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a-queer-seminarian · 4 years ago

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Hello, you seem to be knowledgeable about god. Do you know where to find him and what his weaknesses are? I have dedicated my life to hunting him down and killing him for the indescribable amount of suffering he has directly or indirectly caused.

cw: violent language, including about fighting / killing God; as well as discussion of the Shoah / Holocaust later on in the post

(gonna start this long-ass response by saying that yes, i know this anon is probably joking about dedicating their life to hunting down God, but i’m gonna answer it like they’re serious because that’s the kind of person i am haha)

honestly anon, all power to ya! it sounds like my own understanding of God is quite different from yours (for instance, i would claim that God’s main weakness is actually Their best strength, which is compassion and steadfast solidarity) -- but the question of why God allows suffering is one i come back to all the damn time.

if you do track God down -- if God turns out to be a Being that can be tracked down to one location and time -- please do deliver my regards and my sincerest “WTF??”

you’re not the first to demand God answer for the suffering that’s happened on Their watch --

for if God is truly omnipotent, and truly all-loving, why don’t they do something about all this pain??? Indeed, the Bible is rich with similar demands -- from the psalmists to Job to Jesus himself from the cross (quoting a psalm, he cries, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me??”).

You might already know all this, but if not, the question of God’s place in suffering is often referred to as theodicy, at least in Christian circles.

That term comes from the Greek for god + justice, so what it literally means is “justifying (or vindicating) God”....which I’m not a huge fan of, because it implies that when we explore this question of where God is in suffering, we already know the result will be that God will be proven innocent (or at least “not guilty”).

But do we know that?? See the bottom of this post for an example of a time people of great faith found God guilty!

Anyway, theodicy describes intellectual efforts “to jerry-rig three mutually exclusive terms into harmony: divine power, goodness, and the experiences of evil.“ - Wendy Farley

If you want to learn more about theodicy and the way some theologians have “made sense” of suffering, check out this introductory post I’ve got.

Or wander through my whole #theodicy tag over on my other blog.

I invite you to explore theodicy not in any attempt to convince you of anything, but so you know some of the arguments you’re up against! Honestly, the more i explore theodicy, the less satisfied i am with any justifications for why God doesn’t intervene in the face of so much suffering...so if you do the reading and still conclude God is guilty, i’m not gonna tell you you’re definitely wrong.

Anyway. Like i said, you’re not alone in wanting answers for why God -- however, i don’t know that i’ve seen anyone else with your determination to find and kill God!

(Except, and i hate that i know this lol, that’s apparently the plot of the final season of Supernatural -- they find out God’s a total ass who not only is guilty of negligence but also directly responsible for a lot of suffering for his own sadistic enjoyment. so. they kill the bastard.)

Still, while i don’t know that i’ve seen too many people who want to take God out, the idea of wrestling God is pervasive -- especially within Judaism, but also among some Christians.

i’m very into wrestling God, myself, finding it far more faithful to the God who gifted us free will and invites us into true, mutual relationship than unquestioning obedience.

i have a whole #wrestling God tag over on my other blog.

For the most intense example of wrestling with God i’ve yet seen, with God put on trial and found guilty, keep reading.

_________

cw: discussion of the Shoah / Holocaust below

You might connect to Elie Wiesel’s play The Trial of God, or the movie that was made based off it. Wiesel survived Nazi concentration camps but ceased to believe in God after what he suffered. His play was inspired by something he witnessed while a teen at Auschwitz:

"I witnessed a strange trial. Three rabbis—all erudite and pious men—decided one winter evening to indict God for allowing his children to be massacred. I remember: I was there, and I felt like crying. But nobody cried."

Robert McAfee Brown wrote more about this trial Wiesel witnessed:

“The trial lasted several nights. Witnesses were heard, evidence was gathered, conclusions were drawn, all of which issued finally in a unanimous verdict: the Lord God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, was found guilty of crimes against creation and humankind.”

Note that in 2008 when commenting on this event, Wiesel clarified that “At the end of the trial, they used the word chayav, rather than ‘guilty.’ It means ‘He owes us something.’”

In the chapter “No God, Only Auschwitz” of his book Embracing Hopelessness, Miguel A. De La Torre comments on this verdict by explaining that if God wasn’t going to intervene, then God must at the least speak -- but instead, God was silent:

“God must be held accountable for refusing to speak to those yearning for God’s voice. Something. Anything. A note of solidarity. A testament of love, accompaniment. But they hear and receive nothing. The trial...ends with God owing us something.

De La Torre goes on to describe the play Wiesel wrote based on this memory, which actually takes place in a 1649 Ukranian village, rather than at Auschwitz. The Cossacks raid the village and kill all but two of its Jewish residents.

“In Wiesel’s play, he has the inkeeper Berish voice the same questions those sitting in death camps centuries later asked, if not audibly, then silently:

‘To mention God’s mercy in Shamgorod [Auschwitz] is an insult. Speak of his cruelty instead. ...I want to understand why. He is giving strength to the killers and nothing but tears and the shame of helplessness to the victims. ...Either he is responsible or He is not. If He is, let’s judge him; if He is not, let him stop judging us. ...

‘[I] accuse Him of hostility, cruelty and indifference. ...Either He knows what’s happening to us, or He doesn’t wish to know! In both cases He is...guilty! Would a father stand by, quietly, silently, and watch his children being slaughtered?’”

De La Torre continues with his own thoughts on all this:

“The horrors humanity faces indict God as being less loving and attentive than sinful parents. I hesitate to make any pronouncements as to the character of God because in the final analysis, I lack any empirical knowledge upon which to base my study. Still with all my heart and being I want to say: my God is the God of the oppressed who incarnates Godself among the least of these.

I want to make this bold claim based on the testimony of the gospel witness. But in the midst of the dark night, I confess this hopeful belief is at best a tenet accepted by faith, lacking any means of proving the truth or falsehood of the claim. In the shadow of Auschwitz, though I am not Jewish, nonetheless I am left wondering if the precious Deity who notices the fall of a sparrow is blind to God’s children crushed in the winepress. Do I dare wonder if God is the God of the oppressors?

...Or maybe this is a God who really wants to do good, but lacks the power to do anything in the face of inhumanity. ..."

There’s one more piece to this tale of Wiesel’s witness of the trial of God at Auschwitz. And that is that, after declaring God guilty (or chayav)...

...after what Wiesel describes as an "infinity of silence", the Talmudic scholar looked at the sky and said "It's time for evening prayers", and the members of the tribunal recited Maariv, the evening service. (McAfee Brown)

...That ending is the part that astounds and awes me. These Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz find God guilty -- and then proceed to pray as they always do. I am reminded of what my Jewish friends as well as various Jewish scholars have told me: that Judaism is totally compatible with wrestling with God and even with disbelief. Whether these Jewish prisoners believed God even existed, they prayed -- because that tradition of prayer is what unites them to one another, to their people.

As De La Torre closes his telling of Wiesel’s story,

“At the conclusion of the movie God on Trial, based on the events Wiesel described, shortly after the barrack inmates find God guilty, and those chosen are marched to the gas chamber, they cover their heads and pray. ...

Believers and unbelievers who took the audacious act of placing God on trial do what is totally illogical -- in the midst of their hopelessness they demonstrate their faith as they march toward the gas chambers, or they defiantly embrace who they are while still remaining in heated conversation, damning God. It matters not if God still hears their prayers, or if there even is a God to hear; they still pray, they still debate -- not for God’s sake, but for their own.”

And that brings me to the one bit of actual advice I’ll give you, anon:

If you want to spend your life “hunting God down,” as I said, all power to you! But I do suggest you ponder for whose sake you do so -- and whether you do so for justice or just revenge. What good does such a quest do for those who are suffering now? Are their other paths you could follow that would bring more good? What about your own healing? I imagine you’re not interested in repairing any relationship with religion -- would walking away from God rather than hounding God be a more healing and fruitful path for your finite life?

I’ll close with one more quote from De La Torre, from the very end of his chapter:

“As I stroll through what was once the concentration camp of Dachau, I am cognizant that this space witnessed the unspeakable horrors that befell God’s children at the hands of Christians hoping for a better, purer society and future. ...So do not offer me your words of hope; offer me your praxis for justice. ...In the midst of unfathomable suffering, the earth’s marginalized no longer need pious pontifications about rewards in some hereafter. Nor do they need their oppressors providing the answers for their salvation. What is needed is disruption of the norm to push humanity toward an unachievable justice.

When there is nothing to lose, when work does not set you free, not only are multiple possibilities opened up with new opportunities for radical change unimaginable to those playing it safe; but also a venue is provided by which to get real with whatever this God signifies. ...”

#theodicy #god's silence #god's absence #god on trial #wrestling god #...literally #suffering #embracing hopelessness #essays #Anonymous #holocaust /#shoah /#elie wiesel #yes yes i know this is a troll but hey. i like to talk about theodicy SO thanks for the chance to talk about theodicy at its most extreme

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shadow-otousan · 4 years ago

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Deciphering the years in which Shadowsan grew up in

Alternative title: Debunking the supposed fact that Shadowsan is 40+ (I’m looking at you, cs wiki)

Since Shadowsan’s flashback in s02e03, this has been on my mind. After some intense image searching, I can finally share the fruits of my research.

Let’s cut to the chase.

This is Shadowsan as a child, then known as Suhara. (Also pictured are most likely his playmates.) The style of clothing they wear, which you can see mostly on the other kids, were fashionable as everyday wear for children during the 60s (and possibly earlier during the late 50s). This nostalgic blog in Japanese in which the author talks about their childhood and details the timeline of the decade, also describes the fashion worn by himself and his peers.

The caption (fortunately in English) as follows:

Children of everyday wear of 1965 is this is it !!

The boy on the far right and the two boys on the far left are wearing the style most similar to what we see in the flashback--sweaters worn over their shirts, and shorts that barely stop at the thighs or, if longer, above the knees. We can safely say that Shadowsan spent his childhood at least somewhere in the mid-60s.

Now on to the second decade and this time, we’ll be looking at Shadowsan and his brother. But first, we’ll be focusing on the most conspicuous example for what was considered the style of that decade.

This is Hideo as a young adult. Now the decade in which this took place was easier to figure. It might help that I had a 70s phase in college lol. The type of glasses he wore originated in the late 60s as a reaction to the unattractive and sometimes even downright butt-ugly spectacles of the past decades (except cat eye glasses but even that was a mixed bag). However, this style of eyewear really peaked in popularity during the 70s and it endured somewhat into the 80s.

Glasses became seen as fashionable with their large, thick, and colorful frames as seen in these ads. Tinted lenses, if we’re talking about sunglasses. Now what only stumps me is that I cannot find the exact example for Hideo’s glasses, as I see only one bridge on his frames instead of the more common two (those are the type of glasses Shadowsan buys for himself during the Fashionista Caper showing us that fashion is cyclical, but I digress). Regardless, the shapes are there.

As for his hair, you can simply find it by typing “70年代アイドル男性” in google image search. But for the sake of one example:

The only slight difference is that apparently, most of them parted their hair to the right instead of slightly to the left like Hideo does (and Masashi Sada as you can see above. Bonus points for being the few famous people in Japan who wears glasses so now I’m given the theory that the character designers lowkey based Hideo off of him. Highly unlikely, but it’s a nice thought. While we’re here, check out one of his songs like this one). His hairstyle also lasted until the 80s (because any start of the decade will always have holdovers from the previous one) until perms and hairspray made them even crazier. Hideo’s hairstyle can be describe as ‘feathered.’ Hideo’s clothes lack the then ubiquitous bell-bottom pants and wide lapels of the 70s though I’m chalking that up to even Hideo thinking those were silly (bell-bottoms could actually sweep up the dirt if you don’t wear platform shoes..I also tripped on them twice while walking ;w;).

Next, Shadowsan--este, Suhara as a teen.

Because he’s a rebel, it’s a given that his style does NOT reflect the popular fashion of his youth unless you’re in a gang (or trying to look like you’re a part of one). They seem to have one thing in common though: a buzzcut.

This was a photo of what seems to be gang members, taken by Katsumi Watanabe in 1972. The man on the middle right is the closest we have to Suhara’s style, befitting a misfit of Japanese society. On the contrary to medium-length feathered hair and colorful clothes, such rebels would go out of their way to stick out from the norm. Worth noting that the bosozoku fashion--in which elements of American choppers and 50s greasers are combined with Japanese elements (i.e. gakuran--high school uniform for males, hachimaki, sarashi, tokkou-fuku--”special fighting jacket”, etc.)--did not become quite popular until the 80s, so what Suhara wears is more or less a prototype of what will become the stereotypical look of Japanese delinquents (although those styles have actually coexisted too).

Now with all that out of the way. We can estimate as to how old they really are.

If Shadowsan was a 60s kid, that would place his birth years somewhere during the end of the 50s or the very beginning of the 60s, making him 50 plus or early 60s at the time of the show’s setting (2019).

Hideo, meanwhile, I’m just gonna take a wild guess and say he’s 5 to 7 years older (or even 10 considering how much older he looks compared to his brother in the current show), which would place his birth years squarely in the 50s, beggining, mid, or late. In the show’s setting, that would make him either 60 plus or pushing 70 years old. If 10, mid 70s or plus.

Until a concise number is given to us by the CS crew, I will strictly hold on to these conclusions as their more or less true ages. Of course, everyone is free to disagree because, after all, these are only theories and if they were to be debunked in the future, I won’t be surprised. Just a little heartbroken lol Because I’m not a historian of any sort nor am I Japanese, feel free to add on this or correct me on some mistakes I might have made.

And that concludes this post. Class dismissed ;P

(Last minute addendum: I would also like to point out that though it seems that most VILE operatives recruited are young as some argue that any VILE operative student had to be 20, nowhere in the show does it require only a certain group of young people can join. It might be entirely possible that as long as one is an adult (20 or older), one can join VILE. And Shadowsan, from the looks of it, seems to be in his late 30s or early 40s when he was a student going by his facial features. He just used to look really young bc Asian aging is a paradox. You can be older than you look, vice versa, and suddenly look like your age. But hey, like I said, only theories)

Ok, now I’m done~

#carmen sandiego 2019 #shadowsan #suhara #cs suhara #hideo #cs hideo #analysis #headcanons #cs headcanons #1970s #1960s #learning #theories

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tealin · 4 years ago

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Observation Hill

To see the post in its original format, please visit twirlynoodle.com/blog

There is no mistaking Observation Hill when you arrive at McMurdo, if you know anything about it. It is a distinct cone, right at the end of the peninsula – even if you've never seen a picture of it, its name alone tells you it's a prime lookout, and sticking out into McMurdo sound as it does, it has clear views in every direction.

I had seen pictures of it, but I was still surprised how it loomed over the station. Unlike the vastly larger Mt Erebus, it is visible from everywhere; whether you're eating in the Galley or crawling back to bed from the Crary lab in the wee hours, it's always looking over your shoulder.

Though not apparent in the above photo, it is clearly visible in person that there is a large cross mounted nearly at the peak of the hill. Visitors especially from the States might assume it is just another expression of religious devotion – Christ died on a cross on a hill, so hilltop crosses are not unusual in a country which puts great stock in expressions of Christianity – but this is not another one of those things, in fact it isn't even American. This cross was erected in January 1913 by the surviving men of the Terra Nova Expedition, as a memorial to Captain Scott and the other members of his party who died out on the Ross Ice Shelf on their way home from the South Pole.

Before the ship arrived it was decided among us to urge the erection of a cross on Observation Hill to the memory of the Polar Party. On the arrival of the ship the carpenter immediately set to work to make a great cross of jarrah wood [an Australian hardwood]. There was some discussion as to the inscription, it being urged that there should be some quotation from the Bible because "the women think a lot of these things." But I was glad to see the concluding line of Tennyson's "Ulysses" adopted: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

... Observation Hill was clearly the place for it, it knew them all so well. Three of them were Discovery men who lived three years under its shadow: they had seen it time after time as they came back from hard journeys on the Barrier: Observation Hill and Castle Rock were the two which had always welcomed them in. It commanded McMurdo Sound on one side, where they had lived: and the Barrier on the other, where they had died. No more fitting pedestal, a pedestal which in itself is nearly 1000 feet high, could have been found.

(Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, pp.565-7)

The establishment of the cross took two days: the first, to hack a hole in the volcanic rock in which to mount it, and the second to carry up the pieces and erect them.

It stands nine feet out of the rocks, and many feet into the ground, and I do not believe it will ever move. When it was up, facing out over the Barrier, we gave three cheers and one more. (ibid., p.567)

106 years later, there is a hiking trail up Observation Hill. I had intended to make a pilgrimage since the moment I arrived, but with everything else going on, and the ongoing challenge to get enough sleep, it wasn't until quite late in my visit that I finally made it.

My first attempt was on a relatively fine day, when I thought I could get some good views. The trailhead was clearly marked on the station map, but when I got there I couldn't find a way to reach it without crossing a fuel pipeline, and I had a dim recollection from orientation that this was a big no-no. I wandered about looking for access until I started getting a headache from the fumes, and gave up.

The next opportunity came a few days later, after I'd found out from a veteran that it was OK just to step over the pipeline there. It was a thickly cloudy day, and hazy by Antarctic standards, so I wouldn't get as good a view, but that did mean I could look forward to having the hill to myself. So I stepped over the pipeline and started up.

It looks like a terribly steep climb from the bottom, but once on the slope it's not so bad, and is far less slippery than the gravel slope of Arrival Heights. Partway up I passed a mountain rescue class, but beyond that the trail was entirely mine.

Like the rest of Ross Island, Observation Hill is volcanic in origin – in fact it was once a small volcano of its own. Unlike the subglacial volcano that is now Castle Rock, which grew cylindrically through a hole it melted in the ice, Observation Hill must have been uncovered in its later years at least, because it has the classic cone shape made by molten rock running down the outside. It is a lighter colour than much of the rest of the exposed rock in the area, and in places, it gives a really good impression of being sedimentary rather than igneous.

While the climb was not as physically intense as I had feared, it did still make me very warm, and I had two pauses, not to catch my breath but to cool down. One was to watch the rescue class, the other was when, somewhere near the top, I lost the trail, and examined the terrain for a while to guess which side would be least fall-off-able. I chose the wrong one, it turns out – I didn't fall off, but I did have to pick my way over some bare rock and came out above the cross, which is mounted in a pocket of rubble just off the peak.

It's hard to tell from the photo but it is in fact quite large – I am an average sized female and I stood well under the crossbar. The inscription is still there, but over a century of blizzards have battered it, and some parts are just barely decipherable.

The names – above of the worst of the blowing grit – are still legible. This gave me one of those moments which always seems to come by surprise. I have lived most of my life, and certainly all of my career, in close proximity with fictional characters, who demand to be believed in, either out of escapist necessity or professional duty. Most of the time I am off in my own little world, and the fact that that little world is now a historical moment in Antarctica does not, necessarily, make it more real, in relation to my literal present reality, than any movie I've worked on. I know these guys were real, I have seen film footage of them, and read their handwriting, and, some of them, even met members of their families! But when I'm up to my elbows in the work, it's easy to give it the part of my brain that suspends disbelief on a production. Suddenly something will come along that jolts me back to their reality: in this case, a name carved on a physical object by someone who knew them personally.

