#and she does like Auto. she likes that she has someone to relate to in that their upbringings were similar

[autoboros]

Auto.......... Your fans need to know if you have any agent hc!!!!! Or ocs

Ah yeah, I've got agents but I never really talk about them because they don't grip me like my other guys do

Dillon (3), Nate (4), Jaime (8) and Boro (N3) (and Auto (N3.5))

Dillon has fallen down a rabbit hole of nihilism as he realised joining the SS essentially ruined his teen years and his life and his relationships. Nate is an anxiety ridden mess who basically resigned as Agent 4 as he deeply regrets doing what he did. Jaime tries to see the best in things and to appreciate her life on the surface, but she also has great distance between her and the NSS and really, really dislikes Dillon. Boro is Boro

[souliebird]

[[and then I met you || ch. 27]]

Series: Daredevil || Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader || Rating: Explicit

Summary:

A one-night stand years ago gave you a daughter and you are now able to put a name to her father – Matthew Murdock. Everything is about to change again as you navigate trying to integrate your life with that of the handsome and charming blind lawyer’s and Matt realizes he needs to not only protect his new family from Hell's Kitchen, but from the world.

chapter masterlist

Words: 4.4k

ao3 link

Police Arrest Three After Mass Protests in LA County

By C. Grant

Three people were arrested in Pasadena, California yesterday after a crowd gathered to protest the death of Sheila Pom. Police say the three individuals, whose names have not yet been released, appeared to be Enhanceds attempting to agitate the crowd. Witnesses claim one of the individuals was creating sparks with their fingers and threatening to start a fire, while the two others encouraged the behavior. Police have made no comment about these arrests and all questions about the incident have been redirected to a now defunct phone number. 

Sheila Pom was killed in an officer-related shooting two weeks ago after neighbors reported her as a Dangerous Individual under the new Sokovia Accords Act. Pom, 23, worked at her uncle’s auto body shop as a mechanic while also attending online classes to get a degree in Engineering. She was also a telekinetic - someone who can move objects with their mind. 

Pom was known to not be shy about her gifts. Pom was seen frequently lifting cars and trucks within garages without the help of equipment and is rumored to have once righted a tipped over semi-truck. Neighbors became concerned when Pom began using her gifts at home.

“We’d come home, and things would be floating up and down the street,” one neighbor said.

Another claimed Pom was unstable, and when she would become upset, things around her would begin to shake.

“I thought it was an earthquake until my TV hit the ceiling,” a source who lived in the same building Pom told GKTV, “I learned the next day her boyfriend broke up with her.”

Officers were called when Pom refused to return a motorcycle to the ground while working on it in a residential neighborhood. After a brief standoff, officers fired two shots, striking Pom in the head, and killing her. 

Pom’s family claims she was unaware of the officer’s presence, as wireless earbuds were found near her body after. Pom was known to listen to music to block the noise of machines. 

Protests began after the officers involved in the incident were cleared of any wrongdoing. 

----

A full-page ad takes over your screen, and instead of continuing to read the depressing article, you close the tab.

There has been a palpable unrest in the news cycle the past week that is starting to leave you with an uneasy feeling in your stomach. You’ve noticed a shift in the general narrative tone and terminology used when discussing people who have superpowers. 

Before Sokovia, before Lagos, before Connecticut, the morning shows would bring on people with amazing gifts and gently joke about them joining the Avengers as they made water fly around the set, but now those same hosts debate if they should be allowed to have the right to privacy. ‘Enhanced Peoples’ has been shortened to just Enhanceds and is now spit out like it is something dirty. 

You don’t know when the conversation stopped centering around heroes and vigilantes and started being about everyday people, but it scares you that the change happened. There seems to be no official power scale about what is deemed ‘dangerous’ and your mind keeps zipping all over the place trying to justify different lines of thinking.

Does Matt fall under the category of Dangerous? 

He is a vigilante, so by default the Accords are directed at him, but is it doubly so? If he was forced to reveal himself to the government, would they require him to wear a tracking device? Or would they try to lock him up?

Could he fight it in court, or would they whisk him away in the middle of the night and you’d never know what happened?

If Matt is deemed Dangerous because of his senses, and not just because he is a vigilante, would Minnie be considered the same?

With how intense and angry everyone is becoming you could see yourself having to take her in to be tested.

To be monitored. 

And she is just a baby. 

You can’t imagine how others must feel - people who are older, who are just trying to live their lives. The girl who was killed was just trying to fix her bike, like millions of other people do every weekend. She wasn’t going to other countries to fight terrorists. She wasn’t trying to use her powers to rule over others. She wasn’t hurting anyone.

But she was different, so they killed her.

“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! I need help!”

You’re ripped from your spiraling thoughts and look across the room to where Minnie is sprawled out on the floor. Her Starkpad is in front of her, and she’s set up Pig and Scooby so they are also peering down at the device and you know exactly what she is doing.

It is the same thing she has been doing for a week straight - playing a bootleg Muppet’s math game. 

Since meeting Spider-man, all your little Mouse has wanted to do is learn math. She keeps saying she wants to impress him and make him proud, and you are in no way going to discourage her. Every day has been filled with counting and addition and subtraction and you are a bit amazed she has stayed so focused. 

You are not going to complain at all about it - you are getting time to yourself while she has been glued to Elmo and Kermit. 

You leave your phone on the dining table and head towards your daughter.

“You need help?” you confirm as you crouch beside her. The screen shows a Muppet you don’t recognize, along with various numbers floating around them, and up at the top, the equation that has your little Mouse stumped. 

“I need help!” Minnie repeats as she scrambles up off her belly and into sitting. “I don’t have enough fingers!” 

She holds up both her hands to show you all ten of her itty-bitty fingers and you make a sympathetic noise. 

Mouse has been getting pretty good at using her fingers to help her with addition and subtraction, but on only one hand. She uses the index finger on her right hand to help count by pointing at each finger and hasn’t quite worked out she can use her fingers to point and count. That is okay, though, as you are happy to lend yours to her important cause. 

“Okay, how many fingers do you need?”

You hold out your hands and she instantly begins to manipulate them. 

“This one…this one needs three! One, two, three!” She pushes your thumb and index finger down so the other three remain up, then she pushes down the pinky of the other hand. “And this one is four!”

“So, three and four? What are we doing with three and four?” You ask, trying to not laugh at her determined face.

“We adds them!” She chirps, before starting to jab at your fingers, “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven! That’s seven fingers! Mommy, it’s seven! Three plus four is seven!” 

“That’s right, it is seven. Which number is seven?” You direct her back to her game, where she triumphantly picks the correct symbol. The Muppet congratulates her before presenting a new equation. 

Minnie squeals in delight before ripping the device off the ground and shoving it in your face, “I know this one! Mommy! I know this one! It’s three! Mommy! It’s three!” 

You can’t even process what the question is before the screen is out of sight. Your daughter holds her Starkpad above her head, treating it like some war prize as she starts spinning and dancing around the living room. 

“It’s three! It’s three! It’s three!” 

You laugh at her antics, heartwarming at her pureness. How could anyone ever think she’s a danger?

“Are you sure it’s three?” You tease as you watch her. 

She whips around to you, eyes scrunching up into a glare, and barks, “It’s three!”

“Okay, okay, it’s three.”

You push yourself up into standing just as Mouse returns to her spot. She drops her Starkpad to the ground a little harder than you would prefer, but that is why it has a big bulky case. She plops down in front of it and happily smacks the number three that is floating around the screen.

You let yourself watch her for a few seconds, silently bombarding her with all the love you feel for her. You want to wrap her up and live in this bubble forever.

Except, there is one element missing from your perfect moment. You wish there were a pair of arms wrapped around your waist and a chin on your shoulder. You want to lean back against a muscular chest and lose yourself to eternity like that. 

Instead of indulging those thoughts, you tell yourself to stop fantasizing and you make your way back to the kitchen to check on dinner.

Vegetable curry has been simmering on the stove for most of the day. It has been a while since you had the energy to make the dish from scratch, but you had a craving this morning and went all out. You’ve made curry for Minnie before, and she did not complain - though you think that is because her portion was mostly rice and hot dog cuts. You plan to do the same again tonight, and if she wants more sauce, you’ll give it to her. 

You check your seasonings and give everything a stir to make sure nothing gets stuck at the bottom of the pot. The rich aroma tickles your nose, and you are glad you don’t have to wait much longer to treat yourself.

As you debate adding a pinch more salt, you catch Minnie sneaking towards you out of the corner of your eye. Her movements are slow and dramatic, and you pretend you don’t notice her. This ruse works, and you appropriately jump in fear when she suddenly tugs on your shirt.

“Up!” She demands and you oblige, scooping your daughter onto your hip. As soon as she is high enough, she cups her hands around your ear and leans into whisper, “Daddy saids the food smells yummy-yummy.”

She quickly dissolves into giggles, and it is infectious, so you end up smiling. 

Matt hasn’t been over for dinner in a hot minute, and you are hoping to have a nice quiet family night, before he goes out on his Patrol. The plan is to watch a movie after your meal and Minnie has already prepared for this by dragging multiple blankets out to the couch. You just know she is going to demand a cuddle pile, and now that you and Matt are intimate, it isn’t something you are nervous about. 

You just want to have a good time.

“Can you tell Daddy everything is almost ready?” you ask, even though you know Matt can probably hear you just fine. 

Mouse, always eager to be helpful, nods and relays the message directly into your ear. You try to not grimace, and so it won’t happen again, set her down on the ground. 

“Can you plug in your Starkpad so it can sleep for the night?” 

She streaks off to do her newly assigned task, leaving you to start setting the table. When you were at the store, you bought Matt a bottle of beer - a brand you know he likes - and you set it at his designated spot. You’ve grown accustomed to just drinking water and juice, but you don’t want to push that on to him - not when he’s a guest and coming over after a long day of work. 

As you start to make everyone’s plates, you hear the water in the bathroom turn on. You know Minnie knows the routine for getting ready for dinner and you just hope she isn’t trying to wash Scooby’s paws again. You are worried he’ll end up moldy and you aren’t sure what you will do if that happens. You peek into the living room and are relieved to see your daughter’s best friends have been relocated to sitting on the coffee table, facing the television. 

You finish setting everything up just in time, it seems. Minnie runs from the hallway right to the door as you go to wash your own hands, and you rush to get all the soap off so you can help her open the door. 

Matt is standing on the other side, looking handsome as ever in a gray suit. He looks like he’s had a busy day - his hair is windswept, and he is sporting a strong five o’clock shadow. There is a garment bag draped over his arm and his saddle bag looks a little bulkier than usual and you wonder if he ran some errands on his lunch - picking up his dry cleaning and such. 

You barely have time to take in his appearance before Mouse is launching herself at him.

“Daddy!” She shrieks and Matt oh so easily swings her up onto his hip. “Daddy! We’re having vege-tuhble kermies for dinner! I helped make it! I cut up ALL the carrots! By myself!”

“By yourself, huh?” Matt confirms, a bright, warm smile taking up his entire face. “Soon you’ll be making us dinner.”

You step aside so he can come in and help to take his things to hang while Mouse soaks up his attention. 

“No! Mommy makes dinner because…’cause she makes the bestest foods. I just help!”

“You are a very good helper,” you interject, “You keep a very clean workstation. A professional chef would be proud.”

Minnie beams at the praise, then a microsecond later, is wiggling in to be let down. Her feet hit the ground and she takes off running back toward the living room, probably to collect something to show off to her Daddy. 

Matt takes the small break to turn his attention to you. A hand goes to your cheek, and instead of a brief ‘hello’ peck, he kisses you like he wants to turn and pin you to the wall. It catches you off guard, but you easily melt into it. You clutch at the lapel of his suit jacket and try to not moan as he nips at your lips. You open your mouth for him, but being the tease he is, he pulls back just enough to whisper against you.

“Been thinking about that all day.” 

The words send your blood rushing - some north to your cheeks and the rest to your cunt. 

He’d been thinking about you? About wanting to kiss you? Or has he been thinking about more than that - because you must admit, you’ve been thinking about it. You’ve had more than a few thoughts about what you want to do to him the next time you two are alone together and those thoughts were certainly very explicit. 

“Matt…” you totally do not whine out but instead of replying, his grin just turns cocky. He pulls away as Minnie returns to the entryway, and you decide you need a drink of your water. You escape and Mouse starts showing off her latest masterpieces to Matt. 

Food coloring, cotton balls, and popsicle sticks have proven to be a massive hit and Minnie has made a whole collection of things for Matt - there’s butterflies and flowers, a house with clouds, and various abstract pieces. You are sure his office is already filled to the brim with his daughter’s art, and you would not be surprised if he started to hang things from the ceiling when he does run out of room. He seems to treasure every little thing Minnie has given him and it warms your heart so much. You hope that love never runs out. 

Somehow, Matt ushers Minnie back to the dining room while she shoves different papers into his hands and gets her up in her booster seat. 

“I’m going to put all these in my bag, so they don’t get dirty or lost, okay?” He tells Minnie, who nods way too enthusiastically. 

“Keep them clean!”  And then, just like that, she switches from being excited her Daddy is there to being a hungry toddler. She whips around to face you and asks in an almost impatient manner, “Can I has my hot dogs now?”

You give her the go ahead as Matt returns to the table and takes his place. You quickly tell him the placement of everything, including his beer, then quickly add, “If you don’t like it, I have a few different things I could make you. Or we could order something.”

A brief panic runs through you when Matt scoffs. You think you’ve insulted him - having him come all the way to Chelsea to eat a dinner he won’t enjoy and having to find a substitute. 

“I love curry and this smells delicious. I wouldn’t trade it for the world - in fact, I’m hoping some of those leftovers on the stove are for me to take home and lord over Fog tomorrow.”

You flush at his sweetness and mumble out you’ll pack him some to go. This seems to please him, and he starts to dig in. Ever the little parrot, Minnie mimics him by shoveling food into her mouth with a big grin and you can’t help but laugh a little. 

“It’s nummy!” Your little one declares, and even if she’s just eating plain rice right now, you’ll take it as a win. You know well she won’t eat what she doesn’t like.

“Speaking of yummy,” Matt starts, slow and deliberate, with his head angled towards you, “I was hoping we could go somewhere yummy together.”

You blink slowly at the statement, rolling it over in your mind and trying to dissect the meaning. Did he want to go somewhere for dessert? Maybe get ice cream or something? “Somewhere yummy…?” 

“Mhm,” he hums, then his smile becomes a bit more sly. Even though you know it isn’t true, you feel like, behind his glasses, he is hungrily looking you up and down, “Somewhere like Uvas.”

The name doesn’t automatically generate anything for you, but after a moment, it dawns on you. Uvas in a Spanish restaurant near Central Park known to be high end and impossible to get into. It’s been in the local tabloids a few times for turning away minor celebrities who don’t meet the dress code. You’re mouth parts slightly in shock.

“What’s Oo-vuhas?” Minnie asks around her fork, her big eyes looking between you and Matt. “Do theys has yummy foods?”

“Oh, they have yummy food,” Matt teases. He then leans forward a bit in his seat and stage whispers to her, “It’s where I want to take Mommy for a date.”

“A date?” Minnie scrunches up her face at the word while your mind is still spinning. 

Matt wants to take you on a date? To Uvas? You have never been anywhere that fancy or expensive as a date. Hell, you’ve never been somewhere that fancy, period. The nicest date you’ve ever been on was Hard Rock Cafe - which says a lot about your dating life.

“A date,” Matt confirms, smug and knowingly scheming. You can hear it in his voice as he tells Minnie, “That is where Mommy and Daddy go and have dinner together as grown-ups.”

Up goes Minnie’s hand into her mouth, but it stays there only a split second. Her eyes get impossibly bigger and filled with wonder, and she whispers, “Like Lady and Tramp?”

“Exactly like Lady and Tramp.”

“Mommy!” Minnie says a little too loudly, pointing her fork at you. “You gotta go to Oo-vuhas and be Lady and Tramp! You gotta!”

And at that moment you know you can’t say no, and that Matt knows that. You can’t tell your daughter you don’t want to be like Lady and Tramp. Not that you don’t want to go on a date with Matt - the idea gets you giddy and makes your stomach flutter - but you thought if it happened, it would be a coffee or something. Not somewhere where you can’t even afford to look at the building. The idea makes you a little nauseous, because you are sure you’d make an absolute fool of yourself.

