#YES! YES! HE'S A LOGISTICAL GENIUS!

[smallblueandloud]

#leverage #go darryl #I love this post #and I love the idea of this not only continuing well into hardison's forays into #the one-man business of fixing the world entire #but also providing a solid basis for his logistical approach to the entire project #because it turns out coordinating refugee crisis support and connecting small pro bono firms with activists in need #is really not that different from coordinating the transport chain that time they needed #to get Darryl's pet snakes all the way across the country in a hurry when he got a sudden promotion and had to relocate #or connecting assorted baby siblings in need with the older siblings who are most likely to know how to help #and all of THAT is honestly not that different from keeping track of multiple stock markets #in order to make a ton of money on the split-second delays in their communications #it turns out hardison is just really good at logistics! who knew! #(everyone. everyone knew. his nana was convinced he was going to end up as CEO of a massive wholesaler or something.) (via @aethersea)

Completely useless Leverage  question I get distracted wondering about:

Does Hardison run like a giant group chat of Nana’s former foster kids where they coordinate who gets her what for Mother’s Day and her birthday? Is there like a spreadsheet involved? Are there arguments at 0:01 on the day after her birthday that NO, DARRYL, YOU CANNOT SIGN UP TO BE THE ONE TO GET HER FLOWERS AGAIN THAT IS CHEATING.

(Obviously any current foster kids who want to participate get first pick and a  budget Hardison sets aside for each of them. He also gives them like a spreadsheet of ‘a heartfelt card has a 99.3% success rate of making her tear up, if you wanna ensure 100%, draw her a card yourself.’)

[tethered-heartstrings]

If Will dies first, it is obvious Hannibal would cannibalize Will’s flesh. Hannibal mourned Mischa by eating her, and he would do the same for Will; to consume and eat and incorporate is part of grieving. But what would Hannibal do with Will’s bones? He’d eat the marrow, maybe make soup from them, but what of the calcified parts that remain, the parts that can’t be eaten?

I don’t really see him just keeping them around or displaying them, something stagnant and to be ogled. Burying them in the family plot in Lithuania makes sense because Will is family, but it also requires Hannibal to go back to a place he can’t go. Hannibal could cremate the bones, but then what? Spreading the ashes doesn’t seem like something he would do; he can’t know what happens to them. Keeping Will in an urn on his desk or a shelf also feels out of character, a memory collecting dust.

What if Hannibal had Will’s ashes pressed into pencil lead? There are ways to compress ashes into something that could be written with or drawn. What if Hannibal draws Will with his own ashes, commemorating him in a completed cycle. Sketching the man with his own remains. Remembering Will as he saw him, recreating moments they shared from Hannibal’s mind palace. Having Will live forever in depictions of himself. Hannibal would never be truly left behind. And Hannibal would sharpen the pencils as he always had; he isn’t unfamiliar with taking a blade to Will. Shaving off a layer but keeping him sharp.

Displaying and keeping art made from Will’s ashes would mean so much more than a reconstructed skeleton or an urn on a shelf or a plot that would become overgrown with weeds. He could draw Will in motion, alive, as he wished to remember him, and create moments and memories they didn’t get to experience together.

[ahli-stuff]

An Overanalysis of That Bsd 119 Panel

“If God does not exist, everything is permissible.”

—Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

With one of the most intense displays of genuine emotion that we’ve seen from Fyodor paired with the Expression emphatically taking up over half the page, I immediately wondered, what does this tell me about Fyodor?

I’ve seen a lot of interesting analysis floating around already, with the main two being: Fyodor doesn’t think Atsushi represents the “noble” beast of his ability, and/or Atsushi’s attitude reminds Fyodor of his past self.

However, to me, it seems that Fyodor’s reaction is a natural culmination of his obsessive and hypocritical search for perfection.

Part I: Fyodor’s Impossible Idealism

Fyodor has always been a romantic.

Not a romantic as in someone interested in ‘romance,’ but a romantic as defined by Oxford Languages: “[someone or something] characterized by…an idealized view of reality.”

From the beginning, Fyodor’s goals has always been steeped in idealism. “Saving” the world! Though thankfully a departure from the omnicidal maniac trope (I hate it! If you destroy the world, what then, genius), saving the world is as nearly nebulous as destroying the world. What does saving the world mean?

To Fyodor, it has been stated that he means cleansing the world of sin: ability users.

But I would argue that a better way to phrase this would be to cleansing the world of imperfection. Fyodor doesn’t only view ability users as imperfect, he views humanity as a whole as imperfect. I hinge this arguement where upon Dazai meeting Fyodor for the first time and talking with him in prison, Dazai says “people are sinfully stupid,” not ability-users, in opposition to Fyodor’s ideologies.

The second reasoning for this arguement is that while Fyodor hates ability users, he has no problem killing non ability users. You would think for someone who puts so much emphasis on abilities users as “sinful” that he would subsequently view non ability users as pure, right? Yeah, no.

“But Fyodor,” someone asks. “After you erase all the ability users how the fuck are you going to fix the rest of humanity?”

For one, he’d be dead (someone correct me on this if he said he’d kill all ability users but himself). For two, if the former () is the case, then is he just going to… write all of the rest of humans as perfect? Is he going to kill them to a write a version of humanity that is perfect? If that’s the case, then what the hell does ‘perfect’ mean to fyodor?

Another popular theory is that Fyodor is attempting to rewrite the world from the beginning without abilities, but that brings up the same issue in my second point—Fyodor doesn’t exclusively view ability users as imperfect, he views all of humanity as imperfect.

His plan is full of holes when you consider how exactly he defines “perfect.”

Therefore, I’d like to go forward in this analysis with the assumption that Fyodor is attempting to kill all ability users, including himself, through the “salvation” of death to create a “perfect” world despite all logistical fallacies.

So… what was the purpose of this tangent? It’s that I believe Fyodor’s search for perfection is futile, he likely knows it, and his goal is simply the largest unwilling suicide pact the world has ever seen.

Part II: Does Fyodor even believe in God?

Before this section begins, I’d like to define religiousness by the unconditional belief in gods or a god.

Short answer: yes. Slightly longer answer: well, yes, but…

Fyodor embodies of the churchgoing villain trope to a tee—at every possible moment he uses religion as a directive to all his actions. God, to Fyodor, is his patron.

What makes Fyodor’s religious zealousness so interesting to me is that highly intelligent, calculating, and cunning villains are often associated with ideologies ranging from relaxed-religiousness to atheism in media. Dazai is an example of this—he a deist who believes that god exists—but has created a world which runs on inconsistencies and absurdity.

Hell, Raskolnikov, the main character from from Crime and Punishment himself is an example of an intelligent character who is non-religious. While Raskolnikov is not a villain or a necessarily an irredeemable person, he is, as opposed to BSD Fyodor (the character of whom he inspired), an intelligent “bad person” who is notably non-religious. The following is a quote from Raskolnikov, in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, where he cynically comments about a religious character.

“At first he was afraid that she would worry him about religion, would talk about the gospel and pester him with books.”

Which naturally leads to the next question: why is Fyodor so religious if it clashes against both his literary counterpart and the tropes associated with an “intelligent villain”?

Trick question: I don’t think Fyodor is religious at all.

I believe that Fyodor’s fervent belief in god does not come out of genuine faith, but rather a desperate need to justify his own crimes. After all,

“If God doesn’t exist, everything is permissible.”

That is an adapted quote referenced in BSD 42 from a conversation in another one of Dostoevsky’s books, The Brothers Karamazov. The meaning of the quote is that the presence of god gives moral guidance meaning, and without god, humanity falls into anarchy.

After all, if heaven and hell do not exist, if god does not exist, or if god exists but he doesn’t care, or if god exists but he hates Fyodor, then… there’s no such thing as Fyodor’s idea of perfection. All of his plannning and scheming will be for naught. The slaughter and manipulation he has enacted across centuries will be pointless.

Fyodor must believe in his idealism (his version of god) or else his world views, his idealism, his raison d'etre—crumbles.

So let me ask the question again. Why is a villain who is as intelligent as Fyodor also religious? It’s because he must be, or he’d go insane.

“God is necessary, and therefore must exist... But I know that he does not and cannot exist... Don't you understand that a man with these two thoughts cannot go on living?”

This is a quote from Dostoevsky’s Demons, which perfectly describes what I believe about Fyodor’s motivations. I believe that deep within Fyodor’s fucked up mind, he understands that either god does not exist or that god exists, but hates/doesn’t give a rat’s ass about Fyodor.

However, Fyodor’s idealism has no room for nuance, even though someone of his intelligence must already understand that. Anything that challenges his idea of god, his idea of salvation, his idea of perfection, will challenge his very reason for being alive.

