#blitz/scope

[thejadecount]

You see Verosika throwing a hate-party for Blitzø’s exes is actually crazy bc imagine breaking up with a guy you hooked up for like a few months and not even a full 24 hours later you get an invitation from Taylor Swift bc she fucked the same guy a few years ago

[showtoonzfan]

I am really getting tired of fans responding with “everyone responds to trauma differently” to dismiss criticism Viv gets for how she portrays abuse and SA in her shows. Yes, everyone does respond to trauma differently, that doesn’t mean there’s not a right and wrong way to portray it in media. As a writer you can always improve your stuff and make it better than what it is now, there’s nothing stopping Viv from looking to improve. Feedback from others (especially from people who have been abused and/or SA’d) is important.

If Vivziepop was a normal person who didn’t see critique as a personal attack on her, she could actually use what people over the internet are telling her as a larger scope so she gets a better perspective of how other people feel, that way she can emotionally reach to multiple audiences in her work, instead of picking sides, dismissing and demonizing anyone who disagrees with her and assuming what she’s crafted is perfect with zero flaws.

Her major problem with how she portrays abuse as a whole is that she can’t make up her mind on what’s bad and what isn’t. In Helluva Boss, Blitz verbally abusing his employees is funny, but Stella verbally abusing Stolas is bad. Sexual harassment from Blitz, Stolas and Angel Dust are funny, but from Val it’s bad. Loona abusing Blitz is funny, but Stella abusing Stolas, Valentino abusing Angel, and Crimson abusing Moxxie is bad.

Then you watch livestreams of her talking about Stolitz and Huskerdust, and it really feels like she can’t tell the difference between genuine love and blatant sexual harassment, cause she talks as if the couples are lovey dovey when in reality they’re not. Then she has the issue of not reading the room, at times she can’t let a serious scene happen without cracking a joke or just letting the scene breathe. Moxxie’s abuse isn’t taken with the full respect it deserves, after he’s hit we cut to a dildo joke, then go from that to a sexual harassment song we’re supposed to find funny. Then the writers can’t even let him cry without a joke about Blitz and Chaz being loud during sex. This is the same woman who prides herself in how she wrote Angel Dust, an SA victim.

She comes off as an excruciatingly insensitive writer who can’t make up her mind wether she finds SA hot, or abuse funny or not. People genuinely look up to her, but she’d rather argue with people on Instagram/twitter who find her work dense/uncomfortable. She’s not even trying to make an effort in her writing cause she’s convinced it’s perfect, and it’s just wrong, especially to silence those who want to speak up about how she dealt with a serious topic, topics that deserve care and respect, not just “haha sex”.

[afraidparade]

something many of you probably don’t know about me is that splatoon is my favorite game series of all time (i have been playing since the first prerelease demo of the first game). so since splatoon 3 is about to end and because absolutely no one asked, i am now going to detail my heacanons for my own ocs’ mains and their playstyles

faust: new squiffer

faust is a fucking gamer. but he is not graceful about it. he will zipcast trickshot you in your own spawn and squidbag you ruthlessly

luka: tenta sorella brella

luka is casual but like, pretty darned skilled for being casual. rainmaker is his favorite mode, he likes playing support and is scarily good with zooka

theo: splattershot jr

he doesn’t know what he’s doing. will paint spawn extensively and always booyah back. probably better at salmon run tbh

pazu: e-liter 4k scope

pazu, like e-liter mains, loves making people miserable. absolute sweat, will single out one person and bully them the whole match, but gets incredibly tilted if he loses

gabe: gold dynamo roller

gabe is big strong boy so he gets the big strong roller. he is surprisingly good at the game, probably likes zones this best. also he kind of reminds me of a super chump

robin: bloblobber deco

not good at the game but knows how to cheese a win. his aim is shit but he feels very powerful with the bathtub + kraken

avery: splatana stamper

also surprisingly good, probably likes clam blitz best. he plays aggressively but tries not to spawncamp

lam: clash blaster

only chose clash because he believes it’s broken and wins every match. he is not very good at the game and gets extremely pissed when he gets outplayed

thanks for coming to my tedtalk 🙂‍↕️

[warblogs17282]

I wonder what mental health services/support and rehab are like in Helluva Boss.

Like we know there's rehab, as seen with Barbie Wire in s2 e5 and Verosika in s1 e3, for alcohol and drugs. But that doesn't really tell us much about mental health services, or show that the rehab is even effective, considering both of them got back into their addictions after they got out of rehab.

So it wouldn't really be a stretch to assume mental health services are quite bad, even more so for a diagnosis. As we both know, Blitz and Stolas are very clearly suffer from mental disorder(s) and/or are neurodivergent. It makes a lot of sense why those two didn't get diagnosed, it would be a problem, mainly it could quite possibly screw up the respective abuse both fathers gave to their children.

Also, considering Blitz did go to a therapist before but never was able to take it seriously really does not paint mental health services in a good light as well, sure Blitz has deep rooted trauma and has developed strong negative habits to try and ignore the deep rooted problems he has, just like Stolas, both of them slipped through the mental health system, got ignored for various reasons, if there's even one to begin with.

Now, Stolas does have those anti-depressants he takes, but without follow up to them with a professional, it really doesn't mean a whole lot, like they're just trying the bare minimum so that Stolas can survive, instead of adding that bare minimum with something else, to create an actual solution that leads to actual healing. Of course the deep rooted abuse of the Goetia, Paimon and Stella in particiular wouldn't allow that actual healing because it would wake Stolas up to the truth, breaking the abuse they had tried so hard to keep up for years upon years. Making Stolas slip through the system as a result.

Finally, we have the alcoholism Stolas has a bad case of, twice in s2 e1, with the second time in that episode Stolas getting blackout drunk to numb the pain, and another case in apology tour, where Stolas gets incredibly drunk, having an entire bottle in his hands at one point, and stealing someone else's drink, leading to that one-night stand which let's be real there's a good chance Stolas is gonna regret that one when he wakes up. It makes sense why he didn't go to rehab for this, while I read somewhere that Stolas finds the alcoholism embarassing, the deep rooted abuse prevents him from seeking help, plus no one else really knows how bad the alcoholism is for Stolas, so no one else can actually say to Stolas 'hey you should probably seek help for this', so he just stays in this cycle of being dependant on alcohol to numb the pain away.

Most likely than ever, the only way Stolas actually is able to get into scope how bad it's gotten and actually get help, it's gonna start by telling/accidentally slipping it to someone, who might actually wake Stolas up to that specific problem in his life, which may also lead into Stolas starting to come to terms with some of the others problems in his life as well he needs to work on.

[wutheringheightsfilm]

interview with the vampire art history lesson part 2:

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, Francis Bacon, c. 1944. Held at the Tate Britain in London. Here is its catalog listing.

So! This is the painting that has been on the wall of Louis and Armand's apartment, and that Season 2 makes a point to emphasize that they're selling. Full disclosure, modern British art history is not my forte, but I have covered this in a British art history survey class, and this is arguably one of Bacon's most famous works, so there's a lot of literature you can find on this. Let's discuss!!!

Now, one claim that you can try to make here about the relationship of this painting with Armand specifically is that Armand is now connected to two 'Christian' artworks (see my post on The Adoration of the Shepherds with a Donor here): one that marks the beginning of Christ's (semi)mortal life, and one that marks the end of it, which is definitely interesting, but the thing is with this Three Studies piece is that Francis Bacon put a lot of emphasis on the fact that this is a crucifixion, not the Crucifixion. Francis Bacon was an atheist, however, a lot of his work does revolve around either critiquing or dealing with Christianity (this is not his only work to reference/allude to or show the Crucifixion, as well as his other very famous work, Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X). It was a very nuanced, complex topic for him that is way beyond the scope of this post.

