#i was GOING to declare a media minor but alas i had to go for business

[chaoticmayocat]

I am horribly chaotic and was one hair away from switching to majoring in theatre my first semester. I'm a biology major. I have stage fright and despise my own voice. I just reallllllly liked my Fine Arts Theatre class.

[a-world-of-whimsy-5]

Hey hey~ coming in with a little trick request for your Halloween event!😈

I'd like to see some vampire!Manwë x Námo with prompt number 4 or 9 (your choice🧡). Dark content is welcome, also leaving that up to you.

Thank you! Looking forward to this!💜

Ooh! I have decided to go with number four for this. I also hope that you don’t mind that I took some liberty with the themes and the timeline.

"The choice"

Pairing: Vampire! Manwë x Námo (Calamórë)

Location and time: Halls of Mandos/19th Century England

Prompt : 4 - "Why won’t you let me turn you?”

Themes: Angst | Emotional | Loss

Warnings: Vampirism | Illness (Typhoid) | Death | Blood tears | Explicit language

Wordcount: 900+ words

Summary: Námo falls grievously ill. Manwë wishes to save him.

Minors DNI | You are responsible for the media you consume

A/n: this is for the @fellowshipofthefics October challenge. Two more slots are available for requests, but prompts 4 and 6 (for Vampire! Finrod) are out. The rules and prompts for requests can be read here.

Divider by @firefly-graphics

Námo was so still, it was frightening.

He was gaunt, his warm, ivory skin now as white as chalk. He did not open his eyes. Not when his sister fussed with his pillows to make him more comfortable; not when his brother covered his face and wept; not when the physicians spoke to the family in hushed whispers. He was too weak to do anything but rest.

“It is too late,” one said.

“There is little that could be done now,” another said.

“Only a miracle could save him from the clutches of this wretched disease," a third said. “And these mere mortal hands have not been blessed by the divine. You must prepare yourselves. I am sorry.”

One by one, they left. One of the physicians helped Irmo out into a dimly lit corridor, and down the stairs to the parlor. Nienna dithered by the door. Tears continued to streak down her cheeks, but she did not sob. She had to be strong, for all their sakes. 

“You will be wanting to say your farewells, Mister Súlimo,” she said.

Manwë was startled. He had been standing by the hearth, staring into flames that fought to keep the autumn chill from drifting into the room.

“Yes.” He smoothed his jacket and straightened himself, his tone perfectly calm, perfectly neutral. His face was a mask of serenity. “My thanks.”

Nienna acknowledged him with a silent, courteous bow before leaving the room in a swirl of dark silks that rustled with each step she took.

A servant closed the door behind her. The moment the corridor outside grew silent, Manwë's mask of serene composure dropped beneath the crushing weight of unspeakable agony. He did not know how he placed one foot ahead of the other or how he even reached the wide bed. When he arrived at Námo’s side and took an all-too-cool hand into his own, he sank to his knees and sobbed, unable to rein in his pain.

One last time. Manwë prayed, though to which God, he did not know. If only I could speak with him one last time.

Námo finally stirred and opened his eyes. It is as if he received one final surge of vigor. “You...came. Even... even after we argued..."

It was soft, barely over a whisper. Námo shivered, and grew silent. Manwë lifted his eyes. They were wild with grief and filled with deep red tears. More tears left scarlet trails that stained his pale skin. 

“Not even those who hunt my kind could keep me away from you," he declared, and brushed his hand over spun silver hair. It was still soft, slipping around his fingers like silk. Manwë watched with a mournful expression. Soon, he would not be able to touch that hair. 

Námo fought to stay awake. He yearned to reach out and stroke Manwë’s cheek, to offer him some comfort. Alas, he could not. He could not even raise his arm a grain’s breadth above the bed. He only whispered, “Your tears. They… they must not…see.” 

Manwë no longer cared, but he acquiesced anyway. He took out a square piece of red silk from his pocket and dabbed his eyes, his cheeks. Crimson soon soaked into crimson, but at least no one could see even if they tried.

“Why won’t you let me turn you?” The words came out in a smothered sob. “I can save you, little raven. Why will you not let me?”

Ever since Námo fell ill and they learned the cause of it all, Manwë beseeched him to let him intervene. Let me help you, he pleaded. Let me make you into a being like me. Then no illness will claim you, and we can remain together, for good and always.

Námo had a ready reply, and every time Manwë asked, it was always the same. He wished to remain mortal. He did not yield to any other course of action besides heeding the counsel of the family physicians. Then they argued. Caught in sorrow's grip, Manwë uttered things he could never take back before he departed the manor. Only Nienna's made him put aside his confusion and despair and anger, and return. Manwë listened again, certain the answer would be the same as always.

“This… this is my choice,” Námo insisted between labored breaths. “I wish…to leave… this world… the way… I have lived it. As… as a mortal.”

Manwë wanted to argue. To rage. This should not be so, he wanted to say. It was not right. It was not fair.

Twelve months, he thinks. Many a century spent searching for my soul’s other half, and when I do find him, all that is given me is twelve fucking months.  

“Do not…be angry,” Námo pleaded. “Please.”

Manwë stops, hesitates. Heated words soon die in his throat. 

“I am sorry, little raven.” Manwë grasps his hand and brings it to his lips. It is icy now. He smothers another sob. "And forgive me, for what I said before. I offer no excuse for being so cruel."

“There is... nothing... to forgive. Perhaps,” Each breath is a battle now. And yet, Námo persists. “If… fate is… kind, we… we will meet again.”

“I will wait for you,” Manwë vows. “I love you.”

Námo closes his eyes. A strange, numbing sensation crept up his throat. He whispers three words. Three final words, and then he goes still, for good and always. Manwë leans down, and kisses him for the last time. He buries his tears and rises. The fire burns brighter now, warming the room. Manwë does not feel it. The world will never be warm for him again.

tags: @edensrose @asianbutnotjapanese

[seonghwa-is-babie]

I'll wait

Y/n is a vampire who's been alive since the 18th century, but whilst others like him already found their soul mates, he was left waiting until a certain boy was born

Seonghwa x vampire! Male reader

Note: as soon as I saw the thing about this being seonghwa's first life, I just had to make this. Btw vampires don't burn in the sun in this fic

Being immortal wasn't that bad, you could see how humanity evolved alongside you, how new species were discovered and how old ones went extinct. You could try and perfect just about any skill you desired

What is bad, is not having to wait for your soul mate to be born while suffering an empty life, this was a problem for y/n, who even after nearly 200 years of waiting, still hasn't gotten his soulmate

He could vividly remember that day he touched the globe which would reveal where your soulmate was with a light, only to have nothing light up, much to the vampire's dismay

🐯

That was in 1760, and has been waiting ever since, checking the globe just about every day, but never getting that light he longed for

In the mean time, y/n made several identities for himself, only to die in a tragic 'accident' and start again as a 20 year old in a different setting, as he had the connections to do so

🐯

The year was 1998, y/n's persona this time around was a successful artist, painting for many people in his for now home, Germany,

He's been reluctant to once again look at the globe, afraid he simply didn't have a soulmate, alas, he did check, on April 3rd, and something he never expected to happen, happened

It lit up, a small light emitted on the map, in South Korea. Y/n couldn't hold back the tears of joy "welcome to the world, my darling, I can't wait to meet you"

Now, y/n knew not to go to a child and declare they're soulmate, but he did make sure someone kept an eye on him for his safety and to get to know him just a little bit

🐯

In the years he had someone look after them, he had learnt his soulmate was a boy by the name of Park Seonghwa, he had gotten some pictures over the years, and he absolutely adored how he looked, he couldn't wait to see what he'd grow into

🐯

It was in late 2017 when he decided to fake another death, by paint this time. He had 2 fellow vampires photograph him and make up the story he got drowned by paint in his lungs when a bucket fell. And people believed it

He quickly got a new passport after and moved to South Korea, where he would have to make a name for himself once again, but first he met up at a café with the friend who had to keep an eye out for Seonghwa

"how is he?" y/n asks, curious about what his soulmate was doing "he's training to become an idol, expected to debut sometime next year" he nodded "so how are you gonna tell him?" y/n hadn't thought about it that much "I'll move in and make a name for myself first, then I might be able to somehow get an interaction"

"how about fashion design, idols often have many different outfits, so if you just work at one that's fairly popular, I'm sure the opportunity will be there"

🐯

And so he began as a designer at a company, whilst also keeping track of seonghwa, which had become a lot easier thanks to social media

He was still waiting to formally meet him, but he went to every show Seonghwa's group, Ateez, performed at, he was fascinated by the boy's moves and good looks. He made sure seonghwa didn't fully see him though, wanting to safe that for when they met

🐯

It actually happened later then he expected, when he was an independent designer in late 2019, KQ, seonghwa's company, asked him to come design outfits for their new album, all to action

He was excited to finally meet the boy who had grown into a charming young man. Of course he was also excited to meet the others, but he's been waiting for over 200 years for this to happen, so of course it's understandable

🐯

Y/n had arranged a meeting with all 8 boys, one by one, leaving seonghwa last, he wanted to spend some extra time with him whilst making sure he didn't see him beforehand

🐯

One by one, he spoke to each member, wrote down some notes, and took their measurements, until the final person came to him, his soulmate, who he'd been waiting so long for

To say he was nervous, was an understatement. He tried distracting himself by turning around and looking outside his window, to the bustling streets of the city

"umm, hello? Sir are you okay?" he heard a concerned but also confused voice say. It's him, Park Seonghwa. He mustered up all of his courage and turned around, approaching the young man "it's nice to finally meet you in person" he held his hand in both of his

"You're..." before seonghwa could continue, he felt a sensation from the man's hand, a warmth so new, yet seemingly so familiar "my soulmate...?" the young man had never experienced such a thing before, and neither did the other, but with lots of stories, he knew what it was

"you have no idea how long I've been waiting for you, my darling" the younger still looked quite confused "if I have some time left after, I'll explain it to you briefly, but if you really wanna know all of it, I suggest you could come with me" he got a bit nervous "You're not gonna do anything bad, right?" y/n looked almost shocked he even asked "of course I won't, I didn't wait this long just to hurt you, alright?"

🐯

After everything was done, y/n took seonghwa back to his apartment, of course with seonghwa's manager's approval "do you want anything to drink?" the younger shook his head

They sat down in the living room "where do you want me to start?" "you said you waited a long time for me, how long was that?" y/n already saw this question coming, but he was willing to explain it all for seonghwa "about 260 years, you see I'm a vampire, an immortal being that's been alive since the 18th century. Of course common folk couldn't know about this, so about every 40 years, I fake my death and start a new life somewhere else, this time I went from a painter in Germany to a fashion designer here"

"but how come you didn't have any previous soulmates?" y/n sighed "because it's only your first life here, darling. Back in 1760 when I interacted with the globe that showed your soulmate's location, nothing lit up. It wasn't until April 3rd 1998 when it lit up, when you were born. I decided I wouldn't see you until you were older, since I also have my morals of not going after children or minors. I've only been here since 2017 actually"

Seonghwa was left in awe and shock, but also slight guilt that y/n had to wait so long for him "I'm sorry you had to wait all that time for me"

"don't be, I learned a lot of useful things and had lots of experiences thanks to the time I was alone" y/n smiled fondly at all the memories "did you fall in love with anyone else along that time?"

"I've met and seen many beautiful people, but none were as beautiful as you are now" seonghwa blushed at that "You're cute when you blush" this made him even more flustered

🐯

They talked for a little while longer before realising how late it is "I have a spare room you can stay in, it's right across from my room, so if anything's bothering you, just come to me" seonghwa nodded and went to the room with some clothes y/n handed him to sleep in

🐯

At night, seonghwa found himself not being able to sleep, there was a constant feeling that something was missing. He figured out it must have something to do with the fact that he now has a bond with y/n

So he made his way over to y/n's room, gently opening the door to find y/n also being awake, seemingly also not being able to sleep "can't sleep either" the latter asked, seonghwa nodded "it's like something's missing"

"maybe because we found each other now, we don't wanna be separated again" seonghwa was still a bit in thought, but suddenly started blushing "ummm, w-would you mind if I stayed here... With you?" y/n smiled and slightly threw the covers open so seonghwa could climb into bed with him. They didn't say anything after just staring at each other in silence, until y/n noticed seonghwa was getting tired. He leaned forward and kissed his forehead "goodnight, my darling"

[myvividreams]

[Maribat] Hamilton the Musical AU

When @fsketchart​ started screaming about a Hamilton AU in the discord server, I screamed back with a Hamilton the Musical AU and now it’s a thing. Feel free to scream back to me about it!

