#but when i get to the final boss i am going to curse r*d*hns soul to hell and back to make sure it STAYS THERE 🔥

[miquella-everywhere]

All the DLC stuff kind of makes want to block the elden ring tag just so I won't see long essays with characterization pulled through thin air. I made the rookie mistake of getting involved with fandom stuff, and now I can't even look at pretty art without getting assaulted. If someone told me the DLC was gonna beat me over the head this hard I wouldn't have believed them.

It's nice to see people and artists who just ignore the DLC and continue making their work. It was such a difficult month already and then mr Miyazaki got in with the steel chair

I feel that 😔 Personal life has been stressful ass hell so the DLC was really the only thing keepings me going for a while, and then came the gut punch of the final boss and Miquella's character assassination and I could literally feel my life spiraling lmao

It's just... so goddamn disappointing that Fromsoft seriously decided to make these terrible writing choices when there were so many different and far more compelling ways that Miquella's character and story could have been handled 😔 But sadly here we are...

[scrawnytreedemon]

Shit I’ve Been Winding Up For A Long Time Now But Am Very Aware Will Probably Hold No Relevance Should I Actually Go Into This More--

This is about Bhunivelze.

I.

You know, when I was chilling out, on my bed, that evening on that half term in early June, deciding to check up on ClementJ64′s FF retrospective because-- Hey! It’s been awhile, I wonder if he’s got around to doing the final bit of the FFXIII saga --You know, I was there, chilling, just for a laff. Just a laff.

The rest of that week was spent spiralling into a hyperfixation I absolutely did not anticipate in any way, shape, or form, because the way they introduced that character was “wwhdhfjjhHJDFJKHKJHW H A T??”

That retrospective and a good amount of wiki-scrounging is all I have as a basis for this. This is not a coherent character analysis-- Though I might tag it as that for ease of access. This is not, by any means, the thoughts of someone deeply familiar with FFXIII on the whole beyond plot synopses and overarching themes.

I don’t think I’m brave enough for that.

Reading the vast yet surface-deep lore on those wiki pages on my birthday while in a delirious state of mind was enough to make me somewhat nauseous.

Do you think I’m going to go through all of that in real time?

(Someday, someday.)

Ugh, I don’t know how to begin, but let us, I guess. I’d recommend you read this church-mime-demiurge’s FF Wiki page if you want the same level of base-knowledge I had, and maybe the aformentioned retrospective if you want the experience, because I don’t think I have the wherewithal to get into all of that from the bottom-up.

I am also, so, so fucking sorry for any remaining FFXIII fans in advance. There is like, a good chance I may be butchering the characterisation completely, so bear with me here.

With that... we begin?

Where do we even start with this guy?

How on earth to you begin to explain the absolute monolith you’ve constructed from crumbs of a Guy, some material no doubt spliced in from the Pale King, Sephiroth, y o u r  o w n  G o d  O C and other characters, and the mountains of religious trauma you carry around at all times that is probably the only reason you’ve been able to latch on as hard as you did?

I’m going to try.

What gets me, in summary, about Bhunivelze is how he’s a prime example of how love and concern can become deadly forces if in the wrong hands. His first acquainting with human emotion was by deceiving and possessing Hope, reverting his body to a teenage state, and planning to live among humanity through him. He sees human sorrow and suffering, and decides that, to End This(because it must be ended, you see) he’s going to destroy all the souls of the deceased that make up the Chaos that’s been eating this world for the past five-hundred years so they all forget and Are Happy. :).

Capital G God here hasn’t been present for the vast part of human history because he’s hidden himself away from Everything due to paranoia from killing his own mother and throwing her body into the Cosmic Basement, THEN creating the beings that would come to create humanity and OTHER beings because he didn’t have the keys to the cosmic basement. And also he believes death is a thing because she’d’ve somehow cursed all things to pass(including him) out of Spite.

Which explains why he’s so fucking averse to it and anything to do with it.

Bhunivelze, to put it lightly, is Shit at stepping into others’ shoes and Getting their experiences-- All the FalCie in FFXIII are, but him especially. It’s clear(again, in the f u c k i n g JP--) that he makes attempts to sympathise with them and does what he can to help, but it’s with such a loftiness and a complete inability to Understand why anyone would want grief, The Worst Fucking Experience In Existence, and even less why they’d be willing to Go Up Against Him And HisThe New Perfect World just for it-- And what would it matter, anyway, forgetting their loved ones. It’s not like you can grieve lost memories, right?

Right.

It reminds me of when at the end of the story of Job in the Bible, where, after putting this man through hell on earth, God rewards Job by giving him ten new children to make up for the ones that he lost. I. And that’s fucked! Nothing can replace the sheer uniqueness of each individual person you loved so dearly! But if you were a nigh-omnipotent deity high and mighty, with a cursory, almost mechanical knowledge on the functionings of the human psyche, that would seem adequete; enough.

Bhunivelze is doing that on a cosmic level.

I now want to get onto the romance: that being, his affections for Lightning. I don’t know how much I’m going to say, but it’ll probably be alot. It’s something that hits very close to home.

There is this... thing, within certain branches of Christianity, perhaps even in those of various Abrahamic faiths, where God’s love is posited to be the love-- The ultimate, most-fulfilling, all-encompassing love you could ever imagine --Because, well, he is love, so the story goes, and so often the best way to convey that is through the imagery of...

Marriage.

Giving up yourself so completely, to serve, to be the Bride; to be bound by him for all eternity; and for there to be no higher bliss than this.

This angle is pushed on young girls and women the most; from the mere parallels to the woman’s role in marriage, all the way down to downright-horrifying ultra-Evangelical purity pacts. With men, God is your dad, your best bud and confidant, your boss, your king, your this, your that, and the ‘marriage‘ as it were is relegated to a sort of half-thought; a metaphor.

For me, God was an attempt at all that, and my arranged groom.

(It was almost incestuous; was incestuous, that my own Divine Father would reach for my hand in marriage.)

Bhunivelze experiences Emotions™ for the first time through Hope, experiences Hope’s sheer overwhelming admiration for Lighting(whether there were any baby-crush feelings mixed in, I can’t say), and promptly falls into a nigh-romantic obsession with Lightning, deciding that she will be Etro(his all-but daughter)’s replacement, will be his Goddess of Death to-be-- He even calls her as such, before the final boss-battle--

...In the JP.

What happened in localisation, probably due to a number of factors, all the way back in early 2014, was that everything emotionally challenging about Bhunivelze was scraped off, like it was extra fat, and tossed aside, leaving us with the bland, clichéd shell of a foe-god we’ve seen time and time again. And I mean everything. I mean his very love for humanity; the fact his ploy was, in his eyes, to save them. Because if they’d left that all on, then it would raise the question of even if there was such a seemingly pure, all-knowing, loving being hell-bent on setting things “straight,“ would they truly be unquestionable? Would we have the right to fight for our humanity in the face of the Creator of the Universe?

To reject a love so personal?

That’s what gets me about FFXIII’s tackling of God, no matter how hackneyed and poorly-executed. It’s personal.

It’s from a feminine experience.

I know that terming is... vague, and problematic, but the way Christianity and much of the video game industry handle femininity itself is weird and problematic, so as it stands, I’ll have to simplify it. Apologies.

What sets FFXIII’s Let’s Kill God™ plot aside from most JRPG Let’s Kill God™ plots is that with our protagonist being a woman, and one who is very in touch with her femininity alongside her sheer strength; often, in these stories, God is reduced to Yet Another Foe, expected or unexpected, and you are tasked with taking him down unquestioningly for the Good of Mankind-- You will fight God, because you are right to, and you will go man-to-man-to-however-many-men you decide to bring along for the bloodbath.

And that just, doesn’t speak to me.

Even as an Extian.

Especially as an Extian. And an AFAB one with a deeply complicated experience with my gender, at that.

Leaving Christianity was painful. Questioning God was painful. Coming to terms with the fact that I had been mentally, emotionally, and spiritually traumatised under the guise of All-Encompassing Love was so, so fucking painful. I had been taught since I was five years old to devote myself to him, spent my life desperate to feel something, anything, to stay connected because I just, I never could Feel It on a deeper level, never could Give Up Myself, all I was, couldn’t Die A Spiritual Death And Be Reborn As His Eager Vessel, thus deeming myself to be worthless and a broken vessel for years and years on end... And for all that to have been... Nothing.

Lightning is hollowed out, the shards of her dead sister ripped from her in-stasis, leaving her emotionally numb for the majority of the game, Bhunivelze sweeps it under the rug, pretends he’ll perform a miracle and return Serah to life in exchange for her compliance, then sends her on her way to do his work, all the while knowing he’s going to pull said-rug from under her and elevate her such dizzying heights in the aftermath--

That he’ll deny her humanity.

Sand down all the rough edges that make her her, and polish her up afterwards, gild her as he is gilded, make her a Goddess.

And he’ll do it all because he loves her.

You can’t fight God like you can everything else. To fight It is the fight Existence Itself; FFXIII even conveys that by making Bhunivelze’s model part of the arena; it’s baked into the fabric of the game, no matter how minute.

While Lightning Returns is far from perfect in its execution of this concept, and that in itself makes me wince, not even taking into account the horribly botched excuse for a localisation Bhunivelze endured, it speaks to me more than anything else I’ve seen so far.

And it’s helped uncover some things within me. Helped me untangle them, just a little more.

So, yeah. I have alot of Thoughts on Bhunivelze, I want to share them, and I’m kinda really sad I have no one but my currently-absent friend Vee to share them with. I could get into alot more, like his very Fucked relationship with familial bonds, and how Lightning’s role as saviour so deeply parallels the overwhelming panic and never-ending guilt of Evangelical proselytisation, but I think I’ll leave those for another time.

In short, Bhunivelze is the epitome of Divine Love gone deeply wrong; on all fronts.

And if all of that isn’t enough to intrigue you, then, in Vee’s words, Lightning and Velze are literally canon endgame Sefikura lmaOOOOOOOOOOOOOO--

[awesometheydontknowiamhere]

Breaking and Entering

Tony Stark X Reader Fanfiction

Summary: Reader has recently started dating Tony. With a new relationship comes the initial apprehension and nervousness. This fic explores the Reader’s (almost) first time with Tony and him being extremely considerate of her boundaries. Lots of fluff and smut.

A/N: My first MCU fic! Let me know if I should do more of these.

Warning: Make-outs, kissing, no sex though. 

Words: 1917 (I guess my longest fic so far)

Taglist: @scarletsoldierrr​

“Hey, it’s me. Just got off from work. I am heading home, let me know if you want me to stop by.”

You sent Tony the voice message and descended the stairs to the subway.

Life was grueling, but finally it was getting good for you. You had a job at The New York times (you were practically an assistant’s assistant, but everyone starts at the bottom), you had recently moved into your first adult apartment and you had a boyfriend who was God sent.

Agreed, he was Tony Stark, but that had nothing to do with the fact that you were slowly but surely falling head over heels for him. It wasn’t about what he had or who he was, it was all about how he made you feel.

You unlocked the door to your apartment and set down your keys and bag and plopped down on your couch, a kitschy thrift store find. Your entire apartment was boho and rustic, quite resembling a Tumblr page. You often liked to think that you were the warm and quirky to Tony’s sleek and mechanical.

You realized that Tony had never been your house and you tried not to let it bother you because you were aware of his insane schedule.

You stripped down to your underwear and pulled your cashmere blanket around yourself. You reached under your couch and pull out the book you had been reading currently, eager to get lost in and leave behind the exhaustion of the day.

You woke up startled, the sound of metal scratching wood clear in the dead silence of the night. You were on high alert and the waited to see if the sound would repeat, but you couldn’t hear anything over the sound of your heart.

The front door opened and you held the book out in front of you, obviously thought that might help.

A black-haired head poked in and you promptly chucked the book at it.

“Tony! What the hell is wrong with you? Ever heard of knocking or ringing the bell?”

He chuckled and picked up the book and closed the door behind him.

“Sorry, I just wanted to see you and well it’s really late and I thought maybe you were asleep, but I wanted to come see you because I haven’t seen you in nearly a week. I thought any noise might wake you up, so I decided to try the lock.”

He walked up to you and noticed your bare shoulder and the blanket wrapped around your body and froze.

“Did I interrupt something?” he said with a laugh and you felt blood warming your face.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, I fell asleep reading and didn’t have time to put on clothes for your B&E stunt.”

“The gutter is a wonderful place for the mind, Y/N. We should take a trip down there sometime.”

“How did you even get in here?” you asked incredulously.

“Well a little bit of charm and a bit magic from these,” he said while doing jazz hands.

“Of course, you know how to pick a lock. Why am I even surprised?” you said as you motioned for him to sit on the chair.

He plopped down on the couch beside you instead.

“How was your day sweetheart?” Tony asked, slipping his hand in yours and kissing it while you answered.

“It wasn’t bad, what about you? You said and snuggled up to him.

“The usual, blew up a bunch of stuff in the lab, bickered with Banner, and got new toys for the R&D. Same old.”

You laughed and smacked his chest affectionately.

“You trouble Banner way too much.”

“Is that so?” Tony said as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder as both of you sit together in comfortable silence. He started drawing lazy circles on your bare shoulder. You sighed at his touch and mentally willed him to continue that.

The truth was that as much as you were both enjoying each other’s company, you were yet to move ahead in the bedroom department.

The extent of your physical activities went up to just heated kissing and the occasional stolen make out sessions when you hadn’t seen each other in a long time.

It bothered you tremendously that you were this nervous. You were aware of his reputation and the long list ex-flames, each more breathtaking than the last. In fact, the closest he had seen you this intimately was today.

“Hey,” you said as you looked into his eyes, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” he said as he tucked a stray lock behind your ear.

You looked at his lips and then into his eyes and placed a quick peck on his lips.

His hand cupped your cheek and he looked at your lips with burning intent. You nod and his lips touched yours. The pressure of his lips, sweet at first, grew maddening and you gave his tongue the permission it sought. With each passing second you grew more frantic, hungry for him, kissing him like you had never kissed before in your life. He slipped his hands around your waist and you ran your hand over his biceps, while the other still clutched the blanket around your bare chest. He pulled you into his lap, your knees on either side of his thighs.

You placed your hand on his chest and went back to kissing him. You pulled away from the kiss and took Tony’s bottom lip between your teeth, applying enough pressure to elicit a groan from him. You loved the rush of power, the feeling that came from drawing out moans from him.

Just as you lifted your hand, the one securing the blanket, you grabbed it back, realizing that it was slipping away. Tony ran his hand up your back and bunched it in his hand, tight and secure.

“Go on, baby, I got you,” he whispered.

You didn’t have to be told twice. With a hand now free, you were determined to put it to good use. You ran your fingers through his hair, trailing your nails on his scalp while your lips moved in unison. You looked at him and smiled, deeply touched by him still securing your modesty, allowing you to explore this on your own terms.

You pulled his head back, exposing his throat and you peppered his neck with short, wet kisses. You stopped at certain places and grazed with your teeth, careful not to mark him. You followed each bite with a salve of your tongue, a heady combination of pain and pleasure.

Tony’s free hand found your chin and pulled you back to his lips, devouring them in carnal hunger, his hands lost in your hair, keeping you anchored to him.

You both came up for air and he took the opportunity to go to your neck. He placed a kiss at the hollow of your throat, the contrast of his soft kisses and his sharp beard making you mewl.

“Tony,” you rasped out as he started a sensory assault, going from your collar bones to the back of your ears.

“Tony, please,” you squirmed on his lap, the play of his teeth and tongue getting too overwhelming.

You gripped his hair, trying to push away a shudder, and looked straight into his eyes, making sure that he could see the flame of desire clear in your eyes.

“Anthony Edward Stark, let go of the blanket,” you said with a smirk and he loosened his grip on the blanket. The fabric slipped down your body, but his eyes never strayed from your eyes.

“Y/N, “he said stroking your cheek, “You don’t have to do this.”

“I know, “you said and took matters into your own hands, flinging the blanket across the room, your body bare and glowing from the soft, yellow lights placed around the room, bare all but a pair of French cut panties.

Tony cursed under his breath and flipped you on the couch, covering your body with his. He kissed his way up from your belly, going over your sternum and stopped just above your nipples. His fingers stroked and played with your breasts, touching everything, but your sensitive peaks. He looked at your face, your trembling, waiting body and swooped down to take one aching bud into his mouth.

You let out a broken gasp, touched this way after long, touched by the man you craved the most in the world. You placed your hands on his shoulder, pulling him closer. Your arched your back every time his skilled tongue pulled a move.

Tony came up for air and you brought his face above yours.

“My turn,” you whispered and pushed him to the side.

He started speaking, but you silenced him with a finger to his lips.

“My turn to play, Stark,” you said as you straddled him, pinning him in place.

Leaning forward, you captured his lips in yours, teasing him with your tongue. Your hands caressed his shoulder, marveling over his strength and the contrasting soft heart within him.

