#mash census

[ranticore]

I also would love to ask for 5 but in a general sense. How do you pick names? Do you go by Vibes, do you spend time on those baby name hellsites or do they come to you like a revelation (pun intended)

for background characters who don't really show up much i like to go down wikipedia holes for historical figures from the right time period and mash their names together

for main characters idk man sometimes i just hit randomise in my brain and pick the first name that feels ok. i'm very bad at it, names don't mean all that much to me already so sometimes it's just the word i use as a convenient shorthand for the thing. for a shortcut i can pick a theme and then just random words from it (Siren is rife with this). sometimes i pick a name totally at random and then somehow it manages to be perfectly fitting. i find that any name i have to think HARD about and trawl through webpages of census data tend not to stick all that much? like they're fine they're just never as nice to me as the name that i just pulled out of nowhere at random

but in general naming is my weak spot. i've had characters for years who never got names

[constantlymisspelled]

Houses and Clans of Mandalore - 65 to 44 BBY

All known Clans of Ordo House.

Rodarch

Ordo

All known Clans of Vizsla House

Vizsla

Viz*

Vis*

Vizla

Wren

Dawar*

All known Clans of Fett House

Fett

Phett*

Vhett*

Vhettrom*

All known Clans of Kryze House

Kryze

All known Clans of Kast House

Rook

Kast

Sizing of Mandalore's Houses

[From largest to smallest]

Ordo

Vizsla

Fett

Kryze

Kast

Unaffiliated Clans

Silver Children*

Clans not counted in Mandalorian Census

Kestis*

Naasaade*

Clans without a current assigned House [Undecided]

Saxon

Eldar

Priest

Rau

Reau

Wattana*

Ector*

Vaea*

[* is for fan Houses and Clans.]

[This is going to be subject to review and updates, so if you have any ideas, let me know, and I will add them to the list. Just have in mind that this is a record of Houses from a specific era. I will eventually do a House Specific History Post for anyone interested; however this is all either head canon, what shreds of canon I can mash together, and conjecture.]

[Click here to go back to Codex]

[artisofthandy]

It’s THANKSGIVING 2024 EVERYONE! A day where every last Thursday of November where families, friends and loved ones come together and celebrate, be thankful and grateful for each other and have a massive feast! Particularly a thanksgiving dinner with a turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and much more in terms of history; it’s quite dark, complex and complicated and for that due to how it involves removing the census of millions of Native Americans or something else or maybe how there’s been several reports of conflict between the European puritan colonists and the indigenous population. Many also see Thanksgiving as a Day of Mourning 2024 to commemorate and pay respects and tribute to many Native Americans who passed away from such attacks. But I’d say let us make peace, tranquility and equality, no more conflicts, harm or needless suffering and deaths, just camaraderie, friendship and reconciliation as well as neutrality with a meal to boot.

Regardless have a great Thanksgiving 2024! And may the many people rest well in peace… enjoy some dinner. :)

[noahwright]

* TASK 002 ⸺ CENSUS OF SURVIVORS !

do they have any distinctive scars, tattoos, or marks?

“ yeah, i have twenty-seven tatts and, uhm ... a few scars. the biggest one is a burn scar in the left side of my torso, right under my ribs. it's quite the story too. oh! and i have a birth mark on the base of my neck, it has a weird leaf shape, i don't know. it's weird. ”

everybody’s hiding something—a fear, a weakness, a strength, an unpopular opinion. what are you hiding right now?

“ a chocolate bar i found in one of the suitcases. it's swiss, but got milk in it, so i'm saving it just in case. don't tell anyone, please. ”

do you believe rescue is possible at this point? why or why not?

“ i don't know, mate, i try not to think about it. we've been here for three months already and i— i just hope they hadn't forgotten or lost their hopes, that's all. ”

what did you dream about last night?

“ oh, my brother theo and i make this amazing, succulent black beans burgers with mashed potatoes that, ugh — they're so good? i've been dreaming with that for the last two weeks, it's torture, honestly. ”

what is the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to you?

