#ooc if youre asking about the system? we have like. 30 or so i believe i havent counted in a second

[avatar-of-the-blank]

not to pry, but if you are "we" how many are you?

OH JUST ME. YOU KNOW, THE ME TYPE OF WE THOUGH. LIKE IF A PERSON WASNT JUST A PERSON ::)

[mtvswatches]

Jane the Virgin 3x04 Chapter Forty-Eight

Click here for previous recaps!

Stray thoughts

1)   I usually cut Xiomara some slack, but this whole flashback where “Jane leaves the nest” because her mother just got a new boyfriend and is taking her kid to leave with him? Yeah, that makes her look bad, in my opinion. It’s one of those things that the show does to shoehorn a theme and make it relevant throughout Jane’s life… but it makes it look like Xiomara took her kid to live at a stranger’s house because he had a pool? If he had been a significant person in their lives, we surely would’ve heard about him before, right?

Other than that, I think it’s an interesting premise to dive into how Jane leaving will affect everyone else.

2)   Rogelio wants to star in one of those Hallmark Christmas movies that my mom loves watching and that make me cringe so badly in order to raise his American profile, and is this the right move for you, Rogelio, my dude? I don’t think so. There must be some other way.

3)   What is this douchebag turning the Marbella into, for fuck’s sake?

4)   Anezka/Petra just told Jane she doesn’t like her and never has, and it kind of feels good?

Are you really that surprised, Jane?

5)   So… Petra’s silent contribution to Jane’s rent could be the thing that reveals “Petra” is actually Anezka, right? I mean, Petra is the one who made the deal and Anezka has no idea about it – just like she didn’t know about the argument between Jane and Petra had before the wedding – and hence, she hasn’t been paying Jane’s rent. If she’s confronted about it, though, she could pretend and say she just stopped paying because of the argument, right? How long can they keep Petra paralyzed, though? How come no one realizes Petra is not really Petra? To be honest, if I was her, I’d feel terrible knowing literally NO ONE notices I’m gone.

6)   Truer words have never been spoken…

7)   First, Rob Lowe. Now, Rafael. Rogelio’s ego is getting destroyed lately.

8)   Was that… a spark?

By the way, no wonder both Jane and Xiomara are so entitled and somewhat irresponsible. Alba just brought an old lady in a wheelchair to the Marbella just because she fancied seeing her granddaughter. Sure, lady, suit yourself. Do whatever you want while you’re on the clock.

9)   She’s not wrong.

Of course she should be supportive, but I honestly can’t think of a more ill-fitted job for Xiomara than bank teller. I give her a day.

10) It’s America, so it sounds legit.

11) Jane was close to figuring it out when “Petra” said she bought the house when in fact she rented it, but then she pulled the “I stopped paying because of our fight.” Instead of getting busted, she got an invite to Jane and Michael’s housewarming party.

12) On the plus side, Magda’s prison buddy just showed up and pressured Petra into following through with their plan and sell the Marbella shares or else she’ll reveal her true identity. Anezka is not an idiot, though, she couldn’t have managed to full everyone FOR MONTHS if she were.  

13) So… now that Petra’s not paying half of their rent, Michael and Jane have to cut their budget to pay for those thousand bucks. After a lot of debating, Jane suggests they should just go ask Rogelio for the rest, promising to pay him back. And while I think that’s okay, I feel it’s a bit OOC for Jane to come to that decision so quickly. She’s very proud and doesn’t like asking for help, especially when it comes to money. Although… since she’s rubbing shoulders with Rafael and Rogelio she’s occasionally taken advantage of the good life they can provide for her, so there’s also that. Is it OOC or is it completely in character?

14) Okay, now that Petra has told Rafael that she wants to sell her shares, he’s starting to notice there’s something fishy.

YES!

….

15) Weird dinner party does not go well, shocks no one.

16) Not only did Xiomara last only a day, but she actually pretended to like the job before admitting to her mother that she was right. But she’s not even good at pretending because she got caught immediately, and humiliatingly. Regardless, all I can think is about the poor old lady being wheeled around the city because Alba just doesn’t give a fuck about her job.

17) Michael figured Jane lied to him about one of the items on their budget, and to be frank, I’m on his side? Jane is keeping information from him as if he was a child who can’t manage his own money, but he’s got a point. She’s been living at her grandma’s house her whole life, her dad pays for her school, Rafael covers most of Mateo’s expenses, and she “survives” on what I can only assume is a part-time job – since she’s barely at the Marbella. So she might not agree with his filing system, but he’s definitely had more experience being financially independent than she has.

18) Ouch! Jane turned down Scott’s bribe, but Lina took it? Behind Jane’s back? And screwing everyone over because of it? That’s awful!

19) OMG Rogelio is babysitting the moron and why are we having these two interact with each other just now?

20) I really enjoyed the scenes where fantasy young Jane helped Alba navigate her relationship with Xiomara since she always was the glue that stuck that family together. I think the writers nailed this one. It was a great way to show that despite Jane not living with them anymore, her influence lingers, and they both have become better persons because of it. That’s a lasting impact that doesn’t simply go away.

It led to Xiomara and Alba having one of their most honest and mature conversations in a while – Alba encouraging Xiomara to take her time finding out what she likes and Xiomara encouraging Alba to go look for her own passion now that she has her green card.  

21) Is Rogelio going to help the moron or break her? Either way, I’m in!

22) Rafael is getting slightly assaulted, isn’t he?

23) Both, I think. He’s breaking her to help her. I hope.

I'm a terrible sister and that's why I want to drink, so that I don't feel this. (…) Because all I do is cause Rafael pain. And I think my ex-lover killed his mother. (…)  I just feel so bad, you know? My brother doesn't deserve this. No matter how many times I've failed him, he's always been there for me. And then now that he has no family, I still can't pull it together and be there for him.

Leave it to Rogelio to make me not only tolerate the most unlikable character in this show but also feel for her.

That being said, I can understand that this is why she wants to drink now, but there must be another reason why she started drinking in the first place.  

24) Why do I continue to be surprised at Rogelio being the best character in this whole show? Not only did he give the moron the best advice anyone has ever given her (“Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.”) but he also helped her decide to go to preventative rehab. And then! He told Rafael that he truly is a good person and that he should’ve seen that earlier. And after Rafael told him he was probably not getting the part in the Hallmark movie, he simply shrugged it off and said that Rafael was more important than that. I just want to hug Rogelio forever, he’s such a lovely, wholesome man!

25) It’s not a telenovela without a catfight, right?

26) Jane and Michael finally decided to move to a smaller place until they can actually afford to move back to a bigger one. And then the narrator dropped this bit of foreshadowing…

And friends, they really believed that would happen... but we're not there yet.

Ugh, what does this mean? Will they break up? Will Michael die for real? Please tell me Jane is not getting back together with Rafael because I will culcutabitch! What other reason could there be for them not to follow through with their plans? 

27) Okay, Alba just got a job at the gift shop, so I’m guessing the spark I saw is actually there.

28) “Angels guard the sun”. Those are the words that were underlined in the Bible Rafael’s mother was clutching when she was murdered. I will not try to figure this one out, but I hope it’s something smart.

29) Anezka is fucking ruthless. She demanded Rafael give her permission to sell her shares AND that he sign his own shares over to her.

30) FINALLY!

Ya think?!

But... Of all the things, this is what gave her away? Okay, I guess…

31) While I don’t feel this is one of the most iconic episodes of this show, it was still pretty enjoyable. I especially liked the Xiomara/Alba scenes and development as well as everything Rogelio as always, particularly how he managed to be the first person to make the moron seem human. I’m very excited at the prospect of having Petra back, although I have no idea how they’re going to give closure to the whole Anezka/Magda plot. We’ll see what happens!

32) Hope you enjoyed my recap, and, as usual, if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi. Thanks!

[userseokkie]

Steve Rogers is a walking contradiction: the anti military soldier

After reading this meta on a gifset about Steve and Tony i got carried away and wrote essentially an essay about the analysis that had been made. and while i agree with the general sentiment of the post, some things didn’t sit right with me. btw i decided to make this my own separate post because this isn’t intended to start an argument or derail the original post, i know it can be annoying for gif makers to have dozens of comments added onto their posts.

(the meta in question)

ok so full disclaimer I’m not American and I’m not white. i just felt like this analysis was really interesting and when I read it I couldn’t stop all these thoughts that formed in my head, next thing I know I had written all of this in like 30 minutes. I’m not trying to argue or start shit, this is my own personal analysis of Steve’s character and why I don’t agree with some things said above.

First of all, let’s get this out of the way: Steve does not trust the US government. at least not blindly. the fact that he’s still the little shit that had a real problem w authority figures is something they touch upon on catfa a lot. he changed on the outside but on the inside he’s still that idiot punk kid and like, I get what the tags above me are saying but also Steve’s arc is more than that? and let’s not forget this stupid movie was written and directed by thanos Joss “I’m the true feminist ally” whedon so I would take this exchange with a grain of salt. I mean this is the movie that gave us “gOllY tHeRe’S OnLy oNe gOd m'Am” and “sOn oF a GuN” Stephen Rogers which is the most ooc thing I’ve seen since endgame’s Steve. Steve is a fucking potty mouth ffs he’s Irish and a soldier, so that doesn’t even make sense. but anyway, my point is something else, nvm this movie’s portrayal of Steve in general.

I guess we could probably argue all day long abt which Steve portrayal is the most accurate one since his character in the MCU is the one that’s suffered the most at the hands of inconsistent characterization, but I prefer thinking he already WAS someone that was well aware of the horrors of war and how unfair it was to recruit people w lies and the promises of education opportunities and loans for the poor to join the army, because he LIVED that he grew up dirt poor and had to see his mom take on three different jobs to support herself and him, so he’d consider this attempt to bring civilians into the military life by preying on their needs disgusting, he’d be fucking seething with anger. and if he had lived through the 60s (which I think it’s better for everyone involved that he didn’t, can u imagine poor guy would’ve died from the disappointment in what his country had become) I highly doubt he would’ve been the bitter WWII vet that defended Vietnam and shit on the protestors……. Steve would support the citizens’ rights to ask for accountability and demand justice!! even the hippie movement I think he would’ve been ok with when he saw that they were advocating FOR PEACE. that’s why he enlisted on the war after all, to bring the fight to an end and to have Bucky come HOME. I think Steve rogers would be all for peace. I mean, civil disobedience and telling the government to shove it? that’s Steve Rogers’ goddamn ethos. he would be all over that shit.

