#it was such an easy way to find sources from either side on a given issue

[the-converse-high-top]

OH FUCK OFF GROUND NEWS IS PAYWALLED NOW TOO???????

[turtlesandfrogs]

I made this Pre-pandemic for a "Starting plants from the grocery store" class I was teaching, here it is edited down for anyone interested.

For saving seeds, the fruit should be fully mature for the seeds to be fully mature. Therefore, you can use seeds from a winter squash but not a baby zucchini, and the likelihood that the seeds of a tomato (or red bell pepper) will grow are much higher than for a green bell pepper. Unfortunately, many are either going to be poorly suited for your conditions, or hybrid, which we'll touch on later.

Stem cuttings are a great way to start many common culinary herbs! Especially basil!

Some tubers to consider starting from are sweet potatoes and actual potatoes.

And then of course, the bulbs! Green onions and garlic are your best bets!

These are outdoor plants and thus are Somewhat Fussy if you're going to grow indoors. Do not overwater them (eg, letting them sit in a tray of water for days) nor let them dry out completely. Try to keep them evenly moist, with thorough waterings that then pour out the bottom of the pot unimpeded. 

Given that they are outdoor plants, a south-facing window (assuming you’re in the northern hemisphere) or grow lights are your best bet. If they don’t get enough light, they will turn pale and stretch towards their light source. They won’t grow as quickly or as healthfully as they would with sufficient light.  

Examples:

Tomatoes & peppers! Tomatoes are the one that actually inspired me to make this because I saw this clip on starting plants from kitchen scraps, and they buried the whole dang half of a tomato! Don’t do that! What a waste of a tomato half! EAT your tomato! Take the seeds out! 

If you’re intending to grow these outdoors, start them about 6 weeks before your last frost. If you have not grown plants from seed before, here’s some information from another class I taught: https://tinyurl.com/seedstarting2020

If you’re intending to grow them indoors the whole time, you will likely need grow lights for both tomatoes and peppers, and they like it if you keep your house on the warm side. I would suggest growing them outdoors and buying seeds for a dwarf tomato if you really want to grow indoors.

The down side is that most are hybrid, so when you grow out the seed, it's not necessarily going to grow well, be productive, or taste good. Even if it is open pollinated, it's probably been bred to thrive in conditions unlike those you can provide. If you need a successful crop, I highly suggest buying seed, or swapping with a reputable source. Although if you like and can find yellow pear tomatoes, those are an exception to this entire paragraph.

Basil! Basil is a great one to do stem cuttings of, get it started indoors, and then plant out once night time temperatures stay above 50f (10c). I prefer to start them straight into soil, and seem to have a higher success rate this way. To do this, remove all leaves except the top bud, and bury the stem in soil up to just beneath that bud and firm gently. Keep the soil moist and the pot above 60f, and you should have a good success rate. This method works for mint, lemon balm, rosemary, sage, etc, as well.

Green onions- really easy, put the bottom inch or so in soil and they’ll grow very well for you. I prefer soil over water because a) the water gets stinky, and b) they grow better and stronger in soil.

AND MORE:

Sage, rosemary, and thyme (also any stemmed herb): just like basil

Lettuce, carrots, beets: you get the tops, but usually they’ll try to bolt. Easier just to buy seeds. If you want, I usually start in shallow water and then plant as soon as I see roots growing. Again, keep the soil moist, and for these ones, keep them in a cooler part of your house. But really, they almost always bolt in my experience.

Sweet potatoes: Get them in the fall, it takes months for them to start growing (unless you're somewhere warm apparently? ). They will sprout, grow roots, take slips to plant outdoors once night time temperatures study above 50f (10c)

Garlic, just grab a clove and plant in the fall. Boom. GARLIC.

Squash- you don’t know what you’ll get, because they might be cross pollinated with another variety or hybrids. If you do grow it out and it’s bitter, don’t eat it, it’s poisonous. If you want to know more, search “toxic squash syndrome”

Ginger: Plant the rhizome in summer, harvest before frost, or overwinter indoors with a lot of light.

Pineapple: Doable, but it takes three years to get a harvest. Plant in well draining soil, and give it as much heat and light as you can.

Just for fun: (Unless you’re in the tropics or have a lot of patience.)

Mango, avocado, citrus. Take years, and a different climate than I have to fruit. If you’re in the tropics, go for it, but know that avocado pollination can apparently be tricky. I am not in the tropics, so I do not have direct experience with this. Citrus I think I've read also don't come true from seed.

Apples, pears: take years, and don’t come true to type. You do not know what you’ll get, and you’ll probably get something that is not worth eating (but would work for cider). These do need a cold dormancy period in the winter to do well. Of course, you could plant them and then top graft if it does turn out they don’t taste good.

Plums, peaches, apricots: take years, often do come true from seed, but peaches and nectarines are very susceptible to peach leaf curl, so may just die depending on where you are.

[mllemaenad]

It always strikes me as weird that there’s no point at which the Brotherhood and Minutemen automatically come into conflict that I can find. One would think that the Brotherhood’s methods of gathering supplies (basically racketeering) would automatically lead to issues with the Minutemen, whose job is to defend against such raiders. I know the game mechanics reason for this, but can you think of anything in-universe to explain it?

I think there are a few things going on here – some gameplay related, some thematically related. But to be honest I don't think it's always easy to separate those two things.

Point one - who's in charge?

If you follow Fallout 4's opening quests then you are the General of the Minutemen. That means that your Sole Survivor gets to make big important decisions like "do we go to war with this new group?" You do not lead the Brotherhood, Railroad or Institute (you may, of course, inherit control of the Institute at the end of the game, but that's after all these decisions take place) and consequently decisions about who your enemies are take place over your head. You can pick a side if two factions you belong to come into conflict ... but you can't ultimately change their politics.

There is no point in the story where you are forced to go to war with the Brotherhood as the General of the Minutemen ... but you absolutely can go to war with the Brotherhood as the General of the Minutemen.

So this is both a gameplay and narrative point: what does your Sole Survivor think of the Brotherhood of Steel? Maybe they are also a dedicated member of the Brotherhood, and have no problem with them "commandeering" supplies. Maybe you work with the Railroad, and their attitudes frighten you. Maybe you're a pure Minuteman character and just resent another group of raiders causing problems for your settlements.

Every other faction makes the decision of when to invoke "War never changes" for you. This one's on you.

Point two – who shot first?

Obviously, the Brotherhood of Steel does end up in forced conflict with the Railroad as part of the main quest. There's no way to make peace between them, no matter how many quests you've done for either faction.

But. Well. I mean – there's an obvious aggressor in this one. It's not like Desdemona wakes up one morning, finishes her Sugar Bombs and coffee and says "Hey, guys, given that we've just barely clawed our way back from extinction, doesn't picking a fight with a group of heavily armed thugs sound like a great idea?"

There are no Railroad quests that require you to directly attack the Brotherhood until after the Brotherhood tries to murder them. While Brotherhood and Railroad ideals are pretty clearly in conflict, the Railroad absolutely does not want to start another war. They're up to their eyeballs dealing with the Institute. The Brotherhood impose that conflict on them.

Why? Well, they tell you. The first reason is that the Brotherhood are intent on committing genocide, and they are aware that the Railroad's mission would require them to rescue and protect synths.

Even with their relatively small numbers, the Railroad is a constant threat to our operations. They've already proven to be resilient against superior forces, with a knack for disappearing when cornered. Worse still, they possess the capability to help synths flee the Institute. If we intend to end the synth menace, we need to plug the leaks. – Lancer Captain Kells Dialogue, Fallout 4

The other reason is because the Railroad has PAM, and the Brotherhood wants to steal her.

Our sources tell us that the Railroad has some sort of experimental or prototype robot in their headquarters. They're calling the "Predictive Analytic Machine," or "P.A.M." for short. Cute, huh? They use the robot for complex strategic calculations that are much more efficient than anything we can generate here. If you could use this holotape to decrypt the security on P.A.M.'s terminal, it will force the unit to return to the Prydwen. I'm certain we could put P.A.M.'s computing power to good use. Otherwise, destroy it. We wouldn't want it to fall into the Institute's hands. – Proctor Ingram Dialogue, Fallout 4

The conflict between the Brotherhood and Railroad occurs purely at the Brotherhood's instigation. While the Railroad doesn't like the Brotherhood they don't want to fight them unless they have to.

Which brings me back to the Minutemen. As an organisation, the Minutemen are pretty well indifferent to synths. Oh, they're one hundred percent opposed to the Institute sacking settlements with Gen 2s, or people being replaced by synths, or any other scenario where the people they've pledged to protect get hurt ... but there's no official policy on synths themselves.

Preston is broadly pro-freeing the synths because he's a good guy:

I never really thought about synths that way before, but it's hard to argue that they don't deserve freedom like everyone else. – Preston Garvey Dialogue, Fallout 4

But nothing about being involved with the Minutemen actually forces you to help a synth. So they are not on the Brotherhood's radar the way the Railroad are.

The Minutemen is also a pretty low tech organisation. Their signature weapon is the laser musket. Their big rebuilding quest, Old Guns, is about setting up some very old-school artillery. Nothing about that is going to make the Brotherhood start salivating and plotting to steal their stuff. Now, obviously that artillery can turn out to be very effective at dealing with the Prydwen if it comes to that, but that's a very Brotherhood mistake: they think shiny tech will protect them from superior numbers and rational tactics. They made the same error at HELIOS ONE.

So unlike the Railroad, the Minutemen are unlikely targets for Brotherhood aggression at this stage. They aren't forcing a conflict. But like the Railroad, the Minutemen start the game a hair's breadth from annihilation. Most of the game is spent rebuilding both their forces and their credibility. They clear raider strongholds and nests of feral ghouls. They're not much more likely to be actively pushing for an all-out-war than the Railroad.

Point Three - who the hell are these guys, anyway?

After all of that, I recognise there's still a problem, though. Because Feeding the Troops is still a pretty obnoxious quest and it does feel like a thing that would cause issues.

