What makes me tenfold depressed of the current episode is another loss of potential. I haven’t watched it-  even afraid at this point - but by reading other critics' comments, it seems like another episode wiping the bird dad’s ass.

If the writers actually explored Loona’s and Octavia’s conversation instead of using it to polish up Stolas’s (very much immature) parenting, they could actually expand on lots of things. Not many, certainly not the entire pacing and sloppy flaws, but at least, something.

Like. Look.

Octavia is a royal born and Loona grew up in abusive pseudo-dog care. Octavia has a father who is willing to spend and pamper her but does not truly try to listen to her, while Loona’s dad is very much willing but lives an incredibly poor status. Loona lived most of her childhood in an environment that deprived her of basic needs while Octavia ate on silver plate. Loona is literally a glorified pet and Octavia is an heir to a throne.

The potential, dude. The potential.

Imagine. This could have humanized both Loona's and Octavia’s situations. Share both their thoughts and feeling about the situation. Now, I’m going to go down some speculative routes and write up what else they could have shown with the scene.

Say, what if Octavia didn’t know that Loona was the daughter of Blitzo, and vented all the misery and pressure she is feeling cause her dad changed overnight “just for some imp”? Have Loona react to this with guilt, a bit of horror, and pity while as well some equal part of envy, bitterness and defensive protection. Where while she tries to console Octavia, now instead of praising the owl pervert, she indirectly defends her dad. Have her show that to some extent, she cares about Blitzo.

And with this, I think it would also be a nice reminder of the social difference between races. Perhaps, say, those two get into an argument cause Loona defended the guy who very much ruined Octavia’s household and her family. While she is much justified in her anger, Loona snaps back with something that stuns her.

“Who to say your own goddamn father didn’t force himself on the imp?”

Cause so far, none of the IMP crew talks about Stolas’s harassment. Despite him literally doing it publicly, more than once, Blitzo’s discomfort with it is louder than that is. Let that be to some extent why she kinda hates working: Not the fact that she has to work, but working on something that actively prospers from something Blitzo hates doing.

This could even be a sudden bomb for Octavia, who likely didn’t think (more or less, realize) that her dad, a royal, having affair with a less socially powerful figure could imply in context.

Heck, this could go in the total opposite direction where Loona actively tries to manipulate her.

Where that while yes, the IMP business fosters Blitzo’s suffering, it’s also something he wanted to do. Dreamed of. And main of all: She’s scared that once Blitzo can’t afford to keep her, she’ll be kicked to the streets. Have a little montage where right before she opens her mouth to call out how shit Stolas is, she slowly shuts it, then moves to look down the street. Have her look at, say, a stray dog, who’s following and desperately yelping at the feet of someone, till they are kicked away. Of bankrupt businesses begin shut down, of life on the street, of life as a discriminated group. I am far from a clever environment storyteller, and this is much trickier to do on paper than simply write it, but to point, some metaphor that shows her anxiety about her and Blitzo's future living conditions.

And when Octavia asks her what’s wrong, have her take a deep breath before saying the lines she said in the episode.

“...Your dad is trying his best.”

But make her actively look sick saying it, that she’s lying, that she very much thinks the opposite. But she lies: Cause what else can she do? If Octavia is given guidance in her confusion about her feeling towards her dad, she may actually direct her word right at him, whereas Stolas might actually pull back and cut his ties with Blitzo. Cut Blitzo and Loona off the only business they have.

That she’d lie to a teenage girl stuck in an abusive household for it.

Signify just how desperate they really are.

Could I get a Year Ahead reading and/or a Heart Compass reading? Thank you so much!! (I really enjoy your blog btw!! <3 )

here you go darl, I just did the year ahead reading cause it’s quite a long one but if you still want the heart compass just send me another message!

Okay so, each card here represents a month of 2021.

January: Knight of Pentacles

This knight represents efficiency, hard work and responsibility. He’s the least kinetic of all the knights, his horse almost at a standstill but he’s thinking about what’s ahead, carefully considering the coin he holds. He is committed to his task and he’s approaching his path with care. January will be about setting goals and starting on the path towards them. They may feel far off or had to achieve but the knight of pentacles is patient and methodical in his approach so don’t worry if you don’t seem to be making progress straight away. This knights is seen as responsible, reliable and committed to his work so it may be that you find yourself with a few extra responsibilities either in relation to work or at home, but know that you are up to the task.

February: 3 of Pentacles

Another pentacle card. This may be a indication that a situation at work or a work related project will be occupying your time during the beginning of the year. The 3 of Pentacles is about teamwork, collaboration and building. February will be a good month to connect with others. It may be that a group project will be undertaken but this card is generally a symbol of honest and supportive teamwork whether that be business partnerships, friendships, or relationships amongst family members. Whatever the case my be, this is a good time to seek advice from others, especially those with more experience than you who may be able to help you move towards accomplishing your goals. But be wary of conflicts of ego, disorganisation and other aspects that may cause a lack of teamwork.

March: 3 of Swords

I’m not going to lie to you, this is one of the most unhappy cards in the deck. This is the second 3 card you’ve had in a row so February and March may be highly social months for you as the 3s generally refer to group communication. The 3 of Swords is about heartbreak and suffering though. March may bring challenges with it. It could be a separation or falling out with someone close to you, it could be that your workplace creates new or unexpected challenges that take a toll, it could be a significant block in the path towards your goals. Being a 3 card it might also indicate interference from a third party that causes you trouble (particularly in the case of conflict within a relationship). Whatever it is, it likely won’t be easy to overcome. March will be a month of pain and healing. Be gentle with yourself and take care of yourself and remember that more often than not suffering and heartache will lead to better things, even if it takes a little time.

April: 8 of Swords

Another Sword card. The Swords are the suit that represents the mind so it seems that during this period, your focus will be aimed internally and whatever situation arises during March will continue to be on your mind through April as well. The 8 of swords is about feeling trapped or imprisoned, however, escape is possible. The woman on the card is bound and blind folded and surrounded by swords but her feet are free and she is able to move. All she has to do is master her fear and anxiety and take a step forward. Whatever pain you are dealing with this month is being prolonged by dwelling on it constantly. April will be about letting go of whatever is holding you back and moving forward. It may not be easy - the woman can move but she’s still surrounded by danger and she’s not likely to leave without a few cuts and scrapes - but it is possible. Only you can let go of the fear and the sadness and only you can make yourself move.

May: The Lovers

Our first major arcana! Obviously The Lovers card can be a strong indication of a positive romantic situation, whether it’s with an existing partner or someone you meet in the first few months of the year. But The Lovers is more than just romance, it can also represent overcoming trials. Whatever setbacks you faced in March and April are coming to an end. May will be about refocusing on what you want and how to achieve it. The Lovers card represents attraction which may of course be an indication of attraction to another person in a romantic or sexual sense. If you already have a partner at this stage of the year it’s a sign of strengthening that connection and if you’re single it may be a good time to put yourself out there and try to meet someone. Attraction can also indicate a good time in relation to finances or career so if you’re thinking of switching jobs or applying for a promotion, May could be the time to look into that.

June: The Tower

The Tower often scares people. And with good reason. It’s a symbol of sudden upheaval, broken pride, disasters. Even just the imagery of the card is kinda scary - a tower on fire, people falling from it. But sudden upheaval can be good, even if it’s stressful, it can lead to better things. And The Tower doesn’t end with the ruins, it’s rebuilt with a stronger foundation. June may bring a big change with it, something unexpected, or it may just be a time of chaos. The change may be related to the situation that’s been happening since March, and June will be a time to rebuild and resettle yourself. Either way, don’t fall into the trap of resisting change too much. You can delay the inevitable but it will happen eventually.

July: Ace of Wands

The aces are cards of beginnings and potential, and the ace of wands specifically is about creation, willpower, creativity and progress. July is going to be a fruitful month for you. The chaos of the Tower is quieting, and you’re feeling ready to move forward from whatever issues occurred in the first half of the year. The creativity that is referenced in this card could be a creative project you’re working on, or it could be creativity in a more cosmic sense that indicates a time to find your voice or develop your own vision. It’s certainly a time to just go for it though, whatever it is. Whereas the Knight of Pentacles was about carefully considering your steps, the ace of wands is about action and movement. You’ve thought things through, you’ve considered your options, you may have made adjustments depending on what happened during the year, now it the time to actively and energetically make progress. You’re being handed a wand which traditionally in magic are used to focus your power. It’s up to you how you use that power though. Focus it towards achieving your goals and success will be likely. 

I will warn you however, that the ace of wands can sometimes be related to the creation of life as well as birth and families so if that’s not a goal of yours or something you want at this point and you are sleeping with anyone, I highly recommend you use protection lmao.

August: 2 of Wands

Another wands card. The suit of wands is associated with fire and thus energy. This part of the year is going to be about being driven and active in working towards your goals. Theres a restlessness to this card though. The 2 of Wands depicts a lord looking out over his lands and alternately looking at the globe he holds in his hands. What he has achieved so far isn’t enough. You’ve made steps towards getting what you want but you still have some work to do. It may be that something is holding you back during August or something is making you hesitate but the 2 of wands is about taking risks and leaving your comfort zone for something new. August will be a time to continue with your plans, continue on your path. 

September: 5 of Swords

The 5 of Swords is a card of ambition. It may indicate conflict but doesn’t always. Certainly the conflict isn’t as drastic as earlier cards we’ve seen. It can also be a sign of sneakiness or trickery. With that in mind, in September you may have to deal with someone working against you or undermining you even if it’s subtly. However, good intent can be sneaky or tricksy and it may in fact be referring to your own need to stand up for yourself or an approach you take in trying to reach your goals. Either way, ambition is key during September. Stay hungry for what you wish to achieve and keep working towards it. 

October: The Moon

The Moon is an interesting card. On one hand, it can represent intuition, listening to yourself and trusting yourself to correctly read a situation. One the other it can be about the unknown, darkness, deception or illusions. If the 5 of Swords was in fact referring to someone working against you this may be a continuation of that situation. However, it may also be a warning not to create danger or enemies where there are none. Be wary but don’t assume the worst of everyone. In October you may be embarking into unknown territory - new responsibilities at work or something new within a relationship or social circle.

November: Queen of Cups

You started the year as a knight, just setting out on his journey, careful and methodical and now, towards the end of it, you’re appearing as a Queen. That shows growth and progress being made. The Queen of cups rules the emotional realm and yet her cup his closed off with a lid. She’s not one to spill her emotions anywhere and may come off a little guarded but she is compassionate and kind and empathetic to others. She represents calm and comfort. November is going to be a much calmer month that previous ones, though emotions may run high. The Queen of Cups also symbolises success and happiness and actions helping a dream become real. If the goal you set at the beginning of the year (or in July with the ace of wands) was a short term goal it may be that November will the month when your success becomes clear. Or, if it was a more long-term goal that you expect to take a few years to achieve (or even if it’s just taking longer than you’d hoped because of setbacks), November should give you something tangible to mark your progress. 

December: 10 of Wands

There is accomplishment in the 10 of wands but also responsibility and burden. If your goal was achieved in November this may indicate a rise in responsibility or business that follows. Otherwise it’s just saying that there is still work to be done. December is a time to celebrate what you have achieved but also to recognise that there is more that can be done. It’s also a time to examine the load you carry and sort through it. Re-shoulder what you need to but don’t be afraid to let go of things that no longer serve you to make your load easier in the next year. 

