#then he got radicalised while down here | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mariacallous · 3 months ago

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Along with seemingly everybody else I’ve recently been watching the Netflix series Adolescence. It is a striking film that is masterfully shot and powerfully acted. It has also generated a worthwhile public conversation. Much of this conversation has been constructive; however some of it has been animated by a desire to change the subject - to talk about anything but misogyny and the radicalisation of young men on the internet.

I found Adolescence surreal to watch at times. Since 2018 I have been researching the so-called ‘manosphere’ - a loosely affiliated network of masculinist websites, blogs and online forums. The fruit of my labour, Lost Boys: A Personal Journey Through the Manosphere, is out with Atlantic on 5 June. In normal circumstances a book like this would not have taken so unfathomably long to write. But the years since 2018 have been highly unusual. First the pandemic meant that I couldn’t travel. Then, almost as soon as that was over, my grandmother (whom I was extremely close to) died. Perhaps not surprisingly, I had little desire to re-immerse myself in a culture that got its kicks diminishing women while I was still grieving for the one I loved.

Because it took so long to finish, much of the writing took place under a cloud of uncertainty. I wondered whether the subject matter would be old news by the time the book came out. Back in 2018 there was a lot of interest in incels (involuntary celibates) and Jordan Peterson. By 2022 Andrew Tate was all the rage. I was sure that by 2025 the hyper-masculinity stuff was going to peter out. And then Donald Trump was re-elected and Mark Zuckerberg went on the Joe Rogan Experience to preen about ‘masculine energy’. Adolescence, a film about the radicalisation of a young boy by the manosphere, is now Netflix’s top show globally.

Today I feel a bit like a funeral director in the aftermath of a mass casualty event. I would have preferred things to have turned out differently, but considering they haven’t, I intend to put my knowledge to some practical use. Having spent so much time researching the manosphere - including interviewing and interacting with hundreds of men and spending months at a time embedded on a course which purportedly taught men how to become ‘high status alpha males’ - I feel as if I have something worthwhile to contribute.

It is in the nature of television to over-dramatise things and Adolescence depicts an extreme sequence of events. Murders inspired by the manosphere are mercifully rare (I go over several of them in detail in the book). Yet for every act of extreme violence there are probably countless instances of abuse and coercion that are given moral license by the subculture’s misogynistic doctrines. Indeed, many unpleasant things follow from the proposition that women are not quite fully human, even if some of our professional anti-alarmists would like to wave this conversation away as a ‘moral panic’.

Much of the debate inspired by Adolescence has focused on fatherlessness. It is an interesting jumping off point and conservative hand-wringing about fatherlessness is not without foundation. Yet absent fathers are better than violent ones. Moreover, fatherless homes are sometimes a byproduct of the fact that women nowadays feel less coerced into ‘making it work’ with abusive men.

Anti-feminist backlash can bring to mind a line from It Can’t Happen Here, Sinclair Lewis’s dystopian novel that enjoyed a resurgence during the first Trump administration. ‘Every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on,’ writes the author. As women have thrown off some of the oppressive strictures of the past and entered the labour force as (at least in theory) equal participants, some men have experienced a relative loss of status. Until fairly recently, men who found themselves cowed at work could at least dominate their families in the home. They still can in places like Russia, where a woman is killed by a man in a domestic setting every forty minutes. Vladimir Putin knows he has little to offer Russia’s menfolk besides poverty and war. And so he endows them with a sense of domiciliary lordship and dominion. In 2017 the Russian leader signed a law that partially decriminalised domestic violence.

It wasn’t so long ago in the West that women were treated as a form of property and divided up accordingly. Nowadays they mostly get to choose for themselves and the manosphere is rightly seen as a bilious wail of resentment at the fact.

Yet the ‘backlash’ thesis only takes us so far. The rise of the manosphere should probably also be seen a morbid symptom of the suffusion of market logic into every aspect of life. As is often the case, the clue is in the language. Masculinity gurus refer to a ‘sexual marketplace’ where to succeed men must embody certain characteristics that (coincidentally) also correspond with being an ideal neoliberal subject. Dominance, status, and crippling levels of productivity render a man ‘high value’ (people are frequently made to sound like Ebay collectibles) and audiences of impressionable men are encouraged to view life entirely through the prism of getting rich. Women on the other hand are treated either as ornamental status objects - one of the spoils for a successful performance of masculinity - or as breeding stock for patriarchs.

Jamie, the teenage boy who murders a girl from his school in Adolescence, mentions something called the ‘80/20’ rule. ‘80 per cent of women are attracted to 20 per cent of men. You must trick them, because you’ll never get them in a normal way,’ the 13-year-old protagonist tells his psychologist. In its garden variety self-help guise, the 80/20 rule (sometimes called the Pareto Principle) is one of those sterile maxims whose spiritual home is the jejune world of LinkedIn. The basic idea of this supposed ‘law’ is that 80 per cent of consequences come from 20 per cent of causes. The manosphere transposes the same template to sex and relationships. According to Jordan Peterson, sexual access for males is a ‘Pareto-distributed phenomena where a small proportion of the males get most of the invitations’. During the immersive part of my research, I heard one guru explain it as follows to a group of students who had signed up for his $10,000 ‘alpha male’ course (yes, really):

As we got into monogamous societies, what happened was low-status men got at least one girl that they could have sex with. Then after birth control and the sexual revolution we allowed people to choose more, and what women were choosing was the high-status men, so these men at the bottom became surplus again. That’s why you guys are here.

In other words, women are choosing a small percentage of ‘elite’ men and condemning a flotsam of sexual no-hopers (the 80 per cent) to the status of surplus men. This sort of rhetoric is usually accompanied by claims that western civilisation is going down the tubes because society no longer places restrictions on female sexuality (‘culturally enforced monogamy’, as Peterson has euphemistically called it).

In reality the 80/20 rule is a conspiracy theory that doesn’t stand up even in the world of dating apps. According to a study of user activity on Tinder, while women on the app tend to rate men more poorly in terms of their looks, they are also more likely to message the poorly rated men. By contrast, men tend to rate women better in terms of looks, but a majority are only messaging the most popular third of women.

And yet the 80/20 rule (and the manosphere itself) started to gain traction around the time that image and video-based social media took off. Instagram was launched in 2012; ten years later it would be home to a billion users – around an eighth of the world’s population. Tinder, a place where people are depicted as two-dimensional objects in a catalogue of flesh, launched in the same year. These platforms in particular have helped to distort ideas around what is normal and accepted. The more beauty and abundance on one side of the screen, the greater the sense of material and spiritual impoverishment on the other. We know that social media makes women feel insecure about their bodies; yet the same thing is increasingly true for men. A 2025 study published in Psychology of Men & Masculinities found that adolescent boys were increasingly using anabolic steroids to achieve the muscular physiques idealised on social media. If nobody feels like they are good enough anymore then perhaps it is in part because they are not supposed to.

All of which leads to the creation of material conditions that are propitious to convincing young men that they lack the requisite desirable qualities in the so-called sexual marketplace. In the analog age masculinity hucksters were forced to place their ads in the back of top shelf magazines. Yet thanks to social media, where the illusion of success is indistinguishable from the real thing, their bombastic heirs can enchant young men with telegenic charisma and portrayals of a luxurious lifestyle (in common with other pyramid schemes, the trappings of wealth are usually dependent on the guru’s ability to extract money from his followers).

This is why the wisdom of putting smartphones in the hands of children is so central to the debate around the manosphere. We tend to explain radicalisation by searching for pre-existing vulnerabilities. This is often the most appropriate approach: radicalisation can feed on inner turmoil and insecurity. Yet such feelings are not always organic: the market can play its own role in their generation. Wealth in a capitalist economy is accumulated through the creation of needs as much as their satisfaction. And smartphones are the vehicle through which masculinity entrepreneurs are able to circumvent other forms of socialisation (parents, teachers, approved role models) in order to cultivate their pied piper-like appeal.

When I was at school being ‘cool’ was synonymous with possessing whatever action figure or clothing brand or skateboard the market had convinced you was essential. What makes smartphones different is that the commodity itself is the beginning rather than the end of the story. ‘We look through them into the infosphere,’ as the philosopher Byung-Chul Han writes in Non-things. Venturing into the ‘infosphere’ these days increasingly summons feelings of browsing a sales catalogue of low repute. Search engines try to pull you away from the things you are searching for; social media generates conflict and atomisation; dating apps get rich from perpetual singledom.

This is the respectable face of the internet. It is easy enough to find oneself in the slipstream of less reputable sales funnels¹. Charismatic masculinity influencers reel young men in by hammering away at their insecurities. They then present themselves as saviours and guides. The sales pitch goes something like this: ‘The rules of the game have changed; someone like you will never get a girlfriend; however if you follow me (and buy my course which is $495 for a limited time only) I will show you how to escape the ‘Matrix’ (i.e. by embracing a rigid and cartoonish coda of masculinity).

To be online in 2025 is to be one-step removed from the subterranean world of masculinity demagogues. Adults are free to navigate these waters at their own peril. But I suspect that society will come to regret giving children untrammelled access to the devices through which these toxic Confidence Men can peddle their wares. After all, there are more important things in life than the assimilation of kids into the smartphone market.

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starlightseraph · 11 months ago

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love to the brave antis!

i’m being so serious rn when i say that if you’re part of the rpf circle (and that specific one) then please get the fuck away from me and my asks and my posts.

i spent a while hate-reading and rubbernecking, but i was strong enough to block all the major players and i’ve almost entirely kept them blocked. if my inbox last time i mentioned this was anything to go by, clearly some of y’all couldn’t do the same to me.

if you’re in the good omens/staged fandom or a fan of david tennant and michael sheen and somehow aren’t aware, there are a bunch of disgusting blogs that have been spewing hatred and conspiracy theories, for years in some cases. these include but are not limited to: that georgia tennant and anna lundberg baby trapped the guys (with like every kid they’ve had, because david and michael have clearly been on the edge of leaving them so many times), that georgia is repeatedly raping david (???), that she’s abusing him and he’s afraid of her, that david and georgia’s kids hate georgia because they recognise the abuse and are disgusted by it, that anna is some maniacal villain who always planned to trap an established actor because she can’t do anything, that she hates michael, that david and michael are in a sexual and romantic relationship, that they they want to leave their partners for each other, that they already have left their partners in secret, that david and georgia have gotten divorced and are living apart, that georgia’s dad set up her and david on purpose (outside of his influence in getting her the role that they met on), that georgia and anna send coded messages to each other and to followers with the songs they use on instagram stories, that georgia was a criminal-level stalker who baby-reindeer’d david into marrying her, that the four of them have a pr firm that’s orchestrating every flick of their eyes but that this firm is failing miserably by telling them to turn down the heat between david and michael while forcing them to drag georgia and anna along wihh them, and that anyone who doesn’t agree with these rpf blogs is homophobic and wilfully ignorant.

they send death threats to and dox people who dare to say anything against them, i’ve gotten threats myself. @dtmsrpfcringe has gotten wishes of ill on her children and she’s been told that her family doesn’t exist and she’s making them up or is delusional. i myself got death threats and a bunch of abuse on anon for my relatively tame posts on this shit. i was fairly early to the game, i think my first post on the situation was 10ish months ago, and they have radicalised more and more since then. i’m not up to date on their latest insanity— i’ve had them blocked for a long while for my own mental health— but i’m not gonna let the brave people behind the aforementioned blog and others get absolutely vile messages without saying anything.

now i wanna make myself very clear: rpf is fine! real person fiction is fine! i personally don’t like it, but i have no ethical objections as to why others shouldn’t. using the names and likenesses of real people for fun and silly little stories on ao3 is totally ok. but it crosses a line when y’all present the stories as an “investigation” or claim that they’re objective reality. some of the followers of these blogs have admitted to messaging georgia and anna directly about this, and there have also been a few comments on their instagrams that seem fuelled by this stuff, proving that their claims of staying quietly on their own corner of the internet are bullshit.

if anyone’s interested, my old posts on the matter are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. they’re all months old and quite out of date by now, as i’ve been pretty good at keeping the blogs blocked, but i do think they include some well-written points (much better than this post lol, i just woke up). something has changed though; i say in one of the posts that i’d have no problem with the theories being true, but the blogs have since begun more proudly displaying some truly insane accusations, which i would absolutely have a huge fucking problem with.

anyways. most of the new stuff i’ve seen comes from tori and co, see dtmsrpfcringe and the council (lol) for more, if you want to see a bunch of wonderful people fighting a shit show to protect the fandom.

