#(even when several agencies are hunting them down for the crimes they may or may not have committed)

[orange-artblog]

day 6 - balance

this was surprisingly difficult to draw (background wise xp) but it's done >:D (they admittedly also look less like aliens than i wanted sigh whatever)

dark cream week by @zu-is-here (and long information text in the tags beware)

[kiame-sama]

Humans Are Extinct (Yandere!TWST x fem!Reader) Monster AU- pt 19

(As a Kelpie, Trey is carnivorous and has a tendency to hunt his own meals. From deer, to rabbits, to fish, he will catch and consume his prey. He was far more driven by predatorial instincts as a child and actually bit Riddle once when Trey's parents were trying to teach the Unicorn to swim. Riddle has not forgotten or forgiven the bite as it did need stitches. To this day, Riddle refuses to swim with Trey because Trey bit him when they were kids.)

Warnings: yandere, yandere relationship, yandere behavior, multiple competing yandere, romantic intentioned Yandere, platonic intentioned Yandere, Harpy, Selkie, Sphinx, Spirits, Dragon, Hellcat, Vampire Bat,

~~~~~~~~

"Any word on what has been decided?"

The staff murmured quietly in the very early morning, most of them somewhat asleep as they met for what felt like the umpteenth time in the past three weeks. They had much to discuss and iron out as a group given the more than eventful few weeks it had been. Barely into the official academic year and they already had to meet almost every other day due to the impromptu student.

Not to say they minded the soft and abnormal student they all found themselves adoring and looking after, more they minded how others seemed to look at that soft student. Many of the staff were of the mentality that they had to be guides and enter parental-like roles for this wayward soul tossed to the mercy of the least inviting academic setting to such a creature. Most students of Night Raven College were confrontational, selfish, and butting heads on a good day. Tossing in a lone female student in an all male student body was trouble, tossing a soft Human female into the adult all male population of Night Raven students? An absolute upheaval of social norms and settings.

The staff had no choice but to take on parental roles, lest the students gnaw free of their own inhibitions and leap like slavering beast at the soft Human. At least with the staff standing at the ready as deterrents, few students had the agency to try anything. Still, that didn't mean the many self proclaimed poachers and Humanfuckers alike weren't equally thrown off by the staff.

Beyond the threats on Sage Island, more still needed to be discussed.

"The evidence was more than damning, and it wasn't hard to figure out where he had been siphoning funds from. To think, someone so high-ranking could turn on a critically- and effectively extinct- species to secure their own fragile sense of power. The execution will take place in a few weeks time. She is required by the laws observed in the Queendom of Roses to be present and even witness the beheading."

Professor Trein winced at this, setting down his delicate tea cup in the saucer. The older Sphinx had been the primary source of fatherly wisdom as he raised his own cubs and had the most accurate recollection of Human history in Twisted Wonderland. Naturally, he was opposed to such a grisly prospect.

"Where I agree the punishment must be severe for the crime committed, does she truly need to be present for that? It is a messy affair to see a beheading and I can't help but worry she may not be able to handle such a violent act done exclusively in her name."

"I disagree," Divus now spoke up, tapping his typical riding crop against his leg in thought, "I feel she will be more than willing to see the one who targeted her and Grim be punished for his crimes. Now, she can't go alone, that is out of the question, but who would be assigned to go with her? Surely a staff member familiar with the Queendom, such as myself, but we all know the upheaval that will come from all students should we limit who is allowed to attend."

"Perhaps it would be best to let her decide who she feels safest with? It is several weeks out, we have time. What is more pressing of an issue is who shall be next to act as her guards this time around. There is also the issue of Mr. Draconia being absent from Diasomnia for so long. To restrict his access would be best for Diasomnia, but may result in violence from him."

Crowley tilted his head before he seemed to realize the problem. He had forgotten to do the raffle again which meant none of the students knew who was expected to act as guards. Hopefully with this changing of the guard, Hades would also be content to return to the Isle of Woe.

"Why not just select the dorm that has obviously been maligned since her arrival? Savanaclaw deserves to be selected and Leona has more than proven he is a competent protector on several occasions."

"Excellent idea! Though, there is no Vice-Housewarden for Savanaclaw. Perhaps it should be a rule that at least two or more students from the dorm need to be selected as guards. Though I don't doubt Mr. Kingscholar is effective on his own, more eyes to watch for danger is not a bad idea."

~•§•~

You were somewhere between asleep and awake as you cuddled into the blankets and the warmth that seemed to surround you. Snoring softly in your arms was Grim as the young Hellcat decided early in the evening that he was going to stay close to you. Behind you, with his arms, tail, and wings wrapped around your figure, slept Malleus. The Dragon had been insistent that you stay in his embrace following the increased interest you gained after your day-long cooking feast.

As far as you were aware, everyone in the nest was still asleep.

Somewhere you vaguely figured that everyone was going to spend the day sleeping off the copious amount of sweets and other foods you had made the day prior. Ruggie had looked like a bloated balloon about to pop by the end of the day, though he certainly wasn't alone in that respect. Several students remained in the many different unoccupied rooms in Ramshackle following the feasting, Ruggie included.

Honestly, you were surprised when he began to weep upon eating a donut. It was odd to see the large fat tears rolling down his muzzle as he began obsessively shoving more of the fried sweet into his face, but his continued consumption told you he was happy. He ate until he was flat on the floor with his bloated belly on full display. Part of you wanted to scratch the little heart shape on his stomach, but your respect for the Gnoll kept you from treating him like a puppy.

Trey had been enthused with the donuts more than you expected and he was eager to help in every step of the process. From using the standing mixer- of which he begged Idia for his own- to helping you concoct the exact portioning of powdered sugar to water ratio for the glaze. With how happy the Kelpie was in the creation and consumption process, you vaguely began to consider Crowley's somewhat flippant question from earlier.

Perhaps you should take him up on teaching cooking classes. If all the ones who took the course were as willing to learn as Trey, perhaps it could be the start of something grand.

While you were lost in thought a soft light compelled you to open your eyes. Glowing on the other side of the room was a mirror, seeming to be shining from within. Something deep within your very soul urged and begged you to investigate, carefully wriggling from the Dragon's hold.

The only indicator that Malleus noticed your lack of warmth was the way he seemed to furrow his brow. Luckily for you, you had chosen a spot near the edge of the nest and didn't have to sneak across your nestmates. It vaguely intrigued you that you managed such a feat, as they had previously been woken by very little in the past. Perhaps it was your innate tallent to sneak away despite being entangled, or perhaps something more were at play.

As you approached the mirror, a soft whispering of many voices could be heard. It hummed and murmured words too low for you to understand and seemed to only intesnify as you got closer. When your hand reached out to touch it, the whispers fell silent leaving you in the quiet room once more.

You only somewhat noticed the movement in the corner of your eye, so dazzled by the mirror you almost missed the translucent figure floating next to it. The figure had a gaunt look to it as it was skinny and ethereal floating before you. Despite the oddity of its presence, you didn't feel afraid of it. If anything, the specter seemed to be Human.

Beckoning, the silent being floated backwards and away from you, encouraging you to follow the insistent gestures. A faint voice hummed in your mind as the spirit phased through the door.

'P l e a s e . . . T h e r e i s m u c h t o b e s a i d.'

You were hesitant and cautious, but this image of a Human in a world where Humans were extinct was rare. If there was a chance this thing was Human, or once was Human, you had to at least try to investigate it. Maybe they could help you get home without the monsters following suit.

Stepping lightly- oddly silent in the old creaking dorm- you followed the beckoning spirit.

The being led you to an old forgotten storage room across Ramschackle. Despite the unkempt look of the room it was void of all dust and incredibly cold. It was there two other spirits appeared, one was oddly small and difficult to see from how faded it was, barely visible among the many boxes. Last was a large spirit that was surprisingly opaque despite the ghostly appearance of the other two.

"What'dya know? A Human. You're actually... I thought we were all gone."

The largest of the spirits hummed out, a deep voice they kept low to minimize the sound they made. They looked so Human and yet the see-through appearances of the first two led you to believe they were dead. You didn't know actual spirits were a thing, but then again this world was quite different from your own.

"Sorry for frightening you," the first spirit spoke in a reedy whisper, "but I couldn't risk them noticing. It is hard to find a moment alone with you."

"Unfortunately, I rarely get to be alone these days."

"We've noticed. We're Human- well, we're what's left of the Humans that lived on this world. We want to help you. You're a lot like us, but something tells me you're not from here. Even so, you have the same aura as us."

"Aura?"

The three ghosts nodded, the room around you suddenly going pitch-black. A soft glow came from the spirits and the second moved around you, covering your eyes with their transparent hands. Through their fingers you could see a similar glow coming from yourself.

"Something spirits can see about other spirits. Through a spirit, the living can see it as well. All Humans have this aura and it seems to magically impact the other species."

"I thought Humans didn't have magic?"

"We don't. We have something else, kind of like a natural armor or defense instead of magic. The way it impacts magic users is stronger than any of them realize. It's how we knew you were a Human for sure."

"Wait, I'm not from this world, why do I have this aura too?"

"We don't know. I think your world came from ours, or you somehow did. Not sure. All I need to know is you have somewhere to go back to. You shouldn't stay in this world with them, and we are willing to help you find home again."

You somewhat perked up at this, glad to hear the spirits intended to help you. The largest of the spirits gestured the mirrors.

"We can look around the different mirrors and see if one can send you back, but it takes time. We don't want to risk being seen."

"I wouldn't want you all being discovered because of me."

"We've been here a while, we can hide well enough."

"... Will you let me know if you find anything?"

"The moment we find something, we will try to tell you. Still, it's nice to see one of us alive."

"I have so many questions for all of you, if you'll indulge me."

"We can try to answer your questions, but there isn't much time. Once the others notice your absence, they will search."

"How does this 'aura' act as a defense? Does it deter or encourage-?"

The sound of movement, fast and frantic, met your ear. No doubt the Dragon awoke and was less than pleased to discover you were missing from the nest yet again. Since you left Grim there- fully intending to double back for him if shown the way to escape- they no doubt took your absence as a grave concern. You couldn't let them find the Human spirits.

Without another word you ducked out of the room, closing the door behind you as you turned towards where the sound had been. Frantically searching the various empty rooms was Malleus, his eyes glowing in the darkness as he glanced over another empty room. The floorboards creaked loudly beneath you, making his gaze snap over to you sharply, dark pupils expanding as they landed on your figure.

He was quick to approach you and examine your figure for any injury. When he saw you were unharmed he breathed out a long sigh of relief, those same eyes locking on you as a pout took over his lips. You would have laughed at the almost innocent look of displeasure but something told you Malleus would not appreciate the act very much. It was odd to think about, but Lilia told you during the feasting about Malleus and his proclivity to possessive behavior.

According to Lilia, all Dragons obsessed over their Hoard, to the point of violence towards others. Hoards were exclusive and built upon the personal taste of the Dragon, guarded as greedily as treasures and jewels. You were more prone to wandering than the other members of the Hoard and it distressed the Dragon to know you could wander off from his protection so easily.

"(Y/n), why must you insist on disappearing at all hours of the night? It was my understanding that most creatures are not nocturnal."

"Sorry, Tsuno, I couldn't sleep. Nightmares again..."

His hard expression softened at this, seeming more understanding with your vague explanation. The pair of wings lowered as he calmed and took in your relaxed presence, relaxing as well. Truthfully, he struggled to remain displeased with you and felt compelled to forgive as soon as he understood you were safe.

"I often find my own sleep to be restless most nights. It has been somewhat better, having my Hoard around me almost every evening thanks to you, but I too struggle with rest. You are always welcome to wake me if you cannot sleep. What were you doing this far into the dorm and away from your room?"

You avoided the question somewhat, instead trying to steer the conversation a different direction. Hopefully Malleus wouldn't press the issue as you had no desire to share your new secret with anyone just in case.

"Exploring to quiet my mind. Are all Fae nocturnal?"

"No. There are Night Fae and Day Fae. Lilia, Sebek, and I are Night Fae. Sebek is half-Fae technically, but still Night Fae all the same. Night Fae are typically nocturnal."

"... Tsuno, can we sit somewhere? Somewhere quiet, or even the roof would be fine, it feels too stuffy in here."

You were surprised when Malleus lifted you quickly, exiting the large window nearby. A startled cry escaped your lips in a squeak which only made the Dragon chuckle, carrying you up to the roof of Ramshackle with several beats of his wings. Sometimes you forgot Malleus was not Human and even forgot he was considered one of the most powerful in the world.

The Dragon hesitantly set you down, hands struggling to release you now that he was acutely aware of how high up you both were and how fragile you were compared to himself. His tail raised up to somewhat act like railing around you, ensuring there was no way you could fall as you both sat. It felt excessive for him to be so protective of you, but he still seemed much calmer now.

On the horizon, light slowly began to seep into the sky as the sun started the long tireless treck across the sky once more. Something about this place seemed so keen to wake you before the sun. As the stars flicked out of sight one by one, your nightmare from what feels like ages ago caressed the edges of your mind.

Your survival hinged upon staying around the monsters that were fond of you, but you needed to be alone to talk to the Human spirits without exposing them. A present need to be protected at all times yet what you truly wanted was kept at bay by that same protection. Freedom in a world that both cherished and despised you was a laughable concept.

