#Very curious over the choice of ‘security guys’

[completeoveranalysis]

[8]

OHHH

OHHHHHHH

On the one hand I’m so in love with how fiercely Kohane rebuffs her mother when it comes to Watanuki that it actually leaves her speechless. And you can SEE the fear that grips her when she realises she might be losing control of the moment - which, good. Be scared. 

But then THIS. 

When the pressure gets to her all over again and her Rage is the most important thing to her (it always is) and she then she says this. 

she chooses to tell Kohane to lie rather than even dare face her own personal insecurities, especially when they come from other people. 

Once again, she’s chosen what’s more important to her: her revenge. Her anger. Her desire to make others suffer.

It’s always been more important than Kohane herself, but completely unknowingly she breaks the final thing keeping Kohane here. The last thing bit of integrity Kohane believed her mother had.

And How terribly sad that this is what crosses the final line. 

That up until this point Kohane was still willing to do it properly, despite it all, but THIS is where her mother destroys the last remaining thing left between them. The only thing Kohane had left of her relationship with her mother was the promise to tell the truth, and now her mother has tossed that away as well. 

Kohane visibly deflates, shocked at first and then resigned. The very last thing about her home life that was important to her has been shattered before her eyes, for her mother’s spite once again. 

and there’s nothing left to do but follow the instructions and let it all come crumbling down. 

Which she deserves! 

There’s such a strength in her for doing this.

For following it to the letter knowing what will happen.

And knowing that it has been a long time coming, but that there’s nothing left to save any more. 

Also our precious noodle boy is here to help, which is also good! 

I’m sure hitsuzen only has good things in store.

All left for the next chapter. Naturally.

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC Police Officer Wes

"Excuse me, sorry, Mr. Batman, sir!"

That's definitely not a voice he knows. Bruce halts in his steps, aborting his usual retreat into the shadows, and turns back around. Commissioner Gordon, who was still in the process of wrapping up his small talk with Tim - the term 'grumpy banter' would describe their conversation more accurately at this point, but Bruce knows better than to argue with the two over semantics - also turns around, pausing in the middle of the sentence.

A ginger haired boy, wide-eyed and obviously either nervous, starstruck, or both, is staring at him from a few feet behind the Commissioner. Bruce can see a few more faces peeking from behind the half-opened door to the roof, all of them filled with anticipation. He knows two of them: detectives that work directly under Gordon, Isaiah Vasquez, and Tasha Kuznets. The third one, a black man in his forties, also looks vaguely familiar, but Bruce can't recall a name.

Yet, he knows absolutely nothing about the ginger, who hasn't blinked once since Bruce noticed him and is now biting on his lips. But he is wearing a police uniform, so, possibly, a new hire?

"Weston, get out," Jim sighs, waving a shooing hand at the boy with a look of barely concealed exasperation on his face. Definitely a new hire, then. That's the level of annoyance he reserves only for the overachieving rookies that he begrudgingly likes but never admits to.

"I-" newly named Weston starts but cuts himself off. Then, he takes a deep breath and straightens up, "Just one question, sir!"

"Weston, I swear to God," Commissioner pinches the bridge of his nose, lifting his glasses up a bit. But Tim tilts his head to the side, looking in the ginger's direction and raising his eyebrows. His domino mask hides it, but Bruce knows his menagerie of kids well enough to see that he is at least a bit curious about the boy. So he turns back around fully and inclines his head, giving Weston his attention. He doesn't mind talking with those rare few members of GCPD that Gordon likes.

Weston perks up like a very eager dog at the sight of a treat. In the contrast lighting of the BatSignal, his hair looks like it's on fire.

"If you don't mind, was the 'Smiling case' relevant to Joker in any sense?" The boy asks, loud and clear - maybe even too loud - with his unblinking gaze still glued to Bruce. Like he is afraid that if he closes his eyes for a moment, Gotham's vigilantes are going to disappear without a trace.

It's not a question Bruce expected, to be honest. The 'Smiling case' was closed just a few days ago, Gordon was still not done with the paperwork, as far as Oracle's records went. A murder of three, where all victims had some badly drawn clown makeup on them - post-mortem makeup, as it turned out, the murderer tried to deceive the investigation by trying to cover it up as Joker's doing. Only, he didn't do a good job at it, all the Bats were way too familiar with the Mad Clown's signature style. Not to mention that Joker was still securely sealed in his Arkham cell.

Bruce turns to look at Red Robin. He was the one working on the case, so Bruce gives him the choice of answering or not. Tim jerks his shoulder, looks the ginger boy up and down, and then shakes his head.

"Aside from a poor attempt at leading the investigation in the wrong direction, no, it wasn't," Tim shrugs, "The guy isn't even a Gothamite, he knew of Joker only from the rumors and media. And the clown faces were a makeshift cover-up."

Weston visibly deflates at the answer. Bruce watches in a slight amusement as Tasha nudges the other officer, one he doesn't remember the name of, in the shoulder, and stage-whispers, "Pay up." The older man huffs and disappears behind the door, followed by Isaiah.

"Thank you, Mr. Red Robin," Wesley nods politely and takes a step back, his eyes darting to Gordon. Tim snorts a laugh but doesn't correct him. Commissioner, though, gives the boy a long, dreadful sigh.

"Is that all, officer Weston?" He asks, not even bothering to hide his 'tired dad' voice.

The ginger nods again, "Yes, Commissioner Gordon."

"Then get out of my sight before I make all your shifts double," Jim commands, and Weston nearly runs back to the door with a speed that makes Bruce involuntarily think of speedsters. Must be the red hair.

Tim turns to look at the Commissioner right as the door to the roof slams shut behind both Weston and Kuznets.

"Who is he?"

Bruce is also a bit curious now. New recruits in the GCPD are nothing out of the ordinary, but Jim seems to know this one personally, and Kuznets, who is one of his trusted detectives, seems to also like the officer.

Gordon briefly huffs and stuffs his hands in the pockets of his coat. It's quite chilly today; Bruce makes a mental note to switch everyone to their more insulated suits. Scarecrow is currently out on the loose. It won't do any good if any of the Bats went down with a cold.

"Wesley Weston, fresh out of the Academy," Commissioner sighs, but, somehow, Bruce gets the impression it's not a sound of simple exasperation over a new officer eager to prove himself. Jim proves his assumptions by looking around the shoulder to make sure the door to the roof is still closed, and continuing, "Born and raised in the middle of nowhere, Illinois, but GCPD was his first choice. He explained it as having a few friends living in the city, which, unfortunately, proved to be right."

Bruce frowns and grunts, alarm bells ringing in his mind. Deliberately choosing to work in Gotham despite not being from here can be caused by many reasons, and nearly none of them are good reasons.

"Unfortunately?" Tim inquires suspiciously, also with a slight frown, but Jim waves them both off.

"No, he's got nothing to do with any of the criminals. It was the first thing I checked when he mentioned 'friends'. If anything, he's quite on the opposite; he'd make a great detective one day, what with his countless conspiracy theories, determination and the insane urge to dig up every single detail known to mankind," he laughs a bit, and Bruce notices a slight, teasing twinkle to the Commissioner's eyes behind his glasses. "On his second day here, the boy went and plain told me he knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne and that he's saying that because he knows I know and he is aware we're working together."

The alarm bells in Bruce's mind turn into sirens. They never discussed the matters of Bats' real identities with Gordon - Bruce had his suspicions that the man knew it and simply kept his status quo. In all fairness, James Gordon didn't make it to Gotham's Commissioner by sheer dumb luck, so all the Bats kind of expected him to figure it out one day.

But Jim knowing who's behind the cowl is one thing. A new, out of town officer is quite another.

"What did you answer?" Tim asks with an easy smile, but Bruce sees the barely noticeable tension in his shoulders.

