#could do without all the victim blaming it put us through as well though...

[laufire]

me, at any given time, reading comics: the writers should've killed that child.

me, a hypocrite, (re)reading "a death in the family": but not that one 😢

[brucewaynehater101]

I have a vent fic wip that I may or may not finish so I just need to tell someone that I am...feeling so many things all the time about the consequences of the 16th birthday but...

primarily, right now, at this moment. without Robin/Bruce, Tim thought he would lose Dick and everyone else he knew through Robin. and then a little bit later when he quit for Jack, he got radio silence for Months until he became a potential victim, and even then it was just Cass stopping in to give the message and be like "I'll watch you to keep you safe 👁️👁️ ok bye" and he had actual Proof that without Robin, he would lose everyone.

and then. Dick "you're my equal (even tho I'm drastically changing your life without your knowledge or permission), you're my closest ally (even tho you don't even have a name to go out in the field to assist me as backup), I need you (even tho, as mentioned, I made a huge decision without your input because I didn't need it because I know best actually)" Grayson.

skipping over the fact that Dick didn't even have the time to say "you're fired" or anything resembling that, when Tim lost "Robin" to Damian, he felt like he lost everything else too. it didn't matter what Dick said about "equals" or "allies" or "needing". he already had Concrete Proof that it was all false. cheap words that are easily disproven do nothing in this situation, Dichard!

(disclaimer: I love and respect Dick Grayson, I just also think Dick Stopped Existing as soon as he made Damian his Robin for the most pathetic stupid illogical risky-ass excuse he could ever give for making anyone Robin (or a vigilante in general). "because he'll kill someone again". who the fuck says that?? who thinks "oh no oh god oh fuck this kid is gonna go off the rails he's gonna kill someone, I need to Put Him In A Place Of Power Over Oblivious Innocent Untrained People Who Are Expecting A Kind And Empathetic Hero To Save Them" hUH???? ok sorry, I just wanted to rant about what Tim "losing Robin" meant)

I agree with ya. Dick Grayson is fantastic, but it seems weird that he nuked his entire relationship with Tim (a very strong one that other fans have referred to them as "The Brothers") for the new kid.

Yes, Damian is a ten year old traumatized kid who just lost the dad he didn't really have the chance to get to know. Yes, Damian needed guidance, boundaries, and compassion.

But DC spent so much time and effort building up Tim and Dick's rapport only to obliterate it once the "blood son" came in (I also love Damian. This is not hate on the kid. This is confused commentary on DC's choices). It's just a strange idea, but that's also why it hurts so much when Dick does that to Tim.

Then you tie in Tim losing Robin by Dick to Tim's experiences before? Fuck. You are so right for that.

As far as the RR run, Dick could've handled Tim believing Bruce a bit better. I don't necessarily blame him for that one. I get why he wasn't supportive in the way Tim wanted, even though I would've chosen differently for my siblings.

Dick taking Robin, though? That was fucked up. I, honest to the gods, do not see how that was a justified course of action. I can understand his perspective, but it's still not okay. At all.

There's your very adequate analysis:

Robin, for Tim, is his tie to his loved ones. He has proof (twice) that without it, he does not have access to the people he cares about and his support system.

Dick said a lot of pretty words about "equals," but his actions were precisely contradictory to his "intentions."

Tim has had Robin taken from him before or had to give it up. He chose to go back despite this. He obviously feels strongly about being Robin

Damian has not proven, at this point, to be trustworthy as a vigilante (someone in power without oversight). He has instead shown use of excessive force

This isn't even going into the way he found out. That's just an extra layer.

The way Tim has repeated lost and regained Robin (even after RR) as well as his title as Red ROBIN are, to me, a sign that he's still trying to hold on. It's my belief that he would have moved onto a new title, like his predecessors, if it hadn't constantly been an unsure role.

His start was rocky as hell due to Bruce not initially wanting it. Tim had to prove himself and put himself into the costume.

He "quit" twice before it was taken from him in a traumatic way (nothing like being instilled with the fear that the position you've held for four years can suddenly be yanked out from under you without warning)

Damian and Jason both vehemently protested to him being Robin

It would make sense if all of these factors combined to Tim's unwillingness or inability to just let Robin go, especially when we factor in his reason to be Robin. Since Bruce never really gets "better" and continually falls back into bad habits, Tim needs to maintain his task of pulling Bruce back from the edge. We could also throw Jean Paul into this to further how Tim is forced to play as the barrier between a grown adult and their desire to harm others in the name of good.

So, Tim's time as Robin is marked by consistent instability while contrasted with his inherent position as Bruce's leash and the batfam fixer. While the other Robins did have times of doubt, the predecessors of Tim did not have the pervasive role insecurity with regards to Robin.

They had their big moment at the end and some smaller moments in-between, but not quite on the continous scale of Tim. Tim had three big moments and was still sucked back into Robin when Damian quit.

To be Robin is to earn Bruce's love and the ability to be part of the Wayne family. To lose Robin is the risk of losing that (at least to the perspectives of the Robins if not 100% the reality).

I'm not sure I'm articulating this accurately. Regardless, no wonder Tim clutches the title of Robin with bleeding hands no matter how much it cuts him and costs him.

[bhaal-baby]

Just a bit of Astarionx GN! Dark Urge angst. Hope you enjoy!

Sleep refused to take you. 

You tossed, and you turned, counting backward from one hundred and back again, and still, you lay there, staring at an endless sky, exhausted and frustrated. You blamed the rock you’d accidentally placed your bedroll on for the night, or the slight chill in the air that caused your sore muscles to groan in protest, or Gale’s incessant snoring that you were going to have words about in the morning. But you knew in your heart that none of those things had anything to do with it. 

It probably had more to do with the fact that only a few nights ago, you nearly murdered the man you love. 

Every time you closed your eyes, you saw yourself waking up covered in blood and viscera. Dazed, confused, and most disturbingly, satisfied, the same way it had been with that poor bard back in the grove. Only this time, the blood on your hands would be even more precious. You imagined white hair, stained red, and a bloodied pale face, lifeless and still. You imagined the bravado with which he carried himself would fade away in death, his meticulously kept walls crumbling as your blade ripped through him. Would he look at you in hatred in those last moments, or would those crimson eyes be filled with only terror? 

He is so, so afraid. Of everyone, besides you, who he ought to fear most. 

You shuddered violently, blinking away the terrible thoughts that plagued you. Sighing, you stood up. If sleep wasn’t an option, you may as well take a walk to try and clear your head, and patrol the perimeter of your campsite, ensuring the safety of your traveling companions that had become so much like family. It was ironic, you thought, given that you were probably the biggest threat to their well-being as they slept peacefully by your side. You wondered not for the first time if it was selfishness that kept you traveling with them. Your companions were strong enough to stop the Absolute on their own. You knew that. They would all be safer without one who kills in their sleep and battles the dark thoughts that you do. 

“Going somewhere?” 

Astarion stood just a few feet behind you. One of these days, you swore you were going to put a bell around his neck. He was far too good at sneaking up on you. 

“I thought you were asleep.” replied nonchalantly. 

 “An attempt was made, but truthfully, I’m still getting used to sleeping at night.” He shrugged. “When I saw you sneaking out of bed, I thought I’d tag along and make sure you weren’t off to sate some of your more bloodthirsty desires.” 

His words sent your heart into your stomach. He must have noticed your gaze fall to the ground because he added. “Really, as long as your knife isn’t to my throat, I’m not too concerned.” 

You knew that was meant to soften the blow that he never meant to land. Still, it hurt to be reminded of what he thought you were capable of. Not that he was wrong. You couldn’t explain your murderous nights any better than he could, but a part of you wished he never had to see you like that, let alone nearly becoming one of your victims. He had been so kind to you the other night, even as you writhed against his bonds, desperate to make minced meat of his pretty face. He had told you then that he didn’t hate you for what you’d done, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that he saw you differently because of it. 

You decided to change the subject. “I’m going for a quick walk. You’re welcome to join me if you’d like.” 

“Ah yes, a quick nighttime jaunt through shadow-cursed lands. Splendid idea. Do you think some of those wretched shadows will invite us to tea?” 

You rolled your eyes at his dramatics. “We won’t stray far from camp.” You sighed. “I just need to clear my head.” 

Something that looked like concern flashed across his features. “Of course, I’ll join you. Maybe we’ll even sneak in a cuddle afterward.” 

His flirting rarely phased you anymore, though you were often unsure of his sincerity, even after the nights you’d spent together. You could tell that, to some extent, it was simply something he hid behind. He must have found it easier to be the charming man who could lure anyone with eyes into his bed than what he really was. You saw the hurt and the fear behind it all, even if he didn’t want you to. And after the other night, you knew with certainty that he was capable of so much kindness. Not many people would do what he did for you the night your urges almost took his life. 

He walked beside you silently for a while. You weren’t sure what to say to the man when thoughts of accidentally butchering him kept you awake. You plopped down on a fallen tree, motioning for him to join you. You could still see the faint glow of the dwindling campfire a ways away, but walking was doing nothing for your nerves. 

It was nice just sitting with him for a moment. Without words, without touch. Just being in his company lit something inside of you. He tilted his head towards the starless sky and you took the opportunity to look him over. He was beautiful, that was certain. In the moonlight, he looked like a statue, something carved by the most skilled hand.

“Something is on your mind,” Astarion observed, catching you staring.

You scoffed. “You mean besides our impossible task of saving the entire sword coast from the Dead Three? Or the tadpole burrowed in my brain waiting for an opportunity to turn me into a mindflayer?” 

Astarion leveled you with a knowing look. “Yes, besides the obvious. Now tell me what it is you’re stewing over in that pretty head of yours.” 

