#but several orders of magnitude worse

[botaniqueer]

It’s a good development that more and more people are getting disillusioned with Biden because it means people aren’t supporting politicians uncritically despite having voted for them.

The next step to make the most of this is to also realize that Biden isn’t even an outstandingly bad or good president and is average in terms of human rights abuses. What is different about Biden is that COVID, an overly gung-ho US imperialist ally (Netanyahu), and following Trump have made it much harder to control the optics and veneer that the US normally maintains.

He isn’t any more or less genocidal than any of his predecessors or anyone else we’ve personally voted for in the past, but he’s having trouble maintaining the illusion that there is such a thing as a just United States. The curtain that is usually there has been torn by a confluence of events and the machinery that has always been here is easier to see.

[sukimas]

truly amazing that despite everything none of the 3h lords come NEAR being the most mentally unwell lord in the series

thanks leif for everything. it's too bad they haven't invented therapy yet in the 780s

[hedge-rambles]

I mean, I don't think it's particularly nonsensical? Soul siphoning may be controversial and dodgy in a way people find distasteful, but there's this teensy tiny difference between "temporarily displacing your cav's soul for some power" and "murdering them and unmaking them as a person to burn their soul forever".

you know the anecdotal thing about how Christian kids who really love the gospel and grow up extremely devout are the ones who are most likely to leave the church, because they're the ones who will actually study and try to understand and realize the contradictions between their theology and the culture of their congregation, rather than just following tradition because it's what they're told?

this is a post about Harrowhark Nonagesimus and heresy

[mesetacadre]

Throughout contemporary history, especially in the third world where oppression is more explicit and more brutal, the general attitude taken by oppressed peoples at governments that don't represent their interests and that violently supresses them has not been to hope a slightly less worse person is put in place, but rather to overthrow the entire system that supports them and creating another that does represent the interests of the social majority.

To the specific subset of people who prefer to remain ignorant or self-deluded about this fact, the mere suggestion of this might seem unrealistic, unproductive and idealistic. While it is true that the strategy stated above has failed some times, it has also succeeded the rest of the time, and the results have been better than any amount of reform could achieve.

The only actual harm reduction is the organized effort of workers to remove the source of harm altogether, and the only unrealistic strategy is to keep trying to reform your way out of a system that has been reinforcing itself for more than 200 years to guarantee its own existence.

Non-violence is a fairy tale. Almost 10% of the world population went hungry in 2021, and around 2.3 billion people were moderately or severely food insecure. 1.6 billion people live in inadequate housing conditions and 15 million are forcefully evicted each year. We could keep going over statistics but the fact is that the global capitalist economy is built atop systematic misery and death. No amount of people with guns could ever even hope to come close to the magnitude of suffering imposed on the exploited. Violence or non-violence is not a choice you can make, it was made for you millenia ago. The only decision you can take is whether to dedicate your efforts towards ending class society, or not. Civility and "rational" centrism is a luxury only those who live by the accumulated wealth looted from everywhere else in the world can afford, and only for as long as their imperialist order can stand.

[dostoyevsky-official]

Peace. It is time to bring back this word. Even more, it is time to expect and demand it. In the midst of what we thought was peace, we were wrong not to prepare and think of war. In the midst of a brutal war, it is time to envision peace. It used to be understood that this is how wars end. One side wins and another side loses, even surrenders. [...] A year ago, on October 7th, when Israel declared war in response to the Palestinian invasion, occupation, brutal massacre, and kidnapping, we made the cardinal of declaring war only against Hamas, when we should have declared war on the ideology of Palestinianism – of which Hamas is but the most recent and brutal executor. On October 7th we should have said, and we should still say, “This ends here: from Gaza to Columbia, this ideology, that for more than a century has vowed to prevent, and then undo, the existence of a sovereign state for the Jewish people in any part and of any size in the ancestral homeland, must die.” This kind of declaration would have also naturally led to a vision of peace. We need to declare that this war ends when that ideology of Palestinianism is replaced with a constructive one. It needs to be replaced by an ideology that seeks to live next to a Jewish state, rather than instead of it as understood from the chant refrain From The River to the Sea. The war will end when Palestinianism dies This is a vision we must reiterate daily. We need a leader who every day speaks to the world to say that “the day that Palestinians end their century-long war with Zionism, the day they develop a constructive vision rather than a destructive one, the day they want to live next to a Jewish state, rather than instead of it, the day they understand they are not multiple-generational refugees, and accept that there is no such thing as a 'right of return' into the sovereign territory of the state of Israel, is the day that they will find, as it always was, that we are willing to live in peace with them side by side in two separate states.” This is the vision we need to uphold with Lebanon. No more feeble calls to implement previous UN resolutions that no one bothered to enforce until Israel started enforcing Hezbollah’s disarmament by force. We need to demand that this war ends with full and complete peace between Lebanon and Israel, nothing less. We have no territorial dispute with Lebanon and until they choose peace, it shall be war – we will decide when and how to fight it – but no more one-sided ceasefires, empty UN resolutions, and worse than useless UN “peacekeeping forces.” Finally, we must go back to those neighboring countries with whom we officially have peace, and demand that they finally begin to look like peace, rather than glorified nonbelligerency agreements. While we have given Egypt the entirety of the Sinai Peninsula, we received much less than peace in return.

this is a former Labor MK and a representative of the israeli jewish left. this whole short article is a racist sham filled with half-truths, lies, equivocations, and distortions, beginning with the overarching framework that the self-determination of the palestinian people is an "ideology of palestinianism," whereas the poor israelis are oppressed from having their own state. it's riddled with typical israeli self-victimization, despite the fact they are the ones who have created several magnitudes of order greater numbers of corpses than their enemies.

this is what mainstream liberal-left zionism looks like. there are indeed a few organizations and individuals in israel that are committed to anti-zionism and genuine peace with palestinians, like hadash. but to say that society, which proudly proclaims itself to be the sole democratic one in the middle east, is non-belligerent and working for peace is a canard and a pack of lies, especially when one considers that labor itself has long been marginalized. if this is the marginal left view, what does mainstream israeli society think?

[qqueenofhades]

Extremely stupid and contradictory question that I still want an answer to, but what is it that makes people want a dictatorship with progressive values?

For that matter, why is it that nearly all dictatorships are so fundamentally built on conservative/authoritarian ideals and values?

Why doesn't genuinely good values ever end up being the core value that gets enforced with ruthless brutality instead of people twisting themselves into knots to justify always sinking to the worst possible impulses built on hatred?

Is decency just fundamentally anathema to it?

This is one of those questions where you're actually asking several different things at once, and it will take a lot of work for me to explain and contextualize everything that you're looking for. However, I do think this is important to understand, so I'll give it a shot.

First, if I may point out, you've answered a bit of your own question when you ask "why don't genuinely good values ever end up being enforced with ruthless brutality?" I think it's fair to say that if your values were actually good or something that would broadly benefit the lives of most people, they would not need to be enforced with ruthless brutality. This is the case regardless of which ideology your totalitarian dictatorship is built on; i.e. conservative Christian fascism or left-wing old-school communism/People's Republics. Because a dictatorship, no matter which values it claims to use to justify itself, never exists to benefit people. A dictatorship exists to vest supreme power in one person or system and totally disenfranchise everyone else, and it is not, regardless of what some people on the internet in 2023 seem to think, a tool of social justice. Marginalized groups who have a hard time in a traditionally white/culturally Christian Western democracy will nonetheless have an orders of magnitude worse time under a dictatorship, as will everyone else. It is not something you should wish for under any circumstances, and also represents a naïve Western privilege where, having grown up with the unpleasant consequences of late-stage capitalism, people go for the fallacy that old-school communism must be better! Except it isn't, and when you totally blow over and ignore the objections of people who actually grew up under those regimes and warn you that they're not so great, you're just straight-up projecting and wishful thinking. It has nothing to do with reality or history or what anyone should aspire to.

The idea has existed in human society for thousands of years that if you can just get a "benevolent dictator" or "merciful autocrat," who can be trusted to rule with supreme power, do what's right for everyone, and get rid of the messy and flawed process of representative democracy that never seems to quite fix society's biggest problems. However: this doesn't work, it has never worked, there have been countless wars fought over this question, and it would certainly never, ever work in a setting as complex as the globalized twenty-first century. The Online Leftists who want Bernie Sanders, an old white man, to be their all-powerful dictator -- that is, uh, not the Social Justice Flex (tm) you think it is. And as noted, a dictator of any stripe is fundamentally anathema to actual progressivism or social justice, and anyone who loudly wants one (or thinks that the American president should act like one) is exposing both their profoundly immature understanding of the situation and a worrisome thirst for tyrannical despotism as long as it has "the right ideas." This has, again, caused countless wars and numberless deaths, because "the right ideas" will never be universal, universally agreed upon, or anything else, and if they're enforced with violence, you have -- again -- a dictatorship! It's not great!

In chaotic and uncertain times, people tend to want a "strong leader" who they can trust to just fix all their problems and relieve them from the burden of governance or worrying how things are going to work out. This was first articulated in modern Western political philosophy by Thomas Hobbes, who wrote his Leviathan in the mid-17th century during the English Civil War. Basically, his idea was that the people should democratically elect an absolute monarch/leader, who would then rule with an iron fist and retain supreme power, because they couldn't be trusted to govern themselves. (Hobbes is also where we get the pessimistic description of life being "nasty, brutish, and short.") Because things are bad right now, people likewise tend to want an absolute monarch of either right or left political persuasion, but these are both very bad options and should be equally resisted.