I agree w op’s tags where they say Steve doesn’t represent America, he represents what America wishes it had been. and I think Steve himself would be well aware he’s the anomaly here, the one that should have been America’s highest ideal. and I think that makes Steve very wary of his own image, anything he endorses becomes what America endorses. Steve rogers isn’t important, Captain America is. but I think Steve’s response here has more to do with his coping mechanisms to deal with loss, rather than coming from a place of “oh we’re soldiers, it’s what we do, we die for our country.” while Tony’s response comes from a place of anger (we are NOT soldiers!!! fuck u old man, i never asked for this!!! coulson didn’t ask for this!!!!!) Steve’s reaction comes from the intrinsic nihilism and dadaism product of his own time. it’s not that he’s minimizing Coulson’s death, it’s more that he’s so used to losing people, the thousands he met that died in European soil, the sick and ill from his ma’s work that died everyday, his own father whom he never even met, that his mechanism is to just. shut down. shrug it off a bit, even. people die. every day. “for believing” means for standing for something, because Steve is WELL aware that people that stand for nothing will fall for anything, and standing for something gives counterbalance to the official agenda. in his eyes, Coulson died not because he’s a soldier and winning the war means being prepared to make a few sacrifices. Coulson died because he chose to believe in something that the majority didn’t care about or even actively sought to destroy (the wsc over fury’s shoulder) and he died because he would not back down from the fight. I can do this all day is something Steve feeds off of because he knows that when you stop getting up from the ground, anyone and anything can strike you down.

but on another note, I get that Avengers happens literally 6 fucking days after he woke up from the ice, he probably had no time to catch up on all the atrocities the US had done on his behalf, or rather on what they said he represented, on the ideal he died defending and the US took and twisted and tore apart until it was no longer recognizable. Steve being a week out of the ice is super sad and to me, the biggest crime this movie did was literally brushing off Steve’s trauma, being riddled with PTSD and shocked from waking up seventy years in the future was not even addressed. at all. this could’ve been easily avoided by setting the movie at least a couple of months AFTER he wakes up. but whatever. After learning of all the shit the US has done, I think Steve rogers would be the first to walk out of there and be like “fuck it, I died for this country and you took it and fucked it up and now young people and people who’ve been killed for protesting your shitty ass decisions genuinely believe I would side with the government. they think I’M the stubborn baby boomer who kisses government boots and would approve of the Gulf War or the Vietnam War or the Central American coups or the war on terror or any of the stupid shit you’ve pulled in the 70 years I was gone!!! YOU MADE ME A SYMBOL FOR YOUR BIGOTRY WHAT THE FUCK”. so he obviously needs time to catch up on all of that before realizing how bad they fucked up his memory and how corrupt the system has become. but Steve’s depiction as a boy scout who believes the US can do nothing bad is inherently wrong and something only this one movie tries to do. no other movie featuring Cap tries to drive the point home that Cap is a goodie two shoes who still believes in american exceptionalism.

CATWS was the gold standard because it truly touched upon the cognitive dissonance Steve experiences coming out of a 70 year nap. the loss he experiences not only for being “the man out of time”, but the true man behind the symbol. heavy are the shoulders that carry the world indeed. and he’s been carrying the entire world on his since he decided to become Captain America. I truly believe the tragedy of Steve Rogers comes from the lack of agency he has over the Captain image, one that has been used to prop up political agendas over and over again. of course, he’s the one that decides to be Captain America as much as he is Steve rogers, blurring the lines between the two men. he could’ve retired, he could’ve adopted a new mantle or even go the old reliable route and try to keep a civilian life away from the superhero gig. but he didn’t. even in the comics whenever he tried to do that it didn’t stick for more than a few issues. so, you know in CATWS he truly experiments what it’s like to pull back the curtain and see the wizard behind it, he faces this disenchantment with the institutions that created him, both SHIELD and the US government. this helps pinpoint the moment he grows super distrustful of politics and agendas, because up until this point he’d only been in the battlefield, and he realizes governments cannot be trusted to make the right decision or even act in benefit of their people.

this way, Civil War does make sense when you see how Steve has grown so disappointed with modern politics that he sees the Sokovia accords as one big red flag, and the first step in a direction that only points toward authoritarianism and civil control. this movie deals with many things poorly of course, but one thing that doesn’t feel ooc is Steve telling the UN to fuck off. He wasn’t around to see the formation of the united nations remember? he literally has no background on what collective security and globalized autonomy are. there’s many things that could’ve been different in CW, but Steve was on the “right” side of the conflict for his character. (i’m NOT saying there’s a wrong and a right side on the Civil war dilemma. that whole thing was badly written so let’s just say it made sense in a hypothetical way). supporting the government in any capacity isn’t a part of Steve’s “thing”, but even when/if he sided with the US govt, he’d never endorse a political agenda that he perceives as “wrong”, knowing it’s hypocritical to do so. 

he doesn’t think the end justify the means, which is highly different from Tony’s pragmatism. if Steve and Tony represented opposing philosophical movements, Tony would be utilitarianism and Steve would be deontology. this brings the analysis full circle by pointing out that yes, Tony and Steve operate differently in theory, but in practice they both work for the same objective. Tony is the cynic product of his own doing, he understands how war can destroy and he knows the US has a bad track record of owning up to its own shit. and because of that, he believes that the most good he can do is in his own hands (and because of his extremist way of thinking, he also equates that with being the only one who can do it and therefore, he must, no matter the personal cost). On the other hand, Steve is the idealist product of other’s people efforts, he understands how sometimes war can be the only way to save what is worth saving, but also how it can corrupt even the noblest of men. and because of that, he believes that the most good he can do must be done because other people believe in him, and because by setting the example, others can follow and make the world a better place. (and because of his very stubborn nature, he also equates that with being the ‘tree that must plant itself in the ground and say no, you move’.)

so what I guess I’m trying to say, is that to me at least, saying that Steve Rogers would be in favor of US militarism or that he equates the word “soldier” with hero is a huge disservice to his character. the fact that he’s a fictional character that was first conceived as WWII propaganda is not relevant, because I choose to believe the idea that says fiction stops being the creator’s own the moment it’s out in the world. And Steve Rogers NOW is a different character and serves a different purpose than what he was originally intended to. His entire origin is based on being a soldier, yes, but what makes his character so compelling is the juxtaposition between being a soldier and being essentially opposed to what the US military complex entails. he embodies a lot of american values ofc, like freedom and right of free speech and so, but my take is that he defends this values in a way that is distinctly non American. setting aside discussions of propaganda and the integrity of an art form, i think he’s been written in a way that evokes patriotism without being exclusively american. i mean heck, Steve rogers makes me proud to be from my own country, and inspires me to be better while never reminding me of the fact that he’s from an imperialist super power. Star spangled suit aside, he’s probably a fair enough representation of what one's love for their own country can bring to the surface, no matter which country specifically. i could delve more into that, but this is already getting too long and, since i already mentioned, I’m not from the US and my cultural upbringing is far different from the US. so i’m not sure i could make such a poignant analysis about the military culture and the way it impacts characters such as Steve. 

[ithaerielbrenagh]

OoC: Moment of minor irritation and realization (FFXIV)

Apologies as I'm going to both step up onto my soapbox a moment because I feel the need to get this out of my system, and then promptly apologise.

Apologies as this will likely be long and its coming off my phone so I'm not able to under the cut. I'm still a bit upset and as I said I'd like to get it out of my system.

Last night I was running a buddy through Duty Roulette: Leveling to help him level up his lancer, (currently his only complaint is lack of AoE at low levels).

Before I get into this let me paint the following. I main tank. Before you ask which, the answer is all, with Dark Knight being my personal favorite for main tanking and a slow love developing for gunbreaker as off tanking. I've paladin, warrior, dark knight at level 70. Gunbreaker at 68 as of last night. I've been tanking since vanilla World of Warcraft. I've now been tanking in FFXIV since late April. I've gotten comfortable with it, know most of the fights by heart, and have grown from all nerves and anxiety to absolute adoration for tanking in this marvelous game.

So pray, let me continue. As I said, last night I was helping a dear friend @gereionkingston level his lancer class. Gere is an awesome guy who usually mains either Black Mage, Machinists, or at this point Dancer. He is beyond familiar with the DPS role and is fantastic as my source of info or refresher when going into a fight I either don't know, or can't remember.

To continue, we enter in, and find our two companions, a conjurer and pugilist, are both fresh characters, and it soon becomes apparent also new to the game itself. I've been blessed with supportive groups and believe in paying it forward, so I'm determined to try to make this a fun run for them, because your first foray into an FFXIV dungeon should feel special, amazing, and be a grand time.

It starts off as such, the pugilist runs off ahead, pulls three groups of mobs, and nearly kills us all. It's fine, these things happen. I politely remind them to please stay behind me as I'd rather not have anyone die. This happens two more times. Again, we endure, both Gere and I keep the party alive...our healer...well...decided he's going to dps instead of heal.

Mind you, these are fresh players, mistakes are made, and we try to correct them. I once again politely ask that they stay behind me and allow me to pull, to keep the pace constant.

I'm not sure what happened but we reach the half way point, and the healer decides, pull all the things, mind you the healer, not the dps, not Gere, not myself, the Healer. He proceeds to pull every mob in the room. All of them, we barely survive, he rushes the boss and begins attacking, again we barely survive, the pugilist who's been following the healers lead follows suit and dies, both times. We kill the boss, the pugilist comes back, the healer starts to run off. I politely ask the following:

"Excuse me but can the two of you wait a tick? I feel we need to have a brief discussion."

In the time I've managed to type this, they've pulled approximately every mob from here to the third boss, killed themselves and start to do it again.

It's at this point I begin to lose my temper. I ask Gere to hold off running to their aid because at this point we really need to have a talk. What the conjurer and pugilist are doing is unacceptable, if it continues it will be a bad habit and get them removed from groups.

They die again, and I finally managed to get their attention:

"Ah wonderful, now that you've apparently learned your lesson, maybe we can talk a bit."

Healer: "Hello?!?"

Me: "Apologies, I know you're both new to this, but the Tank, sets the pace for the pulls. Not the healer, not the dps. Trust me to not pull too much for you to heals or deal with."

Healer: "Not my fault. I can heal you. And I get confused when the LEVEL 18 tank noob is standing still and pulling slow af. So I decided I'll do the pulls. Why would I listen to a level 18 fucking noob?"

Me: "Because the level 18 tank is actually a level 68 Gunbreaker, who's also a level 70 paladin, dark knight, and warrior. And because the dungeons scale. Which I assume, given you yourself are new to this, you didn't know."

Healer: "Fuck you, you pull too slow, and are a fucking noob."

It is at this point we are about 30 seconds of trash fight away from the boss. Gere and I look at each other, nod, and then leave the group. I'd rather not deal with a, and forgive the phrase, toxic person who is too egotistical to admit fault, and too ignorant to learn. Every mass pull he and the DPS did nearly got us killed. We survived because Gere and I know how to manage our respective classes, how to use the role abilities, and know enough about spacing and pacing and enemy rotation to know what to prioritize in these cases. I'm not proud of it, I hate doing things like this, but Gere is right, sometimes it the only way to make someone learn.

So, we wait thirty minutes, he can tell I'm upset, as it's extremely rare for me to drop a group, I've been tanking for years, usually I push on through with a smile and joking nature to make even the wipes fun and something we can all joke and laugh about. I can count on one hand the number of times I've done this in all the years I've tanked.

