#TRIUMPH TRACKER. SO.

[arcenergy]

ignore the death grips in the background i was fuckin jammin

anyways is your clan normal or does your friend make a macro to pet the dog indefinitely while he’s asleep so that it can show up as having 6000+ pets as an emblem triumph

[w0lp3rtinger]

When you take all of this together, the lies about immigrants voting, the mass voter challenges, the introduction of new processes to slow down and question vote counts, it seems depressingly likely we are about to see a storm of bullshit just like last time. And there are few things we should probably be ready for. First, unless there is an absolute landslide, we’re unlikely to know the outcome of the election on November 5th, and when it comes to Georgia, if Harris wins narrowly there, we’ll almost certainly see legal battles stretching into December or beyond, and which could eventually end up in front of [the Supreme Court]-... and all the while, Trump will try and exploit any delay or uncertainty, unless that is he wins outright in which case he’ll suddenly insist he triumphed over a rigged system. 

So that is what we can expect. What can we do? 

Well you can, and I hate to say this probably as much as you hate to hearing it, but make a plan to vote and help others do the same since the closer the race is, the easier it will be for Trump to sew bullshit. You should check to make sure you’re voter registration is current [ usa.gov/voting-and-elections ] to find links to your state’s voter registration verification tools, vote early if you can to ensure that if there’s any issue with your registration you can clear it up before election day, and if you vote by mail you can find a tracking tool for your ballot at this website [ vote.org/ballot-tracker-tools ] 

But beyond that, it is going to be vital to be resilient against the storm of toxic nonsense that Trump and his allies will try and stir up. It can go on for months and be stupider than you can even imagine right now. So stupid that someone you know, love, or are related to (and those are three very different things) might even think that there is something to it. 

But the key thing to remember here is that as chaotic as the last election was, in the end, our guardrails did hold. We’re going to need to make sure that they hold up again. And if we can do that, then, and only then, will we all deserve the single greatest sticker ever designed.

-John Oliver, October, 2024 

[thesweetnessofspring]

I'm convinced that Snow was the one who came up with the "rule change" in THG (idc what the movie did with it--they didn't know TBOSAS and it was less than convincing they way they did it).

Just think about it. We start off the Games with Katniss's courageous action volunteering for her younger sister. Then Peeta did something radical. He decided to follow through on his declaration of love to Katniss and did everything he could in the arena to save her. Getting sponsors, teaming up with the Careers, getting Katniss to leave and fighting Cato for her. Can you imagine what that was doing in the Capitol? In the Districts? How could you watch someone do that and not hope for a happy ending, even as Peeta lay dying in the mud, whispering Katniss's name?

And then Katniss teams up with Rue and is devastated by her death. She stays with her, sings to her, until she dies. Bolstered by Peeta's words about not being a piece in their games and finally getting what he means, she decorates Rue with flowers. She honors her life and her unnecessary death. District 11 recognizes this and even though they have another tribute alive in the Games, send Katniss the bread.

In Snow's mind, everything about the games is starting to crack. Young love being selfless, sisterly affection defying the Capitol, comradery fostering between districts. He simply can't let it go on. He has to remind people in the Capitol and the Districts that this is not human nature. He is going to prove that. So he tells Seneca Crane to announce the rule change.

He expects Cato and Clove to make it to the final two. In their new advantage, they will become a deadly, mostly healthy team. Meanwhile, Snow can see that Katniss doesn't hold the same care for Peeta that he does for her (she had tried to kill him with tracker jackers, after all). Even if she goes to find him, she'll abandon him once it gets too hard, too dangerous. The hope of love triumphing will be met with annoyance at his injuries and agreeing to stay behind and not get his medicine. And even if she does, he'll still be too injured to truly be useful.

But things go awry. Thresh saves Katniss because of her kindness to a little girl he, too, saw as a younger sister. He kills Clove, bringing about Cato's wrath. And Katniss Everdeen turns out to be a better actress than expected.

No matter, though--once the rule change is revoked, the truth of the stripped-down human nature will come out. Oh, Peeta will throw out the ravings of a teenage boy high on hormones, but people will remember how awful they truly are when Katniss puts an arrow through his heart. After all, Snow's made that decision before. His lover or himself. Death in the woods or life with riches in the Capitol. It's easy, really, to make that decision. And people will remember even the best among them, even she who willingly risked her life to get medicine or volunteer for her sister, won't avoid killing in order to survive herself.

But Katniss calls their bluff, and Peeta goes along with it. They've chosen to protest the Hunger Games with their deaths. Seneca makes the call to announce two winners. Really, Snow was going to kill him either way. Someone has to be publicly accountable for the place he's in now, and Snow certainly isn't going to take credit for his idea. After this, he tries and tries to get Peeta and Katniss to have to kill each other. The Quarter Quell. The hijacking. But it never works. And not just because of them, but because a whole nation finally stands up and says Enough. We won't let this go on anymore. In the end, Snow was entirely wrong because he never truly understood love.

[merakiui]

Yandere Riddle getting his childhood friend pregnant after he convinces her to fool around,,, orz Imagine him purposefully sneaking peeks into your period tracker to see when you’re most fertile!! Looking up the best positions to conceive a child and bending you into them under the guise of ‘experimenting.’

Omg and he's written the days that are best for conception in his own personal calendar!!! Aaaaa imagine how obsessive he becomes, constantly scouring all kinds of reliable articles in search of the best positions, notable signs (if any) to look for when you're most fertile, and slowly and secretly preparing for the day when you do take a test and it comes back positive. >_< creepy, gross Riddle... he's so obsessed with you and at times it might feel like he's a reflection of his mother when he's so deep in love with you, wanting to control every aspect of getting you pregnant because he sincerely, wholeheartedly believes he's the right one for you and you're the right one for him.