Of course, this was also not to mention how none of your protectors seemed particularly mentally sound. Even the noble Malleus had this obsession to him, but then again it could just be the fact he is a Dragon. The words of the ghosts echoed in your mind as did the questions you were desperate to ask. Perhaps the reason these monsters acted the way they did was because of that aura the ghosts mentioned.

"Tsuno, how did you know I got up?"

"Your warmth lets me know you are alive and safe. Silver has a similar warmth, but many Fae do not have the same heat to them. The nest gets cold without you there warming it up. What I want to know is how you left the room without waking us. The doors and floors creak, you shouldn't be able to be so quiet."

You hummed, having wondered the same question. It was very likely that the ghosts of the past Humans have been aiding your escape from the nest. Truthfully, you had noticed how silent you had been while following the ghosts versus the loud floorboard creak when you approached Malleus.

"I don't know. I just got up and walked out. It didn't seem quiet to me-"

"MAMA!"

The sudden cry of a familiar voice had you sharply standing, Malleus following suit as your stress rised exponentially. That voice belonged to none other than Grim and it made your heart hurt horribly to hear the frantic wailing. Malleus was quick to grab you once more, ducking back into the window you came from.

You didn't even wait until Malleus had let you go before you wrenched yourself from his grasp and shot off down the hall. The crying continued and you almost threw yourself into the door to get to the sobbing kit. His paws covered his eyes and his wings smacked away Lilia's hands as the Bat was attempting to soothe him.

"Grim!"

"Mama!"

The Hellcat thew himself into your arms, snuggling and cuddling into your embrace as he sniffled and mewled pathetically. You were quick to hold securely to the little feline that hiccuped and sobbed.

"Grim, honey, what happened?"

"I w-woke- woke up, an-and- and you were- you were gone!"

"I'm sorry, sweetling. I had a bad dream and Tsuno was talking to me. We didn't want to wake any of you."

The kit sniffled, looking up at you with those large blue eyes as he pressed his cheek against your chest. His fur was fluffed and his eyes were swollen with tears as he used his small paws to grab your hand and rub against your fingers. You quickly picked up that he wanted to be pet, stroking the soft gray fur of his little head.

"So- so you're not- not leaving? Y-you're not ab-abandoning me?"

"No. I would never abandon you. If I planned to leave, I'm taking you with me. No way would I ever leave you behind like that. Never."

"Ne-never ever?"

"Never ever."

This seemed to be enough to soothe the sniffling Hellcat as he hiccuped and sniffled, cuddling into your warm arms and slowly quieting. As Grim calmed, you began to calm as well, cradling the little cat affectionately. Lilia cast a quick glance at Malleus, the two speaking with their eyes before he looked back at you, approaching slowly to not seem like a threat to you or your young Hellcat.

"He was frantic when he couldn't find you in the nest," Lilia started, peaking over at the kit, "I figured you were with Malleus, but he wasn't hearing any of it."

You just let the Bat speak as you continued to soothe Grim, kissing the kit's forehead. This made Grim slowly begin to purr, rubbing up against your hand affectionately. Even if you did find a way to escape with the help of the Spirits, you planned to always bring Grim with you. He was your Boy and you were his Mama, nothing could change that.

[autumnmobile12]

Ghost Hunt x My Hero Academia

Since there are lot of a avenues to explore with this crossover, I haven't quite settled on a concrete way of going about it. (And I have other unfinished projects, too, ya'll know how it is.) For now, here is a concise list of Quirks that I imagine the Ghost Hunt characters would have in the My Hero 'verse.

SPR Itself

I don't imagine Shibuya Psychic Research would be a typical hero agency.  It’s run by Naru and Gene, but similarly to the way SPR is in canon, the regulars who frequently join in on investigations are all independent Pros, not sidekicks.  Altogether, they form a collective of heroes who frequently team up and occasionally bring in outside help.  With the exception of Naru, although his has severe drawbacks, none of them have particularly powerful Quirks, but altogether, they make up an accomplished unit. They're not strictly speaking a combat agency. Their work is geared more toward investigation, similar to how Nighteye operated.

Mai

Retrocognition:  The ability to view past events through oneiric visions.  An invaluable investigation ability that recovers indisputable testimony from the deceased victims of violent crime. She also has some astral projection abilities that allow for locating missing people, and in some cases, negotiating with villains. Which ultimately makes her a little terrifying. As the old adage says, you can't run from what's in your head.

The Davis Twins

Naru’s Quirk was easy to figure out.  It’s the same psychokinetic energy he possesses in canon and with the same drawbacks.  He can barely use it without causing damage to himself, similar to the early days of Deku’s training as well as on par with Dabi’s self-incineration risk, which is where Gene’s Quirk comes in.  His is ‘Hijack.’  He’s able to affect how others use their abilities, choosing either to cancel out a Quirk like Aizawa can or he can seriously ramp it up the way the Trigger drug is supposed to work. Kinda like how an electric transformer increases or decreases voltage power.  Since Naru can’t use his abilities without significant harm, he and Gene are often paired in tandem, sharing the hero name Twofold.

Yasuhara

True to his character, Yasu’s Quirk was both easy and difficult to pin down.  He doesn’t have any supernatural abilities in canon, so the unfortunate and obvious translation of this into an ability in My Hero would be to make him Quirkless.  But then I thought, no.  There is more to Yasu’s character than being the ‘normal’ one of the group.  He is a dissembler at heart, he loves messing with people, he’s diabolical and he lovingly adds a little extra chaos to everyone’s life.  Yasu, and I say this in the most positive way, is a little shit.

So Yasu’s Quirk is ‘Switch.’  He can temporarily swap Quirks between two different people but has a limit of three different pairs total.  Pretty handy in a fight when all the villains suddenly find themselves stuck with new powers they don’t know how to use and no way of knowing when or if it’ll switch back. Think of how many people he could mess with.

Masako

Another difficult one to pin down since her thing is channelling spirits and outside of Quirk factors and the remnants they leave behind, ghosts do not seem to exist in the My Hero world.  Since speaking with ‘Quirk factors’ would be severely limited to the vestiges of One For All and the countless Quirks All For One stole, this wouldn’t be a practical ability for anyone to have, so the spirit channeling aspect of Masako’s canon abilities had to be scrapped.  Eventually, though, I came up with 'Sound Vibration.'  Masako can pick up on vibrations that resonate long after a person has spoken, enabling her to ‘overhear’ conversations that have already happened, even if it’s been hours, days, or even years.  It’s easier for her to use in an enclosed room and nearly impossible for her to use it outdoors.  This one was inspired by her ability to hear the screams of the ghost children from the Doll House Case. Hero Name:  Echo

Takigawa

Arguaby the hardest one of the group.  For a while, I thought about having his Quirk revolve around his chanting, but that seemed too close to Masako’s Sound Vibration, so I wanted to try something else.

Then I remembered his kekkai barriers.  Perfect.

Quirk:  Barrier.  Ability to place impenetrable barriers around intended targets.  Limits, drawbacks, and further sub-abilities pending.

John

Quirk:  Absolution.  Switching things up a bit, I decided to go with the idea John is not actually a Pro.  He is a priest with license to use his Quirk legally.  John is able to completely remove the feelings of guilt a person may have, but the caveat that said person’s remorse has to be sincere otherwise it won’t work.  Mostly, it’s for the purposes of alleviating victims of violent crime of their survivor’s guilt or even heroes who are particularly affected by a death they were unable to prevent.  Controversially, though, he does also use it for convicted villains on death row.  He’s gotten quite a bit of backlash from the public for granting this last minute mercy as it is viewed by many that the perpetrators of violent crime deserve their guilt.  John disagrees and has always claimed even the wicked deserve peace in their final moments if they truly have remorse.

The inspiration for his Quirk comes from the concept of sin-eating, wherein a person symbolically takes on the sins of another by eating a ritual meal representing said sins.

Ayako

Also not an official Pro but a doctor involved with SPR.  She has a healing Quirk that draws energy from trees and plantlife.  Again, more exploration needed, but that’s the idea so far.

Lin

I wanted to incorporate his shiki in this crossover, so Lin’s Quirk is 'Guardian Spirit.'  He is able to call upon five protective forces to keep watch over people in his absence.  He can distribute them among five people or consolidate their power by leaving all five in one place, same as canon.

[hermette-historian]

A Comedy of Errors: The B-Team vs. TEA

You know it's funny, sometimes, how history repeats itself. How many of you knew there was in fact a full on Hermitcraft war all the way back in Season 1? Oh, there was chaos before Grian alright. Have an "abbreviated" summary of events, and see for yourselves just how little our favorite characters have changed.

Part I: The Setup

Biffa2001 is a chaos gremlin. He's has already shown earlier in the season just how bold he can be with threats (however empty) and interfering with other people's stuff. Biffa decides that holding everyone's bases hostage for diamond blocks isn't chaotic enough for him, so he goes in and closes down every shop in the bazaar under threat of foreclosure.

Biffa also has a best friend, our beloved Xisuma. X finds out that his shop has been closed and instead of confronting Biffa goes after DMAC, whom he discovered has not only "illegally" reopened his own shop but has been buying up and undercutting Xisuma's own prices on enchanted iron tools for weeks. (In the meantime, DMAC covered Biffa's entire base in iron golems in retribution for closing the emporium).

Biffa and Xisuma decide that too much shady shit has been going down on this server lately, and that they need to be the ones to bring down the hammer and stop it. They form "The Agency" (later TEA for Tea Eaters' Alliance) and their first target is not DMAC, but GenerikB's Hermits Hurtin' Hurdles from way back at the beginning of the season. The gauntlet has been long abandoned at this point, having been bested by both Joe Hills and Hypnotizd, and parts of it have even been torn down to make way for a slime farm. The Agency decides that it's far too dangerous to be left standing, and bricks the whole passage up with wooden fences. A few days later they return while GB is still out with food poisoning following his vacation. Having decided that the Hermit himself is dangerous to the well-being of the server due to his nasty habit of having a literal hit list, they punish him by filling every air block in his entire underground base with the same wooden fences.

GB, obviously, is pissed. He comes back from his illness to find he's been quarantined, spends several hours trying to tear down the fences by hand, and finally with a heavy heart resorts to burning them. He bricks off as many of the offshoot farms as he can, rescues what important materials he can find, and sets fire to the inside of his base-burning out not only the fences, but nearly a year's worth of carefully placed wooden structures and decorative leaves.

Now effectively homeless until he can hire Topmass to build him a new base, GB decides he needs backup if he's going to go up against The Agency. Within a week the other half of the B-Team (Bdubs, of course) and the "Goon Squad" (Skyzm, Pungence, and Juicetra) join the server and descend on The Agency's respective bases like flies, leaving their calling card: Several extremely large cobblestone Bs.

That, obviously, is not enough. While TEA is building their diamond-studded headquarters at a sit e offshore from Xisuma's base, GB puts up a new shop in the bazaar: The Angels with Bent Halos Foundation, where one can become an "involunteer" and donate their items to the poor and needy of the server (himself. He's just stealing Biffa's stuff.) He also decides that Hypnotizd is a suspiciously neutral party, and sends the Goon Squad out to the remote reaches of the server to investigate his massive, technologically advanced base...

Part II: The Escalation

Enter Joe Hills, and the errors with him. Joe realizes his shop has been closed a few months too late, and misreads the "B" on the sign as meaning "B-Team" regarding recent events. In a fit of righteous anger he griefs the AWBH foundation. The next day he realizes his mistake and very quickly shifts the target of his rage, beginning construction on a courthouse in which he plans to put TEA on trial. Meanwhile TEA builds their own shopfront in the second floor of the bazaar, a sort of police station in which neutral parties can leave complaints and report crimes.

Before Joe can realize his mistake and clean up the mess he made, Juicetra arrives at AWBH and assumes that TEA is responsible for destroying it. He rushes upstairs and leaves a very strongly worded message in their dropbox before bricking up their own shop, "a taste of their own medicine".

GB follows up close behind. Unlike Juicetra, he knows who vandalized the shop and leaves a report formally suing Joe for the damages in the form of an involuntary donation-forcing TEA to work on his side. (He also leaves a second report complaining about the noise from the chickens that X hid in the walls of the bazaar, but that has little to do with the situation).

The turnaround time on the complaints is mere hours. TEA arrives on the scene of the crime to help GB clean up the mess and retrieve his missing items from Joe's shop, and promises that justice will be done. In possibly violent ways.

Part III: The Suspense

The Goon Squad senses the impending "shit's about to go down" and retreats to the mountains, building a secret hideaway for neutral parties to use when bits start to explode. Topmass and his build team finish GB's new base in creative mode (we'll talk about the implications of that later). Hypno pokes his head into the rest of the server for about 0.2 seconds and sees that Bdubs has involunteered the decorative emerald blocks at his nether tunnel, but shows little interest in the whole affair. The neutral parties begin to take sides...

Part IV: A Long-Expected Party

Weeks pass, and nothing is heard from either side of the conflict. And then, a spark.

The Agency receives intelligence containing the coordinates of the Goon Squad's base, and deeming them a higher threat than either the B-Team (due to the substantiated squashing of GB's base) or Joe (who hasn't been seen on the server for weeks due to the birth of his child) decide it's time they paid their due. It takes a reasonable level of hunting, but eventually they are able to track down the coordinates and...redecorate a bit. Just to remind the Goons that the Agency is watching.

