#no fucking business controlling our government and no fucking business controlling our political decisions. ever. fuck off

[lettersfromthelevant]

#I don't even care anymore y'all don't realize how privileged you are#this isn't about you#that's the point#but when that diasporic antisemitism gets to be too much you can come and join me and all of my fellow Israelis#because despite your ignorance we want you safe too because a jew is a jew is a jew...even the jews that throw us under the bus

^💯

Anon said - How about some resourceful people over there prevent Bibi’s insanities from coming true?

Talking down to Israelis as if we're fucking children who can't function without a babysitter... I honestly can't comprehend the nerve it takes to say this to Israelis, y'know, the people experiencing an active war who just went through a brutal massacre.

I've had this little rant in my drafts for a few weeks now, wondering if I should bother posting it, but I'll just stick it here.

To all of the Americans shouting at Israelis because Bibi hasn't been thrown out yet, what exactly do you want us to fucking do? Start a coup while we're in the middle of a multi-front war and several major internal crises? That's fucking suicidal. He'll be tossed out during the elections because that's the only viable way to not immediately get wiped off the face of the Earth by our enemies.

This does not effect you. At this point, you're no better than the pro-Palestine crowd screaming for Israel to be hanged in court. You are treating this like a spectator sport just as much as they are. The "solutions" you're throwing forth for us are just as unrealistic and insane as the leftists screaming for us to be dismantled and expelled. Just because you aren't directly advocating for our genocide, doesn't mean you aren't still advocating for policies and actions that would lead to our cultural or physical genocide. I would honestly argue that what you're doing is worse because you are actually out there proposing legislation for Israel to be tried in court, sanctioned, and have our government be controlled by yours.

What the fuck are you doing? Sit down. You have no place in determining the political future of Israel. It is not your business. You do not fucking live here. You do not have the right to dictate how we defend ourselves, how we organize our government, and how we plan our future.

The sheer audacity of people like Anon, who claim to be diaspora Jews, positioning themselves as morally superior to Israelis and completely erasing everything we've been through over here. I've seen actual, off-Anon diaspora Jews on here implying that October 7th wasn't personal for Israelis, that it wasn't our neighbors who killed us, that we don't experience antisemitic violence on the same personal level as diaspora Jews do.

Israel please recognize what we are facing

Bitch, we are fucking dying.

We live in an active war zone.

My neighbors were slaughtered, my friends have been killed, I haven't been able to sit and mourn for any of them in over 100 days.

Israelis need to look at the bigger picture

Sincerely and wholeheartedly, go fuck yourself.

Breathe.

It is normal to feel pain, alarm, and sorrow, as we see what our world has turned into, as we hear what so many want to do to us. It wouldn't be human to feel any other way. I've been deeply involved in this issue for many years and truly did not expect so much of the goyische world to immediately go full werewolf on the thrill of seeing Jews tortured and massacred in high-res. Many of them are lost to us, and as far as I am concerned, there is nothing they could ever, ever do to regain my trust. They would never even think to give an apology, and even if they did, I would never accept it.

It makes matters all the worse that Israel - this age's morph of the reason to hate us - has for the last ~16 months been run by objectively evil and horrible people. A few of them have talked publicly about "encouraging voluntary resettlement" or claim to have held negotiations with African states. In all cases, less vile people from the same government have immediately denied those stories and said there is no such policy, no such talks, it is all just suggestions. When you have a government run by Internet trolls, criminals, and terrorist sympathizers, that is how they talk. There is no imaginable mechanism for any of this - it is impossible to believe any country would go along with it, or that it is taken seriously by anyone beyond whichever racist asshole is thinking out loud next to a reporter at that time. But even as idle blather, it is immensely dangerous. It represents a threshold we cannot cross. We cannot - as you said - "make that look good." The best we can do is recognize that this particular evil racist doesn't actually have the authority or method for doing it, he's just jerking off, the Attorney-General told them to shut up and stop advocating crimes.

There have been so many times when the world went utterly batshit about Israeli actions that were totally innocuous, about rumors that never even happened. I talk about it here all the time. Part of me is hoping that is an element of this case, even as I'm afraid, this time, it might not be.

And as I'm also afraid that things will get even worse for us if, as looks very likely, Trump wins next time.

So it is okay to feel utterly terrible about things.

And yet, we still have to breathe.

We are alive because Jewish people got through much worse times than these, with far fewer resources and allies than we have today. Everything we know, everything we worry about now, exists because even though They Tried To Kill Us, We Survived.

Confront reality - without despair. We are facing bad times and they may get worse, but we will get through them.

[txttletale]

hi miss healed, could you elaborate what you mean by dictatorship/authoritarian not being useful/meaningful terms? i know they're terms the west likes to tack on its political enemies, but i thought it might be a case of just misuse of terms that can still be useful, rather than outright a problem with the concept itself, so id be interested to understand your opinion. thanks!

so i don't think 'authoritarian' has any useful analytical value because every state is 'authoritarian' -- the only metrics by which one state might be seen as less 'authoritarian' than another are the metrics which privilege liberal democracy and a free market as a meaningful sort of 'freedom', which as a marxist, i don't! every state is an institution for class suppression--in the state and revolution, lenin quotes engels as saying:

[...] it is sheer nonsense to talk of a 'free people's state'; so long as the proletariat still needs the state, it does not need it in the interests of freedom but in order to holddown its adversaries, and as soon as it becomes possible to speak of freedom the state as such ceases to exist.

every state uses violence to perpetuate and legitimize itself. there is no state that would let you march into the capital and declare its dissolution without deploying armed men against you -- every state is authoritarian, it excercises authority, this is a tautological statement about how states maintain their own existence.

and sure, you could then say 'well we can just call all states authoritarian', but i don't think that makes any sense. the criticism of a state 'authoritarian/totalitarian' implies that there is an alternative, a point of comparison against which the state comes short--and i simply don't think it's possible to use 'authoritarian' as a cogent criticism without having such a point of comparison (usually the US or some european liberal democracy) which in turn means buying into liberal & capitalist ideas about 'freedom'.

as for 'dictator', i have a different criticism of that, also stemming from my marxist perspective. basically, i just think it doesn't describe anything useful in terms of political analysis and massively overemphasizes the role of individual psychology and personality. i frequently criticize both anticommunist and 'stalinist' views of stalin by joking that he must have been a very busy man if he singlehandedly ate all the grain or killed all the nazis. which is obviously a glib way of putting it--but my point is that any dictator who has ever 'done anything' could only do it because they could order a government official to do it who in turn could order a department to do it that could in turn mobilize hundreds or thousands of soldiers/construction workers/bureaucrats/etc. in order to make that happen.

sure, the leaders of countries might make decisions, and in some systems an individual leader might have greater leeway than others. but there are always very clear hard limits about what they must do and what they cannot do. i am sure i can say pretty uncontroversially that mohammad bin salman has an extreme level of political control over the economy and government of saudi arabia, but if he woke up tomorrow and said 'good news everyone, we're converting the country to wicca and donating all our oil to iran' then that would not happen and he would be deposed instantly. for a more realistic example, imagine any 'dictator' of your choice saying 'well, it's time to massively defund the military' -- this would be completely fucking impossible without some kind of loyalist paramilitary organization (which then exerts its own forces upon the 'dictator'.)

and of course all that leaves aside the massive extent to which 'dictator' is politically charged. do i think that vladimir putin was democratically elected? obviously not! but i don't think that any US president has been in any meaningful sense 'elected' by anything other than capital either, and two of the last four straightforwardly lost a popular vote even by the standards of liberal democracy! i think that any political system is best analyzed in class terms, in terms of what interests the government serves in terms of class struggle and competition between global capitalists, rather than in terms of individuals or what formal power structures give out the fancy titles

tldr: as a marxist, i think that 'authoritarian' is a useless distinguisher because excercising authority is the sole purpose and function of a state -- 'dictator' is a useless distinguisher because even the most autocratic fiefdom-state is ultimately a class dictatorship first and foremost

[leviathan-supersystem]

@yourtoradorasextendedwarranty most of the dogshit in that interminable long argument wasn't even worth addressing but this part jumped out at me as especially moronic and blatantly dishonest.

first i'd like to clarify that i'm not trying to get involved in electoral politics, i'm not interested in trying to prove that republicans are fascist, and i'm certainly not trying to prove democrats aren't. the point i'm making here is simply "these arguments presented here are dogshit"

like, for one thing, the idea of "more state rights"="not fascist" is very dumb. if a state were, say, rounding up black people and putting them in camps, is it non-fascist for them to do that (since it's a state government doing it, not the federal government) and conversely is fascist for the federal government to prevent the state from doing that? if for whatever reason that hypothetical isn't striking a chord with you, maybe switch black people in the hypothetical for, idk, christians.

or to use a more down-to-earth real-world example, which side do you think most actual fascists side with when it comes to state rights regarding slavery? or integration? (and certainly the degree to which fascists and libertarians are in agreement when it comes to whether states/businesses should be compelled to integrate would call into question whether those two ideologies are really "opposites")

"state rights" on it's own has no real political alignment-the alignment of any given "state rights" issue hinges on the question "states right to what"? obviously fascists are all in favor of states having the right to suppress minorities, or impose excessive draconian laws.

which brings us to the subject of what i can only assume it what you were alluding to with this whole "states rights" thing- namely the overturning of roe v. wade- the "states rights" in question is the right for states to surveil women and to lock them in prison for the decisions they make regarding their own personal reproductive healthcare. such personal liberty!

and of course building off of this, trump and co. are not by any means consistently pro-states rights. see the federal abortion ban that has been floated by those in trump's camp- the pose of being "pro states right" was obviously just a tactical maneuver until he could get abortion banned federally.

now, of course none of this proves he's a fascist- being willing to impose draconian measures to control women's reproductive health is widespread among all sorts of right-wing ideologies- but it certainly doesn't prove he isn't one either.

(also regarding "sending taxes overseas"- do trump and his supporters want to stop sending those taxes to israel? no of course not, the parties are in perfect lockstep on that, just one of the many reasons both parties are ultimately worthless)

regarding the "stop putting naked kids in front of our kids" claim- it's hard to know what the fuck you're even talking about here. my closest best guess is that this is about "kids seeing drag"- and if that's the case this is some of the most disgusting misrepresentation of that issue i've ever seen. the whole culture war around kids and drag has centered around parents taking their own kids to all-ages drag shows- so those aren't your kids, and the people they're taking them to see aren't naked. and far from your narrative of the poor best-upon right-wingers just trying to raise their own children in peace, what has actually been happening is right wingers calling for parents who take their kids to see drag shows have their kids taken from them and be thrown in jail.

now, again, right-wingers wanting to take away the kids of progressives is not something i'd consider to be exclusive to fascism. all kinds of right-wing ideological groups support that (although the "taking your kids to see mrs doubtfire is child abuse" shtick is a new spin). you, on the other hand, did claim that wanting to take people's kids away is specifically fascist- so make of that what you will.

[qqueenofhades]

Don't act like this isn't the Democrats fault. They didn't codify Roe when they had the chance, and now they're paying the price.

Hooweeeee. Normally, I just block these kinds of asks out of hand and go on with my day, but you've caught me at the end of two solid days of Rage, and unfortunately for you, I'm not gonna do that. Instead, just to start, I would like to politely ask the following question:

Hello! Have you ever considered the possibility that you may be A Total Fucking Idiot?

Since there are many of us, present company regretfully included, who struggle with history, let's start out with a quick lesson. Roe was handed down in 1973. It took a while to really get evangelicals hot under the collar, but by 1987, in Ronald Reagan's second term, it had definitely happened. To further the Republicans' cherished goal of overturning it, Reagan nominated far-right whackjob Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. The Democrats, led by then-Senator Joe Biden, fought back on a massive scale and defeated the nomination, leading to Anthony Kennedy joining the SC instead of Bork.

In 1992, another abortion-related case reached the Supreme Court: Planned Parenthood v. Casey, wherein Roe was pretty much reaffirmed in its entirety. By 1992, George H.W. Bush had finished one term, generally underwhelmed the public, and was voted out, thus to be replaced by Bill Clinton. In 1994, in Clinton's first midterm election, the Newt Gingrich Republicans took the House and the Strom Thurmond and Bob Dole Republicans took the Senate. This GOP control of at least one branch of Congress remained the case until 2001, when George W. Bush became president. (Also, the GOP Clinton-era Republicans had other things to do, such as the Lewinsky scandal in 1998, back when they still pretended to have moral values and impeached Clinton accordingly). Considering the fact that any attempt to pass a national law to codify Roe was obviously doomed with Dubya in the White House, since he would have vetoed it, and that the Democrats didn't fully control the House, Senate, and Presidency again until 2009, one might feel that formalizing a twice-affirmed decision by the Supreme Court maybe wasn't the top priority. Abortion rights were and are popular (in fact, that's why the three Trumpists on the SC had to lie to the Judiciary Committee about their plans to repeal it), and Obama had other things on his plate. Like, you know, saving the national and global economy from total meltdown after the crisis of 2008, and trying to jam through the Affordable Care Act in the short time he had before 2010, and once more losing the House to the Tea Party. The loss of the Senate followed in 2014. Once again, we didn't get it back until 2021, when the three wingnut justices were already seated on the Court and Trump had run his reign of terror.

Considering those empirical circumstances, the fact that the Democrats have only had control of all three branches of the federal government for two-year periods at MOST and were busy fixing all the other most pressing messes, and that the Republicans have said for decades that this is exactly what they want to do, I am truly gobsmacked (if not surprised) at the sheer number of morons who want to make this, yet again, the Democrats' fault. Apparently the Republicans are just a force of nature who can't really be blamed or actually considered to have agency; it's only ever on the Democrats for Not Doing Enough To Stop Them. Instead, we now have hordes of told-you-so-ers swarming out of the woodwork and acting like this was a five-alarm fire that the Democrats willfully ignored and/or fanned on. That is incredibly moronic on multiple levels, but hey, that kind of seems to be your Brand. That is, when you're not labeling smug inactivity and self-professed moral superiority as the most pure and correct course of action, but again, we all have our talents.

There was no way for the Republicans to overturn Roe without the exact kind of judicial skulduggery, right-wing extremism, and scads of dark money that finally came together in the perfect storm. (Ever hear of Citizens United in 2010, and the way in which hard-right interest groups have been funding this planned takeover of the judiciary for years? Or does that conflict with your predetermined hypothesis?) Apparently Democrats should have Done More to stop Trump from choosing Supreme Court justices (a Very Smart White Man on twitter made the argument that it was actually Senate Democrats' fault for not stopping McConnell on procedural grounds, or.... something). This was after actual Democrats begged the Holier Than Thous to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016, explicitly because we pointed out that the Supreme Court was in a precarious position with elderly justices and open seats, and the next president would be poised to reshape it for the next generation. You all laughed at us, more or less openly called us a bunch of bootlicking neoliberal traitors, and told us that the Supreme Court didn't matter and we were all delusional. Then you didn't vote. Then Trump won the election by squeaking out wins in a handful of key states. Then.... well, we all know what happened next.

So tell me, Oh Wise Internet Sage. Where, in what Congress, and according to what actual rules of reality, procedure, and priority, should the Democrats have passed a law to codify a popular twice-affirmed Supreme Court decision that was not under serious threat precisely until this confluence of circumstances took place under the Trump presidency? Be specific, and point out exactly how it would have happened. Otherwise, your argument is bad and you should feel bad.

Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Schumer, Warren, Obama, and all the other prominent Democratic leadership and/or congresspeople have already made strong statements within hours of the draft opinion being leaked. Republicans are screaming in unison that whoever leaked it is the actual story, not the content or impact of the decision (literally what McConnell said today on CNN). The DEMOCRATS DO SOMETHING!!! crowd need to, uh, actually say what they're fucking supposed to do now. Instead you blame RBG, you blame HRC, you blame the Democrats, and absolutely everyone and anyone except the actual people responsible for doing this. You may think it's an enlightened and complex stance that reflects the Realities of the World, or whatever. You may think that Joe Manchin doesn't exist (believe me, I wish he fucking didn't) and that Biden can wave a magic wand and overturn SCOTUS. Do they need to do more? YES! MANY OF THEM HAVE EXPLICITLY SAID THEY WILL BE EXPLORING ALL OPTIONS! BUT WE STILL LIVE (FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS) IN A DEMOCRACY AND THAT REQUIRES US DOING OUR JOB AND VOTING IN NEW AND BETTER PEOPLE TO HELP THEM!

I'm sick and fucking tired of this pissbaby whining from the exact same people who make us beg and plead for their vote every single election, feel morally justified in withholding it, and have done literally nothing to advance any of the causes they claim to care about. "Hindsight is 20/20" some of you like to point out, but with the expected irony, you miss it completely when it comes to reviewing any of your own (non) actions and any hint of genuine acknowledgment that your apathy and nihilism helped this happen. So. Suck on that, then go step on a rake. If this should knock some sense into you, we can then talk again.

[quakerjoe]

The shake-up came as congressional Democrats called for an investigation of DeJoy and the cost-cutting measures that have slowed mail delivery and ensnared ballots in recent primary elections.

Twenty-three postal executives were reassigned or displaced, the new organizational chart shows. Analysts say the structure centralizes power around DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major ally of President Trump, and de-emphasizes decades of institutional postal knowledge. All told, 33 staffers included in the old postal hierarchy either kept their jobs or were reassigned in the restructuring, with five more staffers joining the leadership from other roles.

Already under fire for recent policy changes at the USPS that mail carriers from within and outside critics have denounced as a sabotage effort to undermine the Postal Service broadly as well as disrupt efforts to carry out mail-in voting for November’s election amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the moves unveiled late Friday were viewed as an overt assault on democracy and a calculated opportunity to boost Republican’s long-held dream of undercutting or privatizing the government-run mail service while also boosting their election prospects in the process.

