#but we've done this often enough with him I know good care and bad care

[nominalnebula]

it is absolutely insane to me that you hit the call bell in the hospital, it takes more than 10 minutes for someone to answer the call and then they just don't fucking show up

[whoopsyeahokay]

October Sun

summary: Wally had had no idea what he'd been looking at. Had barely had a reaction to it apart from subtle feelings of anxiety. In fact, it hadn't inspired anything more than a shrug and the thought of, "Neat. It's a tree."

pairing: Wally Clark x fem!reader

warnings: eventual smutty smut smut. and mad spoilers. and obvious Canon divergence. very involved, very dense plot.

bon reading, frens

___________________________💀

OCTOBER SUN pt.16

Group adjourned with Mr. Martin's instruction to pick anything but Rudy for tomorrow's Movie Night. Maddie split almost immediately; in pursuit of another lead or to stalk Mr. Anderson, Wally wasn't sure, but once he heard the door click behind her, he sagged in relief.

Too soon, he realized. When he looked up he saw Rhonda bolt from her seat and cut through the center of the circle like a shark through water, Charley on her heels.

"What was that?" She challenged, sizing the length of Wally up with a wave of her bare lollipop stem.

"What was what?"

Charley squinted at him, quickly scanned about before he leaned in and furtively said, "Oh, I don't know. How about that monstrosity of a performance you just forced us to participate in?"

Wally gulped, "I—"

"Spare us the crap, puppycat," Rhonda snipped, "We've seen each other's transcripts."

"I saw him misspell fundraiser," Charley added in a mockery of an anecdote Wally had shared during the session. And then, accusingly, "I know you know what a pun looks like."

Wally found himself on the back foot, mind going blank as he groped for an explanation that hedged the truth enough to get him out of Charley and Rhonda's crosshairs, but that didn't expose that he'd already known about the phone call and Mr. Anderson and the hush money.

"I was just...Uh..."

Unfortunately, Charley and Rhonda were too damn smart and your skill of inventing plausible excuses on the spot hadn't yet rubbed off on him. Inwardly, he reinforced his defenses and prepared for the Spanish Inquisition (nobody expects it).

"Wally," Rhonda said, blade-sharp, and Wally winced at her use of his actual name, "I know you think it's sweet to play clueless meathead in front of your crush—"

Oh. Okay. Sure. "That's—"

"—but, trust me, it doesn't work. Don't dumb yourself down just to get her to like you." Rhonda finished with a long-suffering roll of her eyes. An action that translated to mother-hen affection in a normal person.

"Besides," Charley said, a slack hint of sass to his syllables, "I think she just wants to figure things out. Not play tonsil hockey with a ghost who probably shared biology with the teacher that murdered her."

Wally tried to make his face react appropriately, had no idea if he pulled it off, but Charley and Rhonda didn't comment so he assumed it couldn't have been too bad.

"I don't think Mr. A is that old," Wally mumbled, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "But...thanks, guys."

He had to acknowledge that it was nice that his friends cared about him. That they saw him as more than the overexcited golden retriever they often criticized him of being and wanted to make sure he wasn't trying to people-please his way into someone's heart.

Charley's expression mollified, "Anytime, big guy."

In feigned bitterness, "Well, I've done my good deed for the day," Rhonda announced, pushing past Wally to head for the door, "Let's go."

Wally turned as if to follow her, however, he caught Ajay's eye before he could commit to the action. He remembered then what Ajay had told him in the teacher's lounge about showing Wally something he 'needed to see'.

"I'll catch up in a bit," He called after Charley and Rhonda, backstepping toward Ajay to make his intentions obvious.

Charley shot Wally a lazy salute, "We'll be in the library for a while," and then turned on his heel to trail after Rhonda.

After decades of being in each other's pockets, it wasn't uncommon for members of their haunt to seek time one-on-one with each other. Everyone respected the unspoken exclusivity without comment and was especially understanding toward Wally, who had been the only teenage guy amongst them until 1992.

Bernie and Katelynn greeted Wally as he approached Ajay, though soon took their leave, Katelynn with a small and bashful, "See ya, Wally."

"Bye Katy-Cat." He said through a charming smile, ruffling her hair when she came into reach.

Katelynn shoved his arm away playfully, blowing Wally a raspberry before she continued over to the empty circle, immediately setting to work helping Mr. Martin and Bernie stack the chairs.

Wally turned back to Ajay, "Alright, my guy, where to?"

They exited through the side door, sunlight temporarily blinding Wally after having spent an hour sitting in the poorly lit assembly hall. Not giving Wally's eyes a chance to adjust, Ajay took him by the elbow and physically maneuvered him in the right direction.

"It won't seem like much," Ajay said as if in warning, "so you need to trust me." He released Wally's elbow when Wally began to move under his own power, and hurried his stride.

"I do trust you," Wally replied, voice bouncing as he picked up his pace to match Ajay's. "Whatever you're gonna show me, it's gotta be important."

Ajay's ears reddened. "Thank you."

They were headed toward the tree line along the backside of the school, the field spread out to Wally's right. Down the steps, along the path, picnic tables and chainlink fence. Cheerleaders practiced their pyramid and the junior gym class played kickball.

Anxiety began to creep over Wally as they neared the boundary line, a slow and subtle discharge of fear frequency transmitting across his brain in a cold flush.

"Heeey, are you sure this is the right way?" Wally had to ask, his skin starting to feel clammy and too tight on the bones of his fingers. He began to slow his steps, afraid of being circus-canoned back to the 5-yard line, but Ajay plowed ahead without concern. "Dude?"

Wally almost rammed into him for how abruptly Ajay stopped, the toes of Ajay's shoes so close to the invisible line it gave Wally heart palpitations.

"There." Ajay said, pointing at a tree that stood approximately two meters beyond the school grounds.

The tree wasn't anything special. Tall, leafy, burled in various places up its trunk, and roots weaved and whorled around its base, some thick enough to sit on comfortably. Carved initials and numbers and heart shapes by students who'd wanted to immortalize their memory in its bark. It was the kind of thing one would expect from a tree in a private area near a building full of teenagers, really.

"What am I looking at?" Wally asked.

"I don't know what it means, so don't ask me," Ajay stated, clearly preempting that Wally would have questions after whatever Ajay was preparing to demonstrate. Ajay crouched to gather a stone from the ground, "Watch this."

He tossed the stone. It smacked the tree, dislodging a piece of loose bark from the center of a crooked heart—bullseye—and fell without fanfare into a nest of roots, a thin poof of dirt raised on impact.

Wally waited for something to happen. And waited. A n d waited.

"I don't get it." He said after a few uneventful beats. "Was something supposed to happen?"

"It did happen." Ajay insisted, bending to pick up another stone.

That one, he handed to Wally and motioned for him to throw it at the tree. It hit, denting the bark, but again, that was the end of it. Wally peered up at the leaves—unruffled—then down at the roots—inert—and finally back at Ajay who pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Watch this." He commanded, scooping up another stone as he marched a few feet away. "Are you paying attention?" He asked, not unkindly; an earnest bid for Wally's focus.

Wally gave him a tight smile, "Yup," and a thumbs up, taking a few steps closer to prove the point.

Ajay flung the stone. Except, this time, it ricocheted back as soon as it pierced the barrier. Disappeared for a blink and then spat back out, flying in the reverse direction. Ajay threw his arms up and protected his face a split-second before the stone struck him, bouncing off his forearm to land with a thud at his feet.

Wally's jaw dropped, "What the shit?"

"Do you get it now?" Ajay questioned, dusting off his hands as he strolled back to Wally.

With a frown, "Sort of?" Wally reached for the barrier, not quite touching for fear of what could happen and where he'd end up, but just enough to feel its presence warm the palm of his hand. "I guess it would be too easy if we could go through, huh?"

"I attempted it a couple of times," Ajay shook his head, "Either way, the barrier is definitely weakest here. And," He paused, building suspense, "At four other points around the school."

Eyes fixed on the tree, Wally hypothesized, "If we figure out how to weaken it more at any of these points, we might be able to get out of here..."

"We just might," Ajay concurred, "I tried finding information in the library and the computer lab, but—" It was a Christian school board, he didn't have to say, and occult topics were heavily vetted.

There weren't likely to be any useful books available and the online network was limited, browsers blocking sites the school didn't want its students to visit. Wally's knowledge of the latter was an embarrassing smear on his reputation that he'd had to beg Charley to keep secret.

He shoved the memory back in its box and once more buried it in the darkest recesses of his mind.

Never again...

"You think my girl would know how to handle this?" Wally asked despite having already determined he was going to tell you about the barrier's weak points. He just wanted to make sure Ajay was aware and on board.

Ajay shrugged, "She certainly has access to more resources than we do. Couldn't hurt to mention it."

It was settled. Squaring his shoulders and straightening his spine, Wally broke his scrutiny of the tree and turned to Ajay.

"Alright, then, show me what we're working with."

💀___________________________

PART FIFTEEN - PART SEVENTEEN

also available on AO3!

MASTERLIST

[variousqueerthings]

rewatched the due south pilot again with someone new. gradually pspspspspspssss at everyone i know about this show.

but yeah, two scenes really stick out to me this time about ray in terms of core features in how i come at him:

the second time they meet: their first meeting did not go well, he thought fraser had ruined his case, he was generally quite done with Stuff (and later on of course we will learn more about why he's so run down), there's this stranger demanding his time, and oh- oops he's just insulted his dead father accidentally and, huh, this oddity of a person is taking it pretty well to be honest... the second time they meet is entirely on ray. he seeks fraser out having done research on the case, but first he apologises to him very sincerely for having said those words. that is the first, big thing that ray offers fraser (the next, of course, is giving over his entire life and soul to him, but i don't think he realised that in that moment...)

after he gets blown up and is lying in hospital: he apologises again, this time for screwing things up. we know by now that he had a bad relationship with his own five-years-dead father who never thought he was good enough, that he's struggling under his caseload at work, we've got a sense he isn't super respected there either, and although we've met his family which is actually very loving (if loud and argumentative) he's giving a sense of being pretty lost in the world at that point and nothing that happened before was his fault. he's been helping fraser, against his superior's wishes, done some good sleuthing/detective work, and saved fraser by putting himself in front of the explosion. and then he apologises

I feel like a lot of the time ray's thought about in terms of his abrasiveness with people generally, his shield against the world he's quick to assume the worst of people and doesn't let others in, but fraser neatly bypasses those walls. on purpose? by accident? bit of both? i think he does sincerely See more to ray in their first scene, the "like you, he is pretending to be someone he's not" line feels like it's talking about more than just ray having been undercover in the previous scene, and because he's fraser he never belittles or mocks or gets aggressive about ray's behaviours throughout their first meeting, which probably also draws him in on top of the need to Make Things Right

i think beneath some of the goofier stuff (which, honestly, i dont think theres thaaat much of, but id have to do a proper count and parallel how many times he's there as "comic relief" vs when fraser is, and also times where ray is shown to be extremely competent which is often -- maybe i'd wish for more dramatic episodes for him but that's more to do with how good marciano's acting is than a real disservice done to ray himself) and the more petulant/childish manifestations of insecurities (it's hard being friends with a Saint, as he puts it very fairly in my opinion, although i also think that line partially relates to some other stuff he'd said about Fraser Please Taking Better Care Of Himself throughout the whole season) there's this ray, and that core is quite obvious pretty much from the get-go

a ray who meets sincerity with sincerity and takes fraser in with honestly barely any prompting at all on fraser's part. a man who maybe was desperate for something/one to believe in, who isn't super macho about admitting fault, and then -- in the hospital scene -- a man who's so used to thinking of himself as a screw-up to the point that he'll apologise for getting blown up to save fraser

there's a lot ray gives fraser. for one thing, fraser would be dead multiple times over without him. but ray Needed him to appear in his life in order to get through the damn day. he saw some storybook larger-than-life weirdo and grabbed hold of him immediately and then realised that the rest of the world seemed to want to eat said weirdo alive and pretty much said over my dead body and he's done pretty well living up to that

did, though, very much appreciated fraser finally properly telling him in red white or blue how much he means to him and how valued he is, because ray doesn't always see it. (funnily enough, they had another bomb threatening to detonate at the time. almost a full circle)

two scenes in which ray says sorry, one in which he was right to do so and one in which he was wrong. there's more to it, but that's the... Thing im thinking about

[clemelntine]

Heartkillers ep 10 uncohesive stray thoughts

With screenshots cuz I take to many and I'll feel like that's wasteful if I don't at least use them for a post

God, this scene reeks of codependency. But like in a good way, yknow. In an evidence of love way. They just don't want to be apart because they care. And I guess cuz they're scared they won't see each other again.

