#and i can’t find any info from people who have volunteered for this position

[fingertipsmp3]

3 hour job interview today

[leupagus]

Who’s your County Executive? and other steps to becoming a valuable pain in the ass

I fired off a tweet thread this morning, but I feel like a lot of folks here might benefit from this info, too. Which is: if you want anything to change, from police abolition to getting statues removed to passing local ordinances requiring masks to removing local legislation putting limits on abortion (just for some random examples), you need to get real familiar with your local reps. As in, you need to know who they are, what they do, how they’re elected/appointed, how long they’ve been doing that job, what their history is and how you can pressure them into doing what you want. Using hashtags and sharing links and signal boosting can only do so much. Talking to the people who are actually able to implement the change you want is a huge part that I don’t think gets discussed enough; and although it requires some preliminary work, once you get into the groove it’s surprisingly easy.

First, find out where you live! Which you may think is a stupid step, but —do you live in a city? Are you sure? I live in a city, for example, but I actually live in a township/suburb of that city, not the city proper. (Fortunately due to what I suspect is some white flight-related weirdness, I can still hassle the city proper.) There are entire towns inside of some cities, like West Hollywood and Los Angeles. Double-check; you might be surprised.

Then, find out who’s in charge of said place. There are quite a few people, actually. You probably have a mayor — but they might be called a supervisor. Or you may have a city manager, or executive, or clerk, or all three, or someone else entirely, who’s actually doing the day-to-day running of the place — for instance, while Austin has a mayor, it also has a city manager, and the city manager does WAY more than the mayor does. You also have people at the county/parish level — a county executive is I think the most common term, although sometimes it’s the county clerk, who can have entirely different duties depending on the county. Whatever way it works where you live, find out. While you’re at it, find out who’s in charge of your local elections. Sometimes that’s the county clerk (actually I think it’s almost always the country clerk, but sometimes it’s the county auditor or something weird like that); sometimes they’re elected and sometimes they’re appointed. Find out. Get names, put their contact info in your phone. (More on that later.)

Then, find out who represents you on the city/town council and the county legislature, or whatever they’re called where you are. Finding out what district you’re in can sometimes be hellaciously frustrating; when in doubt, an email to the county or city council can often get you an answer if you provide your address. Also bear in mind that different places have different ways of apportioning council members; sometimes they’re all “at large,” sometimes they’re elected according to districts, sometimes it’s a combination of both. Sometimes (not often I don’t think) they’re not elected at all but appointed by someone. Find out who! And don’t leave out things like school boards and zoning boards and community college boards and anything else you happen upon that has a representative you didn’t know existed. They exist, and I guarantee they’ve got power.

Note: find out who represents you state-wide, too. Often calling the governor isn’t that effective (at least for me, calling Cuomo ain’t gonna do much; if you live in Delaware or Montana or Iowa or somewhere relatively less populous, definitely get your governor’s information), but your state reps are usually pretty eager to talk to constituents, even — and this is really important these days — ones who aren’t of the same party. I’m represented by a GOP state senator, for example, but he ended up voting for this bill that just got signed into law. Most states are bicameral (except Nebraska, heyooo), so you likely have a state senator and a state rep/assemblyman/whatever. Make sure to get info for both. (Unless you live in Nebraska, in which case tell Ernie I said hi.)

Next, find out what the court system looks like where you are. Are your state/county/district/etc judges appointed? Elected? What are their terms? Who’s your District Attorney? Who’s in charge of your Public Defender’s office? (I actually haven’t bothered to look up that myself until today!) What courts handle which offenses in your area? Collect that information.

And what do you do with this info? You put it into your phone contacts, or whatever you use to keep your contacts organized, I dunno, maybe you still use your Wizard from 1992. No judgement. However you do it, put all of these contacts somewhere they’re all together — for example, if you have a letter in your directory that isn’t used much. I have a kind of weird method of organizing my contacts, which is that I put their first and last names (and their handles, if I know them online) in the Firstname field, then the Lastname field I use to say how I know them. So all of my New York-based friends are listed as “NYC, Holly Golightly/moonrivergoddess” or whatever. So for me personally, I just put all my political contacts under “Y” as in “Y do I have to keep pestering you to make you do the right thing.” So a county clerk would be listed like so:

Y, County Clerk Horace Vandergelder

In the “Company” field, I usually put their party and when/if they’re up for election next as well as term length, so Horace would be “Dem, 2020/2024.″ And then I might add any links I thought were helpful as well as notes about, say, what staffer I may’ve talked to or if there’s an important bill coming up etc.

And now you’ve got that information, it’s time to fuckin’ use it. Was there a protest that happened in your area that ended in arrests or violence? Call your mayor, register your displeasure. Call your DA, ask if anyone’s being charged. Call your city council member, ask them what legislation they’d support to end police violence. What do you know that you want them to know? Alternatively, was there a protest in your area that was really great and positive? Call these people; ask if they attended. If they did, offer support for them and say that you want them to follow up with actionable steps. If they didn’t, ask why. (BTW, it’s election season — look at the candidates, too! That state senator I mentioned earlier is retiring this year, and a pretty awesome Democrat is in a good position to get his seat; I’ve started volunteering for him in part because he’s got a history of agitating for police reform and has been regularly attending the protests here.) You can email, too; you’re welcome to c&p form emails, but once you have all these people’s contact info at your fingertips you’d be amazed how easy it’ll be to write something from you, that will be far more effective.

It’s also important to keep a record for yourself of who you’ve talked to, when you talked to them, what they said, if you want to follow up etc. I’ve got a little section of my planner for this; it has dates, names, topics, the works. It’s been really helpful to me over the past few weeks making sure I’m exerting pressure to a variety of people in a variety of positions, not just repeatedly calling one office and leaving the same message over and over again.

But if you really want to, as I put it on twitter, tighten the sphincter of local government, nothing beats face-to-face (or, these days, facetime-to-facetime). And here you’ve got a shitton of options. You can see if a particular politician/government office is taking virtual one-on-one meetings, where you can lobby either your politician or (more likely) one of their staffers to support legislation or policies or whatnot. This is, and I cannot stress it enough, HUGELY EFFECTIVE, especially if you are a demo they don’t often see (aka if you’re not a white Boomer). Local politicians are both desperate for and terrified of an engaged constituency; they want you to care but they’re very much aware that anyone showing up to an office (or a zoom meeting) could make their lives very, very difficult.

If one-on-one isn’t your style, there are also committee meetings, which... holy shit, you would not believe the number of committees there are. Committees for art festivals, committees for transportation, committees for public safety, committees for pretty much everything you can think of and a few I’ll bet you can’t. Noodle around on your councils’ and county’s websites, including their facebook page (nine times out of ten there will be more — and more up-to-date — info on the facebook page) to find out what committees meet when. And here is where your specific priorities will be important, because usually you can attend and in some cases even become part of these committees. Do you want to advocate for better public transportation? Find out when the transportation committee meets. Go to that meeting. If they have a Q&A, get some fuckin’ Qs ready and demand some fuckin’ As.

And then there’s the big kahunas of council meetings and state legislature sessions. Most city/town councils have a segment of their weekly/monthly meetings to hear from the public (this is different from a public hearing, FYI, although they too are really important and you should find out if there are any going on where you live and when). Do you have something you want to get in front of the whole council? Get your ass on the list! In Austin I think you had to call or email the council’s office by the day before; in my town you just roll up and get in line when it comes time. Then for state legislatures, often there will be specific bills on which they ask for “citizen input” or however else they describe it. This is less practical because we don’t all live in easy distance of our state capital, but if you do, consider getting involved there. (And right now with the pandemic, your state legislatures may have new rules about citizen participation that actually make it easier for you to get involved, for once.)

Mostly, though, this is about local involvement — find out who’s in control of your city, your county, your precinct and district and all the other ways your home is demarcated. Talk to these people, even if it makes you nervous; their power to make effective change comes with their responsibility to listen, and your power to make them listen comes with your responsibility to speak.

[apriorisea]

Ok I’m seriously convinced you’re secretly one of the members...(Joonie is that u???) loool but for real, you write their personalities so well. So not a request, but a question?? Their “concepts” aside (like, “golden maknae etc”)... key personality traits & flaws for each of the boys? Like “passionate, sensitive, a perfectionist, or overly self-critical, etc” Which member(s) is hardest to write?Hope this made sense, I’m just super interested in your take on this :)

--First off, you’re so nice!!! Thank you so much:) And also, thank you for this question! I love things like this---even though it’s obviously all just my personal speculation 😅I listed my thoughts down below, but I would love to hear any thoughts (whether in agreement or disagreement!) anyone else might have!  As for which member is hardest to write, for me I typically struggle a little more with Taehyung and Hoseok. For Taehyung, I think it’s probably because our personalities are pretty opposite (again, HUGE grain of salt, since I don’t *actually* know any of them in real life, so I’m just going off the little info we have), so it takes me a little longer to write his stuff. For Hoseok, I think it’s because there is so much more to him than meets the eye and his personality is difficult for me to pin down sometimes. 

Again, thanks so much for your sweet words and thought-provoking requestion (it’s a word now)! I hope you find my take interesting! 💕💜

Seokjin: 

Conscientious - I think Kim Seokjin is very, VERY aware of his role in any given setting. He knows what’s expected of him and how to do it without bending any of his personal boundaries/rules.

Private - I firmly believe that we will never know the true personality of our Mr. Worldwide Handsome. I think he decided early on that to survive in this life, he was going to have to separate his stage persona from his personal life---and he guards this separation fiercely. This is also one of the qualities I admire the most about him: his unwavering commitment to keeping pieces of himself just for him. My personal opinion is that he is the member that gave up the most of a “normal” life and, while he did so knowing the consequences of this choice, he’s found ways to “rebel” and keep his own autonomy (think: responding to fans in a very “blunt” manner [Marry me? No.], cutting/coloring his hair against company wishes, refusing to give-in to fan-service he is uncomfortable with  [thinking specifically of that one time the host tried to get him to kiss Taehyung and he just started yelling over them when they tried to insist], his penchant for avoiding overly ~revealing~ outfits, etc etc).

Professional - I mean, just a continuation of both of the points above. He always knows when the cameras are watching and how he should act accordingly. But---and this is important---I am in NO WAY saying he’s being fake or disingenuous. The Jin we see on stage, in MVs, RunBTS, and even Bon Voyage/In The Soop is the real Jin---it’s just not all of him. He chose the Idol Life as his career, as a profession, so he would never be caught violating the terms that he himself has set to fulfill his responsibilities. What little we know of his family leads me to believe that he was groomed from a young age how to navigate high society and the professional world; now it’s just a slightly different world and society he floats through. 

Responsible - He takes the job of eldest brother very seriously. Though the baby in much of his younger life, as soon as he got 6 little brothers he stepped effortlessly into his new role. Making them food, driving them to school, helping them feel at home in a new place, providing silent but tangible support... My personal favorite is the way he willingly makes a fool of himself to relax the others, to help them calm down during stressful situations and break the ice. 

Good memory - I want to be careful how I explain this, because I don’t want it to come out wrong. I think Kim Seokjin has a very good memory. If you were decent to him and his brothers during the hard times, he’ll remember that going forward. If you were cruel to or dismissive of him as a young exchange student abroad, he’ll never forget. However, I also think he’s cunning enough that you would never be able to tell which category you fall under unless he wants you to know. 

Hard-worker - I mean, just the endless amounts of anecdotes we have about him practicing his vocals and choreography all night long should be enough evidence for this point, but I still sometimes feel like he doesn’t get enough credit. We all know the story of how he got placed in BTS, but I don’t think people appreciate how damn hard he has worked to grow into this life. He was a college student, set on a completely different life with completely different expectations, scooped off the street and told to learn to sing and dance and look. at. him. now. Listen to that vocal range, look at the Black Swan choreography or the way he seamlessly joined the dance break of ON---he has worked HARD and I don’t think we should forget about this. Just because something doesn’t come easy to you, if you’re not naturally gifted, it doesn’t mean you can’t work to achieve it. 

Basically I just love Kim Seokjin with my whole heart.

Yoongi:

Empathetic -  This word is the beginning and end of how I would describe his entire being. I think Min Yoongi is a very empathetic person. He sits back and observes, and he’s aware of everything. You know when you first get into BTS, there’s always the stories of him being the “scariest” member or the “toughest” or the quietest (especially in the earlier days of BTS, because can we just talk about how much happier he has been this last year-year.5?? How much more himself he is at all times? How much more comfortable??? We love to see it.) But I think his quiet watchfulness just gets frequently mistaken for scary or tough. In addition, his empathy allows him to connect with others in a special way, to acknowledge them and build them up (thinking of that one V-Live or whatever where Jungkook says something kind of under his breath---something about a past life?---and Yoongi not only hears him but turns to him and explicitly validates his feelings and thoughts, OR the times when he tells Jimin that he really likes his singing voice).  

Protective - He doesn’t like unkindness in any way, shape, or form. He doesn’t tolerate cruelty or bullying. And let’s not forget: he sees everything. Every slight, every intentional dismissal, every dig or jab, every “diss track” lyrics. Every single injustice. Now, he can stand up for himself (when he deems it appropriate, because I also think he’s pretty good at picking battles), but his true force comes out when those he loves are belittled/threatened/disrespected. He is fiercely protective of those he loves. 

Emotionally Intelligent - Obviously, I think he’s also just intelligent-intelligent, but I want to focus on this aspect for a moment, because I think this is a quality that gets overlooked in people in general. He is aware of the importance of emotions, both his own and other people’s. It’s in the way he recognized that he and Taehyung were polar opposites and made a concentrated effort to understand him better. It’s in the way he unabashedly announces that they hold hands when they’re arguing. It’s in the way that he insists that there is more to life than school, grades, others’ expectations. It’s also in the way he knows exactly how to make the others laugh, the way one of his sharp-witted comments or physical-comedy bits can break a tension or diffuse the moment. It’s all over every single one of his songs. It’s in the way he calmly handles challenges and has a unique relationship with each of his brothers according to their needs. He treats his relationships---with the members, the fans, staff, friends, family, whoever---with care and respect and maturity. 

Compassionate (read also: Cinnamon Roll) - Yoongi understands darkness because he has experienced it himself, and he will do whatever he can to make sure no on else suffers in the same way. He takes care of the people in his life, usually by doing little things or quiet things (think: the reason they call him the “dad” of BTS). He’s not afraid to correct people when they’re wrong, but he always manages to do it kindly. He’s also a complete pushover for the ones he loves: think of how he each member of the maknae line has a different but special relationship with him, think of how Jungkook can basically crawl all over him and hit him and annoy him and bother him and he never bats an eye, think of the way he showed up with chicken because he didn’t want Hoseok to be alone, think of the way he goes fishing with Jin because he knows his big bro loves it so much, think of the way he never ever yells at anyone when he’s angry, think of the way he softens his tone when explaining things. Cinnamon. Roll. 

Straight-forward - He’s blessed with the ability to be blunt but not cruel. I actually personally really hate the word “blunt” because, in my experience, it usually comes into play when someone is explaining that their rude, offensive, and ignorant comment *isn’t* rude, offensive, or ignorant---they’re “just a blunt person.” But I think Yoongi is someone who is actually able to be straight-forward (a much better term than the dreaded b-word) without slipping into carelessness. He says things how they are, but, using his emotional awareness and intelligence, he’s able to say it calmly and kindly. If you’ve messed up, he’s going to tell you you messed up---but he’s also going to help you figure out the next steps and volunteer to walk with you while you take them. He’s going to call out bad behavior---but always remind you that he loves you no matter what. He’s going to critique the song you wrote---but it’s going to be 90% positive comments and 10% suggestions of what could be better/smoother/more understandable. I also feel like he is someone who expects the same in return: he hates liars and has a low tolerance for bullshit. 

Basically I just love Min Yoongi with my whole heart.

Hoseok: 

Duality - Now, I don’t mean duality in the way you can compare his precious ray-of-sunshine moments to the times he absolutely blows everyone away on stage (though this is obviously a thing). I’m referring more to the way he can be both ray of sunshine and serious-business all at the same time. Like Jin, I think Hoseok chose an Idol persona (though I think his decision was prompted more by a desire to be uplifting and cheerful and our hope) and exists comfortably within those parameters. However, unlike Jin, I think Hoseok doesn’t mind if people see the other side sometimes, too. He’s not afraid to set down the bubbly-Hobi persona, even if cameras are rolling. He’s not afraid to be emotional,  whether that’s over-the-top happiness, or genuine overwhelmed tears. He can wear a flower around his face and make cute noises and then the next second he can snap at the maknae to not fool around near a pool so he doesn’t get his clothes all wet. It’s not an act either way, he’s just both. 

Good judgment - Obviously, we know that Jung Hoseok is a hard-worker. We know he’s dedicated his life to his craft, first with dancing and then with rapping. He can be an intimidating dance captain, someone who takes it seriously and pushes everyone to be the very best they can be. His work ethic is insane, and he never accepts less than his best---but, in comparison to others on this list, I think he is able to critique himself fairly and kindly. While he demands perfection, he doesn’t tear himself apart to find it. I think he has the ability to assess something or someone and come away with a fairly unbiased opinion. 

Comfortable - This is hard to describe in just a word, but I think he has a way of making people feel at ease in his presence. Even as one of the biggest superstars on the planet right now, you get the sense that he never wants to make people feel uncomfortable or intimidated or uneasy. Something about his mannerisms, his bright smile, his personableness, make him seem approachable. I think it’s also why Namjoon’s been known to say that BTS couldn’t exist without Hoseok, why Yoongi values his friendship so much, why Jungkook is constantly snuggling him. My personal opinion is that he was instrumental in bridging the gap that sometimes might have occurred between Namjoon and Yoongi in the early days; his comfortable presence eased some of the tension that (I’m guessing) may have naturally arisen between two of the greatest young rappers in the game when they were first working together. Hoseok just wants everyone to feel comfortable and at ease around him.

Kind - I think Jung Hoseok is just a genuinely kind human being. I think he is trusting and loyal, but also just the sort of person who will make it his mission to make you smile on a bad day. Just the fact that he chose to make his stage persona someone who is full of hope and happiness speaks volumes. Knowing his own personal struggles, he extrapolates this knowledge to guess how others could feel, and throws himself into the role of positive, happy, sunshiney, hope. It’s his kindness that motivates this behavior. 

High standards - This goes along with his good judgment, but I think Hoseok expects a certain level of competence from everyone around him, in whatever capacity they’re working. Again, this goes along with his desire to have the entire group work on a bit of choreo until it’s right. I think that, because he pushes himself to be the best and fulfill expectations, he looks for this same dedication in others (what comes to mind is that moment in some interview where Namjoon is struggling a little [cos English is the WORST, ugh] so Hoseok looks over at the interpreter like “what exactly are you doing, do your job, help him translate”). 

Basically I just love Jung Hoseok with my whole heart. 

Namjoon: 

Unbelievably intelligent - I know this one isn’t exactly shocking, but I still feel like it needs to be mentioned first and appreciated more. Namjoon is crazy intelligent, academically speaking. He thrives on the pursuit of knowledge, on contemplating and discussing higher concepts, on learning new things that feed his curiosity and his soul. While I also think this crazy-high intellect can sometimes hinder his ability to connect emotionally with people, it’s also this exact quality that makes him so well suited for the role he has been thrust into---not just in the group, but in the world. 

Nerdy - Bicycling, bonsai trees, reading, tiny creatures, art exhibits. He is unabashedly and desperately passionate about the things he likes. He isn’t afraid to love something just because he loves it. He goes all-in on things that he’s interested in, whether they’re “cool” or not. His curiosity pushes him forward, needling him to learn everything he can about things he’s passionate about. He sinks himself into these hobbies wholly (think: carrying a book or two with him everywhere so he can get some reading in, visiting as many art museums and exhibits as possible on days off, making cutesy noises at stingrays and scooping teeny-tiny crabs out of the sand to tell them how beautiful they are).

Macro-focused - He strikes me very much as the sort of person who loves to talk about concepts and ideas and philosophies in great terms. He loves clever wordplay, he likes to reflect on his place in the universe, he wants to discuss the complexities of life and human nature. His quick-mind devours these topics, and I can imagine he could sit for hours with you debating philosophy and discussing art. On the flip side, though, I think he isn’t so good with minutiae---and by “minutiae” I mean everything from being more aware of his physical surroundings to dealing with personal things. For example, I think he’s brilliant when he discusses happiness and hardship and joy and pain and love and humanity in the songs he writes...... but he’s not exactly the first person you would go to if you were having a tough or emotional personal time. Don’t get me wrong: obviously he cares about the people in his life, he cares about people in general---but sometimes all you need is a hug and pat on the back to encourage you and Namjoon would instead launch into the greater implications and consequences of human nature in an attempt to help you feel better.

Logical - I know this seems like a given, but while I think others on this list are more emotionally-intelligent, I think logic is one of Namjoon’s greatest strengths. For example: if another member is crying or upset, Jimin would notice they’re upset and immediately go and hug them and wipe their tears away; Namjoon would notice they’re upset and immediately look for the source of the problem. Once identified, he’d take the next steps to rectifying the problem, because logic dictates that if the problem gets solved, then the other member would be happier. If there was nothing to rectify, he’d attempt to comfort them with cold, hard facts. (I’m thinking about that time when Jungkook got upset because he felt like he messed up his performances, and Jimin immediately hugs him and comforts him and tells him he was great, while Namjoon assesses the situation and starts talking about how he himself actually, objectively messed up, so there’s no logical reason for Jungkook to be upset right now.) He dreams and enjoys literature and the arts---but when it comes to handling practical, inter-personal issues, he’s much more comfortable with logic. 