“Another Friday night massacre by this administration—and this time dealing another devastating blow to our postal service,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) “The American people deserve answers and we’re going to keep fighting for them.”

Scanlon was among more than 80 congressional lawmakers who sent a letter to DeJoy earlier in the day expressing “deep concerns” about operational changes he has made for mail carriers that have delayed deliveries and lowered standards.

“It is vital that the U.S. Postal Service not reduce mail delivery times, which could harm rural communities, seniors, small businesses, and millions of Americans who rely on the mail for critical letters and packages,” the letter stated. “Eliminating overtime and directing postal workers to leave mail on the floor of postal facilities will erode confidence in the Postal Service and drive customers away, resulting in even worse financial conditions in the future.”

As Common Dreams reported earlier Friday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren was among those who signed the letter and also called for DeJoy’s efforts to be investigated by the Inspector General of the USPS. Since 2016 alone, DeJoy has donated more than $2.5 million to the Republican Party and candidates. In 2020, prior to his appointment as Postmaster General by the GOP-controlled board of governors, DeJoy had already given approximately $360,000 to a Super PAC supporting Trump’s reelection.

As the Post notes in its reporting, the reshuffling of top managers and executives—as well as a hiring freeze and push for early retirements—”worried postal analysts, who say the tone of DeJoy’s first eight weeks and his restructuring have recast the nation’s mail service as a for-profit arm of the government, rather than an essential service.”

In a video posted to Twitter, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oreg.) characterized DeJoy as a “political crony” of the president’s and also denounced the brazen efforts now on display as a “Friday Night Massacre” scenario:

Appearing Friday afternoon on Capitol Hill, DeJoy brushed off accusations that he is acting as a political bag man for Trump. “While I certainly have a good relationship with the president of the United States, the notion that I would ever make decisions concerning the Postal Service at the direction of the president or anyone else in the administration is wholly off-base,” DeJoy said.

But outside critics like Walter Shaub, former head of the Office of Government Ethics and a fierce critic of Trump’s behavior as president, said the latest move should be seen as nothing less than a direct effort by DeJoy to exploit his authority at the Postal Service to further the president’s political interests and reelection prospects.

According to Brian Tyler Cohen, a liberal commentator and podcast host, “Congressional Democrats need to do something about this” immediately.

“If we wait until October/November, it’ll be too late,” said Cohen. “Trump is actively sabotaging the election under our noses—this isn’t theoretical, it’s happening RIGHT NOW.” Cohen said this situation should be treated like a “fucking five-alarm fire” and said action must be taken by both lawmakers and the U.S. public without delay.

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), chair of the House subcommittee which has oversight for the USPS, said what DeJoy is trying to pass off as simple organizational restructuring is actually “a Trojan Horse” designed to destroy one of the nation’s most trusted and valued institutions from within.

Connolly on Friday night called it, “Deliberate sabotage to disrupt mail service on the eve of the election—an election that hinges on mail-in ballots.”

[marvel-ousnesss]

My very own Prince Charming (Bucky x reader Royal AU) - Pt. 1

Word count: 4705

Pairing: Prince!Bucky x Queen!reader

Warning: Mild cursing

A:/N: I don't know much about royal protocols and other stuff so I mostly based myself on the Princess Diaries and some googling.��Message me if you wanna be tagged in upcoming parts or updates on my masterlist. Also, this won’t match the MCU timeline, but will have some elements of the plot. And, for the sake of the story, S.H.I.E.L.D. is an international organization.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE MARVEL CHARACTERS/ PLOT.

Twenty three years ago, international intelligence had detected activity of Hydra members inside King James’ palace, and his only son, and heir to the crown, had received multiple threats. At first, the stubborn monarch didn’t make major changes, claiming Hydra was only cultivating fear. The prince was kidnapped, and only then were exhaustive measures taken, and; in a matter of a few months, he was found and taken back home.

It was hard not to notice that the traumatic experience had affected both the boy and his father, for the two of them had grown paranoid of something happening to them, or to their kingdom. So, internal security was doubled and the prince was sent into hiding. 

But the problem was nowhere near eliminated. More recent investigations had unmasked the nation’s Prime Minister, Alexander Pierce, and other members of the court, as Hydra spies and, considering the events that had unfolded before, you couldn’t believe your eyes when you saw how relaxed the old king seemed to be with it all. 

That morning, he had strolled into your palace with the warm smile that he always seemed to wear; and, only after drinking his peppermint tea, did he step into the meeting room.

It had been an hour since then. 

Now, you were desperately trying to keep your composure. The meeting had been going on and on in what seemed like circles and King James Barnes could not bring himself to understand how serious the situation was. 

With Pierce imprisoned, the king openly expressed his intention to bring his son back into the spotlight. This, you thought, was the most reckless decision he could make, and you didn't keep it to yourself. As soon as you heard, you asked to meet him to make him see the risks of the whole plan. After all, it affected you directly, given that the prince was your betrothed. 

“Your majesty, I believe that matter was already taken care of, Minister Pierce and the rest of the traitors were imprisoned for their actions,” he assured, with his silver brows frowned. 

“That’s not enough, it’s unsafe and idiotic for Prince James to come back until the whole engine of Hydra is dismantled.” You took a sip of your coffee, trying to appear calm. 

“They’ll spend the rest of their days in maximum security; that will deliver the message. There is nothing to worry about.''

“Hydra won’t even flinch with their imprisonment, Prince James won’t be welcome here until the coast is clearer or international measures are taken,” you stated, crossing your arms. 

"That’s not a call for you to make, dear. I Will make the arrangements for my son to be sent here, as I had agreed with your father and the parliament of Galicia, and wedding preparations will commence as soon as he arrives."

They won't get any more fear from us," he looked at you pointedly; "from neither of our kingdoms”.

… 

You had met Tony Stark a few years prior, at the annual Diamond Aircraft Industries Convention and Exhibition, which you were both attending as honored guests. Just needed to say that, In Bruce's words, everything had gone downhill from there. 

He was one of the most frequent guests at the palace and you were one of the most distinguished figures to attend his parties; but, it was more than that. Since your friendship with the businessman began developing, you tested the waters and, bit by bit, grew to trust him. You became the closest of friends, and each other’s esporadical, charge-free therapists. 

For obvious reasons,  he told you all about his media starboy business, but you barely knew what went on downstairs, in his lab. Same went for him; you didn’t tell him everything, and he understood. But both of you had the vice of rambling a lot; so he had a good idea of the royal gossip going on in your life, and you had a few clues about his mad-scientist mystery.

There wasn’t much rambling, at the moment; just the therapy part. Your head rested between your hands while your mind drifted off, softly singing along the AC/DC album playing from the computer in front of you, thinking about possible solutions for the problem at hand. However, the awfully permanent smirk plastered on your friend's face didn't help at all. You groaned, lifting your head and frowning at the billionaire. 

“So… you’re not gonna marry him? There's one little problem standing in your way,” Tony scoffed, filling two glasses with his  finest Macallan. “Kind of a big problem actually: thirty-seven parliament members who'll have your head if you go all Princess Diaries on them. Not to mention Jimbo and junior, and daddy's ghost roaming around your castle." 

“Well, it's the only solution I can think of, daddy dearest sure managed to leave me between a gun and a wall, and not figuratively. I can’t call off the engagement just try to postpone it, that way, at least the king will have no reason to take his son back home anytime soon and, hopefully, I avoid getting a terrorist pain in the ass.” 

He leaned on the counter, taking a long sip of his drink. “Why do you care so much about Prince Charming; for all we know, old Jamey may have some Kingsman business under the table and, wedding or not, it’s gonna involve Galicia” 

“That’s what I’m afraid of, haven't you seen the news? How useful can a secret plan be if his government is basically Hydra's headquarters by now?” 

"Well, from the PG civilian version that you, and half of the journals worldwide, have told me, all of us are eventually gonna get bugged by Hydra, so you might as well make up a pro-wedding plan, which leads me to my field of expertise. Whatever you do, don't even try to pull a Mia Thermopolis. Trust me, the cameras are gonna be all over you, now more than ever; so, unless you wanna go from princess to pauper real quick, you need to behave.”

You emptied your glass, sitting back. "Nothing to worry about then. I’d rather hide under a rock than face a camera right now. Besides, don’t really know what they find appealing about my life; they already have Prince Harry and his American Girl, turning everything into some reality show.”

He quirked a brow, snickering. “No offense, but your life’s basically the royal edition of Parental control.”

"Fuck off. I'm not even against marrying the guy; I mean, how bad can it be?"

"Let’s see, um, Donald Trump bad, Charlie Sheen bad, Alec Baldwin bad,” he grimaced, “Amber Heard bad, ooh… Caytlin Jenner bad, want me to continue?" 

"I get it, Stark, it may not be ideal; but I'm really not bothered by an arranged marriage.”

“He could be ten years old,” he began fidgeting with a paper, making tiny balls out of it. 

You glared at him, “he’s not”.

“Could be gay,” he declared, throwing one of the balls into the trash can across the kitchen. 

“Wouldn’t be a bad thing, look at Philip of Orleans,” You tried to dodge, but the next ball hit you on the nose. You picked it up from your lap, and threw it back at him. 

“Cheesy,”

“There’s worse things.”

“Bald,” 

“Seriously, Tony?” You complained, standing up and turning the light on. You then moved past your previous spot on the kitchen chair, going straight for the couch. You let yourself fall gracelessly and padded the spot next to you, where Tony sprawled himself with a huff. 

“Or… he could be a cocky bastard.” 

“Already got practice with those.” You smirked, smacking him lightly  on the back of his head.

“Glad my bickering made you feel better,” he smiled at you. 

You laughed. “Fuck you, Jimmy Neutron.” 

“You wish,” he chuckled, grabbing the remote. 

—————————————

Two weeks passed, and it was done. No turning back now, Prince James had been sent to his kingdom and, after some father-son quality time, was supposed to arrive at your palace that very morning, for you to finally meet him in the afternoon. 

You felt like a complete idiot, like a high school girl. The last time you had seen the prince, you were both five, so all you could do was wonder how he had changed over the years. You had breakfast with an ambassador from the Global Charities Aid Foundation, but it had practically passed in a blur. Before you would’ve liked, you found yourself in the limousine, on your way back home, with the major part of the day still ahead of you. 

Your gaze was glued to the driver’s head, you were motionless. 

Thinking. 

What were you supposed to say to him? “Hey, you’re welcome to put us all in danger, make yourself at home. By the way, I think your father’s a dickhead”?... not appropriate. It had to go something along the lines of “Your highness, hi. Welcome to your future home but still my kingdom. But, hey! you get to  choose our wedding cake.”... no, too straight forward. 

“After speaking to Colonel Rhodes at eleven, you'll be heading to the Marbella room at three, for greeting and welcoming the prince and his people; and later, at four, a sweet two hours of document verification and signing.”

It had to be perfect; consistent, not sharp… kind, but not weak… polite, but not passive agress—

“Y/N, are you even listening to me?"

You huffed, “No.” 

Clint, one of your attachés, scoffed at your attitude but gave you an encouraging, soft smile. “Rhodes, prince, letters,” he clarified. 

"Maybe a few gallons of coffee to go with it? I’m sure the breakfast meeting left us all half asleep," suggested your bodyguard, Pietro. 

You let out a strangled laugh, but remained zoned out, until the intrigued gazes your bodyguard kept sending your way became too obvious.

“Do I have something on my face, Piet, or do you simply enjoy staring?” You spoke without catching his eye.

“Yes, no, nevermind… it’s just… there’s something on your face; a ‘gonna meet my husband’ look, kinda makes you look nervous.” 

“Really?” Clint jeered.

You loured at him, earning an apologetic puppy look. 

You chuckled, genuinely this time. Pietro could be annoying at times, he spoke without filter and got himself in trouble; but you couldn’t stay mad at him, the little shit always managed to make you laugh.

The limousine came to a stop, right in front of the palace. The door was opened for you, so you breathed once and graciously made your exit, followed by Pietro and Clint. 

Arriving home always brought a smile to your face; the marble facade of the place, together with the colorful gardens, the blue of the sky, and the friendly faces of your staff and household members made you momentarily forget about what was to come. 

“Your majesty, Mr. Barton,” grinned Wanda, your other attaché. “How was your meeting?” 

“Not that bad," you found yourself smiling at her. 

“Don’t I deserve a greeting?” asked Pietro, but his sister only rolled his eyes.

You scoffed at their quibbling. “How’s everything going? Has the Colonel arrived yet?” 

“He’s waiting for you in the library.” 

“Thanks, Wanda; I’ll see you later.” You made your way inside, closely followed by Pietro.

The Colonel was sitting on a velvet chair, going over a pile of paperwork. As soon as you made an appearance through the waiting room’s door, he stood up and subtly curtsied. “Your Majesty, Lieutenant Maximoff,” he greeted. 

“Sorry for the wait, Colonel. Shall we begin?” You opened the library door, allowing both men to go inside before you. 

You proceeded to settle on your desk, with your guest sitting in front of you. Pietro stationed himself at the door and adopted a firm posture, head held high and hands behind his back.

“Lieutenant, would you be kind enough to leave us alone?” 

Complying with his superior’s words, Pietro unlocked the door but, when he was about to open it, you said, “Lieutenant, please stay. Colonel, whatever you need to speak to me as my head of security, I’m sure the commander of the royal guard, whom you personally named, poses no danger.” 

“As you wish, your majesty; but I'm here to talk about a matter of absolute secrecy.”

You exhaled. 

“As you know, with the current situation, it would be wise for you to take measures in regards to your personal protection. I know we're talking about not only an anarchist, but terrorist organization, which requires the employment of country-wide measures, but members of King James's War and Defense council have expressed their desire to keep our actions minimal, to see how Hydra proceeds.” 

You quipped, “They want an attack.”

“I’m afraid so”, he nodded. 

“Fine, they want discretion, we'll give it to them. I want SHIELD involved. While the King's people work on whatever it is they are doing, I want someone there to get information from Pierce and the other inmates. No need to worry about me.”

"That'll certainly end up in diplomatic issues if we don't consult the World Security Council first," he said as he scanned his planner notebook, looking for the other topics he had selected for going over. 

"Too flashy," you mumbled, thinking.

“Maybe contact commander Hill,” suggested Pietro, who had heard about her reputation.

“Who?” you tilted your head.

“SHIELD’s Deputy Director”, clarified Rhodes, then prompted Pietro to continue. 

He looked into Rhodes’ eyes, then yours. “Once you tell her about his majesty’s plan of not having a plan, I’m sure she’ll assign someone without having to involve diplomacy.” 

“What do you, think, Colonel?”

“I’ll speak to her, and update you on the course of action that she recommends.” 

Pietro smirked, his chest sticking out.

“Great.” You nodded.

He scratched the topic from his list, “on a different matter, I wanted to ask if you had already set a date for the arranged visit of the  newly named members of the War and Defense council. I was thinking of next Friday, for dinner?” 

“Friday is perfect, Colonel.” You smiled, “I’ll see them at eight pm on that day.”

….

You had three hours to spare before the most dreaded meeting you've had since the reading of your father’s will. It was only natural for your head to be foggy but you couldn’t afford to waltz through the day like that. Fresh air, that’s what you needed. 

Discarding your trench, heels and dress, you jumped into a (classic avenger disguise) pair of skinny jeans and a hoodie, making sure your face was more or less concealed by sunglasses and a baseball cap. Ready to go, you walked out walked out the door but, as expected, you didn’t even reach the stairs. 

“Where’ you headed, your majesty?,” inquired Pietro, crossing his arms and lifting a brow. 

He was the most loyal friend one could ask for, but annoyingly rigorous when it came to his job. He had to know where you were and who you were with, especially outside the castle’s protection. 

“Just want some coffee, and maybe a croissant,” you tried to walk past him, but he grabbed your arm softly. 

“You know all that you need to do is say the word, right? The kitchen’s a call away.” Now, he was messing with you; you could tell by his boyish smirk.

“You know what I mean,” you playfully punched his arm. 

“Fine,” he lifted his hands defensively, “meet you downstairs.”

After you practically sprinted to the first floor, you sat down at the lobby and waited for your shadow. He walked down the stairs wearing a pair of gray joggers and a white basic v-neck, not forgetting his earpiece and gun, carefully concealed under his jacket. 

Both of the guards at the entrance bowed slightly and opened the wooden door. 

“Who would’ve thought you’d take babysitting so seriously?” You teased. 

“Well, don’t wanna deal with Clint and Wanda yelling at me for losing you; not to mention Rhodes and Stark, ” he deadpanned. “Would be annoying. Also, I’d have to go job-hunting.”

“I’m sure you’d manage, I mean, half of Hollywood would cut an ear off for you to work for them.” 

“What can I say, guess I'm that good at my job.” 

You scoffed, “I bet their thoughts drift off to things a bit over your pay-grade.''

“Well, my ‘pay-grade’,” he air quoted, “ is negotiable.” 

You quirked a brow at him, smirking, “eew.”

“You’re just jealous,” he taunted. “I’m sorry, but you're like my other sister."

"Yeah, right."

"One that's also my boss, kinda weird relationship; but, eh, you get the point."

You chuckled, letting the scene fall into a comfortable silence as you walked, occasionally hitting each other with your shoulders. After a few minutes, you arrived at your favorite coffee shop, and sat down on a table at the back. 

When he placed two huge cups on the table, you laughed, “you weren’t kidding about the gallons of coffee.”

“Oh, you wanted some too, my bad.” He grabbed a cup with each hand, holding them out of your reach.

“Oh yeah?” You took hold of the cardboard plate which held both of your donuts and put it on your lap, under the table. 

When you had your fill, and bought a few pastries to go, you made your way back to the castle. 

“You know, we should lay down for a bit,” you voiced. “There, under the trees.” 

“Don’t you have a blind date in like two hours?”  Not that you don’t look hot right now, but you need to get all royalled up.” 