Interestingly, though, Bacon has made a point to say that "faith is a fantasy" [1]----which is definitely something interesting in relation to Armand...

What Three Studies is definitely associated with, though, is World War II and Greek tragedy.

The catalog entry from the Tate spends a while discussing the process of this painting, and how Bacon may have drawn from his various experiences during World War II (he was in the ARP during the London Blitz), as well as other works made around this time (namely, Figure Getting Out of a Car and Man in a Cap) referencing various Nazi imagery that Bacon had seen impacting his process for creating this triptych. Various scholars have cited Bacon as interested in the dynamics of power and violence, and the imagery of the triptych can be interpreted as either the perpetrator and/or the victim [2]. Bacon has also confirmed that this painting references the Eumenides (the Furies who are responsible for enacting revenge in Greek mythology) [3 + 4].

Now that we've covered the very basics of this work, let's discuss how this might relate to Louis and Armand. This work being present in the show has raised some interesting points for me, and some questions:

The show makes a point of emphasizing that they're selling this work. Since this work is so closely related to World War II, and Louis and Armand are currently trying to relay their experiences during World War II, is the selling of it symbolic of either 1) 'selling' their story to Daniel or 2) finally closing out that chapter in their lives?

It is interesting that in their apartment, there is only modern and post-modern artwork and architecture. I wonder how deeply this ties to Armand's trauma, since he himself was modeled (whitewashed as he was) in Late Renaissance/Mannerism artwork from the 1500s. How much of that experience drives his taste in art?

Bacon's juxtaposition and struggle with violence, power, and the dynamic of the perpetrator/victim is extremely interesting... the thoughts are still cooking about this one.

What do u guys think.... i've been microwaving this in my head all day along with the other painting!

Works Cited + Referenced:

[1] D. Farson, The Gilded Gutter Life of Francis Bacon, London, 1994, p. 134. [Taken from this JSTOR article, further cited below] [2] Referencing the catalogue here, which cites: Ziva Amishai-Maissels, Depiction and Interpretation: The Influence of the Holocaust on the Visual Arts, Oxford, New York, Seoul and Tokyo 1993, pp.189-90, 225-6, 354. [3] M[ichael] C[ompton], letter to Francis Bacon, 6 Jan. 1959, Tate Gallery cataloguing files. [4] Francis Bacon, letter to Tate Gallery, [9 Jan. 1959], Tate Gallery cataloguing files. [5] Arya, Rina. “The Primal Cry of Horror: The A-Theology of Francis Bacon.” Artibus et Historiae 32, no. 63 (2011): 275–83. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41479747.

[blitzsicedcoffee]

Hellatober Day 12 Ficlet- Murder

(My take on a 'Blitz is hired to kill Stolas' au)

Blitz loads up the guns and angelic bullets into the back of the van. When he started IMP he knew it would be dangerous. Killing hell's Elite is harder than killing anything really. Because everyone on every side hates you for it.

Just a few months in and their office has already gotten raided by police, raided by the mob, raided by angry elite family members that sick their hellhounds on them. And Blitz himself has probably five different mugshots by now? But what else are his options? It's not like an imp like him has any other ones.

Loona had to get a job at stylish occult cause he decided it was too dangerous for her to hang around the office. And Blitz drives Millie and Moxxie to and from work every single day. Just to make sure they don't get jumped by people sour about their hits.

"Sir before you do this last one can you take us home?" Moxxie asks as he polishes his gun.

"Sure Moxxie, Millie, get your stuff", he replies and grabs his keys, closing up the back as Millie jumps in the passenger and Moxxie jumps in the back.

"And you're sure you got this one on your own?" Moxxie asks. Blitz rolls his eyes, M&M are so protective. He's supposed to be the ones protective of them.

"Yeah Moxx, I got it. Spend a nice evening in, Kay? I'll text you when it's done", he stops the van in front of their apartment.

"Okay B we'll be expecting that text!" Millie says and squeezes his shoulder then they head inside.

He makes sure he sees their living room window light turn on then he leaves.

The person who wanted this chump dead didn't really say why. But Blitz about a month in also stopped asking. It wasn't his business. Killing someone he's told to is.

He parks behind a wall where there's a small cracked opening and slithers into a well maintained garden. Checking that he has the angelic blade and enough bullets, he continues with his rifle slinged over his back.

Like a salamander, he slithers past bushes and up a tree. Taking station. He sets up his rifle and puts in the angelic bullets. They mildly sting against his fingers so he pulls his gloves down a little bit to cover them.

Luckily the rich bastard left his balcony wide open. There is a nice breeze in the air tonight but it's foolish. Comfortable. He looks through his scope and aims straight at the grey figure in the bed.

"Gotcha bitch..", he whispers when the grey figure stirs just as he pulls the trigger. The figure moving throws him off and the rifle slips a little and shoots past the bed. Blitz covers his mouth. Trying to slow his breathing as the grey figure puts on a robe.

Suddenly there's magic underneath him, floating him upside down over the balcony and into the room, plopping him onto the bed. Leaving his rifle in the tree. He stares at the figure as it walks out from the shadows. A Goetian prince. He knew this of course. But he never likes to see their faces.

Blitz fumbles his hands to his side and pulls out the angelic dagger, pointing it towards the Prince.

"Tch, I'm guessing my wife paid you for this, hmm?" He says non chalantly. Blitz's eyes dart around the room.

"Uh..maybe", he says. Still holding out the blade towards him. Stolas sits next to him on the bed.

"I'm not going to hurt you", he says and Blitz smirks, "Then you're naive", and attempts to tackle the prince but he freezes him with magic again, Blitz's insides cold and paralyzed a moment as Stolas grabs the dagger and throws it to the other side of the room, it landing in a chair cushion. Then unfreezes him.

Blitz holds his chest and looks to the prince in well- not fear but-hesitancy.

"There. That's better. Now. What's your name", he says. Blitz blinks, 'Uh..." Stolas chuckles, "I won't bite you know".

"How do I know that?" He replies which makes Stolas chuckle again. Blitz smirks again.

"I still have to do my job you know", he points to the knife across the room. Stolas sighs, "What if I made you a better proposal".

Blitz thinks, "What like more money to kill your wife?" Stolas shakes his head, "Satan-no. As horrid as she is, I don't want her dead. My daughter needs her mother. I mean- what is it you want or need. Anything".

Love. Companionship. Belonging.

Blitz narrows his eyes, "Are you bluffing with me? This some prank for a Voxtech show?" He scooches away from Stolas.

Stolas puts his hands up, "No, no of course not. I wouldn't lie to you".

"Then why offer me anything?" He cocks his head. Stolas shrugs, "I don't want to die?" Fair point.

Blitz thinks for a moment. "Well, do you have a way to earth? I'd rather kill humans than the elite in hell. So much easier", he says and Stolas is taken aback but looks in his Grimoire, flipping through pages.

Stolas points, "Hmm. Would an Asmodean Crystal do?"

Blitz's eyes grow wide and he coughs, "Y-you'd get one of those for me?"

"I have connections, I could try at the very least", Stolas replies, closing the Grimoire, "Would that suffice?"

"That would more than fucking suffice", he says and hops off the bed, looking back to make sure Stolas isn't going to freeze him with magic again.

Stolas walks over and pulls the dagger out, ignoring the pain in his hand from the hilt and hands it to Blitz.

