#technically speaking i suppose you could try to create a sub (is that what its called) for the series

[microwaving-tesilid-argente]

Compilation of some responses to the post on reddit because they really made me smile and feel so overwhelmed

The post was on the Hot page for a good while, it really made me happy because as a tumblr native I really expected it to get like only 30-50 upvotes at most. (Staring at the single like on this post. Although tbf r/OI has a much more established audience than here.) My notifications were blowing up the whole day it rly was kinda overwhelming. I'm glad redditors also love it when someone infodumps about their fave.

Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine - Propaganda Post

S-Class Heroine is my all-time favourite Otome Isekai for sure. I've reread the available webtoon chapters a stupid number of times, then read the webnovel and became even more insane about the story. Here's why you should read it too!

---

The premise of the story is pretty standard. Lady in her 20s gets hit by a truck and is reincarnated as a mob character who's destined to die early. Her new world is full of danger because dungeons filled with demons can spring up whenever, but she has the help of a game system and its benevolent moderators (the gods that transmigrated her there) cheering her on.

Top 3 things that make the story stand out from other OIs:

No romance while they're children

It's a low bar but one that lots of OIs fail anyway, so it's worth mentioning.

Excellent Pacing

Speaking of childhood arcs, the author has the good sense to skip all the unnecessary skill grinding. We're only with the MC in the important parts where (1) worldbuilding mechanics are introduced (2) she makes important friends, or (3) she acquires fundamental skills that she's going to use for the rest of the story. You never lose track of the stakes involved because the story isn't dragged out. But it also isn't rushed; the story takes the time to pause for jokes and small moments too.

The in-universe the tutorial/childhood period is 10 years long, but we're only with the MC for like a couple of months in total. Can't imagine being in the childhood arc for 100+ chapters. (sorry Matriarch. I did love you but I simply cannot see why the last 3 arcs I read needed to exist at all)

ML doesn't fall into any of the typical archetypes.

I dunno how to describe Tesilid. He's a hero, he's a damsel in distress. He behaves saint-like but he doesn't even really want to be that way.

His character revolves around some magic restrictions on his behaviour. He has to adhere to the 7 heavenly virtues and abstain from the 7 deadly sins, which basically means that he's always very kind and gentlemanly. He's also a doormat who's constantly betrayed and taken advantage of because he's essentially not allowed to stand up for himself.

He's such a funny guy ever because when he's like 10 and still not very great at handling himself, he petulantly mutters and complains under his breath about why he's the only one who has to live so rigidly. You can definitely tell that if he were given the choice, he definitely wouldn't be doing so many saintly things, but here he is anyway and looking like an angel while at it. But he's also not a selfish prick. He's the guy who in the original novel died 80+ times trying to save the world. He consistently wishes for others to avoid living the same restrictive life as he does in the in-universe church, even though this incurs penalties from committing the sin of envy.

imo Tesilid doesn't feel like a typical bland ML, maybe because he's quite literally an action fantasy MC who's now in a rofan lol. By the grace of the transmigration gods he now has a transmigrator who wants, above all, for him to have a freer and happier life.

His interactions with FL are both very cute and somehow devastatingly sad and hopeful at the same time. She's the only one with whom he is exempt from the penalties of committing the seven deadly sins, which means he can actually be himself around her. If she's the one giving him food, he can eat it without it counting as the sin of gluttony. So after the childhood arc they have this wordless agreement where she piles food on his plate without being asked and he cleans the plate. They look like a married couple to everyone else, but they're probably rationalising it on the inside. It makes me want to combust.

FL also became strong in order to defend him. I love how narratively speaking, lots of times Tesilid is the damsel in distress. There's no ML coming in to solve all the FL's problems, because he's constantly weaker than her. But it's not demeaning, because it means that for the first time ever, someone is there to catch him when he falls. And despite being weaker and being rescued by the FL lots of times, he's also never stripped of agency. He's always thinking and acting to protect her in turn. And as he gets stronger, she sometimes ends up having to keep up with his plans and antics instead.

TLDR; romance aside, Tesilid is a really interesting main character because his entire thing is about resisting the Saint-like character and destiny imposed onto him. I know OIs are about romance, and this one does have (slow-burn) romance, but I love it when stories transcend that and make their characters more than just their relationship with their love interests. Also it's very nice how he and FL flipped the damsel in distress dynamic and without making it emasculating or demeaning for either party.

—

Anyway there's more good things about the story, like it being really funny and having excellent art. I would explain and also talk about the MC who's also so funny and so driven, but unfortunately Tesilid has my entire brain in his grip. I could talk about him forever but he has already made this post long enough.

Please read S-Class Heroine ���️ The pacing is so good and also Tesilid exists. Thank you for listening to my TedTalk.

[krxideprnz-archive]

Idk if my message went through cause my internet sucked, but since he doesn’t have a technical age....

Can I request a sub Mahito x dom reader smut.

He would be such a brat and I live for it.

I just wanna peg his pretty ass into oblivion and just wreck him.

I wanna watch him cry and scream as I deny his orgasim a few times and have him beg.

I wanna break him and watch his pretty face turn red.

Since I’m kinky asf, he would totally have a praise kink and be really into roleplay.

Also I have a mommy kink so yeah...

As to how this all occurs, it’s up to you! And sorry if you got this request from me more than once, once again my internet was pretty crap

Oh my god I really hope this is alright because I just absolutely despise Mahito 😔😔 but I tried to push these feelings away somehow.

I hope you enjoy this hun 🥰

Sub! Mahito x Dom! Reader

This includes content not suited for minors

Includes - master and servant talk/orgasm denial/mommy kink/pegging

A cup of coffee was placed next to you on the table by Mahito, who was currently staying at your place.

Since the the two of you started dating, he insisted on staying at your place, and who were you to say no to that pout of his?

But the time with him turned out to be better than you expected it to be, and he was surprisingly thankful for his new living space. 

“Well aren’t you a nice little servant?” you spoke, jokingly, as you placed a little bit of sugar in your beverage. 

You could see Mahito pause his movement before clearing his throat. 

“Servant?” He giggled, trying to cover up the rush of excitement that filled his body at your words. 

You watched him closely, surely something had happened that got him all excited, and you were sure you knew what it was, ready to use it fully to your advantage.

“Don’t tell me you like it when I call you that?” You smirked, turning in your chair to face him completely.

He swallowed hard before shrugging his shoulders, still an attempt to show that he wasn’t affected.

“I was just surprised”

“Okay, then I order you to leave. Your master has to work now” you winked at him, working to slowly get him to admit he was turned on, even though it was painfully obvious.

Mahito still stood where he was as he spoke; “come on. You know I get turned on when you call me that”

“How am I supposed to tell? You said you were just surprised” you stated, crossing your legs and still looking at him with a exaggerated oblivious look. He sighed, a small pout forming on his face. It was clear that he was becoming impatient, so he decided to finally voice his thoughts;

„Please Master... call me Servant once more“ he finally slipped into his role, bright eyes staring back at you as a small grin graced his features. He pushed all your buttons just right, so you stood up and gestured for him to follow you into the bedroom.

You could practically feel the excitement radiating from his body as he entered your shared bedroom. He stood by the bed, waiting for your next oder like the obedient servant he was.

„Get on the bed, now“ you spoke, watching as he lowered his body onto the matress, expectantly staring up at you.

You began to undress him, relieving him of every arcticle of clothing covering his pale skin. Your fingers traced over the marks covering his body, touching every sensitive spot you know he liked.

He was sighing in content, feeling your digits on his body and your face hovering dangerously close over his, breath fanning over his parted lips.

„Touch me more“ he spoke, Mahito was craving for your touch, desperate to feel your skin on his, but he completely forgot the place he was in. A slap to his thigh was the thing that snapped him out of his daze.

„What was that for, (Y/N)?“

„Know your place. You don’t tell me what to do here. And thats Master for you“ you ordered.

His breath hitched in his throat when he watched you get up and move away from the bed. At first he was scared that you would leave him here since he disobeyed, but soon, you came back with a very familiar item placed in your hand.

He gazed at the strap on in your hand as you walked towards the bed again, hips swaying with each step you took. You also began to undress yourself, exposing more and more of your body to Mahito, who was watching every single movement like a hawk, admiring your soft curves and features.

You threw the fabric to the side and stepped into the strap to secure it around you.

„Look at you getting all excited, I havent even done anything yet.”

You could see his cock begin to harden. You got in the bed next to him, laying on the bed, he still had to do some preparation.

„Well. Serve me first. Suck“ you gestured to the toy.

„Hey come on. Im not gonna-“

„You wanna get fucked or not? You’ll have to be a good boy if you want to“ you spoke, and he hesitantly crawled further down to take the toy into his mouth.

The dildo was covered with his spit as he sucked on it further, his tongue licking over the shaft.

„Prepare it real good, honey, so I can fuck that tight little ass of yours thoroughly.“

His breath got caught in his throat and he gagged when you began to fuck up into his mouth.

Small tears formed in the corners of his eyes and he looked up at you, generous as you are, you let him take a short break to speak.

„Im ready!f-fuck please...“ his dick was dripping precum on the sheets, forming a small wet spot on the soft sheets. You tapped your finger against your chin, pretending to think about your answer, even though you already made up your mind.

„Okay Servant. But one more condition. Ride on this cock like the needy little thing you are“

A faint blush coated his cheeks but he still complied, positioning himself over the dildo before looking at you confirmation. When he saw you nod, he lovered himself onto the toy, taking him slowly until you completely bottomed out.

„Hngh-ah!“ at first he felt nothing but pain, he felt like he was being torn in half by the sheer girth of the dildo, but at the same time he felt unbelievably good, shaking on top of you while youre grinning up at him.

„M-Master--“

„I want you to call me Mommy, can you do that for me?“ you cooed and thrusted up into him. His head fell to the side with a breathy moan as the pain he felt slowly contorted into pure pleasure.

„fuck..Mommy!“

„Yes, let everyone know whos making you feel this good“

He started to bounce up and down on the strap, grabbing onto your shoulders for support.His nails dug into your skin, creating small crescent marks on your skin from the pressure.

Every time the toy reentered him, a loud pleasured moan escaped his throat at the intense sensation. Sounds of skin slapping against skin filled the room.

„Ah! My legs...“ he sighed when he started to feel a growing pain in his legs from all the harsh moving they had to support. You let out an exagerrated sigh, before turning the both of you around, so Mahito was underneath you, hair fanned out over the pillow, blush coating his cheeks and eyes glossed over. He looked ethereal.

His lips parted with every desperate sound he made, head falling back into the pillow as you set an even pace to pound into his walls. His hole was clenching around the toy, seemingly pulling it even further in.

His mouth fell open in a silent scream as the toy started to kiss his prostate, touching the sensitive spot with each following thrust.

„s-shit! Mommy! G-Ah!“ his eyes closed tightly as he felt his incoming orgasm, the familiar sensation in his body started to grow, threatening to push him over the edge any second now. And you could definetly tell from the way his moans got louder and louder- and his breathing staggered.

The only words that left his mouth were „Mommy“ or „more!“ and mumbled incoherent phrases.

You grabbed his dick tightly, denying his orgasm- and Mahito started to wiggle in your grasp. „Why- just- ngh!“ he cursed as he glared up at you, mad at the feeling of his orgasm dying down.

„You couldnt even fuck yourself until you came on this dick before your legs gave out, its pathetic“ he let out a small whine as he looked away to the side, seemingly emberassed by your statement.

He was about to talk back when you started to move again, tight hold on his erection never loosening. The headboard of the bed hit the wall with your fast movements, pounding inside of his tight ass with fevor.

Mahito felt your thumb touch his leaking tip, rubbing the precum over his sensitive head.

„Can I cum now-ngh..“ he blinked away his tears when your tight grip on him still didnt falter. His head thrashed around as yet another orgasm was denied from him. His cock was now painfully throbbing and your pace only fastened, dragging along his walls and hitting his prostate in the most pleasuring way possible.

„Okay okay... god youre so impatient.“ you rolled your eyes and hesitantly let go of his erection, building him up to another fast approaching high.

It only took him a few more thrusts to feel the familiar feeling slowly build up again.

Your mouth lowered to play with his nipples, wich pushed him over the edge when he felt the sensation of your tongue over his sensitive buds.

He came with multiple high pitched moans of your name, body trembling in bliss as you continued to fuck him through his high.

„Thank you Mommy- I need more of you-!!“ he was still craving for your attention-, the intense feeling of your harsh thrusts.

Tears were building in his eyes, rolling down his flushed cheeks.

Who were you to deny your little Servant?

[stagandsteer]

Complete transcript of the Wonderland interview, by Catherine Santino, below the cut :)

In 1993, the year in which Freeform’s new thriller series Cruel Summer opens, actor Froy Gutierrez was yet to be born. Chat rooms and beepers, just two of the symbols of 90’s culture featured in the show, were absent in Gutierrez's own childhood. Instead, the 22 year old grew up among the endless, glowing feeds of social media — and the inevitable pressures that they create.

“There’s a kind of self-awareness that comes from growing up with the internet, which everyone in our cast did,” Gutierrez, who stars in the upcoming series, tells me over Zoom — his boyish charm tangible across the screen. “We’re all technically Gen Z or like, older Gen Z. And so you have to unburden yourself from curating a persona online.”

Due to the dizzying evolution of technology in the past two decades, Gutierrez and I had drastically different experiences with the internet growing up — even though he’s only seven years my junior. I fondly remember a time without the prevalence of social media, while Gutierrez was born into an era where internet presence was not only common, but expected.

Like most of Gutierrez’s peers, the actor was active on social media from a young age, but his presence has quietened over the years — even with 1.7 million instagram followers. “If there’s a general consensus on the internet of a certain readership or viewership, you know about it, because people tweet about it directly to you,'' he says. “There’s a kind of lumping in of the character you’re playing with who you are, that people do. I don’t know if it’s intentional. It’s probably just a human thing, but that happens. And it can be hard not to internalize what you read about yourself, you know? Words have power.”

In 2017, Gutierrez appeared on supernatural MTV drama Teen Wolf, a show with a massive internet fandom. Suddenly, fan theories and commentaries about his character, Nolan Holloway, came in droves, something that the young actor wasn’t necessarily prepared for. “I was still a teenager,” he says. “Around that time, you're an adult, but you’re still figuring things out. So I learned where to set my boundaries because I didn’t know where they were beforehand.”

When Cruel Summer came around, Gutierrez assumed he would be portraying the “desirable young male” he was used to auditioning for. “The first time I read the character, it definitely felt like an archetype. When I auditioned for it, I walked in and was very much myself, and Michelle Purple and Jessica Biel responded very well to it.” However, after he got the role and production ramped up, he was pleasantly surprised. “It didn’t really hit me that they were wanting to take him in such a unique direction until I showed up for wardrobe one day to do my first fitting for the pilot,” Gutierrez recalls. “I looked at the mood board for Jamie and it was like, young Heath Ledger, Keanu Reeves and Kurt Cobain. And I was like ‘Oh shit, I need to step my game up,’” he laughs. “I couldn’t get by doing the same thing that I’ve always done when it comes to characters like that.”

Cruel Summer takes place over the course of three years — ‘93, ‘94, and ‘95 — showing splices of each year in every episode. Produced by Jessica Biel, Tia Napolitano, and Michelle Purple, it centres around the kidnapping of a teenage girl and the fallout of the crime in her community in Skylin, Texas. Gutierrez plays Jamie Henson, the boyfriend of the missing girl, Kate. In her absence, a quiet nerd named Jeanette suddenly rises the social ranks and assumes Kate’s place — including dating Jamie. When Kate returns, Jeanette is suspected to be involved in her disappearance, throwing Jamie into some seriously challenging circumstances. His character could easily be a one-dimensional archetype — and truthfully, I expected him to be — but Cruel Summer took the opportunity to explore toxic masculinity and its widespread impact.

We see Jamie caught in the middle of conflict, unsure how to respond to a traumatic event that certainly no teenager expects to be faced with. He’s not a hero, but he’s not a villain either. It’s unclear whether we’re supposed to root for Jamie or not, which makes him that much more interesting to watch. “He talks a lot about his desire to protect the people around him, regardless of whether or not they asked him to protect them,” Gutierrez says of his character. “He kind of superimposes his own idea of what the people around him need. In order to maintain the peace of the people around him, he kind of robs the people around him of their agency. It’s just a really fascinating character to play in that way.”

Gutierrez has also been able to explore the ethics of true crime in a time when the genre is exploding in popularity. Though Cruel Summer is fictional, it questions the effect that public opinion can have on criminal cases — and perhaps more importantly — the well-being of the people involved. “When it comes to the investigation of a crime, you have to weigh the good it can bring into the world versus the bad it can bring. Or making one person seem suspect, or airing the dirty laundry of a private citizen for the viewership of loads of people.”

Despite his eloquent reflections on Jamie throughout our conversation, it’s clear that Gutierrez doesn’t take himself too seriously. He speaks into the camera like we’re old friends on FaceTime, and when my dog unexpectedly jumps into my frame, he gushes excitedly and asks what her name is. He’s able to laugh at himself one minute and share poignant truths the next. It’s refreshing, much like Cruel Summer.

Another likely contributor to the show’s authenticity? The fact that the cast was kept in the dark when it came to overarching plot points. Instead of knowing the show’s trajectory ahead of time, the actors would receive scripts for the next episode while they were filming — and they were subject to change. “We didn’t know where it was going,” Gutierrez says. “And we were told, “‘This might happen here, or this might happen there.’ And it would shift around.”

Without foresight into their character’s arc, the actors have no choice but to focus only on where they were in that moment — a difficult task when a single episode spans three very different years. Gutierrez faced an even greater challenge, as, unlike the two female leads, his character didn’t undergo any drastic physical transformations over the three years.

“I didn’t really compartmentalise the character,” he explains. “I kind of thought of the different years as different phases in my own life. The first year, ‘93, was a complete absence of any regret. You’re still very young, I was just thinking of like, a complete golden retriever,” he laughs. “A 16-year old boy who just wants the best and isn’t aware. ‘94 is me right before I made the decision to go to therapy, where I was making all these bad decisions and I didn’t know why. And then ‘95 was a whole desire to wrestle with those things and really look at yourself in the mirror and take accountability.”

