#I had some issues with the son of adam line

[fanfic-obsessed]

We Want That one

This is a Satine/Cody/Obi Wan of a flavor that I have not seen before and hope to see more of. It takes a bit there but I think it will be worth the wait. 

At the end of the mission to Mandalore, Obi Wan decides to stay with Satine and leave the Jedi Order. Now it is important to note this is done with Qui Gon’s full and loving support.  In this one Qui Gon is not a raging asshole with many issues and trauma (Melida/Daan happened and after it did both Qui Gon and Obi Wan were required to go to therapy-both separately and together- before they were allowed to go on mission together again). Also it is important to note that in this one ‘Will of the Force’ is not an excuse Qui gon uses to do whatever the hell he wants. The Force does actually have OPINIONS that it will share with specific Jedi (There is no tie to power, abilities, position, or previous messages for who will get a specific message. There is a tie, though not complete because the Force has other measures that mortals cannot comprehend, between who is making the decision the Force has an opinion on and which Jedi gets the message).  The Force did let both Obi Wans and Qui Gon know that it fully supported Obi Wan leaving the Jedi to be with Satine. 

So Obi Wan returns to the temple to formally leave the Order, get comm codes for people he wants to stay in touch with, and his remaining things from his room.  He is allowed to keep his lightsaber and encouraged to keep his login to the Temple Archives so he could keep learning.  Six months after he returns to Mandalore, he and Satine marry with his Jedi friends and family in attendance. A year after that their son Korkie is born. He and Satine take up the mantle of Duke and Duchess and balance each other well.  Though Satine remains a pacifist, she does not begrudge her husband not being one and the addition of Obi Wan lessens the power of some of her more odious advisers. At some point within the first few years Death Watch attacks and through a series of strange and unfortunate (for Death Watch) both Satine and Obi Wan simultaneously defeat Pre Vizsla and win the Darksaber. They both take on the title of Mandalore jointly and unite the clans. The stabilization of Mandalore goes largely unnoticed by the republic (Including Sidiuous and Plagieus, they both just kind of assumed that everything was going as planned)

Now we come to the Naboo mission, a few years down the line. There is little change to the start, save for the places where we are missing Obi Wan. Qui Gon still ends up, with Padme, on Tatooine and helps free Anakin. The High Council is still leery of Anakin and accepting him. Qui Gon is still adamant that this child must be trained. Padme is still tricked into calling for a vote of no confidence. There does come a change when Qui Gon meets up with Padme again as they conspire to return to Naboo. Qui Gon gets an idea and puts in a call to someone he is sure Padme should talk to immediately. When the call connects, greet the pair on the other end as Duke and Duchess Mand’alor.  The man, Obi Wan, sighs deeply and turns to Padme, and in the driest tone she had ever heard goes, ‘I apologize for Qui Gon. He thinks he’s funny and no one has ever been able to disabuse him of that notion. We can be either called Mand’alor, or duke/duchess, you do not need to call us both’. 

Qui Gon explains what is going on with Naboo and Satine immediately goes to Padme, ‘Oh, you poor thing, we will get you some humanitarian aid immediately, right dear?’  to which Obi Wan agrees. 

Something about the way Qui Gon is now looking amused and mischievous and the way that Satine had said that left Padme, for all that she was a bit on the naive side when it came to galaxy politics (As evidenced by the fact that she did not realize slavery did exist until she faced it directly and that she did really believe that doing what was right drove the Galactic senate), with the belief that there was something more going.

They leave Coruscant and are met, just before reaching Naboo’s system, by a ship full of Mandalorians led by Obi Wan.  He apologizes that Satine could not be there as well, but they tried not to be off planet at the same time, just in case, and Obi Wan was better for this.  

Also as soon as Obi Wan saw Anakin, he felt the immediate and nearly irresistible urge to adopt him (Both the Manda AND the Force had opinions here), only the knowledge that he did not know whose child it was and the fact that Satine would kill him for adopting without her stopped him.  Obi Wan did take a moment to ask Qui Gon why there was a small child going into a warzone. 

Eventually they got down to business. Obi Wan explained that, since Mandalore was not part of the Republic, they could not send an army to help with the Trade Federation’s illegal block (particularly since, officially, no one knew about it).  However, if their old friend Qui Gon (Qui Gon good naturedly protested the ‘Old’. In the same dry tone as earlier, Obi Wan said that they all knew that Qui Gon had been there at the start of the Republic (i.e 25,000 years old), there was no need to lie. Then Obi Wan winked at Anakin, making the boy giggle) happened to mention that Naboo was experiencing a crisis and Mandalore chose to send humanitarian aid, well that was not declaring war on a Republic entity. Of course they would also have to send a security force with their aid workers (Never mind that each aid worker is also a commando) there might be pirates or other dangers along the way.  

Blockaded though Naboo may be, the blockade was not meant to hold up to a platoon of Mandalorians (sorry a group of Mandalorian aid workers with their security escort). They get to the surface, though liberation would take more firepower than they had immediate access to (particularly since they people were dying, thus a time crunch) so Padme negotiates with the Gungans to take back their planet. By the way, as soon as the Mandalorians and the Gungan warrior meet they get along like a house on fire (to the concern of more than a few politicians later). Our core group heads to the Theed palace to end things, while the Mandalorians and the Gungan begin the liberation of the camps (Made easier by the fact that the Naboo had not just been waiting to be rescued, many had been working from within the camps to make things as difficult for their occupiers as possible. At least two of the camps, upon hearing that liberation was incoming, promptly rushed their guards and were in the process of tearing the droids apart when the Gungan/Mando liberation team arrived. It may or may not have done more for Gungan/Naboo relations than anything Padme did).

Obi Wan does go with Qui Gon to battle the Sith. He goes armored, made specifically so that he can fight like a Jedi in it. He also goes armed with the Darksaber and a slugthrower (Obi Wan did indeed bring a gun to a lightsaber fight). While there is a little fighting, long before they reach the power reactor, Obi Wan drops back far enough that he is able to shoot Maul in the knee and they capture the Sith.  Anakin does end up taking out the shield generator (though the ship he ‘accidentally’ acquired was from the Mandalorian ship- where he had been told to stay for the battle; most of the mandos were a little alarmed at the 9 year old in the space battle but making heart eyes at the fact that the was able to hotwire one of their ships to do it).

After the battle Obi Wan calls his wife and introduces her to Anakin, Satine promptly asks ‘when are you bringing our new son home so we can say the adoption vow?’. 

The High council arrive, more willing to admit Anakin (though still reluctant) to find that it is a moot point because Anakin, with Qui Gon blessing (as the Force only said that Anakin needed to be Jedi trained, Obi Wan can do that) was going to be adopted by Obi wan and Satine. Everyone is in agreement that this is actually the best solution (I want it clear that this is not a slight against the Jedi Order, their rules and restrictions are there for a reason and they would have taken Anakin in, but they could all sense that he was ambivalent about it). Everyone parts ways, with a light reminder to Obi Wan Jocasta Nu is waiting semi impatiently to read his most recent paper comparing Jedi historical Force traditions and Mandalorian historical Manda sects (The Manda and the Force both are and are not the same thing). 

As soon as Anakin is adopted, Mandalore has an excuse to go after the Hutts (Frankly some of the more aggressive Mandos were getting restless). Due to the way Mandalorian adoption works, adopting a child effectively adds all of childs relatives (that the kid wants to claim) as the adopters relative as well (essentially adopting Anakin makes Shmi family). Family trees get very complicated on Mandalore very quickly (also all new ways to define relationships). 

There are some changes we should acknowledge before going any further. Obviously Anakin growing up as the oldest son of the leaders of Mandalore has some difference (Korkie-Then aged 5- was ecstatic, he had specifically been asking for an older brother for two years), for all that Obi Wan is also training him in the ways of the force and the Manda. Also Shimi is living with them now. 

There are some political ramifications that come from what could, in the loosest sense, be the Mandalorian invasion of Naboo (as some politicians privately call it) and the fact that the Gungan cities become a prime vacation spot for Mandalorian warriors. It never really goes anywhere, since doing so would mean acknowledging that the Trade Federation also invaded Naboo. 

Padme wanted Naboo to cut ties with the Republic, she was fairly disgusted with the interaction with the senate which was highlighted by how differently the interaction with Mandalor went. This was never going to be allowed to happen (Palpatine’s status as Chancellor depends on Naboo being part of the Republic). This combined with Palpatine's (and other politicians) reactions to the Mandalorians that saved her planet, the continuing mistreatment of the Gungans by some (but much less) Naboo humans, and an unfortunate accident that left Padme as one of the sole survivors of her family mean that Padme does not become a senator. Instead when her term is up she, many of her handmaidens, and the other survivors of her family all move to Mandalore where they maintain a close relationship with the ruling family. 

Padme and Anakin start dating when Anakin is 20. Their relationship is very much different than it was in Canon. For one, they had been friends for years before getting together. They were also not each other’s firsts (both having had romantic/sexual relationships with others prior to getting together). They are also not trying to squeeze too much into too little time as they try to hide from their friends and family, or justify to themselves their quick marriage. Frankly the lack of a war or a secret massacre putting strain on their relationship also helped. 

Satine, Obi Wan, and Shmi never put any restrictions on how long they should be together before getting married, nor could they but it is important that they did not even try. They did highly recommend that, before any action that could be legally binding or have long lasting consequences (like kids) that the pair take at least one trip to the outer rim in a two person ship (the equivalent of taking a road trip together). 

Anakin and Padme get married when Anakin is 22. 

The Clone Wars break out a year later, in much the same way as Canon though obviously with different people in place of Obi Wan, Anakin, and Padme (Everything about the Clone Wars and the Clones is pushed back by four years. The setback is mostly because Maul was captured instead of bisected. Palpatine needed to be more careful for the first few years to make sure his cover was not blown). Though Count Dooku is the leader of the Separatists, he is never revealed to be a Sith.

Mandalore remains largely neutral, though they register an official complaint (that absolutely everyone involved knew would go nowhere) that Jango Fett’s, a Mandalorian, progeny were being effectively enslaved in the GAR. The Republic is able to produce paperwork signed by the late Jango Fett where Fett relinquishes any claim to any clones created using his DNA with the exception of a single unaltered clone (Boba), thus denying the clones automatic Mandalorian citizenship.  Privately Obi Wan contacts the Jedi and tells them that any GAR Clone that wishes to not be fighting for the republic will be welcome on Mandalore, where they can get assistance setting up and where being armored (and thus hiding the most recognizable face in the galaxy) would be perfectly acceptable.  The Jedi do find a way to start funneling clones that want to desert toward Mandalore. Oddly enough it actually decreases the amount of clones that want to leave, there was something about just having the option that made the clones feel like they could stay to protect people, instead of being effectively enslaved to the Republic (and it is indisputably true that innocents are being harmed by the CIS). 

Mandalore does send ‘humanitarian aid’ and their security escorts to any planet that wishes for help. Ryloth annexes itself to Mandalore after the fifth time the Mandalorains were instrumental in repelling yet another CIS invasion before the GAR could arrive (The Twilek of Ryloth do not begrudge the actual soldiers of the GAR. They do understand that it is a big galaxy, they can only protect so many places at once, and the various battalions do not actually get to choose where they are being sent. However they do blame the Politicians of the Republic for the war going on).

Somewhere in the first year of the war a group of Mandalorians find Boba Fett. This group, who had long been close to Obi Wan (and had in fact been part of the group going to Naboo), clock the 10 year old with Jango Fett’s face putting himself in dangerous situations and forcibly bring him to Mandalore,  where Korkie goes ‘Free little brother. For Me! Don’t mind if I do!’ and adopts Boba into the family (for the rest of his life Boba will maintain that there is some form of Captive Syndrome happening, but eventually Boba accepts it). 

