#and shes said several times that if she still has it its still under consideration

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

lol trying very hard NOT to have any Hopes about this final outstanding query, but your honor i can't help myself, i just want my feathers son to fly metaphorically :(

[professorspork]

director's commentary sdau emerald scene

You know, I really should have seen this coming but I didn't.

Let's put it under a cut bc moderate spice and considerable length:

This scene went through more iterations and re-writes than the vast majority of its brethren.

I dug around in our chat history to find the exact moment we generated the idea, because this one wouldn't have happened without you. and you know what I learned?

it dates to mid-January 2023, which is literally before I started posting newsbees. this idea is OLD. it is some of the EARLIEST MATERIAL of sdau.

I told you I was reading this for fic research in the middle of an unrelated discussion about Emerald; you then joked that all you could think about was Emerald at the sex club giving vytal fic vibes, just bored out of her skull while people throw themselves at her, and I said I hadn't come up with a role for her yet.

you: emerald would try to go to the sex club after getting out of a toxic relationship the way blake did and then she'd be there for 15 minutes and nope the fuck out and run away me: which, actually-- she could be one of blake's one-off partners where after about 5 minutes blake's like "you are allowed to leave we really don't have to do this" and em's like OHTHANKGOD

I briefly considered a much crueler idea in which Blake witnessed Emerald and Cinder doing a scene together, but we quickly agreed that the original idea was the better one.

I haven't been able to find chat history about it, so I'm moderately certain that I didn't tell you about the fact that I'd decided to read poor Emerald for filth and give her the Mommy kink until I started showing you the scene in its original incarnation, in mid-July of 2023 (which has the benefit of showing just how long this project has taken me, lmao).

me: emerald. sweetheart. when you say mommy kink most people assume that means you wanna be coddled and not that you want to be negged. just. just saying me: emerald do you know what mothers are me: emerald

That first version of the scene differed in several keys ways from the final product, but the most crucial of those was that in the first go-around, Blake actually agreed to give Emerald her number. Em asked for it, and Blake said "Sure, I'd like that," and then the scene ended.

I sat on that for *checks time stamps* approximately 29 hours before I broke the news to you that, upon reflection, I didn't buy it; I just couldn't believe that Blake would be in a healthy enough place mentally to do that. the better and more accurate thing for the story would be for Blake to chicken out and then regret it, because she couldn't be for Em what Sun had been for her.

you: oh no why are you doing that it makes me sad me: because if blake is in a cool enough place to do that with em her actually exchanging numbers with yang doesn't hit as hard you: but now I'm so sad me: i mean it's still ME i'm sure i'll find a way for her to encounter em again before the end

(hmmm. Did I do that in the end? I SUPPOSE WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND FIND OUT, DEAR READERS.)

from there, once I'd figured out what the scene was truly for, it was still a lot of effort and tweaking before I got it to read how I wanted to: threading the simultaneous needles of being lowkey arousing but also inarguably unsettling from the jump, so that you're seeing those red flags but maybe, like Blake, thinking they can be overcome until it's very obvious they Can't. I struggled with how to frame it so that it came through that Blake was being... mmm, let's say reckless without crossing the line into Blake being irresponsible, and I wasn't happy with my first stabs at it. in the very first draft, after Em says says she doesn't want to discuss her burn scar and adds "There, that's a boundary, since you wanted one so bad," the prose goes 'There is absolutely no way they are fucking at this point, given Emerald's attitude, and… Blake doesn't know why she stays.'

Which: why would I tell the reader that? It's way too on the nose, and drains the scene of all tension! it also made the spanking moment read as overtly didactic in a way that I didn't like and hadn't intended, so. I tried to drill down into what I thought it was about.

adding the flashback moments to Blake's encounter with Trifa helped considerably; that wasn't in the first draft at all, though the fact that she'd had that encounter was already canon. taking a look at it again, I realized weaving those two together was an opportunity to show why Blake "lets" Emerald make this mistake and indulges her, because it's the same thing Blake went through and she understands it. massaging the tempo and timbre of my vocab took some doing so Blake wasn't in full-on panic attack mode and thus making it all seem WORSE than it already was.

and the final thing I changed was just... twisting that knife more and adding to their rapport. the original draft was brief; it went right from Emerald giving the Cinder backstory to Blake being like "congrats on past tense" and then it was the phone number ask. it was important to me to elaborate on why these two had chemistry, on how they were parallel, and on just how much they liked each other and vibed-- on just how much of an opportunity Blake was missing out on. so Blake laughing more at Em's jokes, and getting the Mercury context, that all came later.

in total, I think this scene had like five or six discrete iterations before reaching its final form.

[primelight]

WNM: Time Loop Ethics and Keira (Mild Spoilers)

Uh, yep, long time no write. Bad Lightpoint. Basically I got smacked with the 'WHAT IF THE DLC NUKES MY LORE' thing (and the fact that there are a lot of moving pieces) so I had to take a step back for my own peace of mind. So into the DLC waiting room I went. I got hit by the Baldur's Gate 3 bug, like many Soulsborne people lol. I have 1 fic simmering for BG3 (and the dove is so, so dead in it), but while I DO love that game, it's not 'I'm going to write a 200k word fic' love.

I also haven't abandoned 'Maidens.' My brain keeps turning it over and over. ER's sucking me back into its majesty too, ironically via miniature painting...I got my hands on fan-made Malenia, Morgott, and Mohg models (and 5 Crucible Knights), and dammit the rabbit hole is still very much open for business. I'll post pics, maybe, when I'm satisfied with the final products.

Now, on to the point of this post. Like I said, 'Who Needs Maidens' keeps simmering in the back of my mind, and boss music keeps playing in my head whenever I paint Malenia and Morgott (Mohg's coming out of his bubble wrap when I finish his siblings lol). So when I stumbled over a fic with a time loop as the primary problem, I started thinking. And thinking. And THINKING.

You see, time loop ethical considerations are a CRITICAL driving force behind Keira's activities and relationships. More beneath the cut. Minor spoilers, and in a follow-on post I'll do a small excerpt from WAY ahead of the current chapter as an example of what's going on under the proverbial hood.

TL;DR: She's trying to save everyone while not manipulating the fuck out of everyone in the process. It's a fine ethical line to walk, especially where romance and friendships are concerned.

The musings on the TL;DR are under the cut.

By the time WNM starts, Keira's experienced several hundred loops. She started out at the absolute bottom of the barrel, and could barely lift a sword. She didn't manage to actually find all the non-mandatory NPCs and bosses for a long, long time because welp, the Lands Between are big.

Keep in mind that the Lands Between is basically a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Everyone is inches from death and madness. Safety is rare, but actual human connection is almost nonexistent. Trust has to be earned, and holy shit it's always an uphill battle. Needless to say, 'we could die tomorrow, we must seize the day' situations happen.

The above is part of why a lot of Tarnished are DTF with very little encouragement.

Eventually Keira got strong enough to kick a reasonable amount of ass, and got some actual friends along the way. The Plan became to keep as many of them alive and happy (as happy as one can be in ER) as possible.

Some attempts at a 'perfect run' have crashed and burned. Other attempts at a perfect run went beautifully, only for her to wake up once again in the Chapel of Anticipation, a stranger to everyone she loves.

None of her wins were enough to break the loop.

For a time, Keira tried her damndest to haul everyone to safety and friendship. She tried to re-create the bonds she'd forged from loop to loop to loop, because she feared she was staring down infinity alone.

The problem there is that if she tried to recreate what she had with, say, Diallos in cycle 45 with Diallos in cycle 46, they wouldn't be on an equal playing field. Not only would she (probably) have to lie about the time loop, she's got way more information about Diallos 46's loves, fears, motivations, and dreams than he has of hers. There's an emotional power gap there, and massive manipulation potential.

Also, Keira in cycle 46 isn't the same person she was in cycle 45. Diallos 45's Keira is just as gone as he is.

One of the reasons I started this fic was to consider if there was an ethical way to have that sort of relationship. This applies to both platonic and romantic relationships.

It's a fine line to walk. It's not IMPOSSIBLE to have a close relationship with someone over multiple time loops, but yeah, it's a really, really thin ethical line that could potentially be crossed by accident. Which Keira did, without malicious intent. She's not someone who relishes that kind of power.

Keira's mind...cracked a few times once the implications hit. Repeatedly losing people you care about can do that. Throw in the realization that you might have to be even MORE alone than you already are...well...

Spoiler#1, see bottom.

And thus...Keira is now trying to walk that ethical line. Despite everything, she still cares about her friends, but she knows that their relationships aren't going to be the same. Her people deserve a chance to do their thing on their own, and if it doesn't involve her, that's just the way it is.

That's why she...hovers. So far Keira's sexual encounters have been pretty emotionally superficial. She is trying to save her friends and connect with the people she cares about. She's also trying to pull it off without becoming a total puppet master. It's a fine line to walk.

And at some point, the cycles have to end.

Speaking of which, there's still a random factor in play. There are 1. simply too many variables for her to be omniscient or have complete control and Spoiler#2, see bottom.

Here's some rationale:

Patches:

It's Patches. Anything involving Patches is probably ill-advised. The knowledge gap is her being aware that he's obsessed with Tanith, but is still down for action. And will probably try to steal all her stuff if he can. He's safely at arms length.

Bernahl:

Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland Post-Battle Horniness Trope. She knows that he's from the Volcano Manor (obviously), and knows that he's been pretty fucked over by the whole Tarnished thing, too. All she does is answer his questions honestly. And flirts. And bails before he wakes up.

Side note: He was her first. That one-shot is like 75% done.

Blaidd:

The current 'canon' status of their relationship is circumstantial allies. He's starting to get some questions about her behavior, and is rather attracted to her, but it's not enough to distract him from his mission. He is ALL about Ranni, and Keira is trying her damndest to not mess that up. But what happens at the Radahn Festival stays at the Radahn Festival.

Blackguard Big Boggart:

Keira's wavering on that ethical line in Boggart's chapters, but IMHO has managed to stay upright. The knowledge gap is that she knows that flirting is effective, and that it's been awhile since he's been that close to someone who wasn't trying to kill him. This is one of those encounters that sometimes ends with nookie, and sometimes doesn't (random factor). She also knows that he's pretty down for casual, but friendly, encounters in general, so it's not going to have a huge impact on his heart.