And since the both of you are so accustomed to this routine fooling around he's able to convince you to let him put you in these positions. Maybe he gives you a placebo pill each time and insists it's birth control and you think nothing of it when you take it because you trust him, because he's your best friend, because he'd never do anything to hurt you, because he'd never lie to you, because he's responsible, rule-abiding Riddle Rosehearts. That way, when you assume you've taken the proper measures to prevent pregnancy, he can get away with not having to wear protection, which also means he gets to cum inside every time. <3

Riddle loves you, so it's only natural he'll be ready to accept you with open arms when you eventually come crying to him about news he's been expecting for a while now. He'll find a way to handle his mother and any other issues that may crop up as a result of your pregnancy. For now, all that matters is that the both of you are together. Riddle has always been sensible, but he'd like to believe that true love can triumph every inconvenience. After all, even he wants his own fluffy romance! He'll break a dozen rules just to attain it because it's often the things that are just out of reach that make him want them the most. And Riddle has always wanted you.

[lemony-snickers]

Pakkun knows it's time. Has felt it coming for a long while, now.

His muzzle is grey, his joints ache when he tries to climb the stairs outside, so he uses Gai's ramp instead. He can't jump up onto the couch anymore, but that's all right because there are always plenty of cushions for him on the floor.

It's one of the nice things about being back at the Hatake Estate, ever since Kakashi returned with his partner and his Rival shortly before welcoming the little one that totters around, now, knocking into low tables and screaming for his parents.

Pakkun is grateful to have witnessed all of it, grateful that Kakashi senses their time running short, too, and no longer dismisses him unless Pakkun asks.

He doesn't know how to tell Kakashi that it's time. Doesn't know how to grumble the words I love you, but I have to go.

It was never supposed to be like this. Pakkun is a ninja hound, a tracker with an analytical mind and a skill for violence. He and Kakashi made a pact when the latter was still a boy. Pakkun remembers how he didn't flinch as he sliced his thumb open to sign the contract, remembers the strange aloofness he exuded, so unexpected for a pup so young.

Had Sakumo not died, Pakkun imagines he and Kakashi might have maintained a purely professional relationship.

But watching that stoic child crumble into a broken version of the pup he should have been allowed to be tugged at something within Pakkun with a ferocity he typically reserved for missions.

He slept beside Kakashi that night, the way he had once watched over the boy's mother on the eve of his birth. Perhaps it was not exactly a mission, but to protect Sakumo's progeny seemed well within the parameters of his duties at the time.

The thing which blossomed soon after that--affection or respect or whatever it might be--had been unintentional. Without a pup of his own, Pakkun found himself drawn to Kakashi's side increasingly often beyond the scope of missions. Found himself grateful when Kakashi summoned him on his days off, so they could spend time quietly within one another's presence as Kakashi read and Pakkun napped in a sun spot at his feet.

Now, as Pakkun rests on a cushion, watching Kakashi smile with his family as the little boy in his lap unsuccessfully fights off sleep, the creases at the edges of his eyes tell a story of both tragedy and triumph; one Pakkun is proud to have witnessed. To have played an important role in.

He knows he should do something. Make it obvious. That he should lift his grizzled muzzle and say, Boss, to gather the room's attention. Pakkun knows Kakashi would hand his son to Gai or his partner and direct his attention to the little pug he's known all his life, even before his life began.

He's become keenly aware of Pakkun's age in recent months, especially, taking care to spend extra time with him whenever possible.

But Pakkun doesn't want to interrupt the happy moment before him, so he simply huffs a low sigh as he settles his chin on his crossed paws. His eyelids feel heavy, his breath moves slowly in and out, unhurried. He almost laughs because why would his lungs hurry when there is nowhere else he'd rather be?

Bull and Uhei and Shiba and Akino will understand. Bisuke and Guruko and Urushi will not, but that's okay. They will still have one another. Still have Kakashi.

Even without their diminutive leader, Pakkun knows the pack will fight on. Welcome new ninken into their ranks. He knows one day, Kakashi's pup will sign a contract of his own, though he isn't sure the boy will be as composed as his father when he does.

He's inherited all the best parts of both parents, and Pakkun thinks the fact that he's more emotive than Kakashi was at the same age is probably a good thing.

A soft chuckle fills Pakkun's ears and he looks up at Kakashi one last time, notes the twinkling joy in his dark eyes as he listens to Gai tell a raucous story, rocking softly as his son sleeps, face tucked against his chest. Peaceful despite Gai's booming voice.

Pakkun knows it's time. Has felt it coming for a long while, now. He doesn't know if he will stay here, or if his death will act as a dismissal, sending him back to the place where his packmates are.

Whatever happens, he only hopes Kakashi will forgive him for not interrupting the moment to say goodbye. It's too good a moment to shatter with sadness, even if he does wish he could say one more time that he is proud of the man Kakashi has become, of the life he has built.

But Kakashi knows already; words have never been necessary between them to be fully understood. A gift of their pact so many are never lucky enough to experience.

As his eyes slide closed, Pakkun knows Kakashi will understand. Even if he's hurt or angry at first, he's never been one for emotional farewells, either. It is gift enough to know you have been truly cared for. An even greater gift for Pakkun to know Kakashi will be well loved even after he is gone.

I love you, but I have to go. And now I know you'll be okay without me.

[naavispider]

Chase

A little prompt from @hyperfixatedfandomer: Final part of this song is so “Spider rips out the tracker and runs into the darkness of Pandora while Quaritch is on his heels like a feral thanator in a horror novie” coded

The song in question:

1.3k, canon typical action, violence, swearing

Spider had never heard a louder sound than that of his thundering heartbeat banging against his eardrums. His breathing came in gasps as the stitch in his chest throbbed painfully. He couldn’t stop running.

A monster was behind him.

Every split second counted in the race for his life. The adrenaline coursing through his veins powered him onwards without his full awareness or knowledge of anything else going on around him. Branches scraped past his arms and face but he couldn’t feel the pain they left behind. Faster, faster…

He could feel rather than hear Quaritch catching up to him. Any moment now enormous hands could close around him, pulling him down and the terror of it kept his feet hitting the ground at a dizzying rhythm.

He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t slow down.

The first few seconds of his escape had been a blur. Things had happened too fast for him to be able to remember clearly - but what he did know was this: he’d seized the opportunity when the recom Colonel had turned his back on Spider on the trail. He’d tensely removed the mask that he relied upon so dearly for oxygen, and fumbled around in a panic induced state to wrench the tracker from the plastic casing. He didn’t know how, but he’d managed it. Almost as soon as he’d realized his triumph, Quaritch turned back to look for him, just in time to see Spider hurl the tracker as far away as possible, throw the mask back onto his face and high tail it into the trees.

