#long meilan

[ikuzeminna]

In my previous post I talked about the women of Gundam Wing not being treated as awards or reasons for man pain for the guys and I’m actually a little surprised that no one so far called me out on Meilan because at first glance, she falls right into that category. Because her death is specifically there to motivate Wufei and do nothing else. No one else knows about her, her death doesn’t affect anyone or anything else.

Except for her grandma who is apparently still so grief-stricken she blows up her entire colony. Thanks for more trauma, Master Long.

But I guess I’m gonna call myself out here then and derail this into a meta about Meilan’s portrayal actually being male-coded. Apparently I’m also gonna make up words while doing so lol

What do I mean? Let’s first clear up what I meant when I said the Wing women aren’t used for man pain. Man pain is quite an umbrella term that’s supposed to describe any instance of the narrative portraying a male’s emotional pain be of a higher magnitude than anyone else’s within his story. Especially women’s.

In my post I was referring to the very specific case where a woman’s suffering is stripped from her narratively and made exclusively a guy’s problem, to the point it only exists if it’s in relation to him. Think Gwen Stacy’s death affecting Spiderman or 2009‘s Spock’s mom dying or Aang burning Katara and then moping about never firebending again, necessitating her comforting him about his (accidental) assault on her. messed up doesn’t even begin to cover that last one The girl with the puppy is actually an example of this in Wing because her death only exists to make Heero feel bad. She isn't even given a name. The most classic example really is a guy’s mom dying though and him being forever sad about it. It’s the easy way for the writer to give his manly man something to cry over without making him a wimp. Otherwise Kira from Gundam Seed would be more popular.

But when we get asked to name a famous fictional death, I think most people will pick Mufasa, the prime example ever of a death affecting the audience. And it makes sense. Because not only was Mufasa a good parent, who sacrificed his life to save his son, Simba’s entire hero’s journey is basically living up to his father’s example. It's what drives the story.

And that’s the difference between men and women dying in fiction, especially parents. If a mother dies, it’s something to be sad over (i.e. Spock). If a father dies, it’s a legacy to uphold (i.e. Kirk). Simba is never worried about living up to Sarabi’s expectations. Hiccup spends three movies trying not to shame his father. Katniss won’t shut up about what a great person her dad was even though her mom is right there, being the medic for her entire district, but never being worth emulating in any way.

The same goes if it’s just a friend. A female friend’s death is a devastating event, a male friend’s death is a call to not let his sacrifice be in vain.

Which brings us back to Meilan. Meilan may have been written as just a device to give Wufei a tragic backstory, which lands her squarely in man pain territory, but narratively she is the same category as Mufasa, influencing Wufei to the degree he changes his entire way of life to live up to her memory and hold himself accountable during the series when he fails to do so, which yanks her right out of it again.

Besides, Wufei never goes around openly mourning her death. It’s hidden in aggressiveness and weird sexism towards Noin and his odd reverence of his Gundam. I love that it was supposed to be a secret that would have been revealed at the middle of the series, just like everyone else’s backstories, had the schedule not been crazy, giving us the recap episodes instead. Alas...

But this is one of the reasons I love Gundam Wing so much. The colony leader Heero Yuy and the late King Peacecraft may be revered figures within its universe, but by the end of the series, and definitely by EW, the person the entire galaxy admires is Relena. A girl. Which is completely deserved for all the things she manages to pull off, mind you.

I love most that Heero admiring Relena also has a very personal aspect to it. He knows her. He knows how bullheaded she can be. She’s not an abstract to him, he’s intimately familiar with that Gundanium backbone of hers. That scene on Libra where they keep throwing compliments at each other is great. Relena tries to transfer her accomplishments to Heero, playing into narrative tradition of gender roles here where the guy always gets all the glory, no matter how competent the girl may have been (glaring at you here, Hiccup and Astrid >_>) and Heero, the show’s male protagonist, bounces it right back, telling her he is nothing compared to her, landing a sweet blow to narrative sexism.

Gundam Wing is a weird little show where I don’t know if one could call it feminist considering how every woman is assigned to a man, with Treize and Zechs and Duo and Wufei standing above their female counterparts due to their strength or lineage or because they’re the series’ Char clone, but within the roles it assigned to everyone, it does a wonderful job of not being sexist about them. Une is portrayed as more competent than Treize, who is more of an opportunist. Zechs outright says Noin is better than him. Wufei won’t shut up about Nataku and what a failure he is. It's like the show apologizes for being Gundam and made in the 90s, explaining why the pilots and big bads all have to be male, but they'll make the female characters as cool as they can to make up for it. Here, have some Sally and Noin being a badass duo or Relena and Dorothy carrying the philosophical debate during the Cinq arc.

....Except Hilde. I got nothing here because her and Duo are classic gender roles to a T, haha. But at least Duo is not being a jerk about it, which is more than can be said about most fictional guys trying to dictate a female’s actions. Duo lets Hilde make her own decisions.

[crimehat]

we cannot linger on this stunted view like rabid dogs of war.

[incorrectgundamwingquotes]

“I could fix him”

“I could fix him” good for you I guess. I could be the only thing he’s truly afraid of: Relena

I could fix him but honestly whatever the hell is wrong with him is way funnier: Hilde

“I could fix him” “I could make him worse” I could paint his fingernails black: Cathy

“I could fix him” I could break him. I could snap that fucker in half: Dorothy

“I could fix him” whatever. I could beat his ass: Meilan

“I could fix him” why?? I just want to stand over his shoulder and see what he can possibly fuck up next: Noin

I wouldn’t fix him I’d put him in a small cardboard box and shake it very very hard: Sally

I couldn’t fix him but I think I could top him: Une

[thepastisalreadywritten]

By Meilan Solly

24 October 2024

During an impromptu game of table tennis in September 1934, a player accidentally stepped on the ball.

The host’s father decided to look for a replacement in a cupboard at their English country house.

Instead of table tennis balls, the family patriarch stumbled onto an “entirely undisciplined clutter of smallish leather books,” including one whose cover “had been eaten away, presumably by a mouse,” as his son later recalled.

That unassuming manuscript turned out to be the only surviving copy of The Book of Margery Kempe, a medieval text chronicling the adventures of a female Christian mystic.

Previously known only through 16th-century excerpts that painted Kempe as an anchoress who walled herself up in a cell to devote her life to private prayer and reflection, the manuscript reframed its namesake as a colorful figure who’d traveled abroad on religious pilgrimages, claimed she’d experienced visions of herself participating in such biblical events as the birth and crucifixion of Jesus, and endured multiple arrests on charges of heresy.

“You lose all sense of her story and her personality when only reading the excerpts," says Eleanor Jackson, a curator at the British Library in London.

“She’s a very larger-than-life character … who was not an anchoress but [rather] incredibly mobile. She’s been to the Holy Land, she’s been to Rome, she’s been to Santiago de Compostela.”

The chance discovery of Kempe’s autobiography speaks to the rich trove of writing about medieval women that survives to this day, as well as the countless works that have been lost over the centuries, Jackson says.

“Women in the Middle Ages were seen as less important than men, and they were excluded from a lot of areas of power,” the curator adds.

“Their stories were less often recorded, and because women often weren’t given the same level of education as men, [many] couldn’t write themselves.

Women’s histories are much harder to find, but they are there when you look for them.”

A new exhibition at the British Library tells some of these long-overlooked tales through a selection of more than 140 documents and artifacts spanning roughly 1100 to 1500.

Co-curated by Jackson and Julian Harrison, “Medieval Women: In Their Own Words” spotlights queens, nuns, authors, warriors, physicians, and artisans alike.

As the name suggests, the show emphasizes women’s personal testimony, “telling their stories as much as possible through their own words, whether preserved in their writings or dictated to scribes, as was the case with Kempe," Jackson says.

The individuals featured in the exhibition run the gamut from famous figures like Joan of Arc and Italian French writer Christine de Pizan to the lesser known, including Estellina Conat, the first recorded female printer of Hebrew texts; Shajar al-Durr, the first female sultan of Egypt and Syria; and Alice Claver, a silkwoman who crafted ornate clothing for England’s Edward IV.

