#that would be a million times more helpful and constructive for everyone involved

[freaky-wasatch-range]

"mormonism is american exceptionalism" has gotta be my least favorite anti-mormon take out there like you could talk about literally anything and THAT'S what you're going with????????? like you can talk about our weird relationship with manifest destiny and colonisation (extremely valid talking points!!!!!!) but to act like some kind of specific allegiance to the united states as an institution is inherent to our doctrine is so..... silence......

[byuljoonie]

please give me a remedy. (m) knj. my.

Somehow there are a million people around us and you’re all I can see.

pairing: namjoon x reader x yoongi

genre: smut, angst, fluff, yearning?

pt: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04

word count: 3k+

warnings: thickening plot. give it a chance bcs she’s being polished. slight aggression. slow build up for yearning yoongi. namjoon is a dork in love. slight angst. him or me? friends to lovers. no smut yet.

summary: 2 of your 7 best friends have a secret…

note: sorry about my love for lowercase letters.😅I started this story in 2020 while I was a senior in high school…great plot but the writing?? definite no. older me with more experience as a published author is here to take control. still deeply in love with joon after 9 years so let me yearn in peace. Please feel free to leave feedback, I love constructive criticism and listening to your opinions! word count will increase drastically by chapter 2! have a listen to the playlist in my bio while you read the story! enjoy!

I sat back on the leather couch in the practice room absorbed in the way he looks while dancing. His black hair sticks sparsely to his forehead and his brow is furrowed in concentration. He hits each move perfectly, feeling the music as the song approaches its climax. How could he possibly be this sexy right now? The thought sent my mind into a frenzy of unrealistic fantasies. I would never want to ruin our bond but I can’t help but wonder how his soft hands would feel against my sensitive skin. Namjoon is definitely just my best friend, nothing more…sadly.

We met during my junior year of university and bonded over our love for books and art. Philosophy being my major and his minor, we ended up in the same required logic course to graduate. Our first interaction involved a forgetful Namjoon leaving all of his writing utensils at home, sheepishly tapping my sweater-covered shoulder to borrow a pen.

I'm suddenly pulled out of my reverie when I hear Hoseok loudly complain about being hungry. I was so caught up in my mind that I didn’t notice the song finished. He falls back into a nearby chair with sweat dripping from his forehead, glistening in the yellow-tinted light.

"I'll go grab some food just tell me what you want boys," I said quickly standing up and pulling on Namjoons black hoodie.

"How about I go with you?" Yoongi suggested calmly.

"NO, I mean no I'll go with her since I'm the leader you guys just take a break," Namjoon nervously reassured everyone. I heard Jin and Jimin snicker at his quickness to accompany me. Yoongi shifted unfazed by the younger members’ interception. We’re almost inseparable at times but my smile widens as my heart still flutters for the skilled rapper. Feeling the same as I did when I first met him. I gave Yoongi a small smile but he turned away. I frowned confused by his sudden mood change before we could finish talking.

"Y/N I want chicken," Taehyung said, pulling on the sleeve of my- I mean Namjoons hoodie.

The other boys agreed so Joon and I set off to the nearest open restaurant, hoping to stumble upon a hole in the wall. We walked in comfortable silence the street lights illuminating his honey skin, casting a glow around us. I always felt so safe when I’m with him. I feel safe with all of the members of course, but there’s a special soft spot for Joonie. I guess you could say my slight infatuation has developed into a crush, but nothing more can happen between us. The more being a secret drunken kiss from this past new year celebration.

Thinking about the members causes Yoongi’s face to flash through my mind. He seemed kinda hurt earlier and I should have said something. I don’t want them to think I only care about Namjoon. I love and appreciate all of them, especially Yoongi and Hoseok. Yoongi was the last to warm up to me, but the first to spoil me. His kindness and gummy smile always melt my heart. I turned to Namjoon hoping to spark conversation and ignore my persistent thoughts.

"Namjoon what are you thinking about?" I asked catching him staring off into space.

“Nothing you have to worry about Y/N,” he said dimples making a special appearance as he smiled at me.

I felt a chill run down my spine and the wind blew my hair into my face. I noticed a line of people waiting outside of a restaurant; the bright, neon yellow sign lit up the block with the words "열두시 치킨 집" (12am chicken house).

"Let's go here Joon it's fairly close to the company," I suggested.

"Sure I don't mind pet,” he stated turning away from me, missing his words.

"What?" I questioned with burning cheeks.

"I said yes Y/N let's go before the line gets too long." He stuttered at his slip-up.

I felt my face getting warmer at the pet name. I've never been called that before, I think I like the way it rolls off his tongue. His voice was rough from rapping all night and his eyes glimmered in the moonlight. I felt like a buzzing ball of energy and hormones. I might as well exhibit how many butterflies frequently inhabit my tummy. I was once again snapped out of my redundant fantasy world when Namjoon appeared beside me with 2 bags of food and a soda.

"Come on Y/N it's getting colder and the boys are probably starving,” he said.

"That was fast, did you skip the whole line, Monie?” I asked while trying to keep up with his usual fast stride.

"Maybe,” he said flatly.

I was now laughing at his seriousness all of a sudden. I can’t handle how these men switch moods like they do wardrobe changes. It was so cold at this point I couldn't feel my hands. I shivered and rubbed my hands together, teeth audibly clattering. When we finally made it back to the building I called Taehyung to buzz us back in.

“FINALLY," Hoseok screamed at the top of his lungs startlingly.

The boys gathered around the table which had been placed in the middle of the coffee-colored floor while Joon and I had been gone. I absentmindedly bit into the chicken, dropping crumbs on my new hoodie.

“Y/N seems like hyung's hoodie is looking very comfortable on you,” Jimin said smirking with grease-covered lips. I noticed how he glanced at Jin and Jk, weird but I kept that to myself.

“Matter of fact it's mine now and there's nothing Joonie can do about it," I smirked at Namjoon who seems to be ready to attack.

I was about to stop him when he grabbed my arms and pulled me into him. I was staring into his eyes embarrassingly hard when all of a sudden he-

“AHHHH NAMJOON STOP STOP,” I screamed laughing furiously as his hands tickled my stomach and sides.

“Address me properly Y/N and I'll stop," Namjoon said laughing with the rest of the members.

I didn't want to give in to his sick game but I was almost out of breath. The boys laughed loudly in the background, still enjoying their food.

“FINE FINE NAMJOON SSI NOW STOP,” I screamed giving up on my stubbornness.

"Good girl,” he cooed as he stopped his almost unwanted assault.

I quickly gathered myself off of the floor missing the close contact already, but not forgetting to give the boys the finger in the process. My ears get warmer as Namjoons words echo through my mind.

｡ₓ ू ₒ☆ * ✲୧( ○ ╹ ╹ ○ )୨✲ * ☆ ₒ ु ₓ｡

I start cleaning up the empty chicken boxes. Wiping off the table and pushing it back into a random corner. As I announced my departure Yoongi walked up to me quickly. Almost as if I would disappear in a split second if he didn't grab my arm. I felt goosebumps rise on my skin, but he must have felt them too because he swiftly released my arm. Rubbing the back of his neck slowly.

“Hey can you stop by my studio tomorrow to help me with something, I need a bit of inspiration?" Yoongi questioned.

“Hmmm, sure I'll be here at around 10 if that's okay," I said smiling softly. I gave him a hug and walked out the door before he can even respond. Was I being avoidant because of earlier or am I just tired? I choose to blame it on the array of confusing events and emotions that took place tonight.

“HEY! Y/N let me walk you home!" Namjoon grunted busting through the door.

I nodded and let him catch up to me; pushing my skirt down a little. Fuck. I should have talked to Yoongi, I blew him off just to let Namjoon swoop in and walk me home in light of my circumstances. Maybe I’m thinking too deeply about the situation but hopefully, things will be hashed out during our session later. My apartment wasn't very far from the big hit building so I already saw the convenience store that was placed next door to my place. The wind started blowing harder so we picked up the pace until we reached the door of my place.

"Maybe you should um text the boys to go home so they won't wait on you. Since it's really cold. Do you um want something to drink?" I stuttered out meekly.

“Sure Y/N." He said lowly.

I shivered at the tone of his voice. The way my own name crested my ears like a harmonious symphony, this man can seduce the devil. I walked to the fridge pulling out 2 beers. Trying to calm myself before I walked back. My palms started to sweat and I can hear my heartbeat increase with each step back.

“Here Monie," I said passing him his beer and sitting on the loveseat across from him. I popped mines open staring at the ceiling as I drank.

"Slow down babe you're gonna choke,” he playfully interjected with a grin.

"Make me," I said articulately throwing my pillow at him.

“Why are you sitting so far, there's a better seat right here." He said patting his lap.

My heart started racing again as I nearly choked on my beer. Did I hear him right?

"Ha... Namjoon quit joking around," I said producing a strained laugh.

"Who says I'm joking Y/N hm?" He questioned with his eyebrow quirked. I’m at his mercy and he knows it.

I squirmed in my seat for a second thinking of what made him so bold all of a sudden. I know I talk a big game but I’m already under his spell. He got up and walked towards me for what felt like a millisecond with those long, muscular legs. I was about to say something when a knock on the door interrupted me.

"Uh I-I'll get it," I said jumping up but not failing to nearly trip over my own feet. Very classy I thought to myself.

I open the door in surprise when I come face to face with 6 sleepy Bangtan members. They all shivered in the crisp air, their noses turning red.

"OH MY GOD GET IN HERE I THOUGHT YOU ALL WENT HOME!" I yelled while dragging them into my apartment. I locked the door and stared at them with a look of suspicion laced on my face. Taehyung looks very guilty as he shields himself behind a shorter Hoseok.

"Well, we missed you so much we wanted to have a sleepover with you and WE BROUGHT YOUR FAVORITE SNACKS!" Jungkook said lowly with Jimin chiming in to enthusiastically scream the rest.

"At this point, I'm accustomed to you guys showing up randomly, but a little warning would be nice next time," I said with a small smile, taking the snacks from Jimin.

"HOW COME NAMJOON HYUNG GETS TO STAY BEFORE WE DO!?" Taehyung yelled while running to jump on the couch.

"Because he walked me home and it was cold," I answered calmly. A breviloquent sigh slipped past my lips.

"I CALL DIBS ON WALKING Y/N HOME NEXT TIME!" Yoongi screamed chaotically.

"NO, I DO!" Seokjin said raising his voice.

The boys started arguing and I couldn't help but start laughing. I plopped down next to Namjoon almost sitting in his lap, seems like I missed my chance for that I thought. He must have noticed because he placed his hands on my hips to brace me onto the couch.

He stared into my eyes for what seemed like an eternity until Jimin brought us back to life with a piercing scream. My head snapped up only to see Taehyung picking Jimin up from the ground and shaking him.

"GUYS STOP IT BEFORE YOU BREAK SOMETHING, I will be walking myself home in the future if you don't relax," I admitted angrily.

Taehyung dropped Jimin to the floor with a thud and hung his head low. I stood up and asked Namjoon to come with me to get Blankets and pillows for the boys. Everything continued normally as Jungkook turned on the gaming console to begin his everlasting reign on Overwatch.

I walked down the hall and felt Namjoon's eyes burning holes into my back. We walked up to the closet and I grabbed a hearty amount of comforters and dropped them in front of me. I tried to reach for the pillows on the top shelf, but as I was struggling a strong pair of arms reached over my head and easily pulled me down the mountain of fluff.

"You know I can't help but find you so cute shorty." He said while smirking at my obviously warm face.

"I'm not short, I'm average height!" I said pouting with my arms crossed. He gently laughed and told me to pick up the pillows and go. I could listen to that sound all day.

When we walked back into the living room Yoongi was already asleep on the couch, Taehyung was playing a game with Jungkook, Hoseok, and Jimin emerged in watching the 2 other boys, and Jin was in the kitchen searching for God knows what.

"Here you guys go, I'm gonna head up to my room and inhale the snacks you brought me then sleep," I said while smiling.

“We think you should stay awake with us y/n, " Jin added from the kitchen.

"Let's play truth or dare," Jimin said with a sinister smile etched on his face. Oh no.

｡ₓ ू ₒ☆ * ✲୧( ○ ╹╹ ○ )୨✲ * ☆ ₒ ु ₓ｡

"Okay, truth or dare it is gentlemen. Let the game commence." I said with a light hesitant chuckle.

I sat next to Namjoon by habit. I felt his muscles tense when I sat close, but he relaxed when he felt my hand graze his thigh. The heat radiating from him warmed my skin in a way no has ever made me feel.

A couple of questions went by and it was Jimin's turn to ask. "Y/N truth or dare?" I thought about it for a second. "Truth,” I said rubbing my hands together nervously. "Ugh boring," he groaned. His eyebrows dipped in deep thought. Then he snapped, "I got it. Would you ever date Namjoon Hyung?"

My heart began to palpitate and I could feel the mist growing under my arms. All eyes were on me anticipating the answer to my question. "No, I don't think so. I mean we have a great friendship that I refuse to ruin. I’m not even his type." I mustered out as calmly as I could. The room was silent and the air grew dense around all of us. Namjoon looked visibly upset at Jimin. I shifted uncomfortably, silently begging God to take me right then and there. Why would I say that!? He thinks I’m an idiot I know he does.

