#i understand that things happen and not everything works and medicine is still evolving and all that

[xviruserrorx]

Random fevers my belothed

[perfectarmony]

I am actually frustrated with TCL this season cuz where is the armony magic??? Like they are hell bent on showing us Nadia/Arman and thony always fixing luca and going loco loco in the process. I seriously though that this Western drama would make me stick to it but nope...

I mean who are we kidding here! The showrunners of this are the same devils who ruined the 100

What a waste of time

Hello anon, and sorry for the delay!

Okay, I could literally feel the awkwardness and frustration here on tumblr given how quiet the tag is 👀

Warning as usual: this is just my opinion - but it's also completely understandable for people to get frustrated when they're passionate about something 😉

I hear you anon, and I understand the frustration with the teasing and anticipation each week if you focus and wait for some Armony content - but really, the show is so much more, and I don't think the showrunners have failed us so far.

~ A while back, an anon told me it might be best to not expect anything from Armony, and take crumbs if there were any - and it's pretty much the voice of wisdom in this case. If you look at the characters' development - how the different relationships affects them, and how they evolve, the quality of the show hasn't diminished at all.

When you think about it, Thony started selling drugs because she needed the medicine for Luca, and wanted to help those who didn't have access to medical care. Then, she turned away from that, to become as Gabriel called her, a drug dealer - to help Arman. It wasn't so much about Luca anymore - it became about getting him out and then quickly about themselves getting out - it was about her/their survival. Arman is now kinda free of Kamdar - yeah, he's not free at all when at least 3 men want him dead, add Tarik to the mix and it makes 4 - but still, he doesn't have to work for him anymore. So now, Thony proved her worth and we're back to the show's core - keeping Luca alive any way she can.

Wait for it, I'm about to use that quote again. It's not about doing things the right way or the wrong way - but any way you can. That's what it has always been about - and Anna-Mae telling Thony that she ''always knows the right thing to do'' was also a nod to that quote, and to Garrett telling her in 1.09 that what she's doing [helping Arman] is wrong, and to Fiona telling her she's someone who always things she knows better than everyone else, and to 2.04 - how we do it isn't always the way we want/Bahala Na. And there are more!

Again it's just my opinion, but it all makes sense, and they are still doing an amazing job putting this story together.

And again, I completely understand that the fandom expects so much more when Armony has been so vivid in S1 - but the spark is still there. Plus, they barely had time to sleep since the season started. I'm not going to list everything they all had to go through - but I mean, Arman has been arrested on October 15th, and if TCL's timeline is now synced up with real life, so much has happened in just ~6 weeks from 1x10 to 2x09!

That being said, I would be lying if I'd say I wasn't also frustrated at times and didn't sometimes wish for more for the entire show - but mostly because I'd like to slow down a bit, and spend a bit more time on some scenes.

~ I haven't watched the 100, so I don't know much more about that other than what I saw amongst the vidding community when reading video descriptions and comments on Bellarke fanvids - but I'm kinda aware of the anger many fans felt in the fandom. I guess that's what you're refering too? Or are you talking about character development in general? Miranda was indeed working on the show for a while - and I can completely understand your reaction, but unfortunately can't go any further than that when I haven't watched it, sorry 👀

But where I can compare is with Queen of The South. If you haven't watched it, I 100% recommend it - and even more as a show you can binge-watch! I won't go into too much details to not spoil the series for those who haven't seen it - but it has always been about Teresa Mendoza and her journey to becoming the drug queenpin in white. A ship - Jeresa - quickly emerged, and long story short, James wasn't in s4 and came back for s5, which was announced as the final season. And of course, with the clock ticking and each week getting us closer to the end, everyone - me included - had big hopes for their reunion and wanted them to be together. There was a lot of heat, anger and frustration amongst the fandom - that I watched from a distance, but also saw in comments on mine and other fanvids.

To sum it up without giving too much away, their ''relationship'' was..stopped/paused?..in the second episode, and with everything she had gone through, it made sense too. She was scared, had lost many people, was getting deeper and deeper to desperately make it to the top to finally become legit and be untouchable / and feel safe - and was also protecting James by pushing him away.

All of this rambling to get to the point that Armony and Jeresa are the magnificent cherries on top of a magnificent story. No matter how powerful a ship is, I won't be sticking around if the rest makes me want to fast forward. I was drawn to QotS by Teresa, then also fell in love with James, Camila, Branda, Pote, Kelly-Ann,...Thony's story made me want to watch TCL, and then I fell in love with her little human, Fiona, the kids, Arman, Mateo (who was supposed to be my parallel to Pote 🤧 rip), Nadia,...

If you really aren't enjoying the show as a whole anymore, I feel like it might be a good idea to take a step back once the season is over, and binge-watch S1-S2 once your frustration has hopefully eased off 😉

I hope I could somewhat help anon? And I'm sure we'll have 3 amazing last episodes with Armony content - don't give up on it just yet ❤️

[sadowlswriting]

I'm not sure if it's because I'm older now and I'm not really a kid anymore, but nothing has changed.

Holidays and events that come every year aren't fun anymore. I can't stand birthdays my own or someone else's, I'll celebrate someone's if their excited but I don't want to celebrate my own, i find it unnecessary and pointless when I don't see the fun in it anymore and my family fail to understand that.

Easter. My family aren't religious but we still buy chocolate Easter eggs and decorate boiled eggs when we were young, but now I see no point in that either. I remember doing it when I was young, I remember feeling happy and having fun while doing it but i just don't think it would be the same now.

It's like when you get older a switch gets flipped and instead of seeing the world as this magical, colourful and vibrant place, all the colours of the world become dull like they've all been mixed with a light grey, the colours are still there but there saturation has been turned down.

When I was a child I would look at people and be able to find something to love in each and everyone of them, whether it was something in the way they looked or in how they did something it was easy too but having experienced that you can not love all people and have all people love you back, I now find it hard to find something to love in everyone, I've learnt that what people show in public isn't who they always are.

In the eyes of other people older than me, to them, I am still a kid and I should be doing kid things or at least things people my age do, like posting videos online that I think are funny that when I look back at in a few years I'll cringe at but deep down I'll still smile at the memory of how fun it was, that I should be going out with friends and do what people with friends do, I should be planning out my future and what I want to do, who I want to be, if I want children, if i want to marry and what kind of house I'll live in.

But they don't understand that I've forced my self to be more mature than the age I am, because I was scared of everything, I never had anything happen to me but I forced myself to see what everyone said I'm too young to understand. I was a child with curiosity bigger than I could handle.

I get life is supposed to be one big experience that at the end, you can tell stories to the people who care for you, or if you have grandchildren or you can give advice to someone whose younger and teach them not to make the same mistakes you did, and not get to the end of your life rethinking all the things that you should've done or that you regret.

And I know this getting long and it's a lot to read and not many people are probably going to take the time to read this, and that's okay. Really, it is. Nobody has to read everything they come across and I don't expect them too.

This world is better in terms of science, medicine is more advanced and people are able to live longer, and better quality lives yet there is still a lot more that needs time spent in researching. But even though we've progressed and evolved to make our chances of survival in this word better and easier this world is still going downhill, people are trying to help but its not working, wars are still happening and people are dying and suffering everyday, human rights are being taken away from the innocent when they've done nothing wrong, people are still looked down upon because of their race, gender, sexuality and disability. Instead of going forward were going backwards and I can't help but wonder why? What is happening? Is there any hope left? And should I even have any?

It is not hard to learn from the mistakes of the past, and I'm glad we're taught history so we can see what not to do, so we have sympathy for those that have been wronged and not let us to do the same but why are we failing so hard?

Are we not supposed to make this world better than we found it? Yet here we are destroying what is left of it. We're supposed to make life easier for the next generation, were supposed to make them feel safe not scared and not terrified that their life can be taken away from them within a millisecond.

I know its not my fault but I cant help but feel like I have to apologise, to all the people who have faced discrimation, who have watched war and murder happen in front of their very own eyes, who have had they're parents, children, friends or any other people they've loved taken away from them. This world is not fair and I'm sorry. I am so sorry.

-Owl.

[my-writings-and-musings]

MTMTE Headcannon Prompt

Enemy forces hack the Lost Light and deactivate the atmospheric controls, leading to a slow loss of oxygen in the hopes the damage to the ship's "pet" will give them an edge. While the rest of the crew struggles to fight off their attackers and restore these critical systems, the bot(s) you've come to love stays by your side as a guard while begging you to remain conscious, growing ever more panicked as you begin to fade... Until you're saved just in time, and then they're left grappling with the fact they nearly lost you.

(A lot more dramatic than my first prompt certainly, and way more involved so I can only do two bots per post... But I'll get to them all!)

Part One: You're Here!

Part Two: Here!

Part Three: Here!

Part Four: Here!

Part Five: Here!

Part Six: Here!

Part Seven: Here!

Part Eight: Here!

Part Nine: Here!

Part Ten: Here!

Part Eleven: Here!

Part Twelve: Here!

Rodimus

·You're chilling on the mess of blankets he uses as extra insulation in the berth, debating which movie you'll watch with him when he returns, when the ship gives a rumble. At the lack of emergency signals that follow, you assume something has just bumped against the shields, which happens so frequently you only shrug.

·Elsewhere on the bridge, Rodimus receives a taunting message from the enemy ambush, bragging about how impossibly easy it was to crash key programs on the Lost Light, like the air filtration system... which will make things awfully difficult for his pet as oxygen has started to leak. He goes from aggressive bantering to obvious horror, putting the pieces together just as a loud series of distant rumblings marks the deactivation of the filters providing the oxygen you need to survive.

·For once his commanding officers all know what to expect in unison, allowing them to take over the bridge when he abandons it in a desperate rush to your location, his pounding pedes leaving tire marks in his wake as he stumbles into a frantic transformation to cross the distance as fast possible.

·Unable to reach you on any channel, he loses all focus of his surroundings before skidding to a tumbling halt before your shared quarters, calling out your name and activating his scanner as he registers dangerously low and still dropping oxygen levels across the ship.

·You're unaware of anything amiss as you continue to relax, but that's mostly due to a growing fog of confusion settling over your thoughts and senses. It's so dense that it has already made you incapable of noticing that the air is unusually stale, and your befuddlement only grows when he barges in like the place is burning down, moreso than usual.

·Scooping you into his arms, his relief at seeing you alive and conscious turns to terror when he realizes you've already begun to suffer the effects, as your bleary smile and dizzy demeanor make clear. He doesn't need to be a human doctor to know you're already in a bad way.

·Just as he is halfway through an explanation you barely understand, he receives a communication through restored channels from the other commanding officers warning that the ship has been boarded by enemy forces, at which point he resolutely declares that nothing will reach you so long as his spark has so much as a flicker left. In your inability to grasp the danger his steadfast vigilance is heartwarming.

·A defensive unit is posted outside for your safety, but as the battle rages through the ship and oxygen levels continue to fall, he stops focusing on the invasion. Instead he cradles you and encourages you to be still and quiet while he tries to keep up a one sided conversation to keep you distracted, knowing that what oxygen remains must be rationed.

·For the first time in his life he can't fake a smile no matter how badly he tries, the sight of your increasingly strained breaths and fading eyes drawing tears to his optics and eventually forcing him to his knees as his meandering words turn to soft pleading, his voice cracking as he alternates between begging you to stay with him and apologizing for being unable to save you.

·As you hover over a warm blackness you're far too disoriented to be as afraid as you should be, and instead you offer comfort at the sight of the bot you've come to adore so readily, murmuring your love even as he gently shushes you and tears begin to fall down his face without reservation.

·Though the battle turns in favor of the crew and the room you're in is spared attack, the atmospheric systems remain inoperable for what he knows is too long, and the ticking seconds match the fluttering of your eyes as they try not to shut.

·You know he wants you awake, but you're so incredibly tired and he's so impossibly comfortable, why can't he just let you have a nap? It's not like you won't be able to see each other after, so why does he look so sad? You wish you could tell him not to be sad.

·When you inevitably slip into unconsciousness he's beside himself, panicking but doing everything he can to gently wake you up, tenderly rubbing his thumb over your cheek to encourage you to stir. The crushing grief just beginning to take hold is so great he actually doesn't notice he has a message until it forces itself through.

·He's barely able to recollect the conversation he has with Ratchet, save the order to get you to the medical bay, where they've restored just enough functionality to produce oxygen on a one human scale. The bots who saw him running afterwards said there was little more visible than a fiery blur with you in his arms.

·Cybertronian engineering combined with carefully studied earth medicine provides you with the air you need just in time, dredging you up slowly from deep unconsciousness to the sterile taste of a ventilation mask over your face. Your discomfort mattered precious little when you behold Rodimus at your side, servo cupping your body as his face still shines with tears.

·It takes moments for him to break when you're left alone together, his shoulders shaking as the helplessness continues to haunt him, and his apologies blend together in an endless tangle of self depreciation.

·As you've come to do when he's overwhelmed, you encourage him to come closer, hugging his helm to your smaller body as if he's laying it in your lap. The oxygen mask limits you, but you don't let it stop your quiet shushes as you stroke his crests. ·Without delay you slow his tears, reassuring him that everything is well until exhaustion claims him and he falls asleep at your bedside.

·The experience doesn't leave him for some time. Both in public and in private you catch him paying close attention to you, and you know he's double checking your breathing, still worrying that such a simple thing could steal you away so quickly.

· Finally, you take him aside and pull his hand to your chest, indicating the rythym of your body and how you know it better than anyone. If he can't trust the world, then he should at least trust you, and with that newfound perspective he starts to heal as well. Because he trusts you more than anything.

Magnus/Minimus

·You're in the berthroom the two of you share, distracted by preparations for what you hope will be a simple but relaxing night in. In the well protected room it's impossible to hear much going on outside, especially with you focused so intently on making everything just the way he likes it.

·He's in his office and armor completely focused on some important paperwork when he receives an urgent warning; they're being boarded, and the attackers have already managed to offline several key atmospheric regulators and security systems. The thought initially only spurs him to begin defensive measures, but the moment he sees that oxygen levels are starting to drop, protocol ceases to exist.

·In battle he's always been a foe to be reckoned with, but now he's like a force of nature barreling through the ship, and the single unit of enemies that tries to confront him becomes little more than scattered body parts before they can let off a single shot. His fury is so overwhelming even his allies flinch when he tears past them to reach your shared quarters. He can't contact you by communicator, and he's uncertain if it's due to downed channels, or something he can't bring himself to consider.

·The door stands little hope when he tears it open in rage that's quickly evolving into panic, shouting your name as a flood of terrifying possibilities torture him with all the ways you could already be suffering. He has no idea how much or how little oxygen you need, and for all he knows the deprivation is already killing you, making you suffer...

·It takes all of his incredible self control not to embrace you when you stumble into view, dizzy and weak as well as quite confused, and he realizes things are far from okay when you lean on his offered hand to prevent yourself from falling. You actually laugh thanks to the delirium, finding it adorable to see the big tough bot diving to catch you.

·He can't bring himself to be mad at you not taking this seriously, but he's certainly frustrated at himself for being absolutely helpless to assist you, even if there's nothing he can do in the midst of the chaos with no communication options in working order.

·Ever the tactician, he barricades the two of you as effectively as he can, knowing that you're vulnerable enough now that moving you through combat could be fatal. The entire time he's multitasking on a million fronts; trying to keep you still on the berth to conserve energy, working to reestablish communication with anyone, and internally punishing himself for not having prepared some kind of protocol for this situation.

·Due to his personality you're quite accustomed to seeing him worry, but you're hardly comfortable with it, and on reflex you keep trying to comfort and reassure him despite your weakening state. His insistence you stay resting makes as little sense as his explanations, all you know is he needs help.

·Every minute drags by like an eternity, yet his skill at spotting details makes it impossible for him to miss the toll each one takes in real time. Your breaths are growing more strained, your body is settling down onto the berth with less resistance, and your eyes are meeting his with increasing dullness.