Gere this time decides to try his hand at Astrologian, does amazing by the way, and we get through it with a ton of laughs. We have a lovely rogue and brilliant pugilist. It was a fun run...

However we discovered something that makes me feel like shite... apparently, Gunbreaker's second button in it's set up rotation is a bit of a self heal. At love levels where my health is about 748...it restores about 40 hp every time it hits. I've never noticed this because I get really involved in the fights. Gere points this out to me and begins laughing his arse off. He actually counted the number of times he had to use a heal. 13 times, for the entire dungeon. And only on me. The two of us couldn't stop laughing at this. But then I thought, oh...shite...maybe that's why the healer last time was just dpsing and mass pulling and shite. If that's the case and you're reading this man, I'm sorry, next time just ask me to pull more, given you were new I was trying to make it a fun and easy time for you. I still feel shitty about dropping a group. I don't make a habit of doing so.

I just...look I'm still new to this community, I'll admit I'm still learning, and I like the takes of some of the vets or my fellow tanks and healers on this. Was I too harsh, what should I have done differently, I just...I want to give back to this community and make this a wonderful experience for everyone just like it's been for me. Please if you've suggestions or comments let me know. I want to do better.

Sincerely,

Ith

[neoblogcrying]

Transmigrator!Binghe pt.7

Phew, I finally got this up! I honestly was going to try to complete this entire arc with this chapter but I was almost at 4000 words... so I decided to stop here. I’ll finish with the next chapter! Inspiration came from Pizziccato’s ask/answer [x] . Some dialogue was taken/improvised from BC’s translation found: [x]

-

I’ve have you know that I’ve successfully ascertained that it was indeed anxiety that was making my heart beat erratically in my chest. Ever since Shizun smiled, he’s been frowning ever since.

Was it because he saw my face that I ruined his mood? I remained in the corner, trembling slightly in fear that he would start torturing me any moment. I could feel my muscles tensing with every movement he made, making this way more exhausting than anything else.

At this rate, I’d much rather get out there and walk the rest of the way, but I’m sure Shizun won’t let me. Even if he did…  Ning Yingying would likely hold a fit, and then I’d be forced back into the carriage to save Shizun face.

Black lines appeared on my face as I thought about this more than likely scenario.

I could only impatiently wait for what was to come (or not come). Every bump on the road would spike my anxiety in fear that it would make Shizun remember about my existence. My heart came close to stopping multiple times during this this travel period.

I’m such a pitiful protagonist, aren’t I? I know, I feel bad for me too.

With every movement from Shizun driving my anxiety to a peak, I closed my eyes shut tightly and tried to focus on anything else. Contemplate on things like… what I could do to reduce my affection points with Ning Yingying. Who my future lover was supposed to be (because face it, I don’t plan on failing), and whether the system was going to continue trolling me like this?

There had to be a loophole that I could take advantage of.

Maybe it’s because I kept thinking myself into circles, time passed faster than I thought.

Shuang Hu City wasn’t large, but you could say that it was bustling with activity. We met with the man who was pleading for help from the Cang Qiong Mountain sect, Old  Master Chen. Apparently, two of his concubines died under the ‘Skinner’s’ hands.

“You cultivators must make a decision for us! I don’t dare let Butterfly leave my side, for fear that she’ll lose her way and be killed by that unnatural creature that very day!” The old man mournfully groaned, with tears dripping down his face. I understand that things are different here, but this is too jarring for me, who is from the modern era.

He’s not called ‘Old Man Chen’ for nothing, you know? He’s 60 years old and this concubine he’s fondling is probably a teenager by the looks of things! I was screaming in my head internally, hoping to call child services on him, but that doesn’t exist in this world.

I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep me from saying anything uncouth. This wasn’t my world and thus I had to adapt to their customs, no matter how much I didn’t want to.

Shizun, being the lofty expert, he was, coldly turned around and left. Ming Fan was left behind to greet the Old Master and go over some of the details with. This was the usual, so none of the disciples were surprised by it. It was one of those things, you know? It made you want to admire him.

We all dispersed, and I was thinking about what to do about this. It was weird that I hadn’t gotten a mission from the System yet, but I knew it was stupid of me to think positively now. It was only a matter of time before the system gave me the order to do something to progress the plot—unless…?

Hey, was this scene written in the original series?

[System: Answer, this scene was not written in the original series. This is a background story that the readers have no knowledge of.]

If that’s so… why do you still deduct OOC points from me if I act coldly towards Ning Yingying? Shouldn’t I be able to get away with it? --- That is what I wanted to ask, but I knew the answer to that even without asking it.

Even if I let loose because this wasn’t a part of the original story, it could still be referred to later. If I were to act differently, it raises the chances that this will be referred to in passing. A confusing narrative wouldn’t do anyone in this story any good.

I shook my head in dismay at the thought.

“No good? How about I ask Shizun first? I’m sure he’ll agree!”

I heard Ning Yingying’s voice beside me and I whipped my head to the side to see that she already ran off to find Shizun’s room. W-what was she saying just now? I was lost in my thoughts and I wasn’t listening. SHIT!

WAIT. NING YINGYING, COME BACK! Don’t do something that will put me in trouble with Shizun! I quickly followed after her, but she made it to Shizun’s door before I could bring her back.

“Shizun, Ying-er wants to go out for a turn in the market. Does Shizun wish to join me?” She asked him politely. My steps came to a steady halt and I let out a sigh of relief, fists unclenching, and shoulders relaxing. Luckily, she didn’t say anything that would trigger my death flag.

“If Ying-er wants to go out for a turn, go and find some of your apprentice-brothers to accompany you. This master still has things to do before we face the Skinner.”

Ning Yingying turned her head and flashed a playful smile and with light steps, she trotted over to my side. “Join me, A-Luo. Why don’t we look at the market together? We can see who else wishes to join us.” She grabbed my arm and tugged me along.

As I expected, my arm tensed up upon being touched. This wasn’t because I was nervous or anything like that, but I didn’t feel comfortable having this level of closeness with a girl. I’m a gay man, after all.

We didn’t bother to ask Ming Fan, because he was busy. He was probably doing most of the legwork for Shizun, so he wouldn’t have the time to check the market with us—luckily for me.

Speaking of Shizun, I personally think that he’s such a scummy character. For what reason did you have to hate me from the very get go? What did I ever do to you? He’s an authoritative figure, but he lets the other disciples bully me, and he sometimes joins in himself! Trashy.

That said, I was secretly excited to see what he would make of this Skinner. If I was right, this was probably the work of a demon, if I had to guess how a novel would progress. It’s not often you get to see a Master showing off his finesse and skills! Not only that, our Shizun had good looks! (Let’s ignore the fact that he’d probably come second to me once I grow up.)

What? I may think he’s trashy, but I won’t deny a good-looking man when I see one.

Walking side by side, we checked the market, looking at everything they had for sale. So many trinkets and food lined the market stalls and I looked on with amazement. I could only look on from afar when I was younger because of how poor me and my mother were.

Ah.

My hand unconsciously reached for my chest to grasp at nothing. Right, I don’t have my pendant anymore.

I’ve been dragged here and there to different stores and stalls by her already and even my saintly patience was coming to an end. Just as I was about to say something, Ning Yingying gasped aloud.

“Look! That looks so cute!” Ning Yingying let go of my arm in her excitement and she rushed to a store that sold accessories. It caught her attention and she was enthusiastically looking over the trinkets with a serious eye. “This one, isn’t it cute?” She pointed to a purple butterfly hairclip.

“I believe we should return soon. The day is getting late and surely the others will worry if we tarry much longer.”

She pouted in response, looking miffed. What? It’s true, so why are you upset?

[System: Ning Yingying feels slighted by Luo Binghe’s lack of interest in her appeal attempt. -10 affection points.]

Nice! Keep it up and she’ll move onto someone else, like Ming Fan. Then, he’ll hate me less, that jealous bigot! Still, 10 points is too little, but I’ve been burned enough to know that I should be grateful with whatever I can get.

“Hmph! No way! I want to stay out longer! If you want to go back so soon, catch me and drag me back!” She complained and ran off.

W-what a willful girl! Did your brain turn off? Have you forgotten that the Skinner is out there and it only attacks young girls like yourself!?

[System: Ning Yingying’s thoughtless action impedes her intelligence growth factor. -30 points.]

Whatever, I’ll deal with that later! I hastily gave chase and as soon as I turned the bend—she… she disappeared! How is that possible? She can’t just up and vanish into thin air! My heart beat quickly in fear. She’s gone. She’s really missing!

My feet hit the ground faster, and I could feel the ground shifting underneath my feet as I ran up and down the street, looking for her. I kept repeatedly calling her name, but no response! This isn’t good, this is really bad! She’s gone! Was she kidnapped in broad daylight? Did the Skinner capture her?

There’s no other way about it than to ask Shizun for help! I’ll accept my punishment later! She’s an important character in the progression of the story, so we can’t lose her yet, and I let her run off like an idiot!

I ran as quickly as I could (which is quite fast, might I add. As expected from my Protagonist stats), and I burst through the door. “Shizun!”

Inside was both Shizun and Ming Fan. He must have been giving Shizun the results of his research.

Shizun kept his cold visage even with me appearing so suddenly unannounced. “What is the matter for you to shout so loudly and be in such a panic?” He’s really got a face of ice.

I mentally shook my head of useless thoughts.

“Apprentice-sister Ning Yingying and this disciple went outside during the day to the market. I urged her to come back, but he refused. She ran off and I gave chase, but after she turned a corner, she disappeared. This disciple searched the entire street but couldn’t find her. I fear she may have been taken. I came back to ask for Shizun’s help. I will accept any punishment Shizun gives me as long as we can return her safely!” I solemnly pleaded for him to help Ning Yingying.

As much as I found her constant stickiness to be annoying as I didn’t return her affections, I didn’t hate her. She may be an idiot, and she may be overly sticky, but she had a good heart. Out of everyone on this peak, she treated me the best, and she only wanted the best for her. You could say she was my only friend on this peak, and I’d hate for her to die in some unnatural way.

“Luo Binghe! You…” Ming Fan seethed, but he couldn’t finish his sentence when an elegant motion from Shizun stole both our attention. Shizun’s sleeve waved, exploding the teacup that was sitting on the writing desk.

My entire body broke into shivers and I felt weak at the knees. Today is the day I die, but please, at least let me see that Ning Yingying is safe! I avoided my gaze to stare at the ground, wanting to escape from the anger that was emanating from Shizun’s face.

“Since things have already happened, there is no longer any use for words. Luo Binghe, you’ll be coming with me. Ming Fan, you bring your fellow apprentice-brothers to ask the Chen Family for their assistance in searching for your apprentice-sister. We will return her safely.” He spoke so resolutely with a commanding voice.

I dare not think he added the last part to soothe my panicked feelings. I knew that Shizun had a particular care for the apprentice-sisters, so that had to be his consideration of not wishing to lose a ‘flower’ of his peak.