Fallout 4 does a lot with misinformation; appearance versus reality; what someone says and then what they do. I know I've brought it up before, but a big one is the difference between Diamond City and Goodneighbor. And one of the key points about that is that things change: Diamond City wasn't always run by the Institute; Goodneighbor wasn't always setting itself up as a haven for the lost. Things change. Bad things can improve, and good things can slip into evil.

Earlier games had a karma system associated with them: this is good, this is bad. Fallout 4 replaces this with companion opinions, which fits pretty well with its themes and ideas. It's not going to tell you which one is the good karma option. You've got to play the game and figure it out. And yes, sometimes the answer is "there's no good answer".

Two things about the Brotherhood: they arrive relatively late in the game, at the start of Act 2 ... and they were the good guys in Fallout 3. They were very explicitly the good karma option in Fallout 3. While, obviously, each game is going to pick up a bunch of new players who haven't played the older ones, it's also important to recognise that Fallout is a series, and the narrative continues from one game to the next.

By the time Fallout 4 starts all the various factions in the Commonwealth have been locked in conflict with the Institute for decades. Asking them to pivot and immediately start fighting these guys who turned up last Tuesday is a lot. While the Sole Survivor could never have heard of the Brotherhood of Steel, there's a really solid chance that you, the player, have heard of them. And you might make some assumptions, based on that.

They were the good guys, right? Okay, yes, kind of arseholes and a bit of a problem if you were from Underworld but ... they fought the Enclave! They defended Project Purity! They protected people from super mutants! It's a whole thing!

But. Well, there's clearly been a change in leadership since then. And they've specifically reintegrated the Outcasts, i.e. the anti-helping people Brotherhood faction.

Also, the Commonwealth is not the Capital Wasteland. The conflict there was Brotherhood-versus-Enclave and the Enclave was so very bad that virtually anyone could look heroic opposing them. The super mutants never coalesced into a coherent faction who wanted anything; they operated more like a plague. Simpler times. In the Commonwealth there are more factions, more differing ideals. The water needs purifying, sure, but if we could solve the political problems farming wouldn't be a major issue.

You see all this difficulty and ambivalence in the game's characters, too:

The Brotherhood. In Capital Wasteland, they really weren't bad. But now. – Deacon Dialogue, Fallout 4 Those Super Mutants are a threat to everyone in the whole Commonwealth. I'm glad to have the Brotherhood's help to take them out. – Preston Garvey Dialogue, Fallout 4 Long as the Brotherhood of Steel keeps the heavy artillery out of the city limits, they're welcome here. – Diamond City Security Dialogue, Fallout 4 Flying that ship into the heart of the Commonwealth. Mark my words, the Brotherhood's here to start a war. – Nick Valentine Dialogue, Fallout 4

Characters are aware that the Brotherhood did good in the past. They're concerned about the giant airship in their space. They're grateful when the Brotherhood does something that happens to be helpful, even if their reasons were selfish. The decision about what do about them is floating in the air, from the day they turn up.

So now I'm back to my first point. You're the General of the Minutemen. Odds are, defending the Commonwealth as a Minuteman was one of the very first pledges you made at the start of the game. And sure, you're visiting all the factions and doing their quests, because that's how these games work.

Cool. So – I mean, they've asked you to bully and steal from the farmers you swore to protect. If you take your non-human companions to the Prydwen they will say the most horrible things about them. They've sent you to murder your friend Danse, even though he hasn't done anything and it's not like he can choose to not be a synth. They're powering up this really scary robot they can use to terrorise people. They're sending you to slaughter the Railroad, unprovoked, because they want their robot. At what point have you had enough? At what point do you go "Ohhhhh. This is the bad karma faction"?

There's a warning, right at the beginning of their quest line, from Haylen:

Field Scribe Haylen, personal log entry 324A. I'm starting to wonder if joining the Brotherhood of Steel was a good choice. I originally signed up seeking protection and comradeship but I'm worried that I've traded away a bit of my humanity in the process. The Brotherhood's message of hope for the future is idealistic and noble but their methods leave a lot to be desired. The leadership seems especially misguided. Instead of diplomacy, they wield violent confrontation to exert control. Despite all that, I've been successfully avoiding the fighting by following the career path of a field scribe. I suppose only time will tell how long I can stand the sight of spilled blood over my own moral fiber. – Scribe Haylen's Personal Log, Fallout 4

If you can recognise some foreshadowing, you can see where this is going.

I think the game doesn't force you to fight the Brotherhood with the Minutemen because you are the General of the Minutemen. It doesn't have karma options, it asks you to review the situation and make a decision what to do. You can fight the Brotherhood, if you choose to. In fact, you kind of swore that you would.

Yeah, they're running a protection racket. What are you going to do about it?

And I think that's very in line with the sort of story Fallout 4 wants to tell.

[ilguna]

☼ safer with you (Finnick Odair) ☼

summary; he wouldn't tell you why he couldn't let you be in the alliance, but you know you're safer with him. that's why you won't leave.

warnings; swearing, weapon mention.

wc; 1.8k

prompt: 36. “You could put a knife to my throat and I wouldn’t flinch.”

–

It is a fucking nightmare in here.

The heat alone is a killer, you’ve never experienced weather this bad in your Games or District Two, and both have a tendency to be consistently over a hundred degrees. You went two and a half days without water in your Games, sweating out every ounce that you’d stored prior to launch. That dry heat doesn’t compare to this.

It wouldn’t be so bad, if they hadn’t started you off by swimming. You think you’d rather start dry and slowly find out that your body is covered in sweat. The way the wetsuit is suctioned to your body right now is a whole new level of irritating. It’s a second skin that you don’t dare to escape because it’s your only protection.

The next problem is the arena that you’ve been given, it’s a literal jungle. It's green, and humid, and impossible to navigate. You swear you’d be walking in circles if it weren’t for the fact that it’s all one steep incline. It’s dense because of the amount of trees, which offer little to no shade as you travel. Every couple of steps you manage to snag your foot into another root.

The further you travel, the more the suspicious feeling that there’s no drinkable water, rises. There should be a stream, or a small puddle, and you haven’t come across anything yet. You keep thinking that there has to be something because of how bad the humidity is, but the lake at the center of the arena provides plenty of water to explain how wet the air is. You’re all insects trapped inside of a terrarium.

It gets worse when you remember every few minutes that you should be paranoid instead of relaxed because you do not, in fact, have any allies. A hard but necessary decision you made.

You knew that when you got reaped things were not going to be easy from that moment forward. There were no volunteers, despite many girls from Two saying that they wanted to be a part of this fight. There weren’t tears before you got onto the train, either.

It’s not like the other victors hate you, that’s not why they held back. It’s because they recognized the danger that they’d be putting themselves in if they tried going back into an arena, especially when the stakes are so high. Which is a first for the girls, because you’re all catty, competitive, half the time you don’t get along, and it’s always titles over seniority.

The only reason why you had a little bit of respect with them was because each one of them knew you should’ve died in your arena. There was no water and there was no shelter besides the cornucopia, which you chose to abandon four days in. You are the reason why they have to put water sources inside of the arena now.

This year, it was the boys that couldn’t stop moving, anticipating the second they either got drawn or given the opportunity to volunteer. When you saw that Brutus won the race, you didn’t know whether to be grateful or terrified, because he’s never really bothered to hide his dislike toward you, but he’s going to be the biggest tribute in the arena, and he could be on your side. 

The news just kept getting worse when you saw who exactly got reaped alongside District Two. You like Cashmere and Gloss, too much to kill them. And you have a lot of respect for the older victors from the other Districts, because they were the ones that helped you when it was your turn to mentor—not your fellow victors.

The final blow was seeing that Finnick and Mags were going to be the tributes from Four, as if things couldn’t get any worse. Let’s throw your ex-boyfriend and his grandmother into the mix to see where you end up. It didn’t help that the last time you talked to Finnick was the year prior, after you got into an argument for trying to help him with his tributes.

You were almost afraid of what he thought of you, until he talked to you right before the tribute para, musing how unfortunate it was for the both of you to get drawn like that. You had a little hope that things might be okay, and you had a chance, because it would be so easy to pull all the careers into a big group, dominate the arena, and then turn on one another.

Finnick wouldn’t bite. 

And he continued to refuse every time you suggested an alliance. You thought that it had to be because of the others, sometimes he could be weird about being around them. Even with them out of the question, he wouldn’t agree to an alliance with just you.

The night of the interviews, before you got on stage, he pulled you aside and told you that he meant every word. He was not going to be in an alliance with you, no matter how many times you asked. He had his mind made up.

It was a first for you to see him so anti-career pack. Especially when he’s the one that’s always struggling to get his tributes involved, like last year. Half the time you’re convinced that they’re going to score low, and your tributes will push them out. Until they manage to score decent enough to waver the doubt.

You would let it go, but you can’t, not with him.

You know the careers, and you know enough not to stay with them. If they’re in it to win, then you’re a target, a big one. If they know what’s best for them, they’ll try and kill you first the second they get the chance. You can’t trust them to have your back if shit gets sticky.

Finnick would.

Out of all the people in this arena, the only person that you want to be with is him. Even after all these years, all the names he’s called you, all the arguments that you’ve had. You know you can trust him to keep you alive. You want him, even if he doesn’t want you.

Yesterday, you had a hard time finding out where he went off to with Mags. You were focused on getting in and out of the cornucopia, figuring that the jungle wouldn’t nearly be this bad. If you had known, you would’ve gotten the general direction they ran in before fighting for your life.

It took hours, but you’ve finally come across a path that you’ve been following. The problem is that you can’t see anyone ahead, which means these tracks could be from anyone, at any time of the day. You study them as you go, and notice that there’s three pairs of feet.

One of them is heavy footed, like they don’t care about leaving prints in the dirt, the second one is much lighter, you can barely make outlines of their feet, and the third looks almost identical to how you walk. 

Three people is too many for just Finnick and Mags, obviously. That’s why you think that the first pair belongs to Johanna, the second to Mags, and the third to Finnick.