Gordon nearly grins, "I didn't believe him, which turned out to be exactly what he expected. He also told me of some kind of a familial curse - he called it 'Cassandra's curse', I believe you're aware of what it means. And then, when I naturally expressed my doubts, proceeded to show it in action. Believe me, it works. Sometimes, it even works too well," the man looks to the side with an amused huff, "That's why officer Weston is strictly prohibited from voicing his opinions on any of the ongoing cases outloud. Detective Kuznets almost missed some critical evidence because of his input once."

Cassandra's curse, Bruce has heard of that saying before. Granted, he never thought it could be a real thing, and he is not intending on starting now, not before he investigates the matter thoroughly. But he does trust Jim - years and years of working together would do that to people - so he simply nods in understanding, leaving the matter of supernatural aside for now.

"What about his friends?" Red Robin asks again, and that causes Gordon to wince momentarily.

"That, I believe, was the cause of his performance just now. One of his friends runs an occult shop, and the other one loves to hang around our forensic scientists and coroners occasionally," the man waves their immediate frowns off again, "I don't go into the morgue often, but I heard he's good at finding out the causes of death by a few looks at the body. And they run a lot of bets between them three," Jim shrugs nonchalantly, "The last one was about the 'Smiling case', I take it."

"Any reason to worry about them?" Bruce can't help but ask. It's not unusual for people to be weird in this city, and running an occult shop and hanging out with pathologists are not exactly reasons to go through background checks when they've got much more pressing issues on their plate. Namely, Scarecrow: it's been more than a week since his escape, but none of the Bats have heard anything about him yet. Oracle is already busy enough with that and the current uprise of gang activity in the Narrows, there's no point in piling even more work on her shoulders just because of some gossip that rubs Bruce the wrong way.

Gordon, thankfully, doesn't take his question lightly and pauses, scratching his chin.

"No," he finally concludes after some thought, "They are a bit strange for non-Gothamites, I'll say that, but in terms of this city? They are no stranger than my neighbors from upstairs." Gordon doesn't tell them to leave it alone, Bruce notices. However, it's probably not because of any doubts he has; the Bats just have a habit of tripplechecking everything anyways, and who would know that better than Jim Gordon?

A quick glance to Tim proves Bruce's thoughts. Red Robin, despite the mask, looks thoughtful. How many cases is he already working on, seven? Bruce makes another mental note to ask Alfred to cut his caffeine intake. It might be a bit hypocritical of him, what with his own plans to send a few messages to JLD about the 'Cassandra's curse', but Bruce excuses himself as the adult in the family.

Commissioner Gordon clears his throat.

"Do you want me to turn around so you can make your mysterious escape, or-" he starts, but both vigilantes are already gone by the time he finishes, "-or not, okay."

[tonkatsubowl]

blind. iii

dan heng x fem!reader

it's a series now! ⛧ part one. ⛧ part two.

➽ inspired by satoru gojo! what if the reader had a special ability with her eyes and often wore a blindfold?

➽ reader is a flirt!

dan heng has zero experience when it comes to relationships and intimacy.

he had very, very high expectations when he first got into a relationship with you...and he really thought you would be blowing up his phone, asking for his attention and just begging for his presence twenty-four seven.

however, it wasn't that bad as he thought it'd be. most likely because you are a stellaron hunter, and thus you were a busy woman. after your date with dan heng, you had vanished for about a day, not even texting dan heng. for once, he was rather worried about you, especially since you showed great interest in him in the beginning, and well...

you kissed him that one night.

in truth, you were actually in the middle of an emergency expedition to help kafka and silver wolf. they needed you, and you had no choice but to go missing for a few hours, causing your little dragon boy to be worried.

luckily for you, you found a moment to catch your breath after sending a world to a self-destructive state, watching as society began to rip each other apart.

your phone buzzed, and your eyes peeled to the notification display that popped up.

➽ dan heng: hey. are you okay?

you grinned to yourself. you couldn't respond yet, but you will respond later.

...but it had been about a few hours since you sent that message. why haven't you responded back yet?

over at the astral express, dan heng laid in bed with a bit of anxiety. he was a boyfriend now, and he hadn't told anyone. and neither have you, so this was a little secret relationship the both of you guys had. however, the man was anxious that he was hiding away in his room, but luckily, it was the dead of night...and his friends were all asleep.

he tried to sleep a couple of times, but he couldn't. all he could think about was you. maybe he should go and grab some melatonin and sleep it off, and-

ding!

his hands immediately scramble to his phone, seeing your response.

➽ y/n: sorry for the late response. had an emergency. are you okay?

he texted you back immediately.

➽ dan heng: good. i'm okay.

➽ y/n: lol. were you worried? ♡

➽ dan heng: no, i was just curious.

what a liar.

➽ y/n: if you say so! because i missed you. ♡♡♡♡♡

dan heng sighed at your message.

➽ dan heng: i'm just glad you're okay. what was the emergency?

➽ y/n: don't worry about it! just something to do with a mission of mine.

➽ dan heng: i see. i hope everything is okay.

➽ y/n: ? i'm a stellaron hunter and you want to hope everything is okay?

you were teasing him.

➽ dan heng: you know what i mean.

➽ y/n: lmfao, look, if things didn't go well on my end your friends would have the time of their life

something about what you said...didn't seem right.

➽ dan heng: ?

➽ dan heng: what do you mean?

➽ y/n: we're technically enemies, baby doll.

➽ dan heng: yes, but... we're in a relationship, no? as your boyfriend, i should be worried.

ooh, he's taking this seriously. you're into it.

➽ y/n: .

➽ y/n: god i want to kiss you

➽ dan heng: ???

➽ y/n: look, go get some rest. want me to sneak into the astral express again tonight?

➽ dan heng: ...

➽ dan heng: um.

➽ dan heng: if you'd like.

he wanted to see you again. you surpassed the security systems last time, so... and he had a feeling your visit this time had nothing to do with the information in his computer.

➽ y/n: alright, baby doll. i'm omw

➽ dan heng: baby doll??

➽ dan heng: ???

➽ dan heng: why are you calling me baby doll?

➽ dan heng: ...

➽ dan heng: y/n? hello?

➽ dan heng: sigh.

dan heng was right. you didn't want the information on the computer he had, but him.

you successfully infiltrated the astral express' train once again, but this time...something was different. when the door had opened, dan heng greeted you, but...

"y/n. hello⸻"

he froze as his hand went up the air to greet you. his eyes lingered on the bandage that was on your face and your arm was wrapped with bandages...you were injured. but you still came to see him with that flirtatious, cocky smile of yours.

"dan-dan." you cooed quietly as you closed the door behind you, locking it. taking off your shoes, you opened your arms to hug him, but he went up to you instead, hands on your shoulders.

"what? why are you injured? what happened? who did this to you?"

you blinked, staring at dan heng with a puzzled look before smiling. "oh, this? these are just burns and cuts. don't worry about it-"

"let me see your injuries."

you stare at him for a moment, and you would sigh. "look, it's okay, dan-dan. i only got messed up a bit, it's not like i'm dead⸻"

"let me see them, please, y/n."

you stare into his eyes as he gazed upon you with a worried expression, leaving you with a sigh. "alright, dan-dan. since you're so worried."

you move over to the floor to sit down before removing the bandages that was wrapped around your arm. you wince and you flinch, embracing the burning sensation as the cold air of the night kissed your injuries...and god, it stung.

dan heng frowned at the sight before getting up. "i'll be back."

"wait⸻"

you watch as he gets up to go to a different area of his room where he retrieved a box, assuming it was a med kit for you. he approached you, grabbing various of ointments and a few bandages.

"dan-dan, i already took care of it⸻"

"this ointment i have with me is strong enough to cure your injuries in a couple of days."

you decided not to protest. the moment the main was insisting on helping you...there was no used to stopping him. instead, you sheepishly smile, nodding. "..alright." you whisper before you watched him do his work.

applying the ointment to your arm, you flinch, cursing to yourself as you felt the ointment being rubbed on the burning spots.

"fire?" he murmured. "or was it a weapon don on high temperature?" he questioned.

"both," you smile through the pain, "eventually got him, but he had me...as you can see."

he sighed. "please be more careful."

