#Which I stole from Genesys

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Sandra Newman’s “Julia”

The first chapter of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four has a fantastic joke that nearly everyone misses: when Julia, Winston Smith's love interest, is introduced, she has oily hands and a giant wrench, which she uses in her "mechanical job on one of the novel-writing machines":

https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt

That line just kills me every time I re-read the book – Orwell, a novelist, writing a dystopian future in which novels are written by giant, clanking mechanisms. Later on, when Winston and Julia begin their illicit affair, we get more detail:

She could describe the whole process of composing a novel, from the general directive issued by the Planning Committee down to the final touching-up by the Rewrite Squad. But she was not interested in the finished product. She 'didn't much care for reading,' she said. Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.

I always assumed Orwell was subtweeting his publishers and editors here, and you can only imagine that the editor who asked Orwell to tweak the 1984 manuscript must have felt an uncomfortable parallel between their requests and the notional Planning Committee and Rewrite Squad at the Ministry of Truth.

I first read 1984 in the early winter of, well, 1984, when I was thirteen years old. I was on a family trip that included as visit to my relatives in Leningrad, and the novel made a significant impact on me. I immediately connected it to the canon of dystopian science fiction that I was already avidly consuming, and to the geopolitics of a world that seemed on the brink of nuclear devastation. I also connected it to my own hopes for the nascent field of personal computing, which I'd gotten an early start on, when my father – then a computer science student – started bringing home dumb terminals and acoustic couplers from his university in the mid-1970s. Orwell crystallized my nascent horror at the oppressive uses of technology (such as the automated Mutually Assured Destruction nuclear systems that haunted my nightmares) and my dreams of the better worlds we could have with computers.

It's not an overstatement to say that the rest of my life has been about this tension. It's no coincidence that I wrote a series of "Little Brother" novels whose protagonist calls himself w1n5t0n:

https://craphound.com/littlebrother/Cory_Doctorow_-_Little_Brother.htm

I didn't stop with Orwell, of course. I wrote a whole series of widely read, award-winning stories with the same titles as famous sf tales, starting with "Anda's Game" ("Ender's Game"):

https://www.salon.com/2004/11/15/andas_game/

And "I, Robot":

https://craphound.com/overclocked/Cory_Doctorow_-_Overclocked_-_I_Robot.html

"The Martian Chronicles":

https://escapepod.org/2019/10/03/escape-pod-700-martian-chronicles-part-1/

"True Names":

https://archive.org/details/TrueNames

"The Man Who Sold the Moon":

https://memex.craphound.com/2015/05/22/the-man-who-sold-the-moon/

and "The Brave Little Toaster":

https://archive.org/details/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_212

Writing stories about other stories that you hate or love or just can't get out of your head is a very old and important literary tradition. As EL Doctorow (no relation) writes in his essay "Genesis," the Hebrews stole their Genesis story from the Babylonians, rewriting it to their specifications:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/41520/creationists-by-e-l-doctorow/

As my "famous title" stories and Little Brother books show, this work needn't be confined to antiquity. Modern copyright may be draconian, but it contains exceptions ("fair use" in the US, "fair dealing" in many other places) that allow for this kind of creative reworking. One of the most important fair use cases concerns The Wind Done Gone, Alice Randall's 2001 retelling of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind from the perspective of the enslaved characters, which was judged to be fair use after Mitchell's heirs tried to censor the book:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suntrust_Bank_v._Houghton_Mifflin_Co.

In ruling for Randall, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals emphasized that she had "fully employed those conscripted elements from Gone With the Wind to make war against it." Randall used several of Mitchell's most famous lines, "but vest[ed] them with a completely new significance":

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/268/1257/608446/

The Wind Done Gone is an excellent book, and both its text and its legal controversy kept springing to mind as I read Sandra Newman's wonderful novel Julia, which retells 1984 from the perspective of Julia, she of the oily hands the novel-writing machine:

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/julia-sandra-newman?variant=41467936636962

Julia is the kind of fanfic that I love, in the tradition of both Wind Done gone and Rosenkrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead, in which a follow-on author takes on the original author's throwaway world-building with deadly seriousness, elucidating the weird implications and buried subtexts of all the stuff and people moving around in the wings and background of the original.

For Newman, the starting point here is Julia, an enigmatic lover who comes to Winston with all kinds of rebellious secrets – tradecraft for planning and executing dirty little assignations and acquiring black market goods. Julia embodies a common contradiction in the depiction of young women (she is some twenty years younger than Winston): on the one hand, she is a "native" of the world, while Winston is a late arrival, carrying around all his "oldthink" baggage that leaves him perennially baffled, terrified and angry; on the other hand, she's a naive "girl," who "doesn't much care for reading," and lacks the intellectual curiosity that propels Winston through the text.

This contradiction is the cleavage line that Newman drives her chisel into, fracturing Orwell's world in useful, fascinating, engrossing ways. For Winston, the world of 1984 is totalitarian: the Party knows all, controls all and misses nothing. To merely think a disloyal thought is to be doomed, because the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnicompetent Party will sense the thought and mark you for torture and "vaporization."

Orwell's readers experience all of 1984 through Winston's eyes and are encouraged to trust his assessment of his situation. But Newman brings in a second point of view, that of Julia, who is indeed far more worldly than Winston. But that's not because she's younger than him – it's because she's more provincial. Julia, we learn, grew up outside of the Home Counties, where the revolution was incomplete and where dissidents – like her parents – were sent into exile. Julia has experienced the periphery of the Party's power, the places where it is frayed and incomplete. For Julia, the Party may be ruthless and powerful, but it's hardly omnicompetent. Indeed, it's rather fumbling.

Which makes sense. After all, if we take Winston at his word and assume that every disloyal citizen of Oceania is arrested, tortured and murdered, where would that leave Oceania? Even Kim Jong Un can't murder everyone who hates him, or he'd get awfully lonely, and then awfully hungry.

Through Julia's eyes, we experience Oceania as a paranoid autocracy, corrupt and twitchy. We witness the obvious corollary of a culture of denunciation and arrest: the ruling Party of such an institution must be riddled with internecine struggle and backstabbing, to the point of paralyzed dysfunction. The Orwellian trick of switching from being at war with Eastasia to Eurasia and back again is actually driven by real military setbacks – not just faked battles designed to stir up patriotic fervor. The Party doesn't merely claim to be under assault from internal and external enemies – it actually is.