She almost fell off the proverbial tightrope when Morgott showed up unexpectedly (that 'YOU CANNOT DIE' line). The Plan is still to keep as many of Her People alive as possible, because WHAT IF THIS IS THE LAST LOOP. Fortunately she had a lot of Jar Cannons xD

Rogier and Darian:

Keira is being really, really careful to be incidental to their relationship. Well, not incidental, exactly, but she has no plans to be the permanent filling in that sandwich. Carpe diem was VERY much involved with that episode.

Maliketh:

He's starting to remember the past loops. Blame Faram Azula timey-wimey fuckery. They also got it on in the past. Expect that shoe to drop after she gets the 'noble blood' from Varre. Which leads me to...

Varre:

She just deadass hates him at this point, for both all the Omen blood injections and the whole blood cult murder stuff. Yep, they've fucked, and there's no love lost there. This is touched on in '50 First Steps.' Expect THAT shoe to drop after the Radahn festival. I'll add the warnings/descriptions at the end of each Varre/Blood related chapter. He's a walking warning, tho.

Note that there are a few people paired with her that I haven't included on this list. That'd be big spoilers xD

TL;DR: She's trying to save everyone while not manipulating the fuck out of everyone in the process. It's a fine ethical line to walk.

Spoilers below...

...

...

Spoiler#1: The Frenzied Flame didn't work.

Spoiler#2: She's not the only person aware of the loops. I don't mean Maliketh, either.

[invisibleraven]

And one more to get you to your 500 faster and not at all because I'm greedy: playing with each other's fingers for Ray/Rose/Reggie please and thank you

Reggie had kind of hoped that five AM wake up calls were a thing of the past now that Julie was sleeping through the night. But of course he forgot about his insomniac night owl of an agent, Marcy.

He joked with her once that she must be a vampire given her tendency to never sleep, and she had flashed him a wicked smile in response which almost made him shudder. But Marcy was the best in the biz, patient and kind, but tough as balls. He couldn't ask for any better.

That didn't mean he didn't want to downright murder her when she called the house looking for him at the ass crack of dawn one Sunday.

"Please don't tell me you need me to bail you out," Reggie grumbled, rubbing at his eyes. Rose was still snoring against his back but Ray was blinking up at him sleepily. "Go back to sleep hun, it's just Marcy."

"Just Marcy huh? Is that how you talk about the woman who is gonna change your life?"

"You already did, several times over. But that still doesn't explain why you're calling me before the sun has risen. Some of us enjoy sleep you know?"

But then she spoke and Reggie's world turned on its axis. "The Grammy noms are out, and you scored three."

"WHAT?" Reggie shouted down the line, sitting right up in bed. Ray jolted awake, sitting up next to him. Rose slumbered on-that woman could sleep through the end of the world, he swore. "What do you mean I scored three? I didn't even put the album in for consideration!"

"But I did," Marcy said, and Reggie could almost hear her smirk through the phone. "You can thank me later, but you have a full day of interviews ahead of you, so get up, get beautiful, and start writing your speech."

With that the call was over, and Reggie just stared at the receiver in his hand until Ray gently eased it out, returning it to it's cradle. "So you got nominated for an award?" he asked gently.

Reggie hung his head. "Grammies. Three Grammies."

"And this is a bad thing?"

"I... I don't deserve them," Reggie said.

"Bullshit."

They turned their heads and there was Rose, scowling up at Reggie. "That album is amazing tesoro, you deserve all that and more."

"But the Petal Pushers..."

"Pssh," Rose grunted, sitting up and taking his hand in hers. "I love my band, but we play for fun, not for accolades. I don't need awards to know we're good."

Ray took his other hand, and then Rose's, their fingers tangling together, twisting and playing so that Reggie could fidget without leaving the bed. "You deserve all this and more my love."

"It just feels... I always thought if I got here, the guys would be there beside me, you know?" Reggie said, snffling. Even after all these years, it still hurt. Not as much as it did thanks to time and therapy. But it felt almost hollow to be nominated without Luke, Bobby, and Alex's names there beside his own.

"I bet you, wherever they are, they are so so proud of you Reggie," Rose assured him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. "You keep them alive in every song you sing, so don't deny yourself this honour out of any obligation to them. They would hate that."

"They really would," Reggie said with a wet chuckle. "I still might not win."

"You will," his partners chorused and Reggie grinned, always bolstered by their faith in him. Squeezed their hands, and nodded. Even if the bittersweet feeling never really left him at the feeling that history was funny in the way it worked.

The night of the ceremony though, with Rose and Ray's hands clenched in his, Reggie felt... okay with being here. He had a Sunset Curve tee under his suit, a bracelet from each of his boys on his wrist, and he knew that somewhere, they were cheering him on.

But when he won, Reggie still cried a little at the empty spaces beside him on the stage. "Oh wow, I um, never thought I'd get here." He looked at the camera. "Julie, look! Daddy won! Now go to bed baby girl, okay?" The audience chuckled, and Reggie went through his speech, making sure to thank his team, his partners, and then finally, he held up the award. Sure it was for country, not rock. But still...

"I wouldn't be here today if not for my friends," he said, stifling a sob. "They... they meant the world to me. So Luke, Bobby, and Alex? this is for you."

He wiped away a tear, blew Rose and Ray a kiss, then walked off stage. The award feeling so heavy in his hands, but his heart felt a million pounds lighter.

[icharchivist]

To be fair, having exposed abs isn't a sign of strength or even necessarily fitness btw

A lot of professional weightlifters actually have a considerable gut, to have a layer of fat protecting the muscles, as it should be

Of course I'm just as thrilled as the next person to see a nice sixpack, and of course a lot of work goes into getting muscles to this definition, but a lot of those impression money shots in especially superhero movies, where a guy takes off his shirt and has the most amazing abs, that actor has been severely dehydrated for days. One time Hugh Jackman, in his role as Wolverine, almost got hospitalized right after they got the abs on camera because of that. It's a genuine health risk and there's technically nothing wrong with having some fat on top of your muscles. We as a society just kind of conditioned ourselves to think that's attractive and made that the beauty standard.

That being said. If we're talking about fantasy worlds like Gbf, it's not that deep, cause they're not real people, y'know. It serves the fantasy. And if the female characters can have boobs the size of buoys and have no body far besides that, then imo it's okay for the guys to have rippling abs. Of course it would still be preferable to have body diversity, but if we're to have unrealistic expectations, then I prefer the sexualization to be going both ways, you know?

There's too many Anime where all the girls have big boobs and the guys are super twinkish, so I am definitely grateful for characters like Wilnas and Belial, who are male-presenting, buff and show off their muscles. It just feels more fair.

Again, Gbf is at least doing better than others when it comes to body diversity

Anyway, sorry for ranting at you like this

oh yeah i know all of that, and i agree with all of it

it's kinda why our angles were more about the unwillingness to include fat characters (no excuse), and when i brought up muscular women, i was specific with bringing up Katalina not having muscular arms while there is a running joke she can destroy her armor by flexing. Or how, while Fiorito has realistic looking abs for someone who specifically trains her own abs like she does, while also knocking people out with her fists, have twig shapped arms.

And yeah considering how muscular and defined some men can be in the game regardless of if it makes sense, it's a shame it's never the same for the women -- who instead have this "unrealistic beauty standard" passed fully on their boobs instead.

It's an indication of the usual beauty standards of the industry. Men are pretty when they're muscular, women are pretty when they have boobs. Doesn't matter if it's realistic.

Granblue definitely fall under this problem, but, yes, it also actually does some efforts here and there on different levels as well, as previously discussed. It's a shame it doesn't actually include more variety, but there is more of a diversity in it than in many more games. But that says more about how low the bar is than about Granblue being great. Kinda winning by default yaknow?

The willingness to sexualize their male characters has always been something Granblue stood out for. Already at the time they introduced Summer SSR for men (Percival), it was "groundbreaking" at the time because RPG gacha aimed at a general audience never sexualized their men like that to not alienate their male audience. Granblue was already making wave at the time. Nowadays the way Belial or Wilnas get sexualized set them completely apart from most games of the same genre.

Like i personally compare Granblue more to its peers and i think it does an incredible job that shouldn't be neglected. it's just jarring that still at this point, this "incredible job" still neglects so many possible bodytypes due to the fear of it being undesirable. And what a sucky message that sends.

For what it's worth it's not something i'm interested in condemning or praising Granblue about. It kinda just came up because of the conversations of the day. But well. shrugs.

[salarta]

Polaris' Biggest Obstacle: Jordan D. White

You've seen me complain about how the X-Men comics office treats Polaris/Lorna Dane for a while.

You've seen me point out how important being a survivor of the Genoshan genocide, one who had to relive those final moments constantly until the X-Men found her in Genosha's ruins, is to Lorna as a character.

You've watched as the X-Men comics office refused, and refuses, to acknowledge this essential part of her character history.

This problem has existed for over 15 years now. It's not new. But what is new, is that Lorna fans have been making its importance very clear for several years now. The X-Men comics have been addressing Genosha more and more since 2019, while excluding Polaris, and there's exactly one person to blame for this.

That person is current X-Men comics editor Jordan D. White. He's been deliberately undermining Polaris whenever he has his hand in anything involving her, based on his own biases against the character.

This isn't an accusation based on nothing. I have receipts.

Let me first give you a little background on this man. I've always said you need to know what you're fighting to figure out how to deal with it. We don't need to dive very deep right now. Just the essentials.

Like most editors at Marvel, he got his start as an assistant editor in the mid-00s. He worked his way up that chain, working as an editor for several books until eventually becoming senior editor of the X-Men comics in 2018. However, it wasn't until during COVID that read the original run of X-Men comics. That includes Lorna's introductory issues of X-Men #49 - #50.

Before I delve any further into the history lesson, let me take a detour. Into what he thinks of Polaris.

I was, quite frankly, not planning on ever pointing this out publicly. I intended to keep it to myself because he was replying to me, and it felt wrong to use his willingness to talk with me against him.