"you're worried huh? that bad?" you grin.

"yes," he paused for a moment, "...i just...we had a bet, that's all. a deal."

you fell silent, but you still had a smile, "...i know. i have the flash drive on me, after all." you said.

now the two of you were quiet, and you were already used to the stinging pain that had kicked you in the ass. eventually, dan heng finished, replacing your bandages with newer ones and tossing the old ones out.

"alright, so... just come back tomorrow and i'll have to do the same thin⸻"

you got up, brushing your lips against dan heng's as you gently pushed him against your desk. he was taken back for a moment, but...he returned the kiss, just a bit. he was a bit inexperienced, after all.

pulling away, you looked at him with a satisfied smile.

"thanks, dan-dan. i'll come back tomorrow, but..." you take a step back. "wish i could stay longer." you look down to your phone, a frustrated look across your features. "i have something to do."

dan heng was quiet, looking at you with a worried expression before nodding. "...just don't get hurt."

he paused.

"...that ointment is expensive."

you grinned, turning your back towards him as you stepped towards the door.

"...i'll be back."

[foreverrandomwritings]

happy pride cutie💗💜💙

i was curious if you could write, someone being mean to reader for being bi, saying they’re faking it, them just being biphobic.

and from a character of your choice, have them be all protective, and comforting the reader while they’re upset. i’m a sucker for hurt/comfort 🥴

Summary: The moon boys are amazing boyfriends to their bisexual girlfriend.

Pairings: Steven Grant x afab!Reader Marc Spector x afab!Reader Jake Lockley x afab!Reader

Warnings: harassment, blood, insecurity. Thats it?

Word count: 1397

Masterlist M's PMC Masterlist

~I love me some bi pride. Also really want someone to protect and comfort me. 

~I’m gonna do MoonKnight mostly because I want an excuse to write for all the boys.

~We’ll start with Steven first. I know he’s not very confrontational but I think that after everything happened that completely changed. 

~He’s the one to use words to protect you. Even though he’s shy and pretty reserved anytime someone comes after you he becomes bold and confident. This had been shown on many occasions. 

~You had come in to visit him at work one day. He was on lunch so you guys walked through the exhibits with you asking him occasional questions about them. Which he did gleefully. 

~You had just asked him the name of one of the statutes when you felt a tug in your backpack. You turned around and saw one of your pins in a middle aged woman’s hand. 

~She had a scowl on her face and gave you a disgusted look as she looked over you, head to toe. 

~You squirmed a little under her gaze, quickly growing uncomfortable with the way she was glaring at you.

~ “Can we help you?” Your boyfriend pipped up, looking at the pin he had gifted you clutched inside the woman’s fist. You were glad he spoke up because your voice was gone as you looked at the women.

~ “I don’t think it’s appropriate to show something like this in public. Let alone somewhere that has so many children present.” She spat out. 

~ “Well, I don't think that’s any of your business and I think you need to return the item before I go and get security.” His hand extended towards her expectantly. You knew that Marc and Jake had to have been fighting to front as Steven shook his head glancing at his reflection in a shiny statue momentarily. 

~ “Being a part of that community isn’t something that needs to be displayed.” Her voice had venom in it. 

~ “Don’t worry lady, I'm definitely not interested in you.” You told her, finally finding your voice.

~ “I was not worried about that.” And for some reason she sounded offended at the fact you weren’t attracted to her.

~ “This is your last chance to give her back her pin before I get security.” He said more sternly, his accent thick as his glare darkened. She handed him the pin with a huff before turning around and running away. 

~ “Thank you, Steven.” You told him as he pinned the object back in place. 

~ “It’s alright love. No one deserves to be treated like that. I really don’t understand why people are twisted up by people in the lgbtq+ community.” He was standing in front of you now. Looking at the ground sheepishly. You kissed his cheek in a thank you causing a blush to bloom along his cheeks. Then you both continued on your walk.

~Now for Marc. 

~He is the one that comforts you. Reassures you constantly that you are valid, loved and supported. 

~You had told him of your desire to go to pride. He had reluctantly(not that reluctantly because he was actually super excited to share this experience with you) joined you in your time there. 

~He had even bought you matching shirts. Yours said I’m the bisexual girlfriend. His said I’m here with my bisexual girlfriend. The words were written in the bi pride colors. 

~You were so excited the day of, you showed up to watch the parade that morning with a beaming smile on your face. A large group of people passed you by and you could see a few of them reading your shirts. 

~You had always been a bit shy when around other people in the LGBTQ community. There had been many different instances that they had shamed you in the past. This time wasn’t any different. When one of the women started talking to someone else in the group. 

~ “How can she even say she’s bi when she’s in a relationship with a guy.” She snickered as she passed you. 

~ It didn’t seem Marc had heard, however, to focused on the parade going on in the street in front of you. No one here posed a threat to either of you in his mind so he had let loose a little. 

~ He had however noticed the way your hand slipped out of his. He looked at you quickly and saw you fiddling with the ends of your shirt. 

~ “What’s wrong?” He asked as he scanned the crowd to see if he could spot what happened.

~ “It’s nothing Marc. You can go back to watching the parade.” Your hands wrung together as you spoke. 

~ “Tell me what happened honey. Did someone hurt you?” His eyes scanned your body looking for injuries. Though he didn’t know they could’ve laid a hand on you with him standing right there. 

~ “Just someone invalidating me again. Nothing new.” He knew that you had insecurities surrounding your sexuality. Having been told many times you were faking it, that it didn’t exist or that you weren’t actually bisexual since you were with Marc. 

~He had always done what he could to reassure you that you were validated and that you shouldn’t listen to what everyone said. This time was no different as he brought you into his chest squeezing you to him. Your arms came around his middle as you hugged him back. 

~ “You are such an amazing and wonderful girlfriend babe. Your sexuality is valid. No matter what anyone else says you and I both know you’re bisexual. Steven and Jake know you are bisexual and we love you so much. We are comfortable with you exploring both sides of your sexuality as well. You just have to sit us down and talk about it with us.” He kissed the top of your head as you squeezed him tighter. 

~It was always comforting to be in his arms. He smelled like a combination of the three of them. The three that would love and care and protect you until their last breath. 

~Now onto Jakeeeeeeee. 

~This man will let fists fly with no hesitation. Very very very protective. 

~This one will be more violent than the other ones of course. 

~It was routine for one of the boys to be standing outside of your workplace waiting for you when Jake didn’t have a mission for Konshu. 

~So as you exited the building you weren’t surprised to see a familiar hat placed atop a familiar set of curls. 

~ “How was work today mi amor.” Jake had asked you as he usually did. Taking your hand in his. 

~ “Fine.” Was your simple answer, even though work had been super annoying due to one specific co worker. 

~ “What happened?” He asked you as he scanned your face with his eyes. 

~ “Why do you think something happened?” You asked him surprised.

~ “You normally won’t shut up about your work day. But today was just fine. So what happened?” His demeanor changed as he finished his sentence, now in complete protective mode. 

~ “Chad from accounting was going on again about me being bi. Told me that it was a sin. That I would feel the wrath of hell. Told me I didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as him. Just the normal gist and what not.” You shrugged simply as though the words didn’t sting you. As if you didn’t feel a deep hole within your chest as though he had stabbed you repeatedly with every word he spoke. 

~ “Where is Chad now?” Jake was seathing as you spoke. The boys were all talking loudly within his head wanting to find the guy and put and end to him. 

~ “He’s probably out back. He takes a shortcut through the alley to get home.” You knew he was going to find him anyway so you figured you’d save him some time. 

~ “Go Home. We’ll be there shortly.” You nodded your head, giving his hand a squeeze. 

~ “Just don’t kill him okay?” You gave him a peck on the lips before you were slipping away. 

~It was almost an hour later that Jake slipped through the doors. Hands and shirt bloodied and you knew his point had been made to Chad. You cleaned him up and thanked him for helping you. 

~ “I will always protect you amor.” Was his response. 

