#extremely stupid and unwise decisions

[not-poignant]

Hello Pia. Could you please elaborate a little about challenging a peak alpha and how they really can or connot controll things when they are challenged? As I understand ardolphogen is pieaking when they are in this situation? And they MUST do something? Or? I was comparing two scenes exactly - Ef challenge Gary and Janusz challengeTemsen. Thank you!

Hi anon!

I can definitely elaborate on this :D

(Under a read more because I...well...elaborated.)

So, firstly, Temsen and Gary are different people, and how they react to things are going to be different. This is true across a lot of different situations. Consider, for example, that Efnisien has been rude to Gary many times and Gary has just let him, but if Efnisien does that even slightly to Temsen, Temsen scolds him immediately!

They are different situations. Gary tolerates Efnisien's rudeness because he finds it charming/amusing and he likes that. Temsen doesn't tolerate it at all, because he believes that as a doctor and a peak alpha, he should be awarded respect from other alphas, especially young alphas who have shown a pattern of violent, abusive, disrespectful or immature behaviour (which Efnisien has!) -

This is also why Temsen tolerates Janusz' disrespect better than he does Efnisien's, because he knows it comes from a place of severe trauma. Janusz has PTSD from his experiences with Nate, and that is Hillview's fault and responsibility. Janusz is right to be angry, and his challenge comes from a genuine place of injustice.

Temsen recognises that he is culpable here, and that he has no grounds on which to scold Janusz, in other words he recognises that he's earned some disrespect on this specific issue. He can also tell that Janusz is doing it from a place of stepping into his strength to take care of Nate - that's something Temsen has asked him to do and that he wants, even if it comes from a disrespectful place (momentarily - most of what Janusz says is measured, calm, and clear - and actually not disrespectful at all - disagreeing is not disrespect). So that situation has a lot of different things happening which causes Temsen to react / not react the way he does!

Most important, no one here has any idea what Efnisien does or says to mount the challenge in the next chapter. Assuming it's solely based on what happened in this chapter is understandable! But that's not what it is. If Efnisien doesn't do what he does in the next chapter (which I'm not going to spoil), Gary's reaction would never have happened. They would have talked about Gary's uneasiness around Efnisien feeling the need to protect him, they would have gone back to normal, and they would have been fine.

Efnisien is also experiencing something new for him that he's never gone through before, and no one's really mentioned it yet. Gary had his ardolphogen rage, Efnsien also has ardolphogen in his system. He was dissociated into his rage state in that chapter, and wasn't thinking clearly, especially as he escalated his violence against Cella. We have no indication that he's left this mental/hormonal space or that it's calmed down, because he lost consciousness, and hasn't really been himself since. Alphas and anger control issues go hand in hand, the ardolphogen is not like testosterone (after all, in the omegaverse, they make both!), they can't just go 'oh huh I've been flooded with hormones, let me not do what they're telling me to do.'

And, fun fact, actually most humans can't do this past a certain point! Tell a person with PTSD to simply calmly think through their fight/flight response and stop having flashbacks, and they're going to laugh in your face, or never talk to you again. Lots of people have intense hormonal states they can't just shrug off! They must respond. It's just that the hormones and the emotions are different.

Gary has PACS, an unstable internal emotional landscape, and has been treated as a pariah by the news media, James' entire family, and has challenging mental health issues, from being casually suicidal for years after James' death and hoping that something would kill him, to being very hostile initially to making intimate connections with other people.

Gary and Temsen aren't in any way starting in the same playing field here. Temsen is happy, he's fulfilled, he's got a greater capacity for not responding to disrespect, and he also practices early intervention selectively - badly behaved alphas get scolded, usually-good-alphas who have a reason get a pass.

That being said, we've never seen anyone mount a direct challenge to Temsen, so we've never seen his response to them. No one really does it. That would be the equivalent of someone trying to pin a peak alpha to the ground, mount them physically, take a 'dominating' position over them, threaten them with physicality, or threaten to kill them in a duel etc. Obviously there's very few circumstances where this would happen and very few people would be willing to try (except for other peak alphas lol), because it's legal for peak alphas to murder anyone who attempts it, because they aren't in control of their hormonal responses when it happens.

In fact the only way to easily take advantage of a peak alpha that way is while they're sleeping or while they're too sick to fight back.

And I'll leave that as the context for the next chapter.

But, yes, when an alpha mounts a challenge to a peak alpha, physiologically they must respond. And most respond with immediate, lethal force.

Comparing what Temsen's experienced with what Gary's about to experience is like comparing apples and oranges. They're just not the same thing, and they're not comparable. We've seen Gary be disrespected by Efnisien nearly 100 times by now, we know - with only a few exceptions that involved either domestic violence initiated by Efnisien or extreme verbal disrespect - he can handle that.

What we're about to see from Efnisien is not what he's done before.

[utilitycaster]

I basically agree with what you've said wrt C3/Predathos, but I've had a theory for a while (since at least the initial decription of magic being weird during the solstice) that Predathos getting released would be the in-game Watsonian explaination for switching to, say, Daggerheart as the system of choice for C4. Which wouldn't make BH choices any more narratively satisfying, mind, but at least then I'd understand the impetus behind the choice, you know? (Granted, I also thought this would be a Suicide Squad campaign so what do I know. This theory is probably completely bunk.)

I also suspect some of the "release Predathos" sentiment is just, like, curiosity about what Predathos is. Which in an above the table way I can definitely see. There's been such a build up to Predathos, I definitely get the urge to press that button, even if I think it's absolutely an objectively terrible choice for the characters.

This is not an uncommon theory but must admit I think it's one that lacks any justification, slash, if it does end up being the reason I think that would be an extremely stupid creative decision.

The specific idea that this campaign is here to set up a new system/leave D&D has been around for, honestly, years, but there's no actual reason to set up the switch diagetically and in fact if you force a particular ending for that, I think that's a horrible narrative decision. I don't actually think diagetic/watsonian reasons for a real-world switch are necessarily better than just being like "so we switched systems because we wanted to" and I think it's particularly unwise in an improvised form; it would be a pretty massive squandering of goodwill because part of why I'm drawn to Actual Play is that it's usually not subject to The Suits At The Network. Additionally, Daggerheart as a system was only recently finalized, has the concept of gods/divine casters within it, and the Campaign Frame system makes it highly customizable by setting. They would have had to be aiming for a moving target that does not actually require killing the gods.

Additionally, I think Critical Role's origins as a game among friends, rather than something that was a little more calculated as public-facing, is often a strength but at times, and especially at points during this campaign, a weakness. However, I think that is a good argument against the idea of "hey, can you guys do this specific thing so that we can sell Daggerheart?" There's just...no reason to do this. Honestly, I suspect they've lost some fans during C3 who would have watched a totally new system and setting after C2, when faith was high, and are now like eh I've moved on. This is all a really long way to say "I'm not saying this won't happen but it will be stupid if it does."

I also must admit I cannot relate; I love a big red button but like. I am very task oriented in TTRPGs (and, I am finding, RPGs generally). I'm curious, but like, if I am in Curse of Strahd I'm gonna fucking kill Strahd. I think perhaps the game should have offered more opportunities to discover more about Predathos, or perhaps the characters should have done more with the opportunities they had.

[gatekeeper-watchman]

Cutting Payroll Taxes

President Trump has announced that he is going to pursue a stimulus to our economy in order to cope with its present decline resulting from the Corona Virus and the oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia. As part of his stimulus, he proposes a cut in payroll taxes—an extremely shortsighted and unwise decision, to say the least. Just listening to this recalls to my mind the words of the great French economist, Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) in his discussion of “That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen”:

“In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect, but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate: it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause — it is seen. The others unfold in succession — they are not seen: it is well for us, if they are foreseen. Between a good and a bad economist this constitutes the whole difference — the one takes account of the visible effect; the other takes account both of the effects which are seen, and also of those which it is necessary to foresee. Now this difference is enormous, for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the ultimate consequences are fatal, and the converse. Hence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, while the true economist pursues a great good to come, — at the risk of a small present evil.”

Reducing payroll taxes to stimulate the economy is easy. It is popular and readily acceptable to those on the receiving end; but, from whence does the money come to pay our Social Security and Medicare? Does it come out of the air? I don’t think so, and I suspect neither do you. How about when the time comes to reinstate these tax cuts? How popular and readily acceptable will that be then? How much harder will it be for our Representatives and Senators in the Congress to sell to the people?

Let us pursue this a little further. It is common knowledge that present payments into the fund are insufficient, and tax collections must be increased in order for the fund to remain solvent. How acceptable will that be? Now, when you add this increase to the reinstatement above, how much more difficult will that be to achieve? Are we just going to let our Social Security fund go broke?

But we are not only talking about Social Security. Also included in those payroll deductions are payments for Medicare. Although not frequently discussed, it too is common knowledge, i.e. everybody knows it or should, that Medicare is insufficiently funded. In fact, it is a major contributor to our annual government deficit and, therefore, national debt.

If our long range intent is to keep and improve these benefits for the good of our people, it would seem to me that cutting these payroll deductions to stimulate an already over-stimulated economy (One should note that the preponderance of spending by our country and our people is supported by borrowing, i.e. national debt, credit cards, mortgages, student loans, auto financing, payday loans at 100% interest plus, etc.) is, to say the least, very unwise and short-sighted.

On the other hand, if our plan is to eliminate Social Security and Medicare, this is the way to go. It’s a sure winner.

Hmm… This brings to mind the sayings of Forrest Gump. “You never know what you’re going to get when you open a box of chocolates” I think he also said, “Stupid is as stupid does”.

Also, I am compelled to quote the famous words of William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to “beware the Ides of March”.