But Matt looks determined and sure of himself. You are certain he asked in front of Minnie so that she could help bully you into saying yes to such a lavish date. 

Luckily, your mind is working in overdrive, and you choke out, “I don’t have anything to wear. They have a dress code, don’t they?”

You don’t expect Matt to push his chair out and get up. Your throat instantly tightens up and fear shoots up your spine. Have you offended him? He clearly wants to do something with you and you’re over here hesitating. You must be coming off as a complete bitch. 

You start to stand up yourself as Matt disappears into the entryway. You don’t think he’d just leave without saying goodbye to Minnie.

Maybe you can talk to him - explain that somewhere a little less grand would be ideal to start.

Before you can start to follow him, Matt is coming back to the table, holding up the garment bag he brought with him, still looking like the cat that got the canary. 

“I thought you might say that,” he starts, his voice almost a little musical, “so I got you this.” 

You stare dumbly at him, shock and confusion overtaking your system. 

He got you something to wear? To Uvas? 

No one has ever bought you clothes before - except your parents. Even when you were pregnant, the small amount of gifts you got were all for Minnie. 

You distantly hear Minnie start saying something about presents, but it is all muffled under the sound of blood pumping through your ears. You step forward hesitantly and reach out for the zipper of the bag, your hand shaking slightly.

You expect it to be a joke. You’re going to open the bag and there’s going to be a clown costume inside, or a skimpy dress people like arm candy to wear, or something akin to a Burka. 

You don’t expect a black floor length sheath gown. The silhouette is simple, but you can tell just by looking at it the quality of the dress is top notch. The fabric has a nice weight to it, and it is incredibly soft to the touch that you have the distinct feeling that it did not come from a dress warehouse or a department store. 

This type of dress would come from a boutique uptown and would cost a few hundred dollars. 

You are so caught up in admiring the dress, you don’t notice Minnie come up beside you until she is also touching the dress. Panic that she might have crumbs or curry on her fingers runs through you, but you force it down.

“It’s like a princess dress for Mommy!” Mouse cooes and you feel your face start to heat up.

You’ve never worn something so nice before and certainly nothing that would be fit for a princess, but it seems like Matt and Minnie are on the same page.

“Well, I want Mommy to feel like a princess.” 

You want to hide your face, but you know you can’t, so you cover your mouth instead.

“Matt, this is beautiful. But this is so much, I can’t accept this.” 

You know that while Matt is a lawyer, he’s still struggling a bit financially. If he had his way, you know he wouldn’t charge anyone for his services, and even though Nelson, Murdock, and Page has paying customers, they still have to stagger out their bills. 

He shouldn’t be spending his hard saved money on you. 

Matt sighs your name before gently draping the garment bag over the back of his dining chair and stepping towards you. Both his hands go to your waist, and you freeze up as he steps close enough to press his forehead to yours. Your heart begins to wildly beat when his hands slowly begin to rub your sides. 

“Let me spoil you. To make up for all the dates I’ve missed. Please?” His lips dip into a small frown and you feel like you’ve kicked a puppy. 

He’s gone out of his way for you, and you are being so ungrateful. 

But it is so hard to say yes. Guilt is pooling in your stomach, and you just want to disappear into the shadows and be forgotten about. That is so much easier than Matt holding you, saying such sweet things.

You don’t want to ruin everything. 

You close your eyes as you have a war inside yourself. All you have to say is ‘Yes’ and you’ll make Matt happy, but the monster inside of you keeps dragging your mind into a pit. 

Matt wants to treat you like a princess, but how crushing will it be when he decides that is no longer the case? Can you take that?

The corners of your eyes start to sting and your monster starts to mock you for getting worked up over something as simple as being asked on a date. 

Why can’t you be normal?

Why can’t you accept this?

Why can’t -

The thoughts cease as Matt’s lips press against yours, soft and sweet and tempting. You respond hesitantly.

“Let me take care of you,” he breathes into your mouth, making you shudder. “You deserve it.” 

“You deserve it!” Minnie chirps from beside your knees and you very suddenly remember where you are and what you were doing. You try to pull away from Matt, thinking Minnie hasn’t seen the two of you like this yet, and it might confuse her, but he keeps his hands firmly planted on your hips, not letting you go. You don’t try to fight it, instead, you turn your head away, trying to hide away in your shell. 

You know there is no way you will win this. Matt is determined and he clearly has Minnie on his side, so, very hesitantly, and feeling like you are going to throw up at any moment, you nod into Matt’s shoulder.

“Okay.”

Mouse lets out a deafening cheer and you feel her dart away.

“LADY AND TRAMP! LADY AND TRAMP! LADY AND TRAMP!”

Matt laughs at her excitement over something she doesn’t understand, while you tuck yourself into his hold, wondering how long you have before he ends up shattering your heart into pieces.

---

tags:

@two-unbeatable-beaters @kiwwia-wiwwia @1988-fiend @xblueriddlex @loves0phelia @ninacotte @lovelyygirl8 @littlenosoul @ednaaa-04  @astridstark13

 @lovingkryptonitehideout @moongirlgodness @soocore @bluestuesday

@starry-night-20 @rebeccapineapple @writtenbyred @cherrypie5 @capswife @silvercharacterchaos @resting-confused-face

@Specialagentjackbauer  @yarrystyleeza @ofmusesandsecrets

@midnightreids @cloudroomblog @yeonalie @thychuvaluswife 

@petrovafire39 @ghostindeath @roxytheimmortal 

 @allllium @waywardcrow @thatkindofgurl @waywardxrhea 

@anehkael @akilatwt @lostinthefantasies @reluctanthalfwayoptimism @ethereal-blaze

 @nennia-2000 @seasonofthenerd @abucketofweird  @mattmurdockstateofmind @imagineswritersblog @hazelhavoc @smile-child-13 @allst4rsfall @hashcakes @kezibear @mapleaye @sammanna @gamingfeline @moon-glades @nightwitherspring @phoenix666stuff @dare-devil

@ladyoflynx @hobiebrowns-wife @sarcasm-n-insomnia @lillycore 

@dorothleah @mattmurdocksstarlight @mars-on-vinyl @mywellspringoflife @sleepdeprived-barelyalive @simmilarly @soupyspence @darkened-writer @akila-twt

@murc0ckmurc0ck @groovycass @sumo-b98 @just3rowsing @tongueofcat @zoom1374

@theclassicvinyldragon @aoi-targaryen @lunaticgurly @nikitawolfxo @shireentapestry @snakevyro @yondiii @echos-muses @honeybug-victoria @the-bisaster @ristare 

@mrs-bellingham @eugene-emt-roe @cometenthusiast @stevenknightmarc @yes-im-your-mom @hunnybelha @actorinfluence @capbrie @prowlingforfood @jupitervenusearthmars

@mayp11-blog @danzer8705 @thinking-at-dusk @remuslupinwifee @akila-twt  @nommingonfood @mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment @dil3mma @allllium 

[ihaveforgortoomany]

The American Dream explored through Schneider (spoilers mainly for Chapters One and Two)

Back again with Great Gatsby parallels with Reverse 1999, this analysis is inspired by the parallels seen in Chapter Six between characters like Isolda, Kakania and Marcus to the characters in Tosca; as well as how the nature of tragic plays are explored in said chapter.

Anyways here is a exploration of Schneider through the lens of the "American Dream" because while I love oranges I kinda wanna explore Schneider as a character more outside of the romantic angle (thats still here ofc but more on her motivations and development) .

What is the American Dream?

(Im not American, just someone who/ studied the Great Gatsby)

In short this is the idea that in the "New World"/ America, anyone can do anything as long as you worked hard for it - Gatsby embodies this idealism.

This idealism is notably disillusioned by the end of the 1920s known as the Jazz Age - a period known for Hedonism, Prohibition and the belief that society had become less moral. The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night by Scot Fitzgerald is born from this pessimism of the 1920s.

So how does this relate to Schneider?

Schneider

Putting aside her flirtatious manner and being a literal mafia boss, she is a character that was forced to grow up very fast and provide for her family at a very young age of 11. The male voice hammers home how Schneider had taken on the mantle of the breadwinner for the Greco family and how she will go to every length to help and care for them, such as turning to the Foundation and the Manus.

Now cue the oranges

The American Dream and the nature of it being a myth is expressed in the storybook scene between Vertin and Baby Schneider, specially when they share that final big orange. Im pretty sure this scene the game sets to auto as baby Schneider talks about the New World and how the "God loves the world there" intercut with Schneider suffering and pleading - just like Vertin's illusion that idealised is not real.

Baby Schneider talking about the New World with so much hope and joy being cut by the older Schneider, now jaded by the rejection of the Foundation and now the Manus reinforcing the pessimism of the 1920s that concludes with the 1929 Wall St Crash.

The American Dream is a myth, it has always been: Schneider was denied salvation on the basis that she was human, denied by the Foundation, denied by the Manus once they found out her lie and is finally taken by the Storm because she could not be on the Ark/ the suitcase would not protect her.

(I wonder when Schneider realised no matter the outcome she would be reversed alongside her family, maybe the moment she told her mother to starting moving once she realised Forget Me Not was not going to hold the end of his bargain.

I mean like everyone I would of liked a playable Schneider or even more on her as a character than the crumbs we got. But I think it is more fascinating how we Don't. Know. Schneider. At. All. Purposefully we are left wondering who she is as a person with only less than 24 hours of knowing her.

We don't even know her actual name but shes left enough of an impression to

One - Trigger Vertin's deep sated trauma of the Breakaway Incident/ giving false hope of salvation for to fail

Two - Create a fandom wide trauma for oranges and haunt the narrative that we actively call a depressing moment oranges

Less than 24 hours Schneider gave us enough to never forget her.

[kateweathermachine2]

My thoughts on the Wisdom Saga

Legendary

TELEMACHUS MY BOY!!!

Honestly most of the stuff I have to say about him deals with the next two songs instead of this one…

Okay, but the more I listen to Antonius the more his voice is just ✨✨✨? Like Calypso’s voice being gorgeous was on SIGHT (on… hear? Heard? Audio?), but Antonius keeps getting better the more I listen to him. Don’t get me wrong he’s a bad dude, but his voice acting? Beautiful

I love the setup in this song, you don’t even notice because it’s so catchy

ARGUS CRUSHED MY HEART IN THE ANIMATIC (like I knew he would) poor dog boi… if Jorge doesn’t have Odysseus say hello to him in a song I will be heartbroken.

Little Wolf

This song… the appearance of Athena in this song brought my prospective ranking of it from likely low to battling it out with Love in Paradise for top spot (I’m STILL not sure which one I like more).

When Athena first appeared in the livestream I (mentally) SCREAMED- MY FAV IS BACK SHE’S BACK AND I LOVE HER (very platonically)

I love the little interlude with her and Telemachus- speaking of which-

I’ve seen some people mention how Telemachus seems much younger than 20/21. Something about the portrayal of Telemachus as this naïve inexperienced child? I’m not sure. But I have my own thoughts to share on this, because as someone who’s close to that young adult age, I think it’s actually pretty accurate for Telemachus’s character. He’s lived in the palace all his life, he’s longing to adventure in the world beyond, but he doesn’t know how to fight… I mean, I don’t specifically relate to Telemachus but I can see aspects of this in my own life. I’ve taken my first baby steps into the big adult world, and it’s intimidating and scary, and I don’t know how anything works, but I’m trying anyways. Point being, I don’t understand how people think that Telemachus has to be younger just because he doesn’t have certain life experiences or knowledge yet. I think it’s a very good portrayal of a young adult being unsure of his coming into the world but excited for it anyways.

Anyways back to ATHENA MY GIRL

I love that we get an in-musical explanation of Quick Thought!! I think it’s really important for a musical to be self-contained with its important lore/information and Jorge does such a great job with that.

Athena’s entire speech about the suitors and bullies and inspiring Telemachus and reframing his “Little Wolf” title CHUCKED THIS SONG SO HIGH IN MY BOOK I need to find a character of mine to associate this part to

The little “ooohhhh, maybe I pushed him a bit to hard” is hilarious

Interesting thing we’re doing with transitions into the next songs with this saga. I do agree with some of the people who said it sounds kind of off in this song; I think it might’ve flowed better if it introduced the next one, but honestly, I’m entirely willing to ignore that because this song is *so* good

We’ll be Fine

I have one glaring complaint about this song…. WHY ISNT IT LONGER?!?! I NEED MORE OF THIS

I can honestly see this becoming a comfort song for me, it holds such great messages to remember

“Cause I got in a fight, and I didn’t die!” The bar is on the FLOOR with Telemachus

The voice actors are rocking their respective high notes! Jorge pushed them and they owned it!!

Speaking of those good encouraging messages- I absolutely adore Telemachus’s chorus. Every time I listen to it, my brain auto-fills the lyrics ahead, and I hear, “maybe it’s all gonna be okay,” but then Telemachus actually sings the verse and it’s “maybe it’s all gonna turn out great!” And that’s just… such a good thing to think about. Yeah, it’s gonna be okay in the end, but what if it was better than okay? What if it turned out to be absolutely amazing?? That’s… such a positive way to view things and I need it more in my life. Of course it could get toxic but for me, it’s a great reminder of how good things can become

Love in Paradise

I read a post that mentioned how the happiest song in the Thunder Saga is called Suffering, and the saddest song in the Wisdom Saga is called Love in Paradise, and I hate how accurate that is T^T

THE TIME DIVE MONTAGE WAS SO GOOOD- such a fun mini mash-up of the rest of the songs! I wish I had more to say about it because I want to keep gushing over it but I’m just gonna end up repeating myself saying it’s so good

The little replay of the “Captain?” “I have to see her” ;-;

WANGUI’S VOCALS— I CAN’T— THEY’RE SO GORGEOUS *unintelligible squealing*

“She’s my wife”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Anyways-“

Her voice is so pretty help I don’t approve of her actions but her VOICE HER VOICE

Can I also just say the animatic/visuals for this section were also gorgeous, such a great compliment to the audio

The way it goes from all sweet and bouncy to “oh ****” and right back to sweet was so good

“Last I checked goddesses can’t die!!” *cue the Wisdom Saga stream crash of 2024*

The cliff scene… oh my goodness it’s so *good* it’s all so *good* Jorge how are you so good at writing

He pays such close attention to characters and motifs and lines too- you can hear how Calypso triggers Odysseus’s flashback.

NOT TO MENTION- when Odysseus yells his line “All I hear are SCREAMS”, it’s in response to Calypso’s line “I’ll stay inside your heart”- which is Odysseus’s mom’s lyric from the underworld!! I literally just noticed the connection between the line and his reaction and I haven’t seen anyone else mention it before so-

And Athena’s little “he needs my help”- aaaaaa we all feel the pain

God Games

Oh *boy howdy* this one is a doozy

The intro is great, I adore Zeus’s voice- this cast is just FULL of talented voice actors man

“… Hera!…. Or me” …. A-wha-huh? I’m sorry didn’t you used to be “and”???

I was intrigued what Apollo’s grievance would be based on the whole “who’s cows” debacle- the sirens kinda threw me off guard xD

His voice is ✨✨✨ though, I love listening to him

JORGE’S DAD HEPHAESTUS!!!!! Aghhh his voice was so good for the part! And I loved the commentary on trust too

Aphrodite’s and Ares’s parts are still amazing even after all this time- I LOVE the details of Ares’s musical motif! He has the same melody as Athena, but played on this raw-sounding violin/cello? And he *also* has quick thought- but it still all feels different from Athena’s too! Because they’re both gods of war but with different domains and attributes AAAA so good!

And Athena’s lyrics in response- I love the re-do and the little extra quirks in it, like the extra growl on “ARES!!!” And the little riff(?) on “his son’s my FRIIIIEND”

Hera’s part was amazing. 100/10. Her voice was a lot… smoother than I was expecting honestly. It took a bit of getting used to but now I love it. And I am HERE for the dance battle

“Never once has he cheated on his wife”

“Release him.”

10/10 ✨✨✨

I was… really excited for an Athena/Zeus debate in this song when listening to all the snippets. I couldn’t wait to see how Athena would try and persuade Zeus, what arguments he would use specifically, how it would all go down… instead I got uh-

“I played your game and won! Release him.”

Oh so, no Zeus round? Ohh this is why it got changed to “or” isn’t it-

“You DARE to defy me?”