But things have changed. He's shown he has no respect for Polaris or any fans of her, and gives zero fucks about the impact of his actions in this regard. So I will likewise exhibit zero fucks in using this. I've been holding on to this for years. And now it's coming out.

In 2018, the year he took over as senior editor of the X-Men comics, Jordan White responded to tweets I was making that complained about how the comics were treating Lorna. First, he replied to one I had written directly to him. But then he found and replied to one of my tweets where I had not tagged him.

This is the exchange. It was a typical tweet for me. I said Lorna is underused, underrated, and deserves way more than Marvel gives her.

He didn't like that.

Below, are screencaps of the most critical bits.

At the time, I made a critical mistake: I let myself believe he actually meant any of this. I let myself think that since he was willing to talk with me, that must mean he's being honest. It must mean he's trying to be considerate, and understand where I'm coming from. It must mean he really does care, but he has a lot to juggle.

I was fucking wrong. This was him covering his ass. Every step of the way. He's made it more apparent with every year he's been an editor.

This is where I start to take his lies apart.

Let's go back now. To his history.

Jordan White did several comics before he become X-Men senior editor. Guess which X-Men comics he did before 2018.

At least as early as 2011, White was an assistant editor of Peter David's long second X-Factor run. White was also assistant editor for Lorna's origin issue, X-Factor #243. However, he didn't have much power yet - because he was still just an assistant. He was still under Daniel Ketchum, and sometimes working alongside other editors. However, that changed toward the end of that second X-Factor run. By the end, he was an editor.

Now here's the million dollar prize for you all.

After that run ended, Marvel announced a new X-Factor. This run, All-New X-Factor, would be Polaris very first time running a team as its intended leader. She had been a leader on prior occasions, from 90s X-Factor when Havok was gone to her time on Genosha.

Guess who served as editor for All-New X-Factor.

Come on. Guess.

That's right. You guessed it. The main asshole himself: Jordan D. White.

You might be thinking to yourself: wait a second, if this is Polaris' time to shine as leader, then doesn't him serving as editor for this book mean he was actually in support of Lorna? That he was trying to give her a shot?

Oh how naive. How sweetly, sweetly naive. The problem, dear reader, is that you're assuming Peter David went at this project with good intentions all around.

He didn't. He royally fucked up the book. He killed it. He destroyed every ounce of possible real win Lorna could have gotten out of this book. If All-New X-Factor had succeeded, with REAL editorial precision and care, it could have continued on. And Polaris would be in a much, much better place today.

To understand this, you have to understand how he fucked up the book.

The book and its whole concept actually started out very well. Lorna formed the team under Serval Industries. She recruited Gambit. Pietro joined under the company's guidance. So far so good.

Then... we get to the rest of the book.

Here's Lorna depicted as so randomly unhinged that she's about ready to slaughter a cat for scratching her.

Here's Gambit written with the POV of Lorna being shittily unhinged and unfit for leadership, not listening to or working with her teammates, just doing shit.

Here's Gambit acting like the actual leader of the team, Lorna clearly not wanting Danger to join but ending up having to accept her anyway cause Gambit wants her.

Here's Lorna trying to give the team some orders, only for Gambit to be written as single-handedly deciding what she, the team leader wants to do, must be stopped.

Here's yet another case of Gambit written as "putting his foot down" on Lorna, who's supposed to be the team leader, and... wait, what? Gambit gets to do this and Lorna DOESN'T rearrange his face or chew him out, in direct contradiction to how she was written with the cat and with Danger in prior issues?

And lastly, here's Gambit making the offer to Cypher and Warlock for them to join X-Factor, with Lorna just backing him up.

This is supposed to be Lorna's team. She's supposed to be the leader.

Why the fuck is she being depicted as if she wouldn't know how to lead her own ass to water, let alone lead a team? Why is Gambit being presented as if he's moreso the leader than her?

Oh. That's right.

But wait. There's mooooore! We have a bonus round of White dickery.

Jordan White around on this book as editor until All-New X-Factor #14 - the issue where Wanda showed up to interact with Lorna shortly before the Axis retcon, and the point at which Marvel announced they had cancelled ANXF.

When the issue starts up, for a moment there it looks like it just might have a shot of having Lorna and Wanda work out any issues they have concerning M-Day when Wanda had depowered many mutants including Lorna.

For a moment there, we were about to get some actual discussion and development! Something tangible! They could've just got through this, came to an understanding, and that's a wrap.

But then, on the very next page...

A... a renaissance faire?

They're going to a renaissance faire?

They're going to a renaissance faire.

They have real issues to work through and they're going to a renaissance faire instead. What the fuck.

After this issue, the remaining 6 issues got handed off to a different editor to finish it up. The damage had been done. He had "successfully" ruined and killed Lorna first and to date only chance she's ever had, in over 50 years, to lead a team book of her own.

At the time ANXF was coming out, Peter David provided interviews where he talked up how excited he was to write Gambit. He also talked about how he thought Danger would be ANXF's break-out star. I'm not saying any of that is true or false. I'm not in his head, I don't know what he was thinking.

But to me, it seems very, very odd for a writer to take a character he had written at various points across two decades, give her an opportunity to stand on a pedestal as a book's intended team leader for the first time, and then fuck her up royally to promote other characters.

No. I think what likely happened, behind the scenes, is that Jordan White absolutely abhorred the concept of Polaris leading a team of her own and getting out from under the shadow of "Havok's girlfriend."

According to Jordan D. White, X-Men senior editor and self-proclaimed expert on Polaris' viability for meaningful use (despite the fact he knows dick all about her in any real way), Lorna doesn't "deserve" such opportunities. According to him, Lorna doesn't have fan demand, editorial interest, or writer interest for her to become a star in the X-Men comics, and so doesn't deserve any of the good and fair treatment so many other characters got and get all the time.

A view of his that was shut down quite readily with her winning the X-Men vote to be on the main team in 2020. Which, quite honestly, I'm surprised he actually honored instead of lying through his teeth to claim she lost. Maybe there was too much oversight for him to get away with that.

But the X-Men vote matter will come up in a future post. If it's needed. I have more receipts in that vein to present if Jordan White forces me to put them out there.

[tutuandscoot]

I’ve had several asks come in the last few days all kinda on the same subject and making the same kinda frankly, ignorant assumptions. I am of course accepting of and recognise others opinions but since there were a few I’m just going to address them in one post, and hopefully that will be the end of it, coz frankly it’s not something I like, nor feel like it’s something we have any right to discuss.

I’m not a gossip blog, I’m not a reality/trash blog. I’m not a blog that’s going to comment on the subjects’ of my blog’s personal lives. Every opinion I write is based on everything that has come from them. I do not read into anything based on timing of Instagram posts, how frequently someone visits their cottage, when someone is in a certain city. What anyone is doing with their private lives. I know me saying what I do isn’t going to convince anyone to necessary change their behaviour just coz I think it’s poor form, but I’m saying it anyway coz based on my own morals, it’s the only way I can in good faith participate in a discussion about two real people.

My blog is about love and appreciation of TS as humans, athletes and artists. Humans with flaws, humans that are not perfect and in fact celebrate their imperfections while still becoming the best in the world. Humans that spent their athletic careers under the spotlight and were unnecessarily probed at endlessly and dealt with assault upon assault of their relationship purely because it didn’t fit the story people (who had mostly just discovered them) wanted. There is absolutely no problem with fantasising and imaging ‘what if’ but please just keep it respectful. These are real people with real feelings and to think they hear certain things people were saying about them makes my heart ache for them (not necessarily the things in the asks- much worse things).

It’s really sad that the world has become a place where anyone can make assumptions on people relationship/s based on what happens on social media. The weight the “life” lived through social media has on peoples’ opinions and judgement. I’m not saying I’m immune to this, but for the subjects of my blog it is certainly not a factor in my opinion of them. I’m dancing around a few of the specific things said in some of these asks as to not to call anyone out but some of it is truly astounding and hypocritical. The idea that there are people who think that because a certain amount of time has passed between them seeing each other means they are no longer friends... how would you like it if people were doing that to you and your best friend, or you and your partner who were separated due to work or border closures or inter-personal problems that is nobody else’s business? Not to mention THE FUCKING PANDEMIC that literally shut down the world for a better part of 18 months (some places shorter some longer). My best friend and I live in different countries (she in NZ, I in AUS) I went to see her in NZ 5 weeks before Covid started. I was meant to go back for her 21st birthday in July (2020). I couldn’t. AUS and NZ had some of the strictest travel/covid restrictions in the world. We had a brief travel bubble in March/April 2021 before the delta outbreak where she was going to come visit me but we couldn't get it to work coz it was too risky. We tried unsuccessfully several more times but we finally got to see each other last month when she came to visit me after my surgery. Yet over those 2 1/2 years we got closer and closer just by staying in contact and laughing together even tho we weren't even in the same country. I’m not certain of the specific restrictions in Canada (I know for a fact it was more strict and considerate of the health of the country as opposed to the meth lab downstairs) but I think at this point with most places being back to normal its hard to forget just how unprecedented covid was and how it separated us.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of what TS were doing and where during covid (coz again IT’S NONE OF MY BUSINESS) but i know for fact they were on opposite sides of the country (at a time different countries) for a significant period, then on top of that, they are both insanely busy people who take enormous pride in their work. They are workaholics (especially T) and they love what they do. She has worked so hard her entire life at becoming the best ice dancer in the world despite horrible injuries and is such an incredible person that once they decided to stop, in fact even before they did she was planning the next phase of her life. She didn't want to be remembered as ‘the girl in the red dress’ for the rest of her life, she didn’t want February 20, 2018 to be the peak- the end of her life, at just 28. How easy would it be for any of us, if we were to put ourselves in her shoes, to cash in on endorsements and tour the world as a skating celebrity (with or without Scott) and make a bomb from doing that, with her technique and athletic ability waning, performing increasing slower and laboured versions of MR for the next 30 years. NO. She values herself as a whole human being and wanted to challenge herself in new areas that have always interested her. For anyone who judges her for how many brand endorsements appear in her IG, think about how intelligent this girl is. She put herself through an MBA over zoom. she studied through a psychology degree while being the best Ice dancer in the world. Think about when she said how she was beyond simply posing with a product, and she wanted to really be part of what these brands do and work with people who share her values. We see her posing with the product still because that IS part of it, she is well known- BECAUSE of her career that is so iconic it manages to reach into mainstream culture. But there is so much that goes on behind a still photo. TV has so much integrity and would not be doing these things if she didn’t love it, if she wasn’t contributing to things she believes in. And honestly, the fact that she’s a girl and gets so much slack for that is even more disgusting.