By highlighting such a diverse group, lead curator Jackson and co-curator Harrison hope to move past widely held conceptions of medieval women’s existences being centered around domesticity and oppression by men.

“Their lives were a lot more vibrant than people expect,” Jackson says, “and [visitors] will be surprised by the sheer variety of roles that they occupied in the fields of politics, religion and the arts."

—

“Medieval Women: In Their Own Words” is on view at the British Library in London from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025.

[thisweekingundamwing]

This Week in Gundam Wing 23-27 July 2024

Here’s the roundup for July 23 - 27, 2024!

Remember to give your content creators some love! Be sure to join in on the events at the bottom! And remember to send in any new works you see or make this next week!

~Mod Hel

Fanfiction/Ideas/Snippets:

@coreyndanian

A Promise Made is Promise Kept https://archiveofourown.org/works/27540730

F/M, Relena Peacecraft/Heero Yuy

Heero Yuy, Relena Peacecraft, Original Characters, Mentioned Duo Maxwell, Mentioned Trowa Barton, Mentioned Quatre Raberba Winner, Mentioned Chang Wufei, Mentioned Lady Une, Mentioned Catherine

General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Endless Waltz, Not Frozen Teardrop Compliant (Maybe), Australia, Shameless Usage of OCs, Not Beta Read, Relena Darlian I don't like using Relena Peacecraft, Heero has a heart now, English

Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian attends a major conference in Australia, accompanied by her aide and two Preventer agents. She also has the added protection of one Heero Yuy, who is always off the grid for unknown reasons.

Gundanium and Preventers https://archiveofourown.org/works/27629063

F/M, M/M, Multi, Relena Peacecraft/Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell/Hilde Schbeiker, Trowa Barton/Quatre Raberba Winner, Treize Khushrenada/Lady Une

Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, Chang Wufei, Lady Une, Lucrezia Noin, Sally Po, Original Male Character(s), Treize Khushrenada, Mentioned Zechs Marquise, Mentioned Relena Darlian Don't like using Peacecraft

Teen And Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Alternate Universe - Federal Agents, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crimes & Criminals, Little Teenage Terrors, Getting Recruited to Save the World, Not Beta Read, My OC is an Australian, I do explain why I have him there, English

Out of all the crazy ideas Director Treize Kushrenada had come up with in his years, this certainly was at the near top. But after recruiting Milliardo Peacecraft, now going by Zechs Marquise, and Lucrezia Noin, not to mention appointing his aide to lead this new initiative, truth be told Treize only kept his job because the ideas worked. And that was the problem.

* - *

Lady Une is putting together a new initiative for the new United Nations Investigation and Intelligence Division and meets six young men hurt by the world they are attempting to rebuild.

Wufei Chang Is Not A Prude https://archiveofourown.org/works/43044165

F/M, M/M, Relena Peacecraft/Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell/Hilde Schbeiker, Trowa Barton/Quatre Raberba Winner, Chang Wufei/Long Meilan

Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, Chang Wufei, Relena Peacecraft, Hilde Schbeiker, Mentioned Sally Po, Mentioned Lady Une

Explicit, No Archive Warnings Apply, Canon Compliant, Not Gundam Wing: Frozen Teardrop Compliant, But Who Actually Likes It Anyway, Dom Hilde Schbeiker, Submissive Duo Maxwell, Voyeurism, Exhibitionism, Oral Sex, Vaginal Sex, Wufei isn't a prude, No Underage Sex, Wufei and Meilan were too young, Wufei Isn't Too Bad, Not Beta Read, English

Despite being abhorrent and closed off on most things, Wufei Chang was not a prude.

Contrary to the opinion held by Duo Maxwell and Lucrezia Noin.

*

Wufei catches his fellow ex-pilots in compromising positions and isn't bothered by it.

Wufe Chang Is Not A Prude - Round Two https://archiveofourown.org/works/51580723

F/M, Other, Treize Khushrenada/Lady Une, Sally Po/Original Male Character(s), Zechs Merquise/Lucrezia Noin, Relena Peacecraft/Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell/Hilde Schbeiker, Trowa Barton/Quatre Raberba Winner, Chang Wufei/Long Meilan, Chang Wufei & Sally Po, Mentioned Heero/Relena, Mentioned Duo/Hilde, Mentioned Trowa/Quatre

Chang Wufei, Sally Po, Lady Une, Original Male Character(s), Zechs Merquise, Lucrezia Noin

Explicit, No Archive Warnings Apply, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Not Gundam Wing: Frozen Teardrop Compliant, Fanfiction Continuation, Part 2 of 1, I blame My Commenters, You Inspired Me, Wufei is a voyeur, Voyeurism, Masturbation, Closet Sex, Janitor Closet Sex, Bondage, Sub Zechs, Dom Noin, Dirty Talk, Not Beta Read, comments please, Past-Wufei/Meilan, Mentioned Meilan, English

If there was one thing Chang Wufei could be convinced about the existence of a life beyond death, it was how determined it was to be right about something that it was quite wrong about. That he was, for all intensive madness and non-reasoning, a prude. The times he caught his four fellow ex-Gundam pilots amidst sexual acts, however, instead led to several very relieving late-night tensions had managed to convince the young Preventer agent that someone from the beyond had it out for him.

*

The universe vs. Wufei, Part II.

@miyurinq

Golden pleasure https://archiveofourown.org/works/55623622

M/M, Trowa Barton/Quatre Raberba Winner/Heero Yuy

Not Rated, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Sex, just porn, Lemony Shenanigans 2024 (Gundam Wing), 3x4x1, English

In this night only one thing matters;

Lust.

And Quatre prepared something beautiful for his two lovers;

Himself.

He looked like a Greece god;

made of gold and white.

Sunflowers and white sweet peas https://archiveofourown.org/works/57318649

M/M, Trowa Barton/Quatre Raberba Winner

Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, Duo Maxwell, Heero Yuy, Rashid Kurama

Not Rated, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Fluff, mentioned sex, Love, sweet stuff, English

Trowa had to sit down for a moment, the thought was so big. Back then he hadn't even dared to imagine such a thing. Something like love, a home, marriage... a name. He had grown into a man who could call all of that his own. He had gone from being an emotionless, nameless boy to a man who had earned a name and would marry for love.

Arts/Crafts/Photo Manips:

@alphamecha-mkii

https://www.tumblr.com/alphamecha-mkii/756282116857315328/unitribe-season-02-xxxg-01d2-gundam-deathscythe

Deathscythe, official art

@captainharlock

https://www.tumblr.com/captainharlock/757058431748308992/the-boy-that-killed-adolescence

Heero Yuy, fanart by GIO

@desertrose7591

https://www.tumblr.com/desertrose7591/756990116322590720/a-new-lady-card-from-arsenal-based-summer-festival

Lady Une, card, official art

@gunpla-fumo-brainrot

https://www.tumblr.com/gunpla-fumo-brainrot/756672456551514112/quick-little-no-effort-post-of-my-newest-build

Epyon, gunpla

@keiko1183

https://www.tumblr.com/keiko1183/756526479684304896/july-doodles

Quatre Raberba Winner, Trowa Barton, fanart

@kendrawells

https://www.tumblr.com/kendrawells/757171124655243264/what-do-you-do-with-a-life-you-didnt-think-youd

Heero/Duo, fanart

@mciii

https://www.tumblr.com/mciii/756742012758376449/gundam-wing-fan-art

Heero Yuy, Wing, fanart

Fandom Discourse:

@findthatgwfic

https://www.tumblr.com/findthatgwfic/755786826238869504/i-am-looking-for-a-fic-that-was-post-war-the

Looking for a fic! I am looking for a fic that was post war. The pilots were gathering for a party with Relena and company. Duo was en route but was waylaid by (space) port authority. They were prejudiced because he was coming from L2 (I forget where the gathering was but it was somewhere “fancy”) Duo bides his time and asks for the guards to call Relena/et all to verify who he was and that he was shops to be there. Long story short Relena/Une? Comes to the holding facility and hints at who Duo is (Gundam pilot).

Other similar recommendations are welcome!

@the-hunted-office

https://www.tumblr.com/the-haunted-office/756990299135410176/i-was-just-thinking-how-long-its-been-since-i

We are definitely out here. ^_^

Calendar Events:

Gundam Wing AU Fest

https://www.tumblr.com/janaverse/755108738617245696/yay

All info about the event is in the post!