My head continued to hang low as I dreaded the worst. I am quite used to receiving a beating, and as much as the system told me I had a Golden Halo that protected my life, I truly didn’t believe I could live to see another day because of how I lost Ning Yingying.

“This matter is all of this disciple’s fault. If Shizun wishes to punish me, this disciple has no regrets. This disciple only wishes to be able to help find apprentice-sister Ning Yingying and bring her back safely. Afterwards, even my life can be given to Shizun.”

Please… please let me see her safe. Aside from my mother, she’s the only one who treated me with genuine kindness. It’s such a shame, if I was straight, I’m sure I would have held feelings for her… but I’m gay. I just can’t see her that way, no matter how hard I could try. Keyword being ‘could’ because there’s no way I would try.

I know my preferences very well, thank you.

“Come over. Bring me to the last place you’ve seen your apprentice-sister.” Shizun’s cold voice spoke and I nodded my head slowly, hastily moving out the door to lead the way. The quicker I lead the way, the sooner we can find Ning Yingying!

I stopped when I reached the location I lost her, and I turned to Shizun to see he stood there with his eyes closed. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I could only guess he was trying to feel for any traces of anything suspicious—like evil energy.

Slowly he started walking with his eyes still closed and I trotted after him like a duckling, with anticipation growing in my chest. Ning Yingying, just wait! We’ll come and save you!

With every step we took, my confidence in finding her grew—until we stopped at a rouge shop.

“…”

“…”

A rouge shop?

“Could it be that the murderer isn’t hidden in this shop, but that they’ve visited this establishment before? Entering a rouge shop… a woman?” I heard Shizun murmur to himself.

An idea hit me.

Hey, system. Since this scene isn’t shown to the readers, it won’t be an issue to change some things, right?

[System: That is correct. As long as the changes are reasonable, the system will not punish the protagonist. What do you seek to change?]

I bit at my lower lip as I thought about this. I’m sure this mystery was going to be more contrived than I was willing to waste my time on.

Is it possible to make this mystery easier to solve?

[System: It is possible. Will you like to pay 100 points to activate Easy mode?]

YES!

After a couple of seconds, we could feel a strong evil energy! It raised goosebumps all along my back.

H-hey, isn’t that too much? That’s way too easy. That’s like kindergarten level easy.

We both proceeded towards the evil energy, and after about 500 steps, the path we were following deviated sharply from the city area and then we arrived at an abandoned and deserted house.

There is a pale lantern of the poor, dilapidated front date. It’s a haunted house, for sure. Something that you can find demons in.

See? I called it. The skinner had to be a demon. Shizun turned towards me who had been following him silently up until this point. I was hoping that if I avoided his attention, he wouldn’t send me away, but it seems like he finally remembered about my existence.

“Return to the Chen estate. Contact Ming Fan and tell him to bring all the sutras with him and lead all your apprentice-brothers to come here together.” He gave this order.

I was about to answer, but I saw an ominous shadow appear from behind Shizun. IT’S THE SKINNER! The only reaction I was able to make was the shrinking of my pupils and recognizing that my heart skipped a beat.

A gust of yin wind blew and the front gates slammed open. The Skinner attacked Shizun! That’s the last thing I saw before I too, was knocked out.

“A-Luo… A-Luo, wake up. You’re … -ring me. Are you okay?” A whimpering voice beside my ear sounded, but it kept cutting out as I was struggling to keep my focus together.

I recognize that voice! I shook the sleep away from my head and—NING YINGYING! She’s still alive! Thank goodness! I almost wanted to cry—but no good protagonist cries so easily.

My tears aren’t cheap.

“You’re awake! Thank goodness! I was so worried you’d never open your eyes again! Now… there’s… only…” Ning Yingying’s once ecstatic reaction turned very timid and flustered. That wasn’t a reaction I was familiar with.

Following her line of eyesight, I saw--!!!! THE MOST UNBELIEVABLE SIGHT!

SHIZUN. WAS. STRIPPED. BARE!

SHIT, HE’S AWAKE!

In my panic, I turned to look away, flushing a deep red.

I’M GOING TO DIE, I’M GOING TO DIE! HE’S GOING TO MURDER ME IN COLD BLOOD. HE WILL RID OF ANY AND ALL EVIDENCE OF THIS BLACK STAIN ON HIS REPUTATION!

AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YOU, YOU SHITTY-ASS SYSTEM!

EASY MODE, MY ASS! WHAT USE IS AN EASY MODE IF IT RESULTS IN TRIGGERING MY DEATH FLAG!?

I quickly turned my gaze away from Shizun who was still unconscious.

“I feel so bad for Shizun…” Ning Yingying whispered quietly under her breath.

Feel bad for Shizun? Feel bad for ourselves! He’ll kill us to keep his honor intact, I’m sure of it! You’re such an idiot, Ning Yingying!

Shizun was tied up with his top half stripped bare. He still had his pants and his boots on, thank goodness.

No, I won’t admit that I took the time to admire his pristine white skin.

“Shizun, you’ve finally woken up. Yingying is very scared…” She whimpered pathetically. Is this… a ploy to trigger his protective feelings towards you?

[System: Ning Yingying has chosen to summon tears to curb Shen Qingqiu’s anger. +20 crafty points]

What a sly fox! Good job, Ning Yingying! Honestly, I’m in awe.

A burst of weird laughter came from behind Shizun.

���Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s great and lofty expert is nothing great, it seems. The world’s number one big sect, the Cang Qiong Mountain sect is only at this standard. This means the Demon Realm’s rise is just around the corner.” The voice from before burst into loud laughter once more.

The person was covered entirely in black veils, with a coarse voice that was unpleasant to hear.

“The Skinner?”

“Hehe~ The famous Xiu Ya sword has fallen into my hands, I’m so happy! Shen Qingqiu, oh Shen Qingqiu, even if you break open your head, you won’t be able to guess who I am!” This demon seemed so sure of themselves, even I could guess who they were. Even without the use of the easy mode.

“What’s so hard to guess?”

“…”

“You are Butterfly.”

I nodded my head in tandem to his conjecture. As expected from the intelligent Shizun. You’ve come to the right conclusion. Let’s ignore the Ning Yingying who is looking very confused next to me.

“Impossible! How could you guess my identity correctly!” She cast aside the black veils and demanded to know irritably. How couldn’t you know?

Even if I don’t care for women, I’m not blind enough to not tell you are a woman by your silhouette. Look at the décor of this place. This isn’t something you can find in any random place. If we’re going by classic novel tropes, the culprit is always who you least suspect—the next ‘victim’ to be. Knowing that this world is a part of a novel made it easy to guess that it had to be you.

I’m not sure what information Shizun had, but I’m sure his reasoning is unfathomable to the rest of us, and he deemed us too unworthy to impart his great wisdom, so he didn’t open his mouth.

Butterfly gave up on waiting. “The Skinner is untraceable not because I have an exceedingly high ability, but it’s because I always switched skins after killing someone. By wearing the skins of those women and imitating their behavior, I was able to pass unnoticed in the confusion of the search for the next target.”

“That’s wrong.”

Huh? What’s wrong, Shizun?

“Where is it wrong?”

“Even if you switched skins after you killed someone every time, for example, after killing butterfly—you don her skin, you become ‘Butterfly’ but there is still her skinned body left over. Won’t someone find it strange if there are two?”

!!!

He couldn’t be referring to DNA analysis, could he? I thought of it myself, so maybe that’s why I’m so sensitive to his words… but…it couldn’t be?

Call me crazy, but… Shizun shouldn’t be able to have his mindset, right? For me, someone from the modern era, we have such a thing as DNA analysis, but the Shizun of this world shouldn’t have knowledge of such a thing, right?

It’s possible he has some magical method as a peak lord… but this is too weird. If I’ve transmigrated into the novel, what’s to say another person couldn’t migrate over as well?

Let me guess, you won’t let me know?

[System: Correct. The system cannot let you know if another person is a transmigrator like yourself.]

Figures.

It’s not a problem if I figure it out on my own right? Will you stop me from testing him?

[System: The system has no power to stop you from making your own conjectures about Shen Qingqiu.]

Perfect.

If he’s another transmigrator like me, maybe we can come to an understanding. If he’s another transmigrator, I can tell him, right?

[System: Answer, that is false. You are the protagonist and the readers are following your moves constantly. Any scene you are with Shen Qingqiu are regarded with high importance due to the bullying aspect. Therefore, you will be unable to tell Shen Qingqiu without letting the readers know of the truth. IF you found Shen Qinqiu to be another transmigrator, you must keep your silence.]

You really like to kick me down, don’t you? Just when I thought I found myself an ally, you kick me down.

A/N: Fufu yes, both of them asked for Easy mode, which means it’s SUPER EASY MODE. lol

                                     [Previous] … [Table of Contents] … [Next]

[thisworldourhell]

Me, Myself, and I

I’m an old fogey (over the age of 30) who hasn’t roleplayed on Tumblr in almost 3 years. I was asked by a friend to come back and give Dorian a try (mostly because she wanted someone to play her Tobias off of.)  I agreed, but I’m still re-learning how Tumblr (and the new version of Xkit) work, so I’m asking everyone to be patient with me.

My online time will be extremely limited.  If we’re RPing, please don’t expect replies often.  Probably about once a month or so will be the norm.

I tend to be a very private person and I don’t like sharing personal information.  Please don’t ask or press me for anything or expect me to share just because you’re sharing with me.

If having a name to call me makes you more comfortable, I’ll answer to Vash.  I don’t have any pronoun preferences.

I don’t do a lot of OOC chatting unless it’s related to our RP.  It’s nothing against you, it’s just the kind of person I am.

I don’t have a Discord or a Skype, but you can use Tumblr’s new IM system to talk to me.  However, don’t expect instant replies to anything, please, even if it looks like I’m on and active.

In Regards to the Blog

My blog is multiverse, meaning all interactions take place separately unless discussed beforehand.

I’ll write with different versions of the same canon characters, so don’t be afraid to approach me if I’m already writing with the same muse that you have. 

I’m happy to write with original characters, blogs with multiple muses, and blogs that have illustrated and/or animated face claims.

I’m not comfortable writing with blogs that portray real, living people.  You can follow me; I won’t block you. But our muses won’t be interacting. The same thing goes for individuals who’ve recently died.

Dorian’s story being what it is, I’m open to writing with certain historical figures, but I’d prefer that your muse has been dead for no less than (approximately) 50 years

This blog isn’t Mutuals-Only, but I reserve the right to turn down RPs when and if I feel like it.  Please respect my choices.

I enjoy crossovers and alternate universe plots.  Talk to me about your ideas and we can work something out.

A firm reminder that IC =/= OOC or visa versa. My ideals and morals aren’t reflected in the expressions/actions/thoughts/etc. of my muse.  If Dorian has said or done something that makes you uncomfortable OOC, then please TALK TO ME about it before making assumptions.  

Following Procedures

If I’ve followed you, I’ve read your rules. However, I DON’T believe in the concept of having to ‘prove’ that I’ve read them. No exceptions. If your rules require a password or something else along those lines and you follow me first I’ll assume you’ve read this rule and decided to make an exception.