"We have a deal, then?" He asks, smiling.

Blitz takes the dagger back and stows it. Shaking his hand, "Deal". He attempts to let go of the prince's hand but he is still squeezing.

Blitz looks up at him nervously, "Uh, your highness...my hand". Stolas blinks, "Oh, sorry", he replies and relinquishes Blitz's hand.

Blitz hands Stolas his phone and Stolas puts his number in. Blitz names it "The Prince".

"So you'll tell me when you have the crystal?" He asks. Stolas nods, "I will". Blitz backs away and hits his back against the balcony doors.

"U-uh okay I'll be going now", he awkwardly leaves over the balcony as Stolas waves.

"Farewell".

[angellic-critique]

Hey, I want to ask something: why Is using a drag queen's persona to create a female character a bad thing?/genq

The implication of cissification/forced gender norms is what I take issue with.

You're okay anon. I am going to clarify that this is a queer person critiquing upon a poorly mishandled drag persona of an animated Italian mobster spider that is named after cocaine. I am aware of the extremities here but I cannot stress enough how harmful viv's surface level writing for only her character designs is genuinely harmful and hurtful to me, as a queer person.

I see the themes she attempted to write but having angel dust only centered purely around sex, sexual advantages from the porn industry [without substance[, the pimp abuse and nearly racist depictions of Italians [Gold tooth mobster who only likes guns, violence, sex, drugs, money, alcohol etc,]-

I could go on and on and on as to why Angel Dust despite seeming to come from some level of apathy to drag kings/queens is nothing but surface level tripe. I do not care if the show releases and all it is focused upon is Valentino's abuse and misdeeds towards angel, IS THERE ANYTHING TO THIS CHARACTER BESIDES BEING ABUSED.

there is a difference of wanting to design a drag persona and having the gender be ambiguous but it is an entirely different level of tripe bullshittery to have a character that is allegedly surrounded around drag performing and openly being himself, is supposedly forced under a guise of abuse to undergo the said drag performing...????

Having a AMAB crossdressing to be a drag persona but then take that empowerment away from him, as if he was never allowed to be feminine in the first place. Angel Dust screams tryhard sexy appeal. I do not understand his, alastor, or Stolas for that matters' 'sex' appeal if they are not written well nor with any care for that regard about the communities they are representing.

Viv just wants to write the themes of addiction, gay trauma and industry abuse? That's perfectly fine as long as there is nuance and reasoning and justification for those characters turning to those types of aliments for aid. What do I meaaan????

Alastor has no asexual/aromantic representation, if anything the fandom has proven that it is APHOBIC !!!

Stolas takes pills and it never going to be brought up until Octavia finds out and then SHE is casted to be the villain over calling out the fact that her dad is a POS that only cares about Blitzo! GENUINELY WHAT?

Blitz is an alcoholic stalker SEXUAL HARRASSER that has NO REPRECUSSIONS WHATSOVER FOR SAID DRINKING, IF ANYTHING THE SERIES PRAISES HIM TO BE ONE!!!!

Husk is also a surface level alcoholic that doesn't get called into question! I'm sorry I'm not talking about the main point you asked anon but genuinely please look at the larger scope over why viv just depicts abuse and substance use as 'haha comically funny' while attempting to 'humanize' her Demons. It seems that the show is just pro-abuse and of they genuinely actually have Valentino try to be threatening or a well written pimp ill laugh and delete my blogs honestly since I have no hope from script leaks revolving around him comparing guns to cocks. Viv really loves writing about industry abuse with no nuance here.

I did not bring up Molly whatsoever because unlike Viv I actually love the drag performer community and empowering culture they represent. It's the same reason I believe that Brandon Rodgers is anti-drag despite constantly crossdressing/displaying it within his videos. It's harmful because his drag didn't NEED to be a separate person angel dust should BE the DRAG PERFORMING NAME.

HELLUVA BOSS HAS PROVEN THAT ALL VIV CARES ABOUT IS EXCUSING AND MARKETTING ABUSERS RATHER THEN CALLING INTO QUESTION WHY ABUSE IS HAPPENING IN THE FIRST PLACE.

[doublejango]

A Voyeur Scope drone could be seen hovering just inches from the glass of Blitzø's office window, staring at him through its single camera lens. The overlapping blades of its mechanical diaphragm tightened as it focused, narrowing on the boss imp himself as it snapped a photo.

Head down in paperwork, it took Blitz longer than it probably should have to notice the drone. It wasn't until he heard the little click that he looked over. His irritated expression turned to one of pure delight and he was out of his chair in an instant. Grabbing his phone, he quickly put a song on, then darted over to the window.

Pressing his hands and face against the window, Blitz started licking. He licked the glass as if it were the drone, as if his tongue could caress and explore all its little nooks and crannies and ports. His fingers flexed against the glass, and he moaned low, licking more, dancing and pressing himself up against the window as much as he could...

When the song ended, he cackled, picked himself a lemon, and bit into it while making direct eye contact with the drone.

That done, Blitz took off his jacket and shirt and made a show of stretching luxuriously, muscles flexing, before he returned to his desk to get back to work.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

9 Days of Lancaster: Injury

Oniyuri was a ghost town. 

Ruby took the lead, bouncing up until she stood on horseback and peered out at gray walls. The buildings looked dilapidated, as did the fence now that I thought about it. I checked the map. “That’s strange.” 

“Another destroyed town?” Ruby wondered.

“We should search for survivors.” I stowed the map and took off. 

“Don’t leave me in the dark!” Our blindfolded prisoner shouted. 

I sprinted towards the circle shaped opening in the walls. Ruby made it there first and in a single great leap no normal woman could pull off, she landed antop of the walls. She bounced from there to a watch tower which had no platform to stand on from which one could watch. 

I checked and found nothing. Ruby dropped down, her legs easily taking the thirty foot fall. She lifted the platform in question from where it lay beside the tower on the ground, checking under it. “Anything?” She called out.

“Clear over here.” I moved from the building I’d been checking. “The place seems abandoned.”

“Hey I found something!” Ruby called out to me. She brushed aside leaves where a small sign had been overgrown. “Oniyuri,” she read. “This is it? What happened?” Ruby wondered, her voice coming out small in the courtyard. 

Grimm claw marks on what was left of a door. Shattered windows and broken down walls. 

I didn’t hesitate, it was time to get moving. “Come on, let's push through here.” I mustered, sticking around so much negativity wasn’t going to serve us any. 

My hand rose to my weapon, pulling at the hilt slightly. Nervously. I felt something. I wasn’t alone in it, either. Ruby peered ahead through the scope of Crescent Rose. 

A man in brown and white flipped into the courtyard, landing neatly with a bowed posture. 

The man said nothing but his hands flicked out claw like weapons drawing on either hand. Without a word he blitzed towards us, no, straight towards Ruby, with a manic laugh.

Ruby intercepted him first, lashing out like an insane tornado. The man danced back, giving ground easily.

Ruby snapped a kick out and followed it with a spray of bullets. She twisted and he ducked under the massive swing before raising his arm and stepping inside her guard. A clawed hand lashed out and Ruby had to lean far out of the way to dodge it. She gave a gasp as she did. Put on the defensive, a swift kick from the clawed man forced her back. The man went high but kicked low again, Ruby ate the attack with a grunt. 

The man laughed like he was in hysterics all the while. He whipped out the blades on his forearms, Ruby blocked them with Crescent Rose but didn’t block a jump kick which caught her center of mass. She rolled back but the man had speed to spare, he was able to catch up to her.