Which is what brings us to:

Part III: My Bad; The Panels this Analysis was Supposed to be About

In the past few years, there has been a recent shift in the fandom’s general perception Fyodor. He is no longer perceived as a character with a god complex, but rather character with a messiah complex(also known informally known as a Jesus complex). This is basically cemented in Fyodor’s last words before ‘death’: “Eli Eli lama sabachthani,” which mirrors Jesus’s words, not god’s.

While both god complexes and messiah complexes arise from the same core insecurities and delusions of superiority, those with messiah complexes are often characterized by their extreme empathy and intense desire to “save” others.

Looking at Fyodor, you wouldn’t think that he is a highly empathetic individual, but it is only because of his advanced emotional intelligence that he understands the human condition intimately enough to manipulate it—and he uses that power to try to “save” humanity the same way he perceives Jesus would.

But… if anything, it’s Atsushi who resembles Jesus.

Atsushi is compassionate; he extended his sympathy and respect to both Kyouka and Akutagawa, two people who attempted to kill him. Atsushi is selfless; from episode 1, he attempted to use his own body to cover a bomb in order to protect the ADA (people who he had barely known at the time!). Atsushi is humble; he denies his power and affability when confronting Lucy’s anguish.

(Arguably, you could say that Atsushi’s selflessness in the beginning was more motivated from self-hatred then true altruism—and you would be right, but once Atsushi learns a sense of confidence, his selflessness does not disappear… it just becomes genuine.)

Compassion, selflessness, and humbleness—all values that Jesus is said to preach.

The prideful Fyodor knelt before Atsushi in hopes a finding a god to his “Jesus,” but all he found was a painfully human boy. Not only that, he found a man who is more of a savior than he will ever be.

To add insult to injury in 119, Fyodor discovers Atsushi is an imperfect being who resides within what he had previously believed to be a perfect being. He is a contradiction—a nuance—and like I said before, Fyodor’s idealism has no room for what-ifs and buts. If he entertains a single contradiction(like Atsushi), his entire world view collapses.

So, Fyodor goes on the defense. In his attempt to rid himself of the so-called pathetic humanity he sees Atsushi demonstrating, he demonstrates some pathetic humanity of his own: For the first time we’ve seen since Fyodor has been introduced, Fyodor forgets his fixed benevolent, lofty, half-amused persona and gets pissed off.

More often than not I believe self-righteous anger comes as a result of insecurity and doubt. I imagine that his inner monologue is going something along the lines of: ‘how could this noble, god-like creature be so stupid, base, human? How could this faux-divine suggest that I am not already saving humanity? How could I have ever believed that he could be the perfect one I’m searching for?’

What I said before, about how Fyodor’s idea of perfection is a zero sum game and he knows it; it is reflected in his interaction with Atsushi. Atsushi’s mere existence and personality is evidence of what Fyodor has been trying to deny this entire time: his ideal of a “perfect world” does not exist.

“Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.” —Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

[thegreenlizard]

What makes a military genius

Obi-Wan recognises the most qualified person to lead his battalion is not himself but his commander and acts accordingly.

Could be the same AU as “Not Obi-Wan’s first slave uprising” (where Obi-Wan is presented with a battalion of slave soldiers, says please and thank you, and starts plotting how to take down the slavers).

Jedi are more like diplomats, spies, or special forces, where they have to achieve much with very little. Obi-Wan had learned to use his assets to their fullest, including—and often especially—sentient assets. Or, Obi-Wan recognises the most qualified person to lead his battalion is not himself but his commander, and acts accordingly.

I have this mental image of Obi-Wan meeting his commander and having a discussion, comparing their education and qualifications; recognising that while he’s willing to learn, his learning curve would happen at the expense of the lives of his men; and promptly reassigning duties. Cody ends up with effective command of the 212th; Obi-Wan’s combat role becomes a specialist and his non-combat role a combination of consultant (he does have applicable experience), Republic/Order attaché (slash shield/advocate for his men), and a professional banthashit processor (which allows Cody to do his job as effectively as possible). And that’s how the 212th ends up the most effective battalion in the GAR.

I love the MilitaryGenius!Obi-Wan trope, but soldiers the Jedi are not. This is one solution for how both could be true at the same time (in other words, gimme military genius!Cody). Obi-Wan has the strategic genius to recognise that he has what might be the finest army in the galaxy crippled by poor leadership—and the negotiator’s out of the box genius to figure out a solution for it. His by the book appearance is part an attempt to protect the good thing he has going on and part malicious compliance.

Bonus:

- Obi-Wan in full trooper armour.

- Obi-Wan in full armour is a trooper that doesn’t exist—the “Ghost” of the Ghost Company (i.e. his assigned company).

- I got thinking about different scenarios and when it would be more advantageous to have your Jedi look visibly Jedi for intimidation, distraction, or whatever—and when it would be more advantageous to hide him in plain sight in one of the identical sets of trooper armour. And I thought that if Cody had a Jedi who was willing to let Cody do whatever he wanted with him, that would definitely be one of the uses to make of him. You know, in addition to getting him wear armour, two birds one shot and all that jazz.

- Cody and Obi-Wan also discuss the possibility of making their arrangement public, making it known it’s a clone who’s effectively running the battalion. But for some political osik reason decide no.

- It probably so happens that the finest army in the galaxy is also compromised by the senate’s lengthy decision making process and poor logistics, but that comes later. Although it might already be apparent that some of it will become a problem—soldiers can’t function without support and logistics & I’m pretty sure not all pertinent support was included in the clone order (onboard ship mechanics yes, shipyards no). So you have a fighting force that *on paper* should be easily winning—and when it isn’t, you can blame the Jedi for something they have no power over.

- That being said, we never see what happens to the service corps during the war—they must be pressed into service as support personnel if the whole Order is drafted? So there are Jedi generals (the knights), but also navigators (Exploracorps), healers (MediCorps), supplying & feeding the army (Agricorps), etc. I wonder how much discontent it causes when those services are pressed to war and taken away from the populations they previously serviced? Probably poorer Outer Rim populations, furthering the divide between Core and Outer Rim worlds and pushing more Outer Rim worlds towards the Separatists, worsening the crisis.

- Eventually Obi-Wan’s experience from Melida/Daan comes in handy. Unfortunately, not his experience with leading troops, but his experience with total warfare and breakdown of infrastructure. That’s not something Cody was taught to expect—he was trained with the expectation of at least somewhat functional support. So Cody has a learning curve, but unexpectedly this is something his general knows.

[jacksgreysays]

Hiiii how about a prompt for Further Down Road One, political marriage!Shikasuke, maybe something from an Uchiha's POV on the Shikabane-hime's meteoric rise in power, international acclaim, and political capital? And how it ripples out onto the clan as a whole?

I mean, the point of Road One is that the arranged marriage itself already does SO MUCH to change the trajectory of the Uchiha clan’s fate for the better that, basically, everything else after that is kind of a bonus. The fact that Shikako’s smart and powerful and a good person is NICE, yes, but just being engaged to Sasuke already earned so much approval from the clan as a whole that it’s just kinda… ehhhh…

Although… and this somewhat of a tangent to the prompt… it would be funny if… okay, let me set this up by saying: I don’t necessarily like Itachi as a character. When he was kind of a psychopath and apparently just murdered his entire family to test his power, that was at least a… strength of will or conviction that kind of resonated thematically. Like, what if Will of Fire goes bad kind of thing. Or the pressures of being clan heir, of being pushed too hard and too fast, would lead to a genius of violence snapping and using said violence. Then when it turns out he was given orders to murder his entire family and his one condition was that Sasuke would get to live is like… what the fuck dude. It’s both backtracking to make Itachi weaker as a character and also, somehow, even more of a psychopath in my opinion. And, like, sure, Danzo maybe used Shisui’s Sharingan to unbreakable genjutsu him into it, but I don’t think that really absolves Itachi.

All that being said, theoretically in this kinder world of Road One, we never get to that point. Additionally, there’s less pressure on Itachi to continue to excel SO OVERTLY since the clan isn’t getting isolated and also because Shisui is still there and alive to share the burden.

BUT, I do still… the idea that the Uchiha elders have been wanting one of the clan to become Hokage is something that I hold to be true unless proven otherwise. I do think the clan elders would push more for Itachi to be Hokage—because he is clan heir and so has the pedigree, while Shisui (just as powerful, literally Flee On Sight in the bingo books at such a young age) I think we’ve fandom agreed is an orphan or at least a lesser branch of the Uchiha clan.

Anyway, all of the above leads me to: Shisui and Itachi trying to PR campaign for their sister-in-law Shikako (who WILL be an Uchiha once the marriage actually) to be the new “best candidate” for an Uchiha Hokage. Like, really just them listing off all of her accomplishments to not only the Uchiha elders but the rest of the clan (who, again, already quite like her).

