#justice thomas is 75 years old

[evilmark999]

I feel almost too dirty to be a part of this chain of posts. At the same time, both my respect and sense of duty are elbowing me HARD to not just "like" this and let it slip quietly by...

Judge for yourselves...

Quote of the Day

This is a momentous decision, just to hear this case. There was no reason in this world for the Supreme Court to take this case. Under the constitutional laws of the United States, there has never been an argument that a former president is immune from prosecution for crimes that he committed while in office.

Judge Michael Luttig (ret.)

(Judge Luttig is an icon of the conservative judicial world)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The current president is 80 years old. His presumed opponent for 2024 is 77 years old.

Four US Senators are in their eighties. Twenty nine US senators are in their seventies. Seven more are sixty-eight or sixty-nine.

The current Democratic Senate majority is 51-49.

Twelve members of the House are in their eighties. Sixty-two reps are in their seventies (thirteen more are sixty-nine).

The current Republican Congressional majority is 222–213.

Two Supreme Court justices are in their seventies (Clarence Thomas is 75). Three more are in their sixties.

The right-wing Supreme Court “supermajority” is 6–3.

- Designated Survivors: The gerontocratic elephant in the graveyard

[griseldagimpel]

The Supreme Court & Elections

I've seen some posts about the Supreme Court and the upcoming U.S. presidential election, so I wanted to do an informative post. Note that while this information is something you should keep in mind when voting (if it applies to you), the November election isn't until November. For now, the focus should be to keep pressure on President Biden. This is just to help those who need it contextualize some of the posts going around.

Let's start by establishing some things. You may know some or all of this, but I want to make sure we'll on the same page for this post.

The actual identity of the president matters less than their party when it comes to Supreme Court nominations. The president could be an otter in a waistcoat and top hat, and my first question is still going to be, "Well, is the otter a Republican or a Democrat?" Just, the pool of candidates who are likely to be nominated for the Supreme Court is small.

Democrats tend to prioritize the Integrity of Government, while Republicans tend to prioritize Winning. This is going to be frustratingly relevant.

The president nominates justices for the Supreme Court, but the Senate confirms them.

Control of the Senates can change during the midterms.

If the Senate is tied 50-50, the Vice President is the tie-breaking vote. That means that if there's a Democratic presidency, 50-50 is a Democratic majority, but if there's a Republican presidency, 50-50 is a Republican majority.

Supreme Court appointments have a long lasting impact. You know how people were worried that if Trump was elected in 2016, it would be bad for the Supreme Court and our rights? Well, those fears were valid and realized. Trump appointed three members of the Supreme Court, and those three members were among the ones who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. That overturning happened after Trump left office, but it happened because of Trump's actions. Biden's victory in 2020 doesn't erase the damage of Trump's victory in 2016.

But ALSO, one of the right-wing justices on the Supreme Court is Clarence Thomas, who was appointed by George H.W. Bush, who won the presidency in 1988. Which, y'all, I was not even two years old when that happened. Some of y'all weren't even alive at the time. Supreme Court nominations have serious long-term consequences.

Supreme Court justices can choose when they retire, but they can't choose when they die. (In the sense that they can't chose not to die of old age when it's their time.)

When Supreme Court justices are getting older, they'll start to look for favorable circumstances to retire under. That means they want their party to have both the presidency AND control of the Senate.

Okay, so Supreme Court justices are supposed to be politically-neutral, but the reality is that they aren't.

Older Supreme Court justices can be replaced by younger Supreme Court justices, who are at less risk of dying.

If a Supreme Court justice doesn't want to retire, there's not a whole lot the president or party can do to make them retire.

Clarence Thomas is 75 years old.

Samuel Alito is 74 years old.

So what scenarios could happen in the next presidential term? (And remember again: Control of the Senate can change during the midterms.)

Democratic Presidency, Democratic-controlled Senate

Thomas and Alito are NOT retiring. They could die of old age, but it's not a guarantee by any means. If one or both did die, Biden would be able to appoint left-leaning justices to replace them. Thus, there's a chance the Supreme Court could go from 6-3 right-leaning to 5-4 right-leaning. There's a small chance it could go to 4-5 left-leaning. This isn't improbable by any means, but I wouldn't bet the house on it.

Still, it'd be easier down the line to turn a 5-4 right-leaning Supreme Court into a 4-5 left-leaning Supreme Court than it is to turn a 6-3 right-leaning Supreme Court into a 4-5 left-leaning Supreme Court. Also, a 6-3 right-leaning Supreme Court is worse than a 5-4 right-leaning Supreme Court because even though both are right-leaning Supreme Courts, with a 5-4 right-leaning Supreme Court, sometimes one of the right-leaning justices will split with their party on a matter.

Democratic Presidency, Republican-controlled Senate

Thomas and Alito are NOT retiring. If one or both died, Republicans would simply refuse to confirm any nominee Biden put forth. (They've done this before. In the lead up to the 2016 election.) The Supreme Court would have 8 justices either until the Democrats gained control of the Senate or the Republicans gained control of the presidency.

Republican Presidency, Democratic-controlled Senate

Thomas and Alito are probably not retiring. If one or both died, Democrats might only approve a Supreme Court justice who was a little right-leaning rather than a lot right-leaning, and they'd at least have basic qualifications for the job.

Republican Presidency, Republican-controlled Senate

There's a good chance (although not a guarantee) that Thomas and/or Alito would retire. Trump would replace them with younger far-right justices. In the immediate sense, the consequence wouldn't be felt (because the Supreme Court would continue to be 6-3 right-leaning) but the impact would be felt down the line with the 6-3 right-leaning Supreme Court persisting longer.

Summary

Where the Supreme Court is concerned, Democratic victories in November mean a good chance of the status quo (which is not great) continuing, with the possibility of things getting better, but with the qualifies that the status quo would move from Bad to Less Bad, with the chance of it moving to Good being pretty small.

If there are Republican victories in November, there's a good chance of the right-wing-ness of the Supreme Court becoming entrenched for longer, but honestly, given that the Republican nominee is going to be Donald "already tried to overthrow the government once" Trump, there's more immediate damage I'd be concerned about him doing.

Other Things That Can Be Done

If you're thinking about this point "Wow, everything's kinda fucked, isn't it?" that's because it is. (Every election is important, but 2016 was really important, and we'll be feeling the consequences of Trump's victory for a long time to come.) In addition to using elections to shape the Supreme Court, other not-mutually-exclusive actions that could be pushed for are:

Adding more Supreme Court justices to the Supreme Court

Putting term limits on the justices

Ethics reforms for the Supreme Court

Impeach certain Supreme Court justices

These all have their challenges with implementing them, but they're all worth pursuing.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Joan McCarter at Daily Kos:

The Supreme Court should have been center stage in the 2016 election. It wasn’t, but the ensuing havoc that the court—packed with three young justices appointed by Donald Trump—has wreaked on our democracy demands it take center stage in 2024, especially in light of a CNN report published on Wednesday. The report, part of a series on the recent inside workings of the court, focuses on the marginalization of Justice Samuel Alito and the “internal opposition” to his hard-line views this session. “[T]he frustration of the 74-year-old justice has grown increasingly palpable in the courtroom,” CNN writes.

But the article drops this bombshell at the end: “While Alito is still relatively young as far as justices go (most in recent years haven’t left the bench until their 80s), he has reflected in private about retirement.”  If Trump wins this year’s presidential election, Alito may very well step down and go home to fly whatever flags he and his wife want, secure in the knowledge that Trump would install someone just as extreme—and a lot younger—in his seat. That goes for Justice Clarence Thomas as well. At 75, he’s the both the oldest and the most senior member of the court, having been appointed in 1991 by then-President George H.W. Bush. If Trump wins, Thomas may very well decide it’s time to enjoy his $493,700 motorhome, also knowing his seat would go to a like-minded hack. There’s been rampant speculation that he’ll step down if Trump wins.

The Supreme Court is at stake this election, as a Trump win would mean that at least 1 or 2 of Thomas, Alito, and/or Roberts could step down and be replaced by hard-right MAGA judicial activists.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

DIE, YOU EVIL PIECE O'SHIT!

[batboyblog]

You better vote the Supreme Court

So it's March 2023 right now, hi to people in the future, right now there's a fair bit of talk around the US Presidential election next year. I'm sorry to any non-Americans who might read this. But for us Americans, we're hearing speculation about if Trump will be the Republican nominee or Ron DeSantis and if President Biden will run for a second term.

I just want to get everyone thinking about an issue thats likely to not get enough coverage in the 2024 election and not effect enough people's votes (because it never seems to) The Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed for a life time term its not uncommon for Justices to serve for 20 to 30 years on the Court which gets to rule on all aspects of Americans lives.

In March of 2016 Hillary Clinton predicted that the next President would get to appoint as many as 4 Justices to the Court. She was sadly not taken seriously at the time. President Trump ended up getting to appoint 3 Justices empowering a 6-3 Conservative majority and appointing two of the most radically conservative Justices we've ever ever had.

Thankfully we've elected a Democratic President, Joe Biden so that 84 year old liberal Justice Stephen Breyer was able to retire be replaced by the Court's first black woman Justice, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (who is 52, so likely will be on the court for 30+ years)

Many people will say the Court is hopeless as none of the Justices are now in their 80s (or older) so there's no likelihood of a change during a second Biden term in office. I don't think thats true or at least not an open and shut surety.

Right now the two most conservative Justices, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito are 74 and 72 respectively. At the end of Biden's current term they'll be 76 and 74 and at the end of the next Presidential term they'll be 80 and 78 respectively. If we look at the ages when Justices have left the Court in the last 20 years:

2005: Chief Justice William Rehnquist: Death age 80 2006: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor: Retired age 75 2009: Justice David Souter: Retired age 69 2010: Justice John Paul Stevens: Retired age 89 2016: Justice Antonin Scalia: Death age 79 2018: Justice Anthony Kennedy: Retired age 82 2020: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Death age 87 2022: Justice Stephen Breyer: Retired age 83

for an average age of leaving the court in the 21st Century of 80 years old... Now I don't expect that Justices Thomas and Alito if they're alive would willingly retire under a Democratic President, however I think it's nearly a sure thing that like Justices O'Connor, Souter, Stevens, Kennedy and Breyer at least one of them if not both would retire under a Republican President who would then appointed a radically conservative Justice in their 40s who we'd have for 35 to 40 years. While Justices Thomas and Alito might want to hang on till a Republican President even if they don't die they might not be able to keep going like Justice Thurgood Marshall's health failed and he was forced to retire (and died 16 months later) or Justice William O. Douglas who suffered a stroke and was pushed into retirement by the other 8 Justices.

So In short if you want any hope for a liberal, at even "not radically conservative" Court in our life times it's very very important to vote the Court next year no matter who the nominees are

[okierazorback]

Supreme Court Ethics: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

I truly have never been more discouraged about this country than I have been in the last few years… this Supreme Court definitely plays into that discouragement. I would hate to see John Oliver give this awful Supreme Court Justice $1,000,000 a year for life, but he certainly does not need to be on the Supreme Court bench.  Of course Clarence Thomas is 75 years old, statistically he will likely…

[bobmccullochny]

History

September 17, 1787 - At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, delegates from twelve states voted unanimously to approve the proposed U.S. Constitution.

September 17, 1862 - The bloodiest day in U.S. military history occurred as General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate armies were stopped at Antietam in Maryland by General George B. McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall 26,000 men were dead, wounded, or missing.

September 17, 1908 - The first fatality involving powered flight occurred as a biplane piloted by Orville Wright fell from a height of 75 feet, killing Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge, his 26-year-old passenger. A crowd of nearly 2,000 spectators at Fort Myer, Virginia, observed the crash of the plane which was being tested for possible military use. Wright himself was seriously injured.