Vibes - I really didn’t have a good word to describe this thought of mine, so let me just get right into explaining: I think Namjoon is, generally speaking, one of the smartest people---if not the smartest person---in the room. He’s aware of this fact without being arrogant about it, but it is the truth. Because of this, I think he’s frequently called on to explain things, to expound on them, to teach or interpret or decipher. I think he enjoys this role, because he loves talking about things he’s passionate about (see above: nerdy) but sometimes...sometimes I think he just desperately wants someone he can vibe with. Someone who can match his level intellectually. Someone whom he doesn’t have to teach. I think he is over-the-moon ecstatic when he meets someone he can vibe with in any way---whether that’s intelligence-related or passion/hobby-related. I don’t know, I just sometimes feel like he chooses to spend his personal time with people who can match him in some way, whom he can vibe with.

Basically I just love Kim Namjoon with my whole heart.

Jimin:

Caring - For me, Park Jimin starts and ends with this characteristic. He cares. A lot. About a lot of things. He cares about his brothers, he cares about his family, he cares about his friends, he cares about ARMY, he cares about music, he cares about his dancing, he cares about fashion, he cares about how he’s perceived, he cares about doing his very best, he cares about the future generations, he cares about those who are less fortunate than him, he just cares so much. Along with Yoongi, I think he is incredibly empathetic. How many times do we see him basically sprint across a room or a sandy beach or a campsite or a stage to get to an upset member? He reads people’s emotions and has a natural instinct to take care of them. Like anything, though, I think his biggest strength can also be a great weakness: sometimes he cares too much. How many times has he worked until his body is covered with pain patches, until his feet bled, until he almost passed out? All the weight he lost, because he cared about his appearance? How hard he worked at being “hardcore, manly” Jimin, because that’s what he thought people cared about most? All the times he cried after a tiny mistake, because he cared about being perfect, because he cared about others’ perception of him? Park Jimin cares so/too much and it’s one of the most defining things about his personality. 

Social Intelligence/눈치 - One thing I love the most is how he has such a unique relationship with each one of his brothers. Now, obviously, every single combo in Bangtan is different and unique and special. But I love watching Jimin’s relationships with the others so much, because he’s so aware of what they need. Truthfully, I think Jimin is hyper aware of others in general. If you’re trying to sneaky-cry at a crowded party, Jimin is the type of person who would somehow appear at your side, ready to help you feel better. His empathy and sensitivity allow him to assess what each individual needs the most from him and act accordingly. He knows Taehyung should never be left alone when upset, knows that if Jungkook is actually crying then something is very wrong, knows that Leader RM sometimes needs to just be his one-year-older hyung Namjoon, knows exactly how far he can push Yoongi’s buttons, knows to laugh at Jin’s dad-jokes (especially when they’re for the benefit of the group), and knows that Hoseok needs to be reminded how much cohesiveness he provides the group in general. 

Self-Critical - All right, I feel like this one might be a little controversial, so hear me out. Like I mentioned earlier, he cares a lot, and part of that translates into caring about himself---caring about his achievements, his performance, his appearance. It’s partly the classical dancer in him and partly just his personality. He wants to do and be his best always. But.... I do think that he has learned to be much kinder to himself over the years. Gone are the days of starving himself to get rid of his cheeks, the tearful breakdowns after a single missed step in a performance, the acting outside of his true personality because he thinks that’s what he’s supposed to be. I think we now very much see a Jimin who has come into his own, who has accepted himself for who he is (including his flaws), who has embraced every part of him. This doesn’t mean that I think he never has to fight the nagging voice in his head, or struggle with insecurities, or swallow down the urge to berate himself after a less-than-perfect performance---he still expects the best out of himself, still wants to be the best. I just think he’s found a way to critique himself without absolutely tearing himself apart. 

Cunning - Yet another word that looks and sounds derogatory, but isn’t really in this context. Like a lot of other empathetic, sensitive, socially-intelligent people, knowing exactly what people need and are feeling also allows him to know weaknesses. Weaknesses he would never exploit---unless he wanted to. I actually don’t think we see much of him using others’ weaknesses against them, but in my opinion, this quality is linked to two of his other quirks: 1) his talent and complete lack of guilt for cheating at games and 2) his penchant for pettiness. I don’t really know how to explain my thought-process here---not well, anyway. But I feel like Jimin is so tuned into the important things (so concerned about the important things) that little things, like cheating at a game, don’t matter to him much. And, if he can use his usually sweet and helpful and hard-working, honest self to get away with it, even better. On the flip side, I don’t think he enjoys or endures confrontation as much or as well as, say, Yoongi might---so he expresses himself in a quieter, underhanded way. (The moment that’s coming to mind is that one time they were at an American event and he commented, in Korean, about how unorganized things seem to be.) Jimin is the sweetest, most sensitive, empathetic little cinnamon roll---until it’s time to win a game, or until he’s feeling a little prickly and petty. 

Basically I just love Park Jimin with my whole heart.

Taehyung: 

Individualistic - Kim Taehyung knows who he is. He knows what he likes, what he wants, what he thinks. He is going to wear whatever he wants, paint whatever he wants, say whatever he wants, and do whatever he wants. He’s a person who seems to have figured out a long time ago what makes him happy and how to be his true self around others no matter what---and this something I greatly envy. If he wants to learn the violin, he’s gonna buy a violin and play some scratchy Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on a hotel balcony---because that’s what he wants to do. If he wants to write a song, it’s going to be in his style, the way he likes it. If he wants a really cool, avant-garde piece of artsy clothing, he’s going to spray-paint it himself. If he has an opinion on something, it’s highly likely that he’s spent quite a bit of time forming this opinion---but once that’s his opinion, that’s his opinion. That’s what he thinks, there’s no need to listen to others or change. I think this quality, this ability to be himself so  freely and earnestly, is both one of the reasons he’s able to make friends so easily and be beloved so quickly (see: “Bangtan’s True Baby” and “Wooga Squad darling”); and one of the reasons others (including the other members, by their own admission) can’t understand him well at first. I think it has brought many good things to his life, but has also played a significant part in some of the struggles that he has had. He’s precious, but also very easily misunderstood.

Not Very Outward-Sensing - Notice I very purposefully don’t go anywhere near the words “self-absorbed” or “self-centered”---because he’s not. On the contrary, I think Taehyung feels very deeply for the people in his life (see below: Emotional), but his ability to care for them is sometimes inhibited by his lack of outward-sensing. If Jimin is the king of 눈치/social awareness, then Taehyung is the absolute opposite (which is why it is unendingly intriguing to me that two of his closest relationships in BTS---he and Jimin, he and Yoongi---are comprised of one person who lacks this awareness [Tae] and one person who has all the awareness [Jimin, Yoongi]). He would never hurt someone’s feelings on purpose, but quite often he’s just not paying a whole lot of attention to what other people might be feeling or experiencing. He’s not concerned about walking on eggshells, because he feels that as long as his intentions are good, nobody can be too hurt or too uncomfortable with him or his behavior (A great example of this is the infamous Spring Day Dance Debate from “Burn the Stage.” In Taehyung’s mind, he saw something that should be changed and needed to be addressed, so he called it out. It never in a million years would occur to him that the way he phrased it or the way he kept harping on it could be a source of irritation or discomfort to Jin. To him, it was a very black-and-white, clear-cut situation: something was wrong, he had an idea of how it should be fixed, therefore nothing bad could/should come of him speaking his mind in the pursuit of this perfect solution he created). He seems like the sort of person who, after accidentally hurting your feelings, would sympathize with your hurt and want to make it better, but focus more on the fact that he didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, so it’s not really his fault. 

Emotional - I think he is very in-touch with his emotions, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. For example, if he’s upset, he wants everyone to know and acknowledge that he’s upset. He doesn’t like feeling ignored or passed over, and where others might let it slide, he’s not afraid to speak up about it (I’m thinking about the time there was a question directed specifically to Yoongi about being from Daegu and Taehyung immediately pointed out that he was also from Daegu, and kind of pouted a little until it was acknowledged). Also, although it’s never been said explicitly, I think he is one of the members who potentially struggles with depression. He can take things very personally and to heart. But this is likely because he has such a big heart. He loves unabashedly and he’s very vocal about who he loves---think of all the times he’s said and posted comments along the lines of “Please love all seven” and “Please love each of us equally.” He also can be very protective (thinking of that one Weverse post where he lowkey chewed somebody out for posting an unflattering photo of one of the others) and blunt when defending those he loves. I mean, he created a whole new word just to express how much he loves ARMY! When he’s sad, he cries. When he’s happy, he giggles. When he’s angry, he expresses it. When he’s disappointed, he doesn’t hide it. To me, he is a near-perfect example of someone who wears their heart on their sleeves. 

Contradictory - One of his most endearing qualities. He is not very outward-focused---but he bought a pair of gloves because he remembered that Jimin offhandedly mentioned that he needed some. He doesn’t read other people easily---but he (so far) is also pretty darn good at completing accurate Vibe-Checks for those who come in contact with BTS. He doesn’t always see as much as the others might---but he also notices certain things they might miss. The beauty of his being is that he can be both things at the same time and not seem out of place.

Basically I just love Kim Taehyung with my whole heart.

Jungkook: 

Confident Yet Perfectionistic - Now listen: when I say confident, I don’t mean that he never struggles with insecurities. I mean confident in the way that his whole life (at least his whole Idol life) he had 6 older brothers who encouraged him to try and do anything he wanted---and then supported him no matter the outcome. Being raised in an environment like that, where you’re encouraged to try things, where you have people who love you constantly praising your efforts and providing a safe space for you to fail, you gain a certain amount of confidence in your abilities, in yourself. I think this is actually a big part of the Golden Maknae moniker: yes, I think he is the type of person to whom things may come quite easily and who is naturally skilled in several areas---but it’s also a little easier to conquer new things when you have years of encouraged-successes under your belt. He has gained a confidence in himself over years of trying and working his tail off and eventually succeeding; he knows he can do anything if he works at it enough because he’s always been able to do everything he works at. Where the perfectionistic aspect kicks in especially is this: there are a lot of people who have a natural affinity for lots of things. There are lots of people who can pick up something new and be decent right away (I honestly think Taehyung is another person like this, someone who can pick new things up pretty easily)---the difference is that Jeon Jungkook is the type of person who takes that natural affinity and runs with it. He’s not satisfied with just being good at something; if it’s something he really wants to do, he throws his whole heart and soul and self into it. In my opinion, this sets him apart from people who could be considered “Jack of All Trades, Master of None.” He trusts his process and uses it to be the very best he can be in whatever he does.

Introverted -  Obviously he’s not the only introverted member of Bangtan, but I do think that his specific life experiences require a little more discussion on this topic than the others. By his own admission, his childhood ended really early. He didn’t focus much on school because he was focused on his career; he never got to have the typical high school experiences most of the others had. At an incredibly young age he was thrust into a totally different life that required being in the spotlight---and while this definitely brought unique challenges, he loves his life as a musician and performer. I think out of all BTS, Jungkook especially lives for performing. He lights up on stage and is at his absolute happiest when performing (and performing well). And yet none of this changes the fact that he is absolutely an introvert, someone who needs to recharge with just a little alone time. Alone time. Not easy to achieve when you live in the same tiny dorm with 6 other boys. Not easy to achieve when you are constantly surrounded by brothers, staff, instructors, producers, cameras, and fans.  

Maknae - I can’t explain this well, I know I can’t, but it just is such a huge part of him that I feel like I need to try. In so many ways, Jungkook is a typical baby of the family. It’s evident in the way that he unabashedly idolizes his Rap-Mon-hyung. In the way he constantly cuddles and sniffs and snuggles Hoseok. In the way he’s not afraid to pester Yoongi or tease Seokjin. He also seems like someone who is much more of a fixer than a listener; meaning, if you go to him with a problem, he’s going to be focused on how he can fix the situation, not on just listening and sympathizing/empathizing with you, a trait that I feel comes easily to babies of families (not that *all* youngest children have this, mind you) because they’re typically not the ones confided in, so if something is brought to them they want to help make it right (massive generalization, I know, don’t kill me). As discussed above, he’s also confident in himself because he’s been raised with older siblings who have always told him “yes, you can.” He’s just Baby in all the ways that stick with a person even as they grow older. 

Trusting - Jungkook strikes me as the sort of person who trusts fairly easily---and, more importantly, unshakably. He has no problem admitting to millions of ARMY that he ripped his pants on stage or V-Living while drunk (I don’t care what he says, babyboy was at least a little buzzed) because he trusts us. He could easily follow Namjoon (or any of his brothers) to the ends of the earth. He takes every opportunity to speak earnestly and wholeheartedly about how much he genuinely loves ARMY, because he trusts that that love will be returned. 

Basically I just love Jeon Jungkook with my whole heart. 

[rhythmic-idealist]

Okay, I'm making this post, and it's 1-person anecdotal but I think that's enough. I believe I last checked out the site in 2020 but it might be older info than that, but I'm still sharing this. I invite people to correct me if I'm wrong and there has been some kind of massive overhaul of the very core and culture of the site.

7cupsoftea (7cups.com) is not a reliable website, the volunteers on it are not adequately trained or supervised, and I don't advise it. It is unsafe for listeners and members (people seeking help) alike.

7cups offers ways to contact therapists, and I've never used that feature, so I can't comment.

I used to volunteer at 7cups, both as a teen and as an adult. Training can be completed in one day. There is (last I checked) no supervision period. Listeners are encouraged to keep checking in with people they've spoken to previously, which sounds like a good support model, until you're 17-19 years old and feel responsible for a situation you are not equipped to manage.

It's hard to talk about this, by the way, because I do not begrudge that person and I would do it the same way again. Parting was weird and bad as I made an abrupt exit from the site, and I love(d) them, and I'm not sure if I'd want to excise that part of my life unless it means they get better help sooner. I still need to make the rest of this post about how the site shouldn't exist in its current form.

Since then, I volunteered at a different crisis support line, and (while it had its own problems) was supervised and supported by more experienced listeners for months before I was in a position to lead other new listeners. It made me realize how laughably bad 7cups training is.

As an adult, I went back to find someone to vent to myself, and the listener with whom I connected immediately told me (in words smothered in empathy, blink-and-you'd-miss-the-problem) that my friends aren't supporting me, I can't trust my friends and family, and that I should be their friend instead. I hadn't said anything about my family or friends.

I laughed in their face and told them exactly how they were abusing his position of social power in this space, but that's only because I am almost comically not vulnerable to that kind of common and effective manipulation. As it happened, I felt super supported. But they brought it up because they're aware that many people looking for anonymous help don't have many other people to listen to them.

Last I checked, the volunteer listener half of the site has only decreased in quality since I left it. There were some experiences there I was grateful for, but that later experience made it clear to me that this place was built in a way that makes abuses of power extremely easy, and made me reflect on how easily I could have done them myself had I been so inclined.

tl;dr

The core goals of 7cupsoftea were good. I'm willing to bet that extremely unethical move that listener made, telling me I should be their friend, was probably even not intended to be manipulation, though it was (and needs to be not given any slack every time, because one time, it will be someone who means to do abuse).

But encouraging listeners to follow up with people they had helped in the past sets up a bad situation for listeners and members alike. Training is insufficient. Supervision is either insufficient or nonexistent, I can't remember. Listeners can come to other listeners for support, but most are also unequipped for that position. Rules are easy to ignore.

Please use the Crisis Text Line (not sure if I have firsthand experience with this one) or Lifeline Chat (which I CAN recommend firsthand).

If you prefer speaking out loud, but are not suicidal, calling the National Suicide Hotline and saying "I am not suicidal, but I really need a number to call for a lower-level crisis, do you know of any broader crisis lines I can call?" worked well for me when I needed it.

---

Closing note:

When I signed up, people as young as 13 could register to be listeners, a policy designed to keep adults from creeping on teenagers in need of help, but maybe they should have used... any of the strategies other helplines use to prevent this, instead. I'm unsure if this is still the case. The bulk of the post didn't need it and it proved distracting, but it should be pointed out while I'm here. They were not equipped to make that work and I'm not sure any online system ever would be.

[amerasdreams]

Jerry’s lost last letter from Vietnam

Dear Mom and Dad,

and Jana and Jason,

I need to tell you about what happened here in Vietnam. In my other letters, I glossed over details because, Dad, you know war and so I don’t have to tell you what it’s like, and Mom, I didn’t want to worry you. Jana and Jason, I hope you never have to know what war is like.

But I can’t deny the truth of what happened over here, the pain and the glory of it.

You hear stories about Vietnam before you leave. A lot of people give into evil. You have to kill to survive, that’s one thing. But the things people let themselves do…become no better than the enemy they’re fighting. They let the war cloud their minds, muddy their morals. I was self-righteous about this at first. I would never fall.

Oh how wrong I was.

I hesitate to tell you. Especially you, Jason, who looked up to me so much. I wish you could keep this heroic image of me, but that would be selfish.

The truth is, I gave into evil. I was proud, to start with. It blinded me to the fact that deep down I’m no different than anyone else and it’s only by the saving grace of Jesus Christ that I have anything salvageable inside me.

It’s not like I did it myself; I just let it happen. But that doesn’t justify it. Fear is no excuse either. It can’t be, here. Especially when you’re an officer; you’re responsible for the men under you.

One reason I’m hesitant to tell about this is that it’s top secret. And it involves someone else and her safety. But with the uncertainty over here—when the war will end, overall or just for me—it’s worth the risk so you can help her in case I’m….not around anymore.

We trudged through the mud, sheets of rain pouring down, soaking us. The gray sky pierced by green knives of grass, slashing our arms as we searched for the enemy. We hadn’t had any action for days and some of my men were itching for a fight, just to break up the gray sloshing mud with bright flowers of fire.

This kid, Jenkins, had glasses and that made it so he could see even less than the rest of us in the rain. Barely 18, smaller than most, the guys all teased him but he took it well and so they were good-natured about it. He was kinda like our mascot. We thought he had a charmed life; he once stepped on a mine and it didn’t go off, some of the men thought he was lucky and even that we were an invincible unit.

We were checking out a weapons cache when some VC ambushed us. Shattered Benny’s leg, that’s my sarge. Good man. I dragged him to safety and fired back—we were surrounded on this little island in the swamp, just a raised bit of land, not much cover, so we were sitting ducks. I had to get my men out of there. I ordered some men to make a feint to the left, others to cover our rear as we retreated into the swamp. But they caught us as we came down, popped up right out of the gray water and shot some point-blank. I fought hand-to-hand with one—he stabbed me in the thigh and blood swirled into the water like red ink. Somehow we fought them off but by that time they’d killed five of us and Jenkins was lying face down, so much blood in the water around him we knew he was gone.

A chopper flew us back to base for R and R and to take care of the dead. Rally, one of my squad leaders, wanted to go right back out and find those VC—he didn’t use that term—and kill them. Something in him snapped that day. I should’ve seen it but we were all grieving. We were a tight-knit unit, even more than most, I thought, and to lose Jenkins and four other good men…it hit us hard. But we forged on. I had to get a new platoon sergeant temporarily so I promoted Rally to the acting position.

About a month later, early August, we captured some VC. My men and I secured the village while Rally began the interrogation of the prisoners, two men and a woman, in a vacant shed. While I was occupied, the prisoners attempted to escape and Rally shot them. That was his story. I have no doubt they were trying to escape, but they were shot in the back, which wasn’t really necessary as they were bound and couldn’t have gotten far. When I returned, one man had died and Rally was beating the other man’s face in. He was incoherent and useless as an intel source. Jackson offered to “put him out of his misery”; I held him back and had the medic take care of him.

Only the woman was left to interrogate. I let Rally be the bad cop and threaten to kill her family, but I didn’t let him lay a hand on her. She taunted us, told us we were dead men like the buddies we’d lost. Rally swung a fist toward her; I shoved him out of the way and had a nice, civil talk with her. She seemed to thaw a little; I saw some of the fear in her eyes beneath the bravado, and we even shared a little about our families. She gave me a nom de guerre: Ana.

Just when I thought we were ready for a breakthrough, some of her comrades attacked and we had to fend them off. Once I got back to the shed, I found Rally had continued the interrogation by breaking one of her fingers. I tried to stop him but Jackson held me back. “She’s close to cracking,” he said. “You step in, she’ll clam up again. He’s already got some good stuff, sir. Just a little more. Otherwise this is all in vain.”

“This is not who we are. We’re Americans—this is what they do.”

“I know. I know, sir. You’ve kept us on the good path. But just this once, look away. For the ones we lost. For the ones we can save.”

I left the building, patrolled the perimeter. But no matter where I went, I could still hear Ana’s screams.

When I got back it was like a slaughterhouse. Rally was covered in blood; Ana (I must use her name—to do otherwise would dehumanize her) was unconscious. He’d broken each of her fingers and carved the names of our fallen into her chest. I tried not to look at her directly, as if that would absolve me of guilt, as if she was just a “target” and not a human being.

“We got the intel,” said Rally, beaming like he’d won a medal of honor.

I treated it like just another operation. She was just another casualty of war, an enemy at that. We’d done our job; it was a successful mission. We could be proud of ourselves.

We left her there; I’m not sure if she lived or died. I didn’t feel guilty at first; I didn’t feel anything but the need to keep my men safe. Until we stopped to rest, and she began to haunt me. Even if it was Rally who had gotten out of hand, I was responsible for my men’s actions. I’d allowed it. It was the same as if I’d carved those names into her chest. Hadn’t I wanted revenge too? How could I possibly delude myself I was any different, any better?

Still, I had to do my job, and I began to gain attention as a good leader from my CO. He told a CIA officer about me, and that officer contacted me for a special mission. Inside enemy territory.

We’d really only be glorified couriers; we were to deliver some new equipment to a northern spy. The CIA officer told me that he suspected a mole in his network; every agent he’d sent north had been killed or captured, the expensive equipment confiscated. We had a reputation of getting things done. He commended us for the intel we’d gotten from Ana; his agents had made good use of it. We’d take a different route than the others to throw the VC off track, but we should be under no illusions that this would be an easy or safe mission. He’d only take volunteers.

I took a small group of 10 men and we went north. We’d just dropped off the package when we were ambushed. Two men were shot; I covered the others so they could get away. I emptied my ammo and then fought with my knife—I’d rather be killed than captured—but they stabbed my leg and I went down. Blows rained from all directions until a rifle hit my head and I blacked out.