He’d lost track of how long it had been since then. Seconds? Minutes? An hour? He couldn’t afford to waste time working it out. He leapt from the floor onto a huge fallen tree trunk, barely stopping to get his footing before he was off, the ground now several feet below him and all kinds of plants hitting his mask and getting caught in his hair.

“Spider!” He heard an angry roar from somewhere behind.

He wasn’t going to stop. This was his chance. If he could lose Quaritch now, he’d be free. He could even find his way back to High Camp eventually - he was sure of it.

“STP RIGHT THERE!!” Quaritch roared.

He didn’t stop to look around, but the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He sounded close, almost within reach…

The ghosts of Quaritch’s fingertips brushed against the small of his back, and he let out a shriek of fear as he pushed himself on. But his brain made a fatal miscalculation when judging where to place his foot. In his panic, he slipped to the left and he couldn’t regain his balance before it was too late. He was falling, all the way down to the ground and landing clumsily on his knees.

“Stay down, Spider!”

He gasped and picked himself up as quickly as he could - but it wasn’t quick enough. Quaritch had only been one or two strides behind him. In a moment of terror that brought the whole world to a standstill, huge blue arms came around him, pulling him back down to the earth, back down to defeat…

He cried out as he rolled on to his back, a rage filled recombinant on top of him, pinning him down. He barely recognised the face as that of his father. Quaritch’s eyes were wide and distorted with fury, and Spider was sure that for a split second, they turned red.

He didn’t know where the idea came from - he was barely aware of his body’s actions - but before he knew it he had brought his knee up to kick Quaritch in the chest, and at the same time flung his head forward to bash his mask against the Colonel’s nose. The simultaneous assault was enough for Quaritch to loosen his hold on Spider’s left arm, and he seized the opportunity to claw at Quaritch’s eyeball.

“FUCK,” Quaritch screamed as he pulled away, and in the heat of the moment Spider was able to wriggle backwards on his elbows and flip over, scrambling out of Quaritch’s hold on the forest floor.

“No you don’t!” roared Quaritch, blinded not only by the injury Spider had left him but also with anger. He lunged for Spider’s leg, which Spider kicked out against as soon as he felt the vice-like grip close around his calf.

It wasn’t enough.

Spider knew it.

Na’vi were simply too big and too strong, and now that Quaritch had a hold of him he felt his heart plummet through the ground and out the other side of Pandora. Eywa, help him.

“Come here!” Quaritch grunted, dragging Spider back by the ankle. Spider fought with everything he had. Clinging onto anything within his reach and kicking out as hard as he could with both legs, he scrambled for purchase on the wet floor.

“Get off!” he screamed through his shocked throat, knowing that physically he couldn’t fight anymore, having to rely on words alone in some desperate hope that the monster would release him. The fear had well and truly sunk into his soul, absorbed by his very bones. He would never forget this fear.

“Let me go!” he screamed again, his final ploy for escape as he hopelessly slid against the ground towards Quaritch.

“Oh yeah?” Quaritch leered over him from above, the bloody cut above his eye giving him a manic expression. “You’ll stay where you’re damn put!”

Spider was too terrified to say anything else - the game was up. It was over. He froze, capable of nothing more than staring up into the eyes that had haunted him since they first met. He was glad he was wearing a mask because it felt like the aura that Quaritch was radiating was enough to burn the skin from his face.

“Damn you!” Quaritch shouted, shaking Spider where he had his wrists pinned on the ground.

If the recom didn’t relent soon, the pressure he was exerting on Spider’s small hands would surely be enough to break them.

The hisses from Spider’s mask were coming quick and heavy, so depleted of oxygen was he, but he still had enough left in him to hiss at Quaritch so ferally that even Neytiri would be proud.

“That all you got to say for yourself? I’m done trying to be nice. I should just throw you back to Ardmore…” Quaritch easily transferred both of Spider’s hands into one of his, while reaching for a pair of snapcuffs and securing them around Spider’s wrists. He seemed to think for a moment, before pulling Spider to standing and then throwing him over his shoulders.

“Stop!” Spider protested, but it was like pleading with a rhinoceros for all the good it did him. Instead, he thrashed as harshly as he could against Quaritch’s hold. “What are you gonna do? I’m gonna get away eventually!”

Quaritch ignored him totally. With too much force than was necessary, he jammed Spider’s feet together over the other side of his shoulders and secured them with another set of cuffs.

“Let me GO!” he howled, realizing he was as powerless as a fish out of water, draped over the 9 foot tall recom’s back.

“Why did I ever bother?” Quaritch fumed as he made the long way back to the trail where the rest of the squad were waiting. “Do you realize what you’re doing? Don’t you see that I’m your best bet right now?”

“You think you’re better than Bridgehead?” Spider snapped back. “I’d take a thousand needles to the brain before I trust you!”

Quaritch said nothing to this.

A moment later when Wainfleet came into view, racing through the trees to find them. “Colonel! You got him… good.” He was out of breath, and Spider hadn’t realized how far they’d run or how quickly, if Wainfleet was only now catching up.

“Yeah, I got him,” Quaritch growled. “Take him, I’ve had enough.”

Spider was roughly pulled off the Colonel’s shoulders and passed over to Wainfleet like a sack of potatoes.

“And don’t let him wiggle. He’s slippery.”

