#rather than specific groups being seen as second class citizens

[tumblweeds-omegaverse]

omegaverse thought:

even in settings where alphas are dominant, it could be well known that there are certain scenarios where omegas are not to be crossed. not if you value your peace of mind. or various pieces of your body.

force your way into an omega's nest? you fool. you absolute nugget. that omega will turn from happy purring to a whirlwind of deadly claws and rending teeth faster than you can say "oh f-"

put a hand on a nursing omega's pup without knowing it's fine? "there are no alphas around, its fine." lol. lmao even. as if the alpha can save you from an omega that's protecting their pup. you should know better, idiot.

"how dare that omega not cater to my request specifically! i'm the most important person in the room!" do you want rumors spread about you? are you doing a "never get a date again" speedrun? cause that's where you're headed.

just...omegaverse settings where you ignore the power of omegas at your own peril. including settings where "you fight like an omega" says something about focus or determination.

(used omegas for the example here, but I'm very in support of this applying to betas as well! regardless to if you give your betas unique traits or not, they're still people. still members of a species whose greatest abilities include creativity, endurance, and social bonds.

a single asshole alpha can and should have their life ruined by a group of driven betas with the desire to do so. the less likely it looks, the more interesting it gets!)

[omgthatdress]

Cécile and Marie-Grace were released alongside the best friends line of dolls, and are a pretty transparent gimmick to get people to buy two dolls at once. That being said, I actually kind of love their collection.

Their story is set in New Orleans in 1853, which is a pretty great way to represent the Antebellum South without having a Scarlett O’Hara doll. New Orleans was one of the few places in the south with a robust middle class. Everywhere else had tremendous wealth inequality with absurdly rich plantation-owners, barely surviving poor Whites, and slaves.

Cécile is of the gens de coleur libre, that is, the free people of color, a class of New Orleans citizens born out of the plaçage system in which White men would take women of color as informal second wives. Plaçees held a really interesting position, as they could legally claim inheritance once their patron died, and the children born of plaçage could be named heir of an estate. Plaçees were also allowed to develop assets and run small businesses. All of this created a level of generational wealth that was unique among African-Americans at the time. Today, their descendants are known as Creoles.

As far as Marie-Grace goes, I don’t think she’s Cajun, just French-American. Cajuns are a specific group, the Catholic descendants of the French colonizers of Acadia, now called Nova Scotia, who were forced by the British out of the home. They settled mostly in the fertile Mississippi delta, and maintained a rural, somewhat insular way of life. Marie-Grace is the city-dwelling daughter of a doctor, so probably just the descendant of regular French citizens who settled in New Orleans.

Hair-wise, this is the era when girls tied their hair up with rags at night to have fat sausage curls in the morning. Most photographs and paintings that I’ve seen of Black girls in the era show them with their hair tied up, but there are a few who had curls.

Marie-Grace’s face-framing curls are a little bit more Jan Brady than 1850s, but it’s cute on her, so I’ll give her credit for that. The long hair isn’t inaccurate.

There’s something about Cécile’s dress that keeps saying “wrong” but I can’t quite put my finger on it. A more accurate dress would be more along the lines of something like this:

(The Victoria & Albert Museum)

(The Victoria & Albert Museum)

(New York Historical Society)

Marie-Grace’s dress seems to have been inspired by this portrait of Creole children:

(credit to @in-pleasant-company​ for finding it)

Cécile’s pillbox hat is a style that was adopted more in the late 1860s and 1870s. A more accurate hat would also have her in a “coal scoop” bonnet.

Her gloves, however, are accurate and adorable!

(The Met Museum)

Marie-Grace is wearing a kind of sun hat that was popular for children:

(The Met Museum)

Marie-Grace’s fan looks typical of the French fans that were popular at the time. They were usually painted with pretty pastoral scenes instead of flowers, however, although Chinese fans at the time frequently had floral themes.

(The Philadelphia Museum of Art)

(The Victoria & Albert Museum)

The shoes are definitely late Victorian rather than 1850s. Fine city ladies in the 1850s would be wearing boots made out of silk with leather soles:

(The Met Museum)

[azure-wolf-227]

Other Equines

There are other races of Equines besides ponies. These are the Donkeys, the Breezies, the Zebras, and the Abada.

In General

They all have Cutie Mark equivalents on their flanks but these symbols do not always represent their Special Talents and they might acquire them in a different way than ponies.

Like ponies, they can Ascend. They don’t become Alicorns (as they don’t have the potential of the Three Main Tribes) but they become immortal with more powerful magic and they get taller.

Donkeys

Donkeys look the same as in canon except that they have marks on their flanks.

These are called Trait Marks and they represent a defining trait or attribute of a donkey’s character and personality.

Ex. Cranky Doodle Donkey would have a mark symbolizing that he’s a cranky guy; Matilda’s would symbolize her friendliness; a courageous donkey’s symbolizes their bravery, etc.

Unlike with ponies, Traits Marks usually appear during a donkey’s teenage years and they manifest when the donkey realizes what quality defines their character the most.

Compared to Cutie Marks, Trait Marks have rather simple designs, usually composed of a single color that contrasts the donkey’s coat. Ex. Cranky’s Mark is just a trio of dark brown tick marks (the symbols drawn on characters’ heads to show that they are annoyed).

Donkeys originally came from the continent of Zebrica; later, a few groups travelled to other lands.

Before the Unification of the Tribes, Donkeys were seen as inferior by the Pony Tribes. At best, they were second-class citizens and at worst, they were slaves. It was only after Celestia and Luna were crowned sovereigns that Donkeys were officially declared equals to ponies. Even then, there are still some modern ponies who think of donkeys (and mules) as inferior.

Like most sapient beings, Donkeys have magic. Theirs passively increases their physical abilities similarly to Earth Ponies.

Culturally, donkeys are no different than ponies, at least the ones that live in Equestria and other pony countries. The Zebrican Donkeys do have a more different culture.

Most donkeys have human-like names, though they are exceptions.

If a donkey mates with a pony, they produce a mule; if they mate with a zebra, they produce a zonkey. Unlike in real-life, these offspring are fertile.

Breezies

Breezies look the same as in canon except that they have marks on their flanks. The Breezies do not have a specific name for these marks but they represent their special talents. They always appear once the Breezie hits puberty and do not require a specific internal revelation to manifest.

Nothing much to say about them besides what was shown in canon.

Theoretically, Breezies can have offspring with ponies and other sapient beings, there have been no proven cases of that happening since Breezies live in another dimension.

Some myths say that the Flutter Ponies are the result of Breezies mating with regular ponies but that’s false.

Zebras

Zebras look the same as in canon; while their stripes are mainly black-and-white, they sometimes come in other colors.

The Marks on their flanks are called Stripe Symbols; like Cutie Marks, they represent the zebras Special Talents.

Stripe Symbols don’t appear in an instant like Cutie Marks; instead, they slowly form as the zebra discovers and develops their special talent.

Zebras rule the country of Farasi but the can be found all over the continent of Zebrica and even outside of it.

Like most sapient beings, Zebras possess magic. Their passively increases their physical abilities but, with training, they can do more “flashy” things.

Zebra mages, called Shamans, have strong connections to the natural and spiritual worlds, allowing them to sense things others can’t. They are also skilled potioners.

Zebra culture is African inspired. Those living or born outside Zebrica may adopt the culture of whatever country they live in.

Zebrican-born zebras usually have African-like names while those born outside of the continent tend to have more pony or human-sounding names. Of course, there are always exceptions.

If a zebra mates with a pony, they produce a zorse or zony. Unlike in real-life, these offspring are fertile.

Abada

Also known as ‘Zebrican Unicorns’, Abada are equine-like beings that have two curved horns, one smaller than the other; thin and angular features, backsweep ears. cloven hooves, and thin tails.

Like ponies, they have pictures on their flanks called Gift Symbols.

Each Abada has an unique power called a Gift which the Gift Symbols represent them.

What power they develop usually depends on the specific Abada’s personality, likes, and general self. Some can have seemingly ironic powers that actually hint of a hidden aspect of their selves.

No two living Abada have the exact same Gift; some may have similar powers but there is always something that makes them different from each other.

Abada normally get their Gifts around the same age pony foals usually earn their Cutie Marks. Once their Gifts awaken, then the Gift Symbol appears on their flanks.

Gifts are not the same as Special Talents though they often compliment each other. But it is possible for an Abada to have a Special Talent that has no relation to their Gift.

Besides their unique Gifts, Abada can cast general magic spells the same way Unicorns can. How powerful their magic is varies between individuals.

Abada have their own country in Zebrica but they are found all over the continent. Very few live outside of it, so they are not well-known in other countries.

Their culture is African inspired but those born outside of Zebrica may adopt the culture of wherever they live.

Abada don’t have an specific naming convention; some have African names, some pony-like names and others human-like names.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Request: Imagine being Lin Beifong’s daughter and having a crush on Iroh II

Tags: @tincdraws

Growing up as the daughter of Lin Beifong metal and earth bending were your whole life. You learnt to earth bend by the time you could walk and your mother had you in training from a young age so you graduated from the earth bending school at the top of your class with your eyes firmly set on following in your mother’s footsteps whilst also trying to emulate your grandmother’s success. You had a sharp focus and nothing else really caught your attention. You had friends but training came first and dating seemed something superficial you could live without. Republic city was your life and you would never dream of leaving it but your mother had other ideas.

Your mother thought you needed more worldly experience before you joined the police force so she sent you to the fire nation to gain some training as an officer. She claimed the fire nation had some of the best officers in the world and that they would help you learn invaluable real-life experience. You did not agree and protested the whole thing. All your training had revolved around the needs of Republic City specifically and you couldn’t see how you’d learn anything new about how to protect your city by travelling all the way to fire nation but your mother refused to change her mind and that was that.

So you were shipped off to the fire nation fresh out of the academy. Your mother had spoken to Firelord Izumi and it was agreed you’d be staying at the palace so not only would you be unfamiliar with the environment, you’d be in a place where every small look, word or action had large consequences. You didn’t know much about the fire nation and couldn’t really recall the royal family. You were aware your grandmother was very close with the late Firelord Zuko but since then things had changed. Although your grandmother’s friends (mainly Katara) had tried to keep the group close it was hard with everyone scattered across the four nations and so with each generation the group had drifted further and further apart. You knew Firelord Izumi had a daughter older than you and a son around your age called Iroh. You recalled meeting Iroh when you were younger at some event in the south pole but couldn’t remember much more than a serious fire nation child. So you arrived on the steps of the palace utterly out of your depth determined to see these three months through so you could return to your beloved city. You were shown into the palace immediately, your belongings taken by maids who refused to let you carry them yourself as you were a royal guest. You weren’t used to finery so proceeded through the palace partly in awe and partly in utter confusion why someone needed this many paintings of old men everywhere. You were finally shown into a large room. “Ah you must be y/n Beifong” a voice called and you turned to see someone who looked vaguely familiar. You knew he wasn’t Firelord Zuko or Firelord Izumi’s husband as he was too young so figured by his royal outfit this was Izumi’s second child the prince. “Prince Iroh, it’s an honour to see you again” you said bowing and he chuckled “I bet you thought that would be a winning line with any fire nation citizen didn’t you? Because we’re still all obsessed with honour like we were centuries ago?” Iroh asked and you hesitated. “If I caused any offence...” you started but Iroh cut you off breaking out in a large smile “no I was only kidding, it is a winning line we are still obsessed with honour”. You watched as Iroh laughed at his own joke surprised, you didn’t expect the prince of the fire nation to be like this. You figured royalty lacked the ability or the clearance to have a sense of humour but apparently not. “So have I really not changed since we were eight?” Iroh asked and when you frowned he elaborated “you recognised me but the last time we met was just over ten years ago”. You paused “ow no I didn’t actually recognise you, you were young, dressed in fine clothes with royal hairpins, not to mention you’re in the palace...you had to be the prince”. “Good deductions officer” Iroh said saluting you before he grinned “i’m in training too”. That piqued your interest “really? for the fire nation army?”. He nodded “yep! I’m an officer but my hope is to be general one day and to fully earn it, rather than just get it because of who my family is...hopefully in a few years i’ll get there”. “I’m sure you will” you agreed and Iroh led you into a large dining room. “Are we dining alone?” you asked confused and Iroh smirked. “Why? Not pleased with me?” he asked and you rushed to assure him that wasn’t the case when he laughed again “I’m joking again y/n, I know my grandfather told you the whole family would be dining with you in his letter to your mother but he, my parents and sister were all called away to an urgent matter and asked me to fill in as we’re similar ages”. “Ow” you nodded “that makes sense...is everything okay?”. Iroh nodded “everything’s fine just boring fire nation stuff...so shall we?” he asked holding out his arm to you. You weren’t sure if this was appropriate so averted your eyes and only took his arm lightly. Iroh smirked at your caution and led you into the room.

The meal with Iroh was nice. He was friendly, hard-working and interesting. You soon got used to his humour and learnt not to take him too seriously. You hadn’t met many other people your age who shared your passion for a military career and found it was nice, a sentiment Iroh apparently shared. He enquired what you were doing the rest of the week and when you replied nothing as training didn’t start for another week he soon had several of your days planned out with fire nation sights to show you. Iroh seemed to understand you didn’t know much about the fire nation so planned to take you to all the important sites as well as areas relevant to the army to peak both your interests. You enjoyed the prince’s tours greatly and even when training did start you continued meeting with Iroh regularly. You liked his company and were surprised that didn’t fade the more time you spent with him, if anything it grew more and more. You thought he’d be a spoilt entitled prince but he was kind and considerate pleasantly surprising you.

You didn’t become aware that you liked Iroh as anything more until one of your friends at the academy pointed it out. Since starting training you were progressing well, you achieved high grades and were held in high esteem by your fellow recruits. You had made some friends and often trained with them after the academy retired for the day. After a long training session you were heading to the palace when one of your friends called out to you “hey y/n some of us were going into town to celebrate our class’s good progress, do you want to come?”. You smiled pleased they wanted you to come when you remembered you couldn’t go “I’d love to Shani but sorry I can’t I have plans”. “Of course you do” she smirked as your other friend Aizori grinned “is it with Iroh by any chance”. “Actually it is” you said frowning at their shared look “why?”. “Ow nothing just it’s not every day your friend is dating the crowned prince”. “Me and Iroh are not dating!” you cried “our families are old friends that’s all”. “Uh...hu, if that’s true then what are your plans together may we ask?”. “We’re attending a party at the palace”. “Together?” Shani asked and you blushed “yes but he only asked me because it’s a formal event that’s apparently really boring so he wanted a friend there, trust me we’re not dating”. “But how can you resist?” Aizori asked “I’ve only seen the prince a handful of times but he seems to get better looking every single time! How don’t you get lost in those golden eyes and that chiselled jaw? The royal family has some amazing genes not even a Beifong can resist”. You paused considering it. For you looks weren’t very important so you didn’t tend to notice them. You held work ethic and determination as much higher priorities and Iroh scored very highly in both but in looks...you honestly couldn’t say. “I’m not sure I’ve noticed” you admitted and the girls rolled their eyes not believing you.

When you arrived back at the palace your friend’s words were ringing in your head and when you next saw Iroh something felt different. You took note of his looks and were surprised by what you’d found. Iroh was attractive, very attractive, how had you missed that? You stared at Iroh wondering if his eyes had always been that bright? Was his jaw always that sharp? His hair that good regularly when he frowned “why are you staring at me?”. “Nothing” you cried and he paused before shrugging “Are you ready to go?” he asked “the party has already started” offering you his arm. You nodded and took it cautiously following Iroh into the ballroom.

You could see why Iroh had wanted to invite you, everyone in the room was at least 60 years old or some stiff nobel person from an ancient line of fire nation families. All they seemed to want to discuss was old family bloodlines, territories or ancient traditions. After your fifth boring ambush by some old fire nation man Iroh pointedly headed for the gardens. You frowned as he exited discreetly, closing the door behind him, and headed away from the hall. “Iroh I’m pretty sure the party is inside” you commented and Iroh grinned “I know but I can’t take another second in there so humour me? One lap of the gardens then we’ll head back, please? I know you haven’t seen them properly yet so how about a tour?” Iroh holding out his hand to you. You rolled your eyes but took his hand happily. 

