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hannahbarberra162 · 4 months ago

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Under the Microscope (Yandere Sabo x Reader)

18+ MDNI on Ao3

Part 2

Inspired by "A Good Prisoner," by greenflowerpot. They're an incredible writer, I used the story setup but with Sabo. I'm not sure how many parts this will be, but it won't follow the same story path beyond the jail.

Also I don’t know anything about molecules. Or genes. Or anything related to Sciemps. So if it’s wrong, uh... just roll with it.

Yandere Sabo X Reader (no use of Y/N)

~~~

Sabo's the best prisoner you've ever had at your Marine base. He's polite, handsome, and pleasant company. You'll be sad when he gets sent to Impel Down. But Sabo's got other ideas that might not align with your own.

The Marines aren't taking good care of you. So Sabo's going to have to do it himself.

Flame Emperor Sabo was the best prisoner you’d ever guarded. It surprised you because you preferred pirate prisoners to Revolutionary Army prisoners. Pirates were at least straightforward, saying lewd comments to you, leering at you, and mocking you in equal amounts. Their disdain for you as a Marine, particularly a desk bound Marine, was nearly palpable in every interaction.

Revolutionaries, however, seemed to think that you were unaware of the situation of the world and lectured you endlessly about how you were a cog in the machine that would destroy everything and everyone in it. The constant aggrandizing of their own station - while in literal chains! - was so grating you stopped interacting with any of them long ago. Instead you’d study during your guard shift, hoping the prisoner at hand would sleep or leave you alone. You knew the Marines weren’t a benevolent government force, but science as a career really only existed within the context of the World Government. Unless you wanted to work directly for a pirate or Warlord, which was….risky at best. Being a Marine killed two birds with one stone - you got to work in your dream profession and you got to send steady money back to your family. So you shut your mouth, completed basic training and joined the ranks of the Marines.

After basic training, you’d made your way into the research division of the Marines, forgoing active duty. You didn’t see battle or even leave the base, just worked on the research assignments handed down to you from your superiors. Over the past two years, the projects had gotten increasingly complex and you had to spend nearly all your waking hours working or studying. If you could devote all your time to research, you might be able to finish with a little more speed. Unfortunately, the Marines had a rule that all Devil Fruit users had to supervise prisoners at minimum once a week. You assumed they made the rule thinking Devil Fruit users would be able to use their powers to fight, but that wasn’t true for you. You’d tried to get your name off the list of Devil Fruit guards to no avail. Government red tape and regulations meant that for at least 8 hours a week, you’d be watching whoever was in the maximum security jail cell. No one liked guard duty - you’d rather be researching and the other Marines would rather be fighting.

Your base - Bayonette - was strategically located at a narrowing of the Grand Line paths. Ships had to pass near the island unless they wanted to take a much longer route around it. Which meant that most of the Marines at your base were from the fighting corps, and enjoyed engaging the pirates and Revolutionaries in battle. You were one of two scientists at this base, you hadn’t been asked where you wanted to be stationed. You had hoped to get to a science focused base, but you took what came your way. The other Marines were disdainful of your position, thinking you provided no real use to the base as a whole. You’d tried to fit in with them for a few months but gave up as they grew more hostile towards you the more you tried. Sure, every time there was a party someone would secretly try to get into your pants, but for the most part they found you weak and pointless. You avoided them, they ignored or taunted you. You spent nearly all of your time alone and working both to complete your projects and to avoid the others. It was a lonely time for you, even if it was important for your career.

You were so disconnected from the active duty staff that you hadn’t even known a prisoner as notorious as the Flame Emperor was at the base until you walked in for your shift, textbook and notes tucked under your arm and cup of coffee in your hand. He was laying on the wide metal bench that doubled as his bed, hands in seastone cuffs resting behind his head. Upon seeing you, he sat upright, straightened his suit coat, and put his tophat on his head.

He was wearing an interesting ensemble, but you’d seen far worse. He had a full suit complete with frilly shirt, top hat with goggles, and leather gloves. The cell room was usually warm but today it felt downright hot, you wondered why he wasn’t removing some of his layers. Not that it really mattered. He had prominent facial scarring covering his left eye and going further down his face and neck. The eye with the scarring was milky white, while the other was startlingly blue, like the color of a turbulent sea. He had likely been good looking before the scars, but now he was unreasonably attractive for a criminal. You wondered how he got his scars - probably from nefarious activities of some kind. You realized belatedly you were staring at him.

“Hello, pleased to meet you. I’m Sabo,” he said, tipping his hat to you. He was introducing himself like you were on a blind date, not a prisoner and guard.

“Aren’t you the Flame Emperor?” you asked him. Did you get your criminals mixed up again? You’d found out the hard way nothing made them angrier than confusing them for someone else. Not that they could do anything to you from behind bars, but it was annoying to listen to them rant and rave about your mistake.

“That’s my epithet, but you can just call me Sabo.” Your surprise must have registered on your face because he looked at you from his cell and smiled kindly.

“Um, it’s nice to meet you, Sabo.” You sat down opposite his cell on the long bench provided to you and put down your textbook and sheets of notes. The bench was bracketed by thick walls on either side, giving you something to lean against while seated if it was a smooth shift.

“How come you’ve never been my guard before?”

“Oh, I only work one or two shifts a week.” Generally you avoided talking to prisoners, especially about information related to Marine matters, but you couldn’t see how this would hurt. It’s not like he wouldn’t figure it out. He stared at you unblinkingly through the bars, taking stock of you head to foot. You hoped he wouldn’t try anything violent since you couldn’t do anything to stop him if he succeeded.

“Why don’t you have a gun?” Sabo was observant, usually prisoners didn’t notice at all.

“I just don’t,” you said, shrugging.

“But why don’t you have one?” he asked conversationally. Sabo’s ability to pick up your semantic games gave him some standing in your eyes. Usually you could talk your way out of having to answer questions with half truths and lies of omission. You answered him with another shrug. It was better that he didn’t know you had never been assigned one since you were only research staff. You yawned and took a sip of your coffee right after. Plenty of cream and sugar, just the way you liked it. You’d practically been mainlining coffee with this new assignment. It had come to you directly from Admiral Sakazuki himself, so you were under immense pressure to get everything right - and fast.

“You look exhausted. Are you not getting enough rest?” Sabo had come to sit in front of the bars and was continuing to watch you.

“I’m fine, thank you,” you replied coolly. The truth was that you were exhausted and had been for weeks. But when you tried to close your eyes and rest at night all you could think of was your work, how behind you were, and how you’d have to explain yourself to the Fleet Admiral. Being reminded of your sleeplessness and anxiety made your hand holding the coffee start to shake. You frowned to yourself and set down the cup on the bench. This had been happening to you for months now and was only getting worse. You put your hands under your thighs to stop them from shaking. Sabo was watching you, which made you feel self conscious, so you avoided eye contact. The two of you sat in silence for a few minutes. You pulled your hands from under your legs and picked up the textbook.

“What are you reading?” Sabo asked cordially. He was not giving up. Rather, it seemed the less you talked to him, the more he wanted to talk to you. At least he wasn't being rude or crude, you supposed. You flashed him the cover of the textbook.

“Molecular Diagnostics: Nucleic acid amplification,” he said as he recited the title aloud. No one ever cared after you showed them what you read. You cracked it open to where you’d left off and started to concentrate.

“Interesting! So what are you looking for that can’t be detected with fluorescence in situ hybridization?” Your head snapped up - you hadn’t heard anyone talk about FISH since you’d been at the base.

“You know about molecular cytogenetics?” you asked in disbelief. Sabo nodded fervently, bringing his hands under his chin.

“Of course! If I hadn’t become a Revolutionary, I would have become a scientist. I still try and do some experiments on the side, but between fighting the World Government and being a Marine prisoner, I just haven’t had the time lately.” You looked down at your textbook but had a small smile on your face.

“I didn’t know this was a research base,” Sabo continued, arching his brow.

“It isn’t really.” You had to be careful about how much you said, you couldn’t give him any information about what you were working on. But this base wasn’t known for research, that was common knowledge.

“I’m not going to divulge any information,” you uttered, crossing your arms. You’d figured out his angle. Sabo probably thought he could get information out of you by pretending to be interested in what you liked. Though, he had known about FISH, so maybe some of his interest was genuine? Probably not. You’d learned from childhood onward that people only talked to you when they needed something, not for companionship. Even your own family was like that. They loved you of course, but they didn’t really understand you in any meaningful way.

“Hm? I don’t want information from you. Just conversation. You’re the most interesting Marine who’s stepped foot in here,” replied Sabo with wide eyes. You did your best to keep from rolling your eyes. How stupid did he think you were? You’d keep your guard up, there was no way he was telling the truth.

“Well, I do want one piece of information from you,” he continued. “You didn’t tell me your name. What should I call you?” He’d hear it at guard change anyway, might as well share something in the hopes it satisfied some of his curiosity.

“People around here call me Mag.” You looked back down at your textbook to hopefully end the conversation.

“Mag? That’s an unusual name. Is it short for anything?” Sabo asked, your standoffish body language not affecting his desire for conversation. He was now as close to you as he could get within his cell.

“It’s just a nickname.” It hadn’t been one you liked or wanted, but it had stuck with you since basic training.

“How did you get it?”

“Listen, I don’t … I really need to study, I’m sorry.” You cringed as you realized you had apologized to your own prisoner. It was a hard habit to break. Sabo raised his hands in front of his face apologetically and smiled at you again. You were burning up in the room - you untied your neckerchief and unbuttoned your jacket. It wasn’t inappropriate, just not in code. But it was so hot you thought you’d pass out if you didn’t do something.

“Please forgive me. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mag.” Sabo didn’t talk to you for the next few hours, but he did watch you the entire time. Every time you raised your eyes from your book to check on him, he was looking at you with interest. When you went to write notes, you’d feel his blue and white eyes on you. He wasn’t even embarrassed about being caught, he just smiled at you and continued to stare like it was the most normal thing in the world. You weren’t even sure he was blinking, just observing you like you were under a microscope. After a while, you couldn’t take it anymore.

“Why are you staring at me?” you snapped your textbook shut angrily, making a loud cracking noise. It was hard for you to concentrate knowing he was surveying you constantly.

“How often do your hands shake?” Sabo asked, tilting his head in curiosity. You were taken aback by his non-sequitur.

“I don’t keep track.” You did actually, and the frequency was increasing.

“It gets worse when you stop reading and start writing notes. What’s making you so nervous? It can’t be the molecules.” You pressed your lips into a thin line. You hadn’t realized it was so noticeable.

“I don’t mean to upset you. I’m just worried,” he said with a frown. You barked out an incredulous laugh.

“Worried? About me? I appreciate your concern but I think you should worry about yourself,” you said in an unamused tone. Just who did he think he was? Your father? Sabo’s frown deepened. It was finally time for shift change and you could leave this strange prisoner and his penetrating gaze. By the time you would have another shift, he might even be sent to Impel Down and wouldn’t have to think about him again. You gathered your things and walked towards the door, needing to wait for someone to come before you could leave. Unfortunately you saw your least favorite person was coming in after you, Petty Officer Koji. And petty was certainly a good term for him. Ever since you spurned his advances, he’d been making your life hell whenever he could. He opened the door suddenly with a bang, making you jump.

“Aw Mag, didn’t mean to scare you. Doors can be so very frightening,” he said sarcastically, bumping you hard with his shoulder as he came into the room. You nearly fell backwards with the force of his knock, instead stumbling into the wall behind you. He liked to pick you for a lot of reasons, but especially because of your lack of combat skills. You didn’t reply. He took his time looking you up and down, which made your skin crawl.

“Why are you out of uniform?” he asked in an obnoxious tone. You looked down and realized you forgot to rebutton your shirt and tie your neckerchief. Normally, you’d just get a verbal order to get back to code, especially since this room was known for being too warm. But you had a feeling Koji was going to make this a problem.

“I apologize, Petty Officer Koji. It was hot in the –”

“I didn’t ask for your excuse, Ensign. As punishment, you’ll take the rest of my guard shifts for the next two weeks starting tomorrow. Understood?” Ugh, he found a way to get out of his shifts on guard duty. No one liked them - you’d rather be researching and the other Marines would rather be fighting. You hoped this wouldn’t be a recurring theme.

“Understood, sir,” you gritted out. Now you’d have even less time. Your hands shook as you had them at your sides. You flicked your eyes to Sabo, who was watching your dressing down by Koji. But this time he wasn’t smiling or watching with enjoyment, he looked deathly serious. Gone was the Sabo you’d met, cheerful and chatty. Sabo was still staring, this time at Koji, and you felt like you were watching a panther stalking its prey. Even though Sabo was in chains you felt like you were trapped with him, not the other way around. This was the Flame Emperor, you thought, and the sudden change in his demeanor sent a shiver down your spine.

“Dismissed,” Koji barked at you, cracking his knuckles. You left quickly, fixing your uniform as you walked. Koji stalked towards the cell. Sabo adjusted his leather gloves.

~~~

Koji had quite a few shifts on guard duty that week, no wonder he wanted to dump them on you. Your anxiety increased at an exponential rate when you saw how many more shifts you had over the course of the next two weeks and how much of your research time was being eaten up by just sitting. There wasn’t anything you could do about it - he was your superior officer and had given you an order. Maybe you could get reading done, or maybe Sabo would be transferred soon. Either one would help you out.

The next day you hurried into the cell room a few minutes late and relieved your fellow Ensign. You had been working through some genetic sequencing, thinking you might have made a breakthrough, and you lost track of the time. You grabbed whatever you’d had at the top of your “to read” pile and made a run for the detention center. You threw it down on the bench, sat down and took a deep breath. You didn’t even have time to grab a coffee, which would be a drag for the next few hours. You looked into the cell and saw Sabo already sitting in front of the bars, waving and smiling.