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

#15yrsago Teach kids to be safe on the net by getting them to think critically about censorware https://web.archive.org/web/20090728034546/http://www.internetevolution.com/document.asp?doc_id=179505&

#10yrsago The apology letter Google SHOULD have used to announce the end of G+ “Real Names” https://web.archive.org/web/20140716222946/https://infotrope.net/2014/07/16/meanwhile-in-an-alternate-universe/

#10yrsago White House caught secretly tracking Web visitors with sneaky spyware https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/07/white-house-website-includes-unique-non-cookie-tracker-despite-privacy-policy

#10yrsago Fewer than 10% of UK families opt into “parental” filters https://web.archive.org/web/20140724004309/www.pcpro.co.uk/news/broadband/389926/those-parental-control-filters-as-few-as-4-are-signing-up

#10yrsago Profile of a NYC pickpocket https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/nyregion/the-pickpockets-tale.html

#10yrsago EFF unveils secure, sharing-friendly, privacy-minded router OS https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/07/building-open-wireless-router

#5yrsago J Michael Straczynski’s “Becoming Superman”: a memoir of horrific abuse, war crimes, perseverance, trauma, triumph and doing what’s right https://memex.craphound.com/2019/07/23/j-michael-straczynskis-becoming-superman-a-memoir-of-horrific-abuse-war-crimes-perseverance-trauma-triumph-and-doing-whats-right/

#5yrsago Clever hack that will end badly: playing copyrighted music during Nazis rallies so they can’t be posted to Youtube https://memex.craphound.com/2019/07/23/clever-hack-that-will-end-badly-playing-copyrighted-music-during-nazis-rallies-so-they-cant-be-posted-to-youtube/

#5yrsago Steve Bannon used nonconsensually harvested location data to advertise to people who’d been to a Catholic church https://www.techdirt.com/2019/07/23/steve-bannon-latest-to-abuse-consumer-location-data/

#5yrsago Women are much more likely to be injured in car crashes, probably because crash-test dummies are mostly male-shaped https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-18/why-women-are-likelier-to-be-hurt-in-a-car-crash

#5yrsago A deep dive into Elizabeth Warren’s plan to tame private equity https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/07/elizabeth-warren-seeks-to-cut-private-equity-down-to-size.html

#5yrsago Facebook’s alleged growth is largely coming from countries where Facebook says it has a fake account problem https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/07/facebook-mark-zuckerbergs-fake-accounts-ponzi-scheme.html

#5yrsago From #TelegramGate to #RickyLeaks: Puerto Rico is on fire https://web.archive.org/web/20190719213344/https://www.thenation.com/article/puerto-rico-protests-scandal-rossello/

#1yrago When the Town Square Shatters https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/23/when-the-town-square-shatters/

[kit-williams]

Night Out

Female Lead: A necromundian named Smoothie Universe/AU: Warhammer 40k/Yandere Space Marine Canon Status: I dont have any Yandere Custodes so not canon yet?

Note: This one was HARD because I don't exactly have any Yandere Custodes made. I'm still figuring out how to portray the Custodes and how much from Fanon/funny vas (like DreadAnon/My Golden Buddy/TTS) I'm going to be incorporating. (But this is less about how it is and more of what I'm trying to do)

She missed Necromunda that much was obvious as some glammed up tall boy told her she was going to be the cause for some great triumph. Yeah Smoothie heard that one before of some drugged out man getting higher then the spire. That was some really good shit she smoked too!

She crawled up the vent as she was going up and away from the area that made her nose bleed. She lived in a hive long enough to know if something was making you bleed you were most likely already dying but hey a little bit of radiation here and there wasn't going to kill her any faster. Though she was confused as she fulfilled what she needed to do... she had a kid... gross little thing with a grosser man but whatever if the Throne man said her kid was going to become important then she'd do it.

The glam man had asked her a funny question. Why she wasn't so torn up... a kid should be something that brings good memories about a good time. Everything in the lower hives was about survival and well having a kid was no easy choice like those upper hivers getting to have kids like its no one's business. She wasn't torn up because she didn't really care about the guy she had the kid with.

Maybe she shouldn't have answered and just fucked off then she wouldn't have been dragged to Terra. She grinned as she knew he was probably trying to find her, serves him right for putting trackers into her.

Smoothie crawls up the vent before kicking the gilded piece of metal open and breathing in the relatively clean air this high up. "God my tits are freezing." She mutters as she pulls herself up and stretches as she sits down on one of the golden gargoyles and waits for. "There you are big guy took ya long enough to find me."

She feels his massive hand grab the back of her jacket just like he did back in the hive. A man doesn't grab a lady like that for no reason... hell the rations he got for her always tasted better and she'll admit she was getting pampered here with some fancy golden collar. She smacked his hand, "Fuckin sit down feather brain." She says in reference to his plume.

"Smoothie." His voice rumbled with some slight annoyance.

"Just fuckin sit with me and enjoy the night out." She says lighting up some scum lho as she looks out at the golden sea. "Its pretty aint it..."

She feels him wrap her in his purple cloak as she is plucked from the gargoyle and into his lap. "Why did you need to come all the way out here."

"When we were coming in the first time I saw this... first time I saw anything from so high up." She says and her eyes sparkle with the same glow that she held when they were above terra at night when she was arriving. "I'm so use to being under everything seeing all the wires and the ugly underbelly and all the shit they try to hide but this... " She lets the blue green smoke roll out of her mouth. "It's pretty... and not so gaudy like everything else here. Who the fuck even decorated it's so much gawkin gold." She says with a chuckle as his massive arm wraps around her.

"Thank you for giving me a reason to... have a... night out." He says with a sigh as his stuffy demeanor melts a little as he holds her tightly and Smoothie just chuckles.

"Of course big guy I mean least this sewer rat you brought home can do for you." She kisses his faceplate grinning as she leaves a neon green kiss mark on the gold.

Fluffuary Taglist: @bispecsual @the-californicationist @egrets-not-regrets @libraryshadow @bleedingichorhearts @liar-anubiass-blog

[dasphinxone]

Okoye x Attuma Arranged Marriage AU WIP

I guess since no one else is doing it, here goes my plotline to my WIP attempt at an Okoye x Attuma Arranged Marriage To Ally Their Kingdoms and Save Lives AU 😆

Instead of Okoye getting blasted off the bridge in Boston, she's also taken to Talokan with Shuri and Riri. Shuri sends Namor to the surface to meet with her mother, where Queen Ramonda plants a tracker on him. Nakia does still go to rescue them from Talokan via the tracker and her research in the Yucatan.

Except, since Okoye is down in Talokan too, she's able to knock out the handmaiden holding Shuri hostage rather than Nakia killing her to rescue them. Shuri presses one of her kimoyo beads to the handmaid's head, so she survives without injury. Okoye is still stripped by Queen Ramonda of being a general and a Dora Milaje for allowing Shuri to be taken. Shuri is pissed off because yeah, she volunteered to go to see Namor on her own. In fact, she ordered Okoye to stand down, ending her fight with Attuma and stopping Namora from tossing that water grenade at her.