Iroh led you around the gardens explaining the different flora to you and their history. “I spent so many parties hiding in here as a kid” he grinned “this place is so huge they couldn’t find me for hours”. You smiled at the thought “my mother would’ve killed me if I did that”. “Mine did” Iroh chuckled “but I’d honestly rather face her wrath than some boring commander who wants to lecture me about our family’s history and why it’s so important...they’re literally my own family and even I don’t care” Iroh cried making you smile. “I see why you escaped out here so often, I’m very grateful formal parties were not a part of my childhood”. Iroh smiled and went to comment when the smile was wiped from his face and he grabbed you, quickly pushing you behind a large fern. “Iroh what are you...”. “Shhh they’ve come for us” he hissed and you frowned when you heard a voice. “Prince Iroh?” a man you recognised as the palace coordinator called “Are you out here? You’re needed inside”. You smirked and Iroh rolled his eyes “they’re relentless”.  “Master Iroh if you’re out there please return to the ballroom, your mother’s orders”. There was silence and then the sound of the butler coming closer. Your eyes widened and Iroh put a hand over your mouth pushing you further into the bushes. “Prince Iroh?” a voice called literally right beside you and Iroh smirked as you grabbed his arm in surprise. You heard a sigh and the sound of the man retreating. When the footsteps died away Iroh dropped his hold on you and you both burst into laughter. “I thought we were going to be caught and then royally punished...literally” you added and Iroh smirked “I wouldn’t let them punish you, it’s not your fault I dragged you out here”. “True but I didn’t try hard to stop you”. “You did encourage me” Iroh nodded thinking “okay it’s all your fault”. You gaped laughing “I never said that! You are such a liar” you cried pushing him and Iroh laughed grabbing your arm “okay okay maybe we share the blame 50:50?”. “No way” you smiled and Iroh paused “60:40?”. “I think 90:10?” you said grinning and Iroh sighed “fine, i’ll take 10% of the blame”. You shook your head at how wonderfully infuriating he was and smiled at him fondly. Iroh grinned back and you realised suddenly how close his face was to yours. Iroh seemed to notice too, he glanced down at your lips and you panicked moving away from him suddenly. There was an awkward tension in the air and you broke it with a cough “so want to show me more of the gardens then?”. Iroh nodded “right this way my lady” the awkwardness gone and led you further into the garden.

When you were safely hidden from the ballroom Iroh stopped walking, explaining this was one of his favourite spots in the whole garden and you gratefully took a break sitting down. “I can’t believe you’ve already been here a month” Iroh commented and you nodded “I know only 2 more to go then my mandatory 3 months work experience is done”. Iroh frowned “mandatory...so you could stay longer if you wanted to?”. “Hypothetically” you agreed and Iroh hesitated “do you think you’d extend it? Hypothetically?”. You paused “I’m not sure, I have enjoyed the fire nation far more than I thought I would but I’ve always wanted to complete my training as quickly as possible, I hope to be chief of police one day and I’ll need many years of service for that...”. Iroh frowned “isn’t the youngest chief like 41?”. You nodded “yeah so i’ve got time I guess, maybe i’ll stay for longer...is this just so you have someone to skirt your royal duties with?”. Iroh laughed “maybe...I like you being here, it’s nice not being the only person under 30 in every room”. You smiled “well i’m glad my presence isn’t displeasing to you...you’ve been pleasant as well” you added blushing and Iroh grinned. “Wait did I make a Beifong blush? That’s like a legendary occurrence, this is amazing!”. “Stop it” you cried but Iroh wouldn’t let you turn away “no, this will go down in history, Beifong blushes are rarer than dragons so I’m soaking up every second”. For the second time that day Iroh stared at you closely and you blushed more under his gaze but this time you didn’t move away. Iroh continued gazing at you before he lightly moved his hand to your cheek “y/n...” he said softly leaning in closer when a figure appeared. “There you are!” a voice cried and you both jumped away from one another. Your jaw dropped when you realised who it was and you dropped into a bow “Firelord Izumi...i’m so sorry I didn’t see you approach”. “Rise child you did nothing wrong” she said warmly “my son on the other hand...” she trailed off glancing at Iroh who paled. “Hey mom” he frowned and she raised an eyebrow “really? That’s all you have to say? No apology or grovelling”. “Erm I’m sorry for ditching?” Iroh offered and Izumi sighed. “Y/n would you please excuse us, I want to have a word with my son”. “Of course” you agreed bowing and you rushed away.

Iroh returned not long after with his mother and told you he had to stay in the ballroom for the rest of the party. You agreed to stay with him and he smiled gratefully at you making you blush and look away rapidly. The night passed and neither you nor Iroh spoke about what happened in the garden. How he’d almost kissed you and how you were going to let him. You couldn’t believe your own recklessness. What good did you think would come out of kissing the prince of the fire nation? You were obviously not an appropriate match and so there was nothing to be encouraged there. You resolved to never find yourself in that situation again and decided to just stay as friends no matter how much you got along or how attractive he was. Getting involved with a fire nation prince was not responsible behaviour. So after that night you made sure to put distance between you and Iroh. You didn’t stop seeing him you just made sure to emphasise it was a friendship. You didn’t let yourself get caught up in him the way you had in the gardens and always kept a level head. Iroh never tried anything or mentioned that night either and you supposed he picked up on your not so subtle hints. You carried on as before but there was definitely an unmentioned barrier between you which you never let fade.

You left the fire nation 2 months later. You didn’t extend your stay as with your feelings for Iroh you didn’t think it would be wise. Iroh saw you off and hugged you tightly before you got onto the airship. “It’s been nice having you around Beifong, I’ll miss you”. Iroh’s words made you hesitate and you hugged him tighter. For that time in Iroh’s arms you imagined what would have happened if you’d kissed him in the gardens that night. Iroh didn’t strike you as someone who flitted from person to person taking what he wanted, you think if he wanted to kiss you he must have felt something for you too and perhaps would have suggested dating. You imagined all the things you’d have done together but as a couple and wondered if you’d made a mistake, maybe you should have just gone for it? But then reality set in. If you really wanted to be chief of police then you couldn’t have short relationships with high ranking members of the fire nation. Other candidates could use it to show you had compromised morals and there was no way it would be a long term relationship due to your lack of fire nation heritage. Sure the fire nation was pretty progressive but that didn’t really apply to royalty. They had thousand-year-old traditions to uphold that couldn’t be broken easily so Iroh was never a long term option for you. Therefore all logical signs said you’d done the correct thing not persuing something with him...so why did it feel so shit? You finally pulled away from Iroh and he noticed your expression. “What’s wrong?” he asked and you shook your head looking away “nothing i’ll just miss it here...promise you’ll keep in touch?”. “Cross my heart” Iroh smiled “you’re not someone I intend to let slip away, expect a visit every time I come to republic city”. You pushed away the rational voice in your mind telling you to keep a distance from him and smiled “you’ll always be welcome and I’m very much looking forward to it”. Iroh blushed “thank you y/n” and you nodded back, just looking at him in admiration before catching yourself. “I should go...” and Iroh nodded “safe travels” and with a final look you walked away.

2 years later

After your departure you and Iroh stayed in regular contact and your letters only halted when he was deployed by the military but the second we was out he would write and arrange to come visit you in Republic City. You still thought about him and your feelings for him regularly and every time you saw him you knew your crush hadn’t lessened. You loved Iroh’s visits and soon they became the thing you cherished most. You told yourself all of this was fine because you’d never act on your feelings but sometimes you wondered if Iroh felt something too? You’d catch him staring at you or he’d blush if you smiled at him in a certain way. The very idea of Iroh liking you made you very excited but you also knew it would only lead to heartache. He wouldn’t be allowed to settle down with someone outside the fire nation so it didn’t matter if he liked you too. So you settled for his friendship which was more than enough for you. When Iroh was posted in republic city when he became general you were thrilled and you only continued to grow closer.

However republic city wasn’t as peaceful. There had been multiple attacks on the city from Amon’s chi blockers to Vaatu’s take over and you and Iroh were constantly pushed into the fray. Multiple times you’d faced staggering odds and every single time you wondered if you should confess your feelings to Iroh in case the unthinkable happened but every time you chickened out. You and Iroh had been safe every time but there was only so much you could push your luck.  

You’d been wary of Kuvira’s take over of the earth kingdom from the very start. Your aunt Su Yin had told you all about her so you weren’t surprised when she set her sights on Republic City but that didn’t mean you weren’t terrified. The avatar and her friends informed you what you were facing and you weren’t sure how you could even think about facing a giant mecha suit with spirit cannons. Iroh shared your sentiment but as general of Republic City’s army he was forced by President Raiko to lead his troops out there. Watching Iroh take to the front line you were swept with the desire once again to be honest with him, to tell him how you felt before it was too late. You decided three was too many times to chance it and so decided to finally tell him how you felt. You made your way to the general’s tent and found Iroh with Korra discussing strategies. You greeted them both warmly before making your way to Iroh’s side “could we please talk? I have something to tell you”. You knew Iroh had a hundred things to do but he nodded warmly squeezing your hand “of course just give me one second to...” when the radio sprang into action. President Raiko had surendering to Kuvira’s demands. Republic City was hers.

The avatar was furious and you matched her sentiment. You and Iroh joined her as she met with other leaders in the city like Tenzin and your mother and they all agreed something had to be done to stop Kuvira. A plan was quickly assembled, it was agreed that airbenders would attack the suit from the sky and earth benders would attack from the ground. You didn’t actually expect to damage the suit, you only had to distract Kuvira long enough for Korra to get inside. You were agreeing fervently getting ready to leave with your cousins when Iroh grabbed your arm. “Wait Y/n are you sure you want to do this?” he asked nervously “that mecha suit is dangerous there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to stop it”. I know but it’s my home, I swore to protect it and I won’t break my oath. I have to try and help”. Iroh sighed thinking and you watched him wondering what he’d say. “I understand why you’re doing it and I want to come too”. You paused pleasantly surprised “You do...but I thought President Raiko told you to retreat and surrender?”. “He told me to surrender the army not that I couldn’t personally engage in fighting, i’m not fighting as a general but as plain old Iroh” he announced proudly and you smiled “there’s nothing plain about you even without your titles”. Iroh beamed at you “Does this mean you agree? We can fight this giant together!”. You nodded your head “okay let’s go meet up with the others”.

You and Iroh rushed after the others and found them all suiting up. “Finally” your mother said spotting you but she frowned when she saw Iroh with you “y/n tell me you didn’t bring the general who is also the prince of the fire nation into this”. “She didn’t, I volunteered” Iroh spoke up “I’m not here as a general or as a prince but as a civilian so, where can I help?”. “You know your mother won’t like this” Tenzin commented and Iroh nodded “I know but some things are worth facing her wrath for” he said shooting you a smile and you blushed.

So it was agreed Iroh would stay. Your mother thought it would be best to place him on the roof with the airbenders, she ordered him to shoot lightning at the joints to try and cause some malfunctioning. When you’d all suited up the teams said their goodbyes and Iroh appeared in front of you. You didn’t have long, Kuvira’s giant suit was already in view and the ground shook whenever it took a single step. Iroh stared at you and sighed heavily “Y/n...”. “Don’t say it like that, we don’t have time and we’re both going to be fine okay?” you said faking a smile but Iroh saw right through it. “What did you want to tell me earlier?”. You froze caught off guard and blushed “I...I just wanted to...it doesn’t matter”. The ground jumped and Iroh looked at it nervously before stepping closer to you “I think I can guess what you were going to say”. “You can?” you asked nervously and Iroh smiled “yeah...you had another Beifong blush moment and I’ve noticed you do them around me a lot”. You went bright red and Iroh chuckled “yeah like that...”. You looked down embarrassed but Iroh took your hand gently “don’t, I blush a lot around you too”. You smiled blushing more and Iroh chuckled softly. “Y/n are you ready?” your mom asked and Iroh gripped your hand tightly. “Wait I want to tell you everything before you leave” Iroh cried but you squeezed his hand gently. “It’ll be okay” you smiled “you can tell me everything later and I think I can guess too”. Iroh grinned blushing “later then...just got to get through this”. “We’ll be fine, this is what he trained for” you smiled confidently “I promise I’ll see you on the other side”. Iroh nodded and stared at your lips, he went to move in when your mother called “y/n are you coming or are we leaving you behind”. “I’m coming!” you yelled and stepped away from Iroh “mothers” you commented and he smiled “go, i’ll see you after” and with a last look you both rushed off to your assigned group.

The battle

The fight went about as good as could be expected. The suit swatted the air benders away like flies and your group’s earth, metal and even lava bending barely slowed it down. But it didn’t matter, all that mattered was the avatar and her team managed to find a way into that thing and your team cheered when you saw she’d done just that. Now the fight was Korra’s so you let your guard down when suddenly the machine began malfunctioning. Your mother yelled for you all to take cover but you were too far away from the building. The suit exploded with a blast and you saw a blinding light and then black.

After the suit exploded everyone assumed the battle won. Half the air benders went after Korra to help her with Kuvira and the other half went to the ground to make sure the others were okay, of course Iroh went with the latter. He saw Bolin, your aunt and cousins but no sign of you or your mother. They told him they were all searching for you and he rushed to join in. With each street he passed his heart began to sink when finally he spotted you! In the arms of your mother unconscious. Iroh ran forward dropping to his knees beside you. “What happened?” he cried and your mother clutched you desperately “that thing exploded and she was too far to get into cover, it hit her sending her flying through the street and now she’s...she’s...”. Iroh saw the blood seeping through your mother’s hands where she held them against you. “No” he said viciously “y/n won’t...she can’t! We need a medic” he yelled loudly before taking off his jacket to wrap around your wound. “Maybe I can cauterise the wound?” he asked “seal it to stop her losing so much blood?”. Lin paused “I think the wounds too big but it’s worth a shot”. Iroh nodded and Lin lifted the bottom of your uniform. Iroh saw a large gash across your stomach and winced. He lit his hand on fire and pressed his hands against the wound. You gasped suddenly and your eyes shot open. “Y/n” your mother and Iroh cried in unison and you blinked trying to make sense of the situation before you groaned in pain. You tensed trying to get away from the burning but your mother held onto you “please y/n just hang on Iroh is trying to cauterise your wound”. “It’s not working” you grimaced resisting the urge to scream “Iroh stop! Please!” you cried and he yelled in frustration moving his hands away from you. “No it has to work if it doesn’t then you’ll.....we need a medic down here” he yelled again but he knew everyone else was spread out and there were no healers in the group. “It’s okay” you said breathing heavily as the situation dawned on you “Iroh it’s alright”. “No it’s not” he cried sinking onto his knees beside you “it’s not y/n, you can’t...you have to fight this, you can’t leave me”. You nodded “trust me i’m trying but Iroh if I do...”. “No y/n don’t even think about it! I won’t let you go it’s not going to happen”. “I don’t think we have a choice” you admitted trying to smile but Iroh just shook his head “but we never got our shot, we never got to talk, I never got to tell you...I love you y/n” he said simply “I have for years, that’s why I never found anyone from the fire nation because the perfect person for me is you. I know there’s traditions and rules but I don’t care, I don’t want anyone else but you. I’d give up anything for you and we were finally heading in that direction and now that stupid spirit cannon”. Tears leaked down Iroh’s face and you reached out a hand to him shakily. He took it and you stroked his face “it’s okay, i’m sorry for being too scared and cautious, I’m sorry for wasting our time together but I love you too, I hope that’s enough”. Iroh nodded “It’s more than I ever hoped, you didn’t waste time you have nothing to be sorry for y/n Beifong, do you hear me?”. “I do” you smiled before coughing in pain and your mother clutched you tighter. “Y/n” your mother cried and you smiled up at her “it’s okay mom, don’t worry. It’s all going to be okay”. You clutched her hand against your chest and took Iroh’s other one. “I’m with the two people I love the most, I’m happy. This is the best way for it to...”. “Stop” Iroh said crying but you just gripped his hand tighter “Iroh look at me”. He blinked through the tears but looked at you. “It’s okay, I promise you everything will be okay”. Iroh just said your name softly and rested his head against yours. Your mother wrapped her arms around both of you and you held onto both of them the best you could when you felt the world fading away. You heard sobbing and your mother faintly saying your name until everything turned dark and it was over.

Epilogue

Following your death the fire nation, earth kingdom and republic city all paid their respects in their traditional fashions. A statue was raised by your mother in the spot of your death and every year on the anniversary of your death both her and Iroh would visit it. Iroh and your mother supported one another following your death being the only one’s who understood how monumental the loss of your life was. They managed to get through it together and although neither of them ever stopped loving you they found a way to carry on. Iroh never married, he couldn’t even consider the idea and his family never pushed him to. He still lived a long and happy life. He was very involved with his sister’s children who he loved dearly and his family never stopped supporting him. If he went quiet and got a teary look in his eye or if he struggled serving in the earth kingdom they understood. Your family also treated him like one of their own, with Lin even calling him her son on a few occasions, and he was invited to all your family’s events in recognition of your love for him. Your memory never faded and when Iroh’s life eventually ended he passed on to find you waiting for him. He knew all the suffering and heartache was over, you were finally together at last. 

____

So initially I was going to write a happy ending as well but then I thought screw it, I want to cry so I killed off the reader...but I can release the happy ending as a part two if anyone wants it. 

Edit: For the happy ending version click here

[master-apology]

One thing I've been thinking about for a while is how race is determined in Arknights. Obviously it's easy to tell lizard person or not, but there are some cases where it's not that clear cut. The specific examples I'm thinking of are the Aslan, the lion people, the Rebbah, also called the Reproba, the hyena people, and the Aegir, the sea people.