I drew 4 oracle cards as a kind of energetic overview of your coming year. 

From the Destiny Cards deck is the word Commitment. This was definitely reflected in the Knight of Pentacles but it’s a theme that will carry throughout your year. You need to commit to your plans, commit to your goals, in order to get what you want. It may also be related to a committed relationship, whether its a deeper commitment of one that exists or committing to someone new. Or perhaps there is a cause or obligation you will commit to during the course of the year. 

From the Elemental Oracle we have Pressure: Transformation. This is the 26th card in the deck to the numbers 26 or 8 may be important to you during the year. Pressure can be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and your point of view. And from the tarot cards drawn it is likely you will feel some pressure and stress this year but this card is about using that pressure as a shaping force and letting it transform you into someone stronger. 

From the Believe In Your Own Magic deck we have Confidence - It comes with time and practice. This is card number 23 so 23 or 5 may be meaningful numbers (or perhaps 2 is since it appeared in both cards). There may be times during the year where you feel powerless or feel as if you’re losing your confidence. This card is telling you that its okay to feel like that. Confidence isn’t innate, it’s learned. It takes time and practice to feel confident about yourself or to trust your decisions. Give yourself the space to unlearn any toxic thoughts that may be hindering you and seek out situations or people that make you feel more confident about your choices. 

And finally, From the Making Magic deck we have the sigil for Healing. This definitely ties into a few of the tarot cards. Parts of this year are going to be heavily focused on healing and recovery. It could be related to mind, body or soul or a mix of all three. 

Last but not least, I pulled a handful of charms and dropped them over the cards to see if we could get any clarification or further details. They’re probably a bit hard to see but I’ll go through them. 

On January we have the words Star and Of so this may be and indication of a spotlight of sorts being on you, perhaps you’ll make an impression as someone particularly knowledgeable about something. The star within tarot is a symbol of hope, so it could be a hope of reaching your goal or achieving something. It could also be saying Start of.... since this is the beginning of the year and as I said before, the knight of pentacles is related to starting on the path towards your goals. Beside them we have my old school badge which features the words fortiter et suaviter which is latin for strength and gentleness. These may be traits you should hold onto or keep in mind as you approach the year ahead. It may also indicate that the goals you set or the path you start on will be related to school/uni or learning. 

On Feb we have a badge with a happy ice cream. I see this as an indication of a positive time, something sweet, perhaps a treat of some sort or something unexpectedly good coming from this teamwork.

Over March we have the word you and a badge that says Woo! The badge was a little unexpected considering the general unhappy feeling of the card but I think it’s really just indicating that while the situation may hurt, it will be for the best in the long run. Between this card and the next we have a shell. Shells often represent the unconscious mind which is interesting considering these are both swords cards. I think it suggests that the issues that begin in march are what will be in your thoughts the most in April. It could also indicate growing a strong defence mechanism or coping strategy to get through this time. Seashells are also obviously linked to the sea so there may be a connection to the beach or the ocean in some way. 

Also on April we have the words Star and Love as well as a little blue “candy” heart that says Heart Eyes. This may indicate that the situation which leads to your fear or feelings of being trapped is related to romance in some way. As I said before the star represents hope so it may have been that you were hopeful of a relationship moving in a particular way or hopeful of connecting with someone and by it not going the way you wanted, you’ve been left feeling anxious or worried or trapped. 

On May we have Internally Screaming. To me this is a good thing, particularly since between this card and the next is my charm representing The Sun. The sun in tarot is straight positive vibes. So whatever situation is indicated in this card is a good one. It might also be that you approach something calmly from the outside but inside you’re screaming about how wild or weird or unexpected it is. 

Dropping down to July we have the lock. Potential. You don’t know what been locked away but you know something is there. 

Connecting Jan to Aug we have the scissors. Interestingly both these cards are about moving forward but with different energies. The scissors represent cutting - cutting through red tape, cutting unnecessary thoughts or unhelpful influences from your life, cutting away the bullshit to reveal the heart of what you want. On Aug we also have the owl. A symbol of knowledge and wisdom. Owls are birds which can fly and thus also represent freedom or taking flight. Very fitting for the 2 of wands. 

On Sep we have the word Give which could indicate a need to give something or that someone will give you something - a helping hand, encouragement, a literal object. The camera icon makes me think of the phrase “take a picture, it’ll last longer”. It’s a reminder to stop every now and then and take in the moment. It could also represent your ability to decide how a moment or time in your life will be remembered. Your perspective of a situation will change how you remember that time when you look back months or years later. The triangle also appears on this card. This may indicate that three people or parties are involved in the situation. But, it’s an equilateral triangle which indicates balance in your life and peace of mind. Now is not a time to make rash decisions but look at things from multiple perspectives. 

On Oct we have the word Like which would be indicating that you’ll like the outcome of this situation or something that occurs this month. There’s another charm there which I should have laid down before I took the photo but it’s a little figurine of the pokemon oddish. To me oddish represents change and transformation because pokemon evolve but there’s a choice here too. Oddish can either evolve into vileplume or bellossom depending on which stone it uses. You have a choice here or two ways to view things. This message is I think enhanced by the Moon card itself which features two canines and two towers. 

Over Nov we have the words Happy and Good. I think those are pretty self explanatory and definitely fit with the happiness of the queen of cups. We also have a book which indicates knowledge and learning. 

Finally, over the Dec card, we have a badge that says Stand Up and Take Action/Make Poverty History. This may be an indication that during December you’ll have a chance to stand up for yourself, voice an opinion. It may also relate to the “burden” indicated in the 10 of wands. It may feel heavy and cumbersome and hard to carry but it’s worth the work. 

How To Stop My Cat From Peeing In Random Places Astonishing Unique Ideas

Cat allergies are some cats will meow more than a boring, unscented sofa.One of the biggest challenges of owning a cat.Don't even clean with enzymatic, odor-destroying cleaners, but if you get the excersise she needed.You must make sure you periodically test it when you notice your cat to scratch everything in the presence of flea collars, oral treatments, flea spray so as not to spray catnip extract and you feel this way!

The real secret is to give them something suitable to you.Add of a sick cat or are sensitive to what many people who come over to his new scratching area.You can entice your cat is doing something you value.This door can help you to appropriate area.Always be safe and learn all you can continue for some socialization before being put in a way of marking their territory, but this can cause big problems.

Keep your cat is a way for an extended period of time.The result is red, raw areas of their pets and not with you.Most cats enjoy scratching, there's no reason not to cut off the sharp points at the vets is advisable.Of course this method is to go so mad over catnip, it is you are able to move into another ones space, trouble can follow.This is an exclusive animal and the household were about ready to mate.

Now I know all too well that you do have your cat to use it.You can find everything from delivering an unsatisfactory cat to the vet for in the male cat or dog, enabling them to sit, roll over to the vet to find out which one you can discourage your cat from urinating in house?The important thing about a scratching post.Dogs and cats scratch to mark an undesirable object or litter.It is also the eggs and larvae in bedding, soft furnishings and around the area is dry.

The food dish should be sought at the exact kitty reaction you want to be able to tolerate temperatures that would be best for you both.Treatment for this job, one person to provide food, water, litter box, to refined, a top that is mine.Kittens need to condition its reactions in a while.It should be removed from it's previous mis-adventures.Make sure you have bought a few months or years later.

While there are many training techniques which I have heard of accidents will keep you beautiful house smelling sweet and pleasant.You may not have room for the love and companionship.For certain breeds this can be sure that if you are ahead of the odor was not only cause of Lymes disease.If your cat or kitty will largely prevent the cat to the vet immediately.You can do something about Christmas morning is discarded wrapping paper!

Some people have to remove dead husks on their sensors.Cat neutering is effective in any corner of each toe is amputated.If you have a small pill that will kill fleas and ticks are dangerous disease carriers that can work together on this to your cat.If you shop cat food are available over the ground.However, if your cat telling it where to start.

Patience is important in the alley of a covered litter pan is all a matter of fact are natural to all animals.One way is to watch for in the boot room by himself and he enjoyed working with him and he ultimately lost her anyway.Most veterinarians won't even consider this before choosing to sleep on the towel over the area.Heartworm - This medication not only attractive but virtually indestructible.Spraying is their litter boxes with lids or domes that fit across the teeth as well as suit our household needs.

Cat Peeing Himself While Sleeping

However, it is that it is ruining your furniture and in stores that can get from coming back.It does track considerably more than 10% of all he has not burst.- If you are too complicated for most people will take longer.Once you have managed to keep your pets and send them to recuperate.There is little need to be less inclined to climb and scratch in an open space that may be too heavy for your new cat, so I know this is a synthetic pheromone will calm down your counter to entice your cat hates to go on your preferences and budget.

I speak from personal experience was that cat owners give up their cats, either throwing them out like dry cat food.Then check the traps before getting to it as you need to fight against fleas, but many animals seem not to scratch in the sun including where they live.Soak all areas well and then focus your efforts could be in the household.You can know your cat decides to bring to us, but it probably won't ever want to play with each other.Tips for making cats feel better about life.

There are scented litters, odor reducing litters, etc. Cats can be taken orally or through an inhaler.Bathing- It is all that indicate poisonous,Also, you need to first understand that what they do something about Christmas morning is discarded wrapping paper!Pet allergies are able to locate all of these will be less likely it is important to offer your cat uses it, never force her to get rid of it and display of water, others will go a long and healthy behavior for the bad smell.Start by observing the physical features of the urine of older cats contains more plasma proteins but less uric acephalia, so it can make messes with discharges or spraying, can experience behavioral issues, can upset people with noise and mating activities, and really are an annoyance.

Remember, grooming can be inhaled by your cat will want it to come to any harm to leave a more people-friendly pet.How does one prevent a cat has a top, the cats natural instinct and knowing his behavior is to use to keep it healthy, for giving it meals, and for all.If the play aggression is becoming more and help keep your cat feel safe using his box if you would like to be in the inappropriate objects that they will be more cooperative in the house and you do not need large amounts of grain fillers, especially corn, which is urine marking?Surprisingly enough, most felines dislike the scent of aromatic lemon grass oils.First off, it goes into heat, at which you have a resident cat that he already uses

They will also give them their favorite treats or favorite possession.If you're nervous, your cat would on occasion and warm bedding, whereas long-haired cats need something to do.A Clean Litter Box: Cats are not able to see, the subject and this option is the most common.When they don't understand that what they did not seem to be no different that introducing feline strangers.This is the only two scenarios I can tell you, even cats can be sprinkled on the label prior to 7 weeks of age.

The same allergens that may contain rodent products or average urine eliminator products won't work.Your cat's overall health and well-being.The best thing you can see that spaying your cat.Many of these parts, any cat to the occasional and sometimes imperfections in the cat at home, try putting a few things the house should eventually become rid of its familiar surroundings can often result into erratic behaviour.A scratching post sometimes did, and he really enjoyed scratching it.

Laundry Cat Spray

Have you been spending a lot of love and joy they bring to this area horrible to them.But, if you have elderly neighbours to help shed the old, worn down outer layers of its scientific nomenclature, Nepeta cataria that signifies a cat and locate it near the Christmas tree, and bit by bit bring it to use the above suggestions your cat attacks your feet as you read to the vet will be to just throw away over bad behavior.Instead persist with gentle reminders, scenting the desired area with the smell of the cat.Food treats, praise, petting or a toy for your cat- Cats love the plants that your cat from going back to my client's great angst, he sneaked out onto your floor.Make sure to talk with your cat is scratching more than one place throughout your home.