Julia is also perfectly positioned to uncover the vast blank spots in Winston's supposed intellectual curiosity, all the questions he doesn't ask – about her, about the Party, and about the world. I love this trope and used it myself, in Attack Surface, the third "Little Brother" book, which is told from the point of view of Marcus's frenemy Masha:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250757531/attacksurface

Through Julia, we come to understand the seemingly omniscient, omnipotent Party as fumbling sadists. The Thought Police are like MI5, an Island of Misfit Toys where the paranoid, the stupid, the vicious and the thuggish come together to ruin the lives of thousands, in such a chaotic and pointless manner that their victims find themselves spinning devastatingly clever explanations for their behavior:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/entries/3662a707-0af9-3149-963f-47bea720b460

And, as with Nineteen Eighty-Four, Julia is a first-rate novel, expertly plotted, with fantastic, nail-biting suspense and many smart turns and clever phrases. Newman is doing Orwell, and, at times, outdoing him. In her hands, Orwell – like Winston – is revealed as a kind of overly credulous romantic who can't believe that anyone as obviously stupid and deranged as the state's representatives could be kicking his ass so very thoroughly.

This was, in many ways, the defining trauma and problem of Orwell's life, from his origin story, in which he is shot through the throat by a fascist: sniper during the Spanish Civil War:

https://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/soldiers/george-orwell-shot.html

To his final days, when he developed a foolish crush on a British state spy and tried to impress her by turning his erstwhile comrades in to her:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwell%27s_list

Newman's feminist retelling of Orwell is as much about puncturing the myth of male competence as it is about revealing the inner life, agency, and personhood of swooning love-interests. As someone who loves Orwell – but not unconditionally – I was moved, impressed, and delighted by Julia.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/28/novel-writing-machines/#fanfic

[rottenpumpkin13]

I have a HC that whenever something is broken or ablaze, Lazard says "Oh no! Who could have done such a thing?" and looks at his childre SOLDIERs and one or few of them look very guilty. Works every time

Lazard: Which one of you pulled the push glass door in the lounge and shattered it??

*He looks up, Sephiroth is in the corner facing the wall*

Lazard:

Lazard: I can see you.

*Sephiroth turns back around and shuts his eyes*

Lazard: Shiva's tits.

-

Lazard: Who stole the powdered donut that I was saving for myself in the break room fridge??

Zack, with his face full of white sugar: It was Genesis.

Lazard: Your mouth is full of powdered sugar are you aware of that?

Zack: I am, yes.

Lazard: Are you lying?

Zack: No. Genesis stole the donut. And then I stole it from Genesis.

-

Lazard: WHO DUCT TAPED ZACK TO THE COUCH?

Angeal: I actually used packing tape.

Lazard:

Angeal: I mean...I don't know. What a travesty.

Lazard: YOU'RE COVERED IN BITE MARKS.

Angeal: WHICH IS WHY I TAPED HIS MOUTH SHUT.

Lazard: SHIT

-

Lazard: Which one of you wrote "Mommy issues" on Sephiroth's office door in permanent ink??

Genesis, dying of laughter: I did. I'm not even going to deny it.

*1 hour later*

Sephiroth: Why are you wearing a sign that says "I'm insecure and unloved, mind my actions" ?

Genesis: It's my punishment.

[ilminnestrone]

Meet Terry!

Name: Theresa Doris Monday Nickname: Terry Age: 4,5 Zodiac: Aries Occupation: Princess, most envied girl in Midgar Family: Anthony Monday (dad), Rebecca Shinra (mom), President Rex Shinra (uncle), Rufus Shinra (cousin), Lazard Deusericus (cousin ♡︎) Ethnicity: white (mom), costan (dad) Eyes: brown Hair: curly, blond Style: girlypop&frilly, cute patterns, big sunglasses Favourite colour: pink (red is dark pink, right?)

Likes: Oreos, foxes, pink, Sailor Mars Dislikes: papaya, Reno, unfair depiction of witches in fairytales Loves: Genny-sis

Backstory Miss Terry is the only daughter of the industrialist Anthony Monday and his beloved wife Rebecca Shinra, younger sister of the Head of Mako Empire. Mom and dad call her the happiest of incidents, since she came into existence when Rebecca was almost forty, after a long series of failed attempts.

Sassy and resolute, she tricked Commander Genesis Rhapsodos into being her secret boyfriend (publicly sworn knight) by making him kiss her hand, which implies being paraded around Shinra Palace in his arms, being called Little Princess, giving orders to cadets, pretending to read (and gifting Genesis random books) and receiving cute gifts like those apple-themed socks. The Commander handled her age appropriate crush with utmost sensitivity and never belittled her feelings.

Quotes

Seffirof is cool but Genny-sis he's cooler because he looks like a fox

Genny-sis is a boy that's pretty like girls are

Sorry mom, I can't tell you Genny-sis is my secret boyfriend

Angiee is like a mom in a dad body

Reno is evil because he stole red from Genny-sis

Iffy neat in misery is the gift of the god S (when asked about why the entire pack of Oreos misteriously had the cream licked off)

[inamindfarfaraway]

Stumbled across your post on Carmilla and Cain from one of my favorite artist and just wanted to say that I loved that post incredibly!!

I loved the way you articulated the ability for free will to shatter heavens expectations! It had me thinking about free will in general so thank you for sharing that goodness!

Thank you! This analysis just came to me as a fun little observation, I wasn’t expecting it to gain so much traction. Free will is very thematically important to Hazbin Hotel, isn’t it? Lucifer believed in the good it could do, but accidentally created evil by giving it to humanity and fell for it. Since then he’s seen all the pain free will can cause and become embittered. Charlie, however, believes like he used to and fought for human souls passionately and selflessly enough to bring him back around. The Elder Angels who ordered the Exterminations and the Exorcists who carry them out seem to alternately hate and fear free will’s power, and by their indiscriminate condemnation of sinners as inherently irredeemable, not want to acknowledge it at all.

If the theory that Adam could live on as a sinner in Hell turns out to be true, I’d love to see his character and thoughts on his mortal family and free will explored, because he must have SO much baggage, which could explain (though not excuse) him being The Worst. An interesting detail in the backstory Charlie reads is that he’s never actually stated to eat the forbidden fruit. We see Eve take it, but not him. Maybe the reason that he’s in Heaven, but we never see or hear of Eve or their children in either afterlife, is that in this canon’s version of Genesis, he’s obedient and didn’t commit the original sin, only to be cast out anyway. Regardless of what exactly happens in Eden, he and Eve are forced to fend for themselves in the wilderness. Suddenly they need survival instincts. They can bleed and starve and get sick and loads of animals want to eat them. They have existential dread. Not to mention the marital tension. Why? Because the same angel who stole his first wife messed with his second one! As a result, people can sin. They can hurt each other. This allows Cain to invent murder on his brother. He’s then cursed to wander the Earth, eternally living with his guilt and grief. Oh, and where can dead souls live on now? Where might Abel be trapped forever? Hell, a dimension made of evil, everything bad about the new and degraded human experience taken to the ultimate extreme. You’ll never guess why it exists (Lucifer. It’s Lucifer again). So Adam loses two kids with one stone that was indirectly thrown by one fucking bird guy. Can you imagine how you would feel, having lived that life?

You would have issues. A lot of issues.

