#sutherland massacre

[darknessillumina]

rest in peace ⚰️😔

[staticspacedudes]

Now I get to put all of these in sleeves (:

[birthdaykillings]

get to know me !!!

-> jason | he/they | {¬ºཀ°}¬ 🫀 ♾️ 🌈

-> i love horror, sci-fi, and fantasy stuff :3 i usually hyperfixate on actors and the media they’re in ^_^ i mostly like kiefer sutherland and ryan gosling ( but i like others too!)

-> some movies, shows, and media i’m into are dark city, the lost boys, lars and the real girl, stay, the hobbit, lotr, grimm, stranger things, gotham, smiling friends, south park, resident alien, supernatural, friday the 13th, the texas chainsaw massacre, WWE, american psycho, hereditary, the ritual, IT, DC & marvel stuff…

-> games i’m into are resident evil 7 and 8, sally face, fran bow, until dawn, fnaf, stardew valley, sekai, moshi monsters, and animal jam :)

personal acc @angelzombiie

[pastacatprod]

I somehow keep finding horror movies to draw, but I kinda feel like I'm running out of ideas.

Holy shmoolie, it's a fuckin Ghoulie.

Okay, arguably the opposite of horror, but Casper:

Cute lil Critter:

Aw what a cute skin mask man.

There's two camps of people: those who say the early Willy Wonka was not a horror film, and those who are correct.

It's a Martian, man.

(Wayne from Wayne's World voice) I'M THE LEPRECHAUN

BUSTIN BUSTIN BUSTIN MAKES ME FEEL GOOD, FEEL GOOD

MOIST MOIST MOIST

I have decided to start drawing horror icons on Starbucks sleeves.

(updating the original post as I make more instead of reblogging)

[archivaltrigger]

“Because the US government was not acting on mass shootings, we directly attacked a trait Americans are most known for: their pride in their country. Change the Ref created the Shamecards, a postcard collection designed to demand gun law reform from Congress. Subverting the traditional greeting cards that depict each city’s landmarks, ours show what cities are becoming known for.”

shamecards.org

There is 54 cards total representing:

Annapolis — Maryland: Capital Gazette Shooting

Atlanta — Georgia: Day Trading Firm Shootings

Benton — Kentucky: Marshall County High School Shooting

Bethel — Alaska: Regional High School Shooting

Binghamton — New York: Binghamton Shooting

Blacksburg — Virginia: Virginia Tech Massacre

Camden – New Jersey: Walk of Death Massacre

Charleston — South Carolina: Charleston Church Shooting

Charlotte — North Carolina: 2019 University Shooting

Cheyenne — Wyoming: Senior Home Shooting

Chicago — Illinois: Medical Center Shooting

Clovis — New Mexico: Clovis Library Shooting

Columbine — Colorado: Columbine

Dayton — Ohio: Dayton Shooting

Edmond — Oklahoma: Post Office Shooting

El Paso — Texas: El Paso Shooting

Ennis — Montana: Madison County Shooting

Essex Junction — Vermont: Essex Elementary School Shooting

Geneva — Alabama: Geneva County Massacre.