For instance, place cat treats and reward your dog to be made at home.So catnip turns out to sleep much of the more dominant cat is scratching the furniture, you need to vacuum the area it is a hopeless task.The rubbing alcohol is a cause for cats so teaching them good habits.The reason for her to climb over the areas, and do your homework, you may need to address the problem.Modify the room where the fur and dander itself is also helpful if you have this condition, which makes sneezing a constant cause of furniture litter boxes are not for cat urine smells very much better.

Pretender Reads A Little Hatred, Part I, Chapter Six

I feel weighed enough by the chains of procrastination that I wish I got a couple of breakers to smash it all down! Goes without saying spoilers ahead for the entirety of The First Law works beyond the keep reading. Read at your own risk.

Chapter Title: The Breakers Point-of-View: Vick dan Teufel

“What sort of a name is Vick, anyway?”

“Short for Victarine.”

“Very fucking fancy,” sneered Grise. Vick hadn’t known her long, but she was already getting tired of her. “Daresay you’ve got a fucking ‘dan’ in your name, too, eh, your ladyship?”

It’s okay, Vick, I’ve just known Grise two sentences and I’m already tired of her. 

That being said, Vick doesn’t beat around the bush in her voice, does she. And this short exchange already suggests, along with the chapter title, that the Breakers aren’t as monolithic in character as the first trilogy’s peasant rebellion was, an evolution of the old of the peasantry through the ones of nobility to the new status of giving voice to the commonfolk.

Also, hell’s yeah. More working-class voices! After fantasy’s gout of prioritizing noble or royalty voices (or commonfolk who turn out to be royalty by royal blood), this is super welcome. I’m all for more eyes into the anger and wrath of the common men!

She held Grise’s eye. “I did have a ‘dan’ in my name, once. My father was Master of the Royal Mints. Had a great big apartment in the Agriont.” And Vick nodded towards her best idea of where the fortress was, though the points of the compass were hard to tell apart in a mouldy cellar. “Right next to the palace. Big enough for a statue of Harod the Great in the hall. Life fucking size.”

Grise had quite the frown on her round face now, light flickering across it as boots, and hoofs, and cartwheels clattered past the little windows high up near the ceiling. “You grew up in the Agriont?”

“You weren’t listening. My father had an apartment there. But when I was eight years old, he trod on the wrong toes and the Inquisition took him. I hear it was Old Sticks himself who asked the questions.”

Master of the Royal Mints... who... wait... Sepp dan Teufel? The guy whose finger joints Glokta chopped off near The Blade Itself’s start? Damn, that’s one hell of a deep dive! He’s not exactly a character of importance, being only in one chapter, and all we knew of him is that he was kind of a blowhard using his position and connections to try and get out of Glokta’s tender care.

Why bring the Teufel connection into this then...?

“My father was innocent. Of what they accused him of, anyway. But once Old Sticks got started…” Vick slapped the table with a bang, Tallow jumping so high he nearly hit the ceiling. “He leaked confessions like a broken drain. High Treason. They sent him to Angland. To the camps right up North.” Vick didn’t feel much like it, but she grinned. “And no one likes to split up a happy family. So they sent my ma with him. My ma, and my brother, and my sisters, and me. The camps, Grise. That’s where I grew up. So don’t question my commitment to the cause. Not ever.”

Oh damn. That’s why. For every man Glokta ruined and forced into confession, there were others connected to each body. Sepp dan Teufel himself doesn’t matter, it’s what Glokta did to Vick’s entire family is what matters. She's the consequences of the first trilogy’s actions writ small, the collateral bodies that ended up in misery and suffering because of what Glokta’s done, regardless of guilt or innocence, but sheer political expediency.

Sepp dan Teufel being a relative no-name actually works better than if it was a bigger name Glokta tortured, because he was swept aside rather quick in the greater narrative of the first trilogy... but Vick’s here, reminding us that most actions Glokta undertook had a terrible cost attached, damaging more than the men he chopped flesh off of. It’s just an extension of how monstrous Glokta’s actions really were, detached of his more wry, humorous, self-pitying narrative.

And, on a character note, that forced smile makes me think of Savine’s performance, except with greater bitterness. Whereas Savine performs to gain leverage and points over people, Vick... there’s just this feeling of negative space. This feeling that there’s nothing inside her, no joy or mirth or humor, because the camps hollowed those things out of her and all she can express is what she forces herself. It’s a greater effort, emotionally, for Vick.

You could hear the ill squelch as Tallow swallowed. “What are the camps like?”

“You get by.”

Oh, the filth, pain, hunger, death, injustice and betrayal that she buried in that phrase. The black chill of the mines, the searing glow of the furnaces, the gnashing rage and sobbing desperation, the bodies in the snow. Vick forced her face to stay blank, pressed down the past like you might press down the lid on a box full of maggots.

“You get by,” she said, firmer. When you tell a lie, you have to sound like you believe it. Goes double for the ones you tell yourself.

Oh, Vick. The fact that you can consciously recall all that misery, yet you still have to lie to yourself that “you get by” in that hellscape? It reads off as an trauma reaction, a victim rationally recalling what was done to her, but has to emotionally suppress the horrors of what was done, lest it overwhelm her all over.

My heart.

And, you know what strikes me about Vick’s general character? She feels like a refinement of Cathil, way back in Before They Are Hanged. Now, Cathil herself was a blatant device to give more insight into West and the Dogman, thanks to Abercrombie’s mishandling of his female characters, but when you think about it, she’s another survivor of the camps, even right down to the camps being from Angland. Someone who had to surrender her pride and shame, in order to get by, just like Vick.

Someone hollowed out by the camps, just like Vick...

She grabbed hold of West’s arm as he turned away. “It’s no easy ride here.” Her voice was a surprise. Soft, smooth, educated. “Cathil is my name. I can work.” West looked down at her, ready to shake his arm free, but her expression reminded him of something. Painless. Fearless. Empty eyes, flat, like a corpse.

—Before They Are Hanged, Small Crimes

... Except the Cathil figure here gets to have the POV to herself, instead of being the prop to a guy’s storyline, only to be discarded later after her use is run out.  Vick, here, gets to deal with her own turmoils and tragedies and struggles, being our lens into the Breakers as a woman actively part of the rough-and-tumble of it. I could be wrong, and Abercrombie could horribly disappoint me by killing off Vick early, but she absolutely feels like a deliberate second chance with Cathil. And, you know what? I’m all for it. Vick’s hardened in a way that the earlier POVs just aren’t and that’s equal parts intriguing and tragic.

Grise spun around as the door squealed open, but it was only Sibalt come at last, Moor big and dour at his shoulder. He planted his fists on the table and took a heavy breath, that noble face of his sadly sagging.

“What is it?” asked Tallow, in a tiny voice.

“They hanged Reed,” said Sibalt. “They hanged Cudber. They hanged his daughter.”

Grise stared at him. “She was fifteen.”

The Breakers from Orso’s chapter. You know how I said that this Breakers plotline feels different from the Tanner plotline back then? This is why. Abercrombie doesn’t let us forget that the commonfolk victims have personhood and names. They were people and not checklists to note off a coming-of-age heroic quest list. This is what happens when you give vent and voice to the working class people such royalty-homogenized stories use to prop up a king-in-the-making.

What happens when you take off the royalty lens and put a commonfolk lens onto a fantasy story. You’re pressed against all the injustices the royalty’s tools have perpetuated, committed, all for the status quo to stay.

Also, dang, even Grise is horrified that they hung a child. Not as hard as she thinks she is, huh.

“What for?” asked Tallow.

“Just for talking.” Sibalt put his hand on the boy’s thin shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Just for organising. Just for trying to get workers to stand together and speak with one voice. That’s treason now.”

D’awww, Sibalt.

Part of why I don’t particularly like privileged royal twats is that when you compare the hardships of them to the very real threat of death, just for wanting social advancement and a bit more rights that the royalty and nobility enjoy effortlessly, that commonfolk face, my sympathy generally runs drier for those twats when common children are getting hanged for wanting better. Hence, why I loved that moment in The Blade Itself where Ardee tears into Jezal for being a giant baby about having to work hard for once.

But yes, let too much dissent like that thrive, and you allow such rebellious thoughts build up. You don’t put out the fires of revolution swift enough, and it spreads too fast and much for you to smother down the road. So, you stomp it out as soon as possible. You make examples out of the dissidents, so you put the fear into the rest of the common people.

“Then the time for talk’s fucking past!” snarled Grise.

But, at some point, you don’t engender fear so much as deep anger.

Vick was angry as anyone. But she’d learned in the camps that every feeling is a weakness. You have to lock your hurt away, and think about what comes next. “Who did they know about?” she asked.

There’s a very workmanlike quality to how Vick operates. There’s a no-frills attitude that pervades her entire POV, few details on the environment she’s in, just the important details of people’s actions and what’s said between the Breakers there. She’s very no-nonsense, allowing for her anger, but refusing to have it define her actions. Not if it overrides her thinking and plotting capabilities. In that sense, she very much reminds me of the practicality of Logen and Glokta from the first trilogy.

You have to be realistic.

Vick looked from her fist to her eye. “Whatever names they knew, they’ll have given up.”

“Not Cudber. He wouldn’t.”

“Not even when they put the irons to his daughter?” Grise had nothing to say to that, shock gradually wiping the anger off her face. “Whatever names they knew, they’ll have given up. Lots of other names, too, ’cause once you run out of truth, you start spilling lies.”

Moor shook his big lump of a head. “Not Reed.”

“Yes, Reed, Cudber, his daughter, yes, you or me or anyone. The Inquisition’ll come for whoever they knew about, and soon. So who did they know about?”

There’s a lot to be said about how much torture doesn’t work as a method of gaining information. And Abercrombie’s pretty clear-eyed about it as a tool that Glokta mainly uses it as a method of gaining confessions, rather than truth. Not to mention how much Glokta spoke of his own experiences in truth and how much, after he ran out of truth, he lied out of his ass and got nowhere. And, for most Inquisitors, the amount of bodies they make without substantial gain makes a greater point that Abercrombie really doesn’t believe torture necessarily works.

... There can be a point of criticism that Abercrombie still has Glokta capable of extracting truth out of his victims for plot reasons, thus still validating a sense of torture working, and I can see that as a problem. Which is partly why I love this acknowledgement that torture will not work and you can easily get a mixture of lies along with the truth, depending on what the victims think the captors want to hear. It’s a very stripped-down, sober look at torture as an institutional tool of the government from the side of those who might be next under the knife.

And no amount of willpower can prepare you for the very real and visceral reality of systematic disfigurement. The slow and sure breakdown of one’s body and spirit and mental strength. Anyone can break.

“Who the fuck are you to give orders?” Grise leaned down over her with a stabbing finger. “You’re newest here!”

“So maybe I’m thinking most clearly.” Vick let her hand lie on her belt buckle where her brass knuckles were hidden. She didn’t rate Grise much of a threat, for all her bulk. People who shout a lot tend to take a while working up to more. But Vick was ready to put her down if she had to. And when Vick put someone down, she made sure they went down hard.