No wonder he scorns redemption so much. In his eyes, free will is synonymous with sin - with suffering. But thinking damned souls to be evil incarnate at least lets him take vengeance. It lets him feel the wrathful satisfaction of physically stabbing and hacking his way through representatives of the force that cost him paradise. Broke his family. Killed his child. Maybe he was a genuinely good person when he died. For the most part. Maybe stewing in all that unprocessed trauma while watching the horrors of human history unfold and being venerated and indulged in the perfect afterlife without any of his family changed him for the worse. If you can have a redemption arc in Hell, you can have a corruption arc in Heaven.

After all, Lucifer lost faith in humanity over time. But he has Charlie. Adam’s ‘daughters’ in Heaven are the Exorcists (he calls them “[his] girls” and names them, so he probably creates them), of which I bet Lute was the first. That’s a really twisted dynamic. Like, “From now on, my kids are killing people on MY terms”. Lute having parallels with Charlie makes her being the new main villain even better!

This got out of hand. What I mean to say is, the first human family and how they relate to the theme of free will have huge potential for exploration and development. And if Adam is reborn as a sinner, it would be precisely the Hazbin Hotel blend of heartbreaking and hilarious to have him reunite with Eve, Abel, Seth, etc. in Hell and they’re all like “What. The FUCK?” and his whole horrible personality just collapses in on itself.

[bardic-tales]

Title: Mourning Pairing: Bianca Moore (F!OC) / Sephiroth Rating: Mature Word Count: 958 Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Setting: Redemption!AU Warnings: abuse, anxiety, blood (metaphor), childhood trauma, combat-related trauma, emotional manipulation, grief, needles (mention), psychological abuse, PTSD, self-doubt, trauma, violence Summary: As Bianca and Sephiroth are both haunted by their pasts, they find solace in each other while mourning what could have been. Squared Filled: Mourning Created for: Sephiroth Week hosted by the lovely people at @week-of-silver-winds

Author’s Note: As always, please read over my warnings, since I list the general themes, too, in case there is any content that may be uncomfortable to my reader.

As this is placed in my Redemption!AU, please note it is very canon divergent. In this AU, Sephiroth and his fellow SOLDIERs broke off from Shinra and are now fighting the good fight while he battles to control Jenova's encroaching influence.

EXCERPT:

“I used to dream of things like this,” Sephiroth said at last. “Quiet rooms, places that weren’t full of sterile walls or needles. Just… somewhere safe with you." He looked down at his hands. “But that isn’t who I am anymore.”

A late autumn night cast long shadows across their bedroom in their home that they now shared with the other former members of SOLDIER: Angeal Hewley, Genesis Rhapsodos, Kunsel, and Zack Fair.

Sephiroth sat on the edge of the bed with the mattress and the floral print bedspread sinking beneath his weight. The silence between them was the type that cut deep to the bone, causing a spike of anxiety in her which he felt through the soul-link that was always present between them. He hadn’t moved in hours, staring out the window as if the weight of his past lay somewhere outside, knocking to allow itself in.

Earlier that evening, Sephiroth had awoken from another nightmare. Memories of battles he once fought without question and missions ordered by voices from men in suits he now cursed haunted him. His hand tightened into a fist, and Bianca covered it with her own. The simple gesture from the celestial being grounded him in a way that the past often refused to allow.

“You don’t have to face it alone, Sephiroth,” she whispered, her melodic voice breaking the silence stretching between them. She had always been there: through the torture, the needles, the experiments, and the blood on his hands. He didn’t deserve her — or, at least, that was what he told himself.

She would tell him the opposite, as she always saw the good in him. She saw the man beneath the monster and beneath the SOLDIER poster boy. Bianca saw him.

He nodded before speaking. “Sometimes, Bia, I wonder if it would’ve been easier if - “

His voice trailed off as he studied Bianca. His throat tightened as he allowed himself to feel the regret he rarely allowed himself to feel. What would life have been like if she hadn’t fallen from the stars into his arms when they were children? Would Sephiroth have met on different terms, as two people who were free to choose their own lives rather than a SOLDIER and a celestial warrior bound by their scars and sorrow?

“They stole so much from us.” Her voice cracked. “Everything I was and everything you could have been . . . Just gone. Twisted by them.”

A long silence enveloped them. It was thick with words that were left unspoken but needed to be. These words lingered on the edge of consciousness, too emotionally charged for Sephiroth to say or Bianca to admit. They were the words that made one weak.

“I used to dream of things like this,” Sephiroth said at last. “Quiet rooms, places that weren’t full of sterile walls or needles. Just… somewhere safe with you.” He looked down at his hands. “But that isn’t who I am anymore.”

Bianca turned to him and gently cupped his face with her hands on his cheeks. She’d known him as both victim and SOLDIER, but she also knew the boy she once knew was still within him. No amount of Hojo’s cruelty could erase it.

“You’re still that boy, Sephiroth,” she spoke. Her indigo eyes glistened in the dimly lit light cast by the flickering candles by their bed. “No matter what they did to you, to us, that part of you isn’t gone. We just . . . have to find it. Have to find us.”

“Bianca, you know the things I’ve done. How can either of us deserve anything after that?”

Once again, they lapsed into silence. He could feel her thoughts through their bond as she searched for words, knowing that they both wore scars that no one could ever erase. But as he looked into her eyes, he realized it wasn’t about trying to find the perfect place. It was about trying to create something new and something real. Achieving this could only happen by taking one step at a time.

“Maybe, it won’t erase the past, Seph.” Her hand turned as she intertwined their fingers together. “But if we can be more than they made us, we have to believe in it. We’ve come too far together to give u on that now.”

Sephiroth looked back out at the window. His silver brow furrowed, as lines wrinkled across his forehead. Could he really hope for that dream he had been forced to forget: a peaceful life that could only exist after dismantling Shinra?

They sat like that for a while. She held his hand as they watched colored leaves float past their window in the pale moonlight. Their bond was not just forged by their mutual grief, but also by the unwavering support they found in each other and the rest of the former SOLDIERs. Knowing that the road ahead would be fraught with pain, they drew closer to each other, finding a delicate sense of tranquility in their shared sorrow for their lost innocence.

tagging some fellow mutuals: @asirensrage @themaradwrites @littleshopofchaos @serenofroses @megandaisy9 @watermeezer

@nightingaleflow @seastarblue @prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen

@chickensarentcheap

[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten 20, MAG 20 Desecrated Host

Father Pruitt from Midnight Mass but if he was still an old man. You agree, reblog.

My MAG 20 analysis, spoilers ahead!

Facts: Continuation of the statement of Father Edwin Burroughs regarding his claimed demonic possession. Statement given May 30, 2011.