You could be wrong, and there’s a good chance that you are. All you know for sure is that they don’t belong to your career friend. The last time you saw them was across the lake. You have to be very careful about keeping an eye on them. They have a tendency to get obsessive when it comes to hunting down people. 

You didn’t sleep last night.

You stop to yawn, rubbing down your face. At the rate you’re going, you need water, and possibly food. If you can’t find a water source, then you need to switch game plans. You are far too smart to start drinking salt water, and if your mentors want to prevent you from what you did last time you found yourself in this position, they’ll send you water. They’ll just wait until the last minute.

You suck in a breath to hold for a moment while you think, when you hear the rustle of leaves. To your right, behind you. Your eyes snap open, whipping around to face whatever it is, sword prepared in your hand.

It falls.

“Finnick.” You breathe, a rush going through you, “Finally, I thought—”

Finnick looks behind him, and then back at you. He starts coming down the hill, trident gripped tightly in his hand, lips pressed into a thin line. There’s a hard look on his face, he’s not happy. If you had to guess, you’re the cause of this.

“(Y/n).” There’s an edge to his voice. “What did I tell you?”

You avert your eyes, not ready for his steely eyes, because he gets intense when he’s angry. If you’re going to keep your composure, then you can’t look him in the eye.

“I know, okay, I just—I can’t do this alone.” You shake your head. “If I go with them, I’m going to die. You’re the only person—”

“You can not be with me.” He emphasizes each word, “You need to go.”

“Finnick, I know.” You say, watching the way he adjusts his hand on his trident. He’s tense, does he think you’re a threat? “But I need someone, and you’re the only person I trust, okay? I feel safer with you.”

“No, (Y/n), you don’t know.” He tells you, “Will you look at me?”

You grit your teeth when you do, and watch as his face relaxes.

“If you don’t stop, I’ll have to kill you. Do you hear me?” He raises his eyebrows. “Go.”

“You could put a knife to my throat and I wouldn’t flinch.” You say, he closes his eyes, letting out a sigh. You take a step forward, “What makes you think an empty threat like that will turn me away?”

“It has to!” He shouts, “You—”

“Is it Johanna? She doesn’t like me very much, but I don’t have to be speaking—”

“What?” He asks.

“If I’m out here alone then I have no one to help me. I have no one to watch while I sleep. If they find me out here, I’m as good as dead.” You reach for him, he takes a step back while shaking his head.

“We’re not doing this.”

“Please?” You cry, “Finnick, I’m asking you to—”

“This is not a matter of me not feeling like I’m good enough, (Y/n).” He snaps, you close your mouth. “The alliance I have is fragile, and there’s no room in it for you. Go.”

Your face twists, eyes becoming heavy. You struggle to take in air, because your throat is constricting. You try hard to keep the frown from settling in your mouth, tired of letting him see you cry. He doesn’t care—he’s not even trying! He could at least…

“(Y/n), don’t do this.” His voice is softer, “Don’t.”

“I’m not.” You swallow the growing thickness, “Goodbye, Finnick.”

[jtl07]

Love your writing! Something about your flow is so pleasant to read.

Prompt for your shenanigans, if you want: Ava and Beatrice (post war and happy and settled) meet a past almost-ex(?)/crush of Beatrice’s

aw thank you anon! also there were so many options for this prompt lol - i'm going to blame puppybusby's Love Thy Neighbour for the inspo. also shameless plug for the fic where Olivia's from: so live it

the sound of the front door bell followed by high-pitched squeals and muted screams is a regular occurrence and Olivia had learned early on to filter it out. still, she can't help but chuckle at the enthusiasm the latest visitor has entered with, having happened upon the aptly named Fluffy just inside the front door.

"let us know how we can help," Olivia says easily when the woman's gaze crosses with hers. she chuckles again when she gets a pair of finger guns in return.

it's a busy day with a new delivery of books to take care of and while the cafe side isn't ever full, there's a constant stream of customers wandering through the space that fills Olivia with a certain contentment. she does, however, have to tune out most of the noise as she takes care of the inventory and shelving, trusting her employees to let her know if there's anything that needs her attention.

Olivia's halfway down the ladder when she hears it.

she nearly falls off, has to grip the handles tightly as she whips her head around to locate the source. it's a sound she hasn't heard in over a decade now. a sound that, even back then, was rare. but she knows it. knew it well.

Olivia finds her sitting on the floor, hands hovering over a dark kitten making its way up her shirt. the woman who'd given Olivia finger guns earlier has her face burrowed into that long neck, both of them shaking with laughter.

Beatrice.

she's older of course - they both are, and Olivia's knees remind her of this fact as when she lowers herself back onto solid ground - still with that unique intensity about her. but there's an easy confidence that's replaced the stiffness that she'd always carried, an openness where there used to only be a cold wall. it had taken Olivia ages to be allowed in; is glad to see that she's allowed others in.

then she finds herself caught in a familiar gaze. ah, Olivia muses, remembers Beatrice's eerie self-awareness, i see that hasn't changed either.

recognition flashes over Beatrice's face and Olivia holds her breath; wonders just how she's being remembered. the woman next to Beatrice has taken notice - her partner, gauging by the way she's pointedly wrapped herself around Beatrice - and Olivia watches as Beatrice turns to speak. relief washes through Olivia when she sees a smile.

Beatrice presses a quick kiss to the woman's temple then stands with that easy grace that had captured Olivia's attention all those years ago. she straightens her shirt before she realizes what she's doing, barely keeps herself from reaching up to fix her hair as Beatrice approaches.

"Olivia," Beatrice says, soft and surprised. "i never thought - it's been so long."

she smiles easier now, Olivia realizes as she responds with her own. glances over Beatrice's shoulder where the woman is not-so-subtly watching. "it has," she says, because how else does one summarize a forced separation, a decade apart, living lives they've built on their own? "you look well."

the way Beatrice ducks her head is still the same, but then she straightens into a person she's proud of. "i am. well, that is. and you?"

"busy," Olivia gestures to the store, "but well."

Beatrice tilts her head, glancing from her and the store, taking in the words and its implications. connecting dots even when none were given, Olivia thinks. "this is yours?"

Olivia nods, allows herself to preen. "i wanted to give people a place to call home, even for just a little while." it's an answer she gives regularly, but here, saying them now to this person - Beatrice, who'd been her port away from the storm that had been her home; Beatrice, who'd held her hand and read her poetry; Beatrice, who'd kissed her and had been sent away - it feels heavier, yet lighter at the same time.

"it's wonderful," Beatrice says, and the tremulous smile that accompanies the words makes Olivia think she's also remembering, also feeling the same way.

"well, come now, introduce me to your wife before she explodes." Olivia chuckles at the surprised look on Beatrice's face. "you're not the only one who notices things," she says, gesturing towards the ring on her hand.

Beatrice hums then starts to turn - pauses, turns back to face her fully. "i'm glad we've met again." and Olivia knows what she means: i'm glad to see you happy, i'm glad to see you here, as you are now; i'm glad we have another chance to be friends.

"me too," Olivia says. she looks over Beatrice's shoulder at her wife and smiles; recognizes the gift they have have now.

[hulhudhonado]

The Moment They Fell For You (2)

Note: I actually planned on writing all the Sumeru characters in one post but I thought it was getting a bit long. So I decided to split them instead. Also I think people do not write enough fanfic for the female characters. I did not proof read this at all. Sorry if it's not up to standard. Enjoy.

CW: None

HC: Reader is gender neutral and does not have a vision.

Characters: Cyno, Nilou

Cyno

You had known the General Mahamatra ever since you both studied in the Akademiya together. You watched him surpass you and your colleagues, rising to the ranks to where he is now. You watched in awe and also ashamed of yourself for not being able to keep up to his level. However times had passed and now you too were a scholar teaching amongst the rest in Akademiya.

While most tended to to go down the path of finding new information or discoveries for the next hit paper, you kept to yourself keeping logs of all the current surplus of information scattered through the Akademiya walls and passing those knowledge to the budding scholars of the future.

You and Cyno were not close friends however you both friendly enough for a wave or a quick hello back to each other since you were one of the few scholars that didn't seem to fear his gaze. Otherwise you barely saw him, knowing that he was someone who tended to do his job hidden or by himself. Due to the difference in your jobs you didn't expect to cross one another anytime soon, but when news came that one of your students may have been working to acquire illegal knowledge capsules you and him somehow ended up together in the mission to catch them in the act.

"I can't believe this is happening." You groaned to yourself, face in your hands while you crouched against the wall. This was the worst thing to ever happen in your entire history as a teacher. You couldn't believe that one of your students were going this far just to pass the exam. Were you too strict? Did you fail to teach them properly? It was too late either way. You looked up from your hands to stare at Cyno who stared down at your crouched form. His face emotional less and his glare sharp.

If it were anyone else they would be whimpering under his gaze, but you could tell he didn't seem to harbor any negative feelings. Well at least not to you. "If the rumors are true they will be held accountable. You don't need to worry about that. " You shook your head, standing up and facing him head on.

"It's not that." Cyno arched an eyebrow. "It's an issue with me. If I did my job as a teacher properly they wouldn't have needed to take such drastic measures. If this is true I at least want to hear their side. I want to make sure this never happens again." You answered, trying to keep a brave front. Cyno stared at you blankly before turning away to walk out from the building. "Do whatever you want. It depends on what we find anyway."

You watched him walk out of the door. All you could do was sigh, following after him. How embarrassing was it that this was the first time you both had talked to each other properly. "If this is how fast you plan on going the entire mission we aren't going to finish anytime soon." You jumped in shock, realizing that he had not left you to catch up but was waiting for you outside the door. "My apologies." You mumbled, even more embarrassed than before. This was not going to be a fun.

---

The plan was simple . Since you kept a low profile compared to most scholars, it would be easy for you to infiltrate the merchant camp with the rest of the knowledge capsule hunters. After sneaking in, using the codes that were given to you by an unknown source, Cyno mentioned he had his ways but he did not look pleased about it, you would try to find your student amongst the crowd. After they had been spotted all you needed to do was take a picture using the kamera.