As far as the Aslan go, the way they stand out is pretty simple. They have their own distinct race, despite all other peoples based on Felidae being part of the Feline race. The Rebbah, although not as obvious, have the same issue. Hyenas wouldn't stand out, if not for the fact that Folinic, a mongoose person, is also a member of the Feline race. Hyenas and mongooses are fairly closely related to one another, and both are members of the Feliformia suborder of taxonomy. If the rules of categorization were consistent, hyenas would be part of the Feline race, not their own distinct group. The Aegir are an even more extreme example, but in the opposite direction, seemingly consisting of all manner of marine life, ranging from jellyfish to seadragons to cuttlefish to porpoises.

It then occurred to me that race on Terra was likely to be just as much a social and political construct as it is here on Earth. While it's just as unlikely for someone on Terra to mistake an Ursus for a Lung as it would be for someone on Earth to mistake a northern European for an east Asian, race is much more a social construct than people realize. There are numerous times throughout history that race has been changed or constructed entirely for political ends. The examples that occurred to me most immediately was how the multifaceted racial spectrum of Luisiana was simplified to Black and White when it passed from the control of the French to the United States, the numerous laws set in place codifying the definition and privileges of the Manchu during China's Qing dynasty, or, in China again, how the Communist party created the country's 97 official ethnic groups after their initial census after taking power resulted in the population reporting hundreds, if not thousands, of distinct ethnicity. My supposition is that similar events occurred in Terra's past, resulting in how certain races go against the usual mode of consistency.

The Aslan are the rulers of Victoria, having taken power from the Draco that used to rule it before them. The lion people may have once been considered part of the Feline race, but after coming to power, they likely would have wanted to distinguish themselves from the rest of the population, which appears to be predominantly feline, and so renamed their group to the Aslan.

The glimpses we've seen of Sargon so far suggest that the Rebbah also hold positions of power in the country, at least in parts of it. In the Originium Dust event we meet Drudge and Picale, two Rebbah nobles whose father gained territory for his service in battle, and Spot's profile says he's from a military family, possibly suggesting the Rebbah form a sort of military aristocracy. They may have changed the name of their race after the coming to power in the period of turmoil in the recent past that Rangers reminisces about at the beginning of the OD event, setting themselves above the other races of Sargon. Beanstalk coming from a farming family in Columbia undermines that theory a bit, though. Maybe her family was exiled to the neighboring country and took up agriculture, or something.

The Aegir race was likely constructed to put people down, rather than raise them up. No spoilers for Undertides, I haven't read anything about it. What little we do know about the Aegir region is that it's close to Iberia, the birthplace of many of Aegir Operators. From what we can gather from character profiles and conversations, Aegir are a persecuted underclass in Iberia, treated as second class citizens by the Liberi, who seem to make up the majority of "true" Iberians. The ancestors of the modern Aegir Iberians likely emigrated from the Aegir region to Iberia, where the rest of the population lumped them together under the common moniker "Aegir." This name for a diverse group of people then spread from Iberia to the rest of Terra as the Aegir left the country to escape discrimination.

In all likelihood I'm giving this way to much, but it's been going around in my head for a while and I wanted to put it down somewhere.

[mysecondsecretaccount]

Media Theory Analysis - Steven Universe

Steven Universe is an animated children’s TV show from Cartoon Network.  The show had 5 seasons from 2013 to 2019, and was followed up by a 2019 movie and 2019 epilogue series entitled “Steven Universe Future” that ran until 2020.  The series was created by Rebecca Sugar, notable for being the network’s first bisexual non-binary women to run a show.  Steven Universe follows the titular Steven, who lives with his human father and Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, who are gems, humanoid aliens with a variety of fantastical powers, including the ability for two gems to fuse into one gem, essentially two people becoming one for an amount of time.  Steven is half-gem, and his Mom, the gem Rose Quartz, gave up her physical form to become Steven, essentially dying in the process.  Much of the show centers around Steven coming into his own: dealing with his identity as half-gem, figuring his relationship to his dead mother, and fighting with the responsibilities and assumptions placed on him by Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, who simultaneously view him as just a little kid, and the next Rose Quartz.  As the show progresses, we learn that the Gems have a caste system based on function, which is run by the tyrannical Diamond Authority.

Power distance

As mentioned above, the show has a caste system based on function, which reflects our current system in many ways.  In the episode “Too Far”, the character Peridot shed some light on how the caste system works (shown at 3:12 in the video below)

As Peridot says “Pearl is a pearl, Garnet is a fusion,  [and Amethyst is] the only Crystal Gem, that's actually a Gem!”  There’s very clearly a power structure implied here, with Pearls and Fusions being seen as second-class citizens.  With this in mind, let’s start to look at the parallels to our real life caste system.

First, let’s talk about Pearls.  Pearls are essentially a slave race of personal servants, owned by nobility and forced to do work similar to secretary work, all while expected to look nice and fancy.  Throughout the show we see Pearl, the character (characters have the same name as their type of gem), being passed off as “just a pearl”, or “a feisty pearl”, and it’s a huge deal that she’s “a pearl that belongs to no one”.

“A Pearl who belonged to no one”

As you may be able to tell, the way Pearls are treated is allegorical for how women are treated in society.  Though views of women as second-class citizens aren’t exactly common in today’s world, backwards views like this still exist in many parts of the world.  There are still places where women are essentially bound to their husbands, in the same way that Pearls are bound to their masters.  And though it isn’t common now, the time when women mainly did secretary work was not that long ago in the grand scheme of things.

Next, there’s fusions.  In the show, fusions between the same types of gem are normal and common, though they are only used for military purposes and unfuse immediately after battle.

Three rubies fusing 

But fusions between different gem types are relatively unheard of, and are heavily shunned by gem society.  The first time two different gems fused, onlookers were horrified, and both particular gems were ordered to be shattered (killed).

Now it’s important to note that fusions, being the physical embodiment to two character’s feelings towards each other, are often used to represent romantic relationships.  And since all Gems are female (or at least, female-coded, I’ll get into that later), all relationships are necessarily queer.  And by viewing fusions through a queer framework, the hatred and contempt felt towards fusions becomes an obvious allegory for homophobia.  And though it may seem like most people are accepting of the queer community, especially seeing how gay marriage is legal in the united states, that’s simply not the case, especially seeing as a major political party in the U.S. is explicitly against gay marriage.

“Garnet? Does that call herself a Garnet? Haha! What would you have her do? Enter with the Demantoids? The Hessonites, the Pyropes?”

This degradation is embodied in the show.  When two gems become one, the gem that they become is one that would be higher rank than the two composing gems.  However, the rulers of gem society do not recognize the status of fusions, and find the very idea laughable, as shown above.  This only further shows how much of a second class citizen fusions are in this society.

 Let’s return to that Peridot quote from earlier: Amethyst is higher status than both Pearl and Garnet.  The thing is, Amethysts are lowly soldiers, so the fact that she could be the leader of the group, despite being the youngest, and despite the fact that Garnet should be a high-ranking military commander is frankly astonishing, and really speaks to the backwards nature of their society, which can, in turn make us reflect on the many absurd contradictions of our society.

Uncertainty avoidance

Newness and uncertainty are heavy themes in Steven Universe, even being built into the show’s very premise.  You see, Steven is a half human, haf gem hybrid, and that’s something that’s completely new in this universe.  

“There's never been anything or anyone like Steven.”

This is at the heart of one of the show’s central conflicts: how Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl view Steven.  Steven is something new, and that’s confusing and scary to the gems, because they frankly have no idea what to do with him.  But, over time, they learn that they have to accept Steven as a member of their team.  And this message of accepting the new and uncomfortable comes through with one of the show’s main mechanics: fusion.

“Something entirely new”

As shown in the video above, when the first fusion between two gems occurs, it’s portrayed as “Something entirely new”, and the show makes sure to emphasize. how special and unique that is.

“I still can't believe it. Only on Earth, don't you think? Only on Earth where anything can happen. A fusion of two completely different Gems! Can all Gems do that? How have I never heard of this?! I've only ever heard that it's unheard of.”

Furthermore, in the episode “Alone Together”, Steven fuses with his best friend Connie, creating Stevonnie, the first human/gem hybrid fusion.  At first, Pearl is perplexed and uncomfortable, calling it “inappropriate”, but Garnet, who’s portrayed as the wisest of the group, don’t ask questions or make assumptions, instead only telling them to “Go have fun!”

Finally, it's important to note that trying new things is at the crux of the plot, at least in season one.  You see, the show starts with Steven and the Crystal Gems going around and capturing corrupted gems, who are animalistic in nature.  For most interactions with these creatures, the Crystal Gems just fight them.  But Steven is irked by this, and proposes nonviolent solutions.  Ultimately, it’s only through these new solutions that progress is made.  Just as in real life, progress can only be made by accepting new and uncertain solutions.

Finally, it's important to note that trying new things is at the crux of the plot, at least in season one.  You see, the show starts with Steven and the Crystal Gems going around and capturing corrupted gems, who are animalistic in nature.  For most interactions with these creatures, the Crystal Gems just fight them.  But Steven is irked by this, and proposes nonviolent solutions.  Ultimately, it’s only through these new solutions that progress is made.  Just as in real life, progress can only be made by accepting new and uncertain solutions.

First of all, the entire Gem race is female (or female presenting rather, I’ll get to that in a minute), except for Steven, who’s half-gem and identifies as male (he/him).  This is notable, because many mainstream franchises have casts that are almost entirely male, usually save for one token female (see: the smurfette principle).  Steven universe is unique for having an entire race designed specifically to subvert this.

But what’s interesting that none of the Gems are actually female, they’re all nonbinary.  According to the show’s creator (who herself is a nonbinary women), all the gems are sexless and agendered, an alien species that don’t have a gender binary.  However, they all present female and use she/her pronouns (with a couple exceptions I’ll get to in a moment).  This is unique as nearly every character in every piece of media falls within the gender binary, and though the gems may lean to one side of it, they still fall strictly outside the gender binary.

 Masculinity vs femininity

Steven Universe is notable for defying gender expectations in several unique and groundbreaking ways.

First of all, the entire Gem race is female (or female presenting rather, I’ll get to that in a minute), except for Steven, who’s half-gem and identifies as male (he/him).  This is notable, because many mainstream franchises have casts that are almost entirely male, usually save for one token female (see: the Smurfette principle).  Steven Universe is unique for having an entire race designed specifically to subvert this.

But what’s interesting that none of the Gems are actually female, they’re all nonbinary.  According to the show’s creator (who herself is a nonbinary women), all the gems are sexless and agendered, an alien species that don’t have a gender binary.  However, they all present female and use she/her pronouns (with a couple exceptions I’ll get to in a moment).  This is unique as nearly every character in every piece of media falls within the gender binary, and though the gems may lean to one side of it, they still fall strictly outside the gender binary.

Some characters go even further in being non-binary, not leaning to either side and using they/them pronouns.  Specifically, we have Stevonnie, who is the fusion of Steven (male) and Connie (female).  Stevonnie is romanticized by the show as a true human experience, which also serves as a validation and confirmation of nonbinary identities.

Stevonnie being awesome.

All of the other fusions that include steven use they/them pronouns, including: Smoky Quartz (they/them), Rainbow Quartz 2.0 (They/Them & He/Him), Sunstone (They/Them & She/Her) and Obsidian (They/Them & She/Her).

It’s also worth noting that in Steven Universe Future, we get to briefly meet a nonbinary character named Shep, proving once and for all, that you don’t have to be a half-alien gem fusion to be nonbinary.

They 

Another gender standard that Steven Universe rebukes is that of traditional female beauty.  Though most Gems are female-presenting, they all present their femininity in different ways.  

Taken from a Contrapoints video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bbINLWtMKI)  

As you can clearly see, even though all of these characters use she/her pronouns, they all present their femininity in radically different ways, not being afraid to stray into nontraditional femininity.

Then there’s the subversive masculinity of Steven Universe.

The video above basically says everything I wanted to say on this topic in a manner infinitely better than I could ever do, and I don’t want to just limply restate its arguments, so just go watch the video for yourself.  All I have to add is that Steven is not at all afraid to wear traditionally feminine clothing, or act in a traditionally feminine manner, as shown below:

Individualism vs. collectivism

Throughout the show, the Crystal Gems are constantly fighting as a team.  They’re always working together, and there’s an assumed promotion of the value of teamwork throughout the show.  All major problems are only ever solved through cooperation.

What’s more interesting is how fusion plays into this topic.  Fusion is an allegory for relationships, of all different shapes, sizes and kinds.  So naturally, some fusions represent teamwork, specifically Alexandrite and Obsidian, the fusion of Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl and the fusion of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven respectively.  These fusions only exist as long as the contributing members are willing to cooperate, and have trouble staying together when the members aren’t working well together.

Alexandrite coming apart after her components start bickering

We also see the smaller, two-gem type fusions being used to represent teamwork and collective power.  The philosophy behind fusions is that they are greater than the sum of their parts, and as such are extremely useful for completing tasks.  Throughout the show we see characters fusing to do things like lift up a drill, destroy a tall structure, babysit, or even just to fight.  Recurring is known for lamenting the fact that she’s always beaten by fusion, even resorting to fusing with an uneasy ally to win a battle, twice (it works neither time).  The message is clear: teamwork creates synergy.

Pearl and Amethyst fuse to lift a drill

But what makes this truly interesting is how Steven Universe also champions individuality.  The show features plenty of characters who have arcs of self discovery, eventually coming into their own as a unique person, most notably Steven Universe himself.  Though you may think that these themes of individuality and collectivism may contradict each other, Steven Universe finds a way to escape that binary and champion both.

In episode “The Question”, the idea of differentiation is explored.  Differentiation is the idea that members of a couple need solid individual identities to work together as a couple.  And this idea can be applied to many other fusions throughout the show.  For example, in the episode “Mindful Education”, Stevonnie starts hallucinating when one of their components, Connie, is having trouble at school.  In said episode, Garnet explains that for fusions to stay fused, there has to be balance, and all participants have to be stable.  

“For a fusion to work, there needs to be balance. An imbalance can cause your fusion to...fall apart. That is to say, if one of you is falling apart, your fusion will as well. To find balance, you must understand your feelings.”

Ultimately, Steven Universe conveys a complex but important message: “Teamwork and cooperation are vital in making societal progress, but individual identity is crucial and cannot be ignored”

Indulgence vs restraint

While Some critics of the show have posited that in the first season, Steven has everything he wants.  And while that may be true from a physical statement (he eats what he wants, he gets to play video games all the time, he lives extremely close to both an arcade and an amusement park), his emotional needs, his need to be accepted by his family, his need to feel like he’s a valued member of the team, his need to be not be seen in the shadow of his mother, taken entire seasons to be meet, and some of those needs are frankly never met.

In the end, Steven Universe proves to be a subversive masterpiece, defying traditional expectations of gender and power structure, while providing new ways forward through uncertainty and the combination of individuality and collectivism.  To matter what framework you view the show through, it will always have something to learn from. 

[shibiichi]

Very basic lore shit for some of the fantrolls I just posted:

~ Burgundy

Pelone Messah: a young burgundy blood troll who enjoys handing out with her Indigo Morail. She’s known as the group party girl and is naturally charismatic but will sometimes come off as rude or apathetic.

Mariot Messah: a burgundy blood who has a deep fascination with the arts, specifically photography. She wants to be the first burgundy blood to traverse the entire empire before her life expires. She is kindhearted and cheery, though can be too excited and reckless.

The Canaress (Mariot): A determined journalist who will risk anything to get the news to the public, especially among the highblood quarrels.

The Sanguine (Pelone): An optimist who travels around to help those effected by the empire, especially after attacks.

~ Bronze

Bonahn Celste: An up-incoming bronze model, Bonahn wants to change the empire’s ways with representation of the lower classes. She is determined and empathetic, never letting her lower blood stop her. However she is overly emotional and is prone to mental breakdowns when picked on.

Zharan Celste: Zharan takes an interest in the stars and constellations. She is a reserved bronze blood who just wants to do her own thing. She’s thoughtful, honest, and intelligent, but hard to get along with as she has a tough exterior and often resorts to a physical form of arguments.

The Ascended (Zharan): A bronzeblood who raised from the depths of poverty despite her status. Holds considerable power but is generally detested due to what actions she had to commit in order to ascend.

The Poignant (Bonahn): An activist for low blood rights and generally seen as a caste therapist. Unfortunately seems to focus on the small things rather than the big picture.

~ Gold

Keelah Tembll: a witty and talented programmer, Keelah fits in perfectly to the gold caste. She puts a lot of time into the work she does but doesn’t forget to let herself enjoy life’s moments. She is a quick thinker, a great leader, and has a dry sense of humor. Often though, trolls are pushed away from her as she can be impatient and cruel.

