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cloveroctobers · 11 months ago

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DECEMBER PROMPTS 🧊 — 2. EVAN BUCKLEY

A/N: spoke it into existence and we get to see the 118 in just a few months! Too excited but disappointed about station 19. Anyways…here’s something fun??? and a little more my speed for the holidays.

PROMPT IS FROM HERE + I’m using: 20.) Caught Under the Mistletoe (teasing, shy, “It’s tradition”)

Synopsis: in which a moody reader wishes they could spend the holidays elsewhere and away from “the most wonderful time of the year,”…until Buck decides to walk through their childhood home.

WARNINGS: reader isn’t a Christmas lover by any means + going through a breakup—10 points for you if you can place the connection, language, family resentment & use of y/n + also gender-neutral friendly!

*GIF BELONGS TO @fireladybuckley !!!

❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩⋆꙳•❅ ❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩⋆꙳•❅ ❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩

There were a combination of things that irritated you and Christmas happened to be one of them. Your family was one of those families that happened to be obsessed with Christmas and any sort of gathering, always have been and probably always will be—until they leave this earth. They were the neighbors that were welcoming to any and everyone and encouraged people to come on over with any shindig they threw. Unfortunately for you, you got stuck with attending this Christmas gathering because you moved back to Rhode Island right after you quit being a firefighter.

It was still a topic of many gossiping conversations with your mom’s “good friend,” deciding to bring it up in the living room, “y/n, do you ever want to be married? When are you going to start having a family of your own? Surely you must have found someone in sunny LA?”

Little did she know you did and in Chicago. You were surprised your mother took your boundaries into consideration when sharing certain information to her good friend…or did she know and was simply trying to get a rise out of you? Miriam was “good” at doing that.

You never liked Miriam, sorry not sorry. Mainly because she always had a opinion and liked to compare you to your older siblings. Your older brother was finally engaged to his long time girlfriend who had a face of a model, worked for a successful tech company, while also being a composer on the side and always had a good head on his shoulders. Then the middle child, your older sister was pregnant with twins and recently stepped down from being a pilot after almost fifteen years; was always the charmer and “favorite” according to friends of the family.

“I’ll start as soon as you stop scamming the elderly into marrying you so you can collect a check after they pass,” you smiled sweetly at Miriam, who’s mouth dropped and your older sister fought back a snicker from beside you in the sitting room, “I’m going to get a refill.”

You were just thankful your mother wasn’t near to hear this but you were sure with the snitch she called a best friend, she would repeat it and you would get a earful at some point tonight. Nonetheless you received a wink from your god-father and dad’s best friend up ahead, who was the designated pianist of the night and just finished up a tune by Nat King Cole.

Judah, your godfather was always lending a ear to listen since you were young and it seemed to still be the same sentiment more than your own parents but! That’s a different story for another day. You had to relish in the overload of wreaths that decorated every cabinet in your childhood kitchen, lightly scoffing and shaking your head as you filled up the flute with more champagne.

Sure you didn’t want to spend the holidays sulking but it only seemed to kick in more once people always felt the need to butt into your life. They didn’t speak on your accomplishments because it was never deemed as good enough, it was always a rule to follow into your family’s footsteps. Your mom’s a respectable elementary school teacher who hosts book clubs on Sunday’s with once strangers turned friends, your dad builds sailboats and is heavy involved in charity work and not just to say he did it but because of his own tough upbringing, your brother’s traveling all over the world due to his craft of being a composer and is so in love with his soon to be wife Alani, who’s also involved in building medical centers for poor communities—not just on her native land of Hawaii but countries as well, and your sister always knows just what to say to any and everyone, she’s so likable and building her family with a great guy, who isn’t just putting on for the cameras since he happens to be a well-known athlete.

Then there’s you…the sibling that’s just floating through life at thirty-one years old. Back at home with their parents after giving up a job that you thought you saw yourself doing up until retirement. Your head’s always been in the clouds but when your eyes were set on something you weren’t ever afraid to give it a try. Thats exactly what you did choosing to go to the academy out in California and worked your ass off to be a firefighter. You weren’t a fan of what people said after your severe injury…you just wanted to move on and always felt like you would be a firefighter at heart no matter what.

Most didn’t get that and it wasn’t okay with you but that didn’t stop you from putting one finger in the air.

Life will always lead you places and Rhode Island wasn’t your first choice but it was your best choice with the way the world shifts. Which is why you just wanted to get this holiday over with so it didn’t feel like you were constantly sinking from the inside out. The pretty lights, delicious eats, spending time with family, and finding joy was supposed to be a given but instead you were just ready to kick this year to the fucking curb for good.

If anyone asked you, New Years was way better because you can always start over especially if the year prior was not it for you. However one good thing came out of this year, you were one step closer to getting that home in New Mexico.

It took drumming on the counter to bring you out of your thoughts, making you snap your eyes at your brother who had a wicked grin on his round face. After pulling a face, you side eyed him, “what, Marcus?”

“Is that anyway to talk to your big brother?” He leaned against the counter, at pure ease.

Sipping at the flute, the bubbly went down nicely before you popped your tongue at the after taste then you responded, “what did you do?”

The thirty-seven year old sighs, “I didn’t do anything but you might want to send that energy to Larissa.”

Quickly glancing over your shoulder, you craned your neck to see back into the sitting room but couldn’t see your very pregnant sister anywhere. Shrugging your shoulders you turn back to the amusement on your brother’s face, “I don’t see her anywhere, so stop with the games and just spill.”

The both of you turned to the new voice that enters the kitchen from the left, “There you are! Look who I’ve found outside.”

If there was one person you wanted to push into the fireplace, now make it two, meaning you adding your sister to that list. Your eyes burned into her pretty beaming smile as she lightly jabbed a thumb in Evan Buckley’s direction. From behind them you spotted your brother-in-law, Kheri ready to enter the kitchen from the same opposite end but abruptly stopped as he easily picked up on what was happening and spun back around, hoping not to be seen by Larissa.

“Uh hey, y/n.” Evan awkwardly waved in your direction before you clenched your eyes shut and deeply exhaled.

Marcus whispers from your right, “that’s what.”

“I got it, Mark.” You hissed while he raised his hands in surrender, letting out a low whistle that sounded just perfect.

Evan glanced back and forth between the siblings, frowning, “I’m getting the sense that you were blindsided about me coming.”

A cackle bubbled past your lips while Larissa bounced on her toes, “I may have forgotten to mention it but when a party is going on…you just get wrapped up in so many other things.”

Evan nodded his head at this but he didn’t entirely believe that.

“Bullshit,” Marcus coughed out before smiling at Evan.

Larissa added, “I thought that you would be happy to see a friendly face here, y/n. I mean—you hate everyone else so…voila! You’re welcome.”

You declared, “If you weren’t pregnant with my nephews, I might just beat your ass to sleep with a lump of coal.”

“Hot coal or cold?” Larissa hummed, tapping her dimpled chin.

You scoffed, “I’d let you pick bitch.”

“How sweet,” Larissa winked as she turned back to pat Evan on the shoulder, “as you can see, this is a loving household and you’re only going to make it better for my dear sibling. So thank you so much for coming, Evan Buckley.”

Evan tilted his head to the side at this whole interaction, breathing out a laugh, “well…you kinda bullied me to so…”

“Oh is that how the conversation went down?” Marcus shoved some chips into his mouth, ignoring the glare you sent him.

“But,” Evan added, “I wanted to be here, it was the right thing to do and I missed you guys. Not really the east coast since it’s pretty damn cold here, man i keep forgetting that but it’s always nice to see a white Christmas and some faces that feel like home you know?”

Larissa placed her hand on her chest, “now wasn’t that beautiful, y/n?”

“So beautiful that I almost want to vomit on you, Larissa.” You coo at the Bob-wearing woman while Marcus continues watching this match.

Larissa scowled, “stop being a Scrooge and just be glad that Otis was busy.”

*Jazz music stops playing*

“What?” You gritted at the mention of your recent breakup.

Flights out to Chicago tended to get pricer and tricker during the whole pandemic but lucky for you, you managed your money much better now.

“Wrong thing to say,” Marcus mumbles, seeming to be the only one in the room that was aware that this was a touchy subject.

Swallowing you turned to the eldest in the room, “Did you know about that too, Mark?”

Marcus sighs, “I was there for that conversation yes…but I didn’t think Rissa was serious about Buckley after the call with Otis didn’t exactly work out.”

You couldn’t grasp why they—Larissa would think it would be okay to go behind your back and call Otis in the first place?!

“Is this what you’re gonna be like now, Ris? Trying to mold my love life and be in my business because you’re too bored with motherhood?” You snapped at the thirty-five year old who looked taken aback.

Larissa slowly speaks, “woow! That was kinda hurtful…I was just trying to do something nice because you always get like this around this time of the year and I figured a person you deeply adore would cheer you up but obviously I was wrong.”

Deeply adore felt like another stab to you.

Holding your hands out, you say enough just by that action which makes Larissa roll her eyes. She turns to the sea eye colored man and says, “Good luck with that one, the sticks pretty far up their ass this evening.”

Laughing to yourself, you don’t bother watching your sister leave the kitchen and turn back to the fridge in search of the desserts instead.

“Well…that was not as entertaining as I would have liked but you know that comment wasn’t cool right?” Marcus says while you send him a middle finger from inside the fridge, “noted but you better be over this damn attitude by the morning.”

Here you are in your thirties and you still had your brother thinking he can boss you around.

He says a few words to Buck and once the coast is clear, you spin back around to place the fruitcake on the large island counter. Just staring at the dessert makes you further nauseous and you motion with your eyes, “want a slice?”

“…only if you’ll join me?” Evan sucks air through his teeth, trying to put on a smile although it was more of a grimace.

You snicker, “don’t say what you think I want to hear. I wouldn’t feed this to Dudley.”

Evan begins to look around at the mention of the old bloodhound, “no way! He’s still alive?”

“Very much and probably sticking up the house somewhere away from everyone,” you laugh at the thought of the gassy dog as you pick up the cake, analyzing it in disgust before making your way to the garbage.

Evan nodded, “Ah so like it’s owner?”

“Watch it Buckley,” you wag a finger at him, “you just got here and you’re already talking shit to me?”

“I thought that’s what friends are for?” He shows off his laughter lines before taking a seat on one of the the bar stools, while you glanced at the flute and expensive champagne bottle before choosing the bottle it’s self, “…I would ask how’ve you been but I don’t know what kind of answer I’m going to get.”