Democracy is flawed, imperfect, slow, cumbersome, and contradictory. It can be badly hijacked and corrupted (as we've seen in the last few years) by money, misinformation, bad-faith actors, and more. It is also still always, 100%, all-of-the-time preferable to a dictatorship. People still fall for the idea that having an absolute monarch who just "makes things happen" right away without the cumbersome apparatus of congresses or senates or supreme courts of judges would be "better," and totally ignore the massive and systemic disenfranchisement it would impose on everyone else. Especially in our current misogynist white-supremacist homophobic etc. system; the dictator WOULD be a rich white dude and let's not even pretend otherwise. Even if he made a play at being "progressive," it would not be true and it would not last. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, etc. etc. I do not want a dictatorship. I do not want to live in a dictatorship. I don't care what Good Intentions (tm) anyone has, because I think that anyone who wants to be a dictator or to live under a dictatorship has a very different idea of Good Intentions than I, or indeed most sane people, do. The end.

Yes, America is a deeply flawed country. Yes, it is built on systemic and ongoing racial and cultural white-settler-colonial genocide. However, where modern leftists struggle the most is the idea that two things can be true, because they're so deeply sunk into black-and-white, zero-sum thinking where if one thing is true, it rejects all the others. If we have a flawed democracy, the solution is to fix that democracy, not to just throw it out the window and cavil for an absolute monarch. You can be fiercely critical of America's imperialist actions, unnecessary wars, racist violence, and everything else while also realizing that if the first and oldest presidential democratic republic in existence was dismantled or turned into a fascist autocracy, it would be absolutely terrible for many, many countries around the world, and humankind in general. You do not have to subscribe to the nonsensical, navel-gazing tankie "logic" that America is the only country with (evil) agency ever, and everyone else in the world is just its helpless pawns. You do not have to subscribe to the idea that any work within the system, or accepting basic political realities, makes you a "bootlicking neoliberal shill" or whatever they're using to insult anyone who doesn't just live in their distorted bubble of self-righteous ignorance. You don't!

As I always say, the only people who really want a dictatorship are those who know that their ideas aren't popular enough to win a free and fair election, but think they "deserve" to be in power anyway, because etc. etc. My Ideas Are Better! (Spoiler alert: they are not.) This is the same whether it's the Republicans trying to outlaw elections or the Online Leftists who sanctimoniously refuse to engage with the civic process because it's "contaminating" for their Pure Ideas to make any compromise with reality. And yet those so-called progressives are utterly dependent on us Normie Liberals who actually vote against the rabid fascists, and are (just barely) holding the line. Because yes, in a liberal democracy, they do have the right to be sanctimonious, useless, toxic, holier-than-thou ideologues who sit on their asses and contribute nothing to the actual dirty process of change. But if the Normie Liberals haughtily refused to vote in the same way the Online Leftists do, the fascists WOULD be in complete control by now, and trust me, it would be grim.

To be frank, I think most, if not all, of what calls itself "Western leftism" has categorically and completely failed as a moral, political, or practical opposing force to right-wing fascism. Much of it is dependent on savagely backbiting even those people who already agree with you, refusing to take basic steps to enact change even incrementally (i.e. voting), and attacking the establishment liberal party, i.e. the Democrats in America, while vocally supporting foreign dictatorships as long as they're "anti-American" or ancestrally "socialist." We've seen the utter failure of Western leftists at developing a moral stance on Ukraine, a consistent opposition to Trump, or pretty much anything else that requires them to come down from their high horses and accept a more complex reality than their abstract purity tests or outright nonsensical clichés. And when you're attacking the Democrats nonstop and backing foreign dictatorships, that is, uh, pretty much the exact same thing that the fascist Republicans are doing. Which means both of these groups are profoundly and dangerously anti-democratic, anti-liberal, anti-intellectual, and anti-humanity. There's no way around it.

In short, so-called "progressives" want a dictatorship because they too have given up on democracy, don't believe that people at large are as "smart" as they are, and don't want actual praxis or the effort of making change within a flawed democracy. They subscribe instead to the magical thinking that an absolute monarch will instantly and benevolently fix everything, which has -- as noted -- been violently disproved over and over in human history, and they think that "leftism" consists of having the most "pure" views. They do not care about or actively deplore any idea of making compromises to put them into practice, they gain moral superiority by excluding more and more people to make a smaller and smaller in-group, they refuse to accept any information, history, or factual evidence that contradicts their beliefs, and they're just as angrily anti-intellectual as the worst Christian-fascist-nutjob-right-winger, because reality has a bad habit of being complicated and not fitting into neat boxes. And if you think, as I do, that it would be a very, very bad idea to trust these mean, vindictive, constantly-want-to-punish-everyone-who-is-not-exactly-like-them people with absolute power, then you'll have to move to the idea of accepting that for all its flaws, democracy is still the best and most just system we have yet invented for governing ourselves, and the idea is to fix ours, not get rid of it entirely. So yeah.

[shewolfofvilnius]

Wild Magic: Chapter 1

(oh my gods I actually WROTE SOMETHING)

Read on AO3 Part 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Notes: Genre: Romantic Comedy, Magical Adventure, Self-discovery Words: 5100 Pairings: Gale x Lia (main, developing), Rolan x Tav (background, established) Tav is a secondary character, a female tiefling bard. Chapter 1 is mostly PG-13 (w some slight comedic nudity at the end) but will eventually become Mature

Synopsis:

"Rolan always said I put the 'can't' in 'cantrip."

Gale has time off before returning to Blackstaff Academy and has been tasked by Rolan to find the cause of a worsening series of magical oddities and maladies affecting Ramazith's Tower. Mishaps that have only increased by several orders of magnitude after Lia attempted to use a scroll to light a room only to have the scroll backfire (a rare occurrence all its' own).

In the process, it's discovered the cause of the tower's unstable and increasingly...wild...magic is far closer than it appears. In the process, Lia gains both a new dimension in the sibling rivalry with her brother Rolan, a new level of annoyance at puzzles, and yet another new wizard to both frustrate and fascinate her endlessly. She might even (gasp) learn a thing or two about magic along the way. Gale, Rolan, Cal, and Tav certainly hope she will, anyway, for all their sakes.

Full 1st chapter below the break:

A snowy breeze drifted across the Lower City district of Baldur’s Gate. A red-hued tiefling woman stood in contrast against the snowdrifts swirling about her. The cold hadn’t been a surprise, however, the snow had come on suddenly as she had been picking up some supplies she had had delivered to the Elfsong. Certain couriers were…apprehensive…about delivering to the tower, but the Elfsong? No worries.

“There wasn’t a cloud in the sky at sunset – I wasn’t in there that long. Where is all this coming from”.  Lia shivered under her cloak.  “Only a few more blocks to go.  The nerve of Rolan and Tav to just LEAVE for WEEKS like that.  What do Cal and I know about running an entire magical store? I can barely cast Dancing Lights even with a scroll AND that arsehole’s notes – damnable backfires - and Cal’s even worse.  I swear if it wasn’t for Tolna the tower would have burned to the ground two tendays ago.”  

Lia, rather cross but using her desire to enact revenge against her elder brother and his lover, the so called Hero of Baldur’s Gate, provided extra warmth against the snow and cold.  To an outside observer, the gusts of wind even appeared to be in sync to whatever the woman walking by was muttering to herself.

They said they’d be gone a tenday. Two tops. Why has it been a month?!  They were just going to visit that little lakeside near that stupid grove!

Finally arriving at the recently repaired Sorcerous Sundries – and the looming tower overhead that she and her family called home. She’d never admit it, even after a potion or under duress, but she was beginning to…ugh…miss Rolan and Tav.

Fortunately, no such admission would need to be made.  Nearing home, she noticed a flurry of lights and sound coming from the nearby emporium. Half of her suddenly became hopeful that Rolan and Tav had returned; the other half apprehensive at what the activity could be if it’s NOT them. The things they’d all been through since The Descent had made her permanently apprehensive.

Rounding the corner, she could start to feel heat against the presence of the cold and snow.  Further investigation, however, came to a half when Lia carefully rounded the corner, and came face to face…with a mind flayer.

Taking an instinctive step back and reaching for the dagger she’d just obtained from Dammon, Lia assumed a defensive posture.

“Lia.  I remember you.  Please, wait” projected the mind flayer, almost with a hint of…familiarity?!

“Prepare to die, Illithid scum!”

A hint of what could almost be called fear, if mind flayers felt fear, appeared to cross the creature’s face for a moment, before a shout rang across the shop foyer.”

“Lia! STOP! WAIT!”

Making their way through a small but raucous gathering were two all-too-familiar tieflings.  Her insufferable brother, Rolan – and Tav.

Lia’s concern was immediate.  “Do you MIND telling me what that thing is doing here, you two? Last time I saw a mind flayer, they were sweeping up corpses and using water scrolls across half the lower city! I can still occasionally see specks of silver in the cracks of tile.” Lia was NOT allowing THAT thing to harm any of her friends, her family.

“Bloody hells, Lia, that’s Karlach. Giant tiefling barbarian? One horn? Persistently on fire? Tav TOLD US the sacrifice she made to save the city. Put that weapon DOWN.”

Fear and the worst case momentarily crossed her mind. Could they have been enthralled?  She’d once heard Tav speak of the suggestive power mind flayers, of their ally known as “The Emperor”.   Tav HAD said that Karlach had become a mind flayer…”

Sheathing her dagger but keeping a defensive staff, Lia looked towards the mind flayer before her. Her gaze slowly softened, and she exhaled.  “It’s good to see you, soldier.  Sorry about the cold welcome.”