You sat back up and ran your hands through your hair, coyly meeting his gaze.

The room was silent except the sounds of your combined breathing. Tony ran his hands over your naked thighs, his calloused palms making you wish he was touching you somewhere else entirely. You grabbed the soft material of his worn out t-shirt.

The charged silence of the room was pierced by a seemingly deafening noise coming from your severely famished stomach. A rolling wave of embarrassment drowned you and you scrammed off his lap and on to the nearest chair, covering yourself up with another aesthetically placed blanket.

Your work had been so hectic and your boss had you running all over the city with various errands. Eating had not been a priority.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I just did that,” you exclaimed, the logic completely escaping you that grumbling stomachs are hardly audible. All you could think about was that the first time you decided to take a step ahead with Tony your stomach demonstrated the dying call of a blue whale.

He walked up to you and knelt in front of you and placed his hands on the arm rest.

“Y/N, my love, hey look at me,.”

You muffled a no into your palms as you hid your face in them. You did peak out from between your fingers and once you registered his worried face, and dropped them.

“Hey, it’s okay. You never have to run away from me. Don’t do that to me. I am not a middle-school boy. It’s just a bit of grumbling. I am more worried about why you were hungry in the first place. Did you eat dinner yet?” he said, his voice brimming with concern.

You shook your head.

“Lunch?”

You shook your head again.

“What am I going to do with you? Come on,” he said as he pulled you up to your feet.

“I am just going to buy The New York Times, if that’s what is going to get you to eat on time,” he said, but laughed when he saw you look at him incredulously.

He threw his arm around your shoulder and walked you towards your kitchen, if you could call an open area with cooking appliances and vintage equipment that, and said,” I am just kidding, baby. Let me cook you something.”

Yup, definitely falling in love with Tony Stark.

[oranjis-shipping-mess]

Sentence Challenge~ SoonHoon

Warning: smut.

Boss and assistent.

"Soonyoung, this really was your last chance. These papers were due last week! I told the board that something really bad happend, so they wouldn't get as angry. But I can't cover for you again. You blew it, and I think you should start looking for a new job. Because this will be your last day." 

Jihoon's voice was harsh, yet calm as he looked at the boy on the other side of the desk. "Mr. Lee.. Please, please give me one more chance. I promise I will never miss a deadline again. I'll do anything, please.." Soonyoung was close to bursting out in tears, but he tried to hold back, not wanting to make a complete fool of himself in front of his boss. "Look, Soonyoung. This was already the fifth time you missed it. Others would have fired you after the first or second time already. Aside from that, you spilled coffee over two of our new computers and managed to break one of our phones. Soonyoung, as much as I would want to give you another chance, its best for the company if we let you go." Tears were slowly making their way down Soonyoung's cheek. "Mr. Lee, I can improve, I promise. If I lose this job, I can't afford my appartment anymore, and I have nowhere I could go. Please, mr. Lee, maybe I can do something else? I swear, I would do anything, but I can't lose this job.." Jihoon let out a sigh, sure, he felt sorry for him, but he also needed to do what was best for the company. "You know what, I'll think about it. By the end of the day you will hear from me." Soonyoung nodded, wiping his tears away, "thank you, thank you so much." He gave a bow before he left Jihoon's office, back to his own desk.

It was almost time to go home, when Jihoon called Soonyoung to his office and made him lock the door behind him. Jihoon was sitting on his chair, feet resting on his desk. "Strip." He commanded, leaving Soonyoung confused, "I'm sorry, w-what?" Jihoon stared at him, "I said, strip. You wanted another chance, right? Well, this is it. So either take it, or leave and never set a foot in to this building again." Soonyoung nervously walked closer to the desk, "mr. Lee, I'm s-sorry, but what d-does this have to do with my job?" Jihoon sighed as he got up and walked towards Soonyoung. "You said you would do anything. You said you would do anything else, as long as you could keep your job. So, strip for me and let me fuck you. Its up to you, Soonyoung. But if you decide to stay, I can definitly give you a raise. If you follow my orders, that is." Soonyoung felt his body temparture raise as Jihoon came closer and closer. He knew it was wrong, he wasn't stupid. But he was desperate. "O-okay, I will do it." He bit down on his lip, regretting his words already. Jihoon sat down on his desk, "so, what are you waiting for?" Soonyoung nodded nervously as he slowly undressed himself, only leaving his boxers on, avoiding eye contact. "Who had thought that such a guy like you, could have a body like that." Jihoon wondered as he got up again, "and it seems like you're already hard." Jihoon smirked as he palmed Soonyoung through his boxers, receiving a soft moan. "Does it excite you? Having sex with your boss?" Soonyoung's cheeks were as red as ever, and it felt like they were on fire. "I asked you a question." Soonyoung quickly nodded, "y-yes, mr. Lee." Jihoon smirked at the words, "bend over the desk." Soonyoung shivered as he followed Jihoon's instructions. Jihoon got rid of Soonyoung's boxers, followed by his own. "You have such a smooth ass." He commented as he smacked his hand against it, having Soonyoung whimper below him. "How bad do you want this job, Soonyoung?" Soonyoung squeezes his eyes closed as another smack followed, "r-really bad, mr. Lee. I n-need this job." Jihoon stroke his hand over his ass, and without warning, put a finger inside. "Damn, you're tight. Tell me, do you ever play with yourself?" Soonyoung shook his head, "n-no, sir. I never d-do that." Jihoon laughed, "next time I'll let you play with yourself then. But for now-," he added another finger, making Soonyoung moan in pain. It wasn't long before Jihoon positioned himself, only bringing the head in at first. "N-no condom?" Soonyoung managed to ask as he tried to adjust. "I'm clean. And judging by your experience, I bet you are as clean as can be." Soonyoung nodded, there was no lie, he never did anything with someone else before, except for kissing. A long moan escaped his lips as Jihoon slowly went in further. "I feel honored to be the first one to ruin your little ass." Jihoon slowly pulled out almost completely, before slamming back in without warning. "Fuck!" Soonyoung screamed, feeling the burn and not being able to adjust as Jihoon repeated his action a couple of times. "So the boy can curse now? Seems like I'm getting to know a whole other side of you." He got hold of Soonyoung's shoulder as he started trusting on a steady pace, receiving soft moans and whimpers. Soonyoung bit down on his lip so hard, he was pretty sure he could taste a little blood at some point. "Damn it, don't clench around me like that, you're gonna make me cum." Jihoon complained. Soonyoung couldn't help it, this was his first time and it was overwhelming to say the least. "F-fuck-," Soonyoung moaned out loud, followed by a few whimpers as he came untouched. Jihoon could barely handle the sight below him, trusting a few more times before pulling out and turning Soonyoung around. "On your knees." Soonyoung quickly obeyed, sitting in front of Jihoon. "You're going to swallow it all." Before Soonyoung could even give him an answer, Jihoon had his dick almost down his throat, making him gag and tear up. Which was the final hit for Jihoon, as he came down Soonyoung's throat. Coming down from his high, he slowly pulled out. A few drops of cum streaming down Soonyoung's chin. Jihoon made Soonyoung get up, facing him now. A small smirk on his lips, "I told you to swallow it all." He said as he kissed the few drops of cum away, ending with a kiss on his soft, plump lips.

"Soonyoung, you did well. You can come in at nine am tomorrow." Jihoon handed Soonyoung his clothes, as he got his clothes back on as well. "And don't forget to take my coffee, you know how I like it." Soonyoung nodded, "O-okay, mr. Lee. I won't forget, I p-promise." Jihoon smiled, "are you okay there?" Soonyoung looked at the floor, cheeks flushed a bright red. "Mr. Lee, c-can I hug you?" Jihoon chuckled, understanding his question after what had just happend. He gave in, welcoming the boy in to his arms, not knowing what that effect would have on himself, as he felt his own cheeks burn lightly. Soonyoung snuggled his head in Jihoon's neck as Jihoon stroke his back softly.  "Hey, maybe we can get that coffee together some time, if you like?" Jihoon spoke softly. Soonyoung nodded, "I would like that, mr. Lee." He whispered. "Call me Jihoon." He said as he slowly backed away, and before they knew it, their lips were locked together again.

[arce-elliot]

Magnus Archives - First Impressions (151-175)

We’re almost there, gang. Out of the Lonely and into the Eyepocalypse we go! Blah blah I had 75% of the series spoiled and am jotting down my thoughts, you know the drill.

EP 151 (Big Picture): - OH SIMON??? - okay okay Simon's kinda funny, you go you funky little sky grandpa - Martin Tell Her The TRUTH EP 152 (A Gravedigger's Envy): - oooh another ancient one - hey that's terrifying wtf - can someone please comfort jonny boy good lord EP 153 (Love Bombing): - Idk why the cult ones freak me out, maybe because cults are real? - oh god what's gonna happen to that dog - I literally just made my dinner with white wine vinegar that's a little old are you sHITTING ME - GIRL GET OUT OF THERE WHILE YOU HAVE A CHANCE YOU KNOW SOMETHING'S OFF - AYYY THE HUNTIN' GANG - tbh it was weird that they helped him even though they knew he wasn't human actually - DAISY!!!!! - Jon can you chill w/ the sass if you're not gonna help - Okay I'm gay but Daisy Growl Hot - Two dying monsters trying to reconcile their humanity, this is sad I hate it here EP 154 (Bloody Mary): - oh god it's This Episode I've been dreading it poor Eric - g o d Gertrude sounds so upset - I would die for Eric - "Eric I'm gonna count to ten and you're gonna tELL ME HOW YOU QUIT" - I'm already crying good god - "he needed me" o w - MARTIN GOT TO SAY FUCK!!!!! - O U C H - i am so upset FUCK this podcast - the catalogue of the dead is just the Delano-Keay family album EP 155 (Cost of Living): - CALL HER OUT JON - Tova, to this doctor's heart: it's free real estate - A FUCKING C H I L D?????? - ah yes, some more DIY surgery, who needs doctors when you have knives? EP 156 (Reflection): - ayyyy adelard how are ya - oh fun flesh time - oh? extinction? - also that was gross what the fuck - M A R T I N EP 157 (Rotten Core): - go save Martin before I cry - ADELARD!!! - ah no, I'm gonna miss this dude he was kinda cool - this hits different in corona times - okay this is actually pretty gross wtf - Martin's lonely because he chose to be, Jon is lonely because everyone hates him, poetic cinema EP 158 (Panopticon): - Ah Shit Here We Fucking Go - OH WHAT THE FUCK NOT!SASHA???? - AYYYYY THERE'S JONAH MAGNUS WELCOME HOME RAT BASTARD - uh oh bye bye Gertrude Time - mom and dad are fighting to be Martin's favorite parent lmao - no not the promise :C - Martin is the brain cell, he really just played both these men like kazoos - gdi Peter give me my boy back EP 159 (The Last): - hi I am Sad - Marto blease just go with the tired eyeball man - "i see you" MY B O Y S EP 160 (The Eye Opens) - oh lord here we go - at least we get some Jonmartin conversation - Monologue Time! - Jon: can I just say, from the bottom of my heart...my bad EP 161 (Dwelling): - welcome to the apocalypse bitches - FINALLY i've been waiting for these tapes for my entire life - TIMMMMMM! SASHAAAAA! - Elias being a normal person is unsettling - ALL THE EYE JOKES gdi I refuse to simp for eyeball man - THE JARRING "ARCHIVIST" I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD - "If I wish for all of you to go away do you think it'll work?" well it worked on Tim and Sasha - Elias: I'm a cool boss, I can drink wine - the image of Jon just huddled on the couch with a bag of tapes and listening to them over and over is so sad - sorry Gertrude no Sasha, just a sad little man - thank u for the powerpoint Gertrude - JON DON'T SNAP - i love them so much your honor EP 162 (Cosy Cabin): - GERRY GERRY GERRY - okay Gertrude and Gerry are adorable I love goth boy and his badass grandma - Gerry, ever the pragmatist: but what about TAXES gertrude - Tim and Sasha interacting is the sweetest thing ;_; - oh this is AFTER the hookup lmao - OH WAIT Sasha canonically knew about Danny??? I didn't know that oof - Oh Jon's getting a phone call I suppose - Jon's trying so hard to be dramatic and Martin's like "okay bitch grab ur backpack and lets go" EP 163 (In The Trenches): - "Tell everybooooody I'm ooon my waaay, new frieeends and new plaaaaces to seeeee" - YESSS LET MARTIN CURSE OVER THE GUNSHOTS AND BAGPIPES - "Martin can you stand over there and cover your ears while I cast Eldritch Ramble" EP 164 (The Sick Village): - another one that hits different in corona times - I hate the word soupy - what in the midsommar - if you can't find your own statements, DIY your own - Martin: fuck u Jon, Helen's my friend now - Martin: can I get an Uber, can I PLEASE get an Uber EP 165 (Revolutions): - this is my friend's favorite episode so I'm excited - oh circus music gross - THE RHYMINGGGGG OH I LOVE THIS - my arms are sore from happy stimming at this audio oh my god - SHUT UP JON IT WAS A GOOD POEM - GET HER ASS JON - is that our first "Ceaseless Watcher"?? I think it was! - Jon: Level Up! - Martin: that's hot EP 166 (The Worms): - HELL YES JON SAID FUCK - oh worm? - Martin answer your damn phone - awww Martin don't doubt yourself :C EP 167 (Curiousity): - Fiona: lmao watch this -passes out- - oh I didn't realize Eric was one of the OGs, their conversations make more sense now - Michael :c - Gertrude you got played like a fiddle damn EP 168 (Roots): - jealous Martin lmao - Jon just tell him why you woke up that would probably solve this - As someone who also freaks out about every little twinge this episode felt targeted EP 169 (Fire Escape): - desolation time? desolation time. can't wait to walk through hell - so aside from Smirke's 14 we have the 3 additional fears: the Extinction, the Scotland, and the Landlord - oh this one is terrifiyng i love it - OOOOH the "jons" slowly fading in was really clever - G O D martin sounds so defeated poor boy EP 170 (Recollection): - Martin finding tape recorders is the cutest thing - Oh fuck are we in the Lonely oh shit - this is so disconcerting i love it - someone get this man a better chair EP 171 (The Gardener): - Martin: damn that's a lot of bones - oh not THIS dude again I can barely understand him oh my GOD - well that was interesting EP 172 (Strung Out): - oh web? - oh this is sad shit - I think this is one of the worst domains yet for me personally this sounds like hell - g o d the web makes my brain hurt blease Jonny I'm stupid EP 173 (Night Night): - oh dark? - oh so the darkness is just the apocalypse daycare? nice - oh and this tween runs it, nice - Jon: are you SURE you want me to kill this middle schooler? - wow this is depressing EP 174 (The Great Beast): - oh hunt? - oh vast? lmao that's what i get for assumptions - Martin just wants to kill a man is that too much to ask someone give him a gun EP 175 (Epoch): - ex...tinct...ion? - “Peter was right” no FUCK YOU I refuse to give Peter any credit LOOK ADELARD WAS RIGHT, Adelard Decker laid the BLUEPRINT - poor Jon he's gettin these hard-hitting google searches - Basira and Daisy?????? OH WAIT THAT MEANS OH NO

[savedbystyle]

the man (t.s.)

pairing: tony stark x reader

summary: You’re furious of the double standards between you and Tony Stark

warnings: some curse words, nothing much its just frustration no angst, secret dating

a/n: hi again! i really hope this does well because lately the interaction with my posts have been going down since ‘i forgot that you existed’ but this is my first tony fic! i really hope you guys like it and PLEASE comment if u like it and want to be tagged:) i also dont really touch on her actual job but just mention that shes a ceo so please keep in mind this is more about double standards not her job! 

(gif credit to creator!)

i would be complex i would be cool they'd say I played the field before i found someone to commit to

“Y/n!” “Y/n, look here!” “Is it true you broke up with Justin Hammer?” You blocked your face as bursts of light showered your figure. You tried avoiding the paparazzi as you made your way to your car. “Is it true you dumped Hammer for Tony Stark?” “Why are you always moving on so fast from your ex boyfriends?” 

You successfully made your way into the car and your driver quickly started driving to your penthouse in New York. You were rubbing your head when you decided to call your childhood best friend James Rhodes. “Rhode pick up” you muttered to yourself. 

“Hey y/n” “Rhodey I just came out of Per Se and the paps bombarded me, they know about Hammer” “Y/n, darling, it’s fine it was bound to get out at some point. I think you should go home and get some rest Marla (your publicist) will deal with it” “Yeah you’re right” “When am I not?” You laughed at his sassy remark “Bye James, love you” “Night y/n/n, love you” You ended the call and rubbed your temple, annoyed at the circumstances. 

and that would be okay for me to do every conquest I had made would make me more of a boss to you

You scrolled through instagram whilst sitting on your couch, waiting for Marla to get to your house. You stumbled on a video of Tony Stark. You watched it and were confused “Im a genius, playboy, billionaire, and philanthropist. I can get anyone I want and get whomever I want” 

You were angry, not at Tony but the fact that the paparazzi demeaned you for moving on too fast when in reality you only ever had two public boyfriends with a year gap in between them. But when Tony Stark does it, it’s powerful and seen as a sign of winning? 