I love Fadel and his consistent morals. He'd been silent, letting Bison get his anger and revenge, cus that is not his main thing, but as soon as he hears any word of deciet or lies, he's right on his feet getting involved.

Yeah that checks.

I have to wonder, tho, if Lilly is a poisoner, why were Fadel and Bisons' parents shot? And why would she train them with a gun instead of the weapon she know best?

That's not the unbelievable part dear. She seems very capable of all that. Look at what she made you do

Acting like some housewives worrying about their husbands away at war or some shit.

Imma be real with you. I wasn't paying attention for a bit, and I read this as "Why don't you try and top Fadel?" and I got a little hopeful for a bit.

We've got a comeback from the -two rings on one finger, no other jewelry- look from style. Love this energy.

For anyone wondering, the first time we saw this was in episode 6 when he was out drinking with Kant, so it might just be what he wears when he goes to get drunk with his buddy. Guess there aren't too many occasions for a mechanic to wear a mid finger index ring. It tends to get in the way a lot when moving (like manual labor). And if you dont wear a ring often, choosing to wear no other jewelry to make your specialty ring pop makes a lot of sense.

Sorry, I looked too deeply into that.

Lillys actress is so stunning. The discomfort and distaste on her face is so subtle but to perfect.

Oh, drama, Keen already knows about (one of) their lovers and tried to kill him. I wonder why he used a gun, tho. The only flashback/scene we saw of them pre assassin, while training, was to show that Keen was a worse shot than Bison and Fadel. Did he improve or was the reason he missed (only hitting styles arm, not killing him) because he still has bad aim.

Also, could the tattoo be Kants' work? It kinda reminds me of his spiderweb arm tatoo, but that doesn't mean its his style (he might not have done his arm one himself), so who knows, maybe they know each other, maybe they don't.

Fucking romantic loser, holy shit. He couldn't see gay people without thinking of his boyfriend

That's not something to be fucking proud of cassie

Nr. 1 god his hair looks fucking good like this

Nr. 2 Mister poetry over here, annoying piece of shit with his lovey dovey words

Ofc Style would instigate a cheer, like this is a cheersquad and not a murder operation

I really need him to stop mentioning it all the time, like he is proud of it or something

Oh, uniform kink. Interesting

Okay, I kinda feel bad for Keen now. Nobody seems to care about him (except Thanon ig, I hope nothing bad happens to him). Lilly didn't even care enough to use him.

Also, jesus Fadel, you're brothers. You've never put in even an hour of effort to ask about his day or some shit, rude. (I get that they are all just a product of Lillys creation but but this seems a lil excessive)

With the tattoos. That is quite a bold plan. There is like a 50/50 change they (rich ladies) are put off by the tattoos. Guess some might see it as an adventure and be into it. It's still a gamble.

Also like how does he know golfing, tho? Had he golfed before, or is Kant just good at improvising, because he looked quite knowledgable.

The way he has lowered himself to look up at her through his lashes, the fucking bitch. Once again using First height for storytelling. This time, Kant has lowered himself to make Lilly feel like she is above him and in control.

Idk if she is open-minded or if she could just smell the gay on him.

Ahw, he cares. Does he expect Keen to do that, tho? Like Fadel knows that he already tried to kill Style and has shot him. He doesn't seem likely to suddenly care about the wishes of his brother, who doesn't even care about him.

Not too sure what it means but i just noticed that Fadel has his whole head and neck angled up while Styles face is pointed to the front and he is just looking up with his eyes, through his eyelashes.

Maybe it's to show that Fadel is more confrontational while Style is more scared of Keen.

Oh, calling his bluff, cute. I dont remember if Fadel backed down when Bison pointed his gun at Style but if he did (i think so) that contrast shows very well how succesfull Lilly has been in driving them apart by making them all think Keen is less capable (mostly because she just didnt let him train)

Ofcourse he has to brag, has to lay out his success (he could have kept it to himself to use it for longer, but whatever, guess he expects to take him out right here, right now). Because Keen doesn't actually have any negative feelings towards Fadel (except maybe jealousy), he mostly just wants to prove himself to be capable. Even though he is holding the gun, it is Lilly who has her finger on the trigger. Without her constant critique, he would have felt the need to do all this. It's really her words that are driving Keen to do this, not Fadel (and Bisons) actions.

Yeah, and i feel like Keen should know that. Doesnt he know about her killing Fadels boyfriend, and he knows she wants Style dead as well, he has all the evidence he needs to see that Fadel and Bison dont have any more freedom or happiness than he does, just more tasks.

The continual cutting to Style while they talk about Fadels ex probably has to tell us something, but i honeslty can't read that much off his face. Is he jealous?

You're telling me Fadel couldn't figure that out himself. Even if he didn't think about it too much then (too sad or something), now with this new info he has about her, it shouldn't come as that much of a shock. She killed your parents and is trying to kill your boyfriend. It is not odd to think this patern is connected.

The desparation in both his eyes, his words, and his voice; it's fucking heartbreaking

Squished Fadel, perfection

Styles speech was a lil akward, but he got his point across and he has never really been a poet before. The honesty, although clunky, makes it seem more vulnerable and true, more like Style

Fav scenes

Fadel and Bisons emotional breakdown in the abandoned building. Omg the feelings..

Kant golfing was very cute.

Kant and Bison in the empty pool. Shit was stunning.

Fadel and Styles last scene. Maybe I just like Fadel crying and strong emotions.

For anyone wondering about my statistics, I took a total of 180 screenshots. 81 of Fadel and or Style, 58 of Kant and or Bison, 10 of Keen, 8 of Bison and Fadel together, 7 of Reurat, 5 of Lilly, 5 of more than two characters in a shot, 3 of Kant and Style together, 2 of Lilly and Keen together, and 1 of Babe

[zuko-always-lies]

Azula's Strong Emotional Empathy Skills

Often times, people assume that Azula is bad at empathy, or at least emotional empathy. However, I would dispute that, and argue that her compassionate empathy skills in particular are actually extremely strong and off the chart, at least when it involves someone she cares about.

ATLA gives several examples of Azula showing off her empathy skills. The first comes in "The Crossroads of Destiny":

Azula: We've done it, Zuko. It's taken a hundred years, but the Fire Nation has conquered Ba Sing Se. Zuko: I betrayed Uncle. Azula: No, he betrayed you. [She stands up from the throne.] Zuko, when you return home, Father will welcome you as a war hero. Zuko: But I don't have the Avatar. What if Father doesn't restore my honor? Azula: He doesn't need to, Zuko. [She puts a hand on Zuko's shoulder.] Today, you restored your own honor.

She notices Zuko is uneasy, and does a pretty good, if not entirely successful job trying to reassure him and make him feel better.

Next we come to "The Awakening":

[Meanwhile, back at the Fire Nation Capital, Zuko feeds turtle ducks in a lake with some bread. Azula joins him.] Azula: You seem so downcast. Has Mai gotten to you already? Though actually, Mai has been in a strangely good mood lately. Zuko: I haven't seen Dad yet. I haven't seen him in three years, since I was banished. Azula: So what? Zuko: So, I didn't capture the Avatar. Azula: Who cares? The Avatar is dead … [Zuko looks away.] unless you think he somehow miraculously survived.

It's easy to miss out on this with where the scene ends up going, but what's actually the inciting reason for the scene to happen in the first place is that Azula knows Zuko is out of sorts, and wants to reassure him. She knows exactly where he is likely to go when he's sad or anxious, the turtleduck ponds which reminds him of Ursa, and easily finds him there. However, in her attempts to reassure him, she begins to suspect that he's hiding something from her, and the scene gets derailed.

Next up is "The Beach":

Zuko: [Cut to closer view of Zuko and Mai. Angrily.] Doing nothing is a waste of time. [Rises from his seat next to Mai.] We're being sent away on a forced vacation. [Walks over and grips the railing of the boat.] I feel like a child. Azula: [Frontal view.] Lighten up. So Dad wants to meet with his advisors alone, without anyone else around. Don't take it personally.

Azula instantly tries to reassure Zuko here, although she's less skillful about it than in some other cases.

Next up is the famous "Azula apologizes to Ty Lee" scene. As I've argued elsewhere, Azula is very skillful in comforting Ty Lee there. She knows exactly what she needs to say and do to make Ty Lee feel better.

Then, after Zuko gets kicked out of the party, we get this scene

Azula: I thought I'd find you here. Zuko: [Side-view.] Those summers we spent here seem so long ago. So much has changed. Azula: Come down to the beach with me. Come on. This place is depressing.

Azula's empathy is really impressive here. She apparently not only realized that Zuko would end up in a bad funk and cared enough to do something about it, but she also knew exactly where he would go in his depressed emotional state.

We then have the famous "fireside" scene. Azula isn't always the nicest person here, but her ability to understand the emotions of others is on full display:

Zuko: [Turning around.] For so long I thought that if my dad accepted me, I'd be happy. I'm back home now, my dad talks to me. Ha! He even thinks I'm a hero. [Close-up of Azula, who smiles.] Everything should be perfect, right? [Aerial view of campsite.] I should be happy now, but I'm not. [Turning back to the others.] I'm angrier than ever and I don't know why!

Azula:[Frontal view.] There's a simple question you need to answer, then. Who are you angry at? Zuko: [Close-up.] No one. I'm just angry. Mai [Side-view of the three girls.] Yeah, who are you angry at, Zuko? Zuko: [Close-up.] Everyone. I don't know. [Becoming frustrated.] Azula: [Frontal view.] Is it Dad? Zuko: [Close-up.] No, no. Ty Lee: [Frontal view.] Your uncle? Azula: Me? Zuko: [Close-up.] No, no, n-no, no! Mai: [Close-up.] Then who? Who are you angry at? Azula: [Camera pans left, past Ty Lee, to Azula.] Answer the question, Zuko. Ty Lee: [Close-up.] Talk to us. Mai: [Extreme close-up.] Come on, answer the question. Azula: Come on, answer it.

Finally, we have this scene from Nightmares and Daydreams:

Azula: Hello, Zuzu. If you've come for a royal hair-combing, I'm afraid you'll have to wait. Zuko: So I guess there's a big war meeting coming up, huh? And apparently I'm not welcome there. Azula: What do you mean? Of course you're welcome there! Zuko: Oh, yeah?! I guess that's why no one bothered to tell me about it! Azula: Oh, Zuko. Don't be so dramatic. I'm certain Dad wants you there. You probably just weren't invited because it's so obvious you're supposed to be there. Zuko: Well, were you invited? Azula: Of course! I'm the princess. Zuko: And I'm the prince! Azula: Exactly, so stop acting like a paranoid child! Just go to the meeting. Zuko: Forget it! I'm not going!

Although Azula instantly moves to try to comfort Zuko, this is in many ways her least successful scene. She struggles to contain her frustration with Zuko's behavior.

Still, overall Azula displays an impressive record, and shows very strong compassionate empathy skills. However, it's only toward the people she's close to, as she has no reason to display them toward enemies.

[johanna-swann]

Having seen the Daredevil Born Again trailer I gotta say: I don't think my previous worries will be proven right.

I was mostly worried that they'd miss the tone and make the reboot too Disney. After we saw Fisk in Hawkeye dressed like that and after they first re-introduced Matt in She-Hulk of all shows I was seriously worried the reboot would suck. There were rumors about writers being fired and rehired, there wasn't much info about returning supporting characters, then there's the "Born Again" title.

