Doctor Strange Is My Hero

Doctor Strange Is My Hero — Blue Ink Alchemy

I'm going to take a break from pontificating on our current crisis and the implications of the resurrection of ultra-nationalism to talk about a comic book wizard. Because it's a form of self-care and it's something that tickles the cockles of my imagination. I used to do reviews on a fairly regular basis, and while there's definitely enough going on in Doctor Strange to warrant several paragraphs, I'd like to dwell more on why I feel like the character is one of the best transitions from page to screen Marvel has done yet. Let's keep it simple: Doctor Strange is the best Marvel origin movie to date. It has compelling and complex characters, downplays the humorous elements to rely more on well-woven world building and truly stunning visuals, and even gives us a villain with more depth than a soup spoon. Not lots of depth, but its there. It's well-cast, well-written, and Jack Kirby is smiling from the Great Beyond at the capture of his visions of the realms beyond our reality. The true strength of the piece, however, is Stephen Strange himself. Way back in 2010 I pontificated on Strange in the comics, given the decision to have him lose the title of Sorcerer Supreme due to an act of hubris that, while motivated by the best of intentions, cost him dearly. In the film, we can see both that hubris and that humility and self-sacrifice, which I'll get to. But what makes Strange stand out from the start is his baseline level of self-awareness. He knows how great he is, but he tempers that with taking opportunities to save lives as well as proving it. The opening scene's bullet extraction is a fantastic, pitch-perfect moment of character-building without too much exposition or too many bells and whistles. Okay, from here on, it's spoiler territory. Fairly be ye warned. When he loses the fine dexterity of his hands, Strange pushes himself to find a way to fix himself, improve himself. He isn't motivated by an outside force, nor is he willing to settle for a more mundane profession, like teaching or dictating his theories to another person. While he is ambitious, arrogant, and even antagonistic at times, to the degree he alienates friends & colleagues and burns up his life savings, he is still seeking a return to his former glory, a position where he can regain his cushy lifestyle and keep saving lives. That, by itself, makes for a good story. Then, when he arrives at Kamar-Taj, a very interesting thing happens. Once the Ancient One actually allows him to study, he throws himself into those studies. The haunted and hurt surgeon gives way to the astounding and curious student. A legitimate bookworm and very quick study, Stephen Strange gains a fundamental grasp on the essence of the Mystic Arts even as he struggles with the hand gestures that manifest even the most basic of spells. His focus on and struggles with his mangled hands do get in his way, but when he is studying, he gets out of his own way to a degree that is even more inspiring than his redemptive struggle itself. Then, after the obligatory Marvel cinematic fight and chase scenes (which are still Inception-levels of creative and compelling, no seriously, they are that good), we come to his confrontation with Dormammu, ruler of the timeless Dark Dimension and overall sadistic bastard. What does Doctor Strange do? He doesn't unleash any offensive spells, never throws a single punch. Instead, he uses his mind. Knowing that time is foreign to Dormammu, he locks himself and the godlike creature in a time loop, bewildering and frustrating his opponent rather than seeking to destroy or even cripple it. Haunted by the one murder he did commit (even if it was in self-defense), Strange pushes himself to redeem the act, refusing to do actual battle with Dormammu. He dies, over and over and over again, to fill Dormammu with such impotent rage that the entity has no recourse but to bargain with the sorcerer. His calm and somewhat whimsical admission that "pain is an old friend" perfectly encapsulates this strategy. And it works. At last, we have a Marvel movie that reaches its climax in a way that, while gruesome, ultimately resolves in a non-violent fashion. And after all of that, Strange is not Sorcerer Supreme. He has no predefined destiny, no obligatory position as an exemplar or pinnacle-occupying hero. Instead of promoting his own genius or prowess, he humbly becomes the mere guardian of one of the Sanctum Sanctorum locations that protect our world, and offers his assistance to those who share his goals, even if they present a possible threat. He shows intelligence, discretion, charisma, and an ongoing desire to continue improving, continue changing, continue to do and get and be better than the man he was at the start of his journey. This is why I hold him in higher regard than Captain America. I may get some backlash for this. But while Captain America basically was born as a paragon of the virtues United States citizens aspire to exemplify and wish their country would represent, Stephen Strange is truly a self-made and ever-improving vanguard of actions matching intention and morals defining actions. Relying on his wits and intellect rather than physical violence or even his powers, he shows us that what it takes to be a hero isn't what you are, but the choices you make, especially if you've made bad ones in the past. Steve Rogers has made mistakes, but not to the degree of Stephen Strange. Tony Stark has improved himself, but not to the degree of Stephen Strange. He is simply, in my opinion, head and shoulders above the rest. And not just because of the Cloak of Levitation. I'll be watching Doctor Strange quite a few more times. I suspect it will join other works in my yearly practice of revisiting narrative moments that inspire me on a foundational level. There are echoes of who I was, and goals for who I want to be, in the cinematic portrayal of Stephen Strange. This deeply personal connection, along with its production values, memorable portrayals, and mind-bending effects, is why Doctor Strange is, if not the best, one of the finest Marvel movies they have or will produced.