During the second year of the War several representatives from the Republic are sent to Mandalore, in theory to encourage Mandalore to join with the Republic for the war but several are also secretly on Palpatine’s payroll and looking to destabilize Mandalore or at least their ability to send people to protect other planets (which is making it difficult to extend the war). They are escorted by Qui Gon Jinn’s battalion (an amalgamation of the 212th and the 501st), accompanied by Qui Gon’s new Padawan Ahsoka.  

The representatives were given the biggest run around that was politically feasible (Which is a lot, every member of the ruling family, their closest advisers, and the escorts are all little shits who knows how to pull off ‘we’ll piss you off and you can’t do anything about it’) led by Boba, who still does not like Jedi very much; even he understands what happened was a battle and not an attack so does not want to be around Qui Gon. Qui Gon and his troopers are greeted like family. 

Satine and Obi Wan, as soon as they catch sight of Commander Cody, go ‘Ooooh Pretty’ (Satine had developed a limited Force Sensitivity after carrying Korkie, enough that she could perceive Force presences and both thought Cody’s force presence was the most beautiful they had ever seen). Qui Gon, who had to suffer from a year on the run with Smitten Padawan Obi Wan and smitten Protectee Satine, immediately recognizes the looks in both their eyes and decides he is too old for this shit. He ignores all of it to go play flirt with Shmi (neither he nor Shmi are actually interested in each other and they know it. Qui Gon has not been attracted to anyone other than Tahl and in this one Shmi is very much a Lesbian. They both enjoy flirting and are glad they have someone they can do it with without giving the wrong idea).

I am torn between if I want Padme and Anakin to immediately do the same thing to Rex (‘oooh pretty’), or if I want Anakin to look at Padawan Ahsoka and go ‘oh she’s little sister shaped’ and immediately try to adopt her (Between Anakin and Korkie rampant big brother instincts, the logical consequences of Satine and Obi Wan having a healthy sex life, and the Mandalorian adoption gene- Satine comes by it honestly, no is sure how Obi Wan managed to inherit it- the ruling family of Mandalore has something like 15 children; Anakin is still the oldest). 

The negotiations start and the Duke and Duchess of Mandalore absolutely insist that Commander Cody be there through every step of it. It is in part because they are being little shits toward the representatives(all of whom had been vocal in the belief that the clones were not sentient) and making them flinch whenever one or the other goes ‘And what do you think, Cody, dear?’ It is also so the Duke and Duchess can flirt, heavily and obviously, with Cody the entire time he is there. 

Cody is a bit baffled, since he is not usually the person drawing attention (both for dehumanizing  reasons and Cody is oblivious reasons), but does enjoy the flirting. He also returns the interest in Obi Wan and Satine. Three of the eight representatives began to ask his opinion on their own somewhere around day three. 

At the two week mark, working in tandem, Obi Wan and Satine spring the trap that they had been weaving since the beginning (Cody had been warned what they were doing, and they made sure he was in agreement-which he would have been even if he had not been attracted to the other two, just for the benefits to his brothers). For two weeks they manipulated the representative, and in turn the senate, to get those representatives an unprecedented amount of power in treaty making (Since part of the treaty process, particularly with something like a senate involved, is ratifying the treaty in which the negotiators take it back to the people in charge to agree, there is a vote and all that). Basically anything these representatives agree to is binding, law within the republic, no restrictions on what they can agree to. No one in the senate realized that these eight now had that power, that they had given them that power. Now Obi Wan and Satine led the representative around by the nose until they were agreeing to all sorts of things. Things like the clones of Jango Fett, and clones in general, would be recognized by the sentience of their species (with which comes all kinds of rights and responsibilities on the part of the senate to clones). They also convince the representatives to seal the new treaty with Commander Cody's hand in marriage (incidentally making all of the Fett Clones Mandalorian citizens). It should be noted that the reason these representatives agreed to that was that they, personally, would receive the bulk of the bride price for Cody (the final price was actually higher than the republic bought him for in the first place, Cody was very proud).

In addition Mandalore does not quite join the republic, the agreement is to take control of the GAR to fight for the republic. It is worded in such a way that the Jedi are given a choice (thus they can send the children home), a number stay with their battalions but some are also able to be called back from the field. The GAR naval officers, the natborns, were to be replaced by Mandalorian officers. The few officers that wished to would need to sign up with the Mandalorians (there were a few that wanted to continue serving with the Clones). One of the concessions from the Duke and Duchess was that, though back pay would be handled by the senate, pay for the GAR going forward would come from Mandalore(the reason that the representatives agreed to let Mandalore take over the GAR, they felt quite proud of themselves). Without knowing it this also derails the Orders on the chips, since Palpatine is no longer in the chain of command, no matter what title he does or does not take. 

Three months after the Chancellor’s office stopped being in the loop for the war, the CIS and the Republic sue for peace. Sitting across from each other on a neutral world but publicly broadcasted throughout the galaxy are Count Dooku and Chancellor Palpatine with Mand’alor Obi Wan Kenobi there to mediate. Dooku and Palpatine have too much on each other to reveal that the other is a secret Sith (not without the assurance of victory, which they do not have).  They are forced to play this as if they are both well meaning leaders trying to do what is best for their people, as neither has an army backing them any more (The GAR is now Mandalorian and they have destroyed the droid army). Obi Wan wants to get home to his spouses (Satine was pregnant again, while they would love any and all children equally, Obi Wan was hoping that the little one would be born with Cody’s features).

I cannot emphasize enough that Obi Wan does not know he is sitting with two Sith who, if they thought they could get away with it, would kill him and subjugate the galaxy. He honestly does think that the other two are doing their best (He knows as a leader himself that sometimes a leader will make unpopular or not understandable choices for the betterment of their people-because they had bad information or because of their own prejudices).  

Two Sith are forced to negotiate a peace they do not want because not negotiating (or stalling) would be so obvious as to give them away and if they are exposed now the entire plan is for nothing. 

They are not down and out yet, but it is not far off. Their plans are derailed, and the person who did it never even noticed. 

And I think that is the ending both of them truly deserve.

[all-pacas]

I love the changes to Chase's background due to hiring actors. First,he goes from a 35 yo New England dude to a 20-something Australian. Then,he goes from the USA old money to being the son of a Czechoslovakian immigrant(played by a Belgian actor) for...reasons? Couldn't they hire an Australian old guy to play Rowan(and keep more or less in line with the initial idea for the character)? Why does Chase need to be half-slavic,since Rowan's actor is from Belgium? Is it more about skill and chemistry,nationality be damned? Or was simply a matter of hiring the first old white guy to show up,and toss in a random nationality to excuse the lousy Aussie accent?

It seems likely to me that they did decide "European expat" based on the casting, if only because there's no reason for Chase's father to not be Australian: that he was a famous doctor actually comes from the pre-casting Pilot script, but obviously that's not nationality based either.

As you mentioned, Bauchau is Belgian, not Czech, which makes me think the nationality choice was intentional: if they based nationality on actor, well, he'd be Belgian. This makes me think Czech is intentional, although I have no idea why: my best guess is they wanted a quick handwaving excuse on why this doctor moved to Australia to have Australian children, and Soviet Bloc is a good one that requires no elaboration.

-

I think the initial idea of the character of Chase (old money, New England) was abandoned with the casting. Not just because of Spencer's age and inability to fake an American accent, mind you.

In the original Pilot script, one of the throwaway mentions is that the hospital was in Boston. It was meant to be located in the old money New England capital, possibly associated with Harvard (they got a bit of this with Princeton, another Ivy League school). But that association? And Chase's New England routes? That's not a fucking coincidence.

I don't know how much non New Englanders know about this shit, but. Boston has / had this whole social elite class. There's this other group of vague… the Cabots. The Lowells. Thayers. Adams. Just these names associated with very rich old money families. Browse that list: there's famous politicians, famous everything. Very WASPy. Absolutely no Boston Irish Catholics in this group. (The Kennedys were also from Boston, but see 'no Catholics.') Chase, as a name, is very, very… it fits right in. Chase, a 35-year-old Old Money Nepotism hire from New England, working in a Boston hospital? He was absolutely envisioned as one of those.

And there's some fascinating subtext to that, too, because Chase was still a nepotism hire in the pilot. He's this rich, silver spoon old money guy with a Big Name… and he still needed his dad to get him the job in this reality. He's a fellow, and he's a decade older than Cameron and Foreman; hell, he's the same approximate age as House, pre-casting. He is pathetic. You know how Taub was slumming it? This Chase was way, way worse. Which could have been fascinating in its own right. Or he could have been a minor villain, the ur-example of someone Foreman has to overcome, even worse than the Chase we got in canon.

So aside from being younger and Australian, what else changed with the casting? The original pilot script doesn't have Chase's lines (from a deleted scene) about enjoying the job because he gets to date women: Chase's sluttiness came with casting. His daddy issues were implied in the original script, with the nepotism line and a line about Chase's dad being a famous doctor, but I'd say moving across the world away from him for a job has a different subtext than OG Chase's probable working in the same town as my father. It's also hard to say if OG Chase was Catholic: Boston is an American epicenter of it, but WASPS are pretty anti-Catholic by tradition; on the other hand, the Kennedys were from Boston and Catholic, and Damned if You Do was written fairly early (August 2004 according to the script), although after casting.

Spencer has also said about his audition that Chase was briefly envisioned as British (but he sucked at that accent, too), and that he helped develop the character a little and pushed for him to be Australian. We also know that Hugh Laurie and Omar Epps were older than their characters, and that the show was eager to write/rewrite things with actors in mind (I've seen it cited that Taub was made a team member specifically because the team liked Jaconson so much, and the same goes for them dragging Anne Dudek back onto the show by making Amber date Wilson and then be a ghost), so I don't think they were ever super sold on OG Chase or anything, although I do find the concept pretty fascinating.

[saltsicklover]

Good Wife

Written by @saltsicklover on Tumblr and @starsrfun on A03 Song Inspiration Good Wife by MIKA Pairing: Tom "Iceman" Kazansky/Pete "Maverick" Mitchell

Content Warnings: Religious Themes, blood, death, loneliness, grief, all hurt no comfort (unless I finally sit down and write part two). Pete has abandonment issues, and daddy issues, and just so many issues. Takes place roughly 1996.

Thanks for being here, and happy reading!

God takes up the same space in Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s mind as his father does. This isn’t to say that Pete views his father as a God. In fact, Duke Mitchell was the breathing definition of the concept: each generation from Adam and Eve gets further from God’s image. That doesn’t exactly put Pete in the best place as his father’s son. This being true, at least to some, does not negate the fact that God and Duke Mitchell are inexplicably linked in the mind of Pete Mitchell. 

They, Duke Mitchell and God, serve as an altar to place blame at; like a carcass at their feet left to rot and fester. If Pete’s inability to attend the academy was a fresh dead rabbit- fur stained dark with spilled blood as the flesh was splayed open (as if one could see the pain actualizing in the spaces between it’s ribs) then Duke Mitchell’s memory has been cast in bronze, his hard lines turning a weeping teal as he accepts the flayed offering with nothing more than continued servitude. 

Pete’s greatest sacrifice to God himself was his best friend. An offering not given, instead ripped from Pete’s life in a way that still echoes through him– hollow. Over the rippling ocean, alive, to then be consumed by the salt of the waves turning wine dark with blood. The pair stranded in the current, white foam washing over them with nothing left to do but drift. Their Nomex green suits weighed down by the bloody salty mixture of the sea; Pete’s white knuckle grip on the straps of his best friend’s parachute the only thing keeping them together. There was no life left in Nick then. When they were finally raised into the rescue chopper, Nick's limp body went first, turning in the wind as the waves continued to try and take Pete under. This was the first time he was truly and utterly alone. Pete had a realization then and it crashed into him harder than the waves ever could: God likes his offerings bloody too. The salt of the ocean and of his tears were nothing more than a garnish on top of an already perfect atonement.  