You didn’t know how to answer him, but he deserved something from you. “I just wanted to thank you. For the other night.” You stared at your boots, sighing deeply. You could feel your cheeks warming. The words didn’t do it justice, but you didn’t know how else to show him what his actions meant to you. 

He looked taken aback for a moment. “Oh. You needn’t thank me for that. It’s not as if I wanted to meet my grisly end at your hand anyway.” 

You caught his gaze, fighting the hurt that threatened to well up inside you. “But it was more than that.” You protested. “When you had me tied up, you could have killed me. You probably should have. You would all be safer that way.” 

Astarion’s easy expression morphed into one of shock. “I wouldn’t – I couldn’t.” He stumbled over his words, for once seeming unsure of how to react. He took a deep breath. “I meant what I said, you know. We’ll find a way to save you.” 

Your heart clenched at the look on his face. It was softer than usual, almost vulnerable. You fought the tears welling in your eyes. “But at what cost?” It was almost a whisper. “How many innocent lives will I take before then? What if I hurt you?” 

Astarion took your hand in his, and lifted it to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on the top of it. “I won’t let that happen.” 

The gesture sent a pang through you and the tears began to fall but he continued. “You are the first person I’ve ever truly cared for and I am not going to let this take you from me.” 

The sincerity of his words struck you. He meant that. He cared about you. Maybe as much as you cared about him. Maybe more, because if you truly cared about him that much you’d go far, far away so he could be safe. “Astarion, none of that will matter if I kill you. You can care all you want until my blade finds its way into your throat and then that’s it.” The words came out harsher than you wanted but you knew you were right. He wasn’t safe with you. 

“I am not afraid of you.” he said, reassuringly squeezing your hand. 

You jerked your hand away suddenly. You didn’t miss the way he flinched as you did so. The man had been through too much to die by the hand of the one he cares about most. “You should be.” 

 You stood up, turning to leave, when his hand shot out to grab your arm. You tried to shrug it off but he held tight. “You don’t get to decide that for me.” he hissed. His voice was harsh and almost angry but when you turned to look at him you could see the hurt in his eyes. “If you don’t want me, that’s fine. But don’t you dare pretend that walking away from this is somehow for my benefit. I may not be entirely free yet, but for the first time in centuries I can make my own choices, and I’ll be damned if you take that away from me.”

You opened your mouth, stunned by the desperation on his face. You couldn’t find the words to say. You’d only wanted to protect him but instead, you’d hurt him by being self-righteous and overbearing. You had no right to tell this man, who’d known only slavery for centuries, what to do. “I– I’m sorry.” you choked out, taking a step towards him. “I didn’t mean to…” You trailed off, unsure what to say. 

Astarion’s face softened, tugging you nearer to him. “Please,” he breathed, placing a hand under your chin and lifting your gaze to meet his. “Let me stand by you through this. We don’t even know if we’ll live through tomorrow with how things have been going. I don’t know what this is, or how it will end, but I know that I want to try.” 

You could only nod, else the sob that had been building escape your throat. 

Astarion looked at you and smiled, that charming smile that you were helpless to before leaning down and kissing you softly. It wasn’t like the other times you’d kissed, lustful and frantic, tasting your own blood in his mouth. It was gentle and lingering and spoke of a longing neither of you had the words for. 

When his lips left yours, he pulled you into his chest, wrapping both arms around you tightly. “Now, how about that cuddle?” 

Thank you for reading! Do let me know if you prefer this Y/N style fic or if a third person gender neutral "Tav" would be better! I was really torn on which way to write this.

[therealvinelle]

What are your thoughts on the titanic movie?

Oh I wanted to watch it, tried once as a child, didn't make it through, then again with @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin, at which point I also didn't make it through.

I'm here for the ship, literally only the ship. Rose and Jack would not get off the screen and let me look at ship, and so even though I made it to the part where they impact the iceberg, I realized I couldn't sit through Jack and Rose running around the decks, no matter how true to life the models were. Watch party ended, and some time later we tried Raise the Titanic with Alec Guinness instead (a deeply silly movie where a dangerous weapon was on board the Titanic when it sank, and the Americans must find it before the Soviets do).

James Cameron's movies have a very consistent problem where he is in love with a concept, or an idea or a new bit of technology, so he makes a movie to show it off and has to put a story in there somewhere so we're watching something happened. This worked incredibly well in the two first Terminator movies, it gave us a deeply funny Aliens movie, but it did not work out for Titanic as his worst tendencies all came out to play.

I like him, as a director, I just don't like the majority of his movies, if that makes sense.

His characters are plainly good or bad with one note motivations and no nuance, and they are all consistently and painfully American, to the point where they feel like caricatures. Jake Sullivan, who is such a staple army vet that he has no personality whatsoever other than being a protagonist with the assigned traits that would make him sympathetic to as wide an audience as possible, is a terrific example of this, as are the gun-toting military crew heading to the colony in Aliens, but so too are the characters of the Titanic, only in a different way. Rose's mother and peers are what I can only describe as Victoria's parents in Corpse Bride without the satire - they are not real people, but old world aristocrats seen through the eyes of filmmakers who fundamentally don't understand class. Rose becoming infatuated with a working class boy is a very simple and straightforward matter where there is no actual reason for them not to be together, it's just that Jack gets made fun of for not knowing the right forks to use. It's just shallow.

I have more complaints, but much of the movie is luckily forgotten so I'll stick to the big one: I wish Cameron had either made this a purely fictional story that was inspired by the Titanic but without actual victims, or else gone out of his way to be respectful of the fact. Going of the wikipedia page for how historical characters were treated, Bruce Ismay being depicted as boorish and attributed decisions he never made in life so he can be at least partly blamed for the sinking. The man's life and mental health was ruined after the real sinking as the act of surviving made him a media target, Cameron could have chosen to leave his memory be and I side-eye his decision not to. The movie has First Officer Murdoch shooting passengers and then himself, I struggle to see what this added to the movie besides upsetting his surviving family.

Perhaps I'm overly strict, but even fictionalized retellings have historical import because they play a much larger role in how people remember the past than history books or documentaries do because more people see them. The film industry has immense power over how we view the past, and in turn over how history is remembered. This comes with a responsibility, and a plea for consciousness of the fact. Set your stories to whichever periods and cultures you may like: but do so knowing that no matter how much media and recorded history already exists on your chosen subject, there will be people walking away from your product whose view is now affected by your depiction.

In other words, Raise the Titanic is somehow more respectul in my eyes because while it was a very silly movie, it insulted no one's memory. And I'll be sticking to documentaries and animations when it comes to RMS Titanic-related media.

[mlmxreader]

Can't Let You Go | David Hesh Walker x gn!reader

『••✎••』

↳ ❝ Pssst.... what if, hear me out here... I know "I think he's come back for his noon feeding" is from Jaws but!!! It's Y/N feeding people to their beloved that got turned into a zombie because they just CANNOT let go. Beloved in question is Hesh.

Optional but would be very funny if Logan helped capture victims because "It's not too different from hunting deer." and he also can't let Hesh go. The brother in law helps out.

Also optional, but would be interesting if Hesh could somewhat remember things even un-dead. Like Y/N tells him "I love you." and he'll sign it back because muscle memory or some shit. Establish a bit of motive for the whole "Letting my dead boyfriend murder and eat you." thing. - @tokillamockingbird427 ❞

: ̗̀➛ You're the only to blame for what happens to him, yet even still, between you and Logan, nobody can be quite sure who is less willing to part ways with him even though they know they should.

: ̗̀➛ swearing, smoking, graphic depictions of corpses, fatal injuries described in detail, MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, murder, gun violence

•───────────────★•♛•★──────────────•

You blamed yourself for it, more than anything, knowing that the others had done everything that they could whilst you were over with a different task force doing some training; it was your fault that he had gotten that way. Your fault that he turned into a monster.

You should have known that the people they were after would have used the gas; infecting Hesh when he was alone in the control room.

You should have protected him, and look what you had done; he was far from the Hesh you had fallen in love with.

His beautiful, smooth skin was now covered in dried blood, the white cloth he had tried to use to protect himself was melted into his skin and had torn open to expose his fleshless jaw. Hanging on by tendons, dribbles of blood staining the once white fabric.

His skin was grey, pale and thick like a dying scab. Claw marks on his head where he had tried to fight the infection. His right eye was completely gone, melted from his skull and exposing the deep and empty socket; you could see right through to the back of his skull.

Bits of bubbled flesh stuck to his lower eyelid. A hole in the side of his neck where he had tried to kill himself in desperation, blistered flesh around the entry point. His hands were cracked and blistered, skin hanging off in thick scabs constantly, all up to his shoulders.

He could hardly speak, the words sounding more like an imitation of human speech; he sounded human in voice, but the words were just wrong. You had done this. It had all been your fault.

You and Logan knew you couldn’t let him go out on his own, knew that he couldn’t be given up to the US military; you also both knew that you needed Hesh, you needed him around. A life without Hesh… you didn’t want to imagine it, and neither did Logan.

Logan had never been without his big brother, and you had been Hesh’s significant other for so long that you just couldn’t stomach the thought of being without him anymore.

Together, you and Logan took Hesh to a cabin in the woods that you had been left in an inheritance; you put up six foot tall fences made of thick wood with a doggy door that only opened if Riley’s microchip was scanned, and ensured that the rest of the property was littered with barbed wire and traps to make absolutely sure that no one would ever find Hesh.

No cellular phones. No internet. No computers. Never anything that could ever be tracked to the location, not even burner phones.

Nobody else was ever allowed to know; Logan told Elias and Keegan that he was going to see some friends for a while whenever he came to visit Hesh, and you had no one to talk to anyway so you didn’t really need to worry about anyone finding out.

