#roi is panther coded

[just-a-ghost00]

Your future spouse : Who? Where? When?

Group 1 - Van Gogh

Letters : E M D E R U O E P W T Y

Words/signs/names : deputy, Rudy, Emery, Roy, power, true, Morty, drum, poetry, proud, meet, WED, route, pure, Tower, remedy, dom, prom, word, rude, drop, rope, dye, eye, TUE, wet, pet, pouty, muted, dope, prude

Recommended songs : Fly me to the moon Frank Sinatra, Sweater weather The Neighborhood, Snooze AGUSTD, MIA Bad Bunny ft Drake

WHO? - White Numen / Ask body / Magnesite : get your mind right.

Oh this person is powerful and stubborn AF. The bull and the panther may be spirit animals of this person. If not, they like these animals or their personality matches those. In terms of astrological placements, we have Taurus and Aquarius, as well as Earth signs in general (Taurus Virgo Capricorn). They are a boss ass B. They are masculine. Like reaaaallyyyy masculine. They have BIG DADDY energy. Jupiter might be very well aspected in their chart or the sign in which Jupiter is in their chart matches well with the energy of Jupiter. That would be Sagittarius, Pisces and Cancer. This person is a creator and a good manifestor. They think a lot. They are cerebral. They may strugg with overthinking but their mind reminds their best asset. They are the epitome of brains are sexy. This person would know everything from ancient languages and art skills to the newest knowledge in technology and medicine. They can do anything and everything they set their mind to. In terms of their looks, they are definitely tall. They would tower over you and lift you up like you were a feather. They are strong in all aspects. Their torso is bigger than the lower part of their body. They have broad shoulders, big hands, big forehead and nose, prominent jawline, regardless of their gender. Maybe for the women identifying people the bum and chest would be bigger than other features of their body. And for the men identifying people, the pectorals would be juicy. With the ask body card, this tells me this person works out a lot. They are also very spiritual. They give off a lone wolf energy when really this person has a lot of love to give they just know what they want and they have strong boundaries. So they would never let themselves be walked over or let in people who would bring more BS than anything. This person would keep you on your toes for sure. I feel like they would have a bold fashion style. Something that stands out from current trends or that is unusual for people who are like them. For instance, let’s say this person is quite old, maybe you’d expect them to wear suits and fancy watches. But instead this person has a very casual look or dresses like the younger people. They could be your boss or at least someone who has a higher status than yours. It wouldn’t surprise me if they already had kids. They are well established.

WHEN? - Page of pentacles / Higher perspective / Bismuth : rewrite your code with rainbows.

In terms of timing, the page of pentacles represents several months. Now if we look at the meaning of the page of pentacles, it talks about education. The page is a learner, a student in matters of material aspects. Combined with the Higher perspective card, this definitely gives me the feeling of going back to college. Or getting a training in something very specific. Potentially something involving spirituality. Like taking reiki courses or tarot reading lessons. So I feel this person is a teacher or a mentor to you. With the Bismuth card, I feel like this person will be opening doors for you. And that could be litteral because the door of my room opened out of nowhere as I was trying to get more information from the card. Higher perspective is related to Ether. This means to me that you will meet at a point in your life when you wish to evolve, to embody a better version of yourself and seek to gain knowledge or power.

WHERE? - King of cups / The Explorer / Malachite : claim your success.

We already had kind of a hint with the previous section. And I feel like it’s further confirmed by these cards, especially the Malachite card. Now if we talk about geographical indicators, water seems to be relevant. Also on the Explorer card there’s a compass. So it tells me that where you meet them, there is either a plan or something related to navigation or orientation. Also when looking at this card I heard "you already know where to find them". So it gives me the strong feeling that many of you already know this person and already met them. It’s just that you didn’t consider them your FS. Also the malachite card mentions the workspace. So you could work together. Or you’re doing the same job and you go to them for advice. Also the king of cups card depicts a man sitting on a thrown spilling water in an ocean of sharks. So this also tells me there’s a lot of competition where you meet. And it’s like this person is trying to educate or heal the sharks somehow.

Group 2 - Monet

Disclaimer : I kept confusing you with group 1 and there were cards of group 1 that kept wanting to come into your reading so you might want to check group 1 as well. I think there are two people that have the potential of being your future spouse.

Letters : L I S G E S T M S I E K

Words / signs / names : Selim, time, lies, mess, Tess, seek, kisses, misses, meets, lists, sees, skies, ski, Mike, miles, gems, glee, mist, melt, GSM, kit, leek, miel (French for honey), TMI, MIT, Stiles, geek

Recommended songs : Easy Camilla Cabello, Life goes on AGUSTD , Hall of fame Stray Kids

WHO? - Ace of pentacles / The Seeker / Aragonite : find your center.

Earth signs are being shown here. On the ace of pentacles card there are 8 hands reaching for the pentacle. So your person is wanted by many. They feel younger than you. They are possibly a student or a young active. With the Seeker card I feel like this person hasn’t found their true calling yet. They feel lost and out of balance. Maybe they got a job that doesn’t make them happy or their studies aren’t as fulfilling as they thought. They are super shy and reserved. They may appear as cold when they are just a softy. They have trust issues. They feel really cute to be honest. But also they are lonely. It’s like they keep searching for the one, when they have so many prospects. I feel like they have a lot of high standards and they know that other people don’t match the vibe they’re going for. I feel like this person only has eyes for you but you don’t see them. Again, this group knows their FS already. In terms of physical traits, I feel like this person has good hands. But their body might look out of shape a little. They’re more on the chubby side. They look comforting. Like the type of person that would give the best hugs. Their gaze is really soft. Like a puppy. They feel pretty needy tbh. But not the suffocating type of needy. They just want to be loved and crave for connection. Someone that will share their interests and values. Who will match their crazy and feel safe in their presence. I feel like this person has faced a lot of rejection in the past and they kinda are stuck with this idea that no one wants them. They are an introvert. They like to isolate and be in their bubble. I feel like people have an idea of them that is completely false. Like maybe they think this person is a flirt and parties all night when in truth they’re a couch potato and a gym rat. They only go out of truly needed and they would rather be alone than surrounded by tons of people they barely know. This person wants a family of their own so bad. Like a big family with the white dog and pretty little house. They’re a hopeless romantic and an idealist.

WHEN? - 2 of pentacles / Reclaim / Scolecite : dive into your dreams.

On the 2nd of a month, two months from now. It feels like you may be going back and forth with this person before fully knowing them or being close to them. There’s a chase and run type of energy to this connection. You’ll meet them when you or they are reclaiming your/their power and changing something in your life. So moving houses, changing jobs or getting back to studying. When you start chasing your dreams. Also you could meet them in your dreams before meeting them in person. During any earth sign season.

WHERE? - Queen of pentacles / Power / Amethyst : get drunk on your highest self.

In a places of power or worship such as Cathedrals and Churches, Mosques, temples, town halls, or in a place of education. Also monuments came to mind. Like the Eiffel Tower, the leaning tower of Pisa. There were many stars on the Queen of pentacles’s dress so Europe came to mind. The US and the UK as well. Other places include : Siberia, the Far East, Brazil, Uruguay, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Mexico, Australia, South Korea, India, Austria, Germany, Italy, Canada.

Group 3 - Hokusai

Letters : C Q T E C S L I G A L I

Words/signs/names : Ali, Alice, Alicia, Cecilia, Scilla, Giles, Gael, Gaelic, sigil, sea, sail, Lisa, aigle (French for eagle), Elisa, Elias, Cali, cast, list, tails, IQ, Tesla, sage, Isac, Lila, lilac, cis, alt, ciel (French for sky), call, site, Lise, teal, lace, acts, sell

Recommended songs : Mon amour GEMINI , 3:00 AM Finding hope , Dark on me Starset

WHO? - 6 of pentacles / The Revolutionary / Honey calcite : break through your limits.

First of all, your person might have a white dog. Second of all, they have tanned skin. Thirdly, they could work in law enforcement or they are studying at Law school. They could be doing humanitarian work. They are balanced and grounded. Both in their attitude as well as their personality. They know when to give and when to take, when to talk and when to listen, when to act and when to observe. With the revolutionary card, this tells me that they are pretty determined and ambitious. This person likes to stand for greater causes. So you’d bet that they advocate for children and women rights, for the LGBTQIA+ community, for the respect of nature and animals as well as the end of wars. The signs of Taurus, Aries, Sagittarius and Leo are significant. This person is very sweet. Almost to the point where sometimes they put others needs before their own. Especially if it’s about being fair and giving retribution for wrongs caused by previous generations. This person feels like they have a debt they need to pay. Also they might have suffered abuse in the past so they want to have retribution for them but also for the people who were wronged like they were. In terms of physical traits, their body is harmonious. So for female presenting individuals, they would have kind of an hour glass body type. Same for male presenting individuals. This person feels gender fluid. They are a minimalist. They like to keep things simple when it comes to the way they look. Honestly if they could be naked on a daily basis they would be. They’re in touch with nature. Animals love them. They have a very comforting aura. This person really is as sweet as honey. They could be a creator, a designer, a public speaker. They like to use their voice and their status to raise awareness about things they care about and value. They could be a teacher as well or someone that works with kids.

WHEN ? Page of swords / Paradox / Hematite : align with your wholeness.

When stars align. When you finally let your guards down. When you align with your calling, your soul mission. During any air sign season. Within a few weeks from now. When you’re on your period. When you let go of your old beliefs on love or when you move on from a past love, an unrequited love or a crush that would never have evolved into anything more than friendship. When your spiritual beliefs change drastically (i.e. you decide to convert to a new faith, you no longer believe in God, you choose to follow a spiritual path).

WHERE? - Queen of swords / Get wild / Emerald : point your heart toward grace.

In terms of countries, we have : Colombia, Brazil, Zambia, Zimbabwe, USA, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Australia. Now, in terms of where you could meet, I'm not getting much from these cards. It's like your FS wants to play hide and seek. They're not really comfortable sharing where they are. The only thing I'm picking up on is somewhere where the law is involved. So it could be an administration, a police station, law school, a lawyer's office, a prison. With the get wild card, the only hint I can get is that it can get intense. I asked for a card to clarify the Queen of swords and I got the 9 of pentacles. So law and money are involved. So maybe a bank or an insurance company. Or somewhere businesses and entrepreneurs go to get advice on how to invest their money or know if something they intend to do is legal or not.

[crimsonender]

Lily. You are no match for the supreme powers of my evil autism. Here is a non exhaustive list of well written, complicated but inarguably villainous characters the audience is intended to and does sympathize with!

Josh Kiryu (The World Ends with You)

V (V for Vendetta)

Light Yagami (Death Note)

Crowley (Supernatural)

Sephiroth (Final Fantasy)

Ryo Asuka (Devilman)

Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts)

Azula (Avatar the Last Airbender)

Jennifer Check (Jennifer's Body)

Killmonger (Black Panther)

Ben Linus (Lost)

Ashley Graves (The Coffin of Andy And Leyley)

Andrew Graves (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley)

Poison Ivy (DC)

Gollum/Smeagol (The Lord of the Rings)

Doctor Freeze (DC)

Satan (Paradise Lost)

Makima (Chainsaw Man)

Hades (Hadestown)

Eric (Phantom of the Opera)

Sister Jude Martin (American Horror Story)

Johnny (Johnny the Homicidal Maniac)

Miranda Priestly (The Devil wears Prada)

Sweeny Todd (Sweeny Todd)

Velma Kelley (Chicago)

John Gaius (Locked Tomb)

Solas (Dragon Age)

Griffith (Berserk)

Javert (Le Miserables)

Starscream (Transformers)

Mystique (X-Men)

Zim (Invader Zim)

Frankenstein's Monster (Frankenstein)

Vriska Serket (Homestuck)

Lotor (Voltron Legendary Defenders)

Elphaba Thropp (Wicked [Book Only])

Simon Laurent (Infinity Train)

The Batter (OFF)

Blaine DeBeers (iZombie)

Zoisite and Kunzite (Sailor Moon)

Annie Wilkes (Misery)

Woodes Rogers (Black Sails)

Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Aravose (The Dragon Prince)

Kagura (Inuyasha)

Demona (Gargoyles)

Two-Face (Batman)

Tai Lung (Kung-Fu Panda)

Roy Batty (Blade Runner)

Lelouch (Code Geass)

Your mileage may vary of course, but we all know the reason why Lily said 50 to begin with was so that no one could possibly challenge her. Unfortunately for her, I, an extremely autistic man am not afraid of a challenge. If anyone else wants to add to my list go ahead! 😊

[byneddiedingo]

Simone Simon in Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942)

Cast: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph, Jack Holt. Screenplay: DeWitt Bodene. Cinematography: Nicholas Musuraca. Art direction: Albert S. D'Agostino, Walter E. Keller. Film editing: Mark Robson. Music: Roy Webb.

Cat People is so fraught with subtext about the fear of female sexuality that it's amazing that critics once treated it as a mere "horror movie," even while admitting that it was an effective one. Starting with the image drawn by Irena (Simone Simon) of a panther impaled on a sword, which is a version of the even more phallocentric statue in her apartment, it's clear that director Jacques Tourneur, screenwriter DeWitt Bodeen, and producer Val Lewton have more on their minds (or subsconsciousnesses) than just spooking the audience. But then subtext was about the only way filmmakers could get away with sex under the Production Code, even when the point is that Irena and her husband (Kent Smith) are not having sex because she's afraid she'll rip him to shreds if they so much as kiss. I have some reservations about the horror films produced by Lewton, one of the few producer-auteurs, partly because they're often more fun to talk about than to watch.

