#the pretty committee strikes back

[crowandmousewritingco]

Death Row

Pairing: Oberyn Martell x gn!Lannister!reader

Words: 6.1k

Rating: T (more for violence and angst. Think like a PG13 movie)

Summary: The Red Viper is finally brought to justice, but to you there is more than meets the eye.

Warnings: Murder, implied past rape (not the reader), implied past child murder (both off screen) The Lannisters being the Lannisters, use of poisons, hanging, death. (I might have missed a few)

Author: Mod Mouse

Notes: I wrote this fic for the #almostfoxgloveangstchallenge put on by the wonderful @almostfoxglove. The song I was given with this prompt was Death Row by Chris Stapleton so if you want to listen along to get you in the mood go right ahead! I'm actually super proud of both 1) writing a pretty angsty fic since I'm a solid member of the fluff committee and 2) I usually don't write this long of fic. So I hope you all enjoy this work.

They did it. The Red Viper was finally captured after avoiding different law enforcement across dozens of counties. He could hide in plain sight and only peek out of his burrow when he was ready to strike. There were many reported deaths tied directly to the outlaw, and they were always closely tied to the Sherriff which caused a stir in this section of the country. 

But now the region didn’t need to worry about this mysterious man any longer. He was brought into local custody when he was detained at the scene of the murder of Sheriff Tywin Lannister’s Gregor Clegane aka The Mountain. By the time the Sheriff got there The Mountain was already dead and the Red Viper who, surrounded by a group of the Lannister’s men, was just staring at the corpse of his victim. He didn’t put up any sort of fight when he was arrested, nor did he defend himself during his very short trial. 

You were there despite your dad’s attitude towards you. Considering you were his bastard child he didn’t want you anywhere near the judicial area of town, but that still didn't stop you. Your other siblings were regular attendants so you would be too. 

 You took in the man on trial. The Red Viper was someone to be feared and brought nothing but death in his wake. But when you looked at the golden man on the judgement stand you saw the expression on his face. He was calm and even a bit cocky as he leaned back in his chair with his feet on the table. 

Of course he was sentenced to death by hanging. The evidence against him was undeniable, and soon he would be left to rot in his cell until the day they called up to the gallows. You lingered in the courtroom that day, staring at the door the guards let him through long after he was gone. Something about his expression made you want to visit him. 

That day you came up with a plan. Luckily you had your father’s schedule down to a science. After he left in the morning you knew he wouldn’t be back until supper giving you plenty of time to sneak into the jails. The only problem was the guards. Unfortunately they were all too aware of who you were, so going in the front door wasn’t an option. Behind the prison would be your best bet. 

With your plan in motion, you set out to discover who this man was. You peaked out the backdoor of the house making sure the coast was clear. When you saw no one you quietly ran across the street. Taking the familiar alleys and backways you found yourself at the back of the holding cells. As you thought there were only two guards at the front which meant no one would be inside. The building was top of the line, but you knew the backways into the cells thanks to your years of sneaking behind your father’s back. 

You approached the barred window and gave each of the bars a tug. Just like you thought a couple of them were loose from the recent rain and you were able to pull them just enough to shimmy inside. You really ought to tell your father about this escape route, but you also weren’t too keen on your father. 

The holding cells were as musty as you remember. There were hardly any windows so the air felt heavy and old. Years of prisoners breathing the same air as they awaited a similar end created a sense of weight to the area. All of the cells were empty save for the one the Red Viper was held in which from the clinking of stones being thrown was the last one of the left. 

Slowly you approached being as quiet as you can be. Despite this though a rough accented voice flowed through the quiet hallway. “I told you I had no intention of giving you a statement.” 

“I apologize I’m not the press.” You reply and step out of the shadows. 

The Red Viper leaned against the far wall, hands in his lap picking absently at his nail, the pile of tossed stones at the edge of the bars. What little light trickled into the jail beamed against the prisoner’s bright yellow outfit. But the luster of the outfit was damped by the dust and grime that gathered on the material over the course of time. His face matched his clothes. What was once a well trimmed and care for beard was ragged and well past its shave date. 

When you came into view, he raised his eyebrows confused at your presence. “Well you are not what I was expecting to waltz through those doors.” His dark eyes raked over your body curious about the creature in front of him. 

“It seems I’m not the only one visiting the infamous Red Viper.” You comment. 

He rolled his eyes. “If you are here to spit and drag my name through the mud. I’m not interested.” 

“How can I drag your name through the mud if I don’t know your name,” You quip back. 

The Red Viper smirks. “Smart mouth on this one. I quite like that. Makes you different from the other rats of this town.” 

“Well unfortunately some of those rats are my family so I’m supposed to be offended for them,” You sigh and sit down in front of the bars. 

The prisoner leaned forward taking a better look at you since you were more in the dim light. “I recognize you from the trial. You sat with the other sheriff's children. Since when did Lannister children converse with criminals?” 

“Just now. I guess one of us has to break tradition.” You shrug your shoulders. 

“And I am the one you’re breaking tradition for? Truly an honor.” He gently tips his head to you. 

“Well you are infamous in this area. A lot of people hate you,” You tell him bluntly. 

“They hate me for all the wrong reasons.” 

You look back towards the doors. Still as silent as when you came in. “I don’t hate you.” 

He scanned your face looking for anything that would give you away. “Why?” 

You took a deep breath. “I saw the way you held yourself at the trial.” You turned your head back to him. “There’s more to you than meets the eye.” 

“Clever thing you are,” He muses dark predatory eyes raking up and down your body. “You are correct. I’m not just some senseless killer.” 

You leaned forward bracing your forearm across your knee. “Then tell me.”

He was quiet for a long time and you almost thought he fell asleep, but his voice spoke again. “Come back tomorrow and I will tell you my story. But there will be an equivalent exchange.” 

You mull over his words. “And what are you looking for in exchange?” 

The Red Viper leaned his head back against the dirty bricks and gazed at your form. “Bring me something that is dear to you. It will be enough to match the importance of my story.” 

You were quiet for a moment thinking over his offer. There was something that was near and dear to your heart that you knew that would satisfy the stranger, but was this story really worth the possibility of losing your precious item. A soft sigh escaped your lips and you smirked. “Your story better be damn important.” 

The stranger smirked and nodded his head. “That will be determined by you.” 

Carefully you stood up and brushed off the accumulated dust from your pants. “Fine, expect me around the same time tomorrow.” 

“I’ll be waiting with baited breath for your return.” He replied, that cocky smirk returning to his lips. 

You gave him a small nod before quietly retracing your steps out of the escape route. Just as carefully as you arrived you returned to your house. It was silent as a morgue, and you breathed a sigh of relief. Gods only know what would happen if you had to explain where you��ve been all day to any member of your family. 

You returned to your bedroom and sat down on the familiar furniture. The silence allowed you to ruminate on the day. A stranger walks into your life and you had no idea how this was about to change your life. Thoughts kept rolling over in your head, leaving your appetite less than ideal. Your family wouldn’t miss you for dinner. This was your safe haven. 

Carefully you lit the candle beside you bed and grabbed the book you had been reading opening it up to your saved spot. Though you only made it a few chapters. The weight of that story made your eyes drowsy making the idea of a nap sound like the best idea. You kicked off your shoes and let yourself curl up on your bed. The thoughts in your head drifted but you soon found yourself in a deep sleep. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun slowly filtered into your room adding a warm glow to everything. The light hit your closed eyes and pulled you from the land of dreams. You grumbled annoyed to be awakened in such a manner, but the events of yesterday trickled back into your mind. That was enough to motivate you to get out of bed.  

Slowly you went over to your water basin and cupped the water in your hands splashing it into your face. The feeling of the cool water woke you up more allowing you to take a breath. You took your wash cloth and gently rubbed the sleep from your face wanting or rather needing yourself to be fully awake today. After you finished your morning routine, you traveled downstairs. 

The remnants of breakfast were on the table and an array of meats and breads were left messily on the counter, but yet no one was around. You sighed. This was the usual. Your father and Jamie always left at the crack of dawn, and Cersei couldn’t be bothered to talk to you. Who knew where your other brother was which gave you too much time to yourself. 

You sighed and gathered what you could for a meal, and luckily they had left enough for you to eat your fill. Staring at the empty chairs in front of you really did solidify what you were about to do. It was obvious that your family didn’t give two shits about you. A “bastard” claimed as a Lannister so their name would be smeared through the horse’s shit they rode in on. Why would it hurt to hear the story from this man.The Mountain had only done harm and it was under your father’s command that he committed such actions. With those thoughts you were resolved. 

Leaving the table how you found it, you hurried back up to your room to find the item the stranger wanted. With some effort you pulled the chest from under your bed and with the sleeve of your shift gently wiped the dust from the lid to reveal the pattern underneath. With familiar ease you traced the name that was etched into the wood. 

You missed your mother. Another victim of this wretched town. You popped the lock open on the trunk and rummaged around until your fingers hit the familiar cool metal. Carefully you pulled the necklace out from underneath the pile of her clothes. The heart shaped locket rested easily against your palm. Tears pricked at your eyes and you gently pressed a kiss to it. 

Emotions stirred in your chest, blurry memories coming to the forefront of your mind. But you didn’t have time for that. The stranger’s story was waiting for you. You took a deep breath before gathering the chain and setting it on your dresser. You made sure the chest made it back under your bed before you got changed for the day. Carefully you slipped the necklace into your pocket giving it a gentle pat.

Without losing another moment you hurried out of the house. Following a similar path as you did yesterday, you sneaked your way back to the holding cells. Everything seemed the same as yesterday and plopped down from the bars, falling harder than you were expecting.

You froze for a few seconds making sure that the guards didn’t hear the sound. When there was no indication of the guards sensing your presence, you tipped-toed your way back to the holding cells. Just like you left him yesterday there the stranger was against the wall with his head against the bricks. 

His head tilted towards the sound and the corners of his mouth tipped upward  when he saw it was you. “Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” 

You rolled your eyes but there was a grin on your face. “You just met me.” You comment as you sit down on the dirty floor once again. 

“And yet you came back all for a little story.” He mused his eyes following your movement. 

“I did.” You answered and reached into your pocket. While holding the chain you held the locket in front of you. The Red Viper sat forward in interest and for the first time since meeting him he got up and sat in front of the bars. With well worn and bruised fingers he caressed the metal with a surprising gentleness for a so-called ruthless killer. 

“Who did this belong to?” He asked, not taking his eyes off of the metal. 

“My mother.” You whispered 

The stranger looked up at you. “I’m sorry.” He whispered understanding the situation and yet no words were exchanged. 

He opened the locket. “To my beautiful child. May the fawn protect you from the wrath of the lions.” You quoted the inscription from memory. Everynight when you were growing up you fell asleep with the memento under your pillow. You didn’t know your mother, but you knew she would always protect you. 

With curiosity etched in his expression, the stranger looked back at you. “I take it the Lannisters aren’t good to you either.” 

You scoffed. “You could say it. My father decided to bed a daughter of a man whom he wanted for his land. So he had me as blackmail and took what he thought was his. My mother was ruined and I’ve never seen her.” You were quiet for a moment. “It only seemed fair that a story about the Lannisters be met with a similar fate.” You let the chain slip from your hands letting it hit the floor with a clink. 

The Red Viper watched where the jewelry hit the ground for a moment. “Yes, unfortunately our stories are not that different.” He said as his fingers brushed the metal of the fallen memento. 

You leaned your weight against your arm. “Tell me what my father did against you.” 

 “I hope you didn’t have plans to go anywhere else. For this is a long story.” He answered, tilting his head. 

“I am here until you finish your tale.” You reply honestly. 

The Red Viper took a deep breath and released it slowly through his nose. “Okay then you shall hear my tale.” 

Flash Back 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fires of the town were still smoldering by the time he arrived. Heat blasted his face as he frantically searched the town. Many were screaming and running away from the danger, but he was racing into the flames. “Elia!” He yelled over the crack of the ignited wood. The sweat from the heat kept his hair in place as he whipped his head around to get even a glimpse of his sister. 

“Please where are you?” He whispered to himself as he desperately ran from building to building hoping that they were okay. His chest heaved with each pant and would’ve kept running forever, but a sound as loud as a thundercrack bellowed across the crumbling town. 

He whipped his head around and saw what he had been dreading. The familiar house where his sister and her children resided in past familiarity was all but rubble under the broiling flames. Ignoring any sense of safety, the stranger hurried up the broken sign hoping of the slim chance he could pull them out. 

Smoke filled his mouth and burned his eyes, but a simple pain like this wasn’t going to stop him. His family needed him. Without a care for his own wellbeing, he barges through the charred door. 

“Elia!” He screamed over the fire’s roars as he once again tried to find his sister desperately searching every charred nook and cranny. Until his eyes landed on something, and it wasn’t the smoke that caused his tears this time. With shaking legs, he kneeled in front of a fallen beam. Peeking underneath it was a charged hand. On that hand was the ring he recognized all too well. He was there when that ring slipped on his finger when she married Rhaegar. He was there when he held his first nephew and she was exhausted from giving birth. He was there when she told him of her husband’s divorce, and subsequent cheating. 

A crushing sob escaped out of his parched lips and he desperately clung to what was left of his beloved sister. Oh he wanted to stay with her as she burned away to ash, but the gods were cruel and just like the beam that took his sister, another one crashed beside him pulling him from his grief. 

Without a second thought he pulled the ring off of her charred hand and rushed back to the safety of the dark night. He stumbled along the charred pathway eventually tripping on a loose branch. There was nothing he would do but let himself fall. The stranger let himself weep as his world burned around him. His eyes blurred with the tears that continuously fell for his sister and her children. Embers rained around him leaving burn holes in his once vibrant clothing.

When there were no tears left to cry, he didn’t move. He didn’t have the energy to even think about escaping. Though something did catch his eye, something flashing with the dying flames. With all the energy he could muster, he reached out and grabbed the mysterious object. A five star badge with the infamous silver lion etched in the middle. An emblem only used by one family in the area which he knew all too well. 

Sorrow reversed to rage. A rage as hot as the fires that took his sister. The damned lions were responsible for this. He gripped the badge in his hands, the points pressed into his palm causing a slow stream of blood to flow down his arm. He would get his revenge. He would undo this wrong that was cursed upon his innocent family. He glared at the star. Lannisters aren’t the only ones who pay their debts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You didn’t realize but tears were streaming down your cheeks until you felt a rough hand caress the droplets from your skin. The touch pulled you out the trace and you looked back at the prisoner. 

“I’m sorry.” You sniffled as another round of tears sprang to life. 

“What are you sorry for? Did you kill me sister?” He joked tilting his head. 

“No but I carry that name therefore I carry a part of that sin.” 

The stranger shook his head. “My strange dove, you have no reason to be responsible for your bastard of a father.” 

You took a deep breath calming yourself. “Weirdly enough you're the first person to say that.” You chuckle sadly as you wipe away the spent tears. 

The Red Viper gazed at you with a glimmer in his dark brown eyes. “You really are fascinating.” 

“You’re the fascinating one. But please this isn’t about me. Continue your tale.” You shook your head hiding the heat in your cheeks. 

The way he stared into your eyes it was evident that he wanted to continue his compliments, but for your sake he continued his tale. The stranger leaned back on his hands and tipped his head back. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Through many sleepless nights he rode through all the cities, taking names of anyone who might have been involved. He slaughtered many who even had a chance of being involved in the death of his family. If a man had any chance of involvement with the Lannisters, they were questioned on Tywin and his monster of a sheriff, but when they offered no information they were slain on the spot. The only lead the Red Viper could glean from the loyal rats was a preacher in the next town over who was a pastor for a town the Lannisters owned. So as quickly as the stranger could, he mounted his horse and spurred the creature to gallop as fast as its legs could carry them. 

By the time he arrived at the small town, the church crowd had dispersed and were already gathering for the after-sermon meals. Most of the people didn’t notice the outlaw riding into town, but a few jumped back when he stopped his horse a few feet from the entrance. Quickly he tied a loose knot with the reins and stalked up the stairs. 

The church was nothing like the grand sanctuaries in the other bigger towns. It was large enough to house the town's inhabitants with minimal iconography with a simple altar at the head of the church. There stood the Father clearing up the remnants of the sermon. 

“I had a feeling you would find me sooner rather than later,” The man remarked not turning around to meet the stranger. The Red Viper pulled his gun out, pointing the barrel at the back of the preacher. “Shooting me will do you no good either. You can’t get information out of a corpse.” At this remark the preacher glanced over his shoulder at the outlaw. 

“Then talk, Varys. I know you who burned my sister’s town to the ground,” The Red Viper growled, cocking the gun. 

“My my my you are a volatile creature. It’s a wonder you haven’t been caught soon with the trail of bodies I hear you’ve left in your wake,” Varys turned and tucked his hands under his arms. “You seem tense. A cup of tea will calm the nerves.” He turned and ducked under the doorway leading down to the secluded areas of the chapel, unperturbed by the angry man standing in the aisle.

The Red Viper stared at the empty space where Father Varys was standing and cautiously followed him to the chambers. The priest was already preparing the tea with the two cups set on the table. “I figured you could use some chamomile to soothe that seething soul of yours.” 

The stranger didn’t respond but sat down at the empty spot across from the priest. “I swear to the heavens if you try to poison me.” 

Varys smirked as he sipped from his own mug. “You are the Red Viper. You are the king of poisons. The lowest level thug wouldn’t be dumb enough to test your prowess.”

Staring at his cup for a moment, then took the warm liquid up to his lips for a drink. A few sips weren’t enough for him until he finished the whole mug not caring about the burn down his throat. 

The priest sighed as he set the cup back down on the table. Oberyn stared at the priest.  “Now tell me when I can find the Mountain.” 

“He will be at the King’s Landing Tavern for the next few days. Tywin has a new mission for him.” 

“You know for someone who is loyal to the Lannisters, you spill their secrets like a drunken wench.” 

Varys chuckled. “Claiming I was ever loyal to the Lannisters was your first mistake.” 

“A man must have some loyalties.” 

“My loyalties lie with me and only me.” Father Varys gazed over his cup before taking another sip. 

The Red Viper narrowed his gaze. “What then do you get out of telling a wanted criminal the location of the Lannister’s right hand man?” 

Varys shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Let’s say the Mountain has also done some less than savory things to ones I care for as well.” 

The outlaw was silent for a moment. “Thank you,” The stranger answered as he turned away from the doorway. 

“Be careful Viper. The lions will writhe when you succeed,” Varys warned. He dipped his head in acknowledgment as he headed out of the sanctuary. The time was now to prepare for their fateful meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The King’s Landing Tavern was alive and music poured from the swinging double doors as the Red Viper stood outside. He had been prepared for this moment since he found his family destroyed by this man. Taking a deep breath letting the anger fuel the energy he needed to move his limbs into the establishment. 

Pushing the wooden doors open, he stepped into the saloon and everything stopped. This bar was only for a select few of the Lannister elites and seeing a stranger meant you were in for some trouble. Scanning the seats his eyes landed on the giant of the man taking up two seats at the bar. He was easily bigger than any of the other patrons, and the Red Viper had his target. 

Ignoring the stares from the rest of the group he sidled up to the bar and plopped down in an empty stool beside his target. “A whiskey dry.” The Red Viper ordered the bartender who without a word took an empty glass and poured two fingers worth of whiskey in the glass. 

With the ease of years of bartending, he slid the glass down to him, but a big arm intercepted the glass. “You shouldn’t be here.” 

“And you shouldn’t have messed with my family,” He calmly replied, staring at the shelves of dark liquor. 

“I don’t remember the names of those I’ve slaughtered.” 

The stranger had to keep his anger under control as he felt his blood boil. “I will make you remember this one.” 

The large man scoffed. “Good luck with that.” He whipped out his shotgun as The Red Viper leaped off his chair. The bullet buried itself in the wall behind him. 

The outlaw jumped, rolling as he hit the floor and pulled his own six shooter out. The rest of the bar whipped out their own guns and the stranger waved it at the crowd. “This is between me and the Mountain. If anyone else decides they want to intervene, then I shall send them to an early grave.” He swiveled his feet and turned to point the barrel at his opponent. “My wrath lies with this man.” 

The Mountain cracked his neck and shook out his limbs. “And tell me what are my crimes.” 

“Elia Martell. You were ordered to kill her by Tywin Lannister,” He growled and fired a shot at his enemy. One missed Gregor who dodged out of the way, but the other one grazed his retreating limb. But a single scrape wasn’t enough to even make the Mountain grimace. 

“I kill many people with or without the Sheriff’s command. What makes you think she was any special?” The Mountain sneered and spit at the ground beside the stranger. 

“Tywin Lannister gave the order to murder and raped her and you will confess to every person here who is loyal to the pack of lions!” 

At his words the Mountain cocked his shotgun once more and The Red Viper dodged once more as he leapt onto a nearby table. Using his own momentum he turned and fired two more shots at the giant both embedding themselves into his right bicep. This time a groan emanated throughout the bar as a thick trail of blood streamed down the curves of his arm before dripping onto the floor. 

The Mountain snarled, flashing his teeth at his opponent and went to shoot him again when an empty click. The Red Viper took the opportunity to shoot again burying the remaining two bullets this time in his left leg. Gregor stumbled and landed on his knees. 

“What did you do?!” He screamed unfamiliar with the feeling of his life draining out of him. 

“Besides shooting you five times, I laced the bullets with poison,” He answered as he swaggered forward. Out from the creases of his pants he pulled his faithful dagger. “I wouldn’t try anything.” He tipped the knife under his chin forcing him to meet his gaze. 

“Now confess your crimes.” The stranger growled down at his enemy pressing the tip enough into his skin for a dribble of blood to bubble up. 

The Mountain sneered at his face. “Fine, yes I killed your sister and her children. And you know what? I enjoyed every second.” He spit a wad of spit up at the outlaw, landing on his fine clothing. 

With a yell as loud as a thundercrack, The Red Viper grabbed the Mountain’s damp hair tugging it violently to show the crowd. “Everyone will bear witness to the man who avenges his family against the Lannisters.” He screamed, his voice booming in the closed environment. With surgical precision he sliced the blade across his vein sending waves of crimson blood pouring down his shirt soaking the material with his life force. The multiple gunshot wounds had made his opponent unable to resist. The gurgles slowed as The Red Viper watched as his sister’s murderer’s soul left his body leaving his eyes and finally stilled. 

The bar was silent for several ticks before all hell broke loose. People tore the outlaw away from his body and immediately arrested him, keeping him pinned until the authorities arrived. But he didn’t resist. He had finished what the Lannister’s had started. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So that’s why you were so calm. You completed your quest,” You concluded in a whisper not taking your eyes off of his tear stained cheeks. Unsurely you reached up and cupped his damp cheek with your soft palm. The Red Viper sighed and nuzzled into your touch. The weight of his story now shared between two instead of his own conscience. 

“Elia and her children can rest easy now knowing they have been avenged,” He said as he gazed into your eyes. 

Your heart pulled out his look. Your souls have now mingled when you realized how badly the world had treated both of you, and the pull toward him was greater than any consequences that might come of this reunion. 

Together you kissed with reckless abandon and yet a gentleness that you had never experienced before. The feeling of wanting every inch of this man you had come to care for in a matter of days and yet wanted to take as much time as you could before they called him to hang. 

The unfortunate need to breathe in oxygen pulled you aparted but you stayed close. “What’s your name stranger?” You whispered against his chapped lips. 

“Oberyn.” He replied gently, nudging your cheek with his nose. 

You pulled him in by his dirtied shirt and desperately kissed him again. Lips grazed his stubble cheeks and you whispered your name into the shell of his ear. 

A shutter surged through Oberyn. “My little dove, such a stunning name.” 

Your soft hands gently cup his thick neck, your thumb gently caressing his Adam's apple which bobbed as he swallowed, taking in your touch. Carefully you brought your lips to his once again kissing him with both fierceness and tenderness. You etched every feeling into every inch of your brain, willing yourself to keep him in your thoughts forever. 

You ached to stay by his side wishing you could touch him, caressing him like his damaged soul needed. But noises from outside cause you to whip your head away from Oberyn. 

“Go get to safety,” Oberyn whispered, stealing one last kiss from your lips.

“I’ll come back tomorrow” You promised as you took your time letting him go. With one final glance you hurried out of the cells and escaped before you could get caught. 

That night you couldn’t sleep, the vivid story replayed on an endless cycle in your mind. With each replay your soul burned hotter with hatred for the name that was forced upon you. You were not a Lannister, you were your mother’s child, and this miraculous stranger revealed to you that you could change your own fate. 

With a renewed vigor you quietly gathered your most essential items into a small pouch. You would save Oberyn and take him away from this place, away to a place where the Lannister’s influence hadn’t spoiled. The night passed as you worked away devising a plan. Just as the light filtered in your bed just like it did yesterday before you knew Oberyn’s story and the months and years spent under the glaring eyes of your “family,” you were ready for your plan. 

You tiptoed down the stairs past an empty table and hurried down the familiar path. Though when you passed the town square you noticed a crowd was forming. Peaking around the corner of the alley, what you saw sent your heart plumpting. The familiar gleam of that fabric that you had become quite intimate in knowing was standing on the crudely made structure. There your Oberyn stood atop the gallows staring out at the jeering crowd. 

Without a second thought you rushed to stand in the crowd. You had to get to him. You pushed and shoved trying to get to the structure but just like the world was cruel to Oberyn, the Fates decided to turn that cruelty to you. No one would budge and break. You would have to witness from afar as his neck snapped on the rope of death. 

Bitter tears stung your eyes as the executioner read out his last rights. Oberyn was tense and silent as his eyes scanned the crowd in search of something. Your eyes met his, and his shoulders relaxed. Just like that day at the trial, resolve was etched on his tired face. 

The hanging rope was slung over Oberyn’s neck with a roughness only hatred could bring.  “Does the felon have any last words?” 

Oberyn took a deep breath and without taking his eyes off of yours. “All you may hate me for my actions,” a loud boo emanated from the crowd. He raised his voice to be heard over the yells. “But I will never forget one of you,” He started and raised his palms to the crowd, “I’ve engraved your name on the palms of my hands.” A sob escaped your lips as you read the scabbed markings on his worn hands. There in bloody letters read your name. He would take your name to the grave with you and your heart clenched. 

The crowd jeered louder at him, finding his stunt to be another cruel jab at the Lannister name, but for you it meant the sad reality that a man who you had known for only a few days would take you to his grave. Your memory of your kindness would keep his soul company as the angel ascended him to his afterlife. 

The executioner spit by Oberyn’s feet a wad of shame at the crimes this man had committed. “‘Nough out of you murderer,” He sneered as he tied the wounded hands violently behind Oberyn’s back. 

But Oberyn didn’t react, didn’t say anything in his defense. He kept his eyes on you, and as the executioner marched to the lever that would take your man from this world, Oberyn smiled softly and mouthed something that would stay with you for the rest of your life, “I love you,” as the lever was pulled. You closed your eyes as his body fell through the floor and a crack boomed across the crowd. 

Sobs racked your body as the people around you cheered. Everyone could rest easy as the Red Viper was finally slain. But safety wouldn’t come to you not when your family still ruled this town. So with the cover of the cheering crowds, you darted away from the people carrying your meager belongings. You ran. It didn’t matter what direction. It didn’t matter where you were going. You were going to run until the Lannister name was just a last name, and not a name that brought blood and sorrow to everyone around it. Until then your legs didn’t stop moving as the wide vance of the country spread out before you. 

Your legs collapse from beneath you and your breath heaves. It was now when your emotions caught up with you. There on your knees in the middle of the wilderness did you finally throw back your head and wail like a wild animal letting out the sorrows of its ancestors, and yet the birds still chirped and the world spun as if the life of Oberyn didn’t matter to anyone else but you.

```````

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[miz-chase]

Important Rizzles community inquiry: Anastasia AU

Is it:

Maura the Princess: (setting: vaguely 1926 Boston)

Jane, Frankie, and Tommy are local ne'er-do-wells looking for a new scheme when local mob boss Paddy Doyle puts up a reward for finding his lost daughter. They run head-first into this prissy girl who looks kinda like her, all blonde and pretty-like (not that Jane notices, at all). Coincidentally, Maura is running away from her home and, as an adopted child, the story the Rizzolis try to sell her on strikes a chord. To her, Paddy Doyle is an interesting, community-loved local business man, much more interesting than her parents' old money and rigid societal rules. When she meets him, he's charismatic and fun and, most importantly, different. She's charmed.

Inevitably, Maura finds out Jane and the Rizzolis were just in it for the reward, feels betrayed and angry. Jane insists it isn't true, but can't (or wont) find the words to explain how she feels. Mob violence breaks out, Jane saves Maura, violence escalates to climax, etc etc Then gay shit happens.

OR

Jane the Princess: (setting: vaguely 1887 Boston)

Jane Rizzoli never had much, but she made do. She and her brothers did their best, working in the cotton mill to make enough to keep Ma fed and the family tenement in order. Ma didn't need english to boss them around and do business in town, but the junior Rizzolis made their way well-enough. It was a life.

When some Brahmin kid deigns to come visit the North End on some charity mission (charity! ha!), Ma eagerly shoved Jane in her direction to milk whatever she could from the situation. Turns out, the little blonde in the fancy dress and bonnet wants to set up a ladies reform school for the "indigent women lately arrived and inclined toward a life of immorality." It sounds like absolute bullshit, but with Ma egging her on, Jane goes along with it.

The experience is bizarre. Miss Isles ("Maura, please!" she insists, so sweetly) takes Jane dress shopping, takes her to froufrou dinners, teaches her to talk fancy. After a while, Jane almost feels like a princess, walking arm-in-arm with Maura along Beacon Hill. It's almost thrilling, and she has to admit, there's a charming woman under all that Brahmin veneer. Jane can't help but be charmed as Maura loosens up and laughs at her blue jokes.

That is, until Jane is brought to a committee of serious men in suits. Maura and the Suits talk as if Jane isn't even there. There are words like "scientific philanthropy" "indigent races" "slums" and a lot of shit that seems to boil down to "those people." In the end, Maura looks pleased. Jane feels like the cow that won a fair prize headed off to the slaughterhouse.

Maura takes Jane home that night and disappears for weeks. It's only with a happenstance glance at a discarded newspaper that Jane understands what happened. "ISLES SCHOOL FOR DESTITUTE WOMEN RECEIVES LOWELL FAMILY FUNDING" Jane's not stupid. Little rich girl needed proof she could tame one of those dirty foreigners into respectability before the Suits'd fork over the funds. It was about money. It always is. Jane pretends not to care, but snaps at Ma when she asks for the 800th time about every dish she ate at Parker House. None of that shit matters, anyway.

Something happens, maybe Maura gets caught being indiscreet with a gentleman, or the Isles' lose their fortune in a bad investment, or the school fails, or Maura finds out she's adopted immigrant riffraff, or maybe Maura finally feels guilty. She shows up one night on Jane's doorstep looking apologetic and pitiful. Jane, back to slouching around in men's work clothes, is not at all impressed. Maybe it's mean to kick a dog when she's down, but little rich girl gets a big reality check from Jane. Still, they make room for her in bed and she stays the night.

After that, Maura actually tries. She helps the junior Rizzolis get access to education and specialized job training, she shops at the local grocer, she (regrettably) helps Ma learn english, so that she too can be bossed around. To the dismay of her family, Maura spends most of her time in the North End. She gets mixed up with Paddy, wins Jane over and then gay shit happens.

OR

What's your permutation of Rizzles and Anastasia?

[deandoesthingstome]

Welcoming Committee - Part 8

Pairing: Captain Syverson X Reader/OFC (Drea); August Walker x OFC (Genevieve/Neve); Captain Syverson x OFC (Genevieve/Neve); August Walker x Reader/OFC (Drea)

Word count: 973

Series Summary: You and Sy have been together for three years, but you still like to mix it up. The new neighbors down the street give you a chance to do just that.

Masterlist for series warnings. Heads up: this is 18+ ONLY

Chapter Warnings: Sub/dom check in, bratty behavior, power play, impact play, spanking/slapping, oral F receiving, fingering, male masterbation,

Not only did he spank me, but he also arranged it so he had good hold on my throat. Every time August landed a smack, I shifted forward into his grip. I kept trying to arch back, to meet his hand, to feel the sting, because as much as I loved the squeeze it was his strike I wanted to receive tonight.

"Please, Sir," I gasped, not quite desperate, but pleading nonetheless.

"What is it love? What do you need?"

There was only one thing to do.

"Pickles." He immediately let my throat go and bent over to check in with a much tamer voice than I'd heard so far tonight.

"Are you alright? Have I hurt you?" he spoke not in a whisper, but low enough Sy couldn't have heard, occupied as he was with his face between Neve's thighs.

I turned my head to look directly in his eyes so he knew I was telling the truth.

"I'm alright," I knew I could drop the name for now. I really should have informed him earlier, but he was checking now and we needed to clear this up before he went any further. "You haven't hurt me. Another time I would relish your hands around my throat. But tonight, please, just spanking and slapping. And it can be harder. I'll signal if it's too much."

"Ass and face only?"

"You can also hit my tits and slap my pussy." I had excellent makeup for cover-up if it came to it.

"I can work with that. I'm sorry, Drea."

"It's okay. Thank you for stopping for me. Are you ready?"

"Are you?"

And now only one way back. "Yes Sir," I grinned. "Do your worst."

"Do. Your. Worst. What?" He hammered home each word with a sharp slap on my ass, harder than before and I knew I feel those for a while. I was so pleased with how this night was progressing.

"Do your worst, Sir!" I practically screamed in response as I felt the winding of the tight coil deep in my pussy. If he'd just...oh, fuck!

"I thought you were keeping her mouth shut tonight, Walker? You got it under control over there? Need any help?" Sy teased from across the room, his mouth still hovering near Neve's quivering thighs.

"I think I've changed my mind about that, Syverson. Listen to how pretty her cries sound when she comes all over my hand."

August had somehow sensed how close I was and after those four sharp cracks on my ass, he'd slipped his hand between my cheeks and drilled two or three fingers deep into my sopping wet core. I couldn't tell for sure how many, and I didn't really care. He was somehow magically stroking the exact spot needed to release my first orgasm of the night and it felt incredible. Of course I was howling for him already.

"Or maybe you wanna come shut her up yourself?"

"Auggie, play fair," Neve gasped as Sy stuck his head back between her legs. "Quit interrupting my fun," she squealed, and I knew Sy had her close, too.

As I was coming back down, August pulled me up to perch my ass on the narrrow strip of couch between his massive thighs, my back pressed against his chest. He wrapped one arm around my breasts as I heaved to catch my breath and snaked his other around my waist, settling his fingers against my twitchy cunt.

In this position I had the best view of Sy's ass, his pants pushed down just enough for him to have taken hold of himself. I could see his arm pumping while he bent over and continued to feast between Neve's legs, drapped as they were over his shoulders. She was doing a much better job than me of keeping her voice down, but only because she had clasped a hand over her mouth and was clearly screaming into it as she came for him.

"Isn't she lovely, spread wide and coming hard for your husband?" August whispered in my ear, while his hand caressed my folds.

"She's gorgeous," I moaned and felt a sharp tap on my pussy, the sting heightening my senses again. "Sir! She's gorgeous, Sir!"

"You really have such a hard time with your manners, don't you?"

"I'm sorry, Sir."

"Mmm, better," he purred in my ear as we both watched Sy ease Neve off the mantle and carry her back to the couch. He moved with practiced ease, his thick cock jutting out between his legs kept wide enough to trap his loose pants in place for the moment. Once he'd set her down, he rid himself of shoes and pants before diving down over her and trapping her lengthwise on the couch beneath his imposing body. I couldn't wait to watch him fuck her.

Aside from getting more physical with a partner, seeing Sy really get into it was one of the main reasons I loved sharing time with him. I knew what his power felt like, but because he fucked me senseless it was always so hard to really focus on the beauty of his form and style.

It was going to be a stretch to split my attention on needling August into what I needed while also taking in the spectacular view of my glorious fucking machine of a husband.

"She's going to make the prettiest noises for him, Drea," August spoke as he alternated between cupping and slapping my pulsing pussy. "You like that, huh? Watching him?"

"Yes, I really do. Sir!" I gasped out the last bit as August landed another sharp tap against my core. The coil was tightening again but I wanted him inside me before I came again. I nuzzled my head back against him and begged. "Please, Sir. Fuck me."

Part 9

[novemberthewriter]

oh oh oh i've found my angle

instead of only focusing on galleria and massie's leadership styles, the whole lens i should be looking thru both series w/ is 'performance' bc both tcg and the clique are series about Performing. while tcg is about music & race, the clique is about performing gender -- and all this shit ties into young people tryna find themselves in new york

(how did i come to this new conclusion? well by rereading 'the pretty committee strikes back' and remembering how fucking queer i found this shit as a baby gay. so many notes in my ebook today ...)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

"Rule of Reason" :: Dwight D. Eisenhower

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 10, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAY 11, 2024

On October 31, 2020, former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon—who had left Trump’s administration in 2017—explained to a group of people that, knowing that votes for Biden would accumulate throughout the evening as mail-in ballots were counted, Trump planned simply to declare victory on election night, seizing the presidency and claiming that any results to the contrary were an attempt to steal the election from him. “[A]t 10 or 11 o’clock Trump’s gonna walk in the Oval, tweet out, ‘I’m the winner. Game over. Suck on that,’” Bannon was recorded as saying.

That prediction was pretty much what happened, but Trump did not succeed in seizing the presidency. Next came plans to overturn the election results, and Bannon was also involved in those. Then, famously, on January 5, 2021, he predicted on his podcast that the next day, “all hell is going to break loose.”

Not surprisingly, the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol wanted to talk to Bannon. It subpoenaed him in September 2021 for testimony and documents. When he refused to comply, a jury found him guilty of contempt of Congress in October 2022. A judge sentenced him to four months in jail but allowed him to stay out of jail while he appealed. 

Today a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld his conviction. He will not be jailed immediately; he can still appeal to a higher court. 

Another White House advisor, Peter Navarro, appealed all the way to the Supreme Court to overturn his own conviction for contempt of Congress after he, too, refused to answer a House subpoena for testimony and documents. The Supreme Court denied his appeal, and Navarro reported to prison on March 19, 2024. He has asked a federal judge to let him serve the remainder of his sentence on supervised release, so far without luck. 

Former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Joyce White Vance wrote: “Bannon is effectively out of appeals. He can delay a little bit longer, asking for the full court to review the decision en banc & asking SCOTUS to hear his case on cert, but neither one of those things will happen. Bannon is going to prison.”

Lack of information was at the heart of Bannon and Navarro’s cases; it was also at the heart of the State Department’s report to Congress about whether Israel’s strikes on Gaza have complied with international and U.S. law. National Security Memorandum (NSM)-20, which Biden signed on February 8, 2024, was designed to make sure that there are adequate safeguards and accountability when countries who have access to U.S. weapons use them. The memo required the secretary of state “to obtain certain credible and reliable written assurances from foreign governments receiving defense articles” and transmit that information to Congress. 

Issued today, the report covered seven countries in “active conflict”—Colombia, Iraq, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, and Ukraine—and explored whether they were using U.S. government-funded defense articles in accordance with international humanitarian law, and whether they were not “arbitrarily” denying, restricting, or otherwise impeding U.S.-backed humanitarian assistance in any areas where the country was using those U.S. defense articles.

The report noted that it’s hard to collect accurate information in a war zone. Often, the information has to come from participants or third parties, and sometimes that information comes only from the country the U.S. is supplying with weapons. It also noted that the human-rights-based Leahy Laws prohibit the U.S. from supplying weapons to a foreign military unit if the departments of state or defense have credible information that the unit has committed a gross violation of human rights, including torture, rape, extrajudicial killing, or enforced disappearance.

The report concluded that Colombia appears to be in compliance. Iraqi security forces have been credibly alleged to be violating international law, but the U.S. does not supply those units. Those it does supply have received U.S. training on compliance with international humanitarian law, and Iraqi leadership is working closely with the U.S. to professionalize. It has not restricted humanitarian aid. 

Kenya has repeatedly violated international human rights law, but it is working to come into compliance and has not misused U.S. weapons. Nigerian forces routinely use excessive force and torture. They are expanding the legal advice in the professionalizing army, and there are no credible reports of U.S. matériel used in ways that are inconsistent with international law. 

Somalia has violated humanitarian law and human rights law, arbitrarily killing and torturing people and committing sexual violence. The U.S. supplies the counterterrorism Danab Brigade of the Somali National Army and works closely with it. The State Department assesses that the brigade has not used U.S. weapons in any violations of humanitarian or human rights law. 

That leaves Israel and Ukraine.

The report begins by noting that in the October 7 attack on Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists killed an estimated 1,200 individuals, wounded more than 5,400, and took 253 hostages, including U.S. citizens. Hamas, it notes, “does not follow any portion of and consistently violates” international humanitarian law. 

Then it takes on the numbers of Palestinians killed and injured, saying that the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, “which international organizations generally deem credible,” estimates that 34,700 Palestinians have been killed. Another 78,200 have been wounded, “a significant percentage of whom are reported to be women and children.” The Gaza Ministry of Health does not differentiate between Hamas fighters and civilians, but Israel says that about half the 34,700 killed were Hamas fighters. The State Department says that “we do not have the ability to verify this estimate.” It also notes that “[t]he conflict has displaced the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza and resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis.” 

The State Department notes that the U.S. government has emphasized Israeli compliance with international humanitarian law and that Israel has “institutions and processes charged with upholding” those laws. Israel has been conducting assessments, including criminal investigations, into alleged violations of international humanitarian law. 

The next paragraph, though, says that when asked, Israel shared some information that gave insight into Israel’s procedures and rules, but that information was incomplete. Among other things, “Israel has not shared complete information to verify whether U.S. defense articles covered under NSM-20 were specifically used in actions that have been alleged as violations of [international humanitarian law or international human rights law] in Gaza, or in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the period of the report.” However, the authors concluded, because “certain Israeli-operated systems are entirely U.S.-origin (e.g., crewed attack aircraft),” they “are likely to have been involved in incidents that raise concerns about Israel’s [international humanitarian law] compliance.”

The report goes on to say that while it is difficult to determine whether specific U.S. weapons have been used improperly, “there have been sufficient reported incidents to raise serious concerns…. Given the nature of the conflict in Gaza, with Hamas seeking to hide behind civilian populations and infrastructure and expose them to Israeli military action, as well as the lack of [U.S. government] personnel on the ground in Gaza, it is difficult to assess or reach conclusive findings on individual incidents. Nevertheless, given Israel’s significant reliance on U.S.-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm.”

The State Department says it is “not aware” of U.S. weaponry being misused. It also said that it “has had deep concerns…about action and inaction by Israel” that hampered humanitarian aid efforts and that, while that aid still is insufficient, “we do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.” 

The report also assessed that Ukraine had occasionally violated international humanitarian law and international human rights law, torturing those suspected of collaborating with Russia, for example. The Ukraine government has committed to adhere to the rule of law. It has apparently not used U.S. weapons in those violations and has facilitated U.S. humanitarian assistance.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[adrianasunderworld]

💕 Twst: The Cost of Love Fan Event 💕

With it being February, it seems like an appropriate time to have a Valentines day themed event.

My fellow co-creator on this is ever cool @marrondrawsalot ,we came up with this together, so show her some love for the credit. 💜

Every year as part of a February fundraising event, RSA hold a big Valentines school festival, where the main attraction is a student bachelor auction. The students fellow peers visiting the event can place bids on the schools eligible boys and win a picnic date with them after the auction, complete with a carriage ride. Needless to say, the event is very popular among the young people of Sages Isle. There's a reveal right before the event showing an all star cast of available dates to win, some such bachelors are none other than one Neige LeBlance and the sea prince,Rielle.

The boys over at NRC, like every year, are jealous of all the attention and buzz surrounding the RSA event. It garners so much publicity and has girls fawning over them left and right. But this year, Vil as part of the committee for the own February event, is extra motivated now that Neige in the picture, and they decide to one up RSA with their own auction and do everything even bigger and better than them. But, in order to know exactly how the event goes, they need a spy of sorts to scope it out and make notes of what they did well, what they can improve on, etc. With the school rivalry being so intense and so many students acting on sight with RSA students, Vil decides Yuu is the best candidate. They don't take the rivalry so seriously, and no one at RSA really recognizes them as an NRC student. Yuu agrees once Vil says he will give them all the funds for the event. Tagging along with them is, of course, Grim. Along with Rook, who volunteers to go with and help. (and definitely NOT to bid on Neige. Noooo.), and Azul who says he wants to scope it out as well for ideas of what to serve at Mostro Lounge when their festival rolls around.

On the day of the auction, the four of them head off to RSA and things start out pretty normal and laid back. They check out booths, take pictures of the decorations, etc. They run into Che'nya who recognizes them and strikes up a conversation, asking what brings them to his neck of the woods. Yuu simply replies they're there to enjoy the festival and check out the auction. They continue to talk, and Che'nya comments on the food of the festival, and how the picnic baskets for the bachelor dates were exceptionally good since they were catered by gourmet chefs. A fact that greatly interests Grim and makes him invested in winning a bid. Afterwards Che'nya says he has to do something and leaves and shortly afterwards they run into another RSA student. A red headed boy that seems to recognize Azul and happily greets him.

Yuu asks if it's afriend of his and Azuls only reply is that they aren't friends and simply former classmates, though it's obvious Azul is tense about something. Rook recognizes the boy from the date roster as none other than Prince Rielle. Rielle happily greets Azul like an old friend and introduces himself to the other three. Rielle right off the bat is a friendly and likeable boy, curious about the group and asking all sorts of things about them and making conversation, clearly the type of boy that makes fast friends. He offers to show them around the festival before he has to go to the stage, and despite Azuls reluctance, he agrees. Insert Twisttune of the group running around the event and having fun.

However, the fun does not last, as another boy calls out to Rielle, and the prince visibly tenses and looks displeased. The other boy, who is twisted from Sebastian, comments how he's been looking everywhere for Rielle, and he's been wanting to talk to him. Rielles cheery demeanor changes to that of irritation and coldness. He tries to leave, but the boy won't let him, begging to talk to him. This continues with Yuu trying to interrupt, Azul not saying anything, and Rook and Grim standing by watching it, commenting how diffrent Rielles mood switched. Eventually Rielle makes an excuse that he has to go and rushes off.

Sebastian: Just talk to me! Where are you going?

Rielle: Why? So you can tell my father, since you're so good at that?

With Rielle gone, Sebastian is visibly upset and Azul asks what that was about. Sebastian tells his former classmate about how he and Rielle had a falling out in middle school right before he ran off to RSA. As Sebastian wanders around the festival a bit with the group, we get tidbits of what happened. From what Yuu can gather, Sebastian did something he is truly sorry for, but Rielle has refused any communication and Sebastian decided to just go to the surface to see him and apologize. They were good friends once, and Sebastian truly misses and cares about him, and want's Rielle to know he never meant any harm. After that Sebastian takes his leave to go do something else. Azul comments that he never known Sebastian to be a good liar, so the boy is being genuine. Especially when he recounts how much he did not like the surface and insisted it was better under the sea, so Sebastian taking the plunge to come all the way out here for Rielle is a huge deal.

Afterwards Rook comments that it's almost time for the auction. The group head over and see Sebastian in the audience. They sit near him, and the auction begins. Early on Rielle takes the stage and Sebastian puts in a bid, and Rook asks why, to which Sebastian replies that if he wins the bid, Rielle will have to speak with him. But his plans are dashed when Grim decided he wanted the contents of Rielles basket at the mention of tuna and placed a bid. Betting all the money Vil gave them, they win the date with Rielle. Later on Neige is saved for last, and Rook bids, but quickly found he spent more than he expected on Neige merch from a vendor at the event and is quickly outbidded.

Afterwards, Once everyone goes to meet their dates, Rielles smile fades when he sees Sebastian standing next to Yuu. Sebastian tries once again to talk to Rielle, but the prince is not having it. He grabs Yuus hand and says it's time for their date and hurries off to where the carriages are, Grim following close behind. A row of two seater carriages decorated in flowers for each of the bachalors await and Rielle escorts Yuu and Grim to theirs. His smile has returned now that they were far from Sebastian. Yuu asks where they are going for their picnic, and Rielle replies to someplace special. Here theres a twistune of the carriage ride while we see some of the others pass by.

Rielles special place he chose for the date was a small lagoon. He had a row boat prepared and the plan was to eat on the water. They row further out in to the lagoon, and three enjoy their lunch together. Grim very pleased with himself as the choice to bid on the food. Not long after, Grim falls asleep with his full stomach, leaving Yuu and Rielle to chat. It starts off as simple get to know you type questions. The player would be given a couple options to ask Rielle and his answers vary on the question. Like asking if he had siblings, (six older brothers back home) Any hobbies, (He enjoyed collecting human things and singing) Rielle will ask Yuu questions in turn and the player can s elect from the presented options. The answer does not alter any outcomes. Finally Yuu ask why he's avoiding Sebastian or why Rielle chose to come to RSA. Both questions lead to the same outcome where Rielle explains the trouble.

He and Sebastian were childhood friends. But while Rielle was ever curious about the surface, Sebastian was fine with being under water. He comments his father, the king, has never been a very understanding merman. He always said it was fine for other merfolk to come and go to the surface, but a prince of the sea belonged only in the sea. Rielle hid his collection of objects from his father because of this. However, he wanted to attend magic school on the surface instead of an underwater academy like his brothers. Rielle had applied to RSA and he figured it was better to ask forgiveness than permission to go, and fully intended to leave under his fathers nose and not say where he went until he was on the surface and settled. Sebastian, as one of Rielles closest friends, knew all about it, and told the king. Rielle and his father had a horrible argument which resulted in the princes collection being destroyed. After that he wanted nothing to do with Sebastian, and Rielle ran away from home shortly after, going to an estranged aunt on the surface to give him shelter till school started. He does not go into detail as to why, but its implied Azul had a hand in how Rielle was able to come to the surface at all.

As they continue the conversation, Yuu brings up the points Azul made about Sebastian being genuine in his apology, and how him coming to the surface was a big deal for him. Rielle doesn't deny these things, but replies it does not undo the damage done. Though he does admit he seeing him again after the two years he's been away made him realize how much he missed his friend. Yuu points out that Sebastian must miss him too.

After their boat ride, they ride back to RSA since Rielle mentions he has to close out the festival. There they find Sebastian, Azul and Rook are still there. Sebastian and Rielle stare at each other for a moment and Rielle says he's finally ready to hear Sebastian out. The boy once again apologizes for how things happened in middle school. He was scared Rielle would get in even more trouble if he up and left without a word to the surface. He said the king noticed how cheerful Rielle was, not knowing it's because he got accepted to RSA. When the king asked if anything good had happened, Sebastian told the truth and the rest is history. Sebastian once again apologizes, he knows it wont undo the damage. But he cares about Rielle and misses his friend. Then he moves on to the matter that he's been trying to get to all day. Rielles father and brothers were planning to show up unannounced in a couple weeks and Sebastian came to warn him so he wouldn't be ambushed.

Rielle and Azul seemed shocked the king would come up here and Rielle is freaking out about what that could mean or if his father was planning on dragging him home. As much as Rielle misses his brothers, he isn't ready for a reunion just yet. Yuu asks Sebastian if they are planning to stay long, and he replies it's only for a weekend since they can't be away long. Yuu then offers their new friend to have a sleepover at Ramshackle if he truly isn't ready to face his father. Reasoning that a couple weeks is enough time to get the permission to leave campus. Rielle agrees to this plan and thanks Sebastian for coming all this way to warn him. The two agree to keep in contact to try and rebuild their friendship.

Afterwards, Rielle says he has to go to the closing ceremonies for the festival, which is a concert held by the students and he was the final act. The last Twistune of the event is Rielle singing a love song that pays homage to/is inspired by 'Kiss the Girl' while seeing The characters dance in the audience.

After the party is over, Yuu, Grim, Rook, and Azul go back to NRC only to find Che'nya is there causing mischief and being chased by a bunch of NRC students. Once he sees the group has returned, he happily greets them, saying he was entertaining their classmates while they were away and calls for his buddies he snuck onto campus that it was now time to go. Vil finds the group afterwards and asks if they got any good info on the event, and Yuu realizes they stopped taking notes after meeting Rielle and had next to nothing to give to Vil. It ends with Vil being irrated and berating all of them for wasting time when they had one job.

[lcatala]

A Review Of Nimona

Despite some reservations, I really liked Nimona.

I open with the conclusion because this review starts off quite pessimistic and is rather long, so that way those of you who won't make it to the end will not leave with the false impression that I didn't like Nimona; I really much did.

I have a complicated relationship with 3D animation.

Well no, actually, it's a pretty simple relationship: I hate almost all of it.

It's not that there's any reason why 3D animation cannot be good in the abstract. I'm not a medium snob; you can tell good stories in live action, in 2D animation, in 3D animation, in stop-motion, with hand puppets, with shadow puppets, with paper cutouts ; in theory, it absolutely doesn't matter.

Except, in practice, most 3D animated films range from mediocre and forgetable to actively repulsive.

Visually, they almost all look the same, to the point that it's really hard to distinguish studio styles at all (without looking it up, between Coco and Encanto, which is Pixar and which is Disney?) Storywise, it's all very pain-by-numbers, hero's-journey crap with little deviation. But what gets those from merely nondescript to actively annoying is the tone. So so many of these movies revolve around "hype" and "cool" teenagers who constantly strike poses, raise their eyebrows, and talk in one-liners. Everything is manic and noisy, there's not a single moment to breathe, because if nothing stimulating happens on screen for more than three seconds, surely the audience will stop watching, so there's always someone gesticulating, dancing, singing, making faces, or all four at once. And everything has to be crammed with pop culture references and topical allusions so that the audience can relate.

Don't get me wrong, it's good to have media you can relate to, media that speak of modern problems and adress a modern audience in its own terms. But there has to be less insultingly condescending ways of doing it than shouting "HELLO FELLOW KIDS" over and over for 90 minutes.

Let's be clear: this isn't happening because the people involved are not competent or because the budgets are too tight. Very talented people work hard (routinely to the point of exploitation in fact) on these movies, and they actually get quite strong budgets reflecting the benefits they're expected to make.

And that's the actual problem: there's too much financial stake in 3D animated films, too many producers and shareholders breathing down the neck of everyone else, too many committees trying to craft the perfect crowd-pleaser, too many rewrites and re-rewrites, too much fear of failling to capture the children-and-teenager audience and losing hundreds of millions. So everything must be made to appeal to the widest, shallowest base as possible, and every second of screentime must be an attention-grabber that leaves absolutely no chance of anyone getting bored.

Mirroring this, there's no reason for 2D animated and stop-motion movies to be inherently better than 3D ones. They are so in practice because big studios see them as uncool and no longer profitable, which means that the only people who still make these kinds of movies have to actually deeply care about them and go in with the full awareness that their next project might well be a commercial flop that will set them back for a decade on the project after that or might even end their career.

So when it was announced that Nimona, a webcomic I had really liked for its quirky, original, both humorous and dark tone, was going to be adapted by Blue Sky Studios, who had afflicted the world with not one, not two, not three, but five Ice Age movies, well, I was not happy at all, because that seemed like worst possible match. It was hard to imagine them doing anything other than remove anything remotely interesting about the story and turn it into a generic seizure-inducing mess with poop jokes because that's all that they do with their movies.

I feel bad about it retrospectively, but my first instinct when I heard that the movie was cancelled was to rejoice that we had been spared from what would certainly have been a complete disaster and a terrible insult to the original comic. And the revival of the project, while it was always a positive for the actual people involved, left me largely indifferent.

Who would I have had instead to adapt this into a movie? Why, Cartoon Saloon of course! A fantasy story about a free-spirited, hyper-active, shapeshifting red-headed girl and the friendship she seeks with another outcast character, leading to a fight against the instutions of law and order that turn out to be corrupt and evil? Why, they would have loved making that movie.

Except they did make that movie. What I'm describing is not just the premise of Nimona; it's also that of Wolfwalkers, the absolutely amazing 2D animated film that Cartoon Saloon released in 2020, as the third part of their "Irish Folklore Trilogy" (following The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea).

Ok fine then, if Wolfwalkers already exists, it would be redundant for Cartoon Saloon to make it again, so I guess Nimona can be in its own thing; if it doesn't work out, I'll just rewatch Wolfwalkers.

Then I saw that ND Stevenson, the author of the original comic, was actually really enthusiastic about the project — which in itself isn't a definite proof, many times has a creator be enthusiastic about an upcoming adaptation of their work only to get burned when the actual thing came out, but at least it was a positive sign. Maybe I was going to give this movie a chance.

Then the movie came out, and I saw a lot of positive reviews from people who I trusted not to be easily swayed by any old crappy animated film just because it had some queer representation. Ok, ok, fine, y'all win, I'll watch it.

So I watched it and… I actually had quite a really good time.

I liked that there actually was a conscious stylistic choice in the animation, this sort of 3D-2D hybrid technique, like very-advanced-cel-shading seems like it's a lot more flexible when it comes to actually give an animated movie a distinct, signature style — and it blends in a lot better than pure 3D, as seen on how Ghibli has used those techniques for complex individual shots since Princess Mononoke in 1997 — a movie mostly made in 2D traditional animation, but that has a number of digitally made shots seamlessly incorporated using those 3D-painted-over-to-look-like-2D techniques. By the way if you like Princess Mononoke, you should also watch Wolfwalkers, it has a number of similar vibes!

I liked the humor! For the most part, it worked, and some jokes were actually pretty clever in their absurdity, like having Nimona pull out a polaroid picture she's somehow taken a few minutes ago just for the sake of a visual gag, even tho we've already established that this is a futuristic fantasy setting (which is also a thing I like, the worldbuilding was pretty cool) where everyone has smart phones (but it also works as a subtle early hint that Nimona is much, much older than she seems).

I liked that queer representation was front but not center: several main characters are openly, explicitely queer, but this isn't a plot point, this isn't something that they have to defend or call attention to. It's just a normal character trait, and the problems, drama and obstacles these characters face do not stem from them being queer.

I liked the story, the themes it went for and how it executed them, twisting traditional feudal fantasy and hero's-journey tropes but without being heavy handed and obnoxious about it, showing that you can play with a genre and pick apart its problematic implications without being a scatological edgelord about it (yes I loathe the Shrek franchise, why do you ask?)

It still has some of the things that make me strongly dislike modern 3D movies, but it's contained. It's here and there, but not to the point of ruining the story. Yes Nimona is an out-of-control nuclear-powered goblin, but the movie actually goes into why she is like that, and suddenly it's a lot more interesting to have a character be manic and constantly at 11 because she has a lot of pent up anger and insecurities about being alone than just because that's a quirky character trait to throw in randomly; and the movie does manage to have a few quiet and reflexive moments, and those matter a lot in the story.

I am of two minds about its qualities as an adaptation. On the one hand, even if this is a very different story from the original, the themes are there, the spirit of the original story is there; different media have different strength and what would work in comic format wouldn't necessarily work in an animated movie. Having the movie tells its own story makes it less redundant compared to the comic, more complimentary — you can know the one by heart and still get surprised and awed by discovery when you get to the other. And updating the material can be good; people always complain about Disney's track record of sanitizing fairy tales, but I can assure you that you don't want to see a faithful adaptation of Sleeping Beauty on screen. In general, an adaptation making significant changes to the story isn't a deal breaker for me, some of my favorite movies massively depart from their source material, usually for the better.

On the other hand, it seems to be almost a constant with animated adaptations that the source story is going to get discarded. It gives the feeling once again that the people involved in making these adaptations do not take the medium seriously and cannot imagine that these stories could stand on their own without needing heavy rewriting, that they can't see them as deserving a faithful adaptation. I understand why a lot of these changes happened for Nimona, but I still regret some of the stuff from the comic. Like yeah, it's very clever that in this version, Nimona has essentially no origin story and actively refuses to talk about how she came to be, but then we miss out on this absolute wham moment from the comic, Ballister telling her "Nimona, you forgot your own backstory!"

So in the end, I have to take the movie for what it is, rather than look too closely as what it is an adaptation of. Those are two different takes and stories on the same characters and themes, both with their strong points, and I think I can live with that.

So in the end, I had a pretty good time. It had some small issues, it's probably not the best version possible of that story, but it's still far, far better than anything I was expecting. I you loved it, I do still recommend checking out Wolfwalkers as soon as possible if you haven't already, you might well love that one too.

[fancoloredglasses]

Graduation Day (A season finale that had to wait 27 years for the next season)

[All images are owned by Marvel Disney and Saban Entertainment. Please don’t sue me]

With Disney+ reviving the 90s X-Men animated series (calling it X-Men ’97), I figured I would take a look at where the series left off so new viewers didn’t need to watch the entire series.

A quick note: The animation may seem a but different than the early seasons. This is due to the fact that Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy (to try to generate enough revenue to keep the presses rolling, they started selling off the movie rights to several of their more popular franchises (including the X-Men), many of which have only recently returned to Marvel, and two of which are still in the hands of other studios (Hulk with Universal and Spider-Man with Sony) and are only allowed in the MCU thanks to some serious bargaining) As a result, the budget for X-Men was severely cut for season 5 (meaning the animation was lower quality and the season only had 10 episodes instead of 13)

Of course, if you want to watch the whole series (including this episode), it’s available on Disney+.

PREVIOUSLY ON…

While I’m not going to review the entire series, I will give you the bits that will be important for the episode:

Morph started the series as a member of the X-Men, but was mortally wounded in the first few episodes. They were saved and eventually came back (brainwashed into thinking they were betrayed) They spent most of the series following their return in a redemption arc, having returned to the X-men in the last few episodes.

Henry Gyrich (who looks VERY different than he did in previous seasons) is one of the primary voices calling for the eradication of all mutants. He was responsible for the majority of the funding that created the Sentinels.

Princess (now Empress) Lilandra is a member of the royal family in the Shi’ar Empire. She is an ally of the X-Men and has been romantically involved with Charles Xavier.

Magneto’s journey has been a long one fraught with triumphs and betrayals. At the time of this episode, he is gathering a mutant army to conquer the world on the island on Genosha.

That catches us up, so on with the episode!

We open to a hearing on mutant relations. Gyrich is doing his best to rile up the audience (and the committee members) with his anti-mutant rhetoric.

Off to the side, Xavier tries to be the voice of reason, but…

With that, Gyrich pulls out a device  and uses it on Xavier. Immediately, his mental powers go berserk and overload the minds of everyone in the chamber (including the X-Men, who were in attendance for support) before he collapses!

As the police take Gyrich away for assault, Beast collects the device to examine what it did to Xavier while Cyclops tells Wolverine to get Xavier to their plane to get back to the school, but...

Beast is doing his best to keep Xavier alive despite Wolverine’s senses saying otherwise.

Meanwhile in the island of Genosha, the mutants have seen the footage from the hearing and are calling for blood (much to the delight of Magneto)

Later at the school, the X-Men have brought in Dr. Moira MacTaggart, mutant expert and Xavier’s friend, via the 90s equivalent of Zoom.

Unfortunately, she’s not able to help much as Xavier’s condition worsens. Then Beast has an epiphany: the Shi’ar have technology far beyond what Earth can muster. Surely Empress Lilanda will come to their aid!

Hmmm…good point. Any message to the Shi’ar would take years to reach them, while Xavier likely has days at best. If Xavier was coherent, he could send an instant telepathic message through the bond they share, but…

Meanwhile in Genosha…

…Magneto rallies the troops.

Around the world, mutants rise up against the humans who would repress them. Of course, that means the humans strike back…with the military.

Meanwhile, Xavier appears on TV to reason with the mutants.

That’s pretty impressive, considering how close to death he is!

Ah, that explains it. Morph was impersonating Xavier. Regardless, their pleas fall on deaf ears.

In the War Room, Cyclops and Wolverine brainstorm a way to get through Magneto’s followers to put an end to his offensive before it starts. Jean offers to use her powers to keep the other mutants at bay.

So Cyclops, Jean, and Wolverine make plans to storm Genosha.

Later in the Blackbird (the X-men’s battle plane), the team approaches Genosha when Magneto uses his power to destroy it! Fortunately, the team is ready and bails out, with Jean using her powers to cushion the landing. Later, the team tries to infiltrate the army’s camp, but are confronted. Fortunately, Magneto takes that moment to make an appearance.

With the army distracted, the team slips away and sneaks into Magneto’s stronghold.

(Thanks to peanutsinspace)

Back at the school, Xavier is quickly losing his battle.

Fortunately, Magneto has agreed to try to help save Xavier’s life by augmenting Xavier’s brainwaves so he can contact Lilandra telepathically.

Well, he did something. And whatever he did was enough to bring Xavier to consciousness, at least for a while. After some friendly banter with Magneto, Xavier addresses the assembled X-Men.

(Thanks to FrogLicker8cP)

Just as all seems lost…

It seems that Xavier’s message was received and Lilandra has come. Sadly there is little she can do on Earth to stabilize him, but she offers to take him to the Shi’ar Empire to heal him (though it is unlikely he would be able to return to Earth)

With that, the final season of X-Men comes to a close…

Or rather, fifth season, even if season 6 had to wait for 27 years.

(Thanks to Marvel)

Now you are caught up. Enjoy X-Men ’97. I haven’t yet seen it (I’m binging the series throughout the summer before doing so), but I hope there is enough demand for another season in the future.

[chirpsythismorning]

Will it take a long time for the strike to end after they make a deal? It took only a few days for the writers so I assume it will be something along those lines for the actors too?

I'm not sure honestly. I think given that the actors have almost 20x the number of members, it is a slightly different scenario. But regardless of that, SAGs negotiating committee is looking out for their members and they are only going to take the best deal possible. Meaning that whatever deal they agree to, it's pretty much guaranteed members will vote in support of agreeing to the deal and ending the strike.

If a deal were to be reached by this upcoming Sunday (this is a hypothetical scenario I'm basing on the WGA's timetable last week, wit the addition of 2 extra days for some wiggle room), then the deal would be ratified in the next following days, with members having the following week or so to agree to the new deal officially. Though, like the writers strike, it would presumably be over whenever the deal is ratified after it's reached.

This would put filming back on the map around mid-October.

Still a pretty ideal scenario, regardless of how likely that might be given the current circumstances, but I do think that this is something we can rule out or consider as the most likely scenario within the next coming days/week. We'll know what direction things are going by then for sure, whether it's the end or not just yet.

[terabyteturtle]

Fighter #12 - Jigglypuff

- Jigglypuff is a sassy little creature. She’s a big diva who isn’t afraid to speak her mind.

- Her most prized possession is a pair of pink star-shaped sunglasses. She never wears them out on the battlefield because she doesn’t want them to get broken.

- She doesn’t know what it’s like to have a nightmare because she’s never had one in her life. Her dreams are always super nice and fun.

- Anyone who upsets Jigglypuff will be slapped into next week. She might look sweet and adorable, but she’s not afraid to throw hands if the fancy strikes her.

- If a fighter is having trouble sleeping, she'll sing them a soothing lullaby.

- Pufferfish are Jigglypuff’s favorite animals. They remind her of herself—puffy and cute, but also strong and quick to defend themselves. She has a tank with three of them in her room.

- Forget props on April Fools’ Day—Jigglypuff can prank people using her voice alone. When someone sits down, she’ll make a quick whoopie cushion noise and run away. At this point, the fighters know that it's just her messing with them.

- Thanks to Ken, Jigglypuff is a HUGE fan of Powerpuff Girls and has tons of merch from the franchise. Even her pufferfish are named after them—Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.

- She is always the first to sing on karaoke night. Once she has the microphone, you’d have to literally pry it from her hands or else you won’t get a turn. Jigglypuff never gets tired of singing and could perform all night if given the opportunity.

- She is her own number one fan.

- On the subject of fans, she makes for a great cheerleader.

- She's a major contributor to the party planning committee, which consists of all of the princesses, Palutena, Marth, Lucina, Sora, Kirby, and herself.

- When Peach first heard that Jigglypuff evolved with the power of the moon, she took it very literally and wouldn’t let her go outside at night. Red eventually picked up on it and explained to Peach that Jigglypuff only evolves when given a Moon Stone, not when exposed to the moon itself.

- Speaking of which, Jigglypuff loves roaming around outside at night. Every evening, she'll go out and sing to the moon, gracing the ears of anyone nearby with a peaceful serenade. Even back when Peach was adamant about her staying inside, she still found a way to sneak out. Nobody tells her what to do (unless she trusts their judgment).

- She's the type to punch the air in her sleep.

- Jigglypuff loves falling asleep on people. She finds their presence comforting and having them there makes her feel extra safe.

- She’s proud to be part of the original twelve. Since they’ve been with her the longest, Jigglypuff has formed strong bonds with every single one of them. She grew particularly close to Samus, as she was the only other girl in the group.

- Some of her accessories are actually gifts from the original twelve. The sun hat was from Mario, the bow was from Samus, and the flower was from Ness.

- Due to her bubbly and upbeat personality, she appears to be very energetic. However, Jigglypuff actually tires out pretty easily and needs at least two naps a day.

- She is a master at using the curler. If you want curls done, Jigglypuff’s the girl to ask.

- Tropical vacations are her absolute favorite. To her, nothing beats the warmth of the sun on her body as she relaxes on the beach, listening to the waves crash along the shore. She and Incineroar are trying to convince the roster to go on a trip to Alola.

- Leaf is her real trainer, but whenever Jigglypuff returned to Smash Mansion, Red was in charge of taking care of her. It wasn’t until only recently that Leaf decided to tag along for some reason.

- On nice days, she enjoys going outside and catching butterflies with Villager.

- She has tons of slumber parties with Samus. Usually, they start out with Jigglypuff busting into Samus’ room while she’s trying to relax. Initially, Samus will tell her to leave so she can unwind, but one look at those big round eyes and she can’t help but smile and cave in.

- Jigglypuff LOVES ribbons and bows. Samus gets her a new one for her birthday every year.

- Jigglypuff always has a first-aid kit on hand for when fighters receive injuries. She’s an amazing caregiver and will try her best to cheer up whoever she’s treating.

- She’s the type to always pick “Dare” in a game of Truth or Dare. She has nothing to hide; she just enjoys a good challenge.

- She and Kirby have this game where they copy each other for the whole day and the first one to stop loses. The loser then has to buy the winner ten bags of their favorite snack. If Jigglypuff loses, this is an easy task; Kirby isn’t picky and loves pretty much any food you give him. If Kirby loses, however, it’s a different story. Jigglypuff refuses to have anything aside from those apple gummy rings which, for whatever reason, are super difficult to find in the Light Realm.

- She and Leaf like to go fruit picking together. When they get back to the mansion, they’ll bake pies, pastries, or any other fruit-related dessert using their fresh pickings. Sometimes Kirby will tag along too.

- Jigglypuff is currently teaching Toon Link how to flirt with girls. He insists that he doesn’t have his eye on anyone, but she doesn’t believe him in the slightest. She’s dedicated herself to finding out his mystery crush and becoming his wingwoman.

- She sang opera once and made a single tear fall down Ganondorf’s cheek. No one saw except for Jigglypuff herself, and surprisingly, she hasn’t said a word about it.

- She loves giving and receiving head pats. They’re her primary form of affection.

- If something doesn't go her way, her first instinct is to pout. For some fighters, it's too adorable to ignore and they end up just giving her what she wants. For others, Jigglypuff has to resort to more devious methods of getting their attention.

- She and Kirby frequently go for rides on the Warp Star together.

- Her favorite song from the Smash soundtrack is Pokemon Center. It’s upbeat, fun, and reminds her of her travels with Red and Leaf.

[museenkuss]

do you prefer a certain era of the clique? i have a soft spot for bratfest at tiffany’s, but otherwise i really dislike the post-summer novels. the first three books just have a certain…distinction

oh my god I LOVE bratfest at tiffany's!! Literally one of my favourites! I have to agree, though - I wasn't all that sold on the later ones and actually never finished the series, I think. Maybe I should get back to that for nostalgia's sake (but I'd rather just reread the other ones...).

My favourites were definitely the first three as well - and The Pretty Committee Strikes Back. I copied their "what to take on a trip" list into my diary. ICONIC.

God, just thinking about this makes me crave a nice tube of lipgloss and a chai latte. Also I'm so elated that we clicked on tiffany's and the iconic first three. Mentally I'm holding your gloved hands as we squeal and do some wobbly jumps on our heels.

[emodialisse]

(Giving a tour on Octavius Industries, first year of Peter's internship)

Otto: Don't worry about leaving too much junk around here, as you can see it's very roomy, this is our main workshop area after all. You can tidy your office later, I'll just need to file some paperwork and have it delivered to my foreseeable suitor. She has shown much promising feedback coming from the health care org.

Peter: I honestly wish I could spit on my high school scientific initiation supervisor's face.

Otto: I won't stop you. Take a look, this is where we shall be. Impressive, won't you say?

Peter: Yeah, much. Especially for a start-up.

Otto: Well, I did get a reliable network after lots of peer reviews. We have everything we need here... And soon after I go through the pile of paperwork that is craving my attention now and then, we can hop into the thing I wanted to discuss with you after tomorrow's interview.

Peter: Oh, I didn't... Do you already have something going on? Oh, you're getting me all pumped up, Doc!

Otto: Alright, alright, let's dial it back a little bit. How could you tell?

Peter: Well, you must have! I mean, isn't that why you called me here?

Otto: Maybe I just enjoy your company.

Peter: Ha. I don't want to question you or anything, sir, the pep talk you gave me that afternoon really stuck to me, but I haven't got this kind of confidence to do something... In years, you know?

Otto: I understand that completely. Lend me some of that faith and I promise you, it won't disappoint.

Peter: Wow. You weren't kidding, it's chilling in here.

Otto: If the circumstances won't turn against us, we might start to warm up tomorrow.

Peter: Good thing I called off all of my compromises, but I do have gym training at six, every Tuesday, so...

Otto: Good to know you're one to keep in shape, but we do need to send a clean report to the org every week, I'm afraid, as I'm counting on not hiring anymore staff for now. I think you've got it covered.

Peter: Hell yeah, if you need help with paperwork, and I'm just letting you know, in my AT position at ESU, I was called the fastest man alive.

Otto: Don't worry about that, it's an stock of ideas for budget, counting that everything goes well with the ethics committee once we get the engines running on my next project.

Peter: With a place like this? External funding should be easy. This could fit the entire of my aunt's homy living room at Queens. How did you find it?

Otto: Oh, this used to be an auto repair shop. Back in the day it seemed like a pretty good deal. The man who sold it to me was a very... Colorful character. He only accepted being referred to as “Paulão”, although I'm pretty sure my pronunciation isn't spot on. He was very easy going, but the same couldn't be said about his partner.

Peter: Oh, so there was two owners?

Otto: I don't think so, no. He showed up only once, and it was the day Paulão would hand me the keys. Hm. He had a very remarkable taste for t-shirts, like they came straight out of kaleidoscope. He came with a taxi, but I'm pretty sure he was driving it. I haven't seen something like that since the 70s, it's funny to think about him now.

Peter: Gotta love someone whose dedicated to strike a first impression.

Otto: I hope this is also a nod to a certain TV celebrity we're getting all over the news these days...

Peter: You watch his show?

Otto: I don't change the channel.

Peter: Do you like it? I don't watch it. Just... You, know, I can see the appeal of his character.

Otto: Well... Then you could say I'm very... Curious, about his existence. Although it's not a topic we can explore much further, after all, the man prefers to be cover his face all times. No surprise that charlatan bouquet Jonah likes to sell it to scare us off. However there's not much performance to pass on a message, he's just showing off cool tricks.

Peter: Got it, “kids like him”.

Otto: Now you're putting words in my mouth. But it's not an entirely misguided assumption either, hm?

Peter: Whatever you say, Doc, I'm just following you.

Otto: I think that's enough for today.

Peter: Yeah, I need to beat it too, I had pick up May at F.E.A.S.T... a hour ago. Fuck.

Otto: Need a lift?

Peter: Thanks, Doctor, but I'm kind of scared of bikes.

Otto: What, never learned how to ride without training wheels?

Peter: When i was ten a kid beat my ass with a tire once and now I have nightmares every night.

Otto: Charming. Well then, don't waste no time.

Peter: Smell ya later!

Otto: You have such way with words, don't you?

Peter: I did try to get into poetry once. If I give you a taste, I can't promise you won't be swoon.

Otto: No thank you, you already had me with your bachelor's thesis, remember?

[sunoodilocks]

𝗔𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡 22

SYNOPSIS: tensions are high and rumors are widespread. The Decelis Academy, one of the most reputed academies across the world with the highest security ever has for the first time in its 200 years had a case of arson. Everything and everyone is under the strictest scrutiny. Who and Why? everyone wants to know but the management is keeping silent. On the background though, secrets are been shared in whispers. Now it's up to the DECELIS SECRET STUDENT COUNCIL to bring this case to light!

the students

¤ Y/N

The current vice president of the organising committee at Decelis Academy. She is pretty good in studies and is well liked by her teachers because of her ability to get work done upto the standard regardless of how less time she has (in truth she is just a chronic procrastinator). She initially decided to apply to the organising committee mainly because she didn't have any interest in joining the already existing clubs at Decelis - over the course of time though, she genuinely started to enjoy working there and was promoted as vice president after a little over two and a half years of joining. Overall a nice and responsible person; cares deeply about the few close friends she has.

☆ She had a brother who also attended Decelis Academy but had lost his life 4 years ago due to a freak accident.

¤ REI

The current president of the organising committee of Decelis Academy. She is a hardworker and is quite known for her work ethic. Initially had problems fitting in since she was Japanese, so took in upon herself to learn basic Korean to strike up simple conversations. She wasn't part of any club at the beginning so and helped out whenever any club needed a few extra hands to organise any event, big or small - the teacher's took notice of her responsible nature & her organising abilities, and recommended her to apply for the organising committee at Decelis - she did and was promoted to president after about two years of joining. This is also where she met yn, who soon became a close friend of hers after the many hours they spent working together in the committee.

☆ She recently had to leave the academy dorms to go back home - apparently had something urgent to attend to. Ever since she came back though, she has been a bit jumpy.

¤ SUNOO

The current student supervisor of the tour office in Decelis Academy. Very sociable and a literal ball of sunshine making even the most reserved person be at ease with him - maybe that's why he was suggested to apply to the tour office. Initially the tour office didn't have a student supervisor, but the principal choose to take a risk and appointed Sunoo to the post after a year of joining the office - it worked out better than expected. All the important visitors to the academy were now personally attended to by Sunoo, with the principal there only as his supervisor in name - the visitors always seemed to be impressed at his ability to make easy conversation at any topic even with basic knowledge without making it awkward - all in all, it helped maintain a good image about the student body at Decelis. Is also a close friend of Rei & Yn's.

☆ Due to his amiable nature and the frequent interactions with people in general, he has quite a few connections both within and outside Decelis.

¤ BEOMGYU

Popularly known as the flowerboy of Decelis, definitely not an official position but one that is quite influential in terms of popularity throughout the academy. He is a goofy guy who loves to tease and have fun with his friends - surprisingly enough though, he is actually quite a good student, obedient and responsible when it comes to his studies and his attitude towards his professors. Despite having the looks, height, a good voice and the popularity that came with it, he never looked down on anyone and although reserved around new people, had good relations with them regardless of them being a part of his friend group or not.

☆ The younger of the two sons of THE CHOI family has been known to be enamored with music since he was born, a "natural born" musician, as he was referred to. He has won quite a few awards and was a national phenomenon making his name in the international domain, to put it lightly - however that is as far as it went, he is said to not have to best relationship with his parents who, while they did set up the best coaches for him in music did not support it as his future career.

¤ LIA

The Queen B and batch representative of her batch at Decelis. The demands and wants of her batch go through her for review before being submitted to the student council for action. Her parents own an international clothing brand, making her rich on top of being smart and pretty - given these qualities, one would think her to be aloof and vain but would be pleasantly surprised to know that she has an overall laid back personality willing to share smiles with anyone who is willing to do the same.

☆ She will do anything to maintain her picture perfect reputation, not that she needs to do anything really - she is already perfect enough !

¤ KARINA

The current president of the dance club at Decelis Academy . She has been a dedicated member of the dance trope at the Decelis branch of educational institutes since a mere age of 6 (that is, upon joining the Decelis Elementary School for the first time). With the credits she has accumulated over the years with her participation in the various dance competitions representing Decilis, she hopes to go on and become a choreographer at Decilis and from there on, open her own studio after having acquired the experience and exposure Decilis provides. She was made the president of the dance club after a year of joining the Academy due to her experience and expertise in the field.

☆ Her family's financial conditions are not the best so her parents understandably wanted her to choose a more 'reliable' career path - were against her career for quite a while before coming to terms with it slowly, after she assured them of the temporary position provided to few students to become a part of the faculty - which usually does end in getting the permanent placement.

MASTERLIST ▪︎ NEXT

[starseedfxofficial]

Trump Strikes Back: Forex Markets Brace for Impact as Dollar Soars and Selic Rises! The Forex Rollercoaster: Trump Strikes Back, EUR/USD Takes a Dive, and the Selic Gets Super-Sized! Let me paint you a picture, folks: it's 2020 all over again—but with extra seasoning. This time, the dollar (DXY) just couldn't help itself; it pulled off its biggest daily rally since the last big Trump parade. Why, you ask? Well, turns out The Donald is back in action, and apparently, his economic polices are like that hot sauce some of us love to hate—tariffs, tax cuts, less regulation, and lots of government spending. This particular sauce is bringing heat to the inflation kitchen, and the dollar sure liked it, briefly jumping above the 105.00 level. Meanwhile, the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee, for those in the cheap seats) has everyone's attention as we wonder if they’ll switch the spices up even more. Euro's Got a Headache: Blame It on Trump (Again) and Germany's Soap Opera Our old friend the euro, meanwhile, has been feeling like it spent the night in a spin cycle. The EUR/USD managed a tiny bit of breathing room, but the poor euro's been under heavy selling pressure—it’s like it’s stuck in a one-way race to the bottom against the dollar. Why? Firstly, Trump's making everyone nervous again with tariff threats, and concerns about defense and Ukraine have a lot of investors reaching for their favorite comfort food (or in this case, dollars). Oh, and let’s not forget the latest episode of Germany’s political drama: Chancellor Scholz just gave Finance Minister Lindner the boot. Apparently, they couldn't agree on budget policies—guess someone’s "zero-based budgeting" didn’t go down well. Now there’s talk of a confidence vote coming up in January, which could mean fresh elections in March. Cue the popcorn, because it's going to be one spicy soap opera! GBP/USD: The Slow Bounce Back, Like an Inflatable Flamingo If you’re wondering about the pound, well, GBP/USD has managed to cling to the 1.2900 level, but it’s having trouble getting any higher. It’s like an inflatable flamingo stuck in a swimming pool: it's floating, but it’s not exactly soaring. The market is on edge waiting for the BoE’s (Bank of England, for the uninitiated) rate decision—everyone's expecting a 25 basis point cut. As always, no one wants to bet big until they know which way the wind's blowing. The Ninja Move from USD/JPY The yen, oh boy… USD/JPY hung on to most of the prior day’s gains, riding the coattails of that dollar surge and a spike in U.S. yields. Market expectations are heavy on Trump’s inflationary policies coming back for Round Two, and that’s got everyone piling into the greenback again. Support has been pretty sturdy around the 154.00 level. Some might say that’s just a number, but anyone who’s ever watched USD/JPY knows it has a mind of its own—and sometimes it’s a ninja. Down Under Duo Does a Comeback Meanwhile, the antipodeans—AUD and NZD, for those not familiar with my favorite down-under duo—have been clawing back those post-election losses. Apparently, Australia and New Zealand are tougher than they look. Traders were also keeping a close eye on China; some quick moves from China’s state-owned banks saw them selling US dollars and buying yuan. You could say Beijing's not too thrilled about their currency going full "gravity’s rainbow." The PBoC (People’s Bank of China, of course) set the USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1659—that’s a hair lower than the expected 7.1679, so at least there’s some sign they’re not letting things slip too far. But with Trump back in the picture, you can expect more fire-breathing dragon moments on the horizon. Brazilian Buzz: Super-Size the Selic And in case you thought it was only the northern hemisphere making headlines, think again! Brazil has thrown us a curveball by hiking the Selic rate by 50 basis points, up to 11.25%, with a unanimous vote. Yup, Brazil’s Central Bank has taken a stance—inflation? Nah, not on their watch! The BCB emphasized their full-on commitment to hitting that inflation target, come what may. They did say that future rate adjustments will depend on inflation dynamics, output gap, and risk balance. But honestly, the market heard, “We’ll do what it takes, so don’t test us.” How to Read Between the Lines of Trump’s Policies (And Not Get Sucker-Punched) Now, here’s where the magic happens, folks—how do we, as traders, stay ahead of the curve when it feels like we’re all stuck in a perpetual game of whack-a-mole? The first lesson: follow Trump’s policies carefully. He likes tariffs. Tariffs like inflation. And the dollar? Well, the dollar loves inflationary themes—for a while, at least. Until, of course, the Fed decides to turn the music off. So, think ahead. If tariffs are coming, what’s your move? Go long on dollar strength—but keep an exit plan ready for when sentiment inevitably shifts. Euro in the Mud, But Is There A Silver Lining? Let’s be real: the euro isn’t having its finest moment. But there's opportunity in every corner if you're willing to dig deep enough. The weakness in EUR/USD could offer some unique entry points, particularly if Germany’s leadership manages to do something that resembles stability (I know—a tall order these days). One strategy here? Look for opportunities to go long on euro crosses where other currencies have weaker fundamentals. Or, you know, keep some popcorn ready—things might get wild. Unicorns, Inflation, and the Brazilian Gamble The Brazilian Selic rate hike is one of those moments where you know there's a bigger game afoot. Inflation is a unicorn that central banks keep trying to catch. And for Brazil, that unicorn just got a little closer—they’re ready to corral it before it bolts. But there’s a tactic here: if the Selic keeps climbing, it’ll attract capital inflows as investors chase those sweet yields. The play? Look at the USD/BRL pair. As more foreign capital comes pouring in, the Brazilian real may see some strength—but the question is, for how long? It’s the classic “yield chase,” and the smart money knows when to get out before the next change in global risk appetite. End Game: Ready to Play with the Big Boys? The bottom line is simple, folks: the Forex market just got its latest adrenaline shot. The DXY's got its groove back, EUR's sweating over German politics, GBP is all about waiting for the BoE, and the yen is, well, hanging in there, ready for action. The names in the game may stay the same, but the rules? Those change every time a headline hits. If you’re tired of just watching the action from the sidelines and want to be part of a community that gets the inside track on the biggest market moves, now’s the time to dive into our StarseedFX community. We’re talking exclusive insights, expert-level strategies, and all the tools you need to make the big bucks (or, at the very least, to stop losing money to that ever-elusive unicorn called 'The Market'). Find us at StarseedFX Community—but hurry, the market waits for no one, and neither do we. Exclusive Tools to Maximize Your Gains When navigating through the unpredictable forex waters, it helps to have the right tools on your side. Our Smart Trading Tool at StarseedFX Smart Trading Tool is designed to help you optimize your trades with automated calculations and insightful order management. And if you're looking to sharpen your skills, check out our in-depth Forex Education resources at StarseedFX Forex Education for advanced methodologies, little-known strategies, and the knowledge you need to get ahead. Stay on Top of the Game with Free Tools To enhance your performance and track your progress, take advantage of our Free Trading Journal available at StarseedFX Free Trading Journal. It’s a powerful way to refine strategies and utilize real metrics for improvement. Need a plan to set goals and manage risks effectively? Access our Free Trading Plan at StarseedFX Free Trading Plan and give yourself a rare strategic advantage in the market. —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated   Read the full article

[bllsbailey]

Lawn-Sign Wars: Trackers, Cameras Used to Deter Political Vandals

Tired of her signs disappearing from her Springfield, Missouri, front yard, Laura McCaskill taped a tracking device to one to see where it might end up.

That led her to a blue Kia sedan in a nearby town, where a young man admitted he had stolen her sign, along with dozens of others, according to a video shot by McCaskill. "Um, yeah, so if you want them back they're right there," he said as he stood next to a trunk filled with Harris signs.

As the Nov. 5 election between Harris and Republican Donald Trump draws near, people across the U.S. are reporting a rash of yard-sign thefts – and turning to a range of remedies to stop them, from surveillance cameras and GPS trackers to low-tech solutions like glitter and hot peppers to deter would-be thieves.

"The sign game has changed. You can no longer steal and get away with it because guys like us are taking it pretty seriously," said Vincent Panico, a Republican deputy mayor in Readington, New Jersey, who used an Apple AirTag to track a missing yard sign ahead of a primary election earlier this year.

Police found it in the garage of a member of the town committee, John Albanese, a fellow Republican who has feuded with Panico in an intra-party power struggle. Albanese has pleaded not guilty.

His lawyer, Scott Wilhelm, said he was being targeted by Panico and other local rivals.

"They are doing whatever they can to try to get him off the governing body," Wilhelm said.

Campaign signs have been a fixture of the U.S. political landscape since the 19th century, but studies suggest they may not do much to bolster the fortunes of the candidates they advertise. "Yard signs don't vote" is a common mantra among political operatives.

Still, they are clearly a hit with voters. Roughly 1 in 10 Americans display yard signs for a presidential candidate, according to Florida International University professor Todd Makse, who found that those who display them are primarily interested in showing their political allegiances, rather than swaying undecided neighbors.

Clearly, some do not appreciate the display.

'You Are Stupid'

Indianapolis tech worker Lissa Smith said her Harris sign was stolen from her yard the night she put it up this summer. In its place was a white pillow with "YOU ARE STUPID" written on it.

Smith said she ordered four more campaign signs and posted a warning that any additional theft would prompt her to donate money to several left-leaning groups. Since then, she has made $180 in donations and spent close to $300 on security cameras. She said she has been heartened that some of her neighbors in her politically mixed neighborhood have asked where they could get Harris signs of their own.

"It's made me more confident in sharing my views," she said.

Matthew Hurtt, the chair of the Arlington, Virginia, Republican Party, said he had received more than 100 complaints of stolen Trump signs in his heavily Democratic area. He has been posting photos and videos of suspects online.

"It raises awareness that there are Republicans in northern Virginia and it raises the awareness of the intolerance of our neighbors," he said.

Yard signs can serve as a flash point in an era of heightened political tensions. A man in Topeka, Kansas, was convicted of aggravated battery last year for shooting at teens he suspected of stealing Trump signs before the 2020 election and in Michigan an avowed Trump hater ran over an elderly man who was replacing vandalized Trump signs.

Prosecution of sign thieves can be hard, officials say, given the low dollar value of the item stolen and the difficulty of identifying suspects who typically strike at night.

In some cases, the damages can be substantial -- at $20 apiece, the 60 Harris signs found in the car trunk in Missouri would cost $1,200 to replace.

But the damage extends beyond a sign's value, victims say, with some arguing that it violates their free-speech rights and can amount to political intimidation.

"You are disrespecting people's property, you are silencing their opinion," said McCaskill, the Missouri resident who filed a criminal complaint against the young man who admitted to taking her sign. He said he was inspired by a TikTok video.

Police say they are investigating the incident, and the young man's mother did not respond to requests for comment.

Those who are arrested can face serious penalties. Michael Shaw, 54, of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, faces up to 12 years in prison and $55,000 in fines after he was arrested for stealing signs and flags in what police said were 11 separate incidents. He did not return a call seeking comment.

In New Jersey, Panico's woes did not end with his rival's arrest. Republican signs have been disappearing again, though surveillance cameras have captured a different suspect – a school bus driver. Panico says he plans to speak to the man's employer.

"It's not great when you pull up in a pretty identifiable vehicle," he said.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The following was written by an Emmy-winning Showrunner with long experience in Hollywood, and published anonymously in The Ankler today. I’m publishing it here because I’m a big believer in not reinventing the wheel. This really sets out what is wrong now with Hollywood, and what’s really at stake.

TC

HOW TRUST DIED IN HOLLYWOOD

“There’s always been a struggle between art and commerce, but now I’m telling you art is getting its ass kicked, and it’s making us mean, and it’s making us bitchy, and it’s making us cheap punks and that’s not who we are.”

Aaron Sorkin wrote those words for the pilot of Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, which premiered back in the comparatively halcyon days of 2006. Mr. Sorkin wasn’t prescient so much as he vastly underestimated commerce’s complete and utter victory over art and the white-hot rage that would engender in the artists.

Consider this: In just the past four years, the writers of television, film, and comedy/variety shows have fired their own agents — going so far as to sue them in federal court and accuse them of being “mobsters” — and gone out on strike for the first time in 15 years. Some may say — and have said — that this is because writers are “crazy” or “spiteful” or that their leadership is “militant.” And all of that may even be true, but such characterizations elide the simpler, far more accurate explanation: Writers are angry AF.

And, unfortunately, even if the WGA strike were to end tomorrow (please, God, let it end tomorrow) with the writers getting absolutely everything they’re asking for (and, God, that wouldn’t be so terrible either), we — the collective “we” of Hollywood — would still be left to contend with that rage because it won’t go away and it won’t go away because the system that engendered it is broken.

Let me let you in on something that the WGA Negotiating Committee prefers you not know: Writers don’t really care about money. I mean, we like money — don’t get me wrong — but we practice our craft for its own sake. And the way you can tell is that, right now, half of television writers are working at guild minimum. We let that happen. Does that sound to you like people who are in it for the money? No, it doesn’t. We’re in it for the love of the game. The problem is... the game is no longer lovable.

Here are just a couple of examples: Screenwriters have watched opportunities dry up as studios eschew mid-budget movies that used to be the lifeblood of the feature side of the industry in favor of “blockbusters” (some ultimately more so than others). And those screenwriters lucky enough to get a gig are constrained by single-step deals which result in their payments being held hostage to free work. Even more soul-crushing, their hope of writing something original is a pipe dream in a land where studios worship at the altars of “intellectual property” and “pre-awareness.”

Things are arguably even worse on the television side. Writers for streaming shows are used to “development” that goes on for years and years. In broadcast (remember that?), the deadline of May upfronts kept everyone honest, but the recent move to “year-round development” now just means that development is a never-ending process. It used to be that the price of admission was a pilot pitch; now it’s a “pitch” for multiple seasons combined with a visual deck (if not a full-on sizzle reel) and, hey, an actor attachment and a filmmaker wouldn’t hurt either. And showrunners? They’re as interchangeable and disposable as feature writers have always been. (The biggest unsung offender on this front is easily Amazon. Here’s a partial list of all the shows where they’ve fired and replaced the showrunner: Carnival Row, Citadel, Gen V, Goliath, Jack Ryan, Paper Girls, The Summer I Turned Pretty.)

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