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bookofjin · 6 months ago

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The Filial and Dedicated King of Donghai, Yue. Part 1 (JS059)

The Filial and Dedicated [xiaoxian] King of Donghai, Yue, courtesy name Yuanchao, was the second son of the King of Gaomi, Tai. As young he had an impressive reputation, [but] modest and unassuming in commitment to grasping cloth clothes, he became revered within and outside. At first, as Heir he became Chief Commandant of Cavalry. He, the Chief Commandant of Appended Horse, Yang Miao, and the King of Langye, Zhou's son Yao together attended discussions in the Eastern Palace. He was designated Cavalier Attendant Gentleman, and successively became General of Guards of the Left, and in addition Attendant-at-Centre. He had merit in chastising Yang Jun, and was ennobled a five thousand households Marquis. He moved to Cavalier Regular Attendant, General who Assists the State, and Archer-Servant of the Right to the Masters of Writing, acting as General who Roams and Strikes. Then he became Attendant-at-Centre and in addition Chief Commandant of Offered Chariots, and was provided with fifty mild and trustworthy people, and separately ennobled King of Donghai with revenue of six counties. Beginning of the Yongkang era [300 – 301], he became Prefect of the Central Writers, transferred to Attendant-at-Centre, and moved to Minister of Works, acting as Overseer of the Central Writers.

The King of Chengdu, Ying, attacked the King of Changsha, Ai. Ai firmly defend Luoyang. The various generals Within the Halls and the Marshals of the Three Sections were exhausted from the battles and defending. They, together with the General of Guards of the Left, Zhu Mo, covertly restrained Ai in a detached department, pressured Yue to be their leader, and put forward to Emperor Hui to remove Ai from office. The affair settled, Yue claimed illness to yield his position. The Emperor did not allow it, and he was promoted to Interim Prefect of the Masters of Writing.

Beginning of Taian [302 – 303], the Emperor went on a northern campaign against Ye, and used Yue as Great Chief Controller. The Six Armies were defeated and Yue ran to xiapi. The Chief Controller of Xu province, the King of Dongping, Mao, would not admit him, and Yue went straight back to Donghai. The King of Chengdu, Ying, since Yue and his brothers were the finest of the imperial house, sent down a large-minded order to summon him, but Yue did not respond to the instructions.

The Emperor went west to favour. He used Yue as Grand Tutor, to, in a pair with the Grand Steward, Yong, assist the court's government. He declined and did not accept. The Central Commandant of Donghai, Liu Qia, urged Yue to issue out troops to prepare against Yong. Yue used Qia as Marshal of the Left and Master of Writing Cao Fu as Army Minister. Then he raised troops and Mao became afraid. He therefore used the province to join with Yue. Yue as Minister of Works acted as Chief Controller of Xu province, and used Mao to act as Inspector of Yan province.

Yue's three brothers were all in possession of regions and trusted with campaigns and offensives, and on their own selected Inspectors, wardens, and chancellors. Many gentlemen of the court came to Yue. And yet the King of Hejian, Yong, held close the Son of Heaven and issued out decrees to dismiss Yue and others, and they were all ordered to go to their states. Yue proclaimed he was righteously offering to welcome the Great Carriage to return back again to the old capital. He led 30 000 armoured soldiers and went west to stay at Xiao county.

The Inspector of Yu province, Liu Qiao, did not accept Yue's instructions. He dispatched his son You to resist him, and Yue's army was defeated. The King of Fanyang, Xiao, dispatched Controller-Protector Tian Hui with 800 charging cavalry to welcome Yue. They encountered You at Qiao, and You's multitudes scattered. Yue advanced to station at Yangwu. East of the Mountains the troops flourished, and Within the Passes they were greatly afraid. Yong cut off and sent Zhang Fang's head to seek peace, but soon after changed plans to resist Yue. Yue led the feudal lords and Xufuli and Jucisuigui of the Xianbei and others with infantry and cavalry to welcome Emperor Hui to return back to Luoyang. A decree used Yue as Grand Tutor to Record the Masters of Writings, with Xiapi and Jiyang commanderies added to his fief.

When Emperor Huai was enthroned, he entrusted the government to Yue. The Gentleman of the Personnel Section, Zhou Mu, was the King of Qinghe, Tan's maternal uncle and the son of Yue's paternal aunt. He and his younger sister's husband Zhuge Mei together advised Yue, saying:

That the Lord Sovereign became Brother-Heir was Zhang Fang's idea. The King of Qinghe was originally Heir-Apparent, but was deposed by the crowd of criminals. At the Previous Emperor's sudden collapse, many suspected the Eastern Palace. Your Excellency, why not think of the enterprise of Yi and Huo, and so soothe the altars of soil and grain?

Their speech was not yet finished, when Yue said:

How is this proper to talk about!

Thereupon he shouted to left and right to behead them. Since Mei and Mu belonged to old families, and their crimes stopped at their persons, he following that, petitioned to remove the law of Three Kindred.

[Yi Yin and Huo Guang were ministers famous for removing unfit rulers]

The Emperor started to personally take charge of the ten thousand circumstances, and kept in his heart the numerous affairs. Yue was not pleased, and sought to set out for his fiefdom. The Emperor did not allow it. Yue thereupon set out to garrison Xuchang.

Beginning of Yongjia [in 307 AD], he went from Xuchang to lead Gou Xi and the Inspector of Ji province, Ding Shao, to chastise Ji Sang, and routed him. Yue turned back to Xu. Senior Clerk Pan Tao advised him, saying:

Yan province is Under Heaven's pivot and midpoint. Your Excellency ought to shepherd it yourself.

When he moved Gou Xi to be Inspector of Qing province, this caused a crack between him and Xi.

Soon after a decree made Yue Imperial Chancellor, to act as Shepherd if Yan province and Controller for the Six Provinces of Yan, Yu, Si, Ji, You, and Bing. Yue declined Imperial Chancellor and did not accept, and moved from Xu to Juancheng. Yue feared the King of Qinghe, Tan, in the end would become the successor. He fabricated a decree to restrain and turn him over to Jinyongcheng, and soon after murdered him.

Wang Mi entered Xu. Yue dispatched the Marshal of the Left, Wang Bin, to lead 5 000 armoured soldiers to guard the Imperial Capital. Juancheng was itself a ruin, and Yue loathed it. He changed to station at Puyang, and then again moved Xingyang.

He summoned Tian Zhen and others, six leaders. Zhen did not accept the instructions, and Yue dispatched the Army Overseer Liu Wang to chastise Zhen. Earlier, when the Duke of Dongyin, Teng, had garrisoned Ye, he had pulled along the Bing province generals Tian Zhen, Zhen's younger brother Lan, Ren Zhi, Qi Ji, Li Yun, Bo Sheng, and others, with their divisions, more than ten thousand people, to arrive at Ye. He dispatched them to go and find grain in Ji province, titling them “Beg to Live”. When Teng was defeated, Zhen and others intercepted and routed Ji Sang at Chiqiao, and Yue used Zhen as Ji commandery, and Lan as Grand Warden of Julu. Zhen sought Wei commandery but Yue did not allow it. Zhen was furious and for that reason did not arrive at the summons. When Wang had crossed the He, Zhen withdrew. Li Yun and Bo Sheng beheaded Tian Lan, and led their multitudes to surrender. Zhen, Zhi, and Ji abandoned their armies and ran to Shangdang.

Yue returned from Xingyang to Luoyang and used the Great School as his headquarters. He suspected the court officials of disloyalty to himself, and therefore falsely accused the Emperor's maternal uncle Wang Yan and others of making chaos. He dispatched Wang Jing to lead 3 000 armoured soldiers to enter the palace and restrain Yan and others. He turned them over to the Commandant of Justice and killed them.

Yue let go of Shepherd of Yan province, and acted as Minister over the Masses. Yue already had formed a grudge with Gou Xi, and also considered that off the affairs that had risen recently, many were caused by the throne-hall departments. He therefore petitioned for those among the lodged guards who held feudal rank as marquis be dismissed. At the time military officials within the throne-hall had all been ennobled as marquises, and because of that, those sent out were roughly everyone, all cried and wept, and departed. He then used the state of Donghai's General of the Upper Army, He Lun, as General of Guards of the Right, and Wang Jing as General of Guards of the Left, to lead several hundred state troops as the lodged guard.

#js059

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college-girl199328 · 2 years ago

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Princess Diana's Brother Reveals Stunning Christmas Tree at Family Home

Princess Diana's brother Charles has delighted royal fans by revealing a glimpse of the Christmas decorations at the royal's childhood home, Althorp House, with a stunning Christmas tree as the central focus in the house's enormous saloon. Charles, whose title is Earl Spencer, is perhaps best known for delivering an emotional and hard-hitting eulogy at his sister's 1997 funeral, in which he appeared to take aim at the press and the royal family for their treatment of the princess, who died in a Paris car crash weeks after her 36th birthday.

Diana and her siblings spent much of their childhoods at Althorp House, having moved in when their father assumed his earldom upon the death of their grandfather in 1975. It is where the princess is buried, on an island in the center of an oval lake on the estate.

Spencer regularly posts about Althorp on his social media channels, and on Tuesday he revealed the imposing Christmas tree, which stands in a corner of the historic house's saloon and staircase hall. Alongside the image of the large tree with red and gold decorations, the earl posted the caption: "Happy Christmas/Holidays to you!"

The trees used in the saloon each year are traditionally grown on the wider Althorp estate, which occupies some 13,000 acres of the Northamptonshire countryside. In 2021, the earl gave some insight into the trees chosen for the task of standing proudly in the grand house, posting a photo of that year's effort with the caption:

"This 23-foot tree was grown on the estate at @althorphouse specifically for this task—holding together the saloon (central hallway) in the run-up to Christmas and into the New Year." "Wishing you all a happy and healthy Christmas and a prosperous 2022." It is in the saloon that a large painting of one of the Spencer clan's most famous daughters, Diana, now hangs. The portrait was painted by Nelson Shanks in 1994 and hung at her apartment in Kensington Palace until her death, whereupon it was inherited by her sons and sent to Althorp.

Althorp is not the only royal residence to display some regal Christmas cheer. Earlier this month, Queen Camilla welcomed a group of children and their caregivers from Helen and Douglas House and Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity to a Christmas party at Clarence House.

The queen and her consort helped the children decorate a large Christmas tree in the residence's library and served up a festive feast in the dining room.

Windsor Castle to has seen a transformation, with a 20-foot-high tree erected in St. George's Hall and treasures from the royal collection brought out of the vaults to enhance the seasonal displays.

This year, King Charles III will make his first Christmas speech as monarch, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September. Elizabeth delivered a Christmas broadcast every year of her reign except one. From 1952 to 1967, the addresses were broadcast over the radio and thereafter also on television. In 1969, the monarch decided to issue a printed message instead following the recording and broadcast of a fly-on-the-wall royal documentary, which, though innocuous in content, was widely considered damaging to the overall mystique of the monarchy.

Charles' speech will be broadcast on Christmas Day at 3 p.m. U.K. time (10 a.m. EST). At which time he will be at Sandringham House in Norfolk, hosting the traditional royal family Christmas set laid by the late queen.

Newsweek approached Earl Spencer for comment.

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nancypullen · 3 years ago

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We're Home

Actually, we've been home for a couple of days- I'm just exhausted. Not even sure why I'm tired, probably from wondering if the people on our flights were super spreaders. Honestly, the airports and flights were better than I expected. The airports looked like ghost towns, security screening took mere seconds, and flying into Baltimore our flight was about half full. Coming home our flights were packed and that made me nervous. We're vaccinated and we never took our masks off in the airports or onboard - I'm not sure what else we could have done. I'd never forgive myself if we carried this awful virus to our sweet, unvaccinated grandgirl. ANYWAY... Our trip was quick but productive. We covered a lot of ground and definitely know where we would and would not like to live. I took notes because I knew that it would all become a blur..."Which town was that blue house in?" We still love Chestertown. It offers an awful lot, especially for people staring retirement in the face. The only problem with Chestertown is that the housing inventory is limited. We saw an adorable house that had been flipped - top to bottom with gorgeous HGTV worthy finishes. But they saved money by not installing central air. As a woman of a certain age, there are some things I'm not willing to compromise on and good air conditioning is one of them. The closer we looked the more it seemed that money wasn't the only reason for leaving out the HVAC update, that perhaps the electrical wasn't upgraded on the (old) home and might not support a system. Farewell, beautiful kitchen. I love the way you look but I'm not willing to sweat inside my home.

We found several neighborhoods in Easton that we liked - quiet, wooded, lovely homes, and convenient to everything from healthcare to shopping. Easton also has a charming downtown. Loads of history, sweet parks, fun shops and restaurants. We explored a bit and sat outside Storm & Daughters ice cream shop and enjoyed a cone. There's a lot to like about Easton and it's definitely at the top of our list. Bonus, Talbot County property taxes are quite reasonable. Just down the road from Easton we toured Denton. It's a small but vibrant town. They boast a cute, historic downtown, and seemed to have an involved community. We found a couple of neighborhoods that we really liked, one even had lots for sale. The downside is that even though it's just a few miles to Easton and Talbot County, Denton is in Caroline County and the property taxes are much higher. Still okay, but high enough to make me pump the brakes. We're definitely not taking Denton off the list, but we'd probably opt for less house there. I'll be honest, my favorite house was in Denton. It ticked ALL of my boxes. Roomy, updated kitchen, pantry, walk-in closets, garage. The back yard was postage stamp sized, but we're not getting any younger so it's fine. The neighborhood was delightful and convenient to so much.

I checked on the property taxes for 2020...almost four thousand. Get outta' here. I know that we're really spoiled with low property taxes here in Wilson County, and we understand that we'll pay more in Maryland...but...ugh. Right now there are people in New Hampshire saying, "Four grand?? That's a steal! Buy it!" It's all perspective and something I'll have to work on. We traveled town to town, loving some of them and putting others in our rear view as fast as possible. Centreville? Loved it, but pricey. Ridgely? NOPE. Rock Hall? Charming, loved the Harbor Woods neighborhood, but they have one mom & pop grocery store and I didn't even see a clinic anywhere. It's 30 minutes to Chestertown, some of it through a wildlife refuge where my brain was screaming "SNAKES!". Adorable, but no. I think it will be Chestertown or Easton for us. Exploring the Eastern Shore was a fabulous history lesson and I'm eager to learn more. Back in the day they were big on their monarchs. There's Queen Anne, Princess Anne, Queenstown, Caroline County, and so on. In a pretty park in downtown Centreville there's a really lovely statue of Queen Anne. Some 271 years after Queen Anne of England signed the charter that created Queen Anne County on Maryland's Eastern Shore, a statue in her honor was unveiled by her namesake, the current Princess Anne. I'll bet that was a big day in Centreville. The statue shows the queen seated, holding the charter she's just signed and a little spaniel sleeps behind her chair. I thought I'd snapped a couple of pictures, but all I can find is this really bad video.

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I was more in love with that tree than with the statue. Just across the street from that park was an Irish pub named O' Shucks. In my mind that was amusing, like saying darn it. More likely it has something to do with shucking oysters.

Beyond all the royalty and colonial settlements of the 1600 and 1700 hundreds, the Eastern Shore also has a rich history of Underground Railroad and abolitionist activity. Cambridge was the birthplace of Harriet Tubman and there's a museum and plenty of historic spots documenting her fearless work. Over in Easton they're proud of native son, Frederick Douglass. His story is fascinating, from slave to statesman. He was self-taught - a brilliant orator and writer, responsible for great social reformation, tireless in his pursuit of equality and fairness. He was a staunch supporter of women's suffrage, saying, "In this denial of the right to participate in government, not merely the degradation of woman and the perpetuation of a great injustice happens, but the maiming and repudiation of one-half of the moral and intellectual power of the government of the world." In other words, by not allowing women a vote our country was wasting half of its intellect. Here in Tennessee you'll find proudly displayed busts of KKK leaders in government buildings. Our parks are home to statues of the confederate generals who fought to keep slavery alive. Don't give me that B.S. about the Civil War being about state's rights. Ask yourself, a state's right to do what? Enslave people! It was economically beneficial for the south to enrich itself on the backs of slaves. Okay, I'm rambling- from property taxes to Civil War issues. None of which you probably care about. The very best part of the trip was, of course, quality time with the grandgirl. And oh, she is grand. We played princesses, we did a craft, we read books and made snacks. We squeezed a whole lot of fun and love into a short visit. She's smart, funny, curious, sweet, and beautiful. That's my 100% unbiased opinion. No matter which town we land in, it's closer to her and we'll get to enjoy all of the milestones that are so important. FaceTime is fine in a pinch, but nothing beats being there. Time for me to hush and get a couple of things done around here. There's laundry to fold and a dishwasher to unload. I'm currently sitting at my desk, gazing out at the gardens (the pumpkin plants were 3/4 dead when we came home and I'm not taking any heroic measures to save them) and loving what September is showing me so far. I love this month, the light hits differently and everything seems to calm down. After the busy, blazing summer months it's a welcome change. We still have some hot weather ahead, but there's a hint of change in the air.

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Also, I'd like to add that IT'S JUST 53 DAYS UNTIL HALLOWEEN!!!

I'm getting happier by the day. Join me. Stay safe, stay well, and start stashing away some candy for the kids. XOXO, Nancy

#Youtube

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kimberly-spirits13 · 5 years ago

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The Conference (Day 1, Pt 1)

Pairing: Damian Wayne x reader

Synopsis: You are the daughter of a famous politician and are attending his conference in New York. After hearing your concerns about not knowing almost anyone in the top 1% that your family was in to whom was your age, he and your mother decide that it is time to meet your father’s friend’s son, Damian Wayne. The only issue? He’s the most arrogant, rude, and maybe handsomest person that you’d ever heard of.

Notes: I’m going to do this story in parts. Does anyone know how the fan fic writers make those master lists???? Also, I just wanna say, I like to make stories and the Y/N thing smart because I hate seeing the Y/N x person where Y/N is either dumb, unambitious, or just average and doesn’t care about school or working for something. It just bothers me.

Warnings: None

“Father must I attend this conference?” You asked looking out of the window of the large black GMC that your father was driving.

“Yes, Y/N. You need to have some time off from your work. Plus, you always love these conferences every summer. What’s wrong with this one?” Your father replied looking at you some and then back on the road.

You sighed, “The issue is that I’m 16, I have goals, ambitions, and drives that I want to achieve, but I would also not mind meeting people my age with the same mind set other than Brooklyn who aren’t some 40 year -old congressmen or businessmen who I could only use later in life to climb to the top.” You tapped your fingers on the leather of the car door interior sitting yourself up more, gazing at the New York skyline coming into view.

“Y/N, sweetie that makes perfect sense. Your mother and I have talked about this, and we have decided that I should talk to one of my friends about you meeting his son who is your age.” He said, the smallest sign of delight on his face.

“And who would that be?” You asked impatiently.

“Well, my friend Bruce Wayne of course.” He answered.

“Oh wow, should’ve guessed.” You retorted sarcastically, “And which one of his children will I have the “absolute pleasure and honor” of putting up with?” You rolled your eyes mentally going over the list of reasons why this was a bad idea and why you would rather be home with your precious German Shepherd, Apollo and grey kitten, Pandora.