A/N:I love the moon boys with all my heart. Oscar Isaac puts me in a chokehold with every role he plays. Happy Birthday Bestie❤️

Tags(open): @wkndwlff @sylviebell

[amuseoffyre]

Ended up lying awake last night thinking of Ed and Zheng as mirrors of one another.

Both of them are at the top of their game, the Pirate Queen and the Legendary Blackbeard. Both of them are brilliant tacticians, clever and astute and excellent at reading a situation and using it to their benefit.

While Ed leans into visual Fuckeries with smoke and mirrors to inspire terror, awe and confusion, Zheng inclines more towards emotional Fuckeries. Auntie said it herself - "men are so fucking emotional" and Zheng uses that over and over again to get the results she wants.

We see it in the way Zheng takes control of situations with Bartholomew, Stede and Ricky. Where she lures them into a false sense of security, assures them, encourages them, tells them what they want to hear (only Ricky is more murdery than she anticipated, which is why that one goes so horribly wrong. She thought he was just weak. She didn't know he was spiteful and brutal - the fact he's someone with a legitimate source of power is the difference here. The others are desperate or have no other choice but he has choices and his choice is to be "the worst").

It's very similar to Ed's "fear is a powerful emotion: turn your enemy's fear against him and you'll own him". He uses it to make Stede run him through and to scare people into behaving and submitting. Both of them target peoples' emotions but while Ed goes for fear, Zheng goes for the soft underbelly, finding their emotional vulnerabilities and playing on them.

At the end of 2x08, Zheng does to Ed what Ed does to Izzy in 1x04: suggesting something she assumes he wants (Ed offering the captaincy to Izzy/vengeance for Izzy), indicating that there's a way to get it (Ed's retirement and vacating the spot / joining forces), flattery ('the crew are going to need someone who really knows the ropes' / 'the Pirate Queen *and* Blackbeard'). They operate using the same playbook and he recognises it when she not only tries it on him, but refocuses it on Stede to keep him sweet as well.

It's also a demonstration of the weaponising of gender and race for both of them. Ed is fully aware of how he is perceived and has seen it printed in black and white in the British propaganda. He hates it, but when he's in his deepest despair, he uses it, dressing and acting as they assume he will to terrorise them - the nine guns, the black around his eyes, calling himself "the fucking devil" after the print of the "the devil pyrate blackbeard".

Likewise Zheng knows there's a certain expectation of women, especially in a region where the colonising forces are primarily shown to be white, and uses it to her advantage to keep people off balance, knocking the emotional legs out from other people and keeping them down before they can work out wtf has happened. The scene with Bartholomew when he goes to the white guy first, then the black guy and only then to Zheng herself and the way she uses that to take control of the scene is beautiful. She also plays it sweet and nice and gentle, friendly and self-depracating, to make herself seem less of a threat, even when she has just kicked ass in front of them and they fall for it.

Both of them have a certain kind of reputation and an earned respect, but likewise, they are both also hankering for something else. A break in the day when it's become a bit of a grind. A bit of softness when everything else about their life is hard.

The difference comes from Zheng choosing the path she's on and expanding her conquests, while Ed has been pushed onto his by circumstance since childhood. Zheng actively pursues her ambition while Ed feels strangled by the reputation and name that precedes him.

I'm so curious where they'll take their arcs if/when we get S3, when Ed has made moves to step back from that life, but will inevitably be dragged back into it, while Zheng has faced her first major loss and needs to recalibrate and change her tactics.

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

Hi! Thanks for your last response. I have another question but more so for the writer in you. In an AU where after both marriages to Daemon and Laenor Rhaenyra has had no children at all but not of her own free will (so no kids with Harwin), how would that affect the characterisation of Viserys, Rhaenyra, Alicent, Aegon?

I have my ideas of course but I'm curious what you think 😀

Okay I had to think about this one a bit but I actually think that in this scenario the Dance probably wouldn't have happened.

If Rhaenyra has no children at all, Aegon is her heir by default. In this situation, it's not really worth risking a war to put Aegon on the throne earlier, especially because Rhaenyra now has an actual vested interest in keeping her brothers alive. The thing is, although sometimes we hear that Rhaenyra had to have children to secure the succession, the succession was secure through her brothers and their children, strictly speaking. Having your very own bloodline on the throne is not strictly necessary (just look at Elizabeth I), it's a want, not something needed for the good of the realm. So in this situation its in Otto and Alicent's best interests just to wait her out. Worst case scenario, Rhaenyra outlives Aegon (and if he's still hard drinking in this world, this isn't unlikely) and Aegon's child succeeds him which means....

If all else remains the same, the thing to do would be to pursue Baela as a bride for Aegon (how convenient for me!). In this scenario Daemon isn't getting any closer to the throne than that unless he attempts to usurp Rhaenyra with the Velaryons, and for all that he sucks I just can't see him doing that. A Baela/Aegon match would be a smart move in any scenario, but in this one it's ideal because the only real threats to the succession now come from the Velaryon line and Daemon's chaotic self, and if you neutralize the Velaryons you neutralize Daemon too because any resistance Daemon could possibly mount would always depend upon Velaryon backing. Otherwise he's just one guy with a dragon. That said, if Rhaenyra dies at a normal-ish age, Daemon is likely going to be long gone by then, so he's really kind of a non-issue in a world where he only has the two daughters by Laena.

Alicent is probably a lot more chill because her sons are not really in any danger. Instead of being obstacles for Rhaenyra, Rhaenyra instead needs them in order to prove that the succession is handled. Rhaenyra might actually have some motivation to bond with Aegon at the very least, seeing as he is her heir. And honestly, it's pretty likely that Aegon is a bit more well adjusted in a world where he doesn't have a sword of damocles hanging over his head the whole time, and in which his mother can just be a regular old slightly neurotic repressed lesbian (and hell, in this scenario maybe she and Rhaenyra could actually have a discreet affair. hmm...). Viserys probably still ignores his non-Rhaenyra children but maybe that fucks them up a bit less because it doesn't feel like he's actually trying to get them killed, it just makes him more of a regular asshole father (if the regular asshole was a king).

In a lot of ways, this would kind of be a win-win scenario, so it's interesting that so many people jump on the "Rhaenyra had to have kids to secure the line of succession, what was she supposed to do, force Laenor??" thing. Clearly Rhaenyra didn't have to have kids, she wanted to, which is absolutely her choice and her right, but it also makes her a lot like her father.

[batsplat]

reading your fabio/casey post, im curious: how much sympathy do you give to riders who have chosen money over success? fabio could've gone elsewhere but he chose The Bag and while i feel for him given how bad the bike is (and that there's only two bikes, etc) he did tie himself to the project for years to come

(x) hm interesting one. there's a few different things here

first off, in general I have an extreme lack of sympathy for athletes who choose wealth over success. I understand it's an inescapable part of how sports works, but that doesn't mean I have to like it - these are sums of money that I just feel are fundamentally immoral. nobody should be paid as much as some of these athletes are. now, obviously not all riders in motogp are all that well paid, I get that they don't have a lot of career security and I also get that this is a reason why everyone's jumping at those factory seats. for instance, I do have some sympathy for jorge martin's choice to switch to aprilia, even though he too is of course choosing a less competitive bike. from the estimates of these guys' salaries to us available and considering expenses, that man is not being paid in a manner commensurate to his abilities or success. (though if the adage of 'ducati pays shit salaries but great bonuses' holds true, I imagine he too is very much fine.) still, by the time you get to the numbers fabio was getting chucked at him, fundamentally I... do not care anymore. like that's dumb amounts of money, I don't care how many yachts you can buy. it's disgusting

but, well. it's also what these big money offers mean, right. it's a way for manufacturers to show riders how much they're wanted - and while I also don't like... love that the way to do this involves this many millions, that's how this process works. the reason why casey ended up switching from ducati to honda wasn't a competitive calculation where he saw that ducati was trending downwards and decided to jump ship. it's because he went to ducati and told them to make him a suitable offer, and they didn't do so. from his autobiography:

After the way they'd behaved I had pretty much decided that I was through with Ducati and even though they put a new contract in front of me, for 2011 and 2012, it was going to take a much grander gesture to make me stay. I told them I wanted them to show me what I meant to them. 'What do you mean?' they said. 'That's up to you,' I told them. I gave them months to do it and nothing happened. In the end I had to spell it out. I said, 'Rip up my current contract and show me what I am worth to you.' They wouldn't do it, and that told me all I needed to know. Up until then there was a chance that I'd stay but that effectively made my decision easy.

now, listen, casey's situation was very much its own thing, his bridges with ducati were already burnt and it was always highly unlikely he'd stay. but as he puts it, he was willing to give ducati a chance - if they put enough money on the table to show him they care. this is obviously not a performance-based decision. if casey stays with ducati, he does not win a second championship - it's as simple as that. riders want to feel wanted, they want to feel valued... and the money symbolises that to them, a commitment of faith on part of the manufacturer to the rider. martin's choice wasn't primarily financially incentivised, right (and tbh, if ducati weren't willing to put a large sum of money on the table for him, factory seat or not, they're idiots) - it was that he wanted to feel wanted. it's emotional but it's also practical in that you want to know your manufacturer will rally around you and do whatever it takes to make you succeed. it helps if you know they have a big stake in your success... money plays a role in so many of these decisions - and while I really don't like it, it's also tough to penalise fabio specifically too harshly for it

all that being said, if it really were just about any of the stuff I just listed, I would have less than zero time for the choice. I'm an old fashioned kind of bloke... for me sports is about one thing, and that's winning. but the real problem fabio faced was a lack of great options that could help him achieve said winning. let's quickly run through them:

yamaha: currently laughably uncompetitive. this season has been disappointing from them, even by the standards of their modest pre-season expectations... you would have hoped they'd be a little closer by this stage in the year. but, well, by the start of the year it was clear this would be a long-term project. they have made personnel changes in line with fabio's demands, have made shown themselves willing to follow his development direction and commit fully to him on every level as their star rider. he knows the project, he knows that the money is there - and unlike the two non-ducati european manufacturers, yamaha has a proven track record of winning championships

aprilia: the second/third best manufacturer at the moment, but far off the first. sometimes have the pace to challenge for victory, frequently don't. part of that will be down to the inconsistent riders and not just the inconsistent bikes, but it also doesn't help that it's also the number one technical problem team. aprilia had some strong early season pace around the time fabio was making his choice (remember, vinales really should have been leading the championship coming out of cota - though the fact that he wasn't does of course also tell you what you need to know about aprilia)... but at this stage it seems a little unlikely they'll have a bike in championship contention next season. the manufacturer with the least spending power, still doesn't have a title sponsor

ktm: seemingly full. now, obviously, whenever ktm says they want to stick with their current riders, you can reasonably assume they will change their minds. and they did change their minds, which is how we now have a completely new tech3 line up for next season. but realistically, given pedro's golden boy status and binder's contract spanning roughly until the next ice age, that was the best fabio could have hoped for. yes, there were murmurings both jorge and marc might be an option for the factory team - but I never took those all too seriously, and both riders have a more substantial history with ktm/red bull than fabio does. in any case, ktm will be built around pedro. I suppose you can say fabio should back himself to beat pedro, but that's the kind of call you can make if you think you'll be fighting for championships the moment you join the manufacturer. if ktm isn't there yet next year (which is likely), then what fabio would have had to do is attempt to assert himself against the next great thing, already more established than him within the manufacturer, from a satellite bike, with zero guarantee that ktm will actually be in championship contention any time soon. eh

ducati: well, look, a factory seat was never on the cards for him anyway. you'd have to think he could have gotten a satellite seat of some type, if he really had been willing to take whatever was on the table. ducati has generally liked collecting all the strongest riders, and you'd hope would've been up for it... who knows what spec he would have been able to acquire. if he's on a year old bike, then winning a title would always be a tall order. even if he's on the newest spec... the template here of course is marc, but it felt from the start that this gresini gig was supposed to be a stopgap. fabio is not at the stage of his career where he should be looking for stopgaps, and he still wouldn't have an obvious place to go for 2026. whichever way ducati ended up arranging their riders, there would have been no short to medium term route into the factory team for fabio

honda: lol

at a certain point, it does make sense to go with the manufacturer that is willing to back you as its star. now, look, maybe jorge martin wins the championship next year, in which case fabio's decision will obviously have aged poorly. but you'd have to say that's unlikely... fabio's bet here basically has to be that switching to aprilia might have brought him race wins next year, but sticking with yamaha might bring him more titles eventually. at this stage, neither of his two most plausible options look like championship contenders until 2027. yamaha, however, have a lot of money at their disposal - which they proved by signing him. if he switches now and the aprilia dream doesn't come off, it leaves him in a weaker position for 2027 than the path he's currently on. none of these options are great exactly... but there is a logic to the reasoning here. if there were an equivalent to honda 2011 for fabio to jump ship to, obviously he'd be an idiot not to accept. there just isn't, though, is there? he tied himself to the project for two years, which puts him in sync with basically the entire grid. it lets everyone completely reset for 2027... until then, you'd have to say it's pretty unlikely that anyone who isn't on a ducati will be winning any titles - and if they do, my money would still be on ktm. maybe you think fabio should back himself and take the risk, which is an understandable position. but equally, I do get how sticking with the devil you know and will go to war for you might make sense in the medium to long term. if it really was just the money, I have zero respect for that. but I don't think it was, so I'll spare him a little sympathy. for his troubles

[kermit-coded]

for the choose violence ask game:

1, 3, 8, 10, 12, 18, 22

answer whichever ones you want, i'm really curious about your dead boy detective and fantasy high hot takes are lol 🫶🏼

i know you said fantasy high/dead boy detectives but unfortunately most of my fandom takes have to do with comics so here we go.

the character everyone gets wrong.

kristen for sure. a lot of people paint her as this silly, irresponsible person who doesn't care about the consequences of her actions, but that's so derivative. she was raised in a restrictive, bigoted cult and it informs how she acts!! she's a teenager learning how to make her own choices after spending her entire life in an environment where thinking for yourself was actively discouraged, if not outright punished, so of course she's going to be messy.

3. worst fandom take i've seen.

hoo boy.... when you're a comics fan you've seen some abysmal takes. gotta be the takes surrounding how bruce is a coward for not wanting to kill people. yes, even the joker. is he flawed? yeah, but not wanting to permanently end a life is not one of those flaws. full stop.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about.

honestly anything to do with tim drake and to an extent all of the bat siblings. theres a reason why i stopped engaging with the batfandom on a larger scale and that's because it has a tendency to sand down any interesting character traits in order to fit them into a nuclear family-esque dynamic. i really don't see tim and jason ever being that close, and i think they don't really see each other as siblings. also, dick was tim's robin, not jason.

10. worst part of fanon.

i'm going with comics again because it's insane how many people not only don't read the source material but actively brag about it. i think if you are going to call yourself a comics fan, then you need to read comics. otherwise you're a fucking poser. also i hate the damage xfi did to shatterstar as a character. peter david turned him into a slutty bi stereotype when in x force 1991 he literally has a panic attack the first time he gets a boner and is very specific about the people he trusts. that's not someone who would be sleeping around a lot, and yet so many people buy into that version of him and write him like that in fics. demisexual shatterstar ftw.

12. unpopular character that i actually really like.

hmm, not quite unpopular so much as niche but amadeus cho. he's such an interesting character and he deserves more love. he's a fun little anarchist and he hates the avengers and is wracked by guilt over his family dying because shield decided that a thirteen year old genius was a threat to national security and bombed his house. really interesting guy.

18. absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

charles and his trauma. maybe it's the aro in me but sooo many people seem only focused on charles in so much as him being in love with edwin back and im like... he has character traits outside of that.

22. my favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

EVERYONE GO READ X FORCE 1991. rictor and shatterstar my underrated x men beloveds...

🔥choose violence ask game🔥

[ask-court-genshin]

... I have a feeling I'm screwed if I try to lie my way out of this one.

