#You can't prevent good happening because of it

[witherby]

Assuming that Punchline is successfully rehabilitated, what do you think she'd be like as an adult? Do you think she'd keep a lot of the same traits or she'd change a lot?

Also, how do you think both current and future Punchline would react to seeing Joker?

- 🌃

All fantastic questions. I had to sit on these for a couple days.

Adult!Punchline:

Changed her name. It was one of the last things she did in order to really sever her identity from the Joker's. What would it be now? Maybe an off-set name from her old one, like Lin, or something completely new.

Chatty! She's got autonomy and opinions, now, and boy is she gonna use her autonomy to express those opinions!!

Out of Gotham. As grateful as she is for the Wayne's and their willingness to rehabilitate her, she can't stay in the city that's consumed her childhood. There are too many triggers and too many chances to regress.

Using her talent for good. Punchline grew up learning how to destroy and cause harm, making a normal 9-to-5 excruciatingly boring to her. One of her specialties was bombs, only now instead of making them, she found a job where she gets called in to diffuse. She quickly becomes one of the best in the field for her quick dismantling time and even teaches courses on how to identify different types for safe handling.

Pen pals! She writes to the Batfamily! Originally Alfred requested she send correspondence to let them know she was doing okay and not to be afraid to ask for help, but now she sends little post cards and notes to all of them.

Uses aids. She got a hearing aid for her right ear to help restore some of the sound, can often be seen walking around with knee braces to prevent hyperextension, and has timers set on her phone to remind her to eat because she has no hunger cues.

Self-soothes. She still knocks her feet together to regulate her emotions, particularly when she feels exceptionally bored or like she shouldn't be lounging around or relaxing.

Wears her natural hair and face. No more hair dye, no more clown paint, no more green or purple clothes.

She still laughs like her dad, though. When she hears a particularly funny joke, she's done for. Couldn't de-condition that one out of her.

If Adult!Punchline happened to run into her father, she would still Fawn. Still as a statue. Shocked. Appalled. Immediately putting a smile on her face and clicking her feet. Hoping and praying one of the bats will come help, because she is very much afraid of him.

As for Current!Punchline meeting the Joker? Well. That's being written, so you'll have to see. :)

[voids-ideas]

I saw this and thought "what would someone who isn't a nazi would say?"

And I laughed. I would laugh. There's no fucking way you would think I'm a nazi. Not because I can't be, everyone can be any type of person. But I've been obsessed with extreme political movements since i was 12, I've learned how they operate and I've worked to ensure my way of thinking prevents me from ending in one

I conditioned myself to think "why the fuck am i doing this?" Every time a sense of extreme hatred for a group of people starts. I learned to take a step back and think in every situation where i feel I'm 100% in the right. It's fucking hard, specially when you're autistic and that fucking strong sense of justice that makes me think i need to speak in every fucking argument. But i worked. I've worked since i was a child to not be a nazi. And i learned to identified when my emotions are valid and I can think i hate someone so much and they've done so much damage i think the best for the world is for them to die. And i know even with the valid of my emotions, that doesn't mean a government should kill people

I've learned you can think something should happened to someone, and doesn't mean a government should do it, because a government it's there to protect all the people, and everyone it's people. A government can be kind to everyone, because a government it's not a person and it doesn't have emotions, can't feel resentment. Their purpose should be everyones well being. Because if you let a government be bad to one person, then it can be bad to everyone

People don't need to work like a government. And a government shouldn't work as a person, a government doesn't have the right to validation of its emotions. Because it shouldn't have them

People have the right to have their emotions being validated, and to understand their actions based on that emotions, Doesn't meant they are excused of their actions.

I lost track of what i was saying. No fucking idea what i was saying, fuck this is a good song... so... have a good day?

...Oh, ok. I remembered something. When i say a government has to be able to protect everyone, I'm not saying let the nazis go because they're people, I'm saying look for the reason they are nazis and make sure there won't be more by fixing things. Stop the possibility of being more nazis in the future

What do you do with the ones that exist? Idk man, I'm an engineer, I'm against prisons and i would like to punch them, but i don't think that's exactly the way a government should work, and... well, it's not like I'm the only person in the world and i should know the solution

I would want to punch them, but pretty sure a government shouldn't punch people

[lu-is-not-ok]

I don't want to interrupt, but your speculation of Hong Lu running away and his family looking for him made me think that, if true, then how important and resourceful Limbus Company is? We have seen several times the almost boundless wealth his family has and the connections that might extend to even one of the big three. To confidently employ a wanted individual when an enormous family is the one looking, you need to have some serious plan to prevent it.

Do you know how one canto opens to another? Just like Canto 3 demonstrated the evil of the nest and in Canto 3.5 and 4, how it affects individuals. And now, if I recall correctly, the golden boughs are being used to tone down the abnormalities at Limbus Company to be manageable for their suppression. What if Hong Lu is actually an abnormality, and binding himself to Dante leveled him enough to not be perceived by his family and anyone they might send after him?

My apologies if you have already discussed this! Have a good day/night! :D

I'm just. Going to ignore the Hong Lu is an abnormality thing because I feel like you're going a little too fast and ending up on some Piles of Asriel's Dust type stuff.

Let's take a step back and think. Because that is a good question!

Here's a pop quiz.

Why is Hong Lu using a fake name?

Sure, there's a part to it that is likely just him trying to ignore his past and live a new life as a fake made up identity. But you know. A fake identity can also help him slip under the radar.

After all. Can we really be sure the higher ups at Limbus Company even recieved truthful information about him?

He is a liar after all. He could have just. Given fake information to the Company, and the only person who would even know would be Faust, the one who is explicitly not allowed to share information about the Sinners.

We might have even been shown a hint towards something like that potentially being the case. Remember this moment from Canto 3?

I don't think this exchange was just to have Hong Lu share an anecdote (it's never Just about that with him after all). I believe what is happening here is that, upon hearing about Limbus Company having backing from many shareholders, Hong Lu is trying to ascertain if the Company has any direct ties to people who would actually recognize him and have a reason to tell on him.

His Family knows H Corp shareholders. Those shareholders would likely really want to be in that Family's good graces and thus would have a reason to sell Hong Lu's location out immediately. So if the higher-ups at the Company he works at are recieving backing from those same shareholders, that would spell some deep fucking trouble for him.