After the evidence had been acquired, all you needed to do was send the signal to Cyno and rush out of the place as fast as you can so that Cyno could shut the whole place down for good. You could feel yourself getting nervous the closer you stepped near the camp. You still had hope that maybe your student was just being framed or it had been someone else.

However seeing the familiar face amongst the rest of the buyers only filled you with dread. You reached your hand to grab the kamera, slowly inching close to be able to take a clear picture of them in the act. Just as you were about to pick the kamera out for a quick picture, you halted hearing the distress in your student's voice.

"We can't be here father. There are already rumors about me. My grades are not even that bad, I can pass the bar exam without the knowledge capsule." You heard them say only to be hushed harshly. You could feel your eyebrow twitch in rage. You watched as your student looked around worriedly, trying to drag their father away from the rest of the crowd.

You felt the tension in your body release, your student wasn't the one who wanted to get access to the knowledge capsules. Their father just was a cunt. You wanted to go there and drag them away from him, telling them that it will all be ok. You looked down at the kamera and then to the signal in your hand.

Without a second thought, you clicked to the button to release the signal. You winced hearing the loud sound it made, Cyno was not lying when he said he would hear it from miles away. The merchants and buyers looked around dazed by the sudden sound. You immediately began to make a run for it but instead of the door you ran straight towards your student.

Pushing their father to a side after he had loosened his grip, you grabbed your student by the wrist and began to make a run for it. You could hear your student shout your name in shock but you continued to make a run for it, hearing the now panicked and distressed calls of the people back in the illegal trade "THE GENERAL MAHATRAMA! HE'S HERE!". You could feel a smile form on your lips, Cyno was definitely having a field day.

---

You could feel Cyno's irritation when he realised what you had actually done. However you were lucky enough that he was willing to hear you and your student out. You were glad they rumors were not actually true and it wasn't them who wanted to acquire illegal knowledge and you were happy to know Cyno was willing to actually believe you.

"Thank you." You said, you could feel your face heat up and at this point you couldn't tell whether it was from the joy of helping your student or whether you were just feeling shy. You could see Cyno's eye twitch a bit however his face remained stoic. "I was just doing my job. The trade was successfully shut down because of this anyway. We shouldn't be hearing about any illegal knowledge capsules anytime soon." You shook your head.

"I meant for letting my student go." You smiled at him and he huffed. You wondered if you were imagining it but you could feel him seem shyer than before. " That was barely anything."

"Still let me pay you back in a way." Cyno raised an eyebrow at you. "What do you suggest?"

"Maybe dinner? Or perhaps a game? I heard you loved playing a certain card game." You teasingly mention, pulling out a new pack of cards that you had made sure to bring with you just for this. You could see a glint of light form in his eyes.

"I can't turn down a challenge." He answered. Cyno didn't know what to make of you when he first met you, all he remembered was how you would gingerly wave at him whenever he would catch you staring while he instinctively waved back. He watched you grow fond of your students and show your interests to teach. You might not think he cared too much about you but he was always paying attention.

You guys were not close but you were always in the back of his mind. Maybe that was why he decided to hear you out when you decided to pull something risky like that during the mission. Either way, Cyno always had a form of affection for you and it seems your invitation to play Genius Invokation TCG has finally confirmed that maybe it might be just more than acquaintances. Cyno just hoped his stoic nature would keep it under wraps, at least for now.

Nilou

"Do you know how to dance?"

It was the first thing that Nilou had said to you when she saw you trying to dance on the outskirts of Sumera city. You decided to stroll into the Grand Bazaar one day. You just went inside to peak. The Akademiyan scribes would have been completely against you from entering but you were so curious. They always had something bad to say about the place and you just had to find out why hated the place so much.

You stumbled inside during an event that day. The lights illuminated the stage and the star of the show swayed to the rhythm of the music. You stared in awe when you saw how delicately she danced. She looked as if she was floating. All eyes were on her, including yours. She didn't even stumble at any moment and you couldn't even see a bead of sweat dripping down her face. 'Must be an angel' You thought.

You didn't expect to stay for the whole event but you lost track of time. Watching show after show, the theatre had so much to offer! Why would the Akademiya be so against it? The shows were exciting and full of life, most of them even showed a valuable lessons which were easy to understand by the general public.

Either way you got hooked on going to see what they had in store, especially the dances. The moves felt so calculated and precise. You could feel your Akademiya brain trying to figure out how they did it, which was what lead you to your first encounter with Nilou.

You were trying to copy what you had written down during one of the events. You wrote down her exact foot placements, the way her hips swayed to the beat and even the different speeds changes during all movements. However nothing was going right! You kept stumbling over you feet and you could not meet the beats.

You were surprised on how scarred you got during the process, who knew you would stumble so much just to learn how to dance? You huffed, wiping the dirt and grime off your outfit and pulling out the notebook from your pocket. You could not figure out what you were doing wrong? You repeated the steps in your head, jotting down what you had possibly missed causing your failed attempt. You sighed frustratedly, putting the notebook back into your pocket.

You made your way towards the river and began to pose. Nilou started her routine dance in a specific way and you wanted to find a way to replicate it. You looked at your reflection, you were too stiff and it looked awkward. You kept trying find a good angle and that was when Nilou had popped out, asking you the question.

You yelped, almost falling into the river, however you were saved as gentle arms grabbed you by the waist. You looked at her as she steadied you before letting you go. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scar you!" She said, arms up and face apologetic. You could feel your face warm up.

"How long have you been watching?" Nilou chucked a bit. "A while now. " You could feel your face become warmer. Nilou looked at you worriedly. "Oh! I wasn't watching you on purpose or anything! I was actually collecting some wood for the theatre props! I'm so sorry for invading your privacy!" She said, pointing towards the bundle of wood collected near by some trees.

You shook your head, trying to calm yourself down. The angel in your favorite new pastime had saw you dancing like a mess, however you still had some Akademiya scholar pride, you couldn't show her that this situation bothered you. You coughed into your hand, trying to hide the rest of the blush which was slowly going away. "It's alright. It's not like this is a private area anyway. I'll be on my way."

You turn to go pick up your stuff only for your arm to be captured by Nilou's firm grasp. "Oh please wait! I saw you dancing and you seemed you needed some guidance. I could help you practice if you like!" You turned to look at her as she smiled at you. Her eyes were such a gentle blue and full of life. You couldn't say no to that.

"That would be quite helpful actually." You mumbled quietly, still trying to keep whatever pride you had left in you. You wanted to know how to dance, you wanted to feel like you were floating as well. Nilou let out a laugh, it was sweet and you could feel yourself get butterflies in your stomach just from hearing it. "Let's get started then shall we?"

That was the start of your dance practice journey with Nilou. If Nilou wasn't in the theatre she was near the outskirts of Sumeru City with you. She taught you from the very beginning. It started from stretching. You were stiff as a board, which was how Nilou described you when you couldn't even bend to touch your toes. You tried to tough it out and you were surprised to see how fast results showed.

You looked at Nilou excitedly after you were successfully able to do her entire exercise routine without asking for a break. She giggled at your joy, she never had such a student who wanted to learn this much.

Then she showed you how to match the rhythm. It was simple, she held your hand and guided you.

First Step, Second Step, First Step, Second Step.

You held onto her hands tightly, watching both of your feet's intensely. You were worried that you would step on her toes at any moment. However during this moment all Nilou could do was stare at your face, eyebrows furrowed making sure not to miss a step. She couldn't but think how cute you looked so serious for something so simple.

Finally after learning the basics, she showed you how to do a simple routine, all the dance steps separately. You showed her your notebook full of all the records you kept of her shows. She looked at it enthusiastically. "You wrote this all down?" You gave her a nod, proud of your academic ability to be able to take notes down so well.

She stared at the notes which were accompanied by the drawings. You had written down almost her entire show routine. She could feel a blush creep up her face. You had looked at her so intensely, making sure to not even miss a single hand movement or foot placement. She could feel your eyes burn in the back of her head now and she wondered if she could continue doing the shows like she always did if it meant you looked at her in such a way.

"You didn't need to write all this you know?" "Why not? The way you move is so beautiful, I couldn't help myself. " The words flew out of your mouth so smoothly you didn't even realise how shy Nilou had gotten. Her face was entirely red at this point and she could feel her legs almost giving out. She huffed, placing the book to the side.

"Well you won't need that book when I am training you directly." She grasped your face, making you look at her directly in the eyes. " All you need to do is look at me." This time you could feel your face heat up.

---

The training took months. It became a daily occurrence of you sneaking out from the Akademiya to go to the Grand Baazar. Almost everyone knew your name and after Nilou was done with work you both would leave to go dance alongside both of your new secret dancing spot.

Nilou sat down on a rock, patiently waiting for you to began dancing. You were no longer the scholar covered in dirt and grime due to stumbling over your own feet nor did you look stiff when you tried to match the rhythm. You were confident and you wanted to show Nilou the progress that you both had achieved.

When you started to dance Nilou could feel her chest ache. You were so enchanting. She wondered if this was how you felt the first time you sneaked inside to watch her dance. She couldn't take her eyes away from you. 'Ah, an angel.' She thought as you smiled at her during your routine.

She didn't know how to express the emotions she felt inside her but she knew was she wanted to keep dancing with you in secret. Your dancing was for her and her viewing only.

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

I just got a juvenile mexican black kingsnake, and, against all odds, given the species, we've had trouble getting him to eat. He's not in shed (which we know because he literally just shed like a few days ago and all feeding attempts since have still been unsuccessful, though he seems hungry).

He's very active, but only at night (according to some sources I've read mbks can sometimes switch between diurnal and nocturnal behavior so I think that's probably what's going on). We've tried feeding him both at night and during the day.

Part of the problem is that he's a bit skittish, and so he often freaks out and leaves at the sight of the tongs. We've tried our best to leave him alone and make sure he has a chance to calm down and adjust, but still no dice. (We didn't start trying to feed him until a solid week after I got him. All feeding attempts have been in his enclosure).