"Well, who's next?" Taehyung asked. "ME!" Jungkook said breaking the silence quickly.

The questions continued for another hour before I decided to head to bed. The boys happily did any foolish dare that came to mind. Moments like these really help you cherish your friendships with those around you. A shattering pain erupts from my heart as I think about Namjoon’s mood shift during the rest of the game.

I rubbed my soar eyes before turning over and checking the time. 3 AM beamed in white on my alarm clock. The breeze from my opened window caused a shiver to course through me. I could hear faint voices and cars going along the road. I’ve always loved the sound of common nightlife. I assumed the boys were spread out wildly on my couch and floor. Even though the awkwardness cleared up, I still wanted to punch Jimin in the arm. My thoughts soon traveled to Namjoon and the mixture of surprise and frustration in his eyes when he stared at Jimin intensely. I wanted to know what was going on in his mind and why he seemed so serious earlier. The tricks my mind torture me with started to drive me crazy; I really need to talk to him and finally see if he feels what I feel. This empty yearning feeling can only be filled by my person. He is my person.

I tiptoed to the living room ever so quietly. I was greeted with the interesting sight of the boys wrapped in giant fluffy, white blankets. All of them looked so peaceful as their snores bounced off the walls of the room. I looked for Namjoon and he rested peacefully on the couch. His arms crossed over his broad chest, his lips parted slightly. He looked so beautiful I didn't want to wake him. I stepped over Taehyungs foot to sneak around to the front of the couch. I whispered Namjoon’s name quietly and he let out a half-hearted grumble.

"Joonie wake up, we need to talk please," I whispered one more time before he slowly peeled his almond-shaped eyes open.

"Y/N...what's wrong? Did I do some-"

I placed my manicured finger over my lips in order to hush him. He got quiet and stared at me calmly.

"Come with me," I said grabbing his big hand.

Just the feeling of his fingers entwined with mines made me quiver a little. The blanket slipped from his body as he got up, revealing that he was wearing only short, grey joggers that didn't do much to disguise his bulge. His skin was glowing as he stared at me with dreamlike eyes and his muscles looked so intoxicating that I almost passed out right there. If anything, it made me pull him up the stairs and into my bedroom expeditiously. I closed the door and sat him on the bed. He was staring at me as I stood by the door like a madwoman.

"Y/N why'd you bring me in here? Is everything alright? If this is about earl-"

Before he could finish his sentence I crossed the small space between us and kissed him. I felt him hesitate before he relaxed into the feeling. I perched myself on his lap finally breathing in his scent. He deepened the kiss and started to caress my back.

He lightly grabbed the back of my neck and pulled us apart. "I thought you didn't like me as much as I like you...but I guess you have other plans hmm?" He asked me with a smirk on his face.

"Shut the fuck up and kiss me please," I begged and pushed him so his back was resting on the bed. My knees were placed on either side of his hips, I grinned down at him and then continued my attack on his swollen lips. Not how I ideally imagined our first, non-intoxicated, kiss would be but still worth every second.

I smiled as the cool air graced my face. Legs sprawled out in an entangled mess. Soft shocks circulated through my body as Namjoon gently rubbed my thigh. The buzz of forgotten TV resonates in the back, but now only a mere thought. Cars pass by, honking at whatever they have going on. “A million,” he said. “A million?” I questioned confused at the aimless outburst. He sat up legs crossed pulling me closer away from the opposite side of my bed. “Let’s say there are a million people outside right now. In their own world doing whatever life has destined for them. They go to work, cook, and clean just like we do. Shit, some may even have servants and have never worked a day in their life, but they’re here right now. Just like we are. Somehow there are a million people around us and you’re all I can see y/n.”

｡ₓ ू ₒ☆ * ✲୧( ○ ╹╹ ○ )୨✲ * ☆ ₒ ु ₓ｡

12 pm, I slowly stirred in bed as the sun pierced through my window abruptly breaking my sleep. I felt around for the warm presence of a certain black-haired man but was met with an empty space. I heard a loud yell come from the kitchen and I knew the boys were awake and chatting away. I carefully threw my legs to the side of the bed to quietly get down. I crept to the kitchen entrance trying not to make a sound. I listened to them talk and make bets over if Joon and I fought. I covered my mouth trying not to laugh. Still, in a daze because of this morning's events, I didn't notice Namjoon sneak up behind me.

"Good morning beautiful." He smiled and his dimples appeared on his cheeks. I couldn't help but smile at the sight. He looked so handsome and disheveled in this natural morning state. I delicately covered his face in feather-like kisses before pulling him into another passionate kiss, which he gladly reciprocated. His hands rested on my hips and I wrapped my arms around his masculine shoulders. I felt him smile into the kiss; I giggled on his lips, the lips that said the most erotic things just a few hours before we made it to this point. Suddenly we heard a camera click and the boys screamed exposing the two of us, all giddy and shy in the hallway.

"I KNEW IT, YOU FUCKERS OWE ME 5 THOUSAND WON!" Jimin screamed and threw up a fist of victory in the air.

You all erupted in laughter but what you didn't notice was Yoongi grimacing in the corner.

[misscammiedawn]

if you were given a million dollars and told you had 24 hours to spend as much as you could, what would you buy? (no saving/buying stocks/investing, that's not allowed, but buying things that will take time to deliver is allowed)

Let's segment this to ensure the spirit of the question is honored.

The pragmatic list:

- Pay for safety and surgeries for those I can help in my sphere. Help friends in red states move.

- Expand Oikos to have a second location and/or make Prime accessible to increase quality of life for disabled members of the family.

- Pay for a Marathon Session electrolysis to finish us up for hair removal (unsure if we would do top surgery)

The spoil my partners list:

- Clear all debts for those in my polycule

- Go on vacations with my partners or better yet make-shift convention to get Everyone Together. Because oh what a lovely dream it would be for someone to use their resources to give Everyone an opportunity to see one another and vacation together. I would love a person who could do that more than I have words for.

- Buy prohibitively expensive and silly items for each partner that offer no utility other than to be a nice one off kind of thing. I do not have examples in mind but I am certain I could work them out.

The *personal* and *selfish* fun and games list that does not involve other people (ie: why you asked us this question)

- Tailored wardrobe

- Take time to study photography, taking acting classes (more voice lessons), make-up lessons etc. essentially remove the "we're under educated" excuse we lean on heavily.

- Better bed

- Do some construction to make my room a closed off area, add sound proofing, mount the TV to the wall and add studio lighting so I can use it as a recording space.

Oikos upgrade/expansion is the most "real" answer though.

We've never been good at the Spend Money thing.

[tallmantall]

Social media company On The Tools found that 73% of the UK's 2.1 million construction workers have been affected by mental illness. In the last decade 7,000 have taken their own lives Photo by Yury Kim on Pexels.com Lisa Dowd James Reeves contemplated suicide after an accident and having his tools stolen Construction workers are four times more likely to die by suicide than the national average, making it one of the deadliest professions for mental health problems in the UK, according to a new report. Social media company On The Tools, the UK's largest community of tradespeople, has found that 73% of the country's 2.1 million construction workers have been affected by mental illness. In the last decade, 7,000 have taken their own lives. "If doctors or teachers were seeing those rates of suicide in any other industry, I think there would be a national outcry", said Alice Brookes, the company's brand manager. "But because it's construction, I think people don't necessarily have the best perception of tradespeople, it's being ignored. #James Donaldson notes:Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.  #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticleFind out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundationwebsite www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,#CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com Link for 40 Habits Signupbit.ly/40HabitsofMentalHealth If you'd like to follow and receive my daily blog in to your inbox, just click on it with Follow It. Here's the link https://follow.it/james-donaldson-s-standing-above-the-crowd-s-blog-a-view-from-above-on-things-that-make-the-world-go-round?action=followPub These suicide rates in any other industry would cause a national outcry,' says Alice Brookes "When four times the number of people are dying by suicide - who will build our hospitals, who will build our schools, maintain our roads and infrastructure?" The company is trying to raise £2.5m to fund counselling for workers in the industry. James Reeves, 33, who runs Royal Spa Decoration in Leamington Spa, told Sky News how he had contemplated suicide after suffering injuries to his back and pelvis in an accident while painting and decorating, then had his tools, worth £2,500 stolen. For a long time taking my own life consumed my every waking thought' Mr Reeves injured his back and pelvis in an accident while painting and decorating "One of the worst pressures was financial", James explained. "I had guys working for me on payroll, I had to earn a certain amount to make a profit every month, you can imagine if you're off work for three months and unable to meet those numbers, meet those deadlines it doesn't take long before you find yourself in a hole financially. "For me personally I just felt like a failure to everyone around me and the only way out was to kind of disappear." James continued: "For a long time taking my own life consumed my every waking thought and for a long time I woke up thinking that was going to be the day I took my own life. It did take quite a while to get out of that place, but I was lucky in that I got out, whereas a lot of other people aren't that fortunate." The report also found that work absences related to mental illness are costing the industry £2.7bn a year. Ms Brookes added: "When you start factoring in isolation - a lot of workers in this industry lone work or are self-employed and there is that feeling of isolation and loneliness. "Then you add financial pressures, then industry pressures such as tool theft - we found 68% of tradespeople worry daily about tool theft which shows those wider pressures are affecting those in the trade." Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK. Photo by Yury Kim on Pexels.com Read the full article

[adamwatchesmovies]

Atlas Shrugged: Part II (2012)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

Die-hard fans of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged might have enjoyed the 2011 film adaptation. Everyone else clearly found it to be a tremendous bore. Critics panned it and the movie failed to earn even a quarter of its $20 million budget in ticket sales. Despite this, Either Or Productions made Atlas Shrugged: Part II: a film that’s just as dull as its predecessor, but with half the money. The best thing I can say about this sequel is that while none of the actors return, at least the screenplay makes it pretty easy to figure out who is who without any of the dialogue sounding clunky.

Despite the success of the John Galt Line, Taggart Transcontinental railroad Vice-President Dagny Taggart (Samantha Mathis) and Henry Rearden (Jason Beghe) face new challenges. Ellis Wyatt set his oil fields ablaze before vanishing. To make things worse, the U.S. Government has enacted a "Fair Trade” law, which forces Rearden to sell to all buyers at the same price. Rearden doesn’t want to do business with the Science Institute after they nearly bankrupted him with their false claims that his metal was unsafe. Meanwhile, the country’s brightest minds continue to disappear, leading to one question “Who is John Galt”?

We’ve all seen movie franchises recast some characters at one point. It was a much more common in the 90s (I’m thinking of all the actors who played Batman as an example). I’ve never even heard of a series that had all of its cast jump ship a mere one year later. It’s the first sign that Part II is in trouble. The second is the dialogue. This film by John Putch is interested in pushing an agenda. To do this, it contorts itself in a pretzel from which no one could ever escape.

I know all films, particularly those in the science fiction category, require a certain suspension of disbelief. It isn’t fair to question all aspects of the story's world because the movie’s “got to happen”. This time, I can’t help myself. In my defense, the movie isn’t selling its world very well. Atlas Shrugged is set only a few years in the future but the people in it don’t behave like anyone in the 21st century would.

It would be difficult for anyone to care about the story's big conflict unless they were exactly like Henry Rearden: someone who only cares about making money. After refusing to sell his Rearden Metal/Rearden Steel to the government, he's put on trial. Technically, he’s only accused of defying the “Fair Trade” law, but everyone inside and outside the movie knows the truth. His first crime is owning a monopoly on Rearden Metal, which might have you wondering “Does this movie know what a monopoly is?” There’s nothing stopping people from using other construction materials on their projects. He’s the only one making Rearden Metal… just as McDonald’s is the only restaurant selling Big Macs. His second crime is making more Rearden Metal than everyone. I think what the film means to say is that he is making metal in greater quantities than any other factory. Screenplay writers Duke Sandefur, Brian Patrick O’Toole and Duncan Scott must be trolling us. Otherwise, they think we’re idiots. Are we supposed to think the government would tell factories to create materials at the same rate as everyone else, regardless of how much staff they have, how big their factories are and what their capacity might be?

There are other logical holes in this film’s politics, the biggest come when the government announces Directive 10-289. It forces companies to freeze wages, prevents them from firing anyone, forbids employees from leaving their jobs, from making or spending more money than they had the last year (I guess if you were unemployed, on maternity leave or hadn’t entered the workforce yet you’re just expected to starve) and everyone must give all of their patents to the government. Meanwhile, there are protesters outside of Taggart’s offices. What are they picketing? Even when the film is populated almost entirely by straw men, nothing makes any sense. At least the performers are marginally better than before. Samantha Mathis and Jason Beghe have more chemistry than the actors they replaced.