In general the new show seems to have a very serious, dark and violent tone matching the previous Netflix seasons really well, but as far as I understand the Born Again run was what season 3 of the Netflix show was based on, yes? And then they also use it as source material for the reboot / season 4? Still interested in how that will play out. But yeah, in general the vibes are on point.

Plotwise, Matt seems to have stopped his vigilante activities again which one could call repetitive, but I think it makes sense. He quit being Daredevil after Elektra died and the Nelson and Murdock firm broke up due to his and Foggy's conflict about vigilantism. In Defenders he briefly came back because the enemy he fought in season 2, the Hand, had resurfaced and he thought he might be able to save Elektra. Then in season 3 he only reclaimed the Daredevil identity because Fisk was back. Both times he had specific reasons to come back, he didn't just feel like putting the mask back on again. He knows it's dangerous and that often enough the people he cares about suffer the consequences.

Now I personally got the impression that the ongoing corruption within NYPD, the FBI and the Justice system in general paired with the success of putting Fisk away a second time provided the perfect set-up for Matt to go back to being Daredevil for non-specific, principled reasons and with his friends' blessing too.

The new trailer tells us that then something happened. "A line was crossed." and Matt as a result hung up the mantle again. (I assume Matt's moonlighting got someone killed. He's a vigilante with a no kill rule, this is definitely something that would shake him up.) But now Fisk is back and he is Mayor. So once again we've got the same conflict, opponents and basic prerequisite: Matt vs Fisk, Fisk thinking he's actually helping the city and with the power of the system behind him, Matt fighting a corrupt system and therefore having to work outside the law. Not new, but it's a solid concept, I'm down.

(On a side note: D'Onofrio is so good, I have so so much respect for his acting skills. His portrayal of Fisk gives me the chills every time. Charlie Cox gets so much praise and it's deserved, but holy fuck. Vincent D'Onofrio everyone. One round of applause please.)

What I am worried about right no has more to do with personal preference than what I've seen from the reboot itself so far.

It's not a big secret that I did not like Karen in the Netflix series very much. She was fine in season 1, but after that they started writing her in a very hypocritical way. She starts somehow stanning the Punisher and shortly later is super upset about Matt being Daredevil. She constantly runs head first into danger, pulling other people into her mess and then blames Matt for doing the exact same thing. She accuses Matt and Foggy of keeping secrets, dangerous secrets that affect her as well, but doesn't tell them she killed Fisk's right hand man. So yeah, not a fan of that.

At the end of season 3 though the trio (Matt, Foggy and Karen) seem to be on the same page and the Matt/Karen romance could end up as a "been there, done that, it's over" thing. If the writers handle Karen better this season and these three stay platonic besties - it could be good, but I am worried especially with the theory flying around that Foggy might be dead. Without him to balance out Karen's and Matt's reckless stunts this could turn out really bad.

The other thing is that I low-key hated how much space the Punisher took up in season 2. The Punisher storyline was very much the focus of that season while Matt the protagonist and titular character was off doing something else. It's fine that they used Daredevil as a Punisher backdoor pilot, but if he is already getting his own show - why make him the main character of a different show for an entire season? This also ties into the writing around Karen in season 2 and the Defenders. I did not have fun with the Punisher storyline at all. I much would've preferred if they had given Elektra, Stick, the Hand and that entire plot more room since that was also very relevant to the Defenders crossover while the Punisher didn't need to be so closely connected to the rest of the Netflix Marvel universe.

So him being back doesn't thrill me. I hope he's just a minor character they whipped out to create a buzz in the fandom and he won't "steal" the spotlight again. There's a long, long list of other characters I would've loved to see again instead. There's Claire, the other Defenders (especially Jessica Jones), Marcy, Elektra (if Matt can survive Midland Circle collapsing ontop of him so can she), Foggy's frenemy Brett, etc. And now that Daredevil is officially in the MCU this opens up a plethora of new possibilities too.

So. I think objectively speaking the show is looking pretty solid right now, but I'm not sure it'll hit my personal sweet spot.

[tia-amorosa]

Sunset Died - Lisa & VJ

A day to remember (Part 2)

The two entered the lower level of the gym, which was a lounge area with freely accessible food sources. “Oh man, I haven't been here for a while now… I only know from my mother that a few things have been done here…"/ ”mhm. What do you fancy, pizza or Chinese stir-fry?"/ ‘You're welcome to choose’.

If you want to prepare something here, you first have to get an overview of the ingredients available. the cupboards are no longer particularly well stocked, but there is still enough for some meals. “Oh, there are even juice packs here, how cool…"/ ‘Is it still good?’/ ‘I'll be able to tell you in a minute’.

“And? What does the expiration date say?"/ ‘well… It's been expired for three weeks, but still tastes pretty fresh’/ ‘hehe, at the latest when you get diarrhea, you'll know that you shouldn't have drunk it’/ ”it's been refrigerated the whole time. Besides, it's also called 'best before date'… Mom also never threw anything away before or on the specified date”.

“My father was the same… he didn't always throw everything away straight away either… Tell me… Do you mind if we go to the cemetery later?"/ ”To the cemetery? What do you want there?"/ ‘I haven't put my father's and Miraj's gravestones there yet…’/ ‘oh… Of course, I'd be happy to accompany you there’.

A little later, a lasagna made from various ingredients was on the table. “wow, VJ!…”. Lisa could hardly believe what she was eating. “It's nothing special. The main thing is that we have something warm in our stomachs"/ ‘anyway, it tastes incredibly good…hnhn’/ ‘yes, it's quite edible’. Lisa had to smile a little. She thought he might have underestimated himself when it came to his cooking skills.

But he knew what he could do. And secretly enjoyed the small amount of recognition and praise. He had often thought about how the relationship between them would work out later. He would definitely like to find a good job one day and he would also like to start a family - one day.

A little later. Judy entered the building. And she was a little surprised that her daughter wasn't sitting at a table with her boyfriend. Was there a problem? That was the question she asked herself at that moment. Then Lisa noticed her. “Oh, hi, mom” / “Hello you two”.

VJ only noticed Judy when Lisa approached her. He was a little reserved and just looked at her like a frightened deer. But she made a very relaxed impression on him and gave him a slight smile. “Nice to see you, VJ…"/ ‘Yeah… Nice to see you too…um… Thanks for the pie,’ he said spontaneously and quickly. . / “Oh, hn, you're welcome”.

Lisa got up from her chair and walked towards her mother. But she suddenly stopped when she saw that her boyfriend had reached her faster than she had. “Seriously, the pie… It was really good.”. Judy looked at him and was surprised at the seriousness in his words and also his look. Lisa was also quite surprised at that moment, but also proud of him for making the first move.

“And, um… Lisa said I could come over every now and then if I ran out of food…” he asked, almost scrutinizingly. “Yes… Yes, that wouldn't be a problem. We've been pretty frugal with our supplies so far, so…"/ ‘That's nice, thanks, I'm fine for now…’/ ‘Good.’ Judy took a deep breath for a moment. “VJ, I know we haven't had a good opinion of each other so far…."/ ‘hm, yes, but I've never done anything bad to her so far… Have I?’.

Judy looked briefly at her daughter and thought of the thoughts she often had back then when she was out with VJ, sometimes late at night. She was always afraid that something might happen to her in his care, or that the two of them would run off like Bonnie and Clyde and do bad things. But she always remained unharmed… “No, she's doing very well with you, I know that”.

Judy could see that he seemed a little nervous. But she didn't want to force anything on him. “I'll… be off again for now. Enjoy the weekend…"/ ‘Thanks, Mom, we won't be bored, hn’/ ‘Yes, but first we're going to the cemetery…’ said VJ in a calm voice. “To the cemetery? oh, o.k….”.

Judy found it difficult for a moment to hide a pitiful look from him. After all, he was alone now, without a family. “I'll be fine, Mrs. Bunch…"/ ‘I… I have no doubt about that, VJ, I'm still sorry…’/ ”We're off now, Mom, say hi to the others for me.”

Lisa went to the entrance area where she had taken off her winter jacket. “Well… It might sound weird, but… you look really good with less on your hips…“/”So… Really, you…“/”that was a compliment…”. Judy was a little embarrassed and found his statement a little cheeky, but she still had to smile. “Thanks. Now go on and don't keep her waiting”.

A little later. “Since there are no more roads here, it looks like a fairytale world in winter…"/ ”Do you think so? For me, it's just a lot of useless undergrowth"/ ”hnhn. I'm very proud of you, by the way, VJ."/ ‘Why?’/ ‘Because you had your first real conversation with my mother today… Especially in peace’.

“She was overly nice to me, I was just adapting to the situation"/ ‘You're a weirdo…’ Lisa giggled. “I told you, she's serious. And once the others realize how nice you can be, we can all get along peacefully"/ ‘Am I supposed to be a good boy now?’/ ‘When we're with my family, yes,’. A few steps without words later. “hnhn, but in bed everything stays the same?"/ ”Hnexactly. Now come on”. They were glad that the weather was so good today. that made it easier for them to get to the cemetery.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

@greenplumbboblover 🙂

Note: In this part, many things happened quite randomly. VJ's walk to Lisa's mother, for example, then her restrained gesture... All movements that are typical for Sims, but they often fit the situation so well. I don't need certain poses for every picture, it's fun to take advantage of coincidence.😊

[radio-writes]

These asks seemed similar to me so I thought I'd tackle them in one go.

What I think of Alastor The Radio Demon

I've never really done a character analysis before so I'm not sure how to go about it. Honestly, I had to rewrite this several times to trim it down. 

I put little footnotes here and there for parts that I think ruined the flow of thought, and weren't essential but still figured were worth a mention. Corresponding footnotes can be found below the lower divider for any interested.

The way I see Alastor, and how I try to write him, is that he's smart—terrifyingly so—and emotional. 

I mean we all know he's basically a textbook manipulator. He's charming, great at reading people, and brilliant enough to know exactly what to say and when to say it. 

He's so gifted at charming people that a fair portion of the fandom's basically head over heels for him—despite the fact that based on what we've seen in the series, he's an objectively despicable person.

And he's so good at manipulating people that, again, a huge portion of the fandom thinks he actually sees the hotel gang as friends/family now. Hell—a lot of people even believed him when he said he cared for Charlie like a daughter.

Add his brains and his skill of wrapping people around his clawed finger, to his god-complex1 and selfishness, and what you'll see is that, on paper, he should absolutely be the big bad of the show.

Except...he currently isn't; and I don't think he will be although it would surely be fun to see how that would go.

Because as much as he is terrifyingly evil, he is also, extremely driven by his emotions.

I know it sounds like a bit of an ass-pull.

Alastor being emotional? The same demon that doesn't drop his smile even when having a whole mental breakdown? The same demon who doesn't bat an eye at a hotel patron dying?

Well, yes. Because there's more to feelings other than sadness and love and care.

There's anger, there's hope, there's desperation, there's pride, there's hate.

And I think Alastor is absolutely driven by these and more.

As said by the most darling, delightful, dangerous overlord over one side of the pentagram,

"words are cheap, but actions, they speak the truth."

As much as Alastor wants to think he's in control, we've seen his emotions come first before rational thinking. 

His pride has absolutely taken over him. He thinks he's above it all, untouchable, unreachable. Because he's so clever, so strong, so charming, and it has more or less gotten him everything he's wanted.

But it's this pride of his that has also lead to his most glaring flaws.

Alastor's first instinct was to lower Lucifer in any way that he could—leverage whatever he did have that Lucifer didn't (height, a relationship with Charlie etc.). Because Al knew that Lucifer was inherently stronger than him, better than him—and he hated that.

His pride couldn't stand the blow, and that—along with feelings of irritation and likely insecurity— is what drove his actions for most of that episode; overtaking even his usually smart wits.2

But it's not just negative emotions.

If Alastor being a mama's boy is still canon, then even his relationships are steered by emotions too, whether he's aware of it or not.

His love for his mother influences his biases towards women. How he judges and approaches them miles more fairly than he does men.