[pashterlengkap]

GOP governor candidate called LGBTQ+ people “filth” & “demonic”

North Carolina’s viciously anti-LGBTQ+ Lieutenant Governor has announced he is running for governor of the state. In his campaign announcement video, Republican Mark Robinson said he didn’t care “about the zip code you live in, the size of your paycheck, whether you’re Black, white, straight, or gay,” but everything he has ever said about LGBTQ+ people contradicts that claim. --- Related Stories North Carolina senate passes “Don’t Say Gay” bill that would out trans kids to their families The bill would also ban books and potentially cost the state a multi-billion dollar backlash. --- Just this past March, Robinson declared that God created him to battle against LGBTQ+ rights and added, “Makes me sick every time I see it — a church that flies that Rainbow flag, which is a direct spit in the face of God almighty.” In 2017, he wrote on Facebook, “You CAN NOT love God and support the homosexual agenda.” In 2021, Robinson compared LGBTQ+ people to cow dung and claimed straight people are superior to gay people due to their ability to procreate. In the same sermon, he declared there are only two genders and disparaged trans people’s bodies: “I don’t care how much you cut yourself up, drug yourself up and dress yourself up, you still either one of two things — you either a man or a woman.” He also said people who support events like Drag Queen Story Hour do so because they desire to molest children. He has previously proclaimed that being gay is a step before pedophilia, that former First Lady Michelle Obama is secretly a trans woman, and referred to trans-affirming people as “devil-worshipping child molesters.” He also condemned gay people as an “abominable sin” in response to the 2016 Pulse massacre. Robinson also created an education task force to investigate and pull LGBTQ+ literature from public schools, as well as report instances of LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools. Teachers’ names, employers, and information were released unredacted by the report, yet many of the complaints weren’t verified or even authenticated. Also in 2021, he refused to heed calls for his resignation after he declared that homosexuality and “transgenderism” are “filth.” He has also called the trans equality movement “demonic” and “full of the spirit of Antichrist.” In November of that year, he allegedly wagged his finger in the face of a state lawmaker who made a speech about supporting LGBTQ+ people. In 2022, he said climate change is “junk science” and called for eliminating science and social studies education from elementary schools. The list goes on. Robinson also has a history of anti-Semitic comments & conduct, loathing Black people who went to see Marvel’s Black Panther due to it being created by a person whom he described as an “Agnostic Jew” and a “Satanic Marxist.” He also stated his belief in the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was created by a cabal of globalists to try to ruin Donald Trump’s re-election. According to WRAL News, he announced his run for governor at Ace Speedway, a venue known for intentionally violating shutdown orders at the beginning of the pandemic. “Mark Robinson is an extremist who has built a legacy of division by spewing hate toward the LGBTQ community, disrespecting women, putting culture wars ahead of classrooms, and pushing to ban abortion with no exceptions,” said a statement from state Democratic Party chair Anderson Clayton. “We need a governor who will expand opportunities for working families and uphold our fundamental rights — not a dangerous politician whose reckless policies would kill jobs and threaten North Carolinians’ future.” Robinson will face off against the state’s current Treasurer, Dale Folwell, in the Republican primary. The winner will then take on the Democrat nominee, who will likely be current attorney general Josh Stein. The state’s current governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, cannot run again due to term limits. http://dlvr.it/Sn7yR7

[fanfics-of-marvel]

Are you up for writing winter13? 40. “Once you’ve tasted me, you’d never want anybody else”

Hello there anon! Thank you so much for the great prompt! ♥ I’m really sorry this comes so so late but I’m very busy in my daily life and I had to leave tumblr for a while. Anyway, I hope you’d still get to read it even though you’re anon and I hope you’ll enjoy it! ♥

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REQUESTS ARE CLOSED

Release date: 25/01/21

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Sharon Carter

Summary: Bucky seemes to have recovered after his rescue from Hydra but Sharon continues to be reluctant anout it and believes he still works for the Nazi organization. One day while she follows him in hopes to catch him on the act she discovers his secret which turnes out to be much more different than she had imagined.

Words count: 3 292

A/N: The side S.H.E.I.L.D. agents are made up for the story and do not resemble any other Marvel characters

Warnings: Mentioning of a bad word

Requests | Masterlist

I’m not a native English speaker, so there might be spelling or grammatical mistakes.

This fic is my own work, it is not to be re-posted on this site or posted anywhere else without my knowledge and consent!

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Sharon wasn’t remotely impressed by Bucky. He was nothing more than the next mission, the next target in the endless list of targets. Even though this one was quite different from the others.

With this target came the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. But with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s destruction came Hydra’s demolition as well. Everything and everyone was shortly eliminated, all but one. In Steve’s request Bucky’s life was spared.

He was kept in a dark dungeon – one of the few parcels of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s that had remained. For months he was supervised by the remaining agents, including Steve himself and Sharon. At first he didn’t show any signs of recovery. He still seemed to be in the state under Hydra’s control. There were moments of clarity in his mind when he seemed to have recognized Steve, when he seemed to have questioned everything and everyone he had faced with Hydra. But he still wasn’t his own self. He was still somebody else – the person Hydra had turned him into.

Steve didn’t give up on Bucky. Month after month he was always by his best friend’s side, worked with him, told him stories of their past until little by little his buddy was back. It was most sensational news when Fury gave the order to release Barnes and took off his status “Danger to S.H.I.E.L.D.”. There were many protests including from Sharon. She insisted that Bucky wasn’t to be trusted, that once altered he most probably would never change back, and that he was a ‘ticking bomb’ left by Hydra’s legacy and could explode in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s face any moment. Especially during such a fragile moment while the agency was still recovering itself.

However, Fury was firm in his decision. He knew that maybe Barnes wasn’t to be trusted but he knew that Steve was. And if Steve said Bucky was ready to go back to the world, then he was ready. Steve knew his buddy better than anyone else and spent months to make sure of that.

At the beginning Bucky was under stringent surveillance. He could barely take a shower without S.H.I.E.L.D.’s supervision. But as time went by the control got milder. There were moments in which Bucky was free to do activities on his own and even smaller walks among the society.

Sharon never let down her guard. She was always extra cautious with Bucky and often supervised him on her own. She still believed he might be a part of Hydra and that he was faking everything. She didn’t know Bucky was slowly turning into his older charming self.

One afternoon Sharon followed Bucky as he went out on a short walk. He had been out many times without any troubles occurring but she was still reluctant to believe. She followed Bucky as he walked through the nearby park, watched him as he bought a hot dog from the street stand and slowly ate it while watching some youngers doing the craziest flips and acrobatics with their bikes and skateboards. He seemed to be genuinely fascinated by today’s youth and how much the world has changed. Sharon wasn’t impressed.

After Bucky finished his meal he walked towards the town’s market. He stopped at a florist shop and bought the prettiest bouquet. Sharon was a little surprised. Bucky paid for the flowers and strode down the road. Sharon needed to fasten her pace in order to keep up with Bucky. But he disappeared with the agility of a panther. Or more specifically – a deadly killing machine designed for efficiency and minimum failure.

Sharon’s breath stopped for a moment. Was this it? The moment in which the ‘ticking bomb’ was about to explode? Was the hot dog, the flowers and everything else beforehand just a bait which S.H.I.E.L.D. bought? Was this really the end?

Sharon circled the perimeter but she couldn’t find a trace of Bucky. Her blood cooled, she felt her stomach turning upside down, and cold sweat emerged. She failed. She was hoping to catch something suspicious in Bucky’s behavior which she could report back to base and finally have him chained again. But it seemed like he was so skilled that he had managed to fool her as well in his plans.

“Base, this is Agent 13,” she said on her com with a trembling voice. “We have a Code Winter. I repeat – Code Winter. The subject has showed suspicious and abnormal behavior. I repeat – the subject is suspected in treachery.”

“Agent 13, this is Base,” she heard the even and unbothered voice of Agent Finery. “Can you clarify more upon your report?”

“What is there to clarify, Roy?” Sharon screeched on the com. She was getting out of her skin – her biggest nightmare seemed to be closer to reality.

“Agent 13, I’d ask you to calm down,” Agent Finery seemed to be caviling. Sharon nearly broke the device in her hand with her squeeze. “Bucky Barnes is no longer under permanent surveillance and is a level 2 threat. No one is even supposed to be supervising him now. What in his behavior prompted your report?”

Sharon took a deep breath. Stupid bureaucracy. Everything would have been so much easier without it. “I was following the subject on my own,” she never referred to him as ‘Bucky’ or ‘Barnes’, always as ‘the subject’. “I think he had noticed me somehow and disappeared from my sight in no time. You know how skilled he is. I believe it was his intention to lose me, so I wouldn’t know where he’s going.”

After a short pause Sharon heard, “Or maybe you were a little slower?” Agent Finery asked unpleasantly. “You seem to…,” Roy’s words were interrupted.

“What’s going on?” Steve asked imperiously. “I heard somebody talking about ‘Code Winter’ back there,” the rumor had spread with the speed of light.

“Oh thank god, Steve,” Sharon sighed with relief. “Finally somebody with a brain,” she said returning the carping.

“Are you sure in what you’re saying?” Steve had overtaken the communication from Agent Finery. The latter looked like a little boy compared to the Super Soldier’s physique.

“I noticed abnormal behavior, Steve,” there was an intense pause. “I think he noticed I was following him and he vanished from my eyes skillfully.”

There was a long painful sigh.

“I’m sorry, Steve,” Sharon said. “I wish it was otherwise.”

“Alright, where are you now?” Steve finally said.

“At the town’s market,” Sharon said overexcited. Somebody finally listened to her. “The alley with souvenirs. Approximately where I saw him last.”

“Stay where you are unless you see Bucky. Keep us updated if anything happens,” Steve ordered Sharon and left the base with a battalion of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s finest agents.

Sharon sighed in relief. S.H.I.E.L.D. were on their way led by Steve himself. She looked around for more traces trying to stay as close as possible to where she was. She thought she was alone when she turned around and suddenly noticed a bouquet of flowers in front of her face. Her sharp deadly reflexes were activated in a millisecond. She took her weapon out of the holster while her other arm swung towards the flowers and the hands that were holding them. But before she managed to do any of that the opposing person disarmed her with the finest skills. Her gun was on the ground and her back was pressed at her attacker. How did he manage to turn her so fast? A cold sharp blade was pressed at her neck. She couldn’t breathe and her pulse was accelerated.

“Shall we try this again?” Sharon clearly heard Bucky’s voice.

With the same dexterity Bucky turned Sharon towards him. When she looked at Bucky still slightly dazed the knife was already put away. Damn, the speed! Bucky bent down to pick up her weapon and the bouquet he had thrown during the little scuffle. He sighed. It had gotten a little dusty and some of the stems had broken.

“Your gun,” Bucky said and handed Sharon the weapon. There was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Sharon took her weapon cautiously with her eyes fixed upon him. She doubted she could be faster than him. It was probably for the best if she sustained a conversation until the back-up came.

“Aren’t you going to put it in the holster?” Bucky asked with a foxy smile. There was something on his mind. “There are people in here. Civilians. We wouldn’t want any accidents, would we?”

‘Well played’, Sharon thought to herself.

After her gun was put away Bucky looked at the damaged flowers, hesitated for a moment, sighed and handed them towards Sharon. “These are for you,” he said sounding somewhat frustrated.

Sharon looked at the bouquet with a rapid breathing. Was there a bomb in there? A weapon? Chloroform spray? For the first time in her carrier she didn’t know what to do.

Bucky sighed. “I know they’re not as pretty. But it was your fault they fell on the ground.”

Sharon was standing frozen. For the first time in her career she was facing a threat far more skilled than herself. Furthermore, they were standing at a lively part of the city which could have led to many casualties. She wished she had called for back-up earlier.

Bucky pulled the bouquet backwards. He sensed how terrified Sharon was even though she was hiding it professionally. He realized he might have startled her with that sudden appearance.

“Are you alright?” Bucky asked cautiously. “Did I scare you earlier?”

Sharon was still standing motionless. She knew she had to start speaking, so he wouldn’t run away. After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. were on their way.

“I’m fine,” Sharon finally said with a shuddering voice. “You just startled me a little bit. That’s all,” she even forced a slight smile.

“I definitely didn’t mean that,” Bucky replied with care in his tone. “I just wanted to give you the flowers but,” he looked at them and seemed a little embarrassed. “It’s been like 70 years… I’ve lost form,” he smiled shyly.

Sharon got quite confused. Bucky seemed to refer to his life hitherto Hydra’s capture. But what did he mean?

“I don’t know why I thought surprising you in such a way would be fun,” Bucky continued talking with bitterness. “Girls used to like it. But that was in the ‘40s, of course,” he faintly smiled remembering the good old days. “Now everything is so different,” he looked around him thoughtfully.

“I’m sorry?” Sharon said after a short pause. She was completely tangled.

Bucky looked at her seemingly terrified. “Oh, no. No, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you or anything,” he was slightly panicking. “It really has been so long and after all… I was somebody else for a while. I really didn’t know what to do. Somebody suggested buying you flowers and here they are,” he handed the bouquet towards her again.

Sharon looked at the flowers. Then at Bucky’s hopeful expression. Then at the bouquet again. After a pause she looked at him again.

“Are you hitting on me?” Sharon’s voice sounded both shocked and angry.

Bucky got terrified again. Did he mess up? He pulled the flowers at him. The hopeful expression switched to a hopeless one.

“Well, I was trying,” Bucky said wearily facing down. “The bouquet was definitely prettier before and I guess I shouldn’t have startled you,” he puffed. “And I used to be so good at this,” he added quietly, obviously talking to himself.

“Wait,” Sharon really needed to clear the matter up. “What is going on actually?” she sounded demanding.

“Um, well…,” Bucky started stuttering. “You know… the flowers for you and… a surprise, I hoped… which you’d like,” he smiled as if he had actually made sense.

“What!?” Sharon yelled. She really needed to hear it all clear.

