#it works both ways...it's a way for us to gain insight on them by having them related to the behavior of POV characters

[fromtheseventhhell]

Renly had seemed anxious to know if the girl reminded him of anyone, and when Ned had no answer but a shrug, he had seemed disappointed. The maid was Loras Tyrell's sister Margaery, he'd confessed, but there were those who said she looked like Lyanna. "No," Ned had told him, bemused. (Eddard VI, AGOT)

This is literally people in fandom trying to make shallow connections between Lyanna and [X character] and presenting them as equally important as parallels drawn directly in the text. In fact, this coming after Ned tells Arya she reminds him of Lyanna (in looks and behavior) feels like George cementing the importance of their likeness. Other characters might have passing similarities to Lyanna, but Arya's parallels are much more meaningful than that and are being highlighted for a reason.

[the-muppet-joker]

could you elaborate on your choices for the 4 horsemen for the ponies? i’m deeply curious about your wisdom and insight

Very well.

Famine = Luna

Both are black horses

When Nightmare Moon takes over, there is no sun. Crops cannot grow under these conditions. Her reign is a reign of famine and no harvest.

Additionally, in the episode Cutie Re-Mark, it is shown that under Nightmare Moon's domain, Timberwolves roam free. While they are not directly tied to famine, they have symbolism regarding Harvest as they are known to howl at the first zap apple and attack those who try to harvest them if they are nearby, hindering people's ability to gather fruit.

War = Cadance

Naturally, a pony red with the blood of those slain in war is generally not marketable to little girls, who are unfamiliar with bloodlust and afraid of violence. They settled for a close second: pink.

She is the princess of love. Are you familiar with the phrase "all is fair in love and war?" Wars are acts of passion and bloodshed. Passion? Blood? Both symbolically related to the Heart. And what is her cutie mark as well as the sacred object that gives power to her kingdom? The Crystal Heart.

The Crystal Kingdom, Cadance's kingdom, is frequently under threat of was throughout the series. Queen Crysalis and the Changelings. Sombra. Again, in the episode Cutie Re-Mark, we see a timeline im which Sombra had won. And what is the state of Equestria? A mirror fucking image of how other countries in real life are affected by war. We literally have soldiers Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and we see Apple Jack working tirelessly to ship out apple mush to feed soldiers for the war effort. This parallel is so clear and frankly I could go on.

Conquest = Celestia

Yes I know the image says strife. I wanted the pictures to be in a consistant style and they used the word strife but it says conquest in the Bible. Anyways, they are both white horses.

I mean. Do I need to spell it out? Celestia is an imperialist. She spreads her and her nation's influence and ideology as far as she is able. Cadance is installed as the leader of the Crystal Empire under her direction. They have conflict with the changelings, so they promote a leader more sympathetic to their nation. The school of friendship? Teaching other species the way to act and behave? Are non-ponies unfamiliar with friendship? Propoganda. And she is the Princess of the Sun. THE SUN. NEVER. SETS. ON. EQUESTRIA'S. EMPIRE. Sound familiar?

Do not make an enemy of Celestia or you will be punished and then brainwashed into submission. Luna? The moon. Discord? Stone. Sombra? Tirek? The list goes on. Again, I feel this is a clear parallel that needs little explanation.

Death = Twilight Sparkle

Indeed this is the most subtle connection. After all, she is not even close to the right color. She is purple! No relation to death whatsoever........ right? WRONG. In the Catholic faith, the calandar is divided into different seasons with associated colors. Purple is the color of death and mourning; priests will exclusively wear purple robes for mass during Lent to symbolize Christ's suffering and death on the cross.

Twilight has a very important role as she and her friends are the bearers of the elements of harmony, with Twilight in the lead. The power of this clearly escalates throughout the series, as the mane six progress from turning Discord to stone to completely destroying Sombra after he is initially resurrected. We watch them become a force that could take away anyone's life force, Twilight especially. And let's not forget the form the elements later take. The tree of harmony. Reminiscent of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, from which humanity committed its first sin and thus were kicked out of Eden, gaining the ability to die.

Twilight will outlive all of her friends. As an allicorn, she is immortal. We see in the last episode that she is in her prime while all of her friends are elderly. How can one be a Princess of Friendship if she sees all her friends to the ends of their lives like a benevolent Reaper? After so many years of standing at the deathbeds of loved ones, she will feel detatched from others. A Princess of Death.

And yes Flurryheart is the fifth Princess but she is a clear allagory for the Antichrist so I did not include her

[lafaiette]

I've seen some people ask for comparisons between Pen's Chinese and English lines, so I made a small compilation to show the biggest changes that most baffled me.

There is a kind Chinese player, Yu, who offered the fandom much of the info and insight contained in this post, and she was the first to shed light on these differences! Without her enthusiasm, I doubt people would have started investigating Pen's original lines ;_;

Under the read more because this is long!

Brief premise: the Chinese dialogues in the game are often less "harsh" than the English ones. For example, Qi can sound rude and condescending in English, while he's pretty polite, if not a bit aloof, in Chinese. Justice's lines in English rely on the typical "hey pardner" cowboy accent, while in Chinese he's very professional, almost overly so.

That said, the English writer who worked on Pen made it no mystery that he based his characterization of Pen on Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. There is even a line directly referencing the movie: "[...] when I was a boy I ate four dozen eggs every morning to help me get large. Now that I'm grown I have five dozen eggs [...]"

As such, English Pen sounds much different from Chinese Pen. He's more patronizing and rude, and the writer added stuff that it's simply not present in the Chinese text. So while in English Pen can sound like a knucklehead obsessed only with muscles and training, surrounded by adoring women and fans when in Duvos, in Chinese he shows a different, almost more innocent side, as if he were a very tall and big child who has never had a day of legitimate and healthy fun in his life (and that's carried across in some of the English lines - that's why his English version is a bit contradicting sometimes).

Here are some examples:

One of his lines as a Good Friend is:

Here it's implied that Pen gives the Builder a hard time not only to push them to improve themselves... but also because he likes doing it, referencing his friendship mission where he admits he doesn't like teaching people anything, he just wants to fight them.

Meanwhile, the Chinese version says:

I keep calling you a weakling just to urge you and encourage you to exercise hard and break through your limits. If you won't have me to protect you in the future, you will have to become an eagle for me!

Here "eagle" is a reference to the way Pen calls the Builder in Chinese: 小弱鸡 "little weakling/little chicken" - and the latter is a rude way to call someone in Chinese, especially if they are a man and the "chicken" character (鸡) is repeated twice (but 鸡 by itself is also slang for "female prostitute"... so if you want to read it that way, Pen can call the Builder "my little slut" when in a relationship. HEH.)

In any case the tone in this line of dialogue is much different from the one in English, and Pen sounds genuinely enthusiastic.

Another example:

At the start of the game, Pen asks the Builder to craft a Sword and Shield for Burgess, who apparently misplaced his own. It turns out Burgess hid them under his bed, so when the Builder tries to give the weapons they crafted to Pen, he will tell them to keep them.

As usual, the English version is mocking and patronizing ("Hah! That'd be rich!"). In the Chinese version, Pen first compliments the desert:

In this case, take it back and use it for yourself! Use it to explore the desert and fight those monsters - what a thrill! The desert is very dangerous, but it is also full of charm.

Then there is the line about Logan and his band:

Hey! Maybe you can still find traces of Logan's gang! If you subdue them, you will gain both fame and fortune! [Okay, see you next time] [not shown here]

Now, some romance stuff : >

This is the description for the Robo-Love Couch. In English it says:

Meanwhile the Chinese description:

Referred to as the "Love Sand Machine", Peng Hu specially built a loving sofa for you, pieced together from the remains of robot monsters in the ruins.

He specially built a loving sofa for the Builder. It seems like a silly detail, but wording is important!

And yes, Pen's full name is Peng Hu, 彭虎. Peng is his family name, Hu his birth name. Hu 虎 means "tiger", and now you can understand why Grace suspected him to be Tiger the spy. But that would have been too easy!

Peng 彭 is a common Chinese surname. Its original meaning is believed to be "sound of war drums" (sad implication), but it's also used as an adjective to mean "big". So Pen's full name can mean "big tiger" :D

Back to the couch! Lines are different during the date in Paradise Lost, too.

Come on, little weakling, come and sit next to me. Let's give this trophy a "kiss of victory"! Do you do this with everyone you date? Wait, it seems I'm regretting it a bit... Happiness comes too suddenly...... (Kiss Peng Hu)

In the English version, the Builder can ask "How many of these thrones have you built...?", implying that Pen has had so many lovers he can craft this couch in a matter of few seconds. But in Chinese, the Builder's question is much different, it's more like: "Damn, are you always so over the top when dating someone??"

One of the biggest differences is in this set of lines:

Okay.

Meanwhile, in Chinese:

Today's experience made me realize that love has used a deadly locking technique on both of our hearts. Let me no longer doubt the feelings between us. This love is true love! Now, I am even more unwilling to take my eyes away from you! Haha!

I MEAN.

Also, in Chinese Pen never mentions the infamous 12 girlfriends when the Builder and Grace question him in jail. Yu confirmed that throughout the game Pen doesn't brag about his love life or his popularity with women, probably also due to the negative way Chinese culture sees this kind of "bragging".

Not only Pen and many other characters are younger in Chinese Sandrock (Pen's age ranges from 25 to 27, while he's confirmed to be 31 in the English localization), but he's depicted as being not very experienced in relationships in general. He basically only knows how to fight, punch people, and destroy stuff. Anything else - having friends, being with someone who truly loves him and whom he truly loves, having a normal life - are something he never experienced before. He did date (see his final letter later), but he's not described being the Casanova of Duvos like he is in the English version. In fact, it seems people only liked him due to his body and status, and a remnant of this piece of characterization is left in the English text when he says:

Surely, you understand… I am quite the prize. I can’t take myself off the market just to become arm candy for you to show off at your little buildy guild awards or whatever it is! No, what I desire… is true love…

Furthermore,

In Chinese, he says during the Masterclass friendship mission: "To be honest, I never thought I'd be able to make friends, let alone with someone of your stature/body size! But here we are, with a sick relationship!"