“Good morning, Mag!” Sabo said cheerfully. You weren’t sure what he could be so cheerful about, he had a black eye and a split lip. He may have had more damage but his now ripped clothes covered most of his body. You furrowed your brow slightly and walked up to the cell bars, mouth dipping into a frown. Marines weren’t supposed to rough up prisoners who had already been processed and interrogated. Sure, it happened, but it wasn’t supposed to. You had a good guess who did it - but nothing would come of it even if you reported it. It would be Sabo’s word against a Marine’s and wouldn’t even make it to an official report.

“Are you OK?” you asked in a low voice, grabbing the bars and peering closer at him.

“Hm? What? Why?” Sabo asked in confusion. “Oh, the bruises? It’s nothing.” He shrugged and you noticed something was off about his shoulder. You’d seen it before with your sister.

“Is your shoulder dislocated?” It was impressive he wasn’t screaming in pain. He didn’t even seem to care.

“Oh, yes, I suppose. I tried popping it back in but the cuffs keep my hands at such an angle that I can’t.” He shrugged again.

You felt angry that he’d been hurt while unable to fight back. When you’d joined the Marines, you were naive and thought that you’d be helping people alongside other like minded individuals. Instead you’d found that people were the same everywhere - small minded and working to meet their own ends, not the greater good. Sabo had been pleasant enough to speak to and was obviously intelligent. You hadn’t hated the shift which was more than you could say about most prisoners you’d watched. You stood at the bars for a moment and made a choice.

“I’m sorry that happened. I’m gonna pop your shoulder back in.” You turned to walk over to the opposite wall where the keys to the cell hung. Your hands were shaking slightly.

“Why?” Sabo said in disbelief. You grabbed the keys and turned around, perplexed.

“It will feel better? I mean, prisoners shouldn’t be treated like this,” you said, gesturing vaguely to him.

“Even violent prisoners like me?” Sabo questioned.

“Yes, even violent prisoners like you.” You were second guessing yourself now that he had mentioned his violent nature. You’d looked up his bounty out of curiosity - it was over 600 million Beri. You didn’t get a bounty that high by picking endangered flowers.

“That's a very liberal opinion, I’m not sure it fits with the general attitude of the Marines.” You hummed and got closer to the cell bars.

“Do you promise not to hurt me if I come in? I don’t have a gun but I’m a devil fruit user so don’t mess with me.” You felt foolish even saying the words. You knew this was a bad idea but you couldn’t stand the thought of his shoulder being out of place and no way to fix it. You remembered from your sister often crying from the pain and couldn't bear the thought of Sabo feeling the same. He didn’t need to know your devil fruit wouldn’t help you in a fight against him. Sabo nodded slowly and with conviction.

“I would never hurt you,” he said huskily. Strangely, you believed him. You took a deep breath, held it for five seconds, and exhaled.

“Ok, I’m coming in.” You unlocked the door and quickly entered. You wanted this over with as soon as possible and to put distance between you and the Flame Emperor once more. Sabo watched you with curiosity but didn’t get up or move in any way. Your hands were shaking so much you laced your fingers together.

You walked towards him slowly, like you would towards a wild animal. You knelt by his sitting form and took stock of his injuries. He had obviously been beaten, you could now see bruises poking out from underneath his shirt. He was well muscled, if a little thin. They probably weren’t feeding him as much as he needed. You looked into his now black eye, and saw amusement in his gaze, like this was a silly game to him.

“I’m going to touch your shoulder now, ok? I want to feel the dislocation before I move it.” you said before you made any movement towards him. Sabo nodded silently and continued watching. You gently put your hands on his shoulder and carefully prodded different areas to figure out what needed to be done. His suit hid his muscled frame well, you could feel his corded muscles flex under your light touch. He was much warmer than you thought he’d be, but maybe it was just due to the heat in the room. Sabo didn’t move at all, didn’t make any indication he was in pain, just let you work. Once you’d figured out the angle, you were ready to manipulate.

“I’m going to pop it back in now. Try not to move,” you told him. You stood on your knees so you were angled perpendicular to his body and braced your hands on either side of his shoulder.

“3…2…” where you would have said one you moved his shoulder back into its socket. Sabo made no sounds or movement, but rolled it a little forwards and backwards afterwards.

“Is it back in? Does it feel better?” You hoped you did it right the first time, you hadn’t done it in a while. You were still on your knees near him in case you needed to do it again.

“It feels wonderful, thank you so much Mag.” Sabo said gratefully, turning to face you. He was only a foot or so away, so near you could count his eyelashes. It was at this moment you realized how close he was to you, how easily he could overpower you, and how stupid you had been to come into his cell. You scrambled up and left the cell as quickly as you could, locking him back within it. Hanging the key again, you released a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. You sat back down on your bench, mentally berating yourself for being so foolish.

“How did you do that so gently? When my brother used to do it for me it always felt worse than when it got dislocated.” Sabo was still rolling his shoulder, trying to stretch it out.

“Oh, ah, one of my sisters has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome so I’ve been putting joints back in sockets for years. It can be tricky but it’s a skill like any other.” You picked up your work to start to read.

“I appreciate your kindness, Mag. I assure you it won’t be forgotten.” Sabo spoke with determination and sincerity. You didn’t really know how to take his declaration - it wasn’t that big of a deal.

“Well, how about this? If Revolutionaries attack the base in the future, promise to kill me last,” you said with a wry smile. You were feeling better about Sabo. He had the chance to injure you - or even kill you - and escape but instead he sat with docility and allowed you to touch him. Maybe you could actually talk to him about your interests, he’d seemed interested yesterday.

“Ah! You’ve finally smiled at me! And all it took was one dislocated shoulder. A small price to pay,” Sabo beamed at you, showcasing a dimple in his cheek. You rolled your eyes but felt your face heating a little. It really wasn’t fair how good looking he was. When he smiled he looked like an angel come to earth, sweet and kind.

“Yeah yeah. Now, I have to get back to work.” You waved him off and cracked open your book. You’d started it before, but hadn’t gotten far. Sabo stood up and leaned against the bars of his cell.

“So what gene are you looking for?” Sabo asked. You looked up with a start. You hadn’t said anything to him about your work.

“How do you know that’s what I’m doing?” you said in a rush.

“Well, first of all you just confirmed it. You’re not a good liar.” He stated while pointing at you. You could kick yourself for your immediate response. Sabo wasn’t making fun of you, just stating facts. He was right, you couldn’t lie at all. Your hands started to shake again.

“Yesterday you were reading about sensitive molecular diagnostics and today you’re reading about non linear sequence inspection. So it stands to reason that you’re looking for some gene. Which one?” You were shocked he had put that all together - you didn’t think there was anyone within 1,000 kilometers who could do the same. You had been underestimating his intelligence.

“Um, I can’t tell you. It’s part of my research.”

“Fair enough,” Sabo said with a sigh. You felt better that he was dropping the conversation. Not that you could tell him anyway, but it would be annoying to have to ignore him if he persisted. Sabo was quiet for a moment before asking another question.

“Will you share with me your devil fruit power then?” Oh, right. You’d revealed you were a devil fruit user. How many dumb mistakes can you make in one day? It wasn’t classified or anything, you just preferred not to talk about it. Maybe it would take his mind off your research. You shut the book and put it aside.

“I ate the Mag-Mag fruit. It allows me to magnify things.” You waited for him to tell you that it was useless. At least, that was the opinion of everyone on the base.

“Is that why they call you Mag? How unoriginal,” he scoffed, adjusting his leather gloves. You laughed lightly.

“Yeah, I don’t care for the name either. But it’s been with me for a few years now, so I think I’m stuck with it.”

“I can call you something else if you’d like,” Sabo supplied silkily.

“Um, like what?” you said. You were fairly sure he was flirting with you.

“How about darling?” he suggested in a throaty tone, watching your face.

“I don’t think - I’m not -” You looked away as your face heated, you didn’t like the turn this conversation was taking.

“I meant nothing by it, I apologize,” he said smiling at you again. You didn’t answer, just looked out the window. You knew you weren’t the most attractive person in the world, he didn’t need to remind you. You had a lot of self confidence around your intelligence and general self worth but almost none around your physical body. People only wanted you when there were no other options or when drunk. No one had ever expressed interest in you romantically and you couldn’t imagine this incredible looking man would want you either. He was out of your league, criminal or not, and both of you knew it. He was just bored and playing with you for fun.

In a quiet voice, you chided, “that’s not nice. Don’t say things you don’t mean.” Sabo looked at you with an indecipherable look on his face. He adjusted his leather gloves once again as you avoided looking at him.

“What can you do with your fruit? I imagine it’s a powerful tool.” You glanced at him and sighed. It wasn’t fair for you to take out your frustration on him. He hadn’t really said anything terrible. You had heard much worse in this room before and hadn’t taken offense before. You just had to remind yourself that Sabo wasn’t your friend, wasn’t your peer, wasn’t anything but a prisoner who’d be taken to Impel Down soon.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lash out at you. I’ve been stressed lately, but that’s no excuse. It’s easier if I show you how it works rather than tell you. Look out the window, you see those buildings out there? On the far side of the island? Watch.”

You made a rectangle with your index fingers and thumbs and brought them apart, framing the buildings in the middle. You took your index and thumb and put them on the buildings and spread your fingers apart. The rectangle that you’d framed earlier now contained a zoomed in image of the buildings, which could now be identified as houses. You repeated the gesture, bringing your index finger and thumb apart again and now you were zoomed in enough to see the curtains hanging in the window of the farthest house.

“I can magnify anything I frame with my fingers. It can be useful for research.” You’d eaten the fruit when you were a young teen and it had shaped the rest of your life, sharpening your interest in science and leading you to your current career.

“That is an incredible power! What is the maximum magnification you can achieve? How long can you hold it?” Sabo was enthusiastic, watching the houses intently. It was refreshing to have someone interested in your power.

“I have gotten to the sub-atomic level before, but that’s not usually necessary. The higher the magnification, the more power it takes for me to hold it. Something like this,” you said, gesturing to the houses, “I could easily hold for hours. But looking at molecules like DNA takes a lot out of me, especially if I have to zoom in and out frequently.” Sabo nodded his head fervently.

“I see. Thus leading to some of your exhaustion.” You didn't think he'd bring that up again. You didn’t answer, just erased the magnification rectangle by flicking your hand through it.

“You’ll join me in the Revolutionary Army,” Sabo declared happily, clapping his hands together. You turned to face him and laughed. Was Sabo funny?

“Are you trying to recruit me? From your jail cell?” You chuckled again.

“No, no. Of course not. I’m not recruiting you, I’m telling you. You’ll be joining me.” Sabo said definitively, smiling ear to ear. You smiled back and exhaled sharply through your nose. What a silly notion.

“Naturally,” you replied, “let me know when you get out of Impel Down, and we can go together.” As if any of that would ever happen. You looked at the clock - your shift was over. It had gone faster than you thought it would, you’d had an interesting time with Sabo. As your colleague relieved you, you realized you were looking forward to your next shift.

#revolutionary sabo #sabo x reader #sabo x you #yandere sabo #op x y/n #marines one piece #yandere one piece #tw yandere

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mostlysignssomeportents · 7 months ago

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The disenshittified internet starts with loyal "user agents"

I'm in TARTU, ESTONIA! Overcoming the Enshittocene (TOMORROW, May 8, 6PM, Prima Vista Literary Festival keynote, University of Tartu Library, Struwe 1). AI, copyright and creative workers' labor rights (May 10, 8AM: Science Fiction Research Association talk, Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures building, Lossi 3, lobby). A talk for hackers on seizing the means of computation (May 10, 3PM, University of Tartu Delta Centre, Narva 18, room 1037).

There's one overwhelmingly common mistake that people make about enshittification: assuming that the contagion is the result of the Great Forces of History, or that it is the inevitable end-point of any kind of for-profit online world.

In other words, they class enshittification as an ideological phenomenon, rather than as a material phenomenon. Corporate leaders have always felt the impulse to enshittify their offerings, shifting value from end users, business customers and their own workers to their shareholders. The decades of largely enshittification-free online services were not the product of corporate leaders with better ideas or purer hearts. Those years were the result of constraints on the mediocre sociopaths who would trade our wellbeing and happiness for their own, constraints that forced them to act better than they do today, even if the were not any better:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/24/naming-names/#prabhakar-raghavan

Corporate leaders' moments of good leadership didn't come from morals, they came from fear. Fear that a competitor would take away a disgruntled customer or worker. Fear that a regulator would punish the company so severely that all gains from cheating would be wiped out. Fear that a rival technology – alternative clients, tracker blockers, third-party mods and plugins – would emerge that permanently severed the company's relationship with their customers. Fears that key workers in their impossible-to-replace workforce would leave for a job somewhere else rather than participate in the enshittification of the services they worked so hard to build:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/22/kargo-kult-kaptialism/#dont-buy-it

When those constraints melted away – thanks to decades of official tolerance for monopolies, which led to regulatory capture and victory over the tech workforce – the same mediocre sociopaths found themselves able to pursue their most enshittificatory impulses without fear.