At the same time, this physical object impressed upon me again just how much time separates their reality and mine. Originally the cross was painted white, with the incised letters filled in black. Only a little of the white paint remains in the deepest recesses of what are quite shallow letters, now. In 1960, when Silas Wright returned and was photographed up here, the wood had already been scoured clean. His visit was 47 years after the cross was put in place, and 49 years before mine. The same imagination that conflates historical realities with fictional ones can make those years evaporate, but that is still a lot of years, and erosion, unlike imagination, doesn't lie.

Cherry may have believed that the cross would never move, but it has in fact blown down twice, once in the winter of 1974 and again in 1993. Its restoration in 1994 was a significant effort: a new concrete "boot" was made for it at Scott Base and delivered to the site by helicopter, and the cross itself was relayed up the hill by teams of helpers. (You can see photos of the event here, p.44) I cannot say how moving it is to see such an outlay of resources and enthusiasm by people who never met the Polar Party, to perpetuate their memory.

The cross isn't the only thing to see at the top of Observation Hill, of course – there is everything else. It turned out to be the perfect way to end my tour of Terra Nova landmarks, not only because it was the last bit of home territory the Terra Nova men themselves visited, but because I could see nearly everywhere I'd been from up here.

As you can see, it was not the greatest day for landscape photography, what with the matte light and the taller mountains being covered with cloud. But I had not come up here to take pictures. The sombre atmosphere befitted what I had come to do, which was to remember these men and thank The Powers That Be for the blessings that had been showered upon me in the last few weeks.

The cross faces south, towards their last camp, and the Pole. This is, of course, a thoughtful and fitting aspect of the memorial. It also gives the impression of a beacon, a light in a window, a lighthouse on a headland, guiding them home. The men who erected it knew the men were dead. They are still dead. We all know this. But they are still out there somewhere, and it is not impossible to imagine some small irrational part of the human psyche wanting, in some small way, to show them the way back, and call them back by name.

Minna Bluff was covered in cloud, so I couldn't use it as a bellwether, but the wind started to pick up and was colder than before, so I thought I should start heading down again. The correct trail was obvious from this end, and I poked along it for a little way before everything caught up with me and I sat down to have a little cry.

The cross is a historical artefact, and while it is not as plum or as complex as the huts, it still requires conservation. Alarmed by the degree of erosion on the lettering, the Antarctic Heritage Trust has devised a shell to protect it from the worst of the winter winds. That will do something, but it has already lost a lot. When I was up there, I wondered why it hadn't ever been repainted, as the paint would go a long way to protecting it, and when the paint wore off it could just get repainted instead of eating further and further into the wood. The raw timber is more harmonious with the environment, and I like it better aesthetically that way, as do many others I'm sure – the white cross with black letters in Debenham's photo from 1913 is very stark and artificial in such a magnificent landscape. But it would last a lot longer.

On the other hand, generations of Antarcticans now have the cross as a touchstone, not only as their link to the history (not everyone gets to visit Cape Evans) but as a landmark in their own experience of Antarctica. It was personally important to the men who painted it white and put it up, but it is also personally important to hundreds, if not thousands, of people since then, who have never seen it white and don't know that's how it started, and might see the repainting as a travesty. If it were to be conserved, to what extent would that go? Would the letters be re-carved deeper, obliterating what remains of Davies' original work? At what point does conservation end and adulteration begin?

The alternative is to take down the original and keep it somewhere out of the weather – Scott Base perhaps – and replace it with a replica. Jarrah is still available, the letters could be carved afresh, it could be the bare wood everyone has known and loved for the last fifty years at least, and the original could be saved from the effects of weather once and for all. But doesn't this defeat the intent of the original in some way, and make it – dare I say – a Disneyland version? Do we owe more to history to keep it as it is and let the elements wear it down, or to preserve it as long as possible and do whatever might be necessary to extend the experience and historical understanding of a place, if not its authenticity?

These are all questions that curators and conservators have been grappling with for years, so I leave it to them to make the decisions. I am grateful to have seen the original, and to have a moment to myself up there to reflect on these things, and more. I hope, whatever happens with it in the future, Observation Hill is not de-crossed entirely. How else will they find the way home?

#antarctica #mcmurdo station #observation hill #conservation #history #memorial #artefacts #scott expedition #terra nova expedition #scott base

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theonetheycallhannah · 4 years ago

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The Treatment of Captain Syverson-Chapter 16: Sit Rep

Characters: Captain Logan “Sy” Syverson, various other original supporting/secondary characters (This includes Sy’s Army Buddies of varying rank as follows: Kevin Kaufmann, Nate Banning, Chad Randall, Matt Styles, Jake Ryburn, and Travis Hodges. I apologize if I’ve mixed up their names anywhere. I just gave them last names and sometimes rank so they could be called something other than their first names for sake of variety! lol!)

Summary: Sy meets up with his Army buddies and they are eager to help.

Romance and Smut Abound HERE!

Word Count: 4.5k

Warnings: Language, firearms, implication of abuse and violence

Author’s Note: Guys, we are getting closer! Our couple will be back together soon! I can’t wait and I know most of you feel the same! I hope the strike team members aren’t too muddled and confusing. If they are, I’m very open to your feedback and suggestions on how to clarify and improve! Thank you to everyone, long time readers, and new fans picked up along the way! I cherish you all, and would never have gotten this far in the story if it wasn’t for each and every one of you! I hope you enjoy the 16th chapter (18th installment…remember when I thought this would just be a few chapters of fluff with a smutty conclusion? Lol!) of The treatment of Captain Syverson.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, Henry is not mine, le sigh, and all mention of him, his characters, any characters from his films, or his precious doggy, Kal, are strictly for transformative and recreational use. I neither ask for, nor accept payment for the work I post on Tumblr or AO3. Unbeta’d because this is for fun and escapism. This is an original work by me, Hannah. Please reblog if you wish to share. Please do not repost either in whole or part, as the work of anyone but myself. Thanks so much for reading!

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If you want to be notified when I post a new chapter or work, I’ll be happy to add you to my tag list! Stricken blogs are getting personal messages from me when a new chapter is uploaded because Tumblr’s faulty tagging system will not stand in the way of me delivering what the people want!(?) lol! (Although…their lackadaisical notification system might…sorry for that. I have no control. lol!)

X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@

Sy sat in his truck in the parking lot of Cade's. He couldn't help but think about the last time he was here. The altercations with Elliott, both inside the bar and outside, the friendships he'd started to build with the other fellas in Shane's work group, the simple way Shane pulled off the elegance of minimalism with her wardrobe and makeup, the ride home…and the night of lovemaking that followed. He had made a mistake. He shouldn't have agreed to come tonight. He was gonna leave. His right hand reached for the keys in the ignition, a firm grip ready to set the engine roaring again, when he was startled by a rap at his window.

Tap-tappa-tap-tap his friend Kevin had just rhythmically knocked with one knuckle on the window. He was smiling and waving exuberantly, like a puppy whose master had just come home.

Sy's scowl softened into a sheepish grin and he knocked back tap-tap.

Kevin waited near Sy's front fender while he got out of his truck.

"How ya doin' Kevin?" he greeted his old friend warmly.

"Alright, I s'pose! You?"

"Oh…I'm makin' it, I guess. What are you up to these days? Still workin' at the plant?" Kevin had worked for the 3M factory over in Lebanon, Missouri since his last tour. Sy knew if he just got him talking about his life, Sy wouldn't have to give him details about his own, which he was going to avoid like the plague, if he could tonight.

"Yup, I actually just got a promotion. I'm a line manager now." And Sy could barely congratulate him before he started delving into the details as the two men walked into Cade's.

It was already busy, even for a Friday night. But the rest of the guys had already claimed a table between the dart boards and the pool tables, and were working on a couple of pitchers of beer. The two were welcomed warmly and only slightly teased about walking in together.

With the group finally assembled, they began taking turns giving report on their lives. It began with Kevin, who, having already begun with Sy, continued with a brief recap for the others. Sy exhaled with relief when Matt, who was seated on the other side of Kevin piped up to speak next, having recently proposed to his long time girlfriend. They were going to get to him last, if at all. He listened as well as he could as he battled the troubled thoughts in his head by bombarding them with beer. Unbeknownst to him, his friend Nate, who'd organized the gathering, had been observing his behavior with curiosity, and a measure of concern. He didn't let Jake finish talking about his latest dalliance into what they were all sure was a pyramid scheme disguised as direct sales. Even though Jake insisted it was not.

"Well, I'm curious as to why Sy's been so tight-lipped all evening. What's on your mind, Captain?"

"Nothin' Nate. Just enjoying a few beers with old friends." Sy lied, not convincing anyone at the table, least of all Nate, who had been one of his closest friends while they were stationed together.

"If I wanted to hear bullshit, I'd have let Jake keep talking about the Duraplex scam."

"It's not a scam, guys, it's real supplements for busy people!" Jake defended.

"Can it, Hodges. We aren't buying it, and we aren't signing up to sell it, either." Nate focused again on Sy. "Come on, man. You told me on the phone you had a lot going on. What is it? Female troubles?" He snickered, as did the other guys.

Sy looked into his glass, through the foam and into the honey liquid below it with a rueful grin. "In a sense."

He took a huge drink of the beer, five gulps, nearly emptying it, fortifying himself to speak.

"My girlfriend is missing." Everyone froze in position as they processed this.

Half a dozen questions hit his ears at once. Which he could have handled if he hadn't had almost a full pitcher by himself.

He shut them down, and began to tell them the story of how he met Shane and their sort of whirlwind romance. He paused for a moment to pour himself another beer.

"Never heard you talk about a woman like that, Sy." His friend Chad piped up.

"Never felt this way before, man. She's…she's the one."

"You said she was missing, though?" Nate asked, brow furrowed in concern.

Sy continued, talking about their argument, reconciliation, and then his leaving for training, ending his briefing with the phone call he got from Shane's boss.

"That's fucked up, man." Matt said. "What are you gonna do about it?" His worry seemed genuine, as well, as if he was putting himself in Sy's shoes. Sy assumed because he had been in love with Tonya, his now fiancé since they were in high school, even though she didn't come around on him until he came home on leave one holiday weekend.

"I've already gone to the police with my statement and an idea for a prime suspect."

"You think she was kidnapped?" Brad Randall, who was a Sergeant for the Rolla Police Department, inquired.

"I personally have no doubts that she was kidnapped, and I am a hun'ert percent certain it was her shithead ex."

"And you don't think she's just…ghosted you?" Brad prompted. The thought put a painful tightness in Sy's chest, but it passed quickly. He knew she wouldn't do that. And not just to him.

"No way, man. She left her phone. She didn't tell work. She didn't even tell her parents. Shane takes her phone with her from room to room. She's glued to it. She'd never do that to her coworkers, who are practically family, and she'd certainly tell her parents if she was going to leave town for any amount of time. It's just…not her. I know her."

"And who's this ex? What's his deal? Why is he on the short list of suspects?"

"He IS the list, Brad. He was abusive when they were together. And a cheater. And a liar. And he tried to jump me right outside just a few weeks back. Ask Candace. She was behind the bar when he started getting in Shane's face up there. And I'd bet she saw what happened out in the parking lot, too." He gestured to the sporty blonde bartender with a high ponytail and a Cardinal's jersey when he mentioned her, and then pointed toward the windows looking out onto the dozen or more vehicles parked outside.

"Can we do anything?" Kevin asked, clamping a hand on Sy's shoulder.

"Nothin'. But I appreciate the offer, brother." And he returned the contact with a clap to the other man's shoulder.

Nate and Brad exchanged pointed looks, and Nate countered Sy's rejection.

"I wouldn't say THAT, Sy."

"What do you mean?" Sy looked at Nate as if he was pedaling snake oil…or Jake's supplements.

"I think…that we CAN do something. To help you find Shane."

"We all have military experience, and some of us have connections that could be very useful." Added Brad. "I'm on the Force. I can handle getting intel on the guy."

"I'm in to help with transpo." Matt Styles raised his hand to offer up the vehicles in his transportation service, Rydes with Styles. Sy hated when words were misspelled for the sake of gimmicks…but he had to give Matt credit for that one.

"And Travis and I still work at the base. We can arrange gear." Jake added as Travis nodded.

"And whatever else you need, I'm in too." Kevin concluded.

"No way, guys. You can't stick your necks out for me like that. I won't have it."

"Sy…You know I talked to Lopez after that last mission the two of you were on?" Travis met Sy's eye as he spoke. "He said you had your team carry out Kominski's body. And that you took on most of, and then all of his bodyweight, just so Freeman could cover everyone. Said you were hurt, yourself, but helped him, carried him, to your extraction point. Up several flights of stairs."

Sy had no response other than a blank stare. It seemed to say all it needed to, because Travis continued.

"Lopez is alive and the Kominski girls got to say a proper goodbye to David. Plus, that mission WAS a success because you got the target. I know it's still classified, but…I think we all know the significance of what you did by leading that mission. You didn't leave a man, living or dead, behind."

"And we aren't gonna let your girl get left behind, either. We're gonna take that sonofabitch out. Because what do we do?" Nate declared, ending with the call Sy had always used at the end of his mission briefs.

The whole table, including a reluctant Sy, recited “We embrace the darkness and the suffering.”

“And why do we do it?” Nate continued.

“So that our fellow man is free to live in peace." Sy looked around the table at all of these men he had served with, fought with, watched comrades fall with, and fought against tyranny with. He thought most of them could have come up with their own story about his role in their military time, but the mission Travis was talking about outlined what he figured was the most significant sacrifice he had ever made for a teammate.

"Well…I guess we need to come up with a plan, then." Sy smiled and finished off the beer in his glass before laying it out for the others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sy had given them all missions tailored to their own strengths and connections. Brad would gather all the info he could on Elliott. Matt would reserve vehicles. Jake and Travis would procure tactical gear for the team, and Nate…Nate would provide weapons. Pistols and blades. Ammo. Holsters. Even flash grenades and smoke bombs.

Cade's was too public to talk about their plans, so Sy told everyone to rendezvous at his house the very next afternoon. They sat around the patio table on his back deck while they waited for everyone to arrive. Jake was late.

"Well, I guess 'direct sales' waits for no man, and we can't wait for Ryburn anymore. Styles, report?" Sy commenced the meeting.

"I have three Suburbans that are only a couple years old. They're black, discreet, and all glass is tinted within an inch of it's life. Even the license plate covers. I'll make sure they're fueled and ready." Matt stated.

"Aces. Richardson?" Travis spoke up next.

"Yeah, Jake had to go in for a late shift last night after we met, but I talked to him. He's gonna get vests for everyone, eyewear, comms, the whole works. All rated for Black Ops. He told me a bit ago he was following up on a lead and was hoping it would pan out. Said he had a hunch." Travis shrugged, not certain what his friend was up to, but not that concerned.

"Sounds good. Randall?"

"I made up some dossiers for everyone that includes everything I could find on Thomas. He doesn't have a ton of priors. Mostly drunk and disorderly's that were thrown out, because he got the right representation and the wrong judge. He must have someone backing him, because I have no job on file for him. No employer has run a background on him in ten years. Last known address is from six years ago, when he filed a change of address from an apartment in the Cottage Hills complex to…407 Oak Street."

"That's Shane's address." Sy interjected. "He must not have changed it since she kicked him out."

"It seems so. But it's so weird. I don't see any credit cards, online orders, not even a Netflix account on the guy. He's totally fallen off the grid since Shane. I did get into some social media accounts, but he hasn't posted to anything in the last 18 months."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he was posting hot and heavy about this girl, Kara Hutch. 37. Lives over in Waynesville. But his last Facebook status just says, 'What a waste.' and 'feeling betrayed' and that was in February of last year."

"Hmm, do you think--" Sy was interrupted by the unexpectedly loud and abrupt sound of his front door flying open and Aika, with them on the deck, barking like they were about to be murdered. She was ready to kill whatever came through next. The men, all of them battle hardened veterans sporting conceal and carry permits, were out of their seats and in defensive stances in a fraction of a second. Aiming at an unseen enemy. A figure approached in the shadow of Sy's kitchen, arms raised and slowing as it saw several barrels aimed for its head and chest.

"Woah, woah, woah, guys it's me! It's Jake! Stand down!"

"Are you FUCKING INSANE, Corporal!?" Sy asked, reverting to Captain mode. "You just snuck up on and burst in on a group of soldiers. Do you comprehend how close you came to looking more like Swiss Cheese than a man, Ryburn?!" Sy scolded, fire in him rising, but more out of an angry concern for the friend they nearly shot.

"Sorry, sir, err, Sy. I was focused on getting here for my report." Jake said, out of breath.

"Travis already told us about the gear, Ryburn. You didn't need to bust in like that." Nate berated.

"Oh, guys. What I've got is way better than night vision devices. I might have an address for our guy."

"How in seven hells did YOU get an address?" Brad exclaimed, pride wounded as intel was his task.

"I know, dude, that was on you, but…I overheard a conversation when I was doing some work on equipment in the Air Traffic Control tower."

"What could you have possibly overheard in ATC?" Sy was incredulous.

"Do you want me to tell you, or would you like to keep screaming at me?"

Sy called Aika off and let Jake onto the deck, but the German Shepherd was still eyeing the corporal with marked skepticism.

"So I kept hearing this controller talking to the other girl at her station. She kept talking about her boyfriend…whose name was Elliott." Eyebrows went up all around the table. "Yeah, and he fit the description in every way. Physical appearance, textbook narcissism, the works. I went to the personnel office when I got done with the service call and told the attendant that the girl had helped me with my gear and I wanted to send her an email to thank her. She gave me a contact sheet on Sasha King. I looked her up on my lunchbreak, and found some photos of her with a guy I think might be Elliott." Jake showed Sy an image he'd saved to his phone. "Is this him?"

"Yup, that's the guy." Sy's blood was boiling again at the smiles on the couple's faces. He didn't deserve happiness. He didn't deserve a pretty girlfriend. He should die alone, starving for the love he deprived others. "You say you got an address?"

"Yeah, the gal in personnel printed me a full demo sheet. The only thing we don't have is a social." Sy noted the redacted 9-digit code in one corner of the document Jake had handed him. He read out loud. 3502 Highway D. St. Robert, MO.

"You boys feel up to a little recon tonight?" They all nodded, excitedly, patting Jake on the back, and high fiving him in congratulations on the invaluable find. Even Brad commended him on his detective skills and told him he'd have a job on the Force with him if he ever wanted a change. The corporal almost blushed.

The men went back into the house and through the front door to the driveway where they were all parked.

"Jake, you brought all the gear, too?"

"Sure did, Sy. There's vests, belts, NVDs and helmets to mount. There's plenty for everyone." Jake opened the back of his Jeep as if it were a buffet of delicious tactical equipment. Sy found among the gear a large case and opened it out of curiosity. A sound amplifier with headphones. That was going with him, as it appeared there was only one.

"I'll outfit everyone with guns and ammo later. But here are some tac knives, and three of each diversionary devices for each member of the team." Nate passed out packs with the blades, smoke grenades, and flash bombs.

"Okay, rendezvous at Matt's shop at 1800. We'll go over some procedures for the evening and get set up with the rest of our weaponry then. Okay?" General nods of ascent and "mmhmms" in confirmation of the plan came from the men. Sy continued, "Maybe get some rest between now and then. I don't know how long this is going to take."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sy got to Matt's a little early. 1730. Nate showed up about ten minutes later and pulled in next to Sy, leaving the rear doors accessible to arm the team. The men got out of their vehicles and began double checking Nate's inventory.