It takes a few days, but Skyzm discovers the vandalism and on his own swears revenge from the Goon Squad. Word then reaches GB-famous for his fairness and generosity and certainly not killing people-who is righteously angered by the Agency's actions and leaves the Goon Squad a voucher for an involuntary donation to them such that justice might be done.

A few days later, the Goons come back to the hideout and in a familiar move, angrily burn the vandalism out from the inside. They proceed on a tnt-fueled rampage through all of the little marks that TEA left on their home, and in a final act of revenge vandalize the police station as well as the neighboring TEA-owned Tnt shop and chicken farm.

Here's where things take a turn for the IRL. Juicetra enlists the help of his fanbase via Twitter, and asks them one fateful evening if they have the coordinates or approximate location of the TEA headquarters (which, you may recall from several paragraphs ago, is a) full of diamonds and b) severely lacking security). But before the nosy fans that had scouted the location during the world tour could spill the tea, Xisuma catches wind of the possible heist and very quickly moves the diamonds to a safer location. Only he forgot to tell Biffa. Responding to the emergency call of “someone stole our diamonds!!” results in awkward apologies and a trip to view the damage to the police station, and then…to do nothing about it?

Unfortunately, this is pretty much where the story ends. The server was wrapping up at this point, and two weeks after the last installment both members of the B-team left for good. Two of the three members of the goon squad remained active until the very end, but the third was too preoccupied with FTB to focus on any shenanigans. Joe Hills did return from his baby-related hiatus, but the courthouse went unused. And the tension regarding the dictatorial Tea Eater’s Alliance dissolved.

For now.

See you in season 2! /t

[ecto-american]

I was doing some research for a fanfiction, and remembered this line from Reality Trip, which got my criminal justice self all excited because of the implications. So have some analysis from a rambling autistic with a criminal justice degree.

“Daniel Fenton, in accordance with the Federal Anti-Ecto Control Act, Article 1, Section 1, Sub-section A, you're under arrest.”

Y'all, this is kinda wack? It means, on some level, there has been a federal judgment within the world of Danny Phantom that not only acknowledges that ghosts exist, but has an entire fucking act describing specifically the course of action in a sense. Lots of acts will kind of be this vague overarching thing with various random acts thrown into it, but the name along with the article one, section one subsection a dealio implies that this entire act focuses on ghosts. I say act and not law btw, because those terms are not necessarily synonyms.

Not only does this confirm that there are acts (at least one anyway) in Danny Phantom that specifically talk about ghosts, but kind of really and truly cements that the Guys in White are actually a federal government agency, rather than them simply acting as one but really being a private company of sorts or being some local state government program.

And with laws about ghosts, it means that legally, the government had to define what exactly a ghost is as well as their rights and lack of rights, and that they legally acknowledge, as a nation, that ghosts exists. While, of course, we don’t really ever get to see this act, and as far as I know, it’s literally Never talked about again, this scene means that this act applies to Danny. For a quick refresher, this happens after Danny is exposed, and so this act still applies to Danny despite him being outted as a half ghost. A scary sidenote is before this scene and line of dialogue, the agents told Danny that he was coming in for questioning and experiments.

So what might it possibly say? If there are any acts that we can potentially base what this act possibly would say, I would probably guess it’d be similar to the acts used for minorities within the United States. And I say these kinds of acts because they’re specifically acts that discriminate towards a group, and that have used various reasons to justify how they are not human, citizens or have any legal rights. If the agents’ lines were correct, these acts probably gave them justification for doing inhumanly cruel things to Danny.

Of course, Danny could be arrest for something totally different and not for some anti-ghost reasons. At this point in time, he’s still kind of half-loved, half-hated publicly as people are shown to still believe that he stole during the events of Control Freaks and the mayor incident of Public Enemies, but if he was under arrest for any of those crimes, the agents would have said that. And I refuse to believe this is an oversight of the writers, because they would have found any nitpicky thing and made it a funny situation where the agents went on and on and on about this endless list of crimes that the ghost boy has committed until Danny roundhouse kicked somebody. And no, it’s likely not because the Guys in White are only interested in Ghost Crimes. As federal officials, which they are confirmed to be, they would have arrested him for everything and have to basically fistfight the other government agencies investigating his Non Ghost Crimes.

So what exactly is he under arrest for? No clue obviously, and it’s hard to really even guess. Article 1, Section 1, Sub-section A for most acts are basically describing what the act’s going to be before it moves on to detail that. I think this is an oversight of the DP writers, lord knows we get enough of them, but it could also potentially highlight the Dumb factor of the Guys in White that we would see them sometimes exhibit, where instead of properly referencing the piece of legislation he’s under arrest for, they just blurt out the first section of that law.

And who wrote this act? It could be anybody, of course. Anybody within politics. It also begs the question as to exactly when this act was written and when it was put into effect. I’d wager it heavily depends on when the Guys in White came into effect, as they are clearly acting under these laws. Which begs the question: how many pieces of anti-ghost legislation are there? Who’s writing them? There’s potential that there are literally lawyers who are literally experts in ghost law. Keep in mind that in the beginning of the series, there was a lot of skepticism that ghosts even exist.

This honestly leads me to propose a new headcanon: The Guys in White are a very new government organization that spawned after the events of Public Enemies. To preface this and clarify, in order, the Guys in White appear in only five episodes: Million Dollar Ghost, Double Cross My Heart, Reality Trip, Eye for an Eye, and Livin’ Large.

Evidence to support this theory:

They only show up four episodes later in their first appearance in Million Dollar Ghost. Public Enemies seems to also be the first episode in the series that shows a massive onslaught of ghost attacks. I would guess that this is the ghostly event that probably spawned the act in question, which may have called for the organization of the Guys in White. Prior to this, ghosts were basically shown that they’re unconfirmed to exist on a public level. Even Jack, our lovable and excitable ghost hunter who’s been doing this since his college years admits in Mystery Meat that he’s never seen a ghost until that point. Jazz mentions that Harriet Chin in Bitter Reunions lost her job for writing an article about ghosts because she was laughed for writing about something that was more for “the national enquirer”, a conspiracy theory newspaper that nobody really takes seriously.

Why are they there during the events of Million Dollar Ghost anyway? If they’re a new organization, they may need that money or are cashing in on the publicity of the event to spread their name, or they’re just starting out and have no real clue where else to go. Only two of them even showed up anyway. The only other groups there are very small ghost hunting groups: literally two young adults on scooters, another set of young adults with a tiger fueled by anxiety and a van, and FentonWorks. And while they, out of all of them, clearly have the most advanced technology, they’re about on the same skill level as the other ghost hunters (getting captured and tricked and such just as easily). Danny even was just as “haha” about them as he was the other hunters who had showed up.

Their technology in Million Dollar ghost is nothing in comparison to the literal jetpacks and planes and four wheelers and armor they get several episodes later. Their funding increased when they proved ghosts exist and more ghostly events happened, and they likely proved their competence in some way. Especially when we see that they have been catching other ghosts (like Skulker in Double Cross My Heart and Lydia in Reality Trip) and gathering important information on ghostly artifacts (Reality Trip).

It would explain why they don’t really show up that often in the series, especially during major ghost events where they really should be there, such as the ghost king invasion of Reign Storm. They may have not secured the funding or manpower to really do anything just yet. Note that Reign Storm happened in between Million Dollar Ghost and Double Cross My Heart, which is almost a 20 episode gap. Their skills, knowledge, ability, technology and apparent funding jumped massively between these episodes, and it kind of stays about the same consistency for the rest of the show.

They really only seem to have one department, and they have really low employee numbers for a government agency. There’s no talk or implications or having multiple departments or anything, such as research or technology. Even during the SWAT invasion during Reality Trip, there’s only like twenty or so agents there. In Livin’ Large, there’s only about seven there, and two are the Agent K and O that we know. They play a lot of roles, from researching, questioning, gathering information, tracking down criminals, getting information from the Fenton’s lab, technology things in FentonWorks, etc. Of course, this is a staple for many law enforcement jobs where you have many tasks, but they seem to be playing the role of detective, computer analysis, and police officer at minimum given the wide variety of things we see them do. As somebody who’s worked in three situations where the company/program was very new, it’s incredibly common for a new company that’s still finding it’s groundings to have a very blurred job line. Or they’re heavily underfunded, but look at the goddamn jetpacks they get, look me in the eye and tell me they’re underfunded.

The lack of basic ghost information. In Livin’ Large, they want to destroy the Ghost Zone. It’s apparently very obvious that you Can’t Do That, but the Guys in White seem oblivious. While you can argue that they’re just fucking dumb, it may be more reasonable to assume that they simply just don’t know.

There’s no dialogue (that I can find) prior to Million Dollar Ghost to suggest they exist. There’s also no dialogue from Vlad, who would have known and been wary of such an organization had it been around for years, to suggest that they’ve been around a while. Jack, who also is open about how much he admires them, would have likely said something to. But I am willing to chalk this entire part up to simply poor writing.

“But Danny knew who the Guys in White were when they showed up in Million Dollar Ghost!” Yeah. He also knew who the other people were, and I heavily doubt that they’d be as big of a deal or name as the Official government branch. It’s very likely that they all introduced themselves when they showed up.

[aion-rsa]

Chinese-Inspired Fantasy Books That Reframe Familiar Fairy Tales

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Reframing fairy tales has long been a common subgenre of fantasy fiction and, at the end of 2020, three authors put their own spins on stories (or fairy tale structures) familiar to most Western audiences by incorporating Asian mythology and settings. S. L. Huang combined European fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood with the Chinese tale of Hou Yi the Archer to form a story of redemption, love, and family in Burning Roses. Chloe Gong cast tragic English characters Romeo and Juliette as gangsters in 1920s Shanghai—pitting them against a Lovecraftian monster rising from the depths of the Huangpu River in These Violent Delights. And Nghi Vo continued her Singing Hills cycle, set in a world inspired by Imperial China, with an original story reminiscent of Middle Eastern folktale The Thousand Nights and One Night in the novella When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain. While none of these books are intended to be read together, all three make an excellent combination of courses for your literary meal, especially if you’re looking to dive into more fantastical tales written by Asian American authors.

Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

Fairy tales frequently feature young protagonists, especially young women, in peril. Some are able to evade dire fates through their own wits, while others must be rescued. Readers seldom see what becomes of them in their middle age, but that’s exactly what Huang takes on in her novella, Burning Roses.

Red Riding Hood, here called Rosa, survived the wolf attack that killed her grandmother. The event convinces her of the evil of the grundwirgen, speaking animals whom her grandmother had tried to teach here were just as much people as humans, but whom her mother had raised her to hate. Her mother’s point proven right, she sets off on a quest to rid the world of grundwirgen, teaming up with Goldie (whom she rescued from bears, and whom she later realizes is a thief and a con artist). But by the time readers meet Rosa, she’s left that life long behind, and now accompanies Hou Yi, the famous archer of Chinese lore, on a quest to keep people safe from unthinking monsters. (Hou Yi is traditionally described as male; here she is female, and she complains that Westerners from Rosa’s lands “insist on calling me a man.”)

Hou Yi, like Rosa, has her own demons to slay, and not just the literal ones. As Hou Yi and Rosa fight off a group of sunbirds, nearly dying from the smoke and fire, Hou Yi is confronted by her own past—the apprentice who turned against her. That apprentice is now a sorcerer, and has raised the sunbirds against Hou Yi in a twisted act of revenge.

But of course, it’s not that simple, either. Hou Yi and Rosa both acknowledge their own troubled pasts, and the wrongs they’ve both done, especially to those they love, weigh them down so heavily they almost cannot bear to move. The relationship between these two women, who truly see each other because they recognize a kinship of regret and repentance, is powerful. Without revealing too much in the way of spoilers, the feeling of the novella is that even in the midst of despair, it is possible to hope—especially when someone else can help carry the burden of your past.

Along with nods to Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood, there are additional mentions of Western fairy tales like Puss in Boots and Sleeping Beauty. Hou Yi’s story also closely mirrors the traditional tales, but familiarity with them isn’t required; those who already know the story may catch hints in the story earlier about where the tale will end, but Huang’s use of folklore from both Europe and China is complete within the story, and no additional outside sources are needed to get full enjoyment from the tale.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

What happens when you mix 1920s Shanghai with The Sopranos, Lovecraftian horror, and Romeo and Juliet? With Gong at the helm, the result is a chillingly violent romance that readers may hope, despite the source material, will come to a happy ending.

In These Violent Delights, Juliette and Roma are the heirs to the two gangs of Shanghai, crime families who once controlled the city but are both losing ground as more foreign interests—and communists—rise to power. Juliette Cai is the future leader of the Scarlet Gang, the only remaining Chinese power in the city. Roma Montagov is a White Flower, son of generations of Russians who fled the Bolsheviks, and now in a dangerous predicament as his father has begun to favor another Montagov over his own son as the possible heir. Years ago, Juliette and Roma met in secret, determined to defy their parents, pledging that together they could bring peace and prosperity to Shanghai.