He crossed both arms, scissor-slashing at her but she caught the blow against the barrel of her weapon. A high crescent kick lashed out at Ruby followed by a jab. She rotated Crescent Rose to block but the man was within her range and didn’t miss with the brutal shoulder check that flicked her to the ground.

I was there to cover Ruby immediately. The man slid beneath my slash and bounced up at me, landing on the edges of the shield. The man peered down at me with a wide grin. I glared up at the man, and I swung the man back and Ruby hit him hard with Crescent Rose, clipping him.

He launched back through a white wall, cartwheeling through the air. His yellow eyes glowed out at us from the building. Ruby got back to her feet preparing Crescent Rose for a second assault.

“We’re not looking for a fight!” I called out to him. 

Though you’ve found one by attacking Ruby.

“Who are you?” Ruby wondered. 

The man flipped down. “Who I am matters not to you, or- well I am curious about you.” He pointed at me.

“Not interested,” I returned.

“No?” The man continued, he seemed to take it in stride. “Well, I suppose I only really matter to you.” He pointed behind my tank at the backline Ruby. I didn’t so much as take my eyes off the man. 

“Me?” Ruby wondered.

The man broke down laughing. “You really don’t have the slightest clue, do you? Oh how exciting this must be.” That laugh was really getting on my nerves. 

“What do you want?” Ruby demanded.

“Oh the rose has thorns. My little flower, I’m here to whisk you away with me.”

“And what if she doesn’t want to go with you.”

“Well, I’ll take her.” He made it sound so obvious. Like getting through and killing me would be the most straightforward thing in the world. The way he’d danced around us so far… the fight didn’t look promising. 

“Yeah. You'll have to kill me,” I vowed anyways, my shield at the ready and sword poised to strike from behind it.

“ Perfect ,” The man purred.

I blinked and the man was gone. My eyes traced his outline but...

“Jaune!” Ruby called out to me in warning. I felt the danger from behind me. Ruby immediately opened fire, trusting my aura, armor, and shield to see me through. I began to turn around towards the blindingly fast opponent. 

The man had to duck under Ruby’s fire, unable or unwilling to press his attack and eat the bullets with his aura. The man bounced in the air, spinning like a top off my shield. I threw him off. Pressing my attack with a shout.

The man turned it into an elegant flip and kicked Ruby so hard she flew off her feet. I swept my sword at him. I tried to catch him off guard but the man cartwelled under the attack. 

Too telegraphed. 

His heel came down on my head, a cry of pain left my lips before I could stop it followed closely by a second one as I was swiftly side kicked in the face. I fell backwards and our aggressor charged at Ruby again, unrelenting. 

My semblance activated, strumming through me like a cord, I dashed forward and Ruby did too, we scissored him and I spent my semblance now faster than ever, as soon as I got it, really. 

I bunkered behind my shield, waiting out the shockwave Ruby’s speed and my attack had created. When I peeked. Our opponent was still standing. He’d… caught my attack with his tail. A long brown scorpion’s tail which protruded from his lower back and a deep gash in his aura from where Ruby pounced. 

Now she stalked around the outside of a wide circle with him and I in the center, waiting for the right moment to strike like a wolf. 

The man giggled. “Surprise.” He kicked off the ground and then towards me. He kicked me twice; brutal kicks seemed to be the man’s style in conjunction with his claws. 

“What is this about?” Ruby stepped forward. “The WhiteFang? Roman Torchwick?”

“Plastic soldiers and pawns. My heart and body belong only to our goddess.” The scorpion took an arrogant bow. 

“Cinder.” Ruby murmured. Her eyes narrowed up at him. 

The bitch herself.

“Hm. Only in her wildest dreams!” With that the man launched towards us again, kicking off the roof he was on hard enough to splinter it. His tail whipped out at Ruby. She deflected it but a brutal punch knocked her down again. 

I sidestepped the tail twice but not the following kick to the back. I tried to rush him, trying to flank him but the man’s foot colliding with my shield stopped my approach. Against this opponent the shield was just getting in the way. I slid the sword into the shield and slid it off my arm, drawing the massive sword from it. 

My foe was fast enough to get in on me but hopefully with a little range and a little luck...

The blade clicked into place, the simple mechanism snapping into position easily. The blade was enormously heavy compared to the bastard sword I’d been wielding, I gripped it in both hands to steady it. I wasn’t sure I’d be fast enough to catch the man with it, but I’d promised I’d die before I let this creep take Ruby and dammit I would.

I dashed forward but my opponent dashed away from him towards Ruby. He punched her twice with the brutal blades and flicked her into the air. With blinding speed, the man was already where Ruby was going to land, he wound up and comboed a kick to her stomach. 

I could see her aura break in a radial pattern from the foot. 

“Ruby!” I shouted.

The man glanced up at my charge, his eyes widening in surprise for a brief satisfying moment before I caught him center of mass with the broadsword. I started by drawing an ‘x’ in the air and on his body. The glow of my sword stayed where it struck him, holding him in place.

Next I carved a shallow ‘L,’ with two cuts. Low and then rising. I watched him. He was stuck in place still, like he was in butter or stuck in slow motion.

I finished with a tremendous slash all the way through the patterns I had drawn which showed through the air. I cut through the sapphire blue haze and shattered the shapes I carved in the air with a flash. 

I watched a crackle of purple sweep out across his torso from where the sword impacted him. You can't fake that. One hundred pounds of brutal steel impacting him had hurt him. I held Crocea Mors steady in one hand. Steady, easily, even with just the one arm. 

It was light. I swung it casually across his body and back towards neutral, glaring at the man. 

“Jaune!”

“Stay down Ruby!”

I began to charge the next one. 

I watched the man roll across the ground before he stopped, catching himself with the hooked blades. He let out a viscous sound, part snarl, part laugh. He scuttled towards me, low towards the ground but…

I met him in the middle and Ruby shot him in the face. I refused to give ground and allow the lunatic to get any closer to Ruby. Crocea Mors swept forward but was deflected off the man’s right wrist blade. I reversed the blade, bringing it around his body and back down. 

My foe grunted, catching the blade again with both wrists. 

The tail…

I leaned out of the way as the tail lashed through his space. It whipped from over the man’s head towards me but I’d seen it coming. The man was getting predictable. Plus with six feet of metal between us, I was outside his range. I brought my blade down towards the tail and the man reared back, giving ground and watching me warily. 

I didn’t let up. I jumped, raising Crocea Mors over my head in a tremendous arc and brought it down against the man again. The man braced his tail and blades against the attack but three hundred pounds of man and metal bore down on him. I watched as the man’s feet sunk into the cobbled ground, aura sparking from here his tail braced against the blade. 

Believing he saw an opportunity the man rushed me, closing the distance that my long arms and sword provided. I lashed out with a low kick, unable to bring the blade to bear in time. It connected against the side of the man’s knee. I threw my weight into another kick with the other leg, a round kick which impacted the man’s gut.

My jab and follow up brought him the space I needed to bring Crocea Mors around in a low flat arc. It sung through the air with thick satisfying noise, but not nearly as satisfying as the sound the blade made against the man’s aura. 

He rolled back and I chased him.

I need to end this now.

I jumped like I was going to hammer him with another massive overhead blow. He raised his weapons in defense. It was a tomahawk landing and I stepped in and grabbed him out of the empty hop. I tossed him into the ground and where he bounced I pursued. I slid my sword into the ground and brutally shoved the edge into his chest. I tore up the cobblestone street behind me as I did.