Shrugging your shoulders you take a swing from the bottle and go into a two step as, “Holly Jolly Christmas,” beings to play making Buck shake his head at you playfully, “just jolly can’t you tell? I mean we haven’t spoken in months since I left LA—

“Right,” Buck agreed, “I wanted to give you some space and I thought I was being a good friend giving you that, although there were plenty of times where I just wanted to hear your voice.”

You snort, “don’t get mushy on me, Ev.”

Evan sighs, “and you ghosted me a few times.”

“Out of the respect of your relationship with Taylor—

“You didn’t even like Taylor or Abby?” Evan frowns, “and that was before we decided to give each other a try and with you debating about quitting after what happened at the parking garage.”

Long story short: you were at the 118 six months before Evan Buckley ends up walking through the doors. At the beginning you had everyone fooled with the way you gave him the cold shoulder in the beginning, as if your mothers weren’t the best of friends and you didn’t alternate summers between Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. You were forced to be friends but it’s not ever something you truly regretted. It’s like Toy Story, you had a friend in Buck and that was something you were thankful for. The both of you bonded over just being in the moment and while he was more impulsive than you, you found your footing just a bit earlier than he did.

You went to California as soon as you reached eighteen and fell in love with it that you didn’t ever want to come back. You didnt have dreams of being a firefighter but you were always passionate about having a positive impact on someone’s lives and fighting fires didn’t sound so bad. By the time you came back after visiting and being forced to go to the community college for half a semester, you withdrew and left without a word. It took a shared phone call from Buck and Maddie to get you to answer, with Maddie pleading with you just to call your parents whereas Buck encouraged you to keep going.

Shortly after, he was traveling around the world and sending you postcards too. Evan was always just your friend that you spent summers with then holidays and then birthdays to speaking on AIM if not every day then every other day. It was clear that the both of you were meant to be in each others lives…until you made the terrible decision to catch feelings. Out of all of the years that you’ve known this guy, you just had to feel a way—despite him fooling around on the job, which you tore into him more than bobby did. From random hook ups to potentially serious relationships—that you never agreed with, you just had to do it and you were stubborn and fought it for so long.

Having your face almost crushed by concrete would do it to you. You didn’t know if you were going to make it, that was your real taste of death—although you got hurt on the job before this was the one that really had you questioning everything. The team outside of the parking garage tried to keep Buck from getting to you but if there’s a will, there’s a way. You tried to blame it on the partially crushed skull once Buck brought it back up at not the best timing—after physical therapy but he was firm and stood on the words shared.

He broke up with Taylor, you told him to give it time and if he truly still felt the same months later, you’d give it a go. He respected that and once you were back to normal as you can be, it happened and it was short lived because you didn’t take the topic of marriage with him seriously. And it had nothing to do with what he thought.

Evan Buckley was always good enough, if not more.

“It was better getting used to the idea of not being in each others lives.” Was what you went with.

Evan pressed his arms onto the counter, “what do you mean?”

Sipping from the bottle again you state, “you must have felt the same way I felt when I got the news that you were struck. Like time is only temporary. We’ve known each other since we were what? Fourteen-fifteen? And sure that feels like forever but it really just means it starts over.”

Evan stares at you from underneath his eyelashes, “so…declining our friendship was the better answer for you?”

“Oh I’d think we’d always be friends…even if there’s distance.”

“That you created.” Evan points out, “I didn’t think you believed in alternate universes.”

You swallow, “I didn’t, until you told me what it was like in that coma.”

“Then you left…to be with Otis.” Evan fills in the blanks while wiggling his eyebrows which makes you scoff, “want to talk about it?”

You blink, “I just told my sister to mind her business…do you want me to deliver the same thing? Let’s catch up and focus on you…I’m surprised you’re not in PA.”

“I let Maddie and chim deal with that.” Evan says, “Christmas Eve was enough for me and poor Jee, I should have taken her with me.”

Resting your chin against the palm of your hand you say, “that bad huh?”

“Ah the usual. You know how parents can be,” Evan chats, “they’re really pushing to meet Natalia.”

Squinting you try to recall the name as Evan informs, “right…uh someone I met on the scene. She’s a death doula.”

“A what?”

“Someone who helps people who are facing death find peace with it. Like the good version of what a hospice is supposed to be.” Buck tells, coming to terms that there has been gaps in what they should know, yet this was what you wanted apparently.

Tapping against the glass you say, “and she’s your…girlfriend?”

“Well, yeah.” Buck smiles a bit while you hum, taking a swing from the bottle, “what was that response?”

You shrug, “just surprised your parents would want to meet her…does Maddie like her?”

“She doesn’t not not like her.” Evan frowned.

“How long have you been dating?”

“Not long…uh what’re you getting at?”

“Look, I don’t know her and I’m not going to further rain on anybody’s parade but just be careful. Take your time you know?”

Evan scratches at his birth mark above his brow and huffs, “thought you were a big believer in time not lasting forever and starting over…That’s what I’m doing.”

Nodding your head you say, “I’m not judging you.”

“Good because my plan wasn’t to argue with you here at your childhood home in the kitchen on Christmas.” Buck tells as he takes in the decor, “We can hash anything else out at a later date because it’s the most wonderful time of the year right? I’m here until the 31st by the way.”

“When exactly did you drop in?”

“The 21st.”

“Oh you’re staying for awhile.”

“I think I should.” He waved his hand for the bottle which he takes a swing at and lets out a deep burp, excusing himself with a grin after you scrunch up your nose.

Snatching the bottle back you leave it unattended as you peek through the trays of food, thinking about another round since the preview of desserts were lackluster.

“Huh,” Buck says now peering above his head, “when did that get up there?”

Turning you attention back to a old friend in the maroon sweater, you follow his gaze to the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling above his head. “Which one of your siblings pulled this one?”

“Don’t think that was their doing honestly,” you reputed, “feels very traditional and something my dad would do.”

Evan thinks about it and seems to agree, remembering how affectionate the man tended to be back then. “Well…it’s tradition and we shouldn’t break it.”

“Don’t know if you notice Ev, I thought the all black attire would be a giveaway but I simply do not care about this holiday.”

“I’ve noticed—

“And didn’t you just say you have a girlfriend? I can kiss anybody else and tend to very soon.” You almost went into a daydream state of the all the possible contenders you’d lock lips with in just a few days.

“True but who are you going to find that’s as gorgeous as me?” Buck challenged as he placed a hand on his chest.

“Did Eddie fly in with you guys?”

“That’s not funny.”

“So you cross the line at your work husband but not nat the death doula?” You quizzed the tousled haired man.

“Why are you giving her a whole title like that?”

“It’s Natalia’s profession…?”

“Yeah but nobody calls you: y/n the retired firefighter turned air traffic controller.”

“You don’t know that and you just did.”

Buck felt his eye twitch, “I was giving an example!”

“Hey, inside voices! The singing and music is loud enough. Not to mention the carolers that will be here by eight and will probably give me nightmares tonight—

Evan shakes his head, “no I don’t think you understand. We have to kiss or else it’s going to bring bad luck in our love lives for who knows how long and I could really use a consistent love and what better person to do that with than you.”

One thing about Buck, he was a thousand percent superstitious but that wouldn’t stop you from poking fun.

“Evan Matthias Buckley…are you flirting with me?” You tease as you caress the counter while slowly make your way around the island.

The man appears almost shy now as you grip his face, taking in the features you’ve come to known and appreciate. Evan was still him regardless of the miles you put in between each other. With his hands now on your waist you enjoyed the moment because face it, it was always nice to be held, so you stared into his eyes for a moment and then his tulip tinted lips.

Lips that you didn’t mind on yours or anywhere on your body once upon a time…until you self sabotaged. You could have married evan and would have in a heartbeat but you also felt marriage wasn’t for you. You didn’t want to fuck that up just like you did everything else.

And that wasn’t really true, that’s just the bad parts of your brain getting in the way but you were working it out in therapy. However a smile was on your lips now that you pressed your forehead to the man that’s seen all sides to you before and you could have sworn Evan was holding his breath, just wondering how this would work.

Yet he was the one insisting that they share a kiss!

Caressing the scruff that was along his jaw, you lightly pinched his face, holding him in place as you put a lingering kiss right beside the corner of his lips. The deflation was evident and you didn’t know whether to take that as relief or disappointment but Evan pulled you into a hug filled with warmth anyway.

Which you welcomed, arms locked around his broad shoulders before resting a hand on the back of his head. He squeezed you just right and if you wanted to be in your soft era tonight, you may have shed a tear but pushing that to the side felt better for now. It’s been awhile but you didn’t want to cross that line especially if things were serious with Natalia.

Evan didn’t know about Otis or how you were battling moving on from that but he’ll take what he can get from you. Whenever you were ready then he’d always be around and that’s something he wanted to remind you of but being here with you on this holiday—even if you were being a complete grinch about it! felt like he made the right decision.

“You know Ev Bev,” you started as you pulled back but kept your hands locked around his shoulders, “has anyone ever told you that you reek of spruce?

Evan blinks, “no one’s ever told me I smell like a tree before…but considering the job? I’m not offended.”

“Well I am. You’re supposed to boycott all things Christmas with me if you still consider yourself my bestie,” you shook your head in sorrow.

You’re ready to untangle yourself but Evan just tightens his arms around you, leaning forward to get a whiff of you, “and you smell like fruitcake.”

Faux gagging gets Evan to widen his eyes and loosen his grip, “don’t make me sick—

“I think that’s enough champagne for you.”

“You’re right, it has my toes buzzing but I can definitely go for something stronger which my parents don’t have but I’ll sneak out before the Carolers get here to get some.”

“Or…you can find the true beauty in Christmas that doesn’t have anything to do with alcohol.” Evan offered while you gave him a unimpressed stare, “maybe next year then?”

“Oh I plan to as soon as the new year hits and I get some answers.” You unravel yourself from him and move to take a seat on the other velvet stool.

Evan holds his hands out, “…care to elaborate?”

“Sure, why the hell not? After spending too much time here and becoming financially stable, I’ve finally decided to buy a house.” You give jazz hands.

“That’s fantastic news!” Evan perks up, “Wait…does anybody else know?”

“Nope, just you my friend.” You sigh, “I should know if they accepted my offer by the 29th the realtor says but can expect some delays based on the stupid holidays so…fingers crossed.”

Evan snickers, “then that’s something to celebrate and I’m sure your family will be happy for you.”