Gutierrez didn’t only infuse personal experience into his behind-the-scenes work — some aspects made it onto the screen. The actor, whose father is Mexican, grew up spending time between Mexico and Texas and is a native Spanish speaker. Because Cruel Summer is set in Texas, Gutierrez suggested creating a similar background for Jamie.

“I was talking with Tia Napolitano, the show-runner, and I was like, ‘Hey, you know what would be really cool? What if the character is half-Mexican, too?’” Gutierrez says. “And she's like, ‘Oh, yeah, let’s write it in the script.’ And I got to write a couple lines in Spanish, which is really cool. [Jamie] could have been this mould of a cool, likeable jock. And then he ended up being this very nuanced human being, which is awesome.”

Though he is learning to appreciate all parts of his heritage, Gutierrez hasn’t always embraced his identity. “I remember feeling like I might have been not American enough for America, and not Mexican enough for Mexico,” he says. “And I remember having a bit of time in which I had an accent in both languages. Even my name — in Mexico I always went by ‘Froylan’, which is my full name. And then in the U.S., I went by Froy, because I thought it would be easier for other people to say.”

He continues: “I identify as Latino, but I”m also very wary of auditioning for Latino roles because I’m aware I don’t look like a typical Latino person. I don’t want to be someone that you can just sub in for that role, when I’m really white and blonde. And so whenever I do get a role like this, one where he’s not written to be any particular direction and we’re able to collaborate, I’m able to inject some of myself in there. So it’s been really cool to embrace all sides of my history.”

But of course, as is true for Gutierrez, Jamie’s cultural background is only a small part of who he is. Cruel Summer is committed to portraying him as a nuanced character that breaks the moulds of masculinity while tackling complex inner conflict. “Living in his shoes and walking in them, a big question that came up for me was, ‘What is the difference between guilt and shame? [Jamie]’s coping mechanism was terrible and unhealthy, and caused more pain for the people around him. But at the same time, the shame that he internalized made it worse for him. One thing I really learned, is that shame is about yourself and beating yourself up. And guilt is about taking accountability and apologising, moving forward without expecting the relationship to come back. It's just about trying to heal what happened and then moving on, on the terms that the other person sets. It’s not about you, and I think that’s what the character learns throughout the show.”

[notmrskennedy]

Professor, pt 1

A/N - so i heard from like four of you which is enough to warrant me posting drafts that weren’t supposed to see the light of day - ANYWAY this was originally written in third person and let me tell you it takes a ridiculous amount of effort to change tenses like holy hell. 

(Technically the prequel Friendliness but can stand alone if you really want it to. There’s a part two to this so watch out for that tomorrow.)

Summary - Spencer meets a professor and falls in love for a few hours

W/C - 2k

Warnings - none-ish? there’s a small smattering of violence and horrible changing of the tenses 

-----

Spencer can’t help the irony that he’s in a freshman college class for the first time ever while protecting one of the students. Who knew that a tiny club of DnD players could incite so much rage out of an un-sub? So here he was, trying to blend in—even though he’s 25, he still looks 14 and there’s really no real reason why he should be worried about being caught—in order to protect a freshman who was more pimple than male specimen. 

Joesph—the poor kid in question—takes a seat in the front row and Spencer’s obligated to sit within tackling distance, though he hopes it won’t come to that. Hopefully, Morgan will have the kid the un-sub goes for and Spencer can just enjoy being in college again. The painfully familiar auditorium seats, the stale air, and bad fluorescents feel more like home than he cares to admit. 

College hadn’t been all too unpleasant. High school he’d gotten picked on mercilessly. College, however, had meant getting doted on by hot sorority girls and earning the protection of frat boys—they’d picked up rather quickly that he knew football strategy better than they did after Spencer had hustled a TV and 400 dollars from them. Sure, he didn’t drink, but every single drunk teenager had welcomed him with open arms and lots of ginger ale. 

There’s chatter and for the ten minutes before class starts, Spencer is torn between trying to figure out which song is quietly playing around the room and watching for a particularly rage-filled college student serial killer. Instead, he just finds too many bored faces. Most of the kids are drinking coffee like the best of them and he’s itching for his next fix just looking at it. 

The first two rows: a terrible vantage point to be profiling, but a beautifully defensible post. He watches absently as one of the TAs, who looks a little younger than him, organizes three stacks of papers on the front desk and flips through several different pages on the podium. His attention is focused solely on you for nearly a minute too long—he can hear the voice in his head chastising him for how often he gets distracted by pretty people. 

You look of the fragile sort, the in-the-lab kind of future scientist. There’s something about you that’s captivating. It might be the way you keep reorganizing the papers to perfection or maybe it’s the way you study the room so closely. And while he thinks that you might not be able to physically stop someone, you sure look like the kind of person that could crush him in chess. 

He’s 25 and is considering chess as a marriage proposal.  

Joesph shuffles his books around in the seat in front of Spencer and you, the beautiful TA in question, hold a watch up as you move to the centre of the room. Class is starting. Class is starting and he’s hopeful the professor never actually shows up. 

He notices your watch is on your right wrist—are you left handed?—as you smile widely and clap her hands together. First day jitters seem to keep everyone silent, waiting on baited breath for you to start. Spencer would stay on baited breath for the rest of his life for you. You were utterly captivating after all—he could see the drool from several students’ mouths a few seats over. 

“This is Anthropology 101,” you announce. “If this isn’t your class, you’re free to leave. Or stay if you want. Did you guys know that anxiety disorders affect more than 40 million US adults? Or 1 in 5, I guess, if you want the easier pill to swallow.”

Spencer’s heart jumps into his throat and he wants to raise his hand just to ask you to marry him. 

“Anyway,” you sigh, leaning back agains the front desk, “I spit out a lot of facts. Usually something that begins with ‘did you know’ won’t be on the tests. I try to be fair. Which brings us to ice breakers.”

The class collectively groans. You scoff. 

“Oh hush, I’m the only one doing the ice breakers so chill out. Jeez.” Spencer waits patiently for your soft breath and then your further announcement of, “I’m officially Dr. Y/N Y/L/N, but that’s like only if my boss comes in or for any emails you send. You can call me Y/N because that’s like normal. I got my doctorate in forensic anthropology a year ago and I’ve been teaching since I started grad school three years ago. You’re in safe hands, I promise.”

He almost kicks himself. You’re the professor. How many times had he been nearly kicked out of a classroom when he was in grad school for saying he was the professor? How many times had he been 18 and trying to get an ounce of respect for himself? 

You continue, waving your hands about like you could pull your ideas back down to earth. “Um—a fun fact about me is that I am not welcome in certain parts of the world for ‘violating’ what are called exhumation laws, which is silly in my opinion. I had the legal right to carry that head on the plane and—and I hope you did the reading because there’s a first day pop quiz.”

The entire class lets out one simultaneous frustrated whine that alights something almost wicked in your eyes. You wave over two students from the other end of the front row and they begin passing out test papers as you explain. 

“You’ll have a total of fifteen minutes to answer ten questions. We’ll start on my mark. If you have any trouble, give me a shout and I’ll help you out. After this, we’ll go over the syllabus and if you’re lucky, leave early.”

Spencer’s passed a test and immediately notices there’s no place for a name. Just a bolded “Student #21” at the top. Another girl raises the question and you snicker. “I like puzzles,” is the only answer you give before the time starts. 

Question four: what are the top three songs you’ve been listening to? Please list.

Question six: why are you taking this class?

A: This is a requirement

B: I heard it was easy

C: I heard the professor was hot

D: I really enjoy anthropology! (liar)

Question nine: Creationism or Evolution?

Question ten: Quickly. If you were going to have dinner, would it be with Bill or Hillary Clinton?

Spencer can’t hide the grin he’s got the entire test. It’s all ridiculous get-to-know-you questions. He can tell what merit you’re getting out of them. There’s one judging study habits, one judging religion, feminism, politics—you’ve created her own little innocuous questionnaire. Spencer was sure the students would just think you were strange, but he saw the cleverness. 

Spencer also notices that once you notice him, you don’t stop noticing him. He wonders what you see. You’re so obviously profiling him that it hurts. Do you see the FBI agent? The scholar? The doctor? The drug addict? The man in a boy’s skin?

Your timer beeps and you shout for pencils down. Your makeshift TAs are dispatched to collect the papers and you make the stacks perfect when they make it to the desk. You move to the whiteboard, a set of papers clutched in your hand, and lean against it to address the class. 

“Test go alright?” your grin is contagious and Spencer can’t help but mirror it. You glance at Spencer, turns back to the class, and tuck your hair behind your ear. You let the class chatter on for a moment, setting the papers down on the table, and readjust the undone cuffs of your white button down. He never thought that a sweater vest and jeans could look so hot. 

You smirk and check your watch one more time. “Let’s talk about tests because I know you all have questions. Everything on the test is either written on the board, on the notes, or in the study guide—if you fail after that, come to office hours. I’ve got Advil for the hangovers.”

#

Thankfully, Joesph is one of those students who has to speak to every single one of his professors. Spencer waits patiently behind the kid, trying to keep the smell from the lack of deodorant just out of range. 

He keeps a hard gaze on all of the students moving in and out of the auditorium. There’s nothing to see, just a lot of students with a lot of normal college apathy. No anger, no serial killer, no one to tackle. 

“Sometimes the BO is worse than a corpse’s expulsion of gas,” you joke from your place atop the desk. Spencer looks up, and furrows his eyebrows as his brain processes. Your face falls for a split second, but your curiosity replaces it just as quickly. Joesph’s jaw hits the floor, stumbling for some way to explain himself or maybe some half decent way to insult the pretty professor. 

Spencer laughs, probably a little more than he should have, considering he wasn’t supposed to out himself as an FBI agent. You tuck your hair behind your ear again and, for someone younger than 25, you are surprisingly wide eyed with perception and curiosity. 

“Do you like puzzles, Doctor—“

“Reid,” he supplies, trying to swallow around the lump in his throat. “Spencer.”

You raise an eyebrow, chewing on your bottom lip in contemplation. You turn your focus back to Joesph—a boy worse at talking to those scoring higher than an 8 than Spencer was at the same age. “So, Joesph, why does the good doctor need to be within tackling distance of you?”

Joesph flounders, turns to hide his blush, and yelps like God himself has come down to kick him in the ass. Spencer takes one good look at the 18 year old girl charging towards a pimple of a boy and he launches before he can give much consideration to how much its going to hurt. 

But between the noticing and the launching, he makes a list: she’s got so much black eyeliner that Emily’s high school yearbook photos would be jealous; she’s about to inflict about a 9 on the pain scale if she’s left to her plan; there’s obviously no plan other to scratch Joesph’s eyes out; her nails are the size of tiger claws and Spencer desperately wishes he had a better pain tolerance; there’s no weapon. 

The tackle takes seconds. It’s a practised movement. Roll. Knee. Handcuffs. The girl is screaming and crying and kicking and biting. His arm’s on fire and she’s struggling enough that it’s taking more than ten seconds to get the handcuffs on. 

It’s calculated as he presses his knee harder into her back. She yelps and stills long enough that Spencer closes the handcuffs on her tiny, sliced up wrists. The cutting explains some things…

“Hence the tackling distance,” You sum up, bending down just slightly to look the killer in the face. Your nose wrinkles. “You had very distinct ideas on the cultural value of suicide.”

Spencer shakes his head, hauls the girl to her feet, and beckons for Joesph to follow. The entire world falls out of view as he manhandles the girl into an easy walk. The students step to the side to gawk, and he’s thankful for the wide berth. If someone got hurt, the paperwork alone—

“It was nice meeting you, Dr. Reid!” you call and he glances back over his shoulder. You’re waving around the stack of papers in your arms, utterly ridiculous, terribly adorable. He hopes his smile is more suave than love sick, but the fleeting flirtation is especially over when Miss Unchecked Rage kicks out as Joesph comes into her line of sight. 

Spencer throws his whole weight into keeping her down. There’s no room to fall in love after a day. Especially with someone on a college campus halfway across the country from him. There’s even less room to manoeuvre Miss Eyeliner even without Joesph waddling into her eye line every few seconds. Seriously, he thinks, how hard is it to keep behind me?

[wisdomrays]

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: What is the Primordial Covenant?: Part 1

This matter is directly mentioned in the Qur'an:

And whenever your Sustainer brings forth their offspring from the loins of the children of Adam, He (thus) calls upon them to bear witness about themselves: "Am I not your Lord?"—to which they answer: "Yes, indeed, we do bear witness thereto." [Of this we remind you] lest you say on the Day of Resurrection: "Verily, we were unaware of this." (7:172)

According to this verse, every soul was required, at some point, to bear witness to its recognition of the Divine Existence and Unity. Qur'anic commentators continue to debate when this covenant was made. Therefore, we will look at a few considerations as to when and how and to whom this question was put.

• When we were as yet nothing and received the command Be!, we gave an affirmative existential response to God's creative act, which is represented or dramatized as a question–answer or a covenant.

• When were still in the form of atoms or even particles not yet formed as atoms, the Lord of the Worlds, Who cherishes and leads everything to perfection, made these particles feel the desire and joy of being human. He therefore took the promise and covenant from them, which is considered a "Yes" from all atoms to God's creative call, though it was far beyond their own power to even imagine such an affirmation.

Such question–answer or offer–acceptance is not in words or statements. For this reason, the event has been interpreted allegorically by some, as if the question were put, answered, and had a particular legal value and effect, although it is not an actual verbal or written contract. In fact, without taking into account God's power and innumerable ways of communicating with His creatures, considering this covenant to be an ordinary contract can lead only to difficulty and error.

This acknowledgement and declaration, this covenant bearing witness against ourselves as regards our recognition of the Divine Existence and Unity, is the ground of our knowing and feeling ourselves, of comprehending that we are nothing other than ourselves. In other words, this covenant is the ground of self-knowledge. It means that we start to look into the mirror of knowledge (ma'rifa), witness the realization of diverse truths reflected in our consciousness, and acknowledge and declare that witnessing. However, the offer–acceptance, the perceiving–making perceived, the covenant, is not overt or amenable to direct perception. Perhaps it becomes perceived after many warnings and orders, and thus the significance of moral and religious guidance, counselling, and enlightenment.

The ego or self (nafs) is created and entrusted to us so that we may know and declare the Creator's Existence and Unity. Therefore, we prove God's Existence with our own existence, and show God's Attributes with our own attributes. For example, our deficiencies and imperfection show God's all-sufficiency and perfection; our privations show God's wealth and abundance; and our inability, weakness, and poverty show God's power, favor, and benevolence. The covenanted self is God's first favor and bestowal upon humanity. Our proper response is to know and declare God's Existence throughout creation and to perceive His Light in all lights. This is how the primordial covenant is fulfilled. The covenant is like a command that is accepted through understanding the meaning of the magnificent Book of Creation written by the Divine Power and Will, of our comprehending the secrets of the lines of events.

The question–answer of the covenant should not be thought of in a material or corporeal sense. God commands beings according to their particular individual nature, and listens to their needs and speech and whatever issues from them. Thus, He understands all and fulfils their needs. In the scholastic theologians' terminology, the Almighty understands all languages and dialects; issues commands and communicates truths in them; explains and expounds humanity and the universe; and takes promises and makes covenant with them in the form of words, for which the technical term is kalam-i lafzi. There is also a Divine Speech specific to animals as inspiration, and to angels as divine discourse. Although their precise natures are unknown to us, obviously it is non-verbal and consists of different manifestations of the so-called kalam-i nafsi.

Divine Speech is so diverse and extensive—from the inspiration coming to the human heart to the discourse addressed to the angels—and the forms of communication between the Creator and His creation are so different and occur in such different realms that those who inhabit one realm cannot hear or detect the communications belonging to another realm.

It is a serious mistake to suppose that we can hear everything. It is generally accepted that the range of our hearing, like our sight, is quite limited. What we see and hear is almost nothing when compared to that which we cannot see or hear. For this reason, God's communicating with the atoms or systems within this creation, His composing, decomposing or re-composing them, occur in such sublime ways that our limited perceptive powers cannot detect or understand them.

We cannot know exactly when God made this covenant with us, for such knowledge is beyond the ability of our limited senses and faculties. In fact, He might have made it not with our whole being, but with a specific part, such as our soul, conscience, or one of the soul's sub-faculties.

There is general agreement that the human soul is an entity independent of the body. Since the soul came into existence before the physical body, and in a sense has a particular individual nature outside of time, and since the questioning and acceptance in the covenant was with the soul, our limited powers cannot comprehend or report it fully. The soul hears and speaks without words and voice, as it does in dreams, and communicates extrasensorily and without the medium of sound waves, as in telepathy. This special form of communication is registered and recorded in its own specific way. When its time is due, it will assume its specific form and, using that language, speak and bring to the mind all original associations. At that time, we will see that the covenant has remained imprinted upon the human soul. In addition, it will be adduced as an argument against its possessor on the Day of Judgment.

The souls of all human beings were gathered in a realm that was not veiled by an intervening realm, and so saw everything clearly. After this, they gave God an oath of allegiance. When He asked them to witness against themselves: "Am I not your Lord?" they replied: "Yes, we witness that You are our Lord and our God." However, as is common today, some people have never turned to that section of their soul (their conscience). Thus, they have not come across that profoundly inherent covenant in themselves, for they have no interest in it and have not tried to see beyond the corporeal world that intervenes between them and reality.

If their minds were not clouded by the conditioning biases under which they live, they would see and hear the answer to the covenant in their conscience. This is the main purpose of inward and outward, as well as subjective and objective contemplation and search. Engaging in such activities saves the mind from self-obsession and frees ideals. With an open mind and a genuinely free will, people can try to read the delicate writings in their consciences. Some people who have habituated themselves to looking into the depths of their hearts cannot discover in books the thoughts and inspiration they acquire through such inward observation and contemplation. Even the allegorical meanings and allusive signs in the Divine Books can become manifest in their true profundity if studied in such a manner. But people cannot attain such a profound level of inward observation and contemplation, or understand what they might discover there, if they cannot overcome their own selves.