Follow backs will typically happen as long as you’re a roleplay blog. There are a few reasons I might not, but that doesn’t always mean I don’t want to write with you or your muse.  Typically, it just means I have reasons that I don’t want something on your blog on my dash.  It’s not personal, and you can still ask to plot if you’d like to.

However - on that note - if you have ANY kind of negativity in your rules, I won’t be following back and we probably won’t be writing together any time soon.  Due to prior experiences (part of the reason I left 3 years ago) I’m not a fan of blogs that have (for example) ‘Don’t follow if’ lists, lists of banned faceclaims, ‘callouts’ regarding other blogs, etc.

How I Write

In regards to formatting of any kind (small font, icons, font embellishments, etc.) I’m okay to let you do you as long as you’re okay to let me do me.

Regardless of the reasons, if I can’t understand you well enough to plot with you adequately and/or construct replies for you, we won’t make good writing partners.  I’m sorry; it’s not personal.

Even with things like sentence starters, I prefer to do at least a little plotting in advance.  So, if you send me a roleplay starter of any kind, don’t be surprised if I slide into your messages to talk about it before replying.

I don’t mind minor god-modding.  If (for example) you need Dorian to follow yours, and you don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t, then it’s okay to make it happen. It saves time and helps keep the roleplay flowing smoothly.  However, for anything where you’re unsure what Dorian would do, please talk to me first.  The same goes for meta-gaming. Unless your muse has a real reason to know things about Dorian, please don’t.

Please be aware - if our roleplays seem to constantly die rather than receive proper endings, I’m less likely to seek out future interactions.  It’s NOT a punishment, it’s just how I prefer my roleplaying experience to be.  We can still be friends and support each other within the community, we just probably shouldn't be writing partners.

Shipping & other Potentially NSFW Things

Chemistry.  Not just between the characters, but between the writers, too.  It NEEDS to be there. I’m actually casual about starting ships because this is Dorian Gray, but if I feel like it’s not working out for whatever reason, I reserve the right to tell you so and end things.

I’m 30+ years old and Dorian is even older than that (and highly enjoys his promiscuity), so smut can (and probably will) happen.  It’ll always be tagged NSFW and put under a ‘Read More.’ If I miss something, tell me.  Politely, please.

More about smut - if you’re not 18 or older it’s not going to happen. Not even ‘fade to black.’  I don’t think you’re immature, or that you don’t know anything about sex. The short of it is, if your parents/guardians somehow found out they could PUT ME IN PRISON. I would also go on a sex offenders list for the REST OF MY LIFE.  And the real kick in the pants is that is doesn’t matter if I knew your real age or if you lied to me about it. Writing smut with someone underage could LITERALLY ruin my life. Please - just don’t.

Other NSFW topics - I’m okay with almost anything with the right plotting.  This IS Dorian Gray, after all.  Ask and we can talk/plot.

Everything I consider ‘questionable content’ is lumped under the NSFW tag.  If we’re writing together and there is something you REALLY have an issue with, come talk to me about it.

The Dregs

Contact me however is best/easiest for you, but don’t expect instant replies - even when it looks like I’m online.  If you haven’t heard from me in a couple of weeks, you’ve got my permission to give me another nudge.

Have a question about something here?  Or about something I didn’t cover? It’s okay to send me an ask.

[racingtoaredlight]

THE DEGENERATE’S GUIDE TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL TV WATCH ‘EM UPS 2021: WEEK THREE: THE END OF THE BEGINNING OF THE END

We’re still really in the early middle of the year. Sure, Oregon looked powerful against Ohio State but it’s possible Ohio State just hasn’t found it’s footing yet and the Ducks just peaked. Shit happens like that every year, more or less. You can pretty much count on Bama to win 10 and not much else. That only applies to football. The continued stratification of social classes, the accelerating collapse of natural systems that support human life, the complete lack of representation the average American in our freedom loving democracy- you can count on those things. Football is different, though: wilder but more ordered while somehow being better and stupider than real life all at the same time. It’ll be fun to all more or less die together, I think. So let’s get to the games!

I forget the business reason for having more major OOC games that actually stay on the schedule but we’re reaping the rewards for now. You know the rules: eastern times, average vegas odds at the time of writing, prediction abilities are bad on a good day, there’s supposed to be a weekly RTARLsman post but I haven’t done a real one in about 21 months, formatting errors up to and including listing the teams incorrectly aren’t worth pointing out because nobody’s coming to fix them anyway. I don’t expect professionalism out of you so don’t ask it out of me.

Saturday, September 18

Matchup                      Time (ET)        TV/Mobile

NIU at 25 Michigan     12:00pm            BTN

It’s easy to say Michigan is due for a self-inflicted dick kick the trick is to predict ahead of time when exactly the embarrassing, season-unraveling loss will come. I don’t think it’s today but I also don’t have a lot of faith in Michigan to cover a 27-point spread.

UAlbany at Syracuse     12:00pm        ACCN

I find it hard to believe Albany’s football program is in such disrepair that they don’t even warrant a line against Syracuse. I think we’ve had five 1AA-over 1A upsets so far this season. I couldn’t possibly watch this game but I’ll keep an eye out for it on the ticker. Syracuse is bad enough to lose anywhere to anybody.

  Tennessee Tech at Tennessee   12:00pm    ESPN+/SECN+

I should probably find a site that lists the good games at the top of each time slot instead of this free for all.

Western Michigan at Pitt     12:00pm    RSN/ESPN3

Pitt has actually looked pretty good so far but they don’t have an AP ranking yet. I can’t say much for this matchup so I just assume the Panthers cover the -14.5 and get a little number next to their name next week.

15 Virginia Tech at West Virginia     12:00pm    FS1

This is actually of some interest to me. Virginia Tech is ranked 15 on account of beating UNC but it’s not hard to imagine that neither the Hokies nor the Heels are actually worthy of a ranking. WFV is favored at home but still might trigger some couch burning and “upset” talk with a win. The Mountaineers are this week’s new collection from Homefield Apparel so expect some magic!

Boston College at Temple        12:00pm     ESPNU

Old Big East rivalry game. Nobody can look away.

Chattanooga at Kentucky         12:00pm     ESPN+/SECN+

I thought Chattanooga had moved up to 1A but there’s no line listed for this game so I guess not.

8 Cincinnati at Indiana           12:00pm            ESPN

Indiana was good last year and maybe that was just a once-in-a-generation fluke but I’ve still got visions of the Hoosiers toppling Cincy and ruining their theoretically possible playoff run. I’m assuming the Bearcats won’t play anybody else better than IU this year but that’s just a guess backed by historical precedent which isn’t a thing you should really use to gamble on college football.

16 Coastal Carolina at Buffalo    12:00pm      ESPN2

Chanticleers vs. Bulls, the eternal struggle writ in football. I don’t think the CSUNY school is particularly good this year but Coastal being favorited by 14 points in an early kickoff road games still feels like a trap to this sharp.

Michigan State at 24 Miami (FL)     12:00pm    ABC

Surprisingly to me, this is the fifth all-time meeting of these two schools. Just as surprising to me, Miami has never before lost to Michigan State. Weird but makes sense if you think about it, this will be the fourth out of five matchups played in Miami. As near as I can tell, Sparty tried to use the Canes the same way Notre Dame used to as an in-season bowl game but bailed on the idea when they kept losing. To be fair, Sparty’s record in bowl games isn’t that much better than their 0-4 against Miami. The last time these two met was 1989 when Percy Snow was on his way to the Butkus Award and Miami was on their way to a third National Championship. The Hurricanes team was pretty well-stacked but is probably the least remembered of their title teams. It did feature future Hall of Famer Cortez Kennedy and a freshman OL that would go on to be September 2021′s hottest head coach in cfb, Mario Cristobal. This year’s Miami roster might look good in 30 years but right now they’re a little messy. D’Eriq King is only 8 months removed from ACL surgery (if you watch the game you will hear about this several hundred time) and has so far looked bad on his throws and a touch slower than he has in the past. Which makes sense given the timeframe but does not generally bode well for Miami’s prospects for this season.

Nebraska at 3 Oklahoma         12:00pm         FOX

If Oklahoma is a real title contender they are gonna lay Nebraska the fuck out. I’m scared of the 22.5-point line just because I don’t think the Sooners defense could stop Bishop Sycamore but it’s not crazy to think Nebraska can saw their own dicks off to the tune of a four-score loss.

New Mexico at 7 Texas A&M     12:00pm       SECN

Fuck. Jimbo must be stopped. I hate this Aggies team. UNM isn’t the team to do it but somebody along the way has to throttle aTm or this season is going to become a plague the likes of which we haven’t seen since... well, now, I guess.

UConn at Army                 12:00pm         CBSSN

Reading this matchup aloud five times in a mirror will kill college football.

Southeast Missouri at Missouri      12:00pm       ESPN+/SECN+

The southeastern part of the state will travel to within the bounds of the state for a classic football game somewhere within the borders of the state.

Minnesota at Colorado            1:00pm         P12N

I’m not completely disinterested. It’s weird and doesn’t have any national impact. Not much more you can ask for in a game you probably can’t find on your TV.

Nevada at Kansas State          2:05pm          ESPN+

Hell yeah, this is trash. Nevada is a road favorite! Take KState all the way.

Purdue at 12 Notre Dame         2:30pm          NBC

Notre Dame has looked a little bit of a mess so far but they’ve won both of their games. Not the worst position to be in. Purdue has also won both of their games. I don’t want to get my hopes up just yet but it seems like the Irish are riding the razor’s edge just asking to be pushed off. Keep an eye on this score, maybe the good people of the world will have something to celebrate in the late afternoon/early evening.

Kent State at 5 Iowa                 3:30pm         BTN

Iowa’s fifth? It’s too fucking early for this shit.

Florida State at Wake Forest     3:30pm         ESPN

0-2 Florida State goes on the road as a 4-point underdog to face 2-0 Wake Forest. Mike Norvell is really out on a plank right now and I am not sure he can safely find his way back to the deck.

Georgia Tech at 6 Clemson        3:30pm          ABC

Clemson’s got talent all over and Georgia Tech sucks but I’m still not sold on DJ Uigalelei as an NFL savior type of player. Or a national championship winner for that matter. He reminds me of EJ Manuel.

Baylor at Kansas                    3:30pm             ESPN+

Baylor is not good but the betting public is getting hip to the “bet against Kansas every chance you get” strategy so the line has jumped four points already this week and I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes it another couple before kickoff to get to 20+. Which is still probably too kind to the Jayhawks.

1 Alabama at 11 Florida           3:30pm           CBS

Bama has only had a couple of practice games against lower division opponents but they look as complete as any team I can remember from a talent/scheme perspective. This is a pretty good test and the 15-point line seems a little over-confident on the road in the Swamp. If the Bammers really do overwhelm the Gators then you can pretty much start planning on their return to the CFB Playoffs.