@gwcocktailfriday

Cocktail Fridays!

Post responses on Friday, during Happy Hour between 3 & 5 pm in your own timezone.

Here’s the prompts for Friday, August 2nd https://gwcocktailfriday.tumblr.com/post/757157571941498880/cocktail-friday-post-responses-on-friday-august

In need of prompts!

@thisweekingundamevents

Events Calendar https://thisweekingundamevents.tumblr.com/post/730188053636841472/updated-events-calendar

If you are hosting an event currently, or are planning on one, hit us up with links and dates! We’ll add them to the Calendar and reblog your notices to get the word out!

Needs to be updated...

[xtruss]

Twenty-Five Years Before The Wright Brothers Took To The Skies, This Flying Machine Captivated America

First Exhibited in 1878, Charles F. Ritchel’s Dirigible Was About As Wacky, Dangerous and Impractical as Any Airship Ever Launched

— June 11, 2024 | Erik Ofgang

“When I Was Making It, People Laughed at Me a Good Deal,” Charles F. Ritchel Later Said. “But Do They Did at Noah When He Built the Ark.” Illustration by Meilan Solly/Images via Wikimedia Commons under public domain, Newspapers.com

Charles F. Ritchel’s Flying Machine Made a Sound Like a Buzzsaw as its pilot turned a hand crank to spin its propeller. It was June 12, 1878, and a huge crowd, by some accounts measuring in the thousands, had gathered at a baseball field in Hartford, Connecticut. The spectators had each paid 15 cents for a chance to witness history.

The flying machine—if one could really call it that—was an unsightly jumble of mechanical parts. It consisted of a 25-foot-long, 12-foot-wide canvas cylinder filled with hydrogen and bound to a rod. From this contraption hung a framework of steel and brass rods that the Philadelphia Times likened to “the skeleton of a boat.” The aeronaut would sit on this framework as though it were a bicycle, controlling the craft with foot pedals and a hand crank that turned a four-bladed propeller.

The device did not inspire confidence.

“When I was making it, people laughed at me a good deal,” Ritchel later said. “But so they did at Noah when he built the ark.”

A self-described “professor,” Ritchel was the inventor of such wacky, weird and wild creations that a recounting of his career reads as though it were torn from the pages of a Jules Verne novel. Supposedly friends with both P.T. Barnum and Thomas Edison, Ritchel for a time made a living working for a mechanical toy company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he designed talking dolls, model trains and other playthings. But he was more than just a toymaker.

Left: Charles F. Ritchel filed more than 150 patents over his lifetime. Right: Ritchel's 1878 patent for his flying machine — Photographs: Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

Some years after the flying machine demonstration, the inventor proposed an ambitious attraction for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World’s Fair): a “telescope tower” that would rival France’s Eiffel Tower. The design consisted of a 500-foot-wide base topped by multiple nested structures that rose up over the course of several hours, eventually reaching a height of about 1,000 feet. After this proposal was rejected, Ritchel launched a campaign to raise funds to build a life-size automaton of Christopher Columbus, which the Chicago Tribune reported would speak more than 1,000 phrases in a human-like voice, rather than the “far-away, metallic sounds produced by a phonograph.”

By the mid-1880s, Ritchel claimed to have filed more than 150 patents. Not all of them were fun. He invented more efficient ways to kill mosquitos and cockroaches, a James Bond-esque belt that assassins could use to inject poison into their targets, and a gas bomb for use in land or naval warfare.

Yet never in his career was his quirk-forward blend of genius and foolishness more apparent than on that June day in Hartford. Because the balance of weight and equipment was so delicate, Ritchel was too heavy to fly the craft. Instead, he employed pilot Mark W. Quinlan, who tipped the scale at just 96 pounds. Quinlan was a 27-year-old machinist and native of Philadelphia, but little else is known about him. The record, however, is crystal clear on one count: Quinlan was very, very brave.

When preparations for the craft were complete, the crowd watched in eager anticipation as Quinlan boarded the so-called pilot’s seat. The airship rose 50 feet, then 100 feet, then 200 feet. Such a sight was uncommon but not unheard of at the time. The real question was: Once the craft was in the air, could it be controlled?

The first heavier-than-air flight (in which airflow over a surface like a plane wing creates aerodynamic lift) only took place in 1903, when the Wright Brothers conducted their famous flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. But by the late 19th century, flying via lighter-than-air gases was already close to 100 years old. (This method involves heating the air inside of a balloon to make it less dense, leading it to rise, or filling the balloon with a low-density gas such as helium or hydrogen.) On November 21, 1783, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes completed the first crewed, untethered hot-air balloon flight, passing over Paris on a craft built by the Montgolfier brothers. Later, balloons were used for reconnaissance during the French Revolutionary Wars and the American Civil War.

A drawing of the Montgolfier brothers' hot-air balloon Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

But free-floating balloons were, and still are, at the mercy of the winds. While balloon aeronauts can achieve limited control by changing altitude and attempting to catch different currents, they can’t easily return to the spot where they took off from, which is why even today, they have teams following them on the ground. Mid-1800s aviation enthusiasts dreamed of fixing this problem, which led to the development of dirigibles—powered, steerable airships that were inflated with lighter-than-air gases. (The word dirigible comes from the French word diriger, “to steer”; contrary to popular belief, the term, which is synonymous with airship, is not derived from the word “rigid.”) While some early aeronauts successfully steered dirigibles, none of these rudimentary airships could truly go against the wind or provide a controlled-enough flight to take off and land at the same point consistently.

In 1878, Ritchel was unaware of anyone who had successfully taken off in a dirigible and landed at the same spot. He hoped to change that with his baseball field demonstration. A month earlier, Ritchel had exhibited the airship’s capabilities during indoor flights at the Philadelphia Main Exhibition Hall, a massive structure built for that city’s 1876 Centennial Exposition. But there is no wind indoors, and the true test of his device would have to be performed outdoors.

After rising into the air, Quinlan managed to steer the craft out over the Connecticut River. To onlookers, it was clear that the aeronaut was in control. But as he flew, the wind picked up, and it began to look like a storm was gathering. To avoid getting caught in the poor weather and facing an almost-certain disaster, Quinlan steered the craft back toward the field, cutting through the “teeth of the wind until directly over the ball ground whence it had ascended, and then alighted within a few feet of the point from which it had started,” as the New York Sun reported.

Ritchel's dirigible, as seen on the July 13, 1878, cover of Harper's Weekly Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

The act was hailed far and wide as a milestone. An illustration of the impressive-looking flying machine was featured on the cover of Harper’s Weekly.

“The great problem which inventors of flying machines have always before them is the arrangement by which they shall be able to propel their frail vessels in the face of an adverse current,” the magazine noted. “Until this end shall have been achieved, there will be little practical value to any invention of the kind. In Professor Ritchel’s machine, however, the difficulty has been in a great measure overcome.”

Across the country, observers hailed Ritchel’s odd but impressive milestone in flight. In the years and decades that followed, this achievement was forgotten by almost all except a select group of aviation historians.

Wikipedia incorrectly lists the flight of the French army dirigible La France as the first roundtrip dirigible flight. But this event took place six years after Ritchel’s Hartford demonstration, in August 1884. Why has a flight so seemingly monumental in its time been relegated to the dustbin of history?

Given his eccentric nature and creativity, it’s easy to root for Ritchel and think of him as a Nikola Tesla-like genius robbed of his rightful place in history. The reality of why his feat was forgotten is more complicated. As Tom Crouch, an emeritus curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, says, it’s possible Ritchel’s craft was the first to complete a round-trip dirigible flight. But other aircraft in existence at the time probably could have accomplished the same feat in favorable conditions. “La France made the first serious round-trip,” Crouch says.

Additionally, while Ritchel’s machine worked to a point, it wasn’t a pathway to more advanced dirigibles. Richard DeLuca, author of Paved Roads & Public Money: Connecticut Transportation in the Age of Internal Combustion, points out that the hand-cranked nature of Ritchel’s craft made it nearly impossible to operate with any kind of wind. “On the first day, he got away with it and directed the ship out and over the river and back to where he started, and that was quite an accomplishment,” DeLuca says. “But the conditions were just right for him to do that.”