“It is fine, soldier. You are not the first person I have encountered who has had that reaction. It is not ideal, but eventually, you learn to adapt. I am so glad that Tav found you all after our fight against the Elder Brain.”

As Lia looked over the mind flayer before her, a voice boomed across the room. “Apologies for the confusion, dear sister” perked up Rolan.  Rolan, for a moment, considered teasing his sister about the weather, but decided that such levity could wait until tomorrow.

“Several of them all arrived together at the Emerald Grove, where I’ve been deep in consultation with the druids there for the past few days.  I must say they seemed far more amenable to my presence this time. The new Archdruid, Francesca, has made a stark difference towards climate of the grove.”

“Oh of course now that you’re the bleedin’ Archmage of Baldur’s Gate suddenly they have time for a tiefling” spat back a still embittered Lia, remembering many of those same druids had been all too keen to cast her, her family, and their friends and traveling companions out to face sudden death just months earlier.   Lia sighed; this was an argument for another time. 

“Speaking of climate, dear sister, I don’t recall there being any forecasts from the seers indicating snow. Curious, we didn’t even encounter any prior to arriving in the city.”

Glancing towards the window, Lia looked at intently at the flakes against the glass.  “Beats me. Went to go pick up some things I had shipped to the Elfsong, and the flurries started almost as soon as I walked out the door.”

The elder tiefling, seizing the opportunity to tease his sister, could not resist. A smug grin crept across his face. “Clearly, Baldur’s Gate is merely responding to your chilly disposition, sister.”

Letting out a glare and a low growl, Lia growled towards her brother, before snapping back. “If it was your personality out there, Baldur’s Gate would be a desert in a tenday.”

A chuckle escaped the tiefling wizard’s face.  “I missed you too, sister.”

The warm moment was broken up by a shout from a younger tiefling in a silvery flowing robe. “Tav!”

Lia ran towards her future sister-in-law with a warm embrace.  The tiefling bard had become family in recent months, though she still questioned Tav’s taste in gentlemen. Her brother? Seriously? Did she suffer head trauma while fighting The Absolute?”

“I still wish the three of you had been able to come to the party” shouted back Tav. The conversation crossed back to Lia - “From the looks of it, you brought the party back to us!”

The two women looked around the room. High Harper Jaheira!  The legendary ranger, Minsc! Grand Duke Wyll Ravengard!  She’d already come face to…face? with the now-Illithid Karlach.  She could swear she also saw a cat she didn’t recognize skulking off in the corner, although she would swear it had…wings? Did she have too much sherry earlier that evening?

“Lia? Lia? Anyone home?” Tav looked at Lia with concern.

“It’s good to see so many of these faces again.  Wouldn’t have anything we have without you and your friends.  I’m just a little overwhelmed, wasn’t expecting a party.  I’ll be back. Just gonna drop these off in the kitchen!  Missed you!”

Making a hasty exit towards the top of the storefront, she stepped into the rightmost portal at the top of the stairs. One of Rolan’s first actions had been to reconfigure the four portals in the storefront for tower access – and to ward against unauthorized entry by the use of small keystones attached to a pendant. To access the privacy of the tower, one would either need to be granted access, or be a skilled enough mage to essentially function as a magical locksmith. 

The tower’s magic had been…on edge? Lately?  The keystones had largely kept the portal system stable, but without Rolan present to maintain the magic, several weird issues had arrived. Randomly locked doors.  Rooms that would extinguish all their lights when she walked in.  Two days after Rolan and Tav had left, Lia recalled, she had tried to use a scroll to illuminate a room.  While she didn’t trust Rolan’s assessment of the ease of using it, even Cal had noted the simplicity by which the scrolls worked. 

Except instead she’d nearly been electrocuted by the damnable thing. The lights in the room lit up, sure, but so did she. She spent the better part of an hour physically illuminated, as though her own skin were a light source.  Glitches had been growing more and more common since then, although Cal SWORE that they only seemed to occur when Lia was there.  Except the locks, which seemed to have a mind of their own.

Rolan had also been quick to note that no, the ‘Knock’ spell she’d seen him use to unlock the storefront once shortly after they’d moved in – after they’d been locked out – would not open the portals.  Knowing that no one save her brothers and Tav held keystones, Lia figured she could retreat to the kitchen, regain her composure with a few moments of privacy.

As the warm glow of the kitchen portal enveloped her, a few minutes away to regroup would be perf—

Hopes of a moment or two of solitude were quickly dashed. A tall human man clad in the most ornate purple mage’s robes she ever seen sat seated at a table, glass of wine and some sort of book before him.  She remembered – this was another of Tav’s friends. Gale, that was his name. Ugh, not another wizard.

“Oh, a thousand pardons. I wasn’t aware anyone would be venturing up here. Hello! I’m Gale Dekarios, Professor of Illusory Magic at Blackstaff Academy”

The man stood to greet Lia, extending a hand outward.

“Friend of Tav’s, right? Considering this is my home, this is our kitchen, and my brother indicated that the portals were locked, I’d REALLY love an explanation as to why you’re in here.” She was clearly unimpressed at the wizard stood before her, annoyance and contempt gradually simmering warmer.

“A thousand pardons, my dear…Lia, I believe. Rolan’s sister!”

The sound of a clawed hand tapping the countertop impatiently echoed around the room.  “Yes, I know who I am.  Why are you up here? And don’t call me ‘my dear’”

“Apologies again, I meant no ill will or intent” hastily sputtered the wizard. “Your brother had indicated an issue with the tower’s lock mechanisms and asked if I might be so keen as to take a look. That’s primarily abjuration, however…. you don’t share your brother’s inclination towards the arcane, do you?” asked Gale.

“Can’t say I do.  Tried, a couple of times. Rolan said I put the ‘can’t’ in ‘cantrip’.”

Resisting the majority of a hearty laugh at the wordplay, Gale still couldn’t help a small chuckle.”

“I know we’ve been having issues with locks malfunctioning, traps going off, ever since we moved in.  It’s why the portals are tied to these things”, noted Lia, showing the pendant that normally allowed them access. 

“It’s a clever mechanism, but long term the root cause needs addressing.”

“Okay, but, why the wine and the book?”

“When I entered this room 20 minutes ago, that door -” Gale pointed towards the larder entry

“The larder locked itself AGAIN!?”

“A simple ‘Knock’ spell was easily dispelled, so right now I’m observing. And for me, I’ve found a good glass of wine and some quality literature helps pass the time. Say, now that you’ve entered the room, I wonder…” The wizard’s voice trailed off, as he raised his hand to begin manipulating the Weave, quietly muttering several things Lia couldn’t quite understand under her breath.

The door to the larder swung open. 

“Aha. You’re entering via the portal appears to have triggered the next sequence in which doors are locked.”

“But why would the portal from the shop to the kitchen – OH!” Lia’s face lit up. “I saw something like this once!  It was…”

“Please, do continue, anything could be of import or significance” responded Gale, with kindness.

Looking the wizard directly in the eyes – and after shaking loose a stray thought – Lia continued. “There was this game thing that I saw once in Elturel when we were kids. You’d push a button, but when you did all the buttons around it flipped over. You had to be real careful and try to set them off in a specific order, and flip them around a few times, but eventually if you did it right, you’d get them all pushed in!”

“The wards on the doors are tied to the same magic as the portals. The portals are forced open with the keystones, but whenever you use them, it’s flipping over other locks.” Lia’s face sunk.  She might not have been a magic user, but she’d spent hours playing that game in frustration. “It means we’re going to have to set off all the locks, we’re gonna have to see which ones cause other ones to change, and it’s going to be a long night.”

“Indeed, long month more like.  Fortunately, we’ve just hit a break period at Blackstaff and I’m CERTAIN that this magical lock system would be of great note to researchers, it truly IS a marvel.”

“If you say so.”.  Lia’s frustration was palpable. The locks had been malfunctioning for weeks, and now it turns out the only way to solve it was going to involve diligence, studious observation, and the services of another wizard. 

“Apologies if this is a sensitive topic, but as I’ve been tasked to help, there IS a matter I’d like to go back to.  Neither you nor your younger brother…. Cal, I believe…have any magical aptitude whatsoever? It’s quite unusual for a family to have a spellcaster as talented as your brother while…”

Lia exhaled. She knew where this was going, might as well get it out of the way.

“Rolan’s adopted. We do not EVER make a thing out of it in this house, Rolan is our brother, but he was adopted. Hence why he’s ‘Master’ of an entire wizard’s tower, and Cal and I…run the shop, and mostly try to not get ourselves blown up.”

“Ah.  I see.  Well…” The wizard’s voiced trailed off. The conversation had stretched on now for some time, and Lia had nearly resigned herself to wanting to rejoin the party (whatever the risk to the damnable locks) when Gale’s thought finally made its’ way to his mouth.  “Has Rolan ever, you know, shown any interest in teaching the two of you?”

“He’s managed to get Cal to a point where he can use a scroll without it backfiring or causing us to need to evacuate the shop.  Whenever he tries with me, it ends…explosively.  I tried to use a scroll for LIGHT and managed to set an entire bookshelf ON FIRE”.

It was an unpleasant memory. She’d found her brother an insufferably smug teacher.  It’d all always come so easily to Rolan. Lia’d rather just have her wits and a good sharp blade.”

“When I first met Tav, if she attempted to use her instrument as a focus, she could perform minor spells, but on her own had zero capacity to cast – in fact, it would frequently result in a backfire of wild magic not unlike what you’ve just described with the bookcases.  From what I recall, you generally prefer a bow or blade to magic, however, if you’d at least like to be able to use a scroll, I believe I can help. It may even make dealing with the locks simpler.”