“Be nice Y/N.” He scolded, “And you are meeting Damian. He is a perfectly respectable young man, and I’m sure that you will find that he is not what the media would make him out to be.” “Plus, you might find that the two of you are pretty alike, no matter how shocking that might be.”

“Fine. I will try to be nice. And also, was that an insult?” You asked giving him some major side eye.

“No, you two are alike in some ways. Whether that is a good thing or not, Bruce and I have yet to know.” He informed you, turning the music back up, probably to keep you from asking anymore questions and bursting his bubble of excitement.

“Great,” You thought, “the last thing that I need is some rich boy who is apparently extremely handsome and possibly rude and obnoxious getting in my way.” You thought about what had happened the first and last time that you had dated someone, that certain boyfriend ended up cheating on you when you were in the hospital after having a serious breakdown of sorts. That is what led you to make a vow of some kind never to fall into another relationship, because for all that you knew, it would hold you back from your goals in life. Maybe it was irrational, maybe it was just you playing it safe, but for all that you knew, it was working so far, so why change the method?

The car pulled up to the Plaza Hotel, paparazzi and media everywhere taking pictures of the car when you and your father arrived. See, your father was a famous politician and radio/ tv host. All your life, he had been a well -known person, but it only really blew up when you were 12. You moved into what would be considered a massive new house, maybe an hour outside of New York and suddenly, you were put into a new school, had new fake friends, and were surrounded by the top 1% of the elite. You had made a name for yourself as well. There was something about attending the events, meeting the most important names in the world, and slowly building your own empire that was the sweetest tasting thing in existence. It was terrifying but also, the rush of excitement and new comings that you had desired was welcomed with open arms. Well, at least it was like that for a little while. Now, after 4 years, while you were grateful, sometimes it felt like the hustle and bustle of what you had been shoved into was too much.

The both of you walked into the hotel, bags in hand before retreating to the front desk to get your room keys as fast as possible. The lady at the front quickly checked the two of you in, seeing the swarm of people outside and recognizing you and your father. The two of you took the back, staff elevators to avoid any guests that could possibly be at the hotel for the conference that your father was holding this week for four nights. No one said a word in the elevator. The only noise was the faint sound of the machine operating and then the ding of the bell when you had come upon the 12th floor. You walked down the hallway behind your father who held the room key up to the scanner before another buzz and then a click could be heard as the door unlocked.

You smiled upon entering the room. The suite had two bedrooms, the master to the right and the guest to the left. In between that was a foyer and then sitting room. To the left of the sitting room was the tv area and then office. To the right, the dining room and kitchen. There were balconies scattered about the hotel suite along with grand elegant windows overlooking Central Park and the bustling street below. New York was your favorite city. You planned on getting a sky rise penthouse there one day on the Upper East Side when you had the money and were out of college. Another bonus was that one of your best friends, Brooklyn, who was the daughter of a very famous fashion designer lived in New York so you could visit her here.

“Father, who all is attending the opening dinner tonight?” You asked taking your phone out of your back pocket of your black jeans.

“The sponsors and a few honored guests of the conference.” He replied, “Then, after that, a few of them are coming back to the hotel room, if you can just stay in your room that would be great.” “Uhh let’s see, a few representatives from Facebook, Instagram, Google, and then a few congressmen are coming. Matt Michael, Tom Dunkin, Brad Thomas, are the congressmen guests of honor at dinner and then Bruce and Damian will be in attendance.”

“What time?” You asked recognizing the names, “I mean what time must we head downstairs and what time should I keep to my room?”

“We need to walk down at 6:50 because the dinner starts at 7 and then everyone is coming up at 9 since the dinner should end at 8:30.” He answered.

“Got it.” You said walking into your bedroom on the left side.

It was 4:30 know so you figured that you could unpack and then get ready for the night. You flipped the light switch on in your bedroom and opened your suitcase to reveal a nicely organized bag with everything sectioned off in different parts of the bag.

“If only it would look like this when we leave.” You chuckled to yourself unpacking your clothes and putting them into the dresser and closet.

You chose what you would be wearing to the dinner that night, it was going to have to be a lovely dark blue dress that came just above your knees with an off the shoulder cut. It had a top half that kind of looked like a piece of armor, but this time with small diamonds on it. You chose black heels to go with the dress, and small diamond earrings to top everything off. After picking the outfit, you headed to the bathroom with your makeup case, shower things, curling iron, and hair drier. You turned on your favorite music and got into the shower quickly washing your hair and shaving your legs.

After 15 minutes, you had gotten out of the shower and was in a robe that the hotel had left in the room for you in your closet. You started with your hair, and dried it. It took some time because of how long and thick it was, but after that, curling it was a breeze. You didn’t bother putting hairspray in it since you were just going to sleep in a braid that night and didn’t feel like washing the gunk out of your hair after the spray had set.

After that you took out your makeup. This was your least favorite part, however, it had to be done. You got some primer on and then put on a small bit of foundation before powdering. After that, you put on some plush and mascara and sprayed your face with setting spray. It wasn’t much, however the idea of it wasn’t at all your favorite. Once that was done, you slipped on your dress and put on some perfume and your shoes. Your phone was fully charged, and when you left the bedroom, your father was waiting so that the both of you could go to the dinner.

“So, have you met Damian before?” You asked as you and your father walked down the hall to the elevator.

“I have a few times, all when I was meeting with Bruce for a meeting or other social event.” He replied, hitting the button on the elevator to take you guys to the floor with the ballroom.

“Lovely.” You stated turning your iPhone on silence.

The both of you walked down a hallway again and rounded the corner to where to sound of people talking and moving around could be heard. You guys were perfectly on time but a few people had come in a bit early. Your father entered the room first and was approached by a few of the men in there. You stood by him, smiling and only talking when you were spoken to which was pretty often considering the name that you had already made in the political and business fields that your father was also a part of. After maybe ten minutes or so of making your way through the crowd, you noted your father’s pace quicken like he saw someone that he knew. You followed him to where a tall man with jet black hair and blue eyes standing text to who you presume to be his son, with darker skin, the same black hair, and emerald green eyes.

“He’s cute, cute but where’s the food?” You thought as you followed to them making slight eye contact with the boy. This had to be Damian and his father, Mr. Wayne. And for all you knew that this point, your father seemed pretty confident that you two would get along.

#damian wayne x reader #dc x reader #batfam x reader #robin x y/n #Damian Wayne #batboys x reader #red robin x reader #fan fic stuff #fan fic #batfam

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fuyonggu · 4 years ago

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Lu Ji’s “Discourse on the Fall of Wu (Part 1)”

Lu Ji was the grandson of Lu Xun and the son of Lu Kang; he was noted as being a literary genius, along with his younger brother Lu Yun.

以孫氏在吳，而祖父世為將相，有大勳於江表，深慨孫皓舉而棄之，乃論權所以得，皓所以亡，又欲述其祖父功業，遂作《辯亡論》二篇。其上篇曰：昔漢氏失禦，奸臣竊命，禍基京畿，毒遍宇內，皇綱弛頓，王室遂卑。於是群雄蜂駭，義兵四合。吳武烈皇帝慷慨下國，電發荊南，權略紛紜，忠勇伯世，威棱則夷羿震盪，兵交則醜虜授馘，遂掃清宗祊，蒸禋皇祖。于時雲興之將帶州，猋起之師跨邑，哮闞之群風��，熊羆之族霧��。雖兵以義動，同盟戮力，然皆苞藏禍心，阻兵怙亂，或師無謀律，喪威稔寇。忠規武節，未有如此其著者也。

Lu Ji considered how, during the reign of the Sun clan in Eastern Wu, his grandfather and father had served that state as generals and chief ministers and had performed great deeds on its behalf. He bitterly lamented his family's loss of status after Sun Hao came to power. Thus Lu Ji wrote an essay in two parts on the rise and fall of Eastern Wu, in which he extolled the deeds of Sun Quan (who had employed his grandfather Lu Xun) and castigated the errors of Sun Hao, as well as glorifying the achievements and the efforts of his father and grandfather. This essay was titled Thoughts on the Fall of Wu.

In the first part, he wrote, "Many years ago, the Han dynasty lost control of the realm, as a wicked subject (Dong Zhuo) grasped for power. The disaster reached even the capital region, the foundation of the state, while the poison spread all throughout the realm. The imperial laws were ignored with impunity, and the royal family was reduced to a pitiful state.

"Our Emperor Wulie (Sun Jian), who sympathized with the plight of the state, set out like a flash of lightning from the south of Jingzhou (at Changsha). In planning and strategy he was meticulous and thorough; in courage and loyalty he was an exemplar for the age. With a mere display of strength, the barbarians cowered in fear of him; at the first clash of arms, the despicable villains surrendered their heads. Thus he purged and swept clear the temples and shrines of the Han dynasty and offered prayers and sacrifices to the imperial ancestors.

"There were other men of fortune in those days, to be sure, who likewise called for uprisings on every side. Some of their hosts were like clouds gathered across several provinces, and others were like whirlwinds which engulfed entire cities; some conjured their swarms like billowing gales, and others came into being like so many bears and beasts. But though all these forces claimed to serve a righteous cause and swore to unite their efforts under one banner, yet there was evil within their hearts, for they sought only to take advantage of the chaos through the power of their armies. Indeed, some of these leaders had no greater design than to deepen the turmoil and seize whatever they could. Who among them was loyal or chaste, disciplined or dutiful? Not a one could measure up.

武烈既沒，長沙桓王逸才命世，弱冠秀髮，招攬遺老，與之述業。神兵東驅，奮寡犯眾，攻無堅城之將，戰無交鋒之虜。誅叛柔服，而江外底定；飭��修師，則威德翕赫。賓禮名賢，而張公為之雄；交禦豪俊，而周瑜為之傑。彼二君子皆弘敏而多奇，雅達而聰哲，故同方者以類附，等契者以氣集，江東蓋多士矣。將北伐諸華，誅鉏幹紀，旋皇輿於夷庚，反帝坐於紫闥，挾天子以令諸侯，清天步而歸舊物。戎車既次，群凶側目，大業未就，中世而殞。

"Though Emperor Wulie soon met his end, our King of Changsha (Sun Ce) proved himself to be an exceptional talent and a master of the age. His brilliance emerged even in the bloom of youth, and he beckoned forth the aged veterans of his father and set out on his enterprise with them. He charged to the east like some god of war, leading a mere handful to smash great multitudes. When he assaulted a city, no sturdy walls could stop him; when he faced a foe in the field, no fierce vanguard could withstand him. He punished the rebellious and soothed the submissive, thus the lands beyond the Yangzi became peaceful and tranquil; he observed the laws and enforced military restraint, thus he won acclaim both for his power and his virtue.

"The King was courteous and respectful to those of fine reputation and worthy conduct, and so Lord Zhang (Zhang Zhao) regarded him as a hero; he was welcoming and receptive to those of good families and great talents, and so Zhou Yu considered him to be a marvel. And were those two gentlemen not men of broad intellect and ingenious designs, refined character and profound thinking? Encouraged by their example, everyone within the same region attached themselves to the King's cause; he gained a host of accomplished servants like a gathering of the winds, for the Southland had many worthy fellows indeed.

"It was the King's desire to lead a northern campaign into the lands of the Hua (the Central Plains), to bring fire and sword to the evildoers and outlaws there. He aimed to place the imperial carriage in the hands of a loyal adherent and return the imperial throne to the Purple Palace (the Emperor's residence); with the Son of Heaven under his control, he could issue orders to the feudal lords, purify the path of Heaven, and restore things to their former state. In fact he went so far as to assemble his army and chariots and advance towards the north, and the villains were all gazing sideways towards him out of sheer terror at his approach. Yet before this grand cause could reach fruition, the King was cut down in his prime.

用集我大皇帝，以奇蹤襲逸軌，睿心因令圖，從政咨於故實，播憲稽乎遺風；而加之以篤敬，申之以節儉，疇諮俊茂，好謀善斷，��帛旅於丘園，旌命交乎塗巷。故豪彥尋聲而響臻，志士晞光而景騖，異人輻輳，猛士如林。於是張公為師傅；周瑜、陸公、魯肅、呂蒙之儔，入為腹心，出為股肱；甘甯、淩統、程普、賀齊、硃桓、硃然之徒奮其威，韓當、潘璋、黃蓋、蔣欽、周泰之屬宣其力；風雅則諸葛瑾、張承、步騭以名聲光國，政事則顧雍、潘浚、呂范、呂岱以器任幹職，奇偉則虞翻、陸績、張惇以風義舉政，奉使則趙咨、沈珩以敏達延譽，術數則吳范、趙達以禨祥協德；董襲、陳武殺身以衛主，駱統、劉基強諫以補過。謀無遺計，舉不失策。故遂割據山川，跨制荊、吳，而與天下爭衡矣。魏氏嘗藉戰勝之威，率百萬之師，浮鄧塞之舟，下漢陰之眾，羽楫萬計，龍躍順流，銳師千旅，武步原隰，謨臣盈室，武將連衡，喟然有吞江滸之志，壹宇宙之氣。而周瑜驅我偏師，黜之赤壁，喪旗亂轍，僅而獲免，收跡遠遁。漢王亦憑帝王之號，帥巴、漢之人，乘危騁變，結壘千里，志報關羽之敗，圖收湘西之地。而我陸公亦挫之西陵，覆師敗績，困而後濟，絕命永安。續以濡須之寇，臨川摧銳；蓬蘢之戰，孑輪不反。由��二邦之將，喪氣挫鋒，勢<血醜>財匱，而吳莞然坐乘其弊，故魏人請好，漢氏乞盟，遂躋天號，鼎峙而立。西界庸、益之郊，北裂淮、漢之涘，東苞百越之地，南括群蠻之表。於是講八代之禮，搜三王之樂，告類上帝，拱揖群後。武臣毅卒，循江而守；長棘勁鎩，望猋而奮。庶尹盡規于上，黎元展業於下，化協殊裔，風衍遐圻。乃俾一介行人，撫巡外域，巨象逸駿，擾於外閑，明珠瑋寶，耀於內府，珍瑰重跡而至，奇玩應響而赴；輶軒騁于南荒，沖輣息於朔野；黎庶免干戈之患，戎馬無晨服之虞，而帝業固矣。

"However, we were blessed with the presence of our Grand Emperor (Sun Quan). Through his unique talents, he picked up and followed the trail that had been lost; through his farsighted heart, he continued the lapsed mandate. He adopted wise policies to give substance to the government; he gathered sage ordinances to emulate the spirit of the ancients. And he enhanced these things through sincerity and respect and conveyed them through dutifulness and frugality. He was discerning in soliciting the advice of the wise and the talented, and he was an adept thinker and a decisive leader. He distributed silks and grains through the hills and parks, and he displayed his banners and his commands throughout the roads and streets.

"Thus the leaders and gentry of the region heard the call and came to join him, and the ambitious gentlemen of the land wept at his splendor and were glad to be his shadows. Outstanding figures surrounded him like spokes round a hub, stalwart warriors flanked him like a great forest. So it was that Lord Zhang (Zhang Zhao) became his teacher and tutor; so it was that Zhou Yu, Lord Lu (Lu Xun), Lu Su, and Lü Meng became his four champions, serving as his heart and lungs within and his arms and legs without. Such men as Gan Ning, Ling Tong, Cheng Pi, He Qi, Zhu Huan, and Zhu Ran gave him their courage; such figures as Han Dang, Pan Zhang, Huang Gai, Jiang Qin, and Zhou Tai lent him their strength. For culture and refinement, he had Zhuge Jin, Zhang Cheng, and Bu Zhi, whose reputation and influence glorified the state; for administrative skill, he had Gu Yong, Pan Jun, Lü Fan, and Lü Dai, who were credits to their ranks and masters of their roles; for scintillating talents, he had Yu Fan, Lu Xu, and Zhang Dun, whose lofty and righteous spirits uplifted the government. Zhao Zi and Chen Hang had he for envoys, and their nimble tongues and quick wit secured the state's reputation; Wu Fan and Zhao Da had he for mystics, whose divinations and omens ensured the state's blessings. Dong Xi and Chen Wu kept him from harm with vigorous efforts; Luo Tong and Liu Ji steered him from error with forceful remonstrations. In planning, nothing was overlooked or left out; in action, no aspect of strategy was forgotten. And it was for these reasons that the Grand Emperor was able to carve out and occupy the mountains and rivers of his domain, straddling and controlling the regions of Jing and Wu and contending for control of all the realm.

"The lord of Wei (Cao Cao), riding high on his string of victories, led forth an army of a million soldiers against us. He sailed a great fleet through the Deng Narrows and descended upon the south bank of the Han River with a massive host; his feathers and oars numbered in the tens of thousands as he swept down the rivers like a dragon. Fierce cavalry he had by the thousands, while his tiger infantry strode through the plains and marshes. His advisors and strategists filled entire rooms; his officers and generals rode in rows of war carts. He proclaimed his ambition to swallow up all the lands of the lakes and streams and unite the entire realm under his sole dominion. Yet Zhou Yu led forth a meager force to smite this foe at Chibi. The enemy was put to flight and thrown into total confusion; it was only by a narrow escape that he got away with his life, and he scampered far away and fled back where he came from.

"The King of Han (Liu Bei) too claimed the title of sovereign. At the head of an army of the men of Ba and Han, he courted danger and invited calamity, laying out his camps and ramparts across a distance of a thousand li. He sought to avenge the defeat of Guan Yu and reclaim the lands west of the Xiang River. But our Lord Lu (Lu Xun) gave him the same treatment, thrashing him at Xiling (Yiling); the King's army was broken and destroyed, only with great difficulty did he break free from our pursuit, and in the end he expired at Yong'an (Baidicheng).

"Though Wei sought to invade us at Ruxu, we stood firm upon the bank and crushed them; though they attacked us at Penglong, we fought them off and did not yield.

"Thus did we destroy the forces and shake the morale of these our two rivals; their blood and treasure were greatly spent, while Wu stood smug to take advantage of their weakness. So the people of Wei asked us for a peace agreement, and the leaders of Han begged us for an alliance. And by the time our lord had claimed the heavenly title, the realm had settled into a tripartite division.

"To the west we encroached upon the borders of Yong and Yi (Yizhou); to the north we occupied the lines of the rivers Huai and Han; to the east we conquered the lands of the Yue peoples; to the south we bought the Man tribes under our control. The Grand Emperor discussed the rites of the Eight Monarchs (the Five Emperors and Three Sovereigns) and sought out the music of the Three Founders (of Xia, Shang, and Zhou), and he announced his affairs to the Supreme Deity and paid his respects to the various nobles. Our martial servants and valiant soldiers stoutly guarded the Yangzi; with their long lances and strong spears, they zealously seized the spirit of the whirlwind. The subjects of the state observed full propriety above, and the common people practiced their livelihoods below; moral transformation spread to every corner, and good culture touched every place. Envoys and agents were sent out to comfort and inspect the furthest regions. Enormous elephants and incredible horses swarmed about in the outer stables; bright jewels and precious treasures glittered in the inner storehouses. Again and again, wondrous baubles were sent to us; time after time, strange trinkets arrived at our court. Carriages aplenty swiftly brought word from out of the southern wastes; convoys of carts quickly brought news from out of the northern wilds. The people were spared from the terrors of warfare, and the warhorses had no need for morning exercises. The imperial legacy was secure.

