t hear Nathan Hale’s name without crying.

After Yorktown Alexander resigned and John went down south to flush British troops out of the southern states. His group was ambushed at Combahee River and he decided to charge instead of wait for backup and he died. Many people think it was a combination of his usual recklessness, suicidality, and glory-seeking mixed with a desperation with the war coming to an end. It was such a small skirmish. He deserved better. He left his daughter, Frances, whom he had never met, orphaned, as her mother had died months earlier from sickness. She was adopted by John’s oldest younger sister, also coincidentally Martha Laurens (though married was Martha Laurens Ramsay).

The Levi Weeks case was years later than that, in 1800, though it was alongside Burr. Hamilton actually lost his first trial as a defense lawyer and was not with Burr.

The whole conversation where Hamilton proposes Burr help him write the Federalist Papers is fake. Lin made that up entirely.

John Church’s wealth kinda...varies. He was a gambler. At first, he was actually in quite a bit of debt. He did make it big eventually and he and Angelica moved to Europe. He really didn’t seem to be a lot of fun to most people, but Angelica eloped with him. She chose him against her father’s wishes. I don’t get why Lin kept writing lines saying she didn’t love him, at least at first. He also does this in the cut song Congratulations where she says “I languished in a loveless marriage” bish you eloped wat She also lived as a socialite and was adored by anyone who met her apparently, so like???? da fuq Lin. Didja really do Laurens dirty for these lies or at the very least uncertanties? Could you not prop up that romance without making her say she hates her husband?

Act 2

More of a personality miscommunication. Irl Thomas Jefferson was shy, quiet, and hypersensitive, nothing like how Daveed plays him. If you knew a guy like the real Jefferson in real life you might be endeared to him out of pity or because he seems sweet, but in the short time of a musical that would immediately be read as cold and unlikable. So the best way to portray “this guy is a likable asshole” is to make him loud and made of sass which is what Daveed does magnificently. So, not at all accurate to real Jefferson, but gets the concept of him across.

Thomas was not off getting high with the French. Probably. He was making negotiations for the Revolution. And abusing Sally Hemings (his, at the time, 14 year old slave, who was also his sister-in-law, and 30 years his junior, and was brought along to entertain his daughter). And actually probably chatting up with Angelica!

By the time Philip was 9, he had two sisters, Angelica (7) and his foster/adopted sister Frances Antill (6), but he also had two brothers already, Alexander Jr. (5) and James Alexander (3), with maybe another one on the way since William Stephen would be born next year.

The whole comma thing is backwards. It was Angelica who made the initial mistake. Hamilton pointedly and flirtatiously teased her about it before closing it with “Adieu ma chere, soeur” French for “Goodbye my dear, sister”. So it’s more playful and less lovey dovey in context, so the tone is all wrong. It’s not romantic, it’s teasing and snarky.

Say No To This feels like it’s over quick. The affair lasted a year, not just the summer Eliza was away.

Clermont Street wasn’t renamed until many years later.

I don’t know that Alex has always considered Burr a friend. Irl they weren’t as close, and Hamilton was keenly aware of how slimy Burr could be.

Lafayette was NOT fine. He was imprisoned a lot during the French Revolution, the poor man, and many members of his wife’s family were killed. HOWEVER! Hamilton was not just sitting by. Angelica and her husband did make an attempt to rescue Lafayette, and the Hamiltons fostered Lafayette’s son Georges Washington Lafayette (yes that was his actual name). So Hamilton also did not forget Lafayette.

Not all his defendants got acquitted, obviously. Stop being cocky, Ham.

People comment on how Jefferson whines about Hamilton’s fashion sense while literally dressed in violet velvet. The original plan was to have him in browns, but Daveed is just such a friggin star that they just had to give him something brighter and decided to go with a Prince-inspired look. Originally the browns were going to be representative of his supposed representation of farmers. Though note here: Jefferson’s agricultural representation is much the same as modern Republicans’ rural representation. More for show.

Actually, let's get political for a sec. I've done some research in my hyperfixation and in searches for Hamilton shiz I've ended up stumbling into far-right nonsense and I know how to recognize the degrees of nonsense from years of actually paying attention to it now because this is what I do apparently. Which is weird, right? Lin kinda portrays him like a lefty. Well, here's the thing. Any proud historically educated Republican will tell you that their roots are in the Federalist Party. Which is technically true. What they will neglect to mention is the flip between parties that happened when the Republicans decided to use southerners racism to their advantage in elections. Being subtly racist can get the racists and the non-racists on your side! Yeah, it's gross. Federalists are more like Democrats. The corporatists. They clearly care more about companies and Wall Street, but they put actual action into social progress on rare occasion. Democratic-Republicans are like Republicans, conservatives who don't want social change and rail against it and pretend they aren't for corporate interests while being just as bad as the other guys. But Republicans have a tendency to rewrite history to paint themselves as the good guys, or reclaim things that aren't theirs as their own. Just look at the Civil War! Or...literally just...America I guess. Yikes. But yeah, here's your warning. Don't just go looking at and trusting things labelled Federalist. It likely won't be friendly.

John Adams didn’t fire Hamilton, Hamilton left. Eventually. And this is not the only time this kind of verbal confrontation happens, and not the one that destroys the Federalist Party. That actually happens after the Reynolds Pamphlet. But John Adams hates Alexander Hamilton with the burning passion of a thousand suns and really kinda earns this.

I’m not sure if he specifically called Alex a Creole bastard but I wouldn’t be surprised, there were other similar racist and bastard-related insults. You know the tomcat thing mentioned above. He started the rumor of the affair with Angelica. He accused him of being a rake (male version of whore at the time). He also may have behind closed doors accused him of being a sodomite. His (probably gay) son Charles helped with that one, bringing back rumors from a dinner he had with Hamilton (who he was working for) and John Church because Church joked about Alex being fond of a guy. Adams probably thought working for Hamilton was what made his son gay and alcoholic (Charles was an alcoholic and may have died in part because of that; Hamilton was not an alcoholic, but he supposedly could not hold his drink. He was smol).

Jefferson, Madison, and Burr didn’t accuse Hamilton of speculation. It was James Monroe, Abraham Venable, and Frederick Muhlenberg. Lin wanted to keep consistent representation of the Democratic-Republican party. But anyway, the whole thing went to hell because Monroe sent the letters to Jefferson (or I’ve also heard Monroe gave them to Madison who sent them to Jefferson) who, the spiteful gangly fucker, started spreading rumors because fuck Hamilton, amirite? Hamilton challenged Monroe to a duel over that. And who stopped this duel? Aaron Burr. He gets to be the good guy now and then.

It wasn’t just total strangers that got Alex off the island. He was sponsored by his cousin Ann Lytton and his teacher Reverend Hugh Knox. Also, he was kind of expected to get an education and come back and help out the island...guess what he never did. Oops.

This one I may be wrong, but I’m pretty sure. I think Eliza was upstate with her family when the Reynolds Pamphlet was released, away from Alex. I also know she had recently given birth to their son, William Stephen. A lot of people think Alexander had been keeping that in mind. Eliza had had a miscarriage once before, when she was under a lot of stress and alone and with the kids and he had to be away (Whiskey Rebellion), so some people think he made sure she was surrounded by her family and waited until the child was born to drop this on her, and gave her distance from him if she needed it. At least he knew he fucked up, and he really did love her.

Those weren’t Alexander’s guns. They belonged to John Church.

It was quite some time between Philip’s challenge and the actual duel.

Another age miscommunication; Eacker was 27ish and Philip was 19 when the duel happened. There was a whole 8 years between them!

Eacker didn’t shoot early. Actually, both of them stood staring at each other for a really long time doing nothing. But Philip went to make a move and Eacker shot him.

Alex and Eliza had made up from the Reynolds Pamphlet bullshit before Philip died. When he passed, Eliza was already pregnant with the son they would also name Philip in honor of his older brother.

Hamilton wasn’t really the deciding factor in the election of 1800. But he did say that about Burr and it did help swing the vote somewhat. But also, this was before Philip died. Philip died in 1801.

If a vote is that close, you can’t win in a landslide??? That’s not how words work???? Mister Miranda????? You are a writer??????? Sir???????

Burr actually held a term as Jefferson’s Vice President.

The Burr vs Hamilton Duel was in 1804 and was actually about another election and other things Hamilton was saying about him. Burr was running to be governor of New York and lost but heard about Alexander telling people the things he listed Alexander saying in Your Obedient Servant.

Thayne should not have played Alexander’s doctor. Sydney should have played Alexander’s doctor. Do you know why? Philip and Alexander had the same doctor when they died. Alexander took that doctor with him to the duel. His name was David Hosack.

While there’s evidence to suggest Burr experienced immediate regret (he stepped forward as if wanting to see if Hamilton was okay and supposedly asked after him and wished him well before Alexander passed) in the years that followed, until he was on his death bed, he expressed nothing but neutrality or even pride for having shot Hamilton. The ‘the world was wide enough’ comment could plausibly be entirely made up, and even if it were true, it was supposedly said toward the end of Burr’s life. Burr's life was quite a ride after Alex. He tried to make like his own empire out of Texas, and then of course was tried for treason, but he got out of that, but then everyone hated him for that ON TOP OF already hating him for killing Hamilton, so he had some crazy journey around Europe for a while. He kept a journal, writing entries like letters to Theo. The most notable things I think he writes he'd "been amused for an hour with a very handsome young Dane. Don't smile. It is a male!" which implies maybe Theodosia knew her dad was bi and was at least amused by it? And he spent a while living with Jeremy Bentham, who is generally accepted to have been gay (if you want more Burr gayness look into Jonathan Bellamy and Robert Troup. Troup knew Hamilton too!). Unrelated to his sexuality but I find it important, Burr spent, in modern cash, $40 on a coconut, in his own words, "like an ass." He returned to America eventually. I dont remember if it was before or after his foreign adventures, but his beloved grandson (also named Aaron Burr) died, and then not long after, Theodosia was lost at sea on her way to visit her dad. No one knows what happened to her. It's so sad. Anyway he married a wealthy widow named Eliza, spent all her money on charity, and died the day their divorce was finalized. And Eliza Jumel's divorce lawyer was Alexander Hamilton Jr..

Poor Eliza couldn’t go through all of her husband’s papers. Her son, John Church Hamilton, finished the work for her when she no longer could and put together the biography that inspired Chernow’s that inspired Lin’s musical. (He named a son Alexander and a daughter Elizabeth. He even named one of his sons Laurens! Aw.) And we have come full circle.

The End :33

There’s probably more but that’s what I’ve got. Thanks for reading!

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four-loose-screws · 3 years ago

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FE8 Novelization Translation - Chapter 17, Section 1

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I call this a “section” because it is not a separate part of the chapter in the book, but divided from the rest of the chapter by a scene break.