Tulsa at 9 Ohio State                3:30pm            FS1

Every week of every year I struggle to keep Tulsa and Toledo straight. Toledo is the one that almost beat Notre Dame last week. Tulsa is the one that lost to UC-Davis in week 1. Ohio State may be troubled on defense but that only matters against other top-tier teams. Having the line moving in Tulsa’s direction is absolute lunacy. If the Buckeyes can’t cover 25 points then they’re in real trouble. For now my guess is that Oregon is just better than we realized and OSU is going to be fine.

SMU at Louisiana Tech             3:30pm         CBSSN

This is my kind of counter-programming if nothing else is close. Not sure if there are some ponies down to have points shifting towards the Karl Malones but I think SMU is up to a two-score win.

LIU at Miami (Ohio)                    3:30pm          ESPN+

Sure, whatever you say.

USC at Washington State         3:30pm            FOX

At first I thought this was USC-UW and I was ready to emotionally invest in the drama but it’s just Wazzou. USC giving up on a playoff spot in week two to sit around and wait for Urban Meyer is going to be fucking hilarious when the Trojans end up getting jilted at the altar.

Idaho at Oregon State                3:30pm           P12N Oregon

Pac-12 Network Oregon. This implies the existence of a P12N Washington. I’ve seen the main network on TV before. It was fine if a little bit too “featuring Matt Leinart” for my tastes but seeing the weird way they’ve splintered their content is giving me a deeper understanding of west coast football fans that absolutely hate the Pac-12 Network.

Bryant at Akron                           3:30pm           ESPN3

Tune in to see some guy named Bryant touring around Akron.

Elon at Appalachian State          3:30pm           ESPN+

I hope App State runs this grifter out of their campus on a rail. The more bad stuff happens to Elon Musk the better off all of humanity will be.

Delaware at Rutgers                   3:30pm             BTN

Fuck me, this is just all the pain in the world masquerading as a sporting event.

Eastern Michigan at UMass         3:30pm          FloFootball/NESN+

I don’t have much interest in this game but seeing that it’s available on the Nintendo Entertainment System Network is intriguing.

Colorado State at Toledo              4:00pm           ESPNU

Toledo blew a huge opportunity last week so they’re ripe for a letdown but all signs point to Colorado State being incredibly bad at football this year.

Sacramento State at California    4:00pm          P12N Bay Area

P12N Bay Area probably reaches cable subscribers in like Vallejo and nowhere else in the entire world. When I put it that way it seems like exactly where this game belongs but it’s still not a thing that should exist. I mean the network but it’s true for the game also.

Northwestern at Duke              4:00pm              ACCN

Disgusting.

Mississippi State at Memphis        4:00pm          ESPN2

I think Memphis can knock down the SEC’s middle tier but I haven’t gotten a clear idea of either of these teams yet.

Georgia Southern at 20 Arkansas       4:00pm      SECN

Arkansas rose up last week because of the weird insistence by Lice Dad that playing a middling Texas team was the biggest game in school history. Arkansas has played in the SEC CG more than once. They’ve won a national championship. How does a guy that’s paid to be an SEC homer even make such a dumb statement and keep his job?

Ball State at Wyoming                  4:00pm             Stadium

I watched the CFB 150 episode about the Black 14 this week so now it’s all I can think about for Wyoming football.

Arkansas State at Washington       4:15pm            P12N

What the hell happened to UDub to fall back to this lowly spot? Did Chris Peterson just fall on his ass in recruiting?

Murray State at Bowling Green       5:00pm           ESPN3

This sounds like a sixties movie title for a spy agency thriller that could be mistaken for a comedy when not viewed through a then-contemporary lens.

East Carolina at Marshall                 6:00pm         Facebook

ECU is looking like a doormat and Marshall might be really good again but I would never in good conscience ever contribute to facebook’s good fortunes wittingly.

Fordham at Florida Atlantic             6:00pm             ESPN3

I want to love this game but I actually hate it.

Old Dominion at Liberty                    6:00pm           ESPN3

There is going to be so much COVID passed around this stadium.

Middle Tennessee at UTSA                6:00pm          ESPN+

Beautiful, horrible, unwatchable mess. This is where you go to feel like you are alone in the universe.

Troy at Southern Miss                        7:00pm             ESPN+

There’s also this.

Grambling State at Houston               7:00pm             ESPN+

And this one.

Utah at San Diego State                      7:00pm            CBSSN

This is real entertainment. Twitter will be all over the next listing so I’ll be FOMO’d into watching that for a while but SDSU-Utah on CBS SN might be where I first dreamt up the concept of degenerate football. It was either that or a UFL game featuring a QB duel between Daunte Culpepper and Jeff Garcia.

South Carolina at 2 Georgia               7:00pm             ESPN

I’m waiting for Georgia to bumble. I’m counting on it. Georgia-Clemson was a classic early season game that somehow helps both teams in the rankings all year but ends up actually being a showcase of how shitty their offense are rather than a referendum on great defense.

UIW at Texas State                             7:00pm              ESPN3

I think UIW is a union trade school or something. So I guess I’m rooting for them.

Charlotte at Georgia State                 7:00pm              ESPN+

Charlotte’s semester in Atlanta would shape her life in ways that nobody could have envisioned when she left her family’s home in the late summer following her failed attempt to run a bakeshop.

FIU at Texas Tech                              7:00pm             ESPN+

Maybe I actually hate college football.

Florida A&M at USF                           7:00pm             ESPN+

USF could lose this. Worth checking on if you see an upset alert.

Furman at NC State                          7:30pm            RSN/ESPN3

Body bag game.

Utah State at Air Force                     7:30pm             FS2

Kind of neat degenerate game but, depending on the uniform choices, could be a bit monotone and tough to follow.

Virginia at 21 North Carolina             7:30pm             ACCN

The South’s Oldest Rivalry! Like most of the previous 125 meetings of these two school’s, this year’s game will mainly decide who sucks worse. Of course in the ACC Coastal being slightly less bad than your opponents is the winningest strategy of all. Go Hoos!

Stony Brook at 4 Oregon                   7:30pm            P12N

Great scheduling to follow up an emotional game with a body bag. I’m not being facetious, this is right where you need these games.

UAB at North Texas                          7:30pm           Stadium

Not gonna open an app or whatever to watch this but I bet it’s fun for off-brand college football.

Central Michigan at LSU                  7:30pm             SECN

LSU at home at night is supposed to be the best atmosphere in college football. Way better than a 19.5-point line against Central Michigan. What stage of LSU’s life cycle are we in right now?

22 Auburn at 10 Penn State               7:30pm            ABC

War goddamn Eagle, baby. Penn State is doing that stupid white out thing which, correct if I’m wrong again, only goes for the people in the stands. So they’ll all be dressed up in pretty much Auburn’s road colors to watch Auburn. I hate Auburn but I really hate Penn State.

Alcorn State at South Alabama          8:00pm           ESPN3

Things are looking rough for the rest of the docket.

Rice at Texas                                      8:00pm            LHN

A battle of equals.

Stanford at Vanderbilt                        8:00pm           ESPNU

Look at this American aristocracy horse shit. Fuck these schools and the teams of horses that carried them in.

Tulane at 17 Mississippi                      8:00pm              ESPN2

The racist south may just have the nation’s best QB. It’s a good year for Matt Corral to show off his arm strength because 2022 is not looking like a bumper crop of QB draftees at this far off date. He’s small for the position but Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield and Russell Wilson are all smaller. If the arm talent is real he could go #1 overall.

Jackson State at ULM                         8:00pm              ESPN3

Nope.

SC State at New Mexico State            8:00pm           FloFootball / CW El Paso

Sorry.

Oklahoma State at Boise State              9:00pm          FS1

Whoa whoa whoa. This is uniform heaven. And on the blue turf? Your eyes will burn. Embrace that feeling.

Northern Arizona at Arizona                  10:00pm          P12N AZ

P12N AZ. Holy shit. What the hell were these people thinking? This has to be the smallest demo ever targeted by a network.

19 Arizona State at 23 BYU                     10:15pm          ESPN

Seeing these teams face off as ranked opponents is very weird. Real late 80s vibe here. It’s titillating in its way. Might not even be the most fun game in the late night region.

14 Iowa State at UNLV                           10:30pm           CBSSN

UNLV is an absolute wasteland of a program. It’s kind of stupid, really. They aren’t in an unsellable spot and they don’t play the most rugged schedule but year after year after year they lose 9 or more games. Makes more sense than not having a good baseball program but there should be some G5 magic in Vegas. Iowa State is going to roll.

Fresno State at 13 UCLA                       10:45pm            P12N

Chip Kelly having UCLA as the premier program in L.A. is something I couldn’t have seen coming just last week but we’re there now. And Fresno State plays some wild offense that could/should make this the late night hangout spot. If you can find it. If you have this channel. That shouldn’t be a question! Fuckin’ a, Pac-12, what are you doing?

San Jose State at Hawaii                      12:30am            FS1

Technically a Sunday game but I cut the header because if you’re watching this there is an implicit understanding that it’s still Saturday. Not sure what’s going on with the kick time, though. I was under the impression that Hawaii games had to kick off by 11:59pm Eastern to count with the rest of the week’s games. Very odd. That’s really all I have to say about this game.

[godsandvillainsrpg-blog]

Congratulations, TERRY! You have been accepted as MAXIMILIANO MANCINI.

Note from Admin Jade: If a slippery creature has every roamed this earth, it’s Max Mancini — and Terry, you captured his essence so well that I couldn’t contain my ear-to-ear smile by the end of your sample. You showed me every aspect that defines who he is — from the overpowering ego to the way he’ll tell you what you need to hear with a smile on his lips before literally stabbing you in the back.. Or in this case, pushing you off a balcony. You did such an amazing job of showing us exactly where his priorities lie — with himself, because everyone else is expendable. Max is a dangerous player in this game, and I’ve got a feeling he’ll be even more so in your hands. I can’t wait to see where his ambitions take him with you behind the wheel!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Name: Let us know your name, alias, or whatever you’d like to be addressed as.

Terry

Age: There is no age limit for this group, but we ask that all applicants ensure they’re comfortable with mature themes.

30

Preferred Pronouns: All OOC pronouns will be added to our masterlist.

He or They pronouns

Timezone: All timezones will be added to our masterlist.

Eastern

Activity Level: Describe in words how active you believe you’ll be able to be.

I’m more prone to work during the afternoon/evening almost every day so I’m unable to be “on” during that time. Other than that I’m aiming to be active always at some point.

Triggers: All players’ triggers will be added to our triggers page and must be tagged accordingly.

REMOVED

Anything Else? If you’d like to request an approved FC change, please do so here.

Nope. Not really.

IN CHARACTER

Desired Character: Who are you hoping to portray?

Maximilano Mancini

Describe this character in your own words: Beyond what’s stated in the biography, who is this character to you? What aspects of their history and personality most shape them? Here is your opportunity to expand on what was provided in the bio and show us you know this character better than we do.