“Maybe, maybe not. My decisions are always based on selfishness apparently.” You fold your hands, “I know the first thing that’s going to be said and then comes the guilt tripping but I don’t want to be in this place anymore. I’ve been here a good portion of my life and had to come back because the world decided to go apocalyptic. I’m tired of feeling stuck and New Mexico can be the freedom I’ve always been searching for.”

Evan took in your words carefully. He knew you weren’t always this down but stepping away as a firefighter definitely triggered that and the old childhood insecurities resurfaced living here again although you tried to bury them. He’s been around the world while your family tried to keep you sheltered—even into your adulthood, you were always the one who wanted something different than them. Evan saw that the first day he met you and instantly took a liking to you, although it took more convincing on your end. New Mexico was far from Rhode Island but not too bad from Los Angeles.

“It will be and we’ll make the best of it.” Evan squeezed the tension from between your shoulder blades.

Looking at him you echo, “we?”

“Do you really think you can keep hiding from me? Now that you let me back in, you’re not getting rid of me again.” Evan grinned in excitement while you groaned, “We have a house to plan for, like when’s the expected move in date when you’re approved?”

You shrugged, “realtor man Danny didn’t tell me that exactly but if I had to guess, probably sometime in February.”

“That works,” Evan nods, “if it falls around Maddie’s birthday I might just suggest New Mexico.” He winks at you while you scoff.

“Don’t you think you’re jumping the gun? Who’s to say I’d even give you my address?”

Despite saying this you knew Buck would always find a way and it’s not something you were truly against. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t miss seeing him around but ultimately that was your choice.

“Ouch, that’s no way to treat the guy that’s had your back since we were kids and is about to make you a mean peppermint mocha.” Evan says in a sing song tone as he drums on the table before sliding down from the chair.

Tilting your head at the thought you reply, “will it be spiked?”

Evan shakes his head as he makes his way over to the espresso machine, “I’m trying to save your liver so that’ll be a negative.”

“Boooo! Buck sucks more than Santa! Tomato, tomato.” You gave a thumbs down as Evan chuckles to himself.

Buck was attempting to bring you holiday cheer, you could feel yourself sort of exhaling as you watched him move around the kitchen. Whenever Evan was around, it usually felt like putting the negative on pause because you tended to forget about it for awhile thanks to his infectious spirit.

“Are you two playing nice?” The voice of your brother, Mark fills the room as he enters the kitchen once more and now holding the hand of his fiancée, Alani who teasingly scrunches her nose up with a smile at you two.

Throwing your head back, you sigh, “as nice as I can be, Marcus.”

“That’s not saying much,” he goes to elbow Buck jokingly, who nods with a shrug.

Alani takes the seat beside you, “so…what we really want to know is, did you guys share a kiss and decide to fall deeply in love with each other?”

“Lani!” Marcus warns while the curly haired woman lifts her shoulders.

You laugh, “and this is why I’ve always liked you Lanz, you’re never on any bullshit, unlike Mark and Ris.”

“Yikes, I’m not touching that one.” Alani reached for the champagne bottle.

“You may have actually made her cry by the way,” Marcus announces making Evan peer at you over his shoulder.

Turning your eyes into slits you question, “made who cry?”

“Larissa.”

You huff, “she pissed me off.”

“Yeah but you didn’t have to attack her motherhood which she has yet to really experience…” Marcus states and you take a breath.

You knew that comment was harsh but you never lacked a back bone. When anyone got on your nerves, you were going to tell them and didn’t care who they were or where you were. It’s a defense mechanism and yes that was something else you were working on.

“I’ll make up with her after I get into this spiked peppermint mocha.” You grinned in content.

Evan corrects, “how many times do I have to tell you, it’s not spiked?”

“Until you change your mind, sugar plum.”

“Yuck,” Marcus laughs while Alani smirks.

Sooner than later, Buck is handing out four cups of peppermint mocha and crouches over the counter beside you as you all take in the festive drink while, “Deck the halls,” starts to play for the sixth time this evening. Normally you would be considering sticking your head inside of the oven or making your severe allergic reaction act up by eating a gingerbread cookie just so you could get out of listening to this boring music but somehow you tune it out.

Physical touch was how Buck liked to be loved so you didn’t think much of it as you looped a hand around the crease of his arm. acts of service was how he gave love. He glanced over at you while you listened to whatever your brother was blabbing about and when you caught his stare, you thought to yourself, maybe reconnections should have been on your wishlist.

A tender peppermint kiss to your temple was enough to solidify that and this time? You fought the urge to playfully smack Evan’s scruffy jaw to get off you and allowed the affection from the man you knew for years.

You let the love soak in, as cheesy as it sounds but isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

Who really knows?

You’re more of a New Year’s Eve lover anyway…

❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩⋆꙳•❅ ❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩⋆꙳•❅ ❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩

Check back for my ~5 days of Xmas~ anthology prompts here.

#Spotify #queued #911 #911 abc #911 fox #Evan Buckley #evan buck buckely #Evan Buckley x reader #buck x reader #December prompts #Christmas prompts #Oliver stark #maddie buckley #howard chimney han #Eddie diaz #bobby nash

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arkiwii · 4 months ago

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ARKNIGHTS Rhine Lab AU - Role Swap

A Role Swap AU is an Alternative Universe were the characters roles are swapped! It can be just swapping the roles around, or two characters roles with each other, while keeping their personalities. In the case of this AU, I did the second, finding it way more interesting in the context of Rhine Lab. So I'll present the characters swapped, and what they became!

Saria <--> Silence

Saria now takes the role of the new and basic researcher of the Structural Department. She is now Infected - which does not have much relevance outside of the fact that her Arts are much stronger -, and joined Rhine Lab with the goal to seek a cure for Oripathy. A born leader who seeks to help and protect the weaks, she is much more colder as she has spent the most of her life alone.

[Gameplay] Saria would be a 6* Dualist Defender, with a move pool moreso based on healing and buffing herself, as well as debuffing the enemies.

_____________

On her side, Silence became the co-funder of Rhine Lab, as well as the Director of the Structural Department. She is very appreciated by the company for her optimistic behavior and love of science, although she may appear naive. Uninfected, she is more lively, and possesses strong Arts that she uses with the mean of her drones.

[Gameplay] Silence would be a 5* Mech-Accord Caster, with the unique ability of being able to heal with the drones she unleashes during her skills.

Ifrit <--> Rosmontis

Ifrit has became the subject of Williams Loken's experiment, with the goal to recreate a Diablo with the shard of their remains. It caused the Loken Watertank incident, where Ifrit destroyed the laboratory and was found by the Maylander Foundation. Sent to Rhodes Island for treatment, she became an Elite Operator for her dangerous fire Arts, as well as a very close friend of Amiya and Blaze with her strong personality.

[Gameplay] Ifrit is now a 6* Phalanx Caster, with the talent to lower the resistance of all enemies in her range when off-skill, and to cause destructive Arts damage when using her skills.

_____________

Rosmontis is now the child of Parvis' experiment, with the goal to create a Chimera. The experiment gone horribly wrong, Rosmontis has destroyed the Haydn Laboratory, and was found by the Columbian Military, before being sent to Rhine Lab where she will be under the care of Saria and Silence. Amnesiac, Rosmontis's strong post traumatic stress disorder has caused her to lock her emotions and to show little to no emotional responses, unless when stressed, where her destructive powers show up.

[Gameplay] Rosmontis is now a 6* Arts Guard, her playstyle taking a lot of inspiration from Saria, her powers allows her to debuff and deal enormous amount of damage to enemies.

Magallan <--> Mayer

The member of the Engineering Section Magallan is a simple researcher with the dream to explore the world, but the unfortunate fate of being constantly busy. Her most prided creations are drones taking inspiration on the fauna from places she has dreamed to visit when she was younger, with quite some freedom in their appearence.

[Gameplay] A 5* Summoner Supporter, Magallan can summon drones that will debuff and give invisibility periodically to nearby units, making her a really good support.

_____________

Mayer is considered a mystery by most employees of Rhine Lab, and it's mostly due to her weird explorations to Iberia and its surroundings... Very praised explored, Mayer specializes in submarine explorations, and studies the Seaborns as well as their biology very closely, feeding particularly interesting data to Rhine Lab. She posseses robots, courtesy of Magallan, her close friend, who are more opted for battle and protecting her against the Seaborns.

[Gameplay] 6* Summoner Supporter, Mayer possesses melee summons who can deal significant damages, especially against Seaborns type of enemies, as well with their auto destruct when defeated.

Ho'olheyak <--> Muelsyse

The last member of the Kul'kuk'an has joined Rhine Lab with the hope to find the answers behind her race and achieve truth. Throughout the extensive knowledge of her ancestors, particularly on the subject of stars and constellations, she became a very close assistant of Kristen and a strong asset for her to achieve her dream. Director of the History of Sciences Section, she learns about the story of Terra as a whole to gain knowledge.

[Gameplay] Ho'olheyak became a 6* Mystic Caster, who can apply weightless and Levitation based on the amount of stored attacks, with skills that emplified these abilities.

_____________

Muelsyse was one, if maybe not the only friend Saria had during college. An Elf with a cheerful attitude, her search of her race as well as engagement for children's protection, herself an orphan, as led her to meet and be recruited for the Maylander Foundation. Her ability to sneak around, spy, create clones and harvest previous information make her an extremely good asset, and she has been able to help many cases, as well as discovering the projects Rhine Lab has been hiding.

[Gameplay] Muelsyse is now a 6* Ambusher, with the fun ability of being able to place a clone of herself on the battlefield, with skills tuned to this one.

Astesia <--> Astgenne

Opposite to her sister, Astesia decided to follow the paths of science to discover the truth behind the stars and most of all, behind the false sky. She is a calm, elegant woman who joined the Originium Arts section under Dorothy Franks, with who she became a close friend. However, her unprompted Infection after a failed experiment had caused Astesia to lose faith in her researches, and she had become more reserved, but thankful for her sister and her friend for supporting her no matter what. Astesia left her family after these ones rejected her views, and has found her new place at Rhine Lab.

[Gameplay] Astesia is a 5* Splash Caster, using her Arts to attack the enemies. Her attacks have a light chance on stunning the opponents, and her skills will cause great crowd control AOE damages.

_____________

Astgenne followed the path of her family's heritage by learning their traditional sword techniques with the usage of the astro globe. Energetic, full of promises, she has an optimistic faith and belief in the stars and astrology, as opposite to her sister with who she might often debate. But both cares a lot about each other, and after Astesia got infected, which infected Astgenne as well due to their nature of twins, Astgenne has gave a lot of support to her sister, and places her hopes in her, believing that the stars will save them. She currently manage an occult society around the stars, in collaboration with Rhine Lab.