I also think, in this universe, that Shikako would DO SOMETHING about Sora-ku once she feels a little more comfortable making decisions—or, at least, making proposals with attached logistics—for the Uchiha clan. Like. It’s a huge chunk of territory that seems to be an abandoned city. But it’s apparently functional enough to have a community of sorts of black marketeers and a support system. Like, it’s not so out of the way of things that nobody bothers with it, which implies that it could be rejuvenated with the time and resources. I think I read a theory once that it’s because Senju used their skills to desertify the area so there just wasn’t enough food to support a city of that size. BUT, now they’ve got Shikako. And Shikako’s connections. Whether that is the ANY clan alliance or Tenzo/Yamato or upper echelons of Hidden Mist’s administration (Haku is an ice user, yes, but like he and Zabuza wouldn’t throw a squad of Mist nin with water nature to help with irrigation at Shikako’s request for free) or even the literal oasis creating ancient god Gelel.

So, you know, she’s more than proven herself to the world. And with the Sora-ku rejuvenation, already brought a level of prosperity to the Uchiha clan than they could ever imagine. “Shikako for Hokage” is not a hard sell for Shisui and Itachi whatsoever (and also, they do think Sasuke would be so happy as her First Gentleman/trophy husband)

Yeah, that’s kind of all I can think of for this prompt in terms of it being different than how the Nara clan or DoS canon clans for that matter would view her meteoric rise. Hope you enjoyed, anon.

[leadenn]

Mom Tang Shen Again

part two

Shen loved baby noises. Her beautiful baby girl had been very fussy, and Miwa used to constantly whine if she was not given attention. She cried, she giggled, and Tang Shen would do nearly anything to hear Miwa's voice again.

She only says nearly anything, because she would not trade her boys for anything. Not even Miwa. It was a thought that made her physically ill with guilt, but the lives are children are not tokens to exchange. She wouldn't give up any of her children to favor her daughter.

She got used to her boys and their personalities very fast. Of course she didn't need to get used to how they look, she knows that they'll grow up to look like. She just needed time to adjust from one baby to four. Especially four with such large personalities.

Raphael is a little drama king. He lives in Shen's arms while she was at home and his cries at night only cease when Shen is there to comfort him, usually it works out since she's often awake grading her student's work. Sometimes it was frustrating to try and juggle giving her baby boy the attention he demanded and reading essays. Sometimes she got annoyed, but then she imagines that there will be a day where she picks her son up for the last time and suddenly that annoyance is replaced by a desire to hold all of her sons and cry.

Michelangelo is a little bundle of joy. He hardly cries, only when he needs something, and he always stops when Shen or Yoshi arrive to care for him. Yoshi thinks he likes her better though, so he was the second Mama's boy in their little family. He was curious, often to a worrying degree. There's nothing her brave little Michelangelo won't attempt to eat or crawl off of. She and Yoshi are always there to catch him. His laughter makes Shen's heart melt, and luckily for her she gets to hear it every single day.

Donatello was smart and quiet. He liked to play with things and see how they move, but unlike Michelangelo he didn't try an eat them. He took apart one of her pens, and after a heart attack and desperately checking to make sure he didn't eat anything Shen was amazed by her little genius. He had a look of curiosity in his little black eyes, and he stared at faces very intently. It reminded her of Yoshi, who Donatello loved being held by. Never for long, Donatello wasn't big on cuddles, but Shen assumed it was because Yoshi's fur was very warm. She agreed with her son, his Daddy was very comfortable to hug.

Leonardo was his father's son. He watched Yoshi and always reached for him whenever he was in the room. Like Raphael, he only ceased his cries when his favorite parent picked him up. Shen felt no jealously, because she thought it was precious. Leonardo always was quiet in his father's arms, and he was a very well behaved baby. She hoped that carried into his personality as he grew. He liked her hair, so when Shen held Leonardo he'd often gently tug or chew on it. A little gross, yes, but cute enough to excuse.

Yoshi and Shen can recognize who is crying and that's how they determine who gets up. They also make sure to get their sons to stop crying asap because Yoshi is a missing person and as far as anyone knows they don't have kids. They could move, sure, but neither of them have any ideas what the logistics for that would be.

Thus, them both being great at comforting their "assigned sons" in the night. Donnie was easy for Splinter to calm since he usually was hungry or needed to be changed. Leo's crying usually stops after realizing that his Papa is there to help with whatever was wrong.

Raph is very fussy, and it takes Shen rocking him and singing to him to calm her boy down. Sometimes she just brings him back to bed with her and Yoshi and he sleeps on her chest and grips her shirt. Mikey is easier, since he's usually calm after realizing Shen is there. Sometimes he's just being needy though. He'll stop crying and Shen puts him down, and then he starts crying again, so some nights Shen sleeps with two baby turtles on her.

Yoshi totally takes care of bathing the boys while Shen is at work. He also takes care of house work and cooking, anything he can think of doing at home? He does. He's a great stay at home Dad. He feels so guilty about not being able to work, and Shen can support them but that's because their sons aren't eating much more than vegetables and fruit yet. They're still very little but they's eventually have the appetite of growing boys. And they can't just not feed their boys.

Shen doesn't want to hear his apologies though, because she's coming home to her sons, husband, a hot meal, and a clean home. Well, as clean as their home is with four babies. Still, it was nice. Money wasn't important to Shen, they had food on the table and a warm place to sleep.

"How was work?" Yoshi always asked her. She always locked the door behind her first, and then greeted him with a kiss. He'd wrap his arms around her waist if he wasn't holding any number of their sons.

Shen smiled at him, tucking hair behind her ear. "Uneventful. My students asked about you, and I had to get teary eyes." She explained. "I just thought about how Michelangelo's diapers smell and I teared up on command."

That made Yoshi, her stoic and aloof idiot of a husband, laugh quietly. It was very true though. Shen considered Michelangelo's diapers weapons of mass destruction. "I made dinner. Do we have enough to shop again before the end of the month or is the water bill too high? If I don't eat we could cut the bill down-"

"Yoshi, what do we say about money?" Shen asked, cupping his furry face in her hands. He looked a little bit embarrassed.

"I am not allowed to go hungry as a way to save money." He replied, and Shen kisses him again.

"We'll figure this out. We always do." Shen said, "And step one of figuring that out is making sure we can all sleep at night with full stomachs." She added, and Yoshi nodded his head.

"I guess you're right. I need a lot of energy to take care of you five." Yoshi said, and Shen raises an eyebrow at him.

"Five?" She asked.

"You count." Yoshi replied. "Michelangelo gets his mischief from you." Yoshi said, and before she could protest he began to pepper her face in kisses.

Shen felt herself smile, and despite thinking of her baby girl every single day and missing her constantly, Shen was happy.

She wouldn't trade her boys for anything.

[stopthatfool]

You said don't get you started on Ice's helmet or you'll be mean... please be mean. Please be mean to him. What is so disastrous about his helmet design?

my time has come. i will be mean to him. (thank you for getting me started on this. it bothers me every time I watch top gun.) this is also gonna be so long. yippee!

stopthatfool's issues with Tom "Iceman" Kazansky's helmet! aka this bad boy right below. (I'm sorry if anyone loves Ice's helmet, it's just not for me)

The placement of his name. WHY is it on the side? Both him and Slider have their names on the side. That makes me think it's a squadron thing? (the VF-213s) but regardless i don't care cuz i think it's stupid. (again sorry if someone thinks its genius. ok i'll stop apologizing)

My biggest issue with the fact it's on the side is that it creates this uneven weight distribution. The side with his name feels considerably "heavier" than the side without.

And the thing i don't understand is that Ice's name is evenly numbered!! He could fit 3 letters on either side of the line that comes down the helmet! the letters wouldn't be unevenly distributed, so I don't know why he felt the need to put it there!!

Here, I have "annotated" his helmet and provided other viewpoints of his helmet!

The font/typeface! Ice.. is that ARIAL?? and it's not even bolded??? so not only is his name to one side and weirdly small... it's skinny and unbolded. (like you're THE Iceman. Don't you want your name big and bolded? I shouldn't be searching for your name when you're Mr. Iceman!)

Looking at his helmet head-on, part of his name isn't even visible.. like ok ICEM!

And then! There's this weird switch up in the shapes and line types that he used-- the angular and sharp points of the lightning bolts and the half circles surrounding the squadron logo (is it a logo?? idk im gonna call it a logo)

What i think Ice is trying to do here is create a "connection" between the circular part of the logo and the lightning bolts as the bolts go all the way to the back of the helmet... but in my opinion... it's not working. like at all.

The comparison between the harsh lines of the bolts and then the curves is just kind of hard on the eyes (for me anyway). I just don't know where to look. Should i be following the leading lines of the lightning bolts? Or the curves of the half-circle things? Or should I be following the line of the lightning bolt in the logo?

And all throughout that... i barely end up seeing the name on the helmet.

Continuing off the logo... for Top Gun 1986, Ice and Slider are in the VF-213 squadron, but the movie switched the logo to the VFA-25s that looks like this on their flight suits-

(yes that is the best quality image i could find from the movie my bad) So why does the logo on his helmet look like this???