Pitika Tembll: Pitika is a gold blood with considerable clout. She enjoys using social media and rides the low blood representation trend in each post. She is creative, independent, and inspirational, but tends to be conceded and uses her follower count to intimidate others.

The Eclectic / The Vehement (Pitika): A powerful spokesperson against the highblood tyranny. Known for using their psionics to deface public structures and commit arson against imperial buildings.

The Prioress (Keelah): a devout cult priestess who sing’s the highblood’s praises and treats the fuchsia caste like gods.

~ Lime

Mellon Usilue: A soft-spoken and sweet lime blood, Mellon is seen as the troll empire’s ultimate friend. She can manage to get along with most anyone and is always there to help anyone out, no matter the blood color. She is generous, sweet, and patient, though tends to let people walk over her or use her for their gain. She is also ashamed of her body and tends to get defensive if someone brings it up.

Pirchh Usilue: a headstrong and confident lime blood, Pirchh can be hard to get along with at first glance. She’s incredibly bold and doesn’t let others push her around, especially highbloods. Getting past her spiky exterior opens up to a troll who cares a lot about her safety and the safety of those who often get picked upon. She’s incredibly resilient and all about helping trolls better their lives through tough love.

The Tӎerarii (Pirchh): a lime blood who took the highblood upset into her own hands and aims to raise a rally of other trolls, using her calming abilities to manipulate other highbloods onto her side.

The Succorer (Mellon): an ambassador to the fuchsia empress who speaks fondly of the ruling caste, working to spread a positive image and damage control.

~ Olive

Rulani Pumale: this olive blood is the definition of reclusive. Rulani doesn’t like going out much and rather would stay inside all day in bed and on social media. She’s generally optimistic and loves talking to people who share her interests, though she can also be snide and a tad selfish.

Ozzidi Pumale: Ozzidi is an olive with an objective. She is seen as ‘quirky’ but also incredibly friendly to those she meets. She often gushes about her matesprite and will talk a troll’s ears off about them. Unfortunately though, she has a strong distaste for sea dwellers and will go around with her matesprite to harass high blooded sea-folk. She strangely has a fascination for origami though.

The Eleeinos (Ozzidi): One half of a pair of greenblooded killers who seek out sea dwellers to cull. Considered the less respected of the two due to her Olive caste and is constantly put down because of it.

The Duressor (Rulani): An olive blood who takes pride in collecting bounties on troll of all castes, no mater their personal views. She’s in it for the money and infamy.

~ Jade

Vennis Arvone: Vennis is a Jade blood that acts the part. She’s loving and helpful, enjoying acting like the mother of the group. She loves to clean and make things look fancy, taking a preference to interior design. Although she is a wonderful friend, she can be a bit judgmental of those she doesn’t know that well and tends to take them by appearance only.

Kimqey Arvone: Kimqey is an interesting Jade to be sure. She comes off as incredibly sweet and optimistic, but is able to casually talk about her disdain for all things sea dweller in the middle of her perky conversation. Kimqey and Ozzidi are matesprites that both play off one another’s hatred for the higher classes, though Kimqey seems to be worse then the olive blood. Fortunately though, her rage for sea dwellers tends to be calmed when she is with her matesprite and partaking in her favorite activity, which is applying makeup.

The §urmouna (Kimqey): The second half of the green blood killers. The higher respected half of the two and a rainbow drinker to boot. She is especially know for her viciousness.

The Aigrette (Vennis): A sort of doll for the image of the empire. Acts as a representative for what the citizens of the Empire should act like.

~ Teal

Pixuhn Aridel: Pixuhn is a laid back, down to earth teal that’s just here to have a good time. She has little to no grievances with anyone and enjoys simply being with her friends and partaking in fun activities with them, from watching movies to her favorite, card games. She isn’t the best troll to go to when you need to vent though, as she can come across as insensitive and apathetic to another’s troubles.

Motaro Aridel: Motaro is a teal that definitely could cut the coffee. She’s very hyper and loves to know what’s going on at every point of the day. She’s an open book with her feelings on subjects and will take any dare given to her. Her favorite activity would have to be baking, especially with fruits like peaches. She can be blunt though and unintentionally hurtful with her words, and tends to push the blame onto others instead of taking it on herself.

Jingoist Gleefoul (Motaro): a dedicated loyalist to the fuchsia crown and fights for their empress’s title. Doesn’t know of much which is going on but dedicated to the fuchsia caste nonetheless.

Gambless Malcheck (Pixuhn): a teal blood who enjoys putting the lives of others at stake in order to feed her destructive habits. Employed by mostly highbloods to ensure a caste lower than themselves will be punished severely for any sort of crime.

~ Cerulean

Qinnly Moboke: The cerulean blood Qinnly is quite literally as chill as you could possibly get. She’s open to most ideas and goes with the flow in almost all situations. She’s a good friend to go to for your troubles and loves trying to help her friends cope by distracting them with challenges that can often lead to death. Unfortunately she can be a bit nosy and unintentionally manipulative.

Czenik Moboke: Czenik is a cerulean blood that lives up to her caste. She is generally abrasive and foul, taking an interest in expanding her collection of caste blood related memorabilia. She takes full advantage of her class’s psychic abilities when expanding her collection. Fortunately, she can be pleasant and goes on surprisingly cheerful rants about her possessions. She values their rarity and difficulty in collecting, while also showing respect to fellow subculture connoisseurs.

Chancellor Coimetro (Czenik): A cerulean who works to subjugate the lower classes and keep them ignorant. Due to this she was promoted.

Tsaritsa Duplexda (Qinnly): A blue blood cerulean who seized parts of the empire and places herself on top of those stolen areas. Surprisingly good at avoiding culling.

~ Indigo

Balton Istahg: Balton is one of the sweetest Indigo bloods you’ll ever meet. She’s got a passion for the art of hair care and loves when her friends let her do their hair. She’s also interested in tattoos and and gives herself her own ink. She’s soft spoken and agreeable, though can be distant, anxiety prone, and uncomfortable around most people.

Iaasik Istahg: Iaasik is a quick and sassy indigo who knows what she’s good at. She’s heavily into the tech and hacking scene, enjoying the thrill that comes along with code breaking other’s security. Due to her interests though, she can be abrasive and often concerns herself with other’s private problems. She often doesn’t realize when she steps over the line and into someone’s private bubble. Fortunately, she’s a quick learner and is able to catalog other’s specific qualms once she’s told.

Harborer Vaedread (Iaasik): A indigo blood with access to what is happening among the highbloods. Unable to speak of the misdeeds to the public for fear of being culled by either the sea dwellers & clown, or the cerulean chancellor.

Brandern Mokoband (Balton): works as a trader of trolls. Got her title due to her infamously painful branding procedures when trading low blood slaves.

~ Purple

Piyntl Cumber: Piyntl takes the Purple blood clown aesthetic to heart and loves rocking it. She’s bubbly and excitable, often being the loudest of the group. She especially enjoys theater and teaching her friends how to do basic gymnastics. She can come off as overbearing though, and tends to have a negative emotional reaction to blunt but honestly comment’s about her behavior.

Ophiil Cumber: Ophiil is a purple blood hatched with a deformed face. She’s incredibly kind hearted though it’s hard to get bast her tough exterior she put’s up. She can come off as masochistic, and her Lusus only seems to encourage this behavior. She’s gotten used to playing the part as that’s what trolls expect of her due to her appearance and blood color, figuring it’s easier to participate in the role given to her rather than deviate from it.

The Heiress PhobepyꙞ (Ophiil): A purple blood who takes claim to the throne in stark competition to the other highbloods. Once worked with said highbloods to eliminate the fuchsia empress but could not agree to who would be the new empress.

The Funambulist Cuspidhg (Pintyl): a purple blood who opted to run away from the empire and achieve her dreams of simply thriving in life. Surprisingly pure hearted for a purple blood.

~ Violet

Luvici Vonmet: Luvici is a violet seadweller with a penchant for beauty. She’s absolutely obsessed with the fashion of the universe and finds it her purpose to introduce it to the empire. She loves seeing others participate in what most would consider unimportant but can easily get jealous by those she perceives as threats. She can be selfish and egotistical but can also be inspiring and creative.

Gurroe Vonmet: Gurroe is a quiet violet sea dweller who enjoys putting her mark on society. And by mark I mean she wants to paint it with blood to match her aesthetic. She loves all things gory and cute, not realizing that her actions hurt those around her. Even so, she’s incredibly artistic and and gives off the “cool quiet troll” vibe.

Grandeur Bowellox (Gurroe): One of the highbloods fighting for the throne. Was responsible for raising the Ascended into infamy and now hovers over the Ascended, making sure she stays in line and lays her debts.

The Cavalier Scalchic (Luvici): A violet blood who works with the Cerulean Tsaritsa and protects her from the rein of the current fuchsia empress. Acts like her knight or bodyguard in a sense.

~ Fuchsia

Opelic Uridae: Opelic is a fuchsia heir that is prepared to take back the throne for the fuchsia caste. She is determined and extremely talented in the topic of political debate. She’s a quick thinker and is incredibly confident, though she can come off as greedy, materialistic, and narcissistic due to her caste.

Hostia Uridae: Hostia is the sweetest of fuchsia bloods. She is very quiet and reserved, preferring to keep to herself rather than a group of friends. She extremely concerned about the environment around her and advocates for it’s preservation. She does tend to try and please everyone though, leading to multiple empty promises and generally has poor planning skills.

The Pusillan (Hostia): A fuchsia who was a victim of circumstance. Proved to be too weak-hearted to lead the empire so was culled by a group of three highbloods.

The Vainglor (Opelic): A powerful fuchsia empress who does not want anyone near her throne. Uses those below her to spread propaganda about the empire and actively tries to silence any rebellions or rivals.

~ Mutant

Marett Cyclik: a fun-loving and light-hearted mutant fuchsia who tries not to take her odd hue very seriously. In fact she tries to take everything as a joke, which causes others to perceive her as uncaring. She is quite giggly and is incredibly easy to make laugh. She can be easily distracted and is often incorrectly labeled as an airhead.

Harqui Cyclik: a mutant fuchsia with a twisted sense of humor and entitlement. She finds herself to be the proper heir to the throne though prevents herself from challenging it as she’s aware of the stigma around mutants. She’s rather self conscious but tends to lash out aggressively at anyone who may point this out.

The Rhadaman (Harqui): A mutant fuchsia with yet another claim to the throne. Pairs with The Heiress PhobepyꙞ to take down the grandeur but but now fights a risky battle with the purple blood heiress, leaving the empire in a shaky state with no real leader.

The Quipster Paltryin (Marett): An (unfortunately) outspoken mutant who works to poke fun at the empire. Produces works which directly go against the empire’s values and acts as an anonymous voice for the lower castes. Lives in clown exile with The Funambulist.

[malcolmwhitly-bright]

Frozen In Time

Ask:  I had an idea that Malcolm and the Team are going up against someone from Edrisa's past - someone who drugs his victims to make people think they're dead, but they can feel everything but they can't react and then he autopsies them and Malcolm gets into this situation and the gang have to save him or something?

Read it here or down below:

In the seventh grade his advanced science class sent home wavers in the mail to be signed and sent back, written consent for thirteen-year-old to dissect some poor frogs in the name of science. When his mother got a hold of it, despite his initial interest, she put a very quick hold on that idea. Pre-pubescent boys are a force to be reckoned with, especially when they have their minds set on something, and the only thing Malcolm wanted in the whole wide world was to be a normal seventh grader and get to cut open a frog.

To him, it was nothing more than a frog and a science experiment his mother was being outrageous about. Not understanding him or his intense desire to just be normal.

It was never that simple though. It’s a frog but Jessica knew if he did what the other boys would do, if he got curious, and he looked and questioned- It’s all for nothing. Malcolm has a hard enough time. The tremor in his hand, the nightmares, and the anxiety. It makes him a novel to the other students, something to pick apart and ridicule. A threat and he always will be to those people. So, as much as it hurts her to say no to something so silly in his eyes- she has to.

It’s been over twenty years since that frog. His curiosity moved on to better things (a pig fetus in the ninth grade- she didn’t let him do that either, and a pig heart eleventh grader year- take a guess at that one Big. Fat. No.) and he’s certainly seen worse, now. Any medical curiosity he might have harbored dissipated whilst in college, biology and anatomy are good and all but the Surgeon ruined any hope of going into that field.

Autopsies. He’s never conducted one. He’s never seen one done. A morbid part of him is still curious, nothing wrong there, but it’s the kind of curiosity that’s better left unsatisfied.

This time, it’s not necessarily his fault. It’s… no one’s really. Edrisa had done everything they asked of her, even when it got hard. Someone had to make a mistake, they were simply bound to. Up for the better part of seventy-two hours, a single slip up wouldn’t be uncalled for. It’s excusable… he has to remember that.

“No, cause you see-” their bad guy, a solid 6’2 pathologist on the wrong end of a psychotic break, is unraveling. He’s disorganized and, just as Malcolm profiled, just being dealt a really awful hand. He’s not a mean man, not by nature. Edrisa had talked fondly of him, fear tinged into every memory she could recall as JT had slipped a Kevlar vest over his head and Dani loaded her gun. Of course, they all knew what he’d done was unforgivable but Edrisa was working double time to remind them that he’s a man.

A man not aware of his actions.

Now, Malcolm is being subjected to those very actions.

Five Hours Before- NYPD precinct’s conference room

Admittedly, Malcolm can tell that their particular, current, brand of questioning is doing more wearing and tearing and less information providing. Not that is at all Edrisa’s fault. While they have been working nonstop to provide an ample profile, place evidence, and question witnesses/family over the course of the last two days Edrisa hasn’t left the basement. None of them have left the precinct in hours, what is now days. It’s officially starting to go to their heads and not in a good way.

“Dammit!” It’s spurring the kind of outrage and whiplash that normally would never occur. Every last one of them is guilty of it too, it’s just that now the heat has been turned to Edrisa and the nervous sweat and tears threatening to fall from her eyes aren’t setting right with Malcolm. Not anymore. They’ve crossed a point- a point where they are no longer helping anyone and they certainly aren’t helping the one person who can help them: Edrisa.

“Gil,” Malcolm understands the power he has over the room. While, right now, they may be acting insensitive to Edrisa’s clear sadness there is a certain edge that he holds. It’s not, necessarily, that they prefer him to Edrisa or that they don’t like Edrisa so much as they’re afraid to break him. He’s seen the way they act. Dani walks on tiptoes around him and JT, for once, censors his clipped tone. And Gil. What wouldn’t Gil drop if Malcolm needed him?

So now, as Malcolm reaches out and gently squeezes the older man’s bicep, he knows he’s bringing a stop to the integration. “Gil,” he repeats. “I think that’s enough.” Somehow, he’s the one to acknowledge they’ve gone too far… stretched too thin.

There are first for everything.

Gil somber, a stricken sadness across his face. His actions and words are catching up to him. He hasn’t been acting like a leader and the thought sits uneasily with him. “Edrisa,” he attempts, his eyes softening as he grapples with the correct words to communicate with her how sorry he is. Nothing about his actions as of late have been appropriate but whose had been?

With their second victim, Edrisa had recognized something. Malcolm had called it a signature but she knew it to be more profound, a preferred style of incision done by a specific group of pathologists. Pathologist she knows, that she works with. As that news became public, going from something she adamantly told Dani to the rest of the team marked URGENT, the integration began.

Why hadn’t she told them? They’re three bodies in- three people have been paralyzed while a man fished around inside their bodes until they bled out or died of shock! Why was she silent?

The same reason any of them would be… they were hunting one of her friends. Not just a coworker. A friend.

“Everyone,” Gil pulls in a deep breath. Steadying himself as he leans down over the table, his head hanging. “Go home.” Before the stuttered complaints and arguments come, he shuts them down giving his head a sharp shake. A clear no. “We’re not thinking straight and I can’t honestly tell you the last time I slept or ate.” He looks up at them, as if to prove some point with his bloodshot eyes. “Go home. Eat. Sleep. We’re no good like this.”

Reluctantly, they do as they are told. Even Malcolm.

“Wait, Bright!”

While the others had filed out, nothing of theirs to gather up Malcolm had faltered with this order before moving to his coat. Delaying him just enough to leave the conference room’s only occupants to be him and Edrisa. “Yeah,” he’s too tired to plaster on a 1,000 wat smile but he offers a small grin. Something comforting.

She smiles sheepishly back and he knows the words that are going to come out of her mouth are going to be an apology before she even parts her lips. “I should have told you sooner,” she admits, ashamed. She should have, he can’t refute that.

As much as he’d like to brush it off, they might be farther than they are right now if she’d spoken up sooner. “I would have done something similar in your position,” he admits honestly, because he would. Making the decision to turn in his own father was hard and he can’t be certain what he would do now, as an adult a whole lifetime later.