Respectfully,

From: Steven P. Miller, @ParkermillerQ, gatekeeperwatchman.org Founder and Administrator of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Group Wednesday, August 7, 2024, Jacksonville, Florida., Duval County, USA.  X … @ParkermillerQ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Sparkermiller.JAX.FL.USA, Instagram: steven_parker_miller_1956 #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO.

[picnokinesis]

Whats the dumbest thing campervan!13 did while sober and before she lost her memories?

Absolutely obsessed with the clarification of 'whilst sober' oh my days

BUT HM ok let me think. The problem is that her entire life is just 'doing dumb things', so it's hard to pick a standout moment. It depends on whether your ranking 'dumbest' by the levels of chaos/unhinged, or by how much of an objectively stupid/unwise decision it was. One extremely dumb thing she did was when she was hanging out with Donna a lot, and one of their first cases together involved the Doctor deciding it was a good idea to climb out of the window of a skyscraper in order to escape being caught, much to Donna's horror (which actually does get referenced in the fic, I think! I think it's in part one? I know I definitely referenced it another time in an excerpt I wrote for part 8 and that I wove it in somewhere else early on in order to set up the reference. I think it's the roof scene). Pretty sure Donna did end up climbing out right after her though, cursing the entire time.

There are also a great many instances whilst at university (and afterwards) where she has dismantled a kitchen appliance and then realised, too late, that she needs it, and can't get it back together again in a way that works rip (but she can make it do something else instead? Because she needs a kettle that plays the Birdie Song on loop when it boils, of course, and it was definitely definitely worth Amy yelling at her about it, because Amy definitely needed that in her life too, although it would have been nice if it actually. boiled the water. rather than just looping the song). And I mean, like, she's also chased after various dangerous people whilst having either a concussion or some sort of injury, or run her mouth in a situation where she really shouldn't (there is a post-amnesia case of this that'll come up in part 6!), and so those definitely all go on the dumb list too haha

[gatekeeperwatchman]

Cutting Payroll Taxes

Any President who announces that he is going to pursue a stimulus to our economy to cope with its present decline resulting from the Corona Virus and the oil was between Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, etc. As part of a stimulus, they have proposed a cut in payroll taxes—an extremely shortsighted and unwise decision, to say the least. Just listening to this recalls to my mind the words of the great French economist, Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) in his discussion of “That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen”:

“In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate: it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause — it is seen. The others unfold in succession — they are not seen: it is well for us if they are foreseen. Between a good and a bad economist, this constitutes the whole difference — the one takes account of the visible effect; the other takes account both of the effects which are seen, and also of those which it is necessary to foresee. Now, this difference is enormous, for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the ultimate consequences are fatal, and the converse. Hence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, while the true economist pursues a great good to come, — at the risk of a small present evil.”

Reducing payroll taxes to stimulate the economy is easy. It is popular and readily acceptable to those on the receiving end; but, from whence does the money come to pay for our Social Security and Medicare? Does it come out of the air? I don’t think so, and I suspect neither do you. How about when the time comes to reinstate these tax cuts? How popular and readily acceptable will that be then? How much harder will it be for our Representatives and Senators in Congress to sell to the people?

Let us pursue this a little further. It is common knowledge that present payments into the fund are insufficient, and tax collections must be increased for the fund to remain solvent. How acceptable will that be? Now, when you add this increase to the reinstatement above, how much more difficult will that be to achieve? Are we just going to let our Social Security fund go broke?

But we are not only talking about Social Security. Also included in those payroll deductions are payments for Medicare. Although not frequently discussed, it too is common knowledge, i.e. everybody knows it, or should, that Medicare is insufficiently funded. It is a major contributor to our annual government deficit and, therefore, the national debt.

If our long-range intent is to keep and improve these benefits for the good of our people, it would seem to me that cutting these payroll deductions to stimulate an already over-stimulated economy (One should note that the preponderance of spending by our country and our people is supported by borrowing, i.e. national debt, credit cards, mortgages, student loans, auto financing, payday loans at 100% interest plus, etc.) is, to say the least, very unwise and short-sighted.

On the other hand, if we plan to eliminate Social Security and Medicare, this is the way to go. It’s a sure winner.

Hmm… This brings to mind the sayings of Forrest Gump. “You never know what you’re going to get when you open a box of chocolates,” I think he also said, “Stupid is as stupid does”.

Also, I am compelled to quote the famous words of William Shakespeare in his play, Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to “beware the Ides of March”.

Respectfully,

From: Steven P. Miller Founder of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups Jacksonville, Florida., Duval County, USA. Instagram: steven_parker_miller_1956, Twitter: @GatekeeperWatchman1, @ParkermillerQ, Parker Miller Stevens (Gatekeeper1) …@StevenPMiller6 Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/gatekeeperwatchman URL: linkedin.com/in/steven-miller-b1ab21259 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElderStevenMiller, #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO, #Ephraim1, #IAM, #Sparkermiller, #Eldermiller1981

[robininthelabyrinth]

Wen Ruohan/Wei Wuxian?🍉

Forked Path - ao3

“You did me a favor, and I intend to repay that,” Wen Ruohan said, adjusting one of his gauntlets in irritation – more at the fact that he was sinking back into that old nervous tic, a tell that he’d thought he’d eliminated years ago than at the actual request, ridiculous as it was. “But to confirm, you’re certain that this is what you want? It’s not in my nature to stop midway, so if you have any hesitations, exercise them now or not at all.”

The two rogue cultivators looked at each other and after a few moments of clear silent communication and struggle, they looked back at him and nodded. The man did so reluctantly - Wen Ruohan looked at his wife, the immortal mountain’s disciple, and her nod was far more firm.

“Very well,” he said, lips twisting in distaste. He hated owing people favors, especially when they rejected his preferred counter-offer to graciously allow them to work for his sect, but he wasn’t yet so ungracious that he wouldn’t live up to something he had to do. “We are therefore agreed: in the event both of you die prematurely, I will take your son into my sect to be raised therein, rather than allow him to be raised alone outside or in the Jiang sect."

He paused, frowning. "To be clear, however, I am not going to raise him myself! He’ll be brought up among one of the branch families.”

Dafan Wen had some kids around the same age, didn’t they? That was pretty out of the way. With luck, he could avoid having to see the brat at all…and that was all assuming that these two died, of course. Still, based on their level of certainty and the association of the immortal mountain with divination, Wen Ruohan was going to assume a worst-case scenario was likely to occur.

“That’s fine,” the man said, his voice oddly sarcastic. “We don’t expect you to do more for us than you do for your own children.”

That pricked at Wen Ruohan’s pride, since he didn’t have a conscience to be affected.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked with a frown. He had two sons of his own, and they were being raised perfectly well by his wives, as far as he knew. It wasn’t really his concern until they were old enough to actually start getting started in cultivation, swordsmanship, or even the scholarly arts, at which point he would naturally take over their education with the assistance of many able tutors – he was far too busy to waste time with them, squalling brats that they undoubtedly were, until then.

“Nothing,” the woman said, and she looked amused – he almost suspected she was amused at his expense. “After all, with hard work, even the sharpest sword can be ground down into a needle.”

That wasn’t how that idiom went at all, but Wen Ruohan was too lazy to correct her.

Later, though, after they’d left, her words kept pricking at him in the same matter as idiomatic needle – it occurred to him that he didn’t much like his wives, even though the connections they’d brought to his sect were exceedingly beneficial. It was said that where there was a father, there was a son, the two invariably resembling each other, and he’d assumed that that would be the case here…but on the other hand, if he left all the initial raising of his sons to those wives he didn’t like, wasn’t he risking them raising the children to be just like theminstead of him? Grinding down his sons’ edges, so to speak?

That would be utterly unacceptable.

He was so busy, though. Beyond his own cultivation, his sect now controlled over a third of the cultivation world, and he was ambitious to raise that to half, and then perhaps even further. How could he waste time on something as pointless as taking care of small children?

On the other hand, he supposed that in the long run he’d actually be saving time if he at least made sure they were raised up right. After all, he’d always assumed that his two sons would be his right and left hands, his able aides capable of enacting his will, and obviously it would be a disaster to find out later on that they’d been spoiled rotten or rendered stupid....

No, he was sure his arrangement was fine. How much damage could his wives do in just a few years?

…perhaps it wouldn’t be that bad an idea to check in on them.

Just to make sure.

He definitely wasn’t going to raise that stupid Wei boy, though. Favors had limits!

-

“Your accomplishments do you credit,” Wen Ruohan said to Wen Qing, and even meant it the way he didn’t mean most of the things he was forced to say at these stupid discussion conferences.

After all, Wen Qing was of his bloodline, if distantly – Dafan Wen was a branch family – but at any rate, they shared a surname, and it was sheer pleasure watching her put all those other ‘promising’ young masters in their place. Anything that added a sheen of glory to his sect was a good thing.

She saluted deeply, trying to hide the way she was beaming, and Wen Ruohan wondered once again if it was time to bring her back to the Nightless City as his ward instead of leaving her out in the wilderness with the rest of Dafan Wen. To get the sort of medical skills she had at her age showed promise and talent, and he needed people of promise and talent, especially ones with his surname, if he were going to make good on his intention to conquer the cultivation world.

He would’ve brought her back years ago, in fact, except that Sect Leader Nie said that children were fidgety, flighty creatures that were bad at dealing with change and that he’d be better off sending medical texts and tutors to Dafan Wen rather than bring Wen Qing back to the Nightless City over her father’s protests. Normally, Wen Ruohan would have disregarded advice he didn’t like and proceed with his own intentions regardless, but Sect Leader Nie had been helping him deal with his own sons ever since he’d reclaimed them from his wives, who he’d discovered had been ruining them, and it seemed unwise to dispute with him regarding matters of child-rearing at that point. After all, if he wanted Wen Xu to end up as even half the son that it looked like that Nie Mingjue was going to be, he needed the man’s expertise, and that meant making compromises, irritating as it was.

