#there are certain moral quandaries you will find yourself in and you *will* have to bend your own rules in order to save as many ppl as

[the-force-awakens]

one thing this movie is showing me though is that fandom is never going to respond well to any kind of situation in fiction where there's no one good answer, and where every character is developed well enough to the point that you can see where they're coming from/have the agency to make their own decisions and that creating conflict within the ranks of the good guys — because someone is always inevitably going to be painted as a villain, even if they're on the good side.

[softguarnere]

Like A Girl (Like A Man)

Shifty Powers x OFC

Chapter Two: Like It's Nothing

Summary: Zenie enters the world of men

Warnings: mentions of guns

Taglist: @liebgotts-lovergirl @latibvles

July, 1942 - Toccoa, Ga

If she is being honest, Zenie never really believed in God, except for maybe when she was very young and the pastor dunked her into the creek behind the church and announced that God now lived in her heart and that her name was written in the Book of Life. She had felt something in that moment, but it had been fleeting. Still, there are certain moral codes that they drilled into her during children’s church that she has never managed to fully shake. Lying is not necessarily a sin to a non-believer like her – she just does not feel right doing it.

But this – this whole charade – is not a lie, if she looks at her situation from a certain angle. This is like the time that she had to be in the church’s Christmas pageant when she was eight.

“I can’t do it!” Zenie had sobbed. People stared at her as they filed into the church to see the show. Matthew had glared at them, offering her his handkerchief and patting her shoulder.

“No, you can’t.” In terms of a pep-talk, it had not been what anyone would expect to hear. Except there was more. “Zena McGlamery can’t deliver the lines because she’s afraid. But do you know who’s not afraid?” When Zenie had shaken her head, he had broken into a smile as he revealed his genius solution. “The angel!”

Zenie had not understood, but he had rushed on before she could start crying again.

“Do you think an angel would be afraid up there in front of all those people? No! And tonight, you’re not Zenie – you’re the angel! So you’re not scared.”

Somehow, it had worked. Zenie had never felt braver as she delivered her lines in front of the whole congregation, smiling at her brother in the crowd when she was finished. Scared, awkward Zena had fled the stage and made room for someone brave who could do all the things that she could not, even if it was just for one night.

So really, what she is doing now is not any different. No – Thomas Driver is simply a character of sorts, she reasons on her journey to Toccoa. He is someone brave and friendly, and maybe more; she will learn more about him as she goes. This is not a lie, she determines, but rather an epic acting job.

Besides, what is in a name? A name is something that you call yourself, and something that others refer to you as. Well, now she is calling herself Thomas, and according to her papers from Bobby, other people do too. And, she determines with finality, she does not have to feel like Thomas’ backstory is a lie as long as she keeps it as close to hers as possible – without giving away too much identifying information that could get her caught, that is. If anything, it is just a strange coincidence that Zenie and Thomas happen to have so much in common. She is so proud of herself for coming up with this solution to her moral quandary that she does not even falter when she arrives in Stephens County and finds herself thrust into the world of men.

 

 

Toccoa is different than Zenie’s hometown, even though it is nearby. The landscape flattens out considerably as she travels, and when she reaches Camp Toccoa, most of it appears flat, except for the mountain that stands guard over the town. It is warmer, too, and she wonders if the oppressive humidity of the Blue Ridge Mountains exists this far south. Not to mention all the people that she passes on her way into the camp, but most of them are probably only here because of the war effort.

Zenie is assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. It is a mouthful, and she repeats it over and over again in her mind as she takes her few belongings and makes her way to the barracks. She is determined not to draw unnecessary attention to herself. How embarrassing would it be if someone noticed her just because she cannot remember where she belongs?

Several people turn to look at her the second that she steps into the barracks. She keeps her head low and starts to move forward to look for a bunk when someone lets out a loud snicker.

“Christ Almighty, I knew that the Army was desperate for men, but are they lettin’ kids in now?” Laughter ripples through the room.

“Aye, Perco! Looks like you ain’t the shortest no more!” Someone else calls out.

Something flares up in Zenie’s chest. Instead of just taking it and walking away like she has always been taught to do, she makes eye contact with the first man who spoke and squares her shoulders, just like she has seen Matthew do a hundred times. The man has a good four inches on her, but Zenie looks down her nose at him as she comes further into the barracks. She makes a point of looking him up and down before she says in a low voice, “Well, from the looks of it, they’ll let just about anybody in.”   

Regret washes over her like a bucket of cold water being poured over her head. They are inches from each other. Zenie has seen Matthew and his friends joke around enough to know that comments like this usually earn some sort of smack or shove. But they are not friends – she does not know this man. And when boys decide to throw that kind of remark in the direction of a stranger, a fight is likely to break out. The last thing that she needs is to get into trouble now when she has only just gotten here.

Instead of making a move, the man stares down at her for a second . . . and then he breaks into a broad grin that lights up his face rather handsomely. Zenie has her fists balled at her sides, ready and waiting, but he does not mirror her stance. He looks relaxed. He extends a hand to her.

“Bill Guarnere,” he introduces himself.

She blinks. Unfurling her hands, she takes his and pumps it. “Thomas Driver.” And then, because it feels like the right thing to say, “But you can call me Tommy. Everybody else does.”

“Tommy,” Bill repeats with a nod. He lets go of her hand and turns towards a group of men on one of the bunks near him, nudging one of them off the bed with his knee. “Hey Luz, make some room for the new guy, will you?”

Zenie is about to stop him, to assure him that it is okay and that she can find a bunk elsewhere, but he does not seem to mind. He flashes her a smile as he abdicates the bunk, moving to sit at one of the small tables between the beds. (Like it is no big deal, Zenie notes. She just inconvenienced him and he acts like it is nothing.) Hesitantly, she drops her bag on the bed. Bill smiles at her when she does it – he even slaps her on the back and throws a casual arm around her shoulder, like it is nothing.