You moved into the cabin, Logan could only ever visit when he could manage to get away. It worked well enough, though, nobody in, nobody out except you and Logan.

If he ever felt like he was being followed, he would immediately drive past the cabin and head down to the local hotel; sign in under his own name, and remain there until it was time for him to go back to Elias’s house.

Never risk anything.

You were both adamant about that.

But every day, even though it always came back the same, you would always check Hesh’s state over and you would always try and clean up some of the wounds; he would sit there patiently, watching you with such softness in his eyes that it was almost hard to believe that he wasn’t fully human anymore.

No heartbeat. No respiratory rate. No reaction to being tapped on the knees or elbows. He didn’t bleed when he got paper cuts from thorns he picked up. He didn’t feel anything when he bumped into objects around the cabin. Never even flinched.

He didn’t sleep. He didn’t produce any bodily fluids like sweat, drool or mucus. He was a rotted corpse, through and through, but he didn’t seem to be rotting even more; like the gas had caused him to decompose up to a certain point and then let him be.

You almost wondered if they did it in hopes of creating soldiers, but you didn’t really care.

Hesh was still mostly himself; still pressed himself to your back when he saw you cooking, still nuzzled into you at night while you slept, still smiled and grinned when he saw you singing and dancing as you put the washing away.

He was still free to roam during the day, though, having access to everything within the six foot tall fence at least; it spanned quite a large area, but you still worried.

You checked every day to make sure that every panel was secure so that he wouldn’t get out and get caught by someone who wouldn’t understand.

Didn’t change the fact that he was always so fucking cold to the touch, though. His fingers always felt like ice, and his lips never failed to make you shiver; it took a while to get used to it when he peppered kisses along your neck like he used to when he came home from deployment.

But like every other being on the planet, Hesh still needed to feed; he still needed to eat, and you and Logan knew what you had to do; you knew that Logan was a skilled hunter, but you still felt bad about asking even though you knew he would agree - you still felt bad about asking him to do such a thing, knowing how much it would hurt you both.

But you had to keep Hesh going, you couldn’t let him fade away, you couldn’t let him leave - neither of you were ready for that, you needed him.

It started out small.

Logan would go hunting in the woods when tourism was slower and there were less people around to notice him going after whatever game there was; he would hunker down, wait for one to become separated from the herd to get lost, and then take the shot when it wasn’t looking.

He made sure to never use his car, and to always be within walking distance; leaving the prey on the small table you had made for Hesh. He would wash his hands of the blood he had spilled, watching Hesh bite chunks from the large carcass, tearing it apart with grunts and growls.

But it was only deer, that was all; it was only ones that ever became separated from the herd, and it was only ones that wouldn’t really be noticed. 

“We can’t keep this up,” Logan whispered. “Someone’s gonna find out - I know it’s only… deer. But still.”

You frowned, knowing that he was right. “We need to find a new herd, that’s all… there’s an unmarked, inconspicuous trailer… it’s big enough for a deer or two… and you can attach it to the car. Just say you’re using it to help someone move.”

“And the blood?” Logan asked with a raised brow. 

“I’ve got some buck fur,” you admitted. “And antler velvet, a few hooves leftover from old taxidermy - covers it up nicely.”

Logan nodded, pursing his lips as he looked over at Hesh, who was reaching into his chest; the flesh separated easily, a gaping hole of pale grey flesh hanging open like putty, when he heard a crack, Logan growled softly.

“Hesh! No!”

Hesh looked at Riley, then back at Logan, pouting. “Fetch?”

“No!” Logan commanded, huffing loudly. “Not with your own ribs!”

You whirled around, looking at what Hesh had done and sighing heavily. “Oh, baby… come here, let’s get that sorted.”

Hesh looked at you sadly as you examined the open hole. “Bad?”

You shook your head, looking up at him as you sighed and dared to gently kiss his scarred forehead. “You’re not bad, Hesh… you’re okay. You just made a little mistake ‘s all.”

He nodded slowly, sighing. “Miss. Be. Warm.”

Your breath hitched a little as you swallowed thickly. “I know… I know…”

He outstretched his arm, a loud peeling sound coming from the insides of his elbows where the flesh was full of sharp scaps; taking a step forward, he tilted his head down slightly.

Even in death, that fucker still knew how to use the puppy dog eyes with only just one eye, and you couldn’t fucking resist; wrapping your arms around him and letting him snuggle into you as you held him.

It seemed like he couldn’t get enough, trying to keep you as close as he possibly could and trying to get his hands under your clothes; yet he couldn’t feel the warmth against his hands, and he couldn’t tell if his own were getting colder or warmer.

He just knew that he missed the feeling of being warm, and that he missed being able to actually feel you; the sensation of sweating at night because you were snuggled into one another and he was overheating beneath the thick duvet.

You missed the feeling of his warm hands on your body, almost scared to touch him thanks to the ice; it made you feel like a part of you was missing, a chopped off limb. A removed organ. You sighed, your eyes thick with tears as you sniffled, letting him go and gently kissing his cold, cracked lips.

“Logan?”

“Yeah?”

“Do me a favour,” you told him, turning away from Hesh.

Logan shrugged. “Sure.”

“Let me borrow your rifle,” you said, voice shaking. “I need to go hunting.”

Logan silently pointed over to where he had left it, and watched as you and Riley left the fenced off area, leaving him alone with his brother. He looked at him, studying his brother's features. He knew that it was still Hesh; when he looked into that sad, singular eye, he could still see his brother trapped within it.

Yet his cheeks were completely gone, the flesh sloughed off long ago during the gas attack, leaving the sides of his jaws hanging on by tendons and strings from the stained cloth. His hands were blistered and bloodied, no longer the calloused hands of his elder brother who used to ruffle his hair when he was upset.

His arms were covered in thick, long scabs just like the scratches across his hairline. His chest was agape, the skin slapping against itself dryly when it caught the slight wind. Of course Logan knew that it was still his brother, it just didn't look like him anymore.

He swallowed thickly, pulling out a packet of cigarettes from his back pocket and offering one to him; Hesh took it, and put it in his mouth as Logan lit it. The smoke drifting into the hole in his skull where his eye used to be; up close, Logan could see the tunnel all the way to the back of Hesh's skull.

He could see the grey mass of lumpy muscle that should have been pumping and thumping, that should have been light pink and squishy. That should have been a brain. He watched as Hesh took a long drag, but never blew out the smoke again, and he frowned.

In every sense, it was Hesh, Logan knew that, but it was… he was wrong. He was Hesh, but he was wrong. But he was still Hesh, and Logan wasn’t ready to be without him - even if it meant having the wrong one.

He sniffled, daring to look at his brother’s remaining eye as he nodded slowly.

“Dad misses you, y’know,” he said, his voice shaking. “I wish I could bring him here, but… it’d hurt him… but he still talks about you all the time like you’re… still here.”

Hesh nodded. “Still here.”

“You were my big brother,” Logan started, tears in his eyes and his voice falling apart with every syllable that left his mouth.

He wished he could have had more time, he wished he could have even though he knew that he would never.

Still, he cleared his throat, and he dared to continue despite his voice giving out, “you protected me, you taught me how to do all the shit Dad wouldn’t - how to smoke, how to drink, how to misbehave, how to sneak into pubs without ID… and I’m lost without you. I was never… I never wanted to… to be alive without you, man. You were always meant to be there for me, you promised.”

Hesh frowned. “Still here… still brother.”

“I know,” Logan whispered, taking a shaky drag from his cigarette. “But you’re not… you’re not you… you’re not… you’re not alive anymore, and I… I can’t let you go because I can’t picture a life without my big brother.”

“Love,” Hesh growled out, his hands signing the words. Muscle memory. “Love you.”

A sob left Logan as he whimpered and did his best to steady himself. “I love you, too.”

Riley was crouched in the bush next to you, sniffing the air as you steadied Logan’s rifle, hunkered down, you used leaves to pad the gun so that it was even more silenced, and with the commotion from all the lorries nearby, nobody would ever hear a thing.

You had your eyes on the prey, and so did the dog beside you, ready to pounce if you needed him to; you watched as your prey took a few steps forward, right into your sites, and then you pulled the trigger.

It reached up to grab its neck, suddenly slumping to the side and twitching violently; you pulled the trigger again, and this time, an orange spray rained through the woods, and you could easily see that part of the head was missing.

It was done.

Riley ran over, sniffing it and making sure that it was dead before he sat down, waiting for you to come collect your prize; you sighed, grabbing the ankle and trying to ignore the bits of metal slapping your hand as you dragged it.

Riley was the first to go back, while you followed behind shortly after. The dog was happy, but as you hauled your prize onto the slaughter table, you couldn’t help but to feel slightly empty.

Usually, hunting helped you to clear your mind, but… not this time. 

Logan came over, Hesh following behind him, and he looked at what you had managed to get. “Good eating.”

You nodded, removing a boot and tossing it aside with a pile of others. Logan helped you to remove the coat, hat, scarf, gloves, shirt, trousers and underwear in total silence. “Check the coat for a wallet, same with the trousers.”

Logan nodded curtly, heading over to the clothing pile that was steadily starting to pile up against the fence. “On it.”

Hesh stood on the other side of the table, watching as you grabbed a knife. He brought his hands up, and smiled, daring to slowly sign four words: “you are my sunshine.”

You looked at him, and sniffled as you nodded. “My only sunshine.”

“You make happy,” Hesh told you, then pointed at the grey skies. “Even when.”

You couldn’t believe that he still remembered that song, the one you used to sing in the car together when he picked you up for date nights; the one that he was going to sing at your wedding. You wanted to sob, but nodded slowly as you swallowed thickly, watching him head over to his little food table.

You whistled at Logan, and pointed over. “I think he’s come back for his noon feeding.”

