#jorge chronicles

[lemememeringue]

GOT TO SEE HIM TODAY

[gothamite-rambler]

Dick, after listening to the entire Epic Sagas thus far.

Dick: Diana?

Diana (sweetly): Yes, my little warrior.

Dick (28 years old): I love that you call me that. I have a question, though. Does your Uncle Poseidon remember his fight with Odysseus?

Diana (confused, then remember the story Hera told her): Uncle Poseidon? Oh... oh!

Diana burst into fits of laughter, nearly falling out of her seat, while Bruce let out an exasperated sigh, covering his face with his hands.

Bruce: I can only assume that means yes.

Diana lifted her arm to give a thumbs-up in agreement, still giggling uncontrollably.

Diana: He had it coming too!

Bruce: Yes, very funny. Dick, just leave.

Dick grinned, ready to share a pun of his own.

Bruce: Don't even think about it.

Dick: Holy Poseidon, Batman, why do you want me to leave?

Diana laughed harder, kicking her feet in the air in delight. Bruce glared at his son, then shook his head, muttering as he covered his face once more.

[doireallyhavetochooseaname]

Gabriel García Márquez 👀

One hundred years of solitude is such a vibe. It's perfect for hot summer afternoons when you lie on the couch and want to read about fucked up lives and love stories with a little bit of magic.

The whole book is hot and sticky. It's syrupy with disgusting aftertaste. Makes you want to go insane or to visit a brothel. Makes you wonder how dirt tastes or how quickly you could learn Spanish.

[joncronshawauthor]

Fantasy's Finest Anti-Heroes: A List of the Top 10 Characters

Anti-heroes are characters that possess both heroic and villainous qualities, making them complex and relatable. They often blur the line between good and evil, making them some of the most interesting characters in fantasy literature. Here are ten of the best anti-heroes in fantasy literature that you should check out. 1. Geralt of Rivia from “The Witcher” series by Andrzej Sapkowski. Geralt…

[billspotts]

State of Terror: Life After Venezuela’s Electoral Uprising

In a voice message to the ruling party leadership, Maduro summoned PSUV militants and his remaining supporters to defend his rule: “Coordinate with National Police (PNB) and Guard (GNB) to restore order,” he commanded. “We have to grab this by the head. Act immediately. Every little fire that starts must be extinguished.���

On the morning of July 29th, while the Comando por Venezuela celebrated a de facto triumph of more than 30 points over Maduro—after processing 73% of the voting tallies—demonstrators returned home under the watchful eyes and cannons of colectivos and security forces.

On July 28, Venezuela’s government—perhaps dazzled by its own misreading of the situation—became exposed to electoral reality. The barrio, emerging as a new agent of change, slapped chavismo in the face, forcing it to embrace the only version of sovereignty Maduro understands: the power to dictate who lives, who dies, and who goes to jail, echoing the words of Cameroonian social theorist Achille Mbembe.

In a context where hundreds of thousands of people volunteered to defeat Maduro at the polls and then protect the evidence of their collective will, the brute force unleashed since July 29 seeks to destroy the spirit and hunger for change that Machado’s campaign activated.

As Chávez statues were toppled and Maduro posters torn down, the government, from its trenches in Miraflores and Fuerte Tiuna, tried to convince international mediators that Amoroso’s announced result wasn’t up for discussion. At the same time, it turned on all engines of its war machine, including an overblown rhetoric that doesn’t even pretend to be logical. Maduro, Diosdado Cabello, and Jorge Rodríguez have labeled those who oppose them—from local politicians to foreign governments, even on the left—as Nazis or fascists, describing demonstrators as drugged criminals from the U.S. and cells from the international criminal organization Tren de Aragua.

A week after the election, human rights NGO Foro Penal confirmed 1,102 arrests, with 170 of them in Caracas. Monitor de Víctimas reported 23 murders so far, with colectivos responsible for at least 9, operating in total sync with State security officers.

Like paramilitary forces fighting a hybrid war, colectivos work as PSUV’s fist in the areas where the chavista State holds more economic and social power over a population now turning its back on them. Their priority is to defend their government sponsors at gunpoint.

The offensive reached the doors of those who took to the streets the Monday after the presidential election. A video from that day shows a man on a bike recording himself while chasing demonstrators, saying to the camera: “Here we are, prepared to defend peace and our principles. We want peace, but we are prepared for war. In Venezuela, it was our president Nicolás Maduro who won. Guarimberos (a slur for protesters) ran to hide in their homes. From now on, we take over the streets that have always belonged to us, not to oligarchs!”

Communal councils and what’s left of the Hugo Chávez Battle Units—PSUV grassroots structures forming a sort of parallel chavista State—have been ordered to identify, locate, and point out anyone who called out the election fraud in different communities.

Under this war logic, anyone who poses a threat to those in power becomes a target for colectivos and security forces: demonstrators hiding in safe houses, people who showed their voting tallies or denounced the fraud on social media, and community leaders and members of comanditos who promoted participation and defended votes for Edmundo González.