I screamed out a battle cry, trying to land a decisive blow. I rushed forward with all my might and thrust Crocea Mors forward. The man slipped to the side, dodging by a fraction of a hair. He followed it with two brutal kicks and three jabs into my chest. Then he sank his hooked gauntlet into my stomach. 

I grunted. It wasn’t so bad. He hit like a fucking pussy. 

I spat up some blood and looked down. 

It was pretty bad. The worst, even. 

“Jaune!”

“What’s the matter?” The man mocked. “Run out of power? Or do you have another one in you?” Tyrian twisted his fist and the blade sank further into my stomach. The tail came around and hovered just before my face. Giggling and wiggling the tail right in front of my mouth before it vanished, the pressure disappearing from me accompanied by an agonized howl. 

“Jaune, oh lord, stay with me!” 

I didn’t. 

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

I was, for the record, not tired of waking up with Ruby taking care of me. I was not. I was tired of being shot and stabbed, but not the rest of it. The rest of it was awesome. 

I was in a real bed as opposed to our tent this time. Ruby was in the bed next to me and she stirred slightly in her sleep where she clutched my arm. I sighed looking at her. Fuck she was dangerous. She was just sleeping there with her bangs down over her face and her arms around one of mine. Her lips looked so pink and soft and barely parted. 

I started to sit up. Poking at the bandages and stitches in my chest, I winced a little. She stirred with me, her eyes blinking open as I rose. 

"Don't touch it!" She shouted-whispered as I twirled a sitch and gasped. Oh yeah, none of that analgesic stuff. What was I? A pussy?

I almost passed out from the pain, though. My vision tunneled and I swayed back into the pillow. 

The blades left deep marks which even my armor and aura wouldn't prevent from forming scars. She shoved my hands out of the way and placed her own there instead. “Does it hurt?”

I groaned. Her fingers were cool and my chest felt inflamed. 

I was lucky he hadn't decided to open fire with the weapon point blank. That would have turned my torso to hamburger and I doubt whoever Ruby found to put me back together could handle that much gut-shot. 

Not because they were a bad surgeon. It would have probably just have been super lethal. 

I nodded. “I'm not super comfortable.” I confessed. “What happened?”

“I cut his tail off while you had him, uh, distracted.” Ruby said with some venom. “He ran off but there's no way that he'll be recovering without help and I sent word out once we arrived.”

“And our prisoner?”

She tapped the tips of her pointer fingers together. "I had to let her go. I needed the speed to get you here." She sounded like I was going to be upset with her over it. Over saving my life. 

“Which is?” I wondered.

“Higanbana.” 

“Thank you. Ruby. You saved me again.” 

Silence met me before…”I put you in danger. Didn’t you hear him?”

“I heard him laugh. He was nuts Ruby.”

“He was here for me.”

“So am I.”

“Butt! Stop being sweet for a second and listen to me!” She protested. “He worked for whoever Cinder is actually working for. This is serious business."

"Ruby, these people were always your enemy." She chewed her lip. "That makes them my enemies, too. Plus Cinder's friends are absolutely against us. Nothing has changed except we know one of their faces."

"I suppose…except he didn't work for Cinder. He works for someone else."

"And I don't work for Ozpin. Just you. A different beast is all, Rubes."

"He was a monster." I nodded along. He was, that Tyrian. He could have killed me but he was having too much fun torturing me. 

I was ever so grateful. 

"Let's stop him next time," I decided. 

"Do you really think we can?" Ruby asked. I nodded. He hadn't been invincible. 

"He took us by surprise and we don’t have any real team attacks which use both of our semblances. Speaking of, did you catch his semblance?"

She shook her head. "He never used it. I'd recognize his weapons though. I gave the village a description but…"

If they weren't hunters or had a hunter's mindset they might not really get why that was important. 

"Sounds like you took care of everything."

"Right. So you just rest now. You worked so hard for me. Let me look after you for a bit."

What? Had she missed the last few months of constantly saving my life? Her lips pressed softly against my cheek and then she moved them against my lips and she sighed a little next to me. 

I felt her relax next to me on the bed and wrap her arms around me gently.  I couldn't help but unwind either. Muscles ached and bruises throbbed but I hardly felt either as I slowly let her pull me back down. 

I found my anesthesia when she slipped her tongue into my mouth and one of us moaned softly. She smirked and I knew it must have been me. Her lips turned up against mine. She was having a little fun taking care of me and who was I to take that from her? I chased her tongue back into her mouth and she wrapped her lips around my muscle and sucked gently. I moaned again. It had been a bait. She made me chase after her. 

She pulled back suddenly. “Jaune there’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you. It’s about my eyes.”

“Okay.” I’d seen them, they were fantastic. “What about them?”

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

Have you ever really tried to relax? I mean to squeeze all the relaxation you could out of a time period and just let the people who profess to care about you look after you while you heal and rest and try and figure things out. What an unbelievable nightmare. 

I could not for the life of me sit still. I was going stir-crazy in ‘safe’ Higanbana. I was just supposed to let Ruby handle things and try and focus on just getting better but in the end I found myself pacing the small hotel room and narrow city streets over and over again. 

And Higanbana was for the most part truly safe. It had high walls and guards with good discipline. Some of them even had their aura unlocked. It was maddening. 

My only saving grace was Ruby who had the energy to keep me from being bored out of my skull. She even asked me one early morning with bright eyes and a finger to her lips, “Jaune?”

“Mhm.” I wondered. Her voice was a certain timber that made me want to reach out and grab her.

“Can we go on a date?” She finished. She could have asked me to stab myself with that tone and expression and I would have. A date, though?

A date. 

A date. Of course. We were a couple after all. She would want that kind of thing. But what would that kind of thing look like?

It looked like me listening to her gush about my semblance and weapons over ice cream which she fed me, because I was hurt. 

“Your semblance is actually wild Jaune. Really.”

“Really, really?” I asked.

“Just imagine how you can force your enemy into some of your traps.”

“My traps?”

“Please, it’s how you fight. You make people think they’re safe and then you surprise them. That was true even before you unlocked your semblance.” 

“I do?” 

“You play mind games and think about it this way. The moment you start charging your semblance your opponent is in disadvantage. If they let you charge it, then you’re winning. If they approach you to stop you from charging it, then they're still playing your game and you’re still winning.”

“Huh. I think I have to stand still to charge it.”

“Even so you can force the enemy to approach you or you’ll get better kill and movement options.” She nodded with her words and glowed as we walked through a park together. 

She had loved the idea of enlightening the guards with aura and had taken to doing three or so a day while I healed. I wanted to step in and do more but she shut me down.

We found a small place which sold these little treats with sherbert in them. Ruby chirpily ordered for both of us while I just watched her move and talk.  

We took a rest together, over the next few days it was some of my favorite times, just strolling through the Animatic courtyards and gardens in public places. 

“Plus you are always forcing the enemy to approach you or you’ll be even harder to deal with. You don’t need a gun if you can fight like that either. Though…”

“I don’t like guns.”

“You have hers still.” I looked down. I still had Viriscient’s gun. I pulled it from a belt and handed it to her. 

“Here. You take it,” I said. 

“Why me?”

“You’ll get more out of a sidearm than I will.” I returned with a shrug. 

“Still…” she took it anyway and looked at it both ways before flicking it apart. She quickly took a look at the internal mechanisms and hardly turned her nose up at it. “It is nice… is it really okay to use it? I mean it was a bandit’s.”

“If it's by you then it's not a bandit’s anymore.” I shrugged. “You could always take it apart and see how it works.