---

Blue Ink Alchemy

Doctor Strange Is My Hero

Doctor Strange Is My Hero — Blue Ink Alchemy

I'm going to take a break from pontificating on our current crisis and the implications of the resurrection of ultra-nationalism to talk about a comic book wizard. Because it's a form of self-care and it's something that tickles the cockles of my imagination. I used to do reviews on a fairly regular basis, and while there's definitely enough going on in Doctor Strange to warrant several paragraphs, I'd like to dwell more on why I feel like the character is one of the best transitions from page to screen Marvel has done yet. Let's keep it simple: Doctor Strange is the best Marvel origin movie to date. It has compelling and complex characters, downplays the humorous elements to rely more on well-woven world building and truly stunning visuals, and even gives us a villain with more depth than a soup spoon. Not lots of depth, but its there. It's well-cast, well-written, and Jack Kirby is smiling from the Great Beyond at the capture of his visions of the realms beyond our reality. The true strength of the piece, however, is Stephen Strange himself. Way back in 2010 I pontificated on Strange in the comics, given the decision to have him lose the title of Sorcerer Supreme due to an act of hubris that, while motivated by the best of intentions, cost him dearly. In the film, we can see both that hubris and that humility and self-sacrifice, which I'll get to. But what makes Strange stand out from the start is his baseline level of self-awareness. He knows how great he is, but he tempers that with taking opportunities to save lives as well as proving it. The opening scene's bullet extraction is a fantastic, pitch-perfect moment of character-building without too much exposition or too many bells and whistles. Okay, from here on, it's spoiler territory. Fairly be ye warned. When he loses the fine dexterity of his hands, Strange pushes himself to find a way to fix himself, improve himself. He isn't motivated by an outside force, nor is he willing to settle for a more mundane profession, like teaching or dictating his theories to another person. While he is ambitious, arrogant, and even antagonistic at times, to the degree he alienates friends & colleagues and burns up his life saving, he is still seeking a return to his former glory, a position where he can regain his cushy lifestyle and keep saving lives. That, by itself, makes for a good story. Then, when he arrives at Kamar-Taj, a very interesting thing happens. Once the Ancient One actually allows him to study, he throws himself into those studies. The haunted and hurt surgeon gives way to the astounding and curious student. A legitimate bookworm and very quick study, Stephen Strange gains a fundamental grasp on the essence of the Mystic Arts even as he struggles with the hand gestures that manifest even the most basic of spells. His focus on and struggles with his mangled hands do get in his way, but when he is studying, he gets out of his own way to a degree that is even more inspiring than his redemptive struggle itself. Then, after the obligatory Marvel cinematic fight and chase scenes (which are still Inception-levels of creative and compelling, no seriously, they are that good), we come to his confrontation with Dormammu, ruler of the timeless Dark Dimension and overall sadistic bastard. What does Doctor Strange do? He doesn't unleash any offensive spells, never throws a single punch. Instead, he uses his mind. Knowing that time is foreign to Dormammu, he locks himself and the godlike creature in a time loop, bewildering and frustrating his opponent rather than seeking to destroy or even cripple it. Haunted by the one murder he did commit (even if it was in self-defense), Strange pushes himself to redeem the act, refusing to do actual battle with Dormammu. He dies, over and over and over again, to fill Dormammu with such impotent rage that the entity has no recourse but to bargain with the sorcerer. His calm and somewhat whimsical admission that "pain is an old friend" perfectly encapsulates this strategy. And it works. At last, we have a Marvel movie that reaches its climax in a way that, while gruesome, ultimately resolves in a non-violent fashion. And after all of that, Strange is not Sorcerer Supreme. He has no predefined destiny, no obligatory position as an exemplar or pinnacle-occupying hero. Instead of promoting his own genius or prowess, he humbly becomes the mere guardian of one of the Sanctum Sanctorum locations that protect our world, and offers his assistance to those who share his goals, even if they present a possible threat. He shows intelligence, discretion, charisma, and an ongoing desire to continue improving, continue changing, continue to do and get and be better than the man he was at the start of his journey. This is why I hold him in higher regard than Captain America. I may get some backlash for this. But while Captain America basically was born as a paragon of the virtues United States citizens aspire to exemplify and wish their country would represent, Stephen Strange is truly a self-made and ever-improving vanguard of actions matching intention and morals defining actions. Relying on his wits and intellect rather than physical violence or even his powers, he shows us that what it takes to be a hero isn't what you are, but the choices you make, especially if you've made bad ones in the past. Steve Rogers has made mistakes, but not to the degree of Stephen Strange. Tony Stark has improved himself, but not to the degree of Stephen Strange. He is simply, in my opinion, head and shoulders above the rest. And not just because of the Cloak of Levitation. I'll be watching Doctor Strange quite a few more times. I suspect it will join other works in my yearly practice of revisiting narrative moments that inspire me on a foundational level. There are echoes of who I was, and goals for who I want to be, in the cinematic portrayal of Stephen Strange. This deeply personal connection, along with its production values, memorable portrayals, and mind-bending effects, is why Doctor Strange is, if not the best, one of the finest Marvel movies they have or will produced.

