MCU AU fest

It's a small collection this year, as usual Steve is the most-written about character with Natasha second. Somewhat surprisingly (probably due to the small sample space) Maria & Pepper friendship is in equal second place for 'relationship' along with Steve/Natasha, Loki/Steve, Loki & Steve, and Steve/Sam.

My big issue with writing AUs is always getting enough information into the story so the context is clear, while still establishing the characters. Which is one reason why my assignment got changed innumerable times and ended up coming down to the wire. *sigh*

My gift is:
title: dark side of the morning
summary: SHIELD has been infiltrated by HYDRA. Maria has a very small window of time to gather together a team she can trust to take them down before they try to destroy the world. She's also pretending to be dead, so that makes it a little more complicated. It's a good thing that she has a plan.
tags: Maria Hill/Steve Rogers, Maria Hill, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Nick Fury, Clint Barton, Sharon Carter (Marvel), Canon AU - Maria Hill Director Of SHIELD, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Canon-Typical Violence
notes: It's a CA:TWS AU with Maria as Director of SHIELD and some Steve/Maria angles. It has BAMF Maria (okay, even more BAMF than usual), and all the usual suspects. Woohoo!

Some stories I rather like are:
title: don't go wasting my precious time
summary: The CEO of Stark Industries receives a visit from the Director of SHIELD. It's not a big deal. Nothing's wrong. There's no weird science or potential explosions... Yeah, right.
tags: Maria Hill & Pepper Potts, Maria Hill & Darcy Lewis, Maria Hill & Jane Foster, Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis, Darcy Lewis & Pepper Potts, Jane Foster & Pepper Potts, Maria Hill, Pepper Potts, Jane Foster (Marvel), Darcy Lewis, Special Agent Hagen, BAMF Maria Hill, Jane Foster Loves Science, Awesome Pepper Potts, Assistant Darcy Lewis, roadtrip playlists require 90's music, Mad Science, Dubious Science, Explosions, Female Friendship, who needs men?, Alternate Universe - Leverage Fusion, References to Leverage, Awesome Parker (Leverage), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
notes: Lighthearted cross between a heist movie and a girls' night out.

title: Dreaming Of Dragons
summary: The army doesn’t allow women. The Dragon Corps, however, does.
tags: Peggy Carter & Daniel Sousa & Jack Thompson, Peggy Carter, Daniel Sousa, Jack Thompson, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, BAMF Peggy Carter, Dragons
notes: I wasn't entirely sure what to expect of this. The title said "The Enchanted Forest" but the summary said "Temeraire" and the story itself is apparently taken from Tamora Pierce's ouvre.

links

DW customization: mobile and color by ironymaiden

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Indigenous Australians from a NYT American correspondant.

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Technological Utopianism Will Not Save Humanity

There's a long section about the way we think, cultural bias and blind spots, and cultural hypocrisy. It's interesting that he likens technological utopianism and the belief in science (and in humanity as rational beings capable of becoming better through scientific discovery) to religion.

When someone sits there claiming that science will solve this and that at some unspecified future date, the ‘science as saviour’ narrative as I call it, I might as well just be listening to a religious fanatic extolling their faith because that is all it is.

I tend to call this 'the Gene Rodenberry proposition' - Star Trek, with it's fabricators capable of making anything, which thereby eliminates need in humanity, allow it to reach for the stars? AHAHAHA. No. We as humanity already have the capability to feed and clothe and give everyone a life; we just have no interest in doing it because there's nothing in it for our sense of social superiority.

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Urban Farming: Neither white, nor middle aged, nor midwest - not the typical image of a farmer, nor white, hippie, and new-age - not the typical image of an urban farmer...

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Hillary Clinton: Leader of the Opposition?

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The Gospel Of Jesus' Wife

The problem is not scientific testing to prove age and/or accuracy of material composition; it's possible to buy a piece of papyrus of the right age, make up ink, learn an ancient language, and fake something that's correct in all the material particulars and will pass rigourous scientific testing.

The problem is provenance - whose hands it passed through, the chain of people and memory and connection - the things which are much harder to fake.

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How Germany Resisted Populism

To me, this article indicates quite clearly why Republicans aren't interested in 'equality'. When people think they're hard done by, they fall back on racist animus and the "us vs. them" proposition - they close ranks and shut out the outsider, whether that's people of a different religion, a different skin colour, or a different mentality.

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How To Deal With North Korea (Or Not)

Why sometimes having the bigger weapon doesn't help.

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White Christian America Called: They Want Their Supremacy Back:

White evangelicals have entered a grand bargain with the self-described master dealmaker, with high hopes that this alliance will turn back the clock. And Donald Trump’s installation as the 45th president of the United States may in fact temporarily prop up, by pure exertions of political and legal power, what white Christian Americans perceive they have lost. But these short-term victories will come at an exorbitant price. Like Esau, who exchanged his inheritance for a pot of stew, white evangelicals have traded their distinctive values for fleeting political power. Twenty years from now, there is little chance that 2016 will be celebrated as the revival of White Christian America, no matter how many Christian right leaders are installed in positions of power over the next four years. Rather, this election will mostly likely be remembered as the one in which white evangelicals traded away their integrity and influence in a gambit to resurrect their past.

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Fines Don't Work: Library Axes Fines, Rate Of Return Improves:

‘‘When help is offered for no compensation in a moment of need, accept it with restraint. When a service is offered for a price, buy as much as you find convenient,” Gneezy and Rustichini wrote in their paper.

The Book That Predicted Trump’s Rise Offers the Left a Roadmap for Defeating Him

The activist parts that I've seen online seem more willing to take the suggested advice - to take on politics instead of just protesting or occupying or public shaming. Not all of them obviously; the endless round of links to petitions, or articles that declare outrage suggest that most people would rather click than call their rep. But it's a start.