Like Part I, Atlas Shrugged: Part II is a bore until the very end when it loses its mind, spouts all sorts of “Profits first. People? Who cares” sentiments and then ends on an infuriating cliffhanger. The special effects are dreadful. The story hardly progresses, making you wonder if the two films couldn’t have been combined into one or better yet, left as a book. At the end of the first movie, I was curious to see where this was all going. Now, I’m heading into Part III but only because I’m this far in and might as well. I guarantee you it’s going to suck and I’m almost sure it will be an even cheaper production with an entirely new cast and crew. (On DVD, April 7, 2023)

[mariacallous]

Ten years ago, Ukraine saw the conclusion of a bloody standoff between anti-corruption, pro-European protesters and the corrupt, pro-Kremlin regime of President Viktor Yanukovych. On Feb. 20, 2014, after a months-long popular movement had turned Kyiv’s central square, Maidan Nezalezhnosti, into a protest encampment, police used firearms in a failed attempt to disperse the crowd. Dozens of people were killed, but the Yanukovych regime crumbled nonetheless. It was the moment when the paths of Russia and Ukraine irrevocably diverged. While the Ukrainians set their minds on building a Western-style democracy, the regime in the Kremlin made Ukrainophobia the heart of its new justification for remaining in power in Moscow.

“Family matters”

In the spring of 2014, after Russia had already seized Crimea and was set to establish control over yet more breakaway “republics” in the east and south of Ukraine, a mid-level political strategist in Kyiv was busy selling construction equipment. He would arrive at every business meeting and press event with a bulky wire detector and, in a faux casual tone, inquire whether his interlocutor or someone they knew might be looking to purchase such a device.

“You realize I wouldn't have gone into politics if I hadn’t had to. I used to run a renovation company. We were in the luxury apartment business, and the money was flowing. At some point, Sasha ‘The Dentist’ got his eyes on us. He went ahead and grabbed my firm, along with the team and the client base. I was left with what I could fit in the trunk. I’m selling it to pay my office rent dues,” the spin doctor would offer in explanation of his side hustle. Although the situation may sound strange for anyone unfamiliar with Ukraine’s political landscape of the early 2010s, the strategist’s interlocutors certainly understood.

Viktor Yanukovych's eldest son Alexander (Sasha), nicknamed “The Dentist,” was notorious for his hostile takeovers of businesses during his father's rule. Sasha was the second man in The Family, a mob-like oligarchic structure that included close relatives of the then-president and the heads of several government agencies.

Using falsified criminal cases and blackmail, senior law enforcement and tax officers working in the service of f The Family could force any entrepreneur to sell their company for peanuts to anyone of The Family's choosing. Everyone was fair game, from shareholders of oil and agribusiness giants to owners of niche companies like the one that was seized from the Kyiv entrepreneur-turned-politician.

The business empire built on hostile takeovers turned out to be so lucrative that by the time Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia, his eldest son was among Ukraine’s richest people, with a fortune of at least $500 million. Other corrupt officials — along with Sasha’s friends, whom he helped seize profitable businesses of their “own” — held millions, even tens of millions of dollars worth of assets.

In other words, corruption was the backbone of the Ukrainian state under Yanukovych, with its senior tax officials, law enforcement officers, and dignitaries preoccupied almost exclusively with enriching themselves and their entourage. Connections trumped the law, and knowing how to “bargain” with an official could get you far.

A convenient candidate

None of this could have happened without Russia's direct involvement. It was Russian money, Russian political technologists, and Vladimir Putin personally that promoted an unsympathetic, boorish candidate with a criminal past in both the 2004 election (which Yanukovych lost after a different protest movement convinced Ukraine’s Supreme Court to annul falsified results that had initially declared the Kremlin’s candidate the winner), and in the 2010 election (which Yanukovich really did win at the ballot box with the help of a team of consultants that included Paul Manafort, who would go on to head Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign until scrutiny over the American’s Kremlin ties led to his resignation).

The Kremlin's bet on Yanukovych as a dependent and pliable candidate was a predictable move. The candidate was a man of minimal intelligence, was unburdened by any values or ideals, and could be blackmailed with tons of dirt and bribed with Russia's then-countless petrodollars. He fit the Kremlin’s bill perfectly.

It is now clear that Putin saw Ukrainian independence as a temporary accident of history, and that his worldview had probably been formed even before Boris Yeltsin's entourage decided to mold the ex-KGB officer into the term-limited Russian president’s “democratic” successor. But twenty years ago, Putin had yet to reach his current levels of brashness and insanity – and the Russian nation had yet to undergo two decades of anti-Ukrainian brainwashing. When Putin came to power, the time was not yet ripe to “right the historical wrong” by force.

As president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych allowed Putin to influence events in Kyiv without the need for direct military aggression or annexation of anyone’s territory. Yanukovych was given the green light to stuff his pockets with money so long as he and his gangster “Family” remained Putin's loyal geopolitical vassals, accepting the will of their master in the Kremlin in all affairs.

Consequently, Putin perceived the protests against Viktor Yanukovych that began in 2013 as an attempt against his unofficial power in Ukraine. And like a stopped clock that is right twice a day, he was not mistaken.

Not just another protest

In the winter of 2013-2014, Kyiv’s central square was a sight to behold. Some of the objects carried by protesters then would be unthinkable now, including banners that read “We love Russia, we despise Putin” and a Russian tricolor flag captioned “Russians for Maidan.” At the time, making a distinction between Russians and the Russian regime was a natural reaction to the pervasive Kremlin propaganda narrative that the Maidan revolution was not a revolution at all, but a gathering of power-hungry, Russophobic neo-Nazis. In early 2014, Russian television and print media were still readily accessible throughout Ukraine, and so the inclusion of Russia-tolerant symbols on the square might have worked to persuade skeptical Ukrainian citizens that the movement was not, in fact, the “Russophobic” horror show Kremlin TV claimed it was.

The multinational, multilingual Maidan tried its best to counter the slander, but to no avail. The Kremlin was bent on keeping Yanukovych in power at any cost. At the time, he still commanded the loyalty of Ukraine’s security forces, and so on Feb. 20, 2014, when protesters physically resisted law enforcement’s attempts to clear the square by force, Yanukovych authorized his riot police to open fire. Around fifty protesters were killed that day. By the time Yanukovych fled Kyiv on the night of February 21-22, bullets had taken the lives of 98 people, who went down in Ukraine's modern history as the “Heavenly Hundred.”

Both Yanukovych and Putin displayed extreme arrogance and short-sightedness. The former thought Ukraine was his for the taking, that he could turn its state budget into a free-for-all for his cronies, and that handing out free buckwheat and calendars on the eve of elections was enough to buy him popular support (to give you an idea of the scale of Yanukovych's corruption, he kept a $500,000 music box in his bedroom). The latter was sure he could force an entire foreign country to live by the Kremlin’s rules.

The Euromaidan was more than an anti-corruption protest or a rally of those angered by Yanukovych's decision to reject an association agreement on offer from the European Union. That said, his rejection of the European path indeed triggered the unrest that ultimately led to Yanukovych’s downfall, as it demonstrated that the regime was averse to even a semblance of change and that the Ukrainian president was paying more attention to orders shouted from the Kremlin than to the aspirations of his people.

Under the circumstances, regime change in Ukraine was inevitable. The nation’s most important decisions were not being made by its parliament or president — greedy and brainless as he might have been — but by a foreign power. The arrangement was contrary to the Ukrainian constitution, to the will of its people, and to decency itself. The Maidan was rightfully called The Revolution of Dignity.

February 2014 destroyed a Ukrainian state apparatus founded on corruption and obedient to Moscow, replacing it with a government that aspired to develop genuinely transparent, democratic institutions. Although Russia attempted to restore the old order by financing Kremlin-friendly politicians like Viktor Medvedchuk or Yevhen Muraiev, after the subsequent events of 2014, which saw Russia occupy Crimea and start the war in Donbas, it became a sign of arrogance to even imagine that Ukrainians would ever again let the Kremlin's puppets run their country. Almost unique in his level of misconception, Putin was arrogant enough to keep trying to reverse this reality for eight years. Finally, he launched a full-scale war against Ukraine.

The revolution, the war, tens of thousands of deaths — all of these could have been avoided if the Russian leadership had seen the Ukrainians as a separate and independent people, rather than simply as Russians who had learned a few Polish words and were misled by the Austrian top brass over a century ago. But Russia is ruled by frail Soviet-era conspiracy theorists, who are indulging in an imperial game of pacifying their “rebellious provinces.” Regrettably, this war was inevitable, and its first battle was between the law enforcement officers who killed the Heavenly Hundred and the tens of thousands of protesters who wanted a different future for their country. Yes, the men with the guns on Maidan ten years ago may have been wearing Ukrainian uniforms, but they were fighting to defend the interests of the Kremlin, which sought to bring Ukraine back into the fold at all costs.

10 years later

February 2014 changed both Ukrainians and Russians forever. The former took the difficult and long road to building a modern Western-style democracy. Even without the big war, this presented a major challenge. Pro-Kremlin reactionaries like Medvedchuk threw wrenches in the gears, corruption turned out to be even more entrenched than it had seemed, and political elites continued to be torn apart by jealousy and grudges. Yet the nation was making progress, as slow and painstaking as it may have been.

In Russia, for the first time since the collapse of Communism, the Euromaidan also inspired the government to come up with a national idea: Ukrainophobia. Starting in the early winter of 2014, Kremlin propaganda began portraying Ukrainians as a flagrantly stupid yet somehow extremely dangerous enemy from which the Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine had to be rescued. The majority of Russians accepted this presentation as genuine, as was evidenced by the so-called “Crimean Consensus”: a sharp increase in public support for the authorities after the seizure of the Ukrainian peninsula.

For the most part, Russians supported this act of armed aggression against a neighboring state even though it violated many of their domestic laws and international agreements. Even opposition-minded intellectuals complained mostly about the lack of foreign observers at the “referendum” organized by Moscow to self-legitimize the occupation — rarely did they object to the occupation itself.

Ever since the Euromaidan, hardly a single newscast on Russia’s national television channels has failed to mention Ukraine – naturally showing it in a negative light. On Russian TV, Ukrainians are painted as sectarians, traitors, and Nazis, their leaders as unfit, corrupt, infected with Russophobia, and corrupted by their “curators” in the West.

The pseudo-republics of Donbas, which are openly thuggish and cannot exist without Russian money and Russian mercenaries, were glorified as the main bulwark of resistance to Ukraine and to the “Collective West” (which Russian propagandists associate, for some reason, almost exclusively with gay pride marches and transgender toilets). Degenerate sadistic warlords like Givi and Motorola became heroes of the illegal breakaway republics, and then they became heroes of Russia.

Even before February 24, 2022, “patriotic” Russian journalists and political analysts seriously discussed the need to liquidate Ukrainian statehood and to ban the Ukrainian language. The feeling that a big war was inevitable, that the nation needed, as the state-run news agency RIA Novosti put it, “a final solution to the Ukrainian question,” was growing stronger by the day. By the time Russian rockets started raining down on Ukrainian cities, this narrative had penetrated so deeply into the brains of millions of Russians that they wholeheartedly supported a full-scale war against Ukraine.

Around the same time, a common catchphrase emerged in Ukraine: “In 2014, we realized they [the Russians] are not our brothers, and now we know they aren’t human either.» The process of accepting Russia as an enemy was long and complicated. In Crimea in 2014, Ukrainian soldiers and officers did not open fire on the occupiers because they truly saw the Russians as brothers and could not shoot at them.

When Donbas was partially occupied, Ukrainian media and even many members of parliament called to abandon the fight for its liberation, to separate from the occupied territories, and to restore all previous economic and cultural ties with Russia. Russian performers still toured in Ukraine, and the Russian language was still heard on national radio and television. Contrary to what Russian propagandists were claiming, the Russian language was not — and is not — banned in Ukraine.

In early 2024, Ukrainian filmmaker Oksana Karpovich released the documentary Intercepted — an hour and a half of footage filmed in cities and towns destroyed or looted by Russian occupiers. As a soundtrack, the film uses recordings of telephone conversations between Russian troops and their families intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence.

One conversation notes that people in Ukraine have a better life than Russians do, and the soldier’s relatives tell him that it must be all that Western money, paid to Ukrainians as an incentive to hate Russia. Another brags to his wife about the branded sneakers he stole from an abandoned house, and she asks him to steal a laptop for their daughter. The third soldier complains to his mother that he doesn't understand why he has to kill unarmed Ukrainians, but she yells at him, saying that Ukrainians shouldn't exist at all and that her son is doing everything right. The fourth recounts how he shot a family with a child out of a car window simply because they were Ukrainian.

It becomes clear to anyone who has seen the movie why many Ukrainians no longer see Russians as people. But the Russian authorities don't see their citizens as human beings either. For the Kremlin, they are nothing but expendable material to be used up in the pursuit of their geriatric geopolitical ambitions. Ukrainians will be happy to leave their monstrous neighbors alone if only they would remove themselves from Ukrainian soil. But the Kremlin will keep drinking their blood until there is none left — or until Russia sees its own “February 2014.”

[westeroswisdom]

Game of Thrones wouldn't have been the same without people speaking High Valyrian and Dothraki. A few words like dracarys and valar morghulis have even made it into English to a small degree.