So Shuri immediately announces in front of Ramonda and the visibly sympathetic tribal council that she's assigning Okoye as general of the Midnight Angels, who will be her personal bodyguard.

Ramonda says her daughter has no authority to do so. Surprisingly, M'Baku comes to Okoye's defense and points out there is nothing in their Tribal Council Constitution that states Shuri doesn't have that power. Besides, considering what happened to Shuri and that she's alive and whole, doesn't that mean there's no better person to protect their princess and only heir than Okoye?

Ramonda is pissed, Shuri is smug in her triumph and M'Baku lives to create drama. Ramonda still sends Okoye away out of her sight. Shuri loudly tells Okoye to meet her in the lab and then promptly bounces out of the meeting.

The two spend the next few days working together to speed up finishing the Midnight Angels suits since Namor and the Talokanil are a new threat. They bring in Aneka to help them review and test the suits' efficiency as well. Shuri also works on creating more sonic weapons since she witnessed how Nakia's sonic gun killed the Talokanil warrior at their rescue.

Namor loses a warrior bodyguard at Shuri's rescue but not a civilian handmaiden. So he's still pissed. But not quite "Fuck up your capital city and assassinate your queen" pissed. Instead and a few days later, he infiltrates Wakanda via one its main rivers. He takes some of the River Tribesmen hostage with Attuma, Namora and some other Talokanil warriors.

Nakia catches him (he has no idea it was her who rescued the three women). He demands an audience with Shuri or else he'll drown his hostages...and keep snatching River Tribe people every day to drown at sunrise and sunset. All while increasing the number killed by one per drowning.

After Nakia calls Shuri on her kimoyo beads, the Princess quickly arrives, accompanied by Aneka and Okoye in their new Midnight Angel suits. Attuma is startled to see Okoye again (her face is uncovered) but remains silent. Namora is on full alert and is definitely in "Fuck around and find out" mode. Aneka smirks at her but remains on guard.

Namor reiterates that he will drown River tribesmen if he is not escorted to the palace. Also, if his warriors don't hear from him by sunset (it's the early morning), he will direct them to drown and kill them. Out of options, Shuri escorts Namor, Attuma and Namora back to palace.

Ramonda is understandably livid. M'Baku is extremely wary but gleeful, pointing out Okoye was right about the "fish man." Especially that big, blue, balloon one. Attuma growls at him but M'Buka ain't concerned and hoots back.

Chaos nearly ensues until Okoye tells both of them to basically shut the fuck up. They're trying to avoid a fucking war here, by Bast!

Namor demands a more binding alliance between Wakanda and Talokan or else he will go to war. The tribal council and Ramonda are in uproar. It gets even worse when Namor recommends a marriage between himself and Shuri, which causes all hell to nearly break loose. Above them, the Dora Milaje go into battle defense mode with a pound of their spears.

Except Shuri actively looks like she's thinking about it. Ramonda bellows that an arranged marriage its absolutely off the table. It's archaic, mad disrespectful and for fuck's sake, Shuri is far too young. She doesn't even rule the kingdom yet.

Namor points out Shuri is heir. He also low-key threatens that he could conceivably make her queen right now. Shuri snaps that he's WAY outta line. Besides, how could she expect to grow to potentially marry him if he's actively threatening the last of her remaining family right now?!

Namor slyly responds that perhaps courting her would prove more constructive. Shuri points out he's still proposing this under duress.

"A binding marriage between one of my nobles and one of yours would prove less beneath your contempt then, princess?"

Okoye feels increasingly guilty since she blames her actions on the bridge forced Shuri to give herself up to Namor in the first place. She's also still reeling from being stripped her command and kicked out of the Dora Milaje. She thinks on the one time she chose a husband for herself, she picked that bitch-ass traitor in W'Kabi, so she has nothing else to lose.

She volunteers herself for a political marriage to one of the Talokanil.

Ramonda sneers that Okoye's been stripped of being a general for failing to protect her daughter in the first place. Okoye feels ashamed (but once she thinks about it later, she realizes this was Ramonda's attempt to save her from being forced into a marriage and leave Wakanda by trying to downplay her value).

Meanwhile, as soon as Ramonda tells Namor that Okoye is no longer a general, Shuri counters with the fact that Okoye is general of the Midnight Angels, her personal guard. Ramonda tries to deny it but Shuri presses forward. Namor responds that's excellent, as Okoye clearly has value. "And now, all we must do is decide who your great General will marry," he smugly says.

This is when Attuma declares that he will marry the Warrior. Namor is surprised while Namora hisses. Mostly to cover up her astonishment at Attuma's declaration. 'Cause holy shit, this whole thing is spinning out into some batshit crazy circumstances.

But Attuma points out that the Talokanil have a tradition of "What we cannot kill, we keep." And since he could not kill Okoye on the bridge?He has right of first refusal when it comes to marrying her.

Okoye is stunned, fuming and looks like she wants to rip out Attuma's gills. Hopefully finishing the job this time. Meanwhile, Namor immediately grants him the marriage. Namora is in stunned disbelief

After that, Namor sends word to his warriors holding some of the River Tribe hostage that he is safe. However, he won't have the river tribesmen released until the marriage contract is completed over the next three days.

Over the next three days, the marriage contract is ironed out by him, Shuri, Okoye and Attuma:

-Okoye and Attuma will get married in two different ceremonies. Namor demands the Talokanil ceremony take place first in precedence but Attuma asks Okoye what she wants. She icily insists the marriage first take place in Wakanda.

-The marriage must be consummated within a week of the second marriage ceremony in Talokan or it will be invalid and threaten the end to the treaty.

-They agree that Okoye will live with Attuma for three months at a time in Talokan and he will live with her three months at a time in Wakanda, alternating from there. Since Okoye will have the first wedding in Wakanda, she will be living her first three months with Attuma in Talokan.