First of all, yes, this is Jasonette

At the start of this AU, Jason is two years older than Mari, recovering from Pit Madness, reconciling with the Batfam, attending therapy with the rest of the fam, and recently declared legally alive.

When Jason’s therapist tells him he has to find more hobbies outside of hero-ing, some genii in the batfam decided to ‘help’ by arranging the entire production of a play since, you know, Jason in this AU is very much a thespian in addition to being a literature nerd. Alfred is very proud

Said play is Hamilton the Musical. It’s a charity production funded by the Martha Wayne Foundation, and all proceeds will go towards fixing up and providing aid to the residents of Park Row (which is half of what sold Jason on the plan).

Mari, having just finished her second year of college, is brought in by Tim as MDC to design and create the stage costumes.

On her way to the theater for her first meeting with the cast and crew of the play, Mari is caught in a villain attack---a minor one, as far as Gotham is concerned---that is resolved without needing any sort of intervention from her. It’s Red Robin and Red Hood who resolve it (since Tim and Jason were nearby and on their way to the same meeting as Mari).

Mari negotiated for a workroom in the theater so that she doesn’t have to keep lugging costume parts and cloth around. One night, she stays in a little late and Jason catches her singing to the Hamilton soundtrack while working. He asks her if she’d help him practice. She agrees.

It’s dark out though, and Mari still has to head home. Jason offers to walk her home bc Gotham is dangerous. She agrees. Which is a good thing because they’re held up by some thugs. When they attack, Jason takes down most of them only to turn and find that Mari is a BAMF who took down two of them herself. He’s impressed.

One of the batkids catch them practicing and snitch on them to Alfred who tells Jason to invite Mari over for dinner.

Mari helps Jason practice for a bit and then ropes the other batkids into helping him. Dick has video evidence of Jasonette practicing which he accidentally on purpose posts online. Social media goes wild.

Who is this girl with the second Wayne son?? They’re so cute??

By the way, the Justice League isn’t a thing yet in this AU. For a future JL meets the Batfam trope! (Plus Mari)

A few weeks into rehearsals, Eliza’s actress calls in sick after an encounter with Scarecrow, and Mari is roped into playing Eliza’s part for the day. Mari’s good at it, to the cast’s surprise, and the chemistry between Mari and Jason is great. Mari ends up being cast as Eliza’s understudy.

Meanwhile, Damian is forced into being the Burr understudy after he and Titus repeatedly disrupted rehearsals and destroyed stage props they were still making. Bruce (aka Alfred) hopes it will teach him to appreciate the work the cast and crew are doing.

Damian needs a lot of help. So Mari pitches in and then ropes Jason in, and then they both rope in the rest of the batfam one by one. Soon Mari is visiting the manor regularly to help them practice.

It starts with Steph. She volunteers to play Philip for the chance to play dead and dying again.

They’re singing Stay Alive (reprise) when Bruce walks in wondering what’s happening. Is someone hurt?? Was there an attack he doesn’t know about?? He spies them in the middle of the living room with Stephon the coffee table while Mari and Jason are sobbing over her dramatically.  He walks out. He’s done.

At some point, they convince Bruce to do Washington’s parts and are blown away. Washington’s lines resonate a little too well with the batfam, and it makes things awkward for a while. These emotionally constipated bois

Dick is King George. He relishes the opportunity to trash talk Bruce. Jason is annoyed he can’t join him and breaks character one time to gang up on Bruce

Imagine Dick singing da-dadada-DADAAA while swinging on the chandeliers

Tim sings/raps Jefferson’s parts. What Did I Miss and the Cabinet Battles are amazing to watch. Except Jason and Tim are uber competitive, and they make additional (historically accurate!) rap lines to keep the cabinet battles going.

Cass is still mostly non-verbal, so she helps out by handing the others props or figuring out a way to add special effects (like using a flashlight as a spotlight). She also signals if the acting of the Actual Actors in the batfam is accurate/passable or not.

...Cass is also The Bullet. It’s a very respectable role, what are you talking about!

The family therapist starts wondering why the batfam’s progress suddenly jumped. It’s because they’re working through their issues vicariously through the characters in Hamilton

Dick, Steph, and Tim post videos of the fam and Mari practicing on social media. They start trending.

They also coo over Jasonette singing It’s Quiet Uptown while walking through the manor gardens, dancing on the dining table, and basically serenading each other with broadway songs all around the house. And Gotham.

They have video evidence.

(The production crew create a blooper reel of all their cast and crew’s shenanigans which they later sell on DVDs as part of the charity. Batfam and Mari take up 80% of all the bloopers on the DVD)

After social media realizes that most of the batfam aren’t in fact part of the charity show cast, people start a petition for a show with all the Waynes acting in it.

They cut it too close to the dates of the charity show for it to be possible, but their therapist mentioned to Alfred once that having the family work on a fun (non-violent) project/activity together would be good for them.

So, Alfred convinced Bruce and mentioned it to Mari who convinced Jason who helped convince the rest of the fam, and they agree to hold a concert ala the 25th Anniversary Les Mis concert in place of the final show they had initially planned. Tickets sold out in the first hour.

Damian, seeing the petition’s success, creates his own petition---for Alfred the Cat to be part of the production. Everyone votes for it.

The director tries to talk him out of it but Damian is a stubborn brat. The director finally puts his foot down and says he’ll allow it but only for the concert with the rest of the batfam. Damian agrees.

The director approaches Mari for help in mitigating the “damage” by making the cat a costume. Just in case.

(She does, and it works for about half the song before someone notices that baby Theodosia is strangely mobile. Then the baby meows, Damian coos at it during the instrumental, and the audience slowly catches onto the fact that baby Theodosia is actually a cat.)

(Alfred the Cat goes viral.)

The charity shows go live on the weekend of Jason’s birthday. Opening night is Aug 14, then they have two shows each day on the weekend. The main actor for Burr and Eliza step down on Aug 16, Jason’s birthday, to give Mari and Dami the chance to perform---and so that Jasonette can act together.

They get a standing ovation.

Unlike the full production of the original charity shows, (Mari and) the batfam’s concert was entirely meme worthy.

It had all the wackiness of the blooper reels but cranked up to eleven

Damian’s rendition of Dear Theodosia becomes a meme. Someone was able to get a hold of a video of him singing it with and without Alfred the Cat as baby Theodosia. The difference is like night and day.

Bruce half regrets that he allowed it to be immortalized on film/DVD and sold with the bloopers.

[bleachbleachbleach]

HELLO.

I just wanted to say that I love, love, love your tags on that character/tool post a lot! Some of my favorite shows/books involve characters that can't keep it together and just barely make it to the end of the story or make it there in an "inconvenient way" and tbh I find that usually the narratives that follow these characters don't really work away from them either--the narrative is just usually more questioning instead of fully formed.

Like, 'what if/how would', y'know? There's less of a clear meaning and more just 'what if they hadn't done that. what if they had done that. what if all that meant nothing. what if that struggle was all there was'.

But oh boy, when they DO work away from the narrative. *chefs kiss*

I mean, most of my favorite Bleach characters are narrative nightmares who either hinder or cut off lines of theme in the story entirely. And, in general, I think there are A LOT of characters in shonen--a genre known for very long narratives that can't possibly complete every thought but also can't just abandon all those characters introduced ESPECIALLY the fan favorites or personal favorites--work in the way you described.

Tbh i think your tags really highlight why so many ppl get drawn to these characters/why they're so fun to play with in fanfiction.

If you have more to add or more thoughts about this you want to lay down I am here, eagerly awaiting and ready to pick them up.

Also, who do you think in Bleach is the most fun characters who sort of drop kicked the story, in your opinion? Who's the one you like the most? And who's the one you dislike the most?

[For posterity the referenced post is this one.]

Aww, thank you! That’s really lovely to hear. I was anxious about even putting it in tags because I don’t think I presently have the capacity to explain it well—and even if I did might still sound bananas to many. Or at least the bit about negotiating with characters and how *they* feel about being subjects in stories. Because as much as that really is my practice saying it out loud takes me back to like… FFN in 2003 where every store was prefaced by extensive chat-form back-and-forths between the fic author and their character "musies" and that is not something I think fandom would benefit from bringing back in force, hahaha. But anyway.

Here’s the part where I disappoint because I don’t think I actually know Bleach well enough to speak to it in this context. WHICH SOUNDS DUMB EVEN AS I TYPE IT BECAUSE LOL WTF IS THE NAME OF THIS BLOG WE ARE CHARLATANS AND POSERS FOR CLAIMING AS OUR NAMESAKE NOT ONE BLEACH BUT THREE BLEACHES but truly, my experience of Bleach has a shallow depth of field. I feel like I have weirdly intimate knowledge of some severe rabbit holes but a non-existent to uneasy sense of the gestalt.

Like idek man, in my "slow re-read where I am actually paying attention" Ichigo hasn’t even met Byakuya and Renji yet. ToT

I'm gonna put this behind a cut because it spidered all over the place, but in summary:

characters and their capacity to produce narrative failure

the charm of longform serialized series and their invitations to imagine stuff

me attempting to talk about Hitsugaya and feeling a fool, as usual

I guess in general terms, I’m really interested in characters and their capacity to produce narrative failure. Not failure as in 'bad' but failure as in things that break form or are circuitous or are actively detrimental to a narrative arc. All my strongest examples of what I’m thinking of are from a different fandom and therefore not relevant to this blog, alas. By comparison I think anyone in Bleach can keep it together better than the characters that are immediately coming to mind, lol. But I think this idea dovetails often with trauma narratives, or depression narratives, because these things are often… non-narrative? Like, there’s no fourth or fifth for minor fall or major lift. Sometimes it’s the same thing over and over again, or maybe nothing. Maybe it’s the exact same self-sabotage narrative dictates could have been avoided. Maybe it’s some act that emanates forth but cannot be explained because it cannot be explained and will never be explained. That’s a version of what I’m talking about, in any case, though not the only version.

Your note about longform shounen definitely resonates with me, too. In my mind I don’t like long things and I prefer series that are more self-contained but whenever I have ever landed in a long-term fandom, with a piece of media I felt obliged to carve out chunks of my life for, and to interact with at that level of creative fannishness, it’s always been something stupid long and serialized by the seat of its pants. I know plot holes or dropped threads bother a lot of people (makes total sense, don’t get me wrong) but I find these things incredibly attractive. I see them as invitations to join in the fun. Especially when it’s so much a part of the form and genre to have this, as you said, lack of real expectation that every thread will be followed to its conclusion (or that it would be worthwhile to do so) and every thought completed.

There’s this piece by David Grann that was published in The New Yorker in 2004 that I really love that speaks to part of this idea, albeit in terms of fictional universes versus fictional characters. But Grann is talking about Sherlock Holmes (Doyle original) and the ways that Sherlockians would like, approach apparent lapses in narrative and then solve them according to the established rules of the universe. I just love that. There’s also the line, "Never had so much been written by so many for so few," which LOL if that ain’t fandom I don’t know what is!!

I feel like I’m actually talking about three distinct but related facets of these thoughts in this post, except all at once and without clear transition, uhhhhh.

Gah, I am broken and now can ONLY think of examples from my not-Bleach fandom, but to try a different tack and add yet another facet to this already funhouse-mirror post, my various attempts to write Hitsugaya often feel like they come up against a version of this. I think Hitsugaya has aggressive side character energy, and I find it difficult to make him the center of a story and have it feel right to me. He feels different to me than writing other minor characters, where they can be the center of their own stories even if their story is not the main story. Like, two of my fave characters in my other fandom have literally like… three lines in 350+ episodes and it feels easier to imagine THEM at the center of their story and I think what it comes down to is that Hitsugaya probably prefers what he not be written. And when he does become more narrative I think he’d prefer that none of it was happening in the fist place. But at the same time he always seems to be…around??? whether there is really a good reason for him to be present or not. XD So while, say, he and Bartleby "would prefer not to" (because THAT'S what this post needs, a Melville reference), Bartleby actually opts out and Hitsugaya out here volunteering.