Compromises like not just killing Wen Qing’s father for refusing to hand over his children, despite it being easier to accomplish. Or not killing Sect Leader Nie himself, no matter how irritating the man was, because now his sons loved that old bastard.

(Wen Ruohan had spitefully decided to get back at Sect Leader Nie by spoiling his youngest son, who seemed at first glance to be more like the lazy scholarly type, beyond belief. It seemed to be working very well so far, including in causing Sect Leader Nie no end of frustration at his extremely clever-when-it-came-to-evading-work second son; Wen Ruohan, satisfied, viewed this result as being wholly due to his own efforts.)

“How did you find that talisman you mentioned in your last paper?” he asked Wen Qing lazily. “I hadn’t seen it before. Was it in one of the books I sent, or somewhere else?”

In truth, that had been the most interesting aspect of the presentation from his perspective – he didn’t have either talent or interest in medical cultivation, but he could recognize firepower when he saw it. Just because the talisman worked on disrupting things at a very small level for medical reasons didn’t mean it couldn’t be repurposed for larger things…

“Oh, no, Wei Wuxian invented it,” Wen Qing said. “He used it to blow stuff up until I convinced him to make a smaller version for me.”

“Wei Wuxian?” Wen Ruohan asked, frowning, and then recalled – ah, yes, the Wei boy. His parents had died some five or eight years back, if he recalled correctly, and he’d had to go fetch him pursuant to that old agreement; it had been extremely annoying at the time. He’d been in the middle of a very nasty argument with Sect Leader Nie at the time, the one that had led him to think his most serious thoughts to date of eliminating the man entirely, and then, just as he’d been on the cusp of making a decision, he’d received word of the deaths of Cangse Sanren and her husband Wei Changze.

Naturally, he needed to find and recover their son as he’d promised long ago, which given how unreliable reports of the location of rogue cultivators was naturally became a colossal waste of time, but on the bright side it had at least given him a chance to vent his spleen and get out some of his rage on something other than wringing Sect Leader Nie’s neck. It turned out that Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze had died in some obscure night hunt in Yiling, but figuring that out had all but taken a full-scale canvass of six different territories – and then Sect Leader Jiang, who hadn’t bothered to do anything near the same level of search and had opted to search the various towns individually on his own, as if that would ever work, had tried to leapfrog off the back of his hard work, thinking he could just thank him and take the boy away just like that.

Wen Ruohan had refused, of course – he had the parents’ personal request, and that outweighed Wei Changze having been a former servant of the Jiang sect or Cangse Sanren being possibly a former lover of their sect leader – and it had turned into something of a political mess for a while.

That had been where he’d gotten most of the venting out, actually.

Sect Leader Nie had sided with him in that fight, though, rather viciously, and by the end of it all Wen Ruohan was reminded of why exactly it was that the man was a useful ally to have around. He’d also forgotten what exactly they’d been fighting about, but he wasn’t going to admit that, so he just magnanimously forgave him. It had all turned out rather all right, and Wen Ruohan had put the boy out of his mind shortly thereafter.

Why would he come up now, all of a sudden?

No, wait, he’d sent him to Dafan Wen, just as he’d planned. And of course Wen Qing was from the main branch of Dafan Wen as well – she would’ve been raised with Wei Wuxian as a little brother.

“How is he doing?” he asked, more out of etiquette than actual interest, but Wen Qing lit up and started talking about how her little shidi was a verifiable genius, and so good with her actual younger brother, and whatnot. Wen Ruohan nodded, pretending he was listening, and cast his eyes around the rest of the discussion conference, looking for a distraction – there was Sect Leader Nie, who was generally good for a laugh, but he was scolding that second son of his for failing one of Lan Qiren’s classes and having to be sent a second time over. Jiang Fengmian was comforting him, telling him that he was sending his son as well this year, and of course Jin Guangshan’s heir was of age as well, and would undoubtedly be going, too…

Hmm.

“If he’s such a genius, he should interact more with his peers,” Wen Ruohan announced. “I’ll recommend him – and that brother of yours, I suppose – for the lecture series at the Cloud Recesses this summer.”

It wouldn’t do to be left, after all.

“You…you will? Really? That’s wonderful! Thank you for the opportunity, Sect Leader Wen! They’ll treasure it! How can we ever repay your kindness –”

“As long as they impress me with their talents,” Wen Ruohan said, already imagining Jiang Fengmian’s constipated expression at seeing his lover’s son that was stolen from his grasp wearing Wen sect colors and, in an ideal world, smearing his own son into the ground with his superlative skill. “That will be repayment enough.”

-

“You need to get laid,” Sect Leader Nie said, and Wen Ruohan was reminded again of why he despised the man and should have killed him years ago. Why hadn’t he done that again? “As a matter of cultivation.”

“You’re joking,” Wen Ruohan said, putting down his bowl of wine and staring at him in disbelief. He hadn’t expected the man to actually be serious. It was rare enough an event, but in fairness to him, he never joked about matters of cultivation. “How does one help the other?”

“It’ll help balance you out.” Sect Leader Nie thought about it. “Or at least let you get out some of that nervous energy that makes you a paranoid megalomaniacal little bitch about eighty percent of the time.”

That sounded a bit more in character.

“If dual cultivation could fix personality problems, Lao Nie, you’d be immortal.”

“Who says I’m not?” Sect Leader Nie asked, teeth bared in a smile. “Only time will tell. Haven’t I already outlived my father?”

Wen Ruohan rolled his eyes. Sect Leader Nie had outlived his father because when he’d started in on a qi deviation like every other member of his blasted family, he, Wen Ruohan, had personally dived into the irritating bastard’s spiritual consciousness and dragged him back out again. It was very much not something that people were supposed to do, being more likely to cause qi deviations in the person doing the rescuing than resulting in an actual rescue, but he’d never cared what people were supposed to do and, really, it would be extremely annoying to have to do without him now that he’d invested all that time and effort and figured out how to get some real use out of him. Anyway, they both seemed to be fine and possibly they were also soul-bonded now - he wasn’t actually sure, Wen Qing always got a weird expression on her face whenever she talked about it, and he usually stopped listening at that point.

He didn’t really care. As long as it didn’t interfere with his plans, what did it mtter?

“Who exactly am I supposed to be dual cultivating with, exactly?” he asked dryly, deciding to address the matter head-on because that was the only way Sect Leader Nie understood things. “Don’t volunteer yourself again. I already told you that I refuse to indulge your ridiculous kink for dangerous people.”

Anymore, anyway.

Sect Leader Nie made a face at him, but Wen Ruohan ignored him. He might’ve fallen for that before the whole spiritual consciousness-soulbond business, but now he knew for sure that it was a kink, so – no.

Nothappening.

“You have a kink for things that increase your power, I don’t know why you’re being so judgy about my kink,” the other man grumbled. “And I don’t know, find someone – not another wife, you hate your wives, and anyway they’re much happier with their other lovers.”

“I didn’t pick them because I liked them,” Wen Ruohan pointed out. “I picked them because I wanted to absorb their sects and all the aligned sects associated with them. Which I did.”

“See, this is your problem! You married for power, rather than power, if you get my meaning –”

This was true. If any of his wives could cultivate worth a damn, maybe he’d care more about them. As it was, getting a son on each of them had been an exercise in willpower.

“ – and now you’re too busy pursuing power to fuck anyone else. You really need to get it out of your system. Find someone who can kill you.”

“No one can kill me,” Wen Ruohan said. “I’m the closest thing the cultivation world has to a god. Everyone should bow down and worship me.”

Sect Leader Nie started muttering something about megalomania again, but Wen Ruohan ignored him. It wasn’t a qi deviation talking if it was true.

“I bet we could find someone who could kill you if we tried,” Sect Leader Nie finally said. “And if they’re powerful enough to kill you, they’re probably powerful enough for the dual cultivation to improve your own cultivation, which is all you care about…we should start a war, maybe.”

“A war? Against who? And why?”

Sect Leader Nie frowned thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “The Jin sect?” he suggested, probably because he’d never liked Jin Guangshan. “Or the Jiang sect? Or both, I guess, since they’re allied. They’re next on your take-over list, aren’t they?”

“You’re next on my take-over list,” Wen Ruohan said threateningly, except Sect Leader Nie only laughed at him. Which was fair, he supposed, that whole soul-bond thing made the whole conquering business somewhat unnecessary – Qishan Wen and Qinghe Nie were bound together now as thoroughly as if he’d married the man.

Which he hadn’t. And wouldn’t. No matter what stupid snarky comments Sect Leader Nie said about Wen Ruohan treating him as a de facto consort on account of not having devouring his sect whole.

(Which he wasn’t going to do either - his sons still loved the man, and by now they were as thick as thieves with the Nie boys. What was he supposed to do, disappoint them? It’d be the same as disappointing himself, and he wasn’t about to do that.)

“I suppose we could start a war against the Jin and Jiang,” he allowed. His plan had always called for battle eventually, since he knew there was a limit to how many sects he could absorb through political, marital, economic or other means. As long as the other Great Sects stood against him, he’d never be able to achieve total domination – plus, he’d have to continue to suffer through those awful discussion conferences with the boring lectures and the petty politics of it all. Why couldn’t they see that they’d allbe better off under his dominion? “I could send Wen Zhuliu –“

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s not how you fight wars honorably, and also because I hate that man’s guts. I can’t believe you gave him your surname.”