I came to in a cell at a VC base camp. My body ached; I could barely move. A man dragged me to the interrogation room and the fun began.

My interrogator was the man we’d thought was our agent. He’d been fooling the Americans for years, feeding them false intel, getting their agents captured. I was no different; he’d extract the info he needed then kill me.

He asked me about my mission for the CIA. I couldn’t tell him any more than he already knew. So he hit me. He asked about troop movements and supply routes; I wouldn’t tell him anything. So he hit me again. He wasn’t especially creative even though he always bragged about his abilities. I think he confused enjoyment for expertise. Plus he had a big head from fooling the Americans. He was probably a good spy, but not a very good interrogator. I called him Hack.

Still, he began to wear me down, especially if the sessions ended with him hitting me so hard I blacked out. I probably had multiple concussions, and my wounds were left untreated and infected. One of his COs sat in on an interrogation and I was apparently so incoherent and delirious he ordered a medic to take care of me.

I don’t remember much after that; it was probably days before I was fully conscious again. It was like heaven; my head was clear and I barely ached. Someone came in with food.

No, not just someone. The most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. Silky hair that fell like a sheet of black water. Intense brown eyes in a perfect oval face. For a moment I thought she was an angel, especially since I felt no pain and pain had become part of my existence. She also reminded me of Ana…guilt struck my heart.

She handed me the tray of food and then left. When she came back, she aimed her gun at me and told me to follow. I was back in the interrogation room, but this time Hack was gone, replaced by another man. He spoke no English so he needed the girl, Ai, to translate. I knew basic Vietnamese but no complex words or sentences.

His interrogation was perfunctory and he rarely used physical force. It was a welcome reprieve. Plus I got to be in the same room with Ai, who looked at me with disdain as she translated.

This guy didn’t get anything out of me either, so they got some sort of specialist to have a go at me. He was good. Big, brutal, but he knew how to inflict maximum pain with minimum damage. Ai translated for him as well.

One day he had me on the floor, just screaming and sobbing with pain, like I was on fire. Ai threatened to stop translating unless he stopped hurting me so badly; he grabbed her and asked what side she was on. She said she just couldn’t stomach this; he said if she was weak she didn’t belong in the VC and began choking her.

First I noticed the absence of pain, then I noticed frantic, strangled cries. I looked up to see Ai kicking at him as he held her in the air by her throat.

I asked God to help me because I knew I couldn’t move on my own. I couldn’t redeem myself for what I’d done to Ana but I could help Ai.

I struggled to my feet and stood, shaking. Somehow I managed to say, “Stop!”

Anger crossed his face. He dropped Ai to the floor and turned on me. Gave me a good old fashioned beating till I blacked out.

When I came to, Ai was shaking me. It was dark. She told me that they would kill me since I had outlived my usefulness. She led me down the hallway and opened the door to the back, where there was a running vehicle. “Thank you. For what you did for me,” she said.

“Thank you for helping me, Ai. I wish—“

“Go! I can’t let them catch me.” She darted back inside.

Somehow I got down the road a bit before anyone saw me. I had to ditch the vehicle and run into the jungle. Survived for days, dodging patrols, eating bugs, till I ran into an American squad and they had me choppered back to base.

Everyone had thought I was dead; they had a big party for me. I recuperated and then went back to leading my platoon. Everything went back to normal. Vietnam-normal, anyway.

Until one day I saw Ai on base, delivering supplies to the soldiers. She drove out before I could catch her.

My men and I were hanging around base for a little while, so I saw her when she returned later that week. I caught up to her this time. She took me aside and told me that she was supposed to be an agent for the VC, but she was really working for the Americans. She had been with the communists when I’d been captured but she wasn’t a die-hard party member or anything. All she wanted was for the war to end and for her country to be at peace. She thought the VC would do that. But I’d changed her view of what Americans were at the same time she’d seen the brutality of the VC. She didn’t want to be complicit in that so she agreed to help us, in part to bring democracy and peace to her country, in part to make up for what she did.

I then told her my own struggle—my own complicity. Hurting a young woman like her. I expected her to leave in disgust. But she forgave me. I felt a dark burden lift from my heart. It wasn’t totally gone—it never will be. But what she did freed me, more so than when she’d let me out of the enemy camp.

Whenever she was on base, I found time to be with her. We began hanging out together. Eating at mess together. The boys began to make fun of me. I knew I should be careful; I didn’t want to blow her cover. Spending too much time with any one American without intel from him would be suspicious to her handlers. So we did things in secret. Had picnics out on this grassy hill with beautiful red flowers. I gave her presents. I felt she deserved the world.

Then I got orders to move out. We’d be deep in the jungle for weeks, perhaps months. My heart felt like it was imploding. I couldn’t be without her. I wished I could just take her and run away from the war and just live with her in peace.

But I decided to do something a little less drastic. When we were out on a picnic, I asked her—Dad, Mom, can you believe this?—to marry me.

And even more wonderful and crazy—she said yes!

Two days ago, we were married on our hill under the moonlight. She had a red flower in her hair. She was so beautiful! We sealed it with a glorious kiss and then…well, I’ll leave it at that.

We had two frantic days together, stolen kisses in the hallway, nights in a little abandoned hut covered in vines. Today I have to move out, leave her to the lonely life of a spy. How I can leave her without my heart breaking I don’t know. I’m sending this letter so you know the worst and the best of me, and so that you know to take care of her in case I don’t come back. Only the chaplain and the witness know about our marriage.  

She’s leaning over my shoulder as I write this in our little ‘cabin’, as I call it. Kissing me. Now she’s saying that she wants to say hi to you and she can’t wait to meet you. That she won’t let me leave and if I do she’ll drag me back….Oh I do love her, I can’t tell you how much, my heart’s bursting and I—

I miss you. I’ve got a long tour left but when I come home, I’ll bring a beautiful bride with me.

And, just in case,

Goodbye. (I’ll see you in heaven, anyway!)

Love,

Jerry (and Ai) Whittaker

- from Generation

[hellishhin]

Hello! Late Day 26:( (this should be the last day when I'm late haha): I want to learn a little about Kireen! How did she come to the party? What was her goal, how has it changed over time? What's one secret she has? One thing she misses?

Here we go! Thank you for asking this I've been feeling guilty for neglecting Kireen. She's a bit more subtle and a little more difficult to nail down which I'm sure has come across in my writing but it's ok! As writers its ok to just work on a couple things at once and leave other areas of improvement for later (I'm in a super good mood wanted to throw that positivity out there!).

Now Kireen. Got some freaking great info that I had forgotten but it was just a few sentences but it reminded me of a whole lot. So previously I had vaguely mentioned she was a bit rebellious and wanted to leave her noble family behind. Well Kireen originally came from the Imperial Capital. Not even Sadie has been in the capital ever. Her family was well entrenched in the nobility of the capital meaning they were well entrenched in the church. The church has an insane amount of power, pretty much running the empire and the Emperor is only a figure head.

In a perfect world, perhaps that could turn out ok but Kireen started seeing unsettling things. The church would use its power of saying it spoke for the gods to set its own laws. Adulterers were imprisoned, dissenters were executed. Nothing on a large scale but Kireen was close enough to it that she saw. She tried to speak out, to tell them that the gods wouldn't want this woman imprisoned simply because she slept with someone. Sure it was perhaps not a great thing to do but the punishments were not fitting the crime. The members of the church started to warn her family that if Kireen didn't be quiet the family would lose their standing. Obviously this made her family double down on their efforts to force Kireen to conform.

When she still refused, she made enemies of the church and empire, leaving the capital in the middle of the night because she caught word that she was finally going to be arrested. So she fled. Word of her quickly reached nearby towns and cities and she was extremely recognizable. She had to keep hidden. After months of running she started to get far enough away that word of her had not quite reached the city yet. But eventually it did. Sick of it she finally decided to flee to Stawold, the last frontier.

By this time, the Empire had kind of given up. The family had convinced them to stop because at least this way they could pretend she died and they wouldn't have to deal with the shame of having their daughter on trial. So things calmed down and Kireen stayed in Stawold. The church presence there was also minimal and it made the town livable.

In Stawold she made herself known as a fairly good fighter as well as a mage. She would help out the poor with her spells and volunteer with the town guard on occasion. Taerand noticed this and when he was creating his team to help find his emerald, he chose Kireen. None of the party had known each other very well, had seen each other around because it's a small town, but not really known each other (except maybe K'lai'a'la who Taerand had rescued like a stray kitten all alone and given a letter then sent to the stag. He didn't do that himself, he had his guards do it but he wanted someone who knew the Wraefen on the team). So in short, they all met because Taerand assembled his Avengers lmao. It would have been a better intro to each other in a real story but it's D&D, you have to get the players together quickly in the first session.

I think Kireen's ultimate goal is to overthrow the Imperial church. I'll say this now, the only reason the church is corrupt is because Kireen's player wrote that into her backstory. It's because of this player that Sadie is currently at war now lol but hey it makes for a great freaking story.

As for secrets, I think perhaps one of the bigger ones is that she's still kind of wanted by the Empire for conspiring against the church. None of the group currently knows that. I can't think of any other secrets she may have that might be smaller than that right now but I'll keep it in mind and maybe one will come out in the story!

As for what she misses, I think she misses the bustling people of the capital. All of the markets with wares from all over the empire. There's not much variety in Stawold. Kireen has also been a busy person. She likes to get out and do things, not sit inside and read or be part of the stuffy nobility. In the capital there was so much to do. But she also didn't have very many friends. Now she has good friends which makes the capital a little harder to miss.

[bookswinalways]

december, 2020: life & content update

Earlier this June, I graduated with an undergraduate history degree from UCSD. Since then, to say I’ve been flailing around while trying to forge ahead in this pandemic-induced quagmire would be a slight overstatement, but not a stretch. Until January 2020, I was seriously considering graduate school. Unfortunately, the more I worked on my honors thesis, the less invested I felt in following through no one else’s fault but my own.

This is why, if you are considering grad school, please write a fifty page thesis first and then evaluate for your own sanity. In the end, my thesis was submitted only to my mentor-- I was unable to finish it in time for the honors deadline. The research was so much fun, and so interesting, but it wasn’t clicking for me. I loved working with my professor, but because I couldn't truly go all in mentally, it didn't work in my favor even with consistently positive feedback.

So, throughout these several months, a few things came to light. 

I do not want to stop learning

I still love history so so so much but I want to learn it on my own terms and not pursue it as a career/specific emphasis at this time

I want to challenge myself by learning something that I’m not as familiar with 

I must do something I can feel passionate about

I want to hear people’s stories and continue similar volunteer and community work if possible

I want to feel connected to my work

And then, something clicked. I had taken a law course during study abroad, but after transferring schools it hadn't felt as relevant. After graduation, I started to research law more seriously, and took an online course. And studying felt exciting again! Reading felt exciting again! The future felt a bit more corporeal. I took an LSAT diagnostic (bless Khan Academy) and found I did far better on it than on the GRE practice sections, and it was actually enjoyable. I kept finding that there were things I wanted to do with law, and certain areas that seemed to speak to me. I still love history, but this felt right.

In summation: I want to go to law school. Not the most casual statement, and it’s an opportunity I am lucky to even consider. I’m still trying to adjust my short term goals to my new long term one, and even though it feels right, quite frankly, I’m not sure how I’m going to go about doing this. There is no guarantee that this will work out. But I really want to try, and use this platform more often as a way of staying on track.

Furthermore, I definitely need to explore the field and the opportunities even more, and get some hands-on experience within them. Feeling alright about an LSAT diagnostic score and enjoying some funky intellectual stimulus isn't a sturdy enough reason to go all in, and even though those aren't my main reasons, it's important to keep that in mind. It's okay to fail, it's okay to change your mind, as long as you're working towards something better and hold yourself accountable.

Ultimately, I’m not sure how this blog’s content might shift (not that it has ever been set in stone). Still going to use bullet journals as I can’t manage without one, but beyond that, it’s going to be an evolutionary process. Definitely going to collect a lot more LSAT info, and share some snapshots of that process. 

Most importantly, thank you.

Thank you to anyone who has followed or is just scrolling along, and to all my friends on here, I am so grateful for your support. This community has helped me through a lot. If you have any questions about anything or just want to chat, please shoot me a message or an ask.

♡

[saintcients]

➥ intro.

hi everyone! i’m bringing you ito fuyuko, the december baby and private detective! i’m currently still working on the pages as i wanted to have this muse up as quick as possible – so for now there’ll only be this intro, but i will update everyone once i got the pages up! i love plotting on here or discord, so just feel free to add me on there if you’d like!

please click the read more to get some info about dearest fuyuko. ♡

basics. 

name: ito fuyuko 伊藤 冬子 [ fun fact! fuyuko actually means winter child – very fitting since she is born in december! ] / korean name: dongja 동자.

age: 27 years old.

nationality: japanese.

date of birth: 2nd of december. 

western zodiac sign: sagittarius.

chinese zodiac sign: rooster.

representative month: december.

education: bachelor’s in criminology. 

current occupation: private detective. 

current location: dallyeog, complex 4, floor 4, apartment 2.

sexual orientation: homosexual. 

languages: japanese, korean, english, little bit of chinese.

relationship status: single. 

pets: ginger cat called takahiro / picked up from the street.

background.

fuyuko is originally from nagoya, japan. her parents are both working in the manufacturing industry, but are both close to retiring soon. the ito family, due to their hard-working nature, is rather well off and there are little worries about the future money-wise. 

early on, fuyuko liked picking up her mother’s crime novels, that the woman consumed en masse; fuyuko mostly fascinated by the ones with a female lead – rendering her with an idea for her future in her head.

however, there was one problem: even the slightest little cut on her finger would make her wince, the mere sight of blood ( real blood, that is. ) making her close her eyes, not able to take a look. 

that was a problem for her, as it slowly dawned on her that being a detective and being this squeamish would definitely not work out. it baffled her a little; there was no stopping her love for true crime in any case – she could read hours and hours about unsolved cases, the most cruel things, one documentary after another, but she knew that if she would experience that in person, it would hurt her in the long run.

still, as soon as she graduated high school, fuyuko enrolled into a bachelor’s in criminology, enjoying every single class she had to take, ending up with a pretty good degree. 

while in college, she picked up a few extra language courses, weighing her options of maybe exploring the world: korean, english and the tiniest bit of chinese. she knew that maybe working abroad would be a problem as getting into law enforcement as a foreigner wouldn’t be exactly easy. 

still, the thrill was there and fuyuko, even when she tried to push the thought aside, kept wondering what would be out there. at first, she only toyed with the idea, researching how her life in korea would be as a nobody. she wouldn’t know anyone, she would have to take her life into her own hands and actually try to survive. 

she wasn’t able to get rid of the temptation, and decided to pack up her things and move. her parents weren’t extremely happy about the fact, but if other people could do it, so why not her?

after she had found a nice apartment after staying in a hostel for about two weeks, fuyuko couldn’t have been happier – finally a place for herself and her new life. and !!! the day she moved in, she encountered sweet takahiro, a ginger cat roaming the alleys looking a bit hungry, deciding to keep him; together they could fight the loneliness.

at dallyeog.

the next problem fuyuko would encounter would be the question of a job. her idea definitely raised some brows at the employment exchange – but somehow it worked. maybe the paperwork gods were on her side that day. 

just like that, fuyuko was her own agency, her own boss. a private detective. it was the thought that had been rummaging through her head for a few months now, however she had never thought that it would become reality. 

now, just because it was written on paper, didn’t mean that it would work out. it took a few weeks and lots of calls – back and forth, discrete advertising and finally she got something, her first case !!! 

the first case: the woman seemed rather unbothered, however she still wanted to find out if her husband was cheating or not. she had mentioned lots of money being involved and her just knowing that the dearest husband was up to no good. fuyuko had no problem stalking the man, documenting his every step and providing the wife with more than enough information – after all, fuyuko had an endless amount of patience, her work was driving her and she just needed to find out the truth. and the pay was good. 

she now lives a bit more peacefully, knowing that her dreams had worked themselves out and that she has a rather stable income and a reason to stay. 

characteristics. 

fuyuko isn’t afraid of taking risks, however most of the time she is a rather calm person. in general, she has a positive view on things and is self-assured. 

she is candid and honest and will always prefer to be straight-forward with others even if her words could hurt the other’s feelings – so some might find her too blunt, some might think her honesty is a fresh breath of air. 

fuyuko has an independent soul and usually doesn’t like being told how to live: she knows what’s best for herself and will always do whatever she feels like doing. 

it is easy for her to read other’s emotions and body-language, often noticing if anything is off rather quickly.

what she can’t stand are selfish people and she doesn’t tolerate much bullshit as she can usually tell whenever she is getting herself into a useless / waste-of-time-type situation. 

it is rather fun to be around fuyuko as she can be spontaneous and will always try to cheer the other person up whenever she can. random dates and day trips are always on the list! 

she will always try to be there for her loved ones when they need her the most – she also doesn’t like to hold grudges and prefers to leave them in the past. 

sometimes she will get herself into trouble as she can be relentless and daring, often not caring in what kind of dangerous situation she is getting into. 

wanted connections.

guidance: the first friend fuyuko made when she came to dallyeog – someone who showed her around seoul and made her feel more comfortable. 

drinking buddies: someone who comes around after work and they just have a good old bottle of soju together while ranting about life and maybe gossiping about others !

new friends: someone she just met but they immediately clicked and now can’t stop hanging out with each other. 

a job: maybe your muse needs to find something out and fuyuko can definitely help them out – with a big friendship discount, of course. 

night drives: sitting around for hours in a car isn’t too strange for fuyuko, however having company while driving through the city at night while talking about anything and everything would be way better. 

the fall: maybe while trying to peek through a window or something, fuyuko falls and twists an ankle ( or worse ) and isn’t able to move around much. your muse volunteers to take care of her for the time being. 

romantic connections: don’t hold back ladies wink wonk... no i’m serious anything would be nice (??)

[jq37]

The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 5  Lapin’s Big Day

Aftermath

Right before the stream for this episode started, I saw the title and I thought, “Lapin’s Big Day? After last episode, how could it get any bigger?”

…

So, anyway, as you remember, while Lapin was mic dropping over at the jail, with Theo and Cruller, the rest of the candy crew were en route to their quarters and everyone is feeling the gravity of the situation. Jet is trying to stand in the prime position to protect anyone who might need protection. Ruby (who has given one of the watersteel daggers she took--and which were apparently never confiscated from her--to Jet) is vigilantly looking for escape routes as they walk and she’s so anxious that Yak flies up and starts helping her scout. 

As Jet talks about the changes she wants to make once she’s “king” (including considering installing Ruby as queen--platonically--which Ruby feels sends too Lannister a message) the more magically inclined members of the party (Ruby and Liam) feel a swell of magic. Liam feels like the earth around them is speaking and Ruby feels a welling up of Candian magic. Not only that, she sees a ghostly glimpse of both Lazuli and Rococco (who is smiling at Jet), but she thinks she might be seeing things and doesn’t tell Jet.

Liam asks Amethar if he’s in trouble and wonders again if he should just take off. Amethar says that they’ll protect him and, if he has to run, they’ll find him. 

When they reach their quarters, they’re met by Amethar’s cheese friends who are clearly upset by the assassination attempt and offer their protection. Amethar says they can handle themselves and they should worry about Primsy. Once inside the room, the kids start full Home Alone-ing it full of booby traps and Amethar sends for Cruller, Lapin, and Theo. 

And, speaking of, they, along with Grissini and a garrison of imperial soldiers are on their way to arrest Alfredi. Grissini is clearly nervous and asks Lapin to tag-team the arrest with him so it will have the weight of the church. Cruller thinks it will look bad if there are too many Candians involved in this arrest so, when the Tartguard shows up looking for them, he decides to leave Alfredi to them. Before he goes, Lapin suggests he look into boats for a possible speedy exit in the near future. Lucky for them (presumably, though I guess we’ll see) the people most likely to have spare boats are their friends, the Dairy Islanders.

Everybody else enters the Great Food Pyramid where Alfredi is talking to Senator Ciabatta in the presence of a bunch of Ceresian military (the actual Ceresian military, not Imperials like Grissini). Grissini goes into business mode and starts the formal arrest and Alfredi isn’t pressed about it until Lapin jumps in and asserts his authority as Primogen at which point she is suddenly outraged. Lapin publicly asserts that she made the daggers (gasps from the crowd) which she denies. Ciabatta for his part steps aside and lets the arrest happen. Alfredi tries to run but Grissini’s men tackle her and perp walk her out.     

Ciabatta is being awfully chill about this whole thing and he kinda seems like he’s waiting for everyone to leave so he can talk to Lapin. Theo goes to make sure Alfredi gets properly jailed. Once they’re gone, Ciabatta says that Lapin was very bold to come in and arrest Alfredi basically on her home turf, a compliment Lapin demurs. Ciabatta suggests taking a walk and Lapin agrees. Before they leave, Ciabatta looks at some of the other senators who were also with them but on a Nat 1, gleans no info. Ciabatta says that it’s a little odd that with all the might of Ceresia, no one thinks they’re a big enough target to take down with back to back assassination attempts. He does not seem to have a high opinion of Alfredi and offers Lapin a chance to come with him on a sneak mission (along with anyone Lapin wants to bring) to figure out what’s what on Alfredi. Lapin agrees and gives him a card with Illusory Script so that whatever messenger he sends will hand it back to him as a calling card and he can verify it’s legit.

He tries to get a read on Ciabatta to see what this guy is about and on a 19 Insight and a 24 History, he knows that he clawed his way from the bottom of the social pecking order to become a senator 4 years ago. He’s a great fighter, a war hero, and he “rules”.

At the jail, Theo makes sure Alfredi is secured (she’s gagged in addition to being bound so she can’t cast spells) and then heads back to the Candian quarters.