---

Blue Ink Alchemy

My Country In Wartime

My Country In Wartime — Blue Ink Alchemy

I have felt this atmosphere in my country before. In the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, there was a palpable aura around the people who walked to and fro, doing their best to go about their daily lives. We fought back against a paralysis so gripping, it threatened to choke the life from us. We'd been knocked back on our heels. We'd taken a sucker punch to the gut. And we resolved, as a nation, not to let the fear rule our lives. We didn't normalize what had happened. We fought back. We went to war. I hate that word. War. FDR hated it, too. He said as much in an address given at Chautauqua, N.Y. in 1936:

I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen two hundred limping, exhausted men come out of line—the survivors of a regiment of one thousand that went forward forty-eight hours before. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.

I am seeing, and feeling, so many parallels, between those times and now, that I have to use a word and idea that may prove antithetical to what's best for our society, but rings true no matter how I might deny it. What has happened in the wake of this latest election in the United States is no less than a declaration of war. I look at the rhetoric. I read between the lines. I see what's been spewed from the deep places of the Internet. I hear tell of ambitious plans to continue shifting the global atmosphere to one of hatred and "cleansing", from electing more radically prejudiced leaders to a delineation of in what order to "purge" those who are "lesser". These are more than words. These are weapons. And they are aimed directly at a global heart of compassion and understanding just now beginning to emerge from the darkness. In art, there is truth, and words from one of the authors who helped shape me ring true:

ARAGORN: Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not.

This is why it is so important that this behavior, this aggression, this warmongering, is not normalized. We cannot and must not accept it as the new zeitgeist. We must stand together against a tide of ignorance and smug notions of superiority. Our imperative, as a species that wishes to survive and prosper, is to stand together, in love and understanding, and declare that this venom will not kill us. Regardless of our colors, genders, orientations, creeds, and backgrounds, we owe it to ourselves and each other to work as one to overcome what threatens to undermine, belittle, divide, and destroy us. We had a hand in how this came about. We ignored the warnings. We downplayed the severity of the potential consequences. Some of us fell into arrogant presumption, others savored the opportunity to say "we told you so", still others took the proceedings as a joke, and as a whole, we failed to stand against a rising tide of darkness that now threatens, more than it ever has before, to engulf the world we are trying so hard to save. The mistakes are ours. We made our decisions. We behold and are sickened by the consequences. Blame does not matter. Being crippled by guilt is no better than being crippled by fear. What matters is — what do we do now? We stand. We plant our feet. We take one another's hands. We look at one another to see the light we have to share, and foster that light to shine with our individual flames. We meet the enemy on the field and declare that we do not and will never surrender. This is not normal. This is not right. It falls to us to protect the work we've already done and the potential we have to make our future better. Each of us, as individuals, has something to offer in what is to come. If we can come together, if we can stymie the growing threat of all-encompassing hatred, if we prove that love can, should, and must prevail — we can win this. We can protect ourselves and our future. And we can look back on this moment and say that, this time, this time, evil was not allowed to rule the day. We can prove that we can get, and be, better. We shall overcome. If my voice has any reach, any meaning, I use it to say this: join me. Not in accepting this as the new normal, but denying it power over us and our future. Join me in a community that shares love, strength, and truth. Join me in looking past one another's flaws, mistakes, and prejudices, to the veracity and beauty of our inner Selves, and telling the darkness and hatred in the world that it cannot prevail, it cannot destroy or conquer us, and it cannot and shall not pass. I will not be silent. I will not stand idle. I will not let this poison kill us. I will stand with you, in this time of war. Will you stand with me?