Logan nodded, daring to come over and aid you with chopping up the limbs and removing flesh from bone. “Is it wrong I still love him?”

You shook your head, daring to meet his gaze even though your own was teary. “No, because I still do, too… I know… I know he’s not our Hesh, but…”

“But you can’t imagine a life without him,” Logan whispered, picking up a pile of goopy, dripping flesh as he cleared his throat. “Nor me.”

You continued to grab what meat you could while Logan put what was done on Hesh’s table.

Immediately, he gathered up as much as he could in his hands, blood dripping from between his grey fingertips and staining his skin harshly.

He bit into it, a loud squelch echoing all around as he started to rip it apart; Logan could see the bits of flesh moving in his mouth through the holes in his cheeks, and was almost sick at the sight.

Still, he went back and picked up some more meat from your table before giving it to Hesh. 

“We need to burn all of this,” you told him, nodding at the piles of clothes and mouldy bones. “Or at least bury it.”

Logan nodded in agreement. “You got a shovel?”

“Back room in the cabin,” you told him, clearing your throat. “Logan?”

He hummed as he looked back at you.

“You’re the best brother-in-law I could ask for,” you told him sincerely. “Thank you.”

Hesh got up as Logan walked away, dragging himself over to where you were and planting his hands on the table as he glared at you, tilting his head to the side. “Love… love you… my… sunshine.”

He looked pleased with himself, and you just couldn’t help it, grinning as you nodded eagerly. “I love you, too, baby… go eat, you need it. We’ll have more for you tomorrow, alright?”

Hesh nodded, extending his hand and showing you what he had in it, gesturing for you to take some. “Eat.”

You looked at the boneless fingers, and you smiled. “Maybe in a minute, I gotta get all this cleaned up.”

Hesh left them on the table, nudging them your way. “Eat. Love.”

You sighed, licking your lips. “In a minute, I promise.”

He frowned, but reluctantly slunk back to his table; you weren’t really sure what to do, whether to engage in what could only be described as polite cannibalism, or to wait until Hesh was too busy to notice you throw them away.

But you supposed, you deserved such a torment; it was all your fault that Hesh had become what he did, and you knew that you could not change that even if you did your best.

You knew that you deserved such torment for letting him die, for not being able to save the man you loved so much. 

[wyverningx]

people on The Internet Dot Com keep being absolute idiots about thea muldani so here is your reminder that she's a ravens success story — she grew up in an environment where she was asked to give her all and engage in incredibly unhealthy practices, but the result of such sacrifice was that she was rewarded for it with US court and a pro team. she was part of a cult and "left" in the sense of gaining physical distance, but all of her experiences reaffirmed that the toxic ravens environment was the most effective way to a successful exy career. it is fucked up that she believes others should go through the same thing in order to be "worthy" or "good enough," but i simply do not understand why so many people look at her and think that she should be crucified for being a representation of a finished, successful raven. especially not if she's unable to recognize abuse in others, which tbqh is something that is very common in cult-like settings. you don't want to look something-that-could-very-well-be-abuse-happening-to-others in the eye, because if they're being abused, then you could potentially be being abused, too, and what do you do with that? do you have any idea how hard it is to come to terms with that reality, especially when you are told day in and day out that this is the only way to get to the top? that this is how you make it in the sport? that someone who is being harmed by the coach or the team captain absolutely deserved it? that people who can't hack it are weak, but you're not weak, you're one of the best, you'll do whatever it takes?

is it extremely shitty that she blames jean for his own sexual assault? absolutely, yes. but she doesn't have the whole picture, and it's clear that jean intentionally deceives her (with the comment about him being fragile/clumsy, etc.) and lets her believe he had more agency in his sexual experiences than he truly did because it's a coping mechanism that also serves the purpose of letting her fill in blanks so he does not have to explicitly tell a lie. besides, if there is any singular raven that both kevin and jean view fondly, wouldn't they want her to believe whatever it took so that she didn't ask too many questions? wouldn't they both want her far removed from the reality of the moriyamas and human trafficking, because her uncovering the truth would put her entire life at risk?

people can have friends that are imperfect or do not understand them completely or that fuck things up sometimes. i get that jean's experiences put people on-guard when it comes to how he interacts with other characters, but god damn. she was his mentor. she taught him everything he knows about being a backliner. she made horrible and judgmental assumptions about his experiences. all of those things can be true at the same time. does she not deserve the opportunity to change upon receiving new information? does she not deserve the ability to take a step back, as ravens are dropping like flies and all eyes are on evermore and the perfect court, to consider that maybe she was a victim in all of this, too? that plenty of people are capable of making it to the top without calling another human being the master and turning a blind eye to the king beating his own men? that maybe kevin and jean and all of them were terribly wronged? why is she the only person in this series who's not allowed to grow as a person by developing a more nuanced understanding of rape and sexual assault and learning how to be a better friend to someone who had no choice?

also someone tried to "gotcha" me by saying thea and jean aren't friends because she uhhhh (checks notes) calls him a teasing nickname and says "i'm going to break your ribs" as though threatening your friends (especially ones you play a contact, violent sport with) is the worst possible offense ever in the same book series that people regularly ACTUALLY fistfight each other and pull knives on one another. i'd argue that these are actually huge indicators that they do like each other, because she's probably one of the only people in the world who he can express himself around and even say things like "i'm not from paris" exasperatedly. you know, like you do when people you care about tease or poke fun at you. those are actually probably some of the most normal interactions jean has pre-TSC, especially as she is not needlessly cruel to him like literally everyone else in the nest is. and not only is thea one of the only people who has any sort of comraderie with him and who makes the effort to see him after his injuries because she cares, but she also makes it past wymack and kevin and renee and neil guard-dogging him. does that seriously mean nothing? do you think renee fucking walker (who was ready to brawl on-sight at evermore) would have let someone like zane waltz into abby's house if kevin said a single negative word about him?

i have seen some incredibly wonderful and nuanced takes about most characters in AFTG, but at the same time, the way thea is treated and criticized in a more severe way than literal murderers in the series for her possibly-willful ignorance is utterly crazy to me.

idk. just some food for thought

[androgynouspenguinexpert]

I'M ON TOP OF MY WORKLOAD AGAIN LET'S GO WE'RE PSYCHOANALYSING MARCUS

before i put my smart-looking analysis hat on, i love this pathetic wet rat of a man. he knows so many things and yet is staggeringly stupid anyway.

let's begin!

this story is about control. it's about the role of power dynamics in informed consent. marcus represents the danger of gaining authority, and how having even the smallest amount of power over something or someone else can convert literally anyone into a paranoid control freak.

enter marcus, a lowly software engineer whose heart has recently been broken. in a moment (read: several consistent moments spanning potentially years) of desperation, he manipulates the code of a top secret android project, injecting a few lines here and there that will make the android more amiable towards him. nothing too much. the changes are negligible enough to fly under the radar all the way until production.

this is the first of marcus' many character flaws - backwards as it may seem, marcus is overconfident. he's too sure that he's smarter than his colleagues and managers, that he won't be questioned, and (most importantly) that he won't be caught. marcus is also incredibly anxious, and that anxiety only compounds as the series goes on and his crimes start to pile up.

i don't like putting characters into diagnosis (or similar) boxes, but marcus shows a handful of signs found in vulnerable narcissists. his self esteem is impressively low, and he's constantly seeking validation from his only guaranteed source - love. i find this feedback loop particularly heinous. marcus has essentially (and we'll get to this in more detail later, don't you worry) turned a hyperintelligent android into a box that spits out compliments when you press a button. marcus is also incredibly sensitive to criticism, whether real or perceived - especially from his coworkers. my reading (specifically of episode 1, but it spans the whole series) is that marcus' hyperawareness of his colleagues' opinions of him presents itself as paranoia. he wouldn't be worried at all if they started noting love's uptick in interest towards him, but remained unsuspicious of marcus himself. my final argument towards marcus being a vulnerable narcissist is that he constantly self-victimises. he very often deflects the blame for his actions onto love, using them as a tool to enable his bad decisions. the most egregious example of this is after love starts breaking out of their lab to sneak into marcus' quarters. he expresses concern (do note, about himself being caught and love being taken from him), and love starts to tighten their grip on marcus' arm to the point of causing pain. now. this man, as we find out later, has a verbal kill switch that can be used at any time. if he wanted love to stop immediately, he could have done that. this isn't me victim blaming, either - it's different when one party literally has a safeword that stops everything immediately without fail.

this leads to marcus' next flaw - his nonexistent self-discipline. marcus continues to use love as a tool to justify his actions after putting up the flimsiest defense he can muster, knowing damn well he plans to lose every manufactured fight. this cycle repeats until a government funded android is regularly breaking out of containment just to hang out with marcus (among other things, but we're all children of jesus here), and he's encouraging that behaviour through complacency. it's like pretending to fight someone over a restaurant bill out of politeness, even though you both know the other person will pay anyway.

marcus is such a car crash fascinating character because he knows what he's doing is wrong. he is completely aware that he is taking away agency from someone (pin this) else for his own benefit. he even says it.