“I like you!” Bucky shouted back pressed from her behavior.

Sharon stared at him with her eyes and mouth wide open. He didn’t look like the most deadly human-weapon. He looked like a terrified puppy.

“I really like you, okay?” he continued. He thought it’d be best to just talk straight. “You were there. The whole time. While I was recovering and remembering. There were many people, yes. But I had eyes only for you,” he said those last words so romantically that Sharon’s knees nearly bent. “I noticed you sometimes followed me and when I gained enough confidence I decided to act,” Bucky looked down at the flowers. “I was a little too shy to ask anybody for advice what to do. I mean, I said I like a girl but I didn’t say who the girl is. And the advice was to just buy flowers. I guess that’s why I didn’t do the right thing. Maybe you don’t like flowers,” he smiled bitterly.

Sharon was still trying to figure out whether Bucky was being sincere or acting up in order to fool her. But he seemed so genuine in his reactions and facial expressions. She has had a closer look at the Winter Soldier. His only expression was the frowned eyebrows and his only words were channeled towards conversations for killing. But now Bucky sounded entirely different. So genuine. So human.

“Oh, no, no. It’s not you,” now Sharon felt embarrassed. “It’s me. I got quite nervous,” was it really sane to be saying those words out? “When you disappeared from my sight I thought you were escaping. I thought The Winter Soldier had woken up and you were running away from S.H.I.E.L.D.,” she said the final words cautiously.

“Oh,” Bucky laughed adorably. “Understandable, yeah. I only did it because I wanted to surprise you. You didn’t leave me out of your sight. I had to be creative,” he smiled so charmingly that Sharon subconsciously giggled.

She couldn’t deny Bucky was an attractive man. He had cut the long Winter Soldier hair, his beard was stubble, his appearance – most intriguing. Sharon didn’t admit at herself but she definitely had sympathies for Bucky from the very beginning. Those steel blue eyes in which you could stare at for all of eternity. Those luring naughty lips which she desired to bite playfully. His firm tight body that she had observed many times during his recovery. And that damn metal arm. Why was it so arousing to even think about it?

Suddenly, Sharon felt a little dizzy. There was something in the air. Bucky’s charm was ravishing and on point. She completely forgot about the back-up from S.H.I.E.L.D. which she called earlier.

Sharon didn’t realize it but she was smiling like an idiot. She giggled again and subconsciously played with her hair like a school girl. When was the last time somebody flirted with her?

“I do like flowers,” she finally said with twinkling eyes and a provocative smile.

“Good,” Bucky replied curving his lips.

Sharon looked down at the bouquet and spoke playfully. “But you’ll have to buy me new ones.”

“Is that so?”

The shyness and suspicion had entirely faded from the conversation and were replaced by flirting and provoking.

“Can I compensate some other way?” imperceptibly Bucky had made a step closer to Sharon.

“Like how?” Sharon was totally consumed by Bucky’s enchanting powers. Even an exploding atom bomb wouldn’t move her eyes from his.

“A kiss, maybe?” he said unceremoniously.

Sharon gasped. How dared he?

“Judging by the bouquet your kissing abilities are questionable,” Sharon didn’t realize she was playing a dangerous game.

“Doll,” Bucky said in the sexiest voice ever. “Once you’ve tasted me, you’d never want anybody else”.

In a matter of a second Bucky grabbed Sharon’s waist and pulled her so close that he took her breath away. He pressed his lips at hers so passionately that her knees weakened. If Bucky wasn’t holding her Sharon would’ve fallen on the ground.

Shivers ran through her back, her whole body trembled, her pussy tingled, her body filled with so much oxytocin that she got dizzy again. Sharon felt the kiss on so many levels.

When Bucky finally moved his lips away she was like plasticine in his arms. Just hanging there letting him do anything he wanted with her. A quiet sigh exited her lips. Oh, what a day.

“Nice,” suddenly they heard Steve’s voice.

Sharon jumped out of Bucky’s arms so startled that she nearly fell. She looked at the back-up she had called. There were so many people, maybe even a whole division staring at her and Bucky smiling smugly. At the front was Steve. His smile was even wider than the others’.

“So,” Steve looked at Bucky. “That’s the girl?”

Bucky smiled shyly looking down while Sharon closed her eyes wishing the ground would suddenly open and swallow her.

“Like I said earlier,” Steve continued. “Nice,” he was smiling so much that it was ridiculous.

“Carter,” she heard the voice of Agent Johnson. The protégé of agent Finery and the second most annoying person in S.H.I.E.L.D. “Code Winter is for abnormal behavior. If you haven’t been kissed until now, well, this isn’t abnormal,” he was caviling at her just like his ‘original’.

Everyone started laughing. Now Sharon wished the ground would suddenly open and swallow them.

“Alright, alright,” Steve shouted at the excited crowd. “There’s nothing more to see here,” he barely held his giggle. They weren’t supposed to see anything whatsoever. “Apparently, there’s been a mistake. There’s no Code Winter. I repeat – Code Winter is called off. Everyone back to base,” Steve gave his orders and looked at the embarrassed couple after all of the agents had left still laughing and commenting. “So,” he started with a smile.

“I’m really sorry, Steve,” Sharon said embarrassed. “It’s all my fault. I’ll take full responsibility over my actions. I shouldn’t have called Code Winter before I had seen firmer evident…”

“Sharon, it’s alright,” Steve said warmly still smiling.

“No, Steve, it’s not. I called for back-up and so many agents came and got involved. I deviated everyone’s attention. What if an actual and more dangerous threat had appeared? I could have jeopardized everything.”

“Sharon,” Steve’s voice and smile were so warm that they could’ve melted the nearby ice-cream stand. “You had every reason to assume the worst. Bucky is a mystery and definitely looks like a bad boy,” Steve said facetiously.

“What?” Bucky objectified with a smile.

Steve giggled. Then returned to Sharon. “Agents like you are the ones who keep S.H.I.E.L.D. from falling apart completely. You did the right thing. Don’t blame yourself about anything.”

“Thank you, Steve,” for the first time since everything Sharon smiled genuinely.

“Well, I guess it’s best to leave you two to… whatever you were doing before we interrupted you,” Steve said playfully and winked at Bucky. “Just like the old times. You still got it.”

Bucky and Sharon smiled shyly as Steve walked away. Then they spent the rest of the day together. Bucky bought her a new bouquet, they went for a walk, and tested their shooting skills at the local shooting gallery. Sharon seemed to be the better shooter. Bucky justified himself that The Winter Soldier’s skills seem to be fading away. He never admitted to Sharon that he withheld his skills that day, so that she would win.

For a while everyone at the base joked with them. Some started referring to the happening as ‘Code Love’ or ‘Code Kiss’. Bucky and Sharon did everything possible to not pay attention to their annoying colleagues. And expectedly as time passed by everyone started getting bored with the jokes. Sharon and Bucky turned into the ultimate couple. They were the best agents S.H.I.E.L.D. had and never failed a mission. The jest turned into respect and after a while nobody made any more jokes about Sharon and Bucky.

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

Thank you for reading! If you liked it please react - reply/like/reblog! Your support is appreciated!

This fic is my own work, it is not to be re-posted on this site or posted anywhere else without my knowledge and consent!

[laresearchette]

Sunday, June 20, 2021 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: EVIL (Paramount +) KEVIN CAN F**K HIMSELF (AMC Canada) 9:00pm YOU, ME & MY EX (TLC Canada) 9:00pm RICK AND MORTY (ADULT SWIM) 11:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT US (PBS Feed)     NORTH WOODS LAW (Premiering on July 02 on Discovery Canada at 8:00pm) AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS: ANIMAL EDITION (TBD - Nat Geo Wild) CRADLE DID FALL (TBD - Lifetime Canada) TEEN TITANS GO! SEE SPACE JAM (TBD) TO CATCH A SPY (TBD)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME/CRAVE/NETFLIX CANADA/CBC GEM:

NETFLIX CANADA NEVERTHELESS

US OPEN GOLF (TSN/TSN4) 10:00am: Final Round - Part 1 (TSN/TSN4) 12:00pm: Final Round - Part 2

HONORING OUR KINGS: OWN CELEBRATES BLACK FATHERHOOD (OWN Canada) 12:00pm: Oprah Winfrey and Sterling K. Brown host conversations with dads, special messages from celebrity fathers and musical performances to celebrate Black fathers.

MLB BASEBALL (SN) 1:00pm: Jays vs. Orioles (TSN3/TSN5) 7:00pm: Cardinals vs. Atlanta

BLACK PANTHER (CTV) 7:00pm: Black Panther's mettle as king gets tested when an old enemy draws him into a conflict that puts his nation and the world at risk. The king must soon rally his allies and release his full power to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people.

NHL HOCKEY (SN/CBC/Omni) 8:00pm: Knights vs. Habs - Game #4

PACIFIC RIM UPRISING (Global) 8:00pm:  Rebellious pilot Jake Pentecost and his estranged sister must lead a brave new generation of fighters against otherworldly monsters that want to destroy humanity.

APTN INDIGENOUS DAY LIVE 2021 (APTN) 8:00pm: An annual celebration of Canada's National Indigenous Day and the summer solstice; featuring some of the most accomplished Indigenous musicians, including award-winning artists; showcasing talent from all genres, regions and nations.

MYSTIC (Super Channel Heart & Home) 8:00pm: The Lost Herd

SCOTT 'S VACATION HOUSE RULES (HGTV Canada) 9:00pm: With property taxes and maintenance fees going through the roof, Tara-Lee and Bryan need their rarely-used vacation rental to start paying for itself.

CHOPPED: MARTHA RULES (Food Netwwork Canada) 9:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): In an outdoor kitchen in Kennebunkport, Maine, Martha Stewart is calling the shots and changing the rules; 16 chefs compete for the grand prize; Martha's first big surprise is related to the pantry.

CODE 404 (Showcase) 10:30pm (SERIES PREMIERE): DI John Major is shot dead on the job, leaving his partner Roy Carver and his wife Kelly bereft and full of guilt; one year later, Major makes a dramatic return when he is resurrected as part of an experimental police AI project.

[regalramtrecera]

So are purple and big still arrancar now that Nnoitra ripped their masks all the way off? Musta hurt to revert like that...

This question made Nelliel freeze for a split nanosecond. A pang of guilt flashed through her chest, she felt terrible and blamed herself for what happened to them both. Even if it was not truly her fault she still felt responsible to some degree for it; her fraccíones no her brothers were harmed and targeted as a means to get to her. It worked and now she just as he wore a momento from Nnoitra. So, she chose to look on the brighter side of this questions intent. Grimmjow the King himself was asking about people close to her, she couldn’t hide a soft look she’d give to the male before looking away. Even during the demon days of the Espada Grimmjow had often looked out for his Fraccíones; especially the young lad named Di Roy whom often stayed close much like her brothers did to her.

Nelliel cleared her throat and spoke softly in a kind tone that would hit his sensitive ears pleasantly for once. “ The people you speak of as Purple and Big have names, but yes Pesche and Dondochakka are still arrancar. They were indeed injured greatly when Nnoitra did what he did....however we have learned that time heals all wounds and injuries. While they may have reverted to a state between their Numeros state and adjuchas they are still capable of performing their resurrectíon. They are currently helping Kisuke and training there the way we had done. I appreciate you asking.”

Her eyes fluttered closed and then slowly opened as a small smile played on her features. She wouldn’t assume more or allow her brain to come to the notion that the Panther was secretly big hearted. However, she wouldn’t sell the man so short either; he had his morals and his code he cared in his own special way from afar at arms length and for her it made her appreciate him as a warrior as a friend and as a man.

[diarrheaworldstarhiphop]

In an infamous Newsweek cover story in March 1990, beneath the strapline “Rap Rage”, journalist Jerry Adler laid out the case for the prosecution against the corrupting influence of hip-hop which, even by that stage, had become wearyingly overfamiliar to its many fans. The broad brushstrokes of the charges were aptly satirised later, in the voice of Marge Simpson: “Rap music belongs in the rubbish bin: it encourages punching, boasting, and rudeness to hoes.” But in the midst of this archetypal George Bush Sr-era moral panic, the article made another criticism that sounded rather more accurate. Hip-hop is, Adler wrote scathingly, “music so post-industrial it’s almost not even played, but pieced together out of pre-recorded sound bites”. In the Chicago-based writer Roy Christopher’s Dead Precedents, we have an enjoyable, pithy account of why this isn’t a criticism at all.

Written with the passion of a zine-publishing fan and the acuity of an academic (he is both), Christopher explores the idea of hip-hop as “black cyberpunk”. His argument is that rap and cyberpunk were twin movements, in which technologically liberated renegades created the future by reinventing the past, building new worlds using DIY ethics and freewheeling bricolage. Like hip-hop itself, his book is layered with overlapping references and allusions, quotes and “samples’” proudly standing on the shoulders of giants.

A typical chapter takes us on a tour around four less discussed pillars of hip-hop: recording, archiving, sampling and intertextuality (MC-ing, DJ-ing, B-boying and graffiti writing are the standard quartet) – and draws on reference points as broad as Edward Snowden, Walter Benjamin, De La Soul (pictured) and Blade Runner, to discuss the hacking, reworking and the conflicted relationships rap has with history, memory and the vast libraries of cultural products now available to draw on. Perhaps we all now function in this way – perhaps we are all cyberpunks, constantly reconfiguring an unstable, half-remembered archive of clips, snippets and sounds.

Christopher quotes Adbusters magazine founder Kalle Lasn, who takes this further, and says digital citizens have been brainwashed by consumer capitalism’s onslaught, and all now “speak a kind of corporate Esperanto: words and ideas sucked up from TV and advertising”. This refusal to believe that younger adults have the agency – and cynicism – to critique, let alone transcend, the bombardment of messages thrown at them in the 21st century would at least explain why his magazine is full of sixth-form, Banksy-esque “subvertising”. Christopher knows better than this, and sees the bricoleurs as pioneers, not dupes.

