#and there is zero information about this issue that i've been able to find

[merlyn-bane]

.

[ms-demeanor]

any tips for Adult Phone Calls? i've been putting some off and it's going to start costing me money if i don't Get It Together soon, but that pressure just makes it harder!! part of my issue is not knowing what The Script is and part of it is that i find real-time conversation as An Adult really daunting....

Yes!

Okay so a big part of my job is answering phone calls; I am a professional person who answers phone calls from people who would rather not have to call me and who are usually confused and upset by what is happening, which often has the potential to be expensive for them. It's a stressful call to make!

As a professional phone answerer, here are the things that help ME when people call:

Be able to describe the reason that you're calling and what you would like to do about it. This is a simple two-step giving basic background information and your desired outcome so that the person answering the phone can get the process started for you. Examples: "Hi, I'm a new patient referred by Doctor X; I'd like to make an appointment with Dr. Y." "Hi, I tried to use my credit card but it was rejected, I would like to know why." "Hi, I am calling about a late payment; I would like it removed from my record." "Hi, my sink is leaking and I'd like to schedule a visit for repair." "Hi, I think my computer has a virus, I'd like to bring it in to get checked out."

Call when you have some time. Don't call when you've only got five minutes to be on the phone, this could take a while and you will be less stressed if you call when you've got at least ten minutes to half an hour where you won't be interrupted. If you are less stressed, the person taking the call will be less stressed, and the whole process will work better.

Have any account/ticket/serial number/referral information handy. Pre-game the call in your head and think about any questions they might need to ask you, then gather the information they might need. Examples: If you're calling about something like a car or computer hardware, know the basics of make/model/age. If you're calling a financial institution or service provider, have your account number, verification information, etc. handy If you're calling a medical office you might want to have a list of medications as well as your insurance card available.

And here's some information that might make CALLERS more comfortable:

We're not mad at you for making the phone call; talking to you is our job. You're not bothering anyone or imposing on anyone's time. Please make the call instead of churning in panic for weeks or months; it's much easier to fix something or resolve an issue if it's addressed early than if you respond to it months down the line.

You can just say right off the bat that you're not sure about the call or that you don't know what's going on and you need help. You might want to say something like "Hi, I'm having an issue and I don't know the next steps to take to get it resolved; could you please help me?"

You can also just say something like "Hi, thanks for helping me; I'd like to let you know that I have a little trouble using the phone and may need to ask questions as we go or think for a second. Thanks for being patient with me, here's my issue."

There is like a zero percent chance that your call is going to be one of the more stressful things they do that day. The call is stressful for you, it is very routine for them, and they are used to everything from getting screamed at to trying to communicate in languages they don't speak to help callers.

Also: if you have not called this place before, feel free to call it with no plans to speak to anyone just to see how the phone system works. It may be an automated phone system and you can call and pre-navigate the options and take notes for when you're ready to call back, and you may be able to find out more of what the system will ask of you. If you get picked up by a person when you're not ready you can simply say "Oh, I'm sorry, I've got another call coming in, I'll call back, thank you" and hang up.

The Script for most Adult-type phone calls is "I am having X problem and I need help fixing it," and then requests for information and someone either providing a resolution for you issue or escalating it to the next step in the process.

It's hard to pre-plan a script without more details because some people you'll call will have a more difficult script than others (canceling cable, for instance, can be a hassle and there are people out there who have written specific instructions on how to do that) and some will be very easy (scheduling an appointment or opening an account can often be very simple!) but regardless of how difficult the specific script is you can ask for help along the way, and the process will be easier if you've done a little information gathering about your own needs/issues/desired resolution.

Good luck! Please don't let the phone scare you too much! People on the other end of the phone are usually quite happy to help.

If it's something really contentious like dealing with a collections agency, look up specific resource guides because that's where it pays to have a very specific idea in mind of how you're going to approach the problem.

[fleet-of-fiction]

My Truth

Allow me to introduce myself. Hi...

My name is Lucie. You might remember me from my old blog, lightmylove-gvf. It started out as a really fun, wholesome space. Full of love and laughter. I shared pictures and gif sets and works of fiction. Made so many wonderful connections with many different people. It really was a wonderful place to be. Until it wasn't. And although I've tried my best to step away from certain controversies, it seems that people still have an issue with me and still have my name in their mouth. So I'd like to take this opportunity to set the record straight. Maybe move past some untruths and you can all make informed decisions on whether you'd like to continue following me here on my current blog. Which is also a place of peace and love, I might add. And always has been.

Anyway, read on if you'd like. And if not, that's ok too.

I think it's fair to say that I've always been one of the more "controversial" writers around here. I have never shied away from difficult storytelling, and I never will. But what started out as a completely separate issue quickly snowballed into what could only be described as a personal vendetta.

I'm happy to discuss anything within my writing that might be of issue to a reader. A particular blog took offence to a scene I had written in a chapter of my fic, Backstage. I happened to disagree with this blog, and I tried my best to let them know whilst I understood their stance I did not agree with their point of view. I took this opinion to a discord server I was part of along with several other blogs here to see if they could shed more light on the issue.

The scene in question involved a fictionalised version of Josh and the reader in bed. They had gone to bed together with the full narrative of the reader known. How she was in love with him and wanted nothing more than to make love with him. They had been growing close. And Josh began to touch reader as they slept side by side. We get an insight into the readers thoughts during this moment, and they are very much with consent and enjoying the experience. It's meant to be a nod to what is to come. That their bodies are in tune with each other, even if their words are yet to speak of it. I think a lot of experiences in life play out like that. Where we don't always know what to say, but find ourselves in situations where our bodies can do the talking. Anyway, I digress...

There was a lot of opinions flying around in the server. Some were in favour of my opinion, others opposed it and were in favour of the anon who had sent me alot of hateful messages regarding their view that this scene was nothing more than sexual harassment. I explained in the server that I myself had been the victim of sexual assault/harassment. That I knew what it felt like to get into bed with someone I thought that I could trust only to have them break that trust in the most heinous way. I tried to explain that I didn't think this particular scene was that.

One sentence that I said was screenshotted and shared around with absolutely zero context to it and nothing of the rest of the conversation added to the screenshot. Just one sentence that I'd said which pertained to saying that I agreed that people should be able to get in bed with others and have full rights to their own bodies. I was AGREEING with that. It's there in black and white. But the narrative was skewed by people who didn't want to understand me. I tried to explain about how my personal experiences often lied within power imbalances when it came to things like S/H. But in the end, they gave me no chance to explain myself properly. They didn't want to. They'd seen and heard enough and made up their mind.

But it didn't stop there. People who I thought were my friends blocked me. Told me I was disgusting. Told me I was playing the victim. Because I didn't issue a grovelling apology. But how could I? I wasn't sorry. I hadn't done anything wrong. I'd poured my heart out to them about my trauma and abuse and how in my own experience I didn't view it as the same as what I'd written. I'd put trigger warnings. I'd made sure people had the right to information before proceeding!

I had blogs who had never interacted with me block me. Call me disgusting. Tell me fuck myself. I had anons telling me to kill myself. Anons telling me that I was a rapist and...for some reason...a peadophile sympathiser? I didn't deserve that. Nobody deserves that. I literally wrote two consenting adults touching each other in a bed they'd both gotten into...consentingly.... with very obvious (although unspoken at that point) feelings for each other. But now, that wasn't the issue. The issue was my own personal feelings on sexual harassment.

I'm the first to admit that I am perhaps not an easily digestable person to some. But I know that I am kind. I know that I have spent hours proof reading and editing fics for other writers on here because they asked for my help. I've supported people though personal issues, and I've championed the work of other writers because I truly believed that this space was a wonderful space for creativity. I still do, to some degree. I am not perfect, and I know that sometimes I can be a little head strong when it comes to protecting people's rights to free speech. I understand that I'm not palatable as a person to people who don't agree that the freedom to write should come with the freedom to write anything.

To those of you who never ever spoke to me and are still sharing things about me with the hash tag #fuck you lucie.... to you I say why have you jumped on that bandwagon? You do not know me. You know only what you've heard from people who were intent on pushing a narrative that was their own. Not mine. You don't know that these people were once my friends. And they shared my work and enjoyed it as I enjoyed theirs. They told me things about themselves and I was happy to know them. These people who then decided I was a terrible human being. Based on one thing I said that was taken completely out of context. It's almost as if they have shared it so many times now with their own backstory that it's a canon truth. I'm the worst human to ever walk the earth. Forget about all the good things I did for you. I'm scum.

If you're still reading this, you're probably thinking boo hoo what a victim complex. Maybe you're right. Maybe I do have a victim complex. Like everyone else here I have mental health problems and I'm on the spectrum. I have trauma. As part of my adhd I have rejection sensitivity which means when I'm cornered I tend to fight back with justifications as to why I behaved the way I did. I guess that's what I'm doing now. Trying to explain myself. Again. Although what good it'll do, I dont know. And I think right now, it no longer matters.

And yet I still see that I'm being talked about. I'm still getting accused of sending anons to other blogs when I was literally just existing here in my peaceful little corner, everyone who had ever taken issue with me blocked or unfollowed. I didn't know what was going on over there, I was trying to just enjoy reading and writing. My anxiety could never cope with sending a hateful anon, I know there's ways of finding out where they come from and revealing the blogs who send them and it's like that story we're all told about peeing in the pool and turning the water a different colour. I don't fuck with that shit.

If, for any particular reason, I've ever hurt anyone here to them I do issue a heartfelt apology because it has never been and never will be my intention. I said some awful things in the heat of the moment when I was receiving alot of hate and death threats regarding the AI edit a friend of mine made with audio from one of my fics. I was under so much pressure. I wanted it all to just stop. I just wanted everyone to be able to enjoy whatever made them happy. I am sorry for the things I said during that time. Im a human being. I am flawed. However..

I do not believe that people lose their rights to their body the minute they climb into bed with someone. And that's precisely what I say in the infamous screenshot. I just hope for anyone who has seen it that they now understand that it was said with love and understanding and support. I would never disregard anyones trauma or triggers. Never. And that is why I believe in giving people all the information they require before consuming media and art.

With all this said, I sincerely hope that it's clear that all I want to do is write. It's all ive ever done and all I will ever really be any good at doing. I'm proud of the fics I've put out here on my old blog and this one too. I don't care about how many notes they get, just that one or two people read it and enjoy it. And I hope you all know that I'm a nice person, too. So are a lot of blogs who have been villainised recently. This witch hunt has got to stop. We have got to start listening to each other with peace and understanding and not jump to conclusions. Not make people out to be something they simply aren't.