“ well, i ... do have an important, embarrassing amount of those, not gonna lie, but ... once i accidentally pulled down some random middle-aged lady's pants on the ice skating park because i was falling and didn't find anything else to grab so my fall wouldn't be so terrible so ... yeah. poor lady, had spongebob panties i'm afraid weren't even hers. ”

do you prefer fighting with your fists or using diplomacy?

“ it depends. diplomacy is nice and all, but sometimes ... a punch to the face is needed. people are dumb, you know? ”

[emilyaxford]

population of sausalito in the 70s according to the census was only 6,158. do you think they ever ran into bj hunni– [i get taken out by the sniper i have hired to kill me whenever i think too much about MASH]

[almaqead]

"The Children of Israel." From Surah 10, Surah Yunus, "The Dove."

Israel has been granted additional funds and weapons by the US Government in order to defend itself against Hamas and reacquire Gaza City, one of the Cities of Friendship named by the Torah as a franchise of the Haram.

From Parsha Noach:

19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar (sojourning) as far as Gaza (strong), and in the direction of Sodom (to burn) Gomorrah (people who shoot arrows tyrants), Admah (red earth, arable soil), and Zeboiim (gazelles), as far as Lasha (gaped at, delighted). 20 These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

“The servants of God overpower those consumed by the lust for power, who work for tyrants, using the Fire free the citizens of oppressed nations and create herds of happy, delighted little gazelles!”

21 To Shem (supreme knowledge) also, the father of all the children of Eber (who has passed over), the elder brother of Japheth (boundless civilization), children were born. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam (hidden),  Asshur (level, happy, just), Arpachshad= chesed= mercy, Lud (standing water), and Aram (high citadel). 

“The supreme knowledge, hidden within the happy, balanced, just and merciful is the standing water that reflects the Most High.” 

= the mirror image of a flood of violence. 

23 The sons of Aram: Uz (inner strength), Hul (writhing circle), Gether (winepress of vision), and Mash (drawn out). 

“Through contemplation and strength of will, the writhing mind is pressed and made to draw out the essence of the Most High.” 

24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah (the mission); and Shelah fathered Eber (the region beyond). 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg (divided canal),[p] for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan (he will be small) . 26

“Through mercy the mission can reach the farthest regions, and the divided earth can became one.” 

Joktan fathered Almodad (immeasurable is how God loves!), Sheleph (draw out), Hazarmaveth (village of death), Jerah (the moon), 27 Hadoram (thunder is exalted), Uzal (vanish), Diklah (palm tree), 28 Obal (not clouded), Abimael (God is father), Sheba (seven oaths), 29 Ophir (mark of wealth), Havilah (the burning fort), and Jobab (Yah is father); all these were the sons of Joktan (he will be small). 

“The unified world is loved by God without measure. Those who follow His Voice, the Exalted Thunder will be drawn forth from the village of the damned, and their sins, their clouded judgement will vanish. If they swear the Seven Oaths, they will bear the mark of wealth, live under the Tallest Date Palm, which resides behind the Wall of Fire, within the Burning Fort.”

30 The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha (retreat or depart) in the direction of Sephar (the census) to the hill country of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

32 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

“To face east, towards the rising sun, to grow up, evolve, depart from the masses and reach for the Knowledge of the Supreme, is to become a part of the Effort to create an effortless peace all around the world.”

These are referred to in the Quran as well. They are not to be used as Cities of Abuse as they were by the Pharaoh of Egypt before they were liberated by Moses:

10: 87-91:

We revealed to Moses and his brother, “Appoint houses for your people in Egypt. Turn these houses into places of worship, establish prayer, and give good news to the believers!”

Moses prayed, “Our Lord! You have granted Pharaoh and his chiefs luxuries and riches in this worldly life, ˹which they abused˺ to lead people astray from Your Way! Our Lord, destroy their riches and harden their hearts so that they will not believe until they see the painful punishment.”