He also often feels non-narrative to me because he feels very declarative, if that makes sense? Like, the coming-to-decisions or coming-to-realizations parts of existence happen pretty quick, or are approached perfunctorily. I feel like I find narrative in the "coming" part of that equation and instead Hitsugaya will be like, well, I’ve already done that part without you, and/or plan to do that part in the future and it will still be without you, the audience. Anyway, here’s the determination I’ve made, here’s what I’m going to do, and here begins the long and probably tedious process of my doing that thing (off 2 go train in a cave for a bit). I don’t think he actually believes the world is that simple, Tab A into Slot B, but I do think he’s already made that assessment and can see coming to terms with that as a horizon, if that makes sense. So even if he doesn’t know the answer to something, or is completely at a loss of what to do (what to say to Hinamori? how to productively address the number Aizen’s done on him) there’s still not necessarily a story there. Maybe the answer is you grind, and it is repetitive and boring. Maybe you just hold things. There’s not even the act of learning how to hold things, necessarily, just the practice of doing so.

Wow, that probably doesn’t sound good! I feel like I need to suffix this with the assurance that Hitsugaya is my absolute runaway character in the whole series and this was true 15 years ago and it is still true now (truer, even) and everything I just said are reasons why I love him.

[littlehollyleaf]

(I had a really long, detailed version of this....... but Tumblr ate it D’: so this is... heavily abridged, sorry!)

Tagged by the ever lovely @castiel-saved-me-from-myself​ <3

pick 10 ships without reading the questions

Interesting... ok!

1. Dean/Cas (obviously)

2. Aziraphale/Crowley

3. Nygmobblepot

4. Foxma

5. Babitha

6. Amy/Rory

7. Nomi/Amanita

8. Eve/Flynn

9. Catradora

10. Cosima/Delphine

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

I think I started shipping Amy/Rory during the Venice fish monster ep - cos that was when I felt Amy really did love him back and they had a future together. Before I suspected that her running away with the Doctor was a sign she and Rory weren’t right for each other.

2. Have you ever read a FanFiction about 2?

Only read a handful of Ineffable fic. Overall I’m perfectly happy with the canon alone.

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr?

Yes I’ve had Foxma themed phone backgrounds and a tumblr header :)

4. If 7 were to suddenly break-up today, what would your reaction be?

Disbelief and disapproval. Nomi and Amanita were one of the great constants of Sense8 for me. I think a break up would be out of character for them tbh. Plus it would be denying the black and trans characters a rare example of a happy ending, which would suck.

5. Why is 1 so important?

I wrote such a detailed thing about how DeanCas is not only important to me personally but also how I feel it’s been important for TV/media in general... ugh, tumblr!

In a nutshell - this ship helped me better myself in various ways. It introduced me to fandom,  which boosted my confidence and independence via increased socialisation; it encouraged me to write more, which improved my writing skills; meta discussions educated me on lots of issues, inc. but not limited to abuse, sexuality, gender identit, autism and racism.

I also genuinely believe that the loud and open fandom support of the ship has been a significant help in the ongoing battle for more and better queer rep in media.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship?

Serious! Catra and Adora’s relationship is a core part of the whole show, relating to lots of the wider themes of abuse, toxic behaviour, growth and forgiveness. Plus the significance of a same sex romance involving the lead character in a CHILDREN’S CARTOON really cannot be overstated.

(but it is also cute and funny sometimes :p)

7. Out of all of the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

I’ve spoken before about having issues with the concept of ‘chemistry.’ If I ship characters it’s usually because I find the combination of their characterisation and story arcs interesting/compelling. I often don’t notice (or I guess care about?) chemistry.

So I think I’m not qualified to answer this one.

8. Out of all of your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond?

Agreeing with @castiel-saved-me-from-myself​ here - you can’t really beat the Ineffables millenia long romance :)

9. How many times have you read/watched 8’s fandom?

I’ve rewatched The Librarians 2 or 3 times now. It’s DAFT. But it’s fun. And Eve and Flynn make me feel warm and fuzzy.

10. Which ship has lasted the longest?

Again, as @castiel-saved-me-from-myself​ said - it’s gotta be the Ineffables, both within AND outside of the story, since Good Omens was originally published over 30 years ago and the Zira/Crowley shippers have been going strong all that time. Otherwise it’s DeanCas.

(though idk if Catradora was a ship back when the original She Ra cartoon was airing, or when the original cartoon was made, so it’s possible that is also a contender!)

11. How many times, if ever, has 2 broken up?

Lol at @castiel-saved-me-from-myself​ for getting Nygmob for this one, as their relationship is, like, 90% break up :P

For the Ineffables though it’s basically just the once - when Zira chooses Heaven over Crowley. Not made such a Big Deal in the book IIRC, but in the show it’s the infamous Bandstand Break Up scene.

All other separations are only minor, temporary squabbles imo. Which is what makes the Bandstand scene so PAINFULLY, BEAUTIFULLY, ANGSTY AND EMOTIONAL and why I love it so! 

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

I figure angels and demons probably can’t be killed by zombies, so the Ineffables are the most likely.

But Eve and Flynn did actually face off against zombie-ghost things in an alt universe during a whole Loom of Fate plot and survived, so I think they’d probably also make it.

13. Did 5 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

No, Babs and Tabs were always open about being together, even when Tabs was also in a relationship with Butch.

I might argue they hid the depth of their feelings for each other though, even from themselves, and instead made out what they had together was just a casual ‘friends with benefits’ type thing.

Though Tabs did hide things a little when she sent assassins after Jim cos she blamed him for putting Babs in a coma. She clearly knew her brother would disappprove, which is why she didn’t tell him what she was doing. I guess that kinda counts as hiding her relationship with Babs? She was trying to conceal how much Babs mattered to her?

14. Is 4 still together?

Lol, Foxma were never together (ALAS!). But the show did end with their lingering fondness for each other intact I think.

15. Is 3 canon?

Is Nygmobblepot canon? Rather a touchy question for the fandom tbh.

If we are talking EXPLICIT canon - then no. 

They never got a kiss or a MUTUAL love declaration (and they had a controversial ‘we’re brothers’ exchange in the penultimate episode) - ergo there is not enough, imo, to say they ended the show officially romantically involved.

However, Ozzie DID EXPLICITLY DECLARE HIS ROMANTIC LOVE for Ed, and that was never rescinded. There is also LOTS OF SUBTEXT floating around Ed to imply he reciprocates. Plus they did end the show together as clear Partners in Crime.

So is Nygmob subtextual canon?

I would say yes.

But explicit, CANON canon?

A frustrating no that fandom remains, understandably, critical about.

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

I think a toss up between Nygmob and Babitha - because everyone else has too many morals that would hold them back from killing :p

(and since Ed and Oz have both bested Babs and Tabs in the past I lean towards them... but it would depend on when in Gotham canon the games were happening!)

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 10’s ship?

Breaking up Cosima and Delphine was a LITERAL PLOT POINT of Orphan Black at one point, so very much yes! I forget the details (the show got very twisty, with lots of different organisations working on different agendas in the shadows), but I’m pretty sure Delphine was shot because she was protecting Cosima. I remember it BROKE MY HEART and I thought it was a casebook example of Bury Your Gays. But, spoiler: it wasn’t ;)

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

Going with DeanCas, because I think that, historically, it’s the one that’s been in most need of defending.

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 1’s tumblr page?

Not anymore I’m afraid. Though 3 or so years ago I used to spend most of my free time on DeanCas and spn meta. Ah, nostalgia.

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she´d break them all forever, which ship would you sink?

Foxma. Because while I adore the idea of a messy, confused ~something between them, in my heart I know that Foxy deserves better :P

I was too tired to bother with tagging the first time I completed this - DEF not gonna bother now!

Play if you want - it’s fun :D

[eisforeidolon]

Episode: The Rupture

So I'm off to a cranky start with this one before the episode even properly kicks in.  These writers think the audience's memory for canon is just as shitty as theirs, so they feel it's necessary to outright spoil Rowena's death via the content of the previouslies.  Let literally anything come as a surprise in this show anymore?  Can't let it happen!

There's like, the one scene where Dean is trying to make Sam feel better about Rowena … and that's about all I wholeheartedly enjoyed from this episode.  Well, beyond the usual of the actors doing their best with what they were given no matter how dumb it was.  Such a talented cast to waste on ... this.

I think the writers were trying to do an in media res type start here, with them already on the way to try a new thing?  The problem is, like so much else in the show now, it feels like a no-effort cheat because we didn’t see them work for it or even get an implication they did.  Oh, they had literally no idea what to try next last episode and made it out to be a big deal?  No problem, they pulled a spell out of Rowena's ass and came up with a plan to implement it since last we looked.  Even ending the last episode with Rowena saying something along the lines of, “I just might have an idea” would make this work so much better for me.

And seriously are they out of money to pay extras and get new sets?  The group makes their way through the ghost-infested area without a single sign of any angry ghosts until they're in the same old crypt where the show can have “ghosts” bang on the door without having to show any people-shapes. 

Rowena declaring they're all going to die would have a lot more impact if significantly more people actually stayed dead on this show for more than a hot minute these days.  I admit I found Rowena's meltdown a little over the top, but then again, that is a little unfair because I think it makes sense for the character to be so.  She's both generally inclined towards dramatics and used to being able to cut and run when shit doesn't go her way, but with allies she actually cares about and the whole world in danger, that's not really an option.  Understandably distressing.  

Then we have Dean yelling at Rowena and angrily stocking up on bullets to again, fucking futilely shoot at the ghosts because … oh, right.  This episode was written by Berens who seems to think Dean is nothing but an idiotic angry bully.  Die mad nobody wanted to watch your shitty cardboard MarySuefest, you little bitch. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh, no!  Sam is out of ideas!  Remind me what ideas he actually had? Like, I'm not digging at Sam, I'm digging at the stupidity of that line and that I suspect this season is going to give me whiplash with the Winchester hokey pokey of angsty fatalism.  I genuinely think it makes sense for Sam and Dean to alternately bolster each other when the other one starts to lose hope.  However, when they seem to switch randomly at the drop of a hat, it feels more like drama for the sake of drama rather than being particularly realistic or interesting.

Since the spell Rowena arbitrarily pulled out of her ass didn't work, now it's time for an equally arbitrary McGuffin to come up!  Yay.  That said, I am actually willing to give a bit of a pass on this one. While it's absolutely absurd that Lilith would have needed an item to control demons (controlling demons was not a problem until the writers were desperately out of ideas of what to do with Crowley)? If the actual purpose is to suck up the power of all those demons, I can buy Lilith having a device for that.  (Although what was demon guy gonna do if Rowena’s first spell had worked, since the crook thing only calls souls/demons back from Earth? Edit: They go with his plan because they’re desperate, they’re unlikely to agree to a dubious demon scheme if the ghosts are no longer on the verge of breaking free.)

Oh, and can't forget, there's also another spell!  Because apparently in coming up with the first one, it was in no way necessary nor did it apparently seem like a good idea to actually inspect the ghost-belching hell-hole.  Uh-huh.

Then we have the part where Sam is apparently witch-like now, because ??? I really don't need Dabb's crew of morons trying to turn Sam into as much of a joke as Wayward/Jack with random abilities falling out his ass.  Both Winchesters have cast minor spells all along, just say Rowena likes him better since that's true enough.  That would involve not taking any given opportunity to arbitrarily make random shit up, though, and these writers can't have that!

It's almost funny how hard they try to talk up Dean's part in this, which is to sit by a hole with a bag and toss it in.  Oooh, so dangerous! Except for the part where we see later that there was literally no danger because the ghosts completely ignored him.  Aside from that one line about Chuck being a glorified fanboy, why is Dean even in this episode?

Though at least that's not as pathetic as Castiel's dirty diaper faces. This is about saving the world, you giant baby - you're older than humanity, grow the fuck up. Seriously, do the writers genuinely believe the repeat of Castiel getting talked into being a dumb asshole by some rando is sympathetic?  It's really, really not, because all I'm hearing is a bunch of undeserved self-pity seasoned with a hefty dash of hypocrisy.  

Almost as annoying is wasting our time with the bullshit of Ketch's death. Look, I really don't care that he's dead.  He should have stayed dead the first time.  What I can't stand is that these writers are so nonsensically obsessed with “redeeming” antagonist/villain characters by having them change who they are for absolutely no reason so they can have a “heroic” death.  And this was sloppier and more transparent that most.  Oh, the demon can conveniently read Ketch's totally genuine noble intentions, alas, so sad he dies! Don’t try to tell me that actual, in-character Ketch wouldn’t at least try to pretend to sell them out to outmaneuver random demon #7692.  The only way I’d buy this is if he has another get-out-of-death-free spell of Rowena’s in play - and I don’t actually want any more unnecessary resurrections so I also hope that’s not the case.