“Learn magic? From you? Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t. Seriously, I have tried. Hells, I have actually, proper tried.  Rolan tries to be supportive, but…he looks so angry when I try, and it backfires like that.  It wastes scrolls, and knowing his sister is SO magically inept, I just…I don’t need more proof that I can’t do this stuff.”

Lia turned towards the portals

“Tell you what – I’m not above a friendly bit of wagering, and truly, I believe this will help all parties involve.  Tomorrow morning, I’ll be at the door of the shop an hour before you’re posted to open.  This is zero risk, all reward. You don’t even have to step out into the cold.  Since you’ve said that even scrolls cause backfires, let’s start there. If I can get you to cast one scroll – something relatively harmless like Dancing Lights – without a backfire, then you get rewarded.  I, uh, I know things. About Tav. And your brother. You could tease them both mercilessly. “

“Tempting, Wizard. But how do you know things I don’t about Rolan?”

“Wizards are notorious gossips, and your brother has rapidly developed quite the reputation.  Mostly positive, I hasten to add. But replete with a story or two that could certainly cause him minor embarrassment.”

“So, wait, I get to figure out this magic thing enough not to blow up the tower with a single scroll, I get juicy gossip about those two, and I don’t even have to leave the house…. really, wizard, what ARE you getting from this.”

Looking directly into the woman’s black and orange eyes, Gale simply grinned. “My dear, there is no greater joy than to be able to show someone who believed that they are incapable of something that they indeed possess the capability.  So many in this world would be capable of so much more if they were only of the belief that they could.  I believe you can do this.”

Lia let out a small, toothy grin.  He believed in her? Even over six months after that brain had nearly destroyed the city, Tav’s friends were continually a surprise.

“Also, I MUST admit…”

Oh, there’s always a ‘but’ or an ‘also’, Lia thought to herself.

“In all my years, I have only rarely known the use of scrolls to produce the kind of wild magic surges and backfires that you’ve described. If something IS impairing your ability to manipulate the weave in any manner, including a common scroll, that’s something worth investigating.”

Her defensiveness rose once more. She was no one’s laboratory experiment or object of pity.

“Look. I have a theory – and I RUSH to emphasize, it is only a theory – I think whatever is going on with the locks and the wards and your ”backfires” as it were are somehow related. Why and how? That is what I’d like to get to the bottom of.  If I can help a charming young lady gain some skill in the arcane arts along the way?  I would consider that a win-win situation.”

Sorry, charming? Was he?  Damnation, he was at least ten years older than her.  And a wizard.  No, no, work past it Lia. Okay, say something, this is getting awkward.

“Fine, one hour before opening. Wait – where are the rest of you staying tonight?  In the tower?”

“We were able to send ahead and rent out our old suite in the Elfsong.  There’s fewer of us now, and it’s only a few streets away.”.

Alfira and Lakrissa had mentioned this suite.  Absolutely palatial.  Alan Alyth had offered them the entire upper floor suite of the tavern during their battles against the brain.

“Snow’s piling up. If you don’t head back soon, you might be stuck the rest of the night.”

“Ah yes.  Still, I could certainly picture worse environs to be trapped in for a night.”. 

A slightly uncomfortable quiet began to hang over the room, broken only by occasional howls of wind and snow pelting the windows.

“Party’s downstairs. If you’re through ‘observing the locks’, let’s rejoin everyone else.  And you, I’ll see you promptly at six.”

Gale rose and began to head towards the portal with Lia. Once more, the warm glow began to envelop them, then, suddenly, a loud POP and a chilly breeze. 

Snow? Wait, they were outside? Why did she have a headache?

“Lia, I must admit, I did not anticipate this particular development.”

Looking around, the situation quickly became clear. 

“We’re on the bleedin’ balcony of the tower!?!” let out a shocked Lia. The pair had at least landed on firm ground, but near the uppermost floor of Ramazith’s tower, and most importantly, outdoors. 

“Right, let’s look for a door or window.”

The pair searched around, and eventually Lia found an opening to a window to the library inside.  Escaping the frigid gusts of the outdoors, Gale raised his hand, planning to illuminate the lighting inside the library.

“In for a penny, in for a pound.  Lia, do me a favor, watch me, carefully repeat every motion I make, and repeat every sound I make. Clear?”

Doing an imitation of Gale, the tiefling retorted back “Watch me, carefully repeat every motion I make, and repeat every sound I make. Clear?”

Letting loose a louder laugh this time, Gale began the process of casting Light.  Lia, relaxed in spite of their situation after the joke, following along closely. Word for word, motion for motion, she had proven a fantastic mimic for the wizard from Waterdeep.

At least in terms of her attempts to copy Gale.  The results…diverged.  Gale’s attempt effortlessly resulted in the illumination of a nearby brazier.  As did Lia’s.  “Gale! Oh, my gods, I….” Before she could complete the thought, an itch began to spread through every cell of her being. An itch that became a tickle.  Laughing, Lia suddenly found herself as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.”

“Uh, Lia…”

The levity of the moment was replaced by a different form of levity as Lia found herself nearly a meter off the ground – and rising.  Leaping, Gale managed to grab her by the hand and pull her towards him. 

Equally parts amused and concerned, Lia fleetingly found herself noting the wizard’s surprisingly firm grip.   For a bookworm, he has surprisingly strong hands here.

With her attention firmly focused on Gale, she noticed his casting once more. A glow rapidly enveloped them both – and she found herself beginning to return to the ground, slowly and gently.

Suddenly, a feeling of static and a pop of light. Gravity took hold once more, and the tiefling woman came crashing down upon the human wizard, landing atop him on the ground.

Realizing she had Gale pinned to the ground, she allowed her brain a moment, then rolled off, a sly grin mixed with intense confusion. 

“WHAT IN THE NINE HELLS WAS THAT?! Gale, not that I dont appreciate the soft landing but what happened? I did your little magic thing, it even looked like it worked, then suddenly I’m airborne.  What’s going on?”

Gale attempted to regain his composure, his mind lingering perhaps just a moment too long at having just had Lia atop him.

“Lia, excluding Rolan, does your family have ANY history of magic use whatsoever?”.

“Honestly, a lot of our folks died when we were young.  Why? I already told you, I’m not a mage. Rolan and I aren’t even related.”

“I’m aware that Rolan isn’t strictly your biological sibling. However, what I just witnessed is crystal clear, Lia.  Would you like the good news, the bad news, the worst news, or what’s behind door #4?”

“Out with it, wizard!” glared Lia, albeit slightly playfully. 

“What do you know of magic users known as ‘sorcerers’?”

“I’ve heard Rolan say things. Honestly, I think he was a little jealous. They’re the ones that are just born with magic, right? No studying or…. wait, what are you saying?”  Lia’s confused statement, however, was betrayed by a knowing look upon her face.

“There exists a category of sorcerers known as ‘Wild Magic’ sorcerers. The source of their magic tends to be the most unpredictable. Sometimes it’s by pure happenstance of birth.  Others it’s by unintentional magic exposure. Some have gained their talents by interactions with demons, or with the fey.  Still others went to their deaths believing that their powers had simply been a trick of the Gods.”

“Out with it.”

“Lia, what I’ve witnessed now twice in just the last half hour with you is indisputable. Those are the tell-tale wild magic surges of a sorcerer.  Why it started with scrolls, I’m not sure – perhaps it’s particularly volatile magic, perhaps there was some sort of ward on one of the scrolls that you tried to use that caused its’ magic to backflow into you. But ONLY a wild magic sorcerer could have caused what you just experienced when you attempted to light that brazier.   You’re a sorcerer, Lia.”

The intense emotion of the situation brought forth a familiar tingle. Her eyes shot open with alarm.

“Control it, Lia.  With study, you can learn to master these – “

Gale’s words were all too late. Another flash and crackle of electricity filled the room, along with a light layer of smoke. 

“Lia, answer me please, are you okay?”

As the smoke cleared, the first things visible were a pile of clothes of the ground.

Eyes opening wide, Gale could only let out a shocked “Uh oh.” as he prepared a sending spell and tried to think of what counterspell would be proper for this.

---

Downstairs, the magical lights of the shop flickered for a third time.  Grand Duke Wyll was the first person to notice “Look, everyone, the snow’s stopped.”

“Finally. The weather seers hadn’t said anything about snow” noted Rolan, interrupted by the large man (and mighty hamster) near him. “Clearly, they did not seer this coming” chuckled Minsc. 

“Hey, has anyone seen Lia? She took a bundle to the kitchen an hour ago, and she’s not back yet.  Kitchen portal’s not working either!” shouted Cal across the room. 

“The magic in this tower HAS been rather…eccentric, dating back to even before we’d left.  I had asked Gale to look at it.”  Rolan looked concerned towards Tav. 

Suddenly, Tav heard a familiar ping near the back of her head.  A sending spell?  From Gale.

“Tav. Come quickly to the library.  Bring Rolan. It’s Lia. Portals acting weird. Wild magic”

The hero of Baldur’s Gate wasted no time, grabbing her betrothed and heading towards the library portal. “It’s Gale, he’s with Lia.  They’re in the library, and it sounds like trouble.” 

“Why would my sister be in the library? Why would she be in the library with Gale? He’d only gone to the kit- “

Remembering that Lia had taken the now non-functional kitchen portal herself, they exchanged a confused glance.

“Gale said something else.  Said that the portals are weird and indicated “wild magic.”. 