Christopher’s achievement is to avoid making the connections between his two great interests, hip-hop and cyberpunk, seem forced - and to be fair, they really don’t need to be. They emerged in the same 1980s context, in a moment of intense post-industrial decline and technological upheaval; they are both reliant on a bedrock of “codes and signs to hack [and] meanings to hijack” – as acts of subversion, whether playful or polemical. There is even the Afrofuturist style of early hip-hop: its goggles, gloves, mohawks and leathers; looks “cobbled together from the fragments of past fads and fashions” – emerging in Robert Moses’s New York, a South Bronx of broken windows and social decay, devastated by “highway-bound white flight”. When Ronald Reagan visited on the campaign trail in August 1980, he said the area looked like it had been hit by an atom bomb. Looking back, it makes a certain amount of sense that the first two Mad Max films had come out either side of this visit and that year’s epochal US presidential election.

Dead Precedents is almost pamphlet-length, barely 150 pages long – although accompanied by extensive notes, bibliography and further listening, appropriately – but it is no less emphatic in its argument that the 21st century truly began with these twin movements. And even if the cyberpunk moment encapsulated in the thrilling writings of William Gibson, Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling has passed, its spirit lives on in the Afrofuturist R&B of Janelle Monáe or the beats of Flying Lotus, the films of Boots Riley, the Afropunk festival, and a thousand other bionically blooming flowers of hip-hop culture. And this is before we even contemplate what the young people growing up on Black Panther will go on to create. Grandmaster Flash was “hip-hop’s first hacker, its first cyberpunk”, Christopher contends at one point; he will not be the last.

Dan Hancox is the author of Inner City Pressure: The Story of Grime (HarperCollins)

[studentsofshield]

A Rambling Chronicle of Marvel’s Western Comics

By Vincent Faust - November 27, 2018

Marvel Comics is the most prolific comic book publisher of the Western genre. Despite their near ubiquity in today’s culture with billion dollar box office receipts, even their diehard fans may not know this part of their past.

I may be missing a few scattered things, but by my count Marvel has published 1,192 issues of Western comics through their history. Marvel had published Western stories from their very beginnings with the Masked Raider in 1939′s Marvel (Mystery) Comics 1-12. Though the genre didn't explode until the late 1940s following the war, while superheroes were declining. Timely (Marvel’s name at the time) launched 7 western titles in 1948. 

The "Big Three" of Marvel westerns are Kid Colt Outlaw, Rawhide Kid, and Two-Gun Kid. Each lasting an impressive 229, 151, and 136 issues respectively. 

The star artist of Kid Colt was Jack Keller. Who drew most of the character's stories from 1953-1967. An impressive run. Some have argued he has the honor of drawing the most individual stories for one specific Marvel character. Many of these books had 3-5 short stories per issue, so I wouldn't argue against that. If we only count full issue stories, I'm not sure who would take that title. Probably Mark Bagley for Spider-Man, combining his lengthy 1990s run on Amazing and his history making 2000s run with Bendis on Ultimate.

In 1960, right before the Fantastic Four, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reinvented Rawhide Kid. After a publishing hiatus the title was brought back with issue 17. The character was now Jonathan Clay and his costume changed. Over two and a half years, their run was revered as the cream of the crop in a waning genre as their own superheroes began to explode. 

As Kirby was needed more and more on the superhero titles selling like hotcakes, a tiny run by Jack Davis followed. Davis was an EC Comics legend who took a pit stop at Marvel before becoming even more of a legend at Mad Magazine. Unfortunately, practically the only classic Marvel Westerns to be reprinted in collections is this span of Rawhide Kid. With issues 17-35 reprinted across two hardcover Marvel Masterworks.

Here is Stan Lee talking to Jack Davis and fellow EC/Mad/minor Marvel contributor Harvey Kurtzman. For Marvel, the legendary Kurtzman did 150 episodes of a one-page filler strip titled Hey Look! from 1946 to 1949. 

Especially as Marvel was finally able to publish more titles, Stan Lee's efforts were being stretched too thin as well. So, Rawhide Kid was handed over to his younger brother Larry Lieber to write and draw. Which he did for almost a decade, to minor acclaim from genre fans. Sounds very reminiscent of the hidden gem Gary Friedrich/Dick Ayers/John Severin run on Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos.

"I don't remember why I wanted to do it, particularly. I think I wanted a little more freedom. I didn't do enough of the superheroes to know whether I'd like them. What I didn't prefer was the style that was developing. It didn't appeal to me. Maybe there was just too much humor in it, or too much something. I remember, at the time, I wanted to make everything serious. I didn't want to give a light tone to it. When I did Rawhide Kid, I wanted people to cry as if they were watching High Noon or something." - Larry Lieber

Lee and Kirby also reinvented Two-Gun Kid for the early 60s, but didn't stick around as long on that one.

Other artists who made a mark on Marvel's western titles include Fred Kida, a notable Golden Age Japanese-American artist known primarily for Airboy. Also Russ Heath, who passed away only recently, and the frequent collaborators John Severin and Dick Ayers. Most of these artists were also prolific in the war genre. The genre is also to thank for the introduction of Herb Trimpe, who would go on to become the definitive Hulk artist.

The true star of the show though was one Joe Maneely. Who Stan considered his best artist before Jack Kirby returned in 1958. The Philadelphia native was skilled and fast, pumping out tons of westerns as well as the Black Knight and Yellow Claw titles, which retroactively tie his work to Marvel continuity. Unlike Kirby, Keller, and Lieber he was not particularly linked to one western title, but his most consistent would be Ringo Kid.

Meanwhile, outside of the genre one of Stan Lee's other top artists was Matt Baker. Considered to be the first African American professional in the field. Also there are reliable reports from friends and family that Baker may have been a gay man. He was one of the primary innovators of the "good girl" art style on Fox Feature Syndicate’s Phantom Lady and countless romance titles. Another milestone was drawing arguably the first graphic novel - It Rhymes with Lust.

Due to some business factors in and out of publisher Martin Goodman’s control, Marvel (at this point known as Atlas Comics) nearly imploded in 1957. The bullpen was completely disbanded, leaving Stan Lee in an empty office. They went from regularly publishing almost 70 titles to only 16. Many of which were filled with inventory stories and reprints as long as Stan could manage not paying freelancers. This situation was further complicated by their new distributor having way too close of a relationship with market share leader National (now DC Comics).

Joe Maneely stepped in front of a train in 1958 at only the age of 32. It may have been a suicide. Matt Baker died of a heart attack in 1959 at 37. As stated above, Jack Kirby comes back to Marvel right around that time and Steve Ditko was quickly growing as an artist. It's tragic how close these two masters were to being on the ground floor of the Marvel Universe as we know it today. What heroes could Maneely and Baker have drawn or created?

The 1970s sees lots of reprints of classic genre comics. An exception is the original title Gunhawks (though an unrelated The Gunhawk title predated it). Though only lasting seven issues, Gunhawks has an interesting distinction. Originally starring Kid Cassidy and Reno Jones, a good ol’ plantation boy and his buddy slave. Who fought willingly for the Confederacy because some Yankees kidnapped his girlfriend. That makes sense... In the sixth issue, Cassidy is shot and killed. The finale was technically retitled to Reno Jones, Gunhawk. Making that 1973 comic book only the second at Marvel to be named after a Black protagonist, following Luke Cage. Black Panther had ongoing adventures, but had taken over the anthology title Jungle Action and wouldn’t get his own series until later. DC lagged behind Marvel in this regard.

In 1979 the western genre at Marvel was basically declared dead, with Rawhide Kid and Kid Colt finally canceled. The latter after over 30 years of continuous publication. Two Gun Kid had been canceled two years earlier. Though for a few years already, almost all of Marvel's westerns (and war books) had been turned into reprint titles.

Of those aforementioned 1,192 issues, 1,146 of them are from 1979 or earlier. Leaving less than 50 across the last 40 years.

A 1980 tryout issue with a new character (and a Frank Miller cover) goes nowhere.

A 1985 miniseries by genre veterans Trimpe and Severin depicts the Rawhide Kid now as a middle aged man, as the West is in its final days. It is kind of depressing.

Backpedaling a bit. As the Marvel superheroes dominate, the western heroes occasionally make crazy guest appearances through the means of time travel. Most notably the Two-Gun Kid becomes an all-but-official member of the Avengers and a close friend of Hawkeye. He gets tied up with time travel generally for years to follow. Later becoming a She-Hulk supporting character and Avengers Initiative leader circa Civil War

With that cover, let's now take another aside to untangle Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider is not originally a Marvel property. The vigilante was created by Gardner Fox (Justice League of America) and Dick Ayers for Magazine Enterprises in 1949 as a horror themed western character. The feature spent time as a backup in Tim Holt and eventually broke out into its own short lived title.

Magazine Enterprises went kapoof alongside the slump in the industry around the implementation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954. The regulation agency set up by industry leaders to avoid government intrusion following moral panic. The over-cautious guidelines severely neutered the crime and horror genres, while superheroes were already dormant, gutting many publishers. The Ghost Rider trademark expired. Marvel picked it up in 1967 for a series drawn by original creator Dick Ayers. Motivated in equal toxic parts by Martin Goodman's obsession with securing trademarks (practically every character Stan Lee created can be traced to an earlier one) and then rising writer Roy Thomas's history nerd leanings.

Obviously the name would be repurposed for the more recognizable Johnny Blaze in 1972. Marvel retroactively renamed Carter Slade as the Phantom Rider. The modern demonic versions of Ghost Rider do rarely touch on western themes. Johnny spent some time as a nomad and Garth Ennis brought in some western connections to expand the GR lore.

The western genre is basically passed over through the whole 1990s.

In 2000, John Ostrander and Leonardo Manco come around for a miniseries integrating all the Marvel western heroes together. Followed by a 2002 sequel. With revelations and deaths. The kind of lore retconning series that tickles the fancy of comic history nerds like yours truly. Ostrander also did Justice League: Incarnations around this time, tracing through the history of the JLA.

2003 comes around and it all that heavy lifting revitalization goes in the toilet. Ron Zimmerman writes a Marvel Max Rawhide Kid series. Zimmerman is some kind of comedy writer and Howard Stern regular. Well, within comics he wrote this and the god awful Ultimate Adventures - the only wholly original Ultimate Universe book, a Batman and Robin parody that was part of the U-Decide bet with Marville and PAD's Captain Marvel.

Marvel Max was a new imprint established in the early 2000s to break away from the aforementioned Comics Code and tell more daring, mature stories. Occasionally this resulted in gold like Jessica Jones. However, most of the time it was cringe inducing dreck.

So what's so bad about Rawhide Kid Max? He's now gay. Umm...OK, as long as it's handled well, maybe? Nope, constant cringey sexual innuendos which border on the protagonist coming off as a sexual predator. Some idiot gave it a sequel years later too.

Since then, we've gotten a bunch of one-shots in 2006, a weird Andy Diggle miniseries in 2012, and then the surprisingly great Marvel 1872 from Gerry Duggan during the patchwork reality crossover event Secret Wars. Which set up the Red Wolf series which was doomed by bad optics surrounding the writer and Marvel's spaghetti on the wall strategy of the time.

One of those 2006 one-shots ended up being legend Marshall Rogers's final published work. He and longtime collaborator Steve Englehart did it while waiting for DC to greenlight Dark Detective III, the second spiritual sequel to their influential 1970s run on Batman.

Here’s hoping we get to see some of these legendary heroes on the trail once more. At the very least we will get another tiny snippet in 2019 with a Gunhawks one-shot being brought back in celebration of Marvel’s 80th anniversary. Written by crime comics duo David and Maria Lapham.

This concludes a rambling chronicle of Marvel's history with the western genre and considerable tangents touching more generally on the history of Marvel and the comic book industry.

[leblogdebrillante]

Insistent zooms on breasts, mirror effects to reveal private parts (even though the legend doesn’t give a reflection to vampires) and male narrators : everything was done to reduce the figure to a sexual object intended to the male gaze. We can see it as a reaction to feminist and LGBT demands at that time (May 68 in France, Stonewall riots in 1969 in New York). If women, particularly lesbians, demand rights in the street, [men] must make sure to add another layer of patriarchy to movies. And if they try to rally other women to their cause — in the style of vampires who contaminate their preys — [men] must show them — by concluding the movies with their death — that they intend to fight back.

English translation of the article below :

Lesbians in horror movies : the story of a curious curse

Since their beginnings in genre movies, lesbians never stopped scaring. From Dracula’s Daughter by Lambert Hillyer in 1936 to The Neon Demon by Nicolas Winding Refn in 2016, they’re under the influence of a curse or saddled with dangerous mental disorders — in any case, monstrous. Deconstruction of a hex inherited from Hays Code, that Joachim Trier wards off in his new movie, Thelma.

At night, in a gloomy London apartment, an elegant countess asks a young strange girl, who’s supposed to pose for her, to undress. She gazes avidly at her naked shoulders and yields to temptation : she hypnotizes the innocent girl before swooping on her like a vulture. That’s with that rape scene in Lambert Hillyer’s Dracula’s daughter that a woman’s desire for another woman is first represented in a genre movie, in 1936. In this founding movie, the heroine tries to break her curse, vampirism, which mostly pushes her towards women. But where does this obsession, found throughout the history of genre movies, with showing female homosexuality as a defect?