And why bring that other demon into things, you ask?  So we can have a brief demonic power play, with demons fighting over ruling hell. Because that is in no way stale as fuck.  I guess the idea is that it needs to be there so demon guy reveals his master plan in front of Cas (and it has to be spelled out that blatantly because the writers see both the audience and Cas as idiots)?  Except, seriously?  A demon screwing them all over for power? What a completely unexpected turn of events!  Not to mention that I agree Cas' choice here is, as per usual, highly questionable.  Allowing demon guy to suck in all the souls at least gets those souls off Earth.  No matter how powerful it makes him, he's still very much a tertiary concern beyond all of hell's souls getting free to wreak havoc on the whole world and Chuck turning against them. Which is assuming that they actually couldn't have worked with him as the power in hell.  Not like it would be the first time - he may have immediately turned on them, but he also may not have.  If they wanted this to look like it was about Castiel making the smart decision, they really shouldn’t have spent so much time showing him whining and sulking.  As it is, this takes on the implication it’s at least as much about Castiel seizing the first opportunity to take out demon guy for using Jack’s body and not caring about his feeewings as it is about making a necessary or prudent decision.  Not exactly a great look.

There is no connection between Lilith's crook and Rowena's spell to heal the not-a-door-totally-a-wound hell-hole, right?  One is from demon guy’s secret plotting, the other is entirely from Rowena.  She's also not doing the same spell she was before where she couldn't finish it because the ghosts were bangin' on the forcefield thing.  So after Castiel kills the demon guy and stops the soul-suckage … why can't they just finish sealing the hole to stopper up more ghosts coming through and then deal with what's already there?  See if the solidify-the-shield thing can be done now with less ghosties or just use moar crystals?  The jump from something’s gone wrong to, whelp, time to self-sacrifice is extremely fast and unless I missed/forgot something, not an automatic conclusion to come to.

This is why I suspect maybe the meta I've seen hypothesizing Rowena was up to something may be true.  When Sam asks her if she has any ideas earlier in the episode, they show her looking at a page in the damned book and quickly closing it to say no with this weird little music stinger in the background.  If this isn't a fake-out where she makes this “sacrifice” to get the power and takes over hell instead of demon guy, it's just disappointingly bad melodrama that, so far as I can see, has to happen because the script says so. (She wouldn’t even need to have been relying on demon guy’s failure if she just was considering doing it instead of planning on it and then seized the opportunity when Cas killed demon guy.)

When are Castiel's powers not fucking failing?  Seriously.  Again, more Castiel is a sad sack of sorrow and I cannot be bothered to give a fuck.  You want people to trust you and give you the benefit of the doubt?  Maybe stop betraying them and constantly failing to follow through for them - just a thought.

[racingtoaredlight]

Opening Bell: June 21, 2019

Among the first cascade of news stories to wash upon the American consciousness yesterday came a report that Iran had shot down a U.S. Navy RQ-4 Global Hawk drone over the Persian Gulf. Both Iran and U.S. Central Command confirmed the shoot-down, but differed on where the event took place. Iran claimed that the drone had violated Iranian airspace and was engaged out of the defense of territorial integrity. Central Command asserted that the RQ-4, which is used predominantly for surveillance and intelligence collection, was well outside of Iranian territory and flying over international territory when it went down. This occurs in front of a backdrop of increased tensions between the United States and Iran, which have slowly been building in recent months after the U.S. accused Iran of being behind a series of attacks which damaged commercial shipping going through the Strait of Hormuz and of planning a series of attacks on American assets in Iraq, though the White House has not provided any clarification on what those threats were, but that they did demand the deployment of additional U.S. soldiers to the region. President Donald Trump does not appear to have many principles, but those he does have, most notably protectionism and a desire to retrench American involvement in world affairs (or, put it more succinctly, isolationism), he holds dearly. Each time National Security Advisor, and notorious hawk, John Bolton has put the United States on an aggressive footing, whether it be Iran, Venezuela, or any other nation, Trump has more-often-than not walked back the U.S. position. This is not necessarily a bad thing—most foreign policy and military experts agree that a war with Iran would be disastrous for the Middle East and only enmesh the U.S. further into a region it has been desperate to extricate itself from—but U.S. foreign policy lacks coherence, mainly because Trump’s approach to foreign affairs goes no further than his isolationism; he holds dear the principle but has made no attempt to explicate what it means in policy form, beyond occasionally claiming that he wants to bring American troops home. The military provides the ability to apply kinetic power to a situation, but foreign policy allows for the use of soft power, a nuance which this president does not seem to grasp and which his National Security Advisor openly disdains. The sum result of this cognitive dissonance was on display yesterday, when in the morning Trump declared that Iran had “made a huge mistake,” to the afternoon when Trump, when asked what the American response would be, said “Let’s see what happens.” And just as I was typing the end of this paragraph, news broke that Trump had in fact approved air strikes on Iran Thursday afternoon, but then abruptly pulled back last night, hours before they were due to be launched. By the time you are reading this, there may be even more developments.

Staying in the Middle East, which we are likely to do for a long time (Hey-o, try your waitress and tip the veal), yesterday the U.S. Senate voted on a bi-partisan basis to block a large arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Over the course of three votes, the Senate voted on 22 resolutions to disapprove of the sales to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries, but passage was not overwhelming and the resolutions will likely not survive a presidential veto, which Trump has promised is forthcoming. The basis of the Senate’s disapproval is the sale coming so soon on the heels of the brutal state-sanctioned murder of journalism Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey and, more broadly, to reflect congressional disagreement on the manner of the Saudi air campaign in Yemen, which has contributed greatly to an enormous humanitarian crisis in the country. On the bright side, Trump will have to veto all 22 resolutions individually and for a White House that is known to have a poor grasp on details, there remains the possibility that one will slip through. Which, I suppose, is progress….?

In 2017, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump’s first significant congressional supporter, was nominated to be Trump’s Attorney General. Sessions was duly confirmed and vacated the Senate seat he had held for two decades. Alabama’s Republican governor, Robert Bentley, appointed the state’s Attorney General, Luther Strange, to fill the seat until a special election could be held which would determine who would serve out the next two years of Sessions’s unexpired term. Strange headed to Washington but also started putting together a campaign which virtually everyone, across the political spectrum, expected he would win. Strange’s main rival in the GOP primary was former state supreme court Chief Justice Roy Moore. Moore was—and still is—a Republican culture warrior whose antics twice got him removed from the supreme court bench, which in turn made him a hero to fellow conservative culture warriors. Strange ended up being tainted by the scandals of Bentley, his political benefactor and Moore defeated him for the Republican nomination. Though Moore was a controversial candidate, he was still expected to easily defeat his Democratic opponent, former prosecutor Doug Jones. But then the stories broke about Moore’s highly questionable behavior with female minors decades earlier and, Moore, rather than respond in a measured manner, instead attacked the media and his accusers, creating a grotesque image of himself which a majority of voters could not countenance. In a stunning turn of events, Moore went down in defeat to Doug Jones. Now with Jones facing Alabama voters again in 2020, and again facing long odds of victory, Moore has done him a huge favor, by announcing that he was entering the 2020 GOP primary. The GOP field is getting crowded and, make no mistake, Moore could win the nomination on a plurality of voters. If he does so manage, the odds of Doug Jones holding onto his Senate seat will increase dramatically.

It has been 8 years now since Syria became engulfed in a conflict which at first had the character of a revolution, but then devolved into a civil war and still further into a confused assortment of state and non-state actors—even mercenaries, both ideological and soldiers of fortune—fighting each other and in other cases, seeking to avoid conflict. One thing is clear, and that is that the only certainty in Syria today is that President Bashar al-Assad, whose ouster was sought in 2011, is a secure in power now as he was before 2011; everything else remains a cacophony of geopolitical noise. Mother Jones journalist Shane Bauer entered Syria from Iraq in late 2018, his first time in the country since 2009, and sought to take stock of everything occurring in the war-torn, nation. This is the part one of a two part series on Syria—I’ll be posting part two next week, but if you get to the end of part one and want to go ahead to part two before then, by all means do so—and in it Bauer uses a series of three vignettes to explore the complicated evolution of the last eight years. This is a very deep dive, and I thoroughly recommend it.

Prog rock, as this essay declares, was popular for about 30 seconds in the early-to-mid 1970s and provided an indulgent bridge from the rock-n-roll of the late 1960s, which included elements of pro-heavy metal, to the spare, aggressive noise of punk rock in the late 1970s. And while prog rock has its many proponents, including Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel whose book on the subject forms the central focus of this piece in The Atlantic, it seems to have as many enemies (not unlike punk, actually). Here James Parker of The Atlantic calls it the “whitest music ever,” and criticizes its atonal, overly experimental nature; a mad scientist is not necessarily a genius, seems to be the central thesis here. Whether you like prog rock or not, and I find it questionable some of which he includes under that umbrella, this is an amusing read.

There is a well-worn stereotype of the modern athlete who makes millions of dollars during his career, spends extravagantly on friends, family, and especially himself, only for it to be poignantly—gleefully, in some cases—reported years after his career is over, that he is broke (I suspect a large number of readers instantly thought of Latrell Sprewell just now). Today’s athletes, who are earning more money than ever before, have taken more careful attitudes towards their finances. Some have engaged financial planners and advisors to guide them through their most important decisions and some, like Joe McLean, have taken to managing the most minute details of their clients’ financial needs. McLean makes demands of his clients though: at least 60 percent of their annual earnings have to be put towards retirement, and he charges an administration fee on all sums above $5 million. My only criticism of this article is that it abruptly ends just as it gets truly interesting, but that which is included as a fascinating glimpse into the lives of individuals who, rather suddenly, have become super-wealthy.

Lastly, continuing on from last week, the Center for Politics looks at which incumbents in the U.S. Senate may be vulnerable during the primary season. No incumbent has lost re-nomination in the last three election cycles and there is no senator up for reelection who is currently facing a clear threat. Kyle Kondik looks at who is, and isn’t, the most likely to face a primary threat in 2020.

 Welcome to the weekend.

[nicemango-feed]

IDW Halloween Cards

Happy Halloween Folks! 

(I'll add the rest below the blogpost)

I thought I’d have some fun with IDW/Classical Liberal Halloween cards. There's so many more I could have done, but alas...I didn't have that much time. If you want to join in the fun...make one and tweet it to me @nicemangos :) 

Anyway - a clarification for the pedants: I use the terms IDW/Classical Lib to describe them, their dogmatic fans and the figures who hover around them....the Quillette, 'But what about anti-white racism' types...

...So it's not limited to the amazing bigbrained peeps mentioned in Bari Weiss' LOL-worthy article (featuring pictures of them jerking off trees or hiding in bushes)....you know the one i'm talking about. 

Why is it important to mock this pretentious circle-jerk as often as possible, you ask? I'll give you a quick rundown, even though I could write a bit on each central figure here, I just don't have the time to delve in that deep at the moment. 

Simply put though, its because they're pushing some dangerous ideas and providing cover for dangerous people. In a new, repackaged & polished format this isn't immediately recognizable to some.

They're driven by a strongly anti-left agenda, while often simultaneously claiming they are on the left ...or at least ‘not right wing’ (though they do have their more open RW types like Ben Shapiro/JBP, but I believe even Peterson has denied being a conservative), 

It's this dishonesty and attempt to mask what they're really pushing for that concerns me. 

I find it's almost better to deal with an open right wing, anti-immigrant type than to deal with a sophist covering their tracks every step of the way, leaving room for plausible deniability, while being an apologist for similar issues. 

In this era of a resurgent far-right and rising hate crimes.... this 'totally-not-right-wing' crew still focus their energies on the left while downplaying the dangers of the far right. 

Anything random campus SJWs do will be an outrage and indicative of the 'rot on the left'... but when it comes down to calling out Milo Yiannopolous, even after he's exposed for being a pedophilia apologist...there will be excuses.... deflections - even if it means pointing the finger at fictional plays and then realizing that your example is ridiculous. 

There will be reminders that Milo was smart and charismatic (they'll say they are no fans, of course!)...but even in the face of him defending sex with minors there will be 'he doesn't deserve this... let's wish him well and hope he can leverage his charm into a new life' type apologetics.   