Raising their hands up, they offered the odd stranger a nervous chuckle. It seems like they've walked in on the wrong place entirely due to... Annoying Lumine.

"I do apologize for intruding, sir," they began, looking nervous at the glare. "I had come by to the palace under lady Furina's request from Fontaine, simply so— in her words— 'to take in the sights of Sumeru and see what it's like from the wonders of the court'. Although... I'm afraid I got myself lost and wandered off here."

Dear God, if they end up calling me out on this one, I'm screwed.

"Believe me, I really didn't mean to intrude," they added, bowing apologetically. "I can always head back and get out of the castle, if needed be."

«ENCOUNTER: Cyno & ???»

Cyno: I think it works.

Tighnari & ???: It doesn't.

The blonde man pursed his lips, furrowing his eyebrows in deep contemplation.

???: How did you get here? I could've sworn the guards here are strict...

Tighnari: Looks like your people aren't doing an adequate job, Cyno.

Cyno: Hmph. Isn't more likely that Kaveh failed to design this place with security in mind?

"Kaveh": Excuse me?!

"Kaveh" huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at his two friends. This seem to be a usual friendly banter amongst the group.

Kaveh: I'll have you know that I have based the gardens on the former King's–

Tighnari: Enough, enough.

Once again, you were sure that cut-off was intentional. Even hydro eidolons like yourself know that the former King of Teyvat's name must not be uttered. Especially in the presence of Queen Furina and her people.

With that said, it seemed as though they do believe you and your claims. (But you're not sure about Cyno... You don't think he'll actually let it slide once tea time's over.)

Cyno: While you're here– what's your name?

You tell them your name.

Cyno: Hmm... Navina.

Cyno: Navina, do you have a degree here in Sumeru?

At the corner of your eye, you see Sy floundering around, making gestures that lying will leave you digging a large grave for yourself. You shook your head.

Tighnari: Where are you leading with this?

Cyno: Which University do you prefer?

Kaveh: Oh my lord...

Despite Kaveh's disagreeing tone, all three men looked at you expectantly.

Tighnari: That question feels childish to inquire but I'm curious now as well. Navi, surely you can tell that we're either deans and headmasters of the unis inside the City.

Kaveh: ... Really, guys? Are we seriously asking this?!

Kaveh whispered.

Cyno: Navi–

Tighnari & Cyno: Which university do you prefer– Amurta, Spantamad, or Kshahrewar?

Current route: Common route

Tighnari Status: 03/50

Cyno Status: 02/50

??? Status: 00/50

⚠ NEXT ACTION WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON YOUR PLAYTHROUGH ⚠

Sy's "whispers", translated:

"Navi, Navi!!! Choose which student. Three choices, or six! Only one uni!"

"Amurta Archers! Fox dean– must be smart– and mora needed! Healing! Useful. Very!"

"Spantamad Knights! Strong, big elements! Serious guy likes! Tough."

"Kshahrewar Pillars! Pass hard test, free everything else! Yellow man, study hardest! Machines! Oil, yuck..."

"Vahumana Stallions!... No memory. Sorry."

"Rtawahist Cardinals! Stars, fate! Lumine studied! No sleep! Nights... cold... Zzz..."

"Haravatat Bulls! Strict teacher! Too much reading! Don't like ash man. But reading good!"

[the-starry-seas]

Hi!

For the ask game I'm curious about L, N and O, for any rare pair of your choice.

oh i can be So Normal About This (jango/shmi edition)

L - What do you think your ship's first date would look like?

Yeah okay so- I headcanon that Jango is a 'randomly brings home things to indicate affection' kind of guy. He is not so much a 'go to a dedicated Experience for several hours' kind of guy. This man is not well-adjusted and is not supposed to be out in public like that. He's perfectly capable of playing nice with everyone! It just stresses him out! The man's traumatised!

So like... their first date comes after a serious amount of courtship. They're already in a committed relationship and making plans for the future. Jango has never taken her on a date but she's genuinely fine with that because he's expressed his affection in so many other ways. And when she mentions wanting to go to some once-in-a-lifetime opera celebration, she's stunned when Jango offers to go with her!

Her first thought is that he's using the opera as a cover for a job. She's perfectly fine with that, she knows what kind of man she's getting in with. But to her immense surprise, he wants to hang out with her! At a dedicated experience for several hours!

Truth be told, the only reason Jango considers this, is because it's an opera where they can get a private booth and he can get into all the security systems to keep an eye on what's going on around them. He misses out on a solid third of the opera (he's not admitting that). He also feels safe and in control, which is far more important to Shmi than whether he's catching up on all the plot points. She's well aware that they're missing out on a lot of cultural context anyway.

They have a wonderful time, and after it's over, he splurges to buy her something commemorative. She insists on getting a pair so they can match. He's unexpectedly touched by that. He also drops a rather significant amount of cash on a local restaurant that's about to close, so they can have a nice dinner together to round out the night (also bc who wants to cook after coming home from the opera?).

N - What do you think each character's favorite physical trait about the other is? Their favorite personality trait?

Shmi's favourite physical trait about Jango is his eyes. They're... very complicated. Not always kind. Rarely soft. But they're expressive and deep and sometimes they lighten when he laughs just like the way the sun breaks through the clouds after a storm- She loves the way he's always looking around him, the way his eyes are always moving, the thoughts that she's learned to read in his gaze. She could watch a close-up of his eyes for hours.

As far as his personality goes, well, again - she knew what she was getting into, the man is traumatised. But he's also fiercely protective. She has no doubts that he would kill, maim, and maul to protect her. Or even if she just asked him to, tbh. For someone who spent so much of her life at the mercy of strangers' whims, this is actually very important to her, and one of the reasons she fell for him! She's always known that their relationship is going to be rockier than most people. And she's always known that he would break every law and moral in the galaxy if it would keep her safe.

Jango loves her hands. Every so often he gets sad over a callous or a scar, because he could have stopped that, if he was there. He would have stopped it. But he's here now, and he can ensure that she can have soft hands for the rest of her life. He can brush fingertips over her long fingers, the designs painted on her nails, the freckles and the little bits of flour or dirt that spell constellations over her skin. When they walk somewhere, he holds her hand. He likes that very much, so does she.

She's also peaceful. She handles bullshit with grace when it comes her way, and hardly anything seems to ruffle her. He knows, better than anyone, that it sometimes actually deeply fucks her up - but she isn't freaking out in the moment, when they have to handle a serious situation, and he's relieved by that. The man is not prepared to handle an emotional screamer, just look at him. Yeah, they argue, everyone does. But for the most part, she's a steady and gentle presence in their home, and he admires that as much as he needs it. And though he never has any shortage of praise for her, it still means more to him than he realises, to know that he can come home to someone who can help him find his peace, his centre, as well.

O - Would your ship want kids? Why or why not?

Yeah!!! So, in this AU... Jango already has Boba, Omega, and two OC clone kids (long story). Shmi already has Anakin. They both want to have more kids, and that was something they discussed early in their relationship.

Shmi brings it up first. Jango teases they're already outnumbered two-to-one by their kids, and she wants to make those odds worse? But of course his wife gets anything she wants. There's actually a bit of feels there, because she expresses that she always wanted to be a mother to more than one child, but she was too afraid to have them while she was still a slave, when they could be taken from her. But with Jango, she has the security of a free life! And Jango promises that their children will always be free.

After their marriage, and finding a place to settle down, they start talking about it in earnest. Jango's trans, so a traditional pregnancy isn't gonna happen, and also who wants to go through all that at the age of like, 45? Who??? So they do something similar to the cloning process - combining their DNA 50/50 and having a baby grown for them!

They are not expecting to receive news from the fertility center that their little embryo split into twins. Jango replies that they'll take both kids and then realises he should probably ask Shmi about that. She's fortunately also delighted to have two babies!