Statement Notes: A hallucination sequence is one of the best modes of horror. The inability to distinguish between the real and unreal aspects of the vision combined with the symbolic imagery and attempts to determine the cause of the hallucination itself often means the audience experiences the same level of fear and confusion the character does. However, I very rarely see them done well in non-visual mediums. The best example I can think of is the dream of Percival Glyde in The Woman In White. But this episode is really effective in that. You don't understand anything that is happening, you're just stuck on the ride with no hope of getting off, and Father Burroughs is in the seat next to you. If you know of any other really good dream or hallucination sequences in horror narratives, tell me about it in the notes.

I also noted how whatever was possessing Burroughs really reveled in his guilt. I discussed this in the Part I analysis, but the conflation of guilt and fear as two sides of the same coin is an incredible choice, especially in a religious story. You are guilty because you are afraid of your own actions, you are afraid because you did something you should be guilty for. You are afraid of being found guilty, you are afraid of punishment, you are afraid you will never stop feeling guilty.

Entity Alignment: This is another mixed bag episode. This definitely seems like a lot of effort to make Burroughs afraid and/or just to kill two people. I briefly wondered if Burroughs could be involved in some kind of ritual, but the overall events of the episode don't feel directed or focused enough. If there was goal aside from torturing Burroughs and his victims, I couldn't determine it.

The line from Genesis "Behold, thou hast driven me out" obviously invokes some Eye imagery. I did note how much of religion, particularly Catholicism, centers around viewing and reveling in the majesty and horror of God/a god. Religion's ability to unwittingly turn people into voyeurs of their messiah connotes it with the Eye. Furthermore, the previously mentioned focus on guilt and the horror's apparent delight in Burroughs suffering associates with the Eye as well.

Burroughs isolation heightening his fear does tie in elements of the Lonely, while the smiling imagery is reminiscent of the Stranger. Of course, the hallucinations and loss of control of one's mind associates Burroughs with the Spiral, and the cannibalism associates him with the Flesh. But if I had to pick a true second to the Eye as the main entity associated with this episode, I would have to go with the Web. Burroughs is incapable of making any choices. The demon controls his actions, eliminating his independence and manipulating him. Even if it is not really a possession but some other manipulation of his psyche, it prevents Burroughs from acting independently.

Character Notes: Breekon & Hope mention! In spite of my earlier doubts, their involvement does signal some kind of ritual. Usually, they're only involved in deliveries associated with high level entity action, such as the coffin or Jon's lighter. I don't recall this stole being mentioned in any other episode, but if Breekon & Hope delivered it, it must be relevant somehow.

Another reason this episode might be affiliated with a ritual is that Gertrude was apparently the last person to read it. In her final days, she was primarily focused on stopping rituals, which indicated this case was particularly important.

When will my Martin return home from the war.

[finallyfantasy7]

In defense of Angeal and Banora apples

I often see criticism of Angeal in Crisis Core Reunion for stealing from poor farmers while leaving the richest family's dumbapples alone just because Genesis was his friend.

I understand the immediate instinctive reaction to take from the richest, however, if you follow the story closely you will see that there were no poor farmers in Banora. Which Angeal explicitly says anyway.

But I want to dig a bit deeper:

The whole Banora village was fake and was staffed with Shinra's employees, as well as served to keep employees from Project G under house arrest.

The only reason why Angeal's family was poor was because Angeal's mother, Gillian Hewley, refused Shinra's compensation since she suffered from guilty conscience for participating as a scientist in Shinra's Jenova experiments, and even doing the experiment on her own child. That she unsuccessfully tried to escape Shinra's house arrest with her baby certainly didn't improve her living conditions.

So, we know Gillian was offered large sums of money, and from "The Kids are Alright: A Turks Side Story" novel we know that fake villagers, who populated Nibelheim after the Sephiroth incident, were also Shinra's employees, and received enormous sums of money to live there and keep their mouths shut. So it's obviously Shinra's modus operandi in such situations.

So again, there were no poor farmers in Banora because people there, in addition to having farms, were handsomely paid by Shinra.

Also, one child eating apples can't do any significant damage to a farm.

Ok, so if we accept Angeal eating apples was no big deal, then why didn't he just eat the tastiest apples from the biggest landowner who, even if everyone was rich, would feel it the least? Why not ask Genesis, like Zack suggested?

Why would honor stop him from asking, but not from stealing in general?

It wouldn't, it's mistranslation, it's supposed to say pride *sigh*

Angeal says in Japanese:

アンジール：しかし　そんな俺にも誇りはあった

Angeal: But I had my pride.

.....

アンジール：誇りというのは厄介なものだ

Angeal: Pride is burdensome/a tricky thing/troublesome.

I don't know why they translated it in a way that makes it possible to confuse it with one of Angeal's lectures on SOLDIER honor, and to make it seem like he's saying it's dishonorable to ask his friend but not steal from others. But this part has nothing to do with his code of honor as a grown man, he's just saying that as a kid, it would have hurt his pride to ask his best friend for food.

He stole because he was poor and it wasn't hurting anyone, he didn't ask Genesis because of his pride, and he didn't take from a friend because of honor - honoring their friendship.

[sburbian-sage]

I really don't get why Time is a mandatory aspect. You don't need it for frog breeding, you can just use appearifiers or whatever. You don't always need to scratch the session, so you don't need their land construct. And unless you're in a weird situation, you shouldn't need to change stuff to adhere to the alpha timeline- the POINT of the alpha timeline is that it's "the way that things go", right? The only way you'd ever need a Time player keep you on track is if you were already under a Time player's influence, right???

But I guess I must be wrong, because I hear the opposite so often...

You could *THEORETICALLY* get away with just using Sendificators and Appearifiers to replicate Time Travel, but it's a lot like using the oven to boil water. Not to mention, Time Players are still useful-bordering-on-mandatory. Time Travel is borderline worthless if you aren't a Time Player because it's heavily unintuitive, the Whispers are your only in-game tutorial, and I'm pretty sure that unless you are a current or Native Time Player, the game actively obfuscates your practical knowledge concerning how to use it. So even if you know what you're doing, SBURB might just cloud your mind and make you perform a basic paradox through easily avoidable accident. It's why I don't like thinking about Time that much.

Like, I'm pretty sure that what you said is true, in that there can only be a Doomed Timeline if someone fucks with Time in the first place. But it might not be a desirable Alpha Timeline. Like maybe one of your players blows up their microwave and dies, and they end up breaking the Server/Client Entry Loop which leads to half of the other players dying, which damns the Session to failure. If that's the Alpha Timeline, then nothing can be done about it/shikata ga nai. But does that necessarily need to be the Alpha Timeline? Because if a Time Player is active (or will be active in the future), then they could step out of nowhere and reveal that the microwave exploding actually created a Doomed Timeline, and thus they "put it back on track" by making sure that player removes their fork from their microwavable noodles before cooking them. From your perspective, a Time Player just stole your fork for no reason, but from their perspective, a Doomed Timeline happened, and they averted it. As opposed to them not doing that, because they didn't exist, and so this Doomed Timeline becomes the Alpha Timeline? Surely you understand what I'm getting at.