Grand Forks — North Dakota: Grand Forks Shooting

Hesston — Kansas: Hesston Shooting

Honolulu — Hawaii: First Hawaiian Mass Shooting

Huntington — West Virginia: New Year's Eve Shooting

Indianapolis — Indiana: Hamilton Avenue Murders

Iowa City — Iowa: University Shooting

Jonesboro — Arkansas: Middle School Massacre

Kalamazoo — Michigan: Kalamazoo Shooting

Lafayette — Louisana: Lafayette Shooting

Las Vegas — Nevada: Las Vegas Strip Shooting

Madison — Maine: Madison Rampage

Meridian — Mississippi: Meridian Company Shooting

Moscow — Idaho: Moscow Rampage

Nashville — Tennessee: Nashville Waffle House shooting

Newtown — Connecticut: Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

Omaha — Nebraska: Westroads Mall shooting

Orlando — Florida: Pulse Nightclub Shooting

Parkland — Florida: Parkland School Shooting

Pelham — New Hampshire: Wedding Shooting

Pittsburgh — Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

Prices Corner — Delaware: Delaware Shooting

Red Lake — Minnesota: Indian Reservation Shooting

Roseburg — Oregon: Umpqua Community Collage Shooting

Salt Lake City — Utah: Salt Lake City Mall Shooting

San Diego — California: San Ysidro Massacre

Santa Fe — Texas: Santa Fe School Shooting

Schofield — Wisconsin: Marathon County Shooting

Seattle — Washington: Capitol Hill Massacre

Sisseton — South Dakota: Sisseton Massacre

St. Louis — Missouri: Power Plant Shooting

Sutherland Springs — Texas: Sutherland Springs Church Shooting

Tucson — Arizona: Tocson Shooting

Wakefield — Massachusetts: Tech Company Massacre

Washington — D.C.: Navy Yard Shooting

Westerly — Rhode Island: Assisted-Living Complex Rampage

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #346 - Ride, Smile, 1990

Il piccolo percorso storico-musicale sugli EP arriva alla conclusione con la storia di oggi, che rappresenta un po' l'ultimo apice della produzione degli extended play. L'ultimo grande movimento del rock ad usarli con frequenza è stato il cosiddetto shoegaze, un movimento del rock alternativo che ebbe un certo successo tra la fine degli anni '80 e l'inizio degli anni '90. Il termine shoegaze fu coniato da alcuni giornalisti del New Musical Express che notarono una peculiare caratteristica nei nuovi gruppi emergenti inglesi: tendevano a suonare dal vivo, soprattutto i chitarristi, tenendo il capo chino, come a "fissare lo sguardo sulle scarpe". In un primo momento, fu preso come simbolo di un certo modo "timido" di presentarsi, alternativo al sempre più crescente bisogno di spettacolarizzazione degli eventi musicali, ma più prosaicamente, la testa abbassata mentre si suonava era per coordinare i movimenti dei piedi sulle pedane degli effetti sonori, che erano una delle caratteristiche musicali del genere. Riverberi, feedback, distorsioni divennero il marchio di fabbrica di una schiera di giovani band, che usavano le parti vocali in modo molto spettacolare, quasi come strumento aggiunto. Apoteosi del genere fu Loveless dei My Bloody Valentine, opera grandiosa e unica del gruppo di Kevin Shields, disco che ne racchiude tutti gli stilemi fondamentali, e tra quasi tutti i gruppi shoegaze c'era una proficua e interessante partecipazione reciproca, tanto che Steve Sutherland del Melody Maker scrisse un reportage sul genere dal titolo The Scene That Celebrates Itself. Tutte la band, e cito Spacemen 3, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Mercury Rev, Lush, Chapterhouse, Slowdive, produssero ottimi EP, sia come trampolino di lancio per andare oltre i singoli, sia come diffusione di materiale sperimentale in vista degli album veri e propri.

Una band che fece degli Ep una vera e propria caratteristica sono stati i Ride. Nascono ad Oxford, nel 1988, quando i chitarristi Andy Bell e Mark Gardener si trasferiscono a Bradbury per studiare alla Scuola di Design. Assoldano il bassista Laurence Colbert e il batterista Steve Queralt e formano una band a cui danno il nome di Ride, dal piatto ride della batteria. Suonando nella camera da letto di Queralt, registrano un demo tape, nel 1989, che arriva, non si sa come, a Jim Reid, leader dei Jesus And Mary Chain (band seminale e più citata da tutti i gruppi shoegaze). Questi piacevolmente sorpresa chiede al manager Alan McGee, che è anche discografico di una etichetta che di lì a poco diventerà fondamentale, la Creation, di scritturarli. Tra gennaio e settembre del 1990 i Ride pubblicarono tre EP: Ride, che è il primo disco in assoluto della Creation che entra il Classifica in Gran Bretagna (nella Top 75), ha in copertina delle rose rosse, Play, che ha in copertina dei narcisi gialli, e Fall, che invece ha una foto dei pinguini imperatori sotto la neve. I primi due furono uniti in una compilation, che è il disco di oggi, Smile (che ha le ortensie in copertina) che fu distribuito dalla Sire per il mercato americano, e verrà ripubblicato nel 1992 in Gran Bretagna e in Europa, quando i Ride avranno già pubblicato il loro primo album intero.

Smile si apre con uno dei pezzi che diventeranno i più iconici della band: Chelsea Girl è il prototipo dello shoegaze, con il muro sonoro chitarristico che sale di potenza, la ritmica asfissiante, la forza del suono elettrico; Drive Blind, altra canzone che diventerà un must dei loro concerti, è appena più lenta e melodica, e diventa un piccolo inno al disagio di quei tempi (Driving me 'round and leaving me there \Cover my eyes and we'll die driving blind\Cover my trail and we'll leave life behind\Drive blind); Ride Ep finiva con All I Can See, toccante e dal suono "più americano" e Close My Eyes. Play invece si apre con Like A Daydream, altro brano piuttosto noto, che è il tentativo Ride di scrivere una canzone non dico d'amore, ma quanto meno di una cotta adolescenziale, tra le stupende chitarre rampanti, che salgono e si avviluppano in stupendi assoli; Silver è più blues, Furthest Sense, ancora sulla difficoltà della comunicazione tra le generazioni (Who could ever understand?\So don't try to criticize,\You don't know the change that's in my eyes), e si conclude con la spettacolare Perfect Time, dall'intro scoppiettante.

I Ride pubblicheranno il primo disco nel 1990, Nowhere: in copertina una onda del mare senza increspatura, e dentro il meglio dello shoegaze, in un disco che diventerà un successo per il movimento, arrivando al numero 11 in classifica. Pensato come un disco da registrare "live in the studio", registrato di notte, portò ad un crollo mentale il primo produttore, Mark Waterman, tanto che il mixing del lavoro fu fatto dall'astro nascente Alan Moulder. Tra i brani gioiello, Seagulls, Dreams Burn Down e la stupenda Vapour Trail. Tra l'altro pochi mesi dopo, pubblicheranno un altro Ep, Today Forever, nel 1991, con in copertina le fauci di un grande squalo bianco, che anticiperà il secondo lavoro, Going Blank Again, disco del 1992, che li consacrerà al successo (numero 5 in UK, disco d'oro, lo splendido singolo Leave Them Behind).

