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wanderinginksplot · 3 years

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Rex + Engineer!Reader

This is the prequel to the Rex + Blanket Fort + Kisses one-shot found here on my masterlist. As this is a prequel to that story, you don't need to have read it for this to make sense. And as you could probably tell from the picture, this takes place during the Onderon arc.

Rex x gn!reader: intended to be early romance, but could be read as platonic.

Word Count: a bit more than 3,400

Warnings: canon-typical violence, including spoilers for the Onderon arc (S 5, E 2-5) of Star Wars: The Clone Wars

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"And Captain Rex will train everyone in the encampment on basic combat skills and maneuvers," General Skywalker announced.

You didn't pay overly much attention to that. The general was younger than you had anticipated, but he was clearly used to combat and had the kind of authority usually honed through commanding large groups of soldiers. Still, you knew his order didn't apply to you and moved to slip away from the area. Your schematics needed a lot more work before the rebels could attack without bringing buildings down.

"And where are you running off to?" a muscular man with light hair asked, stepping into your path.

You gave a tight smile. "Classified, sorry."

The man nodded toward the general. "General Skywalker says everyone needs combat training."

"Oh, not me," you reassured him. "I'm a contracted engineer, not one of the Rebels. I'm just here to make sure they destroy as little of the infrastructure as possible while they take back control."

"And do you live in the encampment?" he asked.

You narrowed your eyes at him, feeling sure this was a trap. Eventually, you gave a short nod.

"Then you'll be training with me," he said firmly. "Captain Rex, 501st Legion."

You reluctantly shook the hand he offered and introduced yourself, finishing with, "-but I'm strictly an engineer."

"We're worried that this isn't likely to end without one or several attacks on this encampment," the captain told you. "A few hours of training could save your life."

"And a few hours of work on the city's schematics could save the lives of countless civilians," you argued. Sending that he would continue trying to convince you, you shook your head. "The Gerrera siblings are the ones who hired me. I'll let them make the final choice."

"And I'll leave it to the Generals," Captain Rex agreed.

Clearly not taking chances, he marched off toward where Steela Gerrera and Lux Bonteri were talking with Generals Skywalker and Kenobi, as well as a Togrutan female you vaguely remembered as being a commander.

"Generals, Commander," Captain Rex greeted with a crisp salute. You rolled your eyes. Soldiers. "We were hoping you could settle a difference of opinion."

"A difference of opinion?" General Kenobi repeated with a frown.

"What opinion would that be, Rex?" General Skywalker asked.

The captain explained the situation while you stood in silence. Steela met your gaze at several points during the conversation, looking concerned each time.

"We're only here to train the rebels," General Skywalker said after Captain Rex had finished talking. "Not anyone else."

"All of us are rebels," Steela argued, ignoring your signals that you didn't want training at all. "Just by being here in opposition to the Separatist forces, we are all considered a threat to their power."

"A contracted employee is different than someone who joined your cause because they believe in it," the commander countered, wrinkling her nose. "We aren't offering training to mercenaries."

"We're talking about an engineer, not someone hired to perform assassinations," Lux contributed. "What could it hurt?"

"Generals, Commander," Rex said, his quiet voice somehow drawing their attention. "I think every member of the rebel group needs to be trained. I think it's important."

"Rex…" General Kenobi sighed, but Skywalker interrupted before he could expand on his thoughts.

"I trust Rex's instincts," he told the older general. "If he thinks everyone needs to be trained, we'll make it happen."

You made a frustrated noise before you could stop yourself. "I don't need training. I'm an engineer. I don't work in combat situations."

"That's the thing about combat," Skywalker said with a shrug. "You don't always have to look for it. Sometimes, it comes to you. Especially in wartime."

The group split up immediately afterward, seemingly having come to an agreement. You followed Steela, determined to make your case and get back to your schematics.

"Steela, you know I'm not here for fighting," you said, jogging to catch up to the young woman who had hired you. "It isn't part of my contract."

"It isn't, you're right," she agreed. "But I would think carefully before I turned down a chance to learn such a valuable skill considering how dangerous the galaxy is right now. Surely this could be helpful as a freelancer traveling the universe alone?"

You didn't have an immediate answer to that. Steela clearly noticed, nodding solemnly at you before turning away. "The choice is yours to make."

You gritted your teeth, but your feet refused to move from the spot. To your left was the strategic tent and your unfinished set of schematics. To the right, the Jedi were helping the rebels set up some kind of training ring.

"Well?" a voice prompted. You already recognized it as belonging to Rex.

You stood still for a beat longer before giving a loud and heartfelt groan as you turned toward the freshly constructed training ring.

---

You were bad at fighting.

It wasn't really a shock to you. You had never been particularly graceful or good on your feet. That was why engineering had been such a draw - all mental work, almost no physical.

Rex, to his credit, turned out to be a surprisingly good teacher. He had kept everyone basically together as they learned new skills and practiced as a group. Still, he was determined that you would learn to defend yourself and here you were, fighting to shoot targets in the dying light, long after everyone else had scattered.

"I'm sorry," you apologized yet again as you missed. You were half an hour into intensive shooting lessons with Rex and you had yet to hit a single target.

"You don't need to apologize," he assured. "We'll just keep working until you get it down."

"I don't know if I can," you admitted, lowering the heavily modified blaster pistol until it was resting on the table in front of you. "We're losing the light and it's a bad idea to illuminate any more of the jungle than we have to."

"That's true," Rex agreed, rubbing at his neck while he studied the unharmed target. After a moment, he took the blaster pistol from your hands and holstered it at his side, then removed the holster belt as well.

You nodded sympathetically, hoping you could call it a night and put in a few hours of work on your schematics so the day wouldn't be a total waste.

Rex sighed, removing the subtly armored jacket he had been wearing during that day's training. "I guess we'll… we'll just have to switch to something less impacted by visibility."

"Wait, what?" you had time to ask before the stoic captain flat-out tackled you.

You were aware enough to know that Captain Rex had twisted to take part of the impact himself, but you still hit the ground hard enough to knock the breath from your lungs. In that moment of hollow gasping, Rex had pushed you onto your stomach and pinned your hands behind your back.

"The first rule of unarmed conflict is that you can't let anyone surprise you." Rex paused for a moment. "Actually, that's the first rule of any kind of conflict."

"Is the second rule that you shouldn't suffocate your sparring partner?" you croaked out, turning your head slightly so your face wasn't actively being pressed into the dirt anymore.

Rex laughed. It was the first time you had heard anything other than firm orders from him and you paused. It was a nice laugh. You were forced to gather your thoughts a moment later as he released you and helped you to your feet.

"You probably won't see a lot of hand-to-hand fighting with droids, but the armies aren't capable of anything beyond following orders. The armies are commanded by sentients, and those sentients are often closer to the armies than you would think."

"I have no intention of going after Grievous without a weapon," you joked. "Preferably more than one."

"You should stay away from Grievous no matter how many weapons you have," Rex advised. "But this is good to know, anyway."

"Actually, I agree with that," you said, surprising you both. "I'm a freelancer. Anything that helps me defend myself in a potentially hostile situation is a good thing."

"Okay, let's work on your hits, then," Rex suggested.

What followed was two full hours of unarmed combat practice. Rex was always the target, letting you throw punches and kicks against his open palms. When he realized that you were pulling your strikes because you were afraid to hurt him, he found a padded guard among the assortment of equipment the Republic had sent along.

Eventually, though, you were panting and bone-tired. Rex seemed to realize that without you saying anything.

"One last set of strikes and you're done for the night," Rex told you. It was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever said to you.

But as you punched, Rex moved the guard you had been aiming for. You shot him a look, but he only held the guard up, wiggling it slightly. You set up again, but Rex pulled away at the last second, dodging your fist to bop you on the shoulder with the guard.

"What are you doing?" you asked, exasperated. "You said this was the last set."

"It is. Or, it will be as soon as you actually manage to make contact."

You grimaced at him. This time, when he twisted the guard away, you turned with it. You were focused on keeping your footwork correct and your hit strong. You never even saw him move his foot between your ankles, but with a light tug, you were on the ground again.

"Seriously?" you asked from your spot in the dirt.

Rex laughed again, and this time, you didn't enjoy the sound at all. "Do you think your opponents are going to stand there and let you hit them? They're going to fight dirty - they always do. You just need to-"

As it happens, you never did learn what you needed to do. Rex had stepped too close, and your engineering experience told you that his ankles were at an angle that made him vulnerable to a hit. You kicked his ankle lightly, barely making contact, but it was enough to send one of his feet careening against the other. Rex stumbled, failed to regain his balance, and fell.

All of this was done on instinct and you felt as surprised as Rex looked when he landed on his butt in the dirt next to you.

"Good job," he said, breathless but sincere.

"Thanks," you accepted with a grin. "Does that mean I surprised you?"

"Not a bit," he denied, deflating your ego a bit. "I knew you were capable of it. You're an engineer. Engineers like angles and math. That's all combat is, adjusted for whatever you think the other side is going to do."

"Wait, that's… that's a really good point," you mused slowly. "Can I see your pistol again?"

Rex didn't move. "If you shoot me, you'll surprise me in the wrong way."

You snorted. "I'm not planning on shooting you, Captain. I just want to test how the application of math might help me."

After eyeing you for a moment, Rex stood in an enviably graceful motion and hauled you to your feet as well. Wordlessly, he handed you one of his blaster pistols. He had warned you before you began shooting that he had made numerous alterations to them, but you were still surprised by the weight of the weapon in your hand.

This time, instead of relying on instinct - point, aim, shoot - you worked to apply some logic. When you were sure about your angle, you squeezed the hyper-sensitive trigger and watched the resulting beam of weaponized light hit the target.

It wasn't a perfect shot, of course. Math couldn't fix everything. Still, you had hit the target and you cheered aloud, echoed by Rex's congratulations behind you. You had the presence of mind to set the pistol down before you turned, then Rex was grasping your forearm in the odd way warriors shook hands.

"Great job!" he told you warmly. "You're getting better."

"Thanks," you accepted, trying to vocalize your gratitude. You probably could have been offended by the tone of surprise in his voice, but you chose to overlook it.

"Now we just have to dial in your aim and get you comfortable with firing at moving targets, especially during chaotic situations."

Despite your best efforts, you felt your expression fall at that. Rex laughed again. When had he gotten so cheerful? "I'm kidding. That can be done tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" you repeated doubtfully.

Rex folded his arms across his chest and stared at you steadily. "In one session, you've gone from unable to shoot a gun or throw a punch to knocking me down and hitting a target. If you can keep that pace of improvement, you'll be a force to be reckoned with."

"Or at least be able to stop clients who try to cop a feel," you added.

Despite his darkening expression, Rex's tone was unconcerned. "I'm sure you could break the hand of any di'kut dumb enough to try it now. With some training, you'd be able to tear that hand off completely."

And so you continued to train with Rex after everyone else had finished learning to disable tanks and other intense activities. During the day, you finalized schematics, studying holoimages of Onderon’s capital city of Iziz. Your goal was to record your best guesses for the most and least structurally-sound sections of the city.

The dedication the rebels showed for the safety of the Onderonian people was a big reason you had agreed to take this job. Despite what the Jedi seemed to think, you weren't actually a mercenary. You chose your jobs very carefully, and if something didn't match your morals, you would respectfully decline.

Between schematic work in the day and training at night, your time with the rebels flew past. Captain Rex continued to be patient and helpful as you worked to master the combat moves he taught you - ones decidedly more focused on self-defense than the moves he taught the rebels. The first day you had beaten him in a grappling situation, he had beamed up at you with dirt on his face and told you how far you had progressed. The squeezing of your heart at the praise warned that it was probably good that the captain and both Jedi generals were withdrawing from Onderon shortly, leaving Commander Tano to assist with the remaining rebel efforts.

Despite your determination to stay out of the conflict, you had eventually been forced into it when the Separatist armies had attacked the rebel base. One of the rebels you had known by appearance if not by name had been hit by blaster fire before he could use the rocket launcher held in his hands. He had held it up to you, begging with his eyes that you take out the ship that had fired on him before it could do more damage.

You had accepted, and the ship was a roiling ball of flame before you could make yourself nervous about shooting anything other than Rex’s now-familiar blasters. You tossed aside the rocket launcher and found a discarded blaster. From that point until the combat had ended, thoughts of schematics or building solidity were gone from your head. You were as much a part of the rebel group as anyone else, and you watched with the same horror as Steela Gerrera fell to her death, despite the best efforts of Commander Tano.

The funeral was lovely. Onderonians didn’t believe in mourning for their dead. Instead, they truly celebrated all that the departed had done to create a better society… and Steela had done a great deal.

When things had ended, you were sitting on a raised set of stairs overlooking the ceremonial area. The dais holding Steela’s cloth-draped casket was filled with people far too important for you to bother. You were glad to see Saw speaking with King Dendup. After he had handed you the agreed-upon payment for your services - despite your many attempts to refuse the credits - Saw had left, ignoring the sympathy you tried to offer. He needed to speak with someone, and if that someone was the man he and Steela had worked so hard to save, so much the better.