It should also be noted, every Land is "broken" in same way on purpose, so the Player has a quest they can go on, so they have a reason to play the game (outside of "this is your life now, do it or die"). So in the same way that the current universe's Genesis Frog is dying, necessitating that the Space Player breed a new one so a new universe can be created, it's not unreasonable to assume that the timeline is innately flawed, and so a Time Player is needed to fix it. To say nothing of the fact that Space and Time are fundamental forces in any universe, and the Genesis Frog requires the efforts of both to be done. So basically, Time is a mandatory Aspect, because the game is fundamentally constructed in such a way that they are mandatory. There is no other way, it cannot be helped/shikata ga nai.

[asurrogateblog]

Cannibals, Pirates, and PhDs: How Did I Get Here?

I mentioned in some tags earlier that I’ve only actually been a real fan of Pink Floyd for under a year, and that the confluence of events that led up to it is pretty absurd. Some interest seemed to be taken in this, so I though I’d elaborate.

I didn’t know how to shorten this timeline and have it make any sense, so it’s... long. But idk, I think it’s pretty funny. If you’re nosy like I am this is for you.

My Backstory Timeline:

early childhood: my parents essentially mainline me and my little sister with The Beatles. I know almost no songs written past the 70’s until at least sixth grade. I develop a childhood crush on Paul McCartney, a joke that the universe really decides to play the long game on.

2014: my dad calls me over one night, and gravely tells me he’s been waiting to share something until I’m old enough. I brace myself to be told about sex or secret half-siblings. Instead, he tells me I need to listen to The Wall. Irritated at the idea of wasting an hour and half of my night, I nevertheless comply and go up to my room and put it on. I do not come back from this, clearly having inherited some sort of generational curse.

Around the same time, I am also secretly watching Hannibal every time my parents send me upstairs because Game of Thrones is “too gory”. This will trigger three important things: an interest in psychology, a love of horror media, and a classical music phase will train my attention span to last well past the three minute mark.

2014-2023: Over the intervening years, I become a casual fan of Pink Floyd, but make a deliberate point not to learn anything about the band. I like being able to imagine my own meanings for the songs. Also, I am motivated against this by a childhood memory of being deeply frightening by a picture of old Paul McCartney (LOL). I do not want that to ever happen again, so no learning.

Cut to April of 2023: I am finishing up my first year of my PhD program studying media psychology. I am in a bad place mentally, and am going through another horror movie phase to fill the hole. As a result, I get very into American Psycho. The main character, Patrick Bateman, is a fan of superficial 80’s pop music, particularly Genesis. I decide to start listening to Genesis to see if I agree with his tastes. While researching “best Genesis albums”, I come across The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. I listen to it, and am blown away. I had no idea that the Phil Collins band made music like that. This sends me down the prog-rock rabbit hole. I still won't learn any lore.

Summer of 2023: MEANWHILE, I am also going through another pirate phase. I have a fairly encyclopedic knowledge of 18th century piracy (and am still quite active in the Black Sails fan community). Around this time, I get really obsessed with this one random guy named Dennis McCarthy who was hanged in 1718.

I decide to work poor Dennis into a science fiction story I’ve been working on. The premise is essentially that the universe is an abandoned simulation, and a ‘glitch in the matrix’ starts to, among other things, bring people from the wrong time periods back to life. The format of the story is vaguely monster-of-the-week, in which the characters have to solve various problems caused by mistakes in the code. I think, “hey, you know what would be perfect for this? that fanfic I wrote about The Wall in high school.” Said fic (which that stupid fucking beatles movie stole from me) is about a world in which Pink Floyd never existed, but a wannabe rock-star discovers a box full of their records and decides to copy them. While he is touring his plagiarized version of The Wall, he realizes that the events of the album are starting to happen to him in real life. By working this concept into my new story, I go through another one of my periodical The Wall phases. It's in full swing when fall rolls around.

September of 2023: This semester, I take a grad-level narrative theory class in the English department. I decide it would be helpful to follow along with a specific example, so I choose The Wall. Using the terminology I am learning in the class, I start to realize that The Wall is…. incredibly narratologically fucked up. To help orient me, I watch the bootleg concert recordings, and the trick with the surrogate band sends me so out of my mind that I decide I must break my rule about never learning band lore.

This is where the two plot-lines converge. I don’t remember which came first, but around this same time, I think to myself “hey, if Genesis was hiding such an incredible album under the 80’s pop, what must Pink Floyd be hiding?” On that whim, I put on Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which equally sends me so out of my mind that I decide I must break my rule about never learning band lore. I needed to know what the fuck happened to get them from Piper to The Wall.

September-November: In the two months between the onset of this and finally making another sideblog, I dedicate all of my free time to learning as much about Pink Floyd as humanely possible (and writing a 20 page essay for that narrative theory class). As you can imagine, this is a lot to unpack all at once for someone who didn’t even know who Roger or Syd or any of the rest of them were. Luckily, I am over-educated enough to be a very fast learner. Aside from the band lore itself, I of course also fall in love with the rest of Pink Floyd's discography musically-speaking. Having this interest to latch onto genuinely pulls me out of my depression.

Cut to February 2024: I am really enjoying myself, and want to keep this going as long as possible, but I am starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel on Pink Floyd lore. I decide I need to feed the fire by supplementing with lore from another band. The Beatles seem to have a strong fan presence on tumblr, why not revisit a childhood favorite? The universe laughs at my expense.

That about brings us up to date. I have gone through so much character development over the last eight months, it’s crazy. Pink Floyd is definitely one of those things that is less of a “phase” and more of a permanent part of my mindscape. Weirdly enough, since I am studying media psychology, all of this has also been really good for my career? I never took an interest in -real- media figures (as opposed to fictional characters) before, and I feel like I have a much clearer sense of things now. It's definitely influenced my research, so whatever domino effect this has on my future is bound to get even funnier.

Anyway, that’s my backstory!

[the-broken-truth]

TWST Self-Aware/Overseer AU OC: Genesis

Name: Genesis

Age: 17 (Body Age)

Race: Deity/Human (Body)

Height: 6 Feet

Body Type: Slim yet Muscular

Personality/Nature: Caring but can be Cocky & Strict (Depends On The Person)

Current Occupation: Night Raven Freshman

Sorted Dorm: Ramshackle

Unique Magic: Ultimate Armor - Coats his body or certain areas in an unbreakable metal

Incantation: "My body is unbreakable, just like my will; allow me to show you my resolve. Ultimate Armor!"

Likes: Reading, Writing, Drawing, Making Potions, Caramel Desserts, Cooking, and Baking

Dislikes: Loud Sudden Noises (Instantly Puts Him On Edge)

Favorite Food: Beef Steak & Rice Bowl w/ Garlic Steak Sauce

Favorite Fast Food: Spicy Chicken Bites, Steak Fries & Root Beer

Least Favorite Food: Steamed Veggies

Favorite Class: Potions

Favorite Teacher: Professor Divus Crewel & Mozus Trein

Best Friend(s): Riddle Rosehearts & Trey Clover

Worst Enemy(s): Azul Ashengrotto & The Leech Twins

Signature Traits: A Ring crafted from White Gold

Favorite Location: Potion Class

Relationships w/ Key Characters Quotes

Riddle Rosehearts:

"When is our next study session?"