Rewards and Recon 

Once everyone is back together, Amethar sends Lady Donetta to entertain the Swirlies so he only has the people he truly trusts in the room. They lock the door, Ruby magics up some music to mask their conversation, and then Amethar declares that, as of now, secretly but officially, they are at war with whoever is trying to kill him. The kids all offer themselves up as spies/protection but Amethar is not about them risking themselves like that. 

As they discuss that, a Tartguard shows up and announces that the winners of the unfinished tournament are being honored, meaning Theo (who unhorsed--unmeeped?--Plumbline) and Liam (who was leading the archery competition) have been summoned to the emperor to receive their boons. Liam’s is just a cabinet appointment basically but Theo’s requires thought because he gets to nominate a candidate for emperor. They consider nominating Plumbeline as a good faith gesture but Amethar thinks it will probably be bad for politics to have an unbroken line of succession. Ruby think about Annabelle but they all agree it’s a bad idea (and she’s cool enough as is). Theo suggests Caramelinda but Jet, knowing her mom and her isolationist tendencies, thinks it’s a bad idea. Theo’s name is thrown in but he doesn’t think it’s a good idea and Liam suggests his traitor dad which Cruller full, like, soda out of his nose laughs at. Cruller also suggests nominating Amethar himself as a safe option, even though he’s already a lock, because there are some legal/procedural protections he gets that way. 

Lapin tells everyone about the meeting with Ciabatta and Ruby and Jet volunteer to go with him (when Ciabatta sends for him) and Amethar goes with Theo/Liam to the emperor while Cruller holds down the fort. Liam casts Pass Without Trace on everyone for some extra sneaking mojo.  

The winners and Amethar make their way to see the emperor and run into Annabelle, the other champion, on the way. Plumbeline is there too and she apologizes to Theo who accepts it gracefully. Liam fully puts his foot in his mouth and asks Annabelle why she didn’t want to marry and she just goes off on him and his lack of tact, finishing with some Charm School 101 and the advice that he should, when he meets someone, give a simple compliment not related to appearance or anything personal and then bail from the conversation. Advice that he immediately uses in the next scene when he meets the emperor and says, “I really like your infrastructure,” and I cannot explain to you how good that setup/payoff was, you just have to watch it.

Annabelle says that there are two things she really wants (one for herself and one for her country) then asks that the emperor request that the Pontifex release Stilton Cordeau (the suspicious little cheese dude Primsy was flirting with) from his Bulbian vows (including celibacy)--he entered the clergy young and then his older brothers died at sea--so he can marry Primsy. The Candians gathered are flipping out internally but can’t really say anything without causing a huge scene and probably an international incident (AGAIN). Theo’s turn is next and he has a lot of angst about who he's gonna nominate to be emp--lol no I’m kidding. Murph pulls out a pre-made scroll irl, unrolls it, and rattles off all of Amethar’s titles, nominating him, obviously.

Official business taken care of, everyone but Amethar and Plumbeline leave. Once outside, Liam expresses surprise to Annabelle that Primsy has a love interest (I half expected Annabelle to accuse him of TMI again) and Annabelle says they’ve kind of been seeing each other since they were young but it was complicated what with her having other official suitors and him being promised to the church. Theo thinks this is a way for the Bulbian church to get into politics more directly by putting one of their guys in power but Annabelle thinks they’re pretty in it already. When asked by Theo, Annabelle says she doesn’t really care about Cordeau but she’s OK with him if he makes Primsy happy. When asked by Theo if she cares about Primsy (Charisma Check, disadvantage--rolls a 2) she gets really upset and basically tells him to F off and leaves.

Back in the room, Uvano tells Amethar point blank, get ready buddy. It’s you. Amethar asks if he can appoint Plumeline to his council and she seems very happy about that. Uvano tells his daughter to get the official papers to declare it but Plumbeline says the Pontifex is holding on to them for some reason. He says to get them, even if she has to disturb her.         

Speaking of, Onionpatch (the Primogen from Greenhold) shows up at the Candian Quarters to fetch Lapin on behalf of the Pontifex. That’s basically a summons from God so he has to go, even though he has that meeting with Ciabatta. He trusts Ruby and Jet to go in his stead and leaves with him. 

Ruby and Jet have a little chat about how they’re always treated like children (though it’s probably partially their fault) and Cruller is like girls, we let you in on the war council today and you’re going on a spy mission in like ten minutes. We respect you.  

A Tartguard shows up with Lapin’s note (Zac, with a successful roll, retcons that he in the moment made it so that his friends could read his secret message/watermark too) now with added info, the symbol of a bakery. They sneak over to the bakery (Ruby the rogue getting a crazy 36) and they spot Ciabatta dressed in peasant clothes (as they also are). They sneak to an abandoned but gated palazzo (big, fancy, Italian-y house) outside the Great Food Pyramid and break in. As they enter, an assassin tries to get the drop on them but Ciabatta ices him immediately and takes the guard as proof that this is Alfredi’s secret house. There’s a lot of Bulbian imagery but Ruby can tell that they’re mismatched and BS, like painting random hieroglyphs on a set piece for flavor.   

Ciabatta opens a door at the top of a set of stairs and they find themselves in an alchemical lab that’s just full of interesting stuff:

Ruby finds pure water and Jet finds mold both super deadly weapons. These are like tools for bioterrorism. They talk about how to get rid of it and Ciabatta says they’ll leave an anonymous tip to someone who can safely handle it. 

Ciabatta finds eye-droppers and, upon using them, his eyes glow like Alfredi’s do, exposing her as a fraud of a miracle worker (I wonder if she has artificer stats).  

Jet finds the schematics for making the water daggers and Ruby can tell that it’s instructions on how to make milk silk in a weird mix of Lacra and Fructerano (both languages she speaks--she must have paid SOME attention in school, or hung out with a bunch of multilingual circus peeps I guess) that would be common in the Yogurt Shoals. The recipe for milk silk is the same as how to make water steel, you just sub some ingredients. Also, Yogurt Shoals is the home of House Bleu! Home of Stilton--the heir--who is now, suddenly, able to marry. Emily feels very vindicated with her pasta/cheese connection from earlier.

Ciabatta finds a bunch of papers and starts burning them or taking them with him. He says that Alfredi was an expert on blackmail collecting (s/t very common in Ceresia) and the room is full of blackmail. He takes the Ceresian blackmail and implies that he’s gonna use it to clean house back home so Cersia can be honest again. 

Jet looks for Candian blackmail and finds none, though she finds notes from the Pontifex about the Profidian Heresy and the Ramsian Doctrine--two terms she doesn’t recognize. 

Anyway, they sneak back out, Ciabatta stone cold carves up the assassin's body for the birds (which begs the question of what the birds are made of but we still have a lot to get through so let’s just keep moving right along) and they part ways. 

Lapin’s Big Day (Part 2)

Lapin is brought to the Pontifex who is, in a word, livid. She asks Lapin where the power of the church comes from and his answer of, “The Bulb and those it shines on,” does not make her any happier. She full SLAPS him and starts ripping him apart for publicly arresting Alfredi--making fools of them and weakening their position with the public--instead of letting the church handle it privately. Lapin says, since Alfredi and Kerradin are in the church, he doesn’t have a lot of faith that the church, as it stands, can handle their own business which was NOT the right thing to say.

The Pontifex gives him an ultimatum: Are you a Candian or a Bulbian official first? Lapin, doing as he’s always done, lies and swears to the church. The Pontifex says that this situation can still be salvaged. Alfredi will be tried privately and hanged publicly (gonna be a real fig leaf of a trial it seems) and then there’s the matter of Candia which is not in good standing with the church. There’s still that little matter of the magic on the Sucrosi Road. Lapin is quick to defend Ruby but it isn’t Ruby she’s targeting. It’s the much easier scapegoat: Liam, the traitor’s son who publicly did magic earlier the same day. She tells Lapin that he will arrest Liam immediately who will be put on trial for witchcraft, a crime with the penalty of death. Obviously torn (to us anyway) Lapin agrees to do it with an, “As you see fit.” He walks out with a group of knights to get the job done.

Back at base, Ruby and Jet fill in everyone on what happened and ask about the two religious terms they saw in the letter from the Pontifex. Nobody knows but there would be records of this stuff in a cathedral somewhere--it’s a big city. Based on what Amethar knows about Pangranos (which he says swings between an ineffective democracy and a destructive imperitorship) it seems like he’s going to try and install himself as imperator--Cersian senators are notoriously corrupt we learned in an earlier episode. They discuss whether the church is trying to get Stilton on the throne for the aforementioned reasons which leads to the news that Amethar was named emperor coming up and everyone is really happy for him.

And then there’s a knock at the door. 

They open up and it’s Lapin with a whole mess of soldiers. The head soldier cedes to Lapin and lets him formally charge Liam of witchcraft on behalf of the church. Amethar (and Jet) are like absolutely not and stand in front of Liam to protect him. Theo Messages Lapin like, “Bro, what is happening? Please tell me this is some kind of plan,” and, Lapin, who knows that he can at least assure Liam a real trial with actual due process and that he won’t get disappeared in the night, thinks this is the lesser of all evils. So instead of fighting, Theo asks if she can give up his weapons and stay with Liam in jail overnight. The request is granted. Liam, in a delayed reaction, flips out (valid) and the princesses promise that they’re gonna be A+ witnesses for him. He asks if he can bring Preston to jail and I thought they would have a problem with that seeing as familiars are a thing but nope. The pig is all good.

Before he’s marched out, Amethar brings Liam close. Liam, so deer in headlights, whispers, “Don’t let them kill me.” Amethar responds that he would die before he let them kill him.    

Liam (with Theo keeping watch) spends the night in a jail cell and wakes up to the sound of bells. The emperor is dead. And, guess what? The papers were never signed. 

The Rocks family goes to the Emperor's chambers where Plumbeline is crying. Amethar comforts her. Jet says that she only took a short rest so she could look up those two religious terms from the letter. She found a book with the info but if she reads it now, she’ll miss Liam’s trial so she takes it with her. Amethar offers Plumbeline an out from going to the church but she wipes her tears and insists on going.     

Liam is brought out. The Pontifex speaks and says the trial is being slightly postponed to deal with the emperor's death. She days the paperwork wasn’t finished but a successor was reportedly named. Amethar kinda prompts Plumbeline who stands and says that she was there when the Emperor named as his successor...Ciabatta. 

Ruby instantly calls her a liar and Amethar stands up and makes his claim (not happy to have to speak against Plumbeline but also not happy with whatever BS she’s pulling). Ciabatta, btw, is not present for this. 

With two competing claims, the Pontifex brings out the Book of Leaves--a Bublian artifact formerly belonging to Amethar’s sister, St. Citrina--which basically has Lasso of Truth powers. Lapin does a check to make sure it’s the real book and not tampered with in any way and on a Nat 20, knows that it’s the real deal *and* that he can glean info about the true nature of the Bulb from it with some more time. While this is going down, Jet is reading and she learns that the Profidian Heresy is an old belief of the church that the Hungry One is as powerful as the Bulb and they eventually decided that couldn’t be true and it was discarded as an official belief. 

Back to the action. The Pontifex asks Plumbeline if her dad really named Ciabatta emperor and she is compelled to tell the truth. No, he didn’t. Amethar comes in for his easy lay-up but, as he walks up, in a little side room, he sees that Manta Ray Jack is chained up and he’s had the crap beat out of him. And the Pontifex has a different question for him: Who is your lawful wedded wife?   

Amethar hems and haws but eventually is forced to admit that he legally married a woman from the Dairy Islands when he was younger and it was technically never annulled because of the war making things complicated.

The Pontifex, who is playing 4-D lightning chess, says that because he never actually divorced his previous wife, his marriage to Caramelinda was never valid which means that Ruby and Jet as bastards and he’s an adulterer in the eyes of the church, grounds for excommunication which she performs at once. Excommunication means no ability to hold land or title which means the crown of Candia moves to the next in line which happens to be Joren Jawbreaker (Liam’s dad--Ruby and Jet can’t inherit bc they’re bastards and Caramelinda has no claim since the marriage wasn’t official) who is in open rebellion with the rest of Calorum. Which means that all of Candia is now in open rebellion with the rest of Calorum. Which means everyone in the room can now be arrested as enemies of the state! 

You *know* everybody’s rolling for initiative, and I’m trying to not hold my breath because it’s gonna be a LONG wait until next Wednesday.       

Things I’m Concerned About

I almost feel like I should have a Things I’m Not Concerned About list this week to save time. What a roller coaster of absolutely insanity. And it’s only episode 5 people. It’s episode 5! You know that chart we all learned in school about rising action, climax, falling action? We’re still way on the bottom of the rising action part! There’s still so much buildup left but where is there left to go? This is like the end of act two of another story! What is happening!? 

Annabelle said she had one request for her and one for her country. Then she asked for something for Primsy which sounds like the country one but I’m not convinced it is. Like, it certainly could be but the phrasing of that and lack of clarification has me wary. 

I’m concerned Jet only got a short rest going into this battle. She got hurt at least some during the fight and I know she doesn’t need to regain spell slots but, like, a million NPCs are gonna be at this fight. This is not the one to come in nerfed. Like, I trust Emily to make judgement calls and Jet probably doesn’t have that much HP so a short rest might have done it but mmm, don’t love this. (Upon rewatch, she did get another short rest during the “who do we nominate” scene so maybe it’s fine but still...). 

I really don’t see a scenario where everyone leaves this fight alive/OK. You know that Smash Bros screen where it’s like, “Everyone’s Here!” That’s what this is like. Like, can you imagine trying to escape the White House surrounded by secret service? Gah, I really feel like I’m gonna be writing a eulogy for a piece of candy this time next week. And, for everybody else, this isn’t a fight you win. This is a fight you escape. I really hope Calroy made good on getting that boat.

Gah, there are so many potentially shady NPCs to talk about. It’s not gonna dig too deep into any of them but just a quick look on where my head’s at:

Ciabatta: Is he corrupt? And it just within his country (and thus, not really the concern of the Candians), or did he put up Plumbeline to nom him? Where was he? Was he not at the trial because it was none of his business or did he not want to be there when things went crazy. What docs did he burn? Just the blackmail on him? What has he done?

Plumbeline: Who put her up to putting up Ciabatta? What does she have to gain from doing that (or lose from not doing it)? It was enough to give up a seat on the council and contravene her father’s dying wish. Did Ciabatta have blackmail on her? Did the church make her do it to have an excuse to question Amethar (maybe when she went to get the papers signed)? What did Ruby miss on her 7 Insight check right before they went to the trial?

Annabelle: Did she really make Stilton a viable heir just for Primsy’s sake or does she have ulterior motives? And are those motives personal or fully in league with some kind of conspiracy--possibly the cheese one in particular.

Pontifex B: OK, so obviously the church is shady. We got that. But what is their angle here? Is it as simple as Candia is doing the magic they don’t like, let’s remove them? And which parts of this (or, more likely, *these*--there’s got to be multiple things in play here) is she actually puppet mastering? I’m sure some of it is just the church being shady just because it is. 

Stilton: I simply do not vibe with anything about him.

Just to put a fine point on it, if I--me irl--was attacked by people back to back, I would assume the attacks were related, but Amethar is a BIG target. It’s very likely multiple sets of people are independently gunning for him and multiple gunners always makes a mystery harder to solve.

Lord and Lady Swirlie are always around but being sidelined. Brennan keeps mentioning them and Amethar keeps stiff-arming them. I don’t know if they keep coming up because they’re secretly relevant or if Brennan is just a good DM (second is true regardless) but hmm. Related but not really a concern per se, I would like to know what Lady Donetta is like. She’s rarely around because she’s usually keeping the Swirlies busy. 

OK, so Lapin. Yikes. He was in a bad position to start with but now, I don’t even know where he stands. He’s a Candian, but just the day before he said he was a Primogen first, right? So, hypothetically, he should be able to escape this and stand with the Pontifex. After all, he’s a miracle worker for all she knows (unless she *actually* knows). You would give your official who was specifically chosen by your god the chance to do the “right thing” right? Would that be a wise choice to make? I could see him doing that so he can be their man on the inside. Lapin doesn’t die but Zac has to use his backup because Lapin is MIA. But if he sides with the Candians, he’s fully persona non grata with the church and he’s already on pretty thin ice. Also, if the worst happens as I suspect and one of the Rocks’ family falls, what position does that put him in with his patron? Yeesh, I would *not* want to be Zac next fight.

Just to also highlight this, very possible that even if we have no deaths, someone gets captured, stuck in a dungeon, and put out of commission for a long stretch of eps. I don’t think the church wants them dead necessarily. Except for Liam who they for sure want dead.

I don’t know how fast news travels in Calorum but Caramelinda is in for a SHOCK. Also, I wonder what was meant by, “What the world took from her”? (Caramelinda’s reason for not really caring about the rest of the world when they’re discussing whether she should be nom’d). Like, is it just general war stuff or something specific? Oh and, in case it wasn’t mentioned before, she’s originally from House Meringue, and that’s her house again now that her marriage is legally invalid. 

I think it was said that Gustavo was a little more lucid this time then when they talked. Then the Pontifex gets the papers and he just dies? Could just be a coincidence, but poison has been established in this story already at least twice and Liam even thought to check for poison (though he wasn’t able to) so I’m keeping an eye out. 

OK, this episode was A Lot so, this week, I’m adding a section to shout out the funniest parts of this episode and it’s called:

Sunny Side Up

Theo barking at the Tartguard, “DO A SADDER DANCE” had me DYING.

As did Murph going through the motions of the nomination conversation like he didn’t have a scroll ready to go that he’d made in advance.

When they Home Alone their room, Ally says, “I have a bunch of micromachines and they’re peppermint.”

When Brennan/Ciabatta was going through pronouns and Jet was like, “Or a spaghetti person,” and Ciabatta was like, “Tbh, that will prob be the case regardless.” Also, the very Brennan double peace signs at the end.

When they’re like, “We should make Preston King,” and Calroy is like, “Emperor,” like that’s the only wrong part of that.

Five A Lot More Things

Lol at Brennan going through the mechanics of the trial like there was ever gonna be a trial. 

Grissini, man. He’s at the fight and while I would not blame him for following orders I would love for him to be exactly who I hope he is and if not fully defect, maybe throw the Candians a sneaky Help action. I know hope only exists to be destroyed in shows like this but I want what I want, OK?

What an exquisitely DM’d episode. Giving the players an agonizing political minefield of a decision in disguise as a reward is brilliant. The jump between the spy stuff and the church stuff and then the whole lead up to the arrest? Like, I knew Liam was gonna take the fall for Ruby from last episode and that was still a gut punch. And then making it seem like Liam’s head was on the chopping block and then BOOM, nope. It’s actually everybody? The uno post by @aydaspastlives is both the funniest D20 post this week and the best description on the insanity that we saw. Most fun I’ve ever had being womped. Well done Brennan.

I realized this episode when I accidentally typed Pete instead of Liam because of the Peppermint alliteration that Pete had a peppermint tooth from like episode 2 onward of TUC. Connections! 

If you follow me for non D&D stuff know I’m very into Six the musical and I can’t hear the word excommunicated with doing it in my head like in Don’t Lose Ur Head which was jarring, as I’m sure you can imagine. 

We were all bracing for bastards but the bastards were with us all along! Very wild. I wonder if/how that reveal would have gone down if Amethar had died. And I really wonder if there is still another child. The Pontifex didn’t mention, but that could be a good pawn for later, both for her or for Brennan. Or someone’s second character, who knows? Also, I very much want to know more about this milk maid and how literal that description is. 

Edit: I can’t believe I forgot to mention this before but the delicious monkey paw-ness of Ruby and Jet continually talking about how they don’t want to be royal and then suddenly being branded bastards in front of everyone? Amazing. Also the little, “Call me that one more time,” from Ruby. So good.

I wonder if the protections Amethar got by Theo naming him do him any good in this situation.  

What does bread bleed, Brennan? Please? Why are you doing this to me? Why are you making me consider this? Also, why would Ciabatta just stick his hand in water like that? My guy, there are better ways to check the deadly poison other than directly handling it. 

Brennan really likes naming important religious concepts, huh? No shade, I genuinely think it’s great. 

I don’t know why I heard, “bacon steel” and I was like, “Plausible,” and then I heard “fruit iron” and I was like, “Absolutely not.”

Oh and just a quick note: Ruby and Jet double leveled last fight so I think they’re all caught up with everyone else now (but Liam might still be one level behind).

One More Thing!

This has absolutely nothing to do with Crown of Candy but I am still, as always, on my BS re: the Abernants and y’all should check out this amazing animatic by @crayfishcoffee. It is, hands down, my favorite piece of D20 fan art, absolutely period. I could literally go off for another thousand words but I’m being indulgent as is so I’ll shut up now. Go watch it! 

[dontasktheradiodemon]

Meeting Over Tea 3/21/2021

Alastor visits Sir Pentious a.k.a. Ruddy @ruddygore to check out his COOL MAD SCIENCE MACHINES (and see whether or not he can’t worm his way into being a helpful part-time henchman to this one too).

They talk about universe-hopping technology and magic, and agree to trade some useful info.

Alastor

Alastor’s got his hair styled all fancy and he smells like somebody who actually showers but like, he’s still dressed the way Radio Demons dress. He only fancies up so far.

He promised lunch if Ruddy let him come over so he’s got like a basket of finger foods, the kind of things that wouldn’t get the way if their primary activity is gonna be walking around and looking at machines. Mainly, the sort of things Penny likes plus the sort of things Telly like plus a couple of odds and ends while he tries to suss out Ruddy’s particular preferences.

Sir Pentious

Ruddy isn't very picky. He USED to be, but you raise twelve kids and have to deal with all of their particular tastes growing up.. and you give up on wanting A FINE GOURMET DINNER JUST SO.

Alastor arrived on the balcony of one of Ruddy's ships, he can see the rest of the fleet docked nearby. Ruddy will give Alastor an Analyzing Once Over, because come on, this is the guy his alternate is dating? Really? But whatever, he supposes love is blind. Come along then, Radio Demon, step inside and come see his portal.