Wen Ruohan rolled his eyes yet again. Such petty concerns were beneath him. “If we launch a surprise attack using him assassinate the Jiang sect leaders, thereby bringing down the Lotus Pier, the war will be over sooner,” he pointed out.

“Makes it harder to assimilate them into the Wen sect afterwards, though,” Sect Leader Nie pointed out, and damnit, he had a point. “Not to mention you’re going to want some experienced people policing your waterways when you finally take over…”

Damnit.

“Fine,” Wen Ruohan said. “We’ll declare war the old-fashioned way. Maybe we’ll find someone on the opposite side that can impress me, and then I’ll marry her – or him – and be done with the whole business. Happy now?”

Sect Leader Nie made a maybe-so gesture with his hand. “Anyone who can match you in power can probably kill me,” he said regretfully. “Would you consider sharing –“

“Paws off my hypothetical future consort, you beast. Anyway, aren’t you already pursuing Lan Qiren because he nearly slit your throat with a guqin string once?”

“A man can look!”

-

“Say,” Sect Leader Nie said, staring at the army of fierce corpses currently shambling along to the tune of Wei Wuxian’s flute, advancing inexorably towards their enemies – an entirely new cultivation style that the boy had recently invented. In an effort to impress his benefactor Wen Ruohan, apparently. “Are you sure about the no sharing rule?”

Wen Ruohan stared at the grown man perched on a tree like a demon, wrapped in shadow and crackling with power, eyes glowing as red as the sun-patterns on his clothing, who seemed to want nothing more from the world than to serve it up to Wen Ruohan on a platter.

“Yes,” he said, voice only a little strangled. Maybe Sect Leader Nie had a point about power being a kink for him. “I’m very sure.”

[scarfacemarston]

I've become extremely wary of the RDR2 fandom after I've seen people constantly shit on John and RDR1 and feel the need to shoehorn Arthur into everything, attack people for liking RDR1 over RDR2, shit on John for doing something but praise Arthur for doing the same thing. I literally saw someone comment that Rob Wiethoff (John's VA) was probably jealous of Roger Clark as Arthur and that's why they made John playable in the epilogue, like wtf! That just really upset me

I am rambling a lot so I’ll just create a read more from the start. lol

I miss the RDR 1 fandom. Obviously, it was a thing from 2010 until 2018ish - but the people were so relaxed and chill. I can’t find hardly anyone who has played the game or has even bothered watching the youtube vidoes. Oh yeah, Arthur and John are VERY similar in their actions. I’ve heard so many people pissed off that Arthur isn’t in the first game and I’m like......are you shitting me? I want to remind people that we are seeing Arthur who is a whole ten years older than John. Who has had more love than John in his life? Hosea and Dutch are very clear that Arthur had his own set of issues growing up and being angry, making unwise or selfish decisions.  The difference is - we don’t see that, but we see it in John. I guarantee you, Arthur's likeability would be more complex or less liked in general if it was shown how Arthur was like when he was younger when he was confirmed to be an asshole.   When John is 36+? Way more relaxed and mature which is often the case. Both John and Arthur have different strengths. I’ve written a lot about  it in my masterlist. Lol people seriously think Rob is jealous of Roger? Lol Rockstar BEGGED Rob to come back. BEGGED. Because like the real John, he settled down. He left California before he was hired to play John because it wasn’t him. His girlfriend at the time said she didn't like who he was in California and that she’d come back to him if he changed.

Well guess what happened. Exactly that. They moved back to the midwest and started a new life.It’s why he has special insight into John because there are certain aspects of his life that he understands. When RDR 1 was over, he said he wanted to focus on family. This is on the Polygon Interview on youtube that was conducted not long after rdr 1′s release.  They were lucky to have him come back.

People forget that ROckstar despite having some money issues during rdr 2′s development - that game has such a HUGE development team and a much larger cast of actors. They had far more time and resources. Rdr 1 was Rockstar’s last hurrah. So of course people are going to put  more into Arthur because they have the money and opportunity to do so. That’s why I think it is impressive that RDR 1 is such a masterpiece in so many ways. John’s Death had the same impact as Arthur’s did. Now people are like. Meh. He’s not Arthur. I’ll be blunt, I liked a lot about the epilogue, but it’s clearly unfinished so if that’s what he is meant to be jealous of, that’s pretty bad. But yeah, John receives very little respect. It’s one of two things - it’s mostly memes about him being “stupid and greasy”  or some fans who go extreme and push others away from John as a character. We need more people in the middle.

[the-past-tense-of-draw]

Life Update #2

Here I am on Sunday this week doing my weekly shit post about my life. If you're reading this, no you aren't. Keep scrolling lol

So, I drove to Tallahassee just for the purpose of seeing a man. Which, in normal circumstances would be okay, however I drove two and a half hours from my apartment to his house basically to make out and fool around and eat dinner. I had a good time? But at the same time, I don't know if it is something that is feasible and will work out. I am in a very rocky point in my life. He is a sweet guy, but is also extremely sexually charged and I am not. He also lives three hours away and travels a lot for work. We had amazing conversation though and he gave me perspective on where I am in life; he also reassured me that I am doing well with my current situation and I shouldn't be too hard on myself (my fatal flaw). I am so unsure.

I have also made the unwise decision to quit my big-boy job and pursue other career interests. Am I stupid for leaving now? Probably! But I also have the responsibility to take care of myself and my own mental health. I have to find the joy in my life again and my career currently will not give me that

[bomberqueen17]

a little witcher meta: Geralt’s terrible decisions

I was writing this in responses to various comments on my fic and I thought I’d expand it slightly here into a little meta on the character of Geralt of Rivia:

The only way i can make Geralt hang together as a coherent character who isn't just a complete idiot is to make him wildly out of touch with his own emotions and operating most of the time on snap judgements and instinct, which isn't too far-fetched-- it makes a lot of his extremely unwise decisions make some modicum of sense, especially the ones that seem to contradict his moral code. He means well, but he's learned that he never has time to contemplate any one thing too deeply, he's got to go on instinct, and so he does wildly stupid things like oh, bind himself to a woman he's just met with a wish on a djinn, and push away his only remaining friend as cruelly as he can manage, because he's got no real connection to his own emotions and panics all the fucking time instead of working it out. It only makes sense; he's basically never had a healthy relationship with any person in his whole life. Even his relationship to his horse is weird and unhealthy because when she dies he replaces her with a lookalike with the same name, over and over. That's so fucked-up. That's a guy who has no idea what he's feeling and can't reason through it. But he's not stupid. So. I'm leaning into that.

The above is just a copy-paste of a comment response I made, wherein I was trying to be succinct, but I’m going to expand just a little bit-- doesn’t it make some sense? 

It’s a deeply traumatized way of seeing the world, for one. Most of his working life has been spent having antagonistic relationships with people he’s physically endangering himself to save. He has a wide altruistic streak, but every time he extends himself for someone’s benefit, he is punished for it. 

This is common enough among Witchers that they have a code about not involving themselves-- for good reasons. Elsewhere in canon (none acknowledged within Netflix, but like, if you try to look up things that are mentioned in the Netflix adaptation, you find these stories) there are descriptions of Witcher schools being destroyed by humans intimidated by the potential threat of such powerful beings organizing (including Geralt’s own school, the Wolf School at Kaer Morhen, where the teachers and children were slaughtered while Geralt was away on the Path, and he came home to a ruin and piles of dead children whose bones are still in the fucking moat as a kind of monument), but it holds true for individual Witchers as well as groups of them. Involvement in politics, involvement in human affairs, all carry a heavy risk of retaliation. But it’s to the point that he hesitates to even involve himself in conversations, because people will become threatened by him and do him violence. This is not theoretical, this is shown to the audience. 

So he has been taught, both by his teachers and by his by-now long experience in the world, that you have to shield yourself because everything will turn to violence at any moment. Is it a wonder, then, that his entire personality is basically one giant coping structure of hypervigilance, and so his decision-making skills are perhaps massively skewed in favor of snap judgements with absolutely zero reasoning behind them? That’s what keeps him alive, after all, and he’s not even wrong to feel that way. 

It just means he does some really fucking stupid shit on a fairly regular basis. 

[sabineelectricheart]

The Long Road

Summary: Hawke asks Sebastian to accompany her to the Wounded Coast to help matchmake Aveline and Donnic. The Brother is not amused.

Rating: K+ - Suitable for more mature childen, 9 years and older, with minor action violence without serious injury. May contain mild coarse language. Should not contain any adult themes.

Words: 1909

Notes: So, I’ve been playing DA these days, and I thought to cross-post here some fanfictions I wrote way back when. Enjoy!

Sitting on the floor by the door of the City Guard Captain is certainly not the best use of my time.

Hawke was twirling her hair distractedly, to my great surprise, also looking extremely bored and rather uncomfortable. I did not think she had that tick, as I felt that fighting highwaymen and explorations down the Deep Roads did not seemed befitting to hair care and the affairs of the heart.

Well, this whole day has been about surprising circumstances.

*_*_*_*_*

“Please, Sebastian!” She begged. “The whole thing feels so ungainly!”

She came looking for me at the Chantry, early that morning, while I tended to the candles to the dead. I had not the chance to finish my prayers before she grumbled her request.

I was used to Hawke’s weird invites, and usually I am more than glad to attend to them. She is a good friend and a fierce fighter, I never feared for my life with her by my side, not to mention my standing debt with her.

This, however, was a little too weird. To help matchmake the Guard Captain with a guardsman. By doing the rounds ahead of them.

“I can see that.” I agreed. “That is why I don’t think I should get involved. How would Guard Captain Aveline say if she knew you are being so open about her private life?”

“She asked me for help, and now I’m asking you…” She mumbled.