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Chapter 17 - The Demon King's Shadow

There were five Sacred Stones total, and all of them were passed down within each of the nations of Magvel. Eirika and her army had safely obtained Renais' Sacred Stone, but Grado, Frelia, and Jehanna's Stones had already been destroyed.

They now were seeking the last one, and so they decided to march to the Theocracy of Rausten. Their guide was none other than Princess L'Arachel.

Once they left Renais, they traveled in peace for a long while. They were not attacked by any enemies nor any monsters. They were also blessed with good weather, and L'Arachel was in a fantastic mood.

"It's good to return home sometimes. I wonder if Lord Uncle is doing well?"

Dozla was walking alongside her. His guffaw echoed through the air. "Pontifex Mansel is sure to be very surprised! You've grown into an even finer young woman than you were when you left home, Lady L'Arachel!"

"Oh, Dozla, stop it!"

*Can I ask you somethin’?" Rennac was trudging along behind them. He said with a bored, apathetic look on his face, "This Pontifex Mansel person will pay me my money, right? Every gold coin his niece has avoided paying me…?"

"Oh, that's right, Eirika! There are many exceptional bards in Rausten. And the one we all talk about most, Saaga, is so amazing that he moves me to tears no matter how many times I listen to him perform. I want you to hear him as well!"

"...Uh-huh..." Eirika turned back and caught a glimpse of Rennac out of pity for him.

He looked utterly exhausted and worn out as he muttered, "...She ain't even listenin’."

Eirika didn't know whether L'Arachel really didn't hear him, or whether she just pretended not to, but either way, L'Arachel's voice gradually became more and more cheerful.

"But this time, it is my turn to tell the bards of my many adventures! Our services for the greater good are sure to become a beautiful poem passed down for many generations to come!"

"If so, I wonder if I will be in this poem as well?"

"Oh, Dozla, of course! You will go down in history as my loyal servant!"

"Ohhhhhh, what an honor that will be! You have moved me greatly by saying so!"

"You don't have to record much of anything about me. Just pay me." Rennac muttered.

"We will soon reach the Narube River. Dozla, do you remember when we crossed it? Monsters were trying to attack a boat traveling upon it, so we gallantly rushed in and saved some ordinary citizens who were trying to escape…"

"We should be able to rendezvous with the Frelian Army here." Innes forcefully cut into their conversation. He unsurprisingly seemed to be fed up with L'Arachel's cheerful banter.

Eirika smiled and added to show that she heard what he'd said, "Yes. And when we do so, it will make all of our battles from here on out much easier."

"Of course. We will be teaming up with Frelia's most elite unit."

The Frelian Army had departed their home country following a different route from Eirika's army, and were now going to Rausten as well. Eirika had received a report from the pegasus knights that they should be able to meet up somewhere within the vicinity of Narube.

They would combine with the Frelian Army to bolster their numbers, then obtain Rausten's Sacred Stone so they could capture Lyon this time with all of their forces. That was her army's current strategy.

No matter how powerful Lyon's Dark Stone may be, they had nothing to fear if they had two Sacred Stones. The army he led was now nothing more than the survivors from Grado, so his numbers and weapons likely wouldn't compare to Eirika's. L'Arachel and all of the other members of her army were making cheerful expressions because they could feel hope for the road ahead.

But their cheerful march did not last for much longer. The moment they reached the Narube River, they froze. Two ordinary citizens were cowering alongside the road.

They were a young girl and an elderly man. The exhausted man was comforting the girl, who appeared to be his granddaughter.

The girl noticed Eirika's army and pulled back in fear.

Eirika dismounted her horse and quietly approached her so as not to surprise her. "What happened? Do you live around here...?"

"...You're not with the Grado Army? You're not, right?" The tension drained from the girl's body with a sigh of relief.

But on the contrary, her words made Eirika's army nervous. "You saw the Grado Army? Somewhere close to here?"

"Yes." Terror flashed through the girl's big eyes, and she nodded. "They attacked us suddenly. A group of soldiers wearing Grado’s armor came here… and set our village on fire. They killed all of the men who tried to stand up to them… Just when we thought it was all over for us, Frelia's pegasus knights rushed in and saved us. But… the Grado Army is so strong it's terrifying… most of the soldiers from Frelia were killed."

"What? The Frelian Army was killed by the remaining soldiers from Grado?" The color drained from Innes' face, and he pulled in closer to the girl.

His angry expression spooked her. She shrunk back closer to the old man, then nodded. "Y-Yes…"

"Not all of them were defeated, right? For every last member of Frelia's elite to be gone…"

"No, there is a unit still fighting. But only one. The other units were all defeated. There's still a few friends in our village who have yet to escape… The last of the Frelian Army is still doing everything they can to protect them. Please save them! Please…"

"Understood. Let's go, Eirika!" Innes shouted.

However, Eirika was worried about the look on the face of the crouching old man that the girl had protected. His face was twitching like he'd suffered a horrifying experience, and his lips moved as if he was trying to say something.

Eirika approached him, bent down next to him, and gently said, "You're okay now. We will defeat the Grado Army and save the villagers. Please try to relax and…"

"...No match… for him." The old man muttered something in a muffled voice.

"Huh?" Eirika responded.

"You are… no match… for him. You are no match… for a terrifying person… like him…"

The man was shaking all over, and continued speaking in a mumble. The words that she only just barely managed to make out were ominous. "No… he's not… a person… He's not... human… He's… a monster… He's… the Demon King…"

"The… Demon King? What does that mean?" Eirika felt a chill crawl down her spine for no discernable reason, and her voice lowered to a hush.

The old man's eyes were wide open, and his breathing was shallow.

His granddaughter noticed this and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, then she said to Eirika, "I'm sorry. Grandfather rushed right out when the village was attacked… and seems to have seen him. The commander leading the Grado Army…"

"Their commander? Who could it have possibly been…?"

"I didn't see, so I can't say anything at all, but… Grandfather was saved by the Frelian Army when he was in danger. Still, he's absolutely terrified. I have no idea what he saw."

"...Can you tell us what kind of person the enemy commander was…?”

The moment she tried to ask the man for more details, L'Arachel suddenly cried out, "Look at that! There's someone over there…"

Eirika looked up in the direction L'Arachel was pointing to.

A black shadow rose over the grass.

Or so it appeared to be at first glance, for it radiated a gloomy aura all around it. Then Eirika realized that it was someone she knew well, standing with his back slightly hunched over, not moving a muscle.

Eirika whispered before she even knew what she was saying, "Lyon…?"

Grado's prince was staring at her from beneath his long bangs. His eyes were cold and unfeeling.

Eirika's heart was filled with a sense of relief. Even though they were currently enemies, they could communicate with each other from the heart. ‘I'll always be your ally…' She could hear his voice clearly even now.

'I want to talk with him. I want to ask him for the answers to all of my doubts.' With her mind focused on only that one thought, she tried to walk over to him.

But Ephraim saw her moving and sharply yelled at her to stop. "Stop, Eirika! Don't get anywhere near him!"

"Brother…?"

Ephraim stood in front of her as if to shield her from something, and glared at Lyon.

Lyon's expression abruptly softened. Considering Ephraim's threatening look, his was so gentle it was strange. "Hey, Ephraim… What's the matter? Why are you making such a scary face…?"

"Lyon! How dare you appear before me with such a calm look on your face!"

Lyon tilted his head at Ephraim’s violent words like he didn't know what Ephraim meant.

"You remember the time we met in the capital, right? Don't tell me you forgot!" Ephraim's voice became more and more harsh with each word. Lyon, by contrast, was calm, and even smiling.

"Of course I remember! I would never forget… Ephraim, we're finally meeting again after so much struggle… Why are you so mad? Did I do something to upset y-?"

"Shut up!" Ephraim sharply cut him off.

Eirika anxiously looked for an opportunity to stop her brother. If he continued to speak with such hostility, they would lose their chance to talk with Lyon.

However, his anger was so fierce that she couldn't carelessly call out to him. All she could do was watch over them, with all of her apprehensions weighing on her mind.

"What did you say then? That you were the one who instigated this war… and that you were the one who invaded Renais and killed my father? That was what you said, right?!"

"Ephraim…" Lyon suddenly made a sad face in response.

Eirika couldn't stay silent any longer. She softly placed a hand on her brother's back and said, "Please stop. Brother. Don't talk like that."

"Eirika…"

Ephraim turned around and said in a strong tone to warn her, "He's not the Lyon we know. He's being controlled by an evil power. Probably the Dark Stone…"

"That can’t be… You're not yourself today, Brother…" Eirika could feel that Ephraim had made up his mind.

Eirika didn't know exactly what their conversation in Grado Castle had been like. Everything she knew was from her brother's report. She didn't think that he had lied to her, but they couldn't say there wasn't a chance that he lost himself when he was agitated, and interpreted everything Lyon said as animosity, even though Lyon might have come seeking reconciliation.

"Why are you looking at Lyon like he's suspicious? He's our dear friend, isn't he?"

"Eirika…"

"Lyon said that he will be our ally no matter what. Isn't that right, Lyon?"

"Yes, of course! I'm so happy, Eirika. You really are very kind. Why don't you come… closer…" Suddenly, Lyon's body stiffened. He bit his lip, signaling that he seemed to be enduring intense pain. But he couldn't suppress his voice, and a quiet groan escaped his lips.

"Lyon? What's the matter? Are you alright, Lyon…?" Eirika remembered that Lyon's body was not very strong.

Since long ago, he often broke out with fevers, and his swordsmanship never improved significantly. He was even embarrassed, and it made him feel inferior. But though his body was weak, because he possessed superior intelligence and sensibility, Eirika thought he should be more proud. Yet he still seemed to lack confidence in himself and be troubled by his weaknesses.

Lyon's face twisted, though now it was less in pain and more in anger. "Gah…! Don't get in my way…!" The moment Lyon shouted in frustration, his knees gave out, and he fell atop the grass.

Eirika tried to run straight over to him, but his sharp voice made her feet stop moving.

"Get away from me, Eirika!"

"Huh?"

The anger vanished from Lyon's face. In its place a desperate, pleading expression formed before he shouted, "You can't come near me! Hurry, get away…! If you don't, then I'll…"

"Lyon! What's wrong? What's happ-"

"I'll destroy you… Run… Hurry out of h-" Lyon cut his words short, and hid his face.

Eirika was utterly shocked. She was worried about his health, but he had told her to run. She found it hard to decide what to do, and didn't move.

Lyon slowly raised his head. On his face returned the same cold smile he had when he first appeared. He said in a calm voice, "Sorry for worrying you, Eirika. I’m alright now. That was just a light spasm."

