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dannyphantom-rewrite · 4 years ago

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Timekeeper's assistants AU

Alright y'all! This is gonna be my info dump post for the Timekeepers assistant Au- buckle up cause it's gonna be a long one!

Inspired by @queendibz post here

The entire purpose of the assistant squad is to keep all the time lines running smoothly- this can range from stopping a world ending event to making sure things misplaced by natural ghost portals get put back into the right time and place.

So First up on the crew list,

Dan:

-Dan definitely isn't a homicidal maniac anymore but he's not 100 percent "redeemed" either.

-I mean he's probably still a bit of sadist but he tries not to be?

-The best description I can give is that he's in recovery, basically.

-So, Clockwork knew that Dan would eventually bust out of the thermos just because it wasn't built to hold a ghost of his power level for a prolonged period of time. But beyond that?? He has no idea about anything in regards to Dan. Since Dan's creation was averted, his timeline doesn't exist anymore. He's a paradox that exists outside of time, and unfortunately, that means he's the one entity in the multiverse that exists in Clockwork's blindspot. There's no way for him to know what Dan's going to do next.

-Anyway, Dan eventually breaks out of the thermos fully intending to Fuck Shit Up, And Clockwork makes a point of informing him that if he leaves the clock tower he will cease to exist. (Like Dan, the tower exists outside of time, so he's safe there.)

-Dan is the first member of the assistant squad. Granted, it took a while for him to come around to the idea of helping Clockwork but he got there eventually.

-Dan is an entity that was born out of the rage and grief of two very broken people and he has so much shit he's working through as a result

-One of the first things he had to do was recognize and accept that he's an entity that's completely separate from Vlad and Danny. He might have all their memories and the weight of their mistakes on his shoulders, and on top of that, the atrocities he himself committed because of them. The first step is realizing that he doesn't have to be defined by the people that made him.

-It's a really fucking difficult thing to do tho and he's got a lot of weird emotions in regards to Vlad, Danny and the Fentons as a result. A near constant identity crisis, self loathing, daddy issues, something that could arguably be called an Oedipus complex, (FUCKING THANKS, VLAD)

-Cannot stand the smell of fast food, it makes him nauseous and the sight of Nasty Burger sauce alone is enough to make him vomit Ectoplasm.

-He's just a hot mess all around y'all

-He tries to keep his interactions with the Danny's as minimal as possible at first bc of this. The first time he meets them in person he shape shifts into Danny like he did in TUE and just pretends to be one of them. Some of them have had interactions with their respective Dan's already and would be super wary of him and probably pretty freaked out otherwise.

-Dan is eventually allowed to leave the clocktower for supervised "Field missions" with the aid of a time medallion to keep him from poofing out of existence, but it takes a while for clockwork to build up that level of trust.

-Dan's shapeshifting ability Actually comes into play a bit on a lot of those missions, since he can Mimic Danny it also makes sense that he'd be able to impersonate Vlad in the same way. Granted he's not incredibly comfortable taking on either of their appearances but it does help him hone his shapeshifting ability to the point where he's able to pick and choose features from both Vlad and Danny and sorta make his own human disguise.

-Most of the time he acts as the eye in the sky from the tower, monitoring for timeline anomalies and then notifying the appropriate member of the assistant squad.

-He has a room under the clock tower that he operates from. I kinda like the idea of there being like, catacombs down there? Anyway he's got all kinds of monitors and view screens and he very rarely leaves. It also doubles as his "living space." He doesn't need to sleep but he's got a big mess of a pillow fort that he crashes in regardless bc sometimes you just NEED to be unconscious for a while. The catacombs are also absolutely full of those little blob ghosts that wander around the zone bc They're attracted to the ecto energy the tower gives off. He's really annoyed by them at first but they grow on him after a while and now he just dotes on them.

-There's a specific throw pillow sized one that likes to hang out in Dan's room a lot and he ended up getting a little over attached to the stupid thing. His name is Dorian. Bc he's a gift.

-SIR THATS MY EMOTIONAL SUPPORT BLOB

-Dan's appearance has changed slightly. He wears his hair loose now and it's kinda just this big fiery mane when it's not contained. His cape is more of a cloak now, it has a hood and he wears it sorta pinned together at the shoulder so the DP logo is covered.

-Dan's relationship with the rest of the Danny's is kinda weird, and a little strained. He has a hard time being around them for very long because, well, he used to sort of be them? Except not really? He does care about them tho, and the last thing he'd want is for one of them to end up like him.

-His relationship with clockwork definitely starts out pretty familial, after he becomes his assistant, anyway. There's room for that to develop into meddling minutes but I'm not entirely sure if I'm gonna go that route yet.

-The Danny's only ever hear his voice for a while before he finally let's them meet him for real, so they end up calling him Charlie for a while as a joke. Cause Ya know. Charlie's angels. Even after Charlie still ends up being his designated name on missions.

Mer! Danny:

-Was recruited bc a lot of the shit that gets sucked through natural portals ends up in a body of water somewhere and when that happens he's on call to retrieve it.

-Is Actually not at all ghostly! Mer Danny's situation is basically the plot of H2O (just add water), or if you haven't seen that, Aquamarine. And by that I mean he's only a merfolk in water.

-He's an electric eel

-His Jack and Maddie are marine biologists, with a particular interest in marine cryptids

-We're taking sea monsters baby!!!

-Not entirely sure how this Danny ended up half mer yet but I'll figure it out, lmao.

-14 years old

-His nickname/ designation is "Moray"

Crown Prince! Danny:

-Nickname/designation is Prince / Princey

-16 years old

-Not allowed to go anywhere in the zone without the Fright knight bc of some ancient ghost law bullshit, so he has a constant babysitter.

-He's next in line bc he sealed away Pariah, but can't take the throne until he is both, A) at least 18 years and B) Completely deceased

-Vlad is his Regent bc he did have a part in the whole sealing the previous king thing, but he's also not completely dead so his power is super limited there.

-As Prince Danny has the crown of fire in his ghost form, although now the name is kinda ironic seeing as it's completely frozen over. It's blue now and it smokes like dry ice.

-As Regent, Vlad has the ring of rage for "safe keeping"

-Vlad and Danny are pretty much constantly at each other's throats, fright knights probably had to shut down more than a few of Vlad's attempts to usurp the crown from Danny through combat.

-Princey deals with the timeline issues that involve the ghost zones' internal / political affairs, and he's gotten very well versed with dealing with the Observants.

Winged! Danny :

-15 years old

-Mallard duck wings

-His Vlad is a swan

-Comes from a family of waterfowl, Jack is a goose, and Maddie is a white swan. Both he and jazz are ducks bc of their grandparents.

-As Fenton his wings are white, like jazz, and as phantom they turn black with a green iridescent sheen.

-He's trans

-Nickname/ designation is inviso Bill. Bc ducks have bills haha get it-

-Ghostly wail?? Nah son he's gotta killer QUACK

-Absolute besties with Mer!Danny/ Moray, sometimes they go swimming together after a mission.

Clone! Danny:

-Physically he's a 12-year-old, but he's only been alive for a few months.

-Alt universe where Vlad manages to stabilize the perfect clone with his own DNA.

-Dani still exists, and the original danny from his time line also rescued the other problematic clones.

-Doesnt like the fact that he's a clone, and very much wants them all DEAD. Bc them running around is a reminder that he's not the real danny.

-Human half looks the same aside from the widows peak and the mallen streak. His ghost half takes after plasmius. Blue skin, and the Hazmat kept it's original white colors.

-Probably has fangs and a forked tounge.

-Not so much a member of the squad as he is someone that they need to be keeping an eye on.

-Does NOT get along with them.

-Dan enjoys making him uncomfortable.

-Designation is Masters / the brat (not to his face tho)

Family Breakfast AU! Danny:

-A BABY

-The boy is a fucking overpowered todler okay. He's an 8 year old.

-The biological son of his Vlad, was born a Halfa. Jack, Vlad and Maddie got their shit together and are in a healthy poly relationship.

-Got separated from Vlad one time in the zone and inadvertently adopted by the assistant squad and clockwork.

-His Vlad is aware of the squad and just. Dad's the crap out of the Danny's as a result. It makes for some..... interesting interactions.

-I can't think of a nickname so I'm just gonna be lazy and say he gets to be the one Tru Danny bc cute little kind privileges lmao.

Full ghost! Danny:

-15 years old, will always look 14.

-Nickname/designation is Toast

-Died in the portal accident and got fucking FRIED.

-He always smells like somethings burning.

-He's really bright and sorta sparks a bit, you can see his bones glowing through the hazmat.

-He still leave the zone to protect his version of amity, but lives with clockwork full time.

Canon Danny (NOT PHANTOM PLANET COMPLIANT) :

-Basically show Danny, except phantom planet never happened fuck you

-Joined the crew after the events of de stabilized

-Also he's trans fuck butch

-Franken! Danny

-Yall remember that Headless Danny Au? This is my take.

-Is Actually 20 years old, but physically stuck at age 14. Bc he's a walking corpse :)

-Came from a timeline that was directly parallel to Full ghost! Danny. He dies in the portal accident, but jack and Maddie are in the lab when it happens and manage to sort of bring him back using a combination of science and freaky ghost junk.

-So he's basically possessing/ stuck inside of his own dead body. Which, is thankfully not rotting or going into rigor mortis bc Ectoplasm is rather similar to formaldehyde, but he's not the most durable thing and bits and pieces fall off from time to time.

-Like his head. For example.

-He's pretty desensitized to it at this point and if he loses a leg after a ghost fight he doesn't see anything wrong with sitting down on the curb of a main street to stich it back on. His being dead isn't exactly a secret.

-Don't ever ask him to "give you a hand" bc he can and will not hesitate to pop one off and Chuck it at you.

-Said hand and any other body part will continue to function just fine even if it isn't attached to anything, btw.

-Nickname/ designation is Adam. Bc. Ya know. that's the name Frankenstein's monster gave itself.

Post Phantom Planet! Danny:

-A very jaded 22 year old who is driven only by spite and enough caffeine to kill a horse

-Very, very tired of the hero thing.

-Being a global celebrity isn't all it's cracked up to be.

-Decided to follow Vlads lead and fuck off to space for a while. Partially to get away from everyone and also partially bc he kinda feels responsible for the fact that the only other person like him and probably floating DEAD in the void somewhere? And yeah Vlad fucked up all on his own but what if he'd tried harder to get through to him things could have been different-

-Joins the crew after a natural portal opens up in space and decides to help out and use clockworks resources to try and track down his Vlad.

-Nickname/ Designation is Polaris, aka the north star.

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dear-yandere · 5 years ago

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☽ darling, don’t leave me.

yandere! jojos + dio. general headcanons. tw: mentions of physical abuse, gaslighting, confinement, and noncon (dio’s part).

art credits: rosuto, ぴの, wW 武 Ww, unknown, suan, tumbleweed.

Jonathan Joestar is obsessive.

A true gentleman, Jonathan knows better than to let his feelings stray from his control. Still, he’s never been one to pursue love, so these feelings are entirely new. He courts his darling like any other self-respecting man of his time, allowing them the space to choose whether or not they desire him too. He doesn’t take being turned down personally as he’s perfectly content with merely being by his darling’s side. Even seeing them fall for another man is something he cannot force himself to intervene in; every smile and laugh not directed at him hurts far worse than any punch he’s ever received, but Jonathan thrives in seeing his darling happy and carefree.

Clingy as he may be, he isn’t above taking a few of darling’s possessions should the opportunity present itself. A head band or hair tie here or there, perhaps a pair of gloves or a hat his darling is sure to not miss — Jonathan is surprisingly adept and subtle at stealing and keeping these little trinkets. Darling may notice a few missing possessions, but it’s nothing Jonathan can’t laugh off as a misplaced item and easily replace with something new and extravagant. Money isn’t a problem, especially when it comes to his sweetheart. If it means they’ll stay by his side — or even look his way as more than a friend or confidant — he’ll give his darling the world.

Overbearing and well-meaning as he is, even gentleman aren’t without their flaws.

“You don’t have to feel the same. All I ask is that you don’t leave me.”

Joseph Joestar is protective with a hint of possessiveness.

Acting much more like an older brother rather than a lover — similar to his grandfather Jonathan — Joseph is hyper-aware of anyone that might hurt his sweetheart. He’s not sure how it came to be this way, really; it’s a first for him to not know even his own feelings. His darling is easy enough to read, and perhaps that’s what got him into this situation, where even the slightest brush of skin against his or the mere sound of them saying his name sends his nerves on edge. He likes the attention they give him when he acts like a brotherly figure; there’s no need to worry about unwanted feelings developing between the pair. At least, darling doesn’t have to worry, because Joseph falls in love despite his precautions. It isn’t until a competent rival appears that Joseph becomes rather intensely possessive and competitive — a rival like Caesar.

He hates losing, especially when he had his eyes set on the goal first. The moment a suave man like Caesar sets their sights on Joseph’s darling, he’ll turn snarky, snappy with even his darling. It’s a brutally stark contrast to the playful, chipper demeanor he usually bears, but it’s easy for darling to play it off as him having a bad day — until he doesn’t relent. His grip is harsher these days, his tone more grating and condescending whenever darling shows interest in his rival. At some point, he’ll lash out whenever they show interest in any man other than him.

If his insecurities and one-sided love are kept unchecked, he has no qualms with cutting his darling’s connection to anyone he deems a threat.

“Of course I’m jealous! You’re mine! You need me!”

Jotaro Kujo is manipulative with a hint of sadism and lucidity.

With a cool and collected exterior, it’s easy to convince his darling that everything they believe is wrong. Even a lionhearted lover will doubt themselves; or rather, Jotaro would seek an individual like this out. He’s used to women and men swooning over his good looks and alluring physique, though he doesn’t care much for the attention. Even when he degrades and admonishes his admirers, they fawn and swoon over him — it’s nothing short of disgusting, really.

His ideal darling — the only type of person he’d seek out, rather than let come to him — is someone with a steel heart, someone hellbent on rejecting his words as law, someone who puts up a fight. Degrading and humiliating them will be a treat, a fun little challenge to come home to. He doesn’t want them to enjoy this in the slightest; he wants them to slowly break, to slowly doubt every piece of information they hear unless it comes from his mouth. Even the death of a loved one will seem surreal, exaggerated, fake unless he says so himself, and even then he won’t allow his darling that sort of luxury.

Once he’s tied his darling down (with a ring, and with ropes), they won’t see very much of him. As he pursues his career in Marine Biology, he’s often away on business trips, his only excuse for long periods of absence being “it’s too dangerous”, or some slew of insults thrown his darling’s way. He isn’t fond of divulging much of his personal life with them even if they are the love of his life; to him, secrets come hand-in-hand with relationships. Darling’s life is in danger simply by association; it’s best to act as if they don’t exist. Still, that doesn’t mean he’ll let them slip through his fingers. When he wants something, he’ll get it even if it’s eventual.

Darling was doomed the moment he found an inkling of interest in taming them.

“Don’t look so scared when I’m around. I shouldn’t have to repeat myself.”

Josuke Higashikata is protective with a hint of delusion.

Sweet and compassionate as he may be, Josuke isn’t immune to feelings of inadequacy, jealousy, and obsession. He rationalizes these feelings as merely being protective of a good friend of his, but it’s not until his friends point out that what he’s feeling is love that he truly understands why his heart pitters and patters like raindrops when his darling’s around. He completely understands if darling doesn’t return his feelings — these things take time, he’ll say — but he doesn’t take kindly to jealousy of any sort. A mere mention of liking someone else will have him moping and distancing himself, but he’ll stay around just enough to ensure his beloved’s protection.

Josuke wouldn’t fare well with a darling who’s familiar with getting under his skin. Even an insult or two to his hair isn’t enough for Josuke to give up on his one-sided love; if anything, it’s an opportunity. Crazy Diamond has the power to heal after all, and when Josuke’s emotions run away from him, his darling may end up with more than a few cuts and bruises. Bones will be shattered, blood will be spilled, and apologies will fumble past trembling lips as darling’s abuser fixes them up — as if nothing ever happened. The only trace of evidence are the tears in Josuke’s eyes and the excuses on his lips — this easily becomes the norm. Both he and his darling will constantly tread along eggshells, the former worrying that his actions destroyed any chance of a relationship and the latter worrying the next time they step out of line, they’ll die.

But Josuke wouldn’t let his sweetheart die, no. He can heal whatever wounds they may receive, even its its from him. He’s a platonic yandere, at worst, and an overbearingly violent one at best.

“Please don’t scream. People will think I did something terrible to you.”

Giorno Giovanna is manipulative with a hint of protectiveness and lucidity.

This soldato is cunning and intuitive, a natural-born leader with charisma rivaling his true father’s. He turns heads wherever he goes, inspires everyone he meets — it’s almost laughable how easy it is to twine people around his fingers. As a mere Passione soldato, he isn’t much threat to his darling, but as don, any hope of escaping his suffocating love is slashed. His control reaches farther than his darling can ever tread, and although he understands why his little coccinella would go so far as to run away, the thought of being without them is inconceivable. How can he protect them if they’re not at his side? Without him, darling could fall in love with the wrong person, someone who wears a mask and will hurt them once they’ve settled down together; without him, darling could fall in love with a monster. His step-father was like that, and he’d made Giorno’s childhood a living hell. So how could he let his darling tread that same path?

With a well-behaved darling, the don is a fairly normal lover... once they get past all the bodyguards and paranoia-filled lifestyle. Unlike his father, Giorno is not sadistic in the slightest; rather, seeing his darling in physical or emotional turmoil hurts him. He’s more apt to manipulate them in subtle, gentler ways rather than through brute force or threats. After giving them a new identity, he’ll keep them someplace safe, a private island off the coasts of Italy, somewhere heavily guarded and devoid of life except for his beloved and their bodyguards. It’ll be lonely, he’s sure, so he’s certain to visit whenever he has an ounce of free time. But even he can’t replace one’s need to feel social, safe, normal. That’s just the price his lover has to pay as the future spouse of a mafioso.

If he lived a different life, there’d be no need for all of this. Giorno’s love is bittersweet at best, but that realization isn’t enough to let his darling go. They need him, perhaps just as much as he needs them.

“I really can’t take it when you cry like that… smile for me, alright? You’re so pretty when you smile.”

DIO is sadistic, manipulative, and possessive.

Love has never done much for him, not in the way feeling powerful has. He prefers ruling over others rather than giving someone the ability to rule with or over him. His darling is nothing more than a plaything, at best — something to pass the time, something to sate his curiosity. Just how far can he push them before they crumble between his fingers and shatter like a precious gemstone? He takes pleasure in testing these boundaries, humiliating his darling as if that will help him understand this odd feeling humans call love. It’s possible for him to truly fall in love with his darling, but they will never take priority over his desire to end the Joestar bloodline. Perhaps, once he accomplishes this goal, his darling will be something nice to come back to, something stagnant and forever his.

He’ll go to lengths to break his darling, over and over again, see how much torture they can withstand before they realize that crying out or begging gets them nowhere. Will they hide their defiance under a facade of obedience, or will they truly break? It’s all an experiment to Dio, but either way, he’ll force them to be his little sex slave — sometimes, if they’ve behaved particularly nasty, darling will be the sex slave of his devoted followers, a little reward for being such wonderful subordinates.