In English: "You know, Skinny, I’ve never had someone I really considered a friend before. Furthermore, I always promised myself I’d never be friends with anyone who didn’t have an awesome cape, but… you made me break that promise."

"I never thought I'd be able to make friends" is different from "I’ve never had someone I really considered a friend before." In the first line, the focus is on Pen ("I don't know how to make friends; I'm not good at it; it's not for me; how do you do it?"), in the second it's on other people ("I've been surrounded by people all my life, but I don't consider any of them to be a friend of mine; yeah, I call this one 'friend', but... they are not really really a friend")

The Chinese line is much sadder, and it shows how lonely Pen's life has been. One of his main characteristics, after all, is being "special", "the strongest", "different from everyone else"; but more often than not, being special and different also mean being "lonely". ("I must say it gets lonely at the top… What I wouldn't give for a truly talented opponent who could really keep me on my toes! Alas...")

And now, the grand finale :'>

A screenshot from Yu's playthrough, Pen's final line:

Farewell, Yu. This time it's for real. You're free.

The Protector, the bracelet Pen will leave for the Builder in the cave, is called "Guardian of Love" (爱的守卫者) in Chinese. Its description says:

A very delicate bracelet that protects the wearer's wrist. Wearing it gives the wearer a feeling of being emotionally confined. Perhaps this feeling is similar to what Peng Hu often said, "Marriage is a boring bondage".

His letter in Chinese is also sweeter and sadder:

最近在这所谓的阿塔拉最高监狱，我也多了点时间思考，没法带你一起来陪我，多少有些遗憾。罢了，这事也怪我。不管怎么说，你也算是我交往过的恋人里最让我上心的，也是为数不多分手之后我还继续挂念的。所以，我打算原谅你了。对——我原谅你了。我想我们也没有机会再在一起了，你也不过是做了你那个位置该���的事，没什么值得抱怨的。我应该一开始就努力把你“招安”了，让你跟我一起，才是最妥当的做法。当然我也没怨你，你确实很优秀。我还留了个最后的挑战给你。在某个遗迹里，有我最宝贵的几样东西，如果你能拿到，就归你了。运用我教给过你的一招半式，要去到那里应该很容易。我亲爱的小弱鸡，这是我最后一次这样叫你了，我相信你的能力。记住，不要怠慢了训练。我们，后会无期。

Dear [name], I've had a little more time to think lately in this so-called Atara Maximum Prison, and I'm more than a little sorry that I couldn't bring you along to accompany me. Well, it's my fault. Anyway, you are still the most beloved lover I have ever been with, and one of the few that I continue to miss even after a breakup. So, I'm going to forgive you. Yeah - I forgive you.I don't think there's a chance we'll ever be together again. You're just doing what you're supposed to do in your position, so there's nothing to complain about. I should have tried my best to recruit you from the beginning, and it would have been the best way to keep you with me. Of course I don't blame you, you're indeed excellent. I also left you a final challenge. In some ruins, there are a few of my most valuable things, and if you can get them, they're yours. It should be easy to get there, using the tricks I've taught you. My dear little weakling, this is the last time I'll call you that, I believe in your abilities. Remember, don't slack off on your training. We won't meet again. (but 后会无期 can also mean "meeting at an unspecified/unclear date")

And finally, if romanced, Pen will leave for the Builder 5 pieces of gold, 2 diamonds, and 1 Protector. 521 (and 520) are a cute way to say "I love you" in Chinese, because when read aloud they sound like "我爱你, Wo ai ni, "I love you". But in some cases, 521 also means "Yes, I will [marry you]" - and Pen does drop a diamond ring after his final battle (apparently he drops it only if you romanced him, but it's unclear yet. I'm pretty sure he didn't drop it during my Fang playthrough, while he did drop it when I romanced him, but I'll need to check that).

WELP, this is pretty much everything I got on this! If the kind Yu will tell us more or I find anything else, I'll update this post!

[megabuild]

hey megabuild can you elaborate on the complicated feelings re: bdubs apologizing to tango thing because I too have feelings about it that are complicated and i either need you to confirm I'm insane, confirm I'm not insane or make my insanity feel more enabled

(cracks my knuckles loudly and uncomfortably) the number one c!bdubs defender has logged on for another take hated by all

i think the most key thing to take away from this interaction is not that bdubs is being manipulative and dishonest but that it very clearly lays out the main issues with tuff guys' ability to function, that is, they all have different goals and ideals of what an alliance should function as, but also they have far too much baggage and history that they are all either unable to or unwilling to move on from.

looking at this conversation and taking it at face value- that is, bdubs went in with the intent to manipulate and lie, and then immediately caved when called out- is extremely uncharitable at best when similar behaviours from other players (such as scar) is often handwaved away as them playing the game correctly or exhibiting trauma responses. why these players are afforded such leniency while bdubs never is.. well, that's simply a mystery because i can't think of anything that immediately and obviously might set bdubs aside from the majority of his peers (hint: there is.). this coupled with the fact that bdubs has spent the first two sessions making genuine, if extremely flawed attempts at communication and problem-solving (see: horse discourse, which DID actually work though only after etho defused and approached it on his own terms, and the formation of tuff guys, which is an extremely flawed plot but also tackles the main issues at the core of the alliance- etho's commitment issues, tango's fear of betrayal, and bdubs' reputation) and i find it extremely difficult to believe that this conversation is entirely made up to gain some sort of leverage, because by saying that one must imply that retroactively both of those prior conversations were also probably in part manipulation- at which point we're painting bdubs as a multi-session plotting mastermind and that's just not who he is.

reading over the transcript there's a few key points that i think are really important-

bdubs comments that he's truly apologising, because he apologises in last life (poorly, but still) right after the matter, saying "he's sorry, but he had to". not in any way justifying his treatment of tango in last life, because moments before he also calls him fodder, but this gives us some insight into what bdubs is thinking- that is, it is likely he DOES feel genuinely bad about tango, or at least is able to acknowledge that they need to resolve their prior conflicts if they have any hope of succeeding. otherwise, there is little point in bringing such conflict to the forefront of tango's mind; that's manipulating him in the wrong direction by reminding him of his past traumas and giving him more ammo against bdubs. strategically i cannot understand why he would do this (outside of from a creator standpoint having more drama to mess with, because cc!bdubs is known for this, but if i get into the very murky territory between cc and c here it'll stretch everything out a million miles longer).

bdubs also barely gets a chance to defend himself after his initial apology is not accepted- tango is the one who builds up a "self reflection hole", both immediately dismiss it as manipulation (they are the first ones to suggest this, not bdubs!), and they pick on small tells such as him not having his head down and smiling as proof that he isn't genuine. indeed, when bdubs goes into the hole he asks them to come up with a plan since he won't be leading them, and tango openly laughs at them, signalling to Me that there was never any chance of genuine communication; tango has already made his mind up from the get-go that this is bdubs fucking with him and is unwilling to take it any further. (the phrase "i'm not going to perform my rock bottom for you for the sake of being believed" comes to mind.) it's only after this sentiment is echoed (more unsurely) by etho that bdubs gives up. at no point does bdubs add anything of his own to the conversation past this, he only agrees with what tango and etho are saying about him. with his attempt at communication having failed he defers to "yes and"-ing all the negative things they are saying about him. when bdubs has just spent most of secret life imo proving that he doesn't need to be dependent on others after being dismissed as such for multiple seasons, i think that immediate rejection of his independence and ability to stand up for himself must sting, a lot.

I know they're his teammates but jesus christ he could not have picked worse people to do this with. every character can be assumed to be extremely traumatised as is the nature of the game but etho and tango both have severe issues with communication and trust, both of which stem in part from bdubs' actions in last life (which again, i will defend him to the grave but that was fucking insane of him.) tango on the whole, however, is a character to me defined by his bitterness, especially in WL where he's acting out and being openly cruel to others (which given his previous experiences is honestly understandable). his immediate dismissal of bdubs is exactly what i would have expected of him given everything right now. meanwhile, etho is more cautious and unsure, only committing once he has tango's backing, because despite his issues with bdubs he has more reason to believe him (see: horse discourse once again) and also he's just extremely insecure. go girl.

little to say on this point but the bravado he exhibits after being dismissed also to me reads in line with other bdubs moments where he's putting on a show- he isn't gloating about pulling the wool over their eyes or laughing about how quickly he was found out, he's just.. bigging himself up for the sake of it? i don't know exactly how to word this point but i hope you understand.

tl:dr; i don't think bdubs is intentionally trying to manipulate people here, though i also don't think his timing and choice of apology was especially well-thought out; he's making a lot of attempts at genuine communication this season, for better or for worse, but it's coming from a place of recognising the necessity for it if he wants to get anywhere rather than a sign of genuine emotional growth. and while i wish they could have heard him out i do not fault etho or tango even for a second for assuming it was a ploy.

[sy-on-boy]

Anya + unraveling the mystery of the Desmond family (and Damian being different)

When Melinda debuted, I wrote a post about how she was potentially a character against the Forgers because Anya hadn't met her (we gain insight into characters via our deus ex machina Anya meeting them and reading their minds). Anya has met her now and the narrative has established that she genuinely cares for Damian (even if she's still a mysterious character).

After a long time, Demetrius is finally here. He's still mysterious, but not antagonistic to his brother and still cares for him. Like I said in a previous post, Demetrius subverts what I said above because Anya cannot read him fully even if she's met him. But regardless, Demetrius is here, we've seen him, all four Desmonds have finally debuted. And in my mind, I can vaguely connect them to the Forger-Briar extended family:

Anya - Damian: The kids aiming for stella stars and seeking parental approval. Attached to their dogs. Occasionally heroic (dodgeball, handkerchief, bus hijacking), but ultimately silly kids dragged into "adult" political matters (Anya with more awareness than Damian).

Loid - Donovan: Standing in for WISE vs war, one of the central conflicts. They are fathers and authority figures. Loid, faking a job as a psychiatrist, seeks to understand people (as a fake job, but he also does this as a spy). Donovan famously declared that people would never truly sympathize with each other. A good, attentive father and a neglectful father.

Yor - Melinda: The mothers, the narrative kind of puts them in the background compared to their husbands, but we know they have plot behind them. Yor's job as an assassin is unknown to her family (sans Anya). Melinda has struggles of her own when it comes to parenting her kids / being married to Donovan.