"Nervous?" Nate said after exchanging the usual pleasantries.

"I didn't think I was. But just now, I got to thinking about what that…monster is doing to the love of my life. What he's putting her through, if he's even let her live. What are we going to come across when we get to this place?"

"You can't think like that. She's not Schrödinger's cat. You have to be positive here. This mission depends on your strength as a leader. You're gonna do great. And Shane is gonna be fine. We all will. Have a little faith, man." Nate patted Sy on the back in encouragement. Sy appreciated it. But he thought he might have to compartmentalize, instead. Think of this as just another mission. Forget that Shane was involved. Even if it wasn't healthy, it might at least be helpful.

Matt arrived soon after and waved at the two men as he pulled in on the other side of Nate. He got out and greeted his friends, all of them shooting the breeze and enfolding the others into the conversation as they got there. Kevin was the last to arrive, just before 1800, when the briefing commenced.

"So," Sy began, more timidly than was his usual way. "First, guys, I wanna say, I appreciate y'all so much for doing this. For putting in the time and the resources to help me and Shane. I owe y'all more than I can repay, but that doesn't mean I won't try. Within reason." He grinned and his friends chuckled.

"Now, we've got the comms set up. We'll be in each other's ears, so we can report in real time. I've looked up an aerial view of the farm on Google Earth, and there should be good cover for surveillance with the sound equipment and NVDs. I'll take point, Nate, you and Matt are with me. Kevin, you and Brad will flank the property on the left, Travis and Jake are going right. I'm hoping this will just be recon, but if I get wind of something I don't like, I may call for the strike. You guys will report anything you think looks fishy, and I will make that call with the intel I'm given. Now. When and if I make that call, we're gonna aim for disorientation and soft incapacitation. If you don't have to kill, don't. I don't know how much help this bastard has, but I know it would have taken several to take down Shane. It's not that I think any of them deserve to be spared, but…I don't want us to break up any families. We don't need the weight on our already heavy souls." War had changed them all, and Sy didn't want to make any more widows. "We good?"

Nods of approval from the men made Sy think he was looking at a military bobble head collection. He stifled a smile.

"Alright, lets get armed and ready, then Matt can take us to our chariots."

They were all mostly suited up, black or dark colors were the general uniform. They were ready for whatever might happen. As Nate handed out guns and ammo, the men examined their clips, loaded their guns, and put them in their holsters until needed…they hoped they wouldn't be.

When they were all set, they followed Matt to the huge garage he kept his fleet in.

Although, "garage" didn't quite do the building justice. It was actually an airplane hangar that Matt got for a good price when the local airline went under. He'd made a loft in it with a ramp so there was extra room for smaller vehicles like his town cars. The limos, SUVs, and the stretch Hummer were on the lower level. He had a separate space outside for the two party busses and the RV, protected from the elements by large carports.

Matt went to grab keys from the lock box as the men gathered near the Suburbans. Sy was getting angsty. Moment of truth was here.

"Okay," Matt jingled two sets of keys in his hands. "Who's driving?"

Kevin deferred to Brad without contest, but Jake and Travis were bickering over the question between them.

"Grow up or get married already." Sy chided. "Jake, you got the good intel for us yesterday. You drive."

Travis was mildly crestfallen, but Jake was stoked and he caught the keyring Matt tossed him.

"You wanna drive, Captain?" Matt offered Sy the last set of keys.

"No, Matt. You're driving our group. I'll take shotgun though."

And the seven men got into the vehicles as if they were mounting horses, headed into the sunset.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the comms on the way, Sy addressed the team. "Okay, there's a large outbuilding near the road, guys. Pull off the driveway and park behind that structure. Hopefully they'll hide the vehicles from the main house. Bravo and Charlie teams, you let Alpha team get in place before you take your positions."

"Roger that, Captain." Kevin said in the headset.

"We copy." Travis answered for himself and Jake.

The first phase of the mission went perfectly. Sy, Nate, and Matt were in position, and Sy had set up the sound amplifier, aiming it at the house, headphones on. When the other teams were in position, Matt reported to Sy, since he was getting feedback using the earpiece and the headphones for the amp at the same time.

"Bravo and Charlie teams are in place, Captain."

"Great. Sit Rep?"

"All's quiet so far. Wait. Headlights coming up the drive." Each team tried to make themselves as small and low as possible so as not to draw attention to their presence. Sy had been getting nothing but crime show drivel from the TV in the house since he got here.

A petite but curvy brunette got out of the white Honda Civic and stomped into the house.

"Hey babe." Elliott's unmistakable voice rang in Sy's ear. And he was filled to bursting with rage all over again.

"What the fuck, Elliott? I've been trying to call you for hours! What the hell have you been doing?"

"Oh, I was charging my phone in the bedroom. What's going on?"

"That Captain Syverson your little pet was banging? I found out today that he's back in town. Has been for a few days."

"Shit. Shit!!! SHIT!!!"

"Yeah, so…if he isn't already, it won't be long before he starts trying to find her."

"But…how could he? Even if he thought it was me, I have no official ties to this place, or even you!"

"Flattering."

"You know what I mean."

"Whatever, but I'd get rid of her ASAP. This guy is NOT someone you wanna piss off, Elliott."

"I'll bring the guys in. We'll take care of it. Tonight."

Sy cussed in a loud whisper. He wanted to rip Elliott apart with his bare hands. Nate asked him what was wrong, but Sy held up a hand for him to remain quiet because he heard the scumbag inside on the phone.

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, change of plans, we need to do this tonight. Get everyone out here. Yes, immediately. There's a…potential complication. We need to take care of her before it becomes more. Yeah, she's weak, but I'm still gonna wait until you guys get here. She's still got some fight in her. She about took Jackson's eye out yesterday when he was down there. He's got some wicked scratches on his face. I think he made her regret it, though." Elliott laughed with evil mirth. Sy was furious. He reckoned God Himself might have a time pulling him off that degenerate before he made him unrecognizable as a human man. Once he started punching him, he might not be able to stop.

When Elliott signed off, Sy pulled the earphones down onto his neck. He looked at Matt and Nate.

"He's planning something with Shane and has called in reinforcements. It sounds like he means to take her somewhere else, and it didn't sound like it was gonna be pretty. I think we need to go in now."

"Shit. Okay." Matt responded. Sy put his earpiece in and called on the rest of the team.

"Bravo and Charlie, do you copy?"

"Bravo copies." Kevin reported back.

"Charlie copies. Go ahead, Alpha." Travis cleared.

"Listen, boys. We need to go in, and we need to make it quick. Here’s the situation. We have one male and one female assailant inside the domicile, and an undetermined number of additional combatants en route to reinforce the enemy's line. We have one target. A female prisoner, presumably in the basement, given verbiage used in the communication I intercepted. Alpha team will make our priority extraction. Bravo, you will subdue the male assailant and then maintain sentry position on the lookout for more unfriendlies. Charlie team, you will clear the second level of the house and subdue the female combatant. She is a soldier, so proceed with extreme caution. Once the area is secure, drivers, go and retrieve the vehicles. We are gonna need to get out of here quick, or else things might go tits up. I'm concerned we'll lose the advantage of numbers if we wait too long. Are we clear?"

"Copy that, Alpha leader."

"Roger. On your count, cap."

Sy took a deep breath. Thought to himself "Shane. I'm on my way, baby!" He saw red, then. And called for the charge, out of the darkness, and into the farmhouse. To an uncertain outcome.

Up Next: Chapter 17-Gait Training

#Sand Castle #netflix sand castle #captain syverson #Captain Syverson x OFC #sigh for sy #henry cavill #henry cavill fanfic #Henry Cavill x ofc

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phoebe-delia · 3 years ago

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Hello, Phoebe. I’m back :)

How are you doing? Just put whatever you feel like here! This ask is the Phoebe Show; make it yours!

Lyssa, it is always a pleasure to see you in my notifs, but especially in my ask box! Thank you for filling it with kind words, awesome prompts, and fun questions for me to play around with.

This blog is the closest I imagine I'll ever come to having the Phoebe Delia Show, and since you have given me free rein with this ask, I shall endeavor to make it count.

I've gotten some incredible asks about my interests, but I'm going to answer a question that has been asked by exactly no one and rank Taylor Swift's albums.

This will be in order of my favorites; this isn't necessarily a reflection of what I think the rank would be in terms of objective quality; instead, this is based on my own personal enjoyment of the albums.

As always, I will provide a little explanation as to my reasoning, because I am nothing if not indulgent.

I actually really surprised myself with this ranking; as I looked through the albums I evaluated each by counting the number of songs I liked off of each one, and the ranking I thought I had has now changed. (I will explain in my comments!).

So! With that said. The Phoebe Delia Show Presents: Ranking Taylor Swift Albums.

1. Speak Now--To me, there is only one skip on this entire album; it is bop after bop. (If you're wondering, I think "Innocent" is the skip). Every song is just fun! I should also point out that this is also my favorite in part because Taylor said it was inspired by theater/Broadway.

2. 1989--I'm gonna be honest and say that I'm ashamed to have sort of slept on this album for so long. Don't get me wrong--I listened to and enjoyed it a lot when it came out, but I always sort of automatically pushed it further down on my list in favor of my 3rd choice because I liked the songs on my 3rd choice more. But now that I'm older and my music taste has somewhat evolved, I think I can say that 1989 is my 2nd favorite. There are truly no skips on this album. Yes, I know I said SN has a skip, but that album holds a special place in my heart so it gets number 1. I was thinking it over today, and while Taylor has always been amazing, I think this is the album that launched her into superstardom. We, her fans, knew she could do anything, but she still shocked us all by making the transition to an entirely pop album. Remember the "Blank Space" and "Bad Blood" music videos? I still think those are two fo my favorite of her mvs, though LWYMMD is a close second.

3. Red--Oh, my beloved. This album is wonderful. I have a lot of memories associated with this one, particularly watching the WANGBT music video and the IKYWT parody with the fucking goat that makes me laugh so hard even to this day. I am SO pumped for TV in November!! And while, yes, "All Too Well" is my favorite song on the album (and my fave TS song overall), "Holy Ground" is slept on and amazing.

4. folklore--This album is probably the most meaningful to me of them all just because of when it came out. We as an entire global community were struggling, and I know I had immense privilege to have been healthy and safe during that time. Still, like everyone else, I was depressed, lonely, and felt trapped inside my home and inside my mind. I will never forget listening to this album in my room and gasping when I heard TIMT. Not long after this album came out, I also lost my family dog, and this album was essential in helping me grieve. This album saved my sanity and gave me a cathartic outlet. I will be forever grateful to Taylor for writing it.

5. Reputation--This is another one for which I have a lot of memories. I will never forget when the LWYMMD music video came out and the world lost its entire mind. Taylor said there are still easter eggs we missed and I want someone to find them please and thank you. There are a few songs on this album that I'm not obsessed with, but the storytelling is so cohesive and creative. On the surface, one might think Taylor was being petty or whiny, but if you look closer--and remember the utter hell she was going through at the time--I think there are deeper meanings than her just getting back at Kim and Kanye.

6. Fearless--Oh, this album. It has some of her most iconic songs: YBWM, "White Horse," "Love Story"," "Forever and Always," etc. I truly wish I could tie this one with Rep, but I think Rep edges this one out *just* barely with songwriting/lyrical quality. I also don't know if I'll ever fully get over the fact that she kept "Mr. Perfectly Fine" from us for so long, but I suppose I can consider the 10 min "All Too Well" on Red TV to be proper repayment. ;)

7. evermore--I could not believe my eyes when she announced this album. How can this woman write this fast and this well!! I will never forget listening to "champagne problems," "no body, no crime," and "tolerate it" in particular. I ranked this after reputation just bc I think I enjoy listening to Rep more, but some of the songwriting on this album is *chefs kiss.*

8. Lover--I know, I know, I'm sorry. I don't want to put this one so low on the list but I just kind of can't put it any higher? I really love some of the songs on this album, but SYGB is too sad for me, "London Boy" kinda annoys me I'm sorry, and I just never really got into INTHAF or "Afterglow." But, that said, every other song on the album is a bop, even ME!, although I listen to the live version over the studio recording. It's a great album though.

9. Taylor Swift (Debut album)--I feel a little bad ranking this so low but I cannot honestly tell you that this album is better than her others, and something has to be last on the list. There are also some great, classic songs on this album. So, instead of being critical, I'm instead going to say that I remember vividly seeing a snippet of "Teardrops On My Guitar" advertised on Disney Channel for Radio Disney. It makes me smile to think of how far she's come since then.

And that concludes this episode of The Phoebe Delia Show! Tune in next time where I post some other self-indulgent opinion about one of my interests and hope it reaches people who care to read it :)

Send me an ask about Harry Potter, broadway/musicals, The West Wing, and/or Taylor Swift! Or just about life in general :).

Also, I have a playlist of my 99 most listened-to songs of the year so far. Pick a number 1--99 and send me an ask and I'll write you a fic based on it!

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amfgeog2260 · 4 years ago

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A Glimpse of the Semester...

Everyone always says how fast semesters go once they get going, and it's true once again! It is crazy to think that we are already writing our final blog posts for this class, and it feels like last week that I was creating my first Tumblr account and following all of my classmates who I did not know anything about. I am not sure whether it is the format, the class, or the layout of our discussions but it feels as if this semester has had some of the most engaging and interesting discussions while I have been at university. I find it difficult to take a whole semester of readings, course content, assignments, and discussions with peers, and pack it into a relatively small blog post… but I am going to do my best!

3 Things I Know About Human Geographic Research

1. The first thing I can say I know about human geography, is more broadly what it is, and how qualitative methods of human geography are used in human geography. The first chapter of the textbook does a really good job at outlining from the beginning what it is, and how its complexity and open-endedness can be used. What I mean by that is exactly what the textbook says, that qualitative methods in human geography are concerned with “elucidating human environments and human experiences” (Hay 2016, p. 5). Fundamentally, all of the analysis, research, interpretation, and methods employed by qualitative human geographic investigators circles back to the goal of answering questions related to social structures and or individual experiences (Hay 2016, p. 5). At the beginning of the course, this idea of tackling both structural macro questions/issues along with individual experience or micro issues was hard for me to conceptualize. At this point I have a better understanding of the goal of qualitative research, human geography, and the methods employed to find answers about social and human behaviour.

2. I mentioned the breadth of human geography in my first point, which leads me to the second thing I know about human geography. I know now how much is captured in the term human geography, or human geographic research. Not only was the idea of human geography not clear to me, but the ideas and sub-topics of human geography were not either. From the textbook readings, weekly course content, and our newest Digital Storytelling Project, some of the most prominent subtopics of human geography have become more clear to me. We have all taken a different approach and topic in our group projects; from social, cultural, economic, political, health, environment, and the list goes on (Hooykaas 2021). These are only a few subtopics, and the important thing I realize now is that human geography is everywhere we look, and it matters in order to find answers and ask more questions about the world we live in!

3. Since the topic of human geography is so broad and all-encompassing, I now know how important and diverse the use of research, knowledge, and analysis can be in the real-world with the help of human geography. The specific example from this course that allowed me to value knowledge, analysis, reflection and research most was the way we can use it to break down social barriers of knowledge. Using cross-cultural research methods, ethics, and relationships, we can impact more inclusive research methods and break down previously colonial ways of understanding knowledge (Hay 2016, p. 45). Specifically from chapter 4, we gained an appreciation and understanding of the way colonial values and power shaped our understanding of the validity of knowledge (Hay 2016, p. 76). Using different, and equally valuable knowledge like feminist and indigenous approaches to research in geography can not only further our research in human geography, but can keep strong subjectivity and equal value in different kinds of knowledge, from people, cultures and places around the world (Hay 2016, p. 85).

3 Things I Am Confused By

1. I am still confused by concepts about Foucaldian Discourse Analysis in chapter 14. This might be too narrow of a topic to take for this blog, but the idea of discourse analysis still does not seem to make complete sense to me. I understand Gordon Waitt explains it as an “interpretive approach in geography… used to make sense of the world within particular social and temporal contexts” (Hay 2016, p. 288). This still teams like too large of a definition, or unspecific an explanation to make sense to me, or make me understand that it is in fact important and integral to the way we see the social structures we live in.

2. The second thing I am confused by still is in that discussion about the broad topic of human geography. I know it relates to most, if not every thing in our social and physical lives, but when is it not human geography? That may seem unclear as a question, but it seems confusing to me to try and place human geography within a boundary. Every topic or research method has parameters in which it focuses, but this seems like such a broad idea that I am not sure I can wrap my head around what is and what isn’t human geography, if it actually relates to everything.

3. The last thing that is considerably still confusing to me is the idea of universal objectivity and situated knowledges. We read about these topics in chapter 19, and I still am having a hard time understanding them individually and how they exist together. Situated knowledges is explained in the text as one of the most useful approaches to “contest universalist forms of knowledge” (Hay 2016, p. 400). This idea however, still gives me a hard time to fully understand it.

3 Things I Know About Myself as Human Geographic Researcher

1. I can’t assume that I am a human geographic researcher now, and that my road to learning, analyzing, research, reflecting, and creating is done just because this course is coming to an end. I can however, distinguish the very few things I know about myself so far, as a human geographic researcher. The first is that I know I won’t place inherent value on a specific type of research or knowledge. I mentioned it earlier briefly, but I feel that the impacts from assuming a type of knowledge or method of research is “correct” compared to another is problematic, and has the power to perpetuate age old colonial values. I know I will use the skills I have learned and will continue to learn, to provide reflection and knowledge of my own, while never discounting or taking for granted the knowledge of others.

2. Secondly, I know I am a people person. I have known this for a while, but specific to human geographic research, I will always feel more confident and comfortable having discussion, reflection, or doing research in groups, or with others rather than alone. I found that although it was a lot of fun too, this blog post forum made this class a lot more enjoyable and gave me an environment to discuss and reflect with others! This comment goes along with now knowing the power of critical reflexivity in research and discussions, and to not discount the value of discussion with peer researchers, interviewees, or during the research process.

3. The final thing I have learned about myself as a human geographic researcher is my interest in qualitative methods of human geography, over quantitative ones. Although I understand the importance of having both, I much prefer the use and methods in qualitative research rather than quantitative. This ties into my interest in group work and working with people, instead of numbers. Asking questions, making inquiries, participants in research, and listening to the stories of people (Hay 2016, p. 117-120) is what I find most interesting and appealing about this type of research method.

3 Things I Need To Spend Time On

1. Having expressed my interest for qualitative methods of human geographic research, I need to start focusing and learning more about quantitative methods. I think its important to have a wholistic view and understanding of human geography, and I can’t do that if I isolate myself from an entire side of geographic research. I understand that this textbook is aimed directly at qualitative methods, however, there are lessons from quantitative research that can be used in qualitative research as well. Organizing, analyzing, coding, and surveys all can be used (as seen in chapter 18) as a means of communicating and interpreting qualitative research (Hay 2016, p. 373). Yet, these are different skills than interviewing, listening, or reflecting on the very typical qualitative methods of research. I need to spend time on the things that don’t come to me as easily, or interest me as much, to give myself a general confidence in human geographic research.