Pete continued to sacrifice at their altar for the next ten years. From cutting his instruction at Top Gun short (two months was about fifty days too long for him) to shitty oversea placements as retribution. Small, forgotten islands in the East Sea of Japan became home. Detachments where he shared tiny barracks rooms with other pilots and seamen alike. Those felt lonelier than life on a carrier– at least with the bunk rotations, Pete could convince himself he was sharing a bed with another. The scent of sweat and cologne stuck to the rubber mattresses and it did its best to starve off Maverick’s long-haul feeling of emptiness. God, he was fucking lonely. 

Things got worse when he ended up back stateside. Though he should have been thankful, one slip up of offering his new phone number to his best friend’s widow meant that his old cronies were ringing off the hook. Carol meant well in giving out that number, she really did. She figured Pete to be a lonely man whose sole purpose was to fly for the Navy, and while she hit the nail on the head with that, it didn’t mean Pete took too kindly to the near constant droning of the phone. 

What hurt more was that Tom didn’t call. 

Ron Kerner called regularly, and so did Carol, always wanting the latest gossip about his life, his unit, the base, anything they could get Maverick to divulge to them now that phone calls didn’t cost them a dollar a minute to make.  

Marcus Williams called once too, his voice still holding that tilt that suggested that it was in fact Sundown he was talking to. He let him know of some shit he heard coming down the line from his base in Texas. Though it was true, Marcus used the call to check in on Pete, too. Ending the call, a bit less Sundown and a bit more Marcus, he left Pete with the standard we’ll talk soon though soon never quite comes at the speed they suggest it will. 

That’s the thing with Aviators– they always toe the line between themselves and their call signs like a silly nickname could cover up the fact that they actually care. Pete doesn’t let himself think about when Marcus slipped into the call. 

Ron calls again, and then Bradley, Carol’s son, starts to phone Pete himself. Pete’s answering machine is filled with questions about how to talk to girls and stories about just how hard it is to be thirteen. Pete does his best to return the calls and answer the questions. He loves talking to Bradley and the older he gets, the better Pete has become at ignoring the hollow feeling in his chest when he does. 

He still cries, sometimes. Usually after Bradley has called and asked to hear about his father, again. It’s been like this for years and Pete still has stories the young boy hasn’t heard. One’s he’s saving for when he’s a bit older, a bit wiser, a bit more like his dad. At least that’s what he tells himself, instead he might be saving them for days when he himself is a bit stronger, a day where his voice won’t break and crackle across the phone line, a day when Pete can finally think about that day without being overtaken by nausea. 

Those tears come with a choked out sob– Pete may as well be kneeling at the marble base of God’s altar instead of sitting on the cold kitchen tile, his back pressed to the linoleum of the cabinets. 

And still, Tom doesn’t call. 

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much if Pete could rip the memory of the Layton Mission from the gray matter of his brain. It’s not so much the battle that gets him, either, that gets to Pete late at night when he’s tucked away beneath his sheets– or when he’s doing preflight checks, or drinking after work, the memory is always there. 

Instead, that memory, the blond man and his shark-snap grin, is almost on constant replay in the back of his mind. That damn death grip of a handshake that led to the pair coming together, their orbits finally close enough to send them colliding into each other. It was all hard pats on the back and smiles so big their cheeks hurt. 

At the time he convinced himself it was just the adrenalin of realizing he was still alive. Still breathing and standing on dry land with his wingman in tow. Then, as they stood toe to toe, embraced in each other's arms as much as their gear would allow all sweat soaked and satiated just by being alive, Pete’s life shifted. It was a small shift, almost imperceivably so. But, he felt it deep within his very being. The memory of Tom’s body heat radiating into him caused a feeling of heat somewhere stuck between his heart and his stomach. In a way, Pete convinced himself it was that same sort of heat, only this time it was his body creating the feeling instead of another. But truth be told, it was all Tom’s doing, even if neither of them realized it. 

In the coming days after, he rode the high of survival, letting it carry him all the way to his new posting with a fever and a confidence that was simply too Maverick to be ignored. Then as the day became more routine, the excitement of life dulling back out to a saturation of normalcy, Pete began to notice the feeling… that feeling where he knew there was something missing, hanging just beyond his reach. His world had shifted again, this time going unnoticed and it left him craving. That knowing heat no longer stuck in his abdomen, now seemingly akin to void. 

It wasn’t the same hollowness that came with the thought of Nick, or the guilt that panged against the walls of that empty space inside himself when Bradley sounded just a bit too much like his father. No, this was different all together. 

That made him cry too; he chalked it up to an attempted expiation, though he wasn’t sure if God or his father were receptive to that sort of thing. His amends on Earth were as completed as grief and time would allow.

These tears were something else entirely. And still, Tom didn’t call. 

It’s not quite like Pete expected Tom to call. After all, they went their separate ways after Layton. Pete turned right back around while Tom turned his gaze forward. But sometimes, in the heat of the jet, or while he flies down the highway, tires squealing in the way his lungs felt the need to, Maverick swore he could feel Tom’s back pressed up against his own. Maybe that’s just how it goes when two become linked in such a way- the trauma bond starving off a war before it starts- to then lead life 180 degrees from one another. Ghosts of memories with the knowledge that they have your six in the same way that you have theirs. Phantoms of a bond that lasts not because you want it to, but because it has to despite it all. 

Pete has never tried to call Tom, either. 

It might be something in the way that they’ve always spent their lives halfway to heaven that makes the fact that Tom Kazansky could be- is- standing rain soaked and unannounced on Pete’s front porch less of an unheard of possibility and more like an answered prayer. The rain itself is not unusual for the season but Tom’s presence is, and the look he wears plastered to his brow in the same way his hair is, is even stranger. 

And in that halfway to heaven part of their lives- both in the way that they spend their time in jets racing towards the bend of the Earth and the sky that might just give way to the heavens if they could reach it, and the way that they knew all too well how quickly a jet could claim a life- that’s where Pete first let him imagine a moment like this. A moment where Tom might step through the front door of his house- of their house- after one of those long and grueling missions. A moment where Pete might be able to wrap his hand gently around the back of Tom’s neck and pull, their lips meeting in the middle. Whispered “thank god your home” and “I’ve missed you” shared between them presses of their lips. The images swirled in his brain, thoughts he knows better than to entertain but they themselves are so sticky sweet with endearment that he can’t help but give into their warm glow. In another life where the world was different or he was someone else. He would’ve been such a good wife. 

But now, Pete is still himself, and Tom is still standing under the cover of his porch dripping water onto his welcome mat.  Tom looks a little thinner, and more worse for wear than Pete’s ever seen him, but fuck he still looks good. His eyes wander over Tom’s body, taking in the way his clothes stick to his skin. Light wash jeans now dark, the thick fabric hugged to his thighs. White t-shirt basically see-thru now, his abs just visible in the amber buzzing of the porch light. The button down shirt framing the thick outline of his shoulders did nothing to help Tom in the rain, but Pete can’t help but let his eyes linger on the curves of muscle Tom has there. 

Tom lets Pete look, his words sitting thick on his tongue. Tom had an entire monologue planned out, from beginning to end, mapped out on his walk over. It was a few miles after all, from base to Pete’s front door. Tom has always been an analytical man, thought out and sure of himself, but all that faded to the background as soon as Pete pulled open his front door. So, Tom lets him look. 

He looks, too. Not that Pete noticed the way his friend’s eyes wandered over his own body. In nothing but jeans, wrinkled and worn, left undone like Pete had pulled them on just to answer the door. They’re zipped but the button hangs open. There’s no waistband hidden underneath, just a line of dark brown hair that leads down his abs and disappears behind the brass teeth of the zipper. 

Tom’s eyes are angled low enough, that in the light of the half dead bulb, he appears to be keeping his eyes strictly to the ground. He’s not, but again, what Pete doesn’t know won’t hurt him. As that thought crosses Tom’s mind again, his stomach twists a little. 

“Ice… What the-”

“Fuck it’s good to see you,”

[oddballwriter]

My Lady Love

Summary: An abandoned WIP in which the reader is a young noble woman who was originally one of John’s female suitors before he made his choice. She has since gotten engaged to another young noble but are visiting John due to safety issues in their lands. However, John seems to have an interest in you now.

Warnings: I yeeted John’s gf out of the plot, there’s like two references to her and then he’s nay mentioned again. John kind of being a creep and flirting with you in front of your fiancé. Alden (your fiancé is kind of a hunk too) you got hoes up in here. Might not be proof read idk it’s been a month or two.

Author’s Snip: I wanted to go longer but I gave up thinking that I would come back to it and it was just left to collect dust and I decided to let it out regardless.

I’ll shut up now. Enjoy! And don’t be afraid to request.

Word Count: (I’m not counting this shit)

You were the daughter of a noble family who ran a part of England under the court of the newly crowned King John, formerly Prince John. You were a newly dubbed lady and at the age where you were ready for marriage. And your family had managed to somehow set you up as one of John’s potential female suitors and possible future bride.

That was until word broke out that the former prince chose a woman who not only wasn’t in the selection that he had at his disposal, she wasn’t of any status, and she was French, while the kingdom was fighting the French. It was a huge scandal but he was adamant on her and you haven’t heard anything about her betraying him, so you suppose that meant things were going well enough. Some of the other women were offended, but not you.

You personally didn’t give it much thought or attention. In your personal opinion you did think you had right to be offended since it’s not like you two had any connection beforehand. Matter of that you swore that you never even met the man until your father mentioned the odd banquet or two where you both attended, and even then you didn’t pay any attention to each other because marriage wasn’t a topic for you yet. So if he took another woman as his wife then he took another woman as his wife. It didn’t really affect anything about your life anyway since your parents easily found you a new man to possibly marry.

His name is Alden. He was the son of another noble family that your father knew well and was in line to inherit his father’s title as the first born son, so he wasn’t bottom of the barrel. He also wasn’t too bad of a lover either.

Your fathers really wanted you two to like each other so they granted you the ability to court for a considerable amount of time, during that time Alden would make time to walk around courtyards with you and talk. Asking what you like, what business and gossip is going around, and other things. Later on he’d send you a few small gifts with love letters and offered you to accompany him on horseback rides through trails on the forests.

He was a nice young man and when he eventually asked for your hand in marriage himself you said yes. And now two are set to marry.

However, some things got in the way that troubled both of your families. The uprise of bandits and revolts were starting to spread around and nearby villages to both you and Alden’s homes were starting to get concerning. There was fear that they might revolt against both your families and so they came to the idea that you were safe if you were placed somewhere safe till a solution was found.

That’s when your father reached out to King John’s court to ask for a place for both you and Alden to remain safe till then. As it turns out, King John took the offer to make space for both of you to stay. You aren’t sure why, but it was a blessing nonetheless. Once it was decided, you and your Alden were shipped off with your belongings and landed in London.

You were greeted by many people in the court, those you knew, those you had met before, and some you had never formerly met before until now. One of which was John himself who stood in the middle right at the end of the line of faces.

This was the first time you had ever truly looked at him. He was very handsome, you had to give him that. He stood tall and prideful and decked out in the whole outfit that a king should wear. You gave him a gentle curtsy and met eyes with him. You could see that he had an expression that mimicked his body language but his eyes seemed to scan you over for a moment, as if he was trying to get a good look at you, all while not really saying anything.

You took it upon yourself to do so, saying a simple “Thank you for your kindness and hospitality.”. That’s when he cut his staring and responded with a “It is no problem, truly,”. He glances at Alden and back at you and saying “Come,” as he walks away to lead you and your caravans to the castle.

After that you all settle down into your respective rooms and halls. Alden comes to your counters and strikes up conversation with you as you prepare for supper time. “What a trip, ay?” he says. “It sure was. I just wish that we didn’t have to be so far from our families.” you respond, “I worry.” you comment. “They’re doing everything they can to keep you safe, my dearest.” Alden says. “Us safe,” you correct him. “I guess so,” he says, “But you need not worry about me. I’m sure I could fight those heathens off if they ever dared to touch you.” he remarks as he draws closer to you before he takes your hand and kisses it.