Having said that, it seems the treatment of Scott was and possibly is worse. I’m really not going to get into any of that because it’s really disgusting and considering he is so much less on social media, the way info was found out and assumed is the reason I fear for what humanity has become (ngl with some of this stuff I get Princess Di flashbacks* (not flashbacks, I was 1 mth old. images moreso) After some of the stuff that’s been said about them and the schemes people set up to tear them apart (ie kobe) it’s a miracle we still have the fortune of following along with their new careers. If you love them you should be grateful for that.

I hate to be so harsh about it, but whoever is making their determinations on the status of TS lifelong bond, history, and FRIENDSHIP based on an Instagram posting schedule, frankly i judge you and that’s really dumb. If you have a different definition of ‘friendship’/ ‘best friends’ then I do, that’s fine but I don’t know why you follow me considering literally everything I write and post celebrates this extraordinary friendship.

I’m not fan of confrontation and hate reading opinions- not that differ to mine, but just seem hypocritical and in human. Yes, what I write is my opinion, but if my opinion was based on something completely, realistically unjustifiable I wouldn't post it because that’s not fare to TS.

Some advise: Don’t get caught up in twisted social media realities- it is no one’s whole real life and should not be used as a barometer for judging anyone on stuff we couldn’t possibly know about.

People’s opinions are their opinions and I don’t consider myself to have any effect in changing opinions, but I want to keep this a positive space that CELEBRATES TS and everything about them. They are extraordinary human beings and we all have a lot to learn from them about how we should treat each other. They are not perfect and of course they have made mistakes like we all do, but were they actually perfect I’m sure there would still be those out there making up flaws on the basis of entertainment. It seams this place will never be truly free of harassment to their partnership and friendship, and that’s really sad. So therefore, this is going to always be a space of celebration and admiration where we live in realty (not social media/reality show/soap opera type reality).

I’m going to leave this post with a few things.

Firstly: this lovely message left on one of my YT videos that I thought was really poignant and showed me that there are others out there who see the enlightening effect TS have on humanity:

Second, some truly heart warming sound bites of TS talking about each other, while they weren't able to be with each other in person. Take this as you like, I’m sure there are some who will twist it into some bullshit story but I take it as I hear it and I hear two people who will eternally love and care about each other, and celebrate what their beautiful, unique friendship has blossomed into:

I do not like making these posts because I respect that everyone is entitled to their opinion, yay for free speech, and I want this blog to be what it is but it just kinda puzzles me when my view is I feel so... what my view is, that anyone thinks I’m gonna come along, back flip and say, ‘yeh you know what is weird that, since I know what TS 24/7 schedule of every day of their lives-coz that’s info I need to know, that they wouldn’t stop by to remind each other that “hey, since we haven’t seen each other in person in 6 months we should really reassess the value and definition of our friendship, since you know, we were so good at finding an exact definition for our incredibly unique and loving partnership we’ve shared for 22 + plus years since we were 6 and 8...” coz that’s what two incredibly successful and talented people need to be doing with their lives” and take the time to inform us all coz they care so much about what we think of them... ‘

Me rn:

Finishing it all off with one of their Hugs coz you’re definitely gonna just choose to stop being best friends with the person you did this with for 10 years..🤨

[oldxenomorph]

i was going to lay down and take a nap until i saw something that simply will not leave my head. i must scream about it. (MASSIVE HADES 2 SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT)

(from this post)

i've been unhealthily obsessive with the chaos-chronos storyline (because i NEED to know where is nyx), eating up every crumb i can find on youtube and in the hades 2 tag and oh my god. puts my head in my hands.

i still would like to know exactly how chronos was able to overpower nyx, considering her power and, again, her connection to the underworld. hopefully someone comes across that or it gets revealed in a later update. but! are we in a nightmare scenario where chronos has everyone imprisoned, including nyx and the fates, when he says "but now i have them all!"? violently rattling the bars to my cage! i'm dying here!

crying and throwing up wishing chaos was able to exchange the fates for nyx and that they're hiding her/protecting her somewhere, maybe within themself. (i don't necessarily agree with the interpretation i've been seeing that chaos looks like megaera aside from the ponytail. also we know where meg is: she's imprisoned with the rest of the house of hades members. but anything's possible at this point, maybe supergiant will surprise me.)

---

ever since i learned about chronos wanting to go after the fates, i've been thinking a lot more about the relationship they and the fates have with the great family.

first off, i'm of the firm believer that the fates have no jurisdiction over the great family. as the children of nyx, they are considerably younger than most, if not all, members of the great family. even the emperor is older than them. seeing that the great family operates beyond space and time, they are governed by their own strange beliefs about destiny. as a result they treat the fate with mostly indifference.

that being said, the fates do know about the great family and they know about the emperor. they know that the night and extinction must be brought together, that after a time apart they must be reunited; the night must endure the wait and all that may come to pass in the meantime, and extinction must endure a time spent amongst humanity and claim their inheritance. the fates know about the cycles of extinction and that one day, it will come for them.

i still can't get out of my head the idea of nyog'sothep making herself known to chaos during this crisis. i don't think chaos knew or even understood why nyx eventually became estranged from them, only that their relationship had deteriorated. i'm not sure if chaos knew that nyog'sothep has something to do with it, that she was the one who drew nyx out so she could be with the emperor these first several billion years while the universe cooled and sorted itself out.

THE CYCLE BEGINS: nyog'sothep became a mother to nyx. she taught her the ways of the great family. her servitors dressed the young goddess. for a time, her domain was nyx's home for a time. nyog'sothtep brought her to the emperor when she was ready. as a mother, nyog'sothtep is stern but loving, she expects one to find their role within the family and fulfill their duties; she is the rationality to nyarlathotep's chaos, she is her parent's deepest thoughts. (insert more about nyog'sothep and azatoth later, i'm starting to get sleepy.)

typically nyog'sothep does not involve herself with matters beyond her domain, the violet sephulchre, or the great family. but the crisis, her genuine worry for nyx, her wanting to collect the emperor's centipede emissary before chronos noticed its presence, made her do something she had no plan on doing until now: making contact with chaos.

i'll have to think more about what their first meeting was like, but i feel like both entities come to an understanding of one another. nyog'sothep would have notices the changes in chaos, seeing that their relationship with nyx has greatly improved over the years. i do think nyog'sothtep would still be genuinely upset that nyx was put in danger, than her power was somehow over ridden. such a thing must not stand. if nyx is safe, then i can see nyog'sothep at first offering to keep nyx within the violet sepulchre, but would have to be convinced to allow chaos to keep nyx with them. if chronos still has nyx and the fates, then i think nyog'sothep would be Incredibly Upset. if that's the case, then (the cycle continues) like zagreus, melinoe may have to help get nyog'sothtep to forgive chaos. maybe nyx will have to get involved when the crisis is over.

ALSO, NOT EXACTLY A PARALLEL, but man. chaos giving the fates over to chronos to save nyx. then thousands of years later, nyx giving the emperor-as-shepard's body to liara to give to cerberus in order to save her.

screams and passes out.

[casspurrjoybell-26]

Too Old For This - Chapter 21 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

To Zachary, it didn't seem like much time had passed between him taking off his shoes and being swarmed by two women he assumed to be Leroy's sister and mum.

One minute he was asking where he should put his bag and the next minute two women appeared out of thin air and asked him who he was and how he met Leroy.

"What's your name?" the younger woman said, smiling at him.

She was standing close, with her hands folded across her chest, as she eyed him with interest.

This was probably Leroy's sister.

Zachary was taken aback by how similar they looked.

The same brown hair and dark thick eyebrows, even though hers were a little more groomed.

"Err... Zachary..." he managed, staring at her before doing a quick sweep with his eyes to look for Leroy, who seemed to have disappeared from his sight as quickly as the women appeared.

"You're quite tall. Aye?" the woman said, still smiling at Zachary.

"My name's Emilia, by the way. I'm telling you now because I'm sure my brother will avoid introducing us."

"What's his name?" the older woman said, going in on the conversation as she stopped in front of them.

"Zachary," Emilia said, before he could repeat himself to the older woman.

The older woman smiled a bit and Zachary noticed the wrinkling on the side of her eyes when she did so.

She looked like Leroy but not enough to call it a spitting image.

Although her hair was greying, Zachary could tell its original color was some shade of blonde.

Her eyes were ice blue and he could see a couple of age spots just under her eyelids that could easily be mistaken for freckles.

"I'm cooking some chicken for dinner today. I hope that's okay with you. Any allergies?" the older woman asked and Zachary stared at her, wondering what he should say to that.

"Err, I do... but the chicken's fine, as long as it doesn't have any butter. I can't really say for dressing, it depends on the ingredients but I'm okay just eating chicken and veggies... with as little oil as possible... if that's okay?"

The older woman was starting to give Zachary that look he knew too well... when someone was confused and wondering if he was being serious.

"Err... sure..." the woman trailed off, looking over at Leroy's sister, who seemed just as puzzled by his answer.      

"He has some medical issues. If he can't eat what you make, we'll just grab Vietnamese take-away if that's okay."  

Zachary felt the panic that was boiling inside him wash away at the sound of Leroy's voice.

He turned in its direction to find Leroy standing at the door that led to the hallway.

"Oh, okay. You should have told me that earlier," Leroy's mother said, turning to look at her son.

"I would have tried to be considerate."

"I forgot. I'm sorry," Leroy said, looking from his mother to Zachary.

"We'll figure something out, we always do," he said and Zachary's face began to warm up, remembering the times they would order out or Leroy would grab something from his way from work and they would have to 'unbuild' the food.

Leroy once commented that subway sandwich artists would probably brand Zachary as public enemy number one if they say how he took apart a sandwich to make it edible for himself.  