Some may call him a snake, in which he really doesn’t mind the term. It’s unpredictable. Stealthy. Lethal when needed to be; the right recipe that makes Maximillano the way that he is. Max is a very intricate person if you’re not in the knows of what’s going on. His strengths are undoubtedly his weaknesses, and while the man has been damn near perfect in his occupation, he’s always had his eye out for something more. He was like a squirrel just weeks before the Winter season would start, trying to hoard as many acorns as possible for his own personal gain. In Max’s case, it was always the promise of being at the helm of the family, any one for that matter. Sure, he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to get his hands dirty every now and again, but his real passion waited for him at the top of the highest ladder, where his success would be rewarded with the promise of power, riches, and fame. That’s what he really wanted anyway.

But one can only be ambitious for so long before toes get stepped on, when disappointment awakened a few inner demons you wouldn’t have known existed otherwise. Max had been fucked over plenty of times in his life, and to think it all started in his own home all those years ago. Then Cassius dug the knife deeper when he’d chosen Stavros for that nifty right hand man position. By then, Max was seeing red, and all of his energy went into making sure the Giordano family paid for this stupid ass decision. These experiences has taught the man who to befriend and who to leave astray, all for the sake of his own foolish and selfish goal. The new rift between the family was the perfect opportunity for Max to start fresh and anew from the other side, but even he is impatient to see his results come to life in just a short amount of time.

Still, Max isn’t going away any time soon. Sure, he’s not gonna complain too much about where he’s at now, but you can’t deny the fact that his strategy is headed in the right direction, slowly, but surely. And you can guarantee that Max will be wherever you least expect it, while his victims are oblivious of the threat that lingers behind them in the shadows just like a snake, the same one they forced him to be.

What are this character’s motives? What drives this character? What are their goals?

Max’s harmful ambition of wanting to be at the top is one of his main motivators of getting the job done. Plus, he loves his daily grind of espionage, or as he likes to call it: information brokering. It’s a pasttime he holds near and dear, and it’s where he’s out in his element doing what he does best. Lying, cheating. Perhaps killing. Anything to give the family a better edge in society, even if he has to plow through those he considered friends once upon a time. He wants nothing more than to get drunk off of his own lust for revenge while dishing out pain and havoc to anyone that falls in his way. Getting rid of Harland and taking his place beside Celine is Max’s ultimate goal and endgame, for anything that happens to him otherwise may result in major failure. Maybe even death.

What potential plots do you foresee for this character? Where do you see this character’s story going? What potential storylines would you like to explore, both with the character themselves and as a part of the group as a whole?

REMOVED

Would you be open to this character’s death? Though we’d love to keep all characters alive and well in an ideal world, the nature of this group may put some characters’ lives in danger at one point or another. Should your character’s death be necessary for the furthering of the plot, would you be open to the idea of killing them off and working with the admin team to create a new role for you to take on?

REMOVED

PARA SAMPLE

9 kilometers to go.

The saying is that money can never buy anyone happiness; a cute little deterrent to keep the poor where they were. And in all honesty, money would only lead you down a horrible path to trouble and greed. Trouble because everyone wanted to take it from you, greed because you wanted to hoard as much as you allow yourself to. Though this never stopped the mighty billionaires of the world from cranking the rusty wheel of this damned planet. Max fell somewhere along the middle of it all. He had the greed, as to everyone did, but the trouble was something he never tangoed with. It certainly helped him get out of a jam a time or two. Everyone had a price. All they had to do was name it.

With his eyes fixed on a segment on CNN, Max sat on his top-of-the-line cycling machine, pedaling through his weekly workout segment for 15 miles. Age wasn’t a factor when it came to keeping himself in shape, and since the man didn’t smoke nor drink himself into a drunken stupor on a regular basis, activities such as this were easy to keep up with. His choice of clothing consisted of nothing but gym shorts and sneakers, but fuck it. No one else would see him like that anyway…Except if you were the housekeeper. Or perhaps Ruby whenever she needed to be at his side. But that was it. No one else.

There had been an alert coming from the bike’s computer system, indicating that Max was now heading into rough terrain while continuing on his “trail”. The bike’s gears locked up and suddenly placed pressure on the pedals, giving him the feeling that he was now pedaling uphill. Max then lifted himself from the seat of the bike and rode. Panting. Pedaling. Panting. Pedaling. Muscles shifting and contorting under the stress of going through this exercise, a thin layer of sweat coated his scalp and shoulders. The burning sensation traveling through his body felt good, serving as an escape from the world around him. He was a junkie for it; the only pain he could take without seeking some type of vengeance for it. The man biked through his virtual adventure, all until there was a voice that could be heard on the other side of the room.

“Mr. Mancini,” the housekeeper began. “You have a visitor.” Standing beside the young woman - which was an odd yet usual request for Max to have - was a middle aged man, gripping a white envelope as he waited to be greeted. Max kept pedaling a while longer, though stopped completely before drinking a sip of water. “Leave us.” he ordered.

The housekeeper immediately fell back into her job, leaving the two men alone in his personal space. Max stood from his seat while the visitor watched the young housekeeper rush to her duties, doing anything to keep his eyes from the man before him. “Join me on the balcony. Would you like a drink?”

“N-no…thanks.” The man replied. Good, because Max wasn’t going to give him anything, not without good news this damn time around. The man had proven to be inadequate of his duties in recent weeks, and Max had enough of his incompetence. This small meeting today would go on to prove whether he would live or die. The outcome was about as random as winning the lottery.

The thing about Max and his work was that he hated talking on the phone, just as much as he hated texting. Breadcrumbs could be left anywhere these days, and without strong, top of the line security from outsiders of all kinds, risking his neck for the sake of his job was something he couldn’t let slip through his fingers. With that, he had people make his calls, talk to people face to face instead of on the phone, even going as far as speaking to one another in cryptic messages so that whoever was listening didn’t know what was going on. Some may say it was paranoia that fueled the man to keep his tracks clean, but to Max, it enabled him to keep control on who did what and where. He could watch anyone he damn well pleased, but no one watched Maximillano Mancini. No one.

The two men walked to the balcony of Max’s home away from home with him taking lead. A towel had been draped around his neck, giving him some sort of comfort as the near hot air caused his body a shiver. Cutting to the chase, the man hands over Max the envelope that was in his hands without a moment to spare. It was nothing important to anyone else, but once Max gazed at the list of numbers - coordinates that you would find on a map, rather - in front of him, he smiled like the Grinch on Christmas. Pure evil and delight danced around his blackened heart.

“You’ve done something right for a change. Now I don’t have to break one of your appendages again in order to get your useless ass in gear.” Max smiled, although never really cared for the fear that started to appear on the man’s expressions. Max had been known to make an example out of someone just to keep everyone in check, but he’d never had time to do such a thing lately. That only meant that everyone was following orders like they should’ve been in the first place.

Max placed the paper back inside the envelope, and clutched it in his hand in order to give his hardworking minion a pat on the back, or rather, a hard tug into the balcony’s gate. The moment the man noticed it was too late to do anything was when he fought for his life, but Max was the stronger being out of the two, and flipped him right over the edge, where he fell seven stories down onto the concrete below. The man’s body bounced on the back of his head and neck, breaking and shattering bones before leaving him for dead. The only thing Max had done was stare down at the body, watching as his soul would tear away from his body. Slowly, but surely, life would eventually meet death. The man was expendable, and his fuckups had lead to his downfall, right down to the very end. It was great because he was an outside associate to the family, and that he wouldn’t be missed by anyone important. Again, Max didn’t care. He didn’t need knuckle draggers risking everything that was important to him. Not right now. As he clutched the map coordinates in his hand, the sound of a distant vaccum cleaner started up back in his apartment, the only noise that was able to compete with the voice in his head about his next task.

EXTRAS

I’ve put together a little something over here. Nothing too fancy tho: https://mockmax.tumblr.com/

[southern-belle-outcasts]

29. what are your honest thoughts about your muse’s canon? //For like all the canon muses.

@meretrixious

//

Okay, so for Rogue it's no secret I like some runs better than others, and I am very...this shit didn't happen when she gets too OOC. My take on Remy does end up affecting Rogue's canon because I don't think he would go ask Sinister for a godsdamn lobotomy, ergo not be indebted or involved with the Morlock Massacre, ergo Roguey isn't choosing to leave him for dead. Even if he did...she wouldn't be doing that. She might cut you off and never speak to you again if she really feels hurt and that she can't trust you anymore, but she's not going to murder you if you're not being an active threat to her or someone else. That's just not her. My salt for the constant retconning of her power control status and the collar nonsense have been pretty thoroughly discussed on here, as has my adamant disagreement with her not having a serious talk before marriage if she truly didn't want kids. But we already know I just take everything from Excalibur, aka OOC-R-US, and chuck it into AU status as it is. She wants kids. End of discussion. But the lovey dovey, totally just eating up being able to touch Remy and letting him be his best thieving self? Yes. 12/10. Accurate af. So for me and her canon...it's a love-hate relationship. I think most comic fans are like that, tbh.

Sara's canon honestly doesn't bother me. Keep in mind I haven't so much as watched the crossover episodes on Green Arrow because I tried to watch it initially a few years ago because my brother was so into it...I couldn't. I got to episode three and had to stop because the gritty dark, slow pacing was just a big "nope" for me. So I have not actually watched any of Sara's relationship with Nyssa (don't really care to either now that L*tz showed her ass although I'm very much enjoying the wonderful levels of comic book bullshittery in the new season of Legends). Obviously me being the multishipper I am, I don't really have Avalance as like, OTP status, even though I ship them. Honestly really wanted to see what would have happened with her and Snart and I'm always going to be pissed they killed him off in the first season like cowards. But I really enjoy her self-growth and learning how to better trust herself and her crew, and just her as a character. So besides the eh direction some of the plotline took that wasn't entirely a direct Sara thing? I'm mostly okay with.

Cisco...sigh. I'm really annoyed with the sidelining and direction he's been taken in, but it's not really him so much as the whole show is going off the rails, literally everyone's character development is being tossed out the window, and he's getting dragged down with it so he's my OC now basically. Somewhere between season 4 and 5ish honestly is where I start to get looser and looser with my following of canon. I love he's so smart, the humor, the geekiness, the valuing friendship and wanting to help foster Frost's autonomy... and then they just undid that and I'm over here holding the smashed pieces of my character just dumbfounded as to why they would do such a thing. So...there's problems. There's lots of problems. I also have a huge, huge, huge problem with the show not taking the opportunity to change Cynthia's codename from the old comics, especially since fans had asked them to do so, sooooo my Cisco never heard the g-slur, would never use the g-slur, the g-slur is not a thing on this blog thank you very much and a big fuck you to CW on that.