I remember this too. Cringe. I genuinely don't understand how u can have this attitude towards some of the worst ppl around, but feminists and campus sjws just don't get that kind of sympathy and understanding. https://t.co/U3WkJ0SwUE pic.twitter.com/zcNjk0CiwP

— Eiynah --- (@NiceMangos) January 12, 2018

Or at best, they'll say Milo can't be far right because he's gay and flamboyant, Jewish and has a black boyfriend . They'll dismiss him as a mere troll...justify his outrage at the 'liberal media bias'...and complain about his Twitter Ban. Or defend him using Breitbart articles. 

They'll be happy to threaten to quit Patreon over banning White identitarian Lauren Southern...meanwhile portraying her to their massive audiences as a mere 'conservative journalist'.  When it comes time to call her out, or state a solid opinion on an obvious extremist like Robert Spencer or... Tommy Robinson - if it's not blatant apologetics (like Rubin's where he literally positions Tommy as *Extremely Moderate*,

Rubin says Tommy Robinson strikes him as "extremely moderate". Tommy Robinson confirmed for The New Center™ pic.twitter.com/rm7rem1y15

— Tom Bloke (@21logician) March 2, 2017

...the best you'll get is a shrug and a claim that they 'just don't know enough' to make a judgement on him (while they retweet flawed defences of him).

Even in the wake of serious incidents like more than a dozen pipe bombs being mailed to Trump’s critics their priorities do not shift from the dangers of sjws and The Left.  They will minimize RW terror threats even, referring to them as "minor events"/a few malicious jerks...

Once again the press gets gamed, giving saturation coverage and agonized commentary to a minor event. It's not major news that a country of 325m has a few malicious jerks who (correctly) anticipate 15 minutes of notoriety with a vindictive stunt. https://t.co/zXnBJXCqdB

— Steven Pinker (@sapinker) October 25, 2018

But compare that with the wording you often see about The Left, 'Devouring it's Children' .. oh nooo: 

If not that, there's a general AllLivesMatter-ification, that really endears them and makes them very useful to the far right

I did a more detailed thread on Pinker here

Another Amazing take in response to the Pipe bombs was telling people we shouldn't make it 'costly to consider conspiracy' FFS

You kicked up a lot of dust, tried to tie me to Trump, to Alex Jones and to various claims that I've never made, but in the end you avoid my only point: If we make it costly to consider conspiracy, we hand power to those who would conspire, placing the honorable at their mercy. https://t.co/dvB1Mi6pg5

— Bret Weinstein (@BretWeinstein) October 26, 2018

Only the most Rational takes from the IDW, I tell ya. And while we're on the topic of conspiracies...who can forget the classic Rubin moment, when he claimed there's a necessary space for Infowars:

Dave Rubin says there's a "necessary space" for Infowars because mainstream media is bad pic.twitter.com/k9o1HW62nX

— Tom Bloke (@21logician) April 17, 2017

------

Those that follow this cheerful group closely, know full well how often they whitewash troubling views/figures ...or delete criticism of them if it happens to come up. 

It’s about joining hands with those radicalizing young men, with those who fear monger about immigrants, and the whiteness levels of London being too low (aka the far right conspiracy of 'white genocide') - its about giving these things more credibility in the mainstream, and helping to justify and rationalize people’s bigotries while making big bucks. 

It’s about amplifying the "#metoo has gone too far" message, about how women have it better and if they don't have power it's because they don't want to have more power,

  Support for publications like Quillette who publish garbage that’s indistinguishable from salafist mullahs at times, is not hard to come by in these 'Dark 'intellectual' parts of the web'.

What these IDW-type RationalSkeptic movements are about is pushing back against those who want equality, and those who want to minimize racism and sexism. 

It's about the maintenance of social hierarchies and the status quo. 

They often find a token minority person to champion 'controversial' views, so they can serve as a shield from criticism and accusations of bigotry. 

It’s also about proclaiming ....loudly... how identity politics is bad, but using identity politics at the drop of a hat when it suits you. 

Its about criticizing people who use the word racist, but using it happily yourself whenever it suits you. 

Casually accusing groups of people of having the intellectual and moral integrity of the KKK even, 

There you go. Sam Harris compares Salon and Vox journalists to the KKK. pic.twitter.com/hc6hRtmxFc

— IDW Misrepresenter (@aiizavva) June 15, 2018

It’s about discrediting the media as Rubin does with his Infowars support and CNN/MSM hate, and about discrediting entire educational fields too (Peterson has declared entire fields of study 'corrupt' because of postmodern neo marxism)... all the while, these heroes pat themselves on the back for being the Rational ones ...having 'tough conversations' and tolerating differing views (while tossing out lawsuit threats like halloween candy, of course).

It's about downplaying actual sieg heiling white supremacists while claiming that the term Nazi has lost meaning. 

I mean it's exhausting just pointing out the endless contradictions, holes and dangers of such self-important groups. 

These are the threats we recognized in islamist sanitizers posing as progressive...*immediately* in ‘skeptic circles’ but unfortunately...this crew has managed to convince many 'Rational', atheist-skeptic types that re-energizing conversations around ‘race science’, traditional gender roles, and anti trans sentiment from a ‘respectable, 'this is just science/rationality' angle is indeed ‘real liberalism’. 

So....this, dear readers, is a very quick rundown of why I think it’s incredibly important to mock and expose this group pushing alt lite/right adjacent talking points into the mainstream. Especially in today's political climate. 

This is where the real threat of literal regressiveness lies, currently - and I think we should do our part to push back.

Now that that's out of the way....here are some lighthearted Halloween cards, meant to be viewed with that perspective in mind (all that for 4 illustrations, I know! I've just had a lot I needed to get off my chest about this subject for a while):

 ---- A huge thanks to all my patrons who support my work. Without you, this isn't possible. These kinds of blogposts take forever to compile. If you enjoy this or my podcast, please consider supporting via Patreon A shoutout to new-ish Patrons who are owed a mention on the blog: Mish, Karl N, Shakhthi, Ernst & Margeaux. You guys r the best!

from Nice Mangos https://ift.tt/2Qe5JRX via IFTTT

[lanceolive]

Episode #013 of the Apex Roundup Podcast. It’s the “Swan Song” special!

http://traffic.libsyn.com/lanceolive/ARP013_-_Arbor_Day_Ewan_Pritchard_pt.2_Swan_Song_Swearing.mp3

Mayor Lance Olive declares December 13th, 2017 as Arbor Day in Apex

Intro In this episode, I’ve rounded up for you…

The swan song of a council member

Part 2 of my interview with Dr. Ewan Pritchard, Assistant Director for FREEDM Center at NC State University

And we’ll kick if off with updates from the December 5th town council meeting.

All coming your way. Right now.

Welcome Jumping into podcasting with both boots, I’m Lance Olive, host of the Apex Roundup Podcast. I’m glad you’re here with me right now. My goal is to bring you the news of Apex that the print media no longer covers. The Apex Herald? They folded in 2013. The Southwest Wake insert to the News & Observer? They’ve gone foodie. It’s not news, and it’s not local. And even social media posts don’t give you an unbiased view.

That’s why I’m here. Thirty minutes, twice a month, I round up the stories, the decisions and the opinions, and I share ’em with you.

You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, iTunes and Google. Just search for Apex Roundup with Lance Olive.

~~~

Council Updates Slamming! Let’s get started, shall we?

The Apex Town Council met on December 5th, at 7:00pm to hold its first regularly scheduled meeting of the month at town hall. All council members were present. On the agenda, there was 1 presentation, 9 consent agenda items, 3 public hearings scheduled, and an organization meeting that included 1 new business item.

David Wood receives the Arbor Day 2017 Proclamation

Presentation #1 was a proclamation for Arbor Day 2017 to be observed in Apex on December 13th, commemorated by the planting of a tree at the town hall campus.

The consent agenda passed unanimously.

During the public forum, Steve Swamp thanked the council for their efforts during the West Village project proposal.

audio

Additionally, Mr. J.C. Knowles, Apex Ambassador, thanked the outgoing council members, Gene Schulze and Denise Wilkie.

audio

The three public hearings were reset to be heard on December 15th.

This concluded the work of this council.

Following a brief recess. the council began organizational proceedings to recognize the outgoing members, and swear in the new members.

Gene Schulze was first recognized for his 16 years of service on the Apex town council.

Denise Wilkie was then recognized for her 4 years of service on the Apex town council.

Then Nicole Dozier was sworn in for her second term.

And Audra Killingsworth was sworn in for her first term.

Lastly, Brett Gantt was sworn in for his first term.

  The council then chose amongst themselves their mayor pro tem, Nicole Dozier.

As the last organizational component, council members were appointed to committees and assigned to be liaisons to external organizations.

Committees

Planning: Jensen (Chair), Gantt (Member)

Environmental: Dozier (Chair), Gantt (Member)

Parks, Recreation, Cultural Resources: Moyer (Chair), Killingsworth (Member)

Economic Development: Jensen (Chair), Olive (Member)

Personnel: Dozier (Chair), Moyer (Member)

Finance: Olive (Chair), Killingsworth (Member)

Liaisons

Downtown Business Association: Moyer (Primary), Killingsworth (Alternate)

Apex Chamber of Commerce: Olive (Primary), Dozier (Alternate)

Triangle J Council of Governments: Gantt (Primary), Killingsworth (Alternate)

NC CAMPO Executive Board: Olive (Primary), Jensen (Alternate)

For the first business item assigned to this council, the group reviewed the meeting schedule for the next two years, made a couple of minor adjustments (notably cancelling the meetings that would normally take place during the week of July 4th, and avoiding having a meeting on municipal election day), and approved the schedule unanimously.

The council adjourned at approximately 8:07 pm.

~~~

Disclaimer The content of this podcast is proudly produced in Apex, North Carolina. By listening to it, you agree to hold me harmless for anything I say here. Although I am indeed the mayor, the opinions expressed by me are my own. All information shared on this podcast is already public record. This podcast is a private venture and no public or campaign money was used in its production. Make decisions by doing your own research, because I’m just here for your entertainment. This disclaimer is based on lawyer advice obtained for free.

~~~

Interview In this episode I continue my interview with Dr. Ewan Pritchard, Apex resident and Assistant Director of the FREEDM Technology Center at North Carolina State University.

But first, this episode is sponsored by Time 2 Go Travel, featuring group trips for home school families and girl scouts. Time 2 Go Travel is now developing a Concierge Trip to Ireland. Someone else plans the logistics and takes you and your friends to six cities in Ireland. Learn and have fun while someone else does the hard work to make your Irish dream trip come true. All you have to do is pack, and meet the group at the airport. To learn more about this concierge trip to Ireland, go to Time 2 Go Travel’s website at t2gt.com. That’s T, the number two, G T dot com. If you book the trip and use the promo code “APEXROUNDUP”, you’ll receive $100 off the cost of the trip.

Here’s how the second half of my conversation with Ewan Pritchard went.

audio

Synopsis

Ewan talks about his goals of getting caught up with the maintenance projects on his 1912-built home just a block away from the Halle Cultural Center. He plans to make some upgrades as he fights off the squirrels making a habitat of his house.

In five years he hopes to do more volunteer work and maybe start a business using “transactive energy”. In fifteen years, he plans to retire in place (his house is not for sale). The Christmas parade goes past his house every year, and he occasionally deals with trash being tossed over his front yard fence.

He used to have a pickup truck, he can’t cycle to NCSU because it’s too dangerous (2% of drivers are actively aggressive to cyclists). But when he did cycle to NCSU, taking Old US #1 connects the downtowns of Apex, Cary and Raleigh. He has also tried biking to the bus stop and taking the bus to Raleigh.

We discuss bus rapid transit as part of the Wake County Transit Plan, including considering an Apex loop. Ewan is working with an electric taxi company that has installations in Austin, TX.

Ewan answers the “magic wand” question by saying he would get CSX out of Apex and replace it with a light rail stop to help move people in and out of Apex. We learn the word “catenary” for the hanging (or dangling) cables for electricity. He also would love for us to consider more tunnels for people to cross highways and other major roads. The NC55 widening plan may get funded in the next few years.

C Block There is a place where legend, myth and truth are blurred, where a proverb was believed that swans didn’t make much noise until just before they died, then they sing  enthusiastically right up until the end. The Greek philosopher, Plato, recorded the words of his mentor, Socrates, as saying, “although swans sing in early life, they do not do so as beautifully as before they die.” The swan song was a major gesture — an effort to literally end things on a high note.

In the December 5th, 2017, town council meeting, the two outgoing council members in Apex each had their opportunity to perform their own swan song. And I’m going to share those with you now. These are edited for brevity.

First, the recognition of outgoing council member Gene Schulze, followed by his statement.

audio

And second, the recognition of outgoing council member Denise Wilkie, followed by her statement.

audio

My favorite reference to the swan’s singing to the end is in William Shakespeare’s Othello, when sweet Emilia is stabbed by her murderous husband, Iago. She declares that she will reveal the truth with her dying words, like a swan. “What did thy song bode, lady? Hark, canst thou hear me? I will play the swan and die in music. Moor, she was chaste, she loved thee, cruel Moor. So come my soul to bliss, as I speak true. So speaking as I think, alas, I die.”

But in death, there is also life that replaces it. We have two new members on the council. And one re-elected one.

For the swearing in ceremonies, each newly elected official, Nicole Dozier, Audra Killingsworth and Brett Gantt came up for their oath of office. These were administered by Apex Town Clerk Donna Hosch, Wake County District Court Judge Sam Hamadani and Apex Mayor Lance Olive (yours truly) respectively.

The oath consisted of two parts. First the North Carolina portion and then the very redundant United States of America portion, so I’ve omitted that. Also, the oaths were edited to remove the administrator’s voice, so you hear only the oath of the newly elected council member.

Since they were standing in the empty space between the public podium and the council’s dais, the audio is a bit difficult. I’ve cleaned it up the best I can.

audio

So the past swans have sung, and the new swans have arrived. May they listen, learn and serve the citizens of Apex well, so they also have a worthy song to sing when their time comes.