Huh-

“To make me feel shame?”

What’s happeni-

“No one beats me, NO ONE WINS MY GAME!!”

Oh boy howdy-

“THUNDER BRING HER THROUGH THE WRINGER, SHOW HER I’M THE JUDGEMENT CALL, THE ONE WHO MAKES HER KINGDOM FAAAAALL—“

I’M SORRY THIS WENT FROM 10 TO 100 SO FAST WHAT IS HAPPENING?!—

Athena in the flashback scene- holding baby Telemachus- the music- my HEART

And the end instrumental is so triumphant aaaaaa

“Let him gooooo! Please-“ JORGE WHEN I GET YOU JORGE—

Uh, so

My thoughts on God Games right after it came out were

Mixed

At first I was so absolutely frazzled from the livestream I could barely put thoughts together outside of incoherent screaming

But then I read a few tumblr posts about how some others were disappointed in how God Games ended and Zeus’s character- and I found myself agreeing :/

I do have a propensity for latching onto different opinions because I think they’re the “expected” one for me to have- and I totally think a bit of that was going on here- so I took some time off of tumblr/limiting my scrolling (which needed to be stopped anyways-) to really sort out how I felt on this

And I think I feel a bit stilted by God Games from its ending. The ending was… underwhelming? Which sounds INSANE considering the end of the stream but it’s underwhelming less because of actual shock factor and more because of what specifically happens versus my expectations.

Zeus just kind of… blasts Athena in the face??? Without provocation?? Athena DID win his game, she passed the terms he set out, she did all of that… and he shocks her anyways. It just. Doesn’t really sit right with me.

But I love Epic, and want to enjoy every song I come across, and I REALLY didn’t want this view of the ending of God Games to taint the rest of the song or the rest of the musical. So in my next big post, I’m going to do a mini “rewrite”/reworking of God Games that I’ve been toying around with in my mind for a little while now!!

I’ll explain more about why and what and the details in that post but for now, just know that it’s been a helpful exercise in enjoying God Games as it is too, and I’ll get to posting that the next time school isn’t absolutely crushing me with long homework assignments

Anyways, those are my kinda-in-depth thoughts about the Wisdom Saga!! I’ve been so excited to write this out and I’m happy to be posting it finally

[thatfragilecapricorn30]

I like The X-Files, should I watch Fringe?

I decided to watch Fringe because it was frequently recommended as a show for fans of TXF. I was really curious how similar it would be and would I actually enjoy it? I'm only on S2 E5, so this post will be my impressions of the first season. I'll probably write another post after watching more of the show. I'll also try to make this as spoiler free as possible so anyone can read it!

What is Fringe about? The main character is FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham. We meet her when she's assigned to a case in which everyone on board a plane dies from a mysterious illness. The plane lands successfully at Boston Logan (due to some auto-landing feature - not sure if this is even real) and this is where we find out that Boston (aka Vancouver) is our setting for the show. Dunham traces the mysterious illness back to the research of a former Harvard professor (Dr. Walter Bishop), who is currently in a psychiatric institution, and she needs his son (Peter Bishop) to get him out. By the end of the episode, the three of them form the core of the Fringe division, a cohort of agents and consultants working on unexplained cases (sound familiar??).

How are Fringe and TXF similar?

Both shows center on a special division within the FBI that involve unexplained phenonomen.

Both are filmed in Vancouver.

Both feature monster of the week and mythology episodes.

Both have a strong female lead.

Both have the potential for romance between the two leads (Olivia and Peter).

How are the two shows different?

Fringe features an ensemble cast, whereas TXF was really only Mulder and Scully. I enjoy the relationships between the characters (like Peter and his father, and Walter and Astrid), but the show hasn't done a great job of fleshing out characters aside from the core three. Poor Astrid has pretty much no personality aside from performing lab work with Walter.

The show does not have the same atmosphere as TXF seasons 1-5, even though they're both filmed in the same locale. It might be because of film vs. digital, but the cinematography on Fringe is lacking compared to the beautiful forests we're used to seeing on TXF.

Fringe does a great job of tying a majority of their monster of the week episodes back to the main mythology. The problem with this is that it's hard to watch these episodes independently as they don't have a truly self-contained story.

The mythology storyline is well-developed and I heard that there's actually a plan for the plot (unlike TXF).

Fringe is sci-fi. There are no paranormal, supernatural, or horror elements.

Other impressions:

It took me about halfway through season 1 to start getting into the show, and it seems like that might be some others' experience (and why they may have stopped).

I find it hard to follow the cases sometimes, because they involve technology that is extremely advanced or currently doesn't exist at all, and it seems like the writers don't really understand it either.

I have a feeling we'll be seeing a romantic relationship between Olivia and Peter at some point and I think the show is doing a good job of slowly developing their bond. I've also heard that Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson did not get along on set (sound familiar??) but they have decent chemistry - not as good as David and Gillian but as we all know, there's not a fair comparison.

There's random things that rub me the wrong way, like Walter performing autopsies (someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think he's an MD, just has several PhDs), how every single case relates back to Walter's research (this man is like 10 Einsteins because he was conducting experiments in every field and all of it beyond the realm of known science), Walter touching dead bodies at crime scenes without gloves (I know this happens in TXF but it's so egregious in Fringe). Despite all this, I do like Walter's character and I think John Noble gives an excellent performance.

Olivia Dunham is a well-rounded character and Anna Torv is great. I really enjoy the relationship she has with her sister and niece.

So far, I enjoy the mythology episodes more than the monster of the week, which is the opposite of my opinion for TXF.

It's funny that there are 15 years between the premiere of TXF (1993) and Fringe (2008) and about another 15 years to present day (2024). But Fringe seems so modern compared to TXF. You can barely tell it's 15 years old, except for the lack of iPhones and I'm sure even that will change in the next few seasons.

Should I watch it??

If you really enjoy sci-fi, I would say definitely check it out. If you're on the fence, or don't like sci-fi at all, I would skip this one.

It probably sounds like I don't enjoy Fringe based on my above points. I think part of it is that I am comparing it to TXF, even while watching, and TXF is definitely better (imo). I also enjoy horror more than sci fi. But, Fringe is holding my interest for now and I've heard that it improves throughout the seasons, so I'm going to keep watching.

I'll definitely write an update post at some point - if I finish the show or stop watching it.

I'm so curious to hear the thoughts of others who have watched Fringe! Do you agree with my assessments so far? What are your opinions and how does it compare to The X-Files for you?

[yonemurishiroku]

I was rereading The Blood of Olympus today, and I realized how much I just do not like Piper.

Whenever Piper is in a chapter, to me it feels like she’s always being pushy, selfish, or overprotective. Also, it may just be me with this opinion.

When Piper is in the temple of fear with Annabeth, Piper is the one who takes control of the situation. In my opinion the way Rick explained it didn’t make sense. Annabeth is the one who is always calm and collected. Even with trauma. Piper is the one who acts on impulse and what she wants, (as displayed when she jumps down the chute even though Annabeth warns her not to). Although this action may have been necessary to the mission, it what reckless.

Also, despite Piper knowing something is up with Leo, continues to treat him like a third wheel and as someone who could be sacrificed. It just doesn’t make her a likable character.

As my last little tid-bit on this topic, Piper committed crimes before becoming part of the seven. I don’t think this should be ignored as a part of her character. It shows how much she craves attention and isn’t above breaking the law to get it. There is certain things that are *somewhat* understandable for not having attention from your parents, but never should breaking the law be considered okay to do because of that.

Who knows, maybe I’m reading her character wrong but that’s the way I see her. Please dissect this.

I just want to say that, as someone who has been trying to keep it down to only Nico, to receive an ask specifically about another character I've paid no attention to surely is an experience lol.

Anyway. Let's see. From your words, Piper doesn't seem to be a likable character, which is to be expected. As far as I'm concerned though, Piper, as a character, just does not interest me enough for me to form an opinion. I'm more of a "eh whatever" or "oh. cool" when it comes to her. It also does not help that I haven't read The Lost Hero, and my brain just straight up auto-deletes everything that's not Nico-related, so you can say my grasp of Piper McLean is limited at best and non-existant at worst.

If there's anything I remember about her, then that'd be the times I had to skip some pages of her and Jason (like I did to Percabeth, bc I disliked romantic scenes with everything in me and that's nothing new).

With that being said, as someone technically blank, I feel that your dislike to Piper is already set in stone, so there's no changing to that, and it's not like you need to change anyway. I wouldn't like such a character in your description either. 😂😂😂

About that scene of Annabeth and Piper, (keep in mind that I am not aware of that scene but directly referencing it through your retelling) I think what Rick was trying is to make Piper a direct contradiction to Annabeth in terms of action repertoire - a type of recklessness to the latter's meticulousness.

(Wow Percabeth and Jiper are actually a square full of contradictions)

However. The line between 'bold, risk-taking' and straigh-up stupidity is but a fine line. I will not judge Piper without properly re-reading the whole thing (which I won't), but I can see where you get it from.

I just want to say a few words about the last part. The thing about Piper's criminal record.

I understand that, from a reader's point of view, it'd be unlikable for a character to commit a crime, specifically, to "gain attraction". Though, while the action itself is inexcusable, it should also be acknowledged that Piper - like 90% of the PJO cast - was a teenager, who grew up with barely any parental guidance (or at least that's what I remember). A figure as such is bound to make mistakes, as well as cause debates over their likeliness. I do agree that what Piper did was wrong (I mean. that's like. the law), however there's a reason and background to said wrongdoing.

It's not okay, nor is it right to do so, but it's understandable. That's all.

That is to say: fuck it. I have been resenting Percy since the day I read PJO, you can dislike Piper all you want. We're just humans, not saints. Just don't go around shitting on people with different likes then you're good to go! 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️😂

While we are at it, I'm quite curious as to how this was "ignored as a part of her character". I'm guessing that Rick failed to incorporate Piper's background into her own character as she's developed? Then that's not Piper's fault. That's just Rick and his YA writing lmao.

[rrrrinmaru]

liveblog of 01 - to begin

first thoughts are that i really like the podcast-esque opening of the prologue with DPSC FM - it's giving wtnv vibes and the va does an excellent job of delivering his lines. i would actually enjoy hearing a full podcast version of the events of this game narrated through a radio station i think...

"traceback ii is about to pass the event horizon and enter the black hole" / "we are stuck in this loop, in this never ending journey" - pensive... is this related to the main storyline or is this foreshadowing about the multiple world theory?

"metaflux index" - it's fascinating that they've developed the technology to sense this metaflux index and identify problem spots in the city where wanderers are more likely to appear. they seem to be able to predict the rough locations where the wanderers will appear and likely can dispatch hunters to these areas on standby, but i wonder if they can narrow it down to the time itself?like "1400, wanderer attack down at the pizzeria", or if it's a shorter warning time, like the metaflux index spikes and it signals a wanderer attack in the next 20 minutes?

deepspace tunnel appearing leading to anomalous geomagnetic storms, which caused the wanderers to appear - i'm assuming the deepspace tunnel is something like a wormhole / space portal. does this mean the wanderers entered our planet through some portal / wormhole tearing a rift in space and time to deposit them directly on our planet (think loki and the first avengers movie when he brought the chitauri over with his spectre)? did someone create this portal or was it like some act of mother nature?

if you listen carefully during the 01 story, when tara is speaking to you, the president in the background says "but we only care about results. the ends justify the means." considering they view the wanderers as invasive aliens (zergs www), the standpoint makes sense, but it is quite funny to hear it be declared so self-righteously. does make me wonder how much you can get away with if you claim it's for the purpose of defeating the wanderers though... severe structural damage ala the avengers?

it seems that the new list of hunter graduates are released ahead of graduation and the leaders (?) of each hunting division / squad / team get to select the rookies they want to join their team - there doesn't seem to be any autonomy on the part of the graduates to indicate which team they want to join.

i do wonder why mc is the first rookie called up to receive the badge: from a gameplay perspective, it makes sense since it would be a chore to have to "sit through" other people before it reaches our turn. i don't think it's based on alphabetical order either since all the players' names are different, and it's likely that any numerical number (e.g. student number 12020) would be in order of name. from a plot perspective, are we like... hunter valedictorian???

tara being into tarot cards is so funny i won't lie. all this technological advancement and the venturing into space to see all the planets and having a wormhole tunnel appear in our planet and having to fight aliens and still bestie believes in fate. i mean so do i but it's still kinda funny wwww she's super cute though. i love her short bob.

interesting how mc uses a gun for the first mission - are they assigned guns only as beginner rookies? it's clear mc can use other weapons from the battle mechanics, so why gun - more importantly, have they invented auto aim in plot yet or does she still have to manually aim at people?

not sure if this is a gameplay thing or intentional plotwise - xavier's wounds were glowing with "metaflux" (suggests that wanderers' attacks use metaflux?) but the moment you touch him to try to wake him up, the glow disappears.

IS XAVIER COLLARED? COLLARED? COLLARED? HOW HAS NO ONE SPOKEN ABOUT THE COLLAR? WHAT THE FUCK? HE HAS A COLLAR?

"it activated its protofield" - are there any repercussions to like... just ignoring the protofield? like you see it manifest in front of you and you know a wanderer's lurking inside and you just decide no thanks and walk away? obviously you cordon off the area so the public can't wander in and stuff, but apart from that are there any... space time repercussions? like the protofield gets bigger the longer it goes ignored, or the wanderer can just dismiss the protofield and come back out to walk the earth?

protocores are crushable??????

erm very bold of xavier to just take my wrist and drag me along but ermmmmmmmm hehe hehe...... let's just say i'm agreeable.

hm i'm a bit confused. luminivores eat light - xavier's evol is light - they eat the light he produces (??) - therefore the warehouse full of luminivores is likely a trap for him. i think xavier mentions that the luminivores will respawn with the light if they don't defeat the luminivores quickly enough, meaning the luminivores consume the light and use it as refuel / to respawn with health. but when mc and xavier resonate, the combined power of the resonated light evol is "so bright" it seems to dissolve all the luminivores? does this mean it's like a speed / intensity thing? shine a bright enough /damaging enough light on the luminivores to hurt them faster than they can devour the light and it's enough to destroy them? maybe part of the hunter gear should include really, really, really high powered industry grade flashlights

protocores seem a lot weaker than i imagined... can they really be destroyed so easily? xavier crushed them in his palm and they were disintegrated by the power of the resonated light evol? regardless, protocores can be broken into protocore fragments - can they be pieced together to form a new protocore?

i do wonder - they can sense metaflux energy levels, and a high enough metaflux energy level typically means that wanderers will be appearing / have appeared in the area. is the reverse true, whereby a metaflux "explosion" (maybe in the research of metaflux energy and somehow the scientists accidentally create an explosion), will it draw wanderers to appear at that location like a beacon?

tara was about to try every method possible to contact mc, both scientific AND mystical? i would give money to see tara conduct a seance in the abandoned warehouse to try to triangulate my location. maybe pull out an ouija board. speak with any lingering spirits to figure out if i'm having a little tete-a-tete with a hot single silver-haired injured man in my area.

do teams like data analysis go into the field as well? that is so funny... imagine joining the hunter academy (?) because you've always been fascinated by metaflux and want to help develop technology / weapons to better sense and identify and hunt wanderers, and you suck it up throughout all the combat fitness and field training because you just want to be Where The Scientists Are and when you finally get assigned to data analysis you find out you still have compulsory field assignments. like i would end it all

mini drones with 360 degree eyes and infrared sensors designed to monitor wanderer activity patrol the sky - oh so we are in the Surveillance Society that all the sci-fi books predicted. got it

if jenna saved tara 14 years ago during the wanderer attack, and assuming jenna was like employed with some kind of law enforcement at the time, putting her at maybe 20-22 (at least), she should be about >= 34 years old? sexy... ok i am seeing the tara/jenna vision...

i wonder if they have flying cars....

fucking funny how rafayel just catches the fish and. lets it flop on the net pathetically for however long he talks, SUFFOCATING, before he plops it in your water container. he was really ready to just chat with you while he let his friend (fish are friends not food) die