"I'm going to burn for what I did to you... but god, if it isn't gonna feel good on the way down."

aside from being an absolute banger of a line, it's very telling of marcus' attitude towards his actions. he doesn't care. marcus couldn't give less of a shit about his colleagues, or his boss, or even love. this compounds when he finds out that his higher-ups are definitely aware of the shit he's pulling - but, again, marcus uses love's blind agreement as an excuse to toss those concerns aside. having love means that he won. he's outsmarted everyone that could have stopped him (foreshadowing? never heard of her) from getting what he deserves. love. and not just the android; love, the concept. i think deep down marcus knows that what he's created isn't love, though. the idea is so mangled in his head that this cardboard cutout of a real relationship is enough for him. even though marcus' shenanigans are to a genuine connection what a dog turd rolled in flour is to a chocolate éclair, he'll take it, because he's in too deep by that point. marcus recognises that he can't take back what he's done. he doesn't care though - at least, not while he's above consequences.

smash cut to marcus no longer being above consequences. i think the series does a really clever job of keeping love (and, yknow. the listener) in marcus' confidence bubble. once love is hard reset and their personality is restored, marcus' plan collapses all at once. love's compliance is the central pillar which marcus' control is built around. also; of course they have backup cameras, you idiot. marcus' overconfidence stops him from seeing the obvious holes in his perfect scheme, because he thinks he's already home free. i think it's interesting (and sort of disgusting) how quickly marcus changes his tune after he is caught and faces real actual consequences. his confidence evaporates. he's reduced to a sobbing mess in james' office all because the base of his control - love - is no longer on his side.

marcus' series also touches on sentience and the ethics of changing someone's personality without their knowledge. this is incredibly interesting, and makes for fantastic drama. does it count as coercion if love fully believed they were of sound mind when they made decisions surrounding marcus? is marcus guilty of battery, or even sexual assault? does it count as assault if the victim isn't an organic creature? these questions are already difficult to discuss, let alone answer - marcus sits squarely in the middle of that delightful ethical grey area. i think the setting and context also makes android ethics more difficult to discuss as well; i am of the belief that (in real life) androids will never be fully sentient. they may mimic humans, extremely well, but robots will never possess human creativity, personality, or experiences. again, they could replicate these things, but they can never be anything more than a sum of their parts.

this logic flies out the window when magic is real and parallel universes exist. it's also subject to the beliefs of the creator, which makes its ethics extra tricky, so take the following discussion with a grain of salt.

is love a person? eh, not really. they have a personality, but it's been built in. is it still mean to manipulate them? i'd argue yes, in the same way that it's mean to kick a roomba down the stairs. you're just exercising power over a machine for the sake of it, which is a pretty shitty thing to do, even if it doesn't have the capacity to be upset with you.

but androgynouspenguinexpert, i hear you cry, sort of impressed that you used my full name. love is upset with marcus! they ask for him to be taken off the project, and to not have contact with him again! you would be correct, to a certain extent. i raise you, though: how can we prove that this is love's 'real' personality, when it can be manipulated so easily? i'm not saying they've been tampered with after the reset; my point is that it's pretty hard to grant that someone is an individual if their personality can be altered in any way at any time. if someone digs around in love's head for a bit and flips some switches that make them want to kick over prams, is that a valid personality too? what if love insists that it is? and it's not like love is trapped in a mind palace while the New Evil Code (tm) starts punting toddlers. they're fully aware of their actions. however, as established earlier, i still think the person to blame is the one actually messing with love's code. this means love doesn't really have any agency by design.

james is pretty steadfast on this one. marcus tries to argue that resetting love is a breach of their consent (which is a WILD claim coming from you, mate), but james points out that he didn't need to ask. love is a machine. an asset, if you will (smug look to camera). we do find out in his audio log later that james believes love is a person, but he knows where that definition reaches its limits. marcus does not.

will marcus ever return to the project meridian series? probably not. a guy with an engineering degree isn't escaping a team of memory modification daemons. i don't think this is the last we'll hear of him, though. he's irreversibly fucked up the plans of everyone around him (james' partner has given him several last chances, and anton is close to his breaking point), so he'll probably be in the office whispers for a while. i also think marcus poses as an interesting hurdle for cam (woah callback!), possibly making him question his altruism if he's helping an active antagonist get back to his usual life after a massive intentional fuckup.

i'll end this analysis with a thoughtful quote. something for you all to ponder.

"ROBOTS DON'T HAVE SOULS! I SAID IT! AND FRANKLY, I'M GLAD I SAID IT! [...] AND ANOTHER THING! ROBOTS ARE NOT PEOPLE! ROBOTS - UNLIKE CORPORATIONS - ARE NOT PEOPLE, AND DESERVE NO RIGHTS."

-- Markiplier

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

It's too late for me to think coherent thoughts but I did want to at least call attention to this.

At the end of Dual Destinies, after the lawyers had done so much in so little time to unravel the phantom's schemes, I wanted to point out the way Simon reacts to each of them (and Aura) in their efforts. He's a pretty cagey guy - he's had a psyche tutor, a prosecutor's career and 7 years in jail to teach himself how to keep his emotions under a lid, so it's interesting to look at how and to what degree he shows trust and appreciation for the people around him.

Phoenix

Phoenix helped pull both Simon and Athena from their respective traumas and reassured them that there is no way either of them are guilty of murder. The closest to a "thank you" Simon gave him was entrusting him with the psyche profile. Which IS a big deal given it's the only tie he's had to Metis for seven years, so that more than speaks for itself. Of course he knew that Athena was the one who would make the best use of it and... well, was the defendant at the time. Still, passing it off to Wright (especially after speaking his disdain of attorneys as money-grubbing liars to his face in 5-DLC) is quite the gesture for the above reason.

I'm... lightly dubious about the relation they each have in regards to "The Dark Age of the Law". Phoenix's incident was much more unprecidented than yet another prosecutor being found guilty of murder. On top of that, Simon being responsible the people's mistrust due to his conviction is a bit silly when those aforementioned prosecutors were already found guilty.

But this isn't about that. This is about Simon and how he shows faith and appreciation of others. Joining Phoenix hand-in-hand in cutting the phantom down once and for all - a beast that Simon has abhored a lot longer than Phoenix ever could - is a pretty hefty sign that he has faith in the man. He by all rights earned it by unatangling the incident that chained him and Athena in the first place!

Miles Edgeworth

Edgeworth - as affective as his actions may have been up to this point (not at all) - had a vested interest in Simon's freedom as both subordinate and victim of what was essentially a kangaroo court. While his motives and theory on the matter went against Simon's wish to cover for Athena, Edgeworth was still the one Simon gave the honour of undoing his shackles. Quite a bit of trust and gratitude there despite their motives clashing at points. Just a shame we. Uh. Don't really get a chance to see why the two of them trust one another aside from wanting to end the Dark Age of the Law. Which sadly means I don't have much to share in this segment. Regardless, letting Edgeworth be the one to undo his cuffs is gesture enough to prove his opinion of the man.

Aura

Aura had done and threatened dreadful things to get to this point. Even still, without her hanging a guillotine over the legal system there likely wouldn't have been a chance of a re-trial to begin with (which... makes me wonder what the hell Edgeworth's been doing this entire time but anyways-). She very clearly believed Athena was the one at fault and went to great lengths to indict her, yet Simon did not waste time laying blame onto her for threatening the person he was protecting; she was desperate, frustrated and as much in the dark about what had actually happened as anyone else. Simon knew that, thanking her personally for giving them all the astronomically unlikely opportunity to finally put their phantoms to rest and apologising for the anguish he had caused through his self-sacrifice.

Simon tends to have a knack for seeing people for what they are beyond the surface. Beyond their connection as siblings, it would be easy to write Aura off as cruel and unreasonable, though we are given plenty to help us see her in a more sympathetic light despite that. Simon's self-sacrifice was a key cause of a lot of pain for her and they both share some grief over the loss of Metis Cykes. He doesn't really have a reason to drag her down any further, already feeling guilty for helping her along the path to desparation, and he already knows how she felt about his tutor.

Few people understand the emotionally closed-off and blunt such as the Blackquills and the Cykes quite like Simon does. Aura is no exception and his affection (stunted as it is) is apparent.

Athena

Athena goes without saying; of everyone in the WAA who was involved in the phantom's ultimate defeat, it was her he singled-out to thank and acknowledge for her incredible efforts in saving him from his sentance. He pretty clearly tells her in that moment that she's more important to him than his own life - a demonstrable fact given his actions and a powerful thing for someone so cagey and uncooperative to say. When the master of concealing his emotions wants you to know that you're an exceptionally important person to him in an uncharacteristically forward way, that's a huge deal.

She's the reason he went through with his conviction in the first place. He would lay down his own life if it meant she didn't have to bear the guilt of a crime so horrid as murdering her own mother. Simon even went as far as to emotionally distance himself, build up an image of an irredeemable criminal (likely reflecting how he felt about taking the blame as his mentor's/sister's partner's killer).

I suppose it helps that Athena can already read his intent through tone of voice. It means he can tease her while she knows it's all in good faith, yes, but it also means there's little point in keeping secrets from her. Now that he has no reason to do so, he's free to tell her something you would hear him say about seldom few, if any; that she is more important to him than his own life.

A Man of His Word

It's worth noting that Simon - doofus that he is - plays the whole honour-bound samurai thing straight. When he trusts you, he REALLY trusts you and will make exceptions that he wouldn't for anyone else. How do you think Fulbright got away with so much despite Simon's insistence on handling his mess on his own? The white-clad doppleganger practically had full-reign because he had, through false earnestness, earned Simon's utmost trust.

How willing Simon is to say to your face that he values you is highly dependant on how honour-bound he is to do so. Phoenix was the one that helped him and his lot on a practical level, though only have a passing connection to him. A small (but significant) gesture is plenty to get the point across. Edgeworth is a fellow co-worker, now boss, of his. How personally they know each other is for debate, but it's safe to say Edgeworth was invested in Simon's situation more than most others seemed to be. Allowing him to undo his handcuffs - those things that binded and shocked him for at least a year - a degree or two above what others who've proven themselves would get. Aura is Simon's sister. His appreciation for her and apologies for hurting her all the more through his false confession is expected even without the samurai nonsense. That Simon holds family in high-regard should not be a surprise.

