#an incomplete history of secret organizations

[beatricebidelaire]

thinking about when tony hale said "jerome stays in this defeated place, which i think is my entire career, playing defeated morons"

[veryfashionabledesigns]

So does the balloon thingy in the background and the fact that the crash is never mentioned in the show mean that Hector's balloon is still up and floating around? Even ten years later?

[cozzzynook]

I would die for a more long form rodi mpreg story. He's just made for getting preggo

He is. He really is made for getting sparked.

I have a long Roddy mechpreg story in my drafts but its incomplete and its angsty with hurt/comfort.

But i will say in this moment that Rodimus getting sparked would crush him.

He’s terrified to carry, terrified of the what the mech’s he frags will say if they find out and he’s terrified of fragging up his own creation.

He doesn’t feel safe in his own frame, he doesn’t feel safe on his own planet and he barely feels safe on his ship after onlining every solar cycle.

Rodimus definitely cries static tears with every moment he’s alone and he hides himself a lot when he realizes he’s sparked.

He doesn’t come out to the brig on his regular shift, instead he chooses the dead shift where nothing happens and its completely quiet. He stays in his hab all day not bothering to talk to anybot on board because he’s frustrated his two baffles failed him and that he may need more in the future.

He doesn’t even want to see a medic yet because the crew is nosey and they’ll talk and he wants this to be kept secret for as long as physically possible. He knows thats not going to work since their kind carry for years on end but he’s hopeful he won’t a sparkling bump early on yet he knows his frame and he knows he can feel the tiny press of his protoform against the layer of metal on his tanks and he feels himself crying all over again because this means he either has a lot of sparklings gestating or he’s been sparked longer than he’s been aware of.

He knows he can’t realistically not have a medic look at him on the off chance he’s wrong and it’s something else so he has First Aid take a look at him on his break during the dead shift and he breaks down almost going into a spark flutter flux if not for First aid sedating him.

When he onlines he’s thankfully back in his hab with First Aid telling him he was excused of his shift with a doctors note and that Rodimus wasn’t actually far along in his carrying when First Aid checked. The medibot gave him the run down of his carrying process.

His frame was sensitive to carrying and wouldn’t take well to a new spark removal. His own spark was dysfunctional which is why he started having a spark flutter flux even though he’d taken his medication earlier that cycle. First Aid informed him that his carrying would have to be closely monitored since he had a dysfunctional spark especially if he wasn’t getting an occasional transfluid donation.

His frame was built to carry sparks all on its own without the constant need of transfluid like typical bots would require. Most bots merged sparks to result in a sparkling, some with plug arrays would remain inserted in one another with their sparks out to result in sparklings. Once the sparkling could survive the transfer of their carriers spark to their protoform that the sire builds from the raw unfiltered materials of their home world. Of course there used to be hot spots that would appear and deliver the spark of a bitty, the bot who decides to become their creator would dig near the hot spot until the bitty’s frame was found and then it would be placed inside.

Those were all typical, normal types of carrying for cybertronians. Mechs and femmes have been keeping their species alive for billions of years through this method. So it was only natural they found carriers who could gestate from merged sparks that dropped into their tanks or transfluid alone that built a sparkling in their tanks as abnormal and a disgusting dysfunction that should be snuffed out and wiped from their history.

Cybertronians have a history of disliking organic species and means and while Rodimus isn’t fond of certain organic traits like parasites that need a host or how easy it is to kill them.

For a while he hated organics because he knew he could never carry a sparkling like his frame wanted during his heats. He never spent them with any mech. He simply hid himself and was able to play it off as intense frame exhaustion due to speedsters needing a lot of rest. He also could play it off as his spark flutters becoming intense with the war brewing before everything kick started. Once war emerged everyone had a spark baffle put in but since First Aid knew about his dysfunction he put in two because tank carrying bots were extremely fertile and neither could risk the harm it would potentially cause his spark.

Of course with war going on stress was a norm, so the risk was ten times higher. But now that war was no longer happening and his spark was no longer under constant duress there was significantly leas risk. Sparked at war would’ve offlined him but now sparked on their quest that truly became forever, his risk was in his normal danger zone.

“Rodimus..I’m sorry but..you know I can’t remove the sparkling…its no longer in your spark. For normal bots that wouldn’t be a problem since its still so early but since you carry like an organic and have spark flutters…it could kill you. If we were on cybertron I could do it…but…”

There was no way they could return to their home world. Not when they all petitioned and pulled so many strings to keep themselves on the lost light and be allowed their freedom to roam. Well, they technically could return to cybertron…so long as the emergency met the guidelines placed for a necessary return. But their captain wanting to get rid of a new spark that was forming in his gestation tank is not one of them.

“Fuck,” he sobbed turning his helm to look at the empty space where he finally noticed a tray where two large array sized protoform silk linings were exposed.

“No…no no no no,” he began to sit up and panic again. Everything was all too real now. His specialized baffles were gone and sitting on a med tray where he could see them and his array was numbed from the gel First Aid used on him to remove them.

There was a heavy gauze binding circled around his tanks to read the vitals of his sparkling and the monitor plugged into his arm line began to steadily pump out calming fluid.

“Rodimus please you have to calm down. I know this is something you never wanted but its here now and I know you’re afraid but we can figure something out.”

“Figure something out?! There is nothing to figure out! I’ll be kicked off the ship for this! No one likes a bot that has an organic trait! No one! No one will want me or the sparkling cursed to come from me! I’m fucked!”

He had no choice but to drop his whole frame against the nest of his berth when the drugs kicked into his systems and First Aid held him down the moment he gasped in pain.

“Fuck,” he sobbed into his servos, shoulders shaking and spark flickering. First Aid immediately gave him a heavier dose of calmer. He was beginning to feel himself slip into recharge when his hab door was opened with the override code and a blurry flash of Drift and Ratchet trying to rush into his hab before First Aid pushed them out left him to recharge fitfully.

“What’s going on First Aid? Whats wrong with Roddy?”

“What happened to the kid? Was his exhaustion that bad?”

“Patients rights I can’t divulge anything,” the worried and rushed tone he used didn’t feel right to the two. If it were something as simple as speedster exhaustion First Aid would’ve been able to tell them. But that wasn’t it, this was something more.

“Was it his spark flutters again?!”

That made Drift panic. He always panicked when it came to Rodimus’s spark condition and try as he may Ratchet couldn’t help but feel frightened as well.

It hasn’t been long by their species standard of knowing Rodimus had a dysfunction with his spark. A few hundred years isn’t much since they’ve all known each other for four million.

Rodimus was adamant in only letting First Aid work on him especially when they started sleeping together on and off during the war before coming to the lost light. It was during the lost light Rodimus truly joined their relationship and even then he was still secretive about his health much to their dismay.

“I’m sorry but I can’t tell you. Patient privilege.”

That was not something either of them wanted to hear and since neither had begun conjunx ritus with Rodimus they couldn’t get the status of his condition.

“First Aid! Damnit you know we plan to court him just let us see him!”

The words are forceful and low in tone as Drift struggled to remain calm. Ratchet understands. He does. But he also understands First Aid and Rodimus need for privacy. The mech was not open like many believed and the flame speedster was so easily scared away and frightened when it came to emotional matters a little worse than himself and Drift when he was Deadlock.

Though he had to give the kid credit because they were all still hard at letting others in.

“Tell us when he wakes?”

He sets an arm around Drifts waist and pulls him to his frame and the action gets the sought out reaction of silence.

“If he wants me to.”

First Aid looks between both of them and slips back inside Rodimus hab facing them before putting in the medical override lock so none can enter in.

The action makes Drift’s engine and cords growl, his servos are just itching to unsheathe his claws and Ratchet has to remind him, “First aid is on the other side with him. He’s a capable mech I trained myself. If it gets to be too much and he needs assistance he will reach out to myself or another medic. Rodimus is safe. I prefer him under our care but…First Aid is just as good.”

“But Ratty—”

“I know, Drift..I know..”

And Drift can’t argue because the bond they share feels the exact same. They’re both worried about Rodimus and while Drift is showing his emotions openly Ratchet is keeping them beneath the surface as usual.

“I hate it when you’re right.”

“So do I.”

Things were tense for a couple of days around the ship.

Rodimus’s text commed announcement of working the dead shift permanently along with working from his office and hab essentially switching himself from being front and center co captain to having Megatron be the front center co captain was not something they ever expected. Drift and Ratchet were completely thrown off and ready to barge into their speedsters room to have a word with him and demand what was going on with him.

Megatron himself was floored by this sudden change in position as well as his conjunx Minimus who both were able to use their positions among the crew to finally learn the secrets their friend and captain were hiding.

It was no longer a secret among them that Rodimus had a spark condition but it was shocking to learn he was sparked and the type of carrier he is.

Understandably they knew why Rodimus and even First Aid were adamant on keeping Rodimus’s current condition a secret. They were all online for the era of organic type carriers being labeled a dysfunction and deemed a necessary eradication until most left off world or were offlined.

They were familial with their crew but even family can turn on you once you possessed something they deemed filth or unsightly.

“You cannot remain in here and our office for the remainder of your carrying Rodimus. For the sake of your health and the sparklings you need to roam. You must stretch your pedes and go off ship even when you begin to show more than currently.”

Rodimus hated how right Minimus was.

“My love is correct Rodimus. Your fears are more than sound but so is my love and First Aid who has already filled us in when you were recharging. I don’t know the current status of your relationship with Drift and the medic but I’m quite sure they love you enough to protect and defend you as we will in such a vulnerable state.”

And that…that had Rodimus leaking from his optics and covering his face plates.

“Stop..”

Minimus gave his conjunx a worried glance that turned to him resting a servo on Rodimus’s shoulder plating. The action made the berth bound mech shift away a little but where Minimus backed off Megatron did not.

“As your friend…let the two in..I doubt they’ll turn you away. Not all of us believe in the draconian thinking of our old society. They wish to conjunx you Rodimus, let them.”

His sobs didn’t lessen and his outlier was sparking at his flux of emotions making small flames spurt from his pipes and intake as he showed his friends and First Aid his pathetic state.

“But..if me and my spark are proven wrong, which I highly doubt, if the medic and Drift do not defend you and the sparkling. Then I’m more than certain my arm canon and previous history will more than deter any bigot mech aboard the ship.”

“The sentiment is most certainly shared,” Minimus easily declared as his red optics gazed towards the door.

“I believe we have company.”

That made Megatron turn frame and stalk towards the door with terrifying silence a mech his size shouldn’t be capable of.

He rushed the door open to reveal a worried Drift and Ratchet who were trying to override the medical code. Well, Drift was trying to override the code, Ratchet was about to knock so when Drift overrides it they can at least give Rodimus a small warning.

Seeing the large mech blocking Rodimus and the two bots they can feel inside makes the two nervous but neither back down.

“Megatron.”

“Medic.”

“Enough. Let us through to see him.”

The edge in his tone was quickly shifting from Drift to his former days as Deadlock.

“Unless Rodimus deems it, I won’t be moving.”