La band durerà fino al 1995, per dissidi artistici, dovuti al fatto che lo shoegaze fu travolto da altro tipo di musica (il brit pop, il suono notturno del Trip Hop, l'esplosione definitiva della musica dance) ma con sorpresa si riuniranno nel 2014, e pubblicheranno nuovi dischi che un po' prendono da quel momento particolare, riavvolgendo il nastro di una piccola storia musicale fatta di feedback, belle canzoni e tanti Ep significativi.

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries below:

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats. Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind. As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children. The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years. Fantasy, horror, young adult, mystery, thriller, paranormal

The Machineries of Empire series (Ninefox Gambit, Raven Stratagem, Revenant Gun, and other stories) by Yoon Ha Lee

To win an impossible war Captain Kel Cheris must awaken an ancient weapon and a despised traitor general. Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next. Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress. The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own. As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao–because she might be his next victim. Science fiction, fantasy, science fantasy, space opera, military science fiction, series, adult

[homesickfornowhere]

Recent books that I’ve read and would recommend🖤

Under The Blade by Matt Serafini. A really interesting twist on the slasher genre. Starts as a classic 90s slasher film, but has a fresh storyline and tons of twists.

Seed by Ania Ahlborn. An interesting take on demonic possession with a gut punching ending. Very creepy and bleak.

The Cotton Candy Massacre by Christopher Robertson. This book was SO much fun to read, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves horror and 80s slasher films. Gory, brutal, and a little bit cheesy in the best way.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland. A bizarre and creepy little book that reads like a dark fairy tale. Great ending.

What Lies Between Us by John Marrs. Unhinged and twisted, but a page turner. Takes toxic, dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships to another level.

The Vessel by Adam Nevill. A creepy, slow-burn folk horror with a great ending. This was a quick read and I finished it in one sitting.

The Good Lie by A.R. Torre. I finished this in one day. A great mystery/crime thriller, and I enjoyed the main characters.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty. An interesting read and gives a different perspective on death.

[dimonds456]

The Hunger Games: a fictitious prophetic reflection of current reality

Just got done watching Mockingjay: Part 2, and... holy shit.

Watching it with the context of what's happening in Palestine is so difficult. There's one scene in particular where bombs are dropped on Capitol civilians, but it was disguised as aid. And the whole time I was sitting there like, "this is what the flour massacre was like. This is what it's like every time Palestinians have to swim out to sea to get food, knowing that if the water doesn't kill them, the snipers will."

In Part 1, as well, the Capitol specifically targets and bombs a hospital, killing all the survivors inside. I need not explain the parallels of this one to anyone who has even been slightly paying attention. It's horrific, but horribly accurate to reality.

It's the main reason I decided to rewatch the Hunger Games in the first place, cuz I kept thinking about that scene. Now that we got there, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to rewatch that scene again without thinking about Palestine.

There is a dark, poetic irony to the movie adaptations. Jennifer Lawrence, the girl who plays Katniss, is a Zionist, while Donald Sutherland, the guy who played President Snow, was an activist who was very pro-Palestine. The whole reason he took the role was to help inspire young people to stand up to authority. He's dead now, but I know he'd be disappointed in the world today. He'd be vocally cheering Palestine on.

Sutherland understood the Games and their real life symbolic meaning instinctively. So did the filmmakers. Watching this made me start to really wonder about Jlaw. How can you play Katniss and portray her so perfectly, and not get the fucking message of the film? How can you act in a scene where a bunch of children get killed, reaching their arms up for aid, only to get blown up in a trap, and not understand that doing that is pure evil? It's baffling.

But aside from that. I'm in tears. This movie is not an easy watch anymore. There is deeper symbolism here present only in retrospect that makes it near impossible to just turn your brain off and enjoy it. That's what I came back to understand; how war and oppression function on a personal level. That's the power of movies. They can place you directly in the middle of a war and show you exactly the cost. And the Hunger Games does that perfectly.

With all the pictures and videos coming out of both Palestine and Israel, with Netanyahu treating it like one big "self defense" act to win people over, to "punish" Hamas... The parallels to the Games are too strong. Too real. Especially considering the original novels were meant to be a commentary on our collective desensitization to violence.

Don't be desensitized. Stand for what's right. That's literally the message of these films, and it rings true now more than ever.

If you find yourself becoming desensitized to the horrific images coming out of Palestine, I honestly recommend watching Mockingjay Part 2 again (or the whole series if you haven't seen it). By being on a personal, intimate level, it helps destroy that and reconnects you to reality. That's the power of fiction.

To any Zionist reading this: you are saying that they were right to drop those bombs on those Capitol kids. Because that literally happened. The Flour Massacre happened, SEVERAL times. Children are dying due to dismemberment, disease, hunger, and explosions. Adults struggle to keep themselves and their kids alive. Except it's not fiction. It's real.

It is our duty to stand up for what's right, to defy authority, and to fight for freedom until everyone is free. That's why President Coin also had to die. She was symbolic of a new era of oppression. And that isn't right. It never was, and it never will be.

Free Palestine.