"...Lyon?" If they were true, then those words should have reassured her, but for some reason, they only made her feel all the more worried. She took a step back against her own wishes.

This was not Lyon. That was the first thought that immediately came into her mind. Lyon didn't smile like that. He would never coax her in such a terrible way

"Be careful, Eirika. Don't leave any holes in your stance. He's not Lyon." Ephraim said.

Lyon… no, this being with the same face as the prince, laughed in amusement. "I'm not Lyon? Don't say such strange things, Ephraim. Oh, I get it. You don't like seeing me with so much energy? Would you be satisfied if I suffered a more severe spasm? You always looked at me like you would. You said that Lyon is a weak, pitiful child. But that was just your impression. You did not know anything about me…"

"That's not true." Ephraim refused to be provoked by Lyon’s attempts to agitate him, and responded in a calm voice, "We were friends. Of course, that doesn't mean we knew everything about each other. It wasn’t that simple. But I knew what was most important. You… Lyon was not the type of person to ever deceive or betray us. He wasn't a terrible creature like you, trying to enchant us with whatever words we wanted to hear. He wasn't a horrible person like that. You are not Lyon. You cannot be him.”

Lyon tilted his head to the side and stared straight at Ephraim, but, little by little, his expression began to change. The smile he was directing at them twisted into an arrogant smirk that could even be considered brazen. “Hmph… I see. It seems that human feelings are not something that I can underestimate.”

Eirika could not believe her ears. His tone was more sarcastic than any she’d ever heard before in her life.

“Pretending to be human was more fun than I ever expected it to be, but… there’s no need to keep up that facade any longer. You saw right through me, Prince of Renais. This body no longer belongs to Prince Lyon.”

“Damn you! ...I knew it! So you have taken over Lyon’s body?!” Ephraim shouted. “I don’t know what you are, but get out! Get out of Lyon’s body right now! Or else I’ll…!”

“Or else you’ll what? Come now, what are you going to do, you foolish prince? Prince Lyon’s heart is already almost entirely gone. I’ve eaten it all up…”

“What did you just say…?”

“Didn’t you hear me? I ate it. Though it resisted and screamed, I ate it up. For a descendant of Grado, he had such a weak heart…”

“Damn you…!” The anger disappeared from Ephraim’s voice. He tried his very hardest to keep himself together, but his voice still shook slightly.

Eirika was taken utterly aback. This was the first time she’d ever seen her brother tremble before an enemy.

“What are you?!”

“You still don’t know? You really are an utter fool, prince of Renais. You should remember your legends that have been passed down through the ages. The name of the enemy you sealed away.”

“He can’t be…” Eirika whispered.

“The Demon King… of ancient times…” Ephraim growled.

He burst out laughing, the sound echoing through the air. He'd already given up his human facade, and a malicious aura radiated around him.

He was the being known as the Demon King, that had existed eight hundred years ago and was feared by humanity. He’d led countless monsters and did as he pleased with the continent of Magvel. The fire his monsters breathed burned down the villages and towns, and drowned the people in the depths of despair.

What became the people's final hope was the five Sacred Stones and the hero Grado. He led his soldiers, challenged the Demon King to battle, and in the end, succeeded in sealing away the Demon King’s soul. This finally brought peace to the continent, and humanity created new towns atop the ashes. The hero Grado founded an empire, and the brave soldiers that fought with him each built their own countries.

That was all supposed to already be a thing of the distant past, and become legend. The Demon King wasn't supposed to be resurrected ever again. But the seal had been broken, and the Demon King revived. And he’d even taken the body of a descendant of Grado, the very man who’d defeated him.

The Demon King said with satisfaction in his voice, “Prince Lyon will never appear again. This body has already yielded to me. It is mine now!"

But then the Demon King clutched his chest with one of his hands. It appeared that the gesture meant that Lyon’s heart continued to try its hardest to resist, and the Demon King was trying to keep him suppressed.

“Don’t worry, I will grant you your desire to kill Prince Ephraim of Renais, and claim Princess Eirika. That was what you wanted, is it not?

“Damn you…” Ephraim tightened his grip on his lance, however, before he could launch his attack, the Demon King vanished.

“He ran away…?” Ephraim looked around.

Eirika turned her head towards him. “No, Brother. He’s not running, but trying to lure us somewhere. I think his target is more likely the people of Narube that haven’t escaped yet and the survivors of the Frelian Army. He wants to attack them and lure us to him.”

“You’re right. Let’s hurry, Eirika. We must save Frelia’s unit!”

“Yes, we must…” Eirika nodded, but did not feel like giving the order straight away.

Ephraim noticed her expression, and looked at her. “What’s the matter, Eirika?”

“Brother, I wonder what Lyon’s… No, the Demon King’s final words meant. About Lyon’s desires…”

Ephraim winced and said, “It was just part of an enemy’s plot to make us falter. Don’t worry about it. It’s more important we think about the Frelian Army and the people of Narube first.”

“...Yes, it is.”

Ephraim was right. Their allies were fighting desperately to protect the citizens. Rescuing them came first.

#fire emblem #fe #fe8 #sacred stones #eirika #game boy advance #gba #japan #japanese #translation #novel #light novel #fe8 novelization translation

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thelordofdarkreunion · 3 years ago

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Magnificent Scoundrels- Down to Business

So, a lot of the Magnificent Scoundrels series is me sitting here and thinking, “you know what would be awesome? If ____ happened.” You know what would be awesome? If three fan favorite factions, the Starfleet from Star Trek, the Quarians from Mass Effect, and the Adeptus Mechanicus from Warhammer 40k got together.

“Power has been restored! By a guy with metal tentacles. Mmm… Think of all the possibilities...”

“Ramirez, get your mind out of the gutter. That’s an order.”

Mass Effect Galaxy

The Citadel

The lighting flickered inside the massive meeting room for a brief moment, and the various screens located in front of the delegates died with mechanical sighs. Delegates looked around the room, moments away from panic. Bodyguards readied their weapons once more, most eyed their ancestral enemies with suspicion. Down in the delegates section, Drake rolled his eyes, annoyed at their response

“Well, what now?” hissed Vir to Shepard.

“First-” Shepard was cut off by a static hiss in his ear, followed by a voice that seemed to be panicking but trying not to show it.

“Shepard, this is Joker. Uh, we got a pretty sizable and unknown attacking fleet coming in, and that power surge disabled all the docking clamps. So, we’re kinda sitting ducks here unless you do something.”

“The docking clamps attaching the Omen to the Citadel are locked down,” said Vir, clearly getting off a conversation with someone on his crew. “How do we release them? And, who the hell is Joker?”

“Joker’s my pilot,” muttered Shepard. He keyed his comms once again.

“Tali, this is Shepard. Can you release the docking clamps?” A strangely accented voice responded.

“No. I don’t have the skills to hack into the Citadel’s central network. Plus, it would take too long.”

“Shit,” Shepard muttered.

“All of our ships are locked down, and now this station is under attack!” yelled one of the delegates. Shepard didn’t quite catch who it was.

“Can’t you do anything to fix this?” shouted someone else. The salarian Councillor looked up from a frantically beeping holographic console.

“We’re trying,” he snapped back. “Somehow, someone disabled most of the Citadel’s vital systems.”

“Damnnit,” muttered Vir. “This is not good.”

“Not shit,” replied Shepard.

“Commander, this is Joker. We are seeing armed troopers on the Citadel. A lot of ‘em look like Cerberus, but some of them I don’t recognize.”

“Cerberus?” questioned Vir, but Shepard was already pacing and muttering to himself.

“Cerberus doesn’t make any sense… they wouldn’t want to attack the Citadel. Not now, especially. Something screwy is going on.”

“We can’t do anything about figuring anything out unless we fix the problem at hand,” said Vir.

“But how?” replied Shepard.

It should be noted that most people realize that fate has a delicious sense of irony. Therefore, it should have come as no surprise that help came from a most unexpected source.

One of the delegates of the Imperium of Man finished speaking with a voice in his comms, and with a surprised nod, looked out into the various groups settled into the Council chambers.

“Quarians! Who are the Quarians?” he bellowed. Now it was Shepard’s turn to look surprised. The Quarians were a race of nomads, having lost their homeworld to machines of their own creation long ago. Due to their unique immune systems, they had to wear bodysuits and masks at all times. Most individuals in the galaxy looked down upon them in the false belief they were untrustworthy thieves, and every other race saw them as second class citizens. They had no seat on the Council, and, unlike many others, were not a client race of one of the Council species. In fact, the only reason there were Quarian diplomats here at all was because Shepard insisted. Now, of all the groups present, the highly xenophobic Imperium specifically wanted them.

Slim faces, masked and hooded, looked up at the Imperial delegation.

“We are the Quarians. What do you want?” Their accent was the same as Tali, Shepard’s chief engineer, noted some distant part of Vir’s brain. Interesting, but not important right now.

“What frequency are your communications on?” The Quarians looked at each other, clearly expecting something else.

“Uh, 3091.” The Imperial diplomat relayed the numbers back to someone else. There was a brief pause, then the previously dormant console in front of the Quarian delegation lit up. A synthesised, metallic voice cut through the various diplomats’ squander and filled every speaker in the room.

“I hear your kind is quite good with techno-theocracy,” it began without preamble. “I can return all functioning systems to the Citadel, but I cannot interface with it.” The voice spoke as if the Citadel was some sort of giant creature, able to be talked into proper performance. “I need you to provide me with an interface. I also need a cognator with enough power to broadcast my signal.” The hell-

“What’s a cognator?” hissed Vir.

“I believe your word for it is ‘computer’.” Cain’s voice sounded through the Scoundrels' private communications channel.

“Good to hear from you, Commissar,” replied Vir. Sheaprd was already speaking to the wide room.

“They need a computer. A really powerful one. Anyone here have that and some really skilled people to liaison with the Quarians and… uh, metal voice there?” Kirk raised his hand instantly.

“We do! The Starfleet is at your service.”

“Excellent,” replied the metallic voice. “Provide me with interface to your blessed cognators, and Quarians, provide me and them interface with the Citadel. Then we shall see about restoring your systems.”

Aboard the Enterprise

The Enterprise’s crew, looking neat in their Starfleet jumpsuits, ran around the bridge, doing everything in their power to break free from the Citadel. White and grey walls and panels dully reflected the neat white overhead lights, giving the entire room a clean and futuristic appearance. Chief Engineer Scotty was already on the bridge. Spock stood next to him, huddled over the central console.

“Right, put this in now: 001, 543, 893, 115, 221, 101, 618. It should work now,” said Scotty.

“Excellent,” replied the voice. “You certainly know your way around appeasing machine spirits.” Scotty looked up at Spock. Spock shrugged and gave him a clear ‘hey, I don’t know either’ look.