September 17, 1939 - Soviet Russians invaded Eastern Poland, meeting little resistance and taking over 200,000 Poles prisoner. This was done in accordance with the Nazi-Soviet Pact in which the Nazis and Soviets had predetermined how they would divide up Poland.

Birthday - Supreme Court Justice Warren E. Burger (1907-1995) was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Appointed by President Nixon, he had the longest tenure (1969-86) of any Chief Justice in the 20th Century. In 1973, he voted in the majority on Roe vs. Wade which upheld a woman's right to an abortion. In 1974, he voted to force Nixon to surrender White House audio tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.

[beardedmrbean]

SAGINAW, MI — Police have made an arrest in the homicide of a Saginaw girl who was reported missing, then found slain hours later near her house.

Michigan State Police Lt. Kimberly Vetter confirmed at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31, police arrested a juvenile male in connection with the killing. She could not divulge the suspect’s age or his connection to the victim.

Na’Mylah J. Turner-Moore, 10, was reported missing from a house at 813 S. 12th St. around 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 30. During a search of the area, police found Na’Myla’s body in an abandoned, overgrown lot on the same block, near the corner of South 12th and Annesley streets.

Vetter could not say how Na’Myla was killed. No additional suspects are believed to be at large, she added.

The juvenile suspect’s first appearance in court is pending, with prosecutors saying Wednesday morning they have not yet received the case for review.

The circumstances and location Na’Myla’s death conjure memories of another Saginaw girl killed almost exactly 30 years ago, whose body was found in the same area and whose death remains unsolved.

The evening of Sept. 18, 1992, 8-year-old Shamonica M. Brown disappeared while playing with other children at a playground near her family home at 12th and Annesley streets. For days, police searched for the Heavenrich Elementary School first-grader, going door-to-door, checking abandoned homes, garages, and dog houses.

About 10 a.m. on Sept. 22, 1992, their search ended on a tragic note when officers found Shamonica’s body behind a bush in a planter on the steps of the former Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 732 S. 13th St., just a few blocks from her home.

Shamonica had been strangled, with motor oil having soaked her hair, police previously said. Paint chips and solder were also found on her body.

At least 75 city, state, and federal law enforcement officers were involved in the subsequent investigation. They eventually developed two suspects in the killing, though neither was ever brought to justice.

“We never felt we had enough to charge either one of them,” former Saginaw Police Detective Roy Walton told The Saginaw News in 2003. “Quite frankly, that was one of the problems of the case.”

Police concluded Shamonica was killed at a four-unit apartment house at 1902 Annesley St., where the two suspects lived.

Two years after the killing, a neighbor came forward to tell police she had seen one of the suspects walking hand-in-hand with Shamonica toward his residence the night of her disappearance. The witness had kept silent out of fear of the suspect, police have said.

The paint chips found on Shamonica’s body matched some found in the garage behind the suspects’ home. The garage also contained an oil pan full of oil, while matching solder was found in a weight bench in the structure’s basement, police have said.

One suspect, a 42-year-old man with a history of sex crimes, died about three months after Shamonica’s death, then-Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael D. Thomas said in 2003. The other suspect, nicknamed “Jack” in the 2003 article, died in April 2003 at a Saginaw hospital at age 54.

In the 1970s, Jack had served a prison sentence in Alabama for manslaughter and breaking and entering. In the late 1990s, a federal judge sentenced him to prison for felon in possession of a firearm.

Walton, who retired in 1999, favored Jack as the killer. Thomas believed there was more evidence against the other suspect and doubted they were both involved in killing Shamonica.

Shamonica is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Her headstone’s epitaph bears her name and the inscription “Angels Watch Her Sleep.”

Coincidentally, Na’Myla would have turned 11 on Sept. 18, the 30th anniversary of Shamonica’s disappearance.

[tabloidtoc]

Entertainment Weekly, June

Cover: The Pride Issue cover 3 of 4 -- Lena Waithe

Page 3: Contents, other covers featuring Lil Nas X, Mj Rodriguez, Bowen Yang

Page 4: Sound Bites

Page 7: The Cold Open

Page 14: The Must List -- In the Heights

Page 15: Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon, Iceage -- Seek Shelter, Ziwe

Page 18: Trying Q&A with Esther Smith and Rafe Spall, Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill

Page 20: Milestone Returns #0: Infinite Edition, In Treatment

Page 21: Brat: An '80s Story by Andrew McCarthy, The Empty Man

Page 22: My Must List Pride Edition -- Niecy Nash

Page 25: Pride 2021

Page 26: Lil Nas X -- the 22-year-old rapper is still breaking barriers one song and several clapbacks at a time

Page 29: St. Vincent -- the chameleonic singer-songwriter returns with Daddy's Home, an adventurous new album inspired by her father's prison time

Page 30: Olly Alexander -- after a lauded lead turn in It's a Sin, the artist returned with the single Starstruck, from his newly solo musical act Years & Years

* Rostam -- the new solo album from the multi-instrumentalist is rooted in society's fear of change

Page 32: Lena Waithe -- the producer and actor, and the new star of Master of None season 3, wants to create provocative art while elevating voices

Page 35: Josh Thomas -- the Australian creator-star of Everything's Gonna Be Okay is telling his story through his art

Page 36: Meet Your Maker -- Natalie Morales -- the queer star directs her first film(s), the sharp indies Plan B and Language Lessons. Here's what got her behind the camera

Page 37: Joshua Safran -- the man behind Alex Parrish's attitude and Blair Waldorf's one-liners shares how his sexuality helps him empathize with his characters

* Brandon Taylor -- coming off his explosive, best-selling debut novel Real Life, the lauded author is looking toward his second act and beyond

Page 38: Mj Rodriguez -- with the final season of the history-making FX drama Pose, it's leading lady is ready to claim what's hers

Page 41: Colman Domingo -- after decades of stellar work, the scene-stealer is front and center on Euphoria, Fear the Walking Dead, and more

Page 42: Auli'i Cravalho -- the star of Disney's Moana proved how far she'll go to be her authentic self, and is now focused on joy and inclusion

Page 43: Queen Supremes -- the international RuPaul's Drag Race winning class speaks power to the franchise's worldwide domination and looks ahead to a fab future

Page 44: Bowen Yang -- the Saturday Night Live breakout is defining funny for a whole new generation and pushing boundaries in the process

Page 47: Margaret Cho -- the stand-up comedian plays the lesbian pal we all wish we had in the comedy Good on Paper

Page 48: Molly Bernard -- after playing Younger's pansexual publicist, she's ready to explore the full spectrum of queerness

* Josie Totah -- from Disney's Jessie to the Saved by the Bell revival and Amy Poehler's Moxie, the actress has made a name for herself twice and Hollywood's paying attention

Page 49: Calendar -- 10 upcoming LGBTQ projects to get excited for --from eye-opening documentaries to sweeping romances, there is plenty to add to your Pride watch queue

* Pride season's 6 essential reads

Page 51: Summer TV Preview

Page 52: Loki with Tom Hiddleston

Page 53: Panic, The Celebrity Dating Game, Gossip Girl

Page 54: September Mornings, Schmigadoon!, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Ted Lasso

Page 55: Heels, The Good Fight

Page 56: Power Book III: Raising Kanan

Page 57: Sweet Tooth, Blindspotting, Kevin Can F**k Himself, Mr. Corman

Page 58: We Are Lady Parts, Love Victor, Sex/Life, Turner & Hooch

Page 59: Physical, Hit & Run, American Rust

Page 60: Bosch, Marvel Studios' What If...?, Lisey's Story -- Q&A with Julianne Moore

Page 61: Calendar

Page 62: The Fast and the Furious oral history -- how did a little movie about underground racing speed off to become one of the most profitable franchises in history? The cast and crew reminisce about 20 years of Fast, one quarter-mile at a time

Page 68: News + Reviews -- Nominate Them, You Cowards -- on July 13, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will announce the 2021 Emmy nominees. Here are some standout shows and performances we insist not be overlooked

Page 72: Movies -- Summer Star -- taking the lead in blockbusters A Quiet Place II and Jungle Cruise, Emily Blunt is the face of Hollywood's comeback summer

Page 74: Making the Scene -- Army of the Dead -- Zack Snyder explains how he bet big on destroying Las Vegas in his bloody zombie heist movie

Page 75: Oxygen, The Woman in the Window -- the journey from smash best-seller to star-studded streaming thriller was long and fittingly bizarre

Page 76: Meet the Fab G -- director Kay Cannon on how Billy Porter found a fresh, inclusive take on the fairy godmother in the new Cinderella

Page 79: My Favorite Shot Pride Edition -- Sebastian Lelio, A Fantastic Woman -- the Chilean director revisits a gravity-defying sequence in his groundbreaking Oscar-winning drama

Page 80: TV -- The Underground Railroad

Page 81: The Upshaws

Page 82: Oral History -- in 2011, Teen Wolf premiered on MTV. Ten years later, we look back at the pilot episode that introduced us to Scott, Stiles and the werewolves of Beacon Hills -- Jeff Davis, Tyler Posey, Russell Mulgahy, Dylan O'Brien, Crystal Reed

Page 84: What to Watch

Page 86: Music -- Miranda Lambert Q&A -- for The Marfa Tapes, Lambert decamped to the quiet artsy town in West Texas and recorded songs around a campfire. She talks to EW about the album and being an introverted superstar

Page 88: Ear Kandi -- Xscape member and current Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss reflects on the hits she's made for Destiny's Child, *NSYNC, TLC and more

Page 89: The Black Keys

Page 90: Books -- summer books special -- a comedy of eras -- in a sharp new essay collection, The Wreckage of My Presence, actor Casey Wilson weaves big feelings into even bigger laughs

Page 92: Poetic Justice -- prolific romance writer and political powerhouse Stacey Abrams bookend an incredible year with more thrills, this time in her first novel not written under her pen name Selena Montgomery

Page 93: Author Spotlight -- Silvia Moreno-Garcia -- Velvet Was the Night

Page 94: Fatal Attraction -- inside the intoxicating depravity of Animal, Lisa Taddeo's meaty follow-up to Three Women

Page 95: Critic's Pick -- The Great Mistake by Jonathan Lee

Page 96: Critic's Pick -- In the Country of Others by Leila Slimani

Page 97: The Conversation -- Taylor Jenkins Reid and Paula Hawkins -- the names behind Daisy Jones & the Six and The Girl on the Train are coming for your beach tote

Page 98: Q&A with Zakiya Dalila Harris -- The Other Black Girl, former book editor Zakiya Dalila Harris' genre-bending evisceration of workplace privilege, is set to become the debut of the summer

Page 99: Critic's Pick -- Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So

Page 101: Q&A with Billie Eilish -- in between winning Grammys and releasing her sophomore album, the pop star is publishing her first (self-titled) book, a collection of never-before-seen pics of her early life on the road

Page 103: Parental Guidance -- your crib sheet on the best entertainment for kids from toddlers to tweens

* Q&A with Gabrielle Union-Wade and Dwyane Wade -- the actress and her NBA legend husband, bring it on with their new children's book Shady Baby

Page 112: The Bullseye

[todaysdocument]

Inventory of people enslaved, 12/31/1850.

This was presented by Jacob Cook to support his ownership of four fugitive slaves: John, Ellen, and Matilda Green, and Andrew Jones. (Cook had purchased these people after they had escaped.)

File Unit: Jacob Cook's Original Fugitive Slave Petition and Ownership Documentation, 10/22/1850 - 1/1/1851

Series: Fugitive Slave Case Papers, 1850 - 1860

Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009

Transcription:

Maryland, Ss_

    I hereby certify, that on an examination of the Records in the Office of the Register of Wills for Baltimore County, it appears that Emily MacTavish, Executrix of the last Will and Testament of Mary Caton, deceased, returned to the Orphans Court for said County, on the thirtieth day of March in the year Eighteen hundred and forty eight, an Inventory of the personal Estate of the said Mary Caton, deceased, and that in said Inventory, are the following among other items, to wit:

...........