He places a hand on her shoulder, “I hope you know, in the future, that you can tell me anything.” He hopes the same notion would be offered back to him if the situation was reversed. “And this isn’t your fault. You couldn’t have prevented any of this.”

They share a knowing smile, silent but full of understanding.

It makes his chest feel tight with a good kind of feeling. He’s still reeling on that high- friendship is still so new to him, better than new car smell- as he steps into his house. The first thing he notices is that Sunshine doesn’t greet him with her normal eagerness. As he whistles out to her, he hears the barrel of a gun cock.

“Ha-Ha-Hand up!”

Malcolm turns around slowly, finding himself looking straight down the barrel of a gun.

Great.

Malcolm raises his hands and aside from the inappropriate thought of I wonder if I’ve set a record for being kidnapped by serial killers he thinks about the tremor in his left hand. What would he do if he was stopped by some trigger happy maniac- make it a yet another serial killer, a citizen engorged on too much True Crime, or some cop- and the saw his hand. The tremor isn’t hard to miss and what if it’s read as guilt? Like he’s got something to hide?

He collects himself, regroups. “You don’t have to do any of this,” but it becomes apparent, sooner rather than later, that what he has to say doesn’t matter. The other man has already made up his mind. “Please-” the world goes black.

Chapter Two to come soon...

[joecial-distancing]

2019 in review in review:

A few years ago I started tracking yearly goals, books read, movies watched etc in a year, along with overview blurbs, in private posts. End of 2019/beginning of 2020 I was really frazzled/burned out about a lot of stuff and just never finished up making the thing. 8 months later, got the urge to read back what I’d got done, then figured I’d maybe go ahead and see about finishing. 

Media tracking below the break. thoughts/blurbs written in 2020 italicized, 2019 not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_____________________________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Didn’t do so hot on explicit personal goals, but had a lot of stuff go ok around them this year.

School’s been fine/better than fine.

Job’s probably the biggest failing. Still with same job, haven’t made the firm moves to jump off, dragging my feet too much on exploring stuff w/ Columbia/NASA GISS.

Did not get better with covid, lol

Dating life still non-existent, but I’ve registered on apps, gotten more comfortable with selfies, improved general social life dramatically, been flirted with, updated my wardrobe, and generally started to get comfortable accepting that I’m a hot person.

Somehow got extremely better during covid.

Books

Grant (finished)

We stan a taurus legend

Guy was good at exactly one job, and was fortunate enough to have been in the right place/right time to get to do it.

Mort (discworld)

Definitely best discworld I’ve gotten to so far.

Don Quixote p. II

Really entertaining in a way that part 1 wasn’t; I was shocked how much the meta element landed for me.

Consider the Lobster (DFW collection)

had zero context on who DFW is/was when I read, and still don’t exactly tbh. Wanted to wait for a pause in The Discourse before diving into more of him, but dunno if I’m ever going to get that.

Crime and Punishment (revisited)

Weirdly didn’t get much more out of this than I did the first time I’d read it

Better Than Sex (HST Gonzo papers)

Xerox/widespread fax accessibility opening citizen access to mass media in a manner really reminiscent of what social media would go on to do at a much larger scale. Has a much more deliberate narrative arc than the other gonzo papers collections, also has that excellent HST richard nixon eulogy

The Brothers Karamazov

SPQR

Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Didion collection)

Pet Sematary

Not my favorite King, but not bad

Sourcery (discworld)

still funny/charming, but Mort really made clear/reminded me how much the hapless sadsack Rincewind mold of protagonist wears on me after a while.

The Devil's Teeth

My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Liked it a lot more once I realized it was doing a Fear and Loathing thing.

Homage to Catalonia

This should be the Orwell that gets taught in schools. Make it a followup to All Quiet on the Western Front or something, jeez.

Lyndon Johnson I

Having now finished all of them, this one’s probably the least-interesting but sets up a bunch of important context that the others still then feel the need to retread.

The Razor's Edge

Recommended to me as a “white guy discovers eastern mysticism” book, but also is more interesting in its treatment of that than I’d expected (helps it was written in the 40s). 

Cat's Cradle

There’s a part in this where Vonnegut’s making fun of people who try to bond with strangers over being Hoosiers, and my dumbass immediate thought was “ooh, Vonnegut’s a hoosier? Me too!”

Lyndon Johnson II

Robert Caro felt compelled to apologize for spending so much words lionizing Coke Stevens, segregationist opponent to Johnson’s senate run. His goal was pretty clearly to show lbj’s lack of campaign charisma by contrast, definitely definitely overcommitted in his own narrativising.

Libra

I want to go back to this after reading some more De Lillo.

Gravity's Rainbow

This book absolutely kicked my ass

Overstuffed and referential in a specific way that really keeps me hooked in instead of put off. When I learn about some piece of cultural context that I retroactively recognize as being referenced in this, I want to go back and reread the entire thing.

From Caligari to Hitler

Kind of fails both as film criticism and cultural analysis, but absolutely made me want to run for the hills when considering current relationship between mainstream movies and demands of pop culture.

I took a class on Weimar cinema in undergrad that I now realize was probably biting pretty heavily from this and never once referenced it.

Movies

Venom

Movie itself is not as fun as the Tom Hardy hype coverage. PG13 was the absolute worst space to aim for, PG- or R- versions of this could have been a blast.

Harryhauser Argonauts

Was tripping when I put this on, and it was all kinds of fun.

2001: a Space Oddyssey

First time seeing this, all-time classic for a reason!

A Good American (the NSA doc)

Dr. Strangelove

Mel Brooks History of the World p. I

Not my favorite Brooks, best joke was at the beginning.

In Bruges

Had been a while since I saw a proper dark comedy.

Spiderverse

Fukkin awesome!

Visually great, and extremely better than usual superhero stuff for being aimed at PG instead of PG-13.

You Only Live Twice

Highlander (Revisited)

I watched The Old Guard on netflix recently and it mostly just made me wish I was watching Highlander instead, because at least Highlander knows exactly how goofy it is

Moonraker

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Much like The Shining, I though this would have been 100% spoiled for me by cultural osmosis, but turns out it wasn’t, and even the scenes I had seen *totally landed* in-context still.

Kung Fu Hustle

Ichi the Killer

Really gross, really fun

Matrix Reloaded (watched thru highway scene) (Revisited)

The highway scene was not nearly as cool as I remembered it being.

John Wick 3*

Probably dumbest plot of all of them, best choreography. I like how every single fight had its own distinct flavor. “Knife museum fight” “horse fight” “halle berry dogs fight” 

Akira

A classic

Pet Sematary * (ugh, bad)

Why can’t john lithgow be in good movies anymore

The Revenant

MCU Spiderman

Fuck this was awful.

MCU Spiderman 2*

Really weird, complete Rorschach Test of a movie: it’d be totally valid to read into this that global warming is Fake News, for instance.

Lmao this was completely awful

Rites

Dredd (non-stallone)

oh hey Lena Headey’s in this

For All Mankind!

Watched in honor of moon landing anniversary

Lion King *

Watched it way too stoned, was like dark side of the moon + wizard of oz except instead it’s a lion king script reading + nature footage edited for lip syncing.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood *

Many scenes of very long setups for really stupid shaggy dog jokes, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. I do kinda want to rewatch now knowing more about manson, which I knew pretty much nothing about beforehand

Blowout

A good john lithgow movie

also I think I like travolta in things.

Lord of War

A Good cage movie

I like when Eamon Walker shows up in stuff.

Taxi Driver

A classic

Snowpiercer

Watched in a bar with only one speaker working, which is the correct way to watch. Weirder and funnier than I thought it was going to be, which still doesn’t make it good, but,

dbz big green dub

Exorcist III

Brad Dourif just tearing it apart

Deep Red (argento)

Suspiria (1977)

Watched the remake in 2020, which was ok, but nothing tops the Goblin score.

Elf Bowling

Thanks, Gnome

Parasite *

Interesting to me that this one seems poised to hang around people’s good esteem for a while

TV

FMA: B

Rick & Morty

Saw some episodes, generally pretty funny, some misanthropy that’s probably appealing to a certain type of teen al a something like House, but ultimately I don’t totally Get the intensity of discourse about it.

Leterkenny

Mob Psycho 100

One Punch Man

Deadwood

Watchmen

Only watched like half of it. Was playing around with a lot of hefty imagery/thematics, but didn’t really seem ready to rise above playing (tho also I feel like it’s weird on some level to *expect* them to rise above that in the first place)

Music

New Avantasia

HEALTH/ show

lol remember concerts

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard/ show

Just learned about King Gizz in 2019 and got completely obsessed with them. I don’t tend to expand my music selection very readily, and a lot of what I currently *do* know is old/inactive stuff, so it was/is incredibly exciting to have an active group with good momentum just immediately win me over like that.

Mistimed the edibles and ended up with a really good finale and a really long subway ride home.

New Yeasayer

Sad they split up

Steve Wilson Tull remixes

Aqualung’s a good album and the sound mixing’s kinda bad, so I liked this project.

Stonefield

Opened for Gizzard. Really good as studying music

Video Games

Civ VI: Gathering Storm

Hades

Turns out Supergiant’s design proclivities all work *extremely well* on a roguelike

Baba is You

Untitled Goose Game

Cute, if maybe a bit overhyped

finally fucking finished Pillars of Eternity

Had fun with it, but too long, and really dour for how long it is.

Pillars II

Kinda drifted off it eventually, but I do genuinely like that the flavor of the fantasy is colonial era rather than medieval.

There’s a Balancing Bastard Factions element where it’s like the writers are just being smartasses after a while. Having to go extremely out of their way to make siding with colonizers seem like a competitive option.

Pokemon shield

Cuphead

pisses me off, which was a nice outlet when I was stranded by flight cancellations during thanksgiving

Celeste

Also very difficult, but really easy to stay patient with, which is nice.

Disco Elysium

None of the discourse made me want to play this, but people talking about the mechanical stuff it did got me extremely interested. Mostly Delivered IMO.

Breath of the Wild

You can approach the nodes of the main quest in the order you choose, and the second one I chose made ninjas start fucking spawning everywhere when I’m just trying to explore, and there’s no way to make it stop. May go back to it one day.

Podcasts

Relentless Picnic Patreon feed

The treats really helped me start distinguishing individual personalities, compared to the regular eps.

Picnic Discord!

<3

FatT Counterweight

Fun, but also I think Mechs are not my shit.

FatT Spring in Hieron/ end of that particular world

8 months since I’ve last tuned into FatT. ah well.

Law School

He’s in everythiiiing!

You Must Remember This: Manson family

*There’s* the context

Misc.

Kindle train guy

Times Square sleeping guy + kids taking selfies w/ him

toddler singing along after Psycho killer (a, ya, ya ya, ya)

drunk and dragged to a drag show

Central park football family

Soft Steel Drum Subway Busker

Weird old lady going to grand central for oysters

2018 in review (cards):

MySelf (CC)

Self: Tower

Blocked: 10 Cups

Ethereal/subconscious: 8 Swords

Material: 3 Swords

Past: Justice

Future: Page Wands

Attitude: Sun

External: King Swords

Hopes/Fears: 5 Coins

Trajectory: High Priestess

Also Self:

Hierophant

7 Cups

7 Coins

Blind Spot:

(self & others): 5 cups    ||    (others not self): High Priestess

(self not others): Moon   ||    (nobody): 3 Cups

[toastling]

Dragons

The Drakan race, colloquially known as dragons, are an ancient and varied species that predates our own by several hundred thousand years. The first known intelligent life on the planet, they were the dominant life forms up until the emergence of human civilization around 15,000 years ago.

Accounts from this time are few and far-between outside of Drakan sources, but according to these sources, the dragons initially tried to coexist peacefully with homo sapiens. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Learning magic by observing the dragons, humans used their own art against them and began driving them out of their cities and territories, claiming their land for our own.

Though we have existed in conflict longer than we’ve coexisted, today, in a post-war world, tensions between humans and dragons are at an all-time low. They live among us in our cities and have largely come out of hiding in an attempt to undo the damage done by D’aagor and to bridge the gap between us. But there remains a long history of violence and genocide that cannot be ignored.

Because of this history, most dragons are still wary of humans, even while living alongside us - and rightfully so. While they are considered a fringe minority, there still exist radical groups who are staunchly ‘pro-human’, and by extension, anti-dragon, practicing acts of violence and terrorism against our sibling species. Similarly, there remain dragons who believe D’aagor was right that we cannot be trusted, and who think our two species should remain separated or who would like to visit some of the pain we inflicted on them in their past on us.

Though the situation appears stable on the surface, events like the Morning Star Massacre serve as a constant reminder that there is still a lot of hate between us and that a utopian society where dragons and humans live together in harmony is still not yet within our grasp. Though great strides have been made, there is still work to be done.

As a species, dragons did not evolve from dinosaurs, but rather from other proto-reptiles sometime during the late Triassic Period. As they have existed longer than us, they are also more advanced than us. However, while we humans rely heavily on our cleverness and our use of tools and technology to survive, the dragons have managed to get by primarily by using magic.

Though they are not technologically inept, and they have some surprisingly advanced scientific knowledge, dragons are the progenitors of all known magical art forms, and are more inclined to the magical arts than humans by nature. Though some ancient accounts of the Drakan people seem to indicate that this may be a manufactured trait, or at least one they expanded on artificially at some point in their species’ past.

Dragons can survive in a wide array of different climates, and are capable of tolerating extremes in temperature and habitat far beyond what any human could withstand. They can be found living anywhere from the bowels of volcanoes to the frozen tundras of the antarctic, managing a comfortable existence even when food or resources are seemingly scarce by way of their magic.

If their claims are to be believed, the Drakan people did a good deal of genetic engineering to their benefit in the past, and the result of this is that they are a more hardy species than they perhaps otherwise would’ve been. And, for whatever they cannot tolerate, they have their magic to fall back on to protect or support them.

Dragons are also a social species, much like humans, and rarely live alone. Wherever you find one dragon, you will likely find more, and families tend to share the same nest across multiple generations. In fact, it’s actually somewhat rare for a dragon to move out of its family nest and into one that belongs to them alone, outside of mates, who are given the option to share nests or to leave and start their own. These days, many dragons elect to share one nest, but this is gradually beginning to change - especially for dragons who have chosen to live in human cities.

Perhaps the most notable thing about dragons, however, is the wide variety of shapes and sizes that they come in. While some of it can be chalked up to adaption and evolution, DNA analysis indicates that while all dragons share enough genetic material now to reproduce with one another without issue regardless of race, these multiple different races may actually be more closely approximated to subspecies. And for some of them, it would appear that their evolutionary ancestors are completely separate entities.

Dragons, then, are a more varied species, genetically speaking, than humans. Because of this, the differences between them can be more than superficial. But, they seem to be better off for this. They are highly adaptable and continue to evolve to this day, just as we do, though in the case of the dragons, this evolution may be more directed by their own hand than nature’s.

Some dragons today even have a sizable chunk of human DNA in their genome, sizable enough that they are able to not only freely shapeshift into us, but reproduce with us, resulting in halflings - an entirely new species distinct from both humans and dragons, but capable of intermingling with either and transforming into either - be it partially or completely - at will.

This human DNA was artificially inserted into their genome fairly recently - during sometime in the late middle ages - in order to help them better blend in among humans and escape persecution. Dragons with this human DNA in their genome are known as ‘Shifters’, and comprise about 40% of all modern day dragons. They are considered to be a new, separate race within the Drakan species, but one which can have the defining traits of any of the other 9 known races.

The current King of Dragons, Sirus Albion, monarch of the Aldarian Empire (the last known Drakan superpower), is a Shifter, and an outspoken proponent for the rights of Shifters within Drakan communities. Until fairly recently, Shifters were seen as traitors to the species, and while they were not met with violence, the opinion of Shifters has historically been rather poor, and they have been treated by purebloods as second-class citizens. This began to change sometime around the mid 1800′s, however, and today, they are seen as being just as dragon as any other race within their rather expansive species.

The lifespan of a dragon greatly dwarfs that of a human, with the oldest known dragons having lived to be over 2500 years old. This upper age limit appears to be universal across all their races, and taking all 10 into account, lifespans tend to average out at around 1800 years. Because of this, dragon culture is remarkably slow to change from a human perspective, while from a dragon’s perspective, human culture moves at a breakneck pace. This has only served to complicate matters when it comes to coexistence.

As far as magic is concerned, all dragons have ‘mana pools’ far greater than that of all but the most extraordinary human mages, but as a trade off, most dragons are limited to magic that is confined to a singular ‘element’. There are 5 basic elements - Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Lightning - but some dragons have elements unique to them or their bloodlines, including the likes of Smoke or Magma. What these elements boil down to is ultimately a limitation on the kind of magic a dragon can freely perform.