You blush and smile as you take back your hand and face away from him. “Don’t you try and romance me while we’re in someone else’s castle. That’s improper.” you playfully scold him. “Well last time I romanced you, you weren’t as chaste.” he teases you as he goes in to steal a kiss. You use your hand to block it to keep the banter going, saying “You make me sound like a harlot when all I do is let you give me a few stolen kisses when no one’s looking.”. Alden huffs in amusement, “No one’s looking now.” he comments.

Just then, steps are heard coming to the room and someone turns into the doorway. Alden just manages to back away to make an “appropriate space” that you two should have between each other according to everyone else.

To add to the need to be proper, it’s none other than your host, John.

He sees that it’s just the two of you and he remarks “I hope I am not interrupting anything.”.

“Of course not, your highness.” you both say.

He is. He was very much interrupting something.

“Good,” John replies. “I thought it would be gracious of me to formerly greet the both of you since you’ll be my guests for quite a while.” he says.

“Only till things are settled in our respective places. Then we will take our leave and be out of your way.” you explain politely. John looks at you and smiles, “Nonsense, my dear. It was no trouble. I know just as much as you do that these people have been ungrateful of us since that Robin Hood character began causing chaos and filling their heads with disrespect,”.

Alden chimed in, saying “They’ve caused us to postpone our marriage with how disruptive and threatening their thoughts of defecting have been.”.

John looks back at him. “Right, you two are engaged.” he says to himself. But then he goes right back to looking at you.

“Is it true that you were one of the women who were waiting to see who I’d chose to marry?” John asks you. You nod in response. “I was.” you confirm. “But I heard that you made your choice and were sticking with it.” you say.

“My apologies.” John says with a somewhat saddened expression, “If I had known someone like you was in the line up I wouldn’t have been so quick to make such a big choice.” he says.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” you tell him, “After all I heard she was very beautiful.” you add.

John just shrugs.

“You don’t need to worry about her, your highness. She’s with the next best man now.” Alden says abruptly. You can see that he’s trying to jest around with John, but John himself doesn’t seem to be in a jesting mood with him. “I’m sure you’re adequate.” John says with another shrug.

John moves along back into the hallway to leave saying “I’ll leave you two be then since you seem to be fine with him.” to you.

You both bid him farewell but he only really seems to pay you any mind.

Alden moves back in close to you like he was before John’s little visit.

“Where is his woman of choice anyway? I didn’t see her when we first arrived, did you?” Alden asks. You think for a moment before realizing that you don’t think you did either. “You think she’s dead?” Alden nudges you with a joking expression. You roll your eyes, you’re sure that if she died then everyone would have heard about it.

“Maybe they’ve fallen into the same limbo that all marriages do much quicker.” you suggest.

“So much for making his big choice.” Alden says. You slap his arm with a scoff. “Don’t be so rude.” you laugh.

Alden moves in closer and wraps his arms around you and placing his face an inch from yours. “If only he knew that he left behind a piece of heaven for the sins of the flesh.” he said as he finally stole that kiss from you.

You grin at him, “You toe the line yourself, Alden.” you tease. Alden in turn shakes his head in disagreement and says “No, my dearest. I only have my kisses be my own way of praying to the Lord and briefly getting taste of heaven in return. But I’m willing to wait till I can get the chance to see the gates of heaven finally be open for me.” before he steals another kiss.

“Then you’ll have to be a saint and wait till then.” you banter back at him.

After having a moment to yourselves uninterrupted and manage to fix yourself up properly, you and Alden make your way to the banquet hall to have your supper.

The meal was nice, and you and Alden shared conversation with the rest of the court and John. Where he, again, seemed to show quite an interest in you.

You had a feeling and idea of why he was doing this. You had caught some rumors beforehand that John and his lady haven't been seen together in quite a while. You've heard a few different iterations of an explanation. One was that John himself shipped her off somewhere after he got bored of her and ignored her existence. The other was that they both got sick of each other, and she was off somewhere else in a sort of technical divorce. You aren't sure which one is true, if either of them were the truth, and you're not going to be foolish enough to ask the man who is part of the gossip. But his staring surely doesn't feel like one of a taken man.

After that, you and Alden were left to your own devices for about four days just going about your stay. You and Alden explored the castle and the various sights it had together, trying to keep up your usual rituals of activities that you would do before coming here. It wasn't until the fifth day that letters and a message were given to Alden that it was disrupted. It was business regarding his family's land that his father sent to him to take care of since, as an up-and-coming lord, his father thought that he should have something to train himself with.

Alden said that it shouldn't take him all day, but it would take up most of the morning. He suggested that you should have a stroll around the garden for him since it was a nice morning and you shouldn't have to miss it because of him. He did promise that maybe when he was done, you two could go on a horseback ride together if the weather was still nice.

But just when you started on your walk, a certain someone showed up.

"Good morning, my lady," John says as he manages to catch up to you and walks beside you. You simply greet him back, to which he responds with, "How is your morning going? I see your fiancé isn't attending you on your walk like he usually is.".

"Alden is busy with manners with his family's land." you respond, "But he won't be long," you add as you glance at John. "That's nice," John remarks in a tone that sounds like he's shrugging what you said off before he seemingly returns to his previous good mood.

"Maybe I should accompany you till then," he suggests.

"Oh, that's kind of you. But I'm sure you're busy as well. I would hate to hamper your duties." you say.

[let-them-eat-rakes]

third semester persona 5 royal is so the mind electric coded (some of these are my headcanons for akira's feelings) (also long post)

"resident minor, how do you plead? we'll need your testimony on the stand. solemnly swear to tell the whole truth; so help you, son, now raise your right hand." maruki's multiple ultimatums

"i've a good heart, albeit insane." if akira or akechi tried to explain the situation to anyone they would come across as bat shit crazy

"condemn him to the infirmary." 2/2 vibes. akira has to choose between letting akechi go out on his own terms or condemning him to maruki's reality

"all mine towers crumble down, the flowers gasping under rubble." akira wakes up to find everything he worked for had disappeared, and has a small mental breakdown as his world crumbles around him when he sees his friends

"shrieking in the hall of lull, thy genius sates a thirst for trouble." maruki seeing the engine room scene, akira screaming for akechi to still be alive

"scattering sparks of thought energy, deliver me and carry me away." maruki manipulating the phantom thieves' cognition to blind them to the truth, but he believes he is doing good, carrying them away from pain

"here in my kingdom, i am your lord; i order you to cower and pray." maruki's god complex, that he is somewhat unaware of / ignoring

"nuns commence encanting, as the lightning strikes my temples thus." akira going around, breaking the thieves from the illusion, clearing their minds

"spiralling down thy majesty, i beg of thee, have mercy on me. i was just a boy, you see; i plead of thee, have sympathy for me!" the thoughts going through akira's head in the seconds before the phantom thieves arrive

"see how the serfs work the ground. (see how they fall) and they give it all they've got (fall) - and they give it all they've got (fall) - and you give it all you've got, till you're down. (ha! ha! ha! ha!)" i imagined a cool scene about this part when just randomly listening to the song, and it's kinda what inspired this entire post: at some point before 2/2 (like maybe 1/30 or something) akira secretly goes to maruki's palace, and basically just asks 'why. why are you doing this, what's your game here.' and maruki brings him up to a balcony overlooking the city. he says the lyrics (i know cheesy, but imagine he's using it as a metaphor or something) and the parts in parentheses are his savior complex/azathoth/adam kadmon.

"see how the brain plays around; and you fall inside a hole you couldn't see. and you fall inside a hole, inside a-" maruki truly believing that he is in the right, as he sees how (for lack of a better word) damaged the thieves (especially the royal trio) are mentally

"SOMEONE HELP ME" once again, the royal trio and maruki. sumire needing help to be who she truly is, and it's interesting to imagine her just suddenly yelling it during her boss fight. akira needing help to be able to finish things, and a bit of a headcanon: he has so many personas that his original self (pre metaverse) is buried so deep that he can barely access it. akechi needing help to finally do something that he chooses to do for once, and go out on his own terms. maruki believing himself to be the help that they need, but in actuality he also needs help

"doctor, i can't tell if i'm not me." i think that each of the royal trio has identity issues. kasumi/sumire is obvious, akechi is split between his facades, and the previous headcanon that akira has so many personas that he doesn't know who he is anymore. also, if anyone wants to make an animatic or something, this line can be sumire and akira actually saying this to maruki back at shujin, and akechi pondering it to himself during the events of the game

"when it grows light, the particles start to marvel, having made it through the night. never they ponder, whether electric, calming if you look at it right." maruki lying on the platform after the fistfight, accepting that he was wrong and deciding not to try to stay alive when the platform collapses

[marley-manson]

Hawkeye has virtually no shame about public displays of emotional vulnerability and mental instability, imo.

I’ve seen a lot of people who place a lot of importance on Hawkeye’s “If this keeps up, people are gonna realize I'm as crazy as I think I am,” line in Hawk’s Nightmare but honestly I just see it as mainly a wry acknowledgement that he’s acting less than sane in public and weirding out his childhood friends back home by detailing his nightmares to them, with a side of alluding to his actual fear, which is being crazy, as he tells Sidney over and over during that conversation. The key word there is “think” not “realize” imo.

Sidney reassures him by telling him his nightmares mean he’s sane, not by telling him that they’ll go away and he’ll stop publically sleepwalking. In fact he implies it’s something that will continue until the war’s over, and Hawkeye doesn’t seem to have a problem with that as long as it doesn’t mean he’s actually going insane.

And Hawkeye never really demonstrates any concern over people witnessing his breakdowns, and in fact seems to go out of his way to make them public half the time. I mean you got your most blatant example in Bananas Crackers and Nuts where he’s happy to exaggerate his feelings to make people think he’s insane to get a break. But even when it’s genuinely serious (and less cartoony, tonally), he’s also got no issues making public scenes.

He doesn’t quietly seek out Potter or BJ alone when he decides yes he is in fact seriously ill in Bless You Hawkeye, he walks right into everyone having a meeting and announces that he’s gonna die. He’s not only perfectly fine with Sidney visting him for a consultation in Hawk’s Nightmare, he’s the first to acknowledge why he’s there during the poker game while Sidney’s trying to be politely subtle (”Mind if I come along?” “Fine with me Doc, as long as your couch has wheels on it.”) He also ofc calls his childhood friends and tells them he’s having fucked up nightmares about them, tells everyone else about them to ask for their opinions, and tries to have a heart to heart with Frank about being afraid to go to sleep.

He makes a joke about cracking up at the farewell party in GFA, and tells some random patient he just had his “head in a cast,” apropros of nothing. He throws a tantrum in Adam’s Ribs, he publically screams out his feelings at the end of For Want of a Boot, he loudly narrates his impending panic attack in CAVE (and says that the reason he kept quiet about it for a while is specifically because he didn’t want Potter to choose a less safe place to retreat to on his account), he casually describes his emotional state as “mania” to Potter in Depressing News while, yk, building a big tower for 2 days without breaks in the middle of the camp, he breaks down in front of BJ - a guy he’d only recently met - in The Late Captain Pierce, he angrily confronts everyone about feeling betrayed and abandoned by them in the phone scene in GFA. We don’t see what he does after Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde but he casually mentions the insomnia to Winchester in Dr. Winchester and Mr. Hyde so he’s fine talking about it. He has two public breakdowns in the O.R. that I can remember off-hand.

And he never demonstrates any shame or regret about the public nature of any of this.