“Nice ceremony, huh?” someone asked from behind you, and you twisted a bit to find General Skywalker standing there with Captain Rex beside him.

You nodded, but you could feel that it was a half-hearted motion. “Steela was so young. She had a lot of promise.”

“She died fulfilling the mission she set out to finish,” Captain Rex countered. “She knew the risks and thought Dendup was worth it. Her choices were her own. All we can do is respect them.”

With a joyless smile, you said, “Doesn’t make it any easier.”

“It never does,” General Skywalker admitted, sitting next to you. Rex’s comlink chimed and he stepped a respectful distance away before answering it.

Skywalker sat beside you in silence for a while. Normally, you would speak first just for sake of politeness, but you weren’t feeling that generous. You let the silence linger while you watched the activity on the dais.

“Have you ever thought about using your talents for the Republic?” the general asked eventually.

“I thought I was a soulless mercenary?” you asked before you could think better of it.

“And I thought you didn’t work in combat situations,” Skywalker countered. “But I’ve seen the battlefield recordings. You handled yourself well.”

You glanced over at him in surprise. “Are you trying to contract me on as a soldier?”

“Force, no,” he denied quickly. “As an engineer. I sent samples of your work to a friend of mine who works as an engineer in the private sector and they were impressed. The GAR is struggling to find good engineers comfortable working in combat. The pay is a bit lower than you’re used to, but it’s steady work.”

Ah, he had cut straight to the heart of your problem with freelancing. The fight to survive between jobs meant that anything extra you were making was eaten up by the time you were hired on again. And your morals meant that jobs weren’t nearly as frequent as you would like them to be. But being in constant combat… Yes, you had survived this time, but that didn’t mean you were rushing to repeat the experience.

You grimaced. “I appreciate the offer, really, but I don’t know if it’s for me. Combat engineering isn’t really my specialty.”

“I think you’re selling yourself short,” General Skywalker told you seriously. “I’ve seen samples of your past work, and a lot of it is on worlds that have a lot of fighting. I’m sure you know that none of your structures have sustained extreme damage, no matter how much combat was happening around them. That’s an impressive record.”

“You researched me?” you asked, feeling a little stunned.

“Well, the Republic likes to know who they’re hiring. But honestly, I’m not the one who did the research,” Skywalker said, looking past you. You followed his gaze to Rex, who was suddenly very intently looking at his comlink. With a mischievous grin, the general added, “I think my captain has taken a liking to you.”

You fought back a grin, turning away from the captain, and your eyes fell on Steela’s casket once more. Suddenly, keeping a straight face wasn’t as much of a struggle. “If I said yes, what would my official job duties be?”

“You would oversee a group of construction experts - both civilian and enlisted - using maps and satellite footage to find the best possible choices for locations to build bases, bridges, or other structures to help us complete campaigns,” he answered easily. “Preferably, to win campaigns, but that’s more on us than you.”

“And would I work with your group?”

“The 501st?” Skywalker asked, sounding surprised. “I’m not sure, but probably. We’re a planetary landing battalion, so we always need someone who has the knowledge of places to build. You might have to stay behind on some planets to supervise base construction, but you could always catch back up with us. Is that something you would want?”

“Yes,” you said firmly. “If I did agree to that-”

“I’m no good at negotiations,” he interrupted with a self-deprecating smile. “You speak clearly about what you want and I’ll do what I can.”

“I’ll work for the Republic,” you said, feeling the nerves twist in your belly. “If you can make sure I’m permanently attached to the 501st.”

“Deal,” General Skywalker accepted immediately, holding his hand out for you to shake. “Welcome to the 501st.”

---

A/N - I assure you that there is no timeline of any sort happening in my writing, so don't think too hard about where this should fit into the narrative. It won't end well.

Thanks for reading!

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#star wars #star wars the clone wars #star wars fanfiction #sw tcw fic #tcw rex #captain rex #rex #rex x reader #rex x you #star wars fic

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zuzuslastbraincell · 3 years

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☕ atla comics

been a while since i read them very closely but they’re largely trash imo.

they mostly serve as a springboard to LoK’s setting, something i’m not particularly interested in and prefer to ignore, since it’s informed greatly by western-style imperialism and liberal perspectives on modernity and politics. since ATLA is set in a late feudal / early industrial period, with at best clearly flawed and short-sighted leaders (at worst rampant imperialists), the show writers are not as invested in defending the 'status quo’ and while there are moments (e.g. Jet, Hama) where the writers’ political leanings end up manifesting in ham-fisted ways that condemn certain types of anti-imperialist resistance that do not agree with their liberal perspectives, ATLA largely serves as a decent, serviceable critique of imperialism and imperialistic war.

The comics, however, have the heroes in the driving seat of political power, with the end goal of setting up LoK’s worldstate, and that means they do some bafflingly irritating things especially r.e. Yu Dao / Republic City. IMO, I would actually be fine with Zuko, who has only recently challenged his own imperialistic upbringings, on receiving the crown and basically being left to rule a nation who at its very core is driven by an imperialist, hierarchical understanding of the world, and backsliding somewhat on those principles. Like, he is living in a palace, no longer surrounded by ardent anti-imperialists, most probably surrounded by advisors and officials with imperialistic mindsets, while he is trying to draw a line somewhere between a vision of the Fire Nation that rejects the core principles of imperialism and a Fire Nation that could be palatable to his people, not understanding the ‘people’ he is listening to right now are the elite who are able to get anywhere near close to the palace. I don’t think that Zuko being wrong is actually out of the question. What frustrates me is that this isn’t challenged and deconstructed, Zuko doesn’t realise he’s out of touch, what frustrates me is that they reach a ‘compromise’ on an issue that shouldn’t be compromised on, that Aang & co. don’t push back and say ‘nah this land belongs to the EK you’re in the wrong here’. That can’t happen, obviously, as Republic City needs to exist, and Republic City needs to be Aang and Zuko’s pet project (nevermind it’s not their land! not their people! not their business!). The conclusion reached doesn’t have anything meaningful to say about imperialism and doesn’t see the fact that the heroes are in positions of political power as an interesting opportunity to examine what being in power means and how your perspectives can shift due to your elevated position.

My other main issue is that pretty much every character is flattened, simplified, and is lacking in depth.

Katara largely just follows Aang around. She doesn’t have many meaningful arcs of her own, doesn’t develop as a character or contribute much to the plot. I recall one arc in particular showing Katara being ignored / neglected by Aang while he’s getting a load of attention and it’s frustrating how that could have been a good moment of character conflict that doesn’t.... go anywhere. Ugh.

Sokka is largely reduced to dumb comic relief, ironically, the very role that the show took pains to avoid Sokka being exactly that.

Azula I could write an essay on, but largely I hate that she was thrown in an institution without that idea ever being considered cruel or hurtful (like, incarceration isn’t fun!) and just turns her into a flat, spiteful villain and implies there’s no hope for her. Bad!

Ursa shifts from a complex character who loved her family & committed treason for them even though it’s implied she was otherwise loyal and committed to the nation before then, and is portrayed as an “uncomplicated” victim. Furthermore, despite abandoning her children, despite erasing her memory of them and replacing them, this is never treated as morally complicated decision, as a failing.

There’s more honestly. I could go on. Why are the Kyoshi warriors serving the Fire Lord? The Fire Lord who 1. who burnt down their island 2. leads the nation the world was at war with? (I love the fact that we see more Suki, and Suki & Zuko interaction, but this is not how I want to see it). Then there’s the whole way Toph & her parents are handled..... ugh. Lots of bad.

The new art style in ‘Imbalance’ is lovely, imo, but the plot of that comic is predicated on a lot of worldbuilding r.e. Yu Dao / Republic City, as well as Toph’s relationship with her parents, and contrived conflicts between benders and non-benders which don’t speak true to the actual axis of oppression (ie. between fire nation colonials and earth nation citizens) that was at play not too long ago.

I liked Katara & the Pirate’s Silver, it was a fun, sweet story, and IMO I’d definitely be interested in more side-stories that don’t touch the mess that is ATLA’s post-canon situation.

#sissyspacex123

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dragon-grunkle · 3 years

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star wars and flight rising are in the same universe and here’s why, a ted talk by stanley

in an effort to both 1. talk about my lore more often like i’ve been meaning to and 2. explain what i meant when i went off about it in the tags of my last post, i’m gonna attempt to explain my rationale for deciding star wars and flight rising can totally coexist in the same universe.

there’s a tldr at the very bottom! i do use rebels as a basis for some of this lore, since it basically just confirms concepts i was already thinking of before i even watched the show, but it IS a little spoilery sometimes.

SO. what do we know about sornieth? here’s a summary: it’s the fourth planet from its sun. it has at least one but possibly two or more moons. powerful beings of pure elemental energy sprung up in the early days of the planet’s formation. a darkness from beyond attacks the planet, and the gods build a pillar to keep it out. after this, humanoid races flourish and they learn to combine magic with technology, but eventually someone gets too arrogant and builds a big machine that blows up all of civilization. from this, the arcanist is born. he grows curious and encounters the shade, which breaks the pillar. the other gods see this and decide to go their separate ways. they create dragons.

this new society has reached a point roughly equivalent to the 1920s, and that’s as far as we’ve gotten. that’s it, that’s flight rising. no aliens mentioned, except for the shade (and possibly the forbidden portal enemies if you count those, but that’s for another time).

what about star wars? as we all know, it’s set ‘a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away’. there is a lot of history here that isn’t really relevant, so i’m just going to talk briefly about the layout of the galaxy: it isn’t named, but there are different sections to it that are, and they’re grouped according to how far away a planet is from the center of the galaxy. you have: the core worlds, the inner rim, the mid rim, the outer rim, and wild space. generally, planets are more densely populated towards the center of the galaxy and less as you go out. compare coruscant, a core world entirely covered by a city and inhabited by trillions of people, to tatooine, an outer rim planet that wookieepedia states has 200,000 inhabitants total.

-----

where does sornieth fit in this map? the answer is simple: wild space. this region lies beyond the outer rim, where not many bother to travel because it’s just not worth it, and it’s where i’ve placed sornieth in this scenario. wookieepedia says:

Unlike other regions of the galaxy, Wild Space existed along the entire circumference of the galactic disk and on the borderlands of the Unknown Regions. It was inhabited by sentient species but not fully charted, explored, and civilized.

star wars: rebels touches on wild space a bit: one of its main characters is a lasat, a species thought to be wiped out by the empire. lasats come from lasan, but they have a legendary ancestral homeworld called lira san. except it turns out that lira san isn’t a myth: it’s real, it’s populated, and it’s in wild space.

the fact that an entire species believed their original homeworld was a myth means we can easily set sornieth there without ever having to worry about political groups such as the republic, the empire, and the rebellion coming across the planet and mucking up our established rule of No Aliens Besides Shade (And Maybe Arcanist). it’s conveniently out of the way AND protects the lore of both continuities very well, ensuring that they don’t interfere with each other by introducing a previously-unheard-of super-powerful flying magical race to the galaxy, or having stormtroopers invade the southern icefields, or something else fucky like that.

------

now that we’ve got location covered, we have to talk about the force, magic, and the gods. i’m gonna get a little handwavey here, but it’s also, i think, the most interesting part of this whole thing, so here we go.

first off, the force. what is it? here’s how obi-wan describes it in a new hope:

It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.

with that description in mind, i want to draw attention to one little throwaway line from the flight rising lorebook chapter 1: the first age:

From this bedlam, the magical energies themselves began to concentrate and change. Similar particles receded into four great beings, each overwhelmingly dense with a different element. As if eager to proudly display their emergence to some unseen divinity, these beings took on the shapes of great wyrms.

that ‘unseen divinity’? yeah, that’s the force. you could even take the ‘similar particles’ bit to mean midi-chlorians, if you want to acknowledge the prequels’ interpretation of the force.

as we know, some people are stronger with the force than others. these people usually become jedi or sometimes sith, depending on whether they use the light or the dark side. but the jedi and sith aren’t the only force users out there: there are plenty of civilizations who have different names and explanations for it and how it manifests itself varies from person to person. in fact, the lasat people i mentioned earlier recognized the force as something called ‘the ashla’. so different concepts for the force exist across the galaxy, and it’s very possible that what we know as ‘elemental magic’ on sornieth is simply how dragons see different aspects of the force. as if that wasn’t enough, we also know some force users can use the force to manipulate the elements themselves, like how palpatine can use the dark side to create lightning.

so really: i don’t think it’s a stretch to say some intensely powerful creatures born of the universe itself could specialize in a specific aspect of the force and manifest entirely that way.