WHY do the fingers look like that. they look like hotdogs im so sorry. (logistically it was probably easier for the decals to be printed and then applied like this. but. we're not talking about technicalities here. right now i'm tearing apart the entire composition of Ice's helmet.)

I like version of the logo on their flight suits soooo much better! It's got more "rhythm" and flow to it that the lightning bolts lack! Plus no hotdog fingers.

Ok ok, now on the colour scheme. The harsh and bright blues I don't mind. Like yeah, you're The Iceman, punch me in the face with blue. I can forgive that. The thing that really bothers me.. is the silver/grey base of the helmet.

It's this really harsh grey that really doesn't help with the already harsh blues. I think he should've continued with the blue he has going. cuz this grey ain't working, king.

Ok, anyway. Since I should be studying, I'm obviously doing anything but studying. So i redesigned ice's helmet. ya idk.

it's kind of wonky.. but whatevs (ignore how the lightning bolt on the side view doesn't line up with the front view) (and ignore the inconsistences in the lettering. i was lazy and did it by hand)

I also didn't want to completely change/get rid of the aspects of Ice's helmet. So the changes aren't huge (except for maybe the name placement/"font")

ok I changed the background colour (finally, it's less all up in your face now) I continued with the blues and lessened the intensity just a little bit. I really wanted his name to be front and center!

Now the colour scheme is also consistent. No random black lettering (again, in arial???) there's now black in both his name, the outline of the lightning bolts and the logo!

Now his name is evenly distributed! See how it fits on either side of the line that comes down the center of the helmets from '86? See how you can actually see his whole name? See how it's heavier and fits the whole "iceman" theme better? (at least in my opinion)

Come on, Ice! You should've used the leading lines provided by the lightning bolts to guide people to your name! There's now a fun little overlapping moment!

(ignore how i forgot to dot one of the i's in distribution whoops)

No more weird half circle things! No more conflicting leading lines! But! I decided to extend the arm of the squadron logo to continue the line of the lightning bolt as it moves backward. I think this makes the circle of the logo fit better, while simultaneously creating that "connection" he was trying to get in his actual design.

The lack of half-circle things also allow for the logo and lightning bolts to just "be." There's no distraction. it's not overly "busy" anymore (like maverick's helmet). It's simple, but he's The Iceman! He doesn't need it to say/have more!

And the use of the "actual" logo seen on Slider and Ice's flight suits creates that sense of movement that was absent before! Plus no hotdog hands!

Is this new proposed design perfect? Absolutely not! The logo and the lightning bolts still create a weird point of almost intersection that still bothers me. But I think fundamentally, there's always going to be issues with these two components: the circle will never quite fit in, and the lightning bolt the hand is holding will always "cut" the whole thing in half, creating a weird separation in the helmet, that will always bother me.

Anyway, this was a lot of fun! (I love being mean to these guys. they need their egos brought down a couple pegs!)

[andreal831]

the mechanics of killing klaus/the hollow in s5 are nonsense. ignoring the white oak stake they pulled out of their ass, in s4 Davina says that only Labonairs can harm the Hollow (ie Hayley and Hope) and whenever a body the Hollow possesses dies, she just body hops. so in s5 Klaus staking himself made no sense. If we follow logic, the Hollow would just find a new body. The only way this could've made logistical sense to me was either

Hayley takes the Hollow and dies for Hope

Hope is the one to stake Klaus if Hayley's still dead in this s5

In situation 2, a Labonair is still the one to kill the Hollow/it's host which follows s4 rules.

you know what, i wish option 2 had happened

also sidetone on the mechanics of Klaus dying, why pull the white oak stake out of your ass when Marcel's venom is still around. Just say Klaus has a vial he keeps around for nefarious purposes. that would make sense and wouldn't make me want to bang my head against a wall

sorry for this, i was watching Friendly Space Ninja's video on TO and he mentioned the Labonair stuff and how Klaus' death didn't make sense.

whoever wrote how they killed Klaus was an idiot and forgot several bits of lore.

also, i finished the Great War and man i loved it! Cami marrying Klaus to link herself to him? genius. i didnt see Jackson and Hayley divorcing and the scene where she asks Klaus to compel her feelings for Elijah away genuinely made me emotional (and also want to strangle Jackson). Rebekah and baby Henry was unexpected yet delightful. yay for Freelin not having a cursed beginning (why does this universe love giving weird/messy couples happy endings but not the healthy ones). very excited for the sequel.

First of all, thank you for reading TGW! I love hearing feedback and I'm so glad you've enjoyed it. I really wanted to give the characters more closure and happier (if not just as angsty) storylines. I can't wait to start posting the sequel!

But yes, Season 5 was an absolute mess for so many reasons, but mainly because the writing was just so bad. I know they lost their main producer and JP had to take over. I don't think she cared to follow the show's own lore. She just wanted to end it quickly and dramatically. If you read my story, Don't It Just Break Your Heart, I don't fully resolve all of the issues, but I do discuss how it wouldn't make sense for Klaus and Elijah to die with the Hollow. We saw other characters get killed with the Hollow inside and she just comes back, it doesn't kill her. They completely dropped the Labonair connection in Season 5 which was such a pivotal point in Season 4. Simply killing her on the one plane didn't solve anything as she just ended up back on the ancestral plane and come back.

Also, yes, where did that stake come from? Freya searched for any trace of the white oak in season 3 and only came up with the one bullet. How did she not find the one that Klaus kept hidden? Why would Klaus keep a stake that could kill him and his family hidden? None of that made sense. Like you pointed out, there was still a way to kill him, Marcel's venom. It would be kind of iconic for Klaus to be killed by both of his children -- Hope doing it to kill the Hollow but using Marcel's venom.

Very little about Season 5 made any sense. It was all just for rating and to launch Legacies.

Thanks for the ask!

[caffernnn]

Hey idk if you'd be interested but free! Heist AU

Rin - the mastermind

Rin inherited this business from his late father who was secretly running this organization. He is a driven and charismatic leader who only has eyes looking forward to achieve the next goal. He is an intelligent planner who makes sure his heists are perfect and foolproof, and that he is equipped with the best items and personnel for the job. He will not hesitate to use other people to achieve his goals, and views everyone as a stepping stone for success (unless he takes a really strong liking to you and deems you indispensable). He can be very persuasive with his words, with very provoking offers that you can't help but bite and get baited. But he also be very scary and intimidating, and he's very skilled in a lot of things related to his chosen career. He's a strong hand-to-hand fighter, as well as with quite a few weapons, like a handgun and a knife. He leads the operations and he rarely backs down from a fight.

Haru - the fraud

He can copy any item that is presented before him. Penstroke or brushstroke, he can forge or falsify anything on paper created by the human hand. He can recreate any material, and replicate it 100 times more. He has made a living creating and selling fake copies of expensive items, and their authenticity (or rather, the lack of) is rarely discovered. He takes pride in his craft, which he uses to support his best friend and long-time boyfriend's college education and home expenses.

Makoto - the conman

Haru's boyfriend. He can charm people into agreeing with what he says and making them do what he wants to. He knows how to read people like open books, and therefore knows everything that will make people tick and click. He puts up a facade of kindness that creates a false security, making people fall for his words even deeper. They think everything he says is for their own benefit.

He actually has been working with Haru for a long time now, with him selling the counterfeits Haru manufactures. This is how they met Rin, when they sold him something fake and it took Rin a long time to discover that he was astonished.

Rei - the hacker

A computer genius with too much time on his hands, Rei delved deep into computer technology. There is no digital system he can't hijack. His application to a university got rejected after an academic rival sabotaged his chances, and while taking a gap year, fell too deep into tinkering computer programs, codes, wires, and other gadgets. He exposed corruption of several huge academic bodies under anonymous accounts and became a target under hiding. Rin was able to track him and took him under his wing for his service in exchange for protection.

Nagisa - the moneymaker

He's the guy who helps Rin earn his funds, albeit by using unconventional means. He's the greatest thief in the team, being able to steal anything; from pickpocketing a stranger's wallet to infiltrating a heavily-guarded jewel and running away with it. He's also an amazing gambler and bluffer and is able to earn money by betting against people he meets. He ran away from home and made a living on the streets by himself and that's how Rin found him.

Gou - the secretary

Rin's sister whos only in it as a promise to her father to keep an eye on Rin and make sure he stays away from harm. She handles all the internal affairs and logistics of the team, such as record keeping and accounting. She rarely goes out for a mission, unless the team needs a femme fatale to bait a client for her to use her seduction skills on. She can take care of herself, with some fighting moves under her belt and equipped with the skill of using everyday objects as weapons. Yes, she has crippled a man for life with nothing but a clutch purse and her heels.