~~~

Wrap Hey! Thanks for joining me today for the 13th episode of the Apex Roundup Podcast.

Today I brought you updates from the December 5th, 2017 Apex Town Council meeting, including the exit of council members Schulze and Wilkie. If you want to review the show notes for this episode, point your web browser to apex roundup dot com slash 013 and you’ll be able to scroll down to read this entire episode.

Next episode I’ll be sharing the happenings of the Apex town council meeting for December 19th, which will be the new council’s first full meeting. I’ll also have a new interview for you… Jacques Gilbert, Apex resident and police captain. So subscribe to the podcast and make sure you don’t miss it.

You can find this podcast on the web at Apex Roundup dot com and subscribe in iTunes and Google Play. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook (@apexroundup).

~~~

Hey. What’s on YOUR mind? Do you have an opinion to share? Got any questions related to Apex? Go to Apex Roundup dot com slash contact and you can find multiple ways to get in touch with me.

I’m so glad you listened all the way to the end with me today. You get 5 shiny coins! Until the next roundup… Happy Trails!

Episode 013 – Arbor Day; Ewan Pritchard (pt.2); Swan Song Swearing Episode #013 of the Apex Roundup Podcast. It’s the “Swan Song” special! Intro In this episode, I’ve rounded up for you…

[invincibleparm]

Where has Magic gone?

Most of you know that a huge disruption in the M;TG community where a well-known cos-player quit the community because she was getting harassment from magic players and YouTube content creator Jeremy from Unsleeved Media. Wizards has now published how they will start combating the toxic environment of the Magic community. 

I would say too little, too late. 

Magic has grow to the point where it can’t be policed. 

It surprises me that this was the boiling point for WoTC to combat the toxicity. I, in no way, support harassment. I do not participate in hate speech or toxic behavior, but there are some glaring issues with what happened and the steps being taken to resolve it. 

Now, I am not a fan of MTGHeadquaters/UNsleevedMedia. I have found that his videos, regardless of the ‘sense of humor’ behind them, to be incredibly toxic and terrible. But you know what, that is his right. Whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not, the host has his right to his two cents. As distasteful as it is, and as a turnoff as it might be, there are people out there that lap it up, because that is the Magic community now. 

The reason for all of this came from a tweet that declared Christine Sprankle to quit the M;TG Cosplay community over this. Now, I have never seen Sprankle live, only her pics and such, but I am sorry that she has been beaten down by the community. It is safe to point out that it wasn’t only the MTGHeadquarters that had forced her hand in this, but they are the easiest target because they are a popular YouTube channel. This has happened because the community is toxic. Toxic doesn’t even feel like the strongest word, but its the best I can do right now. it is a community that caters to young adults and men up to their early 30s and the behavior we see in channels like MTGH is a shining example of what happens everywhere. So much of this kind of bullshit happens on a daily basis but because of the cos-player, now the company steps in?

I hate that this is the breaking point. Sure, WoTC has had ‘diversity’ outlines for inclusion over the past few years, but they walk a fine line. The so called ‘alpha’ magic players see the catering to women and society minorities as taking time away from them. You know women don’t play magic? Because easily 50% or more of the player base are dickheads. It is a bros club at it’s finest. I’ve seen it at FNM, GP, streams, etc. Hell, playing on MTGO along was enough for me to get my yearly intake of salt in a hour. 

Much like the video gaming community, which has the exact same toxic behavior but is more widespread because of the acceptance of video gaming over the years to society, it is the players at the end of the day that make the community the toxicity of Mars. And, like the video game community, WoTC can’t make it better. They can’t send employees to all stores and all events and cut out the rotten bits of the apple, because there is a possibility there would be no apple after that. Blizzard has started implementing a way for people to report the toxic players, but how hard will they look at it? I believe the top 1% will get cut and that won’t make a difference. People might slow down until they realize that the enforcement isn’t as on it as claimed to be, and the toxic behavior slips back in. And that enforcement will not be there to the satisfaction of players because the company doesn’t want to lose revenue. You go ban happy and people don’t come back. You get ban heavy and people fear that they need to start stepping on eggshells. The one thing the latest Hollywood debacle with Harvey Weinstein has taught society is that there are a mind-boggling amount of levels for what people consider harassment. But these companies have to balance that with their shareholders and stick prices. 

Magic is no different. 

people are starting to say that this situation will be the end of Magic as we know it. Reports that less than 40% of magic players play now will be blamed on incidents like this, but that is only part of the picture. Like blaming MTGHeadquarters for Miss Sprankle, it is very easy to laser-focus on one cause. I mean, overpriced crap sets, worsening print quality, less rewards at tournament level, less LGS support with great promos and such.... it all leads to the same thing. A sinking ship. 

The whole picture is what is important, not the details of a part of it. 

In the attack video about the Sprankle incident, Jeremy of Unsleeved Media did bring up a point that I think is worth examining as far as the cosplay situation goes. 

While, again, I do not condone behavior that has been described, I think it is a little terrible that someone chooses to ‘work’ in such a toxic environment and then expects to not experience that behavior at all. While I don’t believe that cos-players are ‘grifters’, I have looked at the past site and patreon for Miss Sprankle and it does appear that she is completely funding herself by cosplay through asking for money, and has choose to make a living doing this. I believe  that if you can make it that way, more power to you. But knowing that the scene is a toxic scene, I can’t help but feel a little angry that someone would knowingly ask for money, blatantly in a extremely toxic environment and get upset when people objectify and try and get with her. Not a popular opinion, but you don’t become a stripper if you don’t want sleazy dudes trying to hook up with you and objectify you. In this case, she entered a segment of the population that doesn’t want to treat her like a human being. They give her money, and they expect her to respond in the way that they want her to. And I can’t blame her for not wanting to anymore, but I also have a hard time feeling sorry for her in this regard. Yes, I am sad for her that these things have happened, and that men are pigs, but not as much as I would be if this was a regular girl that just wanted to play magic at a LGS and was objectified and harassed. If you are choosing to make a living in a toxic, man-child industry, you better be prepared. 

I also suspect that Miss Sprankle will be back. If she truly loves the magic community and not just because it puts a roof over her head and feeds her for dressing up (I’m jealous, because I would love to have such a job...alas, fat Lilianna guys can’t make  that kind of living), then she will have learned from this. There are other cos-players in other genres that have done it just for the ludicrous amounts of money  that can be made and quit when they had enough because it was too much. I hope that she isn’t just another pretty girl that does it for fast cash, because then that not only hurts other cos-players, but that helps re-enforce the very stereotype that MTGH had stated about cos-players; they are there to beg geeks and nerds for money without the connection to the thing that brought them there. In a way, it is a betrayal. They are using their sexuality to create a bond that is not really a bond, because they don’t give a shit about magic/video games/anime. 

But again, the community can’t be fixed because of the multitude of factors that would have to be addressed. This isn’t just EA selling loot boxes and implementing a P2W model in Star Wars Battlefront 2. This is a overhaul of everything about Magic. 

On behalf of men, Miss Sprankle, I do hope that, in time, you can feel safe enough to return to the Magic cos-play community and resume. I wish you the best of luck in your future en devours and hope, most of all, that you can recover from this. 

[newageislam-blog]

Muslim Penchant for spinning state-sponsored conspiracies: Will it turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy?

But do we ever come across a word of gratitude, even gratitude expressed to God, for what “in practice already had become a Brahmin-dominated state” to have not gone the Pakistan way or the Islamic way? Do those Muslims fighting for their cause, no matter how legitimate even remember and remind the common Muslims of the larger perspective? Do we even hear our intellectuals, barring a few, of course, even restrain themselves in the language they use for their perpetual grievance-mongering? …

Do we ever wonder what would be our situation if we were living as a religious minority in an Islamic state? Do we ever move our lips or lift our little finger in support of the religious minorities living in Islamic states next door? Well, what to support them, we have hounded out the one Muslim lady who dared to speak for them in Bangladesh? There are so many Hindus and even Hindu ladies who fight for our causes in this country: would we like the Indian system to hound them out of the country and of course, not get any refuge anywhere else, certainly not in a Muslim country? …

We have tens of thousands of mosques and madrasas running throughout the length and breadth of this country, but one of our mosques, a dilapidated and disused one, was demolished by people who were characterised by the Supreme Court as miscreants, and we blew that into an issue of our religious freedom in the country. We have still not solved that problem and allowed it to fester, to our nation’s detriment. Do our intellectuals take time off fighting the system and tell us it is not in our interest to allow a cancer to grow. The mosque is gone. We apparently don’t worship bricks and soil. Bricks too are gone in any case. Why can’t we initiate an amicable solution, as it would be in our own interest too? We need a plot of land to pray, we can pray anywhere in the area. Why do we need to blow it out of all proportion, make it such a big issue, when the country – the system – is allowing us to have as many mosques and madrasas as we wish?

Though always popular in literature as a plot-device, self-fulfilling prophecies have gained enormous popularity recently, particularly in the Science fiction genre. A Wikipedia note reveals that t they are typically used ironically, with the prophesied events coming to pass due to the actions of one trying to prevent the prophecy.

I am reminded of this as I find almost all commentators in the Muslim Urdu Press talking of a “grave conspiracy” hatched by the Indian state and being carried out since Independence in 1947 to deny even a modicum of prosperity to Muslims. The danger of this prophecy turning self-fulfilling lies in the fact that so-called Muslim leaders  are now trying to “prevent the prophecy from coming true” and as many of us know science fiction has a way of turning into science fact sooner than many of us may have bargained for.

The recent Batla House encounter has now been turned into an issue of Muslim survival in the same way as the demolition of a dilapidated, disused mosque in 1992 had been converted into the question of religious freedom for Muslims in India.

I quote a few sentences from one of the least provocative of syndicated columns by a senior journalist who always asks Muslims to “behave sensibly and not emotionally”:

“As soon as Some Muslim students turned lucky and started qualifying in medical and engineering courses, evil eyes fell upon them and the albatross of terrorism was hung around their neck….

“The passion for learning and moving forward in life brought about the good result in the shape of a great doctor like Mohammad Haneef and a software engineer like Mohammad Mansoor Peerbhai who was earning 19 lakhs per annum. The Indian system (or state, the Urdu word used is Nizam) could not digest this….

“We consider it (the encounter and arrests) a grave conspiracy against the Muslim community with the sole aim of pushing the community into the abyss of frustration and hopelessness so that our youth are not able to qualify for good jobs. This conspiracy is not new, it has been going on since 1947 when Muslims were denied jobs in India; indeed, when they went looking for  jobs they were asked why they were searching for jobs here in India and why didn’t they go to Pakistan.

“The Bhiwandi riots were to destroy the Muslims industry there. When the Muslims started sari businesses in Banaras, their businesses were burnt down. Their brass industry was destroyed in Moradabad through police terrorism. The prosperous Ansarees of Bhagalpur are still not able to make ends meet following the riots there; the riots of Malyana were aimed at destroying the growing prosperity of Muslims in Meerut. In short, all this is part of a pre-planned conspiracy against the Muslims’ economic progress and prosperity. ”

If this is sensible talk, one wonders what the less sensible among us would be saying or doing. Encounters have been fake in the past and will probably happen in the future too. Even apologists of the police in the media do not quite vouch for their credibility. As for Batla House encounter no outsider can say anything for sure. Since a police officer was also martyred in the process, the balance is in favour of the police. There are many questions, however, that need to be satisfactorily resolved. As we have not seen even a charge-sheet yet, there is not much point in speculating. However, in our system, an alleged criminal or terrorist remains innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. Our system, therefore, provides them with legal support in defending themselves if they cannot afford to do that themselves.