Demetrius - Yuri: Bit of a stretch, but they're both characterized as genius brothers and on the side compared to the main father-mother-child trios. Yuri works for the SSS, in direct opposition to Loid. Demetrius is a middle schooler?? He’s a child so he’s probably not that involved in the main plot, and if he is, it’s not willingly / he was brought up that way. They're both younger (and less experienced) compared to the adults- Demetrius is still a child and Yuri is 20. Yuri's affection for Yor is overflowing and the Briar siblings are very supportive of each other. In contrast, Demetrius is passive and apathetic, but not uncaring.

Anya has met everyone except for Donovan. Anya thinks both Melinda and Demetrius are weird. And Anya thinks of Donovan as the evil super boss. To her, the Desmonds are "weird". "All of Sy-on boy's relatives are such weirdos" - not sure if it's just the translation, but this line seems to imply Anya thinks Damian is exempt to the weirdness of his family. After all, unlike Demetrius, she can read Damian's thoughts normally. And unlike Melinda (and Yuri, and Fiona), she usually doesn't get bombarded with an overwhelming wave of intense thoughts when she reads Damian's mind.

And that brings us to the next point - Damian's time in Eden and the positive influences he receives (away from his family). Damian and Anya are better friends now. E&E's loyalty and affection for him have been established countless times. Becky congratulates Damian this chapter. Despite Damian thinking people suck up to him to get close to his father, he has a group of friends who do care about him (including Becky who doesn't suck up to him). Outside of what we see from Anya's pov, Damian has teachers and his dorm mother (Jeeves too) who care for him. Damian isn't alone.

Damian is shown to be disconnected from his family for whatever reason. His parents didn't come to his orientation. Damian says he doesn't see his parents often. Melinda cares for Damian but isn't allowed to see him often / afraid to be seen with him (?). Damian has called Demetrius before but this is the first time we see him meet Demetrius in person. And we all know about Damian's goal of impressing his father. Damian seems to believe Demetrius and Donovan when close when they were younger (when Demetrius was slightly older than Damian’s age), but Damian receives no such attention. Despite this, Damian still manages to have a fairly happy school life with his friends and supportive adult figures.

I think Damian's growing friendship with Anya and the recent complete reveal of the Desmond family will push Anya into thinking Damian is not like his weird family. If anything, Damian is more like Anya and her associates. Post bus-hijacking, Damian from Anya's POV is seen as more likeable / sympathetic, even more so now that we know about his mother and brother.

Anya is a child who is exposed to some of the darkness in Melinda / Demetrius' heads (trauma from being close to Donovan?), and she doesn't really understand them. Melinda / Demetrius seem off to outsiders (we saw Yor’s reaction, Becky thinks Demetrius is creepy) but it’s only Anya who’s capable of reading their minds and knowing how weird their thoughts are. But Anya has a much better understanding of Damian, the youngest Desmond, who is a kid like her with understandable motivations (getting stars, impressing his dad) similar to Anya's own motivations.

Interesting to note that Demetrius, while at Eden, seems rather lonely and disconnected even within his peer group. When he walks down the stairs, the panel frames it as him being alone, while Damian has four friends with him. When Damian and Anya get their stars, their classmates are shown to be smiling / impressed. When Demetrius gets his stars, we see two of his peers sweatdropping, almost looking wary, while a blushing girl has her hands to her mouth. The story doesn't show Demetrius' peers celebrating his success. It feels like Demetrius' peers are used to him getting good grades but still in awe of how good he is, but... they're not really close to him. Demetrius is not social and says he doesn't understand people, and maybe he doesn't interact much with his peers.

This chapter also reveals Demetrius is not in regular contact with Donovan anymore, contrary to what Damian believed. So Demetrius seems removed from the Desmond family sphere, but also isn't super integrated into the Eden sphere (in contrast to his 6yo brother and his friends). We can believe Demetrius isn’t close to Donovan because he is annoyed (and triggered?) by the mere mention of his father. Clearly Donovan has done something scarring to both Melinda and Demetrius and their thoughts look weird to Anya. Damian, despite craving for his father's attention and being stressed about it, is still relatively unaffected.

From now on, I think we'll slowly get more information about the Desmonds while Damian remains separated from them in the narrative. Damian is introduced as a vital part of Plan B due to his connection with his father, but even Damian himself admits there's not much of a connection. Plan B is working (sort of) because Damianya are friends, but that doesn't mean it's easier for Anya to meet Donovan. I think the narrative has been pushing Damian away from being a plot device for Plan B to being Anya's genuine friend and a victim of the Desmond parenting. At this point, Damian is not really useful to the main plot and there's not much mystery to this 6yo child.

Damian still thinks of himself as a scion of the Desmonds and he’s desperately trying to get his father’s attention. But his dad doesn’t really care, his mom loves him but doesn’t want him to be near Donovan, his brother is similar and also seemingly doesn’t want anything to do with Donovan. Meanwhile, the story establishes him as a boy with a crush on Anya, a boy with friends who will readily sacrifice themselves for him, a boy who’s willing to protect his classmates. All around Damain, his peers, associates, and the story itself has long been defining Damian as someone outside of being the Desmond family. But Damian naturally holds onto it.

Damian isn’t mysterious to Anya because she can read him. Okay, she still thinks he’s a brat sometimes, but that’s Damain being Damian, not Damian being a Desmond. But everyone else in the family is mysterious and it makes Anya feel at least vaguely uncomfortable.

The Desmonds are probably connected to Project Apple, and with the recent hints of Anya’s backstory, we might get some of that. But Damian is framed as almost completely separate to whatever went on, while Melinda and Demetrius are portrayed as victims of Donovan, mysterious and a bit weird but still sympathetic.

And that’s why I think it’s coming together— hints of Anya’s backstory, Damianya becoming better friends, the Desmonds all here. We’ve scratched the surface off and we’re hopefully going to see more.

(Also, just a thought: if Damian indeed goes through a “dark arc” and becomes more like the rest of his family, Anya will know because she can read his mind. She will be able to tell if Damian’s thoughts also start being “weird”. But they are better friends now which could be a lead up to her helping Damian deal with the pressure and struggle.)

[kusanagihaku]

tohma thoughts time!! 🪜🪨

as usual I very much enjoy tkdb’s character naming and I like how tohma’s name (磴 塔真) fits him and tells me more about what he might be like!!

his last name 磴 means step (as in stepping stone, stepstool, steps of a ladder etc). he’s jin’s stepping stone in making sure the place runs smoothly. he plays the perfect role of the vice captain that is solid and sure and there when he’s needed.

the character also can be split into two characters, 石 (stone) and 登 (to climb). he’s not climbing up based on luck or flattery - he’s making his way up step by step through solid skill and genuine hard work. there’s foundation to how he rises up the ranks. it’s also echoed in the last character, 真, can mean to be solid, to be real or to be true.

but the 塔 in his name offers a really nice twist!! when putting his last name and the first half of his name together, 磴塔 means to climb a pagoda. which is !!! because famously, pagodas are hollow and don’t have stairs! I think it offers a great insight into his ambitions and his personality - if there isn’t a way up, he’s going to forge it himself.

it’s also reflected in his 五格 - his 总格, which reflects the way he approaches his professional life, is 40. It basically translates to: he’s someone who carries out his promises and won’t go back on his word, and will earn everyone’s trust that way. he’s straightforward without any pretences. he doesn’t like to use flattery to get what he wants. even though he might not be everyone’s cup of tea at first, he will gain everyone’s approval in the end. he won’t be successful overnight, but he’ll get there step by step.

which reads to me as very tohma! he’s trustworthy and gets where he wants to go by building trust and by working hard. he carries out his duties with jin and despite tohma supposedly transferring in from vagastrom and jin healing from a ?betrayal jin is slowly beginning to trust tohma.

his 人格, which describes his interpersonal relationships and his character, made me laugh: he’s constantly worried about his children (chaos duo, anyone?). he takes an active role in his work, and has high expectations of others. he doesn’t leave out a single detail, and is a very strict manager. he is someone who will keep a tight rein on the household, prepares many back-up plans and enjoys being the one giving directions. which is so !!! because isn’t this just tohma sitting in his vault with his paperwork running the frostheim household and planning balls!! we can also see this side of him during the first frostheim chapter, where he monitors the chaos duo’s mission from afar and has a back-up plan for when things go wrong.

his 人格 also reads that he’s the kind of person who would die for his friends. suffering for his friends is nothing to him, and he doesn’t mind if he gets his knuckles bloody for them. which WOOOOH smells like both vice-captain!tohma AND vagastrom!tohma to me!!

also this is a small thing but this detail in his 总格 made me laugh too: he will constantly squabble with his partner. i’m not saying it sounds like him & a certain captain but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

anyway tkdb character naming and design slaps as always, big fan

[callmearcturus]

The Video Gaming Major Arcana

The latest patron episode of Into The Aether/@intothecast asked the boys to decide a video game for every Major Arcana card. They ran out of time on it and only got 2/3s thru

my ass was like "Challenge Accepted"

0 - The Fool - Dragon Quest (The Fool is infinite potential and is at the start of a long journey. DQ as a series is a long-running, is a bedrock of the medium, and has done its own takes on everything from pokemon to minecraft, and it either did it first or did it better.)

1 - The Magician - Metroid and Zelda (The Magician is the first person the Fool meets and is a guide for the journey. The Magician is associated strongly with teaching and with tools. Metroid and Zelda both are foundational works and they revolve around gating player process through tools.)

2 - The High Priestess - FEZ (The High Priestess is another guide, but sits before the veil, keeping guard over arcane, hidden knowledge and deciding when to share the secrets of the universe. FEZ is one of the Big Games that hide under layers and layers of mystery.)

3 - The Empress - Stardew Valley (The Empress presides over growth and cultivation of her kingdom, sitting in a field with wheat in hand. SDV is chiefly about taking care of your own domain, the farm and the wider village.)

4 - The Emperor - Civilization (The Emperor is the firm hand of government and can be an important navigator in chaos but also is angered by lack of obedience and losing control. Civ is all about steering every aspect of a nation and protecting it viciously.)