Alastor

He’s gotta take a second to admire that fleet, he hasn’t seen a fleet like that since the sixties... okay he’s ready—oh this snake is Tall. Oh my.

HE KEEPS HIMSELF TOGETHER but wow this snake is Tall

Sir Pentious

This snake is tall! It's all the unchecked ego. He was more reasonably sized a few months ago, but after taking out VOX??? He's all thick scales and amped up cobra breathing. VERY HEAVY, a lot of slithering noise when he moves. He'll check the time on his pocketwatch, then tuck it away, pick his cane up from where it was leaning against the railing, and give Alastor a STERN LOOK. "NO FUNNY BUSINESS, ALASTOR. MY ALTERNATES MAY BE FOND OF YOU, BUT I WILL MAKE MY *OWN* DECISIONS."

Alastor

The MOST INNOCENT LOOK! ... But not quite innocent that it looks suspicious! “I’m not planning any business funnier than a bad pun or two! Your alternates are only fond of me because I treat them with the respect they deserve, and I intend to do no less here.”

Sir Pentious

A slight squint from Hattie, but Ruddy nods. "VERY WELL, ALASTOR. I WILL HOLD YOU TO THAT." A flourish! And he escorts the smaller man to the depths of his airship so Alastor can see the portals set up in the cargo bay, with the eggbois busily cleaning blood from the walls and mush that looked like sinners that went through the blender.

Alastor

He’s determined to win you over too, Hattie, just you wait.

Obviously he’s already grinning, but he’s Really Grinning when he starts seeing the inside of the airship, and Really Super Grinning when he sees the gore. “Test subjects?”

Sir Pentious

"NATURALLY. INNOVATION REQUIRES SACRIFICE, AND WHAT ARE A FEW SINNERS INCONVENIENCED IN THE NAME OF PROGRESS?" Ruddy cackles in that Pentious way, gesturing for the eggbois to drag another sinner in to chuck unceremoniously into the portal set into one wall. They come out on the other side of the room intact, somehow, but proceed to explode a few moments later, a hand bouncing to a stop in front of the two.

Ruddy prods the hand, flicking his tongue. "A DELAYED REACTION, BUT IT IS PROGRESS!"

Alastor

“I’m sure it’s the most productive thing they’ve done down here!”

He watches keenly as another test subject is thrown through, and his invisible audience applauds raucously when they emerge intact from the other portal. When the the sinner explodes, the applause increases to outright cheering. “All in all, very impressive! Know what makes ‘em explode yet?”

Sir Pentious

"OH. YES, I DO, AND I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY PREVENTED AT LEAST ONE DEATH. BUT IT'S SO FUNNY!!!" He grins, all teeth, and gestures for another to get chucked in. "AT THIS POINT I AM JUST TESTING THE LIMITS. HOW MUCH WARPING CAN A BODY HANDLE? THE LESS, THE MORE OF A DELAY BEFORE THE BODY EXPLODES."

Alastor

“And a good scientist certainly keeps experimenting with different variables after getting one success! He must be thorough, mustn’t he?” He watches gleefully as the next is chucked in and laughs when they pop. “Plus it’s a hell of a good show, I’ll give it that!”

Sir Pentious

Preen preen... He smooths down his lapels and rumbles a purr. "A GOOD SHOW..." He hums, tapping a silk encased finger to his lips. "YES! THAT DOES REMIND ME. YOUR ALTERNATE ASKED ME TO BROADCAST SOME CARNAGE FOR HIM, PERHAPS I WILL LET HIM SEE THIS BEFORE I GO SHOOTING ANY OVERLORDS DOWN."

Alastor

“Oh, DID he! I’m sure he’d also enjoy seeing the amazing teleporting blender! And do tell me when that other show’s going to happen, I’ll be sure to tune in!” A caaasual sideways glance. “I’m sure you can handle your own broadcasting needs, but! If you ever find you’d LIKE an on-site commentator at your carnage, I’d happily volunteer myself for the position. There’s too few brawls worth watching these days, much less reporting on.”

Sir Pentious

Ruddy scoffs, but fixes Alastor with a mischievous side eye. "I SEE, THAT'S HOW YOU WON OVER TELLY, HM? ENDLESS FLATTERY. HE DID CALL YOU ENTHUSIASTIC."

Alastor

Oh goodness. He’s talked to Telly. He HADN’T talked to Telly earlier. What did Telly say about him? Enthusiastic??

To his credit, Alastor’s only frozen with panic for a half second. “And every bit of the flattery is sincere! I am a keen fan of your work, sir—and I see no good reason to pretend I’m not.”

Sir Pentious

He's snickering, shoulders shaking slightly as he turns his head away. Like a deer in the headlights, wasn't that the expression? "YES, I'M SURE. GENIUS IS ALLURING, AFTER ALL." And then he immediately switches gears, slithering over to a nearby console to pick up something that looked suspiciously similar to a grocery store barcode scanner. "NOW COME HERE. I HAVE FOUND A USE FOR YOU!!!!"

Alastor

Well THAT’S a very interesting choice of words. Oh he’s gonna ask Telly some questions later.

But if they’re moving on, then Alastor isn’t about to ask what Sir Pentious suspects/knows. “Do tell! I’m all ears.”

Sir Pentious

He gestures with his scanner, pointing it at Alastor with a knowing smirk. Oh, he is so clever. "YOU ARE FROM A DIFFERENT HELL." That doesn't explain things, Ruddy. Try again. "I CAN LOCK ON TO YOUR HOME REALITY AND OPEN A PORTAL THERE WITH *THIS*, AND THEN I'LL HAVE THE COORDINATES LOGGED FOR FUTURE USE. IT WILL BE MY FIRST STEP TOWARDS INTER-DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL!"

Alastor

“Wonderful! What’s involved? Do you scan me?” A nod at the scanner-looking thing. “Or do I carry it home with me, take some readings, and bring it back to you? Or what?”

Sir Pentious

"SCANNING YOU WILL BE ENOUGH TO OPEN A PORTAL TO YOUR HELL. HOWEVER, IF I WANT TO OPEN IT SOMEWHERE *SPECIFIC,* I WILL NEED THE LATTER. HELLS CAN BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, AFTER ALL..." He shrugs. "I DON'T KNOW IF YOU SAW, BUT WHEN YOU ARRIVED WE WERE PARKED OVER THE RUINS OF THE CANNIBAL COLONY OF THIS HELL. IF I OPENED A PORTAL TO THE SAME LOCATION IN YOUR HELL, IN *THEORY* THE OTHER SIDE WOULD LEAD TO SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET ABOVE A MUCH LESS RUINED COLONY. HOWEVER, UNTIL I GET MORE DATA, I AM BEING CAUTIOUS ABOUT OPENING PORTALS WHERE I *THINK* THEY WILL GO. I DON'T NEED TO INVITE ANY OUTSIDE OVERLORDS INTO MY TERRITORY."

Alastor

A surprised jolt. “No, I didn’t notice, actually.” He’d been too distracted by that beautiful fleet.

He considers that. Sound thinking, all around. “While you’re still experimenting with opening portals across dimensions, I’ve found that the Happy Hotel is a remarkably stable location across dimensions—probably why his majesty put a building there to begin with—and, thanks to the princess’s project, it’s fairly reliable neutral ground in all the nearest neighboring dimensions. If you’re being cautious, that might be a safe spot to start.”

Sir Pentious

"THE HOTEL, HM? I HAVEN'T BEEN BACK THERE SINCE THE LOCAL ALASTOR CRUSHED ONE OF MY AIRSHIPS." He gives Alastor a quick scan, then turns to type the information into his console. "PERHAPS I WILL APPROACH THE PRINCESS ABOUT MAKING USE OF HER GROUNDS. NOT AS A GUEST, HOWEVER. I PUT NO FAITH IN THAT REDEMPTION NONSENSE." A press of an overly large button, and lo and behold! the "out" portal shuts down, the in portal reveals a red sky, shimmering like it was being seen through a heat haze.

He takes a moment to look pleased, then gestures for the eggbois to chuck another sinner through.

Alastor

“Hm! Tingly!” He watches the information being entered. “Oh, of course not—the whole redemption thing is ridiculous! But most versions of her I’ve heard about have been perfectly happy to let people use the hotel grounds for other purposes. Management feels it’s good PR for the whole project.”

He blinks curiously at the portal. Well, it sure looks like his Hell—but then again, so do most Hells.

Sir Pentious

Ruddy watches the sinner fall through, slithering closer as the eggbois reel them back in to wait for the explosion.

It doesn't come. He nods. "I WILL KEEP IT IN MIND. THOUGH I DON'T RELISH THE THOUGHT OF LOCAL ALASTOR ALTERNATE BOUNCING OVER THE WAY HE DOES TO ASK THE SAME QUESTION AGAIN EVERY TIME WE MAKE EYE CONTACT. HE WORKS THERE, AFTER ALL, I IMAGINE I'D SEE A LOT OF HIM IF I SET A SCALE INTO THE BUILDING."

Alastor

Well, how about that! Round of applause.

Alastor gives him a curious look. "Same question?"

Sir Pentious

He rolls ALL of his eyes, moving away from the console to scan the sinner with his gun.

"HE ALWAYS ASKS IF HE KNOWS ME. THE SAME JOKE FOR EIGHTY YEARS, ALASTOR. AND HE ONLY SEEMS TO GET MORE EXCITED TO ASK EACH TIME. NOW THAT THE COLONY IS NO MORE, HE PRACTICALLY SPRINTS ACROSS THE CITY IF HE CATCHES A WHIFF OF MY COLOGNE. SURELY HE HAS SOMETHING BETTER TO DO WITH HIS TIME!!"

Alastor

Alastor don’t be weird and smell his cologne. Alastor. Alastor don’t do it.

He puts some serious thought into this pronouncement. “You know... he probably doesn’t.”

Sir Pentious

In Alastor's defense, it's a VERY nice cologne that Ruddy pays obscene amounts to get smuggled in from Earth. Just like the materials he used to make his own suit and gloves.

There's a moment where it almost seems like Ruddy didn't hear him, then the snake turns to slither straight into Alastor's personal space, leaning down to look him in the eyes. Suspicious man. "EXPLAIN, ALASTOR."

Alastor

OH HELLO THERE. He does an impressive job of not leaning back. “He’s probably bored out of his mind! I’M usually bored out of MY mind. If he’s going out of his way to make the same joke over and over? Why, I’m sure it’s one of the few reliable things he’s got that keep on giving him a few minutes of entertainment! So no! He probably doesn’t have anything better to do with his time.” A shrug.

Sir Pentious

A flick of the tongue. The cobra withdraws. Back to poking the protesting sinner with his cane, then. "I SUPPOSE NOT. YOUR BOYFRIEND SAID THE SAME, MORE OR LESS."

He scoffs. "THE MAN SHOULD LEARN TO MAKE FRIENDS, IF HE'S SO DESPERATE FOR ENTERTAINMENT. OR TAKE OUT AN OVERLORD! VOX HAD HALF THE RADIO TOWERS IN THE CITY CONVERTED BEFORE I KILLED HIM."

Alastor

Ignore the weird squeal of radio sound effects there.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but people have a tendency to scream in fear and run away when I say hello. It makes it a little tricky to make friends. And I’m not interested in politics—I took out my share of overlords when I arrived, the prospect of going after MORE sounds less like a fun whim and more like a tedious day job.” He pauses. Very VERY casually, “Is that what he’s calling me?”

Sir Pentious

Ah, there it is. Ruddy hums, twirling his cane around in his hand to suddenly crack the handle against the sinner's skull, sending blood and brain matter splattering across the floor. Can't have them listening in, after all!

"I SUPPOSE MOST SINNERS ARE STILL COWARDS." Ah, perfect, an eggboi with a towel to wipe the bits off his cane. " AS FAR AS WHAT YOU'RE CALLED. WELL. I SPOKE TO TELLY BRIEFLY... AND HE IS EVEN LESS SUBTLE THAN I. HE CRUMBLED UNDER THE SLIGHTEST INQUIRY AFTER PRAISING YOU INCESSANTLY. THE ONLY REASON I AM TELLING YOU THIS IS SO YOU ARE AWARE THAT _I_ KNOW. IT IS NONE OF MY BUSINESS, AND FRANKLY I DON'T CARE. BUT IF YOU WANT TO STAY UNDER THE RADAR, YOU'RE FAILING MISERABLY."

Alastor

“Oh, THAT’S all fine,” says Alastor, who is Not Fine At All, “it’s just the terminology, is all. We haven’t really talked it out yet, see. And ‘boyfriend’ sounds a little... eugh, it’s juvenile, isn’t it?” He makes a bit of a face.

Sir Pentious

There's a loud snort, and Ruddy slithers to the portal to stick his arm through, then withdraw and go to scan that next. "JUVENILE IS PUTTING IT MILDLY. HOWEVER, TELLY IS A VERY JUVENILE INDIVIDUAL. FOR A PENTIOUS, HE BARELY SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING."

Whatever information he got from the scanner seems to please him, a smile stretching across his face as his talons flex. "THOUGH PERHAPS MY STANDARDS ARE TOO HIGH, I DID MEET PENNY FIRST AFTER ALL. A PENTIOUS WHO ESCAPED HELL! I COULDN'T BE MORE PROUD."

Alastor

He bristles slightly, but manages to hold back most of what he’d like to say to that. “He isn’t so juvenile that I’d insult him by calling him a ‘boy’ ‘friend.’”

Alastor doesn’t think escaping Hell ought to be used as a point in that Sir Pentious’s favor, considering that it was due to a lucky relationship rather than due to any sort of maturity—but is he going to be the sort of man who talks up his lover by talking down his best friend? (He’s actually never had to consider this question before.) No, no he is not. Although he does ask dryly, “And you’re so certain Telly *hasn’t?*” Sure, it was for one trip—but it was via the exact same method every single one of them had ever left Hell. “Sounds like he can keep some things under the radar, after all!”

Sir Pentious

Alastor gets another of those analyzing looks, and then a smug nod. "I'M AWARE THAT HE'S BEEN TO OKKYLK, HE TOLD ME THAT AS WELL. MADAME VALERA HELPED HIM THE SAME WAY SHE DID ME. AND PENNY. AND THAT ALASTOR IN HER HOME WHO CROSSED HIMSELF WHEN HE SAW ME. THAT WAS STRANGE."

He _shudders_, memories of Leal's antics playing in his mind before he turns his attention back to his guest. "RELAX, ALASTOR. YOUR _PARTNER_ IS IGNORANT, BUT HE IS A SIR PENTIOUS. HE'S GOT THE INTELLECT WE ALL SHARE, I AM NOT DISMISSING HIS ABILITIES."

Alastor

Huff! “Which one was THAT?”

He offers a tight smile. “No, just his maturity—and I heartily disagree with you. But, I’m not here to argue. Nor to discuss relationships! You see, I’m far less interested in my own amorous entanglements than I am in the cutting-edge technological advancements I came here to discuss!” A nod toward the scanner?

Sir Pentious

The first question is completely ignored by Big Snake, a knowing look crossing his face before he changes tracks straight back to the technological side of things. Blelele..

"YES, MY SCANNER. YOU MAY TAKE THIS AND SCAN WHATEVER AREA YOU DESIRE IN YOUR OWN HOTEL, AND THE COORDINATES WILL APPEAR ON THE DISPLAY UNTIL YOU SCAN ANOTHER SPOT. THEY WILL BE SENT BACK TO MY CONSOLE WIRELESSLY, SO NO NEED TO REPORT BACK TO READ IT OUT. SCAN HOWEVER MANY LOCATIONS YOU LIKE, ONCE I HAVE THE HOTEL I CAN BEGIN MY NEXT TEST."

Alastor

“Wonderful.” He makes no move to take the scanner yet. “I believe we’d also discussed the possibility of a mutual exchange of information? See if any of my magic might help you speed up your science and vice-versa?”

Sir Pentious

The suspicious squint is back on Hattie's.. face? "WE DID. THOUGH I'M CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT MY TECHNOLOGY CAN DO FOR A MAN OF MAGIC LIKE YOURSELF."

Alastor

Snaps fingers; a portal opens, his grimoire hops out and flips open, and a massive, elaborate star chart unfolds. It’s a giant complex system of precise lines and coordinates narrowed down to the fifth decimal point, glowing red, almost all of them changing second by second. “You’d be surprised how much math there is in my line of work.” All pure astrology, baby.

“THIS helps me do THIS.” A dramatic gesture, a surreptitious blood offering, and a portal opens behind Alastor. Through it, clear blue sky shines. “And it could probably help YOU get there just a little bit faster, too. Magic might not require as many microchips, but it’s got to find passages between dimensions and create temporary connections between distant locations, just like anything you’re making. We’re running on different machinery but it all relies on the same underlying laws of physics, it just exploits them in different ways. If I know how yours exploits them, it could help ME find ways to exploit them—and the same goes for you.”

He thumps his knuckles on his grimoire. “The spell I’ve got here lets me open a portal anywhere—provided that it’s on my Earth, because the location system built into the spell is based on a geocentric astrological model of the universe that’s only capable of spitting out coordinates on Earth’s surface. If I know how YOUR machine determines its coordinates, I might be able to find a way to substitute it in for this spell’s current coordinate system.”

Sir Pentious

Ruddy slithers backwards when the grimoire appears, all his eyes flicking around to watch Alastor explain himself and his thinking from a safe, or at least safer, distance. He may not have bad blood with the radio demon, but he wasn't an idiot.

His tongue flicks towards Alastor's portal to Earth, tasting the faint scents of something once familiar. Seeing a sky so blue... No. He shakes his head. Focus, Pentious.

"INTERESTING. ASTROLOGY AS A GUIDING FORCE. DID YOU LIFT THAT FROM STOLAS?"

He doesn't bother waiting for an answer, he doesn't actually care. "REGARDLESS. FOR MY EXPERIMENTS ON EARTH, I'D INTENDED TO USE THEIR SATELLITES. CELL TOWERS. ALL THAT AND MORE. THEY HAVE PLENTY OF TECHNOLOGY DEDICATED TO TRACKING PRECISE COORDINATES, A SMALL MATTER TO GET THAT TO SPEAK TO MINE. FOR HELL, HOWEVER, IT'S ALL ABOUT.. I SUPPOSE TUNING IN TO DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES. YOU'RE A MAN OF THE RADIO, YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT I MEAN. YOU RESONATE AT THE FREQUENCY NATIVE TO YOUR HELL, MY SCANNER CAN TUNE IN TO THAT, AND THEN THE COORDINATES COME AFTER. FREQUENCY, LOCATION, IN THAT ORDER."

Alastor

Well, if he’s moving on, then Alastor’s not going to waste time on explaining where he got the spell!

“So your plan for Earth is close to what I’m already doing—it’s just that the satellites I’m tuning into are the planets and the satellites you’re tuning into are manmade.” He rubs his chin thoughtfully. “I’d still like to see how you do it—if nothing else, they should be useful on a few more planets than Earth, and I work better with radio waves than I do with astrology.” It might even be easy to modify them to work on AM frequencies instead of cell phone frequencies.

Those Hell frequencies, though... Alastor shuts his eyes for a moment, seeing if he could detect that particular frequency himself. He didn’t even know if it was something within range of his own powers. “Are these frequencies only specific to Hell—or could you potentially use them to reach anywhere in any dimension? And if you’re getting the coordinates from that scanner doohickey, I take it you don’t even need cell towers for that.”

Sir Pentious

Ruddy puffs his chest, fixing his already perfectly even bowtie as he preens. "I HAVE TO DO MORE EXPERIMENTS, ALASTOR, BUT *THEORETICALLY!!!* THE FREQUENCIES COULD BE USED TO REACH ANY REALITY I PLEASED. THOUGH AS OF NOW MY SAMPLE SIZE IS YOU AND VALERA, AND I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO SCAN HER YET." And that's assuming he CAN scan Valera, her whole... Singularity thing, may make it more challenging. Not that *he* knows that yet!

"I DON'T NEED CELL TOWERS! THOUGH TRYING TO TAKE IT TO DIFFERENT REALITIES WOULD LIKELY BE ENOUGH TO BREAK THE LINK, I HAVEN'T...." A sudden thought, and he whips around to rip open the side of the console. "UNLESS I ADD PORTAL TECHNOLOGY TO MY OWN SCANNER OF COURSE!" Here comes that Pentious Cackle all over again.

Alastor

He waits politely for the cackle to finish. What a lovely sound. “So, hypothetical question—say you want to visit somewhere you’ve never been before. You know the dimension is there, you’ve talked to people from it—but you’ve never physically met them because they don’t have the ability to jump between dimensions and visit you first. So you can’t scan them and can’t pass off your scanner to them to grab coordinates for you. Are there other ways for you to get that information and manually enter it?”

Sir Pentious

Pentious freezes mid... whatever the hell he's doing to those poor wires, head tilting dramatically to one side as his face scrunches. "... I BELIEVE SO, YES. THEY HAVE AN INTERNET CONNECTION THEY ARE COMMUNICATING TO YOU THROUGH, SO THE INFORMATION IS BEING BROADCAST *SOMEWHERE*. IT IS A MATTER OF TRACING THAT, UNSCRAMBLING IT..." Oh here comes an eggboi, holding a tray above its head with a cup of tea and a heavily abused leatherbound journal. Both are snatched up, the tea held in the elegantly coiled tip of Ruddy's tail as he fiddles the journal open and finds a blank page to start scrawling on.

Give him a minute while he mumbles under his breath, or as close to it as a giant snake man can get. He's having a moment of genius.

Alastor

Don’t mind him as he scootches over to try to see what Sir Pentious is writing. He gets on his toes to try to get a better view. Considering that the snake’s got like three feet on him, this may not actually help. But by God he’s trying.

Sir Pentious

It's easy to ignore Alastor's efforts, but Ruddy moves seemingly automatically, twisting his body around Alastor to maneuver the smaller man between his chest and the journal. There, an unrestricted view. More than that, he starts explaining.