However, to infer from a case of possibly false encounter, or even a proven false encounter by overzealous or communal-minded police personnel, that the system (state) has hatched a conspiracy to eliminate all the employed youth of a community that constitutes nearly 15 percent of the total population is truly outrageous. Apparently the protagonists of the state conspiracy and a conspiracy that has been going on since Independence in 1947 do not know what states are capable of doing.  They should read the history of Bangladesh; they would learn what the Muslim, indeed Islamic state of Pakistan did to fellow Muslim citizens when they demanded that the verdict of a free and fair elections held by the same Islamic state be implemented. One to three million East Pakistani Muslims killed, almost the entire brain power of the future Bangladesh was eliminated. Pakistan Army hunted educated Bangladeshis, in particular, from professors’ colonies and journalists’ colonies, etc. with a ferocity that remains unparalleled so far.  Almost the entire Hindu minority population of Pakistan and Bangladesh has of course been eliminated. Where are the Muslims who ruled Spain for seven centuries? What happened to the Jews of Nazi Germany? Six million killed.  History books are strewn with examples, gruesome, indescribably gruesome, instances of what state conspiracies can do.

What crime has the Indian state committed to be reviled so? Or, the Indian system (Nizam), which would presumably include the constitution? Well, it did not declare itself a Hindu state as Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi, the founder-ideologue of Jamaat-e-Islami and the mentor of SIMI, advised it to do and treat Muslims and other religious minorities as second class citizens. Had it done so, it would not be accused today of hatching conspiracies against the rights of the minorities.

Are you sure? Did Maulana Maudoodi really say that? Well, though a Maulana and capable of the vilest of lies in support of his arguments, even capable of quoting the weakest of Ahadees (sayings of the Prophet known to be concocted) when required by his arguments in favour of purdah, for instance – something that genuine ulema are not supposed to do – Maulana Maudoodi did have moments when he would take his arguments to their logical conclusion. So, for instance, he opposed the so-called Jihad for Kashmir in 1948 and was reviled for that in Pakistan and even sentenced to death eventually. Anyway, this is what one of those most active in the present imbroglio, Ghulam Muhammed of Mumbai posted in his blog not long ago:

Visit here: Islamic Sharia Laws

Source URL: http://newageislam.com/islam-and-politics/sultan-shahin-on-zafar-agha-s-analysis/muslim-penchant-for-spinning-state-sponsored-conspiracies—will-it-turn-into-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy?/d/877

[a-world-of-whimsy-5]

Day 3 of @silmsmutweek

Pairing: Makar x Meássë | Location: House of Tulkas  

Themes: Smut (lemon)

Warnings: Sibling incest | Meássë fighting with Makar a wee bit | Explicit language | Kissing | The use of ósanwë to read thoughts | The use of ósanwë to engage in dream sex | Foreplay | Mild dirty talk | Some explicit language | Penetrative sex | Cream pie

Word count: 3.4K words

Summary: The twins defy laws and accepted convention after finding a way that would allow them to be intimate with each other without the others finding out.

Rating: 🔥🔥 | Minors DNI | 18+ | You are responsible for the media you consume.

A/n: I wrote this from before the twins left to make their own keep near the Halls of Mandos.

Makar always knew he and his twin were not like the others.

From the moment their spirits formed, the ties that bound them to each other were strong. Makar understood this. His sister saw him in a way no one else would. She understood him in a way no one else would. She was the only being who willingly stood by him when he spoke in favor of Melko. No one besides Meássë herself had the power to shield her heart from his.

And that was how it all started. With that bond. Makar sensed it—a slow-burning desire creeping all over him—every time Meássë looked at him or talked to him, or, as he suspected, thought of him. She never revealed her true feelings for him, even when they were alone. Makar understood why. It was against the law and accepted custom to lay with close kin. Despite being gods, the Valar were expected to set an example for the Gnomes and lead the way, as they did in everything.

Makar often scoffed at the notion. Lead the way. Ha! The others can lead the way for the Gnomes. He would keep himself well away from all of it. And he was never one for patience. For the sake of his sister, however, Makar held his tongue. He wanted Meássë to come to him of her own free will. He wanted her to confess to him out of her own free will. Alas, Meássë neither came to him nor confessed to him. She let her feelings for him grow without end. When they grew to the point of always tugging him to her like an invisible rope that had wound itself around him, Makar knew he could no longer wait. He approached his sister after they were done sparring and were alone in the armory.

"I know of your desires," he admitted without judgment. "I feel them whenever you are near me or even think of me. Tell me, do you wish to act on them?"

Meássë turned towards a rack and blushed while she put away her weapon and shield. It was the first time since they had chosen earthly vessels to house their spirits. She sighed and looked away, conjuring a hundred tales. Makar refused to believe her. They were all lies. And his sister could never lie. Not to him, at least.

"Do not try to hide what is plain to my eyes," he insisted. "Tell me, sister, do you desire me or no?"

His twin blushed again, her pale cheeks turning the prettiest shade of pink.

"Tis wrong," she declared after a moment of reflection. "You are my twin. What I feel for you is unnatural. I will learn to curb my thoughts, lest they disturb you more. Forgive me, brother."

"Very well." It had wounded her deeply to say the words, as if a red-hot blade were piercing her heart. The same indescribable pain seared through Makar as well. Still, he accepted her decision, deciding to bide his time till an opportune moment presented itself and he could talk to her. "I will leave things as they are, for now. Now go. Others are coming to train."

Meássë fled into the shadows, silently chiding herself for not having closed her mind to her brother. Once, she deemed such an act unnecessary, thinking she was clever enough to guard her thoughts. She was wrong. Makar knew, and of course he would know. He was her twin, her other half. Their bond was strong. She now understood that it was too strong.

If only she had been more careful and curbed her thoughts! Meássë cursed herself again, this time for letting her feelings for her twin morph into something dark and forbidden. What was worse, she let it happen, knowing full well that if the truth came out, it would lead to her disgrace. It was wrong; she knew that, and yet she also knew no other would suit her. Oh, she could let the other Gods woo her and court her and shower her with a thousand sweet promises, and it would not be enough. None of them would be enough. None of them were him. They arose together and came into the world together. She loved Makar as much as he loved her. She admired him and worshiped him, and cared only for his happiness. Nothing and no one else mattered except for him.

He is lost to me now! And I have no one but myself to blame! Meássë bit her lip and ran down one lofty corridor after another, fighting a losing battle against the tears that welled and stung her eyes. She did not stop until she had reached the safety of her chambers, practically snarling at her attendants and demanding that they leave her be after they prepared her bath. A good hot bath and a cry were needed. Then she decided on her next course of action. She would close her heart and mind to her twin. It was the only way to protect them both, and him most of all.

Days bled into each other. Makar would watch his sister from afar, saddened by how she shielded herself from him. He had reflected on what she said and the implications of her true feelings for him. Perhaps she was right, and it was wrong. Still, the silence between them felt strange and unnatural, even more so than her desire for him. It made him feel alone and cold and empty. He yearned to be near her again and to feel that tug that pulled him to her. This icy distance had to end, he knew, before it drove him mad. So, during the next round of contests in Tulkas's great arena, Makar watched his sister, struck by how much she had changed. Her grief over having to keep away from him gave her a haunted, troubled look. It alarmed him. Makar lifted his cup and drank deep, draining the last of his wine before rising and approaching his twin. The others be damned, he decided. He was going to talk to her and was not going to wait any longer.

"We need to talk, you and me," he stated, and took her hand. "Come."

Meássë had no choice but to follow. Anything else meant rousing the suspicion of those who had gathered to watch athletes compete against each other. She let Makar lead her out of the noisy court and arena and into a darkened grove covered by ancient trees with thick trunks.

"You avoid me now," Makar had observed. "And you have shielded your thoughts from me."

"As I rightly should," Meássë retorted. "If not, suspicion will arise when I make the inevitable mistake and give my true feelings away."

"Suspicion would still arise when brother and sister are no longer seen speaking with each other. To tell you the truth, it feels wrong to be cut off from you," Makar lamented, reaching for her. "I miss you. Is there nothing I could do to change things back to what they were?"

Tears sprung unbidden when she gazed upon her brother's outstretched arms. She could not say how often she had dreamed of being held by those arms.

"You know it is impossible," Meássë sniffed, and walked away from him. It would not do to dwell on dreams that would never come true. She headed deeper into the little grove to get away from him. "Not after you made it plain that you knew. I will not invite shame and disgrace into your head. Now leave me be. I will return to the arena in a little while."

"Leave you be?" Makar refused to hear it. "Not while you are in this state."

He dogged her every step, refusing to leave her alone. He grabbed her hand once or twice, growling in frustration every time she pulled away. Meássë turned back and struck him on the arm when he reached for her a third time. It did not hurt, and he barely even felt it. Makar smirked, the sight of his lips tugging at the corners prickling his twin’s pride. She tried to strike again, and he deflected her blow with his hand. This time, his smirk turned into an amused chuckle. Frustrated, Meássë kicked him. Makar ducked and laughed merrily, rousing her anger. Furious, she lunged at him, knocking him onto the soft grass. Makar laughed still while she tried to overpower him.

"I hate you!" She cried.

"That…little sister… is a lie." Makar huffed and twisted and squirmed and rolled them around until he was on top of her, pinning her wrists to the ground. "You and I both know what you feel for me is far from hate."

The stars shone brightly, their light broken by the leaves. Meássë tried in vain to break free. Her brother was taller and stronger, and a far better fighter. She groaned in defeat, her body growing slack beneath his. 

"Finished?" Makar teased, grinning wickedly when she mumbled a soft yes.

More starlight seeped into the grove. This was when Makar truly saw his sister: the alabaster skin, the sprinkle of freckles on her cheeks and upturned nose, the long auburn hair, how her eyes were the color of flawless emeralds glinting in the light. And she was perfect. His sister was utterly perfect—a glorious vision made flesh. Makar sat astride her hips, content to look all over for her for a moment. His gaze slowly returned to hers. His sister was looking right back at him, her eyes ablaze. It was not anger, he saw, but something else. He needed to see more and learn the truth, but for that to happen, his sister had to let him into her thoughts.

"Let me see," he commanded.

Meássë struggled again. "No!"

Makar tsk’d and shook his head. "Hush and let me see." He drew back one hand, bringing it to her cheek. "Let me. Go on."

His twin wanted to refuse, but the determined look in his eye gave her pause. She exhaled, surrendered, and opened her thoughts to his mind’s eye. Makar was exceedingly gentle, probing each memory with great care and sighing in relief when he found what he looked for. His search revealed a great deal: worry and reverence and admiration, and lust and longing, and even hints of something deeper than the love a sister ought to have for her brother. Makar was amazed. Heat bloomed and surged just beneath his skin when her heart called to his in an ancient song only he could recognize. His own began to stir and begged to answer.

Meássë closed her eyes when she felt the softness of her twin’s hand. It felt so good to feel his touch after so long. Dare she try for more? She pressed her cheek against his palm. It was warm. So warm. If her brother did not desire it, he did not utter a word. Makar still listened and watched and probed, sifting through all he could find, his hold on her wrists loosening. She heard his gasp and felt him tremble.

This was the end, thought Meássë. Her brother was surely disgusted by what he saw—what she struggled so hard to keep hidden. His silence certainly spoke volumes to her. She finally opened her eyes, fearful of what she might see. What happened instead was that Makar leaned down and kissed her.

His lips tasted of wine and honey and cloves when they sought hers. Meássë thought she had strayed into a beautiful dream. The tongue that slipped past her lips and flicked against her own convinced her she had not. She yielded easily, moaning when Makar kissed her deeply and softly, letting go of her hands so he could slip his arms around her waist and pull her up with him. He made a strangled sound at the back of his throat, now glad he had surrendered to the entreaties of his heart. Makar sighed wistfully. This kiss was more than what he thought it was going to be—all heat and fire and tenderness at the same time. It made him want more. They knelt beneath the trees and clung to each other while they kissed. A bird flew overhead, the sound of its fast-beating wings breaking the spell that wove itself between them. Realizing that they were too exposed, Makar finally drew back.

"The depths of your feelings for me," he pondered aloud. "No one else has ever..." Makar stopped and looked his sister in the eye. "I need more," he entreated, pressing his forehead against hers, his voice thick and hoarse. "More of what you are willing to give me. This kiss and what I felt in your thoughts were far from enough."

"Not here. And not at the House. Tulkas’s attendants are everywhere." Meássë looked up at him, fear and hope at war in her eyes. "And we are brother and sister. It is wrong. The law—"