“That is most certainly bizarre, my love.  How would the wild magic of a sorcerer affect the portal system?  What does it have to do with Gale and Lia?”

“No clue.  Wyll, Jaheira,“ Tav yelled across the room, “Rolan and I are going to the library. Something’s not right. If we’re not back or you don’t get a sending spell from me in fifteen minutes, get Cal’s keystone and come directly to the library. Portals are acting weird, though, so be prepared for anything. Keystone works for up to two people.”

Wyll nodded, almost eager at the chance for some semblance of actual adventure. Minsc appeared slightly saddened to not be invited to whatever was about to go to down town.  The others continued to focus amongst themselves?

“Ready, my love?” asked Rolan to Tav

“Ready”

The glow of the portal engulfed them quickly.  Aside from a slight draft, and a marginally smoky smell, moments later, they found themselves in the library. Gale’s hand was aglow and raised over his head.  In front of Gale stood a pile of clothes and a medium sized sheep, bleating in a vague panic.

“Gale what is-“

“QUIET. NOW.” shot back the wizard, grateful at their presence but annoyed at the interruption.

A curious pairing of scents, lilies and root vegetables, began to waft over the room. Rolan quickly found himself wondering Why in all the nine hells is Gale reversing a poly…OH. OH NO

A bright flash and more smoke engulfed the room.  Before Gale – and at a distance Tav and Rolan – once more stood Lia, now in the unfortunately compromised position of being “on all fours” and, embarrassingly, naked as the day she was born.

“Oh, oh thank the Gods, thank you Gale.  That was…I am getting rid of ALL of the wool in my wardrobe tomorrow.” Gale rapidly averted his gaze as a passing thought tried to remain in his mind. Rolan looked ready to fire a spell of Blight in his direction.

As Tav went over towards Lia in order to help her future sister-in-law with her outfit and to offer comfort, Rolan angrily grabbed Gale, pulling him towards an alcove on the site. 

“Gale Dekarios. Explain, now! WHY WAS MY SISTER A SHEEP? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?”

“Rolan, I promise, you and Tav will get a full recap in the morning.  What we both need now is to find someplace to rest, and safely.  Lia is safe, Rolan, she – “ “SHEEP. GALE, WHY WAS MY SISTER A SHEEP. WHY WAS MY SISTER NUDE AND IN THE LIBRARY WITH YOU?”

“Brother I’m fine.” Yelled Lia across the room.

“I just don’t understand WHAT IS…”

What had been an anger and confusion filled stream of consciousness set of reactions slowly gave way to Rolan’s more analytical nature.

Sheep.  Magical backfires. The angry sending spell I got from Tolna.

Rolan’s jaw started to hang open as his pupils opened so wide his eyes began to form an eclipse.

“You can’t possibly…no…she’s nor.”

With an almost giggle, a now re-clothed Lia make her way over towards her brother and Gale.  “Looks like you’re not the only mage in the family now, brother”

“Oh gods, she’s not.”

“Rolan, as senior instructor of Illusion at Blackstaff Academy, it is my solemn duty to inform you that your sister, Lia, is in fact a sorcerer. Potentially one of some moderate degree of power, if albeit near-zero control without the proper tutelage”. 

“Rolan, this is great. ANOTHER mage in the family!” noted Tav, excitedly.  Her music had provided Tav herself with a conduit to the Weave, while Rolan’s skills as a wizard were known.  Now, here was Lia – and she was manifesting magic?!  The possibilities for taunting Rolan are delightful now.

Sharing a glance at each other then towards Rolan and Gale, Lia and Tav began to laugh.

“Damnation.” grimaced Rolan.  “Still, if you can learn some measure of control”, began Rolan with a mix of pride and hesitation, “If you can learn some manner of control, perhaps you may yet accomplish great things.”

“I had offered your sister a magic lesson in the morning. I would actually still like to follow through with that, if it’s alright with you Lia?”

“You know what?” Lia glanced at the two wizards with a mix of curiosity, playfulness, and perhaps just a pinch of spite?  “I’d like that. I think I could learn a lot from you, Gale Dekarios.”

This time the glances were shared between Rolan and Tav.  Uh oh.

[wanderinthedeep]

just a reminder that I think Biden’s actions re: American support for Israel are reprehensible, and,

1. I will vote for someone other than Biden in the Democratic primaries, BUT,

2. If it comes down to Biden vs Trump in the general again, I will absolutely vote Biden, I will not abstain from voting in protest, I will not vote third party in protest,

because Trump is several fucking orders of magnitude worse, and it’s not even close.

[thefirstknife]

The thing about Clovis is that no matter how horrible you can imagine him being, he's undoubtedly worse by at least an order of magnitude if not several. It's great, I love him he's just such a horrible person but such a fascinating charater

Literally. The thing with those experiments was that like, I figured that once he had Exos, he was eager to do all experiments on them because, unless they get completely destroyed, they can just be fixed and the human mind re-uploaded. So why "waste" humans at that point, right? Wrong! Genuinely so incomprehensible to me that I was just reading it completely differently.

Like, his disregard for human life was unfathomably worse. At least when he'd kill people to scan their brains for upload, they'd get turned into Exos. But with these experiments, they just died. Couldn't even be scanned anymore. That also means that not only did he have people on Europa designated for scans, he also must've had people he never intended to scan and just used as human lab rats. Baffling.

Clovis as a character is beyond fascinating to me, I cannot look away from this disaster of a man. Worst human that ever lived (still does unfortunately). I need to know everything about him.

[wonder-worker]

The magnitude of what [Richard III] did should not be played down. Edward V was not of an age to have caused personal political offence. He could not be accused of tyranny, like Richard II, or gross incompetence, like Henry VI. He had begun to reign, but he had not yet ruled. The usurpation of 1483 was of a fundamentally different order to those of 1399, 1461, or even 1485. Those, whether justifiable or not, were acts of the last resort. In 1483, uniquely, deposition was used as a weapon of first resort.

-A.J Pollard, Richard III and the Princes in the Tower

It is of course possible that Richard only advanced his own claim to the throne after he was informed by a deeply troubled Bishop Stillington that Edward V and his brother were illegitimate. It is possible, but highly implausible. The case finally put together concerning the bastardy of the princes, and enrolled in a parliamentary statute of January 1484, is theologically sound. It was that Edward IV had entered a pre-contract of marriage with Eleanor Butler before he had married Elizabeth Woodville and that this rendered his children by her illegitimate. Under canon law, had Edward IV entered a pre-contract of marriage with Eleanor Butler, all the children born of a later union, before or after Eleanor’s death, even if Elizabeth Woodville had been ignorant of the previous liaison, would have been illegitimate. In this respect the fact that Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville had married clandestinely made matters worse. Moreover, it was perfectly acceptable in law to raise objection on these grounds several years after the event. The pre-contract story, in its final form, presented a strong legal case.

There are, however, several sound reasons for doubting its truth. While it is the case that parliament was a proper body to adjudicate on matters of inheritance that resulted from illegitimacy, in England in the later-fifteenth century an ecclesiastical court should have heard the original charge. And if it were true, why was it not put before such a court so as to remove all doubts? Moreover, even if it had been proved that Edward V and his brother were illegitimate, deposition was not the only course open to the protector. The stain of illegitimacy could have been removed by the ritual of coronation. Edward V, like Elizabeth I later, could have been declared legitimate and all doubts removed. Above all, the revelation of the princes’ bastardy was so timely and convenient as to leave little doubt in the minds of contemporaries that it was but the colour for an act of usurpation.

There is, too, a suspicious degree of confusion over the precise detail of the charge of illegitimacy as it was first advanced in June. Mancini’s account of the sermons and speeches hints at a change in the story. At first the charge appeared to be that Edward IV himself was a bastard; two days later it seems that the princes were. The first official government statement appears in a letter dated 28 June to the captain of Calais informing him that his oath of loyalty to Edward V was no longer valid. Many people, he was assured, had made similar oaths in ignorance of Richard III’s true title which had been shown and declared in a petition presented by the lords spiritual and temporal and the commons on 26 June, a copy of which was to be sent to Calais for publication. Unfortunately that copy has not survived. The earliest surviving version is, therefore, that transcribed as part of the parliamentary act settling the throne on Richard. This purports to reproduce that petition verbatim, but doubts have been cast on its veracity. It is possible that the final, official version, had been subsequently amended. Even so, there is no reason to doubt that the substance of the original petition of 26 June was the same as that reproduced in January: namely that ‘all the issue of the said King Edward been bastards’

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Richard III usurped the throne in June 1483. Perhaps in retrospect what happened appears more controlled and more deliberate than was in fact the case. We tend to favour a conspiratorial view of the past, where often a ‘cock-up’ theory might be more applicable. Did Richard III mastermind a brilliantly conceived and skilfully executed coup d’état? Or did it all happen in confusion, ignorance and fear? Richard might well have had a plan to take the throne by one means, but found that he had to change it as events developed.

... We should not assume that the usurpation was conducted according to a timetable; but there are nevertheless several observations that can be made with some certainty. The first is that Richard took and never surrendered the initiative. It is hard to sustain the idea that he was forced into usurpation by circumstances or by his rivals’ actions. He did not need to seize Rivers and his companions at Stony Stratford; he did not need to execute Hastings on 13 June. On both these occasions experienced politicians walked unsuspectingly into a trap. None of Richard’s victims in the summer of 1483 anticipated the fate awaiting them. In modern jargon, Richard was proactive, not reactive. The second observation is that Richard acted with unprecedented ruthlessness. His enemies were executed without trial. They were not in arms against their sovereign; they were not taken after battle and slain even under the colour of the law of arms. There was no pretence of lawful process. They were murdered in cold blood. The third observation is that Richard faced little opposition. Potential opposition was removed by pre-emptive strikes. The fourth observation is that he deposed a boy of twelve, his nephew, who on his own insistence had been placed in his trust.