But those years are long past, and now nothing exists between them but hatred—or so each of them claim. They would continue to be solely enemies if not for a contagion sweeping through the city, hitting Scarlets and White Flowers with equal severity, that causes the victims to rip out their own throats. The contagion seems to follow sightings of a monster—a creature that witnesses claim drives people mad. Investigating on their own, they are chasing their own tails. Together, they could be unstoppable…

Before you say that the story isn’t really a fairy tale—it long predated Shakespeare’s play—and while it includes no fairies, the element of the poison that emulates death borders on the supernatural. Gong’s addition of a monster that rises from the river and compels people to suicide brings in enough additional supernatural elements (mixed with a healthy dose of 1920s science) to include it within the genre. At the same time, the novel is just as much a crime drama; the feuding criminal families are vibrantly, violently drawn, and their ruthlessness makes it difficult to consider heroes (even while readers root for Roma and Juliette’s romance).

One of the delights of the story, for those familiar with Shakespeare’s telling of the tale, is watching Gong’s naming conventions give clues to the role the characters play. Lourens, a scientist working with the White Flowers, is an analog to Father Laurence; Benedikt and Marshall are Romeo’s friends Benvolio and Mercutio, while Juliette’s hotheaded cousin Tyler is Tybalt. But though they don’t always play into type (and they have their own motives far beyond the traditional tale), readers will still be waiting for that moment when Tyler and Marshall face off, and Marshall lays a plague on both their houses. That the story, while self contained, leads directly into a subsequent volume will have readers waiting to find out if fair Shanghai will one day see a glooming peace, and whether Roma and Juliette must both be sacrificed to achieve it.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

Vo’s novella is the second story featuring scholar-cleric Chih, who collects stories from far off places in order for them to be recorded for the archives at Singing Hills. In Chih’s first story (The Empress of Salt and Fortune), they and their recorder bird, Almost Brilliant, had an adventure; now Almost Brilliant is tending a clutch of eggs, leaving Chich to journey on their own. Luckily, Chich has guide Si-yu, a mammoth corps scout, to lead them through the mountains.

Unluckily, there are three tigers hunting in the mountains, and a lone mammoth and a few humans seem like a tasty meal. Si-yu and her mammoth, Piluk, reach safety, and Chih calls an uneasy truce with the tigers: Chih knows the tale of Ho Thi Thao’s marriage, and they ask the tigers to correct it for Singing Hills. The tigers refuse to tell their version—the true version—but they’re willing to let Chih tell the version they know, and correct the cleric when they get things wrong.

And so Chih tells the story of Ho Thi Thao and her human wife, Scholar Dieu—all the while, during the tale, keeping the hungry tigers from eating the humans. Chih weaves elements of ghosts—and the tigers add fox spirits, correcting the story; Chih gives a version in which human Dieu has most of the agency, and the tigers correct the tale to make Ho Thi Thao the hero. The story always feels very tightly organic to the Singing Hills cycle: the mammoths are a particularly delightful element of the setting, and the talking tigers, who can take the form of humans, feel a true part of the setting once readers (and Si-yu) become accustomed to the idea of conversing with them. In fact, Si-yu often takes the side of the tigers, preferring the details they give the story to Chih’s version.

But while the world is very much its own, the story is very reminiscent of the traditional tale of Scheherezade, who staved off death with her stories night after night. While When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain feels very much a new story, it also feels familiar, the way that being tucked in with a familiar bedtime story might, especially for readers accustomed to bedtime stories with the threat of being eaten by tigers.

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For the two stories with already familiar characters, the Chinese (or Chinese-inspired) settings offer a new perspective for readers less familiar with East Asian mythology, and help readers to see those tales in a new and different light, enhancing the old tales with a new point of view. For the original story, embracing the feel of older tales lends it the feeling of being at once both new and comforting. In all ways, these three tales offer the sense of meeting old friends for the first time—and coming out the other side enriched by the experience.

The post Chinese-Inspired Fantasy Books That Reframe Familiar Fairy Tales appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2OPnTxF

[docfuture]

Princess, part 7

     [This story is a prequel, set several years before The Fall of Doc Future, when Flicker is 16.  Links to some of my other work are here.  Updates are theoretically biweekly–next update is scheduled for February 16th.]

Previous: Part 6

     Full intragroup and intergroup relative advantage simulation run started.  Estimated time for results: 6 hours at current background priority.       Flicker finished her third high speed assessment of Practical Power Dynamics and supporting information on people and organizations that had used it.  It had sparked insights--it was full of interesting social science--but it was also full of traps.  Many of them seemed to be associated with naive scaling--the book's advice seemed unusually hostile to the incentive structures of large organizations, such as major corporations, government agencies, and international organized crime.  She didn't yet have the context to follow the social changes the book had inspired, other than the notable de-fetishization of gratuitous killing.  A long model run would help, but it would also take a while.       Flicker's focus was more on the personal.  Some of the advice on managing anger was intriguing, but it was unclear how applicable it would be for someone whose emotional processing was not entirely human.  What she had found most useful was the window into the thinking of a smart, astute human who had done serious work on the problem of long-term functioning with a large personal reservoir of anger.       She slowed down, moving herself back into squishy brain again, with active senses other than sight and touch.  Human senses, hearing and smell, for the sound from the high speed workstation fans and the cooling pumps for the server room, and the faint smell of the oil she'd used on a stuck robot earlier in the day.  She flexed her hands, which tingled as the normal flow of blood returned after a long bout of speed typing.       Her emotions shifted back to as normal as they ever got as well.       Journeyman was still watching.  It had been about a minute for him--and almost a day subjective for her, some of it spent thinking on her own while she waited on resource intensive bits of Database analysis.  She stood up from the high speed workstation and moved to the other end of the couch.       "The book's perspective on anger is useful," she said, "and there are some techniques that may end up helping with management--but that will probably take a while.  DASI is analyzing it and running simulations.  There is lots of subtext, and quirks because it wasn't really intended for someone with my level of power.  And we still have to sort through some of the traps, so I'll take my time, and it's securely recorded and backed up."       She handed the book back to him.  "Thank you for the loan."       "No problem."       Flicker exhaled slowly, releasing a bit of the tension she had built up.  "My level of background anger seems to be pretty high compared to most humans.  But not compared to the author of the book, apparently.  The way she talks about normal humans getting angry and calming down sounds like an anthropologist documenting weird alien behavior.  It's kind of funny because I find some of the same things weird.  So I can see why someone with normal human anger might find mine scary.  Like you do."       Flicker waved a hand.  "It's hard to explain because a lot of it isn't conscious.  It's just what I do, I don't know any other way.  But I can tell you something I know I do differently.  A lot of the things I see at high speed make me angry.  How could they not, if I care at all?  And my speed mind is wider than my squishy brain--it has way more short-term memory.  That's why I need to forget so much when I sleep--to keep the human part of me sane.  But some of the anger from the memories stays.  Only a little for each one, but it adds up.  More than anything I can do to calm down does.       "I have ways to dump that kind of anger, but only down to a certain point.  So I tend to be at or above my background anger level most of the time, unless I'm completely concentrating on something.  And new things can interact with the background and make it seem like I'm reacting disproportionately when I'm really not.  Does this help you understand better?"       Journeyman glanced down at the book, still in his hands, then put it back into his vest pocket.  "A bit.  I hope you're ready for some things that will make you angry, because I can't put them off any longer."       Flicker studied him.  "Speaking of traps and subtext, there was a bit in the book about not setting traps for yourself with unresolved conflicts.  We have one.  Have you been avoiding it to sustain your load-bearing social fiction?  Or because you were worried I'd be angry?"       "Both.  The spying you did the next time I was gone after scrambled memory day had some serious consequences."       "It was research on your background I needed to do because you didn't leave me any other options, and you never elaborated."       "You'd already stopped by the time I found out about it, and I didn't want to have that fight while you were my backup for the dicey mess I got myself into."  Journeyman spread his hands.  "You uncovered information about a fair number of my contacts.  One of them was a Diviner.  Doesn't matter how careful you are if you hit a canary secret from a prepared Diviner.  If the number of people who know it is small, and goes up, they can tell.  After I got back, I found a message from her telling me it had been fun, but she didn't want to die finding out the hard way that my new girlfriend was the jealous type.  She'd already disappeared.  I can't blame her--she knew you were my partner and correctly guessed you were the one digging.  Diviners that aren't paranoid about being hunted don't generally live to get old."       "But I wasn't--never mind."  She planned ahead based on plausible assumptions.       "Yeah.  My contacts don't know everything, and neither do you.  And that's the way it has to stay."       Flicker frowned.  "Okay, but I still don't understand the rules for how your magical communities function.  The information quality about them in the Database was really low:  A lot of implausible junk, some weird and disturbing stuff--most of it probably untrue--and occasional records of conflicts that left a body or bodies.  I wanted to find a good enough set of connections and opinions of you so I could see where you fit.  I was not trying to endanger anyone. That was why I put so much effort into preserving anonymity for everyone but you when I was digging.  And stopped when I realized it would fail.  I learned a lot of things I didn't expect.  Including how justified so many of the people you know are in fearing databases.  But only the Database knows who they are, I don't."       "They don't know that.  Limiting access to personally identifiable information can be a matter of life or death for them."  Journeyman smiled humorlessly.  "The torches and pitchforks crowds and burn-the-witch-itis have always interacted with privacy loss in ugly ways.  One consequence is that internal safety is an issue, and yes, that's something I have to balance.  I try not to make things worse.  But I did, when I became your partner.  I needed backup for too long, and you stopped waiting and started spying."       "I wanted to know about you, and if you'd been willing to sit down and talk to me--"  Not productive.  Redirect.  "I use the Database as a social prosthetic to keep from screwing up even worse than I do already.  You were being evasive.  I didn't know enough to tell if you were trying to get me to take a hint, so I used it to try to find out if I was taking the right hint.  There were Database privacy blocks keeping me from finding out what I wanted, and that stupid superhero social taboo against asking directly.  How else was I supposed to find out?  Telepathy?  Osmosis?  It was OSINT, active hacking and monitoring, or ghosting around to spy in person, and I picked the least intrusive option."       Journeyman nodded.  "That's what the Database told me, when I learned about the urgent trust hazard you'd created.  I understand.  But even open source intelligence is qualitatively different with your level of Database access.  Perceptions count for what I do, and it doesn't matter what you or I think, if my contacts start avoiding me because they're worried about a frighteningly powerful 16-year-old with high level Database access who is perceived as immature."       "How did this become common knowledge?  Did the Diviner tell people?"       "I did.  I knew there would be others, so I asked the Database for a list, got in touch with those I still could, and apologized."       Calm.  "Without telling me."       "I told you I'd handle the fallout--that it was a social problem, not a speed or power problem.  Remember?"       "Yes, but this was something I needed to know to correctly evaluate consequences.  And isn't it still a problem, just from us being partners?"       "At the moment, yes.  It's going to take time for me to rebuild trust."       Flicker shook her head.  Staying angry at him for concealing an apology would be both unhelpful and unfair.       "I see," she said.  "Any other unpleasant surprises you want to get out of the way?"       Journeyman clasped his hands and looked down at them.  "Several.  I've had time to think a little more about Doc not telling you things.  And you make assumptions based on what you think he must know.  But there is something I've picked up as a magician that you probably haven't.  Diviners tend to be paranoid and secretive, for good reasons.  A lot of Seers have serious trouble staying mentally healthy.  And true Oracles have to take extreme measures to stay sane and alive, and be really careful how they talk."       "What definitions are you using?  The Database says 'Seer' is used so broadly and vaguely it's almost meaningless."       "Ah, sorry.  Magicians can be sloppy with terminology, but what can you do?  A Diviner is a magician who specializes in information magic.  Seer is a catch-all label for anyone who sees or perceives things not accessible to normal senses that are at least sometimes accurate--they don't have to be trained and Seeing often isn't voluntary.  Breakpoint is an example of a Seer who isn't a magician.  An Oracle is a Seer who can see the future, know it's the future, and possibly affect it.  They are frickin' dangerous.  And rare.  And Doc comes across to me as an Oracle doing a very good job of hiding it."       "He isn't an Oracle, he's just good at long term extrapolation.  He does do some pretty weird analysis and debiasing tricks with Database projections, though."       "I think there's more to it, but it might not matter.  There are quirks he has, ways he talks about certain things, that make me wonder if he has a future-vision-o-mat down in the vaults.  And a way to stay functional as an Oracle is extreme compartmentalization--literally putting some things completely out of your mind.  That's risky if you get attacked, and I think Doc has been.  But he does have the Database, and the support for the kind of compartmentalization he would need was already there when I needed some of it, for the data I just put in escrow."       Journeyman looked back at her.  "So don't assume he has to know something because he knows other things.  And be careful about dismissing warnings if he can't share direct evidence.  Oracles can know without being able to show."       "That sounds pretty speculative," said Flicker, "but I'll keep it in mind."       "That's all I can ask."  Journeyman nodded slowly.  "And now for something else you'll probably consider speculative, but sure doesn't look that way to me.  Did Doc ever tell you how an Oracle duel works?"       Flicker sped up briefly to check the Database, then slowed again.  "No, but it sounds like something theoretical called a dual loop virtual time travel instability.  Does it involve nothing you can really see except strange apparent coincidences?"       "Yeah, that's what Doc called them.  I'm pretty sure now that the entire mess I got dragged into over a year ago--the deciding factor for my agreement to become your partner in the first place--was tangled up with a long running Oracle duel involving at least two sides.  And that's not even counting whatever indirect effect Doc's projections might have.  