Your smile disappeared, “Shit, you’re right.” 

With the park now behind you, minutes went by as you walked through the crowded street with Pietro, animatedly discussing some recent soccer games. 

You noticed that some odd looks were directed your way, so you tried to ignore them. Maybe it was just your imagination,  maybe they had just recognized you. Better brush it off… you adjusted your hood and continued. But the whispers and snickering were a reaction you never got when seen in public. 

It didn’t seem to stop. Now you were sure it wasn’t just you, so you looked at Pietro, silently asking for help. As a response, he placed an arm around your shoulders, shielding your face a bit better.

You continued talking as if nothing happened, but it was useless; even if the glances only came from some random pedestrians, it was getting pretty awkward. 

You were about to stop walking, when you felt an unfamiliar hand tapping your shoulder. 

“I’m really sorry, but you have a bloodstain on your pants,” the stranger  scratched the back of his neck, clearly taken aback by the situation. 

“Here.” He offered his denim jacket, which, after thinking about it for a moment, you accepted, wrapping it around your waist . 

You smiled at him, and he visibly relaxed, “thanks.” 

“You’re welcome.” He gave you one last tight-lip smile and began toward the other side of the road, but still in the same direction in which you were going. 

Pietro softly pushed you forward, prompting you to say something; “he gave you his jacket,” he mumbled. 

“So?” 

“Flirting,” he coughed. 

You weren't supposed to; heck, you were on your way to meet your fiancé, but there was no  harm in small talk… right? You took a breath, it was the first time you did this, so you had absolutely no idea what to say. 

You took a step forward, then eyed Pietro, who urged you to continue… Here went nothing.

“I’m Y/N/N.”

He turned around, all of the sudden radiating confidence. 

With an alluring smile that made his indigo eyes twinkle, he replied, “Bucky, nice to meet you.” 

Pietro quietly snickered beside you, then opened his mouth, “and I’m Pietro, her boyf-”.

“Best friend”—you elbowed him in his right side— “he's my best friend.” 

Bucky’s gaze drifted between the two of you. After hesitating for a second, he chose to believe you. 

“So, where' you headed?” He asked. 

You lied with ease, giving him a charming smile, “I have a meeting near the palace, how ‘bout you?” 

“Same actually, wanna walk together?” His eyes drifted awkwardly between you and Pietro, “the… three of us?” 

“Actually, my sister just texted me, says she needs help with, uhh, her cat; he's been... acting weird lately. Bye Y/N/N.”

 Just like that, Pietro left. Only, he didn’t. 

He had to keep an eye on you, so he was just gonna keep his distance.

“So, your best friend…” Bucky trailed off, hands half inside the pockets of his jeans. 

“Yup,” you popped the ‘P’, "but let’s not talk about him. Your accent...,” you noted, “where are you from?” 

“I’ve been living in New York for quite some time,” he didn’t answer your question, but you gave it no mind. 

"What brought you all the way here?” You adjusted his jacket around your waist.

He scratched the back of his neck, letting out a breath.

"I… sorry, you don't have to-...," you atoned, but he cut you off. 

“Relax, doll, it’s fine," he assured. "My father called me last week, basically told me to drop everything and come help out with some family business.”

 The way in which he spoke picked your interest; it wasn't with resentment or bitterness, which you'd have expected from someone who had basically left everything on hold, but just as if he had been waiting for that to happen. Nevertheless, his voice came out thicker than it had before, so you could tell he was clearly affected by it. 

Unsure whether or not to change the topic, you asked, "what's New York like? I’ve never been there.”  

He chuckled softly, lifting his brows, "exhausting, fast-paced, it's like everyone's in a rush all the time. it's surprisingly homely; the people, the sights, everything's great but, you know, the food’s what I love the most.” 

You looked at him quizzically, tried to suppress a laugh, “seriously?”

“The touristy places aren’t bad, but, when you have an expert guide, that’d be me, it’s something else.” 

“Guess I’ll have to take your word for it,” you removed your hood, but fixed your hair so it would frame your face. 

“For now, you’ll have to.” He bit his lower lip, masking a smile. 

Did he just say ‘for now’? Of course he did. You chuckled nervously, doing what you could to get rid of the silences that had surfaced. 

“So, what else do you hide?, apart from being an expert New York foodie, of course,” you finally asked.

“I own a small gallery in Brooklyn,” he explained. “My friend, Steve, he’s an artist; we show and sell most of his work there,” his right hand moved to his hair, fixing a rebel strand. “But, enough ‘bout me. My turn to ask.” 

“Okay, shoot.”

“Ideal date.” He declared, with the same bold smile that, to be honest, made your knees tremble. 

This time, you straight up laughed at how straight forward he was. 

Before you’d have liked, you reached your destination. The World Trade Center and the Wakandan international aid center stood tall before you, in front of a subway station that led straight to the castle. 

Instead of heading down the subway stairs, you smiled at him and stopped walking. “Well, this is me. It was nice walking with you, uh.. take care.” 

You waved goodbye and walked to the buildings as fast as you could, avoiding any more conversation. 

“Wait!” Bucky urged, “didn’t catch your number.” 

You gave him his jacket back, together with an apologetic, tight lipped smile, and stepped inside. 

What was Pietro thinking? No, what were you thinking? If people at the palace heard a word of it, you'd never get a break.  Through the window, you saw him jogging toward the subway station with a slight frown on his face, and mentally cursed. 

With that taken care of, you could focus on fixing your bloody situation so you could get to the palace (sort of) on time.

You waited until Bucky was out of sight and sprinted across the street, toward the recently opened Wakandan aid center. When you entered the lobby, you greeted the staff and walked to the receptionist’s desk. 

Amare was the woman who assisted you every time you came to meet king T’Challa or the ambassador, so you didn’t hesitate to ask her for a tampon, a pad, whatever she had at hand, really.

She handed you a tampon and you rushed to the restroom. Once out, you  glanced out the window to make sure the coast was clear. After thanking her and saying goodbye, you went toward the subway station. Your hand flew to your jean’s back pocket and, by heart, you dialed your prime minister’s number. 

“I assume you're running late.” His voice was tired; no, calm, yet aggravated.

"Hey, Bruce," you sang, trying to lighten the mood.

"Y/N.” 

His voice was still cold, but softer. You sighed and went straight to the point. Bruce was one of the most patient and understanding people you Knew, but you didn’t wanna push him too far. He was known for having quite a thin temper, which you had personally experienced only two times and wanted to keep it that way.

“Please, could you entertain Prince James and his people?, just for a bit,” you were panting, jogging down the stairs. “I’m begging you, I just had a little problem.” 

“Of course I'll help you," he sighed.  “Just make sure you get here before they leave.”

“So, so funny," you rolled your eyes. “See you at twenty.” 

He coughed, “ten.” 

He already knew there was no hope of you arriving on time. This was a frequent conversation between the two of you; whether it was for an official matter, or whatever else that required your presence. 

As soon as the phone call ended, your train arrived. You opted for standing up, wanting to avoid leaving a crime scene on the plastic seat; your hand grabbed the pole, and your left foot bounced restlessly. Practically jumping out of the train, you sprinted to the palace and straight to your room. 

Shower, tampon, dress, makeup, hair, and you were out the door, with your shoes in your hand. Heels could wait. 

Record time, you thought, falling limp on one of the chairs outside the throne room; proceeding to put your stilettos on and fix other minor details. 

While you were at it, Pietro, who was leaning against the doorway, made his presence known. “You know, something tells me there’s a story that I’d like to hear”. 

“You literally shadowed me the whole way home, Piet, you got first row seats for the entire thing.” You glanced at his navy blue suit through your makeup mirror, as you fixed your lipstick. 

He loosened his tie a little bit. “Just to be clear, I wasn’t listening,” he claimed. 

You rolled your eyes. "Of course you weren't.”

“How nosy do you think I am?” 

“Very.” 

He protested weakly but you gave it no mind, your heart was pounding and your hands were shaking. You inhaled and closed them into fists, then grabbed the handle of the door. 

You were about to open it, then you stopped. “I don’t think I can do this.” 

Pietro grabbed your arms and gently rubbed up and down. “It’s gonna be fine.”

“What if it’s not,” you mumbled. 

“You have nothing to worry about.” He turned you around so he could face you. "If he doesn't like you, I'm sure he'll change his mind in no time; I mean, look at you. And, if he ever tries to hurt you or take over your throne, you know I'll kill him, remember that." 

You hugged him tightly. "Thanks," you whispered into his shoulder. 

At first, you opened the door just enough for your voice to be heard, so your name could be announced.

“In comes her royal majesty, Queen Y/N from the house of Y/L/N; and Lieutenant Pietro Maximoff, commander of the Royal Guard and of her majesty's personal escort.”

That's when you stepped into the throne room. 

Requests open!

[queenmuzz]

Deep Blue Sea: Chapter XI

Father Knows Best

Read the full story on Ao3 Here

WARNING: WHILE THIS CHAPTER DOES NOT CONTAIN OUTRIGHT ABUSE, BE WARNED THAT PARENTAL EMOTIONAL CONFLICT IS INVOLVED. THIS IS NOT NORMAL BEHAVIOR FOR PARENTS, NOR SHOULD YOU BE FORCED TO ACCEPT IT, IF IT IS HAPPENING TO YOU.

The young man opened the door for you as you slowed to a stop under the alcove.  He was impeccably dressed, and smiled professionally as he took your keys from you.

While he got in the driver's seat, you straightened your dress, your purse, and stiffened your posture.  You’d gone so long without makeup, that by just putting it on this afternoon, you felt that old shot of confidence you felt when you first tried it as a teenager.  And today, you’d need all the confidence you could muster.

Vergil that evening had seen you just before you headed out, and a couple of weeks ago, you’d have not batted an eyelash at his reaction.  But now?  With the knowledge that you’d gained?

“You look lovely,” he had said as you approached the glass.  He’d been swimming lazy laps around, and stopped dead in his tracks, (or was it in mid stroke?) when he’d seen you, and you instantly flushed.  Ever since your meeting with Vergil’s rambunctious sibling, every word, action, and smile was now interpreted under a filter of the feelings he felt for you. 

Or was it now all unfiltered?

“Thank you Vergil,” you smiled as you put on your heels, (ugh, how you detested the things) and checked your makeup in the mirror one more time.

“What is the occasion?”

“Well, my father,” you could swear you saw him tense up, “has finally come home from his business venture, and has invited me out for dinner, so I have to dress up a bit, to keep up appearances.”

“You don’t seem to be looking forward to this”

Drat, the merman was far too observant for his own good. “Well, meetings with my father tend to have the added pressure of him mixing his business in everything, so I always kind of feel tense at these gatherings.”

“Will your future bondmate be there? Perhaps he will be able to smooth things out for you.”

You glanced down at the engagement ring that fit snugly around your finger.  Was it just you, or did it feel heavier nowadays?  And had the pink diamonds lost their sparkle? “Unfortunately, he’ll be gone for another week,”

“But isn’t your bonding ceremony very soon?” “Yeah, he’s gonna cut  it real close…” you chuckled without any sort of happiness as you placed your handbag strap over your shoulder.

“Sifa?”

That damnable name.  You should have asked him to stop, he would have acquiesced, if reluctantly.  But you’d been selfish, and you liked the meaning behind it, so you let the tragic charade play out.  But it wouldn’t be much longer now…

You summoned all your acting skills and pasted on a smile.  “It’s just the stress of planning this whole thing, I’m glad it’s almost over.”  You looked up at the clock, “Shoot, looks like I’m cutting it close now too, gotta go!  Seeya  later Vergil!”  And you practically ran out the door, as fast as the wobbly shoes could take you.

“Ah, good to see you miss,” the maitre’d smiled graciously at you as you walked in, before grabbing a menu, “Your father is waiting for you,  this way please.”  You followed him to one of the private rooms.  Thank God, you thought.  You needed the much needed privacy for your conversation this evening.

“SWEETHEART!” Your father bellowed as he got out of his chair, and threw his arms around you in an embrace that you honestly had to admit you really missed. “How is my wonderful daughter doing?  It feels like ages since I saw you last,” he sat down as a waiter refilled his glass of water, and then filled yours.  He had a bowl of clam chowder in front of him, and at your place, there was an appetizer sized bowl of chicken caesar salad, “I took the liberty of ordering it for you, it’s always been your favourite. Now,” he said as he placed his spoon into the creamy concoction, “let’s enjoy this long overdue father-daughter date!”

“So, your future father-in-law was so busy showing me his gun collection that he forgot to set the timer on the oven, so I says to him ‘Jerry, you smell something burning?’ and he starts cursing in both English AND Japanese as we both race to the oven.” Your father dug into the roast baby potatoes “mmm, I missed this… Rice is no substitute to the humble tuber.  Anyways, he and I open it up and it’s like the literal gates of hell with all the smoke pouring out.  Couldn’t get the smell of burning bread out for weeks!  And the poor loaf,” he looked genuinely mournful.  “Snatched away far too soon, before it could even fulfil its destiny”

You couldn’t help but giggle at his dramatic re-enactment as you chewed a biteful of tortellini. Your father was right, it had been far too long since you’d spent time with him.  His corny puns, his wacky stories, and his boasts. It made you almost forget why you were being tense around him.

“Ah yes,” he speared a cut of his steak, “almost forgot to pass along a message from Fredrick.  He’ll be here in about a week, says he’s really sorry he didn’t come home sooner.  Apparently there were some last minute certification delays with the government,  But,” he said as he chewed “I’m sure you’ve got nearly everything under control.  By the time he arrives, all he’ll need is a tux fitting, a low key bachelor party, and you’ll both be good to go!”

A waitress, dressed prim and proper poured both of you some wine.  It was hard to ignore the way your father stared just a touch too intently at her form fitting dress as she bent slightly to pour you a glass.  

When she had slipped out of sight, he chuckled, “there’s one thing I miss about Japan, it’s the ladies…” he stared into space for a little bit, before shaking his thoughts.  You definitely did not want to know what he had been thinking. “So, you’ve probably been a busy bee, for the past few months, you must be grateful that your big day is almost here, and that your mother is finally off your case.”

“Yes… about that.” you wiped your mouth politely with a napkin, before taking a deep breath.  It was time.  It should have been done a long time ago, but it was now or never.  Your father picked up on the change of tone and paused, his forkful of lobster halfway to his mouth.

“I… I don’t think I can go through with this.”

The only sound, aside from the distant murmurs of other diners outside your room, was a sharp CLINK as the seafood loaded fork clattered on the plate.

“Pardon?” he asked, unbelieving.

“I don’t think I can marry Fredrick.” you repeated.  This was the moment, the cat was out of the bag, and you forced yourself to continue, refusing to meet your father’s dumbfounded gaze. “There’s nothing wrong with him, he hasn’t hurt me, or cheated on me, but I can’t see him as the man I would spend the rest of my life with, let alone raise a family, or run a business.  I… I just don’t think we have what it takes…”

After a few moments of agonizing silence, and you grew the balls to look up at him.

He was just staring at you, before breaking out in laughter.  

Your hands, currently on your lap, balled up into fists as he just threw back his head in uproarious cackling.  Here you were, practically baring your soul to the man you trusted most in this world, and he had the fucking gall to laugh?

“Oh man,” he said, wiping up a stray tear, “Sweetheart, of all the jokes you could tell me, this is one of the more creative ones.”  He was on attempt number two for the forkful of lobster.

“It’s not a joke, dad!  I’ve never been so serious in my life!  I’ve been thinking all these past few months,” you tried to keep your voice down, but your emotions, once held back by a dam, were now breaking through, “and I really believe getting married, right now, to this man is the wrong thing for both me and him.”

“Sweetheart,” your father crooned like you were a tantruming toddler, which made it even more infuriating, “I know what you’re feeling.”

“Then you agree?” you asked hopefully.

“You’re getting cold feet.  It happens to a lot of newlyweds.  Hell, it happened to me and your mom.”

“Yeah, and now you guys can’t stand to be in the same room as each other, so” you spread out your hands in a ‘duh’ motion. “I think that proves my point.”

Your father’s face darkened.  “You have no idea what’s at stake here, how many connections will just be snapped in half if this wedding doesn’t go through.  I’ve made so many deals, so many business negotiations with Fredrick’s family.  All hinging on this one ceremony.  Do you want to take all the hard work I’ve done and throw it all away?” “But-”

“And think what it will do to our family’s reputation, your reputation!?” He slammed the fork down, jostling the dishes on the table, causing you to jerk in surprise.  It had been a long time since you had seen him angry, and frankly, it kinda scared you.  “Your mother is going to be heartbroken, she’s wanted this to be the perfect wedding for you.  And your bridesmaids!  They look to you for leadership.  Are you going to be the one to let them down, to have them think of you as the lady that was too cowardly to take that final step.  And Fredrick!  Are you willing to be remembered by him as the woman who broke his heart?”

“I-”  you couldn’t respond.  You had expected resistance to your decision, but not outright hostility.  And as much as you hated to admit it, your father was right.  This wedding, this marriage, it wasn’t just about you, it never had been.  And as much as you tried to fight it, the damage you would cause by breaking this off would be catastrophic.

“Look”, your father’s voice returned to its gentle tone, “Don’t think I don’t care about you, nothing further could be from the truth, it’s just that I’ve been in your shoes before, and I know what’s best for you…”

“Dad…” you whispered, your eyes blurry from unwept tears, as your father slowly got up and walked to your side of the table, before wiping your eyes delicately with his napkin.

“Now, now,” he murmured as he smiled, “this is supposed to be a happy time.  If it puts your mind at ease, I can have my lawyer draft you up an iron-clad prenup.  That way, if things go pear shaped, you’ll be covered.  But you said it yourself, Fredrick is a very nice man, and if I had the slightest inkling that he would hurt you, I would have never let him even meet you.” He knelt down, and placed both of his hands on your cheeks, “Just trust me...trust in yourself.  You can do this.”