[starwarsmum]

Day 27! Prompt du jour is PDA Free Zone

@maribat-calendar-events

Damian was nervous and it was making him irritable. It had been a year since Marinette had first come to Gotham and they were finally going to return the favour and visit Paris for a week or so. It would only be Tim and Damian for now, Bruce not wanting to leave Gotham with too few defenders.

So this would be his first time meeting Marinette's parents, the people who had raised her and shaped her into the remarkable woman she had become. He was not well known for good first impressions and that knowledge was eating his confidence with every passing hour on the flight.

“God, will you knock it off, Demon Spawn?” Tim said under his breath, ignoring the glare the younger boy shot his way. “I get that you don't like to go without being Robin for any amount of time but you're the one who wanted to visit Paris with me.”

“Tt, I am unbothered that I am unable to patrol during this interlude,” Damian said, feeling his irritation build when Tim scoffed. “Believe what you wish, but know that I take offense at your scepticism.”

“Whatever,” Tim said, dismissing him for the moment. He was working on a tablet but put it away after a few minutes. “Actually, since we have witnesses for the next couple of hours, I wanted to talk to you about this trip.”

“...I feel as though I am going to regret this but what do you wish to speak about?”

“Look, I've come to terms with the fact that you're dating my little sister. Do I like it? No, but I have accepted that I can't stop you and I guess there are worse people she could choose.”

“Tt, I was correct in my assumption that I would dislike this almost as much as I dislike you,” Damian grumbled, fingers twitching as though he was fingering a dagger.

“Shhh, there's more and it'll be easier if we just power through it. Like I said, acceptance yada yada. But I would really rather not be forced to face it for our entire visit to Paris. So I'm declaring a ban on too much touchy-feely stuff in my direct line of sight. I can probably stomach hand holding and cheek kisses but I swear to god, if you try to make out with her-”

“I do not see how it is any of your business what we do as a couple,” Damian said, scowling at Tim. He had thought the man irritating before but it was nothing compared to the annoyance that swept through him now. “I have not seen Marinette in person since she last visited Gotham after Christmas and I will not allow you to-”

“If you don't, I'm telling Bruce that you adopted the feral cat that's been making a mess in the cave,” Tim said, revealing his trump card. Damian swallowed down the growl that threatened to escape him and nodded once in acceptance. “Good, I'm glad we're in agreement-”

“You are blackmailing me, Drake, there is no agreement. But I suppose I will have to do as you order until I have something of equal magnitude to create a mutually assured destruction.”

For the rest of the flight Damian grumbled as he thought about ways to work around Tim's terms.

_ _ _

Marinette was buzzing as she waited in the arrivals gate. Luka rolled his eyes but smiled as she popped up on her toes for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes. She had been excited for this visit for weeks but now that she was a matter of minutes away from seeing them? She was positively brimming with joy.

When she spotted Damian's signature scowl she squealed and darted towards him. The scowl softened as she hurled herself into his arms, dropping the homemade sign she had crafted carefully for their arrival. They stood like that for several moments before pulling apart slightly to smile at each other.

She pulled him down - what had he been eating? It was unfair of him to get so much taller without her - to kiss him and sighed when he pulled her flush against him. She could vaguely hear the crowds around them cooing or muttering exasperatedly but she ignored it and melted against him.

“Oh come on Demon Spawn, it's been less than ten minutes,” Tim exclaimed, blatantly annoyed. Marinette broke away from Damian blushing but grinning dopily. “Hey Mari, thanks for coming to meet us.”

“Of course! Come on, my friend Luka came with me to play chauffeur,” she said, picking up the sign after giving Tim a hello hug. He smiled at her warmly and dragged his bag as he followed her. She slipped her hand into Damian's as they walked and her cheeks started to hurt with how wide her grin was.

“I guess I don't need full introductions,” Luka said when they arrived, making Marinette pout and blush even harder. He chuckled, holding his hand out to Tim first. “You must be Melody's brother, Tim. Your song is pretty frantic, you should probably sort out your sleep schedule. And this chaotic sounding guy has to be Damian, right?”

He ignored the strange looks both boys gave him and turned to Marinette, gesturing for her to lead the way to the car. She giggled at the confusion radiating from her two guys and pulled a frowning Damian after her.

“Luka hears people's heart songs,” she explained, letting go of Damian's hand so he could put his and Tim's bags in the boot of the car. She pushed Damian into the back seat but was prevented from climbing in with him when Tim slipped past her. “Boo, why aren't you sitting in the front, Tim?”

“Because you two can't be trusted,” he said, glaring at Damian. She blushed again, giving Tim a reproachful look as she sat in the front seat next to Luka. 

The drive to the hotel was easy enough and soon they were clambering back into the car to take Tim and Damian to meet Marinette's parents. This time, Marinette successfully bullied Tim into the front seat with Luka and cuddled up to Damian in the back.

“No funny business you two, I mean it,” he said severely but Marinette only stuck her tongue out at him before settling her head onto Damian's shoulder. She felt something that had been fluttering around her chest, ever since the last time she had left Gotham, settle. She knew they were only staying for a week and dreaded the thought of spending so much time away from him.

“Maman, Papa, they're here,” she called into the apartment. She dragged them both straight to the kitchen, Luka having gone home so they had some time altogether. Her parents called back through, encouraging them to come and sit down and relax.

“How much did you sleep on the plane, Tim?” Marinette asked guilelessly. When he hesitated, she frowned at him before turning to her parents and declaring that Tim was going to have a nap before dinner. “Come on, you can use my bed.”

Tim protested but Marinette wasn't having any of it, pushing him into the bed and glaring at him until he promised to stay there for at least an hour. She gave him a sceptical look before asking Barkk to stand watch over him and make sure he stayed.

Honestly, Tim would have been offended if he had been more awake, but he decided to take the opportunity to actually get some shut eye.

_ _ _ 

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped back out of the attic room. She loved Tim, really, but he could be such a big brother sometimes. But with him resting in her room, she had plenty of time to spend with Damian without his hovering.

“You got him to rest?” The boy in question asked, eyebrows raised. She laughed and grabbed his hand to tug him towards the door. He didn't ask anything else as she told her parents that they would be back in time for dinner and pulled him out of the apartment.

“Barkk’s busy making sure he doesn't go anywhere,” she said brightly as they made their way down the street. “He was being grouchy and trying to keep us from saying hello properly, obviously he needed to rest.”

“And the fact that we no longer have a chaperone is merely coincidence, is it?” He asked, clearly amused. Stopping in the park outside her home, she pulled him down for another kiss. They stood there for several long minutes, Marinette playing with the ends of his hair while he pulled her as close as he physically could.

“I don't hear you complaining,” she murmured against his lips and they curved into a smile underneath her own. 

[mariacallous]

U.S. politicians have begun to lament the country’s falling birthrate. Their concern is legitimate; The United States’ total fertility rate has fallen from a robust average of 2.12 births per woman in 2007 to less than 1.7 births per woman today. (Demographic experts generally identify 2.1 as the rate needed to keep the population stable absent immigration.) From a smaller tax base and a shrinking labor pool to higher pension burdens that could crowd out spending on things such as education and infrastructure, falling birthrates represent a looming social and economic drag on U.S. prosperity.

This discourse, however, misses key context—namely, that the demographic situations in China, Russia, and the European Union are an order of magnitude worse. Far from being a drag, the United States’ relatively strong demographic hand endows it with a key advantage in an age of great-power competition with China and Russia.

While the United States may be in demographic transition, its competitors are increasingly in demographic turmoil. Nowhere is this more apparent than China. In the span of less than a decade, its birthrate has plunged from 1.81 births per woman to 1.08, according to the official figures, placing it among the lowest anywhere. Chinese authorities anticipate a modest rebound, speculating that fertility rates will rise above 1.3 by 2035, a figure that would still spell demographic doom for the world’s second-most populous country.

But far from recovering, a confluence of demographic and social trends suggests that the Chinese birthrate still has further to fall.

Start with the fact that after decades of the one-child policy, there are dramatically fewer Chinese citizens able to have children in the first place. There are, for example, 216 million Chinese citizens in their 50s but just 181 million citizens in their 20s, meaning that the population is all but destined to fall since the pool of potential parents is now so much smaller.

Even worse, a societal preference for sons has created a severe shortage of women. There are a whopping 11.7 million more Chinese men in their 20s than there are women in the same age bracket. A small portion of this imbalance can be attributed to nature’s slight tendency for boys over girls at childbirth. (Some scientists speculate that humans may have evolved this tendency to compensate for higher mortality rates for men later on in the life cycle.)

A much larger share of the imbalance, however, can be attributed to the many sex-selective abortions and the Chinese girls who were put up for adoption during the peak years of gender selection, before government efforts began to close the gender gap. Decades of the one-child policy, in short, have resulted in a shortage of young people and an even greater shortage of young women. Both factors condemn the country to continued demographic decline for the foreseeable future.

Despite the government’s best efforts to convince people to have babies, including a turn to patriarchal language under Chinese President Xi Jinping, new social realities also suggest that China’s ultra-low birthrates are here to stay. Chief among these is a newfound and ingrained cultural preference for small families, especially among the generation of people who grew up without siblings. Chinese women surveyed about their preferences, for example, reported an ideal family size that averages to just 1.7 children, far lower than almost everywhere else in the world. This means that even if Beijing was able to afford every woman the perfect conditions for raising a family, Chinese fertility would still be far below the threshold required to maintain population size.

