#the unfortunate Kai minister

[awesomesauce2929]

I know Cus is the oldest, and I saw somewhere that Whis and Vados are relatively younger than the other siblings (maybe Merus became the youngest in that group after his appearance).

How much older do you think Cus is? And what could be the age range/difference of the rest of the angels

I will split this ask into birth order, then age differences/range.

My thoughts and ramblings about this subject:

I will introduce what we know so far about this universe and how it would aid us a bit in thinking of the ages of the angels.

The Earth itself is 4.54 billion years old.

Universe 7 is approximately around 26.7 billion years.

1000 millions = 1 billion, so anyone is over 1000 million years is counted as a billion.

There are two questions to ask and to think.

Are some of the angels older than the Universes themselves?

Or are some of the angels may be younger than the Universes but older than a planet like Earth?

Unfortunately, what I can give you are some assumptions and guesses due to lack of information provided on this subject.

What we know so far, yes Cus is the oldest, Korn in the manga is confirmed to be older than Whis, Vados is older than Whis but it does not tell us if Korn is older or younger than Vados and vice versa. Merus is the youngest angel who appeared in DB universe. And yeah, that's it. I like to see the source on Whis and Vados being relatively younger because I haven't seen it myself but I can agree they are young than some of their siblings but how much younger is debatable.

Using the incident when Old Kai was trapped in the Z sword hehe, and Chronoa becoming Supreme Kai of Time over 75 million years ago, I am sure the Angels are older than 75 million years, with an exception of Merus, as I headcanon him to be around 75 million years, being born in the most dramatic time in Universe 7 hehe. That would make him younger than Beerus and Champa (which make it interesting) as Beerus and Champa are more than 75 million years old.

Do I think any of the angels are in the billions of years rather in the millions of years? Yes, I think Cus, Martinu, Mojito and Awamo are in the billions of years old. I like to think there was less angels in proportion wise in the billions of years than in the millions of years, in simple terms, there are more angels who are in the millions of years than in the billions. This is very likely due to the universes were in the development stage and the Grand Minister seeing it all happening before he can test the universes himself then send his angels kids in. 

I am currently imagining little Cus, Martinu, Mojito and bebe Awamo watching the planets formation with their father, Grand Minister. I find it a bit endearing.

(a small note: I assume there are other angels born as well, not just the 13 db canonically angels so it's not just 13 angels there haha) 

The Birth Order:

(I decided not to use the appearances of the angels to assume the birth order because appearances are deceiving and can be changed). Also based on vibes (just kidding mostly)

Cus (confirmed to be the oldest/eldest),

Martinu

Mojito

Awamo

Cognac

Vados

Korn

Whis

Cukatail

Campari

Marcarita

Sour

Merus (confirmed to be the youngest of all of the 13 angels, who appeared in the DB universe, but not necessarily the youngest of the angels in general as there can be younger angels in training).

Age difference/range:

Cus  - 7.2 billion years old

Martinu - 5.6 billion years old

Mojito -   5.1 billion years old

Awamo - 4.6 billion years old

Cognac - 860 million years old

Vados - 748 million years old

Korn -  710 million years old

Whis - 635 million years old

Cukatail-  584 million years old

Campari -  487 million years old

Marcarita - 429 million years old

Sour - 395 million years old

Merus - 75 million years old

That is my headcanon for the Angels ages. If you have your own angels age headcanons, I like to hear it. This is an interesting subject and thank you for the ask, anon.

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 3x24 Shakaar thoughts (I’m re-watching, so beware spoilers for future episodes!)

(31/05/2023)

There's just something about Sisko playing darts with Miles :3 I don't think we've seen Sisko just socialising casually before? The crew is becoming found family more and more <3 

"The new head of the Provisional government ... is Kai Winn." DRAMATIC MUSIC. Valid choice, it's pretty bad

"It has been my observation that one of the prices of giving people freedom of choice is that sometimes they make the wrong choice." Feels. That's too close to home (I can't wait for the 2024 election but I'm also terrified that somehow we STILL won't get the Tories out...)

"It's for Vedek Bareil, ACTUALLY." Oh I love you Kira, I'm sorry you have to talk to this woman. 

"He never wanted fame or glory for what he did. As someone who loved him, I'm surprised you didn't that." I HATE HER. YOU THINK YOU'RE SUCH A GOOD MANIPULATOR BUT YOU'RE ACTUALLY JUST A DREADFUL PERSON. And just because someone wasn't seeking game as their motive, doesn't mean you can't recognise their contributions! 

Kira calmly walking away because she feels she needs to be diplomatic with Winn and is seconds away from yelling probably. Proud of you <3

Winn is THE most loathesome character. "Vedek Bareil used to tell me that you could be quite persuasive when you put your mind to it, child." Yuck

Ohh, Kira's smile as she hears about her old friends ❤❤❤

Interesting that he calls her Nerys, but she calls him Shakaar

Can't believe Quark actually persuaded Miles to do the darts and not kayak!

"Somehow replacing the arm seems ungrateful." There's something that really gets me about this. I guess it's just allowing war to be so unapologetically ugly?

The wind in Kira's hair is so powerful. She's beautiful.

"Did you explain to Shakaar that you were there on the direct authority of the First Minister?" She loves power so much, and it's so obvious she thinks she should be respected just because of that authority - she doesn't even try to earn it.

"Shakaar sounds like a prideful and arrogant man." SHUT UP, THAT'S WHAT YOU AR-- "It also seems there's no reasoning with him." Oh my GOODNESS, she's clearly just making excuses why is actually his fault she won't talk to him!

"This isn't your fight, Nerys. Go home." "I am home, Shakaar, and I have been lied to by Kai Winn for the last time. She wants a fight, I'll give her one." YES KIRA

"Don't worry, coach. I won't let you down." Idk just Julian smiling at Miles and everyone being so supportive :3 

I love that Miles bring "in the zone" is the entire B plot though XD

"Look, I'm in the zone. I just need- ARGH! I just need surgery... :/" Ohhh, you tried, Miles 

I'm honestly not sure if they're faking it or not - but Miles is a good actor if so. 

"It's been two weeks since I was forced to send the militia into Dahkur Province." FORCED?! FORCED?!!!!

"I'm more than willing to do that, on one condition... I'd like you to provide a Federation security force to take their place." That's... That's not what he's saying though. He's saying any force out there is Not What Is Needed. 

"I wasn't aware that our relationship needed solidifying." Sisko calmly rebutting Winn will always be my favourite, he's so good at taking her down in a way that's polite yet savage.

"So, you're refusing my request for aid?" "I suppose I am." I love him <3

"That would be an unfortunate overreaction." Which she knows but thinks she can get away with and make the whole ordeal - and rejecting Federation membership - look perfectly reasonable.

"This is a test, a test by the Prophets. They want to see if I'm worthy [...] I will not fail them. I will stop Shakaar by any means necessary." The scary thing is I actually think she believes that this is The Right And Moral Thing To Do. She's terrifying. And just The Worst. 

I really, really love the way this is solved. Real Bajorans not wanting to hurt and fight each other, and recognising they have the power to change something so stupid. 

"So this is a coup?" "No, it's a free election." Well, kind of both if you have military backing... But I love Winn not getting her way. 

(Why did they give her the power of First Minister before having the elections? But I guess it's good they did, or she wouldn't have had enough rope to hang herself with before her power was solidified with a vote.)

Why is Julian looking so shocked at throwing a twenty? It's funny when pre-augmentation things don't quite make sense and you have to headcanon them away. (I'm saying he wasn't really thinking about what he was doing and didn't realise he'd thrown until the board beeped with success.)

[milesobrein]

oh one more thing, on the day after election night I was watching Season 3 Episode 24 of DS9 Shakaar and this conversation came up between Kira and Odo, I kid you not it was jarring.

“…Odo:…Major. Is something wrong?  KIRA: Yes. Oh, it's this whole thing with Kai Winn. I was just trying to get used to her as spiritual leader of Bajor and now she's running the government, Odo?  ODO: Not an ideal situation.  KIRA: Well I'm beginning to think that you and I are the only ones who feel that way. No one's is opposing her in next month's elections. She is going to be elected the First Minister for the next six years and no one seems to care.  ODO: You and I have a different perspective than most Bajorans. There's a personal element to our feelings about her. I know that you still blame Winn for Bareil's death.  KIRA: That's part of it. This is about the future of Bajor. I can't shake the feeling that giving Winn control of the government is a mistake and she should be stopped.  ODO: Stopped from doing what?  KIRA: I don't know. Maybe, maybe I'm afraid that if she's given power, she's never going to let go.  ODO: Unfortunately that suspicion is not shared by the people of Bajor. They still admire her as the woman who made peace with Cardassia.  KIRA: Bareil made peace with Cardassia.  ODO: I know that, Major. But to the rest of Bajor, Winn is the real hero. In their eyes it took courage for her to conclude a treaty with a race that she herself had so bitterly condemned and fought against.  KIRA: I don't care what her popular image is. She is no hero. The only thing that she cares about is her own power. Why can't people see that? We spent so many years fighting the Cardassians. We spent so much time hoping and praying for a Bajor that was free. Now that we won, how can people just hand their freedom over to someone like Winn?  ODO: It has been my observation that one of the prices of giving people freedom of choice is that sometimes they make the wrong choice.”

this quote was uncanny how true it was to us now, even though the people who wrote it then had no way of knowing about this, so something that comforts me, is that this conversation Kira and Odo had must be based on the writers’ own experience or things they read, and if the authors words are enough to resonate with us now, and in the past that our world was starting to look in some ways (so much better than the reality the authors describe, then it is possible for us to get through it to a better world again. And it gives me comfort that if people in the past got through times like these. Then so can we. And for the added reason of this quote and Kamala’s speech, and because first and for most, I wanted too, I thought who better to represent rolling one’s sleeves up and keep fighting then our dear Kernel Kira. We can fight, and we will get through this. And like MLK said it’s only when it’s darkest to the stars shine through, and like Kamla said, I’m excited too see each and everyone of your stars.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

🌟

✨⭐️🌟💫✨🌟💫☄️🌠🌌🤩

After Election Day We Roll Our Sleeves Up.

I won’t lie, I’ve had some kind of hard times (small in comparison to so many other peoples in the world) but in comparison to my hard times, I think Trump being elected has been the hardest. I remember the speeches I made while phone banking most of them sent to voice mail about why Trump never could go to office, about all the people who would be hurt if Trump got elected and how with Trump even the fate of the world we leave behind for future generations is at stake. For every day Trump is in office, when I let my head go silent, my head starts to bring to mind each of the people at stake, each of the ways we are in danger. Everyone’s heart is broken, including those close to me, and I can’t help feeling like I failed them all, and I’m so sorry I didn’t do more to ensure this man didn’t get into office. To all those affected by Trumps legislation, I am so so sorry. I am so sorry I only started trying to make a difference the last few days before Election Day. But. now Kamala in her concession speech was right, she conceded in the election, but the fight for social justice is not by any means over. As she said, (man this woman is a woman of steel) we just gotta roll our sleeves us. Heck, the right is passing an overwhelming wave of conservative legislation, but that’s only in response that we shine so brightly. They are afraid of us, of our beauty of uniting together, and their doing everything they can to demoralize us, so we don’t see our own power. But it’s only because we are so powerful that there is so much anti us e. We are strong and that is why they are fighting so hard to break us down, and that is because we scare them, that is because the world we dream of us revolutionary and it is possible to see it in our lifetimes. But you know what, these next four years we got to do what the administration is not, we have to stand together to fight every person that Trumps legislation will be targeting, we have to stand with Trans people, gay people, queer people black people, native people, disabled people, Palestinian people, immigrants , people with uterus’s who do as a matter of fact have the right to choose, despite the right’s audacity to think otherwise, and if we stand together we person by person can make the country we want. We The People Do Have power, and if the presidents not the leader we want, we have to be leaders and stand for eachother, and our example will burn bright all the way to the White House. And send the message that in four years, the White House will be blue. Tomorrow, despite my depression and agoraphobia I’m going to challenge myself to go to the food pantry. If any of yall share any ways that your going to fight for the people targeted by Drump’s legislation, I’ll do an art peace for them (it goes without saying no charge) and the fighting back can be big or small too, just some personal way of (peacefully) saying fuck you to the president. Hopefully in four years when the nightmares over we will have an art gallery that spans across multiple buildings. With love and great sorrow but also hope for the America of some day, that is good. -Levian

[buri-art]

Buri! That Kai royalty that was just murdered had a real funny conversation with Yona before he died. Imagining he went to heaven, do you think the someone/the dragons would explain things for him? (I'm sorry, I just want to see more of your wonderfully funny work. XD)

[ask-ozai]

funniest memory? from pour childhood

I have some good memories, there's not much to do in this cell except for thinking so I find myself remembering things I had not thought about in years. There were some remarkable times in my youth.