And that was it, you broke down in tears, the months of stress making you crumble in your father’s arms.  He hugged you close as he murmured soft reasurances into your crown.  And you believed him.  You needed to go through with this.

After a few minutes, you felt emptied, like a wet towel that had been put through the wringer.  The emotional weight was gone, but instead of feeling relieved, you just felt...hollow.  Your father slowly let go of you and made his way back to his side of the table, almost as if nothing had even happened.  Your breathing had almost returned to normal, but there was still an ache in your chest, as if you had almost drowned.

“Now,” your father said, as he raised up his glass in a toast.  “To a promising future”

You raised up yours, and repeated numbly, 

“To a promising future.”

******

You’d returned home,  tossed your heels into the closet and went straight to the washroom to clean off the makeup, once immaculate, now smeared on your face.  The valet’s look of concern and pity was too much to bear, and you slipped him a hundred just for him to stop looking at you that way. 

It took several rinses to not only wash off the makeup, but to make your face look presentable to Vergil, to place that pleasant mask you had to wear for just a few more days.  Checking your calendar, you assured yourself that in three days time, the full moon would appear, and the weather forecast had predicted clear skies.  The stars...or in this case, the moon had aligned perfectly.  All you needed now was to locate the damn sword.  That would be easy though, the warehouse was the place Doctor Griffon kept his ‘research’, at the behest of your father, and there was a walk in safe there.  You’d have to access  security footage to make doubly sure, but if there was any place it could be, that would be it.  You’d have to do the break in on the very night, to avoid any suspicion that a prison break was about to take place, but you had keys and knew codes.  Just slip in, slip out, and drop Vergil off like he was a package.  Simple.

It was actually making you feel better, as you typed on your laptop, with an oblivious Vergil chowing down on some ramen and a plateful of bacon nearby.  The fact you had something that was 100 percent in your control, that you alone were responsible for, grounded you.  

You watched the security feed, as the Good Doctor got ready to leave for the day.  He was placing manilla folders in a filing cabinet located in the safe, its dim light making it hard to see-wait, there it was.   Leaning against it, there was the familiar long slender case, unmistakable due to its size and shape.  Doctor Griffon, obviously satisfied with his work for the day, looked to be whistling as he left.  It would be a cinch to do this.

You closed the laptop, and looked up at Vergil, who was watching you with interest.

“How was your dinner?” he asked as he slurped up the last of the noodles.

“Pretty good, all things considered,” you lied.  It was getting easier and easier to do.  “Fredrick should be showing up next week, so all I gotta do is finish up the final touches, and…” either the wine or the play acting was affecting you, because your head was starting to ache.

“Are you alright, Sifa?”  his voice seemed to take the pain away, slightly.

“Just tiredness, I suppose.  All this planning has been keeping me up at night.” “Would you like me to sing?” he offered, and you were disinclined to accept, before your tiredness changed your mind.

“That would be very kind of you to do so, your singing is very soothing to me.”

He almost looked as if he was beaming as he opened his mouth to sing, his voice taking an echoy quality in the open space.

Isil shem’ore

Isil lin’ore

Mira pharar, mira ofar, mira kanar,

D’rashana karif’ore

Isil dilshonin sa oplalim

Sa kintal o sa polim

Sa racarto shipal o sa whelik

Nekalin parand’ore fa pishim

Ah, mira sifa, mira sifa

Winik fa pishim lin’more.

And as your mind slowly became comfortably numb to the day’s events, you idly wondered to yourself, Strange, I thought this was an ode to the Sun?

******

You weren’t quite sure what was more painful, the driving rain that beat into your exposed body like hail, or your fingertips as they clung to the craggy rock, being cut to ribbons as you lost and regained your grip on sharp edges.  

Or maybe it was the gale-force winds screaming as they whipped around you, through you like knives of ice.  Strange, the winds did not howl or scream, as winds ought to do.  No that would have been preferable to what you heard.  Snatches of voices, reminding you of your failures, of your shortcomings…

“Will you now….make me the luckiest man in the world?”

“I understand you're eager to put all your knowledge to good use, but you deserve a break”

“It doesn't speak, they don't have the intelligence to”

“Never satisfied with their lot in life, they take, and take, and take…”

“Look, my father said that was usually the reserve of the ladies, and you're getting a top notch wedding planner, so how hard could it be?”

“But you do not love him.”

“This is YOUR day, you need to go all out!  With luck, this will be the most important day of your life.” 

 “This is supposed to be YOUR day, you shouldn’t be such a doormat”

“You don’t just call anyone Sifa, it's a fairly dedicated term, and Vergil wouldn’t just call you that if he didn’t mean it.” 

“Sifa”

Out of nowhere you felt a calming presence holding you, protecting you from the brunt of the storm, but it still didn’t block out everything.  But it was so comforting, so you relaxed for just a moment.  That was a mistake, as your bloody fingertips slipped off the rock, and you began sliding into the churning waters below.

“SIFA!”

You awoke, gasping for air, hands gripping on nothing before you realized it had just been a nightmare, no doubt caused by the day’s events.  You must have dozed off to Vergil’s singing, right there on the platform.  Speaking of which… the only thing that remained of the dream was the sensation of being held…. 

Clammy webbed hands held you, ever so gently, around your waist, and spreading wetness was at your back.  Usually, you’d find the coldness to be unpleasant, but instead, it felt… comforting. A stream of unintelligible soft words were being murmured into the back of your neck. “Vergil?” you hesitatingly asked.

“A nightmare, nothing more, Mira Sifa.” you felt his breath still momentarily, “it was the only way I could think of to calm you down, I will go, if you desire…”

What you SHOULD have done was to thank him graciously, but then get up, wish him goodnight and plod off to much needed sleep.  You SHOULD not encourage these feelings you had for him, nor his for you.  You SHOULD not endanger the new chapter of your life that was about to begin. But tonight….tonight, SHOULDS could go to hell.  Tonight, you would be selfish, and you snuggled into his arms, earning a soft intake of breath as he continued to hold you, to softly sing you back into sleep, into dreams as calm as the waters beside you.

Ah, Mira Sifa, Mira Sifa…..

Winik fa pishim lin’more?

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

What do you think Napoleon would feel about the Le Pens? Like I know he’d hate their guts but the extent 👀

God fuck the Le Pens. I feel dirty thinking about them. (Though weirdly funny that Marine kicked her dad out of FN. Like you know you’re too deep down the rabbit hole of fuckery when Marine kicks you out. [and yeah, of course it’s all part of her image cleaning up gimmick. Wherein I’m sure she thinks the same as him, but is trying to “soften” the image of the party. And, based on the last election, it’s working. So that’s horrifying.]) All this to say: fuck the Le Pens; white supremacy etc. 

Anyway - assuming we’re still going for “Napoleon from 1815 woke up August 22, 2020″ base for our thought experiments here. 

Overall, yeah he’d think them short sighted, idiotic, and would probably have some elegant-yet-crude insults for them in Corsican. Let us take a brief, and not at all comprehensive, stroll down the Le Pens (and FN by default)’s terrible policies. Then I can scrub my brain out because they are absolutely foul people. 

behind a cut because it’s long. 

Economics: First off, Napoleon and I are the same in that we neither know anything about economics. He did not have a firm grasp on how the economy worked. Which I sympathise with, because it seems very fake and made up. 

Anyway, he did a lot of modernization, raised taxes, created a lot of public works programs to stimulate the economy and improve connectivity (gotta build all the roads and canals. Actually though, as a public infrastructure keener, I support this). He did lay the foundation for the centralized bank of France. (Something Biddle would get all hot and bothered over. Nothing sexier than centralized banks.)

Napoleon also introduced a whole loan system for businesses to try and keep them afloat and improve local industry. He was keen on protecting property rights, um, tried to regulate the currency to protect it against inflation. Idk, he did other things that I’m not going to get into. 

Comparing Napoleon’s hot economic takes from 1815 to 2020? A bit hard. So I’m going to guestimate on this. 

I think, once he understood how the world functions now, he would be pro-globalization and the various free trade agreements that are in place (CETA, PCAs etc). He might disagree with details therein, but the broad philosophy is one I think he’d support. 

I don’t know if he would be pro-single currency. I suspect he might be anti-the Euro, while still supporting the broad intents of the EU. 

He would support a strong public sector - so government controlled postal service, utilities, schools etc. In that, and the anti-Euro view, he would align with Marine, at least. Not sure about her POS father. 

No idea what his views on the Havana Charter would be. Probably mixed. 

EU: I’ve touched on this before, I think Napoleon would be pro-EU, over all. He’d just think France should be the hegemonic power. Why isn’t France making all the decisions? This is dumb. Who does Germany think they are? Etc. Therefore, he would disagree with the Le Pens who think the EU is the anti-christ and the cause of everything bad that ever happened in France (I exaggerate, but they do blame the EU for a lot of things so you know, it’s not that much of a stretch).

Immigration: This is where they would diverge significantly. Like apples and moldy toast kind of different. I’ve touched on Napoleon’s immigration policy before, so I’m not going to wade into it again. But yeah, needless to say Napoleon would be like “let everyone come. They want to come to France? They are French. More is better. The end.” 

The only thing is, he was very pro-assimilation. Not really into the “patchwork quilt” approach to the philosophy (and implementation) of multiculturalism. Which, to be fair, is a very modern view and not something I would expect anyone from 1815 to agree with, or consider a general good approach to dynamic, multicultural societies. 

But yeah, the Le Pens whole moratorium on immigration, hatred of anyone foreign, that would be an anathema to Napoleon. He would vehemently disagree with that stance. Napoleon believed alloys were stronger. You took different people, boiled them down, and melded them into a unified French identity. That was his Hot Take on the matter. Again, pro-assimilation, which is an inherently conservative stance by 21st century standards, but a very average stance by early 19th century standards. His immigration and citizenship views were overall liberal for the time. 

Indeed, the whole creation of a unified French identity was in its infancy during his life. He contributed heavily to it, but for his lifetime, identity was strongly linguistic and regional. You’re Gascon before you’re French, you’re Basque before you’re either French or Spanish, that sort of thing. 

And of course, his views on this were heavily informed by his own experience and identity as a Frenchman and how it was received, or not, by his own people, as well as other monarchs and countries. (Tsar Alexander liked to brag that he spoke better French than the Emperor of France. And I believe the Times once called Napoleon a “Mediterranean mongrel.” Charming. So, he had a fun and exciting adventure in European class, ethnic and racial politics of the early 19th century.)

Napoleon would also disagree with the Le Pens that citizenship and nationality are indivisible. He was into the whole “if you decide you are French then you are French, no matter which side of the Rhine you were born on”. 

Secularism: They’d actually probably mostly agree on this. In that religion has no part or place in government and there should be a clear and strong separation of church and state. 

The banning of religious clothing, though, I don’t think Napoleon would support that. I would argue that he’d think it infringed on personal rights too much, and he was keen on protecting those. Like, his policy towards integrating France’s Jewish population was to try and assimilate them, yes, because he viewed everything as being consumed by the monolith that was the French Empire. But he wasn’t like “no wearing a tallit or kippah.”

Abortion: Guys, Napoleon is a culturally Catholic man from 1815 who thought women’s crowing jewel were her children and that France really needed to increase its overall population. I think we can all figure out what his views on abortion would be. Marine is pro-legality of abortion, but she personally is like “it’s eViL and a serious MoRaL IsSuE” etc. 

Gay Rights: Napoleon’s whole political approach was to bring in the people on the margins and normalize them (assimilate; one of us, one of us) as a means to increase the base of the population who would support him. As he viewed marriage as a strictly secular, civil ceremony, and not a religious one, there could be a possibility of slowly talking him around to it. That said, he also viewed marriage as a declaration of intent to make many babies (for his army). I don’t think he’d be pro-queer couples adopting, no matter what. So, who knows. 

That said, he wasn’t like “lock up the gays”. And as gay marriage is established in France currently, I don’t know if he’d be pro-abolition since it’s mostly a popular/accepted law and he was all about that sweet, sweet public approval rating. 

So if he came around to it, it wouldn’t be for altruistic reasons. At the same time, he wouldn’t be like “make it illegal”. He was very “w/e just show up to work on time Cambaceres, jesus.” (Cambaceres: It’s midnight, sire. This isn’t normal work hours. Napoleon: SAYS WHO???) 

Women in Politics: Well he’s obviously 100% against that. Ladies belong at home with the bebes. Le Pens, obviously, aren’t. Though Jean, I think, is like Trump where he’s pro his daughter being in politics (until she chucked him out of FN), but he would expect his wife to be a Proper Housewife. That weird conservative man thing about the role of wives and daughters. 

-

There’s my fly-over guestimation of Napoleon v Le Pens

It’s very, very hard to figure out what Napoleon, a man born in 1769 and died in 1821, would think about politics, economics and society in 2020. I tried to gauged based on his broad, philosophical views and how he acted as ruler. But he was also someone who was very analytical and would be capable of understanding the world as it is today and the realities that are in place. He might find them off putting or bizarre (ladies as heads of states?? what about your children??) but he was an imminently pragmatic man who would look at a situation and go “alright, this is the reality of the system and society I am now in” and would adjust himself accordingly. 

In the end, trying to figure out how a man from 1815 would react to today’s politics is very difficult, if not outright impossible. His understanding of what liberal meant, what conservative meant, etc. were so different to our understanding that I would never place him in one camp. He had changing, dynamic views, and that would be reflected in his understanding of politics in 2020. 

Overall, I think he would disagree with a lot of the stances of the Le Pens. Would he hate them? No. Because Napoleon didn’t really hate people based on their political views. He saw too much of the Revolution to go for extreme personal reactions to political stances; also he was too much a pragmatist and understood that you never know who might be an ally in the future. 

Napoleon might look down on the Le Pens, he might find them personally disgusting, he might view them as stupid (honestly, he’d probably just think they’re dumb and quickly move on), but he wouldn’t hate them. 

-

Because this is tumblr, I must now declare my political stance because I was too calm in most of that assessment. 

1. Fuck the Le Pens & Front Nationale 

2. Nationalism is spooky and I am always suspect when it comes up in political discourse in the year of our lord 2020 

3. I am bi and non-binary, which isn’t actually a political stance (or a personality), but tumblr is Like That so I thought I’d include it. 

4. I support: lgbtq rights; trans rights; universal health care; easy and open access to education; improved access to education at primary school levels (because that’s a huge impact on people); ACAB; separation of church and state; prison reform/some form of abolishment - I’m still thinking through my views on this and how it should be approached; land back; Aboriginal and Treaty Rights; immigration; no more kids in cages jesus christ; don’t drink bleach; democracy is good, punch fascists etc. etc. 

[letterboxd]

Satisfied?

We examine what Letterboxd reviews of Hamilton reveal about the musical’s cultural currency in 2020.

In this absolutely insane year, when our love of movies feels helpless in the face of pandemic-induced economic collapse, some extremely good decisions are being made on behalf of audiences. Studio Ghibli on streaming platforms. Virtual screenings to support art house cinemas. Free streaming of many important films about Black experience. And: Disney+ releasing the filmed version of Hamilton: An American Musical—recorded at the Richard Rodgers Theater in 2016 with most of its original Broadway cast—a year ahead of schedule, on Independence Day weekend.

“Superlative pop art,” writes Wesley of the filmed musical. “Hamilton wears its influences and themes on its sleeve, and it’s all the better for it. Lin-Manuel Miranda and his team employ an unlikely cocktail of not only hip-hop and showtunes, but also jazz (‘What’d I Miss?’), British-Invasion pop-rock (‘You’ll Be Back’), folk music (‘Dear Theodosia’) and Shakespeare (‘Take a Break’) in service of developing an impressively vast array of themes. This is a testament to the power of writing, an immigrant narrative, a cautionary tale about ambition, a tragic family drama, and a reevaluation of who decides the narrative of history.”

2016 may only be a half-decade ago, but it feels like an eon in American political years. With theaters dark and America’s long record of racism under urgent scrutiny, the complex smash-hit lands back in the spotlight at an interesting time. Is Hamilton “the most offensive cultural artefact of the last decade”, as Lee writes? Or “timeless and wholly of the moment”, as Tom suggests? The answer, according to a deep read of your Letterboxd reviews, is “all of the above”.

First things first: why now?

Sophie has a theory:

“Disney executive: Hey we’re losing a lot of money because our parks are closed. How do we start making money again?

Other Disney executive: It might be nice, it might be nice… to get Hamilton on our side.”

Sure, business. Still, it’s historically unprecedented that a Broadway show of this caliber (a record-setting sixteen Tony nominations, eleven wins, plus a Grammy and a Pulitzer) would be filmed and released to the public while it’s still, in a Covid-free universe, capable of filling theaters every night. Will people stay away when Broadway reopens because they’re all Disney+’d out?

No chance, reckons Erika. “I’d still kill to see Hamilton live with any cast… I get why producers are afraid that these videos might hurt ticket sales, but I’m fucking ready to buy a ticket and fly to NY one day just to see as many shows as I can after watching this.”

Not every musical fan has the resources to travel, often waiting years for a touring version to come near their hometown. And even if you do live in a town with Hamilton, the ticket price is beyond many; a daily lottery the only way some of us get to go. So Holly-Beth speaks for many when she writes: “I entered the Hamilton lottery every day for almost two years but I never got to be in the room where it happens… however, this 4K recording of the original cast will do very nicely for now! Finally getting to see the context and performances after obsessing over the music for years was so, so satisfying.”

“Finally” is a common theme. Sydnie writes, “I love this musical with every fiber of my body and it was an extraordinary experience finally getting to watch it in Australia”. Flogic: “To finally be able to put the intended visuals to a soundtrack that I’ve had on repeat for such a long time: goosebumps for 160 minutes.” Newt Potter: “Now I fully understand people’s love for this masterpiece of a musical!”