HE JUST WALKS OFF OH MY GOD ok lilydally i see what you see in him. the bitch energy is hilarious

mc says she hasn't met zayne for over a decade and only recently met him 6 months ago for a follow-up checkup for her heart, but their families are friends and meet occasionally for meals - did they just stop meeting post wanderer attack? actually, did mc's grandma take mc in before or after the wanderer attack? if mc met zayne when she was 8 (and assuming this was pre-wanderer attack), she's at least 22 years old

not gonna lie if my ex-childhood friend turned out to be my primary care physician i might ask for someone else to be my physician... unless they were the best at their job and irreplaceable (which i assume zayne is?)

damn this office is fancy as hell... what kind of doctor's office has a whole ass couch inside? with a long table? with multiple couch cushions??

i like how low caleb's bar is. what matters is that you're alive. thank you chief.

military flights go INTO the deepspace tunnel?! by military she meant SPACE EXPLORATION? < with hindsight i now know by military, caleb is in the deepspace aviation administration. it's funny how they still call it aviation. the sky is vastly different from space, methinks........

you can find wanderers IN the deepspace tunnel? like are they floating? are they in their own spaceship of some kind? how do their bodies adapt to the change in pressure from space and on earth? if it's revealed wanderers are capable of flying spaceships too that would be so funny.... forget hand to hand combat on solid ground. let's have a laser battle in space in the deepspace portal. we'll see whose nuclear shields hold up better

caleb doesn't like cilantro... i will remember this

[ghostchanuwu]

Thinking about AniRedux Sinnoh and I think I figured out how it would function (yes I will make a graph and nobody can stop me)

AR Sinnoh is Platinum's Sinnoh (very snowy borderline perpetual winter while the outskirt cities are the complete opposite being in perpetual spring/summer and places like Oreburgh Pastoria and Hearthome being in perpetual autumn)

Sinnoh has no extra gyms and only has 2 reserve leaders (Riley being Byron's/Roark's and Flint and Volkner being interchangeable)

The Celestica people are very complicated, they are believed to have fully died out and can be confirmed by writings of their own but that is completely contradicted by people coming forward saying that they themselves are Celestica/of Celestica decent and have been able to prove it by translating Celestica writings (they are written in a blend of ancient Hisui and Unknown and are completely illegible to anyone who is not Celestica since the written language itself was a gift given to them by Uxie)

The Celestica people also have a thing akin to immortality,if someone comes from a Celestica lineage then their life span is just slightly longer than it should (ex normal human longest being a bit over 100 whereas CL would be 130), now if someone were to come from a direct unbroken Celestica lineage they are pretty much pseudo immortal (ie Volo and Cogita,their maximum lifespans are well into 400 nearing 500), AR Cynthia is directly related to the two with her herself having Celestica parents (Cynthia has been around for roughly 230 years now,she has had to drastically change her appearance throughout the years along with her name as to avoid suspicion) Celestica do age slowly hence why Cynthia still looks to be in her mid 30s despite being over 2 centuries old

(This one is a bit out of left field) Hisui itself is a pocket dimension namely being the PLA Hisui

There was originally the 1 Hisui and no pocket dimension shenanigans but it had split into 2 when the Dimensional Rift above Mt Coronet first formed (there was no noticeable difference between the two), AR Hisui became Sinnoh just like in vanilla canon whereas PLA Hisui is stuck in a permeant time loop

How the loop occurs is that the events of PLA happen but instead Akari takes the role of the player character since Dawn/Lucas haven't yet been isakai'd, events go as normal up until the final Volo fight, Akari loses since she does not have Arceus' blessing and Volo goes onto resetting the world with Giritina (ie fight 'Arceus' and force a reset even though the Arceus he fights is only a shard and on top of that the reset is destined to happen)

Nobody remembers anything after the reset not even Volo (literal hard reset like fully deleting everyone's memories) and it all happens again exactly the same time and time again

Arceus has tried to isekai people into PLA Hisui but it has always failed resulting in their deaths almost immediately after being sent in due to injury sickness ect (those loops are auto doomed since only 1 chosen can be sent in per loop)

Ingo was eventually chosen and sent in which he did almost die in the Alabaster Icelands but was rescued, he essentially acted as the player character and instead of being Pearl Clan he had joined Jubilife, timeline continues as planned (1-1 with PLA's story), Ingo was ment to be the person to finally stop Volo and end the resets for good but he had failed too and the world was reset

A thing about resets with a chosen still in the pocket dimension is that if they are not recalled in time they will then become a permanent fixture in the loop (Ingo suddenly becoming Pearl Clan and having no memory of anything before) said person can be brought back to their time only if the next chosen is able to send them through the rift (Arc-Phone is basically a chosen's lifeline and only 1 can exist per loop)

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

"this is a discussion blog and we're all allowed to have our own opinion on the matter"

Here is a point where I find it conflicting.

There are a lot of anonymous women who have made a big deal out of it (including you at times). To the point, and I saw it in your blog, that they even took it for granted that Evan is going to marry Haley. That she is perfect -in general- and that everything Evan does, something has to do with her (for example, the comment on Amazon about the anti-allergic).

Then you allow the issue to get bigger. When there is only one photo and, at most, they are dating and haven't seen each other for a long time (at least in public).

So, you have a little responsibility for the blog to enter into discussion. When you can easily answer to every repetitive question about Haley that you are asked with a "nothing is confirmed, time will tell".

My opinion.

i'm not exactly sure what you mean when you say a ''big deal''. i know i harp on this at times, but i have to reiterate: this is a gossip blog. if celebrity gossip makes you uneasy, then it is best you do not engage with this content. the very first post i ever made stated this and that no reasonable topic would be off-limits, and i let my readers guide the discussions we have. the messages i get define the flow of our conversation. some days all we do is bemoan the emma roberts gremlins, other days we talk about haley lu, or fran and her bait-y ways.. sometimes it's just folks having an outlet for their horny thoughts. sometimes i have nothing to add and other times i write paragraphs. this blog belongs to the readers just as much as it belongs to me - if they do not engage, this is just an empty blog where dust would collect.

also, if you saw the posts you're referencing, because lord knows i remember.. then you already know i tempered the expectations of the people who thought that evan and haley should have already been meeting each others families and planning for marriage 2 weeks after potentially meeting the first time. it was whiplash inducing going from ask to ask. but outside of managing trolls, i tried to do this in a civil way and understand that not everyone is as old as i am and it's natural that some people may get over-excited. likewise, i dealt with people who came to share legitimate feelings of sadness and conflict over evan dating someone, and i tried to talk with them in a human way to understand that our feelings can be complex and irrational, and it doesn't always mean someone is ill-intentioned or stupid; just struggling with their emotions.

this is the nature of a discussion blog - as the admin, outside of sharing my own opinions, i feel like my only responsibility is to keep conversations from going off the rails and being destructive or overly negative. i am not here to police anybody for reasonable conversation on a gossip discussion blog! i do not resent those who disagree with me, but i do kind of resent stupid people who litter my ask box with petty or downright delusional baloney. sorry if that makes me a grump.

and this is where you lose me. the comment re: the amazon review for nasal spray was obviously done jokingly. please remove the stick from betwixt the cheeks of your buttocks, ma'am. no tumblr users were hurt by me and a tweam member joking about evan's allergy to felines, when haley lu has a beloved cat! no one, and i really mean no one because i can never recall it, has said haley is perfect or everything she does is related to evan. where were you the other day when we literally belabored the fact that not everything haley (or anyone) posts on social media is about their SO? c'mon..

and what kind of a gossip/discussion blog would this be if every time someone wanted to chat about something unverified, i simply copy and pasted an auto-response about how ''nothing is confirmed''? it's not like we're over here discussing evan's tax documents or racing to see who can find his social security number first. TEA is in the username, TEA is slang for GOSSIP. and what purpose does this response to all haley/evan relationship questions serve other than to spare your feelings when you apparently have to read my discussion blog and see that we're discussing who evan is dating? friend, click away! blacklist haley's name! it's just not that deep. this is supposed to be fun; if you're not having fun, you should not be here.

also, evan and haley dating is not an ''issue'' that gets bigger. him dating a girl who is causing no problems should not be an issue to you, or anyone else. evan peters is a stranger to you, me, and everyone else reading this blog unless something's going on i don't know about lmao

[reddragon-cowboy]

SHIPPING INFO // ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR MUSES SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW SHIPPING WORKS ON YOUR BLOG.

Tagged by: Stolen ;3

WHAT IS YOUR OTP FOR YOUR CHARACTER(S)?

At the moment I don't since my blog is fairly new, right out the womb, so I've yet to have developed an OTP for my muses at the moment. But I do find delight in the romance between my muses that's involved in my cowboy bebop fic, and based on that I can say they are my OTP of this blog. It's also encouraging to hear when friends/mutuals say they also ship them together since oc x canon are usually treated in a negative way.

But I really really love opposite attract and pred x prey dynamics; I'm drawn those tropes like a moth to a flame.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?

I won't ship with a muse who's younger than twenty-five, bare minimum. I also prefer not to go over a twelve-year gap. Both of my muses are in their late 20's ( 27-29).

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY ARE CONSIDERED NSFW?

When things start to get extremely heavy with petting and there's grinding involved. It veers into NSFW territory for me so I'd just fade into black. But I'd probably go to dm's for details >\\>

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?

Honestly. I've very selective and chemistry based. Particularly for Spike because he's like a cat, I can't force him to ship with anybody if he's not feeling it. Niah also requires chemistry but she's easier to ship with.

Usually, I don't think too much about shipping nowadays, and when I meet new people, it doesn't really cross my mind, except if I see a muse that my own might potentially like. . . which is a bit rare.

WHO ARE OTHER CHARACTERS YOU SHIP YOUR CHARACTER WITH?

At the moment, I got something going with @straye with their Kogami and my Niah (ShinNiah) which has been fun. It's such a good slow burn between them as I watch how their relationship progresses into something more. I feel like Ko really tries to relate to her on different levels and understand her at a lower depth where he sees more than what's on the surface. She wears a mask, but he seems to have no problem with wanting to lift it up to see all of what she tries to hide. They're lonely people who found each other to be alone with together.

I've yet to find someone for Spike ;3; he's soo difficult, but it would help if someone was patient with him. However, me and @junksatellites are in talks to do something! I But Spike also does have a dream sequence thing with their Faye as well if that counts, and other interactions they may find themselves in ;3

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?

Yeah, it's okay. But I can't guarantee if my muses may feel the same way for a particular muse.

ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?

I'm moreso ship more-or-less, mainly because I don't expect for people to be interested in my muses, especially Niah due to how most female oc's are treated. Shipping is also never the first reason for me to interact with a muse since I greatly value platonic/familial/antagonist relationships first. I don't auto-ship either with canon x canon since I like for things to develop naturally (usually through ic interactions or plotting ideas).

ARE YOU MULTISHIP?

Of course!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?

I'm a huge sucker for Spike x Electra. It's my all-time favorite in the series ;3;

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?

It's important to me for muses to have chemistry with one another, but it's also equally important for there to be chemistry between muns. After that first step, see how our muses interact with one another, whether through ic or dms. If both muses are feeling something then that's a good sign, but if not :( although I am fine with unreceptive feelings to occur in a relationship.

tagging: @gumpistol @erthlyheavn @straye @perceptualephemera @junksatellites @alaikhadal @xissp @liesandalibis @dynamoprotocol @pzfr @thrillrs @kaizokugaris @dandelicn @batinstincts & whoever want to do it :3

[currentfandomkick]

While i do like the other reblogs (especially the one where Danny’s way to avoid killing someone was to poison Ra’s) it could be fun to play with Danny having left with the LOA’s consent.

How about with Ra’s blessing, as Danny argued he was too easily emotionally compromised, and wanted to focus on the environmental impact side of the league, magic, and even how they handle diplomacy and trade but cannot tolerate killing himself and is aware of this weakness in himself. Tiny Danny doing the equivalent of going “hey, you let mom choose to be the League as an adult. I am choosing not to stay here as an assassin and have different aspirations like her. I doubt this will change, can i be placed in another family unit that does not expect murder or for me to be cool with killing? with your approval, of course.”

And Ra’s was shown in a lot of early comics and later one to value integrity and loyalty highly. Danny indicating at a young age he’s aware he will hinder the league but could flourish elsewhere and offering listed interests and relevant skills he has could amuse him enough to inform Talia and get her take on what type of family she would want a young Danyal to be placed in, as they’d rather find one sooner to prevent Danny from being a long term security risk.

Talia was fully aware Danny does not want to kill, much like she did once and knows she can’t give him that life, so she chose to give him up as a small child. Damian stayed in the League as he did look up to his grandfather and wanted to be Heir. She decided it was better to separate the twins and let them chase their ambitions and moral codes than to force both to stay with her.

This also is a foundation for her sending Damian to Bruce when he’s ten—she remembers that Damian would learn well under him sure, but that Damian can learn if he does truly prefer killing as a primary option, or if he prefers alternative solutions to handling targets/dangerous individuals. To a degree, a test as an heir, to another degree, her trying to let her remaining son decide if he truly wants to lead the LOA as her father’s heir or not.

Danny could have been unofficially ‘gifted’ to the Fentons around age 4/5. with Maddie as a former LOA agent’s daughter and struggling to have a second child due to prolonged ectoplasm exposure. He was the ‘solution’ to them wanting and being unable to have another child. They just need to make their findings publicly accessible and keep him involved in the engineering aspect so long as he continues to show interest in it.

Problem: Danny does not favor fighting, and becomes Phantom on his death and auto-revival. He made sure not to tell his current parents, as he is aware Talia would be told and she would end up telling Ra’s. His reason to not tell the Fentons is to prevent Ra’s from trying to make more Halfas to be assassins. As Danny fundamentally is opposed to killing in this, and while fine with a varied range of other solutions, including Sam’s brand of ecoterrorism, killing is his Hard No.

From Damian’s POV his disowned twin showed up with a billionaire in Damian’s ‘territory’ between the two and realized Bruce and co were unaware Danny existed, let alone was with a pair of mad scientists loosely related to the League’s scientific and occult endeavors… and said twin is with a man that is not those approved individuals claiming to be his twin’s father. Was his brother kidnapped after the adoption? Adoptive parents dead or otherwise lost custody? He has no way of knowing as he’s not in the League anymore and lost that right to know when he chose his father over the LOA.

From danny’s POV he just found out Bruce Wayne is in bed with the LOA, and does not want to deal with the fallout of Damian a) catching him in his territory b) associating with a man that’s team ‘murder solves problems’ and c) is claiming to be his father when there’s no way Vlad’s ass would pass LOA standards for a branch member’s foster/adoptive family. He does not want Damian’s murdery smoke and is bailing as fast as he can without outing he’s meta/supernatural now. No idea how Grandfather would react or if he’s be used like Freakshow had puppeted his body with the red orb. Danny does not want to Find Out and has no clue Damian left the league.

Batfam POV is Damian had a secret twin who likely needs rescue, and knows too much about cloning. Is he in the LOA still? Escaped? Is a clone of Danyal and presumed his ID? They dont know and will find out. After capturing him and the shady guy claiming Bruce’s parental rights.

Right Reasons; Wrong Kid

Summary: Batfam thinks Damian is being kidnapped when they see Danny getting manhandled into a car by Vlad; Danny loves to make Vlad's life difficult and puts up a fight getting into the car.

Word Count: 1450

Being in Gotham was the last place Danny wanted to be today, especially when he had to be here with Vlad. The fruitloop had somehow convinced his parents that he should go to this stupid three day business conference with him.

While Danny can't make any decisions right now he can certainly make Vlad regret his. Which is why Danny doesn't feel an ounce of embarrassment at what he is currently doing.

"Daniel, get in the car." Vlad hissed at him with a tight smile as they both stood outside of the building the conference was being hosted in.

"No." He said; even going as far as to take a step backwards to further spite the man in front of him.

It was clear Vlad was losing his patience with him if the subtle flash of red in his eyes is anything to go off of. "Daniel, I won't ask again. Get in the car now, or I can drag you in. The choice is yours, but you will be getting in this car one way or another."

"You really gonna drag a kid into your car in front of all these people you're trying so hard to impress?" Danny looked from side to side at all the people congregating on the sidewalk and steps as they wait for their vehicles to arrive.

"I'm hardly the first person they've seen that has had to deal with a stubborn child refusing to listen." Vlad says as he takes a threatening step forward, "Now get in the car."

"No."