Dan Grossman, an aviation historian at the University of Washington, has never come across evidence that any later pioneers of more advanced dirigible flights were influenced by Ritchel. “There are a lot of firsts in history that got forgotten because they never led to a second,” Grossman says.

An artist's depiction of the La France airship Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

The day after their first successful public outdoor flight in Hartford, Quinlan and Ritchel tried again at that same ballfield. This time, the weather was less cooperative, and the wind came in sharp gusts. Still, the pair persisted in their attempt. “Little Quinlan, even if he does only weigh 96 pounds, has confidence and nerve enough to go up in a gale,” the Sun reported. Up he went about 200 feet, but this time, the wind carried him away with more force. Quinlan was “seen throwing his vertical fan into gear, and by its aid, the aerial ship turned around, pointing its head in whatever direction he chose to give it.” Although he could move the ship about, “he could not make any headway against the strong wind.”

Quinlan descended about 100 feet, trying to catch a different current, but the wind still pushed him away from the ballfield. He raised the craft, this time going higher than 200 feet, but still couldn’t overcome the wind and was soon swept off toward New Haven, vanishing from sight like some real-world Wizard of Oz.

Eventually, Quinlan safely brought the airship down in Newington, about five miles away from Hartford. The inventor and his pilot were unfazed by this setback. They held more public exhibitions that year with a mix of success and failure—including an incident that nearly cost Quinlan his life. During a July 4 exhibition in Boston, the machine malfunctioned and continued to rise, soaring to what the Boston Globe estimated to be 2,000 feet. Quinlan couldn’t get the propeller to work, and the craft continued to rise, reaching as high as 3,000 feet.

Terrified but quick-thinking, Quinlan tied his wrist and ankle to the craft and swung out of his seat to fix the propeller, using a jack-knife he happened to have on him as a makeshift tool. The daring midair repairs worked, and the craft gradually descended. Quinlan landed in Massachusetts, 44 miles from his starting destination, after a 1-hour, 20-minute flight.

Per Grossman, the human-powered method Ritchel attempted to utilize was doomed from the start. “In the absence of an internal combustion engine, there really was no control of lighter-than-air flight,” he says.

Ritchel stubbornly refused to consider powering dirigibles with engines and did not foresee how powerful a better-designed aircraft truly could be.

“I have overcome the fatal objection of which has always been made to the practicability of aerial navigation—that is, I have made a machine that can be steered,” Ritchel told a reporter in July 1878. “I claim no more. I have never pretended that a balloon can be made to go against the wind, and I am sure it never could. It is as ridiculous as a perpetual motion machine, and the latter will be invented just as soon as the former.”

Left: A page from Ritchel's ballooning scrapbook National Air and Space Museum Archives. Right: The scrapbook covers the years 1878 to 1901. Photographs: National Air and Space Museum Archives

Even so, Ritchel was influential in his own way. “He was one of the first to really come up with the notion of a little one-man, bicycle-powered airship, and those things were around into the early 20th century,” says Crouch. After Ritchel, other daring inventors launched similar pedal-powered airships. Carl Myers, for example, held demonstrations of a device he called the “Sky-Cycle” in the 1890s.

Ritchel stands as one of the fascinating early aeronauts whose work blurred the line between science and the sideshow. “I refer to them as aerial showmen, these guys who came up with the notion of making money [by] thrilling people [with] their exploits in the air,” Crouch says.

According to Crouch’s 1983 book, The Eagle Aloft: Two Centuries of the Balloon in America, Ritchel and Quinlan took the airship on tour with a traveling circus in the late 1870s. Ritchel also operated his machine at Brighton Beach near Coney Island. He sold a few replicas of his device and later attempted to develop a larger, long-distance version of the craft powered by an 11-person hand-cranking crew. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this idea failed to gain momentum, and Ritchel faded from the headlines. Soon, the exploits of new aeronauts would upstage him, among them Alberto Santos-Dumont’s circumnavigation of the Eiffel Tower in 1901.

Left: Alberto Santos-Dumont's first balloon, 1898. Right: Santos-Dumont circles the Eiffel Tower in an airship on July 13, 1901. Photographs: Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

Despite many earlier dirigible flights, Crouch and Grossman agree that the technology only became practical when German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin built and flew the first rigid dirigible in the early 1900s. Over the first decade of the new century, Zeppelin perfected his namesake design, which featured a fabric-covered metal frame that enclosed numerous gasbags. “By 1913, just before [World War I] begins, Zeppelin is actually running sightseeing tours over German cities,” Crouch says, “so the Zeppelin at that point can safely carry passengers and take off and land from the same point.”

For a brief period, airships ruled the sky. (The spire of New York City’s Empire State Building, built in the 1930s, was famously intended as a docking station for passenger airships.) But the vehicles, which use gas to create buoyancy, were quickly eclipsed by airplanes, which achieve flight through propulsion that generates airflow over the craft’s wings.

While the 1937 Hindenburg disaster is often viewed as the end of the dirigible era, Grossman says that’s a misconception: The real death knell for passenger airships arrived when Pan American Airways’ China Clipper, a new breed of amphibious aircraft, flew from San Francisco to Manila in November 1935. “Partly because they flew faster, they could transport more weight, whether it’s people or cargo, mail, whatever, in the same amount of time,” Grossman explains. “They were less expensive to operate, they required much, much smaller crews, [and] they were less expensive to build.”

Airplanes were also safer. “Zeppelins have to fly low and slow,” Crouch says. “They operate in the weather; airplanes don’t. An airplane at 30,000 feet is flying above the weather. Weather, time after time, is what brought dirigibles down.”

Today, niche applications for passenger airships endure, including the Zeppelin company’s European tours, as well as ultra-luxury air yachts and air cruises. But “it’s always going to be a tiny, tiny slice of the transportation pie,” Grossman says.

Crouch agrees. “People still talk about bringing back big, rigid airships. That hasn’t happened yet, and I don’t think it will,” he says.

The USS Los Angeles, a United States Navy airship, in 1931. Photograph Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

In some ways, Ritchel’s flying machine was a microcosm of the larger history of dirigibles: fascinating, fun and the perfect fodder for fiction, but ultimately eclipsed by more efficient technology.

As for Ritchel, he died, penniless, of pneumonia in 1911 at age 66. “Although during his lifetime he had perfected inventions that, in the hands of others, had brought in great wealth, he died a poor man, as he lacked the business ability to turn the children of his brain to the best advantage to himself,” wrote the Bridgeport Post in his obituary.

Even so, the public had not forgotten the brief time three decades earlier when Ritchel and his airship ruled the skies. As the Boston Evening Transcript reported, his flights captured “the attention of the world. In every country and in every language, newspapers and magazines of the day printed long stories of the wonderful feats performed by the Bridgeport aviator and his marvelous machine, of which nothing short of a cruise to the North Pole was expected.”

— Erik Ofgang is the co-author of The Good Vices: From Beer to Sex, The Surprising Truth About What’s Actually Good For You and the author of Buzzed: A Guide to New England's Best Craft Beverages and Gillette Castle: A History. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Atlantic, Thrillist and the Associated Press, and he is the senior writer at Tech & Learning magazine.

[snackerdoodle]

books I read in 2023

I had a huge reading year this year because of my gruelingly long commute. The list below the cut is mostly for my own edification, but I’m a nosy person who supports other nosy people, so if you want to know what I’ve been up to, have at it. Almost everything I read this year was from the library.