"Your stuff's upstairs if you want to head up," Leroy said and Zachary blinked, realizing that he'd been standing there staring for the past several seconds.

"I'll come up," he said, walking over to Leroy, who opened the door to let him pass before walking behind him.

The hallway led to a staircase, that Leroy lead Zachary up through.

The younger man gestured to the door at the far end of the hallway, before saying.

"That's my bedroom and that's the office," he said, pointing to the door just on the corner right after the stairs.

"Err... I mostly work in the office but I don't mind taking my laptop to the bedroom if you want to lie down or sit while I work."

"The bedroom, if you don't mind," Zachary said, deciding that he did, in fact, wanted to lie down.

The brief commotion at the entryway was making him feel a little skittish and tired.  

"Okay, I'll go grab my stuff. You can head to the room first, then," Leroy said, smiling at Zachary a little before disappearing into the office.

Zachary hugged himself, staring at the door before walking over to it.

He opened it, sticking his head inside before fully walking in.

He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but it wasn't what he saw.

Leroy's bedroom looked like it belonged to a teenager, with the posters that covered almost every inch of the wall and the bookcase housing recognizable characters from tabletop campaigns and media.

The place felt nostalgic for Zachary, even though his room had never looked like this... not even a little. 

It was more reminiscence of the bedrooms he saw in movies and his imagination when he'd been like fifteen wanting to put up posters and collect knickknacks.

Hell, even the stormtrooper helmet Leroy had sitting on his dresser was something Zachary had once wanted.

Zachary edged into the room more, noticing the corkboard just about the bed's headboard.

He walked towards it, noticing to-do lists, photos and keepsake media-related cards pinned up.

Zachary awkwardly lifts himself onto the bed to take a sit.

The king mattress sat very high on the box spring that was additionally propped on a high bed frame.

The mattress was on the same level as the window, just beside it.

Zachary was looking out the window when the door creaked.

He turned to find Leroy making his way into the room with a laptop in his hands.

The younger man smiled when they locked eyes but quickly looked away.

'Is he nervous?' Zachary wondered, watching as the younger man turned to close the door before walking towards the bed.

It wasn't like there was anything to be nervous about.

Leroy's bedroom was ten times better looking and organized than his but he guessed having someone new share your space would put one on edge for a bit.

Zachary knew he had felt nervous the first time Leroy entered his bedroom too.

Leroy didn't try to get on the bed as Zachary had expected.

Instead, the younger man sat on the floor at the edge of the bed, before propping his laptop on his lap and opening it up.

"I don't do very well with my laptop on the bed," Leroy said, offering a casual explanation.

"I see," Zachary said, laying down on the bed before resting his head at the edge, just above Leroy's head of cute little waves of hair.

Zachary found himself smiling a bit, was it even possible to envision something cuter?

He didn't think so.

The two stayed in silence for a bit as Leroy worked.

Zachary started reading along... mostly out of boredom but the more he read, the more interested he became.

"What's this for? Is it for a product launch?" Zachary asked, leaning even closer.

He let his fingertips touch Leroy's hair as he glanced at the charts and paragraphs on the screen.  

"Something like that. It's a project proposal," Leroy said, flipping his head up so that he was staring into Zachary's eyes.

"Pretty much, I'm taking the market research findings and interpreting them to lay out a marketing plan going forward."

"The data is social media ads you guys ran?"

"Yes." 

"Sorry, ignore me if you don't like my impute but don't you think concluding young women don't like natural ingredients-based supplements because the age group didn't click the ad enough is a bit weird?" Zachary asked.      

"I... I don't know," Leroy said, looking back at the screen.

"Why do you think it's weird?"  

"If the ad sample is what you have on screen. It's leaning old school. I don't think even if you run that on any you'd get hits from younger people," Zachary explained, reaching out a finger to tap a sentence on the screen.

"There's a hyper-focus on 'family' and 'aging'. Young people don't care about being old yet and they don't have families to give supplements to. You're trying to run an ad to sample consumers for market research but your ad already has a consumer age bias, which leads to sampling bias."

Leroy stared at the screen... blinked... then stared at it again.

'Zachary was... correct.'

"Zachary?" Leroy said, looking up at the older man again.

"Hmm?"  

"Why are you so fucking smart?"

[dankusner]

Renovations begin on South Dallas’ historic Forest Theater

After sitting vacant for 15 years, Dallas’ historic Forest Theater is undergoing a major renovation.

The venue that once featured notable acts like Tina Turner, B.B. King and Dallas’ own Erykah Badu will be transformed into a community and education hub, complete with mixed-income housing nearby.

“The Forest Theater once served as a cultural landmark for our entire city,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said at the ceremony. “And this renovation is going to usher in a new era for this theater and for this community.”

This is the first time in its history the theater, which opened in 1949 and for years served an exclusively white audience, is owned by a Black-led organization.

“South Dallas is in a transition of change,” Forest Forward president Elizabeth Wattley said. “The MLK Boulevard is changing.”

She said the rehabilitation and expansion of the theater will “certainly draw additional business and development to the neighborhood.”

As part of the theater’s partnership with Dallas ISD, students of MLK Arts Academy will have access to the 13,000-square-foot arts education hub that will be in front of the theater, where retail spaces were formerly located.

“We really want to bring those technologies to our students’ hands,” Wattley said, “to share their talents in a number of varieties of ways.”

The expansion involved several zoning requirements.

The highway the theater sits on will be transformed into a boulevard with traffic lights and a 35-mph speed limit to increase walkability.

“Our students who would walk to school would have to go all the way up here and then cross over on the boulevard,” Wattley said. “Now they’ll just be up across the street.”

The housing portion is centered around community development, said Forest Forward board member Matthew Ruffner.

The mixed-income housing will help densify the neighborhood, so it increases school and community event attendance without pushing out longtime residents, he said.

Wattley says the theater’s expansion will preserve the character and history of the South Dallas community, whose input on the project was taken into consideration.

The theater is not a new concept: Spaces like the South Dallas Cultural Center offer free access to a wide variety of visual and performing arts programming.

Forest Forward made a commitment to provide complementary access that is not competitive.

“It indicates and implies that there’s an oversaturation of arts in south Dallas, and there’s really no such thing as that,” Wattley said.

Speaking at Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett  said she’s happy to see someone still committed to the city of Dallas, specifically South Dallas.

“A lot of people for a long time have given up on South Dallas,” she said. “But let me tell you, Elizabeth would not accept no from anybody.”

The renovation is expected to take about 18 months, with the theater set to reopen December 2025.

"Will this time be different for South Dallas and the Forest Theater?"

Those words, printed in large type above the fold of the Dallas Morning News on November 10, 2021, “haunted” Elizabeth Wattley for “a long time.”

Wattley is the president of Forest Forward, the nonprofit tasked with bringing the Forest Theater back to life.

Which, in a way, means it is also tasked with the future of South Dallas.

Considering the scope and ambition of that statement, you can understand why those words haunted Wattley.

The 75-year-old theater, adorned with a green tower that once glowed like a beacon on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., has for the last 15 years sat empty among a derelict block of liquor stores and shuttered shops.

On Thursday afternoon, hundreds of people sat in a parking lot behind the building under a clear sky, the nickname Sunny South Dallas becoming a little too literal.

Southern Dallas’ elected leadership celebrated Forest Forward’s milestone of fundraising, bringing in $75.215 million—branded for the ZIP code in which it sits—and the beginning of renovations here.

“Along this stretch of MLK, it used to be dormant,” said state Sen. Royce West. “Everything was closed.”

The evidence is in the photo above these words.

What’s different this time around is Wattley’s strategy.

Forest Forward started buying land around the venue.

It has plans to turn some of it into mixed-income housing. It has partnered with Dallas ISD to transform the Martin Luther King Jr. Learning Center to the MLK Arts Academy, which will graduate its first 8th grade class next month.

Four students from that class were accepted into Booker T. High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and another was on the waitlist.

That’s a big deal. Booker T. presently has 1,100 students across its four grades, and only 10 live in 75215.

Local heavyweight architecture firm HKS is designing the overhaul, which will include a 1,000-seat concert hall and a 200-seat theater.

There will be a rooftop patio, a café, and a coffee shop that won’t be a certain national chain.

All of this is happening in tandem with the removal of U.S. 175, the highway that, like so many other urban freeways, created a gash through South Dallas that has taken decades to overcome.

The land where that road was will soon be a boulevard, connecting the theater with the rest of the community.

The story of South Dallas extends from the Forest north to Fair Park.

The theater is trying to meet the needs of all the people who live in the blocks between them, focusing on access to education, arts, economic development, and housing.

[qocsuing]

Shanghai Starts Coming Back to Life as COVID Lockdown Eases

Shanghai Starts Coming Back to Life as COVID Lockdown Eases

Shanghai residents visited the waterfront Bund and ate and drank along streets patrolled by police early Wednesday as people in China’s largest city savored the easing of its severe two-month COVID-19 lockdown.To get more news about shanghai sharelife, you can citynewsservice.cn official website.

The lockdown set back the national economy and largely confined millions to their homes, while its ruthless and often chaotic enforcement prompted protests in person and online that are seldom seen under China’s strict authoritarian government.

Full bus and subway service will be restored Wednesday, as will basic rail connections with the rest of China. Still, more than half a million people in the city of 25 million are still under lockdown or in designated control zones because virus cases are still being detected.

The government says all restrictions will be gradually lifted, but local neighborhood committees still wield considerable power to implement sometimes conflicting and arbitrary policies.

That didn’t deter people from gathering outside to eat and drink under the watch of police deployed to discourage large crowds from forming. Cao Yue, who works in the hard-hit travel industry, said it was a joy to see “many happy people around me on the street.”

Cao said the past two months under lockdown was a depressing experience.

“At the beginning of the lockdown I felt hard in my heart because I didn’t know what to do and it was difficult to buy food at the beginning,” she said. “It was quite depressing to be locked at home and see the whole Shanghai under lockdown.”

Lu Kexin, a high school senior visiting the Bund for the first time since late March, said she went crazy being trapped at home for so long. “I’m very happy, extremely happy, all the way, too happy,” she said.