The first thing that comes to my mind is when I learned to fly by firebending with my feet. Bending for me was always as natural as breathing, and very rarely did I not have a flame in my hands. It was undeniable that I was a prodigy. However, I was having trouble in the rest of my lessons so naturally I focused on firebending. Once I saw a hot air balloon fly and I thought: with enough heat, anything can fly. I practiced for a few weeks until I was finally able to lift myself a few inches into the air. I had never seen Lo and Li so amazed. Soon many other firebenders tried to imitate me but it was something only I could do (at least until I taught Azula).

Then there was that expedition I took to find the Avatar, which is unofficially the travel you make when your father thinks you're a worthless loser to give you a chance to prove yourself. Sometimes, unfortunately, you come back worse, like certain people named Zuko that I will not mention. But for me it was a positive experience. I was accompanied by my teammates Zhao and Michi, who were kind of like Azula's teammates but less traitorous. Zhao and I had a little informal competition about who could burn down more villages (which I took quite seriously, a Prince can't let himself be beaten at anything). The loser had to join the circus for two months. I won, naturally, keeping my honor and dignity. But Zhao apparently enjoyed working in the circus. He used to take his seven daughters there when he remembered they existed.

Oh, one of my best memories is the time Iroh tried to flirt with Michi. For some reason Iroh has always thought that women can't resist him. Michi challenged him to a Pai Sho competition (It's not usual for a nonbender to participate in an Agni Kai, but I saw in her eyes and in her fake smile that she would have loved to burn him alive). To everyone’s surprise except for her teammates, Michi beat Iroh and publicly humiliated him. I'm the only one who has ever beaten Michi at Pai Sho. (However, I could never beat Iroh. So did Michi let me win?... No, that's ridiculous.)

And finally, three weeks after I came back home, my father gave me an orange. I could not believe it.

We were having dinner with all the ministers as we always did once a month. I remember I said 'I want an orange', and my father, who was distracted talking to Lady Angi of Ca Na Da, reached out and took an orange from the center of the table, and gave it to me. He had never done anything like that. I just sat there, surprised and moved. I had made it. I had earned his respect after so many years of effort. I stood up and bowed to my father, thanking him profusely for his gift and promising that I would treat the orange with the reverence it deserved. But Firelord Azulon only blinked a few times and said 'Uh?'

[antimatterpod]

Put on your best Opera House hat and join Anika and Liz as we dive into the first of a three-episode deep dive into Kai Winn Adami. This week, we’re looking at her rise to power — covering the episodes “In The Hands Of The Prophets”, “The Circle”, “The Siege” and “The Collaborator.” And along the way, we discuss…

If you only watch the Winn episodes, and maybe even only the Winn scenes, DS9 is a really amazing show about two women fighting about religion and politics

“In The Hands Of The Prophets” – just because Winn is wrong doesn’t mean the Federation is right

Winn asks questions the writers should have thought about themselves: why is a human the Emissary? Why should Bajor join the Federation? (Why is this botanist with no teaching qualifications running a school?)

Winn is the target for so much misogyny, and it says a lot about how fandom perceived and still perceives women in power.

Minister Jaro and Shaxs: the only sexy Bajoran men in the entire history of the planet (also we do not agree on how to pronounce Frank Langella’s surname, but Anika’s version is probably right)

Contrary to popular belief, Winn has integrity: she hates the Cardassians even more than she loves power, and is loathe to collaborate with anyone — even the Federation

Unfortunately we have become Winn/Jaro shippers

“The Collaborator”: Kira becomes the Vimes to Winn’s Vetinari

Winn as a maternal figure for Kira, which is GREAT except when you think about what happened to Kira’s actual mother and then what happens to Winn…

It’s the episode where we realise we don’t NOT ship Sisko/Winn…

[beardedmrbean]

Finland, Sweden and Turkey's discussions regarding the Nordic countries' applications for Nato membership will recommence on Monday, Ilta-Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun) reports.

The Finnish President's office tweeted (siirryt toiseen palveluun) on Sunday about the continuation of the talks, which will be hosted by Nato's Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg in Brussels.

Turkey has repeatedly expressed its opposition to Finland and Sweden's Nato membership citing concerns about what it believes is Kurdish-related terrorist activity in the two countries. More specifically, Erdogan's government has accused the two states of hiding and protecting suspected members of Kurdish independence group PKK—which the EU has classified as a terrorist organisation.

A series of demands have been made by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in order to accept the membership applications, threatening to postpone his decision by a year if talks fail to find common ground, according to IS.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) told reporters on Sunday that Turkey had previously expressed support for Finland's membership, but has since changed its stance since the application.

"It would be really important for us to reach a solution so that we can move forward in the whole process. This whole situation is very unfortunate, as before Finland expressed its willingness for NATO membership, Turkey had stated that it would not cause any problems in this process," the Prime Minister said.

NCP's #MeToo scandal

National Coalition Party (NCP) parliamentarian Wille Rydman has found himself embroiled in a harassment scandal, following a publication on Sunday by Helsingin Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun) (HS) reporting on several claims of inappropriate behaviour.

A few women told HS that Rydman used his position to gain access to young women and girls and behaved in a threatening and suggestive way, at times serving alcohol to underage girls in doing so.

Rydman denies all allegations, according to Ilta-Sanomat, among others.

Some papers, including HS and Hufvudstadsblade (siirryt toiseen palveluun)t, have since reported that the NCP's leader, Petteri Orpo, has expressed his shock over the situation and has since said that Rydman's position within the party would be reassessed in light of the allegations.

The Coalition Party's parliamentary group chairman Kai Mykkänen also expressed his full agreement with the party leader in a tweet (siirryt toiseen palveluun) on Sunday, HBL reported.

After the rain comes the sun

It is going to be a sunny start to the Midsummer week, following a rainy weekend, tabloid Iltalehti (siirryt toiseen palveluun) (IL) reports. Temperatures will hover around 20 degrees Celsius in the south and 15 degrees in the north.

As for the Midsummer weekend, it is worth packing both sunglasses and wellies to the summer cottage this year, according to the paper (siirryt toiseen palveluun). Friday morning will see shower spells across the country, however skies should clear by the evening and for the rest of the weekend.

"Temperatures around the latitude of Tampere will be between 18–20 degrees. The south will see the warmest weather," Foreca meteorologist Juha Föhr told IL.

Lapland's Midsummer will be slightly cooler and wetter. Northern temperatures are generally expected to hover around 10-15 degrees.

Föhr recommends preparing for sudden rain spells by keeping an eye on a rain radar, such as the one provided by Foreca, for example.

Court imprisons Turku politician, girlfriend for secretly filming children in school showers

The District Court of Southwest Finland has handed down a prison sentence to a Turku politician for filming underage girls in the shower rooms of a school.

Sasu Haapanen, a former mayoral candidate for the Left Alliance party in the city of Turku, was sentenced to two years and two months' imprisonment on aggravated charges of spreading sexually indecent imagery of a child and sexual exploitation of a child as well as six counts of sexual abuse of a child.

The court also convicted Haapanen's girlfriend, who had secretly taken the photos of the children aged 7-10 in the shower room and given them to him for sexual purposes.

She was sentenced to two years' imprisonment on six counts of spreading sexually indecent imagery of a child and six counts of sexual abuse of a child.

In its ruling, the court said that the defendants' actions were particularly reprehensible as they had taken place in a school.

[sketch--booked]

Hey, if you do wanna talk about I’ll listen ❗️I’m probably a bit too invested in fairies, tbh 😅

jfjghjrh understandable

Well, for starters, I changed Nya’s talent to a water fairy because why the heck not and Echo is gonna have the “wrong” talent. So the talents go as follows:

Lloyd - Tinker fairy

Kai - Light fairy

Nya - Water fairy (Cyber’s version is a Garden fairy)

Cole - Scout fairy

Jay - Fast flying fairy (I genuinely love this)

Zane - Winter fairy

Echo - Tinker (he has a similar situation as Zarina, it’s not quite accurate)

PIXAL - Library fairy (whatever Dewey is)

Wu - Minister of Creation

Garmadon - Minister of Destruction (previously considered dead or missing)

I’m nailing down some things, but I have season 1-4 semi figured out. The only thing I’m having some trouble with is Zane. I have Lloyd and Garmadon figured out and most of the beginning will focus on them. But for Zane? I can either have him and Echo living together on the warm side, both of them being aware that Zane can’t fly but can fix his wings if needed, up until the Overlord in which Zane’s wings will be irreparable instead of outright killing his ass.

Ooorr, I can have Zane stay in the winter woods and helping out on that side until the Overlord, he defeats him, shatters his wings and decided to just stay on the warm side anyways. I’m leaning towards the first option just so he can be around more but the second one makes the loss of his wings more s a d...

But uhh, how it begins is fairly the same but fairies. It starts with the others meeting one another after a series of unfortunate/fortunate events. People begin to see that there has been a sudden boom of snakes on Neverland and they all seem to be congregating at an older, dead pixie dust tree, here is where they reawaken The Great Devourer, a Basilisk, and it’s predestined to destroy Pixie Hollow. Garmadon will still return and defeat TGD, Lloyd will still be destined to defeat Garmadon. I'm half considering allowing them to still use their elemental powers. Like it's a long lost art and few fairies can do it. Zane will learn first (since he did in the show) and will help to teach them to use it, then the do the whole colour coded names thing but I'm thinking just calling them the Fairies, like the Green Fairy, the Red Fairy and so on.

agaaaiin there are sooome things-- that need work but hey I've been thinking about this since just yesterday-- I’ll tell you what though, when it gets to season 3, you’d better grab some tissues, I have a whole load of zangst waitin’

[sweetsmellosuccess]

The Best Films of 2020

The 15 Best Films of 2020

Normally, when I assess a full year of cinematic offerings, I consider both sides of that coin  —  the outstanding entities, and the least successful —  but the year of our lord two thousand and twenty provided more than enough misery for all of us, I do believe. Ergo, in my own small way to bring better vibes into the universe, for this year’s round-up, I’m staying solely on the positive tip, highlighting those films whose unfortunate release date during the Year of the Hex shouldn’t preclude them for being fully appreciated. Let’s take a year off from negativity and schadenfreude, shall we, and just stroll amongst the poppies and bright sunshine of some of the best releases of the year.  

15. The Invisible Man

“Leigh Whannell’s film is thoroughly modern in approach and sophistication, but the film it most reminded me of was made back in 1944. George Cukor’s Gaslight starred Charles Boyer as a loathsome husband who attempts to convince his already anxious wife (Ingrid Bergman) that she’s going insane by secretly rearranging things in their house and taking things from her so she thinks she’s always misplacing them. He preys on her emotional vulnerability in order to mask his own pathology and emotional detachment. The effect is absolutely enraging: Onscreen, he’s one of the more hateful villains ever committed to celluloid.”

Full Review

14. The Killing of Two Lovers

“From the opening sequence, with a distraught, estranged husband standing over the bed of his wife and her new boyfriend with malice in his heart, and a gun in hand, the film spirals out into incredibly well structured compositions, taking us inside and outside of David’s recurring psychosis, utilizing a bevy of techniques: The framing shrinks down around him, the sound gets muffled, as if underwater, save for the incredibly unnerving metallic sound of cables being stretched taut, and the sickening kathunk of a heavy car door slamming shut.”

Capsule Review

13. Another Round

“Typically, Vinterberg avoids simple conclusions  —  and God help us all if this film gets picked up by a U.S. studio and remade with, say, Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, and Chris Rock  —  providing more or less equal examples of the delirious fun drinking with your friends can be (the film opens with a group of high schoolers gleefully doing “lake races” whereby teams compete to drink a case of beer while running around the nearby body of water; and closes with the same teen crew, and some of their teachers, whooping it up in celebrating their graduation); and the horrorshow it can become (one teacher ends up peeing the bed, and on his wife in the process, another wakes up bloodied and out of it in front of his neighbor’s house), leading to very real and horrible consequences.”

Capsule Review

12. Soul

“Co-director Pete Docter is the creative force behind many of Pixar's best titles, having a hand in the Toy Story franchise, WALL-E, Up, and also directing Inside Out, a brilliantly moving treatise on the subject of emotional upheaval. This film, which he co-wrote and made along with fellow co-director Kemp Powers, is his first film back at the helm since that high-water mark, and he has again dug into the fertile earth of our mortality and come back with a particularly vibrant crop.”