"1 Negro      Woman, Hart's Wife 29 yrs old, slave for life        $    200_

"1         "    Man Henry Hart, One Arm,     do      31 years old               50_

"1         "       Woman, Elizth. Minsky        "      9       "      "                   50_

"1         "    Girl, Bekky Minsky        "            3         "      "                   _ _

"1         "        Prudence Minsky            "    18         "      "               250_

"1         "          Boy Jesse                "    14         "      "               100_

"1         "         "       Paul                "    12    "      "                    80_

"1         "       Girl Sophia                 "    10     "      "                   50_

"1    "    Boy Henry                "      6    "      "                    25_

"1    "    Boy Christopher            "      3    "      "                    _ _

"1    "    Girl Catherine            "      2         "      "              _ _

"1    "    Woman Kitty Jones        "    53      "     "              _ _

"1    "    Man Jesse                "    38     "     "                 300:_

"1    "    "       Andrew            "    28      "     "                300:_

"1    "    "       Luke                "    16    "      "            250:_    

"1    "    "       John Green            "    45    "      "            300:_

"1    "    Woman Ellen his Wife        "    39    "      "            250._

"1    "    "    Matilda            "    17    "      "            250_

"1    "    Girl Maria                "       6    "      "              25:_

"1    "    "      Nancy                "       2    "      "              _ _

"1    "    "      Elizabeth            "       5    "      "              25_

"1    "    "      Louisa      twins        "       5    "      "              25_

"1    "    Boy John                "       5    "      "              25._

[page 2]

"1    "    "      John                "     10    "      "                 100._

"1    "    Woman Molly Reynolds    "      39     "       "                 100._

"1    "    "             Mary Reynolds    "      31     "��   "        300:_

"1    "    Man Wm Reynolds        "      43    "    "        200:_

"1    "    "        Jack Wells            "      43    "    "        200:_

"1    "    "     Oliver Joyce        "      25    "    "        300:_

"1    "    "    Mingo Harris        "      43    "    "        200:_

"1 Negro    Man   Aaron Harris, Slave for life, (old)   33 years        250:_

"1        "    "    William Stewart        "        31    "        300:_

"1    "    Woman Sally, his wife        "        31    "        250:_

"1    "    Boy Geo. Foote  Lame        "        16    "          75:_

"1    "    "       James Blaye        "        15    "        200:_

"1    "    Girl    Henrietta Stewart    "        16    "        200:_

"1    "    Boy    John Stewart        "        15    "        200:_

"1    "    Girl    Helen Stewart        "        14    "        150:_

"1    "    Boy    Charles Stewart        "        13    "        100:_

"1    "    "    Bill Stewart            "        11    "          75:_

"1    "    "    Harry Stewart        "          9    "          75:_

"1    "    "    Thomas Stewart        "          5    "          _ _   

"1    "    Man    Peter Cole            "        73    "          _ _

"1    "    Woman Rachel his wife    "        83    "          _ _

"1    "    "        Nelly Purviance    "        43    "        200._

"1    "    "        Polly Hayes        "        68    "          _ _

"1    "    Man   Luke    Minsky          "        71    "          _ _

"1    "    "    Danl. Branson, lame    "        20    "        250._

"1    "    "    Richard Hamilton        "        43    "        300:_

"1    "    Boy    Benjn. Hawkins        "        14    "        100:_

...............

        In Testimony that the aforegoing is a true Extract, & taken from the Inventory of the personal Estate of Mary

[page 3]

Caton, deceased, as returned by Emily MacTavish, Executrix as aforesaid, and recorded in "Inventories Liber D. M.P. No 59 folio 283[etc?], being one of the Records in the Office of the [possibly symbol for pi] Register of Wills for Baltimore County.

I hereunto subscribe my name, and affix the seal of my Office this thirty first day of December in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and fifty.

Test._     D. M. Perine, Register of Wills for            Baltimore County

 [embossed seal]

[printed seal]

The State of Maryland.

        I, Charles Howard [wavy line] Presiding Justice of the Orphans' Court for Baltimore County, in the State aforesaid, do certify that the aforegoing Attestation of DAVID M. PERINE, Register of Wills for said County, is in due form, and by the proper officer.

        Given from under my hand at the City of Baltimore, this first day of January in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.

                    Charles Howard

[callunavulgari]

Scrapbook 2021 | Part I

For anyone that’s new to this, this is how I keep track of all of the things I enjoy and/or create throughout the year. I have literally been doing this since I had a livejournal. I think the first one was 2011? Maybe? In which case, woohoo, ten years of scrapbooking!

It’s a nice little snippet of my life and helps to organize my brain.

A reminder:

Normal font - Indifferent/Neutral Italicized font - Enjoyed bold font - Loved with an asterisk* - All time favorite (bracketed titles) - Re-watches/Re-reads strikethough - Disliked

Goals are: read 80 books, finish five video games, write more than 20 fics or something larger than 20k, and write either an original short story or start a novel. 

Past Years

MOVIES

January

(Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring)

(Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

(Lord of the Rings: Return of the King)

Robin Hood

(Hook)

Wolfwalkers

February

(Age of Ultron)

From Up On Poppy Hill

(Tangled)

(Onward)

(The Mummy)

(Hercules)

(Promare)

March

Raya and the Last Dragon

(My Neighbor Totoro)

April

(Hunchback of Notre Dame)

(Tarzan)

(Beauty and the Beast)

Weathering With You

BOOKS

January

A Deadly Education | Naomi Novak [Fin]

Home Body | Rupi Kaur [Fin]

The Sunken Mall | K.D. Edwards [Fin]

Bloom | Kevin Panetta [Fin]

The Angel of Crows | Katherine Addison

All the Stars and Teeth | Adalyn Grace [Fin]

The Adventure Zone: Vol 1 | McElroys & Carey Pietsch [Fin]

I Hope You Stay | Courtney Peppernell [Fin]

Pillow Thoughts | Courtney Peppernell [Fin]

Piraneesi | Susanna Clarke [Fin]

The Ex Talk | Rachel Lynn Solomon [Fin]

February

The Adventure Zone: Vol 2 | McElroys & Carey Pietsch [Fin]

The Adventure Zone: Vol 3 | McElroys & Carey Pietsch [Fin]

The Angel of Crows | Katherine Addison

Alice Isn’t Dead | Joseph Fink

March

Winter’s Orbit | Everina Maxwell [Fin]

Fireheart Tiger | Aliette de Bodard [Fin]

Alice Isn’t Dead | Joseph Fink

Fire | Kristin Cashore [Fin]

Bitterblue | Kristin Cashore [Fin]

The Witch’s Heart | Genevieve Gornichec [Fin]

Winterkeep | Kristin Cashore

April

Alice Isn’t Dead | Joseph Fink [Fin]

Winterkeep | Kristin Cashore [Fin]

The Memory Theater | Karin Tidbeck [Fin]

These Violent Delights | Chloe Gong 

(Red White and Royal Blue | Casey Mcquiston) [Fin]

Rule of Wolves | Leigh Bardugo [Fin]

Alice Isn’t Dead | Joseph Fink [Fin]

Not the Girl You Marry | Andie Christopher [Fin]

The Echo Wife | Sarah Gailey [Fin]

The Midnight Library | Matt Haig

Catherine House | Elisabeth Thomas [Fin]

Séance Tea Party | Reimena Yee [Fin]

Lumberjanes vol 1 | Noelle Stevenson [Fin]

PODCASTS

January

The Unseen, Christmas and New Year Special

The Penumbra Podcast, Juno Steel arc, Heart of It All and What Lies Beyond

The Penumbra Podcast, Second Citadel, Strong Arm of Justice and The Priestess’ Fortune

I Am In Eskew, Episode 16

Welcome to Night Vale, Episode 67, 68, and 69

The Magnus Archives, Episode 190 and 191

February

The Magnus Archives, Episode 192-194

The Adventure Zone, Episodes 15-60

March

The Magnus Archives, Episode 194-200 [Fin]

The Adventure Zone, Episodes 60-TAZ BALANCE ENDING

MBMBAM, Episode 1

I Am In Eskew, Episode 17-22

April

I Am In Eskew, Episode 23-END

Alice Isn’t Dead, Episode 18-END

TV SHOWS BY SEASON

January

His Dark Materials, s2 [Fin]

Watcher Entertainment

Buzzfeed Worth It

(Black Sails, s1)

The Queen’s Gambit**

February

Cherry Magic

Wandavision, s1

Watcher Entertainment

The Owl House

(Little Witch Academia)

Star vs the Forces of Evil, s3, s4

Bridgerton

Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime

Heaven’s Official Blessing

March

Wandavision, s1 [Fin]

Watcher Entertainment, Puppet History & Watcher Weekly

Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Word of Honor

April

Word of Honor, s1

Watcher Entertainment, Puppet History

Falcon and the Winter Soldier, s1

Kim’s Convenience, s1, 2, 3, 4

Leverage, s4

Shadow and Bone, s1

The Great, s1

VIDEO GAMES

January

Hades, 37 hours [Fin]

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, 35 hours

February

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, 35 hours

Hades, 75+ hours? 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, 16 hours

Persona 5 Royal

March

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, 45 hours

Persona 5 Royal, 141 hours

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, 35 hours

Concrete Genie, 3 hours

April

Concrete Genie, 6 hours [Fin]

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, 65 hours

Persona 5 Royal, 160 hours

Monster Hunter Rise, 2 hours

Civ, 5 hours

DELIGHTFUL FIC

January

Modern Rustic by beethechange | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 22k | “I think,” he says, finally, “that if we looked around this place hard enough, we’d find a rose underneath a—a glass thing, what’s it called—losing petals. Metaphorically.”

easy livin' by sarcasticfishes | Buzzfeed Unsolved (Fallout AU) | Ryan/Shane | 6k | The Wasteland - and Ryan - through Shane's eyes.

(in nocte consiliam by oxymoronic | Bartimaeus | Bartimaeus/Nathaniel | 4k | London, 2003. Britain is on the brink of war, and someone is trying rather hard to kill John Mandrake.)

made of glass the way you see through me by uneventfulhouses | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 19k | Will it always be like this? Ryan wonders, watching Shane lope up the snowy walkway and pushing his way through the front door, humming some jolly old tune in that way Shane’s prone to do. Theatrical, performing for an audience even though Ryan is the only one around.

All Your Stars In View by alpha_exodus | Harry Potter | Draco/Harry | 18k | Life after the war is difficult for Harry, especially when the only thing that makes him feel better is, oddly enough, being around Malfoy. So when Malfoy asks to paint his portrait, Harry can't refuse, even if it means baring himself in more ways than one.

13 Genuinely Awful Things About Steven by thefourthvine | Buzzfeed Worth It | Steven/Andrew | 10k | Andrew’s learned to like cake, he’s learned to like oysters, and he’s learned to like Steven.

we’ll make a brand new start of it (in old new york) by misantlery | Buzzfeed Worth It | Steven/Andrew | 10k | “Just to be clear,” Andrew says. “You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend at a party to spite your high school bully and your high school girlfriend and possibly the entire state of Ohio?”

Russian Roulette Croquembouche by misantlery | Buzzfeed Worth It | Andrew/Steven | 9k | “Get that on your business card,” Andrew advises. “Steven Lim, video producer, world traveler, fancy dessert boy. Human cream puff.”

rose-colored boy by juniperProse | Buzzfeed Worth It | Steven/Andrew | 2k | Andrew’s eyes are pink.

Like Wildfire by makemadej | Watcher Entertainment | Shane/Ryan | 20k | “Is this gonna be a thing with you?” Ryan demands. “You can’t keep committing to stuff that no one else knows about! When people online say they want you to be more open and vulnerable, this is not what they mean.”