When I started to realize something was weird, I didn't think it had anything to do with you.  Aaand... I was wrong.  Figured that out last night, but it doesn't help much.  Even if you know you're caught in the gears, it's way too easy to tie yourself up in self-delusion, seeing things that aren't there..."       "Confirmation bias?"       "And a bunch of other kinds.  Multiply the problems in Doc's rant about using Bayesian analysis to catch a probability manipulator by a hundred.  And I'm fairly certain I was targeted to get at you."       Flicker frowned.  "Why?  Why am I not targeted directly?"       "You are--that would be Hermes.  There are multiple things going on, which is what makes this such a pain to try to unravel.  But you have a lot of protection from direct probability manipulation.  A bunch of older magicians that lived through the Cold War still cast regular little blessings against nuclear annihilation.  You get part of them because you can--and would--rip apart a nuclear war with thrown rocks.  And Doc and I still argue about the origin of some less obvious buffers for you that definitely exist.  But there's lot of hostile probability manipulation, too.  Like, everyone who can do it who wants to destroy the world or part of it, because you're pretty good at stopping that, and the easiest way to get it to happen is to trick you into doing it for them.  Now I'm not defenseless.  But it's like..."       Journeyman paused to think, then looked up at her.  "Suppose I'm somewhere with bullets and shrapnel flying around.  I'm better off than the average bystander because I have an anti-bullet ward.  But if I'm standing next to Armadillo and a bunch of machine guns are shooting at her, I'm in danger, because bullets miss and bounce, and my ward can only handle so much.  And if some of the gunners get the bright idea to shoot at me instead, I'm in real trouble, because what might only annoy her can kill me.  I'm the weak point."       He pressed a hand to his forehead.  "I think I'm your weak point.  In more than one way.  And yeah, there are things we could theoretically do to try to handle it all, but you know what those machine gun equivalents are very effective at preventing?  Calm, uninterrupted consideration of anything personal or contentious."       "I think we're managing okay," said Flicker.  "I mean, it's not exactly fun, but..."       "We haven't gotten to the contentious part.  And, uh... I'd kind of like to move somewhere neutral for that.  This is your home, and you may suddenly prefer I be elsewhere."       "I may even more suddenly need to talk to the Database, and the latency is lower here.  If I want you to leave I'll tell you.  And you can port out any time, if you stop feeling safe."       "I'm not feeling particularly safe now.  But I promised I'd stop evading, so...  Do you still want to go ahead?"       Flicker briefly consulted her reminder list, much of which now seemed outdated or inappropriate.  "I had a plan, but you derailed it by bringing up other stuff--important stuff--like you're afraid we won't ever get another chance to talk."       A steadying breath.  "So I'm wondering if I even should, with everything you say is getting in the way.  And you aren't acting or sounding okay.  When you came back to Earth yesterday, you'd been through something horrifically bad.  Forgot you'd been stabbed in the back bad.  Paranoia turned up, reliving things under cover, not all the way back yet bad.  I changed the subject to Hermes, then later botched my sleep-fuzzy attempt to help.  Partner, can you tell me what's wrong?  And how we might go about fixing the Oracle thing if you think it's interfering with you too much?  Because I can wait a little longer if I have to."       Journeyman laced his hands together behind his neck and shook his head.  "You're right that I'm not okay, but waiting isn't going to make it better.  I think bad shit would just keep happening.  And I know you hate incomplete answers, but I've told you as much as I can about what's wrong.  As for fixing things... I don't think there is any quick fix.  I put details in Database escrow just in case, but I sure don't want you going off on a rampage in another dimension because I suspect some of the inhabitants might be responsible for some of our problems."       "Then why bring it up?"       Journeyman smiled wearily.  "Doc's old rule:  Tell you what not to do clearly and first, because there may not be a chance for a 'wait, stop'.  And with the way things have been going..."       "Fair.  So you think we're just going to have to live for a while with incomplete information, bad luck, unfortunate misunderstandings, inconvenient interruptions, and so forth for everything we do together?"       "No."  He took a deep breath.  "We aren't going to live with it because we aren't going to be together."       "...Until?"       Journeyman spread his hands.  "Don't wait around."       Flicker stared at him with a hollow feeling in her stomach.  "What does that mean?"       He looked down, then back up at her.  "First:  You're 16.  I would not be okay with starting anything before you're 18.  Next:  Even if all the interference went away, I still couldn't be Make-Everything-Better Man for you," he said.  "I'm glad I was able to help you as your partner.  But it's not a healthy basis for a relationship.  And those aren't the only problems, but going through a list with the implication that the goal is to find a way around them all would be a bad idea.  Some of the issues are mine.  Getting together with you would not work, and I don't know when, if ever, that might change."  He shook his head.  "You have your own life.  You should feel free to grow, and learn, and become... whoever you're going to be.  And right now there's too much I can't tell you, you have too many good reasons to be angry with me, and I don't want to be used as a weapon against you."       Flicker stood, and looked over at the entrance to the server room.  "So you'll just blow everything up yourself.  It sounds like you want to drop our joint duty shifts, too?"       A pause.  "I wasn't kidding about the load-bearing thing.  At least for a while, I think they would just make things worse for both of us."       "Now that makes me angry.  I put a lot into our partnership, and trusted you to maintain it.  But okay.  It's not like you need your partner's backup anymore."       The hollow feeling had given way to the grim disgust of seeing a tangled mess she couldn't possibly have helped, because it was wrecked before she even started.  But it was best to be sure.  She sped up.       DASI?  Does Journeyman appear to be suffering from mental sabotage, mind control, or anything else relevant?       I do not have sufficient data to judge the soundness of his decision process, but his actions are consistent with his prior behavior.  He is showing signs of prolonged stress.  As are you.       Thanks.  I knew that last part already.       Amelioration measures are still in progress.  Please do not do anything precipitous.       Yeah, yeah.       She slowed back down and shook her head.  "I just don't understand your thinking.  Why even agree to our partnership, if you were going to do this?  And if your model of an attack on me is right, and not just a paranoid overreaction, why pull away... everything I thought we had, without even trying to help?"       "I do intend to try to help, after I spend a while recovering," he said.  "I'll stay in touch through the Database.  But first I need to see if I can track down some Diviners, because half the ones I know are indisposed or missing, and the other half are getting 'future not found' errors or disturbingly ambiguous signs of some sort of global catastrophe that may or may not be happening the day after tomorrow."       A sudden frown.  "You weren't planning on doing anything drastic to the planet that day, were you?"       "Not particularly.  I'm not even going to be on Earth for some of it."       "What."       "I'm going to the Moon to run Speedtest, finally.  Scheduled it with Doc this morning."       "Ah," said Journeyman, his face noticeably paler.  "I don't suppose you'd be willing to reschedule?"       "No.  As you said, I have my own life, and things to learn.  If you are seriously convinced some entity is actively trying to sabotage something specific that I've put off for too long already, tell me where they live, and I'll visit them with some physics.  Before catastrophe day.  Then you can find those other Diviners and see if the problem has cleared up or there is someone else who needs a visit.  An Oracle should be able to tell if their personal future is about to become very short, right?"       Journeyman looked down.  "I... don't think that's a good plan."       "Then maybe you should have raised your concerns before dumping your partner?"       "Priority interrupt," announced DASI from the wall speaker.  "A candidate psychological expert has been located."       Flicker sped up to read a summary on her visor.  It was good news that DASI had managed to identify and contact someone.  But she had conditions for her help and an unusual background...       Flicker puzzled over some of the details, then slowed down to frown at Journeyman.  "All right, if you really still want to help, the Database profile of this person is weird.  There seem to be rumors that she has some kind of magic resistance.   Have you ever heard of a Dr. Stella Reinhart?"

Next: Part 8

[privateinvestigator41-blog]

Obtaining the most effective Personal Investigator for your personal Condition

private detective Columbia SC

After you have to have the companies of the personal investigator, how will you notify the primary difference in between the great along with the terrible candidates? You should not squander your time and efforts and cash by just blindly selecting any person who might not be equipped to accomplish the task. By subsequent these recommendations, you can locate the greatest non-public investigator on your scenario, regardless of the want may perhaps be.

CEO Formula

one: Get a referral.

Check with somebody you recognize and trust, your attorney, a buddy or perhaps a co-worker, if they have ever hired a personal investigator, and what their working experience was like. When they experienced a fantastic encounter you continue to ought to look at them out. When they had a nasty encounter now you realize who never to employ.

two: Verify together with the Greater Business Bureau.

Do a look for on the BBB internet site or simply call your local BBB office environment. Seek out candidates that have BBB Accredited Organization. Even when a private Investigator would not have an Accredited Company they may have got a ranking which should really enable you to determine if it is anyone you need to take into account.

3: Do a web Lookup

When you have identified some attainable candidates, do world-wide-web queries utilizing the name with the corporation as well as names of the principals.

In case you now possess the name from the principals, do an online search utilizing their names. Set quotes close to their name, run the look for, and browse any articles that come up. Chances are you'll find equally destructive and constructive details.

Should you nevertheless you should not have any superior candidates, otherwise you are searhing for some extra choices, do an internet search using the text "Private Investigator", "Private Detective", "Private Investigative Agency" or "Private Detective Agency" along with the city by which you need the providers, or a minimum of the closest main city.

Look into the web-sites from the non-public investigators that appear up.

4: Phone Job interview

Contact the candidates and ensure you include all of the issues listed down below.

five: Initial consultation

Build an first session with all your best prospect and identify if they are the best non-public investigator with the career.

For the duration of every phase from the course of action, hold these questions in mind:

Initial effect?

Do they present on their own skillfully on their web page, on the telephone and in individual? How properly do they impart? They need to arrive throughout as specialist, articulate and credible to some others in dealing with your situation, these as witnesses, your lawyer, a decide or maybe a jury. The results of the case is at stake.

Where by and who?

Are they actually in or close to the geographic location you'll need companies? Who is going to do the do the job?

Several "national companies" will market just as if they might offer services any place. Basically the things they frequently do is subcontract the do the job out to an individual during the spot. Why exploration a personal investigator's background if they are just planning to go your scenario on to another person?

Expertise?

Have they got expertise during the variety of circumstance you will be seeking their services for?

The ideal non-public investigator can recover, extra cost-effective success. Regardless of whether their rates are increased, you obtain whatever you pay for.

Be suspicious of people giving providers with unusually low selling prices or no retainer. They might not be competent for your career, or they could possess a historical past of bad cases.

Proprietors?

Realizing who owns the Personal Detective Company will let you research their status.

You are searching for an individual with ethics, integrity along with a great small business standing. Once more, the results within your case is at stake.

Licensed?

Some states, like Idaho, have no point out wide licensing prerequisites, but several of the towns or counties could. A neighboring state in all probability does have licensing for personal non-public investigators and personal investigative agencies. Even though your point out will not need a license, check if your candidates have got a experienced license.

A license typically implies they've got much more means at their disposal in comparison to the non certified non-public investigator. In addition, it commonly usually means they may have a thoroughly clean legal report.

So what occurs in case you employ the service of an unlicensed non-public investigator each time a license is necessary? Any proof they get hold of might not be admissible in court. This could bring on

squandered funds unusable information a damaged circumstance along with a attainable lawsuit

Try to remember, you need ethics, integrity and professionalism.

Skills?

What qualifies them to do what you want them to do?

It's not at all unconventional in the slightest degree for someone to start up a private investigative company and also have no far more knowledge and practical experience than what they have obtained from a Tv set demonstrate

So check with them to inform you with regards to their skills which include instruction, professional affiliations, certifications, and practical experience.

Coverage?

Have they got liability and professional auto insurance plan?

If a non-public investigator you've got retained does anything in your case that effects inside of a regulation match you also may very well be sued. This might consist of committing some type of crime, a battery, an assault, a trespass, or he could have a targeted visitors incident when on your case.

Expenses?

Investigators' service fees differ, dependent upon what you wish performed and their expertise. For most investigations it is tricky to know particularly the amount it is going to price, so will not be surprised to get presented an believed variety. Devoid of a crystal ball you always do not know precisely what is destined to be needed to achieve the objectives of a provided investigation. I endeavor to stop working an investigation into phases, and reach an knowledge with the shopper on how whatever you will seek to do in the 1st section and how considerably it can expense. Never be amazed if a retainer is required. Just keep in mind you usually get everything you pay out for.

Guarantees or Ensures?

Be suspicious of a personal investigator that ensures effects. When they make promises they likely can not keep, hunt for someone else. As in just about anything else, if it appears far too great to get legitimate, it possibly is.

Do they recognize?

Do they comprehend what you would like them to try and do?

Give the private investigator a brief description of what you want to obtain carried out. Make observe of whether or not they actually hear you, or are they a lot more centered to the dollars. After you have spelled out your condition, the best personal investigator will offer you distinctive solutions determined by your targets.

From in this article they must get the job done along with you to find one of the most inexpensive solution.

If after the meeting with your very first applicant and also you don't feel at ease with them put in place a meeting with the next decision and the like. If the out appear of one's case may be very critical and it has really serious outcomes never soar to swift choice. There is typically only one opportunity to do an investigation and it should be accomplished proper.

By undertaking your investigation and inquiring the ideal questions, you ought to locate the finest investigator for your personal distinct situation. Although you should pay back the next price for your proper man or woman, keep in mind, you usually get whatever you pay out for.