On Tuesday the 30th, in the densely populated (and formerly very chavista) 23 de Enero area, PNB detained four boys—three of them teenagers—who were banging pots on the eighth floor of a building. Caracas Chronicles obtained voice notes sent by leaders in communal councils in Distrito Capital. In one of them, a woman hoped that someone would “shoot escuálidos (classic chavista hate speech for opposition folk)” to get them in line “while Maduro decides to call the army. At least I saw colectivos giving them hell. If they catch anyone, they will make a pulp out of him… and they are hiding between our buildings.”

A WhatsApp chain message shared with neighbors in San José, in downtown Caracas, read: “We call on mothers, families: advise your kids and don’t help the Right. After all this, the opposition leaders wash their hands and continue their trips and lavish lifestyles while our young people fall under the weight of law and order. We can’t cry after that happens. Women, defend your households and protect them from destabilizing plans.”

Caracas Chronicles reached out to one activist who organized volunteers in Western Caracas on July 28, who has since gone into hiding along with about eleven colleagues. Colectivos started hunting for her the minute after the opposition rejected Amoroso’s results. From her hiding place, the woman sent videos showing how CICPC and DAET patrols have assisted colectivos in taking over the barrios.

DAET, which replaced the infamous FAES death squads, highlights the scope of Maduro’s policy against the poor, which has progressively mutilated human rights and living conditions for those with the least. Meanwhile, the regime sustains an oppressive minority of party militants, colectivos, CLAP clerks, police officers, and intelligence personnel with privileged access to institutional networks and State resources.

According to psychologist Andrés Antillano, these inequalities within low-income groups generate fear, distrust, and resentment in the barrio—where chavista groups impose the status quo by marking enemies and controlling those who criticize the government.

A noticeable pattern in this repressive wave has been the indiscriminate attacks on teens and young people who have known no other president than Maduro.

Last week, late at night, the DGCIM posted a reel on their Instagram account announcing their new “campaign” and security operation, “Operación Tun Tun,” with the hashtag #sinllorader (#nowhining). In the background, a song played: “Children take care! Please be aware. All that you’ve done will come to bear!”

“Operación Tun Tun,” which translates to Operation Knock-Knock, isn’t new. Diosdado Cabello first announced it on his TV show “El Mazo Dando” in 2017, during three months of Venezuelan protests, to target people he considered “terrorists.” This time, the DGCIM, along with other police forces like the CICPC, led by Douglas Rico, not only released this video with its intimidating song but also shared images with WhatsApp and Signal phone numbers, urging people to report anyone allegedly involved in a “physical or virtual hate campaign through social media.”

This operation targets everyone who worked on election day as witnesses or as part of a “comandito” (the opposition grassroots group involved in collecting voting records), those who protested, and even people posting on social media in support of González Urrutia, Machado, or anyone expressing disagreement with chavismo.

On Saturday night, Cabello showcased various Venezuelans detained under “Operación Tun Tun” across the country on his TV show, using the hashtag #PeaceHasArrived.

Other security forces, like the Táchira Police, published “wanted” notices with pictures of young men, labeling them “leader guarimberos.” Even before the elections, Nicolás Maduro had warned that there would be a “bloodbath and fratricidal civil war caused by the fascists” if he didn’t win on July 28.

In addition to raiding homes, various security forces, including DAET, PNB, GNB, and local police, have set up checkpoints in different Venezuelan cities to seize and inspect mobile phones.

The surveillance, targeting, and persecution of citizens extend to other social media platforms like Telegram. Public figures and activists have reported the existence of various Telegram channels created to post pictures of people involved in election day activities or peaceful demonstrations. Some of these channels, like “Caza Guarimbas” or “Controla las Guarimbas,” were shut down by the platform after being reported for promoting violence.

In these channels, users could see messages like “Edmundo is a killer” or pictures of young individuals accused of being responsible for hate crimes (as defined in Maduro’s Hate Law).

This manhunt has created a new environment in the country. People are deleting WhatsApp chats, activating disappearing messages, and sending important information to relatives abroad so they can spread the word about what’s happening inside the country. Some have had to leave their homes and find places to hide.

The situation has also changed how people gather in the streets. For example, during María Corina Machado’s demonstration last Saturday, journalists refrained from recording participants’ faces. Even Machado, who had recently expressed fear for her life in The Wall Street Journal, appeared in public covered with a hood before climbing onto a bus.

Understanding that loneliness and despair are fertile ground for totalitarianism, Maduro and his elite are trying to break the connections people have built, isolating citizens once again from the democratic cause—even more so those who directly promoted and defended the vote in the presidential election.

How can we fight this? If terror seeks to deny what happened at polling stations on July 28th and the intrinsic political condition of voters, the first step is to raise the voice of truth, convinced that, no matter the violence that followed, on that day, Venezuelans spoke with resounding clarity.

Secondly, being strong and resilient doesn’t only mean protesting in the streets. To remain active in defending the true results, we must protect ourselves, stay alert, and manage our energies carefully.

For those who risked their lives in the last several weeks and months of campaigning, protection from state terror means moving between hiding places and waiting for an embassy in Caracas to process dozens of refugee requests.

For others, staying in the streets protesting to the very end is just impossible. “Now, the end of this is in God’s hands,” said Richard, who volunteered on the 28th and went out to demonstrate in Catia the next day. “I’ve been running around on my bike and saw things are getting quiet again. We already took a huge step.”