·When you can't even sit up a part of him simply... snaps. All but throwing off his armor, he brings you into his arms in his base form, not admitting but knowing that if he can't save you, he wants this to be the last way you see him.

·In a pleasant haze of fading consciousness, you initially smile at the sight, having always preferred to see him as his true self as often as possible. You'd playfully pointed out how he still towered over you in this form so many times...

·With no traces of battle growing close, or of help arriving before it's too late, he can't help but lose sight of the world around him in its entirety. What does the universe matter if you won't be in it? What good are his abilities if he can't save you from something so apparently benign?

·Never before has he cried in the presence of anyone, so to see tears in those beautiful red optics gives you considerable pause, even as your vision grows dark around you. Something must have been terribly wrong for him to cry, but you care far more about comforting him than finding out what.

·Despite the weight in your limbs, you reach up as he holds you close to weakly cup his face, shushing him with a promise he'll be okay before slipping into darkness.

·It's a stroke of fortune that Ratchet arrives when he does, catching the smaller mech holding your limp form tight as his shoulders shake in silent sobs, as the broken bot would have never allowed your loss to go unpunished. He's bordering on incoherent himself when the medic explains that the attack has been stopped, and that while communications are still down, he was able to isolate a portable supply of oxygen for you.

·It's almost too much for him to believe when the mask is laid over your face and life returns to your peaceful form. The medic confirms you'll survive, and while there will be a road to recovery, you shouldn't suffer any ill effects from the close call. He's torn between relief and still further worry.

·Had you not been saved, he's certain he would have donned his armor and annihilated each attacker personally, with little intention of living to fight another day... But as you recover in the aftermath, he instead throws himself into crafting regulations, trying to come up with a series of safeguards and rules to ensure this can't happen again. He drafts it all at your bedside.

·When you wake up he's effusive in his apologies. How could he not have predicted this? It's such an obvious possibility! He takes your tiny hand in his as he alternates between admonishing his tactical failure and begging forgiveness, forcing you to interrupt and quiet him down before he can say anything else against himself.

·You remind him that it's not his purpose in life to protect you, as he should know better than anyone your size doesn't mean you need constant protection. All you need is for him to be there, just as he is, which is what he's done.

·Only a few tears fall this time, and you're eternally grateful to confirm that they're from blissful relief. He doesn't know how you manage to always remove the weight of the world from his shoulders, but you do, and he'll treasure that more completely from now on.

[witchyintention]

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕗𝕥?

As of late many have found themselves taking steps into the wondrous world of witchcraft. However it is a lot more than just an aesthetic. It is a lifestyle that is both beautiful and dangerous when you don't know what you're doing. Witchy Intention is to help guide you in your craft and teach you through my experiences and research. Along with many other experienced witches through interviews.

When you hear someone say witchcraft you instantly jump to satanic or devil worship but truth be told it's not. Satan is a figure in Christianity and has absolutely nothing to do with witchcraft. So what is witchcraft you ask. Witchcraft is an earth based religion or practice, and has been practiced in almost all the societies and cultures across the world. Though each craft is different according to local beliefs and traditions.

According to scholars of witchcraft, it was a belief system whose origin predates the majority of well known religions. It dates back so far many do not know the exact date, but we have seen it in many cultures such as ancient Egyptians. It also has been evolving since then and its present form is quite different from what it was thousands of years ago. And different areas practiced it differently. Even today from person to person and Coven to Coven it is practice differently. To each their own. It's a unique experience in itself. 

In the ancient times, Witchcraft was known as ‘craft of the wise’ as the wise persons were those who followed the path of nature and were in tune with its forces, had the knowledge of herbs and medicines, gave wise counsel and were held in high esteem as Shamanic healers and leaders in the village and community. They understood that nature was superior to human beings and that human beings were simply one of the many parts of nature, both seen and unseen that combine to form one whole. As Chief Seattle said, “We do not own the earth; we are a part of it.” They understood that what we take from nature or use, we must return in kind to maintain the balance and equilibrium. The modern man has, however, forgotten this and has paid the price in the form of many ecological and environmental disasters.

Unfortunately for the past several hundred years the image of the witch has been associated with the evil, heathenism and unrighteousness due to prejudices created by the Christian church. Somewhere along the line Christians accused the Pagan Horned god as the devil because these pagans didn't believe in the same god as them. So what does some Christian of high power do? Calls it devil worship. Despite the fact the bible never tells us what Lucifer looks like upon going to hell. 

However, as of late people have started understanding and practicing witchcraft as the true religion of God and Nature. There is renewed interest in witchcraft and witches profess to believe and practice the craft with a sense of pride and confidence. The believers in the New Age movement have understood witchcraft in its true perspective.

Modern witchcraft attracts believers from all walks of life and positions in society all over the world. They come together to understand the life, nature, evolution and mysteries of the universe through witchcraft. Witchcraft is the most democratic religion and practices in the world. There is no rigid dogma and no hard-line regime except for a simple premise that we should not do evil and if we do, know it will come back in multiple. Though not all witches bide by this but many of us do. Secondly, we should not misuse the generosity of nature by disturbing its balance. This is certainly something we all bide by. 

There are many forms of witchcraft like I had said earlier it differs from person to person. I will have a separate episode going into the top most popular kinds of witches but for now let's just explain a few things. A lot of other belief systems have set rules of what is good and what is bad, think the ten commandments, or Orthodox Jews are not allowed to use anything mechanical on the Sabbath, or Muslims are only allowed to eat certain parts of the animal. Witchcraft isn't like that. It's more about the big picture and how our actions contribute to that big picture. 

I would also like to clarify that being a witch doesn't mean your Wiccan or even pagan. You can very much still be Christian and practice the craft. Remember I said witchcraft was all about the mother earth along with whatever god or gods you worship. This includes the Christian god. I personally know a few Christian witches.

 However note that if you are a Christian witch you will be working with only that god. If you plan to work with other gods perhaps you need to rethink your religion's standpoint. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" is one of the Ten Commandments found in the Hebrew Bible at Exodus 20:2 and Deuteronomy 5:6. With that said the craft is something unique and interesting but be careful because it is real and it can be dangerous. 

When new witches find themselves wanting to get into the craft but they really have no idea where to start. Try the history. There is a lot more history than I could even hope to cover in a single session. This is nothing more than an introduction to it. When you are learning about its history you will find many different kinds of practices. 

Though it's perfectly fine to be drawn to a practice and wanting to do it. Make sure you first do research on whether the practice is a closed or open practice. Closed practices are closed for a reason and most times you have to have approval to practice it and be sworn in. So if you find yourself wanting to do a closed practice make sure you do the research on how you can do it and do go through the proper procedures. 

Some might not let you in at all. For example Voodoo. Voodoo is one of the ones you work with your ancestors, an African folk magic. Those gods (spiritual beings? I really don't know.) are not going to be very accepting of one who is of European descent because your ancestors did their ancestors wrong. 

If you are considering the craft, know this, you will spend your whole life learning about the craft. Even the most seasoned of witches are constantly learning. The craft in a sense is like a hypothesis. You will constantly be learning, writing down your findings, doing this and that, to see if it works and figuring things out as you go. But before you even think about getting a head of yourself you need to do lots of research. Don't think 'oh I read a book I can now do a spell'. Witches read a lot. Even if we have already read something on a topic we will keep on. Cross reference everything you read. There is plenty of false information. Especially on the internet, but there are some good sources too.

You need tons of training and maybe even guidance from established witches before you cast your first spell. However we know full well that you learn by doing. So go for it but start with small simple spells. Note that writing a spell or doing a spell does not require a coven, animal bones, and full moon, as fun as nights involving these can be. In fact many witches don't have covens and many do not use animal bones. 

Sometimes it’s not about forming the biggest circle under a full moon, but just having a good time with other witches. Or even yourself if you prefer to do Magic solo. It's fine and very much acceptable. But coven or not it's always fun to do with friends. Nothing's like dancing around a bonfire with your best friends.

Practicing can get expensive. I mean you're going to spend a lot of money on books. Though the internet had everything you could possibly need, nothing beats a good book on witchcraft. I mean who doesn't want a bookshelf full of witchcraft research. Then the actual items you'll need will cost you. Even if it's not aesthetically pleasing. People tend to go a cheaper route using things for the dollar store or reusing sauce jars. Which is good but you will still spend a pretty penny because you'll constantly be getting new ones. Jars break, candles melt, herbs are all used up and crystals can and will break. And no your practice might not always be aesthetically pleasing or photo worthy at all time. Truth be told it can be a bit messy, kinda like arts and crafts. Then again witchcraft is both an art and a craft so it makes sense.

Not all witches are female. Whether you are male, nonbinary, trans, genderless, or anything in between, you can be a witch. It's true that there is a beautiful history of women and witchcraft but magick is genderless. Magik does not care about your gender, sexuality, or religious beliefs. Magik is also not good nor evil, it all depends on how the protactioner is using it.

Popular belief also tells that you have to be born into a witch family or your ancestors have to be a witch for you to be one. That's not true. I have said it once and I have said it twice. Anyone can be a witch. 

Hexes, they are real. Sorry if this scares you, but hexes, cast to inflict misfortune on others, are indeed real. Some witches but not all believe Magic used with ill intent will come back three times on the caster. Some call this The Rule of Three some call it karma. Either way just know it will come back to you some way or another, even if it's by a return to sender spell.

One of the mean teachings of witchcraft by most forms is what you put into the universe is what you get out of it. If you put positivity into the world you'll get positivity back. The same could be said about negativity. But then someone will say 'Oh I have been putting positivity in the world and nothings happening.' If that's the case the negativity you've been put into the world prior to it is still trying to catch up to you. So keep up the positivity even if it's hard.

You don't have to wear all black. There isn’t a standard dress code for witches, and while it’s absolutely acceptable to wear black from head to toe, there are just as many witches who prefer a sundress and sandals as there are who like black fishnets and velvet.

Black cats are not needed either. Though there is nothing wrong with having a black cat and being a witch. Both have been misunderstood for their supposed evil intentions and connections to dark magic for centries.

Remember real magic isn't some Harry Potter mumbo jumbo either. Though let's face it, we can all still pretend that's what it's like. I do. I know the difference between real magic and what the church and Entertainment make it out to be. But I still enjoy the fiction as much as the real. But we do use wands. Though not all of us do and if anything it's to help control where our magic goes to say.

Black, Grey, White, Evil or Good Magic are terms I personally do not use. Some people use these terms, but they probably shouldn't. To start, they have racist undertones. Rituals that are mistakenly believed to be bad are labeled black magic often come from traditions such as Hoodoo, which is traditional African folk magic, that is also a closed practice. Another thing I have said before is that Magic and Witchcraft alike are not good or bad, it's all on how the protationer uses it. I personally tend to stay away from these labels simply because I do not like the negative feeling given and the story behind them. But that is just me, I would hope many follow in those footsteps but not all are going to. I fully understand that.

✩ Don't Steal Other Peoples Work ✩

Written:

May 24, 2020

By:

Reine Alicis

[anamarialujan]

Episode 2 Random Thoughts

I know I'm late for the party but just today I was able to see episode 2.

Some things: (I know that nobody cares but I write it anyway, to keep a kind of diary?)

-I love, love, love Sister Frances in this episode. I like when the characters evolve and the role of the scared and naive nun had to be replaced by the real herself: a super special girl! Even though I understand her, knowing nothing about the world is so...annoying. And I'm not a nun! (at least she has an excuse).

-I honestly thought that the story of the sailor and his wife was going to get worse. I do not see this the same as the episode of season 1 (the older man and the black baby) Here the sailor is fully aware of what happened, and at first I did not like him, but I think he is a good person. He accepts things, accepts that there were mistakes of his own and of his wife.

-Fred is the cutest thing.

* pause to drink mate *

-At last Cyryl has a great role! Seeing him always fixing a car or hanging around Lucille bored me a lot, but he helps people and even irons the suit for the unemployed man. He has a specific role. (Hopefully he can help sister Monica Joan. And marry her. Ok no. Ok yes).

-The story of the woman who dies was terrible, I already knew that would happen, I saw the spoilers but it was still terrible. I just hope this isn't the excuse to pair the widower with Trixie.

-I'm sorry that Julienne's plan failed (I know there is good news later, I'll see episode 3 tomorrow) but I think it was even obvious that there are abortions in a private clinic. I found it rather naive not to know that, perhaps for a common person of the 60s, but not for someone who works for years in medicine and has seen everything.

-Poor Sister Hilda and her idea of ​​new habits hahaha.

-I think I never said it but sometimes the incidental music is a bit annoying. I mean, I know the music helps set the pace of the scenes but isn't it much? Sometimes, to punctuate a painful dialogue, silence is better than a violin orchestra stunning me.

And I think I don't forget anything. Maybe I'll watch episode 3 right now, I don't think I can wait any longer!

[still-a-morosexual-help]

OBEY ME! LESSON 46 DETAILED SUMMARY + THEORIES

This lesson’s got two locked chapters that I can’t unlock :’)

D takes them to the casino where they meet Mammon in the Lamp event outfit. When he laughs and tells them that they must have forgotten who he is if they think they can take the money MC ignores all of this to ask him wtf he’s wearing. Mammon blushes and tells them that they have no right to criticize what he’s wearing considering what they’re wearing. Then he says also Lucifer wtf happened to you!? He laughs and teases Lucifer about getting shrunk and how he could accidentally step on him and kill him rn or how Beel might eat him as a snack. I saw someone say that Mammon was a little shit who was also BabyTM and like Yess!??? I love when we get to see more of the asshole side of him specially when we already know how soft he is. Man’s an onion :’) Beel says he wouldn’t do that unless Lucifer hid inside a piece of cake and Beel swallowed him whole without realising. Lucifer, off screen: “You’d better realise I was there!” And Like??? That’s the point Lucifer wants to argue? Not the fact that he wouldn’t hide inside a cake? Mammon says whatever and that he’ll take Lucifer from them so he can have fun with his new toy anyway RIP to Mammon who dies after this lesson. “Mammon, Avatar of Greed, Appears”- gonna have Pokemon Battles from now on, I can’t believe this what this dating sim has evolved into :D Mammon uses wind to lift Lucifer up and bring him towards him. MC has a flashback to the previous night and commands Beel who transforms into a demon and whose body starts moving on its own, Beel then cancels out Mammon’s spell and uses a wind spell to send Mammon flying. Beel transforms back to his human form and is shocked by what happened. Solomon says MC did a good job commanding Beel though they weren’t able to draw out all his powers. They get the armour, which Beel thinks is too flashy but MC tells him it looks great which he is happy about. D tells them about a rumour of Satan attacking a town up north.