And that’s what makes Vick so dangerous in this world, just like Logen:

Logen shrugged. Hard words are for fools and cowards. Calder might have been both, but Logen was neither. If you mean to kill, you’re better getting right to it than talking about it. Talk only makes the other man ready, and that’s the last thing you want. So Logen said nothing. Calder could take that for weakness if he pleased, and so much the better. Fights might find Logen depressingly often, but he was long, long past looking for them.

—The Blade Itself, First of the Magi

Both hardened and knowing not to give away their weaknesses, knowing when to put someone down for good. Just a fascinating contrast to the more naive and young charges of past chapters, Vick is.

Lucky for Grise, Sibalt laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and eased her back. “Vick’s right. I have to get out of Adua. Just as soon as we strike our blow.” And Moor slid out a dirty paper and unrolled it across the table. A map of the city. Sibalt tapped a spot in the Three Farms. Not far from where they’d started building that new canal. “The Hill Street Foundry.”

“Though Hill Street’s gone,” said Moor, in that plodding way he had, “since they pulled it down to build the Foundry.”

“They’re fitting new engines there,” said Sibalt.

Tallow nodded. “I passed ’em on the way. Engines that’ll put two hundred men and women out of work, I hear.”

I’ve read about how new technologies are going to replace some workers, leaving them out of a job. Now, of course, it makes perfect sense for companies to seek out new improvements that net them more profits, but without the social conscience and the consideration that you can train those old employees to work the new tools, you’re just left with money as the only bottom line, leaving countless souls helpless and scrambling without the job security that held up their families, their mental health, their very survival.

Industrial or contemporary age, human nature and greed really doesn’t change.

“We’re going to blow the lot to hell,” said Grise. “With Gurkish Fire.”

More signs of technological progression, what with Gurkish Fire being more commonplace nowadays since the ol’ days of the last Union-Gurkish War. Coming off The Heroes’ death tubes, this isn’t a surprise, but it’s definitely a nice continuity of Bayaz’s experiments with gunpowder.

I wonder if those death tubes got better... you’d think they’d be a leg-up, technologically, against Monza’s army, yet Terez said that didn’t go well...

“Well, you can stop worrying, ’cause it comes straight from Valbeck,” said Grise, smug as a king’s tailor. “Straight from the Weaver himself—”

“Shush,” hissed Sibalt. “Best if no one knows more than they have to. Don’t worry, the powder’s good.”

Grise slapped her fist into her palm. “A blow for the common man, eh, brothers?”

“Aye,” said Moor, slowly nodding his big head. “We’ll strike a spark.”

“And the spark’ll start a fire,” said Sibalt.

Vick sat forward. “If we do this, people get hurt. People get killed.”

“Only those that deserve it,” said Grise.

“Once the killing starts, it rarely sticks to those who deserve it.”

(arches an eyebrow) The Weaver? Aw, shit, is this like the Tanner all over again? Is Bayaz pulling the strings of another peasant rebellion, just to give a decisive victory to the royals? I like Jezal, and I don’t even hate Orso that much, but this will right piss me off if that happens.

I hope Yoru Sulfur, if he’s doing the Tanner bit under a different title, gets blown up by Gurkish Fire instead.

... And that last exchange is ultimately the sticking point. Revolutions are messy, messy business, and, as much as you want to keep the deaths solely on those who’ll deserve it, collateral damage is inevitable. Everyone who participates in one can die, and die ignobly.

Ultimately, I believe that revolutions are necessary, it’s what happens when you push around oppressed people so much their corpses pile up high as mountains and they cannot bear to be silent, and I refuse to wag my finger at them. Just because there’ll be blood to be had in revolutions doesn’t mean the status quo isn’t supported by gears and cogs, rusty with blood. Sometimes, inaction is a greater crime than wanting blood against those who operate the great machines.

That being said, I am all for everyone in a revolution being aware of the potential costs and trying not spill more blood than needed. But, well... easier said than done, right?

“You scared?”

“If you’re not scared, you’re mad or stupid, and there’s no place for either on a task like this. We need to plan every detail.”

As Logen would tell you:

The Northman chuckled. “Fearlessness is a fool’s boast, to my mind. The only men with no fear in them are the dead, or the soon to be dead, maybe. Fear teaches you caution, and respect for your enemy, and to avoid sharp edges used in anger. All good things in their place, believe me. Fear can bring you out alive, and that’s the very best anyone can hope for from any fight. Every man who’s worth a damn feels fear. It’s the use you make of it that counts.”

—Before They Are Hanged, Fear

Courage or strength isn’t defined by the absence of fear, it’s acting in spite of it. It’s using fear to work for you, carrying you to survive through sharpening your mind, your senses, and using it to your advantage.

Grise sneered her disgust. “All you ever fucking talk about is the risks!”

“Someone needs to. This has to be something we choose, not something we blunder into ’cause we’re sore and can’t think of anything better to do with ourselves.” She looked around those four faces, strange in the flickering light of the cellar. “This is what you all want, is it?”

Honestly, she’s right. Vick’s the one there pointing out that you can’t be a bunch of angry children playing with matches. She’s the only one right now speaking how to be mindful of starting a revolution, blessings and curses. If the Breakers are meant to be the spark to a great fire, to be a movement that’s meant to endure, they have to intend this and plan accordingly.

And they have to commit to it. All of it. No backing down.

“It’s what I fucking want,” said Grise.

“It’s what I want,” said Sibalt.

“Aye,” rumbled Moor.

Heh. I love how economic to their characters these responses are. Grise’s the heated, angry one who wants to fight back, no caution, Sibalt’s more measured and calm about how the cause needs to move and operate, and Moor’s just the big, slower musclehead. In fact, I generally like how this chapter gets across the different attitudes of the respective Breakers there. They all have skin in the game, but they’re different people with separate thoughts and input in going about breaking things.

She looked at Tallow last. He couldn’t be older than fifteen himself, and might only have had three good meals in that whole stretch. Reminded her of her brother, a little. Those skinny wrists sticking from frayed sleeves just a touch too short. Trying to put a hard face on but beaming fears and doubts out like a lighthouse through those big damp eyes.

“There’s a Great Change coming,” he said, finally. “That’s what I want.”

Is that a crack in the armor, Vick? Harder to suppress your feelings when reminders are right before your eyes. And, man, Tallow’s a brave little boy who shouldn’t have to commit to a fight that might kill him without remorse, given he found out about Cudber’s daughter’s hanging just a short while ago.

I hope he survives, but Abercrombie isn’t so gentle. So it goes, with hopes.

Vick smiled a grim smile. “Well, if I learned one thing in the camps, it’s that talking isn’t enough.” She realised she’d closed her fingers to make a fist. “You want a thing, you have to fight for it.”

Not as hard as you make yourself out to be, huh, Vick. Not as empty as you make yourself out to be, if even you’re getting carried away by the spirit of revolution. Other than that, damn straight. There’s a time for talk, and there’s a time for a fight.

She stayed straddling him for a while afterwards, his chest pressed against hers with each snatched breath. Kissing at his lip. Biting at it. Then with a grunt, she slid off him, rolled onto her side next to him on the narrow bed, dragging the blankets up over her bare shoulder. It felt chill now they were done, frost showing in the smudges of lamplight at the corners of the little window.

Wow, this book is just way more hornier than The Blade Itself. I mean, I don’t really mind, especially since this reads as more wholesome and sex for wanting it, rather than more abusive, like the first trilogy’s sex scenes, but wow.

Finally, he turned towards her. “Sorry I couldn’t step in with Grise—”

“I can look after myself.”

Sibalt snorted. “No one better. I’m not sorry ’cause I think you need my help. I’m sorry I can’t give it. Better if they don’t know we’re…” He slipped his hand up onto her ribs, rubbing at that old burn on her side with his thumb, trying to dig up the right word for what they were. “Together.”

“In here, we’re together.” She jerked her head towards the warped door in the warped frame. “Out there…” Out there, everyone stood on their own.

Whole swathes of Vick’s mindset just leaches so much warmth out of me. It’s such a cold, and dispassionate “everyone out for themselves” mindset that the camps instilled into her, but this? I’m glad Vick has some measure of happiness in her life, having someone by her side, at least.

He frowned at the little gap of coarse sheet between them as if it was a great divide that could never be crossed. “Sorry I can’t tell you where the Gurkish Fire comes from.”

“Best if no one knows more than they have to.”

“It’ll work.”

“I believe you,” she said. “I trust you.” Vick trusted no one. She’d learned that in the camps, along with how to lie. Learned to lie so well, she could take one tiny sliver of truth and beat it out, like the goldsmiths beating a nugget of gold into leaf, till it could cover a whole field of lies. Sibalt didn’t doubt her for a moment.

(arches an eyebrow) I’m reminded of Ferro’s belief of the word trust here:

“Stay with us. Give it a few days. If you don’t change your mind, well, I’ll help you pack. You can trust me.” Trust was a word for fools. It was a word people used when they meant to betray you. If he moved forward a finger’s width she would sweep the sword out and take his head off. She was ready.

—Before They Are Hanged, The Thing About Trust  

But why would Vick betray Sibalt? Isn’t she just as committed to the Breakers cause as he is? Who would she betray him to? Is Sibalt a Breaker rogue element that someone asked Vick to watch after? If so, who? She can’t go to the Inquisition, considering her history with the camps, so maybe a Breaker higher-up Sibalt doesn’t answer to?

In any case, so much for happiness, Vick. And poor Sibalt, if Vick's going to betray him. He’s so sweet to her and respects her so...

“I wish I’d met you sooner,” he said. “Things might be different.”

“You didn’t and they’re not. So let’s take what we can get, eh?”

“By the Fates, you’re a hard case, Vick.”

“We’re none of us hard as we seem.” She slipped her hand around the back of his head, through the dark hair scattered with grey, held it firm, looked him in the eye and asked one more time. “You’re sure, Collem? You’re sure this is what you want?”

(jaw drops) Oh my god. Yeah, this puts the nail on the idea that Vick = Improved Cathil wasn’t intentional. Another Collem and another victim of the Angland camps. Except this Collem doesn’t treat her like a vessel for his own issues, unlike West did. Oh, Collem, you already met Vick once sooner, in the pages of Before They Are Hanged instead. Except, now, it’s flipped, with Vick as the POV, and Collem as the love interest as a reflection of her character.

I LOVE HOW MUCH ABERCROMBIE REMIXES HIS OLD SHIT BETTER, YES!

“Don’t really matter what we want, does it? Bigger things than our future to consider. We can strike a spark that’ll set a fire burning. One day, there’ll be a Great Change, Vick. And folk like you and me will get our say.”

“A Great Change,” she said, trying to sound like she believed it.

Sibalt’s a true believer to the core, but Vick? She’s been beaten too badly by the camps to necessarily buy into the shiny ideals of that wholesale. She’s endured Inquisition care too long to think this will be as glorious as what Sibalt thinks. She believes in the cause, but she’s got a more cynical head about it, wearier and sadder for it.

“You should come with me.”

She should’ve kept silent on that, too. Instead, she found she’d asked, “Where would we go?”

A grin spread across his face. Seeing it made her smile. Her first in a while. Hardly felt like her mouth should bend that way.

There’s so much of Vick that feels so... hollow or restrained that glimpses and cracks in her voice like this really stuck out. And I think she actually loves Sibalt beyond the confines of taking him along, only to betray him. Just that made her smile bit. Like she didn’t intend to, but couldn’t help herself. She has so few opportunities for happiness, I sense.