[silurisanguine]

Adam Jensen's timeline (so far)

I've worked out dates and his respective age. Though some month dates are fuzzy I've assumed, unless specified, that an event happened at the beginning of the determined year and carried through the year. All the known dates are confirmed on the Wiki.

(conjecture is in blue, unknown specific dates suggested in green)

Might be useful for anyone writing! (just please credit me if you use this)

(Also note, if i find anything new i'll edit this list, so always check back occasionally to see if its been updated.)

1993 March 9th: Adam is born.

1998 5yrs old: Possible birth parents die in arson of lab

1998 - adopted by Jensen couple

2007? 14yrs old : high school captain of debate team.

2012 19yrs old : Possibly gains Associates degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Phoenix, Detroit at this time or within the next few years.

2014 21yrs old: joined the Detroit Police Department. Possible Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Phoenix University and Ferris College at this time or within next few years through remote study or part-time.

2017 23yrs Old: Meets Megan Reed for first time.

2018, 24yrs old : joined the Department's SWAT unit, ends up leading second unit, thanks to his skills.

2019 25yrs old : starts relationship with Megan Reed.

2023 30yrs old : breaks up with Megan but stays friend and co-owns their dog Kubrick.

2025 32yrd Old - Megan starts taking genetic samples from Adam. (How does she do this? Most likely scenario is she gets hair off a hairbrush of his. I doubt from the way they interact that they are 'friends with benefits'.)

2026 33yrs old : After 13 years, quits DPD and SWAT after Mexicotown massacre. It's painted as if he is fired.

2026 (6 months after quitting DPD) : Joins Sarif industries on behest of Megan, who, unknown to Adam, needs access to his DNA to continue her research.

2027 34yrs old (May) : Attack on Sarif headquarters the day Megan was to go to Washington to present her research on rejection free augmentation. Adam is nearly killed and saved with augmentations thanks to Sarif and a contract stating he could do this to Adam in such event.

2027 6 months later (October): Adam returns to work, 6 months early yet fully adapted to his augments already. (normally takes longer for that many.)

2027 (Just before flying to Hengsha he is diverted to another mission) : romantic fling with Lady Katrina Sutherland, who is almost as augmented as Adam is, after a horse riding accident. She dies saving his life.

2027: Events of Missing link, where he discovers the organisation The Juggernaut Collective and a figure known as Janus.

2027 (near end of year?): He finds Megan and her team after investigations lead him all over the world.

2027 (end of year, little ice in Arctic due to global warming, not summer time) : the Aug incident happens. He stops Darrow and destroys Panchaea, seemingly drowning in the aftermath.

2027 : A week after the Incident and collapse of Panchaea, the rescue effort is changed to recovery and two days later a secret military team combs over the wreckage, finding Jensen.

2028 - 35yrs old: Adam wakes from coma in facility 451 in Alaska. 'Told his Sentinel kept him alive'. Gaps in his memory plague him, and he escapes with the help of Francis and Stacks, another patient. Jenna Thorne is an illuminati agent posing as a gov agent.

2028/ 2029 35/36yrs old- (December into Jan possibly description) : Detroit - Adam works with Francis to help stop old Sarif tech being stolen by thieves working for the Illuminati. Involves TF29 and Juggernaut involvement. Stacks dies after having a flashback to the Incident.

2029 36yrs old - (January maybe) : Because of events, Adam agrees to join TF29 US branch. Also joins Juggernaut Collective secretly.

2029 -End of Febuary - Criminal Past mission reportedly happens in Arizona, where Jensen goes undercover in a top max prison to find Hector.

2029 March/April? - Jensen moves to Czechia - Prague (Praha), transfers to Prague branch of TF29 under Miller.

2029 April?- First mission for Prague TF29 in Dresden, prevents an augmented terrorist using children as soldiers.

2029 Late October? : - Jensen does the Dubai mission and then events happen in Prague.

2029 November? : (takes 2 days from Prague to the safe harbour convention in London) London apex centre, foils plot. Returns to Prague a week later.

[popentertainment-moviereviews]

‘SALEM’S LOT (2024)

Starring Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodard, John Benjamin Hickey, Bill Camp, Jordan Preston Carter, Nicholas Crovetti, Spencer Treat Clark, William Sadler, Pilou Asbæk, Alexander Ward, Danielle Perry, Debra Christofferson, Cade Woodward, Joseph Marrella, Derek Mears, Timothy John Smith, Mike Kaz, Declan Lemerande and Oliver Dauberman.

Screenplay by Gary Dauberman.

Directed by Gary Dauberman.

Distributed by Max. 113 minutes. Rated R.

I have been a Stephen King fan for well over 40 years now, and ‘Salem’s Lot was my introduction to his writing, and is still my favorite King novel, although I feel that he has many other classics. I’ve read it several times over the years, most recently a few years ago. As far as I am concerned, it’s a nearly perfect horror novel.

‘Salem’s Lot was the second book that King had published, although I seem to remember hearing that he wrote it before he wrote Carrie, which was his breakthrough novel. And, as is generally the case with King’s books, ever since Hollywood has been trying to tame the story and bring it to the screen.