Hell, his whole persona—the transatlantic accent, the radio theme, the over the top silly jokes, his laugh even!—all a by product of his passion for being a radio host.

But why does being emotional mean Alastor won't be the antagonist in the show, you ask?

Well because, being emotional is such a humane thing. It shows weakness, vulnerability. Something the show has often used as leeway to develop and redeem its characters.

While I don't think Alastor has the best intentions coming into the hotel—or even at the point of the season 1 finale really—I do think him being this emotional of a person shows that there is some chance of him genuinely growing fond of the gang, and then settling into the found family at some point in the future.

It may not be a conscious choice, it may take some pushing and pulling, it may take the whole run of the series, but Alastor is capable of caring. And when he feels something he feels it to a point past his own rational thinking.

Would love to see him try to betray the hotel though as some last minute attempt to maintain an evil persona.

Now this doesn't exactly mean I can see Alastor ascending into heaven not unless they drag him kicking and screaming.3 But I do think that in the end, he'll find some sort of other form of "redemption," one that he would actually like.

Perhaps it's coming to terms with the fact that he is mortal and that is okay and it doesn't mean he's any weaker or any lesser. And that even if it did, it shouldn't matter.

Honestly, I'd be more terrified of him once he's come to that point. The only weakness Alastor right now has—aside from whatever deal it is that he made—is his ego.

You could probably get away or manipulate him back if you struck at it, but once he's all done with hotel therapy time and has his emotions under control? That man's going to be unstoppable and I fear for all of hell.

Maybe Charlie should let him keep his issues after all?

1 I find Alastor's god-complex extremely ironic. Oh, he definitely has it. My best guess is that it stemmed from his serial killing days.

If the previous source saying that he killed on a weird moral code (not unlike Dexter) still holds water, then he probably saw himself as some god doing such good work for the people. Judging criminals and delivering punishment.

This whole, "I'm so strong and untouchable even amongst criminals" mentality of his was probably egged on when he got into Hell and he was able to take down big bad overlords with ease. That definitely fed his ego nicely.

Now I say I find it ironic because well, he thinks he's so above it all. So perfect and pristine—nothing like all those other sinners. He doesn't care for senseless killing or stealing jewelry or sex, no he's so much better than that, isn't he?

Well, the way I see it, he's really no different.

*cue angry radio noises*

He cares so much for all the material and outwardly things. Sure, it's not to brag or to be sexy, but you can't tell me that fucker isn't just as vain as say, someone like Velvette.

He'd probably freak if anyone caught him outside of his well tailored suits and impeccable posture. 

To Alastor, image and public opinion must mean so much more than he's willing to admit.

And all that killing the bad guys, killing the criminals, killing the scum of the earth. Oh let's not pretend he does it out of any other reason aside from the fact that he loves it. 

It's an act for power for him, not actually done to protect anybody.

And considering he eats most of his victims now, I'd say he's actually below your average criminal.

On sex—well, fine. He can have that one, I suppose.

But still, the irony that this man thinks he's so above your common everyday sinner is just hilarious to me, because he's exactly just like them.

2 I have seen people say that this is yet another one of Alastor's cleverly planned schemes. That he kept pushing only because he was confident Lucifer wouldn't smite someone Charlie cared about. Which, sure, I could see that being the case later on in their interactions.

But as an introduction? An opening line? When he didn't know Lucifer's temperament, and Lucifer didn't know how much Charlie valued/cared for Al?

No. I genuinely think, that this was purely a gamble on Alastor's part. A slip, a jab that he just had to make to save his own pride.

3 Personally, while I absolutely love all the angelic designs of Al, I really do not want him up in heaven unless it's for comedic purposes or he's grocery shopping for angel meat.

Dude was a serial killer. Granted, he killed criminals. But I've never been a fan of vigilante killings. I mean, who's to say the person he killed actually did the crime though? What if it had been someone who was actually innocent?

And even if they weren't, can you imagine if he killed your parent in your lifetime for say, stealing some bread to feed you? And you're just chilling in heaven and all of a sudden your parent's murderer is redeemed while your parent still rotted in Hell?

I would just start a riot right then and there, damnation be damned.

Besides, red suits Alastor best, anyway.

Tagging @cofeedaifuku because they were the only one out of the three that weren't on anon. Hope my fellow vien and the other anon find this answer anyway.

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - Add Some Spirit in To Better Cheer It!

@thesilentbard @lavendarlily @Silverwing013

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do! We've Got Spirit’s, More Than Two! We’ve Got Enough Spirits, To Beat The Shit Out Of You!

Paulina had had her curiosities peaked back when Ember McLain, oh my GOD, and the strange pirate child had abducted all their parents. The weirdo trio were not as pathetic as they often acted.

Sure that goth girl -why? Does that girl still think those clothes somehow look good? Ew- was always known to be fit and whatnot, but Paulina hardly cared about that stuff. Strength didn’t equal balance or grace. There was nothing graceful about the goth, the techy, or the freak.

Or so she had thought.

All three moved so well during that invasion, sure it could have been dumb luck, or whatever. But now she was sure it wasn’t.

Freaky Fenton had just done a triple backflip spring off of a wall and into a tree… He did it like it was nothing. Now he’s staring down at her from the tree, with her staring up at him from the base of the tree.

All she had been doing was working on clothing design sketches, she hadn’t expected someone to come bolting out across car roof tops; much less the Fenton boy of all people. She blinks at him before putting her hands to her cheeks, “that was a-mazing, oh mi god!”.

Fenton physically winces, “we’re… having a race”.

Both of them glancing up at the roof tops when a motorcycle zooms by, that greasy-haired -ew- biker ghost flipping them off, “ha! Suck on the distraction, dipshit!”. Fenton standing up on the tree branch without so much as a wobble and sticking his hands out to the side, “go crash into a wall!”.

Paulina shakes her head out, “you were racing a motorcycle on foot?”. That shouldn’t be possible right? Oh whatever, Fenton doesn’t even wobble when he bends down to look at her again.

She’s decided.

She must have him.

“Uh. He gave me a head start? A head start I totally wasted”.

She pouts at him, this was such a waste! “If you can move like that why are you wasting it so much. That’s not cute you know”.

“Paulina, do you think I give a single fruity fuck?”.

Then the Manson girl comes sliding down a pipe from the rooftop, the techno one following while fiddling with a pda.

Oh this was just perfect! She could fill up so many holes!

Jumping up and pointing at both teens, startling them a little, the tech actually walking into Manson’s back.

Poor awareness, but she could work on that.

Paulina making sure to put on a pretty pout, the kind that makes her eyes twinkle, “you absolutely must join the cheer squad!”.

“Hell no”.

“A group filled with cute girls? Count me in!”.

Paulina skips over and pinches the techno one’s ear, “no, bad, teammates are off limits”.

Danny groans from the tree, flopping over on the branch, “you’re talking like this is already decided”.

She turns her head back to the boy, oh silly silly boy, “it is”, and nods curtly to herself. Who were they to deny her? She was moving them up in the world, they should feel honoured.

Manson walks over to Fenton, without even looking at Paulina, how rude. “Says who? You? Like miss shallow puddle? As if. And shut up, Tucker”.

Riiiight. That was the techno one’s name. Silly her. Well why would she bother remembering the names of the lower class? Though if they were going to be her teammates, she should at least try…

Fenton drops out of the tree, humming, “will it get me out of Tetslaufs stupid sports class?”. The goth sounds mad, “Danny! Don’t humour her and her shit!”.

Paulina huffs cutely, “oh let him, I don’t know why you’re not. I’m-”, putting a dainty hand to her chest, “-asking… you-”, gesturing around at the goths… everything, “-to join the cheer team. A privilege”.

The goth snarls, “take your privilege and shove it”.

The tech-Tucker pouts, it’s not a good look. She’s going to have to work on that with him. “Aw but Sam, being surrounded by cute girls sounds very privileged to me”.

“You disgust me”.

Paulina doesn’t not agree with that… he was a creep. But he was a creep that could nearly walk down a rooftop pipe without looking where he’s going or wobbling. Huffing softly at the techno boy before looking to Fenton, “of course, Testlauf will do anything for the team. The cheer squad keeps the jocks happy and entertains everyone, she loves us”, humming, “and Lancer loves cheerleading too”.

Fenton makes a few faces, “right, he used to cheer. Very weird”, leaning back and groaning, “he’ll be thrilled about this, damn it”.

Oh that’s right! Mr. Lancer -most boring teacher evar- had a major soft spot for Fenton. Why? Who knows. She doesn’t care. “Well then do it for him”, fluttering her eyelashes at him when he looks back to her, “pwetty pwease?”.

Sam groans and buries her head in her hands, “we’re doomed”.

Fenton sighs, eyes Manson who glares at him, eyes Tucker who raises and lowers his eyes brows creepily (ew); and sighs again. “Ugh, fine. Why am I like this?”.

Sam smacks him, “dumbass”, then glares at Paulina and crosses her arms, “fine. You win. Happy?”.

Paulina beams at the goth, giggling happily, “yes, very much”.

Dash was going to freak, she can’t wait. She ignores Tucker doing… some kind of ‘dance’ thing. It’s creepy, it’s embarrassing, it’s pathetic. She almost regrets incubating him, almost, but she will make it work!

Paulina practically skips over the Star, “girl you will never guess what”. Star smiles softly at her, so Paulina continues, “that weirdo trio? Yeah totally agile. Like balancing in a tree agile”, putting a hand to her chest, “and I wasn’t going to waste that so guess who’s joining the team?”.

Star gasps, scandalised, “You didn’t”.

Paulina giggles, “I did”.

“No”.

“Yes”.

“Oh mi Zone girl”.

“I know right?”.

Star giggles, “Dash is going to cry”.

Paulina nodding back rapidly with a bell-like laugh, “totally”, waving a hand around, “that Tacket, I think that’s right, is still creepy though, so like, ew”.

“Well no one would date him anyway, so whatever”, Star pushing Paulina’s shoulder gently, “you finally snagged miss ookie spookie, got her to cave instead of being all ‘I am to dark for that’. She’s been perfect cheer material since we were kids!”.

Paulina pouts, that had always bothered her, she had tried many times to get the goth but she finally won! “I know! It was so sad”, pouting more, “there’s no way we can get her to pretty up tho, dios mio”.

Star grins and wiggles, “think we could get Fenton to pretty up”.

Paulina gasps in shock, “don’t make me even picture him in a dress! He has way too much muscle for that! Even if he is still skinny”.

Mr. Lancer startles her a little. Not that she lets him see that. “So I heard you girls recruited Daniel?”. Star jumps a little though.

Paulina turning a blinding smile on the teacher, “yup! He flipped into a tree without even stumbling! I was suuuuuuper impressed!”.

Mr. Lancer blinks and grins, “I’m not even a little surprised by that, good for the team”, grin growing, “hopefully we’ll win cheer state this year”.

Hmpf. The only reason they didn’t last year was because of stupid Emilie, Ellen-high had found a diamond with that girl. Why couldn’t she go to Casper-high instead. Rude. Well whatever, at least no one on of her team was some druggie loser.

… even if the whole weirdo trio were total freaks.

Paulina is almost squirming with joy waiting for the weirdos to show up, the rest of the team can obviously tell she’s excited; which obviously means there’s new members.

Or she was dating someone new, which she obviously was not. She’s preparing for fashion school after all! She has better things to do than boys. Such a sad thing for so many silly boys.

The doors open, the trio walks in, and Casey huffs, “um why are they here?”.

Paulina grins, rounding on Manson, “throw Fenton at the basket ball hoop”.

Sam grins meanly, grabbing Fenton, “now that you don’t have to ask twenty times for”, and hurls Danny at the hoop. He just twists in the air to land on top of the hoop part in a crouch and pouts at Paulina.

Paulina turns back to her cheerleaders, and hums proudly, “see?”.

Bailey puts a hand over her mouth and squeals, “oh my Zone! We are so winning state side!”, running over and poking a slightly wide-eyed Tackor?, “and I totally saw you juggling a laptop! You can so totally lift me!”, putting a hand to her chest, “I only weigh one hundred pounds”.