One of my concerns is that he might not recognize the frozen thawed pinkie as food, given that the pet store we got him from only fed live to their baby snakes.

Any tips or advice for things we could try? He hasn't started to loose weight or anything yet, but he's gone twice as long without food now than I've seen recommended for an MBK his age and as a first time snake owner I'm starting to get worried.

Sorry about your problem child! It's always so stressful when a new snake doesn't want to eat.

Are you leaving the food in his enclosure for a while? It's completely fine if a snake doesn't want to eat from the tongs, and in fact probably 90% of all the kingsnakes I've ever had preferred me just putting their food down for them and then leaving the room when they were small. You can leave f/t mice in the enclosure for a few hours with no issues at all.

One upside to your situation is that there's honestly not a lot of difference between live and f/t pinkies. There's not a lot of movement going on either way, so as long as you're making sure the food is warm, he should be able to recognize it no problem.

I encourage you to think about how you can make this as easy for him as possible! You're right to try feeding when he's active (kingsnakes are active whenever they damn well please, so don't worry about the timing), but a big suggestion I have for you is to try ditching the tongs for now. If they spook him, don't use 'em - genuinely, it's gross, but it might help him if you just use your hands to sit the mouse down in his enclosure for him to find (make sure to wash your hands afterwards, obviously). There's no law that says a snake has to eat from the tongs, and drop-feeding is a lot less scary for lots of baby colubrids especially. I drop-feed most of my colubrids until they're a couple years old and gain some confidence.

You said he seems hungry, but I'm going to ask you to do a quick husbandry check-in anyway. Make sure his warm side is set to around 85 F and he's got water to drink, and ensure his enclosure feels nice and cluttered. Feeling safe will help a snake's appetite; make sure he has at least two identical hides (at least one on either side) and his enclosure doesn't feel empty. Cardboard tubes and crumpled paper towels are good, cheap clutter. It's easy to over-offer when a new snake won't eat, but also make sure you're waiting at least five days between offering - too frequent and you could spook him.

I really think that he'll probably take it for you if you ditch the tongs for now and make sure he's given plenty of time to find it left in his enclosure. Try not to worry too much - if he's not losing weight, he's okay. There's fearmongering articles out there that say baby kingsnakes can only go a week without food before they start to starve; that's nonsense. I've spoken about my buddy Ed on here before, he's also an MBK and he was seriously sick when I got him, he was just a couple months old and he still went months without eating before he got really sick (he's fine now and a phenomenal eater, don't worry!). No healthy snake is going to starve themselves, especially if you're taking care to ensure your husbandry is appropriate.

[drawnaghht]

Neo Edo magnetic "holsters"

so today/yesterday I started thinking....

what a cool detail the magnetic "holsters" - knobs and stripes are. A very unique design idea for the setting they went with (basically energy-punk or a kind of close-futuristic sci-fantasy)

for example, Gen has large magnet strips on his back, but also on the front of his vest?

The back strips are bigger, while the front strips I'm not entirely sure about, but they are slightly smaller and thinner, so it could be that they are something else, like pockets.

Chizu's appears to have dual magnetic strips on both her pants, her jacket lapels at the bottom, as well as a bigger/stronger magnet triangle on her back, assuming for her polearm, then later for her bow. The strips on her pants could also be just re-enforcing

The other Neko Ninja also appear to have magnets on their armor's backs and hip-pieces. (more longer images under cut)

Kitsune does not appear to have any magnets on her body? but she has a belt which she has a small pouch on and her belt goes around enough times that it could be easy to store her first set of tessen on her back.

Usagi's are small magnets on his obi, both the yoyo and sword have space to fit, one on either side. The sword is always on the left side, so that Usagi can draw it fast enough with his right hand without hurting himself by accident (at least, according to how sword-carrying became tradition during the Edo-era, the show is fairly consistent about this way the swords are carried)

From the first episode with Usagi, we see that the magnets appear to be strong enough that they lock onto the metal of the weapon long enough that the user can remove their fingers from holding the weapon.

and with the yoyo:

Overall, it's a super-interesting feature in the city! Other characters also have these magnets on their outfits/armor - you can pause any shot and see that characters have something magnetic/metallic on their body, with (I think) the exception of Karasu-Tengu and auntie, and the regular citizens of Neo Edo. So here for example the Keisatsu and Lord Kogane.

Most notably, one of the keisatsu guarding Usagi in ep 102, a set of keys dangles from it and we later find out it's this keisatsu's apartment keys haha.

Usagi waits and holds to test the magnet on his left side when he is holstering his auntie's sword, and we see that the effect is quite strong. But then in ep 2, he just slaps the yoyo onto his other side un-ceremoniously, even though this one is directly given to him by a magic stone haha xD You'll notice how Usagi's magnets have some sort of inset inlay, and a glowing symbol inside it which appears to be his clan emblem. Perhaps this means that his obi, or the magnet inlays were once commissioned for one of his ancestors? Since auntie does not appear to wear one of these, maybe it was a direct heirloom to Usagi from one of his parents? Or maybe it was something specially made for when Usagi was a bit older? Could even be that Auntie had it made for one of Usagi's birthdays (good source of a fanfic plot hehe). The magnets are also shown to always glow purple, like the Ki-Stone, and so is Usagi's yoyo itself, when activating any of its abilities, but in this case, the lines on the two sides of the yoyo glow just like the inset on Usagi's weapon-holster magnets.

For other fighter groups in the series, the Mogura crew don't seem to use any visible(?) weapons, while the Bat Squadron have switchblades on the top of their wings/fingers(?), while on their backs they have parachute backpacks. The Neko Ninja appear to have no visible magnets, but possibly their entire armor has hidden magnets within? just a theory for now.

Now, while Usagi's obi and its magnets seem to be custom, could the rest of Usagi's outfit be too? possibly. It seems to be a very specifc combination of both samurai, ninja and farmer outfits, as well as practical application of what samurai used to travel lighter while staying protected. First of all, his vest is a kind of deep blue which according to some historic records, is hemophilic? meaning, it can hold in blood if the wearer is struck suddenly, and according to older beliefs, it even had some healing properties. The vest is tied together by the obi, and the shoulder-gaps/edges appear to have either wooden or leather guards attached to the vest, enforced by these peculiar rectangular (i've seen this kind of work before in woodwork workshops but cannot remember the exact name) Under this vest, he appears to have a light leather or wood breastplate for protectin and under this in turn, he has a dark blue/black undershirt. His pants appear to be in two parts. The first part being the dark blue pants he wears, and the second a patterned "pants cover" which attaches to his chest guard or armor under the vest via light blue clasps. [edit: 10.10.2023:] Still looking around for the basis of this, but this appears similar to some pants I've seen irl. This cover and the pants both seem to be either tucked into or covered by the leg guards Usagi wears. [end edit] Whatever 3rd undergarment he has connects with the blue sleeves he has, which are tied with strings similar to his auntie's sleeves, but these strings are only drawn and animated in the 2D sequences (for the sake of simpler animation, it seems, since Usagi appears in so many scenes and has many moving parts) Then he has dark blue arm guards and kneeguards, while the boot part of his shoes seem to be some harder leather or other material. Usagi, because of wanting to follow in the steps of his samurai ancestor, does not have any other magnetic holsters on his body.

Chizu and Gen also seem to have customized magnets, but of a different appearance. First of all obviously, their shape is rectangular longer or shorter strips, without inlays or emblems, and Chizu has her back-triangle magnet.

I've sometimes also wondered if Gen's emblem is also a magnet, tho this is less likely... The rest of his outfit is fashioned to protect his body enough to also be mobile. So his back magnet-strips are way larger and fit nicely there, enough for his kanabo to attach comfortably to it without falling off. He has a lighter and thinner looking metal plate over his chest, which is obviously armor with a dipping neckline which is colored a golden/bronze? while the bottom part is a deep indigo, covered with studs. Traditionally what these kinds of studs do, is that if someone hits you in the stomach area (one of the most vulnerable areas in an armed fight), the metal studs set in the plate should deflect metal weapon blows to the stomach. so that's interesting to see, Gen's outfit is very practical and he is obviously a bounty hunter who has been doing the job for a while, evidenced also by Gen's healed-over facial scars. A purple vest with a higher collar covers this armor partly. The vest is patterned with these outlined hexagons which have a smaller hexagon inside them. The sleeves of this vest are puffed up(?) and either tied to his arms or it's a rubber band inside the fabric of the light magenta strip of his sleeve. I cannot see that he has any magnets on his belt, which is otherwise tied around the latter-bottom part of his armor and pants. The armor near the belt and on the stomach bends upwards in a semi-trapeze shape toward the dipping neckline of the upper part of his armor. His shoulder pads, kneepads and armguards appear to be enforced leather. I can't remember the exact term for this, but you see that the shoulder parts have stronger leather strings going through the inner parts, possibly to strengthen the rest of the pads. His warclubs sit comfortably on his back on the larger magnet strips.