This is the third version of ‘Salem’s Lot to be filmed, although the first two times it was done as a television miniseries. The original – and probably the best – version was done in 1979 on network television with David Soul, James Mason and Bonnie Bedelia. It was directed by legendary horror filmmaker Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist). Since it was on old-time TV, it was a little slow-moving and not very violent, but it still had a few legendary scares.

In 2004, it was made as a miniseries for a cable network (TNT), so the makers were free to play with the violence, language, etc. It was extremely well cast – Rob Lowe, Andre Braugher, Donald Sutherland and James Cromwell – and faster-paced than the earlier series, but it strayed from the original storyline and eventually didn’t quite work.

Now, it has been made as a movie. Actually, it was made a couple of years ago and has been on the shelf at Warner Brothers for a long time. It was originally planned for theatrical release, then was pulled from release for quite a while, making it seem it would never see the light of day. Eventually, Warner Brothers decided they had already made it, may as well release it on their Max streaming service.

Honestly, the new ‘Salem’s Lot is a reminder of why Stephen King’s novels rarely work well as two-hour movies. There is just way too much of this storyline which is just skipped over. Major plot threads (like the history of the infamous haunted Marsten House) and characters are either downplayed or completely ignored. Without the background information, things happen way too quickly in the film and much of the plot makes little or no sense.

It should be noted that the original director’s cut was apparently three hours long, and honestly if the original edit were ever released (which I sincerely doubt considering the trouble it took to just get the movie released at all), I’ll bet the ‘Salem’s Lot movie would be a lot better, or at the very least a lot more understandable.

Maybe if you have never read the book or seen any of the previous versions, ‘Salem’s Lot would be worth the watch. Personally, I think it’s just okay but given the choice I’d rather just rewatch the 1979 version – which conveniently Max added to its service together with the new movie. Better still, just read the novel.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 5, 2024.

[stra-tek]

Excerpt ??? (I've lost count) from I Survived Kirk, my forthcoming fanfic autobiography of a bitter redshirt on Kirk's Enterprise

The entire reason this book exists is as a rebuttal of Risk is Our Business.  I’m not sure how much of that was written by Kirk himself and how much was his ghost writer, but the man depicted in that book is not the man I worked under for years.  Not in personality, not in reasoning.  Not in anything.  I see it as more whitewashing of history, more misinformation to pass along to the next generation.  This book exists as a counterpoint.  I’m no James T Kirk, I haven’t done the things he has.  I’ll never be as famous and this book will never be read by anywhere near as many people.  But if I can get through to just a few that’s fine by me.  So long as the truth as I know it is preserved in some way.

I first met James Tiberius Kirk when I reported aboard the USS Enterprise as a crewman in 2264.  He came in with a reputation, as the hero of what they were calling the “Gioghe Incident” where he’d taken command of the USS Lydia Sutherland, and although he lost his ship, he’d saved many lives.  He’d just been given a medal and a promotion.

The entire Enterprise crew was gathered in the shuttlebay for the change-of-command ceremony.  I was right at the back, in front of the mammoth clamshell doors.  At the other end of the bay, Captain Pike wished everyone well and Captain Kirk gave a short and completely unmemorable speech.

He seemed like a nice enough guy.  Young for a captain but confident in himself, enough so that you wanted to follow him.  And people would – for better or worse.

Our historic five-year mission was to begin with a routine patrol of bases along the Klingon border, ferrying a touring troupe to entertain the base personnel.  It was meant to be something nice and easy to get the crew accustomed to each other and their new commander.

Kirk’s mother and father both served in Starfleet.  Daddy Kirk rose through the ranks, becoming first officer of the Einstein-class deep-space scout USS Kelvin.  When James was born, George decided an assignment closer to Earth was preferable to years-long missions in deep space.  He transferred to become security chief of Starbase 2, the K-class space station roughly two weeks from Earth which I’d just left.

Apparently George and Winona Kirk’s Starfleeting was more important than raising kids, since they left Jimbo with relatives on Tarsus IV.

A teenage Jim Kirk survived The Tarsus IV Massacre, which cannot have left him without some serious psychological scars.

What was The Tarsus IV Massacre, you ask?  It was quite a big news story throughout the Federation at the time.  An alien fungus ruined an Earth colony’s entire food supply, and with help too far out to prevent mass starvation, the colony’s governor, a man named…Anton?  Arnold?  A-something Kodos decided the cull the “less useful” members of it’s population, so that the ones he decided were worthy of survival would survive long enough for help to arrive. 

So, he murdered half the colony’s population.  And then – here’s the kicker – rescue arrived much earlier than expected.  Early enough that nobody needed to be executed.  Except they already had.  Oh dear.

The scenes shown on the newscasts were shocking and graphic.  Far worse than anything I’d ever seen in my life up until that point.  Usually you hear just hear about murders and horrible events with options to click for more details and gross images.  Here we got shocking images of piles of charred dead bodies, many children, in our newsfeeds.  It was mind-blowing and harrowing to see things like this are still happening in Federation territory.  On a Federation colony world, no less.

It gets weirder, there were people asking how Kodos would be thought of had rescue arrived when expected, and his mass executions had saved half the population rather than doomed the whole?  While it’s an interesting scenario, the entire idea of this Kodos being the one to decide who lives and who dies is repulsive. Much more on James Kirk later.  And more on Kodos, too.