[billy mays voice] But Wait, There’s More! i’m gonna reference rebels again. yeah, i know. on the planet of atollon lives the bendu, a being of the force who is neither light nor dark. he’s powerful, and at one point, turns himself into a giant storm and strikes down ships with lightning to defend his planet. loth-wolves are a similar concept. they’re animals which are shown to have a deep connection to the force, but only as it relates to the planet they call home, lothal. at one point a character asks if the loth-wolves are on their side and the answer is "they're on lothal's side.” this is how i see the gods as existing in the greater star wars universe: powerful beings intrinsically linked to the planet they originate from. they’re capable of great feats on their own, but can guide others (like humans or dragons) to use the force / magic in their stead.

the gods are real inasmuch as the force is real, and act as extensions of one another. if we wanna go a step further, the deities could all be light-side users and the shade is their dark counterpart, which is a REALLY fun concept to explore.

-----

phew, that’s it. i’ve covered most of it except for how dragons get off sornieth and into the wider galaxy, which is...somewhat less essential than the stuff i talked about above, but i still want to address it, especially since we’ve established they have no outside contact and are limited to 1920s tech. to keep it brief, the easiest answer is...magic.

i don’t want to get tooooo deep into rebels stuff again, but space-time portals do exist in star wars, which is really exciting for me personally, and also a nice setup for dragons to get out into the galaxy - if they have access to them, that is; in rebels they only appear in a jedi temple, but i think it’s possible other access points exist, given that other force-societies also exist. the point is, being handwavey and saying ‘eh, portals’ is a valid excuse that doesn’t totally break either universe because they are canon to both universes. you could also go the route of magic experiments gone wrong, the deities picking off a few special individuals and sending them out, or crazy lighning-arcane tech mergers shooting dragons off into space, never to be heard from again.

there’s any number of possibilities here, ranging from crazy space wizard shenanigans to early spaceflight gone very very wrong.

-----

tldr: sornieth is located in the far reaches of the galaxy, away from major events, and has remained undiscovered. the deities are manifestations of the force channeled through the planet itself; the gods and the force are extensions of one another. sometimes dragons can get off sornieth, but not often, so dragons are rare in the wider galaxy. there is no conflict of lore that says these two things CAN’T exist in the same universe, and in fact, the lore sometimes even supports them coexisting.

or in other words: star wars and flight rising coexist because i want them to, but also because i have legitimate justification for it. i’m too powerful and nobody can stop me from making star wars dragons now.

#flight rising #star wars #fr lore #crossover #flight rising lore #stanley says stuff #wait i dont have a lore tag.....a travesty #stanley loves lore #<- bc it has to be alliterative in some way #there we go. lore tag exists now #if anyone reads this i will be shocked lmfao #i will go feral if anyone reads and asks me questions about this shit #im still debating whether or not i should post that 10k monster lorefic but for now theres this #bc i sorta needed to organize my thoughts for myself too + bc i need to explain my mando dragon who ive already shown off

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askaphjamaica1962 · 3 years

Text

Hello, I've had this character for awhile but just got around to it.

Quote:

"Ha take that you fucking Russian loser commie. It must be so embarrassing, losing a winter game against a tropical country."

-Jamaica 1994 Winter Olympics after the team beat Russia.

HUMAN NAME:

Gabrielle Amancia Sharpe-Gordon

Gabrielle is the most popular name in Jamaica, the middle name, Amancia is a name of Jamaican origin and the two last names are after two of our national heroes, Samuel Sharpe and George William Gordon.

Born: Discovery Bay/Bahia del descubrimiento (it was the first place the Tainos settled and the first place Christopher Colombus docked.)

GOVERNMENT:

Unitary Parliamentary and Constitutional Monarchy.

FOUNDING DATE:

The island was ‘discoverd’ by Christopher Colombus on the 5th of May, 1494.

INDEPENDENCE DATE:

Was granted independence from England on the 6th of August, 1962.

MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGES:

NATIONAL: Jamaican Patois

OFFICIAL: Jamaican Standard English

She can also speak Spanish (since you know first colonizer), French and Dutch (from the Caribbean), Portuguese (Brazil), Russian (because of the close relations) and the language of her native people, the Arawaks.

Age: Appears to be 20 (did this because I saw a suggestion that countries that were colonised earlier, would be older), in term of Independence 58 and in terms of colonisation, 526 years old or between 1121 and 1111 since to me she was born soon after the Tainos settled which was sometime between 800 and 900 AD.

BIRTHDAY: August 6

HOROSCOPE: Leo

GENDER: Female (I did this because in modern and historical times, women have always had an important role in Jamaica)

ASSOCIATIONS:

CARICOM (Caribbean Community, was one of the four founding members, along with Guyana, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, in 1973.)

The United Nations (since 1962)

The Commonwealth (since 1962)

G-15

G-33

G-77

UN Security Council (temporarily in 1992 and 2001 was president in July 2000 and November 2001)

The organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS)

Food and Agricultural Organisation

International Atomic Energy Agency

Non-Aligned Movement

Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL)

The organisation of American States

World Health Organisation

World Trade Organisation, etc.

APPEARANCE

Mixed. Quite a lot of her features are reminiscent of the Africans with some European and a small amount of Asian features.

HEIGHT: 5’5 or 165.09cm which is the average height for women in the country.

WEIGHT: 110lbs, or 49kg.

HAIR LENGTH: Mid-back

HAIR COLOUR: Medium brown

HAIR TYPE: Very curly hair, messy and frizzy. She always spends at least two hours, fixing it.

EYEBROWS: Quiet thick eyebrows.

EYE COLOUR: Medium brown

SKIN COLOUR: Medium brown

EYE TYPE: Wide almond-shaped eyes, averagely spaced.

FACIAL FEATURES: A very round face, high cheekbones, medium-sized pink lips and a wide, short nose. She also has a very flat forehead, reminiscent of the Tainos who used to flatten the foreheads of babies as they thought it would make them more beautiful, mouth corner dimples.

BODY TYPE: Lithe, bottom hourglass shape, C cup breasts, and a large bottom..

OTHER FEATURES:

Has an aheago on the right side of her head, shaped like what was left of Port Royal after the 1692 earthquake.

Has many scars all over her body from natural disasters and battles over the years.

Has very scarred hands, from slavery, one of the reasons why she always wears gloves.

Has small freckles on her knuckles from being in the sun a lot.

Has a long burn mark on her entire thigh, from the 1907 earthquake that destroyed the entire capital, Kingston City

Has a long scar from her right hip to her left shoulder, from the 1692 Port Royal earthquake

CLOTHES:

GLASSES: Wears half-framed black glasses representing Kingston Parish and the tendency of Jamaicans to only look at the short-term effects and not focus on the long term effects.

ACCESSORIES: Wears a small braided bracelet with the colours of her flag.

Tattoos: Has a large tattoo on her back of a map of Port Royal as a memorial.

PIERCINGS: Her left ear has full piercings (but she hardly wears them and they are the most recent ones. She was experimenting which is being done more in the country with piercings and tattoos.) and her right ear has two earlobe piercings and one in the inside of her ear. Also has a navel piercing. (It is one of the most common piercings in the country.) A nose piercing which is also quite common.

MILITARY OUTFIT:

FOR COMBAT: Full camouflage pants and long or short sleeves, steel-tipped, black combat boots, black wrist length gloves small, gold knob earrings, and either a beret (black or white), or a green sunhat or various other military caps.

FOR CEREMONIES: Black military cover, no earrings, red jacket with gold piping and gold buttons and a white belt with a leather and gold belt buckle, white wrist-length gloves, black skirt with one red stripe on the sides and black dress shoes.

THE WORLD WARS: As a colony of Britain during the time of the wars, she would have worn the same uniform. During both, she served in the Royal Air Force (RAF)

MILITARY RANK: Enlisted in the Air Wing, she is a Warrant Officer Class 1, which is the highest in the enlisted ranks.

In all of these outfits, her hair is in a tight bun.

CASUAL CLOTHING: Green spaghetti-strapped blouse, black short shorts, black sponge slippers, brown gloves, small cross earrings in her earlobes and a small stud in her upper ear. Hair is in a low, loose ponytail. Most of the piercings are in. She wears a gold nose ring

NORMAL CLOTHING: A green off the shoulder blouse, yellow knee-length flowy skirt, black flats, black gloves, small gold hoops and a small stud in her upper ear and two rings in her upper left ear. Her hair will normally be in a loose side ponytail, tied with a black ribbon.

MEETING CLOTHING: A green, knee-length tunic, with a yellow dress shirt underneath, black sandals with a small heel, drop earrings with a circular wooden piece. Her hair will normally be either down and loose or pushed back with a bandeau.

Or for more formal meetings:

A black pants suit with gold accents with a yellow dress shirt underneath and a pale green vest. Normally wears black wedge heeled shoes. Only small gold earrings are in of her earlobes, a gold watch and her hair is normally in a low ponytail with a black ribbon.

FORMAL CLOTHING: A dress, one inch above the knee, large, octagonal gold hoops and a small gold star in her upper ear, black wedge heeled shoes and black, wrist length gloves. Her hair will normally be braided with black and yellow beads.

PERSONALITY:

She is normally a very loud, kind and helpful person. Though, as a former pirate, she has quite a short temper and when angered, she will normally refrain from using violence unless you're Trinidad or got her really pissed. Unless it is something very important, she'll be angry for the most, a week, doesn't easily keep grudges. She is normally someone who prefers to stay out of international conflicts but will stick her nose into peoples’ business and involves herself in everything (stereotype). She is very good at lying, which is a stereotype, very athletic, competitive (will do anything to win, once it’s not illegal), a tardy person when it comes on to social gatherings, but will be at least two hours early to anything important, independent and very extroverted, confident, go getter, ambitious, Always wakes up at the latest 8 o’clock and spends at least one-hour jogging or walking, curses like a sailor, very petty.

HOBBIES:

Gardening/Farming

Swimming

Running

Writing Poems

Pottery or just arts and crafts in general

Playing music (her favourites are the drums and the guitar)

Practicing magic

Playing sports

FLAWS:

Stubborn and won’t listen to anyone. (this is from how Jamaicans refuse to ask for help, especially directions.)

Blunt

Judgemental, especially with sexuality and class

Nosy

Can be quite hypocritical

RELATIONSHIPS/FAMILY:

MOTHER: Arawak, the original settlers of the Greater Antilles

FATHER: She sees England as her father figure

SIBLINGS:

Cuba

The Dominican Republic

Haiti

Puerto Rico

I made these four countries siblings because they were settled by the same people

Ex-Husband: Belize. When she was a colony, Belize was joined together from 1749 to 1884.

The Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos (kind of like adopted brothers since now they are considered a part of the Greater Antilles)

Friends:

Russia

Germany

Italy

The Caribbean

Canada

America

Italy

The Netherlands

Brazil

Spain

(those are the main ones. Is friends with the world.)

CHILDREN: Kingston City and Montego Bay City

LOVE INTEREST: Brazil (in recent years, they've grown much closer and she eventually developed a crush.)

RIVALS: Trinidad and Tobago (they are rivals in basically everything.)

OTHER: Has had a strained relationship with Grenada ever since the 1983 invasion.

In recent years, her relationship with America has faced a downturn because of disagreements regarding trade and climate change.

The relationship with China has also not been the best in terms of jobs and trade.

STATS:

INTELLIGENCE: 7/10

WISDOM: 7/10

STRENGTH: 6/10

WEAKNESSES: 5/10

CONFIDENCE: 6/10

WEAPONS:

A handgun

Sub-machine gun

A cutlass/machete

NATION INFO:

FULL NATIONAL NAME: The Commonwealth of Jamaica

NATIONALITY: Jamaican

CAPITAL CITY: Kingston City

WORLD LEADER/PRIME MINISTER: The Most Honourable Andrew Holness

HUMAN POPULATION: 2,969,736

LAND AREA: 10,991km2

FLAG COLOURS: Black, meaning the strength and creativity of the people which has allowed them to overcome hardships, gold represents the wealth of the country and the golden sunshine and green represents the lush vegetation of the island, as well as hope.

ALSO CALLED: The Isle of the West Indies

The isle of the Caribbean

NATIONAL ANTHEM:

Jamaica’s national anthem is a prayer, calling on God to bless and guard our country, and bless our leaders with divine wisdom. The playing or singing of the anthem always fills us with pride, whether it is at a school devotion, a national event or on a global stage, such as the Olympics, when we celebrate the excellence of our athletes.

There are also two other, not national, Jamaica Land of Beauty and I Pledge My Heart/ the School Song.

NATIONAL PLEDGE:

Before God and All mankind.

I pledge the love and loyalty of my heart

The wisdom and courage of my mind,

The strength and vigour of my body

in the service of my fellow citizens.

I promise to stand up for justice,

Brotherhood and Peace, to work diligently and creatively,

To think generously and honestly, so that,

Jamaica may, under God, increase in beauty, fellowship

and prosperity, and play her part in advancing the welfare

of the whole human race.