All of the cheer team responding in unison, “you need to eat more”. Making Bailey squirm, she was much too skinny there was no way it was healthy; and Paulina was having none of that on her watch. Thin may be pretty but bones were not. Plus! You need energy to be pretty and to cheer.

Though there was that one skeleton ghost with stellar hips. But that’s a ghost. Very different.

Manson rolls her eyes at Bailey, “and I agree with all of them”. Bailey pouts more. Mason sighs, “I… have tons of healthy recipes if you care”.

Paulina grins to herself and multiple girls giggle. The goth would come around yet. Plus Bailey looks to actually think about it. Good. Oh yes, very good.

Teckur grins, whispering, “this is gonna be awesome”; Manson swats him over the head.

Fenton flings himself down off the hoop, landing in an easy crouch and sauntering over. If he was a girl and had good hips…. “Okay so look”, making a weird gesture with his hands at them, “I may have done one too many feats of skill, one too many times”.

Sam quirks an eyebrow towards the boy, “‘may have’? Danny?”.

Danny rolls his eyes back, “shush you”, looking back at the cheer team, “and yeah, maybe I just want out of Testlauf’s Hell class. So anyways, hi”, pointing at his face, “Danny. Not Daniel or Fenton”, pointing at Manson, “Sam, not Sammy or Samantha or Manson”, pointing at Tracker, “Tuck or Tucker, not Foley”.

So maybe they didn’t love being called by last names. Fair enough, and she had decided she’d at least try. But did Tucker have to have such a weird name? ‘Tuck’ could be like tuck and roll though so maybe….

Sammy was sooooo much cuter than Sam though, but Samantha was just an old lady name; who names their kid that? Ew.

And Danny was Danny. She only really called him by his last name because the football boys did. Because Dash and Kwan did.

Paulina turning to the team, “okay girls, let’s show the newbies how it’s done”.

What follows is a lot of practice jumps, flips, lifts, simple tosses, splits (that Tuckar winces over), and precisely one double down. It takes almost nothing to convince Tacker and Danny to get involved; even it the techno geek had pouted after being told the girls wore shorts under their skirts (ew), at least Danny smacked him. Then, eventually, Mans-Sam sighed and joined In.

Watching the three of them do a three person human tower, or physically throw each other around seemingly carelessly was a bit scary to everyone though. The level of trust was so adorable! But no way was she letting Danny throw someone twenty feet in the air and having them land on just one of his hands, that would probably get them banned from competitions.

Tracer’s reaction time was no where good enough to be thrown by anyone else though, her having watched Sam intentionally let him land on his butt more than once. Chelsea got kicked in the face and was going to complain about the bruise for weeks, Paulina would too. Very little was worse than a scuffed up, banged up, face; the horror. Danny was going to have to work on getting banged up less, it was so not pretty; he was a boy though so he could get away with it more.

Sam also kept pretending she wasn’t going to even try to provide support or catch and just would not stop frowning… except when someone messed up. She was not going to be great for moral.

Danny though, Danny would be their Emilie… so long as he watched his obviously weirdo strength. Anyone who could lift Charlie one-handed was to be feared. Charlie was charmed, which was bad, Paulina had to glare at the blushing startled poor girl. But also, Danny weighed nothing, actually nothing. Her mom’s crockpot weighed more! He got the same lecture from everyone as Bailey. He blamed his ‘ecto-contamination’ thing, she didn’t believe it, he threatened to eat eighteen mighty meaty hamburgers a day to prove it…

Paulina’s pretty sure that was not physically possible for someone to do. Like, evar.

But he looked like he meant it (he did, he did not gain weight. The second to the top of the tower position was very officially his).

Paulina claps her hands together after about two hours, “okay, great work everyone”, pointing at Danny with a playful smirk, “you can be anything, cool right, totally. Flyer, base, or spotter”, pointing at Tuller? Tucker? Tucker, “you are banned from being a flyer”, pointing at Manson, “and you’re too mean to be a spotter”. Sam flips her off, so unlady-like. Ugh.

Chelsea huffs, crossing her arms, “if Tucker is ever a flyer, I’m quitting”. Earning more than a few giggles and laughs.

Tucker shrugs, “I think I’m good staying on the ground”. Sam glaring, “and I’ll beat you into it if you even try hiding all the uniforms shorts”. Ticker glances away like he actually thought about that, so ew so so ew. Paulina’s putting in an order for spare shorts. Ew.

Star finally, hurry up gurl!, shows up, “speaking of uniforms-”.

Multiple squealing girls interrupt her to run over and hug her; Manson fake gags. Tuck just looks uncomfortable, right didn’t they date for a while? As pity or something? Not that Paulina actually remembers that, since a ghost possessed her body to date Danny. So freaky, so ew, so not worth thinking about. At least he didn’t get awkward around her because of that, hmpf.

After Star’s done patting all the girls aand doing hugs, “okay okay, I love yall too! But we have things to address”. The group gives her room and she eyes Danny and Tucer, “so what are you boys wearing?”.

Sam snorts, “if you think these two idiots are getting away scot free for dragging me into this, forget it. They’re wearing the normal, skirt included, uniform”, waving a hand, “besides, it’s not like they’ve never cross-dressed before”.

Everyone, which was fair because what?, give the two boys weird judgy looks.

Tuck sputters, gross, “hey! That was because you wanted someone to pretended to be you so you could run away to the circus! And I rocked it, I’ll have you know!”.

“Purple is not your colour”.

Tuck makes more ugly faces.

Olivia tilts her head, “but she’s pale and you’re dark, how would that have ever worked?”. Getting three, “people are blind”, replies in return.

Paulina could agree with that, boys especially were very blind; that’s what made them so much fun to tease!

Casey snickers, one hand over her mouth, “so we’re going to get the boys in skirts. Ha”. Sam pointing at her, “hey, clothes have no gender”. Casey rolling her eyes, “riiiight, toootally”, and snickering more.

Danny chuckles, “hey I’m pretty sure last time I went to one of Vlad’s stupid galas in a ball-gown in an attempt to embarrass him, I got more compliments than he did business offers”.

Olivia blinks, “you go to galas with the, like, super rich mayor”.

Danny raises an eyebrow, giving the girl one of those ‘are you dumb’ looks. Paulina’s confused too though, “well yeah? He’s my uncle? I co-own all his businesses? I’m the only recipient on his will?”.

“YOU’RE RICH!”.

Paulina is shook.

Shocked.

How and why?

Sam face-palms, “oh my Zone, really?”, sighing and giving everyone a very judgy, mean popular girl worthy, smile, “how have you not realized that? Even his parents are rich, not Vlad rich but whatever. Heck, all of us are filthy stinkin’ rich”.

“WHAT!”.

“Then why do you hang around with the lower class?”.

“Shouldn’t you be all popular then?”.

“Why don’t you, you know, brag about your money? I’d brag”.

“So you all dress this way by choice?”.

Tuck bends over laugh wheezing, “wow! Honest or what!”.

Danny putting a hand to his chest, “hey, I like my dumpster-chic. It’s comfy and it’s makes Vlad’s left eye do that twitchy thing”.

Casey looks pleased, “wow, you are so petty. I like it”. Danny gives her a goofy thumbs up.

Sam points a thumb at Danny, “the only expensive clothes he wears is tactical Kevlar”.

“Well it’s very good to have, you know, in case I get abducted to be hunted for sport in the wilderness again”.

Bailey blinks, “Again?”.

Right, Paulina kinda forgot that Danny had had a very weird life, and really weird things just kept happening to the boy. This was totally another weird thing in his mind, the lesser class could never appreciate a good thing… even if they weren’t really lower class or whatever. If they didn’t want to be assumed to be lower class then they would act like they were! Hmpf.

Sam sighs, “to get this out of the way, nice to know how little your type pay attention to us, I’m the only heiress of the Manson family fortune since nana Ida hates my parents so they’ll get nothing from her. Tucker is the only descendent of a very wealthy Egyptian Pharaoh that actually looks like said Pharaoh meaning he gets the money. And Danny’s Danny, the weird hyper-fixation of one of the wealthiest men on the planet”.

Danny does jazz hands, “go me! Woo!”, putting a hand to his chest, “we’re rich and we’re hot”.

Sam and Tuck joining it, “they want our money and our bodies”.

At least that gets them some laughs.

Looks and body fitness was, like, ninety-nine percent of cheer after all. So of course she was absolutely after them for their bodies. Wealth never hurt though!

Star shakes her head, before smacking her fist into the palm of her hand, “right, you guys totally haven’t met the team pets yet, have you?”, looking to Paulina, “they totally haven’t right?”.

Paulina almost forgot about that! If Danny was like his freak folks she’d be worried, and she totally needs something to help her ignore them being rich but too silly to be smart about it. Flaunt it! What is wrong with them??! “Nope!”.

Tic tilts his head, “since when did the cheerleaders have pets?”.

Paulina waves him off, “oh only since the last big game, they just showed up and they’re close enough to ravens that we claimed them. Even if they talk funny”. Chelsea could nevar figure out what they were saying half the time, it was so cute.

Danny makes a face, “so that’s a yes to them being ghosts and a no to any of them being a green dog”. Sam smacks him, “oh you’d just love it if it was your stupid puppy”.

Charlie squealing and running over, “you have a puppy! Show me right now!”. Paulina smiling to herself as basically everyone crowds around the weird boys phone. Cujo was absolutely adorable, very green, but adorable with its little floppy tongue and big eyes.

Star laughing, “okay okay, adorable dog, but it’s decided that we’re sticking with everyone wearing the standard uniform, yeah?”.

Sam’s ‘yes’ is mean. Tuck’s is pitiful. Danny’s gets followed up by a finger snap and wink.

And then everyone pulls out their phones to bombard the trio with pictures of the vultures. They just had so many silly ones!

Danny bursts out laughing, falling over, Tuck right behind; even Sam bends over laughing. Sam explaining while the boys die on the floor, “how! How did you! Did you guys! Adopt Vlad’s minions?!”, the goth is actually tearing up, “oh this was worth showing up for”.

Basically all of the team shouts, “THEY BELONG TO THE MAYOR!?!”.

Danny cackles, “oh they’re gonna be so mad! What? Did they get bombarded by Vlad’s obsession with the Packers one too many times? Ha!”.

A grinning Casey just eggs them on, “yes actually. They were curious about the sport, the guys liked their merciless bites, we think they’re better than a raven fursuiter; they didn’t get a say”.

Harley waving a hand, “oh whatever, they keep showing back up anyways so it’s fucking mutual”.

Danny pushes himself up, making Tuck flop over on his side still laughing, “I have absolutely used each and every one of those fez wearing fucks as a piñata”.

Most of the girls swat at him, “stop that!”. Good, they’re bonding. This might work yet.

(The later meeting of weirdo trio and three fez wearing vultures did go less than well. The vultures threatened to peck out Danny’s eyes? He threatened to use their feathers as pillow stuffing. Tuck openly debated how they’d taste with bbq sauce, ew; he was scolded utterly. Sam just glared. The vultures were offended by the weirdo trio joining the team, the team -Paulina- defended their reasonings, Danny gave the vultures noogies, they seemed to accept their fate. Paulina felt very proud of herself).

Ms. Testlauf bursts in, in the manly way she does, with the foot ball team following her, “now this I had to see for myself! You tell me those two pip-squeaks actually agreed to do something physical?!?”. Multiple guys are jeering as well, because of course they are. Tuck scrambles up out of clear fear.

While Danny is busy waving awkwardly Paulina saunters over to Dash and Kwan, who look just so confused, “so? Apparently everyone is still wearing skirts and halter tops”.

Kwan beams, “rock on. The tank tops and men’s shorts ones look awful”. Paulina nodding readily, “I know right?”. Dash actually pouts, “how could you do this to me, Paulie?”; she only giggles at him.