[haggishlyhagging]

The link in this chapter between misogyny and public acts of slaughter is astonishing. Two of the men, Adam Lanza and Kevin Neal, murdered close female relatives before embarking on massacres. Another, Devin Kelley, was hoping to kill his mother-in-law when he started firing in a church in Texas. Nikolas Cruz subjected his adoptive mother to a decade of abuse and stalked an ex-girlfriend before he is alleged to have carried out a school shooting. Two other stalkers - Jarrod Ramos and Seung-Hui Cho - used modern technology to harass women they knew from school and college. Elliot Rodger, a pathologically insecure and self-obsessed misogynist, has become a hero for some angry young men who don't have instant access to sex whenever they want it.

At least two of the killers in this chapter had sadomasochistic fantasies about women. Stephen Paddock was wealthy enough to pay vulnerable women to allow him to act them out, avoiding unwanted attention from the law. Robert Dear Jnr looked for ‘discreet’ partners - presumably he meant women who wouldn't report him for beating them up - on dating sites and was arrested on suspicion of rape, although the case was dropped. Dear's history is remarkable both for the number of women he abused and as an example of the dire consequences of failing to prosecute men for domestic and sexual violence.

The same failure comes up time and time again, suggesting that police and prosecutors lack the will or the competence to get convictions - and don't understand that violence in the home may be an early warning sign of violent intentions towards strangers. It is bad enough that this happens in countries like the UK where many women feel they can't rely on the police to protect them against angry and unstable family members, let alone sexual predators. But it is nothing short of catastrophic in the US, where convictions for rape and some - though by no means all - forms of domestic violence are among the few obstacles to the easy purchase of semi-automatic weapons. There are significant gaps in the legislation: federal law designed to prevent domestic abusers buying firearms applies only to men who beat up wives or women with whom they have a child. Some of the most common types of abuse - stalking, for example, or violence against a mother - aren't covered by federal law, leaving it to individual states to prevent access to guns by convicted stalkers.

Even when a man has a relevant conviction, the information isn't always recorded or shared in the proper manner, a point demonstrated by the failure of the USAF to inform the federal authorities about Devin Kelley's convictions for brutal assaults on his first wife and stepson. The fact remains that, had Kelley's history been shared with the federal database, he wouldn't have been allowed to purchase the weapons he used in the Sutherland Springs shooting - and twenty-six people, including the fourteen-year-old daughter of the church pastor, might still be alive today. Likewise, had Dear been convicted of rape or beating up his ex-wives, he wouldn't have been able to amass the arsenal of firearms he used in the Colorado Springs attack, potentially saving the lives of the three strangers he murdered.

-Joan Smith, Home Grown: How Domestic Violence Turns Men Into Terrorists

[scotianostra]

April 27th 1650 saw The Battle of Carbisdale.

With the better weather at this time of the year we are entering, what I call, “The Battle Season” and the first one of two today is the defeat of the Great Montrose, whose campaign has been admired by many, but in the end, the Stuart King, Charles II let him down to do a deal with those he was fighting against, within days James Graham would be betrayed, taken south to Edinburgh and executed.

Following the execution of Charles I in 1649, his son Charles II became the leader of the Royalist cause. In 1650, he appointed James Graham, the Marquis of Montrose to be Lieutenant ’ Governor of Scotland and Captain ’ General of the Crown’s forces. Montrose’s first task was to gain support for an invasion from the other crowned heads of Europe, but he only had limited success in this area.

Undeterred by this, in March 1650 Montrose headed to Orkney, where he took command of a force of Danish troops who had been deployed there since the previous September, along with local levies raised from the islands, giving him a total force of at most around 1500 men. Montrose and his army crossed to the mainland at John O’ Groats on 12 April, possibly after sending a vanguard of around 500 men to secure the landing. Once on the mainland, Montrose moved swiftly, besieging and taking Dunbeath Castle and within six days Montrose had advanced as far as Strathoykel in Sutherland. He subsequently moved south to Carbisdale where he made camp and awaited reinforcements, although none were forthcoming.

As Montrose waited, he would once more be let down by the inadequate scouting and poor intelligence which were so characteristic of many of his battles, and he failed to determine the presence nearby of a Covenanter force under the command of Colonel Archibald Strachan. Strachan, upon learning of Montrose’s position, quickly advanced upon Ferne, a mile and a half from Montrose’s camp, with his own force of around 200 cavalry, along with a small troop of around 30 musketeers and about 400 infantry from local levies of the Monro and Ross clans (although sources indicate these levies may not have been wholly committed or even sympathetic to Strachan’s cause).

Once the Covenanter’s had reached Ferne, Strachan’s scout, Captain Andrew Monro, reported back that Montrose had deployed 40 horse on patrol and suggested Strachan send a small force forward while keeping the remainder hidden, in an attempt to draw Montrose to battle and set an ambush. As some evidence suggests Montrose had his forces within a fortified camp in a strong position, it would seem that Strachan wished to draw him out into the open rather than risk assaulting his defences.