RELIGION:

68.9% Christianity

64.8% Protestantism

4.1% Other Christian

21.3% No religion

1.1% Rastafarianism

6.5% Others

2.3% Not stated

ETHNIC GROUPS:

92.1% Afro-Jamaicans

(incl. 25% mixed Irish Jamaican)

6.1% Mixed

0.8% Indian

0.4% Other

0.7% Unspecified

LIKES:

Sports (is freakishly good at them and is a fast learner)

Being with friends and family

Drinking alcohol

Food with flavour

Pottery

Brazil

DISLIKES:

France (because of what he did to Haiti, nothing perverted)

People making weed jokes at her.

Being bossed around

Dry and tasteless food

Line skippers (even though she’s one)

Anywhere colder than 13 degrees Celius

QUIRKS:

She is the only one who can hear the narrator

She also has the ghost of her former boss and famous pirate, Henry Morgan following her around.

Also has magical creatures around her that she talks to, mostly ghosts tbh.

FEARS:

Natural disasters. Even though they are quite common, she still fears the damage, loss of lives and pain that it will bring.

She fears getting to such a state where she has to be dependent on another nation too much as she is a very independent nation.

Most creepy crawlies

Green lizards

SHE IS A HEAVY DRINKER.

STRENGTHS:

She is a very creative person in both the arts and in general

Integrity

Persistence

WEAKNESSES:

Is legally blind without her glasses

Has no patience

Nosey

TALENTS:

Very good potter

Good at playing the Guitar and Drums

Good poet

Occupation:

#hetalia aph #jamaica #original art #original character

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seyaryminamoto · 4 years

Text

Been thinking for a while that I’d like to do a light behind-the-scenes glimpse into one of the themes in the newest Gladiator story arc. While it’s not the very core element of the arc, the source of Azula’s current struggle in the story came from... an unexpected place.

Unexpected as in, it came from LOK.

Okay, in all fairness, it’s not quiiiiiiiite something that came from LOK itself, but it’s a take on an idea I had while pondering the various reasons why Asami’s character wouldn’t really take off for me in the show. Well, beyond the obvious reasons why it wouldn’t *cough* Book 2 *cough*...

I’ve always said I’m more than a little confused by how a character like Asami, with just 20-something years of age at the time of LOK Book 4, has enough talent and know-how to not only be a top-of-the-line engineer (which, yes, is believable enough on its own), but to also be a CEO in her own company (I gueeeess since the company falls into her hands and she mismanages it plenty in Book 2, it’s not that impossible to feature this in conjunction with the first thing?), a clothing designer, an architect AND a urbanist, capable of driving every machine known to man, an outstanding hand-to-hand fighter...!

... If you really think about it in cold blood, it feels like a little too much.

BUT. Instead of boringly accusing Asami of being a Mary Sue (which I’m sure some people might) for having a thousand talents that we don’t really see her work for, that she just developed offscreen, I thought the show would have benefited greatly from actually focusing on how Asami is handling the constant, desperate need of so many authorities in Republic City to have HER resolving all their problems.

Therefore, instead of a Reunion episode with a conflict focused on rescuing a kidnapped Wu (whom I profoundly dislike as a character, not for his role, but his personality is simply barf-worthy for me and the amount of focus Book 4 gave him was, as a lot of things, detrimental to the show as a whole, in my opinion), I thought LOK’s Book 4 could have instead featured a Reunion episode focused on Asami... which, of course, would also be a nice way to fix some of the lackluster onscreen development of Korrasami. So... let’s go onwards with my episode pitch:

Picture that Korra is about to reunite with Mako and Asami for the first time in all those years, same as in canon. Asami arrives! Yay, Korra is happy, Asami compliments her hair, just like in canon... aaaand then Asami says she can’t really stay, she just dropped by quickly because this REALLY matters to her, but there’s this pressing issue going on at the company and she has to deal with it RIGHT NOW, because no one else can. So, woops.

Korra is completely disappointed (and probably doesn’t even understand WHY she’s so disappointed, hinting at deeper feelings for Asami that Korra hasn’t even stopped to reason with yet), but she sees Asami off while pretending this doesn’t bug her (for Asami’s benefit), and ends up spending the evening with Mako but clearly she’s not enjoying it as much as she hoped to. Which could result in Mako being pretty surprised by whatever closeness and bond those two seem to have now, noticing that he seems to have fallen to second place in Korra’s eyes somehow.

So! Skipping ahead, perhaps to the next day, Korra tries to check on Asami again! :D Oh, but she’s got to work on the airbenders’ outfits, some have been having trouble with the aerodynamics of it, and it’s just not working as Asami intended, so more calculations are needed! She takes to studying on the subject frantically, has to figure out what formula she’s missing or messing up, and while Korra offers to help, she knows there’s not really anything she can do to give Asami a hand since this stuff is well out of Korra’s area of expertise.

Then, when Asami is finally finished, OH NO! An emergency in the train she inaugurated at the start of the season! Asami has to go deal with that too! And of course, Korra goes too, while wondering how TF does this damn city even run without Asami...

... And then realizing it actually doesn’t. There’s a president who basically dumps all the difficult issues on Asami because she has the know-how and the resources to deal with all the city’s problems, there’s an airbending master who requested for that same girl to help with the designs of his people’s combat outfits instead of dealing with it himself or finding someone else to help, there’s an entire vehicle company (ranging from cars to AIRPLANES) that depends on HER. And it’s just SO. MUCH. SHIT. For a girl who’s like... 20? 21? How old is Asami at this point? xD I don’t even remember. But the point I’m trying to get to...

Is that Asami should be overwhelmed. She hasn’t had anyone helping her, she deals with everything alone, and it doesn’t matter how hard she tries to work through this, there’s always one more problem, one more obstacle, one more bothersome thing she has to tackle, and nobody seems to stop and think that maybe she could use a break. That maybe she needs a nap because she hasn’t had one in 20 months. That maybe things in this damn city would be in a better place if people didn’t rely on her, and her alone, to resolve the bulk of their problems.

Korra, though, with her latest character growth (... that I’m not really fond of anyhow, but still...), has become a lot better at understanding people’s emotions. And her job as an Avatar is, amongst many things, to help people: someone she cares about deeply, her best friend future girlfriend, is currently going through so much crap and the truth is, Asami needs help. Whether Asami realizes it or not, she needs it. And so, whether it’s Korra’s job or not to help her, that’s all Korra wants to do right now.

So Korra enlists Mako and then all three deal with whatever that train emergency might be! Asami probably rejects their help at first, out of force of habit of doing everything alone lately, until Korra tells her she doesn’t have to do that anymore. And then Asami’s mind is blown because yeah, maybe there’s a bunch of older people in charge who are happy to dump all responsibilities on her! But that doesn’t mean she has to accept it meekly and save all their asses time after time... and it also doesn’t mean she has to deal with everything alone.

After the train problem is resolved, Korra and Asami (maybe Mako too? But for Korrasami’s purposes, it can just be those two) get to have a small chat about what life has been like for Asami since Korra vanished. The conversation doesn’t merely focus on Hiroshi, which... *cringes* let’s not get into that. It focuses on Asami and the hardships she’s dealing with, seeing as the city is basically using her as a non-bender Avatar, in the sense of leaving all the problem-solving to Asami alone. Korra probably apologizes, Asami probably tells her not to feel guilty, because she has had it rough, and Asami understands that better than anyone, especially after what she’s been through lately.

It’s a cute, heartfelt moment, not necessarily romantic yet, but featuring a strong, meaningful bonding scene between these two! Asami wants to go back to work on some pending stuff, and Korra respects that, though she warns Asami not to overdo it. Asami promises she won’t... and the next time Korra checks on her, Asami is asleep on her desk or something like that. Korra smiles and puts a blanket on her shoulders, and when someone else arrives to say something REALLY BAD is going on, Korra shushes them and decides to deal with it herself (as long as she can), and, if she can’t, she’ll find someone else to do it in Asami’s stead so the girl can sleep safe and sound for the first time in ages.

Episode pitch over! :’D

*siiiiiiiiiigh* alright, so yeah, this was something I originally thought of as a replacement episode, to further explore and establish a bond between Korra and Asami that wouldn’t really resolve all of the rushed-Korrasami problems... but it would make it so much clearer that those two share a different bond, and a very special understanding of each other, that the other two Krew members simply don’t have with either of them. It’d deepen their relationship, but the most important element about this for me was that it’d be an Asami-focused episode and plotline. However brief it would have been, my idea was to feature Asami facing her own problems, not problems based on her relationship with other people (be it family or romance). It was also a way to show that she’s not indestructible or just the go-to problem solver with neverending resources and talents that the plot can exploit at leisure whenever it feels like it. And, most importantly, that Asami can’t and SHOULDN’T be the answer to every problem in Republic City, especially when she’s only delivering those answers off-screen, offering the viewers next to no chance to see her in action, kicking ass at all the things she apparently has insane expertise on.

As far as I know, the two LOK comic trilogies haven’t really done much for Asami either. I haven’t read them so I could be wrong, but from what I can gather from comments of people who have read them and the books’ summaries, she’s still Korra’s girlfriend first and foremost, gets kidnapped so she can be used as a hostage to manipulate Korra, and then gets brainwashed into fighting against Korra...? If this is truly how it is, again, Asami just gets reduced to a satellite character, in the sense that she just revolves around other people as though that’s all there is to her character, canon-wise. Which... makes me sad. She had potential, plenty of potential worth exploring, if only the show’s writing had been more paused and allowed their characters to breathe and grow organically, as a consequence of their own actions and decisions rather than by being forced into hellish situations persistently until they broke out of desperation.

So... LOK really had the chance to explore a much more human side of Asami that they’ve neglected to acknowledge so far (from what I know), a chance to deepen her character by displaying that no one of such young age should have so many difficult responsibilities dumped on her shoulders... which, again, could be expanded into a metaphor for the Avatar’s role, showing both Korra and Asami as two highly capable women who could achieve great things... but who need a chance to be normal too, once in a while. From the looks of it, neither of them have had that chance in canon (yes, Korra was stuck in a compound all her life but Asami must have been stuck in constant lessons at every discipline she has mastered? If she can deal with all those jobs of hers as flawlessly as she has, I don’t think she had much of a life before LOK started), and it would have been really nice of the deeper, darker show LOK wanted to be to acknowledge that a bunch of grown-ups, who had relatively smooth lives in their youth, dumping so much heavy work on a pair of girls who are just becoming young adults and barely had childhoods of their own, is just damn nasty :’D just as it was nasty in a show featuring a much younger cast... *innocent whistling*

Alas, this was just one idea that won’t ever go anywhere in canon, as is obvious. I’m sure I mentioned it at least once before, not as thoroughly as I did just now, but this is more or less what I had in mind. If you dump a thousand things on a character, it would only be fair to let them suffer for it, to a fault. Maybe don’t feature them whining because they have soooo much work to do... but turn them into workaholics! Show that they’re struggling to make everything pay off, that this kind of burden isn’t child’s play because in real life, it simply wouldn’t be.

But, as there’s next to no chance Asami will ever get this sort of development, I merely stashed this idea on my back burner, in case it might come in handy in the future...

... And then I returned to it once Gladiator’s Enforcers became a solid reality. Azula has been dealing with challenges that are rather different from those Asami dealt with... but ultimately, the responsibilities both girls have taken up, Asami in canon and Azula in my story, were just insanely big. Azula, in Gladiator, has had very little time to spare for “secondary” pursuits since the previous arc, and in the current one that has become a problem because she simply CAN’T stop working. She goes home and instead of going to bed, keeps on working. She’s constantly on edge, assuming that any time not spent working is wasted time, time she should take advantage of to further improve her projects and endeavors... to the point where people are starting to notice she’s slightly overwhelmed, extremely stressed out, and needs to calm down :’D

I really had wanted to explore these themes in overachieving characters, who take up far too many responsibilities, more than are reasonable. While I’ll always consider it a really big waste of potential that LOK never gave Asami this particular dimension, despite her character 100% warranted it, at least I had the chance to explore this with Azula instead, and I’m honestly really pleased with the result, because it suits her really well too. The outcome won’t be at all like what I just outlined for the LOK episode that never was, and the current story arc will take a vastly different direction... which is why I thought it would be fun to explain where this particular, new dimension of Azula’s character had come from.

Aaaanyways... the bottomline is, Return to Shu Jing is here. And I reeeeeally love this arc. I hope that those of you reading and staying up to date with the story will love it too!

#gladiator #me talking about LOK?#who'd have thought (?)#but it's something I've had running circles in my brain for ages so #it feels good to release it into the wild at last (?)#I really think this is the only genuine link between Gladiator and LOK #... and it's not even 100% a link #but the idea is one I thought of for LOK #and that I now repurposed altogether for my big bulky story #so... indirect link I guess #but boy I really wish they'd done this in canon #would've been wonderful for Asami's character... *sigh*

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bondsmagii · 5 years

Note

If it's not too personal, could you talk a bit about your experiences growing up in Northern Ireland with the civil war and the cultural differences between the north and the republic etc? I have Irish ancestry but none of the Irish part of my family is alive and I'm trying really hard to reconnect with that part of my blood and pay homage to it, so hearing about the experiences of someone who's lived it would mean so, so much to me.