Kisumi - the backer

This guy has connections everywhere. He knows everyone from everything and therefore is always able to pull several strings whenever Rin is in a pinch. Need a man in Guatemala? He got you covered. Need a guy with a ship? He knows one. Need 25 billion yen? Oddly enough, someone owes him that exact amount. Do not make an enemy out of him. Be his friend! Just like what Rin did with him!

Asahi - the grease monkey

He's a dropout from automotive school after his sister's shop went bankrupt and he can no longer pay for his tuition. Equipped with only a rundown mechanic shop and a dream, he studied automotive all on his own and was discovered by Kisumi when he repaired his car that no one should be able to when it broke down in the middle of nowhere (the nowhere being Asahi's rural town where he is the only mechanic). There is no machine he can't disassemble and reassemble at the same breath. He can fix, modify, customize, and redesign any vehicle with his mechanic skills that the team thinks he could create the next ultimate war weapon if left unchecked.

Hiyori - the chameleon

He can transform into anyone at the blink of an eye. Being a master of deception, he is able to imitate a person's body language, movement, personality, speech pattern, etc. which allows him to turn into a completely different person. With each transformation, he is able to completely erase traces of his former self. Combined with skill in disguise and makeup application, he is the best spy the team could offer. No one knows if they have seen his true face or personality, nor does anyone know of Hiyori's lonely past and desire to be wanted and accepted. Is that his real face? His real self? His real name? Who knows...

Ikuya - the stalker

He can tail a person without letting his presence be detected whatsoever. His attachment issues with his younger, who is a free spirit roaming around the world and tried his best to shake him off of him led him to develop his stalking tendencies. Anywhere his brother goes, he was able to follow. He can bypass any security, any lock system, and no one would be able to detect. He can get in anywhere, even places people wouldn't be able to get into. Lock him, bind him, imprison him, and he will escape. He can follow anyone to the depths of the earth, to the most hidden corner of the planet. He can find anything you need, person or item. When he locks onto a target, he is unstoppable, and no one knows how he is able to achieve these feats. The only way he found out about Rin's team and got recruited was because he followed Natsuya and broke into the hideout. Rin was impressed and recruited him along with his brother.

Sousuke - the wheelman

Rins best friend and very first member of the team. He was the original partner in crime and his job was to take Rin wherever he needed to be. He can drive any vehicle from practice because of his background. He comes from a rich family and has experience driving several vehicles, using his father's money to enjoy the luxury. He was an up and coming car racer but an accident hindered his chances of becoming a pro, so he ran away from his high status lifestyle to join Rin in his adventures (and to try pursue romance with him but really, he hasn't gotten far with his attempts with him yet).

Can he pilot a plane? Yes. Can he man a ship? Yes. Can he drive a van with one arm while shooting his pursuers with the other? Yes. Can he go around the city without getting lost all by himself? No. His only weakness? His lack of sense of direction.

Natsuya - the navigator

He knows everything about everywhere because of his experiences travelling to a lot of different places. He knows every nook and cranny of every town,  village or city and knows how to get around either through the fastest, safest, or easiest way. He knows a lot of things about different buildings as well. He knows the layout of his target's places inside and out. He's an experienced thief like Nagisa, and he usually comes with Rin during infiltration and most of the time works as Sousuke's navigator when he's on the wheel. He's also an excellent shotgun rider, with an excellent aim when shooting from his seat.

Nao - the intel

The only person better than Makoto at reading people. He has a weird ability to know a person's nature and tendency just from a single look, and from there formulate a strategy on how to deal with them. He always submits his reports with extensive personal profiles of their targets and no one knows how he manages to get his hands on these data. Only joined the team after quitting his job of being a corporate worker to keep an eye on Natsuya.

Nitori - the contingency

One of Rin's most trusted subordinates. Rin may be the one planning everything, but not everything goes according to plan. And that's where he comes in. He has backup plans for everything, in case anything that can go wrong, goes wrong. Most of the time his anxiety induced overthinking is useless when things go smooth, but it has definitely saved Rin's ass several times when he got cornered into a pinch. Years of being a victim of bullying made him good in "thinking of what it do in case something goes wrong", but he doesn't like to talk about that. Not when Rin had already saved him from that nightmare of a past.

Momo - the inside job

He works at a media company in charge of delivering headline news. Indebted to Rin for freeing his brother out of prison, his role is to receive intel from a more stable source, and whatever data he receives from the journalists he delivers to the team. He is also responsible for covering up their heists and making sure that none of their activities make it to the public.

Do not let the childish demeanor fool you, he is the brother of a convict and is trained in combat as well. Journalists have many enemies, and he will not hesitate to pull out and shoot when he deems you as a threat.

Sei - the combat master

Rin's most trusted soldier. An ex-military who got suspended for "unknown reasons", he is an expert in several martial arts styles from around the world, and is very skilled in fighting either barehanded or with weapons. He can fight people way above his weight class. He is trained in using all sorts of weapons, from knives in close-range combat to snipe shooting. Rin recruited him after helping him escape from prison because he greatly needed his talents, and he refuses to let him go to waste and just rot locked up in confinement.

Loooove a crime ring or heist AU 😈 a whole bunch of potential for different power dynamics and grey moralities and such. There’s a lot of fun character bits I’d love to hear more about as well 👀

- How much did Rin know about the company/ring/etc before he inherited it? How much did Gou know? I’m curious since it feels like some characters could’ve known Rin before he became a boss figure (Sousuke and Kisumi being the kids of family friends or allies, with their own varying degrees of awareness/involvement in the underground scheming). I’d be curious to see how the few people who are able to get close to Rin (more than an employer) see him take on the mantle, see him will himself into the mastermind by force — the talent is anything but natural, anything but easy, and there’s a reason he tends to put himself on the front lines in their missions despite being the figurehead they all probably can’t afford to lose (pride, obligation, control). I can see conflicts arising from him not stowing himself away with the other roles behind-the-scenes (Gou, Rei, etc) and focusing on management stuff (convening with the info/intel/PR roles to maintain face as a chairman or something). I can see that being a possible beef and debate between Rin and Haru, how Haru doesn’t understand why he would insist on being a part of the action so directly all the time (how he can manage to have any semblance of life/normalcy with his face/identity surely being tied to chaos in the underground scene at least), and Rin hitting Haru in a sore spot by saying something about “for a guy that cares about getting to have security, you sure don’t seem to mind that your boy puts his own hide on the line a lot. Why do you think Makoto does it?” (Something something, Haru trying to insist more than once over the years that Makoto doesn’t need to be involved in the con, versus Makoto’s stubborn “you can’t get rid of me that easy” smooth-talking. Haru hoping they can keep getting away with everything long enough for Makoto to get his degree and an above-board gig, while being acutely aware that each mission involves Makoto taking on more and more conning responsibilities and having less moments to breathe as his most earnest self. The shared struggle of them both making a living off of emulating other things [it’s never his own expression/art, it’s never Makoto’s own kindness/heart] and how that wears them down over time.)

- the Kirishimas of it all are interesting, especially with how Ikuya’s abilities make it sound like he’s versatile enough to be a powerhouse in his own right. Nat functions well with being the navigator for Ssk, and Ikuya and Nao following him into Rin’s ring makes sense, but I almost wonder… do you think Ikuya ever question’s being led by Rin? How his own skillset is versatile enough to compare to Rin’s hands-on leadership (both being honed by their own dedications and desperations to Do What They Have To), and that he might like, idk, impress his older brother and make him “proud” by trying to branch off with his own gang/group? As Hiyori gets attached to Ikuya (originally being an undercover genius and gradually morphing into Ikuya’s right hand man), and Ikuya develops enough connections over time within the company (naturally having pre-existing Nat/Nao connections, getting info from Kisumi, running into Asahi for a few things, etc), I’d be curious to see if they’d like, have a threat of a grand split, or he branches off technically within Rin’s company, but with his own kingpin/leadership type position. IDK, PLOT!!

- One thing I keep wondering is how many people are like, primarily goons under Rin’s thumb versus separate contacts that are seen on equal footing. Momo makes me wonder how much he really gets to know about any of the missions before they happen, rather than being a mostly-removed guy in reporting that Nitori or one of the sweet-talkers convenes with from time-to-time to ensure they get cover stories done. How much does Asahi get involved; does he know much more beyond Kisumi and Rin being wealthy repeat customers who come to him with odd requests he doesn’t ask questions about? So many paths. They can all be called in when needed for the right mission or heist, but how many are still connected to Rin in the in-between? How many have debts or are on payroll, and how many could refuse if the price wasn’t right? Extra little dynamic stuff that could make things ~juicy~.