1/12 A Charmed Life, Diana Wynne Jones

1/18 The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, Sonora Reyes

1/24 The Life-Changing Magic of 

Tidying Up, Marie Kondo

1/25 Hotel Magnifique, Emily J. Taylor

1/30 Spark Joy, Marie Kondo 

2/2 The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune

2/8 The Golden Enclaves, Naomi Novik

2/8 Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, Ashley Herring Blake

2/15 The Nile, Toby Wilkinson

2/23 The Painted Queen, Elizabeth Peters and Joan Hess

2/28 Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine

3/5 Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters

3/12 Lord of the Silent, Elizabeth Peters

3/16 Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home, Marie Kondo 

3/20 Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, Ruth Franklin

3/20 The Art of Simple Living, Shunmyo Masuno

3/26 The Bird’s Nest, Shirley Jackson

4/11 Life Among the Savages, Shirley Jackson

4/12 A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn

4/18 The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories, Charlotte Perkins Gilman

4/21 Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto, Tricia  Hersey

5/1 Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo

5/3 Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail, Ashley Herring Blake

5/10 Fight Like Hell: The Untold Story of American Labor, Kim Kelly

5/11 Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, Joy Harjo 

5/12 Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Reni Eddo-Lodge

5/15 The Lottery and Other Stories, Shirley Jackson

5/18 The Lives of Christopher Chant, Diana Wynne Jones

5/29 A Little Devil in America, Hanif Abdurraqib

6/3 A Marvellous Light, Freya Marske

6/6 Ducks, Kate Beaton 

6/8 Wild and Wicked Things, Francesca May (awful. Every character was an idiot. Why did I finish this)

6/10 Breathing Lessons: A Doctor’s Guide to Lung Health, Meilan K. Han, MD

6/19 The Three Body Problem, Cixin Liu

6/19 A Fortune for Your Disaster, Hanif Abdurraqib (I liked this even more than the last one I read. Maybe because it was an audiobook read by the author.)

6/22 Disjointed, Diana Jovin (ed) (skipped parts that were totally unrelated to me and some things that were also too technical)

6/22 The Lavender Scare, David K. Johnson

6/26 Enquête au collège, Jean-Phillipe Arrou-Vignod 

6/28 The Thief, Megan Whalen Turner

7/3 Last Call, Elon Green

7/12 Cache Cache Petit Fantôme

7/13 Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-

Exupéry

7/13 La fille qui navigua autour de féérie dans un bateau construit de ses propres mains, Catherynne M Valente

7/14 Lost in the Moment and Found, Seanan McGuire

7/14 Ich mag dich gesund sagte der Bär, Janosch

7/25 The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch

7/31 The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty

8/10 A Restless Truth, Freya Marske 

8/16 Camp Damascus, Chuck Tingle

9/6 The Body in the Garden, Katherine Schellman

9/11 Silence in the Library, Katherine Schellman

9/13 When Things Get Dark, various 

9/19 Death at the Manor, Katherine Schellman

9/25 Sorcery and Cecelia, Patricia C Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

10/3 The Grand Tour, Patricia C Wrede and Caroline Stevermer 

10/6 Murder at Midnight, Katharine Schellman

10/12 The Mislaid Magician, Patricia C Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

10/18 Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies, Elizabeth Winkler

10/18 Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen, JK Rowling

10/25 Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA search for Mind Control, Stephen Kinzer

11/1 Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date, Ashley Herring Blake

11/3 Nothing But Blackened Teeth, Cassandra Shaw

11/9 Unfuck Your Habitat, Rachel Hoffman

11/11 Safe and Sound, Mercury Stardust 

11/12 Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD (revised and updated), Susan C. Pinskey

11/18 Red Seas under Red Skies, Scott Lynch

11/20 In With the Old: Classic Decor A to Z,  Jennifer Boles 

11/23 Habitat: The Field Guide to Decorating, Lauren Liess

11/24 Vermeer: The Complete Paintings, Norbert Schneider 

11/29 The Conscious Closet, Elizabeth L. Cline

12/4 Leech, Hiron Ennes

12/6 The Star that Always Stays, Anna Rose Johnson 

P12/14 The Republic of Thieves, Scott Lynch

12/15 An American Sunrise, Joy Harjo

12/20 The Wife Upstairs, Rachel Hawkins

12/22 How to Keep House While Drowning, KC Davis

12/30 The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, Margareta Magnusson 

Gave up on: The Woman Who Would Be King, Kara Cooney (too speculative/fictionalized)

A Scatter of Light, Malinda Lo (nothing really wrong, it just wasn’t holding my attention at all)

14 histoires pour avoir peur mais pas trop quand même (turned into full cast audio and the music between stories was really annoying)

Manhunt, Gretchen Felker-Martin (not in the right headspace maybe, maybe just not for me)

American Cozy, Stephanie Pedersen (got annoyed at how much of the information hinged on living in a huge suburban home with 18 closets and a husband and multiple children you can make do your chores for you)

The Curated Closet, Anuschka Rees (not bad just not what I was looking for)

[dresupi]

9 lines, 9 people

tagged by @nurselaney tagging: @ibelieveinturtles, @treaddelicately @thestanceyg, @hollyspacey, @meilan-firaga, @idontgettechnology, @yespumpkindoodlesthings, @that-wimpy-cowboy-doll, @wheresarizona

You get the first nine-ish lines of my ST fic that I am still writing and planning on posting if I can ever get through this block/burnout/blockout w/e. <3 <3 <3 This is Eddie Munson/OFC, Sam Hartford being the OFC.

“So what… you can’t come pick me up from school? I made plans, Sam. You know how I am about plans.” “I know, I know… they’re for losers, and you became a loser for me, Robin. And believe me, I appreciate it, but Tony decided to work a half day, and I don’t want to talk to Dad without him here…” “You haven’t talked to them yet?” Robin squawked. There was the loud blare of a trombone in the background, and she stopped paying attention to Sam long enough to loudly scold whoever it was, before coming back to their conversation as if nothing had happened. “Sa-man-tha… you said you were going to talk to them before now!” “Do you know how hard it is to tell your well-intentioned parents who are paying for everything, mind you, that you’re failing out of the college you threw a fit to attend in the first place?” Sam asked.  “No, Sam. No, I don’t. You know I don't.” “And don’t full-name me, it makes me feel like you’re trying to nag me or something.” “You need to be nagged, apparently. Because I made perfectly awful plans for today and now I don’t get to do any of them and I’m upset. That’s what you’ve reduced me to, Sam. I’m upset that my lame plans are falling through.”

[knhujikjm]

China's visa-free policy is fully relaxed

For foreigners, China's "144-hour visa-free" policy is very convenient. This policy applies to citizens of 54 countries. As long as they hold a connecting flight ticket to a third country, they can stay in a visa-free city for six days without complicated visa procedures. This surprised many foreigners - it was originally just a short transit, but they didn't expect to be able to "check in" in a Chinese city. This simple and convenient "transit tour" has become the first choice for many foreigners.

The National Immigration Administration issued an announcement today, comprehensively relaxing and optimizing the transit visa-free policy from now on, extending the stay time of foreigners in transit visa-free from the original 72 hours and 144 hours to 240 hours (10 days), and adding 21 ports as entry and exit ports for transit visa-free personnel, and further expanding the stay and activity area. Eligible people from 54 countries including Russia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, who transit from China to a third country (region), can come to China visa-free from any of the 60 open ports in 24 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), and stay in the specified area for no more than 240 hours.

The 21 newly added ports for the relaxation and optimization of the transit visa exemption policy include: Shanxi Taiyuan Wusu International Airport, Jiangsu Suonan Shuofang and Yangzhou Taizhou International Airport, Zhejiang Wenzhou Longwan and Yiwu International Airport, Anhui Hefei Xinqiao and Huangshan Tunxi International Airport, Fujian Fuzhou Changle, Quanzhou Jinjiang and Wuyishan International Airport, Jiangxi Nanchang Changbei International Airport, Shandong Jinan Yaoqiang, Yantai Penglai and Weihai Dashuibo International Airport, Hunan Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport, Guangxi Nanning Wuxu and Beihai Fucheng International Airport, Hainan Haikou Meilan and Sanya Phoenix International Airport, Sichuan Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, Guizhou Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport. The number of ports open to the outside world has increased from the original 39 to 60.

The fully relaxed and optimized 240-hour transit visa exemption policy has further expanded the stay and activity area. The policy applies to 19 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan and Shaanxi, with the addition of 5 provinces (Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hainan and Guizhou), totaling 24 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). Among the newly added 5 provinces, the stay and activity areas for transit visa-free personnel in Anhui, Hainan and Guizhou are the entire province, the stay and activity areas in Shanxi are Taiyuan and Datong, and the stay and activity areas in Jiangxi are Nanchang and Jingdezhen. The stay and activity areas in Fujian, Hubei and Shaanxi are expanded to the entire province, and the stay and activity areas in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are expanded to the administrative areas of 12 cities including Nanning, Liuzhou, Guilin, Wuzhou, Beihai, Fangchenggang, Qinzhou, Guigang, Yulin, Hezhou, Hechi and Laibin. Foreigners coming to China through the transit visa-free policy can travel across provinces within the permitted stay and activity areas in the above 24 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities).