“She asked you, not me. You should do what you can, not bite more you can chew, and certainly not go spreading the tale around town.”

“I know that!” She defended. “That’s why I came to you, really. Varric and Isabela would tell all the patronage at the Hanged Man, Merrill has good intents, but she has an awful lack of tact, and Fenris and Anders are pants at romance.”

“And you thought a Brother of the Chantry would be a better option?”

“Yes?” She said, weakly. “Look, you had a, er, prolific romantic life when you were younger. Besides, mother tells me all the noble girls ask for you to hear their confessions.”

I felt my cheeks redden. “That’s beside the point!”

“What I mean by that is that you know how it works.” She countered, matter-of-factly, then, whispering, she said, “That’s more I can say for myself.”

The declaration made me halt for a moment, as I was quite sure that she would have had involved herself with Fenris at some point in time, or at least Anders in the three months they were away at the Deep Roads.

Nevertheless, while I heard her quite well, in respect for her right to privacy over her affairs of the heart, I did not press, despite my deep-seeded curiosity in the matter.

“I do not know what you would call experience, but I insist that I have no special skill over those matters. Even if I did, my, ahem, interests have been firmly and historically towards the fairer sex, and I come to understand that this is an entirely different métier.” I argued, trying to put an end to the discussion.

She groaned unseemly, and looked me dead in the eyes. “I didn’t want to tell you that, but I have no choice. Yesternight, Aveline wanted me to take Donnic for a drink at the Hanged Man and distract him for a while before she arrived, and now he’s under the impression I’m interested in him. He rejected me, of course, and thank the Maker for it, but I’m horribly embarrassed by that.

“If you were to come with me, perhaps… Well, perhaps he would understand I don’t want nothing with him and refrain from doing this sort of comment. At least, I think he wouldn’t jump to that conclusion anymore. Just… Please?”

Guardsman Donnic thought Hawke was interested on him, out of all people? And then came to the conclusion she was not worth his affections? He had quite a sense of self, huh?

Marian Hawke was not only a blue-blood, hailing from one of the most important families of the Free Marches, and with an enviable martial skill, which serves to memory that he made use of when she saved him. She was remarkably beautiful as well, yes, but that is not all, either. She had a noble character that was very hard to come by, always in service of the downcast of Kirkwall, even if she made questionable decisions on occasion.

The thought that Donnic is somehow above her made me want to laugh.

“Fine. Let’s go.” I conceded, sighing.

She beamed and led me to the city gates by the hand. I did not mind.

*_*_*_*_*

Her plan at the Wounded Coast did not go well.

Aveline was right in asking for all the help she could get, as she was hopeless when it came to romantic relationships, and it was painfully distressing to watch it unfold.

After clearing the entire path of highwaymen and traffickers, Donnic and Aveline had a completely uneventful patrol, where she could not form a single sentence that did not feel like nails on a chalkboard, not to mention the pitiful romantic caliber of it.

Hawke was downright frustrated, whispering expletives to herself she thought I could not hear, and I usually would chastise the language, but there was a time and a place to swear, and I ought to say this was it.

Finally, when they reached our outpost at the end of the trail, she forsook their anonymity and jumped in front of the pair of guardspeople, a wagging finger in front of her face.

“We don’t have all night, you know?!” She shouted at them.

Donnic, confused, looked between me, emerging from the bushes, Hawk and Aveline.

“Would someone please tell me what is going on?” He asked.

I sighed. “Guardsman Donnic, excuse my bluntness, but for the Maker’s sake, me and Hawke have been trying to help Captain Aveline to communicate her feelings for you all day. Please cooperate, because she is helpless.”

“Captain?” He turns to her to confirm, and she could only laugh noncommittally. Faced with such riveting response, he responded, uncomfortable, “I… Should get to the barracks.”

“Most unwise.” I commented, but made no further attempt of dissuading the man.

As he left, Aveline turned to Hawke in absolute rage. “I thought we were friends.”

“Friends sometimes push.” Was her response.

“I have to fix this. He could ask for a transfer, file a complaint.” She said, concernedly, and then turned to me. “You! You will come to the barracks and explain why you put him on the spot, or so help me!”

“Aveline, love is patient, love is kind, but love does not read thoughts.” I pointed out. “I hear you wanted to know whether you were a good match for each other, and I am sorry to say, there is no other way. The Maker will not tell you the right answer, you will have to find out yourself.”

Her eyes narrow and her hold on her sword tightens. “I will see you at the Keep.”

*_*_*_*_*

Once at the City Guard headquarters, Aveline had yet to calm herself down.

She paced back and forth through the main lounge, the other guards looking curiously at us.

“Maker, where is Donnic?” She begruntled. “I have to stop this before it arrives at the viscount. Maybe a formal apology. Something that show the guards they still can trust me.”

“Perhaps a few awkward gifts should help.” Hawke pointed out, and I snickered.

The redhead glared at her friend.

“You are their captain, Aveline.” I said, trying to defuse the situation. “You are not a golem; you are a human being. They expect you to have feelings, and are bound to respect you more if you show them on occasion.”

“Not if they are getting on the way of the job!” She countered.

“You don’t know that yet.” Hawke piped.

“It doesn’t matter! It’s a liability!” The other woman responded, deeply frustrated and afraid. “I will not be that stupid again.”

Guardsman Donnic chose that moment to appear down the stairs at the headquarters.

“Excuse me, Serah Hawke, Messere Vael, I need to speak with Aveline in private.”

“Guardsman Donnic.” Aveline acknowledges him, looks for confirmation from Hawke and motions for them to converse at her office.

*_*_*_*_*

Now, we wait.

A loud giggle coming from the room surprises Hawke, who uncrosses her arms and straightens her back.

“It seems to be going well.” She commented.

“It would appear so.” I agreed.

Her mouth twitched slightly over her thoughts, and then she sits next to me. “Hey, Sebastian?”

“Yes?”

“Before you made your vows, have you ever been in love?”

“No.” I said, categorically. “When I first left the Chantry, which was when I started dragging the family name through the mud, my mother offered me a choice: either to return to the order or to get married.

“I abhorred the idea of being what I thought to be equivalent to shackled to a woman the rest of my life, so I thought I could just pretend to have a righteous life with the sisters for a year or two, and then resume my prior interests once my parents forgot about it. Funny how things turned out.

“Had I been in love, truly in love, my choice would certainly be other. In fact, perhaps I would never get to the point of having to chose at all, I would have never strayed.”

“I see.” She tutted. “Do you regret it? Making your vows? Being unable to marry?”

I chuckled. “I could never regret a promise made to the Maker. However, I do wish things have never gone this way.”

“You mean, the Harimanns?”

“Yes, that too. I was more than happy to continue my life as a third son, keeping my vows, but I think I would be happy as a minor noble in an estate in the Marches, and that would include having a family, too.”

She smiled sadly at me. “For what is worth, I am sorry for what happened with your family. I am sorry you are being forced into a role you do not really want. Maker knows it’s something I have experienced.”

I thought about what I could say about that matter, but I was still trying to wrap my head around what had happened. Instead, I asked of her, “What about you? Do you desire to get married?”

“Yeah.” She responded shily. “I am a mage. I think I should marry, I feel like I should, for my people at Circles that cannot. Besides, you tend to develop a desire for stability when you become a refugee.”

I sighed. “I see. Who would you want to marry, then?”

Her cheeks redden. “I don’t know. The best I can tell you is I want a good man.”

“Preferably a direct one?” I asked in jest.

“Andraste, yes!” She breathed out.

As she spoke, Donnic emerged from the office, bowed his head slightly, and Aveline asked to talk to her.

“Sebastian?” She asked from the doorstep. “Would you care for waiting for me? We could stop by the baker’s before walking to the Chantry.”

I smiled. “I would love to.”

“Great.” She, too, beamed. “I’ll be right out.”

So, I began to think, what does make a good, direct man? Perhaps Varric knows the answer. I ought to ask him one of these days.

*_*_*_*_*

Dragon Age II Masterlist

[loquaciousquark]

I hope you're doing well! I know you posted about a stressful situation last month, and I hope it's resolved itself. Sending good wishes you you and Hamlet!

Thank you so very much for checking in on me! I really do appreciate it. An update to that post under the cut.

Carol, who moved in with me on May 28, is still here. Right now, we have set a tentative move-out goal of the first or second week of August, but this is pending an apartment application that she hopes to finalize on Monday and a job situation that is a complete mess.

Basically, according to my limited understanding, Carol is licensed to teach in Florida. Alabama has a reciprocity clause with Florida, but it must be applied for. Carol has recently begun this process, but her teaching license(s?) is (are?) set to expire in December unless she passes certain exams. She’s already passed one for...general middle and high school teaching, I think, but failed a math exam. She has an art history exam Monday afternoon and expects to pass. I hope so, because she’s been doing nothing but watching Netflix and shopping for houses for the last few days in her new 2017 Jeep Cherokee.

I remain unspeakably grateful to my parents for teaching me financial literacy, because until I witnessed Carol’s decision-making, I had no idea how hard it was for some people to not spend money unwisely. 

As a reminder, Carol is dead broke. She has $153,000 in debt across student loans, medical bills, Czech and US taxes, and some personal loans she would like to repay to friends for helping her. She is unemployed and has no support from her family and has relied on couch surfing at friends’ and acquaintances’ homes since last summer for housing. Since moving in with me, she has been trying to find somewhere to live that would accept her with all her debt and her nonexistent US employment history for the last ten years. Based on what she’s said, I think she has about $9k in the bank--or did, until last week.

In short, she needs a car, a job, and a home, and as far as I can tell she doesn’t care which order they come in.