If a language offers clues to the culture of its speakers, then the experience of learning Game of Thrones’s High Valyrian on Duolingo conjures visions of a bustling historic civilisation in which owls stalk the skies, magic abounds, and the spectre of death forever haunts the imaginations of the living. You learn to say “The woman is sweating” before that most basic greeting, “Hello”. An incongruously cheerful cartoon asks you to translate “All men must die, goodbye.” And, of course: “Ñuhyz zaldrīzesse gevī issi.” (“My dragons are beautiful!”). Described in George RR Martin’s books as the language of the dragon-taming rulers of a once-great empire, Old Valyria has been compared to the Roman Republic, and High Valyrian to classical Latin. The language only assumed full life when linguist David J Peterson took it on for season three of the television series in 2012. Working from the few High Valyrian phrases mentioned in the book – names, places, and the infamous strapline, “Valar Morghūlis” (“All men must die”) – Peterson created an entire language. The Duolingo course was launched in 2017.

Season 2 of House of the Dragon won't be seen until well into 2024. So there's plenty of time to become fluent in High Valyrian through Duolingo before then.

There's a lot more to a constructed language than just substituting a new word for an existing word in English, French, Spanish, Ukrainian, Thai, Xhosa, or whatever. Without a dedicated grammar and syntax, it would just sound like a more fancy form of pig Latin.

It is strikingly detailed labour for something that will be missed by most viewers. “Ninety-eight percent of viewers are never going to know 99 per cent of what we do,” says linguist Jessie Sams, the partner of Game of Thrones’s Peterson(in both life and work, they confirm cheerily, after I awkwardly ask for clarification); the two have since developed the languages in Dune, The Witcher, and Vampire Academy. “It doesn’t matter if people don’t really notice it at the time,” Peterson says, “it’s always going to be there. And so at some point in time, if somebody decides to analyse it, it’s going to hold up or it’s not.” (He recalls watching a Star Trek episode in which the actor for a highly intelligent character mispronounces a word.) Their involvement with projects varies greatly, from working with dialect coaches, to meeting with actors, or being around on set. Ideally, they would get six months to a year to create a language; more often, they’re given two or three. How do they account for the spiralling demand for their services? “Game of Thrones was so big that everyone wanted to hire everybody who worked on Gone of Thrones” Petersen says. “That’s why I got my second, fourth, and 15th job.”

One interesting thing about High Valyrian is that it has four genders. But we're talking grammatical gender.

High Valyrian from 'Game of Thrones' has four genders. Here's why.

You can create your own language, but it helps if you know more than one real world language – to get some perspective.

@languageoficeandfire

[xtruss]

Atta Leafcutter Ants, native to the Amazon region of South America, cutting up the leaves using their manibles and carrying the segments back to their nests. Getty Images

What Ants Can Teach Us About Working Together

— By Hearher Campbell and Benjamin Blanchard February 17, 2023 | Time Magazine | Ideas—Science

Campbell holds a PhD in ecological entomology from the University of Reading and is a lecturer in entomology at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, UK. Blanchard holds a PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of Chicago and is a postdoctoral researcher at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Yunnan, China. They are the authors of Ants: A Visual Guide

If you’re reading this, you’re probably not an ant. In fact, it is exceedingly likely that you’re human. Perhaps you’re a construction worker, laying bricks for a new high-rise building downtown. Or maybe you’re a parent, engaged in a near futile struggle to lay your howling baby to rest each night. You could even be an office worker, toiling away each day for the benefit of a faceless corporation while struggling to even find the time to enjoy Marvel’s Ant-Man in theaters.

But what if you were an ant? What could social insect living do for you?

Every individual worker in an ant colony is part of a collective—a female dominated society with one or more reproductive individuals (usually queens, occasionally egg-laying workers) at the helm. Having mated with a tragically short-lived male, the queen stores up his sperm in a special pouch, a spermatheca, and turns her energy to the business of laying eggs. The first-gen workers survive on further eggs laid by the queen until they’re old enough to forage themselves. From there, the colony goes from strength to strength. Workers are continuously produced in overlapping generations. They divide up the chores of finding food, nest construction, defense, and raising future offspring. Lest this seem a mundane existence, the employment of this cooperative strategy is astonishingly successful. A single colony can contain millions of ants. Globally, there are at least 20 quadrillion individuals. Ant biomass exceeds that of all wild birds and mammals combined. The numbers don’t lie—ants are doing something right, and whatever it is, they are doing it together.

Imagine you are an Oecophylla Weaver Ant. Living a tropical life in the trees, your whole community would share in the task of building homes, warehouses, and working facilities for each other. Standing side by side, your colony would utilize their collective powers to bind leaves together with larval silk, forming large dome-like constructions in the trees. Each member of your society would treat every other member as their sibling, even you. Any unsafe conditions at the construction site—like a threatening ant-eating tree frog—would be immediately understood as a threat to everyone and dealt with accordingly. No need to wait years for your complaint to be resolved by a negligent company executive.

Now take a moment to think even smaller, small enough for your family to occupy a hollowed-out acorn. As a Temnothorax Acorn Ant, you would never raise a child alone. Of course, you would also be unlikely to raise a child genetically your own! Working within the colony, you care for offspring that are your sisters, carefully tending the eggs laid by your mother as they grow first into larvae and then pupae. The continuous production of eggs by the queen means that multiple generations live together, all pitching in to help. Labor is subdivided according to who is best suited to a task with roles switching with age. Tasks might involve bringing larvae food, keeping pupae clean, or ensuring no harm befalls newly laid eggs. Gone is the individual expectation that the reproductive individual is also the sole provider of all caring duties. Instead, roles are taken up inside and outside the home by a range of extended family, then rotated according to the most suitable individual for the task at hand.

If you were an Atta Leafcutter Ant, you would share in the fruits of your foliage-foraging labor. Day after day, you trek to and from a nearby tree, hoisting your leafy loot up high as you follow an extensive pheromone trail back to your cavernous underground nest. Although you would not break into a sweat like some mammal, you may acutely feel the oppressive rays of the hot tropical sun. Despite such conditions, you do not experience alienation from your labor—quite the opposite. The leaves you carry are ground into mulch, which fertilizes mutualistic fungal gardens and provides sustenance for the whole colony. This food, in addition to other liquid resources recovered outside the nest, may be stored in the crop of numerous workers who distribute the food among nest members through “oral-oral trophallaxis”—the refined process of spitting into each others’ mouths. The food you so strenuously worked to obtain disappears not into the stockpiles of strangers but into the bellies of your siblings and yourself.

Alas, you are neither a Weaver Ant, nor an Acorn Ant, nor a Leafcutter Ant, nor an ant of any kind. You appear to be a human. Accordingly, you lack the innate, communal drive of your insect counterparts. Yet unlike ants, you do possess the capacity to imagine.

Imagine, then, a human society that is just a little more ant-like than your own. What do you see?

[junosmindpalace]

Hi!! If you're open I'd like a Dr stone senku one shot! where senku is being confronted by (gen and other characters) that he has a crush on his best friend(reader) and obviously he denies it lol with "his love is illogical" nonsense 🙄 but everyone can see his bullsh*t and point out all the cute sh*t he does whenever hes around reader like leaning on them whenever hes tired or making some stuff that they like on his free time and even asking their opinion of things when he's in deep thoughts and being the only one he gets excited around when they ask him on scientific subjects that he loves and reader just listens and talks to him all day if they could 💕 but I don't think he'd be lovey dovey with them knowing senku I just feel like he'd be more comfortable and just be very slightly touchy? like not full on hugs just soft tender touches😭💗 like would he end up realizing that gen is right? and what would he do in the end?

"There’s nothing worse than getting involved in a romantic entanglement, and he swears he's not in love, but Senku’s friends think he’s full of crap. "

THIS IS SO SWEET AWWW I WAS SO EXCITED TO GET THIS REQUEST. I love fluff so much and hopefully this is good compensation for my previous angst oneshot. i hope i did your request justice!

warnings: tiiny bit of swearing, implied panic. No manga spoilers :)

words: 2,663. i'll try to edit this in the morning.

P.s., if you’re interested in knowing a bit about my hanahaki oneshot, click here  :) italics in the story are flashbacks!

Constructive feedback is always welcome! I’m always looking to improve!

Requests are open! (check my pinned post!)

There’s nothing worse than getting involved in a romantic entanglement. 

Especially after being sent back two million years in scientific advancements. One day, a mysterious green light swept over Earth and turned every woman, man and child into stone. After teenage science genius Senku Ishigami broke out of the stone he was petrified in for 3700 years, he swore to rebuild civilization and beat fantasy with science.

There’s nothing worse than getting involved in a romantic entanglement, and he swears he's not in love, but Senku’s friends think he’s full of crap. 

It was, of course, Gen who first brought this idea up. 

The guy could be such a pain, and it seemed like his attention was only ever focused on his own personal benefit. That was until Gen started paying closer attention. It was especially when he first joined the Kingdom of Science that Gen noticed Senku’s behavior toward you. He would pay special attention to your words, always answering questions you asked seemingly no one and finishing thoughts you spoke out loud to yourself without missing a beat. Hell, Gen even managed to observe that Senku…attempts to make small talk with you? About things that aren’t entirely science related?

“Holding a conversation doesn’t equate to romantic feelings, mentalist.” Senku told the former magician annoyedly while in the midst of an experiment when he brought this up, adding his self-proclaimed title at the end as if to say “smart ass”. Gen blinked. Sure, Senku wasn’t wrong, but it was Senku. 

So he continued to observe, sharing his findings with others and provoking the villagers’ thoughts on the matter. Soon enough, you two had a fanclub hellbent on getting Senku to recognize his feelings and make a move on you. 

When Senku, Chrome and Ginro returned to the village from their mission to acquire sulfuric acid, you immediately took notice of Senku’s exhaustion and helped him carry the jugs he was hauling, laughing as he shifted half his weight onto you while helping him walk to the shed. Gen obviously saw this from a distance and made mental notes of the way Senku didn’t mind in the slightest that you were holding his arm around your shoulders even after he had caught his breath, and how he was leaning into your touch, not uncomfortable with the physical contact.

“I was tired and Y/N helped me,” Senku glared at Gen as the two and Chrome were working together on a task in the lab, his voice a lot more irritated and his face contorted into one of great annoyance. “I’m not picky about who I use as a crutch.”

“Now that I think about it, Senku, you are pretty touchy with Y/N…” Chrome placed a finger on his chin and closed his eyes, looking up in thought. Senku huffed.

Sure, that wasn’t a lie. Sometimes Senku would guide you towards something by putting a hand on the small of your back, or he’d drag you away from the others by pushing your shoulders. Gen recalled one particular instance where you had been talking to him and some others and Senku had unexpectedly shown up to retrieve you.

“-and I told him it was a bad idea! The thing exploded in his face!” 

“Yo, Y/N! You’re coming with me, I've got a task for you!” Senku approached you with a determined fire in his eyes and a smirk, pushing you toward the lab by your shoulders. 

“Wh? What? Senku?!” You exclaimed, wondering why he needed you so urgently. 

“You’ll wanna hear what I’ve got for you,” he said, craning his neck so your noses almost brushed. “Get excited!”

“And what about all those times you’d insist on cleaning them up? They make it clear they can handle themselves.” Gen raised his eyebrows. 

And yeah. Senku always picked twigs and leaves out of your hair and cleaned up wounds you may have received from training or in battle. Of course, it was always followed with a remark that made you hiss at him, but it was just the way you two were.

“Do you want a member of the Kingdom of Science getting sick? We need everyone in ten billion percent tip top shape to win against Tsukasa!” Senku hissed at Chrome, even though Chrome’s point still stood. You didn’t struggle with taking care of your appearance and health; Senku didn’t need to help you with anything. 

“Chrome does have a point there, Senku. You go through an awful lot of trouble to take care of them despite Y/N being fully capable of looking out for themselves.” The conversation had been moved outside from the lab and old man Kaseki had now approached the small group with observations of his own. “Chrome and I’ve noticed that you’ve taken a lot of spare materials to craft things for Y/N.” 

Senku had started off with making antibiotics, creams and other medicines for you that he realized were useful tools that he could incorporate into daily use for the rest of the citizens, but he wouldn’t have been inspired to make these upgrades if it wasn’t for you. Things Senku gave you were also more personalized; if you were an artistic person back in the modern world, he’d try to recreate instruments, make you notebooks, pencils, canvases--all sorts of art tools. If you were more athletic, he’d make sports and workout equipment (that you shared with the other villagers). Senku would make you crafting tools, attempt to recreate your favorite foods, and was attentive to the things you missed. He knew that the petrification had taken a much bigger toll on you than you were willing to show— it was the same way for him—so he wanted to make adjusting to this new primitive lifestyle a bit more comfortable. 

“Where do you even find the time to complete all these mini projects?” Kohaku had now joined into the conversation as she held up a small item Senku had made specifically for you.

He was busy during the day with plans to revive others and defeat the Tsukasa Empire, so he’d stay up at night to craft those wonderful creations from the past for you. He did it all willingly, and in his mind, it was worth it to see your face light up in excitement.

Senku’s eyes widened and he shook his head. What was he thinking? He promised he’d bring back all of the old world’s entertainment, and he was doing just that. It’s not specially for you, he misses all those old things himself too. But they certainly weren’t a priority for him, and he wouldn’t have made any of them as soon as he did if it wasn’t for your longing. 