[Gameplay] A 5* Lord Guard, Astgenne will use her Arts to launch ranged attacks at the opponents. Her melee attacks turn into Arts damage upon the activation of her skill, and will stun everyone in her range the moment her skill is activated, her damage emplified on stunned enemies.

Robin <--> Kafka

Desesperate after her dad's company, BlackCloud Trade, went bankrupt from a competition against Simon Co., Robin seeked for help everywhere to make money and pay the medical bills for her father. When the situation seemed lost and Robin was close to give up, she met with Saria, who were able to bring her back on the tracks and give her a reason to fight. When Saria found out about the involvement she had with Simon Co., she proposed a deal with Robin; to help her infiltrate Mansfield's Jail and save Anthony Simon, the man Robin despise the most, so Robin can see if he's a good person who deserves to be forgiven, or someone who should be guilty for his family's actions.

[Gameplay] Robin is a 5* Agent Vanguard, able to use ranged attacks with her throwing knives. One of her skills will boost her attack on deployment, while the second will place mines around her, dealing damages while generating a good amount of DP upon explosion.

_____________

An orphan from Columbia, Kafka always had lived in criminality and gang battles. While she is not entirely found of this life, she made herself a reputation in the grey zone of Columbia, despite her claims to be a simple gardener. When Anthony Simon's head was given a price, many criminals went to try and kill him, unsuccessful. Kafka would had not paid interest if Jesselton did not employed her to help him kill Anthony. Kafka accepted, the price of his request being a non neglectible one, but had no actual intentions on killing Anthony on her own, but rather try to pocket the promised money with no harm involved.

[Gameplay] After joining Rhodes Island, Kafka applied to become a 5* Dreadnought Guard, with the talent to become invisible when unblocking enemies for enough time. Her skill causes Arts damages, hitting everyone in range with her large shredders.

Unchanged roles

Kristen remains the founder of Rhine Lab, and still pursue her dream to carry on her parents' goal, with the strong support of Silence. Both have lost contact with their time at Rhine Lab, but they keep good terms... Until Silence finds out the horrifying projects she agreed on, that is.

Ptilopsis is still a subject of Dellareed's experiment, which has failed, but without any care from the Structural Department, she has been deeply conditioned to behave and act close to an artificial intelligence. While Silence deeply wishes to give her proper care, her busy schedule rarely allows her to, and it's as an assistant of Parvis that Ptilopsis found her role, under the trust of Silence. Thankfully for her, Saria disagreed deeply with the views Parvis had on his "assistant", and brought her to Rhodes Island for help. Silence feels deeply guilty for not having noticed it sooner.

Dorothy remains the Director of the Originium Arts section. Daughter of two pioneers who lost their lives in a Catastrophe, Dorothy strives to create an ideal world where everyone can live in equality, and where she can protect the pioneers. Helped by Astesia, she gives value to her assistance, and hope to help her as well with a dreamed world where infection would not exist anymore.

Parvis is now a simple assistant of Silence at the Structural Department, who acts more as an executive assistant than anything. Silence being horribly busy, she entrusts him for most cases, which turned being a horrible idea when Parvis saw this as an opportunity to carry his researches on the chimera project. He took on the role of Director when Silence left.

Jara, Nasti, Ferdinand, Justin Jr., Loken, Tin Man, Jesselton, Domma and Mountain have no noticeable change in their characters.

Summary of the timeline

At the young age of 10, Kristen Wright learned the horrible news of her parents' death in a flight incident, which led to the dishonor of her family to the scientific community. Helped by Jara, she continued her education and met the young Olivia Silence during high school. The two young women had originally nothing in common, but their love of science and search for the truth. It did not took long for the two of them to become best friends, and for Olivia to turn into an important person for Kristen; dreaming of achieving what her parents had failed to achieve back then, she found hope to continue to go forward with Olivia's optimistic nature and support.

After both graduated and finished their studies at Trimounts' Institute of Technology, they decided to found Rhine Lab together, a promising future for the two rising stars of the scientific community. While the first year was rough between the struggles against concurrence and the little financial help they had, they got nonetheless joined by bright minds like Ferdinand Clooney, Ho'olheyak and Dorothy Franks.

As time went on, Rhine Lab has became one, if not the biggest scientific company in the span of ten years. However, Silence, who became the Director of the Structural Department, and Kristen, as the CEO, both fell apart of each other with their busy schedule. It's until Silence got to hear about an incident happening at a nearby laboratory, and got the sole survivor transfered to Rhine Lab with the help of the DOD, that things got a turn. The young surviving girl, named Narcissa, has been deeply infected and bear heavy traumas, and with the help of Saria, a Rhine Lab researcher who agreed to help her, she gradually unpacked her locked memories. Silence, trying her hardest to be there for the girl, also insisted on investigating the truth behind the event, with the help of Ho'olheyak.

She soon disvovers the horrible reality, and how Narcissa happened to be the subject of a human experiment, and that Ho'olheyak was sent with her to make sure none of the secrets would be undiscovered. Silence fought her way out of it, with the help of the Maylander Foundation, and tried to warn Saria about it. However, she arrives too late, and Narcissa lost control in yet another treatment phase. Saria manages to calm her down, but blames Silence, herself having learned the truth and realizing that Silence has been part of it, maybe even hiding it from Saria to continue the experiment, and she leaves Rhine Lab with Narcissa.

Silence tried to face Kristen, and swear to stop her, leaving Rhine Lab. She finally joins Rhodes Island, to seek help from them, but soon meets with Saria and Narcissa, now codenamed Rosmontis. Saria, scared that Silence followed them, refuses to have her approach her or Rosmontis, firmly keeping her distances. Silence struggles to hide her fear, and is left alone to fix her own mistakes.

I couuulld say more but, hey, I am cooking! All the events that follow, so Mansfield's Break, Dorothy's Vision, Lone Trail, they will greatly change and I could give a quick summary, but hey, surprise!! (I'm lazy)

I will eventually make designs of the swapped versions, but I'd love to explore the characters' new dynamics. Like how Saria's hard nature ends up having a negative effect on Rosmontis, how Silence tries to help her and bring Saria to realize what she's doing, while also struggling with her own powerlessness. Or about Ptilopsis, how this one is struggling more deeply with her issues, but tries to help Saria and take care of Rosmontis a lot, both relating to each other. I could also talk about Ifrit, now an Elite Operator, with all the shenanigans she has with Blaze and how cool she is, but also how she will try to help Rosmontis later! Or even this absolutely cool Mayer who would be an amazing character for IS3, cause hell yea deep sea horrors!!

Anywayyy, it's a lot lot, I sometimes think about this new timeline and I think there can be something really cool to be done with it, maybe a series of fics, who knows! It's just a project for fun, simply playing around with the characters, there might be a lot of flaws and things missing, I'll try my best to make everything make sense.

So hum, yay! feel free to give me opinions, for fun :]

#arknights #long post #alternative universe #just rambling about some concept #im insane

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softguarnere · 1 year ago

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Hi! An idea of something you could write, if you wanted to... George Luz x Reader, they’re really close friends who both want more and the rest of Easy Co notice this. Maybe it can include something to do with reader really liking his Rhode Island accent? It’s okay of course if you don’t want to write it though! Thank you :)

I Can't Stop Feelin', I Want Her Love

Or, 5 times that George wonders what exists between the two of you, plus the one time he knows for sure

George Luz x reader

A/N: Hi there, Anon! You sent this way back in January, but I've finally finished it 🤗 Thank you for your patience, and for the request - I hope you like it! Fic title comes from "She Wants Me (To Be Loved)" by The Happy Fits (This is written for the fictional depictions from the show - no disrespect to the real life veterans!) Warnings: smoking, mentions of war

One

The first time Luz sees you, it’s just a flash. Easy Company is running Currahee – again – and he’s got his eyes fixed firmly on the trail below him, careful not to let some sneaky tree root or loose rock send him sprawling onto the hard ground. He only looks up when the people in front of him migrate towards the right side of the trail as the heavy sound of footsteps approaches.

Easy Company can’t be blamed if they slow down a bit at the sight of the approaching group. In the few days since they arrived at Camp Toccoa, hardly anyone has seen the Parachute Regiment’s Women’s Division. Yet here they come, right down the mountain, with few of them bothering to send even so much as a passing glance at the men.

And there you come, your eyes fixed straight ahead. Your face set in a serious expression, George can’t help but picture you as the goddess of war. The thought has no sooner crossed his mind than you glance over at him – and smile.

His breath hitches in his throat. He returns the gesture, and then, in a split second, you’re gone as you and the rest of the Women’s Division pass. The only thing that stops George from turning to watch you go is that Captain Sobel is right behind him.

Out of sight does not equal out of mind. Your smile burns bright in his mind for the rest of the run. With it comes a question (Who was that?) and a determined thought (I’ve got to find out).

Two

And find out he does.

Several of the Easy Company men jokingly say that the day that the Women’s Division was absorbed by their company was the best day of their lives. When George says it, though, he’s being completely serious. Because that’s what brings you together.

“How do you expect to slay the Huns with dusty jump wings?” George asks in an imitation of Captain Sobel’s voice. Toye smiles, but George is more interested in the way that you press your lips together, trying to suppress a laugh. The effort doesn’t stop the smile that reaches your eyes, though.

“Oh, go on (Y/N),” he teases. “It’s okay to laugh. It’s not like he’s here.” And, more importantly, he wants to hear the laugh that he’s come to know so well since meeting you.

You shake your head, still smiling. “Luz, if I laugh it’ll only encourage you.”

“As if he needs it,” Toye mutters into his drink.

George takes a swipe at his friend’s arm. No malice in it, yet Luz tries for a serious expression. “Come on, Joe, you know you like my impressions.”

“I think everyone does.” You glance around the room full of paratroopers. “Or they seem to, anyway. The Captain Horton impression definitely won you some fans.”

Everyone. Does that include you? George is crafting together a sly sentence to ask when he notices Toye giving him an expectant look. He glances between Luz, who’s looking at you, and you, still gazing out at the room full of your fellow paratroopers.

What? George tries to ask with raised brows.

Toye only shrugs, expression inscrutable as always.

He doesn’t ask either of his questions. Knocking back his drink, he smiles and moves on.

Three

Meeting up with the others in the company after the jump is a weight off of George’s shoulders, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn’t the most relieved to see you.