Two weeks ago, she was offered a position in a rural town about 30 minutes from where I live. It’s a small, very country town which desperately needs a special education teacher, something I think Carol really does have a passion for. However, because she hasn’t finished the reciprocity licensure application yet, they’re having a lot of roadblocks with her paperwork, compounded by the fact that when she left Prague last year, she left all her important documentation behind: things like her birth certificate, her social security card, and her letters of recommendation, which for some reason she did not have electronic backups of. The principal has been trying to get what she needs from Carol for two weeks. Carol is constantly saying that things are “in process” but has nothing to show for it.

As far as we can tell, the job is still hers, but the school year starts August 13th and she still hasn’t been approved by the Board of Education because the paperwork is still not finished on her end. She did not attempt to replace her birth certificate or social security card until they needed it for the application. (Her friend in Prague--and I am beginning to realize she uses the word “friend” for anyone she’s met longer than sixty seconds), who frantically packed up all her belongings when she realized she would not be able to go back to the city, cannot ship her belongings or go through them for the important paperwork until next summer, as she and her husband are currently vacationing in Rome for a year.

Carol decided last night she is also going to apply for some online Department of Defense position--I didn’t understand the details and don’t really want to know, except that it’s also teaching and some administration. We’ll see how it works out. She is growing increasingly annoyed at the principal’s requests for paperwork completion, which baffles me.

So, job: shrug? Maybe?

Car next, then, but this whole mess also goes back to the financial literacy thing. My parents have always been extremely frugal (pennywise, as my dad would say), and from childhood they made it very clear to us to not buy things you couldn’t afford. They’ve never had a car payment in my memory, and they paid off their house about ten years ago. This means they drove a lot of junkers for a very long time, and for a very long time we had very few vacations, but now they’re fully financially stable and debt-free and my mom has a car that she drove off the lot brand new that they paid cash in hand for. 

If I had been in Carol’s situation, I would have found a cheap, mostly reliable used car that probably wasn’t going to explode on me and drive that as long as I could while saving up for housing. I did in fact drive her to look at several used cars, most of which would have been even outside my expected budget (hers, as it happens, is larger even than that, because one of her overseas friends was willing to contribute $5000 to the cost of a vehicle). (I paid $6500 for my current car, a 2004, in college in 2012 with 70,000 miles on it at the time, and have driven it ever since.)

She rejected all of them because they did not have good “energy” and “feelings.” One she was willing to buy at $3700, but told the seller to go pay for his own inspection (once I explained to her what mechanical inspections were as a concept), so they ghosted her. She also is extremely afraid of head gasket failure--I don’t know why, since she knows nothing about cars--and has assumed all vehicles she has driven are on the verge of it, so after the first week she refused to even look at a vehicle without a warranty.

This means she exclusively limited herself to used dealership options, which I’m just going to come right out and say was monumentally stupid. I don’t know if any car dealers follow me, so I’m sorry if I am misperceiving this, but in my experience almost every dealer I’ve gone to has been aggressive, manipulative, and extremely predatory in their interest rates. I cannot think of a riskier course of action in abject debt than to try to cut a deal with a car dealer for the sake of a warranty I doubt will cover that much truly expensive failure in the long run anyway.

On Thursday, Carol bought a $20,000 2017 Jeep Cherokee from a dealership down the road. I don’t know what she put down. I do know she did not use her friend’s money (why not??) and I know her interest rate on the car loan is 4%, which she is extremely proud of and which horrifies me. She also “persuaded” them into a limited warranty that will cover the vehicle up to 100,000 miles (currently at 42k, and they ~only offer it for cars under 40,000 miles~). I can’t tell you how bad an idea I think all this is.

Thursday night, as she was regaling me with stories of her negotiating prowess, she also tells me she has decided to buy a house. She’s sick of renting, and somehow, someone somewhere managed to get her approved for up to $120,000 in a home loan. She already has $150k in debt, another $20k from the car, and now wants to buy a house. She was delighted that she could make the minimum 7% down payment, even though it would wipe out every cent she has left and leave her less than $500 to her name for moving expenses, utilities, food, title registration, etc. afterwards.

She doesn’t even have a secure job yet.

However, this plan seems to have fallen through. She went out with a realtor several times this weekend and came home the last time in great, heaving sobs, because she can’t find the 3bed 2bath she wanted in her price range. (For reference, most homes in this area go between 200k - 250k right now for 2-3bed 2ba, and the closer you get to the city--I have about a 20 minute commute--the higher it gets. My next door neighbor sold her 3bed 2.5ba for >300k three months ago, and Carol knew this.) She was absolutely devastated that the only things in her range were “tiny little ugly flipped houses” and “the ghetto.” The realtor basically said she wasn’t going to waste any more of her time. Carol repeatedly told me how grateful I should be that I got in at the price point I did a few years back, because no “normal people” could ever afford to break into the market again.

I tried to tell her that it was because I lived in with a roommate in very cheap housing and then a cell of a 1bed 1ba apartment for eight years while I saved money, but if nothing else, I’ve learned I’m not allowed to compare our situations or histories or offer advice of any kind except “go ahead and buy what you want,” because that only makes her cry harder. In the end, she has decided to give up on the house for now and settle for the absolute last thing in the world she wanted, an apartment with a lease.

To be honest, until she has a signed contract in hand, I half-expect this lease to fall through as well. I have tried to offer what I think is sensible advice and been ignored or rebuffed. I have tried to offer a sympathetic ear and ended up with her sobbing uncontrollably on me--heaving, body-wracking sobs--over and over again with me trapped in my own home, providing endless emotional support for a girl I don’t even like. I have tried to encourage her to do the things she wants to do, since she’s going to do them anyway, and when she gets “negative energy” after the purchases (buyer’s remorse, I think, that one little inkling of sense saying maybe it wasn’t a great idea to buy a $20,000 car or an $1100 brand new iPhone without a job), she blames it on the exact thing I said I thought might be good and makes me feel like I have now directly contributed to a negative outcome after poor decision-making.

For the record, when she says these things to me she is not saying, and has never said, them directly at me. She has never blamed me in any way for a negative outcome. She is not consciously trying to manipulate me or abuse me or take advantage of my help. She has never once asked me for money or job connections or for me to use any of my stability to unfairly or unethically get her something she needs. She is just completely absorbed in her own (rightfully absorbing) mess of a situation, and I think just completely unaware of how much of an emotional black hole she has become. There are no problems except her problems. There are no needs except her needs, and everyone around her has to understand how hard she has it at all times. 

So, we’ll see. I am praying that the apartment works out next week. The owner seems to want to work with her, which is a hopeful sign. Good thoughts would be appreciated.

--

Aside from all of this, work has gotten extremely complicated. I’m not going to go into all of it now, but one of my jobs is to create an extremely detailed schedule for students in clinic. This is used to schedule patients in each service--if we have this many students, we can have this many patient slots per half-day, etc. Last week, two students were out unexpectedly, one who broke her arm the day before she was supposed to begin, and one who had a terrible anxiety attack and thought the symptoms were actually COVID. That student was tested and cleared negative, but Student Health requires a two-week quarantine anyway, so she was not allowed to return.

This meant that we now had multiple patients per day with no one to see them. We tried to reschedule as many as we could, but we still ended up with multiple overbooks. This is extremely stressful for me as both a provider, an instructor, and a human being who hates having other people wait on her in a professional capacity. We got through the week, but not without several painful bumps, and it’s looking like there will be more soon.

I also woke up to an email this morning that one of my favorite students (yes, I have favorites, I’m sorry), had a completely unexpected death in the immediate family and had to rush home. This is a very, very sweet, very smart girl who has worked unbelievably hard over the past year to do well in this program and in my courses, and I am just devastated for her. One of her friends is willing to cover her clinic, so the impact will be minimal on that side, but to have this happen during this country’s hellhole handling of this pandemic...I can’t even imagine it.

All of this isn’t even touching COVID. The President’s side has won in that sense--I don’t even register the numbers anymore--but as of last week our dean sent out messaging that implied that with our state’s failure to contain the spread, new discussions were going to be happening soon regarding our August start. We already had committed to full hybrid scheduling: all lectures online, in-person labs only where absolutely necessary to continue advancement in the program, and those labs limited to two per room with full PPE, but if they decide even that can’t happen, I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do. I cannot make competent doctors over Zoom. I can’t. At some point they have to touch other people and look at other people’s eyes. They have to be able to check real, in-person blood pressure. They have to look at genuine eye movements and ocular surfaces in person and I cannot and will not let them enter clinic until they have the practice and the time and the practicals behind them. I fucking refuse to endanger the public for sixty years because someone in an office somewhere decided a timetable is more important than a patient keeping their ability to see, and I’m ready to fight administration on this if they try to push it.

But if I win the fight, what next? They just...don’t enter clinic next year. They don’t enter my program. I don’t know what they do in the meantime, as this lab meets four mornings a week and the lecture twice. The course is delayed until next year or whenever we have the virus under control again, and suddenly my fall semester sure looks like I’ll be being paid to stay at home and count carpet fibers. I don’t think they’ll fire me--no one else wants to teach my course anyway--but if I win this fight I might put myself right into furlough in the process.

I could be borrowing trouble, I know. They could come back and say that after review, our system and safety protocols (all extremely conservative) are indeed safe enough and we can proceed as we want. They could say that our limited in-person option for lectures (we have several gigantic lecture halls that could easily socially distance) is the only thing that needs to go. They could say that we just need to have smaller lab groups--hellish on me, but doable.

But it’s one more element of stress in my life that I just can’t handle worrying about right now, which is why I’ve been bouncing back and forth between random fics and oneshots (that mermaid one was feverishly written on a single evening Carol spent at her mom’s house) and pouring an ungodly amount of hours into Animal Crossing. At least there I have some control over what happens next.