In an article published in the magazine Circé, researcher Émilie Marolleau puts forth an hypothesis, linked to the masculinity crisis caused by the Great Depression, from 1929 to the dawn of World War 2 : “Men were often confronted to a job loss and saw their status as the head of the family challenged. So lesbians were perceived as a threat since, by being financially independent and working (often) as much as men, they were seen as usupers of male privilege.” To protect patriarchy, there’s nothing like making them terrifying. A stigmatization confirmed by the Hays censorship code, enforced from 1934 to 1966 in Hollywood and imposing negative representation of “sexual perversion” — meaning, among other things, homosexuality —, finishing the gestation of the monstrous lesbian figure in genre movies.

Occult powers

In the wake of Dracula’s daughter, fantasy movies often linked sapphic predilection and curse. In Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942), the heroine refuses to flirt with her husband and justifies herself by mentioning a curse cast on her home village in Serbia — any strong emotion might turn her into a killer panther. Throughout the movie, various signs imply an allegory of lesbianism : the young woman declines hetero sex but visits a panther at the zoo daily, like attracted to a dangerous [female] friend ; at the restaurant, a catlike woman calls her “my sister” in Serbian, as if they belonged to the same community. If the heroine doesn’t accept herself, she ends up transforming into a voracious feline anyway when she becomes jealous. In the end, she metaphorically gives in to her desire for women by freeing the panther, but it throws itself at her and kills her.

In most fantasy movies, a woman who desires another woman ends up being punished (in The Hunger by Tony Scott in 1983, the vampire is locked up in a coffin for eternity ; the heroine, transformed into a ghoul, becomes a threat to slay in Jennifer’s Body by Karyn Kusama in 2009). On the contrary, the validated model is often the straight couple, who gets through this unscathed, like the lovers targeted by the countess in Dracula’s Daughter, or the husband and his mistress in Cat People. The right path being clearly defined, and the taboo exciting desire, moviemakers have a field day with eroticizing the “deviants”. So the cursed lesbian and bisexual women are systematically femme fatales uner the Hays code, before being even more fetishized in the 1960s and 1970s. From Blood and Roses (Roger Vadim, 1960) to Vampyros Lesbos (Jesús Franco, 1971), via the productions of the English studio Hammer (The Vampire Lovers by Roy Ward Baker, 1970 ; Lust for a Vampire, Jimmy Sangster, 1971), a wave of B movies and Z movies show sexy female vampires who strip at every opportunity and throw themselves voraciously at scatterbrained women.

Insistent zooms on breasts, mirror effects to reveal private parts (even though the legend doesn’t give a reflection to vampires) et male narrators : everything was done to reduce the figure to a sexual object intended to the male gaze. We can see it as a reaction to feminist and LGBT demands at that time (May 68 in France, Stonewall riots in 1969 in New York). If women, particularly lesbians, demand rights in the street, [men] must make sure to add another layer of patriarchy to movies. And if they try to rally other women to their cause — in the style of vampires who contaminate their preys — [men] must show them — by concluding the movies with their death — that they intend to fight back.

Born twisted

If, in fantasy movies, lesbians always go through medical analysis (the heroines of Dracula’s Daughter and of Cat People see a psychiatrist ; a doctor diagnoses the one in Blood and Roses with split personality, some genre movies insist more on the existence of a serious mental instability, creating the archetype of the obsessed and psychopathic lesbian. Rebecca by Alfred Hitchcock (1940) gives the first image of it with the housekeeper madly in love with her late lady of the house who turns her frustration against her master’s new wife. Nearly murdering her in a fire, the bitter maid dies, burnt out.

For a long time, psychiatry considered homosexuality to be a mental illness. The international classification of illnesses published by WHO only removed it from the list in 1992, which gave plently of time to the two notions to merge in the collective unconscious – and in movies. Single White Female by Barbet Schroeder (1992), Mulholland Drive de David Lynch (2001), Cracks by Jordan Scott (2009) ou The Neon Demon by Nicolas Winding Refn (2016) are so many movies that turn their character’s lesbian desire into a really morbid obsession. High Tension (Alexandre Aja, 2003) even entirely relies on that trope, the final plot twist revealing that the killer was actually one of the two heroines, who became schizophrenic by her frustrated desire for the other. While the cursed femme fatale scares as much as she creates empathy and desire (after all, she came across her problem despite herself), the psychopathic lesbian, whose vice is congenital, is supposed to only inspire repulsion. So she’s often masculinized, like the character played by Cécile de France, short hair and defined muscles, dans High Tension, or Jena Malone’s character, "tomboy” chic, in The Neon Demon. By making them stray from gender norms, something we still see too rarely on screen, moviemakers seem to insist on her instability and try to disgust the viewers.

Beloved witch

In that very dark picture, some glimmers of hope still shine. An empowering aspect is sometimes is sometimes given to the troubled powers of lesbians : the heroine of Cat People is precisely defending herself with her gifts from the abusive psychiatrist who wants to sleep with her to “cure” her ; in Jennifer’s Body, the ghoul passes her power to her best friend during a symbolic sex scene, which allows the latter to avenge her for the boys who assaulted her. But no movie neutralized those tropes as much as Thelma. In the graceful fantasy movie by Joachim Trier, a young woman leaves the Norwegian countryside and discovers her attraction for a girl who studies with her in Oslo.

The movie clearly dissociates lesbian desire and mental illness, since the epileptic seizures that strike Thelma when she feels her desire arouse, and that awaken her telekinetic powers, are actually linked to the pressure of her ultra-Christian education. By searching on the internet, she learns that the same symptoms probably happened to the “witches” burnt in the Middle Ages, Joan of Arc as well as the “hysterical” patients of professor Charcot in the 19th century : only one sequence, that blows away centuries of misogynistic pathologization. If, on the other hand, we don’t blow away decades of negative lesbian representation in genre movies with only one movie, the time for undemonization seems to have come, like the seventh season of American Horror Story would let us believe. Broadcasted on the American channel FX, it follows a lesbian mother who becomes paranoid after the election of Donald Trump. Forgotten, the devil and the insanity : the small screen and the big screen finally start to show that the only problem shared by all lesbians is misogynists and reactionaries.

[alexlacquemanne]

Décembre MMXXI

Films

Le Diable par la queue (1969) de Philippe de Broca avec Yves Montand, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Jean Rochefort, Maria Schell et Marthe Keller

Ave, César ! (Hail, Caesar!) (2016) de Joel et Ethan Coen avec Scarlett Johansson, Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes et Tilda Swinton

Les Désaxés (The Misfits) (1961) de John Huston avec Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach et Thelma Ritter

West Side Story (2021) de Steven Spielberg avec Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist et Rita Moreno

Le Regard de Charles (2019) de Marc di Domenico avec Charles Aznavour et Romain Duris

La Comtesse aux pieds nus (The Barefoot Contessa) (1954) de Joseph L. Mankiewicz avec Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Valentina Cortese, Marius Goring et Rossano Brazzi

Dies iræ (2003) d'Alexandre Astier avec Tony Saba, Thomas Cousseau, Lionnel Astier, Alexis Hénon, Nicolas Gabion, Franck Pitiot, Jean-Christophe Hembert, Jean-Robert Lombard et Jacques Chambon

La Seconde Vérité (1966) de Christian-Jaque avec Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein, André Luguet, Bernard Tiphaine et Pascale de Boysson

Tout le monde il est beau, tout le monde il est gentil (1972) de Jean Yanne avec Jean Yanne, Bernard Blier, Michel Serrault, Marina Vlady, Jacques François, Jacqueline Danno, Daniel Prévost et Ginette Garcin

Momo (2017) de Sébastien Thiéry et Vincent Lobelle avec Christian Clavier, Catherine Frot, Sébastien Thiéry et Pascale Arbillot

La Course au jouet (Jingle All the Way) (1996) de Brian Levant avec Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman et Rita Wilson

Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) (1973) de Wolfgang Reitherman avec Dominique Paturel, Claude Bertrand, Philippe Dumat, Jean Martinelli, Roger Carel, Michèle André et Pierre Tornade

À la recherche de la Panthère rose (Trail of the Pink Panther) (1982) de Blake Edwards avec Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Joanna Lumley, David Niven et Capucine

Les Morfalous (1984) d'Henri Verneuil avec Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Constantin, Marie Laforêt, Michel Creton et Jacques Villeret

Soupçons (Suspicion) (1941) d'Alfred Hitchcock avec Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty et Isabel Jeans

L'Aventure du Poséidon (The Poseidon Adventure) (1972) de Ronald Neame avec Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Stella Stevens et Shelley Winters

Séries

Columbo Saison 7, 3, 1, 8

Jeu de mots - Adorable mais dangereuse - Attente - Grandes manœuvres et petits soldats

Doctor Who Series 13

Le Jour du docteur - Chapter Six: The Vanquishers

Les Enquêtes de Vera Saison 11

La voie de la guérison

Le Coffre à Catch

#52 : Lashley Récupère son Titre ! - #53 : RIP Vince McMahon - #54 : Qui a fait exploser la bagnole de Vince ? - #55 : JOHN CENA EST DANS LA CE-PLA !

Top Gear Saison 19, 17, 13, 12, 16

1500 km a fond de 5ème - La Vallée de la mort - Les rois de la pub ! - La fiesta dans tous ses états - La voiture imbattable - Véhicule lunaire

Le Voyageur Saison 2

La Maison sous le vent

The Grand Tour Saison 3, 4

Chinois ou chez moi ? - The Grand Tour présente… Carnage à Trois

Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie Saison 3

Le Vallon - Mourir sur scène

Kaamelott Livre I

L'interprète - La queue du scorpion - Le discobole - Un roi à la taverne - Le Sixième Sens - Arthur et la Question - De retour de Judée - La Botte secrète - L’Assassin de Kaamelott - Le Trois de cœur - Basidiomycètes - L’Imposteur - Compagnons de chambrée - La Grotte de Padraig - Ambidextrie - Raison d’argent - La Romance de Lancelot - Merlin et les Loups - Le Cas Yvain - L’Adoubement - Arthur et les Ténèbres - Le Zoomorphe - La Coccinelle de Madenn - Patience dans la plaine - Le Oud - Le Code de chevalerie - Le Duel - L'Invasion viking - La Bataille rangée - La Romance de Perceval - Les Funérailles d'Ulfin - Le Chevalier femme - La Carte - Le Repas de famille - Le Répurgateur - Le Labyrinthe - Létal - Azénor - Le Sort de rage - Les Nouveaux Frères - Enluminures - Haunted - Le Secret de Lancelot - Le Serpent géant - Guenièvre et les Oiseaux - Le Dernier Empereur - Perceval relance de quinze - Le Coup d’épée - La Jupe de Calogrenant - Le Prodige du fakir - Un bruit dans la nuit - Feu l’âne de Guethenoc - Goustan le Cruel - Le Forage - L'expurgation de Merlin - Codes et Stratégies - Le Tourment - La Fureur du Dragon - Le Pain - Les Volontaires - La Maître d'armes - La Mort le Roy Artu - La dent de requin

Spectacles

One Night Only With Adele (2021)

Olivia Ruiz "Bouches cousues" aux Bouffes du Nord (2021)

Columbo : Meurtre sous prescription (2017) de Richard Levinson et William Link avec Pierre Azéma, Karine Belly, Augustin de Monts et Martin Lamotte

Michael Bublé: Home for Christmas (2011)

Michael Buble's Christmas in the City (2021)

Livres

Heil Harris ! de John Garforth

OSS 117 : Chasse aux atomes de Jean Bruce

Astérix et la rentrée gauloise de René Goscinny et Albert Uderzo

Béru contre San Antonio de Frédéric Dard

[askthedemonichatzgang]

Whats with the 'code nicknames'

Oh, The code nicknames? I made those so things don't get confusing if this blog is RP-ing with another SM AU blog, or I'm doing something that involves both the Canon SM characters and the DHG characters interacting, etc.

Roy's code nickname is Bruce

Ross's code nickname is Simp or Frogget

Robert's code nickname is Sunshine

I wanted to give them special nicknames for that kinda stuff because if I didn't things could get confusing

Example of something without the code nicknames: (I know it's not December 10th but I love this quote for December-)

-

Roy: Please other me! It's Christmas!

Roy, holding a giant plastic candy cane, about to smack him: IT'S DECEMBER 10TH.

Robert, Robert, Ross and Ross watching Roy beat the smakerdoodles out of Roy:

Robert and Ross: He'll be fine.

-

See? It's confusing. Who's beating who? Which Robert and Ross said the Roy being beat up would be fine? Like yes, I could type Demonic Hatzgang AU! or DHG! in front of the name but that's annoying as frick-

Here's an example of code nicknames in use (Yes it's the same quote-):

-

Roy: Please! Other me! It's Christmas!!

Bruce, holding a giant candy cane, about to smack him: IT'S DECEMBER 10TH.

Robert, Sunshine, Ross and Frogget watching Bruce beat the smackerdoodles out of Roy:

Sunshine and Frogget: He'll be fine.

Roy, desperately attempting to crawl away from his AU counterpart: *SCREAMING LIKE A TORNATO SIREN-*

-

See? Makes more sense. You know who's who. Yes it's also confusing but only to newcomers of the AU but I usually explain this as a side note or in the hashtags

/Admin Panther

[96thdayofrage]

The release of Judas and the Black Messiah has once again put the spotlight on the Chicago police and the FBI’s culpability in the murder of Fred Hampton, a rising leader in the Black Panther Party (BPP) in the pivotal year of 1969. In our previous Jacobin article, we documented the bureau’s efforts specifically aimed at Hampton and stressed the need for more information to better understand the circumstances surrounding his murder.

Since then, we have obtained 433 pages of the FBI’s official “COINTELPRO” files on the Chicago Black Panther Party (BPP). Along with this, the FBI, pursuant to a Freedom of Information request by Aaron Leonard, released another 490 pages on their employee, and handler of FBI informant and Black Panther William O’Neal, Special Agent Roy Martin Mitchell.