大皇既沒，幼主蒞朝，奸回肆虐。景皇聿興，虔修遺憲，政無大闕，守文之良主也。降及歸命之初，典刑未滅，故老猶存。大司馬陸公以文武熙朝，左丞相陸凱以謇諤盡規，而施績、範慎以威重顯，丁奉、鐘離斐以武毅稱，孟宗、丁固之徒為公卿，樓玄、賀邵之屬掌機事，元首雖病，股肱猶良。爰逮末葉，群公既喪，然後黔首有瓦解之患，皇家有土崩之釁，曆命應化而微，王師躡運而發，卒散于陳，眾奔於邑，城池無籓籬之固，山川無溝阜之勢，非有工輸雲梯之械，智伯灌激之害，楚子築室之圍，燕人濟西之隊，軍未浹辰而社稷夷矣。雖忠臣孤憤，烈士死節，將奚救哉！

"Once the Grand Emperor left us, the Young Lord (Sun Liang) sat the throne for a time, while miscreants flaunted their cruel and wicked power. After them came Emperor Jing (Sun Xiu), who brought the laws back into their proper form. He was devoted to and restored the old order of things, and he committed no great faults in his governance of the state. He was a good leader who maintained what was right. But next was the Marquis of Guiming (Sun Hao).

"At the beginning of the Marquis' reign, the laws and canons had not yet been dispensed with, and the veteran servants of the previous rulers were still in place. The Grand Marshal, Lord Lu (Lu Kang), did honor to the court with his civil talents and his martial prowess; the Prime Minister of the Left, Lu Kai, ensured integrity through his forthright and honest admonitions. There were Shi Ji and Fan Shen, conspicuous for their valor and gravity, and Ding Feng and Zhongli Fei, acclaimed for their might and resolve; there were people like Meng Zong and Ding Gu to act as great ministers and fellows like Lou Xuan and He Shao to handle the state's affairs. Though the head of the state was sick, still the limbs remained healthy and strong. Alas, in the end they were still only the branches and leaves of the state, and after their demise, Wu came to grief.

"It has been said that a state need not fear 'a calamity of falling tiles' (an external threat), but what it ought to fear is 'a disaster of a collapsing mound' (an internal weakness). Our people had been ready to combat any danger of 'falling tiles', but the imperial family fell prey to a 'collapsing mound'. By the time the government army (of Jin) had seized the momentum and set out to attack, the Mandate had already passed from us and the legitimacy of the ruler had diminished. Our soldiers scattered from their formations, and our people abandoned their cities; our walls and moats proved less useful than mere barricades and fences, and our mountains and rivers were no greater obstacles than little hills and ditches. No one was prepared to face 'the cloud ladders of Gong Shu' or endure 'the floodwaters of Zhi Yao'; there was never a need for the enemy to emulate the Viscount of Chu by 'building houses at the siege lines' or the generals of Yan by 'routing us west of Ji'. Our army resisted for not even a fortnight before the altars of state collapsed. And though there were some generals who were loyal to the last and planned never to yield, or others who would die rather than abandon their duty, how could this mere handful have saved the state alone?

夫曹、劉之將非一世所選，向時之師無曩日之眾，戰守之道抑有前符，險阻之利俄然未改，而成敗貿理，古今詭趣，何哉？彼此之化殊，授任之才異也。

"The generals of the armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei were not inferior to those of the recent invasion, nor was the enemy strength of former times less than in the late campaign; the methods of how to attack and how to defend had not been altered since before, and the natural defenses and terrain of our state were no less perilous to the foe. Yet we prevailed then and faltered now, which goes against reason and makes a mockery of sense. Why did it happen? Because of the difference in character between the ruler then and the one now, the distinction in talent between that granter of offices and ours."

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kshitij1997 · 5 years ago

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Hi everyone!

Hmm, so I have introduced a lot of the main characters already in my fanfic. Here’s a short summary of what defines each character, if people don’t fancy reading the whole story, or are confused by who’s what. Also added some characters not introduced yet, titbits and many future plot points.

Runeard:- Ruthless, oppressive tyrant whose destructive actions against the Northurldra are the lynchpin of the epic, and will affect Elsa, Olva(Original Character) and Anna decades down the line as they effect Agnarr and Iduna presently.

Agnarr and Iduna:- The present king and queen of Arendelle(Stand-in for Norway and Sweden). They are presently in marital and familial bliss as they have just welcomed Olva in the family, just 14 and a half months after Elsa was born. They’ll be put to the ultimate test of their lives soon enough.

Reginald and Sophia:- The present king and queen of Corona(Stand-in for Prussia) and close friends of Agnarr and Iduna. Princess Sophia hails from Austria-Hungary, from the Habsburg clan. Their union has made them the dominant power couple in Central Europe. Alas their child, princess Eva Rapunzel has been kidnapped. They have spent a massive amount of their personal wealth on finding their daughter, building the kingdom’s strength through alliances throughout Europe, but to no avail.

Princess Eva Rapunzel:- Feared dead. There have been rumours of sightings in the small islands near Northern Cyprus in the present-day Ottoman empire, however the ships sent to navigate the region seldom come back, and the Ottomans are not too keen on helping Corona, ever since relations soured between the two when the Monarchs of Serbia were brutally assassinated. There are some disputable stories that claim that she may have the ability to grant life. (May have a fascination with the human body and healing and treating people.)

Flynn:- Some very murky details on this one. An orphaned street rat who at one point supposedly ran the most profitable dodge racket criminal empire in the Rhinelands with fellow partner in crime, Markus. With Markus gone, Flynn is on the run, a warrant out against him where he has been charged with the burning of the Mansion, a very important monument to Corona.

Princess Elsa:- The heir apparent to the throne of Arendelle, and the first-born daughter of Agnarr and Iduna. Blessed with powers over Ice, she may be destined for greatness, or great pain, whatever makes the mythical hero’s sacrifice count. May have problems with self-worth, self-pity, anxiety, depression and emotional distance from her loved ones.

Princess Olva:- The second-in-line for the throne, a feisty kid with an academic bent, cares deeply for her family. May experience trauma from an accident, in order to recover from said trauma, she may take the supernatural path destined for her. Unlike Elsa, she tries to live in the real world. She may not suffer from anxiety issues, but there may be problems with rage, bitterness, pain and obsessive tendencies.

Princess Anna:- Soon to be youngest child of the Arendellian Monarchs, she is happy go lucky, loves her family and is outdoorsy. Which does not mean that she doesn’t have dark secrets of her own. She may struggle with abandonment, trying to reconnect with those she lost. She wears her heart on her sleeve. Her innocence may be endearing to some, but the same quality renders her a target for the world. Despite all that, she tries to be courageous for those she cares for the most.

Prince Hans/Janus:- The fated prince thirteenth in line for the throne, he may have an enormous responsibility entrusted upon him by his imposing mother. Is trying to find peace, may be a people pleaser but values freedom and joy over everything. May go to any length to achieve his desires. If not freedom, then power for sure. His heart may be driven towards the ocean.

The Northurldra:- The largest minority in the kingdom of Arendelle. The Northurldra and southern Arendelle have been at loggerheads since the middle ages, but in recent history, the divide has been deepened when Runeard waged war against them. With the mist splitting the north from the south, the Northurldra have fallen on desperate times and must resort to piracy and smuggling. Growing resentment against the crown of Arendelle may lead to assassination attempts or might even lead to all-out war.

Kristoff:- Not yet introduced in the story, but he is from a family of commoners with a trusty reindeer friend he calls Sven. His family cuts and sells ice for a living. After a nasty incident with some border bandits from the north, he’s left alone in the wilderness where the clan of the rock hermits find him and take him in.

Grand Pabbie:- The patriarch of the rock hermit clan, he is a being of half rock and half human flesh and blood, with vines and moss in place of hair. A supernatural being possessing great ancient powers, he is the curator and guardian of the Arendellian wilderness. Every winter, he goes deep into meditation in order to appease the gods to keep the winters forgiving. Knows past, present and future, but sternly believes in letting things take their course and not intervening with fate and destiny.

Queen Paulina Karazmov:- The sixth and present wife of the king of the Southern Isles, she is bitter about the loss of the kingdom of Poland, which was her ancestral homeland. She hopes to see Poland rise from the ashes, even if she must sacrifice her son Janus, also known as Hans by his father, the king.

King Christian the eighth of the Southern Isles (stand-in for Denmark):- The present king of the Southern Isles, the king is in his late middle age, father to thirteen children. He is confident that his large family could help gain control in Europe and wrest the supremacy from the Habsburgs. Little does he fathom or know; he might be nursing a succession crisis in his wake.

Tsar Alexander the first of Russia:- The sovereign of the Russian empire, the Tsar conquered Napoleon, but is in his twilight years. Seen as a respectable presence in Europe, he has often played the peacemaker. Alas, he is childless & on his way out and his two brothers are not very keen on succeeding him. One due to the huge responsibility, and the other due to fear, even though the fear is disguised as military discipline.

The Duke of Weselton (Stand-in for Belgium):- Considered a gangster among royals, he rules with an iron fist, forever subjugating and trying to weasel out a deal that makes him prosperous. At one point a staunch ally of Arendelle, he has had a falling out with Iduna and Agnarr over a dispute of sovereignty. Now he lies in wait, akin to a viper in the grass, whilst indulging himself with Opium and Marijuana, ready to strike and sink the treacherous kingdom of Arendelle.

The British and the French:- The two great powers who sit and watch the whole drama play out, eager to switch sides on a whim, wherever their interests were better served. Bitter rivals throughout history, they have now come to a strained, mutual understanding of peace.

What do you guys think?

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fanfic-inator795 · 5 years ago

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RotTMNT Oneshot: Lemonade, Old Photos and Family Talks

(This story is also on AO3, so leave a kudos/comment there if you can!)

Plot: “A friend?” “Well yeah! We’ve got April to vent to when we get stressed and to hang out with when we wanna have some extra fun, but think about it- Pops hasn’t had another adult to talk to in YEARS!” “Huh… I mean, it’s not a bad idea, really." “Though it should be noted that the last time he tried to socialize with someone his own age, he was nearly eaten by one of our enemies, so I don’t think we can trust him to meet someone NOT evil on his own.” “Which is why we have to help him! We know plenty of mutants now, there has to be someone who’d wanna hang out with him and NOT try to kill him afterwards.” “This family has the weirdest issues.”

The boys try to find Splinter a new friend, but they all learn that sometimes the best people you can talk are your family, even when the conversation is bittersweet.

((Another Splinter and his past-centered story! Because they're just way too easy to think of and they give me all the feels, lol. But yeah, this started out as just a sort of joke scene of Splinter trying to hang out with Todd and then emotions happened. I really hope Shen shows up in the show proper sometime, and that she and Lou were best friends and she's not just dead like every other dang version of her. But until then, enjoy my writing/headcanons! Also sorry for the bad title, I literally could not think of anything else, heh. But yeah, here we go!))

They all noticed it, eventually, after the incident in Grand Central Station and after Splinter revealed all that he could to them. Splinter - Lou Jitsu - had also begun training them properly, finally acknowledging that they were ready for the next level. (And besides, watching Lou Jitsu movies was… sort of awkward now, and probably would be for a little while.)

Getting to learn new things and become even stronger, their weapons and strategies becoming all the more effective as they were taught both as individuals and as a group - all in all, it was a great change in their routine. Even the fatigue they’d sometimes feel after more intense training or the lack of free time couldn’t completely turn them off from it. Those things didn’t matter, not when they were going to be true heroes and save the world from Draxum and the foot’s Dark Armor!

...But, with these positive changes came not so positive ones, for everything came with a price and Splinter was not the only one who’d had to explain things…

Sometimes Splinter would be up waiting for them when they got home, and would actually ask questions rather than just continuing to watch TV, even if he still sort of pretended not to be too concerned. Other times he wouldn’t even be in his chair, and was instead pacing around their home, giving the excuse that he was simply stretching his legs. And other times he wouldn’t be home at all.

Instead, he was going out and searching for more Armor pieces while the boys were either out fighting the evil mutant of the night or were getting into typical teenage shenanigans. (Because Splinter still refused to let them sacrifice the rest of the childhood for training and war. Not yet, not until there was no other choice.) By this point, he was starting to do more searching than TV watching, which was strange to say the least. He even missed a few new episodes of Scorpion Treadmill, which was COMPLETELY unheard of!

Their father was beginning to have trouble sleeping too, and while he pretended to stay asleep during it, Mikey shared that he recently caught Splinter sneaking into his room to check up on him, just as he no doubt already did that night with his other sons. The tucking-in and the quick kiss on the forehead was admittedly nice in a sort of nostalgic way, but it was the concern behind the gesture that made Mikey frown instead of smile at it.

There was no doubt about it, their usually lax, sometimes stern but still totally chill rat dad was worried about them. Worried about who they would run into while they were out and what mutant and mystic dangers they would face, now that he knew what most of them were. Worried about them coming home so badly hurt that he wouldn’t be able to help them. Worried that they wouldn’t come home at all…

While they’d never truly understand until the day they became fathers, if that day ever came, the four of them did understand Splinter’s worry on some level. It wasn’t like they weren’t scared of getting hurt or dying on a mission too, as much as they might have tried to hide it. But even so, all of that stress and worry just wasn’t good for Splinter, and game shows and old Jupiter Jim and Lou Jitsu movies just weren’t going to cut it as distractions anymore.

He needed something else to distract him, or (even better) something to help him get all his feelings out in order to deal with them and get them off his mind. He needed-

“A friend?” Leo repeated, tilting his head slightly.

“Well yeah!” Mikey nodded, “We’ve got April to vent to when we get stressed and to hang out with when we wanna have some extra fun, but think about it- Pops hasn’t had another adult to talk to in YEARS!”

“Huh… I mean, it’s not a bad idea, really,” Raph nodded as he thought about it. Everyone needed someone to talk to or laugh with when things got rough, and they couldn’t exactly take him to a therapist so, this was probably the best option.

“Though it should be noted that the last time he tried to socialize with someone his own age, he was nearly eaten by one of our enemies,” Donnie pointed out, “So I don’t think we can trust him to meet someone NOT evil on his own.”

“Which is why we have to help him!” Mikey insisted, “We know plenty of mutants now, there has to be someone who’d wanna hang out with him and NOT try to kill him afterwards.”

“This family has the weirdest issues,” Leo flatly stated, though was ignored as his brothers tried to think.

“He got along pretty well with Bullhop when he was stayin’ here,” Raph spoke up after a few moments. He may have been a little bit annoyed with the bull’s clumsiness, but was otherwise comfortable enough around him. And sure, Bullhop was younger than Splinter, but they were both still adults so that had to count for something. Though the fact that their former house guest was now a whole country away was a bit of a problem. “Maybe we could hook them both up with webcams so they can talk whenever?”

Mikey hummed. “I dunno… Sure they didn't mind each other but they didn't really talk either? I don't think they have much in common. Besides, do we really wanna bother him while he's tryin’ to put together his mutant ballet thing?” Donnie nodded at this point. Both he and Mikey understood how frustrating being interrupted while in the middle of a project could be, whether that project was artistic or scientific.

Getting an idea, Leo snapped his fingers. “I've got it! Senor Hueso! He's probably about as old as Dad, and both Hueso and Splinter are dads and are sword fighters, so that's two things in common!”

“A fair assumption to make, Leon,” Donnie replied, “Although, Hueso just barely tolerates us thanks to our frequent customer status. Do you really think he'd be able to tolerate someone like Pop?”

“...Okay yeah, good point.” Personality wise, they were both pretty different.

“WAIT!” Mikey said suddenly, nearly jumping out of his shell, “I know who we can get to hang out with Splinter, and he's the perfect, friendliest friend a rat guy could ever have!”

()()()()()()()()())()()()()

Splinter stood at the entrance of their home, blinking slowly. He certainly hadn't been expecting anyone that afternoon. April was long past needing to knock whenever she visited, and they didn't exactly get many other visitors down in the sewers - especially not ones this… smiley.

“Hello there!” The stout, furry man greeted, “You must be Splinter, right? Oh, or should I call you Splinter-San? I always try to be polite, after all.”

Splinter’s ears folded down slightly as he gave the man a flat look, but he did manage to keep his tone civil. “Just Splinter is fine, thanks.”

“Of course! And you can call me-!”

“Todd!” Suddenly all his sons were there by his side. Funny, he couldn't seem to find ANY of them just a few minutes ago when he was forced to greet their surprise ‘guest’ on his own… “Glad you could make it, buddy!” Mikey greeted, his grin matching his brothers’.

“Same here! Gosh, you would not believe how hard it is to get away from those pups, even for just an afternoon.” The man giggled, giving a wave of his hand. “Oh, but those cute little furry faces and all the smiles I get are worth the hard work!”

“Furry faces?” Splinter mumbled, completely and utterly confused.

But before he could even try to ask any questions, his oldest butted in. “Why don't you go make yourself at home in the kitchen, and Pops’ll be there in a sec, okay?” Raph told him, his welcoming smile becoming more and more sheepish by the second as his dad glared at all of them.

“It's on the second floor, right across from the arcade!” Donnie added thoughtfully, “Super easy to find, can't miss it!”

Todd chuckled again, his small basket of snacks (plus a thermos) bouncing slightly on his arm. “Sounds good to me!” He thanked the four turtles once again for their invitation and made his way past the entrance tunnel and into the main atrium of their home. And, as soon as the family of five was alone-

Splinter turned around, scowling as he crossed his arms. “Okay, why is there a gopher in our house and why am I going to be the one keeping him company?”

“He’s a woodchuck,” Mikey corrected.

“Actually, he's a capybara,” Donnie explained, “Way bigger than a woodchuck and interesting enough from South America-”

“Buuuuut more importantly,” Leo said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his purple and orange brothers, “He's someone who we think you could have a great time hanging out with! You know, chat a little, get to know each other, watch a movie together - whatever you want! Sooo, let's get to it, huh? Huh? What do you say, Dad?”

However, Splinter was just as stubborn as his sons. “I think I will pass, and since you boys invited him over, it is only fair that you four-”

“Ah, we would, totally would!” Raph interrupted suddenly, “You know, since Todd’s such a great guy to hang out with. But uh, we can't cause- cause we just got a call from April! And she said, uh, that there’s a-”

“A giant pizza pigeon!” Mikey butted in, waving his arms wildly, “Totally wrecking every pizza shop in New York!”

“And honestly, Father, what heroes would we be if we didn't go stop it immediately?” Donnie asked, throwing in a bit of dramatic flair for good measure, “So while we would LOVE to stay here and hang out with you guys, alas, we must go! Buuuut we’ll try to be home within, let's say, two hours?” As in, the perfect amount of time for a decent visit and to make a connection with a possible new friend.