#david tennant #georgia tennant #michael sheen #anna lundberg #staged #good omens #doctor who #rpf #anti rpf #when it turns into this #whatever this is #discourse #fandom drama #fandom woes

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marauderseraconfessions · 10 months ago

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Okay, I have thoughts on the debate around fanon's characterisation of Death Eaters, so hopefully I can say this right. I'm not wonderful with words, but I'll try.

Criticising them is absolutely okay, first of all. Please do that, we need more of it. When a fandom babygirls fascists to the point I've seen a ship fic set in a concentration camp between a Nazi and one of their victims, we have a problem. A rather fucking large one. So criticise all you want.

There is a part of me, however, that wants to use the potential we have in them being so young. They're in their formative years in a large majority of fics, and we can use that.

For example, Barty. Criticise him all you want, he was a terrible person. He bullied children, helped bring Voldemort back to life, and did any number of horrible things we should absolutely call attention to.

In the 70s, he got radicalised. His father showed hatred for what his son became, so we can easily assume he was not raised believing muggles were inferior (or at least not to the same degree as the Black Family, as the Crouches were still members of the Sacred 28). In my opinion, he could be used as a parallel to young men who go down the alt-right pipeline today. The narrative should criticise him— but I think a warning about radicalisation could be a fantastic theme in fics about him. And there can be a level of sympathy there, too— he was a child. He could have been good, and he didn't become that.

On the other end, we have Regulus. Being completely honest here, I may be slightly biased on his character. There are ways I will admit to relating to his life before I was able to go on the internet and find differing beliefs for myself. All the same, I'm going to try to keep this fair.

Regulus was also a bad person. He supported Voldemort. I don't care whether you like to think he directly hurt people or couldn't stomach doing so himself, he caused harm. Being a bystander (and that is the best possible descriptor you can give him with what we know) is not an action free of harm.

That being said, getting rid of beliefs your parents instilled in you is difficult when that's all you hear. Sirius was only a year older than him and figuring all this out for himself, I doubt he even knew how to conceptualise it for someone else in an effective way. (This is not me hating on Sirius btw, I love him. I'm just being realistic. My own brother followed a vaguely similar path, and he's one of the people I care about most in the world)

Regulus, at the same time he was a terrible person, was eighteen at most when he died. He did have room to become a better person had he lived. We don't know what he was thinking about when he was planning to go to the cave, we don't know if he started to question his beliefs or not. There's ways to write him, after finding the horcrux, as a more sympathetic character (albeit one in desperate need of a character arc).

I don't know. Hopefully this isn't just a bunch of rambles. I just think there's no way to write any of these people— when they're in school— as one-dimensional villains or undeserving of a chance to become a good person. This includes Snape, and Petunia, and any other kid in this era. We have the chance to explore what makes someone hate and what makes someone change for the better. Condemnation of babygirlifying characters is completely fair, at the same time that growth isn't altogether impossible.

But. Words. I'm not great, so tldr: we should absolutely criticise the way this fandom interacts with the Death Eaters, but I personally don't agree with calling children with the potential to change automatic monsters. There are ways to write about them that doesn't make light of what they've done while still retaining some sense that they're human.

ᯓ★

#marauders confession #marauders fandom

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intheorangebedroom · 1 year ago

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Well….

THIS:

Cassian Andor x rebellion pilot!reader x Din Djarin

Is absolutely screaming at me 😵‍💫🖤🥵

Just the thought makes me

💜

Ahahahhaha!!

Thank you so much for this ask, Kyla 🧡🥰🧡 This one is so old. Before I even knew there was fanfiction on tumblr! I spent weeks, no, MONTHS, daydreaming about it, right after I saw season 1 of The Mandalorian. I'm gonna try ot give you the short version because it goes very deep 😅

So you are a teen when the Empire destroys your home planet and kills your family. Classic. You're left with nothing to lose, no one to love. After you escape, you get radicalised and join Saw Gerrera and his crew. With them, you train very hard to become a ruthless killing machine. You can use any weapon, blaster, vibroblade, rifle, your fists, you basically turn your own body into a weapon (can you tell I want to be Black Widow when I grow up?).

However, as you grow older, you don't always see eye to eye with Saw's modus operandi, and when you meet this young rebel intelligence captain (this was long before the Andor series), you decide to follow him.

The connection between you is immediate (yeah ok, I know I have a brand...). You work together, and there's nothing you can't do, no intel you can't retrieve, no mission you can't achieve successfully. You think and work and move as one, two peas in a pod, it's uncanny the way you can communicate without words, and that's what makes you so good at your job.

At night, at the base, you share one bunk bed, and there too your connection is otherwordly. It's not even sex, it's a communion.

It's weird to think of yourself as happy, given the war and the circumstances, but you are fulfilled. You have a purpose, and someone you'd die for.

Until you get word of this super weapon the Empire is building... So here it merges with the Rogue One plot, but without Jyn (I'm sorry Jyn, I love you, but there's no room for you in this pod). On Scarrif, at the very last moment, before the impact, Cassian manages to shove you into an escape pod despite his injuries, and you're propelled into space, drifting helplessly as you watch the love of your love being blown to atoms. You hurt so much you think you’ll die yourself. You want to die. When you reach base they have to sedate you. You miss the battle of Yavin and all.

Fast forward a little, you become a pilot for the Black Squadron, some kind of last chance unit that gets sent in when the situation is desperate. You’re the best because you're reckless, you've got a deathwish. You’re dead already, anyway.

When the war ends, the politics start and you’re gutted because half the Imps are pardoned and walk free. So you go rogue, hunting them down on your own. You’re now wanted down by your former comrades, people you’ve fought alongside with. You live in the shadows. But again you don’t care, you’re dead.

That’s how you end up on Nevarro, helping a certain Mandalorian escape with his little package (my babyyyy).

At first, Din doesn't trust you at all. Things are very rough between you. But he understands he needs you. And he's intrigued. He saw you fight. As for you, you stay because you won't let the Empire get what it wants.

So time passes by, on the run from the Empire and the New Republic. You cohabitate in silence, you fight alongside each other, you take care of the kid together. After a while, you become intrigued too. He’s righteous and competent and a reluctant hero and... broad. You look at him and caught him looking too (as much as you can tell with the helmet). However, you know about the Mandalorian way. And that shit's not for you.

So you strike a bargain. You two can fuck whenever the kid’s asleep, but you only take off as much clothing as he does. So it’s a dance, sort of, over many weeks, months, between you and him. You're tough, and he's tougher, but is he really? It's him wanting more and more of you, so taking off more and more of his armour so he can touch more and more of your skin (yeah I know, the armour-peeling metaphor is not very original 😂).

However, Cassian haunts your dreams. Or rather your nightmares. Even more so now that you’re slowly falling for another man, even if you don’t realise it yet. You wake up in sweats, crying out his name, and Din is fucking burning to know but he can’t bring himself to ask. He grows increasingly impatient and furious at your reckless ways, you take too much risks, it’s obvious you don’t care if you die and he just can’t take it anymore. He cares. And he wants you to care too. He’s giving you his trust, forgoing his way, and you’re not committing yourself. You remain on the edge. And his frustration and anger reach an all time high (*swoon*).

After one particularly violent fight-- wait, should I tell you how this ends??

Anyway, I can't believe myself, I said the short fucking version 🤦🏻‍♀️ The girl who couldn't be concise to save her life (or that of her friends). I'm sorry! Plus it's most likely not the mmf you expected, it's just fight and smut and angst, I'M SORRY!

Here, for your trouble:

(this gif makes me fucking sick)

#wip game #din djarin x you #cassian andor x you

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talenlee · 2 months ago

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Poke Moms

There are, according to the Pokemon wiki Bulbapedia, eleven characters in the Pokemon universe expressed across multiple games who all have the exact same name. If you include a regional variant of the name, you get that number up to twelve.

That name is ‘Mom.’

Or Mum, in Galar

The player character’s mother is usually, but not always, called ‘Mom’, by the game, and doesn’t offer you any kind of way to dig into her full name. This is perfectly reasonable as a way to handle a character in the game who the player will interact with momentarily, but also serves some utility in the space. Note that not all the player characters’ mothers are named Mom, since there’s Grace from X and Y, and Johanna, from Diamond and Pearl. And Platinum I suppose, thank you for the clarification Fox.

Where there’s a list, there’s a tiering.

Mom (Hey You, Pikachu!)

Now, you may make the mistake I made, but this isn’t Let’s Go, Pikachu‘s mom, this is the mom from the N64 social game, Hey You, Pikachu. That game was for showing off the N64’s microphone that let you speak directly to the Pikachu. Like, with your voice!

In a game where the primary point of the game was wandering around away from home, talking to your Pikachu it stands to reason that you weren’t going to bother developing your home-staying Mom-type a lot, and that’s why she’s down here at the bottom. Fundamentally she just says some stuff to set up the game and moves you on to the next stage of things. Still, she gets special credit for her extremely 1960s Space Girl hair.

Mom (Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!)

Now this is the Let’s Go Pikachu version. She’s the same basic character as Pokemon Red & Blue’s Mom, and has the same paucity of material. No distaste, no dislike, but because she’s just filling in space and that game was stripped down from the generations of game around it, she isn’t much of anything.

Mom (Hoenn)

While on the one hand, Hoenn Mom gives one of the most valuable things in the history of the game (running shoes), Hoenn Mom is also somewhat underdeveloped. Also, it says something about the kind of game that her husband, Norman, gets a name, and he’s not just Dad, but your Mom doesn’t get one. Real feminism L in the Hoenn region.

(And you can complain he gets that because he’s a Gym Leader, but surely your Mom’s job is Mom.)

Mom (Johto)

The mother of Ethan, Kris, and no, wait, I’ve been informed that it’s actually Lyra now. I have to assume that means Ethan transitioned or something. She’s the mother from Pokemon Gold, Silver, their heart-and-soul remakes, and Crystal. This mom is a perfectly nice lady, and one of the first examples of a Mom With A Life. If you won matches in these games, Mom might spend some time at the store using some of the money you sent home, and blow that money on cool things. She was also a convenience option – you could trust her with some of your money after each match, and she’d spend that on treats for you, but also that money she was holding, you couldn’t lose in Pokemon battles.

In the Pokemon Adventures manga, though, this Mom gets something else to do – she kinda runs a day-care centre in her house for Pokemon. This also gives her a different visual representation that has a slightly better version of this hair style.

Mom (Black 2 and White 2)

We’re ranking from the least-best to best-best, but that means that unfortunately, the Black 2 and White 2 mom has to be enter a competition where she’s standing alongside her much cuter Black and White alternative.