I can try but I can’t promise it’ll make any sense; it’s a highly nuanced situation and I experienced it as one person living in one time period and the whole thing is just a huge mess but! I’ll try and keep it as succinct as possible lmao (good luck to me).

basically the most simplified version of the issue is thus:

Britain, being Britain, takes over Ireland, because of course they do

nasty bastards about it

Irish people are understandably pissed and there’s about 800 years of conflict

Britain keeps sending British people over there to settle (mostly from Scotland originally) to up British numbers and get those bastard Irish Catholics out of the idea they can like, live in their own country

things escalate

rebellions happen

Big Rebellion happens (the 1916 Easter Rising)

the Irish War of Independence happens and Britain is finally like OK we’ll chat (centuries later)

My Man Michael Collins goes over the London and negotiates a treaty

Ireland is given independence but not the six north-eastern-most counties; these countries are the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland respectively

(you’ll sometimes see Protestants calling Northern Ireland “Ulster” but they’re wrong because Ulster is a province and has nine counties not six)

(Catholics tend to avoid using “Northern Ireland” and will call it “the North of Ireland”, “the Six Counties”, or if they’re really political “the Occupied Six Counties”)

some other stuff happened that I won’t get into here because I’ll just bitch about Eamon de Valera for eight hours (if you want to see me bitching I did so here)

the North of Ireland was partitioned as such because of its huge number of British-identifying Protestants descending from the people who had moved over; they wished to remain British and so the North is still a part of the UK today

Irish-identifying Catholics in the North were understandably pissed about this because they wanted their whole country back but were now stuck across a land border with neighbours who didn’t particularly like them and whom they did not particularly like

this escalated into a civil war known as The Troubles (because we’re really great at understating things) where thousands of people died in a bloody conflict mostly contained in the North

(aside from occasional skirmishes and people using the border as a way to escape conviction, the Republic didn’t really have much to do with this war)

it was Bad Times and the North was eventually occupied by British soldiers who set up bases and patrolled the streets and backed up the police for several decades, which only further escalated things

many years of shootings and bombings and beatings and terror ensued

this is about the point where I come in and start trying to grow up there, fun times

I’ll put the rest under a cut because wow this is already very long and I haven’t even touched on what it was like to grow up there lmao

detailed accounts of living in a literal warzone under the cut, so beware.

Civil War Funtimes

growing up in a warzone like the one I grew up in was wack as hell because it’s not… acknowledged as a civil war at all. like the rest of the UK kind of just forget it ever happened or they don’t know about it at all, and like as much as I don’t like to admit it the North is UK soil and the idea that thousands of people could be killing one another in the fucking UK is just phenomenal to me. when I talk about my experiences growing up and don’t specify the country, people hear what I went through and assume I grew up in Bosnia or Chechnya or something. it was that bad.

the strange thing is, as unpleasant as it was, while I was growing up there it was totally normal. it was scary sometimes, when coming into direct contact with things, but a lot of the time it was just inconvenient. I remember being stuck in traffic on the motorway going into Belfast and it was hot and we had no water and we were there for hours and we were moaning and complaining and finally when we were allowed to move again it turned out there was a bomb up ahead and the Army had been called in to diffuse it, but at the time it wasn’t about The Bomb but more about I’m Hot and Thirsty and Several Hours Are Gone From The Time I Had To Run Errands In Belfast. it was only when I moved away from the North and lived a more normal life that I looked back and began processing fully how fucked up it was to live there.

I’m Catholic, so right off the bat I kind of got the shitty end of the stick. both sides were bad, don’t get me wrong, but Protestants had the backing of the police and the British Army and it’s been confirmed that both organisations backed Protestant paramilitary death squads; i.e., helped gangs of Protestant terrorists murder Catholics and get away with it. they also committed a lot more atrocities of their own, including opening fire on unarmed civilians, so it’s kind of a shitty deal when the two organisations sent in to protect everyone align with one side of the civil war and don’t give a shit if you’re getting beaten to death in front of them or something. I remember one time my friends and I were chased by a gang of people who found out we were Catholic somehow, and they were throwing lit fireworks at us in full view of the police, who did nothing. we were 15.

how did they know we were Catholic? there’s a million ways to tell. growing up there sort of required knowing what I call the sectarian geography of the country. certain places were Catholic, and certain places were Protestant. saying you were from a certain town or village could confirm your religion to a potential enemy. in large cities, especially Belfast, saying the street you were from could out you. I had to be careful what side of the road I walked on, and there were streets I couldn’t exit from if I was going into the city centre for fear that someone would see and wait for me. likewise, names could be used to identify you. my friends and I had several different names we’d give depending on what area we were in or the name or accent of the person talking to us. it’s subtle things, too – I mean obviously you’re Catholic if your name is Seamus or Sean or Eamon and obviously you’re Protestant if you’re called William or Billy but it wasn’t always as obvious as that. it was safer to be subtle. if I’m in a Catholic area and want to use a fake name for whatever reason, I’m Joseph McCarthy. if I cross the street to a Protestant area, I’d be better off as James McAllister. all of us learned this growing up, and there were so many nuances I can’t even remember a lot of them now. I know should I ever visit Belfast again it’ll all come back, and so will the subtle shifts in my accent depending on where I am. but to think I knew all this at 12, 13, 14 years old? and it was the difference between life and death, quite literally? I have no idea how I dealt with the stress.

making it into the city was only half of the battle, anyway. violence could erupt at any moment, and bomb scares were known to happen. I’ve been in a number of riots which almost always escalated from a peaceful protest, because of Army and police presence being unwelcome or unfairly biased. during such riots people could and did die: the police and Army used rubber bullets because they’re apparently “less deadly”, but many people, including small children caught in the crossfire, were killed by them. often there was added danger from the IRA (Irish Republican Army; the main Catholic paramilitary force) who would show up to take shots at the police and soldiers, meaning that civilians were very often caught in the no-man’s land between offensive and defensive fire. this was not occasional pistol fire, either: both sides were armed with semi- or fully-automatic weapons. again, this is on streets legally in the UK.

bombs were also a threat, though most of the time they were just threats to create panic and disruption. however, it was occasionally real: I once found a bomb myself, in a newly opened supermarket that was packed during its first week. it was hidden on the shelving and around its outside, nails and ball bearings had been taped to use as shrapnel. I remember going quickly to tell the store manager and him pulling the fire alarm so people didn’t panic too much. everyone went out into the car park and it was only when the bomb squad arrived that people realised. a humorous note to this story is that my parents lost me in the chaos, and found me talking animatedly to several police officers and a member of the bomb squad, in his full protective gear. I was 13, and I’m sure they were wondering just what kind of trouble I’d got myself into in the 20 minutes I’d been out of their sight.

finally, a lot of people died. I mean, a lot. thousands, in a country with a population of only one eighth the size of London alone. every single person in that country knew someone who had died or been injured during the fighting. it’s a very close-knit country; both sides of the conflict have a strong community spirit and towns and districts are often very close, with many people knowing everyone if not by name then by sight. when you take several thousand people and have them killed violently, their death will be felt through fifty to one hundred of their friends, families, neighbours, colleagues, etc. in a country so small, that reverberates and quickly takes in everyone. many people knew several of the dead; older people might know dozens. many more would have witnessed something. my friend group were no different. it’s been over a decade and I still can’t talk about it in any detail, but all I’ll say is that I lost a friend of mine when I was 15, and it was a very violent, drawn-out death at the hands of a mob of adults. he was my age. the reason for it was because he was Catholic. being the same age as him made it a very strange experience. even now, on my birthday, I think about the fact that he would be my age if he had lived. he’s frozen in time, and the rest of us have grown up and moved on, and it’s so unfair it makes me feel sick.

as for the culture,

(forgive the abrupt ending, but to be honest that part of things always exhausts my emotions when talking about what it was like to live like that.)

I’m sorry that this is a wholly depressing account, but it was a warzone; I get the feeling that’s to be expected. what I can say is that despite everything, I miss living there dearly. despite how horrible it could be, the country is beautiful and a vast majority of the people I met and grew up with were wonderful. I miss it a lot. I miss the landscapes, I miss all the places I used to go to lose myself. I miss the forests and the waterfalls, I miss the Causeway Coast, I miss turning the bend on the motorway and seeing Belfast nestled in its valley with the sea on one side and Cave Hill on the other. I miss the little villages, I miss getting lost in the fields and the trees and the trails, I miss the tiny little pubs and the small harbours and drinking by the lough with my friends. I miss the food, and I miss all the little quirks in the way we talked, and I miss walking down the street or going into a shop and having my friends’ parents recognise me and act like they’re all my mothers (“ach, how’ve you been? lookit you! I can’t believe it. you used to be so wee!” – no matter if they’d seen me a week ago, I was always wee then and taller now).

I was lucky enough that my friends and I were much more open-minded; members of the new generation who were getting sick to death of all the fighting. there were both Catholics and Protestants in our friend group, and sometimes the only thing that got us through was making dark jokes and poking fun at one another. I miss that, too – living away from the country and knowing no other people from there makes reconciling what happened very difficult. even now I have an innate connection with people when we hear one another’s accents. we’ll start chatting like old friends, and it’s wonderful, because religion doesn’t come up at all. we’ll ask where each other is from, and usually we’ll have heard of it, and then we’ll probably start bitching about the weather or the roadworks that are still there eight years later or something. sometimes we’ll even start making a few dark jokes of our own, and it’s always a relief to laugh. it loosens something in the chest. I don’t think there’s a group of people more resilient than those from the North. we’ve seen some shit, and we still manage to live through it and laugh about it. I remember one time in school, when we were about 16, me and my fellow Catholics were going to skip school for St Patrick’s Day (we never got given the day off, honestly) and our Protestant friends were jealous, and we invited them along and they were jokingly saying that nah, they couldn’t, it’s a Catholic celebration, it wouldn’t be right, etc, and finally one of them was like “we’ll come to St Paddy’s Day if you skip school and come with us on St Proddy’s Day” and we were like “what the fuck is St Proddy’s Day” and he was like “idk it’s like St Paddy’s Day but for Protestants” and I was like “alright when is it” and everyone decided it was the day after St Patrick’s Day so our entire group skipped school for a two-day drinking fest. to be honest it’s stuff like that I remember more than the fighting.

I didn’t get to go to the Republic as much as I wanted to, but despite the border I find the culture is just as warm, just as welcoming, and the sense of humour is brilliant across the board. Irish/Northern Irish culture, no matter what you want to call it, is just very familial. it’s warm. everyone is genuinely interested in everyone, everyone is genuinely there for a laugh (craic, as we’d say – pronounced “crack”. common greeting is “what’s the craic?”). it’s a nice place to be. you come from a culture known across the world for its friendliness and its love of fun, but as depressing as some of this information is, I hope you realise that you also come from a very resilient people. despite everything I love the place and I hope to go back one day, when I’m ready to do so. and the best part is that despite everything, I know I’ll be welcome.

#about me #this is so long and i wrote it more as conversational prose sorry if it's incoherent!!!#ireland #anon #asks

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fymeetrasurik · 6 years

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Star Wars: Catalyst-A Rogue One Novel-Review

I actually read this like, a long time ago XD. Like in the lead up before Rogue one came out. So.... Very late.It did have many things I wanted to touch on though, and honestly it’s been one of my favorite books in the new canon so better late than never!

Plot: In the final years of the clone wars, it is decided that a weapon must be constructed to end the conflict. Krennic, and ambitious social climber has his eyes set on the head of the table, and lucky for him, he happens to know the perfect scientist who can launch him into relevance. So begins a game of careful placation as work on the greatest weapon the galaxy has ever known is underway.

So I just figured out how the bullet system works, and I think it’s the best way for me to get out my points XD here we go!

Galen Erso-The book does such an amazing job at flushing out his character. Really it made him one of my favs. He’s very akin to the scientists who worked on the atomic bomb in our own world. He’s a pacifistic who did his best to free himself from either the republic or the separatists, and so the entire book is a blend of making sure he doesn’t know what he’s working on, or finding a way to convince even him that this is for the best. It’s a fascinating game of mental maneuvers. Beyond that even, his mild mannered and thoughtful personality was really endearing as you can tell how much is going on in his head, but yet he still takes time to be a loving husband and father. His state of being is written so well.

Lyra Erso-Boy howdy, if you read this book for nothing else, read it for Lyra. We got to know so little of her from the movie, but reading the book you can so see where Jyn got a lot of her fire from. Lyra is intense, and passionate, which creates a great contrast to Galen. She’s the one who begins to suspect the empire is up to no good, and then the story becomes this almost tug of war between her and Krennic over Galen. She knows the dangerous water they’re working in and is doing her best to keep Galen tethered while also raising Jyn. The quickest way I can describe her is that she’s a space hippie and I mean that with love. She has an interest in Geology which plays a important role in the story, and she just has a no nonsense kind of attitude that’s really easy to fall in love with. In many ways it’s her story more than Galen’s as she must walk a fine line in a dangerous new world.