Scratching the Itch by bendingsignpost | Doctor Who | Rose/Ten | 20k | Her mum had always told her that blokes had only one thing on their minds, but this was taking it to an entirely new level.

lie back and let me unlock you by Lise | The Untamed | Xiao Xingchen/Xue Yang | 7k | Xiao Xingchen, reluctantly, admits to certain fantasies that he has. His friend is happy to indulge him.

in our respective ways by Lise | The Untamed | Jiang Cheng & Lan Wangji | 6k | Jiang Cheng has his golden core back. But he seems to have lost Wei Wuxian.

By Proxy by Lise | The Untamed | Jiang Cheng/Lan Wangji | 12k | Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji, looking for comfort in all the wrong places.

some good mistakes by Lise | The Untamed | Jiang Cheng & Lan Wangji | 18k |  Or, the one where Wei Wuxian vanishes and Lan Wangji, reluctantly, asks for Jiang Cheng's help tracking him down.

efforts in a common cause by Lise | The Untamed | Xiao Xingchen/Xue Yang/Song Lan | 12k | Everybody's walked out of Yi City alive. Now it's just three badly adjusted adults (and one badly adjusted teenager) trying to make things work - a project somewhat derailed by a night hunt that turns out to be something else.

swinger of birches by astronicht | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 23k | Lan Zhan is a little witch in the house on the hill, whispering out a love curse. Wei Ying is a witch undead, undone.

let me desecrate you by hkafterdark | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 6k | “Dangerous words.” Wei Wuxian drew back. The flickering candlelight gave him an otherworldly appearance; that, and his beauty, unchanged since the first time Lan Wangji had seen him. “You aren’t afraid to be at the mercy of the fearsome Yiling laozu?”

The Demon Affair by stereobone | Yu Yu Hakusho | Hiei/Kurama | 9k | Kurama accidentally seduces Hiei into a relationship.

i came to win (and i won) by paperclipbitch | The Queen’s Gambit | Beth/Benny | 3k | They play chess, and they fuck.The two things are not the same.

February

Sylvain Gautier Would Love To Try To Solve All Your Problems Through Sex (Hey It Might Help) by Fall Out Boy by harriet_vane | Fire Emblem: Three Houses | Sylvain/Felix | 22k | In which Sylvain wakes up on the wrong tour bus, and refuses to be their sex therapist (unless Felix asks nicely)

Turnabout and Start Again by runningondreams | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 34k | WIP | Wei Wuxian lives. The siege fails.Thirteen years later, Lan Wangji wakes in a body that is not his own.

μήτηρ, in the Greek by antistar_e (kaikamahine) | Hades | Nyx & Persephone, canon relationships | 37k | At the end of this recounting, she tilted her head and asked politely, Is this not how you have children?Uh, no, said Persephone.

that voodoo that you do so well by veterization | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 18k |  Ryan buys a voodoo potion oil at Voodoo Authentica meant to attract Yummy Boys. Appropriately, things happen.

A Bridge Between by Runespoor | Spirited Away | Gen | 3k | Years later, Chihiro moves into a new apartment; her parents help.

the ghost king's bride by arahir | Tian Guan Ci Fu | Hua Cheng/Xie Lian | 10k | Ghosts won't stop giving Xie Lian flowers, Hua Cheng won't stop teasing, and Xie Lian is out here doing his best, man.

Side bitch out of your league by rohkeutta | Captain America | Steve/Bucky | 3k | “I tried to call Sam,” Captain America says, bewildered. He’s sprinting like Usain Bolt and doesn’t sound even a little out of breath. Fucker. “Who’re you?”

cause in your warmth (I forget how cold it can be) by madnessandbrilliance | Promare | Lio/Galo | 7k | Lio is always freezing. Galo is always warm. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the rest.

backdraft by broments | Promare | Lio/Galo | 32k | It happens in an instant, Galo gaping like an idiot while Lio presses forward to defend against the perceived threat, the weapon sparkling but not burning as it kisses Galo's throat.

your perfect crime (& how you laugh when you lie) by aroceu | The Untamed | Lan Zhan/Wei Wuxian | Death Note AU | 8k | The first time a convicted murderer dies of a heart attack in their jail cell, no one thinks anything of it.

Yosuke will now die for you! by DragonBandit | Persona 4 | Yosuke/Souji | 5k | ...This, causes problems.

dramamine by brawlite | The Untamed | Song Lan/Xue Yang | 7k | Song Lan is having a bad morning. Help comes from the last person he'd expect: Xue Yang.

Hearth and Home by lady_ragnell | Leverage | Alec/Eliot/Parker | 1k | When Eliot goes to a temple, or when he’s in one place long enough to build a shrine, he doesn’t do it for Ares. He does it for Hestia.

Where One Ends and the Other Begins by kalliopeia | Leverage | Alec/Parker/Eliot | 30k | Nobody’s particularly shocked when the job goes spectacularly sideways because their loot turns out to be magic. Parker and Eliot begin reading each other’s minds, accidental sharing happens, and shenanigans result.

Hungry Thirsty Roots by coolkidroland | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 56k | In which Akira absolutely does not learn to leave well enough alone. **

Without Grasping Yet by Angelic_Ascent | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 8k | Akechi and Akira end up far too cramped for comfort in the Morgana bus. And then they're left alone in Mementos.

Falling Up by KivaEmber | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 2k | “If it helps…” Akira spoke up suddenly, his tone morbidly amused, “I forgive you, for shooting me in the face.”

March

Touch of Forbidden by tirsynni | LoZ | Ganondorf/Link | 2k |  Nabooru warned him not to travel to the Spirit Temple. So of course Link went to the Spirit Temple.

breaking the same old heart by tardigradeschool | The Adventure Zone | Magnus/Taako | 11k | Taako and Magnus in triptych: before, during, and after the Bureau.**

your head is good, it’s loyal, it’s clean by Anonymous | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 4k | "Here, I do this all the time."Too quickly for him to react, Taako plucks away one of his golden rings and slips it onto the ring finger of Magnus' left hand.

bruising kisses, whispered confessions by tangerine_skye | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 3k | The trio stop over at an inn for the night. Taako and Magnus share a bed.

i can see what's coming (but i'm not saying it) by pansywaist | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 3k | His breath is still hot on Taako's lips, distracting enough he almost misses the strained whisper: “I thought I was gonna lose you.”

Emergency Consolation in the Pocket Spa by Anonymous | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 3k | If Magnus wants to hug a wizard, Magnus gets to hug a wizard.

together for the long haul by kismetNemesis | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 6k | Magnus and Taako were married on a bright spring day in the year after they saved the world.

thin skin, bruises, and a cold cup of tea by GayFrankensteinsMonster | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 3k | Sleep is for the weak, and Magnus has no weaknesses, except for his own natural curiosity.

tender is the night by dollylux | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 10k |  “It’s just…” He runs a hand through the thick bramble of his hair, gripping the crown of it to anchor himself. He sighs, slumping back against the footboard. “I guess I’m just not very good at one on one. Like, not… not in any way.”

a note is attached to the top of the vial by GayFrankensteinsMonster | TAZ | Kravitz/Taako, Magnus/Taako | 5k |  Elves have a lifespan of up to six hundred years. The people that you know don't even come close to that.

Pieces of Memory and Heart by ellemaris | Raya and the Last Dragon | Raya/Namaari | 1k | Raya isn't sure how to heal everything between Heart and Fang, but returning something important to Namaari seems like a start.

the gods laugh by miss_aphelion | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 11k+ | WIP | Wei Wuxian is just getting used to being alive again when he's ripped from the world he knows. He wakes in a place where his sister and her husband live, where his brother doesn't hate him, where the Wen remnants have all survived.

In Your Room, In Your Bed by giraffeter | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji/Jiang Cheng | 25k | After Wei Ying is disowned, Yu Ziyuan forbids Jiang Cheng from letting Wei Ying live with him. Jiang Cheng lets him stay anyway because Fuck That. He tells his parents Lan Zhan is his new roommate instead.

in the blossom season (in the pouring rain) by varnes | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 14k |  “Doctor Flowers,” Lan Zhan repeats, pointing at the tiny plum tree, just to confirm that his son is suggesting a magical tree named Doctor Flowers sprouted overnight and made their tame family project turn into a verdant jungle.

34 years old - 5'8" - DL - no-BB by withpractice_ff | Ace Attorney | Edgeworth/Phoenix | 3k | Phoenix finds Edgeworth’s Grindr profile

spinning with the stars above by tardigradeschool | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 7k | Wangji returns home to Vulcan for the first time since he left for Starfleet Academy, this time with Wei Ying at his side. He’s not expecting Wei Ying and his uncle to be fast friends, but things go poorly in a very different way than he was expecting.

every breath that comes before by tardigradeschool | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 10k | Or, what if that cup of wine Wei Wuxian drank for Lan Wangji after the Phoenix Mountain hunt wasn't just wine?

never love an anchor by tardigradeschool | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 31k | A fisherman and a selkie fall in love beside the sea. Regretfully, things are never quite that simple.

Be Careful by giraffeter | The Untamed | Song Lan/Xue Yang | 5k |  Song Lan and Xue Yang try to survive a week in their shared apartment without Xiao Xingchen as a buffer.

  won't you let me know you now by tardigradeschool | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 12k | WIP | “Have you ever heard of a mind meld?” Wangji keeps his voice as level as possible, as if he is not revealing foremost Vulcan secrets.

April

running for a soft place to fall by tardigradeschool | The Untamed | Lan Xichen & Lan Wangji | 10k |  As he leaves for his coming of age test at age twelve, half-Vulcan Xichen has a goal in mind. The rules of the kahs-wan prohibit taking food, water, or weapons. In accordance, Xichen is bringing none of those things, but he does have a compass tucked into his pocket. He is going to find his father.

an act too often neglected by Ariaste | The Untamed | Lan Xichen/Meng Yao | 60k | The single faceless, anonymous photograph on the profile that catches his eye is shot in elegant black-and-white, and there’s something about the crispness of the focus and the markedly off-center composition that says art, for once, rather than mugshot.The caption below is equally sparse: “5’6. Demanding.”

where you go, I'm going (so jump and I'm jumping) by Aria | The Magnus Archives | Martin/Jonathan | 6k | "I don't think so," Alex said. She looked at Martin. "Is this really how it went?"

Morning, keep the streets empty for me by feyburner | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 6k | Ghosts were drawn to the ring roads.

2am on a saturday by detectorist | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 11k | In which Lan Zhan gets high, slides into Wei Ying's DMs, and somehow ends up having the harmonica played to him at 2am in the morning.

Grief Kindly Stopped by ShanaStoryteller | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 5k | Nothing leaves the Burial Mounds alive.

superhero love triangle by Asuka Kureru (Askerian) | Bleach?! | Grimmjow/Ichigo | WIP | 17k | You know those classical superhero-genre love triangles that actually only contain two people? Yeah.

Boat Basin by downjune | The Falcon and the Winter Soldier | 5k |  He thought the 21st century now maybe suffered from an overabundance of classifications for all the different ways to fuck and/or romance a person, but the most important thing—and his therapist had emphasized this—the most important thing was connection.

my touch magnifies by isozyme | Word of Honor | Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu/Ye Baiyi | 7k | Wen Kexing gets hit with fuck-or-die sex pollen on the way to Longyuan cabinet. Everything would be fine, except Zhou Zishu’s been keeping an unfortunate secret: the nails in his chest mean he can’t get hard anymore.