Full Review

11. The Burnt Orange Heresy

“Based on the novel by Charles Willeford, the film briskly moves through its paces, clouding the waters with the schemes of duplicitous men, who have sold out any love of art for their greater obsession of cash and prestige. A literary thriller in the vein of The Talented Mr. Ripley, it’s become a genre all too rare in the era of blockbuster bravado. This film will remind you what a mistake that is.”

Full Review

10. Lovers Rock

“In the course of the party, the fuses blow while the house DJ is spinning Janet Kay's "Silly Games," a fan favorite at the time. Undaunted, the guests continue dancing away, singing the lyrics a capella in delirious unison, as McQueen's camera swirls around the living room as if nothing happened. Such a heartfelt moment of unbridled togetherness, putting into distinct bas relief the sense of community we've been denied as a species in 2020, feels like a benediction, an epitaph for the year, and a salve for what we've all been so desperately missing.”

Capsule Review

9. Time

“Ostensibly, it’s about the strain of incarceration on even the most grounded of families (an experience naturally disproportionate for POCs); but, on a deeper level, it’s also about the manner of our use of the limited number of revolutions we get to enjoy situated on this earth. It is a profound knock-out.”

Full Review

8. New Order

“Meet the new boss, only in Michel Franco’s damning portrait of a society locked forever in cycles of oppression, revolution, and new oppression, it makes no difference who you are, what your belief system is, or whether or not you subscribe to a moral set of ethics.”

Capsule Review

7. Dick Johnson is Dead

“Utilizing stunt people and special effects, Johnson kills her father off a number of different gruesome ways, as a means of softening the blow of actually losing him as his mind slowly slips away. This eventually culminates in a final gambit, both acutely painful and deeply moving, in which our sense of things gets seriously upended. As Johnson put it during the post-screening Q&A, the film serves as a “doomed experiment trying to keep my father alive forever.” This film won’t make him immortal, alas, but it does make him indelible.”

Capsule Review

6. Martin Eden

“Marcello packs the film with offbeat bits and pieces of other films, including strips of what appear to be vintage home movies, sometimes in juxtaposition to what Martin is feeling  —  a group of kids swinging wildly from the bar of a fence, to a full galley ship taking in water and suddenly sinking like an iron ingot – which adds a more winsome, timeless element to the narrative. It’s clearly set in the past, but avoids being too dependent on that particular sense of place and time. Martin is a young man, at first, just coming into himself, and the actions he takes, what he goes through, the film seems to suggest, would be similar in any age.”

Full Review

5. Minari

“The film is certainly charming, but that’s not to diminish its straightforward approach to its characters’ plight. It doesn’t shy away from their difficulties, and as a result, it doesn’t cheat towards smarmy emotional closure.”

Capsule Review

4. Collective

“The breath of hope in the film, when the inept Minister of Health resigns, leading to the placing of a new, emboldened director who works quickly to clean the quagmire left by his predecessors, is just as quickly expelled after the next round of elections, in which the Social Democrat party  —  the very ones in charge of this catastrophe in the first place  —  gets re-elected with an even greater majority than what they had before. A perfect reflection of what happens when a government is allowed to exist without any meaningful oversight, other than from a bedraggled press and a disenchanted electorate.”

Full Review

3. First Cow

“Reichardt, a naturalist at heart, is not known much as a humorist, but there is a lightness to her screenplay -- co-written by Jonathan Raymond, her frequent collaborator, who wrote the original novel upon which its based -- that keeps it as sweetly airy as one of Cookie's fried confections. The two friends are so out of step with their surroundings -- the party of men Cookie initially travels with are little more than brutish thugs, and the fort upon which they end up is no better -- they almost had to find each other. They are reunited in the local bar of the fort only because literally every other patron runs out to egg on a brawl between two loutish combatants.”

Full Review

2. Never Rarely Sometimes Always

“Hittman’s eye for detail and emotional complexity  —  her characters can rarely articulate anything they’re experiencing  —  is incredibly acute, and she pulls tremendously understated performances out of her two leads.”

Capsule Review

1. Nomadland

“Perhaps no American director since Terrance Malick has made more of the collapsing light of dusk and twilight than Chloe Zhao. Much of her new film, which stars Frances McDormand as a transigent woman (“not homeless, houseless”), who traverses back and forth across the west in her beat up live-in van, doing seasonal work, takes place in that particular kind of vibrant half-darkness that shrouds the desert and its mountains with a magic kind of mystery.”

Capsule Review

Other Worthy Mentions: 7500; Assassins; Bacurau; Beanpole; Beginning; Black Bear; Bloody Nose Empty Pockets; Boys State; Come Play; Emma; Gunda; His House; Horse Girl; I Am Greta; Jacinta; La Llorona; Let Him Go; Limbo; Mangrove; Mayor; MLK/FBI; One Night in Miami…; Palm Springs; Possessor Uncut; Red, White & Blue; Relic; She Dies Tomorrow; Shirley; Shithouse; Shiva Baby; Some Kind of Heaven; Spring Blossom; Swallow; Tenet; The Dissident; The Invisible Man; The Nest; Sound of Metal; The Vast of Night; The Viewing Booth; The Way I See It; Vitalina Varella; Welcome to Chechnya

Inexplicably Underrated: 7500; Shithouse

Biggest Welcome Surprise(s): The Vast of Night; His House; She Dies Tomorrow

The Best Two Films I Saw This Year, Period: Satantango (1994); Harlan County, USA (1976)

[scmsdivinecultists]

A Day in the Department of Fuckery

Warnings: Occasional curse word and tons of crack.

Written by Admin Karebear

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a peaceful morning within the palace of the heavens. Although powerful beings such as gods did not need sleep, many retired to their private rooms when the sun set and spent quiet time with their families or lovers. The sun was half-way above the horizon now, painting the endless sky a shade of beautiful orange. Most of the gods who lived in the palace had yet to leave their rooms and begin work, but unfortunately, duty called for some at this hour.

“Who the fuck thought this was a good idea?” Teresa complained, dragging her feet down the empty hallway.

“Zyglavis.” Kare replied, turning her head left so she could look at her companion. “Apparently he requested to have the meeting at this time.”

“Who the heck approved it?”

“The king.”

Teresa groaned. “Of course he did. Probably wants to see me suffer.”

Kare smirked. “Well, our job is to amuse him.”

Teresa, the Goddess of Equality, had long black hair, dark eyes and wore eyeglasses for style. She served as the minister for the Department of Fuckery. Kare, the Goddess of Peace, also wore a pair of glasses in front of her brown eyes, though her hair was berry purple and stopped on top of her shoulders. Kare was chosen as the vice-minister for the new department.

The Department of Fuckery was created not long ago by the King of the Heavens. His Highness felt that the palace had grown too dull and was growing quite bored of his old tricks. So, by creating a new department with some of the most chaotic goddesses in the heavens, the king had found a new way to toy with the gods in Wishes and Punishments.

Reaching the large door at the end of the hall, the goddesses went in. On the other side was a grand room held for meetings between all three departments. As expected, the minister and vice-minister of Punishments were already inside.

“Good morning gentlemen.” Kare greeted the men upon entry.

“Good morning.” Zyglavis replied.

Instead of using words, Scorpio replied with a nod, not thrilled about the early hour either. The women took their seats on their side of the circular table, Teresa’s eyes fixing into a glare pointed at Zyglavis. The ambiance of the room turned from quiet to awkward in a matter of minutes.

Finally, Zyglavis let out a sigh. “Lady Teresa, is there something you would like to say?”

If it were possible, Teresa’s glare grew colder. “Yeah. What’s the deal with holding the meeting at this ungodly hour?”

“Punishments has a large task to complete later today. This time was best for us.”

“Oh, so we’re working around your schedule-”

“Teresa.” Kare cut in, giving the Fuckery Minister a look.

Teresa huffed and crossed her arms, slouching back into her chair. Kare wasn’t usually this uptight, but when it came to work that woman didn’t didn’t make a habit of messing around.

The door opened once again, revealing the missing Minister and Vice-Minister of Wishes. Leon, unsurprisingly, looked annoyed while Karno wore a friendly, relaxed expression.

“You’re late.” Zyglavis snapped, his tone sharp and unforgiving.

“Yes, we’re sorry.” Karno apologized, taking a seat. “There were some... distractions this morning.”

Scorpio scoffed. “Figures.”

The corner of Leon’s mouth curled up. “Spent the night alone again, did you?”

Scorpio clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyes. “Better then whatever disgusting woman you allowed into your bed.”

Kare bit her bottom lip and quickly clasped a hand over her mouth to hide her smile, trying to withhold the giggles bubbling in her chest. Teresa, on the other hand, burst into a fit of laughter, not caring when Leon’s glare shifted to her.

Zyglavis, who’s eyebrows furrowed another inch, cleared his throat. “It’s time to get started. Punishments doesn’t have the luxury of time the four of you do.”

“You wouldn’t be so behind if you got your problem children under control.” Leon said, a confident smirk tugging at his lips. “Perhaps you should transfer them to Fuckery. Seems like they’ll get more work done over there.”

Teresa wasn’t laughing anymore. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Ichthys would fit in, honestly...” Kare muttered.

The Fuckery Minister turned to her Vice-Minister. “Ok, he would, but that’s not the point.”

Karno, seeing that the meeting was going no where, decided to take things into his own hands. “I see that everyone has a lot of energy this morning. We should be able to get through this rather quickly if we begin now.”

Kare nodded in agreement. “Every Department has a problem child and we shouldn’t leave them unattended for too long.”

‘Our entire department is nothing but problem children.’ Teresa thought.

“Fine. We’ll start.” Leon said, sliding a paper across the table in Teresa’s direction. “What the hell is this foreign language?”

“I was going to ask about that, too.” Zyglavis added. “It’s incomprehensible.”

Teresa lifted a brow and picked up the paper, reading the first few lines. “Dammit, Cupid.”

Kare glanced over. “Don’t tell me she-”

“Wrote in human slang again? Why yes, yes she did.”

“Oh boy.”

Teresa cleared her throat and began reading out loud. “This week, I would like to report that there had been an increased number of thots roaming the palace. I have reason to believe these thots were given an invitation to enter by either Leon, Teorus or Tauxolouve from the Department of Wishes, though there is also a possibility that Partheno from Punishments is involved. I can’t help but LOL at how shook some of these thots looked; can’t determine if they’ve been ghosted yet or not. These thots were trying to flex, but I threw hands with those extra goddesses. In the end, I got them to spill some tea, hit them with a ‘Bye, Felicia’, then yeeted their salty asses out the door. It was lit and I wish someone was there to see me snatch their weaves. I can’t help but ROFL at how highkey desperate these thots are to sleep with any of the gods listed above. Now I’m hangry.”

Now finished reading, Teresa looked up at the others. Everyone seated at the table, except for Kare, clearly were unable to process anything that had been said.

Kare broke the silence. “Basically, we’ve noticed a lot of goddess wandering the halls and have had to escort them out. Make sure your guys clean up after themselves.”

Scorpio clicked his tongue, eyes narrowing in rage. “That miget wrote all that garbage for a simple explanation like that?!”

“You say garbage, I say work or art.” Teresa said, folding the report. “Anything else we can translate for you?”

Karno nodded and placed a smaller paper in Kare’s hand. “This was attached to the front of the report.”

Kare read the note first in her head, then out loud. “Tell Aigo to report to my office for a pegging.” Her brows furrowred and she turned to her superior. “What’s pegging?”

Teresa shrugged. “First I’m hearing of it. She must have learned a new word. Did Aigo go see her?”

“Yeah. The way he jumped out of bed and ran, he must know what that term means.” Leon said.

Zyglavis, who usually had a face of stone, was looking away from everyone in attempt to hide his reddened cheeks. This failed, though, as Scorpio noticed right away.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Scorpio asked.

Zyglavis cleared his throat. “Nothing. I don’t see why we are wasting time translating this nonsense.”

Leon smirked. “Oh-ho, so Minister Ponytail does know what ‘pegging’ means.”

“If I did, I would have said so, rabid lion.”

The meeting continued. Gods had a very different sense of time then humans did, but even for the goddesses in Fuckery, time moved painfully slow. When it was finally over, Teresa and Kare returned to their department. Inside were more members of the Department of Fuckery, who had finally left their chambers. Moli, the Goddess of Domination and Maisey, the Goddess of Submission, were having a casual conversation on large couch. Curled up on a single chair was Kay, the Goddess of Innocence.