And Drift is practically ready to fight his old boss when a voice so unlike the mech they’re used to sounds from behind the hulking wall of steel that was a mech.

“I’ll..I’ll talk to you guys later, okay?”

“Kid…whatever it is..let us help.”

“Let us in Roddy. I promise, whatever it is you’re thinking..we won’t turn you away..we’ll never turn you away.”

That made the mech sob with a fresh bout of tears springing from his optics and he hated it. He knew it was both himself and his emotive field hopped up on excess feelings and neurons because of the sparkling and it didn’t make him feel any better. He just wanted this to be over and to stop crying.

“Please Roddy? Stop shutting us out.”

“We’ve long forgiven the past kid. You don’t have to do whatever this is alone because you think you deserve to suffer in silence. You don’t kid.”

It feels like theres more Ratchet wants to say and the fear of hearing any more sweet words come from either of the mechs only to be crushed at them hating him for something he cannot control and it breaks him.

But..

On the off chance their words are true and he caused them more pain than they ever deserved..he didn’t want to be complicated and make things hard. So maybe.

Maybe.

“You can let them in…can we get a moment alone?”

Minimus was reluctant to leave Rodimus, he hated to admit it but the mech so often pulled on his carrier instincts he was glad his conjunx placed a servo on him and ushered him gently to the door.

“Comm us if you need anything.”

He wasn’t going to give Drift or Ratchet dirty looks nor was he implying anything. He just couldn’t help but be concerned for the younger who was probably still lost inside his own mixture of sparkling flare of emotions.

A quiet but deeply appreciative thank you from Rodimus and the two were gone.

First Aid was busy checking over Rodimus and the wrap he wanted kept around Rodimus.

“I’m going to be in the med bay. Your vitals are on my reader and if anything happens I’m coming straight back.”

“I’m right here Aid,” Ratchet was gruff but they could tell he was nervous.

First Aid rolled his optics behind the mask and it helped break the tension a little.

“Rodimus?”

“Its fine,” the mech finally rubbed his face plates, glancing at them looking more tired than they’ve ever seen him.

“Roddy whats going on?”

Drift was not one to beat around the bush or feel weird getting close in Rodimus space holding onto him.

“I uh..my spark is fine,” he spoke to which First Aid nodded and walked off heading to the med bay to most likely get some much needed rest.

An optic ridge raise from Ratchet and Rodimus was looking to the side. He wasn’t entirely in the right frame of mind to see it coming but Drift gently turning him so they could hold optics was a surprise but frighteningly more than welcome.

He felt soft callous servos touching his chassis and he didn’t protest when the protectant was opened enough to reveal his spark and with careful inspection still held by Drift who was not planning on letting him go anytime soon, Rodimus let the silence stretch and consume him.

He was more than wiling to stay like this so he didn’t have to tell them the inevitable truth but Rodimus knew just looking at the two who were careful about touching him, keeping him close so he can’t run off—not that he could even try they’d grab him and it would he a while before his valve and modesty platings healed from the baffle extraction. He owed it to them, the truth of his frame and who they seek to conjunx.

“Your spark is strained kid, lay back, try to vent. Thats it, easy,” Drift helped lower Rodimus back into the pillows on his berth. It really did feel good to relax into the warmth but he felt more vulnerable here. He never liked being viewed as soft metal.

“First Aid did a good job of fixing you up but I’d like to take a look at the work he did to your panels and tanks,” Ratchet shook his helm at Rodimus’s fright filled optics.

“It’s okay kid no need to lie to me. I won’t judge and if you don’t want me to look I won’t.”

Drift looked frightened and it was something Rodimus couldn’t handle seeing on the beautiful mechs face.

“My spark is fine, its just from the stress my frame is in and emotional distress,” he was looking away from them and Drift turning his chin so he would look at them made him want to cry which pissed him off all over again.

“Roddy you already,” a hand on Drifts shoulder has the swords mech quiet and Ratchets solemn gaze tells him to listen, so he does.

“My frame..is the problem..its not..I was forged a little different..the wrong kind of different..”

The two looked ready to tell him he was wrong when he shifted his optics off to the side.

“Aid had to take both of them out. Its why my panels and tanks are covered. For my frame putting it in the arm wouldn’t work. It had to be directly inside to make sure nothing would take.”

The silence stretched on and he closed his optics to get it over with.

“He had to go inside my valve to take out my sparkling baffles…they were um…they were a worn down. I have high fertility so one in the arm isn’t enough. I needed two, one in my valve and the other in my forge to keep from getting sparked. Its why my panels and tanks are wrapped…”

There was a dawning realization happening on Ratchets face plates and Rodimus wished he hadn’t made optic connection.

“Turns out I need more than two or maybe its because they were worn or my frame just hates me.”

“Roddy..are you,” dawning realization was gripping Drifts face plates and Rodimus was afraid to see the rejection he feared.

“Kid, are you sparked?”

“Yeah…I just knew. When my frame didn’t feel right and everything just felt..more? I knew then I was sparked. I held out for a while in telling First Aid but after a while when my plating shifted out I knew I needed full confirmation. Just in case it was something else..I was hoping it was, but.”

He felt his frame grow hot and he refused to shed anymore tears no matter how much they fought against him.

“I’m so sorry..This was never supposed to happen..”

“Kid..” the out of ventilation huff that came from Ratchet made both the speedsters look towards him. Ratchet slid onto the berth pulling Rodimus into a tight hug.

“Kid you didn’t..you never…you haven’t done anything wrong. You aren’t wrong. They were wrong. Those functionalists. Not you kid. Not you.”

Drift was putting the pieces together and he hated what he found.

Ratchet understood, of course he did.

He was there when functionalists told them to report all bots with tanks that housed sparklings. Deeming it unnatural and a terrible biomechanical detriment to their species. When in reality it was just another form of reproduction that could’ve saved them from the lack of new sparks long before the war even began.

He kicked off any mech and femme that accepted such archaic thinking and found ways to send tank carrying mechs and femmes off world so they wouldn’t be offlined.

Ratchet understood his fear, his tears, the reason he was so hesitant beyond regular carrying fears. He had a right to be. All those bots sparks snuffed out due to idiotic and hateful thinking. He hated it and he hated he never knew Rodimus had to live with this for so long without having anyone to turn to.

“Oh roddy..”

He knew his conjunx would feel the same as he did.

He shifted so himself and Drift could wrap Rodimus in their frames and em fields. The swords mech had seen plenty in his life and the medic had no doubt he was more than aware of why Rodimus feared telling them.

“Nothing could ever stop us from loving you,” Drift spoke in a tone neither had heard before. It was vulnerable, afraid, pushing the rage beneath the surface so he didn’t retract his claws out of anger. He wanted to hurt the people who made Rodimus have to fear alone. He’s reminded all over again why he chose the decepticons at the beginning of the war and it makes him upset all over again that they had to find peace by leaving their home planet on a ship.

“I didn’t…I’m sorry,” Rodimus sobbed frustrated, “I can’t stop crying and I didn’t mean for this to happen. I never wanted you to find out I was this dysfunctional. First aid can’t get rid of them, not without us being on cybertron. But we can’t go back unless it’s an emergency. I didn’t mean for this to happen..oh my gosh I’m gonna have a sparkling and they’ll be hated just like I was for this. Fuck.”

Rodimus wishes it would stop hitting him like this, the reality of it all.

He was going to have a sparkling and his sparkling would be different, just like how he was different. No one would want to touch or play with him when he was a bitty growing up because he came from a tank much like his sparkling would. He didn’t grow up with his creators past a certain age but he does remember them being red and a different build than him.

He remembers his creators color scheme. Red, black and gray with servos so calloused and warm they instantly put him into recharge. He never knew his sire but he remembers feeling like all he needed was his carrier who made sure he got enough energon even if it meant them going without. He remembers hiding some and slipping it down his creators intake when they were asleep. He tried to take care of his creator too but mechs he can’t remember took him away while his creator cried on his knees reaching out to him.

“I don’t..I want them so badly..but I’m so scared. I’m so scared someone will take them away like they took me. What if they emerge like me? With a fragged spark and carrying in the tank? What if someone offlines them because they hate how they’re emerged? Someone on board could kill me before I even have them. Frag, I should’ve never opened my panels.”

There was a sharp grip on his cheeks and chin as soon as the words left his dermas.

He expected Drift to be outraged by what he said not Ratchet.

“Shut up.”

“Rodimus. We won’t let any bot in this universe or the next touch you or our sparkling.”

The growl coming from Drifts throat and Ratchets engine had him startled.

He was hoping desperately neither could tell he felt charged by the spark felt primal display and emotions before him. He shifted his legs a bit mindful of his sore and tender valve and plating that urged him to stop moving as slick gushed onto his bandages.

‘Stupid neurons chill out.’

“We won’t let any harm come to you or our sparkling Rodimus. You aren’t alone anymore. We’re not going anywhere.”

Rodimus couldn’t remember the last time he heard Drift say his designation but he remembers how much he likes it.

“It’s a surprise but not an unwelcome one. We wanted to court you first kid. Go through the rites and conjunx you before sparking ya. We wanted sparklings for a long time now, judging from some of your words you do too. And now, thanks to you, we all finally have one.”

The smile on Ratchets face is small but its sincere. Its the same he gives Drift and its the same he’s been giving Rodimus for a very very long time.

He can see he was just too clouded to fully see it.

“You’re okay with this? With me?”

“Always Roddy,” “Always Kid.”

He shut his optics and leaned his helm against Drift and Ratchets shoulder plating for just a nano klik.

He felt the two shift and soon he was laid back down with both of them carefully laying besides him.

He gave Ratchet permission to check his panels and the condition of their sparkling. He figured everything was fine since First Aid hadn’t come back and he was proven correct after Ratchets assessment.

He was glad to have Drift laying beside him keeping him grounded as Ratchet checked him over. He was actually happy when Ratchet laid down beside him and explained what stage he believed their sparkling to be at. How so far the sparkling was healthy but he needed rest and fluids along with oil because the stress taxed his frame.

He had never imagined he would feel…okay, with his servo resting on his tanks where his sparkling resided.

The moment he moved his hand Ratchet and Drift were diving for a feel and he laughed at how focused Drift’s face was, not to mention how stern Ratchet looked as he rubbed his tanks compared to how soft his em field felt.

He doesn’t remember closing his optics and falling into recharge. He was so exhausted he’s surprised he managed to stay awake as long as he did.

Drift and Ratchet didn’t move from beside him as he slept. They kept their servos on his tanks and their audials tuned to all their sparks as he they too closed their optics lulled to the steady hum and fields surrounding them.

—

I love a good mechpreg angst.

[androxys]

Task Force What? An Incomplete (Yet Still Very Long) Guide to Some of the DCU’s Government Groups [Part 1]

So, you’re reading DC comics and a government agency pops up that you’re reasonably sure doesn’t exist in the real world. Who are they? What’s their deal? Here’s a quick primer on some of the groups that you may encounter.