“Also your favorite tea cakes are in the cupboard,” Leo added, figuring that when all else failed, bribery still had its merits, especially when it came to Splinter and his sweets, “Okay have fun we’ll be back later byeeeeee!”

With that, his boys dashed off into the sewers, not even looking back at him. Splinter sighed, grumbling under his breath. He didn't know what his sons were planning or why they needed him to be kept busy by visiting with this Todd guy, but he would reluctantly play along. ...For now.

Stepping into his kitchen, Splinter could see that the perky capybara was already making himself at home. He’d already poured two glasses of lemonade from his thermos, and had found a plate that he was currently using to set homemade, dog shaped cookies on. “Hey, you!” Todd greeted again, still grinning, "Just getting our refreshments ready!" Frankly, Splinter was starting to wonder if Todd ever stopped grinning.

“Yes, hello,” Splinter modded, sitting down, “So, uhh… You made lemonade, huh?

“Oh yes, my famous recipe!” Todd nodded. He took a moment to push a glass of it towards the rat man. “And I don’t wanna brag, but I’m pretty sure it lives up to the hype and I can promise that every glass is made with care and a smile!”

“Of course it is,” Splinter mumbled. Honestly, did this gopher-woodchuck-capybara guy step out of a fairy tale picture book or something. Still, he was never one to turn down free refreshments, so he took a sip. Almost instantly, his ears perked back up while his fur tingled slightly, like it was being warmed by sunlight while the rest of his body became cooled and refreshed by the ice cold drink. “...Huh. Not bad.”

“Thanks!” Todd grinned. He hadn’t met a single person yet - human or mutant - who hadn’t enjoyed his lemonade, but the compliments were still nice to hear. “It’s a shame the boys can’t join us, I know they like my lemonade too.”

“Mm, yes, well, you know how teens are. Going off and doing… whatever it is that teens do.” And apparently that included keeping secrets and being sneaky with their father. Yes, he was definitely giving them a talking to when they got home from their ‘pigeon battle’.

Todd however was still blissfully unaware of Splinter’s annoyance - or if he was aware, he just ignored it. “They really are great kids! I’m sure you know all about the work they did for me down at my puppy shelter.” He paused, noticing the curious look on the old rat’s face. “Well, my place was kinda small for all the pups I had, and they needed my RV, so they offered to make me a whole puppy paradise!”

“Huh, you don’t say…”

“Oh yeah! Lots of play equipment and robots to help with cleanup and baths, and all sorts of neat things! Donnie stops by every once in a while to give everything a bit of a tune up and makes sure it’s all running right, and the other three are more than happy to help with training and keepin’ the pups happy. Ugh, I really do mean it when I say that you’ve raised four wonderful sons, Splinter.”

“...” Hearing these words, Splinter found himself giving a small proud smile, despite it all. He chuckled, shaking his head. “They are nothing but trouble sometimes… But yes, they can also be pretty wonderful to have around. I… honestly do not know what my life would be without them.” Averting his gaze, he took another quick sip of his lemonade and cleared his throat. “And, uh… Do you have any family?”

“Weeeell, I DO have plenty of adorable little puppies that I’m pretty close to!” Very excited now, Todd pulled out his phone, and opened up to his photos. Two hundred and seventy one photos, to be exact, and every single one of them starring one or many of the adoptees at Cuddle Cakes Rescue. After the ninth candid puppy shot though, Splinter stopped him. “Why don’t we continue this in the TV room? Much more comfortable!” Besides, Scorpion Treadmill would be starting soon, and there was nothing wrong with a little gameshow watching during conversation lulls, right?

“Oh! Of course!” Needing both his hands, Todd quickly pocketed his phone and grabbed both the snacks and their drinks. “Lead the way, friend!”

“Yes, friend, right. Come, it’s just this way-”

“Oh, hey, I was meaning to ask you what you do! Or, I guess what you did. Mikey said you were retired?”

“In a way, yes,” Splinter nodded, his tail moving to hold the dividing curtain open for Todd as they moved into the TV room, “And, technically, I am the boys’ sensei as well as their father. But before that…” He hesitated for just a moment, years of paranoia still having a bit of a kick in him before he was able to shrug it off. Draxum and his sons all already knew, not much of a point in hiding it from anyone else. “Before that, I was in the action film business.”

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

When the turtles arrived home two hours later, they could hear a pair of voices within their home, rather than just a Japanese announcer’s booming exclamations or the cheers of a live television audience. That was DEFINITELY a good sign. Raph quickly shushed them, and one by one they snuck up to the TV room…

“-So I just put a few drops on each of them and you know what, it worked like a charm! No more chewing on wires!”

“You know, I had the same problem with Red when he was a toddler, although I could not exactly get vinegar, so I just used a bit of sewer scum. It stunk up the place like crazy, but it kept him from electrocuting himself, so I lived with it - and for the next few months, I did not have much else to worry about. Nonono, the REAL trouble started when they started learning how to walk on two legs!”

They heard Todd giggle. “Oh, I could just imagine all the mischief those little rascals got into! Just the other day I took Kimi’s pups outside for the first time, and the first thing those little dachshunds tried to do was dig a hole under our fence!” The capybara laughed again, easily shrugging the whole thing off like he did most things.. “‘Course, their puppy paws weren’t strong enough to do any real damage, but I’m definitely gonna have to keep an eye on them- Whoa! ”

Even more curious now, the four turtles opened the curtains slightly, just enough to see the tail end of a classic Lou Jitsu scene - a spinning split kick, followed by a quick cartwheel towards the final boss of the film’s climax and a sucker punch right in the gut. “Gosh, I may not be much of an action movie fan myself, but THAT was amazing!”

Splinter smirked, allowing himself to be just a little proud of the old stunt. “Yes, and would you believe I did it all in one take?”

“Oh I believe it!” Though that didn’t stop Splinter from diving into the story of how he spent a whole week perfecting that bit of choreography himself, not that Todd really minded judging by the smile on his face. ...Alright, to be fair, he always had a smile, but still!

“I can’t believe it,” Donnie whispered, “They’re actually getting along!”

“I know, right?” Leo nodded, pleased but just as surprised, “I thought for sure Dad would’ve kicked him out before we got home.”

“See!” Mikey beamed, crossing his arms in victory, “I TOLD you guys Todd was the perfect friend for him.”

“I’m just glad they’re talking at all,” Raph mumbled, knowing that just like how he sometimes stumbled over his speeches or explanations, his dad wasn’t always the best with words either. But hey, sometimes you just need the right person to listen.

Satisfied, the four of them quietly busied themselves, killing time until Todd finally announced that he would have to leave, not wanting to leave his pups alone for too long even with all the robot assistants keeping an eye on them. “But I had a great time!” he insisted, “And it was just so great getting to spend some time with you, Splinter! After hearing about you from the boys, it was nice to finally meet you in person.”

Splinter paused for a moment before replying honestly, “I enjoyed your company as well, Todd.” (Out of the corner of his eye, he could’ve sworn he saw a couple of his sons fist pump.) “Have a safe trip back home.”

“Will do!” Todd then said a quick goodbye to the boys, with Donnie promising to stop by with another set of puppycare-tech upgrades soon and Leo getting an update on Matilda’s soon- to-be-born litter, wanting to be there the moment they were born so he could christen them all with only the coolest puppy names. And, once Todd was on his way through the sewers and out of sight, all eyes were on Splinter.

Splinter looked back at them with squinted, unimpressed eyes. “...So, how was the fight with the giant pizza pigeon?” he asked coolly.

“The what? OH! Yeah! That! Uh, we totally kicked its butt, naturally,” Raph nodded, “But uh, hey, you fight giant bird mutant, you’ve fought them all.”

“Heh, yeah, like, it was so boring I barely even remember the fight!” Leo added, with Mikey backing him up with a nod, “Mmhm, yep, tooootally gone from my mind!”

“I see,” Splinter nodded. It took all his strength for him not to roll his eyes at them.

“Sooo, since we’ve got nothing interesting to share,” Donnie begun casually, trying not to sound too interested, “How was your afternoon with Todd, Pop?”

The rat hummed, making them wait for an answer for a few seconds before telling finally them, “It was nice enough. He was a good listener, and not too annoying I suppose. Makes good snacks too. So, a pretty good time.”

His sons grinned at each other, silently enjoying their successful mission. “That’s great to hear, Dad! So, you want me to text him and tell him that you want to get together next week?” Mikey asked, already getting his phone out.

Splinter suddenly gave a sharp laugh. “Oh goodness no!” Seeing their faces fall, he added, “Todd was nice enough, yes, but I don’t think I could hang out with someone like that ALL the time! Wayyy too friendly and cheery. Hmph, I would probably get a cavity from all that sweetness… But perhaps in a few months we can get together again. Now, if you four will excuse me, I am way overdue for my nap.” With that, he easily moved past them and headed downstairs to his room. He easily heard the groans behind him once he was out of the room, along with a few stray bits of conversation-

“Ughhh, I thought for sure they’d be BFFs!”

“I guess it’s onto Plan B, then. ...You get it? ‘B’ for ‘Bone man’?”

"We get it, Leon…”

“Man, there’s gotta be a friend for Splinter somewhere in this city…”

Ah, so that was it, then. “My sons,” Splinter sighed. Good hearts with good intentions… but still not the brightest of the bunch. He appreciated their efforts but, as pleasant as his visit with Todd had been, it had also felt a little bittersweet.

It was not their fault, of course. They couldn’t have known… But some things - some people - just couldn’t be replaced, even with happy and friendly capybara men…

The four of them ended up waiting a few hours before making their way to their father’s room, a new plan in mind with the hopes that this one would fare better than the last. “You sure we shouldn’t wait longer?” Leo asked, “I mean, he might be annoyed that we’re trying to set up on another stranger hang out sesh so soon, and you know he’s not afraid to be petty and stubborn when he’s really annoyed.”

“Buuut, he could also be half asleep,” Donnie pointed out, “And therefore MUCH easier to convince to leave the lair.”

“Plus, Splinter never says no to free food!” Mikey added.

Taking the lead, Raph knocked gently on the frail wooden divider in front of his father’s room before opening it. “Hey Pop, you awake-?”

As it turned out, Splinter wasn’t in bed. In fact, it looked like he hadn’t even made it to his bed, and was instead over at small chest that he’d usually had his tv sitting on. But now the chest was open, with most of its secret contents having been set on the floor next to him. A pair of old, cracked yellow sunglasses (which the boys immediately recognized), some letters and yellow envelopes, a few postcards and- ...something else in their dad’s paw that they couldn’t quite see. “...Dad?” Raph spoke up again, a bit louder this time.

Splinter flinched slightly, his tail moving to try and hide the stuff on the floor. The turtles were a bit confused at that. They already knew that Splinter and Lou Jitsu were one and the same, so why would their dad try to hide it? “Ah, boys, I uh, I-I was just, ah, doing some cleaning up before heading to bed. Just got a little distracted, is all. It is nothing-”

Of course, that wasn’t nearly enough to deter his sons’ natural curiosity, and within a few seconds, they were all kneeling on the floor next to him. “How come you’re looking at some of your old Lou Jitsu stuff?” Leo asked, just a bit of concern slipping into his voice. Raph was looking at him with the same concern while Donnie, ever the observer and note taker, was already looking through the envelopes to try and see what he could learn.

“I- W-Well-”

Suddenly, he felt his youngest at his side, managing to catch a quick look at the picture in his paws. “Wait, is that-?” Mikey started to say.

“It is noth-!” “Tang Shen?” Raph asked, his height allowing him to look right over his rat dad’s shoulders even as he tried and failed to hide the photo. His brothers quickly joined him, leaning in to get a better look at the picture as they crowded around their father.

Sure enough, the woman in the picture - with the stylish 80’s outfit and the short black hair, smiling next to the younger, human version of their dad - was the same actress they easily recognized from ‘Jitsu For Justice’. In fact, Tang Shen had been in quite a few of Lou’s movies… And in that moment, they realized that all of these certain films were ones that Splinter didn’t rewatch nearly as much as all his others, usually only putting them on for their sake, whether it was for their entertainment or their training...

Splinter sighed, suddenly feeling very tired, and perhaps a little guilty. But, there was no denying it now. “Yes… That is me and Tang Shen.”

“I… didn’t realize you two were friends,” Donnie said slowly, “I mean- I just figured you guys were just co-actors.” After all, pretty ladies in Lou Jitsu movies were common, so what would be specific about this one?

The rat man gave a short, humorless laugh. “We started out that way, yes… She was just starting out, and like most women in films those days, the only role she could really get was being a damsel that needed help escaping some villain. I thought she was a decent enough actress while the cameras were rolling, though had a bit of an attitude when they weren’t.” Splinter chuckled again, though this time he actually smiled as he did.

“We got into an argument about something, I don’t even remember, and she ended up challenging me to a spar. I decided to take it easy on her, and for it, she ended up kicking my butt pretty good. She had just as much skill as any other martial artist in Hollywood, and she certainly made sure I knew it.” His smile softened slightly. “And after that… We just became friends.”

Glancing back down to his small piles of personal memories and memorabilia, he picked up another envelope. This one had folded up magazine article in it, an interview the two had done together for one of their films. It was typed out in Japanese, so its content was completely lost on his sons, but the snappy and sarcastic answers Shen had given their interviewer to questions like “Would you consider yourself a Lady Lou Jitsu?” or “How do you keep your outfits and hair camera ready while doing your stunts?” still made him grin every time he read them.

“Shen had good audience appeal, so our managers wanted us to work on a few more movies together,” Splinter continued.

“Oh! Like that one where Shen was an undercover bartender?” Mikey asked, “‘Late Night in the Street Lights’?”

“Oh yeah!” Leo grinned, “And then you guys work together to take out not one but two crimelords in the city, and then go out on date afterwards?”

“Mmhm, that one was definitely a fan favorite,” Splinter nodded, “We agreed to work together, but we both gave the producers one condition: Shen and I would only do a film together if she was my co-star in it, not a damsel. I may have still gotten top billing, but she got to be involved in the action scenes instead of just being tied to a chair or death trap or whatever. And as it turned out, she would never again be a damsel, because once her contract expired, she went to work on getting her own movies off the ground. I was able to give her a bit of help, using connections and all that, but it was her skills and talent that got her the jobs. She was very good at what she did, just as good as anyone else… And a pretty great person too.”

“...What was Shen like?” Raph asked as he placed a comforting hand on his father’s arm, his tone curious but cautious, “Outside of her movies, I mean.”

Splinter hummed again, his eyes becoming a bit distant. It had been years, but he hadn’t forgotten a single thing about her. He refused to forget. “...Well, she was just as fiery as the characters she played, never let anyone try to talk over her or treat her like a second-rate actress. Strong willed, tough with a sharp tongue for those who dared to give her a hard time… But she was also gentle, when she liked you.” He shut his eyes, just for a moment as he tried not to get overwhelmed or too emotional.

“She… She looked out for me during rough times, just as I looked out for her. She could be fun, and very kind, knowing just what to say or do even when I felt completely clueless. We would spar and go out to clubs and parties, get ourselves in and out of trouble-” Though, he could secretly admit that he was usually the one foolishly getting them in trouble, and would always be thankful that Shen didn’t just get frustrated and leave him to fend for himself during those times (even if she still chewed him out afterwards). “And other times, we would just find somewhere quiet and talk. Catch up with each other or, or vent to each other, or just try to make each other laugh. Even when we were filming different projects in different countries, we still tried to call and write as often as we could. We… We were very close.”

Taking a chance, Mikey decided to ask the question he was sure his brothers were all thinking. “Did you, you know… like her?”

Thankfully, this inquiry didn’t offend, nor did it open up old wounds. Splinter just gave them all a flat look and asked, “Have any of you ever liked April?”

And just like that, they suddenly knew the exact sort of relationship Lou had had with Tang Shen. Something deeper than just friendship or even a romantic Hollywood fling, something on the level of family. For their dad, Shen hadn’t been a co-actor or friend, she had been his person. She had been his April, and it was no wonder he missed her so much…

“Did she move to New York too? I mean, did you guys ever team up in the Battle Nexus or-” Donnie asked, but Splinter shook his head.

“No no, she was in Hong Kong during that time working on some sequel, though I still tried to keep in contact, up until…” He trailed off, guilt once again settling in his gut as his boys stared at him. “No, the… the last time I saw her was…”

The last time he saw her, it hadn’t even been in person. It had been on a small, crappy black-and-white TV that he had swiped from the dump, just barely working enough for him to see her tear-stained face, as the news reported on his funeral, an event planned after weeks of searching for him and the police only finding a jumpsuit that Splinter himself had burned and planted in an alley dumpster.

Suddenly, Splinter stood up, not caring if he accidentally bumped into his sons or if his tail knocked over the small stacks of paper. “I, I need to go- T-To go do a thing. In another room. Right now.”

“Huh? Wait, but Dad!” Raph shouted, as he and the others started to stand up, ready to follow him if they needed to.

Splinter ignored them, just as he ignored the burning in his eyes. “I am fine,” he insisted.

“But Pop-!” “Wait, just-”

“I am busy-”

“You’re not- just hold a sec!” “Dad!”

“I have to go, I am fine-! ”

“Master Splinter!”

Splinter finally stopped at that. ...To be fair, when all four of your children shout your formal title at you - something they used as often as he used their full names - it was sort of hard not to stop… Still, he refused to turn around, just as he had refused a lot of things up to this point in his thirteen years as a father. Refused to let them know the truth. Refused to let them know all that he had gone through.

Refused to let them feel guilt, just for being born.

Unfortunately, as much as he hated them, Splinter couldn’t exactly deny his feelings of loss and occasional longing. After all, it was still very possible for someone - even someone who loved their new life and wouldn’t change a thing about it - to still miss their old life occasionally. Old hobbies, old experiences, old friends...

But that was not the fault of his children, and he absolutely refused to let them carry that blame! The loss of his old life was HIS burden to bare, not theirs! He would not let them think that he regretted his choices - that he regrets his family - just because he was feeling a little nostalgic or lonely. He couldn’t do that, and he wouldn’t, promising himself over and over that he wouldn’t.

...And yet, as a three-finger hand took him by the shoulder and slowly turned him back around, Splinter didn’t see looks of guilt or self resentment or even of pity. He just saw his four sons, looking at him with love and concern and just a tiny bit of relief.

“Dad, it’s okay, really…” Leo started out, “It’s… You guys were best friends so, it makes sense you’d miss her if she was really such a cool and great person. It makes sense that you’d miss being Lou Jitsu too, but we aren’t gonna get mad at you for that. We know that doesn’t mean you don’t still love us or whatever.”

“Yeah, though... we’re sorry that you can’t still be friends with her,” Raph continued, frowning for a moment before offering his father another smile, “But, we’re glad you told us about her. We just… We know you want us to be okay, but we want YOU to be okay too.”

“Yeah!” Mikey nodded, “We don’t want you to feel stressed out and alone all the time, and holdin’ in your feelings isn’t exactly good either, Pop. But hey, if you wanna talk to us about the stuff you miss or the stuff you’re worried about, we’ll listen! Just like how you listen to us when we’re dealin’ with stuff!”

“That is how a family works, after all,” Donnie finished with a small smirk.