Moli was twirling a lock of long, red hair around her finger. Her green eyes were focused on Maisey, listening earnestly to her friend. Maisey had long hair that started brown, then faded into a deep shade of green that matched her eyes. Kay’s blue eyes were cast down to the book in her lap. Her hair was also red, but cut to her shoulders. All three were dressed in the Fuckery uniform, which resembled those belonging to Wishes and Punishments, just more of a femanine style. Each goddess in the department wore a velvet-red arm band.

“Thank god that’s over!” Teresa exclaimed, disrupting the quiet atmosphere. “Cupid, you coward! Where are you?”

“She’s in her office.” Moli said, pointing towards the back of the department.

Teresa huffed and stormed towards the office. Kare, choosing to stay behind, took a seat on the couch as well, near Kay’s chair.

“How was the meeting?” Kay asked.

“Chaotic, as always.” Kare replied, nodding towards the book in the red-head’s lap. “Whatcha’ reading?”

“A book from Earth. It’s called 50 Shades of Grey.”

“Sounds interesting. What’s it about?”

Kay’s cheeks turned pink as she shook her head. “You don’t wanna know.”

Kare was confused by the statement, but chose to let it go.

Moli reached over and tapped the vice-minister’s shoulder. “How was Zyg?”

The purple-haired goddess shrugged. “He didn’t seem any different then usual. Although, I’m a little worried he may be over-working himself...”

Maisey raised a brow. “What makes you say that?”

“His face flushed red in the middle of the meeting. If gods were capable of getting sick I would assume it was an illness, but he seemed, I don’t know, embarrassed?”

“Zyg? Embarrassed?” Kay asked, not believing her ears. “Impossible. Over what?”

“Cupid wrote something about ‘pegging’ in one of her notes and no one could figure out what it meant.”

Moli, who looked concerned a minute ago, was now smiling. She almost looked proud.

“Oh, I see.” Moli said, picking up her glass from the coffee table and taking a sip.

Moli and Maisey exchanged a look. Only they knew the reason behind Zyglavis’ embarrassment and who was the cause of it. Kare was about to ask, but Kay quickly shook her head as of saying ‘don’t’. So, once again, Kare was left in the dark.

Maisey downed the rest of her glass. “I gotta ask Hue for more wine. This is good shit.”

“I can’t believe how high your alcohol tolerance is.” Kay said. “Or that your drinking this early in the morning.”

Maisey shrugged. “Gotta get fucked up to fuck things up, right?”

“Preach!” Moli exclaimed, raising her glass in a toast before chugging the rest of it. “Hey, Kare, you want some?”

Kare thought about it. “I really shouldn- ah, screw it. Why not?”

“What about you, Kay?” Maisey asked.

Kay smiled but politely declined.

~

Teresa lifted her hand to knock on the door, but decided against and threw it open instead.

“Cupid, what the hell is this?” Teresa asked the department’s secretary, waving the report from earlier in her hand.

Cupid, who had been calmly writing at her desk, paused to look at the Minister. Cupid, the Goddess of Infatuation, was small but mighty. She had short brown hair and brown eyes that matched. Also in the room was Ruby. Ruby, the Goddess of Dreams, was the youngest in the department and acted as Fuckery’s messenger while training beneath the others. She had dark, medium length hair and gentle brown eyes.

“Ew, it’s you.” Cupid huffed. “That’s the report, you hooligan. Maybe if you stopped putting sugar on your lettuce you’d have figured that out.”

“Sugar on my- At least I don’t go after basic human white boys!” Teresa snapped back. “I knew what this was. Why all the slang? The gods couldn’t make any sense of it.”

“I was doing my job and made the meeting more entertaining.” Cupid smirked. “How ridiculous were their faces?”

Teresa laughed. “I’ve never seen Zyg look more confused in my life. Scorpio was kinda pissed, Leon was flat out confused and Karno was just like ‘oh, ok’. It was priceless.”

“Um, no one is going to get in trouble, right?” Ruby asked nervously. “Those meetings seem important, so...”

Teresa shook her head. “They’re important, yeah, but we’re the department of Fuckery; we’re supposed to mess a around. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be on the receiving end of the king’s boredom. That’s what Leon is for.”

“Ruby helped me with slang research.” Cupid said, patting the younger goddess’ head. “Good work.”

Ruby blushed. “T-Thank you.”

Teresa flashed Ruby a smile before turning back to Cupid. “By the way, what does ‘pegging’ mean? Leon and Karno want to know.”

Cupid laughed. “You don’t wanna know. Trust me. It will ruin you forever.”

“Nothing can ruin me more then the lot of you have.”

“Okay, you asked for it.” Cupid looked at Ruby. “Cover your ears for a minute.”

Ruby was confused, but did as told. Cupid approached Teresa and explained it to her quietly. When she finished, Teresa was frozen in place trying to process what she had just heard. Part of her wasn’t surprised, but at the same time, she was.

Teresa groaned. “Great. Now I have an image of you and Aigo-”

A voice suddenly shouted across the department. “Ladies! We have a problem!”

Teresa, Cupid and Ruby exchanged looks before racing into the main room where the others were. Kare, Moli, Maisey and Kay were still present, but one more goddess now stood amongst them. Bonnibell, the Goddess of Chaos, had a darker complexion then the others and was equally as beautiful with her curly dark hair and powerful eyes. In this moment, her eyes had a fire blazing behind them.

“B? What’s wrong?” Teresa asked.

“I caught a rat trying to sneak in here.” Bonnibell explained.

Ruby flinched. “A-A rat?”

“Poor thing must have lost it’s way.” Kay said. “We should release him outside.”

“Oh, it’s not that kind of rat.”

Bonnibell turned and headed out the door. The other goddesses were confused, but rushed after her, curious to see what their friend had caught.

Out in the hall, the goddesses found someone sitting on the floor, wrists and feet tied together. The god was wearing white clothing, had blonde hair and gold eyes. Everyone recognized him instantly.

“Teorus!” Kare exclaimed, eyes narrowing as her hands placed themselves on her hips. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Teorus laughed nervously. “I heard Fuckery was having some trouble with my goddesses, so I thought I would come guard the hallway. Can’t have anyone getting hurt, right?”

“Oh, so you’re the one who’s been letting all those thots in?” Cupid realized, crossing her arms.

“I don’t know what that means, but it sounds mean.” Teorus snapped his fingers to free himself from the bonds and stood up. “If you ladies are thaaaat jealous, my door is always open. I’ll accept you all.”

None of the goddess laughed. In fact, they were all harshly glaring at him. Teorus seemed to realize what grave he had just dug for himself and took off down the hall.

“After him!” Teresa commanded.

The goddesses of Fuckery gave chase, racing through the palace after the blonde god. Teorus could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He was so focused on the women hunting him that he didn’t think to slow down before racing around the corner. As a result, he ran face first into someone. The impact sent Teorus falling onto his ass.

“Ow!” Teorus hissed.

Krioff glared down at him. “What did you do that for?”

“Ah! Krioff!” Teorus exclaimed, still on the floor. “You gotta help me! The girls in Fuckery are reaaally mad at me!”

Krioff looked past Teorus to the mob of enraged goddesses standing before him. “I can see that.”

Knowing better then to get involved, Krioff turned his back and started walking in the other direction.

Teorus’ heart sank. “You’re not gonna help me?!”

“No. See ya.” Krioff replied, not looking back.