"I would be honored to attend your Tea Party."

"My sister & I made cheesecake. Would you like to come to Ramshackle for our study break?"

Trey Clover

"What are we making today?"

"Do you want to trade recipes?"

"Ace stole another tart? (Sighs) I'll make another."

Cater Diamond

"What is MagiCam?"

"You are never without your phone, are you?"

"Please, do not take pictures of me."

Ace Trappola & Deuce Spade

(Sees them collared) "You two angered Riddle again, didn't you?"

(Studying) "Will you two please pay attention?"

"Why do my sister & I hang out with you two, again?"

Leona Kingscholar

"Calm down, Kitty Cat. I'll handle it."

"Leo, I'm studying. I can't play Spelldrive today."

"Come to Ramshackle, you can sleep there and I'll make you lunch."

Ruggie Bucchi

"Ruggie, stop raiding my snack fridge! If you want something, I'll make you something!"

(When Making Food/Desserts/Drinks) "I need you to taste this."

"Ruggie, I made you a Bento. Just bring this with you and I'll make you something to take back home."

Jack Howl

"My sister is coming, just give her a moment."

"Jack, want a Beef & Rice Bowl?"

"How...How do you run so fast?!"

Azul Ashengrotto

"I'm not signing a contract with you, Ashengrotto."

"Not interested."

"Your silver tongue & honey words don't work on me."

Jade Leech

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother me?"

"Your gentleman facade is good...for all the wrong reasons."

"Keep your brother away from me."

Floyd Leech

"Try to squeeze me again and I will break your teeth."

"Find your 'Shrimpy' somewhere else."

"Stay away from my sister, Leech!"

Kalim Al-Asim

"Kalim, enough with the random parties!"

"You are Scarabia's Dorm Warden, Act Like IT!"

"Stop spacing out! It's time to study, not daydream!"

Jamil Viper

"You need a break. I will watch over Kalim."

(While Cooking Together) "Which is the best spice to use for this type of meat?"

(When Jamil Comes To Ramshackle For A Snack) "Here, try this."

Vil Schoenheit

"Purple is not my color."

"I'm a person, not a mannequin."

"Tell your Hunter to leave me the hell alone."

Rook Hunt

"Get out of my bushes, Hunt!"

"Stop calling me 'Trickster'."

"I get the feeling I am being watched..."

Epel Felmier

"Strength isn't just physical, ya know?"

"Do you have any more apples?"

(When Exercising) "Come on, Epel! Just 10 More!"

Idia Shroud

"What are we playing this time around?"

"Normies on our 6! Normies on our 6!"

"Idia-senpai, what is this anime/manga about?"

Ortho Shroud

"Hey, Little Brother."

"Little Brother, have you seen Idia-senpai?"

"Ortho, I need to get back to Rashackle; I cannot stay."

Malleus Draconia

"Good Evening, Hornton."

"No, you can't turn me into a Fae, Malleus. I am fond of my current body."

"Here. Something sweet for the road."

"You'll never TRULY be alone, again."

Lilia Vanrouge

"STAY OUT OF MY KITCHEN!"

"You're a great man, Lilia, but an even greater father."

"I have seen your sins...and I will not judge you for them."

Sebek Zigvolt

"Stop yelling!"

"Draw your sword and let us dance!"

"I let you win this time."

Silver

"Your father is trying to kill me with his cooking."

"Whose personal dreamscape did you invade this time?"

"ZZZ...ZZZ...ZZZ."

[randommothxd]

Small rant:

Don't read if easily mad,this is just my opinion/pov :)

Sorry if this sounds rude

but I just wanna say,hypothetically,let's say God is real.. who says I have to love him?

I'm not a Satanist,dont get confused.

from what I've been told,being gay is a sin!

God forbid you fucking dare to like two genders,you'll be put in the same place insane serial killers are and be tortured forever and ever.being burned because you UNWILLINGLY do something a bigot (aka god) doesn't like!"GOD" MADE WOMEN HAVE CRAMPS AND BLEED EVERY MONTH OVER A APPLE!?

(Source:Wikipedia) "international law posits that no person may be punished for acts that he or she did not commit. It ensures that the collective punishment of a group of persons for a crime committed by an individual is forbidden" those words exactly ^^

"oh but it's god,it doesn't matter" would you still love God if he stole someone's rib?

IT'S ALOMST LIKE HE DID!

"And from the rib that the lord God had taken from the man,he made a woman and brought her to him" - genesis 2:22

It's kinda like cult

"He's aways watching,he made us,he decides where we go,he is all holly,we do what he says"

Which I find werid

When are they going to realize about dinosaurs and the millions of evidence we have of evaluation...do they just ignore it?

I've seen a video where someone says that God did impossible things and that they "aren't impossible with god" but they also say that they have the holly spirit,shouldn't that mean that you can walk on water?

So yes...

I don't belive in God nor would I like him

So what if I go to he'll?

I've been living there!

It's called Arizona💀

That being said...

Do what youwant!

I don't care if you're Christian,Muslim,Jewish,or anything else

Do what you want! Life's too short!

I encourage you to believe in (insert what you have faith in)!!!

I can't really say much,I believe in erm... some things that not everyone does

And that's OK!

I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist so i can't really say much :/

In conclusion:belive in what you want but this is just what I do,im not trying to be a bitch,I'm simply explaining my pov!

Unrelated: you should listen to "the exorcist" by calypso

[rottenpumpkin13]

It's been a while...how are things going in the Shinra/SOLDIER groupchat? 👉🏻👈🏻

Highlights From The SOLDIER Group Chat #3

• Director Lazard used to be the admin, but he had a nervous breakdown after Zack kept changing the group chat name to "Therapy" and having one-on-one sessions with people where he offered horrible advice.

• The final straw was Sephiroth asking how he should cope with his desire for a connection with an older, maternal figure. Zack linked a dating site for MILFs.

• Sephiroth is now the admin. At least four people now have Sephiroth's contact name to Admin-Roth.

• Sephiroth has removed Genesis on numerous occasions and for various reasons, the most recent one being:

Genesis: Hello! How is everyone today?

[Sephiroth has removed Genesis]

• Angeal sending those glittery and colorful good morning gifs (the type grandmas send)

• The following conversation:

Lazard: Sephiroth, kindly remove 'Cloud Strife'. This group chat is exclusive to SOLDIER members only for safety reasons.

[Cloud Strife is now an admin]

Lazard: .........