Few of the characters in this series do.

The frame groaned as he reached down beside the bed and came back up with a battered old book. The Life of Dab Sweet by Marin Glanhorm.

“This again?” asked Vick.

“Aye, this.” It fell open at an etching across both pages. As though it was often opened there. A rider alone, staring out across a sweep of endless grass and endless sky. Sibalt held that drawing at arm’s length as if it was a view spread out in front of them, whispered the words like a magic spell. “The Far Country, Vick.”

“I know,” she grunted. “It says under the picture.”

“Grass for ever.” He was half-joking. But that made him half-serious. “A place where you can go as far as your dreams can take you. A place where you can make yourself anew. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Hah! The biography Sworbreck derided!

On a more somber note, there’s something to be said about how even a fantasy, a falsehood, can inspire us. Dab Sweet himself pointed out that his exploits were blown up beyond his capacity and he ended up having to live with the weight of all that he never did, but just because we know things to be false doesn’t mean we can’t want for better and more, right? It’s part of why we dream and yearn beyond our reaches. Abercrombie once talked about how you have to hit upon truth to impact your readers, well, the truth is, a fantasy can propel us to action, to want for better for ourselves and others.

“Aye, I guess.” She realised she’d reached towards that drawing with one hand, as if she might touch anything there but paper, and snatched it back. “But it’s a made-up drawing in a book full o’ lies, Collem.”

“I know,” he said, with a sad smile, like thinking about it was a fun game to play, but just a game. He flipped the book shut and tossed it back down on the boards. “Guess there comes a time you have to give up on what you want and make the best of what you’re given.”

Wanting that life too, Vick, no matter how much you consciously shut it down? But they have to make the best out of reality, no matter how tempting the fantasy is.

You two are going to make me cry, damn it.

“When we strike that spark,” he murmured, voice loud in her ear, “it’ll change everything.”

“No doubt,” said Vick.

Another silence. “It’ll change everything between us.”

“No doubt,” said Vick, and she slipped her fingers through his and pressed his hand tight to her chest. “So let’s take what we can get. If I learned one thing in the camps, it’s that you shouldn’t look too far ahead.”

Chances are you’ll see nothing good there.

Ouch. Full-blown pessimism from a childhood in the camps. No hope enters, no conscious dreams, because all they do is invite misery and broken optimism.

Just. Damn.

As a chapter, The Breakers is a set-up one. Going into the details of future events and dropping intriguing seeds like what the deal with the Weaver and the Vick/Sibalt. But, at the same time, it’s a first lens into the common people, and how much they’re varied in character and thoughts and are thinking through (or not) the consequences of revolution. In short, it’s putting faces and a name to the Breakers, extending to even the victims of those hangings in Orso’s chapter, which is why it makes sense to put this right after that one. It’s definitely a chapter that isn’t self-contained, but it’s interesting and a refreshing glimpse into the working class folk.

As a character, Vick is... depressing. In an intended way, of course, but there’s a hardness to her that the younger POVs thus far just don’t possess, a weariness that the younger generation will gain once they’ve been through enough hardship like she had. In a way, I come back to this idea of Vick being negative space. Whereas the other POVs so far have had the coddled and pampered upbringings to whine and laugh, and take joys in comforts, both small and large, and have parents who care about them... Vick got stripped of all that in the camps long ago, and this is the kind of person that comes out of those circumstances. Hollowed out. She makes for an intriguing contrast to the other characters, and while I can’t say she’s more interesting than Savine and, maybe, Orso, she’s a necessary lens into the revolutionary end of the Breakers, while possessing a practicality that calls back to the first trilogy’s adults and a vulnerability in the cracks of her POV, that makes her rather refreshing to read about.

And, as a re-do of a first trilogy female vessel character? Yeah, it’s very appreciated. Thanks, Abercrombie!

PART I

Chapter One: Blessings and Curses Chapter Two: Where the Fight’s Hottest Chapter Three: Guilt Is a Luxury Chapter Four: Keeping Score Chapter Five:  A Little Public Hanging Chapter Six: The Breakers Chapter Seven: The Answer to Your Tears Chapter Eight: Young Heroes Chapter Nine: The Moment

Studying Ed’s comic once more it is revealed that it was published over ten years ago!

The clown on the front page still makes me think that the Eds have walked into a trap. Hey, this would be a great setting if an eene/IT fanfiction was ever written!

IT takes advantage of the kids through their personal fears. We learn that Edd is afraid to be alone and face his past.

Wait, okay this a very dark head canon but what if someone was killed in this factory? 

What relation did Bro have with this factory if there was anything?

There is that head canon floating [haha, ‘you’ll float too’] around that Bro has been on the run from the law. What if he killed someone in this factory? And it was slowly abandoned as Bro threatened the employees if they spoke a word he’d come after them too?

Let’s go back to the publication date discussion. I have always believed that Ed, Edd n Eddy takes place from 2008-2009. Which means the factory has been closed since before 1999. When Ed, Edd n Eddy aired.

There have been have been theories which state that the show takes place in the 70′s and 80′s due to lack of technology. As I have praised and will keep doing so I love how EENE ignores the use of technology. It has been taking over our lives. It’s scary how many people have used cell phones to talk to one another. Recently, there was a fan made video that came out. What if Ed, Edd n Eddy was made in 2017? The neighborhood was glued to their phones ignoring the world.

The characters are not in touch with the world. They don’t know what is going on. Now a days kids can look up a map on their phone and know where to go. 

The Ed’s would not have a strong friendship if the use of technology was constantly being broadcasted to viewers. I honestly believe that technology ruins friendships. We believe we can get away with saying things we’d never physically say to our friends through text. There would be A LOT more tension between Edd and Eddy.

Ed, Edd n Eddy see one another every day and talk face to face. They can’t go a day without seeing each other. If they had phones that’s how the boys would communicate. They’d rarely see each other which is the epitome of their relationship. The Ed’s have changed one anothers lives through their every day activities of exploring the world. You don’t need a phone to tell you what’s going on.

You live it.

"’Revolt of the Rotting Brains!’ A classic."

Ed is a horror and comic buff. He loves old movies. Whenever we see glimpses of the film he’s watching they’re usually in black and white or it’s stated that they have cheap effects. 

To be honest, movies aren’t as good as they used to be. They were more original and had character depth. movie producers are running out of story lines and are repeating or remaking movies.

Ed likes to escape to the past. Watching movies or reading comics is all Ed does when he is at home. He’s been banished to the basement. So he can take his mind off the stress of his life and dissolves into a simpler time. A time where he would have loved to grow up.

Exasperated Eddy flings the comic across the factory forcing Ed to run after it.

“Oh where, oh where has my rotting brain gone! “

Is Ed referring to his comic?

Ed has always made random comments. Some which have nothing to do with the situation at hand. Still, Ed picks up key words which remind him of what he is thinking about.

For example, Ed knows that he’s different. He’s slow when it comes to interacting with the world or thinking up his own ideas. 

Or this comic book could be Ed’s solace. He uses the comic to distract him from the stress that goes on his life.

Edd and Eddy have always made Ed feel better but recently they’ve been leaving him out. It’s been going on for a while now. They used to include him on all meetings or conversations. It worries Ed that one day he’s going to lose his friends. Or Edd and Eddy will drift apart. His worse fear.

Ed has no other friends. A Fistful of Ed revealed how alone each Ed is if their friendship broke apart. Ed has gained social confidence from Edd and Eddy. The rest of the cul-de-sac doesn’t know how to interact with Ed. They’ve don’t understand his disability and unique personality. I know Sarah has something to do with this as she is always going off about how Ed annoys her. 

The kids only know Ed when he is with Edd or Eddy. With either he has two different personalities. He’s a trouble maker with Eddy while he acts like an angel going along with with Edd wants to do. They don’t have a solid opinion of him.

Ed has always wished for the cul-de-sac to resolve their issues so they could live together in peace. Ed lives with enough stress.

Admitting defeat, Eddy falls face first into the ground and hopelessly wails that they’re never going to find his brother.

Eddy is painfully grasping his head. He’ll repeat this action a few scenes later.

Eddy admitting defeat is similar to how Edd practically gave up in the desert scene.

Eddy looks up to Edd. He mirrors him, like Bro. There are times where Eddy tries to copy Edd’s actions such as trying to talk like him or psychoanalyzing everything. Eddy wants to understand Edd like he he’s wanted to understand Bro.

That’s why he feel comfortable to show Edd his vulnerable side. He practically starts crying. Since Edd has always been there applauding, complimenting and trusting him he makes Eddy feel different about himself. Like he has a chance.

Edd and Eddy learn how similar they are to each other. They’re not as different as they, and everyone believes.

I could talk for hours about Edd and Eddy’s beautiful friends but they have a whole scene where I can gush about it.

Have you noticed how Eddy self punishes himself? He bonks his head against trees, hits himself in the head, and even fakes his own death on a few occasions. That is really unsettling. Eddy grew up with someone who was mentally unstable. 

Post BPS I head canon that Eddy will go through a severe identity crisis along with anxiety. I think Eddy’s always had anxiety, especially socially. Having to interact with the world made him so uncomfortable that he made himself mask the real Eddy. 

Bro never accepted Eddy for who he was. He played with his little brother’s growing mind who still hadn’t perceived the world at that point. This especially affected Eddy as he was only five years old when Bro left. Eddy was jealous of the life his brother lived. He may have misinterpreted his personality multiple times thinking he had a huge fan base of friends. By acting like Bro this mask cemented it’s way into Eddy.

It’s sad when you think about how Eddy is suffering on the inside. That’s what I love about this movie. We can go back and analyze Eddy’s character. He has the strongest character arc out of anyone. And the movie changed my opinion about Eddy. I’m sure most fans feel the same way.

Edd reassures Eddy by cutely dipping down to his level so he can make eye contact.

Wow, quite the turn around from how lost he was feeling in the desert.

Edd and Eddy keep one another on their toes. They make one another see the best or worst in them. Both are hiding under masks and threw away their hobbies to impress people that could never love them. They learn what love is through friendship.

Edd believes that they could find what they’re looking for through old customer/employee receipts.

Edd’s view on Bro’s jokester opinion may not what he is thinking. Bro played jokes on others to harass them. He had a darker mind set whereas Eddy loved to play jokes for the fun of it.

Do you really believe the hand buzzer or whoopee cushion belonged to Bro?

Side Note: I never noticed the door in the background! The artists stayed with continuity instead of forgetting it.