“Uh, thanks, I guess. What’s your name, by the way?” “I am designated as Archmagos Spericles Kaustus. Please, tell me your designation as well.”

“Montgomery Scott. You can call me Scotty.”

“Very well, then, Scotty. All that remains now is to speak with the Quarians.”

Aboard the Watch Eternal

Utterly massive windows, more suited to a gothic cathedral than a starship, allowed the Eternal’s crew to look out into the black void of space. Murals, depicting actions of heroes long dead, were painted on every available inch of wall. There were no interior lights in the bridge, which served to give the massive room a dark and eerie demeanor. Officers ran from workstation to workstation, observing the Deathwatch chapter serfs that crewed this vessel. The captain sat in the middle on a large and imposing silver throne, metal tubing snaking from his head, allowing him to know what was happening on the ship at all times. Captain of the vessel he may have been, but he did not command it. This was a Deathwatch vessel, and so it fell to the Watch Captain of the Space Marine strike force to do so.

Currently, the massive, power armored bulk of the Watch Captain was not quite huddled over a strange looking individual, but rather gave the impression he would have been huddling had the action not been genetically bred out of him.

“Archmagos Kaustus, this… seems like heresy,” came the Watch Captain’s booming voice. The strange individual glazed up for a moment. Glowing red lenses, framed by a blank metal faceplate peered from beneath a voluminous red and black robe. Seemingly hundreds of additional metallic arms and tentacles sprouted from beneath the robe, and all were currently occupied with typing at an entire workstation console at once. They did not stop their work at the Captain’s words.

“Do I tell you how to do your job?” replied the Archmagos’s blank metallic voice. “Do I tell you how to best serve your Primarch and the Emperor? Do I tell you how to best kill the alien enemies of man? No, I do not. So please do not tell me, a tech priest of the Mechanicus, what is and is not tech-hersey.” The Captain frowned from beneath his heavy helmet.

“Very well. You have always served the Deathwatch and Inquisition faithfully. I leave you to your business.”

Aboard the Niqunus

“Admiral, we’ve been contacted by the Starfleet and… the other guy.” The admiral looked up from his cramped position on the starships’ tiny bridge. Quarian ships had to be lived in, and so there was no room for the luxury of open space. An engineer welded wires together in the background, framed by grey plastic and open metal. Despite their starships being old, there was no better group in the galaxy for getting metal to hold together like the Quarians.

“Very well,” replied the admiral. “Locking Starfleet systems to the Citadel.” She pressed a holographic button in front of her and spoke. “Scotty. Archmagos. We have interfaced your systems. Prepare to transmit.

“Excellent. Transmitting code now.”

It should be noted that to synchronise computers and other technological systems from three separate realities, all completely different from each other, was quite the impossible task. Later, when trying to gain control over a lost shuttle, the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation ordered a team of their finest scientists to make the shuttle’s computers compatible with theirs. It took the team eighteen months. The Quarians, with the Starfleet’s help, did it in seven minutes.

In the same vein, it should also be noted that to write a code to take personal control of the Citadel, a massive space station, guarded by the finest technological traps money could buy, would take any normal person weeks, if not months, to write. Tali-Zorah, one of the finest engineers and technological masters in the universe, and chief engineer of the Normandy, could do it in the span of hours to days. Kaustus did it in four minutes and forty-nine seconds.

Headquarters of Citadel Security

The Citadel

Captain Bailey of Citadel Security turned over the long counter and fired his sidearm twice. He could smell the visceral stink of blood in the background, courtesy of a dead officer behind him. His bullets found their mark, puncturing through the armor of a Cerberus trooper. Damn them. A solid quarter of C-Sec officers throughout the Citadel had turned traitor, and upon the arrival of the enemy, turned their weapons on the backs of their unsuspecting comrades. Bailey didn’t understand what had happened, but he did realize alien and human alike had betrayed their oaths. Therefore, with logical deduction, the pro-human terrorist group Cerberus was not the mastermind of this. It didn’t stop him from cursing out whoever was attacking him wearing the terrorists’ logos, though.

“Captain Bailey, I believe,” came a sudden voice in his ear. He almost jumped out of his skin. It was cold, emotionless, and strangely metallic.

“Who is this?” Bailey managed to blurt out before ducking back into cover.

“Archmagos Kaustus. To restore your stations, systems, I need you to do as I instruct.” Bailey glanced around, disbelieving.

“Uh, sure. What do you need me to do?”

“Go into your station’s central terminal. Reboot it.”

“That’s it?”

“Affirmative. We’ve taken care of everything.” Bailey shook his head.

“Okay.” He crouched low and ran through the station. Luckily enough, the building was still under control of the actual C-Sec. Didn’t stop people from trying to shoot into it. He reached to long central control desk and looked at it. Power. Simple. Press the button. He did so.

“Okay, uh… rebooted it.” The voice came immediately.

“I know. Excellent work. Your systems shall be online and under your control shortly.” Bailey sat down. The computer screens started to run with green binary code. He stared. What the hell is this? I’m no expert, but I don’t think anyone’s used this kind of coding for a hundred years! The green scrolling numerals gave way to a strange symbol, a half human skull, half metallic face surrounded by a cogwheel. The system's diagnostic came up next, in a format he’d never seen before. It was easy enough to read, though, and he stared at it.

Docking Clamps: Online

Citadel Central Network: Online

Internal Communications: Online

P.A. System: Online

Citadel Security Communications: Online

Power Operating At: 120% Capacity

Defense Batteries Operating At: 160% Capacity

Glory to the Machine God!

What the ever-loving hell is this? And how can things operate at more than 100%? He shook his head and turned on the newly-online comms.

“Everything’s back, Councillors,” he reported.

The Council Chambers

“Everything’s back, Councillors.” A wave of cheers rose at this announcement. Drake held up his hands once more.

“Whoa, whoa. We still have to get rid of these guys.” He turned his gaze to a group of delegation boxes. “Cain, Master Chief, Solo, Kirk. Get the delegates to safety. The rest of you, you're with me.” Vir shrugged to Shepard. At least they would be part of the action. Drake clapped his hands dramatically. “Get moving! We don’t have all day.” With a nod to Shepard’s position, he disappeared behind his delegation.

Servos whirred as Vir’s Iron Eye armor came to life. Shepard hefted his rifle.

“Time to get this show on the road.”

There it is. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, requests, or criticisms, feel free to tell me. Like I said before, this series is just about, “hey, wouldn’t it be cool if ____ happened?” So, if think something would be awesome and you want to fill in that blank, tell me, and I’ll write it!

#story #writing #my writin #crossover #mass effect #star trek #warhamemr 40k #quarian #starfleet #adeptus mechanicus #my writing

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adifferenttime · 4 years ago

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Honest Hearts: A Rough Rewrite

Hey! I’ve been working on an Honest Hearts rewrite-type-thing for a bit and figured I’d solicit feedback/assemble a post to store some of these ideas.

A detailed explanation of the premise is under the cut, but I’ve made this as a more interesting reintroduction to major locations, along with the characters who live there. I also have some lore consisting of letters, scripture, and holotapes that’s still in the early stages, along with a complete companion wheel for Salt-Upon-Wounds (he’ll follow you around for a little if you decide to help him out). Endings are now finished as well. I’m not planning on expanding this into a full mod, but I’m assembling everything in Twine so I can utilize branching dialogue and mimic skill checks.

I want to keep adding to and editing this because I’m having fun with it, so if you have any input, let me know!

Essentially, the story proceeds as written up until the point where Daniel sends you to either kill the White Legs or destroy their war totems. You quickly realize that their camp is deserted, at which point Salt-Upon-Wounds ambushes you, convo-locks you, and tells you that there’s an entirely different side to things here that you might not have considered.

Factions

The Mormons have established a theocracy in the Utah called Deseret, with New Jerusalem - what was once Salt Lake City - as its capital. Large numbers of them survived the initial apocalypse due to their pre-War focus on strong community ties and disaster prepping; over time, they have returned to the model of self-sufficient agrarianism that characterized the historical Mormon state of Deseret that existed in Utah in the 1800s. Their President, who wields supreme executive power, is also their Prophet. The Mormons believe he communes directly with God, but there’s some discontent in New Jerusalem over his hands-off approach to foreign policy and unwillingness to assemble a standing army. The Elders of the Priesthood are pushing him to allow for some kind of formal military to oppose what they see as revived versions of their ancestral enemies: America, Rome, and the “Lamanites” (this is what Mormons call Indigenous Americans; the “Lamanite” idea has historically been used as a justification for racism, and I’m reflecting that here because it’d be kind of heinous not to). In more than a few respects, Deseret serves as a mirror to the Legion and an exploration of the other side of the coin re: the tactics utilized by colonial empires to present themselves as legitimate while still claiming territory and steamrolling the opposition.

The White Legs are now more explicitly Shoshone, and I’m relying most heavily on the Timpanagos Band for names and historical inspiration (apparently the question of whether they’re Ute or Shoshone is pretty controversial, but I’m sticking with what the Timpanagos have said about it until someone corrects me). After migrating south in the wake of the Great War, the White Legs eventually settled in Ogden, about a day north of New Jerusalem. Initial interactions with the Mormons were friendly, but as New Jerusalem grew and its need for farmland and resources increased, tensions rose before culminating in open violence in around ‘76 or ‘77. Deseret’s party line is that the White Legs conducted a “raid” on one of their settlements and had to be driven away from Ogden; the White Legs claim the violence was not a raid, but a revenge killing after a Mormon killed a young man and was found not guilty by Mormon legal authorities (this is a theocracy, so “legal authorities” here can be understood as indistinct from “the church”). The Mormons established a new settlement on the ruins of Ogden, which they called New Canaan, and the White Legs fled to Salt Lake, where they have been dwindling in number ever since. Salt-Upon-Wounds’ plan to seek entry to the Legion is a last-ditch attempt to save his people from eradication when their neighbors and the land itself seems intent on killing them (not that that makes all the war crimes ok, which is a sentiment you’ll be able to express to his face if you engage him in conversation).

The Dead Horses are a pastoral society from out of Dead Horse Point, and are split almost down the middle along political lines. The more conservative, religious side opposes intervention in Zion. Graham desecrates the corpses of his enemies as an intimidation tactic, and because the Dead Horses’ religion is so eschatological and heavily focused on properly cleaning, preparing, and interring the dead, a big chunk of the religious leadership opposes him on that basis - they think his tactics are ungodly. They’re also worried that any Dead Horses who die in Zion and are interred there will be severed from their connection to Dead Horse Point and doomed to a separate, lonely afterlife. The younger, more progressive elements of the tribe are less traditionalist, sometimes less religious, and overall not as concerned about Graham’s treatment of the dead because of the potential benefit they might be able to derive from him. Follows-Chalk is their de facto leader, and while the Dead Horses don’t formally allocate political power, he’s among the most influential people in the informal tribal leadership. Most of the Dead Horses who’ve come to Zion have done so either because they support Follows-Chalk politically, or for practical reasons - namely, Graham’s access to a dizzying number of guns and his willingness to give them to anyone who’ll fight for him.