“Trust me, I wouldn’t be making things that are useless to us. We can use these items and materials for future projects and missions. What’d I tell you guys? Science is all about recycling.” Senku stared at his friends exasperatedly, trying to shake them off his back. Why the hell were they suddenly so persistent with this? 

“It just goes to show how attentive you are to them. You seem to be so interested in every word Y/N has to say, constantly praising them.” The corner of Kohaku’s mouth twitched upward into a small small as she crossed her arms over her chest. Similarly to what she thought of Chrome’s obliviousness to his crush on Ruri, Kohaku found it sweet that Senku seemed so oblivious to all the things he does for you. 

You’ve contributed plenty to construction, discussions and other scientific endeavors. You were responsible for a lot of the brilliant creations that Ishigami Village utilized and Senku often consolidated with you on projects and theories. You spend hours forming ideas and putting together blueprints with Senku- Chrome, Kaseki and others joining in here and there. There were many ideas you brought up with Senku that seemed to sometimes work better than his original proposals, and he’d compliment you on your skills, saying “that kind of thinking is going to chart us a pathway to victory!” and “great work, Y/N! Ten billion points for you!” 

Senku would rarely give intimate compliments, but he has his own ways of showing his admiration toward you. 

You were always extremely fascinated by all of Senku’s knowledge, and so you were constantly asking him questions about different science topics, both in the modern and stone age. Senku would patiently explain to you the science behind inventions, their purpose, and his calculations. Sometimes he found himself getting carried away, talking in scientific terms that no one besides him could understand. With how many times people have asked him to simplify, he usually stops himself midway and cuts to the chase, but that wasn’t the case for you.

You wanted to hear everything. Every scientific term, invention, formula- truly everything, which is why you insisted that Senku left nothing out. Senku’s excitement would only grow as he continued talking, speeding up and gesturing wildly at the materials sprawled onto the table in the lab. He constantly finds himself marveling over his passion, his love of science seemingly boundless, and you would sit and listen to every word that spilled out of his mouth, taking mental notes and asking questions. He’d always demonstrate what he was talking about through experiments, gestures or math, and though there definitely was a lot to learn, Senku was an awesome teacher. He remembers you telling him so during one of his rants.

“Seriously, Senku, you’re incredible!” 

Senku shook his head. There he was, letting his mind wander again! Why the hell did he keep thinking back to those things? 

“This is all to help us win against the Tsukasa Empire. We need to keep ourselves in good spirits, and our new inventions help us progress even further in scientific advancements. This isn’t exclusive to Y/N at all- it’s helping all of us be more efficient workers and raise our chances of success!”

The group eyed each other and sighed. Maybe you would eventually make him realize, though you were just as clueless as Senku was.

-

A couple of days had passed since the Kingdom of Science had interrogated Senku, and he didn’t like it, but he was left thinking.

The sun had set and everyone was asleep; everyone except you and Senku, that was.

It was one of those nights where you two worked together running experiments in the lab and documenting information. Sometimes you crafted things here and there, sometimes you’d bombard Senku with a bunch of questions and a lesson would ensue, but tonight was peaceful. The air was still and only the buzzing of cicadas could be heard from inside. There wasn’t much conversation shared, but neither of you minded. It was nice simply being in each other's presence. 

Senku must’ve gotten caught up in his experiments however, because when he turned to ask you a question, he saw you were hunched over asleep on the table, paper sprawled beneath you.

And he doesn’t know when or why in that moment it dawned on him that he was in love with you, but it really was a shock to him. Senku Ishigami, the scientist who strictly believed in logic, was falling in love with you, which is probably one of the most illogical things someone could be doing right now. 

Gen was right. From the very beginning, Senku has always been particularly affectionate with you (well, as affectionate as Senku can be.), and persistent in taking care of you. He’d never say it, but he truly did love and care for all his friends an unbelievable amount, but he never once would’ve expected that he’d be in love with one of them.

Senku stared wide-eyed at your sleeping figure as he reflected, watching you shift a little and your chest rise up and down. No. No, no, no. He was in love with you. Senku, the leader of the Kingdom of Science, was in love with you.

What if an enemy were to find out that you were particularly special to him? What if they tried to use you as a way of taking him down? Was he endangering you even more than he already was because he was in love with you? 

Senku blinked and put his head down, resting his hands on the head of a chair. He’s realized (finally) that he’s in love with you, there’s no denying it now. It would be illogical to avoid confronting these feelings, but what was he going to do about them?

“Look, you’ve felt this way for five years but never said anything? I can’t praise such illogical behavior.” Senku remembers telling his best friend, Taiju, this way back 3700 years ago. Was he seriously going to wait five years to tell you? Was he seriously going to tell you at all? Did he really plan to pursue you, especially in the midst of so much unknown?

Senku lifted his head to look at you again. You were still completely unbothered, which was ironic considering the battle raging in his head. Your mouth was slightly open and your cheeks were squished against your hand. Hair fell in your face. 

Senku straightened and walked around the table to you. He crouched down and moved the stray hair away from your face and mouth, leaving his fingers against your temple for a minute to analyze (admire) your face. He could hear his heartbeat quicken. 

In love. Endangering. 

With the current state of the world, even Taiju must’ve realized that it would be inappropriate to confess his crush on Yuzuriha to her. Hell, just having these feelings for you was inappropriate. 

“Aren’t you ever scared, Senku?” You asked him as the sun was setting, your knees tucked into your chest. Senku paused what he was doing for a brief second before his hands got busy again. “Scared? Of Tsukasa?”

“I mean…generally. So much has happened. We were stuck in that god forsaken stone for thousands of years. We’ve been ripped apart from everything and everyone we’ve ever known and now we’re preparing to fight a battle.” Senku turned around to face you hearing your voice becoming hoarse as you sunk into your knees, lowering your gaze. “Isn’t it all…a little much sometimes?”

He stared hard at you. It definitely wasn’t easy. Senku has been working ever since he was revived, his mind having very little down time. A whole village was looking to him for direction, and he was leading them all into a war with an uncertain outcome. It was stressful. 

And if he were honest, he was glad he wasn’t alone in what he was feeling. Senku is not an openly emotional type of guy, which is why he was grateful that you could grieve openly for him as well. 

He slowly walked over to you. “Nobody said this was going to be easy. Even I sometimes get lost in the sheer scale of things, but regardless, I do know this,” he placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, and you hesitantly met his gaze with tears pricking your eyes. An uncomfortable pit formed in his stomach and burned his skin. He hated seeing you cry.

“We’ll get it all back. We’ll revive everyone and two million years of science. We’ll rebuild civilization!”

And you smiled at him, wiping your tears away, and in their place took over a determined glint. “Yeah, we will!”

Despite everything at risk, Senku chuckled. He had the upmost confidence that the Kingdom of Science would beat the Tsukasa Empire, and afterward, Senku could consider what to do with his feelings. He’d figure it out while rebuilding civilization and every wonderful thing it had to offer that you held so dearly to your heart. He’d do it alongside you. Maybe it’s illogical, but Senku is absolutely content with simply staying by your side for now. 

[may-fanfic]

When All Else Fails, Kiss Me 

summary: the powers you have are quite similar to Wanda’s and an  unbreakable bond is formed between the two of you. After months of pining, Tony’s hatches up a plan to make the two of you official. 

warnings: none 

word count: 2,150 

masterlist 

((feel free to send in any request you may have 💕)) 

--------

You moved through the warehouse, oblivious to the girl who silently moved behind you. It had been easy for wanda to get into people's heads, so she hadn't been concerned when she made herself known to you. You had been quick to spin around at the sound of her voice. wanda felt her breath get caught in the base of her throat. She had never seen someone so beautiful. Wanda almost forgot what she had been in the warehouse for, then it dawned on her, and that's when her eyes grew red.

She had tried a million times before to get into your head and manipulate your thoughts, but she had no way in for some reason. She had been so stunned that she gasped lightly, backing away from you, watching as your own eyes began to glow a soft blue. "don't worry, I won't hurt you." you had been there to catch the girl and turn her into the avengers, you knew they wouldn't hurt her, but you could see the fear in the girl's eyes.

It made you rethink your decision to turn the girl in. "wanda, I need you to trust me." your eyes had been a calming blue that made her feel secure. She wanted everything to trust you, but you had been one of them, and she knew better than ever to get involved with someone from stark industries.

"we're not bad people, wanda." she had rocked her jaw side to side, finally feeling the way everyone else felt when she would read their minds. She hadn't liked it. "I just want you to be safe." in all honesty, you hadn't been lying, but you also knew that you needed wanda in your team. she had been unstoppable, and if ultra got her, you'd be quickly compromised, and ultra would win.

your earpiece boomed with steve's voice, and you quickly replied. "I hadn't seen wanda." your eyes turned your standard shade before you met her gaze again. "think about what I said." and with that, you turned and left the young witch. She had been stunned and felt glued to her place before running off in the other direction.

-----

It hadn't taken long for Pietro and Wanda to join the Avengers, and while she had been relieved to finally be able to settle down after what felt like her whole life of fighting, she could never shake her first incident with you. You had been so kind, gentle with her, and she felt like it had been up to her to repay you somehow.

She always wished she could meet you under other circumstances. The longer wanda knew you, the more stable she felt. Your friendliness had not just been a façade to make the girl trust you, you had genuinely just been the most loving person she had ever met, and Wanda had been more than grateful that she had a friend despite her need for more.

It had been movie night which turned into some tradition with Wanda and Pietro. While getting to know them, they shared that movie night with their parents had become a ritual, and it had been their fondest memories right up until their last one. You had felt like it was your responsibility to make it up to them and continue it with the twins, still, as the time when on Pietro realized that those movie nights had turned into something else for you and wanda. As much as he enjoyed the time spent with his sister and best friend, he wanted to give his sister the space to make a move.

You were cuddling up to Wanda under the blanket. Your head resting softly against her shoulder as her favorite sitcom played on the big screen. She was grinning and giggling at every joke, and you found it endearing. She had always been the happiest during these moments. You didn't understand her attraction to these cheesy sitcoms. Still, whenever she suggested one, you happily obeyed. "this is my favorite part." she quietly spoke through her smile. You perked up, placing your full attention on the screen, chuckling along with her when the husband fell down the stairs but stood right back up.

You settled back onto her shoulder when the scene was over, and wanda found yourself smiling down at you.

It had been a while since wanda found herself truly happy; it was almost too good to be true. She wanted to understand you completely; she wanted to know you inside out. She wanted to know what you thought about her, exactly how you felt, and she knew the only way she could get a clear reading of that was if you let her in. Her hand came up to rest against your head, caressing your locks gently before her lips parted to asked the question.

"can I use my powers on you?" her cheeks had been a tint of pink as her hand moved from your head to your shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. You adjust yourself to look at wanda thoroughly, your gaze gentle and your smile soft. The question itself had been intimate, she was asking for her way in, into somewhere sacred and only yours, and you knew once she had listened to everything for herself, things would change, but it had been a change you were willing to go through for her.

You let a soft giggle escape your lips as your cheeks grew a light pink to match her own, your smile erupted butterflies into that pit of her stomach, and she couldn't help but match your smile. "of course, maxi." you uttered out teasingly.

You sat up straight, facing the girl with a cheeky grin, and despite her nervousness, she still reached forward, her hand coming to rest softly against your cheek, stroking your skin tenderly.

"you can't hurt me," you whispered, noticing the hesitation in her eyes, reaching up to grab the hand placed on your cheek before guiding it to your forehead. she let out a gentle breath. You watched as her eyes turned the shade of red before you fluttered your eyes shut, taking in every way that the girl felt. It hadn't taken long before wanda finished, a gentle smile placed on her lips as she gazed at you. Everything she needed to know, she now knew. She had felt a sense of comfort and completion.

Wanda's gaze snapped from you to the tv, grinning lightly at the scene that played out, pointing at the screen, and eagerly telling you to watch it. You didn't need to use your magic to concur how wanda felt for you, so you had been content, moving back to your previous position leaning against her shoulder once again, watching the silly sitcom again.

------

Wanda came off as reversed to everyone else, but she seemed to be a different person with you. It made it clear for her teammates that she had liked you. It didn't sit right with them that the both of you had been denying your feelings for so long, so they took it upon themselves to hatch up a plan to get the both of you alone together, long enough to confess.

The Avengers assured you the nature of your getaway to the cabin in the woods was for nothing more than a mission. However, when you arrived at the set location, they never picked up your calls for the details.

Letting out a gentle sigh, you made your way into the living room, where you found Wanda sitting. Her head was down as she looked at something in her hands. "anything yet?" you questioned, causing her gaze to snap up to you. "I don't think we'll be hearing for them," she answered, extending her arm out to hand you a piece of paper.

Your eyebrows fluttered together as you took extensive steps to reach out for the paper. You couldn't help but roll your eyes at the written note in hand. 'Enjoy your private getaway, Sincerely, The Avengers.'

Of course, they would do something like this, especially Tony, who had an act for fixing people up. "This is absurd," you commented, setting the paper aside on the coffee table. Wanda shrugged as she took in the state of you. you had been wearing the nightclothes you packed, freshly out of the shower. "I don't know, it's kinda nice," she whispered, causing a gentle breath to fall past your lips, letting your shoulders drop in defeat.