As they walk through the woods Lucifer talks about how much he’s gonna love beating the shit outta Mammon when he’s back to normal and waves MC off when they ask him to go easy on Mammon. Beel says that Lucifer used to be a lot nicer to Mammon in the celestial realm and how the two of them would team up to go argue with Raphael. Solomon asks if it was Diavolo who got Lucifer to change and what exactly Lucifer had to do to reach the status they now enjoy in the Devildom. Beel seems shocked at this and ask Lucifer if it’s true. He says he doesn’t remember. There’s growling & they’re suddenly surrounded by ghosts. Solomon: Oh yeah lol this is called the Black Phantom Forest. Everyone else: WHY the FUCK didn’t you say so before!? They run from the ghosts and set up camp beside a lake, MC & Beel talk. Beel says how they’ve all changed from their time in the Celestial Realm and he can’t remember when he stopped resisting the urge to constantly eat. But how somethings are still the same and how the brothers have always been together and how they always will be. He brings up the three things the butcher said to maintain a long relationship and how even though they may sometimes falter at the “respect each other” part when it comes down to it the brothers have all three things with each other (Not me sobbing like a baby. It’s the found family trope for me guys). Beel says how he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to fight Belphie if they meet him in the game and how he has so many people who he loves that he doesn’t know who to put first and that he knows many people would kill to have that kinda problem and that as both an angel and a demon he’s being lucky to have the people he loves. MC gets to hold his hand, lean on his shoulder or say nothing and guys I love Beel so much he’s just so pure god. Okay so theory part: I 100% believe (& it’s implied in canon and in the chats too) and the main reason Lucifer is so mean to Mammon now is because he’s scared if he doesn’t discipline him then Diavolo will and he’ll end up with another Lilith situation. That being said I NEED to know how Lucifer came across Mammon in the celestial realm and what he said to make Mammon so loyal to him. PLS om! Give me the boys backstory? I like to think Lucifer raised Mammon the same way Simeon is raising Luke and that’s why you can see some of Lucifer’s traits in Mammon whenever he becomes serious about something and why Mammon sometimes slips up and calls Lucifer “Dad” and why Lucifer becomes so happy about it. I also think the others would have been older than Mammon was when he first met Lucifer, when they eventually joined the family which is why they share far less traits with Lucifer and why (as far as we know) none of them have called Lucifer ‘dad”. If this is true it also brings up a real interesting dynamic between Satan and Mammon that would be useful when writing fics. You know a little deeply buried resentment and envy about Lucifer having been more of a father figure to Mammon than to the person who is technically his actual son, and since we know for a fact that right after arriving in the Devildom Lucifer starts going through an existential crisis and Mammon’s the one who steps up to look after the others I 100% believe Mammon’s the one who did most of the work in raising a newly created Satan and who taught him how to control his anger so well (cause lets be real it definitely couldn’t be any of the others) which also gives backstory to Satan’s “do you think Mammon’s actually the most decent of us” homescreen comment and more importantly adds spice to the relationship dynamic you can work with in fics.

When they wake up Beel is thankful that they didn’t get eaten. Solomon: not like you would have noticed with all the fun you had *wink wink* Lucifer: wtf Solomon:*WINK WINK* Me: bro they were just talking…  they find out game time and real world time pass differently and come across a treasure chest in the middle of their path. Solomon: Lets open it! :D Lucifer: Expect that’s definitely a trap… Solomon: Exactly! Which is why we should open it! :D MC: Lets open it! :D Lucifer: Why is the entire human species so fucking stupid!? Why were you created without any self preservation!? Who approved this!?  They find medicine, a warding bottle and cat ears. …They put Lucifer into the bottle and Lucifer’s really going through it in this huh. But opening the chest pulls up an inescapable battle with the final boss, and Satan pops up fully immersed in the villain role with an evil laugh and everything. Luci asks MC to use something from the chest and they use the cat ears and Lucifer’s disappointed when they actually work. But it only deals 222 damage to Satan’s 870k HP. Satan paralyses them all and steals bottled lucifer and calls Belphie to finish the others off. I can’t remember if I mentioned this before but how did the brothers know that Lucifer was gonna be mini before they even got home, it would’ve had to be quite a bit in advance for them to so perfectly set up everything… And you know Solomon was really determined to open that chest (I mean so was MC but the whole of season 1 was establishing that their curiosity was gonna get them killed) so…

MC tells Belphie they don’t want to fight him and Belphie says he doesn’t want to fight either but at the same time Satan agreed to give him mine lucifer for a whole day if he defeats them. Beel’s still reluctant and Belphie says Beel doesn’t have to worry cause Belphie isn’t the same small/weak person that Beel always had to protect (and holy shit I need more info on this too?). Beel eventually agrees and says that Belphie’s strong, he tells MC that they weren’t able to use his entire power against Mammon cause he was holding himself back unconsciously but that he was ready now. MC makes Beel do a bunch of wind attacks and they defeat Belphie who’s impressed. Beel says that the magic was actually MC doing it not him (even though he was the one that executed it). Belphie says he’ll join their party if MC promises him that he’ll be allowed to poke at mini luci. MC tells him there’s a damned line and he’ll have to wait his turn. Solomon wonders if MC should be going around giving the right to annoy lucifer to others but also he wants that right too. Even though Lucifer was kidnapped since he’s still in the bottle he’ll be protected so MC’s test is still ongoing. Odd that there was a bottle that would protect Lucifer should he get kidnapped in the chest that was a trap… look we all know Solomon is shady enough that he’s probably behind this right?

During dinner at a tavern the twins are sickeningly soft with each other and Solomon watches them with a smile. For the night the twins end up sharing a room with each other, with Mc and Solomon alone together. In the middle of the night MC wakes up to Solomon still up and looking sad. They ask him what’s up. He says despite how much they walked he still isn’t tired and that seeing the twins together made him lonely. Seeing how much they love and care and understand each other and how they were always together made him wish he had something similar but how when you didn’t age it was difficult to from lasting bonds like that in the human world. MC tells him that all of them care about him and he says he hopes so. Solomon: Lol just the two of us in a room in a game, wouldn’t it be crazy if we made out? MC can either kiss him or kinda stare awkwardly. If they choose the second he apologises for suddenly putting them on the spot and says he won’t try anything else. So this might be kinda an unpopular opinion and I’m genuinely really happy that the side characters are getting more screen time and development because I desperately needed that but I’m not really onboard the romancing option with them? I’m happy they’ve got their own cards now and I love the devilgram stories and romance options in them but I don’t think it makes sense in the context of the main storyline? Barbatos has almost no interaction with MC and though they haven’t shown it yet it’d be weird if he was suddenly into MC. Diavolo spent 2 whole seasons simping over Lucifer why is MC suddenly an option? Besides Diavolo always seems so lonely and I really want him and MC to be really good friends, I want Diavolo to have a friendship where there isn’t some condition that hangs over it like there is with his relationship with Barbatos and Lucifer. The same goes with Solomon. I just want him to have a good solid friendship where there isn’t expectations or power between them. He also initially only seems interested in MC for their power and as a way to train them and eventually genuinely softens up to them, Just the request to kiss seemed outta nowhere? I don’t know why but with Simeon he seems above crushes? I always imagine him seeing MC as another cute kid Lucifer picked up (despite MC being an adult) and having a sort of soft indulgent attitude towards them. I don’t know I think I just want MC to have some friends who aren’t trying to sleep with them.

Solomon is extremely chipper the next morning and Belphie grumpily makes a comment about him having fun and sdfjdvnsjdokd they just talked. Belphie uses his magic to teleport them to Satan’s castle and Beel asked why he couldn’t do that the previous night, Belphie says grumpily cause then Solomon would have missed out on the fun and Solomon agrees and THEY JUST TALKED!? Satan has managed to transform Lucifer into wolf Lucifer and is shaking his bottle hard enough to make Luci wanna puke while Lucifer asks him to stop. MC tells satan to stop and he tells them they won’t be able to defeat him cause they skipped right to the boss battle without taking the long route and levelling up. MC says they’re not gonna fight him cause this whole thing is fucking stupid. Satan says it’s not cause he’s having fun. MC gives him one of their free therapy sessions about how important the bonds between he and his brothers are and how they don’t care more about helping the brothers all get along than some stupid star. Beel comes out spitting facts, saying they all know that Satan actually cares about Lucifer and how that embarrasses him and how he needs to stop hiding it by lashing out. And how Lucifer needs to get his shit together and be honest with satan. That he needs to tell Satan that Lucifer knows he’s his own demon and a really good demon at that. Lucifer says FYI but I never said you weren’t your own great person and Satan blushes and says that unless he wants to look childish he has no option but to accept the olive branch. He tosses Luci to MC. Belphie complains about having stupid older brothers and Solomon says he’s disappointed in Satan and reveals himself as the true secret final boss and FUCK YEAH! I CALLED THAT SHIT! Kinda – I thought he might have just given them a heads up about Luci’s condition. On a different note, Satan needs serious therapy. They all do tbh.

Solomon congratulates MC on what they’ve done so far but says they still haven’t accessed Beel’s full potential and that he’ll give his ‘adorable apprentice’ one more shit at it. Solomon summons Asmo who complains about how long he was made to wait and how he nearly gave up and went to the spa and that no one likes a selfish man. Solomon tells Asmo that he can tell him all this after they get back to the real world and I genuinely want the backstory of how they met and just more about their relationship. At Solomon’s command Asmo uses charm and paralyses Beel and at MC’s Beel uses another wind attack. Asmo says he’s never seen beel do something of this calibre before and he seems more powerful, even more than he was in the celestial realm, Asmo yells at Solomon for just standing and seeming impressed instead of helping him. There’s a bright white light.

Back home with everything back to normal Beel, Lucifer and MC are hanging out by the pool. Lucifer is in an unexpectedly good mood and MC has earned a star, which glows slightly from its place on the symbol etched to the back of their hand. Inside Solomon is feeding the other brothers as punishment. Mammon is sobbing his heart out and Levi is out cold (possibly dead). Satan is given Levi’s remaining share of food and Asmo is in tears. Belphie had made a run for it the second they got home and is nowhere to be found. Solomon talks about how nice Lucifer actually is and how he really loves his brothers cause he just made Solomon make them dinner instead of punishing any of them…. Love that the canonical reason why none of these demons tell Solomon about his food and allow themselves to get tortured is cause they don’t wanna be rude and hurt his feelings. And he thought no one cared about him. If that isn’t love I dunno what is. Beel and MC take a walk while Lucifer sits by the pool and in his words basks in “their screams of agony” While blushing beel says he’s grateful for what happened and how that star is proof that they got closer. Mc can either thank him or say that the star belongs to him. I think they kiss after the second option? For the first Beel says MC’s the one who did the work of drawing out his power. Over the echoing screams from inside Beel asks if they feel like they forgot something and ndfjkfjkdjfefjkn THEY FORGOT DIAVOLO I’M!!!!???? poor baby

[epicspheal]

Hello! Stumbled across this blog fairly recently and just wanted to gush about how great it is! Seriously, phenomenal work on it.

My question; do you think up battle quotes for your OC’s / Trainersonas, like Terra for instance? Things like battle intro, using a potion and revive, mon at mid and low hp, reaction to their mon fainting and victory / defeat? Do it a lot with mine and it just helped me nail their character!

Hi there anon! You are going to make blush with your kind words. It means so much to hear that people enjoy this blog Ah yes, I absolutely do (attempt to) come up with battle quotes for my OCs. Like you mentioned it's a great way to nail their characters. I say attempt to because I'm still working on the ones for my Alolan Champion (Marsha) and my World Champion (Valen). But I can show you the ones I have now! Jack Battle Intro: You should be honored to stand across the pitch from me peasant. There once was a time when only those with the high birth could participate in battles. But now it's open to the masses. No matter, I'll still win. Galar needs a king, and I, Jack will crush you now. Mid/Low HP: That was a good shot, peasant Last Pokemon: Don't think you have me cornered! I'll make you kneel before me like the peasant you are. When Dynamaxing: Off with their heads! Bisharp, Dynamax! Victory: As I said, the Blood of Victors run through my veins. Victory was all but assured Defeat: That's not possible! Afterward: *nothing this asshole just storms off the field* Calla Battle Intro: You know battling new opponents is just like playing with chemicals in a lab. It's cool, a little scary, and not for the faint of heart, but you always learn something new! I hope you're ready for an explosive reaction. As champion of the Galar Region, I accept your challenge Mid/Low HP: I can feel you and your Pokemon's power Last Pokemon: Oh my. This is an unexpected result Gigantamaxing: Alright Toxtricity, let's show them the results of our training with Mustard. It's Gigantamax time! G-max Stun Shock: Poison or Paralysis I wonder which one will happen...variables like that always make a battle more interesting! Victory: My hypothesis was correct! I win! Defeat: Well it seems like my calculations were off. You and your Pokemon are a winning combination! After Defeat: You know losing a battle, failing an experiment. It sucks. But you shouldn't wallow in defeat. You can learn something from everything you do.

Jabari: Battle Intro: You know what I love about water? It's duality. It's both gives and takes life. It can be a gentle stream or a raging ocean. Cold as ice or hot as steam. It can be so many things making it hard to predict. It's why I've dedicated myself to training water types to show their beauty and ferocity. Now as Kalos League champion, I accept your challenge. Mid/Low HP: We're entering dangerous water Last Pokemon: I'm not done yet! Mega Evolution: Let our hearts be one and turn the tide of this battle Blastoise, Mega Evolve Victory: You've battled well Defeat: I lost After Defeat: You know years ago, I was so scared to lose. Like I felt like I was letting everyone down by not being the absolute boost. Don't get me wrong, I'm still sad that I failed my team, but I'm happy to see such a strong and kind trainer best me. Cami (formerly known as Terra) Battle Intro: Medicine, Pokemon Battling, they're both and art and a science. You can't just use your textbook knowledge to save lives or to win batles. Nor can you just solely rely on your feelings and intuition either. It's the combination of both that make the best doctors and the best trainers. Do you understand that? Don't answer, I'll find out what you truly know by battling you now as Unova's Champion Mid/Low HP: I can feel my Pokemon's pain... Last Pokemon: I can still save this battle! Victory: That was a close call Defeat: It's look like my team and I have flatlined After Defeat: It makes me happy to see such a strong and powerful team. It's been awhile since I've lost, congratulations!

[zephyrthesolitary]

Astrology Charts

Many of us have delved deeply into the craft. We've done spells, we’ve done rituals. We have studied together and apart. We have learned about kitchen witchery, herbalism, medicine crafting, and making; whether it be self-taught. But let’s take a look at Astrology...

I’ll speak from my own personal experiences when using Astrology because I feel like the attached blog image states the main points.

Before my studies, I was always intrigued by astrology. But all I understood was a Sun Sign. And I always thought it was limited to horoscopes we got every day in the newspaper, online or in an app. How wrong was I?? How wrong we all were!

Astrology is a beautiful art that contains loads of secrets about our being. It is a wonderful tool that allows us to learn about ourselves, each other and also speaks to self-care and respect. It allows us to teach others we come in contact with HOW we’d like to be treated, our needs, wants, deepest fears, weaknesses, and strengths and to identify the most vital parts of ourselves: 

Chiron (our wounded healer; something we are perpetually trying to fix across lifetimes and struggle with) - it is an asteroid that orbits our solar system between Uranus and Saturn. It represents a bridge between the material and spiritual worlds. In astrology, it is your placement in your chart where you can get to know and understand what your deeper wounds are, as well as the karmic, past-life energy you are here to work through to grow and evolve. 

However, it is our unhealable injuries and incurable trauma. However, it is said that if a person decides to swim as opposed to drown in their own trauma, can accept their trauma and help others who are also suffering and finally accept that suffering is a part of life, then Chiron can act as the key to wisdom or an “Initiation Gate”.  

Like all the other planets in our chart, Chiron has a sign and house it was located at the moment you were born. 

Focusing in on this information, allows you to identify what your greatest wounds are and provides insight on how to heal them.

Some backdrop about Chiron, the wounded healer, and inner teacher: From a mythological standpoint, Chiron was a great healer, wise teacher, and one of the immortal Centaurs. However, he was deadly injured by a poison arrow from Heracles, who was his best and close disciple. Even though it was deadly, he could not die. At long last, he gave up his immortality for the benefit of Prometheus who was suffering, and Chiron was then sent to the underworld. In the underworld, Zeus showed mercy for him and raised him to the heavens.

An Example for your Understanding: My Chiron is in Virgo. People with Chiron in Virgo are generally sick for much of their lives, albeit illnesses they encounter are not serious, moreover, they are chronic and cannot be cured. This is true since many medical professionals fail to provide a correct diagnosis. With Chiron here, I have to learn to live with my health issues and find ways to cure or alleviate symptoms. I also do have a fear that once my illness is done, another one will take its place.

My Chiron is also in the 7th House. The 7th house is the house ruling of partnerships; where our relationships, spouses, and soulmates can be found. Chiron in this house speaks to my experiencing consistent pains and aches with regards to my relationships with others no matter what routes I choose to go down. These are pains that cannot be prevented or remedied. These are wounds that reopen on their own from time to time. Consequently, my course of action in life is to still try and avoid and resist these experiences. 