[imoonblaze]

Quetzaly and Usagi

🌷Quetzaly (OC) belong to @imoonblaze (KlfunsskXD)

🐰Yuichi Usagi from Samurai Rabbit: Usagi Chronicles, Netflix

I wanted to post this some days before but because the art trades and some other thing i did out of home, i post it late.(Esto lo diré en español ya que traducirlo me demorará un poco) Quería dibujar un primer dibujo de alguno de mis OTP, y cuál mejor opcion que mi ship de Quetzaly (OC) y Yuichi Usagi? :3Preferi dibujar a Quetzaly a mi estilo y no al estilo de Jorge. R. Gutiérrez (quería dibujar a uno de mis OCs más acorde a mi estilo de dibujo y salirme un poco de mi zona de confort)

[fangirltothefullest]

the “little wolf” song you’ve (correctly) associated with remus is actually from a musical! it’s called epic: the musical and is an adaptation of the odyssey. it’s a fully sung musical created by jorge rivera-herrans (who is also completely independently backing it!) and is split into sagas aka chapters. only the first 4 are out on spotify/apple music/amazon music/itunes but bc he’s been chronicling his entire process on tiktok and youtube you can find clips form songs that aren’t yet (like the little wolf one)! anyway it’s an absolutely amazing musical that i feel everyone should listen to :)

Ohoho I know it's from the musical, I am obsessed with the music from Epic. Done For gives me Roman/Janus vibes.

[venicemermaids]

Hi! Here's some stuff about a celebrity-themed AU I've been formulating in my head since last year. I'll probs post more later when I'm less sleep deprived :')) I do have major ideas though, so hope you like 'em!

☆ passione is a modelling agency/magazine ran entirely by diavolo. it's one of the most famous companies in the world, and also one of the more relaxed ones. technically diavolo's twin brother doppio and doppio's now wife donatella helped form it, but they all agreed it'd be easier for diavolo to head it. doppio works as a photographer there, while donatella is a model.

☆ the joestars are essentially the hilton family of this au. most people know their names because they're famous in their own fields outside of the family. for instance, jonathan is an archeologist, dio (who is now a biological joestar) is a lawyer/agent/manager, jotaro is a marine biologist with several documentaries under his belt, and so on.

☆ if the joestars are the hiltons, then the part 8 higashikatas are the kardashians. they have their own reality TV show chronicling their lives, known by all as keeping up with the higashikatas. some major specials were jobin and mitsuba's wedding, the twins' (rina and joshu) sweet sixteens and later daiya's, kaato being released from prison, and hato's explosive break-up with tamaki damo.

☆ elizabeth is still married to george ii/jorge joestar, and she has her own fashion house known as lisa lisa. working under her are caesar zeppeli and suzi q, who both have their own ideas on which direction the brand's image should go. their rival is kars and the other pillar men's own label. (unnamed as of right now)

☆ diego is jonathan and dio's younger stepbrother through his mother marrying their father when diego was a kid. diego had always been closer with jonathan, while he always had a tense relationship with dio. as an adult, diego is a professional driver and looks after his nephews; dio's own sons.

☆ jolyne has an underground band with ermes and f.f. called the stone frees! they perform at a grungy venue known as green dolphin, named for its famous neon green dolphin sign. outside of performing, they're usually seen hanging out in ermes' sister gloria's restaurant. they tend to give it free publicity where they can.

jolyne also goes by cujoh in an attempt to distance herself from her father, and to prevent herself from being accused of nepotism.

☆ johnny was a former movie star who quit performing after a major accident rendered him unable to walk. his father hired a physical therapist for him named gyro zeppeli, and barred him from any other visitors out of a sense of shame. however, johnny's older brother nicholas tends to allow guests to see him anyway when their father's away. johnny also keeps in contact with rina higashikata, but that's a secret!

☆ josuke (no relation to the part 8 higashikatas) is an aspiring hairdresser/celebrity stylist, and he often asks to practice on other people. he religiously reads the cinderella magazine for tips and ideas on what to do next and his idol is aya tsuji, who he dreams of working alongside someday.

☆ gappy is yoshikage and kei's younger brother. he's not technically a celebrity, but he often shows up on kuwth due to being childhood friends with joshu and rina. people often joke about him being their missing triplet, though he always denies it. he does see the higashikatas as a second family, however.

☆ giorno is a model under passione, which he joined beneath his father's nose at both diego and his best friend perla's suggestion. when dio found out, he demanded for giorno to allow him to be his agent due to his superior connection. refusing, giorno instead left to live with diego whilst bruno bucciarati became his agent instead. the two people who oversaw giorno's casting were man x (will be referred to as michel) and polpo.

☆ after giorno left, dio began to acknowledge his other three sons; donatello, ungalo, and rikiel. he began with taking custody of donatello, and pushed him into joining a modelling agency as well. he manufactured a rivalry between donatello and giorno, though giorno's more interested in saving all his brothers from their father's influence than anything.

☆ jodio and dragona are both popular on social media. dragona enjoys posting ootds, makeup tutorials, and storytimes, whilst jodio does (awful) skateboarding tricks and skits. sometimes he'll join dragona's storytimes and makeup tutorials, or they'll both do various challenges and skits together.