Whether or not Montrose’s camp was well defended, the ruse by Strachan appears to have worked, with Montrose deploying a vanguard to the field under Sir John Hurry and taking command of the remainder of the army himself. When the remainder of the Covenanter force sprang their ambush and began advancing on Montrose, he appears to have attempted an orderly withdrawal towards the wooded and rocky slopes at his rear, which would have been ill-suited to Strachan’s cavalry. Seeing this, Strachan attacked with around 200 of his cavalry, overtaking the Royalists just as they reached the woods and turning the retreat into a rout. Montrose’s Danish troops appear to have been the only elements of his force to play any part in the fighting, managing to fire a single volley of musket fire before they too were driven off. While Montrose himself escaped with a few others, the remainder of his force was not so lucky. The pursuit of his army was a brutal affair and the slaughter in the wood continued for another two hours, with around 200 Royalists drowned while trying to cross the Kyle of Sutherland in a desperate bid to escape the massacre and another 400 captured.

Montrose escaped the slaughter and escaped into the mountains after Carbisdale. He fled to Aardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt where he was betrayed to the Covenanters by Neil MacLeod, Laird of Assynt. Montrose was taken to Edinburgh and led through the streets in a cart driven by the hangman. Already under sentence of death for his campaign of 1644-5, Montrose was hanged at the Mercat Cross on 21st May 1650, protesting to the last that he was a true Covenanter as well as a loyal subject

As well as a soldier James Graham fancied himself as bit of a poet, on hearing the English had executed King Charles I he wrote;

Great, good, and just! could I but rate My griefs to thy too rigid fate, I'd weep the world to such a strain, As it would deluge once again: But since thy loud-tongued blood demands supplies, More from Briareus' hands than Argus' eyes, I'll sing thy obsequies with trumpet sounds, And write thy epitaph with blood and wounds.

I’ll post more of his verse on May 21st, meanwhile check out the link for a more in-depth story of the battle.

[indigo-flightly-falls]

My friend wanted a list of middle school era books I've read that either have explicit queer characters or characters that could be read as queer if you try so I'm making this

Ok getting a couple of obvious ones out of the way:

Wings of Fire by Tui T Sutherland It's a middle grade series focused around dragons. You can't skip any books but the second and third arcs have so many queer characters. We've got a nb human, an on page lesbian relationship including a major protagonist, a trio that most like to headcanon as poly with one of the characters being hinted at being bi, a background lesbian relationship as two characters being the moms of a protagonist, and other assorted characters! It's also a rather fun read that dives into some deeper topics then you might expect. Heavy trigger warning for the following topics: Arc 1: war, death, genocide, starvation, rather unsanitary eating habits, mild child abuse, using a child as a weapon, rather graphic deaths/wounds, a pov character being blinded at the end of a book, and probably a few things I missed. OH YEAH WAIT sorry the murder of unborn babies by smashing their eggs specifically for the second book Arc 2: referenced gore (specifically making someone gut themselves, it's all in the past), mentions of a massacre, unhealthy relationships, child abuse, child neglect, again using a child as a weapon but this time it's the aftermath, really bad trust issues, manipulation, war again, illnesses, improper use of magic that kills lots of dragons, graphic deaths/wounds, genocide, and probably a few other things Arc 3: war, war and more war, child abuse, attempted genocide of an entire species, a rather dystopian world, mass murder, execution, what could be called slavery, kidnapping, possession via a plant, abandoning those in need to die, uh there's some spooky cult stuff going on as well. Honestly this arc is pretty dark

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Rodian While I know mythology isn't for everybody, this aint the worse series. It's based on the norse gods, and it basically a comedy! It's a trilogy told by a sixteen year old ghost who's the son of a norse god. It's very chaotic but has it's serious moments as well. The protag is implied to be pan, there's a very prominent genderfluid character (although she's not the best representation, it's still representation and I mean, that's pretty good). Also the single most queer coded characters I have ever seen (Blitz and Hearth, you meet them early) Trigger warning for the following topics: Death, the afterlife and conflicting beliefs, homelessness, mentioned transphobia, severe child abuse, ableism towards a deaf character, mentions of intestines being used as ropes, murder, as well as general norse mythology things

Now some less obvious ones!

The Magisterium Series (I can never spell it so I call it the Iron Trial series) While not having any queer main characters, there are at least two canon gay relationships between background characters. At the very least it's an interesting look at a world of magic and how it interacts with humans Trigger warning for the following topics: Death, murder, mass murder, attempted murder of a baby, child endangerment, honestly I don't even know how to warn for this. It's dark, be warned. There are very few punches pulled.