I want to curate a loving space here. A safe and nurturing space for anyone to feel free within. I want people to know they can jump in my asks and know that I will love them. I want everyone, of every race and every gender and ever creed of this world to know they are welcome and accepted here. Like a wise man that we all know and love once said. I'm not the person they say I am. I never was. And I think some of them know that. It is my greatest hope that any of you who wish to stick around get to know me for yourselves.

It is my greatest wish that those blogs who are still spouting hate about me really grow and heal. Or even better, pop on over and get to know me? I think it's important to understand why you might hate someone and not just from unreliable sources. If you think that I am some sort of s/a supporter who revels in writing that sort of thing then I'd be glad to dispel that myth.

I'm not going to speak on this again because I feel that I've moved on. This blog is my creative outlet and always will be. And as I've stated above its a safe and loving space for all. I'm reclaiming the fun. And hopefully some of you will stick around for it. And if not, I bid you a farewell. With nothing but love in my heart.

[peijizerojournal]

2024/5/24 ❅ “honeymoon” and “the lin kuei archives” update

Let me preface this update by emphasizing that this is just an example and explanation of why I have chosen to not allow the internet to see my Mortal Kombat 1 works anymore. I have no intent to instigate any drama or anything of that nature. I'm just getting some things off my chest here, and then I will likely never write a post about this again.

Thanks to another “Lin Kuei Archives” reader, I’ve been informed of another 'questionable' post that mimicks my original work. I will not be linking it or mentioning the name of the tumblr account, but for those who regularly browse the ‘Bi-Han’ or the 'bi han x reader' tags, you will have likely seen it already as it was posted in the last couple of days.

In short, the post reads as an almost complete, ordered summarization of “The Lin Kuei Archives: Sub-Zero” (part 1 of TLKA series) which I completed in November 2023. From beginning to end. Even the epilogue. Even the little things. The only real differences being Reader herself and a few other things. But, essentially — in so many words — it is the bullet point version of my story down to even the most minute details. It is not the first time I come across something like this, and I'm usually one to brush it off, however this time it's gotten under my skin a bit more than expected.

For the readers that have been wondering about the issues I've been facing in the last several months, or if there even has been an issue in the first place: well, in short, it’s cases like this that have been particularly tiresome.

Oneshots, headcanons and stylized ficlets that have been structurally twisted with a few changes here and there are often hard to find and are sometimes buried in the tags. These are almost impossible to deal with since they are inherently different in terms of formatting, but if you are familiar with my story and read part one especially, you’ll be able to recognize it right away, as the reader who notified me of it was able to. From things such as Bi-Han’s reluctant hospitality towards our dear reader (who also happens to be staying with the Lin Kuei at the request of Liu Kang, hmm) to specifics like 'brunch in the gardens.'

(These are the only references to the post that I'll make. I really don't want to give the poster any more of my attention.)

Unfortunately, it is always Part 1 that is making its rounds, as during its tenure, it reached quite a broad audience of viewership. I also left it unlocked and open for all eyes to see for quite sometime; having only restricted it on AO3 sometime in March 2024 before hiding it just last month on the 16th (when I posted the original series update.)

I know that there is a reasonable amount of risk that must be considered with sharing your work on the web so openly like this, but let this be an example for anyone out there who wants to post their work to AO3 and Tumblr, especially: Not all who are subscribed to your fic have the best intentions. And -- on the other end of the spectrum -- your work may and likely will influence others’ creations, and you’ll have to come to terms with that or at least accept it/be okay with it. Once even a few eyeballs have glazed over it, that’s that, really. Your work will be out there for the taking, and, to some extent, you’ll lose creative control over it.

I have come across other authors and fics that have taken inspiration from my own and some have given credit while others have put enough of their own spin on it to the point where the similarities are irrelevant. I am not naive: I know perfectly well that it’s possible for two individuals to have shared ideas and similar plotlines, even eerily so. Coincidences happen. That's life.

But stuff like this, in my eyes, is too adjacent to go unnoticed. When it’s condensed like this with a smattering of very specific details interwoven within, it makes it hard for me to defend myself, as I would basically have to screenshot or repost or publicize my entire fic again. And — knowing that there are a few people out there who have routinely tried to circulate my work on other websites — I am simply too terrified to do that, as I know “Honeymoon” and the other parts might instantly be downloaded the moment I choose to make them public again.

(Further info on this: when you privatize your work in an AO3 collection, as I have, the moment I list it as ‘revealed,’ all who are subscribed to me or my fic will receive email notifications that there’s an update, even if there is no new chapter. I hope that makes sense. For anyone who wants/needs to privatize their work on AO3 for whatever reason, this blog post does a great job explaining the process.)

Maybe I’m too old-school or sensitive or paranoid for modern fandom culture… but to that one anon that told me “this happens, too bad:” well, it’s this sort of thing that makes me want to protect “Honeymoon” and prevent the entire series from seeing the light of day ever again. As of right now, it will likely stay hidden on AO3 indefinitely. I have never cross-posted and do not cross-post anywhere, so if anyone ever sees the entire fanfic anywhere at all, please reach out to me and let me know.

If you are a trusted reader/friend/mutual of mine, chances are you already have access to the story and that’s all that matters to me. 🩵 And if you were a regular reader-commenter, I appreciate you so much and thank you deeply for your engagement, insight and support over the last several months. 🤍 Thanks for reading and I hope all have been having a lovely spring season so far. xo

[sophsun1]

hello! I was wondering how do you make gifs? I'm not a very social person in any of the fandoms I've been/am in and I haven't written in years but I guess I wanted to contribute more to fandom. I also see people lament the fact that there aren't that many gifmakers anymore so I thought maybe I should be the change I wanna see in the world! all the best! ☺️

Hey!

First of all I love that you are interested in/making an effort to put content out there and are not just moaning about it like some people do. Unfortunately there aren't enough active gifmakers around, a lot of them have stopped making content because it's a terrible era for us at the moment with the dire like/reblog ratio and other issues we have to deal with. But I'm supposed to be encouraging you not discouraging lol, so I will pop some information below that will hopefully help you out!

Fun fact, this is how I started out making gifs. I came onto tumblr and found zero content for my interests so decided to take it upon myself to learn and here I am all these years later.

I personally use photoshop, but I know it's not easily available to everyone you either have to pay for it or obtain it by 🏴‍☠️. If you are able to access it here is a beginners tutorial to help get you started.

The next best option to photoshop is photopea which is basically the web based free version of it's predecessor. It can do the majority of things that photoshop can from what I remember, but the finishes just aren't as sharp, but i would definitely recommend. The website can be found here and a tutorial here.

Final option is another web based version called ezgif, now this is the one I would recommend the least as it really can only do the basics ie produce a gif and the finished product is mostly grainy and not the best quality. I don't have a tutorial for this but if you do a search online or on youtube you should be able to find one.

Whatever option you use, to ultimately make a gif you have to either upload a video to the software and then take screencaps, or take screencaps and then load them in. I use the screencap method and use kmplayer as my chosen software found here for download.

p.s Just remember that it will take time and practice to get into the swing of things, so don't be too disheartened if you don't always get it right. The basic fundamentals of simply producing a gif is hard enough before you get into the colouring/sharpening of it all.

Also the tutorials are just here to help you begin, you don't have to stick to them as time goes on you may find an easier/better method to the one offered, so go with what works for you. I have definitely got my own own tailor made gif method that I love.

I hope any of these options are of help to you, and wish you well on your gifmaking endeavour!

[mwolf0epsilon]

Community Service

Rex, during the commute back to Coruscant: It's so quiet without the 105th troopers around... Jesse: You're saying that like it's a bad thing? Rex: Hm? Oh, no not at all. I just... Got used to expecting even more trouble than usual is all... Jesse: Well, once we get to Coruscant we'll know how they've been getting along with their 'community service' assignment. Rex: Yeah... Fox is keeping tabs on that while also keeping tabs on when we'll finally be able to pick up a massiff for them. I'm a little nervous to find out what the boys have been up to.

-Several Hours after Touch Down on Triple Zero-

Fox, via holocall: Still no word on the massiff pup, Rex. Rex: Oh, yeah I know. You'd leave a message if you had anything new on that front. I just uh, wanted to check on how the 105th veterans were dealing with their current assignment. Fox: ...Well they haven't set the Madam's brothel on fire, if that is what you're worried about. Rex: Fox: They're doing ok Rex. I have some of my boys keeping tabs on the 105th men, and they're excellent as security detail. Seem to be receptive to the Madam's crew, since they're the least threatening people on Coruscant. Rex: And they haven't been... Instigating fights? Fox: Negative. All is well... Although I do hope the 'breeder' comes through soon, because while they seem to be more comfortable with the Madam's crew, I've been informed that they still seem to have issues trusting each other. A pet project like training their own therapy animal should help them bond more readily. Rex: I hope so too... Vode that can't trust other vode are a risk to themselves and others. And after everything they've been through, they deserve to at least be able to trust that they have each other's backs. Fox, somewhat melancholic: Yeah...

[dr-futbol-blog]

The Gift, Pt. 4

Presumably the team spends some time going through the wraith facility but next we cut to McKay back in his own lab hooking up a wraith information device to his computer. Weir walks in telling him that Sheppard had said they'd found a wraith laboratory which means that what ever mission report he was giving her, they were now done with it. Which also means that McKay's motivation for playing around with this device they had brought back with them just went down to practically zero. He does have better things he should be doing.

The scene is basically just more exposition but it does display McKay's exhaustion. While McKay often ignores questions from Ford that he does not deem worth answering, here we see him flat out ignore a question from Weir that he doesn't have an answer for, which is much more unusual:

Weir: Do you think the Wraith were experimenting on the people of that planet? McKay: Well, I have no idea. Hoping this thing will tell us. Weir: Why the need for secrecy? The Wraith can take people at will and do whatever they want with them. McKay: Here we go. There. Now, that... that means absolutely nothing to me.

McKay doesn't have patience for rhetorical questions under the best of circumstances but here, he still tells Weir that he has no idea the first time because she did ask for his opinion on the matter. For the second question, he no longer bothers. For McKay, this is a side quest and a distraction.

Sure, they might be able to learn something about the wraith but they have more pressing problems than Wraith History 101. He shows further signs of his patience having worn thinner than usual, and the fact that he is talking with Weir instead of anyone else just highlights this fact:

Weir: I wonder... McKay: Just so you know, you didn't actually finish that sentence out loud. Weir: Well, this is obviously a language. McKay: Wraith language? Weir: That would make sense. I'd like to have a good look through this. McKay: Oh, well, knock yourself out. I've got to get back to the control chair anyway.

So, McKay takes off pretty fast. He says he has to get back to the control chair although he does not say that he was going to get back to the control chair right away. Notable is that between this scene and when we find him at the control chair, a considerable amount of time has passed and Beckett, in fact, informs us that it's "quite late".