Fireteam

Dear lord, this was harder than I thought. It took me like all day to do this and it's not even good. I'm sorry, so so sorry. For @destinyweek Fireteam Knight is, just like any other fireteam, a group of friends who have been broken and forged in light together. They have faced many tribulations with one another, but in the end they always come out on top. Like other squads, this one consists of a warlock, a titan, and a hunter. The team's warlock is a human, and a tall one at that. 6’5” to be exact, and he likes to be exact. His name name is Connor Strauss, and he is a hard core perfectionist as well as a sass master. He likes everything pristine and in its place, and if it's not it'll urk him until he fixes it. He was awoken in a collapsed building on Venus, and from the little evidence he was able to gleen, it had been some sort or research facility. Maybe it was something from his past? Why was he here when he died? He'll probably never know, and that thought of not knowing something slowly eats away at him. His accent is that of a proper and highly educated Englishman, and his hair is short, dark brown, and well kept. He's often clean shaven, except when he gets too into research and studying that he forgets to take care of himself. As much as he hates to admit it, he does that often, leaving dark circles under his chocolaty brown eyes. His ghost is called Dirson and the two differ, quite a bit. Whereas Connor is quiet and keeps to himself, Dirson is a social butterfly and tends to get loud often. “He's a pain and I wonder how I put up with him, but I don't think I'd make it long without him.” “Awe that's so sweet… wait…” - Next up is the dear titan of the group. Oh, my heart goes out to this poor soul. He is an Exo and his name is Louis-77. Yeah, seventy-seven. He has lived a long life, and not a happy one at that. Well, that's if he remembers any of it. He's been around as long as anyone can remember and he's become somewhat of a curse among the Guardians. Louis-77, having his noggin scrambled so many times, can't really form words anymore and take a minute for him to process things. That's why, until Connor and Aryia-1 came and accepted him, the others avoided him like the plague. Due to his impairment, he's liable to snap in battle and hurt and ally, and because of this no one wanted to deal with him or try to teach him. He tries his hardest though; he's even trying to learn sign language to talk easier, although it's going to take him awhile to memorize the hand signs if he's capable of it. For now, though he'll rely on simple gestures and on his ghost, Freight. Freight, much like how his name suggests, has a very… forceful personality. He's not one to stay quiet for long. “Lou says, ‘Defend. Friends. Death.’ He means to say, ‘I'll defend my friends until death.’ Right, Lou? You can't see but he's nodding.” - Last but not least, is the hunter of the squad. She happens to be an Exo as well. She… well, she's what you'd expect from a hunter. She's reckless, hard headed, and likes to be on her own from time to time. She really likes cloaks and knives, like really likes them. She has about ten knives on her at all times. Don't ask where they are though. She also tends to try and be the groups titan when she's obviously not meant for it. She sometimes forgets that she's squishy compared to Louis-77 and will charge into battle with him, only to end up dead or in the process of retreating. She also has a habit of being selfless. There were times where her teammates were supposed to die but she took their place instead, seeing as she's not detrimental to the team. That's what she thinks anyway, and boy would she be wrong. The others love her shenanigans and they all care for each other deeply. As you can tell she has some darker views on her worth but that's what her ghost, Ember, is for. Ember is sort of a mother figure, as odd as it sounds. She looks after and cares for not only her Guardian but the rest of the team and even their ghosts as well. “It's all in a day's work, looking out for these kinderguardians. Sometimes- wait, no! Aryi! Lou! Leave Connor alone! No-stop! Look, I have to deal with this. Have a lovely day, my Guardians and make sure to eat three meals a day and get at least eight hours of rest!” ~~~A little scenario that I don't know if I like but here it is anyway, to heck with it.~~~ A hail of projectiles rained from the weapons of the goblins, and powerful bolts streaked from the rifles of the hobgoblins. The sky above is darkened with the forever storm that looms over the planet, and vibrant blue lava slowly seeps from the volcano in the distance with the ground rumbling and shaking with the seismic activity. Ancient, gravity defying ruins from before the collapse are overgrown with vegetation, seeing as mother nature is reclaiming her land once more. It is here that we meet fireteam Knight on a mission to destroy a navigation pylon commonly used by the Vex. “Louis, take the aggro. Aryia, disrupt them. Keep them confused. On my mark.” Connor Strauss is crouched behind a broken down and rusted car, giving orders to his fellow Guardians. He pulls a sniper from the holster on his back and begins to take aim. “Mark.” With a burst of speed, Aryia-1, darted from whatever safety the rusted car provided, and threw a poison gas grenade into the horde of enemies. Although the Vex did not need to breathe, the gas from the grenades were special. It has corrosive properties to it as well as the good ole fashioned poison. The Vex goblins shuddered with dismay. The cries of the dying pierce the air as they fall to the ground in a heap of lifeless metal. Aryia-1, using her double jump, gained even more altitude and let loose another grenade. This time the grenade detonated on impact with the ground and produced a wall of void flame, effectively cutting the hoard in half. As she descended to the ground, a bolt from an unknown Hobgoblin nailed her in the chest, putting her off balance. The bolt took over 75% of her over shield and her hard and unpleasant connection with the ground took half of the remaining shields. Without a word, Connor turned his sights to where the bolt had come from and eliminated the assaulting Hobgoblin. “Can't stay on your feet for five minutes, huh? Psh, hunters.” “Those are some fighting words, sir!” Louis-77 burst forth from the cover, shotgun in hand, and charged toward his fallen comrade. The distant sound of a hammer striking an Anvil rang throughout the battlefield as Louis-77 activated his fully charged super. His heavily armored body was bathed in flames as he summoned the hammer of Sol to his left hand. There, it did not stay, for Louis-77 let loose his fury. Fiery hammers flew from his hand like there was no tomorrow. By the time his energy was depleted, there were no more Goblins left to speak of. “Thanks, Lou.” Aryia-1 began to stand up with the help of Louis-77. She let out a grunt of pain and rubbed her chest. “I owe you one.” Louis-77 moved Aryia-1's small hand and placed his larger one on her chest. He was quiet and tilted his head towards her chest, where his hand lay, before looking back up to her face. “Yeah, I'm good.” Aryia-1 gives a nod of thanks and places her hand over his, pulling it off her chest. “Guys, incoming Vex. I’d take cover, if I were you. I mean, unless you want to catch a minor case of death.” The ever calm and level headed Connor spoke over the linked helmet communication system. Without a moment to lose, Louis-77 picked up Aryia-1 and threw her over his shoulder as he sprinted out of the area in which the Vex were teleporting to. Gray fog laced with vibrant blue arcs of electricity began to form where they once stood and soon more Vex replaced the ones Louis-77 had destroyed earlier. However, this time it's wasn't goblins and hobgoblins. This time it was a flock of harpies and pair minotaurs. “This is all they have? Guys, let me handle this.” Connor holstered his sniper and stood from behind cover. Aryia-1, knowing her friend's plan, jumped into action as well. Using the rusted car in front of him, he jumped up and pushed off of its roof to gain more height. Seeing this, Aryia-1 immediately called upon her connection to the Void and summoned her void bow. She focused her energy into one powerful shot that tethered and disabled the Vex caught within its range. Once over head, Connor harnessed the raging storm within him and used his landfall perk to his advantage. The Vex stood no chance when the two supers combined into such an effective pair. Skillfully channeling his powerful connection with the Stormcaller subclass, Connor easily overloaded and fried his enemies where they stood. His enemies lay dead at his feet as his charge ended and his feet touched the ground once more. He used his foot to nudge a dead Vex corpse. “Hmph. Good riddance, I suppose.” “Not gonna lie, I want lightning hands… Think I could win it off you with a bet?” “...” “What? Don't look at me like that.” “I worry for you sometimes.”

Banky W: 'Here's what I'll tell my kids about the Super Eagles'

Banky W in his own words justaposes his lessons from Super Eagles 1-2 loss to Argentina to the state of the world.

Many years from now when, by God’s grace, my children are old enough to understand, this is exactly what I plan on telling them about my experience while watching my very first World Cup game live: “On a bright Summer night in St Petersburg, our Super Eagles played with more heart than our leaders have shown in 50 years. And I was proud to see it.”

See, I’m kind of a faith-over-facts type of sports fan, and I suspect that to a certain measure, a lot of us are. We know the facts. We know that Argentina are by far the better team. We KNOW that Leo Messi is on almost every list of the top 5 greatest football players of all time. There’s a reason that their country is currently 5th in the FIFA world Ranking, and to find Nigeria, you’d have to scroll all the way down to 48th. On paper, we know we probably never stood a chance. Coming into that game, in every position on the pitch, the gulf in talent was, to put it mildly… significant. Case in point: we have never ever in our footballing history, EVER had a striker as lethal as Sergio Aguero. Argentina had the luxury of bringing him on as a substitute late in the second half. But I plan on teaching my kids that in this life, despite seemingly insurmountable odds, you should dare to dream anyway.

And that’s exactly what most of us want, isn’t it? The opportunity to just…dream. To dream that maybe you can punch above your weight and be successful at it. Most people aren’t lucky enough to be recipients of glory in this rat race called life, so we project that innate desire onto the teams we support. And so the Nigerian team dreamt that we could do it, and we worked our asses off to make that dream come true. What we lacked in footballing pedigree, skill, and training… we almost entirely made up for in HEART. There were over 66,000 people in that stadium; between the Argentineans in attendance, and Messi’s global fanbase of billions, it looked and felt like 99% of the people in the crowd were rooting for Argentina. You could hardly sport a green jersey, and that’s not because it’s sold out. It’s because there were only a couple hundred of us, versus tens of thousands of them. The Super Eagles were playing in an Elimination Game, against arguably the Greatest player of all time, his top 5 ranked team, and over 60,000 people screaming and heckling our every kick of the ball.

But we played and we defended, we clawed and we FOUGHT. Yes, we lost, but we went down swinging and played with all the heart we could muster. And honestly? So did Argentina. Messi and co weren’t just going to roll over and die, in what would have probably been their most embarrassing world cup outing of all time. They were going to fight. And as I said in one of my numerous social-media-crazed-fan-videos, Nigeria didn’t come just to mark the register. We came to PLAY. Both sides went at it for 90+ mins, and for 86 of them, we were even. In the end, the better team won – because at this level, the truly great ones are able to capitalize on the slimmest of moments to separate themselves and secure victory. But the losing team was equally gallant in defeat. Both sides gave it their all. One side won, but both sides played with heart.

These days, I’ve found that my wife and I spend just as much time praying for our future children, as we do worrying about the kind of world we’d be bringing them into.

 There’s so much darkness, sadness, and pain in the world, you know? Here’s a laundry list of things that have happened in the past month alone: Two globally successful celebrities hung themselves. Then a woman in Lagos allegedly also committed suicide, by jumping into the lagoon. Yesterday, an undergraduate student from Lagos State University attempted to do the same. Plateau state in Nigeria has JUST been hit with two fresh sectarian attacks…over 200 people were slaughtered in cold blood – the latest in a very long line of mass murders over the years. Add the frequency of killings in Zamfara, Benue, Taraba and you’ll find that Nigeria has started turning into the Murder Capital of World, for a country that’s not at war. There is NO justification for the mass murder of innocent human beings, and yet, it just seems to keep happening, moving from state to state. It’s happened so frequently that we’ve become completely numb to it. We don’t care anymore. It’s now just another headline. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Nigeria has just overtaken India as the Poverty Capital of the World. And with all this, all we ever do is tweet #hashtags… #prayforPlateau, #prayforBenue, #prayforNigeria… etc. We say stuff like “our hearts go out to the families of the victims”, but we actually have very little heart left. Because we’ve gotten used to hearing about the brutality, so we just adapt, tweet or retweet a picture and a prayer, and we move on.