☆ more stuff to come later!

[now-a-witch]

Listen I tried starting the Bungo Stray Dogs manga like 7 years ago or smt, but I was falling out of the reading manga train so I have not read it or watched BUT I'm watching a guy react to it and it finally convince me to give it another shot.

That said what I made this post for was because them exploring more worldwide things in s5 made really want some latino autors like:

I want Carlos Fuentes, I want his gift to be "Aura" which allows him to bring people back from the death by summoning their soul into a living persons body, stealing it away.

I want Gabriel García Márquez, "Cien años de soledad" (one hundred years of solitude) being his gift would be the obvious choice, allowing him to capture people in a time prison or something could be cool but "El amor en los tiempos del colera" (love in the times of cholera) would be funny and "Crónica de una muerte anunciada" (chronicle of a death foretold) would be cool if we didn't already had 2 characters who could forsee their own death.

Jorge Luis Borges having "El Aleph" giving him a kind of omnipresence allowing his spirit to leave his body and percive from above and great distance.

Julio Cortazar havin "Rayuela" as his gift allowing him to chose between possible futures that things could have at the moment, I don´t know what Juan Rulfo's gift would be since I don't know how to make his most iconic work "Pedro Paramo" into a gift, Like forcing dead beat dads to take accountability? who knows, the possibilities are endless.

Just Latin American autors being anime boys you know.

(honorary mention to the autor of "Por amor a Feliciana" (For love of Feliciana) whom I actually met, he signed my book then I proceeded to lend it to someone I can't remember and they never returned, also my watercolour teacher bashed him when she saw me reading the book, because I think his gift would be the ability to teleport next to a person as long as he is horny enough for them)

[ch4rryc0smos]

─ HEY.ᐟ

╰── call me hazel or haze, or whatever it is your heart desires ⁞ any ⁞ cancer ⁞ infj ⁞ linh cinder + evan hansen kinnie ⁞ devout writer hitting my thirteen year mark next year ⁞ preacher of love and human spirit ⁞ astronomy and biology + literature nerd ⁞ biggest nature lover out there ⁞ chronic people watcher and enjoyer of the mundane ♡

𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐄, 𝐲𝐞𝐬?

⌕ media ➼ ultraman: rising, voltron: legendary defender, the dragon prince, genshin impact, honkai star rail, formula one, shatter me, marble hornets, the lunar chronicles, sally face, obey me, supa strikas, alien stage, call of duty, tokyo revengers, dear evan hansen, the mandela catalogue, vita carnis, local58, cells at work, hamilton, challengers.

⌕ music artists ➼ flawed mangoes, lor, hozier, paris paloma, bon iver, sleep token, billie eilish, voilá, sydney rose, conan gray, gracie abrams, ben platt, jade lemac, james marriott, novo amor, jorge rivera-herrans, chloe ament.

⌕ likes ➼ reading, writing, psychology, biology, literature, history, anthropology, autumn, cats, foxes, deep conversations, people watching, planetariums, flower crowns, the human spirit, the night sky.

⌕ dislikes ➼ heights, arthropods, loud noises, narrow-mindedness, dishonesty, extreme temperature, arrogance, people who do not take accountability, snobby people.

⌕ passions ➼ anarchy, biology, literature, linguistics, history, art in every form, humans, anthropology, sociology, psychology, astronomy, media that tears your heart out, writing to one's heart's content.

⌕ hobbies ➼ writing, reading, moodboard-making, planning, organising, proof-reading, editing, people-watching, loving life to the best of my ability, loving.

𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐎𝐔𝐒 .ᐟ

⭔ — i would love to go on to study psychology or literature! it's in my plans actually.

⭔ — in the future, if i remain in the country i live in, i intend to move in with a friend and get two cats <3 it's not something big, perhaps, but in my heart, it is.

⭔ — wanted to learn how to crochet at some point. i sing a bit, not great, just because i like to. my friends like it!

⭔ — cancer sun, virgo moon, and gemini rising! i have some taurus placements, if i'm not mistaken, that is.

⭔ — i'm asian but get mistaken for every other nationality EVER. also my accent is apparently a mix of aussie + british, so that's something to add onto it.

⭔ — on the topic of accents, i'm an auditory learner, so if i listen to an accent enough, i can practically pick it up, i did that with scottish a while back.

⭔ — i've got three favourite colours, well, i like colours, i like life, but i love navy blue, cherry red (is it obvious?), and forest green, they're so ♡

⭔ — big emotion girl, i get them intense, i'm not normal about anything in life, it's too wondrous, and we're too special to be "normal". we're literally made of dying stars, isn't that wonderful?

⭔ — since i can't draw, i'll probably write [including drabbles/imagines & oneshots, maybe even series'] for my f/o's! and i'm not sure if my s/i's will have different names, but that could happen, also couldn't, it just depends. :')

⭔ — i have oc x canon ships, in genshin. although, also a lot of lore, so it would take a while to explain. :') maybe one day i can and will!