Apparently McKay has been working on the control chair for a while now and we are to understand that it has been his main occupation for the past several days. They mentioned the chair in the first meeting, and McKay and Zelenka had difference of opinion on how useful it would be for their defense. Now, unless I've missed something major, this is the first time we see or hear about the control chair of Atlantis. We saw Sheppard activate the Antarctic chair back on Earth (Rising S01E01) which, incidentally, was the first meeting between himself and McKay. But when and how the control chair on Atlantis was discovered, we don't know. The discovery seems to be glossed over with McKay's line "Well, since we've got here, we've uncovered a number of defensive weapons systems beyond the shield" at the beginning of the episode. So, no big deal.

According to Zelenka, they haven't even been able to initialize the chair yet so that's what they are working on. Based on what he says, one might speculate that they have attempted to initialize it previously so when we find them trying to talk Beckett into sitting on it, that may not actually be their first attempt. In fact, it would be really surprising if Sheppard hadn't wanted to take a seat on it himself the moment it was discovered.

Their issue is with powering the chair, and since what they are doing is trying out different power sources, it follows that the later attempt with Sheppard using the chair needs not be the first time he has been in contact with the chair. For Zelenka to be able to say that they hadn't been able to initialize it yet in the first meeting, they must have at least attempted it before this scene with Beckett.

It's interesting that between McKay leaving Weir to work on the control chair and when we actually find him working on the control chair, there is a scene where Teyla has another nightmare. Apparently, she had tried napping again. Now, it's doubtful McKay left Weir saying that he was needed to work on the chair and then went napping, so we are probably to understand that McKay is even more sleep-deprived than Teyla since there are requirements made on his time from multiple sides to produce all kinds of work that might potentially help them combat the wraith. However, we also don't know that he was diligently working on the chair this whole time; he certainly had time to do other things. But the fact that Teyla is sleeping poorly and we see McKay work through even these attempts of her at sleeping is pretty concerning.

Weir fetches Beckett from the control chair room and we are to understand that a considerable amount of time has passed; that she didn't just walk in there after McKay had just left her office but had actually spent a lot of time going through the wraith log. By the way McKay and Zelenka are going on, they've also been at it a while. They are trying to talk Beckett, the person with the authentic ATA gene whose time is not in as great demand as Sheppard's, to initialize the chair:

Beckett: Don't you remember what happened last time I sat in one of those? McKay: There's nowhere near enough power in the thing to do anything.

Does McKay remember when Beckett almost shot Sheppard out of the sky and he soon after walked in on a sight that would change the course of his entire life? He will not forget that as long as he lives.

McKay is trying very hard to be patient but the strain of the situation is clearly affecting him:

Zelenka: We are trying to determine exactly how much power is required to operate the systems that are controlled by the chair. McKay: And in order to do that, it needs to be on. Beckett: You have the gene now! McKay: Yeah, but I can't be trying to analyse the feedback data while I'm concentrating on keeping the damn thing activated! Beckett: Why don't you analyse it? Zelenka: Well, I could analyse it, but Rodney doesn't think that I...

The fact that they are not using Sheppard is actually rather curious and it is not explained why. We are to assume that he is busy but then, he has a lot of time to hang around Teyla while they are figuring out her wraith business. The fact that McKay could be doing it himself and just doesn't think Zelenka is--what?--capable of doing it is also pretty suspect. It seems like not being able to get any sleep is making McKay much more like "always like this" McKay than usual, and it's possible that he just doesn't want Sheppard to see him like that, doesn't want to take it out on him, is trying to protect Sheppard from his irascible mood by keeping him out of the lab (even during The Storm S01E09 he was trying to shield Sheppard from himself when he was chewing out his team). When you are tired, it's difficult enough to concentrate without someone there that naturally captivates your entire attention. Sheppard mentioned Teyla biting his head off just for caring about her earlier, and now we are to understand that McKay has had even less sleep than her. So him not wanting to use Sheppard here until as a last resort makes sense.

Weir, however, needs Beckett and comes to steal him away.

Weir: Gentlemen, how's it coming? McKay: Well, not good! Weir: Well, I'm sorry, but this won't help. Carson, I need you. Beckett: Oh, thank God! McKay: Yeah, but we're using him!

The thing is, even though he comes across like a petulant child, what McKay is doing here probably is the most important thing they could be doing. If they get the chair to work, it might be the only viable defense they have against the wraith. Weir coming to snatch Beckett away to satisfy her curiosity regarding this side-quest is a questionable decision. The frivolity of the topic is underlined by the bet that McKay and Zelenka have apparently had going about whether the wraith had been in Pegasus because of Ancients:

McKay: Oh, you're kidding me! Zelenka: Pay up. Beckett: How d'you know? Weir: The Wraith language. it's a derivative of Ancient. McKay: Well, that doesn't categorically mean... Weir: Rodney, please.

Apparently Weir had also been up all night translating the log from the wraith data device as she, too, seems to be running out of patience. The thing is, she's usually able to indulge McKay for a time and he actually has to go over her threshold for her to ask him to stop. Here, however, McKay makes a valid point that she just doesn't have time to process because what she had come for was Beckett to get his opinion on the contents of the device as a medical professional. Weir's lack of sleep does not seem to be motivated by an inability to sleep or having nightmares or crying herself to sleep, which has been indicated with McKay. She does thank Zelenka for making her nightmares more vivid in the following episode, but the way she says it, it sounds to be nothing but a turn of phrase, not a reference to actual nightmares. But regardless, she is also showing signs of strain.

Something interesting happens then:

McKay: Alright, we'll try Doctor Kusanagi. Zelenka: Kusanagi. McKay: Now! Zelenka: OK. McKay: Thank you!

First of all, Zelenka is clearly receiving the brunt of McKay's exhaustion, the poor man. Secondly, he is trying which you can tell by the fact that he actually says "thank you" which, according to Sheppard in McKay and Mrs Miller (S03E08) he never does. But more significantly, we never get to put a face on Doctor Kusanagi. Similarly, we never got a name for the Japanese doctor we saw in the previous episode Letters from Pegasus (S01E17). Let us assume that these are the same person because at least as far as we have seen, she is the only Japanese person on his science team at this time (there are a few Asian scientists in the background while Weir is in his lab and in the next episodes but they are random red (blue) shirts), and we are told in the following episode that Dr. Kusanagi is a woman. So. It means that this woman either has the authentic ATA gene or has received one through the gene therapy. She is number 3 on their list of people that could initialize Ancient technology. Why do I find this fascinating?

This woman clearly has a crush on McKay. She has the hots for him. She actually almost sexually assaulted him (he does not require your assistance massaging his cramping groin, Ma'am). In fact, even from McKay's tone here you can hear that he would rather not deal with her. And all of this would make perfect sense in the light of what I speculated in connection with Sanctuary (S01E14): that the Ancients and to lesser degree the people with the ATA feel a pull, a strong sexual desire toward one another.

Later on, we are meant to compare Teyla with Sheppard in that they both carry alien DNA, Sheppard of the Ancients and Teyla from the wraith. Teyla describes the feeling of being near the wraith as a "deep cold". She has always been able to sense them coming. We have so many, many indications that Sheppard is likewise able to sense the Ancients and people with the ATA gene, and even McKay could feel Chaya. But what that feels like is not a deep cold. It's more like a heat that pulls at you, it is a desire. It seems to be strong and while it can be resisted, it's especially difficult for people that don't even understand what is happening (like Dr. Kusanagi, or later Lt. Cadman). It is a genetic trait that is meant to make a population nearing Ascension want to mate even when they have lost all interest in the physical world.

Now, while Sheppard was born with the gene and has lived with it his entire life, McKay's gene was artificially activated so he is actually able to tell the difference between what it feels like to be around someone with the ATA gene under normal circumstances (he had been around Beckett and Sheppard before he got his therapy) and while having the gene activated in himself. He is in a unique position to compare the two and to know what is and what isn't normal for humans. For Sheppard, sensing the Ancients is as ordinary as sensing the wraith is for Teyla. Even if he had run into people with the ATA gene while back on Earth, he would have no idea what was going on or why those people, like Col. O'Neill, may have felt different to him--felt "Ancient-y," as he later describes it.

Regardless, this would explain the strange obsession and wish to serve that this scientist seems to have for McKay in spite of McKay clearly not having treated her with any special regard. These scenes are played out as comedic but they are actually keeping in with what we are shown but never explicitly textually confirmed about the Ancients and the people with the ATA gene in the franchise. Also worth pointing out is the defensive set of McKay's arms throughout this scene. It isn't just Sheppard that physically displays a boundary between himself and other people and yet showcases open body language between the two of them. They are welcome in each other's personal spaces but the same is not true for the others. They are so welcome in each other's personal spaces that the show actually had to put a personal shield around McKay when he first got the therapy. And it's going to take a whole lot more than McKay being in a mood to keep Sheppard away from him for very long.

Continued in Pt. 5

[ineed-to-sleep]

what does Vincent do for a living? is he deemed attractive in his universe?

Honestly I think of Vincent as like, moderately attractive for VTMB's 2004 Los Angeles. He may not be the image of a stereotypical hunk but he's got some conventionally attractive traits(like being tall with broad shoulders and a strong jawline sjjxkc plus he takes good care of his appearance). If you ignore the fact he's very reserved and has zero rizz, I think he could easily be called handsome. For the time I can see the mullet being a bit of a dealbreaker for some people so yk he might not be for everyone, but I think there's plenty of kine who would see him as attractive and also a couple of the LA kindred. Jeanette for example has definitely hit on him in the past and like, despite the fact she flirts with most people, I like to think she'd genuinely find him cute ndndjd

But he doesn't really like, see himself as attractive, though. He has some good days but more often than not he has some self esteem issues. He went through a lot of bullying growing up for his appearance, for being brown and mixed, for being quiet, for being nerdy, and got some traumatizing rejections by girls in school, especially during his teens. A lot has changed for him since then but that kind of trauma sticks yk? That was like, 20 years before vtmb so he's had some time to heal some of that in his adulthood, he's changed the way he dresses, he's been flirted with and complimented on his looks, but in the back of his mind those experiences still make him insecure and he has a hard time approaching anyone romantically or sexually for fear of rejection and out of thinking he's not "good enough" as he is. Also, compliments matter a lot to him yk? Bc he often gets insecure, having that validation come from someone else can really flip his mood.