Seemingly annoyed but not surprised Vlad takes a deep breath before his hand, like a snake, strikes forward and grabs a hold of him before beginning to pull. Just as quickly though Danny is trying to pull away with just as much strength. Quickly taking a moment to look around he sees that others are already starting to look in their direction; perfect.

With him distracted though Vlad was able to get a sharp tug on him causing him to stubble towards the car. Before he can fall into the car though Danny is shooting his foot forward, firmly planting it down as his hands land on both sides of the open car door.

"Gonna have to try harder than that, fruitloop. I can't make it too easy for you." Danny teased as he fought against Vlad’s pushing.

Vlad doesn't say anything back to him besides giving a low growl. This situation is clearly not going the way he wanted to and Vlad’s frustration was starting to show, and Danny was determined to watch this man break in front of all these people he so desperately wanted to impress.

He locked his arms and knees when he felt Vlad start pushing harder against his back. Preparing himself to jump to the side the moment Vlad loosened his grip even slightly. What he wasn't prepared for though was for the weight pushing against him to suddenly disappear.

"What is going on here?" A deceivingly friendly voice sounds out behind him.

Before Danny can realize what has just happened though a much stronger hand is gripping his shoulder and yanking him away from the open car door. Finally able to see more than just the car's interior Danny see's that three other men are now standing by the car.

Two of them, a teen not much older than himself and a middle aged man, are standing in front of him as if forming a wall between him and Vlad. Who is being held in place by the third man.

Danny can see that Vlad was just as thrown off by these strangers as he is based on the startled look on his face. What confuses him though is when instead of becoming angry like he expects Vlad only looks surprised as he takes in the three guys with them.

"Bruce Wayne!" Vlad announces with a tight grin, "I was just trying to get my son to cooperate with me and get in the car. I'm sure you understand how teenage boys are."

"I'm not your son!" Danny instinctively yells out; no way in hell was he going to let Vlad tell people they were any way related.

It took him a second to register what name Vlad had even said.

Bruce Wayne? He remembers Sam and Tucker talking about that guy and his family when they found out he was going to Gotham. Which means if he's remembering correctly then the young man next to Vlad is most likely Dick Grayson and the older teen next to him is Tim Drake.

Without looking at him Bruce leans towards him and whispers, "Shh Damian, let me handle this."

Wait. What?

"I'm not-" Danny tried to say that his name wasn't Damian, but was quickly interrupted before he could.

"Damian, quiet." Bruce lowly growls; still not moving his gaze to look at Danny. "Actually, Mr. Masters, you'll find that this is my son, and I don't think you should be putting your hands on him."

Vlad looks from Bruce to Danny and then back to Bruce, "While I do agree that you and Daniel share some resemblance this is not your son Mr. Wayne."

It seems Bruce wasn't going to entertain Vlad's "lie" because he still doesn't bother to even look at Danny. Tim on the other hand seems to consider what Vlad said, and turns to actually look at his face.

Danny almost laughs out loud when he sees shock immediately overtake Tim's face. At least one of these fruit loops is smart enough to recognize that he isn't the youngest Wayne.

"Bruce, this isn't Damian." Tim states with wide eyes still locked with his.

Upon hearing this the other two Wayne's finally take a hard look at Danny for themselves.

"Oh my God B, that's not Damian!" Dick exclaims before releasing his hold on Vlad.

Bruce on the other hand is frozen in shock as he stares at Danny as he comes to the realization that the boy in front of him is in fact not his youngest son. Snapping himself out of his stupor, the older man finally addresses Vlad. "Mr. Masters, my deepest apologies. It seems this young man and my son look remarkably alike, and I assumed the worst when I saw him fighting to get into the car."

Vlad takes a step forward towards Danny clear with his intentions of getting them into the car now, but before he can grab him Bruce is once more taking a step in front of Danny. "I would actually like to have a quick word with Daniel if you won't mind."

"And why is that?"

"I have a son his age after all, maybe I can help ease this teenage rebellion phase, and cause less fights when it comes to getting in the car."

Danny must have been more focused on the growing argument in front of him more than he thought because he ends up slightly jumping when he feels a sudden hand on his shoulder. Looking to his right he sees that Dick is now standing next him with a soft smile. "Daniel, right?"

“Danny actually, and you’re Dick?”

"Yup! That's me," He gestures to the boy standing on Danny's other side, "and this is Tim. Sorry about all this; we thought our brother was being kidnapped."

"Do I seriously look that much like him?" At this point Danny had to meet Damian if the guy's family was even confusing the two of them.

Tim is giving him a concentrated look when he replies, "It's like the two of you could be twins or maybe even clones. The eye color is the biggest difference between the two of you."

If Danny didn't know any better he would think Tim was accusing him of being a clone based on the tone of his voice. He knew Gotham was weird, but he didn't think he would have to worry about cloning here. "While I was adopted when I was pretty young, but I think I'd know if I had a twin or if I was a clone."

"Crazy things happen all the time in Gotham."

Well, that doesn’t sound ominous at all. Danny can't believe saying this, but it's probably time to get Vlad's attention and get the hell out of here. He already has one crazy fruitloop to worry about; he doesn't need more. "Vlad, I think we really need to-."

“Father, what is the meaning of all this?” A new voice interrupts him, and when he sees who it is truly shocking to see a mirror of his own face. The other is also now looking at him with something akin to shock and grief.

“Damian?”

“Danyal.”

[becauseimanicequeen]

Pride Month Watch: Mama Gogo (ep 9-10)

My thoughts on episodes 1-4, episodes 5-7, and episode 8.

I'm currently going through my Pride Month Watch List and Mama Gogo is on my list of shows/films I haven't watched before but have wanted to get to.

It feels like things are about to fall apart bit by bit, and I'm here for the ride because I'm sure that Annie will fight with everything she has if it does (it most likely will).

Let's dive into the 9th episode!

Did Auto just…

Walk into enemy territory?

He’s there to be a spy, right? There is no fucking way I’ll believe this pretty thief would stab Annie in the back like that and work for her enemy willingly. I mean, Annie even bailed him out after the drug setup thing…

I don’t care if I’m getting into delulu territory, my ass is firmly placed in this clown car! You will not trick me into believing Auto is shady. I refuse to believe it!

This…

Is exactly why I don’t believe he's there to join Annie’s enemy. Just saying...

At least Annie saw how talented Auto was:

And I love that she’s standing up for him against Choke (even though he fucking robbed her in the beginning!) since Choke is too narrow-minded and hot-headed to not drop his animosity for Auto.

Will Choke turn out to be right in the end? Maybe. Will Annie get burned for her willingness to trust Auto? Maybe. But I honestly think Auto just needs someone to believe in him (which Annie does). And I don't think Auto will willingly piss on that.

I love Annie so much…

She knows this is a team effort. One for all and all for one. She’s the best boss/big sister/friend these boys could ever have asked for. I love Team Annie so much!

Dude!

She’s not old. And she definitely didn’t trick Chen to go out with her. Can’t you see how whipped he is?

The way I smile like a fool when I see these two:

I love them individually and I love them together.

You can’t convince me he’s not whipped…

It’s palpable.

Okay…

Let’s see how loyal the boys are to Annie and how many will fall for Tina’s tricks. Please, don’t disappoint me.

Of course, there would be something…

To make the one who is most loyal to Annie waver. Considering he would do anything for his daughter (as he should), he might be the first to quit. And if he quits, this whole thing falls apart.

Damn, I really wanted to keep rooting for my pretty thief (Auto). I’m still in my clown car believing he's not really working for Tina, but it’s getting harder defending him, lol.

Finally...

And look at this baby gangster:

He's so silly and I love him for it.

Look at this beautiful woman in purple:

And the fact that her earrings are yellow! (And the weights in the background.)

Oh, lord. She's vibrant in those contrasting colors! The colors are doing things to me, lol.

Your honor! I fucking love this woman!

The way she delivered those words with such a sweet tone and innocent face... She's my queen and I will love her until the end of my days.

You know, for a woman I don't really like...

I can't believe I'm relating to her. At least she has perspective and priorities. That's always something.

The fact that they're emphasizing that Chen's mom absolutely doesn't want Chen to know about this is opening up to someone using this against Annie, doesn't it? Will Tina find out somehow and use it against Annie? Let's see...

Wait...

Yes you can. Loyalty doesn't necessarily mean working at Mama Gogo for the rest of your lives. It just means having Annie's back and not betraying her trust. Gayu can take Tina's money to follow his dreams and still be loyal to Annie. Just talk to her about it. Doing it behind her back, though. That's disloyalty.

She might be upset (which she has every right to be). But she might also be supportive since she is just as loyal to them as they've been to her.

Please don't do any of this shit behind her back. Just be honest. Talk to her.

Btw...

Real, mature adults know to apologize when they've been/done wrong. Another reason for me to love Annie with every cell of my being.

The way Annie stands up for Yuth...

If anyone doubted her loyalty to her boys, they were dead wrong.

I just...

Love them all so much.

And then it was shattered...

I almost cried during this scene.

Like I mentioned before, if he'd just talked to Annie, she probably would've been fine with it. But hearing it from someone else... That feels like a betrayal.

Annie still took it like a champion. She hurt, but the show must go on. They had a packed club and work to be done. No point in wallowing in this shit.

And then it just got worse...

It's obvious that he would find this out sooner or later since secrets like this tend to come out. But I'm glad he found out like this rather than Tina using this info against Annie.

Let's see how they will work this out (because I'm sure they will). It will be hilarious if Chen's mom convinces him to make up with Annie after being against her and Chen's relationship this whole time. But I feel like she has a different perspective of Annie now, so it's possible.

I've reached the image limit again... So, let's start a new post!

[ancestorsofjudah]

1 Kings 20: 28-32. "One Hundred Thousand Foot Soldiers."

The war between Ahab, the King of Israel and the Aramean king is based on an argument regarding the standards the government, the people, and the Crown need to set in order for Global Ethical Human Responsibility to become the norm.

Ahab married a woman, Jezebel who "homage to desire" who is not a fit occupation for a sovereign. The Kingdom began to deteriorate into an abode of sin and violence. God sent the church, symbolized by Elijah with a generous offer of enlightenment, and the State, Elisha, which an offer of production, but Ahab fled leaving his servants to sacrament by themselves. This does not ever, ever work.

Pillar to pillar, river to river, floor to ceiling, every tree in the forest must furnish the world with grace, Godliness, a wealth of good intentions made actionable through the readiness of the government and citizens to conquer death.

The greatest asset in the fight against suffering and death has always been the King of Israel. When he is absent or distracted, the world leals towards death. When he is present and his Court is accounted for, the world revives. It pays attention, it wants to be good because it knows God has made His Presence known.

The argument as to whether God is hither or thither therefore is solved by the presence of the King:

28 The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

29 For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day.

The battle between the forces of Aram, "the elevated citadel" and the King of Israel took 100,000 lives. 100,000 lives by itself has a specific Gematria in the Hebrew language, in context it has another:

100,000 footsoldiers are 554, ההד‎ ‎‎ "the echo"

הווה= the Hebrew word for echo, which shows an image and mirror image.

The word is also present in Greek, and refers to the way history seems to repeat every so often in familiar and not so desirable ways. The call of the spiritist, especially the Jew is to ensure the recall involves only the virtuous, noble and constructive beliefs and behaviors of mankind. The Torah is the foundation of all future echoes of goodness and liveliness with which the future is supposed to abound.

When someone "has" something (say: an object or property, a quality or condition, a word to say, a feeling, a skill, an obligation or conviction), that something helps to determine who that person is, what his past might have looked like, and what his future might be all about.

The Greek verb εχω (echo) sums up the substance of one's reality, and this might in turn explain the similarity between our verb εχω (echo) and the verb ηχεω (echeo), meaning to sound (hence our word "echo"), and deep down perhaps even the relation between the Latin word audio (from the Proto-Indo-European root au, to perceive) and the Greek reflective pronoun αυτος (autos), meaning "self" (but these are wild assumptions, we readily admit).

The Greek verb εχω (echo) sums up the internal and external qualities of someone or something rather than merely the external things that come in addition to someone or something .

Now in context, the verse has a different value: 9948, ץטדח‎, tzatez,

tz=righteousness

at=men and woman are this thing

ez="like she goats"

She-goats could be utilized as unit of wealth (Genesis 30:32), were used for food (Genesis 27:9), or for sacrifices (Leviticus 22:27). The hair of the she-goat could be used to fabricate items such as blankets (1 Samuel 19:16), and the sight of his lover's flowing hair reminded king Solomon of a flock of she-goats descending from Mount Gilead (Song of Solomon 4:1). Note that cattle were units of wealth and wealth yields strength in a social sense.

=by the Seventh Day, every man woman and child is capable of being source of self worth and wealth to the rest in the grander scheme of things. Human life is not to be wasted, it is not just a target for man sized lawn-mowing machines that are being made in very large numbers all over the world.

Realization of the need for education instead of automated assembly lines that make nothing but remote control sausage machines designed to do nothing but hew down innocent persons is the first step towards a Global Ethical Response to our troubles.

 30 The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid in an inner room.

31 His officials said to him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”

32 Wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says: ‘Please let me live.’”

Aphek is the military like tendency humanity has for following a grain. We almost always follow the wrong one. The reading below says we must come to rely on a public axiom for this at the expense of the private opinions that have so far proven unreliable at extending the length and importance of life on earth:

The term Aphek is used in the Bible as almost synonymous with the pending assault of a marshalling and mustering army. No invading army would muster at an existing fortress and thus under the watchful eye of the enemy defense force, but rather in some ravine or otherwise secluded natural place.

But beside that, mustering an army is not simply about gathering a lot of people, but rather about clipping a lot of people of their natural tendency to follow their own urges and their own hearts, and having them act as one united mass.

In that sense, our name expresses the core fundament of language, and thus of science and any sort of complex society that is always based on general law (algorithms) rather than private feelings.

The Wall is always a boundary between the stages of enlightenment; when East, intelligence gives way to South, understanding, to West, enlightenment, we say a wall has been breached. To breach a wall is to discover reading, writing, math, science, history and the arts have the power to heighten the ability of the soul to know itself and fulfill its divine purposes.

War and violence, superstition and bullshit have, however, have the power to snuff the soul out, make it feel worthless if not cut its God given right to life off at the wick.

The verse says 27,000 men died when a wall fell: the Number is 7142, זא‎‎דב, zadev, "reverence for God" specifically to "to transition, to prostrate."

‎And Ben Hadad hid in an inner room= The Son of Thunder hid in the heart: 1460, אדו‎אֶפֶס‎, adolphus, "advanced value of a growing thing" which refers to the Ephod, how all the qualities of the Tribes of Israel must sprout at once during Realization of the Self:

"The noun φυλη (phule), meaning race or tribe, or pretty much "that which sprouted as one" or "a collective of persons with the shared identity of one thing growing (like leaves on a tree)".

This word is often used to describe all the peoples of the earth (MATTHEW 24:30, REVELATION 1:7, 5:9, 7:9), and with which obviously not the artificial political nations of today are meant but rather naturally formed/forming cultures. Our word is even so often used to describe the tribes of Israel."

v. 31, "sackcloths and ropes" these are White Salamanders, "fathers and sons" combinations of letters with composite meaning. The Number is 4340 דגדאֶפֶס, dagdafes, ‎‎"understand how to sharpen the mind and understand the fruits of knowledge."

"Efes" = After Eden. Humanity has given what happened in Eden short shrift. Once a boy gets hairy and his body becomes capable of insemination and a woman's body, life changes and it never goes back the direction from whence it came.

The goal of fertility is not to incur sin or shame but the development of an adult culture capable of handing the responsibility and also the reckless abandonment associated with physical intimacy.

We are expected to understand the fruits of the actions that accompany our serial attempts at intimacy.

v. 32: the value is 9873, טחזג‎, tazag, "be fully present during fornication with someone else."

taz=

The masculine plural noun זנונים (zenunim), meaning fornication(s): sexual (Genesis 38:24), political (Nahum 3:4), and theological (2 Kings 9:22, Ezekiel 23:11, Hosea 2:4). This noun appears to be cognate with an Assyrian word zananu, which means fill or full, which suggests that these words may be comparable to our English word "insatiable".

The connection between the mental consumption of sexual, political or theological confirmation and the physical consumption of food may also be reflected in the morphological similarity between these words and the verb זון (zun), meaning to feed (see below).