5 - The Hierophant - Pokemon (The Hierophant is a cultural, societal leader that gains power from people who believe similarly but subsequently is very set in their ways. Pokemon is a huge phenomenon that unites people of all ages, but also struggles heavily with innovation and progress.)

6 - The Lovers - Journey (The Lovers aren't necessarily smoochy-smoochy, but represent a Decision, joining hands with another person and striding into the future together. It's Journey. If you know, you know.)

7 - The Chariot - Bethesda's Catalog (The Chariot is a tumultuous, potent card. They hold onto the reins of powerful beasts and drive forward, blazing a new path. But if they lose grip, everything goes to hell. Bethesda's works tend to have this incredible ambition to them, and when they hit, they HIT, but when they miss, it's dramatic.)

8 - Justice - Dark Souls (Justice is the system and its enforcement of its rules, whether they feel fair or arbitrary. I feel DS fits it well-- it relentlessly follows its own rules and is firm in them, which can either draw players in or seem cruel and unwelcoming.)

9 - The Hermit - Immortality (The Hermit is a wise person who gained specialized knowledge but through great personal sacrifice. They find it difficult to share their knowledge because they essentially traded that ability to communicate easily for the wisdom. Immortality has some deeply complicated concepts to communicate, but its methods and the basic mechanics it uses are to some people impossible to understand.)

10 - (Wheel of) Fortune - Spelunky (Fortune is the card of pure luck and the whims of fate and how you survive being caught in its spokes. Spelunky is a pure Rogue-like as opposed to a Rogue-lite and there is no knowing what the procgen will give you.)

11 - Strength - Undertale (Strength is specifically about emotional control and fortitude. It's not about slaying the lion, but holding it, keeping it from lashing out. Undertale is a game that asks the player to endure emotional struggles both against the mechanics and against their own inclinations.)

12 - The Hanged Man - Signalis (OH BOY ITS MY FAVE CARD. The thing about the Hanged Man is that it's a test, a gamble, a deal. The Hanged Man is not hung from the neck, this is not an execution, they are inverted. They choose to be inverted in the hopes of gaining some Insight into the universe, but in doing so risk madness or obsession or doom. Signalis is both a game about a protagonist going through this and also a game that will put the player through this if they aren't careful.)

13 - The Nameless Arcana - Braid (I'm not even personally a fan of Braid, but I believe it is one of the handful of Original Indie Games. The very existence and popularity of Braid and its contemporaries showed that games outside the big studios could hit big. Braid (or Cave Story for the PC crowd) altered the landscape.

14 - Temperance - Yakuza (Temperance is the melding of disparate elements that should not go together into something grand and new, and maintaining that balance. Yakuza manages to be genuine and profound not in spite of its strange mixture of tones and mechanics but because of them.)

15 - The Devil - Genshin Impact (I don't feel the need to elaborate on this one.)

16 - The Tower - Shenmue (The Tower is total upheaval and where it all comes crashing down, where ambition crumbles and brings an institution down with it. Shenmue is not solely to blame for the failure of the Dreamcast and Sega's exit from the console arena, but it contributed to it and is emblematic of that seachange.)

17 - The Star - Mass Effect (The Star is a beacon in the darkness, a distant light that indicates not so much a goal, but that the journey will continue. Mass Effect is a landmark title that maybe didn't execute on half the things it tried, strangled by its own scope, but it still showed what games could do, broadening the possibility space. It is hope for greater experiences and art.)

18 - The Moon - Metal Gear (The Moon illuminates the path through the darkness, but creates illusions in the reflections, demanding the querent move forward with care or they will go astray, go mad. Is Metal Gear really deep? Is it the closest triple-A games get to arthouse? Does it have meaning? Or is it a mess? Is it too Problematique to justify it's big ideas? Is it all just really, really stupid? Or is it genius?)

19 - The Sun - Tetris Effect (The Sun comes at the end of a long, arduous journey. It is the sigh of relief, the tears of release, the light to finally see how far you've come. Tetris Effect is the latest iteration of one of the oldest formulas ever, and it's brilliant and celebratory and invites everyone to take part in its joy.)

20 - Judgement - Pathologic (Judgement is all-seeing and all-knowing, the final tally and the reckoning. So is Pathologic. Few experiences demand so much from the player, and few games are so brutally honest in answering the player's decisions. In Pathologic, you will get what you deserve.)

21 - The World - The Outer Wilds (The beginning is the end is the beginning. Completion and totality and holistic understanding of Everything. It's gotta be Outer Wilds.)

[markrosewater]

Hi Mark,

My name is Isaac Holguin. I sent a detailed email regarding your work on the color pie over the years to making.magic@hotmail.com. I hope that is the correct avenue to reach out to you. I had the pleasure of being answered on this blog as well, so I thought I'd double check by contacting you here. In case the email listed isn't in service anymore, I've copied my message below. I hope this reaches you and that you're doing well. If you're able, I'd love to hear back at interactnm@gmail.com. Thanks for all you do!

----------

Hello Mr. Rosewater,

My name is Isaac Holguin and I'm a nurse studying leadership and education in Tucson, Arizona. Before I get into the topic of my email, I'd just like to say thank you for being a spokesperson for Magic the Gathering all these years! I've played the game since I was thirteen years old, all through college, and well into my career. Magic the Gathering has helped me make new friends and deepen bonds with people I already had in my life. Though I've stopped participating in recent years, the game will always hold a special place in my heart and I've still got an Alpha Serra Angel that is as old as I am!

One of the best memories I have from my time with Magic was diving into the color wheel breakdown series from your "Drive to Work" podcast. During my pursuit of a Bachelors in Nursing Science, I often cited the color wheel as a tool to determine personality traits and compared it to other topics in my studies. Now that I'm pursuing my Master's degree in Nursing Education, I'm interested to see if there were any references or inspirations for the development of the color pie. With the recent popularity of the Myers-Briggs assessment (16 Personalities), Ten Faces of Innovation, and other similar tools I'd like to try and adapt the color pie as a leadership/personality assessment. I understand there will be multiple steps involved to publish such a study with respect to Hasbro and Magic the Gathering as a company, but I would like to attempt to lay the foundation of this project during my studies.

The goal of this project would be to introduce an existing, incredible, fun, and easy to use tool to a vast new audience. Helping others acknowledge that all aspects of the personalities presented exist within them to some degree and can evolve over time has become a core belief for me both personally and professionally. Examples of "your greatest weakness is your greatest strength pushed too far" and the idea that the capacity for good and evil exists in any aspect of a personality are incredible insights that I haven't seen cited enough throughout my studies. My wildest hope is that this tool would be utilized in coursework for multiple professions, similar to the curriculum I'm studying now, to help future leaders reflect on their strengths and develop effective leadership styles.

In short, I hope that you're doing well and would love to hear your insights, recommendations, and references for the work you've so passionately brought to thousands of others of the years. Even if you're unable to share certain aspects of your work, I'd like you to know that your endeavors have not only brought relief and happiness to healthcare workers like me, but that you've inspired so many others to apply the lessons of fictional works to improve our reality. The lessons gained from my long history with this franchise have helped me connect to others in their most vulnerable moments, and improve their quality of life. Thank you for all that you've done, and I wish you continued success in a field you've already become an exemplary expert in.

Sincerely,

Isaac Holguin

BSN, RN

I’m always excited to hear about ways people can use the color pie outside the context of the game. I’m not sure what I can do to help you.

[22drunkb]

Do you think he was ever in love with Bedelia like he was in love with Will? I ask this because Bedelia says they were both the "brides of Hannibal". But Hannibal never courted her like he did with Will, Bedelia came into Hannibal's life much before Will but he never pursued her like he did with Will. Mads said he wanted a future with Will unlike with other people he hooked up with Alana, Bedelia or Anthony. He took her to Italy as a consolation prize when Will betrayed him. Even in Italy H was pining about Will all the time and telling Bedelia how much he loves Will. I know he slept with Bedelia but he probably slept with Anthony too and he slept with Alana, Hannibal is a hedonistic guy who sleeps around. For him sleeping with someone doesn't mean he is in love with them. But when Will confronts Bedelia, she pretends as if Hannibal held them in the same regard which is obviously not true. Hannibal would choose Will over her in a heart beat and even she knows it but yet she acts as if Hannibal sees them both equally. I don't understand why? 😭 Why do you think?why make herself seem like a competition when she is not?

I think you're misunderstanding the meaning of "bride" here. It doesn't mean beloved. It doesn't mean favorite. It doesn't necessarily mean sex. It means something more like what Chiyoh meant when she called Bedelia "his bird": "He puts us [birds] in cages to see what we'll do."

Hannibal collects people, generally. Most of his therapy patients are collectibles. He collects them because he sees potential in them for "becoming," for expressing an inner potential that interests him and that he thinks, in his own way, it would be good and true to themselves for them to express. (This generally amounts to some kind of murdering or violence.) He may be interested to see what will happen when his collectibles are transformed, but he doesn't find it terribly hard to imagine or predict. The people he has sex with don't even all fall into this category; I don't think he particularly was interested in Alana's potential becoming, for instance, though things did work out that way (but, in some ways, more at Will's hand than at Hannibal's).

That said, the category of "collectible" is large and includes both Will and Bedelia. However, there's another category, a subset, within that, which Will, Bedelia, Chiyoh, and Abigail occupy: that's "bird." These are people whose behavior is less predictable and therefore more interesting and engrossing. In the process of transforming his collectibles-in-general, he doesn't necessarily show these objects of interest much about himself. His true self, that is, rather than the mask. The four I just named get more of a look. However, Chiyoh and Abigail get their views not entirely at Hannibal's choosing: Chiyoh is from his past, and Abigail figured a fair amount out herself. (It's more complicated than this, but for that reason I don't think it's helpful to get into these two further here.) There are, as far as we know, only two people who've gained much insight into him entirely of his own volition: Bedelia and Will.

Both Will and Bedelia are people Hannibal collected and then cultivated in order to have someone to share himself with. I am not saying that that meant he felt exactly the same way about them, or that he shared the same things or to the same degree. But Hannibal put his therapist in a position to murder not only because he saw that potential in her and wanted to bring it out, as with all collectibles, but also to gain a certain degree of control over her so he'd have a therapist he could actually talk to. It's hinted in their pre-Florence sessions that she does not want to continue being his therapist but feels she has little choice.