The Sorrows are now a terrace-farming agrarian society instead of hunter-gatherers (Zion has a lot of agricultural potential, and there’s already a few farming plots in the Sorrows camp you see in-game, so it’s not a huge departure from the canon). I’m keeping their Mexican heritage, but I’d like to give them some Ainu influences as well - partially for selfish reasons, but also because bears are extremely important to our culture and theology, which gels well with the elements of Sorrows culture and religion that appear in the canon. I’d like to keep the Survivalist because I like him, but I want to expand on their faith. One of the ways I’m doing that is by deciding they can still read English, even though they no longer speak it; it’s basically their equivalent of liturgical Latin. They’re also rigidly matriarchal and in contrast to the Dead Horses (who eschew formal political hierarchies) or the White Legs (who elect a chief who serves until he dies, is deposed, or voluntarily abdicates), leadership positions are allocated through matrilineal primogeniture; Waking Cloud inherited her position from her mother. Religious leadership, likewise, is only available to women. You’ll be able to talk to Waking Cloud about some of the ways this framework is incompatible with the Mormon perspective, and can appeal to her desire to retain power.

Characters

Canon Characters

Joshua Graham and Daniel are largely unaltered except through the addition of lore that gives insight into their cultures, motives, and pasts.

All three tribal leaders (Follows-Chalk, Waking Cloud, and Salt-Upon-Wounds) are either given new backstories, a different set of motives, or different approaches to one another/Graham and Daniel. They’re also explicitly leaders now - what power Graham and Daniel have, they derive from whichever tribal leader they’ve managed to attach themselves to. Of those three, I’m altering Waking Cloud the least and Salt-Upon-Wounds the most. Like I mentioned, I have a companion wheel for him so far and the bones of two other conversations - one, where you meet him for the first time, and the second, where you speak to him before the final battle. Will link as I finish them.

Original Characters

Each tribal leader now has a rival or right hand within their tribe so I can reflect the different ways the values of a specific community can express themselves.

Follows-Chalk’s primary rival among the Dead Horses is a man who refuses to tell you his name. That’s because using someone’s name in casual conversation is considered unspeakably rude, and the fact that Follows-Chalk is willing to share his own with you is, to Mysteriously Named Old Man Character, yet another sign of how disrespectful and laissez-faire Follows-Chalk is about their shared traditions. Old Man Character is suspicious of you initially, but if you speak to him more he starts to warm to you. The goal is to give you a sense that this he’s pretty xenophobic but for good reasons, and despite his political conflicts with Follows-Chalk, has a lot of love for him. He just wants what’s best for his family, and Follows-Chalk is part of that, even if Mysteriously Named Old Man Character thinks he’s making the wrong choices.

Kiiki is Salt-Upon-Wounds’ right-hand woman and intended as a contrast re: the approach to war and its costs. Salt-Upon-Wounds has done some horrible things and gets a fair bit of dialogue about that, but Kiiki is willing to go even further than he has with very little prompting. Her chief copes with what he’s done by trying to assure himself that the ends of war are worth the cost; Kiiki deals with it by trying to convince herself that the means weren't so bad, actually, and that anyone who isn’t nailing corpses to walls is being naive. All of that makes her sound pretty shitty, but she’s nowhere near as devoted to the idea of a Legion alliance as Salt-Upon-Wounds is. It only takes one very low Speech check to convince her that going Legion is a bad move, and one of the paths involves assassinating Salt-Upon-Wounds and installing her as the new leader as a way to stop the White Legs from joining Caesar. I haven’t added this path to the ending Twine because I’d like to finish Kiiki’s dialogues before I do that.

I’m replacing White Bird as the Sorrow’s spiritual leader with a woman named Imekanu. She’s incredibly old, savvy, and knowledgeable - she’s never been outside Zion, but has a store of books in English, Spanish, and Japanese that have allowed her some insight into what caused the war, if not the current state of the world. She’s also aware of the Survivalist’s origins - not because she’s entered any of his hideouts, but because she’s read over the scriptures and has correctly identified them as letters. Her perspective is that the Father in the Caves was a human being, but that doesn’t diminish his religious value. She sees him as analogous to the Buddha or a Catholic saint: human, sure, but still with access to some deeper truths about the purpose of man and the nature of human goodness. You’ll discover that this idea (that the Survivalist was a holy man rather than a literal god) is the most common perspective among the Sorrows, and you can talk to her about how this departs from Daniel’s perspective that the archetypal Father is divine, not human.

Quests

Each tribe has a specific quest that will either lower or bypass some of the penultimate checks that will determine your ending (people are more likely to believe what you’re telling them if you’ve already won their trust).

The Dead Horses: Joshua Graham has been putting the heads of the fallen up on pikes across Zion. The Dead Horses’ religion is deeply concerned with proper treatment of the deceased, and Graham’s decision to desecrate the corpses of his enemies goes against virtually everything they believe. The old man who won’t tell you his name asks you to take the heads off of the pikes and bury them deep in Zion, and to bring Follows-Chalk with you so you’ll have someone to tell you how to treat them properly. Over the course of the quest, Follows-Chalk will share some of his own beliefs about death, and you’ll have the opportunity to share your own. If you complete this quest without sabotaging it, Follows-Chalk will be willing to betray Graham to the White Legs before the final battle.

The Sorrows: This is basically just Ghost of She, but after defeating the Yao Guai you’ll discover a holotape revealing that the girl wasn’t killed by the bear, but by one of the murderers from Vault 22. Waking Cloud will speculate that maybe the Yao Guai wasn’t the ghost of the little girl at all but some other force that wanted to push you to discover the truth. If you wait until the end to tell Waking Cloud about the death of her husband, you’ll have to pass a Speech check of 75 to convince her you’re telling her the truth; completing this quest drops the check to 50.

The White Legs: Salt-Upon-Wounds will ask you to help him sabotage the Mormons’ preparations for the battle. If you help him with this, it’ll drop the Speech check for you to convince him to leave from 100 to 80. It’s not necessary at all to get the tribal confederacy ending, but a new note will appear in your inventory if you finish it and meet a couple other requirements (asking him certain questions, not attempting that one Speech check about religion, etc).

Endings

I’m trying to incorporate as much variety as possible, but there are three main ending paths: siding with the White Legs, siding with the other two tribes, and peace. The basic idea is that the outcome is predicated less on your direct intervention, and more on how other people act based on the facts they have available to them. Most of your influence is through your choices to hide or reveal key pieces of information, and the skill checks you need to access certain endings are less you convincing a character to do something and more convincing a character to believe you’re telling them the truth. There’s one major exception to this, it requires maxed Speech, and the ending it gives you is markedly bittersweet because you’re trying to get a guy to act against his own best interest. I’m writing all the endings up here, and will probably edit them as things change. The post where I explain them in more depth can be found here.

And that’s the story so far! Thank you for reading, and again: if there’s anything here you think is poorly-conceived, let me know. Thank you to @baelpenrose, who’s a grad student in the history of the American West, for helping me workshop a lot of this stuff. If you’ve got expert knowledge on any of the concepts I touch on or are personally a member of any of the groups I’m describing, please feel free to hmu: anon is on, and you’re always welcome to DM me. I’m just doing this for fun, but I still want it to be as not-shit as possible.

#fallout new vegas #fnv #honest hearts #honest hearts rewrite #probably should have started with initial conversations but oh well lmao

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jspark3000 · 4 years ago

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If you wouldn't mind (it's fine if you'd rather not), can you elaborate on the "it's not always persecution" post? I'm a Christian and feel like I could use some enlightening here. Thank you!

Hey dear friend, I believe you’re referring to this post:

https://jspark3000.tumblr.com/post/123485135143/no-fellow-christians

There’s a phenomenon called a Persecution Complex in which someone feels that any sort of external opposition is “persecution” and is therefore the “enemy.”

Now, real persecution does exist. Christians, Muslims, Jews, the LGBTQ community, and some ethnicities experience physical violence all around the world, simply because of how they identify. Some religions are outlawed in certain places, at the risk of imprisonment or worse.

However, “persecution” for Christians is often stretched in the West to mean, “They stopped putting Merry Christmas on Starbucks cups.” Or, “They made fun of my fish sticker on my car.” Or, “I tried preaching a sermon at my work meeting and now they’re avoiding me, I’m being persecuted!”

The thing is, being a Christian is naturally strange for a lot of people. We forgive, we give generously, we love on those who are hard to love, we don’t fight fire with fire. If I met someone that compassionate, I would think they had an agenda. Christians don’t have one; they’re gracious because they want to be, because they’re a reflection of how Christ is alive in their lives. So sure, people might say a Christian is weird. But sometimes western Christians will flex their identity obnoxiously, stuffing a false Jesus into every conversation as stubbornly and awkwardly as possible, wanting a Christian theocracy, calling all opposition the devil, accusing people of working for satan, saying any feedback is just “demonic.” This is just plain weird in all the wrong ways. It’s a victim complex that creates Us vs. Them, that can arbitrarily label any criticism as a satanic hater.

My suspicion is that when Christians yell “You’re persecuting me!” that’s 1) a seal of self-approval as if to say they’re being a true Christian, and 2) they want to be a hero on some grand pseudo quest. It’s a sort of martyr syndrome in which the persecuted is always put upon, always facing a made-up villain.

Christians in America are not persecuted. They’re the majority. Yes, maybe they get some backlash. But generally a western Christian is safe and able to identify as Christian out loud. I always want to tell a western Christian what they do to North Korean Christians. Almost no American Christian would last under real persecution.

A last thing is that when western Christians tell me they’re persecuted, they’re completely diminishing very real persecution happening overseas. Christian brothers and sisters being beheaded, locked up for years, their churches raided, their children rounded up. To use “persecution” as a sort of badge is an insult to those persecuted groups who need our prayers and our help.

— J.S.