You were waken from your thoughts by the knock on your door signaling that Marla was here. You opened the door to your friend who looked exhausted. “I’ve been up all night containing this mess the paps started. Everyone knows that you and Hammer broke up, and he even had something to say. Y/n, this is bad” 

You took her phone and watched the video on the screen of your ex boyfriend “Me and y/n broke up earlier this month, it disgusts me that she moved on so fast, I mean come on! That’s not her character. That’s mine and Tony’s! Y/n, stay in your lane darling” 

You were shocked at the false allegation and the fact that your ex attacked you for ‘moving on too fast’. “I need to speak up or do something about this Marla! What is this double standards for us, because i’m a women i’m not able to get as many deals as Stark and everything I do is scrutinized! I need you to schedule a press conference” “Alright y/n but if things go bad then,” “I know Y/l/n Tech will crash and burn but thats a risk i’ll take Marla. This is ridiculous” 

i'd be a fearless leader i'd be an alpha type when everyone believes ya what's that like?

“James, if I was a man i’d be a fearless leader and the alpha type. I have always been attacked and multiple times been taken down because i don’t know what it feels like when everyone believes you, whats that like James? Really? I don’t know simply for the fact that i’m a women” “You’re holding the press conference right? You tell them this exactly Y/n, don’t hold back. It hurts me too that you don’t get enough credit for being the CEO of one of the most influential tech company in the world” 

You sighed taking a bite of your hagen daz ice cream anticipating the conference tomorrow where you decided you were finally going to give the public a piece of your mind “I better sleep Rhodes, i’ll catch up with you later” “Bye y/n/n” You hung up the phone, with a pit in your stomach. 

i'm so sick of running as fast as I can wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man and I'm so sick of them coming at me again 'cause if I was a man then I'd be the man i'd be the man i'd be the man

You saw the mass amount of press waiting for you inside the room and adjusted your suit before walking on the stage. “Wait y/n” Marla stopped you and showed you a video of Tony Stark commenting on you, “What do you think about Y/n’s recent allegations?” “Well I think none of you pricks should be inserting yourself into her business. So what if she’s dating someone? Why can’t she? Me and Hammer can but not her? Go do something better with your lives, please” You watched as the video ended, appreciating your competitor commenting on you. You felt a little better knowing you had the Tony Stark on your side. 

“I’m here today to address the several rumors going around. First and for most, I am in fact not in a relationship with anyone but that shouldn’t matter in the first place. Please explain to me why I can’t be in a relationship or go on dates with someone after i’ve been broken up with? Second, I’m so sick of running as fast as I can simply to keep up with men because I get less opportunities and jobs because i’m a woman, and I truly wonder if i’d get there quicker if I was a man. We all know that if I was a man, then i’d be the man.

they'd say I hustled put in the work they wouldn't shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve

I run one of the most influential and highest grossing tech companies in the world and I that is what I want to be focussed on! Not the double standard and constant prying into my private life which will forever be private unless both parties come together and agree to talk about it. I hustled and put in the work, and I don’t need any more men shaking their heads and questioning how much of this power I deserve because I know I deserve it. So please, treat us as equals to men and have the same respect that you give men to women” 

You finished with a big sigh, and looked up and asked the press who were in shock “There will be no questions, I said what I needed to say” You walked off the stage feeling the power surging around you as you hugged Marla “That was brilliant Y/n, i’m so proud of you!” “Thanks Marl, I actually need to go somewhere before I go back home so you can go” Marla smiled and nodded before heading out as you walked towards your car, “Go to Stark Towers. There’s someone I need to meet” 

i'm so sick of running as fast as I can wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man and I'm so sick of them coming at me again 'cause if I was a man then I'd be the man i'd be the man i'd be the man

You got off the elevator and walked in the direction of Tony’s r&d lab. “Hi Tony” You said smiling at the man in front of you before setting down your bag and keys, going to sit next to the man. “Hi y/n/n, I was watching it live. You were amazing out there” You got out of the embrace and looked lovingly into your lovers eyes “Thank you for what you said Tones, it gave me what I needed. I love you so much” Tony smiled at you pulling you closer to him, wrapping his arms around you, “Always darling, cause if you were a man then you’d be the man” 

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

I hope you guys enjoyed this! I wrote this in an hour with the prompt in my mind for a couple days. I really hope it resonated with some of you, because all of you are bad b!tches!!! For all my females out there, this one is for us! We are just as powerful as men and right now we don’t need anyone telling us were not. 

[themebletlworks]

MLQC WEDDING EVENT - Meble’s Luck or Curse?

Here’s what I got from the Limited SSR Here Comes The Groom Event

welp, this picture pretty much explains it lol :D credit to reddit user for this pic: https://www.reddit.com/r/MrLove/comments/ccskz2/i_know_this_is_a_dramatic_scene_but_i_couldnt/?ref=readnext 

Here’s my story...

I also topped up for getting Gavin SSR for this event, just take my money, my pride, and my dignity! How can I resist that cute innocent puppy eyes and that tongue licky face?! ROFL

Well, let me begin...

First I used my first 10 galaxy wish coupons and look what I got first! Yeah I was so excited at that time, so I didn’t record or screen shot my phone so oh well...

1. BAM, I got Kiro first! This pretty lil baby boy just came home to me! Am I dreaming?! OMG I was so surprised and excited. Even though I was a lil bit down (kill me) since Lucien is my first BAE and I want Ma Daddy Professor came home first, but oh well oh well nevermind, I was still so happy and I was screaming so loud when I got this cutie pie!

Kiro

2. Second, I did another gacha pull I think it was the third time I got both SSRs! My no. 1 BAE AND HUSBAND, LUCIEN!!! Yet, I was hoping for my 2nd bae Gavin to come, but oh well he DID NOT, I think he was a fighter still flying somewhere with his EVOL. Well, turned out that THE JUMIN HAN 2.0 AKA BOSS A** CEO came home together with my BAE LUCIEN! Oh well... I still expected to see my Gavin but fine... 

Lucien and Victor

3. Alright then, well this is the toughest one! Well he was a fighter, alright! Duh, he was a bad boy and he’s freakin’ officer, so what’d you expect? Since I wasted my tons of gems something and then mostly I got duplicates of SSRs and SRs (Gavin is the most for SR, DAMMIT)! Well yeah, I got Gavin SSR but Starstruck one INSTEAD OF THE WEDDING EVENT and also ANOTHER BAE OF MINE, LUCIENNNN (Drowning in Love). I also got Summer Loving of Gavin :’)))) oh well oh well oh well...

Then, I topped up my gems.. and I wasted again... like for the 150th time of my final pull and then this baby officer finally came home to me!!! Arrghhh!! Finally!!! Well done and congratulations for making me broke AF, MR LOVE! 

Gavin

There you go everyone, it’s blood, sweat, and tears for me to get all of them for this event! WONHAE MANHI MANHI!!! 

Oh yeah here’s a pic of Victor’s dupe and I also got winter infatuation LOL.. like whyyyy.. I needed Gavin but you gave me like more Victor again,,, my gemss aahhhh

oh and also other SSRs like Gavin and Lucien that’s not related to wedding.... well, I don’t need to redeem my flower petals, then. Thank you but hmm omg my gems T.T Since I also never redeemed my flower petals, oh well oh well oh well....

In conclusion: My luck is not so good but not so bad but pretty bad since I saw some people got all of them (wedding event SSRs) like for only 20-40 pulls. Their lucks are insane! Kudos and four thumbs up (hands and toes) to them! I’m so jelly but amazed at the same time! Congratulations to everyone! If you guys still haven’t gotten them, don’t give up! There’s still a few days left! Good luck and may the RNG Gods bless y’all! May the odds be ever in your favor - Hunger Games 

- Meble’s rambling out

How about you guys? Please tell me, I’d like to know...

[tintin-is-my-life]

- FANFICTION - 1st part

An Unexpected Meeting

In these radiant weather, Tintin was walking around the flee market, hoping to find some reading treasures. Suddenly, he froze. He had just noticed a magnificent antique: a Caravel.

He looked at it more closely: "The Unicorn" as it was called. Tintin paid the seller, but at that very moment a man rushed to the stall. He was an American, wearing blue felt clothes. He asked Tintin if he didn't want to sell him the beautiful ship. The answer was no, of course. After that, the man warned him against ill-intentioned people who might be willing to do anything to take the ship. The man got further and further away, and finally left.

Suddenly, a voice was heard:

Wonderful...oh... it's just wonderful...

No need to wrap it up, I'll take it as it is, you don't mind if I pay by check?"

An other interested party... thought Tintin.

The salesman answered: If you want to buy it, address it to this boy!

The man replied: I see... so let the boy name his price...

It's not forsale, Tintin replied.

The man introduced himself : My name is Ivan Ivanovich Sakharine. I recently acquired Marlinspike Hall. And,this ship, as you must surely know, has always been part of the estate.

Tintin: Of the late sea captain?

Sakharine:Yes, but the family has suffered great setbacks. They lost everything! They've gone from bad luck to bad luck. . . Let's talk about. . . generations of drinking and irrational behavior.

Tintin: I'm sorry, but as I told you before, it's not for sale. Goodbye,sir.

Sakharine turned to the seller, asking him if he had any idea who he was dealing with.

Seller: You don't know him? It's Tintin. A famous reporter, he is very well known in Belgium but also in the whole world.

Sakharine: I've never heard of this... kid at all. * squinting eyes and looking scornful* Besides, I've only been in Brussels for a short time. He said as he watched Tintin goaway. Then he left without saying a word.

Meanwhile, Tintin returned to his apartment. He had questions in his head. First of all, why did this boat attract so much covetousness? And what secrets could it be hiding?

Tintin put the boat on his cabinet and went to the library. He needed to learn about the history of this caravel. He learned that "The Unicorn" was in fact a ship in Louis XIV's fleet, and that Louis XIV had offered the Captain, Sir Francis Haddock, a priceless treasure as a reward for his loyalty.But the ship was attacked by pirates, and only the Captain escaped.And ever since then, the family has been under a curse.

In the book, an inscription caught his attention:

"Only a true Haddock can discoverthe secret of The Unicorn..."

Later, Tintin returned home and discovered in amazement that the boat had disappeared. On this discovery, he decided to go where he was sure to find it, at Marlinspike Hall, in other words, the present home of Mr.Sakharine.

He arrived on the spot and without surprise, he found the model ship. But suddenly he received a blow to the head and collapsed.

Sakharine : Welcome to Marlinspike Hall !

Tintin went straight to the point: I came to retrieve my property !!

Sakharine: I'm sorry. I am not sure I follow you...

Tintin : Oh, I think you do !

Sakharine: I'm afraid you're mistaken, Mr. Tintin!

Tintin: There's no mistake ! It belongs to me!

Sakharine: Are you sure?

Tintin: Well,of course I'm sure, I took it home, I put it on the cabinet in the living room. A cat came in and dropped it while I was chasing it ! But, hum... (clears throat) How can that be? The mast is intact....It's not my ship.

Sakharine: It certainly isn't your ship, young man! This one I've had for a very long time.

Tintin : I am sorry, it looks identical.

Sakharine: Well, look can bedeceiving !

Tintin: Yes, indeed, but I don't understand ! Why did Sir Francis make two ships exactly alike? And you have one already ! Why do you want another one ? What is about this model that would cause someone to steal it ?

Sakharine: Goodness me! Why so many questions?

Tintin: It's my job, there could be a story here. That's what I do, you see.

Sakharine: Well, it's not a great mystery, Sir Francis Haddock was a drunkard, and a hopeless reprobate. He was doomed to fail and he bequeathed that failure to his sons !

Tintin: So it's true! The Haddock line is cursed!

Sakharine: What else have you find out ?

Tintin:What is there to find?

Sakharine: That depends what you'relooking for !

Tintin: I'm looking for answers,...Mr.Sakharine.

Sakharine: You're looking in the wrong place. ...It's late! I think you should go home, young man ! Nestor! Take him home!

The butler named Nestor met Tintin at the door and said, "It's too bad, sir... That the mast is broken on your model,sir... I hope you've found all the parts, things get lost so easily.

Sakharine called Nestor back, who finally greeted Tintin before closing the door.

A few minutes later, Tintin went home. He took the keys out of his pocket before he realized his door had been forced. When he entered his apartment, he discovered that all the rooms had been returned, but absolutely nothing was missing. Meanwhile, it was clear that this burglar was looking for something specific, but what?

Suddenly, Tintin saw a light under one of the pieces of furniture, especially the one where he had put the caravel down a few hours earlier. He went down to look, and found a small cylindrical silver-colored object. Inside it was a scroll :

Tintin returned to his office to examine what he had just found.

Then he read the manuscript:

"Three brothers joined , three Unicorns in company sailing in the noonday sun will speak. For'tis from the light will dawn. And then shines forh the Eagle's cross. »

Just after the message, strange signs were written.

Tintin doesn't really understand the meaning of all this:

I don't understand what it is. But it explains why they ransacked my apartment. He must have been looking for this, and they didn't find it. Which means...they'll be back...

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, the concierge went to see who it could be at this hour. Going down the stairs, Tintin recognized the voice of the man he had met in the flee market : the "American". He told Mrs. Pinson that he would take care of it.

The man called out to Tintin: My boy, is that you?

Tintin: What do you want?

The man:Listen, I won't tell you everything, but I swear to God, I never thought he would kill for that !

Tintin: Who? Who are you talking about?

Man: I'm trying to tell you that your life is in danger!

Tintin: Answer me, WHO?

The man didn't have time to answer because suddenly he was shot. He collapsed in the hall of the building with just enough time to leave a clue. With his blood, the man had indicated several letters that made up the word: "K-A-R-A-B-O-U-D-J-A-N."

The next morning, Tintin received the Dupondt for the investigation. The man who had been targeted was called Barnabé Dawes, and he was a very high-ranking Interpol inspector. The Dupondt retrieved the newspaper for evidence and left. Tintin walked them to the door. He stepped out for a moment to say goodbye to the Dupondt as they left. He didn't notice that a man had just stolen his wallet, in which the scroll was. Indeed, earlier in the morning, the Dupondt told Tintin that they were on the trail of a pickpocket who had been raiding the city and its surroundings for several weeks.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Meanwhile, on the boat Karaboudjan...

The ship's captain, Kathrynn Haddock, was busy making an inventory of the goods on the ship, when suddenly one of her "crewmen" injected her with a syringe of a powerful soporific. It was Tom, one of the ship's employees, under the command of a certain Sakharine.

Sakharine had become an intruder on the boat. And now that the captain was out of harm's way, he could take complete control of the ship. Kathrynn found herself trapped in her own boat, in her own holds.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Meanwhile, while Tintin was quietlywatching the Dupondt leave, he was stopped by two so-called "deliverymen"... who immediately applied a chloroform swab under hisnose. The two men loaded him into a crate and drove him to Karaboudjan.

Tintin woke up chained to a cage. Hesoon realized that his pockets were being searched.

Sakharine arrived in the hold andexclaimed:

Tom, Alllan! Have you found it ?

Allan said, He doesn't have it !

Sakharine : If it it is not here, then where is it ?

Tintin, barely awake, answered: Where iswhat?

Sakharine : The scroll from The Unicorn, apiece of paper like this !

Tintin: You mean the poem ?

Sakharine : Yes...

Tintin: The calligraphic poem ?

Sakharine : Yes...

Tintin : Who was in a cylinder ?

Sakharine: Yes !

Tintin : Concealed in the mast?

Sakharine : YES!

Tintin smiled a little and said: Idon't have it !

Sakharine went into a black anger.

He brandished the sword he had hiddenin his cane and threatened Tintin.

You know the value of this scroll,otherwise why would you want it?

Tintin: Two caravels, and two scrollsforming part of an enigma, you have one, you need the other, butthat's not it, there's something else...

Sakharine: I'll find it with orwithout your help. I advise you to think about how useful you are to me...

Sakharine and her henchmen are on theirway back.

We'll deal with him on the way, he says.

By the time Sakharine reached thebridge, he was angrier than ever.

Ah! He's lying, he must have thatmanuscript, the question is what did he do with it ?

Allan : We searched it thoroughly, boss!

Sakharine : I want you to go down there and makehim talk, break every bone in his body if you have to!

Another henchman of Sakharin's cameshouting:

Mr Sakharine, Mr Sakharine, the Captainhas come to her senses, she's conscious and accuses us of mutiny. Shesays you turned the crew against her!

Sakharine : Well, don't just stand there, give hera shot!

Yes, Boss, they say.

Allan and Tom went back to interrogateTintin, who unfortunately had no means of escape.

Well, this time, you're going to tellus where the scroll is ! Said Allan.

Tintin: I've already told you that Idon't have it.

Allan: All right! We'll have fun then!Tom, you joining the party?