- (no coherent last notes. Just thinkin about ssk and all the ways he could have lasting disabilities from the incident/injury that took him out of the racing circuit. The possibility of Rin knowing him as a rich boy family friend before the incident and having some sense of closeness that makes him wonder sometimes how selfish it was to invite him in to a more underhanded world full-time. Ssk paralleling Makoto in how he goes from “I’m here because you’re here” with one notable skill/role that develops over time to being more risky and involved. Rin being so used to the noise and chaos at this point that it takes a moment of seeing Sousuke on a Bad Pain Day between missions to remember how human they all are, or have that “why didn’t you tell me you were worn down” talk that makes him realize how far ssk is willing to go simply because Rin’s the one asking. Classic sourins)

[jamisonwritestf2trash]

what would the mercs' favourite shows/anime be? You might have done the 'shows' part before so im giving you the 'anime' option as a fresh twist ^w^ (No im not battling a double-hyperfixation of tf2 and jjba and seeking validation through mutuals why would you even think that-)

What Are The TF2 Mercs Favortie Animes?

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Oh boy it's been a hot minute since I've watched an Anime, I used to be so feral for any anime 😭

Mutual appreciation comment!!! Thank you for your asks! I love seeing them pop up, you always have really good prompts 🫶🏻

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POSSIBLE SPOILER FOR DEATH NOTE?

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Demo- Kakegurui

Did I ever mention that this man loves to gamble? Also, you cannot convince me that this man isn't super expressive when he does so. Literally is the anime. Loves how batshit insane it is. Loves getting whiplash from one episode to the next. Wasn't a fan of season two, but adores season one. Bindges, and re-bindges the show at least once a month. Just loves feeling insane when he watches an anime.

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Engie- One Punch Man.

Saw Genos and immediately went "I could build that." And doesn't elaborate. He's not gonna lie, he may or may not have tried to follow Saitama's training routine once, but threw up when he got to the running part. Don't get me wrong this man isn't weak or anything but I genuinely don't think anyone on this team can run besides Scout. Loves watching OPM because he loves how unbothered Saitama is and wishes he could be like that, and also wishes he could be as strong.

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Heavy- Your Lie In April

Loves the mix of a slice of life and melodrama. Doesn't care too much about how slow the show is. Just enjoys watching everything play out and being along for the ride. This man sobbed at the end. Couldn't believe it, well he could but he also couldn't? Even though it breaks him everytime he sees the ending, he still loves rewatching it.

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Medic- Japanese Tales of The Macabre/Parasyte

HE. LOVES. JUNJI. ITO. It'd be so wrong not to think so. He has genuinely wondered about the logistics of Layers Of Terror... be afraid of this man if he gets a curious look in his eye over any episode of this anime. He likes the books more but also loves the anime. I added Parasyte too because this man is a sucker for all types of body horror and I think Parasyte should always be mentioned. Just lord help us after this man's mind starts working when watching his favorite body horror animes. You'll here a mix of screams from the poor characters and Yippees! From Medic as he watches the horror.

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Scout- Death Note

I think this is everyone's starter anime, but it just happens to also be Scout's favorite. I can't tell if he'd think Light is a genius or insanely stupid. But that's not super important. Loves Ryuk! He'd want a death note just to have Ryuk hanging around the base. This man would be a menace if he had the death note honestly. He'd probably write his name down first just to label it, forgetting he'd die.

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Sniper- The Disastrous Life of Saiki K

Man has never related to a fictional character so hard until now. Also wishes he could be perfectly average in the public eye and also has inhuman natural talents. It's not even funny how much I can imagine Sniper in this anime. He watched every season and loved them all (likes season one best though) and regularly rewatches the show when things get to stressful around him. It's his comfort show.

(Not that anyone asked but, I fucking love this anime, it's not even funny how much I love this anime I'm going feral.)

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Spy- Black Butler

Can a fictional character have a kin? Well in my mind yes. Spy kins Sebastian so fucking hard. Picked up the trait of taking his gloves off like that. Definitely share the same annoyances, living with incompetent coworkers, an annoying child, a criminally insane friend or two, you know the normal stuff! Was severely disappointed by season two. Loved everything else though.

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Soldier- Attack On Titan

I think he likes AOT because of all the Gore, blood, and fighting. I can imagine him kicking his legs and smiling all goofy while watching this. This man bindged the entire show, no doubt. Like the other mercs were genuinely worried about him. He's a mix of devastated and happy that the show hasn't ended permanently.

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Pyro- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

The insane person loves insane anime, who would have guessed? No, but genuinely, you'd think they'd have a short attention span, wouldn't be able to understand what's going on, and lose interest. Nope! Absolutely love this anime. Has probably rewatched it a million times already. Has made Engie watch this with him and utterly confused the poor Texan. Feverishly waiting for part nine.

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I hope you like this! I had to pull out my list of animes I've watched, and oh boy it made me realize how weird. Maybe? That my taste in anime is.

Also sorry its not super long or super indepth I was going off some very vague memories for a few of these!

I love you guys!

[jolieblack]

Jolie's thoughts on

The Gloria Scott (Sherlock & Co. podcast)

Oof, plenty to unpack in this one!

And it‘s no surprise that it's generated a lot of fanart, so plenty of recs in this post, too.

"We share a flat, a business and a blossoming friendship" - Yes you do, and it’s ✨beautiful✨.

John not wanting to "shout through the door like a hostage negotiator" 😆

Anyone else desperately want to see Sherlock shooting a nail gun into a space hopper?

John threatening to beat Hunter up to defend Sherlock. 🥺

I wasn’t sure at first how I felt about Mariana tagging along, and I know it’s the greatest imaginable horror for a lot of us that the show might go down a John/Mariana route… but when they stayed over at the Trevors' and John and Mariana got to share a room, the way they were chatting as friends and not flirting at all before bedtime was reassuring to me, rather than disquieting.

That said, I don’t know if we’re kidding ourselves that this show will always just be soft and kind and warm and free from any interpersonal drama… ACD did create Moriarty and Reichenbach, and he did give Watson a wife and made him move out of Baker Street, *twice*… I know Joel Emory said John‘s not gonna marry and move out in this interview but 'Sign of Four' without a LI for Watson?!

Talking about LIs, I get the impression that so far, the accepted Viclock fanon always has Sherlock pining after Victor. Interesting to see it the other way round!

I also have FEELINGS about Mr Watson senior getting blown up on active duty and then his son nearly getting blown up on active duty as well. I also have feelings about John‘s choice to be an army doctor being the perfect combination of his midwife mum and his soldier dad. The carer and the fighter. *happy sigh*

Sherlock trying to swear. I CAN'T.

I don’t think I‘m able to put my thoughts on this whole scene into any words that make sense, so instead, please check out

this wonderful fanart by @abstractfrog

this one by @mayhasopinions

and this one by @matustheus

Sherlock calling John John, though. 🥺

Am I a bad person though to feel that Sherlock laughing along with John was fake? (Meant nicely, like an exercise in empathy, but fake all the same.)

The orchid analogy was genius. I am, however, laughing a bit at Harry Attwell’s Sherlock nearly orgasming from the brilliance of his own deductions. (He often does, but it’s particularly noticeable in this one.)

SPOILERS for the plot below…

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I honestly don’t get why you’d go to the logistical trouble of raiding an oil rig. I mean, it makes sense if you hold the workers and the production hostage for ransom from the stinking rich oil companies, or if you stage a political protest there, but that’s not what they did in the story, with communications with the mainland cut and everything happening in secret. What were they after? Who keeps money and valuables on an oil rig for anyone to steal?

Also, how did a man who is rich enough to start his life owning high end property in Camden Town become a violent criminal in Australia?

Hunter is an awful man but if you look at the amount of trauma he's been through, it would have been a miracle if he had turned out any differently…

But anyway. It was a tricky case to modernise and they did it well.

I thought it ended rather abruptly, especially regarding Victor and his dad, but @b4kuch1n has fixed that with this wonderful artwork.

[partyanimal167]

Hello

If you don't mind I'm here for the spy AU event

Eustass kidd x fem reader for 🎱.. maybe nsfw-ish? Some rivalry thing between him and the reader but him being unlikely soft is my weakness! I read your rules I hope I did this right😭

(Still straightening up the event space...hides duster) HI! Welcome! I totally don't mind! You're my first request for this event, so thanks for swinging by! I totally love a rivalry trope, and Kidd has some softness for sure. I hope you enjoy!

🎱 Fun, Games, Risks, and Action- Kidd x F!Reader

cw: nsfw-ish, suggestive, fem reader, cussing, mdni

He was already in a piss-poor mood. His partner was out of commission. He was stuck doing boring intel work. And he simply wanted to bash someone's head in. Lucky (or not) for him, he'd get some type of action in...just not how he would have planned.

Kid was not one for logistical, calmer missions. That was other' specialty--a guy who would enjoy sitting behind a desk all day while looking at computers. When he was recruited, all he heard was guns, fights, money, and risks. However, with Killer being out and a lack of evil schemers threatening to blow up whole cities, Kid was stuck hiding in the dark praying that some asshole would recognize him and be dumb enough to point a gun at his head.