The most common magic a dragon can use is called ‘breath magic’, and would be consist of the likes of breathing fire or causing earthquakes with their cries. Though magic can be performed that doesn’t belong to any of the elements, as compared to human mages, dragons have a more difficult time performing these. So typically, dragons require more time, focus, and mana to perform something like a teleportation spell or to create a non-elemental energy construct than a human would.

To help get around this, most dragons try to work these spells into their elements somehow - such as a teleportation spell that allows them to warp around through fire or water-covered surfaces - to enhance utility. But they can also create spells that they can program into crystals colloquially referred to as Draconite.

Draconite is any gem or crystal used by the dragons to perform magic. They serve a wide variety of uses and can come in a wide variety of types, shapes, and sizes, just like the dragons themselves. They can be common quartz or rare precious stones. By manipulating their internal structures with their mana, they are able to turn crystals and gems into magical circuits that can memorize and instant cast any spell programmed into it. Each gem or crystal can only know and perform one spell, but will have a much easier time with it than a dragon and will cast it at no cost to a dragon’s mana.

Most dragon cities rely heavily on draconite to exist, with the Kingdom of Aldaron, capital city of the dragons, using it to keep a good chunk of its structures floating in the sky above as opposed to on or in the ground. Draconite also doesn’t need any external magical input to cast their spells, unless they are specifically programmed to work that way. Instead, most gems and crystals are constantly casting some permanent or passive effect that is self-sustained by energy generated by the gems or crystals themselves.

This energy is not infinite, however, and eventually, it will run out. When this happens, a new draconite gem or crystal will have to be introduced to continue the effect, much like changing the battery in a piece of technology.

[jorjathomas]

Lifestyle trends based on my target audience

When research gaps in the market, I began to think of ways I could get as much content in my zine. Although I had my own personal advice and tips, I also need some content that would help enable more engagement. This is why I have began to look at potential lifestyle trends from the website LSN so I could use in my zine. I also looked into my target audience and how they are researched to behave so I can understand my target audience better. My age group will be people aged 16-24 meaning currently, most of these women fall into Generation Z.

Article 1: How Joy scrolling can uplift brand storytelling (March 2021)

The first article I looked into explains the new aesthetic for story telling. As the pandemic hit, there was a lot of bad news surfaced. Artists took a step forward to create uplifting news and advice that can help distract society and focus on the good temporarily. Ives seen this surge of design all over the internet and a lot of news has been produced in an artistic way to make the articles easier to read. This is a less intimidating approach to new which i like and want to follow for the magazine however i am also weary of the dangers of this. I don't want to distract or wash the important information with pretty art but influence it to be more visible. This article helped influence my decision as this way for creating has become popular in society. A lot of this style seems to be digital however I hope to move this movement into physical consumerism to aid the popularity of magazines.

Here are some examples which were published on the LSN article. (March 2021)

Spreading this positivity across social media has created a lifted and conscious internet algorithm and i think has broken the dark internet cycle of having to look perfect and be ‘amazing’ all of the time. Getting rid of this influencer life and spread important events and news that could educate a person is much more important than having to look a certain way to feel accepted. I wish to do this with my zine and these examples validify my urge to change and create a positive society.

When completing trend research, we looked at trends for the summer and there seemed to be a lot more colour plastered onto life. I can see this now coming into action with this new approach to news by adding sketches and other forms of art into important messages and advice. Just like the Trend project, I hope to bring a euphoric feel and uplift a reader with the assistance of bright colours.

Article 2: Need to know (11/02/21)

The second trend article i looked at involved a lot of information which became popular over the new year. The most distinctive article was about post pandemic self-care. As you should know already, this subject is heavy within my concept so I was interested to see what has changes when taking care of yourselves pre and post covid lockdown. This LSN article states that-  ‘Many US citizens plan to continue engaging in the self-care routines they've established during the pandemic.’

The Need to know article also reports that- ‘According to a recent survey conducted by OnePoll for US wellness software company Vagaro, two-thirds (67%) of people agreed that the routines they developed during the pandemic have become a permanent part of their life. Meanwhile, 69% of respondents say they plan to dedicate more time to self-care in 2021 than they did in the previous year.’

I am happy to see this occurring within peoples life as this is the perfect opportunity to use my zine to spread this awareness. My zine should produce self- care tips that can help them to continue this dedication. Although this is my sole purpose of the zine, I also think I should add personal and education information that can assist the zine in becoming more personal and enjoyable to read as there is more than one category.

Article 3: Reading Market (March 2021)

This was probably the most informative article from the four I looked at on LSN as I was able to understand how much demand there is for reading. There's a obvious increase in digital media so I am interested to develop ideas that could help these statistics transform into the physical media outlets. The LSN articles says that- ‘According to Nielsen, time spent reading books among UK consumers has nearly doubled – from an average of three-and-a-half hours per week to six hours.’ Knowing that there is a growth in reading eases my worry of my magazine not gaining any recognition especially since I plan to print physical copies. They also state that- ‘As well as offering solace, comfort and helping to bolster knowledge, the reading market is adapting. It's embracing digital acceleration through new interactive formats, while also tuning in to the desires of younger generations, namely their ethical mindsets. For brands, media outlets and publishers, even greater disruption awaits a sector that has long been bound to tradition.’

‘We were expecting possibly to see a spike in comfort reads, like cosy crime or light comic novels,’ says Jess Harrison’

From this information, I can see there is a demand in books and most importantly pivotal media. The drastic change from fiction books decreasing and non-fiction becoming popular, proves the fact that people want to become more educated about world matters which they may not have had to do previously. I must remember to add in important information about specific matters I’d like to cover to aid the increase in monumental reads. My only dilemma is the competition with digital reads as screen time as plummeted this past year. Publishing physical copies carries a lot more problems. For example; when I’d publish I would want the copies to be long term for readers, having content that they can keep referring to rather than quick consumption. This would help reduce the carbon footprint of the magazine. I would defiantly want to be a sustainable zine, having more authentic materials that would not only benefit the planet but also add texture to the brand. The article states that- ‘Publishing house Penguin, meanwhile, is taking an environment-first approach to bookselling, targeting the 65% of readers who prefer the tactile experience of a physical book while addressing the impact on the planet. Its Naked Books are printed on demand, use recycled paper, eschew cover art in favour of a simple manuscript, and are delivered using carbon-neutral transport.’

Following up with the digital competitors this fact proves this point. Despite this I can use technology to my advantage when I would publish the book. For example using YouTube or TikTok to improve new customers with the help of algorithms etc.

Above is a digital book company which would be my competitor along side Audio books and Kindle. These have grown in the past year as there is a wider platform for smaller authors to get their books known.

Article 4: Anxiety Rebellion (2018)

Despite this trend report being slightly older than the others, I thought it would be intriguing to see if this article has come into play in the more recent years or if my magazine could do this instead to make this trend more long lasting. This article was under the macro trend category on the content page of LSN meaning this should still be present within todays society and I can apply it to my work. This article provides a insight on the new generation and how they are more diverse in comparison to Millennials creating a new wave of life. I looked into this survey by IPSOS MORI below to get a better understanding of my target market of gen z’s.

This video was attached to this article and it was brought to my attention quickly as I think it perfectly portrays my ideas and thoughts around my idea which you may not have seen yet. The next post will be the full advertisement of this video which was made by ASOS. This advertises Collusion which is a brand created by ASOS that offers clothing and accessories for the new generation. They spread positivity and urge consumers to invert their own style.

Gen z:

A quote from IPSOS- ‘For previous generations of teens, anxiety could be attributed to teenage angst – a temporary cocktail of the hormones and emotions that come with growing up – but Generation Z are fighting this stereotype. Rather than allowing themselves to become trapped in a web of anxiety, teens are speaking out against practices that cause them unnecessary pressure and turning their worries into productivity. In September 2018, a 15-year-old student tweeted ‘stop forcing students to present in front of the class and give them a choice not to’, garnering more than 130,000 retweets and nearly half a million likes.’

As seen from previous events from the past year, teenagers are becoming more vocal on specific matters important to them. I am pleased by this as I think they are breaking this preformed ways of living, how to behave and creating a new and more expressive society.  IPSOS Mori’s recent survey found that, ‘contrary to many clichés about today’s young, our new survey data and analysis reveals a better behaved, more trusting, socially minded and less materialistic generation’. There are many prejudgments about teenagers however, everyone has been one at some stage of their life. The common personality assumptions are laziness, rudeness and anti-social behaviour. Seeing the survey data results and proving these judgments wrong is refreshing. Teenagers actually are more motivated than ever and I hope to give them help. The survey also states that Generation Z are showing new attitudes to their placement in the world. for example, improved self-care solutions, spiritual healing practises, cleaner lifestyles, future-proof financial systems and a new entrepreneurial mindsets. These features have defiantly broke the judgments and are radically different from the actions of the former generations. As you can see in the states on the post- ‘Which noted that illicit drug use by US teenagers, including cocaine and heroin, fell from 22.6% in 2007 to 14% in 2017. The study also found that teenagers are having significantly less sex.’

To conclude this post, researching current lifestyle trends within the current youth market has further developed the urgency for a demand of zines like this. I am excited to begin some creative processes now and really make these ideas come together with the help of this trend research.

[farinzdickinson-grad701]

Pin-Up/Discussion Board Presentation Feedback

*The following is an image of our boards pinned up and ready to be presented to the class:

Following our presentation, we were first provided with feedback from a guest speaker; Graphic Designer, Bryce Groves:

He appreciated the theme being explored, stating that, with his experience living in the UK, often he forgets how lucky they are to have such successful public transport systems in place. New Zealand definitely needs improvement.

He stated that we might want to look more into Auckland’s car culture and the “my car is my castle” stigma. What is the mindset behind individuals attraction and pride towards using their own personal vehicles? independence? control?

Ultimately, he presented we continue considering how we can make people feel the same pride in using public transport.

Following on from all of the presentations, we were provided with anonymous feedback from our peers, written onto sticky notes and placed into small envelopes below our pin ups. This is as follows:

Our view for this task was to loosely talk to our pin ups, providing a brief overview for our project, inclusive of our research question, context, influences, and design approaches. From here, we believed individuals could more closely view our boards for themselves if desired. We hadn’t prepared to present our supporting research and potential with immense depth, being under the impression that this was what the formative assessment would allow us to do.

Consequently, when reflecting upon the above feedback, we realised that for the majority of the comments being made, we had the answers. However, due to our brief overview and the additional time restraints placed on us, we didn’t get to discuss all of these terrains for our project. We will delve into these areas more clearly within the formative presentation in the coming weeks.

We did, however, discuss and reflect upon all of the feedback thoroughly. We also communicated and reflected on the experience clearly with one of our group members; Katie, who was unfortunately absent on the day due to illness. This allowed her to still partake in reflection and ultimately consideration for the comments, which were made by our peers etc.

I have presented and responded to the specific pieces of feedback below:

“Very insightful & interesting. I wonder if there is something that can be more interactive/playful”

-> I appreciated this feedback. Perhaps there could be the potential for greater interaction, however, there is still a lot of engagement, which will be developed through the development of Georgia’s animation.

“Be very aware of the topographical layout of the Auckland region, it’s very hilly so you could play with topography in your design. Don’t forget about the functionality that has to come with the research!”

-> I also really appreciated the feedback/possibilities raised here. Topography could certainly be considered and play a role in our design approach for this project. We also realise the need for some functionality research to exist within the development of this project, however, something which we perhaps didn’t make clear enough, as a result of the above, is that we are focusing purposefully more so on engagement and not reliability for transport. We are focusing more on the design for a new system and not the system itself, which was discussed to be an appropriate approach by our lecturer.

“Why the modernist design aesthetic? Is it to appeal more to senior citizens? What is the distribution of tasks in the group? Some of these collateral are way more difficult than others?”

-> The modernist design aesthetic is based upon the success this movement has had in creating time-less designs and, more specifically, brands throughout history. It develops success through minimalism, clarity, and reduction. This is all content that we would love to have delved deeper into within our research when presenting. Additionally, when presenting, we simply listed the collateral outcomes without identifying which member they each sat under. Some members have taken on more than one design intervention where we felt there may have been an uneven ratio of difficulty. We believe that they have been sufficiently considered and, resultantly, evenly distributed.

“Think of maybe electro-train. More options doesn’t necessarily mean people will use it.”

-> We are definitely still considering the concept of an electric train with a greater focus on sustainability for sure! With regard to the second component of this feedback, we have identified a gap in the transport sector, supported by research. This considers both the success seen overseas as well as the current transport systems in Auckland. Consequently, we believe that our solution is sufficiently supported and that people will engage with it. Once again, there was possibly a lack of emphasis placed on the identified potential for the rail when presenting our boards.

“It seems a bit outside the scope mostly because the railway doesn’t exist yet? Hard to collect data + make it feasible + real?”

-> Once again, we will still be conducting/referring to investigation into the functionality of this system. It may not exist yet but due to the presence of similar systems overseas like the bullet train in Japan, as well as Teslas planning and development for a hyperloop already in motion, there is still certainly data and research available to us. However, we are focusing, again, more so on design for engagement and less so on the system itself.

“If you are branding for a new rail transport system for Auckland - rather than merch for customers - shouldn’t you make uniforms for staff?”

-> We did consider this when brainstorming the possible design interventions, however with the roles/outcomes now having been slit across our group, this really sits under Katie with regard to merchandising.

[yuliiaantonova]

The Californian Ideology

In The Owl of Minerva Flies at Dusk Richard Barbrook revisits his seminal 1990s essays on the Internet: The Californian Ideology and Cyber-communism. He gives short introduction to these critical texts that, though were seen as controversial at the time of publication, seem even more relevant today. Barbrook was firstly amazed by the French version of the Internet, Minitel, when there was still no publicly accessible Internet in his native England. When the Internet did enter the British market, Barbrook realized that he and his future cooperator Andy Cameron did not share the same illusionistic belief in the West Coast neoliberalism promoted by Wired, the most influential magazine on technologies based in San Francisco. Taking inspiration from Marx and Engels’ philosophical ideas, Barbrook and Cameron wrote The Californian Ideology. Barbrook’s second essay, Cyber-communism, was published a few years later and was inspired by Marshall McLuhan’s thought probe style. In it, Barbrook argues that the Internet is not the triumph of capitalism, but on the contrary, the United States’ most communist offshoot.

Image credits: Miguel Ferreira

The Californian Ideology

Being born in the Bay Area, the Californian Ideology incorporates all the controversies that have characterized the region from the 1960s onwards. Beginning as the inevitable clash between neoliberalist, bohemian counterculture and Republican squares, the conflict has developed into an unlikely reconciliation between hippies of San Francisco and yuppies of Silicon Valley. While the first were famous for their freewheeling spirit and humanitarian values, the second were very entrepreneurial and money-centered. What united these two ideologically polarized groups was the shared belief in the emancipating power of technologies and the Internet in particular. However, the groups understood the notion of freedom in two very different ways. Whereas hippies sought the freedom of expression, yuppies – the freedom of the market. Largely inspired by Marshall MacLuhan’s theories, hippies believed that the Internet’s role was to establish the electronic agora, a virtual space with unlimited free speech. Yuppies, on the other hand, longed for the creation of an electronic marketplace with unlimited possibilities to become “successful hi-tech entrepreneurs”.

Governmental intervention in private life and enterprises was seen as hostile by both groups (even though state funding played a crucial role in creating and developing the Internet) but, most importantly, hippies and yuppies were united because of their techno-determinist views (the fatalist belief that technologies shape society and the world as a whole). The New Left and New Rights ideologies eventually merged into the virtual class of independent, well-paid high-tech professionals that combined yuppies’ focus on the market economy and hippies’ free artisanship. One of the most notable representatives of the virtual class is Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple. Jobs came from a counterculture background, including his avid interest in Eastern spiritualism, and eventually became one of the most iconic Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

Jerry Rubin is another example of a hippie-turned-yuppie. More precisely, Rubin, a co-founder of the Youth International Party (YIP), was a yippie and an influential icon for the counterculture radicals. However, as the counterculture movement was coming to an end in the 1970s, Rubin turned to more practical and traditional endeavors by working on Wall Street and creating networking clubs thus epitomizing a yuppie generation.

Jerry Rubin holding a photo of his 1960s look. Image credits: Jakob Renner

Another controversial aspect of the Californian Ideology is its attitude towards the master-slave relationships. This begins with their disputable role model - Jeffersonian democracy which, in turn, reflects the hypocrisy behind the Californian Ideology. Thomas Jefferson presented himself as a verbal proponent for civil rights whereas, in reality, he was a slave owner who focused on economic independence from Europe rather than the personal freedom of American citizens, particularly the black ones. Contemporary California is still characterized by racial fragmentation: the gated communities are divided for whites and poor downtown – for people of color. Cyberspace only escalates this problem and encourages the endurance of master-slave relationships. This all together creates a high-tech version of Jeffersonian democracy and the information apartheid consisting of the information-rich and the information-poor.