Hannibal saw that collectible potential in Will and, like Bedelia, wanted him to be someone he could show himself to, albeit in different ways and to a more profound degree. Less utilitarian and more romantic. He made it very clear in the s2 finale that he wanted that more than anything: "I let you see me, know me. I gave you a rare gift. But you didn't want it." (Or something like that, I'm paraphrasing from memory.)

What is necessary for him to select these two people to be seen by is for him to respect them, in his own way. He does not respect all his collectibles, though he's interested in them. He respects Chiyoh and Abigail more, but in a "precocious child" kind of way, rather than anything peerlike. But, Bedelia: he does actually listen to what Bedelia says. He forces her to let him play patient to some degree, but, within the role of patient, he squirms at some of her insights and defends himself the way a patient who feels that their therapist has power does. He values her input enough to subject himself to it. He enjoys her company enough to take her to Florence. She can't "surprise" him the way Will can, and he's not enamored and fascinated with her the same way. But he does hold respect for her. If we were to view what I said about the patient dynamic he has with her as a BDSM thing (which....it is), he chose her to play the dom, which is a pretty big deal, really.

I don't disagree with you that his interest in Will is qualitatively different. But they have both, at different times, been someone he chose to know him. That's a special status. It is also a status of being kept, to some degree: Bedelia didn't have the option not to be his therapist, and, as Will feels once he gets sucked back in after his time with Molly, he never really had the option to escape either. Birds again.

In the "We've both been his bride" conversation, it's Will who comes in with an aggressive, competitive energy, not Bedelia. He calls her "bride" first, and she responds by saying that Will has been too--i.e., why are you so mad at me? Why are you displacing your feelings here? (That is, she's being a therapist.) Through the whole conversation, Bedelia is actually trying to get Will to see that they aren't the same, and that Hannibal cares for him and belongs to him in a way he didn't to Bedelia. It's just that to get Will there, she first has to get him to admit that he has been attached to/chosen by Hannibal at least as much as she has, before she can show him that his position goes further. She's not setting herself up as a rival at all. Will came in angry because he subconsciously saw her that way, and she is working with that starting point to get him to understand better. This is the conversation that leads Will to ask, "Is Hannibal in love with me?", which he never could have brought himself to consciously articulate without her guidance.

I wrote a whole post just about this conversation, if you'd like further explanation. See also this and this from @bonearenaofmyskull.

[meggahamicide]

Tell me a bit about your Sep AU

*Smacks lips* Well, since you asked so nicely.

First thing's first, my pinned post has a bunch of info on the character designs and basic stuff, but most of what I've revealed thus far is here.

Now for me to rant.

Without saying too much to keep from big spoilers and to summarize some of my other posts, Vermin (Leo) was raised by Draxum. He was educated and was studied by the yokai through about eight years, in which an event later that year resulted in the loss of Draxum's arm revealed Vermin's healing abilities and, in addition, his innate ability to wield mystic energy. I don't want to reveal too much of Vermin's past anymore, but in the end, too much overextended use of his abilities caused him to lose most of his capacity to use them safely.

Cue Draxum kinda loosing whatever morals he had left and forcing Vermin into a plethora of experiments in hopes of making him stronger, many of which altered his body via extra mutations, another resulting in the ports you see in my art on the sides of his neck and arms. The reason for the ports is to inject Vermin with a mutagenic variant of the ooze that Draxum created for the sole purpose of boosting Vermin's skills in combat without the use of his mystics.

Anyway, Vermin eventually comes to the conclusion that this situation isn't quite right and he's tired of the way Draxum uses him, so he leaves at the ripe age of fourteen and runs to the surface where he hopes his creator wont look for him.

A huge kerfuffle ends with April meeting Vermin and later taking him to the brothers when the slider gets injured, where he gets stuck for the majority of the story.

Personality wise, Vermin is a distrustful being. A lifetime of learning to never rely on others or put faith in unwarranted kindness taught him that it's best to keep everyone at arms length. He relies on being one step ahead of anyone and often secludes himself if he doesn't think he can gain anything from the brothers. When he's with the family, his features are often a mimic of whatever expression he can think to gain favor, but if that doesn't work, he drops all pretenses and instead either runs or uses force, a remnant of a lifetime under Draxum's tutelage.

It both surprises and scares him when he starts to like the brothers, so much so that he's at war with his own emotions a few months into meeting them, but it takes years for him to begin unlearning the automatic habits that he'd learned. When his mask starts to crack, the brothers start to see more of the terrified child that never learned to love, so they make it their goal to urge him out of his shell, even when a lot of the time Vermin gets angry and violent or tries to convince himself that they're lying and they'd never be interested in knowing him if not for his skills in fighting.

This is where we see the classic Leo's insecurity and what I look forward to exploring as I start to really get into fleshing out the story. As the story goes on, he starts to realize that fighting and being better at outsmarting his opponents really isn't the most important thing in life and as a result, he feels incompetent in comparison to the brothers, who are so closely connected that he feels like an outsider a lot of the time.

But resilience is key and the brothers aren't likely to give up on Vermin so soon (even if they have yet to learn Draxum raised him).

Well, I hope you enjoyed the can of worms you just opened, and I hope that this give some insight in to the au that I've been teasing for so long!

[transmutationisms]

i know this is like baby communist stuff but do you have any recommendations on how to approach theory? aside from like marxists dot org

sorry forgot this ask was here. i'm not sure if you mean getting into marxist theory specifically or just, how to approach dense theoretical texts that are often unwelcoming to new readers.

regarding marxism, i personally get a lot out of michael heinrich's how to read capital every time i revisit it, and his introduction to capital. david harvey also has some useful work, including a companion to marx's capital. harvey also has a lot of problems (see here to start) and tbc i'm not suggesting him or heinrich because i think you should treat them as unassailable authorities. but i find that both of them are useful for glossing and presenting many of marx's ideas in a way that makes it clearer to lay readers how they're formulated and what's at stake. if you've ever opened capital and just been like "these corn laws must be important but i'm not sure i understand why", i think companion guides like heinrich's especially can be really helpful for giving you a foothold and an idea of what to look for, how to evaluate the utility and applicability of the concepts, &c.

in general, getting into theory can definitely be intimidating but i also think it's less scary than people make it look at first. what concepts or problems or people are interesting to you? that's where you should start; you might find that you end up wanting to read the people they were responding to as well, but i think it's a common mistake to psych yourself out by trying to trace every theoretical concept back to its ultimate source (the old "reading plato so i can read kant so i can read hegel so i can read marx so i can..."). if you're baffled by a text, online is your friend; i really recommend the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, and you can poke around their articles' bibliographies. also, if you're reading something and it sucks, hit the bricks. life is short. lastly i think discussing theory is not just fun but also useful, for pushing your own understanding and gaining someone else's insights. so, if you have friends who are into this stuff or access to a reading group or something, i'd take advantage. there are definitely ways to do this online as well, although there is something to be said for buying someone a pint and a pack and having a good argument :-)

[neetily]

Need a hand? — (SDV) Sam

— ✧ warnings: Hand & Finger Kink, Oral Fixation, Choking, Vaginal Fingering, Scent Kink, drool, saliva, Praise Kink, Premature Ejaculation — ✧ word count: 3,335 — ✧ genre: smut (18+)

— ✧ A/N: reposting from my old account since i was asked to! formatting might be off, but it's still readable.

It’s a late cool Thursday night in the middle of Fall. Your animals have already been seen to and sent to bed, your crops picked and watered for the next harvest, and so what else is there to do on a middle of the week day when all chores are finished? Why, help Sam with music writing of course.

He had asked you at the beginning of the week for help regarding his bands newest song lyrics using the excuse that both Sebastian and Abigail have been too busy to lend a hand and he’d appreciate an outsiders opinion on what they had so far. Of course you said yes, glad to be of any help to any of your neighbours but especially for a close friend like Sam.

When you had accepted he silently swallowed the fact that he doesn’t actually need help with the lyrics, and is instead using this as a ploy to spend some time with you, but you didn’t need to know that. Both Seb and Abigail were more than available to help, but he had ‘forgot’ to ask them. Similarly, they 'forgot’ to help, both friends aware of his infatuated plans.

Being a farmer is busy work, he understand this, and so the guilt that creeps up his spine as you welcome him into your log cabin for the night, tail between his legs as you lead him to your bedroom is something he chooses to ignore. You seem to genuinely want to help, and here he is taking time out of your precious schedule for his own selfish gains.

What he can’t ignore, however, is how heavy your scent fills his senses once seated at the head of your bed. He should have accounted for it, really, but it takes him by surprise the minute he enters your bedroom. It’s instantly his new favourite scent, and when you briefly leave to grab some drinks he takes the opportunity and runs with it, shoving his face against your sheets and sharply inhaling.

Bad move, he’s quick to think. He’s had a crush on you for a while now and he knows it’s painfully obvious to everyone in town. He can only hope that it isn’t as clear to you, but you’ve probably already caught on to his true intentions. Ever insightful, he’s trying his best not to come on too strongly. It’s just- you smell so good, has him salivating, drool pooling in his mouth at the thought of being wrapped up in your scent. Arousal drips from his tip but your footsteps pull him back to reality prompting him to sit up perhaps a bit too straight too quickly for it to look natural. Thankfully you don’t mention it. Whether it’s out of pity or genuine obliviousness does not matter to him.

“So, could you play the melody for me?” You ask when returning with the drinks. “Might help with the lyric writing, you know.” You’re blushing after those words, as if there are hidden meanings between the lines but Sam is too fried by his previous actions to analyse. Instead, he nods, dragging his guitar up to his crossed legs on the bed. At least this way his growing erection could be hidden until he gets his shit under control.

You’d asked him to bring his guitar along for the purpose of helping, and though he’s confident in his skill to, you know, play the guitar seeing as it’s literally his job, his fingers twitch against the strings as you sit opposite of him. You pass him his drink and he gulps it down, the ice cold water shocking his body enough to steel his nerves a little.

“Right. Ya ready?” His voice is shaky and it’s embarrassing enough to cause a faint blush upon his cheeks. You smile in return and nod.