You smack him on the shoulder as you approach, smile bright when he turns to face you. “Well, well, well. Fancy seeing you here.”

George cocks an eyebrow. “Sorry, do I know you?”

“Hmmm, maybe. You look like someone I once knew, oh, about a lifetime ago, back in the States.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” He leans back against the concrete steps that other Easy men and women are lounging on. Opening his pack of cigarettes, he offers you one before placing his own between his lips and lighting it. “So, you come here often?”

Blowing smoke from the side of your mouth, you smile in a way that reminds him of a movie star.

This is a joke, George tells himself. A running gag. If only he could tell his heart that. Because you’ve got a mysterious look on your face that’s got him wondering what you’re going to say next –

“Je-sus Christ!” Guarnere sighs. Though he sounds frustrated, he laughs as he elbows Toye beside him. “Can these two kiss already?!”

Several paratroopers laugh. A few – mostly your fellow women – groan, telling him to mind his own business.

“What?” Bill, for his part, does seem genuinely confused as to where he’s gone wrong. “They’d be cute together.”

No duh, George thinks. He glances at you.

You’ve dropped the bit, though. Not looking at George any longer, you grind out your cigarette and strike up a conversation with the girl beside you instead.

The moment is gone.

Four

Jokes run dry in Bastogne. Luckily, smiles do not.

Despite it all, you somehow always seem to have a smile to pass in George’s direction. In those moments, it doesn’t matter if the frozen world of foxholes and artillery fire lacks blankets, food, and heating, because George is convinced that your grin could singlehandedly melt all the snow away and usher spring into the forest.

Today’s smile, though, doesn’t quite make it to your eyes.

You catch Luz’s eye in the miserable excuse for a chow line. He would usually smile back. He attempts to, at least. The corners of his mouth are heavy as he tries to lift them. The most he manages can only honestly be described as something of a grimace.

No one else is doing much smiling either, he notices. Ever since the night before, when Muck and Penkala . . .

That night, half asleep, when he feels someone drop down into the foxhole beside him, George sighs without opening his eyes.

“Lip, I said that I was okay to be left alone.”

“Well, Lip might let you get away with that weak excuse, but I won’t.”

George’s eyes snap open. The two of you stare at each other through the darkness that is settling over the forest.

“(Y/N)! I thought you were – “

“Sergeant Lipton? Yeah, I gathered as much.”

“What are you doing here?”

Upon entering Bastogne, it was made blatantly clear that fraternization would not be tolerated. More precisely, the explicit order was that male and female paratroopers were not meant to be sharing foxholes. For the most part, everyone has followed that order, or been willing to look the other way for those who haven’t followed this new rule. Yet here you are.

You shrug, like it’s nothing. “Didn’t think you should be out here alone. We don’t have to talk about it, or anything,” you’re quick to add. “I just – I wanted you to know that I’m here.”

Here carries more weight than your physical presence in this moment.

For the second time, George tries for a smile. “Thank you, (Y/N).”

You manage your own tightlipped smile. “Of course, Luz. You would do the same for me.”

He would. He’s glad you know that.

Five

Whatever higher power exists, They must be trying to make up for everything that happened in Bastogne. Having you placed on supply duty with George is definitely a start.

Things are different, for everyone, since coming out of the Ardennes. Whatever relationship exists between you and George – platonic or otherwise – feels altered, too. You’re seldom apart from each other. Jokes fly back and forth between you as you sort rations. Other paratroopers might exchange glances whenever they’re around the two of you, but no one makes any more comments about whatever it might be that the two of you have.

“Hey.”

Alone with you, George looks up from his clipboard, pen hovering over his list of provisions. You swing your dominant hand down and back, ready to toss something in an underhanded throw. George sets his clipboard aside just in time to catch whatever zips through the air.

A pristine Hershey bar. He gazes down at the wrapper in wonder.

“I thought that we were out of these?”

You shrug. “Don’t tell Liebgott.” Then, you go back to your sorting as if nothing has happened.

A girl who’s willing to break the fraternization rules of Bastogne, and who’s willing to sneak George one of the most coveted items from the rations? All for him?

If you both make it through the rest of this war, George decides, he’ll have to . . . To what, exactly?

Well, something. Once, way back in Toccoa, you said you liked the sound of his accent. Maybe he can convince you to move to Rhode Island with him and hear it all the time.

Wishful thinking. But later, when he catches you glancing over at him while he sorts through a new box of supplies, he amends that thought. Maybe not.

+ One

Winning a baseball game has never felt so good.

The other team doesn’t even really lose, as far as Easy Company is concerned. The war is over. They’re all going home. Everyone is a winner.

The obligatory shaking of hands and extolling of other players’ efforts breaks into all-out celebration. Wide smiles brighter than the afternoon sunshine warm the playing field. Men and women alike hug and talk a million miles an hour, planning for what comes next, planning for the rest of their lives – which suddenly span wide ahead of them, long, safe, and full of promise.

George’s smile only grows, if that’s even possible, when he sees you.

“Good game, (Y/L/N).” He offers you his hand to shake, trying to act goofily formal, just because he knows that it’s a voice that is sure to elicit a smile and a laugh from you; it always has before.

You smile, as expected, but take a firm grip on George’s hand, pulling him in for a tight hug instead.

The radioman’s brain takes a second to catch up to what’s happening. He’s only just started to melt into your embrace, to enjoy it, to realize that this is the first time you’ve ever done this, when you pull away all too soon.

It’s not the end, though. A gentle hand caresses the back of George’s neck. Your eyes close and you lean forward. Automatically, George does the same. Your lips collide. Thank God your eyes are closed, or you would see how pink his cheeks have turned.

“Finally!” Someone nearby cheers. Is it this that they’re talking about? Or the end of this long war?

When you pull back, you’re smiling wider than George has ever seen.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,” you admit breathlessly.

His heart trips over itself in his chest. Everything he considered back in Haguenau comes rushing back to him.

“Say, (Y/N),” George begins before he can stop himself. “Can I ask you a question?”

#george luz #george luz x reader #band of brothers #band of brothers x reader #band of brothers fanfic #band of brothers imagine #my writing

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terriwriting · 3 months ago

Text

Possible locations for Gotham, Metropolis, & Smallville

A non-exhaustive list of places to put Gotham, Metropolis, or any other fictional city.

Notes:

Cities need reliable fresh water, transportation, and food.

Wonder Woman doesn't need a city. She already has Paradise Island.

Gotham

I'm more of a Superman fan, so my notes on Gotham are relatively short. Plus Metropolis comes in two variations, while Gotham just needs to be a city that is old enough to have old infrastructure and deep-rooted generational wealth.

Illinois/Indiana:

The Chicago-Gary area is the easiest place to put Gotham if you want to move it away from the East Coast. Hello Kitty Unpretty's Gotham is a Great Lakes city.

New Jersey:

The classic. There are two good places for a fictional city, but the one in the southern area of the state will be noticeably different from canon-Gotham.

The Camden-Rehoboth Bay corridor could be unified by an old canal system. Place Gotham one one end of the canal and Bluehaven (Bludhaven to cynical locals) on the other, according to your preference. Note that the Rehoboth Bay end is mostly mud and silt layered over more mud and silt, so you're probably better off placing Bludhaven here as a smaller city with few major towers. Either end will need extensive drainage (canals, storm drains, aqueducts, and reservoirs), so that's great for the crumbling infrastructure. Remember that if you place Gotham here, Batman's costume needs to be light, not armoured, or he'll be dead in a week from heat stroke.

The New Brunswick-Newark metropolitan area fits the climate we usually see in comics. Maybe throw in Staten Island as a little treat for New jersey.

In either case, the rest of the Justice League calls Batman Tony Soprano behind his back.

New York:

The NYC metro region with no city unification. Gotham is probably Manhattan, plus maybe Staten Island for rich people like Bruce.

Ohio:

A unified Cleveland-Akron-Canton metropolitan area with a higher population, maybe?

Rhode Island

My preferred headcanon: The Newport-Providence metropolitan area as a unified city. Bruce Wayne is old old money, some of the Wayne cousins were involved in the witch trials, and this fits the map published by Mayfair games.

Metropolis

Metropolis comes in two flavours: The more common one where Metropolis is a stand-in for an old East Coast US city, or; The Superman: TAS version where Metropolis is a new city, built under the influence of tech billionaire Lex Luthor. I like both.

If you like Clark and Lex as high school friends, that's not really compatible with a New Metro built by Lex Luthor. There's just not enough time for Lex to build anything more than a small suburb. But Lex could be manoeuvring to take control of Metropolis from his family, or from some other DCU billionaire like Simon Stagg.

Connecticut:

There are two good regions in Connecticut to place a fictional city: The Bridgeport-New Haven region, or; The area between the Connecticut River and Thames River.

The Bridgeport-New Haven version better fits the Old Metropolis version, but can also be used for the New Metro version. If you're going for Old Metro, in reality this area did industrialize before the NYC area (Which was dominated by shipping before it picked up light manufacturing), but the early industrialists didn't invest enough in the trade schools or financial institutions that would have let them keep that early advantage. Have a few mill owners and canal companies invest in engineering schools, have later industrial barons invest in office equipment manufacturing and chemical engineering, and you have your Old Metro. For your New Metro, genius tech billionaire Lex Luthor plants a few factories in the major population centres, buys up golf courses to turn them into company towns with inexpensive mid-density housing, and then uses his political and economic influence to pressure the municipalities to merge into his new Metropolis. This version of the New Metro will have more old architecture, but that's not a bad thing.

The Connecticut River-Thames River region fits either version. For an Old Metro, just have the area invest in trades and technical schools as with the Bridgeport-New Haven region. There are old whaling towns in this area so the region could move into shipbuilding, marine alloys engineering, and later railcars and elevators and escalators. This is an easy place to plant a fictional new city, with a low urban population and lots of farms, golf course, and camp/resort sites to buy out. An ambitious billionaire or group of wealthy investors could start a new urban centre with relative ease.

Delaware:

Most of the Delmarva region is mud. You're not going to build many skyscrapers here. But you could fit some in along the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

A Metropolis on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal would probably be smaller than Metropolis is usually shown as, with maybe two million inhabitants instead of six-eight million. But this is comic books, so go with what feels right to your heart.

This works equally well for New or Old Metro.

New Jersey:

Have Bayonne & Newark industrialize early, deliver Staten Island unto New Jersey, invest heavily in education and financial institutions, unify Bayonne-Newark-Staten Island, and bada-bing bada-boom Lois Lane sounds like Carmela Soprano.