2. The second area of human geography I need to more fully appreciate and understand is the value in historical perspectives and accounts and research. I find myself interested in human geographic research now, and interested in the future of social structures and individuals. Historical geography and reflecting on the past seemed boring or unproductive to me. I discredited the research that can be done contemporarily, based on the history of social identities, and not just solely focusing on the research that has yet to be done or discovered. This specific need relates to chapter 11, when Roche discusses historical research and “archival sources” (Hay 2016, p. 226). Michael Roche even discusses interest he has had in the past “30 years of being a historical geographer (Hay 2016, p. 225). There is something here I have yet to find interest in, but again, in order to further my skills and my full research potential, this is a crucial part of human geography I need to spend more time on.

3. Lastly, I find myself rushing to get answers or skipping ahead to find the ultimate “research findings” when I am reading, or even trying to do research of my own. I need to work on my patience as a researcher, and not be so set on finding a single concluding answer in research. Instead, I need to assume that the process of research and analysis is the answer, and that the answers will appear sometimes in the wait or in the depths of research. Finding definitive answers is exciting, but especially in a field as broad and open as human geography, I need to build my ability to reflect on and analyze answers that come from the research process.

I hope this small amount of information has given you all a glimpse into my perceptions of the course, and my own learning along with it. I truly did not know the importance of human geography, qualitative research, or its actual application in the real world. I have really enjoyed being a part of this class and sharing blogs with one another every week! I hope you all have had a similarly educational, interesting, and engaging semester in this blog forum. All the best to everyone this summer!

References

Hay, I. (2016). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. Fourth ed., Oxford.

Hooykaas, A. (2021). https://courselink.uoguelph.ca/d2l/le/content/668082/viewContent/2730478/View

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howtohero · 3 years ago

Text

#300.1: Saving the World Part 1

Prologue

The Haberdashery

“Hi, my name is Murk. I am a mud monster and a product of mad science, but I am also an accountant and a lover of classical music. For most of my existence I have tried to simply live a regular life in an increasingly strange world.”

The conference room in Hatman’s Haberdashery was filled with all manner of colorfully clad, or just plain colorful, superheroes, super-trainees, monsters, vampires, werewolves, sewer-mutants, Da Vincis and even a smattering of regular civilians who looked tired, angry, but overall fearless. According to Leonardo Da Vinci II, an android duplicate of the original from the far future, there had never been such an eclectic gathering of people in all of history. They had gathered — or been gathered — because the world, and life as they all knew it, hung in the balance. The world’s supervillains, led by a formerly low rate smuggler named Smuggles, had managed to do the unthinkable, they’d taken over the world, and in doing so they’d imprisoned most of the world’s heroes, world leaders, and superhero bloggers, in a secret prison. The oddball assembly was the Resistance, and at the moment each of them had their eyes on Murk. Some looked at him with confusion, he was by far the most eloquent mud monster they’d ever heard. Some looked at him in awe, over the past several weeks, Murk had rescued many of them from danger and had inspired them to join him in his fight. A few looked at him with pride, they knew him from before you see, and as far as they were concerned, that made his heroics their heroics.

(“I know that guy from before,”) Parenthetical Guy whispered to the warthog-mask wearing man sitting to his left. (“And as far as I’m concerned, that makes his heroics my heroics.)

{“I work with that guy, he does my taxes,”} Curly whispered, nudging Hatman who was looking forlornly toward the room’s exit. There were far too many people between him and it, and it was causing him no shortage of distress.

“When the heroes fell,” Murk continued. “It immediately became apparent that I, and many others like me, could no longer afford the luxury of standing to the side. For a long time I, and many of my ‘monstrous’ ilk have been more than happy to allow superheroes to handle the world’s problems for us. Whenever our homes, our lives, our world came under threat we all said to one another, ‘well, that looks like a job for superheroes,’ and we declined to act. When the heroes fell I saw how selfish I had been. And so I would like to be the first to extend my heartfelt thanks, and my sincerest apologies to the brave heroes who have gathered here today. I, along with my partner and friend, Lawyer Guy have gathered as many civilians as we could. Regular monsters and people who have cowered from or turned a blind eye to the acts of the villains who have dared to subjugate us, and we have come here to offer our assistance. If you’ll have us, we would like to help in any way we can.”

His speech concluded, Murk quickly sat down next to Lawyer Guy who smiled warmly at him. A few people sitting near him muttered polite words of affirmation toward the hulking mud man but everyone quickly became silent once more as somebody else strode to the head of the table.

Everybody in the room, everybody in the world, recognized the gold and white costume, the chiseled, stony features, and the piercing blue eyes of Ultiman. He was the superhero par excellence and when he clapped Murk on the shoulder and smiled widely, Murk’s ragtag civilian crew let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Thank you Murk,” Ultiman said. “Thank you everyone. As I’m sure you can see, our numbers are small but our members are dedicated and we are thrilled to be able to count each of you among us. I’m confident that, working together, we can depose Smuggles and his entire Consortium of Crime.”

***

Smuggles’s Secret Prison

My name is Zachary Schechter and I’d been locked up for a while by the time anybody had made any noise about breaking out. You may know me as the creator, author, and only functioning brain behind How To Hero. Actually you definitely know me as that. It’s a very popular blog. Just take my word on this ok? I was in a secret prison because I allowed my subordinates to talk me into hiring a known supervillain to, let’s see, live in our basement and interject unwanted comments into my blog. As it would happen, this supervillain, Smuggles, took the job as part of some kind of protracted and complicated plan to take over the world. I should have seen that coming of course. That’s basically the only reason any supervillain does anything. For a few weeks I was alone there. Just sitting in a cell twiddling my thumbs. Trying to make conversation with the drones they had guarding the place. The only thing they’d given me to eat is fish. I imagine Chuck the Fish Whisperer had something to do with that. Frikkin supervillains and their sycophantic dedication to their own themes. But then a ton of superheroes ended up there with me, and I knew things on the outside had taken a decisive turn for the worse. The heroes were all stripped of their costumes and gear, and were given supervillain costumes instead. It’s all spikes, horns, and red contact lenses now. It’s a bit silly, but I think the idea is that if the heroes are dressed like villains and forced to do things like play evil charades and watch movies about heroes turning bad, then some of them might actually turn evil. Actually, I know that’s the idea, but I’ll get to that later. Eventually Cowboy Rockstar, the coolest hero of all time, decided to stage some kind of jailbreak. Which was great. And he wanted me to help him plan it, probably because of my proven expertise in all manner of superhero related topics. I bet it was my treatise on the many superheroic uses of drills that got his attention. There was just one teeny tiny problem though...

“So what do you think?” Cowboy Rockstar whispered.

“I think… I think that I designed this prison,” I whispered dejectedly.

“I beg your pardon?”

It was recreation time once again, and Giorgio the Evil Mime had selected an assortment of clips of superheroes becoming evil from various films and TV shows. It’s really shocking how many times Hollywood has returned to the well of “a superhero clad in red, white, and blue murders a person.” We must’ve watched like thirty different clips already.

“Look, Mr. Rockstar, I appreciate you coming to me and all. It’s an honor to meet you and plot in hushed voices with you and everything. But I’m like 90% certain that I designed this prison. And I don’t know about you but Iitalics certainly wouldn’t have designed a prison that people could break outitalics of.”

Cowboy Rockstar furrowed his brow, “Ah, you’re saying this prison is… from your blog?”

I held up my hands defensively. “Hey, I know how it sounds but look around you. The costumes, the robots, the charades. It’s literally ripped straight from my post about running your own unsanctioned prison.”

“You wrote a guide to running an off the books blacksite for housing criminals?” Cowboy Rockstar arched an immaculate eyebrow. “That’s not really a very superheroic activity.”

“Huh. When you put it like that it’s really no wonder that the only person who seems to have implemented any of it is a supervillain who seems to have taken over the world.”

“He had help,�� I heard somebody grumble from Cowboy Rockstar’s other side.

Helm Lady was one of the only Hatman proteges to both survive to adulthood and continue her career as a superhero, so it was hardly surprising that she’d been able to sneak up on us.

“Helm Lady, good of you to join us!” Cowboy Rockstar said. “Zach over here was just telling me about how he designed this prison to be unescapable! Isn’t that exciting.”

“Hardly,” Helm Lady said glumly.

“I gotta agree with her on this one,” I said.

“Are you kidding me? You’ve been given a rare opportunity to outdo yourself in a grandiose and practical way! You’ve been here longer than anybody. It seems like Smuggles has some kind of vendetta against you specifically, and so he’s used your own tactics against you! Now, with our help of course, you can show everybody that you’re smarter than you!” Cowboy Rockstar was gesticulating wildly at this point drawing a sharp and reproachful glare from warden Giorgio.

“Hm,” I said, I had already written a guide to escapology. Maybe I’d already unwittingly outwitted myself. Besides, Smuggles’s prison wasn’t actually an exact copy of the one I’d designed on the blog. He’d had to make some changes to prevent it from having any real rehabilitative value. Dressing the prisoners like villains instead of heroes for instance. And villain costumes are very different from hero costumes. They’re like eighty percent sharp edges. I looked Cowboy Rockstar up and down. The costume they had him in had spikes up and down his arms. Maybe we could use them to pick the locks on our cell? We’d still have to deal with the robot guards and who knows what else. But maybe that was a place to start.

“Ok,” I said after a moment. “I’m sure we can come up with something, after all, as I say

on my blog, when you’re in a locked room, anything can be a key.”

Cowboy Rockstar grinned and gestured around the room at the assorted superheroes that were locked in with us, “And we’ve certainly got an eclectic bunch of keys here haven’t we.”

I smiled and looked around the room, maybe this could actually work.

***

“If I had an iPod and a busted time machine we could do this in a snappy montage and be out in no time,” I grumbled to Cowboy Rockstar.

It was the next day, and our recreation activity was something called “evil baseball.” There’s no batters, no outfield, and the only umpire was a deranged mime. The only real resemblance it had to regular “non-evil” baseball, was the fact that there were four bases, and players could steal bases. In fact, the game was pretty much just stealing bases. Because stealing is a crime get it? Ugh, the sooner we got out of there and stopped Smuggles the better. Cowboy Rockstar was manning first base for his team, and I’d just stolen first. I suspected it was because Helm Lady, the “pitcher” for Cowboy Rockstar’s team, had allowed me to get to first so we could chat. It might have been because I’m really athletic though. It’s hard to say.

“I don’t think that’s how anything works,” Cowboy Rockstar said.

“Oh what do you know?”

“A lot, I’ve unknotted several time paradoxes you know. Some experts even say that I ‘invented’ the current iteration of this timeline.”

“Ah, so this is all your fault.”

“Nice try, I didn’t give Smuggles access to an interdimensional warp gate so he could free his fish whispering friend from his prison.”

“Touche.”

“What have you got?”

“I was thinking, we know that Smuggles has everybody’s powers neutralized inside this prison right?”

“Yes.”

“Well not every hero has powers to begin with,” I started. “And there are few people here with relevant talents that Smuggles can’t turn off.”

“Talents such as?”

Giorgio blew his whistle. Apparently I’d spent too long dawdling at first base without even trying to steal second.

“I guess whistling doesn’t go against the mime code of silence,” I grumbled as I started to edge off of first base.

“Talents such as?” Cowboy Rockstar repeated before I took off.

I nodded towards his team’s second baseman.

“Being a giant rock monster with seven hands,” I said before racing off toward Rockblock.

***

The next night I laid awake, staring up at the ceiling of my cell, going over what was slowly starting to look like a plan again and again. If Cowboy Rockstar could use the many razor sharp spikes on his villain costume to pick the locks on his cell, — and he’d assured me that he could, upside down, in his sleep — and then get to the others, Rockblock could probably serve as our muscle until we got out and the other heroes got their powers back. He’d need to fight off dozens of battle drones though. No, that wasn’t much of a plan. Muscle was great, but we’d need some other way to guarantee the drones would stay off of us until we got outside. I consulted the scrap of paper I had hidden in the palm of my hand, directed away from any prying eyes or cameras. The scrap had been discretely slipped into the pocket of my hoodie by Helm Lady. She’d managed to steal a pencil during Evil Mad Libs, and had taken the liberty of jotting down everybody who we knew was imprisoned here. “Our list of keys,” as Cowboy Rockstar had called it. We needed to keep the circle of people who knew that we were planning a breakout small for now. That way there’d be less of a chance of any villains or drones getting wind of it. So Cowboy Rockstar wanted me to identify anybody who might be especially useful in the actual breakout, whereupon we’d obviously free the rest of the prisoners. I consulted the list again, mentally sorting the manifest into those who had powers, and thus were less likely to be especially useful without the use of them, and those who didn’t have powers, and therefore were pretty much operating at 100% effectiveness. There’s another thing I didn’t account for in my own designs, sucks to be you Smuggles. That’s what happens when you build your top secret superhero prison based on the musings of a comedy blog instead of doing your own work you frikkin goon. I circled a couple of names on my illicit scrap of paper and was just about ready to smugly smile myself to sleep when I noticed a faint buzzing. My first thought was wall bees. You wouldn’t believe how often strange buzzing sounds in the How To Hero office ended up being bees in the wall. But this buzzing was more mechanical and well, I guess it must have been there since I was first thrown into this dump. I had managed to sublimate it into the background noise of my time here but now in the dead of the night I was able to really listen to it finally. I tentatively got off of my threadbare cot and walked the length of my small cell. The buzzing was, as I’d feared, strongest by the door. Which could only mean one thing. Door bees! No, I’m kidding, it meant that the old fashioned deadbolt lock was either just for show, or just one part of the cell doors’ security systems. There was some kind of electronic component as well. One that probably wouldn’t be able to be thwarted with some evil-looking spikes. I looked at my scrap once more, I’d have to have a conversation with one of the other prisoners tomorrow.

***

“Professor Flay,” I whispered as I took a seat next to a glasses-wearing black man decked out in a purple jumpsuit with a skull belt buckle.

“Yes?” the man said, clearly startled, “I’m sorry I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“My name’s Zach, and I’m a fan of your Big Book of Fake Science.”

“Um, are you referring to my Complete Compendium of Improbable Science,” Professor Lucius Flay replied.

“Shoot, is that what it’s called? I knew it was something like that, only my buddy lost the cover and title page in a bet with a supervillain we knew who needed them to power his cover and title page powered doomsday device,” I explained quickly.

Professor Flay flared his nostrils, “And you have the nerve to insinuate that my science is fake. Is there a point to this, I don’t want to miss this performance.”

Our villainous rehabilitation activity for the day was “evil karaoke” only songs with the word “bad” in the title were allowed to be performed. Cowboy Rockstar was currently belting out an honestly breathtaking rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”. It was an especially loud and especially drawn out version of the song, so that Professor Flay and I could converse in relative peace.

“What kind of scientist would you say you are Professor?”

“If you must know, I consider myself to be more or less omnidisciplinary,” Professor Flay said.

“That means you dabble in a little bit of everything right?”

“Everything scientific.”

“And that’s not a superpower thing right? You came by all that knowledge on your own?”

Professor Flay waved a dismissive hand at me, “Of course I did. I studied for years to get to where I am today. Sure I may have had to break a few time travel regulations to do it, but otherwise, I come by my intellect fair and square.”

“Excellent!” I shouted a little too loudly. “This is the best version of ‘Bad Romance’ I’ve ever heard!” I quickly added, to cover myself.

“Yeah it’s so good that they should call it ‘Good Romance!’” Rockblock shouted, no doubt trying to help me out.

Unfortunately though, that was the wrong thing to say. Giorgio the Mime certainly couldn’t allow anything gooditalics to happen in this evil facility, so he quickly put the kibosh on Cowboy Rockstar’s performance, much to the chagrin of everyone else in the room. I thought I even saw a drone flash a frowny face. The drones then started ferrying us out of the room and back to our individual cells.

“How much do you know about electronic locks?” I quickly asked as I pressed my scrap of paper in between Professor Flay’s belt and jumpsuit.

Realization flashed across Professor Flay’s face.

“Ah,” he said. “Enough.”

I hoped he was right.

***

The next day our recreational activity was evil baking. There were several different stations set up in the auditorium, each with ingredients set up to make different evil foods. I ambled past “exploding pies”, “sentient food that will actively beg for its life as you eat it”, and “kale cookies” before taking a seat next to Cowboy Rockstar at the “general poisons” table. Helm Lady and Rockblock were already there, and I noticed Helm Lady was taking special care not to touch any of the ingredients on the table. Rockblock, being made entirely out of stone and cando spirit, began handling the various herbs and toxins and following the recipe. I guess they’d decided that somebody at our table had to be doing something to avoid attracting any unwanted attention.

“Where’s Professor Flay?” I asked.

“He just walked in,” Cowboy Rockstar said, nodding toward the door, where a contingent of drones were herding in another batch of prisoners.

“Over here!” Rockblock bellowed, waving three of his giant hands while the other four mixed and mashed various ingredients.

“Quiet,” Helm Lady snarled. I was beginning to regret bringing Rockblock in on our plans so early.

Still, Professor Flay managed to get the message and made his way over to our table.

“Hello everybody,” he said as he sat down next to Helm Lady. He wrinkled his nose as he caught a whiff of what Rockblock was mixing in his bowl. “What are we making?”

“Sulfide sausages,” Rockblock replied.

“Lovely.”

“So?” I asked, raising my eyebrow inquisitively at the professor.

Professor Flay glanced around and, confident that there were no drones within listening distance, leaned in conspiratorially.

“I can build the device you described but-”

“Hey guys, sorry I didn’t come right away. I wanted to do a lap to see if there were any other cooler tables,” a pale skinned man clad in black chainmail and sporting thick rimmed glasses said as he sat down at our table.

“Er… what?” I asked.

“I know Rockblock called me over, but I’m not just going to sit down at the first table that offers me a spot, am I?” the other man replied as if that were a perfectly normal thing to say.

“Uh, I was actually talking to Professor Flay,” Rockblock said.

The bespectacled man laughed, “Oh Rockblock, I’d heard your sense of humor was legendary.”

Rockblock looked confused but Helm Lady put a hand on one of his arms.

“What do you want Glassesman?”

“Helm Lady! Great to see you. How’s the old man?”

“We don’t talk.”

“Oh, is that right? Poor Hats never could keep a protege.”

“Glassesman.” I said, interjecting before things escalated. “You weren’t on the list. When did you get here?”

“Oh, just recently. I wasn’t captured with the rest of you in the first wave.”

Cowboy Rockstar ignored the jab and leaned forward. “Are you saying that Smuggles has found whatever resistance there is? Where’s Ultiman?”

“Keep your ten-gallon hat on buckaroo, the resistance is fine such as it is. I was deep undercover in Smuggles’ operation, but I got found out.”

“No surprise there. You probably started handing out promotional sunglasses to all the villains as soon as you got in there,” Helm Lady muttered.

“Hey, supervillains are a market I have yet to break into. This was a rare networking opportunity for me!”

What a tool.

“Enough,” Cowboy Rockstar said, making sure to keep his voice even.

“What’s with all the hushed tones,” Glassesman said, looking us all up and down.

“Ah,” he said when he’d completed his appraisal. “You’re planning a break out.”