A few notes and disclaimers: This writeup is primarily based on post-Crisis, pre-Flashpoint/New 52 comic canon. I’ve tried to note every exception to that general rule. Also, several of these groups and comics use historical markers tied to the real world, which makes less and less sense as we-as-readers get farther away in time from when these comics were originally published. DC eventually stopped using real people and events so frequently in comics to help with their timelessness, but I’m going to include the historical figures and times as depicted in the source material, even if that means the same Batman is supposed to have been active in the 70s and also in 2011. Just don’t worry about it.

This writeup is split into three parts, described below. This section is the most dense, dealing with the history of 13 agencies, some of their key players, and the organizations' general missions. Special thanks to my editors and beta readers for helping me shape this up.

Part 1: Organization Descriptions and Histories

Task Force X

Argent

The Suicide Squad

Checkmate

Central Bureau of Investigation

The Agency

Project: Peacemaker

Department of Extranormal Operations

All Purpose Enforcement Squad

Project Cadmus / The DNA Project

Human Defense Corps

A.R.G.U.S.

Spyral

Part 2: Timeline

Part 3: Reading Suggestions

Task Force X

One of the most famous of DC’s government groups, Task Force X is sometimes used interchangeably with “The Suicide Squad.” However, that’s (at least originally) not quite accurate! Task Force X was a government program that housed two clandestine programs: Argent and The Suicide Squad. Task Force X was originally started in the 50s by President Truman to make up for the disappearance of the Justice Society of America after Senator McCarthy summoned them before his House of Un-American Activities Committee and tried to force them to unmask. Task Force X was designed to deal with the “extraordinary” (read: metahuman and alien) threats that might face the U.S. government. Argent was the domestic program, while the Suicide Squad was international. The leader of Argent took his team and disappeared in the 60s, while the Suicide Squad disbanded soon after due to budget cuts.

Task Force X would be revived in the 80s when then-congressional aide Amanda Waller would present to President Reagan a plan to revitalize The Suicide Squad, this time utilizing supervillains for high risk, clandestine missions in exchange for reduced prison time. Waller also envisioned the reorganization of intelligence group The Agency, which would become the intelligence-focused division of Task Force X. The Agency would be led by former Doom Patrol member Valentina Vostok until its reorganization into Checkmate, at which point Harry Stein was named Checkmate’s King. Although Central Bureau of Intelligence leader Sarge Steel had significant reservations about Task Force X, the President ultimately approved the project. 

After an inter-departmental war known as the Janus Directive, Task Force X was dissolved as an umbrella organization. The Suicide Squad and Checkmate were made fully independent of one another, with Sarge Steele assuming direct control of Checkmate from Waller, who stayed on as the director of the Suicide Squad.

Argent

Argent was the U.S. based division of the original, 50’s Task Force X that dealt with domestic and civilian “extraordinary” encounters. Originally led by a man named only as “Control,” Argent went underground after Control killed a man connected with the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. Control’s vision for this new, even more secretive Argent was an internationally focused spy agency for justice, though little is known about how effective he was. Presumed defunct, Argent was not revived when Amanda Waller proposed her new Suicide Squad. Eventually, the new Suicide Squad made contact with the remenants of Argent, and were witness to the ultimate end of the program.

The Suicide Squad

Originally, the Suicide Squad was the self-given name of WWII platoon with a depressingly high fatality rate. Over the course of the war, the squadron found themselves on Dinosaur Island, which certainly didn’t help those numbers. Richard Montgomery Flag Sr. was brought in to help lead the group, turning the squadron around into a highly decorated division of the Army.

In 1951, after the Justice Society was driven underground, President Truman created Task Force X to be able to combat “extraordinary” threats now that there were no costumed heroes to rely on. Truman requested that Flag Sr. lead The Suicide Squad, which focused on international threats. This group was largely composed of veterans of the WWII Squadron S. This version of the Suicde Squad was disbanded after the death of Flag Sr.

A third version of the Squad was created by General Stuart, tapping Rick Flag Jr. to be its leader. This team continued to deal with extranormal threats, but disbanded after a mission in Cambodia that saw the loss of half the squad. It was also revealed that regardless of the fatalities, budget cuts demanded the end of the program.

The most famous version of the Suicide Squad was proposed by congressional aide Amanda Waller to President Reagan in the 1980s, following the Legends event. Waller envisioned a revival of Task Force X as an umbrella program, with the new Suicide Squad being staffed by incarcerated supervillains. These villains would undertake high-risk, clandestine operations in return for reduced prison sentences. Part of the appeal of this model was the deniability: in the event that an operation went poorly, the government could simply blame it on the supervillain. President Reagan approved the program–Waller was the leader of Task Force X, which included both the Suicide Squad and The Agency, which was soon remade into Checkmate.

This Suicide Squad operated out of Belle Reve penitentiary, which was a maximum security prison specializing in holding supervillains. The initial administration of the Suicide Squad consisted of Amanda Waller as its director, Belle Reve’s warden John Economos, psychologist Simon LaGrieve, bureaucratic assistant Flo Crawley, and pilot Briscoe. Waller brought in Rick Flag Jr. to serve as her field leader and Ben Turner, the Bronze Tiger, as second in command. While the Squad certainly lived up to its name and reputed high mortality rate, notable team members include Eve Eden, Nightshade; Floyd Lawton, Deadshot; June Moone, Enchantress; and George Harkness, Captain Boomerang. I’m not going to spoil the whole Oracle plot for you, but know that Barbara Gordon actually debuted as Oracle in the pages of Suicide Squad, so consider this your sign to go read Suicide Squad (1987).

After the events of The Janus Directive, Task Force X was dissolved as an umbrella organization. While Waller was left as the director of the Suicide Squad, she no longer had any leadership in Checkmate, which had passed into the control of Sarge Steel, director of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

After a number of missions, Waller eventually disbanded the Suicide Squad, finding herself disillusioned with the Squad’s goals. However, because this is comics, the Suicide Squad would not stay dead for long. Waller would periodically create new incarnations of the Squad to address spontaneous issues that would arise, often crossing over with other superheroes' adventures. During Lex Luthor’s presidency, Waller would be appointed Secretary of Metahuman Affairs, taking Sarge Steel’s place.

After Checkmate was rechartered as an United Nations organization, Amanda Waller took a position as the White Queen. To limit conflicts of interest, this effectively meant that the Suicide Squad was permanently disbanded, as Waller was prohibited from operations and could not be involved in the leadership of both organizations. This didn’t stop her, however, and Waller formed a new incarnation of the Suicide Squad that began Operation: Salvation Run. This project involved rounding up all supervillains and deporting them to a prison planet via Boom Tube (yes, really) where they were supposed to stay indefinitely. Waller was eventually ousted from Checkmate, but not before she and her Squad managed to deport the majority of Earth’s villains. The Suicide Squad would have to confront its ghosts during the Blackest Night event, when zombified fallen members of the Squad came after living members, but further adventures were cut off by Flashpoint.

Checkmate

Checkmate started from The Agency, a quasi-independent intelligence focused division of Task Force X led by former Doom Patrol member Valentina Vostok. Vostok brought in former NYPD lieutenant Harry Stein, who soon reorganized the group into Checkmate. Borrowing from chess’ hierarchy, Stein was King, working with his Queen counterpart to coordinate various agents. Bishops oversaw Rooks, who planned missions for support agents–Pawns–and special agents–Knights. Checkmate operated out of Konig Industries in Shelby, Virginia until the events of the Janus Directive. During that event, Checkmate lost roughly 40 Knights and its Konig cover was blown. With only a third of its agents, Checkmate was subsequently forced to relocate to a NORAD base in Colorado.

Harry Stein resigned as head of Checkmate after his son was shot, leading Sarge Steel to promote Phil Kramer to King and Kalia Cambell to Queen. They would lead Checkmate against Jade Nguyen, the assassin known as Chesire, during the time she took control of several nuclear warheads and bombed the nation of Qurac. At some point Checkmate would establish their division between black side, which ran operations, and white side, which was primarily intelligence.

Bishop Jessica Midnight recruited Sasha Bordeaux, Bruce Wayne’s former bodyguard, into Checkmate. Bordeaux had been imprisoned due to suspicion that she was an accomplice to Bruce Wayne's alleged killing of Vesper Fairchild. Checkmate faked Bordeaux’s death in prison and provided her with plastic surgery to assume a completely new life as a Checkmate operative.

After Kramer, former Knight David Said would become the new King of Checkmate. He would lead Checkmate against Batman in Gotham City, a campaign that saw them abduct Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress, and install her as Queen in an attempt to have her share secrets from Batman. This arrangement was actually a plan between Batman and Huntress, however, and Bertinelli ended up serving as a mole for Batman on Checkmate. 

For this next section, I choose to believe that Checkmate was a victim of Superboy-Prime’s altering of reality in the leadup to Infinite Crisis. Checkmate is suddenly headed by Maxwell Lord, Said and Bertinelli are nowhere to be seen, and Lord’s motivations are massively different from any of his previous appearances. Regardless, under Lord, Checkmate amassed information on every metahuman on Earth with plans to eliminate them. To do this, Lord was given access to the Brother Eye satellite, and together they controlled over one million OMACs–civilians that had been injected with nanotechnology to make them unwitting cyborg sleeper agents. When Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, discovered what Lord had been up to, Lord killed him and instructed Bordeaux to dispose of the body.

Sasha sent Blue Beetle’s goggles to Batman, alerting him of Kord’s death. Once Lord knew that Batman was on his tail, he accelerated his plans, using his mental manipulation powers to take control of Superman and send him on a rampage to keep other heroes occupied. When Wonder Woman caught up with Lord, she bound him in her Lasso of Truth and commanded him to tell her how to set Superman free. The only option he gave her was for him to die, so Wonder Woman snapped his neck. Upon Lord’s death, Brother Eye immediately activated all OMACs and began the King_Is_Dead protocol, which involved killing every current Checkmate agent. Bordeaux, who had been imprisoned by Lord after he discovered her subterfuge, escaped, though not before her own unique OMAC programming activated. Lord had intended for her, as his Knight, to be a special type of OMAC, leaving her somewhere between human and machine. Later, Bordeaux would team up with Batman and other heroes to take down Brother Eye.

After Infinite Crisis, Checkmate was recharted by the United Nations to be an international group with a stronger system of checks and balances. Checkmate operated under a system of twos: two Kings and two Queens, with a Knight and Bishop for all four royals. Most specifically, the U.N. charter set out a Rule of Two: each position had to be balanced with meta and non-metahumans. As before, Black side was operations while White was intelligence. Bishops advised their royals, while Knights were special agents. Rooks were an elite Black Ops unit, while numerous Pawns were standard agents.

At the time of its chartering, the new Checkmate had the OMAC enhanced Bordeaux as its Black Queen, Taleb Beni Khalid as its unpowered Black King, JSA Green Lantern Alan Scott as White King, and Amanda Waller as White Queen. After Scott resigned as White King his Bishop, fellow JSA member Michael Holt–Mister Terrific, took his place.