DELIGHTFUL FANVIDS

January

2020 || Multifandom Mashup

Hades - Official Animated Trailer

Hades Mini-PMV: This Year

2020, I guess

MARVEL || Energy (ft. Easy McCoy + Black Hydra)

obi-wan || give it

2020 ll Multifandom Mashup

Multifandom | Goodbye 2020

Multifandom | Goodbye 2018

2018 Multifandom | MASHUP

His Dark Materials - No Sanctuary

Lyra & Mrs. Coulter | Hurricane

► mrs. coulter || way down we go [hdm]

Wonder Woman || BORN READY 

Vikings | The End of the Journey

February

MARVEL || Ready Set (ft. Vo Williams)

MARVEL || Here We Go (ft. Chris Classic)

MARVEL || Is You Ready || The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Never forget || Hualian - Hua Cheng x Xie Lian AMV 

【魔道祖师 / MDZS】Animatic - The First Siege | Safe & Sound

The Jedi Way | THE MANDALORIAN

Multifandom || Going Bad (feat. Drake)

March

Broccolli Casserole--The Untamed

Hey Brother - The Adventure Zone Animatic/PMV

The Adventure Zone: Balance trailer

The Adventure Zone: Balance Arc Trailer (Animatic)

13 Year Olds (A MDZS Animatic by Arcxus)

Multifandom || Die In This Town

DNA | shadow & bone

(Marvel) Wanda Maximoff | Grief

Defying Gravity | MDZS/CQL Animatic

It’s Quiet Uptown | MDZS Animatic

To The Stars

(Marvel) WandaVision || Awaken

Walt Disney Animation Studios | A Magical Journey

We don't have forever.

stop living a fake life.

► Wanda Maximoff | PAINT IT BLACK (+15k)

Multifandom || Take It (c/w Quang Truong) ft. @SEIGE WORLD​

Kylo Ren | STAR WARS

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

April

MARVEL || Natural ft.ImagineDragons

​ xue yang & xiao xingchen ➤ gasoline

WEN KEXING || GASOLINE

Wen Kexing ✘ Zhou Zishu || Dandelions

Play With Fire - Wen Kexing

TOXIC ~ Wen Kexing ~ word of honor ~ 山河令

(Marvel) Bucky Barnes | Free

Bucky Barnes | Feeling Good

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier || Next Level ft. @7kingZ​ || (Marvel)

Eternity looking down on us.

The complexity of reality.

Captain America

✗ The Crows | Trouble (Shadow&Bone)

Shadow & Bone | Paint It Black

The secret fate of all life.

DELIGHTFUL MUSIC

January

A Better Version - Jessie Shelton

Start a War - Klergy, Valerie Broussard

Meet Me in the Dark - Melissa Etheridge

ily - Surf Mesa, Emilee

Space Man - Eurielle

To Be Loved - Aurora

In the Blood - Darren Korb

Can’t Help Falling in Love - Tommee Profitt

Astronomical - SVRCINA

Oh Comely - Neutral Milk Hotel

In This Shirt - The Irrepressibles

goblincore + cottagecore

moonlit love letters 🌙💌 (sailor moon-inspired lofi mix)

Moonlight Densetsu Lo-Fi Remix 1 hour version

Peaceful Meditation

February

Never Forget You - Zara Larsson

Is You Ready - Migros

Recomposed Four Seasons - Max Richter

The End - JPOLND

Love Yourself - Sufjan Stevens

Deja | Daniel Roure

Used To Like | Neon Trees

Material Boy - Sir Sly

Willow - Taylor Swift

Overture - Apashe

Evangeline - Josh Garrels

Gris, pt 1 - Berlinist

Inferno - Hiroyuki Sawano

March

BAMBAM - Angie

Dictator - Rei Ami

Demons - Hayley Kiyoko

Runaway - Rei Ami

Deep Blue - Marcus Warner

Brave New World - Kalandra

Nero - The Speed

The Path of Silence - Anne Sophie Versnaeyen

Tuleloits - Kerli

Soft to Be Strong - Marina

Relic - Reeder

Ascension - Gorillaz

Will You Follow Me Into the Dark - Klergy

Voidfish (Plural) - Rachel Mitchell

Raya and the Last Dragon soundtrack

Unicorn Wizard - Ninja Sex Party

Me Too - Meghan Trainor

Umbrella - Rihanna

Colors Flying High - Lollia

Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There - Lyn

lovely - khalid

Burn My Dread - Lotus Juice

Progress - The Dear Hunter

My Mother Told Me - Rachel Hardy

Savage Daughter - Sarah Ross

Four - Sleeping At Last

April

The Other Side - Amarante

Predator & Prey - Griffin Puatu

As the World Caves In -Matt Maltese

Tell Her I Wasn’t Scared - Dan Thiessen

Esmeralda - Adriel Genet

Woods - AfterInfinity

So Human of You - Shireen

Flags of Rome - Jesper Kyd

Do It All the Time - I don’t Know How But They Found Me

Hummingbirds - Venus Hum

On and On - Curtis Harding

Grand Escape - RADWIMPS

my ex’s best friend - machine gun kelly

Sofia - Clairo 

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Charlotte Lawrence

Next Level - 7KingZ

Tell Me - Johnny Jewel

Get Out of Town - Firefles

Music for Anglo Saxes

I See Darkness In You - Red Mecca

Satan Is His Name - Holly Golightly

Rocky Trail - Kings of Convenience

Story - NF

Because the Night - 10,000 Maniacs

Use to Be (L.O.V.E.) - Chelsea Collins

Bird on a Wire - Simone Istwa

Huzzah - Nathan Barr

POSTED FIC

January

gonna make you feel, boy | Hades | Megaera/Thanatos/Zagreus | 1,101 words | “You can touch, you know,” she murmurs, satisfaction and anticipation warring within her. Her pulse pounds. Zagreus’s eyes have darkened, his pupils eating up all that color. He looks good enough to eat.

February

how long do we have? | She Ra | Adora/Catra | 1,539 words | “The war is over, Adora,” Catra tells her. Adora hums. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

March

only fools rush in | The Adventure Zone | Taako/Magnus | 5,209 words | “Okay,” Taako says, sitting down heavily. “So. Ancient ritual to… bring people together?”

til my lungs both billow out | The Magnus Archives | Jon/Martin | 748 words | The knife goes in. The tape runs out.

the echo, as wide as the equator | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 2,927 words |  “Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying whispers after it is done.

April

N/A

WIPS | UNPUBLISHED | ORIGINAL

January

1685 words of Buzzfeed Unsolved, tattoo AU

February

N/A

March

3121 words of Magnus/Taako, Stolen Century verse Posted!

April

852 words of Steve/Billy

FANMIXES/GRAPHICS

January

got the morbs: sad/somber songs for sad/somber people

2021: a mix for the year that comes after 2020

Sahara Baby: a mix for songs that sound like Spanish Sahara

Fire Baby: a mix for songs that sound like Play With Fire

Consequences Baby: a mix for songs that sound like Consequences

Paradise Baby: a mix for songs that sound like Paradise Valley

Real Boy: a Zagreus playlist

February

N/A

March

only fools rush in: a taako/magnus playlist

pomegranate seeds: a persephone playlist

make them bow: a megaera playlist

fuck feelings: a taako playlist

til my lungs both billow out: a jonmartin playlist

April

i am my mother’s savage daughter: a playlist for the girl

[yasbxxgie]

Breaking Bones, Breaking Barriers: Black Stuntmen Honored at African American History Museum

Greg Wayne Elam knows what it’s like to face adversity.

In 1976, he was a strapping 29-year-old stuntman trying to make his mark in Hollywood. While on the set of the film “King Kong” he was charged with scaling a 60-foot telephone pole, dressed only in a loincloth. Elam gradually inched his way up the narrow structure, only to learn that the stabilizing safety device that the stunt coordinator had assured him would be at the top, was not there.

He had two options: plunge to the ground and risk losing the gig (not to mention, life or limb) or hold on for dear life. He chose the latter.

“I had on a G-string, it was the month of February and the wind was blowing and that pole was shaking,” remembers Elam, 69, with a chuckle. “I just held on tight. About two hours went by; it had gotten to a point where I didn’t have any circulation left in my legs. I couldn’t feel my legs at all.”

As if the situation couldn’t get worse, the crew filmed his scene from various angles and then went on to shoot others without signaling to Elam that he was cleared to come down. Fellow black stuntmen Ernie Robinson and Richard Washington ultimately came to his rescue on the set, helping him down with a crane-like device known as a scissor lift.

“They weren’t hiring black stuntmen in Hollywood back then, so when we did get work they would challenge us on the set,” recalls Elam, of Orange County, California, who went on to snag high-profile stunt work for popular black stars Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor and Gregory Hines among others. “We just took the challenge until they recognized us as stuntmen. We fought for the right to have equal opportunity. We didn’t do it for glory, we did it because it was the right thing to do.”

Elam and fellow members of the Black Stuntmen's Association (BSA) – many of whom had also endured overt racial discrimination in the film and television industry: such as threats of physical harm, name calling and being shut out of jobs altogether – were formally honored at the Sept. 24 grand opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

BSA memorabilia, props, photos and news articles are featured in the entertainment-themed “Taking The Stage” exhibit. Members of the group hope to meet President and Mrs. Obama who are both scheduled to attend and make remarks at the star-studded affair at the National Mall's newest landmark museum.

“The Smithsonian? This is just unbelievable,” gushes Stone Mountain, Ga.- based character actor Alexander Folk, 70, who bonded with BSA members during his brief stint as a stuntman in the 80s. “When we were working out and doing stunts together, never did we think in our wildest dreams that something like this would come. That’s where not giving up comes into play. This honor is a testament to the fact that your wildest dreams will come to pass if you don’t give up. This honor is long overdue.”

A group of 25 black stuntmen came together in 1967 to found the BSA, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, in an effort to generate jobs for African American stuntmen. It also provided a safe space for stuntmen – and eventually stuntwomen of all races too – to bond, vent, network and hone their craft.

When the BSA took legal action against the major motion picture studios 40 years ago their main goal was to eradicate the widespread practice known as “painting down” in which white male actors essentially wore blackface. Stuntmen dressed up as women often stood in for actresses, leaving many stuntwomen unemployed too.

BSA members filed Equal Employment Opportunity charges against the major studios in 1976 and ultimately secured a settlement agreement. As a result of their groundbreaking lawsuit, current BSA head Willie Harris says the major studios, including Paramount, Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros. were forced to pay stunt performers of color an undisclosed amount of money in damages.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chief, actually helped them secure the lawyer who argued the case.

“Even though the black stuntmen fought tirelessly to get the major studios to end this disgraceful and racist practice some 40 years ago, as recently as 2014, Warner Bros. was slammed for painting down a white [stuntwoman] on the set of the show 'Gotham.' This is Hollywood’s dirty little secret that they don’t want you to know,” said Nonie L. Robinson, granddaughter of late BSA Founding President Robinson, who is best known for his stunts on the “Miami Vice" television series, as well as the films “King Kong,” the original “Planet of the Apes" and "Greased Lightning.”

“When we started there were no black producers, cameramen, directors, makeup artists and lots of other positions,” asserts Harris, 75, of Las Vegas. “After our lawsuit the big studios had no choice but to start hiring them too. When the Civil Rights Movement was going on in this country, we were doing the same kind of fight in Hollywood and we won. We were the pioneers; we changed the industry for the better. Because of us, folks like Denzel [Washington], Samuel [Jackson], Will [Smith], Jamie [Foxx] Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry now have access to better roles.”

Three years earlier, in 1973, the BSA took on American Honda Motor Co. Inc., accusing the company of refusing to hire black actors and stuntmen for its television commercials. The job discrimination lawsuit, which was endorsed by the United Auto Workers Union, asserted that over a three-year period, only three black performers out of 120 were used in 27 Honda motorcycle commercials aired on television. Honda reps formally denied any wrongdoing, but Harris says a spokesperson pointedly told their lawyer, “blacks didn’t show a good image on television.”