Of course, he said, closing hisstitches.

Allan took Tintin's hair to hold hishead and started kicking him in the stomach.

*Cough*... Tintin spat blood.

After a few minutes, Allan pulled out agun to try to get something from Tintin. But it was more to scare himthan anything else, because Sakharine hadn't ordered to kill him inany way.

Allan : You're going to tell us where thescroll is, or else you can say goodbye to your life !

He placed the gun to his temple.

Obviously, Tintin didn't say a word. Helooked at them scornfully and mockingly.

Allan, very upset by the situation,kicked him in the face, then continued with a punch. He then grabbedTintin's collar. And looked him in the eyes.

Allan : You should tell us, becausewe're really going to end up killing you if you don't.

Tintin, about to faint, tried to say afew words.

Allan: What ? I can't understand whatyou're saying ! (Allan didn't realize that Tintin had actually calledthem idiots.)

And with those words he hit him again.This time, his body couldn't resist anymore, Tintin fainted.

Allan : We won't get anything out ofhim now.

Tom: Yeah, let's go tell the boss! And,it's not going to be a party... He hasn't told us a thing...

When they arrived in Sakharine's cabin, Allan and Tom told him that Tintin hadn't confessed to anything aboutthe parchment's hiding place. And, of course, Sakharine became furious:

I told you to make him talk, not to make him sleep! We're wasting precious time while this kid "rests"...In the meantime, go about your business as a sailor. And, Tom, beforeyou do that, you'd better check that Haddock is all right. I don'twant her to find out about our shenanigans. It's much too early forthat now. She mustn't find out. It'll make revenge all the sweeter. He said, rubbing his hands together.

Next on another post ^^

[spacedimentio]

Save the Light Impressions

I recently became interested in what Hessonite’s deal was and since it’ll be a long time before I’ll be able to get the game, I decided to just watch a cutscene compilation (this one, if it matters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy5tOb3gzLY). Dunno why I’m taking down all my reactions, just cause it’s fun I guess. Enjoy

RIP Car Wash

What even is the prism? It's not a gem, right? But it's clearly got conscious thought, even Hessonite talks to it like a person

haha Greg called her a glittery space lady, accurate

it's a little OOC that Greg wanted to come along. at least he's having fun tho. aww, steven's so proud of him :D

actually, what's Hessonite even doing. Why didn't she fuck off back to space once she found the prism

yeah that's totally not a triforce with six arms or anything. it's not the diamond authority symbol either i don't think, the triangles in that all meet in the middle

Mayor of Bummertown

I would have named the boss Dave, zero hesitation

"Our prism is in another castle!" i love you steb

oh no, bad memory time at Bismuth's forge :( I hope she'll be playable in the next one (i would scream forever if there was a playable diamond)

did Steven really just answer the phone with Myello? Oh IT'S PERI. Aaaand we're learning about RPG mechanics. Meta.

frozen donuts are a thing?! :o

it's her. the square. she seems to be almost identical to how our peridot used to be, so i wonder what the difference in personality is. Aside from her favorite insult being pebble instead of clod

ah yes, ye old tennis match

man i love that you can form fusions in this game

oh lord, i don't wanna imagine what chaos would happen with two peridots. also Greg is taking ice damage during the cutscene, help him

oh no, they're meeting. of course the first thing Squaridot says is "WHY ARE YOU NAKED" (and they obvs flipped her sprite cause the gem's her other eye now)

hey look, new insults for my list of gem related curse words

weird, angry mirror indeed. imagine what they could do if they were friends!

oh RIP. why do you get to choose who murders Squaridot. I hope for more multi-peridot action in the future

wait, what machine did you rip that off of and when

i already knew Peri was playable but it's still cool. i love how she flutters her feet when she jumps! i wonder who the DLC character is going to be (lapis, probably. Bismuth would be metal, though)

"Clod-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named" oh my god i love you

"Whatchu talkin' bout Peri" the best, they're the best

Oh so wow, Hessonite is THE Hessonite, huh. Real famous. If she came out as a Crystal Gem, it would sure cause a stir

Yeah I was also wondering why she's sticking around instead of just leaving? and she is kind of leaving her troops scattered all over the place with no rhyme or reason

these are great names. The Great and Terrible Spikey McSpikeball! of course the guy playing picked the most boring one

i love how Peridot just fucking yeets her tablet to attack

sugilite tiny!

you know, i was gonna get this game anyway at some point, but it's nice to know that it's the kind of rpg i like, one where you can participate in the attacking and blocking process.

how dare you switch out peridot for pearl. you know what, next game i hope you can be everyone all the time cause there's too many good characters to pick from

whatchu doing up here pizza lady

yeah they just...all ran right in front of her directly in her line of vision and she didn't see them somehow

oh the prism is resisting. it really took Steven's words to heart last game

Hess my dear, is this prism your only friend (oh my god that's totally it isn't it)

is the wiki sure she can't teleport cause holy fuck is she fast

"Gugh, Peridot, this is just like when we tried to hunt you down. But worse...cause, y'know, she's actually threatening." rude

huh. i don't remember the pyramid temple blowing up and leaving debris, i thought the whole thing disintegrated cause it was a construct of the gem it was housing. looking at screenshots of Serious Steven it definitely did explode

are they really trying to tell me there was a pyramid under the pyramid and no one noticed

call it the Spooky Basement! call it the Spooky Basement! you disappoint me, player, although Secret Temple of Secrets isn't so bad

*steven rolls cheerfully through a skeleton and then everyone jumps down a big hole* um

yo there's a mural of Rose fighting some light warriors! that's rad as shit!

*gets to the hallway with the torches that turn on as you go by* gee i sure wish i could watch this with sound, but alas i am recovering from ear fatigue and it would be a bad idea.

oh my god he reset her preferences no wonder she's pissed XD

HOLY FUCKING CHRIST RIP AMETHYST AND PERIDOT GODDAMN AND GARNET TOO PIZZA LADY STRONK

wow she really is a genuine threat, she forced Rose and Pearl to give ground back in the day

oh no you did not just say that Pearl should come with you. fuck her up, P!

also i just realized that she is really tall. like 10 feet tall at least

aw no fair you can't just flashbang them all you dink

oh it's sapphire. wait has connie even met ruby and sapphire in the show? did we not get to see it?!

where the fuck even are you guys, i could swear that connie and greg fell off the platform into the abyss

wait, they don't have new forms, did they even regenerate? i don't think connie was out cold for that long. did they even poof? i saw colored clouds of dust but no gemstones. i mean, i know this is a game and all but it's also canon so ???

and peridot is breaking the fourth wall by commenting how you can't force her to sit at home at the moment

ancient thingamajig. wow is thingamajig a real word, my spellcheck is not yelling at me about it

yeah connie! kick her ass for me!

since when are gems into riddles. i wonder if anyone has made much headway into translating the written gem language yet, last i heard they hadn't made much progress. apparently only Steven Sugar knows what all the symbols mean

wait steven was watching connie and greg's parties running around that whole time? i guess even the game never leaves steven's POV. where even is he, in the prism realm? oh, the place was turning pink for a minute until he went towards the sparkly thing

steven is always accessing memories isn't he. at least these aren't his mom's this time

you might be getting sick of her steve but i'm sure not!

from far away it really looks like she's chillin' with a martini glass and i was about to scream

corruption beam :(

was he just like passed out on the floor somewhere hallucinating

aww, he picks up the light steven exp by hugging it :o

"Just feeling a little...light headed." i...puns?

the Light Warrior is the final boss of the first game right? ...i should have probably watched a video about that one first

oh i just had a thought! if they make a third one then we get to have Rainbow 2.0 and Sunstone and Obsidian in it! :D

woah, trippy. tbh steven's connection to the prism is kind of strange. i wanna know exactly where that thing came from and why it's so deeply connected to him now. did Hessonite have visions like this when it was hers?

yeah that's... if a place is connected by warp pad, wouldn't it be easy to find by just warping randomly? unless separate warp networks are a thing but still, you'd just have to sneak onto a CG warp pad and go. ....how do warps even work, they can go through roofs and stuff and there's like this whole other dimension with all the warps like stars in the background and ???

how does the forge even do an upgrade with no Bismuth. maybe i should stop trying to fit this into canon details

what makes you think Hessonite could see you? is this some Voldemort Harry Potter connection shit. is that actually how she found the forge, this game ain't explain much

oh that's...that's a big oof. bismuth was working on a huge-ass statue of Rose before they got into their argument

"i saw her again" what no you didn't, that was just a white screen with a text box

"Beats me how any of this whacky prism stuff works!" ...i feel called out

why does that bigger spaceship look like a funky piece of headwear to me

well, at least it's closer than the moon

oh what, Lion didn't come with you? didn't you need multiple roar warps to get to space last time, just above the earth still seems kind of far, also how did he know the coordinates of the ship, he could have easily sent them all into the void

?! and then he's there?!? already asleep? how???????

aww what you're going to tease me with a citrine guard but not let me see her?

freaky. strangely organic looking technology is nothing new but i don't think i've seen stuff oozing through it before

"Look at you, acting as though you have the moral high ground!" *shakes fist angrily* She's like Emerald, but better! I can't

i guess he did kind of steal it, but it was more like finders keepers really

whuh has the prism always been able to talk?

"a Prism" oh no are there more? probably

woah that's a big boy. What the heck does Spectral Conclusion mean. and the prism is inside it instead of it being a separate creation, interesting

aww, it's looking at itself in confusion. Steven reaches out to it with his words, as he does

the prism isn't really...doing a lot of attacking (cause the player is picking the right choices probably). oh nevermind, it has a hugely damaging rainbow cannon

/r/murderedbywords, except in a good way

"Destroy Steven!" huh since when does she know his name? she could have gotten it from several places, really

oh oh oh! it's pizza time! standing in the middle of them is probably not the best idea, but look at her, she's exuding confidence!

wait wait wait, when the player used a healing move, did i just see an option to heal the prism? or at least, it's health bar showed up. is it gonna help later?

can i have like, a full sprite sheet for Hessonite please and thanks

if this was in the show, steven would be dead from that hit

aaand Steven did two points of damage with his shield bash, she ain't even flinch

pearl what are you doing

wow, she also only did a few points of damage

is Hess like, super tough. i love how much of a threat she is, cause most Homeworld gems we've seen aren't all that scary

oh! oh! you can heal the prism! that's probably how you damage her cause you'd be here forever chipping away otherwise

HOLY FUCK, SHE JUST DID 270 POINTS OF DAMAGE, THAT'S LITERALLY ALL OF SUGILITE'S HEALTH. I know the wiki says that attack does massive damage but jeezus!

so far the prism hasn't done anything, they're just chipping away at her slowly

oh, so gems do poof in this game. i guess we're just ignoring new forms because it wouldn't make sense in the timeline if we didn't

huh, does pearl inflict burns in this game? oh and she shoots fireballs, guess that answers my question.

it's kind of sad that the status is doing more damage than everyone else combined

whuh, she just attacked the prism! RUDE.

stop beating up the prism you degenerate! i guess i shouldn't be shocked

hey, Garnet and Amethyst are alive again. ah finally, some damage now that Garnet's lowered her defense

A-Amethyst, you're facing the wrong way. i wish Hess had targeted her with her big attack, then i could have made an "oh no she has airpods in" joke

oh, but the player formed Smoky, so she's not even aiming at anyone in particular anymore lol. she went for Pearl tho, fuckin' eviscerated

is this battle normally this long, it's been almost 10 minutes

this battle would probably be much harder if she didn't waste her turn being a bitch and attacking the prism. gee, and you wonder why it doesn't want to listen to you after encountering steven's kindness. i wonder...what would happen if you let the prism's HP get to zero? it would take a long ass time but...now i really wanna know but i doubt there’s any videos about it!

garnet's rocket fist did damage to the prism cause Hess is standing next to it. c-can you attack the prism, is that how you get the bad ending??

man, they haven't even had to heal because she's just beaten up on that poor thing for the past 10 turns. i mean, really, she could easily murder all of them in a heartbeat if she wanted

ok finally, she is defeato. I'd feel more sad for you if you didn't abuse your subordinates (definitely has detracted from my liking of her, i won't be too hard on her for it though because Homeworld is bad like that and she doesn't know better). at least you’re good at eating your humble pie without complaint

oh, i guess you get to choose your ending? it's kind of weird that it's not like, influenced by your game choices. cause technically like this it's your choice, not the prism's choice. so what was with the prism having health then. was it just to show how awful Hessonite is to it?

also, i can't look at light Steven without thinking of Pink!Steven and hhhhh

"You're a wise creature, aren't you?" Yes, yes he is *nods sagely* I hope you come back someday to learn more from him

You're pretty adaptive, huh Hess? of course, if you've been having these thoughts and feelings for thousands of years you're probably not too shaken up by the realization that they're true. That’s actually pretty great of you to want to figure yourself out.

ha, so Garnet didn't let her leave like the wiki made it sound like, she just yeeted away, and good luck catching anyone who can move at 5 million miles per hour

the gems are running in place in the next scene and Amethyst is backwards again. connie is also facing the wrong way. ...this game's a bit jank, isn't it :P not that i mind, a little jank is fun!

Peridot breaking the fourth wall with her Are Pee Gee again. I wonder which one it is. Golf Quest Mini?

do you get anything for 100 percenting this? oh, i guess there's achievements. no bonus content tho?

Lapis: I think I could use a break.

i for one would like to know what book the prism was reading. also, it's back to not talking again.

AWW YIS! We goin' out for pizza tonight bois!

The gems finally get to stop running in place in the corner

aaww, it's a beach scene reminiscent of the opening. kind of weird that greg is the only one animated but still cute

also someone's last name is Gooch and i feel bad for them

alright now to google Hessonite's VO... Christine Baranski. Are-Are we just hiring broadway singers for everyone now? not only would I die if Hessonite made an appearance in season 6, my soul would reach the farthest realms of space if she sang a song on top of that.

well, that's a wrap! time to jot down all of Hess's dialogue for later reference! It’s a crime that there’s so few fanfics about her, she actually has a lot of potential!

[ask-svt-hearteu]

mafia! Jeonghan

anon requested: “ I hope I understood the FAQ's right, and if not I am very sorry, please ignore this! I wanted to request a mafia-boss! Jeonghan scenario (the bullet list ones) where he randomly meets the reader who isn't involved in that life. And while he tried to not involve her, he can't seem to stay away from her. I just want to read about sexy daddy-ish jeonghan hahhaha. I really enjoy your scenarios btw. Especially the harry potter ones! Thank you guys for the hard work💕 “ and “ hi hello! i love mafia/spy/assassin au's and i was wondering if you could do a mafia jeonghan? thanks :) ! ♡♡ “

Admin note: S O R R Y this took so long, I’ve never had such difficulty writing anything like this before and I hit a block with this one. Tysm for the kind words though bb ^~^ (btw I connected this to Joshua’s mafia au and the reader in Joshua’s au is y/n’s friend, f/n, in this story :D)