Let's look at the when of this covenant. It is really difficult to derive anything definite from the Qur'an and Hadith on this matter. Some commentators argue that the covenant is taken in the realm of atoms, when the person is in a state of uncomposed, separate atoms, and with the atoms and the soul of which the person will be composed. Others say that the covenant is taken while the sperm is travelling toward the egg, when the individual begins to form in the mother's womb, when it becomes a foetus, when spirit is breathed into the foetus, when the child reaches puberty, or when the person is religiously responsible for his or her actions.

While each claim has its own supporting arguments, it is difficult to show a serious reason for preferring one to another.

In fact, this event could happen in the realm of spirits, in a different realm where the soul relates to or gets in touch with its own atoms, in any embryonic stage, or in any stages till the individual reaches puberty. God Almighty, Who realtes to both past and present simultaneously, Who sees and hears past and present together at the same instant, could take the covenant at all of the stages mentioned. As believers, we hear such a communication from the depth of our consciences and know that our hearts have borne witness to such a covenant.

As a stomach expresses its emptiness in its own language, as a body tells its aches and pains in its own words, so the conscience informs us of this event in its own language and words. It suffers pain, distress, and affliction. Moaning with pangs of regret, it becomes restless to keep the promise made, and always hopes for the good and the best. When it draws attention by its sighs and moans, it feels relieved, fortunate and happy, just as children do when they draw their parents' attention. When it cannot express its need or find anyone to understand it, it writhes in pain and distress.

[lunawings]

King of Prism SSS Episode 10 (LOUIS)

So I think one of the main reasons a lot of people were confused by this episode (well other than misleading subtitles......) was because a lot of us had our own long-time theories/assumptions about what Louis is or what a Rinne is, and this episode turned out a bit different from what we were all expecting. (I got a lot of messages that were like “But I always thought that...”) I think you have to let your past assumptions go in order to take this episode in. A few of my long-time assumptions were proved wrong by this episode as well.

Although, given this post does still include statements that are my own interpretations, if you think I’m wrong about something please feel free to speak up. (But also please include evidence from Rainbow Live if applicable, etc.) I’m afraid I may have to go back and edit this post several times, especially after whenever the director starts releasing interviews about all this. 

There is a tl;dr at the end, but I really hope most of you guys read all of this. I know it’s long, but the Crunchyroll subs for this episode are just....... so bad...... by far the worst....

I wasn’t really able to keep track of the the scores when I was watching this in theaters, so I actually didn’t realize what a big deal Joji’s score was until this scene at this moment. It’s why I tried to start a dialogue about it earlier. 

Kinda funny how Kokoro, Mondo, Mitsuba, and Tsurugi’s scores are almost exactly the same. It makes them feel all the more like manufactured prism stars.... (not really their fault, it’s how Schwarz Rose does things....) 

I’m going to skip over talking about the scene with Jin and Sanada because I think it’s best saved to discuss in a future episode. Don’t worry, we’ll deal with Jin later.

HE’S SO HAPPY AND CONFIDENT AND EVERYONE BELIEVES IN HIM........................................................................................ 

The translator doesn’t really understand prism sparkle, causing a lot of confusing dialogue in the subs, but I suppose that’s kind of to be expected for anyone that didn’t watch Rainbow Live. 

I’m pretty sure the intended meaning here was: If they can’t fix Rinne then the prism sparkle will disappear, which would mean the end of the prism world, and the prism gods, etc.

Um no, I think they said F-type here. Rinne keeps falling in love with male stars because she’s “F-type”. 

My understanding of the scene is: the Rinnes keep falling in love, which is keeping them from spreading the prism sparkle and leading to destruction of the prism world. But the gods hesitate to make an M-type prism messenger since there is a “dark history” with that. So they just change the basics (like appearance) of Rinne to be male, while keeping the rest of the coding the same, and..... 

....Also restore the memory to hopefully “avoid problems”.

(The subs say “back up” here which isn’t so off, but a bit misleading. I believe the Japanese is 復原 or 復元 = restore and they do say lit: “memory”, not data. I guess the translator was thinking in computery terms.) 

So this explains why Louis is male and has memories of the past, even though they say Rinnes lose their memory in Rainbow Live.  

He’s a Rinne, just a different version. 

And because he has those memories, he immediately begins looking for....

Turned? What do the subs mean by “turned”? 

The word used here was 復活 = to be revived/resurrected. 

I guess the translator thought Shine went to the dark side or something, but he went to the dark side long ago. (Either that or this was supposed to be “returned” and that was a typo.) 

This scene is taking place in the Pride the Hero-ish era and the prism gods are asking Louis WTF he’s doing awakening Shine (by giving Shin the pendant and whatnot). 

So. I read a while back in a director interview in the “Ready Sparking” fanbook that Louis’ mission was “to kill Shin”.

Which didn’t make any sense to me. Rinne in the flashback in Pride the Hero says she’ll find Shine again, so why would she find him just to kill him again? Why would Louis go to all the trouble of giving Shin the pendant and awakening his powers JUST TO KILL HIM? 

But now in this scene it makes sense. Louis’ mission was not to kill Shin(e) to begin with. He was intended to be just a regular prism messenger trying to spread the prism sparkle UNTIL THIS SCENE when his mission changed, because he decided to divert from his mission and awaken Shine without permission.  

So the spoiler I read was technically true, but not in the way it seemed. He did not specifically come like an angel of death to kill Shin(e). (A huge load off my mind.) But in between the ending of the first movie and Crazy Gonna Crazy, things changed. 

Once again, misunderstanding of prism sparkle. The way they subbed this, it sounds like he was told not to expand the brilliance of Shine because what “its” refers to is not clear............ It should have been more like: “Your mission now is the elimination of Shine. There is no need to worry about spreading the prism radiance anymore.”

None of this is readable in the theater ahah... Every time I saw Part 4, I always thought I’d be able to read a bit more of it and I never did. 

But yeah, I’m not sure if we knew before that Hijiri’s mother was deceased....? (Did we?) 

Edit: Lol nevermind we did.  

I heard some people saying that Shin(e) was a Rinne, so I just want to take a second to clarify this. 

Shine is not a Rinne. Shine is a Shine: A now defunct male prism messenger program. He’s a separate program from Rinne, and they were meant to exist together. (Unlike Rinne and June, who were both Rinnes and thus caused an error by existing at the same time in the same world in Rainbow Live.) 

Woah. I’m not sure, but I think they cleared up his face here to make it more obvious how much he looks like Shin...... I think I remember it being too dark to see his eyes well in the theatrical version...? ??

But anyway, the rule for prism messengers not being allowed to perform before an audience (and also the reason why) is something that was previously established in Rainbow Live.  

So I think the subs were absolutely fine for this part. My understanding of it was that after erasing Shine, Rinne gets stuck in a loop where she keeps self destructing because she’s trying to find Shine. 

This makes the prism gods decide to delete her memory. They also task her with guiding male stars as well, since Shine cannot fill that role anymore. This is why the Rinnes in the Rainbow Live era have their memory deleted, and what also unintentionally laid the groundwork for June to fall in love with Hijiri I believe. 

And because the Rinnes kept falling in love like June is why they re-wrote the program to be Louis to try and prevent this and also gave him the memories of the past Rinnes so he will supposedly know what not to do. (But the unintended effect of this is that the memories of the past Rinnes also gave him the memory of Shine, causing Louis to search for Shine again.) 

Which is why I’m confused as to why the very next scene is Louis staring at the pendant looking confused like he doesn’t recognize it or something? Because I thought from the earlier scene where Louis was created, he immediately set off looking for Shine after the Rinne -> Louis update? Am I just misreading his expression here or did I miss something? I don’t know. 

Edit: OMFG IM AN IDIOT. THE SCARF. This scene isn’t taking place right after Louis was created. It’s taking place right after Crazy Gonna Crazy. He’s looking at the pendant which fell from Shin after their show. It’s meant to transition into the events which happen after Louis re-seals Shine I guess. They could have made this a bit more clear. 

If you thought why the F is Kokoro here well WHY YES. YES THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE OTOHA 

but putting that aside

I believe this scene was supposed to establish that Louis knows the Rainbow Live girls. He has the past memory of Rainbow Live era Rinne, but he can’t really do anything about it........... (It’s not like he can just go talk to them as Louis.....)

But his expression is so unreadable it’s hard to tell. 

He gives Shin back his powers to jump geez Crunchyroll.

(But for anyone wondering how mix-ups like this can even occur in the first place, a lot of sentences in Japanese don’t have subjects in them. Therefore, if you don’t know.... the context.............................) 

Maybe the translator chose this wording in the context of prism messengers being forbidden to be seen on stage. But as much as I appreciate that, it’s wrong. In this scene Louis is saying that he physically cannot perform. (He’s a fallen prism messenger now, so the rules don’t matter.)

Okay, I’ll take a moment to explain this just in case, since it is not explained outright:

When Louis broke his connection with the prism world and lost his rainbow feathers in Pride the Hero, he made the same decision June did when she ripped off her wings in Rainbow Live. He chose Shin(e) over his mission. He disobeyed orders and cut himself off from the prism gods in order to do things in his own way.

But whenever a prism messenger makes this decision, their rainbow feathers are replaced by the night dream feathers. The night dream feathers take life away. 

(Screencap from Rainbow Live episode 43.)

In other words, ever since Louis pulled out his earring in Pride the Hero he has slowly began to die.....

Although this is never stated clearly within the main King of Prism series, there are several ways you could have picked up on it before this episode. 

First of all, like I said before we have already been through this with June in Rainbow Live. 

Second, across the Road to SSS events on Prism Rush we have steadily seen Louis getting weaker and weaker. At first he was just tired and fell asleep after the Schwarz Rose opening ceremony in Road to SSS 1, but then his deteriorating condition was made crystal clear in his Queen of Glass PR story from Road to SSS 4, in which Louis plans a date with Shin only to collapse and unwittingly stand him up. 

And then eventually by the time we get to Road to SSS 9, Louis cannot even gather the energy to perform at all unless it’s with Shin. And we got this whole scene with a weakened Louis begging Shin to perform with him.

But even after their performance is a success and they win the Tokyo Kizuna Beat Climax, by the time we get to Road to SSS 10 Louis is so weak they miss the finals. 

Finally, Louis being a fallen prism messenger is directly confirmed in literally the opening scene of King of Prism SSS. 

So if you saw this scene and your reaction was something more like “Oh look it’s Louis... are his wings different?” and not “LOUIS IS DYING” then well.... That’s exactly why I’m always telling you guys to watch Rainbow Live.......................

Although, there was a bit of confusion over these feathers even for people who watched Rainbow Live so don’t feel too bad if that’s you. Some people thought Shin had the night dream feathers in Pride the Hero, or that Rinne had them in the end of Rainbow Live. 

But no. The regular star-type feathers are dark blue too. (Generic, lower level feathers than the rainbow ones.(?))

There are only two characters to have the night dream feathers. And they are: June in Rainbow Live and Louis in SSS. Both fallen prism messengers. 

And buried in the midst of all this Louis drama and deep lore is my probably favorite Joji line of all time. Seriously the Joji in this scene is best Joji and I cannot not laugh no matter how much I’m suffering. 

Okay so. Here is what I do not understand about this episode and would be thrilled if someone could explain it to me. If Yamada-san knew Wataru Hibiki, then Shine could not have been sealed that long ago. I actually searched my fanbooks/magazine collection until I found one which listed Yamada-san’s age as 24. So he’s probably 25 now. So this scene could not have taken place more than 20 years ago (and even that is generous). 

So what the heck was all that 1,000 years thing about? Is that just the amount of time Rinne and Shine knew each other? Or does time just not flow in a straight line for prism messengers when they are skipping in and out of different worlds? 

WOAH

WOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SHIN’S PHONE BACKGROUND IS DIFFERENT 

Okay you’re just going to have to believe me on this, BUT I SWEAR Shin’s phone background in the theatrical version is a photo of his hand holding the pendant. Which seems like a weird choice for a background right? But I had a theory on it that I was gonna discuss here. And that theory is that Shin wanted some kind of a background that reminded him of Louis, and that was all he had. (He couldn’t straight up use a picture of Louis because he didn’t want the other boys to question it.)

But TV version Shin, HE JUST WENT FOR IT. NO SHAME. DAMN BOY. 

I can’t help but wonder why Shin still feels like he has to hide his relationship with Louis here, considering if Road to SSS is canon like it seems to be then they all saw Shin and Louis perform together at the Kizuna Beat Climax a few months ago. 

But I guess in between the Prism King Cup and the start of the Prism One tensions rose with Schwarz Rose again, so maybe he’s worried about that?

Or maybe there is a possibility that maybe he would talk about it if it was anyone but Leo asking. What with how Leo is. 

(I know the real reason is probably just because for plot convenience/the casual viewer hasn’t read Road To SSS but shhhhhhhhhhhh.)

I’m sorry but, man I do not like this outfit. And not because it’s basically girls clothing. If Naru wore it I would hate it too. It’s just kinda ugly IMHO. (It’s not an existing Pretty Rhythm coord is it?)

Original brand glasses Shin is cute as heck though. 

I like how he just keeps his same damn clothes he’s been wearing the entire time in SSS and just glasses + hat = done. Pfft. 

Shin and Louis saw a PriPara movie together. 

(Prism Tours is the name of the first PriPara movie, which included different courses of Pretty Rhythm shows/flashbacks shown on different weeks in theaters back in 2015. The “flavor” Over the Rainbow animation seen in the first King of Prism movie was actually reused from Prism Tours, and increased attendance to the prism boys course of that movie including that scene was one of the main reasons King of Prism was greenlit in the first place. So I wonder if this is actually a reference to that.)

This crazy umbrella street is apparently based on a real place in Nagasaki (nowhere near Tokyo).

I just happened to catch a Tweet about it right after Part 4 came out.

So..... I actually wasn’t as excited for Shin and Louis’ date as you would think I’d be. I spent a while thinking about it and I came up with a couple reasons. First of all, even though this is the first date they have had in the main series, in the side materials.... they date all the time. Like seriously! In my mind they have already been dating for years so this was like just another date. 

Second.... honestly...... I don’t really ship Shin and Louis all that much anymore. Or at least not in the way I used to. My feelings about them peaked somewhere in the Pride the Hero era, and have been quietly declining since. And this scene basically sealed it. Their relationship just isn’t what I thought it was. I know in this episode Louis realizes he loves Shin and not Shine, but he took such a long time to reach that conclusion and I’m just so uncomfortable about their relationship being originally based on Rinne’s relationship with Shine. Which was not a healthy relationship. 

Also! It wasn’t 1,000 years since they have seen each other dammit! It was like 20! AT MOST! Right????? Yeah that’s a long time for mortals, but not for a being like Louis that lives for thousands of years. 

Anyway before you send me hate, just know that I’m definitely not saying Shin and Louis shouldn’t be together and I’m certainly not saying that you should agree with me. Both of them deserve happiness, especially Louis. I’m just saying I personally am not as passionate about them the way I used to be. 

But even so....

That didn’t stop me from going to find the location of this scene when I was in Tokyo last week! 

So did Shin pass the smell test or not? Because Louis.... I guess technically........... (nevermind..... not gonna open up that can of worms right now...........)

EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SHOW MAKES ME SO SAD

(Especially thinking about what happens next.) 

 Louis is not at his peak performance condition here. He’s not performing a serious competitive show. Heck, he’s just wearing casual clothing. 

He’s finally realized he loves Shin and not Shine................  All he wants to do is just relive his date with Shin................ THATS ALL.....................

WTF THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS ONE 

THIS IS THE MOST BLATANT MISTRANSLATION YET 

He says 君は僕を殺すことができない = You cannot kill me 

Shine tells Rinne (Louis) that she cannot kill him because that would erase Shin’s memories too. He knows Louis cannot stand to lose Shin.

NO

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

HE JUST WANTED TO RECREATE HIS DATE WITH SHIN

HE JUST WANTED TO DO A FUN LITTLE SHOW ABOUT HOW HE LOVES SHIN

THAT’S ALL

WHY

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY 

It took me a long time to appreciate it considering WHAT JUST HAPPENED but this YABEEEEEEEE from Sanada is pretty hilarious. 

This is unfortunately (?) another moment ruined by the new ending music. 

In the theatrical version, this moment is dead silent and it makes it all the more apparent the.... change which has just taken place. It is terrifying. 

But regardless. Now you can probably guess why episode 11 is so painful for me and any fans of Shin..................................

*deep breath*

Okay so. Let’s review. 

Here is my tl;dr of the timeline, from my understanding:

The Rinne/Shine program is created with Rinne for female stars and Shine for male ->  Shine breaks the rules and so Rinne has to erase him -> But Rinne doesn’t erase him completely and promises to find him again -> The Rinne program gets stuck in a loop where she keeps freezing/self destructing because she's trying to find Shine ->  The gods decide to start erasing the memory of the Rinnes -> Rinne keeps falling in love with male stars since she's in charge of male stars now too ->   The events of Rainbow Live happen -> The gods decide to alter the Rinne program to make the body male and restore the memory of the past Rinnes to fix this, creating Louis -> Since Louis has the memory of the past Rinnes he goes to find Shine again -> The events of King of Prism : Louis begins the process of resurrecting Shine in Shin ->  The gods find out and order him to delete Shine again -> Louis still cannot finish the job and cuts himself off from the prism gods, becoming like June -> Louis realizes he loves Shin not Shine but.... -> Louis’ weakened state allows Shine to fully resurrect, and.....

So. There is more to this. But if you would like to come to your own conclusions about what just happened in that final scene and go into the next episode blind, this post is over. Thanks for joining me this far!! 

But if you would like me to explain some more things using spoilers not revealed until the next episode, keep scrolling. 

Obviously you don’t have to!

It’s up to you! 

I just kinda feel like I owe it to you guys. 

(Since I was lucky enough to get my major questions answered right away and not have to wait a week like you guys do.)

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Ready?