About what he does for a living hmmm he's been through a couple of different "jobs". He started his kindred life as a Camarilla spy(his sire purposefully embraced him to make him one), then after he drove his sire out of the city he started working more closely with the LA barons, at first as a "sweeper", the guy who collects and hoards information on every kindred in the city, and then found his vocation as a "guy who cleans up masquerade breaches". Not sure if there's a name for that, but that's what he did, and where he excelled. Investigating what happened, who did it, covering it up, and taking measures so the masquerade breaker doesn't do it again. He made a lot of people angry, and he didn't necessarily like what his job *meant* for him, but he sure loved doing it.

I think I've mentioned it here before somewhere? But just in case I haven't, Vincent went to college for journalism, so a lot of the skills he learned there he was able to apply here. He knows how to investigate something, pry for information, and bring it to the public, and he also understands how something typically gets shoved out of the public eye and covered up, and how biased journalism can influence people. When he was presented with the job of covering up a masquerade breach, he knew exactly what he needed to do, even if it wasn't what he went to school for nor what his *ideals* dictated for him. And when he chose to study journalism he was very idealistic- he believed he could do his part in changing the world by bringing information to the masses, bringing to light injustice and inequality and not letting anything get swept under the rug and forgotten because it benefits someone in power. It's been a real trip for him to have ended up doing pretty much the opposite- covering up murders, assaults and missing person cases just so that vampires can stay in control and keep on leeching on society, powerful and uninterrupted. He reasons it's for the best, that he's helping avoid a kindred/kine war that could only end up with a horrendous body count. He reasons that yk, maybe he was wrong, too naive, that maybe sometimes leaving certain things in the dark actually serves the greater good. But if he was being *honest* with himself, part of him likes what he's doing. All the skills he learned, knowledge he gathered over the years, it's all coming together now- all his talents are being put to good use and he's *good* at what he does, and he likes being good at something. There's a kick he gets out of it, even though he wouldn't exactly like to admit it.

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 1 replay, wrapping up Artemis Tau and Hawking Eta:

Sparta:

-Antalya once had an atmosphere and liquid. Now the atmosphere is stripped and the liquid is frozen. No one's sure why. Could it have been the Reapers?

-There's a bio-dome in an asteroid with a Prothean disc. Were they possibly hiding from the Reapers?

-Why can't the distress beacon be disabled? Yes, I killed the Thresher Maw, but that's optional. Maybe we should turn it off so no one else gets lured into Thresher Maw territory?

-What's up with that burning Mako? If it's from the team that got killed, why is it on fire? It's no where near the Thresher Maw

-Why do I need to travel to the Citadel to inform Kahoku? He's been on the phone this whole time. Can't I call him?

-Cerberus is Alliance black ops in ME1, only recently went rogue, and is cartoonishly evil. ME2 retcons a hell of a lot.

Macedon

-Patavig is suitable for Volus colonization. So the Alliance is negotiating it with their patrons, the Hierarchy.

I was not expecting that. You'd think the Volus, the setting's merchant race, could handle their own negotiations about planet rights.

If they can't - no wonder they don't have a Council seat. If they can't even handle negotiations for their own species, how can they make decisions for others?

-Shepard to Dahlia: You should have trusted me.

Dahlia to Shepard: We have trust issues in my family.

That got a cackle. I wish Dahlia had come back, I quite like her.

Athens

-What were the original plans for this system? It's the only that has no planet to land on or ship to explore. Surely something must have been intended for it. What was that, and why was it left in as it is?

Century:

-According to Hackett, Kyle convinced his followers that the Alliance is the source of all their problems.

I don't think he's entirely wrong. Kaidan suspects that several element zero exposures were intentional. The early amp implants cause all kinds of problems. Brain camp killed several kids and traumatized the hell out of the rest.

The only place that will reliably welcome biotics is the military. That's not the Alliance's fault, but are they making any steps to improve the perception of biotics to the rest of humanity?

-Hackett wants Kyle brought back for treatment. How accurate is that? He's responsible for the death of two Alliance negotiators.

The wiki doesn't specify what happens if Kyle is persuaded to surrender. Is he actually treated for PTSD, or thrown in a cell?

-Klendagon's Great Rift is from a Mass Accelerator 37 million years ago.

I think the general assumption is that this from whatever killed the Derelict Reaper. Is that confirmed anywhere?

-Gotta love Shepard. (Fine, me, but it's not like the game gave me renegade points.) Finds prefab buildings and loots them before finding out the status of the inhabitants. Hope they didn't need those supplies!

-I think the game in general doesn't do enough to convey how charismatic Shepard must be. The blue paragon options just don't seem special enough, for example, to talk Kyle around when the negotiators weren't able to.

Squad Talks

-I think something is bugged. Garrus, Wrex, and Tali all talk as if we're near the end game. I've done one main mission!

-Garrus: Will we ever find Saren?

Good question, since I haven't actually been trying to do that. Sorry Garrus, there are a lot more UNC worlds to visit.

-Garrus seems to take Saren's actions very personally. He wants Saren dead. Is this really just because Saren's a rogue spectre? It feels like they have a history, but the games never indicate such.

-Why is Garrus's dialogue handled so differently than the others? Wrex and Tali have investigate options you can always check. They update through the game. With Garrus, it's always a new conversation or just "Shepard".

-Wrex is so burned out at this point. He's given up on everything. Despite what he says, he clearly doesn't like killing Krogan mercenaries when they're numbers are so low. But he's so depressed he'll do it anyway.

-Tali: "Near the end with Saren"??? Tali, we haven't even seen him yet. All we've done is find Liara, and that was a dead end.

Citadel:

-Using Conrad's wife to talk him out of becoming a spectre is amusing, given that in ME3 his wife isn't real. No wonder he's so confused when you bring her up.

-There aren't any human merchants on the Citadel except Dr. Michel. Intentional, to show how new humanity is?

-The armor humans and Asari can wear is called human armor. Is that just a human convention?

The Asari have been around much longer than humanity. Does everyone else call it Asari armor, and think it's weird that it just happens to fit humans too?

Or is Shepard just too cheap to buy Liara proper armor? :) You have Barrier, Liara! My old armor is close enough, put it on and throw barrier up. You'll be fine.

-The inventory micromanaging in ME1 is exhausting. I dislike how ME2 eliminates nearly all of it, but ME1 had so much room for improvement. There were so many small tweaks they could have made to improve the experience.

[delusion-of-negation]

Hi, I really need help staying afloat right now as I just got kicked out and am wondering if you could reblog my pinned post so more people could see it? Sorry to bother you, it's perfectly fine if you can't, and thank you for your time!!

your earliest post is only a couple months ago

your archive doesn't work and your blog is hidden from the web

in the rare original posts, you're tag spamming unrelated stuff

you've been sending this to everyone, mostly strangers afaik, it follows the same formula as scams, eg the "rb my pinned post"

and yet you haven't thanked a single ko-fi supporter, the site will notify you to do it whenever people donate, it takes ten seconds

additionally "My parents found out I was trans last month so they kicked me out and fired me from their shop, where I’ve been working to support my family." they own a shop where you worked to support them? help me with the maths there. and "I can’t get a job because there’s none where my friend lives and I don’t have a car to be able to commute, and I can’t borrow my friend’s car because she’s using it for her own job. I’ve seriously tried to find any solution out of this, but I can’t [...] I need money for either some shitty car so I can commute, or rent so I can leave my friend’s place and get my own where I could find work." you're asking for 4k, my dude. that's a lot more than a shit car or a couple months rent, and I can't understand it. cars on ebay vary from a couple hundred to a couple thousand, my family could never afford more than that and they would get cars there. you could uber or taxi or take the bus, or get dropped off by your friend, or otherwise carpool, or so on, and ask for a fraction of this to supply your friend with some food and to pay for your journey until you're settled in. it's been a month since you even left and you've already established there are zero jobs nearby unless you buy a fancy car, what about remote work? and you say your friend wouldn't kick you out and can afford rent, so why not raise money for food shopping to help her out (which you cite as the issue here) while you look for a work from home job or a means of transport? and you took days to make a vague post about a confrontation with your friends' parents? no vent nearer the time, just a vague post spammed into unrelated tags? the timing and "logic" is all over the place. I'm sorry, this isn't adding up at all. I've been literally homeless multiple times, and I've had to ask for help myself a couple times - I have my bro's fundraiser pinned, and I have my own ko-fi in my bio, and I have a post explaining about how I could become homeless again unless I meet inconsistent and unreliable demands of my landlord, something I've talked about for over a year on here venting and stuff. so I'm no stranger to these situations, and the lack of supporting info for yours is weird enough, but there's also the scam-like practices, and the fact that 4k doesn't check out at all, that's more than the deposit to rent outside of big cities (where you would have no issue with job quantity or lack of public transport, so we can assume you're not in one). you have no breakdown of why the high asking price or where you got that number for a car or anything. I checked the notes of that pinned post and the ko-fi and scrolled through your entire blog, and I couldn't find any additional information of the sort. I really wanted to believe you weren't a scammer taking advantage of people's kindness, but with all this in mind that's understandably difficult for me. I'll let others make up their minds on this one.

[4ragon]

Eh fuck it, since we don't know how long Twitter is going to last, I'm going to start randomly posting my thoughts on random ass video games here. Here's all the shit I've been playing a bunch recently.

Portal Reloaded: I legit don't know if this is an official Portal dlc or just a mod, but it's free, and it's so much fun. Do you like Portal? Do you want Portal Hard Mode (TM TM TM)? Get this funky little game. It's not quite as funny as the OG, but man are the puzzles Tough.

Divinity Original Sin II: Have I played Divinity 1? No. But I am having a ton of fun with this thing. I was not expecting to enjoy myself so much, especially considering my hatred of games with the fucking hotbars, or whatever that little UI thing is at the bottom. At the very least, it's turn based and not real time so I don't find it nearly as obnoxious. I've also been A) doing Multiplayer, and B) using a mod so that I can take all 6 of the named characters with me, which unfortunately does have the tradeoff of making the game a little too easy at times. Also, since you're not suppose to be able to have all of the characters in one playthrough certain characters just straight up will not speak to each other? Which is kind of disappointing. Come on, guys, it's a 60 hour game at minimum, it doesn't have the kind of replayability you think it does.

Professor Layton and the Last Spector: Oh, so THAT'S why plvsaa is like that. I was not expecting to adore these characters as much as I thought I would, but they are just so much fun. I haven't technically been playing, since I'm watching my friend's playthough on twitch, but the puzzle difficulty range is so wild to me. Anything from "What color is the umbrella" to "do some fucking AP Geometry fucko," which I feel like I'd find a bit frustrating, though I guess the worst of it is optional.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (Not Finished): Can't give my final opinions here, but at minimum, the 3D graphics are a huge downgrade. I hate when visual novels decide to switch to 3D graphics. It's never going to be as charming as the sprites! Story-wise, I'm still deeply invested, and theorizing to hell and back is so much fun now that I'm getting into the swing of How Layton Games Do.