His little ‘crush’ might not mean anything to her here but she will absolutely use this as an excuses to help make a cute little couple. So adorable. Danny would be absolutely swimming in Dash’s varsity jacket.

Testlauf crossing her arms at Paulina obviously wanting her to just get on with it, so Paulina sighs, looking back to her team, weirdo trio included, “alright everyone, time to show off, and I mean everyone you three”. All three groan dramatically. At least they knew how to overact so that people can actually see their faces from thestands. Pointing at the three, “do that really scary double single handed rewind toss”.

Sam and Tuck doing backflips to land in Danny’s separate hands, then he physically throws both of them up in the air, them landing together on one of his hands, each with one hand interlocked letting them both lean sideways. Very illegal. So dangerous. So worth it.

Testlauf points at Danny, “I am mad with you”, while all the boys shout and cheer much at the now blushing teens embarrassment. Adorable. Multiple jocks laugh about how Danny could probably, throw them; Dash looks like he wants to scream.

Sam grumbling as she falls down into a handstand before upright again, “yeah well, I still say black would be a better uniform for a team called the Ravens”.

“Dios mi, never!”.

Testlauf huffing, “why do you never show this skill, pathetic”.

“Don’t like sports”.

“Gym being mandatory is a waste of my free time, I exist out of spite”.

“The entire notion of a graded gym class and the high value placed on physical capability is inherently ableist”.

Testlauf growls at them, they smirk back. Paulina shoos them to go practice/show off with the rest of the team, since their agility and whatever had been shown already. Her then elbowing Star, whispering while eyeing Dash, “you should totally go get some of the spare uniforms”, and wiggles her eyebrows at the other girl.

Star giggles, “oh totally”, and waves meanly at Dash as she heads over to the gym storage closet. Meanwhile, Bailey lands on Tuck’s head, Charlie having to catch both of them; Testlauf barking out a laugh at them.

Paulina nodding at the third successful tik tok move in a row, clapping her hands together as Star pops out of the storage closet with a wide grin, “alright, take five. A few someone’s need to put on a fashion show”. That gets a ton of cheering from the team, the jokes whistle… only the weirdo trio stays silent. Star walking the outfits over to them and shoving them to their respective changing rooms; Sam literally growling the whole time. That girl was such a freak, but she was the teams freak now.

The jocks all start elbowing Dash and laughing at him as soon as the trio are all out of sight; Dash actually shouting, “Damn It Fentwink!”.

All three come back out, wearing the uniforms; Sam looks sooooo pissed that Paulina has to giggle at her with one hand daintily over her mouth to ‘pretend’ she’s trying not to laugh. Tuck is trying to act like he’s rocking it but it’s… alight she guesses? Danny… just looks like he’s used to wearing it, it fits him way too well for a boy.

Dash buries his face in his hands and groans, cheeks a bright pink.

That silly boy was soooo screwed.

(Dash was, in fact, screwed. He stood precisely zero chance against Danny in a cheerleading outfit)

Then Paulina sees Sam see Dash’s blush and the goth grins meanly, “never mind, best worst decision ever”. Seems tormenting a Jock and his silly little crush was all it took to get the goth on board. Good. And incredibly cute. Sam smacking Danny on the back, “go get ‘em, tiger”.

“Sam the only thing I’m gonna get is Vlad trying to get me into college football cheer leading”.

Tuck pouting, “what about me?”.

“I hope an actual tiger is all you get”.

Tacker shrugs, “I mean, if they’re actually a fursuiter…”; multiple people smack him.

Sadly, poor girl, Olivia actually asks, “what’s a fursuiter”. With everyone shouting, “NO!”, at Tuck; Tatslauf laughing loudly.

Fez-wearing Vulture no.1 lands down on Vlad’s desk, “ya shoz watch te next Cazper game”. Vlad barely acknowledges his minion, “as much as I would love to support the locals that have taken you lot in like strays and their not so pitiful attempt at my preferred sport, I am still trying to figure out how to get Fizztle’s stock shares somewhat legally”.

The vulture inspects its claws, “Phantom’z in itz”.

Vlad stops immediately, Daniel was participating? In football? When? Why? How even? Could he use game talk as a bonding experience now? Standing up and pushing the papers aside, “change of plans, there’s a game I clearly must show my support for. I am the mayor after all, and foot ball is a very important sport for voter support and good faith”.

“Yaz, surez. Ya tellz ya self that”.

“I will incinerate you”.

“Ha! I’d like to see’vez youz try!”. Vlad does try it, Vulture no.1 flees, “hmpf. That team treatz uz far better than yaz”. Vlad just rolls his eyes at that.

(Vlad was baffled and utterly filled with disappointed disbelief when Daniel waved to him in a cheer leading outfit. Vulture no. 1 looking very smug from one of the cheerleaders arms, Vulture no.3 looked more murderous when the gunner threw It at the opposing teams costumed mascot.

Vlad spent almost as much time watching the cheer routine, that was needlessly dangerous, as he did watching the actual game. Apparently the crowd loved that even Daniel and that techno friend of his were wearing the female uniform, Vlad had been more so wondering how to explain this to investors someday. The potential bonding with his vulture minions was a net positive, of course.

Daniel also still somehow managed to get hit by a football, him not dropping the brunette girl during that was at least somewhat impressive though. The star quarterback though…. kept fumbling the ball every time he looked the cheer teams way…. young men and their ever distracting crushes messing their lives up. Vlad would place money on the teens ‘crush’ being a member of Daniel’s little group, since being the star player meant he wasn’t normally like this, Vlad pities the boy immensely.

The Raven’s absolutely do not wind up winning, but Vlad could tell the boys were all teasing the quarterback mercilessly; Daniel’s goth friend starts a fist fight with Vulture no.2. But both teams cheer teams all swarm Daniel’s little trio with clear praise. Good, his little heir deserves to bask in praise, regardless of it being from cheering and wearing a skirt… and teaming up with the peons who stole his minions).

End.

Prompts: After a display of physical prowess, Sam gets recruited to the cheer squad. This might be the best, worst thing that's ever happened. Who knew Danny Fenton was so agile? Paulina makes it her personal mission to get him on the cheer squad. The ghostly vulture trio heard enough about the Packers and got curious about the sport, next thing they knew…they've been adopted in by the Casper High football team and cheerleaders.

[totally-not-here-for-the-smut]

So, @arcanavoid made me thinking about Lucio in their post

WELL THEN LETS TALK ABOUT LUCIO YOU BITCHES

Pleas keep in mind that I'm right now very drunk and I'm not a native speaker and the autocorrect for this phone can only do so much Also I'm in a different time zone so if you see this at, like 10 in the morning or whatever, no worries bc now is definitely night here and I also program my posts I have not a drinking problem thats why I cant hold my f-ing liquor

WELL THEN MY DEAR LUCIO and

WHY

as a person who is very close to people with serious mental illness, like i legit live with them

I THINK LUCIO'S ROUTE IS SO GREAT

Let's start with an assumption: we're all assholes. Somewhere in our life, maybe in the past, or present, or future, we are huge AH. It's not like we're evil and condemned to hell, it's just that as humans we're small, petty and miserable so we behave badly and are very selfish when big difficulties challenge us. Like, sometimes we manage to scramble enough willpower and common sense to act decently as we're afraid and suffering, but lots of times we don't and make shitty things. So here's my first point:

1. We all are a Lucio sometimes. Or often.

Like, way more than we want to admit. We're afraid, we're too full of ourselves, and we behave in petty ways. We're mean towards strangers, we feel happy in humiliating them and showing the world how better than anyone else we are. We need something bc we live in a world that doesn't grant basic human rights (food, shelter, health, safety and human connection), so we strain to get those things, sometimes at others' expenses. Then we tell ourself that those people deserved our scorn and malice because they're bad, and we tell us such lies because facing the guilt of what we've done is painful and complex.

We need to show ourselves we're better, so enjoy picking at others' mistakes without caring who they are in a whole (this is super easy on the internet). All this while low key ignoring what bad we're more or less responsible for.

And we are. Like, if you ever did buy something on sites like shein, you are actually exploiting poor people who are basically slaves. And you're keeping a blind eye on it.

But you know what? You're not evil for this. We're weak sometimes, we're tired, we have little time and really don't have the lucidity to think whether this stupid chicken breast is full of hormones and antibiotics or not. We're humans and we're small. Often we're sad, afraid and tired and we need a malicious self esteem bost.

Often, we're Lucio.

2. A flaming piece of trash can change. And doesn't need others' forgiveness to do so.

Did you notice how everyone is so eager to show of other people are wrong and bad and evil? That's because they, and we as well, need reassurance about how we're the hero of the story.

That's because we can't tolerate being the flaming piece of trash, because the the flaming piece of trash can't change and everyone hates them.

This idea is stupid.

It doesn't matter how low you fell. How many people you hurt, how many times you made the same stupid mistake or how many people deeply despise you. You still can change.

That's why is

So

Important

To have a Lucio route where it's shown he can choose to be better, no matter how deeply wrong his past deeds were.

The moment we understand this concept is the one our guilt becomes less heavy and we start being less judging of others. Granted.

This doesn't mean you're entitled to people's forgiveness - but the fact that YOU are willing to forgive yourself means that you can really change and forgive others. If some people won't forgive you, it will be fine, no need to hate them: you can always find new people to gift your better self to.

This is what happens to Lucio. Will Asra ever truly forgive him for making him and orphan and killing you? No. But this doesn't mean that Lucio will be a villain forever. He will be still able to change, become a good man and gift his goodness to the MC.

As MC says to Julian: you can always come back.

3. What it takes to change

Now, I'm in general rly humble when talking about mental health bc I'm no doctor nor therapist. But living with people who went through hell and managed to survive (and knowing people who sadly didn't), made me able to figure a couple of things. So, brace yourself. I'm about to give you the ultimate recipe of healing.

It takes two things:

Compassion and Accountability

When all is said and done, this things are the two main things it takes to change and heal. Compassion for believing you can change and deserve happiness, seeing the world through other people's eyes and accountability to motivate you into stop being a dick and owning the shit you did (so yeah, maybe you should stop blaming your parents for who you are, sry, but it doesn't serves your cause).

and there's one and only one way to get them:

Positive human connections.

That's it. When you go to the bone to it, that's how one can change, heal and survive.

It's reduced to the very bone, simple idea: the whole process is much more complicated and it's ok if you get lost in it. But at the very root, this is it.

And this is WHY Lucio's route it's so great:

MC shows compassion, because they don't recall him doing anything bad to them.

MC helps him being accountable. They doesn't shelter Lucio from his guilt, never.

MC believes in them but NEVER puts up with their shit

MC doesn't believe his lies and doesn't lie to them either. No games: they talk through everything, they're kind but firm and true.

MC helps him accept other people's scorn towards him

I love this route because it's the one where the MC is the most clever. There's a murder mistery? Let's ask the ghost of the murdered one who did it. Everyone is mad at him? Let them be. Not bc "he deserves it", but bc people are entitled to be mad at him and to their idea about him. He has troubles with his mother? Don't get between them. Listen, understand, let them unravel their shit. Ghosts are mad at him? Sit with him, but don't do his emotional weightlifting. Mc puts Lucio in front of his deeds and holds his hand as he deals with them.

Folks: THIS is how it's done irl.

4. No dumb justification & the danger of privilege

There are a lot of shows about "why villains are like this" that paint them as a poor misunderstood saint who was mistreated by their parents. Like in Once Upon a Time or the Disney Villain's Live actions. I hate that stuff because they distort the plot to make the villain a misunderstood anti heroe who was a victim all along, so he's justified.

Guess what: they're not. If you actions are evil there's no justification. No retelling of your story: you made very bad choice and were an AH and that's it.

This is what happens with Lucio: in his route his story doesn't gets to be retold. It's an honest story about how Lucio, the villain, can choose to be the better man and benefit from it. It's a story about the inherent dangers of Privilege:

Lucio's story shows how dangerous privilege can be: he wasn't hold accountable for his actions while he was alive, bc he was pretty, powerful and rich. He loses his privilege, he gets his ass kicked, he find motivations to change in his desire to be loved. I know irl folks who got to adulthood without having to face how shitty they were bc of social privilege. It literally kept them from changing, healing and be happy. So beware, folks. Your privilege might be harming you in the first place, and the day you will face who you truly are without it WILL come. The later, the worst.