With this new information, two things come more clearly into focus. First, the FBI counterintelligence operations against the Chicago BPP were particularly focused on sabotaging the group’s ability to join and work with other organizations. Second, bureau informant William O’Neal, who had garnered a leading position in the Chicago chapter, was a far more vital resource — beyond complicity in the murder of Fred Hampton — than has been understood.

These discoveries, while adding to the historical record, also give a clearer picture of the thinking behind the FBI’s measures in their efforts to destroy the Left. A fuller understanding of this thinking and methodology matters for a new left aiming to avoid the bureau’s efforts at disruption in the twenty-first century.

Students for a Democratic Society

In 1969, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the largest radical student organization of the sixties, broke apart, a result both of the group’s own internal divisions and efforts by the FBI to head off the group from evolving beyond its “big tent” inclusiveness into a more disciplined, radical organization. Given that, it is not surprising the bureau would also expend serious effort to sabotage relations between SDS, whose national office was then in Chicago, and the Chicago Black Panther Party.

To that end, there were two COINTELPROs – official disruptive operations that were proposed, approved, and executed in the FBI hierarchy — leveled at SDS documented in the files. The first scheme aimed to disrespect the BPP in relation to SDS. As the head of the Chicago FBI wrote to the FBI director, “Through BPP informants and other Black Nationalist informants plant the idea that SDS is exploiting the BPP by trying to use them as ‘cannon fodder’ for a white revolution.”

The idea was to use the racial and class differences of the two groups against each other.

The idea was to use the racial and class differences of the two groups against each other. This comes through in the ”COINTELPRO-NEW LEFT” memo of May 1, 1969: “The concept of white students studying in universities while Black Panthers are going to jail or being killed in the ghetto would be encouraged.” The FBI was optimistic about the success of this undertaking, writing, “It is felt that BPP will be receptive to charges of white exploitation, and may react strongly to it, thus weakening or dissolving the alliance with SDS” (see page 2).

Hedging their bets, the bureau wrote that if that plan did not work, they could also undermine SDS by amplifying the student radicals’ already considerable defensiveness in regard to the Panthers.

If the BPP accepts the above, but does not break with SDS they can be encouraged to “exploit” SDS by making further demands on them to “prove their loyalty.” Increased demand for funds and free printing of BPP literature could place pressure on the strained finances of SDS (see page 2).

This COINTELPRO was approved, with the FBI cannily instructing that “sources should be given different arguments so that this does not look like a plan.” (see page 5) As they explained:

Under present circumstances, SDS is giving complete, almost slavish support to the BPP, which would jeopardize the standing of any SDS informant who criticized BPP. If there is any wavering of the SDS support of BPP, informants would be used to aggravate any developing split. (see page 2)

The FBI was wading into a complex situation in 1969, where SDS was riven by acrimonious debate between one faction who supported the BPP unilaterally, and another embodied in the Progressive Labor Party’s “Worker-Student Alliance” faction, which sided against the BPP, putting forward the slogan that “all nationalism is reactionary.”

In that context, what is striking about this scheme is how closely it corresponded to one event that played out. Jeremy Varon in his book Bringing the War Home documenting the rise and fall of the Weather Underground, a splinter of SDS that ended up undertaking political violence, Varon recounts an incident where the BPP needed logistical support from SDS in the aftermath of the killing of Panther associate Jake Winters:

In [Weatherman Russell] Neufeld’s recollection, the Panthers had wanted Weatherman to print their memorial poster for him; but Weatherman, lacking money for the materials, was unable to provide that help. So the Panthers, led by Hampton, stormed the Weatherman office and beat members with two-by-fours, while muttering lines from Stalin. The Weathermen were stunned by the Panthers’ eruption, attributing it to the immense pressure the Panthers were under. Neufeld was clubbed by Hampton and bears the scar on his head to this day.

While we cannot say with certainty that the FBI’s scheming had an impact on the Panthers’ actions, it is notable how it tracks with the bureau’s aims outlined in their COINTELPRO proposal. In this they were seizing on actual existing divisions between both groups.

The Weathermen in particular were consumed with the idea of their middle-class “white skin privilege” and were loath to alienate the Panthers. For their part the Panthers had FBI “sources” whispering to them that SDS was disrespecting them.

Nation of Islam

Chicago was also the headquarters of the Nation of Islam (NOI), whose leader Elijah Muhammad was named in the bureau’s March 1968 COINTELPRO memo, which outlined a program to undermine and destroy Black nationalist organizations. In that memo, Muhammad is singled out as a potential “messiah” who could “electrify the militant black nationalist movement.” His mention in the FBI memos in regard to the Chicago BPP, however, has more to do with another stated aim of the “Black Hate” COINTELPRO: “Prevent the coalition of militant black nationalist groups.”

Specifically,  in a June 1969 memo, the FBI suggested placing a cartoon in the NOI’s newspaper “Muhammad Speaks.” The aim was to “appeal to the vanity of ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, in the sense that the BPP would be depicted as yet another black group which has either sold out to or is dominated by whites.” While the cartoons are not included in the released file, a memo detailing the scheme, suggests an image of “a white radical mounted on a black panther.”

In preparing this proposal, the bureau gave permission to the Chicago office “to delicately explore with CG 6896-R, [an informant code where CG means Chicago, 6896 is their unique number and R means Racial Informant] associated with the Nation of Islam (NOI) publication ‘Muhammad Speaks’ the possibility of attempting to have these cartoons, or a cartoon, utilized by this publication to obtain a widespread dissemination.”

The FBI abandoned the scheme, not out of distaste for the idea, but in order to keep their informant’s identity secret. As they wrote in July 1969 (see page 4):

Chicago definitely feels that this source, who occupies a very delicate and sensitive position with the NOI [though not a member], should not in any way be pressured or persuaded to take or initiate any action which in any way would compromise him…

This is a particularly intriguing entry, suggesting the FBI had contact with someone with high-level access to the Nation of Islam, a highly insular group, which the predominately white FBI had minimal ability to approach without immediately being identified. Who that person was, however, must for now remain a mystery.

By July 1970, the bureau assessed that given the existing acrimony between the BPP and NOI — one group inclining to revolutionary socialism, the other firmly advocating black separatism — the best course of action would be to do nothing. As they wrote, “the BPP and the NOI are already at odds” (see pages 1-2) and “this trend should be allowed to continue unmolested….” Not only was doing nothing easier, in the bureau’s view, “if it ever became public knowledge that the Bureau was a participant in creating a dispute between black groups” it could prove “most embarrassing.”

BPP’s Publications

It has long been known that the FBI created a coloring book, purported to be published by the Black Panthers, with the aim of making the group appear bloodthirsty and violent, thereby alienating broader public support. Mostly flying under the radar, however, was a plan by the FBI to use the Panthers’ own material against them. The bureau anonymously mailed the BPP’s holiday greeting cards to “newspaper editors, public officials, responsible businessmen, and clergy.” The aim was to make the recipients “aware of the vicious nature of the BPP.”

Mostly flying under the radar, however, was a plan by the FBI to use the Panthers’ own material against them.

It is unclear what effect this had, if any. But the notion of using a group’s own materials against it — by sending it to forces who would perceive it as hostile — was a consistent method of the FBI in the period of the long sixties.

A May 1970 proposal put a twist on this method, suggesting to insert a page in the Black Panther newspaper as if it were a legitimate part of that issue, that “could contain material which would be critical of local BPP policy and personnel, including threats to expell [sic] local members and call for realignment of the local chapter.” To carry this out, they made a “preliminary inquiry” at Chicago’s O’Hare airport — suggesting they had a cooperative source there — and determined “it is possible to access to shipments of the Panther paper under secure conditions.”

The outcome of this project is unknown. Pulling it off would have been a major logistical feat, to say nothing of being vulnerable to exposure via a simple call to the Oakland office. Still, the objective of splitting apart the group through use of its own press — intercepted at the airport — is striking in its boldness.

The Informant

The above proposals and actions were part of official COINTELPRO operations, meaning they had specific criteria to meet and procedures to follow before they could be implemented by the FBI. In carrying such plans out, however, one element in the bureau’s work involved something more basic, the use of informants who gained a position of trust in the groups they were targeting. These informants could not only supply intelligence but advance the FBI’s objectives by operating internally within the target group. In the case of the Chicago BPP, no informer was more key to these efforts than William O’Neal.

Today, O’Neal is best known for being the “Judas” character played by LaKeith Stanfield in Judas and the Black Messiah. O’Neal, however, was not fictional, but rather the person who supplied a floor plan for the police raid that would result in the murders of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. Notably, however, O’Neal, who was recruited by FBI Special Agent Roy Martin Mitchell, joined the Chicago Panthers before Hampton’s rise to the position of branch chairman and continued in the organization a year after Hampton’s and Clark’s murders. So it is worth examining his activity as a member of the Illinois BPP more broadly.

As the Chicago BPP sought to expand in February 1969, the FBI reported that the chapter had been approached by a faction of the West Side Chicago gang, the Vice Lords, headed by Edward “Pepilo” Perry. Perry “offered to join the BPP, giving up their former identities as Vicelords [sic].” The bureau, however, was keen to prevent the growth of the BPP, particularly its merging with other groups. In order to sabotage this possibility they instructed their informant to raise suspicions about the Vicelords:

The BPP is well aware that the Chicago Police Department Gang Intelligence Unit, headed by Captain WILLIAM BUCKNEY, has many sources in such gangs, possibly even young black police officers. The source (CG 7251-R PROB) [O’Neal] has been instructed to play upon this fear of youth gangs, in that in recruiting gang members the BPP may well be recruiting police spies. On this particular occasion the source was in personal conversation with HAMPTON, during the course of the meeting with Perry, and reminded him of this danger.

O’Neal’s work appeared to have been successful, with the FBI later writing, “It is believed this caution to HAMPTON played a considerable role in the reluctance of the BPP to accept PERRY, as might normally have been expected.” In other words, William O’Neal, the FBI informant, who would play a critical role in the killing of the very man he was advising, is telling Hampton he needs to be wary of informants.

O’Neal was not just sabotaging unity — he was also helping get Panthers arrested. As early as April 1969, the bureau was reporting on how instrumental he was in the arrest of multiple Panthers:

[A] number of arrests locally for BPP members have been effected, primarily through information provided by Chicago BPP source, CG 7251-R (PROB) [O’Neal]. The information has been made available to the Bureau previously, under the BPP caption; however, in brief relates to the arrest on March 28, 1969, of five BPP members, returning to Chicago from an appearance the previous evening in Racine, Wisconsin, a description of the automobile being used for this travel, together with the indication several of these BPP members would be armed was given [to] the Chicago Police Department (PD).

At the same time he was undermining the group, O’Neal was moving up its ranks. By July 1969, he was no longer head of security for Chicago, having ascended to chief of staff for the statewide organization. O’Neal had been offered the position of “Chief of Security” but turned it down “saying the Party is full of informants and he wants no part of this job” — a savvy move given how high the level of suspicion and paranoia was about informants at the time — a paranoia O’Neal himself was working to create.

Roy Mitchell

O’Neal’s handler, Roy Mitchell, continued to receive internal praise in the aftermath of the killing of Fred Hampton, though it is less clear what he was being praised for. This praise comes through, in a memo to Chicago SAC Marlin W. Johnson, from J. Edgar Hoover, dated March 18, 1970, where certain unnamed agents in the Chicago office are commended. As Hoover writes, “Through you [Johnson], I want to commend those agents in the Chicago Office who participated so competently in a matter of substantial interest to the Bureau in the security field.”

A number of things stand out about this memo, published here for the first time. First is the obliqueness of its content, written in a way that the uninformed reader has no idea what the “matter of substantial interest” is. Second is the fact that Roy Mitchell’s name is handwritten at the top, rather than being typed into the memo itself. And finally there is a stamp at the bottom of the missive, “REMOVED FROM FIELD PERSONNEL FILE 67 – NOT RECORDED.” All of which suggests that, unlike an earlier commendation to Mitchell immediately after the Hampton killing, the director is being very careful to minimize the paper trail to Mitchell, who was garnering unwanted attention for his role in the Hampton killing.

The actual nature of the “matter of substantial interest” referenced in this memo must for now remain a mystery. Perhaps once material like William O’Neal’s informant file is made public, things will become clearer.

The obliqueness in that memo is less present in another commendation directed to Mitchell’s files — though again, Mitchell’s name is handwritten at the top and a “REMOVED FROM FIELD PERSONNEL FILE stamp appears at the bottom — for agents in Chicago who worked on apprehending Angela Davis: “I want to commend, through you, those agents of the Chicago Office who performed so effectively relative to the investigation of Top Ten Fugitive Angela Yvonne Davis, the subject of an Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution case.”

What comes through in this new material is how successful the FBI was in seizing on the Chicago chapter’s weaknesses.

While there are no specifics, what comes through is that the bureau’s work in Chicago — including Mitchell, whose informant work provided information that would be ultimately be used by the Chicago police to murder Fred Hampton and Mark Clark — had become incredibly effective, to the point that FBI leadership commended that work for aiding the FBI’s national objectives.

Don’t Get Fooled Again

What comes through in this new material is how successful the FBI was in seizing on the Chicago chapter’s weaknesses — not only the heightened vulnerability that came with the dynamic of police attacks and armed self-defense, but also with rumor and innuendo.

While the contending, and often confused, politics within the organization were ultimately decisive in all this — the BPP itself would split in March 1971 between two equally bad positions, Huey P. Newton’s reformist “survival pending revolution” philosophy and Eldridge Cleaver’s inclination toward political violence — the measures by law enforcement played no small role in these developments.

That the bureau had placed an informant in a position of rising power, where he could keep the FBI apprised of who was in leadership, the status of membership, who might have had weapons or be otherwise legally vulnerable, to say nothing of a sense of the internal disputes, both political and personal, appear as no small reason for their successes.