Kid sat bored and grumpy in a dimly lit red-light district bar half-listening to those around him and praying that someone would start a fight.

There was some information the higher-ups want to check on, and while he normally wouldn't be the first person on the list, this was located in his mother-country which meant he knew the language and blended in well-enough. It wasn't exciting work though. There was always some big-shot who was selling god-knows-what super drug to the unlucky masses while investing in some crazed-genius' dreams.

He would rather be breaking into said genius' headquarters and causing a ruckus.

However, there wasn't enough concrete evidence for that type of mission yet, so this is where he found himself.

You sauntered throughout the tables collecting glasses and tips while wearing probably the skimpiest thing owned by the disguise department. The dress barely covered your ass, and the neckline ended just above your bosoms. Your lips were painted a dark red like his own, and the eyeshadow was smoky and thick.

Kid had half the mind to go storming upstairs where the mob's higher-ups would be meeting, but then something caught his eye, and somehow, his night was turning into something far more entertaining.

It was definitely the most makeup Kid has ever seen you in and maybe the second or third time he's seen you in a dress.

That was the first reason why seeing you was surprising. The second was the fact that if you were there doing some undercover gig, that meant that these guys had something more valuable than some fancy drug or plans to bribe a politician. That was the kind of thing Kid needed to bring home.

He easily knocked back the drink he was nursing and walked up to the old house madam. He hid his face as you stepped behind the bar to put up the dirty glasses.

The old lady blew smoke in Kid's face and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Can't afford her." she gruffed.

"Hey, how much for the girl?" You and the old lady looked up at him. The madam sized Kid up unamused, but the look of shock on your face was what made his grin meaner. You turned away and continued to clean.

That made you chuckle to yourself, and Kid felt a vein twitch.

"Yes ma'am!" You replied before walking off.

"Oi! I ain't askin' for a discount or nothin'." He flashed a wad of cash. "Don't be stingy hag."

The money caught her interest. "Alright sonny, the girl's got an appointment with someone way more important than you, but you c'n see if you c'n handle her for an hour. Sheba! Go freshen up for the gentleman." the madam called out.

Kid didn't miss that annoyed, threatening look you sent him.

~~~

Kid entered the private room when granted and met the sight of you fixing your lipstick in the mirror. He smirked.

"Gettin' all pretty f'me?"

You didn't spare him a glance. "Not at all." You switched to reapplying your mascara. "Since you spent all your mission's budget on my time, what do you want? I don't have time to play around with you." You didn't flinch as you felt his presence move close behind you.

"Just curious is all. Not everyday I see you looking like such a slut for the job. Must be a big deal whoever you're dishing out to." Kid answered meanly.

"That's none of your business." you shot back. "He couldn't afford this cat even if he tried."

"Oh, so I'm just lucky?"

You rolled your eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. The only reason why you aren't bleeding out right now is because I have a meeting to listen in on after this." you went on, "I don't want to mess up my outfit." you turned towards him finally and stuck out your tongue.

Kid went in for the kill.

You gasped as he held your chin and looked meanly at you. "You really think you could one up me?"

You only grinned. "I know I can." he felt something press up against his torso and didn't need to look down to know what it was. "You're in my room after all."

Kid grunted but didn't move. "Who's the guy?"

"What's it to you?"

You giggled. "Aww, am I that much of a big deal?"

"I'm doing a little data collecting. I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal until I saw you waltzing around."

"Don't act stupid. You only get sent out if there's something important going on." Kid continued.

You swung your legs and shrugged. "Well I guess that's just for your bosses to figure out. Not my problem." You tried to turn away but yelped when you were easily lifted from your seat and placed in Kid's lap. You were pressed between his chest and the vanity dresser. "Eustass!"

He grabbed at your hips and bucked into you teasingly. "What's the problem, doll?" His hands ran down your thighs. "You working aren't you?" He leaned by your ear. "I don't mind giving you something for your help."

You bit your lip and continued to fight. "We aren't allies."

"Want me to order you around?"

"Yeah, yeah, but we can make something work. I don't forget favors." he slid your sleeve out the way and pressed a kiss. "I can make it good for you."

You felt your face warm up and looked away. "You sound like you're begging." you grumbled.

"Go to hell."

Kid snickered. "Alright alright, I'll shut up for now." He then went to work kissing your neck and rolling you slowly in his lap. You gasped and held onto his shoulders.

"Kid-, I don't have time for,"

"Sssh, you worry too much. I won't mark you up. Nobody's gonna know I'm here."

Your resolve crumbled. You huffed before reaching around into his hair and pulling on it. You met his lips hungrily and ignored the sweet feeling of your core warming up and dampness starting to peek through your panties.

"20 minutes left!" was called from behind the door.

"Kid," you whined when his fingers teased on your clit, "You need to go," you panted out.

"Tch, since when did you care about manners?"

"You sure, princess? It'd be rude to leave this unattended to."

You puffed your cheeks. Fucking munch. "Hurry up."

Kid shrugged but lifted you up to sit on the vanity. Your eyes grew as you watched him push back the bench and knelt between your legs. You were weak at the sight. He licked up your leg and bit behind your knees. "I don't, but I'm making an exception." He looked up at you and winked--asking for permission.

~~~

Things were going well. You say in the lap of that skin-and-bones leader and took mental notes of locations and names while you looked pretty and dumb. You chuckled to yourself how it wasn't smart how easily this man let you into these meetings, but that wasn't your business any way. He was known for having a type, and you were the girl to get shit done.

It was nearing the end, and people were talking casually when a loud radio static sound was heard throughout the room. The room immediately tensed.

"We got a rat!"

People immediately stood from their seats pointing guns and flipping over furniture. You ended up on the floor and let out an award-winning shriek before scrambling to the door amidst all the commotion.

You ran to your work room to grab your items before making an escape along with the other clueless patrons.

What the hell was that noise? You headed for your safehouse and looked around. Up on a roof, you saw an amused Kid grinning down at you and pointing at his shoes. You gasped before shotting him the finger and running off.

When you got to safety, you threw your shoes off and noticed a small metal disk on the arch of your heels. Kid was definitely listening in on what was said. When did he even- you groaned once you remembered your little fun right beforehand. Damn the bastard was smarter than I give him credit for.

A knock was heard, and you cussed as you smashed the device with the heel of your shoe. You opened the door and yanked the man in by the collar of his shirt. You pushed him against the door.

"I hate you." you hissed.

Kid snickered. "I just made things work. Not my fault you were distracted while cumming on my tongue." Such a vulgar man.

"You owe me damn it. If you pull something like that again, I'm collecting the bounty on your head." you fully meant it too.