How? 

By turning away and shying away from people. By bracing for impact once I come in contact with others. However, this can cause me to experience even more difficulties and more severe. All of which is the case. 

We also have our North Node (What we should embrace as it is a lesson learned) to our South Node (What we should learn from and release because it proves truly detrimental to character development). 

They are also keyed ‘Lunar Nodes’. 

Funnily enough, these are not planets but astrology’s own mathematical points that happen to be directly opposite of each other in our charts. These nodes are said to have our life purpose encoded in them and in the line between the nodes.

North Node resembles our life lessons and what we are striving for in this lifetime.

South Node indicates our comfort zone and habitual place. 

An Example for your Understanding: My North Node is in Scorpio in the 8th House. My South Node is in Taurus in the 2nd House. This speaks to the conflict between spiritual and material property, between acknowledging that everything is temporary vs the desire to own something and it is in a state permanence. Recognizing that death is a great teacher. People with this node placement should not base their lives on material values. They should explore spiritual values instead. They also should stop avoiding conflicts and not stay in comfortable sterility. Lastly, they should beware of greed and try to not cling to material assets. 

Having this knowledge puts us better in the position of resolving deeply rooted issues we face in our day to day lives. If you believe in past lives, then these are things you will want to try and resolve/work out before entering the next life cycle otherwise, you may very well encounter these troubles again until you’ve learned!

Until Next Time! 

🌙🧡✌🏽

[ts-unpopular-opinions]

Side Tracks opinions part 3: Logan

(Here I go again! Logan’s playlist is a bit more straightforward than the other bois, so heres hoping this one doesn’t take me as long 🤞)

1) The Elements: Not much to say. It just a literal musical list of the periodic table of elements. You can’t get much more Logan than that 😂 Also, Logan likes chemistry!

2) White and Nerdy: Apart from the obvious listing of nerdy things and the legitimate title, Logan feels like he doesn’t always get taken seriously enough by the other sides (“I wanna roll with the gangstas, But so far they all think I'm too White and nerdy” “I wanna bowl with the gangstas, But, oh well, it's obvious I'm White and nerdy”). Basically Logan is a big nerd and a dork. He knows that and he’s worried that sometimes it ostracizes him from the others.

3) Algorithm: Logan doesn’t understand humans very well, at least, he doesn’t understand anything but the logical aspect of humans and the world. He has a different view on life than the other sides (“Supercomputer status, walkin' along streets”). He thinks that the dilemmas and problems in the world would not exist if it wasnt for humans throwing a wrench into all of it with their feelings and emotions (“Humans don't understand, humans will sell a lie. Humans gotta survive, we know we gon' die. Nothing can live forever, you know we gon' try. Life, is it really worth it?”). As the song puts it, Logan believes that the theoretical algorithm of life is perfect, and he doesn’t understand why it needs to get muddied and ruined by simple human issues (“Looking for something worth it, the algorhythm is perfect, mmh”).

4) Fitter Happier: This song is interesting because it shows us the innerworkings of Logan’s thought process. A lot of what he does involves simply planning daily tasks (things as small as drinking or eating) based on what he knows is most healthy for Thomas. The song completely lacks any sense of feeling or emotion and is, as I stated, a legitimate list of things to do in a day. All tasks are put in place to keep Thomas fitter and happier, however, Logan doesn’t have a grasp on emotions and clearly doesn’t know all of the things that Thomas needs to be happy AND healthy. I’ll just list some interesting daily tasks in the song here: “Regular exercise at the gym, three days a week” “Eating well, no more microwave dinners and saturated fats” “Careful to all animals, never washing spiders down the plughole” “Favours for favours, fond but not in love” “Still cries at a good film” “Still kisses with saliva”. As the song goes on, you kind of get a sense that Logan is losing his grip on Thomas, or doesn’t understand why Thomas isn’t feeling satisfied with the plan that, to him, is perfect. Thomas feels trapped in the life that Logan plans for him, and Logan does not understand why that is (“A pig in a cage on antibiotics” “No chance of escape”). There are also a lot of points in the song where Logan shows that he finds emotions to be a weakness, or something to hide away (“Will not cry in public” “Nothing so childish” “No paranoia”).

5) Medicine: I’m not 100% sure what this song is about, but it talks a lot about ancient philosophy. Basically being curious about the world and people in it. I’m guessing that Logan just likes philosophy and thinks that people should always stay curious. Logan really values curiosity and thinking (of course).

6) The Watchtower: This ones... interesting to say the least. If you’re a fan of the broken blue crayon theory you may want to look into this song a bit more. The song talks about being broken and wanting to restart things, possibly showing that Logan will crack at somepoint and need to reevaluate how he’s been handling things (“I'm breaking, I need another start. Far away, From the city lights.”). Ultimately, I think this song is about Logan’s neutrality over all the situations that the group handles. He doesn’t really see problems as good or bad, because he can see logical scenarios with both options (“From the watchtower, We can see things coming. Good or bad”). He knows that this mentality makes him a bit unlikeable because the other sides want him to side with them, but he doesn’t really mind (“I don't mind, If I'm impopular-ar.”).

7) The Breach: Another interesting one which I feel like could have two meanings. My first take was that this song was about Virgil escaping the dark side of Thomas’ mind and mixing in with the light sides. Logan wasn’t quite sure how to process this new arrival at the begining and had no control over his escape (“Generally operating normally, A small anomaly has become evident” “There is spiking in the pulse of a member of the cargo” “First: the recommended course of action should be to Administer a sedative to all the cargo via ventilation” “Now: one specifically is up and moving to the door”). After looking into the lyrics a bit more though, it seemed like a lot of them could be applied to Janus as well, specifically his first appearance when he was disguised as patton. Logan knew from very early on the Janus was taking pattons spot, but was unable to say or do anything about it due to Janus being the only one with “the access code” (“The ship is fully capable of automating this But requires an approval code from the administration” “He has found the access panel situated in the floor. He is entering the codes and overriding has begun. Reading rage in the nervous system, nothing can be done”). Either way you see it, I’m nearly positive it is about a dark side coming out to the light and Logan not being able to control it.

8) The Letter C: I LOVE THIS ONE 😂 And it’s the first in our list of songs that Logan vent’s about Roman in! The premise of the song is that someone insulted the main singers rap and so the main singer goes off about the comeback he wished he would have used to tell this guy off. It’s honestly such a funny song and I couldn’t give it the justice it deserves here by just listing the lyrics. It gives off huge rap battle vibes and I’m sure Logan would have been imagining the one who insulted him as Roman. Here’s just some great lines that I’d like to point out: “Man I wish I could’ve hit him with a zinger. Should’ve served him with the verbal equivalent of a middle finger.” “I’d say, "Are you insured medically? ‘Cause you sure better be When you’re broken in half from provokin’ the wrath” ““Aw shit!” “Oh crap!” Everybody within earshot would be like, “Oh snap!” I’d high five all around while the guy falls down in a ball on the ground” “I pull out a sharpie marker, Narrow my eyes through my Warby Parkers. Like, “Watch who you’re f-in’ with, with your f-in’ ish””.

9) Galaxy Song: Logan trying to calm Thomas down in the only way he knows how: Gushing about how great the natural world is (“Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving” “Now the sun, and you and me, and all the stars that we can see, Are moving at a million miles a day” “Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars” “And our galaxy itself is one of millions of billions In this amazing and expanding universe”). It’s cute, its wholesome, and Logan tries his best to be comforting 🖤 (“So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure, How amazingly unlikely is your birth; And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space, Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!”).

10) Streaks: Logan explains to Thomas that growing up is a process that he needs to experience. He understands that it’s hard and scary, but he believes that if you follow the plan and stay in the lines, everything will work out alright (“You can decide on the colors that you like As long as you stay in the lines” “All these years of filling out papers, Building a future, keeping your head down. Tryin' to keep a head on your shoulders” “Cause It's all a piece of the plan. It's something You'll understand When you're older” “Give em what they need to move on, then you let them go”). As he’s explained in canon, he doesn’t really see room for taking a lot of creative liberties in life, and he believes Thomas should follow the mold set out for everyone in life. That’s the logical way to survive anyways.

11) What I do for You: (This song and the next song feel pretty connected to me, so keep that in mind) In this song, Logan really shows his pride and ego. He believes he is the most important side for Thomas and that he will get Thomas the furthest in life (“I want you to survive” “I'm your only hope, I'm your savior too. Every single test You've been ever carried through”). Despite his superiority complex, he knows that Thomas doesn’t see Logan as important as he should. Logan knows how much he does for Thomas but is a bit annoyed that Thomas never seems to notice (“I couldn't ever give up on you, But don't thank me”).

12) Erase Me: Oooh boy. This ones heavy... Logan is PISSED. The whole song feels like a jab at Thomas, daring him to get rid of Logan to see what happens. Logan still feel important and knows his necessity as part of Thomas, but he’s frustrated with the lack of recognition he gets for all of the things he does (“Would it be easier? To just delete, our pages And the plans we've made” “Erase me, so you don't have to face me. Put me in ground and move the daisies” “So what will you do? With no me for you” “Erased me, what the fuck is this? You're crazy, Turn around and do each time, Replace me”). Logan sounds MAD in this song, something that he’s shown in canon quite a few times. It’s interesting that Logan alone seems to be the only side whose shown such anger and furstration, this song just adding to his list of instances. I’m not sure what that could mean going forward...

13) Art is Dead: Well what do yah know? Another rant song for Roman! We all know how Logan feels about Thomas’ choice of career as an entertainer and this song is basically just that. Logan can’t understand Roman’s dreams and aspirations for Thomas because they don’t make any logical sense to him (“ Have you ever been to a birthday party for children And one of the children won't stop screaming Cuz he's just a little attention attractor. When he grows up to be a comic or actor He'll be rewarded for never maturing, For never understanding or learning That every day can't be about him. There's other people, you selfish asshole!”) Logan would rather Thomas take up a job that is benefiting society and making his world a better place (“Cause I wanted my name in lights When I could have fed a family of four For forty fucking fortnights”). Roman’s self-centered and fantastical view on Thomas’ future is just childish to Logan and he feels like Thomas may one day grow out of it (“I'm just a kid And maybe I'll grow out of it”).

14) Equation: Oh man... I just don’t know. The song mentions a mom and dad, so I automatically go to a younger Thomas and his younger version of Logan. The song just asks a bunch of questions that feel like things a little kid might ask (“Have I made you cross? Have I made you sad? Have I made you proud Mom?” “How white is the snow, Does it matter after all?Will I ever learn How to fly like a birds?” “Are you going to school? Are you far from home? Are you well alone Dad? Will I be a brave? Will I be a bright? Will I be a good grown up?”). Logan may have represented more of Curiosity in Thomas’ younger years than Logic. A lot of Logan’s songs have an encompasing theme of wonder and curiosity being amazing things to have. I think Logan really values that part of himself/Thomas.

15) Sunrise: Yes! The love song everyone! I’ll shut that down right away and say that Logan DOES NOT UNDERSTAND LOVE. He isn’t even capable of “love” as some of the other side may be. He of course understands love and how it works, but it’s merely a process to him, and a word which he’s openly stated that he doesn’t like to use. So lets try to look at this from Logan’s perspective. The song is literally about learning spanish, yes its clearly romantic, but its about learning spanish. Something that Logan has shown an interest in since wayyyy back at the begining of the series. I like to imagine that this song came up in Thomas’ playlist and Logan was overjoyed that Thomas was not only learning something from the song, but also learning spanish!

16) One More Time with Feeling: This one feels kind of tough to crack. To me, I get the feeling that Logan’s again talking about the others and the fact that they don’t listen to him. He prepares his words and hopes to get through to them, but is only welcomed by blank faces and misunderstanding (“Everyone takes turns. Now it's yours to play the part And they're sitting all around you, Holding copies of your chart, And the misery inside their eyes is Synchronized and reflecting into yours”). After getting shut down, Logan tries again ‘with feeling this time’, hoping to get through, but it falls flat over and over again (“Hold on. One more time with feeling. Try it again, breathing's just a rhythm. Say it in your mind until you know that the words are right”). Logan has been trying really hard to appeal to the others in different way, but if seems like it never works in his opinion (“You thought by now you'd be So much better than you are. You thought by now they'd see That you had come so far”). He want’s to finally be shown the respect that he believes he deserves and hopes to one day be loved by the others and much as they love each other (“And the pride inside their eyes Would synchronized into a love you've never known. So much more than you've been shown”).

17) In My Mind: Logan has a drastically different view of Thomas’ future than is actually the case (“In a future five years from now. I'm one hundred and twenty pounds, And I never get hung over Because I will be the picture of discipline” “And I will be someone I admire And it's funny how I imagined That I would be that person now, But it does not seem to have happened” “Maybe I've just forgotten how to see That I am not exactly the person that I thought I'd be”). He’s realized that he has some unrealistic expectations for Thomas and that’s odd to him as, logically, things should have played out how he thought they would. At the end of the song, Logan seems to accept the fact that even though Thomas hasn’t strictly followed the plan that Logan expected, he’s still doing great and succeeding at life (“I am exactly the person that I want to be”).

18) Not Perfect: This song has a lot of lyrics, but most of them can be taken at face value. Logan recognizes that everything in Thomas’ life (his world, his country, his house, his body, and his brain) is not perfect. I’m sure it’s a metaphor for Logan realizing that he, himself, is not perfect and he’s begining to realize that he can’t solve every problem.

19) Human: This song is also long. REALLY LONG. But thankfully it is fairly straight forward. When life is getting Thomas (or any of the sides down) Logan will list facts about their life as a human that are supposed to be comforting or inspirational. It’s basically just like Galaxy song, but a bit more personal and loving. Here’s just some cute quotes from it to keep you all going: “For you are a force of skin & nails & heart. A walking Monae, you're breathing art” “The average human heart will beat over 100 million times in one lifetime. I'm sure you'll find someone who won't mind skipping one for you” “You need to grow up. You need to grow out of things. When something doesn't belong, even your body knows when it's time for that thing to be Replaced” “15 million blood cells are Destroyed in a human body every second. If your body can get over it You can get over that last relationship”). Basically Logan trying to ground Thomas in reality to make him realize that everything he’s going through is just human.

20) Time Adventure: (ughhh this song make me cry every time I hear it) That being said, I was a bit surprised to hear this on Logan’s album and not Pattons. Not only that, but it’s his finishing song. The song is all about growing up and how, even though time passes, you will always have the good memories that you built along the way. It’s also about how, no matter how much time passes, the singer and the person theyre singing about will always be friends. Seems kind of like a weird song choice for Logan right? It seems like it needs to include Patton in someway... So perhaps its Logan trying to comfort Patton. Patton has shown a fear of growing up and changing, so perhaps telling him that he’ll always have a friend in Logan no matter how the times change is something that Logan does to ease his worries.

(Oh boy... this one took a long time 😅 Sorry about that! Like usual, let me know what you think and give your own opinions if you’d like!)

[inheritorofmemories-archive]

Twitter is not a good place and I have opinions.

Okay so, just visited Twitter to see how they like The Old Guard and please remind to never go there for anything more than artist’s posts and memes.

(This is more of a rant than a cohesive explanation of my thoughts but I won’t lose my time on Twitter for that and I still need to talk about it, so we’re here. Okay, here goes-)

Of course spoiler warning for the whole movie.

"it's bad, it's not creative, it's boring, there's no story apart from bad guys pharma and good guys mercenaries."

Did we watch the same movie?? It's like those Mad Max Fury Road reviews who kept saying "they leave and come back, no plot har har I’m very funny" when the whole point of the movie is about staying where you live and make this place better, not abandoning it because you risk abandoning your true self with the land (amongst other things the movies tries to say).