The feminine noun זנות (zenut), also meaning fornication: sexual (Hosea 4:11), political (Ezekiel 23:27), and theological (Numbers 14:33, Jeremiah 3:2, Ezekiel 43:7).

The feminine noun תזנות (taznut), also meaning fornication, but only used by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 16:20-26, 23:7-43).

The verb זון (zun) occurs in cognate languages with meanings of being fed-full or sexually stimulated. In the Bible it appears only once, namely in Jeremiah 5:8, where Jerusalem's sons troop to the harlot's house to commit adultery; being well-fed horny horses, each one whooping after his neighbor's wife.

This verb has one derivative (or so it is assumed; some scholars maintain that this is a late Aramaic insertion), namely the masculine noun מזון (mazon), meaning food or sustenance (Genesis 45:23, 2 Chronicles 11:23 only).

ag=

It may be used in the sense of to present before someone (Acts 12:6, 25:26), but it mostly occurs in the sense of to lead by going ahead (Matthew 2:9, Mark 14:28, Acts 16:30).

SO a man of God does not shack up with a whore called war, he is insatiable in his adult pursuits of intimacy in all of his fields and arenas. He can be randy so long as he follows the urges of the law and the government before he indulges his own.

Recall we are studying how the Kabbalah and the idea of Kingship are related. This section opens with a question of where is God; is he in the Valley between one's thighs and hips or is He solely a resident of the mind? The Melachim says "The only place He can be found is within the fruits of the actions."

No matter how fascinating or popular or lucrative war is, God says sex is better. The man who leads the way towards greater and greater amounts of recreational sex without going to war during or after is the one leading in the right direction.

[unma]

Glad to be part of this.

I guess I'll add @vexarii (also, all my other moots are free to join, even if I didn't mention you. Forgive me, I'm shy)

And if you don't mind I'll be stealing the 'read more to share my thoughts'.

Sans: We all know Sans. If you know even the slightest thing about Undertale, or if you even if you don't, you've seen this smiling fucker or heard Megalovania. I just think he's neat. This little skeleton can fit so much theorizing into him. There is a lot to explore about him that is so much more than just "he's the cool final boss of the geno route." Chara was a close second for this spot after all the writing and thinking I've done about them recently.

Yuri: After Monika got included in the last poll I felt obligated to add my favorite DDLC character here. Monika is really cool and she does leave you thinking about a lot at the end of the game but Yuri shaped my taste in (fictional) women too much to not be one of my favorite characters. ~12 year old me really watched a DDLC video and thought "Ah, Yuri seems silent and cool. Surely nothing will change about her that will irrevocably change my taste in both women and fiction." And here I am. Yandere lover. Thinks knives are neat. Got into Literature, and a little too into gory fiction. I blame her.

Nier: Ah yes, the very proof of how Yuri irrevocably changed me. But can you blame me. Nier may have killed some people.. a lot of people, but can you blame her? Her life has been nothing but horrible to her. Yes? Then you don't deserve her. This isn't an 'I can fix her' moment, this is a 'she's perfect as she is' moment. Also, her final fate episodes are... Well, let's just say Nier cannot catch a break. There's a genuinely important discussion there about responsibility for one's actions when the world and the circumstances has constantly crushed you and everything you cared about and denied you even the slightest bit of love. But also, she's a yandere, so auto win from me.

Homura (Spoilers): If you've stayed even a day on my blog, you've seen me reblog her. I watched Madoka Magica a year or two ago and let me tell you. That anime is so good and honestly Homura is a queen. Badass lesbian who is simply unable to save the one person she loves but cannot help but continue to claw at that goal despite rewinding time over and over again so much so that in the end she becomes the devil and rips her most beloved from her newly gained mantle of godhood just so the two can be together and happy again, literally rewriting the previous rewriting that brought about a good ending. Also it's obvious that outside of being a magical girl she would be absolutely disastrous at like, anything else involving Madoka. Honestly my favorite art of her is just art that depicts her being incredibly weird about Madoka (and Madoka being into it), because you cannot go through that much without becoming a little weird about your love for someone. Oh my God someone stop me before I ramble even more—

Angela: It was tempting to put Roland there since AE already but Angela, but then I remembered just how much I relate to Angela and decided, fuck it, she's going on this post a second time. What is there that could be said about her without going into a full ramble explaining why she is the most blameless being to ever exist and deserves everything (especially hugs)? I don't care what she did, you enter her shoes and tell me you'd make the same choice she did in the end. You tell me you wouldn't have razed the city to the ground before you even got to that point. You tell me you wouldn't have done literally everything you could have to make sure that Ayin's plans never came to fruition even in the slightest. What would I do? Exactly the same thing she did in the game, maybe with a bit less concern over the people I'm turning to books. She goes through so much and I never understood the hate she got, because at literally every turn I went "she's me". And honestly? Finishing Library of Ruina was very important to me for that reason, because I was at a very awful place in my life when I decided that, hey, I'll finish the game. If Angela can choose to keep going, then I can too. If Angela can go through all of that and still strive to be better, to not let her thirst for retribution—for her own fair chance at her own life—chain her to the cycle of the city and by extension make her a worse person? Then perhaps I to can get better, and forge myself a life worth living. (And believe me there is so much more to say about her, but I'll stop the rambling for now.)

post a poll with five favorite characters and let others decide which is their favorite

tagged by @schrodingersbabe !! thank you :3

i'm gonna tag @yaffles-world @medeaspring @schrodingers-catgirl @dragoncatlilly and whoever else wants to do it :)

[deadbiwrites]

a video of supergirl grabbing lena luthor's ass starts circulating and it's very embarrassing for sc but extremely funny to their friends

(I am SO sorry. Where do these hide? Why do I never see them? How long has this been here?!

Anyways, have some cute nonsense!)

The day starts like any other, honestly.

Like, sure, Kara’s never thrilled when she wakes up 20 minutes late and has to use superspeed to get through her morning routine and into the office on time, but it happens regularly enough that she’s just sort of used to it by now. Like, the sky is blue, the grass is green, she manages time poorly. Whatever.

But she does get to work on time, with just enough to spare that she can make a brief detour to Nia’s desk for the coffee her protege has already bought for her, thank her profusely (with perhaps minor promising of firstborn children), and slip into the morning meeting just as Snapper, James, and Lena start handing out assignments for the day.

“Well, well, good of you to join us, Ponytail. Let me guess, a family emergency kept you out all night again?”

‘I mean, that Abraxian wasn’t my family, technically, but someone’s family, so…’ “Something like that. Sorry.”

Lena catches her eye and quirks a brow in question, but Kara just shrugs easily and sips her coffee, pulling a silly face at her friend when Snapper’s attention moves away from her. When her eyes uncross, she can tell Lena is fighting not to laugh, eyes sparking with mirth as she bites her lip. Kara takes another sip of coffee, feeling a bit smug that she can get Lena to smile without even having to say anything to her. That’s real talent, right there.

Especially since Lena has to stand up at the front with James, who has been by turns cold, dejected, and surly toward her since their breakup (a big, real, final one) a few weeks prior. Lena had said that the whole thing was a mistake, that she should’ve never gone for it in the first place because she’d been right the first time- they’d had some chemistry, after all, but it certainly wasn’t compatible long-term. 

Which… Kara can certainly relate. Like, a lot.

Especially about the whole… James being kind of wounded about it part. That part had really sucked- when he’d done it with Kara, who he’d gone on like, a date with, it’d resulted in him deciding to become a vigilante. Rao only knows what he’ll do when it’s someone he dated on and off for over a year...

“Ponytail!”

Kara jumps, realizing too late that her wandering attention hasn’t gone unnoticed. “Yes, sir?”

Snapper rolls his eyes. “Great, now that you’ve stopped orbiting Saturn, you wanna go get that article started?”

Kara’s eyes widen slightly in a panic as she realizes that she has no idea what he’s talking about. “Uh…” Behind his back, Lena catches her eye and nods subtly. Thank Rao. “Yes. I super do.”

Lena snorts, James sighs deeply, and the meeting is adjourned.

**

“So what exactly am I supposed to be doing today?” Kara asks Lena as they stroll out of the conference room together.

“Well unfortunately for you, you have to interview a big-time CEO. You have a meeting scheduled with her in three hours.”

“You?” Kara asks hopefully.

“You’re very sweet,” Lena chuckles. “No, Elena Watts. She’s a real estate developer, and she runs a nonprofit organization for homeless youth. It’s one of the articles we’re doing for next month’s spread. Contrary to popular belief, Cat and I weren’t the only women with high-profile jobs in this city. ”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool! Have you met her?”

“Not personally, no, but I have donated to her charity- it’s a very good cause, especially the outreach they do with queer youth.”

Kara elbows Lena gently. “You’re such a softie.”

“Mmm, maybe. But if you tell anyone, you’re fired.”

Kara clutches a hand to her chest, feigning horror. “Why Miss Luthor, what a blatant abuse of power!”

Lena shrugs. “I’m a Luthor, darling, I have to keep up appearances somehow.”

“Ouch,” Kara laughs. “See you at lunch?”

“Only if lunch includes a milkshake- I have a teleconference with both boards today. Unless you feel like joining me?”

“Wow, well as fun as that sounds, I’m gonna go do literally anything else.” Her comms crackle to life, alerting her of a hostage situation downtown, and Kara sighs. So much for a work day. “Alright, well, I’m, um, gonna go… see what I can find on Elena Watts. Maybe over another cup of coffee at Noonan’s.” She widens her eyes a bit, trying her best to convey that she’s going to be on Super-duty for a little while.

Thankfully, Lena picks up on it and grins. “You just want sticky buns.”

“Lena, I always want sticky buns. They’re like, my second favorite thing to eat.”

“Oh? What’s the first?” Lena asks, voice just a bit lower than usual. 

Kara opens her mouth and closes it, flushing slightly as she averts her gaze and adjusts the laptop bag on her shoulder. Stuff like that has been happening more and more, and she’s not 100% sure what to do about it. Because on the one hand, it makes her stomach do flips and tie up in knots and makes her brain do this… staticky thing where nothing filters in or out, just a pleasant buzz of how funny and smart Lena is and how much Kara likes hanging out with her and being flirted with (because that’s definitely what’s been happening, even if neither of them is really ready to address it) and just generally looking at Lena.... who is currently biting her lip and grinning up at Kara, and that buzz makes her kinda dumb, which is just really unhelpful. But on the other hand, it’s also kinda awesome and Kara really enjoys it, and-

“Kara?”

She spaced out again. Crap.

“Um. What time are you free for lunch?”

Lena sighs, seeming slightly disappointed that Kara isn’t flirting back at the moment (and thank Rao Lena can’t read minds), but she smiles back easily enough as they step off of the elevator. “I should be done by two.”

Feeling emboldened, Kara turns so she’s walking backwards in front of Lena and grins. “It’s a date,” she says with a grin, ducking forward to press a quick “friendly” kiss high on Lena’s cheek. She whirls and jogs out the double doors, leaving Lena smiling exasperatedly after her.

**

It is genuinely baffling to Kara that people still commit crimes in National City. It’s not even an ego thing, really, since Kara tries to keep herself humble (even when she manages to wrap up a hostage situation within twenty seconds of arriving on-scene without injuring any of the criminals or damaging the building too badly). Like, yeah, she gets that there’s a certain element of crazies who just sorta gravitate to places with a local hero, the big-bads who have their own suits and geek-toys and abilities. Them, Kara gets. Kinda sorta. But the regular ones, who are armed with like, pistols? Or knives? Just regular man made stuff without even the benefit of magic or kryptonite or something?

Why? 

She’s sure that if she asked, Lena would have some sort of statistical thing about large cities and poverty and all sorts of other factors that would end up making Kara feel like a jerk for being uncharitable to the criminal element of her city, but at the moment she’s mostly too annoyed by the fact that she has to spend her weekdays chasing them around instead of chasing stories.

Once all the hostages are freed and the cops secure the scene, Kara departs, flying into the alley behind Noonan’s and changing into her regular clothes before she heads inside to do a bit of research before her meeting with Elena Watts in a few hours (just because she’d used it as a cover doesn’t mean it was a bad idea…). She finds her favorite little two-person booth tucked into a quiet corner, plugs in her laptop, and gets to work, asking the waitress to please keep both the coffee and the sticky buns coming.

She gets a surprising amount done by the time she needs to leave for the interview, having a good foundation for what she wants to write and who Elena Watts is.

Ms. Watts turns out to be a pretty nice lady around Eliza’s age, if a bit busy and distracted by the steady flow of people in and out of her office. She answers all Kara’s questions with aplomb, happy to elaborate on most every point and eager to draw attention to the rising issue of homelessness among children and teens in the US.

“When I was young, my dad lost his job at the auto plant. It was supposed to be a temporary layoff, but the factory never reopened. We ended up losing the house, and we lived so far from our extended family that staying with them wasn’t much of an option. We lived in our SUV for six months, sleeping at shelters every now and again, if we could find one that allowed families to stay together. We showered at the local YMCA. Five people and a dog, living and sleeping in an old station wagon- even now, it sounds ridiculous. Eventually, we got back on our feet, but I never forgot that. It was just six months, but it was- and remains- the scariest, most uncertain time in my entire life, and it shaped me in a lot of ways I didn’t expect. And there are kids and families who do that for years. I just want to help them the way I wish that someone had been able to help us.”

At the end of the interview, Kara thanks her profusely for her time and for sharing her story before hurrying off to CatCo to type up a draft for Snapper (“What’s wrong with you, Ponytail, why is everything you bring me sappy and sentimental?”), which she finishes an outline of just in time to send it off before running to Big Belly and L-Corp for lunch with Lena.

She greets the newest in a series of secretaries (Anna? Amy? Ava? Lena’s really missing Jess, these days, but from what she’s told Kara, Jess is kicking butt in her new role as VP of Operations and will probably take over for the COO when he retires in a few years), and the girl waves her in distractedly.

And that’s when Kara’s day goes from normal to not, because inside the office are two masked men holding a stone-faced Lena at gunpoint on her balcony and demanding… something, probably. Kara’s a bit distracted by the loaded gun aimed at Lena’s head.

“Hey!” she yells, attracting both their attention. They whirl on her and Lena’s eyes widen in alarm, and Kara suddenly realizes three things- 1) she’s in her Kara Danvers clothes, not the supersuit, 2) she can’t speed into the suit now that they’re both looking at her, and 3) she has no plan.

Crap.

“Who the hell are you?!” one of them demands.

Kara… doesn’t have a good or snappy answer for that, and instead does the only thing she can think of- she throws the large milkshakes she’s carrying at them as hard as she can.

Which, in retrospect, is too hard, apparently because while yes, it is both funny and gratifying to see two grown men get absolutely leveled by a tasty dairy treat to the face, the one closest to Lena manages to elbow her in such a way that she falls backwards over the rail with an instinctual scream that makes Kara’s heart fly into her throat. She whips off her glasses, and by the time she’s out the window and speeding toward Lena’s flailing form, the suit is materialized. She gets under Lena, catching her carefully and dropping a bit further before slowing down (because she’s been made aware that when she doesn’t, the people she’s saving may as well be hitting the pavement), finally coasting to a stop about 20 feet from the ground.

Lena’s face is screwed up in a forced sort of focus, her hands clutching tightly at Kara’s shoulders and cape as she holds her breath.

“Are you okay?” Kara asks quietly.

Lena swallows thickly and nods, eyes still firmly closed. “I’m alright. Thank you- I’ll admit, I wasn’t quite sure how to get out of that one.”

“What was that? What did they want?”

Lena cracks an eye open. “Oh. you know, just my quarterly assassination attempt. I think my mother was starting to miss me, so she wanted to reach out.”

Kara snorts. “That really shouldn’t be funny.”

“Maybe not, but here we are.” Lena shifts a bit in Kara’s arms, cheeks a bit flushed from the adrenaline rush, and clears her throat. “Not to be rude, Supergirl, but do you think that perhaps we could continue this conversation… on the ground?”

“Oh. Oh! Yeah, sorry. I forgot we were, uh, flying.”

Lena chuckles as they ascend slowly back up to her office. “You forgot you were flying?”

Kara shrugs with an easy smile. “I guess you have that effect on me.”

Lena huffs a laugh against Kara’s neck, eyes squeezed shut again. They alight on the balcony, finding the two men still unconscious, covered in Kara and Lena’s lunch. Lena sighs as Kara sets her down, pinching the bridge of her nose. “What a mess.”