"We should be back in the tower, prepping for the mission, maxi." Wanda stood up from her seat, a smile playing its way onto her lips.  "What is it? You don't want to be alone with me?" she teased playfully, a fake pout tugging at her lips as she neared you.

"You know that's not it," you whispered, arms wrapping around your body to find some comfort. "Then, let's just relax." Wanda urged, smiling down at you. Wanda and yourself have been working your ass to the bone for the job, and you knew that some relaxation would do you good. Besides, there wasn't anyone else in the world you'd enjoy wining down with more.

Both you and wanda had some unresolved feelings towards each other, and even after the night she looked into your brain, you'd never talk about it with her.

----- You and Wanda had been full of giggles after cracking open a bottle of wine you found in the cabin. The two of you sat in the living room, just enjoying each other's company before you called it a night. You had never stood up so late, considering you had set training times with Nat.

You have never seen Wanda so drunk before, and it had been amusing, to say the less. You managed to drink more than Wanda, but yet the girl seemed more intoxicated than ever. The moment had been pleasant, and if you were honest, you never wanted it to end.

"You were right. This is nice," you confessed, smiling down at your wine glass. Wanda hummed in agreement, quickly growing serious for a moment causing your eyes to snap up to Wanda. "you know..." wanda whispered out, her eyes meeting yours. Your eyebrows rose in question, waiting for the girl to continue.

"Tony told me all about his plan to get us out of the compound," she confessed after some time. You watched as her fingers moved around the brim of her glass, and you noticed the way her cheeks turned a bright pink color. "Oh," you uttered out, surprised that Wanda had something to do with this poorly constructed plan.

"Tony knew you wouldn't have approved," she spoke shyly, a frown forming on her lips. "why didn't you tell me?" it wasn't that big of a deal; you didn't mind much in hindsight. She shrugged lightly, her eyes snapping away from yours with embarrassment. "I didn't want you to say no."

"Tony is Tony, Maxi... I would've said yes to you." you'd never say no to wanda, in all honesty. The word didn't exist in your vocabulary when it came to her. You'd do anything she'd ask of you. That's how you knew you were completely and utterly in love with Wanda.

Wanda just wanted you to herself for some time. That's why she even agreed to Tony's plan. You were always so occupied with training and other things that Wanda hardly got the time to relax with you. She set down her glass on the coffee table, giving you all her attention.

"I just wanted alone time." her words made a small smile form on the corners of your lips. "why?" you questioned softly, wanting to force it out of her that she was just as in love with you as you were her. She had never actually said it, and as patient as you tried to be, you could only take it for so much longer.

She let out a sigh, her eyes burning into yours. "You know why," she replied, your eyes narrowed at hers, a grin finding its way onto your lips.

"Say it." you urged, inching dangerously closer to her until you hardly had space left. You could feel her breath fan out over your face as she tried to find the right words to say to you. When she felt as words wouldn't have done her feelings justice, she leaned forward until her lips collapsed with yours. The kiss was short and sweet, but it still made up for all the times she hadn't said enough.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" the girl childishly uttered out after the initial shock of the kiss worn off. a soft giggle escaped your lips as you nodded, causing a goofy smile to form on wanda’s lips before she leaned in to grace you with another kiss.

You made a mental note to thank Tony for his genius plan.

[preemshots]

the definitive post of WHERE IN THE WORLD IS JOHNNY SILVERHAND’S BODY?

AKA the post of HERE’S WHY I WANT TO BELIEVE WE ARE GONNA GET JOHNNY’S BODY BACK IN DLC. 

buckle up, gamers. it's time for some lore. this is a very long post. 

warning: this will contain a million spoilers. both for details of multiple game endings, a wee bit of the “where’s johnny” comic, and the cyberpunk RED book. if you want a sparknotes version this is the post for you. my main source here is the cyberpunk RED book as well as as some references to the cyberpunk 2077 world book to cross examine the lore. 

i have no idea if someone has made this post before or what anybody else has been finding in their own lore diving. this is just me documenting my own findings from the sources i’ve been using.

it would be disingenuous not to preface this with the ways in which cyberpunk 2077's telling of the arasaka assault differ from the version told in the TTRPG books. the books =/= the game. pondsmith acknowledges in the intro of RED that this is a bridge between the old cyberpunk world and the new world of cyberpunk 2077. 

we also know that johnny's an unreliable narrator and his memories presented to V are often different than real events. but on top of that we don't know if the reason why many elements are changed is simply CDPR editing/adjusting/condensing the storyline for their own canon, or if it's due to johnny's construct being manipulated by outside influences such as arasaka.

some of the main differences you need to know from cyberpunk RED canon:

in 2023 johnny doesn't bring the nukes to arasaka tower. he's solely there to free alt.

johnny and rogue and their team from the atlantis/the aldecaldos are actually hired by morgan blackhand. 

morgan blackhand is the one who plants the nuke, unbeknownst to many members of the team. 

morgan blackhand promptly disappears after this event and no one knows if he's alive or dead. (claire confirms this fact to jackie and v before the heist in 2077 canon)

johnny's silver cybernetic arm is its own character, separate from himself. it seems to have a mind of its own and johnny interacts with it and/or is influenced by it.

when he, spider murphy, rogue, thompson, shaitan, and a team of los lobos from the aldecaldos (who are there in place of santiago, as he’s busy as the leader of the aldecaldos at this point) are attacked by adam smasher, johnny and his arm actively choose to draw smasher's fire in a deliberately suicidal move. smasher downs him instantly, but the distraction is enough to also save his friends.

spider murphy shoves a mysterious chip in johnny's dying head as they escape that alt had downloaded to her a long time ago.

johnny's body is later "rumoured" to have been retrieved from the rubble by a full-body borg groupie that was a first responder to the ground zero of AHQ and then hidden away in a nearby garage.

here comes the political lore that makes my eyes cross, so hopefully this accurately summarizes it: the 4th corporate war begins to end. arasaka is ultimately blamed by the NUSA government to have nuked themselves in a political move to protect their secrets and promptly banished from the USA. arasaka denies this all the way back to japan, then eventually returns to “liberate” night city in the unification wars.

but what the public doesn't know is that kei, saburo's oldest son, had actually hidden an EVEN BIGGER MORE DEVASTATING NUKE at the bottom of the tower to, well, do exactly what they were being accused of doing, even though blackhand was the one who actually dropped the smaller nuke on them. and luckily the bigger one didn’t go off.

arasaka tries to find their nuke in the rubble so they don't get in even bigger trouble, only to discover that it was moved and hidden away to... surprise! a nearby garage.

to compare with 2077:

in RED: we have no johnny loading the nukes into the elevator. no johnny being carried off the premises. no meeting saburo. no johnny getting soulkilled.

in 2077: there's a parallel moment to RED's version of events right after johnny uploads "liberator" from alt's old cyberdeck with spider's help into the arasaka mainframe in saburo's office. adam smasher comes for him as he's trying to escape, knocking him off the second floor of the atrium into the rock garden below.

visually this is the same atrium we always meet alt in in cyberspace and also where V meets johnny for the first time. hmmm. meaningful, perhaps.

not unlike what happens in RED, johnny unloads a clip into smasher at that point, but from there the scene instantly cuts to him running to the roof attempting to board the AV with rogue, where smasher shoots him down again. it’s possible johnny actually died to smasher in the atrium and we have some fabricated memories going on. 

either way, in 2077, we lose the character beat of johnny dying for his friends, and the current-day general consensus from rogue and others is that he’s perpetually a selfish asshole with ulterior motives. 

and, just to wrap up the politics of it all: morgan blackhand is rumoured to have been secretly hired by the militech-backed NUSA government to help end the 4th corporate war by... you guessed it! nuking arasaka.

HERE'S WHERE JOHNNY'S BODY ENDS UP IN CYBERPUNK RED (SPARKNOTES VERSION):

RED ends with a story called "black dog" set in 2045. black dog is the last song johnny recorded right before the assault on arasaka tower, but the final copy is a bootleg copy of the song and only a fraction.

we're introduced to a fun group of cybernetic-enhanced characters that represent the classes in the TTRPG and based on/designed by real people in collaboration with CDPR.

this group includes trace santiago, santiago's son, who is a media that is curious about the mystery surrounding the circumstances around his father and the arasaka bombing. 

just connecting lore here: if you talk to saul at the aldecaldo camp in 2077, he confirms that santiago was killed for his involvement with johnny and the bombing, something that rogue and johnny reference when they talk about their now-dead crew from the afterlife, and in chippin in, santiago is a friend that johnny lists as someone he had disappointed.

the group sets off to find any info about black dog, and meet up with a full conversion chrome woman named samantha in a garage who is blatantly a johnny silverhand fangirl. trace discovers she has a history with johnny, having rescued him from a studio fire at some point in 2015 and speculates she could have been a groupie also.

she mysteriously has a more complete recording of black dog, though not perfect, and offers to trade it for a service: she wants the group to transport a large crate to a facility in new mexico, asking them not to open it.

shit goes down. evidently everyone in night city wants to kill them for this package once it starts moving. eventually they open it. it's the arasaka nuke that had been hidden and never went off, emblazoned with warnings.

trace inquires about the circumstances surrounding the arasaka assault with an older member of the lobos who had been present with rogue and johnny. the man mentions that it was weird, because morgan blackhand organized the whole thing and then ran off immediately with a mysterious bag that we now know contained the nuke. 

michiko arasaka intercepts the gang, explaining the situation around the bigger nuke, that other factions in arasaka want to utilize it for their own goals (presumably hanako and yorinobu) and her father's legacy, that she feels responsible for. she escorts them to new mexico so that the nuke can be dismantled once and for all.

they meet up with a woman named angel in new mexico that takes the crate from them, at a facility that specializes in nuclear material. she gives the group the full recording of "black dog". the group leaves successful.

this woman is also a johnny silverhand stan. once alone, she calls up samantha, who says, "i promised i would get him to you in the end" and reveals that she had already gutted/dismantled the original nuke and discarded the material into the bay.

angel opens the "nuke" to reveal a hidden cryochamber, and greets the face of the person inside with, "hello, my love."

i mean, holy shit. okay! so that’s DEFINITELY johnny’s body. cool!

now let’s go into all the references to this story in the actual game of cyberpunk 2077 that SUGGEST we are going to pursue this story AND johnny's body since it’s such a HOT FUCKING TOPIC. 

and i know many of the following can just be considered easter eggs. but my personal interpretation of this game is that it has a really delightful way of intentionally glossing over important story details—and not by ONLY putting them in shards (which people tend to dislike because lol reading) but by also hiding them in plain sight, constantly deferring to V's own ignorance, distracting us with shallower, shinier things, encouraging us to actually play as the fool hero of this story. 

so here's the fun list of “””evidence”””:

this one’s a reach, but fun. in the initial arasaka assault flashback in 2023: we can interact with the groupies at kerry's show as johnny. samantha doesn't appear to be present, but the first person and groupie you can encounter in the flashback has a passing resemblance to angel in that she has a cybernetic arm.

in chippin' in, where we go to johnny's "grave" in the oil fields: if we are to take the 2077 retelling of events as truth, the story could instead be pretty easily be changed that samantha procured his body from there.

mike pondsmith, who wrote these stories and created the TTRPG can be heard on the radio narrating various conspiracy theories. and sure, these can just be easter eggs, intended to reference the differences between the TTRPG lore and the game, so take it with a grain of salt:

johnny. bro. tell him it was morgan blackhand

to top it all off, mike also directly references the actual WORSE nuke arasaka had hid in another arasaka conspiracy: 

SPOILERS FOR GAME ENDINGS AHEAD.

in the rogue ending of the game we discover rogue has a son. it's possible her son is trace (edit: nvm NOT LIKELY, since in RED’s black dog story rogue is listed separately from santiago’s mom in conversation) OR possibly one of the other characters. she tells her son to "pull over and look at the stars" or something along those lines. maybe just details, so that screams nomad to me.

rogue also has a photo of herself and johnny with mike pondsmith in her apartment/office in the afterlife. i initially read this as a delightful cameo but it also can mean mike the CHARACTER knew johnny and rogue, and rogue therefore has some kind of relationship to him and these conspiracies on the radio. and why the fuck not make him a full on character? we have a smattering of streamers and personalities already integrated into quests in the game. the creator of all this should be no exception. fuck it! 

rogue and johnny constantly dance around this accusation of her “selling out”. it’s repeated over and over that she and adam smasher worked for "the same people". i'm beginning to wonder if this wasn't meant to imply only arasaka since smasher mysteriously disappeared after the AHQ assault in 2023 and returned to SOMETIMES take jobs from arasaka... but possibly morgan blackhand and/or by extension, the NUSA or any other greater influences. (like nightcorp? we still don’t know where all this shit with nightcorp/the peralezes/sandra dorsett’s discovery about their research into mind control is gonna go) this also doesn’t account for the multiple factions inside arasaka with VERY different motives. 