• Kunsel changing the group chat name to "Reasons why Genesis is a bitch" and the reasons pouring in immediately after. Genesis got into a verbal dispute with four people through voice messages.

• The following conversation:

Lazard: Which one of you placed an entire thanksgiving turkey in the break room fridge?

Zack: I did. That's my afternoon snack.

Sephiroth: I must apologize. I took a leg thinking it was for everyone to share.

Zack: No worries bud :)

• The trend of sending pictures of Sephiroth's hair strands throughout the 49th floor.

• The time when Angeal and Genesis were seriously arguing over whether a taco is a hot dog or a sandwich, and Sephiroth changed the group chat name to 'They have kissed before' mid-argument.

• The following conversation:

Zack: @Angeal Dude your pancake recipe does NOT work.

Angeal: Lol. Are you making it right now?

Zack: Yup.

Angeal: Alright show me how far you got. Maybe I can help :)

Zack:

[Angeal has left the group]

• Genesis sending this image whenever one or more messages are deleted:

• Kunsel regularly sends the weekly gossip rundown and his messages look like this:

☕⭐ TEA OF THE WEEK☕⭐

- FRIENDSHIP: Rufus Shinra and Lazard Deusericus seen whispering outside the president's office. Both men were holding a roll of duct tape and a long rope. They dispersed when asked what they were doing.

- MYSTERY: Did Professor Hojo really fall down the main entrance stairs or was he pushed? Sources say Sephiroth was there when it happened and looked pleased when the professor was taken away on a stretcher.

- DRAMA: Genesis is seen in the breakdown having a verbal dispute with a revolving door after the tail of his coat gets caught in it.

- HAIR: Angeal finds his first gray hair, Roche gets his tasteful honey highlights, Sephiroth's hair grows another inch, Throwback images of Rude (of the Turks) resurface where he is seen with hair, and an online discussion on the Red Leather forums over wether or not Genesis's hair is actually brown sparks controversy.

• The following exchange:

Sephiroth: Can you all please type out your names and post them. Someone stole my PHS and changed everyone's contact names.

Genesis: Genesis Rhapsodos.

Sephiroth: Ah. This one was untouched.

Genesis: ????? What am I saved as?

Sephiroth: Wannabe Sephiroth.

Genesis: ALAKSHSJSJSKDHSJ FUCK YOU

Zack: Zack!

Sephiroth: Thank you, Distracted Hedgehog.

Zack: ...........

Angeal: I'm Angeal.

Sephiroth: As of right now. Before this you were "Patron Saint of Hypocrisy."

Angeal: That's.....a little mean.

Cloud: Cloud Strife.

Sephiroth: Hahaha. This one was very clever.

Cloud: What is it?

Cloud: Well??

Cloud: ........

Cloud: It's Chocobo isn't it?

Sephiroth: My apologies.

• Zack has a habit of procrastinating by sending voice messages that are essentially podcasts. In one of them, you can hear him trip over a wet floor sign, fall, and continue talking about his favorite hair gel brand like nothing happened.

[foreststarflaime]

Strangest but also best idea I’ve ever had.

(Before I say anything about the idea: I hope we don’t get Hades 3, or else Nyx will run out of kids for the Hades Kids to collect like Pokémon cards)

(ALSO NEVER GONNA SHUT UP ABT THE FACT THAT BEN STARR VOICES PROMETHEUS!!!!!!!)

Hear me out;

Hades (2) and FFVII (Remake, Rebirth and CC) crossover, but it’s the FFVII characters in the Hades (2) situation.

Don’t know if this is exactly how the character swaps would go, but here’s my take on it, and those who I don’t know (this is disregarding all ships amongst Hades and ff7 characters):

Melinoë - Cloud

Zagreus - Zack

Hades -

Persephone -

Achilles - Angeal

Patroclus - Seph

Than - Also Cloud (because Zack also gets shipped with Cloud)

Meg - Aerith (you get the idea, right???)

Nyx -

Chronos - Also Seph

Hecate -

Chaos - The Goddess / Minerva (hahaha)

Skelly - Kunsel

Eris - Also Aerith

Nemesis - Tifa

Moros - Vincent

Dusa - Cait Sith

CERBERUSSSSSS - Zack at heart.

Charon - Also Kunsel

Hypnos - Also Vincent (he eepy)

Prometheus -

Icarus - Cid

Odysseus - also Kunsel

Heracles -

Zeus - Verdot

Hera - Cissnei

Ares - Reno

Apollo - Rude

Athena - Elena

Herems - also Kunsel (everyone is actually Kunsel)

Artemis - Tseng (is this my love for both Artemis and Tseng showing? Maybe,)

Demeter - LAZARDDDDD

Dionysus - Rufus

Posideon - President Shinra

Aphrodite -

Hepheastus - Barret

Hestia - Angeal’s mum because I can

Selene -

Feel free to give your takes on the character swaps (please do)

Ooo I love that idea! I’ll admit I still haven’t quite finished with the first Hades (I know, throw me out of the classics department), so my knowledge of specifics is somewhat limited esp in the Hades 2 realm of things

God I love the idea of Zack as Zagreus sm! I feel like that would work so well with him! I once read a time-travel fix it fic where he was stuck in a time loop of the escape from Shinra Manor to his death trying to get Cloud to safety and it was so heartbreaking, could totally see that kind of vibe there. The sunshine character struggling over and over again relentlessly trying to keep their positivity >>>>>

Despite my constant ramblings comparing Achilles to Genesis, yeah I think him as Angeal works so well in this situation, especially with having Sephiroth as Patroclus. God that hurts my heart to think about actually ahhh 😭

Melinoe I know less about but from what I’ve seen omg yeah I love the idea of her as Cloud! I could also totally see her as Sephiroth though with the whole being trained her entire life to kill thing, and speaking of yeah Chronos as insaneroth or Jenova herself is perfect imo, and as for Hecate idk who she’d be if Melinoe was Cloud but if Sephiroth she could potentially be Vincent in a sort of stole Seph away from Hojo or was charged with his protection by him au

Hades I could easily see as some Shinra director or even the president himself, not sure which one exactly though

For the others yes yes love it, might come back for more commentary on those later if I have more detailed thoughts lol

(Hades 3 but instead of another kid it’s Zagreus and Melinoe going on a quest together??? 🥺🥺🥺 sorry lmao I am just a sucker for sibling relationships in media)

[countrymusiclover]

15 - Heading Home

Part 16

The Texas Tire Family

Tags just ask - @supernaturalgirl30 @bvbwestfall @bubble-blu @patriciaplictisita @liesanddreams

Shutting my locker I jumped a little seeing my friend next door Amber standing right in front of me. “Hey Y/n, I think I found a guy for you. Look over there.” She pointed with her finger where I followed her finger seeing that she was pointing out the curly haired Cooper boy.

“Georgie Cooper. Are you crazy?” I whispered to her, feeling my face turning red at the thought.

She shakes my shoulders seeing that I was red like a tomato. “You’re blushing. You like him, you like him.”