Splinter stared at them all, almost in disbelief, before giving a teary smile. “My sons…” Their own smiles never faltering, the turtles quickly pulled him into a tight group hug, with Splinter allowing just a couple of tears to finally fall as he held his boys close. Todd’s words echoed in the back of his mind, and once again agreed with him: He really did have wonderful sons.

After a couple minutes, the five of them separated somewhat, though still stayed close. “You know, maybe you could look her up sometime,” Leo suggested, “Reconnect and all that? Old people do that, right?”

Splinter slightly swatted his shoulder at the old comment, but otherwise considered it. “Heh… Do you think she would really be alright with… This whole situation?” he asked, gesturing to himself.

“Eh, if she’s still anything like how you described her, I think she would be cool with it,” Donnie shrugged, his brothers agreeing.

The rat chuckled, thinking about it. Knowing Shen, she’d probably give him a hard smack, followed by one of the tightest hugs he’d probably ever receive. She’d listen to his tale, and scold him for not letting her help him even while understanding why he didn’t, and they would talk and catch up and he would introduce her to his sons. Maybe not the family she would be expecting, but he knew deep down that she would love them nonetheless. And, with a bit of luck, it would be just like old times…

“Perhaps, one day,” he said finally. There was still the Armor and Draxum to take care of, after all. But, if they survived all of that, then truly anything was possible. But, until then- “I will be fine,” Splinter gently insisted, giving his sons a genuine smile, “As long as I have my family with me, I will be fine.”

“And so will we,” Raph agreed, his younger brothers strongly and happily agreeing to that.

They helped their father pack his memories back into his chest, his small TV returning to its place on top of it, and then led him out of the room. Raph was suggesting they call in for pizza while Mikey suddenly remembered he had a dessert idea he wanted them all to try. Leo and Donnie began arguing over whether to watch that night’s sitcom line-up or pop in another movie. Not that it mattered, since Splinter would most likely take control of the remote, but he let them have their little debate anyway as a content smile remained on his furry face.

He would have many more stories to tell them, if they were ever interested. Stories about Shen and his manager, of other friends - actors and yokai - he knew during his time. Stories that were funny and exciting, and others that were bittersweet but still nice to share and to listen to. Stories that were sadder, perhaps even a bit tragic, but still an undeniable part of his life. If they wanted him to, he would share them all. He had promised them no more secrets, and they had promised him just as much support as he gave them.

But, until those moments came, he wouldn’t dwell on them - just as he wouldn’t dwell on possibly seeing Shen again, no matter how much he might have wished for it. After all, with his boys and their shenanigans, and with a warm and happy home and good food and a comfy chair to sit and watch great TV and classic movies in, Splinter decided that he was still much better off living in the present, no matter how appealing the past occasionally might have been.

His new life was as perfect as it could be, save for centuries old demons and warring warrior scientists, and he wouldn’t dare trade it - wouldn’t trade them - for all the second chances in the world.

THE END

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #splinter tmnt #lou jitsu #my writing #oneshot #fanfiction

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bookofjin · 5 years ago

Text

Annals of Gaozu of Chen, early career (- 550)

[From Chenshu 01]

The Exalted Ancestor [gaozu], the Martial [wu] August Emperor, taboo Baxian, courtesy name Xingguo, child name Fasheng, was native of Xiaruo Village in Changcheng in Wuxing, he was a descendant of Han's Chief of Taiqiu, Chen Shi. His family for generations lived in Yingchuan. Shi's great-great-grandson, Zhun, was Jin's Grand Commandant. Zhun begot Kuang. Kuang begot Da. During the Yongjia era [307 – 313], he moved south and was on the staff of the Imperial Chancellor. He was successively Forerunner to the Heir-Apparent, and set out to be Prefect of Changcheng. He was pleased with its mountains and rivers, and thereupon had his family there. He once spoke to his relatives, saying:

This land's mountains and streams are flowering and elegant, and will foster a king in two hundred years. My sons and grandsons will surely collect this fortune.

Da begot Kang, who then was on the staff of the Imperial Chancellor. In the middle of Xianhe [326 – 334] there was a land determination and for that reason he became a native of Changcheng. Kang begot the Grand Warden of Xuchi, Ying. Ying begot the Gentleman of the Masters of Writing, Gongbi. Gongbi begot the Colonel of Infantry, Ding. Ding begot the Cavalier Attendant Gentleman Gao. Gao begot the Prefect of Ande, Yong. Yong begot the Grand Warden of Ancheng, Meng. Meng begot the Grand Ordinary Minister, Daoju. Daoju begot the Late August Wenzan.

Gaozu was born in Liang's 2nd Year of Tianjian [503 AD], a guiwei year. As young he was special and exceptional, and had great aspirations, and did not arrange for a livelihood. When he had grown up, he read military books, and had much martial skill. His clarity and intelligence was indeed set apart, and he was pushed forward and deferred to by the times. He was 7 chi, 5 cun tall, his “sun-corner” had a dragon appearance, and his hands hung down beyond the knees.

He once roamed Yixing, and ledged with the Xu clan. At night he dreamt that the sky opened up several paces, and there were four persons in cinnabar clothes who held up the sun and arrived. They ordered Gaozu to open his mouth and take it. When he woke up, it was like inside his stomach was burning, Gaozu in his heart shouldered it alone.

At the beginning of Datong [535 – 546], the Marquis of Xinyu, Xiao Ying, was Grand Warden of Wuxing, he considerably esteemed Gaozu. Once when eyeing Gaozu, he spoke to his companions and assistants, saying:

This person is just about [to have] far-reaching greatness.

When Ying became Inspector of Guang province, Gaozu became Army Advisor of Central Upright Troops, accompanying the head-quarter's garrison. Ying ordered Gaozu to recruit and assemble soldiers and horses, the multitude reached a thousand people. He continued to instruct Gaozu to oversee Songlong commandery.

His section's An and Hua counties [Chonghua and Nan'an?] originally did not submit, Gaozu chastised and pacified them. Soon after he oversaw the Controller-Protector of Xijiang and Warden of Gaoyao commandery.

Before this, the Marquis of Wulin, Xiao Zi, was Inspector of Jiao province. He lost the multitudes' heart due to collecting [taxes] cruelly. Li Ben, a native of the land, connected and joined with the outstanding and prominent of several provinces to rebel at the same time. The palace dispatched the Inspector of Gao province, Sun Jiong, and the Inspector of Xin province, Lu Zixiong, to bring along troops and strike them. Jiong and others did not advance in time, and both submitted to execution in Guang province. Zixiong's younger brother Zilüe, Jiong's sons and nephews, and their Masters of the Host, Du Tianhe, and Du Sengming together raised troops, apprehended the Controller-Protector of Nanjiang, Shen Yi, and advanced to rob Guang province. Day and night there were incessant attacks, and within they shook in fear.

Gaozu led 3 000 of the finest soldiers, rolled up the armour and made combined marches so as to save them, in frequent battles he won again and again. Tianhe was hit by a stray arrow and died. The thieves' multitudes were greatly scattered, and Sengming thereupon surrendered. Emperor Wu of Liang deeply commended and marvelled at him, conferred on him General of the Upright Passageway, with ennoblement as Count of Xin'an and an estate of 300 households, and at the same time dispatched painters to make a picture of Gaozu's appearance to observe him.

That Year [544 AD], Winter, Xiao Ying passed on. Next Year [545 AD], Gaozu sent off the coffin to return to the capital. When he arrived at Dayu High Pass, there happened to be a decree for Gaozu to be Marshal of Jiao province, nominally Grand Warden of Wuping. He and the Inspector, Yang Piao, went south to chastise. Gaozu increasingly brought forward the brave and daring, his instruments and weapons were the finest and sharpest. Piao delightfully said:

Among those able to vanquish the thieves, certainly is Minister of the Martial Chen.

He entrusted him accordingly with organizing and strategizing. Gaozu and the multitude armies issued out from Panyu. At that time Xiao Bo was Inspector of Ding province, and they met each other on the Xijiang. Bo understood the army soldiers dreaded far-away service, and secretly offered rewarded and enticed them, and following that deceptively persuaded Piao. Piao assembled the various generals to ask about plans. Gaozu replied, saying:

Jiaozhi's rebels spread out, crime followed for the Lineage House. Thereupon they caused usurpation and chaos in several provinces, spreading out for successive years and harvests. Ding province then wishes to dim the gain in seeing forward, and does not look at the great plan. The tally sent down present [us] with utterances to swing at the criminals, for that reason [I] will live or die for it. How can [you] hold in awe and quail at the Lineage House, and make light of the state's laws? Now suppose the robbers dispirit the multitudes, how are [we] certain Jiao province will chastise the thieves. [If] asking about the criminals' host, then turn around and point at them.

With that they directed the troops to beat the drums and march, and then advanced.

11th Year, 6th Month [25 June – 24 July 545], the army arrived in Jiao province. Ben's multitudes, several ten thousand, was at the mouth of the Suli Jiang, to erect city palisades so as to resist the official army. Piao pushed forward Gaozu as the vanguard, wherever he turned he toppled and captured. Ben fled to Dianche Lake. In the region of the Qu Liao he erected a stockade, greatly constructed ships and warships, filling up and blocking the middle of the lake. The multitude armies dreaded them, they paused at the mouth of the lake and did not dare to advance. Gaozu spoke to the various generals, saying:

Our host is already worn, the generals and soldiers are weary with struggle. To grasp each other for successive years [I] fear is not a good plan. Moreover an isolated army without assistance enters into peoples hearts and bellies. Suppose there is a single battle we do not win, how do we expect to keep our lives intact? Now to depend on them fleeing again and again, peoples' feelings are not yet firm. The Yi and Liao are a flock of crows, and are easy to destroy and exterminate. It is correct to attend to together to set out for a hundred deaths, to determine strength and catch them. We have no reasons to stop and halt, the affairs of the times will go away.

The various generals were all silent, and did not have a response. That night the waters of the Jiang rose 7 zhang, gathered in the middle of the lake, running and flowing in a quick burst. Gaozu directed his section troops, and exploited the flow to advance first. The multitude armies beat the drums and made a clamour, and moved forward together. The thieves' multitudes were greatly scattered.

Ben ran away to enter within the grottos of the Qu Liao. The Qu Liao beheaded Ben, and transmitted his head to the Imperial City. This year was the 1st Year of Taiqing [547 AD]. Ben's older brother Tianbao escaped to enter Jiuzhen. He and the brigand leader Li Shaolong gathered the remaining troops, 20 000, killed the Inspector of De province, Chen Wenjie, and advanced to besiege Ai province. Gaozu carried on leading the multitudes to chastise and pacify them. He was appointed General who Raises the Distant, Controller-Protector of Xijiang, Grand Warden of Gaoyao, and Controller of All Army Affairs of Seven Commanderies.

2nd Year [548 AD], Winter, Hou Jing robbed the Imperial City. Gaozu wanted to led troops to go and assist. The Inspector of Guang province, Yuan Jingzhong secretly had different aspirations, and wanted to plot against Gaozu. Gaozu perceived his plan. He and the Inspector of Cheng province, Wang Huaiming, the Selection Gentleman of the Acting Tribunal, Yin Waichen, and others covertly discussed taking precautions and making preparations.

3rd Year, 7th Month [9 August – 7 September 549], he assembled righteous troops in the Southern Seas, and swiftly called arms to chastise Jingzhong. Jingzhong was desperate and under pressure, and hanged [himself] beneath the balcony. Gaozu welcomed Xiao Bo to garrison Guang provnice.

At that time, the Interior Clerk of Linhe, Ouyang Wei oversaw Heng province. Lan Yu and Lan Jingli incited and persuaded Shixing etc., 10 commanderies. Together they raised up troops to attack Wei. Wei requested aid from Bo. Bo ordered Gaozu to lead the multitudes to rescue him. He thoroughly seized Yu and others, and continued to oversee Shixing commandery.

11th Month [5 December – 3 January 550], Gaozu dispatched Du Sengming and Hu Ying to bring along 2 000 people to pause above the high passes. He also substantially connected with the outstanding and prominent of Shixing to together plan to righteously raise up. Hou Andu, Zhang Rensi, and others led more than 1 000 people to come and adhere. Xiao Bo heard about it, and dispatched Zhong Xiuyue to talk to Gaozu, saying:

Hou Jing is gallant and valiant, Under Heaven none are his equal. Those in front assisted an army of 100 000, the soldiers and horses are the very best and vigorous. But yet they did not dare to be the spear-point, and thereupon ordered the Jie thieves to obtain their aspirations. You Lord, with a multitude of little account, how might it be?

Similarly, hearing that north of the High Passes, the kings and marquises are also all a boiling cauldron, Hedong and Guiyang are in turn butchering and massacring each other. Shaoling is beginning a foundation, and personally seeking out shield and spear. Li Qianshi is devoting himself to Dangyang, readily snatching horses and weaponry. By you Lord ignoring the outside, could you be jumping in the dark?

It is not as good moreover as dwelling in Shixing, far away extend the sound of power, protect this grand mountain, and yourself seek much happiness.

Gaozu sobbed and spoke to Xiuyue, saying:

This humble one originally was ordinary and unassuming, facing the state's complete accomplishments. When [I] formerly heard Hou Jing had crossed the Jiang, [I] immediately wished to go and aid. Coming across the conflict with Yuan and Lan, they were thorns in the middle of my path. Now the Imperial Capital is overturned and lost, the Ruler and Sovereign is suffering dust, the lords are humiliated and the subjects dead. Who would dare covering over the instructions! The Lord Marquis embodies then the august branches, his duties weighty among the regions' high peaks. He is not able to snap a spear-point at ten thousand li, wipe away this unjust pain, and see to dispatching a single army. Better than doing nothing, and then submit to later directives, making people melancholy, this humble one will act and plan for a decision, and rely on it as disclosing and recounting.

He then dispatched messengers to go to Jiangling outside the roads, and receive the successor army's appointed time, rules and measures.

At the time Cai Luyang rose up with troops to occupy Nankang. Bo dispatched his belly and heart Tan Shiyuan as Prefect of Qujiang. He and Luyang joined with each other, and together went aganst the righteous army.

1st Year of Dabao [2 February – 3 March 550], Gaozu issued out from Shixing, and stayed at Dayu High Pass. Luyang set out with the army and paused at Nanye, he relied on the mountains and rivers to erect four forts so as to resist Gaozu. Gaozu fought with him, and greatly routed him. Luyang extricated himself, ran away and fled. Gaozu advanced to pause in Nankang. The King of Xiangdong succeeded to authority, and conferred on Gaozu Cavalier in Regular Attendance of the Outer Staff, Holding the Tally, General who Clarifies Power, and Inspector of Jiao province, and changed his ennoblement to Baron of Nanye county.

6th Month [30 June – 29 July], Gaozu repaired the old city of Qitou, and moved to reside there. The Inspector of Gao province, Li Qianshi occupyed Dagao. He dispatched the Master of the Host Du Pinglu to lead 1 000 people and enter Ganshi and Yuliang. Gaozu instructed Zhou Wenyu to bring along troops and strike him. Qiangshi ran to Ningdu. The Successor to Authority conferred on Gaozu Thoroughly Straight Cavalier in Regular Attendance, Envoy Holding the Tally, Commander-in-Chief of All Army Affairs of Six Commanderies, General of the Host of Armies, Inspector of Nanjiang province; the remainder like before.

At the time, natives of Ningdu, Liu Ai and others, supplied Qianshi with ships, warships, troops and weaponry, wanting to assault Nankang. Gaozu dispatched Du Sengming and others to lead 20 000 people to occupy Baikou, and build a fort so as to hold out against them. Qianshi likewise erected a fort so they were confronting each other.

#cs01

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ultimate-miles · 6 years ago

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Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man (2014-2015) - Not with a Bang, but a whimper

Post Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #19, Miles Morales’ written career as Spider-Man has not been great. After fridging one of the only central supporting female characters in his cast – Rio Morales, his mother – the state of the narrative became preoccupied with manpain, and framing the grief of a teenage boy as, in the words of Miles Morales, someone who “didn’t understand what it meant to be Spider-Man” (Ultimate Cataclysm: Spider-Man #1), which required his entire supporting cast to shame and emotionally manipulate him back into the job.

If there was any good that came out of the last five issues of UCSM, it was probably the introduction of Ultimate Cloak and Dagger and Ultimate Taskmaster.

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man, unfortunately, offers very little in the way content improvement outside of one side story and its art direction. Otherwise, it doubles back in circles on subjects and issues that should’ve been laid to rest and ends on an inconclusive whimper.

Ultimate Spider-Man #200 + #Issues #1-7

Death in comic books means nothing, and holds no weight unless you’re a wildly unpopular (or non-white) character that any given publication is looking to get rid of in order to appease their narrow minded (and white) audience. When the Ultimate Marvel universe was created, one of the creeds it presumably lived by was that “death mattered”. When a character died, it would mean something, it would impact the narrative, and every character that died would remain dead.

It’s a shame, then, when they chose to stick their guns, they let Jeph Loeb decimate almost half of the Ultimate Universe’s roster in one of the uglier displays of wanton violence, sexism, and just plain shit writing, with the 2011 “Blockbuster Event” Ultimatum. Ultimatum more or less ensured, despite maintaining the promise that no one would return from the dead, none of the deaths mattered – a lot of it was just Loeb masturbating to his own cruelty if we’re being honest.

With the “Death of Spider-Man”, Brian Michael Bendis added salt to an otherwise unhealed wound that was Ultimatum, which wasn’t even a year old at that point. To his credit, he made Peter Parker’s death matter – book ending it with the first villain that more or less was responsible for the creation of Spider-Man (Norman Osborn) – with reverberating consequences throughout most surviving series in the UM. Yet, following the introduction of Miles Morales – the new and Black Spider-Man (reportedly meant to honor Bendis’ Black children, whom I pity) – you could tell, in the years preceding the removal of Peter Parker as the protagonist of the Spider-Man title, Bendis was regretting his decision.

After a 160 issue run (where Peter made actual appearances and was the protagonist until his death), the questionably numbered Ultimate Spider-Man #200, once again sees Bendis fantasizing about what he might’ve done had he not killed Peter Parker and replaced him with Miles Morales. Most of the original cast of characters that were central to Peter Parker’s story – plus Miles and Ganke – gather together at the Parker House at the behest of May Parker and Gwen Stacy (who appears to be a creep perving on underage teen boys no matter what), to commemorate the life of the late Peter Parker. Considering the previous three iterations of “Memorializing Peter Parker” in the UM, Ultimate Spider-Man #200 brings nothing new to the table, but should’ve been a red flag to anyone paying attention to the declining quality of Miles’ title.

Miles’ final title in the Ultimate Universe, Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man, begins with the reintroduction of a supposed-to-be-dead Norman Osborn – in the custody of S.H.I.E.L.D. – and two generic Spider-Man copycats robbing banks. There’s nothing really of note to say about the first seven issues of this thirteen issue title. Bendis decides, with the Ultimate Marvel universe doing the death rattle, to undo the death of both Osborn and Peter Parker – with Peter getting a half-assed excuse for his being brought back from the dead (to sum it up: “because reasons”).