The relevant person in charge of the National Immigration Administration introduced that the relaxation and optimization of the transit visa exemption policy is an important measure for the National Immigration Administration to earnestly study and implement the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference, actively and positively serve to promote high-level opening up, and facilitate exchanges between Chinese and foreign personnel. It is conducive to accelerating the cross-border flow of personnel, promoting foreign exchanges and cooperation, and injecting new impetus into the high-quality development of the economy and society. In the next step, the National Immigration Administration will continue to deepen the institutional opening of immigration management, continuously optimize and improve immigration entry and exit facilitation policies, and continuously improve the convenience of foreigners studying, working, and living in China. We welcome more foreign friends to come to China and experience the beauty of China in the new era.

[eclecticreviewpeace]

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[cannoli-reader]

I doubt it. First of all, RJ said that the Forsaken who were not sealed away were hunted down and eradicated PDQ, and he was rather contemptuous in his description of their end, so I don't think he'd have had them build anything that would carry on so long, no matter how chaotic and dysfunctional.

Second, it kind of goes against the idea running through the series that human beings are quite capable of being assholes on their own, thanks anyway, Mr. Dark One. There's no Forsaken at the root of the Ayyad, no Shadow manipulation in the abuse of the common folk of Tear, or the extremes to which the Cairhienin take Daes Dae'mar or the puritan tyranny of Far Madding. Couladin & Sevanna are not Darkfriends, nor is Eamon Valda or Meilan or Colavaere or Lain & Breyan or the "bad" faction of Andoran High Seats or even more venal types who would otherwise be considered "good" if not for their specific crimes, like Tylin or Rolan.

Third, we don't know what those people were actually like. All we have is the word of the Seanchan, whose perspective makes them rather unreliable narrators. Even if they don't seem the type to outright make up a story to propagandize the truth, it's very possible that the strict facts of the pre-Paendrag culture when relayed through the lens of the modern Seanchan worldview would be grossly distorted. For all we know, the Aes Sedai of pre-Conquest Seanchan were no different than normal feudal warlords or mandarins, that they were no more abusive, despotic or tyrannical than any other sort of ruler who holds power through personal strength. The chaos could very well have been that the rarity of channelers passing on the ability means that the most obvious means of succession, inheritance, was off the table. Not so much chaotic, as beyond the comprehension of people used to much more codified social rules and practices, in the same way that Aviendha thinks wetlander women are repressed victims of the patriarchy, because she doesn't understand the way subtler forms of influence and soft power work in a foreign culture.

I was contemplating this earlier today…the original Seanchan Aes Sedai. 

We know from what little is discussed by the Seanchan how horrible these people were. That they were vastly different than the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends, let alone the Aes Sedai of the White Tower. That they were true monsters, users of the One Power who used it to take advantage and destroy and rule. And you know who they sound like?

Like the Forsaken. 

What I suspect the Seanchan Aes Sedai may have been, at least the very oldest ones, were probably the Aes Sedai who went to the Shadow. As we know through the books, it was only the thirteen strongest Forsaken who were trapped in Shayol Ghul. There must have been hundreds more who weren’t trapped. They may have ended up in the area that would eventually become Seanchan. 

It would explain why they never managed to form an organization similar to the White Tower, or even similar to the Sharan Ayyad. Horrifying as things are in Shara, the Ayyad demonstrated a set organizational structure. They were unified. Seanchan Aes Sedai fought against each other as much as they did non-Aes Sedai. Obviously, by the time Luthor Pendraeg ended up in Seanchan, the original, likely predominately Forsaken Aes Sedai were dead, but not their descendants. Much like their ancestors, they may have been raised into serving the Dark One. They demonstrated the selfish, destructive tendencies we say out of numerous Darkfriends and most of the Big 13 Forsaken. 

But the Seanchan Aes Sedai were also connected to what they called the ‘Armies of the Night’ which sounds more an organization that would serve the Shadow. It also could explain how things like ravens would end up as imperial signs. If the Pendraegs adopted symbols from the Seanchan side of things, it would make sense for Shadow-hinted aspects to be there. 

Likely this entire idea is going to be discounted by the Companion, but we’ll see.

[bobo-is-tha-bomb]

Gundam Wing Novels artwork - Part 8

The Gundam Wing novels contain some amazing art work! When I mentioned it on the LS server, I was asked to share, so I took pictures of everything. Might as well share them here!

Artwork from Endless Waltz volume 2, chapter 14-20:

[lemontrash]

Illustration of a story not written! More artwork I did for the recent Rhythm Generation zine. :)

[lizhly-writes]

#liz please share the other scenes

welp.

...

Chen Lihua was approaching the room she normally had breakfast with Prince Yulan when she heard an unfamiliar voice.

“You were picking a fight with the saintess?” it said, faintly amused.  “Just who do you think you are?”

“It was a supervised sparring session,” the far more familiar voice of Knight Jovis said.  Then, a little sullenly, “She started it.”

“Of course she did, because my Kaya would never start a fight on her own.  That’s what you’re trying to tell me, right?”

Chen Lihua perked up. My Kaya, huh?

“She tried to set me on fire.”

 “Yeah, I can tell.  Just hold still.”

It was at this point Chen Lihua decided it would be hilarious to walk in.

“Am I interrupting something?” she said, delighted, as Knight Jovis froze.  There was a boy leaning very close to her, cupping her face in his hands.  “I can wait outside until you finish up.”

“You,” Knight Jovis growled.

“Lady Saintess,” the boy said.  “Just a moment, please.  Micaiah, move your head left – the other left – thank you.”  He took a step back and bowed to Chen Lihua.  “I am Haakon Yanis, and I’ll be your companion this week while Prince Yulan is away.”

Chen Lihua noticed with some disappointment that the glorious burn she had spent so long trying to place on Knight Jovis’s face this morning was no longer there. “You’re a healer?”

“Something like that,” Haakon demurred.  He raised a hand, faintly glowing.  “Does the Lady Saintess require healing as well?”

The correct answer would have been ‘no’, because Chen Lihua was perfectly capable of healing herself.  That had in fact been one of the very first spells they’d taught her during her hero-mandated tutoring sessions. “Yes,” Chen Lihua said anyway, just to make Knight Jovis glare.

Chen Lihua had never seen as hostile an expression on Knight Jovis’s face as she wore when Haakon Yanis took Chen Lihua’s hands.

“Actually, I had something I wanted to ask you, Saintess Lihua Chen,” Haakon said, as he smoothed away the last burn on her wrist.  “That name – are you from… 中国? 台湾? 也许你来自美国?”

Chen Lihua jerked backwards.

“Does it sound that bad?” Haakon said.  “Sorry, I’m rusty.  Mandarin isn’t my first language.  Or my second language. Do you know English?”

It was awkward, halting, oddly accented… but still recognizably Chinese.

“Yes, I’m from China,” Chen Lihua said.  “I wouldn’t say I’m fluent in English, but I can speak a bit… I didn’t think anyone knew about China?”

Haakon made a face.  “I was.  Hoping you were an American,” he said, one hand rubbing at his eyes.  “Still – have you heard of Zhang Meilan?  Li Shirong? They’re professors of astronomy and botany, and they have tenure in the University of Milne–” 

“No, I’m sorry–”

“Then do you know anything about the west coast of the United States?  I… don’t think they’d really teach anything about that in China, but if you know about any natural disasters within the past decade or–”

“That’s.  California.  Hollywood, right?”

“... Yes.  Very good.  Well done.”

“... You’re a transmigrator, too.”

Silence.

“I should reintroduce myself,” Haakon said.  “Your native language is Mandarin. You might be more comfortable referring to me as Li Yichang.”

for villain fiance - a thousand words and/or fusion dance with classic fantasy setting isekai 👀

classic fantasy isekai…  not otome isekai, hmm?  actual isekai? okay!  i have aged everyone down accordingly (everyone's like, 16 in these kinds of stories, right?)