Apart from sexual torture, he’s keen on testing his darling on tidbits of information from the books he reads — completely mundane and often vague questions designed to make his little slave fail. It’s just a precursor, really, because he likes seeing them shine with determination only for it to shatter before their eyes. Punishments always follow, usually humiliation or sexual assault of some sort; though if he’s in a particularly bad mood, he won’t shy away from physically hurting his darling. All the better to break them with.

It’s a miracle if darling survives this little game of his, but if they do, he’s certain to keep them around for far longer than he originally anticipated. Being immortal can get so boring, you see, and what’s the fun of bottomless money and endless casual sex if he can’t keep an entertaining and worthy slave here or there?

“Tell me you love me as I fuck you into the mattress.”

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gildedmuse · 4 years ago

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I'm a little late on getting this second part up, but it's not like tv shows have schedules or time frames or anything so it's fine.

Sora: Warrior Of The Sea

(A RedHawk Production)

BTS Blue Ray Extra: Costumes, Hair & Make Up (Part Two: Sora & Allies)

Boa's, Zoro's and X. Drake's (cast as Brími) as well as Ace's non raid suit are all pretty easy deals, since they're all upper ranking marine uniforms. Fortunately, officers are given a little more freedom with their uniforms, allowing Bon Clay to added some of the characters' personalities to their appearences.

So of course Boa Hancock brings in a team of her own fashion consultant to design Vice Admiral Reijin Umiko uniform form scratch. She couldn't bare to spend a whole who knows how many seasons in something forgettable and drab. And since Production Policy is "just try not to piss off Hancock" she ends up with the uniform she wants. Which is mostly just a marine cape, no sleeves, and a variety of designer outfits.

X. Drake's character, Himiya Brími , is a retire Rear Admiral, though he still stays in touch with his naval contacts, and acts almost as an outside consultant. So the costuming department decides to go with something navy like but without the officer coat. They go with a short white jacket with red fur accents that looks like Brimi might have worn it as a uniform at one point only the marine insignias are all gone. He wears black, leather like pants and gloves that go up to his nearly his wrist despite most of that being under the coat to cover the burn marks up and down his arm. The jacket is typically left unbuttoned, showing off the tattoo of his former division - the Fire Lizards.

Portgas D. Ace looks handsome as hell in full navy dress, identical to what Captain Akitsuyo Sora. is seen wearing in the comics, and also hates everything about it. Why are the pants so tight? He runs hot already there's no way he can deal with three (three!) Shirts. He wants to throw it in a dumpster and burn the whole thing.

Eventually they agree that he can go shirtless, but he has to wear the full proper captain's coat, not just hang it over his shoulders like most do. They get him some slightly more comfortable white trousers and let him wear black boots beneath them. Bon Clay accents the uniform in his characters colors and everyone but even Law eventually comes around and agrees it works.

Of course, Sora's more iconic look is his stolen Germa 66 Raid Suit. The costume department upgrades that design, same as they had the other Raid Suits, mostly by streamlining it, adding the more technological looking boots, adding in some detail to his gloves and.making the helmet a little less goofy (although of course it's still a must as neither Germa not the navy know Sora's identity at the start. At least it doesn't have a seagull on it like in the Saturday morning cartoon). Basically, they just being if closer in line with the other raid suit designs.

Somehow, even with the helmet, Ace looks amazing in that, too.

For Roronoa Zoro's uniform as Lieutenant Tadahiro Daichi, Bon Clay stats him off in just the basic lieutenant uniform, assuming Zoro will likewise have tons of notes. (It's a bit concerning he brought his swords with him). Surprisingly, he has no comments. He doesn't even bother looking in a mirror, instead making sure he can still move enough in sword fight, which he totally can. So he's fine with it.

Law thinks it might be an actual miracle.

Until Bon Clay speaks up. He really hadn't been expecting no comments and he refuses to accept it. You can't put him next to the main character wearing a genetic uniform. He pretty much demands Zoro strips on the spot so he can fix this travesty. Law is quick to leave before the headache starts.

When he comes back, Zoro's has a much baggier coat that goes just bellow his waist And is inexplicably light green. He has the sleeves, which would swallow him otherwise, rolled up high. Its technically on, except it's big enough that it keeps falling off his shoulders. By all rights it should fall open and off except just under the waist there's a belt has been added for his swords, making the V shaped opening look like a very short kimono.

To counter the lose fit of the coat his pants - dark green cause why not - seem impossibly tight. Laws surprised they got him in those without a fight. The only part of the once white uniform to remain the same color is a white sleeveless button down vest that, again, is way too tight for Law's liking and also somehow looks worse than if he were just shirtless. There's no way he can fight in that thing, he can probably barely /breath/.

Law keeps waiting for Zoro to start making comments but again, he has nothing to say. He does his little practice moves, slides the sword back around his waist and finally smiles.

"I like the belt, this is way more practical," he tells Bon Clay. Law wonders if he knows what the word practical means. Pants that cling to every curve of muscle and a vest with buttons clearly meant to be ripped off is not suddenly made practical just because there's an easy place to hang a sword. Also, he's suppose to be a high ranked marine but they can't buy him coat that fits instead of one that keeps slipping off his shoulders?

So of course everyone but Law thinks it's perfect (even though as far as he can tell Zoro never once actually looks in mirror. It seems the ability to still do his own sword fights really was his only requirement.)

Law can't explain it, just like he can't really explain why he dislikes Zoro so immensely, but he hates that costume.

Because of course this is before they even strat shooting, meaning Law would still be pissy at Zoro by this point, and suddenly he finds himself pissed off and turned on all at once.

Law is going to look back at this in a year and hate himself when it finally clicks. He just left Zoro, shirt already falling off, with Ace - who the whole crew agrees looks incredibly sexy in the uniform and that was before he lost the shirt - and not only is Ace not irrationally upset at Zoro, he's all too happy to help out the newbie actor even if it's just something like reassuring him how he looks amazing in costume and hey if Zoro has any questions or something he can always come to Ace. His door is always open to Zoro.

@devilfruitsaladfordinner

Law hates Ace in part because Ace is just so open about flirting and he does it so easily and he's so sexy when he does it and fuck, nope, not going there. Not going to that weird place where the thought of Ace and Zoro together makes him want to scream but it also conjures images of them together infront of him on a bed at his mercy and THAT IS NOT WHERE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO GO WITH THIS

BEPO I NEED A DISTRACTION

.....

Yeah basically.

Peng got his WHAT stuck WHERE?

@gildedmuse

He's angry and he's jealous but he's also about three seconds away from pushing Zoro up against Ace because Law can't help but find the idea of Zoro begging for two men so incredibly sexy it literally breaks his brain. Oh, he's still jealous as fuck, but that doesn't stop him wanting to rip that damn uniform right of the stuntman and see how far him and Portgas-ya could push him until he breaks.

@devilfruitsaladfordinner

Ace is confused but not upset

#sora warrior of the sea #a redhawk production #conversations with internet people #one piece #one piece fanfiction #one piece au #costumes #roronoa zoro #trafalgar d. water law #trafalgar law #boa hancock #x drake #bon clay #the zolaw au nobody asked for

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tinyshe · 4 years ago

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Interview with Alexander Dugin – ‘Welcome all newcomers!’

Prof. Alexander Dugin, philosopher and geopolitical expert from Russia, sees the world changing: the old liberalism is being replaced by a new, aggressive, globalist mutation. Manuel Ochsenreiter's interview with Dugin gives a fascinating insight into the globalist future.

Published: June 18, 2021, 11:42 am

Prof. Dugin, in your latest essay you wrote about “Liberalism 2.0”. Is liberalism changing?

Dugin: Of course! Every ideology is a subject to constant change, including liberalism. Right now we are witnessing a dramatic shift in liberalism. It is now becoming even more dangerous, even more destructive.

How do you even recognize such a change?

Dugin: We can observe a certain “rite of passage”. As such, I interpret the situation in which Donald Trump’s presidency culminated, namely in his fall by hand of the globalist elite, represented by Joe Biden. This is nothing more than a “rite of passage” – embodied by gay parades, BLM uprisings, imperialist LGBT + attacks, the worldwide uprising of extreme feminism and the spectacular arrival of post-humanism and extreme technocracy. There are profound intellectual and philosophical processes going on behind all of this. And these processes have an impact on culture and politics.

You write that liberalism has become “lonely”…

Dugin: Modern liberalism seems to have lost its enemies after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is fatal for this ideology, as it is primarily defined by its demarcation. In my “Fourth Political Theory”, liberalism is defined as the first theory to fight the two “main enemies” – communism (second theory) and fascism (third theory). Both had challenged liberalism: for liberalism claims to be the most modern and progressive theory. But both communism and fascism made the same claim. In 1990 communism and fascism were considered defeated.

This is usually called the “unipolar moment” (Charles Krauthammer) and it was prematurely, as we now know – even raised by Francis Fukuyama to the “end of history”. In the 1990s, however, it seemed that liberalism no longer had any opponents. Smaller burgeoning anti-liberal right, left, and “national Bolshevik” alliances were no real challenge. The absence of its “enemies” for liberalism also meant that it had lost its self-affirmation. Here we see very clearly the “loneliness”, which of course I don’t mean in a melancholy sense. Therefore, the transition to Liberalism 2.0 with a “new impetus” was almost inevitable.

How would you describe that?

Dugin: An opponent had to come back. But actually only the weak, illiberal alliances that can be described as “national Bolsheviks” were offered – even if the so-called movements themselves do not see it that way. Perhaps it is more understandable if one divides the new political camps into globalists (Liberalism 2.0) and anti-globalists. One must not forget: Liberalism 1.0 will not be “reformed”, it will also become the “enemy” of Liberalism 2.0. We can perhaps even speak of a “mutation”. Because there are also old-style liberals who are now more drawn to the camp of anti-globalists because they reject the limitless, hedonistic and total individualism of Liberalism 2.0.

So liberals against liberals?

Dugin: [laughs] Liberalism 2.0 can be seen as a kind of “fifth column” within liberalism. And the new liberalism is brutal and unyielding, it no longer discusses, it does not invite debate. It is a “cancel culture”, it stigmatizes its opponents, it excludes them. “Old” liberals also fall victim to this, as can be seen almost regularly in Europe today. Who are the victims of the “cancel culture”? Maybe fascists or communists? Most of the time it is artists, journalists and authors who have been completely in the mainstream waters – but who are now suddenly targeted. Liberalism 2.0 lets the hammer go round.

Your country, Russia, is seen today as a great opponent of globalism – especially under President Vladimir Putin…

Dugin: The resurgence of Putin’s Russia can be understood as a new mix of the Soviet-style strategy of anti-Western politics and traditional Russian nationalism. On the other hand, the Putin phenomenon remains a mystery – even to us Russians. Certainly, one can recognize “national Bolshevik” elements in his politics, but also a lot of liberal elements. Incidentally, this also applies to the Chinese phenomenon. Here we see again the special Chinese communism mixed with perceptible Chinese nationalism. The same can be said of the growth of European populism where the distance between the left and the right is increasingly disappearing to the point of the symbolic creation of the left-right alliance in the Italian government: I am talking about the agreement between the “Lega Nord” (right-wing populist) and the “5-star” movement (left-wing populist). We see the same phenomenon prefigured in the populist revolt of the “yellow vests” against President Emmanuel Macron in France, in which the supporters of Marine Le Pen fought together with the supporters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon against the liberal center.

The “left-right” alliances you mentioned only existed for a certain period of time, often they fought each other again more than the liberal center…

Dugin: That’s a key point. Since the anti-globalist, right-left alliances are the greatest opponents of Liberalism 2.0, it must constantly fight them, keep them small and also infiltrate them. If anti-globalist left and right in Europe fight each other more than the center, then liberalism 2.0 is the laughing third party. What is more: there is even a certain tendency on the part of the fringes to make pacts with the center in the fight against the other fringe. I think you can see such a situation in all European countries. Thus, Globalism fragments the camp of its opponents and prevents a possibly powerful alliance.

What could such a “powerful alliance” look like?

Dugin: If Putin from Russia, Xi Jinping from China, the European populists and the anti-Western movements in Islam, the anti-capitalist currents in Latin America and Africa had been aware that they are opposing liberal globalism from a somewhat united ideological position and would have adopted left/right and integral populism as their basis, this would have increased their resistance considerably and even multiplied its potential. So in order not to let this happen, the globalists have left no stone unturned to prevent any ideological movement in this direction.

In your essay you refer to Donald Trump as the “midwife of Liberalism 2.0”. What do you mean?

Dugin: I have already said: a political ideology cannot exist if the “friend-foe antagonism” is erased. It loses its identity. To have no more enemy is to commit ideological suicide. So an obscure and undefined external enemy was not enough to justify liberalism. By demonizing Putin’s Russia and Xi Jinping’s China, the liberals could no longer be convincing. More than that: the assumption of the existence of a formal, structured ideological enemy outside the liberal zone of influence (democracy, market economy, human rights, universal technology, total network, etc.) after the onset of the unipolar moment in the early 1990s on a global level would have been tantamount to acknowledging a serious mistake. Logically, an enemy from within had to appear. This was a theoretical necessity in the development of ideological processes during the 1990s.

This enemy from within appeared just in time, at the exact moment when it was needed most. And it had a name: Donald Trump. He embodied the boundary between Liberalism 1.0 and Liberalism 2.0. Initially, attempts were made to establish a connection between Trump and “red-brown Putin”. This seriously damaged Trump’s presidency, but was ideologically inconsistent. Not only because of the lack of real relations between Trump and Putin and Trump’s ideological opportunism, but also because Putin himself is, in fact, a very pragmatic realist.

Much like Trump, Putin is a poll populist, and like Trump, he’s most likely to be an opportunist with no real interest in a worldview. The alternate scenario portraying Trump as a “fascist” is just as ridiculous. Because it has been used by his political rivals too often, it has caused trouble for Trump, but it has also been inconsistent. Neither Trump himself nor his staff consisted of “fascists” or representatives of any right-wing extremist tendency which had long ago been marginalized in American society and only existed as a kind of extreme libertarian fringe or kitsch culture.

How can you then ultimately classify Trump?

Dugin: Trump was and is a representative of Liberalism 1.0. If we put aside all foreign regimes that oppose liberal ideology in their political practice, there will only be one real enemy of liberalism left – liberalism itself. So in order to move forward, liberalism had to carry out an “internal cleansing”. And it is precisely this old liberalism that has been identified with the symbolic figure of Donald Trump. He was the ultimate enemy in the election campaign of Joe Biden, who stands for the new liberalism 2.0. Biden spoke of the “return to normal”. Liberalism 1.0 – national, capitalist, pragmatic, individualistic and to a certain extent libertarian – was thus declared an “abnormality”.

Liberalism focuses on individualism, that is, the individual human being. Other ideologies speak in terms of collectives like the people or the class. What does Liberalism 2.0 do?

Dugin: Right. The figure of the individual plays the same role in the social physics of liberalism as the atom in scientific physics. Society consists of atoms/individuals, who are the only real and empirical basis for subsequent social, political and economic constructions. Everything can be reduced to the individual. That is the liberal law. So the struggle against all kinds of collective identity is the moral duty of liberals, and progress is measured by whether or not this struggle is successful.

A look at Western societies shows that the struggle was largely successful…

Dugin: At that point, when Liberals began to realize this scenario, despite all their victories, there was still something collective, some kind of forgotten collective identity that also needed to be destroyed. Welcome to gender politics! To be a man and a woman means to share a collective identity which dictates strong social and cultural practices. This is a new challenge for liberalism. The individual must be liberated from biological sex, since the latter is still viewed as something objective. Gender must be purely optional and seen as a consequence of a purely individual decision. Gender politics starts here and changes the very nature of the concept of the individual. The postmodernists were the first to show that the liberal individual is a masculine, rationalist construction. Simply equalizing social opportunities and functions for men and women, including the right to change gender at will, does not solve the problem. The “traditional” patriarchy still survives by defining rationality and norms. Hence, it has been concluded that the liberation of the individual is not enough. The next step consists in the liberation of the human being or rather the “living entity” from the individual.

Now the moment is approaching for the final replacement of the individual by the gender-optional entity, a kind of network identity. And the final step will eventually be to replace humanity with creepy beings – machines, chimeras, robots, artificial intelligence and other species of genetic engineering. The line between what is still human and what is already post-human is the main problem of the paradigm shift from Liberalism 1.0 to Liberalism 2.0. Trump was a human individualist who defended individualism in the old style of human context. Perhaps he was the last of his kind. Biden is a representative of the arriving post-humanity.

So far, it all sounds like a smooth march for the globalist elite. Can one counter that?

Dugin: One cannot avoid the realization that both old-fashioned nationalism and communism have been defeated by liberalism. Neither right-wing nor left-wing illiberal populism can win the victory over liberalism today. To be able to do this, we would have to integrate the illiberal left and the illiberal right. But the ruling liberals are very vigilant about this and always try to prevent any movement in this direction in advance.

The short-sightedness of the radical left and radical right politicians and groups only helps liberals to implement their agenda. At the same time, we must not ignore the growing chasm between Liberalism 1.0 and Liberalism 2.0. It seems as if the internal cleansing of modernity and postmodernism is now leading to brutal punishment and excommunication of new species of political beings – this time the liberals themselves are being sacrificed.

Those of them who do not consider themselves as a part of the Great Reset strategy and the Biden-Soros axis, those who refuse to enjoy the final disappearance of good old mankind, good old individuals, good old freedom and the market economy. There will be no place for any of these in Liberalism 2.0.

It will become post-human, and anyone who questions such a new concept will be welcomed to the Unity of Enemies of the Open Society.

And then we, Russians, will be able to tell them: “We have been here for decades and we feel more or less at home here. So we welcome you to hell, newbies!” Every Trump supporter and ordinary Republican is now seen as a potentially dangerous person, just as we have been for a long time. So let Liberals 1.0 join our ranks! To do this, it is not necessary to become illiberal, philo-communist or ultra-nationalist. Nothing like that! Everyone can keep their good old prejudices for as long as they want. The “Fourth Political Theory” presents a unique position where true freedom is welcomed: the freedom to fight for social justice, to be a patriot, to defend the state, the church, the people, the family – and to remain a human.

Prof. Dugin, thank you very much for the interview.

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sixamese-simblr · 4 years ago

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Sims 4 Sixam Challenge

This variant is adapted from the version of this challenge for TS2. The original idea of the challenge was to play the aliens on their home planet, but since TS4 doesn’t allow you to create your own worlds or have more than one lot on Sixam, we’ll have to slightly revise that part. Instead, the aliens from Sixam have found a habitable, though strangely empty new world. There, they seek to establish a new colony.

Getting started

This challenge requires only Get To Work, but features from any packs can be incorporated if you want. Start a new game and create 3 households of young adult alien Sims to start with. They can have any features you like, the only important part is whether they can get pregnant or not:

One queen, a Sim who can get pregnant

Two drones, Sims who can get others pregnant

Three caretakers, who can neither get pregnant or get others pregnant

Remove all premade Sims from the save. If you want, you can keep some of your favourite male premades to get abducted later, but that’s not a necessity. Pick a world to start your colony, and move your three households into 3 empty lots. Build a nursery for the caretakers and a house for the drones. For the Queen you have a choice: the Queen may have a palace on this planet, or you may cheat to acquire an Electroflux Wormhole Generator, and build a palace on Sixam where she spends most of her time by using bb.enablefreebuild on Sixam. If you have City Living, give the lot where the Queen spends their time the on ley line lot trait. If not, you may cheat to give her (and any queen after her) the fertile reward trait.