The goddesses pounced. Moli and Maisey each took a leg and started dragging Teorus across the floor, heading back to the department. The others followed, ignoring Teorus’ pleas for mercy and forgiveness. The goddesses hauled him into Fuckery and closed the door. Teorus’ screams could no longer be heard echoing in the halls.

~~~~~~~

Minister Teresa: @teresa-yukibito

Vice-Ministed Karebear: @karebearotome

Cupid: @incurablecupidity

Moli: @john-bull-leun

Maisey: @voltage-supernatural-art

Kay: @jer-ich0

Bonnibell: @bonnisimpparker

Ruby: @currentlysleepy

[watching-pictures-move]

Put On Your Raincoats #20 | Squalid Motels and Desperate Gals, courtesy of Kim Christy

This review contains mild spoilers.

When I first heard of Kim Christy, I knew I had to delve into her work. Here is someone who was involved in the drag scene in the '60s and went on to direct and produce pornography from the '80s onward. She's also a trans woman director (and occasional actress), which is not just unusual in golden age pornography but even mainstream cinema today. Unfortunately, figuring out where to start was a challenge. There's a very good interview with her on the Advocate but which doesn't really delve into her directing work. So I did the highly risky and ill-advised move of scanning through the titles in her filmography and trying to pick out ones with interesting sounding premises. Even this was a challenge, as a lot of her movies sounded like they didn't have a terrible amount of story. (A good many of them also had certain slurs in the title, which are unfortunately common in trans pornography.) So out of the crapshoot of movies I picked, I can't say I really got to the bottom of what makes her work interesting or even gelled to most of them, but hopefully I can convey what makes the ones I did take to interesting.

To start with the most slight, the two Divine Atrocities movies are basically a collection of sex scenes. There's a theme of dominant women running through them, but otherwise there isn't much tying together in terms of staging, aesthetics and the like. The segments have titles like "The Leather Lass Tamer", "Rubber Rampage" and "Ms. Degradation", but truth be told, nothing here is terribly shocking. So there isn't a lot to either of these movies, but if you're watching it for those reasons, they're enjoyable enough. A few of the segments feature trans performers, and I did find that Sulka had a nicely imposing screen presence in her scene, and while Sugar Nicole briefly threatens her partner with her "big black cock", I did like that for the most part the movies don't discern between these scenes and the ones with cisgender performers. In the eyes of Kim Christy, there's room for everyone in this great sexual melange. Also notable is the threesome scene with Janey Robbins, who (after likely reading Dan Savage's column) tells one of her partners, "If you don't find a different way to fuck me, you can forget it, I'll have to find somebody else", and in the first time in the history of civilization, gets mad at her male partner for not climaxing quickly enough. "You always say it'll only take a few minutes. Time is the only thing I can't replace, and it always takes too long."

A bit more substantive narratively but less interesting is Momma's Boy, with a premise that you can guess based on the title. Tantala Ray presides over a brothel set during an indeterminate period, where she presides over her girls and also her son, who mysteriously became a deaf-mute at a certain point of time. Why did her son become a deaf-mute? Will we ever find out? Spoiler: it's incest. Tantala Ray does have a weird enough screen presence to make her parts watchable, but this has none of the charge that, say, Taboo brings to the same material. (It's worth noting that Ray in this movie, looking like a debauched queen of Mardi Gras in one scene, is a camp villain while Kay Parker plays her role straight in the other movie.) As it's shot on video, the movie is not very nice to look at, and the dirt cheap production values make it unclear whether this is supposed to be a period piece. Some of the dialogue is amusing ("Oxford?" "Guess again." "Princeton?" "Try Biloxi Tech, my sweetie."), and there is some old timey music and one of the clients wears an ascot at one point, so it's not a totally squalid affair. (It's classy, see? He's wearing an ascot.) As the son, Jerry Butler does a cringe-inducing lisp, but I did chuckle at his last line.

A bit easier to recommend is True Crimes of Passion, where Janey Robbins plays a private detective (cheekily named B.J. Fondel) who invariably bungles her investigations and winds up in sex scenes with the people she's supposed to be investigating. "Out of the fog and into the smog" begins the overwrought voiceover, which truth be told doesn't compare to the likes of Chandler but I guess the effort is nice. The first case involves her investigating the wife of a minister whom her client suspects of infidelity. Surprise, surprise, it turns out the wife has a girlfriend with whom she has dominant sex. Thanks to Robbins' investigative prowess, she gets found out and forced to join the proceedings and ends up getting her client, a Dan Quayle looking motherfucker in a cowboy hat, captured as well, which leads to an incredible burn.

"The lord will punish you for this."

"The lord already has, he gave me you for a husband."

Also, when Robbins is forced into cunnilingus, she says over narration, "Oh Christ, I'm not even sure I've seen one of these things up close", and yeah, okay, Janey.

The second scene is probably the most notable as it features Christy as a performer. Robbins visits her friend to investigate a death threat against her friend's brother (also Robbins' ex), and the twist can be deduced when you start wondering why a seemingly minor character gets an unusually large amount of screentime. The scene features a trope that likely isn't terribly sensitive by modern standards, but I get the sense from that Advocate interview that Christy isn't too hung up about such things and one must concede that the film is a product of its time and genre (and within that context, there's a lot worse out there). The last scene has Robbins spying on her neighbour in hotel to get some industry secrets, which leads to some really awkward dialogue about champagne and then a threesome involving her client and mark. Like the work of Yasojiru Ozu, this scene breaks the 180-rule, but I guess if this is your thing, you might enjoy it. At the very end, the mark just gives up his secrets to the client. The secrets of male bonding sometimes elude me.

Easily the most accomplished and enjoyable film from Christy that I watched was Squalor Motel. It combines the sexual variety of the other films with a sense of camp and grounds it in a distinct, memorable location. There isn't much more "plot" than the other movies, as it's basically about a motel concierge doing her job over the course of a day, but as it follows her bumping into a variety of (usually horny) guests and finding herself in amusing (and unfailingly sexual) situations, there's enough of a narrative through line that it feels like a "real" movie where the other movies strained for similar effect, and the movie uses a soundtrack of icy synths and jazz that sounds like imitation Angelo Badalamenti to give it all an alluring vibe. I'm gonna make a wager that David Lynch would have liked this movie. Look, I have no idea what his viewing habits are or what sends his motor running, and the thought of him jacking it furiously to this or any movie is not something that brings me pleasure. But this shares some of the campy tone and surface qualities of his works, and I also wanted to leave you all with that image.

Why does the motel have its own house band (to whom people try to listen to while they engage in all kinds of sexual congress)? Why is Jamie Gillis made up like a vampire and trying to sell marital aids? Why does the one guest's blow-up doll turn into a real person (and prove, uh, extremely vocal during their scene)? Why is the owner wearing a pig mask and a tutu while he spies on his guests? Why is everyone laughing at the newlywed? Why is the one scientist with a Hitler mustache and his shrill-voiced assistant conducting experiments (read: having a threesome) with Tantala Ray? And how are most of these things taking place in the mysterious Reptile Room in the middle of the motel? With an extremely winning Colleen Brennan in the lead role (sporting a pair of thick glasses, a Lucille Ball updo, and a big, toothy smile), we'll have a pretty good time finding out. Like a lot of hardcore movies, this is pretty episodic in structure, but its distinct atmosphere gives it a nice sense of momentum as it drifts from scene to scene.

With its nice production design (and the fact that it seems to have actual sets, rather than being shot in what I assume are people's homes like in the other movies), Squalor Motel feels a bit more upscale and lavish than the average porno. While I don't have any budgetary information handy, I do know that the production had an assistant director, Ned Morehead. To what extent he contributed to the movie's DNA I can't say for certain, but the directorial effort of his I watched, also produced by Christy, had many of the same qualities. Desperate Women starts off feeling pretty stylish with its spraypaint style opening credits (although it loses a bit of style when it misspells star Taija Rae's name as "Taja Rea"). Taija Rae plays a reporter who ends up wrongfully convicted for a murder and thrown in brutal women's prison presided over by the sadistic Tantala Ray, who seems to get her jollies from spying on her prisoners as they get it on or abusing them with the help of her dimwitted guard. During such incidents, the guard frequently ends up ejaculating on her uniform as a source of comic relief. (One such scene ends with a shot of a photo of Ronald Reagan.) I must however disclose, without revealing too much about the shameful inner workings of my hopelessly degenerate mind, that the denouement of scene involving Ray, her guard and Sharon Mitchell did not leave me unmoved. Mitchell plays a prisoner who befriends Taija Rae, and it's worth noting that despite being one of the best actresses in classic porn, she's saddled here with an atrocious Hispanic accent and at one point sings a bit of "America" from West Side Story.

By porn standards, this is actually quite well produced and has a relatively sturdy narrative. (I must however note that one scene has a blatant ejaculation-related continuity error.) Women in prison movies tend to be pretty squalid affairs in general, at least in terms of production values, so this doesn't feel too far off from the real thing and offers more explicit versions of the same pleasures, while its sense of humour gives it a nice campy quality. Tantala Ray especially delivers in a pleasingly over the top performance as the teeth-gnashing villain (the camera often frames her severe face in wide angle close ups), and say what you will about Sharon Mitchell's accent, I did like seeing her pop up in here. With all the flamboyance and excitement around her, Taija Rae almost becomes a supporting character in her own movie, although I must confess that I found her character's hopeless naivety pretty cute. ("I didn't wear rubbers, it's sunny out".) With a fun cast, a firm handle on the genre's pleasures and a groovy soundtrack, this is a pretty good time.

[zukosturtleducks]

Zuko, Grand Lotus (3/5)

A Lu Ten and Zuko roleswap AU. A continuation of Ozai, Dragon of the West. Parts 1 and 2 have been crossposted to AO3. Credits to EudociaCovert for Yuyan!Longshot.

General Ozai promotes Zuko as soon as they reach the Earth Kingdom, and gives a laundry list of impossible tasks for the newly-minted Commander Zuko, the most important of which are: secure the supply lines to Ba Sing Se, and to consolidate their hold on the rest of the territories while the main host of the Fire Nation Army besieges the city. You're the only one I trust to do this, Zuko, his father says. Your trust honors me, Father, Zuko replies, like the loyal son that he is, but he doesn't miss the glint of paranoia buried in his father's eyes. 

Pohuai Stronghold is Zuko's first priority. Most of the supplies headed to the northern half of the Earth Kingdom goes through the stronghold and the nearby port, so he stations more troops in the area, improves security for ships bringing cargo through the inlet, and visits the stronghold himself, to ensure that it is manned by loyal officers. Unfortunately, the visit goes awry the minute he steps onto base – the Yuyan Archers' commander, Shinu, is violently disciplining a child when he arrives. He's a deserter, your highness, Shinu protests, when Zuko intervenes. He deliberately missed his target and fled from his own cowardice! But Zuko looks at the trembling boy on the ground, and thinks – he can't be older than Lu Ten. 

Apparently, War Minister Qin had given special dispensation for "prodigies" to be recruited below the usual age limit of sixteen. General Ozai's signature is at the bottom of the decree, and Zuko… isn't surprised. Ming – the youngest Yuyan Archer – had been recruited at the age of six, and had been trained to kill since his entry into the army. Ming is eight years old now and he is being beaten by Commander Shinu for disobeying orders to kill civilians. Zuko is signing papers to transfer Ming to his unit before he knows it, shaking with rage because when he thinks of prodigies, he thinks of Azula and her flame flickering blue, Lu Ten and his dao, their friends Mai the knife-thrower and Ty Lee the chi-blocker. None of them deserve to have bloodied hands at eight, and Ming is no different.

Zuko travels around the Fire Nation territories, doing his best to maintain law and order in the colonies while most of their army is at Ba Sing Se. It's disheartening to see how much disciplining the officers is involved in this. There are a few attempted rebellions from Earth Kingdom loyalists, but the majority of disturbances are from the Fire Nations troops abusing their power. They have dishonored you and the Throne, Father, he writes, when General Ozai demands an explanation for the disbandment of the Rough Rhinos. They had burned an entire village full of innocent women and children, and if Private Ming hadn't spotted Colonel Mongke standing over a crying boy, flames glowing wickedly in his hands, there might not have been any survivors at all. Father doesn't need to know about the Agni Kai the Colonel had challenged him to; all that matters is that Zuko won, the Rough Rhinos have been dishonorably discharged, the boy Jet is safe, and that Zuko will make damned sure that his army will never behave so cruelly again. 

His popularity grows, and it bewilders Zuko. He's not doing anything special, he's just doing what's right. Anyone would have done it in his place. He spends two years keeping the peace, and the Prince's Platoon gains even more of a reputation as the strongest and most honorable band of Imperial Firebenders. But then, his platoon is summoned to Ba Sing Se, and everything goes to shit. 

[wits-writing]

Ultraman Z Ep 3: “Live Coverage! The Monster Transport Operation” (TV Review)

(Original Air Date: July 4, 2020, Director: Kiyotaka Taguchi, Writer: Kota Fukihara)

We catch up with STORAGE in this week’s episode of Ultraman Z, “Live Coverage! The Monster Transport Operation” as they set in motion a plan to impress their international financiers to get the funds to develop a new robot and put it to work alongside Sevenger. Taking the showy but simple task of moving the sleeping giant dinosaur Gomora to a new location to demonstrate what they’re capable of with their current resources. When that goes awry, the team scrambles to still find a way to make the screwup impress the board officials and defeat Gomora, with the help of some new powers from Ultraman Z.

[Full Review Under the Cut]