"Fuck the law!" Makar growled hotly. "And fuck what the others think. I want you; I will not fight it. But if you are afraid, there may be a way still, at least until we can go off on our hunts, and I can build a keep just for us, away from the wagging tongues of others. For now, we must wait until we are in our chambers, and the others have gone to rest. Is this acceptable to you?"

Another way? Meássë was filled with ravenous curiosity. "I will wait," she decided.

It felt like hours had passed before the games ended and the rest departed for the comfort of their chambers. Makar bid his sister farewell and made his way to his own rooms, and Meássë left for her own. This time she spoke kindly to her attendants, letting them bathe and dress her for bed with nary a cross word. She would smile and let them fuss over her, waiting only until they left before latching the door and shielding herself from the outside world. Meássë padded over to her bed, slipping in between the silken sheets and closing her eyes.

She wandered the silent paths tread by only Gods and Gnomes, those that hovered between true sleep and deep dream. Meássë found herself now in the forests of the Great Lands, beneath starlit skies, a tent already pitched by an unlit fire pit. The world around her swirled and moved, as if she were surrounded by a strange mist.

How?

Makar appeared from the rippling shadows, thoroughly pleased with himself. There is a way, he said, his voice as soft as a kiss. Through bonds such as ours. And the ties that bind us are strong. Do you wish to continue?

In his own chamber, Makar writhed from the crippling pain that had caught him in its grip. He took one deep breath, and another, and another, not stopping until the throbbing ache that had been building slowly ebbed away and he could breathe more freely. He had heard of this act and that those amongst their kind made use of it, though the way was not spoken of to others. He was starting to see why.

Meássë, still in the dream world her twin weaved for them, considered his offer and said, Are you certain you wish to do this?

I am, Makar replied, and approached his sister. The question is, do you wish to continue?

Meássë paused, hesitated. If we do this, she cautioned, There will be no going back.

I know, Makar returned. And I will have it no other way. Now, I ask you again, sister. Is your answer yes, or no?

He was before her now, his molten gold eyes gilded in the light of the stars. Meássë looked around her. The field they stood in was empty of life. It was just her and him. They could do whatever they wished, and no one would be the wiser. Finally, her dreams were about to become reality.

Yes, she answered before long.

Makar scooped her into his arms and kissed her, molding himself to her when she moaned and returning his kiss with equal passion. Her lips were just as petal-soft in living dream as they were in the corporeal world. He paused, his lips just a grain above hers. Her breath mingling with his made him lightheaded and dizzy. He touched her cheek, her hair. Auburn locks slipped around his fingers like silk. Makar would bring each and every one to his lips.

Meássë shivered when Makar kissed her again, her face growing hot when his tongue slipped into the inviting heat of her mouth. His skilled hands were quick to find and undo the fastenings of her robe. Goosbumps prickled all over her when wisps of silk loosened and slipped past her arms to pool around her feet. Makar disrobed himself just as easily. Tunic and breeches and boots joined the robe to form a little pile on soft, fragrant grass. He then swept Meássë into his embrace, pulling her with him as he lay down.

They lay beneath the stars, content in each other’s arms. It was quiet, but the silence was a sweet and comfortable one. Makar brushed the hair out of Meássë’s eyes as the silence stretched between them. He watched her as she watched him. Then he leaned in.

Do you dream of me often? He lilted between kisses.

Yes, Meássë trembled when he kissed the expanse of her throat, her shoulders. Often and always.

Did I touch you like this? His soft, fleeting touch, ghosting over her belly, her breasts, ripped startled gasps out of her. And this? He uttered while his hand now glided over and inside her thighs. How about this?

All of it. And in many other ways.

Including this?

Her back arched even as she sucked in a deep breath. Makar touched her like an experienced lover, teasing her and unleashing a riot of desire with every stroke of the finger. He restrained himself, choosing a gentler approach, his kisses drowning out her mewls and whimpers.

On the next hunt, I want it to be just you and me, he insisted. I want to take you beneath the stars. Will you let me do that? Take you beneath the stars?

Meássë dragged in another deep breath, this time when he moved over her and parted her legs with his. She slid her arms around his shoulders, beneath the thick, auburn hair that often haunted her dreams.

Yes, she pleaded, raising her hips when he gripped her thigh and slowly pushed himself inside of her. That is what I have wanted for a long time.

Good, Makar propped himself on his free elbow and sank his length, inch by slow inch, into her warmth. That is good. I… Fuck…"

He could not bring himself to say anything else. He stole one last glance at her, one final glimpse, drowning in her eyes, before rolling his hips. Makar nearly came apart when Meássë wrapped her legs around his hips, her heels digging into his back, urging him to go deeper. He dipped his head, latching onto her throat without missing a beat. Meássë’s cries spilled free when he sucked down hard with each thrust, her nails leaving little bruises on his skin whenever his teeth scraped briefly over her flesh.  

Makar somehow kept his attention on her, his hips rocking at a frantic, erratic pace. Even in dream, he relished the softness of her insides, the heady scent wafting off her skin, and the otherworldly green eyes that were now clouded and darkened with lust. He dissolved into pleasure of the acutest kind, shockwaves gripping his entire being when her walls clenched and pulsed around his cock. He fell apart, crying out her name while he convulsed and emptied his seed. Makar let out another transported whine, this time when Meássë’s orgasm ripped through her and she choked out a sob. He sought her lips again, but with tenderness instead of passion.

Like all good things, their coupling had to come to an end, even in dream. Makar drew away, moving to his side and propping himself on his elbow.

We must part now, he said, albeit very reluctantly. Lest someone comes in search of either of us and finds us in this state. But we can meet like this again, until our next hunt.

As much as she loathed to part from him, Meássë thought his course of action was the safest for them both. Until the next hunt, she agreed. Beneath the stars.

Tags: @cilil

[tomperanteau]

New article has been published on The Daily Digest

New article has been published on http://www.thedailydigest.org/2017/03/25/is-india-the-next-pakistan-it-keeps-getting-worse-ever-faster/

Is India The Next Pakistan? "It Keeps Getting Worse Ever Faster"

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The Modimobile is making the rounds amid a flower shower. [PT]

Tribal cultures face an inherent contradiction. They create poison from within to grow more collectivist, controlling and tyrannical — members of the populace looks for nannies, and they readily find sociopaths to exploit that need. Their lack of organizational skills, their inability to engage in economic calculation and their irrationality lead to massive internal stresses and the ultimate devolution of such an unnatural society.

India finds itself in a situation where it is grasping for more totalitarianism to solve the problems that totalitarianism created. The demonetization exercise was an assertion of India’s underlying tribal and collectivist culture.

Demonetization Pain Continues

Cashless ATMs continue to be the new normal in India. In a recent conversation, economist Professor Madhusudan Raj mentioned that as many as 70% of the ATMs in his city are still not operational. The situation in villages and small towns is much worse. Banks are often clogged with people.

Eventually most people who must have cash will get it, but businesses need easy access to large amounts of their own cash without incurring transaction costs. They continue to face horrendous problems, which are translating into closures, retrenchment of staff, and bankruptcies. The tax authorities are getting increasingly rapacious. According to Professor Madhusudan Raj:

“The tax department is busy conducting raids on old widowers, small traders and merchants like chicken-shops, shoe-shops, small restaurants, gas stations etc.; pretty much anyone who deposited more than half a million rupee in banks during the demonetization process. The department is forcing small traders to declare income under Modi’s PMGKY (Prime Minister poverty alleviation) scheme, but leaves big corrupt business tycoons untouched.”

Draconian regulations on the use of cash are increasing. Businesses are in fear of the State. Freedom of speech is rapidly receding, not only because of fear of the government, but also because Indians are becoming increasingly fanatic.

Any new cash continues to find its way to the financially powerful, leaving small businessmen and the informal sector reeling in economic trauma. The normal rhythm of the economy has been destroyed. People continue to delay discretionary purchases. The market continues to be slow.

Businesses are failing and the poorest are finding employment very difficult to come by. Food prices are still much cheaper than normal, as a result of the economic struggles of poor people. Farmers are facing huge financial pressure in turn.

It is a vicious cycle in which people who at first lacked access to their own money because of the demonetization now face a situation in which they simply don’t have any work and hence no cash.

From the Hindu newspaper: Only three out of forty-five ATMs in the IT-hub city of Hyderabad were functioning on 13 March 2017. Businesses are starving for cash.

As is the case with an irrational tribal society, many members of India’s middle class are utterly lacking in empathy for those who are suffering. Slowly but surely, universal principles assert themselves though, and economic harm is flowing toward them. Alas, they still fail to recognize the chain of causality.

The slow poison of demonetization and populist scams schemes at work: US-listed IT-major Cognizant is expected to slash more than 10,000 jobs. It has around 260,000 employees and around 75 percent of its workforce is based in India. The situation of other IT companies in India is similar. A huge wave of young, mostly unskilled, untrained and uneducated people – about 12 million – join India’s workforce every year, but have little prospects of finding a job.

Without Reason, the Only Stable Institution is a Tribe

It has been 70 years since the British left India. In these years, Indians have systemically destroyed what the British left behind by asserting their tribal, superstitious and irrational culture.

It was believed that the separation of legislature, judiciary and executive which the British had created would stay. What was forgotten was that such institutions had evolved in Europe because of the tool of reason. Indians imported all the fruits of western civilization — technology, music, movies, Kim Kardashian, etc. — but completely failed to adopt the European concept of reason.

Without reason, India had to drift back to its tribalism. Today, Indian institutions are hollow shells of what was bequeathed by Britain. The executive, the judiciary and the legislature are indistinguishable from each other. One would find it almost impossible to come across even an educated Indian able to properly explain the difference between these three branches of government.

As Professor Madhusudan Raj notes:

“There is a big cold war going on between the Supreme Court and the Modi government, which is trying to take full control of the courts. Modi’s parliament can now dismiss the appointment of Supreme Court judges in the name of ‘national security’.”

When the British left India, virtually all leaders had been selected and nudged into their positions by them. India was a democracy only in name. Children of these leaders and later on their children had political power.

Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first Prime Minister. Then it was his daughter’s turn, Indira Gandhi. And then it was the turn of her son Rajiv Gandhi. And then Rajiv’s wife, Sonia Gandhi took over (she ruled using a puppet, Manmohan Singh).

The last vestiges of whatever class Indian politics might have had ended along with the end of Sonia Gandhi’s rule three years ago, and the subsequent inauguration of Narendra Modi. Now raw tribalism is in full force in India.

It is not only India that is affected. European institutions have failed and mutated into entities catering to underlying tribalism in nearly every country in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and most of Latin America. The nation state, a European institution, is too unnatural for these societies.

India seemed like an exception to the international media. This is because the smartest people of India moved to the US and Indian lobbies leveraged this fact to make India look good – despite the fact that India’s per capita GDP of $1,718 is worse than that of most well-recognized banana republics.

There has indeed been one good thing about India though: freedom of speech survived among a minority. This happened not because of any inherent goodness, but because India is an extremely diverse place, perhaps the most unnatural country.

The infighting and stresses it generated have failed to given Indians a collective identity. This cirfcumstance allowed a minority to speak its mind. Alas, even that is now coming to an end. Hindu nationalism, a.k.a. Hindutava, is rapidly weaving Indians into a tribal collective.

But the Media and the World Bank are in Awe

The international media and the World Bank, find inspiration in what is happening in India. India has recently released a GDP growth figure of 7%. India’s new identity card scheme, Aadhaar, is believed to be a massive success, so much so that the World Bank is urging the world to copy it.

The Indian stock market has risen nicely over the last few weeks. So has the Indian rupee. Moreover, Narendra Modi’s party has just celebrated massive victories in recently held provincial elections. What is not to like about India?

Authored by Jayant Bhandari via Acting-Man.com,

India’s Rapid Degradation

This is Part XI of a series of articles (the most recent of which is linked here) in which I have [READ MORE HERE]