Yoon Jeonghan had not felt safe in a long time

when you’re breaking the law

things like safety aren’t a commodity one can afford

but luckily

Yoon Jeonghan was no average criminal

when he first started out

he was the best forger of fake ids and passports in the city

he started from the darkest pits of the system

and from the bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up

that’s what made the svt mafia gang incredibly efficient

the high level bosses may have had plenty of employees under them

but all the business was attended to personally

Seungcheol manning weapons deals

Joshua holding deals negotiations

Jeonghan planning the jobs

when Seungcheol walked into Jeonghan’s little shop for fake official docs

asking for a new ID, back before everything started

Jeonghan didn’t know who he was dealing with

but he found out after

a mafia’s son, of a group that died

when he readily agreed to help Seungcheol

they ended up going into business together

and thus the svt gang was born

Joshua joined soon after along with all the others

but Jeonghan felt like they were more than just coworkers

and relying on other people for survival made him feel safer

Jeonghan’s primary job is planning jobs for the gang

making sure that there are at least fifty backup plans

and there’s no way anyone can mess up

he loves watching everything happen under his direction

like a conductor revels at the intricacy of the harmonies in the orchestra under his direction

and how he pulls all the strings

making everything fall perfectly in place

each move carefully planned in his head

but the real thrill

he loves the feeling of going out for a job the most 

blood rushing

the feeling of power as he steadily aims a gun

and hits his target

the money that came with it all

the adrenaline

it kept his mind calm 

pushed aside the fears he had 

it kept his heart racing

better than beer and soju at the bar

it’s interesting building your empire up from the ground up

but it’s dangerous

this Jeonghan knew

svt’s success was met with resistance from other gangs

and the law enforcement of the city was finally catching on

but his plans made svt one of the most notorious mafia groups of history

their name was feared

but sometimes things don’t go as planned

you can’t account for every possibility

that was how Joshua went missing after the last job

it had been pretty simple too

a new group had been acting reckless in their territory 

getting the police’s attention

and Joshua had been sent to warn them about the consequences of messing not only with the law enforcement

but with svt in their home turf 

and then

Shua disappeared

just gone

the whole group tearing apart the city to try to find him

Jeonghan tearing up everything to find him

Jeonghan wasn’t taking it well

he kept blaming himself for the missing team member

you don’t mess with one of them and get away with it

so when he got a lead one night

the name of your friend, f/n

he went out to investigate himself

he was so desperate and out of it he didn’t pay attention to the possibility of it being a trap

and that’s how he got a bullet to the leg

and came crashing through the door to your convenience store

and whether he wanted to or not

crashing into your life

that brings it around to you

you’d like to think you led a very average and normal life

but now

you weren’t sure about anything

especially after meeting Jeonghan

living in the city is difficult

especially since you had to for university

a broke college student trying to make enough money to pay for tuition and finish your degree

anything for a better life

you had always needed to take care of yourself

after all you didn’t have anyone else to help you

it’d be working eight hour shifts on the weekends

and then writing your research paper for English at night

it didn’t leave a lot of free time for anything

you got jobs where you could find them

and quit old jobs when you found better paying ones

the convenience store clerk job may not have been in the safest neighborhood

but it paid decently and you could do statistics homework during break

oh and free snacks

one night you got a text from the owner asking you to take the graveyard shift

since the person just quit

you’d be paid overtime

which was exactly what you needed

guess it was going to be potato chips and coffee cans for dinner

the owner kept acting suspicious though

but money was money

so there you were

midnightish, raiding a can of pringles

trying not to fall asleep

when a loud bang made you jump

you look outside the window

you hear another loud bang

”What-”

you run low to the ground and over to the door, flicking off the lights as you go

and turn the bolt on the door before running back to the counter

sitting under it, wrapping your arms around your knees

heart beating fast

this wasn’t the safest of neighborhoods

you knew that too

you’re never taking the graveyard shift again

”I could have been sipping hot cocoa and watching my favorite show right now” you think to yourself, trying to calm your unsteady heartbeat

a loud crash rang out behind you

glass shattering as the door to the store was broken

holding in your scream, you hold your breath

maybe they wouldn’t notice you

was it someone trying to rob the store?

you hear a string of curses

it doesn’t sound like some masked robber trying to kill you?

if anything the voice was gentle but strained

it sounded like they were hurt

slowly 

you peek behind the counter

a man

he’s wearing dark clothes 

his brown hair neatly styled

he falls on the ground and you gasp as you finally see what’s wrong

blood 

blood clearly smearing the floors you had mopped not too long ago

pooling faster than you thought possible

he starts crawling over to an aisle

you freeze unsure what to do

you should call the police

but what if they don’t get here in time

and you had a gut feeling

a pit sinking in your stomach as you realize it could be a bullet wound

and before you can properly think about the situation

you quickly run out from behind the counter to the toiletries section and watch as he looks up weakly at you

eyes misty

in a panic you try talking to him

anything to keep him conscious

”I really can’t have you dying in my store, I need to get my paycheck not a homicide investigation.” you whisper, freaking out finally

the gash on his leg made you almost hurl

”God I regret not listening to my mom and becoming a doctor.” you wanted to scream

reaching quickly you grab gauze from the aisle and some disinfectant

”Hey! Hey sir?” you ask him

you place the bandages on the ground as he attempts to hold himself up

he looks at you, reaching for your arm

gasping

he grunts in pain

”God what the actual-” you apply pressure on the gauze on the wound on his leg

you scream

tears starting to form at the corners of your eyes

panic at the idea you really wouldn’t be able to save his life

something about the way he looked at you

you must really be his last chance

you hold onto the pressure on his leg as you reach for your phone

you call 911

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“I- have- there’s someone bleeding-”

“I need you to calm down-”

you watch as the injured man grabs your phone

a string of choice words said through his teeth as he hangs up

“Are you crazy?” you ask him, “You’re going to die, I’m not a doctor!”

he types in a phone number and brings it up to his ear before saying one word

“Help.” 

the line cuts and he lays his head down on the ground

eyes looking around in panic and pain

you keep pressure on his injury to try to stop the blood

you can’t just leave him here

you wrap the wound with the remaining bandages, wincing whenever he winces with pain

honestly you’re not functioning correctly

you feel a pressure on your arm as he grabs you and pulls you down on the ground

“What-” 

he holds up his hand, grimacing, and says, “Quiet.”

his voice is soft as you both take cover behind the shelves of the store

voices can be heard from outside

“You definitely hit him.”

“He crashed into the window look.”

“Let’s just hurry up and finish. The cops might show soon.”

“I’ve waited a while to take down Jeonghan. Tonight is a good night.”

your eyes widen as you stare at the guy with the bullet in his leg

his name must be Jeonghan…

he stared blankly in the direction of the voices and kept still

“Is there another exit?” Jeonghan finally whispers to you

“Yea the back door…”

“I think it’s time to go then.”

Jeonghan attempts to get up and almost immediately falls due to his leg

you can already hear approaching footsteps

whoever those people were

you had a good feeling, they weren’t friendly

Jeonghan’s face had gone pale, sweat dripping from his forehead at the strain of trying to walk with a bullet wound

briskly, you take his arm and drape it around your shoulder and help support him as you both walk quietly towards the back of the store, keeping low to the ground

you unlock the back employee door and stumble outside with Jeonghan still being supported by you as you walk into the back alleyway, laying him gently on the ground before fumbling for your car keys

“We need to get you to a hospital-” you start saying, turning back to Jeonghan

the point of a gun enters your vision as soon as you turn

freezing mid sentence, you look at the owner of the gun

another guy, maybe about the same age you would guess to Jeonghan stood in front of you

his black hair framing his face 

his stare was cold, calculating

without taking his eyes off of you, he bends down, keeping the gun trained on you as he examines Jeonghan

“Hannie, you alright?”

“Cheol, yea- I’m fine.” 

“How about Shua, did you meet f/n?”

“It wasn’t her, got attacked.” Jeonghan stares at you, “She didn’t do it Cheol, stop pointing the gun at her.”

you watch in confusion as Cheol lowers his weapon slowly, still staring at you and helps Jeonghan up to his feet

wait

f/n?

“How do you know f/n?” you blurt out without thinking

“How do you know f/n?” Jeonghan asks you, steadying himself against Cheol 

“She’s my missing friend, I haven’t seen her since last-”

“Last Tuesday?” Jeonghan finishes your statement 

“Yea, how did you-” you stutter

the night’s events finally running their course on you after the adrenaline wore off

“Cheol,” Jeonghan asks his friend turning, “What about the guys outside?” 

“I had Wonwoo take care of them, but we couldn’t find you so that’s why I came looking myself. We don’t really need to lose someone else.” Seungcheol said, bitterness lacing his words

you slowly back away from their conversation, hoping this is all some really weird dream and that you did not run into the people you think you just did

“What about the girl? If she knows f/n, she could help-” Cheol asks

“No it’s too dangerous, let’s just go back and figure out a new plan.”

“Alright we have to take care of that bullet wound anyway.”

“Call Mingyu about clean up.” 

“Thought of that already.”

you didn’t know what to make of anything they said but you watched as they turn to face you

you were pretty sure now

the mob

you had run into the freaking mafia

just your damn luck

“Thank you.” Jeonghan said quietly

and then you felt someone come up behind you

before you could turn and run

a cloth was forcibly pushed up to your face

the smell of chloroform filling your nose

as the world faded to black

when you came to

you were laying on your couch at home

was it all… a dream?

looking down at your clothes, you realized you were wearing the same clothes as last night

and there were still blood stains

definitely not a dream

how were you home then?

the last thing you remembered was

him 

Jeonghan

thoughts of Jeonghan resurfaced in your memory

did he survive?

was he ok?

the way his pale face reflected the yellow light of the city at night

the way he had said “thank you” right before you blacked out

who was he?

you recalled that he had used your phone to call someone

Cheol? Was that his name?

reaching for your phone, you called the most recent number

“This number no longer exists. For additional services please press 1…”

you quickly set down your phone

how were you home?

what happened?

a few weeks had passed since that night

considering the store owner had come back to clean floors and a glass door in perfect condition which had earned you a pay raise

did not help your memory

you could have sworn the door shattered

you spent the past few weeks going insane, thinking maybe the whole night was some wacky tripped up on sleep deprivation and convenience store gummy bears hallucination

how else was the door perfectly fine, the floors bloodless?

could you have imagined the whole thing?

no 

your bloodstained shirt from that night hanging on the laundry hamper begged to differ

you were scared to tell anyone though

because who would believe you?

paranoia plagued you everywhere

it always felt as though there was someone, out there, watching you

sending chills up your spine

you didn’t feel safe

and one night your fears were confirmed

you had been walking home

when all of a sudden your phone rang

“Y/n”

that voice

it was

“It’s Jeonghan. We met on… unfortunate circumstances a few weeks ago.”

you took a shaky breath

“Why-”

“Listen carefully.” he said

“Ok?”

“It seems that a hit has been ordered.”

“A hit?”

“Yes. Someone wants you dead.”

your blood ran cold

freezing in your tracks, you looked up and down the empty street

it’s nighttime

no one’s around

“I have good reason to believe that me meeting you did not do you any favors.”

“I didn’t do anything!!!” you yelled

your voice echoed across the street

“Y/n, there’s some people following you. I need you to keep walking until the street corner. Can you do that?”

“Why would I trust you?” you said hysteria rising

“Because I don’t want to kill you, and they do. See the difference?”

“I really don’t.” you snapped

but you can feel your feet take on lives of their own

as you walked forward

the street corner was still quite far away

you picked up your pace

was it just you or

could you hear footsteps…?

you broke into a run

and Jeonghan’s call to you cut

faster 

they were faster

you felt yourself being yanked backwards

a cold blade being pressed against you

as you felt a sharp pain slicing into you

burning your side

setting your nerves on fire

you collapsed onto the ground

phone sliding through your fingers

a dark figure stood above you

“Thanks for making my job easy sweetheart.” the man chuckled

“You should know to mind your own business next time.” he growled

your vision blurred as you laid on the cold concrete

the street lights dimming with each passing second

so this was how you die

a tear ran down your cheek as the man dropped the knife

it fell with a clang as a loud gunshot echoed in your ear

maybe you were imagining things in your dying moments

but you swore you saw the face of an angel

Jeonghan calmly lowered his gun

and bent over to pick you up carefully in his arms

looking down at you, he placed you gently in a nearby car

“Don’t die on me yet, y/n.”

and then the world faded to black

you woke up in an unfamiliar hotel room

your side wrapped in bandages neatly

“The cut wasn’t too deep, you should be ok.”

your eyes met Jeonghan’s 

he stood, arms crossed at the door

leaning, casually against the wall

“You were lucky.”

you heard a bit of an edge in his voice

and anger

he slowly walked towards the bed

“What-what happened?” you asked

“It seems someone found out you helped me escape that night.” he said, sitting on the sofa placed at the foot of your bed

“And they don’t take well to anyone messing up their plans.” Jeonghan gave a hollow laugh

“So I was attacked?”

“No, you were supposed to die.” Jeonghan said playing with the buttons on his suit

He got up and walked right up to where you were laying in bed

And stared down directly into your eyes

“But you didn’t die.” he tilted his head before giving you a dazzling smile

“Which means…?” you asked

“Which means there will be plenty more people after you, wanting blood.” he said 

“But…” he began, “I’m not letting that happen.”

“Why don’t you just let them kill me?” you scoffed, “Probably would save you a lot of trouble.”

“I could, but you see y/n, I take everything very personally. Attack me, fine, fine. But attack someone because of me. Well, let’s just say you chose the wrong person to mess with.” 

He walked slowly back to the door of the hotel room

“I’ll be back later to check up on you. For now, the best medicine for for a knife injury is sleep.”

“I thought it was pain killers.” you groaned

“Yea but the pain killers I have aren’t for you, babe.” he winked, “Plus I want to get to know you better.” 

and then he left

you spent several days recovering 

and although you had the choice to leave at any time

Jeonghan made that very clear when he visited you everyday

it was suggested that you’d be safer under their watch

at least for a bit

Jeonghan did make it a bit better

he brought movies and take out 

not something you’d expect of him 

not that you expected anything

he’s the freaking mafia after all

and you’d both just sit around 

watching shows 

being lazy

not getting up except to get food

and strangely

he seemed

chill? 

the way he talked to you was casual 

but he didn’t seem bad

at least not to you

you observed more than you probably should have those few days with Jeonghan

you saw him get frustrated countless times on the phone

sighing and running his fingers through his hair

“No.... Get the- look there better not be a target on her head anymore or... I don’t really care how you do it-”

“Any leads? No I’m going to stay here for a bit, lay low and hopefully get this issue resolved. It’s dangerous for y/n...” 

he might have thought you were sleeping away on pain killers for your injuries

but you heard it all

you saw how he sometimes sat

frozen in his chair

head resting on his hands

you could see how desperation seemed to roll off him

how scary he could be when he wanted to be

talking to the random men that met him in the eating area of the hotel room

you peeking out through the opening of your door 

finally you decided to ask

“Jeonghan?” 

he looked up carefully from the schematics laying on the dining room table in the hotel room

he tried hiding it from you but you knew

“What’s up y/n?”

“I’m not clueless you know.” you sighed, “I know who you are and what you do. And I’m telling you, I’m terrified.” 

you suck in a quick breath before sitting down next to him

“Terrified of me?” he asked guarding his expression

awkward silence passed between the two of you

no

you weren’t scared of him

but for him

that weird inexplicable little tick in the side of your chest

if he had wanted you dead

you would be and it’d be simple too

he wouldn’t and didn’t need to save you that night

he was clearly dangerous

and you being out of the way would have helped him

but now you’re the liability

he spent days waiting here for you to heal

making sure you felt safe

and that no one else would come after you

and now

you were scared for him

“T-Tell me what’s going on...” you stammered, clearing your throat

“With what?” he said dodging

“What happened that I’m still here, and that you- you’re upset... What is it?”

he turned to face you with his whole body

faces a foot apart

“I live a dangerous life, y/n. It’d be in your best interest to not get involved.”

“Like it or not I’ve been involved. I almost died.”

“I know, and that’s why I’m sorry. Why you’re still here, why I’m trying my everything to make sure no one ever hurts you again.” he gritted his teeth as he answered, shaking slightly

“On the Tuesday your friend went missing, my friend also went missing.” he told you

“Joshua?” you had heard the name countless times but never understood where he fit into everything

“Yea. My best lead is that your friend, f/n, was someone Joshua knew a long time ago, but she’s missing also.”

you thought about this new information

it was true f/n had transferred not too long ago to your school

she had been quiet though and the reason you two were friends was because of a class project

“I’ve been looking through the whole city but I can’t find Joshua or f/n. It’s not anything I’ve ever experienced before.” he clenched his fist 

“So...?”

“So, I’m going to keep looking, even if it kills me, I need to find Joshua.”

you hesitantly reached for his hand

trying to comfort him

“You’ll find him.” you tried reassuring him

“I’m going to find him. I’m not going to lose anyone else important to me.”

he looked at you

because you were important to him

and he was just figuring that out

“So until I figure out who’s after you, you’ll stay with me right?”

you’re stunned

you should have said no

you should have run very far away

this person is dangerous

this whole thing was dangerous

but

he saved you that night

he tried protecting you the same way you blindly protected him that night he was shot

so

“I’ll stay.” 

MASTERLIST

[anamelesstraveler]

Thanks to @semisweetshadow I am FEELING some Bodhi adopting tiny cadet Finn. So here’s my hastily put together attempt at it, that left me pacing the floor in excitement in the middle of writing this. So ENJOY friends! I fudged the ages because STANDARD TIME DOESN’T EXIST IN SPACE Y’ALL so fuck it. Finn’s gonna be about 5, and Bodhi’s mid to late 30′s. So this is like... what, ~10 ABY?

Warnings for obligatory child soldier warning, mentions of past drug use, and a very brief moment of a suicide attempt (the First Order looks down upon their soldiers being captured)

Bodhi wonders at what point he can say he’s getting too old for this. He’s not yet forty, but the number is coming up on the horizon. And on some days Bodhi feels several lifetimes older.

“Commander Rook...”

Some days like today.

“Stand down, Lieutenant,” Bodhi orders, keeping his voice as even and nonthreatening as he can. The blaster that had been trained on him jumps nervously to the soldier standing behind him and back. It’s not the first time Bodhi has had a blaster pointed at him.

It’s the first time the one holding a blaster on him is a child.

Bodhi knows better than to consider any mission routine. Leia asking him to take a squad out to the Outer Rim, specifically to this barren planet in the Baralou system, to scout for Imperial remnants was bound to go wrong somehow. There had been a base hidden among the inhospitable rock and snow of the planet. The base is Imperial. The evidence is clear in every industrial line of the place, an unsettling ghost that Bodhi wishes had been consigned to the past. It’s abandoned, though. 

Well, almost abandoned.