“Let’s hear it.”

A second or two passes as he prepares himself, strumming randomly in an effort to stall what he thinks he might fail. But, when he looks back at you and soaks in your encouraging eyes he feels more determined than ever. Time to show off- help, he means.

With a few fumbles at the start Sam easily slips into his groove, the new song being a bit slower paced compared to his bands previous tracks, but intricate nonetheless. His head is down, focused intently on completing his song for you seeing as this is the reason why he’s here, however midway through he tilts his head up out of curiosity, seeking your reaction to his new sound. And oh what a sight he sees.

You’re sat there staring intently at his fingers, switching between his two hands as he plucks and pulls on the strings, pride swelling in his chest at the though that just maybe, perhaps, you like his hands. He watches are you lashes flutter when the song picks up pace, how you toy with your lips and bring a finger up to you mouth in what he thinks, hopes, is amazement when he pulls off the hardest section effortlessly. And by extension, when his fingers play the strings faster. A devious smirk finds its way to his lips, ego boosted under your stare, tongue poking at the side of his cheek at the way your lips remained ever so slightly open in your gawking.

He’s resolved in his ability now, comfortably finishing up the last few notes of the song and awaiting your reaction. It’s lagged, and he struggles to contain his giddy heart at your flustered state.

“W-wow…” You stutter, and he thinks that you sound better than any song he’s ever played. “That was, um, really good, Sam.” You cough, looking away from his hooded gaze.

“Yeah?” There’s a teasing lilt to his voice and he hopes to God you pick up on it, wants to make you blush as hard as you make him, wants to provoke you further into submission. “Ya really think so?”

You hum at him, head hung low and bottom lip dragged between your teeth. You’re so cute when your shy, and it does something terrible to him, cock springing more to life at this new power imbalance. He’d hoped it’d have died down by focusing on his guitar, but thanks to your reaction he hadn’t a hope in Hell of calming down now.

He sets his guitar aside, fiddling with his fingers indecisively before murmuring fuck it under his breath. If you don’t like what he’s planning, he knows you’ll say so. Knows at least you aren’t afraid to tell him exactly what you think when it counts, this past year and a half he’s spent with you confirming that. So, without warning he shifts in front of you, moving closer so that he’s sat directly at your own crossed legs. His hands pick up your own, and he’s so gentle in his grasp. Despite being a hard working farmer, your hands are surprisingly soft compared to his calloused guitar tips and he can’t stop his wandering mind. Thinks about how good they’d feel wrapped around his cock, how small they are and how his own completely encase them. Bony, just like his own, and he doesn’t want to let go.

“Thanks ’s much.” He beams, big bright grin tugging on his cheeks at your shy praise. He hopes he’s affecting you as much as you are him and when he takes a peek he’s pleased to know it’s true.

You’re staring at his hands again, brows furrowed and all, and he has to turn it up a notch. Lust straining in his pants at the fact that just his hands have this much of an effect on you.

He removes one hand from your own and places it upon your cheeks, pushing stray strands of hair behind your ear. And though it may be cliché and a little awkward, he’s beyond caring after hearing your very audible gasp. It sets off something deep in his abdomen, cock twitching at the sinful sound and he yearns for many many more of those gasps.

His thumb rests against your cheek and he watches as your chest huffs with each struggled inhale. To your credit, he’s not doing much better either. Butterflies fill the space in his lungs and the room suddenly feels much too small. He knows he’s not hiding his attraction very well, especially considering how hard his cock is from just a few brief touches and how on display he’s made himself, but you seem to actually be enjoying the show too.

He gulps, fighting between his rational brain and his aching cock. Sure, he loves seeing you in this teased state. Goes straight to his cock when you’re physically unable to look at anything but his long fingers and large hands. But, he doesn’t want to scare you off. Doesn’t want to be that creepy guy.

But when you place your free hand on top of his holding your other, he thinks you’ve made the decision for him. Is ecstatic to know you’re at least attracted to him enough to accept his advances. He might have a chance, right?

His thumb moves to rest against your bottom lip, heart racing as you finally peer up at him and he almost cums on the spot. Big dewy doe eyes that beg for more, and who is he if not a giver? He tugs at your lip gently, dragging it down and watches in awe as your tongue slightly pokes out over it, a string of saliva connecting his thumb to your mouth. No words are said, but he supposed they don’t have to be, not when your body is doing all the talking he needs.

He’s on autopilot at this point, and guesses you must be too. Without too much thinking he dips his thumb into your inviting mouth, stares at your lips as they immediately wrap around his digit only to draw out a low groan from him at the feeling of your tongue against it. Briefly imagines it as his cock, said cock throbbing in response.

“Careful.” He cautions, and you smile at his words. It’s not like you can reply verbally, so instead you swallow up more of his thumb, suckling gently on it and it’s a shame that he already feels like he’s reached his limit because you look so fucking pretty like this. All soft and compliant, yet still knowingly mocking his weaknesses. It’s hot. It’s almost too much, and he knows only you can make him this weak with such few touches.

He visibly shudders at your ministrations on him and pokes another finger into your mouth. And then another, and withdraws his thumb. Lets you lick and suck at them while he tends to his hard on that’s just begging for attention. Digs the heel of his palm against his tip and folds in on himself at how good it feels. He’s much too sensitive thanks to your tongue and it definitely shows in the way he’s panting for more.

You pop off his fingers and drop his hand, a thin few stretches of saliva leaving you connected to him. “You good?” You inquire, matching your question with a cocky eyebrow and a slanted grin. He’s in love with the change in your demeanour, finds it exciting that you’re just as turned on as he is.

“No, I- actually, ’m not doing ’s good.” Sam laughs, head over heels for you, completely captivated with the full body blush you’re wearing. It’s not a particularly warm night, but he’s certainly overheating. “What 'bout you?”

Through a sigh you grab at his wet hand and drag it towards your cunt, the saliva that’s left on his fingers pressing directly against your own soaked through shorts. It causes him to grip at his cock with his other hand in an effort to last longer, but his fists squeezes a bit too tight and has the opposite effect. Best to leave it untouched for now.

“What is it?” He inquires through gritted teeth, even though he knows exactly what you want. It’s a game, and he’s happy to hear you play along.

“Your fingers, please.” You ask simply, and he admires how honest you’re being. Can taste the want in your voice, and he’s more than eager to give. He only wishes he was able to look at your face, but his eyes remain glued to your cunt. Specifically stuck on the growing wet patch, of which he’s unsure is your own slick versus your saliva, but it drives him crazy regardless, lust fuelling his next actions.

With nervous hands he prompts you to lay back at the foot of your head, carful to reposition both you and himself so that you’re comfortable. The way you look up at him fills him with anxious desire, all blushed and delicate, and he wants to look after you so well.

Once you’re down and seemingly ready he whispers a faint “Well, since ya asked ’s nicely…” before carefully dragging down both your shorts and underwear together. He helps you raise to lift them off your legs only to carelessly throw them to the side, leaving them a mess on the floor. He thinks he should have been more gentleman like, but you have him hooked on a string, hungry for more, and so when you hesitantly close your legs upon being laid bare he can’t help but let out a frustrated sob.

“Please, baby. Need ’t see ’t help.”

You look to the side, away from his frowning features before slowly opening up for him, and he wonders why you’re so self conscious the moment he sees your cunt.

“Wow.” He sounds breathless, and truth be told he is. “Look at ya, ’s pretty- an all for me?”

He lowers his frame to be eye level with your pussy, salivates at how wet you are. He hears a small squeak at his breath fanning over your lips unintentionally, and so decides to do it on purpose. Oh how he loves the sounds you make.

Once again he inhales your scent, and though this is a much stronger - and different - smell, he loves it all the same. Wants to eat you up, lick you dry, but he did promise you his fingers. Saves the thought for a later date.

He repositions so that he’s hovering above you, one hand to the side of your head while his prominent hand lowers to your cunt. There’s a restless tension in the space left between you both, and he makes you squirm as he leaves you hanging.

“Sam-” You choke on your words, his thumb pressing lightly against your clit as soon as you started to speak.

“Oh, ’m sorry.” He taunts, boyish grin dripping through his words. You know he’s not, and he’s not hiding it well with the way his tongue wets his lips the moment your hands grip at his shoulders for stability. He’s well aware it’s not quite what you had in mind when you asked for his fingers, but he’ll get there. Wants to make you beg for it, get as needy as you’ve made him when he’s had to spend all those nights alone fucking his fist to the thought of you. A little payback, if you will.

Plus, he wants to drag this out for as long as possible. He’s thought about this moment far too many times to count, and he can’t quite believe it’s happening on this chilly Fall night. It’s not a special day by any means, but it is now, forever etched into his spank bank for months to come. Each pant, each moan you let slip he eats up, matching yours with his own in sheer desperation for you.

He’s rubbing much too slow circles on your clit, can see it’s frustratingly close to what you need and yet still not enough by the way your eyebrows knit together, how every time he picks up speed only to slow down again he can feel your fists ball up a little tighter on his shirt.

“Sam, please-” You look back to him, mouth agape and eyes pleading to finally give you what you’re seeking. If he hadn’t fallen for you already, this surely would have made him.

“Shh.” He coos, sweat collecting in his hair as he concentrates on giving you just enough to leave you hanging. “I know, got'cha, don’ have ta worry.”

And yet he’s not cruel, and he’s certainly not strong enough to not listen when it comes to you.

Slowly, slowly, he stops rubbing your clit in favour of dipping his fingers lower, collecting slick on his way down to your opening. He watches your face contort in pleasure as he pushes a digit in, his pace gradual as he doesn’t want to hurt you in any way.

You immediately keen, lips forming a tight line as you whine for him and his hips buck at the sound alone. Once, twice, thrusting in urgency and yet he offers himself no relief. No, he wants to focus completely on you despite his stuttering hands and stammering hips.

He works his finger in and out of you gently, curls it right at the end to offer some respite in his teasing. His fingers are long, far longer than your own and he’s quick to pick up on your moaning and writhing that you want- no, need more.