Zero Escape 999: Guys. This game drove me absolutely bonkers. I'll love any murder mystery visual novel put in front of me of course, but something about this game... Admittedly, it took me a few hours to get invested. I found the amount of talking a bit exhausting, especially when SO MUCH of it was dedicated to things like "Let's walk through this whole room trying doors, talk about it, and then start trying new doors." Like I don't need to know the logistics of "we're locked in a boat." I don't need to know where everyone is at all times. But once I went through one full playthrough, and could skip a lot of those boring logistical issues, I got SO into trying to figure out what was really happening. They really did give us the exact right amount of information to start figuring out what the Actual Plot was.

Zero Escape Virtue's Last Reward (Not Finished): I'm enjoying myself so much, but somehow, everything kind of feels like a downgrade? The 3D graphics (especially the lip flaps) suck ass, and there's so much stuff that feels like it's pulled from Danganronpa. Guys, I liked Danganronpa. I liked Zero Escape because it WASN'T Danganronpa. I don't know, I've hit my first real ending, so I'm hoping that it's just still waiting to impress me, but the main conflict just feels less personal this time around.

Dragon Age: Origins: I love playing watching my roommate play this game and then letting me make all of the narrative decisions. I just. I hate the gameplay, but the story is fun as heck. There are some weird writing choices, clearly, but the characters are fun to talk to and that's all that matters. It doesn't give me as strong found family vibes as other RPGs, but I still love them anyway.

Disco Elysium: You all know my thoughts on Disco Elysium. I love you Kim. Mostly, I'm just wondering what the fate of a potential sequel is going to be. I both want it and don't, but at the end of the day, if the original creators aren't able to wrest control from that game studio, I just worry the heart isn't going to be in the next one.

[omglisalithium]

With season 3 fast approaching, I'd like to finally post the project I've been working on since October:

Cinema Sins: Everything they did wrong/could have done better in TBB Season 2, according to me, and some other people.

Warning: this review of season 2 is very negative. If that's not your thing, then don't read. I did decide to add in some positivity about parts that were good writing choices and my personal favorite bits, but it doesn't start until episode 3. I would have added more in, but I have zero interest in watching season 2 again after all of the below atrocities. Please note: I'm just a very picky, very snobby writer when it comes to critiquing professionally produced content.

Season 2 episodes 1 and 2:

What they did wrong: Making us wait over a year for season 2 and giving us little to no updates about it. The perfect example of laziness and mindlessness.

Could have done better: the Batch's new outfits/armor. I get it, they had to blend in a little better. But it's just... not exactly right to me. Why is Tech's crotch not covered by his armor anymore? Was that for us or just a mindless choice made by the design department?

Could have done better: No visible damage on the ship after they escape the crabs. It looked like the crabs were ripping it up and yet the Batch were able to leave the atmosphere with no issues. OK.

What they did wrong: AZI being a drink server. Really? He's a medical droid and the writers didn't think to use him for something useful?? Wasted potential. Ok then.

What they did wrong: Not utilizing Bolo and Ketch yet. Really, what were the writers thinking?

What they did wrong: Having the Batch still working for Cid. I don't even need to defend this one.

What they did wrong: Introducing a love interest and then having her be rude to each of the Batch members right off the bat (Phee). At least try to make her likable? And she just dropped the cup into Cid's hands and ordered Wrecker around. Wow.

What they did wrong: Hunter giving in so easily to Cid's manipulation tactics.

What they did wrong: Having Wrecker aquire a new weapon only to have him never utilize it again. Maybe this will change in S3.

What they did wrong: The Batch never speak about how they still have Crosshair's sniper rifle after they acquired it in the last episode of S1. Really? Enough said.

What they did wrong: Having Tech break his leg only for it to have zero repercussions or healing time throughout the season. Lazy writing.

Season 2 episode 3:

Could have done better (rant incoming edition): I liked this episode, I liked seeing Cody and Crosshair working together. My problem is with the direction the writers decided to go with Crosshair's arc. I get why they did it; they wanted to show that Crosshair would see what the Empire was doing and slowly but surely change his mind on his own. I get it, but it's boring. I was really looking forward to Rampart and the Empire finding out that Crosshair escaped with the Batch on Kamino and dish out horrible punishment as a result and the Batch would need to rescue him, but we got this arc instead. Rampart even finds out that the Batch is alive and still doesn't do anything about it, he just keeps that information to himself. I get why, but still. Yawn.

Could have done better: Explaining why Crosshair is still in the black armor. Why demote him and then continue to put him in a different color armor than the other people at his level??? Or is it just because the other armor doesn't fit his unique build and the Empire doesnt want to waste resources on clones?

What they did wrong: Having Cody's squadron shoot the droids right as the droid was saying "there are no survivors" and then followed by "You can return to the city" "Roger Roger". Like hello???? Was it Crosshair that shot at them because he's not used to stealth missions, or did no one else hear the reply to go back to the city??? Explain this please.

Season 2 episode 4:

What they did wrong: HAVING THE BATCH STILL WORK FOR CID. ENOUGH SAID.

What they did wrong: Hunter and Echo had to deliver Chicken McNuggies and we don't get any references to this probably hilarious mission again.

Season 2 episode 5 (please note, watching this episode required an appetizer watch of a South Park episode, copious amounts of alcohol, and lots of hair being ripped from my scalp):

Could have done better: A LOT better. Part of what was making me tear my hair out was the musical score. I love the Kiner Bros work, but this particular episode's score drove me to tears. I hate it. Less dramatic, please.

What they did wrong: An appearance from Phee, followed by her being demeaning to Tech. Again, please at least try to make her likable.

What they did wrong: A side quest that did nothing for the plot.

What they did wrong: Hunter just going along with the rest of what the team wants. I get it, he has a soft spot for Omega and seeing her act her age and be excited to do something must be heart warming for him. But I'd love to see him in Sargent Mode again.

Could have done better: Older than the Jedi??? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Jedi are 25,000 years old. You're telling me something with this kind of tech existed before then? Bet.

Could have done better: The pacing. Yeah. We get it. It's a puzzle. Pace it faster please.

Could have done better: Hunter and Echo's look to each other before venturing into the place further. I would have loved for them to share a few lines. They both clearly didn't want this "mission".

What they did wrong: Having Phee, Hunter, and Omega get separated from the rest of the group. If you're going to sell us a love story about Phee and Tech, at least let them have some time together. I hate the idea of love interests in this show (unless it's in fan works), but if you're going to do it at least make it believable. It seems to me that Hunter and Phee have more chemistry in this episode (*vomits at the idea*) than Tech and Phee ever did. Phee just waves off Tech's ideas while she seems to play off of Hunter better.

What they did wrong: The stupid mechanical dinosaur thing. You're telling me it existed 25,000 years ago and was able to move again after all that time without a ship load of space WD-40? Bet.

What they did wrong: Hunter saving Phee instead of Tech saving Phee. Again, way more chemistry there.

What they did wrong: That mission was boring and all for nothing. Filler. Enough said.

Bonus: That poor droid 🫡

Season 2 episode 6:

Could have done better: The team trusting that Omega wouldn't find trouble. It's been over 6 months; they should know better by now.

Could have done better: Explaining why Hunter knows Wookie language. Maybe it's a throwback to the unfinished Clone Wars episode. I'm not sure. Is it because Hutter has more hair than the rest of the Batch?

What they did wrong: "We'll all find a new path." Bruh I don't think they meant a path downwards 9 episodes later 😳

Bonus: I'm not going to complain any more about this episode. The references to Order 66? The reaction of a Jedi seeing clones after Order 66? Seeing a Jedi on this show after Order 66 (aside from Kanan in Rebels)? Seeing Tech do more translating? Seeing Omega see a Jedi and also a lightsaber for the first time? Seeing Omega interact with another kid and showing extreme care towards him? Seeing Wrecker get excited about food while also seeing Echo get disgusted by it? Seeing Hunter go back into Sarge Mode? Wrecker imitating Wookie roars? "Where did the kids go?" A grizzly implied-death of a bad guy? "Hmm not bad?" "They're both just kids but they don't get to be, not in this galaxy"? Seeing normal Batch interactions like how they were back in season 1?????? I'm all for it. Give me more of that, damn it.

Season 2 episode 7:

What they did wrong (spoiler alert): Crosshair not being the secret sniper at 79s. Yawn.

What they could have done better: CT0409 not being a known clone from TCW.

What they did wrong: Not having Crosshair in the episode at all and yet having parts of his theme play. Quit amping us up just to have us be disappointed by the end of the season. Stop it. Get some help.

Bonus: CORUSCANT!!!!! WE GET TO SEE 79s!!!! OMG POLITICAL FIGURES TALKING ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE CLONES! BAIL ORGANA! RIYO CHUCHI!!! RAMPART!!!!!! RAMPART'S THEME!!! CLONES TALKING TO RIYO ABOUT THE FUTURE! CT0409 REVEALING THAT RAMPART ORDERED TIPOCA CITY TO BE DESTROYED! RIYO AND RAMPART MEETING! "Follow the money"! Showing accurate shell shock in Riyo when her guard is killed? CAPTAIN REX???

Season 2 Episode 8

Could have done better (it took a while to get to this point because of how many good things this episode has): The Batch, Riyo, and Rex bringing Omega to see the dead body. Ok, for this one, I'm not placing the blame on the writers, as they were making the characters as canon as possible and I applaud that, but it doesn't show any growth aside from Echo, who is a bit more tactful by gently moving Omega away from the body.

What they did wrong: Make hints about (and eventually develop) the future Mount Tantiss Arc (more to come on this one).

What they did wrong: Ok, I admit this one is personal. Rampart being arrested. I loved him as a main villian. Ok moving on.

Could have done better: Echo's leave. It had to happen. I get it. But the goodbyes were a little less-than aside from Omega. It's not really implied about who knew and who didn't know that he was leaving aside from her. Also, it was very random and I admit that I did cry after the episode. Him kneeling in front of Omega was about the point where I was going "HEY! HEEEYYYYYY!" really loudly when I was still sharing a wall with my parents so.

Could have done better: Echo telling Omega to "keep an eye on the others". I have to admit, I'm really torn on this issue. We've been told that Omega is older than the Bad Batch, but developmentally, she still seems to be a kid. As a child who was parentified myself, that line struck a nerve in me. She's still a kid even though she may be older than the Batch (although it was never specified if she was older than Echo). I'm not sure how to feel about this.