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microcomets · 6 years ago

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books read in 2018

hello! this year i tried to read as much as possible after i graduated my master’s program, so i started the goodreads reading challenge in june. i wish i’d read more/started earlier but i’m happy that i got to read what i did! here’s a list of some good stuff. i included some i read last december too. and also books i hated. faves are starred.

good fiction:

*americanah by chimamanda ngozie adichie

a nigerian woman grapples with western society & racism

*gone girl by gillian flynn

dick husband discovers his sociopath wife has vanished from a crime scene & is presumed dead

sharp objects by gillian flynn

journalist with a dark family history returns home to investigate serial murder of small girls in small hodunk missouri town

*circe by madeline miller

fantastical retelling of circe’s story from the odyssey

the hate u give by angie thomas

a black teenage girl witnesses her friend killed by the police, and has to decide whether or not to speak out at risk to herself and her family

a very large expanse of sea by taherah mafi

a muslim teenage girl in post-9/11 america contends with rampant islamophobia and also finds love

and then there were none by agatha christie

10 guests are invited to a creepy house and are killed off one by one

murder on the orient express by agatha christie

someone dies on a train! whodunit!

pet sematery by stephen king (horror)

i don’t even really know where to begin. it’s fucked y’all

*the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson (horror, queer-ish lit)

a few guests are invited to stay at a creepy mansion. plot twist: the mansion can possess people!

sweet and low by nick white (short stories) (queer lit)

a collection of stories about queer masculinity in the american south

*the handmaid’s tale by margaret atwood

dystopia where women are reproductive sex slaves in a theocracy

carmilla by j. sheridan le fanu (queer lit)

lesbian vampire falls in love with other lesbian who eventually is like “hey, what the fuck is going on here”

fangirl by rainbow rowell

painfully shy girl adjusts to college while also being a massively popular harry potter fanfic writer on the internet

*annihilation by jeff vandermeer

nature is sentient, and it’s Angry

the house of mirth by edith wharton

beautiful socialite discovers capitalism is bad

to the lighthouse by virginia woolf

for most of the book, the characters wonder if they should go to the lighthouse. do they? read and find out

the last report on the miracles at little no horse by louise erdich (queer-ish lit)

a former nun disguises herself as a male missionary to live on a native american reservation after she loses everything she has in a flood. over the course of 50 years, she becomes father damien and a member of the reservation.

home by marilynne robinson

sequel to gilead; midwestern gothic-ish story about homecoming and sibling relations

the road by cormac mccarthy

Hot Take: Everything Is Bad And We’re All Going To Die

no telephone to heaven by michelle cliff

a story of a jamaican family across three generations

never let me go by kazuo ishiguro (also sci-fi/fantasy)

i don’t want to give away the twist here but. clones?

the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde (queer lit)

some older guys fall in love with a twink. the twink doesn’t age but has a portrait that reflects his transgressions

good queer lit:

*blanca & roja by anna-marie mclemore (also sci-fi/fantasy)

latinx retelling of snow white and rose red. one of the girl protagonists falls for a nb trans boy.

*carry on by rainbow rowell (also sci-fi/fantasy)

harry potter au where harry and draco are canon

*the miseducation of cameron post by emily danforth

lesbian coming of age story

the gentleman’s guide to vice and virtue by mackenzi lee (also sci-fi/fantasy + historical fiction + YA)

bisexual asshole from the victorian era falls in love with his male best friend and they go on a european adventure

the lady’s guide to petticoats and piracy by mackenzi lee (also sci-fi/fantasy + historical fiction + YA)

bisexual asshole’s younger sister has her own adventure with some pirates and it’s also Pretty Gay

*the song of achilles by madeline miller

sad whale sounds

peter darling by austin chant

about a trans!boy peter pan who falls in love with hook

*witchmark by c.l. polk (also sci-fi/fantasy)

steampunk-esque fantasy novel about persecuted magic-users

simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli (young adult)

the movie love simon is based on this

leah on the offbeat by becky albertalli (young adult)

bisexual girl falls for hot girl friend

good sci-fi/fantasy:

*american gods by neil gaiman

the world isn’t big enough for the old gods and the new, and shadow gets caught in the middle of the madness

stardust by neil gaiman

fantasy story where a half-fairy boy journeys to find a fallen star

neverwhere by neil gaiman

london has a secret underground world and it’s london but much more unpleasant

the boneless mercies by april genevieve tucholke

a group of female assassins known as mercy-killers decides to leave the death trade to fight a monstrous beast. basically a gender-bent beowulf retelling.

*his dark materials trilogy by philip pullman (the golden compass, the subtle knife, and the amber spyglass)

god is dead

*vicious by v.e. schwab

two college roommates discover they can possess supernatural abilities via near-death experiences, and they become arch-nemeses. xmen-esque but kinda noir

*vengeful by v.e. schwab

sequel to vicious!

*the shades of magic trilogy by v.e. schwab (darker shades of magic, a gathering of shadows, and a conjuring of light) (also queer lit)

there are three londons; one has magic, one is in our world, and one magic destroyed. kell the magician can travel between them with his feisty pirate friend

city of ghosts by victoria schwab (young adult)

cassie can see beyond the veil and the world of the dead; things go south when she ends up in edinburgh, one of the world’s most haunted cities

howl’s moving castle by diana wynne jones (young adult)

sophie gets cursed to look like an old woman and tags along with howl the magician, who has an interdimensional traveling castle

good omens by neil gaiman and terry pratchett

the apocalypse is coming, and an angel and a demon raise a nephilim baby. kind of

norse mythology by neil gaiman

fun retelling of norse myths

children of blood and bone by tomi adeyemi

fantasy novel set in an alternate africa; magic has been banished from the land, and magician zelie, former princess amari, and zelie’s brother tzain set out to restore it

good nonfiction:

hunger by roxane gay

gay’s memoir of her experiences as a fat, black, queer woman with PTSD

it’s what i do by lynsey addario

a war photographer tells her stories of the frontlines

between the world and me by ta-nehisi coates

a black father writes to his son about “post-racial” america and police brutality

the devil’s highway by luis alberto urrea

half-fictional/half-biographical account of the wellton 26, a group of immigrants who failed to cross the us border in 2001

on edge: a journey through anxiety by andrea petersen

a detailed account of living with anxiety and panic disorder

ghostland: american history in haunted places by colin dickey

a small tour of america’s haunted places

the cambridge companion to american gothic

this is scholarship stuff for my ma thesis but it was good fun

the sun and her flowers by rupi kaur (poetry)

books i read that were meh and i’m dragging them here (did you think this was a rec list? it’s actually a self-indulgent chronicle of my year because i’m bored at work)

a head full of ghosts by paul tremblay (horror)

is this girl’s sister possessed by a demon or just schizophrenic? the answer may surprise you

a secret history of witches by louisa morgan

follows a family of french witches through like five generations

what if it’s us by adam silvera and becky albertalli (queer lit)

meet-cute between two gay boys in nyc; they struggle to make things work at first

the catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger

aaaaangst angst teenage angst. just go to school

wise blood by flannery o’connor

i really don’t even know how to summarize it. there’s a dead mummy child and also some blind prophets. some guy ends up pursuing life in a gorilla suit and it’s the pinnacle of ironic art

open city by teju cole

protagonist deserves a fitbit for walking the entire length of new york city and detailing it ad nauseam

kill creek by scott thomas (horror)

five famous horror authors are invited to stay in a haunted house. as authors of horror, you would think they would be aware of the dangers inherent in this, but apparently not! the house is pissed and also haunted! it’s also super laughably misogynistic

meddling kids by edgar cantero

scooby-doo spin-off but with more childhood trauma and darkness, set in the pnw. they fight lovecraftian horrors lurking in the deep

the house behind the cedars by charles w. chesnutt

biracial protagonists struggle to succeed in a racist post-slavery america

the portrait of a lady by henry james

ehhhhhh this woman marries an abusive toxic asshole and it’s bad

the confidence-man by herman melville

??? some guy cons the shit out of everyone and they’re on a boat

ruth hall by fanny fern

wealthy woman loses everything she owns and becomes a journalist/writer to pay the bills. she becomes famous and makes her own success!

the rise of silas lapham by william dean howells

is it obvious i had to read these for a class with a specific theme. insert something about the gilded age here

if you’re interested in more insightful reviews, you can follow my goodreads here.

#long post for ts #claire for ts

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iturbide · 6 years ago

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Is it weird that I kinda wanna know more about Validar or rather seem more stories with him since there are no doubt so many f-ed up things he could do to poor Robin. I somehow see him as someone who just touched Robin like overly so. Soft strokes, but there's something off about it. It's possessive and "slimey". I wonder how he even got to the point of siring robin in the first place. Was it consensual? Would he ever drop down to that level of abuse if he had Robin from the start?

Oh hey it’s one of my favorite thought experiments 8D

So I have put an inordinate amount of thought into understanding Validar and how he ended up the way he did. History is important: if even one thing had changed in Validar’s life before a certain point, it’s very likely that he could have ended up an entirely different person, someone with more capacity for kindness, someone even capable of truly loving another person.

But that’s not what happened.

I have a lot of thoughts about how the Plegian system of government works – namely the fact that the king and the hierophant of the Grimleal are not necessarily the same person. It’s a bit weird and complicated owing entirely to the fact that Grima’s not involved directly anymore, since as a theocracy, Plegia looks to their divine dragon as the one true ruler. In Grima’s absence, and lacking any proven proxy, they have instead turned to a system based on divination of their fallen divine’s will. Whenever a king dies, the six most powerful diviners in Plegia (one for each of Grima’s eyes) are called forth to select the next ruler by interpreting Grima’s will through their chosen medium; in order to keep things relatively simple and ensure the nation can keep running, the diviners limit their selections among the heads of the Grimleal faith and the members of the former king’s council, since those two groups have existing experience.

Now, while there should logically be an equal chance of a Grimleal priest being selected as a former council member, for the past several centuries, the diviners’ selections have almost always been members of the king’s council; this heavy bias has coincided with the increasing corruption within the upper echelons of the church and the worrisome zealotry that’s gone with it. In particular, Validar’s family has very long-standing ties with the church, and have held the rank of hierophant for countless decades, and they have been some of the foremost perpetrators behind this horrific spiral. Which brings us to Validar’s father.

Validar’s father was not a kind man. He was not a caring man. He had no time and patience for things like family: his sole interest was in restoring Grima to the world. Initially, his goal had been to secure power over the nation in order to hasten that very goal; however, when the Plegian king died and the diviners were called, he was passed over for a member of the king’s council. Irritated but not deterred, he proceeded to make arrangements and married a woman who boasted a very prominent bloodline, hoping that the child created from such a union would at last herald the fell dragon’s return; unfortunately, Validar did not bear the Brand, and his father never forgave him for that. In his eyes, that absent mark proved his son a failure, and no matter how hard Validar tried, no matter how great his accomplishments or how prodigious his talents and genius, he was still worthless by his father’s single-minded estimation.