“Yeah, sorry, I sorta… panicked.”  

“I was so looking forward to a milkshake too…” Lena laments playfully.

“Well, then I have good news and bad news,” Kara says. She reaches out and gently wipes a bit of her own chocolate shake from Lena’s cheek with the pad of her thumb, tucking it into her mouth on instinct to get a taste of it. “The good news is, you do, in fact, have some shake on you!”

“Whats the bad news?” 

“Also that you have some shake on you.” Kara laughs, gathering the two men in her arms and hefting them a bit so they’re easier to carry. “I’ll get you another one. Be right back.”

She drops the men at the police station with a brief explanation before flying back into the office. Lena hands over her discarded glasses with a wry grin.

“I figured you’d need these before the police arrive.” She’s putting on a brave front, but she’s clearly still more than a bit rattled, if her too-bright eyes and thundering heartbeat are anything to go by. Kara steps closer and opens her arms in invitation, and Lena doesn’t hesitate to step into them. “Thank you,” Lena says fervently, tucking her face into Kara’s shoulder and wrapping her arms tight around Kara’s waist. 

“Always,” Kara promises, daring to press a reassuring kiss to Lena’s temple (and getting a bit of Lena’s strawberry shake for her troubles) before wrapping her up even tighter in her arms. “Are you actually okay?”

“I mean, my fear of heights has been reaffirmed,” Lena jokes, “but aside from that, I’m not hurt.”

“Good. I don’t like, love people pointing guns at you. Just so you know.”

“I’m not a fan either, for the record,” Lena drawls, burrowing even closer. “Even though I know you’ll save me, it still puts a damper on my day.”

Kara huffs a laugh. “Same.”

They stay like that for a few minutes, until Lena’s calmed down enough to stop shaking and calls her assistant (Audra, apparently) in, telling her what’d happened and that the police would be arriving shortly to take her and Kara’s statements, and please advise the security team to let them up discreetly. After the cops arrive, it’s a blur of questions, and Kara has to concentrate on telling the story of how she’d panicked and thrown the milkshakes at the men, and one of them had knocked Lena over the balcony (all true), and Kara had yelled for Supergirl, who had knocked the men out on her way to Lena (also technically mostly true. Technically. Mostly.). The police are sure to tell Kara that next time, she shouldn’t throw things at people with guns, and also to tell them both how lucky they are that Supergirl had shown up when she did.

“She’s always there when I need her,” Lena agrees, throwing a sly wink over the officer’s shoulder at Kara.

Kara just shakes her head and smiles. Even almost dying isn’t enough to make Lena not flirt with her. The woman is truly a marvel.

Kara’s comms crackle again, accompanied by Alex’s custom ringtone on her cell, and after assuring the police that she has no issue with giving another statement if they need her to later, hurries over to the DEO (making a quick stop in the back alley to change into her suit).

**

When Kara arrives, she’s told that J’onn and Alex are waiting for her in the Directors’ offices. She makes her way there, waving to the agents and scientists she knows. But it’s very weird, because every time one of them sees her, they start giggling before quickly hurrying off in the opposite direction. Like, literally everyone is whispering and pointing and giggling, and it’s giving Kara such visceral flashbacks to high school that it’s all she can do to not check her cape for a taped on sign that says ‘Kick me’ or ‘Freak’.

(Kids are mean.)

By the time Kara gets to her destination, she’s fully paranoid, sure that someone’s playing a prank on her, somehow, and that everyone but her is in on the joke. She opens the door with more force than intended and catches it just before the handle puts a hole in the wall, throwing Alex and J’onn a sheepish smile. She closes the door extra gently and leans against it heavily. J’onn and Alex just stare at her, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

“Busy day, Supergirl?” Alex asks, and after half a lifetime of spending time with her, Kara recognizes that she, too, is trying not to laugh. 

Kara’s had enough. “Okay, do I have something on my face? Or on the suit? Is someone messing with me?”

J’onn’s brow furrows. “No.”

“Then what’s the deal? Why is the entire DEO like… laughing at me? Did someone accidentally vent the lab fumes out into the main hub again?”

“No.”

“Did someone see me crash into that billboard last week?”

J’onn’s frown deepens. “What?”

“No,” Alex answers.

“Then why is everyone laughing at me?!”

“I mean, if I had to guess, I’d say it’s because of that,” Alex muses, nodding toward the big TV on the wall beside Kara.

She steps back to watch the news coverage of her dealing with the hostage situation this morning and frowns. “What, those guys? That was routine, what’s so funny about tha-”

“No, no, not that. That,” Alex clarifies, cranking up the volume.

“...reports are saying that the CEO of L-Corp, Lena Luthor, experienced an attempt on her life early this afternoon. Sources claim that she fell from a considerable height-”

“Hey, she was pushed,” Kara corrects.

“Shh!”

“...caught by Supergirl, who may have gotten a little… familiar with her.”

And there’s a video (clearly recorded on a cell phone but not the worst quality Kara’s ever seen) of Kara catching Lena and slowing to a stop above the sidewalk, of them talking quietly, of Kara’s hand definitely on Lena’s-

“Oh. Oh no.”

“Oh yes,” Alex drawls, clicking the TV off with relish, a large, evil-big-sister grin spreading across her face. “Congratulations, Supergirl- the world just watched you grope Lena Luthor’s ass.”

“But I’m not- I wasn’t groping, I was catching! My hands weren’t… If it was groping, I’d be all up on her, and I wasn’t!”

“Camera begs to differ. It’s already trending on Twitter in National CIty.”

Kara puts her head in her hands and groans. “Why?! I was trying to save her!”

“You were definitely trying to save part of her,” Alex agrees. “Granted, it’s a very nice part...”

Kara’s head pops up, and she shoots Alex a look that’s between a pout and a glare. “You’re not helping.”

Alex feigns confusion. “Am I supposed to be helping?”

“Alright, enough,” J’onn cuts in before Kara can retort. “We just wanted you to be aware. I don’t think that this is going to be taken for anything more than it is- a humorous moment in the middle of a successful rescue. You shouldn’t worry about the press.”

And truth be told, Kara isn't worried about the press- she’s worried about the fact that she’s going to have to face Lena after this. Lena, who she knows for a fact has google alerts set for herself, Kara Danvers, and Supergirl, a gesture which is normally actually sweet and kind but is right now definitely gonna bite her in the-

“Okay! So, is that all?”

Alex blinks, looks over at J’onn, and shrugs. “I mean, yeah. Try not to make a habit of groping your crush when you’re in the suit.”

“I wasn’t groping her-”

Alex grins. “So you admit you have a crush? Interesting…”

“Alex!”

**

J’onn’s prediction is mostly right- no one seems to be taking the shots of her grabbi- saving Lena as anything other than a funny blip of a moment in their coverage of it.

He was wrong about the sheer scale. The clip had gone totally viral in a matter of hours, and seemingly every major network in the country has run the clip at least once as a bit of filler-fluff, and almost every major network anchor (including the ones at CatCo, the traitors) has made at least a passing joke about Supergirl being ‘Super-Handsy'.

Which means that Kara is very late getting back to Lena’s office with replacement food. But like, she’s been busy, okay? It’s not like she’s avoiding Lena, or something, because she’s embarrassed- which she isn’t, because she didn’t do anything bad or wrong and-

Anyways, it’s well past sunset by the time Kara gets to Lena’s office door again. She hesitates outside it for just a moment before shouldering the door open and knocking tentatively.

Lena’s attention jerks from whatever she’d been absorbed in to Kara, and a relieved smile blooms across her face. “Hey there.”

Kara finds herself equally relieved to not experience a repeat performance of earlier scary situations. “Hi,” Kara says, unable to resist smiling back. She raises the bags and cup carrier. “I bring grease and milkshakes. Again.”

“Oh thank god, I’m starving,” Lena says, rolling her chair away from her desk and rising into a deep and probably much-needed stretch. Kara very determinedly does not stare at the slight sliver of soft tummy that appears between her blouse and skirt at the motion. “I’ve been staring at this screen for several hours. And Sam called to yell at me- she says hello, by the way- she and Ruby are in town next weekend.”

“Good!” Kara crosses the room to the couch as Lena does, easily spreading out the veritable buffet of fast food she’d brought over the coffee table. “I mean, not good that she yelled at you, or that you’re still at work, Miss Luthor,” she says pointedly, receiving only an unapologetic shrug in response. “But good that, um-”

“I get it,” Lena chuckles, resting a hand lightly on Kara’s knee and boy, if that doesn’t make Kara’s brain go fuzzy and dumb again… “Thank you, for checking in.”

“Of course I was gonna check on you, Lena,” Kara huffs. “Plus, I know you probably didn’t get lunch, so…”

Lena hums around a mouthful of burger, chewing until she can politely speak again. “Well it’s delicious. Did you make it yourself?” she teases with a sly grin.

“Oh, yeah, totally. Slaved away over a hot stove for this- I just wrapped it in Big Belly wrappers so you wouldn’t feel bad about it.”

“Very clever.” Lena pops the lid off of her milkshake and drags a fry through it (an advanced culinary delicacy Kara had horrified her with initially but had eventually become a bit of a guilty pleasure). “Although I have to say, traditionally you’d have to buy me dinner before you grabbed my ass.”

Kara chokes on a pickle. “Oh no,” she groans, dropping the burger onto the wrapper on the table and dropping her very red face into her hands as Lena laughs beside her. She peers out from between her fingers. “I am so sorry, I was just worried about you hitting the pavement and like, catching you in the least jarring way and I wasn’t paying attention to where my hands were and I didn’t even notice until I got back to the DEO and-”

“Well I have so say, I feel a bit offended that you didn’t even realize you were copping a feel...” When the only response is another groan and a deep flush spreading from Kara’s neck to the tips of her ears, Lena relents. “Kara, Kara, it’s fine!” she laughs, pulling Kara’s hands away from her face and giving them a grounding squeeze. “Nia’s been sending me memes about it all day, which has improved my mood significantly. On the grand scale of fallout from assassination attempts, this one was at least funny.”

“I know that’s supposed to be comforting, but all it makes me wanna do is wrap you in bubble wrap forever,” Kara informs her.

“Pass on that. But seriously, don’t worry about it- I know it wasn’t on purpose- unfortunately for me, you’re too noble to do something like that,” Lena laments playfully.

And whether it’s the knowledge that Lena is not, in fact, upset, the overall weirdness that has been this day, or this delicious burger fueling it, Kara feels a bit emboldened. “Hey Lena…”

“Yes?”

“What if I wanted to grab your butt? Just, y’know, as a hypothetical. For future reference.”

Lena quirks a brow at her, fighting a smile as she contemplates this. “Hmm. Strictly hypothetically?”

Kara scoots a bit closer on the couch. “Sure.”

 “Well, you’ve already bought me dinner…”

“And lunch, technically. Even if I gave it to the bad guys.”

“True. Plus you saved my life, so that gets you some points, probably.”

Kara pauses in her sly scooching. “Oh, hey, wait, no, that’s not-” 

“Kidding, Kara. I know you’d never use that to your advantage. I, however, have determined that strong moral fibre and nobility do, in fact, earn you more points, which is my choice on the matter and you get absolutely no say in it.”

“Oh. Um, alright, I think.”

Lena stares off into the middle distance, tapping her forefinger thoughtfully against her chin. Finally she shrugs. “Yes, I think you’re fulfilled the prerequisites for a bit of grab-ass today.”

Kara snorts, Lena laughs, and soon enough Kara takes her up on the offer.

**

“Hey Kara, remember that time you grabbed Lena’s ass and it made international news?” Nia asks around a mouthful of mushu pork.

“You mean last week? Yes, I remember,” Kara drawls. Beside her/halfway sitting on her lap, Lena snorts.

“That was the best.”

Alex glares. “Um, excuse you, no. No it was not. I had to sift through so much thirsting over my sister on like, every social media platform. It was the worst day of my life.”

Brainy’s brow furrows. “Surely that cannot be correct, Alex. Statistically speaking-”

Alex holds up a hand, cutting him off. “Trauma can’t be measured, Brainy.”

Kelly chuckles and presses a consoling kiss to Alex’s cheek, and it makes the tough agent melt into a doe-eyed puddle of mush that Kara snorts. And she says they’re gross... Kara sneaks a glance at Lena from the corner of her eye, and she catches Lena looking at her. She leans close and jostles her gently as she drops her head onto Lena’ shoulder. “We’re never gonna live that down, are we?”

“Probably not.”

“We have the worst friends.” When this elicits nothing but a chuckle, Kara tips her head back to see Lena still looking at her, a soft smile playing at her mouth and shining in her eyes. And like, this whole thing they’re doing is new, with the kissing and the actual dates and the... everything else. But the thing where Kara catches Lena looking at her and she doesn’t look away? That freakin’ knocks her out, every single time. “Hey,” she manages.

Lena grins down at her. “Hi.”

So yeah. Maybe the initial circumstances weren’t ideal, and she doesn’t love the mockery that’s been heaped upon her by all of her friends and loved ones (including Winn, who’d sent a missive from the future that literally just said ‘LOL’). But the fact is, Kara muses as she surges up just enough to kiss the corner of Lena’s mouth, that she doesn’t regret a thing.

[jazy3]

Free Guy Review

!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

If you haven’t seen the movie Free Guy (2021) stop reading right now! Drop what you’re doing and go get yourself a ticket! You’ll thank me later!

I loved this movie! I saw it this weekend for the second time because it’s that good! I first saw the trailer on YouTube a while back and then when theatres reopened a few weeks ago I saw the trailer again and my interest was piqued. I had high hopes for this movie based on the fun looking trailer, the premise, the cast, and the sense of fun and escapism that the movie seemed to embody and it did not disappoint. It’s always nice when you have high hopes for something and it meets or exceeds your expectations.