He never tries to hide his feelings - I think the closest he gets is in Sons and Bowlers, and he proceeds to tell Charles how he’s feeling for the entire rest of the night in that one - and while nearly everyone else gets plotlines where something’s troubling them that they don’t want to talk about, Hawkeye never ever does. He’s usually the one prying these feelings out of other characters and chiding them for not talking about them. Even in GFA what’s stopping him from talking about it is the amnesia - he’s reluctant and upset about having the conversations about the bus because he’s subconsciously afraid of remembering, but he still does, and after he has his breakthrough he willingly talks it through with Sidney multiple times afterwards as well, both offscreen in Sidney’s mention of follow-up sessions (including Hawkeye explicitly wanting more of them), and on screen when Sidney visits the 4077.

And in Bless You Hawkeye, the other trauma amnesia episode, he’s perfectly willing to a) accept it could be psychosomatic, b) talk about it with Sidney to find the root cause, and c) joke about it afterwards during a poker game.

And then you got a bunch of moments and jokes where he shamelessly reveals personal information about himself, sometimes likely exaggerations that he’s still fine with people believing, sometimes clearly accurate. I sucked my thumb until my twenties, I can’t get hard, here’s the kind of niche sex I like, I’m a coward and proud, I’m fucking my married ex, I was jealous of my dad’s girlfriend, monologue about how much I miss my dad to a stranger, monologue about how miserable I am to a stranger, monologue about how terrified I am to a stranger, etc etc.

There’s also overt commentary on this - in Check-Up for example, Hawkeye suggests that Trapper got an ulcer because he’s the strong silent type who keeps his feelings in, in contrast to himself. In Bless You Hawkeye Sidney points out that Hawkeye never holds back when it comes to his feelings about the war, which is why he’s assuming the root cause is something Hawkeye isn’t even consciously aware of and goes back to Hawkeye’s childhood.

When it comes to Hawkeye it’s very difficult for me to imagine a scenario where he would try to hide anything about himself, whether that’s his feelings or something about his life, and I have a feeling it was the same for the writers of the show most of the time too lol, hence relying on amnesia twice for the mystery and reveal structure.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

The people mag article where HnM are bemoaning how they weren't given any details about Catherine's health ... My thoughts 1.) This is preemptive, since there is now an official enquiry and they do want to be accused of leaking info. OR 2.) They are saving their ass because they did make up a story and leak some info to someone that became part of the narrative and they are trying to back track.

If I had to guess, I'd say they immediately went to DMoi and shared some made up information, because DMoi was pretty adamant that it was her regular trusted source. And then this source was also updating her weekly (I listen to her podcasts) . She was one of the accounts that kept the story alive, although she did not propagate the conspiracy theories, she was pretty sure she knew the medical info.

HnM have definitely been blabbing someplace and that's why they put it this People story because the breach of medical confidentiality became a legal issue this week.

That’s what I think too. This is the Sussexes’ MO: they blab, it gets out, and they do “it wasn’t us” PR. We saw it just last week with the photoshop - they blabbed “we’d never do that,” it got out and made the rounds, then they sourced a “we didn’t say that” PR piece.

They’re not getting any information at all about Kate. I used to know someone who had Crohns and they said once that stress makes everything worse for them. Even though we don’t know exactly what Kate’s condition is, there’s been enough evidence that we can safely assume that stress has/will aggravate it, and it is also safe to assume that the Sussexes have caused some of the stress in Kate’s life - so of course they’re not going to be updated on her condition or involved in the discussions! If there’s one thing William does well, it’s how fiercely he protects the people he loves. I don’t remember why I went down this tangent…oh, right. I think Harry and/or Meghan have been caught saying things about Kate’s health that William/KP knows for a fact are false and it may be somehow connected to the clinic investigation or — like you said — it took on a new critical urgency once the confidentiality breach was discovered. Because remember, KP is getting updates about it (they’re the ones who leaked it, IMO, so the public would know and to be able to hold the hospital accountable for following through).

It wouldn’t surprise me if the hospital is looking at the communications of these 3 employees to see who they have been in touch with. (If they were using company accounts/devices it’s perfectly legal to do that. At least here in the US it is, not sure about the UK.)

Anyway, I don’t think the Sussexes are directly behind the medical records privacy invasion - my gut is that it’s a foreign publication but you never know. I think the Sussexes have been gossiping with their friends/associates/bots and that’s been brought to KP’s attention. I mean, if Meghan once felt it was appropriate to make the plane crash comment, she probably thinks it’s appropriate to openly speculate about some of the worse theories.

I also doubt they’re getting a whole lot of updates about Charles as well so it’s surprising to me (sort of, not really - the Sussexes/Meghan get better SEO when their names are tied to Kate) that we haven’t heard much from Montecito on Charles’s condition. It’s cancer! They’d get so much press for being the doting son and DIL who live abroad but are supporting Charles in whatever way they can. I mean, Meghan at least should’ve thought about sending a basket of her new homemade jams to Charles to help cheer him up since he’s into that sort of stuff with his own Duchy Originals line, but nope. Bupkis.

[dgcatanisiri]

Have fully assembled the Veilguard, so I'm taking some time to organize some thoughts.

Seriously, OF COURSE Isabela would be leading the Lords of Fortune. It really does not surprise me, despite being surprised by her cameo.

I do like Emmrich more than I was expecting as a first impression, but I don't think I really vibe with him on a romantic level enough to ever really give that a try.

I do kinda regret not romancing Lucanis on this first run, because I do like the Crows. I'll probably roll him a Crow boyfriend next run.

Assan hits me in the heart, considering... Well, losing my dog. So yeah, of course I'm romancing Davrin. Or at least in the process of flirting with him.

I am pleased that there's plenty of opportunity to just not accept Solas's "good intentions." I particularly liked getting to throw the line "spoken like a god" at him.

Oof, choosing between Minrathous and Treviso was emotionally hard. Like I had a solid reasoning with opting to go to Treviso - no standing army, the waterways, as the Prologue showed, Minrathous has defense capabilities that Treviso just doesn't... But oof, it was hard on the heart having Neve take Rook to task for not backing up his city and fellow Shadow Dragons. To say nothing of the aftermath.

I DO need to address something that's really sticking out as a problem for me, and that really is the understandable but still sore point of the fact that the three choices of carryover from Inquisition really are just NOT. ENOUGH.

In universe, I feel like AT LEAST acknowledging WHO Divine Victoria is would be important, and Morrigan drinking from the Well or not really SHOULD be a thing, considering her featuring somewhat AS all this ancient elven knowledge is coming to light. On top of that, going further back to Origins carryover issues, despite how Kieran would surely be old enough at this point to be on his own, you would think that Morrigan would maybe MENTION her son.

And then there's my personal bugbear, in that not just with the cameo of the Inquisitor, but even Harding talking about the members of the Inquisition... By having the game written to assume all the characters possible being part of the Inquisition, this does not feel like a continuation of the game world I've played. I don't recruit Dorian, but he uses a mention of being at Adamant during the battle against Clarel to make the First Warden back down. The Inquisitor then outright refers to him as an ally, even though, again, he's NOT one in my games. Harding shares a story of Sera making Reiner laugh, when neither of them were part of my Inquisition, so she's talking about two people she never met, one of them who never actually HAD his hidden identity revealed, so she shouldn't know him by that name.

Is this being finicky over a relatively small part of the game overall, considering that these are minor lines in minor cameos, or a reference line that impacts nothing in terms of the game proper? Sure, I'll grant that. BUT it still leaves me feeling like... Why do my choices in the prior games matter if this game comes alone and says that they didn't? If they didn't matter, why did that game matter? Which was there a choice in the past?

It's the choice to undermine player choices when they could have worked around them. Like, sure, statistically, they could say that (probably) most players would probably bring in all possible characters, especially when the ones I'm specifically upset about are romance options. But... I mean, that's the same kind of logic that led to Jacob being written to cheat on a Shepard who romanced him - just because "most" players do a thing, it doesn't mean that the players who do something else don't deserve acknowledgement.

And yeah, I do recognize that having any variation options involve the cost of recording and animating any line being spoken, so if something had to have variation cut down in the name of allowing anything else, yes, I do understand this being where it falls, because it's not actually impacting anything of this game specifically. It's just a choice that leaves a bad taste in my mouth, even if I recognize that it has a reason that I DO fully understand.

I can understand WHY a choice was made without agreeing with why it was.

[seraphimcestuous]

Ooo yes I've read some sera/Emily fics and there's really only 2 I liek made by the same person- but I commented something similar like, I feel like Adam would know however whenever he tells anyone they thinks he's either

A) joking B) its his incest kink C) it's him fetishizing lesbians/sisters

Also, I can see him telling Lute about it, but she brushes it off; but her not, and there being rumors is interesting~ what type of rumors specifically?

yeah, adam just... definitely knows. that's canon to me, insofar as any of this is canon.

Whether or not he found out accidentally or not is a bit more up in the air - I really like sera & adam being friends (or, depending on the day, mother and son), so I can see sera choosing to confide in him (he clearly does keep secrets pretty well - the exterminations had been going on for hundreds of years prior to his fuckup in court).

Even if it was accidental, I just... don't see Adam seriously trying to tell anyone. He cracks jokes about it, sure, including jokes that push the line of 'there's something there' that Sera wishes he wouldn't, but he also just... doesn't give enough of a shit/see a problem.

The only reason Lute believed him at all was because he did take the time to be serious about it with her. Lute is honestly probably the source of most rumours - she definitely takes more issue with it (whether it's because it's gay, or because it's incest, nobody knows) and is. Not malicious - she's too respectful of authority for that - but she definitely hopes it bites Sera specifically on the ass (and, after the court sequence, she also hopes it bites Emily too).

The rumours are... mostly benign. Mostly. Just that maybe there's more truth to Adam's joking. And so-and-so did see them looking very rumpled in the administrative building, but it could be explained away by Sera's tendency to sleep in her office. And maybe Emily is constantly looking at Sera's tits, but I mean with their height difference, that's expected.

(There's a specific thing in the NSFT headcanons that... definitely made the rounds, when it happened)

[kenobiwhump]

Closeted Bisexual

I found this in my saved posts, I couldn't find the author but if you're reading! Thank you for all the inspiration!

_______

Hello there! My name is Kristy. And this short work is about my life as a closeted bisexual.

It’s 2023, so many of you might wonder why I hide my feelings. Well, let me answer that. I am the oldest of five children and the daughter of a strict religious family. Now do you know? I think by using the words strict and religious; I might have given it away. But not only am I bisexual, but I also do not want to follow in their religious ways.

Now some of you might be wondering, move out then. Live your own life. Well, that would be a bit tricky since I’m 16 and have no job, car, or any place to crash for a while. My plan right now is to wait till I’m 18, and then go and move in with a relative.

Ever since I was little, I’ve always been fond of a close relative of mine. He’s gay and lives a very happy life with his partner. He visits every once in a while, and I look up to him so much. But my parents always told me that his life was bad. That loving the same gender is a sin. But every time I saw my relative with his partner, and I saw how happy they made each other, that made me wonder… Why is it so bad when they look so happy?

So, when I got older, my parents explained to me in detail, what being gay means and how it is disobeying the Bible. They didn’t bluntly tell me, but they did insinuate that if the relative didn’t change his ways, that he’d go to Hell. I remember countless nights, where I’d stay up and think, and then eventually cry myself to sleep, scared to death of the relative going to Hell. I didn’t want that, so for like a year, I was all religious, taking the Bible seriously, telling the relative stuff about the Bible, and trying to subtly change him. I was always talking religiously.

When I was about 12, I hit a huge emotional roadblock. The next two years were not good, I was depressed. I always have been since I can remember, I have just never been an upbeat and happy person. But I’m never always depressed. But for some reason, I was just so very depressed. I was also dealing with multiple mental health issues. When I was 13, I tried to kill myself on many occasions, some I was close, and some I never had the guts to go forward. I was put in a hospital once, and bullied there, which really wasn’t helping my mindset at the time. I’ve dealt with self-harm, and the scars I have from it will forever remind me of that time. So yes, I was a very messed up teenager.