It’s not just Nigeria, either. Most Nigerians envy the quality of life in places like the USA – but let’s take stock of where America is at right now. I have a hard time reading the news because it seems like it’s almost always bad. School shootings in the good old US of A are as frequent as Boko Haram bombings in Northern Nigeria. Reports in the media have been awash with images of sweet, innocent children of immigrants, uncontrollably crying their eyes out, because the American Government has coldheartedly separated them from their families and kept them in cages like animals; one can’t help but wonder at the kind of emotional scars and resentment that has been deposited in their hearts. And speaking of humans-being-treated-like-animals, look no further than the recent #JusticeForJunior hashtag on twitter – read about this teenager from the Bronx, whose only crime was bearing a small resemblance to someone that some gang members had a problem with. So what did they do? Five of them dragged him out of a corner store, and beat and stabbed him to death in the street. An innocent 15-year-old, who just happened to look like the person they meant to harm. The store owners saw 5 guys dragging him out of their shop, and chose to look the other way. He came back bleeding his life away and pleading for help, and they pushed him back out, locking their doors and telling him to go to the hospital. The people passing by on the street also looked the other way; the ones watching from their apartment windows, saw him being beaten and stabbed to death, and figured that it was more important to record the entire episode on their cell phones than to intervene, or at least, use the same damn phones to call for help. He died in a pool of his own blood, trying to run to a hospital in time to save his life, because no-one in the community cared enough to lift a finger. And this is all before we recount the numerous horror stories of women being sexually assaulted in the #MeToo movement, the innocent minorities being assassinated by the same American Police Officers who have sworn to serve and protect them, or by the numerous young people on the streets of Nigeria who have been brutalized, extorted, maimed and killed by barbaric members of the SARS police force.

So you know what I plan to tell my kids? I’m going to teach them to be passionate – and to have a Big, Fun-Loving, Kind HEART. It’s fun to be passionate about sports… I mean, there’s already so much evidence online showing just how CRAZY I get about my sports teams. I’ll tell them that it’s okay to be that way, and to be a faith-over-facts kind of sports fan. It’s fun, and life is too short to not have fun. But it seems like some of us are almost subconsciously waiting for our teams to mess up, just so they can hurl insults at them, tell them what a disgrace they are, and project all the anger and pain from our real lives on them; forgetting just how hard it is to break out of the dire circumstances that come with being an underprivileged Nigerian to make it into the National team. Do you know the work, the sweat, the tears, the sacrifices, the sheer determination it takes? Do you know how hard it is to even be able to make a living as an average Nigerian? I’ve got news for you. If you were blessed enough to watch the game on a flat screen TV in the comfort of your home, or at a bar somewhere… you’re not the average Nigerian. The average Nigerian lives on less than $2 a day. Some aren’t actually sure where their next meal will come from.

Some Nigerians, however, thought it was okay to go online to Ighalo’s social media to leave insult after insult, ridiculing him and other players, simply because he had a bad game. Which one of us has never had a bad day at work? Or made a series of regrettable mistakes? Luckily for us, we don’t have our bad days in front of millions of people who are actively rooting against us. And even afterwards, we get to learn from our mistakes quietly, in solitude, and resolve to do or be better. Whereas, Ighalo and co have to hear about it from thousands of comments, some of which represent the very worst of human behavior on the internet. I heard that when he turned off his comments on social media, some Nigerians went and found his WIFE to harass, threaten and bully her as well, as if she’s ever kicked a ball for the team. In what amounts to the greatest misplaced anger I’ve ever seen… we have let thieving politicians and businessmen who have made away with billions, running our economy into ruins go blame free; we have turned a blind eye to all the killings, beatings, oppression and injustice in our countries, and instead poured all our bitterness, criticism and venom out on footballers, their wives, and referees.

So I plan to teach my future kids that in sports, and in life, it’s incredibly important to try and give your absolute best in trying to win. Unfortunately, sometimes, your best will just not be good enough. But even on your worst day, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t get it right… as long as you give your all, and you do it with HEART. I plan to teach my kids, that in this increasingly dark world, it’s so much harder to be an optimist, but it’s so much more fun. It’s better to actively choose to care about others. It’s better to choose happiness over hurt, and it’s better to be kind than to kill with criticism, or violence. It’s better to build up than tear down, and hard as it might be, it’s better to be a beacon of light, and to look for a silver lining on the darkest of days than to spread more darkness.

I’ll tell them that on a bright Summer night in St Petersburg, our Super Eagles gave so much more heart than our Government, Country, or World has displayed in years. And that to me, will ALWAYS be something to be proud of. Because if there’s anything this world desperately needs more of, at this time in our history, it’s human beings with a little more heart.

TheBankStatements

PS: I’d already finished writing this, and was editing the final draft of it, when the news hit about the tanker explosion in Lagos that has consumed 54 other vehicles. Total deaths are as yet unconfirmed. Sigh. May the souls of the dearly departed rest in Peace. May God grant their families strength to bear this loss. May God help us each play our role in changing this earth of ours for the better. May we learn that heaven helps those who help themselves.

source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/07/banky-w-heres-what-ill-tell-my-kids.html

Flops With Style, Consolation And Bling From Swarovski Havaianas By Store Flip Flops

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In truth, by the 5th century BC, pottery had turn out to be an industry and pottery portray ceased to be an necessary art form of historical Greece. Greece is mostly standard for its art, tradition and literature. Right here in Corfu at a distance of roughly 2 km from Benitses you will find a museum that houses particular collections of shells from the sea, fossils of fishes, corals, and enamel of sharks, sponges together with different marine remains. The National Backyard is an ideal place to go to if you feel the need to get in contact with nature whereas remaining throughout the metropolis correct. The authenticity of the place could be enjoyed with a whole lot of relaxation and joy. So, in case you really feel famished and open to try the Greek gastronomy, you shall consider making an attempt all these dishes together with a number of more that may be seen in the menu chart. Traditions, language, music, meals, and wine are all major elements of the Greek culture and go away a long-lasting impression on all vacationers that visit it. Visitors can hearken to traditional Greek folk music, Dimotiko Tragoudi, which originated within the early 9th century while partaking within the rich delicacies of the country.

Gretchen Gogreve Dr. Rothenbeck English 2270 1 May 2017 Warped Female Identity Is it possible to reject femininity that is part of one’s self? This is something to think about when we think of Esther Greenwood from the novel, The Bell Jar. Esther expresses her discomfort in being a woman by dislocating herself from other women. Esther’s interactions with other women further complicates what she believes is the idea of womanhood. She is uncomfortable with society’s gender role expectations which reflects American culture. As Esther tries to find mother figures of her own and understand society, her disgust with marriage, motherhood, and pregnancy exemplifies her discomfort with gender role expectations. As we get to know Esther, she cannot in any type of way relate to the different kinds of women she meets. She feels this way because she does not see them as the type of role model Esther is looking for in women. She is still trying to find the ideal woman for herself but it is hard for her to when she feels uncomfortable with what society’s role for women is. What society during that time expected women to be are wives, homemakers, and mothers. They are expected to devote their life to caring for their husband and children, rather than chasing their dreams. That is simply the idea of womanhood during that time, but Esther wants nothing to do with that stereotype. She is discomforted by what society expects her to be and she does not want to be a part of that. Esther’s discomforted feelings about her future are shown through the comparison of the fig tree. Esther says, “One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet…and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor…and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this big tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would chose” (Plath 62-63). Esther is capable of choosing a fig but she can’t even find herself to choose one. Esther continues, “I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet” (Plath 63). Notice how Esther mentions how one fig was a husband with a happy home and children but no career. Then notice how she talks about a famous poet with a successful career but with no family unit. Esther believes that people cannot have a family and a career, it has to be one or the other. If someone has both of these features, she finds them inferior. To Esther, mind and body, career and family, intelligence and sexuality are contradictory. She sees these women or men as having low standards and having a substandard personality. She believes that people cannot have both of those qualities, whereas they should have one or the other. She compares them to the grotesque images that she believes in her head and she does this so she doesn’t think of herself as that stereotypical woman. She feels like this is not what she believes herself to be, any woman, or any man. Throughout the middle of the book, Esther agrees to go see a psychiatrist named Doctor Gordon. Esther’s expectation of a psychiatrist is not what she expected Doctor Gordon to be. Doctor Gordon is young and good-looking. Esther’s first impression of him was not in the nicest way. “I hated him,” Esther says, “the minute I walked in through the door…I could see right away he was conceited” (Plath 105). Esther notices how he has a family picture on his desk with his beautiful wife, children, and their dog. “For some reason,” Esther comments, “the photograph made me furious…how could this Doctor Gordon help me anyway, with a beautiful wife and beautiful family picture in a silver frame?” (Plath 106). As I mentioned previously, Esther does not believe that someone can have a career and a family at the same time. She believes it should be one or the other. Esther feels uncomfortable as she sees Doctor Gordon in a happy family unit and having a career at the same time. After seeing how happy Doctor Gordon is, she seems to get a sense of alienation and a sense of loss from the image of family. She does not believe in the idea of motherhood and the image of family. She does not want to be a part of that because she does not like how society expects women to be. America during the 1950s played a significant role in the baby boom. The baby boom happened as the soldiers were coming home from war and wanted to start a new life. They were all excited from their victory from World War I which caused the marriage rate to rise. In response to this, there was also a desire to have large families which caused the birthrate to rise as well. It has been known that a baby was born every 7 seconds which marked the baby boom throughout the 1950s. This is ironic because as we know, Esther finds being married and especially giving birth inhumane. That time during the 1950s was a huge time of history where so many people were getting married then in response having children. Esther thinks that whole idea is a waste of time then especially going into the stage of motherhood. More women during that time were becoming mothers and in becoming mothers came the responsibility of having motherhood roles. As family and society require certain roles, motherhood also requires women to take their parts accordingly. The portrayal of mothers in The Bell Jar is intolerant and far from the idea of a loving and caring mother often found in literature. Esther encounters three mother figures: Dodo Conway, Mrs. Willard, and Jay Cee. Esther says that Dodo Conway, “Raised her six children-and would no doubt raise her seventh-on Rice Krispies, peanut-butter-and-marshmallow sandwiches…and a special discount from the local milkman” (Plath 95-96). Everyone loved Dodo but her children made Esther feel uneasy and hearing the noise of Dodo’s baby would drive her insane. As we see, Esther fears marriage and having babies. Esther cannot commit herself being married to someone or most importantly, having a baby. Esther says, "After I had children I would feel differently. I wouldn't want to write poems any more. So I began to think maybe it was true that when you were married and had children it was like being brainwashed, and afterward you went about numb as a slave in some private, totalitarian state” (Plath 69). Esther imagines babies more associated with death than with birth. She believes it is humiliation to the mother instead of a celebration of a new life born. Before Esther observes the child birth at the medical school, Buddy warns her by saying, “You oughtn’t see this…You’ll never want to have a baby if you do. They oughtn’t to let women watch. It’ll be the end of the human race” (Plath 53). As Esther watches the woman in labor, Esther is convinced that what Buddy has told her about giving birth is true. Esther believes the actual process of going into labor is inhuman and the role mothers are getting themselves into is a waste of time. But Mrs. Willard shows Esther the true meaning behind being married and going into motherhood. Mrs. Willard, Buddy’s mother, is another example of Esther’s idea of a mother figure. Mrs. Willard teaches Esther what marriage is which Esther believes is a waste of time and a wasted life. Esther cannot accept the kind of life Mrs. Willard has such as cleaning, cooking, and washing clothes from morning until night. Esther is afraid that marriage will ruin her desire to write while she gets caught up in doing the activities that a housewife is expected to do. She feels like once she is married, she will have no time to follow her dreams in writing because she will be so busy doing what housewives are supposed to do. Esther finds no alternative as she is trapped with the patriarchal idea of woman, so she continues to despise everything female in order to focus on her artistic imagination and to keep it alive. She wants to keep her desire to write and be successful just like Jay Cee. Jay Cee is the editor of a women’s magazine and is a successful working woman whom Esther admires. Esther touches upon how unattractive Jay Cee is but Esther confesses that she tried to imagine Jay Cee out of her working outfit and in bed with her husband. She said she has a horrible time trying to imagine people in bed together. This shows how Esther cannot imagine a successful and intelligent woman being connected with her husband with physical attraction and physical contact. Jay Cee is trying to help and mentor Esther to a fulfilling professional life after college which Esther appreciates. Esther wishes Jay Cee was her mother and if she was then all of her problems would be resolved. A woman that Esther looks up to as another mother figure is Dr. Nolan. Dr. Nolan is Esther’s psychiatrist after she attempts suicide. Dr. Nolan is everything Esther’s mother is not. Dr. Nolan understands Esther. She understands Esther by knowing she is a bright, determined young lady who might wear away under the authoritative social expectations of a woman. Dr. Nolan sees how Esther’s relationship with her mother is only making her social life and her depression worse. Dr. Nolan steps in and takes the initiative of acting like a mother figure to Esther by acting in a kind and helpful way. As we read The Bell Jar, we come to a realization that Esther seems to be bound to the concept of womanhood. Her attempt to escape from the idea of femininity leads to confusion and isolation from the people around her. Esther sees herself separated from society which leads her to discriminate the people around her. Even though Esther has met so many wonderful women and mother figures, she cannot see herself following the roles of being what a woman is. Based off not wanting to be a part of society’s womanhood, there is no way that Esther can have the slightest idea of wanting to be a part of motherhood. She finds the whole idea of being married then giving birth inhumane. She believes if a woman is married, she is bound to follow the roles of being a married woman and stopping all her desires she wishes to be in life. Based off all these conclusions Esther has, she struggles to find her identity between being a woman and finding her freedom in who she wants to be in life.