I don’t think a Spider-Man comic has made me quite as angry as this series has. In the moment I read the issue wherein Peter Parker tells Miles, “It’s time for the Original Spider-Man to get back into the game”, I could’ve torn the book into shreds and smote its ruins if I thought it was going to hurt Marvel’s sales and not be an even greater waste of my spent $3.99.

“I can’t believe we’re beating this dead horse again” was what I was thinking and I just stopped buying the book altogether. I think that the first step to mine ceasing to see Miles Morales as a legitimate character, but wasted potential in the hands of non-Black creatives. I only ended up reading the trades for the sake of reference and fact checking and it’s only this year, three-four years after the fact that I bothered to do that. The only thing worth noting about the first seven issues of this title is that it sets up the last four, which are even worse.

Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man #1-3 + Issues #8-9

Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man is one of seven miniseries titles part of the “Blockbuster Event” known as Cataclysm, which sees Ultimate Galactus (or 616 Galactus, I’m not sure which tbh. There’s very little difference between the two when you get to the nitty-gritty) attempting to destroy the 1610 universe and devour it all. You get the distinct feeling that, before someone came up with Secret Wars, Cataclysm was meant to be the true end of the Ultimate Universe – but someone upstairs changed their mind and rendered it to a mere false start. Long story short: The grand majority – if not all of – the Ultimates (the Avengers of the 1610 universe) are killed or sent into the void with Galactus by Ultimate Shadowcat – who is later hailed savior of the world. The All-New Ultimates are formed.

Das it.

But, within Miles’ slice of the Cataclysm story, Bendis finally decides to focus on the elephant in the room: Jefferson Davis and his open and his fantasy xenophobia toward superhumans and how it has literally silenced his own son from admitting to his double life as Spider-Man. Moreso since the death of his mother, Rio Morales, at the hands of Ultimate Venom. I’ll be perfectly honest – I don’t think Jefferson Davis is a great guy – I actually ended up liking his no-account brother (Aaron Davis, gone too soon) far more because he was upfront about his ideals and his mission statement. He never pretended or tried to be a better person. He was just rotten and enjoyed it.

For that one piece of sage advice Jefferson offered Miles in the earliest tenure of his first title, Jefferson is the perfect example of a man who expects his son to “do as he says, and as I do”, but expects no consequences visited upon him whenever he dehumanizes people. He’s a walking metaphor for the heterosexual Black father who spews homophobic slurs in casual conversation around their gay daughter or son and I’m sure as hell that was intentional despite the incompatibility of the allegory.

Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man doesn’t do much to repair his character, if anything it makes him thrice times worse. When Galactus starts wrecking all of New York City and Brooklyn, Miles, Bombshell (Lana Baumgartner) and Cloak and Dagger, struggle to save the people caught in the monster’s wake – all while recounting where they were when the Ultimatum event occurred.

In Miles’ flashback, we see Jefferson lose his head over the knowledge that the title wave was caused by a mutant (Magneto), all while loudly proclaiming everyone stuck in traffic was going to die. The most important nugget of information taken away from Miles’ flashback is the knowledge that his father more or less promised that he would abandon or disown Miles if he ever found out his son (then, probably only 11 or 12 years old at the time) was a superhuman.

I never had much sympathy for Davis (I tolerated him because of Rio), but the moment Miles tries to convince his father to come with him out of the city to safety, and Jefferson decides to blame a now fourteen year old Miles for the death of Rio and Aaron, I just outright hated him. Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man is not a bad read all things considered. It tells its story concisely and never loses focus of its characters in relation to the catastrophe. The downside is that you have to read the rest of the Cataclysm series to know what was going on. I’d probably recommend you read it, especially since it ties into two issues of The Ultimate Spider-Man.

The conflict between Miles and Jefferson is left hanging until issues #8 and #9 of Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man – also known as “The Only Redeeming Thing About This Comic Book Title”. The eighth and ninth issues of MMTUSM sees Jefferson Davis finally owning up to his past and basically just spilling the beans about his life as a criminal with Aaron and how he became involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. during the 80s – when Miami Vice, Jerri Curls, House Party Flattops, and ill-fitting suits with shoulder pads were all the rage – and how he met a young, already-at-it, Nick Fury.

The complete tonal and visual shift in the issues are a welcome respite from the Peter Parker nonsense of the previous seven. The story arc, “Miles Morales: An Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?”, carries with it the kind’ve of visual flair I see a Tim Sale illustrated graphic novel (like Spider-Man: Blue or The Long Halloween), but it’s still David Marquez illustrating the story from beginning to end.

It’s got the look and feel of a pulp novel, or one of those old newspaper comic strips where the spots of the print were obvious through the inking and character sketches. The narrative, which sees Jefferson and Aaron working for smalltime criminals to Jefferson’s eventual graduation to protecting the Kingpin (with a minor explanation as to why he loathes mutants), is, in my opinion, the highlight of a story that could’ve worked as a full-fledged miniseries about the Jefferson brothers.

My only quibble with the framing of the narrative is that the early inclusion of S.H.I.E.L.D makes Jefferson look more like the unwilling participant of crime he was manipulated into thinking he had to do for “the greater good”, as opposed to some young blood who didn’t give much thought to right or wrong (which is how the early issues framed it) before he had an epiphany. I always assumed the crime came first, then S.H.I.E.L.D, then Rio. Honestly, if you’re at all interested in this storyline, just look for the single issues and don’t buy the trade. You’ll be doing yourself a favor.

#Issues 10-13

Marvel and its twisted, present-day romantic relationship with Neo-Nazism is a fairly ironic one, given most of its early artists were white Jewish dudes with alternate names designed to explicitly hide their Jewishness on account of antisemitism. But, I suppose the publications preoccupation with Nazism to begin with (even if it was denouncing it) would’ve inevitably steered its future publishers to romanticize it in the end. I mean, that’s what happened after all.

You know shit it bad when Marvel wants you to pity [white] characters like Grant Ward of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D for joining a Neo-Nazi group, despite the repeated and angry affirmations of protagonist Daisy Johnson, who flat-out reminds the audience, “You are a Nazi if you join Hydra”, who is undermined anyway by the narrative that continues to bleat, “pity the Neo-Nazi.”

Brian Michael Bendis, in all his infinite lack of wisdom, decides – the biggest way to differ Miles Morales’ love life from Peter Parker’s, is make an underdeveloped character, his girlfriend, Ultimate Kate Bishop, a member of Hydra. Miles’ white girlfriend rides on the agenda of the Aryan Ideal and white supremacy. Brilliant.

The Ultimate Spider-Man issues, #1-#4 and #7 prelude the last four issues with Miles deliberating whether or not he should tell Katie Bishop about his double life as Spider-Man. Instead of being supportive, everyone from Ganke to Cloak and Dagger warns Miles against telling her, thinking it would be a bad idea. He does it anyway, Katie panics and runs away.

The aforementioned issues give the reader a glimpse into Kate’s life with the Bishops, with one conversation with her older sister casually mentioning that “they” would have to kill Miles and the seventh issue concludes with her uttering the phrase, “Hail Hydra.”

If The Ultimate Spider-Man had something to say about the issue of Nazism, especially in relation to Miles’ life as a Black teen – or the cautionary tale of “you never know someone until…”, then I could maybe understand the decision to make Kate Bishop (a wildly popular Avenger in the 616 universe, be she an adult or a teenager) a Nazi.

But, it doesn’t, it basically does exactly the same thing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D does with the Daisy Johnson/Grant Ward dynamic. The narrative depicts a “Sympathetic Nazi” (Katie) trying to explain their position, and a furious significant other (Miles) outright declaring their relationship is over. Only, where AOS more or less dragged that subplot out to its natural conclusion (“Sympathetic Nazi” isn’t really sympathetic and dies),

The Ultimate Spider-Man did nothing to that extent. Readers barely have gotten to known Katie Bishop since her introduction in issue #23 of UCSM. She was given no time actually to be anything other than “Miles Morales’ girlfriend”. And when it comes right down to it, the Hydra subplot was nothing but an excuse to bring Dr. Doom into the narrative at the last moment. So, the “My Girlfriend is a Nazi” storyline just falls flat.

On a smaller note, the way the last couple issues decide to use Judge – the minor character from Ultimate Comics Spider-Man – is sigh inducing. It’s like Bendis realized his book was coming to an end and figured the best way to a handle a character that barely had any face time since the first twelve issues of the UCSM, is to just plop him in the middle of the story with his already knowing Miles is Spider-Man.

But, he does it in a way that, if you removed him from the story, nothing would change. It’s a superfluous addition and kind’ve discourteous, especially since Bendis doesn’t do anything with Judge later on in Miles’ new 616 title, the unfortunately named Spider-Man.

Outside of issues #8 and #9, Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man is a sad conclusion to Miles Ultimate Universe solo-title career. It reminded me why I stopped reading his title four years ago, and knowing that none of his recent stuff isn’t any good either kinda makes me glad I made the decision so early on.

#miles morales #spider man #katie bishop #brian michael bendis #david marquez #ultimate miles meta #1610 miles morales #1610 judge #1610 kate bishop #1610 jefferson davis #media: long posts

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son-of-alderaan · 6 years ago

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When Jasper Pääkkönen walked out of the audition room after reading for the main white supremacist role in BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee was absolutely convinced the actor was born and bred in the States – which is fittingly symbolic for a film based entirely on false perceptions, impersonations, and doppelgängery of almost Shakespearean proportions.

“At some point Spike looked at my last name, which has a lot of umlauts, a lot of dots,” Pääkkönen told Mashable during an hour-long phone interview as he was driving through the Finnish countryside towards the capital.

“Spike stops me in the middle of the scene and goes, ‘Hold on, hold on, hold on! Where are you from?’ And I go, ‘um, Helsinki, Finland.’

That’s right – the most vociferous character in Lee’s poignant and powerful reincarnation of 1970s Colorado Springs white supremacy terrorism is portrayed by an actor from the country ranked as the world’s happiest in 2018.

By the time the audition was done, Lee's mind was blown. “‘You’re not from Helsinki, Finland – you’re from Alabama,’" Pääkkönen recalls Lee saying. "And he starts laughing. I wasn’t sure if it’s a good laugh or a bad laugh."

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Turns out it was a very good laugh, because Pääkkönen was cast right there and then as Felix Kendrickson, who epitomises the kind of misguided white male privilege and extremism that infected and filled the ranks of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s — and has once again reared its ugly head alongside the rise of far-right populist politics around the world.

Felix, a Holocaust-denier and terrorist, is second-in-command of a Klan branch being infiltrated by an undercover police team, led by Colorado Springs’ first black officer – Ron Stallworth (portrayed by John David Washington – Denzel Washington’s son). The movie, based on Stallworth’s memoir, remains more or less historically accurate – he infiltrated the Klan, and was, on paper, a card-carrying member, and yes, he really did speak to David Duke on the phone (portrayed by Topher Grace in the film), the then-Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

And not just when he was undercover, but more recently, when Duke allegedly called Stallworth to complain BlacKkKlansman made him look bad.

Pääkkönen's character embodies the toxic rage fueled by a flawed ideology.

Felix is, in many ways, David Duke’s doppelgänger – they are two sides of the same coin. While Duke – always the wolf in sheep’s clothing, tempering his outbursts – is presented in the movie as the precursor to Trump and his "Make America Great Again" slogan, Felix is the extension and epitome of that racist rage as it has been normalised today. He does not hide that fragile yet militant, determined yet deluded, look we’ve been forced to familiarise ourselves with – from pictures of the tiki-torch-carrying white men during last year’s Charlottesville Unite the Right rally to video of alt-right members performing Nazi salutes.

BlacKkKlansman was released exactly one year after the deadly rally, where a woman, Heather Heyer, was killed by a man who deliberately crashed his car into a group of protestors.

Those unspeakable scenes are featured in the film itself because Lee isn’t just making a period drama here. BlacKkKlansman is, above all else, about how the past continues to exist in the present, albeit in different guises. And Pääkkönen's casting is a powerful statement in a commentary about the global spread of an ideology that some may have thought was starting to fizzle out. But then again, as Lee keeps reminding us, nothing is as it seems on the surface.

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When Pääkkönen was 17, he spent a year in Maryland as an exchange student at Baltimore’s Owings Mills High School during the 1997-8 school year. He says that experience exposed him firsthand to how racism has permeated the social fabric in America.

“I remember my first weeks of high school is when I realised white and black students were two completely separated groups,” Pääkkönen says. “You get boxed by the colour of skin and everything else is sort of secondary.”

And as most classic high school coming-of-age stories go, Pääkkönen’s time at Owings Mills hit its critical point at prom, one of the quintessential institutions of the American way of life. Pääkkönen took his closest friend from school as his date, and to his surprise, the decision was met with outright protest by “a lot of the people in the community, my host family, some school friends — white school friends.”

The issue was that his date was black and, as Pääkkönen was told, "you don’t do that in America."

"I was breaking the unwritten rule," he says.

Dapper 18-year-old Jasper Pääkkönen's prom night.

That was 20 years ago in a fairly upper-middle class district, in a school with diverse cultural backgrounds. Mashable reached out to the school's principal and vice-principal regarding Pääkkönen's recollection of his time there, but received no reply.

As the central thesis of BlacKkKlansman keeps reminding us, the battle against racism and xenophobia is far from over – although the pattern is perhaps somewhat different in Finland, where everything has changed over the past 20 years. Today, the Nordic country has come to be recognised around the world for its respect for human rights, freedom of the press, education, and healthcare.

After completing his exchange year and going back home, Pääkkönen kept in touch via Facebook with his American friends and prom date over the years. “She used to send me articles about Finland, completely blown away by the fact that we have this society that seemed to her like a utopia," he says. That stayed with Pääkkönen over the years — the fact that two teenagers in the 1990s could be living such different lives.

The cast of 'BlacKkKlansman'.

Pääkkönen received some coaching and assistance from the exchange student organisation before moving to Maryland to help prepare him for these inevitable cultural differences. "They kept telling us, don’t believe what you see," he says. "If you get shocked by something, just give it some time and you’ll start understanding it.

"I remember I kept telling myself during my first month there, 'This skin colour issue can’t be true,'" Pääkkönen says, bursting out in uncomfortable laughter.

"Six months later, I had to accept the fact that my first impression was the right one. I was different from the other white kids because colour wasn't the precursor for whom I made friends with — I was seen as that foreigner trying to change traditions."

When Pääkkönen told Lee about his time at Owings Mills, Lee responded with the three words that underscore most 'Spike Lee Joints': "Welcome to America."

Spike Lee on the set of 'BlacKkKlansman'.

Pääkkönen continuously found himself lost in translation. “People in Baltimore wouldn’t believe me when I told them I’m Finnish and when I told them what life here is like," he said. Then, once back home, people would show the same kind of disbelief when he shared stories of how segregated his school was in the U.S.

When Lee met him, the director was convinced he was the guy for the part — "That's my guy," as Lee said in an interview.

"When I got a call from my agent about the audition, I was told there's no script, but that I was going to be sent two scenes," Pääkkönen says. "That's all I had."

There was no mention about the location in those scenes, but there was a general sense the scenes were taking place somewhere in the South. So he WhatsApped a friend from Kentucky, who recorded the lines for him. For a couple of days he replayed the audio recordings and learned to mimic her accent until it felt natural.

When he learned the film was set in Colorado Springs, Pääkkönen booked an accent coach. But Lee told him to forget about it and do everything just like he did in the audition. "Don't change anything," he said.

Felix attempting a bomb plot against civil right activists.

Yet, even though the latest Spike Lee joint was Pääkkönen's first Hollywood project, it was not his first film portraying a white supremacist.

“I made a Finnish film about five years ago, called Heart of a Lion, which is a film about neo-Nazis, and I had to get pretty deep into it to understand my character,” Pääkkönen says. “I worked with a reformed neo-Nazi for a while, a very prominent figure in the 1990s in Finland, trying to understand what motivates these people.”

While the histories of the spread of nationalism and racism differ across borders, the consequences, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, follow a pattern — an increase in hate speech and crimes, the emboldening of xenophobic political discourse, and the activation of fractions of society that have hitherto remained on the fringes.

Lee recently visited Pääkkönen in Helsinki and addressed that exact question. "‘Don’t think this is a film about just American problems,'" Pääkkönen recalls Lee telling reporters there. "'It’s a film about what’s happening here and in France, in the UK and all around Europe. The rise of the far-right movement is quite prominent in the States, but it’s just as prominent in a lot of European countries as well.'”

Felix is the only character who is suspicious of the detectives.

If BlacKkKlansman is a powerful political statement about the enduring grip of racism for Spike Lee, for Pääkkönen it was actually a reset button on his relationship with America. Following the release of the movie, he says he would be stopped randomly on the street by people thanking him for bringing Felix to life.

"I remember this older black lady, who looked deeply into my eyes and held my hand in hers and said, 'Thank you so much for portraying this hatred,'” Pääkkönen says.

Pääkkönen has always been an outsider looking in on the cultural divides that underpin everyday life in America. For the first time with this film, he says, that barrier was broken.

"You realise that they didn't just go into the movies and watch the film as a story about America in the 1970s without having too much emotional attachment," he says. "The personal experience that comes through when you receive that feedback is quite a shocking revelation into how serious it is. And what people have lived with and what kind of hatred they’ve encountered in their own lives."

When asked if he's received any negative feedback following the film, or if he's been targeted by far-right trolls, Pääkkönen says he hasn't — at least not yet.

But then, just as 20 years ago during prom, Pääkkönen today remains firm in his moral code. "I’ve been an actor for 20 years and I’ve encountered all kinds of criticism, so I couldn't care less about some racist idiots trying to @ me today."

#jasper pääkkönen #spike lee #blacKkKlansman

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magichcuse · 3 years ago

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I'm trying to think of what would happen to The Grand Dueling Triumvirate after the Abberquack scandal.

Though there are local politicians/representatives (even after the fall of the Grand Dueling Empire, they still have a lot of territory), the Heads of the Triumvirate have the most power. Being predictable, the Heads of the Triumvirate are usually the first born sons. The current Head can pass the title onto another child of his choice if the firstborn son refuses to take his place, but that doesn't usually happen.

Thames likes the idea of having all of that power in theory, but he isn't mature or patient enough to handle that responsibility...so Oswald selects Ebony to represent the House of Featherton. People weren't exactly thrilled that a woman was chosen to be a Head of the Triumvirate, but it isn't wise to question Oswald's judgement and if he deems his daughter to be a better successor, so be it. (This means both of Walter's parents are Heads of the Triumvirate, so A LOT of people kissed up to him/tried courting him before the Abberquack scandal and they gave him Trust Issues but I'm starting to ramble.)

The Triumvirate starts crumbling after the revelation that the man representing the House of Abberquack was a clone and having him fake his own death not too long after made things much worse. Nate doesn't want to step up to be a Head of the Triumvirate because it would feel like he was relinquishing his right to be a Foley, Walter is too young to take his father's place (though he doesn't really want to anyway), and Wilbur had already retired. Then there's the question of whether the House of Abberquack was still worthy of being part of the Triumvirate. Even if Nate were to accept, would Alroy really be the best successor with his mental health issues and memory problems? Nate could theoretically choose Delilah to take over, but they were already hesitant to accept Ebony (who WAS raised as an elite) so having a woman who is basically an outsider in the eyes of the elite would be deemed the Fall of Society...even moreso if Delilah didn't leave Franklin for someone the elite would approve of.