Yeah maybe the story is a bit seen, pharma and all. But the whole plot revolve around the Old Guards and their emotions. It's about a tired warrior finding hope, and a young immortal finding her place, and how to deal with loss and grief and solitude, it's about finding purpose in helping other because that's what human do, help each other. It's a lot more than fight scenes and bad pharma (which, maybe it's an old trope but it's still very true to this day, please keep portraying pharma CEO as comically bad because they are!)

It's like men can't understand a story unless there's lots of death and unnecessary trauma. Can't you enjoy a story about found family and hope and kindness for one another like everyone else?

Here are the critics I saw, and why I think it’s bullshit, point by point because I’m petty like that:

The characters are flat and two dimensional: I mean, no? Sure, Joe and Nicky are not the center of attention, and we see Booker tired and a traitor, and the human ones are bit glossed over (though we see enough to understand them, Copley and his wife, the scientist that thinks she’s helping humanity, etc.), but Andy and Nile are fully developed? What else do you need?

Andy is a very old, very tired immortal that has a very complicated past (that we see a lot of) and her motivations, state of mind and thoughts are well explained (they all say she’s old, and tired, we know about Quynh; hell, Andy’s first line is about that) and we know she lost purpose, and she finds it within the film! She changes! Her character evolves in interactions to other but mostly Nile. Speaking of her- i know I’m repeating myself but what else do you need to consider a character not flat? She loves her family but doesn’t run to them because she’s not an idiot. She’s a fighter, a marine, a very competent one at that, but she still gets scared by being an immortal, she asks questions, she’s compassionate, she feels! All while being a bad ass fighter. She has agency, makes her own choices and choose her way, she has motivation and she know what she brings to the team and is not afraid of saying her thoughts and needs.

And even Booker and Nicky and Joe have full character, even if shown less. We have Booker’s back story, and we know he cares a lot despite all his hurt (he says he did it to help Andy die, which was still wrong and selfish, but he was genuinely trying to do something because he hurt so much). Nicky and Joe have a softer side, and sure it’s mostly conveyed through their own love story but they hug the other Guards and Nicky brings food for Andy and Joe jokes around (still thinking about that “faster than the elevator” line). Yeah it’s not a deep character study but it’s more than about half action movies today, and it’s enough in the story to make me care about all of them, even Copley. Although a lot of that may come form the actors too.

The fights scenes are bad: apparently they’re boring and do not do justice to the comics. I can’t speak for the last one, but boring? Again, did we watch the same movie? Yeah, there’s no big explosions and fire everywhere and collapsing buildings, but they’re not boring. I’m sorry my tastes are superior but I’d rather be shown the talents of a covert team of immortal warriors though discretion and efficiency. Why would they need explosions when they can juggle swords, axes, rifles and guns so smoothly you don’t even see a shift in their stance? See first fight in South Sudan. Why would I need collapsing buildings when I can have a team of fighters swapping weapons together like nothing? That scene at Merricks’s building where they all reload and change guns and the camera turns around and panel over all of them? That was dope and a very creative way to show how smooth they work together (with Nile added! So way to go to show the new group dynamics.) through a smooth and continuous camera movement. I could go on, but where did you see the boring fight scene. Yes there’s no cool lights and tricks a la John Wick, but if it did they would have complained it was a rip off, so...

The cinematography is bad: Just because it’s more understated doesn’t mean it’s bad. Yes, there’s no neon lights or cool shots like other might have (looking at you John Wick, since everyone seems to compare the two movie) but it serves the story. It’s because it’s so simple visually that you can get into the feelings and story. You don’t look at the light, you look at the actions and the faces. And honestly, I think it suits the Guards better. They look timeless, they fit in everywhere. A photography that’s striped down to the necessary only serves the story. I don’t see them in safe houses with a bunch of lights and modern furniture, just like I don’t see expensive shots and over the top choreography for them. As I said, they’re a covert team, they’re smooth and efficient, I like that the photography align on that and show them in simple shots.

tl;dr: Just because it’s simple doesn't mean it’s bad, sometimes that's what you need to work with the story and its characters and themes.

Not enough story and too much nothing to fill in: I mean, they die 12 minutes in, you get all the stakes, antagonist and themes in like 20 minutes, what else do you need? There’s break in the actions to expose plot and concept, but it never feels wrong or too much of a info dump, it’s fluid and natural because we’re following Nile into the immortal world.

Bad Pharma is Bad: Yeah, let’s talk about that. (Cautions, purely opinions, no real arguments to change someone’s mind here) I don’t care if it’s cliché, not when pharma in the US keep rising the price of Insulin every month, not when pharma all over the world send their faulty medicine to third world country because there’s no one that cares enough there, not when you know they purposefully don’t finance HIV researches because triple therapy gets them a lot of money, not when you hear about the experimentation and how they get their resources and literally everything that I’m not getting into right now. Who cares if they’re show as bad people once again, they are! You think CEO care about anything but money? If it feels wrong in the movie it’s because it is wrong.

Tell me no one in our world would kidnap and torture immortals to find their power. And don’t talk to me about bad representation of CEO and exceptions, I don’t care. One exception doesn’t make all the other suddenly better or worth the wrong they’re doing. So yeah, give me more cliché good guys fight bad CEO, I love it.

They did not use their concept enough: Again, where? To me, they did all they could with that concept, you get all the things you can only get with the concept, interesting and fun one. They are still afraid of dying one day, and even if they’re not (i.e. Andy or Booker) their brand of immortality doesn’t mean they’re not afraid of being captured: the Quynh scene happens literally just before Nicky and Joe are kidnapped exposing us the stake of being immortal, talk about good script work, right? Talking about fun trope: you have the millennium old couple that use to kill each other but now love each other, the classic ennemies to lovers we all love, you have the strategy of using your immortality to your advantage and destabilize your opponent: Nile walking into Merrick’s building and getting herself killed on purpose only to stand again and use the guard’s shock and lack of preparation against them, you have the fun references to real historical figures that comes with immortality: Rodin, Napoleon, etc...

I’ll link to this video I found that talks about this better than me, but basically, they did use their concept, a lot, and well.

The music: I can’t really say anything about that one. Maybe you don’t like the style they used, and that’s fair. To each their own. But it wasn’t too much like other Netflix’s movie (Looking at you 6 Underground. Four (4) song of the same artist in one movie?) but again, it’s Netflix, they use modern songs in their soudtracks, you should expect it. I didn’t bother with the lyrics accuracy to the actions, but each time the music fit well in tune and mood of the scene. And the actual score made for the movie was really good, not too much but still supported the actions and dialogues on screen like it should.

And my favorite yet, we’ve already seen it. I don’t have any smart answer to that apart from I’m sorry you’re a cishet, but found family is the superior trope and I hope you can one day see it too. Who cares if we’ve already seen it, it’s a different flavor! It’s no X-Men flavor, it’s Old Guard flavor and I love it. Have you heard of the Hero’s Journey? How Lord of the Ring, Star Wars and Harry Potter all have the basic same plot? And yet you can like all three of them for different reasons? Because they’re not the same flavors? Well, apply that to the immortal group of fighters and enjoy it.

Okay, that’s most of my thoughts on the film for now, but to make it short: it’s good and those people can’t appreciate good things that are more feelings and humanity than fist fights and nihilism. How dare a movie say we’re good and need each other and not end in a pathetic discovery that all the word deserves to burn.

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 66

I am happy to report that this chapter has been beta’d, by @satan-parisienne.  They didn’t tell me about any content I should tag, but if I missed something, please let me know.

Happy Thanksgiving Week to all my U.S. readers! Because of the holiday, I’ll have family in town, so there will not be an update next week on the 3rd.  Regular updates should resume on Dec. 10th, so keep your eyes peeled.

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was how tired I was. “How does that work,” I groaned as rubbed my throbbing head. “I was asleep for hours.  Why am I exhausted?”

“You were lucid when you were supposed to be resting,” Grey answered as they came over to check my vitals and unhook the equipment from my little trip.

Tyche gave a grudging nod as she held a straw to my mouth.  I drank gratefully, and grimaced. Whatever I was drinking tasted like electrolyte drink and medication.  “Did you catch everything?”

Grey, my sister, and Antoine glanced at each other. Before they could say anything, a buzzing voice cut in. “There are gaps in the recording on your end, which were not unexpected.  The implants are not designed to broadcast outside of your auditory processing center, and I can only perceive vague intentions.”

On my opposite side, I heard the sound of chairs clattering across the floor and my berth sank as two rather heavy people used it to push themselves to their feet.  A string of curses in Japanese filled the air just before a thick, Irish accent boomed out. “She just let you drug her for ten hours so she could question a talking germ. While she is being constantly having her blood filtered to replace her hemoglobin so the same thing you want her to have a chat with doesn’t kill her.  She is sick, she is dehydrated, she is exhausted.  Your questions need to wait. She needs to sleep first.”

I held up a hand on that side without so much as glancing over, trusting that Conor would lean down so I could reach his face.  When I felt a beard press against my palm, I stroked his cheek with my thumb.  “Baby, they’re right.  It’s fresh right now.  People only tend to remember information for forty-eight hours without repetition.  So, it can’t wait, unfortunately.”  I finally turned my head and looked up.

Conor had not only pressed his cheek to my hand, he craned his head down so I could see his face easily. Tears filled his eyes, threatening to spill over. “Sophie.  I know I’ve been an ass, but this is the second time you have been close to dying in less than so many years.  And there is nothing I can do to protect you on this one…”

I tugged him down so I could hug him. “You’re sick, too.  We all are.  But answering questions isn’t going to threaten my life. I promise I will sleep after this.” I leaned as far as I could around him so I could see the scowling face of Maverick behind him. “You hear that?  Sleep. Lots of sleep. After I fill in the gaps, I’ll sleep.”

Maverick turned one baleful, dark eye toward me. He considered me solemnly before nodding “I’ll accept that deal.” He stepped forward, coming to stand next to Conor. “Sophia, we just want to make sure you take care of yourself.”

I nodded. “I know. But sometimes, it comes down to taking care of myself, or letting myself suffer just a bit so that I can take care of everyone else.” Smiling ruefully, I reached for Maverick’s hand. “But that is a huge part of me. It isn’t going to stop. You both need to know that. If you want to talk about it, we can do it after I fill in these gaps and get some sleep.” Once they nodded in confirmation, I turned back to the medical team plus Tyche. “Let’s do this. What do I need to fill in? Point me at your gaps.”

Noah waved with one vomu. “Most importantly, where did Else come from?”

My stomach sank. “Right to the tough stuff.” I swallowed thickly and resisted the urge to look at anyone except Noah. “They said that we, humans, accidentally made them. Here. On the Ark.”

Every voice in the room rose, all at once. I rolled my eyes and covered my ears, noticing that Tyche had done the same. Sure enough, a high-pitched whine filled the room. Judging by the sight of Grey and Antoine hitting their knees and the vibrations coming from the other side of my berth, Noah had employed their own special brand of crowd control. Once the whine stopped, I lowered my hands and Noah gestured that I should continue.

Clearing my throat, I obliged. “Else is… childlike, almost. They don’t mean to hurt anyone. They know us. They… like….us. Like, a lot. They were so, so sorry about what happened to Nixe.”

“You said we made them,” Grey exhaled, trying to get everything back on track.

“By accident. Yes.”

“Did they know how it happened?”

Now I knew why Else had gotten so short with me. “I only know how I was conceived because I was told by someone who was there, Grey. Why do we expect Else to know any differently?”

They nodded, somewhat curtly, to indicate their concession to that point. “If we can determine out how it was created, we can extrapolate how to combat it.”

“That makes sen – wait. What do you mean, ‘combat’ it?”

“Else is a bacterium, specifically one that has infected the humans on the ship and can kill us if left unchecked. By definition, it is a plague.”

Tyche’s eyes widened, then narrowed as she whirled around to face the head researcher. “You mean antibiotics.  As in, killing it.”

“Of course.” The tone was confused, as though this was the obvious solution.  Being that they were the closest we had to a head of medicine, I suppose the solution did seem obvious.  Except one critical piece of information…

Quickly, I flicked open my datapad. “Sophia Reid to Xiomara Kalloe. Xio, are you able to come down to my medbay?  I need you, right now.”

“Ten minutes out. Do you need me to send Miys ahead of me?”

“Noah is already here, and there is no immediate threat.” Not to me, anyway. “I’ll see you in ten minutes.”  Dismissing the screen, I looked back up at my friend and fellow Councilor already in the room. “Grey, it’s not that simple. Else is sentient.  I’m pretty sure.  Which means Galactic Law may apply, hence why I asked Xiomara to come.”

They blinked slowly. “The trials.”

“Yep,” I nodded.  “She’s been digging into Galactic Law ever since then, to make sure we don’t get caught flat-footed again. If Else is sentient, we have to treat them as people under the law.”

“Couldn’t Noah have told you that?” Maverick chimed in, bewildered.

I shook my head. “Unfortunately not.  ‘A similar species, regardless of what point of evolution, cannot make the decision if another species may be sentient.’ It’s to prevent sympathy from overriding logic.”

“Else is a bacterium,” Grey argued.

“With a hive mind.” I gave a pointed look at Noah. “Which means, if they are sentient, they could evolve into something like the Hujylsogox, given time.”

Noah made a gesture of confirmation, sweeping one vomu across its body.  That seemed to settle the matter of Xiomara’s involvement, and we all patiently waited for her to arrive.

Finally, she breezed in the door as though her skin wasn’t ashen from illness. Defiantly of any perceived lack of health, she crossed her arms and braced her feet as she looked at us.  “So, what’s the emergency? I could be lounging around with all I can drink Gatorade right now.”

Before Grey or I could say anything, Antione held up a hand to stave us off.  “Sophia just woke up from her conversation with Else, and we need to know if you are versed in the Galactic Law regarding determination of sentience in a new species.”

Comically, Xiomara slumped slightly, hands dropping and mouth gaping.  Almost immediately recovering, she cleared her throat. “I mean, yeah. I’ve gotten that far.  It’s fascinating stuff, actually.  But why?”

“They can talk.”

“Only with words previously used by you, and they do not retain the information.”

“Because several generations have passed for them!  Humans don’t retain language for more than one generation if there is no way to use it or pass it on.  You know this!” This argument came from my sister.  Tyche was getting as upset as I was, apparently.

“And they re-learn it very quickly,” I tried pointing out.

“So do antique chat bots.”

“Except that Else demonstrates that they know what the words and concepts mean, and can retain internal logic of the conversation.”

“Which makes sense if it is causing you to hallucinate the entire conversation.”

I sent a pleading look at Xiomara, but she only tilted her head from side to side. “Speech isn’t necessarily a criterion, but even if it was, there is no clear determination that Else is capable of intelligent speech.  That seems to depend solely on native communication.”

Damn it. I snapped my fingers rapidly, trying to think of a new piece of information, berating myself for getting into this position. Myself. “Self. Else demonstrates a sense of self.  One independent of its concept of humans. It… they pled for their lives. They apologized for hurting us, and understood what that meant.  Not only that, they corrected me several times on where they came from. Arguing demonstrates the ability to use logic, right?”

“Not necessarily,” Xiomara pointed out. “Conor argues with me all the time.”

“Hey!”

I glared at her.  Now was not the time for jokes.

Apologetic, she held up her hands. “On the other side, though, sense of self as a separate identity from others, along with understanding of the concept of death, are criteria for sentience.”

“What are the rest?” I asked, hope flooding my voice.

“Do they have any subjective experiences?” she asked.

“I’m honestly not even sure what that means,” I admitted, close to tears.

“Opinions,” Antione supplied helpfully.  “Experiences through their frame of existence and perception that they have opinions about unrelated to survival.”

I bit my lip as I thought. “The showed regret?”

“They also know we can kill them,” Grey argued, not giving up without a fight.

“They showed empathy?”

“So does your cat.”

Xiomara shook her head at Grey’s petulance. “Jury is actually still out on cats, so that’s not as definitive as you would like it to be.  But empathy doesn’t count – even among humans, several psychological disorders prevent empathy, but that doesn’t mean those people aren’t sentient.”