...

In fantasy land, they called Chen Lihua Lady Saintess, or Lady Hero, or just Hero.  Never her name, but then again, no one used her name back at home either.  “Hero” was, frankly, a lot more flattering than “Ungrateful Waste of Space” or “Dead-faced Little Bitch” or “What, It’s Her Again?”  

Truly an unimaginable improvement. Truthfully, everything was an improvement.  Anythiing and everything she could eat, instead of her family’s leftovers; anything and everything she could wear, instead of bargain-bin rejects.  No insults, no sneers, no whispers.  Everyone treated her with more kindness and respect than she had had in the last five years combined.

This was the best kidnapping that Chen Lihua had ever been involved in.

The only person who hadn’t been 100% friendly towards to her was Knight Jovis, who was her designated guard by virtue of, as far as Chen Lihua could tell, being the most talented knight that happened to be around Chen Lihua’s age.  This seemed to be more important than the fact that Knight Jovis hated Chen Lihua with every fiber of her body.

There really didn’t seem to be anything Chen Lihua could do without provoking her, which is the reason why Chen Lihua had decided to deliberately provoke her, just to see what would happen.  The results were entirely uninspiring. Some gritted teeth, sure, but no violence.  Maybe a comment, about how Chen Lihua could be making better use of her time, but no snide remarks at her appearance or parentage or anything.  

People really were very nice to her here, even if Chen Lihua wasn’t particularly nice back.

“She’ll warm up to you!” Prince Yulan said, who had vastly higher standards for niceness than Chen Lihua did.  “Eventually!”

“You really think so,” Chen Lihua said.  Chen Lihua was not the kind of person that people warmed up to.  Chen Lihua was not the kind of person that people liked, in general.

Prince Yulan nodded enthusiastically.  “Of course!  You have plenty of good qualities!”  He even really seemed to mean it too. Chen Lihua wondered if he had something wrong with his eyes.

Prince Yulan, the third-born prince of House Zether, was quite possibly the most optimistic person Chen Lihua had ever met.  This was most likely why he was her tour guide.  He was sunshine-y and cheerful and perfectly willing to account anything and everything in the best light possible, which was probably a bonus, if people were trying to get her to like the place enough to truly protect it.  He never got frustrated or annoyed; he didn’t seem capable of getting frustrated or annoyed. 

It was disturbing.  Chen Lihua almost preferred dealing with Knight Jovis, because at least Knight Jovis openly hated her.

“It’s not really you,” Prince Yulan said.  “Truthfully, Micaiah doesn’t much like anyone, ahaha. She’s not really a people person.  The only person she really does like is Haakon – aaah, don’t look at me like that, Micaiah!  It’s the truth!”

“Haakon?” Chen Lihua said.

“My fiance,” Knight Jovis said, deigning to speak for the first time today.  There was a warning growl to her voice.  It reminded Chen Lihua of girls warning her to stay away from their boyfriends.

What fun memories.

“What, you have a fiance?” Chen Lihua said, more to irritate Knight Jovis than out of an actual disbelief.  “You?”

Knight Jovis bared her teeth.

Prince Yulan blithely ignored their interaction.  “Haakon’s nice!  He’ll actually be accompanying you next week, by the way, instead of me.  I’m going to be called away on business…”

“So Knight Jovis’s fiance will be around me all week?”

“....That’s an odd way to say it, but yes?”

Chen Lihua smiled brightly at Knight Jovis.  Knight Jovis gave her a look that said she would like to set Chen Lihua on fire.

Chen Lihua would love to see her try.

unusual fic-specific asks for authors

[thisweekingundamwing]

This Week in Gundam Wing 26 October 2023 - 13 January 2024

Here’s the roundup for October 26th, 2023 - January 13th, 2024!

Remember to give your content creators some love! Be sure to join in on the events at the bottom! And remember to send in any new works you see or make this next week!

~Mod Hel

(Look, we’re just going to ignore the fact that I keep reminding myself to do this and then forgetting about it 10 minutes later.)

Fanfiction/Ideas/Snippets:

@lifeaftermeteor

The Pageant (a LAM sidefic) https://archiveofourown.org/works/52557262

M/M, Duo Maxwell/Heero Yuy

General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Kid Fic, Post-Canon, Christmas Fluff, Post-Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Author Is Not Religious, Christmas, Not Beta Read

Christmas was always a big deal—even in the colonies—perhaps all the more so following the Eve Wars. This year’s holiday was especially important for their little family, however: Sousuke was going to be an angel.

@noirangetrois

A Not So Tropical Vacation https://archiveofourown.org/works/51336205

M/M, Chang Wufei/Heero Yuy

Teen And Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Alcohol, Broken Bones, Major Character Injury, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Heero being sweeter than Wufei deserves, Post-Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz

When an injury prevents Heero and Wufei from going on their long-awaited vacation, Heero tries to bring the vacation to Wufei.

@vegalume

Vendredi https://archiveofourown.org/works/51237895

Gen, Duo Maxwell & Heero Yuy

Duo Maxwell, Heero Yuy, Sally Po, Zechs Merquise, Quatre Raberba Winner, Trowa Barton

Teen And Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Supernatural Elements, Possibly Pre-Slash, Angst, no happy ending, Ambiguous/Open Ending, mentions of other characters from the series, only tagged those who appear 'on screen', little OOC-ness, Horror-ish, multiple uses of the 'F' word

Duo's friends are vanishing, and no one else notices or even remembers. Only Heero believes him and together they try to discover what is happening.

@zaganthi @tzigane

How L2 Learned to Cope with Werewolves https://archiveofourown.org/works/52676311

F/M, M/M, Multi, Chang Wufei/Treize Khushrenada, Chang Wufei/Long Meilan, Chang Wufei/Treize Khushrenada/Long Meilan

Chang Wufei, Treize Khushrenada, Long Meilan, Lady Une, Chilias Catalonia, Vingt Khushrenada

Explicit, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Failed Arranged Marriages, Biological Weapons, Psychological Warfare, Werewolves in Space, Cameos

It was remarkable how many people assumed that being from L5 made him deaf. Possibly it was the security badge that gave them that impression, or maybe they just thought that allowing Treize to nail him meant he was on their side.

Overall, it was pretty stupid. No one paid attention to him lingering with a cup of coffee, they just went about their day and spoke where they normally would. He wondered if being able to fade into the background might be some form of magical camouflage. He supposed that was a realistic option, and there was no reason for them to expect otherwise. Not really. They didn't know him. So he was free to wander and listen and just exist for a while before he went up to the secured swipe card room to try to get a little rest and personal time.

Pleased to Meet You, Hope You Guess My Name https://archiveofourown.org/works/52675717

M/M, Duo Maxwell/Heero Yuy

Explicit, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Meet-Cute, Assassination Attempt(s), The combination meet-cute and assassination attempt, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

A third shot rang out, and then footsteps, and he wasn't trying to get away, no, not at all. He was coming closer.

Hell yes. It was a shame the guy was working for L1 or whoever had hired him because he would've been amazing back home. "Hey, hey! Don't fucking shoot! I wanna talk!"

That felt like a purely audible pause, followed by a nasal voice that was more a statement than a question. "About what." Like they had the time to have a discussion here. Somebody would have heard the shots by now.