Another finger is added, the two of them still curling in on you but mixed with a faster pace and he has your back arched ever so slightly into him. He feels dizzy, longs to see you like this every day. Face scrunched up, mouth gasping, trembling legs as he kneels over you. You’re dripping, slick gushing out at his every entry, and he struggles to decide on where to look. Your blissed out face or your sopping cunt. He flashes between them both, intent on increasing the speed at which he fucks his fingers into you. Even if only to selfishly hear and watch you cum on his fingers.

You let our a particularly loud moan as he brings back his thumb into play, rubbing harsh circles on your clit as well as fingering you, and it proves to be too much to handle for you.

He think you’re trying to call his name, but your sorry attempts at doing so only egg him on to fuck you harder, faster, convinces him to wrap his free hand round your neck. He’s mindful enough to not squeeze too hard, but the surprised look you wear at the additional stimulus causes him to curse.

“Close?” He questions, though it’s barely audible over the uneven breaths he’s letting out. Your eyes roll back and he feels your walls tighten around him, his cock begging for release that he has to will off until you cum first.

It doesn’t take long, not when he decides to choke you just a little harder at the first sign of your end approaching. He urges you on with a chaste kiss to your cheek, and soon enough you’re clamping around his fingers. It’s tight, and so so hot that Sam also cums with you, his own pants stained and soiled without even getting touched. He makes sure to let go of your throat as you cum, wanting to actually hear you come undone because of him and you do not disappoint. You’re loud, gasping, head thrown back and gushing all over him when your orgasm hits. And even when you come down, you’re still heaving, body tired.

Sam stays quiet as he cums, keeps an eye open in favour of watching you. Besides, it’s a little embarrassing to cum prematurely like this but you’re quick to catch on, a breathless laugh filling the room when Sam removes his fingers from your cunt.

“Maybe next time we can focus on you, yeah?”

And Sam likes the sound of that.

[ilikekidsshows]

I know you’re more of an “Adrien centered” criticism/defense blog but I am curious about your opinion on this.

What is your opinion on the “Chloe deserves/doesn’t deserve redemption” situation or the “Chloe wasn’t meant to be redeemed and there for what happened to her is fair game” stance?

---

My thoughts on the Chloé situation are kinda complex. Back when the show only had three seasons, I did think Chloé’s character trajectory made sense. Sure, she’d saved people when she was acting as Queen Bee, but she still treated her classmates the same. In fact, she started treating Sabrina worse than before because she considered being anything other than Queen Bee hanging out with Ladybug was slumming it. For me, it really was a 50/50 on whether or not Chloé would be redeemed or fall into actual villainy.

Because, here’s how I saw it: I didn’t think Chloé was an actual villain-villain in seasons 1-3. She was Marinette’s school nemesis and a decidedly defanged one. Marinette was scared of her exactly once, in Origins, a flashback episode meant to showcase how much more confident being Ladybug has made Marinette that she views Chloé as small potatoes. The season 3 finale could have been the culmination of an arc where Marinette accidentally causes Chloé to become a villain and ally herself with Hawk Moth in the future.

And it would have been caused by Marinette, even if unintentionally. It would have shown how good intentions can have unforeseen consequences, especially when you don’t know what you’re helping someone with or what they want before you do so. Marinette doesn’t really understand what she’s trying to help people with whenever she does try to be helpful, because she assumes what they want and need instead of asking and listening (like in Reflekdoll, the latter part of Ikari Gozen and Quilt Trip). Many heroes create their own villains this way, and Marinette could have done so as well since she was the one to strengthen Chloé’s bond with the person who taught her to be an entitled bully and then she dragged her feet on whether or not she could use the Bee Miraculous.

The season 3 finale shows Chloé brought to a new low. The following New York Special gives us a glimpse of a Chloé who is withdrawn, like she’s reconsidering her life. This could have led to Chloé deciding that she would have revenge on Ladybug for leading her on and then dumping her (as a teammate). But, it could have also have led to Chloé realizing that, while Ladybug wasn’t her friend, Sabrina was, and she pushed the latter away in pursuit of being the Bee Miraculous holder. Chloé could have gained new insight that would have led her to start working on how she treats those closest to her, finally starting to treat her schoolmates with decency and, maybe, with time, kindness.

Then season 4 came along and all that foreshadowed introspection was dumped out the window in favor of having Chloé do cartoonishly stupid school antagonist character things. In season 4, where this kind of hijinks are so incredibly low-stakes that it’s both laughable to see, and laughable to realize the writers think this is good television.

I think the writers realized this too, because then comes season 5 with the retcon that, actually, Chloé is an evil mastermind who is so heinous that she orchestrated a traumatic event that led to Marintette’s character flaws and therefore Marinette should be forgiven for her flaws and Chloé blamed for them. Never mind the damage this episode does to Kim’s character, turning him from an oblivious to jock to a total creep, it also tries to convince us that Chloé is this big threat despite that it happened at least a year ago in-universe and that she had never done anything even close to this bad since. It just makes no sense when contrasting with the early seasons, where Marinette treats Kim as just one classmate among many and Chloé as a low-threat nuisance.

The problem was that they decided that they didn’t want Marinette to hold any responsibility for anything she does anymore. This is why they wrote the episode ‘Derision’, to absolve Marinette of all responsibility in her stalking of Adrien, even though them making it a serious trauma response instead of a cartoon-logic joke means that now she absolutely should take responsibility for her behavior and get therapy. Because they wanted to give Marinette a retroactive justification, the episode just doesn’t mesh with the rest of the show. But, like, the writing in Miraculous seasons 4-5 is so bad it’s of course never just about a single episode, it’s all about how the Miraculous writers don’t know how to build up arcs that then come to a logical conclusion, which is why all their story arcs’ endings fall flat and leave viewers thinking “where’s the rest of it?” when they’re not considered one of the worst finales for a show.

Basically, making Chloé a villain could have worked, but it would have required her getting built up into such a status. The Chloé of seasons 1-3 isn’t a monster, she’s a brat. But the writers didn’t want to do that work despite wanting that story, thinking some repetitive episodes of Chloé being a brat some more will accomplish the same thing. So, Chloé just keeps performing petty bullying until the writers think the viewers forgot that she’s like this because of her mother, who Marinette reunited her with, all the while pretending the woman who calls her by the wrong name to her face on purpose has done nothing wrong as a parent other than “leave”, before she randomly turns on Miss Bustier and starts working with Hawk Moth for supposedly no reason in Collusion.

And, like, the thing that really grinds my gears is that it worked. So many people forgot that Chloé’s bullying was modeled to her by her mother, who Marinette reunited her with. Marinette repeatedly tries to fix abused kids’ relationships to their parents with no regard for how that could harm them in the long run (Adrien, Chloé and Kagami). It’s a pattern, but the show thinks Marinette’s missteps shouldn’t be pointed out because she “had good intentions” when her intentions in the instances of The Bubbler, Style Queen and Ikari Gozen were nothing more than: “Well, my parents are great, so these kids are obviously safe with the parents I just saw make them miserable!” The accusing finger for Chloé’s behavior should be pointed at Audrey. Marinette being “triumphant” over Chloé because Chloé is now stuck with the abuser who made her is already iffy without the added grossness of Marinette being the one who reunited them in the first place.

[sykeskassie]

Come Back To Me; Pt. 2

Pairing: Bang Chan x Reader

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: ANGST!! No comfort in this one either, but I promise the implied comfort is coming 🫶🏻

A/N: I’ve been obsessed with Namjoon’s album since it came out, and I couldn’t think of a more perfect response song.

Pt. 1 Pt.3

I told you I’m fine tonight, staying good/ Spring always been here, I will sleep in her eyes

Chris was bewildered when they showed him the text; why had you texted them and not him? He had tried calling you, only to find that

he had been blocked. They all had been. He couldn’t understand what had gone so terribly wrong that you couldn’t even talk to him. He gained a little bit of clarity about a week later when he received a box from you. The kids were all gathered in a circle when he opened it, for moral support and to see if it would provide any insight on why you had left. His eyes went to the note first. The handwriting couldn’t have been more familiar to him if it had been his own. Tears threatened to fall from where they were gathering on his lashes. He was so worried about you forgetting him that he didn’t realize all the ways he had forgotten you. 

With the note set gently by his side, he started on taking out each hoodie. One by one, they all came out, smelling just like you. Holding them up to his face, he inhaled deeply, wishing that it was you he was holding instead. It was Changbin who pointed out that there was one missing. “Hyung, where’s the one from this year?” Horror flooded his system at the realization that he hadn’t sent one. Did you two even talk on the anniversary of his leaving? Dropping the hoodie in his hands, he scrambled for his phone. Finding the date in his call log, he was devastated to see missed call after missed call. His words came back to haunt him, “We were working on the song for the new comeback…” 

I forgot the hour, I don’t want to know ‘bout the hour/ I forgot to shower 세수할 시간도 아까워

He’s finding that concentrating on his work was the last thing on his mind. Not when the only thing he could focus on was where everything went wrong. Hours are spent staring at the note you had included, as if some hidden message would suddenly reveal itself. As if it wasn’t a goodbye. If you hadn’t texted the kids, would he have even noticed your absence until your package arrived? He wishes he could say yes, but if that were the case he wouldn’t have a box of his hoodies at his feet. He has no one to blame but himself; it was always you who made time, who made space, who made the effort. It wasn’t always so one-sided…when did he stop reaching out first? Hell, when did he stop responding with any kind of regularity? How could he lose the very person who was his anchor in this world?

Come back to me, like you used to/ Now I could see what a life is about

Chris had always been so worried about you forgetting him but he didn’t realize he was forgetting you. He hadn’t ever had to live life without knowing you were right there with him, and quite frankly, he didn’t want to. You were his best friend, you were the love of his life. He would do anything in his power to be able to reach you. If he was adrift, he can only imagine how you were feeling; Not only did you feel as though you had lost him, you felt like you had lost the kids as well. His eyes finally turned away from the note and to the box of hoodies. It was a long shot, but he had to try.

I see you come back to me

He knew that if he were ever to be worthy of getting you back into his life, he’d have to learn to balance everything better. He couldn’t even begin to count the amount of times you changed your plans for him, for the kids, for the schedules. When was the last time he moved things around for you? When was the last time he put anything on pause for you? When he left for Korea, you both knew that he would get a thousand times busier, but he had made a promise to always be there for you, to always make time for you. When did he start breaking promises? He wanted you back, but he needed to be a better him to come back to. 