Covering her mouth with my hands I pushed her against the lockers hoping that he didn’t hear her. I had recently started liking the young football player right before his younger brother Sheldon started coming here. He was only nine years old and he was a supposed genesis. “Okay so maybe I do. But can we talk about this later?”

She nodded hearing the end of day bell ring where she grabbed my arm dragging me out to the bus. Our bus stopped where we got off since the end of our road was a dead end. So we had to walk past the Cooper house to get to her house and mine a little ways down the street. “Watch out!”

Whipping our heads around someone shouted in our direction. Amber and I immediately dropped our bags and landed down on our knees seeing a baseball flying unit that hit some mud in the grass behind us. “Holy crap. Nice throw kid.” I responded seeing a younger girl running over to us.

“I’m sorry I was trying to learn baseball on my own. Since my family is busy.” She apologized picking the ball up off the ground giving us a kind smile a few moments afterwards. “I’m Missy Cooper.”

Waving at her I smiled sliding my backpack back up over my shoulder. “It’s nice to meet you, Missy. I’m Y/n. I could come over and give you pointers sometimes if you want.” She sent me a bright smile before Amber and I turned heading back home.

The girls were still grounded for a few more days which I wasn’t honestly happy to do. Carrying one of my bags in my arms I grunted sliding it in the back of the truck. Tonight we're taking a flight home back to Texas. We had to head back to work and the girls needed to start school in a few weeks. “I really don’t like you carrying stuff. The doctors said to keep it easy honey.”

“Georgie don’t worry about me. I managed to carry three babies on my bladder and deliver two of them perfectly fine. I think I can carry some boxes to help you out.” I explained turning around to face my husband who was carrying a larger suitcase pushing it in the backseat.

He shakes his head at me leaning against the side of the truck crossing his arms over his chest. “I just don’t want you working yourself too hard. I’m here to help if you let me.”

“I’ll always let you help. In fact, can you go check on the girls? I am going to make some lunches for the drive to the airport.” I shrugged my shoulders heading back into the apartment building. He held the door open for me watching me head towards the kitten.

Aurora and Evelyn came out of their rooms sitting their bag’s down. Baby Montana was sleeping in the car seat that we had him in already. “Daddy, are you and mommy ever going to unground us?”

“Eve, you stole my truck. You’re lucky I ain’t grounding you until you are old enough to drive and then take the car keys from you every time.” He sent them a glare picking up their bags heading outside.

Eve plopped down seeing that I had left the tv on and a movie preview came up for something called The Longest Ride. “Rora. Rora, it’s Scott Eastwood!”

“Oh my god. Him as a bull rider. Mom, can we please go see the movie when we get home.” My oldest daughter begged me when I picked the remote off the table about to shut the tv off. But I paused seeing that they were both giving me puppy dog eyes.

Slumping my shoulders I dropped the remote on the couch hearing Georgie coming back into the apartment to carry Montana out to the truck. He glanced in my direction, not sure what was going on. “What’s going on, I thought we agreed on no tv?”

“We did, Georgie.” I started sending him a look.

Eve leaned up on the back of the couch grabbing her father by his jean jacket knowing that he wouldn’t be able to resist her. He was always sweet to his girls. “Daddy, can we please go see the bull rider movie?”

“Uh Y/n…” He trailed off reading the age rating on the side of the screen.

Picking up the bag of sandwiches and the truck keys from the countertop I turned the tv off. Aurora and Evelyn both spun around on their feet waiting for an answer. “We will think about it but it is rated pg 13. So we might have to wait until you are older. Let’s go, we have a long flight home.”

The girls rose to their feet throwing on their boots and jackets climbing in the backseat. Shutting the passenger door behind me Georgie started making the drive there. Scrolling through pictures on my phone since I had been looking at wedding dresses that we couldn’t afford until now. “You two will be ungrounded before your father and I renew our vows. But under no circumstances are you to ever steal our car keys ever again.”

The five of us made it onto the airplane with just enough time. Georgie lays his head on my shoulder when I buried my face in the crook of his neck. “Don’t judge me if I ask this but why do our daughters care about some Eastwind guy?”

“Eastwood. He is in this movie they want to see, he plays a bull rider. But they aren’t old enough to watch it yet since the characters kiss and…you know.” I explained with a smirk on my face looking up into his brown eyes.

He nodded, running a hand through my hair until he reached above his head pulling out a hat from his carry-on bag that we each had. He sat the hat on my head where I looked at it on the screen of my phone seeing that he had bought me a light brown cowboy hat. “I got you that as an early birthday present. And a thank you for giving me our little boy. I love you in case you were wondering.”

“I love you too, Georgie.” Leaning forward I pressed my lips onto his where he wrapped his arms around my waist tugging me closer. “I appreciate the birthday present too.”

[baldguy-fight]

BALD GUY FIGHT MEGA TOURNAMENT ROUND 1

See all mega tournament polls here

Reasoning under cut

Mr. X

(no reasoning was provided)

Oren Pierre Alfonzo

He is a fabulous patisserie who joined the friggin French army just to gain French citizenship long enough to study well, and when he returned home and found that the teenagers of his city had turned the Pokémon battles that decided which dance team got what stage into fruity death battles (not as in gay, they’re all fruit themed), he drop kicked one of the kids and stole their transformation device and decided to beat all the kids up. He became a friggin Roman gladiator based on a durian, he was fabulous and deadly, he became distracted by The Butt of one of the initial antagonists, and when the actual story turned into Ragnarok meets Genesis, he said “screw that noise” and took in the baby gay that lost his not-boyfriend and began mentoring him with flying crane kicks and washbins falling from the sky. He is amazing and I love him so much.

[thesandsofelsweyr]

omg it's true! I totally forgot about that, I think I might've mistaken cathy for sheila haywood but I'm pretty sure sheila wasn't all that good too, right?

Oop my bad 🤦🏻‍♀️ let's just pretend AK Jason had a good mom with a name other than cathy/sheila lmaooooo

So in the comics 'verse, Jay had a good relationship with his adopted mom Cathy, who passed away before he was adopted by Bruce. Then later he discovered that his real mom was actually Shelia Haywood, who betrayed him to Joker in Death in the Family.

In the AK: Genesis comics, Cathy is Jay's biological mom, and both she and Willis are abusive to Jay (AK Jay just can't catch a break!) Though the Genesis comics actually retconned the game (many times 🙄) since the game gave Jay his comics backstory (which would've included a good relationship with my beloved Cathy Todd)

(stole this screenshot from @lisholoz on the Jayde server 💕)

For my Arkhamverse, I have a mix of both Genesis and the game. Willis is still abusive (sorry my dude) but Cathy tries to be a good mom to Jay. She eventually ODs like her non-Arkhamverse counterpart, and it's actually Willis and his new girlfriend who Jay betrays to Maroni instead of Willis and Cathy 😉