Still, she is a Mom with something super interesting to her, at least if you follow the manga in Pokemon Adventures; this Mom is a former Team Plasma Grunt! She even got a narrative explaining why she became a member of Team Plasma: She was radicalised from her time working in a PokeCentre, and seeing all the ways that Pokemon got hurt thanks to human intervention drove her to a project of mass divestment in human-Pokemon relationships.

Which.

That seems a bit of a jump.

What’s even wilder is she stepped back from that and just became a suburbanite mom.

Mom (Black and White)

While Mom in Black and White is not nearly as deeply explained, with a backstory, she didn’t join the war on pet neglect on the side of neglect, so I’m a little more inclined to like her.

Mom (Alola)

Formerly of Kanto, Mom (Alola Forme) is a character with a quiet tragedy to her. As a newcomer to the islands of Alola, she spends time integrating and trying to learn the culture. You get to see her partaking in things like celebrations and going to the store, and she is mindful of not just you, her child, but also the children in your orbit. Also, she never got to go on a Pokemon Adventure like you do, and she wants to.

Now I know this isn’t a lot, but it’s more than some of these ladies have! And she has her own special battle with her own special Meowth! That’s not no effort!

There’s an unfairness to all of this, of course. After all, all the most recent games have had more storage, more room for mechanical information and more people working on a wider product capable of more stuff and that means that any given Mom is going to have more opportunities to do more stuff, and therefore, the best Moms are going to be the ones from the later entries in the game franchise, right? Isn’t that being unfair and biasing the tier list towards the later-entry moms?

Mom (Kanto)

Anyway, let’s go back to the start.

In Red and Blue and Yellow, you get your first Mom. She was a utility point — she’d heal your Pokemon if you showed up in her town, because Pallet Town lacked a PokeCentre. Beyond that, she shooed you on to your first Pokemon encounter, meeting Professor Oak, and all that jazz.

On the one hand, she ranks very low; the character isn’t very important, she doesn’t do much and she isn’t very cute (though of course, they’re all perfectly cute). Left alone, she would be at the bottom of the list. But, this character is the model for Delia Ketchum, who exists thanks to being the third translation of this character, and is vital to the Hanamusa ship, about which I’ve already written.

Mom (Paldea)

In Scarlet and Violet we’re introduced to this Mom. She does things I think are really good – she leaves the house, she goes on little trips and she meets up with you. She even teaches you how to cook, and you may think, hey, hey, hang on, no she doesn’t, teaching you how to make sandwiches counts.

‘Oh Sandwiches aren’t cooking,’ listen to you. You fool. You buffoon. Is it sustenance? Is it your mother giving you instruction on how to safely navigate both feeding yourself and reproduction? Then it is cooking! She has taught you an invaluable lesson about how to make a sandwich and in the process, also frees you from the tyranny of the daycare system for breeding.

Mom here had a chance at the crown but the problem is, in the English translation, she’s a Galar expat, so a Mum, but she has assimilated into this other culture and is using the intolerable Americanism Mom.

Mum (Galar)

Finally, we have the best one because she’s a Mum, not a Moawom.

Conclusion

Now, you might look at this lineup and ask yourself: Hey, isn’t this just mostly you choosing which moms are the hottest or easiest to make jokes about?’ And I would respond to that with:

Are you a cop or something?

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#pokemon #Games #Media

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harrowharks-iliac-crest · 2 years ago

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As Yet Unsent

I’ve recovered from my initial relapse after gut alteration. My weight has levelled out. My captors’ procedures were conceptually primitive but sophisticated in execution. They have still failed to regrow my stomach or bowel, as they lack the basic techniques required to do so, but have outsourced their functions to apparatus outside my body for the interim.

As always, we start off the read with a healthy dose of Hey what the fuck????

The operation went ahead. Severe reflux required another landing in order to fix it. I was sedated for the majority of the time. Hect provided competent guidance. The ambient thanergy was thin. The corpse has still failed to rot. The princess says they are leaving it outside in significantly fluctuating temperatures, under observation, and it still fails to rot.

I have so many questions.

Why are they doing this to Judith??

And what corpse?

It's been a little while now since I finished Gideon the Ninth, so let me refer back to what the Emperor told Harrow in the epilogue -

“Who else beside me is alive, Lord?” “Ianthe Tridentarius,” said the Emperor, “minus one arm.” “The Sixth House cavalier was only injured when I left her,” said Harrowhark. “Where is she?” “We haven’t recovered any trace of her, or her body,” said the Emperor. “Nor that of Captain Deuteros of Trentham, nor of the Crown Princess of Ida.” “What?” “All the Houses will have questions tonight,” he said. “I can hardly blame them. I’m sorry, Harrow, we couldn’t recover your cavalier either.” Her brain listed sharply. “Gideon’s gone?” “Everyone else is accounted for,” he said.

Camilla, Judith and Coronabeth are alive, so if this is referring to any corpse taken from Canaan House, it's actually most likely to be Gideon Nav. What are they doing to my girl??? Studying how fast her body decays on an unfamiliar planet with "thin" thanergy??

Security anklet only, wired to a severe but not fatal electrical shock. Since my previous report they used it on her once, which hospitalised her for a week. Camilla Hect is in the process of being converted to their cause.

Oh yikes once more. Blood of Eden sure has some colourful torture/persuasion tactics. Camilla seemed pretty sold when they met Harrow, so this is presumably before then.

There is no way of softening this. Coronabeth Tridentarius has already been radicalised.

As I expected.

Are we going to get more info on what went down at Canaan House after Gideon died, but before Harrow and Ianthe were recovered by the Emperor?

To have Coronabeth Tridentarius near me in my suffering only hardened my heart. All the while she would tell me the things they had told her, as though she wanted me to argue her down. At first I tried. Then I realised she was just using me to sharpen her own reasoning.

Coronabeth, while being called stupid by Ianthe, is actually anything but. I mean, they're twins, so how could she be? Ianthe might be ahead of her, but that only means that comparing her to Corona is unfair. This girl is still cunning.

Hect maintains I am incorrect. Hect maintains that Coronabeth’s intervention kept us all alive, and that the princess deliberately put herself in harm’s way. What am I to believe? That the princess was and remains an innocent victim, or that the princess maintained the pose of innocence and has become a victim anyway? She sincerely believes that the Houses have done wrong, and worse, that they are being led incorrectly. The tips of her ears go pink when she is genuinely impassioned.

I mean, I feel like the Blood of Eden do have a point here, and it's not particularly hard to convince someone like Coronabeth of that. Judith is much more indoctrinated from the Houses' side, and Coronabeth is probably capable of holding the duality - sympathetic to the rebels' cause, and also trying her hardest to keep Judith and Camilla alive - the closest thing she has to friends in this situation.

The corpse is still as it ever was. I asked Hect if the scavengers had got at it. She said that animals refused to touch it even when encouraged.

Curious. Curious indeed. If this is really Gideon, then this is more points for her being, technically and biologically speaking, a fucking weirdo.

Could it be that Eden are using her body to keep tabs on Harrow?

I never experienced the physical vitiation that some necromancers suffer. The Second House’s signature thalergy transferral does not burn the necromancer’s tissue so viciously, especially in necromancers who enjoy more competency than genius. I could run a kilometre in ten minutes, which was among the fastest for my adept group in the junior reserves. Marta could run it in five.

A kilometre in ten minutes is still not particularly good. I can walk a kilometre in ten minutes. Judith isn't as frail as some necromancers, but still isn't particularly fit either.

Well, she was not that frail for a necromancer, before Eden decided, for some reason, to tear out and replace a large chunk of her digestive system. Which still begs the question of Hey what the fuck??

The princess sourced me paper, [...] The princess and Hect and I all agree we hate the texture.

An autistic mood. What's flimsy made out of, exactly? Non-organic materials of some sort?

She said, Do you have designs on Camilla? I said that romance was the furthest thing from my mind and should be the furthest thing from hers. I said that in such a febrile atmosphere it was for the best if we did not make any connections that Blood of Eden could exploit. The princess asked me if at any point blood had ever flowed in my veins or if it had always been graphite shavings. We had an argument.

A lot of arguments happening here between Coronabeth and Judith. Kinda yuri tbh. (Judith would hate me for saying so...)

I said it needed to be bathed in thanergy-enriched blood by at least three adepts and that the carvings needed to be kept clear of crusts or clots. I said one necromancer alone would not be able to use it as an anchor and that it needed to be energised on a thanergenic planet, so it would never be of any use to them. [...] Blood of Eden have a stele-capable ship. My only hope is that I am the only necromancer they have in their possession. I keep telling myself this has to be the case.

So a stele is a necromancy-powered engine of sorts, but it needs several necromancers to work (at least this one does). Interesting.

I think Judith is probably right that she's the only necromancer they have. If they were successful in keeping necromancer prisoners, if they'd managed to convert any or torture them into being useful, they would know more about necromantic ability and aptitude.

I said to Hect, I hadn’t actually read them as closely as I’d made out to the lieutenant, in that initial conversation. I had to go back and reread all of them in a hurry. Hect said, That’s the first human thing you’ve ever told me about yourself.

Cute.

I told her that when I was seventeen I was overwhelmed by the cavalier relationship. I told her that I hadn’t expected it to feel that way. I told her, using efficient and unsentimental language, that the love Lieutenant Dyas showed me as my cavalier—in all the ways she had made us one flesh—turned my head completely. I told her how deeply I had fallen for Marta Dyas as a woman, to the point where one evening I tried to make things different between us. At this point I tried to find the words with Camilla, honourable words, and Camilla Hect said: You propositioned her? I said, Yes. She was the age I am now; I was seventeen. I’d been secretly reading material . . . I was convinced . . . I thought it was a natural development, or at least, one nobody had to know about.

Oh Judith, I know the feeling. Who doesn't love a capable strong woman?

I said I, who had had a healthy relationship with my cavalier, was obliged to help others who hadn’t had my privileges. She said if that was the way I had put it to Camilla then I was lucky to be alive.

Corona is probably right there, Judith.

I have an internal infection. My gut fused correctly to whatever grisly artificial thing they put inside me, but I’m dying. [...] They won’t let Camilla Hect in to see me, whether or not she would want to, on the belief that she might try to give me antibiotics. They are letting the princess in reluctantly. She says the Edenite commander We Suffer is of the opinion that I should live no matter what, but she is faced with the opposite opinion from literally every other Blood of Eden soldier.

Interesting. Eden aren't a cohesive unit as much as a bunch of squabbling soldiers, bickering over whether they should let their captive necromancer die.

I hope she doesn't.

She said, Did you know? Every birthday we got to have one person we’d invite and our mother and father would get to invite the rest, and Ianthe always invited whoever Babs didn’t want to see at the time, and I always invited you.

How perfectly Ianthe. Though Corona's reasoning are not far off, honestly:

She said, It was always me. I had so much fun seeing you. You were the only person who acted like they had to get through the party for duty’s sake, and everyone else was there acting like they’d rather die than be anywhere else. Even your cav pretended she was having fun . . . But there you were, wearing your uniform, freezing me out. Perfect Captain Deuteros. Perfectly boring Judith Deuteros.

This is so funny. "Everyone else was having a great time but you never even had a facial expression. I wanted to study you under the microscope like a weird bug. I loved that."

Jody, you can’t die on me. I’m so alone now. I said, It’s been a long time since you called me that. She said, You won’t die on me, Jody. I won’t allow it.

Oh, the loneliness and grief of Coronabeth Tridentarius are so palpable here. I ache for her. I really hope her and Ianthe can meet again someday.