My only real problem with Padmé's canon is people trying to tell me how problematic her and Anakin is based off of either 1) not watching the movies as intended, a saga, it's not supposed to be a stand-alone piece of perfection you can go over with a fine tooth comb, their traits are SUPPOSED to be exaggerated, 2) watching a really really ooc cartoon that I can't stand that came after the fact and shouldn't actually be considered but the loosest of canon, 3) reading a novelization that was by a hella misogynistic dude that was not actually directly overseen by Lucas. My two main canon pieces are the prequels, supplemented of course by the OG trilogy regardless of her lack of presence, and the RoTS novelization. Those are the KEY canon pieces, they needed George's approval before being viewed by the fans because they're that important. Anything else, eh. There's certainly other pieces of the og EU that are still compatible with canon but I don't consider them as hard and fast. I'm also not the 'I shouldn't need to read the book to understand the movie' person because while I have great love for the book and the scenes that ended up being deleted, but included in the book ergo are still canon, I didn't need it for that insight??? Maybe I just watched the prequels more times than is humanly reasonable, I don't see the discrepancies people have. Yes, it is ENTIRELY irrational, if not flatout dumbassery, to argue with someone going through a psychotic break, I'ma give y'all that. But, again, exaggerated character types, they're not supposed to be perfect, and you needed to have her end up dead. So working with the fact she is a naive to the real world when it isn't politics kind of woman, on top of being such a romantic AND believing in the political and justice system...it's realistic for what it is. I'm absolutely saying if it was me I would have have nodded along to his sleep deprived ass until I could have knocked him out. And I'm absolutely saying that when you're that pregnant there's no way you're sitting stationary in a pilot's seat for hours when this thing called autopilot exists. And I'm absolutely saying there's no fucking way I wouldn't have found Obi-Wan coming over with this news more than a little sus, nor do I buy you're sitting in that position in a closet silently for hours. I'm absolutely recognizing the last 30 minutes require some suspension of disbelief, but I'm also recognizing that I have more 'real world' experience than Padmé, I've dealt with more likely to pop off and fly off the handle people than she has, and I also don't think she's ever had that experience where you've been manipulated by someone close to you and then be awakened to it to form a deep suspicion of it happening again. So what screams 'why would you do that' to us doesn't really to her. So I have my problems...but at the same time I don't. Basically the only thing I would do would get rid of Luke's need to balance shit out the way he did in the first place so I can have some wholesome family time (by which I mean disaster time, because it would very much be a mess, and not the woobified trophy husband mess that keeps popping up, just a mess, neither of them was prepared for kids).

All in all, no surprise that Rogue is my problem child with the most need to cherry pick and dispose of certain canon. (Not Remy's blog but really my biggest issue is just the whole deal with Sinister as already mentioned, the runs he's ooc- hello Excalibur, and his lack of confusion for Rogue's 180 on kids. Again, comics, you can't rely on them for consistency.)

[yulnabi]

Yuliya & Osman, Прости за любовь

I woke up feeling somewhat different.  Like some change had suddenly taken place.  When I opened my eyes, Osman was sitting at the desk, he had breakfast with.

 “It’s still warm Yuliya, I wanted to see my queen keeping my baby well-fed and healthy.”

 I looked at him skeptically and said, “I can’t be your queen, you just want me as your lover.”

 He got up, walked up to me and placed his hand on my stomach. “You still don’t believe me, do you?  You are my queen,” then caressing my stomach, he continued, “He changes everything.”

 Again, my mind was telling me this was a trick, that he was again trying to play with my feelings, but little by little, my mind was being overruled by my heart.  Something inside insisted he had indeed changed.

 “Yuliya, stay with me and you won’t just be my queen, we will rule the Milky Way.” He then got on the bed, slowly undressing.

 “I don’t care about any of that.” I told him, unaware, I was following suit.

 “What do you care about then, my queen?” I felt him move to that most wonderful of places as he said this.

 “I only care about you.” I confessed, my mind unable to believe I had not learned yet.

 He smiled, then started kissing me, slowly moving further down my body, kissing my stomach then further down.  We made love for hours, until our bodies could no more.  Afterwards, we lay there, I felt so safe, so comfortable knowing he was beside me.  All the wrongs, his abuses were forgiven at that moment.  I knew once more that I wanted to spend my life with him.

 He talked about how I had inspired him to change.  How he would enact changes to Mergen’s society when he took over.  How he would replace the nobility with a democratic style modeled after those of Earth.

 He also talked about us, how I would be his equal and not just pretty arm candy.  He told me he wanted me to lead the Mergen science program once he had enacted his reforms.

 -------------------

After hours of laying in bed, talking with Osman, we finally got up, took a shower together, then got dressed.  We headed to the bridge, where he said that the warp drive had charged faster, thanks to some energy source in the ship, so we would be leaving sooner than expected. He said how this ship was top secret, the first cruiser ever built by the Mergen Space Fleet.  How his brother was furious that most of the military had sided with him, and were currently engaging his brother’s loyalists all over the colonies.  

 This talk of war worried me, and I changed the conversation to investment in technology.  I wanted to know where Mergen stood compared to Earth. He smiled and detailed the advantages they currently had over Earth.

 “So you see, my queen, the Russians can bark all they want about you being with me, but they have no way of enforcing such treaties.  You are not there property!  You are my future wife, and mother of their future king.”

 Being recognized as a person lightened my heart, I moved to kiss him, when we heard the alarms go off.

 -------------------------

We received a communication that the ship was under assault.  He ordered a group of 9 powerful Mergenese elite metas to join us at the bridge.  These were his personal guard, the best of the best Mergen had.  The rest of his guard was ordered to join the forces in the ship and repel the attack.

 For what seemed like hours, we kept hearing updates on the fighting.  The invaders kept gaining ground, inching their way closer and closer to the bridge.  Osman ordered his men to gather up and launch a decisive counter attack against the invading troops.

 We heard an officer inform us they were ready to begin the counter assault.  For the next 30 minutes we did not hear any updates.  The elite troops accompanying us prepared for one final battle at the bridge.  I suddenly sprung to alert, ready to fight alongside Osman if need be.

 As tension grew inside the bridge, I had a strange feeling overtake me.  Something seemed to link me with one of the unseen invaders.  My stomach started hurting too, like my baby felt the connection also.

 The door to the bridge suddenly disintegrated.  I was able to spot a group of four, including Vladya and three unknowns before Vladya shot an intense bolt of lightning towards Osman.  In something I had never done before, time seemed to stop, I saw the bolt coming almost in slow motion and I cast a shield around Him, which absorbed the entirety of the bolt.

 Things returned to normal, and Vladya kept attacking him, though my shields served to protect him. It had just been a couple of seconds, when I turned to see the 9 guards floating, seemingly disabled.  Suddenly, their chests burst open and their hearts jumped out.  I was terrified by such monstrosity.  Then it hit me, I had seen something like this once before.  I looked at one of Vladya’s crew and she looked strangely familiar.  

 The young woman then sent a burst of pink energy towards me, sending me back hard against the window of the bridge.  Osman was frozen in place, but even being thrown through the air, I was able to keep my shields up on him.  As soon as I landed, I resurrected one of the guards, who without thinking, shot his energy gun at one of the Russians, making her head burst in a single attack. He then shot off the archer’s leg, and wounded Vladya, before she killed him again with lightning.  

 The speed of events made me unable to resuscitate any of the other guards, as by now I could tell the woman was trying to keep me distracted.  Osman then came too and immediately charged at her.  Before landing a hit, though, she paralyzed and levitated him, her eyes glowing pink, trying to burst his chest open, and turning to me.

Again, time froze, and the only ones who seemed to move were her and me.  I was using every bit of energy I had to keep Osman’s chest from bursting open.  Time frozen, it seemed the woman and I were in a stalemate, in a battle of wills.

 I slowly crawled towards her, begging her to stop.  “Please don’t do this.  I will turn myself over if you let him live.” I told her as I reached her feet, looking up in tears, feeling my energy slowly getting drained from my body. Then she spoke, and her words shook me to my core.

 “Mother, you don’t understand.  This man is a stain upon the universe.  If he lives, billions of lives will be on your hands.” Then she intensified her attempts.

 “What trickery is this?” I asked.

 “It’s no trick mother. You know I’m right.”

 I closed my eyes, trying to make sense of everything.  Then I saw her at the Imperial Palace in Novi Cheboksary.  She was but a young girl, but I could tell it was her.  When I opened my eyes, I knew she was right, I knew she was telling the truth.  Yet, my heart could not let go of Osman, of my first real love.

 The ship then warped to the Mergen System.  The stalemate continued, until out of the deepest lengths of my body, I managed to unleash a wave of energy that threw her back, breaking her hold on him.  The energy paralyzed her, Vladya and the archer, as time returned to normal.  I hugged Osman, telling him nothing could ever split us apart.  

 Knowing they were paralyzed, I told Osman we should release them to their government.  Then I kissed him.  It was a long, passionate kiss, one that seemed to last forever, when I suddenly felt a sharp pain.  A look of anguish and despair appeared in Osman, and before he hit the ground, I saw a bright pink lance heading out of the ship.  

 I looked down, and a large hole was in my stomach, and Osman’s.  Before I could heal him, I felt myself powerlessly levitated, the pain still in my stomach.  The woman, my daughter, then approached me and said she was sorry.  The ship, Osman, and everything then disintegrated before my eyes.  The Russians and I were in a bubble in space, the hole still in my stomach.  The pink lance then blew up, energy spreading across the vastness of space as the bubble protected us.  

 “Goodbye brother” she said. Suddenly falling to her knees, as my body collapsed also.  She crawled towards me, kissed my forehead, and said she would explain later.  Then she moved her hand to close my eyes, causing me to sleep.

 THE AFTERMATH

 I woke up in a pod in the moon base.  Vladya was sitting there, along with the archer and the woman whose head I had seen blow up.  My daughter was also there.  She introduced herself as Guzel, and proceeded to explain everything.

 At the time I did not realize it, but I was so drugged by them that I could not really feel a thing. That is why I had not broken down crying.  

 Guzel then informed me that the lance she had shot through me had headed straight to the star in the Mergen System, causing it to go supernova.  That in 11 years, we would be able to witness that event.  She then asked me not to worry about Mergen because it had been relocated to a distant galaxy.

 I tried to move, but my body was not responding.  She then closed her eyes, and told me what I had already figured out, but had feared all along.

 “I could not let my brother be born.  You do not yet have the experience or ability to lock his powers.”

 My heart sank, but again, the drugs prevented any reaction.

 “One day you will understand mother.”

 With that, the effect of the drugs were suddenly lifted, and I was finally left alone with my grief. I cried until I was out of tears. I tried hitting things, unleashing that energy I had done back on the cruiser, but I couldn’t.  I was back to being my weak self, incapable to damaging a thing.

OOC: Previous parts.

Part I: https://grandduchessguzel.tumblr.com/post/177230804001/yuliya-osman-pt-i

 Part II: https://orderofvladya.tumblr.com/post/177231692641/yuliya-and-osman-pt-2

 Part III: https://orderofvladya.tumblr.com/post/177262830171/yuliya-and-osman-pt-3

Part IV: https://grandduchessguzel.tumblr.com/post/177299324611/yuliya-osman-pt-4