As a child, Validar attempted to win his father’s favor with scholastic accomplishments. When this failed, he began searching for other ways to change his father’s view, becoming an adept strategist and politician. When this, too, did not bear the desired results, he turned to increasingly dangerous means of proving himself, researching dangerous, ancient magics and becoming one of the foremost sorcerers in the nation at a very young age. And none of it had any effect. Bitter, jaded, and hell-bent on proving his worth regardless of the cost, Validar shed any trace of ethics or morality he might have harbored up to that point, and turned his eyes on a new goal: bringing Grima back into the world – not just the one marked as the fell dragon’s proxy by the Brand, but the fell dragon himself, a feat that he knew would be possible thanks to a formidable ritual he’d uncovered in his research that, with suitable modifications, he was certain would call Grima’s own soul into the Branded vessel that bore the fell dragon’s blood.

Shortly thereafter, the reigning Exalt in Ylisse launched his crusade against the ‘heathen’ Plegians, striking out across the border and laying waste to any settlement he came across. Many of the villages in the eastern desert evacuated, and the refugees flocked to the capital for protection; among them was a young woman who, despite being a refugee herself, put all her time and effort toward helping others in whatever way she could. She came to Validar’s attention less from her altruism, more for the raw, volatile magic she demonstrated in her attempts at administering first aid through magic: knowing that powerful arcane talents often implied a strong connection to Grima’s blood, Validar reached out to her, using his impressive speechcraft and manipulative nature to try and gain her favor before proposing to her.

This woman, however, was well aware of who Validar was – as the son of the present hierophant, it was impossible not to know – and knew equally that he had no real interest in her. But she accepted regardless, because she had no real interest in him, either: she knew that marrying into a family with such strong connections to the Grimleal hierarchy would give her immeasurably more opportunities to reach out and help the people of Plegia, from the refugees fleeing the warfront to the individuals fallen on hard times in need of aid and kindness. In spite of the ongoing war, she still spent her days in the capital rather than cloistered safely away (much to the consternation of her guard), providing food and medicine to the masses huddled in the capital and awaiting the conflict’s end.

Though they led separate lives that only led to their occasional meeting, Validar’s primary interest was in siring a child that might act as a suitable vessel, and they shared a bed regularly for this purpose. In time, his wife became pregnant, and for months Validar bided his time, waiting for the birth, outwardly confident even as he prayed for success in his endeavor. And, much to his delight (and relief), when the child was born, he did in fact bear Grima’s Mark.

For the first time in Validar’s life, his father looked on him with approval. And so he sought to push forward with his goal, believing fully that he was on the right track.

AUs are great things, and depending on the situation, this can go a lot of different ways. For a canon-type situation, where his wife escapes his control, Validar’s intention was actually to remove her from the picture entirely so that he could have full control over the child’s upbringing. Though he is capable of extreme violence, Validar much prefers not to bloody his hands, instead preferring methods that cannot be tied back to him: he fully intended to murder his wife through use of a virulent poison, a plot which she uncovered along with the knowledge of what he intended to do with their child. Desperate to protect her baby, she took Robin and fled Plegia – and with the loss of the Branded child, Validar’s father once more looked on him with contempt, berating him that he did one thing right in all his life, and then he ruined that, as well. This cold dismissal is the last straw for Validar, whose yearning for the man’s approval twists fully into hateful loathing: he bides his time for several more years, kidnapping Aversa and training her to act as his right hand in the interim…and when the time is right, Validar sends her to murder his father in cold blood, staging it as a political assassination rather than a calculated crime of passion.

In other situations, where Robin does remain closer for whatever reason (either with his wife still present or with her gone), Validar’s methods remain ultimately non-violent. He prefers manipulation and mental or emotional abuse to physical methods in most cases, saving touch as a form of praise – but the way he uses it feels like an abuse of its own: often his preferred form of such praise is stroking his son’s hair, which seems more like a man petting a dog than a father engaging with his child. And that’s very much because Validar doesn’t see Robin as his child, or even a child at all: he’s nothing more than the vessel Validar intends to draw Grima into, and he has no interest in anything beyond preparing that vessel to the fullest so that when Grima enters it, the might and magic at the fell dragon’s disposal will be unmatched.

tl;dr hi yes i think about validar too much and it generally ends with me hating him more

#answered #jayswing96 #fire emblem: awakening #headcanon #validar #i have put way too much thought into validar #honestly he could be a much better person if things had been different #maybe not a great person #kind of like gangrel is never going to be a phenomenal person no matter what #but certainly better than how he ended up in awakening #also i say that most of the time validar prefers non-violent methods #the exception is when he gets frustrated to his breaking point #he won't hesitate to turn violence against anyone when he's in his foulest moods #and this includes robin #which is actually a core component of the speaker for the dead au #which remains probably one of my darkest awakening aus

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youcantunringthebell · 6 years ago

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Hey, Franklin! Want the Tennessee Capitol?

Thanks to one of Nashville’s best investigative reporters, we know that Tennessee’s speaker of the house employs a racist who insists on Jameis Winston being referred to as a “thug n----r” and believes “black people are idiots.” It’s Cade Cothren, the speaker’s chief of staff, and he won’t deny those damning texts are his.

More troubling, Cade is under investigation for possibly doctoring an email to make it look like an African American activist violated a restraining order. The first items are run-of-the-mill racism. The doctoring would be criminal.

But his Venmo fetish is something else entirely.

He uses black emojis to represent multiple transactions -- a baby, two women, a merman and a “thumbs up.” Most of us know the problem: Whites trying on blackness when it suits us diminishes the black experience at best and feeds racist stereotypes at worst. But in light of his racist texts, what IS this particular pathology? An obsession? A digital flirtation with a human trafficking fantasy? I’d love to hear from someone who specializes in racial representation and psychology about what he’s thinking.

In the meantime, of course shitcan the $200,000-a-year racist.

I also wonder how major national companies coming to Nashville or already here feel about piling overt racism onto our problem with LGBT discrimination. The Tennessee Titans, Amazon, Ikea, Nike, Marriott, Lyft and others signed a letter opposing bills that (a) end adoption by same-sex couples and (b) endorse school districts’ discrimination against transgender students. Our voter suppression bill, aimed at keeping minorities from the polls by punishing groups that register them to vote, made the New York Times.

So what do you, a CEO, do about wanting to operate in a fast-growing, vibrant, creative city that just happens to also serve as a bastion for a largely racist and homophobic legislature? What do you tell yourself about the well-being of your employees who you’ll ask to move here?

I moved to Nashville when Phil Bredesen was governor, and the legislature didn’t perpetually busy itself with discriminatory bills. I love Nashville and Nashvillians and resent a legislature that seems to want a theocracy on one hand but refuses to love its neighbor on the other. But with this news, if I didn’t live in Nashville today, could I even bring myself to take a vacation here?

Is it too late to relocate the Capitol somewhere the people enjoy this kind of nonsense? Franklin, you keep electing the speaker. You up for it?

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theotherbluewizard · 2 years ago

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Execute the RNC for treason

I’m talking every single member of the RNC. Yes including RNC picks on the Supreme Court. Throw them in court for their lives, and them shoot them on live TV for High fucking Treason. Reason 1: Trump committed treason, Trump is an imbecile puppet, they used him, they are responsible for backing him, they committed treason. Reason 2: The entire RNC is sex obsessed bizarre embarrassing fuckwits who do not know their asses from their elbows about what they are talking about ever. I’m talking these jackasses do not understand evolution, they do not understand germ theory, they do not understand the social contract, they do not understand basic sociology, they do not understand basic psychology, they have never even read the friggin gospels despite having committed their lives to Jesus, or if they did they managed to have such staggeringly bad reading comprehension that they could not parse the OBVIOUS LEFTIST AGENDA OF JESUS, or if they did they actually thought they could get away with lying about the plot of a book anybody can read. Jesus says the rich don’t go to heaven and the right is just fake as shit for ignoring it. The Bible even calls them out on it, but they haven’t read the part about hypocrisy so they don’t care. There is no reason such poorly educated people who fail to understand fucking anything about the world around them, even the religion they use as an excuse to be idiots, should be in charge of other people. I guarantee not a one of these motherfuckers would ever look up the meaning of the word Liberalism literally to save their lives even after having been told because they would have to admit to THEMSELVES that they do not know what it is already, which they do not. These book burning backward ass literally Malthusian literally Draconian fuckwit imbecile indolent hedonist weak ass soft hands Karens who will leave you to die rather than go a year without a fucking haircut are, to put it simply, really fucking stupid and cannot be expected to behave responsibly like adults. Reason 3: They don’t believe in fucking democracy. Holy shit why this is not like a fucking deal breaker in and of itself I will never understand. Would you people please explain to me how we all got to pretending that’s not like exactly what the term right-wing is fucking describing is someone who will fucking vote down democracy like an absolute chode. That’s what it fucking means. I hear tell some fuckwit right-winger wrote a book about how when other people use the term to describe him they aren’t calling him a fascist dickwad they’re saying he’s sOcIaLlY cOnSeRvAtIvE and somehow this is different and fine nebulously although it may or may not be but is but might not be but always is associated heavily with like literally all kinds of bigotry FOR OBVIOUS FUCKING REASONS. BECAUSE THAT’S AUTHORITARIANISM. Literally all models that are authoritarian have people who are on top and people who aren’t, and will thus endlessly find reasons to put people on the bottom. You know a model is authoritarian if it’s hierarchical, because those words mean basically the same thing. Hierarchical means there’s people who are on the top and people who aren’t. Are you following me American? I know they did not teach you this in school and you never bothered to look it up. Hey, here is a random, non-exhaustive list of some authoritarian models to help you along: despotism, where the despot rules, monarchy, where the monarch rules, theocracy, where the theocrats rule, capitalism, where the people with the most capital rule. Is this sinking into your meatspace? WHY WOULD RICH PEOPLE WANT DEMOCRACY. OBVIOUSLY THE RIGHT IS SUS IN THE FIRST PLACE, RIGHT-WING MEANS RULE BY RICH. WHY WERE THEY EVER GIVEN ANY POWER OR RESPECTED GOG DAMN YOU PEOPLE IT FUCKIN SAYS ON THE TIN THAT THEY DO NOT BELIEVE IN FUCKING DEMOCRACY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE. If you don’t believe me, argue with one. Go ahead. Watch them be fake. You give it not ten minutes you’ll point out something and they’ll be fake about it and say some insane shit about simulations and crabs that they expect you to believe that they believe. They do not care about convincing you, they only engage in discussion TO PROVE THAT DISCUSSION IS POINTLESS. They will not be reasoned with, they do not believe in it.

#leftblr #wizardrant

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fire-emblem-heroes-supports · 7 years ago

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M!Robin/Eirika C-S Support

Written by @pmarque

C SUPPORT

Eirika: Hya! Hah! Robin: Oh! Princess Eirika! There you are! Eirika: Huh? Oh, Mister Robin! Hello there. Do you need something? Robin: You were sparring, right? I’d like to see your fighting style. Eirika: …Sure, but why, if you mind me asking? Robin: [y/n] asked me do analyze some of our fighters to help him/her create more efficient tactics. Sorry, I should’ve opened with that. Eirika: It’s fine, don’t worry. I’ll gladly allow you to analyze my style. You can also tell where I need improvements, so it’ll useful for both of us. Robin: Sure thing. So, let us begin?