"AS I SAID, THE SIGNAL IS BROADCAST, AND I CAN ASSUME IT'S THROUGH THE PLATFORM WE ALL USE. NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR COORDINATES? I CAN, MOST LIKELY, FIND WHERE THEY'RE STORED, AND THEN USE THE SAME PATH FOR OTHER PEOPLE."

Alastor

“Oh.” He just got grappled/embraced to have a bunch of Science shown to him. “Brilliant.” Is his voice is a little higher than it should be? AHEM. “I suppose that wouldn’t be usable to reach ANY dimension, but it takes care of any with v#xblr...” A thought occurs to him. “Say. With blockhead dead, does that put you in charge of all his networks in this universe?”

Sir Pentious

"I'M NOT WORRIED. WITH ENOUGH OF A PRECEDENT I SHOULD BE ABLE TO START MAKING EDUCATED GUESSES ABOUT OTHER UNIVERSES. ONCE YOU LEARN HOW TO FRY AN EGG ONE WAY, YOU CAN FIGURE OUT THE OTHERS!!" Ruddy that didn't make sense.

Oh right, a question. No time to cackle, he has to stroke his hood and preen more. "IT DOES!! ALL HIS RESOURCES ARE MINE, INCLUDING HIS NETWORKS, THE POWER GRID, HIS WEALTH.. AND HIS PATENTS. NOT THAT I HAVE ANY USE FOR THEM!"

Alastor

Alastor nods. That makes perfect sense. One experience with eggs... can lead to many experiences with eggs.

“He has PATENTS?” Alastor laughs. “Who the hell did he steal them from?!” Oh but that’s not what he was going to talk about. “Now, no promises, but I MIGHT have a solution to your local Radio Demon problem.”

Sir Pentious

Looks like they're done talking about science now, time for Ruddy to unwind himself from around Alastor and put a polite distance between them again. "DO TELL, ALASTOR."

Alastor

“If you’ve got all of the boob tube’s holdings, then you’ve got his television and radio towers. Now, I can’t speak on behalf of an alternate of myself that I’ve never met before—but out of the ones I’ve met? Four out of five, if you offered them a couple of towers in exchange for a promise not to make one specific stupid joke, they’d fall all over themselves to take the bargain. Can’t imagine you have much use for most of those towers in your line of work anyhow; I doubt you’d feel the loss if, say, VSPN suddenly started broadcasting show tunes instead of hockey matches.”

Sir Pentious

A bribe, basically. He can understand the logic, what's a radio demon without a station? Give Alastor a few towers, get him off his tail. Hopefully permanently, but at least for most of the day while he was busy playing radio host. Hmm..

Ruddy slithers in a slow circle, ignoring it completely when an eggboi vaults into the middle of the mound of scales and muscle. "PERHAPSSS.. I HAVE LEFT THOSE STATIONS RUNNING NORMALLY, THEY NET ME A TIDY PROFIT. BUT I'M SURE I'LL SURVIVE WITHOUT THEM, IF IT GETS THAT FOOL TO STOP TACKLING ME. LET THE RADIO DEMON USE THOSE CHANNELS. "

Alastor

“You could always build a couple of replacement towers for the channels you’d be giving up for him. Or, hell, make a couple of fresh ones just for him to play with. After all, you’ve got the capital and the resources for it—and he doesn’t.”

Sir Pentious

"AND YOU REALLY THINK THAT WOULD BE ENOUGH TO DISTRACT HIM FROM EIGHTY YEARS OF HIS INCESSANT NONSENSE?" Well, why not? Alastor was right after all, he had the resources to spare. It would cost almost nothing from his perspective...

He taps at his chin, eyes narrowing. "PERHAPS. BUT DEALING WITH THE RADIO DEMON HAS A WAY OF COMING BACK TO BITE ONE IN THE *ASS*, FROM WHAT I'VE HEARD. I HAVE NO GUARANTEE THAT HE WOULD STICK TO HIS END OF THE BARGAIN."

Alastor

“No, I don’t think it would be enough to *distract* him. But I *do* think that if you make a proper deal with him, he won’t violate it just for the sake of making a stupid joke. Make his ownership of those towers contingent upon his ability to restrain himself from making stupid jokes at your expense. Hell, throw a restraining order in if you want! Put in a couple of clauses defining what happens if the contract is breached, to ensure that souls don’t get involved—if he makes his dumb jokes, you get the towers back; if you destroy or seize his towers, he regains his current freedom to pester you, nothing more than that. I can help you draft up the contract if you want—“ he laughs, “or refer you to some reputable neutral parties to draft it if you don’t trust a Radio Demon to help arrange a contract with a Radio Demon. Because you’re certainly right, dealing with me typically ends VERY badly, no point denying that—but usually that’s thanks to poorly-worded deals that let me get away with more than I ought to! With an airtight contract, I can’t do anything but what the contract says I can.”

Sir Pentious

Look at the face scrunch on that snake. "I WILL TAKE IT INTO CONSIDERATION, ALASTOR. BUT I WILL GO TO A NEUTRAL THIRD PARTY. AS YOU SAID, I WOULDN'T TRUST A RADIO DEMON I BARELY KNOW TO NEGOTIATE IN MY FAVOR AGAINST HIS OWN ALTERNATE. YOU MAY BE THE MOST LIKELY TO ALLY WITH SERPENTS, BUT YOU ARE STILL WHAT YOU ARE."

A shrug, and he takes his tea to give a cautious sip. Ah, good. Drinkable. Perhaps he'll try some of that food Alastor brought, too, before he forgets... "DID YOU WANT SOME COFFEE, ALASTOR? I ASSUME YOU DON'T CARE FOR TEA, IF YOUR ALTERNATE IS TO JUDGE BY."

Alastor

“Of course! If I were you, I wouldn’t trust me either! I don’t plan on giving you any reasons to doubt my intentions, I can wait to prove I’m trustworthy.”

A hand on his chest. “Very thoughtful of you! Yes, thank you.” He’ll just set that basket up on a table where it’s easier to access everything inside.

Sir Pentious

Ruddy hesitates a moment, then pulls out his phone to send a text off. Here comes a very fancily painted eggboi, a chair held over their head as they run on their tiny legs. Good, he DID have chairs in storage, he wasn't certain. "HAVE A SSSEAT. YOU ARE A GUEST, AFTER ALL." As far as he goes, he will coil up on himself to nibble this finger food.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT MY MACHINES, ALASTOR? THE SCANNER, THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND IT?"

Alastor

“Thank you!” And sit he will, like the guest he is! “And yes, actually! How many are you willing to put up with?”

Sir Pentious

"FIVE." A sip of his tea.

Alastor

Ooh. It’s a game now. He rubs his hands together, sorting through his questions carefully. “I’m going to assume that includes follow-up questions.” Where to begin... “Well, let’s start with the important part! In as close to layman’s terms as you can get—how, exactly, DOES this thing open up portals to other dimensions? I think we’ve only really discussed how to find coordinates, not how you reach them once you’ve got them!”

Sir Pentious

Now *that's* a good question. Ruddy grins over his tea, flicking through his journal before sliding it Alastor's way. "THROUGH MEANS OF HARNESSING HELL'S *ABUNDANT* ENERGY INTO A SINGLE POINT, I CAN MANIFEST A CONNECTION TO THE FOURTH DIMENSION I MAY TRAVERSE. OR *WHATEVER* THEY CALL IT THESE DAYS. IT INVOLVES SOME DISTORTION OF TIME AS WELL AS SPACE, SINCE YOU CANNOT TRULY MOVE FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT. BUT WHO NEEDS TO, WHEN YOU CAN SIMPLY WRINKLE REALITY TO CONNECT TWO POINTS? IF THE UNIVERSES ARE LAYERS OF FABRIC, I AM PUTTING IN STITCHES AS I PLEASE TO BRING THEM TOGETHER. FEEL FREE TO GLEAN WHAT YOU CAN FROM MY JOURNAL! I USE A CIPHER, BUT THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE ACCURATE TO MY THOUGHTS."

Alastor

His eyes brighten. “Like a...?” No, that would count as a question, he can hold onto that thought. He flips open the journal—and then, after a moment of thought, pulls out the loose pages detailing his spell and slides them over to Sir Pentious. “Most of it’s ritual and sigil, but there’s some buried in there on the mechanics that the magic is operating on, if you want to try to compare. I haven’t deciphered all of it myself, honestly—but if I HAD, I would’ve been Albert Einstein’s lab assistant instead of a radio host.” He starts looking through the journal, fascinated (as much by the cipher as by the illustrations), trying to see how much of it looks familiar.

Sir Pentious

The pages are accepted, silk gloves skimming over the sigils as Ruddy tries to parse what he's looking at. As long as he thinks of it as a rival's cipher, he can try to imagine what the seeming nonsense is saying. The hand not holding the papers wiggle fingers through the air, mumbling to himself as he pantomimes his way through math equations. It wasn't a one to one comparison, obviously, but there were enough similarities to be interesting, at least on the superficial level. Further research may be required after all, even if he hated to admit it.

Alastor

And just enough in Sir Pentious’s notes was familiar enough to nearly make sense. It was like trying to read music in measurements of Hertz and Decibels versus trying to read music in treble and bass clefs—two different systems to convert the same sounds into print.

He makes a “look here” whistle as he slides Sir Pentious’s journal over so he can compare one of the illustrations to a doodle Alastor left in the margins of his notes when he was trying to conceptualize the overlap between the mortal realm and the postmortem realm. They look pretty similar to him, and it tickles him.

Sir Pentious

Oh, those did look similar, didn't they?

... He's going to take it as a sign of his genius, figuring out the inner workings of magic beyond the average sinner entirely by accident. A smug smile stretches across his face, the strength of his raspy cobra purrs enough to vibrate the table beneath him. And here comes that fancy eggboi again, with a mug of fresh coffee to scoot onto the table in front of Alastor, complete with a biscotti.

"MY BRILLIANCE SURPASSES MY OWN EXPECTATIONS, I SEE. THERE IS POTENTIAL IN THESE PAGES."

Alastor

He picks up his coffee to save it from the vibrations. And a biscotti, no less! How fancy. They know how to treat coffee drinkers around here.

“You might benefit from learning a bit of magic! Not because I think you ought to switch fields—you, sir, will do a hundred times more with machinery than we could ever do with magic—but I bet you’d have a knack for decoding what all us magicians are doing half by instinct and dragging it into the world of science.”

Sir Pentious

The eggboi offers Alastor a curtsy, then scampers over to start running a cloth over Ruddy's scales. Gotta make sure his boss is shiny!

Ruddy ignores the egg entirely, mulling over Alastor's suggestion with expression ranging from disgust to consideration, then back. He shakes his head, lifting his tea for a sip. "NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! ..... WELL. MAYBE. I *SUPPOSE* I C--NO!!" A pause... "*WELL*..." Face scrunch. Shoulder shrug.

Alastor

How does he get that egg boi’s job? Tries not to stare too much.

He bites the inside of his mouth to fight the urge to laugh at that impressive face journey. “I’m sure you have plenty else to fill your time without diving into the occult!”

Sir Pentious

The eggboi doesn't notice the staring, humming happily while they move from the tip of Boss Man's tail and up. Turns out Ruddy can be moved around with a good poke to his underbelly.

The man looks like he sucked a lemon, but sighs heavily and gives up. "TRUTHFULLY, I HAD CONSIDERED THE OPTION BEFORE. BUT IT ISN'T EXACTLY A BEGINNER FRIENDLY PRACTICE, AND I HAVE NO INTEREST IN WASTING TIME WITH THE *BULLSHIT* CRYSTALS AND INCENSE THESE CADS PASS AS MAGIC THESE DAYS. IF I WILL BE STUDYING ANY MAGIC, EVEN IN A PRACTICAL SENSE, I EXPECT THE *PROPER* MATERIALS. THOSE ARE DIFFICULT TO FIND, EVEN IN HELL."

Alastor

He perks up! "I could recommend some authors? Both antemortem and postmortem texts—quality antemortem texts generally offer a good grounding in the theory of magic, postmortem ones assume prior study and are written by occultists who have the liberty to just ask fallen angels if they want to co-author. And really, if all you want is to study how it works, a few good books are all the materials you need! Unless you intend to experiment?"

Sir Pentious

Ruddy gives Alastor a withering look, ruined only by his tongue flicking out in a frilly little waggle. "DO YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD STUDY A MEDIUM AND *NOT* EXPERIMENT WITH IT, ALASTOR?"

Alastor

A shrug! "It depends on what you're studying it for, I imagine. Still! Even if you do experiment, there's plenty you can do with a piece of chalk, a starter spice rack, and an obsessive sense of focus! What kind of magic have you been looking into that needs rare materials?"

Sir Pentious

"I WONT BE SHARING *THAT* INFORMATION WITH YOU JUST YET, ALASTOR. THOUGH IF YOU BEHAVE YOURSELF LONG ENOUGH, PERHAPS I *WILL*." Oh yes, that's a smirk on that snake's face. "SUFFICE TO SAY, THE CONCEPTS IN MY MIND ARE AS ELABORATE AS MY MACHINES. IF THEY WORK, THEY WILL BLEND SEAMLESSLY WITH MY DESIGNS."

His tea is emptied in one last dainty little sip, the cup set aside and quickly spirited away by a second fancy egg, this one done up in a red, gold edged diamond pattern. A true Faberge eggboi. Now those hands are free to wave around as Ruddy speaks, which is either a boon or a curse depending on how much Alastor enjoyed watching him flail around on a whim.

Alastor

That’s just the slightest bit ominous. “Well, I don’t plan to *stop* behaving myself any time soon, but... Do be cautious with it. I’m sure you take all necessary precautions when working with new techniques, but magic can be particularly unforgiving if one’s ambitions outstrip one’s experience.”

Fortunately, he’s perfectly content to watch Sir Pentious gesture wildly. He tries to catch sight of the fancy egg’s number as it leaves. *Those* are certainly a new addition.

Sir Pentious

The fancy egg leaving with the empty cup is #88, laid out on the back in an overly ornate font. Only a few of the eggbois seem to be done up in fancy paints and metals, most of them the humble eggboi classic. The fancy ones seem to be allowed to interact with Ruddy personally without getting launched across the room.

Speaking of, the eggboi polishing the Boss Man has now climbed onto the table, sitting obediently as Ruddy drums his claws over the enameled shell. A little wave is directed at Alastor, but it keeps uncharacteristically quiet. As does Ruddy, for all of two seconds. "THE CONCERN IS... *APPRECIATED*." Getting that out was like spitting tacks, but he carries on. "I WILL BE CAUTIOUS. AND ACCEPT YOUR SUGGESTIONS OF AUTHORS." Accepting help. Disgusting.

Alastor

Huh. Alastor wonders if Sir Pentious has a thing for doubled numbers. He’ll have to pay attention to the other fancy ones.

And here Alastor expected Sir Pentious to get offended by the concern. (He suspects Sir Pentious still IS offended, but at least he’s not taking it out on Alastor.) “I’ll go through my personal library and send you a list of recommendations soon.”

Sir Pentious

Ruddy tik tik tiks his claws on the eggboi, letting out something that could have been a sigh or a hiss. Look at him, having a *casual conversation* with the radio demon. This was dangerous, no matter how much of a snake fetish this man seemed to have. "AND WHAT DO YOU WANT IN EXCHANGE FOR THIS, ALASTOR? I CAN HARDLY EXPECT SOMETHING FOR NOTHING, ESPECIALLY NOT FROM YOU."

Alastor

Alastor's brows go up. What does he WANT? He doesn't want anything. Nothing concrete, at least. He wants to see Sir Pentious learn to reverse other overlords' magic tricks. He wants to prove himself useful to Sir Pentious. Nothing more than that.

But there would be no faster way to gain Sir Pentious's suspicion than by claiming he's helping out of the goodness of his heart. If Alastor says he doesn't want anything, Sir Pentious might refuse to take Alastor's help all together. After a quick moment of thought—something harmless, something that will be as low-effort for Sir Pentious as collecting a few names will be for Alastor—he says, "A recording of your next fight, if you'd be so kind. It need not be high quality—I'm primarily interested in the audio, anyway." Play up the harmless fanboy angle, it's probably the persona that can get Alastor past Sir Pentious's wariness the fastest.

Sir Pentious

A recording of his next fight? That was something he already planned on streaming, but.. a recording wouldn't be hard to arrange. No harder than, say, thinking for a few minutes about what names to suggest for an aspiring scholar of magic to start looking into. It was equivalent. It was *fair*. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. But he couldn't see it biting his tail any way he twisted it. Knowledge for entertainment, books for bloodsport, even.

He nods. "VERY WELL. I WILL SEE ABOUT UPGRADING ONE OF MY SMALLER DRONES WITH A CAMERA. I HAVE PLANS FOR ANOTHER OVERLORD IN THE NEXT DISSSTRICT, YOU'LL GET YOUR BLOODSHED."

Alastor

Mission accomplished. Well done, Alastor. “Oh, do tell! Is it a name I might have heard?”

Sir Pentious

Ruddy pokes his own cheek, cocking his head dramatically to the side as his face scrunches. A name... A name... "ERM... MAYBE? SHE'S HARDLY A MEMORABLE BEING. THE REPTILE. WITH THE.." He mimes around his head, trying to convey big hair, then cups his chest. An *ample* bosom. "MADAME... ZILLA??? MISS ZILLA? MISS LIZARD? I DON'T KNOW. SHE ISN'T STYLISH ENOUGH TO REMEMBER, AND IF THINGS GO WELL SHE'LL BE DEAD SOON ANYWAY SO IT WONT MATTER!!!"

Alastor

Reptile with boobs named after a movie monster. Didn’t ring any bells. “I bet she’d make a lovely coat.”

Sir Pentious

"MAYBE FOR YOU! SHE'S FAR SMALLER THAN I AM, AND HER FLORESCENT YELLOW HAIRDO IS AN AFFRONT TO MY EYES." Unlike his FAR more respectable yellow, of course, which is nothing but pure class. Preen preen.. Oh, he got distracted.

The scanner is slid across the table. "BACK TO BUSINESS. YOU'LL BE NEEDING THIS, I'M SURE."

Alastor

“Ah, right! Of course!” He picks up the scanner. “I lost count of my questions. It’s probably been five, though. Oh, but one on the operation of this.” He taps the scanner, “If I’m going to be picking up viable landing points for you, then probably the best thing I can do is trace the corners of the building and then the corners of the lobby, isn’t it? Otherwise you’ll have to guess where the walls are, and I can’t imagine that would end well.”

Sir Pentious

"CORRECT. I'M GLAD YOU FIGURED THAT OUT ON YOUR OWN, SAVES ME THE BOTHER OF EXPLAINING!" Odds are opening a portal into a wall would be fine, since he could see through the portal before slithering through, but he'd rather not waste more sinners than he had to in foreign hells. Harder to get those back.

"IT WAS EXACTLY FIVE, IN FACT. THOUGH IN FAIRNESS, THEY WEREN'T ALL RELATED TO THE ORIGINAL TOPIC. I WON'T COUNT YOU ASKING AFTER THE NAME OF A RIVAL OVERLORD, SO YOU HAVE ONE LEFT." Sir Pentious smooths his lapels. So great and generous a man, truly. Letting people pry into his genius like this.

Alastor

"Very kind of you! In that case..." Well, all his most pressing questions about the science have been answered, it'll take him a while to think up more. So instead... "What's your goal, visiting out parallel dimensions like this? Alliances, turf, resources? I can't imagine you're expending this much time and effort just to go sightseeing."

Sir Pentious

"A FINE QUESTION, ALASTOR!" He smiles genuinely at the smaller man, though it's quickly wiped away by a tide of smug self importance as he fiddles with his bowtie.

"I HAD LITTLE INTEREST IN TRAVELING THROUGH VARIOUS HELLS UNTIL I MET MY ALTERNATES, AND LEARNED SUCH FEATS WERE NOT ONLY POSSIBLE, BUT APPARENTLY COMMONPLACE! I HAVE LITTLE IN THE WAY OF GOALS BEYOND PROVING THAT I CAN DO IT AS WELL AS ANY MAGIC!" Sir why are you proud of that fact. "ARE THERE USES? CERTAINLY! BUT THEY ARE SECONDARY. I DID NOT START THE PROJECT THINKING OF CONQUEST OR RESOURCES IN THE SLIGHTEST."

Alastor

Oh look, Alastor got honest praise for asking a mundane question. Alastor could get to like this snake, he knows how to hand out cheap flattery to reward behavior he likes. “So scientific exploration for its own sake and the pride of doing what others thought could not be done! Entirely respectable.”

Sir Pentious

"THAT'S ONE WAY TO PUT IT, YES." Alastor sounded like a PR agent. Which was funny, but Ruddy was perfectly aware of who he was. Years of being told something had that effect.

He pulls out his pocket watch, checking the time on reflex. "THAT MAKES FIVE, ALASTOR. YOU HAVE BEEN A MODEL GUEST SO FAR, SO I'M NOT INCLINED TO DUMP YOU OUT OF THE BAY DOORS."

Alastor

What kind of a radio host would Alastor be if he didn’t know how to spin the news?

“And you, sir, have been a model host, so I’m not inclined to jump out of the bay doors.” He finishes the last of his coffee and gets to his feet. “Thank you for the demonstration, the conversation, and the hospitality! It’s been a most pleasant time.”

Sir Pentious

"OF COURSE. I WOULD BE A SORRY EXCUSE FOR A MAN IF I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO ENTERTAIN SUCH AN..." Eyebrow raise. "*ENTERTAINING* GUEST. I WILL BE AWAITING THE COORDINATES AT THIS CONSOLE."

Alastor

How polite. He scoops up his basket. “I’ll have them with you shortly!” He picks up his basket, bows extravagantly, and takes two steps back into a portal he opened for himself.

Time to collect coordinates.

Sir Pentious

Alastor has all the time in Hell to get around to that, Ruddy managed to get sucked into tinkering with some small clock on top of the console.