So, this is why I love Lucio's route. It's relatable and helps us to find the courage to face our demons, knowing that we can change. Knowing that we can forgive ourselves and accept others' scorn. It WILL be hard, it WILL be painful, there WILL be consequences, but eventually it will be worth the hassle.

So, long live the goatman, for he can change. And so do we.

[csainznews]

🇭🇺 Carlos gave an interview to the Spanish media "Mundo Deportivo" about what his future holds and how he feels:

[Thu 20, July, 2023]

MD: We send you our condolences on behalf of Mundo Deportivo for the death of your grandfather. How are you feeling?

CS: "Thank you very much. I am well. I was lucky enough to be able to make the most of him until he was 97 years old, in fact he died just the day after his 97th birthday. On the other hand, I am calm because I know that I have taken advantage of all the time I have been able to spend with him and that is the message I have wanted to send on social media to the younger kids, that they should take advantage of the time with their grandparents and spend time with their older relatives because it is a law of life that one day they will not be around and then you can always regret not having spent more time with them."

MD: Is there anything that has inspired you from your grandfather to face your day-to-day life as a pilot?

CS: "Not as a pilot, but as a person he certainly inspired me. He was a person who didn't have it easy from an early age. He was left without a father at the age of 14, he had to take care of his whole family by himself and he was a successful man, above all, and he did whatever he wanted, without ever taking into account what others might think, something that I think in today's world with social media you are always a bit worried about what they will say and what they will think of me. He was always a person who followed his path and did what he wanted, with very good values, but always doing what he thought was right and moving forward."

MD: Do you think you can dedicate a victory to him this season?

CS: "Yes, if I win this year, I'll dedicate it to him, for sure. And if I don't, I'll dedicate a podium to him, which would be a good result."

MD: How are you facing the weekend in Hungary?

CS: "We've made a step forward, but behind Verstappen it's a very close battle. It depends a lot on the tracks and we have to be aware that there will be better and worse weekends. We hope to find good conditions here."

MD: What is your assessment of the start of the year?

CS: "You always have to put it in perspective. In terms of results, it was not great, with a lot of fourth, fifth and sixth places. I think we all expected a little bit more, including me. But if I look at the detail of how much I've got out of the car, I don't think I'm having a bad year. I think I'm driving well, I'm qualifying well, I'm having good races, good races, again, from less to more. Maybe the results don't quite reflect it, but it's been a bit of a strange year in that respect."

MD: Max Verstappen, who wins everything with Red Bull, would not win with the current Ferrari either.

CS: "Well, if Charles and I were driving the Red Bull and we didn't let him win like he doesn't let us, it would be like that. But I don't like to compare because you will never know. But it is very well known that nowadays in F1 the car is very important."

MD: The Maranello factory worked against the clock to deliver several evolution packages quickly, weeks ahead of schedule. What is it like to see that work from the inside?

CS: "It's a spectacular thing. To see a factory the size of Ferrari, with its ability to react, to work day and night to get parts out, to get things done, is one of the most beautiful and most special things you can see in F1. Especially when you spend days in the factory. I'm very involved, I see it and I have the opportunity to go and say hello to all the workers very often and thank them, because they are the ones who make the difference in the end."

MD: How many hours can you spend in the factory?

CS: "On average I spend one or two days a week at the factory. About 6 hours each of those days, more or less. That's on the weeks when I don't have a race, obviously. When you have a race you lower the intensity a bit in that respect. Or the week before the race I spend a day or a day and a half. I go to the simulator for half a day or three quarters of that day. I spend another half day in meetings with engineers and then another half day I go and say hello to some department, say hello to people that you might not have the chance to see if you don't go to the factory."

MD: How do you feel at Ferrari?

CS: "I honestly feel that I'm at the ideal time in my career to be a Ferrari driver, because I'm looking forward to it. It's an intense place to be, because you have a lot of things to take care of, you have a lot of responsibilities, you race for the Ferrari team, which I think says it all, and you have to have a lot of desire. You have to be 100% dedicated to F1 and to the team and I am in that moment between maturity and youth to take advantage of being at Ferrari."

MD: Every driver is a person… Do criticisms and rumours, which must always be experienced more intensely by Ferrari drivers, become exhausting?

CS: "They could be exhausting, but not for me. If you're not at 100% like I am, or you're at the beginning or end of your career, they could wear you down. I'm not going to deny it. But I'm so 100% and so happy to be at Ferrari that the noise doesn't exhaust me or affect me because I don't let it."

MD: If you are so happy at Ferrari and feels so loved, I must ask if you want to continue at Ferrari beyond the end of your current contract, which runs until the end of 2024.

CS: "My priority, of course, is to continue at Ferrari. I don't see any better place in F1 right now than a team like Ferrari, which has the ambition to win again. I want to win another race as soon as possible and, if possible, fight for a World Championship. And since we both share the same objective, if that team is Ferrari, then I don't see why I shouldn't continue. But I have said it many times: I always like to go into the last season of my contract knowing where I am going to race the following year and that will be my intention this year." He added, "It also depends on the contract (laughing)"

MD: What does it depend on?

CS: "To come to an agreement. It's like always in life. You both have to agree to shake hands and sign a contract, and if you don't agree on anything, you talk about it. You know that I will always do my part, everything I can to stay in a team like Ferrari."

MD: Are you calm and confident that an agreement will be reached?

CS: "I am not worried. I have set a date for myself, the winter of this year, to try to find out what is going to happen to me, but I will think about it more at the end of the season, what I would and wouldn't be worth to be here and what I can continue to offer Ferrari? I'm just very focused on the season. Now, also, in the middle of the season… maybe in the summer I think a little bit because you have a three-week break and you think about things. But now, between races, you don't have time to stop and think about it."

MD: Last year you said that the Ferrari car had to be driven very aggressively and it was difficult for you to adapt. How is it this year?

CS: "Honestly, the car is very similar to last year's car to drive. The driving style is exactly the same. I've just made the effort to adapt to it and drive it a bit better, and above all I've made the effort to learn the set-up and see what things with this car can help me to go faster. But above all, the biggest effort has been both driving and getting to know the car. It's true that this year's car, in relation to the others, is not so competitive, but in the end, it's a car that is very similar to last year's, or almost the same."

MD: Is the goal of being a champion with Ferrari still intact?

CS: "The goal of being champion with Ferrari is still intact, yes, and hopefully for a long time to come."

[wovetales]

anytime   spent   with   victor   has   been   nothing   short   of   amazing   for   the   former   prince.   he's   never   experienced   life   in   the   way   that   victor   seems   to   enjoy   it   ,   where   you   live   as   if   the   next   day   might   be   your   last.   there   is   ,   of   course   ,   concerns   theo   has   about   the   recklessness   that   victor   often   showcases   when   having   these   exciting   ventures   ,   but   at   least   he   can   be   beside   him   whenever   they   go   out   ,   enjoying   the   moment   together   while   also   ensuring   his   safety.   he's   not   stupid   ━━   he   knows   that   victor   doesn't   show   him   everything   &   he   can   understand   why   he   might   not   feel   safe   enough   to   do   so just yet.   he   just   hopes   that   with   time   maybe   he   can   be   a bit more   open   with   him   &   theo   can   show   him   just   how   open   minded   he   really   is   ,   that   he   doesn't   care   about   what   good   or   bad   he's   done   because   he   truly   cares   for   him.   god   .   .   .   he   does   more   than   just   care   ,   but   that   four   letter   word   feels   more   like   a   curse   than   a   blessing in this moment.   theo   fears   telling   victor   the   truth   might   scare   him   away & he   selfishly   doesn't   want   that , especially with how well things are going between them. maybe   one   day   he'll   tell   him   ,   but   not   now.   he   couldn't   bare   to   see   him   leave   after   all   the   time   they've   spent   together.

theo   stands   in   the   doorway   of   victor's   bedroom   after   having   pressed   a   gentle   kiss   to   the   top   of   victor's   head   ,   still   only   in   his   boxers   as   he   cradles   his   clothes   &   coat   in   his   arms.   he   never   quite   knows   if   he   should   stay   longer   after waking up or   not   &   he   always   fears   about   overstaying   his   welcome.   thankfully   ,   victor   makes   his   need   for   the   former   prince   known   ,   still   laying   in   bed   &   recovering   from   their   adventures   the   night   before.   ❝   don't   go.   kiss   me   again   ,   ❞   the   sleepy   beauty   requests   &   theo   is   more   than   eager   to   comply   as   he   rushes   over   to   him   ,   his   clothes   now   laying   in   a   crumpled   pile   on   the   floor   as   he   kneels   beside   the   bed   &   kisses   him   as   if   he   may   die   if   he   doesn't.   hands   cradle   his   cheeks   &   cling   to   him   in   mild   desperation   ,   tugging   at   short   strands   of   hair   until   he   can't   bare   it   anymore   ,   his   breath   erratic   as   pries away & he   gazes   upon   his   tired   eyes.   ❝   i   .   .   .   ❞   he   wants   to   tell   him   ,   say   what   he   feels   &   hope   the   feelings   are   reciprocated.   no   . . . he   knows   now   is   not   the   best   time.   better   to   do   it   in   a   way   that   victor   deserves   &   not   when   they're both   half   hungover   from   the   night   before.   ❝   i   care   about   you an   awful   lot.   ❞   theo   smiles   ,   giving   the   other   man   a   hint   of   where   his   feelings   are   lying.   ❝   i   hope   i've   shown   that   to   you   in   all   the   nights   we've   spent   together.   time   with   you   means   more   than   i   can   express.   i   just   ━━   you   make   me   happy   , victor.   very   happy.   ❞

˗ˏˋ     ᵈʳᵃᶠᵗ·     theo bennet   ﹕   prompts for new intimacy.   featuring  @erebius   as  victor conley.

[sc0tters]

Maybe for an au thought of the day I was wondering if you saw all the guys as doms or if there were others who you saw as in between, don’t care, or very subby

Inspired by your new hischier x brat au!!

oooo this is such a fun one! and we haven't done an all the Aus daily thought in a while!

doms

Nico (if Margo is a brat he is a mean Dom, if she's soft he mores just leads)

Quinn (he has wanted Rouge for so long, now that he has her, he isn't letting her go! not that she minds, she's had a crush on him since she was seven)

Cutter (I don't have an answer, just couldn't see him anywhere else)

Jeremy (honestly could go either way but because of who he is with he is often in the dominate position)

Elias (same as Jeremy)

Andrei (his sweet precious Annabelle deserves the best and that is exactly what he gives to her. also I feel like he has a thing for straight up squeezing her cheeks??)

Juraj (similar to cutter, I just can't see him in a different category)

Willy (he feels the most pride when Tilly is chanting his name like it is the only language she knows)

Timo (he has learnt so much since he slept with Julie and now he wants to make sure that they are able to use ALL of it)

Sidney (Camille is his woman and he needs her to remember that no man her own age can make her feel the same way that he is able to do so.)

Jack (because he was Mila's first she didn't really know how to do a lot of stuff so Jack often took the lead)

Jake (He not only has a desire to make Charlotte feel good but he also has realised that she needs a lot of guidance, and who is he to turn her down)

in between

Nick (we've all seen what happened when he learnt that Fran was bi)

Phil (honestly depends on the day, and how much he has missed her boobs)

Mat (he loves seeing Maddie work for him but part of him just wants to be holding every inch of her)

Rutger (he has no clue how he is still alive after Emmy took the ropes once but now he loves it and never wants to be in charge again, but in Emmys words its too hard)

Ryan (hes more Dom than sub but sometimes if he pisses Ava off or after a long day she just needs to blow off some steam and he will never say no to her)

Gabe (with the distance gabe takes what he can get when he gets it)

Matt (would usually be a Dom but with Sydneys big personality in the bedroom he has learnt to share the power)

Luca (he loves Aspen and does enjoy pleasing her, but sometimes this man just wants to be a little spoon!!)