[embracetheshipping]

Hired Part Three - Conflict of Interest

@erikalyafter requested the following prompt: Trained as a sexual weapon Steve hunts the world’s best detective

Chapters (1) (2) (3)

In Steve’s line of work, referrals were the key to finding clients.  One couldn’t very well put out a flyer advertising mercenary-type services wherein sex (or at least the promise of sex) might be used to extort information or carry out an assassination.  More importantly, however, referrals gave him a minor measure of security, in that there was a six-degrees-of-separation element to the identity of his customers.  He had begun his career by working for people he knew and trusted, and they in turn recommended him to others.  And because the initial sources of the recommendations were reliable, he could feel more or less at ease in taking on new jobs.

It was for that reason, along with a general bad feeling in his gut, that he was currently preoccupied with mapping out an exit strategy rather than engaging in formal pleasantries with the group of well-dressed men seated around the table.

“I’m sorry – but how did you hear of me again?” Steve asked.

The group’s apparent leader, a tall, fit man in his fifties who identified himself as Ian Markova, waved away the question.  “I should think that would hardly matter, considering what we’re offering you.”

Steve begrudgingly agreed.  Under most circumstances, he wouldn’t have consented to a meeting with guys like these – mafia types, by the look of it – but he could easily retire on the compensation they were proposing.

“Fair enough.  What’s the job?”

Markova nodded to the younger man sitting on his right.  Steve was handed a manila folder, which he opened to discover the photo and dossier of an Interpol agent.

“Daniel Williams,” Markova introduced.  “Graduated with a major in Criminal Justice at Seton Hall, top of his class at the police academy, and generally acknowledged as a rising star in the law enforcement community.  Over the years, he’s worked for a variety of government agencies as a top notch investigator.  Two years ago, he was recruited by Interpol, where – presumably – he is still currently employed.”

“Presumably?”

“The nature of his job requires him to be constantly on the move and on guard.  Much of his personal history has been expunged in order to protect anyone who might be affected by his work, and very few can confirm his current status.”  Markova fixed Steve with a haughty grin, and his dark eyes shone with malicious humor.  “I, of course, am one of those few.

Steve frowned and closed the file.  “And what exactly would you like me to do?”

Markova folded his hands on the table.  “From what little information we’ve been able to gather, Agent Williams’s propensity for switching jobs so often may have also been due to prejudice, aside from his obvious talent for solving difficult crimes.  He has been openly bisexual since his college days.  And you,” he gave Steve an admiring once-over, “have both the looks and the skills necessary to get close to him.”

“And you know all this – how?”

“Never you mind.  The situation is this: Agent Williams has been, shall we say, interfering in my business affairs.  I could have him eliminated, naturally, but I think he could prove very useful, given the right incentive.  What I would like from you, is to find me some leverage.  Seduce him into giving up something I can use to secure his cooperation.  Complete this small task for me, and I will pay you the sum we spoke of - half up front, and the rest after you deliver.

Markova extended his hand.  “Do we have a deal, Mister McGarrett?”

“McGarrett.  McGarrett!”

“Hmm, what?”  

Daniel Williams – Danny, as he preferred to be called – shook his head in exasperation.  “I said – what do you want in your coffee?”

“Oh.”  Steve glanced at the self-serving refreshment station in the hotel lobby, wondering if they had any organic butter on hand.  He doubted it.  “Surprise me.”

“Black it is, then.”  Danny handed Steve a plain coffee in a disposable cup and sat down on the opposite end of the couch, facing him.  He turned his attention to the papers he’d left laying between them, all of them written in various eastern European languages.

“So, what are we up to today?” Steve asked.

Danny shot him a half-hearted glare, and Steve fought a grin.

Over the past several weeks, Steve had arranged enough chance encounters with Williams, subtly experimenting with different personas and hitting on him, that Danny eventually gave up trying to ignore  him and instead began to invite him along whenever he went out to run errands or complete other daily activities associated with life.  But every so often, Danny would disappear for several days, or he’d receive a call during one of their “dates” and would instruct Steve to drive his rented Camaro to some out-of-the-way location for a covert meeting.  Steve would then be forced to wait in the car while Danny spoke with someone on a disposable cell phone (a new one every time) or talk to a thin figure who consistently kept his or her back to Steve at all times.

While Danny’s clandestine operations, not to mention Markova’s frequent and increasingly impatient demands for a status update, kept him on edge, Steve had to admit that he was actually enjoying himself for the first time since – he couldn’t even remember.

Danny had this strange way about him that made him equally infuriating and endearing.  He had strong opinions about everything under the sun, from what was an acceptable topping on pizza to music to the ocean, and he had no qualms about sharing them in a remarkable and highly entertaining fashion.  He had a sharp tongue and an even sharper mind, quick with a joke, but just as quick with his fists (a fact Steve discovered when he’d pushed Danny too far and was rewarded with a right cross to the jaw).  

But more than that, Danny was kind and compassionate.  Steve witnessed it first hand when he “accidently” stumbled upon the agent in the aftermath of a raid.  He had been in the crowd gathered around a police barricade, watching in horror as Williams and the local police breached an abandoned building, only to exit moments later with malnourished, dirty and obviously abused children (victims of human trafficking) in tow.  He’d watched as Danny brushed the frightened tears off a little boy’s cheek, and draped his jacket around the shoulders of a nearly-naked girl.  

And once the smoke had cleared and all of the kids had been taken to several area hospitals, he had tailed Williams to a gym and watched him wail on a punching bag until his knuckles bled.

“Well, for starters,” Danny answered, setting aside his files, “Maybe you’d finally like to tell me something about yourself, something other than just your name and a bullshit backstory.”

Steve put a hand to his chest.  “You wound me, Danny.  I’ve told you TONS of stuff about me.  Why do you keep calling it bullshit?”

Though they’d achieved something resembling a real friendship, neither of them had been forthcoming with anything significant.  Steve continued to repeat the cover story he’d designed to attract Danny, who in turn talked and ranted in circles while never actually revealing anything beyond superficial details.

“Because it is,” Danny said.  He made himself comfortable against the cushions and laid his arm across the back of the couch.  “I’ve learned a lot about you over the last few weeks, and none of it meshes with the crap you’ve been spouting.”  Strangely, he almost sounded hurt.

“Yeah?  Let me guess – you’re one of those cops who run background checks on all of his dates, am I right?  Pray, enlighten me, officer.  Did you find something to contradict everything I’ve told you so far?”  Naturally, Steve assumed that Agent Williams would do his homework, but he had plenty of useful connections, including a hacker capable of revising Steve’s history to match whatever narrative he required.

Danny shook his head.  “Okay; first of all – no.  I did not run a background check on you, though in my line of work, that’s well within my right.  And second, I am a detective – agent – whatever, and a damn good one.  It’s my job to read between the lines and sort out the truth.”

“Okay, detective.  You think you’re so smart?”  Steve scooted closer and stared him down, his lips curved in a challenging smirk.  “What have you learned about me?”

“Well, let’s see.”  Danny placed the tips of his fingers to his temples, mimicking a psychic about to perform a reading.  He took an over-exaggerated breath.  “You either grew up in, or spent a significant amount of time in Hawaii.”

Steve’s smirk faltered.

“Swimming is your preferred method for staying in shape.”

Steve willed himself not to fidget.

“You have a dog, even though you’re more of a cat person.”

The smirk vanished altogether.  “How…?”

“You’re ex-military, probably U.S. Navy; your father is no longer alive, and you have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which I’m guessing you haven’t sought any sort of help in addressing.”  Danny lowered his hands.  “How am I doing so far?”

To say that Steve was dumbfounded would be an understatement, so much so that he didn’t bother to contradict anything.  “I – how could you possibly know all that?”

Danny sighed and met his glare.  “I also know that you’re incredibly thoughtful and gentle.  Those who are lucky enough to call you ‘friend’ would describe you as deeply caring and loyal to a fault.  And, in spite of this playboy act, you’re a hopeless romantic who desperately wants a family of his own – one that will never forsake him.”

Steve crossed his arms and scowled.  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Danny inclined his head slightly and lifted a shoulder.  “You can deny it all you want, but we both know I’m right.”

“You keep accusing me of being dishonest and cagey, but you haven’t exactly been forthcoming yourself.”

“Fair enough.”  Danny studied him in silence for a moment.  Then he nodded to himself, as though he’d made some sort of decision.  

He leaned to one side and reached into his pants pocket, pulling out a glossy piece of paper folded into a square.  He offered it to Steve.

“What’s this?”  Steve straightened the paper.  

It was a photograph of two children, a teenage girl with long, brown hair, and a young, blond-haired boy with a wide-toothy grin.

“My kids,” Danny said.  “Grace and Charlie.  They’re the only good thing to have come out of my failed marriage.”

“They’re beautiful,” Steve answered sincerely.  He returned the picture.

Danny gazed at it, a sad smile on his place.  “My ex got custody of them in the divorce.  Then she got remarried to this real estate developer who’s been constantly moving them around the United States.  The only way I could keep up was to study and work my ass off to become a good investigator so that I could qualify for a job with the FBI, and later Interpol, which gave me the freedom to relocate with them.”

He carefully placed the photo back in his pocket.  “What sucks is that my current case poses a significant risk.  I can only video chat with them over secured lines at random intervals.  I haven’t gotten to hold them in over six months.  And even before this whole debacle, my ex-wife has been fighting tooth and nail to bar me from visitation.  She thinks that if she distances them from me, it’ll hurt them less in the long run if I get killed in the line of duty.”

“That’s – I don’t even know what to say.  Sorry, I guess.”

Danny smiled a little in thanks.  “That’s why this will be my last case.  Once I wrap this up, I’m going to quit and find some place stable where I can put down roots.  I’ll retire from law enforcement; maybe open a restaurant or something.  And once I’m settled, I’m going to sue for shared custody.”

Steve could hardly believe what he was hearing.  On the one hand, he’d just been handed the exact type of leverage he’d been paid to uncover.  Clearly, Danny would do absolutely anything for his children; probably even cooperate with some less-than-savory characters to keep them safe.  All Steve had to do was excuse himself, call Markova, tell him about Grace and Charlie, and he could sail off into the sunset with a full bank account.  

On the other hand, Steve wasn’t the type of guy to put kids in danger under any circumstance.  More importantly, how could Steve betray Danny after such a massive display of trust?  If he was being perfectly honest with himself, he had grown to like Danny very much.  In spite of the lies, they had real chemistry, if not enough for a relationship, then at least they might form a good friendship.

Then again, that point was moot.  One way or another, Danny would learn the truth about Steve.  And when he did…

One of Danny’s phones rang, disturbing Steve’s introspection and Danny’s quiet observation.

“Yes?  Okay.  I’m on my way.”  Danny hung up and gathered his files.  “I need to go.  Duty calls.”

Steve stood up.  “And I suppose I’m not allowed to come along?”

“Sorry babe.”  Danny got to his feet and took a few steps closer to Steve.  “You busy on Friday?”

He mulled it over.  “I’m not sure yet.  I have some – uh – stuff to take care of.”

“Okay.  Well, I’ll check in with you later.”  Danny hesitated.  Then he leaned up and gave Steve a peck on the lips.

Steve blinked.  “What was that for?”

Danny grinned.  “Meh.  Just felt like it.”  He left without another world.

Steve raised a hand to touch his lips.  It was a hardly a real kiss, certainly nothing to blush about, and yet Steve could feel his neck growing warm.

Oh god; he was so screwed.

[pitviperofdoom]

a mountain inn murder

So! I’d like to thank you all for your patience throughout this past month. I have promised fic and worry not, fic is on its way. I hope to get a chapter out either today or tomorrow, but for now, there’s a little something I’d like to share with you.

On Thursday I saw a movie that I’ve been very excited to see, and it inspired a BNHA fic idea that I’ve decided I’m  never going to write. But it’s still a rather delicious one, so I put together a detailed synopsis for your reading pleasure.

Warning: look full disclosure this is pretty goddamn depressing.

So to begin, it takes place in a slightly AU version of the BNHA world, so there are a few digressions from canon, such as Quirkless!GenEd!Midoriya who ends up working with heroes anyway as a strategist and consultant. But honestly that’s more background information than anything else, and the story itself doesn’t really focus much on him.

The story begins a year or two after what we know as Class 1-A would have graduated, so they’d all be around nineteen, maybe twenty. It takes place at a rather remote inn in the mountains during winter. Our main character is a Detective. I haven’t decided who that Detective might be, maybe an OC, I’m really not sure because I can’t think of a canon character that would fit super well in that role. The detective ends up at the inn while taking an impromptu vacation from work, hoping for a relaxing couple of days surrounded by pretty snow and scenery. There are others staying there for the holidays, specifically the new year, so their stay will be fairly brief but the detective doesn’t mind the company. Those at the inn are the following:

Makoto, the proprietress of the inn

Her coworker whose name the detective doesn’t catch, mainly because the man spends most of his time asleep or seemingly drunk.

The Iida brothers Tensei and Tenya, rather famous clientele for such a humble inn.

Yoarashi, a boisterous young man who gets along with very nearly everyone.

Momo, a pretty young woman who looks familiar but the detective can’t put their finger on why.

Chiyo, an elderly grandmotherly type.

Todoroki, a taciturn young man with rather prominent facial scarring—name rings a bell, though.

Inada, a large and forbidding man who treats everyone with the same level of unfriendly arrogance.

Akatani, a young man who works for Inada as a secretary. He’s a bit shy, but friendly and eager to please.