---

Blue Ink Alchemy

From the Vault: Paging Doctor Strange

From the Vault: Paging Doctor Strange — Blue Ink Alchemy

It's been almost six years since I originally wrote about Doctor Strange, and now, there's a major motion picture telling his story. I haven't seen it yet. But I'm very eager to do so. Part of the reasons why are laid out below. As is his origin story, at least from the comics, so... spoilers, I guess? This is a time where, now more than ever, the world needs some magic, and those with the wisdom and humility to wield it for the greater good. The world needs wizards.

---

As much as I never really got into reading his stories on a regular basis, I'm a big fan of Doctor Strange. Marvel's a world full of armored geniuses, super-soliders and Viking gods. Standing right beside them is this bookworm, a former surgeon who managed to become Earth's Sorcerer Supreme? How did he do it? Did he stumble across a magical MacGuffin or get touched by an angel or bitten by a magical spider? No. He worked for it. Granted, his origin story isn't a terribly noble one, but this is Marvel we're talking about. Strange was a gifted surgeon who cared more about his wealth and reputation than actually helping people. He got involved in an auto accident that damaged the nerves in his hands. He lost much of the fine manipulation necessary to be a surgeon. Stubborn and vain, Strange refused to take a position as a consultant or practice 'lesser' medicine and hunted down every potential cure he could find. His search was fruitless and drained his fortune, leaving him a destitute back-alley doctor, his reputation lost and his bar tabs mounting. Finally, he heard word of someone called "the Ancient One," pawned the last of his possessions to seek the hidden monastery, and begged for the Ancient One to heal him. The Ancient One refused. Furious, Strange very nearly left only to see the Ancient One beset by mysical forces. His curiosity overwhelmed his frustration and he began to speak to the Ancient One as a pupil does to a student. Uncovering treachery and trying to warn the master, Strange overcame his selfishness and vowed to combat the evil he'd seen with his own eyes. Through years of study and practice, he became a sorcerer and one of the foremost minds of the arcane in the world. He's been through a lot. He's faced all sorts of challenges from the likes of Doctor Doom to personifications of cosmic forces. He's survived them all, with nothing more than the contents of old scrolls and his own quick thinking. And he has never, ever gone back to thinking only about himself. At every turn, he's contributed to the greater good of the world around him. How is this not something to which we should aspire? Doctor Strange is a shining example of the proper response to hubris and hardship. Despite all his challenges, all he's lost, he soldiers on, taking on the next obstacle as resolutely as possible. He never gives up. Even when he loses the title of Sorcerer Supreme, he holds on to his abilities not to pursue his own aims, but to help from the sidelines, advise from the shadows. He still refuses to give up on a world that would have given up on him long ago. I have to wonder if, these days, walking as he does with a sullen disposition and rocking a mean trenchcoat, he ever thinks back to those days as a surgeon, to the way he'd casually light a cigarette the moment he's out of the operating room ensuring the patient can pay for the life-saving medicine he just administered. Since becoming a sorcerer, he's never demanded payment, never asked for special recognition or reward. Even when he's all but bugged to remain with Luke Cage's New Avengers, he politely and humbly tries to tell them he's not worthy to stand among them, that his mistakes are too great, his burdens too much for others to bear. Yet he has borne the hardships of others many times, and when Strange finally cracks the smallest of smiles, it's a greater statement than reams of text could make. Brian Michael Bendis and Grant Immoren are doing a fantastic job with Strange. I'm glad to see him in this current form and look forward to more. When I was a child, I was fascinated with the magic. Nowadays, I'm fascinated by the man.