Orson Krennic- Loved him in the movie, and honestly the book makes him even better. In a world of Vader’s and sith, I think Krennic is a really interesting villain, because he didn’t have to be. He’s dangerously ambitious, but at the same time he’s in over his head. He’s created a weapon of mass destructive as a way to climb the ladder. Like he cares more about getting a high status and recognition than he does about the death star itself. He’s a sociopath in the truest sense as he’s very charming and manipulative. Throughout the story, he’s never antagonistic to Galen, handling him with kid gloves and giving the Erso’s everything (in his mind) that they could ever want. Again the conflict he has with Lyra as both fight for Galen is some of the best parts of the book. He’s just a fascinating villain to me, he comes across very blue collar, like he’s worked his whole life, going from nothing to something and still it’s not enough. He won’t be satisfied until he’s adviser to the emperor himself.

Tarkin-Speaking of villains, oh my word Tarkin is perfect in this. I never knew how much I needed him to have a catty drama and rivalry with someone else in the empire until I read this book. His relationship with Krennic is just the best as they both spend the last half of the book trying to screw each other over while playing polite in conversation. It’s awesome. It’s like every workplace beef you’ve ever seen, on a galactic scale, it’s so petty it’s wonderful.

Has Obbit- A smuggler who is just, a hundred percent done with all this. Early on he is roped into Krennic’s scheme to win over Galen and he spends the rest of the book just under his thumb and he’s just like why has this happened. He’s so easy to relate to of just getting screwed over by powers bigger than him, and honestly I’d like to see him in more stuff!

End of the Clone Wars- So spoiler, but about a third of the way into the book we see the end of the war on a street level. The Erso’s are literally running from battle droids and are seconds from being killed when the droids shut down. I adored this moment. Firstly its interesting because we know what happened more than the characters do, Anakin just murdered all the sep leaders. What I love about this the most, is fate. Star wars always does such a good job of, if this didn’t happen this way at this time it would all have gone to hell. So many things had to lead up to their defeat, a million chances the force took. In a way, Vader saved the Erso’s lives, and without them, the death star could never have been destroyed and by extension, neither would the empire have ever fallen. Little details like that I just love.

State of the Galaxy-My FAVORITE, world buildy thing of the book. I am a huge fan of how canon star wars has dealt with the rise of the empire and how it was viewed by the people, and little details are sprinkled in this book that are some of my fav in all of star wars. Even after the war is over, Krennic explains about sep hold outs and terrorist groups still causing havoc in the outer rim.Eventually it’s how he convinces Galen about the death star as a matter of security. Given how awful the clone wars were, you can hardly blame people for wanting security and being afraid of Seps’ who just couldn’t let it go. Politically, I think this is brilliant, because it basically justifies the empire on a average person level. Wars have a hard time at ending, and that’s especially true on a galactic scale. Spinning this vague threat of Seps who never gave up the fight is a perfect boogeyman. Suddenly, your fighting terrorists rather than freedom fighters and those who joined the empire in those 19 years after the war? They might have seen that as ending the conflict their parents died to stop. Like this twists it so the rebellion isn’t something new, but rather the ghost of something thought to have been put down decades ago. It wasn’t a galactic civil war, it was clone wars round 2. Some of the canon doesn’t get this across very well, but the clone wars was not just clones and droids. It was one of the worst wars in history, leaving trillions dead. The horror of that is hard to imagine, and so can you not see someone signing up to the imperial academy with pride, knowing that whatever they do, it’s in the name of stopping something like that from happening ever again. Palpatine moves, were utter brilliance. Scaring the galaxy from opposing him as no matter how bad things get, at least they aren’t as bad as they were. It’s one of my favorite lore bits in all of star wars and makes everything feel so much more real.

Aliens- I love how all of the books get to play more with Alien characters. Has is one and it’s fun. The opening of the book is the Erso’s imprisoned on an alien world but kinda being welcomed into the culture at the same time and it’s fascinating. Detail is given to their architecture, customs, celebrations and so on and I am just a sucker for all of that. Galen has an old University friend whose a Mirialan whom I love. She’s a professor and Idk why but I just really liked her. More of this in star wars please, like for the love of god, some of the canon stuff is making me wonder why we even have aliens in this universe if they’re just gonna be set dressing.

Construction of a Battle Station- In a book about the death star you’d expect a lot to be told about how it was made and the book delivers. I for one loved the detail ha, as it’s gone into how it was built and by who. Design choices and setbacks which itself were my fav parts of this. The setbacks really humanize the story and play into the ruthlessness of the empire. Experimentation with a crystal destroys a city? Blame it on a reactor leak. A group of scientists have outlived their use? Use them as practice for the laser. In fact this becomes a detective part of the story. A brilliant detail to me was that there were several cells of scientists working on the death star, each with their own focus. Shielding, gravity, containment, the weapon itself. All were under different code names and all were working on the same thing and most didn’t know it. So as scientist friends of the Erso’s start disappearing and Lyra starts putting things together, it’s a really tense situation to follow.

Baby Jyn- Baby Jyn is super adorable. It’s weird because with this book and Jyn’s own Rebel Rising, we pretty much know her whole life from cradle to Scarif. Which is a little sad. Regardless, her addition helps to flesh her out and makes that ending gut punch hit harder.

Playground- There’s a star wars playground in this. Like with kids and everything. There’s something called a grav slide and they don’t explain it but I want it.

Saw- Saw is in this and it’s interesting to see his journey from clone wars to what we see him become in Rogue one.

Geology- Alright I’m a super nerd but there’s a part where Lyra and Jyn go off to survey a planet looking for crystals and idk I just found that super interesting.

Geonosians- Are used for construction of the death star and it was interesting to see how they switched sides. We also get some insight into their culture and methods. Like apparently when working on a project it’s totally normal for them to just start killing each other sometimes which is rad ha.

Jedi- It’s an interesting perspective this book gives because the Jedi are lost pretty quickly and so the outlook on them is negative in universe with everyone all “those traitors rargh!” with Lyra as the voice of that can’t be true. She has a reverence for the force I find super interesting and it plays into her hippieish. She’s very spiritual and used to spend time in the Jedi gardens which I didn’t even know was a thing. I love seeing how normies interact with the force and how it can still play a role in their lives.

That’s all I got at the moment! If it’s not clear, I really loved this book. It was written by James Luceno who wrote motherfucking Darth Plagueis from legends otherwise known as the best star wars book ever. He has such an amazing talent for linking the universe together in a way that makes it feel alive and there’s no better world builder in the game. I’m a sucker for that so I just had a wonderful time and read it pretty non stop. I’d place it fairly high in my list of canon books, so if all this sounds interesting, give it a read! It adds to Rogue One while also telling it’s own very compelling story with some amazing characters. That’s it from me ha! May the force of others be with you!

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kayawagner · 5 years

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furynewsnetwork · 7 years

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LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST:

Sometimes when people are under stress, they hate to think, and it’s the time when they most need to think. – Bill Clinton

In 2006 An Inconvenient Truth won two Oscars, became the 11th highest grossing documentary of all time, and set the national talking points on climate change for a decade. It changed the world, kick starting the climate change conversation in a big way.

It had detractors. There were predictions that turned out to be untrue. It was one sided. Al Gore wasn’t a scientist, and so on. Tucker Carlson said watching an Al Gore movie for climate information is like watching Goebbels films for information on Nazi Germany.

And most recently we’ve heard about the electricity use at his home.

An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power is an effective follow up. It picks up in 2015 and focuses on Al Gore propagating his climate change message via training seminars, a jazzed up key-note presentation and breath-taking footage.

Footage like melting pavement in India, time-lapse footage of ‘rain-bombs’ dropping on cities, close-ups on disintegrating glaciers, once-in-a-millennia floods in Texas, people punching holes in the roof of a hotel to escape the rising tide of a deadly storm in the Philippines, plus two dead bodies, a terrorist attack, a rebel uprising, and a single paper mache boob.

The Directors – Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk should be proud of their work here. This evidence and footage is intensely compelling and will humble you before the awesome power of Mother Nature, regardless of your politics.

These terrifying images were far more effective then the stats and graphs about how pollution in China has lowered life expectancy, or how many more ‘warm’ days there were in 2015 than in 1980.

The visuals, not the data, make the strongest case – and that’s a problem with both this film and the human condition. This film is ultimately an emotional appeal regarding a science problem. When Al Gore uses climate change to explain the conflict in Syria, or makes allusions that climate change is the new civil rights – for a certain kind of viewer, it’s powerful stuff.

But there’s very little hard science – no effort is made to present a counterpoint or to challenge Gore’s beliefs in any real way. Even ‘Get Me Roger Stone’ was gracious enough to interview people who hated him.

This movie could have given voice to the climate change denying founder of the Weather Channel or the ‘skeptical environmentalist’ Bjorn Lomborg, or presented some hard-science from people other than Vice President Gore. It would have gone a long way to giving the movie a more approachable and balanced quality.

Instead, An Inconvenient Sequel – likely to be the most heavily promoted documentary of the year – gives ‘deniers’ lip service while Mr. Gore soldiers on against the ‘enemy’ of the film: The economics of developing nations.

Specifically the economics of power in a smoggy, hazy, arid, India that relies so much on fossil fuel you can’t see the sun, and doesn’t have the money, time, or inclination to ‘modernize’ to renewable energy.

This Gore vs. India problem comes to a head in Paris during an admittedly engaging sequence where Gore works with private businesses to give India a line of credit at a decent rate, so India can build solar panels that will generate the same amount of power as the fossil fuel plants already in development. Why you’re installing Solar Panels after alleging you can’t see the sun there, I don’t know.

And it is here An Inconvenient Sequel makes a point that should have been honed to a razor sharp point.

That point? The economy, stupid. Mr. Gore talks about Chile upping it’s solar energy output because it’s cheaper. He talks about the multiple towns in our country that are 100 percent renewable.

Mr. Gore meets with a conservative Republican Mayor in Georgetown, Texas. The town is 100 percent powered by renewable energy. Gore takes a picture with him under the Republican headquarters of the town. They shake hands and joke they better not get caught acting like this or they’d get in trouble.

These men probably agree on nothing – except for clean energy. The Republican because it saves him money. Al Gore because he thinks it’s saving the planet.

If only all issues intersected so nicely.

Perhaps they can. If renewable and ‘clean’ energy is cheaper than coal and oil, of *course* most everyone would be on board, there’d be less junk in the air, folks in China would live longer, we’d be able to put this all behind us.

So it’s a shame that economics aren’t more of a focus. It’s about a 1/3rd evidence, 1/3rd look into Al Gore’s life, 1/6th roadblocks to clean energy (Big Oil Lobbying) and 1/6th economics – which means the most appealing part of the movie to skeptics – money – is low on the totem pole.

In the same way An Inconvenient Truth existed to convince the world there’s a problem, I hoped An Inconvenient Sequel would exist to change minds and provide an action plan for all; to make a case to climate change deniers and skeptics that clean energy is the way to go regardless.

Instea the movie is a call to action. You need to take action because your world literally depends on it. But what action? What does Al Gore want? Federal investment in Clean Energy? Cap & Trade? Taxing polluting companies to hell? I don’t know.

What I do know is you can see the sun in India – I know the location of the massive heatwave that caused the streets to melt is between two deserts. I know getting government to take any sort of action is a gordian knot of ineptitude and bickering.

I know Al Gore is a well intentioned man without a science degree.

I know this movie will speak to its target audience and be ignored by most everyone else.

The subtitle for An Inconvenient Sequel is Truth to Power. In reality, it’s truth to choir; encouraging climate change activists to continue fighting the good fight, to get trained, to preach the message, to download an interactive and customizable presentation you can use to convince your friends.

Ultimately this movie told me some things I didn’t know, and everything I expected to hear.

But as a talented and dedicated soon-to-be-Senator once told me – you write to your audience. This movie’s audience are angry, galvanized and seeking validation in a post-Trump world. An Inconvenient Sequel provides exactly that – and you really can’t blame it. There’s good information here, a lot of it skewed – and very little in terms of a counter point, but that’s par for the course these days.

Very rarely are documentaries, especially political documentaries, designed to take an even-keel approach to their subject matter. Heck, the number one grossing documentary of all time is Fahrenheit 9/11, so take that as you will.

At my screening I was in an audience with conservation groups and environmental organizations – in super liberal Chicago. So basically a home game for this movie and enemy territory for me.

Donald Trump’s sporadic appearances were met with noticeable grumbles, insults, outright boos, and impressions of the man. Justin Treadeau’s totally spontaneous cameo was met with glee. As was footage of former President Barack Obama.

The first question asked in the Q&A wasn’t about the film, but about the ‘backlash’ that hadn’t happened yet.

When I asked the directors about the lack of conservatives in the movie, the person next to me audibly and violently mumbled “idiots!” upon my utterance of the word conservative. She assumed I must have think conservatives were idiots too – who wouldn’t!?