“No we’re n-” Helm Lady started but Glassesman held up his hand.

“Oh please, you’ve got a scientist, a jack-of-all-trades, a bruiser, a non-powered combatant and a…” he faltered when he got to me.

“Blogger,” I said curtly.

Glassesman raised an eyebrow but kept going, “So don’t try to keep me out of this, I’m non-powered too, and I can fight better than a Hatb- sorry exitalics-Hatboy any day of the week.”

Cowboy Rockstar looked as though he was going to say something to get rid of Glassesman but he just sighed and gestured to Professor Flay.

“Fine, sure. Professor you were saying?”

“Um, well, yes. I can build the… device, you asked for but I can’t do it from thin air. I need something to work from.”

We all sat in silence for a moment. I guess it was too much to ask for an omni-disciplinaryitalics super-scientist to be able to whip up an EMP device out of whatever he could find in his prison cell. I’d be sure to inform whatever board certifies omni-disciplinary scientists to amend an asterisk to Professor Flay’s credentials when we got out of here.

“Could you build it out of whatever those things are made of?” Glassesman said, jerking a thumb towards one of the drones.

Professor Flay appraised it, “It appears to run on a lithioplasmic core with a carbon-electrum chassis. Assuming there’s a terrakon multispacial chip rattling around in or near its processor… Yes, I wouldn’t even need too much of it. Just a chunk from the chest if I had to guess.”

“Excellent,” Glassesman said before he stood up and flipped over our table. “And you can tell that cap clad crank that I’m twice the hero he ever was!”

Helm Lady smirked and wordlessly lunged at him, wrapping her long fingers around his neck. Professor Flay and I quickly took cover behind the table. Flay because he was a nerd and wasn’t about to get involved in a fist fight between two highly trained combatants. And me to protect Flay naturally. We needed him fit enough to build us the EMP, I couldn’t exactly leave him. Cowboy Rockstar jumped on Glassesman’s back and tried to pull him away while Rockblock scrambled to gather up the ingredients from his poison. A stray pellet of congealed arsenic bounced over to me and I scooped it up into my hoodie. You never know, right?

In a minute several drones were trundling over to our little group trying to break up the fight. They’d just about managed to pry Cowboy Rockstar, Glassesman and Helm Lady apart when Rockblock let out a deafening roar and joined the fray, sending a handful of drones flying as he growled something incoherent about how hard he’d been working on perfecting his recipe. By this time the other assembled heroes were all looking toward us, but before anybody else could get any ideas about joining the riot, more drones than I’d even realized were in the prison poured into the auditorium and surrounded my friends. Finally managing to pull them apart.

The rest of the heroes, myself and Professor Flay included, were now being rounded up by some of the drones while most of them were being engaged by six of Rockblock’s giant fists. As we walked by though, I noticed his seventh appendage experly flick a chunk of metal in our direction. I stumbled slightly, bending over quickly to grab the robot chunk. And then discretely passed it to Professor Flay before we were split off to return to our own cells.

“I’ll have it done before tonight,” he said to me as he palmed the misshapen blob of metal and wiring.

I nodded and smiled, by that time tomorrow we’d be out of that forsaken prison and saving the world.

***

Night fell, and I paced anxiously around the length of my cell. Assuming Professor Flay was able to work as quickly as he claimed he was able to. And assuming Rockblock had gotten him exactly what he needed. And assuming Cowboy Rockstar and Glassesman and Helm Lady were able to pick the locks on their cells when the time came. And assuming Rockblock could keep any guards off of us. And assuming- Well, there were a lot of assumptions before I’d be tasting fresh air. Our plan was hardly fool proof, and we had at least two or three fools on our team, depending on who you asked. We were making a few too many assumptions for my liking. But it was the best we had, so I guess that was that. There was nothing I could do except wait for something to happen.

And when something happened, everything happened.

First there was a deafening boom, followed by a shockwave that traveled quickly throughout the cell block. If I hadn’t been deafened by the explosion, I would have noticed that the electronic buzzing I’d heard had gone silent. Professor Flay’s homebrewed EMP had worked. I ran to the door and saw several guard drones collapsed on the ground. Their cybernetic features were blank.

Seconds later three cell doors swung open and Cowboy Rockstar, Helm Lady, and Glassesman strode out. Glassesman looked especially smug, even though he was the last one out. The other two were such pros, they decided to let it slide. They quickly started working on picking the locks on the other cells. Helm Lady sprung Rockblock first, just in case there were any drones outside the EMP’s radius that might’ve been trundling our way. Professor Flay’s EMP was a one-shot kind of deal so we’d have to fight or evade any other drones we encountered.

“So far so good eh?” Cowboy Rockstar grinned as he unlocked the door to my cell.

“So far, yeah,” I said anxiously. “We’re pretty much flying blind from here on out th- Woah!”

I took a step back into my cell as Cowboy Rockstar became enveloped in a brilliant white light. I stood agape as he began hovering a few inches off the ground and the light faded into his body.

“What was that?” I asked.

Cowboy Rockstar landed adroitly on the ground and checked his pulse with two of his fingers.

“It’s… I think the EMP must have shorted out whatever device was neutralizing our powers in here,” Cowboy Rockstar said. His fists began crackling with energy.

I looked up and down the hall of cells. Powerful glows or crumpled cell doors told me that many of the other heroes were starting to regain access to their powers.

“Well that certainly changes the game,” I said as I began taking stock of all of the new keys we’d just acquired.

***

We quickly divided into a few teams:

Team One: Nightron, Foresight P. Jones, and Intangi-Bill. None of us had been outside since we’d arrived in the prison and so none of us actually knew where the exit was. Team one would use their respective speed, supervision and intangibility in concert to find a way out.

Team Two: Cowboy Rockstar, Rockblock, and Cannonballer: Baller of Cannons. Our heavy hitters. If anybody could break straight through the walls that surrounded us to the outside it was them.

Team Three: Professor Flay, Electrobug, Digitalized, Psionica. They set about trying to cobble together weapons and gear from the broken husks of the drones that we had at our disposal.

Team Four: Captain Patriot, Brad the Radioactive Man, Amphin, Glassesman, Helm Lady and the Human Wall. The best offense is a strong defense, and if any of our other teams were going to have any hope of doing what they needed to do, they’d need somebody keeping Giorgio and whatever drones he could scrounge together off of their backs.

Team Five: Dr. Hemer, Knife Knurse, and Super Surgeon. A lot of heroes were suffering painful side-effects either from the sudden reemergence of their superpowers or the power-deprivation they’d been suffering since they’d gotten here. Anybody who had any sort of medical knowledge would tend to them until we get help on the outside.

Team Six: Just me. My job was to come up with the team names and I’m not ashamed to admit that I totally phoned it in.

I was sitting back and taking stock of the other teams’ progress when a gust of wind informed me of Nightron’s return.

“We’re not the only prisoners here,” he said panting, parts of his supervillain costume were singed, he must have encountered other guards elsewhere in the facility.

“You’re sure?” I asked frantically. I’m not sure why it had never occurred to me that there might be other prisoners somewhere in this facility. But I had only ever seen the heroes that were in that corridor at communal recreational events.

“Positive, there are maybe five or six other cell blocks just like this one. They’ve got dozens of other superheroes here. But that’s not all. World leaders, para-folk, some civilians. I think I even saw some sort of zoo,” Nightron said.

“Probably for animal sidekicks and the like,” I mused aloud. “Were you followed back here?”

“No, but they saw who I was. I’m sure they know where I’m supposed to be. It won’t be long before we have company here.”

“You’re right. Professor, how are those weapons coming!” I shouted towards where Team Three was working.

“My EMP seems to have worked a little too well, there’s no resteoring powers to these machines, but Psionica has managed to use her telekinetic abilities to reform some chunks of metal into clubs.”

“That’ll have to do,” I said. “Nightron, grab a few of those clubs, if anybody comes you’ll join Team Four. Hit them hard and hit them fast.”

“But what about the other prisoners?” Nightron protested.

“We need to break ourselves out before we can worry about anybody else,” Glassesman said.

“I hate to admit it but he’s right,” Helm Lady agreed.

“Yeah but-” and then, in a whoosh he was gone, because it was at that moment that a platoon of drones filed into our hallway. Two of them hit the ground, their CPUs bashed in by Nightron, before the rest of us even registered what was happening but once we did, the rest of Team Four, sprung into action.

“Zach, over here,” Professor Flay called.

I ran over to him, he passed me a makeshift club and we formed a defensive ring around our medics and the wounded along with the rest of Team Three.

“We are through!” Cannonballer: Baller of Cannons cried.

We helped Team Five get to the large gap in the wall that Team Two had formed as Rockblock and Cowboy Rockstar went to join the fray in the corridor.

“We may have problem,” Cannonballer: Baller of Cannons muttered to us as we joined her outside.

Problem was an understatement. For one thing, the sky was a murky blend of purples, oranges, and reds, and I know I haven’t been doing a ton of “world-building” in this dramatic account of my escape from a supervillain run supermax, but the sky we were all used to seeing was definitely blue. The ground we were standing on was somehow both dusty and crumbly. Every step we took sent a cloud of dust and ground flakes into the air. And we couldn’t see any other signs of life or civilization anywhere at all. I had always assumed that we would be somewhere inconspicuous but local, so that Smuggles could keep an eye on us, but it appeared as though we were in the middle of nowhere with no way of getting to the middle of anywhere.

“What… What is this place?” Professor Flay said.

“Beats me,” I said with a shrug. When I designed this prison for How To Hero I recommended finding a large unused building with reinforced walls that was situated in a place that no cops would ever be caught dead anywhere near. There are literally four or five places like that within a twenty block radius of How To Hero headquarters so where the hell were we. Unless… crap.

“Atomspace,” I said. “We’ve been shrunken down and sent to a prison in Atomspace.”

“Well,” Professor Flay said, taking in our otherworldly surroundings. “That creates a wrinkle in our plans doesn’t it.”

“It certainly does,” I agreed.

And that’s when everything went black.

***

I awoke, chained to a chair, in what may very well have been the most garishly decorated room I had ever seen. And Parenthetical Guy once painted our office neon green and creamsicle orange so that was saying something. The walls were all a deep blood red and there were various supervillainous accoutrements mounted all over the walls. Scary looking masks, futuristic blasters, esoteric looking staffs. A giant serpent’s head wearing oversized sunglasses was mounted on the wall directly opposite me. Below the serpent head sat an ornate, obsidian desk with a high backed leather chair behind it. The carpet was the color of rotting bones, which made a lot of sense when I realized that it wasn’t really a carpet at all, but rather a mat made entirely of very thin bone fragments. Bone fragments that were incredibly sharp at the ends.

“Ouch!” I yelped as I lifted my feet slightly off of the ground.

“Well look who’s finally awake,” a snide voice to my left said.

I turned my head and my heart dropped. Joining me in this chilling chamber were the rest of my friends: Cowboy Rockstar, Helm Lady, Professor Flay and Glassesman were chained to chairs like mine while Rockblock’s hulking form was chained to the wall on the far side of the room. The humans in the chairs also had their feet up in various positions. Rockblock was stuck standing on the bone floor, but at least he didn’t seem to mind.

“What happened?” I asked groggily.

“We were all knocked unconscious after we broke through the prison walls,” Professor Flay explained. “Cerebral implants I’d guess.”

“You’re saying we were all chipped?” I said, bewildered. “That’s crazy. Why weren’t we all knocked out as soon as we broke out of our cells?”

“Because I wanted to see the look on your face when you realized you were in Atomspace.”

All of our heads snapped towards the door where a man wearing a dark gray catsuit, a bright orange domino mask, and heavy metal boots strode into the room. “Do you like how I’ve decorated? Greg the Skeleton King referred me to his interior design guy.”

“That explains the bones,” Helm Lady muttered.

“And the hellfire!” Cowboy Rockstar proclaimed. “From right before we were captured, I’d been wondering about that.”

“Smuggles,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Zachary,” he said curtly. “Mr. How To Hero himself, how does it feel to be so utterly defeated by someone you’ve spent years ridiculing on your infantile blog?”

“I’ll let you know when it happens,” I said.

“Always with the clever little jokes,” Smuggles said as he took a seat in the leather chair and steepled his fingers. “You have been utterly defeated though. I’ve been following your little escape attempt from the very beginning. My people are not idiots you know. We’ve been listening to every conversation, watching your every move. The riot in the cafeteria was especially amusing.” He nodded at Rockblock who just grunted in response. “Quite frankly, you got further than I expected you to. But I’m glad you did, because now you have to admit that I’ve completely bested you. You’ve been thoroughly trounced Zachary. Who’s the laughingstock now?”

I narrowed my eyes, trying to think of a way out of this for myself and my friends, when Glassesman burst out laughing. Smuggles’s eye flashed with rage and he slammed a hand down on his desk.

“I’m sorry, is something amusing here?”

“No no… Well yeah, sorry, it’s just… You got every supervillain to band together, captured most of the superheroes, and basically took over the entire world just to get back at some low rate blogger?”

“Hey, uncalled for!” I shouted.

“I’m sorry it’s just a bit ridiculous don’t you think?”

“Honestly, I kind of agree with him,” Helm Lady said sheepishly.

“I legitimately thought this whole thing was about me,” Cowboy Rockstar admitted. “I’m kind of a big deal you know, being a semigod and all that.”

“Don’t you mean demigod?” Professor Flay asked, doing a little wiggle shake to get his chair facing Cowboy Rockstar.

“Oh, I’m that too. But I’m talking about the cult I inadvertently inspired that has deified me,” Cowboy Rockstar explained.

Smuggles banged his fist down on his desk again.

“Enough!” he shouted, before cradling his fist in his other hand. “Now that your merry band has been epically thwarted and humiliated, I must decide on your punishment. I’m not about to risk you lot plotting another breakout.”

My mind started racing for a way out. This was the first time I had come face to face with Smuggles since he’d unleashed Chuck the Fish Whisperer in the How To Hero basement. Until now I hadn’t realized just how much of what was happening revolved around me. I didn’t even realize Smuggles had been familiar with my blog before we hired him. Maybe I could work with that.

“Do your worst Smuggles. I guarantee you it won’t be anything worse than what actual villains have done to me,” I said, affixing my most smug expression on my features.

“What are you talking about?” Smuggles said, clearly thrown.

“I mean come on. I lived with a real supervillain before. Remember Dr. Brainwave?”

“Wait, what?” Helm Lady said. “You lived with Dr. Brainwave? We’ve been looking for him for years!”

“Yeah well I don’t know what to tell you,” I said.

“Brainwave was a sentimental hack. Killing him was child’s play.” Smuggles said through mounting anger.

I faltered for a moment. So Smuggles had been the one who had mailed that bomb to our office? He was the reason Dr. Brainwave was dead? Sure the guy was a supervillain, but at the end of the day he had been my… my friend. And he’d sacrificed his life to save mine and my friends’. The fact that I was sitting less than three feet away from his murderer was almost too much to bear. Still, there’d be plenty of time to deal with him later. Assuming my plan worked.

“Still before you killed him he made my life miserable. You’ve read my blog, I’m sure you know all about it. So I honestly doubt that anything you plan to do can compare.”

Smuggles literally shook with rage, “I can… I can killitalics you! You ever think about that?”

Cowboy Rockstar grinned, “Good luck with that.”

Ok, honestly I’m not sure what thatitalics was about. Is Cowboy Rockstar immortal? Has anybody ever checked that? Regardless, I decided to just roll with it.

“Do your worst.” I said.

“Guys!” Glassesman shouted exasperated. “I love taunting a bad guy as much as the next guy, but maybe we should all ease up a bit!”

“Oh relax,” I said. “Smuggles is a Z-lister trying to kick it with the big kids. He can’t just shoot us or something. If he wants to be a world-dominating evil monster he’s going to have to come up with a suitably ostentatious way to kill us and honestly, he doesn’t have the imagination. Just look at his face, this is clearly eating at him.”

It was as though a lightbulb went off over Smuggles’s head. His face warped from grimace to grin and he strode around to the other side of his desk.

“I’ve already succeeded in taking over the world and routing your beloved superheroes. I hardly need to prove myself to the likes of you. You can expect to be executed in a ‘suitable ostentatious manner’ shortly.”

I was all read to shoot back a witty retort when everything went black again.

***

I awoke to the sound of cheering, which made me feel pretty good. I don’t often get cheered for waking up. I’m sure Cowboy Rockstar was feeling pretty regular though, people cheer for everything that guy does. I was in the center of a gladiatorial arena, the stands were packed with guard drones and more than a few supervillains. The presence of so many of them here sent a shiver down my spine. Had Smuggles really been able to recruit and control so many supervillains? Next to me, my friends laid in a rumpled heap, all of them still unconscious with the exception of…

“Now look what you’ve done,” Professor Flay said sternly.

I turned to look at him and saw the abject fear sketched across his features.

“Relax Prof, everything’s going to be ok.”

“How can you say that! Look at us! We’re in an arena surrounded by bloodthirsty supervillains for god’s sake!”

“It’s not the supervillains you should be worrying about, it’s whatever’s going to come out of that gate,” I said, pointing to a massive (well, massive relative to our shrunken selves) gate directly opposite us.

Professor Flay shuddered, “I imagine the others are still unconscious to prevent them from being able to do anything against whatever that might be.”

I nodded, “It makes sense, Smuggles doesn’t want to risk anything going wrong.”

“But I still want the satisfaction of watching at least some of you soil yourselves in fear,” Smuggles said as his smug visage appeared on a floating jumbotron that was hovering over the arena.

“You’ll never get away with this you knave!” Professor Flay shouted.

“Oh Professor, I already have. I think I’ll make today an international holiday going forward,” Smuggles said as he leaned back from the camera so we could see his entire upper body on the screen. He was sitting on a golden throne and his fingers were hovering above a big red button. I assumed whatever was waiting behind the gate would be released at the press of that button. And why prolong the inevitable.

“Why don’t you come down here so I can wipe that smug expression off of your face, you absolute goober!” I called up to Smuggles.

Smuggles frowned, “Goodbye Zach, you will not be missed.”

His finger pressed the button. The gate started to ascend. Professor Flay sighed and rolled up his sleeves. I had to admire him, he wasn’t planning on going down without some sort of fight. As the gate rose the cheers of the crowd grew even more fevered. I think I even saw a sign that said “Cowboy Suckstar.” Rude. After what seemed like an eternity the gate was finally fully open and a ferocious roar shook the stadium as a massive beast lumbered into the arena. The ginormous monster truly had it all. Dozens of eyes, face tentacles, spikes, a flaming tail. I had to admit this would certainly be a suitably ostentatious way to die. Of course, I wasn’t about to let Smuggles get his way was I?

“Good god what is that thing?” Professor Flay said as he backed away from the giant monster.

“It’s our way out,” I said calmly as I climbed on top of Rockblock’s comatose body, put two fingers in my mouth and whistled sharply.

“What are you doing?” Professor Flay shouted at me as the monster began galloping towards us on all fours.

I looked down at Professor Flay and smiled, “See you on the other side Prof.”

And then the monster ate me.