Kid grinned and shrugged. "I already got something coming your way, princess." he took a step forward as you turned away to change. "But don't worry," he lifted the hem of his shirt and tossed it away, "I'll give you something now." you moaned as you felt his hands engulf your waist and pull you close. "It'll be more than worth it."

~~~

Whew! Kid's such a spicy character. I know he's a beast at make-up sex. Thanks so much for requesting! I'm excited for this event. I hope you enjoyed it~

[dasniichts]

"Do you have everything you need for your trip?" - @polyodynos

“Beacons and supplies for the ride? Yes, I do believe that’s everything.”  He could understand Yumina’s concerns, the Genius Society weren’t exactly the easiest collection of people to try and work with. Didn’t matter, supply runs like this were fairly basic. 

Or at least basic according to what his own experience was going by. Still, the logistics weren’t much different than back in the day back home. Though Welt figured there were fairly much less chances of espionage and needing to try and kidnap a person... 

“You’ll be entrusted to watch the train for the time being. Don’t worry, we’ll be back before you know it.” 

[sionisjaune]

present day brocedes r like we need to have a carefully planned out casual threesome to prove we're ready to be parents (the step before Lewis joins the coparenting with Nico and Vivian)

cause if u can't even take care of a third person without it getting messy howre u gonna handle christmas in monaco new years in LA

Ok I am seriously thinking about the logistics of mick/lewis/nico fic and... on one hand the easiest way to make it work is if the mick/nico/lewis is just a transient thing on the way to a nico/lewis endgame. BUT in my mind I have set up a nico/lewis that are actually functional and mindful of other people (insane thing to consider). So YES as per usual you are right and a giant genius BUT on the other hand if I were to do mick/lewis/nico I would want the relationship to be travelling towards its own endgame. The problem of course is that I cannot imagine what that endgame would like like because mick/lewis/nico has no precedent or canon that I can work with...

ALSO (under the cut because this is only kind of related), now that I'm on my brocedes in 2023 soapbox, I want to talk about one of the main obstacles to brocedes endgame (at least as I see it).

Lewis has expressed a strong desire to HAVE KIDS. And RAISE HIS FAMILY IN THE HOUSE IN COLORADO. Nico on the other hand has already had two children who are installed in Monaco, and for the sake of brocedes endgame he must be a GOOD FATHER. If Lewis values family, there is no way that he (as he is now) could justify being with a Nico that is a negligent father. So okay. Lewis wants to have kids. Nico already has kids. There is no mpreg in this universe (sorry everyone). There are a few solutions that each have their own merits and weaknesses.

Lewis becomes a co-parent of Nico's children with Vivian

Lewis and Nico adopt* children together

Lewis adopts* children on his own

Lewis does not become a parent

*Or surrogacy etc.

Solution 4 is sad (to me). Of course there is nothing wrong with never having children--but Lewis seems to want to have children. Also it means putting Nico above his own aspirations, which is against the point of a thoughtful brocedes endgame.

Solution 3 is something that I just thought of and which makes the most sense to me--and it also means that Lewis's relationship with his children and ability to parent are somewhat separated from Nico--which might be easier for a number of reasons. Lewis comes from a blended family himself, so this might appeal to him too. At the same time, when I think of brocedes I think of a HUGE GIGANTIC LOVE. Love that makes you want to do everything together all of the time. So I think they would both be involved in the parenting of Lewis's kid. The problem here, which is also the problem with solution 2, is... does Nico want more kids?

Solution 2 is idyllic... but as I mentioned it is not clear whether Nico wants more children. He said in the past that he wanted a "football team" of kids, but he seems to have stopped with two. Also his daughters are still reasonably young--and if we imagine that he and Vivian have a strong relationship post divorce, it seems problematic for him to suddenly have more children who require more care if he is also going to continue parenting his existing children. It could be done but it would be a decision that would also depend on Vivian in my mind!

Solution 1 is the most intuitive and yet it faces similar problems to solution 2. Vivian would have to be involved. Nico cannot simply offer his children to Lewis. And the Lewis & Vivian relationship that would have to exist is very difficult for me to imagine. I suppose that they know each other to some degree already but it is still tough for me to work out... Also logistically can same-sex couples adopt in Monaco? Would it be possible (in a social sense) to raise children as a same-sex couple in Monaco? Would Nico leave Monaco (and Vivian and his existing children) for Lewis? (Probably not.)

The final thing that I want to say about brocedes endgame--especially because I imagine it from Lewis's point of view--is that I am very careful to avoid creating situations that stick either of them in a permanent position of advantage. The various advantages that either of them have held (we are talking about race and class issues as well as advantage on track) have been the factors that have created the problems with brocedes in the past... and in order for brocedes endgame to work there needs to be a space where both can be/become themselves without bending to the other's advantage.

OK I'M DONE LOL!!! I did very much enjoy thinking about this although it is barely what Misa asked about.

[swanmaids]

elwing!!!!!! also turgon idril and elros:)<3

Thank you Mina!!!!

Elwing is here and I have another request for Turgon so I'll do Idril and Elros!!

Idril

one aspect about them i love

She's so strong and brave, even against really difficult odds and self doubt. The survival of any Gondolindrim is in a huge part down to her, thanks to her careful planning not only in devising and building her secret way, but also in secretly spreading the word among the population. And she, realistically, struggles and doubts herself - as the city starts to fall she cries and thinks that there's no way she can succeed - but she perserveres anyway, and it was not for nothing, for the survivors escape the city and make it to Sirion.

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

I'm not a fan of the fandom's tendency to reduce her to "the one with the brain cell". YES, she is incredibly intelligent, possessing potentially genius level intelligence when it comes to maths, physics, logistics and leadership. But she's also more than that. She experiences self-doubt, grief (in tfog she nearly goes mad with grief when Turgon dies), is literally plauged by visions, and in the lead up to the fall of the city she reads as really depressed. Reducing her to the braincell holder gives her no space to be vulnerable or in need of comfort herself.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

She's a hobbyist metalworker, and especially fond of intricate filigree-type work. Her mithril prosthetics are made by Rog, but she decorates them and also performs her own routine repairs and upkeep.

as well as

one character i love seeing them interact with

Her relationship with her father is really sweet and sad. It's easy to see in tfog that they deeply love and care about each other, but are struggling to understand each other at this point in their relationship as Idril's anxiety and planning clashes with Turgon's pride and reliance on Maeglin. Idril keeping the building of the secret way from her father is obviously hard for her, and her grief when he dies is so sad.

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

I'd love to see any Idril and Elwing interactions! I'm sure Idril felt very tender and protective towards this quiet orphan girl that her son is best friends with, and she would also understand Elwing's responsibilities towards her people and her grief for her mother.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

She and Tuor did reach Valinor, but not until after Earendil had risen in the sky. In the meantime, they were caught up in a storm of Osse which felt to them to last for only hours (and Tuor did not age during this time) but actually lasted for decades. A bit of an Urashima Taro situation.

this got long so Elros under the cut!

one aspect about them i love

I really like the ... curiousity and willingness to leap into the unknown that his mortality choice seems to represent!

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

He doesn't hate his birth parents.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

Is pescetarian, as a way of feeling connected to his ancestor Beren.

as well as

one character i love seeing them interact with

Elrond! Unlike some of the other sets of twins in Tolkien, these two are defined by how different they are, and yet they clearly still love each other so much, as is seen by Elrond taking care of Elros' descendents.

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

Ulmo. He seems much more connected to the sea than Elrond, and the Ulmo connection passing from Tuor to Earendil to him feels logical. He named several children after the Valar so seems to feel an affinity for them. I bet he and Ulmo had some interesting chats!

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

He personally taught all of his children how to swim!

[thephantomcasebook]

The vibe I get from those rumored past changes to Alicent's story about joining Rhaenyra is that the producers and maybe even the actress were seeking to make Alicent more likeable to the audience who they perceive as being largely team black or progressive (which yikes just going by the misogyny coming from those fans).

The problem is no matter the changes they wanted to make or they have made now, they'd already set Alicent up from the very beginning as a woman to be despised by the audience and they (the audience) have decided to HATE Alicent regardless of what she does to 'redeem' herself. So it would be useless.

Better to just stick to the original story, hotd writers. Just my opinion.

Not to beat a dead horse.

But the main problem with HOTD is that they have absolutely no veteran leadership in almost any department.

"Game of Thrones" had two inexperienced showrunners, but they were absolutely smart enough to surround themselves with veteran - some might even say elite - producers and production heads that had decades of experience to build infrastructure for a huge production.

The same with the cast. Kit Harrington and Emilia Clarke were two young leads that were followed by a ton of child actors. But the casting department went out of their way to get real and classically trained veteran actors that were doing genre since Classic Doctor Who. They also had seasoned actors in lead roles like Sean Bean who had done a ton of big productions like "Lord of the Rings" and "Sharpe". Along with Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldu, and Peter Dinkledge who had all been former leads in major network productions - both Headey and Coster-Waldu had only recently been the leads on two separate big budget tv shows at the time.

HOTD has a severe lack of leadership on every front. It was written by a first time and unexperienced head writer and showrunner and the production was led by a egotistical narcissist who was a prestige director in "Game of Thrones" but had absolutely "Goose Egg" experience or know how on how to run a show or create logistics.

Instead of hiring "Top Men" to do the jobs, Sapochnik hired his friends and yes people. instead of hiring vets of the industry, he hired people on a checklist which began with agreeing with his own personal political agenda. He honestly believed that he didn't need anyone else, that he was such a genius, that he could run the show all on his own.

The same goes double for HOTD's cast. There is absolutely no veteran leadership on the cast. There is no classically trained actors and actresses to ground the story and give it gravitas. Rhys Ifans and Paddy Constantine are comedic actors, they are not and will never be leaders on set. In fact, it was those two that have been accused of fostering bad habits on set from the younger actors that made the crew - reportedly - start to get angry at them.

It's literally just a bunch of young actors who have no leadership running around making assholes out of themselves and running at the mouth. Any veteran actor or actress worth their salt, that respect the integrity of the job, would've shut down Olivia Cooke and Emma D'Arcy's goofy asses from the outset.

The perfect example of this is Downton Abbey. At the beginning of that show they had a shit ton of young actors - some of which had never even acted on screen before. And they were also kinda feral and got into trouble from partying and goofing around too much. But the veteran actors and actresses spanked their asses and came down hard on them and, by example, showed them the ropes. And now, a lot of the Downton Abbey cast are the fucking model of professionalism where ever they go and are close as family in some cases.

That is what I mean by leadership that HOTD is lacking. The show cannot be cast and produced by a bunch of shallow London actors and actresses who get the job because they vomit at the mouth cooperate luxury political values of bimbo feminism and fashionable social activism. There has to be true veteran and trained actors that protect the sanctity and seriousness of the project. Yes, it might seem ridiculous and stupid to you as a young actor, but your hired to do a job, and are expected to act like a professional - so act like it!

If you act like a clown than that is all anyone will ever see you as.

Anyway, that how I feel about the whole dumpster fire of HOTD Season 2.