The Triumvirate would have to become a Diarchy or a Duumvirate (which doesn't sound as nice), though that would quickly become obsolete when Sebastian refuses to step up as a representative of the House of Featherton and if the elite were skeptical of allowing a cis woman in a position of power...Dahlia would have a hard time convincing them to give her power. Soon enough, the Crossfeathers are the only House left standing.

However, the people get displeased when they basically become a monarchy and revolt against the elite. The Grand Dueling Triumvirate becomes completely defunct by the time Breanna hatches, with the working class seizing power and the Crossfeathers being banished to somewhere else (likely the Free City of Academia or "the Craftsmanship District" since they'd be the most welcoming). I don't think dueling would be completely gone after the Fall of the Triumvirate, but it would be less of a central thing and it would work very differently than it had before.

#{behind the magic} | ooc #headcanons

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atlanticcanada · 3 years ago

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Nova Scotia education minister says schools are ready to welcome back students Monday

Online learning has been a challenge for Deborah McNamara’s teenage son.

“My middle child would have actually thrived online but my youngest, he struggles a little. He would like to be back in a regular classroom for sure,” said McNamara, whose child attends school in Nova Scotia.

But during the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, nothing is regular and McNamara says there’s still too much risk in going back to in-person learning with the highly contagious Omicron variant.

“We are seeing paediatric hospitalizations rising in other parts of the country,” said McNamara. “As much as we’d like to think it’s different here, it’s the same virus and we are no longer in this magical bubble like we had before.”

Schools in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island will remain closed until at least Jan. 24.

In Nova Scotia, students return to in-person learning on Monday.

The president of the province's teachers union says it would prefer another week of online learning to allow more time for schools and the Department of Education to put more safety measures in place.

“I think students, staff and parents, whether you support in-person learning or whether you support remote learning, feel like guinea pigs in a grand experiment right now and we’re all waiting with baited breath to find out how that goes,” said Nova Scotia Teachers Union President Paul Wozney.

Nova Scotia’s Education Minister Becky Druhan says they are taking the lead from public health, who says schools are safe and the best place for students.

“We’re doing this (back-to-school) with public health’s support,” said Druhan. “In addition to implementing all the measures public health is recommending to ensure that schools remain safe when they return.”

Druhan says students and staff who need them will be issued three-ply medical masks, while the province has spent $2.3 million to install 1,600 HEPA air-filtration machines at 71 schools who have passive ventilation systems.

Some are more concerned about the decision to halt contact tracing in schools, like Halifax West High School teacher Ryan Lutes, who questions why they’d remove that layer of safety during the Omicron wave.

“Teachers right now are asking questions like, ‘If I find out that one of my students test positive for COVID and they let me know, can I tell my other students to let them know that they are a close contact?’ And so right now we’re being told no, we can’t do that.”

Druhan says public health has led the charge with contact tracing in schools and it’s a procedure that will no longer be pursued when students return to schools – a decision made by public health.

In the case of staffing shortages, the province says they have a contingency plan in place to address that, but added it will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

"We'll do what we can to manage that balance and make sure we have the right resources deployed in the right places," said Druhan. “There might be some hiccups and there will probably be some days where we have some staffing issues to address but we’ll handle them as they come.”

The Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) says they have taken steps to ensure the return to class is as safe as possible and look forward to welcoming back students on Monday.

“We will exhaust all options before closing a school,” HRCE spokesperson Doug Hadley said. “Keeping our learning centres open continues to be a high priority.

“To cover any shortage in staffing, we will draw from substitute teacher and retired administrator lists. We are also ready to reassign licensed teachers who typically work centrally to schools, just as we did in December.”

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/3I7rz3T

#new brunswick #prince edward island #nova scotia #news #politics #canada #CTVAtlantic

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architectnews · 3 years ago

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World Trade Center Architecture: WTC Manhattan

World Trade Centre Architecture New York, Manhattan Ground Zero Buildings

New York World Trade Center Architecture

Discussion on the Design of the Freedom Tower in Manhattan, NY, USA

post updated September 11, 2021 ; Mar 15, 2004

9/11 anniversary – 20 years since the 11 September attacks

Manhattan World Trade Center

Memory Marker: Remembrance of Things Past

Article by Adrian Welch, Architect and e-architect Editor

Article written in 2004 for the The Drouth Literary magazine

Any marker to ‘9/11’ must sit in relation to polar opposites: the capitalist drive to extract dollars per sq ft on the site and a desire to leave space for memory of this atrocity. But are these truly irreconcilable opposites or could a creative architect – or team (important distinction) – reconcile these goals partly or even fully?

Ground Zero New York photograph : Andrew McRae, 2007

I won’t dwell on questions of how the site is being parcelled up – the sadly separate competitions for ‘building’ and ‘memorial’ – but the separation is relevant background information. The ‘building’ competition came first probably due to its size and thus fiscal importance. The ‘memorial’ was slotted in afterwards – eight typically minimalist ‘spaces’ shortlisted mostly using water and light. If a creative mind was behind rebuilding this site the two could have been married together.

Pre-Modernism memorials were mostly formal objects – think of Lutyens’ Thiepval Arch in the Somme, memorial to the First World War dead. Modernism brought us simple forms – the Vietnam Memorial wall in Washington DC stands out, more recently Libeskind’s Memorial Garden outside his Berlin Museum.

Memorials are described as being places to reminisce, but not normally too vividly: no overt references to falling bodies will appear in the Twin Towers Memorial. To avoid hurt they seem to retract from death and tragedy into abstract pathos or general formality. Memorials inhabit a twilight zone between architecture and sculpture; typically linked to taboo issues – here ‘atrocity’ – they sometimes suffer from lack of critique.

Back to the opening premise: can Libeskind et al make the dollar generator into the memorial, can ‘Freedom Tower’ itself have the required potency? The foot of Manhattan is already a powerful marker for many US immigrants, including members of my own family. Arriving on a ship seeing the towering lights of Mammon and the symbolic Statue of Liberty. The latter has a dual purpose – icon and climbable tourist attraction: how could the ‘Freedom Tower’ express both poles of its duality?

For a start the height of 1776 ft, resonating with America’s Year of Independence, fell flat for me: I expected it to change post-competition and so it did, unusually revised up! The impression is of lip service to the tragedy whilst the fiscal side is worked up in the background: the result is an aim to simply parcel off a patch of prime real estate purely for memory. The Ground Zero site is owned by Larry Silverstein and, with George Pataki, the City Governor, he ran an international architecture competition to find an architect / scheme for the site. The shortlist was whittled down eventually to Daniel Libeskind – radical Polish-born architect – and Rafael Vinõly – a conservative but contemporary architect born in Mexico.

But cries of ‘sell-out to Silverstein’ – especially from relatives – drown out reason: like Swiss Re for London, [after years of IRA bombs] is not the burgeoning tower of real estate the most fitting memorial? It should express city, embody confidence, and emanate determination to progress. The people who died, were primarily part of the bullish capitalist drive to make money: why pretend otherwise, wrap up reality with the cotton wool of disconnected abstraction?

Central to the memorial is symbolism and inscription. From Stonehenge to the humble gravestone we see this. For example Kahn’s 1968 abstract memorial to the ‘Six Million Jewish Martyrs’ proposed for Lower Manhattan contained both – the central pier served as an ohel (chapel), complete with inscription. The written word introduces the personal – the name you can point to, relate to. An unspoken rule of architecture is ‘good buildings don’t need signs’ and, by extension, ‘words’. Yet no architectural memorial seems complete without inscription. ‘Set in stone’ is a phrase to suggest permanency – rootedness is a useful aura when suffering loss. Hope, life after death.

Memorials also of course allow the State, organisations, people to make a statement, exert power, show respect. Just as arguments exist around the extent of ‘respectful’ space around city cathedrals – for example the years of vigorous debate around Paternoster Square’s relationship to St Paul’s Cathedral – so the same applies for memorials: do monuments really need space? Discussion re this site seems to have revolved around the notion of space given over to ‘memorial’: space = respect.

This corollary comes from the public / private opposition that has characterised debate on urbanism for decades: the more ‘public realm’, the greater the developer’s generosity and perceived benefit to the populace. The demand for rent creates maximum development by default. The Public appears to want ‘sacrifice’ where possible. Here the sacrifice could be a viewing platform at the top of ‘Freedom Tower’ a contemplative pool or a square for parades and gathering. The clever bit (in developers’ eyes) is dressing the necessary space around the building (building laws related to light, etc.) as the ‘sacrificial space’.

Monuments were essentially ‘monumental’ in the past [sounds obvious!], hence the textual linkage, i.e. grand and impersonal, arching over singularity to create plurality and collectivist aspirations but mostly subjugation. The Arc de Triomphe, Nelson’s Monument, the Monument to the Great Fire of London all rise above an urban context and dominate the human.

What validates ‘monument’, differentiates it from sculpture or building? Does the ‘title’ matter if you realise there exist ‘living structures’ (The London Eye) and ‘functionless buildings’ (Edinburgh’s National Monument)? The Ground Zero site will be home to one of the most observed memorials ever, trying to come to terms with huge, spectacularly vicious loss of life, and in one of the World’s largest and most popular cities. New York almost epitomises what we think a city should be. The memorial will be a marker for more than atrocity: it will also become a marker for cities, architecture and society.

The agenda of the people, the owner/developer, city and state may all vary. Monuments generally use scale, heroic forms, emblems/icons, metaphor and allusion. The Marker could synthesize function and memory and be emblematic of New York. Empirical institutions and situations of the city stand as allegories of the invisible substance of society as a whole.

Politically the site has to represent unbroken spirit, confidence to progress, unhindered by fears of terrorism but without creating what Giedion termed ‘devaluation of symbols’, empty gestures of civic monumentalism. Monuments should be catalytic. Tension between the ‘opposites’ could be played up or down. Aspirations of State could transmit to surging height or connotations of peace and freedom.

In Rossi’s ‘The Architecture of the City’ he defines monuments as ‘primary elements in the city which are persistent and characteristic urban artifacts. They are distinguished from housing, the other primary element in the city, by their nature as a place of symbolic function, and thus a function related to time, as opposed to a place of conventional function, which is only related to use’. A monument is dialectically related to the city’s growth.

In these days of superfast media the permanence of solid physical memorial may be a welcome antidote, but memorial possibilities have multiplied if NY wanted a more imaginative zeitgeist marker. Loops of crash footage on a massive screen, raining mannequins projected from above, the smell of kerosene and worse, screams and sirens blasted around the site complete with multi-screen slivers of reaction from bereaved families. However, this is not a horror film-set but a place of reconciliation for the bereaved, for East and West, conservative and radical.

Libeskind is working on a book fittingly about ‘tragedy, memory and hope, and the way architecture can reshape human experience’: his asymmetric tower ostensibly follows the Statue of Liberty so unless the forces of commerce puncture this concept, we will have iconoclastic towers forming a lop-sided symbolic gateway. Neither forms a traditional abstract solid, the obelisks, pyramids and towers of the past. The Twin Towers form modern day icons blasted into people’s minds. The Towers were considered by many to be ugly, but they will be a hard act to follow. Memory is what matters most, not built form.

* In 1946 New York State Legislature set up a WTC Corporation to analyse such a facility. The World Trade Centre idea formed in 1960* and preliminary drawings were drawn up by SOM, who slipped in behind Libeskind 43 years later (via David Childs). Michigan-based Minori Yamasaki and Emery Roth & Sons completed the Twin Towers between 1966 and 1973. Yamasaki had over a hundred schemes, one being a single 150-storey tower. Towers 1 & 2, nicknamed ‘David & Nelson’ after the supportive Rockefeller Brothers became quintessential New York symbols, appearing on a large proportion of postcards.

Author: Adrian Welch is an Architect and runs this website. The New York Freedom Tower article first appeared in The Drouth Literary magazine in 2004

Architectural texts welcome – no limit to words : info(at)e-architect.com

Location: 99 Church Street, New York City, NY, USA

9/11 Architecture

Contemporary 9/11 Architectural Designs

Pentagon 9/11 Memorial Visitors Center, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America Design: Fentress Architects image courtesy of architects practice 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center

September 11th Memorial Building, New York City photo : Jin Lee 9/11 Memorial Museum New York

Architecture in New York City

Contemporary Architecture in New York City

New York City Architecture Designs – chronological list

New York Architecture Walking Tours

Site of World Trade Center New York (destroyed 2001) 1966-73 Minoru Yamasaki, Emery Roth & Sons

Freedom Tower New York – Site of World Trade Center Ground Zero, Lower Manhattan 2004- Daniel Libeskind Architects + David Childs of SOM Architects Controversial towers to replace the World Trade Centre skyscrapers lost to New York in 2001. The main skyscraper by Libeskind was to be a significant number of feet high – 1,776 ft – to mark a key American date in history – United States Year of Independence; the building was largely handed over to architect David Childs. Designed to be the tallest tower in the world for the site leaseholder – real estate developer Larry Silverstein. The angular design is typical for Libeskind but here echoes the Statue of Liberty. A Snohetta building was also due to appear but the situation is in a state of flux, more online soon – 2006.

Daniel Libeskind was commissioned to design the Freedom Tower after a strongly contested World Trade Center design competition in Feb 2003, beating architects such as Norman Foster and in the end winning a two-strong shortlist.

Freedom Tower New York designer – Daniel Libeskind Architects

Six teams were shortlisted in Sep 2002 out of over 400 submissions, including: Foster + Partners Richard Meier Architect Studio Daniel Libeskind United Architects Think Group

Gehry Partners LLP and Snøhetta were selected as architects for the World Trade Center cultural complex by Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in Dec 2004

Ground Zero – first building now on site SOM Architects 7 World Trade Center

New York Skyscrapers

World Financial Center 1986 Design: Cesar Pelli Architect Including the Winter Garden

World Trade Centre – New Museum Complex, Ground Zero Design: Snohetta, Architects International Freedom Centre + Drawing Centre. Also named the WTC Cultural Center. Snøhetta Architects became well known with their Alexandria library in Egypt which won a major architecture competition. Snøhetta Architects have an architects office in New York based at 50 Broad St World Trade Centre Cultural Center architect : Snøhetta

World Trade Centre site – Ground Zero : News 2006 Richard Rogers Partnership to design Tower 2 Foster & Partners (Norman Foster) to design Tower 3

Norman Foster has recently designed New York skyscraper the Hearst Tower and is designing another, adj. The Seagram Building, so despite losing out in the final shortlist for the World Trade Centre site Foster has done well.

Richard Rogers is working on massive designs for the Jacob Javits Convention Center with controversy in early 2006 when he joined a group opposed to certain Jewish settlements in Palestine

World Trade Center Towers – photos of existing buildings + images of new designs

World Trade Center Architectural Drawings : Wright’s Important Design Auction

World Trade Center New York Competition finalist : Rafael Viñoly

Another featured building by Daniel Libeskind: Creative Media Centre – Hong Kong Buildings

Another New York building by Daniel Libeskind: Condominium tower in Union City, New Jersey

New York Architectural Designs

Contemporary Architecture in New York, USA

New York Architecture News

New York Architect

New York Architecture

New York State Architecture

Comments / photos for the New York World Trade Centre page welcome

Website: Visit New York City

The post World Trade Center Architecture: WTC Manhattan appeared first on e-architect.

#e-architect

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jake-marshall · 7 years ago

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Ace Attorney (obvs.), Rune Factory, Harvest Moon, what you know of the MCU

Doing this meme. ANswers under Cut

Ace AttorneyFavorite Male Character: Overall, Diego or Jake. But when I’m having a bad day, Fulbright B)Favorite Female Character: Our Lord and savior Mia FeyFavorite Het Ship: Welcome to jake-marshall.tumblr.com also known as Mia/Diego central. Jake/Angel and Maggey/Gumshoe are other faves.Favorite Slash Ship (both M/M and F/F): In Black/Bright we trust! B) Also Klav/Daryan and the DADS (Datz/Dhurke). Juniper/Thena is my #1 F/F ship but Fran/Adrian and Metis/Aura are Good Shit (TM)Least Favorite Male Character/Least Favorite Female Character: There’s the obvious answers, villains like Kristoph, Gant, or Dahlia, but as for characters we’re supposed to like that I’m personally just not big on, Sebastian and Pearl. I don’t dislike them, I just don’t really have any investment or thoughts on them, and their storylines don’t really affect me the way other characters’ do.Least Favorite Het/Slash (both M/M and F/F) Ships: There’s a number of ships I just don’t like on their own merits, and then there’s a fair amount where I’m rather ambivalent, but am more turned off by the shippers’ behavior than the ship itself.

the ships above I have blacklisted because of a strong mixture of both reasons ^(Before anyone preaches at me that it’s up to me to control my own internet experience, I make it a point to keep my dash a happy place by not following/following back any blogs that post these ship; the tags are more for when I’m creeping through the character tags.)