Harris says embattled actor and comedian of late Bill Cosby is widely lauded as being the first of the major black Hollywood stars – an exceptionally small number at the time – to demand that a black stuntman be hired to double for him on the set of his 60’s era television series “I, Spy.” Actors Harry Belafonte, Lou Gossett Jr. and Sidney Poitier also reportedly pushed for inclusion.

The BSA is also known for promoting equality for stuntwomen, ultimately becoming the first professional organization of its kind to invite women of all hues to join. “You can call it a movement, a struggle or a fight, but overall [the BSA] was about increasing opportunities for African Americans in the entertainment industry,” says veteran stuntwoman Jadie David, 66, who worked as actress Pam Grier’s stunt double during the blaxploitation film era. “It was called the Black Stuntmen’s Association, but their fight evolved to include people of color, women and all marginalized people in the entertainment industry.”

Robinson, of Los Angeles, will be joining the BSA “pioneers” during their trip to D.C. to shoot footage for a documentary she is working on, chronicling their “untold” and “courageous” story of breaking down “the barriers of race and gender in Hollywood against incredible and dangerous odds.”

“Many times they didn’t have the proper safety equipment or airbags; they literally put their lives on the line every day,” adds Robinson. “Once they got on those sets, they didn’t know if they would make it home [alive] or not. They paid a high price for inclusion.”

Robinson says famed music producer Quincy Jones is executive producer for the aptly titled “Breaking Bones, Breaking Barriers,” which Robinson is producing with Cecilia Peck, the film’s director and daughter of famed actor Gregory Peck. The full-length feature is set to be released in 2017 and will include interviews with BSA members, activists, journalists, Smithsonian reps and Academy Award-winning actors Gossett Jr. and Whoopi Goldberg.

In 2012, the BSA received an NAACP Image Award; state legislators in California, Mississippi and Nevada have also celebrated the organization. Most members agree, however, that being a part of a Smithsonian exhibit feels like a once-in-a-lifetime honor.

As for Elam, it seems he landed on his feet in more ways than one, when he managed to get down that telephone pole 40 years ago. He went into full retirement in 2010, after many years working as a stuntman, leading a highly-sought-after stunt training class and also working as the stunt coordinator for many films, including “Deep Cover,” “Hoodlum” and “The Color Purple.”

He has officially passed the torch; all three of his adult sons, Ousaun, Kiante and Kofi now work as stuntmen for some of the most elite black film stars: Samuel Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Will Smith, Don Cheadle and Jamie Foxx.

Harris says he and his BSA colleagues take pride in knowing that they helped pave the way: “We were the ones who opened the door.”

[v]

Photographs:

The Black Stuntmen Association circa 1965

Stuntwoman Jadie David, bottom, hits the ground after jumping from a derailing rollercoaster during the filming of the 1977 film "RollerCoaster." The fall broke her back.

Pioneer Stuntman and Stunt Coordinator Ernie Robinson and Philip Michael Thomas on the set of "Miami Vice" in the 1980's

Pioneer Stuntman Ernie Robinson dressed as the character "Tubbs" from "Miami Vice", pictured with Edward James Olmos in the 1980's

Willie Harris and Alex Brown in 2016

[armageddon-generation]

Starting the DCEU right: fixing BvS and its lead-up

BvS is really frustrating, so I rewrote it, re-ordered the existing movies and inserted in a Batman movie

1. Wonder Woman

Start the DCEU off with  a ‘bold’ statement with the first female led superhero movie, and the first chronologically.

2. Man of Steel

Bright colours, bloody hell

Cut the heavy-handed Jesus/Messiah symbolism. Superman was created by Jews anyway, Christiansing him feels disrespectful

Put it in chronological order starting in Smallville, so we’re invested in Clark’s struggle

Pa Kent doesn’t die in a tornado, that scene is ridiculous

Move the Krypton sequence in the beginning to when Jor El is explaining Clark’s origin to him in the Arctic ship, so we maintain the mystery and don’t repeat ourselves

Focus on Clark trying to live a normal life – his relationship with Lois, becoming a reporter, while he fights regular crime in secret (the Smallville blur trope)

Zodd attacking disrupts that peace and forces Superman to go public for the first time

Thematically, classic ‘regular guy doing the right thing’ Richard Donner Superman is fighting off the ‘detached alien Messiah figure’ Zack Snyder Superman Zodd wants him to become

Metropolis’ destruction and Clark being forced to kill Zodd still happens, but show Clark trying to avoid populated areas and save bystanders instead of fight, Zodd just won’t let him.

3. Batman: Under the Red Hood

Under the Red Hood (UtRH) with a depressed robin-less Batman

Follow basic outline of UtRH animated movie (75 mins) in a 2-hour movie, incorporating elements of The Killing Joke

UtRH is a mystery that lets us focus on Batman’s detective side

Talia resurrected Jason as an apology to Bruce – allude to Damian’s existence when we visit the League of Assassins and establish their past romance

UtRH is the perfect story to introduce the batfamily - Bruce still isn’t talking to Dick after kicking him out to become Nightwing, the Red Hood pushes them to work together, but uncovering Jason’s identity fractures their relationship further (fight?)

Killing Joke happened recently and Barbra is still recovering. Show the events leading up to and after it in PTSD flashbacks, but framed through Barbra’s empowering story of recovery, not the traumatic incident itself. Maybe introduce Leslie Thompkins as her therapist.

Bruce is also estranged from Commissioner Gordon as a result of Killing Joke. When Jason finds out the Joker paralysed Barbra after he died and Bruce still let him live, he’s even angrier

This story is the perfect set-up for the DCEU’s (recast) Joker; he’s a secondary villain to Jason, but by mixing both UtRH and Killing Joke, his two most famous/heinous crimes, he immediately becomes a terrifying bogeyman with an established relationship with Batman

Stealth set-up for Birds of Prey (Oracle), Nightwing, and Red Hood and the Outlaws movies

By the end of the movie both Jason  and Joker escape and Bruce is left isolated and questioning his no-kill code after Jason’s arguments, Joker escaping yet again, and all his recent trauma, setting up his emotional state for BvS

The only ones to stay by his side are Alfred and Lucius Fox

4. Batman vs Superman

Clark is our protagonist, Bruce the sympathetic villain who’s redeemed by the end

After killing Zodd in MoS, Clark is determined not to kill – CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT through an opening action sequence

He and Lois are newlyweds 

Clark wants to be trusted, and that means conforming to government control (like in The Dark Knight Returns, except this time it’s sympathetic) – his moral dilemma is whether them controlling Superman is a good thing

Clark hates Batman because Bruce is becoming more and more recklessly violent (The Dark Knight Returns) since UtRH and The Killing Joke and his support structure collapsing. Clark reports on how the Bat-Brand is causing criminal deaths (which is now a big No-No for Supes, without him being  a hypocrite) - cut the unimportant conflict with Perry White

During the Metropolis attack Bruce loses someone. I don’t like killing a black character, but it makes the most sense that Lucius Fox would be in the Wayne Tech building and die. The audience has a history with the character – not only was he in UtRH, but also the Dark Knight Trilogy.

Alfred loses a leg, as in the Earth One graphic novels – that gruffer version of the character is similar to Jeremy Irons’ portrayal anyway

Bruce now has legitimate reasons to fear Clark, and he has no support network left.

Wayne Industries is funding the rebuilding of Metropolis, in collaboration with Lexcorp (like in the No Man’s Land comic event). Lex (recast) is presented as an ally to Bruce, sympathising with and stoking the flames of his Superman hatred

Insert the Diana subplot in here – BUT DON’T SPOIL HER BEING IN THE MOVIE IN THE TRAILERS. Bruce catches her snooping around at one of Lex’s fundraisers for rebuilding Metropolis. 

Lex doesn’t just have her photo – in the hundred years since Wonder Woman, Diana has become a protector of mythological beings (Nick Fury for the Gods). Instead of the email attachment of Justice League teaser trailers, Lex has stolen information from Diana that reveals the locations of Themascyra and Atlantis, the sister cities.

Bruce and Diana can have a philosophical discussion about new gods outmoding old gods without it being out of place – Diana is unsure of her place in this changing world

Lex is also planning to run for President – he encourages Bruce’s anti-authoritarian sentiment. The GCPD have started a manhunt for the more brutal Batman. Legitimise this sentiment further by having Clark’s main contact to the Government be morally corrupt Amanda Waller (replacing Holly Hunter’s Senator) who wants to use Clark in black-ops missions.

We see one of these missions. Amanda wants Clark to kill, which he refuses to do, only for her to kill the targets anyway. (a version of the drone strike scene that opened the original BvS)

This causes huge moral conflict for Clark – show he and Lois debating and supporting each other at home – Lois doesn’t trust Waller and starts investigating her.

Bring in the Sons of Batman subplot from The Dark Knight Returns – Batman’s brutal new tactics inspire a gang of, deadly copycat vigilantes. Possibly you could turn them into the We Are Robin gang from Scott Snyder’s comic run

We learn about the gang from the POV of one kid – Tim Drake (or Duke Thomas, but we’d have to give him Tim’s origin – figuring out Batman’s identity as a child detective)

Tim experiences the terror and violence Batman’s new brutality is inspiring on the streets of Gotham – he goes to Wayne Manor, only to find it abandoned. Alfred lets him into the Batcave to shake some sense into Bruce, and Tim gives his pitch about Batman always needing a Robin to balance him. Bruce kicks him out.

A scene where Lex inducts the wheelchair-bound Metropolis victim into his scheme.

The conflict and tension is driven up by Superman breaking up a Sons of Batman rally, then confronting Batman while he’s torturing some criminals.

Bruce is working on his power armour, exhausted. Here we see a version of the Knightmare sequence:

Future!Barry runs in, grabs Bruce and zips into the post-apocalypse to show him the future. This is the only time we see Batman kill in the movie – driven over the edge. He is fighting Evil Superman, bearded in the black suit, looking a lot like Zodd. Darkseid looms as a dark, unidentified figure in the distance. Barry runs Bruce back, yelling to find him in the present and watch out for Luthor, but Darkseid’s Omega beams hit and kill him just as Bruce is thrown back into the Cave.

He passes out, then wakes up later, convinced he’d had a dream about Superman destroying the world.

Lex lets Batman steal the kryptonite – he’s getting desperate

Finally, with the Batman crisis worsening, Waller orders Clark to take Bruce down.  Bruce is waiting with his power armour.

The fight should be a pastiche of fights from the comics – sonic weapons and kryptonite gas, but also Red Sun lasers and that moment in Hush where Bruce electrocutes Clark with the mains supply of a whole city.

Meanwhile, Lois’ investigation into Waller has uncovered that the government agents ordering Clark around answer to Lex Luthor. She realises Lex has been manipulating Superman and Batman into fighting in the hopes of killing both (supplying the kryptonite etc). Mercy Graves shows up to kill her but Lois escapes.

Meanwhile, Tim breaks back into the Batcave and steals a Robin suit.

Both Tim and Lois arrive at the scene of the fight and stop Bruce delivering the final blow. Instead of MARTHA!, Tim and Lois talk their respective heroes down, Lois explains Lex’s role. Bruce remembers Barry’s warning – was that dream real?

Lex realises what’s going on and releases his Big Bad, Metallo (replacing shit Doomsday), a kryptonite-powered cyborg mech created from the wheelchair-bound Metropolis victim and  Kryptonian-killing weapons technology from Zodd’s ship. This way the fight ties in with the consequences of Clark destroying Metroplolis.

Diana, having been in the Lexcorp facility to steal her information back, arrives to fight with Clark and Bruce. She’s decided she’s still a hero.

The power is out in Gotham after Bruce used the mains to fight Clark, and the city is in chaos.

Bruce enlists Tim to evacuate the city and stop rioting while Clark and Diana fight Metallo – adapting the Dark Knight Returns sequence where Bruce rides through Gotham on horseback, enlisting the Sons of Batman to do some good.