Shuri pledges to design a new house for Okoye on the river that can accommodate Attuma. She will also work with the Talokanil scientists to create a home in one of the grottoes in Talokan that can accommodate Okoye since they cannot live separately. Otherwise, why marry?

-They do not have to have children, though it is heavily encouraged. Okoye reminds everyone she's in her early 40s, so yeah, not gonna happen and it's ultimately her choice. Not to mention, they have no fucking clue how human and Talokanil physiology work together.

Attuma points out that they may adopt younglings. Though if they do, it will have to be an equal number of Wakandan and Talokanil younglings to keep things fair.

-If they have a potential marriage ending disputes, they will have to bring it to a council of 2-3 Talokanil and Wakandan members. The nation who has the majority of council members changes every year. Once a dispute is voted on, it is law, unless extenuating circumstances require that the issue be revisited.

-Okoye and Attuma will train the other's forces. Tactics and weapons will be shared.

-This marriage will also open the way to cultural trade between Wakanda and Talokan.

-Any threat against either spouse will be taken as a threat against both nations and treated with equal importance and threat response.

-Attuma insists on properly courting Okoye during the first three months of her living with him in Talokan. Okoye hisses that it's pointless since they're already married. Attuma gets irritated and says that even though the marriage is political, he still needs to court her properly to fulfill Talokanil tradition. Okoye tries to get out of this, but Attuma won't budge.

It pisses off Okoye even more. She then points out that since he's so fond of courting, he can court her in both Talokanil and Wakandan traditions. Attuma shrugs and agrees. Okoye certainly wasn't expecting him to so quickly agree to her traditions, huh.

-The first marriage in Wakanda will take place at the next full moon, which is in just under three weeks.

All four of them sign the marriage contract. Ramonda won't sign it until the end of the first marriage ceremony in Wakanda.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and France most certainly HAVE NOT forgotten losing their ships and mercenaries to Wakanda in their efforts to gain vibranium. The African nation is absolutely still in their sights. And Valentina Fontaine sure in the hell never forgets a perceived insult...

And that's where we are with this crack-ass AU...Help, I HATE IT HERE 😂

[bikebound]

1969 Triumph T120 Trackmaster by @calebgrssm of @storagebuilt, whose old man raced pro flat track in the 1970s — those are his old number plates! The Trackmaster frame and built 750cc engine were scored in a trade ~10 years ago from none other than Gary Beach, father of one of our favorite @americanflattrack riders, @jdbeach95. Caleb took over the project last year, finishing it just in time for @the1moto despite working 14+ hour days in construction and architecture school. “The inspiration comes from flat trackers from the late 60s and early 70s, which is what the bike is. I wanted it to look like it could roll off the track from that era (but with some modern bits). The number plates were my dad’s, so those have actually seen some action.” Photo: @mrpixelhead. Full story today on BikeBound.com. ⚡️Link in Bio⚡️ https://instagr.am/p/Cs6C5xKucp8/

[fabiansociety]

i started playing yakuza 0 in August last year, and I've been playing my way through the entire series ever since. it's been a wild ride — a lot of nonsense plot has flowed through and out of my brain, a lot of janky combat, a massive amount of characters i've come to love, and hundreds of warmly empathetic substories that have pressed themselves into my brain. it feels like i've crammed an entire found family into my life, speedrunning through decades of character growth, major triumphs and minor failures. what it all means, in retrospect, i couldn't quite say. the series hasn't had a consistent point of view, except for an increasing melancholy of how life's narrative opportunities narrow with age and poor decisions, of the ways that childhood trauma lives with us forever, the ways that young men are brutalized into something useful for the powerful men at the top—but that's all a shadow passing over the true landscapes of the games, the long period hanging out in arcades or pool halls or drinking in a favorite bar, or singing karaoke alone or with someone. of watching kamurocho and sotenbori shift with the years, of the new cities we've visited and the food we've eaten. i remember the takoyaki place on the corner that got replaced with a gelateria much more than i remember any of the yakuza heavies that have driven the plots of these games, and that may actually be the point?

it's so weird to not have another yakuza game to immediately start playing. i've gotten so used to opening the next game as soon as i finish the previous one that it feels wrong to just be… done, for now? like, what am i to do with myself now? these games have been such a major part of my leisure time this last year. i've still got Ishin, but that's not really the same thing. the faces will be familiar, but the people will be strangers.

it feels right that the man who erased his name was the only one of these that i've actually 100% completed, from achievements to in-game trackers. they've lowered the bar for completion substantially with this latest game, and frankly it feels like an act of grace for people who have played through the entire series. i'm never going to get good at virtua fighter 2, no matter how many times it shows up, so it's nice to not have to get good at everything in order to round everything out. i've already taught myself mahjong for this series, is that not enough? LADG says, yes, it's okay, you've done enough, and i appreciate that tremendously, here at the end of this loooong road.

i spent *50 solid days* this last year doing nothing except playing yakuza games, that's ridiculous. i read every single nero wolfe book in significantly less time than that! this is the problem with doing this sort of run-the-board project for a video game series, it just takes so long to get even a basically thorough experience. running through the entire MCU, including all the D+, Netflix, Hulu, Freeform, and ABC shows, only takes 424 hours, by comparison. you could watch all of it in less time than in took me to get from Y0 to Y4. i read all the nero wolfe books a couple of years back, and i was ripping through those at a book a night. video games are massively more decompressed as a medium, which makes them much harder to approach. i've loved doing this, and really valued the experience, but how do i even begin to recommend someone approach this, when so much of the specific pleasure i get is from seeing these characters and locations grow and change over time? how do you even begin to read a work of that scope? what is even meaningful out of that time to convey to another person? and yet it is meaningful, having lived through it, in the way living in another city is meaningful. i can tell you what i did there, and the important things that happened to me, but the only way to really get it is to move there yourself, and that's a lot to ask of someone.