Shmi loves flowers and has a big flower garden. It starts with Jango gifting her an entire bush of the flowers she chose for her wedding bouquet. He fully takes care of them so she can enjoy the colours and not actually have to do any work. She likes it so much that she ends up getting more and it becomes a huge source of joy for her! So they decide to name the babies Rose and Cassia, with Mandalorian middle names that I've yet to figure out.

If you're counting, yes, that means they have six children (+ Anakin). It is a big house. It is a loud house. And they love every minute of it. I think Jango also counts C3PO as another child, the two of them do not get along and Jango is not about to do 'the damn droid' any kind of favours.

[cherokeegal1975]

The Complete Al's Baby

I discovered this comic in one of my deeply bored out of my mind internet searches because sometimes I go to weird places just to find something entertaining. Rarely does searches pan out with something even vaguely interesting but on rarest of rare occasions something odd pops up that catches my attention. This comic is one of them. I have never let anyone know I have this comic on my bookshelf and it remains hidden between some nonfiction tutorial books on drawing and crafting. I did have it hidden in a cabinet but one of the cats sprayed it and the pee went inside it and damaged my book a little bit. I had to peel apart several pages very carefully because of it. So it hides higher up. Fortunately no one bothers my books… though I sometimes wish they would because I want to share most of them.

Anyway this supposed to be comedy that doesn’t make me laugh is by the same authors who wrote Judge Dredd. A character I’m only familiar with through the movies that I never got to watch so have no opinion on them.

I don’t usually like gangster stories, but I took exception to this one because I was very bored and curious enough to try it. Keeping in mind that I think that the majority of mpregs are awful and this one isn’t too bad. So my compliment really means something. P.S. - Check out Noonibean here on DeviantART for her work and writing. I like her story though I haven’t gotten around to reading more than the first chapter and I don’t know why I haven’t. But I keep her writing in mind so I’ll eventually come back to it.

Anyway when I read this comic I can “hear “ the voices of the characters. Low, gruff any gravely for Al. High and nasal for Sal. Wheezy for their boss.

Al’s wife is a horrible singer and the one scene I really dislike in the book is the panels featuring a cat committing suicide with a gun because Velma was singing on stage. I am fond of cats and never want one to come to harm for any reason.

Now the plot is basically Al wants to be Godfather and will do anything to get the job. The current Godfather who is in poor health wands a grandson to secure the line and will grant Al’s wish to take over his mob if he has one. Velma refuses to be the one to have the baby and suggests the Al have it instead. Velma is even more ferocious than her mobster husband and since the Godfather threatens to end Al’s life if he doesn’t produce an heir, he has no choice but to undergo a procedure that will enable him to carry his baby to term. This isn’t the end of the story, there’s two more parts to it. But I’ll leave it here.

Normally I wouldn’t recommend a book like this but, I am doing it now. It’s surprisingly a good story. The artwork is great if a bit gory at times. I’m never going to be happy about the poor cat, even though I am aware that those panels are symbolically demonstrating just how awful Velma is on stage with her singing. This book is supposed to be a comedy, but it never made me laugh. But to be fair, it takes a lot for something to strike me as funny in a story. It’s a weird adventure with mob wars, one fearsome guy with ambitions enough to do anything to get what he wants. Literally anything, even having a baby himself…twice. So, check it out see what you think, buy it and hide it in your bookshelf too. Because unfortunately it doesn’t come in anything other than a large paperback book. A nice one, but I do wish it came in Kindle too. Or at least find a neutral dust jacket to cover up the cover art. It certainly gets attention, but if the people in my household ever find out I have this book, I can get a lot of grief about it.

[eveningspirit]

That SyFy show The Ark is... well... The science there doesn’t deserve the term, that’s for sure. It’s simplistic and naive and requires a LOT of suspended disbelief. But you know what? Four episodes in, I decided to put my love for hard sci-fi on a shelf and just... see where this goes.

A tv show is not a book, where you can worldbuild and create compelling characters and amazing adventures to your heart’s desire. There are time restrictions and choices need to be made. If you want to have an ensemble cast and portray about, I dunno, ten? interesting characters, something else has to give.

And I think (hope?) The Ark is trying to do just that -- create a story centered on the characters.

Like I said, we’re four episodes in and we have:

Sharon, Lane and Brice

Angus, Alicia and Trent

Felix, Doctor Kabir, Eva and Cat

I think those are the main characters. Ten, ha! I wasn’t wrong.

Sharon Garnet, Spencer Lane and James Brice are the three lieutenants, who are inexperienced and were supposed to be low level, but are now supposed to lead the rest of the crew and are responsible for their safety. I love how immature Lane acts. I’m really glad that we have the Sharon mystery out of the way by episode four. That’s great, because dragging such a thing for who knows how long would be tiring. We still have the Brice mystery. Curious where that will go (I’d lie if I said this is not what interests me most, ha!)

Angus, Alicia and Trent are the kids of the crew. Brilliant, awkward, at least in Angus’s and Alicia’s cases, but they are distinct and have their strengths and weaknesses. Trent is a scheming guy, but there’s complexity to that as well. Because after episode four, it seems he was groomed for that scheming. Also, what the scheming even is about, now that we know his “groomer” had some secret agenda?

The security guy, Felix Strickland, is the most reliable character so far. The Doc is all over the place and so, SO wrong with her approach to self-care, poor thing. Someone needs to wrap her in a blanket, lay her down, and stand guard, so she’s not disturbed for, like, a week. Of course, then everyone else would be at a risk of dying, but who cares. I love Eva Markovic too, and not just because she’s Serbian and I adore her accent. She’s determined and focused, and probably smart, but then, they all are. 

Cat, on the other hand... Yeah... Is it bad that I accept, even enjoy, flaws in male characters (like Lane being childish and selfish), but don’t really like them in females? Cat is self-serving, annoying and pretentious. She’s the character I least like. Is it because those kind of flaws tick me the wrong way, or is it because she’s a woman? Hmmm... I don’t hate her, though. She has some redeeming qualities (she steps up to the game when needed, even if she does it unconsciously).

Anyway. Beside the characters themselves, we also get a lot of various interactions between them all. It’s not just Char A always with B and C, because they are connected by some storyline, or a place where they work. They all mix and there’s a lot going on. That’s how we get a lot of different facets of those characters, and I’m very much up for that.

Yeah, I’m definitely liking this show, even if it’s not some great storytelling. 

[mr-tony-stark]

Tony is enjoying himself immensely, chatting with his friends, drinking, having Clint casually touching him.  It’s really nice.  It feels so much more real than anything else he’s had.

When Clint gets up and tries the hammer, Tony can’t help but laugh.  He’s curious though.  It should be liftable.  When Clint can’t lift it he laughs and gets up. “You’ve had a big week, Cupid.  It’s understandable that you couldn’t get it up for this,” he teased as he approached the hammer.  “It’s just physics.”

He tries to lift it and nothing.  “Wait.  Wait, I’m going to get this.”  He scurries off to the lab and returns with the gauntlets for the Iron Man and War Machine armor, and then tries again, this time with Rhodey.  Nothing.

The team then all take turns trying to lift the hammer.  The game is probably the most fun of all.  Just all of them being silly.

“The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. "Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints" is, I think, the literal translation?” Tony says.

“Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one,” Thor says, getting up and picking up his hammer easily and flipping it in his hand.”You're all not worthy.”

“Worthy... No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers.” Everyone looks over at the sound of the voice, one of Tony’s broken Iron Legion comes dragging itself out of the elevator.

“Stark?” Steve asks as everyone gets up.

“JARVIS?” Tony asks.

The only answer comes from the Iron Legionnaire.  “I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or... I was a-dream?”

Tony grabs one of his tablets and starts typing into it, trying to get control of the broken Legionnaire.  “Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit.”

“There was a terrible noise... and I was tangled in... in... strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy,” the Legionnaire continues.

“You killed someone?” Steve asks.

“Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices,” it replies.

“Who sent you?” Thor asks.

The sound of Tony’s voice echoes out of the robot. "I see a suit of armor around the world."

“Ultron!” Bruce gasps

“In the flesh,” Ultron replies.  “Or, no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission.”