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Episode 11 spoilers start here

So I first saw Part 4 on like, 3 hours sleep. So as you can imagine I was having a really hard time taking all this in. And when that last scene happened I was basically plunged into the darkest depths of absolute horror. To think all this time I had been worried about Louis hurting Shin. The opposite had never ever crossed my mind. 

In my first viewing what I thought happened was that Shin had just regained his memories and killed Louis. And for 30 seconds or so, I seriously considered walking out of the theater. Not that I didn’t plan to ever finish watching it, but I just felt I was not ready and needed time to cry and take this all in before continuing to the next episode at the next showing. I was so close and literally the only reason I didn’t leave was because I just didn’t want other people to see me walking out. So I stuck with it and forced myself through the next two episodes. 

And I’m glad I did. Because that’s not what happened. 

The next episode makes it very clear that Shin and Shine are two different people. Shin did not get any memories back in the final scene. Shin is Shin, and Shine is Shine. 

From what I can gather, Shin was born with Shine sealed inside him. He’s like the host. (Whether this technically makes him a reincarnation or not, I’m not sure.) Shin has never had any contact with Shine, but Shine has always been watching life through Shin’s eyes.

The Shin we see walking off at the end of episode 10 is Shine controlling Shin’s body. From the moment he says “Rinne.....” Shine is in control, and Shin as we know him is unconscious. Shin has no memory of the things he does while Shine is controlling him. 

Also, the act of Shine destroying Rinne’s feathers did not kill Louis back there. But as you can imagine, he’s in bad, BAD shape right now.....

[hennessystevens-udaku]

The Choking Game

KING JADE/KING HENNESSY/SUB!ERIK

Erik sat in the emerald green throne chair of Hennessy’s bedroom, feet propped up on her desk. He’d just finished his nightly workout, and his studded chest shined with sweat. The Gatorade Hennessy had waiting for him was gone in 2 big gulps, a sign that he’d pushed himself hard. She stared as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down like an egg caught in his throat. There was a small hole in the toe of his sock exposing his glossy toenail painted with clear polish done by Hennessy's hand. She chuckled softly to herself at the memory of the night he let her do it.

“What’s so funny, lil girl?”

“Oh nothing,” she lied with a smile.

“That typically means it's something.”

“Does it really?” she asked, still feigning ignorance. He pulled her onto his lap kissing her shoulder.

“Yes ma’am,” he answered in between soft kisses to her skin.

“Well maybe this time is different,” she replied between her mewls.

“Connerie,” was his response as he traded the soft kisses for slightly rougher nibbles to her skin.

“Waaaait,” she whined. “I thought I was supposed to be giving you a massage.”

“Massage me then, Princess. What oil you using?”

“Homie whipped up some homemade shea butter. It’ll leave you feeling softer than a baby’s ass, braille bumps and all,” she giggled. He replied with a rough smack to her ass.

“Keep talking shit ma,” he threatened, his Oakland twang creeping out a bit. Hennessy stood to retrieve the shea butter smoothing it into his skin with deliberate motions. He let his eyes fall closed, allowing himself to fully enjoy his wife’s strong yet gentle small hands as they relaxed the kinks in his weary bones. She used her knuckles to knead the skin of his shoulder blades and spine then used her finger tips to massage his neck and temples. When she was done, she fell back onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Daka,” she cooed as her fresh set of coffin nails found their way into his scalp.

“Princess?”

“I have a question.”

“And I may have an answer.” She smirked, letting a finger snake its way into his Cuban link chain.

“What would happen if I did this?” She slid out of his lap and turned to face him. She let her hand travel up his stomach to his sternum and finally to the chain that rested snuggly against his chest. He watched as she grabbed ahold and twisted so that it choked him ever so slightly. His eyes grew wide as he stared up at her, his top teeth sinking into his plump bottom lip. His grip tightened on her hips as she twisted the chain even more.

“I don’t think those were words, Daddy.” He hissed softly, his eyes darkening with lust as he stared up at her.

“Fuck Auré. You teasing me,” he moaned.

“How? I just asked a question that I’m still waiting patiently for the answer to,” she responded with a giggle, still maintaining her grip on his chain.

“Am I intruding?” Charlie called from the doorway of the bedroom.

“Daddy’s being mean. I asked him a simple question, but he’s ignoring me.”

“Well that’s rude of you, N’Jadaka. Answer the little nugget.” She entered the grand room and approached the duo, her observations clueing her in to what was happening. “Well isn't this something. Don't mind me.” She took a seat on the desk next to Erik's feet to watch.

He bit his lip again, knowing that there wouldn’t be an easy way out of this.

“It turns me on,” he moaned softly.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Hennessy asked, twisting the chain once more. Erik’s hips began involuntary jerking, slowly thrusting upward. His eyes bucked again, a silent plea for her to not make him repeat what he had just said, but he knew better. King Hennessy wasn’t one to go easy, especially when it came to the brattiest brat in The Kompound.

“Oh my,” Charlie grinned leaning forward to watch. He was forgetting himself. That massage must have truly worked wonders.

“Say it again, my love,” Hennessy coaxed with soft strokes to his cheeks.

“It turns me on,” he grunted through clenched teeth.

“Aww Daddy Brat has a choking kink,” Charlie teased and she ran the heel of her YSL pump up and down his inner thigh. “Why.. does it turn you on, N'Jadaka? You've neglected to share that part. Is it the feeling of her fingers pressing and twisting the cool chain so that it winds and tightens, squeezing your neck so tightly that you lose your breath? Is that it? Do you like the feeling of losing control? Knowing your very life is in the hands of one of the brats you discipline?”

“Fuck,” was all he could say in response as his dark eyes bounced between his wives.

“Is your neck phallic representation? Are you imagining how tightly that meat stick between your twitching thighs could be squeezed? By those soft, small hands nonetheless. So feminine. So powerful. Address her by her title, N'Jadaka.”

“Yes, King Jade.”

Charlie slid her heel to the seat of his pants and applied mild pressure. “Don't look at me. Look at her. What is her name?”

“K-King H-Hennessy,” he groaned. If there was some sort of euphoric purgatory between Earth and the Ancestral Plane, Erik was there.

“Tighter,” Charlie requested and Hennessy happily obliged, applying more pressure to her husband’s thick neck.

“This is what you do to us, N’Jadaka. You toy with our bodies and minds in whatever way you see fit until we’re putty in those stubby fingers of yours. How does it feel for the shoe to be on the other foot?”

If he were in the presence of anyone else, there was no way in hell Erik would be whimpering and moaning the way he was, but because this was a side of him that only his first, fourth, and seventh wife could bring out of him, he relished it.

“I love it,” he smiled.

“Words of a masochist,” Charlie said retracting her foot only to have Erik grab her by the calf, putting it back.

“I'd like to try something. May I,” Charlie asked Hennessy before she made a move. Standing from the desk, she pushed Erik's feet down to the floor and straddled his lap, grabbing the Cuban link chain from Hennessy and twisting it tightly causing his chin to raise.

“Hey Mikey, I think he likes it,” she teased scratching the fingernails of her free hand down his bumpy chest and down his stomach into the band of his briefs. She squeezed him there with equal tightness biting and tugging on his bottom lip before releasing all three at once and returning to her spot on the desk. Erik whined pitifully when she left his lap.

“That's all. You kids have fun. I'll watch,” she grinned staring Erik down. He was panting like a dog in heat. Well technically, he was a dog in heat. His hardened member throbbed in his pants while his wives taunted him. Hennessy regained possession of the Cuban, twisting it around her hand while whispering the filthiest things in his ear in French. Charlie watched with a smirk, recording the entire ordeal for research purposes. It was a solid look into the thoughts and inner workings of a known sadist moonlighting secretly as a masochist. This was a private piece of his identity and a face he never revealed to the world.. and now it was on camera in Charlie's gallery. She hummed chipperly.

“Judging by that growing wet spot in ya pants, I think you’ve got something to ask me, N’Jadaka,” Hennessy quipped as she released her hold on the necklace before tightening it again.

“M-May I cum King Hennessy?”

“Cum? Already? We’re just getting started, Daddy.”

“N'Jadaka. Have you ever been waterboarded?” Charlie noted Erik's thrown expression. “I'm thinking of creating our own version of that. Wouldn't it be better if you were smothered by vagina rather than a shirt? Drowned by Hennessy rather than water?” His expression changed to something a bit more excited. Hennessy’s eyes shined with mischief the more Charlie spoke.

“Whatchu tryna do, wifey?” the small princess questioned.

“I'm trying to see you smother our lovely husband with that dangerous cooch of yours, but don't remove the panties. Let him suffer. Henny smiled a devious smile as she hoisted herself onto her husband’s lap and then up to his face. She gripped his dreads with both hands as she guided his head between her legs, allowing the soft satin of her panties to caress his face.

“Gahdamn,” he groaned, his nails digging into the arms of the chair.

“No one gave you permission to speak, N’Jadaka. Smother him so he can't breathe let alone speak,” Charlie goaded admiring the view.

“Yes King Jade,” Henny obeyed, pushing their husband’s face deeper between her plump thighs. The feeling was unlike anything Henny had ever imagined. The soft satin coupled with the warmth of his skin and breath had her dripping, leaving slick snail-like trails along his cheeks.

“Permission to touch you, King?” Erik called out, his voice muffled by his wife’s vagina.

“Permission denied,” Hennessy moaned, causing Erik to whimper as his nails dug deeper into the arms of the chair.

“Ooh the Jaguar about to come out,” Charlie teased before giving further instructions.

“You’ve got 5 minutes to make her cum without using your hands and tongue. Get creative. I need to see this, I might learn something,” Charlie said zooming in on the footage. He blew his lips like a raspberry making a noise that sounded like a propeller. It seemed to work because Hennessy reacted. She rolled her hips, pushing his face even further between her legs. She was now using his nose as a clit stimulator and boy was it doing the trick.

“1 minute,” Charlie announced as she moved to get closer. She wanted to capture it all, right down to Hennessy’s love faces. The tiny princess’ body went into overdrive, jerking and spazzing until her release coated the seat of her panties and the tip of his nose.

“Do over. I can beat that time,” Erik pleaded, keeping his hands down.

“Not tonight, Daddy. I have other plans for us,” Hennessy murmured softly draping her arms around N'Jadaka's neck. Lovey dovey mode was back in effect.

“Welp, that's my cue. I have some online reading to do. I shall see you two in the morning.” Charlie stood and made her way to the door as Hennessy and Erik continued nibbling on each other's lips, caught up. The next round would occur behind closed doors.

————————

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[chaoskirin]

Fanfic -- A Temporal Folly -- CHAPTER 5

Fandom: Queen Genre: Sci-fi/Horror Rating: R Chapter Title: Detached (Chapter Five) Word Count: 2265 (oops!) Chapter Summary: Same thing, with 100% more Roger! 

How we all mourn the broken Holding onto the slimmest ledge Our fingers slipping by the second Drawn to the inexorable truth That to change the fates of the never-ending masses Is to destroy the fabric that binds us all

2019

Roger crashed into his vanity, upended his chair, then fell to the floor. Winded, he fought against gravity to regain his feet, momentarily blanking on the logistics of up and down; in the end, he succeeded only in rolling onto his side.

What was he doing in his dressing room?

He was too fucking old for this shit!

Roger would admit that, unlike Brian (whose feet were firmly on good ol' Terra Firma), he often had his head in the clouds and had no qualms about breathing the vapors. So he wasn't surprised when his mind skipped past every logical explanation like dreams or hallucinations and went straight to alien abduction as an assured reality. It sure felt how he imagined an alien abduction would go, although the completely empty dressing room unnerved him a bit, and the blue light oozing out of the walls like a thoroughly squeezed snail was an odd touch. Had he acquired the good shit?

It said a lot about him that his second guess was "drugs," Roger supposed.

"Right. Up on the feet then," he told himself. Now that the initial shock had worn off, he reintroduced himself to the concept of three dimensions and peeled himself off the floor. His joints popped and cracked in protest.

As he tried to regain his bearings, he squinted at the weird gecko-like beast, stuck by its little spade-toes up in the farthest corner of Roger's dressing room. As calmly as he accepted his alien abduction, he took this in stride, only partly because his very brain seemed to have short-circuited. The rest was because he kinda hoped he'd made first contact before his dear friend and space nerd, Brian May. Wouldn't that just rankle!

"Where are your eyes?" Roger inquired at the toxic blue creature. It grinned with a maw full of sharp, irritating teeth.

In answer, it shuffled toward him, hissing like a leaky tire. Alas, it seemed he'd have to fight the thing. So much for peaceful first contact! How could he possibly fight this cow-sized creature, though, with its lack of eyes and weird suction-cup toes and its feral, white-rimmed grin?

He did what any blue-blooded Brit would do. He bunched it square in the mouth.

The thing was fast. In the blink of an eye, it had Roger's arm crushed between its teeth. He tried to cry out, but the creature already had itself wrapped around him; consequently, the only sound he could produce was a less-than-intimidating squeak. Every time he gasped, the creature constricted tighter.

---

Witness. ---

1993

The alarm buzzed. John reached over and snoozed it.

Five minutes later, the radio started playing Sinatra, despite John ripping out the FM transmitter just the night before. Grabbing the entire clock-radio, he launched it across the hotel room, where it shattered against a mirror.

Then, for good measure, he sat up in bed and gave the lamp a good solid kick. He'd be billed for it, and probably even kicked out of the hotel. Maybe he'd sleep in a ditch tonight for the thrill of it. None of that mattered, though, since he'd wake up in the same bed, at the exact same time, annoyed once again by Come Fly With Me through a tinny, sub-standard speaker. He glanced at his watch.

"Three. Two. One." As he pointed at the door, somebody rapped on it and called "Room service!" "Fuck off!" John growled.

He'd seen Groundhog Day back in his own Theta-Universe just before traversing the portal. The coincidence wasn't lost on him. Who knew such a temporal anomaly wouldn't be caused by driving off a cliff, but by mucking about in the past!

The most annoying thing was that he couldn't write anything down, because everything would disappear when the day started over. Infuriating! He had so many questions, and limited memory with which to remember them, or their answers.

"What is this," he grumbled, sliding out of bed. "Sixty? Seventy? A thousand?"

Every morning, he made a tick on the wall. The next day, of course, it was gone.

It was at least sixty, though. He knew that. And in those sixty days, he'd pursued every opportunity to speak to Freddie, but this universe's version was reclusive and distrustful. Once, frustrated with the lack of positive response, John tried to drag him off so they could talk, and ultimately ended up in jail.

It didn't matter. By then, he knew he'd wake up the next morning safe in the hotel bedroom.

Today would be different, though, John mused as he brushed his teeth. Humming a cheerful ditty that was definitely not Sinatra, he pulled the hairdryer out of its wall holster and used it to smash the mirror. If his actions didn't matter, if everything would reset in 24 hours, why shouldn't he take out his frustrations on inanimate structures? He spit the toothpaste out in the middle of the floor. "It's a glitch," he told himself. John often spoke to himself now, since he had no friends in this universe. He technically didn't exist in it, which meant no one recognized him, which meant he had no friends. "We fucked up the code. It was too much. We shouldn't have--" Today would be different.

Over the past few weeks--relatively speaking--John worked on finding the key to fixing everything. By the very nature of time-space, the machine he and his other self built also had to exist in this world. He should have entered into the Iota-Universe at the machine's location, but the glitch interfered and spat him out elsewhere. After triangulating all possible points of interest, he found it in the basement of an abandoned school only a half mile away from the hotel. The proximity made sense. And if he was right, which he'd find out today, the location of the machine, the hotel, and Freddie would create a perfect line.

That revelation didn't matter much before, but now it made sense. It was the continuum trying to correct itself, pointing the way to solve the problem. If John could get Freddie to the machine, his presence would act as a battery, activating it and allowing everyone to go home. He had to. At this point, he teetered just on the verge of madness. Living the same day over and over couldn't have been healthy for anyone.

--- Today, he'd try a different tactic. Today... Today it would work.

It was sad in a way, how meeting up with Freddie had become routine. The first few times John saw he old friend, he couldn't even approach for the tears in his eyes. And Freddie looked so whole and healthy. Standing in the presence of Queen's legendary singer made John's heart soar!

But while this Freddie had similar mannerisms and a rather sizable ego, he was reclusive, bitter, and almost hopeless. In the rare occasion John managed to find the right combination of words and platitudes to get this version of Freddie to talk, every word dripped with regret and bile. After Queen failed, Freddie's life folded in on itself. He repressed his sexuality. Settled down with Mary. Lived miserably.

John had doubts about taking this Freddie back to the Theta-Universe, but he still waited in the same park every morning just to catch a glimpse of his old friend. Sometimes they'd talk. Sometimes they'd fight. Today, John intended to test his theory on the machine.

At eleven o'clock and four minutes, Freddie sauntered past the park fountain.

As casually as he could, John pushed himself off the bench, falling into step just behind Freddie. He tried his best to act as if he had somewhere to go and just happened to be traveling in the same direction.

Astute, though, Freddie glanced over his shoulder. "Are you following me, darling?"

Every day the same question.

"Yes, actually," John replied. Before Freddie could get angry, though, he regurgitated a bit of trivia Freddie gave him just a couple days prior: "I saw you at the Itherian last night. You sing, right? Was that you?"

Yesterday, the spiel was too desperate and overstated. Today, John reined in his anxiety and evened his tone.

It worked. Freddie's face lit up, every trace of doubt vanishing. "Hey, yeah! I don't remember seeing you there."  

Damn. A new variable. He could ruin the entire day if he answered wrong. Crossing his fingers in his pocket for luck, he tried, "Oh, I don't like to be around people. I kinda stay toward the back when I go to those things."

"There were only eight people there, dear," Freddie replied, arching an eyebrow.

"Eight too many," John muttered, trying his best to let his anxiety float to the surface.

"Oh, you've got it bad, haven't you? Poor dear. Well, did you like the set?"

If John continued along this conversational path, Freddie would ask which song John liked the best, and John had no answer for that. At that point, Freddie would see right through him and the day would be a wash. "Loved it," he said. And before Freddie could ask the wrong question, he quickly added, "I actually have a little place in the basement of an old school just down the block. I could use a regular. You want to see?"

Was that too creepy? It sounded too creepy. He'd have to work on his delivery for tomorrow.