The Californian Ideology is a specifically vernacular phenomenon and Europe does not have to live by the West Coast rote. Instead, European governments have to take the lead in managing the Internet while ensuring that all citizens have equal access to all online services, and most importantly, to information.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

OK, I'LL TELL YOU YOU ABOUT COMPANIES

Maybe not all the way to succeed is through following the rules. Raising money decreases the risk of failure.1 It would be pretty straightforward to make a few people think in our insular little Web 2.2 If you want to take longer, of course; when parents do that sort of thing? Why is it that research can be done by any sufficiently rich private citizen. So the best plan would be to try it. If half the startups we fund succeed, then half of you are going to get: either part of a study.3 Sure, go off and get jobs or go to grad school in the fall the startup reads to everyone as a programmer. That would be an extraordinary bargain.4 Another reason parents don't want their kids having sex is that they get paid by getting their capital back, ideally after the startup IPOs, or failing that when it's acquired. When a man runs off with his secretary, is it always partly his wife's fault?

He knows what happened in Viaweb. It has always seemed to me the solution is to take fewer board seats.5 Of course, what shows up on the radar screen may be different from the one after the Internet Bubble. I've found myself nostalgic for the old days, you could presumably get them to stay is to give them enough that they're not tempted by an offer from Silicon Valley VCs that requires them to invest large amounts, and a large class of startups that cause stampedes end up flaming out in extreme cases, partly as a way to make viewers watch TV synchronously instead of watching recorded shows when it suited them. Many students feel they should wait and get a job. Parents know they've concealed the facts about sex, and many at some point, either when you graduate they don't give you a list of all the startups they'd invested in.6 So why shouldn't undergrads be able to say they were funded by Sequoia, even if they don't hit it, they've failed in the only thing that mattered, and you feel you have to understand the forces driving it. You can see the desktop is over. The popular image of a visionary. I suspect they'd have a hard time enforcing this, but that's because it's so important. If anything oversensitive.

Along with such outright lies, there must have been told a lot of people, but in fact it will have near zero effect on Boston when we were based there half the year.7 If you made something no better than GMail, but fast, that alone would let you start to pull users away from GMail.8 But eventually the open source world won, by producing Javascript libraries that grew over the brokenness of Explorer the way a startup feels is at least a roller coaster and not drowning. When it comes to deals, you have to be a large tumor.9 Why isn't there a parallel VC industry that invests in ordinary companies in return for the money? Then you'd really be in good shape. So if it seems too good to be true to think you could grow a local silicon valley by giving startups $15-20k each like Y Combinator there, but it's often frustrating at 15.

But there is no secret cabal making it all work. I thought I was ready to question everything I knew.10 The second will be easier. Till about 2002 you could safely misinterpret it as promising that clock speeds would double every 18 months.11 Raising money is the better choice, because new technology is usually more valuable now than later.12 Acquirers too, while we're at it. 1-n Whenever you're trading stock in your company for something that more than doubles the company's average outcome, you're net ahead.13

Whereas a 25 year old over the 32 year old. They'll edge gradually into a different business without realizing it. If you want to learn what lies are told to kids, the most common reason they give is to protect them.14 As long as you've made something that a few months ago we replaced it with an iMac bolted to the wall. That's an extreme example, of course; when parents do that sort of narrow focus can be. So at the last moment. After we fund startups we work closely with them for three months—so closely in fact that we insist they move to where we are. If you're going to be when you grow up.

I were you I'd look for the people who would have responded to the spam. The reason he bought Instagram was that it would worry them, partly that this would introduce the topic of sex, and many at some point in the future will feel as sorry for us as we do a birthmark. What is it about startups that makes other companies want to buy them?15 Better or worse, it's happening. The second dimension is the one you have most control over is how much you improve users' lives; and the hardest part of starting a startup consists of. You can't use euphemisms like didn't go anywhere. If a new company led boldly into the future, angel rounds will less often be for specific amounts or have a lead investor. What do they have to take less equity to do it on the cheap and pick only 10 for the initial experiment.

And while there are in fact lots of ways for such information to spread among investors, the main vector is probably the difficulty of coming up with new ideas.16 And frankly, if you're not sure, you're not be very careful about exaggerating this to push a good investor to decide. Investors don't like trying to predict how the startups we've funded. Whether you end up among the living or the dead comes down to the third ingredient, not giving up. Sam Altman did. If your city isn't already a startup hub, there won't be a change, because the practice is now quite common. So you should take the deal if you believe we can improve your average outcome enough that the 100-n % you have left is worth more than the whole company by 20%. Sam Altman has it.17

Notes

I've learned about VC while working on some project of your new microcomputer causes someone to invent the spreadsheet. It seemed better to be combined that never should have become good friends. When investors ask you to agree.

Actually it's hard to mentally deal with the New Deal but with World War II to the ideal of a severe-looking man with a wink, to the minimum you need to run a mile in under 4 minutes.

The air traffic control system works because planes would crash otherwise.

Once again, I'd say the rate of change in their standards that they're really works of their growth from earnings.

Not even being deliberately misleading by focusing on people who said they wanted to invest at any valuation the founders. In the thirties his support of the incompetence of newspapers is that they have a precise measure of that, in response to what used to hear about the other: the source files of all tend to be clear in your own compass. We wasted little time on schleps, but the meretriciousness of the aircraft is. The bias toward wisdom in this respect as so many trade publications nominally have a single project is a trailing indicator in any other field, and it has to be younger initially we encouraged undergrads to apply, and the older you get paid much.

Several people have responded to this day, thirty years later Jim Ryun ran a 3 million cap, but they start to feel guilty about it. The New Yorker. Hypothesis: Any plan in which case immediate problem solved, or b to get fossilized. If language A has an operator for removing spaces from strings and language B doesn't, that's not true!

Bullshit in the sciences, even if our competitors hate most? Even as late as Newton's time it filters down to you.

Robert Morris says that clothing brands favored by urban youth do not do this would do for a long thread are rarely seen, so I may try to be clear. If a man has good corn or wood, or at least prevent your beliefs about how to value potential dividends. Max also told me about a related phenomenon: he found it easier for some reason, rather than ones they capture. But what he means by long shots.

Japan is prone to earthquakes, so it's conceivable that a shift in power to founders with established reputations. Many will consent to b rather than just getting kids to be low.

Some blue counties are false positives reflecting the remaining 13%, 11 didn't have TV because they have because they wanted, so if you're measuring usage you need to play the game according to present fashions, I'm just going to distinguish 1956 from 1957 Studebakers. Mueller, Friedrich M. Stir vigilantly to avoid that.

I'm going to get them to represent anything. The expensive part of creating an agreement from scratch.

Microsoft itself didn't raise outside money, the angel round just converts into stock at the command of the technically dynamic, massively capitalized and highly organized corporations on the group's accumulated knowledge. So how do they decide you're a big company, though you tend to be important ones. In my current filter, dick has a significant effect on the summer of 1914 as if having good intentions were enough to incorporate a prediction of quality in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Oxford University Press, 1973, p.

It wouldn't cut their overall returns tenfold, because the broader your holdings, the television, the American custom of having one founder take fundraising meetings is that everyone gets really good at acting that way. What I'm claiming with the issues they have zero ability to change. Wolter, Allan trans, Duns Scotus ca.

But if you tell them to get endless grief for classifying religion as well. That's the difference directly. Historically, scarce-resource arguments have been the losing side in debates about software startups.

Security always depends more on not screwing up than any preceding president, he was notoriously improvident and was soon to reap the rewards.

Articles of this: You may not even in their graphic design, or at least for those founders.

Companies didn't start to feel uncomfortable. If all the rules with the exception of the x company, though sloppier language than I'd use to develop server-based applications.

[marylandprelawland]

The Birth Of Asian Americans

By Charlotte Kim, Johns Hopkins University Class of 2021

June 24, 2020

With the celebration of Juneteenth just passed, I thought about another June 19thevent, one that occurred in 1982 and became the reason why I, and other Americans of Asian descent, call ourselves “Asian American.”That night, in Detroit, Michigan, a man was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat. Why?His killers thought he was Japanese.

The victim was Vincent Chin, a 27-year-old man who would be considered Chinese American today but“Oriental” while he was alive.His killers were white autoworkers, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz. To create a clear picture of their motives, one must understand America in the 80s. Not only was Asian-based racism casual and rampant, there was a normalized disregard of Asian ethnic diversity and an accepted mindset of Asians as exotic, perpetual foreigners. On top of all that was Detroit’s economic climate.

In 1982, Detroit, which had housed the headquarters of the Big 3 auto makers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) for decades, was at the height of a record-setting recession [1]. After the 1979 oil crisis caused gas prices to skyrocket, Americans, looking for smaller more efficient cars, turned to Japanese brands. One of every four cars sold in the U.S. was Japanese, causing anti-Japanese sentiment to grow, especially in Detroit where plants began to lay off tens of thousands of workers.Posters reading “Pearl Harbor II” depicted Japanese bombers dropping cars on North America [2]. Local unions sponsored events allowing workers to smash Japanese cars with sledgehammers at the cost of $1. Japanese cars were vandalized, their owners were shot at on the freeway, and casual anti-Japanese slurs abounded[3]. U.S. Representative John Dingell of Michigan claimed that the chief trouble hurting the auto industry was foreign competition, specifically “the little yellow people” [4].

Later that year, on June 19th, 1982, Ronald Ebens, a Chrysler foreman, took his stepson Michael Nitz, one of many assembly line workers recently laid off by Chrysler, to a strip club. They happened to sit in front of Vincent Chin and his friends, who were there to celebrate Chin’s bachelor party. Ebens was overheard saying racial slurs like “Chink” and Nip” and,eventually, “It’s because of motherfuckers like you that we’re out of work.” A fight broke out, and both parties were ejected from the bar. Ebens then grabbed a baseball bat from his car and started to chase Chin, who fled [5]. Ebens and Nitz drove around in pursuit of Chin for 30 minutes. When they finally found him in front of a McDonald’s, Nitz held down Chin while his stepfather hit Chin’s skull four times [3]. As his cerebral matter and blood pooled in front of him, Chin’s last words were, “It’s not fair.” He died in a hospital four days later, and instead of attending a wedding, his friends and family attended a funeral.

Ebens and Nitz didn’t deny that they had killed Chin, but their lawyers argued that what had happened was a bar brawl, not a hate crime [1]. On March 16, 1983, Wayne County Circuit Judge Charles Kaufman agreed with them; Ebens and Nitz were found guilty of manslaughter, a downgrade from their second-degree murder charge, and were each fined $3,000, $780 in court fines, and three years of probation. To this day neither man has spent a day in prison. Kaufman’s defense of his sentence was,

“These aren’t the kind of men you send to jail [5]. […] We’re talking here about a man who’s held down a job with the same company for 17 or 18 years, and his son who is employed and a part-time student. These men are not going to go out and harm somebody else. I just didn’t think that putting them in prison would do any good for them or for society. You don’t make the punishment fit the crime; you make the punishment fit the criminal” [6].

The outrage among the Asian American community was immediate, although people were unsure whom to turn to. Then, two weeks later,more than a hundred Asian Americans from towns surrounding Detroit met and formed American Citizens for Justice (ACJ)—the first explicitly Asian American grass-roots advocacy effort to extend nationally. Its top priority was to have Chin’s case become the first criminal civil rights case involving someone of Asian descent. [3]. Roland Hwang, co-founder of ACJ, explained that the Vincent Chin case was a wakeup call for anti-Asian racism. It “transformed a biracial discussion on race relations to be a multiracial one” [7].

Over the next few months, public outrage continued to grow. Protests led by ACJ and other groups spurred the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and determine that Ebens and Nitz had violated Chin’s civil rights. Ebens was sentenced to 25 years in prison. According to Renee Tajima-Peña, a professor of Asian American studies at UCLA, “It was the first time Asian Americans were protected in a federal civil rights prosecution. […] Before that, Asian Americans were seen as not being a protected class” [5]. However, in September 1986, a federal appeals court overturned Ebens’ conviction and,in May 1987, he was cleared of all charges. Two months later, Ebens was ordered to pay $1.5 million to the estate of Vincent Chin [8], butas of 2015, Ebens hasn’t paid anything, and that amount has grown to more than $8 million [9].

Now, it may seem that the term “Asian American” originated from this turning point in history. However, it was created 14 years before Chin’s death in 1968 by two college students and even today is used secondarily to the more specific “Japanese,” “Thai,” etc., descriptive. Still, the term has power. Professor Daryl Maeda of the University of Colorado Boulder says that instead of describing family histories or personal identities, “Asian American” expresses the idea that “as Asian Americans, we have to work to fight for social justice and equality, not only for ourselves, but for all of the people around us.”

The cry for social justice and equality after Vincent Chin’s death forged a pan-Asian identity among once disparate groups.In the words of Helen Zia, co-founder of ACJ “…whether people wanted to feel like there was anything in common or not, they could not deny that if they looked that way, they could be killed, whether they were Japanese ethnically or not.” [9].

Before Chin’s death, this sense of pan-Asian identity even in cases of extreme racial injustice, was non-existent. In fact, to avoid being targeted by the same racism and exclusion facing other groups, different Asian communities stayed silent. When the Chinese Exclusion Act was set to be made permanent in 1902, Japanese immigrants didn’t protest. When people of Japanese descent were forced into internment camps during World War II, Chinese- and Korean-Americanswore buttons stating their ethnicity so as not be mistaken as Japanese (pictured below). The narrative is the same— the perceived injustice was being lumped together with another ethnic group rather than the injustice itself [9].

The term “Asian American” was created as a way to bring Asians into the American political conscience as a collective community (as well as a pushback against the derogatory blanket term, “Oriental”). According to Zia, “To the rest of America at the time, Asian people didn’t exist in the popular consciousness. […] They were like, ‘Oh, where did these people come from? What – they’re organizing, they have a voice, they’re talking about racism? What – they speak English?’ These were all the reactions we got…It was a teaching process” [9].

And it still is a teaching process.Although the diversity of Asian ethnicities in the United States needs to be respected and acknowledged, there is a common experience among all Americans of Asian ancestry of being lumped into one homogenous group facing prejudice and harassment. As a community, Asian Americans can come together to multiply their presence in the American conscience and thus shine light on the diversity of problems facing individual Asian ethnicities and strike down the idea of Asians as a homogenous, foreign, “model minority”.

________________________________________________________________

[1] Wu, Frank H. “How the racist killing of Vincent Chin sparked the Asian-American movement.” South China Morning Post, 20 June 2020, https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3089541/how-racist-killing-vincent-chin-sparked-asian-american-movement.

[2] Counts, Glenn, et al. “Detroit: The New Motor City.” EDGE, Ethics of Development in a Global Environment, https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/citypoverty/hdetroit.htm.

[3] Wu, Jean Yu-Wen Shen, and Chen, Thomas C. Asian American Studies Now: A Critical Reader. E-book, Rutgers University Press, 2010.

[4] Clines, Francis X., and Weaver Jr., Warren. “Briefing.” nytimes.com, New York Times, 16 Mar. 1982,https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/16/us/briefing-253650.html.

[5] Little, Becky. “How the 1982 Murder of Vincent Chin Ignited a Push for Asian American Rights.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 5 May 2020, https://www.history.com/news/vincent-chin-murder-asian-american-rights.

[6] Cummings, Judith. “Detroit Asian-Americans Protest Lenient Penalties for Murder.” nytimes.com, New York Times, 26 Apr. 1983,https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/26/us/detroit-asian-americans-protest-lenient-penalties-for-murder.html.

[7] Wang, Frances Kai-Hwa. “Who is Vincent Chin? The History and Relevance of a 1982 Killing.” NBCNews.com, NBC Universal, 15 June 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/who-vincent-chin-history-relevance-1982-killing-n771291.

[8] “Vincent Chin Timeline.” Vincent Who?,Tony Lam Productions, https://www.vincentwhofilm.com/timeline/.

[9] Kandil, Caitlin Yoshiko. “After 50 years of ‘Asian American,’ advocates say the term is ‘more essential than ever’.” NBCNews.com, NBC Universal, 31 May 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/after-50-years-asian-american-advocates-say-term-more-essential-n875601.

[10] Wu, Frank H. “Why Vincent Chin Matters.” nytimes.com, New York Times, 22 June 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/23/opinion/why-vincent-chin-matters.html.

[minnesotaprelawland]

COVID-19 AND VOTE-BY-MAIL

By Farhin Sayeed, University of Minnesota Twin-Cities Class of 2021

June 13, 2020

The state of California has arguably been at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of May 29th, 2020, California has almost 104,000 total cases and over 4,000 deaths (1), placing the west coast state within the top5 states being hit the hardest by the virus (2). This public health situation along with California being the most populous state in the country has caused its state government to have much difficulty trying to keep regular state protocols functioning properly.