morgan blackhand and adam smasher are rivals in the TTRPG, a role that appears to be at least partially filled by johnny instead in 2077. in relation to the arasaka factions, it’s worth nothing that smasher specifically works for yorinobu as his bodyguard at the beginning of the game, in part i assume because yorinobu is avoiding working with arasaka security details as he stole the relic and is plotting against his father. he is then promoted to head of security by yorinobu when yorinobu assumes power. 

in the ending as you work your way through arasaka tower with rogue and shaitan and johnny, rogue remarks:

michiko at this point in 2077 is the leader of the more “liberal” faction within arasaka, so it’s possible we’re seeing that while rogue and smasher work for the same people/family, they couldn’t be more different. 

you can also encounter rogue more than once on the phone fighting with wakako, who has apparently crossed her. wakako also seems to have her own ulterior motives and works mainly with the arasaka-backed tyger claws. she notably gives v/takemura the parade security info for “play it safe” without asking for anything in return, enabling hanako’s kidnapping. my theory is that yorinobu intentionally leaked the parade info to her to give away to put hanako in danger or at least continue to destabilize arasaka. 

in the takemura/devil ending of the game, there is a point where violence breaks out at the arasaka board room meeting when yorinobu-allied security open fire on them. one of the only people that survives along with hanako is michiko arasaka, who was at odds with hanako’s decisions, but  very involved in the preceding discussion.

and now for is my favorite detail! in the afterlife AT ALL POINTS IN THE GAME (but it can only really be inspected in the rogue ending when we are allowed behind the bar), we can find a photo of the squad that transported johnny's body from samantha to angel on the shelf below johnny's tequila, of them hanging out in front of the afterlife sign:  

this implies rogue has some relationship with them, and sentimentality, if we're to judge by the placement. she maybe even took the picture. i don't know, it's charming, it could be all easter eggs. who fucking knows.

either way, rogue and these kids both have in common that they worked with or at least interacted with michiko arasaka. 

and you know what my final evidence is? more wishful thinking! black dog plays on the radio in game. we got a full recorded version of it by refused. if not an oversight, i go ahead and take it to mean the final version was finally released to the public by those kids that were looking for it. 

i haven’t the slightest idea how this is gonna wrap up in future DLC. who has johnny’s body now in 2077, decades after it was dropped off in mexico? what is the truth?? where the fuck is morgan blackhand?? from the devil ending, we know that arasaka stole jackie’s body and put his soul into mikoshi, so the idea that they would just toss johnny’s corpse has always been laughable. the “where’s johnny?” promotional comic was even about thompson unsuccessfully trying to find johnny’s body. i know i am biased here but i cannot fathom all this talk about johnny’s body ending off with us NOT finding it, whether it’s just to bury it, shove johnny’s engram back in it, make out with it, or WHATEVER.

if you made it through this slog, congrats. thanks for reading! 

[stickynotestoletters]

Yandere BNHA Boys pt 2

Okay, this is a continuation of the first yandere ones I did because I wrote that in basically a night and was too tired to do more, I'm probably gonna post some after for the pro heroes and villains if I have time, I might finish those on the weekend then post it.

This is just a bunch of headcanons I have about the boys in BNHA and what they’d be like as yanderes. Only the really fluffy or good things about them listed here. Neither of these works are a good depictions of a real yandere and make sure to be careful to identify yandere traits in real people around you. It’s a very dangerous world and stay safe!

sorry if you were waiting for me to come out with these and I literally took forever lol, link to the first one is here. It's basically just me comforting myself with the sweet things that I think they would do as yanderes.

Warnings: Brainwashing, blood, gore, death, trans headcanons, body dysmorphia, nonbinary they/he Sero, they/them pronouns + nonbinary headcanons for Tokoyami, he/they nonbinary headcanons with Shinsou, a little NSFW because if I don't specify then they are aged up (around 20-25 is where I imagine the timeline that they actually captured you and have a hero carrier going for them already), manipulation, regular yandere things, kinda just turns into dumbass horknee headcanons at some point after Shinsou (sorry lmfao), objectification

Sero Hanata

so basically the first time they saw you they immediately wanted to come up to you

they love to give you back hugs because once you stop trying to fight them he's gonna be so honored you finally trust him

Big time slut [non-derogetory] for you

Likes to have an apartment that's high up, probably a secured penthouse with lots of windows

If you're afraid of heights they will get a ground bed for you two, they would also vibe with a low hanging hammock if you allow it

they really really like just putting you on a custom made leash, not inherently in a sexual way just in general likes to have it look like that with their tape on you at all times

they really really like it when you come to them for hugs and comfort

If you're a trans reader, if you want a binder he will get you one as soon as you ask, cried when you told him about it.

they cried way more than you though...

Was very accepting as an nb person as well

they custom made you a tape binder of his

Kinda as a joke but high key felt like they were gonna combust at the thought of you wearing that for them

Takes you to pride but you cannot speak

only takes you to pride after they are 1000% sure that you're not gonna speak to anyone but them

Takes you to it as a part of their float because they'd been invited onto the Hero Float

You are in a costume that's exactly like his, helmet and everything, you aren't allowed to be looked at

After that though, it's gonna be your choice to go or not to go

they trust you a little more after you run away from some assholes though and after that sometimes lets you take your helmet off during pride, you have to give them a lot of kisses though

When/if you ever consider any type of surgery he is 110% on board

they demand that you have to have it performed by someone who has done this a million times before, trusts no one else

If there's a way for you to go through it without the surgery they're excited but he's more excited if there is surgery because they love the idea of you being so cuddly and clinging to them for their comfort

Tokoyami Fumikage

haha they're in love with you

like, intensely in love with you the moment they first meet you

Dark shadow thinks you're adorable but says nothing more about their obsession with you

when you met them before UA they absolutely cannot handle being around you in a 10-foot radius

Eventually, though they do try and become a friend of yours

After that, it's a hop on the manipulation train, my dude

they basically make you see them as your savior from a mean uncaring world

they love talking to you about things that make you happy and loving you in little ways

hugs, hand holding, a lot of time it's just a little peck (haha) on the cheek

they love living with you though, like really love it

they like baking and making dinner for you

but especially baking

like really, baking

the manipulation they use makes it seem like everything is okay when you only talk to them so that's what you do and to you, it seems so much better than anything you could do

they haven't come out to you by the time you come out to them so your trans journey really helps them figure things like that out as well

The first time you explain that gender is a made-up construct they're like "yeah......isn't that how everyone feels? Like, not a gender????" we love this for them

you both kind of heal each other through this process

they like seeing you when you're most comfortable so they get you as many binders as you need

also gets you a custom binder like Sero but with feather designs, not like stupid printable patterns but something that is soft and the softness isn't feathers it's regular fluffy cloth

idk I'm not a designer that's why I gave up and became a writer lmao

they also get you a compression corset because they're emo

if there is surgery it takes a lot of time to convince them

they don't ever want you to regret anything they helped you with so it takes a lot of long-winded conversations about it

there was a lot of nervousness on their part because (this is just my headcanon) they were almost convinced to get surgery to construct their face to look human-like

they had a lot of their family tell them that, because of the way they looked, they had less of a chance to become a hero, they were immensely traumatized by this and thus wants to make absolutely sure you were okay with this

but when they finally find themself comforted by you about it it happens quickly and in the safest way you could possibly imagine

Shinso Hitoshi

Shinsou didn't want to approach you at all, he was so scared you'd run away or tell him he's a villain

they always thought that they weren't good enough for you

he loved you but you needed to say hi first

and you did

so he whisked you away

they like to just brainwash you into tasting certain types of food when you're craving them instead of just getting you food

he likes to talk to you in a voice like he would talk to a kitten, not like husky or anything sexy, but something cute and adorable

especially when you're brainwashed and can't say anything to him

He likes to give you lots of soft stuff like I'm talking pillows upon pillows and squishmallows

once he gets his own house they get it in a place that's more comforting in the dark than in the light

they really like the dark and outdoorsy vibe anyway so if they choose a place somewhere in the forest to keep you what's the added bonus if no one can hear you scream?

a little bit of spice; he has this whole a/b/o fantasy (idk it's his vibes that he'd read that fanfic and stuff lmao) and kinda treats you like you were an omega

sometimes if you guys do have sex they'll brainwash you to act like an omega or once he's more experienced with bodily manipulation involving their quirk they'll make you do all of the......omega things

when you come out to them, if you're trans, they're definitely gonna not care

like if you need comfort and stuff about it they will not make a big deal about it

he legit is like "okay .....can I still fuck you or?????"

HE JUST GIVES OFF REALLY HORKNEE VIBES OKAY?????

definitely brainwashes you into not feeling dysphoric anymore though

like loves it when you come up all sad to him and uncomfy just to ask them to brainwash you

he melts over you cuddling them after those times though

if you want surgery they're gonna make sure that it's between him and the doctors that y'all are there

like no one knows you're there, completely off radius, in and out like nothing (he's basically a cryptid in the woods by the time you guys have the surgery, so they wanna make sure no one questions it)

Monoma Neito

bold of you to assume that man can express literally anything when he wants to just sit you on his lap and look at your pretty face

love at first sight taken literally but not in a shallow way

he loves just having you around him

kinda treats you as an accessory at times, talks like you're a purse or something and people don't really comment but it's really freaking them out sometimes when you don't speak up on it

likes to say he's the only one to understand you cause he's afraid you'd leave him

a hardcore fan of collars though

definitely has lots of jewelry that represents him even though you don't go out he still loves the idea of it

big time cook

loves providing for you, never lets you do a damn thing other than watching pre-approved cartoons and hobbies

absolute fucking disaster about hugging you

always has to be touching you

he thinks you're so fucking gorgeous and body worships you even out of the bedroom

if you're trans he will definitely be weird about it at first

he's just diet transphobic

he's not denying it but sometimes he's like "Are you sure???" and stuff

he clears this up with the help of you being pissed enough to not eat or talk to him until he apologizes

he then educates himself on it and comes to the conclusion that he was in fact being an asshole

talks to you about binders and stuff like that

doesn't really believe in surgery, he would never allow you to do that just because it would be too painful for him to see you go through

he instead literally searches the whole fucking globe for a person with a body-altering quirk to make sure you don't get hurt

he seeks out homophobes, transphobes, and other dumbasses on the regular just to kill them like literally it just started out for your approval but now it's just for fun

Anyway, the villain one (if I do it) will probably become just horknee brain rot cause I am a slut. Request some stuff and I'll try to put up some works if y'all want ig.

[cblgblog]

Sorry I’m advance but one of my other favorite accounts just reblogged a Tony scene and people are talking about Civil War and how it made them Stan Tony, and how when they watch that movie they hate team cap👀 Then someone was all about how he was sleep deprived and how much pressure he was under and couldn’t understand how people didn’t like Tony because. Someone literally said that when someone says they don’t like Tony in Civil War they say “did you watch the same movie as me.” I’m baffled. Oddly enough someone else said, “he just wants to help everyone.” Sorry for the rant but I think people forget about what the accords are and what it would mean for people. Side note, I hope you’re having a great day/night 😀

No sorry needed!

I feel you man, I do. Honestly, I’ve unfollowed people based on similar posts when I was in especially Done moods, so.

Look on the one hand, the movie would’ve been a narrative failure if everyone was in favor of one side or the other, right? The whole point of the damn thing—besides giving the Mouse overlords more money—was to spark discussion, debate. Which, yeah, we’ll call that the tame description for what actually happened. But just, the thing was meant to split the fanbase so in that regard…winning? Thanks, I guess?

Film is also very obviously subjective, different strokes for different folks, so yeah, ten people can watch a movie and none of them are gonna see the exact same film. Let’s try to remember that this is, in theory anyway, a good thing. I just read a professional film review yesterday where I had the same reaction. What film were you watching, dude? Incidentally his reviewing partner said the same thing.

So honestly, no, they weren’t watching the same film as you or I or anyone else, because everyone brings their own biases and experiences and knowledge and interests into a thing, and that’s always going to flavor how it’s viewed. Again, let’s try to remember that this is good. In theory. Heavy on the theory.

That out of the way? Let’s get into Tony specifically so his uber stans can find this and scream at me on anon as though I just shot RDJ with a nuke.

Oh yeah, he was stressed. Oh, he was sleep deprived. Yeah, I’ve heard that. And that it’s Pepper’s fault, if she hadn’t left the poor baby, if she was there to rein him in, he’d be fine dammit, leave the baby alone!

Here’s the thing. You know who gets a pass on their shit behavior when they’re upset or tired? Actual babies. Actual babies and toddlers, and children, up to a point. Because they actually cannot always help themselves. Their bodies and brains are different, they have not learned better.

When you’re a 50-year-old man who’s supposedly the world’s bestest superhero, who wants, wants to be in charge of protecting the whole world? You need a little more self-control than that. The sleep deprived excuse works if you snap at someone before you’ve had your coffee, not for this. Roseanne Barr didn’t get to blame Ambien for her racism, Tony doesn’t get to handwave CW away because oops, I was tired.

Really? You’re a superhero, dude. Most of your teammates are tired too, that’s part of the gig. If you crash and burn this badly without your afternoon nap, fucking hang up the armor and go back to your billionaire playboy lifestyle.