Schools will partially reopen on a voluntary basis, and shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores and drug stores will reopen gradually at no more than 75% of their total capacity. Cinemas and gyms will remain closed.

Health authorities on Wednesday reported just 15 new cases of COVID-19 in Shanghai, down from a record high of around 20,000 daily cases in April. Government officials in recent days appeared ready to accelerate what has been a gradual easing of the lockdown.

A few malls and markets have reopened, and some residents have been given passes allowing them out for a few hours at a time.The lockdown has prompted an exodus of Chinese and foreign residents, with crowds forming outside the city’s Hongqiao Railway Station, where only some train service had been resumed.

Even while the rest of the world has opened up, China has stuck to its “zero-COVID” strategy requiring lockdowns, mass testing and isolation at centralized facilities of anyone who is infected or has been in contact with someone who has tested positive.

[burningcyclegiver]

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Cannabidiol (CBD) is usually covered in the media, as well as you might observe it touted as an add-in booster to your post-workout smoothie mix or even early morning coffee. You can even acquire a CBD-infused sports bra - hemp oil for skin. Yet what specifically is actually CBD? As well as why is it so prominent? CBD, or cannabidiol, is actually the second most common active ingredient in cannabis (cannabis) (cbd hemp oil).

Currently, many individuals get CBD online without a clinical cannabis license, which is actually lawful in the majority of conditions. CBD has been actually proclaimed for a number of wellness issues, but the best clinical documentation is for its efficiency in dealing with several of the cruelest childhood years epilepsy disorders, including Dravet disorder and also Lennox-Gastaut disorder (LGS), which typically don't respond to antiseizure medications (hemp oil for dogs).

Epidiolex, which includes CBD, is actually the very first cannabis-derived medicine accepted due to the FDA for these problems (essential hemp oil). Pet studies, and self-reports or research study in humans, propose CBD might likewise assist with: Research studies and also clinical trials are exploring the popular file that CBD may decrease stress. Researches propose that CBD might assist with each going to sleep and also remaining asleep.

6 Simple Techniques For The Trouble With Cbd Oil - Fulltext

Therefore, you need to permit your medical professional understand if you are consistently using CBD (hemp oil). A significant safety interest in CBD is actually that it is predominantly industried as well as sold as a supplement, certainly not a drug. Currently, the FDA carries out certainly not regulate the security as well as pureness of dietary supplements. Therefore, you may not make sure that the product you acquire has active components at the dosage detailed on the tag.

Away from the United States, the prescription medication Sativex, which makes use of CBD as an active element, is authorized for muscular tissue spasticity connected with multiple sclerosis and also for cancer pain. Within the US, Epidiolex is permitted for specific forms of epilepsy and tuberous sclerosis. Some CBD makers have actually happened under government analysis for wild, indefensible cases, such that CBD is a magic bullet for cancer cells or COVID-19, which it is actually certainly not.

Creature research studies have shown some various other potential make uses of for CBD oil. Analysis shows that trails using CBD oil for osteoarthritis were a lot more energetic as well as possessed a lot less discomfort - hemp seed oil capsules. This recommends there can be actually a human treatment for pain as well as inflammation treatment. "There are actually some probabilities suggested below," points out doctor Band. Nonetheless, the court is actually still out.

Not known Details About Cbd Oil: 9 Science-backed Benefits

Physician Ring states the searchings for are considerable, proposing that CBD oil might be an effective device in aiding people finding support for dependence. There is still much to become understood regarding CBD oil, and doctor Ring remains to find additional responses. She lately carried out a first research on CBD oil (hemp seed oil capsules).

Articles from Lifestyle are actually supplied here good behavior of

CBD oil is said to possess a variety of feasible health benefits - hemp essential oil. It is actually used as a hunger energizer, a sleeping assistance, a therapy for skin disease like dermatitis and also skin psoriasis, for alleviation of ache, to stop confiscations, as well as far more. Though derived from cannabis, the same vegetations grown for marijuana, CBD oil is certainly not he very same as weed.

Clinicians' Guide To Cannabidiol And Hemp Oils Things To Know Before You Get This

CBD oil originates from Cannabis indica as well as Marijuana sativa vegetations. Individuals who assist making use of CBD claim that CBD oil benefits individuals along with an assortment of health issue. CBD oil is said to become suitable for: As CBD has actually gotten recognition, scientists have actually been actually attempting to study it a lot more.

The manner in which CBD acts in the mind can discuss why this occurs. In low doses, CBD could function the same as the bordering molecules that typically tie to the receptor that "switches up" their signaling. Nonetheless, at higher doses, way too much task at this receptor website could make the opposite impact.

Nine of the researches appeared at the results of CBD on pets as well as five checked out the results on humans. The analysts reported that CBD revealed assurance for treating folks with opioid, cocaine, or even psychostimulant utilize problems. Nevertheless, the impacts of CBD were pretty various relying on the material. For instance, CBD without THC performed certainly not lower drawback signs connected to opioid use (hemp oil for pain).

What Does Clinicians' Guide To Cannabidiol And Hemp Oils Do?

Some professionals suggest that CBD could aid treat marijuana and smoking reliance, yet extra research study is actually required to provide this idea. Some studies have actually advised that CBD oil may gain the skin. A 2020 study, as an example, discovered that CBD oil may aid minimize inflammation, which might be practical for alleviating a selection of skin problem featuring hypersensitive eczema, acne, and also psoriasis.

Although some research studies have revealed guarantee, there have actually been no big research studies proving the benefits of CBD oil as a cancer treatment. cbd hemp oil. Other research studies propose that CBD may engage with cancer cells medications. If you possess cancer as well as are considering CBD, talk to your oncologist initially regarding regardless if it is actually safe for you to utilize.

For the study, 9 healthy and balanced guys took either 600 mg of CBD or even the very same dosage of a placebo. The males that took CBD had lower blood stream tension prior to and also after experiencing stressors like physical exercise or even extreme cold - hemp oil uses. The research also looked at the volume of blood stream staying in the heart after a heartbeat (stroke quantity).

The Definitive Guide to Cannabis, Cbd Oil And Cancer - Cancer Research

The research study recommended that CBD oil may be a corresponding therapy for people with high blood tension that is had an effect on by worry and stress (hemp oil for pain). Nevertheless, there is actually no documentation that CBD oil can easily handle higher blood stream pressure on its very own or even stop it in individuals in danger. While tension can make complex higher blood stream pressure, it performs not cause it.

These are very unusual congenital diseases that trigger long-lasting seizures beginning in the 1st year of lifestyle. Besides for these pair of ailments, CBD's effectiveness for addressing confiscations is actually not recognized. Despite having Epidiolex, it is actually certainly not crystal clear if the anti-seizure results are actually from CBD or an additional element. Having said that, there is actually some proof that CBD interacts along with confiscation medicines like Onfi (clobazam) as well as elevates their concentration in the blood.

For individuals with glaucoma, this can create the health condition worse - hemp oil for skin. Some individuals likewise mention dry out eyes as a negative effects of CBD oil. You must certainly not utilize CBD oil if you're expecting or breastfeeding. Although the impacts of CBD are actually not entirely recognized, it performs travel through the placenta.

Not known Details About Cannabidiol (Cbd): What We Know And What We Don't

CBD oil performs not get you higher. Although it is actually from a plant that remains in the exact same family members as the weed plant, it carries out not include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the substance liable for https://ameblo.jp/rowanhzsv316/entry-12767281030.html this feeling. CBD Oil Marijuana An element of the hemp vegetation Distinct vegetation in the hemp household which contains CBD and dozens other compounds (hemp oil).

However, in many cases, you may must alter medicines or even area out your dosages to avoid a reaction. Never modify or even stop medicine without talking with your service provider (hemp oil for dogs). There are actually no tips for usage, neither is actually there a "correct" dose of CBD oil. That mentioned, the ordinary dose assortment is from 5 milligrams to 25 milligrams - hemp oil.

As an example, placing the oil under your tongue can produce effects extra swiftly than eating a capsule that needs to have to be absorbed. Each item functions a little differently, depending upon the form, so it is very important to adhere to the offered paths. Sprays, gummies, as well as pills are actually user-friendly because their doses are pre-measured. cbd hemp oil.

[songmingisthighs]

[4.11] mafia!wooyoung × reader

⇀ you thought he didn't care, he was sure he doesn't, he had said it so himself to you. that was, until he almost lost the chance of being able to care for you.

⇁ tw : running away, mafia life (criminal/illegal acts)

⇁ part 1 / 2 / 3

⇁ disclaimer : the author does not support any and all criminal/illegal acts. the narrative written in this story is purely fiction out of the author's imagination. the things written here does not portray real mafia life nor is the author aware of how the mafia life is like. the author is a hermit loser.

At first, Wooyoung thought you had really ran away from him. After the fight you had the previous night, how could he not ?

"All I ask is a little bit of attention! I know you could spare some for me," you exclaimed, following after Wooyoung into the home office in his mansion. Yes, his, he never once said it was yours too so you treat it as such.

Wooyoung rolled his eyes at you, "and I ask you shut that big trap you called your mouth before I shut it for you, but we can't all get what we wanted now, can we ?" He spat.

You're used to his aggressive words, it used to hurt but now the pain just comes and goes. But you're at your wit's end, he was distant when you both were first forced into engagement but he was still polite so you thought that was just the shock, but now that you're married, things got worse.

"Wooyoung," you called, leaning both of your hands on his desk aa he sit on his office chair, "it's been 8 months since we got married," he glared at you when you said that, so you sighed and change your choice of words, "since we were force into marriage... But I've been trying so hard to make this less of a chore for both of us, I don't know what else I could do! You're not even bothering to hide the fact that you hate my guts to your very core even though it wasn't my fault that we got into this! Heck, you don't even bother to acknowledge that I exist!"

Wooyoung slammed his hands down on the table, standing face to face with you, "that's right," he chuckled darkly, "I don't even bother, you know why? Because you're nothing in my life, I never ask for you, I never wanted you, you're still here because your dad's business fell through with my dad and he used you as mean of escaping because that's all you are, princess," he leaned closer to your face and spoke through gritted teeth, "a worthless burden that people toss around,"

It would've been a lie if you said that his words doesn't affect you whatsoever. Because it does.