Sorry, guys. I know this is not the happy update I was hoping for. I’ll try to check in again next month and we’ll see where things end up.

[luceirosdegolados]

You know fucking what??? I don't give a damn anymore! Here! Have some no-context no plot original writing bc I have stopped waiting for anyone else to give a shit so if maybe one you devils even glances at it I'd consider myself lucky.

-

The lizard grabbed Malena by the collar and took a stab at her. The blade almost cut through, but was slowed down by her frantic wriggling, and once feeling the prick of the steel, she sent a messy bust of force magic to her opponent's chest, just enough to make them stumble and free herself.

She immediately threw a kick at him, and then pulled out the lighting wand.

It fired with a flash of purple light that filled the whole room. Several people shouted at once.

The lizard wailed in pain and panted, going still at first and then gently rocking.

There was another shout of pain to her left, and a sharp, audible, angry "Fuck!" from a different mouth.

"Why do you always fucking do that?!"

She turned to see Mikrel with all color drained from his face, except for the multiple specks of blood across his mouth and brow. He was kneeling over a tough looking half-dwarf, his knee pressing hard against her back. He was holding one of her hands and the other had been pinned to the ground with his trusty knife.

Malena grimaced, "What about fucking that? You creep."

"It's effective!" he shot back, twisting the knife a little as if to prove his point.

The woman gritted her teeth and growled, but refused to scream again.

"Now tie her up so I don't have to keep doing it!"

Malena rolled her eyes but went ahead and tied up legs and arms of both thugs, even if one of them was unconscious and the other was in too much pain to do anything.

At the other side of the room there was a little circle staircase leading to the upper floor, and from down there one could see the red door that marked the boss' study.

"Let's go," she called, jogging up the stairs, "with the mess we've made I'd be surprised if he was still here..."

Mikrel, however, did not seem to be in a rush. Perhaps it was because he was limping a bit.

"Nah, this fucker's a scared little rabbit... I don't think he's moved from his secret spot in the study, but even if he has... we'll catch him. Rats don't have many friends."

He gave her a wicked smile from the bottom of the stairs, and wiped the bleeding lip with his sleeve before slowly heading up.

Malena, having lost her patience, blasted through the door with another charge of the wand. Unwise, maybe, but she was in the mood.

Mikrel shook his head, "Tch tch... oh well, whatever shall we do..." he paced around the room, examining trinkets and tearing sheets of paper, smearing ink on the floor and rummaging around drawers. There was no rhyme or reason to it though, nothing in particular he was looking for, instead more fixated in the floors and walls.

The window of the study was open. "See? He's fucked off."

Malena gave a moment's thought to the perverse expression in his face, and then smiled.

"I guess we could torch the whole thing, then," she said.

Somewhere near the desk there was a sharp breath.

"Ha! Good one. We've got ya, Storvi... you can come out now. Or we will torch the place for real."

Indau Storvi, a small elf gentleman previously concerned only with timber trade, now had a much larger list of worries; namely his life, his limbs, his old business and of course his own stupidity for having crossed what now was evident were the wrong people.

Greed always got people who didn't have the balls to back up their decisions.

Malena thought he looked rather sad, like school teacher, like a clerk. He reminded her of someone she couldn't quite pinpoint, with his round chin and receding hairline.

Still, watery eyes and all, that'd been the bastard who had had the gall to steal from the Patron's supply like it was nothing, such a stupid thing to do.

Mikrel was giving him the classic spiel; a short and scary reminder that in her opinion got the point across very effectively; whoever messes with Mikrel the Cruel is fucked and will remain fucked.

And Storvi was no exception.

She had to admit that, though Mik could drive her up the wall with his antics and scattered mind, he had a trait she found extremely attractive; he always tried to have fun while at work, and at that moment it was in full display. He had scared Storvi shitless and had even taken the time to pour the contents of two inkwells over his head. This made her chuckle.

At the sound, he looked up. The golden tooth was glinting.

"Oh yeah... my mage associate... maybe I should tell her to rip out your spine..."

"N-no please!"

Malena rolled her eyes at that, but smiled.

"What do you say? Wanna have a go at it?"

She shook her head, closing the distance between them and taking Mikrel's hand between hers. He winced, but didn't pull away.

"Nah... you're doing fine by yourself, but maybe, maybe a little help..." she kissed his knuckles softly, and there from the blood and grime, black rings of dark energy started to swirl around his fingers and hardened, like a set of temporary weapons, "a little flourish."

Mikrel let out a chuckle and observed his small gift, "Not bad, woman... Nice... very nice. What do you say, Storvi? Shall we try them out, you and I?"

[gatekeeper-watchman]

Cutting Payroll Taxes

President Trump has announced that he is going to pursue a stimulus to our economy to cope with its present decline resulting from the coronavirus and the oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia. As part of his stimulus, he proposes a cut in payroll taxes—an extremely shortsighted and unwise decision, to say the least. Just listening to this recalls to my mind the words of the great French economist, Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) in his discussion of “That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen”:

“In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate: it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause — it is seen. The others unfold in succession — they are not seen: it is well for us if they are foreseen. Between a good and a bad economist, this constitutes the whole difference — the one takes account of the visible effect; the other takes account both of the effects which are seen and also of those which it is necessary to foresee. Now this difference is enormous, for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the ultimate consequences are fatal, and the converse. Hence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, while the true economist pursues a great good to come, — at the risk of a small present evil.”

Reducing payroll taxes to stimulate the economy is easy. It is popular and readily acceptable to those on the receiving end; but, from whence does the money come to pay our Social Security and Medicare? Does it come out of the air? I don’t think so, and I suspect neither do you. How about when the time comes to reinstate these tax cuts? How popular and readily acceptable will that be then? How much harder will it be for our Representatives and Senators in Congress to sell to the people?

Let us pursue this a little further. It is common knowledge that present payments into the fund are insufficient, and tax collections must be increased for the fund to remain solvent. How acceptable will that be? Now, when you add this increase to the reinstatement above, how much more difficult will that be to achieve? Are we just going to let our Social Security fund go broke?

But we are not only talking about Social Security. Also included in those payroll deductions are payments for Medicare. Although not frequently discussed, it too is common knowledge, i.e. everybody knows it or should, that Medicare is insufficiently funded. It is a major contributor to our annual government deficit and, therefore, national debt.

If our long-range intent is to keep and improve these benefits for the good of our people, it would seem to me that cutting these payroll deductions to stimulate an already over-stimulated economy (One should note that the preponderance of spending by our country and our people is supported by borrowing, i.e. national debt, credit cards, mortgages, student loans, auto financing, payday loans at 100% interest plus, etc.) is, to say the least, very unwise and short-sighted.

On the other hand, if we plan to eliminate Social Security and Medicare, this is the way to go. It’s a sure winner.

Hmm… This brings to mind the sayings of Forrest Gump. “You never know what you’re going to get when you open a box of chocolates,” I think he also said, “Stupid is as stupid does”.

Also, I am compelled to quote the famous words of William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to “beware the Ides of March”.

Respectfully, From: Steven P. Miller @ParkermillerQ,  gatekeeperwatchman.org Tuesday, June 11, 2024, Jacksonville, Florida., USA. Founder and Administrator of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups  X ... @ParkermillerQ #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO, #Ephraim1, #IAM, #Sparkermiller, #Eldermiller1981 Https://gatekeeperwatchman.org/post/751889961062744064/daily-devotionals-for-may-30-2024-proverbs-gods? MY GROUP ON FACEBOOK/META: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Sparkermiller.JAX.FL.USA

[tiivron]

character | negative traits

original: @xaallo | link

bold = extremely commonly expressed traits 

italics = commonly expressed traits

Aggressive - pursuing one’s aims and interests forcefully, sometimes unduly so

Aloof - not friendly or forthcoming; cool and distant

Arrogant - having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities

Belligerent - hostile and aggressive

Big-headed - conceited or arrogant

Bitchy - malicious or unpleasant

Boastful - showing excessive pride and self-satisfaction in one’s achievements, possessions, or abilities

Bone-idle - lazy

Boring - not interesting; tedious

Bossy - fond of giving people orders; domineering

Callous - showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others

Cantankerous - bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative

Careless - not giving sufficient attention or thought to avoiding harm or errors

Changeable - irregular; inconstant

Clinging - overly dependent on someone emotionally

Compulsive - resulting from or relating to an irresistible urge, especially one that is against one’s conscious wishes

Conservative - a person who is averse to change and holds to traditional values and attitudes, typically in relation to politics

Cowardly - lacking courage

Crass - lacking sensitivity, refinement, or intelligence

Cruel - willfully causing pain or suffering to others, or feeling no concern about it

Cunning - having or showing skill in achieving one’s ends by deceit or evasion

Cynical - believing that people are motivated by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity

Deceitful - guilty of or involving deceit; deceiving or misleading others

Detached - separate or disconnected

Dishonest - behaving or prone to behave in an untrustworthy or fraudulent way.