After that, play rotationally. The task of the drones is to woo the queen. The task of the queen is to have as many babies as possible with the drones. Move any of her babies into one of the nurseries. The task of the caretakers is to take care of these babies until they become teens. If the number of Sims in one nursery ever grows too large, move one caretaker and some of the younglings out, give them $18,000 and let them establish a new nursery.

Castes

Once the younglings become teens, you may roll to assign them one of five castes: Reproductive, High Councillor, Technician, Caretaker or Worker. If their caste is anything other than Caretaker, they move out of the nurseries and into a household with other aliens of similar age and the same caste. The caste determines what their tasks are, whether they can reproduce and what jobs they can get. The rules are as follows.

Reproductive

This caste consists of two subtypes: Drones and Queens. Queens are the only aliens with the ability to get pregnant, and Drones are the only ones who can get others pregnant. All other Aliens get the “neither” setting. There may only be one active Queen at a time: if there already is a Queen, the next eligible aliens have to sit out their turn until the current Queen becomes an elder. If you don’t have a mod to age your pregnant Sims, your Queen needs to age up at the moment she would have aged up anyway.

The Drones do not stay with the colony they were born with, and will be shipped off to a new colony to serve a new Queen when they become Young Adult. When that happens, create a new Drone in CAS (or download one from the Gallery) and move him in. The Drone born in your game becomes unplayable: either delete them or turn them into a townie. If a friend is playing this challenge as well, it can be really fun to exchange your drones with them, and have them live out their lives in each other’s colony.

A Note on Gender

While I generally refer to the Queen as she/her here, Queens and Drones may be of any gender and any agab. As with any of the other aliens, how you want to play their presentation and gender identity is completely up to you, the player. However, I consider it to be not in the spirit of the challenge for the player to be able to pick and choose which Sim gets to be your new Queen. Therefore, at the start of the challenge you may decide whether you want to roll for the ability to get pregnant regardless of agab for reproductive Sims. The rest of the gender customization is up to you.

Caretaker

These Sims live in the nurseries and take care of the Queen’s spawn. They may not take jobs, taking care of the young aliens is their job.

Technician

The smartest aliens, these aliens are focused on building their skills and collecting things. If you have Discover University, they will go to University as well, and are invested in building robots.

Available careers: Astronaut, Criminal (Oracle Branch), Freelancer (Programmer branch), Secret Agent, Tech Guru (Start-up Entrepreneur Branch), Doctor, Scientist, Gardener (Botanist branch), Military (Covert Operator Branch), Conservationist (Marine Biologist Branch), Education (Professor Branch), Engineer, Civil Designer (Green Technician Branch), Salaryperson (Expert Branch)

High Councillors

The richest and most powerful aliens, these aliens are focused on getting rich, having the most lavish houses and getting ahead in their careers. If you have Get Famous, they are also focused on fame.

Available careers: Business, Criminal (Boss Branch), Painter (Patron of the Arts Branch), Style Influencer (Trendsetter Branch), Critic, Politician, Social Media (Internet Personality Branch), Actor, Military (Officer Branch), Conservationist (Environmental Manager Branch), Education (Administrator Branch), Law, Civil Designer (Civic Planner Branch), Salaryperson (Supervisor Branch).

Workers

The common folk, these aliens are focused on arts, crafting, gardening and running their own businesses. If you have Dine Out, they may also start their own restaurants.

Available careers: Athlete, Culinary, Entertainer, Freelancer (All branches but programmer), Painter (Master of the Real Branch), Style Influencer (Stylist Branch), Tech Guru (eSports Gamer Branch), Writer, Detective, Social Media (Public Relations Branch), Gardener (Floral Designer Branch).

Human Sims

If there is currently no Queen available, you may abduct a single young adult male human Sim. He is moved into a house on his own, and you may cheat to get the satellite dish to attract aliens and get him abducted. His task is to get abducted as often as possible, and raise the resulting babies himself.

Finances

The rules in this section are entirely optional; if you prefer to play with unlimited funds then that is totally fine.

The economy functions in two phases: the first ends when the first Sims born in-game become Young Adults. During phase one, the nurseries, queen and drones subsist on grants from the Galactic Colonization Initiative. This grants the Queen and Drones $500 each per baby. The nurseries each receive $1000 per birthday. During phase 2, the High Councillors, Technicians and Workers owe taxes to the other castes. The amount they owe is determined by their weekly bill amount: High Councillors owe an amount equal to their bill amount each to the Queen, a nursery of their choice and a Drone household of their choice. The Technicians and Workers owe an amount equal to half their bill amount to the Queen, and an amount equal to half their bill amount to one of the Nurseries.

When establishing a new household on an empty lot, Sims receive an $18,000 grant. If there is a house built for their caste that is uninhabited because all inhabitants have died, you may choose to forgo this grant and establish a new household on that lot with freerealestate.

Rich aliens may donate to nurseries or humans in need on top of their taxes. Additionally, they may leave their current funds to a nursery when they die, but they may not sell their house to get more funds to donate.

End Condition

The challenge ends when a Queen whose birth mother was born in game dies of old age.

#the sixam challenge #ts4 #simblr #sims 4 #sims challenge

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chromatic-lamina · 5 years ago

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boy, you gotta carry that weight

Further to this scene from Dressrosa (chapter 798)—which I talk about in some depth here—Law, when he is talking with Sengoku, is aware of Vergo’s role in Cora-san/Rosinante’s death, and his continued role with the marines, I suppose. I mean. He was there. And Punk Hazard would have confirmed the marine connection.

Chapter 764.

And Sengoku states, as above, that Rosinante ultimately died to keep Law alive, and Law knows this.

He also knows the role that he played in bringing Vergo to a wounded Cora, and the role Vergo had in both informing Doflamingo of Cora’s presence, and of hurrying his demise through the haki-imbued thrashing he gave both Cora and his thirteen-year old, on-death’s-door, self.

But it was Sengoku who sent Vergo to Swallow Island at Vergo’s request (or at least let him join G5 who were deployed to Swallow Island, it seems). Sengoku has just hung up fro talking with Cora here. [chapter 764].

It was his man, his institution, that also played a pivotal role in Rosinante’s end. AND neither man necessarily knows Sengoku’s part in this.

Sengoku does not know about Vergo’s role in it, considering he was able to keep his identity hidden for thirteen years, and even then Tashigi decided to keep his true identity a secret from his men so as not to crush their morale, so whether Vergo’s traitorous role is widely-known is also something the reader is ignorant of, as is Law and possibly also Sengoku (though I hope that Smoker filled him in).

So, you know, just as proxy child killed proxy father through a series of tragic events, proxy father had a hand in killing his own proxy child through similar tragic decisions made by him if we are apportioning blame (or looking for exactly what events led to what outcome). One role is known between Law and Sengoku (Law’s role), but the other is not.

Both Law and Sengoku could not see the consequences of their decisions regarding Vergo, because they just didn’t know he was a Donquixote spy.

Yet, both Sengoku and Law know that Rosinante died at a causative-surface level because of Law, and Law carries that guilt, as seen in his determination to avenge Cora (my take), and Sengoku carries grief and some underlying resentment, which is human. He warned Cora not to get too involved. Cora’s passing is not clear to him.

However, Sengoku’s own unwitting hand in Cora’s death will probably only be known when that report from Smoker lands on his desk (if it does—he’s retired now), and Law will probably not know at all (depending on his intel), except in terms of believing that the majority of marines, and the concept of World Government, cannot be trusted.

So not only is the question, What were you doing on that island, Rosinante? (see above) But what was Vergo doing there (marine duty), and who sent him? (Sengoku?)

And yeah, I do consider Rosinante as a form of family for Law in the way that when we lose a parental figure, or we undergo inconsistent parenting (which Cora actually was pretty good at), we often find or come across other people who can guide us in similar ways or better or different ways from those who already exist in our life (alive or dead). And we often view these figures parentally, even when we love our original families.

Losing some of those who we love doesn’t mean we can’t love and learn from others; doesn’t mean that the love can’t exist concurrently. One Piece is all about found family, after all, or the family that finds you, but I digress.

Anyway, a huge weight for Law to carry. As for Sengoku, has he done worse? Yes. Has it hit him so personally? Probably not. If he reflected upon it, or when he reflects upon it, how stoic would the old man be? So much of the past that can’t be changed. Another theme explored in my fanfics of course. Heh. As for Doffy, well, he’s the biological kid who rids himself of biological family members, and there are all kinds of threads that can be woven into sticky webs from that and the unwitting actions of these two—in another post at another time.

#one piece #one piece meta #opmeta #op meta #trafalgar law #sengoku the buddha #donquixote rosinante #vergo #family #found family #dressrosa #my stuff #my writing #chromalami #long post #chromameta

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movedto-tsotc · 4 years ago

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My pokeprotag hcs :]

Red — nonbinary (he / they), homosexual, ace

- leaf's twin brother - Selectively mute, hard of hearing - Autistic - married to Blue - Originally called Red Branch, now called Red Branch Oak (as though that's any better) - Got Charmander as a starter

Leaf — trans feminine nonbinary (she / they), lesbian - Red's twin sister - Full of life, also hard of hearing - calls blue various fruits in sign language - Still called Leaf Branch - Chose the name Leaf specifically to match their family name - Got Bulbasaur as a starter

Kris — nonbinary (he / him), lesbian - off the shits little woman - Adopted sister of Ethan and Lyra - Does abt 50 sports in his free time - Became champion for abt a week but only so he could brag to Ethan that he did it first - Got adopted by Leaf as a sister after Ethan got taken into the family by Red and Blue - Got a Totodile as a starter

Ethan — trans man (he / him), bisexual - Lyra's identical twin brother - Healthy sibling rivalry with Kris - Chose the name Ethan out of the phone book - Got adopted as a brother by Red and Blue after finding Red on Mt Silver and losing to him pretty badly - Dresses himself in the dark 8/10 times - ADHD - Got Cyndaquil as a starter

Lyra — cis woman (she / her), pansexual - Ethan's identical twin sister - Does sports with Kris in her free time, could reasonably throw ethan like a rugby ball if she was so inclined - Became the champion after Ethan went off the Mt. Silver to fight their new brother - Really looks up to Leaf as a cool big sister type - Got Chikorita as a starter

Brendan — agender, (it / that), aromantic

- May's identical twin - Beat the Hoenn E4 but said fuck that to beating Wallace with a Blazekin and only a Blazekin - Currently the Contest master alongside its dear friend Lisia - Adopted child of Maxie somehow - QPP with Wally - Keeps trying to wear more trousers together to see who would try and stop him - Got Torchic as a starter

May — trans woman (she / her), lesbian - Brendan's identical twin sister - Currently Hoenn's champion, did it with a lone mudkip - Adopted child of Archie because they're both off the shits and also fuck you Norman - Never cared much for the contests bc they don't - appreciate her dear friend mudkip - Got Mukip as a starter

Lucas — cis man (he / she), homosexual -Dawn's younger brother (abt a year difference) - His scarf was a gift from Barry, his dear silly little boyfriend Barry - Hard of hearing - Turns off his hearing aid if Barry's trying to fine him - Got Chimchar as a starter

Dawn — trans woman (she / her), bisexual

- Lucas' older sister (abt a year difference) - Makes her own clothes and is really good at it - Visually impaired - Current Sinnoh champion - Got adopted by Cynthia after winning the title - Got piplup as a starter

Hilbert — agender trans man (no pronouns / it), homosexual - Hilda's twin brother - N's honourary little brother - Made the equiv of 100 gecs alongside Hilda - Didn't actually go on a pokémon journey to become champion, was too busy being called Hilbert and trying to befriend the tall green man to fight the league - Cheren's boyfriend - Got Oshawott as a starter

Hilda — trans woman (he / they), lesbian - Hilbert's twin sister - N's honourary little sister - Made the equiv of 100 gecs alongside Hilbert - Champion of Unova, punched Ghetsis in the face - Took Iris under his wing and practically adopted her as a sister - Got Tepig as a starter

Nate — nonbinary (they / them), Demi ace - Almost the champion but got beaten by Hilda, content at beating the E4 - Hugh's Partner - Cuts their own hair - ADHD + Autistic - Decided to dedicate themself to looking after bird pokémon and do research into them - Got Snivy as a starter

Calem — cis man (he / him), pansexual - Sycamore's semi adopted son - Fr*nch - idk i never played x/y - Got Froakie as a starter

Serena — nonbinary woman (she / her), lesbian - Calem's half sister - The current Kalosian Champion - Took Diantha to be her new big sister - Deaf - Got Fennekin as a starter

Elio — nonbinary agender (any prns but she), aro ace - Selene's identical twin - Hau and Gladion's QPP - ADHD - Got adopted by Kahili (specifically my Kahili) as a sibling and taught Alolan sign language by it - Originally from Johto - Got Rowlet as a starter

Selene — nonbinary agender (any prns but he), Lesbian ace - Elio's identical twin - Lillie's partner - Also got adopted by Kahili (specifically my Kahili) as a sibling and taught Alolan sign language by it - Alolan Champion - Originally from Johto - Got Litten as a starter

Victor — trans man (he / him), homosexual - Gloria's twin brother - The part of the relationship between him, Hop and Bede, that keep getting them all into trouble - Galar's tower master after Leon - Studying to be a pokémon professor alongside hop - Really fucking quiet, only really talks to Gloria and his boyfriends - Looks up to Raihan (brother in law in law) as the coolest trainer in Galar, sorry Leon - Came from Sinnoh at 4 years old and grew up in Galar - Got Scorbunny as a starter

Gloria — nonbinary (he / they), lesbian - Victor's twin sibling - Marine <3 - Currently the Galar champion - Tourettes - Came from Sinnoh at 4 years old and grew up in Galar - Got Sobble as a starter

#524 #long post #gestures. my head canons for u

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a-marlene-s · 5 years ago

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List of Au’s, Stories and One-Shots posted on Tumblr

One-Shots Stories:

Title: Listen To My Melody Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Couple: Marinette x Luka Summary: Luka singing to a Marinette, in hopes of her snapping out of an Akuma’s trance. Link: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189284165656/listen-to-my-melody

Title: It’s a date Fandom: Harry Potter Couple: Fred x Hermione Au: Yule Ball Summary: Fred asking Hermione to the Yule Ball Link: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188184566766/its-a-date

Title: Birthday Date~ Fandom: ML Couple: Felix x Marinette x Luka Genre/Au: Romance with a hint of hurt/comfort Summary: A Birthday Date Link: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/187833716931/giveaway-prize-4th-place-the-500-word-one-shot

Title: Prompt 16: “She Locked herself in her room…” Fandom: ML/Mortal Combat Couple: None Au: Sabine Dupain-Cheng, she is the forgotten sister of Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot. Cryomancy passed over Sabine, but it did get inherited down to her daughter, Marinette. Cryomancy!Marinette. Au by: @opalmoon04 Summary: Marinette locked herself in her room and her uncle has a heart to heart with her. Link: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/187616953716/prompt-16-she-locked-herself-in-her-room

Title: Understanding Fandom: ML/Mortal Combat Couple: None Au: Sabine Dupain-Cheng, she is the forgotten sister of Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot. Cryomancy passed over Sabine, but it did get inherited down to her daughter, Marinette. Cryomancy!Marinette. Au by: @opalmoon04 Summary : Sub-Zero, Kuai Liang, visits his niece to tell her that she is no monster and there is much more she could do with her newfound abilities. Link: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/187854654621/giveaway-prize-3rd-place-the-1000-word-one-shot

Title: Talk Fandom: Fairy Tail Couple: Natsu, BrOtp Navia Au: None. Summary: Perhaps it is better to talk to someone else… Link: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188059965136/giveaway-prize-3rd-place-the-1000-word-one-shot

Title: Waking Up Fandom: Harry Potter Couple: Fred x Hermione Au: Fred Lives. Everybody Lives! Summary: Fred is still dealing with the aftermath of the war. Link: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188143465491/giveaway-prize-1st-place-the-2000-word-one-shot

Title: Lady Noir and Red Robin Fandom: ML/DC Couple: Timari Au: Marinette adopted by Black Canary Link: Pt. 1: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188830276141/how-about-a-lady-noir-the-mini-catwoman-fic-how Pt. 2: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188853273231/pt-2-of-an-ask-timari Pt. 3: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188874396621/pt-3-of-an-ask-timari

Title: Jason is very picky with who’s he’s soft for Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug x DC Ship: Jason x Marinette Summary: Fandom: Miraculous- batman relationship: Marinettex Jason genre: Humor blurb?: Jason is very picky with who he's soft for, Marinette is he's soft person. Keyword His. Apparently, dick hadn't got the message

Link: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188920734216/fandom-miraculous-batman

Title: Sabine and Tom witness the worst. Fandom: ML Summary: Marinettes parents come to school (she forgot something at home) overhear what Lila and her classmates are saying about her and just SNAP.

Link: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188919838391/if-you-are-still-doing-the-20-drabbles-maybe-one

Title: Au Where Mari’s Bio!Dad is Bruce Wayne. Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug & DC Au: Male!Mari Summary: Au where Mari's Bio!Dad being Bruce Wayne. Also in this au Mari is a Male so he's Marin. Bruce met Sabine and Tom when when younger and fell for them hard.

Link: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188942301766/au-where-maris-biodad-being-bruce-wayne-also-in

Title: Chat Tortue Status: Incomplete Fandom: ML Couple: Nino x Marinette Au: Chat Noir!Nino Summary: To be seen. Link: Origins:

Pt. 1 https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/187298890316/chat-tortue-origins-part-1-of-3

Pt. 2: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/187412540356/chat-tortue-origins-part-2-of-3

Pt. 3: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188336927241/chat-tortue-origins-part-3-of-3

Title: I Nearly Got Ran Over By The Batmobile: Twittter Au Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug & DC Ship: Damian x Marinette Au: Twitter Au. Summary: Marinette twitters away her disbelief at the fact she nearly got ran over by the Batmobile. Link:

Day 1: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189261197606/i-nearly-got-ran-over-by-the-batmobile-twitter-au

Day 1(Still): https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189284523521/i-nearly-got-ran-over-by-the-batmobile-twitter-au

Title: Chesire’s Smile

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Ship: Marinette x Adrien, Multimouse x Chat Noir Au: MultiMouse!Mari Background Info: -The first two heroes that came to be are Chat Noir and Carapace. -Nino and Adrien know of each other’s secret identities. -Ladybug/Marinette never became a thing. It will be Marinette/Multimouse. She doesn’t know Chat Noir and Carapace’s secret identities. Link:

Link 1: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188622617066/oh-can-you-write-a-drabble-about-adrien-and-chat

Link 2: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189244772036/cheshires-smile-adrien-living-arrangements

Link 3: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189679564841/cheshires-smile-adriens-first-day-in-public

Title: Iron First, Velvet Glove Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Ship: To be decided. Summary: Bustier get’s replaced by someone that rules over an iron first and a velvet glove. Links:

Link 1: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/188943269701/iron-fist-velvet-glove

Link 2: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189009587031/i-would-like-to-give-a-shout-to-those-that-have

Link 3: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189032752456/iron-fist-velvet-glove-pt-3

Link 4: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189055141316/iron-fist-velvet-glove-pt-4

Link 5: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189082815921/iron-fist-velvet-glove-pt-5

Link 6: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189225898391/iron-fist-velvet-glove-pt-6

One Hell of a Friend:

Headcanon Post: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189343629341/im-one-hell-of-a-friend

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug x Black Butler Summary: Rolland really wanted to protect his son, daughter-in-law and only granddaughter. Using an old favor from the previous head of the Phantomhive family, he sold his soul to a demon. Under the promise that said Demon will protect his family… Said demon deeply regrets said contract.