⭔ — uh i actually have gad, social anxiety, and ptsd, just saying, i'm an anxious girl, and silly. i'm silly. please let me be :')

⭔ — i'm also a major overthinker & maladaptive daydreamer, and a bit awkward when it comes to social interactions, so i might take some time to reply to asks! sometimes i'm too burnt out to reply to things, or can go on indefinite hiatuses, so beware. :')

⭔ — asks, likes, and some interaction will probably happen from @wordsfromawiltingsoul, as that is my main! :') just a heads up ♡‌‌

⭔ — dni; xenophobe / proshipper / bigot / basic dni criteria

[ ch4rryc0smos © 2024 ]

[lemememeringue]

he's visiting tennessee !!!

[gothamite-rambler]

Jason playing the piano and singing, surprising everyone at the dinner party (including his family) (Batfamily Chronicles Microfiction Series)

Jason's singing voice is more akin to singers like Jorge Rivera or Caleb Hyles not like Natalie (just a heads up lol)

Jason (finishing the song): I think you're crazy!

I think you're crazy

I think you're crazy

Just like me— Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh

I think you're crazy, oh-oh-oh

Crazy... And maybe I'm crazy... Maybe you're crazy... Maybe we're crazy... Probably.

Stunned silence from everyone at the dinner party.

Stephanie (speaking for everybody): All right, Jason!

She clapped eagerly and soon everyone at the party claps as well as Jason smiles and then leaves to head outside.

Dick (following him outside): That was great.

Jason (feeling flustered): Thanks... See I told you I could sing in front of people. Not like I was good or anything.

Dick (patting his brother on the shoulder): Take the win.

Dick laughed and Jason joined in feeling more relaxed after stepping out of his comfort zone for one night.

Stunned silence enveloped the room as Jason finished his impromptu performance. He sat at the piano keeping his head down nervous to move because nobody was reacting.

Jason couldn't help but worry and think 'Did they hate it?'

Stephanie (breaking the silence, full of enthusiasm): All right, Jason!

She clapped eagerly, and soon everyone joined in, applauding.

Jason smiled gently but stepped outside for some fresh air, hoping to avoid conversation. He loved singing, especially in private or when there was money involved. However, once he was done performing, the anxiety would always creep in.

EXT. OUTSIDE DINNER HALL- NIGHT

Dick followed him out, his grin infectious.

Dick: That was great.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck, feeling flustered.

Jason: Thanks... I mean, I told you I could sing in front of people. Not that I was any good or anything.

Dick patted his brother on the shoulder, encouragingly.

Dick (passing Jason the hundred dollar from the bet): Take the win.

They shared a laugh, and Jason began to feel more relaxed after stepping out of his comfort zone for one night.

[spanishskulduggery]

what are some spanish books you'd recommend? (i'm probably about a high schooler in terms of reading comprehension, but if you have any difficult/gritty recommendations, that would be perfect) muchos gracias :D

(An anon sent in a similar question looking for B1/B2 level books)

One of the better contemporary authors of what you might consider YA fiction is Laura Gallego García so I'd recommend her especially if you like fantasy.

I first found about her from Las memorias de Idhún. If you're on Netflix, you can see an anime based on it called "The Idhun Chronicles" - and one of the main actresses is Michelle Jenner who is an extremely well-known Spanish actress [she played Isabel in the well-known historical drama Isabel about the Catholic Monarchs in Reconquista times]

If anyone has any other suggestions, please write them in

Other books/stories you might like:

Esperanza renace by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel

La casa en Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

La sombra del viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón [fairly advanced]

La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende [somewhat advanced]

El Conde Lucanor by Don Juan Manuel [advanced at times; but it's styled like fables or multiple short stories]

El burlador de Sevilla y el convidado de piedra by Tirso de Molina [advanced at times with language, but very easy to follow; also a play]

I would also say look into translations of things like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or Hunger Games [Los juegos del hambre] and other YA fiction that is more geared towards highschoolers and teenagers because the language used is not as complex but still really useful. Also, many 1st person novels are really good for showing you the yo forms of a lot of verbs especially irregular verbs.

Also some people really recommend El alquimista "the Alchemist" in the Spanish version by Paulo Coelho. It's a very well-known book for high schoolers though it is somewhat advanced in places

PS Also gotta recommend Hombres necios que acusáis by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. It's a poem, but it reads like the rawest slam poetry you've ever heard and also still frighteningly relevant in feminism

-

You may also enjoy short stories. If one author has multiple stories I'll just include the name once in the list. Some of these are translations of other short stories you'll probably know of which helps the comprehension better!

El rubí by Rubén Darío La ninfa El velo de la reina Mab La muerte de la emperatriz de China El palacio del sol

Blancanieves [Snow White] by the Brothers Grimm Rumpelstiltskin Pulgarcito [Tom Thumb] La Cenicienta [Cinderella]

Cuentos by Esopo [or, "Aesop's Fables"]

El barril de amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe Los crímenes de la calle Morgue La máscara de la muerte roja

El loco de Sevilla by Miguel de Cervantes [a story within a story; it's from Don Quixote, but it's a very well-known vignette in the novel] La pastora Marcela [also a story within a story; some frame of reference, Don Quixote is riding around and comes across a funeral and people are accusing a shepherdess Marcela of spurning this dude's love and he couldn't handle it - Marcela then appears out of nowhere and drags everyone and we love to see it]