Chizu's outfit is obviously made for blending in as a civilian, while retaining mobility and flexibility as a ninja, so it's not metal/hard armor like the other Neko Ninja - but instead seems to be wooden/light armor made to look like the shapes on the shirts of other (the dipping rectangle), and undergarment (black) + red and black leather vest and pants. The strips blend in nicely with this sort of outfit, while also allowing Chizu to have many weapons besides the hidden ones she has, the ninja stars and the small crossbow in her gauntlets/hand guards. Chizu's back-magnet triangle meanwhile fits her outfit style exactly, with a black inlay and golden-color outer rim, sort of like Usagi's magnet, but with no inset. Perhaps it's not a magnet at all then? But it sorta makse sense to be a magnet still. In ep 2, she brings her collapsible naginata along and sets it on her back. So this is a running design element amont the characters of Neo Edo that they carry their weapons on these magnetic shapes - strips, circlets, triangles, etc

Kitsune has a very straight-forward outfit. She presents herself as an ordinary street performer while also stealing during her performances, skillfully enough that she doesn't need a helping hand in this. Her outfit consists of mostly greens, teals and on the leaf-prints of her kimono vest, we see that she has maple-leaf patterns in beige, orance and yellow tones, in homage to her namesake and inspiration, the Kitsune in the Usagi Yojimbo comics. Her belt goes around her waist 2 times, while the 3rd time sits more loosely around her left hip, carrying her leather pouch, possibly from weight, but also comfort. compared to the previous two, Kitsune's outfit seems less about hiding or being openly her profession and more about her feeling comfortable, being herself. This is also why she has different bracelets and bangles on her writsts. As with Usagi and Chizu, her clothings are closed in the traditional kimono 'y' shape, left over right side, but while Usagi has only his vest over his armor and undershirt, and Chizu's is just her undershirt, for Kitsune she has both a vest and dark green undershirt, meaning that she appears more casual and layered. Possibly, because of living on the streets, she is ready for any weather and these clothes might have more other practical applications. But also likely, she just feels comfortable in these warm clothes. It is spring after all at the start of the series (exactly the same day it aired, April 28th), so possibly the air is more brisk and Kitsune has kept this look for just a while. All this is more observation + fantheory, but otherwise, there seem to be no metal or magnetic parts on her body. She does not focus on fighting as much as the others and her modus operandi in fights seems to more self-defense, which is what her battle fans are meant for, a self-defense weapon. It's possible she could have hiding places on her open-toed boots for smaller weapons, but then again, I do not believe we've seen them used as such in the show.

Now I wonder how these magnet strips are produced and made at all... do they use the Ki-Stone to magnetize strips of metal somehow? There are many methods to make magnets irl, so I wonder which ones were used here to achieve this strong magnet effect together with the rest of the Ki-Stone's effects...

Anyway, this isn't a deep-dive about clothing, I just wanted to shortly write about the interesting element of magnet wepon-holders, because these seem a ki-stone specific magic/science, but I got a bit lengthy about the clothings anyway bc I like this show ^^

[squgs]

On Driftmark, Was Viserys Looking for an Excuse to Kill Alicent?

During the eye incident when Viserys complies with Rhaenyra's demand to find out where Aemond heard the 'rumor' of her children's bastardy, I've always wondered what Viserys's plan was if Aemond and Aegon had complied with the questioning.

An easy answer is that they just didn't have a plan. I can certainly see Rhaenyra just lashing out as soon as the word bastard has been said in a room full of nobles. Viserys then might just be doing what he's told by his daughter with little thought for the consequences.

However I don't think either of them are that stupid. It seems likely that Rhaenyra assumes that Aemond heard the 'rumors' from Alicent and Alicent is the only person who has dared even imply the truth to Viserys, so he has to be thinking that Aemond heard it from Alicent.

Side note: I don't think that Alicent actually told Aemond. She knows the danger of talking about it and she doesn't mention it to Aegon during the 'you are the challenge' scene, when that information is very relevant to why Rhaenyra would likely have to kill Aegon.

Anyway, what the heck was Viserys going to do if Aemond had named Alicent? He later institutes a policy of cutting the tongues of anyone who questions the birth of Rhaenyra's sons, so would he have had her tongue removed? Rhaenyra claims that speaking the truth is the 'highest of treasons' and would as such assumedly carry the punishment of death, so would Viserys have ordered her execution?

If we assume that he isn't an idiot (a dubious assumption) and he therefore knows that there will likely be a war over his succession, then kickstarting the war immediately benefits Rhaenyra. The greens don't have a single adult dragon rider at that point while the blacks have 4. So if he is given the political excuse to do so, executing Alicent would benefit his family and likely vastly abbreviate the dance of the dragons.

That being said it would also be a catastrophically stupid thing to do. Murdering the queen for stating an obvious truth would completely destroy any trust in Targaryen rule. House Hightower would certainly take offense, and look to enact revenge even if they weren't willing to field an army against dragons. No family would ever be willing to marry their daughters into the Targaryen family again and there would be no way to pretend that their rule isn't tyrannical and entirely dependent on the threat of dragon fire to keep insulted lords in line.

Before all that though there's what happens immediately in that room, because it would probably turn into a fucking blood bath. There is no way Criston would allow Alicent to be unjustly executed or mutilated while he's still alive, and I think neither would Otto, though there's an argument to be made that Otto would flee or try to protect his dragon riders instead. So one of the best swordsmen in the world is then likely trying to kill the king or fighting with other members of the king's guard. At that point Vaemond and any like minded Velaryons would be looking at perhaps their only chance to prevent a strong bastard taking control of Driftmark. They might therefore try to assassinate Viserys, Rhaenyra, Luke or all three. Of course Daemon is also in that room and would do something chaotic, maybe taking the opportunity to try to kill Otto?

Anyone feel like writing that fic?

Even with all the risks though, if Alicent is named, Viserys has to punish her in some way, because the whole point of his and Rhaenyra's actions is to make everyone too afraid to speak the truth, and letting someone get away with speaking the truth destroys that. He could maybe make her name someone beneath her as the source of the rumors and then kill them, but barring that dubious out, Viserys would have to choose between giving up on protecting Rhaenyra and kicking off a war by harming his wife. At every previous opportunity he's chosen Rhaenyra, so I don't see how he'd make any other choice.

Obviously Viserys didn't hesitate to kill his first wife, but in the aftermath of Alicent attacking Rhaenyra, when he definitely does have an excuse to kill Alicent, he doesn't kill her or have her punished in any way. That could just be him having time to think things over and realize that's a bad idea, or it could be a sign that he was never going to do anything except yell at his children, or maybe Aemond and Aegon's words reduced his bloodlust.

In the end there aren't any real answers, we can just guess at what combination of evil, stupidity and laziness makes Viserys do the things he does.

[finestcigar]

possible purpose of /that/ secret message + tally5 info

hopefully correct transcribed text: 3aqxw97pktc8uki458fbdpfoacllex2f07bf8mg24b4mpfx2adc6v3f5yhxjd8i7sf11312zaj5lazet47jod5jczec5mvb6bz2o59r143sf2pe916sczcn7emvbl55ehe9iqb2708tt83482c8tw3c77gn47ojca634gbcfz0016s647wwlakcn46brele0eam9

so, first off: i’m almost positive this is some sort of key to the tally5 code. mainly because of them both reference being “correct”:

typing stuff like “yes”, “no”, and “fuck you” in this box doesn’t work, and copy-pasting the message text doesn’t work either, so unfortunately we have to try harder to figure this one out.

looking in the source code of the page, we can find evidence that the tally5 password is not english, so trying to translate the secret message to english is most likely barking up the wrong tree.

that said, i’m slightly unreliable since the source code is javascript, which i’ve never written. let me walk you through my thought process for figuring this out:

whenever the “Enter” button on the page is clicked:

variable “input” stores whatever you typed in as a password.

the code then checks if the password is correct. if it is, the page displays the image from this tumblr image url:

notice the “input” inserted in the middle. basically, the code generates the full url from being given the correct password. therefore the password is the ending part of the image url (excluding .png).

now i’ve never seen a tumblr image url that’s coherent english, which unfortunately means this is going to be a massive pain in the ass to figure out. but on the bright side, you won’t be confused anymore wondering why the message seems impossible to translate to actual words! (note: if you have, in fact, found a way to translate the message to actual words, disregard this.)

now for the bad news: the secret text seems way too long for a direct mode of “deciphering” to the correct url piece, so most likely no using easy methods like rot13 (my very first thought, considering the number of the footnote). it’s still going to be a puzzle to figure out how to get the missing url piece from this.

so what’s next? i don’t know---search for more clues or just try whatever you can think of in the tally5 box, i guess. good luck!

[klugami]

Hello everyone, welcome back to KlugAmi, the blog where I sometimes poop out content. Today, I’m writing an essay, since I believe some may be confused. After all: why ship this? There are better options for both of them, same sex, different sex, in school, and out of school. And even if we multiship, there’s not much these two have. In such an expansive cast, this could feel like the ‘Durr, Girl and Boy were classmates!’ that someone made up in Fever 1 that they stubbornly refuse to let go of.

Well, for starters, awesome, I like other Klug and Amitie pairings too, because that’s just natural. Secondly, I mean, there is SOME stuff these guys have. Some. These two have. That’s why we’re here! I guess we could call it “Why I like this pairing”.

As You may have gathered, “KuruAmi”, otherwise known as “KlugAmi”, “AmiKlug”, “AmiKuru”, or “24manzaishipping”, is a pairing that features Klug and Amitie from Puyo Puyo Fever. When we go to their debut, it seems pretty promising— he’s the only male who’s of a similar size to Amitie, and he interacts with her in a funny cutscene (though arguably the Raffina version is funnier) so it’d be pretty easy to go “Hey, I can work with this!” And work people did, as even as early as 2010. But wait! Didn’t Puyo Puyo Fever 2 release by then? And you’re right! It did! By that point, so did 7. But Fever 2 is important.

How, you may ask? Why, it gave us a whole extra interaction!! Multiple, in fact. If you will, Amitie is the only person to immediately (kind of) tell that Klug isn’t himself. By something minuscule. And from Klug’s end, he specifically wanted her to battle him again after his possession. So what does this mean for us? It means that Klug wanted (to beat up) Amitie. Ok, that’s not a good start. But they share a classs! That’s something!!

“Ehh? This is just a history lesson!!” You may ask. That it is! But if I listed every interaction we’d get really bored so we’re going to say that they’re canonically friends. That doesn’t say a lot for Amitie but it says a lot for Klug who is generally repulsive (affectionate)

So naturally, their dynamic is of an energetic if airheaded girl and a serious but almost foolish boy. Really, Klug has his moments where he is stupid, and Amitie has her moments of brilliance. By cranking it upward, you can almost craft a romantic dynamic out of this: if you wanted to, you could read Klug as “Tsundere”, and the Girl of Love incident helped matters none. And Amitie, being Amitie, is the type of person someone like the serious Klug would end up falling for.