I’ve got a small query for you.

Where’s the motherfucking swearing? Unsurprisingly, Disney+ comes with some limitations. For Hamilton, it’s the loss of a perfectly placed F-word.

“I know Disney is ‘too pure’ to let a couple of ‘fucks’ slip by,” writes Fernando, “but come on, it’s kind of distracting having the sound go out completely when they sing the very satisfying ‘Southern Motherfucking Democratic Republicans!’ line.”

Will agrees: “Disney cutting ‘motherfucking’ from ‘Washington on Your Side’ felt like sacrilege akin to Mickey Mouse taking an eyebrow pencil to the Mona Lisa.”

Nevertheless, sings Allison:

“Even tho Disney stripped the story of its f***s, Don’t think for a moment that it sucks.”

(Yes, she has a vegan alert for Hamilton.)

Does it throw away its shot?

The crew filmed two regular shows in front of live audiences, with additional audience-less sessions for a dolly, crane and Steadicam to capture specific numbers. The vast majority of you are satisfied. “It’s the most engaging and expertly crafted life filming I’ve seen since Stop Making Sense,” writes ArtPig. “The film does an incredible job of placing you right in the action. It feels like the best seat you could get in the theater. You can see the sweat and spit.”

“Translates perfectly onto the small screen,” agrees Ollie. “There’s a level of intimacy that feels hard to replicate in any other filmed production. We see those close ups, the passion and gusto behind every actor’s performance.”

“Shockingly cinematic for something filmed on such a small stage,” is Technerd’s succinct summary, while Paul praises director Thomas Kail: “He knows when to back away along with moving nearer when appropriate, and the choices always serve to govern the power and stamina of the performances.”

Though cast members’ voices were recorded on individual audio tracks, Noah had a few quibbles with the sound quality. “Some of the audio capture is off in the recording, sometimes voices being too soft or too loud. It’s not immersion breaking, but it is noticeable enough to irk me a little in pivotal moments. Some of the shot composition doesn’t fully work either. Of course nothing is going to be as good as seeing it in person.”

Robert, recalling another recent cinematic escapade of musical theater, lets his poetry do the talking:

“This will do for now until the true movie’s made, Though if Hooper directs, there’ll be an angry tirade.”

I think your pants look hot.

Hamilton fans have their cast favorites, but something about being able to see Jonathan Groff’s spittle and Leslie Odom Jr’s scowls in 4K has you losing it all over again. Several specific shout-outs we enjoyed:

“Daveed Diggs the Legend! Go watch Blindspotting (2018), it’s one of the best movies ever!” —Kyle

“It’s hard to believe anyone will ever top Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr. I already loved him from the original cast recording, but seeing his full performance in all its glory was just godly.” —Erika

“Thankful that it was made possible for me to view with such clarity the phenomenon that is Renée Elise Goldsberry and spectacular Phillipa Soo.” —Thea

“Daveed Diggs was electrifying and Jonathan Groff was absolutely hilarious. If they interacted together the stage would’ve combusted from the sheer will of their talent.” —Nick

This is not a game.

On one hand, the release of Hamilton is sweet relief for music theater nerds riding out the pandemic. A generation of kids knows every word by heart, rapping (this version of) American history like it’s no thing. On the other, the Obama-era musical already feels behind-the-times, even for many Hamilton lovers, and the filmed version has brought that into sharp focus.

“I listened to the OG cast album about 50 times when it came out, the production is about as good as I’d always hoped,” writes Josh. “Since then however there’s been a very important and broader reckoning with the failures of neoliberalism and the Obama years ([from] which this has to be the most emblematic piece of art) and for me personally a drifting further to the left that has resulted in a very different relationship with the material. So my feelings today are a bit more complicated.”

“Hamilton is extremely non-committal about its politics,” writes Sting. “It doesn’t examine much of what Hamilton dictated besides ‘he wants complete financial control of the country’ (which would sound like a fucking supervillain in any other context, including reality).”

That lack of political commitment, reckons Morgan, is what helped Hamilton as a musical become so popular: “It’s fun. It’s catchy. It interweaves trendy and socially relevant artistic tools to infer a subversive subtext, while simultaneously sanitizing and, at times, flat out fabricating the historical narrative and downplaying the brutality of the true origin story, for the sake of appeasing those in power. Classic Bill Shakespeare stuff.”

History has its eyes on you.

Much criticism lies with the fundamental storytelling decision to make a modern ruckus about America’s Founding Fathers, the men (including Alexander Hamilton) who in the late eighteenth century united the thirteen colonies and co-wrote the Constitution. Undisputed titans of history, they also have blood on their hands, and HoneyRose writes that the musical “glorifies these men, and paints them as self-sacrificing heroes, and honestly normalizes and validates slavery, as well as the behavior of slave owners.”

Stevie, who saw the Broadway production as well as the filmed version, confesses: “I’ve tried (I’ve really tried) to understand what makes people lose their minds over this but I’m still completely baffled by the hype… These were horrible men and a romanticism of them through song and dance just seems entirely misguided.”

Sean is not convinced that Hamilton is a hagiography. “I can’t imagine anyone watching all of this and thinking it paints a portrait of the Founding Fathers as anything other than childish, greedy, venal and self-aggrandizing.” Wesley agrees: “I don’t think Hamilton is trying to be a history lesson, so much as a lesson about how we think about history. It’s a compelling human story told in a revolutionary way.”

That “revolutionary way” is the musical’s central conceit: that of a cast-of-color playing the white founding fathers as they bumble towards independence. Journalist Jamelle Bouie, who regards the musical as “fun, exciting, innovative and, at points, genuinely moving,” wrestles with the “celebratory narrative in which the Framers are men to admire without reservation. Through its casting, it invites audiences of color to take ownership of that narrative, as if they should want to take ownership of a narrative that white-washes the history of the revolution under the guise of inclusion.”

It’s complicated for Matt, too: “It’s widely agreed upon that the show encapsulates the Obama era better than anything, how it coddles white liberals with a post-racial vision of history in a superficial sense, overlooking the insidious and oppressive systems that they benefit from (hearing the audience clap to ‘Immigrants, we get the job done’ unsettled me). Of course hopefully its legacy will be that it opened up more Broadway roles for POC. But I really think that the show doesn’t make Broadway more appealing and accessible to POC, it just makes hip hop more accessible to white people, a launching pad of course to listening to Watsky or something.

“No hate though to anyone that’s completely in love with this, it’s definitely worth seeing despite any hang ups.”

I wanna build something that’s gonna outlive me.

The story doesn’t end, just because the music does. Kai_Kenn has a suggestion: “I have been a part of discussions that dissect the culture that created Hamilton, as well as the culture that Hamilton created, and whether or not Hamilton appropriately addresses the modern issues [that] the cult following proposes it does.

“This is an ongoing discussion that I am trying to be an active listener in and, if you consider yourself to be a conscientious consumer of art, you should too.”

Noah is on board with that: “Reflecting on the past and focusing on the future are not two mutually exclusive actions. Both are a must, regardless of who you are or what you do. A five-star experience in a four-and-a-half-star film. I think that’s just fine.”

Related content

Want to see more of the key cast? Watch Daveed Diggs in ‘Blindspotting’; Renée Elise Goldsberry in ‘Waves’, Jonathan Groff repeat his role as Kristoff in ‘Frozen 2’, Lin-Manuel Miranda in ‘Mary Poppins Returns’, Leslie Odom Jr. in ‘Harriet’, Phillipa Soo in the forthcoming ‘Broken Hearts Gallery’, Christopher Jackson in the forthcoming ‘In The Heights’, Jasmine Cephas Jones in ‘The Photograph’, Okiereriete Onaodowan in ‘A Quiet Place II’ and Anthony Ramos in ‘Monsters and Men’ and ‘A Star is Born’.

Ways to support the Black Lives Matter movement

Official Black Lives Matter’s Resources

Teenagers that have ‘Hamilton’ stuff on their bedroom walls

Films where they mention ‘Hamilton’

[violetsystems]

#personal

Because of the Internet, cycles of things don’t really follow the same pattern as the older generation is used to.  They think they know obviously.  Their favorite game is called human capital and we are the pawns, bishops and knights on the chessboard for them to sacrifice.  I’m forced to read a lot of financial opinions as an outsider.  For somebody in the aforementioned camp, Mario Gabelli had at least acknowledged that the Fortnite generation has been slowly growing up.  Apps like Robinhood have opened the market up to steal your hard earned pennies.  And then accounts get hacked, money gets stolen, and the older generation laughs and shakes it’s head.  You stupid kids and your lack of motivation.  If you didn’t spend all your time living your life instead of making us money.  I think he forgets like most boomers do that there’s an entire generation after them that was born and bred on Tron.  I didn’t land into the stock market after playing Call of Duty with my bros to be honest.  I melted down a twenty year pension from a place of employment that ghosted, derezzed and ignored my entire identity.  Other people might have traded online through simulations, harvested their bitcoin at the behest of their electric bill or just have rich parents,  I’m not like other people.  We all have figured this out after how many years of writing these to an invisible tribunal of amazing people.  I often read these other perspectives about the financial industry controlled by pundits, investors, and people who generally talk down to the little person like me.  We are what people refer to as “the retail investor.”  We’re written about like the plague mostly because nobody can really control our strategies or bully us into submission.  Much of the idea of retirement is hinged on investments in America.  Social Security is about to run out at some point.  My generation will probably be the first to see my government stiff the bill and run away.  Corporations and working for them at times can be a whirlwind of interconnected dots.  Money and loss on paper becomes a zero sum shell game for the rich.  It’s not about the work you do.  It’s about the money you spend for them.  Donald Trump took a loss for almost two decades which is incidentally how long I was gainfully employed.  A typical artist in America can take a hobby loss for up to five years.  The same artists with no healthcare to speak of.  The fiscal cliff that we all dread is nowhere reflected in the markets.  Neither is the actual driving force behind their profit.  America is a consumer based economy and America is simultaneously shrinking and bursting at the seams.  These are all stitched together by a frail, aging ideology that doesn’t want to let go.  Generation X’ers like myself are used to being forgotten about.  I travelled the world looking for someone to look at me as more than a number.  And now people follow me around because I’m a name on their company registry.  But nobody really ever speaks to me directly.  I’m a dataset and a demographic that only speaks as a number on paper.  Until I do things that the financial elite can’t stand.  I make a decision that is based on things they don’t value.  I choose to put my money elsewhere.  And this is why people hate us.  Because you can’t speculate on chaos that you do not control.  And America is simply profit off of speculation which is a value amounted to 20.83 trillion dollars in debt.  Which doesn’t sound much like it’s in control of anything except printing money.

I grew up on computers.  My mother helped me start my first bulletin board system.  I had my very first phone line in my bedroom around the time wargames came out.  I used to post the number on boards before I had even set up a system like Telegard.  I would advertise it like a mysterious military site out of a Gibson book.  People would call and the modem would pick up the carrier tone and dump them to a blank monochrome screen.  From there my twelve year old self would punk people into thinking I was an AI.  Years later I found a twenty year career in Information Technology in the Arts which abandoned me in a wholly disturbing way.  My knowledge of computers still stayed and those skills kept me alive in these times.  I grew up playing games because I had no friends and suffered horrible bullying.  I was an only child who was ridiculously intelligent but often quiet and ignored.  Years later it’s not so much different.  The bullying is still out there.  America rewards the loud and the forthcoming mostly because it is too lazy to seek out the nuances.  Convenience has warped America’s attention span beyond the regular flow of time.  Computers and connection over the years have rapidly accelerated the dominance of these ideals.  Jobs exist all over the world these days.  Most of the ones I’ve been interested in have been in China.  But due to the circumstances of my situation, I was forced to take a larger sum of income this year than I would have liked.  Sounds terrible right?  No shortage of people trying to scam me into spending it.  Any further income accrued this year becomes taxed horribly.  Ironically, the Illinois fair tax law changes the game even further as retirement income was not taxed before the amendment.  If passed, any retirement income that was not with held will be owed.  Another round of layoffs to liquidate pensions from the bottom line in cities like ours will definitely affect people worse than me down the road.  I’ve been stumbling through the process alone since the end of July.  A lot of what I had done was to part out and budget money in my own way playing a waiting game that I’ve grown used to in my life.  I am at the peak of stagnancy at the moment.  Staring out at another blank screen typing into the void every week while people lift bits and pieces for their own convenient narrative of me and my value in human capital.  Headhunters no longer stalk the internet.  They follow you around in the street with forced intimidation expecting you to read into what they think you deserve to spend the rest of your life doing.  All the while trying to wrap you up back into an ecosystem for less pay, shrinking benefits, and an economic ecosystem of investments of both human and monetary.  Debtors are paired with debtors.  Marriages are arranged for tax purposes and rich oligarchs with political ties find more ways to pay less.  And yet they never really understand the power of connection they do not have.  They don’t communicate.  They project.  They expect you to believe that we’re all in this together when they never hear a word you say.  The only time they listen is when you take your money away.  I’m single.  Never been married.  An only child.  And pretty much an exile on Wall Street with more liquidity and equity suddenly than most people in America.  And much like everyone paying more taxes to a government that has basically turned into a formulaic limp dick reality show.

A reality show that treats me like the Babadook at best these days.  I can’t even leave my house anymore without somebody following me or watching me.  I realize this might just be the hazards of my next pivot into global employment.   I thought these long forms of prose were enough of a background check for the FBI at this point.  It’s called “transparency and accountability” Scully.  I realize ethics aren’t a valuable skill in America.  But the utter lack of human emotion for my situation speaks volumes to me.  And it should be a wakeup call for most who live and work in this dangerous time.  They really don’t give a fuck about us in such a comedic way that they don’t realize our power.  Our power is confidence and they find ways to undermine it.  Tell you that you aren’t beautiful enough so that you spend more money on things you do not need.  Ignore and isolate you until you breakdown and ask for their help.  Until you treat yourself in bankruptcy so they can print more money.  These times are abusive at best in a way that I have never been prepared for.  But those on top don’t really understand how it feels to be under the thumb for years.  I do.  Corporations aren’t human and neither are most rich people.  I realize that life here is literally all about money.  Last night was a very good example of that when I read the news about a game I played shutting down.  I cried because it was the only thing connecting me to anything social without being overbearing and weird.  And I had invested a sizeable amount of my pension in the thought that this might keep the ecosystem alive.  The lesser of two evils of investing.  Put money where you think it will be used fairly and wisely.  Water the garden and watch it grow.  The amazon stock is literally over three grand per share.  They own everything.  They’ve shattered their profits due to the shift from COVID to delivery.  Small businesses shutter.  Hard artistic work is pissed to the wind.  And people like myself are left to wonder why the fuck Jeff Bezos needs any more money from me to treat me like a fucking lab rat.  These companies do not give a fuck about you as a person.  They want your money.  They want to leverage your image, your words, your narrative to push something that doesn’t benefit you at all.  There is no excuse for me to be invisible after all these years let alone from what happened to me in July.  And yet, there is no real way to get back at it.  Other than to completely divest from something that only hurts.  Capitalism is funny that way.  It desperately wants your participation to stay alive.  A two trillion dollar company like Apple cares only about the cut for their investors not the art that drives these bricks that become obsolete in two years.  The reason the old generation is contentious to us is that we see the scam in broad daylight.  We trolled you behind the scenes.  And when we learn the truth, it hurts.  We can always hurt back.  I divest.  I decouple.  I wonder what motivates me as a human being and not a bottom line for some rich fuck who got their way scamming people into thinking they’re worth less so they could have more.  The internet moves pretty fast.  It can all fall apart in a keystroke.  And these people will still be making excuses and not staring us point blank in the eye.  I’ll still be playing video games and you’ll still be investing in what you think you know about me.  Which last time I checked is jack shit other than the fact that it’s safe enough to plant a nuclear physicist under my apartment for a year without me knowing.  Shall we play a game?  See you at the opening bell Jeff!

[100percentshipper]

Oh dear fucking lord New Zealand now has a fascist Trump supporter as the leader of the National Party

This will be a long one, ranty but I gotta lay the land for non Kiwis. You ready?

So New Zealand seems to be doing pretty darn well in international news due to the absolute bae we have as a prime minister, Jacinda Ardern.  Through not just covid (and through her actions that have almost eliminated the virus from NZ) but through a mass shooting at the Mosque in Christchurch last year (which saw sweeping gun control laws instituted within 2 weeks), an earthquake in Wellington and having a baby while in power, Jacinda has proven herself to be a fearless, clear headed, compassionate leader that has, quite honestly, been a revelation.  Finally a person in power who actually cares and it isn’t just a political stance.  Finally someone who can take action and take it in the best interest of the people and not just in the interest of deep pockets .  Finally someone who represents my values of kindness and caring and getting shit done.  While having a baby.  Okay. So I love Jacinda and I’m actually proud to be a kiwi with someone like her at the helm.

Talking to my mum (I don’t live in NZ) and she casually mentions that the leader of the National party changed 3 days ago on May 21st.  Jacinda is Labour (Democrate) and now we have Todd Muller for National (Republican).  He replaced former leader Simon Bridges who became unpopular due - well many things but the final nail in the coffin was due to being unable to read the room - and by that I mean he decided, during Jacinda’s exemplary work with Covid, to nitpick at her leadership when in fact she’s super popular right now because she’s amazing.  I’m biased, sue me, but so is most of NZ.  So a few days ago they replaced him because you can’t win with that tactic against the queen that Jacinda is.  In enters Todd Muller.  At first he seems a possible improvement but the red flags are flying high right now. 

I’d like to preface this by saying his background is in PR (or ‘Relations Manager if you will) which means nothing he is doing in his first days is unplanned or random.  He understands manipulation.  I’d also like to preface this by saying you may have already heard of this guy when, last year he heckled a young Green party member in NZ parliament to which she responded ‘Okay, boomer.’  Oh yeah, he’s the okay boomer guy.