Cine Prado by Elena Poniatowska

El regalo de los Reyes Mago [The Gift of the Magi] by O. Henry

La sirenita [The Little Mermaid] by Hans Christian Andersen

Caperucita Roja [Little Red Riding Hood] by Charles Perrault La Bella Durmiente [Sleeping Beauty]

Las mil y una noches [1001 Nights] by Anonymous

La muñeca menor by Rosario Ferré

El almohadón de plumas by Horacio Quiroga

La noche boca arriba by Julio Cortázar

Los dos reyes y los dos laberintos by Jorge Luis Borges

Biblioteca Digital Ciudad Seva

This is my usual go-to for reading classics translated into Spanish [there's also the Gutenberg Project if you're looking for ebooks]

Just some general advice:

-Anything by Cervantes is quite old and you will need to find a more modern version or you'll end up with some very antiquated spellings and grammar. He wrote Don Quixote and some other short stories/plays, and all of his mini-stories from Don Quixote are the same general difficulty.

-I do love Borges but for God's sake DO NOT read El jardín de los senderos que se bifurcan "The Garden of Forking Paths". It is advanced, and confusing even for native speakers. I mean this is a story people dedicate a thesis on to try and unravel. It's the kind of thing that you read, you read the wikipedia/rincón del vago entries, and reread and still get confused

-If you're feeling like you want a good challenge, try reading El Popol Vuh which is a book of Maya myths/history/etc, and it's an extremely important in indigenous cultures and history. People have called it the Maya Book of Genesis [though be aware the original translation was done by a Dominican friar named Francisco Ximénez, and there are some modernized versions]

...

Also, speaking of Rincón del Vago is like a Spanish version of Sparknotes. I'm not saying you should be using it to do your homework, but if you happen to find something like Alice in Wonderland / Alicia en el país de las maravillas you can read through the entry in Spanish as reading practice

[billspotts]

Silence, Siege and Persecution: Venezuela’s Media After the Elections

“Today I heard on the radio: ‘Our programming today will be 100% music, because music is a refuge, a safe place,’” economist Omar Zambrano tweeted a few days after the July 28th elections. In fact, for almost two weeks after the disputed results were announced by the National Electoral Council and spontaneous protests erupted throughout the country, most radio shows –including those with the largest audiences, such as journalists Shirley Varnagy’s and Román Lozinki’s– went off the air.

“These have been difficult weeks for all of us as citizens, including those of us who practice this profession”, Varnagy said in an Instagram post after two weeks of silence. “The circumstances force me to think very carefully about the words I say and write. I don’t live abroad, I’m inside.” Varnagy then announced she wouldn’t return to the radio until September 9th, more than a month after the presidential elections. Lozinski returned on August 26th. “I insist that these have not been easy days for those of us who make a living from the radio,” he said on an Instagram post announcing his return.

But the silence, the veiled messages, weren’t limited to Venezuela’s already highly-censored radio stations – of which more than 150 have been closed down by CONATEL, the government’s telecommunications agency, since 2022 according to the National Press Workers Union (SNTP).

As reports of detentions and passport annulments multiplied after the elections, the silence–usual in television, newspapers and most radio shows–suddenly swayed through social and online media too.

Journalists put their accounts private or altogether stopped tweeting, political podcasts halted and Venezuelan independent media started to publish articles without bylines (as we’ve been doing in Caracas Chronicles).

A week after July 28th, journalist Alonso Moleiro accurately described the ambiance: “The prevailing feeling is fear,” he wrote in the Spanish newspaper El País. “Politicians are hermetic. Interviews are canceled. People close to political leaders change their phone numbers. There is a huge hesitance in WhatsApp groups; Zoom conversations are rare. The police harass citizens looking for data on their mobile phones.”

The crackdown against the press ramped up before July 28th, when CONATEL ordered that public and private internet providers block a series of independent media, watchdogs and fact-checking websites. First, on early July, the government blocked anti-disinformation fact-checkers Es Paja, Cazadores de Fake News and Observatorio de Fake News alongside the media NGO Instituto Prensa y Sociedad de Venezuela (IPYS Venezuela) and VPN service Proton. Then, on July 22, the sites of watchdogs Medianálisis and VE Sin Filtro were blocked alongside independent media El Estímulo, Analítica and Runrunes.

During the same period, Nicolás Maduro repeatedly referred to foreign media agencies –including Reuters, AFP, AP, EFE and CNN– as “garbage” and “hitmen of untruthfulness.” His legislature speaker, Jorge Rodríguez, even engaged in an online brawl with APEX–the Foreign Press Association in Venezuela.

Then, the elections came. And detentions followed.

Since July 28th, 13 journalists and press workers have been detained in the country by state security forces, according to the SNTP (four have been freed, including one on parole). Three of them–including Ronald Carreño, a political prisoner with ties to opposition party Voluntad Popular who had been released last year as part of the US-Venezuela talks–were arrested for belonging to opposition parties. Other detained journalists including showbiz reporter Carmela Longo–who was released on parole afterwards, but charged with terrorism–, La Patilla journalist Ana Carolina Guaita in La Guaira, and photojournalist Deisy Peña in Los Teques, were taken for just doing their jobs.