Allah responded ˹to Moses and Aaron˺,1 “Your prayer is answered! So be steadfast and do not follow the way of those who do not know.”

We brought the Children of Israel across the sea. Then Pharaoh and his soldiers pursued them unjustly and oppressively. But as Pharaoh was drowning, he cried out, “I believe that there is no god except that in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am ˹now˺ one of those who submit.”

˹He was told,˺ “Now ˹you believe˺? But you always disobeyed and were one of the corruptors.

Commentary:

Allah told Muhammad not to follow in the way of people who do not know what is the Masjid. Israel will soon be free of Hamas and Hezbollah, and this means all the Israelites that yearn to cross the sea of tyranny and hopelessness to freedom will find the way Allah promised to His Prophet and settle in an effortless peace.

[strawbfairyy]

MASHblr census pt 12: Popular Bloggers

this is the last one as of now!! let me know if you want to see any cross-sections though :)) also if you're on this list and want to be taken off/want me to take this down feel free to let me know. thanks!

Who do you consider “popular” on mashblr?

horaetio (now leonardcohenofficial) (19)

californiasplit (18)

fieryphrazes (13)

hhawkeye (10)

tallsinspace (9)

gaysails (6)

goatmilkoatmilk (6)

neuroglia (5)

linguinibot (4)

giaucherie (4)

hawksnightmare (4)

mashseason4 (4)

cementrelations (4)

hawksnightmare (4)

thealogie (4)

flintism (3)

plasterhandscemenetrelations (3)

transradar (3)

cauldronofmorning (2)

sleepdeprivedsurgeon (2)

lesbianfranzkafka (2)

radarbabieoreilly (2)

cantibutch (2)

dykemulcahy (2)

deer-tongue (2)

thechevypickup (2)

uncletrpperandaunthawkeye (2)

onekisstotakewithme (2)

dougramsey (2)

klinger (2)

maxwell-klinger (1)

gonzogender (1)

alanaldafancam (1)

stupidredsuspenders (1)

radars-teddybear (1)

bjhunnicut (1)

prawniscuous (1)

yaroantheo (1)

mash4077 (1)

me (magical-friends) :) (1)

kippdip (1)

holytoledo (1)

weirdgirlsamwinchester (1)

thatflyingdesk

drsydneyfreeman (1)

toasted-coaster (1)

crickelwood (1)

s0ftpining (1)

thelatecaptainpierce (1)

redgoldblue (1)

pt 1 (sexuality) // pt 2 (age) // pt 3 (tumblr) // pt 4 (watching mash) // pt 5 (seasons of mash) // pt 6 (discovering mash) // pt 7 (posting on mashblr) // pt 8 (other interests) // pt 9 (characters & relationships) // pt 10 (MASHblr friendships) // pt 11 (MASHblr community)

[soulweaverspirit]

Once again reading the Jesus Birth Narratives and scholarly analysis and once again kicking my feet giggling blushing gasping

[boasamishipper]

Why do you think Macheresin isn't as popular as other ships? I see all sorts of random mashings together of people and no Macheresin.

[image description: a gif of snl actor kenan thompson saying, 'you know why.' end image description.]

jokes aside, earlier this year i wrote about how during my last ten years in fandom, i've noticed that ships that pair a white character with another white character they have an antagonistic relationship with (ex. reylo, hangster, floydsin) are almost always more popular than ships that pair a white character with a character of color, particularly a Black character, that they have a close relationship with (ex. finnrey, macheresin). admittedly, the popularity of finnrey/reylo vs macheresin/hangster&floydsin isn't the neatest parallel in the world, as finn and rey were co-protagonists and hangman had a more prominent role in tg:m than coyote, but i digress.