So here are the red flags

First; he makes a point to mention his religion (catholic) saying it won’t impact his politics as it regrads to lgbtq+ (aparently he’s ‘relaxed’ on that point because he’s not a perfect catholic). Hmmm.  Jacinda is a former Mormon and never felt the need to mention that (it was only ever mentioned by others) so that certainly doesn’t bode well.  He’s obviously pretty darn religious to feel the need to address that issue and upon research ... he is.  That then raises all manners of questions around his belief in human rights especially for queer, non-white and women. As if I needed further confirmation, he believes in ‘family values’.  A scan of his wikipedia shows he holds a ‘conservative position’ on abortion, voting no on pro-choice policies in parliment. Oh boy.

Second; he passes a few compliments to Jacinda but the goes on to say that coming out of covid, New Zealand needs to support small businesses that have been affected and then shit on their financial response to covid when an independent reviewer gave them a tripe A rating.  Apparently he disagrees although National has yet to offer an alternative approach.  This might seem like an inocuous point - obvs as the oposition he’ll look to shit on something and sure, of course we should support small business, but he subtly positions it in such a way as to suggest that Jacinda isn’t making that a priority which... um dude, she’s labour.  Meaning she cares more about it than a national govt typically would.  But notice how he’s trying to sow little seeds there? The next years are going to be a bitch economically, not just for New Zealand but the world.  No one will come out unscathed but he’s lining up his ducks to capitalize on the shortfalls that will undoubtedly happen - not because the government (but lets be honest Jacinda will prob do a better job than anyone else could) but because we exist within a system that is maimed and broken and limping along. 

Third; now perhaps neither of these points seem that much of a deal, I mean don’t most conservative, old, rich, white male politicians have ‘family values’ and so what about wanting to support small business and sowing seeds of malcontent, it’s kinda his job.  Well, well, well, let me tell you...

So he is interviewed in his office back in September 2019.  He has some political ‘paraphernalia’ on his shelf.  There is a cap in the photo taken, on his shelf.  This cap comes from America.  It has a certain set of words that sends shivers down my spine.  Can you see it?

“Make America Great Again.”

Oh dear fucking lord.  Are you serious? He’s asked about it and he claims that he also has paraphenalia from Hillary Clinton, a badge which is probably also in the shot but it’s hard to tell.  Asked if the cap will go into his new office he says yes.  He even doubles down, saying that he is comfortable with that decision... he says that he’s long been a fan of the American system (I’m sorry Americans but honestly that is not something I want to hear out of a party leader from NZ where we have MMP which has been a boon to our country) and that’s fine but to display a MAGA cap and then say he will keep it in his office given what that cap represents and what ideologies that represents is not tone deaf, it is dangerous.  It says something about who he is and what he believes.  It is a sign to all the facists of New Zealand to rise up.  When asked if he supports Bernie or Trump ... he hesitates, lightfoots around the question and says that in a debate he watched between Bernie and Trump ‘Bernie gave the better speech’.  That wasn’t the question.  Who do you support?  Reminds me of the tactics my all American boss who carries around guns at all times and I’m 99% sure is a Trump supporter talks.

Now I don’t think he stands a chance to win the elections coming up in October because it’s Jacinda with 60% approval rating and his party has 30%.  But it’s also worrying because hate and fear mixed with covid is a potent brew and the signal he sends out will be seen and received by all the sleeper fascist agents across NZ and the world and like the covid virus itself, will awake and spread like wildfire.  And even if he back tracks and decides not to display it, it’s too late. You’ve shown where you stand and where you stand is fascist.  I hope to god he doesn’t stay the leader long and by the next election may he be a forgotten blip on the political landscape of New Zealand, but man.  I knew the other shoe had to drop in some way with regards to NZ politics and it wasn’t Jacinda dropping the shoe as might be expected because how is this woman even real, it was this Trump inspired alt-right dude.

[misssunflowersandsangria]

The Arrangement

Chapter 10:  The End 

Hello my pretty deers!  Here we are at the last chapter.  Thank you for sticking through with me.   If you missed any chapters they’re linked below or click the link above and it will take you to AO3. I hope that you enjoy this short and sweet finale. 

Summary: Here we are at The End.

*

**

“Welcome Lord Shikamaru, we are glad that you were able to attend a Council meeting.”  Shikamaru nodded politely, taking his seat between Temari and Kankurou.  Now that he had officially married into the ruling family he was given a seat on the Council as was tradition.  It now made sense why her relationship had been scrutinized.  They wanted to ensure that whoever married into the family fit into the Council’s agenda.  The caveat was that he was only given the seat because he was a male.  Temari’s own mother held no governing position.  

Garra opened the meeting and Shikamaru faded in and out.  He wasn’t quite sure what his role was meant to be.  Ultimately, he was there to support Temari and her brothers with their direction for Suna.  It was interesting to be part of another Village’s ruling government, but he was waiting for one specific event.  

“I have a new piece of business I’d like to present.”  All eyes widened in surprise when Temari made the announcement.

She stood there proudly, her eyes fierce and determined.  The air in the room had shifted.  “I know that traditionally the council has had a say in the relationships for the ruling family, this is a practice unique only to females.  Specifically arranging marriages.  I would like to abolish this practice.  In addition, whoever marries into the ruling family will be given a seat on the Council regardless of gender.” The members of the Council stared at her like she had grown two heads.  Shikamaru and her brothers just looked on proudly.  

“Lord Shikamaru please reason with your wife, this is a necessary practice for Suna-”  Shikamaru’s hand slamming angrily against the table stopped the councilman’s tirade. 

“The Princess was addressing the Council, not me.  If you have something to say you will address her respectfully.”  He was really fucking tired of these people ignoring her for the sheer fact that she was a woman and had reduced her to being just his wife. 

“My apologies, Princess Temari-”

“No, this is not a discussion.  And your reasoning is flawed.  This practice is intended solely to maintain the status quo. To ensure that the only ones invited to this table are people just like you.  I regret to remind you all that outside of the ruling family, your position on the Council is not finite.  You are all relics of the old Kazekage.  When a new Kazekage is installed that person along with their advisers has the right to handpick the Council.  This is information that you all conveniently failed to share with Garra.  Who we will choose will be far more diverse and inclusive than who we have seated here.”  

She took a deep breath, her eyes still blazing.  “I am not asking for permission.  I am simply informing you that things will change and Suna will change with it.  The Sand and its people will only be better for it. The world is growing and evolving.  Your backward practices are chaining us to a troubled past, but no longer.”  The council began to complain and sputter their dissent but Temari was unmoved.  Shikamaru just stared at her awed and amazed.  They were unprepared for his Herricane.  

*

**

Following the meeting, Shikamaru and Temari made their way to watch the desert sunset needing some peace and quiet.  

Temari leaned into her husband feeling a heaviness lifted from her shoulder.  “How do you feel?”

“Empowered, worried but excited for the future.  God help anyone that thinks that they have any control over my child’s heart.”

“You can be really scary.”  He teased her kissing the top of her head.  

“Good, I’d hate for you to forget that.”

She took a deep breath her eyes taking in the buildings as the lights started to flicker on.  She knew that her actions would have some serious consequences but she was unafraid.  She was ready to face the future knowing who she had by her side.  

Temari’s expression was soft and contemplative as the sun began its descent.  “Sometimes I think about what my life could have become if I had never met you.  If you hadn’t been there if you weren’t willing to play along.  Right now, I’d be a shell of who I am, nothing but a pawn to the Council.  I don’t think that I could have lasted very long living like that.” 

The idea was frightening. That she could be reduced to nothing more than some man’s wife in an unwanted marriage. “It’s impossible to remember what life was like without you in it. Even now I can’t imagine it. There’s no me without you Tem.”  She smiled up at him kissing him softly.  It was hard to disagree with. 

“ Perhaps my brothers and I had very little choices, but no longer will that be the only path.  Our children will choose their direction in life. What they want to be, and who they want to love.”  Freedom would be the greatest gift she could give them. 

Shikamaru nodded, placing a protective hand on her stomach.  “I don’t think that this little one should be worried about the Council.  Its mama is a beast.”  She laughed in response placing her hands over his.  This change was something that she’d been wanting to present for a while.  Knowing that she was about to bring a child into the world only solidified her decision.   They’d sacrificed so much for a peaceful world. Now it was time to make it one that they could be proud of.

“That night when I asked you to get involved in this crazy mess, did you think that we’d end up here?”

“If I did, I don’t think that I would have agreed.”  He replied honestly. 

“Hey!”

He chuckled pulling her in closer.  “At the time, I was just helping a friend.  This innate need to keep you safe, to protect you from them.  I could never allow anything to shrink who you are, to reduce you to nothing more than a pretty figurehead.  I thought that as long as I accomplished that then I’d be happy.  I found out early on that it was more than that.  I wanted to keep that role for the rest of our lives.  To keep you safe, to watch over you, even if you didn’t need me to.  I wanted to be the person that you went to whenever the world became too much.”  A warm hand cradled her face, a soft smile crossing his lips.  

“To always be a knight that always protects its queen.”

At times he still questioned what he did to deserve her. She’d not only lead Suna to a brighter future she’d be there to support him as he guided the Nara clan. A weaker person might falter under the pressure and position but not her.  

She reached up to kiss him, her arms wrapping around him.  So much of her life had been defined by tragedies and events out of her control.  Shikamaru though, he was the one thing that she had chosen for herself, that she selfishly held onto.  That decision for her happiness changed her entire life. 

The stars were reflected in her eyes.  Hope, excitement, and joy shining through.  “I think that you’ve gotten it incorrect, my love. For it’s the Queen that protects her King.”

The End  

*

**

The Arrangement:  

Chapter 1:  The Set-Up

Chapter 2:  The Proposition

Chapter 3: The Participants

Chapter 4:  The Declaration

Chapter 5:  The Fear

Chapter 6:  The Performance

Chapter 7:  The Meaning 

Chapter 8:  The Challenge 

Chapter 9:  The Goodbye 

*

**

Temari is a Queen.  Temari would never let anyone manipulate or control her babies.  In my universe, ShikaTema have Shikadai and a daughter so hell no would that ever happen lol 

This is my longest baby.  Writing a multi-chapter was a new challenge but an enjoyable one.  I'll miss it.  Thank you for all your love and support.  Each read, like, reblog, comment, and positive thought is precious to me.  I truly appreciate it all.  Love you my sweet deers! 

*Till the next one!

[laurazepamwrites]

The Chemicals between us ~Ch.6

Within the vast sun scorched Arabian desert stood the glittering city of Oasis. A monument to human achievement, intelligence and ingenuity from many areas of study, founded by scientists and academics and governed by the ministers, each with their own field of expertise. It was here Satya Vaswani, Vishkars most decorated Architect, was currently based. She had been here for two months now, being deployed by Sanjay Korpal as a representative of Viskar and to promote their ideals to the ministers. At first she was confused as to why she had been sent. He was Viskars chief negotiator and this was the most advanced city in the world, to be sent in his place made no sense to her. He had explained of course, that he had equally important business to attend in Monaco and who better to send to Oasis then Viskars own prodigy. She had asked as to the nature of his meeting with Monaco and with whom but he was secretive. Simple telling her it was of great importance to Viskar and the world. She knew best not to push the matter, she was an Architect, a tool to creating a better world, Sanjay was the hand that used the tool. It was not her place to question so she had obeyed and had come to Oasis and presented Viskars interests to the ministers. They had listened to her share Viskars vision and interest to work alongside Oasis as a beacon for mankind in the wake of the Omnic crisis and watched her as she weaved intricate designs of hard-light using the traditional dance of her homeland. The ministers thanked her for her time and would finalize their decision with her superiors, for despite her skills she was just the tool afterall. They had not been inhospitable towards her and invited her to stay in Oasis as an honored guest until her duty called, staying in the world renowned Gilded tower hotel, attending lectures and seminars in the state-of-the-art University and dining with the elite of Oasis in the world class elBuffi restaurant. It was a welcome respite after the complications and confusion in Rio de janeiro and she did enjoy being here, especially the Abu Hassoun gardens.

 It was early evening and the heat of the day was ebbing to a comfortable warmth, the sky soft shades of dusky oranges, yellows and pinks. It was her favourite time of day here, the air was cooler, the sweet earthy smells of the Olive and Almond trees drifted through the air and birds sang as they swooped in to roost for the night. Lanterns hung lazilly between terraces swaying so lightly in a gentle breeze. It was beautiful, but most of all it was quiet. She loved the city, but it was still a city, a city with a multitude of sounds, lights and movement. She found it overwhelming and at its worse like she was drowning and in need of a sanctuary. She had found one on a small veranda within the garden surrounded with sweet smelling climbing flowers, soft lighted lanterns and the sound of water from a nearby fountain. She closed her eyes, focusing on the gentle sound of the water and the soft breeze on her skin and breathed steadily, her senses calming. She remained as she was for a few moments, focusing, breathing slowly in rhythm until the sound of footsteps approaching intruded her meditation. She made a slight face, annoyed with the disturbance yet kept her eyes closed and returned to focusing on the water rather than the footsteps growing louder. They shall pass her and she would be alone again soon she reminded herself

‘Quite the alluring evening, wouldn't you agree Miss Vaswani?’ A feminine voice asked her.

Satya’s brow furrowed in slight confusion, not expecting to be addressed. Opening her eyes she looked up and blinked in surprise.

‘Oh! I apologize Madam Minister. I was not expecting company.’

The woman smiled slightly at her then turned her gaze towards the large body of water surrounding the city, the setting sun shimmering across its surface like liquid gold.

‘Then I must be the one to apologize, It was not my intention to disturb you. I have been informed that is it your last night with us and wished to say goodbye.’ The woman spoke, still watching the view.

‘That is most gracious of you Madam Minister, and I thank you for yours and the cities hospitality. It has been most welcome.’ Satya folded her hands in her lap politely, waiting for the woman to continue speaking. She had not spoken directly to the Minister of Genetics, nor had she asked Satya any questions during her presentation. She had simply watched her, her hands steepled and her strange eyes watching intently. 

‘We have appreciated your presence and what you represented Miss Vaswani. Vishkar shares our ideals. Could you imagine a world structured on the foundation of order and discipline, where ingenuity leads mankind into a greater future then what we have now?’

‘That is Vishkars hope for the world Madam Minister.’

Moira peered at her, politeness bid Satya to make eye contact but this woman made her slightly uncomfortable. She had an air of superiority about her, but there was something else that Satya could just not put her finger on. This woman made her feel..small. Judged. Inferior. What felt more unsettling is that Moira seemed to know this, and revelled in it.

Moira made a satisfied ‘

sound and folded her hands behind her back. Her strange gaze once again returning to the water. ‘A pity the masses do not agree. Rio was an unfortunate business for your Corporation. To be bested by common riff raff led by some jumped up revolutionary?’ She chuckled darkly ‘How embarrassing for Sanjay.’

‘I...It was...It did not…’ Satya struggled to find the words and squeezed her hands tightly together in her lap. She swallowed and took a breath, ‘It was not-’

‘You have no need to explain Miss Vaswani.’ Moira interrupted. ‘As an architect it was not for you to control the people. I believe the fault lay with Sanjay, Viskars mistake was offering too much and using force too late. The masses do not know what is best for them and must be shown the way Miss Vaswani, through any means necessary. Sacrifices must be made for the greater good and order will be born from chaos. When you next see Mr Korpal please remind him of this, and tell him you have my vote for a partnership.’

‘..I...thank you, Madam Minister. Sanjay and Vishkar will be most pleased..’

‘As they should. I shall bid you good evening Miss Vaswani, I'm sure you have a long journey tomorrow.’ Moira nodded her head curtly and began to walk away, leaving Satya alone once again.

‘Oh, one more thing Miss Vaswani.’ Moira called over her shoulder.

‘Yes?’

‘You have great talent and skill. The perfect instrument to building a new world. But be prepared to make some difficult choices for a better path. Do this and you shall rise from the ashes with the best of humanity.’ And with that she left, not waiting for a reply. Satya sat in silence, staring at the place where Moira once stood. ‘

 She thought to herself, she felt unsettled, goosebumps prickling on her skin despite the warmth of the evening air. She took a deep breath in, closing her eyes and once again focusing on the sound of water.

-------------------------------------------------------

Junkrat had been at the Gibraltar base for nearly three weeks now and he was ready to tear out the hair he had grown back. He was 

He was agitated and despite being more settled with the routine of being in the workshop and the distraction of Hana and Lucio there was still the incessant anxiety in the back of his mind which truly reared its ugly head and turned into something more ferocious and cruel when he was alone at night. God, he was desperate to blow something up, to feel control over destruction and chaos. It was too damn fucking quiet here, he kept busy during the day, tinkering with something, making blueprints for bombs he couldn't make and repairing whatever needed fixing at the watchpoint. But the nights where the worst, he usually woke up sweating and panting from a vivid nightmare, shaking and so desperate to feel the sudden blast of heat and raw energy which he could create by simply pushing a button. One night he’d gone as far to ‘accidently’ rig a service bot to detonate with a teeny tiny explosion until Torbjorn caught him. He’d gotten a good whack with the hammer and spent the night sulking in holding with a headache which was only made worse by a stern lecture from Morrison. He knew he was asking for trouble and taking a risk but the quietness here, it was deafening. He spent his life jumping at every sound, always alert. If you didnt you wound up waking with a knife to your throat or ambushed for whatever supplies you. He had seen it happen more than he cared to think of. Since the exile, which was all Roadhogs fault, he had been on the move. Not staying in one place too long to have to get used to its noises, but here, at this base  It was so god damn still it unsettled him and finding a new outlet for his jittery energy was difficult to find. One particularly restless night he climbed onto the roof of one of the many buildings to smoke a rare cigarette and watch the stars only to be severely creeped out when he noticed the Omnic Zenyatta silently hovering near the cliffs. He had avoided that particular spot since. He hated that bot, even more than the Bastion unit with its dumb bird. This one could talk, and spoke like it had 

It was only a few days in when Junkrat had threatened to ‘update’ its circuits to something more explosive. The thing even had the audacity to 

 him back, making Junkrat take a ‘warning’ step towards it. That was the day he learnt what a sleep dart felt like. Pretty good actually, it was probably the best ten minutes nap he ever had but he didn't tell Ana that. He was starting to act out more and pushing his boundaries so slightly, he was just so bored and so desperate for a release for his ravaged emotions that bubbled furiously inside, like a fuse burning. The comparison made him giggle as he worked on some random bit of tech he suspected had no great purpose and was just to keep him busy. Torbjorn glanced towards him.