Maybe deep down that was one of your biggest fear and having someone confirmed that made you feel sick to your stomach. You recoiled from the table, as if having been struck across your face.

Though Wooyoung had a satisfied smirk on his face, "you should know I've been planning your assasination ever since you said 'I do', I would've made it look like an accident so that my dad wouldn't be up in my ass talking about losing his insurance of control over your dad, maybe I should move the schedule up so I can get rid of you quicker,"

You stared at him for a while, not knowing that he actually hated you that much. All this time you thought it was just petty reluctance of being tied to you, but this just brought things to a whole new level.

"No..." you choked out, trying to hold back tears, "I'll take care of it myself," and with that, you ran out of his office to pack all your belongings with tears streaming down your face.

And that was the last time Wooyoung had seen you. He had heard from one of his butlers that he had seen you running around the house retrieving your things where it supposedly was earlier, you looked frantic and you hadn't even taken a second to take a break.

"And did she got out of the house today?" Wooyoung asked from his position on the couch, loosening all of the buttons on his shirt. "No, master, not that any of us know of," said butler then leaned close to Wooyoung's ears, "the cctv has been cut off, her bodyguards are dismissed, no one has tended to her nor got close to her, and I personally see to it that all windows and doors are unlocked just as you had requested,"

Wooyoung couldn't believe that he's probably a free man now, that YOU had left him so that he wouldn't be in hot water with his father.

With a glass of whiskey in his hand, he decided to look around to see whether or not you had really left while telling his maid to prepare dinner for him.

True to what he expected, he made two laps around the mansion but not once did he find you. Not even in his office with a divorce paper, as dramatic as it sound.

He finally step into his shared bedroom with you to make his final confirmation.

At first he knocked on the door, not really knowing why he did that, but when no sound came from the room he simply opened the door and walked in. He hadn't returned the night before, spending half of his night in his home office before going out with San to a bar, not realizing that it was his guilt that drove him out to drink his memory away.

Looking around the room, he couldn't really tell whether or not you had ran away. The room looked like it had been slept in the night before, he could see the spot where you laid in comparison to his side that's perfectly neat.

When he stepped into the walk-in closet, he was quite surprised at the sheer contrast to the bedroom. Your clothes thrown haphazardly, it seems like you were urgently looking for things to pack, and the more he analyze the items on the floor, the more he realized that you hadn't taken anything that was bought with his money.

But that wasn't the thing that got his attention.

It was your wedding dress that had been taken out of its garment bag, across from it, an empty bottle of wine and a box of tissues with crumpled tissues surrounding it. It looked straight out of a movie.

He walked closer to the dress and trailed a hand down it.

He remembered seeing you wear it on your wedding day. He remembered being too pissed at his father to be able to fully appreciate how ethereal you looked. He remembered how when you looked at him, he could see the redness in your eyes, indicating that you had been crying.

But over all, he remembered how his heart skipped a beat when he saw you walking closer to him. Of course, he would never admit it outwardly.

His train of thought was broken when his butler knocked on his bedroom door, "master, dinner is served," he said.

Wooyoung cleared his throat and straighten out his posture, "yes, of course, I'll be there soon," he called out.

As the footsteps of his butler fade, he carefully zip your wedding dress back into its garment bag, making sure that the dress is stored perfectly.

After that, he went to the dining room to have his dinner.

Usually, you'd be seated in your seat, across from him at the other end of the table that seats 10 people. He'd have to admit that it feels weird not seeing you smile at him after a long day of working, but he forced himself to believe that it was a good kind of weird.

Strangely, as he eat his food he felt that it doesn't match his palate, that something feels off. So he called for his head butler and asked him about it.

"Did we change cooks? Why does today's dinner taste so bland?"

His butler seemed hesitant to answer him, looking at the head maid for a bit. The middle-aged woman stepped forward from her spot, bowing slightly to avoid Wooyoung's eyes, "we did not have any change in staffs, sir, it's just that the mistress used to prepare all of your meals and considering... the circumstances, she had not prepared anything for you," she said, not even bothering to hide her bitterness that he had drove you away.

Considerably, he was shocked that you had never brought the fact up to him. But as usual, he masked his true feelings and just nod at her, continuing with his meal even though he can't seem to enjoy it.

The shock didn't stop there, though.

Over the course of the first 5 days of you leaving him, he began noticing the things that indicate your presence in his house. Or used to indicate your presence.

He never knew that you were the one who always put flowers around the mansion. He noticed this when he passed by a vase of wilting aconite. It almost broke him when he see the maids cleared all flowers, leaving an empty vase that he now associate with your absence.

He never knew that you kept tabs on food he likes and dislikes. After 3 days, he gave up on eating the food his cook made for him, firing the poor man on the spot and resorting to take outs.

He never knew that you were the one who personally arrange his wardrobe. Usually, every morning he'd find his favorite shirts or favorite sets of clothes on the front, ready for him to pick out and wear. Now that you're not here, he had to spend extra time deciding what to wear.

And lastly, he was surprised at the fact that you had never made it to your hometown.

"What do you mean she's not with her parents?" He growled at his henchmen, making them visibly scared. "W-we tried looking for her, even asking around, but no one had seen her," he explained.

All Wooyoung wanted was to hear about how you're happier without him, how you've settled back to your life without him, how he'd be assured with the fact that you leaving him was the best thing that could ever happen to you two.

Feeling that he owed this for the sake of his own closure, he ordered everyone under him to find out your whereabouts.

The desperation suffocated him, he hated the feeling.

So he ran out of his office to his garden, going to the furthest side where it is practically abandoned so that he'd be all alone to calm his mind.

What he hadn't expect to see though, was several pieces of clothes on the ground. At first he just thought that the laundry might have flown away due to the wind, but when he inspected them closer, he recognized them as yours.

"Why would these be here?" He muttered to himself as he began picking up the scattered pieces of clothes one by one. When he picked up the last piece, he noticed your suitcase by the corner of the tall wall that surround his house for protection.

The sight that made his stomach drop was a rather huge hole that could fit a person.

Wooyoung's brain put 2 and 2 together and the only reasonable conclusion made him feel like blowing up.

You had been kidnapped.

[indianamoonshine]

Girl Talk | Din Djarin x Reader | Oneshot

Summary: What does a gal do when she’s just been railed by the most notorious bounty hunter in The Galaxy? Call her best friend of course.

A/N: Just something to tide you over until the next installment of Strawberry! I have anxiety and I need to busy my hands without thinking too much! This takes place after season 2!

There’s a crackling on the other end of the receiver. The telegraph service majorly bites out here on Besiana, which has been dubbed “the trench of The Galaxy”. Getting connected to Gabriele at all is a miracle in itself, though not without exploiting a few (somewhat) illegal hacks by yours truly.

Hells, not even this shitty phoning service can put you in a sour mood.

When Gabriele’s voice sounds at the other end, it gives the air that he’s just awoken from a heavy sleep or he’s suffering a hangover. Probably both. “Now what the hell are you doing all the way out in butt-fucking-nowh…” he starts.

You’re quick to cut him off. “Take a guess.”

Gabriele groans and there’s a rummaging in the background. Something sounds as though it falls off a surface - his alarm clock, probably. He must be in the inner rim somewhere.

“Miss girl, I don’t have time to play these games with you. My head is pounding. Now tell me why you’re in the catacombs of The Galaxy’s ass and…”

Behind you, a body shuffles from outside the refresher door. Your heart thuds rambunctiously in your chest as you carefully peer through a crack of the opening. Din Djarin - The Galaxy’s most notorious Mandalorian- is taking a seat with his rifle in hand. You watch as he begins to disassemble it with great technical precision. Something about watching him take apart his weapon causes your stomach to flutter.

And your knees to weaken.

“I just had sex,” you tell him in a whisper.

Gabriele is silent on the other end for a moment and then lets out a sigh of great disappointment. “Congratulations. I’m going back to bed. Goodnight.”

“The best sex of my life.”

There’s another pause. “Oh?” His interest has piqued, voice more alert at the prospect of juicy gossip. After all, what were best friends for?

You let this linger in the air for a minute, just to marinate his curiosity, and then peek at Din again. He’s taking a rag and wiping the barrel of the rifle; if it weren’t for the helmet upon his head, you’d swear he was concentrating with furrowed and ascetic brow.

“Do you remember that Mandalorian who made a giant fuss a couple of years ago?” you inquire lowly, eyes unable to leave the steadiness of Din’s deft hands.

Those hands. You have to stop yourself from moaning at the recent memories. You swear you can still feel the ghostly sear they left in their wake. The naked skin upon your hips tingles at the sheer recollection, the slick still upon your thighs all-too prevalent.

“You’re lying,” is what Gabriele gasps, absolutely scandalized. You imagine him shooting up in bed and covering his mouth in awe. He was always so dramatic but you couldn’t blame him if he did. This was the exact reaction you were hoping for.

Din grabs another piece of his rifle and starts up again. You have to tear yourself away from looking at him and instead surmise yourself in the mirror. It isn’t very big in any sense of the word but it’ll do. You take a look at your face (blushed and bright) and then your eyes (dazed and dick-drunk). Hells, this man has ruined you.

“I know you have questions,” you reply, tapping at your cheeks. They feel softer somehow.

Gabriele squeaks a bit under his breath. “Did he take off his helmet?”

You shake your head, though he can’t see it. “No. And I think it awoken something in me.”

He tsks. “Damn. I wanna know what he looks like. Okay…”

“I know he’s a brunette,” you say slyly.

Gabriele shrieks at the other end and you have to angle the receiver away with a laugh. “Is it big?”

You recall the tactical consideration- albeit brief - it took to get his dick in your mouth. You did it though, ‘ole girl. You tap yourself on the shoulder with a proud grin.

“Oh, it is. It’s…it’s very nice.”

You find yourself looking out the door again. Din’s moved onto another gun - he’s already put together the last. You grow weary at the sight of his gloved hands alone, but when your eyes trail downwards you find yourself swallowing something thick in your throat. Which in turn, of course, reminds you of the tanginess still lingering upon your tongue.

“Gabriele,” you say seriously, voice so low you can barely hear yourself. “I came eight times.”