The effects of this are all around us. In This Is Your Phone On Feminism, the great Maria Farrell describes how audiences at her lectures profess both love for their smartphones and mistrust for them. Farrell says, "We love our phones, but we do not trust them. And love without trust is the definition of an abusive relationship":

https://conversationalist.org/2019/09/13/feminism-explains-our-toxic-relationships-with-our-smartphones/

I (re)discovered this Farrell quote in a paper by Robin Berjon, who recently co-authored a magnificent paper with Farrell entitled "We Need to Rewild the Internet":

https://www.noemamag.com/we-need-to-rewild-the-internet/

The new Berjon paper is narrower in scope, but still packed with material examples of the way the internet goes wrong and how it can be put right. It's called "The Fiduciary Duties of User Agents":

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3827421

In "Fiduciary Duties," Berjon focuses on the technical term "user agent," which is how web browsers are described in formal standards documents. This notion of a "user agent" is a holdover from a more civilized age, when technologists tried to figure out how to build a new digital space where technology served users.

A web browser that's a "user agent" is a comforting thought. An agent's job is to serve you and your interests. When you tell it to fetch a web-page, your agent should figure out how to get that page, make sense of the code that's embedded in, and render the page in a way that represents its best guess of how you'd like the page seen.

For example, the user agent might judge that you'd like it to block ads. More than half of all web users have installed ad-blockers, constituting the largest consumer boycott in human history:

https://doc.searls.com/2023/11/11/how-is-the-worlds-biggest-boycott-doing/

Your user agent might judge that the colors on the page are outside your visual range. Maybe you're colorblind, in which case, the user agent could shift the gamut of the colors away from the colors chosen by the page's creator and into a set that suits you better:

https://dankaminsky.com/dankam/

Or maybe you (like me) have a low-vision disability that makes low-contrast type difficult to impossible to read, and maybe the page's creator is a thoughtless dolt who's chosen light grey-on-white type, or maybe they've fallen prey to the absurd urban legend that not-quite-black type is somehow more legible than actual black type:

https://uxplanet.org/basicdesign-never-use-pure-black-in-typography-36138a3327a6

The user agent is loyal to you. Even when you want something the page's creator didn't consider – even when you want something the page's creator violently objects to – your user agent acts on your behalf and delivers your desires, as best as it can.

Now – as Berjon points out – you might not know exactly what you want. Like, you know that you want the privacy guarantees of TLS (the difference between "http" and "https") but not really understand the internal cryptographic mysteries involved. Your user agent might detect evidence of shenanigans indicating that your session isn't secure, and choose not to show you the web-page you requested.

This is only superficially paradoxical. Yes, you asked your browser for a web-page. Yes, the browser defied your request and declined to show you that page. But you also asked your browser to protect you from security defects, and your browser made a judgment call and decided that security trumped delivery of the page. No paradox needed.

But of course, the person who designed your user agent/browser can't anticipate all the ways this contradiction might arise. Like, maybe you're trying to access your own website, and you know that the security problem the browser has detected is the result of your own forgetful failure to renew your site's cryptographic certificate. At that point, you can tell your browser, "Thanks for having my back, pal, but actually this time it's fine. Stand down and show me that webpage."

That's your user agent serving you, too.

User agents can be well-designed or they can be poorly made. The fact that a user agent is designed to act in accord with your desires doesn't mean that it always will. A software agent, like a human agent, is not infallible.

However – and this is the key – if a user agent thwarts your desire due to a fault, that is fundamentally different from a user agent that thwarts your desires because it is designed to serve the interests of someone else, even when that is detrimental to your own interests.

A "faithless" user agent is utterly different from a "clumsy" user agent, and faithless user agents have become the norm. Indeed, as crude early internet clients progressed in sophistication, they grew increasingly treacherous. Most non-browser tools are designed for treachery.

A smart speaker or voice assistant routes all your requests through its manufacturer's servers and uses this to build a nonconsensual surveillance dossier on you. Smart speakers and voice assistants even secretly record your speech and route it to the manufacturer's subcontractors, whether or not you're explicitly interacting with them:

https://www.sciencealert.com/creepy-new-amazon-patent-would-mean-alexa-records-everything-you-say-from-now-on

By design, apps and in-app browsers seek to thwart your preferences regarding surveillance and tracking. An app will even try to figure out if you're using a VPN to obscure your location from its maker, and snitch you out with its guess about your true location.

Mobile phones assign persistent tracking IDs to their owners and transmit them without permission (to its credit, Apple recently switch to an opt-in system for transmitting these IDs) (but to its detriment, Apple offers no opt-out from its own tracking, and actively lies about the very existence of this tracking):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

An Android device running Chrome and sitting inert, with no user interaction, transmits location data to Google every five minutes. This is the "resting heartbeat" of surveillance for an Android device. Ask that device to do any work for you and its pulse quickens, until it is emitting a nearly continuous stream of information about your activities to Google:

https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2018/08/21/google-data-collection-research/

These faithless user agents both reflect and enable enshittification. The locked-down nature of the hardware and operating systems for Android and Ios devices means that manufacturers – and their business partners – have an arsenal of legal weapons they can use to block anyone who gives you a tool to modify the device's behavior. These weapons are generically referred to as "IP rights" which are, broadly speaking, the right to control the conduct of a company's critics, customers and competitors:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

A canny tech company can design their products so that any modification that puts the user's interests above its shareholders is illegal, a violation of its copyright, patent, trademark, trade secrets, contracts, terms of service, nondisclosure, noncompete, most favored nation, or anticircumvention rights. Wrap your product in the right mix of IP, and its faithless betrayals acquire the force of law.

This is – in Jay Freeman's memorable phrase – "felony contempt of business model." While more than half of all web users have installed an ad-blocker, thus overriding the manufacturer's defaults to make their browser a more loyal agent, no app users have modified their apps with ad-blockers.

The first step of making such a blocker, reverse-engineering the app, creates criminal liability under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $500,000 fine. An app is just a web-page skinned in sufficient IP to make it a felony to add an ad-blocker to it (no wonder every company wants to coerce you into using its app, rather than its website).

If you know that increasing the invasiveness of the ads on your web-page could trigger mass installations of ad-blockers by your users, it becomes irrational and self-defeating to ramp up your ads' invasiveness. The possibility of interoperability acts as a constraint on tech bosses' impulse to enshittify their products.

The shift to platforms dominated by treacherous user agents – apps, mobile ecosystems, walled gardens – weakens or removes that constraint. As your ability to discipline your agent so that it serves you wanes, the temptation to turn your user agent against you grows, and enshittification follows.

This has been tacitly understood by technologists since the web's earliest days and has been reaffirmed even as enshittification increased. Berjon quotes extensively from "The Internet Is For End-Users," AKA Internet Architecture Board RFC 8890:

Defining the user agent role in standards also creates a virtuous cycle; it allows multiple implementations, allowing end users to switch between them with relatively low costs (…). This creates an incentive for implementers to consider the users' needs carefully, which are often reflected into the defining standards. The resulting ecosystem has many remaining problems, but a distinguished user agent role provides an opportunity to improve it.

And the W3C's Technical Architecture Group echoes these sentiments in "Web Platform Design Principles," which articulates a "Priority of Constituencies" that is supposed to be central to the W3C's mission:

User needs come before the needs of web page authors, which come before the needs of user agent implementors, which come before the needs of specification writers, which come before theoretical purity.

https://w3ctag.github.io/design-principles/

But the W3C's commitment to faithful agents is contingent on its own members' commitment to these principles. In 2017, the W3C finalized "EME," a standard for blocking mods that interact with streaming videos. Nominally aimed at preventing copyright infringement, EME also prevents users from choosing to add accessibility add-ons that beyond the ones the streaming service permits. These services may support closed captioning and additional narration of visual elements, but they block tools that adapt video for color-blind users or prevent strobe effects that trigger seizures in users with photosensitive epilepsy.

The fight over EME was the most contentious struggle in the W3C's history, in which the organization's leadership had to decide whether to honor the "priority of constituencies" and make a standard that allowed users to override manufacturers, or whether to facilitate the creation of faithless agents specifically designed to thwart users' desires on behalf of manufacturers:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/09/open-letter-w3c-director-ceo-team-and-membership

This fight was settled in favor of a handful of extremely large and powerful companies, over the objections of a broad collection of smaller firms, nonprofits representing users, academics and other parties agitating for a web built on faithful agents. This coincided with the W3C's operating budget becoming entirely dependent on the very large sums its largest corporate members paid.

W3C membership is on a sliding scale, based on a member's size. Nominally, the W3C is a one-member, one-vote organization, but when a highly concentrated collection of very high-value members flex their muscles, W3C leadership seemingly perceived an existential risk to the organization, and opted to sacrifice the faithfulness of user agents in service to the anti-user priorities of its largest members.

For W3C's largest corporate members, the fight was absolutely worth it. The W3C's EME standard transformed the web, making it impossible to ship a fully featured web-browser without securing permission – and a paid license – from one of the cartel of companies that dominate the internet. In effect, Big Tech used the W3C to secure the right to decide who would compete with them in future, and how:

https://blog.samuelmaddock.com/posts/the-end-of-indie-web-browsers/

Enshittification arises when the everyday mediocre sociopaths who run tech companies are freed from the constraints that act against them. When the web – and its browsers – were a big, contented, diverse, competitive space, it was harder for tech companies to collude to capture standards bodies like the W3C to secure even more dominance. As the web turned into Tom Eastman's "five giant websites filled with screenshots of text from the other four," that kind of collusion became much easier:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/18/cursed-are-the-sausagemakers/#how-the-parties-get-to-yes

In arguing for faithful agents, Berjon associates himself with the group of scholars, regulators and activists who call for user agents to serve as "information fiduciaries." Mostly, information fiduciaries come up in the context of user privacy, with the idea that entities that hold a user's data would have the obligation to put the user's interests ahead of their own. Think of a lawyer's fiduciary duty in respect of their clients, to give advice that reflects the client's best interests, even when that conflicts with the lawyer's own self-interest. For example, a lawyer who believes that settling a case is the best course of action for a client is required to tell them so, even if keeping the case going would generate more billings for the lawyer and their firm.

For a user agent to be faithful, it must be your fiduciary. It must put your interests ahead of the interests of the entity that made it or operates it. Browsers, email clients, and other internet software that served as a fiduciary would do things like automatically blocking tracking (which most email clients don't do, especially webmail clients made by companies like Google, who also sell advertising and tracking).

Berjon contemplates a legally mandated fiduciary duty, citing Lindsey Barrett's "Confiding in Con Men":

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3354129

He describes a fiduciary duty as a remedy for the enforcement failures of EU's GDPR, a solidly written, and dismally enforced, privacy law. A legally backstopped duty for agents to be fiduciaries would also help us distinguish good and bad forms of "innovation" – innovation in ways of thwarting a user's will are always bad.

Now, the tech giants insist that they are already fiduciaries, and that when they thwart a user's request, that's more like blocking access to a page where the encryption has been compromised than like HAL9000's "I can't let you do that, Dave." For example, when Louis Barclay created "Unfollow Everything," he (and his enthusiastic users) found that automating the process of unfollowing every account on Facebook made their use of the service significantly better:

https://slate.com/technology/2021/10/facebook-unfollow-everything-cease-desist.html

When Facebook shut the service down with blood-curdling legal threats, they insisted that they were simply protecting users from themselves. Sure, this browser automation tool – which just automatically clicked links on Facebook's own settings pages – seemed to do what the users wanted. But what if the user interface changed? What if so many users added this feature to Facebook without Facebook's permission that they overwhelmed Facebook's (presumably tiny and fragile) servers and crashed the system?

These arguments have lately resurfaced with Ethan Zuckerman and Knight First Amendment Institute's lawsuit to clarify that "Unfollow Everything 2.0" is legal and doesn't violate any of those "felony contempt of business model" laws:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/02/kaiju-v-kaiju/

Sure, Zuckerman seems like a good guy, but what if he makes a mistake and his automation tool does something you don't want? You, the Facebook user, are also a nice guy, but let's face it, you're also a naive dolt and you can't be trusted to make decisions for yourself. Those decisions can only be made by Facebook, whom we can rely upon to exercise its authority wisely.

Other versions of this argument surfaced in the debate over the EU's decision to mandate interoperability for end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging through the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which would let you switch from, say, Whatsapp to Signal and still send messages to your Whatsapp contacts.

There are some good arguments that this could go horribly awry. If it is rushed, or internally sabotaged by the EU's state security services who loathe the privacy that comes from encrypted messaging, it could expose billions of people to serious risks.

But that's not the only argument that DMA opponents made: they also argued that even if interoperable messaging worked perfectly and had no security breaches, it would still be bad for users, because this would make it impossible for tech giants like Meta, Google and Apple to spy on message traffic (if not its content) and identify likely coordinated harassment campaigns. This is literally the identical argument the NSA made in support of its "metadata" mass-surveillance program: "Reading your messages might violate your privacy, but watching your messages doesn't."

This is obvious nonsense, so its proponents need an equally obviously intellectually dishonest way to defend it. When called on the absurdity of "protecting" users by spying on them against their will, they simply shake their heads and say, "You just can't understand the burdens of running a service with hundreds of millions or billions of users, and if I even tried to explain these issues to you, I would divulge secrets that I'm legally and ethically bound to keep. And even if I could tell you, you wouldn't understand, because anyone who doesn't work for a Big Tech company is a naive dolt who can't be trusted to understand how the world works (much like our users)."

Not coincidentally, this is also literally the same argument the NSA makes in support of mass surveillance, and there's a very useful name for it: scalesplaining.

Now, it's totally true that every one of us is capable of lapses in judgment that put us, and the people connected to us, at risk (my own parents gave their genome to the pseudoscience genetic surveillance company 23andme, which means they have my genome, too). A true information fiduciary shouldn't automatically deliver everything the user asks for. When the agent perceives that the user is about to put themselves in harm's way, it should throw up a roadblock and explain the risks to the user.