The murder of Fred Hampton and the destructive efforts against the Black Panthers in Chicago by the FBI cannot be undone. But they can be understood — and in ways far better than was possible fifty-one years ago. Armed with such knowledge, a new cohort of leftist activists — knowing the perils of incendiary rumors, damaging sectarianism, and the efforts of those who would encourage individuals and organizations, whether informants or simply misguided radicals, to perilously step over legal limits — can be made less vulnerable to efforts that were far too successful in the past.

[rollingstonemag]

Un nouvel article a été publié sur https://www.rollingstone.fr/black-panther-roi-mort-vive-marvel/

"Black Panther" : Le roi est mort, vive Marvel

Près de deux ans après avoir fait son entrée dans l’Univers Cinématographique Marvel, Black Panther s’offre une origin story d’anthologie. Nous l’avons vu pour vous

Contraint de remplacer son défunt père à la tête du richissime Wakanda, le prince T’Challa est dos au mur. Faut-il poursuivre la politique isolationniste de son pays technologiquement supérieur au reste de la planète, ou ferait-il mieux de proposer son aide aux plus démunis ? Devant son hésitation, quelques voix s’élèvent, dont celle du belliqueux Killmonger…

Plus habitué aux décors urbains qu’à la jungle – d’Atlanta – Ryan Coogler négocie le surplus d’effets spéciaux qui accompagne généralement les productions Disney avec une fluidité et une intelligence n’étant pas sans rappeler son sanguin Creed. Conjuguant scènes de poursuite au rythme presque trop effréné et combats en faux plan séquence, sa caméra mobile distrait tout autant qu’elle sert une histoire et des personnages bien décidés à réveiller l’Univers Cinématographique Marvel.

Si Chadwick Boseman redore son blason après un Message From the King – vous avez dit destin – plus qu’en demi-teinte, Michael B. Jordan prouve une fois de plus qu’il a sa place au sommet du cinéma mondial. Ces messieurs font pourtant peu les fiers face aux nombreuses leading ladies qui donnent à Black Panther ce côté piquant, frais et résolument moderne que les plus lisses Black Widow et autres Pepper Potts n’avaient jamais pu lui apporter. Véritable caméléon, Lupita Nyong’o prouve qu’elle est aussi à l’aise en haillons que dans de somptueux costumes colorés et s’assure de recevoir des scénarios encore plus variés à l’avenir.

Ces derniers participent d’ailleurs grandement de l’identité visuelle d’un Black Panther n’ayant pas décidé de renverser les codes établis par Marvel depuis bientôt dix ans, mais bien de les adapter pour servir son propos percutant. Coogler se permet même des incartades pop, presque wachowskiennes, soulignant ainsi la filliation à un matériaux de base qui a longtemps été le seul héros afro-américain auxquels il était possible de s’identifier.

Remettant au goût du jour la Blackploitation, Black Panther s’appuie de toute évidence sur un passé lourd de sens. Et si l’action du film commence à Oakland – le berceau du mouvement politique auquel le héros doit son nom – au lendemain de l’arrestation musclée de Rodney King, cela n’est pas innocent. Nier son message d’ouverture serait alors contre-productif, mais il convient de ne pas trop y voir non plus. Black Panther est avant tout un divertissement brillamment efficace venant rajouter une pierre saillante au colossal Infinity War qui se prépare.

Dernière chose, on ne le répètera jamais assez mais restez jusqu’à la fin du générique. Pas le milieu, la fin !

Jessica Saval

[scarwasright]

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) Special Edition guidebook transcript, including Ed’s decoded notes

What it says on the label. The Blu-Ray special edition of FMA 03 came with a ton of cool shit, including a hardcover artbook with the character profiles originally from the DVD booklets as well as some other, “handwritten” notes from Edward. Since I know not a lot of fans got their hands on this set, I promised a WHILE ago that I would transcribe it! Someday I’ll have scans, but I don’t have access to a scanner atm.

I’ll be listing the character notes by 3 categories: Profile Text, Edward’s Notes, and Edward’s Coded Notes.

Profile Text- the brief character blurbs that were already published in the DVD guidebooks that came out in Funimation’s original localization. Most recurring characters got one.

Edward’s Notes- The book’s title page indicates that it was issued by the Amestrian State Military, and that it belongs to Ed. Little handwritten notes, presumably from Ed, are scattered throughout the character profiles. Some are silly, some are... very not silly.

Edward’s Coded Notes- Some of Ed’s notes are written in a very simple code that replaces the English characters with symbols. It’s straightforward enough that I was able to break it in about an hour - I posted a key over here.

Not included in this text are the image captions associated with the characters’ model drawings, since they don’t make any sense without context. Stuff like “Al age 7, Ed age 8.” There are also many artist notes in Japanese, and I am anything but a Japanese speaker, so no luck there.

Fair warning, there are Royed, Royai, and if you squint, Edvy jokes in the coded text. I’m just writing what’s in the book.

Full transcript behind the cut!

THE TITLE PAGE indicates that the book is military-issued, and Edward has signed his full name on it. The following page is printed with a torn page from a smaller, obviously older book. In ornate letters, it reads the verse that was written in part in the Transmutation Circle the boys tried to use to bring back Trisha:

Pale and black with false citrine, imperfect white and red, The Peacock's feathers in gay colours, the rainbow which shall go over, The spotted panther, the lion green, the Crows bill blue as lead. These shall appear before you perfect white, and many more others. And after the perfect white, grey, false citrine also, And after these, there shall appear the red body invariable, Then you have a medicine of the third order of his own kind multipliable. 

Edward’s Coded Notes: Written into the margins of the “original” military book, “Sir George Ripley,” with an arrow pointing to the pressed page. Along the side margin, he’s written “thhe* recapitulation of thhe* twelve gates.”

Explanation: Sir George Ripley is a famous British alchemist whose verse appears on this page. The full transcript of the poem Edward pasted in his book can be found here! It is also, notably, the incantation recited by Eckhart in Conqueror of Shamballa when she sought to open the Gate using Envy.

       *Two people seem to have worked on the coded notes, one on the title and transmutation circle pages and the other on the character pages. The handwriting is a bit different, and the title+circle pages are noticeably sloppier than the character pages as far as adhering to the cipher goes. The symbol used for TH in the character pages is used only for a T which is followed by an H on the title pages. In the character pages the standalone H character is absent when the TH character is used, so the inconsistency makes for an obviously unintentional duplicate on the title page.

Edward’s Notes: There are twelve tally marks in the margin of this page, as well as some scribbled equations that are difficult to make out. Ed has awful handwriting.

EDWARD ELRIC

Profile Text: Edward Elric is the Fullmetal Alchemist. He is a prodigy, becoming the youngest State Alchemist in the Army’s history. Edward stunned his superiors by using alchemy without an array, a miraculous feat never witnessed before. Ed despises being a “dog of the military,” but it grants him the opportunity to seek out the legendary Philosopher’s Stone, a crimson crystal rumored to increase the power of the alchemist who uses it.

Edward seeks the stone so that he may restore his missing limbs, and more importantly reunite his younger brother Alphonse’s body with his soul, which was tragically trapped in a suit of armor after a failed attempt through alchemy to revive the dead Trisha Elric, the boys’ mother. Edward realizes he has a gift, a gift that most State Alchemists could only dream of having. But he knows that with that gift he becomes a high profile target.

As Edward reluctantly fights off a crazed assassin who vows revenge on all State Alchemists, Edward begins to unravel the clues that reveal not all is as it seems at the highest levels of the State Military. And, that there is a terrible secret behind the precious Philosopher’s Stone.

ALPHONSE ELRIC

Profile Text: Alphonse Elric was but an innocent young child when a tragic chain of events changed his life forever. First, his father mysteriously vanished while Al was too young to remember. Then, after battling terrible illness, Al’s mother succumbed to death. Finally, during a horrific accident performing forbidden alchemy, Al’s soul was sealed inside a suit of armor.

Undaunted and unashamed by all that has happened in his short life, Al carries on, eternally supporting his older brother, Edward, in his search for the Philosopher’s Stone, a legendary gem with the power to restore Al’s body and Edward’s lost limbs. Al knows that he and his brother’s actions were wrong. He only wishes for a chance to make things right.

Edward’s Notes: In smudged, barely-legible pencil, “Brother, don’t sell me short!” (thank u @gryphcat cross-referencing your own book to confirm that it does NOT say “Brother, don’t call me short!”)

Also notable is the circled “???” with an arrow pointing to that adorable picture of young Al enthusiastically ripping off his shirt.

Edward’s Coded Notes: FYI, there isn’t anything under the loincloth, [indecipherable*]!

       *I think the letters were flubbed a bit, here. The characters read “[y/i]n[u/v][f/p]er[u/v]s.” I get the feeling it was supposed to say “Impervious!” buuuut someone messed up.

HOHENHEIM ELRIC

Profile Text: Supposedly lost to the ages, Hohenheim Elric, the father of the brothers Elric was close at hand after all, lurking in the shadows of history as the momentum of the search for the Philosopher’s Stone reached fever pitch. Hohenheim reappears in Resembool allowing the final pieces of this mad puzzle to begin falling into place, as he bears the secrets of the Philosopher’s Stone in his weary heart... A heart beaten down by lost love, a heart full of loyalty to his boys*. Destiny has delivered Hohenheim to a crucial point, a spot in time when all that is good prepares to unravel. Perhaps he will be strong enough to move forward and rise above his shady pas, nad push his shoulder against the wheel of fate that threatens to crush all he ever cared for.

       *We watched two very different series, apparently

Edward’s Coded Notes: That bastard [arrow pointing to his portrait]

TRISHA ELRIC (who shares a page with Hohenheim)

Edward’s Coded Notes: Why did they both have to die?

ROY MUSTANG

Profile Text: Roy Mustang is the Flame Alchemist and a veteran of many brutal battles. He personally knew Edward and Alphonse’s father, which sparked his curiosity once he discovered that Hohenheim’s sons were dabbling in alchemical arts. Mustang is eager to climb the ladder of success and hopes that discovering the immense talent within Edward helps him ascend the ranks. Still, Mustang’s soldiers are the most loyal in all of the State Army, insinuating that there is more to this man than his thirst for power.

Edward’s Coded Notes: Roy Mustang is dead sexy in a miniskirt!* [T]ake that [y]ou smug [b]astard!** Why does he have to be so attractive

       *Most likely a reference to an old convention gag. Back when FMA was big enough that it had dedicated cast panels, fans would almost always ask Vic Mignogna to say this line.

       **The bracketed letters are cut off, but it’s fairly easy to assume what they are given the context.

RIZA HAWKEYE

Profile Text: Riza Hawkeye is quite possibly the most perfect model of a soldier in the State Army. Although Hawkeye is Roy Mustang’s subordinate, she is also his right hand woman, acting as an advisor and, based on the circumstance, devil’s advocate. Her no-nonsense attitude demands respect from everyone she meets, military and civilian alike. She is cool, calm, and collected, and exceptionally skilled in the use of firearms.

Edward’s Coded Notes: [bridging the gap between Roy and Riza’s facing pages, underlined with an arrow] Just get married already!

MAES HUGHES

Profile Text: Maes Hughes is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Investigations Division of the State Army. Hughes is obsessively in love with his wife Gracia, and only child Elicia, who from birth shares a strange connection with Ed and Al. Hughes is friendly and extremely casual, sometimes to a fault. He can quickly lapse back and forth between discussing State matters and going on and on about his family. As a high-ranking official in the Investigations Division, Hughes is privy to plenty of top-secret info, which he shares with Ed on the sly. When Hughes is nudged into physical combat, his weapons of choice are small throwing knives, which he wields with incredible and deadly accuracy.

Edward’s Notes: [slightly obscured by water damage] I’m sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen

ALEX LOUIS ARMSTRONG

Profile Text: Major Alex Louis Armstrong was given strict orders from Mustang to protect Ed. But, don’t let his civilian clothes fool you. With his strapping build and gutsy bravado, this Strong Arm Alchemist will give his life to ensure he completes his mission successfully. If on thing’s for certain, Armstrong will make sure that Ed’s within arm’s protection.

This straight and narrow man won’t even give Ed as much as a loss in an argument. He’d rather use his genteel decorum to kill improper manners with his heroic kindness. Even during their down time in Resembool, there’s not a moment to lose. Armstrong is committed to his life as a soldier, and knows daily training is essential - even if that means cutting firewood with his bare hands.

Edward’s Notes: [circled] Why are there so many sparkles?!!

JEAN HAVOC, HEYMANS BREDA, VATO FALMAN, KAIN FUERY

Profile Text: In a world where loyalties change with the tides, good subordinates are a premium. Roy Mustang has this luxury with Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Fuery. These four loyal officers will do anything their commander requests of them and do it well, to boot. However, these four couldn’t be more different. Havoc is the tragic playboy of the group, always wishing he had that special someone to share the rest of his days. Breda may be called a “dog of the military” from time to time, but Breda would rather stare down an entire army than get anywhere near a real dog. Falman is overly formal, causing some of his comrades to wish he would lighten up. Fuery is the soft-spoken technical wizard under Mustang’s command. He isn’t used to much hand-to-hand combat, but is handy enough in a pinch. As with all of Mustang’s men, these four would follow him until death.

DENNY BLOCH AND MARIA ROSS

Profile Text: Abrasive in demeanor, Lieutenant Maria Ross is always determined to do the right thing. Sometimes, she has trouble distinguishing between her actual duties and the chance to deliver a lecture. Sergeant Denny Bloch, along with Lieutenant Ross, was given the responsibility to keep the Fullmetal Alchemist under close supervision. Regardless, they fall behind when danger approaches.

Edward’s Coded Notes: Watch out for her slap!