The Skyborn Series by Jessica Houry Sadly no canon characters, but like. There are two that give off such strong qpr vibes in the 3rd book. It's a good series to read anyways, does a good job at subverting some expectations on how things will end! (also, I like to headcanon the characters are queer. Gussie gives off aro lesbian vibes) Trigger warning for the following topics: Corrupt king who screws over people, a rather corrupt system in general, slight gore, death of a pov character, mild world is ending talk, the hunting down of a child (several times), kinda implied child abuse? at least neglect, death of a parental figure, kinda implied genocide? basically the king wants to kill every last phoenix and it is stated that another villain wants to kill everyone so-

Warrior Cats Alright this may shock you, but while we don't have canon queer characters, there are two very popular gay couples and a very common headcanon of a trans character. I do not recommend reading the whole series! The first four arcs are all you need if you're really interested, but if you just want the queer characters here you go: Tallstar's Revenge: one of the almost canon gay couples is shown. It's never called that but it's easy to see Tallstar and Jake's relationship through those lens Ravenpaw's Path/Ravenpaw's Farewell: a manga and a novella respectively that showcases Ravenpaw and Barley's relationship! They're both decent reads if you want something quick! There's nothing specific for the trans character, uh Rowanfur I believe. He's not even close to a main character sadly. That being said, there are a lot of people (myself included) who have headcanons for other characters or ocs who are queer! I am not listing all the trigger warnings for Warrior Cats. but for the few books I suggested: Child abuse, child neglect, death, near death, really bad injuries, lasting effects of childhood trauma, unhealthy coping meconizums, not great parent/child relationships, and some other related things

---

I'm so tired I'm posting this and calling it a night. I'm so tired I'll rb and add more if I think of them

@10piecechickenmcnugget here ya go sage :D

[tendervulture]

Tell me about the dragons please! ~Betelgeuse

Okay, you're going to have to be more specific, there are a LOT of dragons floating around in my blog. So many that the place is practically Dave and Busters. But I'll give it a shot.

My two main dragon fandoms are The Legend of Spyro and Wings of Fire.

The Legend of Spyro is essentially Lord of The Rings/Silmarillion but with Dragons, with the cosmic balance of light and dark being a focus and a ton of very important and dubiously canon lore never spoken of in game. The protag, Spyro, is the prophesied purple dragon who can wield all the elements and defeat The Dark Master/Malefor, who was locked in a Superhell dimension called Convexity for being too power-hungry. This is where Cynder comes in. Cynder and Spyro were part of a massive group of eggs destined to be born in the Year of the Dragon, meaning they could not only open superhell and free the Dark Master, but could defeat him too. Because dragon eggs are very important (and because dragons are presumably K-selected as hell, as they can live well beyond 200 years according to one developer's headcanon), the eggs were protected by four old gay dads: The Guardians. Ignitus is the sad orange one, Volteer is the ADHD yellow one, Cyril is the blue snooty one, and Terrador is the practical green one.

Anyway, the eggs all got massacred, except for Spyro, whose father figure/very probably father sent him down the river where he was adopted by dragonflies, and Cynder, who was eggnapped by the Dark Armies forces and exposed to dark energy to turn her into a giant adult dragon. Cynder then went on to massacre most of the dragon population. Anyway, Spyro and his adopted dragonfly brother Sparx went on to get into shenanigans and eventually free Cynder from her corruption through the power of Spyro's space radiation breath, Aether. Aether is the true element of the purple dragons and is the element all other elements come from. Cynder got turned back into a young dragon, though she ran off from the temple she, Spyro, Sparx and the Guardians were hiding out in because she had PTSD and was quite possibly being influenced by dark powers.

Anyway, some shenanigans on a pirate ship and an ancient library later, Spyro faced off against Malefor's top general, Gaul, the Ape King. Spyro accidentally got corrupted when a beam of tainted moonlight due to a lunar eclipse touched him while they were fighting and awoke his Super Powered Evil Side: DARK SPYRO. O No!

Anyway, Spyro killed Gaul, but whoops! The mountain is falling on them all! Using some time magic he got from the old librarian, Spyro froze himself, Sparx, and Cynder in a crystal to live to fight another day.

I'm getting tired, but let's just say the series ended with Cynder and Spyro fighting Malefor and saving the world after Malefor trying to break apart.

Very 2000's. Very grimdark. Very Evanescence. I love it so.

Wings of Fire is a novel series written by Tui T. Sutherland starting in 2012. The dragons from this series have fancy scale patterns unique to this species and external ears. There are 10 dragon tribes, 9 extant, 1 extinct, and there are humans.

Nightwings-The goth ones. Black and silver scales, starry wing undersides. They have mindreading, foresight, or both powers, depending on how many moons they were born under. Breathe fire.

Seawings-The fish ones-The ones with gills and bioluminescent scales. My favorites. No breath weapons.

Rainwings-The frilly ones. They have color-changing scales like a cuttlefish and venom that they spit like cobras.

Sandwings-The ones with the sails. Have a long sail of skin along their back and a barbed tail. Breathe fire.

Skywings-The dragoniest of them all. Long horns, nose horn, red or orange scales. Breathe fire.

Icewings-The fluffy ones (at least in my style). The spikiest and worst adapted to their environment in book canon. Breathe ice.

Hivewings-The racist bug dragons. Beautiful bodies, but their wings do not look strong enough to lift them off the ground. Stingers, stench emission, venomous bite.

Silkwings-The butterfly dragons. Look like sad kittens in canon artwork. No powers except spinning silk, including a special glowing, burning type called flamesilk, which is very rare.

Beetlewings-Extinct ancestor of Hivewings and Silkwings. Not much is known about them.

Leafwings-Planty winged dragons. Speak for the trees.

Edit: Mudwings-Cow-otter-croc dragons. Could be the coolest tribe if Tui focused on them more. Semi aquatic, can breathe fire if warm, can resist fire if born from a red egg. Family units are based on sibling relationships.