“I think I’ll keep it then.” She smirked. “Also, you're implying I can’t tell how it works.” 

“You’re right I should know better.” I earned a quick cold kiss for that, ice cream still on her ruby lips. 

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[airlockfailure]

Hi, for the 50 OTP Things, could I please ask about the very sweet couple Blitz/Scope (AAaaa I've only known them for a short while, but I LUF them 😍), for your choice between any (or some, or all, if you feel up to it 🤭) of these?

2. Who is the big spoon/ Who is the little spoon?

3. Who hogs the cover/ Who loves to cuddle?

4. Who wakes the other one up with kisses?

8. Who sleeps in their underwear (or naked)/ Who sleeps in their pajamas?

Thank you so much! 🫶🏻

akhfskghs Hello!! =D

2. Who is the big spoon/Who is the little spoon? Blitz prefers to be the big spoon, wrapping around Scope and practically smothering him with cuddles. However, Scope gets to be the big spoon more often than you'd think. He likes to cradle Blitz's head on his chest and pat his hair while they snuggle.

3. Who hogs the cover/Who loves to cuddle? Once they're off Kamino and Scope stops denying things he wants, Scope is a blanket hog for sure. He overheats easily, but he always wants a blanket. The more the merrier, for the cozy/comfy appeal. The blankets usually end up in a tangled heap at the foot of the bed/couch or on the floor. Blitz is fine without a blanket. As for who loves to cuddle, they both do. Their relationship is based on a long term friendship, so cuddling, spending time together, etc. are huge for them.

4. Who wakes the other one up with kisses? Blitz wakes Scope up with kisses. Depending on his mood, the kisses vary from a chaste, affectionate greeting, to depraved and desperate. Scope would wake Blitz up with kisses, except Blitz always wakes up before him.

8. Who sleeps in their underwear/naked/Who sleeps in their pajamas? On Kamino, Scope usually sleeps in his underwear and Blitz sleeps in his blacks. Once they leave Kamino, both of them sleep naked and wear pajamas when they wind down for the night/once they wake up in the morning. Similar to the blankets and being cozy/comfortable, once they leave Kamino they both start allowing themselves to explore things they like.

[mel-imp22]

Back in home location's house, Blitz was waiting on the arrival of mel, once he saw her he quietly singles her to come to him sneakingly as he peeps through "I already got mox and mills on the hunt in case one of the guards are inside, once we get in we gonna try be quiet till we get to your old man's. Are you ready?" He asked her, as they are near the door of a hallway

@murderous-rodeo-imp666

Mel smirked as she nodded, sneaking over to her boyfriend before she leaned back against the wall. "You bet your ass I am. Why don't we go pay 'Daddy dearest' a visit shall we?" She taunted with a smirk before she loaded her gun. "Now just hand on a minute baby," She says, kissing his cheek before she places her sniper rifle on the wall, peeking in through the scope. She locked onto the guard's head and quickly shot him and the other guard in the head, making sure her suppressor was on so it didn't make a sound.

[mariacallous]

The Federal Communications Commission has voted—once again—to assert its power to oversee and regulate the activities of the broadband industry in the United States. In a 3-2 vote, the agency reinstated net neutrality rules that had been abandoned during the height of the Trump administration’s deregulatory blitz.

“Broadband is now an essential service,” FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday in prepared remarks. “Essential services—the ones we count on in every aspect of modern life—have some basic oversight.”

The rules approved by the agency on Thursday will reclassify broadband services in the United States once more as “common carriers” under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, subjecting broadband to the same public-utilities-style scrutiny as telephone networks and cable TV.

That distinction means that the agency can prevent internet service providers from blocking or throttling legal content, or letting online services pay ISPs to prioritize their content with faster delivery speeds. But it’s difficult, particularly in an election year, to say whether net neutrality is here to stay or whether the FCC’s vote is just another inflection point in a regulatory forever-war.

“Net neutrality rules protect internet openness by prohibiting broadband providers from playing favorites with internet traffic,” Rosenworcel says. “We need broadband to reach 100 percent of us—and we need it fast, open, and fair.”

This reclassification was first attempted by the Obama administration following a lawsuit by Verizon in 2011; the ruling pointed to reclassification as a necessary hurdle in efforts to bring broadband under scope of the FCC’s oversight. The outcome of that case prompted the introduction of the Open Internet Order of 2015, which not only reclassified the industry in line with the court’s suggestion but imposed a slate of new rules with “net neutrality” serving as the FCC’s guiding philosophy.

Two years later, those rules were overturned by the Trump-appointed FCC chair at the time, Ajit Pai, a former Verizon lawyer. Back in the private sector now, Pai derided the FCC’s efforts this week as a “complete waste of time;” something, he said, “nobody actually cares about.”

The rules put forth under Rosenworcel are somewhat different than those previously introduced. Past FCC orders pursing net neutrality have been repeatedly challenged in court, giving the agency today a fair idea of which policies will be defensible in the onslaught of lawsuits definitely to come.

Though banning the creation of “pay-to-play internet fast lanes” remains a priority, the reasons for reclassifying broadband are not limited to warding off the industry’s well-documented predatory practices. The new order also gives the FCC the ability to more closely examine industry behavior; how, for instance, companies respond (or fail to) in the event of widespread network outages.

“Net neutrality” was not originally devised as a set of rules but rather as a principle by which regulators seek to strike a balance between the profit-motivated interests of megalithic broadband companies and the rights and welfare of consumers. It is often summed up simply as the practice of ensuring that “all internet, regardless of its source, must be treated the same.”

While the Trump FCC asserted that it had no authority to regulate ISPs, it paradoxically claimed—in a failed effort—the power to crack down on states working to create regulation for themselves. Still, in 2018 California successfully banned broadband companies from engaging in a host of anti-consumer activities, from digital redlining and data discrimination to zero-rating schemes, which enable ISPs to funnel consumers toward particular websites or services by exempting them from arbitrary data caps.

Net neutrality advocates typically credit laws like California’s with preventing “virtually lawless” service providers from going haywire over the past half-decade. Industry associations offer a counter-history: Net neutrality protections must have been pointless all along, since the sky didn’t fall once they disappeared.

State-level protections, however, haven’t prevented cable and satellite TV companies from pushing a menu of anti-consumer policies nationally. The industry has threatened to hike monthly subscription prices if ever prevented from charging early-termination fees to customers locked into yearlong contracts. It has opposed rules proposed by the Federal Trade Commission designed to “make it at least as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to start it.”

Rosenworcel and other net neutrality proponents point to the growing reliance on broadband as successive generations of Americans increasingly eschew forms of communication that traditionally fell under the FCC’s blanket. Broadband is undeniably a telecommunications service today—even more so now than when the FCC first sought to adopt net neutrality as its guiding principle.

“Today's action brings back moderate rules that have already passed court muster and are essential building blocks for a consumer-friendly and citizen-friendly internet,” says Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner. “Our communications technologies are evolving so swiftly, affecting so many important aspects of our individual lives, that they must be available to all of us on a nondiscriminatory basis.”

Consumer reliance on digital platforms and tools for communication is only increasing: Teenagers today notoriously loathe—some say fear!—talking on the phone, while the landscape of communications dynamics shifted violently for US workers in the post-pandemic era. Nevertheless, Americans today have little agency on their own to combat predatory-pricing schemes and lopsided usage restrictions. Consumer advocates note that Americans cannot simply vote with their wallets while locked into receiving services from a de facto monopoly.

While having evolved far past its original conceit, net neutrality is at heart a policy of "non-discrimination," as Tim Wu explained in the 2002 white paper coining the phrase.

“The point of the neutrality principle is not to interfere with the administration of the internet-protocol side of a broadband carrier’s network,” wrote Wu, then an associate professor at the University of Virginia Law School. “It is, rather, to prevent discrimination in that administration.”

[schraubd]

Leaving the Mess for Later

One thing that's come up in a few of the Supreme Court's recent blockbuster decisions is the shakiness of the fact pattern in the underlying case. Mr. Kennedy in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District wasn't really just an average citizen whose desire to privately pray on his own was stymied by the evil liberal school district. Ms. Smith of 303 Creative v. Elenis might have outright falsified documents suggesting that a gay couple asked to engage her services. The Supreme Court's conservative majority did not care, blitzing ahead in decisions that made dramatic alterations to major areas of constitutional law doctrine.

At one level, I actually understand the perspective here. When it comes to abstract, "philosophical" question regarding the scope of the Establishment Clause or whether anti-discrimination law must sometimes yield to free speech commitments, the details of the individual case don't really matter. If it wasn't Kennedy, it'd be someone else. If what you care about is the broad, sweeping change -- interring Lemon v. Kurtzman for good, or laying a marker that public accommodations laws must yield to businesses right to "expressively" discriminate -- the details don't affect the underlying arguments all that much. The same claims and counterclaims that would be made in any case would be aired here. 303 Creative probably already felt like the can that was kicked down the road from Masterpiece Cakeshop. Similar impatience was seen in some of the concurrences in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia -- we know we're going to have to decide whether to revisit Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith, and we know the arguments for and against preserving the precedent, so why delay the inevitable? Just make the decision one way or the other and get it done.

At another level, though, this speaks to how the current conservative judicial cadre really doesn't care about the formalities of law and legal doctrine. It's movement conservatism through and through -- the important thing is the bottom-line results, and the Court will shoot first and let others clean up the mess later. This especially stood out for me in 303 Creative, a case where it was striking how much more legalistic Justice Sotomayor's dissent was compared to Justice Gorsuch's majority opinion. The former, whether one agrees with the result or not, worked through the relevant First Amendment doctrine via the same methodology I'd teach my students -- explaining the relevant doctrinal framework, explaining why this case falls into a particular part of the framework, and explaining the implications thereof. The majority opinion was basically an abstract ode to the importance of free expression but skipped past significant swaths of the seemingly essential legal analysis (often by vague gestures at party "stipulations" or just treating as gospel certain holdings of the Tenth Circuit). It was hard to escape the sense that the nitty-gritty details of Lorie Smith's case were not at all what interested the majority, and so they were disinclined to spend significant time on them. They wanted to make a big statement about the interplay of free speech and anti-discrimination law, so that's where they devoted their attention. 

From that vantage, the fact that Lorie Smith's case may not have been the cleanest vehicle isn't really all that important. Of course, from the vantage of lower courts trying to figure out what the hell 303 Creative actually means, it's extremely important, because nobody actually knows the concrete rule that 303 Creative is actually establishing, and the blurry fact pattern means that trying to infer it from Lorie Smith's situation is a doomed initiative. But again, that's someone else's mess to deal with. I honestly believe that the Justices in the 303 Creative majority did not care if Lorie Smith, personally, deserves the exemption from anti-discrimination law under the doctrine that will eventually lay out. What they cared about is being decisive in defending the existing of these exemptions in concept. Lorie Smith just had the good fortune to be the next case in line that could be plucked onto the docket.

I've written before of the Machiavellian character of the current Supreme Court, specifically, it's absorption of Machiavelli's advice to tyrants: that they should take their big oppressive swings early, in full force, and all at once. You won't gain any advantage from dragging things out, and you'll probably get credit if you cut back later. And the repeated pattern we've seen is of the Court taking these huge right-wing swings that delight conservatives on the level of ideology, but without much care for how they can be operationalized as a workable legal doctrine, and leaving it lower courts to clean up its mess. And to give an inch of silver lining, there is the chance (this follows from Machiavelli too) that as that "mess" resolves itself the Court will then quietly file down some of the roughest edges. The Bruen decision, which reads as a right-wing ideological fantasy document but which has unleashed utter chaos in lower courts, may be an example if the Court uses the Rahimi case to cut back the most extreme interpretations. Take the big swing, make the chest-out assertion of insisting that no amount of public necessity can weigh against robo-originalism, and then later on at their discretion maybe pick and choose a few morsels to dial back on and claw back some legitimacy.

But nonetheless, it really is striking the degree to which the conservative legal movement just no longer cares that much about the law. As a law professor, it makes for depressing teaching. As a citizen, it makes for depressing living. Just depression all around.

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/03PY6Qg

[melanie-ohara]

See How Deep the Bullet Lies - Chapter 2

Whumpuary2024, Day 26 - Prompt: "I'm Fine"

Shepard says she's fine. Liara believes she could be, eventually

AO3 Here

Shepard sat on the couch and watched the clouds of stars drift by out of the observation window. Thessia was far behind now, not even visible as a black dot against the sun without a scope. Joker had dropped them out of FTL for a silent-running approach to the system's relay so they could slink away with their tail between their legs. Shepard wondered why the Reapers didn't have better active scanners - even with their heat sinks active, there must be a way for a race as advanced as the machines to locate them against the background of space. Maybe they just didn't think the Normandy was worth it. 

Behind her the door opened, and Shepard couldn't help but tense. 

"I thought I locked that," she said. 

"You did." It was Liara. "EDI told me where you were."

"I was hoping to be left alone," Shepard said, trying not to sound annoyed and failing. 

"You have a cabin for that," she replied. 

Shepard could have locked herself in her room, it was true. Liara knew the door code, but it would have been easy enough to change it for a few hours. But she needed to be down there, on the crew deck, where she could still hear people going about their duties around her. A reminder that life went on.

"Okay," Shepard said, blowing out a breath and getting to her feet so she could face Liara. "What's up?"

Her eyes were still red from crying and she hadn't fixed her running eyeliner yet, but she shook her head. "Not me, Shepard," Liara said. "I'm worried about you."

"Liara, you just lost your planet ."

She shrugged. "You first."

Shepard looked away. If Liara felt guilty for collapsing into her bed and sobbing for her lost world when Earth was occupied too, she'd never forgive herself. It didn't matter that it felt like every Reaper on her planet was standing on her chest, she still couldn't resent Liara for her own grief. 

"EDI said your metabolics - "

"More stress than the Skyllian Blitz," Shepard interrupted, "I know. Joker…" she stopped. She regretted their argument almost as much as she regretted not putting a bullet in that smug assassin's head, but he'd shut her out of the cockpit for now. It was technically against every rule in the book, but she let it slide because she deserved it. "He mentioned it. And if EDI has concerns about my health," she said, raising her voice and glaring around the room for the invisible sensors the AI used, "she can talk to me herself."

Now that she had a body, it was a little strange to hear her voice through the speakers. "I believed it would be more productive if an organic member of the crew attempted the conversation," she said. Shepard was getting better at reading the subtle emotions in her clipped tone, but she refused to recognise the care in it now. "Especially one with whom you share an emotionally significant bond."

Liara blushed, and Shepard jabbed a finger at what she hoped was a camera. "EDI, I'm fine." She moved her finger. "Liara, I am fine . Please will you both just leave me alone for an hour?"

Liara shook her head sadly. "Shepard, you're not fine," she said. "You haven't been for a long time."