This Checkmate frequently clashed with Kobra, the international cult intent on bringing a new age of chaos to the world. However, they also had a non-insignificant amount of infighting. Significantly, Waller was forced out as White Queen after she tried to preemptively remove Bordeaux and Holt, knowing that they were getting close to uncovering her illicit Suicide Squad and their Operation: Salvation Run.

After the events of Brightest Day, Maxwell Lord returns from the dead and uses his power to make nearly everyone on Earth forget about him. He immediately begins to try to regain control of Checkmate, beginning a misinformation and discrediting campaign against Checkmate’s leadership.

Central Bureau of Intelligence (C.B.I.)

The Central Bureau of Intelligence is a sort of corollary to the Federal Bureau of Investigation within the DC Universe. The organization primarily focuses on information gathering from domestic and international sources, then utilizing that information for operations. However, while other groups are focused on “extranormal” threats, the CBI is primarily concerned with “normal” missions. When special assignments do come up, special agents are dispatched.

The CBI was known to be active when Task Force X was being revived by Amanda Waller. While Sarge Steel was both known to be involved in the CBI and important enough to sit in on Waller’s meeting with the President of the United States, it is not clearly stated that he was the director of the CBI at that time. However, Sarge Steel would officially be the director of the CBI by the time of the Janus Initiative. Despite the massive reorganization at the time, the CBI was left largely alone. Steel would be promoted to the Director of Metahuman Affairs, a Cabinet level position wherein he would oversee all metahuman related operations for the federal government.

Among the most notable CBI agents are the aforementioned Sarge Steel, King Faraday, and former Teen Titan Roy Harper. After leaving the Titans, Harper would work for the CBI as a special agent–it was during this period he met Jade Nguyen, the assassin known as Chesire, and conceived their daughter Lian.

Eventually, the CBI would be incorporated into the Department of Extranormal Operations.

The Agency

The Agency was a group led by former Doom Patrol member Valentina Vostok that aimed to monitor superheroes. When Amanda Waller presented her plan to reform Task Force X, the Agency was reorganized into Checkmate. Among its divisions was Project: Peacemaker.

Project: Peacemaker

Project Peacemaker was the program that created and maintained Christopher Smith’s activities as Peacemaker. Originally, Project Peacemaker was a division of the Agency. When Task Force X was revived under Amanda Waller’s proposal, the Agency was reorganized into Checkmate, and Project Peacemaker is implied to have been made its own entity. However, when Task Force X was dissolved after The Janus Directive, Project Peacemaker became folded into Checkmate under the supervision of Sarge Steel.

The Department of Extranormal Affairs (D.E.O.)

In terms of real-world publication, the DEO began in 1998 as DC’s effort to begin consolidating all of the various federal metahuman organizations under one umbrella. In this author’s opinion, this was for the better.

The Department of Extranormal Operations is the U.S. government’s most modern and comprehensive agency to assess and combat metahuman threats through intelligence gathering, field operatives, and their own research.

The DEO conducts extensive research on metahumans and extranormal entities, with various degrees of transparency or consent. The DEO has been depicted to hold individuals against their will in order to study them, to the point of sending either their own agents or other affiliated groups to hunt down subjects that escape. This research seemed to be, in its early depictions, its primary focus. However, the DEO would take broader forays into intelligence, using that information for good… and sometimes to blackmail heroes into working for them.

In most depictions, the DEO is led by Director Bones, a former member of Infinity Inc, who reports to the federal Director of Metahuman Affairs. Bones is the direct supervisor of operative Cameron Chase, who has proved herself an exceptional agent. Through Chase, Kate Spencer–the Manhunter–was brought in to work for the DEO for some time.

The DEO is expansive enough to have several subdivisions within it. One such group was the Department of Metahuman Affairs, where Wonder Woman would work after Infinite Crisis. This subdivision would focus specifically on gathering and preparing intelligence on active metahumans, should the government need it. This subdivision would be led by Sarge Steel, who had left the White House upon the election of Lex Luthor and Luthor’s subsequent appointment of Amanda Waller to Secretary for Metahuman Affairs.

Another group known to be active during Luthor’s presidency was Knightwatch, a more militaristic division that responded to possible metahuman attacks on federal personnel and buildings.

The DEO’s research facilities are detailed in various comics across the 90s. It is gradually revealed that the DEO either maintains or sponsors a variety of training camps and research facilities, sometimes called “orphanages,” that hold metahumans under various states of duress. One example is Secret, the Young Justice member who is shown escaping from a DEO orphanage, and later gets Young Justice’s help shutting down similar experimentation programs. A group of metahumans who escape from the DEO collectively get taken in by the Titans. Conversely, some of the individuals who go on to be the Relative Heroes are depicted to be in a more traditional fostering environment, though it is still connected to the DEO. 

Within the continuity of the Supergirl TV show, as part of the Arrowverse, the DEO is a governmental organization that specifically deals with extraterrestrial threats and encounters.

All Purpose Enforcement Squad (A.P.E.S.)

The All Purpose Enforcement Squad is an international, interdepartmental group of highly trained special agents. APES features most prominently in the Young Justice series, represented by Donald Fite and Ishido Maad. 

While APES has connections to international organizations such as Interpol and Scotland Yard, they seem primarily U.S. based, as APES was the primary group trying to recover Secret, a metahuman who escaped from a DEO research facility.

Project Cadmus

Project Cadmus, sometimes also known as the DNA Project, is a government supported genetic research lab. Cadmus is involved with cloning and gene sequencing for the purpose of creating new life, with their most famous creation being Superboy.

Originally led by Director Paul Westfield, Cadmus employed various scientists engaged with genetic manipulation. The most notorious of these scientists was Dabney Donovan, who created “DNAliens” with inhuman powers. These DNAliens include Dubbilex, the grey skinned, horned telepath who would serve as a mentor to Superboy. Cadmus also employed the adult members of the original Newsboy Legion. These adults cloned themselves to create a new Newsboy Legion, and additionally cloned former NYPD officer Jim Harper–the original Guardian. This new cloned Guardian would serve as head of security of Cadmus.

Donovan was eventually fired from Cadmus due to the extremity of his experiments. Donovan would go on to align himself with The Agenda, another genetic lab responsible for their own Superboy clone: Match. Cadmus would also have an enemy in the form of the Evil Factory, led by Mokkari and Simyan, servants of Darkseid.

After a virus affecting clones and DNAliens breaks out, Cadmus began to receive intense scrutiny. A purification by fire was attempted, with missiles aimed to destroy sections of Metropolis and stop the virus. After the missiles were stopped, Donovan revealed himself to be the mastermind of the virus and killed Westfield, leading Mickey Cannon to be named the new administrative director of Cadmus. This scrutiny forced Cadmus to withdraw from the public eye, going deeper underground.

Under Cannon, Dabney would be kept imprisoned in Cadmus to serve as a scientific advisor under armed guard. Cannon also brought in Serling Roquette to be the new head of genetics–Roquette would eventually be responsible for curing Superboy of the genetic quirk that kept him from aging. Cadmus would continue to withdraw from attention, especially under the presidency of Lex Luthor.

Human Defense Corps

The Human Defense Corps was a group started under President Luthor’s administration with the goal of having an entirely non-metahuman taskforce that could respond to meta-level threats. This was in line with Luthor’s goal of reducing dependency on superheroes, and as such only recruited from decorated military veterans.

A specific subgroup within the Human Defense Corps was Squad K, a division specifically armed and trained to take on Kryptonian targets.

A.R.G.U.S.

You may have noticed that I didn’t put what A.R.G.U.S. stands for up above. That’s because sources disagree. According to the wiki, A.R.G.U.S. stands for Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-humans. A.R.G.U.S. was created post-Flashpoint to be a governmental organization associated with the Department of Homeland Security. Specifically, A.R.G.U.S. aims to support super- and meta-human endeavors, rather than having an antagonistic relationship with the superhuman community.

A.R.G.U.S. took on a life of its own within the TV Arrowverse shows, where it’s called the Advanced Research Group United Support. There, A.R.G.U.S. is the de facto government agency for dealing with metahuman threats. It was formerly led by Amanda Waller before leadership passed to Lyla Michaels. 

Spyral

Before I start to give the details on Spyral, I have to disclaim a few things about it. Spyral was first mentioned in the New Earth timeline, during Grant Morrison’s time with Batman Incorporated (2011). This was immediately before Flashpoint and the New 52 reboot. However, this run of Batman Incorporated kept going within the New Earth continuity past when Flashpoint happened, meaning that the comics had to disclaim that they were still the old continuity, even though the reboot happened. But then! Batman Incorporated (2012) was a direct sequel to the New Earth run, even though this Volume 2 explicitly happens in the post-reboot continuity.

All of this to say, Spyral is an organization that has roots in the New Earth continuity, but was largely fleshed out in the post-Flashpoint universe. Because of the relative lack of information in the pre-Flashpoint continuity, however, we can assume a lot of the later established details can be retroactively applied.

Technically, Spyral is not a U.S. agency. Originally, Spyral was founded during the Cold War to be a United Nations affiliated spy group. The U.N. made former Nazi spy Otto Netz, under the pseudonym Agent Zero, the head of the organization. He was subsequently tasked with recruiting Spyral’s agents and building the organization for the U.N.

Spyral continued into the 80s, at which point Netz was revealed to be a double agent and imprisoned in a lighthouse. Though the organization seemingly collapsed at that point, Spyral’s operations continued. At some point before his imprisonment, Netz recruited Gotham City socialite Kathy Webb Kane into Spyral and tasked her with discovering the identity of the Batman. Kathy developed the Batwoman persona to get close to Batman, though the revelation that Netz was her father caused her to break off contact with both Batman and retreat from Spyral. Kathy Webb Kane was believed to have been killed by Ben Turner, the Bronze Tiger, during his period of being controlled by the League of Assassins.

Netz would be broken out of his imprisonment by the Leviathan Organization, which is a militaristic group led by Talia al Ghul, after her estrangement from her father Ra’s al Ghul. Leviathan seeks to undo much of modern society in order to rebuild the world in a “better” way. Talia set Netz up as Doctor Dedalus to combat Batman and his Batman Incorporated initiative, designing elaborate traps across the globe to keep Bruce Wayne and his operatives occupied. Netz was eventually killed within one of his traps by Damian Wayne, who was attempting to save his father.

It was revealed after Netz’s death that Kathy Webb Kane was still alive, and had faked her own demise in order to become the secret headmistress of Spyral. After Netz’s death, the U.N. officially reactivated Spyral in order to combat Leviathan’s continued growth.

Spyral operates out of St. Hadrian’s Finishing School for Girls. Initially in the New Earth continuity, the school had been a Leviathan facility, training young women as infiltrators and assassins. It was the site of Stephanie Brown’s mission as Batgirl on behalf of Batman Incorporated, and she and Batman managed to stop the Leviathan plot. In the post-Flashpoint continuity, St. Hadrian’s is Spyral’s base, where elite students are trained as spies. It’s assumed that Spyral just took control after ousting Leviathan.