To his surprise, though, Freddie said "Lead the way!"

---

"Interesting that you had to break the lock," Freddie grunted as John led him down the steps. Every one of them creaked underfoot with a squeal that sounded like each board was about to snap in half. Had they been that loud the other times John came down here? They must have been. He was just nervous and his senses were playing tricks on him.

"Ah, it's a work in progress," John said, whisking the dust-discolored sheet off the machine. His heart hammered as he turned to Freddie, who was staring at the contraption with a mix of disgust and curiosity.

"Is this what you intend to use for music?" Freddie asked. "Good God, is that a broken television set?"

"Actually, the truth is..." John fiddled with the dials, clicking the calibration from 6-2-5 to 6-2-6. It should have turned it on, which would give a heaping portion of credence to John's story. Shifting the sub-space translator node into the low-mid position, he said a quick prayer...

Please work. Please work. Dryly, Freddie scoffed, "Did you build this yourself?" as nothing at all occurred. "It's liable to belch dust before it creates music."

"I'm gonna explain, I promise. It's just that I'm from an alternate universe..." The truth slipped past his lips has he re-calibrated, trying 6-7-6 instead. Normally, that would be too high, especially with the translator node where it was. Maybe too high was just right for the Iota-Universe, though? "I was going to show you--hoping to take you back... There's this place where Queen made it, Freddie."

"Oh dear," Freddie drawled.

"Give me a minute," John snapped.

It had to work. It had to!

"How do you know about Queen?" Freddie asked. John briefly looked over his shoulder, to find Freddie peering down his nose. "I've not told anyone about the name. You've been breaking into my house. Looking at my sketches!"

The stray thought that this Freddie was also paranoid touched on John's thoughts as he tried to troubleshoot. "No, you must have told me--"

"I don't even know you!"

John sighed, resigning himself to another failure. He could try another approach tomorrow, of course. And the next day if he had to. And then the day after that. He started to wonder if perhaps he'd have to rebuild the machine! That'd give him an excuse to see if remaining awake for multiple days in a row would allow him to move past the same stretch of twenty-four hours, but was it worth the trouble?

He wasn't sure he liked this Freddie.

As John fiddled with the calibration, something slammed into the side of his head. The force caused him to spin around in a half circle and collapse onto the dead machine. As he lost consciousness, Freddie raised the two-by-four in his hands for another attack...

That was the first time John died.

Then his alarm buzzed.

"Ow," John grumbled. Sitting up and kicking off his sheets, he rubbed his unbruised temple, gritting his teeth. Though the pain was gone, the memory caused more than a couple tears.

He never bothered Freddie again.

---

2019

Roger could no longer struggle. Though his lungs reflexively tried to suck in just the barest hint of oxygen, he could no longer breathe. Though not one for giving up, he had to admit that this was over.

All he could think about was how wrong it felt to see that glimpse into John's mistake. How could he possibly have lived the same day over and over without going insane?

And Freddie...

That monster wasn't Freddie.

You wasted your time, Deaky, Roger lamented. You should have stayed.

You have witnessed,

the creature said, squeezing Roger tighter and tighter until his ribs cracked and snapped. Choking with pain, Roger's vision closed in until the lack of oxygen dragged him into a surprisingly peaceful demise.

[hufflly-puffs]

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald SPOILER REVIEW

So, I finally found my way to the cinema and watched the latest movie set in the Wizarding World. I think the movie was ok-ish. I get why a lot of people had issues with it, and I’m gonna talk about the more problematic aspects later. Overall I liked the first “Fantastic Beasts”-movie better, and perhaps a lot of this had to do with the novelty of it. I think the movie took its time until you felt the plot started, there were too many sub-plot and lots of scenes that were simply uneccessary. I didn’t minded the cano issues that much, to be honest, or at least that isn’t what I would criticize about the movie, because people will always have issues with expanding canon. We have certain ideas about characters, or we think we know a story, and people will always complain if the story told doesn’t agree with their expectations. I also think that this movie, much more than the first one, was made for Potter fans. If you never read a single Harry Potter book/never saw a Potter movie, you simply would have been lost at this movies, because it expects its audience to be familiar with the Potter stories/the Wizarding World. And even my friend and me, both Potter fans, left the cinemas with a lot of questions.

But let’s dig a bit deeper.

Fantastic Beasts

So obviously the movie had them, but unlike the first movie it wasn’t really about them. They were part of it because Newt is a magizoologist and because we saw a circus where some of the beasts escaped, and the movie tried to find ways to make them an important part of the plot (like the Niffler stealing Grindelwald’s necklace), but overall they were unnecessary, and I felt they were included because Fantastic Beasts is still part of the title, and that secene with the Kelpie looked cool and Baby Nifflers make great merchandise. And we can technically count Credence as a Beast, some sort, as an Obscurus, and he will obviously play a bigger role in the future. But still, the movie was much more about Grindelwald and the ongoing conflict he creates, and you didn’t really needed the Beasts, cute or not.

Wizarding France

We learned quite a lot about the Wizarding Culture in the US but nothing about the French Wizarding Culture. Like the fact that the movie took place in Paris for the larger part didn’t really matter. Should we assume then that Europe shares a Wizarding Culture, that French and British Wizards aren’t that different? Which would be weird, as European Muggles all have a different culture. And speaking of Muggles - we learned in the first movie that they are called No-Maj in the US, and in France they are called Non-Magiques, which is basically the same, just in French. So... Britains are the only ones with a made-up word then? Seems weird. And even if so, the world would have travelled to the New World and American Wizards & Witches should use it as well.

Leta Lestrange

I think from the all the new characters she was the most interesting to me. But her treatment was also among the most problematic. We see that she was an outsider at school (and also not fond of Dumbledore, which I liked), but it is explained by her being a Lestrange, the bad reputation this family already had back then, and I guess also her being a Slytherin. There wasn’t a single mention of her race, but I think there should have been. Which has always been one of the bigger issues in Potter for me, the absecene of race and racism, as if it doesn’t exist in the Wizarding World, but it totally should, because it exists in the Muggle World and those two are connected through half-bloods and Muggleborns. And then of course we learn about her past, about who her parents were, and it is just... there is no good or acceptable way to show us a white man who thinks of a black woman as a possesion, who kidnappes her, makes her his slave, and rapes her, which will lead to her death. And I dunno if it was supposed to a comment on slavery and/or colonialism, but there is no way that this scene was not problematic af, so the better way to write this would have been to not write it at all. There is also the fact that Leta saw herself as a monster, and that her final act of fighting Grindelwald could be seen as an act to redeem herself... and I don’t like it. It enforces the idea that the only way to redeem yourself is through sacrifice, by dying for your sins. It also took away the only POC-woman of the movie. Her final “I love you” was deliberately left ambigious, it was said in the general direction of both Newt and his brother, left open for interpretation who she loved (or maybe both). Also she did get along with Tina, and I guess I would have rather seen a polyamarous relationship between Newt, Tina and Leta (someone please write that fic).

Queenie

Oh Queenie. The fact that she can read minds already brings consent issues with it. I’m not sure if it is ever explained if she can control it or not - Jacob tells her not to read his mind, implying she can control it, but later she gets overwhelmed by hearing the thoughts of entire Paris (but maybe only because she was in a vulnerable state?). But then again she used a love spell (or potion) to get Jacob to agree to marry her, which again is really problematic. I think the movie tried to make it less of an issue by showing us they were alredy in love, and just disagreed over marriage, but still. If you love someone don’t drug him. And then there is of course Queenie’s decision to join Grindelwald. Which seems weird because why follow someone who hates Muggles if you are in love with someone? But what Grindelwald promises her is freedom - freedom to live the way she wants and to marry whoever she wants. I think Grindelwald works as a villian in the way how he gets people to follow him, the way he uses his words (and because of Johnny Depp makes me disliking him on principle). And it would have been more intersting if we haven’t seen him or his followers commit obvious acts of evil - like killing a baby. To just show us the version of him the masses see. And I do like that Queenie followed him in the end. Why? Because Queenie is a likeable character, she is good woman - and yet she falls for a facist. It would be too easy to simply suggest only evil people follow him. That is not meant to justify Queenie’s action - but it is a much more compelling story to have a character like her, someone we can identify with, to fall for someone like Grindelwald.Facist systems worked because of people like Queenie, who weren’t evil, but still made the wrong choices. (Though the implication of a Jewish woman following Wizarding Hitler is again... problematic).

Canon and where to find it

Again, expanding the canon will always up set some people. So that is not a bad thing per se. But let#s talk about three things most people had issues with:

1) Nagini. Saying that the pet snake of Voldemort, who was used as a Horkrux and later beheaded, used to be a women of colour... not a good thing. However, I think as far as this movie goes her character was under-used and at the time she seems to be on the “good” side, so I’m interested to see more of her character and development.

2) McGonagall. Whoch teaches at the same time as Dumbledore in 1927. When she wasn’t even born yet. There is no explanation for it to make sense, so I take this as a massive error in continuity.

3) Aurelius Dumbledore. Again doesn’t make sense as Credence was born after both Dumbledore’s parents had died (according to official sources). But the only source we have right now is Grindelwald. And that doesn’t mean it has to be true. He could simply give Credence this identidy to set him up against Dumbledore, as he wants to use Credence to kill Dumbledore. There is simply to little information about it, and I guess we have to wait another two years for more.

Some other things

- Theseus Scamander: loved him and his relationship to his brother. It is complicated, but ultimately they try to protect each other.

- How gay is this movie? There was some heavy subtext to Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Dumbledore saying they were closer than brothers, seeing Grindelwald in the Mirror of Erised, the blood oath. It was as textual as they could go without making it textual, but I still wish they will in future movies, so nobody can no-homo them.

So, I think the bad pacing, the too many subplots, the canon implications - not good but forgiveable. However I wish someone would read over J.K.Rowling’s scripts and point it out to her the more problematic aspects of her writing. Because right now the conversation between her and her audience seems very one-sided - she refuses to listen to anything we have to say.

[scotthastiepoet]

Scott Hastie - SYNDICATED INTERVIEW

THE VERY BUSINESS OF POETRY ITSELF

One poet’s view from the UK 

See - 

http://www.scotthastie.com/?p=5426

Hi Scott, do please tell us how you go about writing, how you organise your day?

"I am fortunate to have a smallish study all to myself, up in the loft, which looks out over open fields and a tree-lined skyline. Here I have quiet, cocooned space overlooking the English countryside (almost in the clouds…) and absolutely everything I need. Far, far away from anything else – phones, computers, tablets and door bells, especially…

For me, as a full time writer, a fairly rigorous, almost monastic daily routine is very important and underpins all my efforts. Not just in creating an exterior environment that is conducive to a concentrated and undisturbed focus on my craft – but one that also allows important preparatory time of an almost religious nature - given the spiritual themes that run through my work.

On a normal day, this would involve around two hours of advance preparation: morning exercise (normally running in the countryside and/or rowing) followed by breathing exercises, body stretches and meditation, sometimes some music also – before even beginning to think about any writing…

Having also eaten simply, I then would normally write in silence for between two to four hours – losing any sense of time, till my body tells me it is time to refuel. Immediately after lunch, I would then have a shorter 1-2 hour session (often the most exciting time of the day when earlier writing can begin to coalesce) Evenings are then usually important down-time from what is a quite an intense and tiring process. However I would still normally have a couple of short sessions early, right after my evening meal and also last thing before bed – which are more about reviewing existing work and quick, little polishing sessions – looking afresh and anew at whatever has emerged that day.

For me, it’s very important that every day (whether a writing day or not) begins and ends with me quietly reading through my last half a dozen pieces – in order hopefully to stay ‘in the flow’ and ‘in the voice’, clinging on tightly to that ‘silken thread’ that, once it slips from your grasp, can often be so hard to regain! Unless I’m away travelling or have specific social commitments, then EVERY day is a writing day.

I also have three identical and rather wonderful little digital voice recorders that literally go everywhere with me (one stays by the bed) so that, whatever I’m up to, I have some chance of capturing all those amazing little thoughts and insights that come to you, just out the blue - And as if by magic! These I call my ‘fragments’ and they usually come when you are in the throws of just doing something else, entirely - or just surfacing from sleep, for example. Rather than just sitting down somewhat deliberately: ‘to write some poetry! ’Previously so, so many of these fragments would have just got lost in the ether forever, before I started to adopt this method and built it into my daily resources and routine.

How on earth does a poem begin to emerge on a blank screen or piece of paper?

Yes well then, beyond the general details of my day to day creative practice, I am often asked to describe exactly how I go about creating an individual poem. Firstly I have to say, in my view, you should never ever sit down to compose on a blank piece of paper - that, I think, is a big mistake many make. Furthermore, which really surprises many of my readers, neither do I ever start with a preconceived theme to write about.

Instead, I simply begin with some of these fragments, as described above, stored on a page; importantly with the most recent at the top... (as I calculate these should be the best reflection of your most current sub-conscious interests) and then see what begins to happen. Which stir you? Which begin to link together? (as per William Burroughs celebrated ‘cut out’ technique) and which prompt you to write on, some more?

And then usually, for me at least (given the immediately preceding minutes I have already invested in meditating and  ‘getting in the voice’) something soon starts to take shape and I simply go with the flow and follow its lead... And of course, once the guts of a theme is out and has been safely captured on the page – then it is always possible (and often wise!) to have a break - knowing its detail and narrative is safe and can always be polished later. So this is truly how the nuts and bolts of the creative process works for me, anyway.

What drives and inspires you to write?

All my life (and for reasons I can’t quite be sure of) I have always been a seeker in the spiritual sense and always very ambitious to live life to the full. Whenever I am blessed with special moments or insights in my life, then my first instinct is to share the light and energy that comes from this experience with others. I am particularly keen to reach younger readers and students, still at a formative time in their lives and am always especially gratified when this group of readers, in particular, is touched by my work.

I suppose, at the core of my creative effort, is an attempt to try and present and illuminate a runway ahead, if you like... Fed directly by my own being and experience – in the hope that it resonates. My personal mode of doing this is, of course, as an artist and as a poet in particular.

Who are your greatest influences?

Beyond my own personal experience of living my life as fully as possible, I have always also been uplifted and inspired by reading other writers. After all, what greater gift and truer pleasure can there be that the opportunity to read and absorb, to have an internal dialogue yourself with some of the greatest minds and souls that have ever lived? Especially in antiquity, just think how exciting it is to be able to get to know the ancient, elemental voices in Beowulf, the colours of Ovid, the technical wizardry of Flaubert, the vision of Blake, the wisdom and majesty of Gibran or Rilke, for example.

My passion for poetry was ignited, as an impressionable adolescent, by schoolboy studies of the great English Romantic poets in particular – Wordsworth, Keats and, for me, Coleridge in particular. The work of William Blake and some of the truly great French writers like Rimbaud, Verlaine  and Baudelaire were also a great influence. Shakespeare was of course the most glowing and effortless example of someone who had truly found their own voice and, in all likelihood, could write as fast as he could speak... As a student, I was both inspired and awestruck by that – to the extent it seemed like my lifetime’s challenge was going to be the long journey to begin to find my very own true voice.

How difficult was it to get started?

I soon began writing my own poetry in earnest at college, where I was studying to be a librarian and where I was also then editor of the student magazine for Brighton Polytechnic and Sussex University. Quite quickly I became one of many quite active, but relatively obscure either young small press or self-published poets. However, my work always seemed to sell well and was, at the time, unusual for always being published profitably. Thereby becoming a useful second income supporting the family life of a chartered librarian – in the auspicious tradition of a Larkin! Though in my case, the career was in public, rather than academic libraries.

What do you think were the key developments in your literary career?

Significant published collections of my poetry didn’t really appear till I had a family of my own and was already in my thirties. This was largely on the back of commercial success in other genres – when I was fortunate to author a series of quite lavish and lucrative illustrated local history books. Around this time, I also wrote Reunion, a fast-paced romantic thriller, which remains my only novel to date.

Nowadays I write full time, focusing as squarely as possible on poetry once more. A newer transitional collection of my work Meditationswas first published in 2013, focusing more on the philosophic and spiritual themes, with another similar but more substantial and comprehensive collection: Angel Voices soon following in the Autumn of 2014. Along with these and my novel, two other earlier collections of my poetry remain in print today: Selected Poetry, a hardback edition and New Poetry, a later title published in paperback only. On account of growing interest, both theses titles now only very recently re-issued as e books in early 2021.

As you will by now probably know, further titles and new collections soon followed - threads in 2016 and then Pranic Poetry in 2020, the theme of which was fuelled by what I learnt and managed to absorb from a couple of years highly insightful study of Pranic Healing, under the auspices of the Institute of Pranic Healing here in the UK. By this time, there was much broader interest and appreciation of my work around the world, energised by an exponential growth of visits to my showcase website scotthastie.com - which now generates millions of hits every year from all around the world. Interest in my work continues to grow exponentially, I think significantly encouraged but the pandemic induced lockdown around the world, which encouraged so many more folk to do two vital things - Read more... and also Re-evaluate their potential and what their life was really about... which of course lies at the very heart of what my poetry speaks to.  This was the reason which prompted us to bring forward by a year my two 30th career anniversary retrospective 'Best Of'' collections - Timeless: the best of Scott Hastie's poetry 1990-2020 and it's companion volume Splinters of Light: quotations from the poetry of Scott Hastie in 2020.

Sounds like the internet has played a big part in your success?

Yes your right. Initially social media was a pretty new departure for me and something I was, to be honest, something I was initially rather reluctant about – but still very much initially encouraged to get involved with by the people at Raygun who designed and launched www.scotthastie.com here in the UK in 2012. In addition, I had also always been so conscious of all the other potential pitfalls there are out there for anyone seeking to write anything significant – be it the lure of fame or fortune, or the seduction of style over substance, for example. And, as always stressed by David Lidgate, my spiritual mentor here in the UK, particularly the importance of not wasting valuable energies on promotion and ‘staying in the bubble’ - if truly serious about maximising the potential you have as a writer.