A sense of fun permeates this episode. The central setting of the board meeting where the fate of STORAGE’s funding will be decided ends up serving as a peanut gallery for amusing reactions to the monster battle of the week. I found myself smiling and laughing whenever the episode would cut back to the gathered officials at the meeting hollering in excitement over Sevenger and Ultraman. An added delight comes from the American officials conferring among each other about what they’re seeing in spoken English. Phrasing in that dialogue can be a little clunky, but what’s entertaining about it is how it paints those officials with childlike glee over seeing Sevenger in action, comparing it to robots from “Japanese animations.” The entire set up of the meeting gave the sensation of watching the episode alongside a group of equally excited tokusatsu fans.

STORAGE’s side in this story indulges in the lighthearted side of things from the start as well. The cold open has Haruki’s eagerness to take advantage of Sevenger’s new rocket-fist to defeat the monster Guigass leading him to sadly intone his catchphrase of “’Kay” when the captain points out the collateral damage he caused. There’s also the director panicking in the middle of the meeting as he realizes Haruki’s the one currently piloting Sevenger. The way they try to frame the operation to transport Gomora, with the live press coverage and the efforts of STORAGE to keep Sevenger powered up through hardwiring, shows the lengths the organization went through to make sure this impressed the people in charge of their financial future. However, despite the minister bringing up important points like cost effectiveness, it would seem the group is impressed enough with Sevenger’s mere existence at certain points. Especially when they misinterpret the machine tripping towards Gomora during a fight as a “Kabuki Attack.”

Allergies and sneezing end up as a running gag this episode for Haruki and Gomora alike. Sniffles and sneezes keep Haruki from being at the top of his game during the initial stages of the operation. He’s the first to note how Gomora might have allergies as well, which is funny in how of all possibilities for how the monster might wake up, a pollen allergy is what they didn’t account for. While funny on occasion, like when Gomora sneezes right in Zett’s face, it’s also an unfortunately timed inclusion in the series given the on-going global pandemic. One would be liable to wonder why Haruki isn’t immediately told to maintain proper social distancing.

Zett’s Beta Smash form making its debut is the clear centerpiece of the fight between Ultraman Z and Gomora this episode. The lead-up to Haruki being able to call on this new power makes for the best comedy bit in the episode. When Zett notices Yoko dropping the Ultraman Medal, Haruki and he realize they need to figure out a way to let her know they need it to stop the monster. The proceeding back and forth of hand gestures and shouts of “Shuwatch!” as Yoko can only stare in confusion are delightful.

When she does eventually understand and the pair are able to access the medal’s power, alongside those of Ultraman Ace and Ultraman Taro, we get our first look at the transformation for Beta Smash. During the transformation Haruki, taking the hint to do so from Zett, refers to the three Ultras’ being called on as “big bros” similar to how the three for Alpha Edge are referred to as “masters”, making me wonder what honorifics will be used for any future forms. The suit for Beta Smash is clearly modeled on that on a masked pro-wrestler, with a primarily red color scheme patterned like a wrestler’s tights, and has the fighting style to match, along with a more clearly sculpted musculature than Zett’s base form or Alpha Edge. What really cements the wrestler motif is a hammer in a billboard falling on a facedown Sevenger and ringing like the starting bell for a match. Zett’s voice while calling out attacks in this form is also clearly deeper than usual with a bit of a growl to it. It’s a well-executed debut for the form overall, though I currently prefer Alpha Edges faster martial arts style to the grappling of Beta Smash.

The focus on humor in “Live Coverage! The Monster Transportation Operation” keeps it an engaging watch throughout. Introducing the Beta Smash form and getting more of a sense of what STORAGE’s place in the world’s priorities make for good additions to the overall lore of the series. And despite Sevenger failing to take care of Gomora on its own, we are left with the note that the board was suitably impressed enough to fund the development of the organization’s next robot.

We’ll see how that machine’s debut goes next time.

If you like what you’ve read here, please like/reblog or share elsewhere online, follow me on Twitter (@WC_WIT), and consider throwing some support my way at either Ko-Fi.com or Patreon.com at the extension “/witswriting”

[timeless-hollywood-classics]

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-born American actor during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Considered the natural successor to Douglas Fairbanks, he achieved worldwide fame for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, as well as frequent partnerships with Olivia de Havilland. He was best known for his role as Robin Hood in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938); his portrayal of the character was named by the American Film Institute as the 18th-greatest hero in American film history. His other famous roles included the eponymous lead in Captain Blood (1935), Major Geoffrey Vickers in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), as well as the hero in a number of Westerns, such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940) and San Antonio (1945). Flynn also stirred controversy for his reputation as a womaniser and hedonistic personal life.

Errol Leslie Flynn was born on 20 June 1909 in Battery Point, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. His father, Theodore Thomson Flynn, was a lecturer (1909) and later professor (1911) of biology at the University of Tasmania. His mother was born Lily Mary Young, but shortly after marrying Theodore at St John's Church of England, Birchgrove, Sydney, on 23 January 1909, she changed her first name to Marelle. Flynn described his mother's family as "seafaring folk" and this appears to be where his lifelong interest in boats and the sea originated. Both of his parents were Australian-born of Irish, English and Scottish descent. Despite Flynn's claims, the evidence indicates that he was not descended from any of the Bounty mutineers.

Flynn received his early schooling in Hobart. He made one of his first appearances as a performer in 1918, aged nine, when he served as a page boy to Enid Lyons in a queen carnival. In her memoirs, Lyons recalled Flynn as "a dashing figure—a handsome boy of nine with a fearless, somewhat haughty expression, already showing that sang-froid for which he was later to become famous throughout the civilized world". She further noted: "Unfortunately Errol at the age of nine did not yet possess that magic for extracting money from the public which so distinguished his career as an actor. Our cause gained no apparent advantage from his presence in my entourage; we gained only third place in a field of seven."

From 1923 to 1925, Flynn attended the South West London College, a private boarding school in Barnes, London.

In 1926, he returned to Australia to attend Sydney Church of England Grammar School (known as "Shore"), where he was the classmate of a future Australian prime minister, John Gorton. His formal education ended with his expulsion from Shore for theft, although he later claimed it was for a sexual encounter with the school's laundress.

After being dismissed from a job as a junior clerk with a Sydney shipping company for pilfering petty cash, he went to Papua New Guinea at the age of eighteen, seeking his fortune in tobacco planting and metals mining. He spent the next five years oscillating between New Guinea and Sydney.

In January 1931, Flynn became engaged to Naomi Campbell-Dibbs, the youngest daughter of Robert and Emily Hamlyn (Brown) Campbell-Dibbs of Temora and Bowral, New South Wales. They did not marry.

Australian filmmaker Charles Chauvel was making a film about the mutiny on the Bounty, In the Wake of the Bounty (1933), a combination of dramatic re-enactments of the mutiny and a documentary on present-day Pitcairn Island. Chauvel was looking for someone to play the role of Fletcher Christian. There are different stories about the way Flynn was cast. According to one, Chauvel saw his picture in an article about a yacht wreck involving Flynn. The most popular account is that he was discovered by cast member John Warwick. The film was not a strong success at the box office, but Flynn’s was the lead role, and his fate was decided. In late 1933 he went to Britain to pursue a career in acting.

Flynn got work as an extra in a film, I Adore You (1933), produced by Irving Asher for Warner Bros. He soon secured a job with the Northampton Repertory Company at the town's Royal Theatre (now part of Royal & Derngate), where he worked and received his training as a professional actor for seven months. Northampton is home to an art-house cinema named after him, the Errol Flynn Filmhouse. He performed at the 1934 Malvern Festival and in Glasgow, and briefly in London's West End.

In 1934 Flynn was dismissed from Northampton Rep. after he threw a female stage manager down a stairwell. He returned to London. Asher cast him as the lead in Murder at Monte Carlo, a "quota quickie" made by Warner Brothers at their Teddington Studios in Middlesex. The movie was not widely seen (it is currently a lost film, but Asher was enthusiastic about Flynn's performance and cabled Warner Bros. in Hollywood, recommending him for a contract. Executives agreed, and Flynn was sent to Los Angeles.

On the ship from London, Flynn met (and eventually married) Lili Damita, an actress five years his senior whose contacts proved valuable when Flynn arrived in Los Angeles. Warner Bros. publicity described him as an "Irish leading man of the London stage."

His first appearance was a small role in The Case of the Curious Bride (1935). Flynn had two scenes, one as a corpse and one in flashback. His next part was slightly bigger, in Don't Bet on Blondes (1935), a B-picture screwball comedy.

Warner Bros. was preparing a big budget swashbuckler, Captain Blood (1935), based on the 1922 novel by Rafael Sabatini and directed by Michael Curtiz.

The studio originally intended to cast Robert Donat, but he turned down the part, afraid that his chronic asthma would make it impossible for him to perform the strenuous role.[19] Warners considered a number of other actors, including Leslie Howard and James Cagney, and also conducted screen tests of those they had under contract, like Flynn. The tests were impressive and Warners finally cast Flynn in the lead, opposite 19-year-old Olivia de Havilland. The resulting film was a magnificent success for the studio and gave birth to two new Hollywood stars and an on-screen partnership that would encompass eight films over six years. The budget for Captain Blood was $1.242 million, and it made $1.357 million in the U.S. and $1.733 million overseas, making a huge profit for Warner Bros.

Flynn had been selected to support Fredric March in Anthony Adverse (1936), but public response to Captain Blood was so enthusiastic that Warners instead reunited him with de Havilland and Curtiz in another adventure tale, this time set during the Crimean War, The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936). The film was given a slightly larger budget than Captain Blood, at $1.33 million, and it had a much higher box-office gross, earning $1.454 million in the US and $1.928 million overseas, making it Warner Bros.' No. 1 hit of 1936.

Flynn asked for a different kind of role and so when ill health made Leslie Howard drop out of the screen adaptation of Lloyd C. Douglas' inspirational novel, Flynn got the lead role in Green Light (1937), playing a doctor searching for a cure for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.[22] The studio then put him back into another swashbuckler, replacing Patric Knowles as Miles Hendon in The Prince and the Pauper (1937). He appeared opposite Kay Francis in Another Dawn (1937), a melodrama set in a mythical British desert colony. Warners then gave Flynn his first starring role in a modern comedy, The Perfect Specimen (1937), with Joan Blondell, under the direction of Curtiz. Meanwhile, Flynn published his first book, Beam Ends (1937), an autobiographical account of his experiences sailing around Australia as a youth. He also travelled to Spain, in 1937, as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War.

Flynn followed this with his most famous movie, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), playing the title role, opposite de Havilland's Marian. This movie was a global success. It was the 6th-top movie grosser of 1938.[25] It was also the studio's first large-budget color film utilizing the three-strip Technicolor process. The budget for Robin Hood was the highest ever for a Warner Bros. production up to that point—$2.47 million—but it more than made back its costs and turned a huge profit as it grossed $2.343 million in the U.S. and $2.495 million overseas.

It also received lavish praise from critics and became a worldwide favorite that has endured for generations. In 2019, Rotten Tomatoes summarizes the critical consensus: "Errol Flynn thrills as the legendary title character, and the film embodies the type of imaginative family adventure tailor-made for the silver screen." In 1995, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.

The scene in which Robin climbs to Marian's window to steal a few words and a kiss has become as familiar to audiences as the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet.[citation needed] Years later, in a 2005 interview, de Havilland described how, during the filming, she decided to tease Flynn, whose wife was on set and watching closely. De Havilland said, "And so we had one kissing scene, which I looked forward to with great delight. I remember I blew every take, at least six in a row, maybe seven, maybe eight, and we had to kiss all over again. And Errol Flynn got really rather uncomfortable, and he had, if I may say so, a little trouble with his tights."[30]

The final duel between Robin and Sir Guy of Gisbourne is a classic, echoing the battle on the beach in Captain Blood where Flynn also kills Rathbone's character after a long demonstration of fine swordplay, in that case choreographed by Ralph Faulkner. According to Faulkner's student, Tex Allen, “Faulkner had good material to work with. Veteran Basil Rathbone was a good fencer already, and Flynn, though new to the school of fence, was athletic and a quick learner. Under Faulkner's choreography Rathbone and Flynn made the swordplay look good. For the next two decades Faulkner's movie list as fencing double and choreographer reads as a history of Hollywood's golden years of adventure yarns [including Flynn's] The Sea Hawk (1940),[31]

The success of The Adventures of Robin Hood did little to convince the studio that their prize swashbuckler should be allowed to do other things, but Warners allowed Flynn to try a screwball comedy, Four's a Crowd (1938). Despite the presence of de Havilland and direction of Curtiz, it was not a success. The Sisters (1938) a drama showing the lives of three sisters in the years from 1904 to 1908, including a dramatic rendering of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, was more popular. Flynn played alcoholic sports reporter Frank Medlin, who sweeps Louise Elliott ( Bette Davis) off her feet on a visit to Silver Bow, Montana. Their married life in San Francisco is difficult, an Frank sails to Singapore just hours before the catastrophe. The original ending of the film was the same as the book: Louise married a character named William Benson. But preview audiences disliked that ending, and a new one was filmed in which Frank comes to Silver Bow to find her and they reconcile. Apparently audiences wanted Errol Flynn to get the girl, or vice versa. (Bette Davis preferred the original ending.)