Also worrying for China is the rise of the tangping—the “lying flat” movement—a social phenomenon observed among young Chinese emerging from the anomie resulting from both China’s long COVID-19 lockdowns and a hypercompetitive academic culture. The movement, which rejects typical societal expectations (parenthood included) as a form of quiet but defiant protest against the state, has been subject to heavy censorship but still seems to capture the prevailing mood among young people. It bodes poorly for their future procreation.

The most unheralded driver of China’s demographic decline, however, is its continued urbanization. This factor correlates with fertility perhaps more than any other; higher housing costs, more liberal social norms, and a new economic logic (extra hands to help with work on a farm become more mouths to feed in a city) all conspire to make urban families much smaller than rural ones.

China’s relentless urbanization, then, promises to act as a continued check on Beijing’s ambitions to raise birthrates. Most worrying for Beijing is the fact China has a lot of room left to urbanize: Less than two-thirds of Chinese citizens live in cities, compared to 81 percent of South Koreans and 92 percent of Japanese. Beijing will find efforts to raise the birthrate even harder as a greater share of the 34 percent of its citizens currently living in rural areas decamps to cities.

Russia’s population also promises to plummet, but it’s expected to do so for a slightly different set of reasons. Like China, Russia’s population growth is constrained by the smaller generation of people now entering adulthood, an echo of the tumultuous 1990s, when birthrates first collapsed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This reality means that the birthrate was already destined to fall due to the smaller pool of potential parents.

Unlike China, however, Russia has made this weak demographic hand even worse by starting a war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has locked Russia into a cycle of demographic decline in at least three ways. The first factor is death from the war itself, with many of Russia’s estimated 50,000 fatalities being from the same small generation—of those born in the 90s—that it can scarcely afford to lose. Second is the wave of emigration that the invasion and subsequent mobilization has caused, as many of the roughly 1 million Russians who have fled the war are in their prime childbearing years.

Above all, however, is the fact that military spending—which now stands at a record 6 percent of Russia’s GDP—has crowded out spending on education, health care, and other policies that induce family creation. Chief among these are the Kremlin’s generous natalist policies, which succeeded in meaningfully raising the birthrate and even led to a brief period of natural population growth from 2013 to 2016. But this is a far cry from 2021, when Russia’s population dropped by 1 million people—the opening shot in what will be a protracted period of decline.

Against this catastrophic backdrop in China and near-catastrophic backdrop in Russia, the United States’ relatively robust demography is a source of strength. It’s true that, like Europe, the United States is now entering an era of lower birthrates. But—buoyed by higher religiosity and strong Mormon and evangelical traditions that Europe lacks—this decline has been both more delayed and less dramatic than the precipitous drop seen across the EU.

The United Sates can also rely on its status as a first-choice destination for immigrants across the world, something that has propelled its continued population growth even as China and Russia have begun to decline. The United States’ world-beating universities and tech firms will continue to attract the world’s best and brightest while high wages and a tight labor market have incentivized an ever-growing number of lower-skilled migrants to arrive via the southern border.

While the United States will still have to adapt to realities such as higher pension obligations in the face of an aging population, it’s the inverted population pyramid seen in countries such as Russia and China that presents the greatest threat to productivity and growth.

Of course, Russia and China could yet climb out of the demographic holes that they have found themselves in. Both remain powerful autocracies that are potentially capable of corralling their people in ways that the United States and the West can’t—although encouraging population growth has, as autocracies such as Nicolae Ceausescu’s Romania shows, often been far harder than limiting it.

But the United States shouldn’t discount its own strengths, chief of all the political and economic liberties that make it such an attractive location to move to and raise children in the first place. The United States will still have to contend with the numerous threats posed by Russia and China. Their falling populations, however, will make the job much easier.

[processingabuse]

I by no means want to increase the stigma around going no contact with parents/family and cutting harmful people out of your life. It's incredibly painful for most people (including me) and it's a decision that is rarely taken lightly, and the last thing we need to do is make people feel worse for doing something that they had to do to protect themselves. HOWEVER, I feel like this is occasionally lumped in with a "fuck the haters, nobody owes you anything" kind of attitude that severely undercuts the gravity of that kind of choice. There's also a trend I've noticed on tiktok particularly (but I'm sure other places too) where moms will say something like "my child doesn't owe me forever for taking care of them, if they decide not to have a relationship with me in the future that's totally fine and it's their choice". This is often in response to people saying awful and unfair things about adult children who've gone no contact, so I appreciate the support, and I recognize that "I gave up everything for you and this is how you thank me???!!!" is a common manipulation tactic aimed at children when they are trying to protect themselves from their parents. But I really dislike how flippant they sound about something so devastating. If your kid goes no contact with you, it SHOULD affect you. It might mean you did and/or are continuing to do something that is deeply harming your child, and that's not something that should be taken nonchalantly, like "well, I respect their choices". And sometimes a child really is being awful and are just not putting in the effort to appreciate their parents or they're mad about something that really is petty compared to what their parents have done for them. (I would assume that that's the case less often in these situations but that's my own experience and bias talking). Yes, you don't owe anyone to the point that it causes you real harm. Yes, I believe that "no" is a complete sentence. And yes, sometimes you just grow apart from people. But there ARE bad reasons to cut someone off. Abandoning someone, especially without explanation, is a real thing that sucks to go through. Someone might say to me "you cut off contact with your entire immediate family with no warning, how can you do that and then turn around and say that's it's wrong?" I did that because I HAD to. It was terrible and I never want to do that again. It was without warning because I was scared I wouldn't be able to leave if I saw them. I DID try to reason with them and get them to stop abusing me, for almost two decades. It's the worst experience I've ever had and I will carry it for the rest of my life. There is a hole in my heart that will never fully heal. To use an exteme example, it's like watching someone die right in front of you after you've killed them out of self-defense. That would haunt you forever, even though you didn't have a choice. And let's say someone was going to kill someone for a supposed "greater good" and you objected, and they said "you of all people should understand that violence is sometimes necessary". But it would be precisely because you killed someone that you understand the magnitude of what that really means, even though you don't regret doing it. No one should ever have to abandon their family and friends in order to feel safe. If you feel like you have to in order to be physically and emotionally safe, I fully support you and I hope you get the courage and the life and freedom that you need. But it's ugly, it's painful, it's not something to aspire to, it's not an empowering social media post. Sometimes enough is enough and you've tried too many times; believe me, I know. But while, as I've said, I want to reduce the stigma around it, I certainly don't want to normalize it. It ends up hurting people who don't deserve it while simultaneously downplaying the severity of the genuine abuse people have endured.

[govindhtech]

EPAM’s Retail Media Orchestration Toolkit and Google Cloud

EPAM’s Retail Media Orchestration Toolkit for Streamlined Ad Operations

Increase retail media success more quickly with Google Cloud and EPAM.

Retail media networks are not a novel form of advertising platform that enables merchants to sell advertising space to outside companies on their digital platforms. However, they will undergo a significant transformation in the upcoming year. As consumers’ concerns about privacy grow, they want more tailored advertising advice.

For many years, EPAM and Google Cloud have been developing retail media solutions, giving you the data and insights you need to enhance buyer experiences, improve metrics, and get more thorough and granular perspectives of your consumers.

Businesses who employ AI and gen AI and make the most use of first-party data will experience a return on investment in retail media. I am excited to inform the launch of EPAM’s Retail Media Orchestration Toolkit today, which will enable retailers of all sizes, regardless of how developed their retail media operations are, to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead in the upcoming year. The Retail Media Orchestration Toolkit gives you access to specialized, internal retail media operations that are coordinated with EPAM’s extensive retail knowledge and backed by Google and Google Cloud’s market-leading digital advertising capabilities.

You may significantly outperform your rivals and enhance your first-party data with previously unattainable information by utilizing Google Cloud’s AI and gen AI technologies and expertise.

Profits from retail media are still elusive

Even while many retailers have established retail media operations and are aware of the economic potential of first-party data, they still have difficulty seeing these initiatives through to maturity. Typical obstacles to optimizing retail media earnings consist of:

Marketers can choose from hundreds of retail media networks to host campaigns. This infrastructure cannot match the increased demand for data-driven insights. Companies want to spend their advertising resources on networks with comprehensive, data-driven insights, yet many retailers struggle to provide the in-depth information advertisers require. Few shops specialize in retail media; they sell products. The challenge is further compounded by the magnitude involved for many retailers.

Incapacity to deliver precise, quick measurements: Closed-loop campaign performance measurement, and in particular omnichannel measurement across various digital and physical consumer engagements, necessitates a degree of retail media technology, skill, and coordination that few merchants have.

The absence of resources and technology to enable data clean rooms Retail media are driven by consumer data. The success of advertising increases with the amount of detailed and thorough data. It’s critical to protect sensitive information, including comprehensive customer data, in order to uphold industry ethics, preserve consumer trust, and frequently comply with legal requirements. Data clean rooms offer a secure setting for several authorized individuals to use and exchange client data. However, many merchants lack the resources and knowledge necessary to maintain a data clean room, and the technological obstacles are substantial.

Data and workflow standardization challenges: Most retail media networks are made up of disparate independent software vendors (ISVs). They make use of their own protocols, guidelines, and reporting styles. As a result, incoming reporting data is constantly pouring in and needs to be converted to internal formats before being sent to advertisers. A lot of retailers try to deal with this by manually handling incoming data, which leads to more employees, worse performance when reporting to customers, and lower profitability for retail media.