Bonus: EVERYONE'S RELAXING! GONKY! OMEGA MEDITATING BECAUSE OF GUNGI! ECHO TALKING ABOUT HIS IMPRISONMENT AND HIS RESCUE! REX! STRATEGIC DEBATE! OMEGA SEEING CORUSCANT FOR THE FIRST TIME! ... The Batch are probably on the planet at the same time as Crosshair :( ahem... RIYO CHUCHI MEET THE BATCH! "Hello!" *Omega waves*!!! ECHO VOLUNTEERING TO BE A WITNESS! OMEGA OFFERING TO HELP! NEW OUTFIT FOR OMEGA! OMEGA MEETING RAMPART AND SHOWING DISGUST FOR HIM! RIYO SHOWING OMEGA THE SENATE FLOOR AND OMEGA EXCITEDLY RUNNING TO THE EDGE TO LOOK DOWN! RIYO FIGHTING FOR CLONE RIGHTS! OMEGA MEETING BAIL ORGANA! FORMER SENATOR OF KAMINO! OMEGA BEING UPSET! A LAMA SU REFERENCE! A GOOD OLD BAD BATCH MISSION FEATURING REX! WRECKER SHOWING DISCOMFORT! NEW WEAPON! ECHO AND REX TALKING ABOUT CLONES (sad foreshadowing but necessary)! REX IMPROVISING! WRECKER COMPLAINING ABOUT HEIGHTS! TECH DOING TECH THINGS! HUNTER SAYING "TECH" IN THE OLDER BROTHER SARGENT VOICE! "New plan. 14, 5, 86" "All of them?"(also 86 reminded me of my days in food service. It's code for "we're all out of ingredient/dish)! "I was off by 6.4 meters. Not my best."! MORE POLITICAL STUFF REGARDING THE CLONES! ECHO FLYING! EMPORER PALPATINE! OMEGA SEEING PALPATINE IN PERSON! PALPATINE BEING PALPATINE AND MANIPULATING THE SITUATION TO HIS FAVOR! IMPERIAL STORMTROOPER OFFICIALLY NAMED! The view of a child being like "I don't understand what went wrong when we did the right thing." :( What would have happened if the Batch didn't intervene??? OMEGA HUGGING ECHO!

Season 2 episode 9:

What they did wrong: They're still working for Cid. No further criticism needed.

Could have been better: Bad lookout planning. I stand with people that said that Hunter should have been the lookout. I get that the writers made everyone unbalanced on purpose but the team knows better.

What they did wrong: The ship being stolen. We get it. Every mission goes wrong. Yawn. Pick a different theme.

Could have done better: A Lion King refrence? Really, Disney? Yawn.

Possible plagiarism alert: Everyone go read "These Silver Linings" by Rowanartist on Ao3 NOW. I swear that someone on the creative team read this fanfiction centering around Tech and Omega and decided to almost exactly copy it. Weak.

Bonus: THE MUSIC! HUNTER TRACKING! OMEGA AND WRECKER TALKING ABOUT ECHO! Bruh all that designing from the creative team that went into the Ipsium drill! HUNTER'S SENSES BEING UTILIZED! OMEGA SEEING PARENTAL FIGURES FIGHTING! OMEGA FINALLY THROWING AN AGE APPROPRIATE FIT! TECH AND OMEGA BONDING! OMEGA PERIL! Just... beautiful scenery... THAT BREIF ANIMATION OF TECH CLEARING OUT HIS GOGGLES! TECH IS CANONICALLY AUTISTIC! CROSSHAIR IS FINALLY MENTIONED! TECH SHOOTING THE IPSIUM!

Season 2 Episode 10:

Could have done better: Ok, to be fair, I didn't make this same connection that my husband did. The second that the thief was on screen, my husband went "HONDO?!" and he was really disappointed that it wasn't Hondo when he took the helmet off. So I'm calling the design choice a fail.

Bonus: GONKY IS REFRENCED! Awesome use of manipulation and gaslighting from the antagonist in this episode also. OMG 5 PEOPLE ON THE SAME BIKE LOL! PRETTY SKY! WRECKER SMASH! OMEGA BEING INTIMIDATING! WRECKER ASKING GONKY IF HE'S OK! TECHNO UNION REFRENCE! BRUH THAT SCENE WITH HUNTER REPELLING DOWN! OMEGA AND BENNI TEAM UP! BICKERING BATCH! AWW TECH GAVE OMEGA HIS DATAPAD! OMEGA SHOWING KINDNESS! HUNTER PROTECTING HIS TEAM! DOUBLECROSSING! OMEGA PERIL! KIDS TEAMING UP TOGETHER! HUNTER AND OMEGA TRUST FALL! (seriously though, that was the ultimate show of trust right there) BAD GUY DED NOW! WRECKER PICKING UP GONKY! OMEGA AND TECH BONDING!

Season 2 Episode 11 (I'm going to get really critical on my review past this point. If that ain't your thing, stop reading):

What they did wrong: The entire Mount Tantiss arc as a whole. I was perfectly happy with Lama Suu being dead and Nala Se being taken into a secret base, never to be seen again. That should have been the end of it, but nope. The writers decided to extend that arc into the next season. I'm pretty sure that mostly everyone here had zero to no interest in a continuation until they reintroduced it. It seems like they're trying to tie it into the sequel trilogy that they ret conned a few years back. Why??? For what? As far as I'm concerned, all talk about the cloning technology should have ended after Tipoca City was destroyed. The end. Bye. Pick a different arc.

What they did wrong: The Batch decides to keep working for Cid even after she didn't help them.

Could have done better?: Tech saying "do not concern yourselves, I will be fine." Foreshadowing.

Could have done better: Explaining why Omega is used to the cold but the Batch (mostly Wrecker) doesn't seem to like the cold.

What they did wrong: More cloning shenanigans. All Zillo Beast stuff should have died in TCW. Enough said.

What they did wrong: The Batch staying to fight instead of leaving immediately. Fr why are we here? This is pointless and boring.

Could have done better: Explaining what happens to those villagers. I'm autistic so it's difficult to put the pieces together. Explain better.

What they did wrong: Again with Mount Tantiss. NO. JUST NO. Pick a different arc.

Bonus: Ok yeah this is a scary episode. Creepy scenery. The screaming. Yes. Omg it's a clone commando. He skid. Zappy fail. Oh no he above. Ok fine Hemlock is a cool character. Also Emerie. And no music for a few minutes is a bit unsettling. Ahem. OMEGA TRYING TO SAVE PEOPLE IN THE SHIP! THE TEAM BEING INTERESTING! OMEGA SHOWING KNOWLEDGE FROM HER PAST! ALIEN REFRENCE! THE MUSIC AGAIN YAS! EVERYONE SHOOTING TOGETHER! "Facinating" EVERYONE PROTECTING OMEGA! "It ate the crew? It ate the crew." FOLLOWED BY WRECKER COMFORTING! OMEGA AND TECH COLLABORATING! HUNTER PILOTING! OMEGA SHOWING KNOWLEDGE! TECH SAVING OMEGA! TECH GETTING OMEGA ON THE SHIP! OMEGA COMFORTING FROM LULA! ECHO AND REX ARE MENTIONED!

Season 2 Episode 12:

I'm starting out with the good this time, as there's literally only one complaint I have about this episode. THE MUSIC! OMG A CROSSHAIR EPISODE FINALLY! BRAGG FROM LAST SEASON! LIEUTENANT ASSHOLE! ICE VULTURE! CLONE SASS! MORE CLONES! CROSSHAIR TALKS WITH A REG! MAYDAY! AMBIGUOUS ICE VULTURES! CROSSHAIR SNIPING! CROSSHAIR TRACKING! CROSSHAIR SLIDING! THE DEADWEIGHT EXCHANGE! CROSSHAIR HAS TO RELY ON MAYDAY FOR HELP! CLONE FORCE 99 IS MENTIONED! MORE BANTER! TRUST! TEAMWORK! PERFECT AIM! FLOP! CROSSHAIR REALIZES THAT THE EMPIRE IS SHIT! THE ANIMATION IS SO FUCKING GOOD WITH THE SNOW AND THE PARTICLES AND THE FOG! CROSSHAIR SAVES MAYDAY! CROSSHAIR AND MAYDAY WHUMP! CROSSHAIR AND MAYDAY USING THE SNIPER RIFLE AS A CANE! CROSSHAIR PLEADING FOR A MEDIC FOR MAYDAY! THE ANGER AND RAGE IN CROSSHAIRS FACE OMG I CAN'T! LITERALLY EVERYTHING THAT UNFOLDS AFTER THIS (except the ending) IS JUST YES OMG!

What they did wrong: Mount Tantiss again. Yawn. And it came out of nowhere too, like was the Empire just waiting for Crosshair to screw up so they could send him to Mount Tantiss? Explain.

Season 3 Episode 13:

It admittedly took a while for me to get to this episode because it is one of my most hated episodes but here we go.

What they did wrong: Phee putting Omega in a dangerous situation.

What they did wrong: Still working for Cid.

What they did wrong: GET YOUR HAND OFF TECH!

My own opinion: This episode made me anxious and I'm not sure if the creators planned this. The comfort? Omega being a kid? A nice meal? Hmm. Gives me the ick and I don't like it.

My Californian opinion: Ok, as a native Californian looking at other people's interpretations of an earthquake, the earthquake/tsunami scene was terror for me. The animals acting strange was the first sign for me. Earthquakes are LOUD. Shaking is one thing, but seeing the animals react before the quake, hearing the loudness of the stuff moving... It really reminded me of real earthquakes here. The oceans receding like omg get UP NOW! And thankfully, I haven't lived on the ocean but tsunamis are a real threat that I feel like they really nailed. Kudos to the research team on this.

What they did wrong: Now showing Phee's interest in Tech. Wtf.

What they did wrong: Phee redirecting Tech away from part of his team. Isolating behavior. Ick.

Bonus: HUNTER USING HIS ENHANCED SENSES! THE TEAM WORKING TOGETHER! WRECKER THEME! TECH BEING TECH! OMEGA SHOOTS! A MISSION IS A SUCCESS! Um... Omega, Hunter, and Wrecker all shake with their left hands but Tech shakes right? Hmm. "I have not heard her laugh like that in some time" THE FATHER REFRENCE YEE! "Have fun" "I'm full. I am never full!" "I will note the date and time to commemorate such an occasion" "I'm so sorry. But you're safe here." THE WATER SCENE WAS SO GOOD OMG! AND THE YUCKY WATER THEY SHOW THE DAY AFTER YAS THAT'S ACCURATE!

Season 2 episode 14:

Bonus: WOW WE REALLY OUT HERE STARTING THE EPISODE WITH HOWZER AND THEN ECHO AND GREGOR COME TO SAVE HIM! ECHO SAYING "I need more time" JUST LIKE TECH! CROSSHAIR! WHUMP YEE! AND THEN SENATOR CHUCHI! WOW! MORE CROSSHAIR WHUMP! CROSSHAIR FIGHTING BACK! MOUSE DROID! CROSSHAIR HAVING GOOD AIM DESPITE NOT BEING 100% HEALTH! CROSSHAIR WARNING THE BATCH TO STAY HIDDEN! WRECKER CATCHING FEESH! FLYING LESSONS! SCARED TECH! THE TECH TURN! DRIFTING, GIRL! LEFT HAND SHAKE! ECHO HUG! WRECKER CHASING THE KIDS! THAT CUTE LITTLE SCREAM FROM OMEGA! YAY THE SECOND CROSSHAIR REFRENCE!

What they did wrong: Echo not having his kama. No explanation needed.

What they did wrong: The Princess Bride reference. I get why the writers did it. It makes Hemlock scarier, but honestly I would have preferred to see him in a gas mask or something.

Season 2 episode 15:

It took me a lot of weeks to get to this point. Let's do it.

What they did wrong: Phee trying to get Tech to act more neurotypical. Nah.

Could have done better: Tech being separated from the team.

What they did wrong: Saw Gurrera. Enough said.

Could have done better: Gurrerra's efforts not doing a damn thing that mattered in the end.

Bonus: CROSSHAIR REFRENCE! TECH WANTS TO GO FOR CROSSHAIR! KRENNIC APPEARANCE! I love Wrecker's fear of heights tbh. NO TECH DON'T SLIP! Wrecker asking Omega if she can handle placing the tracker aww. Everyone working together and comming! Typical deterral chaos! MOUSE DROID DEATH NOOOOO! TECH BEING SMARTER THAN GURRERA! Ok tbh they did Krennic beautifully in like the 2 minutes of screentime he has. OOO THEY DOING BLASTER BOLTS AT THE TK TROOPERS! TEAM TOGETHER AGAIN!

Bonus: Music edition!

The music at 23 minutes was the sign that I knew something big was going to happen. I love and hate that.

Season 2 episode 16:

THE MUSIC IN THIS WHOLE EPISODE. The music is literally why I didn't want to watch this episode again. From the moment it started, it put a hole in my stomach. This episode has the best and worst score in the series because of all of the emotion, terror, and helplessness it held. When this episode was released, I was going to be married less than a month later. This score left me so breathless and unable to function for so many days that I was worried that I wouldn't be able to shake the dread and uneasiness that it caused by the time it was my wedding day (my day turned out perfectly btw). Just a beautiful and terrifying score and it still evokes the same emotions as the day it was first played for us.

What they did wrong (Everything is on this What They Did Wrong because yes): Tech slipping again and being separated. That jump. Killing Tech. I'm one of the #tech'snotdead believers tbh. But the writers didn't need to do us so dirty here. Hunter being offscreen mostly when holding Omega back. They decided to go back to Pabu. Tech's goggles? The way Hemlock talked to Omega always rubbed me the wrong way. So creepy. Not having Crosshair say any more lines. Emerie being another female clone.

Bonus: The 99 refrence. Wrecker's "NOOOO". Hunter jumping to save Omega during the crash. Hunter and Echo in the background. Omega calling Tech's name. The in and out of consciousness thing. Hunter carrying Omega's bow. Wrecker carrying Omega. Omega's POV. AZI!!! Wrecker and Omega hug. Everyone caring for Omega. Cid showing care. Echo remembering Tech in the pilot's seat. Honestly I get Cid's position. Hunter getting Omega out of there. The paternal comment. Cid's hesitancy. Omega trying to protect her family! "Echo?" " Gotta be Echo" Scorch carrying Omega. Hunter watching Hemlock's ship leave. Hunter with Wrecker's gun. The ship having stuff broken. "We are going to get her back and we don't stop searching until we do." Omega being reunited with Nala Se.

We are finally at the end of our journey for season 2. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Season 1 was so perfect, and it felt like they were setting up for an earlier Crosshair redemption. It completely reminds me of when The Force Awakens came out and it had such promise, but then the next 2 movies were, to put it lightly, garbage, and it's because they refused to listen to what the fans wanted. I do not trust the writers at Lucasfilms to make good decisions anymore. They've ripped the rug out from under us for too long. I've been honestly very angry about Season 2 and it wasn't until I got the idea of watching it again to point out all the flaws and facepalm moments that I realized just how angry I was.

I was hopeful when the season 3 trailer dropped, but then after a few certain scenes were shown, I was left facepalming and groaning about the writer's choices again, but I was willing to have some hope. Then the sneak peek dropped and my hopes lowered yet again.

Here's how I hope season 3 to go:

Crosshair and Omega escape Mount Tantiss but Omega is captured again and Crosshair is forced to leave her.

Crosshair finds the Batch (or what's left of them) and teams up with them.

The Batch hires bounty hunters, Ventress included, (not sure where they get the credits to hire them but whatever) to help get Omega back.

The mysterious clone is Tech.

The Batch finds out that the mysterious clone is Tech.

The mission changes to "we're getting Omega and Tech back"

Omega and Tech are back and everyone lives and goes into hiding.

The end. No room for ambiguity and no loose ends. I want to see a finality in the series finale, like in TCW. These people are definitely alive, and these people are definitely dead. No leaving us wondering. Just us going "That's it. That's the end."

I still don't trust the writers though.

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So, it turns out that it isn't my doctor's fault quite as much as I thought it was. State insurance like Medicaid has some big pros and some big cons. The pros being that if they cover it, they cover it. I've had several ER visits, been referred to a specialist, a CT scan, two overnight sleep studies, a CPAP machine that will become permanently mine in like 8 months, a weekly therapy session including transportation, 6 monthly prescriptions, and I have had to pay $0 in out of pocket costs. NOTHING! No co-pays, no co-insurance, no deductible, ZERO.

The con is of course that this is the least desirable insurance for any medical organization to accept. Because it pays the smallest amount to them versus other insurances, and it has the largest degree of overhead costs. So this means that very VERY few doctors will accept it and be your primary care physician, and its even harder to find mental healthcare that accepts it.

The issue today was that Medicaid won't cover two of the ADHD meds I've been taking at the same time, because "there's no data that indicates using both medications can be more effective than one or the other." It hasn't come up yet because they allow a 2 month transition period where they cover both so that the doctor can step down the dosage of one to prevent withdrawal symptoms. And my doctor HAS brought up taking me off of the non-stimulant since it eventually stopped working for me, but I haven't wanted to go off of it because there's one symptom that it still alleviates even though it stopped helping with the others.

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1 NOTHING WRONG WITH ME

[satansbastards]

haiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!! ur unwitness protection program thoughts. hand them over

okay get ready im about to launch them at you at mach 10

I don't have much in the way of who the individual members are because we just don't have much to go off of. Will hasn't really told us anything about them besides the fact that the group existed. (my brain just isn't letting me come up with ideas without at least SOME prior information)

I'm trying to go back through all the rolled episodes to see if I missed anything so current thoughts are based solely off of what I've been told and shown through the show itself.

Read more here cause I have a whole ass essay. Sorry not sorry.

Obv major spoilers for Prime Defenders and friends I have so many sad thoughts. Might post more after these ones but this is all the stuff that's been most on my mind about the UPP

We know Deadwood has issues with people going missing, whether or not those dissapearances are paranormal in nature or not. Who's to say? I wanna believe that while the group originally formed as a general way to investigate the spooky stuff going on around town, it ended off as a group of kids trying to find these poor souls who went missing.

I feel like they all absolutely could see spirits and monsters like William said, but in the sense of like, only being able to see out of the corners of their eyes. He mentioned everything being fuzzy and just out of sight, and I've seen stuff like that in like, John Dies at the End where average people can really only see otherworldly stuff from their peripheral vision.

William either had the best vision of the group or was just the best at investigating. Because I DO remember that in the rolled after the session zero Charlie mentioned that William had been out with his whole group and was the only one who saw the light of the wisp and ran off.

Aside from investigating missing people, he's also mentioned that they did investigate abandoned buildings and whatnot. I feel like UPP was trying to figure out just what exactly these monsters and spirits even were. Think like Gravity Falls with those journals cataloging the various creatures around the town. (this is also where the pacific northwest vibes I used to get for Deadwood before you mentioned how much better the Midwest would fit had come from.)

Give me the William Wisp monster manual Charlie you and I both know he would have made one.

Last big thing regarding the group is less of a coherent thought and more of a genuine question I have. How did they split up? I know William left because he felt he was a danger but! Did the UPP split up on good or bad terms with William?

We haven't gotten any sort of confirmation about whether or not they still keep in contact. Nothing, no texts, emails, calls. Not a single thing. Is this by William's choice or did his friends cut contact because they were afraid of him?

His parents likely have next to no knowledge about the supernatural but his friends DID. Are these thoughts William has had about whether or not he's even a person, even still himself, coming directly from him? To an extent I'd still say yes, but a very sinking feeling in my gut tells me he's had a very similar converstion before. With his old friends.

Did they ever talk to him about everything? Did they just not accept that he even COULD be William? They know people go missing a lot and don't come back. They likely knew that William also went missing, if Charlie is still sticking to his original draft for his origin.

How long was Will missing, had they given him up for dead and when he came back they assumed he wasn't the same William they knew? Did the monsters coming after Will only confirm those suspicions?

Did they ever even find a body or did William just "myseriously" reappear some time later? I can't say I even fully blame them for not trusting that if that was the case. As much as it hurts to think about, they were all scared kids and it's really hard to trust your friend who's been missing for god knows how long returning like nothing had happened. In Deadwood? With all these other monsters?

I can be upset about this possibility all I want but at the end of the day, I can see it happening. And understand where they're coming from. I just really wanna know what Will's current relationship with his old friends is. :(

That's all I've got at the moment! Feel free to rant about my thoughts and correct me on anything I misrembered or maybe stuff that was mentioned in the Rolled episodes cause I haven't fully gone through those yet! Thanks for letting me rant about this I love this so much.

[haleigh-sloth]

Hello,

I just found your page and after reading some of your mha posts had a couple things I wanted to ask if that's ok.

1. Since you feel Hawks is not justified because he could have chosen options other than killing Twice, do you think he would have been had he genuinely been made to choose between killing him and saving others? I.e. do you think it's just this killing in particular that was not justified and thus murder, or do you think heroes killing can never be justified, even if in self-defense or defense of others? If we take the "Heroes save people" maxim to its limits, it might be reasonable to argue for a deontological approach to ethics rather than a utilitarian one, so that killing one to save others is not justified because you actively break your code (as opposed to risking not being able to save others, which would be considered a lesser moral wrong under this mindset).