The child can’t be older than five. All big, terrified eyes and a round baby face. His dark hair is close cropped in severe military manner, which is just as disturbing to Bodhi in combination with his tiny, perfectly pressed Imperial gray uniform and his equally tiny blaster. A blaster made to fit a child’s hands.

A blaster that is currently aimed at Bodhi’s head with steady hands, even if the child is clearly scared of his mind.

“Hey,” Bodhi coaxes. “Everything’s alright. We’re alright, aren’t we?” He stays perfectly still where he’s crouching in the dim storeroom. The child flinches, but his aim barely falters. “My name’s Bodhi, and this is Tonc. What’s yours?”

The boy’s eyes flick from Bodhi to Tonc, who Bodhi can glimpse lifting his hands a little higher in a show of peace, and back. “D-Designation: FN-2187,” he whispers.

Bodhi frowns, wonders if his enhancers are processing the barely audible words correctly. “Okay. Can I have your name too?”

The child just looks confused. “FN-2187,” he repeats, a little louder. No, Bodhi’s aural enhancer isn’t malfunctioning. “Sir,” the boy amends hastily.

They’ve given the boy a stormtrooper designation. Bodhi has met plenty of “DX”s and “TK”s in his life under Imperial rule. But never like this.

This is something else. Something sickening.

“Okay... FN-2187.” Just saying it feels wrong, the word foreign and inhumane in his mouth. This is a child. “What happened here? Where is everyone?”

For the first time the steady line of the blaster wavers. “I-I... They left. The minders came and woke us up. Told us to get ready and r-report to the shuttles.” If not for the hesitancy in his voice, Bodhi would think he’s speaking with a (very small) soldier rather than a little boy.

“You evacuated?” he asks. FN-2187 nods. “Did you get separated from your family?”

It takes longer for the boy to answer that question. And when he does, his face is screwed up in confusion. “Family?”

“Yes. Your... your parents? Whoever was taking care of you? The people you stayed with?”

“Oh. You mean the Instructors? They were on the shuttles with the other cadets. I... I-I got scared and hid. I wasn’t supposed to.”

“Commander,” comes Sefla’s voice through the comm hooked over Bodhi’s good ear. “I’ve found the control room. No sign of anyone yet. Only cleaner droids here.”

Bodhi carefully presses the talkback on the receiver hooked into the sleeve, his eyes still trained on their little companion. “We’ve got one here, Sergeant,” he says lightly. “No threat, though.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call having a blaster pointed at your face ‘no threat,’ Bo,” Tonc mutters behind him.

Bodhi keeps his smile in place. “Easy,” he hisses, because the relaxing of FN-2187′s arms snap into perfect posture once more at Tonc’s voice.”We just want to know what happened. Maybe get you back to your family.”

“A-Are you Rebels?” the boy asks, his voice hitching higher. A new fear comes into his eyes now.

“We’re from the New Republic,” Bodhi explains gently. FN-2187 only grows more agitated.

“We’re not supposed to get taken by Rebels,” he hiccups.

“Commander, I found something,” it’s Maddel’s voice in his ear this time. “I found the barracks. It’s... shit, Bodhi. It’s a nursery. It’s just kids’ bunks from wall to wall. They’ve got serial numbers on ‘em. They’ve got cribs with serial numbers, Bodhi.”

But Bodhi only barely listens to her, because FN-2187 has finally broken from his frozen fear. And turned the blaster around, pressing the barrel up under his chin. Both Bodhi and Tonc let out bitten out curses, jolting into movement before aborting their knee-jerk attempts to reach the boy. “Wait!” Bodhi gasps. “Wait, wait, come on, son.” Bodhi has never called anyone son in his life. The last time he even remembers hearing the word was Galen on Eadu, coaxing him out of a stim-induced panic attack. “Put that away. There’s no need for that. We won’t hurt you--”

“N-No soldier can be taken alive,” the boy stammers. His eyes well with tears, that roll down his round cheeks in fat, heartbreaking drops. “A g-good,” he starts to sob, wincing as the shaking of his body jams the blaster muzzle harder into his chin. “A good soldier is not taken p-prisoner.”

“You’re not a prisoner,” Bodhi says. His heart is in his throat. “You are not a soldier. We’re not taking you prisoner. Put the blaster down.” He stealthily shifts his weight, mind whirling.

“Bo...” Tonc warns behind him.

Luck, the universe, the Force - whatever Bodhi can dare to call it, is with them. The stretch of silence afterward is abruptly broken by a flash of red light around them, and the shrill hum of an alarm.

The boy flinches back, blaster dislodging in his shock.

And Bodhi leaps forward, and snatches it from his hand. He passes it behind him blindly, thankful that Tonc has leapt into motion only a fraction of a second after him.

Little FN-2187 wails, in fear or rage, Bodhi can’t say for certain. A wild swing catches Bodhi in the jaw, more jarring than it is painful. He wraps arms around the struggling boy and lifts to his feet, wrestling with flailing limbs. “Status?” he snaps into the comm, rearing his head back to avoid being ruthlessly headbutted by the screaming child. “What’s that alarm?”

“Not good, boss,” Sefla calls back. He sounds out of breath, like he’s running. “Something activated in the control room. Self-destruct. Not sure if it’s remote or was timed, but I don’t wanna stick around to find out.”

“Self-destruct--” Tonc yelps. “Kriff, I hate these Imperial bastards.”

‘So do I,’ Bodhi silently agrees. He shifts the still wriggling FN-2187 in his grip, and activates the comm. “All operatives back to the shuttle!” He’s already following Tonc back out into the hall, enhancer straining to filter out the blaring alarm. With his comm in his good ear, mentally ticking off the “copy that” and “roger, commander”s of his squad, and the alarm messing with his other, he barely hears Tonc ask the question.

“What about the kid?”

FN-2187 has stopped kicking and screaming. Bodhi would have expected the sobbing to come next. But the boy is still and silent in his arms now. And stiff as a board. 

Bodhi peers over at his fellow soldier and friend. “We can’t leave him here.”

Tonc winces. “Not denying that.”

“Then we’ll figure the rest out after we’re off this planet.” Bodhi hefts the boy higher on his hip, other hand shifting his legs up instead of just hanging limply. Has the boy never been carried before?

“Let’s go.”

END.

[jessemccowbae]

3:07 AM. Gibraltar.

It all came down to him. Just like it always did. Like it always would. Kind of how stylin' yourself a gunslinger tended to work.

That... thing, wearing his oldest friend like a fucking costume, snarling its hatred in his voice, parroting insults drawn from his memories. Draped in black robes, as prone to dramatics in death as he had been in life, but there was no mask here. Just a sick mockery of a familiar face, the features just a bit too exaggerated to be real. The dark smile too wide, the eyes too deep black.

"So here you stand," he -- it -- growled, slinking forward through the blown-out ruins of their sad lone little Watchpoint, the remnants of daily life charred and shredded. His eyes refused to register the bodies, but he could sense them -- Reinhardt slumped against the kitchen wall, Fawkes flung haphazardly over the back of the sofa, sweet Angie crumpled at the creature's feet. It kicked her aside as it walked towards him; her head tipped limply to the floor, and Jesse's stomach lurched.

"And you can't do it. You never could." The thing chuckled lowly, shaking its head in pity. "Sentimental piece of shit. You haven't accomplished a damn thing. All you've got is a pretty story. Clinging to the past that never existed."

"...you can't have him." He barely recognized his own voice, it was trembling so hard. "You -- you can't goddamn have him--"

It barked out a harsh laugh. "And what are you going to do about it? What did you do to protect them? Stood there and cried like a child?" It twirled the guns playfully around its fingers. "At least when you were a child you had an excuse. You're a grown fucking man and you still can't protect them. Not from me. Can you? Do it. Look me in the eye and do it."

His gun was in his hand somehow -- he didn't remember drawing it, but he could feel its weight as his hands trembled. He tried to raise it, rush him, move, do something, but his body wouldn't move, just stood there quivering like a scared fucking rabbit --

"You -- you can't have him you -- give them back give them back --"

"You can't have him either, can you?" said a sing-song voice -- Angie's head lifted, her expression serene but her features stretched the same way, somewhere just the wrong side of human. "You never had him. You never had any of us. That's why you couldn't do it." She stood up, lurching towards him with that same pity in her too-blue eyes. "How could you come back here and try to take what wasn't yours? Why would you do that to us? When you couldn't protect us from it?"

His stomach wouldn't stop rolling. The thing was still stalking towards him, the room growing darker.

"No. No you can't -- you can't do this I -- give it back --" His knees buckled, rage and terror colliding in his gut, blood rushing in his ears like a jet engine. "--my home and my friends and my goddamned LIFE BACK!"

He'd finally shouted loudly enough to wake himself, covers thrown from the bed, sheets soaked in clammy sweat. Jesse gasped deeply as he pushed up from the pillow that he'd apparently been quietly suffocating in.

He sat slowly upright, taking deep, shaky breaths, struggling to bring himself back to reality. He reached for his phone on the nightstand. Barely past 3 AM. Fuck. They were just getting earlier every time.

He reached up to rub at his eyes -- and whiffed entirely, his right hand moving to his face as the stump of his left elbow swung up and nearly smacked him in the nose. He cursed under his breath, squeezing his eyes shut. Three goddamn years later and he still forgot --

Like he forgot what he did. Like he forgot that he'd abandoned them. Forgot he was the most shameful fucking coward in this building. Like -- fuck.

He couldn't do it. He was still a fucking coward, and he'd fucking own it if it meant not having to look them in the face every day like he'd ever had any place among these people. He wasn't the boss's pet anymore, he didn't have any damn excuse. He fumbled through the dark room to his closet; all his important shit was still in his bag, the rest was just clothes and toiletries. If the trains still ran as late as they used to he could make it to Madrid by eight or ten, and at least a couple of his cover IDs were still good to buy plane tickets with--

There was a piece of paper taped inside the closet door, covered in brightly colored lines.

'F r E i n D S H i P'

He stopped. Took a breath. Took another. And dropped to his knees with a faint, desperate half-laugh.

Was that really gonna be what did it? All het up to storm out the door, and that's what it was gonna be? Worrying that someone was gonna have to tell the tender-hearted decomissioned Bastion unit and their pet bird that their cowboy friend had left?

Apparently so.

Might break Zen's heart too, now that he thought about it. Probably think that he'd failed him somehow, all the times that he'd listen to Jesse talk himself in circles. Poor fella seemed to have taken on fixing Gabe's fucked up kids as a personal mission in life.

He waited another few minutes for his breath to slow, wiping the lingering half-formed tears from his eyes with the back of his good hand. Somewhere closer to having collected himself, he finally stood, going back to the nightstand and reaffixing his prosthetic. He felt a little unbalanced without it, if nothing else.

Toss on a t-shirt. One more deep breath.

No one else awake. Wasn't sure he could look them in the eye right now anyway. Thankfully, there was still half a bottle of bourbon in the mess hall he knew wouldn't judge.

[chvrchesrp]

Welcome to CHVRCHES’ fifth event!

This event is our second missive event, which means a little bit of what happens tonight will be assigned to your muse. This event is a finale of the “Pestilence Chapter” and will be served to you in two parts. For the first part, your muse has been assigned a specific thread topic to explore. It’s up to you to delve into the interaction! 

For now, we ask that for this night, you explore just this assigned thread—and not to make more threads during the time of the Escape Room. (There’s more to be revealed; after Part 2 drops, you can make your own independent threads.) You can, however, make threads and starters before the clock starts at your Escape Room location if you wish.

The date stamp for the event is Thursday, January 26th, for timeline purposes (though you aren’t restricted to beginning threads tomorrow, of course, you can even begin them today). Assignments are considered game canon, whether or not you explore them deeply. If you have an issue with an assignment, let an Admin know! For after, please do not write past January 26th for any thread yet—the drop of Part 2 might affect your muse’s future outlook. 

Escape Rooms are a beloved past time for adrenaline junkies, gamers, team-builders, and competitive folks of all sorts. The premise is that you are shown to a room and then locked inside of it; within are a series of puzzles you have to figure out as a team in order to get released from the room. You must do this within one hour or your team fails the room. (You’re released, but you fail and take a shameful photo - you are the weakest link, goodbye.)

Escape Rooms are meant to foster trust, connection, cooperation, and critical thinking. Meant to.

ROOM ONE: MURDER MYSTERY INC.

“Love is clockworks, and it's cold steel, fingers too numb to feel, squeeze the handle, blow out the candle—blindness.”

After arriving at the Escape Room headquarters, you are ushered into a sleek black limousine; you are asked to put all of your cellphones in a velvet black bag, which will be returned to you at the end. After the 8 people in your party are all settled in, 1920s music filters through the stereo system, grainy and warbled and nostalgic. A champagne aperitif is offered to you, if you dare to drink it. The car smells of polished leather and money—the actual scent of money, as if a great amount of it had been there recently.

You are driven for about fifteen minutes: do you drink? do you laugh? do you speak? Suddenly, the car screeches to a halt, hitting the breaks hard. The lights in the limo go dark and the music stops playing. And then one by one, each of you is led from the limousine. When it’s your turn to exit the limo, you step outside and find a dark bag placed immediately over your head and your hands bound in front by lead-rope: and you are led, stepping on concrete toward somewhere else. You hear door open, and you are pushed inside, then your hands unbound. You can remove the bag from your head.

The rest of your team is there. As your eyes adjust to the dim lighting, you can see a room dazzled with 1920s opulence. There is even a chandelier hanging over a running fountain—it’s ridiculous in its mockery, it’s entreatment. You find there is a stranger in your midst: a ninth person, who welcomes you to his humble home. Then, the lights flash, and he screams, and the actor lies on the floor, ‘dead,’ the echo of a gunshot hanging in the air like a question mark as blood pools around him.

The clock starts and you must all discover who has ‘killed’ your generous host—before that person ‘kills’ you for witnessing! Search the room, leave no painting hung, no chair upright, no drawer unopened—

Assignments:

Shibah/Donato: Shibah naturally begins by observing the paintings on the wall—they seem out of place for a 1920s theme. She identifies them as The Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony, but realizes they are out of order. Near by, Donato has found a small lock that requires a 3-number code to open a drawer in a stately foyer desk. They must work together to crack the code—inadvertently drawing them into a required long-awaited reunion neither of them would prefer to have right now. Conflict emerges and it isn’t long before the two are full of rage and angst.

Belial/Babylon: Babylon notices eggs hiding all around the room—golden-painted eggs, silver-painted eggs, rhinestone-covered eggs. Collecting a few, she realizes by shaking them that there might be something inside, so she breaks them open, revealing the following strands of paper:

without one friend, alone

I cannot come down

world without end. Below me

young lovers Tread the sweet ground—

in my purity

But I am God—

Belial is studying the book case, noticing that among the many authors there, almost all of the books look faded and worn except one, which peeks out slightly. It’s marked as a book of poems. Perhaps if they can determine which poem Babylon found, they could find another clue on its page. That is, if they could cooperate—it seems Babylon hasn’t yet had the opportunity to confront Belial for “damaging” Dom. Belial engages in her argument, but has no trouble reminding her that he’s her boss.

Maria/Isadora: Maria turns over a heavy, ornate sitting chair to find that the base of the seat is hollow and that there is a latch she can undo; she finds a series of love letters from the now-deceased host to a woman named Chanterelle, who appears to have been a singer at a jazz club. For all of the letters, there are no post marks, no envelopes. Were they never sent? Some random letters are in all caps, and if she arranges them in order of date written, it spells out:  C H E C K T H E D R A I N. Maria shouts to Isadora, who has been studying the fountain. Isadora is less than interested in helping Maria, but for the sake of the task waves Maria over when she realizes there’s a key in the drain of one of the shallow trays. They have to figure out how to get it—but Isadora can’t help letting drop that she knows the cure exists.

Raziel/Cassiel: Cassiel finds a piece of old film in a jewelry dish that has a few frames, seeing what appears to be a woman singing at her own wedding. The man she marries is not the now-deceased host. She wonders what it could mean, but Raziel swoops in with a film reel he found taped under the desk that holds Donato’s drawer. Raziel and Cassiel must splice together the footage to discover the ‘end’ of the story—except Cassiel doesn’t even think Raziel can do that right, so how can he possibly do anything in Heaven right? Raziel obviously spats back, saying Shibah has been absent and done nothing to earn the throne. That if she wants to be God so badly, she should act like it.

ROOM TWO: JEKYLL AND HYDE.

“Say hello to something scary, the monster in your bed, just give in and you won’t be sorry, welcome to my other side.”

After arriving at the Escape Room headquarters, you are shown through a door marked Authorized Personnel Only. Your party winds down a sterile looking white concrete hall, fluorescent panel lights above, flickering. Your shoes squeak and squick as you walk; even the floors seem too clean. You even feel a weird urge to not touch the walls. At the end of the hall is another door with the glass of its window frosted over: you’re shown through that, too. On the other side is the outdoors, actually: you can see a dirt driveway with haphazard gravel and unkempt, half-brown grasses. Lined up are 3 stately town cars, each pristine and white, freshly washed.