stats under the cut, if you're curious about just how much time i've spent on each individual game

yakuza 0: 115:45 started 8/10/22, completed 9/7/22

yakuza kiwami: 66:24 started 9/9/22, completed 10/10/22

yakuza kiwami 2: 73:20 started 10/10/22, completed 10/30/22

the majima saga: 2:49 started 10/18/22, completed 10/26/22

yakuza 3: 103:20 started 10/31/22, completed 2/20/23 (with a break from november to february)

yakuza 4: 124:14 started 2/20/23, completed 3/17/23

yakuza 5: 168:17 started 3/18/23, completed 4/27/23

yakuza 6: 76:05 started 4/30/23, completed 5/20/23

judgment: 114:29 started 5/22/23, completed 7/16/23

yakuza like a dragon: 131:31 started 7/16/23, completed 9/2/23

lost judgment: 131:10 (shocking how close this is to YLAD) started 9/17/23, completed 11/4/23

the kaito files: 12:59 started 11/5/23, completed 11/10/23

the man who erased his name: 75:17 started 11/11/23, completed 11/27/23

total time, across the entire series: 1195:40

i benchmarked these against the completionist starts on HowLongToBeat, and i was actually under par that way until about yakuza 4, when my times suddenly got much longer than estimated. what changed? mahjong. i learned how to play mahjong, and that was great (mahjong rules), but it's added dozens of hours to my games, easily, and even with that LADG is the only one of the games where i managed to complete the in-game mahjong objectives. y4 has four separate tournaments you can climb your way to the top of, one for each main character, and i never even got close, but i spent a lot of time trying!

[videogamerkm]

Sky Tracker 2.3.0

Do you play Sky: Children of the Light? Do you like keeping track of things outside of the game?

I made an app for that.

Sky Tracker is a lightweight offline application I made to help keep track of a bunch of stuff in the game, including spirits, seasons, winged light, statistics, and more.

If you have a previous version, overwrite it with the new exe, your data won’t be lost! Though it might be a good idea to make some backups just in case.

Casually skipping announcing another update (it's fine a lot of it needed to be updated and was placeholder stuff anyway).

This update includes new nesting shop stuff, the prices changes mentioned by TGC in that shop, Sky 5th Anniversary, Season of Duets, and a Tournament of Triumph placeholder.

I'm also changing the tag I use for these posts from just "sky tracker" to "sky cotl tracker" to hopefully make it easier to search for on Tumblr's awful, awful search feature. Will back-update posts later today or tomorrow.

[judgeitbyitscover]

Dark Star Trilogy by Marlon James

Cover art by Pablo Gerardo Camacho

Riverhead Books, 2019 & 2022

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (2019)

Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: "He has a nose," people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard.

Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written an adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf explores the fundamentals of truths, the limits of power, the excesses of ambition, and our need to understand them all.

Moon Witch, Spider King (2022)

In Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Sogolon the Moon Witch proved a worthy adversary to Tracker as they clashed across a mythical African landscape in search of a mysterious boy who disappeared. In Moon Witch, Spider King, Sogolon takes center stage and gives her own account of what happened to the boy, and how she plotted and fought, triumphed and failed as she looked for him. It’s also the story of a century-long feud—seen through the eyes of a 177-year-old witch—that Sogolon had with the Aesi, chancellor to the king. It is said that Aesi works so closely with the king that together they are like the eight limbs of one spider. Aesi’s power is considerable—and deadly. It takes brains and courage to challenge him, which Sogolon does for reasons of her own.

Both a brilliant narrative device—seeing the story told in Black Leopard, Red Wolf from the perspective of an adversary and a woman—as well as a fascinating battle between different versions of empire, Moon Witch, Spider King delves into Sogolon’s world as she fights to tell her own story. Part adventure tale, part chronicle of an indomitable woman who bows to no man, it is a fascinating novel that explores power, personality, and the places where they overlap.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Artemis Fowl and That One Time Opal Koboi Went Full Disney Villain

Ah yes, the book that explores the aftermath of trying to mind-wipe Artemis Fowl and the consequences of assuming that just because your archnemesis is in a coma, they're not plotting their revenge. It's no secret that we stan Opal Koboi in this house, but uhhh...not gonna lie, she makes that REALLY DIFFICULT in the early chapters of this book. Let's talk Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception.

*As per usual with sequels and books that aren't the first in the series, spoilers abound below the break.*

Opal Koboi being hated by her entire engineering class in college--Foaly included--is most easily and canonically chalked up to systemic fairy sexism. I'm not here to dispute that charge, because there was absolutely airy sexism involved, but I submit to you, dear reader, that the fact that Opal had matered cleansing comas by age 14 and could literally study in her sleep might have also had something to do with it. Although if it had, Foaly might not have been so lackadaisical about letting Opal rot in the J. Argon clinic.

Let's just take a minute to appreciate that cloning herself and plotting a breakout from a stupid secure mental health facility with ADDED LEP SECURITY is the BACKUP plan. Because hot damn honey, replacing yourself with a clone requires a level of planning that is like, fourth-level chess master with a flair for the dramatic--and we'll get back to that flair for the dramatic in a second, because it is fully on display for every single one of Opal's three main plots in this book.

Her first main plan is to get revenge on Holly and Root for disrupting her plan to become Empress of Haven by framing Holly for Root's murder by tricking Holly into taking a practically impossible shot to disarm an explosive device that was strapped to the Commander's chest and broadcasting video but not audio of the whole event to the LEP. Like, Opal. My girl. That is simultaneously brutal and dramatic of you.

And the thing about the entire scene is that it's really, really damn well written. I got this book on release day, and bawled all the way through this and I think the next couple of chapters. The extra cruel thing that Opal did here was choose a murder weapon that there was precisely ZERO hope of coming back from. Holly may have managed a four-minute healing for Butler in the last book, but as (I'm pretty sure) Foaly says, "magic doesn't work on melted slop." The bomb Opal strapped to Root's chest doesn't just kill him, it collapses the chute tunnel behind Holly as she makes a desperate bid to escape in time to rescue Artemis from another bomb. There was no way to bring Root back from this, and because Opal is a high-drama nemesis, Root is of course suffering the whole way down. The bomb is strapped to his chest using octo-bonds, and Opal spends the entire scene remotely tightening them, slowly crushing Root's chest while Holly stands six feet away to stop the proximity sensor from blowing them both to kingdom come. Root's death is brutal, painful, and Holly spends the entire rest of the book mourning him. It is HEARTBREAKING for a middle grade death scene, and really hella extra for a middle grade villain.