2. This might very well be a stupid question, but if we consider that heroes shouldn't treat others as an it and put them down for the "sake of society", do you feel this ought to extend to AFO too? I really don't mean to use this as a gotcha moment or anything like it, but I feel like if MHA is trying to move away from a punitive justice system in favour of a rehabilitative/restorative one, we ought to consider where people like AFO fall into this system as well. AFO is seemingly entirely unlike any of the other villains in the show, but if we judge that he deserves a different fate for this it also feels like playing into the "Some people just can't be saved" notion that's been perpetuated by hero society. It is of course entirely possible, if not likely, that he'll fall in battle, or that Shigaraki himself will kill him eventually, but I feel like that skirts the issue rather than answer it. As someone who does not seem to show any remorse, desire or even ability to be saved, and in fact feels rather inhuman, what should a reformed society even do with him? Even if we could convincingly argue him to be fundamentally different and thus deserving of punishment, it is much easier for us readers who have more information to make this call, rather than in-universe characters whose judgement will inevitably be based on something less than the full truth. So even if AFO's case in particular was easily answered, it would set a precedent for cases that may appear similar, but in truth be less clear cut. Basically, I believe you feel the villain league deserves another chance because they were victims of their circumstances, and thus not necessarily beyond salvation, because they never knew normality to begin with, but what about those who were not victims, those who by their nature have insurmountable trouble fitting into a peaceful society? Perhaps it's just my mistaken assumption that such people exist and I'm reading AFO wrong, or perhaps it's the opposite and I'm giving people like AFO undue consideration, or perhaps my assumption that AFO ought to be treated as a person rather than a carocature, a symbol, is flawed to begin with, but I just really don't think a manga that wants to argue that villains are people too should go "but here's THIS vile piece of shit, let's kill him!". Am I making sense here?

3. On another note, what do you think of Endeavor's recent speech and general recent development? I've seen some people who were upset by his "Would it fix everything if we showed you our tears" line, but rather than him being dismissive or callous I just see it as him awkwardly saying that he doesn't think anything other than actions can help him atone for what he did. He's still got a lot to work through, but him recognizing that he's got something to atone for and freely talking about what he did to his family is, as I find, certainly a huge step in the right direction.

WHOO hey! Sorry for taking a while to respond. You gave me some really well thought-out questions and I wanted to return the favor with well thought-out answers. Also I was heckin busy yesterday when you sent this. So, here we go:

To answer this question about Hawks, I first need to clarify what it means to be a hero in the eyes of the story that is BNHA:

This honestly doesn’t even make a dent in the amount of panels in BNHA that reiterate time and time again that heroes SAVE people, but I don’t feel like I should have to spend too much time looking for them, these I used above should suffice. The one with baby Midoriya and baby Tenko doesn’t even have any words in the panel, and it’s still powerful enough to get the message across. And make me cry.

Almost every story has its own “heroes” in it. And every story’s definition of a hero is different. In Marvel and DC superhero comics and movies, the heroes usually end up killing the villains, yes? I can’t say I’m familiar with these stories because they aren’t interesting to me in the slightest, but from the ones I HAVE seen, the final boss at the end dies. But all of the heroes get to keep their title of “hero”. That’s not really the standard we have in BNHA.

“Do you think it's just this killing in particular that was not justified and thus murder, or do you think heroes killing can never be justified, even if in self-defense or defense of others?”

So this is a fair point and I feel that the best way to answer this is by asking what you consider self defense? Say Hawks is at home mad chillin and not prepared for a fight in the slightest, and somebody breaks into his house and starts trying to hurt/kill him. He’s unprepared and at this point just trying to keep himself alive. If he ends up killing the guy, is he wrong? In my opinion, no. In real life this happens to people, and they aren’t considered murderers, as they shouldn’t be. To me, self defense is a situation where:

It’s either you or me. It’s one or the other.

I think it’s fair to say what happened with Hawks and Twice was absolutely NOT self defense. I’m not going to go into detail about how deciding to kill Twice was absolutely 100% premeditated, because there’s a wonderful post by someone else that already explains that in great detail here. But I’ll end this thought by saying that Hawks was not committing an act of self defense.

Nothing about this says “self-defense” to me.

“If we take the "Heroes save people" maxim to its limits, it might be reasonable to argue for a deontological approach to ethics rather than a utilitarian one, so that killing one to save others is not justified because you actively break your code (as opposed to risking not being able to save others, which would be considered a lesser moral wrong under this mindset).”

To make it simple for some people to understand these terms:

“Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on OUTCOMES.“ In a nutshell, utilitarian ethics means you make a decision based on how it will affect everything else.

“In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules, rather than based on the consequences of the action.” In a nutshell, deontological ethics means you make a decision based on whether it follows rules or not.

So this is a complicated question, and my answer to this is....both? Throughout BNHA we’ve had this dilemma over and over again:

Break the rules and save the day? Or follow the rules and possibly suffer the consequences? Well, BNHA just says “Yes” lol. Do both. Break the rules and save the day. Make a decision based on the consequences of said decision, but also try to follow the rules as best as you can. Even in reality, people do this to get through life. You really can’t live life under a strict utilitarian approach or a strict deontological approach. If Midoriya hadn’t persisted against his classmates and the law to go save Bakugo, he WOULD have gotten kidnapped AGAIN. They were actively trying to take him with them. If Midoriya didn’t break the rules to save Kota, Kota would have straight up DIED. Muscular was actively trying to kill Kota, not to mention Kota had zero ways of defending himself. But here’s where I don’t think this is a fair comparison:

Hawks claims his killing of Twice was to save others. I don’t completely disagree with this logic, if the situation was more dire and dangerous for Hawks. The league was taking peoples’ lives. Somebody had to do something. The problem is that Twice was RUNNING AWAY when Hawks killed him. Twice wasn’t fighting Hawks back, he wasn’t endangering Hawks himself. Hawks stabbed him in the back. AND Hawks had Dabi to worry about, who was actively trying to attack Hawks. But Hawks chose to murder Twice instead of fending off Dabi. And if you refer back to the post I linked above about how it was a premeditated decision to kill Twice, you’ll see that Hawks had the capability of knocking Twice unconscious. He should have done this from the get go. And honestly? There are other heroes who could have captured Twice. There SHOULD have been other heroes to capture Twice. If Hawks was the only hope for the heroes in that war then jeez, the heroes suck at their jobs.

So TLDR for this question: Hawks’s circumstances were not drastic enough for him to be justified in killing Twice. As I said above, self-defense is one thing, where yes I could understand how if a life is lost while defending oneself is probably inevitable in some cases. But this wasn’t self defense. Twice was running away. Hawks should also be able to rely on his hero comrades to help him out.

Instead Hawks chose to be law-enforcement, judge, and executioner all in one moment.

I hope this answers your question? I tried my best. If I misunderstood or missed a talking point, feel free to shoot me a message or another ask.

Next question:

Believe me. I have thought about this! What about AFO? He’s human too isn’t he? You have a point. Should the restorative justice system extend to AFO? I would say yes. If I’m going to stick to my guns that the villains deserve restorative justice and not punitive justice, I should be fair and say it should extend to all villains.

The problem is not in the idea of exploring saving AFO, it’s just that there simply isn’t enough time to explore this in the story. If Horikoshi had said “I’m not going anywhere guys! We’re in this for the long haul!” I’d say it’s possible to explore that route. We don’t know anything about AFO except from what we’ve seen on screen, and what we’ve been told by All Might and the other OFA holders. Which still isn’t much to go on. You’re not giving AFO undue consideration. It’s definitely a deserved consideration. There are people in the story (and the real world) who may not be victimized in any way and end up being villains. Do they deserve a chance? I’d say yes. It’s in my nature as a social worker irl to give people the benefit of the doubt and give them a chance to learn. You’re right that in the end, the league being saved and the characters not considering what could have led AFO to villainy is just “skirting around the problem.” And honestly, that’s probably what we’re going to get. I wouldn’t be surprised for the thought to pass in Midoriya’s head. After saving somebody like Shigaraki, who everybody in the story (and many readers) considered to be “too far gone”, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Midoriya entertained the thought for a brief moment. “What could have saved AFO from himself?” So honestly I don’t have an answer to this question that qualifies both sides. I can’t say that AFO is “too far gone” without undermining that fact that I never believed Shigaraki was “too far gone”, simply because we don’t get to decide what “too far gone” is.  All I can say is that in the eyes of the story, there are far too many differences between AFO’s circumstances and Shigaraki’s circumstances to compare the two, and say they deserve the same type of sympathy from us readers.

Truly I have no sympathy for AFO, because the story doesn’t ask for it. The story wants sympathy for Shigaraki, Toga, Touya, Spinner, and even a tiiiiiny bit for Overhaul. It asks for NONE for AFO.

Another post I’ll link here that isn’t by me but by another awesome meta blogger (@hamliet​) is this.

In a nutshell it says:

It’s not that AFO can’t be saved, it’s that he won’t. That’s the best answer I can give to that question honestly.

As for the third question:

That press conference was just...eh. I mean yeah, Endeavor not denying the allegations was good. Not that he really could anyway. It sucks for the rest of his family though. But at the same time Touya deserved his revenge, even though it was at the expense of his siblings and mother. It sucks, it’s a double edged sword because somebody is hurting no matter what was gonna happen. Endeavor was an asshole to that lady but I don’t really care too much. I’m really torn on what I think is going on inside Enji’s head because the Todofam is either extremely dense, or Horikoshi is writing their dialogue extremely vague on purpose to keep reader’s on the edge of their seats regarding what they want to do about Touya. I really don’t know. I’m not thrilled with the way the Todofam plot is being written right now, even though I’m 100% sure Touya is going to get his happy ending. But right now anything to do with the Todofam that isn’t Shoto and Touya just bothers me. I don’t think Enji really understands yet what he has to do for Touya. Yes he recognizes that he has to atone, but he’s not recognizing HOW he has to atone. Right now he’s still stuck in that “I have to be a hero to absolve my crimes against my family” headspace and I don’t think he’s going to get out of that headspace until he comes face to face with his son and realizes that he can’t just fight villains and go home to a happy family that he terrorized for 20 years. He’s going to have to let his family go, let them decide when to let him back in, if they ever do (I think they will just because of the way the story is being written.) As a reader, Enji is just a character that I cannot vibe with, no matter what happens. I definitely appreciate his role in the story. His role is vital to Touya’s saving and redemption. Touya is in my top 3 favorite characters from this series and I’m emotionally invested. So while I appreciated Enji’s role in the story, I don’t like his character or anything to do with him, at least until it comes time to help save his son. Also the trio of Hawks, Best Jeanist, and Enji just gives me major back the blue vibes and I just can’t read their chapters and be in a good mood lol.

Thank you for the ask! I hope I answered everything! This was fun to answer!