Dirty Little Secret: Ummmm? Idk? I guess maybe that while the list of characters I find attractive is a short list, not every person on this list is public knowledge. Some are. But not all, and I’m going to keep it that way. No I don’t want to fuck Kristoph. Headcanons: I guess, some headcanons I have that are tied to canon, that I’m really fond of are a) Kristoph’s first trial being the trial where Dahlia is sentenced and b) Fulbright’s first few months on the force directly intersecting with the events that lead up to Turnabout ReminiscenceUnpopular Opinion: IDK? Maybe that I don’t h/c Edgeworth as gay? Or that I unapologetically like Diego/Godot, lol.Rune Factory:(I’m going to have to split my answers into different categories at some points, just based on the nature of the game, the context in which I play the game - that is, as a boy or a girl - affects my answer)Favorite Male Character: Hnnnghhhh. As an overall character, I think tbh Dylas has become my fave? But Vishnal won me over as best husbando.Favorite Female Character: THIS IS SO HARD there’s too many ;w; I really really love Margaret. But dating/marrying Karina was amazing, the amount of development she goes through.Favorite Het Ship: My favorite Protag het ship is RF4 female player character (Frey)/Vishnal, which I never expected until I played the female file on RF4... but I’m sort of a sucker for butler/maid + their “master” (as my next answers will cover). My favorite het ship out of the supporting cast is Gaius/Evelyn from RF3, they are SO CUTE I CAN’T.Favorite Slash Ship (Both M/M and F/F):I don’t really ship any of the male protags with any of the bachelors, but as for the female protag, I really like the idea of Frey/Forte. A princess and her knight. As for the supporting cast, I live a Dyldo appreciation life (they are hate-love done right) and as for F/F, I really like Electra/Maerwen from Tides of Destiny... the rich girl and her tsundere maid, lol.Least Favorite Male Character: Other than the big bad, Ethelberd, GOD, Jake from RF2...HGNNNHHH he’s just a dick? And racist lmao I mean I get it’s because of ~abandonment issues~ and that RF2 has some less than stellar writing but one would think he chills a bit with his hate-on for humans as he befriends you and/or marries Cecelia or Yue. NOPE. Least Favorite Female Character: I really found Collette from RF3 to be annoying, and not in an endearing way. :\Least Favorite Het Ship: Out of Protags, I don’t like Kyle/Mana from RF2, like, at all, mostly because it feels like the game forces it. Most of the RF/HM games have a “default” bachelorette that’s presented as the “Main” bachelorette of the game, plot-wise, but with Mana it’s just really not done well, from how you meet through the events. As for supporting cast ships, I’ve seen Leon/Forte from RF4 quite a bit and it just rubs me the wrong way. Probably because I don’t like Leon a lot but also, just... ships where one character perpetually teases the other and it’s supposed to be “flirting” just isn’t cool with me. I know Leon doesn’t mean to be malicious in his teasing but with Forte, I feel it’s not a good approach and I don’t think it makes them compatible in the least.Least Favorite Slash Ship (both M/M and F/F): Again, I don’t really have any preferences with the male protags and the male villagers, but one I particularly don’t like is Kyle/Barrett from RF2... mainly because I think Barrett and Dorothy are meant for each other but also, just... I feel it’s played as though Barrett’s animosity is just him covering his ~true feelings~ and lmfao that’s like... not at all? his character? It’s just not something that makes sense to me. I actually think all the female protag ships/female villager ships are cute enough; no preferences either way. OUt of the supporting cast, I know Forte/Margaret is popular and there’s nothing wrong with it, it just doesn’t click in that way for me.Dirty Little Secret: If I could personally marry any rune factory character... listen... I love Gordon. I love him so much. He is COMPLETELY my type, the noble bro. I don’t care if he’s like 50 and has two kids and is a priest. Headcanon(s): I guess this is a fairly popular headcanon within the fandom but I do think Zaid and Doug could be pretty closely related and I wish there were more RF games to explore more about the different Elf and Dwarf tribes.Unpopular Opinion: Shit, umm...I guess, I don’t think Rune Factory 4 is the best game for someone new to the franchise to start with. It’s the best game, by far, IMO but I think it is SO involved, so fleshed out that it could be insanely overwhelming.Harvest Moon:Favorite Male Character: Fffffffff so many. It’s so hard for me to pick between Vaughn (my first fave) and Owen (my #1 husbando). Gustafa is up there too.Favorite Female Character: Again, there’s so many wonderful ladies. Selena and Candace are opposite ends of the spectrum but both so amazing. I might be slightly more partial to Candace because...Favorite Het Ship: With the male protag, I adore Kasey/Candace. Female protag, Chelsea/Will was my first OTP and probably always will be. Out of the supporting cast/rivals, there’s too many to choose from, but Nami/Gustafa and Luke/Selena are so good. And honorary mention to Galen/Nina for breaking my goddamn heart.Favorite Slash Ship (both M/M and F/F): I actually only have one slash ship with the protag, and that is Philip/Dirk from ToTT but GOD DO i SHIP IT HARD. Out of the villagers, I can’t resist Luke/Owen for M/M and Gina/Dia (again, rich girl and her maid).Least Favorite Male Character: Buhhhhh Chase. I mean he’s just an ass. I feel like Neil from ANB is way ruder, and Rock from AWL/DS is just a complete fuckboy, but I’ve played ToT/AP so much that Chase sticks out to me the most.Least Favorite Female Character: There’s a lot of boring female characters tbh :| Elli comes to mind. Ellen, Renee, Celia... lol a lot of the girls with short brown hair, apparently.Least Favorite Het Ship: I mean as far as Protag ships, none of them I absolutely hate. I don’t really like any protag pairings with a candidate who appears in a future game (example, Gretel/Amir in Grand Bazaar, when Amir later appears in ANB as an eligible bachelor), because to me it seems like the person left your protag in the preceding game, lol.

As for rival pairings, LOOK I LOVEEEE Julius - honestly, he’s one of the better husbandos in ToT/AP - but Julius/Candace pisses me off so much. He bullied her to the point that she has no self-esteem, and then he’s all like WHUPS MY BAD I DID IT BECAUSE I LIKE YOU, well TOUGH SHIT JULIUS. CANDACE DON’T OWE YOU ANYTHING. I really like them becoming friends, repairing the damage Julius did, but I feel pairing them together is Candace “settling”, not to mention it’s basically saying Julius was okay for doing what he did, and that’s not fair to either of them.

Least Favorite Slash Ship: (Both M/M and F/F): for protags, Mark/Vaughn from IoH/SI just because I absolutely can not see Vaughn being interested in men, lol. Plus it’s usually just written as a gay version of Chelsea/Vaughn which is, by and large, also poorly done. For villagers/rivals - I really do not get Chase/Gill. At all. They’re both cynical and socially stunted in their own ways and I just think they’re too much alike for a relationship to be of any benefit to them?Dirty Little Secret: I don’t really have one when it comes to HM?Headcanon(s): Maybe they state otherwise in Story of Seasons (which I haven’t played, but Cam and Reina left Bluebell/Konohana partly because of not wanting to deal with Ash’s drama anymore, lol.Also, Neil is Vaughn and Gwen’s son. No, I mean I could see it physically but that would imply Vaughn is a shitty father lol.Unpopular Opinion: Save the Homeland is a great game? Idk I’ve only played a little bit of it and it gets a bad knock because you can’t marry in it but it has some of the better plotlines out of the whole series and is compulsively replayable.MCU (or, my limited knowledge of MCU):Favorite Male Character: You Only Loki Once. >:3 Favorite Female Character: Peggy freakin’ Carter Favorite Het Ship: Steggy /clutches heart/Favorite Slash Ship (both M/M and F/F): Stucky!!! I haven’t seen enough movies to have a F/F ship, tbh.Least Favorite Male Character: Other than the baddies, idk, I don’t really have any feelings towards Hulk/Bruce Banner. Of course that could change if I see more movies.Least Favorite Female Character: Not really a fan of Darcy.Least Favorite Het Ship: Again, I don’t really know much about their characters, but Bruce/Natasha isn’t something I care about one way or the other.Least Favorite Slash Ship (both M/M and F/F): I can’t believe I can’t just say “Other than Incest” but this one is so popular and the fact that people DON’T consider it incest should tell you exactly why I loathe it so much: Thor/Loki F/F, again, I got nothing.Dirty Little Secret: I don’t know? This isn’t really a secret I guess but I cried EXCESSIVELY to my counselor over Falcon after seeing TWS for the first time.Headcanon(s): Not sure I have any? I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about them for these characters.Unpopular Opinion: Hmmmm. Even though I really love Cap, I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily “team Cap” in the whole Civil War thing. From what I understand, Tony seemed to become more hated by Cap Fans (someone correct me if I’m wrong) but I came away after CA:CW surprised at how much I really did not hate him at all and understood his side of things.

Thanks for the ask, Holly!

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shirlleycoyle · 5 years ago

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NYC’s Last Non-Profit Can Redemption Center Is Fighting to Stay Open

When Josefa Marín arrived in New York City in 1988 from Puebla, Mexico, she found a job sewing pants in a factory. After work, Marín picked up cans and bottles on the street and exchanged them at supermarket redemption machines for an extra dollar or two.

Six years earlier, in a 1982 effort led by environmentalists to encourage recycling, New York became the eighth state to implement a “Bottle Bill,” which allowed consumers to return soda and beer containers to authorized retailers and redemption centers for 5-cents apiece. Beverage distribution companies pass this fee along to retailers who pass it onto customers. As an unintended impact of the bill—which coincided with the city’s crack epidemic and homelessness crisis—thousands of New Yorkers like Marín turned to "canning”—collecting bottles and cans in exchange for money—as a source of income.

Today, by some estimates, the city is home to 10,000 canners. And after decades of practice, Josefa and her partner Pedro collect upwards of 6,000 cans a day, sometimes earning $300. (The 5-cent redemption price has not been raised since the bill’s passage in 1982.) On canning income, the couple rents a $1,500-a-month apartment, owns a car, and supports their teenage son.

“I like canning better than working in a factory because I can be my own boss, my own manager, and my own employee,” Marín told Motherboard in Spanish in February. “If I want to make more money, I just have to work faster.”

But earning a living by canning poses many challenges, in part because few formal institutions support canners. Many New York City supermarkets collect cans, but most of those impose $12-a-day, or 240-can limits on redemptions. Most canners prefer to redeem at one of the city’s 40-odd redemption centers. In some states, including New York, redemption centers sell bottles and cans back to their distributors for a 3.5 cent handling fee, which fuels their business.

Marín goes to Sure We Can, the city’s only non-profit redemption center, in the rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. While a handful of nearby redemption centers have shut down due to rising rent since 2017, the number of canners redeeming at Sure We Can has boomed in recent years. The center recycled 12 million bottles and cans and attracted 800 canners in 2019, up from 500 in 2017.

But Sure We Can now faces the looming threat of eviction. In February, the non-profit received a letter from its landlord asking the tenants to leave the property by the end of April, triggering concern among its regulars who rely on the center to pay for rent and food, particularly during the unemployment crisis sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There are a lot of redemption centers in this city, but none like this one,” Marín said. “This place is special. We can work under tables that are protected from the sun and wind and snow and rain, and have a community. At other centers, you have to work on the street.”

Image: Lauren Kaori Gurley

Canners relish the center’s amenities: bathrooms, a handwashing station, cages for storage space, and a covered sorting station where they can separate their bottles by brand and material for an extra cent a piece. The lot itself is brimming with bottles and cans stacked inside crates, cartons, shipping containers, cages, or on top of shacks and sheds. On business days, even during the pandemic, one can hear the chatter of canners in Spanish and Chinese, and the clinking of cans and bottles, which are sorted by brand and material, then stored in clear and blue plastic bags. Later, they're stacked onto towering wooden pallets for distributors to pick up.

For canners—many of whom are undocumented immigrants, elderly, live in public housing, or suffer from mental illness or drug addition—Sure We Can is a rare welcoming space in a city that can be hostile to those without resources or social capital. Under the sheltered sorting station, canners throw birthday parties and host holiday celebrations. On a Saturday in early March, prior to shelter-in-place orders, I met with dozens of canners gathered at Sure We Can to celebrate International Day of the Recycler with cups of coffee, donuts, elotes, and bachata music.

“There’s the sense that we represent a community that doesn’t have any political capital, in any form. We can’t go to our city councilman and say these people won’t vote for you if you don’t help us, because they don’t vote."

During the 2008 economic crash, Sure We Can was founded under the name “We Can” in Chelsea by Ana Martinez de Luco, a Spanish nun. It has moved four times since then, before arriving at its Bushwick location in 2010. Martinez de Luco says that its closure would hurt the many vulnerable communities in Bushwick who rely on it for a livelihood.

“The main priority for canners is accessibility. They want redemption centers close to where they pick up,” Martinez de Luco told Motherboard. “At least four nearby redemption centers have closed in the area, and so more people started coming here in recent years.”

Martinez de Luco wants to purchase the Bushwick lot it works out of, which it rents for $5,461 a month, but will need outside funding to do so. The lot has been appraised at $2.6 million. At the end of April, the landlord agreed to extend the lease through May to allow the redemption center more time to apply for funding from the city.

“We have no plans to leave. We still have a period of time even once a formal legally binding eviction would be issued,” said Castalia, the programs manager at Sure We Can. “And then even given that we would fight that in court, so we hope to extend our period here as long as legally possible.”

The number of redemption centers in New York City has been in steady decline for years as the real value of cans and bottles has dropped, while the luxury New York real estate market has boomed. Surging Manhattan real estate prices have driven every redemption center off the island; those centers have been supplanted by midnight pop-up markets under the Manhattan Bridge and on Wall Street for canners to redeem cans and bottles. In Bushwick, a handful of redemption centers have shuttered in recent years. The closure of redemption centers means fewer canners, who play a crucial role in keeping city streets clean and diverting millions of tons of cans and bottles from landfills.

“Redeemers have been vitally important to the functioning of New York’s law from the beginning,” Judith Enck, a senior fellow at Bennington University who worked to pass New York state’s first bottle legislation in 1983, told Motherboard. “It’s been interesting to see their numbers grow and disappointing to see how hard it’s become to find places to take their recycling.”

“There are a lot of people who come here to pay the bills and support their kids. And others do it because they have mental health issues or suffer from drug addiction,” Rene del Carmen, a former canner who works as Sure We Can’s operations manager, told Motherboard in Spanish. “A lot of people maintain their lives here. Without this work they cannot pay for their kids or food.”

Del Carmen, originally from Puebla, Mexico, started canning at night near Grand Central Station in the early 2010s after struggling to hold a job in the restaurant industry because of a drinking problem. After landing in the hospital, he quit drinking but continued to want to shape his life around canning and joined the staff of Sure We Can.

“I think people feel safer and more attended to here. People live like a family,” he said. “They all know each other. There’s an order here to receive them. And we pay them for what they bring. Other redemption centers pay canners less.”

Image: Lauren Kaori Gurley

At Sure We Can, more than three quarters of the regular canners were born outside of the U.S., and 54 percent identify as Latino. The average canner who visits Sure We Can earns $1,000 a year, supplementing their income with government assistance, but earnings vary widely, with some workers taking home up to $40,000 a year. Others earn much less.

“I’m always broke,” George, a Sure We Can regular, who lives in the nearby Williamsburg Houses, a public housing project, told Motherboard in March. “I make $33 working three hours a day at most. Today I made $16. Some days I make $8.”

New York City canners are known to pay apartment building porters for access to garbage, but Marín says she does not do this.

Since 1971, when Oregon passed the nation’s first bottle bill, 10 states have followed suit. Many of these bills, like New York’s, are in need of an expansion that raises the deposit and includes new beverage containers. A nickel in 1982, when the Bottle Bill was passed, was worth nearly three times what it's worth today.

Sure We Can is pushing for legislators to pass an expansion of the Bottle Bill that would double the deposit and handling fees (which support redemption centers) to 10 and 7 cents respectively, which has earned the support of some state and local politicians.

Last year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislators proposed an update to the legislation, which would add non-carbonated beverages including juice, vegetable, and sports drinks, as well as iced tea and coffee beverages. Other state legislators sponsored a bill last year that would expand the bill to include wine and liquor bottles, which would cover 1.3 billion containers a year. Expanding the bottle bill would bring in millions of dollars of revenue for New York state, which collects 4 cents from every bottle and can that goes unredeemed. (The remaining cent goes to beverage distribution companies.) Already the state makes $100 million a year from the program.

Sure We Can supports both expansion plans. But since the pandemic broke out, most of these conversations have been put on hold.

“There’s the sense that we represent a community that doesn’t have any political capital, in any form,” said Ryan Castalia, the programs manager at Sure We Can. “We can’t go to our city councilman and say these people won’t vote for you if you don’t help us, because they don’t vote. It’s hard for canners to advocate for themselves when society is saying you have nothing to offer us in terms of money and votes. What they do have to offer is their labor and their capacity to build community. The question for us is how these things can be recognized.”

Making matters trickier, New York City runs a competing recycling program with New York state and has opposed expansions to the bill.

Expanding the Bottle Bill would allow the city’s recycling processor, Sims Municipal Recycling, to raise its rates, causing the city to lose money. The city’s 20-year contract with Sims contains provisions that require revenue-sharing between Sims and the city when the value of commodities is high, but it also includes so-called “adjustments” if the city cannot collect enough materials due to new legislation that removes more beverage containers from the waste stream. Then the onus falls on the city to pay additional amounts.

Lauren Kaori GUrley

Meanwhile, Sims, which selling cans and bottles to third-party commodities buyers for most of its revenue, opposes Cuomo’s legislation that would add iced tea, juice, coffee, and sports drinks to the Bottle Bill, while supporting putting a deposit on wine and liquor bottles, according to Tom Outerbridge, the General Manager of Sims Municipal Recycling. This is because aluminum and plastics have the strongest market value to third party buyers, while the value of glass—which is more difficult to process—is worth close to nothing. In other words, Sims would benefit from having glass wine and liquor bottles removed from the waste stream, but lose revenue without plastic and aluminum containers.

Experts say that the number of canners in New York City is likely to climb in the coming months as thousands of unemployed New Yorkers look for new sources of income in the absence of job opportunities.

“The revenues associated with the sale of the commodities are a big part of the equation for us…Millions and millions of [those] dollars are diverted from the waste stream in New York City,” Outerbridge told Motherboard. “When you strip out [plastics] and aluminum, you aren’t left with much revenue.”

In New Jersey, which doesn’t have a bottle bill, Sims receives up to $30 more per load of waste more than does it in New York City, says Outerbridge.

“It’s not that we have an anti-canner position,” said Outerbridge. “Personally I feel for these people, and believe they’re not out to hurt us, but we bring these issues up because we want people and policymakers to realize their implications….If you’re goal is providing a livelihood for these people, you probably need a better solution [than canning.]”

Beverage distribution companies such as Pepsi-Cola (Aquafina, Pepsi, Mountain Dew), Manhattan Beer (Corona, Heineken) and Union Brewing (Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch), which must buy back redeemed containers, also oppose the expansion of bottling legislation.

No one knows exactly how many canners live in New York City, but the environmental consulting firm Eumonia estimated the number to be between 4,000 and 8,000 in 2019. Sure We Can’s owner thinks there's more than 10,000, and experts say that the number is likely to climb in the coming months as thousands of unemployed New Yorkers look for new sources of income in the absence of job opportunities. During the cuts to social welfare spending in the Reagan years, the canning community swelled. And in 2009, a modification to the Bottle Bill to include water bottles, during the peak of the financial crisis, incentivized thousands of New Yorkers to take up canning.

“I see some parallels between the pandemic and the time when the Bottle Bill passed during the Reagan years,” Enck, the Bennington University instructor who worked to pass New York state’s first bottle legislation in 1983, told Motherboard. “We thought kids would go out and collect bottles, but so many people were unemployed at the time and began looking to supplement their income with canning. It was an unexpected outcome.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Sure We Can’s staffers say canners, particularly the large Chinese immigrant community, stopped showing up. Martinez de Luco suspects this is because of knowledge of the virus’s impact on the elderly in China and fears of racially-targeted violence. (Martinez de Luco has received reports of Chinese canners facing harassment on the street since the pandemic broke out). But in the months to come, she expects that number to grow.

“During the 2008 financial crisis, there was such a loss of jobs in the city, thousands of people started canning,” said Martinez de Luco. “It was a real boom for the sector.”

Martinez de Luco says she will fight to keep Sure We Can open, but in order to support canners during the crisis and prevent the closure of more redemption centers, the state will need to pass legislation to expand the Bottle Bill.

“The improvement of the Bottle Bill in 2009 led to more redemption centers and canners,” said Martinez de Luco. “The best way to help people now is to increase the types of containers and increase the deposit. Believe me, people won’t stop buying Pepsi-Cola if it costs five cents more, since bodegas are constantly raising their prices. But for those of us who make a livelihood off of that, to have ten cents instead of five cents would change everything.”

NYC’s Last Non-Profit Can Redemption Center Is Fighting to Stay Open syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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