Dogmatic - inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true

Domineering - assert one’s will over another in an arrogant way

Fastidious - very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail

Finicky - fussy about one’s needs or requirements

Foolish - lacking good sense or judgement; unwise

Foolhardy - recklessly bold or rash

Fussy - fastidious about one’s needs or requirements; hard to please

Greedy - having or showing an intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth or power

Grumpy - bad-tempered and irritable

Gullible - easily persuaded to believe something; credulous

Harsh - cruel or severe

Impatient - having or showing a tendency to be quickly irritated or provoked

Impolite - not having or showing good manners; rude

Impulsive - acting or done without forethought

Inconsiderate - thoughtlessly causing hurt or inconvenience to others

Inconsistent - not compatible or in keeping with

Indecisive - not having or showing the ability to make decisions quickly and effectively

Indiscreet - having, showing, or proceeding from too great a readiness to reveal things that should remain secret or private

Inflexible - unwilling to change or compromise

Interfering - tending to interfere in other people’s affairs

Intolerant - not tolerant of views, beliefs, or behavior that differ from one’s own

Irresponsible - not showing a proper sense of responsibility

Jealous - feeling or showing envy of someone or their achievements and advantages

Lazy - unwilling to work or use energy

Machiavellian - cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics

Materialistic - excessively concerned with material possessions; money-oriented

Mean - one who makes no effort to understand or empathize with others

Miserly - of or characteristic of a miser

Moody - given to unpredictable changes of mood, especially sudden bouts of gloominess or sullenness

Narrow-minded - not willing to listen to or tolerate other people’s views; prejudiced

Nasty - behaving in an unpleasant or spiteful way

Naughty - disobedient; badly behaved

Nervous - easily agitated or alarmed; tending to be anxious; highly strung

Obsessive - a person who is affected by an obsession

Obstinate - stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or chosen course of action, despite attempts to persuade one to do so

Overcritical - inclined to find fault too readily

Overemotional - having feelings that are too easily excited and displayed

Parsimonious - unwilling to spend money or use resources; stingy or frugal

Patronizing - apparently kind or helpful but betraying a feeling of superiority; condescending

Perverse - showing a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable, often in spite of the consequences

Pessimistic - tending to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen

Pompous - affectedly and irritatingly grand, solemn, or self-important

Possessive - demanding someone’s total attention and love

Pusillanimous - showing a lack of courage or determination; timid

Quarrelsome - given to or characterized by quarreling

Quick-tempered - easily made angry

Resentful - feeling or expressing bitterness or indignation at having been treated unfairly

Rude - offensively impolite or ill-mannered

Ruthless - having or showing no pity or compassion for others

Sarcastic - marked by or given to using irony in order to mock or convey contempt

Secretive - inclined to conceal feelings and intentions or not to disclose information

Selfish - lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one’s own personal profit or pleasure

Self-centered - preoccupied with oneself and one’s affairs

Self-indulgent - characterized by doing or tending to do exactly what one wants, especially when this involves pleasure or idleness

Silly - having or showing a lack of common sense or judgement; absurd and foolish

Sly - having or showing a cunning and deceitful nature

Sneaky - furtive; sly

Stingy - unwilling to give or spend; ungenerous

Stubborn - having or showing dogged determination not to change one’s attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good arguments or reasons to do so

Stupid - having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense

Superficial - not having or showing any depth of character or understanding

Tacky - showing poor taste and quality

Tactless - having or showing a lack of adroitness and sensitivity in dealing with others or with difficult issues

Timid - showing a lack of courage or confidence; easily frightened

Touchy - oversensitive and irritable

Thoughtless - not showing consideration for the needs of other people

Truculent - eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant

Unkind - inconsiderate and harsh to others

Unpredictable - behaving in a way that is not easily predicted

Unreliable - not able to be relied upon

Untidy - not inclined to keep one’s possessions or appearance neat and in order

Untrustworthy - not able to be relied on as honest or truthful

Vague - thinking or communicating in an unfocused or imprecise way

Vain - having or showing an excessively high opinion of one’s appearance, abilities, or worth

Vengeful - seeking to harm someone in return for a perceived injury.

Vulgar - lacking sophistication or good taste; unrefined | this bitch WILL swear tho 

Weak-willed - lacking the ability to resist influence or to restrain one’s own impulses; irresolute

[alicejohnn9087]

Boruto: Now Is the Time for The Return of Orochimaru and Kabuto

In the last episode, Boruto realized that Naruto Uzumaki acted like a politician and was ignorant of the devastating effects of The Great Shinobi World War on smaller nations who never recovered from the war and its aftermath. He found out the alliance was merely a sham, and it only cared for the interests of major nations.

Things only have become even more complicated in the new episode “The Hashirama Cell.” Boruto and his friends were investigating the case of a missing scientist in the Land of Valleys. When they found out that things go way deeper soldier of fortune, and reprobate ninjas as the DNA of one of Konoha’s most powerful Hokage, Hashirama is militarized for unethical and shady purposes. The worrying thing about his DNA use is that it can lead to the emergence of almost godlike shinobi, which can be a peril for the peace of the ninja world. But this unique situation is perfect for the return of the two former villains – Orochimaru and Kabuto.

Orochimaru was a legendary Sannin from Konohagakure, a hidden-village of the Land of Fire. He wanted to know all of the world’s secrets, but knowing the impossibility of his task, he wanted to achieve immortality so that he would have ample time to achieve his goal. In pursuit of his ambitions, he performed various unethical experiments as a consequence of which he had to defect from Konoha since he was caught red-handed. After that, he became extremely vengeful and sought the destruction of the village; for him, the destruction and chaos didn’t matter much as he wanted to showcase what he had learned through his experiments. After wreaking havoc for some time, he realized that his approach was wrong.

Orochimaru has fought with Jiraiya and Tsunade’s likes, the legendary shinobis, which was proof of his dangerous powers since very few can stand toe to toe with these great ninjas. He used to be the main anti-hero in Naruto, in which he tried to prove himself as a god by devastating Konoha. He also attempted resurrections and tried to use Itachi and Sasuki for his immoral experiments. He always had a keen interest in Harshirama’s cells.

Harshirama’s cells are definitely worth the hype as they were used to create combatants like Madara. Shin and Obito. Even Orochimaru’s own son, Mitsuki, is infected by the DNA of Harshirama, which means that he too probably will go on to become a dangerous warrior. However, all of his past actions were redeemed when he decided to side with Naruto and his team to battle against Madara and Kaguya. He has also tried to make amends for his past by experimenting with making Konoha a better place.

But it would be unwise and, in fact, stupid to believe that there is no possibility of Orochimaru going back to his old ways. In fact, him decision to engineer his son Mitsuki raises concerns about his apparent change of heart. Since his work is always clouded with secrecy, it is tough to predict his actions with surety. He may even use his son’s genes to help the old and the needy or go on to upgrade him to achieve his unfulfilled sinister ambitions. Only time will tell where his loyalties truly lie.

Kabuto had always been obsessed with the Hokage, and while working under Orochimaru, he did his own experiments and even surpassed his mentor as he went on to successfully do things Orochimaru failed at. Just like his mentor, he too, was very intrigued by the Harshirama’s cells. As he loved science, it will be great to see him back working on using the great Hokage’s genes to help the needy and to make new weaponry. Both Kabuto and Orochimaru’s knowledge of medical science could prove to be of great importance for Konoha’s village in a situation this desperate, as the numbers of kids who need attention keep increasing exponentially. It’s true that both men have pasts which makes it hard to trust them with such a great responsibility and there is always the risk of them going back their old ways and starting some other evil project. But this might also become the point where both of them redeem themselves for good by helping the people through such tumultuous times. It is impossible to predict what their true intentions might turn out to be but one thing is certain that if they come to the fore once again, they will have fans waiting desperately to see what their possible return will mean.

Source : Boruto

[1000-directions]

wip wednesday: winterhawk punks (still) in love

Bucky and Clint both have really compelling arguments for why Steve absolutely should not attempt to give himself a face tattoo. Bucky’s argument is that it’s needlessly dangerous and risky, and Clint’s argument is that it’s probably going to look extremely fucking stupid.

When they’re sitting with Steve in the emergency department waiting area four days later to have a doctor take a look at the truly disgusting staph infection that has taken over half his face, it seems pretty clear that they’ve both won.

Clint’s helping Steve fill out the paperwork because his eye’s so swollen shut that he can’t see the page, and Bucky can’t manage a clipboard too well on his best day. Plus, he’s still fucking furious at Steve’s reckless ass for bringing this upon himself.

“Don’t tell them my address!” Steve is hissing at Clint, but Clint ignores him and keeps filling out the form.

“It wants to know the nature of your injury,” Clint says. “What should I put? ‘Made an unwise permanent style choice’?”

“How about ‘stuck an infected needle in my face like a dumbass,’” Bucky suggests idly, and Clint snickers.

“Don’t write that!” Steve protests, swatting at Clint’s arm. “Bucky, he’s fucking writing it.”

“Don’t blame Clint for your shitty decisions,” Bucky says, frowning.

“Both of you quit it,” Clint says. Without looking up from the form, he places his right hand on Bucky’s upper thigh, rubbing his thumb in small circles, and Bucky smiles. “Okay, I need your health insurance.”

“I don’t have health insurance,” Steve says, spitting out the words like they’re poison. “Medical care is a goddamn human right. I refuse to participate in a system that decides who lives and who dies based on how much money they make.”

“Shut the fuck up, Steve,” Bucky says tiredly, reaching for his wallet. It’s two in the morning, and he doesn’t have the energy for this right now. “You work for Stark Tech. You have the same insurance I do. Clint, I keep a copy of his card with me.”

“I do not have health insurance,” Steve says, dumbfounded. Bucky locates the card in his wallet and hands it over to Clint, who starts copying down the information. “I have health insurance?”

“Looks like the hospital is going to be compensated for the medical care they provide you,” Clint says apologetically. “You’ll have to single-handedly take down the HMOs another day, man.”

“I fucking hate you guys,” Steve says, slumping down in his seat. “My face hurts, and you’re both being dicks.”

It’s not worth arguing with Steve about how this entire situation is one-hundred percent his own stubborn fault.

They do end up arguing with him about it, of course, but it’s definitely not worth it.