---

Blue Ink Alchemy

— Blue Ink Alchemy

This was a terrorist attack. Looking at the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election in the United States, that is the only conclusion that makes sense to me. Granted, I'm no authority on such matters, but the evidence points to a large number of voters who did not respond to polls, organized and mobilized in large numbers, and took action to undercut and disenfranchise a progressive movement that, while stymied thanks to the DNC, still has momentum and promise. A lot of people are terrified as a result. And that is the goal of a terrorist attack. Not the loss of life. Not the damage to property. The fear. We don't talk about white terrorism a lot in this country. It doesn't get a lot of press. It doesn't sell headlines. And even if it would, the white businesspeople in charge of the news media don't normally allow such things to come to light. It's always been easier to foist blame upon the other and alienate those who are different. It's deflection. It's projection. And, most disgustingly, it's worked for millennia. I know this might be coming off as hysteria or paranoia, but this is the only way the outcome makes any sense to me. White rural voters — poorly educated, irrationally angry, entrenched in antiquated notions, and/or deliberately misinformed — let their hate fester in their homes and hearts. They ignored polls and pundits. They anticipated election day. And they turned out in droves. Motivated by ignorance, hatred, and fear of their own, they pushed their racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic agendas through in the form of a demagogue, and they're salivating at the thought of 'taking [their] country back' and 'making America great again'. If that isn't terrorism, I don't know what is.

---

It was arrogance, on both sides, that allowed this to happen. I mean, we've been on this path since before the "American experiment" began. But I don't have the room to expound upon that here. All I can do is look at the facts. Not cast blame, but discuss facts. The DNC, in its arrogance, turned its nose up at a progressive platform full of motivated, well-educated voters whose candidate spoke with conviction, passion, and honesty. The prevailing Democratic campaign, in its arrogance, did not take the threat of hate-fueled demagoguery seriously. Disgusted voters, in their arrogance, raised middle fingers to the call for a unified front from the very candidate they had backed, and threw their votes away on candidates that did nothing but fracture their own base. And the arrogance of the opposing voter base that they would 'rise again' pushed them to take deliberate action that threatens to set this country back decades, if not reshape it into something truly ugly and unrecognizable to the idealists who fought for the freedom of slaves, women's suffrage, and the rights of the LGBTQ community. In one way or another, we all have a share of responsibility in how things have turned out in this country. Which means the responsibility of pushing back against our mistakes and doing better, acting better, being better, falls to us, as individuals, and as a people who need to stand together, believe in ourselves and one another, and not go quietly into the night.

---

I'm terrified. I worry about a lot of people around me. My thoughts are with the wonderful human beings I've met who boldly express their nonbinary identities, the indigenous people of this land who have been cruelly and wantonly abused since Europeans landed on their shores, and the women and people of color who now have to wonder what the future holds for them and their families. I'm disconnected from many of those I knew personally. I've worked hard to be a better version of myself than I ever have before, in spite of the fact that, in the long run, that work may not matter to anybody but myself. Every day, that work continues, in spite of the phantoms of my mistakes and this renewed feeling of despair. But this is not a time to crawl into a hole and cover oneself in dirt. I feel and acknowledge my fear and my grief, but I will not allow them to prevail over me. I recognize that my sincerity and integrity and veracity may be questioned, but I will not allow my voice to fall silent. In spite of all the damage that has been done, through deliberate acts or poor decision-making, on a national or personal level, I still believe we can rise above our circumstances and what is set against us. I still believe in the better natures within us — as Yoda put it, "luminous beings are we, not this crude matter" — that defy basic animal reactive impulses of lashing out blindly, fleeing, or freezing. I still believe that love is far, far more powerful than hatred. I still believe that our capacity to imagine one another complexly is far, far more powerful than reducing one another to caricatures of humanity or spectres of monstrosity. I still believe that, without violence or destruction, love can prevail over fear, knowledge can prevail over ignorance, and barriers set up by established and insecure bastions of power can be smashed by those who stand together, as one unified force of understanding and love, and say

NO. YOU MOVE.

Like so many, I feel like an outcast, disconnected from what I thought I knew, adrift in uncharted territory. But dammit, I am still holding onto the idea that there is good in this world. And it is worth fighting for. It may be a foolish idea. I've had quite a few foolish ideas in my lifetime. Some lead to horrible mistakes. This isn't one of them. This foolish idea, this one, is good, and worth sharing. And if all I can do is share it with you, tell you that you're not alone, and that I love you — we may have never met, we may have lost touch, we might never meet, but dammit, I love you — and that we can and will fight back against this — not just fight, but win — then that is what I will do. With all the strength I have. With all of the love in my heart. With every breath I take until I breathe my last. I stand with you and for you. Now. And always. Let's get to work.