You are my pain, divine, divine

Without your light, Chris’ life had become dull and gray. Had anything ever hurt like this? It had felt like someone had reached into his chest and ripped his very heart out. For all the love he held, for so many aspects of his life, he had known no greater love than what he had with you. He knew, deep in his soul, that the love between you two was still there. It was palpable. He could see traces of it in every careful fold of his hoodies, in the careful strokes of the pen in the note that came with them. He could see it in the way that despite everything, you still cared enough about him to ask the kids to watch after him. To still show your support. No, your love was broken, and it was largely to do with his own negligence, but it wasn’t gone. He could still fix this. 

You don’t have to be anything you see/ Tryin’ not to be that something in this sea

If Chris were less selfish, he would let you go. He just couldn’t bring himself to do that. However, he would prove that you were his priority. No more missed call after missed call. No more special days pushed by the wayside to be forgotten. No more traditions left in the dust. Honestly, he even had a hoodie for this year’s contribution to the pile already picked out. One that he had picked up in his travels, that was soft and just a tad oversized on him. It was stuffed into his closet, ready to be sent off. If he had been paying attention to the date, paying more attention to you, he would have never forgotten about it. Grabbing a piece of notebook paper, he wrote what he hoped would help build a bridge back to you.

You are my pain, divine, divine 

I see you come back to me

[yes-i-am-happyaspie]

Joy, what if there's someone else or a family who have similar hair colour and eyes colour see Peter and decided that he belong with their family haha and Tony who heard about that got jealous and declared war to them haha

What if that person/family *was* Tony and it's not until AFTER he has his armor in a twist about it that he figures out it's him. lmao.

Like, one day Peter mentions that there's this person who kinda looks like him and he kinda likes to pretend he's his dad. "Do you think that's weird?"

Tony feels like he's just taken the entire weight of a train to his gut. Because, well- he kinda thinks of Peter as his kid. He knew him first. He called dibs! But Peter looks nervous and a little embarrassed so he forces a smile. "I think as long as that person is good to you, it's fine." But it's a lie. It's a HUGE lie because no one could treat Peter better than he can.

"Well, the thing is- they don't actually know I, uh- think that. They *are* good to me but really, it's just kind of a game I play with them. In my head."

Tony nods, his brain is turning. If he can figure out who this person is, he can ask them to back off. He could let them know the kid has the whole mentor-father figure thing covered. No need to butt in. He clenches his jaw, imagining what that would feel like. "So, is it a teacher or-" He needs to narrow down his options.

"He teaches me stuff."

"Family friend?"

"Kind of. May was a little weird about it at first but he's growing on her."

Great, Tony thinks. If May likes this guy that could create a massive problem because May does NOT like him. She doesn't hate him either but if she had to choose someone for her nephew to internally parentalize? Is that a word? Doesn't matter. If May had to choose. It wouldn't be him. He really needed to track this guy down; maybe find him a job on the opposit side of the planet.

He wants to ask who exactly this person is, but if he's going to declare a secret war on them he needs the Parkers to believe he has no idea who Peter is talking about. So, he doesn't ask. Instead, he spends the next two days coming up with a plan of action. Nothing too nefarious. He comes up with a fake raffle. One that would allow the winner to visit the SI headquarters in China. If that person was then offered a permanent job there with benefits, a sign-on bonus and housing- well, who could give that up?

After that was worked out, he used FRIDAY to narrow down a list of suspects. He made certain to ask Peter about his daily activities, He tried to bring up the mystery person in conversation, hoping to gain some insight. All the while he had FRIDAY analyzing the data.

All of that effort, and by day six he's narrowed it down to two people and neither of them makes sense. Ned's Dad looks nothing like Peter. And that teacher Peter talks about, Mr. Harrington doesn't seem to take an interest in Peter outside of school-related functions.

"Peter- who is this person?" he finally asks, trying and failing to keep the frustration out of his voice.

"What person?"

"The person you see a- the one you pretend is your dad. I've been trying to figure it out and- who is it?"

Peter ducks his head, his lip goes between his teeth and his cheeks turn five sade of red.

"Come on, Pete. It can't be that bad." Horror passes through his brain. "It's not Happy is it?" He can't send Happy to China. If it's Happy he's going to have to live with it. Miserably.

"No!" Peter looks up briefly. "It's- Mr. Stark, it's you."

That tain is back to hit him in the gut again. This time in a good way. "Me? I thought you said May liked this person?"

Peter laughs. "I said they were growing on her."

Tony thinks back. Peter had also said the person looked kind of like him, was good to him, and taught him stuff. He supposed he fit the bill. His chest, and subsequently his cheeks grew warm. "Pete, I-"

"I'm sorry! I know it's weird!"

"Not weird, Buddy. One hundred percent not weird."

"It's not?"

"Nah. Or if it is, then we're both weird because I've been thinking about you as my kid for a while." He grins. "Is this the part where we hug?"

Peter grins too. "I don't know. Are we there yet?"

"Get in here you little punk!" He and Peter fall into each other's arms. They squeeze tightly and smile stupidly. Eventually, Tony glances up at the ceiling. "Hey FRIDAY? Cancel operation 'Three's a Crowd.'"

"Operation what? Peter asks.

Tony yanks Peter's head back down onto his chest and squeezes him a little more tightly. "Nothing. Don't worry about it. Let's just hug it out, then go do some science."

Peter giggles happily. "Sure, Mr. Stark. Let's do that."

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Can Life Exist on an Icy Moon? NASA’s Europa Clipper Aims to Find Out

With a spacecraft launching soon, the mission will try to answer the question of whether there are ingredients suitable for life in the ocean below Europa’s icy crust.

Deep down, in an ocean beneath its ice shell, Jupiter’s moon Europa might be temperate and nutrient-rich, an ideal environment for some form of life — what scientists would call “habitable.” NASA’s Europa Clipper mission aims to find out.

NASA now is targeting launch no earlier than Monday, Oct. 14, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Europa Clipper’s elongated, looping orbit around Jupiter will minimize the spacecraft’s exposure to intense radiation while allowing it to dive in for close passes by Europa. Using a formidable array of instruments for each of the mission’s 49 flybys, scientists will be able to “see” how thick the moon’s icy shell is and gain a deeper understanding of the vast ocean beneath. They’ll inventory material on the surface that might have come up from below, search for the fingerprints of organic compounds that form life’s building blocks, and sample any gases ejected from the moon for evidence of habitability.

Mission scientists will analyze the results, probing beneath the moon’s frozen shell for signs of a water world capable of supporting life.

“It’s important to us to paint a picture of what that alien ocean is like — the kind of chemistry or even biochemistry that could be happening there,” said Morgan Cable, an astrobiologist and member of the Europa Clipper science team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission.

Ice Investigation

Central to that work is hunting for the types of salts, ices, and organic material that make up the key ingredients of a habitable world. That’s where an imager called MISE (Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa) comes in. Operating in the infrared, the spacecraft’s MISE divides reflected light into various wavelengths to identify the corresponding atoms and molecules.

The mission will also try to locate potential hot spots near Europa’s surface, where plumes could bring deep ocean material closer to the surface, using an instrument called E-THEMIS (Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System), which also operates in the infrared.

Capturing sharply detailed pictures of Europa’s surface with both a narrow and a wide-image camera is the task of the EIS (Europa Imaging System). “The EIS imagers will give us incredibly high-resolution images to understand how Europa’s surface evolved and is continuing to change,” Cable said.

Gases and Grains

NASA’s Cassini mission spotted a giant plume of water vapor erupting from multiple jets near the south pole of Saturn’s ice-covered moon Enceladus. Europa may also emit misty plumes of water, pulled from its ocean or reservoirs in its shell. Europa Clipper’s instrument called Europa-UVS (Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph) will search for plumes and can study any material that might be venting into space.

Whether or not Europa has plumes, the spacecraft carries two instruments to analyze the small amount of gas and dust particles ejected from the moon’s surface by impacts with micrometeorites and high-energy particles: MASPEX (MAss SPectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Europa) and SUDA (SUrface Dust Analyzer) will capture the tiny pieces of material ejected from the surface, turning them into charged particles to reveal their composition.

“The spacecraft will study gas and grains coming off Europa by sticking out its tongue and tasting those grains, breathing in those gases,” said Cable.

Inside and Out

The mission will look at Europa’s external and internal structure in various ways, too, because both have far-reaching implications for the moon’s habitability.

To gain insights into the ice shell’s thickness and the ocean’s existence, along with its depth and salinity, the mission will measure the moon’s induced magnetic field with the ECM (Europa Clipper Magnetometer) and combine that data with measurements of electrical currents from charged particles flowing around Europa — data provided by PIMS (Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding).

In addition, scientists will look for details on everything from the presence of the ocean to the structure and topography of the ice using REASON (Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding to Near-surface), which will peer up to 18 miles (29 kilometers) into the shell — itself a potentially habitable environment. Measuring the changes that Europa’s gravity causes in radio signals should help nail down ice thickness and ocean depth.

“Non-icy materials on the surface could get moved into deep interior pockets of briny water within the icy shell,” said Steve Vance, an astrobiologist and geophysicist who also is a member of the Europa Clipper science team at JPL. “Some might be large enough to be considered lakes, or at least ponds.”

Using the data gathered to inform extensive computer modeling of Europa’s interior structure also could reveal the ocean’s composition and allow estimates of its temperature profile, Vance said.

Whatever conditions are discovered, the findings will open a new chapter in the search for life beyond Earth. “It’s almost certain Europa Clipper will raise as many questions or more than it answers — a whole different class than the ones we’ve been thinking of for the last 25 years,” Vance said.

TOP IMAGE: This artist’s concept (not to scale) depicts what Europa’s internal structure could look like: an outer shell of ice, perhaps with plumes of material venting from beneath the surface; a deep, global layer of liquid water; and a rocky interior, potentially with hydrothermal vents on the seafloor. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

LOWER IMAGE: The puzzling surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa looms large in this reprocessed color view made from images taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. The images were assembled into a realistic color view of the surface that approximates how Europa would appear to the human eye. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute