#both dads served the army and are both dead

[calkestis]

i've just seen episode 9 of andor and i am physically shaking and just crying.

i am from eastern europe. romania, to be precise. i was lucky enough to be born after the revolution in 1989, which ended our communist rule. but my parents were alive. my dad was serving in the military, he was only 19. in our revolution, people died because some commanders from the army ordered them to shoot. it didn't matter that people protesting in the square didn't have guns - they had to fire. the dictator ran from bucharest, but that didn't stop them. no. for days, the army didn't even know who they were fighting - my dad was lucky to have a superior who just kept them on hold, who didn't ordered random fire. i keep thinking that it saved his life. you'd hear occasional gunshots, but they didn't know who was firing or from where. the state narrative afterwards was that it was "terrorists" - my dad laughs at that. no, it was fucking extremist groups with decision power trying keep my country in the dark and rule it - the king is dead, long live the king, as they say.

to see everything in palmo square is to be reminded of where my nation comes from and how much these bastards - some of them still in power - hurt it. and the good people who wanted a better future. it hit home in ways i didn't believe would be possible.

and especially now, when these days we're electing a new president. you know where this is going - we have to choose between a good, honest man and a fascist. in the first round, 41% of the people voted for the fascist. we're trying to fight this - the r*ssian and am*rican interference, the disinformation, the propaganda, the "tiktok" campaign. i guess this episode was both a reminder and a motivation - of how bad things can become and that we have to keep fighting, however we can, while we still can, to prevent that from happening. i hope we'll manage. rebellions are built on hope.

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

i literally spend at least 2 hours a week just looking at various pictures of the terracotta army. utterly entranced. look at the details in the hair. you'd never see ANY of this when they're lined up in formation, but they're there.  

theres about 8000 of these guys down there, no two faces are alike. they're works of art. they're the manifestation of a cruel despot's delusions of grandeur. a talisman against the terrible inevitability of death, both pathetic and strangely pitiful. like watching a child clinging to his blanket, begging you not to turn off the light. they were a bunch of insignificant clay statues from a side chamber that was so small and unremarkable, no one bothered to write down the location. they were modelled after real people. their only purpose was to serve qin shi huang in the afterlife, so he could reign in heaven as he did on earth. now the emperor is just a ghost and his pawns are immortal. my dad and i visited them in the dead of winter, on a weekday, just so we wouldn't have to deal with tourists like us. the place had easily 500 people--not including the ones below ground. we traveled to xian via the old "green skin" diesel train. there are faster means, like highspeed rail but dad insisted i try the authentic way, the same way he would have traveled when he was my age it was also like, a quarter of the price but im sure that had nothing to do with it! back in the 80s carriages would get so packed people had to have their luggage passed in via the windows. as we chugged along, i read my book and my dad made us cup noodles. car is just a shortened version of "carriage", the word is the same but the mechanism is different. it's the same in chinese. i think if i told someone from the warring states period i could travel from the Kingdom of Qi to Qin in just four hours with my metal carriage, i'd be laughed out of town--or accused of being a spy and sentenced to 'death by carriage.' we hopped off the train at 4am and took a different "carriage." the taxi driver joked; "basically every dynasty put their capital in xian, stick a shovel anywhere and you'll turn up some national treasure or another." i wonder what it would have felt like to be a farmer digging a well and then out pops a remarkably realistic human head. statistical analysis show the soldier's faces bear a strong similarity to people living in the region today. the taxi stopped in front of a jewellery-hawking tourist trap and refused budge an inch until we went inside. did you know the terracotta soldiers were originally multi-coloured and painfully gaudy, just like the greek marbles? they were made assembly-line style. the arms and legs were made from the same workshops that made clay plumbing pipes and roof tiles. for quality control, the artisans were required to stamp their names. the workers who built these tombs were executed shortly afterwards, because only dead men can be trusted with secrets. qin shi huang's mausoleum is unlikely to be excavated in my father's lifetime, or mine, not unless i'm willing to take a BIG ONE for the team... instead of the tomb, they built some kind of qin shi huang-themed theme park next to it. not only was it tacky as hell the entrance fee was like $50. we went to the museum and i looked at bronze tools and pottery shards for three hours. look why can't we just crack the thing open i can't be the only one here whos dying from curiosity what if we all just took turns digging

[fandomloreblog]

⚔️ DARKCOM Elite Ops Headcanons ⚔️

CAPCOM refused to feed us, so I’m doing it myself and giving the 4 unnamed DARKCOM members lore and backstory. God works fast, but a possibly autistic trans dude works faster. Please reblog or comment your own additions, or tag me in fics/works y’all make so I can see what everyone else thinks!

Warnings: Mentions of dead/shitty family members.

Sentry: Annette Rhodes Jr.

Annette is 27 but was actually the first of the group to join DARKCOM. She joined as an IT specialist after college, but a demon broke out of holding, which allowed her superiors to see her field capabilities. She was then scouted out as an Intelligence Officer for various units before being promoted to Elite Ops.

The only girl of 5 children, so she got spoiled and protected a lot by both her parents and brothers. However, brothers are of course, brothers, and taunted and bullied each other, so she has some tough skin.

Her name is from her Mom, Annette Rhodes Sr. It’s a family tradition for them that the firstborn daughters are named Annette.

The fastest out of the main group, despite mostly being a recon, R&D and intelligence.

Since she’s indoors and stuck researching most of the time, she’s become addicted to reality tv and cheesy drama shows. She can recite basically an episode from the week’s roster of shows from memory.

Extremely good and protective over the team’s weaponry and vehicles. What work time she spends not in research or operations, she’s busy developing new weapons and vehicles. She can (and will) have a lecture prepared whenever someone (usually King) breaks them.

Got her code name “Sentry” for staring at a singular demon they had in interrogation for 7 hours straight. She wanted to see if it could shape shift (it could. She stopped when it did).

Patriot: Boston Peyton-Ross

Boston is 34, the oldest of the Elite Ops gang, he joined DARKCOM 3-ish months after Annette. He enlisted as a ground soldier after his wife was kidnapped by a cult and murdered, all for summoning demons. His skills and determination had him promoted to Elite Ops first, however.

Grew up with a working mom and a SAHD. He has two younger sisters and a few nieces and nephews. Came from a standard White Pickett Fence neighborhood where the kids played outdoors and had weekly barbecues.

Was actually the nerd in school. Earned salutatorian and a US Army Scholarship to Harvard, where he got a degree in History.

He was actually former Army (joined at 18 to pay for his college), where he served multiple tours before retiring in his 20’s to become a teacher in the suburbs. Enlisted in DARKCOM after his wife died.

Reluctant dad figure. Singlehandedly kept most of the group from eating each other when angry (mostly Mary and King).

History nerd (He taught 7th Grade History for a bit). Knows basically everything that happened to the US since its founding. Can and will nerd out about the founding fathers and explain which of them should’ve gotten a musical as well.

He once went on a 30-minute rant about the War of 1812 and how dumb it was. That was how he got the nickname “Patriot”.

Served as a tactician and breacher, basically the “kick down doors” guy who also plans how to kick down said doors.

Despite everything, he’s extremely mild-mannered and chill. Lots of dad energy, ironically.

King: Javier “JJ” Ramirez

JJ’s 24, the youngest of the DARKCOM group, both in age and years served. He enlisted in DARKCOM as a way to get out of jail earlier.

Javier got the nickname JJ due to his full name- Javier Joaqín Ramirez. He shortened his name into JJ as a kid because he liked it better, and nowadays only gets called Javier by his closest friends.

He was raised by his uncle after his parents were arrested, getting into trouble and shoplifting. Ended up getting kicked out at 15 onto the streets until he got arrested and enlisted into DARKCOM in exchange for getting his record cleared with no jail time. Doesn’t have any siblings.

Dyed his hair blonde after his “mentor” figure, an older orphan and fellow pickpocket by the name of Gregory. He was inadvertently shot and killed during a robbery by cops, which is why JJ kept dying his hair after enlisting. A tribute to the one guy who looked out for him.

Serves as a sort of all-rounder for Elite Ops, fighting, recon, interrogation, etc. If you need an extra set of hands, he’s there and raring to go.

Basically knows a guy for everything, and at this point, no one questions how, why, or even if it is legal. He ends up helping Sentry to find a lot of contacts when it comes to finding demons.

Got the nickname King for eating Annette’s King chess pieces when playing against her. She assumed she lost it and forfeited it until he confessed. He is still proud of that, despite everything.

Fell first and fell HARD for Ninja at first sight. Extremely cuddle and touchy when it comes to her.

Ninja: Judith Lawes

Judith’s 26, and joined DARKCOM the same time as Patriot did. She enlisted in Covert Operations, doing stealth missions and less than legal situations before being promoted to Elite Ops.

Grew up with a single mom and a twin brother. Her brother went off to college and got rich, while she stayed behind to take care of their mom. DARKCOM enlisted her in exchange for paying her mom’s medical treatment and care. Doesn’t keep in contact with her brother.

Serves as the main stealth operator, along with a back-up tank. Prides herself in ambush and assassination techniques. Usually what she does is “classified”, courtesy of Baines.

Extreme night owl. Unless required by missions, she’s in her room, curled up with her plushies and snoozing during the day. She’s usually up at night, getting food, working, or just existing.

Extreme video game nerd. Animal Crossing and Pokemon are her favorites, mostly due to the cute creatures which she then gets plushies of.

Fell for King later, and got way too attached. He started gifting her plushies, and it was over from there. She works under the “if anything happened to Javier, I would kill everyone in this room” mentality.

Ninja’s nickname was earned after she singlehandedly jump scared everyone at night at least once. Mary almost sucker punched her, Annette and JJ both screamed like girls, and Patriot just flinched. She was called a Ninja afterwards.

[singlebraincelledgoat]

FSYY concept art

Wanna know what the definition of insanity is? Trying to figure out what over 350+ characters look like in an ancient Chinese novel cause oh my god why are there so many characters how did anyone keep track of them

Anyways, I’m slowly but surely making it down the roster

Starting with one of my niche favorites from this novel, Lei Zhenzi. That one guy who ate the apricots that happened to turn you into a thunder bird

In a lot of modern adaptations, he’s more monstrous in his looks and personality. I’ve watched a movie where he was basically China’s version of the Hulk (it’s called The First Myth Clash of Gods. Not the best movie but it’s a huge guilty pleasure to me I love it lol)

He’s not like that in the book at all, in fact he’s kinda a fail girl in my eyes. I wanted to lean towards an interpretation where he may be this huge bird person (I’d imagine he towers over most of the other generals. Maybe like 6’8-7ft tall), but he’s still a little self conscious about it all. He can’t get around without making at least one stranger panicked at the sight of him. He was a person at birth, but his circumstances have completely changed everything

Also, I think he has the most underrated power concepts. I wanted to base him off of paragon falcons because imagine this guy diving straight at you at 240 mph with a trail of lightning behind him. I think a lot of Shang soldiers have described him as a sentient lightning bolt with how quick he is

Next is the Huang family! Which have more people so this yap session is gonna be way longer. Buckle up lol

I always saw Huang Feihu as this serious and commanding general, but he’s also that sweet old guy who’d drop the hardest wisdom when you needed it. It’s what makes him really generally well liked

Like when NeZha rescues him and his family, he expresses a lot of subtle gratitude to this stranger that just saved his family’s lives. NeZha, a little unused to this kind of affection, brushes it off initially. But it leaves a lasting impression that eventually leads to him really connecting with the rest of the family

Feihu really be pulling his weight as a single dad of 4 + NeZha /j

I know Lady Jia narratively serves as motivation for the Huang family to rebel, but if there’s one thing I’m known for it’s giving female characters all my attention like they deserve

I think Lady Jia is a foil to her husband. Where he was serious but sweet, she was sweet but serious. Always polite and quiet, but was very stubborn and more prideful. You could not get her to do something she didn’t want to

All their kids got their mother’s pride, especially after her death. Imagine being TianXiang, about 7 at the time, suddenly being thrusted into rebellion and grieving the lost of his mom. TianXiang stronger than me, I would not have survived

I was listening to the Ithica saga when I made these concepts, so I may have had a few EPIC Telemechus thoughts put onto him lol. TianXiang mainly takes after his dad, carrying a much stronger empathy that stems from him. He was a kid, so he did kid shenanigans even in the Zhou camps and any neighboring villages. But he’s got his father’s charm, how could you say no to him? Especially with everything going on

As for TianHua, he takes after his mom mainly. A prideful hothead who wants to do great things. I got a little confused about his origin in the translation I read, but I think he was taken away from his family by his master when he was like 3. Which means he never got a chance to connect with his mom as when he joins the rebellion she was long dead (oough imagine how jarring it was for him to come back only to be the brother that most resembles their mom)

Ultimately, their pride and emotions were what lead to the Huang family’s downfall. TianHua, in his pride and stubbornness to fight, ignores his master’s warning of his fate. His father and brothers next, fighting both the Shang army and their own grief over loosing another family member. And finally TianXiang, his pride to his family making him unwilling to acknowledge the Shang dynasty. Plus, he’s the last living member of his family, what is there to loose?

God this bloodline is so doomed…

I was gonna yap more about them all but I think I’ve already written a lot lmao. Maybe I’ll save some of those thoughts for another post

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

Happy Friday! We’re trying something new here, which is posting some of my background head canons that underpin my Rohan fics, starting with How Does Rohan’s Military Work?

—The éored is the basic unit of Rohan’s army, and éoreds are geographically organized. Each town or settlement should have at least one (larger towns/cities have more than one), drawing from the population of that town and the surrounding lands. If a particular area does not have a sufficient population to sustain an independent éored, adjoining communities pool together. One éored = 120 riders in full status.

—Some of the éoreds trace their history back to the time of Eorl and the first arrival of the Rohirrim in Rohan. Others are newer, added as the population increased over time and the army needed to expand. They have distinctive personalities/cultures based on local conditions and their leaders, and some are specialized in particular skills (the mountain-based éoreds, for example, excel at cold-weather combat).

—Every year, the 15-year-olds of each community are put through an apprenticeship in the basic skills needed to be an effective éored member: horsemanship, weapons usage, basic military strategy. (Many of the teens are already fairly proficient riders and fighters because they learn from their parents, but that’s informally done. Some of the dads go full on Stage Parent (Stable Parent?) in terms of trying to make sure their kid is way better than everyone else, and this can cause resentment/estrangement as it does in the real world.)

—The whole apprenticeship/qualification process is overseen by a senior leader of the local éored whose job is selection and training of new members (the “skill master”). The apprenticeship culminates in a qualification test at the end of the year. Those who meet the standards are appointed junior members of that community’s éored. In towns with multiple éoreds, the skill masters run the process collectively and decide how to divide the qualifying members between them.

—If you fail to qualify, you can try again in a future year. Those who pass spend the next few years continuing to learn at the side of their éored-mates. Each éored’s captain decides when a junior member has sufficiently developed to be given full rider status.

—There are a number of official jobs within each éored that have leadership status. These include skill master, horse master, weapons master, banner bearer and captain (the official title of an éored’s captain is “marshal” but that can be confusing in light of the other, higher position of Marshal of the Mark, so I’m just using captain here). These positions are filled from within each éored whenever they become vacant due to death, retirement, etc.

—Moving between éoreds is extremely rare and generally only happens when the population change in an area requires a reordering of the éoreds (adding or subtracting). This is because members want to stay close to their original geographic base (this is where their families’ ancestral lands are, after all) and also because it’s better for group cohesion to keep consistent memberships.

—Each éored has a specific tattoo design that all members get on their shoulder or bicep when first appointed. The designs vary widely, but they’re meant to be small and relatively simple. These serve both to reinforce group cohesion and also as a means of non-written identification for dead or wounded soldiers (i.e., a dead soldier can be returned to his people based on his éored mark even if the deceased is unknown to the person finding the body).

—In Edoras, Helm’s Deep and Aldburg, there is one specific éored each that is designated to the service of a Marshal of the Mark (First/King’s Marshal in Edoras, Second/West-mark Marshal in Helm’s Deep and Third/East-mark Marshal in Aldburg). These are generally given the strongest and best rider candidates from their cities each year, and they are viewed as more prestigious than the other éoreds.

—Because almost all éored leadership is promoted from within but the Marshals of the Mark are chosen from across Rohan, getting appointed to one of the Marshal of the Mark positions is one of the only ways that anyone moves between éoreds (beyond those specified above based on population changes). If you are one of those people, you would then have multiple éored tattoos. To avoid confusion, some defining mark is made to clarify which is current (a line through the old one, or some extra distinguishing feature added to the new one).

—Any other movement between éoreds not covered above can only be done with the consent of the presiding Marshal of the Mark, and approval is given in only the most unique circumstances.

—Edit: Should have made this clearer initially: The captain of each éored has a lot of autonomy over their own crew (though in cities with more than one, the senior captain plays a coordinating role among them). But formally they take direction from the relevant Marshal of the Mark, and those 3 take direction from the king.

So, there it is. I’m posting this on the suggestion of the lovely @sotwk and I picked this topic to start because it’s one that she and I have been discussing (also, I found my Google doc with all the details so this is a more coherent laying out of things than what I pulled from the top of my head earlier!).

I love ALL of this stuff and am not offended at all by people who have diverging or conflicting ideas so please feel free to share if anyone is so inspired!

[styrmwb]

Rambling About Magic the Gathering X Final Fantasy - Final Fantasy XV

Card game with the boys!!!! It's time to look at XV's cards.

Coeurl

It's been so long since I've played XV that I forgot Coeurls were in it, but regardless, they do the same thing all the time and that's Blaster to paralyze!! Really simple yet perfect execution by tapping something.

From Father to Son

Without the FF context, this is really funny. MtG card of your dad giving you a car. I really like this art; look at both Regis and Noctis smiling over this, they love each other.

Magitek Infantry

This is a WONDERFUL "fill out the generic mook army" card, cause that's EXACTLY what it is. I love the endless nature of the art, and it's really cool that it gets stronger with others, as well as the ability to summon them. Awesome card.

Sidequest: Catch a Fish/Cooking Campsite

I love the Sidequests so much, and Noct fishing deserves a slot in that; especially since it leads into Camping, the 6th main character of FFXV (after the boys and the car). I'm also very happy to see that Duscae background, since it's the nicest part of the map.

Summon: Leviathan

Out of any Leviathan to pick, I think the XV one was the right play. I love how her first attack is LITERALLY a tidal wave, knocking back all non sea monsters; and the ward is like a watery shield. Having that classic japanese look for the alt art makes me very happy.

Ardyn, the Usurper

Look at this smug motherfucker, getting 3 cards and they all look awesome; though I'm partial to the main one. I really like how the Starscourge effect corrupts creatures; where he then empowers them. Really cool adaptation.

Malboro

Like Leviathan, they could have gone with many Malboros, but XV was the right play, considering the boss fight (and when it happens!). I almost argue that bad breath should do MORE, but that's already so much, and I love it. Look how stinky and gross it looks.

Prompto Argentum

His flavor text should have been "Oh hi there, opening!" That line lives in my head. Something I really like about Prompto here is that he's the only member of the boys to not be multicolor; which feels like some kind of nod to the fact that he isn't royalty/royalty adjacent, he's just a normal guy. Also, I LOVE his art being his own selfie.

Ancient Adamantoise

GIANT TURTLE!!! This dude is in a way what Yiazmat could have been, but I absolutely love how you plop this fucking wall of meat down and your opponents have to SLOWLY whittle it down. Then of course, when it's dead, you get a shit ton of treasure from defeating a superboss! This is an awesome card.

Gigantoad

I think I need to replay XV cause I don't remember ANY of the enemies being in it. It's a toad for sure! You could convince me that this is a normal Magic card.

Summon: Titan

Yeah if it wasn't XIV or XVI, XV is the Titan to go with. I think his effect of bringing BACK lands is really interesting, and not something I've ever seen before. This really does feel like a god of earth.

Gladiolus Amicitia

I feel like Gladio looks. Too small. In the frame. Prompto, can you get a little closer, please? I was confused on his effect at first until I read The Internet, which made me realize: he's searching for lands cause he's the guy that sets up the campsite! Really cool. Then of course he's meaty as fuck to be a proper Shield.

Ignis Scientia

I can't believe Ignis kills that creature and serves it to you. Amazing. Ignis is usually just "the cook", which is still is here, but I like the looking at the top 6 cards, cause it feels like he's helping you make a battle plan. Also I want to eat his food, perfectly game accurate art.

Noctis, Prince of Lucis

I really like Noct's effect (and his art, very good glowy bits); he's summoning weapons from the past, and it eats away at his life to do so. This is a really cool way to do Noct's magic, and I think they executed it perfectly.

Instant Ramen

THE ULTIMATE FLAVOR EXPERIENCE

Iron Giant

I REALLY love how the picked the XV Iron Giant, since that's like, the first daemon you'll run into at night and really go "OH SHIT WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT". It's one of those enemies that could have gone anywhere, but this is the one that I think has a proper emotional connection, at least for me.

The Regalia

Here's the 5th main character. It makes me realize that XV's cards do have a gimmick, and that's new lands; which is perfect. You're going on a road trip! You're discovering new places! They somehow adapted XV's core gameplay in the cards.

Ring of the Lucii

I mean, yeah. It's a ring. It kills you. It's strong. Perfect execution here. You could also convince me this is a normal Magic card.

Insomnia, Crown City

There's no other place they could have picked (well, there is, but come on). I think the white/black color really fits Insomnia; it's home, but it's night. I like it, and I love the art.

Plains

For XV's generic land, we have Leide, which I wouldn't pick anything else. Sure, it's a plain, but it's also where you start (and end) the best road trip in gaming. I get teary eyed looking at it.

Cid, Timeless Artificer

Look at grandpa here. I'm honestly surprised Cindy didn't make a background cameo, considering she's just as much the Cid of XV as Cid is.

XV has 20 out of 309 cards, representing 6.4% of the set. I think more of the games should be like how they did XV. You got your core party, your bad guy, some iconic gameplay scenes/story bits, some good monsters, and some funnies. Sure, there could be more, but generally, I'm quite happy with XV's representation.

Things I would have added: Lunafreya and Aranea. At LEAST Luna. They're very cool characters, and honestly, a little more cool girl representation is always appreciated. I also would have really liked that final campfire scene to get art, but I have no idea how it would be a card.

[staletobacco]

-CHARACTER SHEET FOR RPING-

Name: Karl Volker Heisenberg.

-ABOUT-

*Age: About 120-ish, but appearance-wise, he looks to be about in his late 40s to early 50s. *Species: Was once Human but forced to be a Bio-Weapon. Y’know how that goes. *Gender/Sex/Pronouns: Male (He/Him). *Sexual Orientation: Bisexual. *Religious Beliefs: He used to be a religious guy, but due to obvious circumstances- he lost his faith. *Accent: He has a Trans-Atlantic American accent when he shows off, but that true German accent does slip out on choice words or moments. *Occupation: Engineer first, Lord second and he absolutely loathes it.

-APPEARANCE-

*Height: 5’11. *Weight: 215. *Body Build: The man’s got a dad bod. He is heavy set with a hardy build. *Eye Color: When human- he had hazel eyes. As a Mutant- they are grey. *Hair Color: Mousey brown silvering grey. *Hair Style: Chin length mop that curls a bit. Though, when he was younger, he was more clean cut. *Glasses: He wears brown shades; his eyes are extremely sensitive to the light- this is especially present after he Turned. *Distinguishing Marks: He possesses quite a few scars upon his body- more notably his face and upper body due to the experiments from Miranda, the Lycans, and his hellish creations.

Heisenberg as a human didn’t have the best eyesight. Though once Turned, the reason why his eyes shifted from hazel to grey and why they became extremely sensitive to any kind of light was due to the fact that he was dead for sometime before he came to. Because of this- they have difficulty in how they retract properly. This is partly why he wears his hat. Overtime, both the hat and the glasses served as a bit of a shield for Karl in his youth- not possessing a poker face so to say. Karl can contain his expressions better now than in his youth, but he still has nonverbal ways with which he expresses something he disagrees with.

-PERSONALITY-

Despite the showy and grandiose act- Heisenberg is very much an introspective character who has the absolute WORSE case of emotional constipation that one could have. He doesn’t like sitting with his emotions if he can help it- regularly expressing this through his work and his creations. He is a sarcastic son of a bitch.

Karl has a complicated relationship to the Village he had grown up in as he has his hands in creating an army from the very people he’s known from another time. Oftentimes, when he has a subject on his operating table- he can tell by facial features who this person favored back in his human days and lineage without knowing the name. It’s not something he enjoys knowing; but it should be noted here that he doesn’t view its residence with any kind of sympathy either. He often compares the villagers to ants or livestock due to their blind faith, ignorance to the bigger picture, and simply because of how they are used for Miranda’s experiments and the other Lords' entertainment. The army he builds is for selfish gain- not for its people. Because of this- Karl is pretty reclusive. He is secretly sentimental.

One of the reasons he wears gloves is because with his ability to manipulate metal, he also has a form of psychometry when an object containing metal comes in physical contact with him. It’s important to note that this form of psychometry only works retroactively, though.

He often keeps a lot of Schorl (Black Tourmaline) in his possession as they act as batteries for his work due to their strange but true piezoelectric and pyroelectric characteristics.

-HEALTH-

*Illnesses: He’s got achy bone disease and he’s bitter (jk- but he does experience chronic pain since he’s Turned). *Sleeping Habits: Nonexistent. This man has the most atrocious sleeping schedule you have ever seen. He can hibernate under the right circumstances. *Unhealthy Habits: He eats steel nails for breakfast (jk jk)- he smokes and drinks; but the effects of them doesn’t really do anything for him due to his biology. *It’s very possible he has a bit of cabin fever.

-POWERS AND ABILITIES-

*Metal Manipulation. *Electromagnetism Manipulation. *Tactile Retrocognition. *Impressive Strength but not Super Strength (a weaker form). *Quick Heal. *Tetanus immune. *Can handle toxic metals such as mercury with no harm or issue. *No Nickel allergies (jokes). *Heightened hearing and sense of smell.

-WEAKNESS AND LIMITATIONS- *His own emotions. *His pride. *His ego. *His sleep schedule. *Achy bone disease. *Light and Light Manipulation. *Extreme Temperatures. *Any damage to his Electric Organs. *Sudden and extreme damage. *Corrosives/Caustic attacks (such as acid rain). *Limited social interactions.

-FEARS- *Loss of control or autonomy. *Immortality. *Claustrophobic.

-THINGS THAT BRING HIM JOY- *Cigars. *Maple sweets. *The smell of Pine. *Animals (despite the fact that not many want to hang around him due to them sensing his modified biology). *Practicality. *New saw blades or grit. *Folk music. *Potatoes. *Crafting. *Whittling. *Stones such as Black Tourmaline and Quartz. *Storms but not Sturm (what a fucking failure).

-FRIENDS/ALLIES- *The Duke. *Donna Beneviento. *A Villager’s cat who likes to wander on his grounds he calls “Zahnrad” (Gear). *Maybe your OC/choosen character? *Maybe Ethan Winters?

An excerpt of my RP style:

~*~

“-apples?” “Yeah, you heard me right.” He stated- granted his voice sounded more muffled by the amount of cotton he had stuffed up his nostrils.

With the Engineer wiping his hands dry, he tried to adjust the receiver of the telephone on his shoulder. He knew the reception was shit in this part of his factory. Though, as soon as he noticed it and was irritated by it; the calls were so few and far between, he packed the mental note for later.

Yet, he kept pushing off. Today was no exception.

“A bushel or…?” The Duke’s easy voice riddled with static trailed off as Heisenberg plucked a hair from his mouth as he turned to look at the autopsied body on his operating table. Thinking.

“Hmmm… For now, a bushel should do; whatever is readily available.” “Very well, Lord Heisenberg- I’ll be sure to add this to your request.” “The hell with it- throw in some carrots too.”

Shortly after wrapping up his order with the Duke and disconnecting the call, Karl dragged himself a seat by the body and sighed. “I’m pretty sure an apple a day wouldn’t have prevented this for you.” He voiced to the crone as she laid motionless; her cloudy eyes staring unfocused to the ceiling above. With a small groan, Karl glanced at the buzzing bulb above him.

He was going to be needing an actual shower after this shit.

From what he had gathered, this disease… was different. For starters, he noticed that nearly every cadaver he had inventoried thus far had at least one or both bloody ear canals. Now granted, ears can bleed after you die and depending on how the body is laid to rot- there is gonna be something more than just ear wax oozing out of someone. But typically, that meant there was a sudden spike in pressure before whatever transpired here. From the more viable subjects, he had dulled a couple saw blades to see if there was any hemorrhaging on the brain and sure enough, there was blood.

What didn’t make sense was the apparent cause. Was there a headache before the brain bleed took place? Were they blowing their nose too hard? Straining way- carrying groceries into their home? Sneezing themself into an aneurysm? There was no bruising for an obvious blunt trauma such as hitting one’s head. There were no signs of overtly any parasites. Las Plagas was pretty notable for these things, but as he was seeing it now- there was no signs of any overt parasitic disease. Was there a fever? He had questions for the living.

Though, when he adjusted his face to the uncomfortable feel of his nose plugs, the Engineer made a soured face.

“God, you fucking stink.”

~*~

If you are interested in RPing with me, shoot me a message or like this post and we can plan something out together! MINORS DNI

[khande11]

Millie Winchester- Season 1

Provenance- 1

Dean was sat with a young woman at the bar, obviously flirting.

"...3-4-2-0." The woman said.

"4-2-0." Dean repeated, typing the numbers into his phone. "All right. You're in there. Perfect. So, is that Brandi with a 'y' or an 'i'?"

Sam and Millie were sat at a table, with Sam reading through newspaper articles and Millie crunching on the pretzels the bar had served her. Sam came across a particularly interesting article and shared it with Millie while he gestured for Dean to join them. Dean held out his hand, asking for his brother to wait, but when he looked up he could see both of his siblings gesturing to him and his smile dropped.

"All right, listen. I got to go. Hold that thought. I'll be right back, okay?" Dean said to the girl, heading over to Sam and Millie with their beers.

"All right, so, I think I got something." Sam said, taking the article back from Millie.

"Oh, yeah, me too." Dean said, looking back at the attractive brunette. "I think we need to take a little shore leave, just a little bit. What do you thing, huh? I'm so in the door with this one here."

"So, what are we today, Dean? Are we rock stars? Are we army ranger?" Sam asked, deadpanned.

"Ooh, I liked the one where we were archaeologists on our way to Egypt and we didn't know when we'd back." Millie grinned.

"Reality TV scouts looking for people with special skills." Dean chuckled. "But, hey, it's not that far off, right? By the way, she's got a friend over there. I can probably hook you up. What do you think?"

"Dean, uh, no thanks. I can get my own dates." Sam said.

"Yeah, you can, but you don't." Dean fired back, causing Millie to give him a warning look.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sam asked. Dean decided to take Millie's warning and drop the subject.

"Nothing."

"Besides, what did you expect me to do?" Millie couldn't help but ask.

"Well, I would have found someone for you, but I thought Matty might get jealous." Dean grinned at his little sister, teasingly.

"Ha, ha." Millie fake laughed.

"Anyway, what do you got?" Dean asked his brother.

"Mark and Ann Telesca of New Paltz, New York, were both found dead in their home just a few days ago. Throats were slit, there no prints, no murder weapons..."

"Dean?" Millie interrupted, seeing her brother getting distracted by the women at the bar.

"No prints, no murder weapons, all doors and windows were locked from the inside." Sam continued.

"Could just be a garden-variety murder, you know, not our department." Dean shrugged.

"No, Dad says different." Millie cut in.

"What do you mean?"

"Look." Millie said, bringing out a map. "Dad noted three murders in the same area of upstate New York. First one, right here, 1912. The second one in 1945, and the third in 1970. The same M.O. as the Telescas- the throats were slit, the houses were locked from the inside."

"Now so much time passed between the murders that nobody checked the pattern except for Dad. He always kept his eyes peeled for another one." Sam added.

"And now we got one. All right. I'm with you. It's worth checking out. We can't pick this up till first thing, though, right?" Dean checked.

"Yeah." Sam and Millie replied, confused.

"Good." Dean nodded, heading back to the bar for the women.

"Dean..." Sam called out.

"Dude." Millie scoffed.

"Ladies, did you miss me?" Dean smiled. "I'm just kidding. Listen, I talked to my producers, and it is looking good."

Sam and Millie couldn't help but chuckle at their brother's flirting techniques and the fact that they were working.

***************

The next day, the Impala was parked outside the Telescas' place, with Dean sleeping in the passenger seat, with his sunglasses on. However, he jumped awake with a yell, when Sam decided to honk the horn. Sam and Millie laughed as they jumped into the car.

"Oh, man, that is so not cool."

"We just swept the Telesca house with the EMF. It's clean." Millie explained, after her giggles stopped.

"And last night, while you were... out..." Sam began, not wanting to talk about his brother's sex life.

"Good times." Dean smirked.

"... I checked the history of the house. No hauntings, no violent crimes, nothing strange about the Telescas themselves, either."

"All right, so if it's not the people and it's not the house, then maybe it's the contents- a cursed object or something." Dean suggested.

"The house is clean." Millie repeated.

"Yeah, I know, you said that."

"No, I mean it's empty. No furniture, nothing." Millie explained.

"Where's all their stuff?" Dean asked.

***************

The Winchesters found themselves parking next to a line of expensive cars. They entered the auction house, where many rich people were observing the items. 

"Silent auctions, estate sales- it's like a garage sale for W.A.S.P.s, if you ask me." Dean complained, as he and Millie reached for the food that had been laid out on the trays.

"Can I help you, gentlemen and miss?" An older man asked them, obviously picking up that they were not from a similar crowd as the people around them. Millie quickly swallowed the mini cheesecake she had in her mouth, while Dean decided to put even more food into his mouth.

"I'd like some champagne, please." Dean ordered, putting on a posh voice despite the fact that he was talking with a bunch of food in his mouth.

"He's not a waiter." Sam snapped, then turned to the man and held out his hand. "I'm Sam Connors."

The man simply looked at Sam's hand, refusing to shake it, causing Sam to pull it back awkwardly. 

"This is my brother, Dean, and my sister, Millie."

"We are art dealers with Connors Limited." Millie added, trying to sound formal.

"You're art dealers?" The man asked, smiling as he obviously didn't believe them.

"That's right." Sam confirmed.

"I'm Daniel Blake. This is my auction house. Now, gentlemen, madam, this is is a private showing, and I don't remember seeing you on the guest list."

"We're there, Chuckles. You just need to take another look." Dean lied, through his teeth and all the food that was still in his mouth. A waiter walked past with a tray of drinks. "Oh, finally."

Dean sniffed the glass, raised his eyebrows, then turned away from Daniel Blake, with Sam and Millie following.

"Cheers." Sam smiled, awkwardly at Daniel, then glared at his brother, while Millie quickly snatched another cheesecake on her way.

The Winchesters made their way around the auction house, trying to find anything suspicious, when they noticed an old painting of a family.

"A fine example of American Primitive, wouldn't you say?" A beautiful, young woman in a black dress asked, as she walked down the stairs. The Winchesters stared at her, and when Sam turned back to the painting, Dean slapped him on the back.

"Well, I'd say it's more Grant Wood than Grandma Moses... but you knew that. You just wanted to see if I did." Sam smirked at the woman, who smiled

"Guilty. And clumsy. I apologise. I'm Sarah Blake." The woman introduced herself.

"I'm Sam. This is my sister, Millie and my... brother, Dean." Sam sighed, noticing Dean stuffing his face with food again.

"Dean. Can we get you some more mini-quiche?" Sarah asked.

"I'm good, thank." Dean smiled, with his cheeks full of food.

"I love your dress." Millie complimented, trying to draw attention away from her older brother, who was not at all trying to fit in with the crowd.

"Thank you. I love your sweater." Sarah smiled, then turned her attention to Sam. "So, can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, actually. What can you tell us about the Telesca estate?" Sam asked.

"The whole thing's pretty grisly if you ask me, selling their things this soon. But Dad's right about one thing- sensationalism brings out the crowds. Even the rich ones."

Millie and Dean watched as Sarah and Sam exchanged smiles. While Dean was confused by it, Millie couldn't stop her grin, happy to see her little brother flirt.

"Is it possible to see the provenances?"

"I'm afraid there isn't any chance of that." Daniel said, as he came up behind Sarah.

"Why not?" Millie asked.

"You're not on the guest list. And I think it's time to leave."

"Well, we don't have to be told twice." Dean mocked, putting on a posh voice.

"Apparently, you do."

"Okay, it's all right." Sam said, trying to diffuse the situation. "We don't want any trouble. We'll go."

Millie led Dean away before he could rile up Mr. Blake again, while Sam and Sarah exchanged a look before he followed his siblings.

"Dad, that was rude." Sarah reprimanded.

***************

"Grant Wood, Grandma Moses?" Dean questioned, as the siblings approached a motel room.

"Art history course. It's good for meeting girls." Sam explained.

"It's like I don't even know you." Dean said, as he unlocked the door.

Inside the room, the décor was like something out of a disco. Their was silver walls, desks, tables. 

"Huh." The three siblings said at the same time, not knowing how else to describe the room.

"And what was the providence?" Dean asked.

"Provenance. It's a certificate of origin, like a biography, you know? We can use them to track the history of the pieces, see if anything's got a freaky past."

"Well, we're not getting anything out of Chuckles." Dean sighed.

"But, uh, Sarah..." Millie grinned, mischievously.

"Yeah. Maybe Dean can get her to write it all down on a cocktail napkin." Sam smirked, causing Millie and Dean to chuckle.

"Not Dean." Millie said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, no, non, no, no. Pickups are your thing, Dean."

"It wasn't my butt she was checking out." Dean retorted.

"In other words, you want me to use her to get information." Sam summed up.

"Sometimes you gotta take one for the team." Dean smirked.

Millie took out her cell phone and handed it to Sam. "Call her."

***************

Millie and Dean were in the motel room, interrogating Sam about his date with Sarah.

"So she just handed the providences over to you." Dean asked.

"Provenances." Sam and Millie corrected.

"Provenances?"

"Yes, we went back to her place. I got a copy of the papers."

"And?" Millie asked, eagerly. After all, she was happy to see her little brother with a crush.

"And nothing. That's it. I left." 

"You didn't have to con her or do any special favours?" Dean asked, causing Sam to look up in frustration, while Millie had a grimace on her face. She was hoping to hear about a kiss, not about her little brother doing... 'favours'.

"Dean, would you get your mind out of the gutter, please?" Sam snapped.

"You know, when this whole thing's done, we could stick around for a little bit." Millie suggested.

"Why?"

"So you could take her out again." Dean explained. "It's obvious you're into her. Even I can see that."

"Hey, all right. I think I got something here." Sam said, changing the subject. Millie and Dean approached Sam as he handed them pieces of papers.

"'Portrait of Isaiah Merchant's family, painted 1910.'" Dean read.

"Now compare the names of the owners with Dad's journal." Sam said. 

Millie put on her glasses to read through the list of victims in the journal, while Dean read the list of owners.

"'First purchased in 1912 to Peter Sims.'" Dean read.

"Peter Sims murdered, 1912." Millie said. She looked back at the list of owners and began comparing the dates. "Same thing in 1945. Same thing in 1970."

"Then stored, until it was donated to a charity auction last month, where the Telescas bought it." Sam added. "So, what do you think? It's haunted or cursed?"

"Either way, it's toast." Dean said.

***************

Later that night, the Winchesters quickly scaled the high metal gates of the auction house and sprinted to the doors. Sam, while wearing gloves, disarmed the security alarm, allowing Millie to pick the lock without setting anything off.

Once they were inside, the siblings searched the area with their flashlights, looking for the painting. Dean managed to spot it upstairs and the three made their way up the spiral staircase. Dean placed the flashlight in his mouth as he used his switchblade to cut the painting from the frame.

After leaving the auction house, the Winchesters lay the painting out onto a dirt road as Dean lit a match.

"Ugly-ass thing. If you ask me, we're doing the art world a favour." Dean said, throwing the match onto the painting and watching as it ignited.

However, the sibling were unaware that while they were destroying the painting, it was reforming back into the frame in the auction house.

[symbiotic-slime]

idk how much you’re willing to spoiler about your fic BUT I am so curious if there will be any other avatars besides Eddie/Venom & which entities you associate with which characters!! :o I always thought a tma/marvel crossover would be so cool, I’m so interested in this :]

I’m always happy to share more about these fics!! I admittedly haven’t thought of many characters since I’ve basically only made lore for Eddie/Venom and Flash 😅 I’m hoping the fics will be written like a statement/series of statements!

for what entities they’d serve, I think Eddie would be an avatar of the Corruption! it just fits symbrock so well— like a parasite (affectionate) who is obsessively in love with you is basically combining all of the aspects of the Corruption into one. in my fic, Venom starts out as mold growing in Eddie’s apartment which he starts off trying to kill but eventually the Corruption gets a hold of him mentally and he bonds with Venom! there’s a lot of body horror with Eddie since the Corruption is just perfect for body horror. lots of rot/decay (he’s basically Jane Prentiss-esque but instead of worms it’s goop) and also to highlight the obsessive/toxic love part Eddie’s rib cage is ripped open and Venom is wrapped around his heart >:3

I think Flash would be an avatar of the Slaughter! I know I’m so original by making the solider character a Slaughter avatar but it fits him too well 😭 his fic is a lot sadder than Eddie’s, since I’m kinda making the unpredictable abuse he suffered from his dad the catalyst for the entity noticing him and starting to influence him. I’m warping around the comics timeline a bit so he joins the army right after high school and also making it so his legs being amputated is the result of his need for violence instead of him being a war hero to fit the Slaughter better! in the hospital, since he can’t really feed the Slaughter anymore, its influence on him starts to wain and he resolves to become a better person (think like what happened with the coffin in s4)! it’s not entirely a happy ending, since he is getting weaker and weaker by trying to be a better person, but he makes amends with Peter and their friendship starts there in the fic! that’s as happy of an ending as anyone in a TMA au can get unfortunately :,(

I was also thinking of making the Venom symbiote an avatar! I kinda scrapped that idea because I figured they would be an avatar of the Hunt and I wasn’t sure how to show that in a way that significantly deviates from canon? like they already kind of have to kill to survive, and are an apex predator with a drive to hunt. I’ll make a fic about that if I can think of a fun supernatural way to do it but as of now it’s still a headcanon but I’m not a planning a fic about it

I’ve also thought about what entity they would be a victim of! I’m a big fan of putting my favourite characters in situations, so it’s very fun to assign them their own personal hell, but I haven’t thought of any fic ideas for it. they’ve just been given a vibe lol.

Eddie would be a victim of the Lonely (he starts having a breakdown every time he thinks the symbiote has died and starts weeping about how “we’re dead” and cannot get over Anne for the life of him… he just seems like his biggest fear is being alone)

Flash would be a victim of the Web (specifically with the addiction imagery from s5, but also with him being repeatedly blackmailed in the comics)

Venom would be a victim of the Desolation (especially with Eddie and Dylan both “dying” in the current run, I’d also ignore Flash’s resurrection so it’s just like “all my friends are dead”)

[dearreader]

i'm here! it's a long story but i had to leave the state to attend to family stuff and royai was pushed to the backburner for a while. but i'm back and i've decided i want some royai context because i currently know

she is blonde

he has dark hair

their relationship is a secret/mostly hooking up/a headcanon/real/not real (it's confusing and depends on which fic it is)

he's her father's apprentice i think

at one point he burned her back because it has the secret map or whatever and feels guilty about it but she's glad because it gave her agency and she wasn't controlled by the map

he is army and she is smart

he has ADHD (me too king)

she is serious and he is goofy but it works

her dog (is it his dog?) does not like roy

he works for her/with her/under her/idk because royai fic authors cannot stick to a plot or create consensus they are worse than religious leaders when you ask them a direct question

riza's dad is relevant somehow (i think he's an admiral? or a general? i think roy is the admiral actually? idk man idk)

so yeah if you have a powerpoint for me or something about the royai basics that would be great because i don't know what's real or what's a very talented ao3 author projecting

oh my gosh hello!! i hope the family stuff went well and i’m happy to give context cause i love talking about them >:)

riza is blonde

roy has black hair and black eyes (though their sometimes blue in the manga depending on how the author wants the character to react. his eyes are also gray after he loses his sight at the end of the series)

their relationship isn’t canon however it’s heavily implied. they grew up together and served in war together and they both want to restore the country to a democracy so they can be punished for their actions, they’re digging their own graves. because they’ve been through a lot of traumatizing events together they’re stuck together. riza says she would follow him into hell if he asked her to and her one job is to make sure he never stops pursuing his goal. if he does riza is ordered to kill him, which she doesn’t want to do. there’s a scene where this does almost happen and one of the things that helps bring roy back from the brink of madness is him calling riza’s bluff by going, “oh yeah you’re going to kill me? then what are you going to do when i’m gone?” and she point blank says “i’ll kill myself too.” and he literally says he can’t bear the thought of a world without her in it! and during a scene earlier when riza thinks roy’s dead she is literally begging for someone to kill her cause she doesn’t want to live without him. basically they’re canonically codependent messes who love each other and however the viewer/reader wants to interpret that love is up to them. though the most common interpretation is romantic love and there’s a lot of hints that it is romantic to some extent. so when authors change it up constantly for fics it’s mainly cause you can decide however you want their relationship to be in the story. for example in my own fanfics i’m constantly changing when they’re together because they legally can’t be together cause he’s her boss. which is why is usually secret (illicit affairs coded 😔)

yes! roy learned alchemy from rizas dad! he tried to learn flame alchemy from him but he refused to teach him because he wanted to join the military. however in the most dramatic ass way her dad dies when they’re talking about it and he says for roy to protect riza cause she has the secrets (her tattoo on her back). however riza ends up giving him the secrets of flame alchemy anyway cause he talks about how he hopes to join the military to protect the people of amestris and its very naive but riza’s moved by it and wants to help so she shows him the secrets (this conversation happens at her fathers grave/funeral and they’re lowkey being awkward teenagers flirting and in one of the bonus parody chapters it’s this scene and when riza says she wants to help roy his heart bursts out of his chest cause he’s so excited). she also then enlists in the military to and is the best sharpshooter in the academy.

yes he burned her back!!! riza and roy don’t want another flame alchemist created so she asks him to burn her back and “free her” after they leave ishbal/ishval and he doesn’t want to do it but he views it as his duty cause he inspired her to join the military and he blames himself for ruining her life but riza is thankful for it and does gain her own agency and independence from it because she chooses it (implied her father forced her to get the tattoo) and she does kinda blame him but also knows it was her own choice to join.

he knows how to army she knows aristotle

so yes and no. it’s a headcanon he has adhd (and riza is autistic) and i do consider that but a lot of his “lazy” or procrastination stuff is mainly his womanizer persona because he’s trying to seem like a guy who isn’t that suspicious so he’s always going on dates and doesn’t do his work/his assistant (riza) has to babysit him to do it. however him going on a bunch of dates is actually him meeting informants because his foster mother/paternal aunt runs a brothel/is a information broker with connections in the military so the girls who work there gather info and roy’s dates are really just him getting information. and him being lazy/not doing work isn’t true cause he actually does do a lot but wants people to not look at him to much and if he’s good at his job they’ll be nosy cause he’s 29/30 and is a colonel which is like… two ranks below general i think??? idk im to lazy to grab my book where he explains this. but while i do recognize that’s why he’s procrastinating tasks i also think it’s his ADHD brain kicking in cause i have ADHD and can diagnose every character with it and you can’t stop me! there’s actually a bonus chapter that’s observation reports from his team members and they comment on how he doesn’t do stuff for hours then will clean a meeting room in 15 minutes and it’s perfect. also another part is that roy is supposed to go on a date and gets his work done on time actually because he wants to leave early and riza at the eleventh hour shows up with an ungodly amount of paper work for him to get through that he physically can’t finish before his date so he has to cancel but he finishes it in like five minutes and dips and riza goes down to the shooting range with her regular rifle and not her training rifle and starts practicing :) cause she’s totally not jealous :)

she is serious and he’s goofy cause of his facade but he also can be serious to. this one’s more amped up in fanfics i think. also something criminally underrated is rizas humor cause it’s dry and silly. like there’s a document mix up that says ed and al are in there thirties when they’re 11 and 12 and roy is like “wait no what happen why does the paper say they’re thirty?” and riza says “that paper either came through a time portal or there was a serious mistake”

she does have a dog, and as noted by my friend demi he looks like roy, and that’s also fanfic author discretion. though to be fair he is a shiba inu and those dogs are crazy smart (they’re like a tiny person cause they can learn to sit in five minutes but then learn a minute later they only have to sit if they want to because they’re smart and self aware) so i think it’s less he hates roy and is more like “you’re not in charge and i can say no to you”. hayate is also technically a military dog and has an official military rank.

riza works for him in his unit. she’s a first lieutenant and is his adjacent. basically his assistant. which allows her to follow him around all day and let’s her do her job of protecting his back and watching it

so it’s not rizas dad who’s relevant in the military it’s get GRANDFATHER who is general grumman, who is also roy’s mentor in the military and grumman asks him the marry his granddaughter (riza) so she can be first lady and roy says “you’re getting ahead of yourself”

but that’s hopefully everything 😭 i’m sorry that was so much longer than intended. i’ll also link both of my power points on then from powerpoint night that does talk about them a bit.

the royai playlist

how the great war is about royai

but i hope this helps in your royai journey.

[natk2002]

The Rookie Rewatch - 2x14 Casualties

Air Date: 15 March 2020

Written By: Bill Rinier

Directed By: Sylvain White

First Appearances:

Kojo 

Norman Jangus

Last Appearances: N/A

Guest Appearances:

Grace Sawyer

Kojo - Chen’s foster dog

Nick Armstrong

Smitty

Barry Langley - Peeping Tom call

Wendy Langley - Peeping Tom call

Mitch - Bradford’s army mate

Norman Jangus - colonel, contact name for the DIA operation

Pettigrew - the man who killed Delacruz

Cold Open:

Harper and Nolan - suspected explosives, walk inside house, an explosion, turns out it was a gender reveal that used C-4 to set it off -> both covered in glitter in Grey’s office

Injuries/Deaths:

Eddie Hollenbock - suffering from bullet to the head, aphasia

Joe Delacruz - found dead

Name Drops: N/A

Police Codes and Such:

LA Clear - largest deconfliction database for law enforcement in the West. Every federal, state, and local covert operation is monitored there to prevent duplication of efforts or blue-on-blue situations. Only higher-level officers have access.

Pairings and Call Signs:

Bradford and Chen - 7-Adam-19

Harper and Nolan - 7-Adam-15

Lopez and West - 7-Adam-07

Cases/Calls:

Bradford and Chen - Peeping Tom call -> a drone has been spying over Wendy Langley as she’s beeen tanning

Lopez and West - having lunch at food truck -> stop a man they believe to be drunk -> turns out he’s been shot in the head -> take him to hospital

Harper and Nolan - chasing after robbery suspect -> find DB -> Armstrong called in -> find out victim checked in as Joe Delacruz into hotel -> go to said hotel and find cash -> call for backup -> Bradford and Chen join -> turns out Bradford knows the man running away (Mitch); they served together -> Mitch getting charged with resisting arrest amongst others -> Mitch is interrogated -> raid warehouse but it’s empty -> called back to the station and told to walk away from investigation -> Bradford calls LA Clear -> find out its DIA investigation and the contact is Jangus -> Jangus visits Nolan as he’s the weak link -> Harper, Nolan, Bradford, Chen, Lopez join an unsanctioned mission and follow Jangus -> caught by DIA -> renegotiation and Pettigrew is given up as the man who killed Joe Delacruz

Grey - Man and son come down to the station to complain about drone being shot down -> turns out this was the drone from Bradford and Chen’s Peeping Tom’s case AND the gunshot that shot down the drone is the one that injured Eddie Hollenbock

Acronyms:

TID - Technical Investigation Division

Quotes:

Grey: Do I stress you out, Officer Nolan? Nolan: No, sir. [ Beeping ] [ Beeping stops ] LA CLEAR is the largest deconfliction database for law enforcement in the West.

Bradford: At your age, I'd done two tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, the second in charge of a squad of 10 soldiers.

West: Don't freak out. They ran out of falafel. Lopez: Who the hell runs out of falafel? What'd you get me?

Bradford: Right where? Chen: My apartment. Bradford: Not unless it's a crime scene.

Bradford: I don't really have to say anything, do I? Chen: I'd rather you didn't.

Chen: He [Mitch] doesn't seem to like you very much. Bradford: I'm the reason he lost his leg.

Teddy’s Dad: There's no need. Kid's got good taste. And Wendy is hot. Grey: Sir, what your son did is actually illegal.

Grey: Look, uh -- one second. (exiting his office to catch LOPEZ and WEST) Lopez, West. I just solved two crimes sitting in my office -- Bradford and Chen's Peeping Tom and your gunshot victim. (off their look) I'm just saying.

Nolan: So, why come for me? Jangus: 'Cause you're the weak link. Bradford served two tours in country, Harper's taken on cartels, and -- and Chen survived a serial killer. You... built houses. And you always push on the weak link. So... I'm pushing on you.

Chen: Uh, screw that. You go, we go. Bradford: That's admirable, really, but if this thing goes sideways, we could face demotion, suspension, even jail. Harper: I've got a golden ticket. Bradford has an unblemished record. Odds are we can weather the storm. Rookies are at-will employees. They don't even need a reason to fire you.

Bradford: It doesn't matter what, just that I cut him a break when I shouldn't have, and because I did, he went back out on patrol, got blown up. Chen: That is the most Tim Bradford thing I've ever heard. You showed humanity. There's nothing to feel guilty about.

Bradford: Rules matter, Boot. Chen: Then what the hell are you doing out here? Bradford: Some things matter more.

Jangus: 'Cause it's a no-win situation. Your shooter turns me into mist, but my guys turn you into organ donors.

Grey: Let me get this straight. You all just happened to be taking a stroll on the docks, and Joe Delacruz's killer appears and turns himself in? All: Yes, Sir.

Character Lore:

Nolan has cut back on coffee as it was getting him too amped up

Nolan’s last physical was two (2) months ago

Armstrong has come back from vacation

Bradford was Mitch’s squad leader in Afghanistan

Mitch had a fiance in San Diego and a job lined up though Wounded Warriors

Armstrong revelas that he went into Dyer’s house without a warrant and used what he found there to get one

Notable Scenes:

Harper and Nolan covered in glitter in Grey’s office

Everyone offering Nolan advice on how to deal with stress

Barry Langston mistakenly believing Bradford is hitting on his wife

Grey solving two (2) cases from his office

The off-the-books operation against the DIA

Finding out Kojo’s new owner is Bradford

Ship Scenes:

Nolan/Sawyer

Exercising together

Sawyer tells him to wear the fitness watch for a week so she can track “how [his] pulse races”

Goat yoga

Chenford

Discussing Kojo

Chen asking Bradford how he managed to get Kojo to listen

Timeline Attempt: N/A

Locations:

Filipino Town, Alvarado between Montrose and the 101 - federal operation

Shaw Memorial

29100 Spring - foot pursuit

south down San Pedro - foot pursuit

214 Mill Street, Los Angeles - address Bradford runs by LA Clear

First Congregational - Bradford gets Mitch a job there

Callbacks/Parallels: N/A

Music:

Look at Me Now by King Flexx - Chenford at house where drone was spying on sunbather

Life of the Party (feat. Annabel Lee) by BNGRS - Nolan, Harper, Armstrong’s foot pursuit

Rolling on by Israel Nash - Bradford taking Kojo on a walk

BLS by Eye Flys - Nolan and Cox chase suspect

Applicable Ao3 Tags:

Episode: s02e14 Casualties (The Rookie)

[todayisyourturntolose]

I don’t know your OCs but !

for one oc - 1 , 10 , 11 & 12

2nd oc - 20 , 21 , 24 , & 25

3rd OC - 29 , 33 , 36 , & 39 !

Pick and choose or do them all for 1 or each for a dif oc ! I hope that makes sense aaaa

RAAAAAH TYSM. I'll have it below the cut bcuz it is a lot hehe

ok so FIIIRST i'll do my boy richard! i love him lots but he's also an asshole. he doesn't really fit into any of my stories, he's just a one off character

1. What's Their Goal? - Richard's a spy for the British army, pretending to be a German officer, soooo I suppose his goal is to just not get caught??

10. How Old Are They?- He's 29 :)

11- What Are They?- He's a human. Just some guy. Most of my OCS (minus one) are all humans.

12-What Are They, Part 2- Uhhh. I'd classify him as a hero, somewhat. He's spying for a good reason sooo?

next is my pirate oc, Hansel! he's very silly but also kinda unhinged

20-Are They Alive?-Yep, but he's sorta kinda on the run bcuz he's sorta kinda hiding a murderer on his ship but that's neither here nor there

21-Do They Live on Earth?-Yep! A normal human man, Hansel.

24-Biggest Enemy?-OOOOH so. He's dead but Hansel's biggest enemy is Arthur Hambsburg. Won't got into detail abt him but all you need to know is that he's an asshole and got killed by Hansel's bf. They only knew each other for like. 30 minutes. He also kinda hates wealthy people despite the fact that he comes from a wealthy family but that's neither here nor there.

25-Identity?-Hansel is a RAGING bisexual. Bro (temporarily) caught feelings for his bf's sister bcuz they looked alike.

last, but not least, is ibrahim :) this is hansel's bf, and he serves a HUGE part of the plot

29-Have They Been Drawn?-I've only drawn Ibrahim twice, but I don't have the pictures on me atm. I do plan on drawing him more, tho!

33-Backstory?-oh em gee. I would be here for hours if I explained his backstory in full, but all you need to know is that he has a mom, one brother, and three sisters. (He's from Turkey/The Ottoman Empire btw, and his story takes place in the 1720s) His dad was a major creep and weirdo sooo Ibrahim killed him. (he had a reason too tho so he's excused). He meets Hansel after Hansel ends up near his town in search of a first mate. Yadda yadda stuff happens they fall in love

(I would answer 36, but I know almost nothing abt Pokemon, sorry :/)

39-Do They Read?-Ibrahim can read and write in both his mother language and English, having been taught by previous English speaking people he has come across.

and that's all i got! obviously this isn't a clear explanation of these characters, and i have more sooo if you wanna ask me...

[nfumbewalk]

Live With The Dead

Voodoo Church, a favorite goth band.

I do live with the muertos. They are my life - a big part of me is spiritual, with Olodumare and Orishas. A couple of Palo nkisi too. But my practice leans heavy on the muertos. And my new muerto is working out really well! She's pretty cool, though sometimes our century differences are really fukin weird. Just imagine that you bring someone from the 1800's into a modern house..its a little strange for both me and her! Lol. Heh, let's do the time warp again! 😂

I have a tiny bit of information on Florence. She died of TB. She had two husbands. One in the Army, high ranking. Oh, he was a Colonel! She had her own money, no job. Inherited wealth. That's why she has a sweet tombstone. In love with popular culture, she tried spiritism, but didn't find that kind of necromancy very fun. Lol. It gave her "the creeps" as she puts it. Presently, she doesn't really understand what I'm doing, but she likes the water and flames that she gets. The ritual pomp fascinates her too. Kinda like Rodolfo being transfixed by my Baston de Muerto. Lol! I'm surprised she said that spiritism gave her "the creeps" because it sounds too modern. But that's what I heard. I found out that term dates back to the 19th century! So she is freakin real. Ha! What I'm hearing is real. Feels good and freaky.

The muertos are so close to me. They are opening the veil for me to see inside. It's cool and sometimes spooky. But REAL af too! I never knew phenomena would start happening to me. It is rare for most. I just keep on delving deeper, and the chasm just gets vaster. I keep on running into things. Shit that I never knew about, I'm finding a bunch of knowledge regarding it. Like picking up recipes for omeiro that I'm not supposed to have, and not on the internet either. I know what plants go together. Lol. I've learned a lot from Spanish herbalism and African herbalism. I like it better than Western herbalism. Just my opinion.

I have a beef. Ppl who think that I must not be powerful enough because I'm no longer satanic. I've come across this a few times. Frankly, I'm sick to death of it. Satanism is a path for some ppl, just not me. Sure, it is powerful, but nothing compared to what I can do. I've got more experience than most of these kids online. Lol. Surely yes. I call thirty-two (32) years of magic a lot of experience. I know what is gonna work and what isn't. And I'm enough of a con (dad taught me) to be able to see another con at work. Some ppl want everything to be sugar coated. Their little egos petted. Sorry, fuk that. I bow to no one. I serve my customers well, and I do go out of the way to do things for them, but I won't let them fool me or rob me of my power and status. I refuse to lie to my customers in any way nor will I falsify results, readings, omens or portents. I'm honest to the core. Ppl have commented on how brutally honest I really am. Ruthless sometimes. This post wasn't aimed at anyone, it has been rattling around in my mind for a while now.

M.M. 💖💀💖

[yukihirata]

The beginning of the end

If you look long enough into the void, the void begins to look back through you.

Kallard furrowed just brown and made a look of concentration, locked away in a deep sleep. Yuki was in her bed sound asleep, occasionally making a noise as she dreamed sweet dreams. But Kallard’s dreams were not sweet, they were confusing. He had started having this dream, the same dream, for the past couple days. After he had escaped from the Garlean base he had started experiencing horrible nightmares.

Cassian cried out in pain as he fell to his knees, the hilts of two curved daggers jutting forth from his back. The tips of the blade poked through his chest, killing bin almost instantly. Kallard watched in horror as his husband fell face forward, landing in a puddle of blood and mud. The Forsaken warrior simply laughed as he tore the weapons free, eventually moved off to keep up with the rest of the Horde and their advance. Soon the Sha would rip through both the Alliance and Horde forces, decimating both armies.

The dream shifted and changed, this time showing a young Kallard killing his father. But it wasn’t in their old Garlean home, it was in some wooden shack with barely anything inside to show that someone lived there. A dirty child sat on top of his father’s chest, droplets of blood running off the blade and onto his father’s face. Mari stood off to the side, crying. Young Kallard got up and walked over to his sister and gave her a huge. He spoke in a language Kallard had never heard before, but somehow he knew what they were saying.

“Don’t worry sis, your big brother will take care of you now,” the boy had said to his weeping sister. “Dad can’t hurt you anymore.”

The words were similar to what he had said to Seia the day he killed his own father. What was he seeing now? There was too much detail for it to be a simple dream. Kallard could feel the anger the dirty boy felt, the same white hot rage he had felt when killing his father. The dream was making less sense the longer it went on.

Kallard, Marilini and Cassian all stood shoulder to shoulder wearing shiny and well taken care of armor. They all wore proud smiles, their backs straight and posture perfect. A grizzled veteran approached the trio from the right, three medals in his hands. He took up position in front of Kallard and affixed a pin to his armor.

“Kallard and Marilini Felmann. Cassian Smith. You three have shown outstanding courage in the face of certain death. You have served the Crown loyally and you three are to be rewarded for your heroism,” the man had said, sounding oddly proud of the three knights. “King Varian thanks you for your dedication and loyalty. Welcome to SI:7.”

Once more the scene twisted around in on itself, like a snake eating its own tail. Cassian died again as the memories became more and more recent. Kallard watched as Marilini slaughtered a group of bandits, protecting a girl who looked something like Yuki.

Kallard stood next to a large golden skinned creature with folded wings. The beast spread their arms and spoke in an alien language. A portal rimmed with blue magics took form, the destination showing the Forsaken warrior killing Cassian again. Kallard stepped through the portal carrying a black body bag. He tossed the body down next to Cassian, unzipped the bag and removed it, revealing a corpse that was a spitting image of the dying blonde. He was then dragged through the portal and a woman in white and gold robes waved a hand with a golden glow and Cassian’s wounds closed. Kallard embraced his husband with tears in his eyes as the saved man looked confused as to why his husband is suddenly ten years older than the last time he saw him.

A beautiful woman with long ears came into focus, speaking in yet another language Kallard could not recognize. He watched as she performed great feats with magic, setting off bombs that rivaled the raw power of magitek explosives. Her children dead and her home destroyed, the woman found herself in a city that looked foreign and alien. She worked hard through the last fifteen years, desperately trying to forget her past and all those that she lost. Kallard could feel her heart breaking whenever she thought of her small children. He shuddered as those same feelings coursed through him, sending a chill down his spine.

The image suddenly went dark and Kallard found himself standing in a few inches of ice cold water, standing upon a firm yet slipper surface. For as far as the eye could see a vast void stretched out before him, seemingly endless. Unseen mouths whispered great and horrible secrets, all speaking in that same weird language the other Kallard was speaking.

“Hello, Kallard,” a soft, almost comforting voice said.

“Who’s there?! Show yourself!” Kallard shouted at the disembodied voice. “Where am I?”

“I have come for you. It is time we become one once more,” the voice told him, completely avoiding his questions.

“I’m not becoming one with anyone, cunt. What are you, some spooky fucking Voidsent? I’ve killed your kind before. You don’t fucking scare me,” Kallard snarled, the rage of his sister’s death quick to rise to the surface.   

The voice laughed and Kallard could almost see the creature laughing and laughing until the dream ended and Kallard woke up.

——-

But he didn’t.

Instead, Kallard’s body was rocked by a violent seizure. His groans eventually woke Yuki who was quick to rush to his side. She rolled him onto his side and slipped a pillow under his head. His body convulsed and rioted, a wicked migraine blooming in the front of his head. Drool began to run out of his open mouth, body jerking back and forth.

“It’s okay, I’m here,” Yuki said in a comforting voice, rubbing her friend’s back. “It’s okay, just let it run its course.”

The seizure didn’t end. It should have, but it did not. Instead Kallard let out a strained cry of pain as his body was forced onto his back, which he immediately arched upward, every muscle in his body strained to their breaking point. A muscle in his chest snapped loudly, causing Yuki to jump slightly.

Kallard’s body was then rimmed with an odd black glow that seemed to consume the light of the room. His back remained arched as an oblong shaped portal formed above him. He started to scream, sounding as if he was burning alive. Yuki heard someone pound on the floor below her. She made a note to apologize later.

The portal split open and something impossible stepped out. A person, free of gender, stood next to the pair, his body composed of nothing. His body was a void that drew in light and ate it as if it were a bar of chocolate. A pair of silver discs formed where its eyes would be, looking down at Yuki.

Without a word the thing simply walked towards Yuki’s kitchen and through her countertops and stove. It passed through them like a cloud passes through the sky with ease, slipping through the furniture and then out of the solid wall behind it. Yuki just stared at the spot, the portal snapping closed once the thing had stepped through and vanished into the night.

“Kallard!”

Yuki turned her attention to her friend, who was now lying on his back, eyes open and staring up at the ceiling. His brain took several minutes to process what had happened. It felt like something out of his worst nightmares, this thing walking through him and into his reality. When the two beings touched he got a vague idea as to what that thing was and all of a sudden his priorities changed. For some reason he wasn’t scared, but driven with a new purpose shared with his dream counterpart: stop the creature at all costs, no matter the cost.

“What the fuck was that?!” Yuki asked as Kallard sat up, rubbing his temples.

“Since when do you swear,” Kallard asked her, closing his eyes while he tried to fight off the migraine.

“That… WHAT?!” Yuki didn’t seem to understand at all what had just happened, and honestly Kallard didn’t have an answer either.

“You okay?” he asked her while he went through the motions of lighting a cigarette.

“Am I okay? Are YOU okay?! You just had a scary strong seizure!”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just… Please stop shouting. My head feels like it’s been split into with an axe.

“Can you please tell me what happened? I’m so confused and scared. I’ve never seen anything like… That… Thing.”

Kallard would then launch right into a play by play recap of his dream. He spared no detail and even tried to replicate the language his other and older self had been speaking. Neither of them had any clue as to what happened, or what they could do about the creature that had opened and stepped through the portal.

As much as the two tried to sleep in their own beds, Yuki eventually fell asleep to Kallard, her head resting on his chest. While she slept he lay there, contemplating the night’s events. He would need to do something about this.

Little did he know the horrors him and Yuki would face in the coming months would be I unimaginable.

[kallard]

The beginning of the end

If you look long enough into the void, the void begins to look back through you.

Kallard furrowed just brown and made a look of concentration, locked away in a deep sleep. Yuki was in her bed sound asleep, occasionally making a noise as she dreamed sweet dreams. But Kallard’s dreams were not sweet, they were confusing. He had started having this dream, the same dream, for the past couple days. After he had escaped from the Garlean base he had started experiencing horrible nightmares.

Cassian cried out in pain as he fell to his knees, the hilts of two curved daggers jutting forth from his back. The tips of the blade poked through his chest, killing bin almost instantly. Kallard watched in horror as his husband fell face forward, landing in a puddle of blood and mud. The Forsaken warrior simply laughed as he tore the weapons free, eventually moved off to keep up with the rest of the Horde and their advance. Soon the Sha would rip through both the Alliance and Horde forces, decimating both armies.

The dream shifted and changed, this time showing a young Kallard killing his father. But it wasn’t in their old Garlean home, it was in some wooden shack with barely anything inside to show that someone lived there. A dirty child sat on top of his father’s chest, droplets of blood running off the blade and onto his father’s face. Mari stood off to the side, crying. Young Kallard got up and walked over to his sister and gave her a huge. He spoke in a language Kallard had never heard before, but somehow he knew what they were saying.

“Don’t worry sis, your big brother will take care of you now,” the boy had said to his weeping sister. “Dad can’t hurt you anymore.”

The words were similar to what he had said to Seia the day he killed his own father. What was he seeing now? There was too much detail for it to be a simple dream. Kallard could feel the anger the dirty boy felt, the same white hot rage he had felt when killing his father. The dream was making less sense the longer it went on.

Kallard, Marilini and Cassian all stood shoulder to shoulder wearing shiny and well taken care of armor. They all wore proud smiles, their backs straight and posture perfect. A grizzled veteran approached the trio from the right, three medals in his hands. He took up position in front of Kallard and affixed a pin to his armor.

“Kallard and Marilini Felmann. Cassian Smith. You three have shown outstanding courage in the face of certain death. You have served the Crown loyally and you three are to be rewarded for your heroism,” the man had said, sounding oddly proud of the three knights. “King Varian thanks you for your dedication and loyalty. Welcome to SI:7.”

Once more the scene twisted around in on itself, like a snake eating its own tail. Cassian died again as the memories became more and more recent. Kallard watched as Marilini slaughtered a group of bandits, protecting a girl who looked something like Yuki.

Kallard stood next to a large golden skinned creature with folded wings. The beast spread their arms and spoke in an alien language. A portal rimmed with blue magics took form, the destination showing the Forsaken warrior killing Cassian again. Kallard stepped through the portal carrying a black body bag. He tossed the body down next to Cassian, unzipped the bag and removed it, revealing a corpse that was a spitting image of the dying blonde. He was then dragged through the portal and a woman in white and gold robes waved a hand with a golden glow and Cassian’s wounds closed. Kallard embraced his husband with tears in his eyes as the saved man looked confused as to why his husband is suddenly ten years older than the last time he saw him.

A beautiful woman with long ears came into focus, speaking in yet another language Kallard could not recognize. He watched as she performed great feats with magic, setting off bombs that rivaled the raw power of magitek explosives. Her children dead and her home destroyed, the woman found herself in a city that looked foreign and alien. She worked hard through the last fifteen years, desperately trying to forget her past and all those that she lost. Kallard could feel her heart breaking whenever she thought of her small children. He shuddered as those same feelings coursed through him, sending a chill down his spine.

The image suddenly went dark and Kallard found himself standing in a few inches of ice cold water, standing upon a firm yet slipper surface. For as far as the eye could see a vast void stretched out before him, seemingly endless. Unseen mouths whispered great and horrible secrets, all speaking in that same weird language the other Kallard was speaking.

“Hello, Kallard,” a soft, almost comforting voice said.

“Who’s there?! Show yourself!” Kallard shouted at the disembodied voice. “Where am I?”

“I have come for you. It is time we become one once more,” the voice told him, completely avoiding his questions.

“I’m not becoming one with anyone, cunt. What are you, some spooky fucking Voidsent? I’ve killed your kind before. You don’t fucking scare me,” Kallard snarled, the rage of his sister’s death quick to rise to the surface.   

The voice laughed and Kallard could almost see the creature laughing and laughing until the dream ended and Kallard woke up.

——-

But he didn’t.

Instead, Kallard’s body was rocked by a violent seizure. His groans eventually woke Yuki who was quick to rush to his side. She rolled him onto his side and slipped a pillow under his head. His body convulsed and rioted, a wicked migraine blooming in the front of his head. Drool began to run out of his open mouth, body jerking back and forth.

“It’s okay, I’m here,” Yuki said in a comforting voice, rubbing her friend’s back. “It’s okay, just let it run its course.”

The seizure didn’t end. It should have, but it did not. Instead Kallard let out a strained cry of pain as his body was forced onto his back, which he immediately arched upward, every muscle in his body strained to their breaking point. A muscle in his chest snapped loudly, causing Yuki to jump slightly.

Kallard’s body was then rimmed with an odd black glow that seemed to consume the light of the room. His back remained arched as an oblong shaped portal formed above him. He started to scream, sounding as if he was burning alive. Yuki heard someone pound on the floor below her. She made a note to apologize later.

The portal split open and something impossible stepped out. A person, free of gender, stood next to the pair, his body composed of nothing. His body was a void that drew in light and ate it as if it were a bar of chocolate. A pair of silver discs formed where its eyes would be, looking down at Yuki.

Without a word the thing simply walked towards Yuki’s kitchen and through her countertops and stove. It passed through them like a cloud passes through the sky with ease, slipping through the furniture and then out of the solid wall behind it. Yuki just stared at the spot, the portal snapping closed once the thing had stepped through and vanished into the night.

“Kallard!”

Yuki turned her attention to her friend, who was now lying on his back, eyes open and staring up at the ceiling. His brain took several minutes to process what had happened. It felt like something out of his worst nightmares, this thing walking through him and into his reality. When the two beings touched he got a vague idea as to what that thing was and all of a sudden his priorities changed. For some reason he wasn’t scared, but driven with a new purpose shared with his dream counterpart: stop the creature at all costs, no matter the cost.

“What the fuck was that?!” Yuki asked as Kallard sat up, rubbing his temples.

“Since when do you swear,” Kallard asked her, closing his eyes while he tried to fight off the migraine.

“That… WHAT?!” Yuki didn’t seem to understand at all what had just happened, and honestly Kallard didn’t have an answer either.

“You okay?” he asked her while he went through the motions of lighting a cigarette.

“Am I okay? Are YOU okay?! You just had a scary strong seizure!”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just… Please stop shouting. My head feels like it’s been split into with an axe.

“Can you please tell me what happened? I’m so confused and scared. I’ve never seen anything like… That… Thing.”

Kallard would then launch right into a play by play recap of his dream. He spared no detail and even tried to replicate the language his other and older self had been speaking. Neither of them had any clue as to what happened, or what they could do about the creature that had opened and stepped through the portal.

As much as the two tried to sleep in their own beds, Yuki eventually fell asleep to Kallard, her head resting on his chest. While she slept he lay there, contemplating the night’s events. He would need to do something about this.

Little did he know the horrors him and Yuki would face in the coming months would be I unimaginable.

[girderednerve]

has anyone written about truck memorials, those custom vinyl decals that people put on the back windows of their trucks (or, less commonly, other vehicles) in honor of deceased friends & relatives? seems like a bizarre cultural practice to me. why a car, of all places? what's going on there? are you just like, acknowledging how you managed to get a nice truck without the traditionally exorbitant car payment which generally accompanies them?? (probably not, right?)

it occurs to me that it could also be a consequence of the ubiquity of lee brice's critically acclaimed (&, imo, deeply cringe) 'i drive your truck,' a song which i have just learned was inspired by the real dad of a medal of honor recipient who drove his dead son's truck & for some reason did interviews about this specific practice. 'i drive your truck' is a fascinating cultural object: it's about how you're sad about your dead friend, who would probably punch you in the arm for crying about it, so you drive his truck with his dog tags & his go army shirt in it, even though the truck has terrible gas mileage, to go 'tear up' back roads & a field [goin muddin, one surmises, but also it feels very pointed that driving & grief are presented as destructive]. i just find this complex like, hilariously on the nose: oh did your kid die in an imperialist war intended to, among other things, secure american access to oil? and you're so sad about it you go literally waste gas? bro. come on here bro. experience a scruple, or at least like, a moment of self-reflection here, bro

this song also feels like it's in continuity with another popular country song, david ball's 'riding with private malone,' which came out in august 2001 & reached its popular height in the wake of 9/11. it's about buying a vintage corvette from the mother of a guy who went off to die in vietnam (a note left in the car reads "if you're reading this then i didn't make it home / but for every dream that's shattered another one comes true / this car was once a dream of mine now it belongs to you"); the singer nearly dies in a car crash, but is saved by the ghost of the titular private malone. hilariously, wikipedia informs me that this song received critical acclaim for its 'subtlety' in expressing the american psyche after 9/11. the mind boggles, but then i suppose the bar was low

neither of these songs are the same flavor of vile, unabashed patriotism typified by, e.g., toby keith, but they're still making the same 'freedom isn't free' argument, centered on iconic cars: both vehicles are haunted by an american soldier, either with the ephemera of his life (brice lists dog tags, a dirty baseball cap, and a shirt, along with a radio station preset and a half-drunk bottle of gatorade, which one must assume is by now swollen with the noxious fumes of incidental fermentation) or more literally (ball notes that the radio picks up an oldies station, but also the speaker sees 'a soldier riding shotgun'). i'm fascinated by the way that cars are emotionally central, in these songs & in the memorial decal tradition. they're making a claim about what american soldiers are dying for (our ability to drive cars) & operating from the assumption that we all agree that this is a tragic but noble exchange, because cars are just like, so great. there's a sort of self-serving maneuver in both of the country songs in which they acknowledge the radio; as a person who spent a ton of time stuck in the back of other people's trucks listening against my will to the local country station, i can confirm that these songs both got a ton of play (chart data reflects this observation too). fascinating in a sick way, i think. there's some obvious stuff going on here about the narrow straits of country-star masculinity; trucks & vintage corvettes (especially ones which you fix up yourself, of course) are suitably cool & tough to cover for unmanly emotions like 'being sad.'

i know it's sort of popular currently to valorize some idea of american rural culture that is left-leaning or radical, and to imply if not insist that this culture is neatly separate from the toby keith of it all (consider, e.g., the popular 'ghost of dale earnhardt' page, which emphasizes the anti-police origins of NASCAR; needless to say, if you live in the deep south & know NASCAR fans, they are not a group of obvious commies. i picked this example because dale earnhardt jr. claimed that the ghost of senior saved him in a crash once & it felt thematically related, but others abound). the claim that there is a leftist rural history needs no defense because it is flatly true, but the idea that this legacy can be neatly disentangled from racist, reactionary, & imperialist tendencies is much more tenuous, in my opinion. american pickup truck culture (& to some extent other vehicles, which are treated metonymously with rural life; e.g. kenny chesney's deeply annoying tune 'she thinks my tractor's sexy') is so fuckin wild y'all