Having said this, I am glad I did listen to Raygun and we have since developed approaches that make this work for me, without literally taking more than a hour or so of my time every day… Even from my limited experience to date.  Like it or not, there can be no doubt that options like Twitter Facebook & Instagram (for general public) and LinkedIn (for peer group connections) are immensely powerful engines of efficient sharing and global communication, helping to steer people from all round the world to my web site. The web site itself scotthastie.com which has a built in blog - for both general comment and also on individual poems - has also exceeded all expectations since it was launched.  And all this from a standing start and with no marketing spend to speak of!

There is no doubt that the use of social media and also involvement with writing groups has played its part here. Although my books have long since found their way to most countries around the world, for me, as a writer, the key transformative effect here has been, for the first time, getting my work out much more effectively to a worldwide audience. And, of course, the surprises that come from this. For example, the scale of enthusiastic positive interest, now evident from the US in particular and also from India and some Arab states initially caught us off guard, to be honest. But is obviously very welcome, nevertheless.

So in summary, I am now a definite convert! Just twenty years ago, it simply would have not been possible at all for me to even dream of reaching the audience I do now, without huge investment from a major corporate publishing house. So it does literally transform everything. What I now say to those that ask is that: in this new world, I have two principal endeavours: Firstly - to write as well as I can, then Secondly - to be as serious and cooperative as I can be about getting my work to be read by as many people as possible. Hence, for example, my investment of time in contributing to blogs, as well as online art & literary print journals, both as a way of conveying an understanding of what I am aiming to do AND equally importantly sharing with and encouraging others – which I also find to be very satisfying and rewarding.

Though, much as the Internet does such a brilliant job for us, as writers and creative artists generally (in terms of being able to reach out and find a worldwide audience so cost effectively and without being totally reliant on the big and often greedy corporates) we all still know that the delicious feeling of having that intimate 'one to one' dialogue with the mind of another, by holding a beautifully finished printed book in your hand, just cannot be bettered or ever replaced. As validated by the simple fact that today there are more books being written and commercially published than ever before. End of any possible argument about all that there, methinks!

What excites you most about what you have achieved so far and what are you still looking to achieve with your writing?

For me, the most exciting development in my writing (in addition to the more cogent and mature voice I seem to have been blessed with, past two years or so...) is the way my poetry now seems to be truly reaching out and touching people across all social, cultural, political and faith boundaries. Much more than all the money in the world! I honestly just couldn’t want for more than that.

In that sense I’m now Living the Dream… And it therefore has become very important to me that I pay back all the blessings I’ve been given, by writing as well as I possibly can  – And that, in truth, is what the rest of my creative life is about, really.

What do you consider to be the central themes and characteristics of your poetry?

On the technical front, I have always been ardent in my belief that, as far as possible, a poem should speak entirely for itself. Perhaps more so than any other art form, surely this has to be truest for poetry? Whose principal aim is to distil an experience or insight down to the absolute essence. To my mind the voice of the piece should therefore always be much stronger and clearer than any artist’s commentary or critic’s voice could ever provide.

I regard the over-arching theme of my work to be a personal investigation into the positive potential of the human spirit. This I think is clearly evident, running through most of my poems. Not that I believe my work can ever be said to be some sweet pastoral panacea, because it never shies away from pain or suffering – and is prepared to also explore the darkness, as well as the light and, crucially, the fundamental significance of their inter reaction. This being, to me, the absolute axis (the truly dynamic and crucial interdependence of the light and dark, of joy and sorrow, of love and loss, in the grand Romantic tradition) and that key notion of duality which I hope still lies solidly at the heart of my work and my approach.

I remain determined always to be challenging enough to try and reach deep into the core of the meaning of the human experience - although I do readily accept that, as my work has developed and I have grown older, my voice has also become more reflective and spiritual in its emphasis.

I have always aimed, at any time in my career, to be as simply expressed and as readily accessible as possible – For me, this is a vital component of all my work to date. And it is here that you can also hopefully see how simple often short line length structures also play their part – though still carefully shaped for emphasis, controlled rhythm and musicality that lifts key passages, enhances meaning and always looks to carefully and lyrically draw the reader towards the concluding climax of any piece. The success of which for me is always a critical consideration and the key litmus test of success of any particular poem.

How do you define what is poetry and what is not?

A very common question… Many people from different cultures often talk to me around notions of: ‘What is poetry?’ And indeed the significance, or otherwise, of traditionally rhyming schemes and syllabic metrical structures. For me, it is very stark and straightforward– ‘a poem’ is ‘a poem’ if it calls itself one – similarly ‘a poet’ is ‘a poet’ if he/she deems to call themselves one. No more complicated than that, I’m afraid. This doesn’t mean, of course, that any self-declared poet is necessarily a viable or good one - Hey! Ho!

Similar to the old days and all the discussion about what was then ‘art’ and not ‘art’ – painters and sculptors (musicians even) I think have been much more successful than poets in throwing off the shackles of the past, in my view. Both, in terms of the general public’s and even (sad to say!) most of the established ‘literary world’ and academia’s on-going perception on this issue.

That is not to say poetry that rhymes, or strictly follows a consistent metrical rule throughout is not of value – Obviously! Just as clearly as say Jackson Pollock or Rothko’s work does not trump Michelangelo’s. Without a doubt, some of the most inspiring and effective poetry ever written falls firmly into this more traditional category.

So there you go! I am a poet, unabashed, pure and simple! And  if pressed (often tediously on the subject...) I will concede – Yes, I indeed  write mainly what is often described as ‘free’ or ‘blank’ verse. Writing that’s not (being a child of the glorious Sixties and Seventies!) also without some ‘concrete’ influences, as I mention later.

However lyrical flow and emphasis are always essential to my work, as discussed earlier and I am not averse (excuse the pun!) to using rhyme or slipping into conventional structures, whenever they feel right. Sometimes, I even find myself writing haikus, mid-poem, without even being conscious I’m doing it! No surprise there really – as some of the deepest, most ancient of structures are precisely that: felt, rather than abstractly and mathematically constructed... Stretching back to an oral story telling tradition – when such effects were first discovered instinctively for enhancing dramatic effects and aiding memory, given that nothing was then written down – but simply retold, from generation to generation.

That being said, I always have one regular tactic up my sleeve to settle any argument, if necessary, regarding my credentials and credeibility as a ‘poet’. I ask the person concerned to read any poem of mine they wish and then promptly present them with a full prose essay conveying the very same message as the poem – Trust me, that is guaranteed to shut up even the sternest of sceptics, who all of sudden have no option but to concede there is clearly much  ‘poetry’ there after all!

And, of course, overriding all this - Of one thing I have always been sure -  Poetry is the purest of all art forms. Now, within that, we know all too well how the term ‘blank verse’ can be used in a pejorative way – where as ‘free verse’ self-evidently cannot. So a poet writing 'free verse' is what I proudly and ultimately lay claim to be. And writing free verse that will joyfully adopt whatever technique, structure pattern or lyrical tone (in and out, however traditional... however not…) as I see fit. And as I determine the mood, the nuance, the meaning of the piece demands.

And how truly blessed I feel given that, so clearly, poetry is the highest of all art forms and stands up there, entirely on its own level. And furthermore, doubly blessed! For, to be honest, during much of my earlier life, I could so easily can have been seduced away. For example, there have been so many times in my life when, if the devil himself had offered me the chance to be a say a singer, lyricist or wonderfully visually expressive painter, then I would have literally pulled his arm off, there and then!

Because these are of course the more immediately attractive and fashionable art forms that, in our current culture especially, can so much more easily grab the world’s attention and still go on to establish some kind of meaningful and soulful relevance. However, inevitably within them, the message has at least to be in part compromised, diluted by the medium. Whereas, for the poet, the message can come through strong and pure and can be delivered in full - Direct and Undiluted. So, although we often have a harder road to travel for sure, blessed indeed are the poets!

Your passion for what you do is very evident, what has challenged you most?

The first thing to say is that is no easy road to travel, rather a very demanding one, requiring persistent and dedicated effort over a good number of years. Going back to my youth, the first person to truly believe in me and what I had to offer beyond my lifelong friend, the precociously knowledgeable and ultimately ambitious painter, Ian Stirling was an idealistic young teacher called Robert Peel, who was my A level (higher grade) tutor of French Literature at Secondary (High) School. He was the first to open my eyes as to what might be possible and who (pretty uniquely and significantly at that time, when I was at my most rebellious and errant) still encouraged me to be myself and follow my dream. Consequently, I am forever in his debt…

Beyond that, I have worked hard most of my life to deliberately avoid being schooled by academic influences and laboured, mainly alone – albeit with the bright lanterns of what, for me, are key timeless and luminous voices like those of Gibran, Blake and Rilke to guide me on my way.

As we have already touched on briefly above – in terms of how technically I approach the challenging business of structuring of my work - then the Haiku tradition, with emphasis on focusing down and distilling the essence of what you want to say has had an on-going (if often not always directly and technically applied) obvious influence on my work. Personally, I will also always be permanently indebted for the technical breakthroughs achieved the pioneering Scottish Concrete poets, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Edwin Morgan – which really helped me see a clear way forward for myself, in terms of beginning to develop a style I feel is my own.

Is it really possible for any poet to really have his voice properly heard in the 21st century?

Like to think I am living proof that it can be done! That said, whatever anyone’s influences and any environment they find themselves operating in, I freely acknowledge that the most significant challenge faced by any writer is to truly find their own voice. And to be honest with you, I do get very weary of what sometimes seems like the endless procession of often technically, as well as intellectually talented young writers - on both sides of the Pond, simply schooled to echo the styles and mores of whatever is judged to then be fashionable by a self-serving established literary elite. To some extent, this is inevitable, I suppose... And it is perhaps unreasonable for me to imagine otherwise! But then again, as we have discussed earlier, I believe the power of the internet has played a very valuable role here in loosening this stifling stranglehold.

Also, as mentioned earlier, my tendency anyway has always been to be a bit of a lone wolf, by artistic and spiritual necessity. Thereby I believe giving yourself the time and space to conjure up a strong and unique voice that can really punch through.

I have noticed that nearly all your poems don’t have titles, why is that?

Yes, I do have a few such idiosyncrasies as a poet: And one of these is that, unless dedicated to a particular individual or location, I have never believed in giving titles to my poems. In the spirit of the haiku and my earlier answers about technique, what I say to those who question me as to why this is (and my answer often surprises or sometimes annoys many) Namely: 'if you can truly conjure a meaningful title for a poem, then, my friend, perhaps that should be the poem itself!!' And, for me, the first few words of a poem and page number will always serve as a sufficient identifier - so who needs titles anyway!

My other significant idiosyncrasy is that, despite the fact that I have the utmost respect for the practice of being a ‘performance poet’ – this is something I NEVER do - despite what it costs me in terms of the loss of promotional opportunities. In common with my practice of not using titles for my work, this also surprises some. But what I say to this is that I myself have always written so deliberately to be ‘read in the head’ rather than declaimed. All I can say here is that, for me as a poet, this is much more important and multi-dimensional opportunity and moreover, a preciously unique and timely dialogue between you and any individual reader, all of whom are different characters, with different histories, preoccupations and issues.

For example, would I trust anyone? (myself included!) to do full justice to one of my poems in oral recital – frankly not! Also would I really want to interfere at all with the very special music any one person could make (in their very own way and with the singular benefit of their unique experiences and resonances) with one of my pieces in their own head – Again, not really! Indeed some of my readers do tell me that they read my poetry aloud to themselves, quite often.  And that, of course, is just marvellous! And exactly how it should be...

Given all the success you’ve had to date Scott, what still drives you on to keep writing?

As to my ultimate ambition as a writer, it is certainly not, nor ever has been Fame and Fortune... (which we all know is much more easily garnered in today's world by being pretty much anything other than a poet!) Rather, it’s always been all about something very different and much more enduring.

Something that I blessedly first became aware of so early in my life, via both my communion with my close friend, the unique, truly exceptional Ian Stirling and also the illuminating effect of a charmed  incident that took place on an early journey to Italy, as described in the Foreword/Introduction to both Timeless and Splinters:

"For me, there was only ever one true ambition in life. From that charmed moment in the Pantheon in Rome, watching on as a beautifully elegant young woman walked reverentially across the marble floor of this extraordinary historic building to place a single red rose of the tomb of the painter Raphael. There and then, an insight immediately crystallized around a noble purpose for my life. Ever more certain now that my task was now leave behind something true and beautiful, fashioned from my own life’s experience that might have some chance of touching, moving and inspiring others, many, many years later. Surely, as an eager and idealistic young man, that was all I could ever hope for. And so, the die was cast!"

A wonderful story…

What are you reading at the moment?

Currently, I would recommend the stunning and very contemporary work of NY poet Sharon Olds, one time winner of the T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize and also the poignant work of Irish poet Dennis O’Driscoll. I am also currently re-reading Marcus Aurelius and Rumi - Timeless wisdom that never fails to prompt and inspire. Additionally, I am rather addicted to rather a lot of exotic travelling round the world, spending time with and tasting other cultures – which also never fails to nourish my soul – As does spending truly precious time with my family, close friends and young grandchildren who do so much to rejuvenate my spirits, by showing me the world, as it is - fresh and new again."

Thank you Scott for your time today and being so generous with your thoughts. A very fascinating interview.

TRANSCRIPT ENDS

Syndicated interview

scotthastie.com

[elstine-harboson]

Misconceptions: Power and Politics (PT.1)

Sub-Title: Nobility 

Hello, hello folks! Elstine here again to provide you all with another bit of information; granted this topic is a little more left-field than what we’re typically going over - such as armor and weaponry. However, with our recent recruitment for the business roleplay scene I thought this would be a good time to bring up some of my favorite subjects.

 In particular the struggle of power between religious leaders(the Cloth), nobility, the military, and what I would say is often the most overlooked faction: the merchants.

((Disclaimer; I already know this won’t stop at least one angry message, but understand I am acknowledging this as largely an opinionated piece (Other than the large factual parts!). This is merely suggestions, things that perhaps folks have not considered. There is no right way to RP; do not take it as such. Suggestions are suggestions, not demands.))

You mention four factions, what exactly do they consist of and how are they important?

Well, I am glad you asked mythical stranger! Let's break it down together!

The Nobles

The Nobility generally consist of powerful, land-owning families or simply individuals related in some degree to the Head of State; whomever that might be, no matter the region - from east and west Europe through the Middle East, all the way to Asia... This is generally a consistent. Now, Nobility has this nice little thing where generally speaking those of Noble-Heritage own land. Land means they can plant crops - more than what they can consume, which means they can sell said crops... But that’s a lot of land to work, so why don’t we get a bunch of peasants to do the field work for us, give them some food to barely scrape by and -still- sell the rest of the food supplies! - That’s generally how Nobility/Feudalism got its roots. (Get it, farming, hah.) But, of course as time went on the Nobles got more and more wealthy and of course more and more land, so that’d create specialized goods such as wine, blacksmiths, stables, etc!

So now you have a small group of -very- wealthy individuals that make a living in owning land and having ‘lesser’ folk work for them. If all the Nobles banded together, or even a third or so - they could heavily damage the tax supply to the king, as well as hamper the supply of soldiers and various other supplies! Not to mention Nobles has trained men on retainer, or had enough coinage to pay off hefty mercenary armies - together, they could, and have opposed kings! Not to mention Nobles are typically in the Court of the Ruler; meaning they’re well informed and have influence. 

The Military

A fantastic, if not basic example of the Military’s political power would simply be that of Julius Caesar. Essentially the idea is that if a General of the Military fights well and wins many battles with his men, essentially... Doing his job well! - The fear is that the men will gain more and more respect and more loyalty to the individual rather than the State itself; whom are at home doing their cushy day jobs. It’s not uncommon for Generals to rouse the men during King/Emperor deaths and try to storm the Capital and install themselves as the new Ruler; for Julius Caesar... This worked.

Throughout history you’ll see the best of Kings consistently swapping in and out generals to prevent the men from gaining too much loyalty to one individual; hopefully preventing any potential rebellion. But, I shouldn’t have to spell this out much further for you; very well trained men + power vacuum = not a good time!

The Cloth

Many, many, many times throughout history have Religious Heads and Heretics alike caused rebellions and outright wars with their influence. When the vast majority have the belief that one particular man is the -literal- voice of their omnipotent god, well... That person is going to have a huge influence. For example with the Tudors; the King of England wanted a divorce, couldn’t get one because the Pope denied it - so the King was like, well, we’ll just make our own religion! People -flipped- out, there was open rebellion, assassination plots were rampant, many people thought it was the -end- of England one of the world’s super-powers at the time. Another example comes from books involving Jesus Christ; the Romans knew the power of religion and they absolutely feared what would could potentially happen with yet another Religion springing up. More religions = more internal fightings = more military crackdowns = resentment to the government = rebellion; such as the Jewish Rebellion against the Romans (1st Jewish-Roman War.)

Not only did the Religious Heads have great power from their religious influence on the general public; but they were -loaded- tithes were common place for most major religions - Europe for example had entire -armies- built around their religion that were sworn to the Pope, the Teutonic Order became so powerful that they threatened to nearly conquer all of Poland - which, was a -major- feat for the time; something not even Russia (Russia didn’t exist technically.) or the Holy Roman Empire could handle.

The Merchants

Finally, the piece that you’ve all been waiting for! How in the world were the Merchants and Entrepreneurs of the world a Political Power? Very, very simple... They’re the ones making all the gold. The Merchants are going out there trading supplies, bringing back rare resources such as silk and spices that make not only the general public happy but also the Cloth, the Military -and- the Nobility who all purchased their supplies frooooom... The Merchants. Not only that but Trade Leagues, which were essentially large-scale, multi-national monopolies, could host entire fleets of ships to block trade ports, fight off invading armies, or perhaps provide much needed transport ships such as the case with the Crusaders and Venice! (First Crusade, and technically all the others!) The end all be all of wealth were the Merchants; in fact places like Florence, Venice, Ragusa, Genoa, and other major-trade ports often had their Nobility practically the same -as- the Merchants; there were very thin lines if they existed at all. If there was no trade, there was no taxes, if there were no taxes there was no gold, with no gold the State could not afford its soldiers, it could not afford to feed itself, etc! -- Some of the few times Nobility ever actually struggled was when Trade was cut off from them; because everyone suffers without trade - such is the power of Merchants! Not to mention, for example with Venice... Merchants in some cases could afford entire armies that rivaled -much- larger forces such as Venice VS Austria.