“They asked me to stop reciting scientific papers?” I asked in a Hail Mary attempt.

“They had what they needed,” was the suggestion from our self-designated Devil’s Advocate.

“Yes and no,” I said softly, realizing something. “They found it annoying and boring…  They also scolded me for using profanity.” Little things I had initially ignored rushed to the forefront of my memory.  “They knew Conor only gave the catnip to Tyche because he thought she would like it.  They knew Tyche loves me… they knew what that meant. And they actually told me how sick I was, the first time.  I didn’t realize it, but they told me my face and hands were injured.”

“That’s what the nightmare was that made you scream?” Tyche demanded.

Nodding vigorously, I clarified. “When I first came to the medical bay, there was moderate cellular damage in my hands, remember?  We didn’t think anything of it, because it was so simple to fix.  But in the nightmare, my hands were a horror show. I never would have even had them scanned if it wasn’t for that nightmare.  And the bruises around my eyes, from the anemia… they mentioned something was wrong with my face.”

“They told you out of self-preservation,” Grey supplied as the subsequent argument, but the staunch faith was wavering at this point.

“They didn’t know we were dying.  Not then.” I took a deep breath.  “And they make jokes, when I talk to them.  When I asked if they were deliberate or accidental, they didn’t just tell me they didn’t know.  They made a joke about my parentage.  Which means they took offense.”

Xiomara took a deep breath and ran a hand over her hair. “Boredom, annoyance… being offended.  Those are definitely opinions, and not related at all to survival.”  I held my breath and prayed to any entity that was listening.

“By definition of Galactic Law, Else is sentient.  Antibiotics are out.”

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[sebthesnipe]

The Dreamer by Whatwashernameagain an Analysis? Chapter 2! Part 3

All portions:

Chapter 1: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4

Chapter 2: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4

The Dreamer

@whatwashernameagain

As always, Spoilers under cut.

Also, I am currently sick so bear with me….

We left off with Logan’s first kill and the difference between The Utilitarianist’s vs. The Dreamer’s views. The thing is, The Dreamer isn’t his own hero, but rather the vision of a team with their own agenda. Still, Roman, despite the attempt to control him, has his own passions.

“Roman could barely be held back. The man who’d been killed, Richard Snyder, had owned the largest chemical production company in the world and had been blamed for the death of a large amount of people in Vietnam due to a herbicide that had leaked into the phreatic water. He’d also been a father of three girls and felt behind a grieving wife” (Whatwashernameagain).

This paragraph gives a bit of background into Logan’s first kill, the first indication that he is becoming too cold, too focused on his work that he is losing his humanity. Logan may not care for the individual as he works but taking a man’s life is something you don’t come back from. The fact that he has finally done so pushes him into an entirely new level of villainy. I think that Roman sees that. He may not know Logan on a personal level yet but as we learned in the first chapter Roman has a love and caring disposition for everyone whether it is the man responsible for countless deaths in Vietnam or a villain responsible for his death. He shows no remorse for Logan at this point but as a reader I think we realize that this is the first step Logan takes towards losing himself in his own darkness.

Eva goes on to talk about how he was upset about the deaths due to the chemical leak and how he grieved for them and their families. However, we also see his ignorant optimism that has become his trademark quite quickly.

“Accidents were a terrible thing and he was sure Mr. Snyder hadn’t meant for any of this to happen. People were good and cared about each other in his opinion. After the public blame the terrorist had put on his shoulders before – there was no other word for it – lynching the poor man, the media reacted to the crime in a manner that deeply shocked the sensitive young man. Instead of condemning the horrifying acts harshly, they discussed the accidents that had caused the unfortunate deaths in Vietnam and demanded consequences to avoid such accidents in the futures!” (Whatwashernameagain).

He convinces himself the Snyder never meant for any of the deaths to happen, which, for those of us who know how the real world works; we know that the more likely reality is that Snyder probably cut corners and didn’t care much that he ruined so many people’s lives and even paid to keep it quiet. Still, Roman states that he believed people were good and cared about each other at their core and maybe that is true for the individual; after all, that is how Roman sees people: individually. So… There is a lot I can say here… and when I say a lot, I mean a LOT. I will attempt to keep this section a bit brief, but I did want to touch on some philosophy and sociology here.

In 1995 a book by Howard Bloom called The Lucifer Principle was published (Bloom, Howard). For those of you who haven’t heard of it, it has nothing to do with religion. The Lucifer Principle poses the idea that good and evil, right and wrong, its all a construct of our need to fit everything into a box. Nature does not see things as good or evil. When a lion preys on a wounded animal it is just nature. When a hurricane levels a major city, we don’t view it as evil because it is apart of nature. When a lightening bolt causes a good portion of a forest to burn down it is nothing but a way to regrow. Yet, despite the fact that we are simply an over evolved species of animal, we hold ourselves to a higher standard. We view things as good or evil but there is no such thing in the natural world. (Keep in mind I am not stating an opinion, I am simple describing the principles of the book). The book explores that the social groups that we create as humans, not us as individuals, are more inclined to do things that we consider ‘evil’ when we have something to gain from it (Bloom, Howard). It argues that “evil is a by-product of nature’s strategies for creation and that it is woven into out most basic biological fabric” (Bloom, Howard). Violent competition is the center of the creation of the superorganism we consider society (Bloom, Howard). It is difficult to argue with this theory when you consider that we really only advance through war. The discovery of vitamin C, disease prevention, tourniquets, X-rays, blood transfusions, vaccines, lipoamides, penicillin, anaesthics, chemotherapy, antibotics, frozen blood products, antiseptics, Gatorade, the recognition of PTSD, discovery of cardia arrest, (weather) radar, walkie-talkies, night vision, duct tape, nuclear technology (including powerplants), Jet engines, digital photography, satellite navigation (GPS), sanitary napkins, Drones, microwaves, computes, superglue, jeeps, canned food, wristwatches, Epipens, the space program, ambulances and even the Internet and so much more have been the result of the wars we have waged throughout the centuries (Pocket-lint) (“Science Museum. Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine”). There are very few things in this world that a social group (not an individual) has not built with greed in mind; whether it be wealth, land, or power, generally speaking there is usually an ulterior motive to man’s creativity. It is hard to argue that we do not strive on being inherently ‘evil’ when there is so much evidence against that.

Once again, I feel as if I need to reinforce a few things: 1. I am not speaking about individual people. I am talking about humanity as a whole. 2. This is not necessarily my belief. This is a concept written in a book that I have read and that has a very well researched scientific basis. So, before anyone drops a mean or horrid anon ask in my box (and proves my point) please try reading the book. You can learn a lot about the world and yourself as well. Now, back to the analysis:

I bring this up for a number of reasons. This argument reinforces Roman’s naivety. He sees humanity as inherently good (if there really is such thing as ‘good’ and ‘evil’); or rather he believes that ‘people’ are good which can both imply an individual person which is probably a correct statement, or ‘people’ as a whole which is perhaps leaning on the outside of ‘not good’ (We are killing our planet, endangering species, committing mass genocide, polluting outer space, and allowing people all around the world to starve, or ignore the fact that 40 years later we are still killing innocent people (including) children in Laos, Vietnam). It also brings into question The Utilitarianist, and the contrast between he and Roman once more. Logan sees the world in a similar light as The Lucifer Principle paints. In fact, I’d be surprised if Eva hadn’t read it. He is also one for intense scientific research which could lead him to the same conclusions as Bloom: That humanity is inherently what we consider ‘evil’ though evil itself is a construct we created and therefore he has no remorse for being labeled as such.

Am I getting too philosophical on you guys? Perhaps it would be best if I moved on….

“Of course, people needed to be protected, every life had value and had to be treasured, but to besmirch this victim’s life work, so soon after his execution – it left Roman angry and terrified for the state of the world he loved. He needed to stop this man, right now! He was strong enough to do it, why must they keep holding him back?” (Whatwashernameagain).

Once again, we see Roman’s compassion for every individual. We see him try and be understanding for those he disagrees with and for those he deems innocent. He is a man of honor after all and feels that the dead should be honored as well. It is almost as if he feels personally attacked, that Snyder’s name is being dragged through the mud after his death. Though it could be that Roman isn’t just thinking about the man, but his family as well; the shame they must feel as the media makes a mockery of their father, son, husband etc.

We also see a glimpse of his frustration at having to wait; of being forced to focus on glamour and speeches while others are moving in the shadows. He is getting his makeup done while Logan is murdering a man! In the next paragraph we see his frustration grow. He talks about his need to prevent such deeds and even pleads to be allowed to do something. But he is still bound by his need to win his father’s approval. He won’t go against him. He even attempts to justify it all but reminding himself that his team is “intelligent, professional experts hired specifically to make him the best possible hero he could be” (Whatwashernameagain). There is always a justification for those in denial… always a reason…

The next para is heartbreaking. We see him waking in pain after he has been cut open, we see him suffer from withdrawals after failed experimental drugs that corroded the lining of his throat and stomach… Pain that is probably unimaginable. Pain that he is probably enduring simply to be ‘useful’ to his father, to do good for the world… to gain the love he has always been denied and can not find it in him to give to himself. He will never be good enough, intelligent enough, useful enough for him to love himself… but maybe… just maybe he can be useful enough for someone to care for him…

Still, he states that none of the pain or experiments were quite as difficult as the waiting. C.S. Lewis said something once that comes to mind when I read about Roman’s mental struggle with waiting, compared to his physical anguish: “Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: It is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.” Some might argue that Roman’s heart isn’t broken… but perhaps they are mistaken. Here sits a man who has never truly known love and now he has a chance to obtain that which he has never known… He has a chance to gain the love of his father and of the world and yet he is being denied. He is being turned down the chance to gain what he has always wanted and with each passing day his heart cracks and the fissures only grow… Sure he hasn’t been turned down by an individual that he fell in love with… but there are other types of heart break. Such as the kind you feel when you see your lifelong goal, the one you have worked for forever, fought for, hurt for, dangled in front of you and you can’t reach out to grab it… at least… not yet.

When he does finally reach his goal, we are presented with the contrast of the Pre-Dreamer Roman and the Post-Dreamer Roman:

“Finally, after more than a year of changing and preparing him, of whittling away at the inadequate shell that had been Roman Prince, the odd, weak disappointment of a son, a new man was revealed to the world. A man who was confident, brave and kind. A man who spoke clearly and showed the frightened society the way to a better world. A hero” (Whatwashernameagain).

In the next para we see Roman’s naivety once more, along with the lies that his team is no doubt feeding him. He vies the military factor that has been selling weapons to dictators as ‘producing military equipment for the protection of their brave soldiers overseas’; no doubt another picture painted by his father which Roman is more than happy to lap up. The next paragraph however, says a lot about Logan.

“It had been the day the terrorist had stepped from the shadows into the light of the cameras to blame his victims in person before they met their end. He’d exposed their alleged crimes against the helpless, suppressed minorities the weapons were used against – lies and exaggerations as his team had assured the young hero – and had finally shown himself to the world. Part of him, at least. Like a true villain, his body had been clad in a skin tight, black suit and his face had been masked from the light of truth and justice. He’d named himself the Utilitarianist” (Whatwashernameagain).

This is Logan’s first personal appearance. A bold move for his career. This is significant for a number of reasons; firstly, it shows yet another step Logan has taken towards his downfall (at least in his humanity). Logan has already killed a man, and obviously plans to do so again, but now he appears in person, obviously confident enough that there would be no one to stop him. Perhaps the power is going to his head. Logan is human after all and that much power tends to corrupt, even when people mean well.

“Yet, at his greatest moment of triumph, a hero rose to meet him. Stepping from the ashes of the detonated building, the Dreamer emerged, leading out the disoriented victims of the Utilitarianist’s terrible plan. Showing his handsome, young face to the camera, unmasked and alight with his passion for the defense of all that was right, he’s faced the other head on and finally gave the just and good Americans a hero to believe in. The time of fear and helplessness was over. He had risen from the dust of his nemesis’ destructive acts to beat him” (Whatwashernameagain).

I will get to Roman’s flashy entrance in a moment. For now, we are still on the subject of Logan. You see, Logan has shown that he has begun to lose himself and his humanity in his work. If he is not careful he will become the very type of person he works so hard to wipe from the Earth. Luckily, someone has come to oppose him, to pull him back from the edge. I have mentioned that Roman is both Logan’s Hope and Humanity and that is true here as well. Roman appears just in time to save what little of Logan’s humanity is left. Perhaps he is a bigger hero than either of them realize.

As for his entrance, the contrast between the two is obvious once more. The over dramatized appearance is nothing if not expected from Roman but fact that him being unmasked is brought to the readers attention while Logan hides behind is own is an indication of not only the good vs. evil dynamic that has been apparent throughout the story but also of Roman’s cockiness.

A battle ensues. The Utilitarianist is far more difficult to defeat than Roman had accounted for and narrowly escapes. Roman is left felling defeated as he considers it a failure. I feel as if this is a fantastic symbolization of the fact that good and evil are a balance. The Utilitarianist which represents Roman’s concept of evil and The Dreamer, representing the concept of good were fairly evenly matched. One didn’t over power the other it was a fair balance.

We see his caring side once more as he mentions his disappointment and what the world deserves. Though we also see the socially imposed concept of ‘masculinity’. “A hero must never show his inner struggles” (Whatwashernameagian). Eva always has a way of bringing out subtle issue inadvertently that astounds me. Society engrains in most men that it is not alright to show your emotions, that they must be contained. I suppose that in special cases such as first responders this is accurate. If you asked an officer or a nurse, or a medic, how they do what they do most would explain something similar to a concept I call ‘a switch’. When faced with a situation in which an officer knows it is best not to react or feel they flip an imaginary switch. This switch controls their emotions. The catch is, that in order for this switch to work properly they need a constant supply of either work or adrenaline; basically, anything that does not allow you to analyze the situation you are in. It is one of the that many police academy’s have such extensive training/drills; that way, you react in the proper manner without thinking. But I will tell you something they don’t tell you… When the day is over, and hours have pasted since they finished washing the blood from their hands or shoes… When their driving home and its quiet… or when their changing into their pajamas… Everything that they saw… Every mistake they made… every life they couldn’t save… Its going to hit and when it does… it hits hard. The switch doesn’t work forever, you see… Its on a timer and when that timer goes off it determines who is strong enough to make it and who isn’t because no body is able to pick up the pieces for you.

Eva is talented enough to paint the subtle switch into her writing though, and I mean no offense in this, I do not expect her to know the severity of what the suppression can do someone… especially someone as kind hearted as Roman. I must applaud her for addressing it however, even if she doesn’t realize she is doing it.

Luckily, Roman’s efforts were rewarded. The mention of the newspaper’s tones changing, interviews being planned for him (though he was instructed on what to say, bringing attention once again to the fact that he his nothing but a puppet at this point). He painted the picture of himself that he was meant to, that he had always wanted to be. His dreams were finally coming true. There was one catch… The dreams he had achieved were based on lies.

“Despite his wish to brag with his father’s great plans and the selfless efforts the other CEOs, lobbyists and republicans had invested, they asked him to never mention the Conglomerate that had created him and steered his actions. The public needed a legend to put their faith in now, they said. Not a bunch of old men bumbling about. Though he felt selfish when he claimed to be acting by himself with nothing but the help of volunteering patriots, he trusted their knowledge more than his own. Though the Dreamer was a great hero, Roman would not forget that he was just a young man trying to be good enough for his father’s love he’d failed to deserve before” (Whatwashernameagain).

Roman isn’t allowed to mention his father, probably because if Roman is discovered for doing these things for his father’s benefit his father can pin it all on him. Yet, once again Roman’s naivety and self-worthlessness is used against him. JFC people! All this boy wants is his Father’s love!!!! That’s it!!! Just give it to him!! Christ!