Each town car has a driver with white gloves, opening the door for your party. Three folks in the first two, two in the last. The car door is shut behind you and, as the engines revv to life, the windows of the car and a divider between you and the driver goes up—pitch black and opaque. You can no longer see where you’re going, but you’re comfortable enough. In what feels like forever—or is it only ten minutes?—you finally park and the car doors open. So rushed you can barely take in the outside, you are brought into what looks like a small house, and then down a flight of stairs. Your party is put into what would be a basement, the door behind you locked.

The basement itself is hardly grotesque: rather, it, too, is very stately. It looks instead like an office. There is a heavy oak desk with a green lamp and a laptop on it, an expensive throw rug, an assortment of pads and papers, a pad for prescriptions. Chairs opposite it, as if to invite guests or consultations. Locked pristine white metal medicine cabinets, a wall with shelves of scientific books, specimen jars carefully arranged and labeled. The floor is interesting: under the rug, there is a pattern of alternating colour tiles, grey and white, almost resembling a checkerboard.

The clock starts and you must figure out how to escape the basement, or else be charged for trespassing on Dr. Jekyll’s property! Search the room, leave no cabinet locked, no rug arranged, no jar unturned—

Assignments:

Abaddon/Olivia: In an almost metaphor moment, Abaddon discovers that the tall Grandfather clock in the room has no hands. Even this broken clock can’t be right twice a day—and she’s running out of time. In a fit dissonance, she overturns the clock and breaks it. From the loudspeaker comes one of the managers: “Please do not break any items in the room that do not easily break themselves.” Abaddon curses under her breath: seemed easily broken to her. Olivia, by a cabinet requiring a 4-number code lock, tries to distract Abaddon into helping, thinking maybe the clock and the nearby cabinet are related. How could the clock help solve the code? To tempt Abaddon into being helpful, Olivia tries to create a rapport, and soon the two enter into a muffled, whispered conversation about trading secrets as they try different number combinations. Olivia reveals to Abaddon that she thinks she might really be possessed this time—Abaddon gives her secret: back in August, during the chaos, she ripped off Gabriel’s wings without authorization.

Kiara/Jairus: Jairus has gone to studying the laptop; when he touched the trackpad, the computer asks for a Password. He types in a few attempts, but nothing comes of it; in fact, he has one try left before the computer gets entirely locked. Kiara notices his struggle and comes over to brainstorm and observe: she notices the keyboard, which seems unusual. After studying it a moment, she realizes she must have the Password—but can’t help jabbing Jairus over it. She, a young girl, figured out the answer when a hundreds-year-old man couldn’t. It sounds shakily familiar to their current situation... as she wryly types in the password that unlocks the computer (can you figure it out?), she throws out how hard it must be to have a young girl finding easy answers to all of his problems: the cure and the password both. How long can Jairus keep his calm when she’s hitting his rawest nerves?

Adele/Crowley: Adele is studying the book case, trying to see if anything seems particularly out of place. After shuffling through some of the books, she finds no discerning markers, no torn pages, no handwriting, nothing dog-eared. She puts each book back and tries for another: methodical, thorough. Crowley sees her doing this and laughs at her. Crowley does not like a sheep who bends over backwards, who does things as expected, so she proceeds to throw barbs at Adele as she looks. Adele is not really sure how to deal with someone not liking her, even every demon and sinner she has ever met does. Adele quips back that at least she’s trying—to help, to solve the puzzle, anything, trying—and all Crowley does is nothing. Glowering, Crowley leans on the bookcase as they argue... only to find the bookcase moves. Swinging open the book case like a door, another, heavier door is revealed—but there seems NO visible way to open it.

Elijah/Ethan: Elijah is studying the small, framed medical diagrams on the wall. He sees there are four and wonders if the order of them might be some kind of code or combination—each one is labeled strangely: H7, A4, D5, E2. He can’t seem to locate anything that might use and 8-digit code—none of the drawers have locks or combinations, none of the locked cabinets need that many. He shouts to the room for help, thinking he has something, just not sure what. Ethan—used to working for what he gets—isn’t adverse to helping. But when he starts, Elijah just sits back and watches, waiting. It starts a contentious argument between them, where Ethan says that all Elijah wants is an easy life of fame and hasn’t worked for anything in his life—and Elijah gets defensive and says he doesn’t know him. Meanwhile, Ethan does figure out that removing the throw rug reveals the floor—which looks just like a chess board. The edges are even marked 1-8 and A-H. Maybe if each person in the party stands in one of the designated squares... something will happen.

ROOM THREE: ZOMBIE OUTBREAK.

“Don't know what I'm after but the pressure driving me insane, searching for a different ride, had a funny feeling I can't hide, do the zombie stomp.”

After arriving at the Escape Room headquarters and checking in, you are sent directly right back out the door you came in. Out front is a school bus, yellow and beat-up looking, with spray paint all over it. It says things like “Turn back now!” and “QUARANTINE” and “Don’t open, dead inside.” Of course, you go inside. There’s no driver that you can see, but the thing can’t possibly be automated, so you just sit on the empty bus and wait as the rest of your party shuffles in. After everyone is seated, suddenly, each of you feel hands on your feet, anchoring you to the ground by the ankles—as you look down, a black cloth is placed over your head and zip-tied on. You can breathe, but the effect is obviously jarring and you can’t get it off.

The ride is a bumpy one, but any childhood notions of yelling ‘drive it off a cliff’ or similar to increase the ‘fun’ bumps of the ride have all but left your mind. You keep reminding yourself that of course, none of this is real, and maybe you even think some of it is hokey, but it’s hard not to get caught up as your body’s natural response is already flooding your mind with adrenaline and other survival neurochemicals. The bus slows to a snail’s pace, almost to the point where you think you’re not moving any more, and then begins to shake left and right, as if trying to be toppled over by forces you can’t see. Slowly, you start to feel tipped, and then suddenly righted, jarring. There’s a sound of the zip-ties being clipped off. Immediately, you take off your bag.

When you can see, the lights on the bus are all flickering, but you see no people except those in your party—no driver, no one to have tied the bags, no one to have held the feet, no one to have jostled your bus. You all get out, a little worse for wear, and head to what looks like a small warehouse. Entering, it’s all one room. You get to look around for about 3 minutes with the warehouse door still open. There’s an actor on the floor with his ‘guts’ ripped out, fake blood pouring from his entrails, appearing dead, a chain attaching him to the wall. There are 2 other, empty chains. There are 4 flashlights in various places in the room—4 too few. As you start to dart for the nearest one, the door slams behind you and locks and all of the lights go out. You’re in total darkness.

The bright, lit-up digital clock starts and you must figure out how to escape the warehouse, or else become zombie food! Search the room, leave no crate unopened, no shelf ignored, no stomach untested—

Assignments: (For clarity, those with flashlights are: Josh, Naomi, Dom, and Zoe.)

Josh/Magda: Magda immediately disregards the flashlight and heads for what she knows has to be a clue: she shoves her hands into the ‘stomach’ of the dead man. Triumphantly, she comes up with a key, but not what it goes to. Josh meets her with a flashlight, just in time for them both to jump back: where there once was an empty chain, now there is a living zombie trying to attack. They back away from the area and advise everyone else to do the same—but the zombie gains more chain (and more range to attack) the longer they’re in the room. Josh searches for something to put the key in among the warehouse crates and calls her reckless—that he should have done that, because if it was real, he’d be safer. She argues she isn’t fragile and has been through a lot herself—even lets drop she’s been sleeping with Crowley. How does that make him feel?

Satan/Naomi: Naomi, given her history, goes immediately for the flashlight. She starts to examine the shelves and begins to figure out that some boxes are marked with red dots. She starts to collect the boxes of varying sizes; they’re taped so well they can’t be opened by manual strength. Satan sees her struggling and goes to try himself, to the same lack of avail. This, of course, immediately gets under his skin: he can’t be foiled by boxes. Making them an unlikely team, the two bicker constantly as they try to figure out the puzzle—Satan making cruel and degrading remarks, Naomi biting back, but Satan’s blood starts to boil under the surface. By the time they find an empty shelf with red dots marked 1-6, it’s unsure if they can figure out the order without one of them snapping.

Renee/Dom: Renee and Dom both headed for the same flashlight and immediately start fighting. Renee, preferring to retain class and composure, lets him keep the flashlight, but not before she starts artfully picking him apart for his poor attempt to take her Church from her. How does Dom hold up under her acute interrogation? Perhaps in a moment of deflection or denial, Dom finds a lone object out on a crate: a skull, but one of those fake, glittery Halloween ones clearly not meant to resemble a human. It’s overt in its nonconformity, which means it’s a clue. Meanwhile, Renee notices a scale that had a small velvet bag on it—in front, instructions read that removing the bag without placing equal weight will detonate the warehouse. Perhaps they can solve this together, if they can stop tearing each other apart.

Zoe/Noah: Zoe gets one of the flashlights while Noah disregards and immediately gets to searching well away from the zombie. He finds a crate that seems to have a knocking coming from it. A knock sounds once, at even intervals, and figures the crate must mean something. Zoe, feeling the stress of everyone fighting about God and particularly creeped out that she's locked in a small room with Satan, tries to get Noah on her side. It does not go as planned. She flashes light on the box and sees there’s a sheet outlining Morse code. If they can figure out what code to ‘knock’ back to the box, perhaps it will open—if they can focus on the task and stop having an intense debate, that is.

Enjoy, darlings!!

[newagesispage]

                                                            JULY       2018

 PAGE  RIB

***** Pete Davidson has gotten himself engaged to Arianna Grande. He has new tattoos to prove his love.

***** The first wall was raised for the old Conklin’s barn dinner theatre in Goodfield, Illinois. After a struggle to raise money after the old barn was destroyed and a fight with the insurance company, the day has finally come. The new structure which is part of a whole new complex will open in 2019. I can’t wait!!!

***** Vikings QB, Kirk Cousins is still driving his great old van and proud of it.

***** Check out Rotten apples, a website that is a database for consumers to learn if those involved in movies or TV have allegations against them.

***** The Daily show had a good idea. Every time that Scary Clown 45 does his daily dose of fucking everything up, call Fox news.  Calling your congressmen and protesting will have to continue, of course but it seems he mostly listens to Fox. Perhaps if they get tired of listening to us bitch, they will try to get their boss/fan to change a few things. 1-888-369-4762.** How far down will he and his cult drag this country?

***** A personal note: I heard a comedian the other day talking about jerks in all parts of our lives. Whether it be church, work, school, concerts, an AA meeting or whatever there is always an asshole in the mix to ruin stuff. This really resonated with me because I have seen a situation lately that perfectly illustrates this. A local store has a department with 3 managers. Manager #1 keeps hiring in his friends that mostly create their own schedules and do not often break a sweat. Manager #2 has been there a while and things run pretty smooth and fair when they run the day. Manager #3 is new to the position and often seems like they do not know what the fuck is going on and it was recently learned that this one has been backstabbing #2 so much that # 2 was fired. Now, we can’t know, of course, the reason for the firing but it just shows that a perfectly nice place to work and shop with a company one can believe in can go all wrong because of one or two bad apples. Manager #2 who is also battling illness (so does not often have the strength to fight back) has lost a career and many employees who respect them are now stuck working with people they know will run the place into the ground or having to find another job. I have seen a few similar situations thru the years and of course, asshole in chief in D.C. is like the all time perfect example of this but why can’t we weed out the jerks?  

***** Days alert: Is Paul leaving? What? They need to bring in a good mate for him. He is arguably the most honest person in town and he deserves the best. Let Will and Sonny have each other and find a better match for Paul but don’t let him go. I mean Sonny treats Paul like he isn’t even in the room half the time and they were going to marry?!  But, yes.. Chris Sean (Paul) is going and Bryan R. Dattilo (Lucas) may go soon too. Marci Miller (Abby) is out and will be replaced by the old Abby, Kate Mansin. Arianne Zucker (Nicole) will be back. Will she have a baby for Eric? Olivia Rose Keegar (Claire) has released a single titled ‘Just my type.’** Are they really gonna do a Ben and Ciara thing?** Sephen Nichols (Patch) is out as well as Greg Rikkaart (Leo). Farah Fath (Mimi Lockhart) is back. Sheila, Shawn and Belle will show up soon.  Kyle Lowder who used to play Brady will return as another character. There is a rumor that Allison Sweeney (Sami) will swing in for a bit and will she be pregnant with Rafe’s baby? I am betting so since Hope just mentioned something about Raif not having any kids.

***** Antarctic ice loss has tripled in just a decade.

***** The Philadelphia Eagles were cancelled at the White House because most of them would not come. Philly’s mayor countered with:” Trump is not a true patriot but a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size and afraid of the embarrassment of throwing a party to which no one wants to attend.”  The night before, Fox news showed pics of Eagles kneeling when in fact they were praying as they always do. Nobody said there was anything wrong with that before so the players would like to know what is wrong with praying? This particular team never took a knee all season as protest. And what about the 10 players who wanted to go to the White house and worked hard to get there?** Scary Clown says he won’t even invite the NBA champs.

***** Illinois ratified the ERA. Just 1 more state and 36 years after the deadline to adopt legislation we may get there.

***** So, I see Domino’s latest stunt is fixing the roads? Somebody has to work on the infrastructure so it might as well be them.

***** The MtV awards best dressed to me were Alison Brie and Kristen Bell. While the chaos engulfed our country, the young people at the awards (the so called Hollywood elite), spoke out for real super heroes, acceptance for all and an end to bullying.

***** Should we be giving Dennis Rodman airtime to show how stupid he is? I hear the argument  over and over lately that someone was nice to them so they must be ok. This could be said of Trump, Kim Jung Un or a serial killer. How fucking selfish can people be?  The ignorant seem to be incapable of seeing the horror right in front of them as they pick and choose facts.

***** Why have I seen a rash of first cousins as lover’s jokes? Why is it ok to make fun of this?

***** Artifacts were found in Springfield, Il. which came from the 1908 race riots. First found in 2014 when work was being done on an underpass, officials hope to soon have them on display. After working to preserve the items, they are looking to the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress.

***** Is there a new serial killer in Massachusetts?

***** The Koch brothers are apparently waging war all over the country against Mass Transit. They use paid activists to push similar thinking voters to vote it down. It is funny that these big government haters don’t mind that the Koch Brothers have made a well thought out data service to help control their voters.

***** The Tony’s were pretty rockin’ this year. Robert DeNiro got everybody going with a Fuck Trump sentiment. Most awards went to The Band’s Visit, Harry Potter and the cursed child and Angels in America. Once on an Island won best revival and other winners were Glenda Jackson and Nathan Lane (who I love but was really pulling for Michael Cera and Brian Tyree Henry). Tony Shalhoub, Laurie Metcalf and Andrew Garfield also took home awards.  The most beautiful moment was from the students of Stoneman Douglas and their teacher who was honored.** A Trump supporter went to A Bronx tale: The musical after the DeNiro incident which is codirected by Mr. D. The supporter held up a Trump 2020 sign. My son chuckled, “At least he bought a ticket.”

***** IHOP has become IHOB. They think they are Red Robin. More $ in burgers than pancakes, I guess.

***** Stephen Colbert sang the National anthem at a Mets game.** Trump is taking swipes at the late night hosts now. Conan, Colbert and Fallon teamed up to do a funny about that.

***** So some people think that Roseanne’s racist remarks and Samantha Bee’s ‘cunt’ comment are the same? Both should lose their show? NO.. big difference.  Other countries do not get our outrage.. The word ‘cunt’ is not as big a deal in Canada and Great Britain. If there is fall out shouldn’t standards and practices at TBS be in trouble for letting the ‘feckless cunt’ comment go to broadcast? I mean Roseanne did this on her twitter on her own. Trump cult members think they can all go to twitter and spout their racist, hateful rhetoric and get away with it. If one is going to be successful in the mainstream world, they may not get away with that like Scary Clown. Anyway, Go Samantha Bee!!**BTW,  Love the letter that Michael Moore put out about Trump and Roseanne, it is worth a read.** ABC will let the others serve out their contracts after a settlement with Roseanne when they bring us The Conners.

***** Jim Carrey and Showtime will give us ‘Kidding’ on Sept. 9. The dark comedy will cast Carrey as Mr. Pickles, a children’s host who is falling apart. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind’s Michel Gondry will direst and the cast will include Catherine Keener, Judy Greer and Frank Langella.

***** Michael Myers, Jamie Lee Curtis and Halloween are back and wipes out all the sequels.

***** George Clooney received the lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute.

***** Illinois man, Jay Smith claims he may have coyotes, wild dogs, a mix or hybrid or a unique unknown species in the woods around his home. The U.S. Dept. of agriculture and Chicago’s field museum are now interested in the 40 or so creatures. Smith describes them as bigger than wolves with dark coats. You can see for yourself on youtube : Kanahoe wolves of forgottonia.