Staten Island isn't necessary, but you gotta put the fancy houses and big parks somewhere.

Works best with the Old Metro approach, but you could also have investors take over the urban area and push a lot of redevelopment.

New York:

There are a couple of good places in New York state for Metropolis.

For a New Metro, try the Chaumont Bay-Guffin Bay region. Access to rail, road, air, and sea shipping, and lots of tradespeople and professionals in nearby cities who are desperate for inexpensive housing.

For an Old Metro, you can't go wrong with a thinly-disguised NYC. Just file off the serial numbers, maybe some new rims, and drive it like you stole it.

Smallville

Generic East Coast:

If you're like me and prefer the feel of Bronze Age Smallville, you might want to keep Smallville as an East Coast town. This is easy. There's no reason for Smallville to be in the same state as Metropolis, so it can be anywhere from Maryland to Massachusetts. Towards the end of the Bronze Age it was generally described as vaguely New Jersey or Pennsylvania. East Coasters can entertain themselves imagining Clark Kent, MetU freshman, trying to order a pork roll and water ice in the Metropolis version of Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop.

Kansas:

The Flint Hills region matches modern continuity and the look of both the Smallville series and Bronze Age comics. Lawrence is a good model.

Special Mention: Susquehanna River

BludBluehaven: Great place for Nightwing to relocate to, regardless of where your Gotham is.

Gotham: Replaces Baltimore and/or Philadelphia as a rail and sea hub.

Metropolis: Great for the New Metro.

Opal City: Gotta go somewhere, and this matches the map DC published.

Smallville: Depends on what version you prefer.

What About The Teen Titans?

Fuck Marv Wolfman, that's what.

#superman #batman #metropolis #gotham #smallville

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werfenspeer · 2 years ago

Text

Chongyue voice lines and other lore stuff:

His combat skill is ranked as ■■, other people with ■■ rank is Skadi's physical strength and Gladiia's mobility

His old name is Shuo (朔) but he doesn't use it because Chongyue is more human and was given to him by a friend

He sealed his original self into a sword, and he made a human body for himself, something that only the 2nd sibling knows how to do other than him. Though it's no longer 'him' per se and is instead 'one of Sui's 12 fragments'. The sword was given to Waai Fu's father as a token for their rematch

He's uninfected but his Originium density is 0.01 unlike the others who have 0.00

His human body is extremely normal, even though his stats are super high, there's nothing special about his physical form

He has an EXTREMELY regular daily schedule and is a strict teacher

He taught wushu (Chinese martial arts) on RI for a bit and everyone had to adhere to his schedule, he's even stricter than Dobermann

But he's a nice and reliable guy for sure!!

Operators from many countries can recognize a pure form of their cultural style in his moves, as if he was there to influence the founding master of their schools

He's hardworking, humble, and ready to try new things with the other Operators

He's always on time

His other hobbies include but are not limited to wood sculpture, pottery making, literature, and coffee

He's resting at RI. Ling asks Dr to not ask him for too much

The Yanese Sui commission (sorry, I forgot the EN name LOL) wrote a letter to RI asking RI to take care of the retired Chongyue so he can recuperate from his injuries

He was the earliest to despise killing, but was also the closest to it

He wanted to retire since a very long time ago

He once went into Dusk's painting, chatted with her for a day and night, asked her to come outside and not be a shut in (failed), went out to the painted field the next day to do his morning exercise and the painting collapsed instantly

He joined Nian's film making for fun

His greeting line is "Doctor, I didn't see you at the morning exercise today either." HES SHAMING US

"I promised Nian to be her 'stunt director', both to settle her and to keep her company. Dusk is timid and Ling loves wine, I'll watch over them too... even if we aren't bound by mortal blood, we are still siblings, and not "Them"."

"You wish to be my 'martial witness'? Rhodes Island truly treats their guests well, I can see why my sisters like it here... no? Then, I wouldn't mind being your second in command either."

"To see death and suffering is the daily course for a martial warrior. To see death yet persevere, to be steadfast in morals and justice, and not use 'such is the world' as an excuse, these are their trials. This has been the way of the world for tens of thousands of years. Only behemoths drunk on hubris will have unfeeling hearts."

#arknights #cywirtls #chongyue #chongyue arknights #HES SO NICE #text #long post

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stevebattle · 8 months ago

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youtube

Flexo (2003) by Ted Larson and Bob Allen, CA, USA. Flexo is an early forerunner of the AMPbot.

"It was finally time to make a smaller, improved version of Bender that could do more things. One thing I learned from all my work was that bigger balancing robots are usually easier—since they move slower, the control system doesn’t need to be as exacting in making minor corrections. But making a really tiny balancing robot becomes harder and harder the smaller you go. In the TV show Futurama, Bender has a brother named Flexo. So it made sense to name the new robot after him.

Since I now had a PID algorithm good enough to do things like balance a robot with an offset load on top of it and drive up and down ramps, I could easily mount a moving, pan-tilt-camera rig to the top without any fear of the motion of the camera knocking the robot over. I used a color tracking camera tuned to track the color red, so that if you put a red object in front of the robot, it would try to move toward you. Once it got close enough, it would just stand there and stare at you. We took Flexo to the HomeBrew Robotics Club once he was working, and there was a kid there wearing a red sweatshirt the robot really took a liking to!

Bob thought we might be able to find some companies that might be interested in paying for our expertise in developing these kinds of balancing robots. We bought a booth at the first RoboNexus trade show held in San Jose in 2004. On the first day, we were standing in our booth with Flexo showing off his balancing act, and who should come down the aisle riding a Segway but Dean Kamen himself. He rode up, stopped for a moment, and said jokingly, “Wow! Look at that! I have never seen anything like that!”

On the second day, we met a bunch of enthusiastic engineers from Hasbro. They were looking for more interesting robotic toys they could add to their line, as well as some help with more advanced sensors in toy development. We were invited out to Hasbro corporate headquarters in Rhode Island to give a presentation to the engineering team about what we could do. Bob asked if we needed to prepare a formal presentation, but Hasbro told us to just show up and bring some robots. When we arrived, we were shuttled into an enormous conference room that looked like it could seat 100 people, and there were 20 people sitting in there waiting to hear the presentation that we didn’t have! We thought we’d completely blown it, but we just turned on the robots and Bob started talking. Soon, the crowd warmed up, got out of their seats, and started coming to look at the robots up close, and it all worked out after that. Bob and I started a robotics consultancy called OLogic in 2005 with Hasbro as our first customer." – Ted Larson, From HomeBrew to Hasbro How two friends hacked a balancing robot and wrote a toy story of their own.

#cybernetics #robot #OLogic #2003 #self-balancing

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bloodsadx · 7 months ago

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I just saw your post of all your toenails, and the pins stand out to me so much!! Where do you get them from where they can all be such unique colors? Or do you make them yourself somehow?

i hit up a couple different american pin places that are in contact with overseas pin factories, i looked into the process of making pins via youtube videos to make sure i understood what is actually happening in the pin making process. i designed a lot of colorways in photoshop/illustrator and i showed friends/teased those colorways on twitter before i ordered them. it’s not especially expensive to do a bunch of different colorways it’s just general bulk pricing guidelines made some of the colors slightly more expensive per unit bc i ordered less of them. i worked with an american contact rather than using say alibaba to source a factory because i wanted to be able to ask a lot of questions and also because the american contacts usually have long relatively steady relationships with the factories which allows me to ask for stuff like 5 of one colorway without the factory just ignoring my email because of not meeting a MOQ. but it did raise the price slightly, and i think the shipping might’ve gone from china to like, rhode island, then to me, so it might’ve taken me slightly longer to get them. i also ordered about 300 i believe total with 16 different colorways so i think it was probably less annoying to the factory than if i had ordered like 16 bespoke pins or something like that.

those pins are really the only thing i’ve ever outsourced before and i was really uncomfortable for a long time with the idea of outsourcing labor because i don’t really like the idea that just b.c i’m an artist and i have ideas for stuff de facto that means my ideas are worth the material/labor cost/human cost of producing them but i watched a lot of youtube videos about how pins are made and it seemed not that bad or at least not much worse than say screen printing t shirts re: exposure to potentially toxic chemicals.

i was starting the process of making more pins of other characters but my motivation has been low on that front. the reason i’m not saying the specific website i used is because i don’t think they provided me any particular advantages over any other website i could have contacted they were just one of the first to get back to me with answers/samples and to meet my specific needs. if you’re going to make pins or any kind of merchandise and are trying to move into a process where you’re paying a few hundred dollars down to potentially sell something to other people i would recommend really looking into that stuff rather than just going off of recommendations. it’s also worth noting that a lot of american companies will insist their products are american made and then outsource the actual production but because the artwork/money was exchanged in america it counts as “american made”. and also, a lot of factories will sublet contracts from other factories and don’t typically inform clients when they do this so it is highly unlikely you will be able to actually know where your thing is made (and under what conditions); to that end, recommending a specific gobetween who might talk to 5 different factories who all randomly sublet to each other means it’s nearly impossible for me to actually recommend A Place rather than just recommending Trying To Communicate As Clearly As Possible.