But the system should also let the user override it.

This is a contentious statement in information security circles. Users can be "socially engineered" (tricked), and even the most sophisticated users are vulnerable to this:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/#swiss-cheese-security

The only way to be certain a user won't be tricked into taking a course of action is to forbid that course of action under any circumstances. If there is any means by which a user can flip the "are you very sure?" circuit-breaker back on, then the user can be tricked into using that means.

This is absolutely true. As you read these words, all over the world, vulnerable people are being tricked into speaking the very specific set of directives that cause a suspicious bank-teller to authorize a transfer or cash withdrawal that will result in their life's savings being stolen by a scammer:

https://www.thecut.com/article/amazon-scam-call-ftc-arrest-warrants.html

We keep making it harder for bank customers to make large transfers, but so long as it is possible to make such a transfer, the scammers have the means, motive and opportunity to discover how the process works, and they will go on to trick their victims into invoking that process.

Beyond a certain point, making it harder for bank depositors to harm themselves creates a world in which people who aren't being scammed find it nearly impossible to draw out a lot of cash for an emergency and where scam artists know exactly how to manage the trick. After all, non-scammers only rarely experience emergencies and thus have no opportunity to become practiced in navigating all the anti-fraud checks, while the fraudster gets to run through them several times per day, until they know them even better than the bank staff do.

This is broadly true of any system intended to control users at scale – beyond a certain point, additional security measures are trivially surmounted hurdles for dedicated bad actors and as nearly insurmountable hurdles for their victims:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/07/como-is-infosec/

At this point, we've had a couple of decades' worth of experience with technological "walled gardens" in which corporate executives get to override their users' decisions about how the system should work, even when that means reaching into the users' own computer and compelling it to thwart the user's desire. The record is inarguable: while companies often use those walls to lock bad guys out of the system, they also use the walls to lock their users in, so that they'll be easy pickings for the tech company that owns the system:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/05/battery-vampire/#drained

This is neatly predicted by enshittification's theory of constraints: when a company can override your choices, it will be irresistibly tempted to do so for its own benefit, and to your detriment.

What's more, the mere possibility that you can override the way the system works acts as a disciplining force on corporate executives, forcing them to reckon with your priorities even when these are counter to their shareholders' interests. If Facebook is genuinely worried that an "Unfollow Everything" script will break its servers, it can solve that by giving users an unfollow everything button of its own design. But so long as Facebook can sue anyone who makes an "Unfollow Everything" tool, they have no reason to give their users such a button, because it would give them more control over their Facebook experience, including the controls needed to use Facebook less.

It's been more than 20 years since Seth Schoen and I got a demo of Microsoft's first "trusted computing" system, with its "remote attestations," which would let remote servers demand and receive accurate information about what kind of computer you were using and what software was running on it.

This could be beneficial to the user – you could send a "remote attestation" to a third party you trusted and ask, "Hey, do you think my computer is infected with malicious software?" Since the trusted computing system produced its report on your computer using a sealed, separate processor that the user couldn't directly interact with, any malicious code you were infected with would not be able to forge this attestation.

But this remote attestation feature could also be used to allow Microsoft to block you from opening a Word document with Libreoffice, Apple Pages, or Google Docs, or it could be used to allow a website to refuse to send you pages if you were running an ad-blocker. In other words, it could transform your information fiduciary into a faithless agent.

Seth proposed an answer to this: "owner override," a hardware switch that would allow you to force your computer to lie on your behalf, when that was beneficial to you, for example, by insisting that you were using Microsoft Word to open a document when you were really using Apple Pages:

https://web.archive.org/web/20021004125515/http://vitanuova.loyalty.org/2002-07-05.html

Seth wasn't naive. He knew that such a system could be exploited by scammers and used to harm users. But Seth calculated – correctly! – that the risks of having a key to let yourself out of the walled garden were less than being stuck in a walled garden where some corporate executive got to decide whether and when you could leave.

Tech executives never stopped questing after a way to turn your user agent from a fiduciary into a traitor. Last year, Google toyed with the idea of adding remote attestation to web browsers, which would let services refuse to interact with you if they thought you were using an ad blocker:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-bai-bai

The reasoning for this was incredible: by adding remote attestation to browsers, they'd be creating "feature parity" with apps – that is, they'd be making it as practical for your browser to betray you as it is for your apps to do so (note that this is the same justification that the W3C gave for creating EME, the treacherous user agent in your browser – "streaming services won't allow you to access movies with your browser unless your browser is as enshittifiable and authoritarian as an app").

Technologists who work for giant tech companies can come up with endless scalesplaining explanations for why their bosses, and not you, should decide how your computer works. They're wrong. Your computer should do what you tell it to do:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/08/your-computer-should-say-what-you-tell-it-say-1

These people can kid themselves that they're only taking away your power and handing it to their boss because they have your best interests at heart. As Upton Sinclair told us, it's impossible to get someone to understand something when their paycheck depends on them not understanding it.

The only way to get a tech boss to consistently treat you well is to ensure that if they stop, you can quit. Anything less is a one-way ticket to enshittification.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/07/treacherous-computing/#rewilding-the-internet

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

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lukolabrainrot · 2 months ago

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Hi there. So I've been firm in my belief that Luke & Nicola are gonna announce their relationship by telling us that they are already MARRIED. I've been conversing with a friend on here and we both agree there's been clues/crumbs that just might support the theory. Some might think it's too soon, BUT I just think their relationship was never a normal dating/courtship. Them being TOGETHER is 4-5 years in the making. Anyway, sorry it's long, but here's our thoughts on possible clues that these two may have tied the knot:

Many of them come from secondary sources, but I found these nuggets too hard to ignore. So here it goes:

8/22 N shares Polin photo. My interpretation of this photo is that this is the pivotal scene where Colin reads her letters and starts to forgive her. Penelope professes her love for him later that day. I think this particular photo was to signal they had worked out their differences and were together. I most definitely could be wrong, but I took it as a positive sign.

(I think 8/22/since deleted) JVN shares TT song and dance to Oh Happy Day. Well that's suspicious...

8/28 N and JVN like Evan Ross Katz Insta post about Catherine O'Hara meeting her husband on set and being married for 32 years. Hmmm?

8/28 Bridgerton Netflix drops the cute Lukola-coded media video on Insta.

8/29-8/30 I saw maybe 3-4 random comments on a few Insta and TT posts mentioning Cabo. In fact, there was a comment on L's Spain post up until recently that said "do Cabo next." So weird and probably not true, but I couldn't stop thinking about Cabo.

8/30 JVN posts the song "They Went for the Gun" from the musical Chicago to TT. I kept thinking what an odd song choice when talking about your remote work team. If you're a musical fan, you know that this is the routine where Richard Gere performs the puppet dance number with Renee Zellweger. The song is about convincing the media to buy in to your narrative by turning them into your puppets. I thought this could be about the JD photo gate distraction or maybe L/N were getting married and they wanted us to think otherwise? Or, this could mean absolutely nothing, lol.

8/31 This is the morning we all saw the JD in the ocean/pool story. OMG everyone panic - he's in Malta with N! I wonder if JD was excited to be on vacation and accidentally posted the pic to Insta and that set off the whole day of possible distractions? Right after, JVN posts a we're home and here's a garden update story. (I almost always wonder if his garden updates are jokingly about L/N status.) Maybe it was previously recorded, and he used it to possibly provide cover for JD's slip-up?

I know my theory is off the rails, but I kind of like the possibility of it. Maybe L/N went to Cabo for a long weekend wedding around 8/30-9/1 with just a few close friends and family? You know JD and JVN would be there. I'm not one of those photo date, location and time truthers. It seems like that is never accurate. The previously mentioned JD photo looked like a pool to me, and it reminded me of this deep blue-colored one that is at the One & Only Palmilla in Cabo. This resort has been featured on many episodes of Real Housewives and N loves that show. I also thought the Insta story from N's work colleague in Malta would be really thoughtless and unprofessional if she was actually there at that exact time. I hope it was an intentional misdirect.

8-31 Days before Chupi has been teasing their new Future Awaits Diamond Arrow eternity band. They have posts pairing it with the Claddagh ring. They release it early on this date. It looks very similar to the one N is wearing in her Polin post from 6/11/21. Maybe it's her new wedding band and she's already married? Squee!

Anyway, this is crazy delusional but it was fun to think they might have been breadcrumbs. Maybe L/N got married quietly in Galway(because she'd definitely want her mother there and her Irish roots/traditons are important to her, and now L) Spain when no one was suspecting it. Regardless, I hope Netflix paid for the wedding if there was one. Thanks so much for letting me share. I hope we find out soon! The rings are still the biggest clues of all. 🥰💍👀

This is all speculation... but interesting theories...

I don't think they are already married, but what does everyone else think?

The rings definitely mean SOMETHING about L/N 👀

#lukola theories #just some thoughts #purely speculation #claddagh ring #WHAT ARE THESE TWO CRAZY KIDS UP TO 👀

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yonkokraven · 4 months ago

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Leak night and A Little Rant: Soulless ending for a Hero Journey (MHA 430 Spoilers)

Horikoshi now I understand why you were afraid that your manga would be cancelled, because you don't deserve that position

Seriously, there are so many things wrong here, not only because you contradicted yourself from the previous chapter and doubled down on making us ignore it completely, but you expect me to feel like this ending is worthy of being called bittersweet when it doesn't qualify as an ending to any of the plots presented.

Midoriya Izuku, someone who at the time I saw the potential to be a Superman, a Spiderman, a genuine hero reduced to a teacher with the same expressionless image for 8 years before being given a suit to be a hero (Which he didn't need because Midoriya's strength without the OFA is already superhuman)

No, I'm not going to start the Rant like this, sorry, but I'm seriously upset with the insult that this chapter has become.

The Chapter

Chronologically, the chapter tells us that time passed normally at the academy before the war, Bakugo adapted to being ambidextrous, Gran Torino seems to have recovered although he probably died at most a year later, Tokoyami and Hawks talking, Aizawa and Mic in the cemetery (unfortunately Aizawa is still alive), the League of Villains book is on sale and several other things.

And then...

“I was able to live a dream that should have been impossible. The story that began when my body moved before I could even think has come to an end alongside the embers of One For All”.

Midoriya loses the last embers of One For All during the last days of the academy as indicated in the full panel, so it seems that he did not become a hero with his classmates.

8 years after graduation, the perspective changes to Dai, this young man who appeared at the beginning of the final war arc. And we have mentions of La Brava (who has her own IT company and is married to Gentle), Doctor Yoshida (the doctor Yoshi) and Hatsume (who seems to have a very renowned Laboratory)

Dai is being bullied for his quirk, and one of his classmates says that now that the number of heroes has stabilized, only the strongest quirks will have a chance in the academies.

Dai says that unlike the others, he did not change, he feels like a child for wanting to be like All Might, Endeavor, Jeanist, Deku or Dynamight, and his insecurity guides him to the Statue of All Might.

There is another scene change that shows us more of the students of class A

Shoji receives an award for resolving prejudiced conflicts in a peaceful manner, and he thanks all the heteromorphs who went to the hospital 8 years ago and who are only there thanks to their will.

Uravity, Ingenium, Froppy and Creati are now a team of heroes (possibly oriented to everyday and rescue situations) who go around the country's schools explaining a new and important aspect of society: the expansion of quirk counseling.

And Eri attends a music club with friends from her school.

Aizawa talks to Midoriya and shows him a video of Bakugo yelling at a civilian for filming him too closely, and points out that this will cause Bakugo to fall in the Ranking and Todoroki to rise (we are told that Shoto works day and night, yet he is still kind to his fans and people)

Shoto is no longer known as "Endeavor's Son", but as his own hero identity.

Aizawa asks Deku if he feels lonely, and Deku answers that since his talk with Fuwa (in chapter 425) he realized that he can use his knowledge and experience to help other people even without having a quirk. And he says he thinks this is a cool way to live.

Midoriya asks Aizawa if he agrees with him, but Aizawa says that he should be strict with his students, since many who enter UA believe that they are guaranteed passage into the profession and tend to become arrogant if there is no one who is strict and corrects their path.

Midoriya says that since graduation he has barely seen his friends as their days off don't coincide. As he walks home, Midoriya looks out at the scene, Tokoyami or Kirishima products on TV screens, or children playing in the street.

One of these children trips and Midoriya goes over to help, and notices Dai coming over as well.

Dai talks to him about his insecurities and how he comes to see the statue of All Might every time he feels that way, and asks Midoriya,

"Can I be a hero like All Might and You?"

Midoriya remembers his conversation with All Might and begins to analyze Dai's Quirk, a Quirk that allows him to create plates from his hair. Dai is somewhat surprised by Midoriya's way of speaking but understands that he is trying to help him.

"Now it's my turn to give people dreams"

Midoriya tells Dai that he will be okay, because he helped that kid and confirms that he can be a hero. The next panel shows us the new statue of All Might with new additions, statues of civilians rooting for him. Midoriya tells Dai to do his best.

"If I said I'm not a little sad, I'd be lying. However, I can at least encourage other people like that. And that was the story of how we all became the greatest heroes."

All Might appears before the chapter comes to an end and destroys the "END" with his own hand.

All Might apologizes for the delay, while Midoriya tells him that he could have met him at the airport, but All Might says that he wanted to give him a surprise gift while explaining that the data collected from his fight against All For One 8 years ago opened up huge possibilities. All Might gives his disciple a Briefcase.

"Technology evolves just like quirks."

Midoriya says it must have cost a fortune, but All Might says it was created by a friend of US (possibly Melissa and her father) and Hatsume, and the expenses were paid jointly by all the students of class A, especially Bakugo.