But the fact that he's asking about that in the first place reveals another piece of the puzzle - Hong Lu is sure the Company wouldn't have any direct connection to his Family, only possible connections through secondhand means outside of his control. Something he could only be sure of if the info he gave to the higher ups didn't contain any information that could directly tie him back to the Jias.

After all, you can't really tell on someone who you don't even know is within your ranks, can you?

Plus, who knows. Perhaps the setup for Canto 8 will be that the Company ends up connecting the dots, or his Family finally ends up catching wind of him, and either way LC will be forced to Surrender Hong Lu back to the Jias.

[deancasforcutie]

hurt/comfort feels for the soul: Dean smiling through the pain because Cas Has Got Him (he always will)

[gingermintpepper]

On that trojan war au thing you're writing. 1. What are the tags for it, cause I'm super interested! And would love to read what you have so far! 2. "And Odysseus is a much grimmer darker man due to his home being one of the places that were first swallowed up by Erebus" - I wanna know more about this. Please tell me more.

Oh , wow, I'm so flattered! I'm very happy it sounds appealing to you <33 This work is a huge passion project of mine so I'm always glad to talk more and more about it, especially since there are many aspects occurring in the background (such as the alternate fates of the main players of the Trojan Conflict) which I cannot properly cover or even explain within the events of the novel itself.

That said: 1) If you mean tags as in ao3 - unfortunately, this work isn't on ao3 my friend :( As I said above, these are elements and concepts in the greek mythology based-fantasy novel I'm currently writing (the concept of which I outlined here in the introductory post of my novel concept!) As for wanting to read whatever writing I currently have available: I currently have three fics available on ao3 that are written in my Pursuing Daybreak verse!

The Prince and Princess series deal with a young Apollo and Artemis and the many consequences they face after Apollo has slain Python. The two works uploaded right now are Exeunt Phoebus Apollo which covers the murder trial of Python and Manent Apanchomene Artemis which covers the intense feelings of helplessness and alienation Artemis experiences after Apollo returns from his banishment and is completely changed. Both of these have themes of family, grief and relationship exploration at their heart.

The third bit of writing I have up is quite outdated but does cover the immediate aftermath of Hyacinthus' death. It's called A Petal Falleth and features Apollo making one of those Big Silly Decisions that have completely unintended but extremely important consequences: namely, instead of the larkspurs being made of Hyacinthus' spilt blood, Apollo anchors the boy's soul to the flowers so Thanatos wouldn't take him. Like the Dawn is also set in this world but because it is nsfw in nature, I wouldn't recommend it as easily as the other three bits of writing. If you don't mind the whole naked men thing though, I'd definitely suggest reading Like the Dawn for a better idea of what my current writing is like (along with eventually getting to see characters like Hector, Andromache and Cassandra/Helenus) Like the Dawn's themes are also different to the other three works with it focusing more on the power dynamics of a god/mortal relationship, exploring masculinity and masculine sexuality and self discovery.

The running theme here, of course, is that all of these bits of writing are centered on Apollo/Artemis or Hyacinth because my novel itself is centered around them. There are, of course, other important characters and figures like Eros, Psyche, Penthesilea and Iaso (one of Asclepius' daughters) but while there is the definite presence of characters from the Trojan War they most certainly aren't at the center of the novel (and the ones that are aren't the Greeks but rather the Trojans i.e Hector, Alexander, Andromache, Cassandra, Helenus, Aeneas, so on and so forth.)

2) The basis of the apocalypse in my work is cosmological! Due to Apollo's err-- untimely departure, there's no longer anyone maintaining the axis of the heavens or the navel of the earth. Because of this, Erebus - whose darkness is usually kept firmly in the spaces between the realms - begins to spill out into both the heavens and the earth. The beasts of Erebus (referring primarily to the Seven Curses - Old Age, Misery, Deceit, Violence etc etc) consume, torment and destroy whatever is inside of Erebus' darkness and Ithaca, as one of the islands on the far edge of the world, was one of the very first places that were devoured in this manner. Odysseus was visiting the Argives at the time for a festival and had left the pregnant Penelope at home since he didn't want her to suffer through the voyage in discomfort. He only finds out about the destruction of Ithaca after it had already been consumed when Athena personally interrupts a feast to warn both him and Diomedes. Needless to say, Odysseus, like everyone else, assumes that everyone on Ithaca has died and thusly is a very, very different man in terms of humour and comport. A part of him still stubbornly clings to the belief that Penelope managed to escape - that she was smart and resourceful enough to see the end approaching and do her best to escape - but that doesn't stop him from being dour for the majority of the time. Diomedes does his best to keep his spirits up in the meantime. Without him around, Odysseus is something of a black hole when it comes to the oppressiveness of his discontent though he does manage to lighten up when in the company of Helen, Clytemnestra and even Menelaus on occasion.

[beemovieerotica]

genuinely if i wasn't already fairly far along in my "healing journey" then this guy would be setting me back significantly but our convo went like

me: Yeah so an intrusive thought that's common for people with OCD and that happens to me when I'm handling a knife is stabbing myself or other people.

therapist: [genuinely surprised] Oh. Oh wow. Okay. So, do you ever like...have a moment of clarity where you realize "Okay, I need to put down the knife now"?

me: [trying not to do a Loud Weary Sigh] No. Because I literally still need to make dinner for myself and my family. Because you can't let that thought bother you and prevent you from living your life. I did have a period of time when my OCD was at its worst, and I avoided ever cooking because I became afraid of knives. That's not good.

therapist: Oh, okay. Yeah. And I mean, I don't think you'll stab someone because that, uh...doesn't seem consistent with your character. At least from what I know from you here.

me: [staring into the camera like I'm on The Office]

me: hi so I have OCD

therapist: ok

me: these are the obsessions I'm experiencing

therapist: 😨 whwhat? that's scary.....

[californiaquail]

the other day we had a dog come in that very clearly did not want to be alive anymore and was completely checked out of existence and wouldn't even walk we had to stretcher it in and out on a towel. anyway the owners main concern was its arthritis ? but he thought carprofen had made the dog "crazy" before....so boss took some rads and labs and said ok you can try librela if you want....coworker and i both felt he did not impress strongly enough upon this man that his dog was literally and obviously dying. so he gave the librela and then the dog died the next day. so then i was overhearing today how he had to report it to the relevant authorities as a possible librela reaction. bad timing as everyone is currently freaking out about librela killing their dogs (btw boss opinion on that is basically that it's been given to so many thousands of animals that there's bound to be such cases where correlation ≠ causation). anyway the moral of the story is please do not force your animals to die of natural causes it is almost never anything but awful.