***** Atlanta has been renewed for season 3, of course!!

***** Reese Witherspoon will soon be back in the Legally Blonde world for the third time.

***** I truly love to hear Louie Anderson laugh.

***** The President is Missing, a novel by James Patterson and Bill Clinton is #1.

***** Terry Crews talked to the Senate about sexual assault.

***** Secret Service is temporarily keeping an eye on Sarah Sanders and more staff members may get their own agents.

***** The Environmental media association Benefit gala honored Elizabeth Olsen, Ray Halbritter, Mike Sullivan and Jane Fonda who danced on stage with the musical guest Snoop Dogg.

***** Redmond O’Neal was arrested on June 8 for assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threat, brandishing a knife, battery and attempted murder.  Police say he went on a violent spree in Southern California.

***** Watch for Shock and Awe from Rob Reiner in July. People have been floating his name for President and U know the opposition would immediately call him meathead. I say embrace it, Meathead for President!!!!!!!**I Love that Reiner calls out Trump with’ the art of the lie.’

***** The much anticipated Old man and the gun will be out in September. The comedy filmed in Texas stars Robert Redford, sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover and Tom Waits. I can’t fucking wait!

***** Look for the new film, An Actor Prepares with Jeremy Irons, Mamie Gummer, Larry Pine and Jack Huston.

*****The special council has piled more charges onto Paul Manafort. It was after this that he went back to court for violating the terms of his house arrest and his bail was revoked. The 40 charges now include witness tampering. All charges were about incidents before the Presidential campaign.

***** We have to know that people are not really paying attention when Scary Clown and Gulliani babble on incoherently on national television and their supporters do not seem to care or they really don’t get it. These voters seem to think that it is easier to stay with the devil you know and just refuse to bend. ** Ivanka keeps gathering more new trademarks in China and refuses to answer questions about it as the trade talk rages on.** Why do people keep trying to normalize all this behavior?

***** So.. Supposedly Trump told a friend that porn is not allowed in the White House and it his biggest complaint. Some reporters submitted this as an official question to the White House. It seems the subject has never really come up so no one has thought to ask before. So far there has been no response. ** Word is that Scary Clown rips up papers after he reads or uses them. The problem is that Presidential papers have to be preserved for history so 2 people work just to tape those papers back together.  They were fired this month.

***** Sexual misconduct controversy abounds in Illinois under Mike Madigan with Tim Mapes under the microscope.

***** Justify won the Belmont Stakes and is just the 13th horse in history to win the Triple crown.

***** Senator Jeff Merkley is telling us that immigrants are being held in small cages in Texas. Is this our country? Is this really happening?

***** Recording academy President, Neil Portnow will step down from his post next year.

***** Mystery Science Theatre 3000 will tour in the fall. Joel Hodgson, Jonah Ray, Tom Servo and Crow will begin riffing live on October 9 in Portland, Maine.

***** I wanna be in New Orleans for Voodoo fest on October 26-28. The lineup rocks with Marilyn Manson, Janelle Monae, Zeds dead, Elle King, Mumford and Sons, Arctic Monkeys and Childish Gambino.

***** Next year Brian De Palma is going to start filming ‘Predator’ about the Weinstein scandal.

***** Convicted drug trafficker Alice Johnson was pardoned by Scary Clown.  Who’s next?

***** Trump called Canadian PM Trudeau, meek, mild and weak. ** True to form, Trump showed up late at the G7 for his meeting on women’s empowerment.** Rep. Steve Schmidt said that ‘Trump beclowned himself.”** Trump quote: “Kim Jong Un is a great guy” and “ North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat.” I don’t think he will ever hear the end of it over those statements. Saying it does not make it so. I wrote this and then I heard Chuck Schumer say it. ** Big evidence of wrong doing in the Trump charity organization. He is now being sued by the attorney General for persistent illegal conduct.** Trump now says he wants to withdraw from the World Trade Organization. He is being such a good little boy by helping Putin check things off his list. Destroy NATO, Destroy EU, Destroy the UN, Eliminate U.S. leadership. ** As June ends, there are new reports that North Korea has ramped up its Nuclear production.

***** This whole mess with 2,000 kids being taken from their parents at the border is an outrage. I can’t help but think of our ‘well meaning’ Christian folk trying to convert the Native Americans back in the day. They tried hard to make the natives dress like the white man, pray like the white man and go to our schools. As well as leverage for scary clown’s wall, are they trying to fill these children’s heads with their own propaganda while they are in foster care or residing in the white man’s warehouse? **When will the loyalists realize that a wall cannot be built? Private citizens own some of that land. There are bodies of water on the border. No matter how much the racists wish for it, it just can’t be done.** There is something about the way he grins crazily when he is called out on something. It seems like he is so proud of his lies and the way he conducts himself so unethically. I am reminded of Manson and the way he would light up when asked about his crimes or when he was shown footage from other family members talking about him. This is such a fast moving story that some are equating to the way the Jewish and the Japanese were treated in the past. ** It is obvious that no planning went into any of this new policy. It is wonderful that so many reporters are watching the facilities they know about and staying at the border. It takes time to get the facts and it isn’t easy when the administration is being so secretive. The lawsuits have started. Can we get Sessions, Nielsen, Pence and Trump on child neglect??** People of all nations will not want to be here soon and we will be left with the racists and bullies. Do we leave or do we fight?  If everybody left the Trumpers alone in this country what would they have to complain about? They have no empathy, it is like they thrive on others suffering. ** Multiple on air personalities cried at the stories of the children as their emotions came to the surface. I think many of us feel helpless as that sinking feeling we all had on election night has come to the point we all feared.** The Red Cross has not even been allowed in to these FOR PROFIT facilities. Protesters are staying on the case of Krisjen Nielsen. The administration and their defenders have been so flippant about the whole thing especially Corey (womp, womp) Lewandowski.** It costs the government over twice as much to house the kids without their parents.** Melania visited the kids and wore a jacket which read ‘I really don’t care, Do you?’ This started a whole new mess. I thought of those Turpin monster parents. Why on earth does anyone want to put kids in cages?  Does it make someone powerful to torture children?

***** June ended with about 700 protests for the kids in cages. Family’s Belong Together marches were overflowing in the heat with inspiring messages and a lot of heart. I was so proud to be there.

***** New York has sued the federal government over zero tolerance.**The U.S. has withdrawn from the UN human rights body. Many do agree with this one for they feel there is not equal punishment for nations when it comes to human rights.** A lawsuit was filed on April 23 alleging kids were held down and injected to render them helpless and keep them calm.**It seems that we should leave the immigrants alone and enforce swift, harsh penalties for those who hire undocumented workers. These employees aren’t paying their fair share on these employees.**The Pentagon has been asked to prepare housing for 20,000 immigrants.** I mean, this is not a simple subject but basically if you come in illegally, you go back. If you seek asylum, you should not be separated from your child or be in detention. More judges would help get this backlog caught up and ankle bracelets had seemed to be helping the situation. Take some of this ‘traveling to Mar a Lago $’ and hire more judges. And let’s help stabilize these regimes so folks will feel safer in their own countries. Some are even saying they should abolish I.C.E.. Some of those speaking out with that thought are I.C.E. agents themselves. I.C.E. spokesperson James Schwab has been speaking out. He claims he resigned because although he was asked to spin for both administrations, the current administration asked him to outright lie. Thank you James! ** Immigrants add 63 billion to the economy.** A federal judge has declared the kids must be reunited with their parents in 30 days, for younger kids it is 14 days.** Justin Trudeau tells refugees they are welcome in Canada.

*****  Ok.. Read the next item before this one!!!... So Stuttering John AKA John Melendez has a podcast and he claims he called air force one and he got thru.  He pretended to be Sen Bob Menendez and Trump told him he would have a Supreme Court pick in 2 weeks. While people wondered if this was true, Trump announced he would have his pick on July 9.

***** The Supreme Court upheld the travel ban including Venezuela, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Somalia and Libya. They (5-4) claim it is not a Muslim ban and allows for them to get off the list. This reverses the lower court’s rulings but at least it is the third incarnation as the first two were struck down. Even though the Supreme court said the President has the authority it did put it somewhat in check. Still wrong.  0 people have been killed in our country by a person from one of these countries.** The Supreme Court also tells us you don’t have to pay your union dues. ** Justice Kennedy is set to retire. Trump’s private banker at Deutsche bank for 12 years is Justice Kennedy’s son. JS

***** The country gets more liberal and the power in the country gets more conservative. WTF?** Rod Rosenstein seemed very confident in his questioning this week. This is good news for the country!

***** Sean Spicer is putting together a talk show.

***** The Trump administration is backing insurance companies to eliminate the pre- existing condition protection.

***** The 2019 Hollywood walk of fame will add Robert DeNiro, Anne Hathaway, Michael Buble, Tyler Perry and the trio of Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton.

***** Sara Netanyahu has been indicted on fraud charges.

***** Take a listen to the Ear hustle podcast and get the dirt inside prison.

***** Studied show that 97% of rapists never go to jail.

***** Women can drive in Saudi Arabia but arrests are up for women who protest there.

***** Jerry Springer is finally done with his show.

***** The republicans govern without shame. The democrats shame without governing.  –Bill Maher

***** From what I see it seems that America to the Conservatives means guns and Christianity should be included in our governments and our schools.  They seem to like everyone to take care of themselves financially except in extreme cases and outsiders should not be a part of this country. America to the liberals seems like the same rights for all like health care, ruling our own bodies and that love is love. They believe in high taxes and programs to help others.

***** Jeff Sessions of the United Methodist church has been charged under church law with violating paragraph 270.3: child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination and dissemination of doctrines contrary to the standards of doctrine of the United Methodist church. In the 50 years of the church as a denomination, no case can be found that has gotten this far.

***** It seems that there was always a bit of a separation between Fox news and the rest of the company. This latest border mess has crumbled that particular wall. Artists who have at one time or another  worked for Fox Studios are speaking out. Modern Family creator Steve Levitan, director Payl Fieg and Seth Mcfarlane are among them.

***** If we don’t make peace with our wounds, we’ll be tempted to despise the wounded.  – Father Gregory Boyle

***** No one is illegal on stolen land.   Thanks Kim

*****  Trump is not much on tradition. The man cancels the congressional picnic for lack of time but is gung ho for rallies and fund raisers .A scrawl on Fox news dressed down CNN and MSNBC for not airing the latest Trump rally. Who the fuck wants to see that nightmare?

***** Peter Fonda’s emotions got the better of him and he tweeted: WE SHOULD RIP BARRON FROM HIS MOTHERS ARMS AND PUT HIM IN A CAGE WITH A PEDOPHILE AND SEE IF HIS MOTHER WILL STAND UP AGAINST THE GIANT ASSHOLE. He deleted it but the damage was done. He apologized to the family.**Sarah Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant** Maxine Waters is asking people to call out Trump workers when they see them. This is getting ridic but I think the right thinking people of this country are feeling trapped and desperate. Civility is hard keep in check when our country is being taken over by racists, thieves and bullies. We must try to do this right though. We must get this right!

***** Scary Clown 45 claims that crime in Germany is so high, perhaps because of the refugees? In fact, crime is at a 30 year low? Similarly, a report commissioned by Scary’s own administration shows how much immigrants put into our economy but since the numbers were good, they buried that report.** A story claimed that WH staffers show the President only what he wants to see and that John Kelly tells people to just let him keep going as he is and if it leads to impeachment then our country will be through this horrific time.** His rallies and speeches get crazier if that is possible. Does he travel with an audience?** Trump claims that the Dems want immigrants because they see them as potential voters. Genius, years of red tape and possibly letting gang members (his words) in just for a vote! ** He will say anything to divert attention from himself and his cohorts using this country as their personal piggy bank and taking our rights away.** The UN has declared that the policy of separating children from parents at the border, “may amount to torture.”

***** White house.gov has an agenda for a complete reorganizing of the Federal government full of privatization, major cuts and consolidated power.

***** I-95 in Maine has been getting shut down so border patrol can check your citizenship. WTF?

***** OK.. This is a very unimportant note and I try to never watch commercials but I love the new Progressive ad where the dude is turning into his dad. So cute!

***** I wish that there was a little more backbone on the Sunday morn political shows. I mean the weekend of the big outrage at the border, there were big Trump loving infomercials, why are Bannon and Kelly Ann even invited on these shows?  I have no earthly idea how anyone could have an ounce of respect for any of them.

***** A NY Times story finds that Scary clown 45’s prison cutbacks have been so severe that teachers, secretaries and nurses have had to act as prison guards. ** Economists estimate that Iowa soybean farmers alone could lose up to $624,000,000 as a result of the tariffs. **Harley Davidson has moved some of their work to Bangkok because of the trade war.

***** Thank you James Corden for the Carpool Karaoke with Paul McCartney. It is the first time in a while that I let go of all the worry over this country et al and really got engrossed in something sweet and fun.

***** Disabled vets are being docked on their disability checks for an insurance they were forced into that they and their families can’t even redeem.

***** Kevin Vernardo has started his own circus.

***** Vince Vaughn was arrested June 19 for DUI and resisting arrest.

***** The BET awards winners include D J Khaled, Black Panther, Migos and Sza. Best dressed to me were Meek Mill, Remy Ma, Trevor Jackson, Storm Reid and Janelle Monae.

***** Mystery Race day theatre with Michael Waltrip????

***** John Legend tweeted a Fuck You to Paul Ryan!

***** The electoral college must go!

***** March 2019: Tim Burton will bring us Dumbo with Michael Keaton, Colin Farrell, Alan Arkin and Danny Devito.

***** Stan Lee has gotten a restraining order against his business manager claiming elder abuse.

***** A 94 year old Elgin woman put up a large sign in her yard that read ’Impeach Trump now!’ The city told her that it exceeded the size limit for signs in the city ordinance. She put up a smaller sign claiming that she just wants to draw attention to his foreign policy, trade policy and domestic policy. The woman, Myra Becker said that he’s a disaster. “I’m on a walker and there are all the things I can’t do but I can put up a sign.

***** Larry Kudlow had a heart attack.

***** The new season of Comedians in cars getting coffee includes Dave Chapelle, Alec Baldwin, Dana Carvey, Ellen DeGeneres, Zach Galifianakis, Jerry Lewis, Kate McKinnin, Tracy Morgan, Hassan Minaj, John Mulaney and Brian Regan.

***** So John Cena is really a pig! There was a clip of the man telling his girlfriend that he would make the sacrifice of giving her a child. This was a regular clip from a show she does so at least he owns his pig status, I guess. Sure, it is a ‘reality’ show that is supposedly all scripted but I don’t think that would matter to me if I was that kid.  I guess all their money will help. Good luck kid!

***** Boundaries will star Christopher Plummer, Peter Fonda and Vera Farmiga.

***** Mike Pence was invited to the big gay dance party in Ohio that was in the street just outside his hotel.  

*****  Brockmire continues to make me laugh out loud. A great line: Orange juice is a glass of vodka wasted.  How will sobriety play in the next season?

***** Trump staffers seem to have trouble unwinding and having personal lives since most of D.C. wants nothing to do with them. Recently it was revealed that they have found a bar called Rebellion where they feel welcome. Oh what clever clogs.  I imagine that since this has been revealed , it won’t be fun there for long.

***** Better Call Saul season 4 will have a mysterious Breaking Bad character that was never seen named Lalo. A couple more characters will be introduced when the show returns August 6.

***** The Traverse city film fest will honor Jane Fonda with Lifetime achievement.

***** Acura is sure using a lot of vintage Stones in their advertising as of late.** BTW The Stones have a new boxed set of all their original material albums from 1971 on. It is all cleaned up and lookin’ pretty!!

***** The new Whtney doc about Whitney Houston has some honest revelations . In a posthumous Me Too moment, it is revealed that she was molested by her cousin Dee Dee Warwick.

***** Maryland was home to the latest shooting. The AP has declared they will help the Capital Gazette continue to publish until they get back on their feet. Now that is what this country should be about.

***** The table in the Vietnamese noodle shop where Obama and Bourdain dined has been put under glass. Fans have come to the shop to pay tribute.

***** Mia Farrow proposes we move to saying ‘succumbed’ to suicide instead of ‘committed’ suicide because depression is an illness. The legacy of suicide is cruel enough for all involved. The national suicide prevention hotline number is 1-800-273-8255.

***** R.I.P. Glenn Snoddy, Alan Bean, Joe Jackson, Ella Brennan, Dwight Clark, Kate Spade, Alan O’Neill, Danny Kirwan, Eunice Gayson, Murray Frumson, Koko, Jackson Odell, Gena Turgel, Jerry Maren (last of the lollipop guild) , DJ Fontana, Neal Boyd,  Matt ‘guitar’ Murphy, Nick Knox, Jimmy Wopo, Charles Krauthammer, Vinnie Paul, Richard Harrison, Richard Valeriani, victims of the Maryland newspaper shooting,  Anthony Bourdain, Steve Soto, Willie Lee Rose, Richard Allan Greenberg and Eva Kirchgessner.