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bcrgamvts · 6 months ago

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INTRODUCING ... DANIKA CHAKRAVARTHY

FULL NAME: danika chakravarthy

NICKNAMES: dani

BIRTHDAY: january 18, 1992

AGE: thirty2

PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

SEXUALITY: bisexual / biromantic

OCCUPATION: ghost writer / video game concept artist

HEIGHT: 5’9”

EYE COLOR: dark brown

HAIR COLOR: black

BIRTHPLACE: upper west side, manhattan, new york city

CURRENTLY LIVES: cardinal hill

SPOKEN LANGUAGES: english, telugu, hindi, & spanish

FACECLAIM: sobhita dhulipala

BIOGRAPHY

danika was born into a family invested in literature — her father a longstanding editor for random house before its big merger with penguin in 2013, while her mother is a beloved gothic and victorian literature professor at columbia university. it became less a matter if danika and her siblings would enjoy reading as a hobby, but when. especially since books were oftentimes scattered around the brownstone townhouse the bustling family lived in, from the novels being discussed in her mother’s courses, to the manuscripts in her father’s office that danika would more often than not sneak into to read.

creativity was embraced in the chakravarthy household, but not to an extent that should danika or her siblings find more academic holding in stem that it should deter them. danika herself would discover her dual love for art and writing at an early age, oftentimes drawing illustrations to work alongside the short stories she would write. she remembers the encouragement of her parents, even going to show her how her passion for her two skills can be applied to many creative forms whether that be children’s books, comics, or even graphic novels. to danika, her artistic ability shined brighter than her storytelling abilities. for this reason she would sharpen her focus on her drawing skills, practicing enough and enrolling in extracurricular classes that would allow her to hone in on her craft. her parents’ income allowed for danika to be tutored privately, keeping her grades up across the board so she could later on apply to the rhode island school of design for drawing.

high school fades into college where danika does go on to pursue an illustration degree from rhode island school. during this time she still writes, dabbles in her journal with short stories and ideas for potential future writings, but that’s all she ever really views it — dabbling. for as much as danika would like to write her own book and have a finished manuscript, like the ones that look at home on her father’s desk in his office, danika struggles putting the pieces together to form a full and cohesive narrative. or so she tells herself. it’s with that in mind that she decides her future holds best a career that showcases her art. her undergraduate years are filled with hard work and fun, before danika is walking across the stage with her degree in hand.

danika takes up odd jobs here and there in the first three years post college when she moves back home to manhattan, not quite feeling fulfilled at what she’s doing with her art when she knows she’s capable of so much more. it’s on a whim that danika decides to apply at a video game company for their open concept artist position despite not being much of a video game person herself. her flair for details between conceptual character art and landscapes is what earns her the job and as she settles in, danika comes to realize that she’s found her place.

as the years progress and danika enters her late twenties, she meets her partner where the two would eventually go on to become engaged. danika settles into her career with a promotion and pay raise before slowly dipping her toes back into writing. she may have stopped writing in her journal as much, but it’s with the insistence of her father that she doesn’t bury her voice and somehow finds herself in the side gig of a ghost writer. her parents both think danika is more than capable of fully devoting herself to writing her own book and it being successful on its own merit, but for now, danika is happy to write out the inner machinations of someone else's mind. danika pushes her own self doubts regarding her creativity to the side and enjoys the budding collection on her bookshelf of books she’s technically written, but have the name of someone else. the books act as a physical reminder that her writing is good enough to be published even if she hasn’t ever taken the plunge with her own ideas. danika is content with where she is in both her art career and her writing pursuits.

in terms of her romantic life, danika wishes she was as thriving as she is in her career. she and her partner were together for five years and engaged for a year and a half when things began to get rocky. her partner suggested moving to their hometown of blue harbor, illinois due to their new job offer in chicago. both believed a change of scenery and pace was what their relationship needed. fast forward eight months and the two come to the mutual decision to end their relationship. each claim a differing reason as to why they grew apart, but the only agreeable bit of information is that the two are stuck together in their lease for another few months since whoever breaks it is responsible to their share of rent until the other is able to find a secondary roommate to takeover, or pay until the end of the lease. as it’s a fairly pricey apartment, neither want to be the one to waste their money.

never one to retreat with her tail between her legs, danika keeps her complaints to the confines of her family and is sticking it out in hopes of moving onto the next chapter of her life soon. sharing an apartment with your now ex is less than desirable, but danika is hoping that it at least builds character. now she’s stuck in the town of her ex and his family, wishing she was back in manhattan but also slowly growing to enjoy blue harbor. to her, it feels almost like a betrayal with how her life flipped since arriving and she tells herself once her lease comes due in four months that her bags will be packed once again for new york.

#intro.bh

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mightyflamethrower · 3 months ago

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This post updates the financial troubles of Denmark’s Ørsted, recent BOEM auctions, and pushback against Maryland governor Wes Moore. Today, operational offshore wind capacity is less than 50 megawatts versus the Biden-Harris Administration goal of 30,000 MW by 2030.

Ørsted

Denmark’s Ørsted, the worldwide leading offshore wind developer, recorded a $575 million loss in the second quarter. In part, the loss is the result of disappointing developments in the U.S.

The company has delayed commercial operation of its 704-MW Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut from 2025 to 2026. Ørsted’s ambitious U.S. offshore wind program has been lagging, despite solid support (subsidies, permits) from the Biden administration.

A year after an Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) auction for Gulf of Mexico leases failed to attract significant interest, BOEM continues to delay another attempt to find adequate bidders off the east coast.

Reuter’s summarized Ørsted’s issues:

Ørsted’s impairment losses also related to its Ocean Wind project in the United States whose development it halted last year, an increase in U.S. interest rates, and its decision to cease development of its green e-methanol FlagshipOne project, which was due to open in Sweden next year. Shares in Ørsted, once a green investor favourite, ended down 7.2%, having fallen as much as 9.3% earlier. They remain at less than one-third of their value since peaking in early 2021.

BOEM Auctions

In March, BOEM solicited interest in another Gulf of Mexico auction, which resulted in industry yawns. The agency stated on July 26th that it

received 25 comments in response to the March 2024 [Proposed Sale Notice], with one company expressing interest in participating. As a result, BOEM is cancelling this sale due to a lack of competitive interest. BOEM may decide to move forward with a lease sale at a future time, based on industry interest. —————

BOEM last week (Aug. 14) held a lease sale for the Mid-Atlantic region, off Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia with takers.

Norway’s Equinor Wind won a provisional lease for 101,443 acres some 26 nautical miles off Delaware for $75 million. Dominion Energy’s Virginia Electric and Power subsidiary won a provisional lease for 176,505 acres 35 miles off the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay for $18 million. Six companies participated in the auction.

The Equinor lease is not far from where Baltimore-based US Wind has a federal lease for a proposed two-phase, 2-GW project off Maryland’s Ocean City. BOEM last month (July 29) issued a final Environmental Impact Statement for the Maryland project. Maryland has also issued renewable energy certificates for the US Wind project.

US Wind, reports BOEM,

proposes to install up to 114 turbines, up to four offshore substation platforms, one meteorological tower, and up to four corridors for offshore export cables, which would make landfall in Delaware Seashore State Park. The lease area is approximately 8.7 nautical miles offshore Maryland and approximately 9 nautical miles offshore Sussex County, Delaware, at its closest points to shore.

US Wind, in partnership with Spain’s Haizea Windgroup, is also developing a plant to make monopile foundations for wind projects at Baltimore’s Sparrows Point, once the home of Bethlehem Steel when it was the world’s largest steel mill. According to the company

“Sparrows Point Steel is poised to become the best offshore wind heavy logistics and fabrication yard on the East Coast. Haizea’s depth of knowledge and expertise will cement Maryland’s role as a hub of offshore wind manufacturing in the U.S.”

MD Gov. Wes Moore vs. Critics

Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore last week (Aug. 16) faced opponents of his aggressive push for offshore wind in Ocean City. Local TV station WBOC spoke to Moore about growing local opposition on the eastern shore of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia. Earlier in the month, Moore signed a memorandum of understanding with BOEM to open up more offshore federal land to wind development. Last year, Maryland passed a new law expanding the state’s goal for offshore wind development to 8.5 GW.

Moore told WBOC, “You’re talking about being able to power three million homes in the state of Maryland and turn us into a net exporter of clean energy. That’s exciting, it’s new jobs, it’s new opportunities.”

Many people on the Eastern Shore, particularly those who depend on the Chesapeake Bay for a living, see burgeoning wind farms as a potential disruption to their ways of life. Jimmy Hahn, an Ocean City area commercial fisherman, told the TV station, “They’re trying to steal our grounds, they’ve stolen our bottom, they’ve stolen the area that we fish in, their last resort is to buy the place where we sell our fish at and once they accomplish that we have nowhere else to work.”

Moore responded, “All those conversations have to happen with local leaders, it has to happen with local communities. There has to be measures of both transparency and accountability as to what we’re hoping for and what we’re going to achieve.”

Vineyard Wind: Yellow Flag

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has given Avangrid a yellow flag to continue limited work on its Vineyard Wind project off the Massachusetts coast.

BSEE shut down the 804-MW project last month following the failure of a 351-foot blade on one of its turbines, spreading debris widely to beaches on nearby Nantucket Island and as far as mainland beaches on Cape Cod. Reuters reported that the Interior Department agency last week (Aug. 13) confirmed the updated shutdown order, while Avangrid and blade maker G Vernova continue to investigate the cause of the massive blade failure.

“The updated suspension order still does not allow further blade installation or power production at this time, the companies said,” according to Reuters. Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova said they are removing portions of the damaged blade that remained on the wind turbine to remove risks of further ocean debris.

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cerastes · 1 year ago

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FNAF but you are a Rhodes Island canteen staff on a night shift trying to prevent Ceobe from raiding the kitchen .

It's a late night at the Rhodes Island canteen, the Elite Operators have an early deployment, and supplies are looking adequate... That is, as long as no incident occurs. Unfortunately for whoever is on shift, Rhodes Island is well known for its late night incidents, incarnated in nefarious individuals whose gluttony eclipses even the most furious of Catastrophes... And the Elite OPs are not going to be happy campers if they can't get their calories for their arduous missions...

--Five Nights At Rhodes!--

Your objective is to protect the delicious ingredients in the pantry from morally bankrupt evildoers that would greedily consume all they can get their hungry little pizza fingers on! Play as one of four culinary heroes to keep those fiends away from the Elite's caloric intake, or face the crushing guilt of seeing Rosmontis go hungry with a rumbling tummy!

The Centurions of Flavor:

Gummy

"The sign clearly says 'Ceobe not allowed', why are you still coming in!"

Known for world-class fried eggs and a healing enthusiasm, this Ursine Defender isn't just a soothing smile to have around, and can use her very own Reinforced Door to fully restore and strengthen one of the doors to the pantry! No means no!

Matterhorn

"Ethan, seriously, you can just ask for a sandwich... You're messing our inventory of available ingredients if you take them on the down low!"

Bodyguard, enforcer, butler, and renowned chef, Matterhorn works with the finest Kjerag ingredients, and knows a thing or two about keeping unwanted company out with his Sublime Sandwich, which can temporarily distract would-be interlopers with its peerless taste and aroma!

Kal'tsit

"If you want something done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself... Especially when the would-be crisis jeopardizes the stock of instant noodles in such dire and relentless a fashion."

The boss always has your back in Rhodes Island, and this emergency deployment is no exception! Any logistic is an important logistic! With her Spinal Assistant, Kal'tsit can order Mon3tr to hold one door while she holds the other one! There's no getting a fast one in on this Feline!

Just A Canteen Staffer

"I literally just work here."

With no special abilities to speak of, well... It's going to be a long, long night.