“Our media outlet has a profile that is very different from the rest and we don’t do hard news,” says Irene (fake name), who works in a small Venezuelan digital outlet. “But in the end, as Carmela’s case shows, anyone can get in trouble for whatever reason now without you necessarily doing anything.” The pattern is changing. Before the elections, detentions were mostly focused on people helping the opposition campaign or participating in it. In fact, the three journalists detained before the elections–Gabriel González, Luis López and Carlos Julio Rojas–had ties to political parties or grassroots political movements. But, since July 28th, repression has drifted towards reporting-focused journalists.

The role of journalists in narrating the people’s rejection of the results announced by the CNE and the coverage on their veracity led to a “policy of silencing, of siege, of persecution” against the press, SNTP Secretary General Marco Ruiz says. Similarly, he says, there’s been a policy of silencing the coverage of protests and anti-government expressions.

And the July 28th elections have not only unleashed detentions. “We have recorded campaigns of hate and criminalization against journalists in different states like Aragua, Portuguesa, Carabobo, Zulia, Bolívar, Táchira,” Ruiz says, “Many of them are now in safekeeping. In other cases, we have had to use extraction procedures and they are outside the country because they were at risk of arrest.”

The situation has also changed the content and internal dynamics of Venezuelan outlets. “Everything we had planned to publish during the rest of the year is now paralyzed,” Irene says, “because now we are not publishing anything that doesn’t have to do with what’s happening, because we think there’s nothing more important.” Some of her colleagues, she says, have also stopped tweeting because of the emotional toll.

Similarly, outlets –including Caracas Chronicles– have faced difficulties to find sources willing to speak on the record or contribute with their analyses. “I can��t find voices willing to give a testimony on what’s happening in Venezuela, they are taking a lot of care”, says veteran Venezuelan journalist César Miguel Rondón, who hosts a radio program in Miami, “No one wants to end up disappeared, in a jail, because of some henchman’s whims… I think we had never seen a situation as ugly and dangerous as this one.”

In fact, many journalists have been affected by the massive annulment of passports that social activists, politicians and NGO members have also reported. “I know of correspondents who had their passports annulled,” says Nancy (fake name), who works as a stringer in Caracas for an international outlet and decided to leave the country after the elections. “I know of other journalists who also left the country under the radar, I know of photojournalists who have decided not to publish political pictures on their social media or asked for credit to be removed, I know of international media outlets who are now solely doing remote work to avoid the risk of going to their offices.”

This is why so many outlets are publishing articles without bylines and the alliance Venezuela Vota resorted to creating the AI avatars of Operación Retuit to broadcast news summary videos without risking their staff.

“We put safety of the team and staff as the top priority of the media outlet where I work and lead,” said Carlos (fake name), the director of a Caracas-based digital outlet. His site is not publishing bylines and has avoided sending journalists to cover protests “due to the risk of arbitrary detention.” The team is also using alternative messaging applications like Signal (blocked in Venezuela after the elections) and working remotely. Carlos says they have also designed a protocol to offer a safehouse to any journalist in his team who is threatened and even to be extracted from the country “in coordination with international networks of journalists specialized in this type of actions.”

For Nancy, journalists in national and regional outlets are at more risk but she doesn’t rule out the possibility of crackdowns on correspondants and stringers. “Now I have an enormous terror I had never felt,” she says, “especially because of how random the decisions seem and how unclear the rules of the game are. It’s basically a roulette and you never know when your turn will be.”

The State has also cracked down against social media and digital communications beyond the work of the press. Checkpoints where officers check people’s phone for pro-opposition content, usually leading to detentions or thousand-dollars extortions, have become common throughout Caracas and the rest of the country after July 28th. In fact, the government has called on Venezuelans to stop using Whatsapp and even blocked X–originally for ten days, but the deadline passed on and the network continues to be inaccessible in Venezuela without a VPN.

“The underlying problem is that WhatsApp is the platform that people used to efficiently disseminate information horizontally” and without censorship during the campaign and post-electoral protests, human rights activist Rafael Uzcátegui says. “Censorship in social media is not only to try to avoid people from expressing themselves, or being afraid to do so, but also to neutralize their autonomous capacity to establish links with others that bypass the state” and its media ecosystem.

In fact, the government has even threatened influencers who publicly supported María Corina Machado.

“You have to decide whether you want to continue your careers, first of all, with your families in Venezuela”, Maduro said, addressing celebrities–particularly Miami-based Youtube humorist Lele Pons–and social media stars that hosted lives and podcast episodes with Machado.

Maduro even accused Pons of conspiring to “impose” a government in Venezuela.

In fact, on July 31st during a press conference with international media, Maduro said “TikTok and Instagram are in the hands of imperialism” and “they are manipulating [people] to bring a civil war to Venezuela.” He then lambasted international agencies: “Do not insist on your agenda to bring war to Venezuela,” he said, “you, the international media, are responsible for the death and wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.”

A month after the elections, Maduro charged against the media again: this time, he accused local outlets TalCual, Efecto Cocuyo and El Pitazo of receiving USAID funds and of being part of the alleged conspiracy that the government blames for the recent nationwide power outage.

“This is an informal curfew against journalists, imposed de facto,” Ruiz says, “to dismantle the journalistic profession and the media in practically all the states of the country.”