“Take this to heart, kid. You've earned this power too, fair and square.”

Deku smiles, we get a panel of Bakugo calling Midoriya, and then Hawks being informed about a landslide on a highway and he asks for any heroes who can to report to the place immediately. Midoriya jumps up using his new support and looks down for a moment, seeing the "ghost" of Shigaraki.

The last page is a double spread of Class A as adults in their hero outfits.

"This is the story of how we will continue to reach out."

A Rant

Well, to begin to understand this chapter and give it a proper rant, I summarized it, and for that reason I want to talk about some things and say again that it is a deteriorated ending for how the Manga began.

Things seem to change but at the same time they stay the same, it's basically like raising the sails of a ship to half mast, you go in the same direction, but slower.

Horikoshi doesn't have a clear perspective for Midoriya in the chapter since he alternates protagonism with Dai, this student who barely appeared once

Dai gives us the perspective of the new generation, and again strength prevails over heroism since Hawks didn't start to reward what really mattered, precisely: Heroism.

Midoriya decides that he will be a teacher since he doesn't have a Quirk to practice the profession of hero, a stupid thing because in previous occasions we were shown that Midoriya's physical strength without the OFA was abundant, although it is understood that Midoriya wants to teach we don't see anything about his class or how he teaches.

The heroes are still people without personal lives, and this is highlighted by the little interaction time that Midoriya had with his friends in a span of 8 years, in addition to Shoto patrolling day and night.

The plot of Shoji and the heteromorphs seems to improve as well as that of Uraraka, both being heroes they try to educate civilians so that people like Toga are helped or the heteromorphs can live with dignity.

Spinner released his book but we didn't see a reaction from the people, but from Compress who had no relevance in this manga.

There is something very wrong with all this and it is that they build us up to the idea that change will happen in the long run, when Horikoshi had the means to immediately begin said changes (And no, I'm not referring to civilians).

Midoriya should have had recognition and interviews for his motivations, even if you don't want to tell the whole story Midoriya would say that he brought Shigaraki to where he was (ridiculous reason but it would be a way to justify it) and people would stop looking the other way

Uraraka could have done what she does now from the academy and interviews, but you didn't allow it either.

Shoji and the heteromorphs was a beautiful plot but you did everything so off-screen that it loses the impact of these two panels that you dedicated to the chapter.

Hawks is now at the head of the commission, and the only thing you did was fix half the problem by adding the top "Eiyuu" when you should also have eliminated the old top that makes people perceive power as something rewardable.

And do you know, readers, why all this is happening? Because Horikoshi most likely has a sequel prepared, because if not, it would not explain the amount of inconsistencies that arose in this last final arc and later this attempt at an epilogue (It literally still makes me sick that he wasted the portal resource like that.)

I would detail for the umpteenth time the inconsistencies when writing the League of Villains or the lack of evolution outside of panels, but you already know my opinion about that and more.

I only hope that on August 5th the news is not a sequel or I will have to mentally prepare myself to see another decade of inconsistencies.

and yes, Deku will have a new OFA in part 2, the ghosts (Shigaraki) don't appear on the street just because.

#bnha critical #mha critical #mha 430 #bnha 430 #hori is a bad writer #bnha leaks #mha leaks

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avianyuh · 1 year ago

Note

Hi! Can you please write headcanons for BTS members where they overhear that a txt member has a crush on their crush? They get jealous and insecure because reader is close to their age, so they don't confess because of this reason but tries to distance reader from them. Thank you ❤️ ❤️

BTS Getting Jealous of Readers Relationship with TXT

{A/N;Hellloooo, so for context, reader is an idol and has a flirty relationship with the member. I'm assuming you mean that the reader is close to TXT's ages, so I'll guess around like 2000? For Jin and Yoongi it'd be weird to go any younger than that imo so the set age is like 2000/01 for all members. Some of these are confessions, some aren't. Like I said, age ranges are tricky so idk, like for the maknae line it was fine because they'd be only 3-5 years younger (if its 2000) so it's not a problem. Hope you enjoy :)}

*Honestly, the rest are mid, just skip to JK for some drama*

Jin;

Jin had met you backstage at an award show

You immediately became friendly

This was further amplified by the fact that you needed up being on a few of the same variety shows

So Jin had thought that everything was going well

Problem was that you were a bit younger than him

8 years to be exact

So he thought it was kind of weird at first to be anything more than friends with you

Your company had ended up being bought by HYBE

So Jin had started to run into you around the building a lot more often

But that also meant that you'd be around other groups a lot more often

This included TXT

You had filmed a promotional dance challenge with TXT for your comeback and had become pretty friendly with Soobin

Jin didn't think anything of it and to him he SHOULDN'T care, right?

So he forgot about it for awhile

But then one day BTS and TXT sat down together

(idk where just go with it lol)

And you know...everyone starts to gossip

And Hoseok was like, "So...you guys got anyone special in mind???"

And TXT being in the presence of their seniors are like "😳"

But the Yeonjun being himself, blabs

"Soobin thinks Y/n is hot"

Now Jin

Jinnnnnnnn

Why would he have beef with a dude 8 years younger than him?

But you know he's thinking in his head, "Pfffpt, as if he has a chance"

And his face on the outside is like this, "🥸", but on the inside he's a bit of a combination of, "🤬&😨"

But as I said, he knew that you'd #1; Probably be more comfortable with someone like Soobin and #2; Be safer getting a relationship exposed with someone like Soobin because you're the same age and it would probably be 5% less of a scandal.

So, he kinda watched from the background for a few weeks

Noticed how you acted around Soobin and noticed that you seemed happy with him

But you noticed that Jin had become distant

You'd see him around and he'd find a way to get out of having a conversation with you

So one day, you confronted him

"Did I do something wrong?", you asked him one day as you passed each other in the hallway.

Jin stopped walking and turned around to face you. He looked at you for a minute, silent, not knowing what to say.

He hadn't expected you to notice the change in behavior

It broke his heart to distance himself from you but he didn't now how to get over his feelings for you.

"No, it's just..."

"What Jin?"

"I've been going through some things lately, it's nothing personal"

He just couldn't do it.

Yoongi:

You had been an idol under BigHit

The first few years, the two of you didn't interact much

Most likely because you were 7 years younger than him and there was no reason to talk to you for quite a long time

But recently, Yoongi had approached you

Mainly because he had heard a song that you had produced and wanted to compliment you on your work

You became friendly and had actually been invited to his studio a few times

(which many know is a huge honor)

If Yoongi was being completely honest, he had developed a bit of a crush on you

You had a lot in common; both produced music, worked at the same company, had the same profession, etc...

But like already stated, there was just a little problem

You were way younger than him

(and we've seen the way he acts around people younger than him, he acts like a grandpa lmao)

So, he had every intention of keeping it platonic.

But then, after filming the Suchwita episode with TXT

After filming, Yoongi was jokingly asking a very drunk Yeonjun a lot of questions

And Taehyun was teasing Yeonjun about basically anything

And then Taehyun accidentally mentioned your name

And Yoongi was like, 'What about Y/n?'

And Taehyun was like 'Tehehehe, he likes Y/n'

And Yeonjun was all blush-y and passed out so he wasn't even denying it

And Yoongi was kinda jealous not gonna lie

So he played it off well and sent them off

And he checked his phone, saw that he had a text from you

And you know how you can clear messages, lmao, that's what he did

He knew that you and him probably wouldn't work

And similar to Jin, he was too afraid of the backlash to an age gap if it ever came out that the two of you were dating

So he needed some distance.

Hoseok:

Hobi had become very protective over you since you had meet back in 2018

You had debuted the year before and had nervously approached him backstage and told him how big of a fan you were of BTS

And Hobi just thought that you were so cute

So you had become friends

But honestly...flirty friends

He had his suspicions that you liked him

And he liked you

But he never really knew of a way to express any of his feelings

You were a bit younger than him, and speaking in seniority terms, his group was older than yours

So to him, it was a tricky slope to navigate

Well...until now

Hoseok had been in the practice room with Yeonjun (sorry but like anyone in TXT younger than Beomgyu is just awkward to write about lmao, like imagine Hobi (1994) beefing with Heuning Kai (2002) )

Anyways....

Hoseok was having one of those heart to heart type things with Yeonjun and Yeonjun had actually mentioned you out of the blue.

And Hobi (loving to talk about you cuz like we said, there was something there) was like , "Do tell :))))"

So Yeonjun was like, "Well, I know you and Y/n are close and I was wondering if you could give her my number?"

And Hoseok was like,"Why? For a work-related thing?"

And Yeonjun explained how he was interested in you.

So Hoseok did give him your number (he couldn't come up with an excuse not to), but right after he came up with an excuse that he had to leave.

And he rushed over to your dorm.

And he was knocking frantically, and you opened it all confused

And BOOM

Grabs your face and kisses you.

Start of a power couple.

Namjoon:

So apparently Joon is an extrovert??

Yeah he's an ENFP

I was shocked to find that out a few months ago

Anyways

Extroverts love to party and all that jazz

And you know how idols have album release parties, etc...

Well, that's how you met

At an album release for someone else

But you bumped into each other at a table and you laughed and apologized and by the end of the night had exchanged numbers

Well, since then, you two had spent a lot of time together

But you had also been in the midst of a comeback recently

And while promoting, you met TXT at one of the comeback showcase thingies (idk Inkigayo or something sorry I can't think of the name)

And your managers were like "Omg you should film a dance challenge with *yep you guessed it* Yeonjun!!!"

{A/N; IKKK, Yeonjun is breaking a lot of hearts I guess I'm sorry}

And you and Yeonjun became good friends too after that

Namjoon saw the video and thought it was cute, but didn't think much of it

As TXT and BTS are label mates as you know *fighting🫶*

But then one day he was walking down the hallway past a dance studio room and overheard the TXT members talking about you

So Namjoon being nosey hid outside of the door where they couldn't see him and listened in

"Yeonjun, you should take Y/n out on a date", Beomgyu said as everyone laughed

Namjoon felt like going and unliking the video he saw of the two of you, he was so jealous {A/N; LMAO, that line sounds so dumb, but it made me laugh as I wrote it so I'm keeping it in😭}

He snapped out of his jealous rage and headed back to his studio.

Trying to be rational, Would the two of you even work? You are a bit younger than, you're only year younger than Yeonjun, would you be better off with someone like him?

But when he arrived and closed the door as he walked in, he looked over at his desk and saw you.

There you were, sitting in his chair, smiling up at him

"Joonie!!!!, I texted you but you didn't text back", you said as you got up to greet him.

But before you could pull him into a hug, Namjoon bent down and pulled you into a kiss.

Jimin:

Jimin had always been a supportive label mate

To TXT and your group

Actually, Jimin kind of had his suspicions that you liked him

Mainly because every time he would see you, your group mates would nudge you and giggle.

He thought it was cute, but actually after getting to know you, he had developed some feelings for you

Neither of you would confess though

Yeah, you were 5 yeas younger, and that's what kind of held Jimin back

And in return, Jimin was five years older, so you would never make the first move.

But what if an event pushed him to?

Like I said, TXT, BTS, & your group were all label mates

So, you knew BTS, which obviously meant that you knew your other label mate

So on that side of the pond, you were very friendly with Beomgyu.

And just like with Jimin, you were oblivious

Avianyuh? What do you mean oblivious?

Well...Beomgyu liked you too

LOVE TRIANGLE

I'm just kidding

Now the one person who did know about Jimin's feelings for you was Jungkook

Who was very friendly with TXT

And one day, Jungkook calls Jimin and he's like, "Hyung...you have some competition"

And Jimin's all confused so Jungkook explains that Beomgyu mentioned that he liked you

And Jimin is like, "Oh shit", because he knows that the two of you are friendly

So he immediately heads out the door to your apartment and he calls you and is like, "I have something important to tell you, can you meet me outside"

So when he gets there, you're standing near the entrance to your apartment

And he starts with this long speech, 'Y/n, we've known each other for awhile and I think that there's something between us and-"

You cut him off with a kiss

#BigHitpowercouple

Taehyung:

Taehyung isn't about competition

I actually see TAehyung as being a very forward person

Like, I know I keep writing all of these requests for crushes and shit, but honestly with Taehyung I don't see him being one for crushes.

Like I think if he wants you, then he'll just confess

So this will be brief

He's probably been friends with you for awhile

But he kind of develops feelings for you

And one day, probably like Jin, he'll be sitting down with the TXT members

And one of them (probably Yeonjun idk) mentions that he thinks you're cute.

And Taehyung is straight up like, "Oh I think she has a boyfriend, sorry"

And then the next time he sees you, he confesses

And you're like, "Where'd all this come from"

And he's honest

"One of the TXT members was talking about you and it got me thinking..."

👏Kim Taehyung everybody👏

Jungkook:

He gives me drama queen vibes

Like he loves the chase of a relationship

Unlike Taehyung, I think he loves having a crush

Blabbing to his friends about her

Having his members tease him about it

Plus he's the youngest (so for me this is less weird and I can start some beeeeef)

You two are four years apart

Not bad, but ehhhhh some people could side eye idk how judgmental people are lmao

I think more people would be bothered about the fact that you were a fourth gen idol and he was third

So like, the public views him as more experienced than you

But you know how I said that I think JK enjoys having crushes

Well, I also think he's very hard on himself

And BigHit has protected him a lot from public scrutiny so I think a relationship where you two aren't the exact some age would maybe ruffle a few feathers

So he hasn't really made any moves on you

And a tiny part of him is afraid of getting rejected

So for now, it's some harmless, shameless flirting

Won't hurt anyone, right?

Well, trying to not crush on someone, but continuing to flirt with them can cause some problems

And TXT and Jungkook are close

So one day, Jungkook was talking with Soobin and blah blah blah, Soobin ends up saying he thinks you're hot

And JK is like, "Ummmm, why?"

And Soobin is low-key offended for you because he gets the impression that Jungkook was calling you ugly

*I told you there'd be beef*

And Jungkook is like, "Idk out of all the people, why her", now what he really means is; I like her, so why do you have to crush on MY crush?

But Soobin still thinks JK is just being a major dick

And Jungkook is now feeling like HE has competition

Kook loves competition, but he hates losing

So, he goes home

And now he's all bothered

And then the next day, he sees YOU with SOOBIN

And you're giggling and Soobin's looking at you all loved up

And JK wants to punch him

And then you see Jungkook and wave him over

And Soobin is giving JK a death glare, and JK's giving him back one

And now you're looking between the two of them and you're just confused

So JK is like, "Y/n, can I speak to you for a moment?", and as he asks, he isn't even looking at you, he's looking at Soobin

And son you follow him down the hall and Kook presses you up against a wall

And he gets all up in your face you're like, "😳"

And he starts asking you all of these questions

"Are you into him?", "How could you not tell me you were dating him?"

And now you're REALLY confused

"I'm not dating Soobin, what're you talking about?", you say.

"You aren't? But, but he's all over you", Jungkook asks.

"Wait a minute, even if I was...why would you care?", you ask him, crossing your arms.

Well shit, now he's outed himself

"I, uh, just wanted to know, that's all..."

"...that's all?"

"Do you want to go out with me", he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Took you long enough", you said as you walked away.

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 5 months ago

Text

The press vs democracy

July 3, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

The media has latched onto the Joe Biden debate performance and has anointed itself as the kingmaker of Democratic politics. They have concluded that Joe Biden is out of touch and unable to focus. They are telling the American people what to believe because—of course—we should believe the press, right? When has the press ever been wrong before? They want Joe Biden out of the race—damn the damage to democracy!

For example, please read the following description of the president and then wait for the reveal at the end:

“For a smart man, President Biden professes to know very little about a great number of things,” said Dana Milbank in The Washington Post. Biden’s problem is not that he’s disengaged; it’s that a lot of his aides are doing lousy jobs, and he won’t fire them. “Those aides seem to tell Biden very little,” said Hendrik Hertzberg in The New Yorker. Peter Baker in The New York Times said, “But if Biden keeps saying, “I didn’t know,” people will begin to wonder “Just how much in charge he really is.”

Sound familiar? It should. It is from an article about President Obama in 2015. See The Week (1/8/15), “Obama: Is the president out of touch? (I replaced “Biden” with “Obama” in the above quotes from the article.)

Here’s my point: The thrashing that the media is giving President Biden was also administered to President Obama. On Tuesday, stories with nearly identical language were circulated among the Trump-curious outlets and then dutifully repeated by major media outlets based on reports from anonymous “senior aides.”

The media is whipping itself into a self-sustaining nuclear reaction of disinformation��because they can smell the increase in profits just over the horizon if they can force Joe Biden out of the race.

As Jason Karsh wrote on Twitter,

The political press seems dug in. The trade-off they seem to want is, ‘Give us a brokered convention—or at least another nominee so we can cover the chaos or we’re going to ignore the Republican effort to end democracy all the way through November. Your choice.’

Karsh’s words hit the mark. Today, the NYTimes wrote about Biden’s challenges and then buried this gem 20 paragraphs into the story:

Mr. Trump, 78, has also shown signs of slipping over the years since he was first elected to the White House. He often confuses names and details and makes statements that are incoherent. He maintains a lighter public schedule than Mr. Biden, does not exercise and repeatedly appeared to fall asleep in the middle of his recent hush money trial. His campaign has released only a three-paragraph health summary. Voters have expressed concern about his age as well, but not to the same degree as Mr. Biden’s.

This is “But her emails” all over again. The Times’ obsessive and unfair coverage of a non-story about emails handed the 2016 election to Trump. The Times now seems hellbent on repeating the same mistake. The Times has not only put its thumb on the scale to disadvantage Trump's opponent (again), but has also removed the scale and said, “Trust us. We know better than you.” The day we surrender our political judgment to the New York Times is the day we lose our democracy.

There is some pushback (noted below), but the fecklessness of Democratic leaders is beginning to hurt Joe Biden. Jamie Raskin was the first to suggest that Joe Biden will “at least” be the keynote speaker (not the nominee) at the Democratic National convention; Nancy Pelosi has had to walk back two sets of clumsy remarks about Joe Biden; Jim Clyburn said he will meet with Joe Biden this weekend to give him “an assessment” of where things stand. And Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine published an op-ed that said Biden will lose, Trump will win, and “I am okay with that.”

Joe Biden deserves better treatment from party leaders, lifelong friends, and congressional colleagues, regardless of their views on his ability to continue. If they have something to say to Joe Biden, they can say it in private. Making qualified, hesitant, or cryptic remarks in public is shabby treatment for the best president of the last 75 years.

But not everyone is giving up. Stuart Stevens wrote a stirring defense of Joe Biden in The Atlantic, The Absurdity of the Dump-Biden Uprising (accessible to all, and I ask you to read the whole article in fairness to Mr. Stevens and The Atlantic after my lengthy quotation below):

Stevens writes,

The Democratic Party held 57 primaries and caucuses; voters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories had their say, as did Democrats abroad. Joe Biden won 87 percent of the total vote. He lost one contest, in American Samoa, to the little-known Jason Palmer. Suddenly, there are cries in the Democratic Party that, as goes a single territorial caucus [American Somoa], so should the nation. I worked in five presidential campaigns for Republicans and helped elect Republican senators and governors in more than half of the country. For decades, I made ads attacking the Democratic Party. But in all those years, I never saw anything as ridiculous as the push . . . to replace Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. For many in the party, the event raised genuine concerns about the incumbent’s fitness for a new term. But a president’s record makes a better basis for judgment than a 90-minute broadcast does. Biden has a capable vice president, should he truly become unable to serve. The standard for passing over Democratic voters’ preferred nominee should be extraordinarily high—and has not been met. The fundamental danger of Donald Trump is that he’s an autocrat who refuses to accept the will of the voters. So, [is] the proper response is to throw out millions of votes, dump the overwhelming choice, and replace him with someone selected by a handful of insiders? What will the message be: “Our usurper is better than your usurper”? What is it about the Democratic Party that engenders this kind of self-doubt and fear? At a moment when Democrats’ instinct should mirror what Biden declared in a rally the day after the debate—“When you are knocked down, you get back up”—some in the party are seized by the urge to run, not fight. Think about how this would look: Hey, I guess Donald Trump is right; our guy isn’t fit to be president. We’ll give it another shot. Trust us, we’ll get it right eventually. Madness. Trump is the candidate of chaos, uncertainty, and erratic behavior. Democrats can win a race against him by offering Americans the opposite: steady, calm, and confident leadership. Joe Biden has provided that. His record is arguably the most impressive of any first-term president since World War II. My advice to Democrats: Run on that record; don’t run from one bad debate. Show a little swagger, not timidity. Forget all this Dump Biden nonsense and seize the day. Now is the worst time to flinch. Your country needs strength. You can crush Donald Trump, but only if you fight.

Worth repeating: We can crush Donald Trump, but only if we fight!

In response to the uproar over the debate, Pro Publica published an unedited, twenty-minute interview with Joe Biden from a single camera angle (to prevent claims of misleading editing). The interview took place in September 2023—ten months ago. If you doubt Joe Biden’s competency and want to replace him (even if you don’t), watch the ENTIRE twenty minutes. Joe Biden is smart, coherent, knowledgeable, and truthful. Unedited: ProPublica Interviews President Biden, September 2023. In the interview, President Biden discusses fine points of the Constitution—a document Donald Trump has never read and attempted to overturn on January 6.

To similar effect is Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, who makes the compelling point that the election is now about Donald Trump and the extraordinary powers granted to the president in Trump v. US:

The election is about Donald Trump and the Supreme Court, the two forces working to overthrow the American republic. That’s the subject. It’s not Joe Biden. So, both substantively and politically it makes all the sense in the world. The Court has done us all the favor of not always being as aware as it might be of the political and electoral dimensions of the justices’ bad acts. Yesterday’s ruling is a helpful if disastrous reminder of what the election is really about.

I also urge you to watch this four-minute video by the Lincoln Project: Democrats: Stop Panicking.

But . . . there are millions of Democrats who believe President Biden should step down. I feel like I have corresponded with most of them over the last four days. After many unsuccessful, pointed, and heated discussions, I am now focused on process and unity. At the end of the day, Democrats must be unified. Tearing the party apart over this discussion is exactly what Donald Trump wants. We can’t give him that gift.

So, here are my observations:

If you want Joe Biden to resign, you should do everything in your power to promote a realistic path to victory. “Joe should resign” is not a path to victory, nor is “An open convention.” Get behind a competitor, play by the rules, and work your ***** for your chosen replacement to emerge as viable candidate to beat Trump. The convention will be too late. That’s a heavy lift, but if you want change, it’s up to you to bring it about.

Don’t demean and belittle Joe Biden in an attempt to convince him, or others, that he should resign. Some readers have made vile, disrespectful, mocking statements about Joe Biden in attempt to dissuade me from my support for Biden. He doesn’t deserve that. And, at least as importantly, if you adopt the tactic of attacking Joe Biden, you offend the millions of Democrats who love and respect Joe Biden, and who have worked their tails off to help elect him. At the end of the day, you need them, and they need you to defeat Trump. Don’t create divisions or grudges in your effort to persuade the party that a different path is the only way to victory.

Don’t attack those of us who believe Joe Biden is the best candidate and only viable option. We disagree with your view. Don’t accuse us of “gaslighting” you or being “rigid” or “unthinking” in our support. We hold our opinions in good faith. At the end of the day, you need us, and we need you to defeat Trump. Don’t create divisions or grudges in your effort to persuade the party that a different path is the only way to victory.

My final plea is this: Don’t let the media tell you what to believe. The media has lined up in lockstep to hound Joe Biden out of his candidacy. Over the last seven years, we have seen with our own eyes that the media is biased, cowardly, greedy, short-sighted, and inaccurate in its coverage of Trump and his opponents. They have not magically put all those faults behind them and suddenly become paragons of truth and justice.

No, they are up to their old, hackneyed attacks—just like the similar attack on Obama in 2015. With very few exceptions, they are in it for the money, clicks, and fame. Do not allow yourself to fall victim to the media’s campaign against Joe Biden and democracy. That is what Trump wants; that is what Fox wants; that is what Rupert Murdoch wants; that is what the WSJ wants; that is what NewsMax wants; that is what Leonard Leo wants;—and sadly, sadly, sadly that is what the New York Times wants.

Make up your own mind, based on everything you know about Joe Biden and apply your common sense about what it takes to run and win the most expensive campaign in history. Polls are not elections; political insiders are not voters; television pundits are entertainers; and the media prioritizes profits over truth and democracy.

Voters will have the final say, so stop obsessing over what the media is saying and work to convince the 80 million “Did Not Vote” voters of 2020 that they must show up in 2024. That is the most productive use of your time.

Heather Cox Richardson on Trump v. US

Many news organizations are attempting to minimize or soft-pedal the implications of the holding in US v. Trump. Heather Cox Richardson gave a tour-de-force smackdown to the GOP spin that “There’s nothing to see here, move along.” See Historian discusses Supreme Court's immunity decision and shift in presidential powers (youtube.com).

HCR’s discussion is six minutes long but worth every minute. I assume 100% of my readers also subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson, but if you don’t, you are missing out on an essential voice defending democracy. Check out HCR’s Substack here: Letters from an American.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes gets it right

The Supreme Court considered two cases this term that dealt with constitutional provisions that affect the president. The first considered the Disqualification Clause in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibited Trump from appearing on the Colorado primary ballot. The second dealt with Trump's defense of presidential immunity.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes commented on the disparate treatment of those two constitutional questions as follows:

Grimly hilarious to compare the textual foundation for disqualifying Trump for insurrection (right there in the 14th Amendment) and the foundation for absolute criminal immunity for official acts (nowhere to be found in the Constitution despite explicit grants of other forms of immunity).

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

#the press #political #election 2024 #Robert B. Hubbell #Robert B Hubbell Newsletter

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hannahhook7744 · 3 months ago

Note

Application for Julieanna Foulfellow please ?

Name: Julieanna Franchisica Foulfellow.

Known Aliases: Julie Fox, Anna Foul, Julie Foul, Julie Fellow, Anna Fellow, Fellow Foul, J.A Foulfellow, Jewels Foul, Jewels Fellow, Fellow Jewels, Julie Jewels, Anna Jewels, etc.

Nicknames or Other: Julie and Jewels.

Date of Birth or Best Guess: March 17th, Year 8 before 12 PM.

Place of Birth: Somewhere on the Isle of the Lost.

Favorite Color: Spring Green.

Favorite Activity: Pulling Cons, Poker, singing, and dancing (tap dancing specifically).

You can't put the first two, Julie.

But why Sabina? You keep telling me I need to be more honest!

Not THAT honest!

Favorite School Subject: None. School’s boring.

Jewels you gotta pick at least one.

Fine!

Artists and Thieves.

There, are you happy now?

Not really.

Father's Name (or alias): J. Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon The cat.

Mother's Name (or alias): Wow, you just assume I have a mother? Rude.

At this point we're never getting into Auradon.

Father's Profession: Con Artist. .

Mother's Profession: Wow, way to rub salt in the wound.

Who is your favorite of the first wave of VKs? There is no wrong answer.

Your mom.

In your own words, tell us why you want to come to Auradon. There is no wrong answer.

No.

Julie, pls.

Ugggg, fine.

So I can scam more people.

Julie NO!

So I can become a famous singer and tap dancer.

I'll take what I can get.

Signature:

Julieanna Foulfellow.

#descendants #disney descendants #melissa de la cruz #disney #descendants au #wicked world #disney descendants au #descendants ocs #auradon application #etc

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traineecryptid · 3 months ago

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NPSS Weibo Q&A (20240831) Part 9

This is a Q&A session held on Weibo. People will tag their questions with the hashtag #南派三叔藏海花在线答疑# (#NPSS Zang Hai Hua Online Q&A#) and NPSS will look through the tag to pick some to answer. The event started at 1500 hours on 2024 August 31st.

Folder with screenshots and big compilation google doc is here. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. Part 5 is here. Part 6 is here. Part 7 is here. Part 8 is here.

1301

Q: Shu, what’s the flower language for the Tibetan Sea Flower? A: The distance of a step. (T/N: this is a proverb meaning something that is very close either in distance or as in close to success.)

1302

Q: If the black spot’s tunnels can go from Inner Mongolia to Mount Kunlun, doesn’t that mean that it’s a good candidate for making train tracks? Could it be that the few key locations have tunnels connecting them? When Xiaoge disappeared during the West Queen, did he go somewhere tens of kilometers away?

A: Uh… That’s not my profession.

1303

Q: Sanshu, Sanshu, I really need to know this. When Hei Xiazi and Xie Yuchen finish their mission and go back to their hotel at night, would they chat and drink wine to unwind?

A: On the way, Hei Xiazi would suggest eating at all the street food stalls but would be rejected every time. In the end, the two of them would buy some bread and make do with sitting by the city’s river.

1304

Q: Why does the Zhangs' names always have to do with seafood? Then why isn’t there a Zhang Cuyu? (T/N: Zhang Vinegar Fish.)

A: Now there is. It’s you.

1304

Q: Does Wu Xie like to eat Chinese bayberries? Would he go up to the hills to harvest bayberry during summer while sightseeing the spring in the hills and then make bayberry wine?

A: He likes them but worries that there’s bugs [inside them].

1304

Q:Sanshu, Sanshu, can you describe Hei Xiazi and Xie Yuchen’s story in Iceland in three characters? A: Insanely crazy. (T/N: this was four characters in chinese.)

1305

Q: I would like to know how Sanshu picks the questions to answer. Do you just scroll and pick whichever that you like?

A: [I pick] the ones that I have answers for at first glance. I won’t answer those that require me to think for half a day.

1305

Q: Lei, why do you say that you want to lose weight every year? But why are you still a little fatty every year? Did you say that you’ll do Pilates? Didn’t you say that you want to act as Wu Xie? How will this work if you lack determination?

A: I walked ten thousand steps at 5am yesterday.

1307

Q: What is Hei Xiazi better at, the violin or the erhu?

A: Violin, but musical instruments are interconnected.

1311

Q: Shu, will we see Zhang Yixing act as Eryue Hong again in this lifetime? The prettiest Honghong.

A: I don’t know. Leave it to fate. I’m very chill. (T/N: the term he used here “佛“ is an internet slang meaning to be unconcerned, let things be like Buddha would. )

1312

#NPSS Zang Hai Hua Online Q&A# A lot of people wanted to know how the paper dolls move around. You’ll understand it after looking at this explanation picture about the Kumuli Snake Disaster from Zang Hai Hua.

1317

Q: Is it a leader-follower relationship between the big paper doll and the small paper doll? Then why did Wu Xie see the big paper doll eating the small paper doll?

A: Snakes eating snakes.

1319

Q: I can't stop thinking about this: When Wu Xie and the gang are on the road of adventure for so long, would their hair get oily? How do they deal with this? Would they bring shampoo and wash up now and then? A: What’s wrong with Xie oil? Is Xie-oil inauspicious? (T/N: the comments say that there’s a pun here, but I can’t figure out what’s the pun.)

1323

Q: Does Zang Hai Hua’s Zhang Qiling’s muscular body fit your imagination? A: It’s not bad.

1326

Q: Sanshu, Sanshu, when there’s nothing to do around Yucun, would Wu Xie feel like his current life is like a dream?

A: This feeling is very nuanced. A dream is too shallow of a description.

just one update for today! i've gotten a bit lazy with translating today because there are a few long ones in a row... wah wah wah whine whine.

#npss #dmbj #daomu biji #cw: drawing of snakes

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ilikethisacompletelynormalamount · 6 months ago

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Halfway through their Actors on Actors conversation, Brie Larson and Andrew Scott discover something they have in common: Neither of them is a trained actor. Larson brings up the subject almost hesitantly, to explain why she has difficulty talking about her craft. “I didn’t go to school for it,” she says. “No! I didn’t either!” Scott replies. Excitedly, Larson says: “I knew I liked you!”

Despite any self-professed deficiencies about discussing acting, Larson and Scott insightfully talk about how they each got their start at a young age, and then dive into their current television projects: his remake of “Ripley” on Netflix and her Apple TV+ limited series “Lessons in Chemistry,” which Larson also developed as an executive producer. Both shows originate from books — Patricia Highsmith’s classic thriller and Bonnie Garmus’ 2022 bestseller, respectively — and though their characters are very different (Tom Ripley is a grifter turned murderer; Elizabeth Zott is a thwarted physicist), both stand apart from society, looking in from the outside...

RIPLEY LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY ACTORS ON ACTORS

BY KATE AURTHUR

ANDREW Scott & BRIE Larson

ANDREW SCOTT: I was reading that you were shy as a kid.

BRIE LARSON: Not anymore. I’m totally fine now. I’m totally confident and cool.

SCOTT: I really related to you when I was reading that, because that’s why I started as a kid. I think there’s a slight myth about actors — that they’re very outgoing or sort of precocious. So did you ask to start acting?

LARSON: Yeah. My parents were chiropractors, and I was super shy. I wouldn’t let it go. Of course, it’s changed the course of my life in so many ways. But at a time when I was so shy and had such a hard time expressing myself, at 6 years old, I was basically given, like, “OK, here’s a script for how you have a conversation.” The actual fiber of how I understand how to have pleasant conversations with people is based upon weekly acting sessions.

SCOTT: I used to go to these drama classes on a Saturday, and I would be fully shaking before you go in. And then you’d have to get up in front of your other 7-, 8-year-olds, and do an improvisation, or say a poem or something. I don’t feel like it’s an overstatement to say that I think it’s completely changed my life — not just my career. I had a really bad lisp when I was a kid, so I had to do elocution lessons. I had to go, “He sees seashells by the seashore,” and I just completely got rid of it.

Do you feel shy now?

LARSON: I had to face myself in so many different ways; that’s part of the thing that I actually seek now. I mean, I’m so grateful that I had so much rejection growing up. It’s wild! I very much had a slow burn in my career. I’d get close to things, so I knew that I had something, but I wasn’t booking, or I’d book one job a year or something — just enough to give me hope. It gave me so much experience so that when I was given the opportunities, I was truly ready for it. I never had a time on set where I was like, “Oh, gosh. This is bigger than what I understand.” It was always, like, well paced.

SCOTT: Absolutely. People who get an awful lot of scrutiny at an early age, I think, find it harder to experiment a little bit. So it’s good that I was unemployed for so long.

LARSON: It turns out I’m so happy that it seemed like it wasn’t working out for me! Look at us now! But, yeah, when I was stalking you online, I was like, “Wow, it feels similar.”

SCOTT: Just to wrap that shyness thing up, somebody said a really brilliant thing to me, which was, like, “There’s nothing wrong with being shy. Be shy. It’s a nice thing you go a little bit red.”

LARSON: I blush very easily. It’s horrible.

SCOTT: So “Lessons in Chemistry.”

LARSON: Let’s talk about our shows.

SCOTT: She’s singular, but it’s not shyness. She’s actually quite forthright. It’s beautiful stuff. And you’ve been involved with it for …?

LARSON: I think it took two years. Maybe longer. But I think it was about two years when we started working on it to then actually filming it.

SCOTT: Are you so proud of this?

LARSON: Yeah, I think so. I’m proud of what we achieved in the time that we did. I don’t have a connection to when it goes out in the world; it just feels like then it’s not about me anymore — it’s just images and feelings. I am proud of how much we said in the show. I felt like we got a lot in it, and a really amazing group of people that worked on it. And I loved playing her.

SCOTT: Were you looking at the edit and all that kind of stuff?

LARSON: All the time. And nonstop.

SCOTT: Did you find that you were able to …

LARSON: … detach? You have to. I’m just like, “Of course I didn’t do it all right.”

SCOTT: I think there’s maybe a fear that people are going to say, “We need another close-up of me, please.”

LARSON: I felt very committed to finding what things weren’t working. Especially with a character that I also felt was very different from me, and how little she emotionally expresses.

SCOTT: I love that about it.

LARSON: I struggled with it a lot, and I felt very lost with it. I am just very used to my understanding of when something’s working — when it feels very true and I’m just in it. And I would be in it with her, but I felt like the part of me that would want to cry, for example, was being pushed. She’s always twisting the knot inside, and won’t give it to anybody.

When you’re playing Tom Ripley, what does it feel like to lie when he’s lying?

SCOTT: Well, I tried to make him lie as little as he could get away with, so that he lies in order to get himself out of a situation. And he murders to get himself out of a situation. He’s not bloodthirsty. I mean, he could have not murdered, I suppose.

LARSON: Yeah.

SCOTT: We all make that decision.

LARSON: Yeah, no, it’s a choice you make every day.

SCOTT: I suppose any of those things about him being a liar or sociopath, I found unhelpful. The kind of stuff that Tom Ripley, I suppose, is famous for as an iconic literary character — “Is he a psychopath?” or “Is he a murderer?” or whatever. But the murder-y parts — we shot it for nearly a year, and they only took up a few weeks.

LARSON: He’s mostly not murdering. I have a question about playing a character that has existed in many different iterations and forms. I feel like you have experience with that, because you do theater as well. Do you have the same approach every time, in terms of researching and watching previous versions of it? Or do you just block it out?

SCOTT: Absolutely, I block it. Because, No. 1, I adored the film “The Talented Mr. Ripley” — the Minghella movie with Matt Damon and Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow and all those amazing people. But mercifully, I hadn’t seen it in a very long time. One of the first conversations I had with Steven Zaillian, our writer-director, was “Why?” And he had such a singular vision for it. He wanted it a very particular way. I was worried that I was too old and blah, blah, blah — I had just a very specific idea that was based on the film.

I had to remind myself that that film was also a reiteration of something: There was another version with Alain Delon before. There were loads of different ones. So it has been reinterpreted a lot. And I feel like it’s very important that he said, “We want to age the characters up.” And he was talking about this very particular kind of noirish black-and-white vision that he had. And that made me feel very comfortable. And I always think that it’s important, because it happens in the theater so much — if it was a Shakespeare character, thousands of people have played one character. I always find that really interesting. I think the response, I suppose, is to be respectful, but not too reverent. What’s the point of doing it if you’re going to do it exactly the same way? So I didn’t look.

LARSON: What do you think about some sort of Ripley universe — into the Ripley-verse? Just all the Ripleys.

SCOTT: Like Marvel? Sort of like the Fantastic Four? Is that a thing? Oh, and they all get together?

LARSON: Yeah, Ripleys together. I’m just curious. I got a couple studios interested, so I just …

SCOTT: You do? So kind of you! You make things happen. Are you not tired? You’ve been setting up projects for me? God, you’re kind.

LARSON: No, I’m writing a part for myself as well.

SCOTT: You’d be a good Tom Ripley!

#andrew scott #brie larson #variety #actors on actors #source: my library's digital copy #ripley #ripley netflix #lessons in chemistry

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pyropsychiccollector · 1 month ago

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Ace Attorney: IF (... Part 3)

Time waits for no man. A couple of years after the resolution of both the original KG-8 and the reopened IS-7 incidents, the curtains rise on the Second KG-8 incident. The mysterious Yatagarasu has long since entered the public eye, revealing quite a few dirty dealings in the legal and business worlds. In the latest headlines, the Yatagarasu broke into a foreign embassy and stole something, sending it to the police. Deid Mann was set to testify against the smuggling ring, and was murdered by Mack Rell, whose crime was caught on tape.

Of course it doesn't end there. (人◕ω◕) Mack refuses to go down without a fight. Originally, he claimed to be the Yatagarasu himself; but as those dreams of stardom were dashed due to his own ignorance of the evidence sent to the police, he switched gears and claimed that the real Yatagarasu ordered him to murder Deid Mann. He further claimed to know the identity of the real Yatagarasu. (人◕ω◕)

This causes quite the stir as Mack accuses the prosecutor in charge of being the Yatagarasu. The defendant begs the judge to believe him. Forced to at least investigate this new possibility, the judge calls for a recess so that a replacement prosecutor can be called in, as well as witnesses that could testify to the veracity of these claims.

Byrne wastes no time in dragging Mack to the defendant lobbies to interrogate him on this rash and unsettling accusation. Tyrell, who was originally scheduled to testify as an expert witness on the Yatagarasu, felt something might go wrong for his longtime friend and decided to call for a detective from the precinct to guard the lobby until the trial was to resume. He waited downstairs at the main entrance of the courthouse for the ten minutes it took for Gumshoe to get there.

During this ten minutes... Quite a bit happened. Kay was waiting for her dad to wrap up the trial, and Simon was asked to come pick her up since it looked like the trial was going to drag on for a while. At 17, Simon was close to finishing high school and looking into prospects of becoming an actor. What drew him to the silver screen wasn't the fame, it was the various tricks and stunts, working out how to make movie/TV magic happen. Simon already had quite the reputation with the stage plays he'd participated in, and a few talent agencies were looking his way.

... But more than that, what originally got him thinking about acting was what his father was getting up to in recent years. Byrne and Tyrell tried to keep the children in the dark, but Simon was a teenager, and a rather sharp one at that. It didn't take much effort to confront his dad about his nightly escapades with clear evidence that Byrne couldn't refute.

While the acts of theft and upending corporations with their dirty laundry didn't upset Simon on their own - even if the courts had some uses, they were still pretty freaking powerless against people that literally bought verdicts and hid evidence - Simon was miffed that Byrne's life choices may result in Kay robbed of a father.

So the two of them reached a sort of... agreement. Whenever Byrne accomplished his goal of catching the leader of that smuggling ring, crushing the ring, whatever Byrne wanted to do... He needed to hang up the cowl, so to speak. Simon wouldn't say a word, especially not to Kay, but Byrne needed to limit the crimes he was actually committing. They both knew Byrne would turn himself in at some point, his conscience wouldn't allow anything less. But Byrne mustn't allow his ambition to consume him and thus abandon his daughter.

Byrne didn't want to abandon either of his children. So the Yatagarasu was always careful about how much they actually did, what they stole. Doubtless, they would face jail time eventually... But it wouldn't be a life sentence. All members of the Yatagarasu were members of the legal profession and law enforcement, so they knew the laws. Calisto always towed the line, pushing for more extreme shows of force, but Tyrell and Byrne kept the Yatagarasu... tempered.

The current case was... a rare exception. It was important, having direct ties to the smuggling ring. Simon heard all the justifications from Byrne, and while the judicial circus with Mack's accusation chafed the young man wouldn't meddle. He'd pick Kay up as requested, and they'd go out somewhere until the dust settled.

... That was the plan. But in that first ten minutes during the recess, Kay was pretty insistent on getting "therapeutic swiss rolls" (Simon had to help correct her on that first word). Hence, Simon helped her purchase four of them, even though that meant $12 down the crapper. And though he wasn't supposed to, he waited around with Kay so that she could give swiss rolls to their dad and Uncle Badd. It was hard to say "no" to that girl, even if she was 10 now and still clinging to the cutesy phase...

Calisto was forced to modify her plans with the kids around. If it was only Kay, the traitor could ignore her. But Simon and Calisto were rather... tense around one another. He never did like her very much, and the brat could never identify why... It was some gut instinct, and consequentially Calisto didn't like Simon very much either. She knew perfectly well why he distrusted her; on some level, he perceived that there was something fake about her, and the brat wasn't wrong. From the beginning, Calisto was planted here to deal with enemies of the smuggling ring.

Something that was rather difficult to accomplish with Simon's paranoid check-ins. More than a few times the brat stayed up past bedtime and eavesdropped on Yatagarasu meetings while held at the Faraday household. She's pretty certain Tyrell noticed, but never did much about it; probably because Simon's actions were all tied back to protecting Kay, and the old man had a rather notable soft spot for that girl. Byrne probably noticed sometimes, but that man got caught up in the heat of the moment and would often overlook people and things around him.

It was like baring his neck to Calisto. The way he trusted people so easily... Byrne was clearly the softer target between him and Badd. And that's why Calisto planned to eliminate him and abandon Badd to the legal fallout.

Except... with Simon and Kay lurking in the hallway, Calisto didn't trust for one damn minute that she could kill both Byrne and Mack, arrange the crime scene, and set up that tape to obfuscate the time of death. If one of Simon's check-ins happened during any of that setup, Calisto would be screwed. Arranging for someone to keep Simon busy wouldn't work; he'd absolutely see right through Calisto. She had no choice but to assume the worst when it came to that kid, Simon was a damn complication she didn't need right now. Acquiring the Yatagarasu's Key would have to wait for a better opportune moment.

Getting her hands on the key might be delayed... But arranging for Byrne's demise was doable. Death by poison was far from ideal, left a lot to chance, but Calisto needed that time delay to throw suspicion off her. It further helped that Byrne already poured himself a cup of coffee and had forgotten it while questioning Rell; the prosecutor didn't bat an eye when Calisto entered Lobby No. 2 under the pretense of checking on the evidence. Likely believed it was Yatagarasu-related.

Idiot.

After slipping the slow-acting poison into the coffee, and some fake fishing around the evidence bag and writing something in her notepad, Calisto excused herself and cast Rell one last warning look before leaving. Smuggling in that poison had not been easy... But with Byrne having Simon as a kid, the young woman knew better than to leave anything to chance. She still had a gun on her if the absolute worst came to pass and she came under suspicion... And that was looking incredibly likely since she'd had no choice but to leave Rell alive in this altered plan. The stooge caved to two things: Money and authority. If opportunity presented itself, she was definitely going to put a bullet between his eyes. Fingers crossed he kept his trap shut long enough for her to achieve her goals...

Simon saw Calisto go in and out of Lobby No. 2, of course. But she was only in there for a couple minutes, and from what he was able to see Byrne was still fine so he didn't think much of it. Kay tried to use that time to give her dad his swiss roll, but he wasn't in the mood for the treat and asked the kids to wait out in the hall. Byrne wound up finishing his coffee shortly after that, unaware of the poison he ingested as a consequence.

A short while later, Tyrell returned with Gumshoe and got pulled away by Calisto who wanted to talk in Lobby No. 1. Simon didn't much appreciate Gumshoe's ability to get distracted by a vending machine of all things... But Kay being the angel she was, wanted to help the big guy get a swiss roll; Simon unfortunately didn't have a spare dollar to exchange for Kay's coins, so she ran off to find someone that could. Kay still encountered Miles who was waiting for the trial to start with his mentor, and exchanged money with him.

During the remainder of the recess, Simon watched Kay bond with Gumshoe, reluctantly acknowledging the guy wasn't so bad... Simpleminded, absolutely. But his heart was in the right place, keeping Kay amused. Simon occasionally peeked on Uncle Badd and Calisto, as well as monitoring the "replacement" prosecutor that Chief Von Karma assigned to the case. If it wasn't for Kay's whims, Simon would have gotten her out of here already with how tense everything was...

Eventually the recess came to an end.

Tyrell went to fetch Byrne and Rell for the trial, and has Gumshoe escort the defendant while the older detective waits for his friend to freshen up a bit as he isn't feeling well. Byrne gets a drink from the fountain, waving Tyrell off to go in ahead of him and he'll be in shortly. And a few minutes into the trial resuming… Byrne collapses in his seat, Tyrell instantly at his side and checking on him. He isn't breathing, and announces this to the court that Byrne needs urgent medical attention. Everyone scrambles to action as the judge calls for immediate adjournment until they figure out what's going on. Byrne is rushed to the hospital, while that courtroom and attached areas are cordoned off for investigation. Mack Rell is detained as a suspect of the attack, no matter how unlikely. Courtroom spectators are temporarily held for questioning and then sent home until the case gets resolved; both for their safety and in case the police need to get back in touch with them.

Byrne's condition at the hospital is kept highly classified, but it's clear he's not well. It takes Tyrell a good hour before he returns to the courthouse, and grimly he reveals Byrne has passed away to investigators. The case is treated as a homicide as it was a variant of strychnine found in his system. Badd wants the murderer found, and orders the courthouse turned upside down; reluctantly he allows Von Karma's pupils to participate, and for Calisto to investigate what she wants so long as she doesn't get in the way.

In a cruel twist of fate, Calisto plants the container that originally held the strychnine on Gumshoe, and he still falls under suspicion as the police find traces of poison in the coffee Byrne drank. Simon and Kay are both unconvinced of Gumshoe's guilt but are dismissed by investigators and Tyrell has to step in to watch over them.

Partly because of Gumshoe's personality, and partly because he thinks it's too easy, Miles stubbornly looks into the case to seek the perfect proof. He wants to bring honor to his mentor… Despite the unsavory rumors about him so prevalent these days. And of course, Franziska wishes to make it a competitor between them.

… The investigation is a lot tougher because there's so few clues and testimonies. But eventually, through Simon and Kay's side of the story, and supplementary testimony from Rell that Gumshoe never set foot inside the lobby during the recess, Miles builds up a case of Gumshoe's innocence. And through Rell, they get him to crack and sell out Calisto. Cornered long before she can snatch the Yatagarasu's Key, Calisto tries making a hasty escape, take a hostage… But Simon trips her up mid-escape and buys enough time for Tyrell to catch up and arrest her. Simon gets chewed out for recklessness, especially by a grief-stricken Kay… But Tyrell thanks the young man for his heart being in the right place. For keeping another regret from being thrown onto the pile…

In resolving the case, it's revealed Byrne is actually alive. Hanging on by a thread, but alive. They went through with a charade to put the culprit in a false sense of security, and to lockdown the crime scene. As such, Calisto cannot be charged with murder… But she is tied up in Rell's murder of Deid Mann, and she is a member of the smuggling ring. She's also revealed to not be Cece Yew's sister… Privately, Tyrell makes a plea for cooperation in dealing with the smuggling ring. He knows now that she was never on their side, and that the embassy tied to the key is intimately connected to the ring. But all the same, Tyrell can see that on some level, Calisto is relieved her plan fell apart so spectacularly. She could easily try to return to the fold with the ring… But would they take her back after failing? In the end, what did Calisto herself want for her life?

It wasn't easy talking with Calisto. Tyrell was honestly enraged at what she tried to do… But in the end, the Yatagarasu had a bond. Calisto might have only been there superficially, but it wasn't so cut and dry. Calisto herself admitted her assignment was… unpleasant. And she was getting a fair deal out of this - a few years in prison, and then Badd could arrange for her transfer into the precinct as an investigator under him, provisionally. She simply needed to prove she wanted that fresh start. Oh, she would be watched like a hawk… But given that the ring would be trying to gun after her even if she turned the deal down, Calisto felt this was her best chance at any kind of life. The only drawback is that Calisto was bitter about being anywhere near Tyrell or Byrne after this… As much as she tried distancing her emotions from their partnership, Calisto didn't think she deserved redemption after stabbing them in the back. Byrne barely survived. Calisto would rather discard her emotions and stay loyal to the ring until the bitter end…

But ultimately, they still had the Yatagarasu's Key. The ring would come for her. Badd knew full well how serious they could be; his damn jacket testified to that. … But in the end, Calisto was a conflicted woman that wanted to live. That wanted to have purpose. The ring held her loyalties for personal reasons, but if she was just going to be cut off like she was expecting… Calisto might as well wait out the storm and see where this new life would take her. She grudgingly accepted Tyrell's offer, privately doubting Tyrell would actually make the effort for her a few years from now… She was resigned to disappointment. Yet in a few years, after feeding the police intel on the ring, Tyrell would surpass her expectations and she'd have a job as an officer waiting for her. And it wouldn't be difficult at all to work her way up, with her knowledge and experience. When Alba was ousted as an ambassador, and taken to court for his crimes… The same with Manny Coachen… Calisto didn't feel guilty at all.

This wasn't the only change, however. Tyrell also took pity on Miles, who seemed so pitiful as a pup of Von Karma. He filled the "boy" in on his father's last case getting resolved a few years back, how Von Karma wasn't as perfect as he puffed himself up to be. It was quite a wakeup call for Miles… And it only got worse for him as he tried confronting Von Karma. The Chief Prosecutor dismissed and fired him, on the grounds that the prosecutor's office didn't need idealistic whelps so quick to slander. Manfred was disappointed in his pet project fizzling out so pitifully… But it was bound to happen with IS-7 cleared up. He's only shocked that Ray Shields or Badd didn't try anything sooner. Regardless, Manfred turns all his attention to his daughter's inevitable debut and cementing his position as the Chief Prosecutor.

As for Miles… Ray got alerted to the fallout from Badd, approached and gave Miles the offer to work at his dad's agency that Ray was keeping alive and well. Left with nowhere else to go, disowned by both Von Karma's (Franziska in heated denial over her father's true nature), Miles decides to give the bar exam another try, this time as a defense attorney. He feels numb and lost… But Ray won't give up on him. And he'll have a "little brother" in Sebastian. Gumshoe also keeps in touch, and is all too willing to help at crime scenes… Much to Miles' chagrin.

Simon lets Kay have her reunion with her dad, but gets dragged into the affair by an amused Tyrell. There's still the allegations that Mack brought up, that Byrne is the Yatagarasu… But they "clear it up" in court in the coming days and prove it couldn't be him. Calisto's cooperation helps the investigation into the smuggling ring move along, but it still takes some time to build a case against Alba and Coachen. In the meanwhile, the Yatagarasu quietly retires, and for now Byrne resolves to be there for Kay and Simon and carry on with his pursuit of the ring through proper legal channels. His brush with death leaves Byrne in a shaken state, but he will continue to live and make his own peace with Calisto… However long that may take him. Kay won't learn about the Yatagarasu's identity for a few more years at least, but Simon convinced Byrne and Tyrell it needed to happen someday.

For now, they're a family. Simon's on his way to leaving the nest, but not leaving their lives. Can't let Byrne to do anything harebrained so soon after nearly losing his life~… Tyrell is just as determined to keep the Faraday's safe and reform Calisto. They haven't lost yet. (人◕ω◕)

#ace attorney investigations #byrne faraday #tyrell badd #Simon Keyes #Kay Faraday #Mikes Edgeworth #dick gumshoe #Calisto Yew

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