After a while, I got better. Not totally better, not even now, but I got a bit better. During my late 13’s and early 14’s, I begin to branch out and explore what the world had to offer. I found out there was so much better music than the Christian artists I listened to. There were amazing movies and tv shows, way better than Veggies Tales or some Christian hallmark movie. There was a whole world out there, ready for me to see.

So, I got into Marvel, which was on Disney+, and streamed all 19 movies. Over and over again. Until I could start memorizing lines. I had a huge obsession with watching Jurassic Park and World, again, I could memorize lines. I became a nerd, really, a proud nerd, but a nerd nonetheless. Then I was banned from watching Marvel or Jurassic Park, I was “idolizing” it, according to my parents. When new movies came out for Marvel though, they didn’t have to know I secretly watched it on a made-up profile and then deleted it afterward.

Then, when I was 14, I loved Star Wars. More specifically the prequels. And I loved/love Obi-Wan and Ewan McGregor. I watched a lot of his movies, The Island, Our Kind of Traitor, Big Fish, Trainspotting 1 and 2, Incendiary, Son of a Gun, Raymond and Ray, Christopher Robin, Young Adam, The Ghostwriter, Doctor Sleep, and that’s just to name a few. He’s an amazing actor. Then I watched one of his best movies in my opinion, Moulin Rouge. I still can’t get the songs out of my head today. I listen to the soundtrack all the time. But that movie, is when I realized I was different than my family.

In Moulin Rouge, Ewan plays a character named Christian who falls in love with a woman named Satine. Satine is played by Nicole Kidman. And when I saw her beautiful auburn hair, her beautiful complexion, and when I heard her amazing voice. And when I thought she was so hot, that she was pretty. That was when I realized I was attracted to her character, I began to understand I was different. And maybe… It wasn’t so bad.

I have been a closeted bisexual for two years. I just recently told that relative, and it felt so good to be able to get that off my chest. I was so scared, though, Rationally, you’d think he’d be fine with learning I’m bisexual because he’s gay. But irrational me thought maybe he only thought you can be attracted to only one sex. Maybe being attracted to both is just weird. But one day, when we were alone, we were just talking, and then I blurted it out. And that was one of the best days of my life. He accepted me for me, he didn’t see anything wrong with me. He understood me. And that was all I wanted. After two years, I told my role model and the person I looked up to, and he accepted me. And the feeling that I experienced was one of the best.

Lately, I’ve gotten more bold with showing my pride, I wear a pink, purple, and blue bracelet, representing the bisexual flag. I wear a rainbow pin on my jacket, representing LGBTQ+. (My parent’s just thought it’s a special pendant I got from a friend, but my relative’s partner actually gave it to me, I was little, but I recently found the pin stored away somewhere and it was perfect) Instead of saying one day when I’m married to my husband, I say spouse.

When I was speaking to my relative about this though, he asked me a very important question. When will I tell my family?

I will tell them when I am 18, and when I have a place to live. Because honestly, I’m worried they’d kick me out. My parents are always saying, if you’re not going to abide by our rules, then you can move out when you’re 18. I think being bisexual in a strictly Christian home is breaking a lot of rules. Plus, sometimes they talk about the “man” I’ll one day marry. A Christian man who is like my parents, strictly religious. And they’ll talk about me, a Christian wife, who is below her husband, because that’s what the Bible says, and a wife who is to have children and raise them in the same environment I grew up with.

The thing is, while I’m also bisexual, I’m also asexual. I’m not interested in sex and never will be. I just want to settle down with my future partner, and cuddle. Or kiss. Sex doesn’t define a relationship, love does. And sex is not the only way to show you love someone. Another thing is, my parents know I’m asexual, but they still talk about it. They tell me I’ll grow out of it, and that in the Bible, it is said that the woman shall become one with a man, and bear him children.

And that’s hard to hear. One, because I don’t want that, but apparently, my feelings on sex don’t matter, it’s my duty to my “husband.” I thought this whole women-serving men thing ended a while ago but I guess not. And second, them telling me I’ll grow out of it, that’s the last thing I ever want to hear. It’s not a stage, and more people need to realize that. It’s their sexuality, and it needs to be brought to awareness. The thing is, through the years, PRIDE is bringing all of this to awareness and I am proud to support it and be a part of it.

I’m proud to be bisexual. I’m not scared of it. Not anymore. And one day, when I do decide to tell my parents, I’ll still be proud to be bisexual.

My dream is to one day be in a relationship with an amazing partner, maybe we adopt children, or we don’t. I just want to be happy with who I am and not hide myself.

But, happiness has a price, because when I decide to embrace myself, I’ll lose everyone but my relative and his partner. I’ll lose my family and my friends. All my friends are devout Christians, I already know their feelings on this, it’s not good. My siblings are so, so loyal to my parents. They’re so engrained in their teachings. I think maybe one or two would still speak to me but that’s it. My parents are strictly religious, so I know that would be goodbye. I know that if I ever married a woman, my dad would not walk me down the aisle. And that really breaks my heart.

I love my family so much. More than they will ever know. Even though they don’t like people who are like me, I love them. Their my family, they raised me, and they took care of me. And to think one day, that that might be all gone. That I’ll probably be the family outcast and disappointment, truly makes me sad.

But I have to think about myself. And I know that I am totally attracted to women. And one day, I might end up being with one. And right now, as I write this, I hope that anyone out there who has the same struggles as me can at least have one person to talk to. Even if it’s just one, it makes all the difference. I know it did for me. I hope that I can be happy one day and fully embrace my sexuality. And I hope anyone who is like me does too.

And I wish the people reading this all the best in life. I hope you find your true self and embrace it. Without caring about what people will think about you. Because that just makes you end up in a sad place. I hope with reading this, you understood too just be yourself. Because that’s the best you.

[evermorehqs]

CATCHING MY BREATH, STARING OUT AN OPEN WINDOW

Victoria Everglot is based on Victoria from Corpse Bride. She is a 25 year old human, ballet teacher, and uses she/her pronouns. She has no powers. Victoria is portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy and she is open.

CATCHING MY DEATH, AND I COULDN’T BE SURE

The Everglot name was always synonymous with money. Their family came from old money, back when coal mining was at it's prime. As renewable energy and more sustainable sources came to be the family's fortune began to suffer. Coal mining was a thing of the past and they had no choice but to cease their developments and live off the money they had gained over the years. Finis and Maudeline Everglot were the most recent of the Everglots to have money. Their daughter, Victoria, would die penniless if something didn't change. Their fortune had nearly run out and when Victoria was of age she was to be wed to a wealthy man. The issue was...her parents were picky and Victoria wanted to marry for love, not money. She grew up living a fairly lavish lifestyle but had always felt like a prisoner in her own home. Her parents put her in ballet at a young age. Dance became one of the only things Victoria loved from her childhood. Victoria grew up in a very sheltered home. She didn't know much about the outside world and wanted nothing more than to explore the world outside of her barred, bedroom windows. She wanted to meet the love of her life, travel the world, and find happiness outside of her drab life.

Victor Van Dort might have been a blessing in disguise. He was the only son of fish merchants who recently struck rich. They wanted their son to marry into the social elite and make a good life for himself. Victoria was meant to wed him and when time came she got scared and bailed. They'd had their rehearsal dinner, everything was set to go, but she ran and didn't stop until she reached Evermore. Victoria's not quite sure how she got there, but she does remember bits and pieces. Though her memories are blurry she knows she came from somewhere else and her parents were horrid. She settled into Evermore fairly well. She got a job at the dance studio, teaching young girls the art of ballet. Things were fine, but she grew lonely. The time she had known Victor she did feel connected to him. She wasn't sure if she loved him, but she thought she could definitely grow to love him. When he ended up in Evermore she was quite shocked. Except...he wasn't her Victor anymore. He was much more shaken up than before and kept talking about marrying a dead woman! Victoria was concerned for him and fears he may have lost all of his memories, as well as some of his sanity. She doesn't want to say she doesn't believe him, but it's very far fetched and she wants him to be well, come to his senses, and then perhaps build a life with her in Evermore.

I HAD A FEELING SO PECULIAR

❀ Barkis Bittern: He's the main thing Victoria forgot before her life here. He was second in line to be her husband. When Victoria and Victor had began to grow a bit closer, her parents began to consider him. Little does Victoria know is that now that he found her he intends to make her his own. Barkis is acting as if he doesn't know her though and is trying to win her over. Victoria can't pretend that his charm doesn't get to her sometimes, but something about him seems off and she's skeptical to trust him

❀ Flora Adams: She works at the dance studio with Victoria and she just adores the other woman. She became the first real friend in Evermore and Victoria cherishes their friendship

❀ Malina Saleh: She is bad news, for sure, but Victoria can't help but feel drawn to her. Mal gets Victoria to indulge in the darker, but finer, things in life. Victoria won’t deny that she has fun with the older lady, and she sure is beautiful.

THAT THIS PAIN WOULD BE FOR EVERMORE

[ahopkins1965]

A Bridge Between Sin, Transgressions, and Jesus Christ

This blog is very simple. This is titled a bridge between sin, transgressions, and Jesus Christ. First, I would like to mention the definitions of sin, transgressions, and trespasses. 1. Transgressions are actions that are enormously and excessively wrong. You knew you were wrong and you did it anyway. 2. Trespasses are when saints miss the mark. This means that you are intentionally missing the mark on purpose. 3. Sin is when a person commits a mistake or an offense that is either minor or serious in nature. 4. Debt is a property and ownership; you owe something because of your actions. Sin is really you have broken a law. Sin is that you have broken a known law and the transgressions are the repercussions that come afterwards.

Next, according to John A. Studebaker, Jr; a sin is one of the greatest obstacles of the church today is this very issue. We no longer see ourselves as sinners' in need of forgiveness. Perhaps, sin used to be a problem, but now we've outgrown that. So while the church has a solution for the problem of sin, it's a non-problem in the eyes of most Americans at least not a serious problem.

Further, when it comes to sin, transgression, and Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is the bridge to mankind and sin. What I am trying to say here is that in my personal life, I know that according to the 2nd step in AA/NA there is a power that is greater than myself that can restore me to sanity. This is one of my steps that allow me to realize that I am not all by myself. God and Jesus Christ are there whenever I need them. I know that Jesus Christ is the mediator between man and God. I know for myself that God is able to do all things; as well as Jesus Christ His Son. I know that my expectations might be different than any average person. I know that what I expect to do is survive in a changing society that has many different people from various nationalities.

In addition, I know that sin is both avoidable and non avoidable in many cases. I know that no matter how I am in my life, I cannot avoid sin. I can avoid committing any form of sin; especially; the violent acts that exist in America. I know for myself as a person in recovery, I can control my speech and tongue whenever I am talking with others. I know that I am still a work in progress. This means that I am not a perfect person, but as long as there is Jesus Christ in my life as my personal savior, I know that I am healed from all of my injuries. I am healed from all of my sicknesses and illnesses. I know that Jesus Christ is the one who is responsible for blessing each day of the week.

Moreover, we all have fallen short of the glory of God. I know that we are all born into sin. Ever since the first sin had taken place between Adam and Eve, it has been very difficult for people to accept the first concept of original sin. For some, many believe that the original sin was only a myth. This is according to Charles Darwin Theory as well as those who do not believe in God. Just because the first sin had taken place, does not mean that mankind is completely doomed.