Flynn had a powerful dramatic role in The Dawn Patrol (1938), a remake of a pre-code 1930 drama of the same name about Royal Flying Corps fighter pilots in World War I and the devastating burden carried by officers who must send men out to die every morning. Flynn and co-stars Basil Rathbone and David Niven led a cast that was all male and predominantly British. Director Edmund Goulding's biographer Matthew Kennedy wrote: “Everyone remembered a set filled with fraternal good cheer.... The filming of Dawn Patrol was an unusual experience for everyone connected with it, and dissipated for all time the legend that Britishers are lacking in a sense of humor.... The picture was made to the accompaniment of more ribbing than Hollywood has ever witnessed. The setting for all this horseplay was the beautiful English manners of the cutterups. The expressions of polite and pained shock on the faces of Niven, Flynn, Rathbone et al., when (women) visitors were embarrassed was the best part of the nonsense.”

In 1939, Flynn and de Havilland teamed up with Curtiz for Dodge City (1939), the first Western for both of them, set after the American Civil War.[34] Flynn was worried that audiences would not accept him in Westerns, but the film was a big hit, Warner Bros.' most popular film of 1939, and he went on to make a number of movies in that genre.

Flynn was reunited with Davis, Curtiz and de Havilland in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), playing Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. Flynn's relationship with Davis during filming was quarrelsome; Davis allegedly slapped him across the face far harder than necessary during one scene. Flynn attributed her anger to unrequited romantic interest, but according to others, Davis resented sharing equal billing with a man she considered incapable of playing any role beyond a dashing adventurer. "He himself openly said, 'I don't know really anything about acting,'" she told an interviewer, "and I admire his honesty, because he's absolutely right." Years later, however, de Havilland said that, during a private screening of Elizabeth and Essex, an astounded Davis had exclaimed, "Damn it! The man could act!"

Warners put Flynn in another Western, Virginia City (1940), set near the end of the Civil War. Flynn played Union officer Kerry Bradford.

In an article for TCM, Jeremy Arnold wrote: "Ironically, the Randolph Scott role [as Captain Vance Irby, commandant of the prison camp where Bradford was a prisoner of war] was originally conceived for Flynn.... In fact, Virginia City was plagued with script, production and personnel problems all along. Shooting began without a finished script, angering Flynn, who complained unsuccessfully to the studio about it. Flynn disliked the temperamental Curtiz and tried to have him removed from the film. Curtiz didn't like Flynn (or costar Miriam Hopkins) either. And Humphrey Bogart apparently didn't care for Flynn or Randolph Scott! Making matters worse was the steady rain that fell for two of the three weeks of location shooting near Flagstaff, AZ. Flynn detested rain, and was physically unwell for quite some time because of it. As Peter Valenti has written, 'Errol's frustration at the role can be easily understood: he changed from antagonist to protagonist, from Southern to Northern officer, almost as the film was being shot. [This] intensified Errol's feelings of inadequacy as a performer and his contempt for studio operation.'" Despite the troubles behind the scenes, the film was a huge success, making a profit of just under $1 million.

Flynn’s next film had been planned since 1936: another swashbuckler taken from a Sabatini novel, The Sea Hawk (1940). However, in the end, only the title was used, and a completely different story was created.

A reviewer observed in Time Aug. 19, 1940, "The Sea Hawk (Warner) is 1940's lustiest assault on the double feature. It cost $1,700,000, exhibits Errol Flynn and 3,000 other cinemactors performing every imaginable feat of spectacular derring-do, and lasts two hours and seven minutes.... Produced by Warner's Hal Wallis with a splendor that would set parsimonious Queen Bess's teeth on edge, constructed of the most tried-&-true cinema materials available, The Sea Hawk is a handsome, shipshape picture. To Irish Cinemactor Errol Flynn, it gives the best swashbuckling role he has had since Captain Blood. For Hungarian Director Michael Curtiz, who took Flynn from bit-player ranks to make Captain Blood and has made nine pictures with him since, it should prove a high point in their profitable relationship." It was indeed: The Sea Hawk made a profit of $977,000 on that budget of $1.7 million.

Another financial success was the Western Santa Fe Trail (1940), with de Havilland and Ronald Reagan, and directed by Curtiz, which grossed $2,147,663 in the US, making it Warner Brothers' second-biggest hit of 1940.

In 1940, at the zenith of his career, Flynn was voted the fourteenth most popular star in the U.S. and the seventh most popular in Britain, according to Motion Picture Daily. According to Variety, he was the fourth-biggest star in the U.S. and the fourth-biggest box-office attraction overseas as well.

Flynn consistently ranked among Warner Bros.' top stars. In 1937, he was the studio's No. 1 star, ahead of Paul Muni and Bette Davis.[43] In 1938, he was No. 3, just behind Davis and Muni.[44] In 1939, he was No. 3 again, this time behind Davis and James Cagney.[45] In 1940 and 1941, he was Warner Bros.' No. 1 top box-office draw. In 1942, he was No. 2, behind Cagney. In 1943, he was No. 2, behind Humphrey Bogart.

Warners allowed Flynn a change of pace from a long string of period pieces in a lighthearted mystery, Footsteps in the Dark (1941). Los Angeles Times' Edwin Schallert wrote: "Errol Flynn becomes a modern for a change in a whodunit film and the excursion proves eminently worth-while... an exceptionally clever and amusing exhibit …" However, the film was not a big success. Far more popular was the military drama Dive Bomber (1941), his last film with Curtiz.

In later years, Footsteps in the Dark co-star Ralph Bellamy recalled Flynn at this time as "a darling. Couldn't or wouldn't take himself seriously. And he drank like there was no tomorrow. Had a bum ticker from the malaria he'd picked up in Australia. Also a spot of TB. Tried to enlist but flunked his medical, so he drank some more. Knew he wouldn't live into old age. He really had a ball in Footsteps in the Dark. He was so glad to be out of swashbucklers."

Flynn became a naturalized American citizen on 14 August 1942. With the United States fully involved in the Second World War, he attempted to enlist in the armed services but failed the physical exam due to recurrent malaria (contracted in New Guinea), a heart murmur, various venereal diseases and latent pulmonary tuberculosis.

Flynn was mocked by reporters and critics as a "draft dodger,” but the studio refused to admit that their star, promoted for his physical beauty and athleticism, had been disqualified due to health problems.

Flynn started a new long-term relationship with a director when he teamed with Raoul Walsh in They Died with Their Boots On (1942), a biopic of George Armstrong Custer. De Havilland was his co-star in this, the last of 12 films they made together. The movie grossed $2.55 million in the U.S. alone, making it Warner Bros.' second-biggest hit of 1942.

Flynn's first World War II film was Desperate Journey (1942), directed by Walsh, in which he played an Australian for the first time. It was another big hit.

The role of Gentleman Jim Corbett in Walsh's Gentleman Jim (1942) was one of Flynn’s favorites.[54] Warner Bros. purchased the rights to make a film of Corbett's life from his widow, Vera, specifically for their handsome, athletic and charming leading man.

The movie bears little resemblance to the boxer’s life, but the story was a crowd pleaser. Despite—or perhaps because of—its departure from reality, “Gentleman Jim” packed the theaters. According to Variety, it was the third Errol Flynn movie to gross at least $2 million for Warner Bros. in 1942.

Flynn eagerly undertook extensive boxing training for this film, working with Buster Wiles and Mushy Callahan. Callahan's remembrances were documented in Charles Higham's Errol Flynn: The Untold Story. "Errol tended to use his right fist. I had to teach him to use his left and to move very fast on his feet...Luckily he had excellent footwork, he was dodgy, he could duck faster then anybody I saw. And by the time I was through with him, he'd jab, jab, jab with his left like a veteran."

Flynn took the role seriously, and was rarely doubled during the boxing sequences. In The Two Lives of Errol Flynn by Michael Freedland, Alexis Smith told of taking the star aside: "'It's so silly, working all day and then playing all night and dissipating yourself. Don't you want to live a long life?' Errol was his usually apparently unconcerned self: 'I'm only interested in this half,' he told her. 'I don't care for the future.'"

In fact, Flynn collapsed on set on July 15, 1942, while filming a boxing scene with Ward Bond. Filming was shut down while he recovered; he returned a week later. In his autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, Flynn describes the episode as a mild heart attack.

In September 1942, Warners announced that Flynn had signed a new contract with the studio for four films a year, one of which he would also produce.

In Edge of Darkness (1943), set in Nazi-occupied Norway, Flynn played a Norwegian resistance fighter, a role originally intended for Edward G. Robinson. Director Lewis Milestone later recalled, "Flynn kept underrating himself. If you wanted to embarrass him, all you had to do was to tell him how great he was in a scene he'd just finished playing: He'd blush like a young girl and muttering 'I'm no actor' would go away somewhere and sit down."[63] With a box office gross of $2.3 million in the U.S, it was Warner Bros.' eighth biggest movie of the year.

In Warners' all-star musical comedy fund-raiser for the Stage Door Canteen, Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), Flynn sings and dances as a cockney seaman boasting to his pub mates of how he's won the war in "That's What You Jolly Well Get," the only musical number that was ever performed by Flynn on screen.

In late 1942, two 17-year-old girls, Betty Hansen and Peggy Satterlee, separately accused Flynn of statutory rape at the Bel Air home of Flynn's friend Frederick McEvoy, and on board Flynn's yacht Sirocco, respectively. The scandal received immense press attention. Many of Flynn's fans founded organizations to publicly protest the accusation. One such group, the American Boys' Club for the Defense of Errol Flynn—ABCDEF—accumulated a substantial membership that included William F. Buckley Jr.

The trial took place in late January and early February 1943. Flynn's attorney, Jerry Giesler, impugned the accusers' character and morals, and accused them of numerous indiscretions, including affairs with married men and, in Satterlee's case, an abortion (which was illegal at the time). He noted that the two girls, who said they did not know each other, filed their complaints within days of each other, although the episodes allegedly took place more than a year apart. He implied that the girls had cooperated with prosecutors in hopes of avoiding prosecution themselves. Flynn was acquitted, but the trial's widespread coverage and lurid overtones permanently damaged his carefully cultivated screen image as an idealized romantic leading player.

Northern Pursuit (1943), also with Walsh as director, was a war film set in Canada. He then made a film for his own production company, Thomson Productions, where he had a say in the choice of vehicle, director and cast, plus a portion of the profits. This picture had a modest gross of $1.5 million. Uncertain Glory (1944) was a war-time drama set in France with Flynn as a criminal who redeems himself. However, it was not a success and Thomson Productions made no more movies. In 1943, Flynn earned $175,000.

With Walsh he made Objective, Burma! in 1944, released in 1945, a war film set during the Burma Campaign. Although popular, it was withdrawn in Britain after protests that the role played by British troops was not given sufficient credit. A Western, San Antonio (1945), was also very popular, grossing $3.553 million in the U.S. and was Warner Bros.' third-biggest hit of the year.

Flynn tried comedy again with Never Say Goodbye (1946), a comedy of remarriage opposite Eleanor Parker, but it was not a success, grossing $1.77 million in the U.S. In 1946, Flynn published an adventure novel, Showdown, and earned a reported $184,000 (equivalent to $2,410,000 in 2019).

Cry Wolf (1947) was a thriller with Flynn in a seemingly more villainous role. It was a moderate success at the box office. He was in a melodrama, Escape Me Never (1947), filmed in early 1946 but not released until late 1947, which lost money. More popular was a Western with Walsh and Ann Sheridan, Silver River (1948). This was a hit, although its high cost meant it was not very profitable. Flynn drank so heavily on the set that he was effectively disabled after noon, and a disgusted Walsh terminated their business relationship.

Warners tried returning Flynn to swashbucklers and the result was Adventures of Don Juan (1948). The film was very successful in Europe, grossing $3.1 million, but less so in the U.S., with $1.9, and struggled to recoup its large budget. Still, it was Warner Bros.' 4th-biggest hit of the year. From this point on, Warner Bros. reduced the budgets of Flynn's films. In November 1947 Flynn signed a 15-year contract with Warner Bros. for $225,000 per film. His income totaled $214,000 that year, and $200,000 in 1948.

After a cameo in Warner Bros.' It's a Great Feeling (1949), Flynn was borrowed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to appear in That Forsyte Woman (1949) which made $1.855 million in the U.S. and $1.842 million abroad which was the 11th-biggest hit of the year for MGM. He went on a three-month holiday then made two medium budget Westerns for Warners, Montana (1950), which made $2.1 million and was Warner Bros.' 5th-biggest movie of the year, and Rocky Mountain (1950), which made $1.7 million in the U.S. and was Warner Bros.' 9th-biggest movie of the year. He returned to MGM for Kim (1950), one of Flynn's most popular movies from this period, grossing $5.348 million ($2.896 million in the U.S. plus $2.452 million abroad) making it MGM's 5th-biggest movie of the year and 11th biggest overall for Hollywood. It was shot partly in India. On his way home he shot some scenes for a film he produced, Hello God (1951), directed by William Marshall; it was never released. For many years this was considered a lost film, but in 2013 a copy was discovered in the basement of the surrogate court of New York City. Two of seven cans of the movie had deteriorated beyond hope, but five survived and are at the George Eastman House film archive for restoration.

Flynn wrote and co-produced his next film, the low-budget Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951), directed by Marshall and shot in France. (Flynn wrote articles, novels and scripts but never had the discipline to turn it into a full time career. Flynn wound up suing Marshall in court over both movies.

For Warners he appeared in an adventure tale set in the Philippines, Mara Maru (1952). That studio released a documentary of a 1946 voyage he had taken on his yacht, Cruise of the Zaca (1952). In August 1951 he signed a one-picture deal to make a movie for Universal, in exchange for a percentage of the profits: this was Against All Flags (1952), a popular swashbuckler. As early as 1952 he had been seriously ill with hepatitis resulting in liver damage.[80] In England, he made another swashbuckler for Warners, The Master of Ballantrae (1953). After that Warners ended their contract with him and their association that had lasted for 18 years and 35 films.