“What I fear the most is the government’s level of evilness. I know they are capable of going against children and the elderly alike, and I will die if they touch my parents or my child,” says Nancy, who is unsure about returning to Venezuela, “this changed. And very quickly.”

[dailycass-cain]

If statues and huge figures of Cassandra are too big. Well. Cass has also gotten a few TINY figures as well released of her.

This one now in 2024 is the one that truly showcases how far we've come since 2019.

As it was in 2019, probably the best "tiny" Cass figure is the Minimates figure.

It is STILL the only figure of Cass that comes with the ability to have masked/unmasked faces.

As of 2024, it is still pretty easy to find and price-wise attain with an in-box Minimates Cass (which comes with Batwing) going for $16.

Imaginext has TWO Cass figures in their line. The first was Black Bat who was in a two-pack with Ninja Batman in 2019.

You can still find this two-pack in stores (Walmart primarily) but if you go to the land of eBay $5 just for Black Bat or $14 for the entire two-pack in box.

The second Imaginext Cass was a Batgirl (a Burnside Babs figure recolored in Cass's colors). She was part of a random grab bag Slammers wave for Imaginext in 2020.

As of 2024, this one sadly has gone up in price. $15 is the current asking price for the figure complete. However, someone has a listing for just the figure at $16. 😔

HeroClix went with the full cycle of Cass's identities. From Batgirl, to Black Bat, to Orphan, and back to Batgirl again.

These can all range to $4-5 as of 2024. So thankfully, no real price change here.

Funko has STILL only ever released ONE Cassandra Cain and it's based on Cass from the BoP live-action movie (it's a Funko mini).

Sadly, for a tiny figure, she casts a somewhat high price. Currently, as of 2024 finding her on the aftermarket at $22 is the cheapest price with the highest asking for $34. Thankfully, not as high as she originally was when first released. Originally she went for $50. 😮😶

The Gotham City Chronicles board game from Monolith has TWO Cassandra Cains. The first is in the primary game and is under her Orphan identity.

Sadly, to attain this figure you have to buy the entire primary board game. The asking price currently? $174. 😶

Originally, someone on eBay was selling this mini for $10.

"Season 3" of the Gotham City Chronicles board game will give us another form of Cass, her as Batgirl.

She's actually one of the bigger minis in the S3 game.

Also of note, the S3 box art for the game was made by Jorge Jiménez.

As for the asking price? The game still hasn't been released to backers ($100 to back the S3 game). So no idea what this Cass will go for.

Knight Games has a Cass miniature (Orphan) in their Batman: Heirs of the Cowl expansion for their Escape from Arkham Asylum Board game.

I couldn't find a price on this one sadly. 😵‍💫

There also was this custom Cass available on an eBay seller Brick store that's long gone.

Finally, as of 2024, there is this Batgirl from DCeased - A Zombicide Game.

Like the Season 3 Gotham City Chronicles. There's no real price currently on this one. She was part of a Kickstarter and hasn't been released as of early 2024 YET.

[space-battle-royal]

Bracket Time!

I'll post the polls in groups of four to avoid spamming (and a potential shadow ban, apparently). Competitors under the cut.

TARDIS (Doctor Who) vs. The Minerva (Umbrella Academy) vs. Divine Beast Van Medoh (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

Warp Star (Kirby) vs. Hera (Wolf 395)

The Starship Aurora (The Mechanisms) vs. The Aurora (Subnautica)

Darla (She Ra) vs. Starblaster (The Adventure Zone) vs. 36 Kars on Mars (Jorge Joestar)

Comet Observatory (Super Mario Galaxy) vs. M-Bot (Skyward) vs. Octobot King L3Gs (Splatoon)

Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) vs. ISV Venture Star (Avatar) vs. Serenity (Firefly)

Elon Musk's car (real life) vs. The Skeld (Among Us)

X-Wing (Star Wars) vs. Spaceball One (Spaceballs)

Death Egg (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs. Invincible II (In Space With Markiplier) vs. Arwing (Star Fox)

The Rampion (The Lunar Chronicles) vs. Samus's Gunship (Metroid) vs. Lunar Whale (Final Fantasy IV)

U.S.S. Discovery (Star Trek) vs. The Traveler (Destiny) vs. Lost Light (Transformers)

Ship of the Imagination (Cosmos) vs. ART (The Murderbot Diaries) vs. The Massive (Invader Zim)

Rayquaza (Pokemon) vs. The Imperious Condescension' Ship (Homestuck) vs. Justice of Toren (Imperial Radch (Ancillary Justice))

Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) vs. Battle School (Ender's Game) vs. The Wayfarer (A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet)

Starship Tipton (Sweet Life on Deck) vs. Sputnik 1 (real life) vs. Space Cruiser (Rick and Morty)

Discovery One (2001: A Space Odyssey) vs. The Heart of Gold (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) vs. Bip (Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator)

Rocket (Young Einsteins) vs. S.S. Dolphin (Pikmin) vs. AI (Star Twinkle Precure)

U.S.S Enterprise (Star Trek) vs. The Skullship (Wander Over Yonder)

Please don't complain about seeding, I barely know more than half of these sources but I did my best. May the best ship win.