The detective settles in for their stay and gets to know the people around them. Ms. Makoto is friendly and seems to strike up a friendship with Momo and Chiyo, as ladies are wont to do. Her silent, sleepy coworker is surprisingly helpful in his own way, in spite of the drinking, the constant sleeping, and his need for a crutch. Yoarashi and the Iidas are cordial with everyone. For some reason, Todoroki seems determined to keep Inada from finding out he’s there, to the point where he wears a surgical mask, ostensibly to keep from catching cold. It’s difficult when they’re all so enclosed, but Inada’s secretary is very understanding and helps him avoid Inada’s notice.

At one point, on the second day of their stay, Inada pulls the detective aside and offers him a job. He’s a powerful man being hunted and followed, and is currently staying at this inn to take cover until the danger can be identified and properly dealt with. But the inn is more crowded than he thought it would be, so he would appreciate it if the detective could help him identify possible threats. He tries to subtly threaten the detective, but their instincts tell them it’s a bad idea, so they turn him down.

The next morning Inada is found murdered in his bed, and a blizzard in the mountains strands them at the inn until help can arrive.

Needless to say, the air about the inn is far more nervous and fearful the following day. Considering the blizzard, it is very likely that the killer is still among them, so the detective devotes themselves to solving the murder as quickly as possible. Poor Akatani is nearly in hysterics when he finds out about his employer’s death, and is utterly lost and on the verge of a panic attack until the detective helps him make himself useful. In spite of his agitation he still has a very efficient mind, and is quite useful in helping the detective organize their thoughts and run the investigation.

It’s a strange case from the start. Inada wasn’t just stabbed; he was stabbed nine times as if in a frenzy, and yet there is no sign of defensive wounds, on a big and strong-looking man who was fully aware that his life was in danger. (The answer to that comes when they find a cup, still wet with the dregs of drugged tea.) Beyond that, there is a flurry of evidence at the detective’s disposal, most of it confusing and contradictory. Chance encounters, noises they heard in the night, a watch stopped at the time of death. Objects at the scene of the crime that may or may not belong to several of the other guests. Evidence of several different quirk types.

The first person he interviews is Akatani himself, and the young man nervously reveals his employer’s true identity. “Inada” was none other than Todoroki Enji, the former Number One Hero Endeavor, who has been on sabbatical ever since the tragedy he suffered just last year. One of his children was murdered by villains, his ailing wife died of grief soon after, and his only daughter was in a fatal car accident. He’d been laying low lately because old enemies and villains were moving against him, trying to take advantage of his current leave to take revenge on him.

“Then you must have known,” the detective says. “The young Todoroki at this very inn…”

Akatani winces, and his jet-black hair falls further into his face. “Todoroki-kun and his father… don’t get along very well. They never have. Endeavor was… he was a highly successful hero. But that didn’t make him a good person.”

The detective interviews the rest one by one, and finds that they all have alibis for the supposed time of the murder. There is always someone who can vouch for someone else. Very frustrating.

And then they get to the inn’s second proprietor, the drunk with the limp, and they sigh. They ask him if he’s going to give up the farce. They can tell he isn’t really drunk, so why fake it? What is his real name, and what is his game?

The tired man sighs, sits a little straighter. His name is Aizawa Shouta, he says. Perhaps they’ve heard of him.

They have, vaguely. There was a news story about the underground hero Eraserhead. About his injury, and his forced retirement. Some villain got the better of him even without the use of their quirk, and forced him out of the game early. Ms. Makoto was a friend of a friend, kind enough to give him a job here until he got his head together again. It’s far away from people who might recognize him, as unlikely as that is. But apparently not far enough, he adds pointedly.

Akatani helps him take notes and comb through everything they know, and the evidence and witness accounts start pointing to a very frustrating possibility: that the killer is in fact not here at all. That they came in the night, committed the murder, and slipped away again. The blizzard doesn’t necessarily mean anything, because they have no idea what this hypothetical assassin’s quirk would have been. It’s the most convenient solution, to be sure. And yet…

Some of it doesn’t add up. There are too many inconsistencies. Too many coincidences. Too many connections. And those damned tragedies in Endeavor’s life keep coming up in them; Todoroki’s presence is just the start.

The proprietress Makoto, for example. Her full name, they discover, is Tsukauchi Makoto. Her older brother Tsukauchi Naomasa was a respected police officer until his career was ruined. He was said to have been investigating the death of Endeavor’s son. Aizawa Shouta? The battle that ended his career was with the very same villain guilty of the murder, after he tried and failed to prevent it. Yoarashi Inasa? Up and coming hero. His friend Keimi was killed in that same battle.

And most interesting are Iida Tenya and Yaoyorozu Momo, two more young heroes.

They had a friend and former classmate in common: Todoroki Shouto. Endeavor’s youngest son, a promising hero killed in the line of duty just a year ago.

The detective gathers them all together. He looks to Todoroki again, at the scarring on his face: burns over both eyes, lined with stitches. He takes off the surgical mask, and the burns continue down his lower jaw and neck. He’s Endeavor’s second son, a villain ex-convict released on parole, who went by the codename “Dabi”.

The former villain exchanges a look with Tsukauchi Makoto, and together they lay out the truth of Endeavor’s “tragedies”.

Shouto was always a rebel, but was forced into working at his father’s agency against his own wishes. Endeavor was always pushing him, testing him, forcing him to be better by any means necessary. And so, that day, when he was teamed up with the hero Eraserhead and Inasa’s friend Keimi, they ended up surrounded and horribly outnumbered. When all seemed hopeless, Shouto contacted his father to send reinforcements. But Endeavor misjudged the situation, wanted to punish and test his son for his rebelliousness, and did not. Shouto and Keimi were killed, and Aizawa was horribly wounded.

His mother did not die of grief; Dabi knows this. His younger brother had stubbornly taken him in during his parole, though the terms of said parole prevented him from visiting his mother. But he did anyway, and so he knows. When she heard the news that her youngest son was dead, she became frightened that her husband would return to her, to try to force another child out of her, so she got herself sterilized in secret. Endeavor did come for her, and flew into a rage when he found out what she had done.

In his defense, he did not mean to hit her so hard. But she was a fragile woman. Dabi was there to witness it but too slow to prevent it, and who would the courts believe? A renowned hero, or an ex-con breaking parole?

Fuyumi was never the same after this. The guilt was too much for her; Iida Tensei knows this, because he was the one she confided in. She languished, and her accident… well, who could say if it was an accident, or a suicide?

The guests are all quiet now.

There are two possible solutions to this crime. There’s the way the evidence points, to a villain assassin who crept in and escaped during the night. And there’s a second solution, one that follows all the connections between people.

Tsukauchi Makoto, the sister of the police officer who tried to get to the bottom of these deaths, whose career Endeavor purposely sabotaged to cover himself. The former “Dabi”, whose younger brother was killed because of their father’s negligence, who watched his mother die at his hand, who lost his sister before he had the chance to reconcile with her. Iida Tensei who had met Todoroki Fuyumi, who fell in love with her as he watched her suffer. Iida Tenya, who owed his life to his best friend Shouto. Yaoyorozu Momo who cared very deeply about Shouto, and was shocked when she found out about the abuse. Yoarashi Inasa, whose friend died as collateral damage to Endeavor’s cruelty. Shuuzenji Chiyo, who cared for Shouto as a school nurse, who was the very doctor that his mother went to for help. Aizawa Shouta, who watched his student die.

And as the detective finishes laying out these connections, they turn to Akatani. Helpful, eager, painfully earnest Akatani Mikumo, who fetched things, took thorough notes, offered insights, kept tempers cool throughout this ordeal. And now the young man won’t meet his eyes, but combs his black-dyed fringe out of his face and dries the tears from his face, wiping away the makeup that concealed his freckles and changed the shape and contouring of his face.

Midoriya Izuku, the up and coming strategist and consultant who has worked with almost every prominent hero from Eraserhead to Endeavor himself, who loved Todoroki Shouto with all his heart. 

Nine suspects. Nine stab wounds.

Midoriya opens his mouth to take the blame for the plot he created and implemented, by gathering the conspirators and organizing the details and playing the devoted secretary just long enough to set up Enji’s stay at the inn, but Dabi beats him to it. 

The only reason he’s here at all, he says, is because his little brother reached out to offer whatever help he could give. Tried to tell him that it wasn’t too late, that they didn’t have to let their father turn them into something they weren’t proud of. But he’s already made his choices. He’s already a villain, and the rest of these people—they aren’t villains. They aren’t even killers, not really. They’re just broken people who saw something terribly wrong and wanted to set it right.

The detective gives a thoughtful nod, and leaves the room.

When the police arrive, the detective delivers the evidence, and the witness statements, and the neat little first solution but not the second.

Half of them are heroes, after all, and the world needs its heroes, especially when men like Todoroki Enji exist in it. There is Law and there is Crime, but there is also Right and Wrong, and the two don’t always line up so neatly.

Sherlock Holmes is still my favorite detective but I frickin love Murder on the Orient Express and the critics can suck it because that movie was rad.

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Watchdog: US forced deported parents to leave kids behind (AP) A government watchdog says the Trump administration, under its practice of separating families at the border, forced migrant parents to leave the U.S. without their children, contradicting claims by officials that parents were willingly leaving them behind. The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General said in a report released Monday that it found at least 348 cases in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement had no records showing migrants wanted to leave their children in the U.S. It also found “some” cases in which agency officials deported parents even while knowing they wanted to take their children with them. That contradicted assertions by senior DHS officials that parents were choosing to leave their children in the U.S. to stay with family or for other reasons while they were deported in 2017 and 2018 as the administration sought to enforce a hard-line approach to immigration enforcement. The findings, issued by Trump-appointed Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, provide new insight into a policy that became a significant political crisis for the previous administration and a continuing challenge for the current one, which is working to reunite children who remain separated even now. “Those who conceived of this travesty will have to live with the memory of their cruelty for the rest of their lives,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who is chair of the Judiciary Committee and requested the report.

In Mexico, drop in life expectancy linked to drug cartel violence (Worldcrunch) Crime in Mexico related to gangs and drug cartels is believed to have shortened the lifespan of the country's residents, according to a new study. The National Police report has found that life expectancy fell by one to six months in the five-year period beginning in 2005, as a veritable war began between the government and drug traffickers, Milenio newspaper reported this week. The report also found that life expectancy dropped six months to one year in 10 of the country's 32 states that are most affected by gang-related violence. Though the report did not clarify whether crime had continued to cut life expectancy in the subsequent 10 years, the World Bank put life expectancy in Mexico at just over 75 years in 2019, confirming a decline from 75.3 years in 2005. Milenio cited a poll by Inegi, the national statistics office, that found that 40% of all Mexicans could hear "frequent gunfire" in their locality in late 2020, though this hovered around 75% in crime hotspots like the districts of Iztapalapa and Chimalhuacán on the edge of Mexico City. Violence in Mexico rose sharply from 2006 after the conservative president Felipe Calderón declared war on the cartels. His approach was criticized but several changes of strategy have yet to bring crime back down.

Peru’s Shining Path rebels kill at least 14 ahead of vote—military (Reuters) Leftist Shining Path militants killed at least 14 people, including two children, in a remote region of Peru known for coca production and burned some of the bodies beyond recognition, the military said on Monday. The military called the murders “an act of genocide” and said the Shining Path had previously labeled such attacks a form of “social cleansing.” The statement assured Peruvians of “a secure electoral process.” The incident took place in a region called Valle de los Rios Apurimac, Ene y Mantaro (VRAEM), where 75% of cocaine is produced in the South American country, according to authorities.

As countries condemn Belarus flight diversion, critics accuse West of similar tactics (Washington Post) In an elaborate ploy, a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday was forced to land in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, over a bomb scare that Belarusian authorities appear to have engineered. Foreign officials expressed fury over the incident. Russia, on the other hand, accused the United States of applying a double standard, pointing to instances of U.S. intervention in international travel. In July 2013, under the Obama administration, Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria, amid U.S. pressure, in a hunt for U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden, who was thought to be aboard. Another incident involving the United States took place in October 1985, when four U.S. Navy F14s intercepted a chartered EgyptAir flight traveling from Egypt to Tunisia. It had aboard four members of the Palestine Liberation Front, which had been involved in a cruise ship hijacking that left an American citizen dead. The plane was forced to land at the joint U.S.-Italian Sigonella Naval Air Base in Sicily, where a standoff between Navy SEALs and Italian military police ensued. The United States eventually ceded control of the situation to the Italians, and the hijackers were later found guilty in an Italian court and served various prison sentences.      Other countries have taken somewhat similar steps. In February 2010, Iranian fighter jets intercepted a plane owned by Kyrgyz company Istok-Avia traveling from Dubai to Bishkek and forced it to land at Iran’s Bandar Abbas airport, where authorities took two passengers off the plane. Some analysts see the arrest of the journalist Protasevich as part of a more recent trend—what Freedom House, a nongovernmental, nonpartisan advocacy organization, has dubbed “transnational repression.” A report released by Freedom House this year found that there had been 608 cases of “direct, physical … transnational repression” since 2014, which the organization defines as including state-sponsored assassinations, abductions and assaults that took place across international borders.