Alastor

It doesn’t more than a few minutes for him to start sending in coordinates—first around the exterior corners of the hotel, and then the interior corners of the lobby. And then, a few minutes later, a second set of coordinates from the hotel the next dimension over. And then a third iteration of the hotel. He’s going for extra credit.

Sir Pentious

Good thing he couldn't hear the way Ruddy squawked when the first notification popped up, his screwdriver getting flung halfway across the room and straight into the mouth of a nearby eggboi. The amount of hissed swears and frantic fumbling to clear all the little gears and springs away from the screen would have made a sailor blush. The whole project is swept onto a tray and put aside, and Ruddy gets to watch the expected coordinates show up. And then another set? And a third. This Alastor wanted to impress him so badly, no wonder his alternates were so insistent he was trustworthy. Feeding their egos was a surefire way to dazzle them.

Ruddy sniffs haughtily, but stores the coordinates anyway. Fine, Alastor. You win points, but he's not HAPPY about it. Even if the information *is* valuable. Hrmph.

Alastor

When Alastor's finished, he very helpfully messages Sir Pentious an explanation—coordinate set #2 is for Penny's universe, coordinate set #3 is for Telly's. Alastor imagines Sir Pentious would be most interested in visiting his own alternates first, after all.

Sir Pentious

... Alright. A few extra points, but he hates it. He messages a ⚙️👍 back, sinking into his own coils to stew in suspicion and gratitude. How *helpful* of Alastor, thinking ahead like that. Awful. But useful. But *awful!!!*

Alastor

The Radio Demon is infamous for his nefarious helpfulness. Watch out!!

[lavenderek]

hi, A/3 volunteer back again! i hope i can answer your questions properly, but i’m on mobile so sorry if i get a bit confused. it’s also going to be quite long but i hope you can figure out which questions i’m replying to. let me know if you need any more clarification!

1 - as tag wranglers, we don’t moderate content via deletion, etc - we just move fics into the correct tags, and it’s typically on a fandom basis (for example, i might solely wrangle for something like the supernatural fandom only). i’ve never come across ‘problematic’ tags since most of the time, it’s just sorting tags into like... more general tags? so example - someone tags a fic with ‘kinda fluffy kinda angsty’. we would then kind of make it so that tag redirects to ‘fluff with angst’, even though it still appears as the original tag on the fic. does that make sense? i’m also a little unsure of the other questions you had here - which is totally my fault, i’m in the middle of writing an essay for uni that needs to be in in like... 12 hours and my brain is frazzled - but if you were asking about a situation where if i was concerned that a single user had a collection of fics that were all entirely based upon something illegal and reported their entire account to mods, would it be deleted - i’m not sure. tag wranglers are kind of like low-level moderators, and we’re not what would typically be thought of as moderators since we simply reorganise content versus actually removing it. since the reporting process is typically through the site itself and is handled by an entirely separate team, i cant speak for how they think or what their process is.

2 - it’s up to our judgement as to if we want to report it, but again, the tags we wrangle are VERY general. tags like ‘dead dove don’t eat’ and stuff that are typically full of polarising content arent something i’ve come across, because i think they make up a minority of most fandoms when put against tags like ‘fluff’ and ‘angst’ and even stuff like ‘chocolate’, lmao. i’m not certain what happens when a report is processed and the fic is found to be removable - what i do know though is that with fics that are seen as breaking specific laws (i.e depictions of CSA, slander, etc) mods are often a lot more hard-handed for several reasons (reputation both within the community and in terms of the fact they could very much get in legal trouble). again though, i’m a low-level moderator and don’t see that side of the process. however, if i report something and it’s not taken down, i’m not implicated in any way. it’s been a while since i’ve been on the site and reported anything so i’m not entirely certain if reporting is 100% anonymous or if you have to supply details like email, but i think if you DO supply things, it’s to ensure you aren’t mass-reporting someone (bc i think that counts as targeted harassment). email is also possible to fake, so i think you can make the process anonymous if you want to. as for how often i personally report fic - not often. i’m a CSA victim (which is why this topic is touchy for me tbh), and i don’t like to go through the process because i find it arduous - you have to give an explanation as to why you’re reporting the fic, and i find it triggering at times. i’ve also never been in a position where i have found a fic while actively volunteering that i feel has been necessary to report, so i can’t speak for that either. all of that being said - i’ve heard of and seen on one occasion fics and entire accounts be deleted for harassment/slander - in particular, i’ve heard multiple times that accounts dedicated to purposely like... making fun of? or like technically harassing? kpop boy group members have been taken down because even though their content is ‘technically’ fanfiction, it’s obviously just there to incite hatred against a specific person. so, imo, if mods are quick on taking down accounts obviously run by 14 year olds in fandom drama writing numerous fics where boyband member A calls boyband member B stupid and tells him nobody likes him, i think they’re very likely just as serious about taking down more serious content. that’s just my opinion and my personal experience though, and it’s distinct from my volunteering.

overall, on the whole topic of CSA on the website - it’s really tough even just as a basic content moderator. there’s lots of reasons as to why people post it, and though people are very obviously welcome and encouraged to think critically about everything, it’s a fact that the topic is really really difficult to manoeuvre (culture, who is posting it, when was it posted, why it’s being posted aka vent fics, etc). as i said, i’m a CSA victim myself, so i understand the frustration, but it’s too nuanced and difficult a topic to be able to say ‘ban it all’. however, i do think the site is doing their best to crack down on stuff that is very obviously on there for one specific reason, and i also think generally, they’re changing things so people are able and sometimes encouraged to anonymise themselves by not giving any profile info and to protect themselves by turning off comments completely, etc. i find that you can make it really easy to curate your posting experience so that essentially, you can post but nobody can really interact.

3 - i like tag wrangling! i got into it because i saw a position on the front page of the site and decided to go for it. it wasn’t very taxing to get into and you don’t have to put much work in - a couple of hours a week is enough, and they’re understanding about work/uni/etc. it’s easy to meet other people through volunteering, and they ensure everyone is over 18. i don’t read through fic myself - just through tags, and then i sort them into their proper places. if something is tagged wrong, we don’t get in touch with the author, we just do our best to reorganise the tag so it redirects into the correct place - again, for instance, if someone writes a fantasy AU that they tag with ‘high fantasy prince/princess AU’ and that tag doesn’t exist, we would sort it into the main tag for a royalty AU or something like that. re: monetisation of fics: technically, monetised content is not allowed on A/3 - if someone is advertising their patreon or kofi in their authors notes or profile, you’re supposed to report it just as a general user. i think it’s because it puts the site at risk of being sued or something? but as a low level mod, i don’t HAVE to report these things unless i see them while i’m tag wrangling (aka i see a tag like ‘my patreon is XYZ!!!!! send me money!!!!!!’) and i personally don’t report monetised fics because ... i don’t find it a prominent issue, lmao. people are also learning to avoid it by being like this is my tumblr or this is my twitter, and when you click on their social media they link their patreon or whatever There instead. also, idk who decided the colour scheme! i think it was just like a generally agreed upon thing with the site designers. i also think there’s been convo for a few years about dark modes and stuff on the site, but i’m pretty sure the site has to get a few more things out of the way before they’ll prioritise that (i know they’re trying to work on a better moderating system for things like spam and harassment atm bc the spam filter absolutely sucks dick lol). i’ll totally drop a mention like WOW, wouldnt it be AMAZING if we could have this SPECIFIC COLOUR SCHEME, tho <3

thank you so much for responding!!! this is really cool to know, i've never even seen a post by an a*3 worker before so you're a total unicorn right now

heh uni-corn because you're in uni. sorry i'm tired too

good luck on your paper!

[thedaltonsanctuary]

Welcome SIMON LEBEAU to the Dalton Sanctuary as a SUBMISSIVE RESIDENT. Please send in your blog within the next 48 hours or we will have to reopen your role. You may begin dash activity immediately, no need to wait for anything else once your blog is made.

*Admin note: I’m making a few changes to the bio that’s written below. I don’t want to alter your writing so you won’t see it down below the cut, but my notes are as follows- Because this world is set up to be healthy and to take care of the people and especially the D/s aspect, there are checks and protocols in place that would not allow anyone to remain in an abusive claim. The fact that she hit him on an airplane and left him triggered in the gag for the whole flight would have legitimately been the end of their claim, someone would have called the claim police, Simon would have been taken into protective custody, and his Domme would have been arrested the moment the plane hit the ground in Italy. I say this because I want to make sure that everyone is clear on the serious and effective nature of the claim protection system in this world.

What I will do to give you an in-between is this: Simon would have had to tell someone that he was okay on the plane to convince people not to call the cops and have his Domme arrested on the spot. Someone would have still reported it though, and we can say it’s a vague report where the person calling is like, “Look, I don’t know if he’s being abused but it didn’t look good.” So his family was notified as well as law enforcement and together their efforts were able to get him back to the US within a month with his claim dissolved based on the abuse. That’s about a week in the abusive home with cops showing up to ask him questions towards the end of it and taking him away after, two weeks of doctors making sure he’s okay in a shelter for people in his position and getting his info for the trial, and a few more days sprinkled on at the end while his paperwork is filed and his plane tickets are purchased. He would know that his Domme was put in jail, in Italy, with the rest of her family and charged with “claim abuse.” And absolutely no way for her to get out and hurt him-- though that doesn’t mean that he can’t fear for it.

✎ OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

ALIAS/PRONOUNS: X she/her AGE: 30+ TIMEZONE: PST TRIGGERS: Nada ANYTHING ELSE: Thomas Doherty

✎ IN CHARACTER INFORMATION

NAME: Simon LeBeau AGE/BIRTHDAY: 22 / August 30 GENDER/PRONOUNS: He/Him SUB/DOMINANT/SWITCH?: Submissive STAFF/VOLUNTEER/RESIDENT/VISITOR?: Resident SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual KINKS: Body worship (giving), Gentle domination, praise ANTI-KINKS: bondage (especially gags of any kind), sadism, bathroom play

✎ BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

Misunderstood from a very young age, Simon has struggled to make things work in his short life. Undiagnosed social anxiety and selective mutism, which were mistaken for weakness and defiance by his family, meant that he was constantly under pressure to conform even though he rarely did anything “wrong”. Whatever he did do, it was either “not enough”, not up to some unstated standard that was never explained clearly to him, or him trying to “undermine his parents and family name”, whatever that meant.

School was difficult for him as well, he did alright, managed to pass everything, but the social side of things was not the best for him. He did make a couple of friends that he was able to relax around and actually talk to outside of any formal setting but it wasn’t until his senior year when he met the girl who would claim him.

Isobelle, a transfer student to Chicago from Italy, took a shine to him right away, which was weird and odd and everyone gossiped about it. Why would such a beautiful girl choose such a loser to latch on to? Everything she did and said put Simon at ease and he found he could actually talk to her without much of a problem. They started dating at her request and he eagerly followed her lead, falling head over heals after only a few months. After their tests - she received a domme mark and he his submissive, of course - she claimed him. He thought things would be heaven from then on, why wouldn’t they be? She was gorgeous and kind and everything he’d dreamed of, what could go wrong?

Everything apparently and it started on the flight to Italy where she wanted to settle at her family’s estate near Tuscany. Simon had only asked her if she wanted anything from the drink cart. It had been innocent enough of a question but the reaction it drew from her was completely unexpected and seemed drastically out of character. She slapped him and despite knowing how he felt about being gagged, ordered him to wear a ball gag for the entire 13 hour flight.

His anxiety ramped up steadily after that, seeing her true nature, finally understanding why she’d come to another continent to find a claim, her whole family as sadistic as he could imagine. He still can’t quite remember everything that happened in Italy, he shut down soon after arriving, unable to process the situation he found himself in. Despite how hard his family had been on him, they did love him and when he didn’t return calls or emails, they eventually sent investigators to find out what was going on. It took a couple of months but they were finally able to have Simon removed and returned to the States. They didn’t know what to do with him at that point and had him checked in to Dalton for recovery, knowing the staff there would be better equipped to handle whatever needed to be handled.

He’s not sure about the place, truth be told, and is sure that Isobelle is somehow going to get her hands on him again. It’s not a fun thought but he’s determined to try and heal… what else is he supposed to do?

[mistoelectra]

Why Jack Harkness deserved better

I said I was going to write this so here it is

WHY JACK HARKNESS DESERVED BETTER (SPECIFICALLY FROM THE TENTH DOCTOR)

Okay, so this is something I’ve been meaning to write for a little while, because I’ve been rewatching New Who from the beginning, and Jack is probably one of my favourite characters, and seeing the way Ten acts towards him makes my heart hurt. It also makes me really wish they could have brought Jack back in to interact with other incarnations of the Doctor because I feel like seeing the different dynamics would have been really interesting (also let’s face it, John Barrowman would be hella up for it).

This is gonna primarily focus on Doctor Who events but draw on things from Torchwood because that obviously gave us a lot more info on Jack and his past. But also I’m not going to go too in depth with Torchwood stuff, because that’s a whole different essay with full in-depth vaguely shitty psychoanalysis (I have a degree but I am far from proficient).

Let’s start at the beginning with Jack’s first appearance in The Doctor Dances/The Empty Child, which are admittedly two of my favourite episodes of series 1. Admittedly, he does at first come off as cocky, brash, a little callous, and of course, a self-professed con-man and criminal. Except at the same time, we already get to see some of his heart. His cons are based selling space junk to (what seem to be) rather wealthy parties, then getting that junk destroyed before they find out what they’ve actually bought. He himself states that he believes the Chula ambulance was completely empty, so wouldn’t do any damage, and specifically programmed it so it wouldn’t hit anything living. While this doesn’t necessarily make things any more moral, it still says something about Jack. There are plenty who wouldn’t have even bothered to do that. There’s also the fact that he’s not doing it for money, but in an attempt to get back his stolen memories.

Continuing on, Jack rescues Rose and the Doctor from the hospital, proving further that he is not quite as callous as he might make out to be. Given he now knows they’re time agents, there’s technically nothing stopping him from just abandoning them and getting the hell out of this time period (except possibly his time agency training reminding him that he may have done fucked up and he needs to fix it). He almost immediately places his trust in the Doctor, jumps at the chance to help him, and when the time comes, he doesn’t even hesitate in getting the bomb (and don’t tell me he doesn’t know the risk to himself, because he totally does. He knows his chances of getting out of this are slim, but Jack Harkness is a self-sacrificing bastard if ever there was one).

(Brief sidetrack to Torchwood- Jack mentions in Countrycide (1x06) that he’s proficient in torture and once had a reputation as a go-to guy for getting answers, but it’s never really made clear when this occurred, or if it’s even truthful. Was it the Time Agency? Was it Victorian era Torchwood? Who knows?)

Next appearance. Boom Town. That interesting outfit choice. But that aside, this is where we get to see how smart Jack is. Sure, he’s from the future so he’s going to have knowledge that will sound impressive, but there’s also his plan to catch Margaret, which is pretty tactically sound. Again, Jack was a time agent, so he’s definitely not going to be just any old idiot, not to mention he was a soldier as well. We also see him working on the TARDIS, which is pretty much something we don’t really see other companions do much of in New Who, and certainly not in their third episode, which I think says a lot, both about Jack, and about the trust the Doctor now places in Jack.

The final two episodes. For one, and on a different tangent, Jack keeps a gun up his ass. Is this a common thing? Is this just so the Doctor can’t take it off him like he did before? How is this safe? For two, and on the same tangent, Jack stop groping the robots. Finally, can we appreciate how efficient Jack is? Sure, he’s a little confused at first, but he throws himself into the situation, lets them give him a few different outfits, then calmly takes them down, makes himself a gun and gets out of there without much hassle. His reaction to Rose’s ‘elimination’ absolutely breaks my heart just as much as the Doctor’s, because while the Doctor is just completely silent and lost looking, you can hear and see Jack absolutely going off in the background, lashing out. Similarly, his reaction upon realising that Rose is alive…just yes.

Second side track- how quickly did Jack get that TARDIS key? I mean, I know there were multiple adventures between episodes, but regardless, he had a key by Boom Town. That’s hella speedy.

And then there’s dealing with the daleks. Jack knows how big a deal this is, he was a time agent after all. One hit, that’s all it takes. The Doctor probably would have let him leave Satellite 5 if he’d asked, but he didn’t. He stepped up, almost certainly knowing he was going to die, but willing to do whatever he could to give the Doctor any little scrap of time he could. And he gets killed for it. And then he gets brought back to life, and he’s surrounded by dalek dust, and he gets to watch the TARDIS leave without him. And his expression is just so heartbroken, and it hurts so much. What is he thinking? Is he hoping they’ll come back for him? Does he think that they think he’s dead so they’ve left without him?

And this is the first of the Doctor’s assholery (albeit this is still 9 and not 10). He just abandons Jack, without any form of explanation as to what has just happened, on a satellite surrounded by dalek dust and corpses. While I appreciate all the Doctor was going through and the whole ‘Jack now makes me physically sick’ thing, like dude, c’mon, you owe him an explanation. He has literally just died for you, it’s the very least you can offer.

And then there’s all the shit Jack goes through before they reunite again. I could spend all day going into depth on this but let’s just summarise it: managing to get back to Earth, ending up in 19th century Cardiff, 150 years of waiting which include: dying a lot (like seriously, he has at least two separate times where people essentially kill him on repeat just because he can come back, don’t tell me that doesn’t have an effect on your psyche), being tortured, being more or less coerced into a job, two world wars, several lost loves, his boss killing the entire team and then himself, being forced into a leadership position that he does not want, recruiting his own team, Canary Wharf and Rose’s name on the list of the dead, Suzie, being shoved into the rift (Thanks Ianto), a cyberwoman in his own basement (Thanks Ianto), being blamed by his entire team for the faeries and Jasmine, watching another man out of his time kill himself and being unable to do anything but keep him company, watching one of his team more or less let a weevil attack him, being mutinied against and killed by a team member (Thanks Owen), and then getting his life energy devoured by a legitimate hell beast.

And then the Doctor shows up, and Jack runs for him, and the Doctor runs away. Nothing like a stinging sense of rejection and a jaunt to the end of the universe to help your self esteem. And pretty much the first thing the Doctor does is criticise him. And what’s worse is that the Doctor won’t even admit that he abandoned Jack. ‘Busy life. Moving on.’ It’s just such an incredibly callous statement that just completely ignores Jack’s feelings and just seems to treat him as a piece of trash to be discarded. And Jack would be wholly within his right to go off at the Doctor, but he doesn’t. Instead he asks about Rose, and there’s the hug, because he can just tell that the Doctor has something against him, but Rose is a somewhat neutral territory.

Cue the Doctor being blatantly rude to Jack for an entire scene about both his vortex manipulator and his abandonment, as well as making it more or less clear to Jack that he knew all along about Jack’s immortality. That him being left on the Game Station was no accident. And that’s just cold. And yet despite all this, the moment Jack’s with them again, the Doctor’s immediately controlling him. Dictating what he can and can’t do, and in all honesty, it feels very much like he’s still treating Jack as the brash playboy he knew in his last regeneration? Like he can’t see just how much Jack has changed since they last met, how he’s most certainly not the same man he was. He also willingly throws Jack into a situation which is dangerous and will probably cause him pain (don’t tell me that radiation chamber didn’t cause Jack pain. Just because it can’t kill me doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt) just because he knows Jack will do anything for him (and also Jack would probably volunteer anyway because he’s that sort of person). And he admits to Jack’s face that he’s known all along, that he ran away from him. He point blank tells Jack to his face that he’s wrong and that he can hardly bear to look at him, without so much as a thought to how that’s bound to feel. Asks Jack if he wants to die. The whole conversation just makes me feel on edge because it does not feel at all like a healthy friendship.

Then, when Jack tells him he’s with Torchwood, there’s the Doctor’s reaction, and it’s just so vehement. His lack of belief in Jack is just heartbreaking, because it’s such a switch from his relationship with the 9th Doctor. It’s like Jack isn’t a companion to him anymore, but more of a sort of tool. And in the Year That Never Was, we pretty much get implied that Jack gets repeatedly tortured and killed for at least the third time in his existence, over and over for an entire year. It seems pretty likely too that the Master probably executes the rest of the Torchwood team too, probably using them in an attempt to break Jack. Sure, it all gets reversed, but it clearly fucks with Jack (and we can see that in Torchwood series 2). But Jack holds up the brave front, destroys the paradox machine. And you can bet it probably hurt him like hell when the Doctor mentions keeping the Master in the TARDIS, because it kinda seems like he’d rather have the Master there than Jack. And sure, he offers to let Jack come with him, but I feel like it’s an empty offer. He knows that Jack has found something else in their time apart, knows he’s probably not going to accept. And then of course, he breaks Jack’s vortex manipulator. While I do understand this, it also makes me sad, because if he’d at least left the teleport function working, there’s a chance that Owen and Tosh could have been saved.

Jump to their next reunion after Jack has faced the following: dealing with the psychological trauma from all the shit that just happened to him, losing Owen, bringing him back, finding his long lost little brother and being stabbed by him then buried under Cardiff for nearly 2000 years, being frozen for like a century, having to stop his little brother, losing Tosh, losing Owen again. And when the world needs saving, Jack doesn’t hesitate to jump straight in, especially once they get through to the Doctor, even though he is quite clearly terrified of the daleks. He’s the only one to actually be somewhat calm and methodical when the Doctor is shot. In the dalek ship, he willingly sacrifices himself in order to be able to explore the ship more and find some way to help them. But the moment he starts making threats, there’s the Doctor’s disapproval back again. But they do it, they save the world, they go home.

And then Children of Earth happens. Jack’s entire world shatters. He loses Ianto. He has to sacrifice his own grandson to save the world. The Doctor is nowhere in sight. Jack leaves Earth, crushed. And the Doctor does his little journey through the companions to say goodbye. He saves Martha and Mickey. He gives the scratch card for Donna. He saves Luke for Sarah Jane. He visits Rose just to see her again.

And Jack?