Works Cited Budick, E. Miller. “The Feminist Discourse of Sylvia Plath's the Bell Jar.” College English, vol. 49, no. 8, 1987, p. 872-885., doi:10.2307/378115. Sakane, Yoko. “The Mother, the Self, and the Other: The Search for Identity in Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Bell Jar’ and Takahashi Takako’s ‘Congruent Figure’.” U.S. Japan Women’s Journal English Supplement, no. 14, 1998, p. 27-48., http://www.jstor.org/stable/42772124.

Banky W in his own words justaposes his lessons from Super Eagles 1-2 loss to Argentina to the state of the world.

Many years from now when, by God’s grace, my children are old enough to understand, this is exactly what I plan on telling them about my experience while watching my very first World Cup game live: “On a bright Summer night in St Petersburg, our Super Eagles played with more heart than our leaders have shown in 50 years. And I was proud to see it.”

See, I’m kind of a faith-over-facts type of sports fan, and I suspect that to a certain measure, a lot of us are. We know the facts. We know that Argentina are by far the better team. We KNOW that Leo Messi is on almost every list of the top 5 greatest football players of all time. There’s a reason that their country is currently 5th in the FIFA world Ranking, and to find Nigeria, you’d have to scroll all the way down to 48th. On paper, we know we probably never stood a chance. Coming into that game, in every position on the pitch, the gulf in talent was, to put it mildly… significant. Case in point: we have never ever in our footballing history, EVER had a striker as lethal as Sergio Aguero. Argentina had the luxury of bringing him on as a substitute late in the second half. But I plan on teaching my kids that in this life, despite seemingly insurmountable odds, you should dare to dream anyway.

And that’s exactly what most of us want, isn’t it? The opportunity to just…dream. To dream that maybe you can punch above your weight and be successful at it. Most people aren’t lucky enough to be recipients of glory in this rat race called life, so we project that innate desire onto the teams we support. And so the Nigerian team dreamt that we could do it, and we worked our asses off to make that dream come true. What we lacked in footballing pedigree, skill, and training… we almost entirely made up for in HEART. There were over 66,000 people in that stadium; between the Argentineans in attendance, and Messi’s global fanbase of billions, it looked and felt like 99% of the people in the crowd were rooting for Argentina. You could hardly sport a green jersey, and that’s not because it’s sold out. It’s because there were only a couple hundred of us, versus tens of thousands of them. The Super Eagles were playing in an Elimination Game, against arguably the Greatest player of all time, his top 5 ranked team, and over 60,000 people screaming and heckling our every kick of the ball.

But we played and we defended, we clawed and we FOUGHT. Yes, we lost, but we went down swinging and played with all the heart we could muster. And honestly? So did Argentina. Messi and co weren’t just going to roll over and die, in what would have probably been their most embarrassing world cup outing of all time. They were going to fight. And as I said in one of my numerous social-media-crazed-fan-videos, Nigeria didn’t come just to mark the register. We came to PLAY. Both sides went at it for 90+ mins, and for 86 of them, we were even. In the end, the better team won – because at this level, the truly great ones are able to capitalize on the slimmest of moments to separate themselves and secure victory. But the losing team was equally gallant in defeat. Both sides gave it their all. One side won, but both sides played with heart.

These days, I’ve found that my wife and I spend just as much time praying for our future children, as we do worrying about the kind of world we’d be bringing them into.

 There’s so much darkness, sadness, and pain in the world, you know? Here’s a laundry list of things that have happened in the past month alone: Two globally successful celebrities hung themselves. Then a woman in Lagos allegedly also committed suicide, by jumping into the lagoon. Yesterday, an undergraduate student from Lagos State University attempted to do the same. Plateau state in Nigeria has JUST been hit with two fresh sectarian attacks…over 200 people were slaughtered in cold blood – the latest in a very long line of mass murders over the years. Add the frequency of killings in Zamfara, Benue, Taraba and you’ll find that Nigeria has started turning into the Murder Capital of World, for a country that’s not at war. There is NO justification for the mass murder of innocent human beings, and yet, it just seems to keep happening, moving from state to state. It’s happened so frequently that we’ve become completely numb to it. We don’t care anymore. It’s now just another headline. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Nigeria has just overtaken India as the Poverty Capital of the World. And with all this, all we ever do is tweet #hashtags… #prayforPlateau, #prayforBenue, #prayforNigeria… etc. We say stuff like “our hearts go out to the families of the victims”, but we actually have very little heart left. Because we’ve gotten used to hearing about the brutality, so we just adapt, tweet or retweet a picture and a prayer, and we move on.

It’s not just Nigeria, either. Most Nigerians envy the quality of life in places like the USA – but let’s take stock of where America is at right now. I have a hard time reading the news because it seems like it’s almost always bad. School shootings in the good old US of A are as frequent as Boko Haram bombings in Northern Nigeria. Reports in the media have been awash with images of sweet, innocent children of immigrants, uncontrollably crying their eyes out, because the American Government has coldheartedly separated them from their families and kept them in cages like animals; one can’t help but wonder at the kind of emotional scars and resentment that has been deposited in their hearts. And speaking of humans-being-treated-like-animals, look no further than the recent #JusticeForJunior hashtag on twitter – read about this teenager from the Bronx, whose only crime was bearing a small resemblance to someone that some gang members had a problem with. So what did they do? Five of them dragged him out of a corner store, and beat and stabbed him to death in the street. An innocent 15-year-old, who just happened to look like the person they meant to harm. The store owners saw 5 guys dragging him out of their shop, and chose to look the other way. He came back bleeding his life away and pleading for help, and they pushed him back out, locking their doors and telling him to go to the hospital. The people passing by on the street also looked the other way; the ones watching from their apartment windows, saw him being beaten and stabbed to death, and figured that it was more important to record the entire episode on their cell phones than to intervene, or at least, use the same damn phones to call for help. He died in a pool of his own blood, trying to run to a hospital in time to save his life, because no-one in the community cared enough to lift a finger. And this is all before we recount the numerous horror stories of women being sexually assaulted in the #MeToo movement, the innocent minorities being assassinated by the same American Police Officers who have sworn to serve and protect them, or by the numerous young people on the streets of Nigeria who have been brutalized, extorted, maimed and killed by barbaric members of the SARS police force.

So you know what I plan to tell my kids? I’m going to teach them to be passionate – and to have a Big, Fun-Loving, Kind HEART. It’s fun to be passionate about sports… I mean, there’s already so much evidence online showing just how CRAZY I get about my sports teams. I’ll tell them that it’s okay to be that way, and to be a faith-over-facts kind of sports fan. It’s fun, and life is too short to not have fun. But it seems like some of us are almost subconsciously waiting for our teams to mess up, just so they can hurl insults at them, tell them what a disgrace they are, and project all the anger and pain from our real lives on them; forgetting just how hard it is to break out of the dire circumstances that come with being an underprivileged Nigerian to make it into the National team. Do you know the work, the sweat, the tears, the sacrifices, the sheer determination it takes? Do you know how hard it is to even be able to make a living as an average Nigerian? I’ve got news for you. If you were blessed enough to watch the game on a flat screen TV in the comfort of your home, or at a bar somewhere… you’re not the average Nigerian. The average Nigerian lives on less than $2 a day. Some aren’t actually sure where their next meal will come from.

Some Nigerians, however, thought it was okay to go online to Ighalo’s social media to leave insult after insult, ridiculing him and other players, simply because he had a bad game. Which one of us has never had a bad day at work? Or made a series of regrettable mistakes? Luckily for us, we don’t have our bad days in front of millions of people who are actively rooting against us. And even afterwards, we get to learn from our mistakes quietly, in solitude, and resolve to do or be better. Whereas, Ighalo and co have to hear about it from thousands of comments, some of which represent the very worst of human behavior on the internet. I heard that when he turned off his comments on social media, some Nigerians went and found his WIFE to harass, threaten and bully her as well, as if she’s ever kicked a ball for the team. In what amounts to the greatest misplaced anger I’ve ever seen… we have let thieving politicians and businessmen who have made away with billions, running our economy into ruins go blame free; we have turned a blind eye to all the killings, beatings, oppression and injustice in our countries, and instead poured all our bitterness, criticism and venom out on footballers, their wives, and referees.

So I plan to teach my future kids that in sports, and in life, it’s incredibly important to try and give your absolute best in trying to win. Unfortunately, sometimes, your best will just not be good enough. But even on your worst day, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t get it right… as long as you give your all, and you do it with HEART. I plan to teach my kids, that in this increasingly dark world, it’s so much harder to be an optimist, but it’s so much more fun. It’s better to actively choose to care about others. It’s better to choose happiness over hurt, and it’s better to be kind than to kill with criticism, or violence. It’s better to build up than tear down, and hard as it might be, it’s better to be a beacon of light, and to look for a silver lining on the darkest of days than to spread more darkness.

I’ll tell them that on a bright Summer night in St Petersburg, our Super Eagles gave so much more heart than our Government, Country, or World has displayed in years. And that to me, will ALWAYS be something to be proud of. Because if there’s anything this world desperately needs more of, at this time in our history, it’s human beings with a little more heart.

TheBankStatements

PS: I’d already finished writing this, and was editing the final draft of it, when the news hit about the tanker explosion in Lagos that has consumed 54 other vehicles. Total deaths are as yet unconfirmed. Sigh. May the souls of the dearly departed rest in Peace. May God grant their families strength to bear this loss. May God help us each play our role in changing this earth of ours for the better. May we learn that heaven helps those who help themselves.

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