‘If that thing explodes boy I swear-!’ 

‘

! Chance would be a fine fucking thing..’ He muttered under his breath

‘What’s that?’

‘Nothing, nothing.’ He grinned to himself.

Torbjorn grumbled in reply and finished screwing a bolt into place on one of Reinhardts great gauntlets. Wiping his brow on his forearm he gave a huff before turning back to the sulking Junker.

‘Look boy, I know you're frustrated. Hell, you're making it obvious. That little stunt you pulled with the service droid damn nearly had Morrison lock you in a cell permanently-’

‘Brig thought it was funny.’

‘My daughter thinks making one of her million cats chasing a laser is funny. Lets not toot our own horn here.’ Torbjorn retorted back at him as he picked up a wrench and returned to his work. ‘My point is boy, we know this is hard on ya. Ain't easy on us. Overwatch suffered a lot in the last few years before it fell to pieces and this anti vigilante lark is no easier. I'm too old for this shit. I should be with my wife and kids but unfortunately one of them insists on being here. We all want to be home, living normal lives...well..whatever normal was for you anyway. Ya know the Doc was head of surgery at some fancy hospital? Now she's here waiting to patch us up with next to no supplies. So think about that before you end up getting blown up or impaled or-’

‘Whacked with a hammer?’

Torbjorn ignored him. ‘No one wants to be here, not really. Think Morrison wants to be here? After everything? Think the other kids want to fight terrorists and corrupted Omnics?’

‘Least they get to do shit. I've been stuck on this rock for weeks. I've travelled I have! Now i'm literally a rat in a cage.’

‘And It's gonna be a much smaller cage if you keep making trouble boy! And not everyone goes on missions. You don't hear Mei complaining do ya?’

Junkrat laughed, ‘Oh not if its complaining about me!’

‘Stop pissing her off then.’

‘Tell her to stop pissing me off! Acting so uptight and goody two shoes!’ He mocked her voice, ‘You can't be in here! You can't do that! You're being a jerk! Don't threatened my dumb bot ice maker!’

‘Ahh give the girl a break, she's been through alot.’

‘Yeah? Like what?’

‘Not my place to say boy. Now, make yerself useful and finish your work. I need to go to a briefing soon and if you keep your head down maybe I can convince Morrison to get you more involved.’

‘Aww starting to care about me old man?’

‘If caring means getting another hammer to the head then yes.’ 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As evening drew in across the base the senior members of Overwatch sat at the large briefing table. A holographic map of Bryansk and the area surrounding it in front of them, along with a video call of Zarya and Genji who were waiting patiently.

‘Zarya. What did you find out in the town?’ Asked Morrison.

Zarya looked to be in a small room, presumably from a safe house they had required on their mission, a large object was hidden under a winter coat upon her bed. Its size suggesting her huge graviton gun, she saluted before speaking. ‘Commander, the locals can confirm Reinhardts source. The Compound appears to be active again, the government apparently sold it to an building firm to renovate new homes but is a cover up of course.’

Morrison gave a small grunt in recognition. ‘Go on.’

‘I have been scouting the area for some time Commander.’ Reported Genji. ‘I see trucks enter then one or two days later they leave with an unmarked cargo. Three days ago an aircraft flew in bearing Talons insignia. From what I could see two men left the craft with an armed guard, they stayed a few hours then left again.’

‘Did you identify them?’ Asked Ana.

‘Negative Captain. I was unable to get close enough.’

‘What are we dealing with?’ asked Morrison.

‘A huge heavy duty steel gate and fencing surrounding the entire compound with barbed wire and automated turrets. Patrols of guards along the perimeter and surrounding area within a mile. Getting closer was no easy feat. All guards are armed and I have seen two Mechs, a model I have not seen before.’

‘Talon have the means to make their own.’ Said Winston.

‘How many guards?’

‘At Least thirty, human and Omnic but who can say how many are inside.’

Morrison grunted in response and frowned in thought. To his side Ana leaned forward, folding her hands on the table. ‘So..how do we tackle this?’ She asked the room.

‘You got a pattern on the guards rounds Genji?’ McCree asked.

‘The gates and fence are manned constantly’ The Ninja replied ‘But the perimeter checks are done at least every 4 hours which may give us a window of opportunity.’

‘And how will this be handled? Covertly or erm..with force?’ Enquired Winston. 

‘McCree laughed. ‘Aint no mission ever go quietly, you know that.’

‘Wishful thinking..’

‘Fact of the matter is whatever is being stored in there needs to be destroyed.’ Said Morrison as he turned his attention back to the screen. ‘ Thank you, you have both done good work. Remain where you are and keep vigilant until we contact you.’ Zayra saluted to the Commander and Genji nodded in acknowledgement as the screen cut out and disappeared. Morrison leant back in his chair and folded his arms and gave a low hum in though. ‘Perhaps a first wave quietly takes out the perimeter guard, we can try to bypass the security systems but this may require force if Athena cannot bypass it. Once in we confirm what's inside, get as much information as possible then level the place before reinforcements arrive.’

‘This sounds like a big operation Commander..we don't have the manpower like we used to. We are vastly outnumbered..’ Said Reinhardt

‘So we hit hard and hit fast.  We’ll have the element of surprise on our side.’ He responded and turned to Torbjorn.

‘What will you need to level that building?’

‘Oh is this me being nominated to go?’

‘You're our engineer. Engineer something to bring it down Lindholm.’

‘That's not my specialty Jack..’

Morrison waited for him to continue but Torbjorn just looked at him like he knew something he didn't. And then it clicked.

‘No. Absolutely out of the question.’

‘Oh c’mon Jack..utilize what little we have!’

‘He’s a liability!’

‘You wanted a way to destroy the place and I give you one, we can't have everything done by the rules anymore Commander.’

‘Give him half the chance he’ll bail on us with anything that's not tied down-!’

‘I agree with Torbjorn.’ Ana’s voice cut in.

Morrison stared at her incredulously. ‘You honestly think-?’

‘I think this will be a good opportunity to show faith on both sides, Jack. It's clear we need Fawkes particular talents here and in return he can put that relentless energy to good use.’

‘He's a loose cannon Amari, they both are!’

‘Rutledge more or less has kept to himself and has shown no signs of aggression towards anyone here, and despite being 

 more extrovert Fawkes has not done too much harm or damage around the base. Nowhere near as much as expected.’

Morrison shook his head, ‘He’s no agent, no training, probably doesn't even know the meaning of the word stealth..and above all else he needs a damn psych evaluation!’

‘That's not my field before you ask.’ Angela muttered under her breath.

Ana made a sound of annoyance. ‘Ealayk allaena Jack! We have no choice but to use whatever assets we have now.’

Winston shuffled awkwardly and cleared his throat. ‘I’m afraid I have to side with Commander Morrison. It's too early to even consider using him on the field. Besides, It gives Talon the opportunity to capture him.’

‘He lasted weeks being followed and was holding up pretty well until we got involved and I think his ‘career’ speaks for himself. I say take him.’ Said McCree.

‘His career is full of collateral damage and who knows how much blood on his hands.’ Jack said darkly. Ana narrowed her eyes at him.

‘And how much blood is on our hands? On yours?’ She leant forward and fixed him with a steel gaze. ‘Just how many people died when the headquarters exploded?’

The room was still, its occupants waiting on bated breath as Commander and Captain stared each other down. A muscle twitched in Jacks jaw as he fought against the wave of shame made worse by Anas intense gaze. He looked down and conceded and Ana sat back, her lips thin and slightly curled in contempt. Her voice was steady but none could deny the ice behind it. ‘All in favour of Fawkes joining the Bryansk mission?’ 

Torbjorn and McCree both raised their hands soon followed by Reinhardt, no other hands followed. 

‘Then it's settled. Fawkes is in. Me and Jack will plan the mission and everyone going will be notified in briefing, but I think it best if I tell Fawkes in private to prepare him.’ She looked around at her comrades. ‘Thank you all, dismissed.’ 

There was a quiet shuffling of chairs and movement as everyone but Ana and Jack left the tense room, neither said a word until they heard the soft thud of the doors closing.

Jack was the first to speak ‘Was that necessary?’

Ana sighed and shook her head slightly. ‘ That was..poorly timed and yes, badly worded. I am sorry.’ 

‘So am I Ana..’ His tone made her lean toward him and clasp his arm. Her voice was warmer. ‘I know my friend.’ She gave him a reassuring squeeze. ‘I know.’

‘You’re angry. I get it. We lost good men and women...and it's my fault.’

‘My point was Jack..none of us are clean. Take me for example, my husband won't take my calls and my daughter can barely look at me..’

‘I can barely look at myself Ana.’ 

‘One day you will. This road you're on Jack..you're not alone. We came back together, and we will see this out together. One day we will forgive ourselves.’

He placed his hand atop hers and they smiled at each other. ‘Besides’ Said Ana, ‘My eyepatch is much scarier to look at then your scars.’ Jack chuckled and stood up to leave. ‘Only when you take it off Amari, only when you take it off. I’m going to get some coffee, want some? We may be here awhile.’

She smiled up at him ‘Tea if you don't mind Jack.’

‘Sure..and Ana? Thanks.’

‘Anytime my friend.’

And as he disappeared from view the smile slowly faded from her face.

[mrssarablack]

I’ve been quiet.

I realize this. I’ve become painfully aware of my lack of voice in regards to activism or hot takes on the news. For the duration of June I stuck to activists posts and news, which has never been a thing I’m super vocal about on this page. I just happened to move my content over at either the exact right time to facilitate the shift of content, or the exact wrong time to keep to my regular scheduled programming running. Either way, I’m not sorry. Nor do I expect I’ll be able to keep my mouth (or rather my keyboard) shut long when things feel overwhelmingly outrageous in the real world. 

My intent going into the month was to back off a little on the political posts and take back the “safe space” I have here for cultivated fun in what is usually a very chaotic day to day life. I would continue the activism but perhaps less so on here. That’s not to say I wouldn’t actively be doing other things. I’m not yielding my support by any means.  I had intended to take this month to mostly focus my support of the BLM community through prioritizing putting my money where my mouth was failing to find words. Shifting from broad political posts about the injustices to instead turning it towards better educating myself, actually getting through the large stack of books I intend to get through, prioritizing purchasing items from black owned businesses where it makes sense to, donating to the charities and organizations that I can. This is the quiet work that is also necessary for good allyship. But then I found myself wrestling with the growing feeling that quiet can lead to appearance that whatever I was presenting in June was instead a performative allyship.

That’s hardly the case at all.

At the end of June I made a joke about trying to mentally prepare myself for whatever July 2020 had in store for us. I was not prepared. 

I met the reality of July 2020 four days later, like so many of us, and I was not even close to prepared for what was coming and I froze in the wake of it. I was not prepared to watch snippets of the Orange Man’s speech at Rushmore. The speech, that without even dicing his words was a hate speech. It was a proclamation, of sorts, against the citizens who were, and are still are, actively protesting for the BLM movement throughout the country. It was a formal declaration of “us vs them” in a way he has not actually done before. The intent is always there, his supporters will forever deny it, but it is. His own history shows he has always been a racist. That this man cares more for tributes, than the people he is meant to govern. Meanwhile, Native protesters were yelled at, by Trump supporters, to “go back to where they came from.” In the wake of this speech and the juxtaposition of it being given on stolen lands while the people who see them as sacred were accosted... I found very little to be proud of on July 4th. 

By the time I processed that moment, we had sped straight into ICE declaring that they would not extend the rule allowing foreign students to continue their education here because of the mandate against online learning. This rule makes sense, if we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic. But we are. 

Everything about this decision was cruel and xenophobic. It didn’t make sense economically, considering how much money Universities get in tuition from their foreign students. It didn’t make sense logistically, when so many students wouldn’t be able to get back home. Our immigration centers are already a fucking mess, but that’s a deep dive for another time. All it was, was an attempt to strong arm schools into accepting the administration's stance that Covid-19 is fully under control and that everything should go back to normal. It is the same reason they are threatening to cut funding for public educational institutions if they do not open completely in the fall. Yeah, kids at school is a far more ideal scenario than online classes, but not at the risk of their or their teachers' lives. The schools see that. The administration doesn’t. They don’t care. They simply want to force their narrative in whatever way they can. 

Upon a lawsuit, they walked back their proclamation of denying foreign students their education but, from what I have seen, there are still a lot of things up in the air. From accounts I’ve read on reddit the administration may choose to apply the former ruling to  first year students who may have invested in a future they now won’t get. They may deny foreigners the right to apply to after graduation work programs that formerly they were allowed to be in provided they had the right visas. If they did this they will claim it is to provide american’s the best chance at new work first. America first is ringing through this whole thing, and millions are left wondering how this is all going to actually pan out. 

Let me reiterate now the fact that we are still in the middle of a pandemic. This is a fact. A fact that the administration wants to deny till every last one of us has encountered this illness personally. The Orange Man is actively swatting Fauci away like he is nothing more than an annoying fly. He doesn’t like the “doom and gloom” truth of this virus so he denies it. He is actively pushing to block new money for further testing and tracing for the CDC because he doesn’t “like the numbers”. The CDC no longer has control of collecting patient data to help track covid-19. Something that has been used so that people in authoritative positions can make adequate decisions in regards to the virus. Less information will lead to more spread. Florida is now the new epicenter and the sunbelt, as a whole, looks bad. Things are not good and we’re still fighting with fellow citizens who don’t want to wear a mask. A simple act to help protect others is a political stance. I don’t understand it, and I’m not going to pretend or even try to. It’s not a hoax. The virus is real and it is deadly. Even those that recover from it have had lasting damage to their lungs among other side effects. 

But I digress, instead I will now get to the reason that brought me to this very long political monologue: in Portland, Federal agents fired tear gas on protesters after declaring it a riot. This is not the first time this has happened and it won’t be the last. Allegedly, these federal agents are part of the customs and border protection agency, and they also took protesters up into unmarked vans and detained them. Citizens who are executing their right to protest were kidnapped by federal agents. Think about that. This is why the declaration of ANTIFA being a terrorist group was a bad omen. They are not a membership based organization, they don’t have meetings, they just kind of are... and that fact alone can be exploited. Anyone can potentially be dubbed ANTIFA if a federal agent deems them acting radically in the eyes of this administration. 

This is the roots of fascism in America. It is masquerading as nationalism and to some degree that's legitimate but the effects of those beliefs are becoming a thin facade for the other.

It’s almost undeniable at this point. This is the reason I started with the beginning of this month because between the hate speech, the stances that support racism, the xenophobic decisions, the active statement that there is no problem with the virus, and now kidnapping citizens are all part of a fascist playbook. Speaking out against a dictatorship is a death sentence. But a dictatorship is anti-American. If you believe in the idyllic America we were taught exists. I am not sure that America has ever fully existed.... but maybe somewhere she does, but, oh, is she flawed… but that’s okay because admitting to those flaws can lead to growth. Owning all of our past will lead to growth. But denial, denial leads us down a path to losing ourselves. 

My boyfriend is right, I’m a fighter. I will get up and I will fight even if there are tears in my eyes. But that doesn’t mean I am not tired. I find myself so heartbroken over the events of the last two months that I fail to have words to express the effect of keeping my eyes open to the world actually has on me. One thing I have figured out is despite what the president says, I don’t hate my country. I am part of the left, yes, but I love it. I can say that because I wouldn’t be so upset about all that is going on if I didn’t. I realize there are fellow citizens who wholeheartedly disagree with me, and they would also claim they love the country, but to me their fear of change says more about them than they realize. They don’t want to accept ugly truths and grow. It’s an oversimplification but here we are.  Everything is so polarized. We are divided. I’ve said this before but I’m not sure something isn’t going to break spectacularly before November, during, or shortly after. Regardless, a new normal is being forged and I do not accept it. I will not accept it. I will fight it, and I hope whoever takes the time to read this ridiculously long post will too. 

[tessatechaitea]

Teen Titans Spotlight #1: Starfire

Comics in 1986: "Let's begin our new series with Starfire battling Apartheid!" Asshole Fans in 2019: "Comics should go back to the good old days when they weren't political!"

Really, M&M's? Everyone? Haven't you heard about Apartheid?!

So far the craziest thing about this comic book to modern audiences is how boring M&M colors were in 1986. I suspect I don't have the maturity to comment on a story about Apartheid. Oh well! Let's do this! The story is called "Black and White" because, you see, Apartheid was about how whites and blacks experienced two disparate South Africas. It's also a play on how "black and white" is a way to describe issues that have easily recognizable positive and negative sides. It's probably racist that we automatically assume the black side is the negative side. Maybe that also plays into the title! Chess pieces are black and white too so maybe the title alludes to chess. Maybe something about pawns versus the gentry. Marv might even work in some bits about The Beatles seeing as how they're using that zebra crossing on the cover of Abbey Road. Starfire has just returned from Tamaran where she married that dweeby Prince Karras guy. He was Tamaran's version of Terry Long. I'm surprised more panels didn't show Starfire and Donna in the background giggling and holding their index fingers and thumb a teeny, tiny distance apart. Starfire didn't spend eighth grade on Earth so she never learned Earth geography. So instead of flying in from space and looking at Earth and going, "Okay, that's New York right there!", she winds up in South Africa. I bet she came at Earth upside down and got confused. It's easy to get confused in space where up and down don't exist in any objective way. Starfire descends upon a group of black people chanting "Informer" at a woman they eventually soak in gasoline and light on fire. Holy fuck! This comic book just got more real than all 114 issues of New Titans I just recently reread! Except maybe that part where Raven raped Starfire during Starfire's wedding. That was pretty heavy. The white police arrive to commit some justice. Unless I meant "racism" instead of "justice." Sometimes, living in America, it's hard to see the difference.