This is the culmination of Bruce’s arc; accepting Superman is needed while stopping a repeat of Metropolis’ destruction by damage-controlling his fight. He’s also taking responsibility for his impact on Gotham through the gang.

Lex remotely sets Metallo to self-destruct when he starts losing the fight. Clark tries to save his enemy (DEVELOPMENT from MoS) but dies in the explosion due to the fatal dose of radiation poisoning. This death sets up the next 'phase’ of movies

We’ve set up several threads for future movies – we are aware of Atlantis thanks to Diana’s information, without having Aquaman thrown in our faces.

Lex gets away – Bruce breaks into his office and confronts him, but Lex is untouchable and still running for President

Bruce is now privately investigating what he saw in the Knightmare, including finding Barry Allen

Tim starts training to be the next Robin – Bruce is learning from his mistakes with Jason.

Amanda Waller sets up Suicide Squad

Lois is revealed to be pregnant with Clark’s child at the end, paralleling Clark’s natural birth in Man of Steel

[phroyd]

For 63-year old U.S. Post Office carrier Peggy Frank, that Friday marked her first day back at work after recovering from a broken ankle. At 3:35 p.m., Frank was pronounced dead after paramedics found her unresponsive in her non-air-conditioned truck. In September, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office confirmed what seemed a forgone conclusion: Frank died of hyperthermia — she overheated.

A few months later, in November, the Woolsey Fire swept through Malibu and parts of the San Fernando Valley. The blaze killed three and forced the evacuation of almost 300,000 people, burning 96,000 acres and destroying 1,643 structures. Then, after heavy rain in areas scarred by the fire, came the mudslides in December and January that killed one person and closed portions of the Pacific Coast Highway.

For most of the population, climate change is too big a thing to grapple with. As the theorist Timothy Morton argued, it’s a “hyperobject” — it is too big, too sprawling in time and space, and too complex to see fully from any single vantage point. It’s numbing. But by narrowing our focus, we can catch more than a glimpse. It may be easier to understand climate change at the regional level, says Katherine Davis Reich, associate director of UCLA’s Center for Climate Science. “We can all appreciate what climate change impacts would be in our backyard and act on that, much more than at the global level.”

Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the United States, is perched precariously on the edge of the Pacific. Not long ago, it was the nation’s frontier; today, its cultural industries produce the globe’s films, music, and television, always hunting for the next new thing. Here, the line between the present and the future has always been thin. As it swelters, burns, erodes, and collapses, that barrier may have been swept away altogether. For L.A., 2018 was not a sign of things to come. It’s a sign of things that have arrived.

That Los Angeles should exist at all is itself a tale of the extraordinary becoming commonplace. An underpopulated backwater until the discovery of oil in 1892, today’s L.A. is a thick smear of civilization over what may not actually be a desert, but what certainly has the mythic feel of one. Precariousness is the resting state of L.A.’s collective unconsciousness.

The city has been grappling with ecological collapse since its beginnings — and not just in films like Chinatown or San Andreas. In 1927, the Los Angeles Times warned of an environmental reckoning: “I was pessimistic enough to imagine that self-confident Los Angeles had forgotten Babylon, Palmyra, Palestine, China and Timgad. What I now saw was our own beloved land. And I saw sand dunes, sage brush, aridity, stately ruins, idle derricks, desolation.”

“By the end of century, a distinctly new regional climate state emerges.” This climate includes a new, fifth season: a super summer.

Even the most dire predictions don’t suggest that Los Angeles will go the way of Timgad — a Roman colony in modern-day Algeria that is now covered by sand. People will still flock here, and even if the city were to collapse, it would happen over a much longer time scale. Still, by 2069, Los Angeles could well be on the way to a new season of misery.

“With the exception of the highest elevations and a narrow swath very near the coast, where the increases are confined to a few days, land locations see 60–90 additional extremely hot days per year by the end of century,” one study concluded. Downtown Los Angeles could experience up to 54 days measuring 95 degrees or higher by 2100, a ninefold jump. By then, temperatures in Riverside could reach over 95 degrees for half the year.

“By the end of century,” the authors of the study found, “a distinctly new regional climate state emerges.” This climate includes a new, fifth season: a super summer, driving people indoors for weeks at a time, stressing the power grid with heavy demand for air conditioning, and wreaking havoc on agriculture and, by extension, the food supply.

Climate change plays favorites, and the heat increase would not be evenly felt. In fact, its unequal distribution could create an “environmental justice story,” explains Davis Reich. “Areas like the San Fernando, the San Gabriel Valley, or the Inland Empire, where the extreme heat burden is already greater, are where the season of extreme heat will occur — parts of the region that are arguably less well-equipped to deal with compared to places like Santa Monica.” There’s a dark irony there, since wealthier people produce more carbon emissions. “The people who have contributed to the problem the least are going to suffer from it earlier and more,” Davis Reich says.

Meanwhile, beaches in Los Angeles will be facing their own threats. Rising sea levels will attack the coast in at least two ways: inundating beaches and eroding cliffs. “Our beaches are compromised. Not just from overall sea level rise, but also coastal storm events,” says Lauren O’Connor Faber, the city’s chief sustainability officer.

In 2017, scientists modeled the effects of sea level rise on 500 kilometers of shoreline in Southern California. A sea level rise of 0.93 to two meters, they predicted, would result in the loss of 31 to 67 percent of beaches in Southern California, including some of its most well-known. A separate USC studyconcluded, “In Malibu, both low and high sea level rise scenarios suggest that long segments of beach will essentially disappear by 2030.”

“Those beaches are the basis for a lot of California’s identity,” said the first study’s lead author, Sean Vitousek, an assistant professor of civil and materials engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Vitousek was part of another research project predicting that because of rising sea levels, sea cliffs in Southern California would erode, on average, up to 120 feet over the next 80 years. By comparison, the rate of cliff erosion in California over the past 80 years maxed out at 1.5 feet. At the end of the century, the model predicted an increase in cliff erosion of “27–185% above historically observed retreat rates.”

Those changes put more than just surfers and beachcombers in peril. In 2060, sea level rise will likely put between 414 and 3,979 homes along the coast in the L.A. region at risk of flooding — up to $3 billion in value. Beach nourishment — artificially adding sand to bulk out the shoreline — is one option but may not be enough. The coast could be armored with sea walls, cliffs shored up, and sea gates constructed. Vitousek says that a shoreline retreat strategy might be needed — but it won’t be easy. “Because there is so much money involved in all of this, people will fight tooth and nail to keep themselves on the coast for as long as possible,” he says.

And as the coastline advances, the forests around Los Angeles have already begun to burn.

In December 2017, a series of 27 wildfires ignited in Southern California, including the Thomas Fire, which burned more than 281,000 acres across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, resulting in two deaths and the evacuation of more than 200,000 people. Less than a year later, the Woolsey Fire burned 96,949 acres, spreading south from the mountains into Malibu, where it destroyed hundreds of homes and killed three people.

If you think think of 1994’s Northridge earthquake as L.A.’s signature disaster, the coming decades may make you reconsider. Because while climate change may not have much effect on earthquakes, it will lead to more — and more destructive — wildfires. The area burned by Santa Ana fires is predicted to increase by 64 percent by the middle of the century, compared to 1981 to 2000, while non–Santa Ana fires, which occur from June to September and are concentrated inland, will increase by 77 percent. The number of structures destroyed will rise as well — 20 percent for Santa Ana fires and 74 percent for non–Santa Ana fires. Santa Ana fires currently threaten 3,400 structures in an average year, while non–Santa Ana fires put 440 structures at risk per year.

Eventually, all that risk adds up.

“One thing that often gets lost is that wildfires are perfectly natural,” Davis Reich says. “These landscapes were made to burn and need to burn periodically to be healthy. When we build into our wildlands, there is a risk that our buildings will burn. We have to confront that more seriously than we have in the past.”

After fires destroyed a neighborhood in the Bay Area in 2017, local politicians debated the wisdom of rebuilding homes in high-risk areas. There was little appetite for such a move there (or for similar efforts in parts of Southern California), but eventually it may become too expensive to continue rebuilding in high-risk spaces. The Los Angeles Times mapped the 1.1 million buildings in California located in zones at highest risk for fires, showing clusters in the Santa Monica Mountains, the Palos Verde Peninsula, Mission Viejo, and Yorba Linda. Nearly all of Topanga, Paradise, and Malibu were also at risk. Few political leaders want to discuss managed retreat yet — but in 50 years, they may have to.

Climate change is no longer on the horizon. It has arrived.

The masterstroke that allowed Los Angeles to grow may be the one that causes it to retract: Los Angeles depends on imported water, whether from the Owens Valley or farther abroad. As the globe warms, those supplies will dwindle and become harder to manage. Sixty to 70 percent of the water used in Southern California comes from the San Joaquin River and Tulare Lake basins, the Sacramento River basin, Mono Lake, and the Colorado River basin. (The bulk of the remainder is pumped local groundwater.) Of that, 75 percent is drawn from spring snowmelt from the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada, and other mountain ranges.

The Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in November 2018, projected “substantial reductions in snowpack, less snow and more rain, shorter snowfall seasons, earlier runoff, and warmer late-season stream temperatures.” Snowpack reduction in Southern California mountains could reach as high as 50 percent by the end of the century. At the same time, water flow in the Colorado River could be down 35 to 55 percent.

Water demand in 2050 is projected at 1.4 million to 1.7 million acre-feet per year, while supply is projected at 1.4 million acre-feet per year. At best, it’s break even. At worst — well, ask Cape Town.

And those estimates may underrepresent the risk to L.A.’s water supply. A 2015 study concluded that “the mean state of drought in the late 21st century over the Central Plains and Southwest will likely exceed even the most severe megadrought periods of the Medieval era,” causing “an unprecedented fundamental climate shift with respect to the last millennium.”

Another study conducted in 2016 found “a pronounced increase of droughts and aridity in the Southwest during the latter half of the 21st century.” A megadrought — one that would last multiple decades — “could become commonplace.” Droughts of that magnitude were associated with collapse of the Angkor, Anasazi, and Maya civilizations.

“There are two futures in front of us,” says O’Connor Faber, CSO of Los Angeles. “One in which we do not act, do not take leadership. We let the disasters happen. That’s an untenable future. The good news is that’s not at all the future that L.A. accepts.”

It’s not a future that the state of California hopes will come to pass. In 2006, the state enacted a cap-and-trade system to reduce its carbon emissions. A new state law mandates that by 2045, California will rely solely on clean electricity. In recent sessions, state legislators have begun to reshape the laws that govern the state’s housing market, hoping to encourage denser buildings oriented around mass transit, rather than sprawl that forces drivers onto jammed freeways.

For its part, the city of Los Angeles has embarked on an ambitious effort to do what it can. As Mayor Eric Garcetti told Rolling Stone in September, “We’re not waiting for Washington. The cavalry isn’t coming.”

So the city is building up local water supplies and curbing demand, increasing the tree canopy and building out cooler infrastructure to reduce its heat island, spurring the installation of solar power, and armoring its beaches and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Progress has already been made: Emissions at the port have dropped by double digits, tens of thousands of electric vehicle chargers have been installed, and improvements in public transit are coming.

As she works through the list, Faber O’Connor says she recognizes the magnitude of the task but has reason to hope. “I’m feeling very positive,” she says. For her city, climate change is no longer on the horizon. It has arrived. And like a car speeding down a clear freeway, the city is racing to catch up.