Crooked Adversaries:

Ravenous Hellhound

The nefarious nibler, infamous for her indignant disregard for signaling, reviled for her Indomitable March: What she lacks in tricks, she makes up for in pure perseverance, relentlessly trying to force her way in no matter how many times she's repelled. The countless signals that say "Ceobe Not Allowed" are said to be a ward against the Hellhound. A useless ward, that is.

Renegade Interloper

He moves like the shadow of a ghost, a feared culinary assassin that will make your ingredients and food vanish into the misty night, leaving behind no trace. This Persistence Predator will oftentimes camp outside a door almost completely invisible, waiting for your guard to grow lax. If one pays close attention, however, one might discern small ripples in space where there should be none, or hear a faint music from the Interloper's treasured earbuds...

Prowling Miscreant

The hunter's creed is that a mighty beast is only as strong as its weakest point, and her eye is already trained on the canteen... And the habits of its handlers. You'll be Drawing Dead the moment you think you have a leg up on the Miscreant, as she'll first observe your habits, and then continuously attempt entry from the routes you neglect the most, usually by syncing up with the advance of other Adversaries.

The Ghost of Babel

Feared for their truly wild consumption habits and seemingly unmatched ability to find their way into the pantry, this hooded enigma's wiry, fragile frame betrays their supernatural wiles. This unique Adversary doesn't move in the same way as the others, instead wandering the Area seemingly randomly, concocting their Magnum Opus by collecting all sorts of information and intel that we can't even begin to comprehend. If this is completed, then the Ravenous Hellhound will turn into a creature only known as "Golden Ceobe" and become completely unstoppable. Due to their timid nature, however, they can only work towards the Opus by being in a calm state of mind, achieved by not being observed for a period of time.

The full game COMING SOON to all stores in Columbia, Victoria, Great Yan, not Gaul, and Leithanien! Don't miss out on all these Centurions and Adversaries! Preorder now and get a code to an early download of the DLC Centurions [Fiammetta Who Aggressively Doesn't Want To Be Here] and [Just A Canteen Staffer the Holungday], as well as early access to the challenging DLC Adversaries [Scary Guy] and [D.I.D.I.]!

#arknights

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readingsquotes · 7 months ago

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"Student protesters who ask universities to take seriously their own rhetoric about truth and justice understand that their institutions’ betrayal of these commitments is neither symbolic nor incidental. They are specifically targeting their universities’ ties to, and investments in, weapons manufacturers, companies on the United Nations’s list of business enterprises profiting from the illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and funds that do business with these entities. In some cases, these links are more tangential; in others, more direct: The Rhode Island School of Design counts Rhode Island-based defense contractor Textron as a longstanding financial backer, while the University of Pennsylvania’s Pennovation Works business incubator hosts Ghost Robotics, a company that develops robot dog technology used by the Israeli army. Some have raised legitimate concerns that university financial holdings are far more complex, and opaque, than they were, say, during South African apartheid; we are four decades further into a financialized economy that has turned almost everything in our lives into an asset. But even if divestment can be complicated, it is certainly possible: Several universities quickly divested from Russian interests after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since the start of the encampment movement, Evergreen State College in Washington has agreed to take steps towards “divestment from companies that profit from gross human rights violations and/or the occupation of Palestinian Territories,” and Portland State University has paused accepting contributions from Boeing, a key defense contractor with ties to Israel, while The New School has partially disclosed its investments, and Brown University has pledged to hold a vote on whether to divest in the fall. And while even divestment of all US university assets from companies complicit in Israeli war crimes would be unlikely to slow Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, moves within higher ed could be the beginning of a domino effect that would alter the political, and perhaps even the economic, terrain.

...Yet the moral force of the student encampments speaks in another language of necessity: How can business as usual not cease when business as usual is so murderous? By refusing to stand aside for the war machine, the students, to the best of their abilities, are disrupting Israel’s assault on Palestinians. They may even, in a less monumental way, be disrupting their universities in order to save them."

#student protests #student activism #palestine #free palestine #isreal #genocide #gaza #apartheid #colonization #american imperialism #us politics #police state

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 1 year ago

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[The Daily Don]

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 26, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Today, on the anniversary of the creation of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1914, the FTC and 17 state attorneys general sued Amazon for using “a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies to maintain its monopoly power.” The FTC and the suing states say “Amazon’s actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and prevent rivals from fairly competing against Amazon.”

The states suing are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

While estimates of Amazon’s control of the online commerce market vary, they center around about 40%, and Amazon charges third-party merchants for using the company’s services to store and ship items. Last quarter, Amazon reported more than $32 billion in revenues from these services. The suit claims that Amazon illegally overcharges third-party sellers and inflates prices.

This lawsuit is about more than Amazon: it marks a return to traditional forms of government antitrust action that were abandoned in the 1980s. Traditionally, officials interpreted antitrust laws to mean the government should prevent large entities from swallowing up markets and consolidating their power in order to raise prices and undercut workers’ rights. They wanted to protect economic competition, believing that such competition would promote innovation, protect workers, and keep consumer prices down.

In the 1980s, government officials replaced that understanding with an idea advanced by former solicitor general of the United States Robert Bork—the man whom the Senate later rejected for a seat on the Supreme Court because of his extremism—who claimed that traditional antimonopoly enforcement was economically inefficient because it restricted the ways businesses could operate. Instead, he said, consolidation of industries was fine so long as it promoted economic efficiencies that, at least in the short term, cut costs for consumers. While antitrust legislation remained on the books, the understanding of what it meant changed dramatically.

Reagan and his people advanced Bork’s position, abandoning the idea that capitalism fundamentally depends on competition. Industries consolidated, and by the time Biden took office, his people estimated the lack of competition was costing a median U.S. household as much as $5,000 a year.

On July 9, 2021, Biden called the turn toward Bork’s ideas “the wrong path” and vowed to restore competition in an increasingly consolidated marketplace. In an executive order, he established a White House Competition Council to direct a whole-of-government approach to promoting competition in the economy.

“[C]ompetition keeps the economy moving and keeps it growing,” Biden said. “Fair competition is why capitalism has been the world’s greatest force for prosperity and growth…. But what we’ve seen over the past few decades is less competition and more concentration that holds our economy back.”

In that speech, Biden deliberately positioned himself in our country’s long history of opposing economic consolidation. Calling out both Roosevelt presidents—Republican Theodore Roosevelt, who oversaw part of the Progressive Era, and Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who oversaw the New Deal—Biden celebrated their attempt to rein in the power of big business, first by focusing on the abuses of those businesses, and then by championing competition.

While still a student at Yale Law School, FTC chair Lina Khan published an essay examining the anticompetitive nature of modern businesses like Amazon, arguing that focusing on consumer prices alone does not address the problems of consolidation and monopoly. With today’s action, the FTC is restoring the traditional vision of antitrust action.

President Biden demonstrated his support for ordinary Americans in another historic way today when he became the first sitting president to join a picket line of striking workers. In Wayne County, Michigan, he joined a UAW strike, telling the striking autoworkers, “Wall Street didn’t build the country, the middle class built the country. Unions built the middle class. That’s a fact. Let’s keep going, you deserve what you’ve earned. And you’ve earned a hell of a lot more than you’re getting paid now."

Even as Biden was standing on the picket line, House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) released a new budget plan that moves even farther to the right. Yesterday, former president Trump backed the far-right extremists threatening to shut down the government, insisting that holding the government hostage is the best way to get everything they want, including, he wrote, an end to the criminal cases against him.

“The Republicans lost big on Debt Ceiling, got NOTHING, and now are worried that they will be BLAMED for the Budget Shutdown. Wrong!!! Whoever is President will be blamed,” Trump wrote on social media. “UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN! Close the Border, stop the Weaponization of ‘Justice,’ and End Election Interference.”

McCarthy is reneging on the agreement he made with Biden in the spring as conditions for raising the debt ceiling, and instead is calling for dramatic cuts to the nation’s social safety net, as well as restarting construction of a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, as starting points for funding the government. Cuts of more than $150 billion in his new proposal would mean cutting housing subsidies for the poor by 33%, fuel subsidies for low-income families by more than 70%, and funding for low-income schools by nearly 80% and would force more than 1 million women and children off of nutritional assistance.

The “bottom line is we’re singularly focused right now on achieving our conservative objectives,” Representative Garret Graves (R-LA) told Jeff Stein, Marianna Sotomayor, and Moriah Balingit of the Washington Post. The Republicans plan to preserve the tax cuts of the Trump years, which primarily benefited the wealthy and corporations.

At any point, McCarthy could return to the deal he cut with Biden, pass the appropriations bills with Democratic support, and fund the government. But if he does that, he is almost certain to face a challenge to his speakership from the extremists who currently are holding the country hostage.

This evening, the Senate reached a bipartisan deal to fund the government through November 17 and to provide additional funding for Ukraine (although less than the White House wants), passing it by a vote of 77–19. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urged the House Republicans to agree to the measure, warning them that shutdowns “don’t work as bargaining chips.” Nevertheless, McCarthy would not say he would take up the bill, and appears to feel the need to give in to the extremists’ demands. Moreover, he has suddenly said he thinks a meeting with Biden could avert the crisis, suggesting he is desperate for someone else to find a solution.

Former president Trump has his own problems this evening stemming from the civil case against him, his older sons, and other officers and parts of the Trump Organization in New York, where Attorney General Letitia James has charged him with committing fraud by inflating the value of his assets. Today New York judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump and his company deceived banks and insurers by massively overvaluing his real estate holdings in order to obtain loans and better terms for deals. The Palm Beach County assessor valued Mar-a-Lago, for example, at $18 million, while Trump valued it at between $426 million and $612 million, an overvaluation of 2,300% (not a typo).

Engoron canceled the organization’s New York business licenses, arranged for an independent receiver to dissolve those businesses, and placed a retired judge into the position of independent monitor to oversee the Trump Organization.

This decision will crush the heart of Trump’s businesses, and he issued a long statement attacking it, using all the usual words: “witch hunt,” “Communist,” “Political Lawfare” (ok, I don’t get that one), and “If they can do this to me, they can do this to YOU!” Law professor Jen Taub commented, “It reads better in the original ketchup.” Trump’s lawyers say they are considering an appeal. The rest of the case is due to go to trial early next month.

Finally, today, the Supreme Court rejected Alabama’s request to let it ignore the court’s order that it redraw its congressional district maps to create a second majority-Black district. Alabama will have to comply with the court’s order.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters from an American #Heather Cox Richardson #political #big money #corruption #anti-trust #the Public Good #TFG #FTC #government shutdown #Daily Don

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