i am not saying everybody who doesn't ship macheresin is racist; people are drawn to what they're drawn to, it's as simple as that. i am saying that i think it's fascinating that those who decry macheresin as a ship and/or claim they have no inspiration to create content featuring their fave (hangman) and his relationship with the one (1) person he's shown in the movie to hold in as high of a regard as he holds himself have absolutely no problem putting out headcanons and fics and meta about how, for instance, hangman and rooster are actually bitter exes and that's why they have such a vitriolic relationship onscreen. equally fascinating is that per the results of my top gun fandom census (results to be posted publicly soon; i still have a lot of data to organize), ships rooted in friendship and trust and respect and camaraderie rather than onscreen antagonism (tg:m icemav, goosemav, goosecarole, phoenix/bob, phoenix/rooster, pennymav, bobster, etc.) are all remarkably popular - so it's not just that tg fandom prefers an enemies to lovers dynamic in their ships above all else. something is just less palatable about This Particular Friends To Lovers Ship. (looks into the camera like i'm on abbott elementary)

so to answer your question, nonny, given the way fandom tends to trend in general, coyote being Black sure doesn't help macheresin's lack of popularity. in fact, there is noticeably not a lot of content for tg ships featuring Black characters (as of 12/8/22, fanback has 76 fics on ao3, macheresin has 47, mavhondo has 5, sundown/mav has 1, mavwarlock has 1, and warclone has 46). but i will add that the fact that a) coyote has the least screentime among the main new kids and we don't get to see as much of his personality as we do, say, hangman or bob or phoenix's, and b) that it's hangman - one of fandom's favorite new characters and one half of Many of fandom's most popular ships - he's being shipped with, does not help macheresin's overall lack of popularity either.

[not-trustworthy]

mashblr census not really revealing anything interesting it’s pretty balanced in all brackets except for 50% being under 100 that’s interesting. i also thought abt excluding blogs that aren’t exclusively mash but that’s a big chunk of the community

[hellmartyr]

𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐒 pierced the starless october night. golden fruit adorned the verdant lengths. spots of color that added to the monotony of the walls blackened by the evening hour. towards the hearth of artificial lights that marked the entrance of the maze, monster mash was being repeated for the four-hundred-fiftieth time. distance and timely interruptions from delighted screams distorted bobby pickett’s lyrical karloff impression into something truly ghoulish.

      the discordant choir made a strange bedfellow for the food smells wafting in from the stalls circled under distant towers of artificial light. sticky sweet pumpkin and fried grease sugar wafted over and through the sculptured rows of corn. mingling with the mulch and earthy grasses, creating an abstruse aroma that mimed the stench of decay. it tickled the inside of noses. faint enough that it could be forgotten until the odorous intrusion decided to convince hair-raised senses that something foul was afoot in the maze.

      not that there was. by all accounts, the maze and its autumnal fair proprietor were perfectly normal. but by all accounts, the same should’ve been said hawkins. the past three years sowed a wordless, persistent fear in its inhabitants that next tier of disaster was right around the corner. weird permeated itself in the soil. starting with the disappearance of joyce byers’ youngest and the subsequent death of barb holland. a year later, swaths of prize roane county agriculture went from peak season to maggot feed overnight. and in the ensuing twelve and half months, shit got stranger and stranger till eddie munson was dragged unwillingly into the truth.

      hawkins was the desolated keeper of a fragile prayer that the preternatural earthquake violently trimmed the town census months before was the climax of the town’s systematic tragedy. even now, people sought out comfort in the mundane. even eddie was guilty of that insidious finger cross. that maybe, just maybe, a night at a hokey county fair was an effective bandaid for an eldritch evisceration.

      eddie couldn’t exactly pinpoint when that irreparable hope became a game of ‘where the fuck did henderson go?’ — but that’s exactly what he found himself doing. teamed up with bygone arch-nemesis against the infamous duo of wheeler and buckley in the most middle america battle of the sexes: finding a dweeb in a cornfield.

i can't lose you ! not again ! — @alwaysthesitter / angsty prompts

      ❝ then speed it up, jock! ❞ eddie shouted from the side of his mouth with a blistering smirk, ❝ if daphne and velma find scooby-doofus first, we’re never gonna hear the end of it. ❞ the longer the comparison sat, the more uncanny it became. give fred dark hair and shaggy a battle vest —

      sneakers squelching across a saturated path suddenly sunk even deeper into a camouflaged mire. eddie yelped as he attempted to clear the rest of the unexpected obstacle only to land in in a deeper pit of mud. shoes yellowed by wear now a glistening black that reached half up his pant legs. the metalhead hissed as he scraped off congealed clots on a nearby stalk.