IZUMI CURTIS

Profile Text: The stern Izumi Curtis is more than just an alchemy teacher to the Elric brothers. As the passionate matriarch of a two-person family, Ed and Al may be the closest thing she’ll ever have to children. Resurfacing after hearing rumors about her former pupils, it is quite possible Izumi may know more than she lets on about the true nature of alchemy and the sinister homunculi.

Edward’s Coded Notes: [circled] She always looks like a pissed off housewife!

SCIESZKA

Profile Text: Scieszka is the prototypical, scatterbrained librarian. With her impeccable retention of facts, the clues that others miss quickly slide into place for this unlikely hero. Hopefully, her pleas for justice will not fall on deaf ears.

Edward’s Notes: [circled, pointing to Scieszka’s distressed portrait] Did they run out of books?

ROSE

Profile Text: The once vibrant Rose has wilted due to a hard life of tragedy and turmoil. After suffering the harshest of injustices at the hands of the State Military, Rose finds herself a mute and a mother... The mother of an infant, and the mother of a movement. Now the spiritual leader of the Liore revolutionaries and advised by the ever-present Lyra, Rose must struggle to lead her people to peace. With her beloved Liore in the crosshairs, she can only hope to find her voice in time to half the demise of everything she cared for.

Edward’s Notes: “You’ve got a good, strong pair of legs, Rose. You should get up and use them.”

RUSSEL & FLETCHER TRINGHAM

Edward’s Notes: Ed himself has drawn in the boys’ transmutation circle for plants, and has labeled it as such. He has also sketched one of their flasks and written next to it “For red water?”

Edward’s Coded Notes: Why is he so tall?!!

#48 & #66

Edward’s Notes: He has drawn the Slicer Brothers’ blood seals and labeled them. The secret behind Lab 5... ???

Edward’s Coded Notes: Prisoners!

FRANK ARCHER

Profile Text: His heart as cold as his flesh is pale, Frank Archer is willing to embrace corruption for a cause... especially if the cause is blatant self-promotion. Looking to bolster his reputation by crushing a revolt in Liore, Archer sets fate in motion with little regard for anything other than pleasing himself and the Fuhrer. His lust for war and his hunt for the infamous Scar may cloud his vision, however, as he potentially confuses sacrifice for suicide.

Edward’s Coded Notes: You [m]ight want [s]ome [s]unscreen* [indicating the image of his mech form] The Terminator?

ZOLF J KIMBLEY

Edward’s Coded Notes: Mullet?!

SHOU TUCKER

Profile Text: Shou Tucker earned the title Sewing Life Alchemist thanks in large part to his masterful work creating Chimeras for the State. In fact, Tucker was the first alchemist to produce a Chimera capable of speaking and understanding the human language. Tucker is a man with incredible brilliance and immense talent. The irony is that he can create life, but that his own is being controlled is not lost upon Shou Tucker. With his execution staged by the Military, Tucker has spent all of his time devoted to research and experimentation, with one purpose in mind: bring back the daughter he once readily destroyed.

Edward’s Notes: Because we’re not Gods, we’re humans, tiny insignificant humans. Who couldn’t even save a little girl...

Edward’s Coded Notes: I’ll never forgive that bastard.

SCAR

Profile Text: Like Ed, Scar is able to use alchemy without a transmutation circle. Scar both hates and embraces his “curse.” He has a special grudge against State Alchemists because of past atrocities towards his homeland of Ishbal. The Ishbal Massacre was a vicious military offensive against Ishbal due to conflicting doctrines because the citizens would not put aside their traditional beliefs and embrace alchemy. Scar believes his god has instilled in him the right to kill State Alchemists at will for what they have done to his people. He truly believes his cause is righteous, no matter what it takes. 

Edward’s Coded Notes: [indicating Scar’s hair] Frosted tips are over, dude... Those glasses are so dated...

LUST

Profile Text: The beautiful homunculus Lust desires to become human through the massive power of the Philosopher’s Stone. She dreams of finally finding out who she really is inside, and to discover what will happen to her after death. These are all very human traits for a being that supposedly has no soul. Lust uses any means necessary to traverse the dilemmas of her existential crisis... She is able to corrupt the minds of the weak, forcing them to follow her every whim. Like Scar and Ed, the gorgeous and sad Lust is traveling down the same whirlpool of misery and darkness that sucks away all who quest for the Philosopher’s Stone.

Edward’s Notes: [smudged, almost beyond legibility] I just hope Havoc doesn’t meet her... Edward has drawn an arrow from Lust’s locket to Scar with ???, as well as a two-way arrow between the facing pages with the writing What’s their connection?

Edward’s Coded Notes: Maybe she and Roy* should go on a date with Roy* - I heard she’s a real screamer**

       *Another seeming typo.

       **Probably a reference to Laura Bailey’s marriage to Travis Willingham, as they play Lust and Roy in the English dub. Roy is responsible for Lust’s death in the manga and second anime, and she does not go quietly.

GLUTTONY

Profile Text: Loyal homunculus companion to Lust, Gluttony, eater of anything, might be the saddest example of the cruel nature of the hunt for the Philosopher’s Stone. Simple and savage, Gluttony operates at once like a child and an animal, a creature of pure instant satisfaction. He simply knows one thing: Hunger. Not for power of prestige, but only to satisfy his reason to be... this only adds to the wretchedness of his tragic existence.

Edward’s Notes: I-DCCC-DCCI-VM?*

       *I have absolutely no idea what this is in reference to, so if anyone knows, I would LOVE an answer.

ENVY

Profile Text: Envy is one of the homunculi, a group of pseudo-humans whose creation is still an enigma. Some say they were created in a lab. Others believe they’ve always been among us. But no matter where they came from, their intention are nothing but evil. Envy has the ability to become a perfect physical replica of whomever he or she desires. Envy is without gender. In fact, Envy’s mind is so far gone that he or she can’t remember who he or she used to be. Envy’s power is truly amazing.

The shape-shifting homunculi Envy could be anyone, utilizing the ability to take on the physical appearance of any being at will. Envy will morph into a stranger behind you in a smokey cafe, or the trusted ally that works with you to uncover corruption and twisted abuses of power, or even your loving spouse. And beneath the familiar surface pure evil waits. Never turn your back on Envy. Even after you’ve slit the creature’s throat.

Edward’s Notes: Areca triandea Phoenix canariensis, Ceros nucifera Sabal minor Syogrus romanzoffiana* [next to this, Edward drew a little palm tree with a ?]

       *the binomial nomenclature for a queen palm tree

Edward’s Coded Notes: I’m not into palm trees

GREED

Profile Text: A thick-skinned enigma even among the mysterious homunculi, Greed wants it all... money, power, women, and the greatest prize of all: eternal life. Greed leads a band of outlaw chimeras and instructs his freakish minions to kidnap Alphonse Elric, believing the young alchemist is the key to the door of immortality. Headed for a brutal showdown, Ed will test the homunculus’ reputation as the Ultimate Shield. In return, Greed will test every notion Ed ever held to be true and real.

Edward’s Notes: [smudged] I wonder why Dante made him...

SLOTH

Profile Text: Draped in the appearance of the late Trisha Elric*, the water abomination Sloth was created on that fateful night of lost innocence; the night when the Elric brothers first set out in search of the Philosopher’s Stone. After being nursed and groomed by Dante and Pride, and her involvement in the slaughter of Maes Hughes, she is forced to confront Ed and Al. While cursing them for her fate, Sloth’s seemingly maternal memories and longings may provide the homunculus with her downfall... nothing in the universe is more resilient than a mother’s love. Something stirs in Sloth, where a soul once rested.

Edward’s Notes: [a two-way arrow, pointing from Sloth’s name to hand-written Juliet Douglas] [*above this line in her bio, Ed has aggressively written NO!]

Edward’s Coded Notes: [circled, with an arrow indicating the bio] She is not my mother!!!

WRATH

Profile Text: The homunculus Wrath might be the most mysterious of all the dark creatures. A volatile combination of childlike mischief and soulless evil, Wrath was discovered on a treacherous island by the Elrics and their teacher Izumi. Timid at first, Wrath’s demeanor soon shifts as layer upon layer of intrigue is peeled away, uncovering a core of supernatural madness. Able to perform alchemy, at times even in ways that Fullmetal himself doesn’t understand, it becomes clear that Wrath is a monster. His connection to Ed and Al’s teacher could provide answers to questions that are too shocking to ask.* Suspicious of the boy, Ed will give an arm and a leg to uncover the truth about the wild child.

Edward’s Coded Notes: [with an arrow pointing from the bio text Ed has underlined] It’s hers!

KING BRADLEY (PRIDE)

Profile Text: The Fuhrer King Bradley commands both the State Government and the State Army making him seemingly the most powerful man in the entire world. Known as one of the most cunning and vicious warriors in history, the homunculus Pride, the Fuhrer himself, has orchestrated countless bloody conflicts in his search for the Philosopher’s Stone. Calm, cool, collected and created by Dante... Bradley moves his pieces into striking range. Is it possible, though, that the Ultimate Eye is blind to his own role as a pawn in someone else’s sinister plot?

Edward’s Notes: He’s a homunculus that can age?!!

Edward’s Coded Notes: How did no one figure it out?!!

DANTE

Profile Text: Dante’s actions, her attempts to control the uncontrollable and manipulate innocence, have carried her through the centuries with a singular goal... immortality. At times seemingly aligned with the powers of good, while dipping her toes into the red pool of evil, Dante’s path has been one clouded by murky intentions. At the end of the quest for the Philosopher’s Stone, as all of the players look up past the strings that carried them through this desperate dance, whose face will they see?

Edward’s Notes: an arrow connects Dante’s name with Lyra, which is circled

Edward’s Coded Notes: So glad she isn’t my mom!

After the character pages, there are four pages of alchemic arrays. The writing here gets really vague, as all of it is written in Ed’s code and there are many mistakes.

The Thule Society’s array has a four letter word with an exclamation point that begins with NA, followed by the character for X and a sloppy character that is probably I/Y but looks more like a J. There are no other instances of a Z to confirm, but I think X and Z may be the same character, and it was intended to say “NAZI!”

Majahal’s array is noted with I wonder what happened to Lebi? This probably refers to Carin, Lebi being the name she took on after forgetting her past. This, too, is a bit confusing because the I/Y character also looks like a J.

Trisha’s human transmutation circle just says Sorry Mom I’m sorry...

The circle for the Underground City is noted with To open the Gate?

The Grand Arcanum Philosipher’s Stone circle is labeled “Ishbalan?” and Ed has circled it.

AND THAT IT’S FOR THE NOTES, hopefully this is of some value to... someone out there, lmao.

[laresearchette]

Friday, May 13, 2022 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: THE ESSEX SERPENT (Apple TV+) GREATNESS CODE (Apple TV+) ZOE BAKES (discovery +) COUPLES THERAPY (Crave) 9:50pm/10:20pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT A BABY AT ANY COST (TBD - Lifetime Canada)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA THE KIDS IN THE HALL

CBC GEM CAMILLA BEFORE CHARLES CBC MUSIC PRESENTS: THE INTRO CBC MUSIC PRESENTS JUNOFEST: THE BLOCK SHOWCASE (Streaming live at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) GERRY TRIGGER POINT WHO THE !@#$ IS ARTHUR FOGEL? ZARQA

CRAVE TV BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT COMEDY CENTRAL’S THE DAILY SHOW PRESENTS: JORDAN KLEPPER FINGERS THE GLOBE – HUNGARY FOR DEMOCRACY COUPLES THERAPY (Season 3, Episodes 1-9) THE IPCRESS FILE THE MASTER THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS MTV’S TEEN MOM 2 (Season 11A) SEE FOR ME   SHORESY (Season 1) SWINGERS

DISNEY + STAR THE BLUE MAX SNEAKERELLA TAPS

NETFLIX CANADA BLING EMPIRE (Season 2) THE LIFE AND MOVIES OF ERSAN KUNERI (Season 1) THE LINCOLN LAWYER (Season 1) NEW HEIGHTS (Season 1) SENIOR YEAR

IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HOCKEY (TSN) 9:00am: France vs. Slovakia (TSN4) 9:00am: USA vs. Latvia (TSN/TSN4) 1:00pm: Germany vs. Canada (TSN2) 1:00pm: Finland vs. Norway

MLB BASEBALL (SN1) 7:00pm: Jays vs. Rays (SN Now) 8:00pm: Red Sox vs. Rangers

NHL HOCKEY PLAYOFFS (CBC/SN) 7:00pm: Rangers vs. Penguins - Game #6 (SN360) 7:30pm: Panthers vs. Capitals - Game #6 (CBC/SN) 9:50pm: Flames vs. Stars - Game #6

NBA BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS (TSN/TSN4/TSN5) 7:30pm: Celtics vs. Bucks - Game #6 (TSN4) 10:00pm: Grizzlies vs. Warriors - Game #6

BULL'S EYE (APTN) 7:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE):   First Nations youth test their knowledge of their culture in order to share it with everyone; with the help of popular artists, each team must take on several challenges to win.  The theme today is languages.

THE GOOD LIAR (CTV2) 8:00pm:  Career con artist Roy Courtnay can hardly believe his luck when he meets well-to-do widow Betty McLeish online. While Betty opens her heart and home to him, Roy walks the most treacherous tightrope of his life as he hatches a scheme to swindle her.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF DURBAN (Slice) 9:00pm:  Nonku breaks down during a private conversion with Annie about the events of last night.

SEE FOR ME (Crave) 9:00pm: A group of thieves break into the luxurious, secluded mansion Sophie is house-sitting. Sophie, a visually impaired former skier, must rely on Kelly, an army veteran living across the country, to help her fight back.

CRIME BEAT (Global) 10:00pm: The Secrets of Salmon River: Part 1

THE PRINCES AND THE PRESS (Documentary) 11:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): Amol explores the years following the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the positive media reaction to the emergence of a new generation of royals.