Now that we’re out of canon, we can dip our toes into Fanon some more. Recall our friend Klug is a bit serious. He wouldn’t let his emotions show if it didn’t make him look good. And what would make him look lamer than being in love with Amitie? Precisely! He must hide it. Like a Moron. What of Amitie? As usual, she’s usually oblivious, but other times, the Magazine Incident side of her is brought up, being a sort of “Teasing Type”. You’ll find work where she’s the butt of the joke at times, so this can really go either way. Sometimes, fanfiction takes the approach of Amitie’s antics softening the boy up, be it intentionally or otherwise. Either way, it is his feelings that come first.

Now one must consider this fact: back in the day, there were fans of this pairing. Well, more fans than today I mean! If you search it up, you’ll get most results being OLD, with the first picture on Pixiv being 2009, and the first novel in 2010. That’s older than some Puyo fans as of today, and that’s not even counting anything sold at conventions back in the day that could predate Pixiv itself (2007). Of course, given that a majority of it is in Japanese, it’s very hard to make big gauges- in fact, of the fanfiction there is, my info is sourced from maybe… less than five of them! Well that’s why there are drawings, which have a similar idea- Lame Boy Klug! (Affectionate)

You may notice this section is rather short! That’s pretty easy. Let’s briefly mention that searching this pairing up may result in an unwanted, sinister option— that being Ayakuruami: the pairing of the Crimson Demon and Amitie (usually her 20th alt costume). This makes searching up difficult, especially if you’re using the JP name. However, if you brave yourself, you’ll find the normal works soon, so don’t give up yet!

As you know… this is a Klugami blog hell yeah!! We <3 KuruAmi!!! But I never really mention the exact dynamics I like… well, it’s complicated!

To start with, I think KuruAmi is most interesting to think about when it’s unrequited Klug → Amitie. This isn’t the most “canon” outlook, fuck, there’s no canon outlook, but I think the appeal is best to have a Klug go through the motions of romance while Amitie has no idea. Maybe she’d make fun of him, but she does not reciprocate.

This leads into my next favorite idea: KuruAmi becomes “real” when they’re older. What does this mean? As it is on the tin! Once they grow out of being dumb little tykes, we can then use their changing responsibilities (and the potential Tragedy that is Klug’s own Downfall) to really get into the juice of things.

We can go beyond the silly childhood romance we must get into the romance that would be overt. Imagine the Klug getting more desperate to become the greatest because he’s getting more aware of his inferiority because Amitie is just so cool. What if it’s because he wants to be on her Level. Do you know how crazy that’d be alongside the romantic baggage.

Amitie trying to become even closer, she already can tell when something is wrong, so what’ll happen if she realizes that Klug’s worsening himself because of his feelings for her? Even if she knows it’s mutual affection because she too loves him, what if this alone can’t save him? What if she would try anything to deter Klug from his tendency to draw ever closer to the End? Beautiful. Perfect.

But even ignoring the tragedy, this can still be fun. Amitie’s still Amitie, and she’d probably be excited about the idea, but once they actually go out, she would have no idea. In a way, Klug’s the same, but he’d put on a brave face. This can be at any time! So cool! Two inexperienced people who have their cards to their chest, but while Klug would play it off as if he’s got a good hand, Amitie is playing Go Fish. I guess that’s the metaphor.

What? Why should you ship it? You don’t have to, but it is quite funny. If nothing else, I urge you to give this pairing a spin- maybe one drawing, one Drabble, one thought in your head. If you don’t like it, that’s alright! There are probably more ships that are more interesting, or maybe you just don’t like these characters, or maybe you think they have a more platonic dynamic. Which is pretty cool, too, I think they could be funny friends if Klug did not tragically die in Los Vegas.

Whatever the case, I wanted to get my thoughts out. Uhm. This wasn’t. Really a conclusion.

[bulkseason]

9000+ Followers! GoStuffMe

Thank you everyone for helping this blog reach 9000 followers! Can we break 10000 by the end of the year? Whenever we do, thank you all for following this blog throughout this journey. Below if my big “announcement” which is more of a shower thought on a new way to create gainer content. I’m still workshopping it so if anyone wants to further flesh this out, please feel free. 

——————-

Problem:

So most gainer content is built on an unstable structure. From the gainer side, they want to grow constantly. There are few who have feeders supporting their growth; most rely on the crowd to fund them whether that be through Patreon, OnlyFans, or direct donations. Those who rely on subscriptions to fund their gaining deal with several problems. Their numbers can fluctuate drastically and patrons may not be permanent sources of income. As they produce more content, each video becomes less valuable under a given tier unless controls are made. Finally pirating risks both the gainers privacy and monopoly over their content.

To a gainer, they aren’t able to gain as consistently as they’d like because of unsustainable sources of income.

For a feeder, their ability to stuff is based on whims. They must first be within the vicinity of a pig to feed them. If they care more about making sure their pig is fed they can use food delivery services to mediate this issue. Then there is the pig themselves. Depending on appetite, properly stuffing a pig can be expensive; even using cheap foods like pizza or burgers a pig with a massive appetite can require $50+ to feed for one meal. If extreme weight gain is the goal, several of these meals may be required leading to significant costs. Besides the heavy expenses of feeding, the relationship may not be sustainable due to interest. The gainer may lose interest in their pig for several reasons some outside the pig’s control. Similarly, the pig may lose interest in the feeder or gaining entirely and end the partnership.

A feeder may not get the satisfaction they desire due to the long term costs of feeding someone to extreme weights/fullness, or lack of commitment from themselves or their pigs.

I’m not a feeder or a gainer, why does this matter to me?

If you are a lurker, admirer or encourager, it’s likely you derive pleasure from the content gainers produce either for free to attract attention/praise, or by feeders looking to attract more pigs. We’ve all had experiences where our favorite creator just disappeared. The common story is they wished for privacy after some content they wanted private elsewhere was exposed. Although stories of feeders disappearing from the scene are rarer, it’s easy to imagine lack of funding being a major reason why they no longer are sharing gainer content for the hungry masses.

Ok nice essay. What’s the point?

This is a very niche community where finding the content we enjoy is rare and fleeting. It depends on a structure that can hardly be considered sustainable. I’m proposing a way to produce gainer content sustainability for the gainer, reduce costs on the feeder, and provide more content for the rest of us.———/——//—Solution: Recently a lot of great things were funded not by one or a few donors but by many. Whether that be a game, a new product, or a political campaign, crowd funding has been an increasingly popular topic way to fund projects.

Instead of relying on a few wealthy feeders to control the gainer content, the masses will fund the feeding.

How would this work? A website like GoFundMe can collect donors from admirers and the like who want to see a future pig get fatter. At the same time gainers who need money for a stuffing can apply to receive money from this fund.

Periodically the applications are reviewed and gainers are chosen to be fed. How much money that is given out will depend on several factors; a major one being the type of content being produced after the stuffing. Not all gainer content is created equally. For example a photo is worth less than a video. All content created after a stuffing will be uploaded to a social media account run by the fund so that all can view it.

So to summarize the people fund the stuffings, the fund and the people controls who gets paid, and the fund controls the content so that everyone can view it.——————

Q and A

Wait how is both the people and the fund controlling what content is created?

The fund manager will check to make sure who only one project per feeder is funded each time money is dispersed. They’ll also make sure a gainer who was already chosen doesn’t get chosen again at least for a while. 10 applications from the pool will be selected to be voted on by the people. The top 3-5 stuffings will be funded depending on the cost of the stuffing.

So to summarize the fund manager moderates what feeders are in the pool, random chance chooses who is on the ballot, the people’s vote is the final say on what content is created for the period.

Who is the fund manager?

If no one else, me. But if the idea is good enough maybe another person can adopt this project. Ideally a group of people can moderate to control for bias in body type. While chance and the people vote can hopefully select who gets stuffed fairly, stratifying based on body type, weight, or some other factor might be needed to ensure diversity.

As a gainer, what if I want my content removed?

Since the fund paid for the content it’s the funds discretion to remove the content. However if the gainer pays the fund the money that was donated to them + a removal fee, that would be one way to get the content removed. If privacy is a concern effort should be made to make sure your identity isn’t revealed in the content.

Does this only work for one time stuffings?

Not necessarily. This system is focused on stuffing videos because buying food is expensive to do and a well stuffed belly is almost always a crowd pleaser. If enough money is available from the fund we can give out more money for longer term weight gain projects.

There was enough free content to mastrubate to, why should I partake in this communist crap and give up my money?

As mentioned earlier, gaining is not cheap and content is often removed. While there will always be a new belly to admire, this system ensures there is a library of bellies . Maybe your favorite gainer used the system. While his Patreon may have been taken down, the fund will always have at least one video from them that is easily accessible. There is also the pride in knowing your donation helped create a really popular video that others enjoy; a record of donors will be placed either as an end credit on the video or somewhere to recognize your generosity?

Do I need to show my dick to win in this system?

No this isn’t PornHub or ThisVid. Though if that is what the people want maybe we’ll branch into that. Most content will be in SFW venues like YouTube or Instagram.

This isn’t all my questions, I have more!

I’m still workshopping this system so if you have comments/concerns, please DM me here on Tumblr or on my other accounts

[dearweirdme]

https://www.tumblr.com/dearweirdme/750934620143583232/im-not-sure-if-i-would-take-his-lack-of-reaction?source=share

Overall, I tend to believe that Bangtan could've pushed the "normal people" narrative a little more, but they never tried to do it, on the contrary, they all fed some level of delusions among their fans (either by feeding y/n, best friends, saying that they didnt need gf because they had army..) and played the parasocial rs card pretty well. But I also think that, although this toxic rs that they helped to create exists, part of it is armys believing and following everything they say, so if he asked people to not harass his gf, armys would also try to protect her even if some people would still bully her.

I think part of the bullying now is those that think she's using him for clout and is just a crazy person looking for attention. If he confirm they were dating, I'm pretty sure many would start to see her posts as cute, because they are, if you remove the uncertainty from it. She just shows how much she misses him and the fact that she's staying at his place (considering that this is all true).