I bet this guy has a MAGA Twitter account.

How many of your racist family members often bring up black on black crime when discussing gun control or cops shooting unarmed black men? How many of those idiots don't think they're being racist when they bring up that argument and just think they're being logical? It's fucking racism, dudes. Cops killing unarmed black men has nothing to do with black men being killed by criminals who happen to share their same skin color. Nobody ever talks about "white on white" crime. That's just crime perpetuated by criminals against innocent people! But somehow a black person shooting another black person belongs in some kind of special category? Of course a black person is probably going to be the victim of a black criminal because America had this thing called white flight. It caused places to become poor black neighborhoods because white people couldn't handle having even one black neighbor. So people and businesses moved out, local governments ignored infrastructure of those areas (or purposefully simply just built freeways straight through them), and constantly sent the police in to hassle innocent people just trying to live their fucking lives. Systemic racism (and racists!) segregated the races in a fairly efficient manner. So when a black criminal looks for a victim in their neighborhood, of course they're going to almost certainly find a black victim! That's simply crime, not black on black crime. Maybe I would think differently if anybody ever at any time in any of these debates brought up white on white crime. Y'all realize that's the most prevalent crime there is, right? Which means whites are the biggest criminals of all. If you're, you know, going to argue that way, you stupid racist asshole. Plus saying black on black crime is just a way for people to intimate that most crime is caused by black people. "Even though they keep criming us whites, they still have time to crime up their own people!" This comic book taught me that South African police would use purple dye in water cannons to stain people during protests so that they can be identified later as people who participated in the riot that totally didn't erupt later due to the police being overly aggressive and also racist. Wolfman says people "affectionately" called it Purple Rain which led me down a rabbit hole to figure out which came first, the racist ploy to arrest as many people as possible or the Prince album. Apparently the dyed water was named after the Prince album. That's probably why it was an "affectionate" sobriquet.

I'm a little bit worried that Wolfman is about to "both sides" Apartheid.

Starfire winds up with the South African police who tell her all about how terrible South African blacks are and how she's going to get a medal for helping quell the protest. They also call the woman who burned to death a bitch so I'm getting the feeling that they're not really interested in any kind of justice or peace. It's quite possible that — hear me out on this — they just want to oppress the black citizens and make sure they know their place. But I don't want to jump to conclusions! I should wait until I hear their arguments in a frank and logical debate. "Please, white South Africans, explain to me how South Africa needs your violent tactics and racist attitudes to maintain peace and order. Also explain how peace and order aren't different from justice for everybody. I might be convinced to stop calling you racist if you debate well!"

This guy doesn't realize how true it is that he's teaching these black South Africans how to behave.

It would have been easy to read this, at one time, from a privileged position as a citizen of America and think that the white South Africans in this story were caricatures of racist monsters, playing up their terrible qualities to get the reader to sympathize with the plight of the black South Africans. But these caricatures of despicable and horrible systemic racism using tactics to dehumanize a segment of the population are absolute mirrors of Trump and his deplorables. "They're animals." "They're not like us." "They do not think." "They are like children." "They fight amongst themselves." "We are just securing the peace." "This is God's country." "They need to be taught how to behave." "Their flagrant disregard for the law must be stopped." And all of these statements are simply excuses to treat certain people as less than human. "They get what they deserve." I'm so fucking disappointed in so many Americans right now. Starfire is completely confused by everything she's seeing. In her confusion, some journalists get her to sort of say she's for Apartheid. Uh oh! The Teen Titans are going to get worse press than when they destroyed New York City while arguing with their parents about their curfew.

Starfire's response is me on Twitter every fucking day.

The South African leader, Racist McRacisthole, tells Starfire not to worry about the journalists because they're always asking terrible questions and lying about how awful everything is. But Starfire is all, "Just because I have big hair and big tits and my ass is hanging out, don't think I'm a fucking idiot! Not that I'm trying to say people who look like that are idiots! But I know terrible people like you, Mr. Racisthole, think like that! So I just want you to know that I see you! I see what you're doing and how you're trying to snow me with all this fucking dehumanizing garbage! You remind me of the Gordanians!" Then Starfire gets so angry and delivers such a passionate speech that her nose falls off.

"I'b not gobing do libben do yub liebs aby lobber!"

Starfire declares she never cared for politics and tells Governor Racisthole that she's leaving. But instead of going, "Good! Stop interfering with our terrible government!", he says, "I won't let you leave which will probably cause you to stay and help the oppressed!" Starfire hears a prisoner screaming in pain before she leaves and decides to stick around to help him. While doing so, she realizes that maybe she show these government officials real power! No, I don't mean she's going to flash her tits. Jesus. Some of you comic book nerds just don't stop, do you?! Sure, DC panders to your boners by putting Starfire in her underwear. But you do have the choice to stop being such creepy little fucks, you know?

Imagine reading this and instead of thinking, "You tell 'em, Starfire! Way to go!", you think, "Virtue signaler."

Starfire has some more thoughts from 1986 for us here in 2019. She just won't stop!

Virtue signaler!

I swear the rest of this commentary can just be scans of Starfire saying important shit.

I mean, if this 1986 comic book is an example of older comics that Comicsgaters want to go back to, I'm fucking up for that shit.

In the next panel that I'm not going to scan because I'll never finish reading this comic book if I scan every fucking panel, Starfire says, "Unwittingly, my father helped ruin our world by caving in to our enemies rather than fighting for what was right. I won't do that here on Earth. I've got to care." I should probably send that panel to Nancy Pelosi. Starfire frees all of the political prisoners and escorts them back to where they're forced to live outside the city. She tries to figure out what Apartheid means and Father Nelson Mandutu, the rebel leader the police have been searching for, tells her, "Ah, I see — you are trying to make sense of madness." It's as good a reason to dismiss people always pressing you to debate their terrible ideas and worthless topics. How can you win a debate against twisted logic and racist madness? Just ignore them when they call you a coward or an elitist when you refuse to debate. I was always taught that the best way to get shit off of your shoe is to scrape it off, not to get in an argument with it. Starfire follows Mandutu around for the day except for the one moment when he's kidnapped. When she goes to rescue him, she destroys an armory and discovers that Father Mandutu has been killed. BY HER! And there are cameras rolling! Totally not suspicious or anything! I bet we discover she was framed next issue! That's the kind of intelligent speculation you get from a Grandmaster Comic Book Reader like me. I can't be fooled even by the most subtle of plot twists! Teen Titans Spotlight #1: Starfire Rating: A. I should probably apologize to Marv Wolfman for all the insults I've made about his Teen Titans books. This was a well-written infotainment issue putting precisely the right character at the heart of an international travesty. And I thought a story about Apartheid was going to be boring! It's almost as if I forgot that every panel would have tons of side boob! Oh no! I just realized I'm one of those creepy little fucks!

[soul-music-is-life]

I've seen some of your post on the bullshit heartbeat bill in your state and I'm just wondering how you're dealing.

I have stared at this ask for a while, wondering whether or not I wanted to get in depth into this conversation. But I do have a lot to say on the matter. A while back I drafted a blog post that I toyed with sharing, but ultimately held off. Until now.

There’s…a lot to be covered.

First, thank you for sparking me to put this out there. I feel as though it’s important enough to say what I have to say on this. And though this platform is usually used for fandom stuff (I use other platforms for my political stuff), I’m not afraid to get real now and again.

Second, let me state that I have a background in medicine and a family heavily involved and working in politics…so I know how this goes.

I’m going to pre-empt this by saying that I am not going to argue with anyone who is pro-life who reads and disagrees. If you agree, great. If you disagree, there is no point in trying to fight me…because we will never see eye to eye.

This is strictly an argument based on why I’m against politics and religion in medicine. I am not looking for a debate here. There is no debate to be had. If you can’t look at things without religion, or if you can’t understand scientific/medical facts it’s a moot point.

It’s a long one. Saddle up.

Religion vs. Medicine:

Christianity should have no place in medicine (the bible condemns polyester blends, playing with pigskin, gambling, and divorce, but Christians still shop til they drop, support football, play the lottery, and divorce their spouses). Yet we get lawmakers constantly using the bible as a talking point (”Thank God” and “As God intended”) for this argument and ignoring testimony from physicians with degrees in science.

Men (with the exception of those whose sperm fertilized an egg in a consensual act) should have no say in what happens inside of a uterus that does not belong to them (and even then, it should be a discussion between those two people and their doctor, not a government made up of religious zealot white women and white-boys without uteri).

The government should not infringe upon individual rights of medical privacy via HIPAA.

Basically:

If you can not argue without the basis of religion (or you keep using “God” or The Bible as your baseline) or if you are not someone who has a uterus or in the medical profession or a woke dude/lady, you have no fucking say.

If you are a Christian forcing your beliefs upon the population based upon a magical book that has absolutely no proof, you have no fucking say. (see Separation of Church and State).

If you are a politician forcing your agenda upon every person with a uterus based upon something you can absolutely never experience, you have no fucking say.

If you do not have a background in science and you’re basing your opinions upon a movie (”Unplanned”) that is nothing more than political propaganda (and a pro-life “advocate” who saw dollar signs and a means to fame) then you have no fucking say (and yes, I’ve seen the film, which was nothing more than a religious backed, over-dramatized flick poorly representing abortions and relied heavily upon cheap emotional manipulation and inaccurate CGI). As someone who has seen medical procedures…it was exaggerated in the film. It is absolutely not a representation of safe and legal abortions. It also does not address the confidentiality between patient/doctor (See HIPAA and the testimony of physicians in this matter).

The fact of the matter is that people who are informed, intelligent, and know about the subject in depth are against these abortion bans, because they know it’s extreme and infringes upon basic rights. This includes women, our allies, and in some cases…people who are religiouswho stand with the pro-choice movement (I see you all, too, don’t doubt that…this is not a reflection upon men and Christians in general. This is about the extremists).

If you fall into the extreme religious or non-medical community category or you are a politician with no medical training and you’re writing bills and arguing against basic human rights…you can shut the fuck up.

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For the sake of facts, let’s break it down:

-Sexual education can be informative, and the preventatives used to prevent pregnancy can fail. Condoms break. The pill can fail (and let’s not even get into the horrible side effects that contraceptives have on women. Let’s talk about the fact that there was actually a birth control for men that companies tried to put on the market, but the side effects were too ‘dangerous’. Sure, like high blood pressure and hormonal imbalances are something women look forward to). But yeah, let’s put all the responsibility on the woman.

-Women are raped, and given the trauma that occurs…they should not have to PROVE they were raped in order to receive medical treatment…including abortion. It’s horrific enough as it is, and there is NO wrong way to deal with the trauma. They shouldn’t have an additional stigma to be treated medically.

-Women who tend to make the choice to have an abortion have looked at their options and have made an informed CHOICE (that’s what this is about). And it’s not always at the 6-8 week mark, because hey…there are things such as irregular periods. Cis-men hating on women, let’s talk about women’s reproduction for a minute. Have you ever spent 7 days bleeding out of an orifice of your body? Have you ever shed the lining of an internal organ? Have you ever had blood clots inside of your body that feel like fucking death? Have you ever had your panties soaked in blood? Have you ever gotten stressed and missed a period or had medical issues that caused you to have irregular cycles? No? Okay, so how about the stressors of pregnancy? How about the changes a woman’s body goes through? How about the emotional and physical toll it takes? Truth is, hetero-normal men who are so deep-set in their beliefs will NEVER view women as equal. Reality is…we women areintelligent enough to make our own decisions.

-An embryo at 6-8 weeks is not viable. The so called “heartbeat” is an electrical activity in a group of cells that is at maximum a few inches long. There is no heartbeat, because there IS no heart. It hasn’t formed. There is not a cardiovascular system. It’s a vibration in a cell. It is ONLY active because of the woman. At this point it is NOT a child. I see pro-life/pro-birth people going, “but…but SCIENCE…Life at conception!” without understanding the depth of their actual words. The medical community knows their shit. And people can challenge them all they want with their opinions upon when life is sentient, but the truth is that there is no brain activity this early because IT IS NOT A HUMAN. It is an embryo, which can not exist without the mother’s body. Yet politicians use the term “heartbeat” because they know there are uneducated people out there who will eat it up and back them.

-Abortion is situational, and trying to force a law upon women based upon the preconceived notion that ALL women are using it as a form of birth control is ignorant, ill-informed, and extremely sanctimonious. There are numerous reasons for abortion, and none of them are the government’s fucking business.

Why religion and politics is a slippery slope in medicine:

Using a religious bias in a political war is against everything in the judiciary and legislative branch, and it is a slippery slope that is dangerous to patient care. When we start listening to “Gods” and evangelical people over actual physicians there is a huge problem. Ask yourself this question: if you were dying and a surgery could save your life…would you call a priest to perform the procedure? Or a licensed physician? If you choose a priest, enjoy seeing your version of the afterlife, because you’re going to die.

Abby Johnson (”Unplanned) is not a doctor. She is someone who “found God” and is using that to exploit the situation with her own views as a claim to fame. She ran a Planned Parenthood (in her own words). ONE chapter, which means it’s a FRACTION of the actual unit. She does not have a PHD. Her accusations against physicians are bullshit and is frankly an insult to actual doctors who perform safe medical procedures every day.

Politicians have no knowledge of medical protocols and treatments (and in a lot of cases know an embarrassingly low amount about women’s reproductive organs). And in many cases it is old white men (and religious white women) dictating what a woman can do with her body. If you think that’s okay, you’re part of the problem.

Religious zealots hold fast to beliefs written in a fairytale rather than learn the scientific facts associated with the base of their argument. They can’t grasp the concept that an organism can be created in a petrie dish with a “beating heart”, because of muscle contractions, not because it’s “alive” or “sentient”. They would rather blindly follow a God that may or may not exist rather than listen to educated physicians who know the topic.

Rapid fire question: if an unconscious woman and a frozen embryo were in a burning building and you could only save one of them, which one would you choose? Something that is not aware and is only a potential for life? Or the actual living breathing human?

This shit is not about “saving babies”. Politicians couldn’t give a shit about babies after they are born. It’s about controlling women/trans-folk and telling people what they can do with their body (it’s funny how Republican politicans haven’t outlawed smoking or drinking, because hey…that kills you! “AnD wE aRE PRo-LiFE!”).

Anyone who can’t see that all these abortion laws are just plays for politicians to pursue their own political pursuits is an idiot.

A Note about Georgia’s Abortion Law/Kemp

In my state, there was talks that Kemp was overheard saying that even if he wanted to veto the bill he couldn’t due to “his campaign promises”. Which is absolute bullshit, because given the polls…he knew that a majority of the people in his state are against it. This bill was co-sponsored by three men and three women who are basing it heavily upon religious purposes (if you don’t believe me, look up Ed Setzler, he’s been quoted several times leaning on religious propaganda for this bill). It was then voted through by a bunch of old white men.

Convenient how they threw the one token woman up front (but honestly, fuck her…because she should know better). The fact of the matter is that those who voted on this are a bunch of “good ole boys” with religious principles trying to bypass the fact that there is a separation of church and state. This bill has had numerous polls conducted to the constituents, and while they were divided…the PRO-CHOICE voice won every single poll. Put this up for a vote and I guarantee this would not become a law.

Kemp waited weeks to sign this (unlike the governor of Alabama).

Why?

Because he knew that most of his constituents were against this (given the polls that were conducted), but due to political pressure he couldn’t veto for fear that he’d lose the religious/deeply rooted republican votes. Even Kemp seemed to realize that this is against the moral rights of his citizens. But he doesn’t give a shit. Because as long as his pockets are lined with money and he can ignore his constituents, it’s all gravy for him.

To take this a step further, this asshole is the man who pointed a gun at a kid jokingly in an age where school shootings are rampant, as a joke…for political purposes. Cuz, ya know…violence is funny.

He’s “pro-life” but he shoots things.

This man is sponsored by the National Hunting and Fishing association, who supports killing living breathing things with a heartbeat for sport or “because it tastes good”.

I challenge anyone who is so “pro-heartbeat” to never shoot their guns again to kill something. Because hey, life is so precious to you, right? You value heartbeats so effing much, stop killing living breathing things. Nut up or shut up.

Actually, no, don’t nut up. That’s the reason for unplanned pregnancies in the first place. Just shut up.

…that will never happen. And you want to know why?

Because this is not about life. They don’t give a shit about “life”. This is about power. This is about control.

If you can’t see that an entire gender is being used for political gain then you need to wake the fuck up.

I’ll end this by saying that, yes, there might be some common ground that can be found here. In the people out there fighting every day for their rights. In the allies we have coming out of the woodworks. In the physicians who fought like hell for us in court.

I’m not an unreasonable person. I do believe in sensible laws. These bans are not sensible. They’re a power play. And that’s fucked up. And as much as I’d love to pack up and leave, I don’t have that option. A lot of people don’t (and in fact, I think the “Boycott GA” movement is so fucking stupid, because that doesn’t hurt the people in power. It hurts the PEOPLE).

So if you’re pissed off, remember this at the polls. Know who your reps are. And if they are for this bullshit, vote their asses out.

Flip their fucking seats.

I’m tired, you guys. Let’s get our rights back. Let’s take our state back.