European planes skirt Belarus amid fury at dissident arrest (AP) European airlines began skirting Belarus on Tuesday at the urging of the European Union, which also imposed new sanctions to punish the ex-Soviet nation’s forced diversion of a passenger jet to arrest an opposition journalist. In unusually swift action at a summit in Brussels, EU leaders agreed Monday to ban Belarusian airlines from using the airspace and airports of the 27-nation bloc, imposed sanctions on officials linked to Sunday’s flight diversion, and urged the International Civil Aviation Organization to start an investigation into the episode some described as state terrorism or piracy.

A mobster’s online confessions are shaking Erdogan’s government. Turkey is riveted. (Washington Post) The videos are set in a tidy hotel room, with props such as prayer beads and books arranged just so. Host Sedat Peker is garrulous, menacing and more than a little grandiose. His stories—about the nexus of organized crime and politics in Turkey—are earthquakes, rumbling dangerously close these days to the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the videos, released on his YouTube channel this month, Peker, a convicted crime boss who says he lives in exile in Dubai, has implicated current and former Turkish officials, their relatives and other prominent figures in grave crimes, including murder plots, rape and drug trafficking. Turkey has been riveted by the allegations and the boldfaced names. The videos are a sensation, each one eagerly awaited, all earning millions of views. The deluge of dirt has set off a crisis for Erdogan’s government, brought demands for investigations and even calls for the resignation of the interior minister, a star of Peker’s videos. None of the accusations have directly implicated Erdogan. But the mobster’s claims have undercut assertions by the government that it has shed the kind of underworld affiliations that characterized eras in Turkey’s past.

Thousands evacuated in India as strong cyclone inches closer (AP) Tens of thousands of people were evacuated Tuesday in low-lying areas of two Indian states and moved to cyclone shelters to escape a powerful storm barreling toward the eastern coast. Cyclone Yaas is set to turn into a “very severe cyclonic storm” with sustained wind speeds of up to 177 kilometers per hour (110 miles per hour), the India Meteorological Department said. The cyclone is expected to make landfall early Wednesday in Odisha and West Bengal states. The cyclone coming amid a devastating coronavirus surge complicates India’s efforts to deal with both just 10 days after Cyclone Tauktae hit India’s west coast and killed more than 140 people.

Countering the Coup, One Verse at a Time (NYT) After the first and second poets were killed, the third poet wrote a poem: They shoot at heads / But they do not know / That revolution lives in the heart.      After the third poet was killed, the fourth poet wrote a poem: Don’t let your blood run cold / Pool your blood for this fight.      After the fourth poet was killed, his body consumed by fire on May 14, there was no verse. At least for a moment. Poetry remains alive in Myanmar, where unconventional weapons are being used to fight a military that has killed more than 800 people since it staged a coup on Feb. 1 and ousted an elected government. Sensing the power of carefully chosen words, the generals have imprisoned more than 30 poets since the putsch, according to the National Poets’ Union. At least four have been killed. “Anti-authoritarian sentiments have always been in the flesh and blood of poets,” said U Yee Mon, a poet who also serves as the defense minister for a shadow democratic government that is challenging Myanmar’s junta from jungle redoubts. “The people with weapons are afraid of pen-wielding hands.”

Covid Origins Questioned Again (CNN/WSJ) A U.S. intelligence report states that several researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology got sick in November 2019, and had to be hospitalized. This is a previously unknown detail about the severity of the researchers’ symptoms that could fuel further debate about the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. A State Department fact sheet released in the waning days of the Trump administration said only that the researchers had fallen ill in the fall of 2019, not that they had been hospitalized. China reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) that the first patient with Covid-like symptoms was recorded in Wuhan on December 8, 2019. Last month, more than a dozen foreign scientists led by the WHO gathered with Chinese counterparts to investigate the origins of the virus. The team is preparing to finalize its report, but a Wall Street Journal investigation has uncovered fresh details about the team’s formation and constraints that reveal how little power it had to conduct a thorough, impartial examination. In April, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told lawmakers that “the intelligence community does not know exactly where, when, or how Covid-19 virus was transmitted initially.” It still doesn’t know what the Wuhan researchers were actually sick with, and continues to have low confidence in its assessments of the virus’s precise origins beyond the fact that it came from China. “At the end of the day, there is still nothing definitive,” said one of the people who has seen the intelligence.

Tokyo’s Olympic hopes (Foreign Policy) The U.S. State Department has advised its citizens not to travel to Japan, as the country faces a fresh COVID-19 outbreak just two months before Tokyo is set to host the Olympics. Foreign spectators were already banned from attending, but the move comes as domestic support for hosting the Olympics is already near rock bottom: A poll released last week found that 83 percent of those surveyed said they did not want Tokyo to host the Games.

How much money does Israel get from the US? (BBC) President Joe Biden is facing questions from some in his Democratic party about the amount of aid the US sends to Israel. Senator Bernie Sanders has said the US must take a “hard look” at how the money is spent. So what does Israel get and what is it used for? In 2020, the US gave $3.8bn (£2.7bn) in aid to Israel—part of a long-term, yearly commitment made under the Obama administration. Almost all of this aid was for military assistance. This support came as part of an agreement signed by former president Barack Obama in 2016 for an overall package of $38bn (26.8bn) in military aid over the decade 2017-2028. Over the years, US aid has helped Israel develop one of the most advanced militaries in the world, with the funds allowing them to purchase sophisticated military equipment from the US. For example, Israel has purchased 50 F-35 combat aircraft, which can be used for missile attacks—27 of the aircraft have so far been delivered, costing around $100m (£70.4m) each. Since World War Two, Israel has been the largest overall recipient of US foreign aid. In 2019, the most recent year to publish fully reported figures, Israel was the second highest recipient of US foreign aid after Afghanistan, according to USAID. The 2020 Democrat party election platform expressed “ironclad support” for Israel, but some on the left of the party are now questioning the US aid commitment. Senator Sanders and other Democrats have moved to try to halt the planned sale of $735m (£518m) worth of precision-guided weapons to Israel.

Mali’s coup leader wrests back control of the government (AP) Mali’s former coup leader Assimi Goita took control of the West African country again Tuesday after firing the president and prime minister of the transitional government, a move France decried as a coup d’etat. While Goita pledged to go ahead with holding new elections in 2022 as previously promised, his display of force casts doubt on whether the vote will go ahead without significant interference by the junta that overthrew the last democratically elected president last August. The move also raised concerns that the new political unrest could further destabilize efforts to control Mali’s long-running Islamic insurgency. The United Nations now spends some $1.2 billion annually on a peacekeeping mission in Mali and France’s military has spent eight years trying to stabilize its former colony amid the ongoing threat.

[moviemavengal]

If you haven’t seen Spyder, and want no spoilers before you see it, watch this spoiler free review of the film I recorded moments after seeing it.

I warned you ….. SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!!  (but not the whole plot)

The first thing you should know is that I am a Mahesh Babu fan.  I’ve seen several of his films, and my favorites are probably Athadu (killer disarmed by love!) and Pokiri.  Unfortunately, my first Mahesh Babu film in the theater was last year’s flop Brahmatsovam.   It’s been a long wait for the next Mahesh film, over a year.  I think he took the lessons from that flop, and hooked up with a quality director.  My friend Kartik even sent me a quote from Mahesh about that flop:

So anticipation has been sky high for this film Spyder.  Expectations, too.  I felt it was a decent film.  Not perfect, but it had some notable sequences that were unique and something fresh I had not seen before.

I walked out of the theater satisfied, and I was surprised that several young men who cared enough to come to the very first 2 p.m. show were disappointed.  Maybe the hype was so high nothing would have been enough.  They said the second half was not a “practical” plot.  I think they wanted a more grounded story, like Pokiri or Athadu.  From the trailer we could see there would be huge boulder rolling down a street crushing cars — and that sequence was certainly in the film.  The last half felt almost like a disaster movie or a superhero film with buildings collapsing and villains wanting to crush people with huge boulders!  So, not realistic, but it didn’t bother me one bit.

Are all those village Telugu dramas with machete fights with one hero fighting 20 men realistic either?

AR Murugadoss set up a tight cat and mouse thriller between Mahesh and our big villain.  Mahesh is some sort of spy analyst.  I got the sense he worked in the equivalent of the Indian FBI.  He’s monitoring phone conversations ostensibly looking for terrorists and the like, but almost like Minority Report he prides himself on preventing crimes before they happen based on something he’s overheard.  He saves a young girl from being robbed and dishonored by a goon who has convinced her he’s going to marry her out of town.

But then a girl he overhears being scared in an empty house is murdered savagely, along with the woman cop he dispatched to check on her.  And that sends Mahesh into a crisis, and then ultimately on a solo quest to find their killer.

Mahesh Babu, Rakul Preet Singh @ Spyder Shooting Spot Images

In the first half, we get a tiny little romance track with the adorable Rakul Preet Singh. He overhears her discussing wanting a “blind date” and I think wanting a friends with benefits situation (something that maybe didn’t translate fully in the subtitles).  He stalks her a bit, and she confronts him on it.  But she eventually agrees if he’s not in love with her it will be okay for them to go out.  There is a hilarious scene where she tries to explain this to Mahesh’s mother — who warns Rakul Mahesh is shy, just like his father.  “It took four years of marriage for my son to be born!”  LOL

There are a few flight of fantasy songs that show their feelings for each other, and a bit of their relationship.  The first song, Boom Boom, I liked much better in the film, than in the teaser snippets we saw.   That’s the first song, and for some reason has all white girl back up dancers!

When Mahesh goes on a hunt for the killer, he uses a viral video to try to find someone who’s seen him.  This film has a lot of cool use of technology, with scenes of Mahesh monitoring real time cell phone calls, searching through CCTV footage and the like.  It was all very clever, and kind of scary to think how much info these agencies can gather.  There’s a speech in the beginning that the analysts in Mahesh’s office are not to monitor calls for personal reasons, but obviously Mahesh breaks that by listening in and researching Rakul!

The back story of the villain was super creepy and really unique.  I’ve never seen anything like it, as an origin for a sociopath serial killer.  While other reviewers may quibble that this took time away from the main story and slowed down the film, I really liked this segment of the movie.  That kid was a good actor — good at being super creepy and evil!!

There are actually two villains.  Won’t spoiler why, but they were both good.  Bharat is one, but the big bad is played by S. J. Surya.  He was mostly excellent playing this sociopath killer.  There was on interrogation scene where he really gets crazy and it was over the top for me, but especially this scene above with the mask.  Whew!  So good at being evil.

At times in the second half, it felt like he was becoming an over sized super villain like in a comic book movie, though.  Maybe that’s what those young men at my screening were complaining about.  That and the rolling boulder of doom.

The first half of the film was really good, but there were some logical misses in the plot of the second half.  Rakul not telling Mahesh something crucial because she was in a snit with him was egregious.  Really?  You’re not going to help catch the murderer because you’re mad at your boyfriend?  And there were times Mahesh went alone into a situation when it would have been more realistic if he’d had back up.

There was one segment where he fooled a bunch of ladies who were watching a soap into helping him find a fugitive.  It went on for a long stretch and was pretty over the top, too.  But I do have to acknowledge to Mr. Murugadoss that I have never seen the like!

The CGI in a couple of crucial action scenes was not seamless, but I found the roller coaster fight scene incredible anyway.  Just the concept of it alone!  We get a snippet in the trailer but it was really something to see.  The ending has a building collapsing as Mahesh tries to save people.  That was another part that felt like this was a disaster movie rather than a grounded thriller.  But, still, the film didn’t end with the cliched fight sequence in an abandoned factory.

Mahesh has a preachy speech at the end about humanity and helping others without expecting rewards.  A bit long, and kind of a weird note to end the film on.

There’s also some plot holes as to how Mahesh is just going rogue in his job.  He doesn’t follow privacy rules AT ALL and gets all his buddies to just give him info for his solo investigation.  He’s working around the police and just ignoring their efforts.  He also kills one guy in front of a huge crowd, and seemingly has no repercussions at work or otherwise  It was definitely a take the law into your own hands kind of movie.  I was disturbed at that cold killing scene.  Mahesh’s character just has his own morality compass.  He’s the hero, so he’s always right.  Definitely not an examination of two sides like Vikram Vedha.

The background score by Harris Jayaraj was incredible.  It kept the tension taught throughout the film.  I have an issue with thrillers that don’t have good enough music to set the mood (Ahem, Malayalam thrillers….),  This score was a standout.

For the most part, AR Murugadoss has given us an exciting thriller with a great villain.  Mahesh just looks so cool in all the action scenes.  He has a couple of great fight segments.  Even the Boom Boom dance number sort of had fight choreography.  I liked Mahesh and Rakul’s chemistry in the songs and their sweet romance, although that isn’t the thrust of the film.  It’s mainly there as some nice comic relief from the darkness in the rest of the film.

Mahesh reacts emotionally to the death of the young girl and police officer in the first part of the film, but other than that does not show the range of emotion that he has in other films.  It wasn’t there in the script for him to do.  The film did have more of a story than a strictly action film like Vivegam, but didn’t pack the emotional punch I usually like in Telugu films.  Still, I left satisfied that I’d had a good rollercoaster ride of my own.

Another unique aspect to the film is that it was filmed in Telugu AND Tamil.  Mahesh is fluent in both languages, so they filmed each scene twice!  I attended the Telugu version (with subtitles, of course.)

  Movie Review #Spyder with some spoilers by @moviemavengal If you haven't seen Spyder, and want no spoilers before you see it, watch this spoiler free review…

[theloftspiervillage-blog]

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