[coulsonlives]

As a Canadian, I'm really nervous right now. I just have to say that. :(

[gayvampyr]

Do you support prison abolition /paying prisoners a living wage / making being able to vote more accessible to everyone?

I like your stances and opinions and your jokes but I'm genuinely curious on this one.

(This is inspired by some of the comments under one of your posts talking about how we should just make democracy more livable under capitalism, and while I disagree with that being the ONLY thing we need to do, it does kinda make me think about how many people think we need to get better without abolishing prisons or at least treating our prisoners better than we are treating them currently.)

hi! i'm not sure which post you're referring to but I'm actually anti-capitalist. I think we need to dismantle capitalism as a system because it is inherently inhumane, working exactly as intended and therefore cannot be "fixed" without restructuring it entirely from the ground up; the devaluation of human labor and environmental destruction for profit is not a bug, it's a feature. i could delve into the kind of economic system that i think should replace it after dismantling it, however it's more of a thought exercise and until it becomes a plausible reality, i would rather focus on how we can make capitalism livable for the time being because we have no other choice. for example we could start by lowering rent, instituting a 4-day work week, and establishing support networks for homeless people. i'm not an economist so it's not like i have all the answers but according to the results from other countries who have applied these practices, it improves quality of life and the economy significantly.

as for prisons, i'm pro-abolition. you can check out my prison abolition tag for more information, but essentially prisons exist in this day and age as an industry that profits off of slave labor. many of our laws and their enforcers unfairly target minorities and lower class people, and the denial of convicts the right to vote is just another way our government strips vulnerable communities of their political power, autonomy, and supposedly inalienable rights. aside from the conviction of innocent people and people who did commit a crime but ultimately did no harm, i don't think it's the right of any individual (or government, for that matter) to imprison others. i think people tend to forget that "criminals" are human beings and deserving of the same rights as everyone else, and it is human nature to make mistakes. the important thing is the opportunity to do better. militarist propaganda has done an incredible job of convincing us that convicts are amoral and undeserving of our sympathy, turning society in general against them and destroying any sort of safety net they might have had or needed otherwise. and people are too busy clinging to the notion that criminals are subhuman and deserving of whatever punishment is dealt that they can't see that this is a slide into fascism, and that they can just as easily become "other" should they find themselves on the receiving end of the system. we are very close to living in a surveillance state, which means any minor offense or slip-up has the potential to completely decimate your chances at getting a job, applying for college, getting a loan, receiving housing, and especially being able to have a say in elections. it also makes you more likely to be arrested again on account of "suspected illegal activity", so your record follows you around for the rest of your life.

sorry this got so long but yeah, essentially capitalism and the prison industry are inhumane and should be abolished.

[quasi-normalcy]

Let's get into it:

I don't think we really know anything about the backstories of most of the TOS crew other than Kirk (genocide survivor; watched half his crew get killed by a Dikironium cloud creature), Spock (estranged from his family), and a tiny bit about McCoy (divorced, not that that's really "traumatic"). SNW later establishes that Uhura's parents died in a shuttle accident (I think they got that from the novels), but the rest of the crew is a blank slate in terms of backstory.

On TNG: Picard (shitty home life, abusive father, later elaborated on Picard's series into a literal gothic melodrama complete with suicidal mentally ill mom (ugh.)); Riker (mother died young, father was a dick, on his one from age 15); Data (planet destroyed by his brother; abandoned by creators; forgot his early life; went 26 years before he got his first friend. Not really traumatic though, on account no emotions); Worf (family annihilated by Romulans); Troi (domineering mother; dead father; dead older sister she never learned about until adulthood); Crusher (widow; parents killed in childhood; also that whole "generational alien sex ghost" thing we're not supposed to talk about). Geordi, though, explicitly had a good childhood (notwithstanding talk in the writers' room of retconning him to be a literal Rosemary's Baby)

On DS9: Sisko (watched his wife die at Wolf 359; that whole prophetic birth thing (ugh.)); Kira (child soldier during an attempted genocide); Bashir (basically rewritten by his own parents); Quark (everyone loves Moogie, but she is a pretty horrible mother); Odo (medical experiments); O'Brien (war-related PTSD); Dax (repressed serial killer memories); Garak (there's literally an entire novel about how shitty his childhood was)

On Voyager: Janeway (no trauma that I recall); Chakotay (ex-terrorist; I guess his home planet was taken over by Cardassians? They never really say); Torres (abandoned by her father; resentful of her mother; resentful of her own biology and cultural heritage); Paris (shitty father); Neelix (genocide survivor); Seven of Nine (holy shit, just everything that's ever happened to her). I can't recall Tuvok having had anything traumatic in his past, but I very much interpret "Meld" as showing that he's kind of a psychopath at heart and only a razor-thin veneer of logic prevents him from being a serial killer; Harry Kim had a happy childhood, notwithstanding an attempt to give him the "Rosemary's Baby" backstory that the writers had originally intended for Geordi (almost like even in the 90s, the writers couldn't think of how to develop characters without giving them trauma); Kes...had a childhood that lasted, like, a month or two, so it might not count

On Enterprise: Um...yeah, okay, I don't know this one as well. Archer's dad died before his ship could be built, which is...bad, I guess. T'Pol...um, I guess she went to that jazz club one time and it freaked her out. Reed's parents seemed awful in that very "upper-class British" way. Um... Yeah.

On DIS: Burnham's family was killed by Klingons, and then her school on Vulcan by blown up by terrorists, so, you know...trauma two-fer, I guess; Saru was from a species that was being systematically culled before puberty; Tilly's mom was neglectful; um. Book had an abusive dad; Adira saw their lover killed in front of their eyes; Owosekun was disowned by her luddite commune for joining Starfleet. Um. Airiam lost her husband and all her skin in a shuttle accident; Bryce (or maybe Rhys? I don't remember) was in a hurricane as a child; Rayner's planet was occupied by the Breen; probably some of the other bridge bunnies exposited trauma at some point during the fourth season, I don't remember

On Picard: Hoo-boy. Raffi was right about the attack on Mars, but lost her family and developed a drug problem because of her obsessive conspiracy theorizing; Rios had his father figure enact an illegal order and then kill himself in front of him; Elnor had his father figure abandon him (what the fuck, Jean-Luc); Soji's entire life was a lie, except her twin sister (who was killed); Jurati...actually seemed to have a pretty good childhood, but made up for it by having an incredibly traumatic present; Shaw has oodles of survivors guilt over Wolf 359; Jack Crusher, Jr....doesn't actually seem to have had anything particularly bad ever happen to him, but still acts entitled to run around with a giant chip on his shoulder (god I hate him); and then there's added trauma for established characters, like: Picard left Starfleet and bears the weight of the Romulan supernova; Troi and Riker lost their son because of the synth ban (and then, according to season 3, Troi telepathically suppressed Riker's ability to mourn (ugh.)); Seven of Nine was betrayed by her lover and had to mercy kill her adopted son; Crusher...got pregnant and randomly decided that her traumatic backstory was so overwhelming that she simply had no other choice but to keep her son from his father and ghost all of her friends (ugh! ugh! ugh!); something is implied to have happened to Worf, but they never said; Geordi...still doesn't really seem to have a lot of trauma, though the official tie-in materials say that he was in charge of Utopia Planitia when it got bombed. [Okay, so maybe there's a bit too much trauma on this series.]

Lower Decks: Mariner lost her best friend; Rutherford had his entire life deleted by an evil admiral; Shaxs has so much PTSD from the resistance that he'll go spare on anyone who even mentions Bajor; Billups has a shitty mother who keeps trying to trick him into have sex; um...that's kind of it.

Prodigy: They're all child slaves, first of all. On top of this, Dal was sold by his other mother figure (and doesn't even have parents); Rok (had to play the monster in an arena as a small child); Zero (separated from their hivemind; Jankom was an orphan sent off on a sleeper ship; and then woke up before everyone else and had to ditch the sleeper ship; Gwyn was raised to be a weapon by a cruel, domineering father. Murf seems to radiate peace, though.

Strange New Worlds: Pike knows his future is kind of crappy; Una lived her entire life hiding what she was; La'an was bullied for her family connections, and then had her family ate by Gorns; M'Benga, Chapel, and Ortegas have war trauma; and then there's the previously mentioned stuff with Spock and Uhura.

So yeah; going through it, I think that the only clear outliers in terms of trauma are Picard (way too much of it) and Enterprise (not enough).

#1214

Why lit of character in Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek Strange New World have mostly all a traumatic past? Next step: how to make an interesting character without a traumatic childhood or a traumatic past?

[spotforme]

it's very stupid

[rivilu]

The more I think about the story through Daeran's pov the more insane i go. btw.

[earlgraytay]

I really wish that people had a better grasp on what The Average Person's Life was like pre-industrialization. If you're living in the global North the odds are good that your life is, in fact, better than a medieval king- yes, even with the political stuff- and would make your ancestors cry wild tears of envy.

The things that suck about your life are things that suck about the baseline human condition (at least since the invention of agriculture, but that's 10,000 years of humanity). Yes, including all the political stuff.

The baseline human condition is "being terrified of losing the harvest and starving", compared to that, losing a job is no big deal. (It's bad, it can be life-upendingly bad, but it's still not "you are guaranteed to die if you screw this up" bad for most people.)

The baseline human condition is "getting kicked around by a tin pot dictator", whether that be a king, a baron, a warlord, or a chief; it's taken centuries of social technology to get the world to a point where that's Not Normal.

The baseline human condition is "losing multiple siblings and/or children at a young age to diseases that are entirely preventable". That's a shocking tragedy now. The baseline human condition is "being in the pathway of said tinpot dictator's wars of conquest" and having to deal with soldiers' pillage, looting, and worse (even if they're nominally on your side). That is, again, a shocking tragedy-- it still happens, and happens in way too much of the world, but no one is going to tell you that it's normal.

I'm not saying that we can sit back and rest on our laurels. We can't. I've been calling the pre-industrial world the "baseline human condition" for a reason- unless you're very, very careful, that's what your society eventually reverts to. It takes a lot of people working very hard to make sure you don't have to live at the baseline human condition, and if you start slacking on that, you start backsliding into it.

How we treat each other- and how we use the technology, material and social, that we've developed to make things easier- matters. We can make the world even better than it is now. We can also make it significantly worse. The choice is ours.

...But if you know that you can reliably have food regardless of the season, you don't live in fear of a random attack killing you tomorrow, and you can listen to music on command whenever you want? You do actually live a better life than a medieval king. Because even kings and emperors were much closer to the baseline human condition than a random farm worker in Bumfuck, Iowa is today.

[iorekbyrinson]

bro ty!!!!! seriously can't believe you put in this much effort for me

hey jude. I was wondering if I could get some bcs thots regarding Kim. I've tried to understand this character before but I always seem to hit a wall. The others I intuitively perceive their motivations and sense of the character, but I just end up going in circles with kim. I can't get a handle on her temperament, or understand her reasoning beyond a surface level. Do you have any Kim insights that can help? ty!

I feel like this ask could have been written by most of the characters that Kim interacts with. Howard and Rich Schweikart and Suzanne Ericsen and Kevin Wachtell be like, I can’t understand Kim’s temperament or motivations!

Not every character on this show is in the habit of giving long expository monologues, but Kim in particular has LOTS of scenes where she is deliberately keeping quiet, saying nothing, revealing nothing. Think of the scene where Chuck tells her about Jimmy’s stealing, for example, or her interview at Schweikart & Cokely, or when that one judge just conversationally was like “Hurt your arm?” and she was like “Yes. 🗿” Or when this tendency was heightened almost to parody in 609 when she had to be pushed and pushed and pushed to reveal to the judge that she had already resigned from the bar—I could go on.

Her silence itself reveals temperament and motivation: she has a very strong protective instinct, and is very defensive of both herself and the people she cares about. “Loose lips sink ships”-type deal. In her flashbacks with her mom, Kim shows that same defensive instinct in actions rather than words by refusing to get in the car with her mom who’s been drinking. And of course, you have basically Everything that Ever happens between her and Jimmy—defending him against Howard in 109 (also trying to shield him from finding out the truth about Chuck in the same episode), defending him throughout season 2, staying silent instead of revealing that he lied about the Mesa Verde commercial, staying silent while Chuck gives his long spiel, casting doubt on Chuck’s allegations against him when she knows them to be true, defending him (literally) in court in 304 and 305… again, I could go on, but I would just be recapping the events of the entire show.

When Kim takes that turn at the end of season five, a lot of fans were confused by it, and while Kim Understanders may boast a complete lack of shock, I think there is a change evident in her. The question is, what kind of change?

Is it merely bad writing, a forced reversal driven by plot wants rather than character needs?

Is it evidence of Jimmy’s corrupting influence on her, taking a previously moral person and turning her amoral?

Is it evidence of a deep hidden evil coming to the surface?

Or is it an evolving manifestation of the same traits Kim has always exhibited?

Looking at Kim’s defensive and protective instincts more closely, we can see that it’s not just that she wants to always do the safe thing forever. She is willing to take risks if a couple conditions are satisfied:

The end is at least acceptable (e.g. Mesa Verde getting a larger branch approved, from which nobody is likely to really suffer), and ideally righteous (e.g. the Kettlemans being forced to pay back their victims and being too scared to scam again).

She’s in on it.

That’s why she was on board for the entire Mr. Acker scheme and then furious when Jimmy went ahead with it without her approval. The first condition was satisfied (“Everybody wins!”) but the second was not.

When she comes up with the idea to scam Howard, both conditions are satisfied—the residents of Sandpiper Crossing will get their money faster, everyone involved with the case still gets paid, and when Jimmy gets paid, they will use that money to help more people. And she’s in on it.

She consistently wants to satisfy both of those two conditions, and those two conditions satisfy her basic instincts. Acting righteously (in a sort of utilitarian sense) satisfies her instinct to protect the people she cares about—because she does deeply care about the people she works for, and is clearly trying both before 607 and after (when she goes to the legal aid clinic to volunteer) to dedicate her life to them. And being in on it satisfies her defensive, self-protective instinct. When things are good between her and Jimmy and everything is going right, it’s like they have an invisible force field around them. No one else can see it, “nobody knows what we’re doing but us”—in that way it offers a level of safety far above and beyond that of, say, Jimmy’s dad, who acts righteously but also plays everything above board and ends up getting fucked over as a result.

Anyway,

[carbonfiction]

Dark Desires

older, best friends dad!Logan x reader

summary: a week ago you found yourself drunk texting your best friends dad; something that should've been a mistake, but you were sure in that drunken moment that Logan would know everything you'd kept from him all those years. You'd been thinking about it for longer than you'd care to admit; adding to the fantasy. so what happens when logan finally indulges you..

warnings: Swearing, dirty talk, F!Receiving oral, PIV smut, prone bone and missionary, Somnophilla (technically??), daddy kink, roleplay?? pussy sniffing?? Kind of voyeurism? But the person is very much asleep. Also tagging this for dubcon but it’s more pre established consent/free use and slight CNC vibes depending on how you view it? Tagged this the best i believe i can but ultimately you are responsible for your media consumption.

A/N: i don't know where this came from, other than i had a glass of wine and a naughty thought. i tried real hard on this and its a little darker than i usually write- not to mention longer- but i hope yall enjoy a filth filled piece of my intoxicated brain anyway. Et voilà.

Masterlist Words: little over 4k (oop- longest thing ive ever written.. i got carried away..)

Your heart is hammering away inside of your chest so insistently that it feels like your ribs are bruised and your breasts are trying to punch their way out of your dress.

You're still wearing the stupid thing and Laura is drinking another mimosa. Part of you is grateful for that. Yet while you want her drunk and snoring tonight, part of you can't help trying to stop her.

You make eye contact, give her the look. Tell her to slow down because you two have been down this road before. She gets wild, has fun for half an hour, and then spends the rest of the night dizzy in a bathroom asking deep philosophical questions like why do my eyes hurt? And why do guys suck? And do i still have puke in my hair?

But if she's drunk tonight, just enough to sleep like the dead, then what?

You set your own drink aside to check your phone for what feels like the hundredth time this hour and lift a shaky thumb to your texts.

You've read the thread again and again and again, and still you don't quite believe it. The party swirls around you. A hurricane of sound and the smell of cocktails is sour in your nose. You feel the heat of your friends, your fellow graduates. one day lawyers, doctors, professors, professionals in their field; and yet here you are reading over the texts again.

You feel like a little girl and yet simultaneously the most grown of women because you have a secret, a dirty little secret.

You were nearly as drunk as Laura is now when you sent the first text a week ago. You were celebrating the end of finals and you were curled up in bed after a long night out.

One of your other friends had flirted with the bartender. You'd told the girl to stop and Laura had reached from her stool and pinched your leg. Asking if you'd ever needed something so badly that you actually made a bad decision.

Everyone had laughed, all except you.

You know she was teasing and complimenting in the same breath. You're a good girl and everybody knows it. Reliable, honest and never involved with the wrong kind of guys.. Always a reason to why you were too busy to bother. You were studying, too busy hanging out with Laura. Too busy prepping for school, internships and the next two decades of your life.

You're no angel, although of course, no one was. You've had your share of regrettable hookups and disappointing boyfriends, but nothing that set your world alight. Nothing worth risking anything for.

But maybe what Laura had said thread under your skin more than you'd like to admit. Maybe you were just drunk enough to ignore the obvious risk.. Or was it that you'd been thinking about him for an indecently long amount of time?

So with finals over, diploma practically in hand. There was nothing preventing years of pent up lust from sending a jolt down between your legs, setting a crackling fire in your heart and making you sweat. Dripping down your neck, stomach, that spot on your lower back, they all tingled as you crouched on the corner of your bed and wrote a single text.

You: I need something.

You sent it. Had forced yourself to before you chickened out and immediately regretted it. You thought you'd worded it in such a way that you could play it off, pretend it didn't happen.

But you were sure in that drunken moment that Logan would read those three words and know everything you'd kept from him all those years. Every dirty thought, every horny fantasy, everything.

It was all right there in the text. 2am on a Thursday night and truly it could only mean one thing. You put the phone down, tried to make yourself go to sleep.

Logan was an older man with a life. A job, house and a child- your best friend- and you were sure he wouldn't even see the stupid thing until the morning when you could say you meant to message Laura. Not him, not her father. But then you picked up the phone again, half panicked and ready to change your mind, when you'd saw those little dots.

That meant he was writing something back, at 2am on a Thursday night, either in bed or his limo.

Logan: You need to go to sleep

Of course.. Responsible. That was the responsible thing to do. And you would do just that. But first you'd just write a quick text to apologize. Say it was the wrong number and sleep this off; pretend it didn't happen for the rest of your lives.

But.. what if, for once in your life, it could be easy? What if Logan did know everything? What if.. There was something else? Because that was how this all started, hadn't it?

You'd always felt something more, saw something different in his worn eyes, his gruff demeanor. Heard something he was saying when he really wasn't saying anything at all.

Or.. Was it all in your head? Was this only ever a one way infatuation? A young woman's crush, a dark fantasy that only grew darker with each new kink you discovered in yourself? Losing all confidence, you texted back.

You: sorry. Wrong number.

And that was that- or it should've been that- If it was only ever a one way street. You put the phone down, tried desperately to keep your eyes closed, but the moment you heard the phone buzz again you peek.

Logan: Is that true sweetheart?

Oh no, no. it wasn't true at all. You knew he knew exactly who'd texted and why; what you wanted him to do. You'd been thinking about it for years. Adding to the fantasy. Soaking your sheets in the middle of the night when you couldn't sleep, all that brought a temporary relief. If only for a little while; So, you text back.

You: No

Just that. A simple No.

Logan: You telling a lie?

You: Not exactly

Logan: So you wanted my attention then?

You: Wanted? No Logan.. Need.

And yes, you know need is a very strong word.

Logan: You feel very strongly about that huh? Strong feelings can be dangerous sweetheart.

You: what if i want something dangerous.

You answered back with the most honest thing you could say. And then there was a pause, a very long pause, in which you could see no dots, and even started to wonder if he'd abandoned you. Left you on read.

A thousand images erupted in your mind, different versions of him sitting and staring at your number- your words. Those cheap reading glasses perched on his nose as he wondered if this was some kind of game.

But if it was a game.. Logan was ready to play and after a few minutes your phone dings again.

Logan: you're being a real bad girl tonight, aren't you?

And then it wasn't your best friend's father you were texting. Well, it very much was- that was the crux of it, wasn't it? But now it was also the man. The man on the other side of the phone who was paying close attention.

You: Yes, daddy. very, very bad.

Now, In the darkness of his daughter's room, You imagine colors swirling on her ceiling. Your heart restless like a caged animal and there is a knot in your stomach twisting tighter and tighter by the second.

You don't know how long you've been lying here. 5 minutes or 5 hours. But you know you can't possibly wait another moment... But then you do, because you have to.

You haven't heard from Logan all day and that makes you afraid. Really genuinely afraid that He's forgotten or changed his mind.

Because, well, it's just you and Laura in here, isn't it? You're lying on the floor, a lumpy pillow under your head, and a spare, slightly musty blanket folded under your breasts.

Laura is snoring away in her bed, her limbs tangled with a stuffed animal almost the size of her- one you'd won her from a carnival. It was like old times, she slurred drunkenly. The three of you huddled together in her bed, giggling and watching some crappy reality show.

She'd tried to get you to join her and the animal in the bed, but you'd said no. Insisted that it was too hot tonight. That you'd rather be able to spread out on the floor. Fortunately, by the time you made it up to Laura's room, she was too far gone to argue.

Unfortunately, now though, there's a very drunk girl in her bed beside you, a possible witness to your depravity. And so you lie there, staring at the ceiling and forcing yourself not to text. Not to call. To just ignore the nagging doubt in your gut.

And yet again, you still find yourself opening the text thread. Reading through the things you told him, the things he'd told you. A formed plan and line after line of you promising things. All of the 'Yes, daddy I want this' the 'Please do that to me' The repetitive 'ill be a good girl, Promise' And then, at the very bottom, a safe word. It was when you'd agreed on the safe word that you knew this was for real. Not a fiction in a book or a fantasy playing out in a movie.

The word. Kitty. An inside joke from years ago. The word proof that all the little confidences and conversations held an attraction you were both willing to hide for the sake of decency

But.. you don't want to be decent anymore. You'd confided your fantasy, one that you had dreamt so many nights. Wished for it in the hot, comfortable haven of Laura's bed every time you'd stayed over. The thought of her older, attractively gruff father coming to you in the night and making you submit to his secret lust.

Of him pulling your panties to the side while Laura slept untroubled. Logan ravishing you while you whispered and mewled 'please, daddy, make me your filthy slut'

You've always been his filthy slut, haven't you? Deep In your heart. The thought is turning the wet spot between your legs into a soggen menace. You've been horny before, You've been needy before, but never like this- because you've never tried something like this.

Never wanted something badly enough to ask for it; or even beg for it. This was a dream, a dirty desire, a secret yearning never to be true.

Then you'd drunk texted. You told him and he'd responded, not with shock or disgust, but enthusiasm, cautious enthusiasm. But it was still only text messages. You haven't spoken to him yet, not properly at least. Even when you saw him walk in at the party, or in the limo on the way back to Laura's. You couldn't bring yourself to say a word. Your mouth was so dry, cheeks so hot. Laura had laughed and said you were flushed in the backseat- a lightweight to end all lightweights- when in fact you haven't had a drop to drink tonight.

You're going to throw your phone at the wall, you swear it. But No, that would probably wake her up. Instead, you conclude that you're going to find your pants, and you're going to leave this house and never come back. You love Laura but you can't bear it, can't believe you trusted him with this. You can't lie here and torment yourself about your decisions a minute longer about your need.

Then, your heart leaps into your throat. phone dropping onto your chest with a soft thud. Quickly you brush it off and turn onto your stomach. Your head hitting the pillow, eyes squeezed shut and pulse racing like you've run a marathon.

Through your closed eyelids, you see the glow of the hall light from the open door, only for it to vanish moments later. Either the door has closed or the light's been turned off, but you're not sure which because blood is racing so loudly in your ears. Breath escaping in overwhelming gasps.

Do you hear calculated heavy footsteps or is that your imagination? You struggle to listen for Laura. Is she awake or still sleeping? The tension so tight in your chest that you begin to feel dizzy, almost nauseous. Then comes the creak of the floor at the foot of your makeshift bed, the unmistakable presence of another person in the room, their eyes on you.

You can't stop your body from trembling slightly as the sheet is softly yanked away. Adrenaline courses through your veins, making your body buzz with anticipation.

Your legs are bare the cool air of Laura's bedroom. You're laying on your stomach. Face pushed into the pillow, eyes clenched shut as if you're locked into a deep, drunken sleep- like you should be.

Your legs are splayed out, dark lacey panties riding up the crevice of your ass. One of your ass cheek's indecently exposed... then a rough touch caresses over the swell of that exposed cheek, two big exploring hands, gliding over you.

You hear the grunt of a man, and you know it can only be Logan. He's the only other person home.

Your heart is beating so hard you're afraid you're going to pass out. Laura is on the bed, sleeping mere feet away, and her father is groping you in your supposed sleep.

So the question becomes: are you dreaming now? or are you praying this is as far as he'll go?

when Logan pull's the fabric of your panties to the side, you know he's willing to go much further. He's quiet in the darkness around you, but he's big and the house is old; the floor creaking and groaning as he readjust's his heavy weight.

Your panties are roughly hiked over one cheek of your ass, the sound of ripping lace filling your ears. Logan's hot breath roll's over your ass and the tremble in your limbs becomes a full shiver.

You can feel his scruffy face so close to your body, Feel his nose against the crevice of your ass as he roves lower. Dipping further until his mouth- his nose - is pressed into the folds of your bared cunt.

You hear how he inhales deeply, toes curling in response. Your fingers lay over Laura's spare pillow, the case tight in your grip. He's smelling you, nuzzling against your dampening skin not once, but many times. Lewdly breathing in your scent like a dog that's found something it likes.

His calloused hands spread you open so he can breathe deeper still and when hes as deep into your cunt as his face will allow, his wet tongue slides out to lick at you. You cannot stifle your moan at the feeling, immediately biting your lip to keep from growing any louder.

But with this the culmination of so many fevered late night fantasies, you dont know if you are dreaming.

His wide tongue laps at your swollen clit, swiping open the seam of your pussy and to the point just shy of your tighter hole. You hear logan growl into your wet slit like a monster unleashed from beneath the bed. Feeling how how his licks grow stronger, longer and twice as ravenous as he steadily turn your pussy into a drooling, dripping mess.

He laps at you in the quiet darkness of Laura's room, calculated and experienced as you fight to not to cry out. The pressure of an impending orgasm building so tight in your body that it feels time you woke up.

And so you take a deep breath, a rough gasped sound falling out too. Your fingers claw at the pillow as you flex your lower half.

"Hmm?"You grumble, pretending to bat away the cobwebs of sleep. "Wha-whats happening, What are you doing?" You ask, voice thick with mock confusion.

Within moments you feel Logan's tongue retreat from your pussy, a weight so much heavier than your own crawl over your half naked body. You feel him pressed tight against you, still clothed if the scratchy fabric tells you anything, but an unmistakable bulge is hidden inside. Hard and large against your ass you feel Logan's arm rub against your shoulder. A big hand sliding over your mouth.

"Quiet, sweetheart" he growls in your ear. "Daddy's had enough of your teasing"

Another large hand slides beneath your sleep shirt to cup your tender tits, The nipples diamond hard against Logan's palm. You cant help but moan into his hand as you plead.

"Please. Didn't mean to tease" its a wine, petulant in tone.

"Course you didnt.. Shame S' Too late now" he whispers against your ear, teeth biting into your earlobe. The hand on your breast trails down. Right the way down to his slacks.

"B-but Laura" You warn him in a whispered panic, hearing the sound of a zipper sliding down. you struggle teasingly, hips bucking back against him. Its not enough to cause a scene or enough to wake your sleeping friend- his sleeping daughter- but just enough to make him pin your body down. Enough for you to feel a fraction of his real strength.

Logan's muscles bulge from the effort of caging you against the floor and spreading your legs.

"Nuh uh, Stay still. Stay right where ive got you" he murmurs darkly in your ear, voice a low rumble. the words fire through you like liquid lightning as you bite into his palm, not to fight but to restrain a high pitched moan that you fear could wake the neighbors- not just Laura.

"nothing you can do now sweetheart, just gotta take it" Logan says and you hear the mocking smile in the words, feel the throb of his thick cock as it emerges from the confines of his pants. "Kept telling me you were a good girl, so show me"

With your stomach flat against the ground, legs spread wide beneath him, you can do nothing but tremble as his cock slips between your legs. The cock belonging to your best friend's father sliding deliciously across that little bundle of nerves that sparks a whimper of pleasure.

Your eyes roll back as Logans hips buck, cock brushing your clit again, running up and down your slit torturously slow. "fuuuck, you feel that? How hard you've got my cock?"

You're kicking your legs now, moving your hips. It could be viewed as a struggle but its not, not really, you're just so desperately excited you can't keep still.

"Don't need to fight me baby. Just let daddy in hm? let it happen sweetheart."

And then he's pushing inside your body in one heavy thrust; slow and impossibly deep. The weight of him inside your cunt making you mewl against his palm. All the years of secret yearning, wet fantasies and subtle flirtations have all led to this moment.

It doesn't take many thrusts before your tongue is rolling out of your mouth, licking wetly against his palm like a grateful dog- a bitch in heat. You try to use it to muffle the moan that follows, a pitiful sound mixed with pleasure, like you're ashamed to be in the situation.

Used and humiliated around logans cock.

Its push followed by retreat, a half thrust and then withdrawal over and over. "So fucking tight" Logan growls as you wiggle your ass, not certain if your trying to squirm further in to his grip or out.

He's stretching your walls apart, the burn of his size delicious with each heavy he offers. Each bringing a pulsing throb on your clit. "Yeaaaa, that's it, take it like a good girl.." he groans. "S' what you wanted isn't it."

Logans right, this is exactly what you wanted and more. His body trembles atop yours from the exertion, balls squeezed against your ass, his hand on and off clenching around your breast. His thrusts picking up in pace as you struggle and squirm to keep quiet even under his palm

"L-logan" you whimper as he pushes particularly deep, pussy squelching lewdly from your arousal, his hand barley muffling the word. He knows your close before you do, can feel your cunt clenching desperately.

"Getting fucked so good your gonna cum sweetheart?" he rasps in your ear, panting into it. "C'mon, tell daddy how good his cock feels."

"S-so good.. F-fuck yes daddy, please"

You whine and It is a struggle to pry his strong hand off your mouth to get the words out.

"Go on sweetheart. Cum, coat my fuckin cock. Show me this cute little pussy is mine"

and then his big hand clamps back over your lips as he begins to fuck you into the floor. Your orgasm crashes over you in burning waves. Every stroke becoming an ecstatic agony, overstimulation starting to buzz over your bones. Its a constant struggle to hold your moans and neither of you can move properly for the risk of waking Laura .

But Logans hips remain unrelenting, Fucking you prone on your friends floor. His balls swinging, swatting unbearably at your clit with every entry. The heat of him and being trapped against the floor is almost unbearable, but so is having to keep your whimpers quiet. sweat beads hot on your brow

you can hear his own desperate attempts at staying quiet. Broken only by muffled groans, grunts of exertion, and primal chesty growls as your cunt clenches wetly around him.

Yet the discomfort of overstimulation is no match for the absolute bliss of your submission. Your toes curling so hard you're on the verge of a cramp.

The friction between your clit, Logan's cock and the floor builds to an intolerable pressure. Something must give way. The temptation to lose all control and scream his name too great. Now that possibility of you blacking out is too dangerous to ignore. So you say it the word.

"Kitty!"

Not because you want to, but because in this moment you have to. Almost as soon as the word leaves your lips and sinks into the pillow, wet from saliva and tears, you feel his body shudder. muscles seizing while a heavy groan sounding out into the skin of your neck.

"you okay?" he pants softly worry creasing his brow. "Was it too much?"

Your wordless and it worries him. Making him pull back, cock slipping free with a hushed hiss as he helps you shift onto your back, so he can look at you properly.

Your hands rise, fingers caressing his scruffy cheeks. "M'okay" you pant, eyes on him. "wasn't too much. Promise."

No, in fact, It was just right- before it all overwhelmed you that is. Now? now you just want to hold him, make love to him. Hold onto something- someone that isn't really yours. Eye to eye, your mouth slides back over his, legs spread back open, ready to welcome his length back inside. Without a word you buck your hips down, beckoning him to fuck you again.

Things are much quieter this time. Pace slowed to deep grinds rather than shallow thrusts, pleasure once again coiling in your gut as you lean up to watch his cock disappear inside.

"Feel so good sweetheart, my good girl" he coos, lips against yours as his hand slips back to cup your breast. "My good girl with a fuckin perfect body"

You keep your eyes on logan, blissful smile across your face, and for this moment he's not your best friends father. Not with the way he's gazing down at you with a mixture of lust and long held affection. "always wanted you" he whispers, hand moving back from your breast to cup your cheek. "But I would have kept that secret forever.."

You squeeze him to your chest, heart stuttering at the admission as you lock your arms behind his neck, legs tight around logans waist. You whimper back his name, a plea on your tongue.

"Want you to cum logan.. Please, need to feel it"

You want it more than anything, to feel his cum pushed inside you; for it to drip out later as a downright filthy reminder. You kiss his neck, then cheek, and finally his lips. You want Logan to claim you right here on the floor, right under her nose and you know it makes you a bad friend. Your eyes roll back, hands clawing down his chest as you feel yourself giving up all thought to the rush that flows down the center of your body. The one that begins and ends in the wet, sticky place between your legs, Where the sensitive bud of your clit pulses like a dying star.

it's then he growls much too loud, and you respond back in a whimper, lips pressing tight as you cum together in panted kisses. Him pumping hot heady ropes of cum inside your cunt without reservation or regret as you clench in a vice grip around him.

Tomorrow you will be sore, you know it for a fact. But Tonight.. Tonight You can revel in a fantasy made flesh, your flesh and Logans wrapped around each tight. You drag weak fingers down through his damp hair, then his back, feeling the way his shirt is soaked through with sweat.

Logans panting has subsided by now, breaths no longer crackling besides your ear. He plants mouthy kisses at the juncture of your neck, ever so gently, like a sated wolf nuzzling at the muzzle of his mate. You giggle quietly as those kisses grow fiercer, teeth nipping at your neck.

"my good, great, naughty girl" he murmurs against your skin, voice soft. "you feeling okay sweetheart? sure it wasn't too much?"

You nod and he can feel the enthusiasm seep from the move as you grasp his face again. "Mhm, better than okay. Was perfect" you hum sleeplily, content in his hold, in the scent of him. Your eyes flutter, lashes tickling his cheeks as you kiss him long and deep, until the rub of his beard hurts your face and sleep begins to take you under.

You both know tonight was the culmination of so many fevered dreams. The breaking point of lust and its power that can't be fully expressed in words. So he holds you close- just as you do him in your rest- for a little while longer, until light begins to filter soft through the curtains and the reality of what you'd both done really begins to set in.

thats it!! lemme know what you thought anddddd yea! asks are always open to shoot the shit, drabbles and more! <333

[askshivanulegacy]

^^^^ THIS.

Of course Biden hasn't succeeded in everything. That's because we have a democracy. But to discount everything he DID achieve with the singular stovepiped and blindered argument that "THERE'S A GENOCIDE" is ignorant at best and idiocy at worst.

I'll say it right now that if your main concern during an election for YOUR COUNTRY is some other country, then you are WRONG.

During an election you get to be selfish.

You get to examine what's been achieved despite all odds, and fair criticism surely is fair.

But would the other side have achieved any better?

I'm not saying the genocide shouldn't be a consideration, but if that's your only consideration, then you are shooting yourself in the foot. The election isn't about Israel and it's not about Palestine.

First and foremost (and rightly so) it's about the US. You gotta pick the best path you can for the guys at home before you can do anything for anyone else.

And blaming any other country for Israel pulling the trigger is supremely shortsighted. There is only one country committing genocide here. One country made that decision and is enacting it. The rest is an unfortunate tangle of politics.

I don't ultimately care how people vote but you NEED to not allow yourself to be blinded by a single issue. International policy should be part of your portfolio of concerns, but not the only one and not even the most important one.

You are in an echo chamber right now. You need to get beyond it.