---

Blue Ink Alchemy

— Blue Ink Alchemy

This was a terrorist attack. Looking at the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election in the United States, that is the only conclusion that makes sense to me. Granted, I'm no authority on such matters, but the evidence points to a large number of voters who did not respond to polls, organized and mobilized in large numbers, and took action to undercut and disenfranchise a progressive movement that, while stymied thanks to the DNC, still has momentum and promise. A lot of people are terrified as a result. And that is the goal of a terrorist attack. Not the loss of life. Not the damage to property. The fear. We don't talk about white terrorism a lot in this country. It doesn't get a lot of press. It doesn't sell headlines. And even if it would, the white businesspeople in charge of the news media don't normally allow such things to come to light. It's always been easier to foist blame upon the other and alienate those who are different. It's deflection. It's projection. And, most disgustingly, it's worked for millennia. I know this might be coming off as hysteria or paranoia, but this is the only way the outcome makes any sense to me. White rural voters — poorly educated, irrationally angry, entrenched in antiquated notions, and/or deliberately misinformed — let their hate fester in their homes and hearts. They ignored polls and pundits. They anticipated election day. And they turned out in droves. Motivated by ignorance, hatred, and fear of their own, they pushed their racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic agendas through in the form of a demagogue, and they're salivating at the thought of 'taking [their] country back' and 'making America great again'. If that isn't terrorism, I don't know what is.

---

It was arrogance, on both sides, that allowed this to happen. I mean, we've been on this path since before the "American experiment" began. But I don't have the room to expound upon that here. All I can do is look at the facts. Not cast blame, but discuss facts. The DNC, in its arrogance, turned its nose up at a progressive platform full of motivated, well-educated voters whose candidate spoke with conviction, passion, and honesty. The prevailing Democratic campaign, in its arrogance, did not take the threat of hate-fueled demagoguery seriously. Disgusted voters, in their arrogance, raised middle fingers to the call for a unified front from the very candidate they had backed, and threw their votes away on candidates that did nothing but fracture their own base. And the arrogance of the opposing voter base that they would 'rise again' pushed them to take deliberate action that threatens to set this country back decades, if not reshape it into something truly ugly and unrecognizable to the idealists who fought for the freedom of slaves, women's suffrage, and the rights of the LGBTQ community. In one way or another, we all have a share of responsibility in how things have turned out in this country. Which means the responsibility of pushing back against our mistakes and doing better, acting better, being better, falls to us, as individuals, and as a people who need to stand together, believe in ourselves and one another, and not go quietly into the night.

---

I'm terrified. I worry about a lot of people around me. My thoughts are with the wonderful human beings I've met who boldly express their nonbinary identities, the indigenous people of this land who have been cruelly and wantonly abused since Europeans landed on their shores, and the women and people of color who now have to wonder what the future holds for them and their families. I'm disconnected from many of those I knew personally. I've worked hard to be a better version of myself than I ever have before, in spite of the fact that, in the long run, that work may not matter to anybody but myself. Every day, that work continues, in spite of the phantoms of my mistakes and this renewed feeling of despair. But this is not a time to crawl into a hole and cover oneself in dirt. I feel and acknowledge my fear and my grief, but I will not allow them to prevail over me. I recognize that my sincerity and integrity and veracity may be questioned, but I will not allow my voice to fall silent. In spite of all the damage that has been done, through deliberate acts or poor decision-making, on a national or personal level, I still believe we can rise above our circumstances and what is set against us. I still believe in the better natures within us — as Yoda put it, "luminous beings are we, not this crude matter" — that defy basic animal reactive impulses of lashing out blindly, fleeing, or freezing. I still believe that love is far, far more powerful than hatred. I still believe that our capacity to imagine one another complexly is far, far more powerful than reducing one another to caricatures of humanity or spectres of monstrosity. I still believe that, without violence or destruction, hope can prevail over fear, knowledge can prevail over ignorance, and barriers set up by established and insecure bastions of power can be smashed by those who stand together, as one unified force of understanding and love, and say

NO. YOU MOVE.

Like so many, I feel like an outcast, disconnected from what I thought I knew, adrift in uncharted territory. But dammit, I am still holding onto the idea that there is good in this world. And it is worth fighting for. It may be a foolish idea. I've had quite a few foolish ideas in my lifetime. Some lead to horrible mistakes. This isn't one of them. This foolish idea, this one, is good, and worth sharing. And if all I can do is share it with you, tell you that you're not alone, and that I love you — we may have never met, we may have lost touch, we might never meet, but dammit, I love you — and that we can and will fight back against this — not just fight, but win — then that is what I will do. With all the strength I have. With all of the love in my heart. With every breath I take until I breathe my last. I stand with you and for you. Now. And always. Let's get to work.

---

Blue Ink Alchemy