      ❝ jesus christ, fucking bullshit — HENDERSON ! goddamnit, man, you’re hobbit stew when i find you! ❞

      a handful of seconds and curses more were spent knocking loose what dirt eddie could before he resigned himself to the mocking march of soggy steps. hands shoved in denim pockets, shoulders hunched up to his ears, eddie loped forward until he arrived at a split in the maze. in an exaggerated bow, he peered down both corridors and found both options pitch black and unappealing.

      ❝ you know, this is prime time for the killer to reveal himself. ❞ a voice low and theatrical spoke to the shadows behind where the young munson expected steve to be, ❝ crystal lake got jason voorhees, hawkins got carver. elm street had freddy, we got vecna. michael myers stalked haddonfield, and we’re gonna get some asshole in a nixon mask stabbing the shit out of us. ❞

[thekindestdays]

this seems fun~ thanks for the tag @midnight-marimba

nine people you want to get to know better

Favorite color: blue

Currently reading: Howl’s Moving Castle (again), a few Dragon Quest XI fics, a couple Star Wars fics, and a Critical Role fic, but soon, I want to reread A Wizard of Earthsea

Last song: Light Through The Leaves of Love

Last series: Televised? The Sandman. Absolutely lovely, horrendously gory. So many people have exploded or been otherwise mutilated. It horrified me and I had to look away a few times toward the end of the ruby arc. I am very much looking forward to the next installment. Lucienne and Matthew are pure gold.

Last movie: mmmaybe Encanto?

Sweet/spicy/savory: I like savory, but spicy’s been growing on me the past year. My wife will never convince me to try her ghost pepper flakes, though.

Relationship status: My wife is the most beautiful and wonderful and generous and loving and kind and sweet and delightful and—

Song stuck in head: someone mashed up Octopus’s Garden with sssomething by Lil Nas X? it lives in my head, hiding from the census bureau. Well, that and these three.

Last thing I googled: the lyrics to Stay, by Poets of the Fall

Dream vacation: It would be nice to go spend some time in Germany again, but failing that, I’d like to have no responsibilities for a month or so so I could actually engage in my more crafty hobbies. I miss woodworking.

Currently working on: a month of AU prompts

tagging: honestly, whoever wants to, but @nedryn-laughs @omgitsaddyc @fiveprinniesdown 

Well! That was amusing. It’s nice to be included~

[gendercensus]

Purely out of curiosity, what motivated the supplementary survey? Was there a particular question raised by the main gender census that you're looking to answer, or is it just to expand the amount of pronoun data in general? Or something else? Thanks so much; I love this project!

Hello! Thanks for the nice words about the project!

TL;DR:

The sir/ma’am question comes up often, and when someone asked about it this year I decided it was finally time to ask about it.

Themself/themselves was raised in a DM conversation on Twitter, and I decided that it’s time to get some proper statistics about which one is more commonly used so I can make sure the checkbox option in the annual survey has the most common form.

So, the sir/ma’am questions were inspired by this conversation. It’s something that people ask about often, and I have mostly been confused about why people are so consistent and persistent about this one thing, because I live in a country where we just don’t really do the whole “sir/ma’am” thing! People ask me if I can do a survey about inclusive versions of sir/ma’am, and my response is usually something like, “just... don’t say sir/ma’am?” But it has gradually dawned on me that there are areas of the English-speaking world, in particular the more southern states of the USA, where not calling someone sir or ma’am will actually properly upset people and cause interpersonal problems. So, the most recent time someone asked me was the shove that I needed to decide that I would run a survey about it after all.