Mason (He is old enough to know that it is all 50/50 and does whatever the mood requires of him)

don't care

Cole (he honestly just wants to please Darcy, if that means he's putting her in her place tonight then so be it.)

Sidney (that man just wants to be in bed with Celine, he doesn't care if its him eating her like she's his last meal or if she's on top of him)

Gavin (he just wants to hold her ass)

Matthew (Lilah is in his bed? then all Matthew wants is to make sure that she is going to finish)

Seamus (Seamus is just grateful that she is willing to stay with him after all that has happened so he really isn't going to sit here and complain how anything happens, he just wants to spend time with his girl.)

Luke (in his mind he honestly is just happy to have Allies attention and that the girls aren't interrupting)

Alex (he spent so long trying to get in the same city as his child, the fact that he gets Spencer in his bed is just a massive pro)

Nico (Bianca and him have been through so much together that they just enjoy any sexual time they get together)

John (honestly he thinks that Maya deserves better so he is just happy that she stays)

subby

Jack (Kennedy loves getting to be in charge when he is all mouthy because let's be real here, he worships her.)

Adam (he believes he was put one this earth to be a pleaser and he enjoys it being around or for Sabrina)

Will (honestly this just comes from a desire to make sure that Bailey is happy as I can imagine that she might have had a bad first time with him and now he is constantly.y trying to make up for it?)

Trevor (to the man that asks if we would love him if he was a worm, did he really think he'd be higher than here?)

[semper-legens]

171. The Sleepwalker, by Robert Muchamore

Owned: No, library Page count: 312 My summary: A plane breaks up in the air, plunging into the ocean with no survivors. The government is quick to suspect the worst, looking into terrorist links. And in the midst of it all, they get a phone call from a scared boy, alleging that his father had something to do with it. Now Lauren Adams is deputised to find out exactly what this kid knows, and quickly. They won't have the clearance to follow this hunch for long. My rating: 3/5 My commentary:

I've gotten my hands on the final four CHERUB books as a job lot, so expect them to come at a bit of a faster rate until I'm completely done with them. That said, more CHERUB! I'm amazed that I still remember this series as well as I do. Like I've been saying as I go through them, I'm finding them a lot less easy to enjoy than I did when I was a teenager, both for normal and unavoidable reasons (I'm an adult, these books are not aimed at me anymore) and for more troubling ones (the simplistic explanations of complex morality questions, the casual bigotry on display). Nonetheless, I still think that this idea of a teen spy network is interesting enough to warrant these books' existence. The problem is in the execution, not the idea, which means there's still enough here that's interesting to me that I can carry on with it. So, let's get into the Sleepwalker.

Unusually, this is a book that's about Lauren. She has the A plot, while James is stuck in a B plot that doesn't really go anywhere. (More on that in a bit.) Unfortunately, this isn't really the most riveting of CHERUB missions. Lauren and Jake are going in to talk to Fahim and get more detail about what he knows, but they're not really in deep cover - they're literally just going to ask him. Lauren gets to show off a cool head and just why she's one of the youngest black shirts ever. She's composed, makes good decisions, is ethical, and generally has a good head on her shoulders; this in contrast to Jake, who makes some serious schoolboy errors on the mission. But it's not as action packed as James' missions, or the past missions where we've seen Lauren deployed. It is good to see Lauren showing the maturity to get put back as senior agent on missions again after her misconduct punishments, but this one was sort of underwhelming for me.

James, meanwhile, is doing work experience in a fast food place. The premise here just felt contrived - the conflict is that other kids have gotten the more vaunted positions, so James is stuck at the fast food place with his ex-girlfriend. But like, the CHERUB staff are supposed to be good at understanding the dynamics between their agents, surely they can see that this is a bad idea? They end up getting close to their coworker, who has a sh--ty boyfriend, which leads to a fight. James and Kerry get yelled at over it and assigned punishment, but they've hit it off again, leaving Kerry to hit on James and James, surprisingly, to turn her down out of loyalty to Dana. I just…I didn't come into this series for the domestic lives of teens, you know? I don't care. Get back to the missions. All this will-they-won't-they feels jarringly out of place.

And now, for the elephant in the room. I've spoken before about how the CHERUB series more often than not falls down when it tries to address social issues, and the main plot of this book is a really good example of this. Lauren is investigating an eleven year old boy whose father is potentially involved with the loss of an aeroplane, which was brought down killing everyone on board. The kid's name is Fahim Bin Hassam, and he's of Arabic descent. The plane crashed on September the tenth. Obviously, people assume that terrorism was the reason behind the crash. As it turns out, it was actually a faulty part supplied by Fahim's father - he's a smuggler, but not a terrorist. Interesting twist, right? The problem with that is that Hassam is the exact stereotype of a controlling Muslim father. He's gotten rich through crime, beats his wife and son, kills his wife when he suspects she's going to the police, wants his son to be brought up in Abu Dhabi with his relatives where he will get a strict education, is casually misogynistic and exploits his cleaner, and hates how 'westernised' his son has become despite not exactly being the most devout or traditional himself. It's not a subversion of stereotypes about Muslim men if it then plays into every single one of those stereotypes at the same time. Hassam is given no redeeming features and no humanising moments, no nuance. He's a crook and a bad person, plain and simple. And that's just as much a stereotype as portraying him as bringing down the plane in a deliberate act of terrorism would have been.

Next up, an anthology of queer writings through time.

[thezombieprostitute]

Warnings: overly controlling parents, implied smut, mild dom/sub.

Days like this you're extra grateful to your tattooed barista boyfriend. Your photography class was only tolerated by your parents because you needed the arts credit for your degree. Today they reminded you of that by telling you that you would have to sell your camera so you could focus on your studies. You might be an adult, almost done with college, but they treat you like a child.

"Photography is fine as a hobby," your mother tells you. "But if you have that expensive equipment you feel obligated to use it. That'll cut into your studies."

"It's an accounting degree," you try to argue. "It helps to have the occasional distraction."

"You need to sell it," your father states.

They're not going to budge on this. You might be an adult but you're still reliant on their support. You lower your head and promise to find a buyer.

"We won't ask for the money," your mother promises. "We know you paid for that yourself." You internally wince at the reminder. They've made demands of repayment before. Not quite "doing your share" but definitely "treats have to be compensated for." You have a sinking feeling that, as soon as you get a job, they're going to pull out an itemized bill for taking care of you.

As you head out, you go through your contacts and find "Rogers (Study Group)" and text, need to talk. If your parents knew you were in a relationship they'd likely kick you out. Steve is working right now and it's gonna take time to get to him so texting is the best option.

You step into the coffee shop and Steve immediately pushes someone else to work the counter so he can talk to you.

"Hey, Good Girl," he coos as he brings you in for a hug. "What's going on?"

Unable to look him in the eyes you whisper, "do you know someone I can sell my camera stuff to?"

"What do you mean?" Steve gently holds your chin and moves so you're looking at him. "You love photography. Why are you selling your camera?"

"My parents," you confess. You've talked before about your difficulties with them. He's offered to have you move in with him but you don't know that you can hurt your parents like that.

He's brought it up often enough he knows he doesn't have to mention it again. He's able to recognize a bad situation and he desperately wants to get you away from them but he can't force it. You're a good person and don't want to hurt them. Too good for them, in Steve's opinion.

"Yeah, I think I know a buyer," he tells you. "How much are you looking to get for it?" You tell him the amount you figured would be fair and he nods. "The buyer is back at the studio. You willing to hang out here until the end of my shift?"

You nod. Watching Steve work, be it at art or coffee making, is always a treat for you. Others have to imagine what the muscles under his too-small shirt are like. You know. And you let yourself get lost in the memories as a way of easing the stress of the day.

By the time he's done working you've realized you've worked yourself up a bit. As you both head to his motorcycle you giggle and rub your thighs together in anticipation. Steve puts one of his massive hands on the back of your neck and you instantly stop.

"I get that you're excited," he starts. "But I'm gonna need you to hold off until after we've talked about the camera." You pout but nod in understanding.

When you arrive at the building to expect Steve to lead you to the studio of one of his friends but he takes you right to his. Well, according to him it's both of yours but you never felt quite right about that given that he's the one who pays for it.

"Steve, what's going on?"

"I'm buying your camera."

"What? Why? You've never been interested in photography!"

"It's not for me," he tells you. "I'm buying it for my girl. She's the best girl in the world. Puts up with way more bullshit than she should. And I know photography means the world to her. So I'm gonna buy it."

You start tearing up at his words and he keeps going. "A big part of our relationship is trust that I won't push you into anything you don't want. I'm not gonna ask you to disobey your parents and keep the camera. But if I can buy it and keep seeing you smile when you get a good shot, it'll be worth every damn penny."

You hug him as you start crying, "it's not fair to you. You've been so patient and kind about this being a secret relationship. You deserve better."

"It doesn't get better than you," he growls. "You're my Good Girl but, more than that, you're my dream come true."

💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

Well that got away from me again! What is it about Barista Steve that gets me like this?? I'll link to previous/other parts when I'm home.

Tagging: @alicedopey; @delicatebarness; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @ronearoundblindly

Edit: Part II/Series Masterlist/Part IV

CHRIS EVANS PEOPLE’s 2022 Sexiest Man Alive

[the-firebird69]

Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's Death Scene - Star Wars: A New Hope [4k UltraHD]

This is a very sad scene to us and ugly. We know that our friend is fighting Dennis and he says stuff but really this is very serious and he's the one appointed it out and he says no he thought he thought it a little with someone said he's in the area and his wife said it after and he can't remember who it was and we do have it on record someone was there but he says it actually makes a lot of sense because the people with banta sticks are their parents their physical parents and they fight a little bit not like that and it's true too Obi-Wan Kenobi who is Stan printed out the attacks on the power supply or fuel were very precise and you have to know what you're doing to get through that point in that form it's really a former truck and we do think that it's Ray parks in the future which is weird enough but the scene may have been made and they want to play it out. I'm not actually Trump but I do care for our people and I'm saying this these people who were fighting or acting like animals and there's something wrong and their friend says that what they are doing is very aggressive and very big and we are acting their part was arrogance believe it or not you say that and he says that they're very huge and if any of us were we'd be worse than we are now and we're pretty bad I have to admit we have been very rude to a lot of people very very rude too rude and it's bad. It's very right this is hell what we're in and we should not be bothering everybody so badly but we can't seem to help it and it is going on all the time with this talk and it's terrible and what he has on his eye is what we used to call an infection and it might be but it doesn't look it sometimes it gets infected the water is okay to wash with we don't suggest using it too often but they're right to flush out the red tide you're probably still a little itchy he says so we're working on together I will tell you that the scene is disturbing myself disturbing our people and disturbs our friend and it really disturbs Dennis we've all worked very hard to be here and that kind of activity isn't welcome we do see he has competition but it is not welcome for him to be doing that but our friend says that this should be much more popular and they know that the two get out of it there's no reason for them to not use a clone body and go back to their own because their bodies are sick and you can heal the body and you switch the brains it's gross but the person is unconscious and never learn how to understand one word or one thought and it's never open to eyes and I can't hear and it works for some reason so there's an idea and that might be what happens but they still would be damaged a little but still it's better than nothing we are also talking about why this is probably the empire proper and getting with vantastics is kind of lousy hitting the Java is lousy and Luke Skywalker is right there they would know where he is but he says it's like the small precise hit on two people that he doesn't like and he is not trying to frame the Java is not trying to friend them which is weird and is not trying to frame Jason not very well. It would look more like Tommy F version and Tommy f is done this kind of thing and we don't know if it's him or someone else this has been very important because of the situation in really this is why we need to look at it it's a ride and even if it's Tommy f we see they have the same character there's a bunch of stuff I know about that so let's have a meeting my people and we'll talk about it

He knows my name but it's John Luke Picard yeah I'm worth something and he wants me to do it good

Olympus