 (We will break these factions down in more details in later parts!)

 Oh, alright. So what does this have to do with anything?

Ah, another good question my invisible and quite possibly non-existent friend!

I think it’s important that we realize, notice, acknowledge that there is more in the political slogging fest then Knights and Nobles, and more over you don't need a popular T.V. show to make your particular field important or fun.

It’s important for those interested in the make-believe power dynamics to acknowledge and consider the abilities of the other factions around them; not just the Noble families worrying about Noble families. Thinking about it, if you are in House Bob and you are roleplaying a power-grab with House Ron; why would you not extend your resources and look outside for alternative solutions?

EX: Maybe House Bob should contact the local monopoly and have the vast majority of medical supplies delivered to their own House and starve out House Ron.

EX: Or maybe House Ron goes to the Cloth and convinces a High Priest that House Bob is working with the Legion and now their reputation is ruined and no one wants to work with them.

EX: Maybe House Bob gets the support of a Military Captain who is able to supply them with weapons, armors, trained soldiers, or superior military strategy.

The options are endless, and I for one think all our horizons can be expanded if we think outside our circle and try to think like all those famous characters we see on our T.V. It doesn’t always just have to be black and white, upfront conflict situation. That’s arguably not intrigue, it’s just... idle conflict.

 Alright Elstine, but a lot of people don't want to be involved in intrigue or politics! Or some folks might meta-game or god-mod!

Well, meta-gaming and god-modding are the two primary issues I have personally faced throughout my various IC political careers and such things can definitely make stuff difficult as I am sure we have all experienced... When you claim to only have 20 soldiers, and 100 gold - while your opposition claims to have endless mounds of gold and armies that could solo Argus... Well, it makes things hard. But I suppose that is why I recommend thinking logically and realistically with such things; which we will hopefully get into.

In terms of folks not wanting to be involved in politics, I’d argue 90% of RPers do want to be involved in politics - even if they aren't fully aware of such. For example: what is the typical trope in the ageless D&D?

EX: Count Bob has Overthrown the King!

EX: Duke Ron swore allegiance to the Devil and had a Demon Army to take over the Kingdom!

EX: A Military General assassinated the King and has staged a coup!

To name a few, even WoW and the lore we all love is primarily political. Gul’dan sold out his people for self-gain. Arthus was out in the field to train and prepare himself to take his Father’s place. Illidan trade his reputation and respect to save his people, tired of being in the shadow of his respected brother. Don't even get me started on the Quel and Sin dorei.

Usually the moment you say the word politics- people begin to squirm; but people also squirm from the word ‘moist’ I mean really, what is so bad about moist, I say moist all the time. Moist.

My point being, if you engage people just as you would in any other scenario and just... Roleplay rather than mentioning politics, nine times out of ten no issue.

 Alright, so why is logical and realistic thinking so important?

If you are fighting a foe that has no weakness, how can you hope to win? How can you celebrate a victory if there never are any? Even the most intense and brutal roleplayers don't want to lose -all- the time; it’s just... silly. Moreover, it’s even more so to try to -win- all the time.

If you are that type of person who has to win all the time; first ask yourself why. Then inquire, is it really winning if there was never a chance of losing? No, no it is not. It’s a security blanket, and quite frankly it is holding you back - and limiting others as well. I believe truly, the only folks that don't want to do political roleplay are those that refuse to lose.

What would House of Cards be if Frank just won over all the votes he needed all the time? Sure, he wins a lot and can pull some miracles - but he does lose, or consistently remain closer to the side of losing rather than winning. His loss doesn’t show weakness or a lack of skill, or experience rather it shows how good he is in his victories; as it shows that he is engaging people with their own minds and agendas.

Steamrolling through everything and everyone, giving yourself unlimited resources, and unbreakable defenses only shows disrespect to those you are Roleplaying an engagement with, and shows some serious self doubt.

 If the banks can fail, if nations can fail, so can one Noble family.

 Alright cool, this is all stuff I have not considered how can I get started?

(Tldr: Establish finite resources, establish goals, wants, and needs to fix resources. There is rarely a group that has -everything- in abundance.)

Well, what we have done for organizations in the past is look over what they claim to have as a family and add some realistic elements to it. If your House is claiming to be masters of Calvary, then it’d only make sense that said house has a stable of well-trained war-horses, which are insanely valuable. Horses were often traded to folks, and horses were highly valued; thus the armor.

Maybe your family is stinking rich, okay... but, why and how? You can't really be rich without reasoning, even Rockefeller had a business empire to amass his wealth; and as mentioned Nobility usually were Nobles to begin with because they owned land, when you own land you can make wine, grow wheat, make goods, etc - so figure out how and why you have wealth. I think you’ll find it'll at a flair and a depth to your roleplay; IE being well known for your supplies of wheat or lumber.

When making deals with Noble families there were many things on the table for grabs. Land, resources, soldiers, training, soldier gear, marriage, horses, land, maybe some land, boats, trade routes, etc. There are many examples and many things that can be done when negotiating, but the only way two sides can negotiate in an entertaining and thoughtful way is by having both sides having finite resources.

It is -vital- I would say for any group to have needs due to their finite resources. 

EX: Maybe you have a lot of gold, but your lands had the plague so you need troops.

EX: Maybe you have a lot of restless soldiers and you need gold; hire them out to another force.

EX: Maybe you're in need of transporting goods, but you have no ships.

EX: Maybe you have too many ships and not enough trade; so lease your ships out.

 The key is establishing finite resources, and trying to fill said resources. Fix your wants and needs as any character would; most simply default to gold. Gold does not fix all the problems.

 Many businesses want to hire people but can't find anyone to work.

 Okay, okay - you mention winning; that seems like a bad thing to encourage!

In most cases, yes. The goal of RP is not to ‘win’ - becoming the most popular kid in WrA isn’t the end goal, or at least it shouldn’t be for anyone. Winning in roleplay is a dangerous mindset; but there are other ways of winning.

The way we win, the way I win, and the way I encourage you all to win is rather simple. All parties involved in the roleplay, enjoy and enjoyed the roleplay experience, with no regrets or feeling forced moments. When everyone is having fun with the roleplay -that- is winning. At least on an OOC level.

On an IC level, it is important to realize that losing is normal, and only fair. Most guilds, groups, or individuals will simply start to avoid you if you decide your character, group, or guild is always the top dog - unless there is some odd agreement going on.

It is only fair and right for everyone, every group, and every guild to have the spotlight or victory; unless all agreed upon with all the parties for story elements. But, perhaps next time offer a storyline allowing the losing side a victory.

 Alrighy folks, thank you very much for the read, reblog, and likes - if you have any feedback, comments, questions, suggestions, please leave me a message!

There will be additional parts in the future hopefully delving into the Factions on an individual basis.

 Thanks again!

Elstine

@huntress-verlai @the-news-nerd @theodorebennas @percy-dewdancer @scassira @justtideguard @sincerelysonni @addressroleplays

[flexgallery]

Flex Gallery and the work of Megan Altieri

In response to a lack of public art opportunities during winter, on January 11th, I launched Flex Gallery, a mobile public art space located on my left arm. For the project, I sent canvas armbands to six artists, requesting they turn them into artworks. Each artist works in a wide variety of media, and I provided them with no themes or limitations other than the dimensions of the band. Last month for two weeks, I wore the work of Megan Altieri, a local artist, high school art teacher, and member of the Collective Artspace. I spoke with her last week to learn more about her work and creative process.

Zachary Johnson (ZJ): How did you get started as an artist?

Megan Altieri (MA): I feel like my inclination towards creating was founded on my need to express ideas visually rather than a love for art. I realized that art was the most suitable avenue through which I could express my ideas. Since I was young I’ve worked through my self-discovery and my understanding of the world in a fairly abstract way. It felt more accurate to articulate an idea with a primitive line or a soft form than creating some combination of words. It just feels so literal sometimes and it limits the scope of ideas.

So I guess I started making art more regularly because I was in the market for a new language through which to speak.

ZJ: Why did you decide to become an art teacher?

MA: I wanted to teach kids how to express their ideas. Expressing an idea through a process, with patience, especially now, is hard for young people to do. Or any people, really. It has become so easy to voice emotions and opinions with impulsivity and thoughtlessness. It’s a good exercise for young people to have to translate their ideas into a visual language. It allows them to filter ideas through a more thoughtful and creative lens.

I’m making it sound like that process is actually what happens everyday at school. Of course, plenty of kids are taking my class to learn techniques so they can draw a better portrait of their cat or just to hang out. But all of that is cool with me. I actually like the diversity of their intentions within my classes. It’s like a fun game of trying to figure out what sort of experience each student wants out of the class and how I can push those boundaries.

Also, I just love human beings. A school is a fascinating place to work. You’re literally watching people become people right before your eyes. It offers me a platform to study the development of people. And also allows me to intervene in their developments when I feel like it’s going south. I’m still surprised every day how much I love them all. That level of investment was a total accident, I didn’t sign up for that shit [laughs].

ZJ: Has your job as an art teacher changed how you approach making art?

MA: Who I am as an art teacher and who I am as an artist are two entirely separate entities. They’re totally unrelated in that they satisfy two different parts of my interests and passions. But there is some convenient overlap! Like, I always tell my kids that they don’t need to listen to anything I say unless I’m making work alongside of them, as an artist. I have no business teaching them if I’m not making mistakes with them, growing with them, learning with them.

My work as an artist strays away from criteria on which I grade them. The concepts I’m teaching are mostly technical — how to render form, understanding anatomical proportions, how light affects color. Solving visual problems can be pretty formulaic. Then they see some of my work and they’re always like, “Wait…what? But I thought…”

I suppose creating art has made me want a richer art education experience for my students. Most kids want to learn how to create in a way that makes things that “look real”, that’s where most of their interest will stop and that’s okay. But the more I experience my own discoveries through creating, the more I want my students to use art to explore contemporary art concepts. In my opinion, the best ideas aren’t likely captured by the lessons taught from the curriculum. When I work with higher-level students whose work is more idea-centered, I start to feel a fusion of my passions for art education and art making. Otherwise, they tend to be two wonderful things in my life that are unexpectedly disconnected.

ZJ: This is your first soft sculpture. How did you decide on this approach and what inspired this piece?

MA: I’ve always felt that my work is conducive to soft sculpture. Soft sculpture has this visceral relatability that I’ve always wanted my work to — especially with this current concept of re-writing a logistical tool as an emotional artifact, a structural machine as an inoperative cluster of soft shapes and forms. This piece is meant to explore dichotomies and unexpected associations within a mundane object — taking an object and looking at the layers, literally and conceptually. Obsessing over it, complexifying and dissecting it. It only makes sense that things become soft when we pry into them.

This piece was inspired by a loss I recently experienced. The car became an emblem of that person. I saw it everywhere. My attention was drawn to anything red. I started to become fascinated by my own obsession with this artifact on which I projected my hurt and anxiety. A car is supposed to be this logistical tool that we use to get from one place to another. It wasn’t created to be experienced as a piece of emotional, psychological stimuli. It wasn’t made with the knowledge that you’d be haunted by the specific tone of the blinker or that you’d memorize the layout of a dashboard down to the depths of the ridges on the A/C dial. We dig around our memories for the contours of that chrome door handle, anticipating that it might also bring us back to a state of mind. So much happens in this space that it was never intended to cater to.

Somehow this structured, hard-edged, geometric machine becomes an emotional relic, completely set apart from its purpose. It becomes inoperable, it melts, almost. We dissect it to digest it, as if that process holds any answers. Even if we acknowledge the unresolvable nature of our pursuit, it seems we have to continue obsessing, searching, dissecting. Translating these ideas visually was my way of acknowledging the pathetic but unavoidable impossibility of our obsessive processing when in pursuit of solving our pains.

ZJ: What’s one of the most visually striking things you’ve ever seen?

MA: The Salt Flats in Utah. The vastness was the most powerful thing I’ve ever experienced.

ZJ: What’s next you?

MA: I have more work left to do with this concept. The more I work on the SUV series, the more sub-concepts I unearth. I want these mixed media pieces to evolve into objects. I think the experience I’m trying to offer the viewer could be carried out better through three dimensions. I guess what’s next is more of this until I feel like I’ve exhausted it.

New works by Megan Altieri will be on view alongside the twelve other Flex Gallery artists as part of the Flex Gallery exhibition at UICA in Grand Rapids, MI from June 2 – Aug 4, 2017.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Posts by Zachary Johnson are also available via instagram under the name Vis Ed.

[danguy96]

In Light of Recent Events Regarding Magneto and HYDRA

 So, apparently, as I’ve recently heard, in the new Secret Empire series of comic books, Magneto, a villain well-known to be Jewish, is apparently siding with HYDRA in this event. Now, normally, I would be pretty pissed off about this, and, truth be told, until more information comes out (though, I doubt that will change anything, I still think that without a good explanation, this is pretty stupid. However, on the other hand, as some of you may know, I’ve actually grown pretty sick and tired over the whole “everyone I don’t like and I disagree with is a Nazi/Nazi sympathizer” (this doesn’t mean I condone or like Nazis, it just means that I don’t like hysteria), so I’ve started to try to practice not reacting to every single thing by becoming hysterical, and I just wanted to state my thoughts on this and give a somewhat quick history of HYDRA’s in-universe backstory for both the movies and the comics, and why there’s more to it than it just being a “Nazi/Neo-Nazi organization”. I hope you all don’t mind my commentary (also, just to let you know, I also learned about this stuff from other articles and research, and I do sort of paraphrase in places, but these are still my own thoughts).

 First off, I’m going to cover the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of HYDRA first, because that will take less time to explain than the long, convoluted history of it’s comic book counterpart. When they first appeared in the MCU, they were indeed once a part of the Third Reich’s advanced science branch, and received funding from them. However, the Red Skull recognized that in order to extend HYDRA’s influence and power, he and the organization would have to cut ties to Hitler and Nazi Germany (and in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, despite being a Nazi himself and adopting most of the Third Reich’s Social Darwinist theories into HYDRA, even the Red Skull kind of thought that Hitler’s “master race” theory was full of shit), and so, after acquiring the Tesseract/Cosmic Cube, Red Skull and HYDRA went rogue and planned to overthrow and betray Nazi Germany once the Allies had lost, and it’s quite possible they would be even worse than Hitler and his goons were if they got their way. 

 After the Red Skull’s defeat and the fall of Nazi Germany, however, HYDRA seemed to transcend their Nazi roots, though they still retained their totalitarian and authoritarian goals with the belief that humanity could not be trusted with it’s own freedom and must be subjugated for it’s own good. When looking back on the events of the war, Armin Zola concluded the whole “German master race” thing didn’t really work and also concluded Hitler’s methods were pretty dumb and inefficient, even for HYDRA’s standards. Though they gave up working for the Nazis after their fall, they did manage to extend HYDRA’s reach into the Soviet Union (something that would’ve been impossible if they remained full-on Nazis and all of the Nazis beliefs), and, secretly, into the U.S. and SHEILD. As I said before, the HYDRA in the MCU’s present-day doesn’t seem to care that much about what your genetics say or if you have “Aryan” ancestry, and is more focused on just world domination. Hell, they move away even further from them originally being just Nazis, when it’s revealed in Agents of SHIELD that the MCU version of HYDRA has roots that actually extend back centuries and to alien influence, and that the original Nazi organization was just the latest incarnation of the group, similar to it is in the comics.

 Speaking of which, it’s about time I summed up the long history of HYDRA from the original comics, and I’ll start off with when it was first created in real life. HYDRA was originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in 1965, and first appeared in Strange Tales #135 (August 1965). While their inspirations from the Nazis was pretty blatantly evident in their early appearances (with them being under the leadership of guys who worked for the Nazi Party, Baron von Strucker and Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull), as various writers delved in their history and backstory Nazi connection sort of started to dwindle and become more vague until, even in early stories, the current incarnation of HYDRA was revealed as an organization which had roots in Imperial Japan. True, they worked alongside the Nazis during WWII, but they’ve always sort of had their own agenda. Their last remaining connection to outright Nazism, Baron von Strucker, was even shown to be a fugitive who allied his version of HYDRA with Germany's Third Reich in a grab for power before betraying them. Fleeing with the Red Skull, Strucker quickly abandoned Schmidt to join forces with a Japanese criminal organization also using the HYDRA name, because even he thought Red Skull was a monster. Though Strucker remained a constant part of Hydra until recent years, his ideology became less about Aryan supremacy and more about his own thirst for power. Later stories further retconned and clarified Strucker’s origins and motivations, placing him as the head of Hydra locked in a war with S.H.I.E.L.D. and other super-spy groups. The elements of totalitarianism, authoritarianism, and fascism still remained at Hydra’s core, but it sort of really wasn’t driven by white supremacy and racial hatred that much anymore. 

 But Hydra as a Japanese crime syndicate isn’t where the organization’s story begins, because in recent additions to HYDRA’s backstory, it turns out the group’s history spans over millions of years, including the Third Dynasty of Egypt, and has alien origins.  According to Jonathan Hickman's S.H.I.E.L.D. mini-series, which explored the secret history of the Marvel Universe (for better or worse), Hydra’s roots go back to before humans evolved, when a Before the evolution of mankind, a cabal of immortal hooded reptilian aliens came to Earth, planning to start a legacy of evil (it’s comic books, just roll with it). Millions of years later, they corrupted an Asian secret society of geniuses known as the Brotherhood of the Spear. They were opposed by a group called “The Order of the Shield” (get it, SHIELD?). Over the centuries, the Order of the Spear grew and changed, eventually becoming HYDRA – an organization that was revived in the early 20th Century in Imperialist Japan with ideals based on world domination inherited from their ancient alien masters. They also included the real life Cathari Sect and the real life Thule Society, which is where the Nazis came into the picture. You see, after the end of World War II, the Nazi sub-group of HYDRA, funded by the Thule Society, was brought into the main HYDRA fold, thus explaining how the likes Baron von Strucker and the Red Skull came to join and lead their ranks. 