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honeytrappaz · 5 years ago

Text

call out post for @ratsofftoya

TW: GROOMING/PEDOPHILIA AND SUICIDE MENTIONS

recently @i-am-a-fish got suicidal baited off tumblr for the most bullshitted accusation post I've seen so far.

apparently I-am-fish is a pedophile/ potential child groomer, as said by @ratsofftoya

All because he made a joke on twitter about moving to pornhub, and follows artists that draw lolicon/aged-up smut of fictional underaged characters.

but there are some major fallacies in @ratsofftoya 's accusations (as if it wasn't obvious enough).

moral appeal:

ratsofftoya's commentary on goldie's pornhub and sex toy posts were very moralistic despite the posts clearly being a joke.

Humor is subjective so it's okay if you didn't laugh at this post, but that isn't an excuse to take away its humor to demean someone by making hasty generalizations about his fanbase. We can't confirm his fanbase is mostly kids, but because this claim is based on a hasty generalization, it is an inappropriate appeal to emotion. Trying to imply that goldie willingly exposes kids to child porn, classic "but think of the kids!" argument.

• There is no data we have on I-am-fish 's audience age demographic.

• there is no proof that majority of the fanbase are minors. that's just a hasty generalization.

• I-am-a-fish does not claim to be a blog for kids, not including "18+" in your bio does not make you a blog for kids.

I can't believe i have to point this shit out, but tumblr and twitter are not for kids. Nobody on these two platforms should have to put "18+" in their bios because nobody below that should even be on these two platforms. I-am-a-fish is an adult making adult jokes on an adult platform, to imply he could be a child groomer because he makes sex jokes that minors see is unfair because thats beyond his control. Tumblr and Twitter are adult spaces and yet we are not responsible for kids being in a space where they don't belong, that responsibility goes to the parents. All we can do about minors in online adult spaces is REPORT them.

2. cherry picking:

ratsofftoya specifically picked TWO sexually suggestive artworks by japanese Twitter artist Krskii. problem is ratsofftoya uses these two posts to portay this artist as a highly lewd/fetish account, when that isn't the case. In actuality, krskii's twitter page is a fanart page for a duo from IDOL MASTER: cinderella girls starlight stage anzu fubata(the blonde loli) and kirari moroboshi. it's a fanart page for other IMCGSS characters as well. i use to play game, its alot of fun but its japanese exclusive so i couldn't play much due to language barriers. the fanart page is almost all SFW, but ratsofftoya pick TWO out of dozens of sfw pics to solidify her claim.

you can go on Krskii's twitter and see for yourself:

and my personal favorite:

(ooh lawd this is cute i might have it as a PFP with credit!)

anyway, ratsofftoya ignored these possibilities:

• There is no proof goldie liked the two photos, or any engagement at all.

• there is no proof that he had seen it, especially out of dozens sfw art.

• just because he follows this artist does not automatically confim he has a sexual attraction for lolis or kids. especially due to how the page is mostly sfw.

• goldie could just be a fan of IMCGSS.

this isn't a creepy pedo twitter page, just an idol fan page. but what really is illogical is the commentary ratsofftoya has in regards to loli drawings. Now with using two pics racy pics, ratsofftoya came to the conclusion that Goldie is sexually attracted to children. But lolicon isn't real children, it's not real CP and it's not even a realistic depiction of humans children, so what rataofftoya did was simply pass off her opinion of lolis as fact. I'm not trying to debate on whether lolicon is okay or not and im not gonna share my opinion, because the real point isn't the subject of lolicon but the wrongful accusation. the real fact is that lolicon is still legal, but social opinion of lolicon is very mixed, our opinions on such a complicated subject is not enough to convict someone as a pedophile. you're opinions do not hold that kind of power, especially without sufficient evidence. let's actually move on to ratsofftoya's evidenced and how insufficient it is.

3. False attribution of discord chats

the screenshots provided from the discord chats do not add up to ratsofftoya's claims, making the screencaps irrelevant more than anything.

she provided this screenshot of a mod stating their opinion on aged up fanart, and claims that this opinions makes ALL MODS in that discord MAPS and Pedo apologists. problem is that there is no real sympathy for any pedo/maps in both ratsofftoya and nestbian's screenshots. if anything, it's just some bad jokes, and Goldie doesn't even say one himself.

rattsofftoya commits the same fallacy like with the loli argument; the concept of aged up characters is complicated subject, its not illegal but there is alot of debate surrounding it. Ratsofftoya makes her opinion clear that aged up artwork of characters is wrong. she uses small and insufficient screenshots to to help make her OPINION seem like a fact, and accuse the mods of being MAP sympathizers. she's convicted these mods based on a biased opinion, the concept of aged up characters is not legally pedophilic so whether you think the subject is right or wrong, is still not enough to convinct others with opposing opinions as MAP enablers.

Another issue is how she claims minors are talking inappropriately with adults on discord, but there are no such screenshots, the screenshots provided give no evidence of such accusation. With her convictions based on biased opinions, that accusations is not going to be getting any credibility anytime soon. Many of us know how discord works, it's not unusual for adults and minors to be in the same server, it's not a pedophilic thing. But one thing that discord mods do is have NSFW chats specifically for adults, while minors are exluded and stay in the SFW chats. ratsofftoya has no screenshots on minors in a nsfw chat, you'd figure that nestbian would take screenshots of that if it was actually true.

Lastly, ratsofftoya uses these discord screenshots to further solidfy her statement that I-am-a-fish is exposing sexual content to children. But you don't see goldie or any inappropriate/sexual content in the screenshots, just problematic opinions at best.

4. Bad intentions:

from what i've said in this post above, I can conclude ratsofftoya's post overrall was very manipulative and biased. I think the most manipulative part of the post was the last paragraph:

Using the idea of child exploitation and sexual abuse to pull on people's emotions, a huge inappropriate call for emotion. yet, ratsofftoya has not proven or shown any child exploitation or pedophilia at all. we have yet to see any evidence of abuse! How can I believe ratsofftoya has good intentions when I can easily break the accusations apart and see lies?

As a real victim of child grooming, i won't speak for all victims, but as a victim I really don't like my trauma being used to witch hunt innocent people. My trauma is not for woke points, it's not a badge and it's not for your ego to exploit. It's pretty clear that ratsofftoya did NOT make this post for the well being of children and grooming victims, but the post was made for her moralistic ego. If anything, to use sexual child abuse to lie about others, is exploitive.

5. consequenses:

I commented on ratsofftoya's post, mentioning that there are serious consequences to false accusations. Of course the response was immature af so not sure if she'll ever learn, but I'll say it for those who'll hopefully listen to my advice.

Call out post with false accusations can destroy lives, and put you, the poster, in serious legal trouble.

Slander and defamation on its own can get you a lawsuit, you never know who on this platform has money for a lawyer. If this person you publicly slander is to self harm, commit suicide, or lose their job, you can be legally held accountable for it even if it wasn't what you intended to happen, disclaimers cat save you from that. Just because ratofftoya says the suicide baiting is wrong, doesn't mean that she isn't legally responsible for it, I-am-a-fish can legally use it against her. Even with the legal consequences, lying in its own has social consequences and it will be brought to light.

Remember this, you broke ass college students, no amount of woke points is worth the lawsuit. If you GENUINELY see a real predator, report it!

#I-am-a-fish #I am a fish #discourse #fishcourse #call out post #call out

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our-time-is-now · 4 years ago

Text

June 7, 2019: Incompetent Specialists

(previous play)

You can find more information about the authors, translators, content warning and additional information about the plays in the pinned post on our blog.

Attention! This play includes transgender topics. For more details see our interjection.

Friday, 10:42 am:

David: *he and Matteo have gotten up early today and have made their way to Potsdam* *is a little nervous but also pretty excited and curious as to what awaits him* *has read so many different reviews online and wonders what this surgeon will recommend him* *at the train stations they have bought themselves some coffees as they arrived a little early and are now arriving at the hospital* *because he still has some coffee left, he stops in front of the entrance and looks up to the building* *smiles at Matteo, who seems a little nervous, grabs his hand and squeezes it slightly* *quietly says* Thanks again, for coming with me!

Matteo: *felt like he was more nervous than David all morning and wonders why* *is now looking at the huge hospital and wonders if that really will be the place where he will hopefully visit David soon* *doesn’t realize how nervous he has been acting until David grabs his hand* *smiles slightly at his words, tilts his head and makes a pff sound, because it’s crystal clear that he’s coming with him* Aren’t you nervous?

David: *grins slightly at Matteo’s noise and gives him his secretary’s-office-look* *still doesn’t think that it’s a given but rather pretty wonderful that Matteo just goes along with everything concerning him* *briefly thinks about it at Matteo’s question and shrugs a little* I’m more excited… *grins again slightly and squeezes his hand* There can’t really go anything wrong, yet… *takes another sip of coffee, looks back at the building and then at Matteo* I’m really excited that it’s finally going somewhere… *means that the date for his surgery is getting more realistic with the consultation and that he will hopefully soon feel more comfortable in his body*

Matteo: *nods slightly* *thinks that excitement is good* *definitely better than his fear that they will hear horror stories in a moment* *grins slightly and nods when David says that there can’t really go anything wrong, yet* Mhm… true. *then smiles more broadly when he says that he’s excited* *can imagine that all the waiting is what sucks the most* Yes… hopefully your appointment won’t take as long as all the crap before… *notices that David takes his last sip* Let’s go inside?

David: *sees that Matteo is now also smiling and is happy that he doesn’t seem as nervous anymore* *groans when he mentions all the crap before this and nods* Yes, that would be great… but I’m not getting my hopes up too much – the waiting periods are really long! Would be nice if it somehow worked out this year… *shrugs and takes his last sip of coffee* *nods at Matteo’s question and lets go of his hand to throw his cup into the trash* *looks at Matteo while they are walking next to each other toward the entrance and grins broadly* *says a little menacingly* Go in and win… dumdumdummm

*they ask around until they find the right ward and don’t have to wait very long until they get asked to come into the consulting room* *there they are greeted by Dr. Müller and they introduce themselves, as well* *gets a little nervous now but thinks that he doesn’t really have to do much besides answer questions, ask questions and get examined* *puts the insurance documents and his trans resume on the desk and pushes them over to the doctor who only glances at them briefly and then pushes the papers aside* *hears him say with a smile: “I’d rather talk to you than simply read everything. Tell me a little bit about yourself, Mr. Schreibner, and what you expect to get out of the surgery”.* *asks if he wants to hear his trans resume and sees him nod* *so tells him about how he realized that he was trans, when he started going to therapy, when he started taking testo etc. and finally concludes with* … um… and what I expect to get out of the surgery!? *shrugs, laughs quietly and insecurely and briefly presses his lips together* *clears his throat and says* To some extent a more normal life… that I feel more comfortable in my body…

Matteo: *goes into the consulting room with David and gets a little nervous again* *sits down on a chair next to David and opposite the doctor* *thinks it’s a good thing that he doesn’t seem to care too much about the paperwork* *listens to David, even though he already knows all of that very well* *notices that David is a little nervous at first but that he then gets more secure* *sees the doctor nod at David’s last sentence: “Yes, that should be the goal… exactly”:* *presses his lips together* *hears the doctor continue: “As you probably already know, there are different methods for the surgery… which one is used depends on your wish as well as your anatomical condition… If it’s okay with you I would like to examine you next door and then we can talk about the different methods?”* *looks from the doctor to David* *thinks that David has enough experience with doctors that examine him but still wants to make sure that David isn’t feeling too uncomfortable* *hears the doctor add: “Your companion can come along if that makes you feel more comfortable, or he can wait here, whatever you want”.* *answers before David has the chance* It’s okay, I’ll just wait here. *is pretty sure that David doesn’t want him in there*

David: *nods when the doctor talks about the different surgery methods and also when he says that he’d like to examine him next door* *was expecting it but is a little nervous now because so far, he couldn’t really tell which surgery method the doctors might recommend for him* *hears that Matteo can come along and then already hears him decline* *hears the doctor say: “Whatever makes you comfortable!” and sees him get up and walk toward the door to the other room* *throws a thankful look at Matteo, because even though he has already seen him topless a few times during sex thanks to the heat in the last couple of days, being examined by a doctor under bright light is still something different* *briefly leans over to Matteo and kisses him quickly* *murmurs* See you in a minute… *then follows the doctor who patiently waits for him to undress* *doesn’t do this very often – not even with doctors – and has to resist the urge to cross his arms in front of his chest* *nods when the doctor asks permission again to touch his breasts and simply endures the procedure* *sees the doctor nod every now and then and make some notes while he pushes the breast tissue up and down and eventually measures the position of his nipples with some kind of ruler* *finally sees him nod and smile a little and hears the redeeming words: “You can get dressed again, Mister Schreibner”!* *gets dressed again while the doctor asks him: “Should we talk about the details in the consulting room with your partner”?* *smiles and nods even though he’s not sure if the doctor wants to know whether it’s okay to talk about the details in the consulting room or whether Matteo is his partner* *murmurs* Sure… *shortly after that he and the doctor sit down on the desk again and he briefly smiles at Matteo to signal him that everything is alright* *then looks at the doctor expectantly, who immediately starts talking: “Your breast size and tissue as well as the position of your nipples do allow for different surgery methods, I do, however, have a “favorite” (*sees him make air quotes*) that I would recommend for you. But first I would like to explain all possibilities to you.”* *sees him take out a pen and some paper and hears him start to explain three different methods based on sketches: Large incisions including the repositioning of the nipples, small incisions including the repositioning of the nipples and small incisions without relocating the nipples* *hears him say: “Basically these are the three methods that would be possible for you. I’ll explain the risks and the advantages and disadvantages of the respective methods in more detail in a minute… after that we’ll discuss the hysterectomy”* *nods a little overwhelmed* *knows these three methods and also knows the advantages and disadvantages and the risks and was actually hoping that the doctor would tell him which method would be the best one for him*

Matteo: *quickly kisses David back and smiles at him quickly, hoping that it is encouraging* *patiently waits and looks around the room* *sees a small figurine on the desk which he absentmindedly pushes around* *hopes that the doctor has some empathy and that David won’t feel too uncomfortable* *quickly lets go of the figurine when both of them come back in* *sees David’s smile and is relieved and briefly takes his hand to give it a squeeze* *then listens to the doctor and frowns slightly* *also knows the different methods and is a little confused that the doctor doesn’t tell them anything different than Google* Umm… and which method is the best? I mean, which one do you suggest? *notices the doctor look at him a little surprised and raises his eyebrows* *then hears the doctor: “The methods all have advantages and disadvantages which I was about to explain to you”* *nods* Yes, I know… the small incisions are barely visible, but the larger ones are more precise and so on… *then presses his lips together because he didn’t mean to interrupt* The question is what you medically deem the most reasonable decision, isn’t it?

David: *looks at Matteo a little surprised and secretly admires him for being brave enough to interrupt the doctor and to basically ask the exact thing he didn’t dare to ask and then has to suppress a grin when Matteo even lists some advantages and disadvantages* *looks back at the doctor who is now frowning and looking from him to Matteo* *eventually hears him sigh: “Listen, I’m aware that you have probably done extensive research online. Yet I am obligated to also inform you about said risks, which are…”* *can’t believe that the doctor really ignores Matteo’s question and instead stubbornly follows through with his script telling them about hemorrhages, necrotizing nipples and so on* *reaches for Matteo’s hand and looks at him a little pleadingly as if to say: “Don’t say anything else, let’s just get this over with…”* *barely listens to what the doctor is saying and is a little surprised when he seems to be finished with his speech* *looks at him and nods* *then clears his throat and repeats Matteo’s question* And which one of the three methods do you consider the most reasonable for my anatomy?

Matteo: *immediately notices that he hasn’t made a friend just now* *still thinks his question was valid* *frowns again when the doctor continues talking and doesn’t answer his question in any way* *presses his lips together and thinks about simply asking again when David takes his hand* *looks over to him and notices his expression* *nods slightly and shuts up, even though he thinks the question is important* *grins slightly when David repeats his question* *hears the doctor clear his throat again: “Like I said, all three methods are absolutely justifiable in your case. It is more about which possible consequences you could best live with”.* *frowns again* Okay… well, sorry if I interrupt again… so what you’re saying is that my boyfriend’s breasts are in such a medically wonderful condition that all three methods are absolutely equally recommendable? *sees the doctor swallow* I’m really sorry if that’s somehow rude of me… but we’re here for a consultation, you know?

David: *frowns when the doctor doesn’t provide them with a specific answer again and was just about to open his mouth and ask again when Matteo does* *sees the doctor swallow and get slightly nervous, but nods at Matteo’s words* *leans slightly forward and says* What my boyfriend is trying to say is that I was really hoping to get a definite recommendation from you. I know that with larger breasts there is a tendency to do larger incisions and with smaller ones smaller incisions… But I don’t have your experience and can’t really judge if my breasts are large or small and which method would be the best one. I am aware of the possible consequences of the respective methods. But I’m sure you wouldn’t leave someone with large breasts a free choice simply because they say that they couldn’t live with the consequences of large incisions. *shrugs and insecurely says* I just want to have a good result… *sees the doctor nod and sees him hesitate and eventually clear his throat: “Of course, you are right: I can give recommendations, but of course my patients have to bear the risks and consequences themselves…”* *hears him clear his throat again and eventually hesitantly say: “In your case I would actually lean towards small incisions without repositioning the nipples…”* *sees him reach for his paperwork, after all, and quickly skim over it and eventually add: “As I can see here, as is standard, you have also applied for a correction of the result with your health insurance… so should you not be happy with the position of your nipples in retrospect, it would be possible to correct that afterwards…” *nods and leans back again* *somehow is still dissatisfied because he doesn’t feel like the doctor really knows what he is talking about* *insecurely wonders whether his breasts are maybe so strange that he can’t give him a clear answer* *hears the doctor ask: “Do you have any further questions or should I continue with the hysterectomy”?* *shakes his head and looks at Matteo questioningly* *somehow has imagined all of that a little differently*

Matteo: *can’t really believe that the doctor would only give them a tenuous recommendation even after they repeatedly asked* *can basically feel how disappointed David is and would like to just leave with him immediately* *gives him a half-smile when he looks over* *also shakes his head at the doctor* *hears the doctor start: “Well, like you surely know a hysterectomy is definitely recommendable to lower the risk of cancer, but in some cases to also help with dysphoria… the knowledge that the female organs have been removed can be quite helpful”* *would love to shake him when he quotes the next Wikipedia article* *continues to listen, after all: “Of course there is the possibility of vaginal removal, which would lend itself in case you don’t want to have another scar, otherwise there is also the possibility of an abdominal incision…”* *can’t help but roll his eyes* *murmurs* … and both of them have advantages and disadvantages… *sees the doctor look at him: “Excuse me”?* *shakes his head* Nothing, sorry.