“What mission?” Natasha asks.

“Peace in our time,” It responds and the windows smash in as more legionnaire burst into the room and start firing on everyone.

Clint chuckles looking at Rhodey and nodded. “Don’t worry. I love him but I’m not going to let him run me over,” he spoke and smiled softly and hummed at Tony showing PDA back. He sighs happily and nodded a bit looking down at Tony.

And he did. Throughout the whole evening he was holding Tony close, touching him, kissing him. And he was slowly getting a little buzzed. He was sitting on the ground infront of Tony inbetween his legs sipping on a flask of wine with Natasha, taking turns. He then turned around looking at Tony and smiled gently.

“It’s been a nice party, baby,” he pointed out and smiled looking at him before he looked at the others talking about the hammer. Aka, thors hammer. “So, if I lift the hammer I rule Asgard?” He spoke and looked at Thor, making Thor nod. “Yes. At all means, be my guest,” he spoke as Clint shot to his feet.

“It’s all just a trick,” he pointed out before he grabbed onto the hammer and of course it didn’t budge making him huff. “There has to be a button on it.”

[poeticcannon]

Sometimes get reminded of double cross rpg. I love the vibes of the syndromes and the pregens

A proper and elegant heiress making a rapier out of her own blood (bram stoker syndrome). And she also has exile syndrome, a body horror class that lets you stretch limbs to attack, rearrange organs and create redundancies for permanent health increases, draw aggro, very tanky.

A truth obsessed detective, with electricity producing organs that give him powers over electromagnetism (lightning, hacking) and allow the integration of specially built prosthesis for the Black Dog syndrome, though his starting build only has lightning. And also the Hanuman syndrome, which makes him fast and capable of controlling sound and vibrations.

A delinquent with both shapeshifting syndromes (exile and chimaera, though I was sure it was chimera?) focusing on the exile's bone weapons, and while he sympathizes with people who go on self-destructive rampages, he'll never forgive those who hurt the innocent.

The support and healer who's a deeply curious scientist fascinated by the difficult choice the virus cause on people, capable of manipulating chemistry and microorganism to control bodies and minds. (Solaris syndrome)

Diablos, a guy who's practically immortal but just exists to get beaten up by starting characters and in the favour text of character options. I wonder if his job security in spite of only failing is also an effect of his immortality

Renegade beings, sapient creatures born of the virus and finding their place in the world.

[the-firebird69]

The disconnect is when Tommy F did not allow trumpsters to pay some social security the Gap amounts and the morlocks started to lose and it was Max plan to have Tommy F do it and he has to at this point in the game Mac has no he has no choice whether he planned it all like this or not so we had time you have to go in there and block it and the minority Bullock are blocking it and they're having a lot of trouble paying their people with social security tons of them are dropped off there's only 10% of them that remain alive on it and today they're removing another 5% it's another very huge topic and the 5% that get removed usually go to Australia or in a mission well they sit around hassle people and get killed it's pretty much going to wipe out the rest of them no but it's a big number of people but it's curious is this one event it's about money and you two are so cheap it hurts the song a little and the max are overthreatening and it's not going to help them and we are after you for it but for real we got shut down that social security and it's heating up right now because you're trying to pay your own people and you can't and it's heating up at the hospitals because foreign minority morlock are fighting over that because you get certified as nuts and you want the money after your nuts.

You three idiots came down on our son and started screwing up your own system and it was after that incident and you would not back down and you're doing what Tommy F wanted and partially Mac but not that much and you just kept doing it and now you're idiots.

Foreign minority morlock are 20% of social security now the max and other people who are general population are about 50% of it and 10% more lock and the rest of it 20% are foreigners and we're probably 30% so we're 50% of the whole number foreigners and us and Max are 20% foreign minority warlock 20%. So it's 70% versus 20% versus 10% and those are the odds that you're facing who are truly vested in the system and the 20% Mac don't necessarily want to take our son off social security even after the fact it's not true at some point they want to put him in the hospital to clean out foreigners and minority morlock and it's becoming an evident too that they keep on doing this stupid routine my son spit up with it and someone of your race Mac is probably going to die and it's going to get ugly but she's probably just going to start killing people if he has to cuz you're stupid and this reasons for it and your impaired by someone else but you just keep doing it and I swear it's headed people jamming these people up against him who are losers so then got you that's Dan AKA Dave got to you and in a big way out there in hopkinton my son doesn't like you because of it you're kind of a huge a****** then you ended up fighting Trump and it was Dan okay Dave but we're using the a****** because he took the name McCracken and calls himself the kraken and we're having the beast destroy you and we mean the kraken and that's our son's monster and daughters monster they made it together and it kicks ass there's almost nothing you can't do where is you people are useless so we're going to fire you but to make a long story short these things that are personally interest to Max and others it does work it is important for their history 10 hours and it makes a difference as to what's happening since announcing this thing that happened with westborough BP and the guy's name was Dave and it was really Dan and he's saying it here and he's messing around with mac and other people like his father getting arrested tons of people figured it out he's got this real simple analogy stuff and they're going after him for it and his stuff's coming out everywhere as simple little boy stuff that's dangerous so he saw what you did up there at Walmart and we saw that they actually have no trespass orders on you and if you show up there as an employee you're going to be arrested by security until the cops come. And you're a little Weiner and you should shoot yourself and you do. This is a shower and it's not the one that was at hopkinton State Park and it's similar it was in a trailer park or campground you tried to corn him in there corner him in there and he walked around you and and left he has bathing suit on and you're so mad you started shouting things out the door so our son went to security and they kicked you out he said he's doing lewd things in the bathroom and they went in and they found him screaming and yelling now this is a recurring problem so I'm going to go after your people in order to cut You down and you're fighting on New Zealand and you don't consider yourself to be your father's race and you're trying to use VGA against him and you've been doing it the whole time today is your day Dan we're going to take you down

Thor Freya

[zombies-aliens]

I think if anything I'll always hang on to astrology like if I get someone's birthday ill probably wanna remember only to look up their sign on sidereal and see what I can read up on their sign and see if they act like their sign for fun.

So far I'm no longer looking at my daily horoscope because it has way too much influence on my perspective of my day and sometimes emotions. It's just toxic for me now bc of the attachment I have to it. "Oh just stop being attached then there's way you ca-" nah bro. I just wanna be over this shit. Same with future spouse/how does your crush feel about you tarot readings. It's just not healthy for me to take these things too literal "but it's meant to be a general readi-" I KNOWWWWWW CANT YOU SEE I FELL INTO A TRAP ANYWAYYYY. It's kinda developing an alcohol addiction: it's never a conscious choice. And that's what happened. It was happening and I was blind to it. But now I'm aware ever since a few days ago I had a fucking complete mental breakdown and I kept a straight face but it was too much for me.

I don't even like taking advice from astrology anymore I'm just so sick of it now. It's crazy how fast this is all hitting me. Ever since that bad day I had. I don't even remember what day it was. But not even a week ago as of Feb 26, 2023. I'm not saying tarot and astrology are fully to blame but they made a HUGE contribution to my emotional turbulence.

I think I wanted some kind of foresight thinking it would give me some kind of security but it made me feel like some days are doomed by fate. And as a result I stressed. It really fucked up my days. I was so invested in it I even took screenshots that I still have right now literally right now.

I want to end this on a good note. Despite the challenges I didn't expect quitting horoscopes was this easy. Don't get me wrong I'm still very curious and I did check the other day but I went a full day without checking yesterday and I had a good day, and I dont blame it on whatever the aspect of the day it was I blame the good day on letting that go. I blame myself for having that good day. I still understand ima have bad days still but I'm glad it won't feel doomed like before. Like I'm about to face a giant monster. So hopefully things go well and I continue to stay off it.

I think I'll still look into tarot but will be avoiding crush/FS readings stuff like that forever lol.

Thanks for reading and for never judging me guys. I seriously appreciate you all even tho I know no one really reads this anyway. Thanks for letting me express myself