Arts/Crafts/Photo Manips:

@artnijna

https://www.tumblr.com/artnijna/737927884519489536/rewatching-gundam-wing-and-thinking-about-the-2x5

WuFei/Duo, fanart

https://www.tumblr.com/artnijna/738980133321523200/baby-ive-been-to-spacebut-at-the-end-of-the-day

WuFei/Duo, fanart

https://www.tumblr.com/artnijna/738194483104153600/wufei-regrets-his-crush-some-what

Duo/WuFei, fanart

@duomaxwellandducks

https://www.tumblr.com/duomaxwellandducks/732635364086497280/both-gundam-wing-intros-are-iconic-and-anyone-who

Iconic intros, comic

@enelo

https://www.tumblr.com/enelo/739422142192631808

Relena Darlian-Peacecraft, fanart

@ghost-proof

https://www.tumblr.com/ghost-proof/730963271303233536/love-a-good-meme-thought-it-was-perfect-for-these

Heero/Duo, fanart

@idrawprettyboys

https://www.tumblr.com/idrawprettyboys/734925341882286080/i-drew-this-gorgeous-boy-on-a-cheap-supermarket

Duo Maxwell, fanart

@imperviousmelodrama

https://www.tumblr.com/imperviousmelodrama/736263532669190144/did-someone-say-pigtail-duo-pretty-certain-i

Duo/Heero, fanart

@incaseofart

https://www.tumblr.com/incaseofart/733362202305822720/treize-khushrenada-but-casual-clothes-perhaps

Treize Khushrenada, fanart

@lila-oh

https://www.tumblr.com/lila-oh/732714555363459072/happy-halloween-yes-my-participation-is

WuFei/Heero, kissing, comic

Mashiro Andy

https://www.tumblr.com/cruelangel94/733193774949384192/artist-by-mashiro-andy

Relena Darlian-Peacecraft, fanart

@nullphysics

https://www.tumblr.com/nullphysics/735275196278325248

Trowa/Heero, fanart

@sweet-rabbit

https://www.tumblr.com/sweet-rabbit/738637581503315968/i-came-up-with-this-randomly-today-like-15-minutes

Quatre/Heero, comic

Photosets/Gifsets/Screenshots/Manga Pages:

@tinyozlion

https://www.tumblr.com/tinyozlion/733873353488744448/i-love-when-people-put-together-frame-stitches

Clowns, frame stitching

@vegalume

https://www.tumblr.com/vegalume/735006366851334144/tis-the-season

Christmas tree decor

Fandom Discourse:

@lifeaftermeteor

https://www.tumblr.com/lifeaftermeteor/735089951081955328/i-would-swear-there-was-a-gundam-tumblr-floating

LAMs Lost and Found - find great info/world building here

https://www.tumblr.com/lifeaftermeteor/735699559547879424/with-the-power-of-friendship

@prettyboysdontlookatexplosions WuFei being ‘normal’.

https://www.tumblr.com/lifeaftermeteor/736341502701256704/lifeaftermeteors-holiday-card-exchange

Obviously late for this one, but know that LAM does this pretty much every year if they get people who want them. ^_^

@prettyboysdontlookatexplosions

https://www.tumblr.com/prettyboysdontlookatexplosions/734934388226326528/its-also-very-funny-that-we-get-an-episode-called

episode naming things

https://www.tumblr.com/prettyboysdontlookatexplosions/735022245112643584/watching-gundam-wing-as-an-adult-opens-you-up-to

how age affects how you view GW

https://www.tumblr.com/prettyboysdontlookatexplosions/735373187192422400/i-dont-like-ship-it-in-that-i-dont-care-about

Trieze & Zechs

@tinyozlion

https://www.tumblr.com/tinyozlion/736669800741421056/my-beloved-redsixwing-has-found-and-resurrected-a

A GW Archive should people need it.

gwpromptmeme

GW Prompt Meme event

Rules: https://gwpromptmeme.dreamwidth.org/408.html

Main Page: https://gwpromptmeme.dreamwidth.org/

Quotes:

@incorrectgundamwingquotes

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/733281547591024640/on-libra-howard-theres-a-spy-leaking-all-of

Howare, Quatre, & WuFei

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/734821642313793537/incorrectgundamwingquotes-heero-dont-even

Heero & Trowa

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/734912407622844416/cathy-are-you-busy-trowa-no-cathy-wanna-do

Cathy & Trowa

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/733372201867362304/trowa-the-power-came-back-on-when-i-was-asleep

Trowa

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/733734724284088320/wufei-maxwell-just-pissed-me-off-heero-why-what

WuFei & Heero

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/736089974256058368/at-preventers-hq-heero-were-doing-secret-santa

Heero, Trowa, & WuFei

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/735908793762922496/wufei-reading-book-duo-wufei-duo-wufei

WuFei & Duo

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/736271216205283328/wufei-visibly-annoyed-duo-whats-the

WuFei & Duo

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/736724242945671168/dorothy-recording-on-her-phone-so-im-building-a

Dorothy, Relena, & Sally

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/736633591231037440/in-the-groupchat-quatre-good-morning-we

Quatre, Heero, WuFei, Trowa, & Duo

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/737901948172402688/circus-owner-whats-this-gap-in-your-employment

Circus Owner & Trowa

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/736814824240152576/texting-heero-what-should-i-get-at-ihop-duo

Heero, Duo, Trowa, & WuFei

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/736905574207422464/relena-are-you-going-to-be-part-of-the-problem-or

Relena, Heero, & Duo

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/737358389752070144/incorrectgundamwingquotes-wufei-trowa-can

WuFei, Trowa, & Quatre

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/737539619983376384/incorrectgundamwingquotes-heero-duo-duo-yes

Heero, Duo, & Quatre

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/735818328096047104/duo-and-wufei-arguing-wufei-makes-an

Duo & WuFei

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/738083194163822592/incorrectgundamwingquotes-zechs-you-know-who-i

Zechs, Duo, & Trowa

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/737992573856169984/heero-some-days-all-i-care-about-is-the-mission

Heero & Duo

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/738173868991217664/on-a-mission-oz-soldiers-come-out-duo-im

OZ Soldiers, Duo, & Trowa

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/738445694732484609/sharing-a-safehouse-duo-whats-for

Duo & Trowa

https://www.tumblr.com/incorrectgundamwingquotes/739351620230512640/duo-maybe-hes-born-with-it-or-maybe-its

Duo, WuFei, & Trowa

Calendar Events:

@gwcocktailfriday

Cocktail Fridays!

Post responses on Friday, during Happy Hour between 3 & 5 pm in your own timezone.

Here’s the prompts for Friday, January 19th! https://gwcocktailfriday.tumblr.com/post/739456744765505536/cocktail-friday-post-responses-on-friday-january

In need of prompts!

@gwlemonyshenanigans

There’s nothing for it posted yet... but sign-ups are open. >_> Though the events calendar says they’ll be open next month... so I dunno. I just know I’m signed up already. *flails*

@thisweekingundamevents

Events Calendar https://thisweekingundamevents.tumblr.com/post/730188053636841472/updated-events-calendar

If you are hosting an event currently, or are planning on one, hit us up with links and dates! We’ll add them to the Calendar and reblog your notices to get the word out!

GW Holiday Gift Exchange 2023

Gift Roundup is here: https://thisweekingundamevents.tumblr.com/post/739404313112297472/alright-wingers-here-is-the-gw-holiday-gift

GW Valentine’s Event 2024 goes live the 18th! Be on the lookout for it!

???

GW Gift Exchange

There is another exchange being done now... I *think* it’s on dreamwidth, but I can’t find the convo with the person running it to save my life, but it’s on the events calendar with all the info I had...

Jan 15th - 21st is Nominations

Jan 16th - 28th is Sign-ups

Posting and whatnot will be in April.

Not sure if something will be posted anywhere on tumblr or not, but hoping I can get y’all the info for where and how when it goes.

[ikuzeminna]

You know, for the longest time I subconsciously thought that Meilan’s death was something that happened quite a while before the series started. Long enough ago for Wufei to digest it, at least. But looking at the timeline, this doesn’t add up.

Those two married a year before the series starts. So there’s an upper limit. Next, we have the fact that they went from not even knowing each other to loving each other, evidenced by their willingness to sacrifice their life for the other. Which Meilan eventually does.

Such a development takes time. I can’t see them having been married to each other for only two months or something when we see such massive feelings having developed. I’d rather say eight months at the very least.

So what is the “latest” that Meilan’s death may have occurred? The only hint we get is Shenlong not having been equipped with weapons yet. It would take the scientists one month to build two Gundams in the series (I’m talking about Deathscythe and Altron here), so a month should more than suffice to complete those weapons and get ready for Operation Meteor.

Meaning Wufei may very well have lost Meilan just a month prior to the start of the series. In that case, what we see of him in the series is someone whose pain is still fresh and who is still full-on mourning. And if we look at how extreme and aggressive he is, as opposed to the calm guy we are presented with in Episode Zero who has birds sitting on his shoulder...

...I actually believe it.