Someone said, You absolute idiots, she’s very nearly dead. It was not one of the voices of the other Blood of Edenites. It was new, and spoke perfectly accented House, pitched high. It was this voice that said, Who gets a toy they have been desperate for, then breaks it immediately? [...] Why are you people always such a curious mix of the competent and the completely deranged?! It never changes, and it never has changed!! I think they just clone you all out of the same vat!! Out of my way, you wretched, cack-handed children, and let me fix it.

No clues yet to who this is, except it kinda sounds like Mercymorn. Am I just hoping beyond hope?

I have been under the knife and lived through multiple necromantic processes, some of them internal. Nothing had ever been like what was done to me. My body was convulsed with paraesthesia. The voice said, Much nicer, much neater. This is how to do it.

No, that still sounds like Mercymorn.

Then the voice said, Now show me this wretched body. I don’t believe this story for a second. What you’ve done is accidentally kept it airtight . . .

PLEASE tell me more about the body.

And yeah, I'm positive now that this was Mercymorn, on a secret undercover colluding with the Blood of Eden mission, probably before picking up Harrowhark and the Emperor.

I wonder if they will stop the experiments now. The corpse of the Ninth House cavalier is as pristine as when Camilla Hect convinced them to take it on board. She never explained herself fully to me. Some business about a note.

It IS Gideon!! And there IS something fucky going on with her body. PLEASE keep telling me more, this is fascinating.

A note -?

Camilla convinced them to take her???

So she's presumably not being used to track Harrow somehow. Why would Camilla want to -

And why isn't she decomposing? I would LOVE to hear what Mercymorn had to say about that.

It is not a confession of temptation. I wasn’t tempted by Coronabeth’s offer. There was never any possibility of it. I committed the understandable crime of desire for Lieutenant Marta Dyas, having joined my hand to hers with the best and most pure of intentions. Why would I ever knowingly take Coronabeth Tridentarius’s, having desired her already for twelve long, stupid, fruitless years? And I said, Thank you for the offer, Your Highness, but not in this life or in any other.

Whoa, dropping that gay in there almost unexpectedly, right at the end.

Wow this was one hell of a ride!!! We learned a lot, and yet still sooooo many questions remain.

I think at some point between now and re-starting Gideon the Ninth, I will have to compile a little post on all the thoughts and updated theories I've had in my absence. I've been very distracted with other things, but still this story has been bouncing around in my brain and generating more interesting thoughts that I wanna share.

I guess I only have to decide whether to do that before, or after reading Doctor Sex!

#tlt liveblog #the locked tomb liveblog #tlt spoilers #the locked tomb #tlt #gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #as yet unsent #harrow the ninth spoilers

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ninjasmudge · 2 years ago

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u forget the word for a group of monkeys for one second and suddenly its personal

#he did nt know whether to call them a troop or an army or family or what #anyway ive seen at least 3 popular bear comics abt this #heres him kitty instead #lego monkie kid #monkey king #lmk #azure lion #lmk azure lion #lmk sun wukong #sun wukong #not ship he just came down from heaven and would like some pointers on leadership so he can work out whats wrong in heaven #then he got radicalised while down here #mk art #mk #my art #monkie kid

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thebindingofpillo · 2 years ago

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Isaac

The man. The myth. The legend himself, Isaac Moriah! His backstory will be pretty short since it’s basically already explained in the game, but there’s a couple little differences that might make it more interesting.

Isaac comes from a deeply problematic family. While his mother wasn’t homicidal, she was prone to rage outbursts and wasn’t above threatening violence to get her way, and his father wasn’t much better, always managing to escalate every and all conflict. They met for the first time at an AA meeting, while Isaac’s mom was waiting for her brother (Uncle Bob lmao). The two actually clicked and started dating even if they were pretty different people: Mom (I’m just gonna call her Mom to not get her confused with Maggy) was the golden child of a fairly religious family, while Abe was a handy man who went to church every Sunday but not much else. While Mom’s family wasn’t against their relationship, they weren’t exactly pleased either but were willing to let it slide since their daughter seemed happy enough. Anyway, once Mom got pregnant, Abe swore to become the best father he could ever be, and was a good six months sober when they finally got married. Isaac was born soon after and the family actually managed to live happily enough for a few years.

Things get waaaay worse under the cut!

Mom’s family, not pleased with her shotgun wedding, disowned her and cut all contacts with them, which took a tremendous toll on Mom’s psyche, as she was very cose to her family. This caused her to start resenting her son in a way (in her mind, Isaac was the reason her life fell apart) ad there was nothing Abe could do to help her. Their fighting got worse and worse and in the end, Isaac’s did left the family for good, which made everything even worse! But enough about them! This is all about Isaac, his parents will get their own post. Maybe. Eventually. Most definitely, because I love to suffer.

Anyway, Isaac’s home life was never incredible, but with his father spiralling into alcoholism again and his mother being radicalised by televangelists, suffice to say it was a real shit life. I’m not gonna go into details about his abuse, because it makes me kinda uncomfortable and it almost feels voyeuristic in a way, but it wasn’t pretty. Still, Isaac managed to scrape a few moments of happiness here and there, both with his mom and his dad. One of his dearest memories is of Abe’s bedtime stories, and the time they created the character of Bum-bo together, as well as the countless monsters and funny creatures they crafted out of the cardboard Mom provided them. Or when she let him play dress-up with her makeup and clothes. A crumb of good times amidst all the terrible ones. Eventually it got even worse. Once Abe left the family things very quickly spiralled out of control, with Mom getting more and more unstable and Isaac now taking the brunt of her rage. On a particularly bad day, Isaac locked himself in the toy chest to escape her (just a minor incident involving lunch probably, but Isaac saw the bread knife in her hand and thought the worst) and that’s where his fate diverges from the game.

But just as he accepted his fate, God intervened, sending an angel down from above to stop his mother's hand and, just like that, it was over. Eden burst into the door, quickly opened the chest and held Isaac firmly in their arms as he slowly came back to his senses. They were on the lookout for a new iteration of their friends, and managed to save Isaac just in time. The neighbours promptly called CPS and since both Mom and Abe were not suited to take care of a child, Isaac was put into a foster home that later adopted him. This is also where Maggy comes in! Isaac’s foster parents were her biological ones, so the kids grew up together as siblings. Isaac at first didn’t take very well to his new family, but they had both enough time and financial resources to get him everything he needed (mostly lots of therapy) and with time, he managed to get accustomed to them. Twenty years later, he has no problem calling them “mom” and “dad” and considers Magdalene his full sister. Isaac’s biological parents apparently fell off the face of Earth, and while he’s never expressed the desire to see them, he still thinks about his dad from time to time. While he understands the man probably wasn’t the hero he put on a pedestal when he was a kid, a little part of him still thought of Abe as a good man. What Isaac doesn’t know, is that his adoptive parents went to great lengths to make sure Abe could never reach out to his son, and even got a restraining order against him after the man tried to break into their house, completely drunk, and demanding to see him (Isaac was at school at the time, and doe not know about the incident). Eden also kept a closer eye on Isaac, even as they were busy finding the others.

After this, Isaac’s life became reassuringly mundane. After a couple of years, the family moved (due to Isaac’s therapy being pretty far from home) and in a new school, Isaac and Maggy met Judas, who quickly became their best friend. After middle school came highschool, then college (Isaac majored in art) then work as an illustrator for an indie magazine, then he managed to publish a book (with the help of his sister) and now he’s currently working on some commissioned projects while also trying to balance art contests and other independent gigs. Eventually Maggy left to go live with Judas, and Isaac stayed behind. He still lives with his parents, which is not that bad because they’re lovely people. He still attends group therapy once a month, and has a lot of friends (one of which is Job!!!!! Woooohoooo!!!! A dear friend of his, made by my buddy @bootleg-sara), most of whom he met in college or while working as a freelance artist. Eve is also one of them! They met in art school.

His personality Isaac is the definition of a good boy. He is an incredibly caring man, and very sensitive too. This doesn’t mean he’s easy to push around tho. While sweet, he’s also very passionate, determined, and will fight tooth and nail for what he believes in, be it his friends or his art. He might be slow to anger, but that doesn’t mean he’s never had a fight. Despite what he went through, he still has a bit of childlike cheekiness in him, and while a bit shy, he’s very quick to warm up to new people. Magdalene helped him a lot during his formative years, by being his anchor and his first best friend, and definitely helped him get out of his shell.

Now, traumatising events can cause the resurgence of those special memories, and taking into account the sheer amount of trauma Isaac went through during his childhood, it’s not surprising that he remembers everything. Even his past lives after the biblical events, something that no one in the rest of the cast managed to achieve (aside from Lazarus, due to his countless near-death experiences). While Isaac managed to get this under control through therapy and meditation, he still gets some wild dreams sometimes. Due to this, he’s practically unfazed by anything supernatural by now. He already knew Eden was an angel, he actually remembered Azazel from a couple of past lives, and didn’t bat an eye when he met Apollyon for the first time. Sure, angels and demons can be freaky sometimes (he even knows about Judas’ deal with Belial, which sucks because he’s incapable of stopping him) but he is OVER their shit. As long as they’re not a direct threat to him or anyone he loves, they can stay, or else they get the gun. When it comes to magic, Isaac is the living embodiment of the “call an ambulance… but not for me!” GIF.

Stuff

Suffers from claustrophobia.

Does not drink. At all. Can barely stand the smell of alcohol, and definitely doesn’t want to taste it. His friends are cool with it, of course, and he’s usually the designated driver every time they go out.

Despite having worked through most of his trauma, he still can’t bring himself to call Magdalene “Maggy”, as that was his mother’s nickname. He usually just calls her Mag/Mags. At first he couldn’t even stand other people saying that name, but with time he at least managed to overcome that barrier

Loves comics! Even started his own collection

Still loves cats. Currently has two of them, Pickle and Funkytown.

Is still somewhat religious, but mostly just because he knows God exists. You won’t see him in church every Sunday.

Met Azazel while he was in college (the demon was working as a delivery boy) and managed to be his wingman when he wanted to get closer to Judas and Maggy.

On the same note, him and Eden actually became friends throughout his life. They started hanging out around highschool, and while Eden is a bit volatile they still keep contact.

After being adopted, Isaac also changed his last name, so now he’s called Isaac Mitchell. This will probably not be relevant to the story but I felt like saying it

Prefers neutral colours and has a very basic wardrobe. While friendly and eager to meet new people, he’s more than okay with just blending into the background and observe the action

Both he and Maggy have an interest in sewing. While he’s not good enough to make his own clothes, Isaac uses his skills to fit his new dresses to him.

#reincarnation au (working title)#tboi reincarnation #tboi isaac #binding of isaac #tboi #the binding of isaac #tboi fanart #character sheet #pillart #FINALLY this is out #unedited and unbeta'd like usual

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cescalr · 2 years ago

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For the WIP ask meme, "Percy Rebels And Shit AU; last year, nodus tollens, outline (2022)"

Ok, so;

Percy Rebels And Shit AU is a collab fic series idea between me and @vivithefolle, set in a No Boy Who Lived AU of Harry Potter, where Harry himself was never born. It's in it's early stages, mostly of planning and brainstorming. But as you can tell by the title, it focuses less on Harry, you know, not existing, and more on the ramifications of Ginny's first year at Hogwarts without him.

As in, nobody with parsletongue hanging around to open the chamber.

We open at the close; the start of the fic is set post this alternate year two, wherein Ginny succumbs, Neville and Ron are memory botched by Lockheart, and Dumbledore is scrambling with his allies to combat the fact there are now two whole voldemorts wandering around.

Our focal character is Percy Weasley, because the main actual premise of this fic outside the like, setting exposition, is that Percy gets disillusioned with the Wizarding World status quo and ends up radicalised by a group of disestablishment-minded individuals - an awkward collection of people from all sides of ww political spectrums only weakly held together by the singular goal of removing the acting government. Some of them are total anarchists, some of them are blood purists, some of them are ww liberal, some of them are statute abolitionists, etc etc.

In a sense, PRAU is a combination of standard HP AU trope ideas (no/wrong boy who lived, voldemort returns early, rebellion against the corrupt ministry, etc) and sort of... twists them 180 to the left. Squints at 'em and interrogates them. Looks at them and says, okay, but what would that actually entail?

But it's not cynical.

The problem i have with most of these AUs is not how edgy they get, though that's kind of the point - a darker take - it's how little faith they have in our protagonists. The Weasley family always gets the short end of the stick, and I don't think that's fair. Me and viv are especially sour on the treatment of Ron, as prominent and loud members of his Defense Squad, lol. The collab part comes in that i'm godawful at writing the kind of... well, almost slice-of-life-esque stuff needed for the non-percy side of things; Viv is the primary writer for Ron's side of the story, while I'm doing Percy. Ron's side of the story is more about the hope, the humanity - sure, Harry might not be here, but he's not the be-all end-all. He's just one guy. There's a whole society of people who wouldn't put up with Voldemort's shit knocking around to lob his head of, you know? Vive la révolution, and all. Just 'cause Harry never existed doesn't mean all hope is lost. Just because Percy starts down a bad path doesn't mean he has to end that way. Just because Lockheart fucked over Ron and Neville doesn't mean they're useless now they've got memory problems - they're people. And where there's people, there's always hope. I don't know. I just don't like how.... pessimistic a lot of WBL/NBL AUs are. It seems antithetical to the point of the whole thing.

obviously the entire outline is unshareable for spoiler reasons, but as for 'last year' and 'nodus tollens';

last year - currently the only actually written part. It contains what will probably end up being the summary on ao3, if/when we get this finished enough to post it;

'Last year, Voldemort returned, in the form of Percy's defence professor. This year, Voldemort returned, in the form of his little sister. And yet, the Ministry does nothing.' When family members die, it can start you down a path there’s no returning from. Percy Weasley knows this better than most.

As for Nodus Tollens....

Nodus Tollens: “The feeling that the plot of your life doesn’t make sense any more.”

In your life, there are many choices you can make. These choices range from what you’ll eat for breakfast that morning, whether you’ll wear black or teal-tinged black or maybe even silver-tinged black that day, whether you’ll re-read your favourite book or find a new one in the library, whether you’ll talk with Mother or go on a mission or, as it stands right now, whether you will live, or whether you will die. Regulus has this choice, and he must make it.

>;).

(As you can probably tell, there's A Lot going on here - and a lot that will have to go into it before it's anywhere near ready to share. This'll be a slow one, and likely won't show up properly for a while yet.)

thank u very much for the ask!

#ask game #tag game #thanks so much!!!!#<3

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tinnictheguardian · 3 years ago

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Dimitri’s Brain & the power of friendship

I read some comments about how some people, while playing Azure Gleam, expected Dimitri to spiral as the story progressed. That we would have front row seat to Dimitri’s decent into madness. I.e. we’ll see how the Protector, as he’s titled in FEH, becomes the Savage Boar.

However, instead, what we got was front row seat to show how to stop people from spiralling down a dark hole. Because Dimitri still suffers from PTSD induced psychosis, still has survivor guilt and still loathes himself to the point that he found it cathartic to kill his doppelganger in the darkness of Zaharas. The difference is that the Warrior King had the constant support of his friends.

I think there is lesson to be learnt here because Dimitri getting the loving support is the real power friendship. Also, I feel that it is something we can do for our friends, family and loved ones in RL where an increase number of people are in danger of radicalisation.

Dimitri became the Savage Boar because he had no one else to listen to except the echo chamber created by the voices in his head. When he had counters, he could stop himself from falling into the dark hole of savagery. I am glad that’s the direction Koei decided to go. Instead of forcing a plotline where he artificially isolates himself and embraces the darkness!

An aside, I feel that Byleth is getting a short end of the stick as people make their way through Three Hopes since some people are commenting that Shez is better at preventing problems. While Byleth fixed problems. But the Byleth had to fix because she disappeared for five years.

Had she not tried to save Rhea in AM, she would have been in a position rally the Knights of Serios and most likely follow Dimitri back to Faerghus and similar to CF, I think he would have been crowned king and start to fight back immediately but with Byleth by his side. Similar to CF and AG, Dimitri would never have slid into darkness and I am guessing the war would be over pretty quickly.

Especially since I think a Claude who spent a year at the Academy would have pretty much joined forces with Byleth and Dimitri from the start! But its a ‘what if’ and we’ll never know the truth. Because while I am half expecting a DLC for Three Hopes, I don’t think Houses is getting anything more.

#dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #byleth eisner #fire emblem #fire emblem: three hopes

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horrorhysteria · 3 years ago

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Scream 2022

Spoiler Free: No

Listening to: Dewey's Theme

Let's preface this by saying I absolutely LOVED this movie - It's easily my favourite behind the original.

But, saying that I do have my issues with it.

- The reveal of the killers was my biggest gripe (as it seems everyone else's.

- Skeet's appearance was just absolutely hilarious and I wonder if they included that as pure fan service because they knew what they were doing to Dewey.

In my personal opinion, I think they should have scrapped Amber as the killer all together. I really didn't like her character so really didn't care when the reveal of her being one of the killers (albeit shocking, poor Liv).

I think that going down the route of Richie being Stu's nephew would have worked in everyone's favour, this way we could've had the Stu comeback we all want and a good motive.

Here's how I would have liked to have seen it play out:

Richie is Stu's nephew, who (Stu) has recently escaped from prison ala Michael Myers and attacks Tara, who previously been on social media, where a trending topic was something along the lines of "Escaped killer at large."

Which further could've been a social commentary of how now as a society we have become desensitised to news etc.

The rest of the movie plays out exactly the same with added background news of the escaped killer, which is why Judy rushes back when she gets the call because she knows it's the same killer.

This would make Dewey's death more logical also as Matt Lillard is literally a giant and could easily overpower him and according to wiki Stu was 18 in the first movie making him 43 now

Then at our party scene, this plays out the same minus Richie revealing himself as the killer and 'Killing' Mindy (she survives like Chad)

Then our kitchen scene is the same, Richie having the girls under control.

Ghostface reveals himself as Stu, albeit an older, mangled Stu.

(I would've quite liked Stu to kill Sam and for Mindy to be the new Sidney but I digress)

Stu's motive was Billy, he and Billy were 'friends' and over the years in prison, his hatred towards Sid has grown and killing Dewey was his way of getting her back/getting back at her.

He's got some very white superiority views going on after being in prison for 25 years, which he has passed on to his nephew, Richie, who has almost been radicalised by his uncle to kill.

Obviously, they both get absolutely fucked at the end by Sid and Gale.

Our Survivors are; Sid, Gale, Tara, Mindy and Chad.

The last scene is a reddit board (Think the end of the movie Spree where all the internet bro's are worshipping Stu and Richie) while Red Right Hand plays over an ominous post about 'carrying on the ghostface killings'

Stu kills; Tara (Injured), Vince, Judy, Wes and Dewey

Richie kills; Liv, Amber and Sam

- Jess

#Scream 2022 #scream 5 #Wes Hicks #Billy Loomis #sam carpenter #tara carpenter #dewey riley #sidney prescott #gale weathers #mindy meeks martin #chad meeks martin #stu macher

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saturnsummer · 4 years ago

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i don't mind forever.

AU: When Sol is handed a case, she doesn't realise how big the case gets. Luckily for her, her best friend is here. (AU of lawyers at Hankuk Law Firm.)

notes: all credits go to @thenerdywriter !! she gave me this prompt just days after i joined tumblr, and i’ve been working on and off on it ever since. my first au series, so please go easy on me! i know i’m practically killing myself for doing two series at once, but i’ll deal with it later. as always, big love to everyone! any grammar mistakes and all will be taken fully responsible by me!

ao3 link

words: 4035 words

one.

Sol scrunches her hair in frustration. She twists her long, wavy light brown hair in a bun, fixing it with a jab of her white, long chopstick hairpin. She adjusts her bangs for good measure and resumes with her report. She reaches over to her coffee mug, only to find it empty. Great, it’s the third coffee she had today, and it wasn’t even lunch. Hearing her colleagues nagging on drinking too much coffee in her head, she stands from her desk and pushes the glass door of her office to the staff pantry. Her heels click against the marble floors as she strides across, filling her cup with iced water before retreating back.

It would have been a normal day at the Hankuk Law firm, but it wasn’t when she had such a pressing case.

It's been weeks. A client of hers has pressed charges against Lee Man Ho, claiming that he scammed her life savings. Lee Manho was a convict that was charged for raping multiple women and on several occasions, sexual harassment. He had been on good behaviour after his release for a couple of years, with no complaints and no news. Only now did his name resurface. He was snarky in his speech, manipulative and quick with his tongue, but most of all had a sinister smile that sent shivers.

Sol, being Sol, couldn’t say no to the poor woman. How could she? She experienced her fair share of poverty from growing up in a single-parent family that made enough to get by. She sympathised with her feelings, knowing just how stressed this poor mother must be when she can no longer afford to pay rent for her home, even less so the necessities for her toddler kids. Because, too many times, Sol was found broke and skipping meals so she could have her younger sister, Byeol, be fed instead.

With the help of the local police, she found more victims to be scammed, all similar in their scenario. Manho would call under the alias of a financial aid consultant, sometimes an insurance agent or bank teller. Then, he would extract their bank numbers from them, effectively draining their money away. By the time they victims tried to call back, the number would be out of order, or picked up by another voice, evident that he used another number to cover up his.

None of his victims had anything in common. Some were rich, some were poor. Some were female, some were male. And Manho had long disappeared in the wind the moment he got out of jail. He was said to be sighted once and when the police placed eyes on him, they lost him that same day.

His digital footprint was an utter headache as well. The police had other things to matter, and figuring out his digital footprint was the least of their concerns when they had important murders and urgent matters to solve.

But two could play this game.

Seungjae was a good friend of Sol’s. They were close acquaintances in school and kept in close contact. He, unlike Sol, was a whiz with computer codes and had his fair share of hacking experience. She remembers how he would hack into the system during school events and broadcast short music videos on the school televisions during breaks. Despite their age gap, he was always courteous, nice and kind hearted in helping others.

Seungjae eventually found a job with the police force, using his skills to legally hack criminal networks and dark nets. He was essentially part of a task force that identified suspicious activities like mass radicalisation, fake news and essentially tracking down internet hackers. It was a no-brainer that Sol would approach him, even though she knew that he could only legally hack under his work orders, not for personal favours.

Well it’s best she at least try.

She called Seungjae, who was fortunately free, and agreed to meet at a cafe. The sun was out, warming them from the autumn breeze that chilled them. Sol grabbed her coat and placed a post-it on her door, informing her colleagues of her business. Sol, while dressed in a warm coat, was undoubtedly freezing from the breeze. If only she could go back to law school, where she wore jeans and sweatshirts all day. Instead, she had a light blue long sleeved blouse, a knee length pencil skirt and a midnight blue blazer, and her only coat she had weakly shielding her from the cold.

“Sol A, what gives me the feeling that you aren’t calling for the purpose of catching up, but for a favour?” Seungjae asks as soon as his ice coffee arrives. Sol is amused at his habit, that he still calls her Sol A to differentiate her from Sol B, her colleague just working next door to her. But in response, she gives a small frown.

“Oppa, please? You have to help me with this. This case is driving me nuts!” She says in frustration as she stirs her ice tea. “Look, he’s off the grid, like properly off. I can’t even track his number or his email accounts. When the police placed plainclothes on him, he was like a ninja and they lost him within the first hour.”

Seungjae’s frown deepens. He knows of people who are good on the internet, but for an ex-convict to be running this alone? Furthermore, a convict who had no criminal record of scamming, conning and IT based crimes? There was definitely more to this.

“Sol A, do you think that he’s working alone?” Seungjae asks, stopping Sol in her speech. She tilts her head, the way she does normally when she puts the puzzle pieces in order. From her bag, she takes out a notebook and scribbles down the facts, then pushes it to the centre of the table.

“Okay, so we know that Lee Manho was convicted of rape and sexual harassment long time ago. Now, he’s running scams, and has no known background of coding or conning people, yet somehow the money appears in his bank account and it disappears the next moment.” Sol states as she circles her notes with a pencil and Seungjae nods.

“I think… I think you’re right, oppa. He’s definitely not working alone. And he could just be the middleman bringing the cash from one place to another.” Sol breaths out, realising how big the case has gotten. She’s not just going after Lee Manho, but she’s going after an entire team.

“You said that you can’t track his whereabouts, people he communicates with and where the money is going to?” SeungJae asks. Sol nods.

“Looks like someone is covering up the transfers and his tracks.” Seungjae concludes. Seungjae furrows his eyebrows. Sol recognises his thinking face and tries to plea once more.

“Please, oppa? You helped me check out and verify Yeseul’s boyfriend, which saved her life! Please, oppa…” Sol pleads with him. Seungjae knew how much Sol was going to dedicate to this, and besides, he was legally going to hack. He was fighting for those who couldn’t fight. What difference would it make? It felt wrong to ignore such a desperate plea.

“Fine. But you have to let me use a laptop that isn’t mine. I can’t have my superiors know I’m hacking into a case that wasn’t submitted to me again. God, Yeseul’s ex-boyfriend case got me a bloody earful from the captain.” He finally agrees, getting up from his seat and grabbing his coat. Sol lets out a relieved sigh and picks her coat too.

“Thank you, thank you!”

“Save it for later, when I’m done hacking. Let’s head back to your office for now.” He says and walks to the door. At that moment, Sol’s phone rings, and she picks up, knowing who will call at this time of the day. If it’s lunch, it has to either be Yeseul or Joon Hwi.

“Are you joining us for lunch, sunbae?” Sol takes a moment to close her eyes in frustration. This man is going to drive her insane.

“Yeah. Are you all ordering?”

“That’s right. Extra pickles?”

“Always. Add one more jjampong and kkampungi, too.” The receiving end goes silent.

“Who’s joining?” Sol gives a knowing smile as she unlocks her car.

“An old friend of ours.”

-----

“Wah, it’s been a long time since Seungjae-hyung could eat with us!” BokGi says, as he passes out the chopsticks and Yebeom unpacks the meals. Seungjae only gives a small smile while helping out with the food.

Despite the cold weather, the odd group of friends found pleasure in eating outdoors as opposed to their office pantry. It was too noisy some days, too quiet on some, and knowing how chaotic the group can get during lunch, it only made sense to have their meals downstairs at some benches. Besides, they could use a break from being stuck in their offices all day and look at trees changing their colours to shades of red, oranges and brown.

“Thank your noona here, for convincing me to come.” He says as he nods his head over to Sol, who is busy unpacking her pickles and noodles. Joon Hwi gives a smile as he stares at the delight on her face when she sees those yellow pickles on a plastic saucer.

“Hyung, what are you here for?” Joon Hwi asks, as he unpacks his noodles.

“This lady here has enlisted my help once again for a case she is working on. But it has to be off the books. Thus, my presence here instead of my cubicle back at my headquarters.” Sol chokes and she quickly takes a sip of her tea.

“Oppa, why do you make me sound so law breaking…” Sol grumbles. Yeseul, sitting next to her only gives a small smile and squeezes her hand.

“Seungjae-oppa did help me bring Yeongchang to jail. So I would consider his work, whether under his boss orders or not, to be lawful.” Yeseul quips quietly. The table grows silent for a moment, knowing how this topic took a mental toll out of them, but Yeseul was hit the hardest.

When Yeseul first started dating Yeongchang, everyone didn’t mind it. Only when Sol witnessed how Yeseul would be frightened to pick up his call and spotting bruises on her arms did she get Seungjae to dig into his personal life. Lo and behold, not only was he abusive, he was seeing two other women and they were treated badly, if not, worse.

Yeseul’s heart broke, this being her first love and the man she envisioned marrying. But with her friends' support, she took it upon herself to press charges on him, for the women he tortured and for herself. Representing herself and the women that he had failed to protect and taken advantage of, it wasn’t easy for her, having been so blind in love and still harbouring feelings.

The group stood by and silently supported. They accompanied her trials, no matter how busy they were. Sol remembers Jiho running from one courtroom to another on one occasion when he had to immediately attend a court hearing for a client he was defending. Sol had Yeseul stay over at her apartment during the entire situation, while Yeseul searched for an apartment nearby after moving out of his house. Even Sol B, who was usually cold, bought her meals and stayed to eat when the girls spent late nights in silence and drinking.

Finally, the judge ruled that Yeongchang was to be charged in jail. For the sexual, mental and physical abuse of these women, including Yeseul. It has been months since then and time can only tell how much she has healed. The rest can only give their silent support and be there for her.

“I didn’t mean to make the mood bad. Come, let’s eat. Also, what is the case about, unnie?” Yeseul quickly breaks into a smile, an attempt to let everyone know she’s okay. Sol gives a brief description of her case to everyone while she slurps her noodles and pickles.

“This is going to be difficult. If you guys are right, you might be dealing with something bigger than just Lee Manho.” Sol B states and Sol gives a nodded reply.

“Please don’t tell Superior Kim or Superior Yang about this. I really need to break this case and Seungjae-oppa is my only way to.” Sol informs her group. They give half hearted murmurs, not wanting to be meddled into Sol’s affairs. Well, all but one.

“Yah, why didn’t you come find me? I have my own contacts in the police as well.” Joon Hwi asks, a slight frown on his face. From anyone else looking, it would have been easy to miss. But for Sol, she knew that he was upset, interpreting his complaints as “Why didn’t you come and tell me about this first?”

“Because, Mr. Second Round Judicial Exam Pass, you have been too busy! Do I really need to remind you to eat every damm moment? You drive me crazy some days!” Sol argues. They launch into a light hearted argument, as the rest of the lunch group watches with equal fervour as they eat their meals.

“Guys, stop arguing, my ears hurt.” Jiho said, his tone in slight annoyance as he dove straight into the kkampungi and tangsuyuk. Sol finally gave up fighting, earning a teasing smirk from Joon Hwi. They continued their noisy meal, chatting and catching up with Seungjae. Seungjae gives them some updates of his pregnant wife and some interesting cases.

After their meal, they separated their trash neatly. The sun now hides away in the clouds, leaving little warmth against the chilly breeze of autumn. Sol brushes her coat and rubs her hands and arms. If only she could afford a better one than this old coat she’s been using since her first year in university.

Joon Hwi notices her trying to warm up against the cold and takes his coat from the chair, layering it on her. He honestly didn’t feel cold, but he knows he has always been the stronger one to resist against the cold. For Sol, it must be freezing.

“Take mine.” He simply says, taking the packs of plastic from Sol. If Sol had a hint of blush, he pretended to not notice.

“Oh, thanks.” She said as she took wipes from her bag and wiped down the mess on the benches and tables. “But I don’t need it. We’re heading back to the office anyway.” She shrugs his coat off and drapes it over her arm, returning it to him. He pushes it to her, and leans in closer to her.

“Help me carry it, so I don’t have to, sunbae.” He teases with a smirk, sending Sol in a fit of frustrated squeaks, chasing him as best as she can in her heels. Sol knows Joon Hwi gets a thing out of his teasing, and sends him annoyed glares as she continues to clear the tables. Jiho manages to sigh and Sol B rolls her eyes as she dumps the trash in the bins.

The group grabs their bags as they head back into the office, where Sol checks Seungjae in as a visitor at the reception. The receptionist hands him a blue lanyard with a visitor pass as Sol leads him to the elevators. Jiho and Bokgi are off to meet clients, and Sol B is headed to court for a hearing. Yeseul stops at another floor to her office with Yebeom, who needs to pick up some reports from a colleague.

Joon Hwi follows Sol to her office with Seungjae, despite his office being upstairs. Sol grabs her personal laptop from her bag, which is separate from her desktop computer and passes it to Seungjae, who takes a seat opposite her and starts programming the computer to begin hacking.

“What, did you just let him use your personal laptop?” Joon Hwi asks in concern as he takes a seat on a spare chair.

“Let him do it. Don’t you have your reports to do?” Sol asks as she turns to her own reports before typing in her findings for the new Lee Manho case. Joon Hwi doesn’t reply, and Sol sends an annoyed glance. He’s not going to leave unless he knows all the information of this case.

“Okay, I got it.” Seungjae says after a series of clicks and turns the screen to show Sol what he has found. Sol leans into a chart of bank transfers.

"From what I can tell, it seems like the money enters his bank account and is transferred to an offshore account. I can't trace where the money goes from there anymore." Seungjae explains as he uses the cursor to show them. "I can't tell who owns the account either. If I could take a guess, it's probably the mastermind of this."

"Wait, look. Lee Manho is getting paid a constant amount every single time before a large sum comes in and leaves." Joon Hwi points. Sol grabs her printed papers as she matches the amounts that her clients have given here. They match exactly to the large sums, but have no relation to the constant amount that he gets every scam.

"He's getting paid to scam? Tch, God, I hate this crook." Sol says through gritted teeth. Joon Hwi sighs and observes the anger rising in Sol. He places a hand on top of her clenched fist for comfort and her fist stops clenching as she sighs in response.

"Sol A, I can't track his location with your laptop. It's not exactly ideal, since it can be tracked back." Seungjae says, eyes darting while continuously typing. Joon Hwi could sense the disappointment in Sol's face, but it can't be helped. It was too dangerous from her location and IP address.

"Oppa, thank you for helping. I owe you one." Sol says as Seungjae scrubs her laptop clean from hacking traces. Seungjae returns her laptop and stands up. "You should go back, oppa. You've been gone too long."

"I'll keep you updated." He says as Sol guides him out of the office. Once she shuts the door, she pulls the hairpin from her hair and crunches her hair in frustration. She has the information on where the money is going, but it's no use when she can't find out where he is. Joon Hwi takes a seat opposite her.

"Don't stress." He says softly, and Sol bites her lip in frustration.

"Don't stress? How can I not? The police aren't giving me any information on him, delaying his location tracking! I can't even find him! How am I supposed to get evidence to charge him, if he can't even appear to show up to court?" Sol angrily spills, her hands flailing. Joon Hwi sighs but grabs a hold of her wrist.

"Don't get swayed by your emotions." Joon Hwi firmly says, sparingly into Sol's anger-filled eyes. She pulls her wrist back, taking a deep breath before gathering her hair up again.

"Fine." She grumbles. "Get out of my office, Prosecutor Han. Don't you have work?" This earns a soft smile from Joon Hwi. As he heads to the door, he turns back before he leaves.

"Don't... Don't do anything stupid or impulsive, you hear me?"

Sol clicks her tongue and gives a half-hearted nod. She turns back to her report and updates her findings and tries to diffuse the thought of asking Seungjae to hack with her laptop to find Man Ho's location.

For Kang Sol A, such thoughts don't leave easily.

-----

"You sure?" Seungjae asks, seated in Sol's car. Sol takes a deep breath in and nods.

It was a few days after Seungjae visited the office. Sol called the police as much as she could, but they always left her on the line or just said "we're working on it." Thus, Sol told Seungjae to meet her at a park, before driving to a random alley and passing him her laptop.

"Yeah, I'll take my chances." She replied. Seungjae sighs and begins typing away.

"You know you're putting yourself at risk?" He asks, eyes never leaving the screen.

"I'll put myself at risk for the justice of my clients." She says firmly. A few minutes pass as Sol stares out of the car and watches the bright moon and the clouds floating by in misty swirls.

"Got it." Sol turns her attention to Seungjae. On the screen is a map and a blinking red dot of Manho’s location. Sol reads the map and puts her car back in drive before turning out of the alley.

"Woah, do you know where you are going?" Seungjae asks, grabbing onto the overhead handle for support and his hand securing the laptop.

"Seungjae-oppa, don't tell anyone about this, okay? Especially not Joon Hwi." Sol ignores his question as she speeds up the car, turning into a drop-off point of a train station.

"Sol A, you're-"

"Sorry, oppa. But I need to find him. I can't sit and wait for the police anymore. I promise you, I'll be safe." Sol says. Seungjae couldn't say no. He knows how stubborn Sol is, how when she decides on something, she will commit to it wholeheartedly.

"If he's armed, you could get yourself in danger." Seungjae exasperatedly sighs. It was too big a risk to see the junior he treats as a little sister put herself at risk.

"I'll be fine. Look, you're on my speed dial. You know that I can handle myself. There's a reason why I took years of self-defence classes." Sol tells him. Seungjae nods his head unwillingly.

"You better call me after you're done." He says as he opens the door and gets out of the car. "Please, please stay safe." Sol nods and gives a small smile.

"Thank you, oppa." Sol drives away immediately, leaving Seungjae to pinch his nose bridge in frustration and concern. Silently, as he boards the train, he prays for Sol's safety.

-----

Sol knows the area well. As she parks her car at a carpark, she checks to make sure Manho is still at the bar. The blinking dot stays stagnant at the bar, not moving ever since she dropped Seungjae off. Getting out, she tightens her coat around her and thanks herself for the long trousers she's wearing. At least she isn't wearing a skirt, if she needs to beat someone up.

Entering the bar, she naturally takes a slow walk around. But hidden by the corner of the bar tables sit a lone man, with a cap, dressed in black button up and holding a glass of golden whiskey. She knew that was her target.

Taking a seat next to him, she orders a glass of soda water from the bartender. Man Ho chuckles next to her as he sets his glass down. Turning his head, he faces Sol with sly eyes, lips curled at the corner.

"Prosecutor Kang, you're quick." She hears him say and a chill goes down her spine. She lets her eyes meet the cold stare of Manho.

"Oh, you think I don't know you? You're the one after me more than the police are for the past weeks." Man Ho sinisterly says, a sick grin on his face. Sol grits her teeth and takes a deep breath to soothe her anger.

"Why are you doing this? You think it's fun?Watching my clients suffer?" Sol says through her gritted teeth. He only scoffs.

"My, my. Don't want you getting agitated now, don't we? We just started." He says, sipping from his glass again.

"Answer my question." She says with force. Man Ho sips on his glass, swirling the golden brown liquid against the large square cubes of ice as he exhales.

As the words fall from his mouth, Sol grows as cold as the glass in her hand. Her hands slightly shake as she hitches her breath. When her shaky eyes turn to Manho’s, his eyes are sly with a mocking grin. No, he can’t know.

"You’re just as feisty as your sister, aren’t you?”

68 notes · View notes

angstsfordays · 4 years ago

Text

Beautiful Pain (6)

Chapter Six- Growing Pains

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Enhanced! Reader

Summary: Post-Blip, you started to feel lost when most of the Avengers team are gone. Coping with your loss, you still find hope in the connection with your remaining friends. However, it is not easy as everyone is trying to figure their lives after the Blip.

Having a long history with Bucky ever since you both saved each other from Hydra, you were still glad you had Bucky after all this time. However, as you try to give Bucky space to find himself after being pardoned for his past, you start to wonder if you should ever cross the line of friendship before it’s too late.

That thought might have to be put on hold though, when you, Sam and Bucky find yourselves having to deal with threats that continue to rise in a post-Blip world.

Chapter synopsis: Arriving in Latvia, you find your group closing into Karli’s group. You found yourself unexpectedly in upsetting exchanges with Bucky, making you take two steps back from the progress you two had since Madripoor.

Warnings: Angst as I like it! Bucky being a dense block of wood.

Word count: 4k

Notes: It’s insane the number of followers I have gained after starting this series. I am very humbled to know that you guys take interest in my work! Appreciate all the likes and reblogs! 🙏🏼

Hope y’all would enjoy this chapter! Things cannot be forever smooth sailing and we see a roadblock to Bucky and reader’s progress. I would love to know your feedback on the story so leave a comment if you can! 🥰

The tag list is still open! Let me know if you want to join with a message or comment in the chapters!

Next: Chapter Seven

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Six years ago

The embers from the fire glowed warmly in front of you, a finger daringly reached out to touch the flames. The energy flames emitted from the tip of your finger and blended into the fire.

Turning your head back to Bucky and Ayo, you saw how Bucky was anxious and had a doubtful expression on his face. It had been a week since the programming has been removed from his system.

While he was still reassured that the worst was over, he had a lot of reservations. Having you by his side was the only source of comfort that he could through these hard times.

“I won’t let you hurt anyone,” Ayo spoke to relieved Bucky of his concerns. You flashed an encouraging smile back to him and Bucky nodded at Ayo for her to start.

As Ayo started saying the code words, you could see Bucky’s entire body tensing up as if he wanted to resist the possibility of being turned. Holding in your breath at the entire situation, you clasped your hands together in prayer, wishing that things would turn out well.

Every time each word was said, it built up hope and anxiety at the same time. You could see the dread, regret and guilt all from his eyes alone as Bucky stared intensely at the burning fire. It seemed his mind was heavy on a lot of memories and recollections that seemed to eat him away.

You wanted to take a step forward but Ayo shook her head, silently asking you to stay put.

As the number of codewords was closing into zero, your anticipation grew at how Bucky was doing well. However, your heart started breaking when you saw the tears welling up in his eyes.

Once the last code word was spoken, Bucky was sobbing. Seeing this sight, your own tears started to fall down your cheeks as you brought your clasped hands over your heart.

“You are free,” Ayo stated with a pleased smile and she looked over to you to give you a nod. Grinning a full wide smile at her, you looked down to Bucky shaking by the fire. You wondered what was wrong until he removed his clenched fist from his face. It was when he turned to face you that you both mirrored the full-blown smiles on your faces.

-------------------------//---------------------------

Stretching your limbs on the plush couch, your eyes closed wearily from the flight to Latvia. You still couldn’t process the entire series of events that had happened in the past 72 hours and your mind was mentally drained.

Hearing the door open, you lifted your head to finally see Bucky joining everyone in Zemo’s fancy place. Bucky’s eyes turned to yours and the two of you stared at each other silently for what felt like an eternity.

You first broke the stare by blinking and bit your lips in nervousness. Your mind immediately went back to what happened in Sharon’s club and you turned your back to avoid looking at him for the time being.

Bucky was thinking of the same thing and tried his best to maintain a cool façade. Seeing how you turned your back on the sofa, he felt it was best to move on to business with the others first.

“Well, the Wakandans are here. They want Zemo.” Bucky spoke to Sam before looking at an unbothered Zemo who was fresh out of the shower in his robes.

Bucky’s words managed to get you to turn back and sit up at attention.

“It was sweet of you to defend me at least.” You see Zemo looking grateful at Bucky but the super-soldier just rolled his eyes.

“Hey, you shut it. No one’s defending you.” Sam shut Zemo down as he couldn’t believe how thick-skinned the Sokovian man was. “You killed Nagel.”

Zemo tried to defend his stance while Sam definitely wasn’t buying it. You couldn’t say it out loud lest you get a look from Sam but you were glad Zemo did it. Who knows if there would be a day where you would be handed off to Nagel and he got his hands on you to do whatever he wanted?

You shuddered at the thought and as if Zemo knew what was on your mind, you see the Baron turning back to give you a wink and mouthing a ‘welcome’. Your nose scrunched in distaste, not wanting to give the man the satisfaction of him being right.

“Karli bombed a GRC supply depot,” Bucky spoke up again after looking up from his phone. Sam asked for the amount of damage to which Bucky answered that eleven were injured and three were dead.

This was getting serious. Especially when you heard Bucky saying that the Flag Smashers were promising more attacks if their demands were not met. You suddenly felt a renewed sense of responsibility and purpose to help the world once more after the last battle.

Even though you were tired of fighting, you knew that bearing the powers that you had gave you the responsibility to take action for the greater good.

Zemo then remarked that he had the will to follow through with this mission but questioned you and your friends.

“She’s just a kid,” Sam emphasized, showing his empathetic and kind heart who chose to see the good in others first. It reminded you so much of Steve and you smiled at the resemblance.

Zemo didn’t agree with Sam’s opinion and explained how Karli was a supremacist. The very idea of super-soldiers was troubling, how they viewed themselves as invincible and above others. Zemo compared it to the Nazi ideology, how it led to Ultron and the Avengers.

His last point rubbed you the wrong way because you knew your friends were never focused on themselves but rather dedicated time, effort and their lives for the world.

Sam understood that Karli had indeed been radicalised but still argued for a better way to manage the situation, one that he hoped would be peaceful and led to lesser bloodshed.

“I agree with Sam.” You spoke up for the first time. All three men focused on you as you lifted yourself from the sofa and walked towards them. “She’s not doing this for power or money, she’s doing this to help her community and the vulnerable. The least we could do is to try to talk to her first.”

Zemo tilted his head with an annoyed look, seeing how you backed Sam up in this debate.

“Y/N. The desire to become a superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideals. Anyone with that serum is inherently on that path. She would not stop, in fact, she will escalate unless you kill her.”

You knew that there were part truths in Zemo’s words. You kept quiet and he looked at you pleased that he probably has gotten through you in some sense.

“Or you can kill her first.” With this, Zemo stared straight at you as if he decided to give you this responsibility, knowing that you were the likeliest to overpower Karli when the time comes.

“Maybe you’re wrong, Zemo. The serum never corrupted Steve.” Speaking from behind you, Bucky refuted Zemo’s claims but Zemo seemed unaffected. He even added on that there was no other Steve Rogers. Who were you guys to presume not everyone could get corrupted once they had a taste of power?

Having enough of Zemo, Bucky suggested handing Zemo over to the Wakandans right at this moment and you wanted to agree. You were indebted to them and with their late king’s murderer right in front of you, a sense of guilt washed over you as you must have realized how livid they must be that he was walking free.

Sam then explained how Donya was an influential member of the community and related it to his own story of his TT aka his aunt. When someone who was a pillar in a close-knitted community had passed, people would gather to hold a long ceremony in memory of that person. He presumed that the same would be done for Donya and that’s where you all should lead with.

-------------------------//---------------------------

The four of you decided to venture to the streets to ask for information on Donya. As Zemo and Sam went their own ways, Bucky looked over you as if to ask if you wanted to join him.

“Uh, I-uh-I” You started stuttering without realising. Bucky knitted his brows in confusion at your sudden display and he immediately thought of your almost moment. Did you not want it? Did he overstep?

Inwardly groaning, he couldn’t believe he did something so stupid in the heat of the moment. Deciding to do something about it, he spoke up.

“Hey. About earlier-” Glancing up at Bucky, he nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to find the words to say.

“Earlier?” You weren’t sure what he was referring to and returned a quizzical look. Taking a deep breath before exhaling, Bucky tried to continue the conversation.

“I mean back in Madripoor. You know that uh-” Your eyes widened realised at the particular event that he chose to bring up. Your heart quickened at how he was choosing to address it now and you stared at him expectantly. “Yeah?”

“It was stupid, all right? I didn’t think and it was all at the moment, I didn’t mean to went in like that-” Blinking your eyes as if you couldn’t process what Bucky had just said, your heart dropped at the realisation that everything turned out to be one-sided wishful thinking of yours.

In his attempt to piece his words together and play it down, Bucky didn’t realise the disappointment painted on your face and how you stopped the tears that welled up in your eyes from falling.

You felt so stupid. There was no way that Bucky would have taken interest in you. All this time, you were nothing more than friends. You didn’t doubt that that moment in Madripoor with its atmosphere could have clouded both of your senses.

“It’s okay, Buck. I totally understand.” You spoke up to prevent him from continuing to dishearten you.

“I’m cool. We were swept up in the music and the dancing- it’s natural to uh-do that.” You were starting to choke up at your words but forced yourself to swallow down the knot in your throat.

Pulling your lips into a tight grin and forcing yourself to meet Bucky’s eyes, you saw him puzzled and expectant of your next response.

“I am going to go that way.” Mustering up a cheerful voice to make it sound like you were fine, you pointed over to a random street. “We should split up and cover more ground. Bye!” Giving a quick wave to him, you hurriedly turn your back and almost broke into a sprint to get as far away from him as possible.

Bucky knew that from your reaction he must have done something wrong. He just wasn’t sure what he did. Scolding himself for being such an idiot, he looked back to where he last saw you before you turned the corner.

Bucky’s hands and jaw both clenched with tension at how things had been with you just moments ago before allowing himself to be distracted with the mission. He made a mental note that he had to catch you later and have another talk.

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You were a woman with a purpose and that was to find out more about Donya Madani. You realised after the first few queries, people here were wary once you mentioned the woman’s name.

Cracking your brain to think of a strategy, your eyes roamed around the neighbourhood for some sort of idea. A familiar back caught your attention and your eyes widened in shock at who you had spotted.

The man back from the fight on the truck was here. That means Karli and her group were here too! You didn’t have the chance to see the man’s face as he had a mask on back then but you recognised him instantly.

He was alone and that gave you a good chance to corner him. You blended in with the crowd while closing in on him with every step. As he turned the corner to an alley, you quickened your steps in fear that you might be losing him.

Once you stepped foot into the alley, you were shocked to see there it was clear and empty. Running your fingers through your hair in a stressful moment, you wondered how he could have disappeared without a trace. Venturing further down the alley, you hoped that you might be able to catch sight of him once more.

Your body reacted a second later than your intuition when you felt someone grabbed you from behind, the hands covering your mouth to prevent you from screaming.

The person switched hands and used their strength to push you against the brick walls. Feeling the wind knocked out of your chest, you took quick hurried breaths to regain yourself and that’s when your eyes looked up to meet the dark eyes of the man that you had been following.

His eyes mirrored yours as they widened at the recognition of who you were and he then spoke. “How did you follow us? Where are the rest of your friends?”

Clawing at his hands to free your face, your hands started glowing a bright orange to get him to release you. The man was taken aback at the display of your powers and decided to make a run for it, knowing that you would have the upper hand eventually.

“No wait, please!” You cried for him to stop. The man’s steps slowed down at your plea and he turned back slightly to face you. You raised your hands up in surrender to show you meant no harm.

You willingly put your hands behind you, clasping them together and showing them to him.

“I just want to talk.” You continued saying. Sensing the man’s hesitation, you then emphasized please desperately. Taking a few steps closer, you still left a gap between the two of you.

“I am Y/N.” Hoping that introducing yourself showed that you were interested to get to know him, you looked on anxiously for his response.

“Dovich.” The man replied curtly before staring back at you. Repeating his name once more in your mouth, you showed off a friendly smile before resuming.

“I know what you must be thinking, but please I do not mean any harm.” You hoped that the sincerity in your voice would get his guard down but seeing Dovich squaring his shoulders to look more intimidating, you knew that he couldn’t trust you yet.

“Lies!” Dovich refuted your claims.

“What happened back there was self-defence!” He must have thought about how you were about to use your powers just moments ago. “Trust me, if I wanted to do any damage, I would be able to but I didn’t.”

Seeing how you were still standing there with your arms behind your back, Dovich’s stance seemed to ease up a little. “What do you want?”

“We- my friends and I want to talk to Karli.” You knew your words only served to upset him once more as his face distorted into a frown.

“We really want things to work out! We don’t ever want things to escalate, it is never in my interest to kill anyone.” Dovich glanced over you to see an earnest expression on your face and he couldn’t help but be a little swayed.

He knew who you were. You were less well-known but still regarded as part of the Avengers team. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t intimidated. He recalled how you fought his group back then and knew that given your powers, there was a chance to be bested even if he had taken the serum.

Dovich still clearly remembered how you pulled him up when he was about to fall off the moving truck from before. Your actions at that moment had changed his impression of you, regarding you in a better light. It matched what you had just said earlier, you weren’t interested to kill anyone.

“Karli wouldn’t listen. She is determined and resolute in our vision.” Dovich hoped you understood his perspective and you nodded in acknowledgement.

“I know but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to try settling this peacefully. We don’t want more lives gone than it already had.” You added on to your own perspective in the matter. Dovich believed you but he still wasn’t sure. He couldn’t be so easy to trust especially of all of the experiences that he and his group went through.

You were still considered a threat to the existence of the group.

“I don’t trust your group. Especially that Zemo guy. We know he hates super soldiers.” Dovich reiterated his mistrust before continuing. “Plus you guys are the Avengers, you wouldn’t know what it is like to be us. You get to live comfortable lives and do as you please.”

Hearing his assumption, you shook your head in disagreement. You closed your eyes and exhaled deeply before speaking.

“The Avengers aren’t really there anymore. Most of our group are gone. We are only what’s left but it doesn’t feel like there’s a team anymore.” Your mind to your current situation. Yes, you were with Sam and Bucky but they were just tolerating each other for the moment. You didn’t exactly feel like you were a team at all but just a group put together because you were all that’s left.

The sense of camaraderie from your previous team was gone and you were at a loss. You did what you had to do to support your two friends but you felt empty on the inside. You titled your head up to see Dovich peering at you with an almost concerned look on his face.

“Besides, that’s a bit of a generalisation you have there. We don’t live fancy lives, that’s a misconception because of uh-Tony. We all are still normal human beings dealing with struggles in our personal lives too. We gave up most of ourselves to defend this world….” Reeling from the exchange that you two had, you knew Dovich was someone that could be reasoned with.

“Of course, I am not trying to brag or anything!” You hurriedly explain before he had the thought that you were trying to make yourself look better in his eyes. “It’s just that I hope you could understand where we are coming from too.”

Dovich didn’t expect the conversation to progress in this manner. He had spotted you in the reflection of a glass window of a shop and initially wanted to get you off his tail. Despite the initial scepticism, he was starting to warm up to you. He figured you weren’t like the rest of your group and seemed down to earth despite being an Avenger.

He couldn’t lie to himself and claimed he thought of you several times ever since the first encounter. How can one not forget someone who stepped in to save their life once?

Dovich gazed at you now standing civilly with an awaiting look. He wanted to trust you, he really did. But he knew Karli was especially alert and distrustful of anyone outside her circle. Your affiliation wouldn’t help in this case either. He couldn’t make a promise that he can’t keep.

“I can’t promise you anything.” A grin formed on your face for the first time and you nodded your head in understanding.

“Of course, I just need a chance to talk. That’s all.” Dovich nodded back before he started walking back to the other end of the alleyway. He told you that he would speak with Karli after Donya’s ceremony and asked you to wait for his contact. He made you promise to not speak to your friends about this meeting and that he only trusted you.

You gave your agreement and maintained a friendly smile before he turned back to go onto another street.

-------------------------//---------------------------

Walking with lighter steps, you were glad to be able to do something right. You re-entered Zemo’s place and was greeted with the men gathering around to discuss their lack of result. You had to control yourself from revealing about your meeting with Dovich and kept quiet.

You agreed with Sam’s remarks on understanding Karli’s perspective and how she and her group were not motivated by malicious intentions.

Bucky then gave his own input that Karli would not be any different from Zemo. Recalling your last exchange with him, you suddenly felt upset with the super-soldier. You didn’t agree with his words either as you believed you understood better after talking with Dovich.

“I agree with Sam on this. Karli’s group is different and we need to give them a chance.” Bucky looked at you in disbelief. This was the first time you were ever not on the same page with him. He couldn’t agree with your views of giving the Flag Smashers a chance when they were such obvious threats.

Bucky believed that your soft-hearted nature was clouding your judgement and he thought better of you given your experience of dealing with such people.

“Can’t believe you are actually siding with terrorists Y/N.” His words came out harsher than expected and his heart twisted when he saw the tinge of sadness at how you received his words. A brief moment later, he saw your brows frowning and now looked at him with an offended stare.

“Not everything is black and white, James.” You scoffed before walking off to use the bathroom.

Sam and Zemo were surprised to hear the condescending tone in your voice towards Bucky. Knowing how you and Bucky were close-knitted, witnessing the suddenly tensed exchange between the two of you would have been baffled at what just transpired.

Hearing you calling him James was clear as day to Bucky that you were definitely not happy with him. Rubbing his temples in dismay, he wondered what have gotten over you suddenly. Sure, he was at fault for saying such a harsh comment but he still didn’t expect you to be like this.

Bucky lost his cool when Zemo stated he wanted to keep his leverage by not revealing any more information he had gotten from the little girl on the streets about Donya.

“You wanna see what someone can do we leverage?” Bucky too the glass in Zemo’s hand and threw it to the wall behind the Sokovian baron. He was silently seething at Zemo’s play on top of the unpleasant exchange that he had with you.

Sam came around to calm Bucky down before he indicated that he would make a call.

You stepped back into the common room when you heard the smashing of glass. You looked to see Bucky and Zemo in an intense standoff, well more so Bucky than Zemo.

Sam walked away first. Zemo asked Bucky if he would like some cherry blossom tea but the super-soldier refuted the offer with disdain in his tone.

“Y/N?” Zemo gestured to the lovely glass tea set on the coffee table. Glancing up to meet Bucky’s eyes, you could tell he was still bearing an annoyed look on his face.

You weren’t sure if it was his emotions from his exchange with Zemo or yours. Walking up to Zemo, you gave a polite smile before speaking.

“I would love to.” It was the second time that you acted out of character in a row. He knew that you didn’t like Zemo at all, only because of what Zemo had done to him. You were his girl (well sort of) and seeing you accepting Zemo’s offer even if it was just tea hit him differently.

Hearing how you graciously accepted the glass from Zemo and commenting on the fragrance of the brew, Bucky couldn’t believe his ears. He immediately stomped away from the scene before he felt like he would implode.

This was not right at all. Why would you suddenly act like this?

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