 Currently in comic books, Hydra has splintered into several separate factions , but there are two main groups: one led by Baron Zemo, who has been trying to control what’s left of the old HYDRA, and leading a much more Darwinist version of the secret society based on survival of whomever HYDRA deems the fittest to live (usually its own members) - and one being built from the ground up, led by the Red Skull, who has returned to Nazi beliefs, and, for the first time in modern continuity, has introduced a philosophy of neo-Nazism and white supremacy into HYDRA (a move which I feel was supposed to be “topical” and “relevant”, but comes off as preachy and forced, as well as a move which over-simplified and misrepresented certain issues, something which Marvel has been terribly guilty of over the past few years).

 So, to answer, “Is HYDRA a Nazi organization?” Well, the answer is yes, and no. While it is clear that HYDRA’s original real world roots are planted in the idea of neo-Nazi terrorists, for a good portion of their history, they’ve also served the role as your run-of-the-mill supervillain terrorist organization, associating themselves with all kinds of tyrants and criminals throughout history, usually with whatever is considered a threat in real life at the time of when the story is written. 

 Now, going back to Magneto, do I think it’s a good move for him to join HYDRA? Of course I fucking don’t! Even if they’re not technically a Nazi organization anymore, he’d still hate their guts for associating with the Nazis, and he’d especially hate the like of the Red Skull. However, the important thing to remember is that while Magneto is a Holocaust survivor and a tragic figure, he’s also a character who has sought out the domination and/or extermination of humans several times in the past, as he is meant to show that if we allow ourselves to be consumed with hate and revenge, we end up being no better than the people we hate. Yes, he’s had a couple of changes of heart over the years, but still, it’s important to note that Magneto is no saint, either, even if isn’t as bad as the Red Skull (at least in the 616 universe). Still, I don’t think that Magneto would join HYDRA unless there was a reason, like him getting something out of it (though, I do think he would be wary in case they planned to double cross him), or if he was forced to do it for some reason, or if he was mind controlled, the last of which may possibly be the case (Captain America was basically brainwashed into thinking he’s a HYDRA sleeper agent, so I’m not gonna rule out the possibility of that being the big “twist”). Though, something to note is that the brainwashed Cap is currently planning with Baron Zemo to kill Red Skull and depose him from HYDRA (I take it that Zemo probably doesn’t really like how Red Skull is trying to bring back full-on Nazi ideology into HYDRA, even if they fascist terrorists, at least I assume/head-canon that, because it makes the books a tiny bit more tolerable, but not by much), and that Secret Empire looks like the result of his success in that endeavor, so one of my predictions is a combination of brainwashing to bring Magneto into the group, as well as him being a part of the anti-Red Skull faction.

 The one thing I’m shocked at is that I’m probably one of the few people who sees it less as “anti-Semitism” (and believe me, anti-Semitism is a problem, but I don’t looking for it everywhere I see), and more for what it really is; a cheap gimmick made to make people talk about it, even when the story itself hasn’t been released yet. Marvel wants this kind of reaction. They want dozens of articles, blog posts, tweets, and videos fueled by anger and controversy, just like they wanted this reaction from the Hydra!Cap fiasco. If they can’t sell comics by promoting them, then they decide to sell them and get people to talk about them based on controversy. I bet you that when the actual story comes out, it’s gonna end up being one of those things explained away with “it was brainwashing/magic/whatever”. I wasn’t surprised when it turned out to be the case with Hydra!Cap, and I’m not gonna be surprised if that it turns out to be the case with Hydra!Magneto. 

 I feel the best way to “protest” this is to not give in to this obvious publicity stunt like Marvel wants, and just not talk about and give it no attention when the story actually does come out, and then wait until the dust has settled to talk about. Speaking of which, as i said before, this outrage is sparking before the story even officially comes out or is even finished, and while I did just say that we shouldn’t give attention or make any puff pieces about it until the story arc is over with, I still say we should wait until the actual story comes and we learn everything about it (for better or worse), before critiquing it. When it finally does come out and we a whole lot more about it, then we can complain for (hopefully) good and/or justifiable reasons.

I’m sorry that this was long as shit, because I originally didn’t mean it to be like this long. I just really, really get annoyed when people simplify HYDRA as a “nazi/neo-Nazi organization”, because that just show signs of either not knowing a good amount of comic book history, or showing that you don’t actually read comics. I’m not condoning or “apologizing” for Nazism or white supremacism in any way, it’s just that I’m giant nerd who doesn’t like it when people make glaring mistakes and are ignorant of comic book history. Though, to be fair, it is a common misconception, made by both casual fans and even writers who don’t know comic history (something which they definitely should learn), but it still grind my gears when anyone makes any sort of big mistake regarding comic books (just see the numerous times I had to remind people that Harley Quinn isn’t exactly an innocent, quirky little cinnamon roll, when especially after she blows up children with bombs). 

[alands9]

S2E15 Paradise

How did you get into Starfleet with such poor scores, O’Brien?

Jake can throw a curveball? That seems incredibly impressive. I was under the impression they're rather tricky.

You've been captured by Robin Hood and his merry men.

it occurs to me that it might be useful to have a protocol where if everybody in a ship beams down, if the ship doesn't get confirmation that you're in good shape every, say hourly, it tries to beam you back.

I hate fake drama when you start the credits or advertisements. Turns out, there was no danger or excitement at all.

I'm not entirely comfortable with a super white boy being named Vinod.

Why was their first response to new people to treat them as dangerous? I'm curious if that will be addressed, or if it was just for the sake of fake drama.

An “Erehwon” class transport? Really?

We're really ignoring the elephant on the mantelpiece. How did these people end up in the Gamma quadrant a decade ago? They haven’t mentioned blundering through a wormhole, and even if they did, that would suggest they were worryingly close to Cardassian space.

Your engines failed as you were landing? How did you survive?

Why exactly do you need walls to protect against the wilderness? What is out there?

Redirecting a Starfleet starship under false pretenses so that you can play in a poker game seems like a little bit of abuse of power, Admiral.

Who am I kidding, it's pretty clear that individual starships or run like little fiefdoms.

I would not expect you to be able to contact the Rio Grande on the other side of the wormhole. at least not without opening it. And even then I'm a little iffy on it.

“She says we have become fat and lazy and dull.” When was the last time you saw a fat Federation citizen? Even the scenes on Earth are mostly trim people. Lazy, I don't know, maybe. However there hell of a lot of people willing to start new colonies, and that sure as hell does not seem lazy.

it's generally agreed that humanity has significantly evolved over the previous few centuries? I would be a bit surprised at that. Once you reach a certain technological level, evolution gets really, really wonky.

Hypothesis: writer lady intentionally crash-landed the colonists’ ship here with the goal of forcing them to live without electrical technology. Many of the colonists will be very angry when this is revealed. She will attempt to stop them from leaving. There's a decided possibility that she created the environment that blocks technology.

Throwing away the technology seems daft. I would expect much of it to be reusable for more mechanical purposes, if only as a source of refined metals.

Yeah, advanced medicine is one of the niftier parts of technology.

There's an insect that transmits a deadly disease that you cannot treat? You should count yourself lucky you only lose someone every three or so years.

Yeah, she's totally afraid Sisko is going to reconnect with the ship.

Teah, people don't “follow me,” but I'm going to give you orders.

I would kind of hope that the Starfleet uniform was were made of something that breathed reasonably well, and thus made it suitable for warm environments. If not, I am disappoint.

Did I misunderstand, and they were exploring for M class planets on the near side of the wormhole? That seems a little baffling. Both Cardassia and the Federation have been exploring space. I would not expect there to be any unfound M class planets.

The plot thickens, the luddites can somehow send the ship away.

If replicators can't produce a reasonable copy of fresh made food, why the hell does everyone put up with them?

They have a hot box. And I'm pretty sure it's not used for a medical or even spiritual purpose. I'm pretty sure it's a torture tool for when someone “follows their hearts” in a way unacceptable to the leader whose not a leader.

To be fair, any desperate survival situation, harsh punishments for even minor theft might make sense.

That said, given the nature of the punishment, why the hell did he steal a candle?

It's been a decade. If the hot box was going to be a perfect tool for discouraging crime, it would have already worked.

I assume that when Kira and Dax find the runabout, it's travel history will have been wiped or scrambled or something.

I'm curious if Sisko is declining the woman's macking because he doesn't trust her, because he's uncomfortable with the entire situation, or he's just not interested in her.

Or, because he's concluded that the woman was sent to prostitute herself, and is totally not cool with that. That's a pretty good reason.

Really, leader lady thinks that some hot nookie will convince Sisko to abandon his entire life? She's not a good of a student of human nature she thinks she is.

Sisko sees what's going on.

“Look at you, wanting to get back to your station, with its artificial gravity and sterilized air.” And, you know, his son.

I'm not a leader, but now you're going to stand watch.

Also, I'm not sure standing watch qualifies as hard work. I believe generally it is tedious, mind-numbing work. To the extent that it is hard, the challenge is staying awake and focused.

If standing watches important (which raises its own questions) it's important enough to not have somebody work all freaking night. Otherwise, they're going to do a terrible job, at which point why bother?

I was under the impression that beaming from ship-to-ship at warp was incredibly dangerous.

Oh, Dax agrees.

Since you're one of the senior officers of the place where that ship is stationed, I would expect you to have override codes.

“A very talented Hopi I knew did things with a rope you wouldn't believe.” Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

Of course, we're solving a technical problem by way of bad analogy. Good old Star Trek.

Given the chance of ripping both the ships depart, trying to beam over seems less crazy.

So, really, the analogy to a rope trick was completely irrelevant and pointless.

Yeah, I suppose applying a tow rope as you pull something from beyond lightspeed to sub-light speed might apply a little bit of strain.

Making an unrelated act somehow “defile” someone's death. That is some Grade A political bullshiting there.

I was willing to let the scene featuring a black man being pressured into doing back-breaking work in the fields slide. It made a certain amount of narrative sense. But now we're punishing the black man for a made-up crime by putting him in a hot box. I know it wasn't their intention, but, seriously? This is literally a big enough deal that if I were writing this episode, I would have found reason to send someone else. Kira or Dax would have worked pretty well.

Well, Sisko, if you're going to do it, I would strip down to your skivvies first.

You probably should have had the actress practice with the pitcher a few more times. It's pretty clear she's never used it before.

Leader lady looks incredibly familiar. Has she played a one-shot role on Next Generation?

Iis changing into peasant clothes Sisko's four lights?

I see that O’Brien is hard at work lightly patting the ground.

is Sisko's defiance going to be the straw that breaks the cult’s back?

I'm guessing they never expected the writing on the inside of the hot box to be visible. Nothing particularly interesting. “Fill to Top Line.” While certainly something you expect to find in modern containers, I find it entirely plausible that science fiction boxes would say things like that.

You can painlessly knock someone out, O'Brien? I'm skeptical.

A freaking water compass will be good enough to identify the source of the magic technology interferer?

Whatever it is, it's got to be a pretty good build to have survived for a decade.

Good thing that soil is inexplicably loose.

Not only is it still working after a decade, the useless blinking lights are still working.

O'Brien gets to save the day.

“You'd be surprised how many scientists are sympathetic to my philosophies.” Indeed I would, seeing as your philosophies are against having access to the very science they do.

You can spin all you want, but that you've been lying to them for a decade is pretty damning.

Yeah, I wouldn't have gone into what these people might have been, leader lady. Because Meg would have been alive.

I just realized that she's a mad social scientist. That pleases me immensely.

You have room for all of them on the run about? If the community is that small, it was never going to be self-sustaining. You simply don't have the genetic mix you need.

“We found something here that none of us is willing to give up.” Speak for yourself, Chuckles.

I'm pretty sure the author intended for us to sympathize, and to think that yes, they formed a strong communit, so maybe something good did come of it. But an alternate interpretation is that they are brainwashed cultists, literally incapable of considering another viewpoint.

With a team, I once wrote a LARP with a mad social scientist. Their plan was just about as stupid as leader lady’s. They were just going to end the world as everyone knew it so that people could return to a more “natural” state. Hrm, that character did it just to see what happened. If I rewrite them to basically have the same motivation, to be a philosopher with an extreme viewpoint, that might make the game better. (The game is I.R.L., for the two dozen or so people who have played it.)

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Private schooling plays expanding position throughout Africa

The increase in Private training has been driven through dad and mom’ lack of religion in public schooling or lack of ability to find a place, but critics warn that Non-public faculties can exacerbate inequality, erode understanding within the public area and, in a few cases, provide an inferior schooling.

The record, performed by using Caerus Capital, a Washington-based consultancy, concluded, but, that African governments that block the improvement of personal education on ideological grounds chance dropping out on each finance and information.

Scott Featherston, one of the file’s authors, said the aim became to give up what he referred to as “the dead-end debate” over public and private education, noting how nearly each united states mixed elements of each. African governments had to learn how higher to harness and screen what the Private zone had to offer, he stated.

Africa has multiplied educational provision significantly when you consider that 2000, growing primary college-age locations from 91m to 158m in 2014, and bringing internet enrolment up from 60 according to cent to seventy-eight per cent.

Non-public training – Realize What Personal colleges Need to provide and Make an Informed Decision Personal education is an increasingly more famous choice for United kingdom college students and their families. parents from each kind of history select this for their kids and approximately 1/2 of the youngsters getting into impartial schools have mother and father who also obtained Personal training.

The main advantages are excessive educational standards, exact examination consequences, sound subject, superior facilities and a commitment to a wide range of sport and additional-curricular sports. United kingdom Personal education has protracted records steeped with lifestyle and may offer a completely unique cultural surroundings for the schooling of children wherein the point of interest is the improvement and care of the character. Scholars are endorsed to expand their skills and to pursue new pastimes through golf equipment and societies, recreation, out of doors sports and community service. Meetings are often arranged among schools at which Students can meet and share hobbies.

An incredible power of the Personal education area is the choice and variety it gives. Irrespective of their infant’s ability, dad and mom can select “ladies” or “boys” simplest schools or co-educational faculties; faculties which might be boarding or day colleges; senior or junior; rural or urban; large or small. unbiased schools are to be had to offer training from age three to 19. Many faculties provide help for youngsters whose first language isn’t always English, and unique tuition is to be had. Guardianship arrangements are to be had for those whose families stay outside the UK, and lots of different realistic information including delivery to and from airports are looked after by means of the colleges, working in partnership with the mother and father.

This region achieves the highest academic standards. Proof from the Department of training and Skills (DfES) shows that Students at all tiers of ability do better in Non-public schools. Greater than eighty% of Pupils at Private schooling benefit 5 or More GCSE passes at grades A-C in comparison to a countrywide average of 49%. unbiased school performance at A-Degree is equally remarkable and ninety% of leavers from unbiased colleges move on to better schooling.

Non-public schooling in India India has a decrepit training gadget. The government run faculties are so terrible that most effective the negative want to send their children to them. Amir Khan’s display supplied an unpleasant image of India’s colleges: schoolgirls from a lower caste are compelled to smooth toilets. The faculties and universities have remarkable infrastructure, however, stay cesspools of politics. Nevertheless, they maintain positive requirements but also are woefully inadequate to serve the population.

Personal schools and universities do no longer. I worked with a small institute, Gian Jyoti Institute of Control and Technology (GJIMT), Mohali, for a while and become amazed at how it functioned. Unqualified staff, awarding marks to students who had by no means attended lessons, filling the library with useless books that were thrown away with the aid of other libraries… The list is countless.

To dispose of the budgetary aid that the government gives to Indian colleges and universities and also to growth the variety of institutes, many Non-public faculties and universities were allowed to come up. The desire became that the Non-public zone would elevate instructional requirements simply the way it has transformed India’s telecom, car and other sectors that had been opened up to Personal investment throughout a wave of reforms.

The desire has not been justified. Leaving apart institutes commenced with the aid of massive industrial houses, India’s Personal universities and faculties are an unruly lot, awarding stages and churning out a big number of engineers and bosses who are seen as “unemployable” by the enterprise. They lack Skills, are taught through unqualified teachers and are not able to locate jobs. authorities institutes, for all their faults, Still keep a lead in schooling: an engineer from IIT or state engineering college is visible as a much better wager than an engineer from a Non-public institute.

Why did the Personal sector in India fail in schooling? Several reasons can be attributed.

1. Failure of regulatory corporations: The All India Council of Technical training (AICTE), that is supposed to adjust Personal schooling, is a toothless canine. It has presented permission to open schools to each person who had a touch money – from vehicle dealerships, sweet stores, and college owners. With none commitment to education, they used to the possibility to corner land allotted to them by using the government at subsidized charges. Ways from presenting training, the proprietors of schools and universities wanted to make a short buck by means of churning out graduates as speedy as they could, whether they learned whatever or no longer.

2. Confusion of roles: The Non-public region can’t determine whether or not the student is a learner or a purchaser. Maximum deal with their wards because of the latter. As an end result, neither the pupil, nor the institute, desires to pass into teachers. Treating their students as clients, institutes try and please them in each manner in order that they do no longer create problem whilst they’re with the institute.

3. No funding in expertise: It isn’t unusual that all the commercials of personal colleges on television and in press simplest speak of “ultra-modern” campuses, huge homes and the numbers of acres of land they’ve. There’s no speak of knowledge dissemination or academics.

four. Unqualified teachers, sub-preferred inputs: To cut fees, universities appointed unqualified and untrained instructors. It is possible to find younger instructors with salaries of Rs 8000-10,000 in line with month at many Personal institutes. Very often they’re graduates of the identical university. Coaching is performed by using giving notes to bypass checks, There’s little gaining knowledge of.

five. Dishonest goals: colleges “rent” books from booksellers to preserve in their library when a central authority inspection is due. One college in Punjab, to feature to the e-book count number in its library, selections up useless books at reasonably-priced charges which are disposed of by using the British Library in Chandigarh. Misinformation is provided on web sites and advertisements. Rather than finding jobs for graduates, clever universities offer “a hundred% placement assistance” some thing that means. The listing of Cheating acts is limitless.