Opal's plan for revenge on Artemis is a bit less moustache-twirling, but not by much. She has clocked that Artemis is really into art theft since his mind wipe, so she gets to The Fairy Thief before he does and plants a bio-bomb tracker in the painting tube that will activate once the tube is opened. So her plan was for Artemis to die in a moment of ironic triumph while Holly looked on. Because oh yeah, Holly bails on the explosion in the Haven chute just barely in time on the hope and prayer of saving Artemis. Unfortunately, Holly gets to the hotel just in time to see the bomb go off. Artemis is fine because Butler is just that damn good, but Holly is having arguably the worst day if her life.

As she collapses to the roof of the hotel trying to process the fact that three of the most important people in her life have just been murdered in front of her--and the niggling worry that the sweet spot might not have been real and she might have just flat-out killed Root herself--who shows up to gloat? Opal goddamn Koboi. In tow Opal has a second bio-bomb for Holly that she barely escapes by containing it with her helmet. As a bonus side effect, Ark Sool and everyone in the lower elements thinks Holly is dead now, because all her vitals flattened simultaneously as the bomb fried her helmet. So now Foaly is also having a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.

And in a brief sidebar: Opal might be a dramatical cats villain, but we love her. We DO NOT love Ark Sool, because his ass made Foaly go over the footage of Root's death with a fine tooth comb to try to prove Holly's guilt, and even Foaly almost breaks because he literally has to slow-mo through the footage of Root being blown to hell multiple times. Like, Foaly just has PTSD now. That's just a thing that Ark Sool casually did to the centaur who is almost single-hoofedly standing between humans and the People. NICE GOING, ASSHOLE. We hate Ark Sool.

Now, Opal's track record for successful plans in this book seems to have begun and ended with cloning herself and having the Brill twins break her out of the Argon Clinic, because her revenge plan is 1 for 3, and her backup revenge plan just gets WILD. On discovering that Holly and Artemis suvived, Opal captures them and drops them in a defunct theme park that was human wonders of the world themed and is currently overrun by trolls. And the really wild thing is that Opal had to have either done this before or else has the best freaking team in the world, because the exits are newly blocked and there are little screens with gloats on them scattered throughout the whole park. Holly and Artemis do escape, but it would have definitely easier if the LEP hadn't mind-wiped Artemis, because he was definitely not working with a full deck and kept trying to just *wait out the delusion* instead of actively running from trolls with a taste for human flesh. None of that is ideal, but thanks once again to Butler and Mulch, Artemis and Holly live to foil Opal's big main plan.

The TLDR on this plan is to throw humans and fairies into a massive war by exposing the fairies when they try to sneakily scupper a human attempt to mine the mantle for power. This involves a lot of warheads and phsyics and attempts to direct a metric ton of molten metal eating through the earth's crust. For being the objectively highest stakes plot, the book doesn't spend a whole lot of time on this, and I can't blame them. Opal going full vengeful dramatic villain is WAY more interesting. Unfortunately, Holly and Artemis do manage to thwart Opal, who has the meltdown of all meltdowns right before she spends a week as a human child on a farm--for complicated reason that I cannot be bothered to explain here, because Opal Koboi is objectively too fantastic and dramatic to deserve that...except for how she kind does deserve that for what she did to Commander Root.

Ark Sool probably also deserves it, because he doesn't let Holly attend Root's funeral, and proceeds to bury her in internal affairs investigations. We really, REALLY hate Ark Sool.

So overall, this book really marks a turning point/new beginning for Artemis and Pals, and this book is where Opal Koboi arguably shines brightest because our girl is UNHINGED and we love to watch it happen. Even if we do start watching it through tears.

[mental-health-and-jesus]

1/17/2024

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💗Right Now I’m Struggling A Lot So Taking A Break On Here For A Little Bit 10/16/2024

10/20/2024 Posting but not everyday and do it not because I have to because I want to spread that Love that God is giving Me💗

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Hello 👋

I’ve been struggling with Mental Health for a while now and know that I’m not alone.

In 2023 have became way more close to Jesus.

I have Autism and may also have OSDD.

In this blog want to share Bible Passage, Music, Art, Conversation etc. Yours and Mines.

In My Bible Journey reading more and more every day :) There’s parts that I know with stories but there’s a lot I don’t know and learning more about it, I just love it 😆

1 Corinthians 10:31

‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. ‘

Zechariah 9:9

‘Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ‭Prophecy https://www.tumblr.com/mental-health-and-jesus/758604115982139392/8-12-2024-bible-app-prophecies-whoever-is

Favorite Apps

#Bible - Verse of the Day

Bible

Practice Devo

Amen

Soultime

Bible Tracker

- 8-10-2024 New Format :) 😊

Pexels for some of the background photos

LORD✝️ YHWH✝️ אֲדֹנָי✝️ אלוהים✝️ Is Always With You 💗

My Prayer 🙏

[rosenpiety]

╰┈➤  #𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 —   You  defy  INFAMY.  You  proclaim  GLORY.  You  are  the  KNIGHTS  OF  BEAUTY.  With  each  triumph,  you  must  confront  yourselves  anew,  peering  into  the  depths  of  your  HEARTS  and  acknowledge  the  potential  for  malevolence.

» a  study  in  memories,  in  blind  devotion,  the  loss  of  innocence.  to  understand  the  trials  of  a  war  torn  childhood,  the  scars  that  you  can't  see  but  will  always  be  there,  and  it  is  to  seek  beauty  in  the  most  unexpected  places  — 

CARRD » HEADCANONS » ISMS » VISAGE » THREAD TRACKER » RULES

an  independent,  highly  selective,  low  activity, 21+ only,  low  energy  roleplay  blog  for  ARGENTI  from  Honkai:  Star  Rail;  this  character  is  based  heavily  in  headcanon,  and  I  play  him  specifically  as  an  EMANATOR  OF  BEAUTY.  There  will  be  a  lot  of  dark  themes  as  well  due  to  Argenti's  childhood,  so  please  be  warned.  Make  sure  to  look  through  my  rules  before  following  and  interacting! Devoted to and adored by MISHA. 

affiliates: @duelmarks