Flynn relocated his career to Europe. He made a swashbuckler in Italy, Crossed Swords (1954). This inspired him to produce a similar movie in that country, The Story of William Tell (1954), directed by Jack Cardiff with Flynn in the title role. The movie fell apart during production and ruined Flynn financially. Desperate for money, he accepted an offer from Herbert Wilcox to support Anna Neagle in a British musical, Lilacs in the Spring (1954). Also shot in Britain was The Dark Avenger (1955), for Allied Artists, in which Flynn played Edward, the Black Prince. Wilcox used him with Neagle again, in King's Rhapsody (1955), but it was not a success, ending plans for further Wilcox-Flynn collaborations. In 1956 he presented and sometimes performed in the television anthology series The Errol Flynn Theatre that was filmed in Britain.

Flynn received an offer to make his first Hollywood film in five years: Istanbul (1957), for Universal. He made a thriller shot in Cuba, The Big Boodle (1957), then had his best role in a long time in the blockbuster The Sun Also Rises (1957) for producer Darryl F. Zanuck which made $3 million in the U.S.

Flynn's performance in the latter was well received and led to a series of roles where he played drunks. Warner Bros. cast him as John Barrymore in Too Much, Too Soon (1958), and Zanuck used him again in The Roots of Heaven which made $3 million (1958). He met with Stanley Kubrick to discuss a role in Lolita, but nothing came of it.

Flynn went to Cuba in late 1958 to film the self-produced B film Cuban Rebel Girls, where he met Fidel Castro and was initially an enthusiastic supporter of the Cuban Revolution. He wrote a series of newspaper and magazine articles for the New York Journal American and other publications documenting his time in Cuba with Castro. Flynn was the only journalist who happened to be with Castro the night Batista fled the country and Castro learned of his victory in the revolution. Many of these pieces were lost until 2009, when they were rediscovered in a collection at the University of Texas at Austin's Center for American History. He narrated a short film titled Cuban Story: The Truth About Fidel Castro Revolution (1959), his last-known work as an actor.

Flynn developed a reputation for womanising, hard drinking, chain smoking and, for a time in the 1940s, narcotics abuse. He was linked romantically with Lupe Vélez, Marlene Dietrich and Dolores del Río, among many others. Carole Lombard is said to have resisted his advances, but invited him to her extravagant parties. He was a regular attendee of William Randolph Hearst's equally lavish affairs at Hearst Castle, though he was once asked to leave after becoming excessively intoxicated.

The expression "in like Flynn" is said to have been coined to refer to the supreme ease with which he reputedly seduced women, but its origin is disputed. Flynn was reportedly fond of the expression and later claimed that he wanted to call his memoir In Like Me. (The publisher insisted on a more tasteful title, My Wicked, Wicked Ways.

Flynn had various mirrors and hiding places constructed inside his mansion, including an overhead trapdoor above a guest bedroom for surreptitious viewing. Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood toured the house as a prospective buyer in the 1970s, and reported, "Errol had two-way mirrors... speaker systems in the ladies' room. Not for security. Just that he was an A-1 voyeur." In March 1955, the popular Hollywood gossip magazine Confidential ran a salacious article titled "The Greatest Show in Town... Errol Flynn and His Two-Way Mirror!" In her 1966 biography, actress Hedy Lamarr wrote, "Many of the bathrooms have peepholes or ceilings with squares of opaque glass through which you can't see out but someone can see in."

He had a Schnauzer dog, named Arno, which was specially trained to protect Flynn. They went together to premieres, parties, restaurants and clubs, until the dog's death in 1941. On 15 June 1938 Arno badly bit Bette Davis on the ankle in a scene where she struck Flynn.

Flynn was married three times: to actress Lili Damita from 1935 until 1942 (one son, Sean Flynn, 1941 – c. June 1971); to Nora Eddington from 1943 to 1949 (two daughters, Deirdre, born 1945, and Rory, born 1947); and to actress Patrice Wymore from 1950 until his death (one daughter, Arnella Roma, 1953–1998). Errol is the grandfather to actor Sean Flynn (via Rory), who starred in Zoey 101.

While Flynn acknowledged his personal attraction to Olivia de Havilland, assertions by film historians that they were romantically involved during the filming of Robin Hood[97] were denied by de Havilland. "Yes, we did fall in love and I believe that this is evident in the screen chemistry between us," she told an interviewer in 2009. "But his circumstances [Flynn's marriage to Damita] at the time prevented the relationship going further. I have not talked about it a great deal but the relationship was not consummated. Chemistry was there though. It was there."

After quitting Hollywood, Flynn lived with Wymore in Port Antonio, Jamaica in the early 1950s. He was largely responsible for developing tourism to this area and for a while owned the Titchfield Hotel which was decorated by the artist Olga Lehmann. He popularised trips down rivers on bamboo rafts.

His only son, Sean (born 31 May 1941), was an actor and war correspondent. He and his colleague Dana Stone disappeared in Cambodia in April 1970 during the Vietnam War, while both were working as freelance photojournalists for Time magazine. Neither man's body has ever been found; it is generally assumed that they were killed by Khmer Rouge guerrillas in 1970 or 1971.

After a decade-long search financed by his mother, Sean was officially declared dead in 1984. Sean's life is recounted in the book Inherited Risk: Errol and Sean Flynn in Hollywood and Vietnam.

By 1959, Flynn's financial difficulties had become so serious that he flew to Vancouver, British Columbia on 9 October to negotiate the lease of his yacht Zaca to the businessman George Caldough. As Caldough was driving Flynn and the 17-year-old actress Beverly Aadland, who had accompanied him on the trip, to the airport on 14 October for a Los Angeles-bound flight, Flynn began complaining of severe pain in his back and legs. Caldough transported him to the residence of a doctor, Grant Gould, who noted that Flynn had considerable difficulty navigating the building's stairway. Gould, assuming that the pain was due to degenerative disc disease and spinal osteoarthritis, administered 50 milligrams of demerol intravenously. As Flynn's discomfort diminished, he "reminisced at great length about his past experiences" to those present. He refused a drink when offered it.

Gould then performed a leg massage in the apartment's bedroom and advised Flynn to rest there before resuming his journey. Flynn responded that he felt "ever so much better." After 20 minutes Aadland checked on Flynn and discovered him unresponsive. Despite immediate emergency medical treatment from Gould and a swift transferral by ambulance to Vancouver General Hospital, he did not regain consciousness and was pronounced dead that evening. The coroner's report and the death certificate noted the cause of death as myocardial infarction due to coronary thrombosis and coronary atherosclerosis, with fatty degeneration of liver and portal cirrhosis of the liver significant enough to be listed as contributing factors. Flynn was survived by both his parents.

Flynn was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, a place he once remarked that he hated.

[ask-ozai]

You think the economy is gonna crash now that the war is over? I think the Fire Nation would base a lot on their economy in the war since they've waged it for so long.

I'm asking for a buddy of mine. He's a Texan cyborg.

I'm assuming Texan Cyborg is some place in the Earth Kingdom. Sounds like something they would call themselves.

It depends on what economic policies the new Economy Minister tries to replace the war industry with. All of those people will, no doubt, lose their jobs and we all know what happens next. Economic crisis and recession. Our economy has always been efficiently balanced to avoid a crisis, but when it comes to economic speculation, the value of a country's money has as much credibility as its ruler. And Zuko has as much credibility as Iroh swearing he's celibate. The upcoming collapse is inevitable.

Now, recovering from a collapse is not impossible. We have strong industries (which I developed) and if the new Economy Minister (Koph right? The dirty hooligan) has the good sense to support industries with low taxes, and banks with high interests, we will be fine in a few years. Unfortunately the last I heard from the Economy Minister is that she imported a thing called Earth Rumble from her city and is trying to establish it as our new national sport now that Zuko has banned Agni Kais (how can it be humanly possible to only have bad ideas? Blessed Agni, I know the nurses dropped him once or twice but this is too much). Thus Minister Beingfond has me, to say the least, worried.

(Is it too late to kidnap her father?)

[bookofjin]

After Fei, 383c

Previous parts:

https://bookofjin.tumblr.com/post/184898671714/after-fei-383a

https://bookofjin.tumblr.com/post/185069168099/after-fei-383b

Zhai Bin rebels

In the end it was not Murong Chui who first turned openly against Qin, but Zhai Bin, a leader among the Dingling people who held the Qin office of Assistant Officer Palace Gentleman of the Guards Army. Unfortunately, since none of the source texts are written from Zhai Bin's perspective, nothing is told of how and why Zhai Bin started his rebellion, only that he gathered a force of 4 000 and planned to attack Luoyang (JS114, JS125).

The Qin commander at Luoyang was the Shepherd of Yu province, Fu Hui, the Duke of Pingyuan, he sent the news of Zhai Bin's rebellion to his brother Fu Pi at Ye. (JS123) There also arrived a letter by relay post from Fu Jian that Murong Chui should command against Zhai Bin. (ZZTJ105)

Murong Chui given command against Zhai Bin

Shi Yue, who Fu Jian had earlier sent to strengthen the defences at Ye, protested against decision to Fu Pi. People were still disturbed after the defeat at Fei river, as a result Zhai Bin had rapidly gained the following of criminals who wished to exploit the chaos. However Murong Chui had secret hopes of restoring Yan, and relying on him to command troops was too dangerous. But Fu Pi argued that Murong Chui while at Ye was like sleeping dragon. It was safer to send him away, then he and Zhai Bin could fight each other like two tigers, and they could come after and subdue both. (ZZTJ105)

Fu Pi also talked to Murong Chui. Zhai Bin had dared to rebel because of Qin's weakness, and now his brother Fu Hui was in danger. But he had a hope that the General of the Best of the Army, Murong Chui, could do something about it. Chui replied that he was only a dog or hawk waiting for orders. So Fu Pi gave him command of 2 000 troops, and gifted him gold and silk. Chui refused the gifts, but asked for his old fields and gardens, and that Fu Pi allowed. (JS123)

Fu Pi appointed one Fu Feilong, commanding 1 000 Di cavalry, as Murong Chui's deputy. He instructed Feilong that as a royal kinsman he would actually be the one in charge. While formally Murong Chui had been put in command, he would rely on Feilong to lead the troops to victory, and to look out for any disloyalty. (ZZTJ105)

Fu Pi ordered Murong Chui's son Nong along with three of his nephews, Kai, Shao, and Zhou, to stay behind inside Ye city as hostages to Chui's good behaviour. Kai and Shao were sons of Chui's late older brother Ke, Zhou the son of one of his younger brothers. (JS123)

Murong Chui leaves Ye

Fu Pi had actually quartered Murong Chui west of Ye, rather than inside the city. As he prepared to leave, he asked for permission to enter and visit the old Yan ancestral temple, but Fu Pi refused, still wary it seems of allowing Chui inside the city. Murong Chui disguised himself and entered anyway, but then the pavilion clerk refused him entry. Chui in anger killed the clerk, and burnt down the pavilion. Then he left. (JS123)

Shi Yue talked to Fu Pi again, saying that when Murong Chui was in Yan, he brought chaos to his own state, but when he came to Qin he had to behave himself. Now that he had exposed himself as a troublemaker, they could attack him. Fu Pi replied that he was still indebted to Chui for saving his father after everyone else had run away. Shi Yue retorted that Murong Chui had not been loyal to Yan, but maybe he would be fully loyal to Qin. When Chui had fled captivity in Yan, Fu Jian had bestowed him high honours in Qin, but had never been able to ascertain his loyalty. Chui still intended to rebel, and if they did not attack him now they would suffer from it later. But Fu Pi still refused. Afterwards Shi Yue told people that Fu Jian and Fu Pi were too busy looking into small kindnesses to see the big picture, and before long they would all be captives of the Xianbei. (JS123)

Murong Chui kills Fu Feilong

Murong Chui travelled south from Ye. At Tang pond near Anyang, Min Liang and Li Man/Pi caught up with him, they had come from Ye to tell him of Fu Pi conspiring with Fu Feiling. Murong Chui complained that he was fully loyal to Qin, yet Fu Pi still plotted against him. Whatever his wishes, this was the case. (ZZTJ105) Min Liang and Li Man had earlier been sent by Fu Jian to escort Murong Chui to Ye.

Murong Chui halted in Henei with the excuse that his army was too small. After a few days recruiting, his strength had increased to 8 000. Fu Hui sent messengers from Luoyang asking Chui to hurry his advance. But Chui told Fu Feilong that if they moved at night and halted at day, they could take the enemy unaware. Feilong accepted this plan. (ZZTJ105)

At night on 5 February 384, Chui put his oldest son, Bao, in charge of the troops in front, and one of his younger sons, Long, of the troops in the rear. Then at the sound of drums, front and rear all attacked Feilong's Di troops. They killed Feilong and massacred all the Di. With that done, Chui then sent all the westerners among his staff back to his home, he also sent a letter to Fu Jian to explain his actions. (ZZTJ105)

Murong Feng defeats Mao Dang

Meanwhile, when Murong Feng, Wang Teng and Duan Yan heard that Zhai Bin had risen in rebellion, they all came to join him with their private retinues. Murong Feng was another nephew of Murong Chui, while Wang Teng and Duan Yan were sons of former Yan ministers. Fu Jian had earlier left behind the General of the Garrison Army, Mao Dang, to strengthen the defences at Luoyang, and Fu Hui now sent him out against Zhai Bin. When Murong Feng heard that Mao Dang was coming, he put on his armour and rode out accompanied by the Dingling forces. They defeated Mao Dang, and killed him, then they attacked and took Lingyun Terrace west of Luoyang where they seized more than ten thousand sets of arms and armour. (ZZTJ105)

(The location of Zhai Bin on the reference map should not be taken too literally.)

Murong Chui crosses the He

On 6 February 384, Murong Chui crossed the He, and burnt the bridge behind him. By now his forces had swelled to 30 000. He left the Xianbei leader Kezuhun Tan behind in Henei to continue recruiting, and sent Tian Shan/Sheng to Ye to secretly warn Murong Nong and the others there, and to tell them to also raise troops. (ZZTJ105)

When Tian Shan came to Ye, it was already after sunset, so only Murong Shao went out while the others remained inside the city. Shao went to Pu Pond where he stole several hundred of Fu Pi's finest horses and waited for the others. (ZZTJ105)

The next day, 7 February 384, the last day of the year, Murong Nong and his cousins put on unassuming clothes, and set out from Ye with a few horsemen. (ZZTJ105) Nong and Zhou then fled to Lieren, while Shao and Kai went to Piyang. (JS123)