And to an extent I do think quite a few are idiots on this subject. I think the planet is getting warmer and it is partially the fault of good ole human ingenuity.

I don’t think it’s as bad this movie postulates. I don’t think governmental action is the best solution. But people who deny it outright without hard data or expertise are as idiotic as the people who accept it wholesale without scrutiny.

All that said, this movie, and it’s prequel, are essential viewing for the politically active. Climate change activist or skeptic, if you want to know where the movement stands, you need to see this movie in context before diving into the numerous debunking and de-crediting videos that will surely arise.

Learn what the ‘other’ side thinks – pay attention. Keep your beliefs at the forefront of your mind, but let those opposed to them have their time. An Inconvenient Truth was a seminal film – and this is its follow up. Watch them, then hate on them if you must.

Otherwise you’re just gonna blow a lot of hot air. And you know what fans of this movie are gonna blame that on.

WATCH TLR’S LATEST VIDEO:

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foundtheworl · 7 years

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New Post has been published on Found The World

New Post has been published on https://foundtheworld.com/tour-istanbul-weekend/

How to Tour Istanbul in a Weekend

As a hectic city of roughly 20 million, your first thought may be that it’s impossible to see Istanbul in a weekend. While two days doesn’t give the city even half a chance to expose all its secrets, it’s also true that one weekend is more than enough time for Istanbul to leave a lasting impression on any visitor.

Istanbul, which was once known as Constantinople under the Byzantine Empire, is an extremely historical city. The Ottomans invaded and claimed the city as their own in 1453, and it has been Istanbul ever since. Istanbul’s attractions reflect all the conflict, accomplishment, and growth that has happened within the city limits in the past 4,000 years.

Many of these incredible sights are conveniently located in close proximity to one another. This makes Istanbul a very easy city to see if you have a limited amount of time. Check out this guide on how to pack as much punch into two days as possible!

Where to Stay

There are an overwhelming number of locations in which to stay in Istanbul. Many people opt to stay in the Old City, also known at Fetih, which is close to many of the big-name attractions. However, staying near to Taksim Square and Istiklal Street will allow you to see a different neighborhood of the city. Staying here also puts you within walking distance of the Old City, plus Taksim and Istiklal are areas you’ll want to explore anyway.

DAY ONE

The first day starts with a wander through Taksim Square and Istiklal Street. This is a great place to grab breakfast or a coffee and get your day of sight-seeing started.

Taksim Square

The name refers to the district and an actual square in the Beyoğlu neighborhood. The square itself is a central meeting point, location of many official celebrations, and a local gathering spot. In the center of the square stands the Independence Monument honoring the beloved and respected former-President and founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustaf Kemal Atatürk.

Istiklal Street

This famous two-and-a-half-kilometer street runs from Taksim square to the Tünel, which is an attraction in itself (more on that later). Istiklal is so busy and bursting with life it’s a good thing no vehicles are permitted entrance. The only exception is the old-fashioned trolley that runs the length of the street.

On Istiklal, you’ll find literally everything you’re looking for; restaurants, coffee shops, brand name stores, souvenir shops, and art galleries. Venture down one of the many side alleys and find a cozy bar, a trendy club, or a chilled out shisha café.

The Tünel

Once you’ve wander from Taksim and soaked up as much as possible of Istiklal Street, you will find yourself at the Tünel. Not only is this a mode on transportation within the city, it’s also a historical landmark. It’s the second oldest underground tunnel in the world, constructed in 1875.

It’s still in use today, however there is only one stop. Board at Istiklal Street and get off at Karaköy.

Haliç Köprüsü

This is the bridge near to the Karaköy stop and the one you will walk across to get to the Old City area. It’s about a 3km walk to your first stop, Topkapı Palace.

Topkaı Palace

Completed in the 15th century, the construction of this sprawling palace on the Istanbul Peninsula is nothing short of impressive. The grounds consume 700,000 square meters! The palace was used as the main administrative, educational, and art center for nearly 400 years during the Ottoman times.

Ornate ceiling design at Topkapı Palace

The palace was transformed into Turkey’s first museum after the Republic of Turkey was formed in 1923. The area is massive with plenty of courtyards and gardens interspaced throughout the palace walls. Inside the infinite rooms are fascinating artifacts, weapons, clothing, jewelry – even kitchen utensils – from the Ottoman Empire times.

Hagia Sophia

From the palace, one of Istanbul’s greatest UNESCO World Heritage Sites is just a few hundred meters away. Hagia Sophia was the first imperial mosque in Istanbul, however it didn’t start out this way.

For 900 years, Hagia Sophia was a Greek Orthodox Christian church. In 1453, the Ottomans conquered the region and the church was turned into a mosque.

Fast forward to current day, and one of the only church-turned-mosques in the world is now a renowned historical and cultural museum. Amazingly enough, the original cathedral that was built in 537 still stands today.

Sultan Ahmet AKA The Blue Mosque

Less than a kilometer from Hagia Sophia lies one of Istanbul’s most well-known sites; Sultan Ahmet Mosque. Nicknamed the Blue Mosque for tourism purposes, the six minarets and cascading domes can be seen from all over Istanbul.

Construction was commissioned by Sultan Ahmet I and completed in 1616. The mosque’s most unique and prominent feature is undoubtedly the six minarets; most mosques have only two or four.

The mosque’s architectural design and ornate details draw tourists from all over the world. Certain areas of the mosque are open to visitor tours, but the mosque is still an active place of worship. Respectful behavior and clothing is expected at all times.

The Bazaars

From the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar is just one kilometer away. This bazaar is something that should be “checked” on the Things I Saw in Istanbul list, but overall, it’s less than impressive.

The most interesting aspect of this giant covered market is the winding, maze-like alleys that lead in every which way. Inside you’ll find typical touristy “stuff.” It’s a good place to shop for souvenirs, inexpensive jewelry, and gifts. Entertaining for a wander through, but you don’t need to spend too much time here.

The Spice Bazaar, just another kilometer from the Grand Bazaar, is much more authentic and worthwhile. This market boasts stall after stall of specialty teas, nuts, herbs, spices, and sweets.

This is the place to sample and purchase a wide variety of Turkish delight; the renowned dessert made from fruit, gelatin, nuts. It’s also a great place for gift shopping as well, especially for those who like flowery, herbal teas!

Warning: It’s easy to get confused about which direction you’re going in and you’re likely to exit at a different point than where you entered!

DAY TWO

After resting up after a full-on first day in Istanbul, you’ll be ready to tackle your second day in the city.

If you stayed around Taksim as recommended, start your day with a leisurely stroll down Istiklal, enjoy a coffee at one of the cafes, and fuel up with a satisfying Kahvaltı (Turkish breakfast).

Carry on to the end of Istiklal, near the Tünel, and you’ll start to see signs for Galata Tower. This is stop number one for your second day in Istanbul.

Galata Tower

As one of the oldest and most iconic landmarks in Istanbul, the Galata Tower is a medieval building constructed in the 14th century. The tower is 67-meters tall and was strategically placed to serve as a look-out tower over the Bosporus Strait.

View of the Bosporus and Istanbul’s skyline from the top of Galata Tower

These days, the tower has been turned into a tourist attraction, and for good reason. The panoramic views from the top of the tower around the Bosporus are incredible. You can see the Blue Mosque dominating the skyline as well as both the Asian and European sides of the city.

Pierre Loti Café

This is a little bit off the beaten tourist track, but if you have the time to make the trek, the view of the Golden Horn (an inlet of the Bosporus) from this cliffside café is worth it. The café was named after a French naval officer who drew inspiration for his novel, Aziyadé, from this very spot.

Looking out on the patio and Golden Horn from inside Pierre Loti Café on a cold, snowy winter’s day!

A cable car carries visitors up to the top, presenting beautiful views the whole way. The teahouse that sits at the top is basic, serving tea and Turkish coffee. The purpose for the visit is less for the refreshments and more for the atmosphere, history, and views.

Ortaköy

This is a neighborhood of Istanbul to be visited when you are very hungry! Which, after a full day touring, you probably will be.

One of the best things on the menu at many Ortaköy restaurants is something called “Kumpir.” It’s a large baked potato, stuffed with cheese, butter, and any other addition of your choice. Toppings are displayed in large glass cases so you can personally pick and choose how to dress your potato.

Some choices may seem strange, but just go with it. Expect the unexpected to taste good such as pickles, olives, yogurt, Russian salad, mushrooms, bulger salad, and more. You can eat the whole potato, skin and all, therefore Kumpir is very filling.

After dinner, it’s nice to stroll around this area. There are waterside cafes if you feel like a Turkish coffee, which aids digestion. Those who want a little something more can head to one of the many Nargile (shisha) lounges. Nargile refers to the water pipe used to smoke flavored tobacco and is a popular thing to do among locals. Put your feet up and relax as you enjoy a shisha and a cocktail with view of the illuminated Bosporus Bridge in the foreground.

Istanbul in two days is no small feat, but it can be done. It’s possible to see all the famous tourist attractions like the Blue Mosque and Topkapı Palace as well as some more authentic local culture like the Pierre Loti Café and Ortaköy district.

No matter how you tour Istanbul, it will only whet your appetite and you’ll find yourself craving more of this fascinating city. There is so much more to see and experience, but you’ll just have to save that for your next visit!

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mihiruj · 7 years

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Kashmir: Burning snow

The article consists practical, theoretical and psychological views on the Kashmir issue, also considered as Illegal occupation of Kashmir by Pakistan. We will basically discuss these topics briefly:

1) Article 370

2) Plebiscite, why not ?

3) PoK occupation

4) Militants and separatists

5) Stone pelting and Military Ops

6) Lutyens’ Delhi: Media Hypocrisy

Article 370

If you are unaware of Article 370, it is the temporary provision which gives J&K the special ‘autonomous’ status, in short, the certain special rights. It actually came from the

clause 7

of ‘

Instrument of accession

”. While, at that time, the provisions were taken to preserve culture of J&K, nowadays, the topic is used more as a vote-banking and political tool. As once former CM Omar Abdullah said, “

Either Article 370 will exist, or J&K won't be a part of India”

. Note that the whole statement can be stated as strategic, political statement. Vote-banking, appeasement and sympathy has been one of the main tactics of winning the chair in J&K. It’s no hidden secret that Article 370 is been told to Kashmiri people more like a ‘comfort’ and ‘ease’ from India than the mere reality. Yet, people are made to think that the provision are their hope of surviving throughout. But, let’s talk some practical reality, shall we? The provision has actually been a hindrance in the peace and development of the J&K. The first and common problem is: the undefined, over-powers given to the forming government of J&K, also hence making it a tool for their votes, while it might sound bit harsh for the people of Kashmir, but due to the immunity from the Lok-Sabha bills, J&K is left aside from overall development and that is also can be questionable the forming governments of J&K, but Mr. Abdullah will never tell you about the other side, cause why? Cause they can’t afford to lose that special power of a CM, given which sometimes subtitle them as “PM of J&K”. Who would ever want to leave that? Further since, no private property can be accessed or purchased in the state of J&K, it makes it harder, actually impossible for private sectors to have their footstep in the Valley, hence a kill of a chance in increment of jobs and business acceleration for and between the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Yet, the sensitive and important impact of Article 370, I would discuss is the psychological game. Let suppose, there is an ‘equilibrium’ in a state of a country. The equilibrium that is the unity and progress with the nation comes when there is a certain moving of people from one state to another. Taking an example of city like: Delhi, how many here are the natives? Only a few, people from different states came here for their progress in jobs or businesses. Likewise, Bangalore, it’s now a IT hub, but, all the engineers didn’t decide born in there right? People moved there. These type of mass movements also result in communal and cultural sharing, hence a strengthened tie between the people of the country. While, the Article 370 turns out to be a wall standing in between, creating a wall between Kashmir and other part of the country. While many of the people, if you are a Kashmiri and after reading till now, might think that the abolition of Article 370 is faulty and against the people. But, the real interest of people in the development of the place. Neither me, nor probably anyone is anti-Kashmiri, Kashmir and the people of Kashmir are the part of India, and everyone matters to us as same as all other citizens. Especially, to the army, who works hard every day to settle peace in the Valleys and helping the people, the forces are the

defender of the people

, not the

enemy

, this is totally pointing to those international or maybe some of own news agency and media who show the Army in bad light and are always trying to increase the gap between the people and the forces. Indeed, even after numerous and continuous attempts of separatists, militants and Pakistan combined, the forces has proved that the righteous always prevail.

Plebiscite, why or why not?

As after Pt. Nehru took the Kashmir issue to the UN: international court of justice.

UN’s simple and actually undefined solution, ‘resolution 47’, which in short stated to have a plebiscite that is, let the people of J&K decide their fate, by democratically voting. But, then why there hasn’t been a plebiscite? Shehla Rashid still cries for this, yet what she always ignore that the fact: the plebiscite would only be done after the 3 steps: firstly, Pakistan had to withdraw their forces from the occupied region, secondly, India will have it forces at a ‘minimum’ along the whole J&K, third and last: do the plebiscite with appointing all major political parties, return of refugees and all prisoners indeed.