Before I could get to writing it up, someone DMed me on Twitter to tell me that they found it strange that the checkbox option for they/them uses the reflexive themself, rather than themselves, with which they were more familiar. When I originally wrote that checkbox option for the survey it was very early days, I had no idea how big and well-known this project would be, I just casually threw it all together with no particular methodology. I chose the one that made the most sense to me based on my own experience. Now that I was considering it many years later that reasoning didn’t seem robust enough!

I briefly considered adding the set they/them/their/theirs/themselves to the pronoun checkbox list in the annual survey alongside they/them/their/theirs/themself, to see which one people chose more, until I realised that the randomising of the pronouns in the list means that people might not see both they/them sets and therefore might just choose the first one they saw. My only option would be to run a separate survey to reliably find out which one people use the most often. “Most common” is the criterion I use for every other pronoun set when I add it, and singular they only dodged that bullet because it’s popular enough that I added it to the first ever survey with very little scrutiny.

I ran some polls, but after a few days decided I would rather have data that can be mashed about more thoroughly and reliably and published for full transparency, and then write up a proper easy-reading report for it. Whatever the results say is more commonly used is what I will use in the annual Gender Census survey from 2022.

[ Take the survey, open until 11th April 2021 ]

[ao3feed-mash]

to make our lives a blessing

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3ywjxhy

by Quietbang

“Ever think maybe they aren’t the crazy ones, Sidney? That maybe they’re the only ones having a – a rational or reasonable response to this? Poor kid, he looks like he should be getting ready for his Bar Mitzvah, not fighting in a war.” Sidney only smiled, that gentle, sad smile, and sipped his drink. “Is that why you’re up so late at night, Hawk?” “Yeah, I’m practising my portion,” Hawkeye said, deliberately misunderstanding the question. “Bamidbar, it’s fascinating, who doesn’t love a census?” Sidney laughed. “Is that really what you had?” “Really,” Hawkeye said, “Could've been worse, I guess. My cousin Lenny had Metzorah – and you know, every boy’s dream is to recite a bunch of stuff about penile discharge in front of their parents, their grandparents, and Sally Fleming.”

Words: 7319, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: MASH (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, Sidney Freedman, B. J. Hunnicutt, Frank Burns, Sherman Potter, Charles Emerson Winchester III

Relationships: B. J. Hunnicutt/Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, B. J. Hunnicutt & Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, Sidney Freedman & Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce & Sherman Potter, Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce & Charles Emerson Winchester III

Additional Tags: jewish hawkeye pierce, No i'm not kidding that's all this fic is, just. incredibly jewish Hawkeye Pierce, Antisemitism, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Implied Relationships, Implied homophobia, this is my jewish hawkeye manifesto

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3ywjxhy

[theliterateape]

I Like to Watch | Mrs. America (Hulu)

by Don Hall

Trumpism is just Reaganism minus the niceties of at least pretending to be a decent human being.

Reagan ran against Carter as the Democrats were pursuing policies that were meat-and-gravy to the GOP: crime, inflation, high gas prices, humiliation, and evacuation in the Middle East. Add to that the cultural shifts toward more inclusion and a census that predicts a waning white male influence and the table is set for another Reagan Revolution or MAGA-inspired call toward American exceptionalism.

I lived through the rise of Reaganism; I was seduced by it for a time before I started to see through the ugliness behind pushing culture back to the 1950s. Reaganism was a solid line reaction to the the loud, messy, and societally progressive noise of the leftist activists of the 60s and it seems, upon reflection, as inevitable.

Civil Rights and anti-war apostles were pivotal yet, as the 70s slowly crept into being it was the feminist movement and the the 'women's libbers' who were most motivated and thus most feared by the Good Old Boy network. Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug, Gloria Steinem were the front-facing members of a club that represented the equal rights of women and almost pushed through the Equal Rights Amendment. An amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing equal rights for all citizens.

Opponents claimed it was redundant as the Constitution already guaranteed in vague terms that very right but those on the losing end of America's promise wanted something more concrete.

They were fierce. They were brave. They fought the good fight.