And I understand each one of them wanting to keep what they got at all costs, but it's still a choice and every choice entails losing something and priorities.

To the anon saying it's juvenile, for me juvenile is making excuses about your choices. I dont think it's bad that they all chose their careers and I understand their point BUT it's still their choice.

Hi anon!

This is an interesting take. While I agree that members have leaned into it at times (many times probably) I’m of the opinion that fandom itself has a responsibility to recognize that it’s not serious. I have no trouble making that distinction, I think many among us have no trouble making that distinction, but yes.. a huge portion of army probably finds this difficult. From a business perspective, it’s something that’s probably been required from them. Boybands are traditionally marketed as boyfriend material. What is interesting though is that even with boybands that do not lean into this as much (and artists that do publicly date) these para-social relationships still develop. So I don’t know if BTS’s behavior in particular is the cause of the existence of fandom’s feelings of ownership over them or that it is something that just occurs within fandoms in general.

I think a strong factor in why there’s especially harsh reactions about dating in Kpop is how it’s imbedded in the culture. Media reports about it as ‘scandals’ and therefore it’s immediately seen as a negative thing, which is ridiculous when it’s something that has to do with love. It’s also the idea that a fandom’s love should be enough for idols, almost as though they aren’t humble enough when they want love as well. One the one side I think idols not dating in public grants them well needed privacy, but on the other hand it sets them up for undeserved criticism.

I don’t think that it’s a given that army will embrace a member’s partner when an official statement is made. I think a huge part of army will respect it, but I think there will always be parts of fandom that do not know how to behave. Even members themselves aren’t free from extreme hate, their partners will be easy targets for people who want to do harm.

I agree that it’s their choice, I just think it’s way more nuanced than saying it’s because they love their fans/career more than they possibly do a partner.

[synthmusic91]

quick thoughts on past lives (2023) dir. celine song

the movie is very. sparse. what was there was okay, not poorly executed, but nothing was really new. it felt like the movie wanted to send a certain message and pushed the characters through that rather than 1. letting the characters breathe and finding the message that way or 2. finding the characterization that would land them at the intended (and well-thought-out, right? right???) conclusion. sadly this didn't happen. the themes were quite muddled. past lives is a movie that seeks to be more than what it is and thus only succeeds in being dogmatic.

i know hae sung and na young were each other's childhood friends and first loves, but there's an entire life beyond childhood. why didn't they get over each other*? admittedly there might be a bit of a culture difference here, because I've never really understood the thing with childhood best friends that pops up so much in Korean and Japanese media, but. people grow up. hae sung's first love stopped existing when na young emigrated. for a movie that prides itself on pragmatism, it ignores that simple fact that should've been evident a quarter of the way in: na young is gone.

that's pretty sad, but then why was there twenty-four years of grief on hae sung's part, when he's never had to feel the ache of leaving his homeland? was his childhood really the crowning moment in his life, for na young to be the source of so many of his ideals? in that case, this should be a different kind of movie because this poor man's life must be bleak as hell.

also, this is in contrast to nora, who has every reason to mourn her past life IN KOREA. that's what this is really about, isn't it? she only looks him up as a joke (*so my bad, I guess she really did get over him). throughout the movie, the reason for her grief has little to do with hae sung specifically and everything to do with the pull she feels between the US and Korea.

then arthur. we don't see much of him but he poses a lot of interesting questions during that bedtime conversation that nora doesn't give any satisfactory answers to. like, how DOES he make her world bigger? nora's responses either 1. dodge the question or 2. sound like she's lying (because it's out of character given her behavior so far).

those last two paragraphs really solidify it for me: adult nora is a callous person. i don't know if this has anything to do with emigrating, but it really doesn't matter---what matters is that we know 1. she has grief and 2. she clearly hasn't processed it ("[re: being a crybaby] I realized no one really cared, so I stopped."). she's hiding from it!! she's been hiding from it for the entire fucking movie!!!

this is what irks me about a lot of relationships between white men and asian women in general (and in case someone crawls up my ass for this, i don't mean all of them, love is love, or so i'm told)---there's a lot of hiding on both sides. working to bridge the culture gap can function as a distraction from one's own issues. and there's an escapist and cowardly comfort in knowing that the other party doesn't understand how mundane and mortifying they really feel like they are. that's what I feel like happened between arthur and nora. to nora, arthur is evidence that she belongs in the US, and to arthur, nora is someone exotic and unreachable, and as long as they remain like that they can avoid thinking about how mundane their lives really are. arthur challenges this avoidance during the bedtime talk, but nora doesn't let it get anywhere. she is HIDING FROM HERSELF!!

unfortunately, since nora is a self insert, the writer/director doesn't notice ANY OF THIS!! and that's the thing about real life, and one's own experiences. these things don't fit into narratives!!! it's not as easy as recreating a single experience (in this case, her childhood sweetheart and her husband together at a bar)!!! that happenstance was the shell of an effect of a million different factors, not just a boy's tepid and half-formed feelings for a callous little girl. this entire movie is grounded in the ghost of an effect of something that might've touched me but didn't actually.

lastly, making her self insert always get the best grades in her class and also having that guy (who is kind and normal and NOT the deranged stalker that realistically would be the only kind of person hung up on her for 24 fucking years) be hung up on her for 24 fucking years all while she barely acknowledges his existence...is extremely fucking cringe

[eventheodds]

things you said with clenched fists

The longer she stays here, the more Meryl is convinced she’s walked into some fever dream.

Even the room she’d been given feels like it’s part of this dream and it’ll be any second now that she’ll actually wake up and find herself in some motel on her way back to Headquarters or en route to another assignment. The quiet moments of the farm in the morning before activity resumes adds to the surreal.

The way her muscles ache from the previous days helping out with chores, like she’s here to earn her keep, is a stark reminder that this is, indeed, all real. This morning proves to be no different as she kicks off the covers and instantly regrets it when she feels the soreness return upon movement. Meryl spends a few minutes in this bed, groaning softly as a dull pain courses through her until she has enough energy to get up and swing her legs over the bed.

No doubt once she’s dressed and heading downstairs, she’ll find Knives outside, perhaps catching up with what had been missed from the previous day—on account of her still not fully believing that this is real.

Meryl reminds herself that the only reason she’s still here is because Knives said Vash would be on his way. She doesn’t know if Vash is aware she’s here, but she wants to see him and, if it’s any indication, she knows that Vash will find a way to seek out his brother. It doesn’t fully sit well with her that she’s here like some kind of bait, but she’s far enough that lying to Headquarters about her location is easy enough to do without them suspecting anything.

If the News Agency knew that both Vash and Knives were still alive, this place would be swarming.

And the last thing anyone would need is whatever remains of Patrol to be surrounding the area.

Just as she predicted, Knives is outside. Her appetite isn’t what it once was, even when presented with delectable food.

She thinks he’ll expect her to resume helping with chores around the farm, picking up where she left off, and to continue on thinking none of this is odd or strange. There’s another bed of seedlings that need to be watered and the watering can is so perfectly positioned that she wouldn’t be able to miss it.

“Why am I even here?!”

She’s not gone to pick up the watering can, rather choosing to stand before it with her arms pinned to her sides and her hands clenched in frustration, anger, fear and maybe a tinge of hope that Vash is coming. It might not be in her best interest to listen to Knives, but she’s been looking for so long that it feels desperate at this point.

“Don’t think I forgot what you did, with your knives and what you did to Vash!”

There’s red splotches appearing on her cheeks as her voice tapers off just as quickly as it had risen, and Meryl physically takes a step back because there is a genuine fear that this could get a rise out of him. She expects to hear the whistling of many blades being summoned at once, but all remains calm.

Meryl releases a breath she’d been holding finally picking up the watering can and walking towards the source of water that will fill it up. She’s giving herself another few days, and hopes that Knives isn’t counting down either.

[eriexplosion]

One of the things that intrigues me about TBB and I think is kind of the source of a lot of the things people get most heated up about arguing is that...

A lot of the conflicts don't have an easy person to point at for whose Fault it is but that doesn't take away the consequences.

Like, an example, the very first thing that we see happen is, of course, Caleb nearly getting murdered by Crosshair. And on first watch I didn't know anything about Star Wars besides my vague memories of the movies, so it was easy to find a place to put fault - obviously Crosshair right?

Well, he's mind controlled. Very clearly and obviously when you know more about the canon. And now it's a three way fight with a boy that's done nothing wrong, the clone being influenced to try to kill him, and a freaked out sergeant trying to keep both of them alive.

And from what we see in Rebels... this never gets fixed. It can't be fixed! Kanan is still traumatized by this and it takes him over a decade to trust any clones at all. We don't really get to see Crosshair's take on the whole experience, but I assume he's not like, super pumped about the whole ordeal given that he spends all his unchipped time looking morose. He will probably never get an opportunity to make amends for it. Hunter has this as one of his last memories (so far) of all of his family being together.

They all just have to move on with their lives. No one did anything wrong. The source of this awful, awful moment came from so far above any of their heads. There wasn't a way out of it, and now they just have to live with the consequences.

Same thing with Crosshair's whole feelings of abandonment. You can argue all day over if it's his or Hunter's fault but ultimately... neither of them. The situation was entirely crafted by the Empire's actions. It doesn't remove the hurt on either side though. It can't remove that. They will need to figure out how to heal from it anyway, and hopefully season two gives them the chance.

A lot of people really like simple morality, they want there to be a Person Who's At Fault and the solution is either punishing this person or for that person to make amends. And so the argument over who needs to make amends gets to rage on and on, when the only entity at fault is the fucking Empire.

Anyway, it's just the kind of thing that haunts my brain on a daily basis, and it's part of why I use Recovery Arc more often than Redemption Arc when it comes to Crosshair, because for all his flaws the biggest things that he did weren't his Fault. But they weren't the fault of anyone he's blaming for it either. It's just easier to be angry at one person than it is to try to grapple with the weight of the injustice done to everyone involved.