We all still have a chance to be with Jesus Christ. I still have a chance to be with Him because I believe that He died for my sins personally and Jesus Christ died and came back to life. Therefore, I believe Jesus Christ is the bridge between sin, transgression, debt, and trespasses. Everybody on earth belongs to God. The Lord said to me personally in a dream that He is not finished with me yet. This means that God has a great deal of tasks for me to complete for Him. Jesus Christ has expectations for us as well. Jesus Christ is somebody; he is a spirit that exists inside of all of us. Holiness is on top of the line. When you become a child of God, you are somebody. All souls belong to God. Even if you commit sin itself, your soul belongs to Christ. Call on Jesus; help is immediate. Keep on praying because praying helps when it comes to communicating with Jesus Christ.

Also, grace is something that you didn't deserve. Grace is a gift. This is a special gift that God has for man through His son Jesus Christ. We have to accept the gift. We should accept this through faith. Grace is an unmerited favor. Faith is the knowledge of knowing who God is with going through judgment. It is the knowledge if knowing Jesus without proof; not of works. It is not enough. Sanctifying faith is when we do our works because it is your worship to the Lord.

Finally, we are alive in Jesus Christ each day of our living lives. We will be lifted up and sit with Him each day as long as we believe. This is my bridge between Jesus Christ and myself. I am trying to say that a bridge between God, Jesus Christ, man, and sin is very important. This is a bridge that is very important in our lives. For instance, God is in charge of everything in life. Jesus Christ is second in command and man- himself as well as women is

[x-ceirios-x]

herondale

andromeda meets an old family friend.

cw: mention of (old/antique) guns

The Silent Brother exiting the library initially startled Andy, as it was whenever she saw a Silent Brother. She’d mentioned Maryse’s summoning of them to Isabelle over dinner and she seemed to shudder at the thought; apparently, they shared the same sentiment. They were entirely unnerving. She paused her rushed pace so as not to crash into him and waited patiently. 

The Brother turned his head to look at her. Andromeda Herondale, he said from within her head. She cringed. She’d never enjoyed the feeling of it. Stephen’s daughter, are you not?

“I prefer not to think about it very much,” she said plainly, no malice in her words. She tried her best to phrase her words carefully, not wanting to show disrespect to such a powerful shadowhunter but she wanted to get out of the conversation as quickly as she could. “May I ask why you stopped me?”

Personal interest, he said. That didn’t answer her question. Maybe the Silent Brothers were trying to recruit her, just like Sister Cleophas at the Adamant Citadel. She was too pretty to be a Silent Brother. I am particularly interested in the holster on your hip.

She looked down for a moment. She’d never changed out of the gear she’d worn to the Citadel earlier that day, and when taking off her weapons in her room, had missed one. Still sitting on her hip was the gun she’d found in an antique shop a few years back; her passion project that she’d attempted to fix. To her dismay, every time she tried to fire it, it jammed. The Marks on the gun and bullets caused issues with the powder that she hadn’t been able to fix yet. She spent her off time tinkering in her bedroom or the weapons room, these days. It was a gorgeous, old revolver and was one of her favorite possessions. “This?” She asked, pulling the gun from its place on her hip and handing it out to him. “It’s not loaded, by the way. But what about it?”

He took it, and when his finger brushed hers, she realized how cold he was. She didn’t think Silent Brothers were human, even if once, they had been. An interesting weapon of choice for a Shadowhunter, he said. It’s rather old, isn’t it?

She nodded. “Yeah. I found it at a weapons shop in Alicante for cheap. The seller said it wasn’t worth much since it wouldn’t fire, but I told myself I’d figure out a way to make it work.”

His attention turned towards her as she spoke. If his eyes hadn’t been sewn shut, she figured he would have been staring at her. There was a sort of blank look on his face that sent a chill down her spine. I believe it is ironic that you ended up with this, he explained, because it is an heirloom in your family, of sorts. This belonged to James Herondale, many years ago.

Andy wracked her brain for the name. She’d looked through old records and family tree information when she was a young teenager, in the days when she was desperate to find some other family in the world. As far as she knew, her only remaining, live family was her mother, Luke, and Imogen Herondale until recently. There was no lost love there. She traced the Herondale family line back several generations and remembered the name—her grandfather, several generations back. The son of Will and Tessa Herondale, who ran the London Institute at one point. James was their son.

“Really?” she asked, her eyes wide. “This was…his? How do you know?”

The Silent Brother nodded. I knew the Herondale family better than most. I made a promise to a…friend to always protect their children and their children’s children. I have taken interest in the search for Jace Herondale. Though, I did not know you were involved in his search as well.

“Call me the last of the name, I guess,” she said, the laughter in her speech tense. “Until Jace. I didn’t know he existed for a while, but I guess we…found each other.” She stared past him, her gaze on something fuzzy in the distance. She wasn’t looking at anything in particular, but instead thinking about Jace, how horrible he’d looked that night she found him after a nightmare and the guilt that pooled in her stomach whenever she thought about him. She should have reached out to him, done more, gotten him to talk to her, and maybe he wouldn't have fallen under Lilith’s influence. If she had left the Shadowhunters in the lobby sooner, she could have gotten to Sebastian’s casket sooner and fought him off or died trying to protect him. Jace wouldn’t be halfway across the world, being controlled by a man who they knew little about other than the fact that he was a murderer. 

The Silent Brother shifted slightly, into her line of sight, and it pulled her from her thoughts. She cleared her throat awkwardly. “I’m sorry. I meant to go speak to Maryse.”

Of course, he said. He handed the gun back to her and stepped aside to let her pass into the library. She walked quickly into the doorway but paused as she heard his voice in her head again. Andromeda, he said. Wait a moment. 

She turned and leaned against the doorway, looking at him curiously. 

I intend to keep my promise. Should you ever be in need of aid, you need only summon me, he said. His voice grew softer if that was possible. If the Silent Brothers could smile, she thought he would have been. 

Andy nodded and brushed a bit of hair from her face. “I didn’t catch your name,” she said. 

He didn’t answer until he began to walk away. He made no noise, almost like he was hovering a few inches off of the floor; the only clue he was even moving was the slight ripple in his bone-colored cloak. For your concerns, my name is Brother Zachariah. 

[the-firebird69]

That's right Haley has dropped out of the race and Biden vs Trump is what people have as candidates for November 2024 and that's coming up pretty quick it is not that far away 8 months and then it's November it is a better part of a year but it goes quick around here and people do not look forward to this idiot running the country he's a failure and he takes things and does things at the empire wants and the Giants should be the last nail in the coffin for this evil piece of crap this conduit to the big mouth and we have some progress and we're going to show what it is here

-the Giants are waking up and are escaping their shackles the max are trying to move in foreigners and us and morlock are stopping them Trump is the front line and he is getting devastated and then we have to move in and foreigners and others including pseudo empire and this will force them to engage the empire a bit about 50% of the Giants are up that's a lot and they're in the millions and they're big

-there is another issue it's not really bad it's like the above the clones are prepping to launch and it comes in a good time and they're understanding it it's a good time like Dempsey says he says no it's good timing but Tommy f says it could be a good time and it's funny we had a decent time down there and all saying it too. It said if this works you have to make red oak by the truckload and the smile is saying you're right and it's Trump's it says don't worry when you're small we'll have you make the beer under supervision you'll be in Monaco and we'll be making the beer and he's laughing that's how it is.

-we have other good news Hera and Zeus are looking forward to having a decent time and it's because they're getting through to some people what they said was these tires are going the wrong way and it's the tires from the hard knock kicker 5150 but it's because the max are using it and you have to figure out how they're doing that and a bunch of them did figure it out and they know what it is Jason bja Trump and Dan are a little bit out there it's backwards code is what they say and it does work forwards or backwards and the cars are backwards and it's working people are starting to see it it's important

-we have a lot of stuff on our plate and a lot of things going on but we are making successes and making dreams come true we have some pretty solid issues here with our son and the living situation people are Adam bothering him all the time at him and his finances and won't leave alone and there's only nowhere and we noted that we have to take care of it and make it better so we are assigning people and a lot of them they're going to be here and they're going to hear permanently which is good

+we've got a lot of calls from people wondering why he's so aggravated and taunted and we are after people doing it and we're doing it now we do hear them on TV and other things and we go after them the example is as Chief in Ohio he's just on and he's saying some really awful radical nasty things and we approached him and asked him for identification when he was in uniform and he didn't produce it and touched his gun and he said hand off the gun where Federal officers they said how would I know he tried to unholster it and we shot him now he's missing that's what happens.

-there's a few other things people are starting to realize this is not a stellar place to be there's a lot of competition if you lose your head your life will likely to lose your actual head and people like Dan and others rarely understand that until it's too late we heard them talking this afternoon they just don't get it there is a plus sign a lot of people can hear them saying that they don't think it happens and they're the ones doing it they are coming around occasionally to dig to ding these people and they ding them and ding them and we found some of them we're being about 50 times today that is abnormally high it's so high that we decided to stop them all from Dean and we're doing it now and it is starting to work and we are seeing that it's difficult and it's going to save him as he was in trouble and people say it too they're trying to date him quite a bit and I don't think he's in trouble we are at a condition right here red here because it's dangerous and they tried to ding just about everybody who comes in and that's all three parties of the warlock they are at each other Non-Stop and try to threaten people in the middle all over the world and with everything and that's their supposed gift because otherwise they look stupid and we are branching out and hitting them and they are going to try and get here and fight each other and it doesn't really do anything instead gets rid of them but that's fine with large forces tonight and they're going to attack the pseudo empire with large forces as we said before they have about a really spot 9.3% it's really about 10.5% off Island and he's saying you need to accurate number it's pretty much what it was is not true and we had it at 9.5% and we did mean that and that's where it's at so they're going to devote they said 0.5% in an attempt to take over Florida and they be coming from Alabama and across the South and towards California now this is a huge Force and very large of this time and we're estimating it but we think it'll be that big for a time we are going to send a lot firepower to wipe them out quickly there's a good reason for that if you do that more of them show up if you take a while they figure they have a chance and they can come later so we are moving to do that now huge numbers of crying out that we are evil and trying to get people to harm our son and we can hear it we are countering that stuff now and we're sending in units large ones to this area and we will remove a lot of them and it's for bad behavior and you should know empire is doing most of it and it keeps saying it's us but okay we also have an issue here at the house of course and we always do and we have to repeat it we need these people out of here we we need these people out then I wrote it up 2 hours a couple hours ago and said why and they do get this one so we are going ahead going ahead and we're preparing to do the work and we have a lot of stuff to do today and tonight it's no different we have huge numbers of people who are being very upsetting and we're going to take care of that it goes like this every time no but we're having a problem with these people and they are very rude and it's getting worse truthfully there are things happening that will change what's going on with these guys and there's a list of things number one we noted above that we are coming in and with specialists number two the pseudo empire and us are we going to clear some out because they are nuts rowdy out of control mean and just don't want to do anything but that we also have a lot of issues every day and night with their behavior they are very nasty we're going to have to overcome that and we will begin shortly and it's on okay we have decided to do stuff we have more to discuss and will publish this it's pretty big news

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues Hera

[electricratlady]

My Walmart Gripes List

i worked at Walmart stocking shelves starting in 2020 as an 18 y/o and am about to quit as a 22 y/o, as soon as i have another job lined up.

i have endured endless bullshit and… interesting situations from customers and employees/management across the 4 stores i’ve worked at, and i want to catalogue as much as possible to emphasize how working retail (at least Walmart) is NOT WORTH IT.

(worth mentioning that as much as i’ve had bad experiences i’ve also met a lot of nice people and don’t hold anything against them or their reasons for continuing to work at Walmart.)

this is not going to be chronological, since i’m just jotting down these examples as they come to me, but i’m gonna specify which location i’m talking about with Store 1, 2, 3, and 4. also way too many to write at once so i’ll add as i have time/energy to.

let’s jump in!

1. Store 1– i applied and started my job in January 2020 less than a week before the infamous Toilet Paper Rush from Covid. people were so desperate we stopped stocking it on the shelves for a while and just left the pallets they shipped on out on the floor for people to take, and they’d be cleared within an hour or two.