Shepard rolled her eyes and took a few steps towards her. "Yes, I really am," she said, and reached out to grip Liara gently by the shoulders. "It's just a little stress, that's all."

"The last time you were even nearly this stressed you got shot in the head," Liara pointed out, reaching a hand up to cup her face. Shepard felt her tracing the path of the scar carved into her skin. "And we haven't even talked about this scar," she whispered.

Shepard broke away as fast as she could without scaring Liara and stomped over the window. She could see Liara in the reflection, her skin freckled with stars. "What about it?" she said, coldly. 

Liara quickly wiped her eyes with the pad of her thumb, thinking Shepard couldn't see. "When you came to Illium, it was gone. And then you came to see me on your way back to Earth, and it was back. I checked it against old images, Shepard, I know it's not the same scar."

Shepard shrugged. "I had it put back." 

Liara came up behind her, but didn't reach out yet. "If it was done surgically, it would match exactly."

"Thane - " Shepard started, and then stopped when a lump rose into her throat. She coughed to clear it and shuffled her weight, and then froze when the back of Liara's hand brushed against her own.

"You had him recreate the scar, I know," Liara said softly. "A person who's fine wouldn't have someone cut their face open, Shepard. Even if by someone they love."

Shepard opened her mouth - not exactly to protest, but to justify herself: the two years they spent apart had changed Liara until she was almost unrecognisable, Shepard had been scared and hurting and desperate for a kind of affection Liara had closed herself off from, and - 

"Don't," Liara told her, her fingers clinging to the edge of Shepard's palm. "Don't diminish what he meant to you. You loved Thane, and if things had been different, I might have loved him with you," she said. "You know that." 

Shepard sighed. "I know." It would be easier if she hadn't. His death wouldn't hurt so much, and her recreated scars would mean a little bit less. "I'm fine. At least, enough to fight this war."

"Is that all that matters?" Liara asked. She was looking at her through the reflection in the observation window, her eyes wide and wet and so blue Shepard thought they looked like twin supernovas in the distance. 

She looked into those supernova eyes until she had to blink. "What else is there?"

Liara curled her arm around Shepard's and pressed against her side. Shepard stood fast against the weight of her, feeling that unless she remained a bulwark she might just fall apart. 

"There's us," Liara offered after a moment. 

Shepard tilted her head. "There's no us if we don't fight."

"I'm not saying we roll over for the Reapers," Liara said. "Just that there's more to life than this war."

"I know," Shepard said. "There is. But - "

"Hush," Liara breathed. "Just be with me, for a moment."

Shepard waited for the tingle at the edges of her consciousness, but Liara didn't try to initiate a meld. It was for the best, she thought, what was in her mind at the moment wasn't something she wanted the woman she loved to see. She wondered if something similar was happening in Liara's head too. The things Shepard had thought about as the Normandy rabbitted to Earth weren't worth ever contemplating again, and she couldn't imagine Liara's thoughts were as peaceful as she was trying to be. 

They were trapped in an unending nightmare, and Shepard had been fighting non-stop for six years. But the view out of the window was endless calm, and Liara was beautiful and loved her. The moment they were sharing was an island, and Shepard wanted to take refuge from the stormy sea there. She wasn't fine, but she could be okay for now. 

With a sigh, she laid her head against Liara's crest and relaxed into her body. 

[chaifootsteps]

Ok from what i got this episode was bad but like. In a boring way? Like its the same problems we got accustomed to yk? But mostly, this episode feels incredibly useless in the """scope"" of all things (not like season 2 has a plan of some kind) why are we talking about fizz? Wouldnt it make more sense after him and blitz being pals again, an episode with barbie? No? Ok, my bad, i forgot that women cant have shit here and they "aint even funny"

Yeah, it added nothing in the grand scheme of things, but everything in terms of "Vivzie likes Fizz and this entire show is Vivzie playing with her dolls poorly while we watch."

[yumestar19]

Black Butler X Splatoon 3 Headcanons

Ciel Phantomhive

Preferred Weapon Type: Shooters

Main Weapon: Splattershot

Favourite Mode: Splat Zones

Sebastian Michaelis

Preferred Weapon Type: Dualies

Main Weapon: Jet Squelcher/Dark Tetra Dualies

Favourite Mode:

He is the one everyone is the most scared of and he is indeed pretty above average, being damn fast, not missing a shot and handling the battlefield like a master of situations, buuuut... As long as Ciel gives him orders from behind, he cannot put his full potential to use.

If he loses a battle, it is only because the referee cat distracted him.

He forgets to press continue at least once per session because he can't get enough of the cat.

In the lobby he hangs out near the cat every time, watching it and wishing to touch its fluffy paws, then realising it's just a game and getting depressed.

He loves Splatoon 3 for the sole reason that it has cats as referees.

Elisabeth Midford

Preferred Weapon Type: Brellas/Dualies

Main Weapon:

Upon seeing her low rank, you are going to assume she's a total noob and doesn't move the team forward, but then surprise, she's the one who leads everyone to victory, slaughtering one by one and competing even with Grell.

She's actually a pacifist, but Splatoon 3 makes her forget all morals and good manners, mercilessly killing players who are just standing around or swimming up the walls.

She is a team player, shielding her teammate and rushing to their rescue, but she is also great at solo.

When Ciel is near, her skills are skyrocketing. If Ciel is killed, you have hopelessly gotten yourself in a deadly situation, because she will go berserk, wiping out the entire opponent's team.

Edward Midford

Preferred Weapon Type: Brushes

Main Weapon:

Favourite Mode:

He is relatively average, a little less good compared to Lizzy, Sebastian and Ciel, but does his job decently. However, if you kill his sister, then running away won't help you anymore, because he chases you all over the field and won't rest until he slaughters you. Probably dies as well during the attempt, but he doesn't care, as long as the opponents dead

Also, he gets absolutely pissed if the opponent kills him before he could take revenge

One of his strategies is to hide behind his sister's shield and then race fast behind the enemy and finish them off. This won't work every time.

Mey-Rin

Preferred Weapon Type: Chargers

Main Weapon: E-liter 4K Scope

Favourite Mode: Turf War/Anarchy Battles

She is the incredibly talented sniper that you won't notice until the very moment you die. Always changing positions and never staying in one spot for too long, she's hard to kill and even harder to avoid. She can wipe out an entire team and protect the base like no one else. However, if you manage to get close, she struggles with her short weapon range and easily gets killed. Her skills also vary depending on the stage.

Bardroy

Preferred Weapon Type: Blasters/Splatlings

Main Weapon: Range Blaster

Favourite Mode: Turf War/Rainmaker

Finnian

Preferred Weapon Type: Sloshers

Lau

Preferred Weapon Type: Stringers

Main Weapon: Tri-Stringer

Favourite Mode:

He would actually be useful in battle IF he wouldn't

Grelle Sutcliffe

Preferred Weapon Type: Splatanas

Main Weapon: Splatana Stamper

Favourite Mode: Anarchy Battles

William T. Spears

Preferred Weapon Type: Chargers

Main Weapon: Snipewriter 5H

Favourite Mode: Tower Control/Salmon Run

Ronald Knox

Preferred Weapon Type: Rollers

Main Weapon: Dynamo Roller

Favourite Mode: Clam Blitz/Splat Zones

He abuses the boyaah-button far too much

Undertaker

Preferred Weapon Type: Shooters

Main Weapon: N-Zap '85

Favourite Mode: Turf War

In General

For absolutely no canonical reason: if Mey-Rin and William were to fight each other, it would be an extreme battle between two professional chargers. It would be difficult to judge which of them would win.