He gives Jack Alonso. And maybe it’s just me, but I find it wholly uncomfortable. It’s a possibility the Doctor doesn’t know about the whole affair with the 456 and what Jack went through, or that he more specifically doesn’t know about Jack’s losses. But it’s also possible that he does. And he feels like the best thing he can do is to essentially offer him a shag. Even though he’s very clearly heavily grieving (No hate to Alonso, I love him) and has just lost someone he deeply loved. It feels like further confirmation of the fact that Ten still sees him as the playboy he was. Because let’s face it, Jack still flirts like a champ, but Torchwood very much paints him as that only extending to his flirting. Any further seems to fall exclusively within having relationships, which are considerably infrequent in the series (with Estelle, Angelo, Lucia and Ianto seeming to be the principal partners in his life over his 150 years). To be fair, this ‘gift’ to Jack doesn’t really seem so much an asshole move, as just Ten no longer understanding Jack, not in the way he used to.

But yeah, this got kinda longer than I initially expected and could probably do with severe editing but oh well, here it is in it’s entirety anyway.

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #6- Rung Has a Friggin’ Day

It’s time for therapy.

Finally.

It turns out that Ratchet didn’t forget about Fortress Maximus’ acts of extreme violence in all the chaos that was last issue, and requested that Fort Max get set up with some mandatory counseling. Of course, because it’s been about a week in Fort Max-time since Garrus 9 went down, he’s not exactly thrilled to talk about what happened. And who can blame him? Garrus 9 sucked big time for everyone involved, even Overlord.

Fort Max claims to not remember what happened- he’s lying, and we’re treated to a flashback that sort of justifies his fib- and Rung suggests they get Chromedome involved, which seems perhaps a bit unethical? To just rip traumatic memories that may or may not be repressed out of a guy’s head? Like, I’m not super well-versed in psychiatry, but that seems a little off.

Rung, in an attempt to make Fort Max feel a little safer, tells him that Overlord- though he doesn’t say his name, because triggering Fort Max could literally get people killed- was neutralized about as efficiently as possible for their species.

I can’t believe Cybertron has a better veteran healthcare system than the United States.

Enough of Fortress Maximus’ impending implosion, it’s time for bar shenanigans!

Over at Swerve’s, Trailbreaker is proving to be completely incapable of keeping his drink in his glass, as Chromedome participates in a game where he has to guess who’s transforming into their alt-mode, based purely on the sound. He gets it in one, and everyone loses their shit. Chromedome, never one to hype himself, takes the opportunity to instead build Rewind up, because he just loves him that much.

Fortress Maximus gets brought up, and while Trailbreaker thinks the guy’s a little overrated, the others have heard about what happened on Delphi, and proceed to learn the wrong lesson from the whole thing. Tailgate enters the scene, after a rousing study session with everyone’s favorite giant neurotic.

Tailgate, you fool! It’ll be another 41 issues before Cyclonus is ready to even acknowledge his feelings!

It’s good to know that Tailgate doesn’t hold any grudges over the info dump Rewind gave him the other day. Also, that table looks like a nightmare to clean.

Ultra Magnus walks in, looking about as cheery as he possibly can considering who he is, promptly arrests Swerve for running the bar without taking bureaucracy into account, and whisks the little jabber jaw away in handcuffs, practically carrying him off by the scruff like a kitten.

Fort Max enters the room, having decided to grab a drink after the ordeal that is mandatory therapy.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a day on the Lost Light without something going just a little screwy.

This is a typical Wednesday for Pipes.

Fort Max proceeds to wreck several robots, seemingly at random, though he somehow manages to not actually kill any of them. Intentional or not? We still have several pages of this issue to get through, hold your horses! All will be revealed in time.

Which brings us to now. Fort Max has locked himself in Rung’s office, alongside Rung and the poor sap who was unlucky enough to have had an appointment when the big guy showed up. Rodimus and Drift are trying to figure out just what the hell to do with this current situation. Magnus enters, having just set Swerve up with his punishment, and berates Rodimus for letting Fort Max run around with a gun, as if 90% of the crew doesn’t also have massive weapons literally built into their bodies.

Blaster gets a video feed from one of the surveillance cameras going, and we get a good look at just how fucked this whole thing has become, because as it turns out, Rung’s appointment for this time slot was none other than Whirl, instigator extraordinaire, and being stabbed by some ship piping has done absolutely nothing to slow his suicidal roll.

That gun is positively ridiculous. Where were you even KEEPING that thing, Max?

It only takes a couple of face-mashings with the barrel of the BFG to get Whirl to back off, accomplishing what Rung simply cannot, because Whirl doesn’t play by the rules of anyone who values their life in any capacity. You’d think it’d take more than that to shut him up, but Whirl’s head is made of plot, so it’s a bit delicate.

Rung spots the camera, and decides to make himself useful by providing audio to this whole debacle, by way of his microphone thumb.

Now, a hostage situation just isn’t complete without some sort of demand in exchange for the safety of said hostages, and Fort Max has quite the doozy for Rodimus: he wants to go back to Cybertron, so he can confront Prowl on the slow response to the hell that was Garrus 9. Max was trapped there for over three years before the Wreckers came along, and it’s still pretty fresh for him because of the coma letting him skip a lot of time he could have spent healing.

Pro-tip: when handling a hostage situation, don’t get into a screaming match with the dude who’s about to shoot the only mental health specialist your race has ever managed to produce. Blaster gets it.

Rung is many things, but is no actor, as is made apparent by him holding his microphone thumb-bound hand in the most fucking conspicuous way possible. Fort Max notices- because how could he not?- and relieves Rung of this terrible burden.

Rung is really regretting not minoring in theatre right about now.

Hours later in the medibay, First Aid is proving to have gone mad with power, as he maintains some dangerously high snark levels while keeping the victims of Fort Max’s spree stable. Ratchet, whose hands are still Pharma-blue, is starting to piece together the reasoning behind who got shot.

That’s right, Fort Max was embarrassed that he showed up with the same color paint as all these guys, and tried to kill them to keep his fashion faux pas to a minimum.

Back in Rung’s office, Whirl’s dropped all pretense due to sheer boredom, and straight-up asks Fort Max to just get it over with and shoot them both. Having his thumb ripped off has made Rung a bit snippy, and he snaps at Whirl for the quip, before Max decides that he’s actually rather interested in just what Whirl’s appointment was going to cover. Rung tries to stymie this line of questioning, but he really ought to know not to get in the way of the plot progression at this point.

Whirl does decide to spill his beans, if only after Rung gets the obscenely large barrel of Max’s obscenely large gun pressed to one whole side of his face.

It turns out Whirl has depths to him, or at least he did, once upon a time. Before he got booted out of the Wreckers, before he was even in the Wreckers, he created as opposed to destroyed. More specifically, he was a watchmaker, good enough to find an audience in the time of Functionist Cybertron. Now, because he’s a helicopter, the guys up top weren’t too jazzed about Whirl not doing what he’d “been born to do,” on top of not giving them any of his sweet watch money, and decided to start fucking up his life to get him back in line. They started with tearing his shop to the ground.

But we’ll get to what the hell empurata is in a few issues.

Also, while Whirl’s been sharing his backstory, Rung managed to grab his model ship from off the floor.

I’m not sure how he managed to get ahold of his model without making a giant clumsy scene either, considering that’s his thumbless hand.

Rung, because he’s a clever man, is staring super hard at the camera and making kind of a weird face as he taps on the little windows of his model ship, signaling to Rodimus and crew to see what they can do with the windows outside of his office. He’s got three real big ones that let you see out- or in- the whole room. Rodimus makes a call, and we get a proper understanding of what Chromedome meant when he said Rewind was outside.

No kidding.

Rewind and Swerve are on rivet replacement duty, using rivet guns nearly as big as they are. Swerve’s passing the time idly chatting, because that’s his whole deal.

Knowing Swerve, that’s probably a joke, but given what we learn a few issues after this, on how exactly Cybertron handles those who don’t fall in line, I can’t help but wonder…

Okay, we know why Swerve’s out here, but what’s Rewind’s deal?

You remember those data discs Red Alert mentioned last issue, the ones Rewind was begging Chromedome to help him find? The ones he got from Swindle at the start of the series? Yeah, turns out those were chock-full of video footage of people dying.

Rodimus didn’t like the fact that Rewind had brought snuff films onto the Lost Light, and now here he is. We don’t get an explanation as to why he wanted the films in the first place, though he does integrate that it isn’t a pleasurable thing to watch. Rodimus calls, interrupting the conversation, and asks Rewind to take a walk.

Returning to the office, we find that Whirl’s really pouring it out now, giving us his whole life story.

Rung’s reaction here is equal parts sweet and sad. It’s like he’s never had a fucking friend in his entire life. Rung seems terribly lonely.

We also get the answer as to what exactly Whirl did to get kicked out of the Wreckers- he tried to mercy-kill Springer. After the events of Last Stand, Fort Max wasn’t the only one in a coma, and Whirl saw the writing on the wall in terms of Springer’s chances of recovery. He tried to put the guy out of his misery, but was caught and kicked to the curb before that could happen.

And that’s about where he stops. You know, if it weren’t for the whole “being held at gunpoint” thing, this would have been an amazing therapy session! Whirl really opened himself up today, I’m proud of him.

Fort Max realizes that the ship hasn’t turned around to head back to Cybertron, and that’s about the point where he decides it’s time to make good on his threat. Whirl volunteers as tribute, as Swerve and Rewind peek through the window, ready to enact the next phase of Rodimus’ plan.

Rung tries to deescalate, with Whirl reescalating in equal measures, because he is actively and violently suicidal at this point, bringing us to a standstill in negotiations as Ratchet finally gets ahold of Rodimus to tell him something very important.

Ratchet’s sussed out the central pin in this pegboard of PTSD, and it’s Overlord. Every guy Fort Max put in the ICU looked at least somewhat like that lippy bastard. Rung comes to a similar conclusion on his end, claiming that Fort Max is acting out because he went through hell at Overlord’s hand, and wants payback.

Outside the office, Rewind is lining up to shoot Fort Max with his rivet gun, though he has his reservations.

It’s a special kind of love that makes you want your husband to support you through sniping a guy five times bigger than you.

Rewind’s lining up the shot, when Fort Max moves behind a pillar. Time for Plan B.

Rodimus, you can’t just SAY that to him, he’s a married man.

Whirl’s egging Fort Max on, his eye flaring out in a way that one might consider to be crying, though if you asked him he’d absolutely deny it. Then Garrus 9 pays everyone a little visit, by way of Rewind’s camera projecting on the wall. This freezes Fort Max in his tracks, because of course it would. That shit’s terrifying. He breaks down, falling to the floor in a heap.

I suppose this is one way to handle a hostage situation. Rodimus, not wanting to take any chances, orders Swerve to take the shot anyway.

Safe to say, Swerve wasn’t top of his class at the military academy.

As Fort Max mourns the loss of Rung, Whirl yanks that pipe that’s been stabbed into his belly for the last several hours out, and returns the favor, getting Max right in the chest.

Shit.

All those fucking therapy appointments are going to have to be rescheduled. There are over 200 robots on this ship.

I sure hope Rung had a secretary to handle all that.

Later on, after the messy stuff’s been dealt with, Rodimus and Drift have a chat about Red Alert, and how he’s developing a potential to be a liability. As they talk, Red Alert is shown to be ripping the drill arm off that guy who got eaten by the quantum engine and using it to dig into the floor where he heard that super-slow voice. What does he find? I hope it’s treasure!

...That’s not treasure.

Hey, Rung?

Rung?

Buddy, I think someone might’ve been fibbing when they said that.

Nobody tell Fort Max about this.

[phoebehalliwell]

I don't really like Phole as a ship but I think Cole as a character had a lot of potential and I'm mad that it was never, at any point, handled well. so I'm curious, how would you have rewritten Cole's story so that he might still be redeemable and a character you can root for? granted, you would probably have to rewrite it from the very beginning but I'd love to hear your thoughts if you're up for it

yeah cole is like a very difficult character to work with bc in charmed evil isn’t a thing you do it’s a thing you are, and if you’re a demon, congratulations! you’re evil. But we did get brendan rowe in season one who was like a warlock but was trying to not be a warlock and again it’s this human half that is a loophole in the black and white morality clause and he got to be a good person in the end. the difference between brendan and cole was that brendan refused to take anothers life (extending this to bugs too??) and moved to become a man of the cloth to escape evil’s hold on him. cole on the other hand actively worked to surpress his human half and spent like over a hundred years being undeniably evil. so like. have you even given us a character worth redeeming? the countless lives he’s stolen and evil he’s brought to the world..... it’s a lot to undo. and that’s always really been the main source of my beef with cole is that he was undeniably a horrible person for OVER A HUNDRED YEARS. like the body count man. it’s really difficult to make him a good person. it’s really difficult. it’s not not doable, but it has to be a grueling processes and really explore who he was who he is and who he’s trying to become. when never really got much acknowledgement of any of that (who he was: belthazor. who he is: cole. there’s a difference (?) he’s in love with phoebe. who he’s trying to be: a good person so phoebe stays in love with him. it’s so surface level man it’s i don’t i don’t like it)

and like i’ve been think about demon redemption arcs a fair amount bc i definitely want to throw a demon character into my fic i’ve got my ideas and lil plans and all that but like it’s still like. really difficult to justify the taking of a human life to those sworn above all to protect it. i’m not objectively against characters who have killed people. but if you want to integrate a character who has killed people into charmed?? honey you’ve got a big storm coming. and honestly? the easiest strategy is to ignore it. chris killed a valkyrie in the s6 premiere (three valkyries??) and rather than attempt to justify the cold blooded murder of good beings, the show just ignored it. which, imo, was the best strategy for that situation (and then went on to sprinkle in him being disgusted/scared/horrified of bianca shanking a demon in chris crossed to show him sorta as this morally good figure, in hopes that we had forgotten that he had done worse. and uhh i think we all did!! i did at least). phoebe & paige are technically responsible for the death of rick the criminal, turning him into chris knowing Full Well he would be killed by demons, when they could have easily just orbed his ass back to prison. how to we deal with this? we don’t. so like, quick fix on cole’s redemption arc? cut black as cole. turn a blind eye to his past. leave it in the shadows. pretend like he’s never killed anybody. if they wanted to redeem cole this is the easiest way and in no manner stands against the moralities they have already set up. but if you wanna do it proper

cut the age gap. having cole already over 100 just leaves to much murky area. it’s also like never used in any interesting way like he never is like oh yeah [cool/important event] i was there he’s just sorta. old. for no reason. so get rid of it. just make him thirty. don’t make him an upper level demon. you can make him the son of an upper level demon so he has upper level demon qualities / powers, but having him essentially the source’s right hand man, a legendary demon and all that,, it’s just. there’s no way you hold that position without being cruel beyond words. evil in ways you can imagine. getting incredibly creative with how horrible you can truly be. you’ll never get a character like that as a “good guy”. they can be sick as fuck antiheroes or morally neutral/dubious characters, but if they’ve already committed that much evil, you can’t get them to be good. especially not charmed ones good. so like, you can have him half demon, but don’t make him a good demon. have him be raised by his human father until he’s captured and taken in by demons. he has a strong survival instinct and works to blend in with other demons, but he’s always secretly working for an escape. he’s charismatic and clever so demons like him, but they do sort of regard him as a bit of a coward, because he’s never actually killed anybody. so when he volunteers to kill the charmed ones, everyone considers it a bit of a joke. but he comes to them with a strategy. he’s human, and while that might be a weakness, it can also be a strength. he knows how to act human, he knows how they work. he can blend in, and work his way into the lives of the charmed ones like no demon ever could. so the demons are like okay. i’ll bite. but first you need to prove your mettle. kill somebody and we’ll approve your mission. and cole’s like okay bet bc he’s like i bet i can find somebody shitty and then, once i’m approved for the mission, i can actively work my way into the lives of the charmed ones and then get protection from them. and the demons are like oh lit bc we have the perfect person for you to kill and cole’s like oh uh i thought i’d just go out and kill somebody and the demons are like no need : ) we already grabbed the guy you can kill him right now : ) and cole turns around and his father is dragged in. so now we have this moral complexity because cole only wants to do this so he can be safe, so he can be human, but at the expense of his father’s life? and it’s this moral conflict and it seems like he will and then it seems like he won’t and then he looks into his father’s eyes and he seems not fear or desperation, but acceptance. and cole does it.

and now it’s more important than ever that his mission succeeds, because if he can’t gain the charmed ones favor, if he can’t gain their protection, then his father died for nothing. he killed his father for nothing. so he poses as a da, bc that’s obviously a good guy, right? he can work with the charmed ones, as a good guy, until they trust him and work with him and then he can come to them begging protection, after he’s already established himself as a someone who’s good. and he doesn’t actively seek a relationship with phoebe bc he’s worried that if he enters a relationship with a charmed one and then reveals himself as a demon, it won’t go over well. so he’s still at war with himself with his relationship with phoebe, but in the end, he caves, because he loves her.

after he reveals himself as a demon, begging himself for the charmed ones protection, prue is ready to kick his ass, because he’s a demon, and demons are intrinsically evil. they’ll to whatever it takes to achieve their goal, kill whoever they need to to get what they want. and cole sours at this because he can’t help but remember his father. he killed him to get what he wants. is prue right? but phoebe’s like no, he’s good, i know him, he’s good. but now cole’s really like, am i? and phoebe’s like i love you and i believe you and i trust you but now cole’s pulling away. and we get to see proper emotional turmoil over this and his evil act and he has to grapple with the death of his father and he has to tell phoebe what he did and then she is properly horrified but she loves him and he loves her and they commune with his father’s spirit blah blah blah his dad forgives him tells him he’s proud he made it out and he wants what’s best for him so on and so forth and then he uses his insider info on the demon world to help the charmed ones everyone lives happily ever after

[prttysavage]

GENERAL INFO.

Name\Alias:  daisy johnson / quake. Age:  28 Gender:   cis-female Preferred Pronouns:  she/her Team\Group:  agents of shield Faceclaim:   chloe bennet Penned by:  penny

QUICK FACTS.

Any special abilities\skills?:  master hacker,  expert thief & marksman,  master martial artist,  vibrational manipulation:  concussive blasts,  vibrational absorption,  force field generation,  &  disintegration. Human? Something else?:  inhuman. Four positive traits (+):   humorous,  quick-thinking,  compassionate,  loyal. Four negative traits (-):   temperamental,  impulsive,  impatient,  confrontational.

Brief Background:  

you’re born to a woman in china,  one  who  would’ve  cared  for  you  to  all  of  the  possible  motherly  care  if  nazis  didn’t  cut  her  up.  now,  when  you  meet  her,  she  uses  you,  tries  to  kill  you  to  get  more  power,  and  would  have  almost  succeeded  if  your  crazed  father  hadn’t  stepped  in  and  killed  her  for  you.   now  your  mother  is  dead  and  your  father  has  no  memories  of  you.  one  time  when  visiting  the  past  and  messing  up  your  timelines,  you  visit  your  mom  she’s  fucked  up;  she  still  dies,  but  at  least  you  have  a  sister.

before you learn of your fucked up  past,   you’re  in  an  orphanage  in  new  york  city.  they  call  it  st.  agnes,  and  you’re  so  very  pleased  when  you  start  going  to  foster  homes  when  you  reach  double  digits.  some  of  them,  you  could  see  yourself  being  a  part  of  their  family!  but  alas,  it  never  lasts,  and  you’re  never  at  them  for  more  than  six  months.   you  never  were  meant  to  belong,  were  you?

you find your family at shield.  they’re   not  your  blood,  but  they’re  something  more.  the  team :   phil coulson, melinda may, jemma simmons, alphonso mackenzie, leopold fitz, and elena rodruiguez  believed  in  you  more  than  your  own  blood.  your  sister  would  eventually  too,  but  she  needs  a  bit  more  work  than  you.  who  would  have  ever  thought?

you get your powers from your mother.  for  a  long  time,  you  can’t  use  them  without  harming  yourself  or  others  .   you  go  through  different  hairstyles  as  you  learn  more  about  yourself   (  your name is daisy,  not skye  )  and  your  powers   (  you have the power to split the earth in half with your quakes ).    your superhero name is quake.  you  work  with  shield  for  eight  years  and  learn  more  about  yourself  and  others  than  you  ever  expected.  you  think  that  coulson  used  to  be  shield,  but  these  days  you  think  that  maybe  it’s  your  whole  team  that’s  the  prime  example  of  what  shield  is  about.  it’s  time  to  build  it  up  from  the  ground,  and  listen  to  the  new  director.

full wiki for all 8 seasons can be found  here  i’m sorry i cannot type all that sksksks.

QUESTIONNAIRE.

How is your character taking the unilateral decision to leave earth?

it’s just a regular tuesday for daisy ngl skskskks

Is your character dealing well with the prospect of life on a new planet? Are they scared? Concerned? Excited?

yep! once again ,,, she is so very used to spending time in space and going to different planets. she and jemma searched the whole universe for her closest friend.  she’s used to the politics of different planets.

Is your character cooperating with the other groups, or fighting against these tentative new alliances?

cooperating,  but is fairly used to it considering she’s a diplomat for earth/shield. so it’s just like work again lol!

For those who are part of PROJECT NEW HOME; Is your character optimistic that their relocation will work out as intended?

yuh yuh. she’s tired, earth is fucked up, she thinks that they can recreate something better. if they can do it with shield, they can do it here!

If your character volunteered to be part of the first two groups to Orbulite, or the rescue group sent after them, why?

she’s in group 2 baebee. she likes working with people a lot! and since she has the experience, she figures that she can be a useful asset. 

ANYTHING ELSE?

in aos, they went to space/played around with different timelines. i’m playing daisy from the end of aos, where she was going around to different planets. 

i consider everything canon except daisy & sousa being canon! don’t get me wrong, i love them, i just don’t like tying my character to ships in an rp just bc it’s canon.

her hair is an outgrown blonde <3 

she is 500% hopeful that things can work out with the right people in charge xx