[Robin and Eirika have reached support rank C.]

B SUPPORT

Robin: Eirika, you're an impressive fighter! Your style is unlike any I’ve seen! Your teacher must be very skilled! Eirika: …thank you. My brother Ephraim actually taught me. Robin: Are you ok? You seem sad. Eirika: It’s nothing. I just… wish these arguments didn’t always have to end in war. It’s so brutal, not to mention all the lives lost… Robin: … I understand. I think similarly. That’s why I try to save the most amount of people when we end up fighting. Eirika: You’re an impressive tactician, that’s for sure. You should talk to my brother or Innes if you ever have the chance, they’re both renowned tacticians in my home world. Robin: Really? And who’s this Innes? A friend of yours? Eirika: Yes, he is. He’s also the crown prince of Frelia and has a younger sister around my age, similar to Ephraim and me. Robin: Your continent sounds extremely interesting. What kingdoms are there in it? Eirika: Well, there’s my homeland of Rennais, Frelia, ruled by Innes’ father, the Theocracy of Rausten, Jehanna and…Grado. Robin: That last one sounds important to you. Eirika: …It’s not something I enjoy talking about… Robin: I understand. We all have something we have trouble talking about [Robin leaves.]

Eirika: I wonder what he meant…

[Robin and Eirika have reached support rank B.]

A SUPPORT

Eirika: Mister Robin, I’d like to speak to you.

Robin: Please, princess, you may call me Robin, we’re quite close already.

Eirika: As you wish. I have a proposal for you.

Robin: What it is?

Eirika: If my assumptions are correct, you also have a story that you don’t feel comfortable sharing with most people. So, I propose that we both share our stories to one another.

Robin: …Alright. I’ll go first… The blood of an evil dragon god courses through my veins. Its name is Grima and it can take control of my mind, making me do his bidding. It once almost made me kill my best friend… It has stopped since I came to Askr, but the thought still haunts me.

Eirika: Oh my. Your story is actually quite similar to mine… My friend Lyon, heir to the throne of Grado, tried to use his countries’ sacred stone to revive his father but ended up being possessed by the dark lord Formontis. It made him start a war on the entire continent and, in the end, I had to kill him… *sobs*

Robin: Eirika… I’m sorry…

Eirika: You shouldn’t be, I wanted to tell you. It feels nice to talk to someone about it.

Robin: Hey Eirika, let’s make a promise?

Eirika: Huh?

Robin: Let’s promise to always be there for the other when we are feeling down, and help the other endure it. What do you say?

Eirika: I… I’d like that, Robin. I promise.

[Robin and Eirika have reached support rank A.]

S SUPPORT

Robin: Eirika? Are you here?

Eirika: Robin? What is it?

Robin: Eirika…I have a proposal for you.

Eirika: About what?

Robin: About us. Eirika… I love you.

Eirika: What?

Robin: I tried to consider it as being anything else. Compassion, friendship… but I can no longer deny it. I’m in love with you, princess Eirika. Even if we can’t be together, be it because of royal marriage rules in your kingdom or if we ever have to return to our own lands, I wanted to express my feelings, and ask for your hand in marriage.

Eirika: Robin… I love you too. You’re a compassionate, smart man and whenever I’m with you, I feel safer. My land has no royal marital restrictions, and even if we have to return to different lands… I want to share this time with you. So, yes, I will accept your proposal. After all, we did promise to always be there for one another, right?

Robin: R-right. Hehe…

[Robin and Eirika have reached support rank S.]

#fire emblem awakening #fire emblem the sacred stones #male and female heroes #eirika #m!robin #m!robin x eirika #submission

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libertariantaoist · 8 years ago

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The Trump administration has the media and its political opponents (or do I repeat myself?) in a lather as the White House continues to fire executive orders in quick succession, demolishing the old order and enraging both liberals and their newfound neoconservative allies. Amid all the virtue-signaling hysterics, the most significant aspects of what is occurring are being overlooked – and it’s my job to point them out.

While the blue-state crowd is protesting President Trump’s order banning travel to the US by citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia, what gets lost in all the shouting is that the legal and political basis of his order was laid down by President Barack Obama. These people don’t care to recall that, in 2013, Obama banned all refugees from Iraq for six months, and his action was hardly noticed: Trump is only proposing a ninety-day pause. What prompted Obama’s action, as ABC News reported at the time, was “the discovery in 2009 of two al Qaeda-Iraq terrorists living as refugees in Bowling Green, Kentucky — who later admitted in court that they’d attacked U.S. soldiers in Iraq.”

Two years later, Congress passed a law, the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act, that restricted travel visas for citizens of “states of concern,” i.e. Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran and “any other country or area of concern.” Obama promptly signed it. In early 2016, the Department of Homeland Security unilaterally extended these restrictions to Yemen, Libya, and Somalia. What this meant was that the visa waiver program did not apply to citizens of these countries: travelers had to apply for a visa at US embassies, a highly problematic matter (Syria, for one, has no such facility) and were very unlikely to be successful in their efforts. I don’t recall any protests at the time.

In short, the legal and political basis of Trump’s executive order – which is being denounced as an unprecedented attack on our allies (Iraq), civil liberties, and decency itself – was laid during the previous regime. Trump has simply dispensed with the fiction that these travelers are welcomed by our government, and issued an ostensibly temporary outright ban.

Aside from the hypocrisy underscored in that history, however, a larger point needs to be made: this all follows from our bipartisan foreign policy of perpetual war. Regardless of one’s views on immigration, the idea that we can invade the world and then proceed to invite the world is worse than naïve – it’s dangerous. As Garet Garrett, that prophet of the Old Right, put it more than half a century ago:

"How, now, thou American, frustrated crusader, do you know where you are?

"Is it security you want? There is no security at the top of the world.

"To thine own self a liberator, to the world an alarming portent, do you know where you are going from here?"

Where, indeed.

After fifteen years of rampaging throughout the world, that the US is now retreating to Fortress America comes as a shock only to the clueless. That this is being done with the crudity we have come to expect from Trump – green card holders were handcuffed at the airports, and immigration officials told the hapless detainees to complain to the President – is likewise not surprising. Someone who has been a resident of the United States for years, albeit not a citizen, being treated in this manner is an outrage – but what else has the history of the post-9/11 been but one outrage after another? (The inclusion of green card holders is now being walked back by the White House.)

And as for those who are now gathering at airports with placards denouncing Trump – where were they when the countries on the no-go list were being bombed by their hero, Obama? The answer is that they were nowhere to be found. Oh, but now they’re up there on their high horses, lances lowered and ready to do battle with the “fascist” Trump. Spare us the theatrics, my liberal friends, and contemplate your own sins, for they are many.

Our endless “war on terrorism” – which continues under President Trump, even as I write, with a dawn raid on the headquarters of the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda – has been fulsomely supported and extended by both parties. The Obama regime aided and abetted Saudi Arabia’s invasion of Yemen, making it possible for al-Qaeda to gain a foothold as Saudi troops and Riyadh’s puppet Yemeni government carried out a vicious war of attrition against Shi’ite rebels – while leaving al-Qaeda largely alone to consolidate its gains.

Where were the NeverTrumpers while atrocities against the Yemeni people were being committed with our tax dollars?

Furthermore, under President Obama, the US pursued a policy of “regime change” in Syria, the goal of which was to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad and install a theocracy run by Islamist “rebels” allied with al-Qaeda and ideologically indistinguishable from ISIS, our purported enemy.

The very same media outlets and blue-state virtue-signalers who are howling about the “cruelty” of Trump’s rejection of Syrian refugees have been telling us for years that we haven’t been aiding the Syrian rebels enough, and that the US must intervene more strenuously in that country’s civil war. Do these people not realize that our policy caused the refugee exodus?

As the anti-Trump brouhaha continues, two very pertinent facts about this series of executive orders is getting lost in the shouting.

First, as I wrote about in my last column, the initial draft of the executive order entitled “Protecting the Nation From Attacks From Foreign Nationals” contained a section raising the possibility of creating “safe zones” in Syria. The final version omits this dangerous plan. This is significant: what it means is that the Trump administration is going to resist calls by the interventionist media to “do something” about the Syrian civil war and is opting instead to keep its footprint in the region lighter than the War Party would prefer. “Safe zones” are off the table, at least for now.

Yes, I did urge our readers to call the White House and urge them to drop this loopy idea, but it would be equally loopy to take any credit for it. My guess is that our newly-minted Secretary of Defense, in tandem with the Pentagon, talked him out of it, as I thought they would. But, hey, pressure from the public may have been a factor – you never know!

Secondly, a presidential memorandum outlining Trump’s “plan to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” contains one fascinating little section that reads as follows:

“The Plan shall include … identification of new coalition partners in the fight against ISIS and policies to empower coalition partners to fight ISIS and its affiliates.”

While Russia is not named, it is clearly the intent of the Trump administration to involve Moscow in our operations against ISIS, at least in the Syrian theater. And while this doesn’t mean that we’re about to withdraw from the region, it does mean that our footprint will be much smaller. Trump is clearly leery of getting bogged down in another Middle Eastern war: thus his vows to “eradicate” ISIS “quickly.” That may be a pipedream, but the fact remains that if he can farm out much of the fight against ISIS to the Russians and Assad, our own involvement is effectively lessened.

This also augurs a new era of cooperation between the United States and Russia, which both parties in Congress bitterly oppose. Citing Russian assistance in Syria is going to be one of Trump’s major talking points in opposing the new cold war that so many in the liberal media and both wings of the War Party have been frantically ginning up.

The hysterical response to Trump has blinded the left to what is really going on: they are so busy working themselves up into a fit of self-satisfied outrage that they have lost the ability not only to reason but to see what is right in front of their eyes. Much of this is due to partisanship, but the rest we can attribute to a cognitive disability: when emotions are substituted for thought over an extended period, the result is a permanent impairment. If what we are seeing at the end of the first week of the Trump administration is indicative of the next four years, the fate of American liberalism promises to be sad indeed.

Update: Here’s a new development: there are reports that Iraq is retaliating against the travel ban by banning all travel to Iraq by Americans. If this includes US soldiers traveling to Iraq to help its hapless government fight off its many enemies, then one can only ask: who says Trump isn’t the antiwar President?! One wonders if this ban will also include a ban on American tax dollars traveling to Iraq: somehow, I don’t think so.

#justin raimondo #anti-war #donald trump #barack obama

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