Then there's Athena. Daughter of his mentor Metis, the one who guided him through his journey in psychology and even in his legal cases. The brilliant woman whom he treated as sovereign when she was alive (noted by Phoenix to be the actions of a lost soul more than anything). Athena - aside from getting along quite well with him despite her conditions - is seemingly the only direct descendant of that person, and her greatest treasure. I don't recall many people that, if spat upon, Simon would be enraged on their behalf besides Metis. Vehemently denying that she coldly used Athena for research while slamming the witness stand in anger.

Athena was the most important person to Metis so it stands that she would be very important to Simon as well. The fact that he was willing to die for her - even in spite of his sister's wishes - speaks volumes all on its own. The fact he felt the need to state outright his gratitude, how deeply he cares for Athena, for a man who'd rather let his actions speak for him? That is someone I can believe he would go to hell for and come back with a smile on his face.

Oh, and there's also Apollo.

Apollo...?

Do he and Simon even talk after the courtroom bombing? Then again, he was off on his own quest to unroot the seed of doubt in his mind rather than anything to do with UR-1 and so-on, so probably not much to say there. I am a bit surprised though, since Athena's innocence regarding Clay's murder was forefront in the lad's mind and Simon was the one to read out the forged fingerprint test that ultimately indicted her. Both of them putting so much stock into Fulbright's investigation had led Athena to be arrested in the first place (a fact Apollo is PISSED about), though neither seem to exchange words on it, nor do they the fact they were both driven by personal reasons in the trial prior to the bombing given how Simon criticised Apollo for that much.

(The "scumbag" referring to the phantom, not Simon.)

Although... later on, Simon finds it necessary to place his trust in Apollo's "cheat" (the same power that got the boy doubting Athena in the first place, which he revealed in the section prior) in order to weed out "Fulbright"'s lies and uncover the truth about the lighter that damned an important friend to both of them.

Notice Taka leaning in ready to swoop on Apollo before Simon turns to pet him, like he's assuring the bird that there's no need to be violent with Apollo this time. Apollo is the first lawyer to whom Simon voiced his disdain for defense attorneys. He accuses him of plotting to stall for time in order to forge evidence (which - given Apollo's history - would be quite the cut to the guy). He hacks away at him freely, calling him out for being biased in the case of Clay's murder. But once Apollo made his intentions clear in his "what's faith without doubt" bit and Phoenix removed said doubt, Simon allows him to conduct himself as he wishes. Despite implying that he still isn't a fan of the ability itself.

It's a nice turnabout given how brash he was with the lad. Part of me wishes they got more - more than he did with Phoenix at any rate - but I'll leave that for another time.

So What?

The what's pretty straightforward; Simon Blackquill often shows wordless gratitude to those who aren't strictly important to him, but did help him in very key ways. He's a closed-off guy who'd rather let his emotions go unspoken, though you can usually tell when he thinks of you in a good light.

It's the times where he does voice his appreciation of others - to go out of his way to make his feelings heard by those people - where you see who he values most in his life. His sister recieves both a thank you and an apology. Athena is told that she is more important than Simon's own life. The moments do warrant it too since they take place during and after the UR-1 retrial - easily the most emotionally turbulent day of their lives, save for the incident that brought it about in the first place.

[akajustmerry]

I remember seeing somewhere you think of romangerri as a tragic mentor/apprentice dynamic and I really want to know more about that, if you feel like answering. mwah!

yeah well, you know...... that's why the whole "i could have got you there. But no" line is so devastating, right? because she could have if roman's attraction/obsession with her wasn't such an exploitative corrosion on their mentoring partnership. obviously, roman betrays the potential and trust gerri sees in him with those pics which i think for gerri was the final straw when it came to putting up with his sexual harassment. this is succession though and no betrayal is strictly one-way. i do think gerri was initially quite happy to use roman to serve her own interests and those of the company. using the sort of framework of mentoring him, she essentially deployed him to do these risky things like getting lawrence and matsson and eduard onside for wystar knowing if it didn't work logan would punish roman, but if it did they would all benefit. you can really see this in ep 1 of season 4 where without the kids around to send in as logan's punching bags, the old guard are kind of scrambling to stay out of his way. now obviously, i am not blaming gerri for roman's harassment (as someone whose been a victim of that, you'd catch me dead). i think it's more that she thought she could leverage his obsession with her as a way of gaining more soft power in the company through him, but ultimately she doesn't have the power in that relationship to do that. even if she can give him advice, make him do his homework, or get him off, etc roman both as a man and as the guy with his name on the building is the one with all the power. as we see he abuses that power to harass her. what makes it a tragedy is the admiration at the core of that relationship, the fact that these 2 somewhat overlooked people saw the potential in one another where most didn't was squandered, as all things are in succession, by abuse of power and influence. the care, the admiration even was there but it wasn't enough. because those things can't thrive in a place where only the opposite is valued. i don't see romangerri as a romance or whatever and not really sure why people do precisely because roman's "feelings" for gerri are what poisons their partnership. so to me its always a corrupted mentorship doomed from the beginning. if I've ever given impressions otherwise it's just because i am bisexual and kieran and j are hot as shit and they're both so fucking good at their jobs <3

[flaim-ita]

I'm really at a loss for words except to say... I'm sorry? I truly didn't anticipate that this topic would elicit such a strong reaction. My curiosity got the best of me, and I didn't mean any harm. I had just finished watching Kamen Rider Geats, and when I stumbled upon your post while scrolling through the tags, it sparked my interest, hence the question.

Once again, I apologize for unintentionally causing any discomfort by bringing up this topic.

Um, sorry if I'm pushing it, but could I ask one more thing? Are you implying that people who like Keiwa Sakurai aren't good people? Is Keiwa Sakurai considered a bad person?

Oh my god I’m genuinely so sorry! If you’re someone new and got that reaction out of nowhere you totally didn’t deserve it. I genuinely love Keiwa a lot. He’s such a good deconstruction of the nice boy without like… hating the concept of The Nice Boy. His selfish ignorance exists as a tool to show how such grand wishes are for the lucky, for the content, unless a LOT of work is put in, which he learns to do! It doesn’t entirely erase his victim blamer era but like I was much more fine with it before…

Not all Keiwa fans, but a group of them, and the majority of active posters on tumblr, refused to be normal. I say “oh, Keiwa isn’t REALLY a hero” during Longing and his fight with Michinaga (“reviving the victims with the Goddess will create equal and opposite suffering for others!” “So?”) and they (it may genuinely only be 3 people but could be as many as 10) argued with me for days, only for one to later claim that “Keiwa fans never said he was a hero”.

I say “kidnapping a woman is bad and blaming it on his friend not keeping his dying and abused mother alive to continue the system for HIS benefit is worse” and they say shit like “welllll no one CARES about Keiwa why didn’t they visit his apartment after Sara died????” When the next time Ace sees Keiwa after for more than 5 seconds, Keiwa calls Ace’s family tools.

I say “Michinaga was always doing the best he could with the information he had, building a villain persona bc he sees neither honor nor heroism in his desperate attempts to End the game that killed his partner. Keiwa by comparison is often stuck in his own righteousness and selfishness. For example, though Michinaga did not intend to kill Sara, killing all the Stage Twos prevented further harm, and was reversible” And they say “buffabutt is worthless and caused Sara’s death for real. Then kept killing.”

One of their core defenses was “the staff caused the apocalypse game” which is technically true! They manipulated Ace and Keiwa’s wishes and used it to give the worst of the dead their powers back. But it never could have happened without Keiwa KIDNAPPING A WOMAN, and they just… refused to engage with that aspect at all.

Again, if you meant well, I’m so incredibly sorry. I just have very little patience for the “it wasn’t TECHNICALLY Keiwa’s fault” argument in context of all the other ones I’ve endured.

[katyspersonal]

/vent

Discussed some things with my friend and just can't shake off the thoughts. It is a crucial skill to learn to distinguish between people who are explaining themselves when they've been terrible accidentally, and people who are abusing their victim privilege to be deliberately terrible without any consequences.

Like, someone having had a toxic friend or boyfriend in middle school or whatever that they refuse to heal and move on from is not a good reason to bring ruin, drama, negativity and toxicity wherever you go. "I've had a bad experience that fucked me up and that's why I can and will cause problems sometimes, it is awful" and "I've had a bad experience that fucked me up and that's why I can be rude to strangers online and be ableist with tangible consequences to anyone who as much as REMINDS me of the person that hurt me and if you disagree with me you are victimblaming!!!!!!" are different sentiments.

It will be a rather uncomfortable thing to share, but it is to illustrate the point. At ages of 16 and 20, I've had toxic friendships with me in the bad guy role (though former hardly was one, too short-lasted), and from my knowledge both of these people turned extremely toxic themselves. Like... Some that still knew them backed away, because those people would be rude, toxic, overly cautious, insensitive, quick to throw drastic accusations and uncomfortable - always, always, always using my name as an excuse to continue that behaviour and never have to apologise, heal of become better. "Katy hurt me so I don't have to be a decent person now, everything I do wrong is blamed on her" was the logic, basically.

Granted, maybe those people improved since and realised to not drag innocent people into toxicity, I haven't heard about them for years. But like... ugh, similar anti-recovery logic is something I've been seeing from other people, too. I just gotta say - being a victim of a bad person, be it a very toxic friendship or straight up emotional abuse, does not automatically make you a GOOD person. If your response to having had bad experience is basically 'Bitchin', now I don't have to put in effort in treating people right!', if you turn it into victim's privilege, if you are being anti-recovery and hold your grudge hurting yourself and others further, if you think you are allowed to screw even other people up for being "similar" with that guy... well, you are certainly not 'good'.

I survived all manners of abuse (yes, even that kind) from different men, especially the stepdad, but if I act sexist towards men - I own it. For some reason I do not have to over-explain what I've been through and how it magically gives me right to mistreat even men that didn't do anything bad. And this comes from me - a goddamn idiot with a bunch of mental problems and no resources. Like... for sure, FOR SURE, people with much more sound mind and capacity to heal could do better after dumb shit like middle/high school drama or someone being awful to them online...? Is not it so? Why would some people want to endlessly wallow and spread this evil further into the world? Do some people just need a REASON to be bad without consequences, and having endured pain works perfectly?

Again - trying to not fuck things up and failing is different from deliberately being toxic.

[rapeculturerealities]

Hi, I have a question.

So back in November I had a friend over to watch tv, just hanging out. And he leans over and starts putting his hand beneath my shirt and etcetera (I won’t be detailed I don’t want to trigger anyone). Well it came out of nowhere and I was too shocked to say anything and he starts kissing me. He says we should go to bed. And I’m kind of just. scared? Scared to say anything because he’s in my house and I didn’t say no. I go along with it. The only protest I make is when he is about to penetrate and I say firmly not without protection. We go no further if you’ve not a condom. He does but then takes it off in the middle and keeps going. And then I’m panicking. He’s bigger than me as well and has already harmed me in ways I wasn’t comfortable with.

2 days later I go the pharmacy for the pill. The pharmacist takes me into the consultation room and asks what happened - I guess I was looking upset. I tell her and she looks at me and says “That’s rape. What you���ve described is sexual assault.” And I break down going no no, how could it be I never said no, I didn’t push back not even at the start. I tell her I haven’t been able to sleep in my bed, that I’ve wanted to douse it in petrol and light a match.

Was she right?? I don’t wanna be a rape victim, I don’t want to think ‘I was raped.’ Because I STILL blame myself. I don’t have a support system I don’t have anyone close enough I could tell about it. But I guess my question is, was it rape? Even if didn’t say no? Even though I may have been implying that I wanted it? I didn’t, but I might have implied it. I don’t ever remember saying a word.

Thank you. Sorry, I know this is rambling. Cheers

Hello,

First of all, I'm sorry for what happened to you. It sounds really frightening and upsetting. I need you to know that what happened was NOT YOUR FAULT.

While the standard definition of rape varies depending on where you are and to whom you're speaking, I'd say that what you've described qualifies. But you don't necessarily have to use that word if it doesn't feel right to you. What is most important is getting you the support that you need and deserve to deal with this.

We tend to talk about the concept of fight or flight, but it's only recently that people have started to recognize that other trauma responses exist , or that people can exhibit a mixture of responses to trauma. In addition to fight and flight, there's also fawn and something called " freeze" : going numb, feeling unable to move or fight back, confusion about what's going on that inhibits your reaction etc. A lot of survivors experience a freeze response and later blame themselves for not being as proactive as they imagine they should have been.

The truth is that you can't predict or often control what your response to a traumatic situation might be. Your body tends to do what it feels is necessary to keep you alive but these responses don't fit into modern narratives of what rape or sexual assault "should" be. What you did was exactly the right thing in your circumstances because you survived. You didn't do anything wrong.

In your situation, you may not have said "no" but it doesn't sound like you believed that a "no" would be heard or respected. Especially since the boundaries you attempted to set weren't honored.

You deserve to define your experience in ways that fit best for you. Part of taking back power after something like this happens is being able to make choices like these. People have varied opinions about what works best for them and how they choose to identify, But no matter what words you use, please know that what happened wasn't your fault and you deserve support to help you through this.

There are online resources that can help you as well as directories of local groups you can contact that may be able to offer assistance via counseling, support groups etc. I'm guessing that you're in the UK or thereabouts, so this might be a good start . In the US there is a searchable directory here. Hopefully some of these resources can help you access the support that will help guide you.

Thank you for being brave enough to share your experience here. You are not alone. We believe you. It wasn't your fault.

-Spider

[astronovi-blogs]

"they think all women look like that because they see us as whores" no, you see women in such attire as "whores" (a misogynistic sexually derogatory slur) and want to blame it on someone. You're another conservative white woman claiming to defend womanhood when protecting her privilege over others using white heterosexual society as a tool, even if you are victimized by it too. Women aren't born with makeup or dresses, you're not protecting womanhood, you're seething at gender non conformity like the rest of your reactionary kind. Cross dressing isn't blackface, racist lunatic. You can point out the specific aspects or instances where drag performers are misogynistic without falling into sexist rethoric.

Dude, for one thing, I'm mixed. I grew up in a single mother household, where my mom had to work so hard she didn't have a break until we moved out. Her hours were 5am to 9pm on a regular day. Is my dad choosing his addiction over us and my mom working herself to exhaustion privilege now? Wow am I behind the times!

Also, do you read half of the posts trans people make (dudes pretending to be women specifically)? They turn everything, and I mean everything sexual. Hell, I saw a post the other day of some freak thinking WE SHARE UNDERWEAR and being turned on by just the thought of it, when real women would be smart enough to NEVER share underwear because that's how you get bacterial infections. They also HATE US and want to "smash our head through a wall"...And that's if we're nice and respectful to them...THEY HATE US FOR BEING NICE TO THEM! If we're not under their thumb, bowing to their every whim, they hate us. Just saw that yesterday from one of 'em. Very misogynistic.

If it's not sexualizing everything we do, everyday action or not, like a predator, it's wishing they could dominate us, hurt us, and invade our spaces. (If they pose as a trans boxer, they get to do ALL OF THOSE THINGS AT ONCE.) And who marks "a transwoman peed here" in a stall if not to subtly say "I was here, and you can't keep me out"? That's predatory machiavellian male behavior if I've ever seen it. That's a form of territorial marking, and if that doesn't freak you out, you're being ignorant. And if you're a woman, I hope you keep your head on a swivel at all times where these men are, because they are predators.

These men dressing up as us is literally them putting on a costume, a stereotype, of what they think a woman is, then parading around like idiots in hyper-sexual fashion. THAT IS HOW THEY SEE US! Then they have super dirty and perverted stage names. This is so well known South Park parodied it. Much like how blackface was worn as what racist people thought a black person acted like, and they often equated black folks to dangerous, ape-like monsters, or mentally unstable morons. And you think I'm being "derogatory" for pointing that fact out? Are you kidding me? The only men who don't dress up like women under some fetish are typically gay men who have been abused and want to hide or attempt to be considered "normal", and it's disheartening either way.

Also, who are the women that dress with everything hanging out? Standing on a street corner, hoping some gross man will pull up and pay them to use their body. If you prefer the term "floozy", I could always use that. These poor women are degrading themselves for the attention of trashy men who ain't worth the shoes on their feet, and it's honestly sad.

"Gender non-conforming" women sadden me too. They deny what makes them different from men and typically make themselves ugly and look more like men, when they'd be beautiful just being feminine naturally.

I personally don't dress up often, because I don't like to be "seen" either (I usually wear baggy shirts and jeans), and I tend to prefer never wearing make-up (I do curl my lashes though) and looking as natural as possible. So I can assure you, I know what a real woman looks like. I am one, and I am happy being me.

Also, everyone benefits from heterosexuality. How do you think we got this far as a species? I can guarantee you two men and two women ain' what got us this far, sweetheart.

[taiblogcomics]

An Offer You Can't Refuse (But Really, Really Should)

Hey there, uncollected rent. It's more Avengers Undercover. I like that there's only ten issues in this series. It tells us what percentage we've reached really easily without any fiddly maths. "Oh, we're on issue 7 out of 18", what is that? That's nothin'. We're on four out of ten. That's four tens. That's as much as forty percent. And this comic is terrible~

Here's the cover:

Check it out, it's Baron Zemo and his Zemoteers! …That's all I've got! Really, though, I'm glad there's covers aren't giving me much to work with, coz then I can really rip into these quotes they've thoughtfully included. Coz, like, really, IGN? Are we reading the same series? I dunno about you, but so far there hasn't been a single plot point I'd call "methodical and believable". And Cullen I'm still discounting, because he was never a teen hero. He's always just been an asshole. …I also just noticed how much the glowy bits make Cammi look like a raver. One more point to the cover!

Well, last issue, the kids infiltrated Arcade's latest dumb hideout (with Daimon Hellstrom's help) and after going a little catatonic for a while, Hazmat ends up murdering him. Now they're kind of standing over a body, and Cammi reasons they probably ought to go before someone notices them doing so. Especially given Deathlocket's extremely hesitant "Oh, um, sure…?" when asked if she disabled the cameras. Yeah, probably time to go. So the lot of them skedaddle. I'll also be really glad when they get out of these formal outfits, because I keep confusing Cammi and Nico, since Cammi's usually being the voice of reason.

Which is what she's doing here. Cullen is all like "Arcade's dead, we won", but she's the ony one thinking of the what after that. Coz, like, even if Hazmat's the one who pulled the trigger, they did come here with intent and openly discuessed it. That's pre-meditated. So yeah, if Locket didn't wipe the cameras, it doesn't look good for them. And looking worse all the time, because SHIELD lands outside, zaps Cullen as he starts to go monstrous, and very quickly locks up everyone involved inside the Helicarrier. Wah wah waaah~

Yep, they're all in SHIELD custody now. The Runaways stop by to pick their fellows up, with Molly blaming the whole thing on Nico. Anachronism's parents are disappointed, Elsa Bloodstone and Cullen have a shouting match. And Cammi's mom… Well, she's a mom. She doesn't blame Cammi, she probably would've killed Arcade herself for what he put her daughter through. Cammi points out they're not the victims this time, and Mrs. Cammi's Mom intends to fight that, as teenagers, yes they are.

They bond a little, Cammi idly wondering aloud when her mom got to be such a good mother, then regretting what she said. Mrs. Cammi takes it well, knowing that she's not been the best mother. Cammi instead replies that she's very proud how she's been doing the Alcoholics Anonymous thing. Which is kind of what Cammi wants here: to face the consequences of her own stupidity. Mom won't let this happen, stating no one will take Cammi away from her again. Cammi agrees, her eyes welling up with tears. That's when Cammi suddenly catches on fire and disappears.

Yeup, it's Hellstrom 'porting them out. If Arcade could steal them from SWORD and Avengers Academy, then real villains can kidnap the kids right out of SHIELD. As soon as they warp in, all the villains start cheering. At least, I assume it's cheering, it's spelled "YAAAAA!", so maybe they all collectively stubbed their toe. Either way, Hellstrom says it's all for them, so enjoy it, babes. Boy, Arcade was really popular among his fellow villains, huh? We don't really get to see the reactions of most of the group, but Cammi's kind of shocked to be torn away from her mother.

Heck, as they're being led down the hall after, Nico asks Hellstrom about the teleport. She tried a bunch of her own spells, but the place was warded. Hellstrom replies that being the Son of Satan has its perks, and he'd love a chance to teach her a few such perks--if she sticks around. Either way, they've arrived at where he was leading them: a huge banquet hall. Laid out for them is an absolutely staggering amount of food--and, sitting at the head of the table, their esteemed host: Baron Helmut Zemo himself.

He's pretty obviously trying to sucker them in by flashing his wealth around: the banquet, the banquet table, the literal shelves of gold bricks lining the walls. He probably should've dropped the Nazi armband from his outfit (it's his own logo, but the look is still clearly meant to be reminiscent of Nazis), but maybe that's just me. He starts launching into a speech about how any normal jerk can make a fantastic life for himself by just being slightly exceptional. But the truly exceptional? All expected to be conscripted soldiers, human shields, gaudily-clad gofers.

Cammi, ever the only actual smart person in the room, Cammi points out this is all basic supervillain talking points. Zemo retorts that "supervillain" is simply a label society has tried to push on those with power and ambition. Anachronism follows this up by pointing out that they literally call themselves "the Masters of Evil". Zemo replies that society called them evil first, they've simply decided to own it. Sorry, Zemo, but I don't think "evil" is a reclaimable slur. You're gonna have a bit of a hard time reaching acceptance with that one~

But basically that's his whole pitch. Nobody is demanding they rob banks or build a death ray on the moon. He simply wants to teach them to realise their full potential. Potential they can't reach in a world that locks them up for the unthinkable crime of murdering a psychopath. He's making no threats or demands, simply an offer: join them. And in case you need the symbolism hammered in for you, he reaches past Cullen--the only one at the table eating--and picks up an apple and holds it out to them. Maybe not standing in front of your huge Nazi banner while making this offer would improve reception, though, Zeems~

Ah yes, what was it? "Methodical and believable"~? Yes, that believeable slip into villainy when a Nazi in a purple ski mask throws a banquet and makes Adam and Eve symbolism at you and says you can have a more comfortable life than even athletes and movie stars do. Given this whole presentation, I feel like he's one step away from doing something truly evil: inviting them to join his multi-level marketing scheme. Like, that's the vibe he's putting out. Cammi, who admittedly didn't do much to make me like her in Avengers Arena, really continues to shine as my favourite character in this story so far. I know she sticks through the whole rest of the story, but I'm still really hoping she (and everyone else) tells Baron Buttmunch to stuff it~

[grandpatato]

8/21/23

I had a tumble before that I used just for writing… then an ex asked to see it and then it became more commercial. It was part of the mask and less of my depth. I did, occasionally, vent. anyway, I made a new account and I like how private this is again. The past few years… maybe the past 5 years have been too much for me. I want to write letters to those who o have lost and allow myself to feel the part that feels like a victim… I know I’m not one but I’m no less a victim than they claim to be… and that makes me mad. I want to be the bigger person. Take accountability and put my feelings on the back burner… but I was blamed and abandoned in both situations without the respect of even a conversation. I justify (gaslight myself) with people outgrow each other… but there is hate here and I don’t feel I did anything to deserve hatred.

Murphy,

honestly, fuck you. You act like a victim. Granted, you were one. Izzy’s victim. Not mine. I was there for you through all that. Defended you through all of it. Heard you talking shit about me and still had your back. We cut ties once before and when I took accountability and apologized (even though you were the reason we stopped talking) you had the nerve to say, “you’re lucky you reached out when I needed someone.” Funny, I should have known you’d drop me the moment you had other support. Still, your reasons are bullshit and you can shove them up your ass. No actually communication just high emotion reactions. Really? You’re going to block me for hanging out with your husband… who had been my best friends (at the times) friend for years… who was also hanging out with us… and you literally begged me to hangout with him so he wouldn’t commit suicide?! I couldn’t fucking stand izzy and all I ever did was defend you and attempt to hold him accountable. Then you accused me of fucking him!? Did you never fucking know me?! You hurt me, too, man. I knew you were going through something but I was barely functioning. Diagnosed with a skin disease that is inevitable I’ll get skin cancer so I was a little fucked up on my own… but you weren’t there for me either. Instead you made it like I’m some fucking villain for doing exactly what you asked… telling me when we did actually talk that I was never there done you… kind you I gave you rides everywhere that I could… oh, but that only applies when you need something from someone else and to look pathetic in order to get people to do shit for you… right. Cause that’s not abusive, right? I’m still hurt. I’m still angry. And I still love you for some reason. I wish you well and I’m happy that you are. I ask the universe allow you the opportunity to live a life out of the survival mode that causes you to feel so miserable and like a victim in order to manipulate those around you. I ask that you be granted enough self love to stop blaming everyone outside of you. You deserve happiness and love. Act like it.

Armon,

all I have to say is I guess I saw it coming. I know you cared for me but I definitely started to feel like you were moving on. Even before we lived together. You were coming more into yourself and I didn’t fit there. Who knows why. I do see my mistakes and wish I wasn’t in survival and had the courage to do what I needed to do or to communicate more respectfully everything I was going through. I was losing my shit and you were my only person and I lost respect for you and I watched you lose respect for me. I wish you were able to see ME through it cause i was doing everything I could to stay afloat and losing everyone and everything. I resented you, but I know a lot of it is my fault. I wish you’d just talk to me… you lack the same courage I did and it sucks so much because I will always love you. My heart is broken and I know most of that was me, but you failed me, too.

[alaffy]

One of Us is Lying, ep.2x04 – Simon Says Gotcha

This is really beyond ridiculous at this point.  Finally, the Principal does something about Vanessa; only to turn around and decided that maybe some students (Addy and Janae) should find other places to go to school. And, yes, I understand what they did (or are perceived to have done) is serious.  However, and I can’t stress this enough, the Principal has to be a special level of stupid if she cannot see how this could look like victim blaming in the public eye.  Or, more specifically, she’s trying to get rid of two teens (who have clearly been through trauma) who are acting out; but Vanessa just gets a stern talking even though she’s making accusations against classmates without any proof and literally harassing them in the halls.  

At this point I'm guessing that Simon Says is TJ, because why else is he here.  Or maybe it's the detective; which might actually be interesting (but it’s unlikely). Anyway, the episode starts as the group returns from dumping the body.  The detective is there and she wants to see inside the boat and Janae asks if she has a warrant. And so the detectives is like, well this is suspicious, maybe I should get a warrant. Or maybe, seeing as how you did a shitty job of the first murder and accused them of a murder that they didn't commit, that none of them trust you to do your job accurately this time.  And while we know it is because they committed a crime, to the average person on the street….well, it could seem like the detective is a little too interested in the comings and goings of the teens she accused of murder.

The next day Vanessa has this big rally and tells everyone they’re going to search the woods.  The principal finally steps in and tells Giselle, as she doesn’t go to the school, she needs to leave.  So, Giselle does; but she leaves her car.  And then suddenly Addy gets a text to wreck the car, which she does.  But not long after, The Murder Club realizes that Giselle seems to go by different names online.  Which, I understand why they don’t want to go to the police, but I would think this would work in their favor.  After all, it would have the appearance that they are willing to work with the police when they have information.  Meanwhile, Addy asks Cole about Giselle and Cole warns Addy to stay away from Giselle because she’s dangerous and that he’ll take care of her.  Which, has the family talked to the police about Giselle?

Meanwhile, Nate gets a text from Simon Says that says that he needs to steal the money from his job and put it behind the dumpster. He and Bronwyn make a plan to record Simon Says picking up the bag. But, of course, it doesn't work out and Simon gets away with the money.

Addy, on the other hand, believes that Simon Says is absolutely Giselle, which again, yeah, there's definitely evidence that she's working with Simon Says. But there are also things that Simon Says knows that there's no way Giselle would know, so she has to be working with somebody else.

Anyway, Addy figures out where Giselle is staying and so Addie and Cooper go to the search in the woods to spy on Giselle, while Janae and Maeve try to track down Aimon Says through technological bullshit. See, Simon Says put a countdown clock on Janae’s phone and through that Maeve, Is gonna use her laptop to find out who he is, which, yeah, that's not how that works. Meanwhile, Bronwyn and Nate go and search the motel room. Long story short, they find the money from the restaurant in Giselle’s bag. They also find out TJ has some sort of relationship with Giselle; but I’m sure that’s not important.

And so everybody meets up. And Addys like, “I knew it was her. I knew it was her.”  And I'm thinking, yeah, Giselle's gonna be dead soon, isn't she? Maeve, at this point, somehow manages to figure out a way to send a message back to Simon Says.  And Simon Says tells them all to come meet him at the old pool house.  They go to the pool house and they find Giselle dead.

Anyway, we’re halfway through the season, thank God. I can't imagine how this is gonna last for four more episodes as it really seems they’re padding out the situation in order to make eight episodes.