Speaking of that, sure, right. It’s Pepper’s fault because she left him. Put aside the argument on whether that was justified or not (cough, it was and she should’ve stayed away even though they are adorable together). It’s not Pepper’s job to keep Tony sane. It’s not any partner’s job to do that for anyone. If she wants out, she has a right to that, without Tony going off the rails and blaming it on her. Seriously, he says part of the reason he backed the Accords was to “split the difference” with Pepper.

Dude. You were an asshole and you lost your girl. You destroyed all your suits, turned an emotional and mental corner in IM 3…and then relapsed 4 minutes later I guess because Whedon. Either way, Tony admits himself that he does not want to stop. So instead of doing that, or finding another partner who can accept that, you back an unjust international law that pits you against your team, your supposed friends? Go to therapy, have a pint of ice cream, cry into your pillow, send her more of those strawberries you sent her in IM 2 that she’s allergic to. You don’t go trying to change international law in ways that could ultimately affect millions of people because your girl left you.

Honestly—and thank God they didn’t do this but—the only way the Pepper excuse works in excusing his behavior in any way is if she’d died. Or been severely injured like Happy in IM 3. Still wouldn’t be okay, but, like Quill messing up their chance to stop Thanos because Gamora died, it would’ve been more understandable. Understandable, not excusable, and the way the MCU treats their women as manpain fodder, we’re probably legit lucky we didn’t get this.

As for him wanting to help everyone. He does in fact want that, I think. The problem is that his need to feel like he’s doing that is stronger than his rational mind, or his want to actually help in a constructive way.

Tony is too smart. He’s dumb as hell in many instances, mostly involving people and relationships, but he’s also too smart, and he’s been told for too long that he’s smart, and he’s bought into it. Ultron. Suit of armor around the world, protects the world, no more alien threats. It’s a simple concept on paper that fails in execution. So there are people with dangerous powers. Okay, we’ll make a set of laws to keep them from being dangerous, problem solved. But again, it isn’t.

Tony is not used to problems he cannot solve. He’s a genius, right? He can fix anything. He should be able to fix anything. That’s how he feels. But not everything is zeros and ones and circuits, things that can be fixed mechanically like his armors can. The people he wants to protect are not built that way. But he needs to feel like he’s doing something, because he’s terrified of what happens to the world if he doesn’t. So he creates these simple solutions to complex problems. The suit of armor, the Accords. They sound good in theory, but the problems they’re trying to solve are bigger than they are. And Tony, way back in IM 1, he sat back for years, clueless that his weapons were being used for bad things. He says it to Cap in CW. When he found out what his weapons were being used for, he went in and stopped it. Whether or not he should’ve known that already is a separate issue here. The point here is that when he found out, too late or not, he went in and did something about it.

Tony needs to do something about it. Again, go back to Cap in AoU, Tony’s nightmare sequence. Steve asks Tony why he didn’t save them. Tony’s ultimate nightmare is that he sits back and does nothing, and his inaction causes everyone to die. Which is where you get Ultron. Something he came up with because of what he saw in space in Avengers 1, then doubled down on in AoU. It’s where you get the Accords. Oops, he caused someone to die, he killed Charles Spencer. Must do something about that right now so it doesn’t happen again, and he won’t have to feel this guilt. He should be collaborating with others to come up with solutions (no Bruce in AoU doesn’t count because Bruce was dumb there), or at the very least, taking more time to think through the repercussions of the things he puts out there. But he doesn’t, because he’s got his savior complex that tells him that he alone can and must fix this, and because he’s too dumb to realize how not-smart he is in certain areas.

“We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I’m game.”

Isn’t that what he says in CW, or something very close to it? Whatever form that takes. That’s the issue, right there, whatever form that takes. Realistically, yes, there should be laws regarding people with powers, the same way there are special laws pertaining to people who carry guns, or people who are licensed to fly planes. You have a thing/can do a thing that not everyone else does, so there are regulations pertaining to that thing. Laws change with the times, they always have. Some new technology comes up, eventually there will be laws that regulate it. As there should be, honestly. The issue with the Accords, Steve’s issue with the Accords, was not the basic idea. He says as much. He says that it could work, but there would have to be safeguards. Safeguards that are not in the Accords that Tony wants him to sign.

It's not a matter of oh, fuck the law, there should be no law governing these people, they’re above it. The problem is that the law as it’s presented here is unjust. There’s what, a month between Lagos and Ross coming by to tell them about the Accords? A month is not enough time to properly analyze such a big issue, Especially when you’re reacting out of fear, which is what happened with Lagos. People died because of an Enhanced person, an Avenger, in this case. Lawmakers don’t want that to happen again, they especially don’t want the political shit storm that comes with it. Damn, we look like we were asleep at the switch here, not having anything to throw at this problem earlier. Quick, let’s throw together this thing so no one can say we’re not addressing the problem.

Patriot Act of 2001, anyone? 9/11 happened, the public were rightfully terrified, the US said oh man, these are unprecedented circumstances, we’ve never had this before. Don’t worry though, we’re on this, we’re protecting you. The reality being that that bill simply gave the government too much power, most of it being used against people who were not actually threats, and it’s debatable, to say the very least, whether or not that law helped more than it hurt.

No law is perfect. No law ever will be. It’s not possible. We still have to strive for perfection though, have to aim there so that the laws we get are as close to fair as possible. Tony’s a big deal. If not for his “whatever form that takes” attitude, he might’ve been able to use his influence to pressure lawmakers into coming up with a fairer bill. Hey, I’m me, the public loves me, I will endorse this bill publicly and work on getting the rest of the team to sign, but you need to change this and this and this first, or no deal. Instead, he took the easy way out, the quickest, easiest way for him to feel like he’s atoned for his sins without actually doing anything. Whatever form that takes.

Tony’s not wrong because he backs the creation of a law that addresses these things. He’s wrong because he says himself that he does not care what that law does, specifically, so long as it exists. He’s wrong because he violates said law upteen times during the movie, while preaching to team Cap about what assholes they are for not backing it. He’s wrong because he cares more about feeling as though he’s tackled a problem than he does about taking the time to make sure that the thing he’s proposing is actually a good idea. He’s wrong because of what he does with Bucky, though that’s honestly a separate issue, for the purposes of this discussion.

Anyway, that was longer than I ever wanted it to be. Damn. Next time you see a comment about CW being the reason people stan Tony, just remember there are other people out there who stopped stanning Tony because of that movie. Everyone’s entitled to see a piece of media however they see it, and although the Tony stans are often the loudest, there are plenty of like-minded people out there who share your take on events. Block who you need to, unfollow who you need to, blacklist what you need to, and don’t let them get you down.

Hang in there, and have an awesome day :)

[c-is-for-circinate]

Ok, Hades gameplay reaction time!

(Because I have been terrible this quarantine year about posting thoughts about stories I've been invested in, and I'm really enjoying this game, and I'm playing basically blind and I have theories, and what is tumblr for if not recording those things to look back on later.)

I love this specific kind of fantasy/speculative fiction, that straddles the line between 'allegory clearly designed to explore a real-world issue' and 'the themes of this reflect real-world issues but also everything is times one million for drama and setting's sake'. I love it so much. Because, look, this is a story about a teenager/young adult trying to gather up the skills and resources and help he needs to escape his controlling, possessive, emotionally abusive father's house. That's it. Strip away all of the trappings, and that's what the story is about. By comparison, I think about Star Wars. (I love Star Wars too.) That's also a story about a dysfunctional fucked-up family dynamic. But that family is fucked up because dad went on a magic-corruption-induced killing spree, and his twin children were separated at birth to be raised in seclusion with the intention of someday taking him down, and look, that's cool, but it's definitely not how people actually are. All of the dysfunction in that family is an outgrowth of the fantastical setting, which means it is fantastical dysfunction. It can occasionally mirror or remind us of real-life interactions, but it's a fantasy. Which is great and fun to watch and very comforting and so on, but I don't necessarily want that in every story, and I love Hades because it is not that, at all. When you extend out the basic 'kid trying to escape his toxic home environment', Hades is the story of Zagreus trying to get out with the help of his dad's estranged, complicated, wealthy and powerful family, who are absolutely part of the reason why dad is Like That in the first place, and may not be any more reliable in the long run but who he needs right now. And his stepmom and teacher, who love him enough to help him leave, unconditionally and supportively (ask me how many feelings I have about 'look, Hades can't hurt me for helping you, don't worry about me, I am going to take care of you and that means helping you get out of this house' coming from an adult authority figure, ask me). And his dad's employees, who like him but also have to fear the old man's wrath, and walk that line in different places the best they can. And stepmom's long-estranged parent, because this is a story about families and how they split apart and come back together. And all of that is so real, so grounded in actual, concrete, this-is-how-humans-work family dynamics. But it's also individual. The story works so well because Hades isn't just a silhouette of the controlling asshole father; he is clearly The Way He Is for reasons, complicated ones, good and bad alike. The Way He Is has details, particularities, paperwork, a dog he pretends not to love and rely on. He is specific. Nyx and Achilles are specific, not just generic kind stepmom here to be a trope inversion and cardboard cutout teacher. Nyx has backstory and personality of her own, Achilles has a complex history, opinions, a missing lover, and they BOTH have very particular relationships with Hades that aren't just boilerplate script. Yes, there's abstraction there, you meet these characters in brief visual novel-esque three-line conversations over the course of dozens of escape runs, of course there's abstraction--but there's the very real sense that all of these people have nuance, have good and bad days, that they've made choices to be who they are, even if we don't know what those choices are yet. And, like Star Wars, some of the ways in which this story is so specific rely entirely on the fact of the otherworldly setting! I've seen stories that go the other way, that try to use their setting entirely as window dressing, and they end up feeling so flat I can't even remember them right now because they don't let the environment lend complexity and nuance to their characters at all. The environment these characters live in matters. The absolute control Hades exerts over his surroundings is a divine power. The fact that everyone Zag runs into, for or against him, is either immortal or immortally dead, changes how the react to

one another and to the situation at hand. The shape of his attempted escapes (gauntlet combat with a variety of legendary weapons) might be an allegorical construct of the genre, true, but it doesn't work in any sort of real-world setting where there exists the possibility of authority figures above or aside from Hades and his extended fucked-up family. That's part of why the family is so fucked-up in the first place. But these changes still fit well within the realm of, 'yeah, if you took this extremely real-life dynamic and added these factors to it, I can envision people doing this thing'. I can envision these specific people doing this thing. They add to the specificity of these characters. Letting them be influenced by their unreal surroundings makes them more real. So hell yes for good storytelling!!!!

I'm still relatively early in the game (by which I mean I'm like thirty runs in but only just got past Meg for the third time, because I am not good at this game, although in my defense it's only the seventh video game and second button-mashing game I have ever played in my life so there's that), but I'm starting to develop suspicions about Persephone. Because, look, outside of Persephone's absence from the underworld, this story knows its Greek mythology, uses it, revels in it. And there is some kind of mystery still shrouding Persephone leaving in the first place. She left a goodbye to Cerberus in her letter but not to her own son. Nyx has warned Zagreus multiple times not to let the Olympians know she's his mother. He literally never even knew she existed. That's complicated! Add to that, Persephone left--the exact thing we are trying and failing to do again and again and again. She left with one note, which means either she managed a one-shot speedrun out of the entire realm or she had some other way to leave, because if she'd washed up in the Styx pool to plod back to her room and try again, she wouldn't've needed to leave the note in the first place. And, you know, she's Persephone. Really quite famous for leaving the Underworld! Also quite famous for being forced back. So. I'm wondering if Zagreus, so conspicuously absent from her goodbye, has something to do with it after all. Six pomegranate seeds condemned Persephone to six months, half a year, half her life. I wonder if a child that's half of her her constitutes a fitting trade instead. Which, of course Hades would be even more resentful and dismissive and cruel to the kid he got in place of the wife he loved (who he chased away by being cold in the first place). Of course Persephone would have difficulty saying goodbye to her son in those circumstances. It would make sense. The tricky thing here is how the Olympians fit into it, because I also suspect the rift between Hades and Zeus sprang from Persephone's departure. And yet, if the Olympians never knew Zagreus existed, let alone that he's Persephone's son--how can he count as payment into the deal in their eyes? So in that case, what does Zeus think is the justification for Persephone leaving, after the pomegranate thing? Or are we just not doing the pomegranate thing at all? It would be a shame to lose it entirely, out of a story that really seems to enjoy the myths it's playing with. And there should be something complex here, something more than simply 'mom fucked off and left because dad sucked and now I'm following her because same'. It feels more complex than that. 'Mom and dad had a baby to try and save their marriage, it didn't work, but when mom left she had to leave me behind because otherwise dad would have gotten the cops and her extended family involved' feels more right, while still just as grounded in reality as the story has been so far.

I sort of want to write some meta about how each of the six legendary weapons corresponds to their original divine wielder, but I haven't unlocked all of their codex entries yet (look I am very bad with ranged weapons in this game ok, I am working on it), and I still need to think about the details. Aside from, of course, fuck yes of course Hestia's the one with the railgun. Leave drama and elegance and traditional weaponry to her brothers and sister (Demeter, who knows how to get her hands dirty, gets a pass). Hestia is out here to get shit done. With a grenade launcher.