After Dick Grayson was publically unmasked as Nightwing, he joined Spyral to investigate the organization. During this period, he worked with Helena Bertinelli, who was working as the Matron of Spyral. Grayson would continue as Agent 37 of Spyral for some time, until his identity was restored. At that point, he and Bertinelli both returned to Gotham to take up the mantles of Nightwing and Huntress, respectively. With Bertinelli’s departure, directorship of Spyral and the title of Patron passed to Agent-1, the operative known as Tiger.

[astheworldgoesonitswickedway]

All the Wrong Questions seems to indicate that the Great Unknown was probably the Bombinating Beast. After losing so many characters and receiving at least the vague and desperate hope of a happy ending for the Quagmires and Baudelaires, its taken away and we can assume the Quagmires and their group probably died. Sadness. Well that reminded me that, in show canon anyway, the Baudelaires and Quagmires do reunite on Briny Beach, which they tell us in The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations. (A behind the scenes book about the making of the Netflix show) So that's a consolation. But then it led me to wonder why they included such important and actually happy information in a book that a lot of fans probably didn't read and not the show itself. And lol, that led me to think about the time they spent on other things in the last episode. Remember that part where they show Olaf's ex-troupe members making successful careers as actors? It was short true, but that length of time would have been just enough to give us a glimpse of the Baudelaires and Quagmires smiling and hugging or something! Anyways, I'm confused on the choice to show the villains instead, cause I'm not super interested in watching them receive their "happy ending" instead of justice. I know, I know, watching anyone receive justice was not very likely happen. But still, why did we watch these murderous villains get away free and achieve their dreams, when even if that happens, the screen time could have been spent on our beloved characters and their very deserved reunion? Maybe it was a strategic and symbolic choice. Maybe it really did relate to everything the show was telling us. Or maybe not. Either way I'm just a biiit sad about it. And anyways I feel like the ambiguous ending for those characters was much more satisfying. When the white-faced women told Olaf "We don't want to participate in your schemes anymore. For a while it was fun to fight fire with fire, but we've seen enough flames and smoke to last our whole lives. We don't think it was a coincidence that our home burned to the ground. We lost a sibling in that fire Olaf." and just walked away never to be heard from again? There was something so satisfying about that split, in a "I'm done living my life for other people, I'm 100% out and you'll never even get to know what happened to me" kind of way.

[damnyouaresowong]

not to knock on the actually decent series finale of Agents of Shield (can't say the same for other mcu shows *coughs Secret Invasion*) but why does it irks me so much that Deke was never fully accepted into the Shield family? By the end of the show, he's just a *somewhat technologically efficient* Shield agent-turned-director that knows little to nothing about the history of the organization, and his genetically-related family either hasn't been born yet (assuming Fitzsimmons parents survived the Chronicom destruction of that timeline) or left this timeline.

Idk there's something unsatisfying about the Deke arc, like sure he's become more responsible compared to his Season 5/6 ways but for a guy who basically lost all his family from the destroyed earth timeline (that doesn't exist anymore? If we're following mcu multiverse theory, the timeline does exist, just that the main timeline was able to prevent the cracking of earth) and his new family had to leave him in this new timeline, I feel like he deserved more credit than given. Yeah ig he's famous in the timeline he stayed in bc of the Deke Squad and all but... idk...

Meanwhile, Sousa, who's barely been with the group for a few weeks gets sent back with the team no questions asked. Like I love Sousa, and I'm NOT saying Sousa should've stayed (cuz Dousa/Dousy is cute af) but I also kinda wished the others had put up more of a fight for a guy that cares more about the team than he shows, despite his past history.

And this has been a rant about a show that ended 3 years ago lol. I know Deke isn't everyone's favorite character and all, but it just felt that his arc is the most *incomplete* of the main cast.

[agentc0rn]

A list of Indigo Disk Revisions

Typed down a rough batch of ideas, which I won't be able to put into complete writing or drawing, but can't stop imagining (will keep editing and adding stuff as some thoughts are some incomplete).

Made a pretty long list lol so get some snacks ready if you have time to spare. Disclaimer: did this just for fun, bunch of indulgent thoughts. Indigo Disk is a whole lots of fun, but I think its potential could have been explored more.

Each time you beat the elite four, there is a brief flashback of them interacting with each other and Kieran.

Lacey = bumps into kieran while organizing stuff at the League Club Room, Kieran orders her to make sure that everyone follows the new rules and stuff since he became president.

Amarys = notices Kieran's change and asks if he is okay, to which he replies coldly with "yeah, I'm fine." She states his sister's concern, but he brushes off with a cold shrug.

Crispin = asks kieran if he wants to hang out at the cafeteria, but kieran declines, saying he has stuff to do. Students pass by them, whispering about Kieran.

Drayton = congratulates Kieran for beating him, but he goes up to and him says: "Was that all you really got, ex-champion?"

You get to meet Briar in a small class event (invited by her), and there she discusses terastal energy and its history. She's not only a history techer but also the one in charge for assigning students to test their strengths with terastalization.

As you progess, you can visit a lab room in blueberry academy where you can find Briar's research, books, documents about terapagos, Heath, and such.

Once the second elite four is defeated, Briar asks you to come, taking notice of your rumored streak of success. She begins to recount her time at blueberry academy and her travels across different regions before introducing the origin of the terastal energy orb as a whole and Terapagos. At some point, she gives you a reason why she wanted to be a teacher, part of it is her interest in the terastal phemenon and its connection between Unova and Paldea, the other is to bring the truth through education (her family name and reputation became infamous and she is determined to bring the facts to the surface - hence the publication later on). She has some grudge against the public for that and becomes increasingly hellbent as we would soon encounter the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero.

After beating the last elite four, Briar invites you once more to the lab room and divulges a secret with you - she has the indigo disk (entrusted by Geeta who recieved it from the OTHER PROF who bailed out from the research years ago, having no need for its use any longer even from a remote distance) and mentions a mission that you are formally invited to, but she would only explain everything about it after you defeat Kieran.

She briefly explains about The Indigo Disk; it is not just some mere storage item but a special object imbued with the power/properties of Terapagos that enable the activation of the elevator to the lower level of the area zero. That disk was made by Sada/Turo but the other parent took off with it in hopes of diverting the obsessed prof from their grand project, but failed anyways. (this idea is half-baked tbh but still put it there cause i like it)

Then Carmine and others meet you, asking what Briar told you about. You explained to them until midway, Kieran comes and does the thing where he expects you to battle him soon and leaves, etc.

Briar observes the championship battle match alongside Carmine.

Afterwards, issues emerge in Terrarium - the terastal core thing begins to destabilize or something (it reacts to terapagos' awakening)... Overgrown crystals slowly take over, causing people/wild pokemon to evacuate. Cyrano requests an emergency meeting with the Elite Four, Kieran, us and Carmine. Briar joins also.

We met additional support, consisting of Geeta and the other parent (who also introduce themself). They report that there is an influx of paradox mons flying out of Area Zero due to a strange phenomenon (gradual awakening of terapagos). After the meeting, you recieve a call from Nemona, Penny, Arven and Clavell who all wanted to check in with you.

Briar proceeds to delve into mission(just like in game) of exploring the deeper level of area zero and investigate the source at hand. She invites the Elite Four, but they all declined due to the reason of attending to their duties and keep watch over the terraium dome, thus leading to the formation of the same group in the game.

Before they leave, they all give you some parting words - advice, encouragement - you name it.

Once you arrive at Area Zero, you will meet Geeta and the other parent. They explained that Terapagos' awakening is partly caused by various factors - ecological ones mainly the increased population of the paradox mon (time machine), seismic activity, Glimmora eating off the crystals (the protective covering) and arrival of people (Heath, the profs, and now us). You will then engage in some double battles with the squad as you encounter some paradox mons - including the new ones - and continue your descent down to the deepest level of A0.

Along the way, Geeta recalls her venture to area zero years ago when she went to check in with the prof's research. She does not remember all the details but remembers finding and treating an injured Glimmora (her own), before falling into a trance of sorts and seeing someone, which she informed the Prof about. She also answers somewhat the mystery of the plate and symbols - there was once a a small civilization, "theorized" to be survivors of the expeditions during the age of exploration who chose to remain there. The steel plate was made likely to record their presence and memories of the empire they long served (landmarks/settlements aka the towns) as a we-were-here or a warning message for those who would come by it in the distant future (again, half-baked idea but wanted to put this out there). Additionally, the four symbols may have been reference points of the four seals (based on the theories on youtube).

The other parent then asks you about Arven after hearing about your part in saving Paldea and admits their fault and regret for abandoning him. More dialogue ensues (you, Kieran, Carmine, etc). Carmine mostly talks to you, asking you about area zero and your life at Paldea.

When you go to the area where the crystalized tree stands-you and Briar undergo a trance and meet Terapagos (?). It reacts at Briar due to her resemblances with Heath as well as you for holding the indigo disk (yes you can eject it rather than it being stuck in the machine); it needs the indigo disk to recover parts of its power. Once both of you recover, others come along and asked what happened out of concern. This only fueled her ambition to seek out terapagos.

Briar forces you to keep going despite going against the guidelines and plans of letting Geeta and the prof go first and deal with terapagos, claiming it was crucial for her to obtain information firsthand while using you and the kitakami siblings as her dirty assistants (and reckless as Kieran says).

Then like the game, Kieran, sees an opportunity and pulls at the gem, which Briar nags on, convincing him that she understands how he feels about being misunderstood. Carmine and us try to interfere, but then terapagos awakens. Same thing happens. Boom. Kieran captures it in a master ball.

You battle it and Briar encourages Kieran to terastalize it, causing it to go berserk. Crystals slowly emerge as well as crumble from the ceiling.

By the time Geeta and the other prof come to aid as they finish battling the stella-type mons, Terapagos transports all of you into another room, not the chamber, but rather, the same place where Heath met - an out-of-the-world, temporally and spatially displaced setting. It takes your indigo disk, absorbing it and transforms into the stellar form, overflowing with tera energy. You now engage in a tera raid style (like in the game).

Briar goes nuts by going on a rave, something like this: - "finally, the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero reveals itself at last! You cannot fathom how long I have been waiting for this! I can share the truth and prove how wrong the world was!"

Then, Kieran has his shining moment and helps us beat terapagos. However, the earth continues to rumble and crack underfoot. Briar stands there, continuing her tirade or something as the cave is collapsing, but Koraidon helps us get out of it and back to the elevator site (at the end, she departs her role as a teacher and faces some legal consequences for endangering the kids and receives some help, all off-screen).

(the crystals from the terrarium also stop and "dissappear" due to the end of terapagos' rampage).

[lively-potter]

— part one

SYNOPSIS ;

─ in which river henshaw,

     charleston's very own

     introverted and innocent

      baker by night slash daycare worker

      by day, runs away from jungkook

     jeon and his adorable

    daughter, moon, when all jungkook

     wants is to ask her out on a date.

ACTS ;

act one ; incomplete

act two ; incomplete

act three ; incomplete

WARNINGS ;

mutual pining

he falls first

body insecurities mentioned

eating disorder mentioned

social anxiety

mature themes

mature language

violence ( not directed at MFC )

slight bdsm themes ( like bondage and shit )

angst ( should I make y'all suffer more in this one?)

when it's time for the smuttttt, i'll put warnings.

EXTRA INFO ;

jeon jungkook x river aldora henshaw

brett west x blackbourne team

sang sorenson x toma team

kayli winchester x blake coaltar

atlas korba x wil winchester

started ; January 1st, 2023

plot change ; January 17th,  2023

posted ( on Wattpad ) ; January 18th, 2023 at 2:50 pm

completed ;

edited/revised ;

SMALL A/N ;

also, my characters, Atlas Korba and Brett West ( from my book, Brett ) will have appearances!

I'M FREAKIN' SHAKING IN EXCITEMENT FOR THIS!

DISCLAIMER ;

2024 © @LivelyPotter

All Rights Reserved

You may not reproduce,

distribute/and or adapt

any part of this work

without my permission

I only own my original characters and the plot.

PLAYLIST ;

Morally Grey ; April Jai

Fictional ; Khloe Rose

Suffer ; Sarah Jeffery

Cruel Summer ; Taylor Swift

Greedy ; Tate McRae

Haegeum ; Agust D

Like Crazy ; Jimin

Take Two ; BTS

Love me again ; V

Still with you ; Jungkook

My Time ; Jungkook

Somebody ; Jungkook

Standing Next To You ; Jungkook

She's all I wanna be ; Tate McRae

My You ; Jungkook

Butterfly ; BTS

Dimple ; BTS

3D ; Jungkook

Exes ; Tate McRae

Hurt my Feelings ; Tate McRae

Run for the Hills ; Tate McRae

Sweet but Psycho ; Ava Max

Dangerously ; Charlie Puth

Spring Day ; BTS

Bloodline ; Ariana Grande

Want that Too ; Tate McRae

Shot Glass Full of Tears ; Jungkook

Closer to you ; Jungkook

Yes or No ; Jungkook

Please don't Change ; Jungkook

NOTE ;

Hi, everyone!

I'm so excited to be able to start writing the first chapter and I hope that you look forward to it! Be sure to add this book to your reading list or reblog to know when I update!

MOST IMPORTANT NOTE ; ( to those not familiar with the academy series by C.L. Stone )

I know I'm gaining more readers, those who aren't familiar with the academy, so I'll do a short explanation of what you'll be seeing from the academy!

In short, the academy series is a reverse harem/polyamory series set in Charleston, South Carolina.

( so you'll be seeing multiple men date the same women in this book, so don't be shocked lmfaoo )

The academy ( that MFC won't be much involved in ) is basically a top secret organization that specializes in helping men, women, and children who are in an abusive relationship or homes and help them get out of that — most join the academy to help others in the same situations.

There are teams that work together and are basically a family in all but blood; and "family is a choice".

The men in teams are referred to as "dogs" and the female team members are referred to as "birds". 'Ghosts', whether birds or dogs, are children without much history to their names. They are priceless to the Academy.

The Academy's system works on a series of favor and financial debt. Everyone in the Academy starts out with financial debt. It's the value of the education an Academy student requires to become the best at what he does. If it was a private investigation training class or an eight-week boot camp, or you were starving and needed groceries to get through a human biology class, the Academy took care of it. Your debt can't just be paid off directly, it requires completing various Academy missions. Whatever it is, there is a price tag.

Favors though are the real core of the Academy. Favors are anything that doesn't have a price - usually family problems within the Academy that other members can't handle alone. New members owe ten favors immediately, with the maximum owed being thirty. The value of a task in favors varies depending on the task.

All Academy trials are comprised of the same parties: the whole team, plus five randomly selected members from other teams, presided over by a manager who has collected all the data. There is no age minimum for the randomly selected members, the only requirement is that they had to be past initiation and a full member of the Academy. The ultimate goal at a trial is to keep the family together as much as possible.

Each team has two leads. The first is the main contact for the Academy, they track the jobs the members go on, and let them know what jobs are available. The second is the family lead, who keeps track of all the team members, and makes sure that everything runs smoothly for them - ensuring they have food, bills are paid on time, and everyone that needs a job has one.

Most of this information is from the academy wiki site ( 'cause it's fuckin' complicated to explain it all )

but I want you all to be able to understand it enough to enjoy the story without being confused!

Most of the time, I'll explain through River and my other characters.

I hope this makes sense!

River won't be very involved in the academy, but there will be mentions and most of River's story revolves around, not only Jungkook and Moon, but River's brothers, friends, and family!

Please let me know if there is anything that you'll misunderstand and I'll explain to the best of my ability!

- LivelyPotter

[thelunarfairy]

(Apologizes if an incomplete ask sent through, I was asking a question but the Internet cut off :<)

My question was though, how much can you analyze about the English lyrics of No. 7 (anime intro)? The lyrics supposedly explain some of the story and you're the best theorist I know who can put this in an organized post XD

(Sorry if you've been asked this before haha feel free to ignore if so and have a great day!)

I looked at the Japanese and English versions, and well, to better organize the meaning of the song, I'm going to write it here in a more objective way, it will be easy to understand the meaning as you read the lyrics.

This is because the Japanese version has a lot of wordplay and puns, the English version translated it literally and in the same way as the Japanese, which made some passages confusing.

Let's get started (this is the full version of the song)

So now let me tell you the story of number 7

1 Huh? Eh? Instantly happy and sad, even the past and the future 2 Two shadows appear within the rumors (the passion turned into nothing, it's just a story) 3 A sweet fruit mixed with the unreal 4 Yes, yes, even if I tell you repeatedly 5 Look, look, you're not listening properly (passion turned into nothing, an endless story) 6 After all, the boring thing is the ugly reality 7 Morning, day and night, like ten winds and five rains, rumors circulate 8 Without becoming pure in heart, turning my back against the unchanging mirror 9 I Want Some Magic, Say Seven Mysteries, That's Not Perfect 10 But We Are Struggling Because We Are Incomplete

11 Swinging the blade, words, too far 12 Wearing the smiling mask of lies (you in that place) 13 They Were Hurt Because Of Someone Else 14 Between sin and punishment, in that place where no one exists 15 Surely He Is There So now let me tell you the story of number 7

A secret history I heard from somewhere

16 It's a secret just between you and me 17 I will not lose to you, memory nor the brittle truth 18 Let's catch up, it's a reality like a rumor from some time ago 19 Every night and morning seems stupid 20 The dance of the second, the third morning, the fourth twilight 21 First, second, third, fourth 22 Mirai, Misaki, the mirror that doesn't see, the silent solitude 23 Is it the first? the eighth? Wait, there's no eighth 24 Until the four o'clock stands, if you repent, 25 It becomes four pains, eight pains 26 Trouble Towing in Seven Rounds 27 Hits, punishment 28 Come, come strange mystery 29 My body's habits, everything, are never perfect, so We are struggling because we are incomplete

Swinging the blade, words, far away 30 Please reach out, the laughter, the overlapping lies 31 (he is still there continuously) 32 I blurred the details while pretending to be fine 33 Between sin and punishment 34 Alone, placed in that place 35 Surely he exists

36 Hiding the past, blinding the eyes in front of the destiny that is coming to an end 37 I changed once, so I will change again The answer is clear

Swinging the blade, words, far away Wearing the smiling mask of lies (You alone) Were hurt because of someone else Between sin and punishment In that place where no one exists Today it also exists

So now let me tell you the story of number 7 Hey tell me about the continued story

ANALYSIS

Let's use numbers to better analyze the excerpts

1 = could mean that Hanako is happy now to be having fun with Nene and Kou, but at the same time sad about having to deal with the past and the future (Nene's future death)

2 = This excerpt is very emblematic, but "within the rumors two shadows appear" could refer to the twins "the passion turned into nothing, it's just a story" they would be in love with each other and what remained of that story would be murder. There is also the possibility that he is referring to Nene, since Hanako-san now has an assistant. Two shadows, and the passion that turned into nothing, an impossible love.

3 = A metaphor about the contrast between reality and a distant desire

4 and 5 = Hanako's story is being told little by little and someone (it could be Nene) is not realizing the details between the lines.

6 to 10 = Complaints about how reality is terrible and he wants to experience something unreal, not just him, but the other mysteries, everyone feels incomplete and is looking for something that reality cannot offer, something that they cannot achieve but they really want it. And specifically about the mirror, he says it is unchanging, confirming that no matter what he does, nothing will change.

11 to 15 = reference to Tsukasa's death, the murder. About how Hanako lied while creating a fake smile. He hurt Tsukasa, and he went to the place where nothing exists "Surely he is there" and the verses mention the sin and punishment that Hanako has to take responsibility for.

16 to 18 = Probably Hanako talking about his past with Nene. He says he will "reach him" that is, he will tell her the whole truth.

19 to 29 = references the other mysteries and how they are all fighting to create a better version of themselves, even though they are imperfect. In addition to, of course, mentioning a little about their feelings.

30 to 35 = reference to Tsukasa, he wants Hanako to show what he really feels, at the same time that Tsukasa "blurs" the way he feels "I blurred the details while pretending to be fine" "Alone, placed in that place" "he is still there continuously" reference that Tsukasa was left on Hanako's boundary and hides that he feels sad about it.

36 and 37 = it's a little difficult to know if the speaker is Hanako or Tsukasa, the excerpts fit for both, but it's probably more linked to Hanako, since he's the one hiding the past.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Place where nothing exists = boundary, Hanako says that when he enters a boundary, the person ceases to exist in the human world while there.

Swinging the blade = stabbing, direct reference to murder.

In that place where no one exists, he is certainly there = clear reference that Hanako believed that Tsukasa was on the boundary

In that place where no one exists, today he also exists = reference to Tsukasa's return.

Hey tell me about the continued story = about the story we are following now

CONCLUSION

Basically it's Hanako talking about himself, about the mysteries and about Tsukasa. We also see many parts where he talks about how he feels, but in short, that's it.

The lyrics of this song change subtly according to the translation you are looking for, but the general meaning is this.

That's the way I interpreted the opening lyrics, other people may have different ways of seeing how they work, but for me that's it.

[hayeshellcat]

On Becoming a Lady Person, Pt. 2

It has been so hard for me to write. I am caught up on all kinds of barriers, including the most nefarious of all: the idea that what I write needs to be of monumental importance. 

I am electing to discard this belief. I am choosing to share myself. 

My name is Hayes and I am in rehab for the third time this year. I am a proud transgender woman, I think I love myself, and I am often unaware of my emotions. I have done some mental health work this year, and I believe that I have so many qualities that are lovely. I have experienced moments of gender euphoria. But as a general rule, my default setting is freeze. Without a healthy connection to how I feel about things, I often “shoot from the hip” trying to guess how I should feel about my situation, though in reality I am only aware of feeling numb and alone.

So many people tell me that I am brave because I am transitioning. I really hate that. I tell them that I hate that I have to be brave, and that I most often do not feel brave at all. I am just… choosing to experience myself, foreign and incomplete as my authentic self-concept is, just four and a half months into my transition. When I am frozen in my default dysphoric mind-state, I cannot see how that is possibly brave or commendable. I am an organism fighting to stay alive. It is mere biology and selfish instinct. My nascent ego has no emotional investment in this process.  

On the other hand, my intellect understands that any being in bloom is absolute, awe-inspiring beauty to behold. Context determines bravery, and the experience of a transgender human being in the United States in the year 2024 is objectively difficult and dangerous. Subjectively, it is so terrifying that I am constantly fighting my limbic system for baseline functionality.

One major problem I am running into is that the analytical mind at work here still feels to me so male. So often, I feel dead and cold and… masculine. 

I have done the work of grieving my dead self, to an extent, but I cannot shake the dysphoric undertones of my working, rational mind. It makes sense. I spent a long time unable to confront my trauma history, operating as a cisgender male with a dark, shameful secret. I was drawn to male thinkers, in part because of the misogyny of the modern era and the dearth of compelling female voices in Western art, literature, and psychology. Moreover, I think that I had a vested interest in really giving this “being a man” thing a shot, and followed well-worn paths of White male minds.

To illustrate my point, here is an off-the-cuff list of my recent intellectual role models: David Foster Wallace, Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, Alan Watts, Ram Dass. 

Yeah. Fuck. 

As I move forward with my transition, it is vitally important that I explore my essential beliefs and thought structures. I need to understand and heal from my trauma, or I will continue to use substances to cope with this very scary path I am on. If I use monumentally obstructive chemicals like methamphetamine, I will put my medical transition at risk (not to mention my actual human life).

So, please - I invite you to come along with me on this next part of my journey. I do not care if this is monumentally important. I hope that it reads well enough, but I plan to post very rough drafts of my journaling and commentary on it. I do not know why, but it seems important to do this publicly. Even if only one or two of you out there read this, that will be enough.

I am fighting, after all, to be seen. The organism must be observed. The ego will follow.

[unfortunate-stranger-losers]

do quigley or duncan or their sister die? I’m on season 1 but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a clip anywhere of quigley and duncan together 😢

While the books leave it ambiguous, I do believe there is a definitive answer. Major spoilers for S3/all 13 books under the cut.

In the series!canon, Quigley reunites with his siblings on the SSHAM, and the secret code in The Incomplete History references them reuniting with the Baudelaires on Briny Beach.

In the book!canon, well... I have an unpopular opinion on this one; I believe that most, if not all of the members of the Queequeg crash survived. And this isn't just because I love the Quagmires and Fiona... I have evidence!

You see, we know that most of Snicket's knowledge of the Baudelaires' thoughts, feelings and situations were taken from their island commonplace book - A Series of Unfortunate Events- as he mentions them writing in the book. However, they could not write information they were not privy to, and all they knew about the Queequeg crash was that Kit suspected everyone was eaten by the Great Unknown. 

However, in an earlier portion of The End, when the Baudelaires are traveling to the arboretum, Snicket says that their friends (the Quagmires, Fiona probably) were "in circumstances just as dark although quite a bit damper than" theirs. "Just as dark" does not qualify death at the moment, as the Baudelaires are simply under a moral quandary and the Medusoid Mycelium has not been released yet. As well as this, they would not know if their friends were in a "damp" situation, just a "dark" one. And who would know better what situation they were in at that time than the Quagmires themselves?

As such, Snicket likely knows something we don't. As well as this, we know Kit's story doesn't always align with the truth- she claims all three Widdershins were on the Queequeg when it crashed, however Snicket stated in The Penultimate Peril that Fernald was fighting the Quagmires aboard the ship (not necessarily implicating Fernald in villainy, it's likely Duncan and Isadora just saw him and heard the kill bill sirens). 

Why would he leave their fate ambiguous? Well, considering several villains survived the Hotel Denouement, and many of them are stated to have something against the Quagmires (the Woman and Man send their eagles to sink the SSHAM home, and Esmé was in charge of their estate and helped Olaf capture them), it's likely the Quagmires want to stay as under their enemies' radar as possible. 

Adding to this, they could be trying to stay off the radar of VFD itself; VFD does not have a crystal-clear reputation, and in fact seems to have a dangerous cult-like atmosphere (best description here, but also see here, here, here). And seeing as Fernald is very disillusioned with the organization, now an enemy of both sides, he would definitely not want to be seen by them; adding to this Fiona's loyalty to him and the beginnings of her break with the organization in The Grim Grotto, she'd probably want to lay low as well. 

Duncan and Isadora also, probably, very against VFD. They found out something about it while researching, and after being captured by Olaf and the White-Faced Women, they shout to the Baudelaires that they learned about something terrible- which they immediately follow up by shouting about VFD. And considering how useless the volunteers were in rescuing them, and how they spent a lot of time with Hector, who seems to have either left the organization or be hiding from them, they almost definitely do not have a good view of it. Even though Quigley was p much successfully inducted by Jacques, he's not going to want to leave his siblings so soon after their reunion. 

All that to say, at the very least, everyone but Widdershins has good reasons to want VFD to leave them alone. So throwing out that they're alive would be dangerous for them, especially if Snicket mentioned they'd contacted him. So he likely gave some clues and left it ambiguous so as to not completely lie. 

As to how they survived? I've linked to @snicketsleuth a lot but they have a pretty good idea...

tl;dr the Queequeg and SSHAMH crews are probably alive!

[localfanbaselurker]

Hey! 👋 do you have any headcannons about the Quagmire triplets from asoue?

YES!! Okay okay

for order of birth they’d definitely be boy, girl, boy, because they’d mirror the Baudelaires, and a lot of the siblings surrounding vfd tend to mirror one another’s (there’s also almost always 3)

but in specifics it would be Quigley, Isadora, Duncan.

Quigley would be the more sporty one out of all of them, he just gives that vibe yk?. Since he’s a cartographer, I feel like he’d like geography and ancient world history, like how the world was like before, earlier maps, Pangea, etc. His aesthetic, if I had to choose one, would be light academia mixed with casual chill.

Isadora would definitely play lots of instruments, while I feel they all know how to play the piano, and/or a violin family instrument (violin, viola, cello, bass)—though Isa and Duncan might want to stay away from them after TAA—Isadora would know how to play the most instruments out of all of them (if u ever make a band au just know im here) Her aesthetic would be dark academia mixed with coquette

Duncan would definitely be on the debate team or the school council and he’d be in charge of the school newspaper or the morning announcements. He’d be really good at math but would prefer English either way. He definitely cried at titanic. His aesthetic would be writer’s aesthetic (yes ik that sounds unoriginal but nothing else fit my idea according to google/pinterest so) mixed with early 20th century paper boy.

General hcs

they all cried when they found Quigley, but Duncan almost cried so hard he passed out.

I don’t think they actually died when they got attacked by the eagles, because lemony is kinda an unreliable narrator, he could’ve just not researched it too much because he was busy with the Baudelaires lives. I think that they would’ve fallen into the ocean a little after finding quigley, and would’ve ended up on briny beach like the Baudelaires ended up on the island. Thoug of course, with more damage because they fell out of the sky into the ocean, because somewhere in the “an incomplete history of secret organizations” official book based off the netflix series, it states something along the lines of “two sets of friends (something, something) will meet again on briny beach”

they’d be those kids at school that you wouldn’t know were siblings until you see them together and realize how similar they look or notice they’re the only ones in school with their last name.

you can kinda guess what I think they’re favorite colors are here, but I feel like Quigleys is yellow they just don’t have it here.

that’s all I can think of as of now I might have more tho !!

[diaxmachina]

october - albums of the week (1)

fine - rocky top ballads

ramona lisa - arcadia

so klarity - volume 1

clarissa connelly - world of work

molina - when you wake up

hypnotic, haunting, hallowed...

these women sound like echoes, they tap into the bits of my bones that pulse, the marrow. they lure me in with their voices-- whisper secret things. there is something ancient about their music, the experience of a particular feeling as eternal as a kate bush ballad. they make songs about memory, history, old tales.

from fine (pronounced FEEN-UH) comes "coasting", a mysterious blend of trip-hop and dream pop. it sounds like the languid gaze of concealed emotion. fine is nebulous with desire; she delivers a tremulous kind of anticipation for love. "coasting" is the follow-up to lead single "days incomplete", my personal addiction off the album, and a hushed song of uncertainty and longing. go on a relaxing stroll with this album. look at some ducks in a pond, or cross a hill in a park. walk around your city and see your loved one behind every corner and on every bar stool.

from molina and avant-pop luminary ml buch, "organs," arrives like a resounding hearbeat. the melody of the song is elastic, it rebounds like a pulse. moody, springy synth pads and hybrid organic-electronic drums fuel a tune that investigates the function of organs and the inexplicably obscure. i felt like this song spoke to my insides, called to the beat my body sets for itself. the synthetic strings made for an unfamiliar but comforting listen every time--give it a listen on the morning commute, or better yet, on a night time bike ride. set your pace, and hear "organs" match it. (molina's debut album is set to arrive in three days !!)

ramona lisa has been around for a long time. she's been my autumn girl for the last two years, but arcadia's been walking me to the tram for the last week. "izzit true what they tell me?" is a song about uncertainty, doubt, the idea of trust. though it unfolds like plainsong question? no answer, it devolves into a wintry electronic soundscape: some pretty sickly a.g cook vibes. in the end, she is lost to her question, ambient cicadas rise to answer her plea. the album is dreamy and ethereal to be sure, but it is punctuated by textured melodies for caroline to float on. experience this album if you're into the experimental and mythological, the uncanny valley of cinematic sound. listen to this with headphones, maybe surrounded by candlelight and some sort of handcraft. let her transport you

so klarity's trance-like goth gaze spins melodies of forlorn devotion. her sounds are totally stoner-grunge-panoptic-sensuality-corrupted-beauty-chic. i love listening to this album in the darkened fall, but more specifically in a partially emptied bathtub. whisper your secrets into the water, watch them disappear. don't forget to play volume 1 softy from your old ipod touch.

world of work is (first of all, don't read my review of this, go on pitchfork or smth) musically, it's wondrous-- a tumbling rush of beautiful and terrifying chords, medieval melodic lines, modern production playfulness, 70s folk, and a good number of genuinely jawdropping sonic flourishes, many of which involve a recording of bells from a church she appears to enjoy hanging out in for reasons that extend beyond mere gothicism. i don't think i could describe the sound of guitar and classical piano fusing anyway. listen to it on the floor or your room. do not move. listen.

[imaginefinneganswake]

... his roundhead staple of other days to rise in undress maisonry upstanded (joygrantit!), ...

Finnegan’s Wake - James Joyce

ChatGPT40 literary report:

The line you've referenced from Finnegans Wake, "…his roundhead staple of other days to rise in undress maisonry upstanded (joygrantit!),…" invites a rich tapestry of critical interpretations. As is often the case with Joyce’s work, this passage is multilayered, drawing from historical, linguistic, and symbolic allusions that coalesce into a complex vision of cyclical renewal, power dynamics, and linguistic play.

1. Historical and Political Allusions:

"Roundhead": This term is a direct reference to the supporters of Parliament during the English Civil War (1642–1651), particularly associated with Oliver Cromwell. The Roundheads were Puritans, who favored a more austere, disciplined way of life, in contrast to the more aristocratic Cavaliers who supported the monarchy. This word suggests a tension between past and present political orders. In Finnegans Wake, Joyce often draws on historical conflicts to illustrate the rise and fall of regimes, both political and personal. The term "roundhead" here may imply a figure associated with repression or power, rising once again—perhaps reflecting the cyclical nature of power, much like the overall structure of the book.

"Staple of other days": The phrase "staple" can mean both a fundamental commodity and a central or core element. When combined with "of other days," it suggests a relic of the past, something central to a previous era. It implies a resurrection of old values, ideologies, or figures from history. This connects to one of the central motifs of Finnegans Wake—the notion of history repeating itself, rising from its own ruins, constantly renewing in a cyclical pattern of death and rebirth (much like the wake cycle in the book's title).

2. Architectural and Freemasonry Allusions:

"Maisonry": A Joycean portmanteau of "masonry" (the craft of building with stone) and "maison" (French for "house"), this word introduces both the literal and symbolic elements of building or construction. Masonry frequently connotes secret knowledge or initiation, especially within the context of Freemasonry, an organization often associated with the transmission of esoteric knowledge. The phrase "undress maisonry" suggests an informal or unfinished form of building, perhaps hinting at the continual process of construction and destruction, inherent in both physical structures and intellectual frameworks.

This could be interpreted in relation to Joyce's broader theme of language itself as an evolving "structure"—never complete, constantly being built and rebuilt. Like the Tower of Babel or other significant edifices in mythology and religion, Finnegans Wake often treats language and knowledge as structures subject to collapse, transformation, and renewal.

3. Resurrection and Renewal:

"Rise in undress maisonry upstanded": This resurrection imagery is central to Finnegans Wake. Throughout the book, Joyce continuously invokes images of rising and falling, death and rebirth. The "undress maisonry" rising "upstanded" might allude to an unfinished or bare structure that is coming to life again, suggesting both the incompleteness of historical cycles and the return of something that once was powerful. It resonates with the Phoenix-like quality of Finnegans Wake’s characters and themes, where figures (like HCE) fall and rise, shift identities, and yet perpetuate cycles of renewal.

The idea of a "roundhead staple" rising also ties into the theme of history’s repetitive nature, a core element of Giambattista Vico’s cyclical theory of history, which heavily informs Joyce’s structure in Finnegans Wake. Vico’s cycles of history (corso and ricorso) are echoed in the way Joyce repeatedly depicts the fall of empires, heroes, and languages, only for them to rise again, albeit in a different form.

4. Wordplay and Linguistic Playfulness:

"(joygrantit!)": This parenthetical insertion is quintessential Joycean playfulness, a mock blessing or invocation of divine sanction for the process described. The word "joygrantit" combines the idea of granting or bestowing (perhaps a gift of resurrection or empowerment) with an embedded pun on Joyce’s own name. This might imply that the rising of the "roundhead staple" and the upstanding of "maisonry" are both sanctioned by the very act of Joyce's creative wordplay.

There is a possible connection to "Grant" as a surname, perhaps hinting at Ulysses S. Grant, the U.S. Civil War general, thereby introducing another layer of historical significance, extending beyond the English Civil War to a broader context of historical conflict, resurrection, and reconstruction.

5. Masculinity and Power:

Another interpretation of the passage may engage with themes of masculinity and power, often explored through HCE's character, who embodies the patriarchal figure undergoing various trials and transformations throughout the text. "To rise in undress maisonry upstanded" suggests a figurative erection, which Joyce frequently associates with male power, dominance, and the cyclical resurgence of HCE. In this reading, "undress" connotes vulnerability or exposure, while "upstanded" suggests strength or resurgence.

6. Punning on “Maisonry” and Domesticity:

The pun on "maison" (house) might also extend to notions of domesticity and family structure. In this sense, the "undress maisonry" could allude to the internal workings of a home or the figurative "construction" of family life, particularly the tumultuous relationships between father, mother, and children that recur throughout Finnegans Wake. The rise of this structure would symbolize the perpetual reconstruction of familial and societal relationships, with the blessing "joygrantit" hinting at the divine or authorial approval of these eternal cycles.

In summary, this fragment from Finnegans Wake can be interpreted as an intricate blend of historical, architectural, and linguistic references, with the dominant theme being the cyclical nature of history and renewal. The "roundhead staple" rising and the "undress maisonry upstanded" offer a vision of unfinished structures and figures of power returning from the past, given life through Joyce’s linguistic artistry. Whether as a symbol of political power, personal resurrection, or the endless construction of meaning in language, the passage exemplifies Joyce's commitment to layering multiple meanings in every phrase.

[safargenie]

Bhaktapur A Living Museum in Nepal

Nestled in the heart of Nepal lies a hidden gem known as Bhaktapur, a living museum that embodies the rich cultural heritage of the country. With its ancient temples, exquisite architecture, and vibrant streets, Bhaktapur offers a captivating experience for visitors from around the world. Let's delve into the allure of this enchanting city.

Exploring Bhaktapur's Historical Significance

Step into the Past: Durbar Square Bhaktapur's Durbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, stands as a testament to the city's glorious history. The square is adorned with intricately carved palaces, temples, and statues that date back centuries. Each structure tells a story, and as you wander through this open-air museum, you'll find yourself transported to a bygone era.

Spirituality and Devotion: Nyatapola Temple

One of Bhaktapur's most iconic landmarks is the Nyatapola Temple, a towering masterpiece of Newari architecture. This five-story pagoda stands as a symbol of strength and is dedicated to the goddess Siddhi Lakshmi. Climbing the temple's steep steps rewards you with panoramic views of the city and an overwhelming sense of spirituality.

Traditional Artistry: Pottery Square

A visit to Bhaktapur is incomplete without exploring Pottery Square, where artisans showcase their remarkable craftsmanship. Watch as skilled potters mold clay into intricate pottery, a tradition passed down through generations. You can even try your hand at creating your own masterpiece under the guidance of these talented craftsmen.

Immerse Yourself in Bhaktapur's Cultural Delights

Festivals that Ignite the Senses

Bhaktapur is renowned for its vibrant festivals that celebrate the city's rich cultural tapestry. Indra Jatra, Bisket Jatra, and Dashain are just a few of the many festivals that captivate both locals and tourists alike. The streets come alive with music, dance, and colorful processions, offering a glimpse into the cultural vibrancy of Nepal.

Culinary Adventures: Taste of Tradition

Delve into the flavors of Bhaktapur's traditional cuisine and embark on a culinary adventure. Indulge in Juju Dhau, the famous Bhaktapur-style yogurt, known for its creamy texture and unique taste. Don't miss the opportunity to savor the city's mouthwatering street food, such as samosas, bara, and chatamari, which showcase the local flavors and culinary expertise.

Preserving Bhaktapur's Heritage

Community-Based Tourism: A Sustainable Approach Bhaktapur has embraced community-based tourism, a sustainable approach that ensures the preservation of its cultural heritage while benefiting the local communities. By engaging with the locals, visitors have the opportunity to learn about traditional practices, support local businesses, and contribute to the conservation of this living museum for generations to come.

Reviving Traditional Crafts: Supporting Artisans

The revival of traditional crafts is a crucial aspect of preserving Bhaktapur's heritage. Organizations and initiatives are actively working towards empowering artisans and promoting their unique skills. By purchasing locally crafted souvenirs and handicrafts, visitors can directly support these artisans and contribute to the preservation of the city's cultural legacy.

Conclusion

Bhaktapur, with its rich historical significance, vibrant festivals, and commitment to preserving its heritage, stands as a living museum that invites visitors to step back in time. This enchanting city captures the essence of Nepal's cultural tapestry and offers an immersive experience like no other. Explore the ancient streets, admire the intricate architecture, and immerse yourself in the warmth of Bhaktapur's living history.

So why wait? Plan your visit to Bhaktapur and unlock the secrets of this extraordinary living museum in the heart of Nepal.

[cardecode]

The reason why to Take Your Breaks in Serbia

The state name of Serbia is the Republic with Serbia. It is a landlocked country situated in Key and South East Europe. It also goes over the southern perhaps the Pannonian Plain plus the central part of the Balkan. Serbia shares a borders with international locations like Hungry, Getaway, Romania, Croatia, Herzegovina, Bosnia, Macedonia in addition to Albania. https://www.zemun.org.rs/

The population of that country is 10, 160, 000 as well as the currency of Serbia is Serbian Dinar. The official language for the country is Serbian but you can find those who speak French along with English as well. Serbia is popular it's incredible things like Belgrade evening life, the hill strongholds, great nutrition and the soothing vineyards and monasteries to the green plains.

Prefer any other European region, Serbia has full culture and wonderful places that appeal to tourists from in many countries. Palic is one of the most in-demand tourist destinations of Serbia. It is an ideal spot for tourists to invest their summers. At this point, you can visit several of Palic's decorative parks where one can enjoy romantic strolls with your partner. You should also see the beautiful river. Palic is also prominent for its monuments fo you to get a feel for ones rich culture within the country. There is a Show Festival and Society Etno Music Pageant organized every year with this part of Serbia.

One other favourite tourist invest Serbia is Staro Selo. It has a good famous traditional chapel made up of wood. This approach church was created by Vujica Vulicevic in the 19th hundred years. It is one of the best plus the European architecture. Right now, the Serbian governing has declared this approach church as one involving Serbia's national secrets.

For all those who adore traditional music, Guca Village is an perfect place for them. Year after year this village offers a brass audio festival popularly called the Trubaci Festivity. This place is furthermore suitable for those people exactly who love their meals. It offers some area dishes of Serbia with a lively environment. The combination of fantastic music, great foods and lively air flow make Guca Small town one of the best tourist attractions in Serbia.

To be able to familiarize yourself with the history associated with Serbia, you can visit the country's famous Skull Podium. Here you can observe the symbol from bravery of the Serbian rebel armies. This particular tower contains 952 skulls of the troopers who were killed within the early 1800 movement against the Ottoman Empire. Additionally , to get other information about the history with this country, you can visit Mediana. This place will be the birthplace of Constantine the Great. Here, you can observe some luxury villas with mosaic floor coverings and the creative Roman bathrooms. This is a classic place well worth checking out.

If you are holidaying inside Serbia, your visit will be incomplete with no visiting Kapoanik State Park. It is a site where several resorts are available for rent in case you are eager to stay much more time to explore a park. This meadow has majestic landscaping that is full of water gorges as well as this particular you can also see a various variety of trees. Also, it is home to some wonderful ski resorts.