If there's one source of joy I embrace in film and television it's superhero shit. No johnny-come-lately, I loved that stuff before I had pubic hair so the fun I have watching any show featuring super-powered characters is incomparable. A close second is historical political dramas. I love 'em.

All the President's Men. Lincoln. Primary Colors. JFK, Frost/Nixon, The Trial of the Chicago Seven. The dramatization of real people doing the work of those who battle it out on a national scale to shape the country is fascinating and, when done well, feels like a living history lesson.

I dig the streaming world. I savor the nearly unlimited options. I was, until recently, a hold out on Hulu. The ads, I suppose. Yet, the platform has on offer so much that people declare as outstanding I had to finally give in and do that one-month free trial deal.

The first series on my list was Mrs. America.

Created and co-written by Davhi Waller and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Amma Asante, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre and Janicza Bravo, the series details the political movement to pass the Equal Rights Amendment and the unexpected backlash led by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly in the 1970s.

The nine-part series premiered on April 15, 2020 to widespread critical acclaim. At the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, it received ten nominations including Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Writing. In January 2021, the American Film Institute named Mrs. America as one of its ten best television shows of 2020.

In terms of casting, this brilliant television show managed the acting equivalent of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team: Cate Blanchett as Schlafly, Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem, Tracey Ullman as Betty Friedan, Uzo Aduba as Shirley Chisholm, Margo Martindale as Bella Abzug. Additionally, Elizabeth Banks as Jill Ruckelshaus, a Republican feminist activist, co-founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and Ari Graynor as Brenda Feigen, a feminist activist and attorney, the National Legislative Vice President of NOW.

Solving the problem of having that much star wattage as well as serious talent all mashed together is the device that each episode up to the eighth is individually titled and features a main character ("Phyllis," "Bella," "Shirley," etc.). Contrary to the idea that, in order to fully portray the fight for ratification one must demonize Schlafly (truthfully, an easy target), the writers and Blanchett give her a sense of humanity and purpose in her opposition to the ERA. While she is definitely the villain of the tale, she is a wholly relatable villain and not without merit.

Blanchett gives an edge and a deep sorrow at her circumstances. Byrne is fantastic as Steinem and embodies her look as well as her peculiar brand of celebrity activism in a manner I'd yet seen. I knew about Chisholm but had forgotten that she was the first black woman to run for president and Aduba certainly deserved her Emmy for the role.

Smack dab in the middle of every scene of the STOP ERA crowd of housewives is Sarah Paulson. She is not playing anyone famous or historical. Her Alice Macray is a fictional composite of the kind of woman who would be a part of Schlafly's movement. In each episode, her presence is felt but it seemed as I watched that to have an actor as superb as Paulson in such a tangential role was a bit of a waste.

Until episode eight entitled "Houston."

Without Schlafly for the first time, the STOP ERA women are invited to the 1977 National Women's Conference in Houston to defend their cause. Alice is overwhelmed by her surroundings, goes to the hotel bar where she makes friends with a woman who appears to be a bedfellow but is actually in the feminist camp. The woman gives her a pill to relax which is really LSD.

Alice is tripping and looking for food amongst an entire complex of hippies, feminists, and the enemies of her stated cause. She sees the ERA movement in a completely new light and the anguish of her blindness to being a woman fighting against the women's cause strikes her like a bolt of lightning.

I've always enjoyed Paulson in just about everything she's ever done including her role in Sorkin's poorly received Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Here, though, in the penultimate episode, she shows the very heart of the entire program. As her Alice finds the discord in the approach of her friends and, specifically Phyllis, Paulson gifts us with an insight beyond the partisan divide so prevalent then, so destructive today.

She's extraordinary.

Up til that episode I was ready to declare Mrs. America the closest to a perfect season of television I've seen since Six Feet Under or The Wire. After the episode, I can declare that Mrs. America is one of the flawless examples of how history, television, and storytelling can meet and elevate as well as educate.

I love my superhero shows and these historical figures were no question superheroes.