Retail Media Orchestration Toolkit

Retailers can now deploy in-house, customized retail media solutions, just like Walmart, Tesco, Albertsons, and Kroger have done.

In collaboration with EPAM and Google Cloud, the Retail Media Orchestration Toolkit was created through Google Cloud’s Industry Value Network (IVN) project, utilizing ISV solutions like Moloco. With the help of the Toolkit, retailers may use their data to help their advertising clients and enhance their retail media operations.

EPAM’s extensive understanding of retail media operations stems from years of experience creating in-house, customized solutions powered by Google Cloud for some of the biggest retailers globally. Custom retail media solutions can be designed and implemented with Google Cloud’s comprehensive, end-to-end platform and solutions for audience capabilities, measurement, media execution, and innovation.

EPAM’s Toolkit, which is built on the cutting-edge Google Cloud Cortex Framework cloud-based data foundation, enables clients to make better use of their data, regardless of where it is stored. This includes first-party data from programs like Google Ad Manager, Google Search Ads 360, Display & Video 360, and others, making a true in-house, custom retail media solution a feasible option. The solution, which is a component of Google Cloud’s Industry Value Network, also makes use of ISV solutions to offer a complete and replicable solution via the pre-built connectors and accelerators.

Using the Retail Media Orchestration Toolkit, retailers benefit from:

An entirely owned, tailored, internal retail media system that is readily expandable when necessary

The capability of automating, standardizing, and streamlining retail media operations

Costly, prone to error human processes are replaced with fully automated ones.

Omnichannel measuring capabilities so they can show marketers the ROI and campaign effectiveness

Making better, data-driven decisions to optimize campaign performance across various, heterogeneous platforms

Advice on how to use cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to create a solution that meets their present demands.

Significant, measurable advantages are already being felt by retailers who are utilizing the EPAM and Google Cloud retail media solution, such as:

Increases in retail media revenue and advertiser demand of 15% to 20%

Double the campaign’s performance

40% time savings

Costs of retail media activities are reduced by 12%.

Retail media success’s four stages

Four steps make up the design and implementation of an internal solution using the Retail Media Orchestration Toolkit:

Combine, standardize, automate, evaluate, and display transactional and multichannel campaign delivery data for multichannel measurement.

Superior omnichannel measurement Data from user-level interactions across platforms and channels should be tracked, reported, and examined.

Audiences: Using unique segmentation models that are built within your own cloud environment and syndicated to your retail media partners, create high-value predictive audiences based on your transactional data.

Utilize analytics to create and improve new revenue sources by drawing on brand and consumer data.

Regardless of their degree of retail media maturity, retailers were intended to profit from this staged approach. When you’re ready, you can take use of the insight-boosting potential of Google Cloud’s AI and ML capabilities. Your solution may be set up and installed to suit your unique requirements, yielding benefits practically instantly.

Prepare to expand your media efforts in retail

Due to its youth, very few, if any, organizations have fully matured their retail media activities. There is still room for improvement, even for large retailers who have created their own in-house retail media solutions. Some areas that usually lack technological maturity include optimizing workflows, creating complete automation of retail media operations, and making the most of emerging capabilities with AI and ML.

However, where is your organization now? How far along is your company in realizing the full potential of retail media? What actions are necessary to get to that point?

To address those questions, a maturity evaluation is used. It will only take two or three meetings with important members of your company to give us a broad overview of your retail media business. And it will use that information to create a customized action plan for you that includes:

A multi-year plan that addresses technology, procedures, and collaborations and is tailored to your company’s maturity level

A projection of retail media’s profit and loss that identifies important dependencies

A structure of investments and resources to help you expand more quickly

Simply put, your maturity assessment shows you how to get from where you are to where you want to be and shows you how to maximize the potential of retail media for your company.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[bright-and-burning]

xmen meets shadow and bone. or something -> omg pls share!!

can’t lie this one is 90% voice notes to @mecachrome KAHDKSHDKSHD.

basically. war torn militarized society vibe. against demon creatures or something, not important. lando’s been in da academy for longer than anyone else. he’s still powerless; in any normal time, he’d’ve been booted a year or two ago, sent off to be a glorified human shield or (more likely, w how he’s thrived here) somebody important’s secretary or something. he’s still on a ticking clock; jenson can only justify keeping him there for so long, a year more at best. but the demon things have gotten worse by several orders of magnitude, since the hamilton-rosberg mission gone wrong, so he’s still getting sent out, new partner every other month, on training missions that are becoming less and less training and more and more real each week.

oscar, on the other hand, flew through the academy. has telepathy related powers. but for some reason cannot stick with a partner, constant constant troubles, egos or powers clashing w everyone he’s been paired with. so he gets sent back down to the training missions (that again, because of the sheer lack of bodies, are pretty much real). he gets paired with lando. powers can’t clash if one guy doesn’t have them, egos can’t clash too bad (lando’s been paired with everyone and their fucking mother and made it through fine so…), and if things go wrong, well. small loss, getting a powerless 24 year old killed when he probably would’ve been sent off to die in a year anyways.

and then. it gets interesting 😈

WIP title game

[www-razaya4life]

GLTAS' Extended Role in C.O.I.E Chapter 11

Elsewhere, Razer and Aya are sent to investigate a disturbance originating from the abandoned Warworld

Razer, who is still at odds with Aya regarding her memory, fears this might become permanent.

In order to pass the time as they wander around, Razer commences the one thing he never imagined himself doing: initiate small talk.

"So Aya, have you been enjoying your time at Satellite?" "It is quite enlightening to meet so many different organic lifeforms; all originating from different points of the multiverse. Though I must admit...the circumstances for such are less than ideal."

To this, Razer lets out a humorless chuckle. "Something amusing Dual Lantern?"

"The latter half of your statement reeks of what Hal calls irony." "What is ironic about my assessment?" Aya inquires.

"Prior to the start of this crisis, I couldn't imagine us reuniting under better circumstances."

"Are you still hyper-fixating on what I once was?" Aya asks coldly.

"Not that it would make much of a difference in regards to the outcome, but yes I am." Razer huffs defensively.

"Oh let it go already Dual Lantern! My memory banks have not improved since our initial encounter and I doubt they'll be functioning at optimal levels now."

At last, Razer lost patience, "I can't simply let it go as you put it."

"And why can't you?" Asked Aya snidely. "BECAUSE I LOVE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Razer roared with deep-seated passion in his voice.

Aya is immediately taken aback by Razer's outburst; now her aforementioned death makes sense.

She then shakes off the realization and says, "If I truly meant that much to you Dual Lantern, why didn't you try to save me?"

The mere utterance of that very question pierced Razer's heart like a serrated knife.

"You think I wanted you to take your own life?!" he grimaced.

"I do not recall self-destruction being my preliminary cause of death."

"Perhaps it was a result your self-sacrifice." Razer reasoned. "What would cause me to initiate such rash measures?" Aya asked.

"Because at one point..." Razer paused impressively, "you were in love with me as well."

"How could you ever fall in love with an artificial intelligence such as myself?"

Razer first relayed to her about the resemblance to his late wife Ilana. "But the more I got to know you, the more I found myself gravitating toward the person you were becoming."

"And that's whom you've fallen in love with?" "Yes." Razer sighed, feeling exhausted.

As the duo ventured further into the bowels of Warworld, Razer's blue ring began to flicker erratically.

Aya, taking notice of this, motioned to Razer about his ring's current status. In which he replies that, after their recent discussion, he has begun to run out of hope.

Aya, now feeling guilty for being the reason behind it, tries to apologize for her aloof behavior.

"Forget it." Razer dismisses, "We have a mission to complete."

Aya then asks the Dual Lantern one more question: "why did you feel the need to search for me all this time?"

Razer stops dead in his tracks and sighs, "Love makes us do all types of irrational things. In this case, it propelled me to find you."

Aya, not knowing what to say next, says no more and decides to scan the area instead.

"My sensors are picking up hostile threats in the vicinity."

Razer, still feeling melancholy from earlier, arms himself nonetheless.

Sure enough, they become surrounded by Warworld's automated defense cannons which open fire on them immediately!

Blue, green, and red energy blasts fly every which way obliterating the threat! But still, more and more cannons pop up.

After several minutes of combat, every last cannon is destroyed.

Razer stops for a bit to catch his breath. As he does so, he asks Aya if she's okay to which she confirms she is.

Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, a giant proton canon emerges from some nearby wreckage.

They look on in horror at the sheer magnitude of said weapon!

The proton cannon charges up with an increasing whine and, once it reaches full capacity, takes aim at the two unsuspecting lanterns.

The two former lovers glance back at each other with looks of uncertainty when suddenly, a blinding beam of light erupts from the cannon's mouth and hurdles straight towards them!

Razer, remembering what happened last time they were in this exact predicament, decides to return the favor by shoving Aya out of the way. Thus taking the full brunt of the blast.

Aya is absolutely shocked by this turn of events. However, the sound of Razer's agonizing screams triggers something within her and a tidal wave of memories from the past come flooding back to her!

With her memories returned to her, the sudden realization of what's transpiring hits Aya like an oncoming truck!

"AAAAAGH! RAZER!!" Aya belts out a bloodcurdling scream as she rockets over to her near-atomized lover.

She quickly pulls Razer out of the beam's trajectory and immediately contacts Satellite for immediate evacuation.

Aya tearfully cradles her beloved's semi-charred face close to her chest as the two of them are instantly beamed up; their future left unknown.

End of Chapter 11; get ready for more to come in Part 12