But, firstly, Pakistan never left the occupation of Kashmir. Not only that, after waging 3 wars against the country, how could one expect to do a plebiscite. Not only that, Pakistan made a courtyard and command-house of their evil-deeds and terror and now it’s called Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir. So, if someone ever still continues to argue for a plebiscite, remind them about the terms on which the resolution could be acted upon, moreover it’s too old, especially when you wage war against and lose 3 times, and also not forgetting the real deal: ‘Instrument of Accession’. The agreement between last ruler Hari Singh and India, agreeing on Jammu and Kashmir be the integral part of this country.

The PoK problem

Here come the most recent and actual issue for India. Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir, they also call it Azad-Kashmir, another diplomatic game. PoK consist of Gilgit-Balistan and some other part of Kashmir, lately as Pakistan has been trying to uproar for J&K, India has played a master-stroke for getting Kashmir back, that is strategically and diplomatically isolating Pakistan to take back Gilgit-Balistan. Recently, in the UN council, when Pakistan tried to take help from UN for the Kashmir issue, India reminded them of the Shimla agreement, and stated to vacate the occupation of PoK. If you are unknown to the Shimla agreement, it’s the agreement signed between the Republic of India and Pakistan after the 1971 war, stating that all the conflicts will be issued bilaterally. No doubt, it was a nice and reflective decision by Indira at that time. But, if PoK is India’s part, why India just not take it? The answer is quite complex, at first, when Nehru took the issue to UN, Line of Control was put in place, to keep peace till the issue is solved. Then after, 1965 war, the Tashkent agreement to revert back the forces and maintain the old lines of border. Later, after the Bangladesh freedom war, the peace treaty that was Simla Agreement also stating to solve any conflict bilaterally and peacefully. Since, then both nation has achieved nuclear power and Pakistan is already numskull, so India has kept its promises to keeping the violence to the lowest, also developing a respect in the United Nations for this resistance.

Another than the diplomatic and army power, India has indirectly also been supporting the free-Baloch movement, to help the innocent of Baluchistan receive freedom, yet it’s true that only Baloch-movement can’t defeat Pakistan, but it does give burns to Islamabad, yet the cruel part is, a lot of innocent are killed by the Pakistan armed forces, they have kept suppressing Baloch, it’s next to impossible for Baloch alone getting freedom.

In future, only India’s pre-planned act against Pakistan and acquiring our left Kashmir can help the Baluchistan to be a reality from a dream seen by many, what frightens Pakistan the most is, if ever there is a Baluchistan formed, the left part of the country will be locked between, degrading and finishing itself.

Militants and Separatists

I am not even sure if these two are different terms or not. One is engaging terror with arm, other with words and ideologies. At last, both of them are like to be the same. Separatists are more like a job of some in the Valleys, feed on the mind of the people, making them engage in hatred, irrespective of any rationality. Separatists are yet not any powerful, they are like that girl in your school, who ranted about everything. Militants, indeed a hurdle while creating peace in the Valleys. But, the Indian army undoubtedly has given a tough time to these insects. The main objective of these militants is quite unknown or actually they never actually reveal it. Militants say they fight for the freedom of Kashmir, yet their superficial sympathy for Kashmir is nothing more than a joke, anything they have to fight for is terrorism, aided by the world-terrorism factory: Pakistan. Not forgetting, the so-called misguided youth: stone-pelters, it’s not been a long time, when the social media got visual proof of how you can have a career in stone-pelting, also being done by Pakistan. COAS Bipin Rawat is actually right upon the strict action against these half-wits, yet the forces should be using more real guns more often.

Stone-pelting and Military ops

Tourism or terrorism, one could create a tunnel from the same stone, while one could throw it at the armed forced, said by our PM Modi. Indian Army has been doing continuous military operations against the militants. While trying to block these army operations, the militants backed by Pakistan use the local people, well its like buying them, paying them for pelting stones and blocking the way of the military vehicles, so that the militants can get away. What shouldn’t be ignored is, not only stones, but petrol bombs have been used by the militant supporters, it’s the compassion and mercy of the forces that they resist to use any real guns against the pelters. Also, in 2016 almost 88 people joined the militancy, while about 300 Kashmiri joined the Indian Army. 2017 starting, also saw about nine-thousand young Kashmiris to participating in Army selection, 99% students appearing the school boards. These facts and figures are slap on the face of separatists, and before Yasin Malik or Geelani starts cringing for some injured stone-pelters, who are getting free hospital service, I would put light on the Media’s Hypocrisy.

Lutyens’ Delhi: Media Hypocrisy

By media hypocrisy, the first name in our mind that came would be Barkha Dutt.

But, let’s discuss some basics first. Lutyens’ Delhi media refers to the lazy journalism, spending time in their offices, making theories, assuming them as reality and just trying to justify their dimwitted theories to people. Media always play a serious role in revealing the truth to the public. They can hide Umar Khalid’s plans under fight for ‘Freedom of speech’, call Arunachal Pradesh a ‘disputed state’ but also can uncover the whole separatist propaganda of separatists and stone-petlers.

But, how is Kashmir’s local media? Don’t they misguide people. Yes ,they do and have been. Spicing up, raging people against might be the only way for them to earn a living, cause only few and they are on Social media are the agencies will disclose the truth in Kashmir. There is no needed proof, if the local media can address Kashmir Pandits as cancer, they can possibly do anything. The point to be observed is: how these agencies has been indirectly placing violence and communal insecurity between people, not only in Kashmir, but also between the Kashmiri people and the rest of India. These sources of anti-venom are doing nothing but misusing the freedom of expression given in India.

#kashmir india indian army indianarmy peace article truth reality media hypocrisy

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desertwhisperings · 7 years

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The Gibraltar Affair: An analysis of the tensions surrounding the territory

With last week’s triggering of Article 50, the formal process for the British exit from the European Union (colloquially known as Brexit) has commenced. In the nine months since the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, when the British public took the decision to leave the bloc, a number of tense political disputes have arisen between the UK and the remaining 27 EU nations. Previous issues of contention include the Le Touquet agreement, which established the so-called shared border with France at Calais, and the four ‘basic’ freedoms of the European Single Market, specifically the free movement of people across the economic area. The Brexit decision has also led to quarrelling between the nations of the United Kingdom, with debates still raging both sides of the border over a second Scottish independence referendum 1, and growing worry that a true international border being erected between the North and Republic of Ireland will lead to economic and political instability in the region.2

The most recent controversy to surface from the Brexit circus centres around the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Located on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, and named after the famed Ummayad general Tariq ibn Ziyad 3 - its Arabic name being Jabal-i-Tariq, meaning the Mountain of Tariq, from which its modern Spanish and English names are derived - the Rock of Gibraltar controls the sole natural entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, and oversees access to one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The territory, which has been under British control since the War of Spanish Succession in 1704, and was officially ceded by Spain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht, has remained a sore-spot for relations between the two nations since at least the 1930’s. The recent flare-up in tensions relates to the future of the territory following British withdrawal from the EU.

The cause of recent tensions is due to the EU’s insistence that Gibraltar be excluded from any future EU-UK trade deals unless Spanish consent can be secured, this effectively hands Spain a veto over the future of the territory.4 The specific clause published in an EU draft document for upcoming negotiations reads as follows: “no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom may apply to the territory of Gibraltar without the agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom”. This has caused significant controversy in the UK, as the clause seems to undermine the UK’s claim to complete sovereignty over Gibraltar, and already the sabre-rattling has begun. Lord Michael Howard, former leader of the Conservative Party has compared this situation to that of the Falklands in the 1980’s - “another woman prime minister” “another Spanish-speaking country” 5 - in reference to Margret Thatcher’s decision to go to war against Argentina in order to retain control over the Falkland Islands, explaining these earlier remarks Lord Howard went on to say “I can’t see any harm in reminding them what kind of people we are”. This follows from earlier remarks made by Lord Michael Heseltine - a former minister and senior member of the Conservative Party - who said the following in relation to Brexit “So Germany lost the [second world] war. We’ve just handed them the opportunity to win the peace. I find that quite unacceptable.” These examples are symbolic of a growing dissonance among senior political figures in the UK, especially those in the Conservative Party who voted to remain in the EU, and now find themselves pursuing an exit strategy that they don’t support, and it is for this reason we have Lord Heseltine’s xenophobic outlash, and Mrs May’s rhetoric on hard Brexit 6, this all amounts to political posturing as they attempt to appeal to an electorate that has drifted to the right of the mainstream Conservative Party.

The crux of the problem appears to be that the pro-business, centre-right politicians who constitute a majority in the Conservative Party, many of whom offered tepid support for the Union simply due to the economic benefits it offered, but held no sincere belief in the project itself, nor felt any deep cultural affinity with the rest of the continent 7 (remember British exceptionalism is still a thing)8, now find themselves presented with a UKIP manifesto - and a mountain of troubles (pun intended) - the least of which is a divided population at home, and a solidly right-wing and impatient electoral base. These same politicians must now remain defiant and uncompromising in the face of economic suicide, if they are to retain the support of the British electorate. And so grand-standing and brinkmanship appear to be the order of the day, as the stage is set for exit negotiations, which are scheduled for later this year.

The political reality in Gibraltar further complicates the matter, residents of the territory have twice voted, overwhelmingly, against Spanish rule 9, yet in last year’s Brexit referendum, 96% of Gibraltarians voted Remain. It is clear that Gibraltar’s preferred political arrangement - as a British Territory firmly embedded within the European Union - is no longer possible, and now the future of the territory, and its 30,000 residents rests in the hands of politicians in Madrid, London and Brussels.

This latest dispute does lend further credence to the argument made throughout the Brexit referendum campaign, that the EU was necessary to maintain peace in Europe. The question over Gibraltar has plagued Anglo-Spanish relations for decades, yet it must be pointed out that dozens of similar border and territorial disputes exist between the various members of the European Union.10 If this EU project is to fail, and its detractors have been making predictions about its imminent demise since its very inception - though worryingly, recent trends, particularly the economic difficulties in the Eurozone, and now Brexit, have exposed the growing fragility of the Union, and raised hopes for those who wish to see it collapse - then as the Gibraltar affair demonstrates, such a collapse could bring to the fore centuries worth of territorial disputes between the nations of Europe, that have long lay dormant under a shared political and economic project, and therefore significantly undermine peace in Europe.

1: Pro-independence parties including the Scottish National Party (the current governing party of Scotland) and the Scottish Green Party feel a second referendum is necessary due to the overwhelming remain vote North of the border - 63% of Scots voted Remain.

2: The recent collapse of the power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland demonstrates the fragile and unstable political climate in the region, and it is feared that a ‘hard’ border between the North and the Republic of Ireland will lead to further instability.

3: Tariq ibn Ziyad led Muslim armies from the Magreb (Northwest Africa), under the authority of the Ummayad Calilph in Baghdad, Al-Walid I, across the straits of Gibraltar, and after capturing the Rock proceeded to conquer the rest of the Iberian peninsula in the early 8th century. The region remained under Muslim rule for 800 years, until it was finally recaptured, following centuries of conflict, by the Spanish monarchs Isabelle and Ferdinand in 1492.

4: Without a trade deal with the EU the economy of Gibraltar faces collapse.

5: Quote in full: “Thirty-five years ago this week, another woman prime minister sent a taskforce halfway across the world to defend the freedom of another small group of British people against another Spanish-speaking country, and I’m absolutely certain that our current prime minister will show the same resolve in standing by the people of Gibraltar,”

6: Theresa May has made the argument that the referendum result mandates UK withdrawal from the European single market, saying the UK “cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all”. This is the only way for the UK to end freedom of movement from across the continent, as membership of the single market is contingent on accepting the four basic freedoms.

7: This stands in stark contrast with the pro-European (or Europhile) consensus found in the other major parties, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats in particular, whose members often tout the political, cultural, historic (and sometimes religious) links the UK shares with its European neighbours, and argue that the UK has a natural place within Europe, and as part of any continent wide political, economic or cultural union.

8: See UKIP - United Kingdom Independence Party

9: The first vote, in 1967, was on transferring sovereignty of Gibraltar to Spain, which 99.6% of the electorate rejected, and the second, which was held in 2002, was on a proposal for shared sovereignty of the territory between the UK and Spain, and was rejected by 98.5% of Gibraltarian voters.

10: Such disputes include but are not limited to:

A dispute between France and Italy regarding the summit of Mont Blanc - Between the UK and Ireland over Lough Foyle

Between Andorra and Spain over the area near Montmalús peak

Between Spain and Portugal over the cities of Olivenza and Vila Real

Between Slovenia and Croatia over the Gulf of Piran

#EU #European Union #Gibraltar #Spain #United Kindgom #Scotland #IndyRef2 #Ireland #NorthernIreland #Brexit #Article 50 #Michael Howard #Michael Heseltine #Theresa May #Boris Johnson #Michael Fallon

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