“Shut up. You did not.” Gabriele sounds more than just excited - now he sounds jealous. You can’t help but giggle.

You raise a hand to your chest in a show of honesty. “I mean it. Eight times. He went down on me for an hour.”

“I thought you said he didn’t take off his helmet?” Gabriele asks suspiciously.

You chuckle lowly. “Oh, that’s where it gets really good.”

Gabriele - one of the biggest sluts in The goddamned Galaxy - was no stranger to sex. So when you tell him that you were blindfolded during this portion of an absolute wild ride, you’re shocked to find him screeching once more.

You’re about to continue - to confide in him about the brutal rhythm of the ordeal - until a knock startles you. You press the receiver against your chest, still flushed and naked from the previous romp.

Din calls your name from the other side of the door. “Are you alright?”

You freeze, contemplating on everything you could say to this most bland of questions. “I’ll be out in a moment!” you decide, scolding yourself for being so timid. You were at the end of his dick a half-hour ago.

Din mumbles something and then departs. After he’s within a safe distance, you quickly raise the receiver and say, “I have to go. But I’ll tell you everything later.”

Gabriele gawks, “Was that him?”

You roll your eyes. “Yes. Now I really have to go.”

“Oh my gods, okay. Fine.”

You smile, clutching at the durasteel of the phone. “Promise. Love you.”

Your best friend sighs theatrically. “Love you too. Be safe, okay? I don’t even know who I’d call to go after him if something happened to you. No one would be stupid enough.”

The idea of Din doing anything to put you in harm’s way is inconceivable. You’ve only known him for a short amount of time - a couple of weeks at most - but you already trust him with your life.

“I’d die a happy woman,” you joke.

A short while later, you exit the refresher with sopping, clean hair and any traces of sex scrubbed away from between your legs. Din’s allowed you to wear one of his night shirts (an honor in itself) because your clothes had been soiled.

Din is placing his rifle upon its rack when you sneak by for the kitchen. You pour yourself a cup of Java - black, unfortunately, because of Din’s lack of sweet tooth. The liquid is steaming hot so you blow on it before bringing it to your lips.

“Do you want one?” you ask him, taking a sip. It burns. “Oof.”

Din turns, armor somehow so dexterous in its bulk. “No, thank you. But…”

In a surprising move, Din reaches for your hips and pulls you flush against him, ignoring the mug altogether. You shriek, worried it might spill, and set it upon the countertop, but he pays little to no mind.

“You took awhile,” he mumbles, hands grasping at the flesh of your hips. They’ve already been treated so roughly today, and now you were sure there’d be bruising. Good.

You chew at your bottom lip, desperate to know what his eyes might look like. You imagine he has dark eyes - like the color of the sky at nightfall. Maybe they became brighter in the light of the suns. Maybe they crinkled when he laughed - if he were capable of that, anyway. You’ve yet to hear such music.

“I didn’t realize you were waiting for me,” you confess, avoiding the steel gaze of his faceplate.

Din hums under his breath and taps your chin, lifting it just barely so that you can meet his stare. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

You shrug, fluttering your lashes in a vain attempt to remain mysterious.

Din reaches for something behind you and reveals a scrap of fabric. “How about we try for nine?” The modulator of his helmet crackles a bit, causing his voice to sound more severe than what he may have liked.

But it does something to you.

You nod sweetly, a tiny grin threatening to sneak its way upon your face, before he takes you within his arms and lifts you upon the counter.

A shrieking, but playful, giggle bursts from your lips. “Din!” you chide, but tie the fabric around your eyes all the same.

The hiss of his helmet sounds, notifying you that he’s revealing himself to the elements now. You can hear his natural breath and feel the way it fans against your collarbones before he kisses you fiercely.

“Let me give you something to really talk about.”

[rockislandadultreads]

PRIDE Picks: Selected LGBT Fiction

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

Growing up in a housing estate in Glasgow, Mungo and James are born under different stars--Mungo a Protestant and James a Catholic--and they should be sworn enemies if they're to be seen as men at all. Yet against all odds, they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the pigeon dovecote that James has built for his prize racing birds. As they fall in love, they dream of finding somewhere they belong, while Mungo works hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his big brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. And when several months later Mungo's mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to try to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future. Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism and giving full voice to people rarely acknowledged in the literary world, Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the bounds of masculinity, the divisions of sectarianism, the violence faced by many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to be alive again. It’s been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now—an artist with her own studio, and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it’s time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career. She’s even started dating the perfect guy, but their new relationship might be sabotaged before it has a chance by the dangerous thrill Feyi feels every time she locks eyes with the one person in the house who is most definitely off-limits. This new life she asked for just got a lot more complicated, and Feyi must begin her search for real answers. Who is she ready to become? Can she release her past and honor her grief while still embracing her future? And, of course, there’s the biggest question of all—how far is she willing to go for a second chance at love? Akwaeke Emezi’s vivid and passionate writing takes us deep into a world of possibility and healing, and the constant bravery of choosing love against all odds.

Moon Witch, Spider King (The Dark Star Trilogy #2) by Marlon James

In Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Sogolon the Moon Witch proved a worthy adversary to Tracker as they clashed across a mythical African landscape in search of a mysterious boy who disappeared. In Moon Witch, Spider King, Sogolon takes center stage and gives her own account of what happened to the boy, and how she plotted and fought, triumphed and failed as she looked for him. It's also the story of a century-long feud--seen through the eyes of a 177-year-old witch--that Sogolon had with the Aesi, chancellor to the king. It is said that Aesi works so closely with the king that together they are like the eight limbs of one spider. Aesi's power is considerable--and deadly. It takes brains and courage to challenge him, which Sogolon does for reasons of her own. Both a brilliant narrative device--seeing the story told in Black Leopard, Red Wolf from the perspective of an adversary and a woman--as well as a fascinating battle between different versions of empire, Moon Witch, Spider King delves into Sogolon's world as she fights to tell her own story. Part adventure tale, part chronicle of an indomitable woman who bows to no man, it is a fascinating novel that explores power, personality, and the places where they overlap.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret. Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages. When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days. But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn. An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.

[ramblingguy54]

“Since when have you cared!?”

“Since I saw the consequences...”

     Sasha’s episode, Turning Point, was as great as I hoped it would be for the angst it managed to drive out in under its typical 11 minute time frame. Sasha’s desperation for maintaining control in the best friend trio power dynamic did a lot more, than just simply blow up in her face. This girl had to watch one of her dear friends get impaled, just like I speculated would happen in a storytelling aspect for Waybright’s redemption, considering it’s another perfect way to drive a severe gut punch home into opening Sasha’s eyes. 

     Her agonizing depressing emotional beats are so well earned because Sasha has been stubbornly refusing to face a most notable truth, fear of change. Power & control are two things defining Sasha’s existentialism, where she wanted to keep it all under her thumb by any means necessary. The sad thing is, once Sasha had succeeded in overthrowing Andrias’ reign temporarily in True Colors, she didn’t know what else to do next. In spite of everything, Sasha’s lingering conscience ate away at her more and more, as she continued to make morally questionable decisions.

     Sasha’s biggest inner conflict, most notably shown in Season 2, has always been trying to keep her compassionate side from clashing with her desires for unstoppable power and leadership. We’ve seen this in Barrel’s Warhammer when she tried to show consideration toward Percy& Braddock’s fear of potentially dying in attempting this deadly mission to obtain a bigger army for their invasion, but quickly undermined those concerns to achieve her own goals. Although this girl can be plenty capable of having a heart, it’s buried underneath a bunch of emotional baggage, like what happened at Toad Tower in Season 1′s finale, Reunion. She has a rough time putting others’ needs above herself when it really counts most. True Colors’ events were very much the apex of that inner turmoil arc, regarding Sasha’s struggle to maintain this image of “powerful leader”.

     By the time Sasha had realized her terrible mistake, it was already too late. Anne wasn’t gonna hear out anymore of what she had to say about Andrias’ true nature as a cold blooded tyrant after what transpired between them earlier. Sasha watched two best friends she knew, since those pre-school playground days, be thrown into grave danger, resulting in a brutal wake up call to have this tough as nails girl rephrase everything that defined herself as a person. What was once valued as strength and leadership, Sasha now saw it as a pitiful excuse to cover up her super insecure bitterness at Anne’s newfound independence from living with the Plantars.

“I want to be someone better! Someone that deserves you!”

     All this need for control and what did it get her? Anne becoming enraged enough to call Sasha an outright horrible person, inadvertently played a part in bringing about Andrias’ rise to bloodshed because of said selfish need for control, and got Marcy knocking on “death’s door”, unfortunately. A perfect example of earned dramatic pay off for an important main character’s arc, culminating in a painfully excellent scene doing a callback from Battle of the Bands near Season 2′s end. Really adds one Hell of a heartbreaking new context to Anne’s outburst at True Colors’ start when she calls off the friendship between her & Sasha. Anne had truly believed, despite all of the shit that went down before in their past unhealthy history, it could still be salvaged, regardless.

     This pivotal moment in Sasha’s journey of bettering herself was everything I wanted it to be. Sasha has lost everything at this point, only to be reminded of why she wanted to be strong in the first place, her close friends. It was never originally about maintaining a figurative pyramid or keeping up this shallow appearance of what Sasha considered true strength. From the very first moment Sasha met Anne & Marcy years ago, all she cared about was standing up for those less fortunate than herself and wouldn’t give up on this resolve. However, somewhere along the way in life, Sasha seriously lost sight of this mindset, transforming into a more manipulative and abusive person. You can just feel the weight of Sasha’s actions crashing down upon her here and I absolutely love every second of it. This is my kind of dramatic writing.

     Whether Sasha turned into who she is now because of family issues, school social structure popularity stereotypes, or possibly a combination of both, one thing is for sure. Sasha isn’t gonna allow past mistakes to repeat themselves anymore, which is a huge step in the right direction for her, of course. I’ve been highly looking forward to seeing what they’d pull off for Sasha’s redemption and this first episode focusing on it didn’t disappoint. It was a simply great heartfelt start to what is going to become one God damn endearing reformed protagonist. Can’t wait to see where this story and character goes next.