David: *at first listens to the doctor but tunes out after some time when he realizes that he doesn’t get any new information here, either* *hears Matteo murmur and has to grin a tiny bit* *isn’t really surprised that the doctor isn’t misled by that and instead simply continues talking* *takes Matteo’s hand and thrums on the back of Matteo’s hand with this thumb a little impatient and a little bored* *feels a little like during a boring subject at school – only that contrary to this appointment, he wasn’t expecting much there* *at some point hears the doctor ask: “Do you have any further questions”?* *did, in fact, prepare questions, but all of them refer to the actual hospital stay such as how long he’ll have to stay in the hospital, how long the surgery would take, if he has to consider anything beforehand, what the aftertreatment would look like and so on, but is now pretty certain that he doesn’t want to have the surgery here, so simply shakes his head and without letting go of Matteo’s hand leans forward a little so as to signal that the conversation is finished and that they want to leave* *says* No – thank you very much for the extensive speech! *manages to not make it sound as sarcastic as he feels* *hears the doctor: “It is common that you will consider everything now. You don’t have to make a decision immediately. Once you made a decision, just get in contact with my secretary and we’ll set a new appointment to talk about the details.”* *nods and gets up* Ok. *shakes the doctor’s hand and says his goodbyes* *only wants to get out of here quickly*

Matteo: *holds David’s hand when he reaches for it* *immediately notices that David is finished and only wants to get out of here* *can’t believe that this guy is considered an expert in this field* *looks at David when he asks if he has any more questions* *knows that he has prepared an entire list of questions* *isn’t surprised when David says no and feels vindicated that David only wants to get out of here* *presses his lips together when the doctor tells them what is “common”* *bites back a comment on what he thinks is also “common” and gets up when David does* *only nods at the doctor as goodbye and quickly leaves with David* *whispers* Not yet… *once they have closed the door behind them* *grabs David’s hand again and quickly leaves the hospital with him* *then stops and turns around to him* Man, I don’t believe this… what was that? *shakes his head* What crap, I’m so sorry… has he never heard anything about patient care or what? *looks at David* I know you want all of this to happen soon, but not here, ok? I’d rather cut those things off you myself than let this guy cut into you!

David: *feels a little surreal to leave the room with such a bad feeling as he had put so much hope into this consultation* *is glad that Matteo takes his hand again and lets himself be almost pulled outside* *smiles resigned when Matteo immediately starts to complain and shrugs at his rhetorical questions* *sighs quietly and nods when Matteo says that he shouldn’t have the surgery here* *quietly says* No, not here… *has to laugh quietly but is still somehow a little sad when Matteo says that he’d rather cut them off himself* *is so grateful that he came along and that he didn’t have to stand here on his own completely insecure, and is grateful that he is just as annoyed as him and that he tries to understand him but somehow has to digest all of that first and has to sort his thoughts before he can say anything* *therefore simply takes one step towards Matteo, puts his arms around his hips and hugs him* *buries his head in Matteo’s shoulder and simply stays like that for a minute, breathing in the familiar smell looking for some safety and comfort* *eventually murmurs* I want some ice cream…

Matteo: *hears David quietly agree* *then looks at him and sees how disappointed he is* *feels powerless and helpless and would love to go back and tell the doctor what he thinks of him* *then sees and feels David hugging him and immediately knows that the doctor isn’t important, only David is* *wraps his arms around him and holds him tight* *doesn’t say anything and only buries his nose in David’s hair and gives him a small kiss* *otherwise simply lets him recharge* *smiles at his next words and quietly says* You can have the largest ice cream and the largest coffee… and hey, the next consultation is in one week, I’m sure that one will be better…

David: *smiles at Matteo’s promise of ice cream and coffee and slowly detaches himself a little from him, even though he thinks that his comfort-batteries still aren’t fully charged* *looks at him and sighs quietly* *murmurs* I hope so… *looks around searchingly for a moment and then points his head in the direction of the city center because there surely is a place where you can get ice cream and coffee* *has difficulties with completely letting go of Matteo, but because they can’t really walk hugging each other he reluctantly lets go of him* *sighs again and shakes his head slightly* And the doctor was praised so highly… I don’t get why… what if all the other praised doctors are also this strange!? *is going to wait for the appointment next week and, if necessary, will also make some appointments in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Munich*

Matteo: *would have held onto David even longer, but lets go of him when he detaches himself* *but reaches for his hand when they start towards the city center* *shakes his head* No idea… he was praised because his surgeries are so good, not because he can talk very well… I’m sure the others will be better… and if they aren’t we’ll go to Hamburg or God knows where… *squeezes his hand* We’ll find something, I promise.

David: *nods slowly and in agreement at Matteo’s words* *smiles slightly and squeezes his hand* *quietly says* “We”… that still sounds pretty good… *leans over to him while walking and presses a quick kiss to his cheek* *murmurs* Thanks… *takes a deep breath and realizes that he is feeling a little better even though he is still pretty disappointed and insecure* *thinks that maybe there really is something wrong with his breasts so that the doctor couldn’t give him a clear statement, but tries to push that thought away because rationally he knows that this isn’t the case and that even if it were, the doctor should be professional enough to talk about it openly with him*

Matteo: *grins slightly and nods* I think so, too… *looks at him after he kissed him* *notices David think again and pulls him closer to wrap his arm around his back instead of only holding his hand* *after some time they arrive at a nice ice-cream parlor and take a seat outside* *scrutinizes David after they have ordered* *has been wondering all the time how he could help him* Hey, if you want to, I’ll call the doctor in Berlin… see what their consultations are like… or we’ll take another close look at reviews online?

David: *smiles slightly when Matteo puts his arm around him and wraps his arm around Matteo’s hip, as well* *can’t really tear his mind away from the horrible appointment and wonders if the next one will be similar* *orders ice cream and coffee with Matteo once they reach a nice ice-cream parlor* *then realizes that Matteo is scrutinizing him and tilts his head so as to ask him what he’s thinking* *hears his answer and smiles slightly because he thinks it’s great that Matteo worries* *sighs quietly, leans forward a little and takes Matteo’s hand* *thinks for a moment and then says* That’s nice of you… *shrugs and laughs quietly* I think calling the doctor won’t help much… but we could really read some more reviews… and maybe write to some of them and ask them how their consultations went… *searches for words to somehow make Matteo understand what’s going on inside him but gets interrupted by the coffee arriving – including the information that the ice cream would follow soon* *waits for the waitress to leave and then says with a sigh* You know, I have such stupid thoughts… what if… *lowers his voice a little* …if my breasts really have such a weird shape that he couldn’t suggest a method?! *shake his head slightly because he does know that his is probably nonsense*

Matteo: *nods slightly when David says that calling probably wouldn’t help much* *then takes his phone out of his pocket when he says that looking at reviews would be good* *puts it on the table when he realizes that David wants to say more* *leans back and lets go of David’s hand again when the coffee arrives* *tilts his head slightly when David says that he has stupid thoughts* *slightly grimaces when he hears David’s worries and shakes his head* No, I don’t think so… I think he’s a coward who doesn’t want to commit so that people won’t complain about it afterwards… *grabs his phone and opens google* Let’s just look right away… what was the name of that surgeon in Berlin again?

David: *shrugs at Matteo’s assumption and says* Hmm… yes, you’re probably right… *would love for the second appointment to be sooner so that he has a comparison* *sees Matteo reach for his phone and at the same time pulls his coffee towards him* *blows on it and then takes a careful sip* *smiles slightly when Matteo wants to google immediately* Dr. Meier… *then sees the waitress arrive with their ice cream and makes some space so that she can put down Matteo’s spaghetti sundae and his strawberry sundae on the table* *thanks her and then looks at Matteo* Check if someone has added their email address so that we can ask them more questions… for some reason Dr. Müller also had good reviews… otherwise we wouldn’t have gone to him in the first place… *pulls his strawberry sundae toward him and smiles because it looks really delicious and he’s really excited about it* *really needs this right now as consolation and plucks a strawberry from the heap of whipped cream on top of it*

Matteo: *nods at the name and types “Dr. Meier Berlin reviews”* Oh, he’s also worked in Potsdam until 2018… *keeps scrolling* Only hospital pages… *reaches for his coffee and takes a sip before he continues reading* Oh here… travesta forum… oh someone says that he’s arrogant… *keeps reading* But the next one says that the result would be great and that the consultation in particular convinces… well then he can be a little bit arrogant, as far as I’m concerned… *looks up at David* What do you think?

David: *has started eating his ice cream and is listening to Matteo* *slightly grimaces when he says that Dr. Meier used to be in Potsdam and that one person says that he’s arrogant* *sighs quietly and then nods at Matteo’s next words* *sucks on his spoon and notices that he really is feeling better because of the ice cream* *then says* As long as it’s only a little… and he can give a clear statement and doesn’t just quote Wikipedia… *takes another spoonful of ice cream and then takes Matteo’s phone away* *pushes his ice cream towards him, which is slowly beginning to melt* *murmurs with his mouth half full of ice cream* First the ice cream... then we’ll continue! *smiles slightly* *swallows and repeats* We’ll just keep looking until we find one we both like… I think I simply make appointments everywhere. If we like someone, we can still cancel the appointments… *tries to suppress the urge and longing to get rid of those things as quickly as possible – after all, wants to feel like he’s under good care*

Matteo: *nods* Yes, I agree… *keeps scrolling but suddenly his hands are empty* Oi! *then grins* Okay, first ice cream. *takes a spoonful and closes his eyes in appreciation* Mhmmmm… delicious. *then nods* Yes… I know you want to get rid of those things as soon as possible but it can’t hurt to get some more opinions… *takes another spoonful and then pushes it toward David* Try this… it’s so good!

David: *grins slightly when Matteo enjoys his ice cream and also takes another spoonful* *nods at his words, but first tries Matteo’s ice cream and nods again* Really good! *pushes his ice cream toward Matteo so that he can also try it and says* As long as it happens before next summer. So that maybe I can go into the lake with everyone, after all… *after the meeting three days ago, would really like to go swimming one of these days – a thought he didn’t have during the last couple of years, probably due to the lack of people and possibilities* *takes another spoonful of his ice cream and, with his mouth half full, quietly murmurs* …and being amongst people without a binder… or work out… or in general… that would really be awesome…

Matteo: *tries David’s ice cream and nods approvingly* Really good ice cream, here… *listens to him and nods to everything he says* I think that’s gonna work out… even this year… I’ve got a feeling about it… *smiles at him a little and takes another sip from his coffee* Generally everything without a binder… do you already know what you want to do with those things once you don’t need them anymore?

David: *smiles because Matteo likes his ice cream and then puts ice cream and a strawberry on his spoon and holds it out to Matteo with a grin* It’s even better with a strawberry! *sighs quietly* If Berlin’s also a bust then it’ll probably drag on until next year… who knows when I’ll even get appointments for a consultation… *laughs quietly when Matteo asks about the binders and shrugs* Burn them!? *pulls his coffee toward him, as well, and takes a sip* Or sell them… or donate them… I’ll have to see. I think my favorite ones I can really only burn – nobody wants those anymore. *then asks* Are we going back to Berlin already or should I convince you that – apart from a certain hospital – Potsdam is actually quite nice?

Matteo: *leans forward and takes the bite of ice cream and strawberry from David’s spoon* Mhmmmm *shakes his head* No, no, let’s not think like that… from now on, we’re lucky, this was basically the dress rehearsal which is known to go wrong… *rubs at his eyes a little because he’s looking into the sun* *laughs when he says burn them* We’ll do a burn-party… with someone who has a garden... Hanna! And then everyone can bring something that they want to burn! *finishes his coffee and then pulls his ice cream closer again* *shrugs* Well, as we’re here already we might as well look around for a bit…

David: *has to grin at Matteo’s positive thoughts and grins exaggeratedly and with raised eyebrows* Okay… then the next appointment /has/ to be good… with luck and a bad dress rehearsal… of course! *laughs quietly* *laughs even more when he plans a burn-party* Oh yes, please! That could be interesting. And everyone can hold a farewell speech for the stuff they burn! *scrapes up the last bits of ice cream* *has some strawberries left and invitingly holds them out to Matteo to offer him one, as well* *meanwhile asks* And what would you burn? *nods satisfied when Matteo says that they’ll stay in Potsdam and thinks about what he wants to show Matteo* *has only been here twice, so far, but always thought it was pretty nice*

Matteo: *laughs slightly* It’ll be even better with speeches… *scoops up a strawberry with his spoon and pops it into his mouth* *then slightly tilts his head when he hears David’s question* Hmmm… my manual “How to stay in the closet forever” *grins slightly but then shakes his head* No, I don’t know… my school books?

David: *in his head already starts writing down the farewell speech for his binders and has to grin widely at that thought* *laughs at Matteo’s first suggestion and shakes his head* I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that really existed… *takes another strawberry and nods about the schoolbooks* That’s more like it… you can throw mine in, as well… *takes the last strawberry and says* I’d be really interested in what the others would burn… dark secrets from the past… *grins again and leans back again because he has now finished his ice cream* *looks at Matteo and sighs once* Now I’m feeling a little better…

Matteo: *shakes his head* I hope not… that would be horrible… *finishes his spaghetti ice-cream* Hanna will probably burn schoolbooks, as well… she’s so glad to finally be done with that shit… Kiki probably some beauty products that aren’t vegan or something like that… *shrugs because he can’t think of anything else* *scrapes out the last of his ice cream and then pushes it aside* *smiles at David* I’m glad… do you want another coffee or something else or do we want to get going?

David: *shrugs at Matteo’s question and reaches for his mug where there’s still some coffee left* Get going? Or do you want anything else…? *sees him shake his head and finishes his coffee* *then pushes Matteo’s phone back toward him so that he won’t forget it and then looks around for the waitress so that they can pay* *can’t see her anywhere and leans back again* *reaches for Matteo’s hand and entwines their fingers because somehow it has been far too long without physical contact* *looks at him and smiles slightly* *absentmindedly strokes his thumb over the back of Matteo’s hand* *thinks about first going to the Sanssouci park with him and find a quiet corner for some alone time with him* *then sees the waitress and nods at her to tell her that they want to pay*

Matteo: *shakes his head at David’s question* *takes his phone from David and immediately puts it in his pocket* *smiles when David takes his hand and scoots closer to him* *reaches for his wallet when the waitress comes towards them* *hears her ask “together or separately”?, her gaze only directed at their entwined hands* Together… *takes a 20 Euro bill form his wallet and holds it out to David* *murmurs* Hold it! *sees David look at him more than punishingly but then does it anyway* *so hands the bill to the waitress, both of them holding onto it together* *sees her grin and grins as well* *takes the change and puts it away* *hears the waitress say: “Have a nice day”* *grins* You, too. *puts his wallet away again* *rubs at his eyes and gets up* Let’s go!

David: *looks up when the waitress arrives and was just about to answer her when Matteo does* *smiles at him and quietly says* Thanks… *sees him rummage around in his wallet and looks at him a little confused when Matteo holds the 20 Euro bill out to him* *draws up an eyebrow at his words once he realizes what he’s up to, but then sighs quietly and takes hold of the bill to hand it over to the waitress /together/ with Matteo* *looks at her apologetically but sees her grin and then shakes his head with a grin* *also wishes her a nice day and lovingly murmurs to Matteo* You loon… *gets up and waits for Matteo while he puts his wallet away* *notices him rub his eyes again and briefly wonders if it’s only the sun or if it might be an allergy or something* *looks at him a little worriedly when he gets up, but then has to smile all of a sudden* *takes a small step toward him and looks at him a little more closely to make sure before he finally quietly says* You have an eyelash there…

Matteo: *only grins when he calls him a loon* *thinks his joke was pretty good* I thought it was a good joke… *gets up and was just about to pull David closer to wrap his arm around him when David takes a step toward him* *looks a little surprised, then a little reproachful when he hears his words* *thinks that he wants to hoax him because of the 20 Euro joke* Haha… very funny…I get it, you don’t think my ice breakers are funny…

David: *also found the joke funny in hindsight but only laughs quietly at Matteo’s words* *sees Matteo’s look – first surprised, then a little reproachful and looks back at him questioningly* *then laughs quietly when he realizes that Matteo thought he wanted to hoax him and shakes his head* *takes a step toward him and murmurs* Hold still… *then carefully takes the eyelash from Matteo’s face and holds it out to him on his index finger* *looks at him with a knowing look and tilts his head with a mischievous smile* Can you make a wish now or is that only an eyelash? *grins slightly and questioningly draws up his eyebrows*

Matteo: *only realizes that he really has an eyelash there when David tells him to hold still* *holds still and closes his eyes for a moment* *then tilts his head when David does* I’ve learned that it’s only an eyelash… *blows the eyelash off of David’s finger and looks at him with a smile* But maybe you can guess what I would wish for…

David: *looks at Matteo knowingly* Oh jeez, really? /I/ have learned that you could make a wish now! *drops his hand after Matteo has blown the eyelash off and also looks at him with a smile* *slightly shrugs at his question* No idea… going somewhere or something like that… *grins slightly* …or an expensive car, a big house, a new laptop? *takes his hand and entwines their fingers* *briefly looks down at their hands and murmurs* …or maybe this…? *smiles and looks back up at him*

Matteo: *slightly smiles at David’s answer* *until now was always a little embarrassed about their first conversation* *but is happy that David seems to remember it fondly* *grins* And then directly to Detroit! *shakes his head at the things he lists* *together with David looks at their hands and then back at him* *nods slightly* Yep… when I want to go somewhere or simply to get out of a situation then only with you.

David: *grins broadly when Matteo mentions Detroit and murmurs* One day to Detroit… *notices that Matteo was also looking at their hands and smiles at his words* *likes the thought and feels his heart beat faster when he thinks about the fact that Matteo feels the same way – that now they are a “we”* *squeezes his hand and keeps looking at him* *but doesn’t quite understand what he means with a situation and quietly asks* Running away only together?! From what situations do you mean?

Matteo: *smilingly nods and repeats* One day to Detroit… *doesn’t let go of David’s hand but starts to slowly move away from the café with him* *shrugs one shoulder at his question* Don’t know… stupid parties… or stupid people… whatever there may come.

David: *follows Matteo when he starts to move* *grins slightly at his words and nods* *quietly walks next to him for some time but then looks at him and says* So it wasn’t only an eyelash, after all…? *softly bumps him with his shoulder and grins slightly* Would be nice if you really could make a wish and could simply disappear…

Matteo: *laughs slightly and shrugs* Maybe you don’t… maybe you do… maybe it also depends on the situation… *nods exaggeratedly* Yes, that would be really nice… to always have an eyelash at the ready whenever you want to disappear… *looks at him and grins slightly* But admit it, you really thought I was stupid, didn’t you?

David: *laughs loudly at Matteo’s assumption and shakes his head* Never! *presses a kiss on his cheek while walking and ruffles through his hair in embarrassment* *then says* If one of us was stupid it was me… *laughs again quietly* Of course I knew that there is a saying that you could make a wish when you have an eyelash… *shrugs and says a little sheepishly* ….but I thought I would somehow be more mysterious if I acted aloof… or something like that… *has to grin slightly when he thinks about their first meeting and how they were dancing around each other*

Matteo: *shakes his head when David says that he was acting stupid* *tilts his head and looks at him reproachfully when he says that he did know* *but then grins at his next words* Oh I can tell you one thing… you definitely were mysterious. *kisses David on the cheek and laughs* But it’s comforting to know that we can make a wish on eyelashes from now on.

David: *laughs briefly and nods* Mysterious and stupid… *grins when Matteo also kisses him on the cheek and wraps his arm around Matteo’s waist* *smiles at his next words and nods* Yes – wishes are definitely a cool thing… a pity that you just simply wasted your eyelash-wish because you thought it would only be an eyelash… *pokes him in the side and grins* That’s what you get if you listen to some random mysterious guy…

Matteo: *laughs and shakes his head* You aren’t stupid. *wraps his arm around David’s shoulders* *slightly pokes him back* Are you saying that I shouldn’t listen to you anymore? *grins at him with his eyebrows raised* *but then shrugs one shoulder* Maybe my wish has already come true.