Pt. 1: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189487136491/im-one-hell-of-a-friend-pt-1

Blog: Spots On

Inspired by a post by @vivilakitty: https://vivilakitty.tumblr.com/post/189295836977/okay-playing-on-the-idea-that-ladybug-calls-lila

All inspiriation goes to @vivilakitty and @miraculousl4dybug!

Pt. 1/3:https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189465872691/blog-spots-on-13

Title: Number Three Hero

Fandom: My Hero Academia Au: Number Three Hero, Hisashi Midoriya is Japan’s Number Three Hero and a Shitty father at that.

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184359923491/number3heroau-izuku-midoriya-headcanon

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184428813811/number3heroau-todoroki-family-headcanon

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184429446421/number3heroau-katsuki-bakugo-headcanon

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184447195866/number3heroau-hitoshi-shinso-headcanon

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184447299111/number3hero-ochaco-uraraka-headcanon

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184625345661/number3heroau-hisashi-midoriyas-background

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184721412051/number3heroau-friends-of-friends

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184723425026/number3heroau-quirk-realization

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184728060631/number3heroau-an-ever-changing-future

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184763671916/number3heroau-visions-of-a-family-life

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184862501331/number3heroau-burn-marks

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184903003571/number3heroau-recovery

https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/184958554766/number3heroau-life-after-surviving

I’m a Scholar, Not a Knight

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Summary: Izuku knew he wanted to become more than a simple peasant. He plans on becoming a scholar. A simple scholar that is repeatedly being told otherwise. Somehow, he found himself in the company of a retired knight, a squire, a witch-in-training, a runaway prince, a barbarian king, a human/dragon hybrid and a frog shifter… All of whom start to assume he’s the Lost Hero of Legend. Yeah… there goes his goal of becoming a scholar.

Pt. 1: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189201651731/im-a-scholar-not-a-knight-pt-1

Pt. 2: https://a-marlene-s.tumblr.com/post/189393762946/im-a-scholar-not-a-knight-pt-2

Headcanons For La Red:

The Blog: A Sight For Sore Lies

In Au Chat noir discovers the anti-Lila site. He sees numerous people were harmed by her lies. Hears about Marinette’s involvement

Backstory: See-No-Lie

Possible Future Au’s:

Miraculous Dragon Age:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

Species: Half-Elven Inquisitor,

Backstory: Her parents are highly known bakers in the Orlais. The bakery is known to be the Divine Justinia’s favorite bakery, even dropping by for a random visit here and there. This came into play when everyone planned on having the family come to the conclave to cater the event.

Marinette went ahead of her parents to bring in the first of the items that were needed for their job. Unfortunately for her, she got lost and found herself smack dab in the middle of trouble.

Adrien Agreste:

Species: Human

Backstory: The son of a nobleman who wanted to keep him away from the outside world. Despite this, Adrien had managed to run away to join the Templars at a young age. He got into some… trouble when his best friend helped his friend got messed up with the Hero of Ferelden. Then once again when he got transferred to a new place… and dealt with the Hero of Kirkwall.

He doesn’t have the best of luck. However, throughout this, he managed to rise through the ranks and was asked by none other than the right hand of Divine to join the Inquisition.

Fridge Au:

What if Adrien grew up in a normal household...

Gabriel Agreste gave up his chance of becoming a famous fashion designer to take care of his ailing wife during her pregnancy. Instead of fretting over designs, business deals or becoming the man as we know him as, gave everything up. Giving up the limelight to be there for his wife and their unborn son.

For Gabriel, nothing is more important than family...

Emilie Agreste remained hospitalized after giving birth to Adrien Agreste and shortly fell into a coma. Gabriel had to take on several odd jobs to pay off the hospital and to provide for his son. One of those jobs ended up being a delivery man for the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Quirk: Miraculous Ladybug

Quirks:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Cloth Manipulation/Miraculous Ladybug

Adrien Agreste: Formerly Quirkless/Cataclysm

Alya Césaire (class deputy): Computer Interaction

Nino Lahiffe: Frequency manipulation.

Chloé Bourgeois: Paralysis Inducement

Sabrina Raincomprix: Invisibility

Rose Lavillant: Plant Manipulation

Nathaniel Kurtzberg: Digital Art Manipulation

Juleka Couffaine: Identity Manipulation

Lê Chiến Kim: Emotion Weaponry

Mylène Haprèle: Slime Manipulation

Max Kanté: Technological Combat

Alix Kubdel: Flash Forward

Ivan Bruel: Earth Transformation

Lila Rossi: Feign Damage

Aurore Beauréal: Weather Manipulation

Mireille Caquet: Omnilingualism

Jean Duparc: Miming

Luka Couffaine: Sound Manipluation

Marc Anciel: Ink Manipulation

Kagami Tsurugi: Elemental Manipulation

Justice League.... You’ve been banned from Paris.

Au from: @vivilakitty: https://vivilakitty.tumblr.com/post/189642522467

Summary: The Justice League found out they are banned from Paris. They have no idea why and they send someone to investigate. What they found out about Team Miraculous and Akuma’s, things grew tense.

I know her, I’m close friends with her son~

Au from: @countingdowndays: https://countingdowndays.tumblr.com/post/189602949856/prompt-lila-salt-adriens-mom

Summary: Adrien mentions the movie his mom stared in to the class. Lila latched onto it, claiming she personally knew the actress and that she could introduce Adrien to her. “Great, let me know what my mom says.”

Marinette Mode

Story Idea: @vivilakitty: https://vivilakitty.tumblr.com/post/189567415622

Summary: Marinette takes on an apprentice ship under the one and only Edna Mode.

Hear Me Out Au

Story idea from: @maxdark158: https://maxdark158.tumblr.com/post/187476540811/hear-me-out-ive-got-an-au-idea

Summary:

Best Friends Adrien and Marinette. No love interest or love square here.

Marinette paired with either Damian, Tim, Jason, Dick, or someone from Dc.

Adrien, I don’t know if I want to pair him up with someone or if I do want to pair up him with someone, I don’t know with whom yet.

Adrien is protective of his best friend.

Lila Salt.

Alya Salt.

Passive (Agreste)sive.

The Delinquent

Story prompt from: @rubixchick: https://rubixchick.tumblr.com/post/189551994983

Summary: Lila assumed the older guy Mairnette has been hanging out with lately, is just some delinquent due to the guy’s tattoo’s, pericings and ripped up clothes. Spinning her tales, Lila made it difficult for Marinette to hang out with this guy or trying to occupy her time by smoothering her to no end. Things go bad to worse... for Lila when she accused Juleka’s brother, whom she never met before, being the deliquient.

Presentation Day

Prompt by: @art-deco-shrimp: https://art-deco-shrimp.tumblr.com/post/187540795390/fanfic-prompt-ms-bustier-assigns-each-of-the

Summary: Ms Bustier assigns each of the students to do a report on someone they know, with a presentation at the end. They need to pick someone to report on, learn about their daily life, interview at least three people close to them, and then do a presentation on that person when the project is due in two weeks (arbitrary time limit is arbitrary). When Alya comments that it’s too bad that the restrictions mean a report on Ladybug is probably out of the question, Marinette suggests Ladybug’s best friend as a substitute. Alya can interview Lila’s parents as one source, Rose can probably connect her for a short Q&A with Prince Ali about someone who’s done so much for his charities, and Alya can even justify asking Ladybug some questions for the project this way! (The direct prompt from the post.)

What’s the Stitch?

Prompt by: @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl

Kim Possible/Miraculous Ladybug crossover where Marinette and Kim are cousins though Gina. Lila lies about knowing and going on side missions with her when Marinette's the one going on missions with her when she's in town or visiting. Class minus Chole, Nathaniel, & Kitty Section believe and bully Marinette due to Lila's lies. Kim shows up during it one Tommie then uses her connections to show the truth and take her down. All bullies are sued and are banned from the bakery.

ONE MORE THING!

Prompt by: @vixen-uchiha

Jackie Chan adventures. Can I request an uncle Jackie and cousin jade dropping in after learning about what is going on in pairs with some Lila and Alya salt

#write this #ml #crossover #masterlist #my hero academia #maribat #future storeis #current stories

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thiswaycomessomethingwicked · 4 years ago

Note

What do you think Napoleon would feel about the Le Pens? Like I know he’d hate their guts but the extent 👀

God fuck the Le Pens. I feel dirty thinking about them. (Though weirdly funny that Marine kicked her dad out of FN. Like you know you’re too deep down the rabbit hole of fuckery when Marine kicks you out. [and yeah, of course it’s all part of her image cleaning up gimmick. Wherein I’m sure she thinks the same as him, but is trying to “soften” the image of the party. And, based on the last election, it’s working. So that’s horrifying.]) All this to say: fuck the Le Pens; white supremacy etc.

Anyway - assuming we’re still going for “Napoleon from 1815 woke up August 22, 2020″ base for our thought experiments here.

Overall, yeah he’d think them short sighted, idiotic, and would probably have some elegant-yet-crude insults for them in Corsican. Let us take a brief, and not at all comprehensive, stroll down the Le Pens (and FN by default)’s terrible policies. Then I can scrub my brain out because they are absolutely foul people.

behind a cut because it’s long.

Economics: First off, Napoleon and I are the same in that we neither know anything about economics. He did not have a firm grasp on how the economy worked. Which I sympathise with, because it seems very fake and made up.

Anyway, he did a lot of modernization, raised taxes, created a lot of public works programs to stimulate the economy and improve connectivity (gotta build all the roads and canals. Actually though, as a public infrastructure keener, I support this). He did lay the foundation for the centralized bank of France. (Something Biddle would get all hot and bothered over. Nothing sexier than centralized banks.)

Napoleon also introduced a whole loan system for businesses to try and keep them afloat and improve local industry. He was keen on protecting property rights, um, tried to regulate the currency to protect it against inflation. Idk, he did other things that I’m not going to get into.

Comparing Napoleon’s hot economic takes from 1815 to 2020? A bit hard. So I’m going to guestimate on this.

I think, once he understood how the world functions now, he would be pro-globalization and the various free trade agreements that are in place (CETA, PCAs etc). He might disagree with details therein, but the broad philosophy is one I think he’d support.

I don’t know if he would be pro-single currency. I suspect he might be anti-the Euro, while still supporting the broad intents of the EU.

He would support a strong public sector - so government controlled postal service, utilities, schools etc. In that, and the anti-Euro view, he would align with Marine, at least. Not sure about her POS father.

No idea what his views on the Havana Charter would be. Probably mixed.

EU: I’ve touched on this before, I think Napoleon would be pro-EU, over all. He’d just think France should be the hegemonic power. Why isn’t France making all the decisions? This is dumb. Who does Germany think they are? Etc. Therefore, he would disagree with the Le Pens who think the EU is the anti-christ and the cause of everything bad that ever happened in France (I exaggerate, but they do blame the EU for a lot of things so you know, it’s not that much of a stretch).

Immigration: This is where they would diverge significantly. Like apples and moldy toast kind of different. I’ve touched on Napoleon’s immigration policy before, so I’m not going to wade into it again. But yeah, needless to say Napoleon would be like “let everyone come. They want to come to France? They are French. More is better. The end.”

The only thing is, he was very pro-assimilation. Not really into the “patchwork quilt” approach to the philosophy (and implementation) of multiculturalism. Which, to be fair, is a very modern view and not something I would expect anyone from 1815 to agree with, or consider a general good approach to dynamic, multicultural societies.

But yeah, the Le Pens whole moratorium on immigration, hatred of anyone foreign, that would be an anathema to Napoleon. He would vehemently disagree with that stance. Napoleon believed alloys were stronger. You took different people, boiled them down, and melded them into a unified French identity. That was his Hot Take on the matter. Again, pro-assimilation, which is an inherently conservative stance by 21st century standards, but a very average stance by early 19th century standards. His immigration and citizenship views were overall liberal for the time.

Indeed, the whole creation of a unified French identity was in its infancy during his life. He contributed heavily to it, but for his lifetime, identity was strongly linguistic and regional. You’re Gascon before you’re French, you’re Basque before you’re either French or Spanish, that sort of thing.

And of course, his views on this were heavily informed by his own experience and identity as a Frenchman and how it was received, or not, by his own people, as well as other monarchs and countries. (Tsar Alexander liked to brag that he spoke better French than the Emperor of France. And I believe the Times once called Napoleon a “Mediterranean mongrel.” Charming. So, he had a fun and exciting adventure in European class, ethnic and racial politics of the early 19th century.)

Napoleon would also disagree with the Le Pens that citizenship and nationality are indivisible. He was into the whole “if you decide you are French then you are French, no matter which side of the Rhine you were born on”.

Secularism: They’d actually probably mostly agree on this. In that religion has no part or place in government and there should be a clear and strong separation of church and state.

The banning of religious clothing, though, I don’t think Napoleon would support that. I would argue that he’d think it infringed on personal rights too much, and he was keen on protecting those. Like, his policy towards integrating France’s Jewish population was to try and assimilate them, yes, because he viewed everything as being consumed by the monolith that was the French Empire. But he wasn’t like “no wearing a tallit or kippah.”

Abortion: Guys, Napoleon is a culturally Catholic man from 1815 who thought women’s crowing jewel were her children and that France really needed to increase its overall population. I think we can all figure out what his views on abortion would be. Marine is pro-legality of abortion, but she personally is like “it’s eViL and a serious MoRaL IsSuE” etc.

Gay Rights: Napoleon’s whole political approach was to bring in the people on the margins and normalize them (assimilate; one of us, one of us) as a means to increase the base of the population who would support him. As he viewed marriage as a strictly secular, civil ceremony, and not a religious one, there could be a possibility of slowly talking him around to it. That said, he also viewed marriage as a declaration of intent to make many babies (for his army). I don’t think he’d be pro-queer couples adopting, no matter what. So, who knows.

That said, he wasn’t like “lock up the gays”. And as gay marriage is established in France currently, I don’t know if he’d be pro-abolition since it’s mostly a popular/accepted law and he was all about that sweet, sweet public approval rating.

So if he came around to it, it wouldn’t be for altruistic reasons. At the same time, he wouldn’t be like “make it illegal”. He was very “w/e just show up to work on time Cambaceres, jesus.” (Cambaceres: It’s midnight, sire. This isn’t normal work hours. Napoleon: SAYS WHO???)

Women in Politics: Well he’s obviously 100% against that. Ladies belong at home with the bebes. Le Pens, obviously, aren’t. Though Jean, I think, is like Trump where he’s pro his daughter being in politics (until she chucked him out of FN), but he would expect his wife to be a Proper Housewife. That weird conservative man thing about the role of wives and daughters.

There’s my fly-over guestimation of Napoleon v Le Pens

It’s very, very hard to figure out what Napoleon, a man born in 1769 and died in 1821, would think about politics, economics and society in 2020. I tried to gauged based on his broad, philosophical views and how he acted as ruler. But he was also someone who was very analytical and would be capable of understanding the world as it is today and the realities that are in place. He might find them off putting or bizarre (ladies as heads of states?? what about your children??) but he was an imminently pragmatic man who would look at a situation and go “alright, this is the reality of the system and society I am now in” and would adjust himself accordingly.

In the end, trying to figure out how a man from 1815 would react to today’s politics is very difficult, if not outright impossible. His understanding of what liberal meant, what conservative meant, etc. were so different to our understanding that I would never place him in one camp. He had changing, dynamic views, and that would be reflected in his understanding of politics in 2020.

Overall, I think he would disagree with a lot of the stances of the Le Pens. Would he hate them? No. Because Napoleon didn’t really hate people based on their political views. He saw too much of the Revolution to go for extreme personal reactions to political stances; also he was too much a pragmatist and understood that you never know who might be an ally in the future.

Napoleon might look down on the Le Pens, he might find them personally disgusting, he might view them as stupid (honestly, he’d probably just think they’re dumb and quickly move on), but he wouldn’t hate them.

Because this is tumblr, I must now declare my political stance because I was too calm in most of that assessment.

1. Fuck the Le Pens & Front Nationale

2. Nationalism is spooky and I am always suspect when it comes up in political discourse in the year of our lord 2020

3. I am bi and non-binary, which isn’t actually a political stance (or a personality), but tumblr is Like That so I thought I’d include it.

4. I support: lgbtq rights; trans rights; universal health care; easy and open access to education; improved access to education at primary school levels (because that’s a huge impact on people); ACAB; separation of church and state; prison reform/some form of abolishment - I’m still thinking through my views on this and how it should be approached; land back; Aboriginal and Treaty Rights; immigration; no more kids in cages jesus christ; don’t drink bleach; democracy is good, punch fascists etc. etc.

#and by spooky I mean that I think nationalism is a plague on all our houses #napoleon bonaparte #napoleon #spicy fucking ask #I really don't want dumb comments or asks as a result of this #fingers crossed #ask #reply #anon #napoleon in the modern day

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thunderbirdthree · 6 years ago

Text

Skyfall Part One

This is one of two fics I have planned this week. It will have two, possibly three parts, which have all been written I’m just not setteled on whether to split the rest of it or not. I’m good at fluff pieces, and this is my first attempt at something even remotely “angsty”, also my first time writing something with so many POV shifts, so it’s very uhh…. experimental, but I hope you kind of like it. The rest will be out either later this evening or tomorrow, I just have to do some final edits.

Summary: It had been a freak accident, but nonetheless Thunderbird Three was hurtling towards the Earth nothing more than a fireball with Alan inside her.

Cameras happened to be rolling, the news that an International Rescue Thunderbird was in perilous danger was global news, especially since the only rescue vehicle even capable of saving the crippled ship was the very ship tumbling through Earth’s atmosphere, nothing more than a ball of flame, and thanks to a luckily placed news ship out recording a segment about marine life, the world had an up close and personal view of her descent.

The world watched as Thunderbird Three appeared on their screens ripping through the atmosphere, nothing more than a shiny red piece of scrap metal, hurtling towards the ocean below. If there was one thing to be grateful for, was that the maximum number of lives that could be taken was one. They watched as the hunk of metal hit the ocean, making a splash that seemed to travel for miles. They watched as the ship sank below the waves, no sign of the young operative who had been on board. They watched as not a minute later Thunderbird One and the colossal Thunderbird Two arrived, not even waiting for the cargo hold to hit the water before shooting Thunderbird Four into the water. They watched with bated breath as the cameras rolled, focussing on the water under the green giant, the pieces of debris that remained gleaming red until the midday sun. They waited for any sign that whoever it was who had been flying the ship had somehow made it out alive.

—-

Alan had been on a simple mission. A cargo ship had broken down, he needed to help the crew get their systems, especially their vital life support systems back online. It had been simple, in, out, and the cargo ship was on its way home to Earth for a full system check. Alan had bid his farewells and was halfway back towards Earth himself when it had happened. It had all been so quick, two large ships had shifted slightly in their lanes, if it had been one or the other, what happened next could have been avoided. The ships bumped into each other, a mere fender bender for two ships that large, but the larger of the two tore a piece off the smaller which had gone careening outwards, Alan didn’t even have a chance to react, the piece, easily half the size of Three, smashed into the side of the ship. The impact knocked Alan out momentarily and when he came too, Three was in an uncontrolled spiral, all systems malfunctioning, with her cargo hold all but torn off. Alan had just enough composure to get his helmet on, but before he could even think about trying to control the spin, he felt his ship jerk sharply again, his head knocking on the control panel and his world went dark once more.

—-

“Thunderbird Five to Thunderbird Three. Alan what just happened? Are you ok?” John’s voice came through the comms, panicked. Scott, Virgil and Gordon looked up at each other as John’s voice came through their ears, momentarily distracted from the rescue they were wrapping up.

“ALAN!” They had never heard John sound scared before.

“John, what’s going on?” Scott asked, an edge to his voice.

“Thunderbird Three. Can you hear me? Alan, report!” The three earthbound Tracy’s shared a panicked look, and after bidding a hasty farewell to the local law enforcement they were sprinting to their ships.”

“John if you don’t tell me what’s going on, so help me I’m gonna…” Scott started before he was cut off.

“I.. I don’t know. One moment he’s fine, the next all of Three’s systems go haywire, I don’t have a visual on him, I can’t reach him on the comms.”

“We’re on our way back towards the island, keep us updated when you make contact.” Scott ordered, and with that the two ships took off.

—-

“FAB Scott.” John responded, trying to keep the shaking out of his voice. What was going on? Three had disappeared completely from his tracker, he had no idea what was happening to Alan, but he had a horrible feeling in his stomach.

“International Rescue, this is the captain of the Oliviera.” Of course! Why hadn’t John thought of asking the ship Alan had been helping if they had any idea what had happened.

“This is International Rescue, please tell me you can see Thunderbird Three.” John couldn’t keep the desperation out of his voice.

“Yes sir, that’s what I was calling about I… I’m not sure what happened exactly, but as Thunderbird Three was pulling away from our ship, something huge smashed into him. We can still see him, it looks as though he’s in some sort of uncontrolled descent back towards Earth. We can’t reach him on our comms and well….” the captain took a deep breathe “Thunderbird Three doesn’t look much like she did when she arrived here.” John’s heart dropped out of his body, tumbling to the Earth far below, but he tried to keep the panic out of his voice.

“I’ve completely lost him from my comms and I can’t track Three, you didn’t possibly get your vid cams working again?” The captain of the Oliviera quickly confirmed that the cams were indeed working, and within 15 seconds John had eyes on his brother’s ‘Bird. Or what was left of Alan’s ‘Bird.

“My god.” He gasped as he saw what looked like nothing more than a piece of space junk hurtling towards Earth, her distinctive red and the ‘THUND’ painted on her side giving away her identity.

“We’ve warned all traffic to avoid the area.” The captain said, “The GDF have been called in as well.” John couldn’t find words as he watched the scene in front of him.

There was no way Alan could survive this. No way.

He didn’t even try to contain his scream as Thunderbird Three slammed into a group of satellites, sending her spiraling even more and breaking off her nose cone.

—-

Alan’s eyes blinked open. Where was he? What was going on? Why was he so hot? He vaguely recognized his surroundings as his beloved Three. Was that fire? And why did he feel so heavy?

—-

Scott’s grip tightened around his controls as John shakily explained what had happened. He felt sick, his head reeling, but he was a rescue professional first and foremost, and as the oldest and the leader of International Rescue it was his job to make sure they did everything they could to get Alan home.

“ EOS, can you use the video to get us an approximate of where Thunderbird Three will re- enter Earth’s atmosphere.” He ordered.

“Certainly Scott Tracy. At their current rate of descent, assuming what remains of Thunderbird Three survives re- entry, she will crash in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, I’ve taken the liberty to upload to coordinates to Thunderbird One and Two’s navigation systems.” Scott and Virgil had adjusted their courses before EOS was done speaking.

“What are the chances of Three surviving re-entry?” Gordon asked in a tone that suggested he wasn’t really sure he wanted to know the answer.

“Without knowing exactly what damage was obtained I can only guess, but my closest estimate would be 32%.” EOS chirped. Scott pressed the controls a little harder. 32% was slim, but it wasn’t nothing. Virgil seemed to have the same thought asking,

“How long do we have?”

“Assuming Thunderbird Three survives re- entry she will crash into the ocean in about 7 minutes.” Scott checked his ETA. 6 minutes 50 seconds.

“Thunderbird Two, what’s your ETA?”

“7 minutes 15 seconds. Is there anything we can do to stop Three from burning up or hitting the water?” Virgil asked.

“No.” John responded over the comms. “The only one of our ships potentially capable of stopping a hunk of metal from burning through the atmosphere is Thunderbird Three, and at her current velocity, trying to slow her down when she re- enters the atmosphere would only pull a rescue ship down with her.”

Scott tried to ignore the tear that had slipped down his cheek.

“The second Three hits the water I want Four down there.” He ordered.

“FAB.” Came Gordon’s voice, “I’m ready to go.”

“John do you have any reading from Alan’s suit?” Virgil asked.

“Negative, all reading went off line the same time Three was hit.”

5 Minutes

“I’m reporter Joseph Embry live from the USS Calypso. Reports are coming in that Thunderbird Three has taken on heavy damage and is currently falling in an uncontrolled descent towards Earth. Spacecraft are reporting that they can see the ship falling towards this part of the Pacific Ocean.

4 Minutes

“Thunderbird Three has entered the upper atmosphere.” EOS reported.

3 Minutes

“Thunderbird Four is locked, loaded and ready to launch.” Gordon reported.

“Approaching crash site.” Virgil added.

“FAB.” Finished John.

2 Minutes

“Thunderbird Three has re- entered the Earth’s atmosphere without burning up.” EOS supplied.

John felt the tightening in his chest release slightly. A little bit of hope was alive.

1 Minute

Alan’s eyes blinked open once more. The fire was still surrounding him, he could see what looked like blood trickling down his visor. He couldn’t tell where he was, or what was happening, and if he didn’t feel so heavy, maybe he would have the strength to panic. He caught sight of something glimmering below him. Water? Was that the ocean? He didn’t have time to think, before his ship crashed into… whatever it was, and he felt himself smashed upwards, everything going black again.

#Thunderbirds are go #tag skyfall #Thunderbirds are go fanfic

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

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'The War Machine Is Run on Contracts'

America's wars wouldn’t be possible without contractors, but presidents usually ignore the thousands who have died.

By KATHY GILSINAN | Published January 17, 2020 7:00 AM ET | The Atlantic | Posted January 17, 2020 |

Mike Jabbar never met his replacement. But when Nawres Hamid died in a rocket attack on a military base in Iraq after Christmas, Jabbar saw photos of the wreckage and recognized the American flag he himself had helped paint on the door of a room now mangled. That was his old room, on his old base. It could have been him.

“Imagine something like that happens, knowing that you were supposed to be there and you weren’t there, and the person that replaced you is gone,” Jabbar, who like Hamid served as a translator for the U.S. military, told me in an interview. “It absolutely feels horrible.”

Jabbar was one of the lucky ones. He left his home country of Iraq last fall, at age 23, for the United States, where he’s now a permanent resident living with a friend in North Carolina.

The U.S. has relied on thousands of contractors like him and Hamid to help conduct its wars, in roles handling translation, logistics, security, and even laundry. America cannot go to war without its contractors, but presidents usually ignore the thousands who have died, including U.S. citizens. They are ubiquitous but largely unseen by the American public, obscuring the real size, and the real cost, of America’s wars. This also means that a president can selectively seize on one contractor’s death in the service of other goals.

Senior U.S. officials invoked Hamid, an Iraqi-born U.S. citizen, repeatedly to explain why they brought America to the brink of an all-out conflict with Iran—days before the public knew his name. Donald Trump, who has vowed to end wars in the Middle East, was willing to risk a new one to avenge an American contractor’s death—including by killing the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, a step previous presidents worried could unleash a violent backlash. Yet when a terrorist attack killed two more American contractors and one U.S. soldier in Kenya about a week later, Trump barely reacted. “We lost a good person, just a great person,” he said of the soldier. He didn’t mention the contractors.

As America's interventions abroad have become more complex and open-ended, the country has relied on contractors more and more for essential jobs like guarding diplomats and feeding the troops. Even as the U.S. tries to end those wars and bring more troops home, contractors can stay behind in large numbers to manage the aftermath—especially since many of them are local hires in the first place.

The government has no data on exactly how many American contractors have died in the post-9/11 wars; in fact, it’s hard to get a full picture of how many contractors have been involved in those wars at all. The Defense Department publishes quarterly reports on how many it employs in the Middle East—close to 50,000 in the region as of last October, with about 30,000 spread through Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Americans make up less than half the total, in a region where U.S. troop numbers fluctuate between 60,000 and 80,000. The contractor numbers fluctuate too, and the military’s data don’t include contractors working for other agencies, such as the CIA or the State Department.

The death toll is murkier still, though Brown University’s Costs of War Project gives a figure close to 8,000, counting Americans and non-Americans. “They are,” in the words of Ori Swed and Thomas Crosbie, researchers who have studied contractor deaths, “the corporate war dead.”

Jabbar told me he was happy to take on that risk. Like Hamid, he was born in Iraq; from his middle-school years, he said, he wanted to become an American, and taught himself English in part by listening to Eminem and watching Prison Break. He dropped out of college at 19 to serve as a translator in the U.S. fight against the Islamic State, and wound up alongside U.S. troops as they pushed toward the group’s Iraqi capital of Mosul in 2016. Instead of studying English and earning an information-technology degree, he was in the middle of a fight to wrest back territory from insurgents, translating battlefield instructions for the Americans’ Iraqi partners.

He later ended up with a Navy SEAL unit in Kirkuk, near where he grew up, and became all but officially part of the team; he lived with them, ate with them, patrolled with them, went to the front lines with them. Jabbar even once got beaten up and arrested while getting groceries for them—a case, he said, of mistaken identity, resolved only after he’d spent the night in jail.

“It is hard for me [to] emphasize enough how critical these dedicated people were to our military mission,” Joseph Votel, the former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, who retired last March after three years helping direct the anti-ISIS fight, wrote to me in an email. Interpreters on contract with the U.S. military were more than just language translators. “They helped with our understanding; they provided cultural context to the events playing out on the ground; and, they came to us with networks of their own that [were] always very useful in navigating complex situations … They did all this at their own personal risk.”

America’s reliance on private contractors in war didn’t start with 9/11, but it exploded in the wars that followed those attacks. The political imperative to keep troop numbers limited, and the need to rebuild amid conflict, meant that contractors filled gaps where there weren’t enough troops or the right skills in the military to do the job. They could often work more cheaply than U.S. troops. They might get limited compensation for death or injury, compared with a lifetime of Veterans Affairs benefits; they could deploy to places where the U.S. didn’t want to or couldn’t legally send the military, Steven Schooner, a professor of government procurement law at George Washington University, told me.

Even before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Leslie Wayne documented the rise of contractors in The New York Times, noting their roles in training U.S. troops in Kuwait and guarding Hamid Karzai, then Afghanistan’s president. “The Pentagon cannot go to war without them,” she wrote. “During the Persian Gulf war in 1991, one of every 50 people on the battlefield was an American civilian under contract; by the time of the peacekeeping effort in Bosnia in 1996, the figure was one in 10.” In Afghanistan, according to the latest U.S. military figures from last fall, the ratio of American contractors to U.S. troops is almost 1 to 1; including local and third-country contractors, it’s about 2 to 1.

Iraq contributed further to the trend. “At the beginning of the Iraq War, expectations, foolish as they may have been in retrospect, were that this would be a pretty easy thing,” Deborah Avant, a professor at the University of Denver who has researched the industry, told me. But as the situation deteriorated, it would have been difficult to mobilize tens of thousands of additional troops to provide security. So contractors filled the gap—and not just for the Defense Department. “If ABC News was there, they needed to have security,” Avant said.

They weren’t just providing security, though, and they weren’t just American. They came from a range of countries in addition to the U.S. and did a range of jobs that in prior years the military had handled. “When I went into the Army … everybody was trained as a soldier, and then after you were qualified as a soldier, you might have trained to be a cook, or a laundry specialist, or a postal specialist, or a transportation specialist,” Schooner said. “Today, we train trigger-pullers, and we’ve outsourced all support services.” Because many U.S. missions overseas now involve reconstruction, contractors can also provide thousands of local jobs in struggling economies.

With contractor support, Schooner said, “We can send innumerable troops anywhere in the world, any distance, any weather, any geography, and we have them taken care of better than any army has ever cared for its people, for as long as you need.”

But the biggest benefit of all may be political. “Americans really don’t care what war costs,” Schooner said. “All they really care about is win or lose, and how many of our boys and girls come home in bags and boxes. So if you can, intentionally or unintentionally, directly or indirectly, artificially deflate the number of body bags or boxes, you’re winning.”

This doesn’t always work, however—and Iraq in particular has shown how contractor deaths or missteps can have severe political consequences, or even escalate conflict. Contractors have committed crimes that have hurt U.S. prestige and destroyed lives in Iraq—including the torture of inmates at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003, and the 2007 massacre of 17 civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square. In 2004, four armed contractors were ambushed in Fallujah, their burned and mutilated bodies hung from a bridge. An “angry and emotional” President George W. Bush then directed the Marines to seize the city, the historian Bing West told a BBC reporter. The result was a vicious urban battle that left 27 American troops dead, along with roughly 200 insurgents and 600 civilians.

In Hamid’s case, Jabbar thinks Trump got some justice in having Soleimani killed. “[Hamid’s] gone now,” Jabbar said, “but if he knows somehow that all this happened because of him, he would be so happy. And I’m so glad that at this point interpreters are being looked at as very valuable.” Jabbar himself left Kirkuk as soon as he could, because he said he was facing threats. He received a rare visa to come to the U.S. through a program for interpreters that the Trump administration had slashed. He believes that the visa saved his life, and he wants to serve again—this time in the Air Force.

As for Soleimani, Jabbar is glad he’s dead. “He’s the guy who orders others to go and kill ‘traitors’ and interpreters.”

*********

Donald Trump Stumbles Into a Foreign-Policy Triumph

The president, however inadvertently, may be reminding the world of the reality of international relations.

By TOM MCTAGUE | Published January 17, 2020 1:00 AM ET | The Atlantic | Posted January 17, 2020 |

A year and a half into Donald Trump’s presidency, Henry Kissinger set out a theory. “I think Trump may be one of those figures in history who appears from time to time to mark the end of an era and to force it to give up its old pretences,” he told the Financial Times. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that he knows this, or that he is considering any great alternative. It could just be an accident.”

A term has been coined to describe this notion: Ryan Evans of War on the Rocks calls them “Trumportunities.” It is the idea that, whether by accident or design, Trump creates chances to solve long-running international problems that a conventional leader would not. His bellicose isolationist agenda, for instance, might already be forcing Europe to confront its geopolitical weakness; China, its need for a lasting economic settlement with the U.S.; and countries throughout the Middle East, the limits of their power.

The president’s erratic behavior might be doing something else as well, something even more fundamental. Through a combination of instinct, temperament, and capriciousness, Trump may be reminding the world of the reality of international relations: Raw military and economic power still matter more than anything else—so long as those who hold them are prepared to use them. The air strike that killed Qassem Soleimani was a reminder that the U.S. remains the one indispensable global superpower. Iran, or indeed anyone else, simply cannot respond in kind.

While it is clearly too early to judge the long-term ramifications of the president’s decision to order the killing (my colleague Uri Friedman has set out the dangers of accidental escalation), the initial assessment among many in the foreign-policy establishment here in London is not quite what you might expect. The attack—in the view of analysts and British officials I spoke with (the latter of whom requested anonymity to discuss government discussions)—has, at a stroke, reasserted American military dominance and revealed the constraints of Iranian power.

Although Trump’s foreign-policy strategy (if one even accepts that there is such a thing) has many limits, his unpredictability and, most critically, his willingness to escalate a crisis using the United States’ military and economic strength has turned the tables on Iran in a way few thought possible. What is more, the strike has exposed the gaping irrelevance of Europe’s leading powers—Britain, France, and Germany—in this whole crisis. The “E3,” which have long sought to keep the Iranian nuclear deal alive by undermining the U.S. policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, have so far failed to do so. This week, they were finally forced to admit the apparently terminal collapse of the Obama-era nuclear deal, releasing a joint statement to announce that they were triggering its “dispute resolution” clause because of Tehran’s failure to abide by the terms of the agreement. The reality of the situation is startling: Europe’s attempts to keep the deal alive have achieved little in Tehran because of the Continent’s powerlessness. And European opposition to Trump’s Iran policy has achieved even less in Washington. In an interview, Boris Johnson all but admitted defeat in keeping the nuclear deal alive, calling instead for a new “Trump deal.”

To some extent, one British diplomat told me, the air strike that killed Soleimani was an extreme snapback to the hyperrealist, Kissingerian principles that largely guided American foreign policy after the Second World War. In this view, Barack Obama and his cautious multilateralism were the break with the norm, not Trump.

While Obama showed the possibilities of this approach—the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear deal being prime examples (both of which have since been dumped by Trump)—he failed to adequately address its weaknesses, those who spoke with me said. Principal among them, according to a British government official, was that under Obama, the West had forgotten the power of escalatory dominance. In other words, he who carries the biggest stick retains his dominance, so long as he is prepared to use it.

The argument for escalation is simple: If the response to any aggressive act by a foreign adversary is always to de-escalate in order to avoid a spiral of violence, then the advantage borne by military and economic dominance is lost, creating more chaos, not less. A logic has been allowed to develop among countries such as Iran and Russia, the British diplomat said, that the West will not escalate a crisis and will remain boxed into its cautious, multilateralist view. Trump has changed this.

Take Russia, for instance. The Western response to its incursion into Ukrainian territory was always proportionate and almost entirely economic. While there were very good reasons for this, that response meant that Moscow could escalate the crisis by moving more assets into territory it sought to control, safe in the knowledge that, having tested Western resolve, it would not be challenged militarily. In effect, the United States’ failure to enforce red lines empowered its adversaries.

With Iran, according to analysts at the Royal United Services Institute, Britain’s leading military think tank, Trump’s seemingly disproportionate response to Tehran’s aggression has left the Iranian regime shocked and unsure how to respond. At a briefing in London on Monday, I asked a panel of RUSI staffers whether, given that assessment, they considered the air strike a triumph for the president. No one on the panel demurred. Michael Stephens, a former British diplomat who is now a research fellow at RUSI, told me later that it was clear how badly the Iranians had been hurt, both in practical military terms and in pure national pride. “This has fundamentally changed the game and opens up the space for de-escalation,” he said. “It was a sucker punch which has scrambled their understanding of how the Americans might react in future. In the short term, it’s a triumph for Trump.”

Every option available to Iran now comes with huge risks, and the lack of serious response—so far—has damaged the Iranian regime’s reputation. The recent accidental downing of Ukrainian International Airlines Flight PS752 has also hit it hard, revealing a frightening incompetence as well as a limited retaliatory power.

But while the air strike itself might be a limited foreign-policy success for Trump now, the geopolitical gains he has won through escalatory tactics might yet dissipate if the killing turns out to be little more than an isolated incident, signalling nothing but the president’s capacity for shock. He has history in this area, after all. In 2017, Trump dropped the “mother of all bombs,” the largest conventional bomb the U.S. has ever deployed, to kill more than 90 militants in eastern Afghanistan, and the following year, he authorized, alongside France and Britain, air strikes on Syria in response to Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons. On neither occasion was the action followed up in any long-term fashion.

The lessons of the Soleimani killing also do not fit neatly into Trump’s worldview, suggesting the need for clear and consistent red lines, as well as the willingness to commit U.S. military resources to enforce them. It’s America back as global policeman.

At the moment, in the assessment of the British diplomat I spoke with, the only clear strength of Trump’s foreign policy is his unpredictability, which has the power to unsettle the United States’ adversaries. The diplomat said that Trump appears to understand American strength more instinctively than Obama but, unlike his predecessor, doesn’t seem to have anything close to a strategy to go alongside this insight.

So while there are “Trumportunities,” there are also “Trumptastrophes.” The president, accidentally or otherwise, has identified real problems, including Iran’s ability to act with relative impunity and China’s disrespect for the rules of global trade. With regard to Iran, Trump appears to have stumbled upon an effective mechanism to advance U.S. interests. But he has yet to show himself to be any better than his forerunners at solving the long-term problems he has identified—and may yet make them worse.

*********

We Can’t Afford to Ignore Lev Parnas’s Explosive Claims

We can’t afford to accept them at face value either.

By David A. Graham | Published January 16, 2020 | The Atlantic | Posted January 17, 2020 |

Irony is thriving in the Trump administration. Consider this: The president spent months, and was ultimately impeached for, badgering the Ukrainian government to announce a probe into the natural-gas company Burisma. Yet all it took was the release of some text messages by Lev Parnas, an accused criminal with a checkered past, for Ukraine to quickly announce it is investigating alleged illegal surveillance of former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

The supposed surveillance, which is described in documents that Parnas turned over to the House Intelligence Committee, is one of several explosive claims to emerge this week. In the messages, Robert Hyde—who had contacts with the Trump family and is a Republican candidate for the U.S. House—described surveillance of Yovanovitch in Ukraine. She was abruptly fired in May 2019 after a pressure campaign directed by Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer. (Parnas, for the record, told Rachel Maddow on Wednesday that he believed Hyde was telling tall tales.)

Parnas turned over notes that again suggest—as House testimony from Ambassador Gordon Sondland previously attested—that Trump and Giuliani were only interested in the announcement of a probe, not the fact of one. This both undermines Trump’s claim to have been trying to fight corruption in Ukraine and indicates that the president’s goal was hurting Joe Biden and enhancing his own reelection chances.

[David A. Graham: Trump wanted an announcement—not an investigation]

Parnas also produced a May 2019 letter from Giuliani to Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky requesting a meeting with Trump. Giuliani began the letter, “I am private counsel to President Donald J. Trump. Just to be precise, I represent him as a private citizen, not as President of the United States.” This is the latest evidence to debunk Trump’s claim to have been acting in an official capacity when he pressured Ukraine.

In an interview with The New York Times, Parnas also explained how Giuliani came to represent him and his partner, Igor Fruman. In Parnas’s telling, he was worried about acting as go-betweens for Trump without an official capacity to ensure their safety and access. Parnas first proposed that Trump make the two men special envoys, but after speaking with Trump, Giuliani offered a new idea: He would represent Fruman and Parnas, as well as the president, thus making them all subject to shared attorney-client privilege.

The Parnas allegations go on and on. Parnas has said that Trump was kept apprised of all of his actions by Giuliani, although Parnas said he did not communicate directly with the president about them. (Though Trump has claimed not to know Parnas, there are many photos floating around of them together.) If true, this would also debunk any claim (already implausible) by Trump that he was unaware of Giuliani’s actions.

As the Senate prepares to hold a trial for Trump, with acquittal a foregone conclusion, impeachment remains a strange duck. For anyone who has seriously considered the evidence, it’s impossible to conclude that Trump’s behavior was appropriate (although it remains possible to conclude that impeachment, or removal, is still excessive.) Yet even though the House has finished impeaching Trump, and despite the appalling facts uncovered, there is much that remains unknown about the president’s actions with regard to Ukraine, thanks to both Trump’s obstruction and the haste of the Democratic House.

[David A. Graham: The arrests of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman]

This makes it impossible to ignore Parnas’s claims. If true, they make the case against Trump that much more damning. They help to fill in some of the missing information, they underscore the president’s abuse of office, and they come from someone with firsthand knowledge.

And yet it’s also impossible to take Parnas at face value. Parnas, you may recall, first became a household name in October, when he was arrested with Fruman while attempting to leave the country, and charged with violations of election-related laws. This is a man who started a company called “Fraud Guarantee,” reportedly so that he could bury Google results about his own previous shady actions. If he is telling the truth now, he was both involved in a dastardly and preposterous scheme, and lied about it in the past.

Some of Parnas’s claims here deserve particular scrutiny, especially those not backed by documentary evidence. Though he claims Trump was aware of what was going on, he does not claim direct knowledge that this was the case. The fact that Parnas’s account squares with others, including Sondland’s, lends it some credibility. He also told Maddow that “Attorney General Barr was basically on the team,” but offers no evidence for the allegation, and no other evidence has emerged so far to support it. (A Department of Justice statement called that claim “100 percent false.”)

The dilemma posed by Parnas’s claims recalls the one created by Michael Cohen’s testimony to the House last February. As Republicans eagerly noted then, Cohen was a convicted liar, preparing to go to prison on tax-fraud, campaign-finance, and other charges. His testimony was self-interested: He both had reasons to exact personal revenge on Trump, and hoped that his cooperation might induce authorities to lighten his sentence. All of this was true, but Cohen (like Parnas) brought documents to back up his claims, and his testimony has largely been substantiated since.

Parnas is like Cohen in another way: Each was once a part of the Trump circle, and the president and his defenders now dismiss him as a liar and scoundrel. And as with Cohen, the defense is troubling even if true. If Cohen and Parnas are such obvious villains, how is it that they came to be close to the president, putatively working as part of his legal teams? The same question applies to any number of other criminals, con men, and charlatans we’ve come to know over the past four years as Trump associates. The fact that he is surrounded by such people says a great deal about either his judgment or his probity. (Probably both.)

The investigations into Trump have often had to rely on questionable witnesses like Parnas because other, supposedly uncompromised people with direct knowledge have declined to speak. The Trump administration blocked testimony from Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, to name only a few, and Trump has declined to speak under oath. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton has conducted a bizarre public striptease, vacillating between hints he will and won’t testify, while saving his stories for a book; on the eve of the impeachment trial, he was spotted strolling around Qatar’s capital city.

In the absence of their testimony, the search for truth has had to depend on uncomfortable encounters with the likes of Lev Parnas. His claims can’t be believed at anything near face value. Yet they also cannot be dismissed out of hand, for the stakes are too high. As long as it’s Parnas’s story versus Trump’s, the question is which proven liar to trust.

*********

The Iran Plane Crash Is the Big Story

The accidental shoot-down of the Ukrainian passenger jet is a glaring example of how the conflict between the U.S. and Iran can spiral out of control even when neither party wants it to.

URI Friedman | Published January 14, 2020 | The Atlantic | Posted January 17, 2020 |

The downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 and the deaths of all 176 people on board—newlyweds flying home from their wedding, graduate students charting ambitious careers, whole families returning from visiting relatives—have come to be portrayed as a tragic asterisk tacked onto the dramatic tale of how Donald Trump and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei nearly went to war in the early days of 2020.

Over the weekend, for example, The New York Times published a comprehensive and vivid account of the week-long U.S.-Iran showdown. While the article ran more than 6,500 words, it included only one sentence on the plane crash. “In the confusion, a Ukrainian civilian passenger jet was destroyed by an Iranian missile,” the reporters wrote.

Trump, meanwhile, has claimed vindication for his handling of the crisis with Iran, but has barely mentioned the demise of Flight 752, other than to speculate about what caused the aircraft to explode. He has tweeted often (including in Farsi) about the anti-government protests currently roiling Iran without referencing the impetus for them: the Iranian military accidentally shooting down the airplane, whose passengers were mostly Iranian nationals, and the country’s leaders then lying to their own people and the world about it for days.

But the shoot-down isn’t just some side event in the latest chapter of this story. It is the story, just as much as the U.S. and Iranian governments deciding to de-escalate hostilities is. The incident is a glaring example of how the months-long tit for tat between the two countries—which is far from over, even though their confrontation is for the moment less violent—can spiral out of control even when neither side wants it to. And it should serve as a counterweight to any notion that the parties have full command over the struggle they’ve been stepping up ever since the Trump administration withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

It’s revealing that the most recent round of hostilities between the countries was bookended by mistakes and misperceptions. The Times reported that the triggering event—a rocket attack by an Iranian-backed militia in late December that killed an American contractor at an Iraqi military base—was intended to exert pressure on the United States but not escalate the conflict, according to U.S. intelligence assessments. “The rockets landed in a place and at a time when American and Iraqi personnel normally were not there and it was only by unlucky chance that [the contractor] was killed,” the paper noted.

Whatever Iran’s intention, the attack did indeed leave an American dead. Which prompted the Trump administration to kill dozens of militia members in retaliatory strikes. Which led to supporters of that militia storming the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Which resulted in Trump ordering the targeted killing of the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Iraq. Which moved Iran to fire missiles at Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. forces. Which caused the Iranians to brace for blowback from the United States, creating the conditions in which an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missile operator apparently mistook Flight 752 for an American cruise missile and, with 10 seconds to act and his communication channels malfunctioning, blasted it out of the sky above Tehran.

Iran seemed to carefully calibrate its missile barrage on Iraqi bases—which damaged U.S. military airfields, blast walls, and various facilities but inflicted no casualties—to symbolically avenge Soleimani’s death without dramatically ramping up its fight with the United States. And the Trump administration chose to respond with similar restraint, asserting that the Iranians were “standing down” and that Washington effectively would as well, by limiting its retaliation to additional economic sanctions. The two foes even exchanged de-escalatory messages over encrypted fax via the Swiss embassy in Tehran. But if one needed an illustration of the difference between intentionally escalating hostilities during a crisis and unintentionally doing so, there’s no starker one than the Iranian military (more or less) precisely firing missiles at specific U.S. military targets and then, hours later, accidentally launching a missile that obliterated a plane with Iranian citizens on board.

The downing of Flight 752 “shows how even restrained retaliation could quickly turn into inadvertent escalation” and how actors in international crises are often less capable than their adversaries assume they are, especially when they’re in a defensive crouch, Jacquelyn Schneider, a national-security expert at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, wrote on Twitter. (In this case, the incompetence of the Iranian military has been particularly noteworthy.) And while Iran and the United States are likely to proceed cautiously with their deliberate escalation—Iranian leaders know that they would lose a direct conventional war with the U.S., and Trump doesn’t want to get sucked into another protracted conflict in the Middle East—the biggest risk in ongoing tensions is inadvertent escalation, Schneider argued: “More mistakes will be made.”

Yes, the parties seem to have looked war in the face and recoiled, but they may simply be channeling their escalation in new directions rather than truly de-escalating. As the Trump administration heaps economic pressure on Iran and shines a spotlight on anti-government demonstrations there, and as Iran’s leaders grapple with this serious internal challenge to their rule and act out further by, say, launching cyber attacks, mobilizing proxy forces, or backing out of their commitments under the nuclear deal, the conflict could spin out of control again.

To confidently conclude that escalation is a manageable force would be reckless. Imagine, for instance, that those Iranian missiles had killed Americans, something Trump has deemed unacceptable and threatened to counter with overwhelming force. Troops at one of the Iraqi bases that came under assault told Reuters that a soldier came “very close to being blown up inside a shelter behind the blast walls.” And Lieutenant Colonel Staci Coleman, the U.S. Air Force officer who runs the airfield there, told The Wall Street Journal that she thought the Iranians “really wanted to target our [air] assets and if they so happened to kill Americans in the process, that was okay with them.” Or imagine if Americans had been on board Flight 752. How would the world look today? To channel Leon Trotsky, you may not be interested in escalation, but sometimes escalation is interested in you. It’s a fallacy to presume that state actors can completely control a crisis. After all, who would have predicted that Iranians would be in the streets this week calling for the downfall of the supreme leader as Trump cheers them on?

“Most obviously, humility is in order,” Robert Jervis, an international-relations theorist at Columbia University, wrote recently, regarding the lessons of the U.S. standoff with Iran. “My guess is that neither President Donald Trump nor the Iranians know what they will do next (and what they think they will do may be different from what they will do when the time comes).” Next time—and there will be a next time—the Swiss and their encrypted fax machine may not be sufficient to avert a war no one wants.

*********

Iran’s Response to Soleimani’s Killing Is Coming

The killing of Qassem Soleimani was a monumental blow to the country’s regional ambitions. It could be about to go back to basics in its response.

By SAM DAGHER | Published January 14, 2020 | The Atlantic | Posted January 17, 2020 |

BEIRUT—About two years ago, Qassem Soleimani delivered a speech at a ceremony in Tehran marking a decade since the death of Imad Mughniyeh, the senior Hezbollah commander killed in a car-bomb explosion in the heart of Damascus, an attack carried out by the CIA with support from Israel. Standing in front of a huge portrait of Mughniyeh superimposed against a panorama of Jerusalem, Soleimani addressed an audience of senior Iranian officials, as well as representatives of Iran’s proxy militias in Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Syria, and Yemen.

Soleimani hailed Mughniyeh as “the legend” responsible for practically all the achievements of Iran’s so-called axis of resistance, which according to the Iranian general included building Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas into formidable threats to Israel and killing 241 American service members in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. “The enemy knows that punishment for Imad’s blood is not firing a missile or a tit-for-tat assassination,” he told the crowd. “The punishment for Imad’s blood is the eradication of the Zionist entity.”

Following Soleimani’s killing in an American air strike this month, it is worth remembering the man’s own words. Soleimani, Mughniyeh, and the current Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, formed a trio of men who carried out Iran’s strategy across the Middle East under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And so it is hard to overstate the magnitude of the blow that Soleimani’s death has delivered. The focus in the days since his killing has been on the perceived impulsiveness of Donald Trump’s decision, Iran’s retaliation—limited thus far to the firing of 22 missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq, with no reported casualties—the public displays of grief for Soleimani in Iran, and the national- security implications. But as with Mughniyeh’s death, to paraphrase Soleimani himself, the response to the Iranian general’s killing will not be restricted to a lone missile attack or a tit-for-tat move—Iran is not yet done.

Take the case of Mughniyeh. In the summer of 2012, a Hezbollah suicide bomber killed five Israeli tourists and a driver in an attack in a Bulgarian resort town. U.S. and Israeli officials suspected that the bombing, which occurred four years after Mughniyeh’s death, was retaliation for the Hezbollah commander’s killing, as well as for the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists, which Tehran blamed on Israel. “I have received many messages from brothers in the resistance asking for permission to carry out martyrdom operations” to avenge Soleimani’s death, Nasrallah said during a speech aired at memorial services for Soleimani held throughout Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and the country’s south. Revenge, he continued, will be a “long” battle.

For now, in responding to Soleimani’s killing, self-preservation and maintaining staying power mandate restraint. The strike that killed him also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who commanded the largest of the seven main Iraqi proxy militias working for Iran, according to Hisham al-Hashimi, a Baghdad-based security analyst with the European Institute of Peace. Iran’s ability to retaliate is also complicated by the fact that it is loathed by most Iraqis, including its fellow Shiites, who recently attacked Iran’s missions in Baghdad and the south of Iraq. Iraqi Shiites blame Iran and the militias and parties affiliated with it for killing more than 500 protesters in Iraq since October, and they see these same actors as being behind much of the corruption and plundering of the country’s resources that has hobbled Iraq’s ability to deliver services and economic opportunities to its citizens. Mounting economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on Iran and its allies in Iraq will also restrict their room to maneuver.

Read: The Soleimani assassination is America’s most consequential strike this century

Similar dynamics are at play in Lebanon, home to Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful regional proxy force. Once beloved as a resistance movement that liberated southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation in 2000, Hezbollah is now regarded by many Lebanese as part and parcel of the corrupt, dysfunctional, and sectarian political class that has brought the country to the brink of economic collapse. Residents of predominantly Shiite cities in southern Lebanon such as Nabatieh and Tyr, which are seen as bastions of support for Hezbollah, have even joined their fellow Lebanese in protests that have been ongoing for months. “The prevailing mood now is ‘Give me money and I’ll come out on the streets and chant against America and endorse any of your illogical propositions. But you do not want to give me money and still want me to come out against America, no,’” Ali al-Amine, a journalist and politician who is among the most outspoken anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Shiites, told me.

Given these limits to Iran’s short-term capabilities, it will likely focus on assessing the impact of Soleimani’s killing, plugging holes and vulnerabilities in its intelligence and security apparatus, reevaluating its strategy and approach, and streamlining its operations throughout the region. Tehran will also seize opportunities for détente with its regional archnemesis, Saudi Arabia, and seek rapprochement with the region’s Sunni Arabs, whose animosity toward Iran worsened after it partnered with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to crush an uprising in Syria, primarily carried out by the country’s Sunnis, that began in 2011.

Over time, the United States, Israel, and their allies—and all those perceived as harming Iran’s regional strategy—will face retribution, though, most likely in the form of covert operations and actions that will be much harder to trace back to Tehran. It would, in a way, be back to basics: bombings, assassinations, and stealth tactics long attributed to Mughniyeh. Indeed, Soleimani himself touted such efforts both at the memorial service for Mughniyeh and in a rare TV interview he gave in October. As Soleimani put it, it is the technique of “appearing like a sword and disappearing like a ghost.” It’s as if he were instructing his soldiers on the path they would have to take after his demise.

During the memorial for Soleimani, Nasrallah vowed to avenge his comrade’s killing by driving U.S. troops from the region and returning them to America “in coffins,” echoing the vow Soleimani made in 2018 to avenge Mughniyeh by “eradicating” Israel. Hezbollah will not shy away from carrying out operations against the U.S. and its allies, and may even resort to the campaign of assassinations and bombings that it turned to in Lebanon starting in 2005, when it felt under siege and compelled to defend its existence.

Elsewhere, having reconciled with Hamas after the two sides fell out over Iran’s support for Assad, Tehran could turn to the group to ratchet up confrontation with Israel in Gaza. In Syria, both Iran and Hezbollah will seek to maintain their presence and influence—Assad, for one, knows his survival hinges on patronage from Iran and Russia; Tehran, meanwhile, sees Syria as the second-most-important country in its axis of resistance, after Iran itself. And in Iraq, Iran’s proxy militias “have the wherewithal and expertise to escalate the situation and deliver painful blows to the U.S.,” Hashimi told me. There, too, he said, the focus will be on mobilizing assassination squads and mounting other special operations, rather than on carrying out conventional attacks on American forces.

In his October TV interview, Soleimani fondly recounted how, in 2006, he traveled through back roads to get to Beirut from Damascus during the 33-day summer war between Israel and Hezbollah, and how he, Mughniyeh, and Nasrallah oversaw the conflict from a command center in the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs. He said that Israeli bombers were bringing down buildings all around them, and that they survived by moving around and dodging Israeli reconnaissance drones.

Soleimani hinted in the same interview that even if the trio were to all die, an entire generation had been groomed by them to continue the fight—in asymmetric warfare, he warned, there are no traditional fronts. “The enemy,” Soleimani said, “must contend with an expansive and smart field of land mines.”

______

By SAM DAGHER, the only Western journalist based in Damascus at the start of the Syrian conflict, is the author of Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family’s Lust for Power Destroyed Syria.

*********

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years ago

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598-600: "A Samurai Who Can Cut Fire! Foxfire Kin'emon!", "Shocking! The True Identity of the Mystery Man Vergo!" and "Save the Children! The Master's Evil Hands Close In!"

Well, well, well...

The plot thickens into a rich ragu. An intrigue ragu, to be precise. Only the best and tastiest kind, obviously.

Oda is working overtime with these reveals and I am loving every second of this arc. (The main storyline, anyway. The Foxfire Kin’emon plot I can take or leave but I’m guessing Kine’mon has to be in the story to make it work.)

And I have SO many questions about Doflamingo now, it is ridiculous.

Oh, and Caesar? Yeah, he’s a multi-car pile up of issues that have caught fire and are now raining down shards of twisted, squealing metal onto innocent passers by.

And that’s just three episodes!

That’s Mr Burger Face to You

I normally resist writing about the huge reveals until the end of a post but I cannot wait to talk about the Feathered One and his role in whatever the hell this thing is with Caesar in Punk Hazard.

I guess I’ll start with Vergo.

Or Vergo-san, as he insists on being known as.

I spent most of episode 598 wondering, “why is there a burger on that man’s face?” This was unfortunate, as he’s a cool character. Officious, calculating and sinister.

“Do you really think *he* didn’t know?” he said, as Law rolled on the ground in pain. “We don’t trust Caesar, either. That’s why *he* was being careful and sent an undercover agent. Monet is that agent.”

First off, Oda took great pains to ensure Doflamingo’s name was not yet revealed. He was still only the mysterious “He” at that moment, which lent the initial encounter with Vergo a creepier, more mysterious vibe.

Secondly, Caesar: the guy is definitely not working for the World Government. This is because he is working for Doflamingo. But even Doflamingo does not trust him, as Monet is a plant sent by him to keep tabs on Caesar. I wonder if Caesar knows this? If he does, I expect a gloating, “I knew all along!” moment. If he’s been hoodwinked by Doflamingo, I don’t think his massive ego will take it well.

The next thing Vergo said to Law was, “You’re a Shichibukai now, eh? You’ve done well. I just arrived in Punk Hazard. Luckily, I was at Dressrosa. I got a ride on a SAD tanker that was about to leave. It was the right move.”

First point of interest: Dressrosa! I recognise that name. It’s on the CR arc list, so I am assuming it’s a place (like Thriller Bark, Punk Hazard, Alabasta and all the other arcs, come to think of it. Duh.) Second point of interest: a SAD tanker. What are those?

Law then tried to appeal to Vergo’s better nature. I don’t think he has one. “Did I cause any harm to you guys?”

“No, but if you did, you’d be dead. You can’t fool grown-ups, Law. Oh, and you’ve got to say it properly. It’s Vergo-san to you.”

This little exchange was kind of weird, but I’m assuming Law had no clue Vergo and Monet were involved with Doflamingo/Caesar. He never realised he stepped on Doflamingo’s territory and was afraid his own plans had compromised Doflamingo’s by accident because he admitted he’d been involved with Doflamingo at one time. I’m guessing it was when Law was only a kid (and hence vulnerable?) because Vergo keeps needling Law with “grown ups” type remarks. Vergo also literally had Law’s heart in his hand and kept squeezing it. Ugh.

Vergo is not the kind of man to show mercy. He is also into punishment. Law tried to warn Vergo the G5 were on Punk Hazard. Then one of the huge reveals was just casually flung out there.

“Since you’re their base commander, I think you’ll be in trouble if you run into them.”

Gasp.

GAAAAAAAAAAASP.

Vergo was the traitor Smoker and Tashigi had speculated may have existed within the Marines. Were they right about said Traitor fudging the records to cover up Caesar’s dodgy experiment supply chain?

Yes, they were. The action cut briefly to a random island on the New World, with Vergo’s corrupt G5 men abusing their power. The parents of the missing kids begged them to look for their kids. They were sure they were still alive. If not, could they talk to Captain Tashigi? She would look. She listens so empathetically to the people. But what? AN INSULT! Corrupt randoms had already asked Vice Admiral Vergo a hundred times. It had been investigated. The kids were dead! Get over it.

Nope. They ain’t dead. They’re on Punk Hazard, addicted to Caesar’s Smack Candy.

But why is my question. Why is Doflamingo teaming up with Caesar? Why is Vergo covering up all these disappearances? What do they want from each other?

In Which Law Thinks, “Fuck it...” and Tells Everyone

They must’ve dragged Law into Caesar’s lounge (that sounds like a casino), as the next time the action cut to him, Law had been locked in a cage with Luffy, Robin, Franky, Smoker and Tashigi.

Caesar had finished cleaning house, had delivered his captives and was off to prepare his big experiment before wrangling his smack-addicted children. Caesar isn’t a complete dumbass and ordered his minions to clap the prisoners in Sea Stone irons. As Caesar did not make the delivery personally, I’m not sure he knows Vergo has turned up. (Still not sure how he’ll take it. Mad Scientists don’t tend to like being checked in on by the boss. Then again, he did call Doflamingo earlier to get permission to kill Smoker and the Strawhats. The jury’s out on that one.)

Once Luffy established that, yes, they were all in a cage together and it was like old times (lol), Monet and Vergo realised they were awake (and Vergo finally ate that fucking chunk of burger, THANK GOD.)

Smoker and Tashigi were obviously devastated to learn Vergo was the traitor covering up for Caesar. The weird thing was that Smoker was not surprised. “The head of base is a double agent. A characteristic of G5 but a dishonour.” Are G5 notorious for corruption and allying with Yonko/pirates?

Law dished the dirt on Vergo’s background and Vergo added a little to it, since Law had blabbed so much. Vergo was originally a pirate. Before he made his name, Doflamingo must’ve got a grip on him. Vergo joined the Marines at Doflamingo’s order. He spent fifteen years rising through the ranks. He has brainwashed his G5 men into following him unconditionally. Even if they found out his double-agent status, it didn’t matter.

Vergo also helped himself to Caesar’s booze without asking and announced that Smoker and Tashigi would have to die to keep “Joker’s” secret. Punk Hazard was Joker’s important territory. Couldn’t let those who learned about his identity simply walk away. But don’t worry. Their deaths would be processed as an “accident at sea.” Standard.

Then Luffy asked the Important Question: “Tra-guy? Who is Joker?”

Law spilled it. He once worked for “Joker”. That’s how he knew Vergo. Joker was just his alias as an underground broker (Doflamingo is a dodgy broker. That is cool. Wonder who he does deals for?) His true identity? Someone Luffy would know very well.

Even before Law said his name, I recognised THAT COAT from the shadowy reveal.

It was so obviously Doflamingo. I mean who else rocks those feathers, leggings and shoes?

Despite all the reveals, I still have questions. The main one is: why is Doflamingo working with Caesar if he doesn’t trust him. What’s in it for both of them? For Caesar, it’ll be Doflamingo’s protection, I guess. For Doflamingo...? Caesar’s weapons, maybe? I mean, the other pirates seemed pretty damned interested in Caesar’s Big Damned Ad Broadcast at the end.

I’m guessing it’ll be harder for Law and Luffy to kidnap Caesar than they thought.

Oh, and This Guy Can Cut Fire

This subplot isn’t the most interesting part of the arc for me, so I’ll keep this section short.

It was kind of cool seeing what Foxfire Kin’emon can do. Useful, when Smiley is a potential threat to quite a lot of people on Punk Hazard. He can negate explosions by cutting them. (Zoro was interested in his technique. I wonder if Zoro will learn anything from him?)

The banter between Brook and Zoro was class. Zoro calling Brook a dumb skeleton, “Learn from observation!” Brook telling Zoro to stop talking to him like a bully because Brook was seventy years older! Zoro saying, “Oh, sorry grandpa!” and Brook being scandalised because he is still a lively skeleton. Lmao.

Sanji’s observation haki at work was interesting too, as was his freakish free diving ability, plus blue walking through water (useful!) There was a random comment he made that was a bit odd. Sanji was still salty about Foxfire pre-judging him harshly and accused the samurai of “hiding behind his disability” and being awful to him for no reason. Yeah, it was rubbish, Sanji, but Foxfire did have previous negative experiences with pirates, so you can understand why he nursed that hatred.

At any rate, they’re all fine and are currently hoofing it to the lab to try and locate Foxfire’s son. I hope he’s not preserved in a jar in Caesar’s lab somewhere.

Think Caesar Can’t Sink Any Lower? He is Full of Surprises

Caesar is such a flamboyantly evil trash can. I love villains like that. They’re a lot of fun. I’m also a sucker for a sly, slick manipulator, so Caesar has ticked a bunch of my villain boxes.

As soon as the fight was over and the threat neutralised, Caesar’s “Benevolent Master” mask slipped back into place. All of a sudden, his minions were “My strong soldiers!” again. And could they perform a few tasks for him? Oh, and if they could just move inside the lab? It would become very dangerous out here. But *he* would protect them.

(He is such a great example of the Faux-Affably Evil trope, seriously.)

Come Here, Crack-Babies! I Have Moar Crack!

The next time we heard from Caesar, a minion informed him his air ship was ready (an airship? That’s a new one for One Piece. Is Caesar the only one who has one?)

“Great!” Caesar said. “Now we can go pick them up.” I knew who he was referring to as soon as he hefted a large bag of candies and added, “It’s about time for them to have these.”

Oh, Caesar.... Mate, you have crossed so many lines. xD

Still not entirely sure how Caesar found the camp where Nami and Usopp were sheltering, but while they were doing their best to keep the kids safe (and dodging withdrawal rage punches) that little gaseous sound that accompanies Caesar wherever he goes crept up on them and I knew Caesar had found them.

He totally ignored Nami and Usopp, headed straight for his guinea pigs and turned on the benevolent facade. “Are you okay, children?” he simpered in faux concern. “Let’s go back to the lab. It’s dangerous out here!”

And, of course, he flashed the bag of candy. He knew exactly what he was doing. The kids flocked to him. “Master! Master!”

Nami was furious. “Are you the jerk who kidnapped these kids? How could you do such a horrible thing?”

Caesar just smirked and totally turned it back round on Nami.

“How could *you* do such a horrible thing? Why did you take them away? The children are suffering!”

“You’re making them suffer! They said they wanna go home!”

“Oh? Where are the children who want to go home?”

The kids ran to him. They freaking ran to him. And he knew exactly how it would play out.

Ooooooooh, Caesar, you are such a snake! xD

It’s hard playing an accomplished liar at their own game. Especially when they have such a firm grip on their victims. His evil side came to the fore when he stood back and smiled, just watching, while the big kids strained at their chains. I knew he was waiting to see if they’d break free. And they did. Suddenly they were “Amazing!” and had become so powerful! Smh, Caesar.

Usopp did try to fight him. He aimed a Firebird Star at Caesar’s smug face. But Caesar nullified it entirely. And, of course, gloated afterwards. “Did you think I’d catch fire and explode? Too bad. I put out the fire before it even touched me. Poison gas is not the only type of gas. I can manipulate the air within a certain area.”

(Annnnnnnnnnd that’s when everybody probably realised what Caesar had done to Luffy, Robin and Franky. Luffy should be able to beat him. All he needs to do is land one massive hit before needing to breathe. He’s done it before. Luffy just needs to hit Caesar so hard he doesn’t get up for a while.)

He almost took out Nami and Usopp too. And boy did he not revel in the iron control he wielded over those poor, brainwashed, addicted kids. He withheld giving them the candy. “Children, I’m only giving it to the good cones who come back to the lab.” Of course the kids fell over themselves. “Then just wait a little longer, alright? Before we go back, kill these devils who took you away and tried to worsen your pain.”

And I was like, Caesar, no.

What was kind of scary was that Caesar might have succeeded in manipulating those innocent kids into committing murder... were it not for the return of Brownbeard!

Brownbeard Calls Out Pathological Liar and Is Surprised When He Lies

Sorry, I thought you were dead, Brownbeard! The Yeti Brothers’ report of your death was greatly exaggerated.

Brownbeard was beaten up but he remembered the recording the Yetis had played just before the attempted murking. Let’s just say he wasn’t pleased to be reunited with his former Master. He swiped at Caesar a few times, who had no idea who he was for a minute, until realisation dawned.

With absolute brazen cheek, Caesar attempted to engage Snake Mode. “Of course, I didn’t forget you. I just didn’t recognise you! Your body is charred and you look terrible.”

But Brownbeard had seen his true colours. “You ordered them to kill me!”

Welp, Caesar thought. This minion was a sunk cost. Let’s just bail! He ordered the kids to board the airship and was about to walk when Brownbeard asked for his crew back.

Caesar turned, his face twisted in an incredulous sneer. “Huh? You don’t have a crew. You and all your crew became MY subordinates. You’re just a shitty pirate who got beaten in the New World. They’ll keep following me thinking I’m their saviour! They’re too dumb to notice I kept them alive because they’re my guinea pigs. GASTANET!”

Ouch, Caesar. No mercy there. He goes straight for the jugular when the mask comes off, eh? Brownbeard survived the boom, which is cool. I feel bad for the guy and I hope he gets some revenge against Caesar (even if Luffy has to do it for him).

While Caesar was eviscerating poor Brownbeard, Nami and Usopp sneaked off to try and save the kids. I actually jumped when Caesar’s hands appeared and grabbed them. xD

And he Gastanetted them too. Caesar is not playing anymore. He is fed up with all the guests on his island. It’s time to gtfo.

I Have Loads of Unnecessary Screenshots of this Walking Trash Can and his Hilariously Expressive Face

But it wasn’t over, even after Nami and Usopp were secured. Caesar called Monet, informed her he had retrieved the children, and asked if Smiley’s food was ready (why do I get a bad feeling about that?) Since everything was in place, Caesar said, “Great! Put me on broadcast!”

And this was the Big Thing for me.

Caesar has direct goddamn connections to lots of shady characters in the OPverse.

“To all unlawful brokers, wherever you are. I’m sorry to contact you on such short notice but you are all very lucky to see this. What you are about to witness is the deployment of a poison gas weapon. I added a new feature to the one from four years ago. It’s something those government scum can only dream of creating! Today, we have uninvited guests on our island. That’s why I decided to perform the experiment now. Invasion, war, domination-- it has various uses. If it appeals to you, let’s talk business.”

And guess who was watching?

Big Mom’s henchmen, Pekoms and Tamago, and Eustass Freaking Kidd!

I dunno...

Will Doflamingo be happy about this? If Caesar is working for Doflamingo, will he be cool with Caesar doing his own deals?

I dunno, but I’m loving the way this arc is going.

10/10 would watch again.

And my Chopper theory is still viable! Little guy is the only one on the loose who can let the other Strawhats into the lab. He’s a wildcard! :D

Chopper and the Downward Spiral.

#one piece #neverwatchedonepiece #nwop #never watched one piece #caesar clown #donquixote doflamingo #trafalgar law #monkey d. luffy #vergo #monet #nico robin #franky #tony tony chopper #pekoms #baron tamago #eustass kidd

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didanawisgi · 7 years ago

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A depressing and predictable series of events seems to follow mass shootings like the one that took ten lives Friday at Santa Fe High School. First, we learn that an unspeakable act has occurred in a place where we imagine we, or someone we love, could have been—a church, a movie theater, a shopping mall, a dance club, or, in this case, a school. Then we begin seeing the killer’s picture on our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and televisions, along with images of the stunned and tearful survivors. Next come the calls to strengthen America’s gun control laws, as people convince themselves that the latest incident is the one that will finally bring change. Our legislators tweet their sympathy while doing little else. And amidst the furor, those who own guns, roughly a third of the U.S. population, quietly go out and buy more ammunition, if not another gun.

To understand why, after decades of massacres, there aren’t stricter gun laws in this country, one has to understand gun culture. And nowhere is gun culture more evident than in Texas. Guns here, as in many parts of the country, aren’t just about self-defense. They’re also about history, identity, and community. Experts say that ignoring, dismissing, or denigrating that fact is what dooms any discussion of gun control.

The fight for Texas’ independence, like the fight for American independence, was a plucky pushback against government overreach. Back in 1835, the dictatorial ruler of Mexico dispatched troops to seize a small cannon from settlers in Gonzales, Texas. The settlers, who had been using the cannon to fend off Comanches, then turned it on the Mexican soldiers. And to make their feelings as clear as an extended middle finger, they raised a homemade flag with a picture of the cannon on it and the words “Come and Take It.”

Today, some 183 years later, it’s hard to drive anywhere in Texas without seeing a “Come and Take It” bumper sticker. Only, instead of the words paired with a cannon, you’re more likely to see the silhouette of an AR-15, which is America’s most popular gun—and notably, the weapon used during the mass shootings in Newtown, Las Vegas, Orlando, Sutherland Springs, and Parkland. (Friday, Governor Greg Abbott stated that initial reports that an AR-15 was used at Santa Fe were erroneous—a shotgun and a revolver were used.)

The ubiquity of that bumper sticker is a not-so-subtle reminder of how Texans feel about the right to bear arms. And the sentiment cuts across class, gender, and race lines. Whether it’s a beat up pickup truck in Gonzales or an Aston Martin in Dallas, one would be wise to assume the driver has a gun in the glovebox, if not holstered at the hip.

Which is why horrifying mass shootings—even those uncomfortably close to home, such as those in Fort Hood, Dallas, Sutherland Springs, and now Santa Fe—don’t dent Texans’ resolve to keep their proverbial cannons. Particularly when the incident seems to confirm the belief, dating back at least as far as the Texas Revolution, that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Recall that a resident of Sutherland Springs chased down the assailant while firing multiple rounds from his own AR-15.

“This notion of cultural competence, of being cognizant and sensitive to cultural differences, is something that we typically talk about in terms of race, ethnicity, gender identity, and religion,” says Daniel Webster, the director of the Center for Gun Policy and Research at Johns Hopkins University. “But one of the starkest cultural competence problems we have in this country has to do with guns.”

Webster says that many gun control advocates claim the moral high ground while calling gun owners “redneck idiots.” They question gun owners’ intelligence for ignoring gun violence research, but fail to note that, despite the terrible number of mass shootings in recent years, homicides and other violent crimes have actually decreasedsignificantly nationwide over the past 25 years, even during periods when gun sales have spiked, as routinely happens following mass shootings.

The interpretation of gun violence statistics—what is or isn’t “fake news”—seems to depend on whether you’ve ever used a pistol to shoot a rattlesnake menacing a family pet or scared off a trespasser by just standing on the porch holding a shotgun (perhaps pumping the forestock to show you mean business).

“One common denominator in all these mass shootings is the shooter was in complete and total control to selectively and casually put bullets in the heads of cowering people.” says Jerry Patterson, a former Marine, Texas state senator and land commissioner who pushed through the state’s concealed carry law in 1995, which was signed by then Governor George W. Bush. “The first time someone returns fire, the shooter is no longer in complete and total control.”

In Texas, as elsewhere in the country, there are gun owners who identify as redneck and play up the stereotype that their opponents deride. But gun owners are also in the highest echelons of government and industry. They carry pistols in their briefcases and go on hunting trips together to forge alliances and strike deals. Indeed, hunting camps and leases are often equipped with airstrips to accommodate private jets.

“It’s a ritual of having a couple of drinks and cooking supper and getting up early in the morning to go sit in a deer blind or walk the hills and hunt for birds,” says the prominent Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin.

Those who study gun culture say it’s not only attitudes and beliefs that drive gun ownership; it’s also activities and communities, which give gun owners a sense of identity, connectedness, and meaning. Harel Shapira, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin says that during his three years embedded with gun enthusiasts in Central Texas he’s learned it’s a mistake to harbor the liberal East Coast condescension that people who carry firearms are those “crazy people down there” in states like Texas. It’s a condescension he himself held prior to his research. “Gun culture is not just a Texas story, it’s an American story,” he says, “Until we understand and appreciate that and start consensus building, people are just going to get further entrenched into their identities.”

Hunting and plinking at cans are recalled fondly by many in Texas as bonding activities with their parents. Guns are heirlooms passed down through generations and used to hunt the Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas goose. Moreover, millions nationwide participate in tactical or sharp shooting competitions and belong to gun clubs that are the focal points of their social lives. Those enmeshed in gun culture take pride in their safety mindedness and technical skills as well as their ability to protect themselves and their families if necessary.

“I put up in my garage the target that I got while training to get my concealed handgun license,” says Gerry Brown of New Braunfels, a 60 year-old grandmother of ten and accompanist for a local high school choir. “So if anyone tries to break in, they’re going to go, ‘Oops, wrong garage,’”

She, like virtually everyone, is appalled by mass shootings, and was devastated by what happened in Sutherland Springs, not far from where she lives, as well as in Santa Fe, not far from where her daughter lives. And yet she says such incidents only stiffen her “Come And Take It” stance, particularly regarding calls to ban or confiscate certain kinds of weapons or gun accessories. “Try that in Texas,” she says. “It won’t work.”

All this has Jerry Patterson, the gun rights advocate and former elected official, surprisingly in agreement with Daniel Webster, the gun control advocate. “We’ve have gotten too invested in our clichés,” says Patterson. “There are things we can do if both sides can just come to the table with an open mind and be willing to accept the validity of the other person’s point of view.”

Points where both sides can possibly find agreement?

Ensuring better data entry, coordination and enforcement of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, used to check the eligibility of anyone wanting to buy a gun. And expanding its use to include online and gun show private sales.

Punishing those who lie on the form submitted to NICS and giving authorities more than three days to vet submissions.

Recovering weapons from people who bought firearms and then subsequently did something that flags them on NICS, such as committing a felony, beating up a domestic partner, becoming addicted to drugs, or having a psychotic episode.

Broadening who is prohibited from buying a gun to those convicted of stalking offenses and violence against dating partners.

Preventing copy cat crimes by taking steps to avoid naming and raining fame on mass shooters in the media (this would likely be done not through legislation, but by getting media outlets to police themselves, much as social media is now being asked to do when it comes to hate speech and fake news).

Garen Wintemute, an ER physician and director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California-Davis who has spent almost $2 million of his own money studying gun violence, says what opponents and proponents of gun control share, whether in Texas or elsewhere, is that they don’t want innocent people hurt. “We can start the discussion there,” he says.

#santa fe high school #gun control

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esmiblood90irisglimmer · 7 years ago

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The Puppetmaster (Hamilton Version) Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Witness

Ever since the night where Henry reveals to be part of the last waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe. It’s a miracle that Alexander can learn under the guidance of his future father in law, where he learns a few traditional waterbending moves. The Caribbean couldn’t thank the lord enough to find someone else that also a waterbender in his tribe. Ever the lost of beloved uncle Nathan, Alexander did his best to find any scroll of waterbending moves from either the North nor the South pole. He did his best to bend water at his own pace since he wasn’t sure if the British Empire is still after the Southern Waterbenders. Though Alexander highly doubted since Great Britain amusing that there were no more any Southern Waterbenders left in the entire earth.

Meanwhile during the time where Alexander is practicing to strengthen his bending from Henry. John, Lafayette, and Hercules decided to take a quick stroll around town. They were cautious about keeping their identity safe since the British army is a lot smarter than they tended to be. They acted as civilians within the town since luckily John was born and raised in Charleston. Though something has changed during the times where the Southern boy have notice that some of the shops' downtowns are either down on their luck or shut down for good. It uses to be a peaceful place before the British Empire decided to take control over it. There were times where John had a run in with a follow British soldier luckily his face was hidden. Many people within town recognize the Southern boy but were careful not to reveal his name within the soldiers' presence.

Many of these stuck up soldiers feel as if the town belongs to them and the people soon listen to them. That was plain bullshit to the revolutionary squad where they wanted to beat the daylights out of the soldiers but held their waves of anger back. They don’t want to cause any trouble within the boundary of South Carolina where there was another troop from the rebellion army were having their secret meetings. It’s better to hold their anger back before regretting to put their comrades in danger. John and the others cautious walked inside an old-fashioned bookstore where the Southern boy known this elderly man who was an expert keep secrets since he was a retired Marine soldier for the U.S. John always gives the old man his respect to the elderly man, he never reveals his name to anyone not even John, himself but the Southern boy didn’t mind though. John calls the elderly men “Pi” since the southern boy assume it was a suitable name and the elder men didn’t mind at his new nickname. In fact, he loved it.

“Hi, Pi” John announce happily

The elder man didn’t respond but hugged John tightly as an elderly man would’ve done when seeing his “grandson”. That what the soldiers assume before leaving the bookstore before Pi flip the sign from open to close.

“What brings you here, Johnny boy,” Pi asked

“I’m sure you know fully why I’m here” John respond sternly

Pi sigh quietly before dimming the lights in the store and closing the blinds as the soldiers assume that Pi is closing early today. Ever since the increase of people disappearing into the forest him and Henry along with other people volunteering to patrol into the forest during the full moon. They would all split up in order to find witnesses that have to survive the attempting kidnapping. Many people in town assume that all the missing people have either drown in the river nearby or mauled by bears. Though John didn’t believe those assumption since there something else to the people disappearing into the woods. It only happens into the full moon which is way too weird that the citizens only disappear during those nights. They don’t ever come back during the daylight this is really getting very serious but also dangerous.

“You’re here trying to find the missing people in the forest, I assume?” Pi question

“Yes, you and I both know that this is serious and dangerous since the disappearance only occur the full moon” John responded

“Well, during the time I was patrolling in the woods along with your father. We only claim one survivor from disappearing in the forest”

“Do you have the name of the lone survivor?”

“Elizabeth Schuyler”

Elizabeth Schuyler......John, Lafayette, and Mulligan's eyes widen in shock as they realize that one of their closet friends has nearly been kidnapped into the woods. This is wasn't like Eliza to walking into the woods at night, let alone with the fact she a powerful firebender. She could’ve taken any enemies out with skilled martial arts move. How could anyone overpower one of the daughters of Philip Schuyler? This really doesn’t make any sense at all.

Apparently, the Schuyler sisters were visiting a relative during the time where their father was in the rebellion army. This town that John once grew up is not the town he remembers from his childhood. Just what the hell is going on?

What the fuck is happening in Charleston?

Finally!!! Got this chapter done!!

#hamilton #hamiltrash #hamilsquad #alexander hamilton #john laurens #lafayette #hercules mulligan #full moon #henry laurens #last airbender au

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imjustthemechanic · 7 years ago

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The Stone Knight

Part 1/? - Two Statues Part 2/? - A Curious Interview Part 3/? - John Doe Part 4/? - Escape Attempt Part 5/? - Making the News Part 6/? - Fallout Part 7/? - More Impossible

The Loch Ness Monster attempts to make love to a Ford Ranger.

Nat had to admit, some part of her had almost wanted to believe that Sir Stephen really was a medieval knight, maybe turned to stone and now restored. It didn't matter that there was no historical record of him or that he didn't speak the right kind of English, it would just be so romantic, and she wouldn't have to worry about whether anything made sense. Who needed sense when there was actual magic involved? Finding out that the statues really were not only modern, but last-few-months modern, was both a vindication and oddly disappointing.

“Well?” Nat asked. “Don't keep us in suspense.”

DI Carter scrolled down the email she'd recieved. “They were made by a guy named Aaron Apple. He makes posh garden ornaments out of a workshop on Perth Road in Dundee.”

Nat let that sink in, and the mix of emotions she'd been feeling faded away into a startled annoyance. “Are you telling me,” she asked, “that the whole time, those two statues were carved literally across the street from where I work?”

“Evidently,” said Carter. “So if we want to find out who Sir Steve is,” she nodded to the mystery man, “I guess we'll have to ask Aaron Apple. He's coming up to Inverness tomorrow to talk to the police about Mr. Pierce's statues.”

“We'd better be there, then,” Nat decided. “Maybe when he leaves he can give me a ride back to Dundee.” How would her car insurance company classify a vehicle destroyed by being buried in a collapsed building? Did her policy cover terrorist acts? She'd never actually looked. “And we'll need Sir Steve, obviously.” If the statues were modern, then their best theory for his identity was still as the model for them.

Sir Stephen himself scraped the last crumbs off his plate and at them, then set down his cutlery. “I will accompany you back to Inverness,” he said, “but I am nearly well again, and I must soon gather my allies and resume following the Red Death, so that he cannot find the Grail. Therefore, I must ask for the return of my arms and armor. Where are they?”

“They're being held for safekeeping on Burnett Road,” said DI Carter. “If you want to press charges against your assailant, we might need to keep them as evidence.”

“What does it mean to press charges?” Sir Stephen asked.

“Take him to court,” Carter clarified. “Put him in jail, or... what did they do with criminals back then?” She looked at Natasha for the answer.

“Stick him in the stocks and let people throw fruit at him?” Nat suggested.

“Oh, I like that,” said Wilson. “Why don't we do that anymore?”

Sir Stephen shook his head. “If it were truly the Red Death and Zola, I want no such easy fate,” he said. “I prefer to meet them in single combat.”

“I don't think that's legal,” Natasha observed.

“I wouldn't be so sure,” DI Carter warned. “You wouldn't believe some of the medieval laws that are still on the books in this country.”

“Like what?” Dr. Wilson asked, interested.

“Like if a dead whale washes ashore in Scotland, the head is considered the property of the king, and the tail of the queen,” Carter replied. “That was a bit of a problem a couple of years ago, actually, when a guy found one and wanted the bones for his artwork.”

“What happened?” asked Dr. Wilson.

“Once somebody actually contacted the Queen, she just gave it to him,” DI Carter replied. “I mean, what's she going to do with it?”

A car alarm began going off somewhere outside. Everybody ignored it, including Sir Stephen, who must have thought it couldn't be very important if nobody else were bothered by it. “I beg your pardon,” he said, “but my things?”

“Right.” DI Carter sat up to explain the process to him. “If you don't want it held as evidence, you can get your stuff back by requesting the voucher. Since you were unconscious we'll have kept it at the station. They'll have a list of what we've got that's yours, and all you have to do is ask for it.”

“Then I must insist on doing that first,” said Sir Stephen. “I will need them for when I meet the Red Death again.”

“What makes you so sure it was the Red Death who hurt you?” asked DI Carter.

“The last thing I remember before waking up in your hospital was battle with him,” Sir Stephen said, as if this were a very stupid question. When he put it that way, maybe it was.

The alarm outside was suddenly joined by two or three others, one a wailing alarm like the first and the other a repeatedly honking horn. A siren became audible, drawing closer and closer, and people in the hotel common room were starting to sit up and look around.

“Well, if we're all going back to Inverness together,” said Dr. Wilson, “we can...”

The door of the hotel flew open and a woman ran inside. “Darren!” she shouted. “The Mum's come for her bairn!”

“What?” an Irish accent demanded. A group of four men had been playing cards in a corner – now they all jumped to their feet. Natasha recognized one of them, with a set of wrap sunglasses pushed up above his forehead, as the man from the news who claimed to have captured the monster. He looked at the woman in thedoorway, who nodded, and the man panicked. He shoved his companions of the way, dashed out the door, and went scurrying off down the hill yelling, “no! No!” The woman ran after him.

Nobody else said anything, but nobody in the hotel – tourists, employees, reporters, or men who thought they were eleventh-century knights – wanted to miss whatever was going on. Everyone got up, en masse, and followed the cryptozoologists to see what had happened.

What greeted them in the car park was almost beyond belief. Vehicle lights were flashing and alarms were blaring, and the cryptozoologist was standing there with a flashlight, yelling and waving it in an attempt to scare away a much larger version of his captive creature. This animal was the size of a rhinoceros, with a seal-like head on a four-foot neck, broad pectoral flippers and narrow hind ones with no tail. It was about as close as a marine mammal could get to the dinosaur shape people thought of as the Loch Ness Monster, and it was not at all interested in the chaos around it. It was halfway up on the truck, rocking the vehicle as if it were trying to mate with it.

Nobody said anything. There was nothing that could possibly be said.

The creature continued to lunge against the truck until it knocked it on its side, and the cage with the baby creature in it rolled out. The juvenile was now barking excitedly, whether in fear or pain or just calling for its mother was impossible to say. It continued to make noise as the adult rolled the cage around the car park, pushing vehicles aside and setting off more and more alarms, until it finally broke open and the young creature inside was free.

“Stop! Stop!” the monster-hunter ordered helplessly, and then was force to dive out of the way as both creatures began flopping their way back down the slope, south towards the River Moriston. If he hadn't, they would simply have bowled him right over.

The rest of the people who'd come out of the hotel – and a number of other houses and buildings nearby – were just standing around staring. Natasha took a couple of steps backwards to rejoin her own party.

“Well,” said Dr. Wilson, licking his lips. “I guess that happened.”

Slowly, the crowd dispersed – leaving Darren the cryptozoologist sobbing in the car park, with his female friend trying tocomfort him – and Nat and the others started back up the hill to the hotel.

“Do you call that evidence of monsters?” Sir Stephen asked DI Carter, smiling.

“I would say that particular lead has definitely brought me to some kind of reality,” she replied, a little dazed, “but I don't know what kind.”

They walked slowly back up to the hotel, and arrived to find a red caravan in the driveway out front. The horn honked, a window came down, and a silver-haired black woman leaned out to wave to them.

“Sam!” she called.

Dr. Wilson's face brightened. “Mum!” he said, waving to her. “I told you, you didn't have to run out here. I can get an Uber!”

“No reason for you to have to pay for an Uber when I can get you,” Mrs. Wilson replied firmly. She took off her seat belt and opened her arms, and Dr. Wilson went up to give her a hug. “I'm so glad you're all right,” she said. “I could see all the dust hanging over the city, and when I realized where it was coming from I nearly had a heart attack!”

“I'm fine, Mum,” he assured her. “I'm fine. I'm thinking about renewing my helicopter license.”

“That might be a good idea,” Mrs. Wilson agreed. “Now, you can't refuse a ride now that I'm here, so grab your stuff and get in.” She looked past him at the rest of the group. “Do your friends want to come? I have room.”

“I would be much obliged,” said Sir Stephen. “I do not know what has become of my horse.”

“Same,” said Natasha, deadpan.

Dr. Wilson opened the back door of the van for them. “Everybody, this is my mother, Darlene. Mum, this is Detective Inspector Sharon Carter from Inverness, Dr. Natalie Rushman from Dundee, and, uh.. Sir Steve, he's one of my patients.”

“Delighted to meet you all,” Mrs. Wilson said. She was in her sixties, with her hair very short and big chandelier earrings, and a bright smile in a face full of laugh lines. “I imagine you've had a very exciting evening.”

“You might say that,” said Dr. Wilson.

“We got to watch the Loch Ness Monster shag a lorry,” said DI Carter.

The smile on Mrs. Wilson's face faded as she tried to figure out what that meant. When nobody offered any evidence that it was a joke, she just shrugged and started the van's engine. “Well, it's not every day you see that,” she said.

It was a forty-five minute drive from Invermoriston back up to Inverness on the A82, and for almost the entire trip the road ran along the top of an embankment that plunged down into the Loch itself on their right. Mrs. Wilson kept up a steady stream of chatter about various things, and her son occasionally answered her questions or repeated that no, he was not dating at the moment and was really too busy to think about it. Everybody else just sat staring out their windows at the dark waters of the lake, hoping to see some sign of life. If anyone did, they didn't mention it.

At nearly two in the morning they arrived in the city, and the group split in two. Mrs. Wilson dropped her son off at his own flat, and Sir Stephen got out with him. Nat wondered if they'd go to bed right away, or if Sir Stephen would keep Dr. Wilson up late telling more of the fantastical story of his life. DI Carter then gave Mrs. Wilson directions to her own small house, where the woman let her and Natasha out.

“It was lovely meeting you,” Mrs. Wilson said. “I don't know if you heard, but Sam hasn't had a girlfriend in about six months now, and...”

“He does seem like a nice guy, Mrs. Wilson,” said DI Carter. “Good night.”

Natasha had used to be very good at going without sleep, but a few years of living on a normal person's schedule had undone some of her training. She was yawning as they went indoors. She hadn't asked if she could spent the night at Carter's, and Carter hadn't offered. Both of them simply seemed to accept that it would happen.

“You want anything to eat?” Carter asked.

“No, I'd rather go straight to bed,” Natasha replied.

“Me, too,” Carter admitted. She pulled some cushions off the sofa so she could fold it out for Nat to sleep on. “I hope we get this all figured out,” she said. “Who is this nutter and what has he got to do with Mr. Pierce, what happened to Mr. Pierce and statues and goblins and monsters and... ugh.” She shook her head. “Usually I want to know what's going on so that those who deserve it can get justice. With this mess I just want to figure it out because I'll be furious if I never get an answer.”

“Yeah,” said Natasha. “Hopefully this Apple guy will have some answers.” If he didn't, she had no idea who would. Even if he could tell them who Sir Stephen really was, though... why were the statues so important? Who was Zola? Where was Mr. Pierce and who or what had destroyed the hospital? This was not a simple mystery, and there would be no simple answers.

“Hey,” she said, as Carter started to leave the room. “Uh... has anybody told Sir Steve that it's not 1066 anymore, or does he just think Scotland is a country of brilliant engineers while England's in the middle ages?”

“I sure didn't tell him,” Carter replied.

“Somebody's going to have to,” Natasha said with a frown.

“Well,” Carter stifled a yawn. “That'll be fun, too.”

#fanfic #natasha romanov #black widow #steve rogers #captain america #sam wilson #falcon #sharon carter #agent 13

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