Roman and Logan face off for the next few months; good and evil dueling to no avail. Though it does mention that Logan does the majority of his crimes over the internet where Roman’s ‘brute force’ doesn’t work; further painting the image of The Dreamer that Logan paints: A dim witted glamour seeking brute… At least the image he wants the world to believe he sees. Roman comments about Logan’s rude evasiveness when it comes to his demands which brings a little light-hearted humor back into the story. It is also quite amusing seeing Roman realize that Logan views him as ‘a fly buzzing about his head’ and being outraged by it.

********

I was really hoping I would get a lot more done on this one. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to break the Chapter 2 analysis into more than four parts… There is still hope I guess… Anyways, I’m afraid this is where I need to end this portion… I apologize if this was too dark for you. I am glad I got to end it on a light-hearted note and hope to see you in part 4 (hopefully the last part of Chapter 2 analysis)! Good Night!

     Bloom, Howard K. The Lucifer Principle: a Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1997.

Pocket-lint. “28 Ways Military Tech Changed Our Lives.” Pocket, 31 May 2019, https://www.pocket-lint.com/gadgets/news/143526-how-military-tech-changed-our-lives.

“Science Museum. Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine.” Medical Innovations and War, http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/war/innovations.

Whatwashernameagain. “The Dreamer - Chapter 2.” Hello Guys Gals And Non Binary Friends, 8 Sept. 2019, https://whatwashernameagain.tumblr.com/post/189407228487/the-dreamer-chapter-2?is_related_post=1.

[caitlinclark]

Today she’s one of the icons of women’s football. But when Alexia Putellas started playing when she was 7 years old, things were not like they are now. Not even close.

The girls who are currently looking to be soccer players pay attention to this player born in Mollet del Vallès in 1994, they want to score goals with the same boots that she -Nike has sponsored her since she was 19- and ask for the new Barça shirt with her name on it. Although they have not yet reached the peak or full equality, future generations will look back and remember brave women like Alexia who broke the taboos and stereotypes and opened a path full of bushes. On September 7th, the women’s league (Liga Iberdrola) began with more excitement than ever. Barça - Real Madrid helps. The white club has bought a club that has just hit Primera, CD Tacón, but will not officially change their name until next summer. Alexia Putellas scored the goal that opened the lead (9-1) at 8 minutes. She's not a scorer, but she does score quite often. She’s only 25 years old, but she’s played at the highest level since she was 16. Since she was 18 she’s played with the senior Spanish team, who played the World Cup a few months ago. She has the right combination of veteran and youth to continue to mark the era of the outbreak of female football.

Do you have the feeling that you are living the revolution and the outbreak of women’s football?

Yes, and so much, and I like to live it. I started playing very small and I know the difficulties we had. Now it's changing, and fortunately I am still young (25 years old) and I can dedicate myself 100%. Now I can say with all the letters that I am a soccer player, something that did not happen before.

You are from Mollet del Vallès, but when your mother said that you were going to join a football team, so that you would stop playing at the playground and get bruises all over your legs, you went to CE Sabadell . There was no club closer that had a team for girls?

I think there was nothing closer, then. Fortunately, almost every town has female teams. But also, in the first team of Sabadell a friend of the family played, and told us that there was a team of girls there. And I went there, but in that team the girls were 10 years old, and I was only 7! I was very small, and at the beginning it really hard, although I had a good time. I did not have the strength and when I kicked the ball, which were those former Mikasa, I did not get off the ground, and I was angry because the others could and I couldn’t.

Did the Women’s League need Real Madrid?

This question was asked last year and I think that I did not explain myself well, when responding. The Women League needs clubs that want to be there, that is, if up until this point Madrid had not been there and the League has grown, then it did not. But I was interpreted that I did not want Real Madrid to enter the League, and I did not mean that. Now they’ve taken the step of joining, I am sure they will make a serious commitment to the title, and that will be more competition that will make us all better.

What day, or what happened, that made you think "things are changing," for women’s football?

I could not tell you a specific moment, but every year things have happened that have helped. For example, in the year that I arrived at Barça, we won the League and Cup, we won the League in the old San Mamés, in front of 30,000 people. This was already a "careful, that you are playing against 30,000 people and you are playing to win the League." You could also think that in the north, women's football was different, but the following year we won again the League and the club made us come out on the street with the first team that had won the triplet, with the streets full. All these things have meant that in the end the club is where it is.

What did reaching the Champions League final mean?

Reaching the Champions League final, nothing special. Since a few years ago, the demand for Barça women is maximum.

Do you still hear the phrase that "women’s football is not football or feminine" or is it already buried definitively?

I do not know if it is buried completely, there are always people who are harder to understand or evolve. We went from the stage of giving us visibility, and we have two years of consolidation. I think that there is no one that still says, or thinks, "you are a girl and you can not play soccer".

And this has coincided with the rise of the 8-M movement.

Everything is related. Those feminist movements that had long since been silenced have finally been placed where they should be.

Has women’s football started to grow and become big when it started to stop comparing and complaining about the treatment of women’s football, as Catalan journalist and coach Natalia Arroyo says?

Yes, I think so, but it was also a point of claim to lay a foundation. We did not demanded that we wanted to be football players, we demanded that we needed the means to be one. Now the obstacles we had to face ourselves have disappeared, and girls who want to be football players, it will largely depend on them, that they can become one.

What little things do you notice that when you started the First Division you weren’t a professional and now you are one?

Before I had to take the clothes to play and train to home to wash it for the next game, or we had to take the water to drink the workouts, for example. Now, luckily, we only arrive, we train as well as we know and we only have to worry about winning the game on Sunday.

I will make David Broncano, if you let me. How much do you make?

Mmmm ... I now live well, I can live just to play football and I can help my family a bit, but my mother can not stop working and we can’t spend everything we want, because that's not the case.

With your salary are you forced to study to have a job when football is over, then?

I started studying ADE (Business Administration and Management), but every month I have 10 days of concentration with the Spanish team, and also the travelling to play the Champions League. Therefore, I could only go to class at the university two of the four weeks of the month and I was distressed and having a hard time. I left it and I know that at any moment I could resume it, but I won’t lie to you, in the short term I'm not consider it.

In other words, you don’t make enough money not to having to work again once you retire, if you invest well the money you earn, as do men players, but at the same time you have schedules and a high level requirement that make it difficult to combine with the studies to prepare for the future.

I have teammates who have managed to take care of the hard careers, medicine or architecture, but because of my conditions and my way of living football I can not combine it. Yes, I'm saving a bit because when I finish football I can live for a while, and I have ideas in mind ...

It is true that we always ask the women players if you study a career to make a living after football, and it is not always necessary, you can set up a company, for example ...

Exactly. When I find the moment I'll put it.

Do you agree with Frank de Boer - who played for Ajax and Barça, and current coach of Atlanta United of the USA - who this summer said that football players must charge what they deserve but they can not charge just like men because, for example, the men's final was seen by 500 million people and the women’s only 100 million? He said this from the news that the Dutch Federation wanted to equalize the salaries of men and women to go to the football team.

In that I have it clear. Everyone has to get paid based on what they generate, surely, but in places like National Teams, everyone should get paid an equal salary, because the demand is the same. And from there, if a male or female football player generates more money so that people want to see one and not another, then they can get a bigger part of the cake. I am a player of the Spanish football team and we do not get paid the same as the men. Related to that, Panini's CEO said a few days ago saying that they would not make the women's League collection because people did not buy those from the Women's World Cup. Agreed, it is a private company that can do what it wants, but to clarify, to get the women's World Cup’s sticker collection, if you wanted to buy chromium, you only had one kiosk in all Barcelona, ​​when you have one in every corner for the Men's League. For me that is makeup, because you do not really believe in it, and if you do not believe it, do not do it. Therefore, we return to the phrase "men’s football generates more", yes, but you must read the small print, too.

Do you envy the United States or Sweden and the concept of women’s football they have?

Yes. They’re 50 years ahead of us, and not just football. We were born here and we have to do it as well as we can.

Does women’s football need more Megan Rapinoe (captain of the US team)? What does she have?

Players with personality are needed, and there are, but to clarify, she is American and four times world champion. Rapinoe was already well known in the USA, and has a gift, a gift to play and a gift to speak. The most important thing is that she believes what she says and has very firm values. And she knows that when she speaks she will have many microphones in front because she is a very good player.

You played against her this World Cup in France in the round of 16, and she scored both goals for the victory. How is it up close?

They are the best National Team in the world, by far. They dominate all the phases of the game. Although the other National Teams are closing the gap. In the round of 16 we lost 2-1, only, and we started scoring; This five years ago was unthinkable. We did not reach their competitive level. Now what we have to do is keep the competitive level and play well.

Nike has been sponsoring you since you were 19 years old. Is it an example of the growth of women’s football and your own in particular?

Now all the players in the first team are sponsored by brands like this one. And I, started with 19, but without signing any contract, still, they only helped me with the material. 7 years ago the brands did not invest in women's football as much as they do now, but women’s football didn’t generate revenue such as much as it does now.

Natàlia Arroyo said of you in a report to Movistar +: "She has talent without realizing it, she does not need to show how good she is, it comes out alone." Is it the best praise that can be made to a football player?

I do not know what to say ... [blushes] Natàlia has seen a lot of football and a lot of women’s football. As I have get praise, I also get criticism, but when I go out to the field I do not think about the debates I can create in individual prizes, I go out to do it as well as I can, at the service of the team, to win and be happy.

What do they criticize about you?

Who criticizes me, I'll tell you, too, does not wear the same jersey than I ... [smiles] They say that I play because I'm the face of Nike, that I'm not as good as they say, that I haven’t won the League in four years ... In the end, I’ve been playing professionally for eight years, and played almost all the games, and I do not think it was for being the face of Nike.

The growth of women’s soccer is also this, the critics, right or unjust.

And they have to be, and so much. I do not support paternalism, we must never accept it, that they protect us only for being women. If we have not won a League in four years, we must accept it, because it is true.

Those who have seen you grow say that at the beginning you were more individualistic and now you understand the collective game much better, do you share it?

Especially in the Spanish team, I played in the wing and I was told that I always had to go 1v1. Instead, I now play more inside and I enjoy it much more. I like to help our teammates, and if I can put the ball where they can exploit their virtues, I do.

I've heard you say you have "bad temper", but speaking with you I would not say it. When does it come out?

Now not so much ...

Is it part of you growing up?

Yes, I don’t get mad as often anymore, when I lose, and I try to understand what has happened and improve it.

I can not resist the question ... Did you have a hard time with your surname in school?

The truth is that no. Putellas is a well-known name in Mollet, and I was lucky to be in a school that never paid attention to it, just like I never had problems playing football with the boys at the playground.

But were they mad that a girl dribbled past them?

I do not think so. When we picked teams, I was always the first one they chose [smiles].

[fyeahmeddy]

Adventure Time AU where the Earth wound up destroyed by the actions of humans, a full on daemonic incursion, and mindlessly destructive slime monsters that killed almost anyone that was left. the end result is that Finn (last of the humans who murdered the world), Marceline (hybrid of demons AND humans), and PB (the final step on the slimes progression to true sapience) can sit together and feel Troubled by their people's respective role in the end of the last era

Sorry it took so long!! I loved the idea and I had to make it justice.

Marceline andFinn had spent more than a decade, more than half of their lives runningthrough what used to be someone’s city, someone’s work place, someone’s home,someone’s corpse.

They both werethere when it happened, when the judgement day fell on Earth. Finn watched themushrooms grow menacingly in the distance, enormous green clouds that broke thesky, surrounded by the screeches of multitudes running as far away from them aspossible. He saw the humans becoming wolves going at each other’s throat. “It’stime to pay for our pride and arrogance! We burnt the sky! We scorched thesoil! We did it!” he heard.

When the eternalwinter brought eternal darkness, they came. Hungry for souls, thirsty forvengeance. Old forgotten demons chased what was left of humanity through theendless shadows. They were claiming the Earth for them, building an empire withskulls and decorating it with the flesh of those who, like Finn’s parents,served as distraction to save the youth. They searched for a queen, but it washer whom vanished them all, except one, for she was the union of two worlds.

She saw himpeeking behind some rocks after the last battle, the only living-healthy humanshe had seen in a very long time. She changed her original plan: it was worthliving for him, to protect him, to have someone to play basketball with.

They roamedthrough the wasteland of ashes and blood, looking for others still alive, butthey soon found out that everything that had once been civilization had beentaken over by a slime-ish pink goo, reclaiming its chance at becoming the newruler of the planet. It did by destroying both plants and animals, assimilatingthem to keep growing, rendering toxic any body of water it touched. Finn’s andMarceline’s fight against it made it stronger, made it evolve.

Then they foundher. A golem made out of the goo, looking like them, talking like them,thinking like them. For months, they tried to kill her and she tried to killthem, until they cornered her. Finn and Marceline found out that the last stepin the evolution of the goo was actually trying to save a world about to die, aworld that her less developed relatives were destroying. They let her join themin their traveling, not without doubt, but she soon gained their trust mainlydue to her knowledge on medicine when they both caught the flu. Bonnie alsohelped them understand that, rather than look for other survivors, they shouldlook after their own survival.

It had been agood day. The peaches from the tree Finn planted were finally mature enough tobe eaten, Marceline had found more gasoline for the power plant and Bonnie wasable to create (edible and definitely not conscious this time) marshmallows. Assoon as the night fell upon their camp, they lit a bonfire to warm themselves,not only with flames, but also with stories of old days (Bonnie loved hearingthose from Finn and Marceline. It fed her imagination to mold a future world).

“K’ so… I havegood and bad news” said Marceline.

“Good one first.We did bad first last time” replied Finn.

“Look what Ifound, dude!” exclaimed Marceline, taking a videogame device out of herbackpack.

“Holy schmow! Noway! A Nintendo Switch? That’s awesome!”.

“I think thescreen is busted, but maybe Brain Princess here could do something about it”she said, handing it to Bonnie.

“This is anamazing finding, Marceline! I finally have a good excuse to read thoseprogramming books I have” said Bonnie with honest amazement. “It will also be anice entertainment. Chinese checkers was getting boring”.

“Duh! You aregetting bored because I wreck you every time!” sentenced Marceline.

“Sure? Last timeI won two in a row before you threw out” teased Bonnie.

“W-well, thatwas luck! And Finn was helping you!”.

“That’s not true!”chuckled Bonnie. “You are just embarrassed to admit- “.

Bonnie stoppedmid-sentence and both she and Marceline looked with worry at Finn after hearinghim sobbing. He was crying, hiding his face behind his hands.

“Oh, no no no! Sorry,dude!” said Marceline, hurrying to comfort Finn. “I didn’t mean to say youcheated. I didn’t actually believe that”.

“We are not madat each other, Finn. We were just teasing” said Bonnie with appealing voice,hugging Finn. “It’s ok”.

“I’m not cryingabout that” said Finn, trying to control his sobbing. “The Switch reminded meof… before the war. We destroyed it everything” he said with somber tone. “Wepoisoned this world, we burnt it to a crisp. My people destroyed everything weloved for pointless pride. I’m a reminder of that. How can I help make a betterworld when I’m part of the bane of this planet?” he said among sobs, ratherangry than sad in his last words.

“Do you thinkI’m a monster?” asked Marceline.

“What?” repliedFinn, frowning.

“According toyou, I’m a merciless monster unfit to help. At any given moment I could just gonuts and kill both you and Bonnie in a blink”.

“And I’m abrainless parasite” said Bonnie. “I just destroy everything I touch without anyconsideration for the damage I do”.

“I never said that!”exclaimed Finn, worried.

“Then why do yousay the same thing about yourself?” said Bonnie, prompting Finn to calm down,reflecting on his own words.

“Listen, dude.We all come from the same place” said Marceline, sitting Finn next to her on alog and embracing him with one of her arms. “Your ancestors did terrible thingsthat fucked up this place. So did mine. So did Bonnie’s. I too sometimes feellike I’m responsible for the looks of this wasteland, for the things themonsters did to the place that was also my home. But you know what makes mefeel better?”