David: *thinks that maybe he isn’t stupid now but that he was back then but doesn’t disagree with Matteo because he suspects that otherwise they’d argue about it forever* *simply grins at his next question and nods* Better not when I act mysterious… *laughs quietly* …because then somehow I’m not being myself… *looks at Matteo questioningly when he says that his wish might have already come true but then shakes his head and laughs again quietly* Okay, I won’t ask what you wished for… *doesn’t want to be as presumptuous as to assume that Matteo might have wished for exactly this – maybe he simply wished for a cheese toast or to pass his Abi… or a warm summer or that Jonas and Hanna get back together… or a leveling-up at Zelda…*

Matteo: *looks at him when he says that he’s not being himself when he acts mysterious* Hmmm… you think? Only because you hold something back doesn’t mean that you’re not being yourself, does it? *shrugs one shoulder* I also thought you were great when you were mysterious. *then looks over to him and notices that he seems to be thinking about something* *even laughs a little* Well, you. Us. This right here. *slightly shakes his head because that should be obvious*

David: *also shrugs one shoulder at Matteo’s words and briefly gnaws on his bottom lip* Yes, that’s true… maybe mysterious isn’t the right term… I was more unapproachable back then… almost dismissive… exaggeratedly cool… a little aloof… just stupid somehow… I could have held something back in a nicer manner… *laughs quietly when Matteo says that he thought he was great even when he was mysterious* Well that’s something… *blushes slightly and gets sheepish when Matteo announces so naturally that he wished for “this right here – him – them” and feels his heartbeat speed up* *remembers back to when they were separated due to his cowardice, when he was sitting alone in his room wishing for nothing more than /this right here/* *then realizes that /this right here/ is actually a lot better than every imagination he had and simply wraps his other arm around Matteo and squeezes him tightly* *but then realizes that walking like this is uncomfortable and stops for a moment* *looks at him, smiles slightly and then quietly says* I was also wishing for that… but… *hesitates briefly and searches for the right words* *slightly shakes his head and smiles wider while he says* …but that it will be so… nice… cool… *grins slightly* …sappy and great… I never could have imagined that…

Matteo: *nods slightly at David’s words about being unapproachable* *sometimes also found it difficult and hard and painful* *but still thinks that it was worth it because now they are where they are, which is together* *then sees him blush and finds it really cute* *slightly grins at him* *laughs when he can’t keep walking and stops at the same time as David* *also wraps his other arm around him* *draws up his eyebrows when he hears his “but”* *for a moment is afraid of what he will say* *but then beams when he hears the rest of his sentence* Yeees, because I’m such an awesome guy. *grins and kisses him briefly* *leans his forehead against David’s and quietly says* I never would have thought that I’d ever get something like this…

David: *grins when Matteo says that he’s such an awesome guy and nods exaggeratedly* *parrots him and says* Yeees, because you’re such an awesome guy! *but then gets serious again when Matteo kisses him and grumbles in protest because it was so brief* *then realizes that Matteo doesn’t let go of him completely and smiles when he puts his forehead against his* *hears his words and suddenly has a lump in his throat – not only because he never even dreamt that he’d ever get something like what he has with Matteo – that he would find someone who accepts him just the way he is – but also because he thinks it’s so incredible and sad that Matteo thinks this little of himself even though he’s simply perfect and that he deserves what they have more than anything* *as so often can’t really believe that Matteo chose him of all people* *swallows but doesn’t manage to get rid of the lump in his throat* *puts a hand on Matteo’s cheek and with a husky voice murmurs* Me neither… *searches for his lips and kisses him*

Matteo: *feels his heart beat faster when David puts his hand on his cheek and even more so when he hears his words* *not only the last three weeks but also the time before that still seem like a dream to him* *closes his eyes when he kisses him* *beams broadly when they eventually separate* Well then we were really lucky that we found each other. *grins slightly and kisses him again* And now show me a cool spot in Potsdam where we can make out some more.

(next play)

#Druck #og druck #davenzi #matteo florenzi #david schreibner #davenzi plays

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artificial-daydream · 4 years ago

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Audacious

Rating: T Fandom: Bleach (Ichigo x Rukia) Summary: The way this orange-haired random guy smirked at each of her peculiar habits that definitely defeats the norms of college life shows it might be not so bad to actually agree with the date. Maybe.

Notes: Based on this otp prompt I saw but couldn’t find the post anywhere?? Please do tell me if you were the one who created this prompt or if anyone does know which blog was it so I can credit the person properly. Also posted this on my ao3.

When Byakuya insisted on buying her a unit on Seireitei Apartment rather than renting on the dormitory, Rukia had confidently claimed she preferred the latter. What was the point on trying to live normally if she was buying the most expensive residence in the whole district?

The first thing she thought on her eighteenth birthday was fucking finally. She had the opportunity to leave Kuchiki mansion and decide her own life for the very first time. Moreover, she had prepped herself so much about this. Rukia was very sure she had the common ethics of non-nobles memorized.

However, she soon realized the books covered barely nothing about college.

Her hair was tied into a messy bun; tangled strands were kept in bay with the ugliest scrunchie she kept for the last five years. Her eyebags were so palpable she could feel it weighing down below her eyes. The first week living on her own and she already had her seventh cups of coffee. It was barely Wednesday.

There were downsides on living as a normal college student, Rukia concludes. The most common things she could list were the rushed deadlines, the mountain-sized projects, and old professors rambling how youngsters have it easy these days while yet again, giving them more preps.

It didn’t bother her as much, surprisingly. She liked how she could stay all night working on her papers, it was better than learning etiquette on how to be a proper lady. Her professors were also far better off on their lectures compared to the elders back home. She definitely could get used to all of this. Slowly, but surely.

The first thing she most likely had to get used to was the room upstairs having very loud sex which leaves her hanging out for coffee in the kitchen every 2 AM.

Recalling the noise she heard barely twenty minutes ago, Rukia scrunches her face in disgust. She wouldn’t mind as much if they weren’t reciting every detail of their activities. By now, she had their routine memorized- no, stop. Bad brain.

Rukia groaned, she had another one hour and forty-five minutes to spend in the kitchen until the tenant upstairs finally remembered they were not wild animals supported with infinite stamina. Apparently, she has to follow their sleeping schedule if she wants to get any rest at all.

These past days, she would just bring all her papers and study to spend her time alone. However today, right the second she had finished all of them, her phone decided it was the best time to signal its low battery and die. With nothing left to do, she just entertains herself with caffeine and staring in a daze. She swears the floor starts to look like it’s inviting her to take a nap on it.

Her decision was put into an immediate halt, however, once she heard other footsteps coming along towards the kitchen. Huh, how strange. These past two days, she never encountered any other person. Everyone seemed able to stay calmly in their own rooms. She thought the weird one was her; that maybe she was just too used with the silence in Kuchiki mansion so she couldn’t stand the disturbing sound upstairs. Perhaps the person brings a phone charger that I can borrow.

Once the sounds of footsteps got even clearer, the first thing Rukia recognized was orange spikes. Then she darted her attention downwards and were met with furrowed eyebrows and half opened lidded eyes. The person was wearing the deepest scowl she had ever seen with his hand ruffling his hair in a look of annoyance. Looking at first glance, Rukia could only come up with one conclusion.

“They woke you up too, didn’t they?” Now don’t misunderstand her. Rukia is not the type to strike out conversations, especially with a total stranger. However, she was driving insane keeping herself awake and god forbids the floor looks so comfortable- she just had to distract her attention somewhere.

It took two good seconds before the uninvited guest blinked his eyes, as if still registering her words with his half-awake brain. “How long have you hung here?”

Rukia shrugs, “about twenty minutes.”

“Wow.”

The short talk ended uneventfully. The next thing Rukia knew, the random person just walked towards the fridge, opening it and scanning it as if looking for something, then frowning before closing it again without taking anything out. Rukia raised an eyebrow at his action, decided not to question it before sipping on her coffee and minding her own business. The peace ended shortly though, with the man suddenly sat across her and folded his arms, decided to create another conversation.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?”

Rukia blinks, unsure of how to respond with his sudden conclusion. “How did you come up with that?”

He smirks, “Either that, or you just don’t give a fuck. Nobody hangs out here anymore after Senna raided the place to make out with different partners every week.”

Rukia scrunched her face in pure disgusts. “What is up with college students deciding to make out in every corner of the dorm?”

“So, you’re new then.” He affirmed. “Name’s Ichigo, by the way,” He offered his hand as he introduced himself, which Rukia gratefully accepted.

“Rukia,” she responded, “and why are you here if you knew about it?”

The man called Ichigo shrugs, “I left my coffee sachets here last Friday, but apparently it’s all gone,” he explained, palpably confused, “which is strange because I had seven packs of them; maybe somebody mistook it as theirs?”

Rukia blinks. The coffees were not from the dorms? Her heads turned to look at her cup of coffee before looking back at the orange haired man with a sheepish smile, “Is that coffee brand, by chance, Soul Society?”

Ichigo furrows his eyebrows, “How did you- hold up,” he paused as he looked at her cup, eyeing it suspiciously before staring back at her, “don’t tell me you were-?”

“Unintentionally,” she quickly defended, “I had no idea it was yours. I thought the dorm provided it for students’ late night's study sessions.”

“What kind of dorm supplies something like that?” Ichigo scoffed, eyes staring at her amusedly.

Rukia bit the inside of her mouth, attempting not to counter back as she embarrassedly cleared her throat. How the hell was she supposed to know? Hotels usually provide stuffs like that, right? So she just assumed it was public common sense. Albeit, this was her mistake to begin with. She shouldn’t have jumped into conclusions.

She took a deep breath. “I apologize, I will repay you immediately. Tomorrow, I promise.” She emphasized, not wanting to be labeled as a coffee thief the first week of her stay.

“Sure,” he coolly agreed, “pay me back tomorrow by Urahara’s at nine?”

Rukia stills, “Excuse me?”

“You’re buying coffee, right?”

“Well, yeah,” she deadpanned, “I was thinking somewhere along coffee packets. You know, one with similar brand and flavor preference.”

Ichigo snorts, “You’re repaying seven packs with one strike. Don’t I get to name the repayment?”

“Fair enough.” Rukia calculatedly stated, eyes still looking at him purposefully. She raises an eyebrow, “Just to make this clear; are you asking me out?”

“If you put it that way,” he answered with no hesitation, one hand hidden inside his pocket and for Chappy’s sake what is it with boys and their tendencies to hide their hands in their pockets? He shrugs, “Unless you don’t want it to be.”

“I don’t mind in particular,” Rukia wouldn’t lie, he is attractive. It was one date, which definitely won’t hurt anybody. And the way this orange haired random guy smirked at each of her peculiar habits that definitely defeats the norms of college life shows it maybe not so bad to actually agree with the casual agreement. “Can you make it to ten, though? I still have class by nine.”

“Deal.”

Maybe.

#ichiruki #ichiruki fanfiction #ichiruki fluff #ichiruki fanfic #bleach fanfiction #bleach fanfic #bleach fluff #ichiruki one-shot #anime #OTP Prompts #prompts #OTP AU #University AU #College AU #Dorm AU #IchiRuki AU

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electronicyarn · 5 years ago

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NOT Live Blogging RWBY Vol. 7

Guess who has two thumbs and finally finished watching RWBY Volume 7? This gal! So I decided I’d post my thoughts on the volume. I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t get to properly live blog it, but I guess right now this is the best I can do.

(So is…is tumblr still a thing? Or has whatever company that owns it now finally run the site completely into the ground. Maybe the question I should be asking is: does anyone still follow my blog?)

I think in the interest of not rambling too wildly I’m going to organize my thoughts into broad categories. So, here we go.

Visuals

If nothing else, this volume was a feast for the eyes. I’m impressed that RWBY continues to noticeably improve its visuals with each Volume. Honestly, at this point I don’t see the need for further improvement. The character models are appropriately stylized, the backgrounds are gorgeous, and the last of the kinks have (finally) been worked out of the animation.

What I’m less enthused about is the costume design. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad. It’s just not great. Penny’s new design works. Ruby’s outfit is virtually identical to her last one, so she gets a pass. Weiss’s is close, oh so close. I like the basic design, but I think the colors needed some more tweaking. Blake’s outfit is…. Well, I don’t know. I think I’m going to call it mildly nonsensical. I’m digging the haircut though. (Same goes for Jaune!) Yang and Neo’s new clothes are so-so at best, and Cinder’s are downright awful. Strangely enough, it’s Team JN_R that wins the best-dressed award in my book. They’re new outfits look far better than Weiss’s, Blake’s, and Yang’s by a mile.

I guess I should count my blessings. After Neo and Cinder’s new outfits debuted at the end of Volume 6 I was afraid that everyone might end up looking like lampshades. Or maybe fetishists not fully committing to the part.

Story

Up until about Episode 10 I was going to call this volume the good twin to Volume 4’s evil twin. A volume of RWBY that lacked the high-highs and the low-lows that are so endemic of the franchise. The difference between the two being that Volume 4 was painfully mediocre, while Volume 7 was pretty good. But it turns out I was wrong. The entirety of Volume 7 was, in my opinion, nothing more than a build-up to the big finale. And what a finale it was! But maybe I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.

The first episode really won brownie points with me for basically doing the bad part of Volume 6 (Team RWBY spitting in the face of authority) except doing it right. It turns out that authority figures aren’t always “whimsical” caricatures masquerading as antagonists. (Sorry, I really hated Caroline, and not in a good way.) It also turns out that sometimes the authorities aren’t utterly incompetent. In many ways the Ace-Ops arresting Team RWBY reminded me of a less extreme version of the ending of the fourth Hunger Games movie. Specifically the part where Katniss and company decide to storm the castle and utterly fail. You know, the part where the movie transformed from an uninspired parody of itself to the absolute highlight of the entire franchise?

And then a bunch of stuff happened, some of which I’ll discuss in the next section. And then there were some really great fights. Oh yes, and then Salem shows up. Bye-bye Atlas! You. Are. Outta here!

Honestly, the only thing I didn’t much care for story-wise was Penny becoming the new Winter Maiden. It’s not because I don’t like the concept; it’s because it feels like they didn’t put any thought into the idea other than “let’s make Penny the Winter Maiden”. I’ll withhold judgment for now. It’s only fair that I wait and see where they go with it.

Characters

Believe it or not, I don’t have much to say about Team RWBY themselves in this section. Development-wise this volume was almost exclusively focused on other characters. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, although it wouldn’t be my first choice if I had my druthers. Honestly, Weiss, Blake, and Yang’s character arcs have largely been concluded at this point. Only Ruby’s left with outstanding issues regarding her mother. So…yeah. Maybe that bodes poorly for the franchise’s future now that I think about it? Or at least my own personal enjoyment of it? Eh, I’ll worry about that later. I should talk about all the other characters!

Team JN_R – I was a bit surprised at the lack of Jaune-related content this volume. They didn’t even deign to make him suffer much. But with a cast as big as RWBY’s, it’s not the first time we’ve seen a character take a volume off as it were. The big news here is that they actually attempted to give Ren a character and bring him into conflict with Nora. I…. Well, I don’t really think they succeeded, to be honest. As is a common problem in RWBY, there really wasn’t enough time to let the idea be fully realized. But I appreciate the effort.

The Ace-Ops – Oh, I had these guys pegged as the volume’s final bosses from the get-go. And I was not disappointed. As one-off antagonists, they worked. I can’t remember any of their names though. Except for Clover’s, and I’ll talk about him and Qrow in the section below.

Penny – It’s about time she came back. We all knew that was going to happen, right? And while I’m on the subject, Pietro was a nice side character too.

Oscar – He was there.

Robyn – I’m not sure what to say about her, to be honest. She was a good enough character, and played her role in the story well. But I never felt like she rose above her role.

Neo – You know who my favorite RWBY character is? It’s Yang, obviously. And do you know who the most strongly characterized RWBY character is? It’s the late Roman Torchwick of course. But do you know who takes second place in both of those categories? Neo. Kind of ironic for that second one given that she doesn’t speak. Neo did not disappoint this volume. She never disappoints. And I’ve said it before, on this very blog I think. In terms of raw-skill, Neo is one of the most dangerous characters in the RWBY-verse. Team JN_R vs. Neo? No contest. Although I am amused that Jaune got the only real hit on her. I’m even more amused that it somehow felt appropriate.

Cinder – Again I continue to really like post-Volume 4 Cinder. No matter how hard she tries, the universe just won’t stop kicking her in the teeth. And it just fits her character so well. Bravo Rooster Teeth!

Winter – Winter’s battle might not have been the most fun. That goes to Neo vs. some bush leaguers. It might not have been the most creative. That goes to Team RWBY vs. the Ace-Ops. But by God, no one put in more effort than Winter. She has my utmost respect.

Weiss’s Mom – Hey, she exists! Nice!

Dr. Watts – So much smarm. So much arrogance. I should hate him, but I really don’t. He’s just great.

Ironwood – And the best for last. Oh my. Oh my, oh my, oh my. His arc this volume was absolutely perfect. It was given enough time to be believable, amazing for a show like RWBY, and every step along his journey made sense. He’s become my absolute favorite kind of antagonist, the kind that believes what they’re doing is right. And here’s the thing, I can’t say that Ironwood is wrong. I don’t think he’s right, but I can’t say that he’s wrong. Give me an Ironwood over a Tyrian any day of the week. Please give me an Ironwood over a Tyrian.

The Gay Agenda

*singing* Qrow has a boyfriend….

Er…. Qrow had a boyfriend. And then Clover got Bury Your Gays’d. I’m kind of disappointed, but I’m kind of not. After all, the universe has long since ordained that it is Qrow’s lot in life to suffer.

To tell the truth I’m deeply divided on how I feel about RWBY’s take on the gays. The homoromantic subtext between Yang and Blake has reached levels equivalent to Season 3 of Xena: Warrior Princess. And Qrow and Clover were about there too. On one hand, I’m happily drinking it all up. On the other hand, I want to call Rooster Teeth a bunch of cowards. It’s not 1999 anymore. You can make characters gay. RWBY has made (side) characters gay. At best I’m expecting them to pull a Legend of Korra and only make things “official” at the very end of the show, a resolution I found deeply unsatisfying. But if I were running the show, would I do things differently? Well, yes I would. But would it be the correct decision from a revenue perspective? I’m assuming that RWBY is a, let’s say, important show for Rooster Teeth. I base this assumption on the fact that they announced three RWBY-adjacent spin-offs just after Volume 7 finished. Perhaps they feel they can’t take any risks with something so popular? Perhaps they don’t particularly care. Again, I don’t know how to feel about it.

Conclusion

Homoromanticism aside, (Never!) is Volume 7 the best volume ever? It might be. Only Volumes 1 and 5 can contend with it for consistent high quality. If I had to declare one volume as the best overall, this would probably be it. That being said, I doubt anything will ever supplant the Yang and Blake vs. Adam fight in Volume 6 as my favorite part of RWBY. I still can’t believe they paid that off so well. Three years of anticipation and they fulfilled my every expectation.

Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah. Volume 7. It was good.

#RWBY #Live Blogging #Volume 7 #Spoilers

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