Phroyd

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 15 July 2019

Quick Bits:

Age of X-Man: Omega #1 concludes the event with this finale one-shot from Zac Thompson, Lonnie Nadler, Simone Buonfantino, Tríona Farrell, and Clayton Cowles. It’s a confrontation between many of the groups within this world and X-Man as they discover the nature of the world and discuss some philosophical concepts of conflict and identity.

| Published by Marvel

Aquaman #50 begins “Amnesty” from Kelly Sue DeConnick, Robson Rocha, Eduardo Pansica, Daniel Henriques, Julio Ferreira, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles. It’s damn good. Arthur returns home here and there’s a reintegration of old supporting cast members, Wonder Woman, and further information about what’s going on in Atlantis. Also the set up for an interesting story possibly further down the line. Great art from Rocha, Pansica, Henriques, Ferreira, and Gho.

| Published by DC Comics

Assassin Nation #5 is the end to what has been a fun and humorous action-packed series from Kyle Starks, Erica Henderson, and Deron Bennett. More great action with some surprises along the way.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Batman #75 begins “City of Bane” from Tom King, Tony S. Daniel, Mitch Gerads, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles. It sets up a new status quo in Gotham with Bane at the helm and a bizarre slotting of various villains into traditional roles.

| Published by DC Comics

Black Badge #12 concludes this series with one last mission from the combined forces of all of colour badges, showing us how a coordinated effort really should have taken place before the groups’ purpose was co-opted. This has been a great series from Matt Kindt, Tyler Jenkins, Hilary Jenkins, and Jim Campbell.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Black Science #41 sets up an interesting and somewhat surprising new reality after last issue. I kind of expect that we’ll see another big twist as we head towards the finale in the next two issues. Rick Remender, Matteo Scalera, Moreno Dinisio, and Rus Wooton give us an interesting look at “paradise” this issue.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Blade Runner 2019 #1 begins a new time period and introduces a new Blade Runner in this alt-present tale from Michael Green, Mike Johnson, Andres Guinaldo, Marco Lesko, and Jim Campbell. Ash is an interesting character and this interpretation of the mythos is wonderful. Also, the artwork from Guinaldo and Lesko perfectly fits this neon apocalypse world.

| Published by Titan

Bloodborne #13 begins the next arc, “The Veil, Torn Asunder”, as an unnamed veteran searches through the madness of Yarnham and beyond. Beautiful artwork from Piotr Kowalski and Brad Simpson, really bringing the existential horrors to life.

| Published by Titan

Daredevil #8 goes in a very interesting direction as Matt accepts a dinner invitation from the married bookseller he keeps flirting with, leading to an assassination attempt and captivating dinner conversation about rules and responsibility. Chip Zdarsky, Lalit Kumar Sharma, Jay Leisten, Java Tartaglia, and Clayton Cowles are really delivering an interesting story here.

| Published by Marvel

Excellence #3 delves into some of the details of how the Aegis deals with rogue magic users. Brandon Thomas, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, and Deron Bennett are doing some very interesting world and character building here.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Fairlady #4 is another great issue. The humour that Brian Schirmer provides in the dialogue is wonderful. This one dives into the mystery of mystery novel missing its final page and there’s one hell of an ending.

| Published by Image

Ghost Tree #4 concludes this excellent series from Bobby Curnow, Simon Gane, Ian Herring, Becka Kinzie, and Chris Mowry. There are a lot of goodbyes in this issue, some pleasant, some not, and some heartrending choices and consequences. Very well done.

| Published by IDW

Gideon Falls #15 checks in with Father Fred’s nightmares. The different time periods and streams, and their crossings-over at this point, are fascinating, even as things become even more chaotic and horrifying. Gorgeous art from Andrea Sorrentino and Dave Stewart.

| Published by Image

Immortal Hulk #21 has gorgeous guest art from Ryan Bodenheim as we get a story filling in this past of Fortean and a dangerous change in the present. Al Ewing also brings forward some of the recurring subtext of form and substance through the Bible and Kabbalah to give a deeper understanding of some of the themes here.

| Published by Marvel

Infinite Dark #8 brings an end to the second arc, with a revelation of the nightmarish creatures trying to destroy the station and a choice for how to proceed with the potential survival or annihilation of the remaining human race. Wonderful work from Ryan Cady, Andrea Mutti, K. Michael Russel, and Troy Peteri.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Invaders #7 begins a new arc, “Dead in the Water”, dealing with the fallout of Atlantis’ assault on the surface. There are some more hints of Namor’s problems, the return of another Invader, and hints at some nefarious things on the horizon. I love the introduction of Tony Stark into the mess in the present, adding another conflict to deal with. Chip Zdarsky, Carlos Magno, Butch Guice, Alex Guimarães, and Travis Lanham continue to deliver some solid storytelling here.

| Published by Marvel

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Sirens #4 features an interpretation of the myth of Lorelei by Aud Koch (with letters from Jim Campbell). It’s wonderfully told, with beautiful, magical artwork.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / Archaia

Justice League #28 concludes “Apex Predator” from James Tynion IV, Javier Fernandez, Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran, Hi-Fi, and Tom Napolitano. This one’s basically integral to the core “Year of the Villain” story as Lex gives his offer to J’onn. 

| Published by DC Comics

The Life & Death of Toyo Harada #5 picks up some of the pieces for the remaining few of Toyo’s forces, as they try to make a plan for what’s to come next. It should be interesting to see what the next step is in the finale. Gorgeous artwork from CAFU, Kano, and Andrew Dalhouse.

| Published by Valiant

Little Bird #5 brings this ambitious and unique story from Darcy Van Poelgeest, Ian Bertram, Matt Hollingsworth, and Aditya Bidikar to an end. The personal nature of this story as Little Bird comes to terms with her family has been a very enthralling element in this fight for freedom, and the sacrifices that one makes. Stunning artwork from Bertram and Hollingsworth.

| Published by Image

Loki #1 is an entertaining beginning to this new series spinning out of War of the Realms from Daniel Kibblesmith, Oscar Bazaldua, David Curiel, and Clayton Cowles. It dives in to Loki’s new role as King of Jotunheim and how he’s humorously approaching his duties. There’s a nice set-up for something coming that’s dismissed as a trick.

| Published by Marvel

Outpost Zero #11 reveals the discovery of life outside of the outpost, which leads to an unexpected reaction and sign of more conspiracies to keep the entire populace in the dark. Sean Kelly McKeever has been seeding little hints that something not right has been going on for a long time within the colony and there is more evidence of it here.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Pearl #11 sets us up for the end as Pearl returns to San Francisco to take care of the Endo Twins. Also, a game changer of a cliffhanger. Love the double page spreads from Michael Gaydos.

| Published by DC Comics / Jinxworld

Promethee 13:13 #1 is a digital-original prequel to Christophe Bec’s Promethee series from Andy Diggle, Shawn Martinbrough, Dave Stewart, and Simon Bowland. You don’t need to have read the original to follow this, but I still highly recommend it. This is an interesting starting point, with even more of a conspiratorial/espionage feel than the sci-fi of the main series. It’s good and I’m very interested to see where this goes.

| Published by Delcourt / Soleil

Ragnarok: The Breaking of Helheim #1 is a welcome return of Walter Simonson’s new take on Thor and Norse Mythology, pushing the story in new directions as Thor gains a vision of the end from his father and sets out for Hel. Simonson, Laura Martin, and John Workman work together as a seamless team here delivering a wonderful next chapter to the story. For those new to this series, there’s also a rather nice Q&A section that helps with some of the details.

| Published by IDW

Resonant #1 is an intriguing debut from David Andry, Alejandro Aragon, Jason Wordie, and Deron Bennett. This first issue sets up a different, very interesting post-apocalyptic world that we’re kind of uncertain of, but with the core of a single father trying to protect his children. The art from Aragon and Wordie is incredible.

| Published by Vault

Road of Bones #3 goes even harder into the brutal horror of three men trying to survive without any resources in a harsh landscape devoid of life. Rich Douek, Alex Cormack, and Justin Birch elevate the terror nicely this issue.

| Published by IDW

Rumble #14 unleashes the Last Knight of the Scourge Knights upon the world, bringing with him death through oblivion. John Arcudi, David Rubín, Dave Stewart, and Joe Sabino are definitely raising the stakes here, especially with Rathraq distracted by a personal conflict.

| Published by Image

Sera and the Royal Stars #1 is a fantastic debut of this fantasy series from Jon Tsuei, Audrey Mok, Raul Angulo, and Jim Campbell. It draws on Persian history and folklore as Sera is called upon by Mitra to fulfill a quest to prevent the end of everyone.

| Published by Vault

Silver Surfer: Black #2 continues to build the mythology around Knull. I love this blend of the seed from Venom with what’s been going on in the cosmic side from Guardians of the Galaxy, Donny Cates is doing a great job of reinforcing an evolving shared universe feel. Also, the art from Tradd Moore and Dave Stewart is phenomenal. 

| Published by Marvel

Sonata #2 unveils some more mysteries about the planet, including some incredible monsters out to kill and eat everyone. The art from Brian Haberlin and Geirrod Van Dyke is very nice.

| Published by Image / Shadowline

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #1 is a fun debut from Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Nathan Fairbairn, and Clayton Cowles that brings back a lot of the ridiculousness of the old Jimmy Olsen stories, seeing Jimmy in bizarre and humorous predicaments. There’s also an interesting exploration of Jimmy’s family’s history in Metropolis. And wonderful artwork from Lieber and Fairbairn.

| Published by DC Comics

Usagi Yojimbo #2 continues “Bunraku” as the investigation into the puppets continues. The supernatural aspect that Stan Sakai is bringing to this lead off arc for the new volume is engrossing and the colour from Tom Luth is growing on me.

| Published by IDW

Vampirella #1 is kind of a weird start (excepting the zero issue) to this new volume from Christopher Priest, Ergün Gündüz, and Willie Schubert. It’s framed as Vampirella seeking help from a psychiatrist following the trauma of the plane that she was on in the zero issue crashing, a disbelieving psychiatrist, and it’s certainly different.

| Published by Dynamite

X-Force #10 concludes “The Counterfeit King” and with it the series (at least for now). Ed Brisson, Dylan Burnett, Jesus Aburtov, and Cory Petit go out with a bang as X-Force have a final confrontation with Stryfe and his remaining forces. Also, wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Animosity #22, Ask for Mercy: Season Two #1, Bags (or a story thereof), Blossoms 666 #5, Bronze Age Boogie #4, Captain Marvel #8, Clue: Candlestick #3, Collapser #1, Cyber Force #11, Deadpool #15, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #10, Domino: Hot Shots #5, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark #7, Evolution #17, Faithless #4, Firefly #8, From Hell: Master Edition #6, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #264, Hit-Girl: Season 2 #6, Infinity 8 #13, Invader Zim #45, James Bond 007 #9, Joe Golem: Occult Detective - The Conjurors #3, Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica #3, Jughead’s Time Police #2, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Tempest #6, Love & Rockets #7, Lucifer #10, Mary Shelley: Monster Hunter #4, Port of Earth #12, The Punisher Annual #1, The Ride: Burning Desire #2, Secret Warps: Ghost Panther Annual #1, Spider-Man: Life Story #5, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #34, Star Wars: Tie Fighter #4, Superior Spider-Man #9, Teen Titans #32, They Called Us Enemy, Transformers #9, Transformers/Ghostbusters #2, Turok #4, Uncanny X-Men #22, The Unstoppable Wasp #10, The Warning #9, Wonder Woman: Come Back to Me #1

Recommended Collections: BPRD: The Devil You Know - Volume 3: Ragna Rok, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, By Night - Volume 2, Dead Kings - Volume 1, Die!Die!Die! - Volume 1, The Empty Man: Recurrence, Grumble - Volume 1: You’re the Dog Now, Man, Gunning for Hits, Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown, Jughead: The Hunger - Volume 3, LaGuardia, Miles Morales: Spider-Man - Volume 1: Straight out of Brooklyn, Princeless - Volume 8: Princesses, Vindication, Ronin Island - Volume 1, The Witcher - Volume 4: Of Flesh & Flame, Wolverine: The Long Night, Wonder Woman - Volume 9: The Enemy of Both Sides

d. emerson eddy might currently qualify as a liquid.