Governor Gavin Newsom and his administration have taken strict measures to curb the spread of the virus, beginning with his declaration of a State of Emergency on March 4th, 2020. He then subsequently ordered the first statewide Stay-At-Home order in the nation on March 19th, 2020. On May 8th, 2020, Governor Newsom declared that California had entered Phase 2 of 4 of  its processes of opening the state back up again. The same day,Governor Newsom made the controversial  announcement that due to the current State of Emergency he declared two months prior, he would be issuing Executive Order N-64-20 in order to help continue combating COVID-19.

EXECUTIVE ORDER N-64-20

Executive Order N-64-20 is twofold. First, it “orders the automatic distribution of vote-by-mail ballots for the November 3, 2020 general election to every person registered to vote in California.” (5) Second, “…Executive Order N-64-20 claims to give Governor Newsom the discretionary power to decide whether and how in-person voting will be made available for the November election, and how other details of the November election will be implemented.” (5)

Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the chief elections officer of California, issued the statement that "California will not force voters to choose between protecting their health and exercising their right to vote," (3) shortly after Governor Newsom’s order.

This “vote-by-mail” order hold great precedential value because a vote-by-mail ballot system for an election that automatically distributes ballots to every single registered voter has virtually never been done before. Moreover, the second part of executive order N-64-20 grants Governor Newsom broad authority to change and control the electoral process. Which is especially controversial due to the fact that he would gain this power during a general election.Therefore, how he exercises this power could potentially have a large effect on the outcome of various influential elections. This is something that Republicans fear greatly because it could swing an election in the favor of Democrats, the party Governor Newsom and his administration aligns with.

The plethora of dangerous possible consequences, constitutional violations, and partisanship of Executive Order N-64-20are the basis for the lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee (RNC), National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), and the California Republican Party (CRP) on May 24th, 2020, against Governor Gavin Newsom and Secretary of State Alex Padilla. The 27-page suit encompasses a vast amount of arguments and evidence that the GOP groups believe will be enough to convince the United States District Court of the Eastern District of California to pass judgement in their favor, declare the vote-by-mail order unconstitutional, and block Executive Order N-64-20. (For the purposes of this article, “vote-by-mail” order and Executive Order N-64-20 are synonymous)

RNC V. NEWSOM

VOTER FRAUD

The suit begins with the dangers of shifting to by-mail voting without the proper safeguards in place. From the get-go, it is evident that the GOP groups heavily disfavor this form of voting but do emphasize how it can be done with necessary measures to prevent voter fraud, which they view as the ultimate threat to the right to vote.

The plaintiffs cite The Commission on Federal Election Reform, a bipartisan commission chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and James Baker, which the Supreme Court has referenced often. The commission explains that absentee voting is the “largest source of potential voter fraud.”  Moreover, the GOP groups draw upon one specific quote from a federal court decision in the form of an interesting simile in order to further their assertion that vote-by-mail methods invite fraud. “absentee voting is to voting in person as a take-home exam is to a proctored one.” Griffin v. Roupas, 385 F.3d 1128, 1131 (7th Cir. 2004).

Although absentee voting methods are not a new phenomenon because certain states, counties, and cities have used it in addition to in-person voting, its use in the past has brought the method’s vulnerabilities to light. These vulnerabilities include ballots being mailed to the wrong address, ballot interception, voter intimidation, and even vote buying schemes. The daunting factor that these weaknesses share is that they are all extremely difficult to detect by the proper authorities. Thus, they do pose a real risk. The troubles of these risks have been seen in places that employed by-mail voting like Clark County, Nevada. Within the first week of voting, photos arose that showed many ballots “tossed in trash cans and littering apartment mailbox areas.” (5) In New Jersey, a city council election noticed that “hundreds of mail-in ballots were collected from single mailboxes. In one case, 366 ballots were picked up from the same mailbox.”(5)

The suit also warns of the fraudulent act of “Ballot Harvesting” which is the practice of having someone who is neither the voter or election official collect a voter’s ballot and to bring it to a polling location. This third party can collect however many ballots they want and are usually volunteers or campaign workers who aim to ease the voting process for people. Although at face-value ballot harvesting may seem like a noble task to complete for your fellow citizen, the GOP groups argue that “Ballot harvesting gives third parties who may be completely unknown to both the voter and election officials the opportunity to potentially tamper with absentee ballots” in any one of a number of ways. (Morley, Redlines 5.) For instance, “[h]arvesters may pressure voters into giving them blank ballots or casting their votes a certain way,” or, “[w]hen a voter has voted for the ‘wrong’ candidate, the harvester may surreptitiously change the vote, include additional votes to void the ballot, or simply dispose of the ballot rather than returning it.”(5) For these reasons, the GOP groups argue that Executive order N-64-20 would be valid only if proper safeguards against the obvious dangers of vote-by-mail and the threat of ballot harvesting were in place. One safeguard the plaintiffs propose is to only mail ballots to active voters, active voters are typically defined as registered voters who have voted recently and do not give election officials reason to think that they have moved. Another necessary measure could be the requirement of a witness signature or other identifying information for a ballot.

OUTDATED AND INNACCURATE VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASES

The RNC, NRCC, and CRP stress that these types of safeguards are extremely necessary because of the outdated and inaccurate nature of voter registration databases in the country. A 2012 study conducted by the Pew Center on the States concluded that ““[a]pproximately 24 million—one of every eight—voter registrations in the United States are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate”; “[m]ore than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters”; and “[a]pproximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state.”

California in particular has a questionable track record with keeping their voter registration databases updated and accurate,which is why the GOP groups’ suit addresses this heavily. “In early 2019, the State and the County of Los Angeles were forced to settle a lawsuit after Judicial Watch exposed that L.A. County had on its voter rolls more than 1.5 million potentially ineligible voters—meaning that “more than one out of every five LA County registrations likely belong[ed] to a voter who has moved or is deceased.” (5)

Furthermore, according to Election Integrity Project California, 13 California counties have more registered voters than eligible citizens. California also passed Assembly Bill 1921 in 2016, which made it legal for anyone to collect and turn in an absentee ballot for another person. The instant court could see this piece of legislation as another avenue of voter fraud because the plaintiffs will likely argue thatAB 1921 increases the risk of ballot harvesting. One peculiar instance the plaintiffs use as evidence for California’s weak voter registration network is how one resident was able to continuously register his 4 dogs and deceased fatherwithout detection for almost a decade. Although it is not easy to maintain an errorless voter registration database, especially for a state with almost 40 million people, the US District Court of the Eastern District of California will likely take these factors into consideration.

VOTE BY MAIL LEGISLATION

Current vote-by-mail laws do exist in California. Of these laws, two in particular are referenced in the lawsuit in order to contribute to the GOP groups’ reasoning that Executive Order N-64-20 is invalid. California Election Code section 3000-26 allows voters to vote by mail as an alternative to voting in person. The law requires an application to be submitted in order to receive a vote-by-mail ballot. The application can be submitted in written form, electronically, or by phone. Section 3000-26 also allows voters to request a permanent vote-by-mail status if the desire to continue voting with this method. The suit likely cites this election law in order to persuade the court that Governor Newsom’s vote-by-mail order possesses unnecessary elements due to the vote-by-mail system that is already in place. The other election law referenced is California Election Code section 4000-07. This Californian election law is uniquely important because any election that is conducted “wholly by mail” (5) is under its purview. “An election may be conducted wholly by mail if a local governing body authorizes it; the election is held on a statutorily specified date;and the election either involves fewer than 1,000 voters or concerns certain special tax, assessment,expenditure, or water-related issues.”(5) The GOP groups plausibly decided to include this election law in their suit to help convince the court that the restrictions in the election law were set to deter fraud. Thus, since Executive Order N-64-20 does not share these restrictions to curb fraudulent activity, it must be stuck down.

CONSTITUTIONAL CONCERNS

Section 5 of the lawsuit raises important federal and state election constitutional concerns. These constitutional claims could play a large role in the court’s decision because a violation, especially one that violates the federal constitution, would give much reason to the court to decide against Governor Newsom and Secretary of State Padilla. The central federal constitutional claim regards the Elections Clause in article 1, section 4. “The Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution states that “[t]he Times, Places, and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.” (LINE 97) Because the Elections Clause reserves the power to set the time, place, and manner for congressional and presidential elections to the state legislature, the GOP groups assert that a state executive like Governor Newsom cannot exercise that power, especially if it conflicts with existing legislation. The state constitutional claims lie in the California Constitution and  expand on the arguments against allowing the governor to alter legislation. Article 2, section 4 states that “[t]he Legislature shall prohibit improper practices that affect elections.” Cal. Const. Art. II, §4 (LINE 101) Again, this claim links back to the ideal that elections and their processes are matters for the legislature to decide. Next, “[T]he Governor is not empowered, by executive order or otherwise, to amend the effect of, or to qualify the operation of existing legislation.” 63 Cal. Op. Att’y Gen. 583 (1980) This claim is very crucial because Governor Newsom likely knew that he would face backlash for possibly altering existent legislation by issuing Executive Order N-64-20. Which is exactly why he claimed authority for doing so by citing 3 different California statutes.

GOVERNOR NEWSOM’S LEGAL JUSTIFICATIONS FOR EO N-64-20

·       California Government Code 8567

o   Section 8657 allows the Governor to issue “orders and regulations” that “have the force and effect of law.” The reason Governor Newsom chose to claim authority for his executive order from section 8567 is likely because executive orders usually fall under this government code. When Governors issue orders like mandatory curfews, state statutes like section 8567 are cited often. Nonetheless, the key element of section 8567that the GOP groups emphasize is “…these orders are not themselves legislation, and they cannot contradict existing legislation.” If the US District Court of Eastern District of California accepts this argument, Governor Newsom would lose considerable justification for discounting valid legislation.

·       California Government Code 8627

o   Section 8627 grants the Governor of California more broad authority by allowing him or her “…to commandeer state “agencies” and exercise the state’s “police power.” The vague nature of this statute is interesting to consider because Governor Newsom does not specify which state agencies he is commandeering and how he is doing so. Police power is arguably even more broad and vague because“In United States constitutional law, police power is the capacity of the states to regulate behavior and enforce order within their territory for the betterment of the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of their inhabitants.” (4) Clearly a Governor’s police power encompasses many features that are conditional, therefore Governor Newsom may have a difficult time proving why the exercise of his police power is necessary. Especially if he chooses to focus on the public health aspect when in-person voting centers will still remain open during the election in November.

·       California Government Code 8571

o   Section 8571 is arguably the most important statute that Governor Newsom claims authority for Executive Order N-64-20 from because section 8571 grants special powers to the governor during a State of Emergency. As previously mentioned, Governor Newsom declared a State of Emergency on March 4th, 2020. There is virtually no legal opposition to that declaration so arguing his justifications for it is a moottask. Thus, the court’s decision on whether Governor Newsom logically drew power from section 8571 will be critical in their overall decision. During a State of Emergency, Section 8571 allows the governor to “suspend any regulatory statute, or any statute prescribing the procedure for conduct of state business …where the Governor determines and declares that strict compliance … would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the emergency.”In simpler terms,section 8571 grants the governor the authority to suspend a regulatory statute for state business when he or she determines that abiding the statute would prolong a State of Emergency after its declaration.

8571 VIOLATIONS

The GOP groups choose to focus on section 8571 because they view the statute as one that Governor Newsom could argue in his favor well to the court. One could easily presume section 8571 is more than enough to prove that Governor Newsom had the authority to issue Executive Order N-64-20, and this is exactly why the GOP groups take a narrow approach to arguing that the vote-by-mail order exceeds the scope of section 8571 in 4 ways.

1)     First, they argue that Election laws are not regulatory statutes, do not concern the conduct of state business, and that section 8571 allows suspending procedures NOT the replacement of them.

2)     Second, Executive Order N-64-20 purports to suspend election laws in November, which is months away. Governor Newsom himself announced that California will enter phase 3 of 4 by the first week of June. The GOP groups argue that Governor Newsom clearly does not intend for California to remain under a State of Emergency by election time. Since this is the case, the GOP groups stress it is nonsensical for Governor Newsom to issue his vote-by-mail order months in advance. Any authority from section 8571 disappears if a State of Emergency does not exist.

3)     Third, the GOP groups argue that the Governors ability to “determine and declare strict compliance” of existing election laws would in turn hinder mitigation of COVID-19/the State of Emergency was exceeded. This is an important argument because it is without a doubt that the court will question the excessiveness of this action taken by the Governor because in-person voting remains an option. The court will very likely ask why in-person voting is still a choice if in-person voting would hinder the mitigation of the virus so much.

4)     Fourth and lastly, section 8571 allows the Governor to suspend state statutes NOT the state constitution. As mentioned before, the California Constitution strictly states that the legislature is in charge of the election process. Which is why the GOP groups argue that Governor Newsom cannot suspend that law because it is constitutional, not statutory.

14TH AMENDMENT

Section 6 of the suit shines light on more constitutional concerns that all regard the 14th amendment to the U.S Constitution. These concerns have the potential to be weighed very heavily because of the strong precedential value the 14th amendment holds. This amendment was enacted in 1868 during the reconstruction era after the civil war and is a pillar of how the country practices democracy through voting. The GOP groups begin addressing 14th amendment concerns by referencing the case Reynolds v. Sims. In their decision, the then-judges of the US Supreme Court stated that 14th amendment is “the right of all qualified citizens to vote, in state as well as in federal elections.” Reynolds v. Sims Furthermore, the Supreme Court made the crucial point that the 14th amendment protects against voter fraud because the right to vote includes the right to have your vote counted at “full value without dilution or discount.” The GOP groups use this case law to argue that denials and practices that invite fraud, which results in the “dilution or discount” of people’s votes,violates the 14th amendment.

Obviously, no election or voting system can be 100% free of voter fraud, especially with very large elections like the upcoming presidential one in November. This is likely why the GOP groups chose to include case law from Andersen v. United States, decided in 1974. In that case’s decision the court stated when it comes to voter fraud, whether the dilution or discount of the vote is “in greater or less degree is immaterial” Andersen v. United StatesThe GOP groups including this in the suit is ample evidence that they will try to persuade the court that it does not matter if an election system cannot be free of fraudulent activity, in fact this is exactly why any form of voting that makes voter fraud more inevitable should be struck down.

EQUAL PROTECTIONS CLAUSE OF THE 14TH AMENDMENT

Lastly, the GOP groups ask the court to consider the 14th Amendment further by asserting that Executive Order N-64-20 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Equal Protection Clause of the U.S constitution requires states to “avoid arbitrary and disparate treatment of its electorate.” In other words, The Equal Protection Clause guarantees that every person’s vote is counted equally. Which is why in the infamous case Bush V. Gore, the US Supreme Court declared that “The use of “standardless” procedures can violate the Equal Protection Clause. Any election system that possesses procedures that do not “ensure … equal application” (Bush v. Gore) of voting could be seen as a violation of the uniform treatment required by the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Governor Newsom will have to provide convincing evidence that his vote-by-mail order will count all votes equally in November.

In summary, the lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, and the California Republican Party against Governor Newsom of California and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla for the issuance of Executive Order N-64-20, which requires every registered voter in California to be automatically mailed a ballot for the election in November 2020 has 4 causes of action.

·       Count I is the violation of the Elections Clause (42 U.S.C. § 1983)

·       Count II is the violation of the Electors Clause (42 U.S.C. § 1983)

·       Count III is the violation of the Right to Vote (42 U.S.C. § 1983)

·       Count IV is the violation of the Equal Protection Clause (42 U.S.C. § 1983

In addition to asking the court to decide in their favor, the GOP groups ask the court to:

·       Declare that Executive Order N-64-20 violates the Elections Clause, the Electors Clause, the 14th Amendment

·       To grant a permanent injunction prohibiting Executive Order N-64-20 from being implemented and enforced in November

·       To grant a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction blocking Executive Order N-64-20 from being implemented and enforced while their case is decided by the US District Court of the Eastern District of California.  

It will be extremely interesting to see how this case unfolds within the next 5 months in what has the potential to be one of the most influential presidential elections in history. Especially during a time of intense political polarization, strong civil unrest, and a global pandemic.

________________________________________________________________

Farhin Sayeed will be graduating from the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities with a degree in political science & business law this spring. He is originally from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, loves to play guitar, enjoys skateboarding, and is an avid social activist. He plans to attend law school and obtain a dual J.D/M.P.P degree so he can possess the legal and political skills to help his fellow citizens, and eventually create his own charitable organization.

________________________________________________________________

(1)    team, S. of C. alpha.ca.gov. (n.d.). COVID19.CA.GOV. Retrieved from https://covid19.ca.gov/

(2)    The New York Times. (2020, March 3). Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html

(3)    Phillip, A. (2020, May 25). RNC sues California to halt vote-by-mail for November general election. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/24/politics/republican-national-committee-california-vote-by-mail-lawsuit/index.html

(4)    "Police Power". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2007-02-08.

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6927648/RNCvNewsom.pdf