“What?”

“Hope” saidBonnie. “We have hope in our hearts, hope that we can make it better.It’s not about what the people before us did. They had their time, they aregone. It’s about what you do. You are here, now. Your people don’tdefine you, your actions do. And you’ve been doing amazing” she said, caressingFinn’s cheek.

Finn felt hiswhole body getting warm at her words and the touch of her skin. He smiled andheld her hand with his, leaning into her touch. He then leaned into Marceline’sshoulder, finding a comfortable place to forget about his worries.

“Thanks, girls.You’ve been doing wonderful too”.

They shared amoment cuddling together, at the comfortable sensation of the fire and thecalming sound of the wood cracking. Bonnie said new history always came fromthe ashes of the old one.

“By the way,Marcy” said Finn, “what was the bad news?”.

“You sure youwanna hear it?”.

“It could begood to receive the bad while we are in such a good place” said Bonnie,tightening the hug with her partners.

“Ok guys… it’sbeen like two weeks and I swear I’ve looked everywhere in the last three towns”started Marceline with a ceremonious voice. “But I just couldn’t find any. So…yeah! We officially ran out of condoms”.

“Welp, I guessit’s time to repopulate” said Bonnie with a sigh.

“Hell yeah!”cheered Finn.

“I was justwaiting for you to say it” said Marceline, getting rid of her top.

“Lame! Finn andI started while you were scavenging” teased Bonnie.

“What? Now that ischeating!”.

“It’s ok, Marcy.I can go twice with you” said Finn.

“You better!”demanded Marceline.

“Will it evenlike… work, Bonnie? You said our philogy… sylogy…”.

“Physiology,Finn” Marceline cleared.

“That! Will itwork for me and both of you?”.

Bonnie shrugged.

“Will be fun tofind out”.

[ckret2]

Medical Research

SPOILERS FOR DETECTIVE PIKACHU!! Even the summary has spoilers I ain’t kidding.

Fandom: Pokémon, Detective Pikachu movie Characters: Mewtwo, Harry Goodman, Detective Pikachu but he doesn’t do much Words: 2600 Summary: How, exactly, did Harry Goodman get Mewtwo into PCL? He certainly didn’t capture the most powerful Pokémon in the world. The only possibility is that he persuaded Mewtwo to go. But what would persuade Mewtwo, whose first conscious act was to blast its way out of a scientific lab full of gene experimenting, to willingly walk into one? Notes: Call me Babe Ruth.

"Medical research!"

Mewtwo froze, glowing hand outstretched toward the floating human's chest—still poised to blast him halfway to the northeast Kanto coast with a single mental flex. A Pikachu was clinging to his shirt, huddling over his heart with eyes squeezed shut.

Slowly, Mewtwo's hand stopped glowing. But it didn't let go yet. "Explain."

The human gasped in a breath as the pressure Mewtwo was exerting on his body to keep him floating loosened, then automatically kicked his legs as if trying to stay aloft as he felt gravity take hold of him again. Mewtwo wasn't going to drop him. Not yet, anyway.

"J—just outside Ryme City, in Sinnoh," the human said. "There's a lab! They want—"

Mewtwo's skin prickled at the word lab. "I am not interested in being experimented on by humans again." It raised its hand. The human yelped as he jerked another few feet in the air.

"Listen to him!" the Pikachu cried. "He's not here to hurt you, I promise! Please!"

Mewtwo hesitated, ruminating on the Pikachu's request. The pair had approached it with words instead of attacks, and with none of the complicated machinery designed to entrap and ensnare that the likes of Team Rocket and their many subsequent bounty hunters tended to throw at it. Mewtwo could have chalked it up to cockiness—but the human wasn't even carrying poké balls. Not even one for the Pikachu. The only machinery he had on him was a cell phone.

They weren't here to catch it.

Slowly, Mewtwo lowered the pair—and then dropped them, from three feet up, to the muddy bank of the Cerulean River. The human landed hard and groaned; Pikachu squealed in surprise.

"Very well. I will listen," Mewtwo said. "Explain your research—and why I should want anything to do with it."

"Nnh..." The human sat up, lifted his arms, and grimaced at the mud covering them from elbow down. "Not—not my research. I was—hired, by the guy funding it. You've heard of Howard Clifford?"

"No."

"Ahh. Great. Well, he's uh, he's this—big, idealist philanthropist type guy—it's that whole archetype, the benevolent futurist billionaire thing, you know the type—"

"I do not."

The human stopped, mouth partway open, caught mid-sentence and unsure how to go on now. "Right. Well, I'm—I'm sure you'll meet him, if you decide you want to come. Anyway, he wants to make medicine from the genes of Pokémon, that can be used on both humans and different Pokémon. Stuff like, uh, uh... identifying the genes that are altered when Wailmer turns into Wailord, and injecting them into Grotle so they get way, way larger when they evolve."

Mewtwo tilted its head. "Why would they do that?"

The human opened his mouth. Then stopped with his mouth open again, brow furrowed, and thought about that. "You know, I—I don't actually... know why they did that. I think I was, uh, busy gawking at the ginormous Torterra when they explained the whole... purpose, of that specific project."

It didn't matter, ultimately. Mewtwo's skin was prickling again, at this talk of genes shuffling between Pokémon as casually as scavengers trading berries, and its instincts were telling it to go hide.

Hide where, though? The human had done what few others had done before: tracked Mewtwo down to its hidden sanctuary, an unobtrusive mountain cave hiding in the shadow of Mt. Moon. Mewtwo's fault for being so being so merciful to other explorers who'd passed through. If it showed mercy to this one as well—and, at this point, it supposed, it would—then its location would be known to this benevolent futurist billionaire the human had mentioned, and who knew how many others would be sent after it. And soon Team Rocket would learn of its location again. This sanctuary was no longer safe for Mewtwo—and it wouldn't be safe for any of the other Pokémon in it, either, if Mewtwo didn't leave it behind for good.

For a moment, Mewtwo was furious at the human for discovering it.

It forced itself not to act on its rage. But the Pikachu sensed the rage all the same, fixing Mewtwo with a hard look, his cheeks crackling.

"You have accomplished a feat that very few humans have ever achieved, in tracking me down on purpose," Mewtwo said. "To have done so, you must know a great deal about me. You must know what I am—what I come from."

The human hesitated, the nodded. "Little—little island near Cinnabar, right? A cloning experiment? Sponsored by a gym leader with ties to organized crime."

"I am far beyond a mere 'cloning experiment.' Tell me: do I look like a Mew?"

"Well, I can't say I've ever seen a Mew, but—" The human stared at Mewtwo for a long moment, taking in its height, its oddly fused fingers, its strange bony sternum, its misshapen double neck, "—but no, you... don't exactly look like the cave art."

"I am Pokémon gene splicing. I am what happens when humans try to improve upon Pokémon—when humans snip DNA apart like so many little lengths of rope and knot them back together. I should not be."

"Hey now, that's pretty harsh on yourself—"

"And there should not be other things like me," Mewtwo said firmly. "I do believe you both came here with good intentions. But your intentions mean nothing in the face of the abominations you're asking for."

The human stared at Mewtwo a moment longer, hard—this time, not like he was taking in its body, but like he was looking for something deeper. Mewtwo didn't like that look. It felt... penetrating.

"Hey." The human's voice was softer now. "Listen." He slowly got to his feet, brushing excess mud off his rear. Pikachu scampered up to his shoulder and settled there. "You've... you've had bad experiences with humans. Especially humans in labs. Especially especially humans in labs talking about genes. I get that. I understand why you wouldn't want to go back to one. I wouldn't blame you or judge you in the slightest for completely rejecting anybody coming up to you to talk about anything that's got to do with humans in labs with genes." He paused. "But I hope you'll consider not rejecting it. Because there's a lot of people and Pokémon out there, right now, every day, suffering—from injuries they won't recover from, from diseases we don't have cures to—and the Pokémon Comprehensive Laboratory in Ryme City is trying to change that. You can't im—"

He stopped, face twisting, swallowed hard; Pikachu fussed with his hair for a moment until he'd collected himself. "You can't imagine what it's like," he said, voice hoarser than it had been just a moment earlier, "what it's like, watching someone you love—waste away, and die. From an illness that there's no cure for yet."

Telepath though Mewtwo was, it had never been much of a mind reader; and what skill it had once possessed had atrophied to nothing under Team Rocket's tender care. It was a very weak empath at best. But it didn't need to be strong to feel the sudden miasmas of decade-old grief leaking from the human, like poisonous gas from a Koffing's craterous pores.

It drifted closer to the human, equal parts intrigued and pitying, feet inches above the muddy riverbank. "You speak from experience?"

The human shrugged with his un-Pikachu-occupied shoulder. "Do you know what cancer is?"

"I've been told I am a cancer," Mewtwo said. "A Mew who's more tumor than healthy tissue."

The human let out a startled laugh. "Well—that shows you can survive it, right? That's more than most people can say. Imagine what that would be like—being made of cancer, but never dying from it." He sniffed hard, shook his head, and collected himself again. "Listen, I uh—I didn't come to talk about my life. Sorry. But—Howard's poured a lot of money, manpower, and poképower into tracking you down. And he's done it all because he believes, sincerely believes, that something in your genes—your weird, part-prehistoric-demigod, part-manmade-mishmash genes—holds the key to making life a whole lot better for a whole lot of sick folks. I don't get the science behind it, but he's got people who do—and to them, you're not Wailord genes in a Grotle. You're everything."

Mewtwo glanced away from the pair, considering the proposition uneasily. As much as it reviled the thought of returning to another lab... had it not been working, for years, to undo the things that Team Rocket had done to it? The damage that had been done to its soul—if it had such a thing—its mind, if not. For years, now, it had been fighting to unlearn all that Team Rocket had taught it about where a Pokémon's worth comes from, and the supremacy of power, and the dynamic of master and tool between human and Pokémon. Mewtwo was not the same Pokémon that had fled from Viridian City so many years ago.

Maybe it was time, too, to unlearn its fear of white coats and the smell of sterilized steel.

Maybe it was time to see if it could redefine how it saw its own genes—not as slap in the face of the natural order, but as a gift to the world.

It wanted to be a gift.

"I am... proficient, in genetics," Mewtwo confessed. "I have conducted my own experiments in augmented cloning. You've come to ask if I'd offer my body to medicine. I can also offer my mind."

The human blinked at it. "Augmented cl—what, what-what, what kind of augmented cloning?"

Mewtwo cringed in shame. "Enhancing a Pokémon's strength. For battle. Augmenting their innate special powers."

"Wh..." For a moment, the human just stared. "Th—yeah! Yeah, that's—that's fantastic. Hey, the PCL's got some Froakie it tries out all its new discoveries on—Froakie adapt really well to new DNA, apparently—you can show them what you've got, see if they think it's useful?"

Mewtwo nodded hesitantly. "My procedures don't allow for genes to be inserted into already-living Pokémon. I'll have to clone new ones."

"Maybe they'll be able to help you figure out how to put it in living Pokémon? Froakie evolve a couple of times, it should be easy to get the genes in them."

"Perhaps. If they're willing. If they're volunteers." It would have to ask them, personally—all the Pokémon in the facility—if they'd volunteered. If even one hadn't...

"So, that's a yes, right?" the human said. "You're in? Gonna come help make the world a better place?"

"Provided I will be treated like a volunteer, not a test subject," Mewtwo said, "yes. I'm in."

"Yesss." The human performed a slow fist pump.

Pikachu cheered, then beamed up at Mewtwo. "Thank you. You've made my partner really happy."

Partner. Not trainer, nor owner, nor master. "I would not have given him a chance had you not vouched for him." It would not have given a chance to any human who didn't have a human to vouch for them; but it had found that Pikachu tend to be particularly good judges of character.

"Wh— Are you talking to—?" The human pointed to the Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Of course. Did you think I, a Pokémon, am only capable of communicating with humans?"

The human paused. "No! No, of course I didn't. I just, didn't think about— He vouched for me?"

Mewtwo nodded. The human smiled at Pikachu. "Aww. That's the sweetest— Hey, buddy. Fist bump." He held his fist up. Pikachu leaned forward, planting both hands on his knuckles; sparks snapped between them.

"This facility is in Ryme City?" Mewtwo asked. "Can you describe the neighborhood so I can find it? Preferably from a bird's eye view."

"Oh, no, don't worry about— Howard said if I actually found you, he could send a charter flight. We get to ride to Sinnoh in style."

"I see." Rich, ran his own science lab, could summon up airplanes at his convenience... Mewtwo had yet to met this Howard, but it was already uneasy at the thought of his power. It seemed like a very familiar power.

But he wasn't using his power to design the world's most powerful Pokémon; he was using it to cure diseases.

And Mewtwo wasn't going to be one of his possessions; it was going to be a volunteer. A volunteer who had been asked to come, by a human and a Pikachu who'd approached with words instead of weapons. It would be a volunteer. Perhaps even a scientist.

That thought also made it uneasy.

"Ugh, the mud's starting to crust on me." The human shook his hands. Not much mud came off. "You mind if we head back into town so I can wash off in my hotel?"

Mewtwo wasn't fond of the idea of venturing into Cerulean City. It glanced to the side. "There's a river right here."

"Well yeah, but—I don't want to walk back into town with soaking wet pants."

"You could take them off."

The human's face screwed up. "Thaaat's not going to work for a human."

Mewtwo waited for him to explain why. He didn't. Maybe it was an instinct. One must respect other species' instincts, even if one doesn't understand them.

"I will wait, then. At the entrance to the cave." Mewtwo raised higher, preparing to leave for its shelter. It would perhaps be its last opportunity to visit the cave for a long time. "When you're ready to go to Sinnoh, come find me."

"Yeah. Okay." The human nodded. "And—thanks, Mewtwo."

Mewtwo nodded. Then, slowly, spoke: "Thank you. For all of my life, the means of my birth have been a... a burden to overcome. I have lived my life striving to prove that I have worth in spite of how I was made. I think... it will be good to learn whether, despite all the horrors I went through—and committed—some worth can be found in me because of how I was made. I appreciate this opportunity, human."

The human looked surprised. "Wow. That's... You're kind of a deep guy, Mewtwo."

"I have a lot of time to think," it said. "And the most powerful brain on the planet."

The human huffed a laugh. "Hey, before I go—you don't have to call me 'human.' I shoulda introduced myself earlier, but, you know—" He held one hand up, first two and last two fingers pressed together, and imitated the gesture Mewtwo had made when it levitated him into the air. "The name's Harry. Harry Goodman."

"Hairy Good Man," Mewtwo repeated dubiously. "I have seen hairier humans."

"No, it's— That's spelled H-A-R-R-Y," Hairy said. "No I."

Mewtwo nodded slowly. "I can't read."

The human stared at it. Then shook his head slightly. "I don't know why I assumed you could."

Now that they'd been properly introduced—and now that Mewtwo had spilled more of its inner life to a human in thirty seconds than it had to anyone else in the past decade—Mewtwo was more than ready to be alone. To prepare itself for a trip to Sinnoh. To the lab. "Go." It gestured with its head in the direction of Cerulean City. Its highest roofs could just barely be seen over the trees beyond the river. "I'll be waiting."

"Right, right." Hairy turned toward Cerulean City; then turned back around again, in the direction of the nearest bridge back across the river, far in the opposite direction. He sighed quietly. Pikachu craned his head, checking for wild Pokémon along the route ahead.

Mewtwo gently lifted him up—he yelped in surprise—carried him over the river, and sat him on his feet on the opposite bank. "Oh—thanks!" He waved.

Mewtwo nodded again; then floated there, and watched, as Hairy headed back toward town. Pikachu turned to watch Mewtwo over his shoulder until they were gone.

Walking into a lab of its own free will. (Medical lab, it reminded itself again. Medicine, not power.) It hoped it wasn't making a mistake.

It hoped its genes would help people.

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