2. Store 1– fuckin 5’3” ginger guy with tons of freckles and glasses came into work several times with a Sons of the Confederacy shirt, and a couple weeks later during a team meeting where we were asked to raise our hands if XYZ he full on did a nazi salute, then smiled and looked around to see if anyone noticed (i was the only one who noticed but managed to pretend i didn’t).

3. Store 1– this was before i was out as bisexual and well before i figured out i was trans. a coworker two years younger than me came up to me, kinda pointed at me, and randomly said “f*ggot?” and i couldn’t tell if i misheard him so i kinda awkwardly laughed and said “what?” and he said it again and i had absolutely no idea what to say, and he said “see, i knew it! i knew you liked men!” and walked away. never reported it cuz i was a dumb kid who was more just scared that someone possibly knew despite me being closeted. turns out! he didn’t know, he was just beefing with my brother on the high school football team and randomly decided to bring me into it.

4. Store 1– same kid as #3 hated doing his job and would often leave the aisle he’s stocking to wander to different aisles to chat with people, somehow never being disciplined for it despite everyone knowing. he even would walk and chat with the guy from our Subway as he took the Subway trash all the way to the trash compactor at the back of the store and back. Dude only got fired after he was adamant that Walmart was giving employees free Kleenex for Covid and walked out with a 4-pack after his shift without paying. dumb bitch.

5. Store 1– one coworker i thought was cool was in his late 20s and, despite very bad anger management issues, was very openly pro-LGBTQ+ and pro-worker’s-rights and would chat about it a lot. then one day we were both monitoring the front entrance to sanitize carts and count people going in/out (Covid protocols), and he told a story about his grandfather being robbed and him shooting the robber as they fled, and at the very end very casually dropped the n-word while laughing, then said “i’m sorry, but if you’re gonna do that shit, you deserve to be called it.” in retrospect i wish i said something to him or management but i didn’t want to risk being the target of his anger problems so i kinda just stopped talking to him.

6. Store 1– during one surge the people monitoring the front entrances had to tell people coming in that our town was a high-risk/concentration Covid area and tell people that we don’t mandate masks but still suggest them (even had some free paper ones up front for those who wanted them). i tried to be as polite and non-confrontational as possible when explaining each time but one bigger guy walking in genuinely just went “you wanna know what i think? FUCK YOU.” and laughed as he walked past me. made me feel shit for the rest of the day.

7. Store 1– this is a recurring theme at Walmart but certain employees love slacking off and don’t really get reprimanded for it as long as the jobs get finished by other people. still remember when we had a rough truck unload and i looked over as we were about to finish and saw two of the guys supposed to be helping (people who are PAID the same amount as ME who was BUSTING MY ASS) just sitting down for 5 minutes, with a look on their faces like “why aren’t you all done with this dumb bullshit yet?” one of those guys was also in my computer science class and was openly passive-aggressively homophobic there, so add that to the tally i guess.

[newstfionline]

Saturday, September 9, 2023

Adams Says Migrant Crisis ‘Will Destroy New York City’ (NYT) In a sharp escalation over the migrant crisis, Mayor Eric Adams claimed in stark terms that New York City was being destroyed by an influx of 110,000 asylum seekers from the southern border and said that he did not see a way to fix the issue. Mr. Adams, a Democrat in his second year in office, has clashed with leading members of his party as New York City has struggled to provide housing and services to the migrants. The mayor pointed to new projections that the city’s budget gap could grow to nearly $12 billion. The surge of migrants crossing the southern border has overwhelmed the city, with nearly 60,000 occupying beds in traditional city shelters and in more than 200 emergency sites. Migrants who are living in the city said on Thursday that they did not want to be a burden, but that they also did not want to be vilified. Winder Donald, 53, who is from Nicaragua and has passed through a few different shelters, said he was looking for work and had only found temporary construction jobs. “I don’t know if we are going to be the ones to blame for ruining the city, but the truth is that I think many of us made a mistake coming to New York because we cannot work here,” Mr. Donald said. “Without work permits, we can’t contribute.”

King Charles’s first year (Washington Post) It’s no longer difficult or weird to say “King Charles” and not “Prince Charles” in the way it was in the first months after Queen Elizabeth II died. A year since Charles III ascended to the throne—on Sept. 8, 2022—a majority of Brits say he is doing a good job as monarch, though he’s not as popular as his mum was. Charles, 74, still has much to prove in terms of how successfully he can wield soft power and maintain the relevance of the monarchy in modern times. Expectations that he might “slim down” the institution—in terms of how many senior royals are involved, but also the costs—have yet to be met. And he doesn’t appear to have made much progress on what to do about his disgraced brother, Prince Andrew, or estranged son, Prince Harry. Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith credited Charles with being more open, connecting with the public and showing himself to be a “very good extemporaneous speaker, much better than his mother.” But a year in, “what we don’t know yet is what big picture Charles has in mind,” Bedell Smith said. Unlike his mother, he is known to have strong opinions—about climate change, architecture, hedgerows. He spent a lifetime advocating for his causes. And yet there’s an idea that political neutrality is essential for the survival of the monarchy in modern times.

Russia learned from mistakes to slow Ukraine’s counteroffensive (Washington Post) Three months into Ukraine’s inching counteroffensive, Russian occupying forces have largely been able to hold their positions, often by learning from past mistakes. They have reconstituted decimated units, swapped in new ones and turned from sweeping attacks to the defense of heavily fortified front lines, showing that despite heavy losses, Moscow is willing to dig in for the long haul and wait for the resolve of Ukraine’s Western backers to diminish. The relatively well-ordered defense marks a return to long-standing Russian military doctrine and a shift from the early days of the war, when Russia overextended its forces in lumbering advances into territory it could not hold, at great cost. “It is an example of adaptation,” said Ian Matveev, a Russian military analyst for the Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by imprisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. “They are using their experience of this war,” he said, to fight Ukrainian forces to a grinding standstill.

Proximity of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Danube ports stirs fear in NATO member Romania (AP) The discovery of drone debris on Romanian territory this week has left some local residents fearing that the war in neighboring Ukraine could spread into their country, as Russian forces bombard Ukrainian ports just across the Danube River from NATO-member Romania. Moscow aims to disrupt Ukraine’s ability to export grain to world markets with a sustained campaign of attacks targeting Ukrainian Danube ports, and has attacked the port of Izmail four times this week, Ukrainian officials say. Across from Izmail, pieces apparently from a drone were found near the Romanian village of Plauru, Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilvar said Wednesday. It was unclear if Romanian authorities had determined when or from where the drone was launched, and Tilvar said the debris didn’t pose a threat, but the development has left citizens in the European Union nation feeling uneasy.

Teams Try to Rescue Sick American 3,000 Feet Down in Turkish Cave (NYT) Emergency teams are trying to rescue a 40-year-old American man who fell ill while more than 3,000 feet under ground during a cave expedition in southern Turkey, recovery crews said on Thursday. The European Cave Rescue Association said in a statement that it received an initial report of the illness on Saturday, and it soon became clear that the man, Mark Dickey, himself a cave expert and rescuer, had gastrointestinal bleeding and was unable to leave the cave on his own. The association said the rescue from the Morca Cave in southern Turkey would be challenging given how deep Mr. Dickey was. The Speleological Federation of Turkey, which is helping with the rescue, said Thursday that Mr. Dickey’s condition had improved and that he might be able to leave the cave with help. “Mark is getting better,” the federation wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Doctors will decide whether it is possible for him to come out without a stretcher.” The Morca Cave is the third-deepest in Turkey, with a depth of 4,186 feet, or 1,276 meters, according to the Turkish federation. It is more than 13,000 feet long.

Can India’s Global Ambitions Survive Its Deepening Chasms at Home? (NYT) Inside a sprawling golf resort south of New Delhi, diplomats were busy making final preparations for a fast-approaching global summit meeting. The road outside was freshly smoothed and dotted with police officers. Posters emblazoned with the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi bore the slogan he had chosen for the occasion: One Earth, One Family, One Future. Not far away, however, were the remnants of bitter division: grieving families, charred vehicles and the rubble of bulldozed shops and homes. Weeks before, deadly religious violence had erupted in the Nuh district, the site of the resort. The internet was shut down, and thousands of troops were rushed in. Clashes quickly spread to the gates of Gurugram, a tech start-up hub just outside New Delhi that India bills as a city of the future. These scenes sum up India’s contradictions as it basks in its moment this weekend as host of the Group of 20: Its momentum toward a bigger role in a chaotic world order is built on increasingly combustible and unequal ground at home. His party’s efforts to rally and elevate Hindus—both a lifelong ideological project and a potent lure for votes—have marginalized hundreds of millions of Muslims and other minorities as second-class citizens.

Powerful quake in Morocco kills more than 600 people (AP) A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, killing hundreds of people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech. Morocco’s Interior Ministry said Saturday morning that at least 632 people had died, mostly in Marrakech and five provinces near the quake’s epicenter. Another 329 people were injured. Casualty figures were expected to rise more as the search continues and as rescuers reach remote areas. Moroccan television showed scenes from the aftermath, as many stayed outside fearing aftershocks.

South Sudanese Flee War in Sudan (NYT) Nyamut Gai lost everything four years ago when armed militias stormed through her village in South Sudan, a landlocked African country tormented by civil war, famine and flooding. Desperate, she and her family fled almost 600 miles north across the border to Sudan, where she worked as a cleaner in the capital, Khartoum, and began to settle in. But then, a fierce war broke out in Sudan in mid-April between rival factions of the military, sending her packing yet again. As she and her family made the weekslong journey by foot and bus from Khartoum, her 1-month-old son began coughing and withering away from hunger, and soon died. When she finally crossed the border into South Sudan, any sense of relief she felt was shattered when her 3-year-old son succumbed to measles. “We are not safe anywhere,” Ms. Gai, 28, said on a recent morning at a muddy and congested aid center in Renk, a town in South Sudan. “People fled war here. There’s a war in Sudan now. There’s war everywhere,” she said. “It never ends.” The war in Sudan has set off a mass exodus of people who years ago fled a bloody civil war in South Sudan to seek safety in Sudan. But they are returning home to a country still in the grip of political instability, economic stagnation and a massive humanitarian crisis—many of them without actual homes to return to.

Something Past Its Expiration Date: the Expiration Date Itself (WSJ) Some numbers are bad because they mislead. Expiration dates on our food are worse: They’re downright destructive. Food experts broadly agree that the expiration dates on every box of crackers, can of beans and bag of apples waste money, squander perfectly good food, needlessly clog landfills, spew methane and contribute to climate change. Contrary to a common perception, “those dates are not about safety, that’s not why they’re there, that’s not what they’re doing” says Martin Wiedmann, a professor of food safety and food science at Cornell University. “For many foods, we could completely do away with it.” The dates originated as a coded system for manufacturers to communicate to retailers when to rotate stock. Consumers clamored for information on the freshness of food, and in the 1970s and 1980s consumer-facing dates became widespread, though never standardized. Food manufacturers have tried, largely in vain, to explain that these are mostly general indicators of when food is at its peak quality. Most foods, properly stored, remain edible and safe long after their peak.

Nearly every modern car shares or sells your data, according to Mozilla (Quartz) Forget snooping smartphones and spying smartwatches. Modern, connected cars are “the official worst category of products for privacy that we have ever reviewed,” Mozilla concluded after studying two dozen brands. Mozilla, the not-for-profit behind the open-source Firefox browser, revealed yesterday (Sep. 6) that “every car brand we looked at collects more personal data than necessary and uses that information for a reason other than to operate your vehicle and manage their relationship with you.” And 84% of the cars sold or shared the personal data they collected, Mozilla said. Cars are not just collecting car-related data like mileage and geolocation—they’re collecting, storing, and sharing information about passengers, pedestrians in the vicinity, and more. They also have access to several types of information, including connected devices (read: phones) and apps like Google Maps.