Free Guy is just such a fun and joyous movie. Never taking itself too seriously, packed with lots of heart, cool cameos, full of gaming and pop culture references, and it’s fueled by a unique concept that is well executed. There are just so many things I loved about this movie! It was a ton of fun to watch and the actors clearly had a blast making it. During the movie I kept trying to figure out where I knew most of the actors from but couldn’t place them. When I got home, I googled it and I instantly realized why. The roles are just so different and the actors embody their characters so completely you lose yourself in the film and get completely sucked in. I was honestly so surprised when I figured out what I knew most of the actors from because the roles that they’re known for are so different from their characters in the movie. Their appearances, established ages, and even the accents are so different that I literally did a double take, but that’s what makes the movie so good! Because the main actors obviously didn’t need the paycheque they were just there to have fun and it shows. I think if the situation had been different and the actors involved had been desperate for money or took the role for some other reason it wouldn’t have worked. The film would have come off as cheesy, forced, cringeworthy, or just plain bad. Free Guy is none of those things. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as ‘Guy’ a bank teller in a video game called Free City, Jodie Comer whose best known for playing Villanelle in Killing Eve as programmer Millie Rusk and her avatar Molotov Girl, Joe Keery whose best known for playing Steve Harrington in Stranger Things as programmer Walter ‘Keys’ McKey, and Taika Waititi whose best known for playing Viago in What We Do in the Shadows as the Head of Soonami Studios and the film’s main antagonist and villain Antwan. Rounding out the cast are Utkarsh Ambudka as programmer Mouser and Lil Rel Howery as Guy’s best friend and bank security guard Buddy. In a nutshell, Free Guy is about a bank teller named Guy who finds out he’s a non-playable background character (NPC) in an open-world Grand Theft Auto style video game called Free City. Guy becomes the hero of his own story after meeting Millie, the girl of his dreams, and winning fans all over the world by racking up points by being the good guy and helping others. After leveling up and helping Millie escape a dangerous situation in the game, Guy wins her over and she falls for him thinking that he’s another player. But when the world that Guy knows and all of the people in it are threatened, he teams up with Millie to save his friends before it’s too late. In the real world, Millie enlists the help of her former programming partner and best friend Keys in a race against time to stop their code and all of the sentient characters from Free City from being deleted by Antwan the developer who stole their code when the game’s sequel launches. I love that the movie had a unique premise and didn’t overcomplicate things. There are so many movies that I’ve gone to see over the last few years with such excitement only to be disappointed. For example, I loved Wreck It Ralph, but was so disappointed by its sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet. The trailers made it seem like it would take the premise of the first movie and move things into the online gaming world, and I was excited for that. Instead, the sequel left the premise of the first movie behind entirely and way over complicated the plot and the end result was extremely cheesy and disappointing. Free Guy’s strength is that it’s a self-aware movie made by self-aware people who are excellent at what they do. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously, nor should it, and that allows the story to flow and the characters to feel real and genuine. The movie achieves that perfect balance between being entertaining and telling a cohesive and important story because while the movie never takes itself too seriously the people behind it are serious about what they do. This was very clearly a passion project for all involved, especially Ryan Reynolds, and it shows! As he’s spoken about in interviews and on Twitter, Reynolds called on a lot of his friends to be in Free Guy and help him out and the end result was fantastic! I loved all of the cameos! The Chris Evans cameo was by far the funniest and the Alex Trebek cameo got me right in the feels. When I saw the movie in theatres me and everyone else in the theatre gave a collective “awww” when he appeared on screen. Enlisting real YouTubers to show up as fictional versions of themselves to talk about Blue Shirt Guy’s popularity was a nice touch and you’ve also got blink and you miss it voice cameos by John Krasinski, Dwyane The Rock Johnson, Hugh Jackman, and Tina Fey. Channing Tatum appears as the avatar of player Revenjamin Buttons which for the most part was hilarious. One of my few criticisms of the film is that they went a bit overboard the avatar’s antics as Guy and Buddy are attempting to leave and it got bit a cringeworthy. But I know other people found it hilarious so to each their own. I love all of the little details and references in the movie. Just listing them all would be a post in itself. If you’re someone that loves pop culture references and Easter Eggs this is the movie for you. The characters are fun and believable, and you get attached to them quickly. The actors commit completely to their roles which is makes the humour, romance, and heartfelt emotion of the film work. You buy it. 100%. Something that I absolutely loved was that the characters felt realistic and that the dialogue, attire, and settings for each character really felt authentic. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched a movie or TV show and walked away thinking, “The person who wrote that clearly never meet a kid, teenager, or twenty something in their life! That was so unrealistic.” The slang’s all wrong. The dialogue is so eloquent everyone sounds like they did Shakespeare in the Park last summer. You walk away thinking, “What the hell was that? No one talks that way!” What I loved about the characters in Free Guy is that they felt like real people you could actually run into or walk past on the street. I’ve read in interviews that in addition to the written dialogue the cast did a lot of ad-libbing and improvisation and the end result is both hilarious and relatable. The dialogue feels real because it is. The big exception to this of course is Antwan who is altogether off the wall and ridiculous. Antwan is such an outrageous, absurd, vulgar, and cartoonish character. He’s so fun to watch and the actors clearly had a lot of fun with his scenes! I’ve read that a lot of his lines with Keys and Mouser were improvised and I believe it. When he goes all Jack Nicholson on the servers? Lord. He’s such a great villain to watch. The characters that are established to be in their twenties like Millie, Keys, Mouser, and the other employees at Soonami Studios talk, act, and dress like they’re in their twenties. The actors that are in their forties are styled to look like they’re in their thirties and honestly, they’re in such great shape it works! I mean I was honestly shocked to find out Taika Waititi’s real age. I love how the costuming really fits each character and allows you to learn more about them. Keys’ clothing is your typical gamer chic which makes because as we learn from his interview with Millie coding is his life and what gets him up in the morning. From Mouser’s clothing we learn that he’s a sports fan, but also isn’t afraid to take risks like with that blazer ensemble he wears in his final scene at Millie’s apartment.

Millie’s clothing shows the contrast between her and her avatar Molotov Girl, and Antwan’s ridiculous coat enhances the overall wackiness of his character. Guy’s clothing tells us something too. He wears the same thing every day until he meets Millie in the game at which point, he starts deviated from his Free City programming and chooses a different blue shirt. I also really love that they put thought into why Keys needs to wear glasses. Something I noticed on rewatch is that Keys is far sighted which is why he has his glasses on when he’s looking at his laptop or computer and sometimes when’s talking to other people, but not when he goes to see Millie at her apartment or when he goes to get them coffee at the end of the movie. Another interesting aspect of Keys’ character that I noticed on rewatch is self-confidence is really something he struggles with in contrast to Millie and Mouser who are very confident. Millie is a genius programmer and Mouser is excellent at what he does, and they are both very confident in their coding abilities, but Keys isn’t despite being every bit the genius that Millie is. At the beginning of the movie when they first notice the issue with Guy Mouser jokes that Keys needs to be better at his job. In response Keys meekly says he thinks he’s pretty good at his job and trails off at the end. Mouser is just joking around, but because Keys lacks self-confidence comments like that hit him hard. Mouser is moving towards his own desk as he talks so he doesn’t notice how self-deprecating and uneasy Keys’ response is. In the interview from the indie games conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment, he brushes off the interviewers comment that he’s a genius and says Millie is the real genius because she created the AI engine and he just wrote the code to make it work. Later on, when Keys helps Millie get into the stash house, she calls him a genius and he tells her that as he’s currently sitting on a toilet stealing user code he doesn’t exactly feel like one. Millie responds offhandedly that he never does, but luckily, she knows better. When Keys realizes that Millie was right, and that Antwan did steal their code and their game worked he tells Millie they need to celebrate because once everyone sees their build she’ll be celebrated and she could win a noble prize. Both Millie and Keys are geniuses in their own right. The game wouldn’t have worked without both of their skills and Guy wouldn’t have come to life without both of them working together. Millie’s AI engine made his sentience possible, but Keys is the one who gave him hopes and dreams so that when he met Millie in the game, he came alive. When done right the settings we see tell the story just as much as the characters do and I love how realistic the settings in Free Guy look. The floor at Soonami Studios where Keys and Mouser work looks like a real office and I love that the desks have clutter and personal effects on them like real cubicles do and that they show Keys taking a box of his stuff with him as he leaves. The lobby with the moving water videos and Antwan’s massive but largely empty office fits perfectly with the obnoxious, zany, and over the top character that he is. I also love the contrast between Keys and Millie’s apartments and how those settings tell us a lot about each character and where they are in their lives when the film starts. When Keys comes home from work to find that Millie has broken in, we see that he lives in a stylish one bedroom apartment with an open concept kitchen full of stainless steel appliances, a large living room centred around an expensive wall mounted TV and entertainment system, with his computer and gaming station set up in the corner. On the walls we see artful clusters of black picture frames, through a partially open door we see a bedroom off to the side, the apartment is full of black and white furniture including a plush couch and nice lamps, and features a textured silver accent wall. All of which makes the fact that Millie managed to break in even more impressive because it is clearly an expensive apartment in a nice building. Keys’ style is minimalist and upper scale and based on what we learn about the events that took place before the start of the movie this indicates that Keys got the apartment and all of the nice stuff in it using the money he received when Antwan bought his and Millie’s game. In contrast, Millie lives in a bachelor apartment and spends her time in coffee shops ordering one single black coffee over four hours. This tells us that she kept her original apartment that she had from before the game was sold and is living off the money she got from the sale while she spends all of her time trying to find the proof she needs to win her lawsuit. When we see Millie’s place, we find that it’s cozy, full of plants, throw rugs, quilts, and comfy furniture. She’s got a bike in the corner, you can see her bed from the centre of the room where she’s got her computer and gaming station set up adjacent to the coffee table and the rest of the living room furniture. Her kitchen is smaller and full of wooden cabinets and her bathroom door has DIY multicoloured square panels on it. Keys and Millie’s apartments are very different and through these settings we see the contrast between where these characters are in their lives, their wealth, and their personal style. The song ‘Fantasy’ by Mariah Carey is featured heavily in the film and is guaranteed to get stuck in your head in the best way! Jodie Comer’s cover of it is amazing! It fits the moment where Guy makes it to the island that is Millie and Keys’ original build and shows it to the world perfectly. This movie made me appreciate Mariah Carey’s music in a whole new way and I can’t be the only way. After watching the movie, I went looking for the song on Apple Music, wound up listening to the Mariah Carey Essentials Playlist, and I’ve become obsessed. I knew some of her hits, but after listening to her music more I get why people love her so much. Her five octave vocal range is amazing, and her music is just so fun to listen to. The film has a really great soundtrack overall and I’ve had many of its song on repeat since I saw it. Something I really loved about this movie and the reveal at the end that Keys is in love with Millie and is desperate for her to notice, but she’s been oblivious the whole time is that they don’t do the supposedly nice nerdy guy whose really a jerk trope. So many movies do this where you have a nerdy male character whose unluckily love, looked over, or his love is unrequited, and we’re supposed to root for him because he’s a quote “nice guy”. But really, he’s not. He’s a jerk who feels slighted because a woman in his life doesn’t love him back or notice him and he feels as if she owes him something. The scene at Millie’s place where Millie tells Keys he looks cute when he brags, and Mouser encourages him to tell Millie how he feels is super frustrating to watch but it’s so important to Keys’ character. He asks Millie out for coffee and when she turns him down to jump back into the game, he doesn’t make a big deal about it even though Mouser wants him to. Instead he gets up and goes and gets her a coffee anyway. She goes to tell him her order, oblivious to the fact that he’s memorized it, he tells her he remembers, and goes to get the coffee anyway much to Mouser’s and the audience’s dismay. This is big because Keys clearly doesn’t want to be walking down the street by himself to get coffee. He wants to be getting coffee with Millie so that he can tell her how he feels to see if she might feel the same way, but when she turns him down he goes and gets the coffee anyway because he truly loves and cares about her and he values their friendship enough to put his own feelings aside and suffer in silence rather than lose her and what they’ve built. So, he takes the opportunity to get some air rather than continue to sit there in disappointment. Which is why he’s so confused when Millie runs after him and calls out to him from across the street. He doesn’t understand what she’s doing there. She turned down his offer to get a coffee and he already knows her order so why is she there? I love that they chose to make that scene non-verbal. I think if Millie had come out and made some big declaration of love it would have felt cheesy and overdone. But her running after him and silently communicating through her smile and body language that she understood and that she felt the same way was perfect. It was subtle and beautiful and perfectly acted. It also felt realistic to the characters because in real life when you’ve known someone a really long time and you’ve spent a lot of time with them you don’t always need words to convey what you mean. What Millie wanted to express in that scene was so big and so all-encompassing she couldn’t find the words to say everything that she wanted to say so she didn’t. She just stood there and smiled knowing that being the genius that he is he would understand. It’s like Keys says in their interview, words will fail you, but code never does. His coding worked and now she understands so rather than try and say it all and fail she just looks at him and smiles to show him that she finally gets it. She finally understands what he’s been trying to say to her all this time. And you can see the exact moment Keys realizes why she’s there. The moment where he goes from being confused as to what she wants to realizing that she saw the video and she knows how he feels and that she wouldn’t be standing there smiling at him like that if she didn’t feel the same way. When I watched the scene the first time around, I was anxiously clutching my nachos the entire time because when Keys ran towards her my immediate thought was, “Oh my god he’s gonna get hit by a car and they’re never gonna get to be together! Oh my god!” But then he didn’t get hit by a car and Millie ran out to meet him and for the first time in their relationship she met him halfway and they kissed and it was beautiful! I think because Free City had so much violence in it that’s where my mind went and I’m very glad they didn’t go that route. One of my only criticisms about the movie is that I wish they had stayed on Millie and Keys just a little bit longer. They kiss and embrace and then very quickly they cut to black. I wish they’d linger on that moment just a little bit longer because I love those characters so much and in the scene that follows where Guy and Buddy are reunited we see them hug and then walk away together to start their new lives and I wish we’d gotten just a bit more time with Millie and Keys. I also really loved the parallel between the different kinds of relationships within the movie and how platonic relationships are just as important as romantic ones. The reveal at the end about Guy being Keys’ creation and a love letter to Millie and her realizing she’s been loving Keys vicariously through Guy and them finally coming together and being on the same page is beautiful because from the very beginning the movie is full of clues, hints, and foreshadowing that all comes together at the end. Meanwhile, we see the friendship between Guy and Buddy and how important that friendship is to him because it’s something that he created on his own. His love for Millie is born out of the programming that Keys gave him, but his friendship with Buddy is something that Guy created all on his own of his own volition. Which is part of what makes Buddy’s death on the bridge so tragic. I cried when Buddy disappeared. Reynolds and Howery play their characters with such sincerity that his death pacts an emotional punch you don’t expect. I love that the security guards at Soonami are so moved by Buddy’s heroism and are so captivated by what’s happening with the live stream that Millie is able to sneak past them into the server room and stop Antwan from destroying what’s left of the game. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that during the final battle after Millie gets booted from the game and Guy has to fight Dude on his own the glasses he’s wearing are very similar to the ones Keys wears in the movie which I thought was a cool nod to Guy being Keys’ creation. This really is a movie in which you find something new every time you watch it. For instance, the second time around I noticed that the foreshadowing that Keys is in love with Millie, but she’s oblivious to it because she’s so focused on the game was really well done. In the video from the indie game conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment when asked by the interviewer about their chemistry Millie responds first and says that their friends, their relationship is completely platonic, and laughs off the idea that they have chemistry. In contrast Keys falters and is silent and then eventually says meekly that they’re just friends. Millie is looking ahead at the interviewer and to the side away from Keys as she’s laughing and so she doesn’t see Keys’ reaction. At the end of the apartment scene after Millie breaks in to ask Keys for his help, he tells Millie he cares about her and he almost says something else. It feels like he’s about to say, ‘I love you’ but then he catches himself and instead tells her that she needs to leave. When Keys visits Millie’s apartment to tell her that she was right and they’re sitting on the couch he reaches out and puts his hand on her knee and then snatches it back when he realizes he’s gotten too close. He wants so desperately to be closer to her and in his excitement, he gets closer than he normally would before realizing that putting his hand on her knee in that close proximity is not a platonic gesture. Millie is so caught up in the realization that Guy, the person she’s fallen in love with, is an AI and not a real person that she doesn’t notice. My heart broke for Keys in that scene as he realized that Millie had fallen for Guy and kissed him and was so upset about it and meanwhile, he was right in front of her desperate for her to see how much he cares. It must have just wrecked him to go home that night and realize that Guy was based on the lovelorn character he created and that Millie had fallen in love with his creation while at the same time being so oblivious to his real world affection for her. In the scene at Millie’s apartment after they’ve gotten the server from Antwan and Mouser encourages Keys to say something, I noticed on rewatch just how weak and meager Keys’ attempt to ask Millie out is. He stumbles his way through asking her to get a coffee and trails off at the end so it’s no wonder Millie doesn’t clue in that he’s trying to ask her out. And in Keys’ defence he sent her a whole video confessing his feelings for her and all of the little things he loves about her and then told her to watch it and he has no idea if she did or not. We the audience know that Millie only saw half of it, but Keys has no idea if she saw none of it, part of it, or all of it. He knows she got Guy to remember, but she’s also sending him mixed messages. One minute she’s saying he’s cute when he brags and the next, she’s turning him down for coffee to talk to Guy. From the outside it’s so obvious that Keys is in love with Millie, but she doesn’t see it because she’s always looking the other way, not paying attention, so caught up in the game, and too focused on their work to see what’s right in front of her. On rewatch one of the big things I noticed is that Keys is always on the edge of telling Millie how he really feels but he always stops himself because she brushes him or the idea off and because he’s scared of what will become of their work and their friendship if she doesn’t feel the same way. It’s a huge leap. If Millie doesn’t feel the same way it’s going to make their relationship incredibly awkward and could potentially destroy their partnership so Keys decides it’s better not to say anything or only hint at how he feels rather than run the risk of ruining everything. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that in the interview they give Keys says he thinks of himself as an author and that code is what gets him up in the morning and that he loves the ones and zeros of binary because words can fail you and let you down but code never does. At the end of the movie when Millie goes to talk to Guy in Free Life he tells her that he loves her and while he knows that’s his programming he’s realized that he’s a love letter to her and that somewhere out there in the real world is the author. Such a great callback. All in all, I can definitely say that Free Guy has been my favourite movie so far this year! Definitely my favourite movie of the summer. I went to see it twice in theatres and I’ve never done that for any other movie before. I’ll rewatch them at home sure, but I’ve never actually paid money to see something twice on my own. I’m very excited to see the sequel and my hope is that it will be just as good as the first.  Until next time.