“Now we all got a bunk mate. You don’t snore, do you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“That’s good. Anyways – “ He points towards the man that she unseated. “ – Tommy, this is  George Luz. And that – “ He points towards a tall, serious looking man with dark hair who sits on the bottom bunk across from them. “ – is Joe Toye.”

She nods to each of them. “Did y’all know each other from before joining up or something?”

“Y’all?” Guarnere tilts his head.

. . . if you got rid of your accent, a prissy voice in the back of her head says.

Yeah, well, I don’t exactly have time to worry about the accent when I’ve got to concentrate on keeping my voice low, Zenie shoots back internally.

Zenie gestures between the three of them. “You all.”

“Oh. No, we didn’t.”

“Just fast friends,” Luz says with a smile. Like it is nothing.

And he’s right.

Growing up, Zenie always struggled to make friends. It seemed strange to her that Matthew and the boys from the baseball team could get along so well, and that her brother could get along with almost anyone. Marilyn was good at making friends, and they often got stuck dragging Zenie around with them, like some sort of little mascot who was kept on their fringes, never allowed to gain full membership to their group. Not that it was their fault – they were four years older than her, and that kind of age gap meant that they had different interests than she did. But Zenie watched the girls’ small circle and all the drama that came with being part of it and wondered if maybe it was easier for boys to get along. It seemed easier for them to make friends, easier for them to exist.

She takes the bunk under Guarnere and thinks that that will be the end of it. But it is not – and she is pleasantly surprised to realize that she was wrong.

Zenie had planned to keep her head down, to avoid attention and detection so that she would not be caught. Luz, Toye, and Guarnere seem to have other plans, as they sit with her during meals in the mess hall, and always group up with her, like it’s nothing. Realistically she knows that this could be bad for her – what if they find out about her? – but she finds that she actually . . . likes being around them – being friendly with them. And it’s not just them; all of the men quickly form some sort of camaraderie between them. It’s ironic, really, that they were all originally brought together by the fact that they want to fight the Germans, but their first real enemy, the person who has really united them, is Captain Sobel, even thought he’s supposed to be the one teaching them how to fight the Germans.

It is almost a new experience for her – being equal to them instead of being tolerated by them. (Bill does sometimes muss up her hair and say that she’s like the little brother of the group, but it’s affectionate and friendly.)

To have friends. Huh. What a thought.

Having them around could either be very good or very bad for her situation.

 

 

“I thought you said that you were a good shot?”

“I am,” Zenie grunts as she shoves more ammo into her gun. She trains her sight on her target and squeezes the trigger. The bullet whizzes down the firing range . . . only to miss the target entirely. Sweat is beading at the back of her neck under the warm sun. It makes the metal of the gun feel slick under her palms. The last thing she wants to do is look nervous, especially when Sobel is making his way down the line.

Bill squints towards her target. “Well you ain’t hit it yet, Tommy Boy.”

“The sight is off.”

“Then adjust it.”

“There’s no time!” Not to properly do it, anyway, but she does try her best. Sobel is getting closer by the second, and if she doesn’t have any holes in her target . . . She doesn’t need that kind of unwanted attention.

She aims at her target again, squeezes the trigger –

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

She blinks. On her right, Bill whistles.

“Maybe you are a good shot.”

Near perfect hits have appeared in her target. Sobel has reached her spot. He looks between her and the target, nods, and moves on. She feels like she can breathe again. She should be happy.

Except she wasn’t the one who fired those shots.

Someone else either missed their target entirely and gave her a lucky break, or . . .

Two men to her left, she feels someone watching her. A young man offers her a small smile and a nod. Zenie returns it and feels bad that she can’t remember his name. She’s seen him around the barracks and on the morning runs up Currahee, but they haven’t spoken before.

“I’ll catch up with y’all in a second,” Zenie promises her friends a few moments later when Sobel releases them from the range. She starts to make her way towards the man, but Sobel stops him, and she freezes in her place until they’re done.

Sobel is gesticulating wildly, pointing to the man’s gun, expression stern. Zenie is just far enough away to be out of earshot, and based on Sobel’s red face and angry, jerking movements, she’s glad that she can’t hear what he has to say. Finally he finishes, storming off and leaving the man who helped her.

Zenie steps forward, reaching out her hand to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention. She’s just close enough to touch him when she hears him mutter under his breath.

“Ukshan.”

Without meaning to, she bursts out laughing. It gets the man’s attention; he jumps at the sound, startled, and turns to face her with raised eyebrows.

“I agree,” Zenie says with a smile. “Captain Sobel is an asshole.” She cocks her head. “You speak Cherokee?”

It takes a second for her words to register with him. His eyebrows furrow, then raise again, a tentative half-smile on his face as he looks at her. “Vv. Nihina?”

Zenie nods. With the kind of confidence that she never would have had before arriving in Toccoa, she thrusts out her hand. “Thomas Driver.”

His hand is calloused when he reaches out to shake hers. His intense brown eyes make Zenie feel as if she’s looking into the sun – but she can’t look away, and for some reason, she finds that she doesn’t want to. “Darrell. But everyone calls me Shifty.”

And that is how she comes to know Shifty Powers.

[denimbex1986]

'Welcome to being a movie fan in the 21st Century, folks. It's not a new phenomenon for the weeks and months leading up to a major blockbuster to be filled with all sorts of hot takes and rampant speculation, but never have we been subjected to that through constant, unfiltered social media reactions. Sometimes, it takes the form of really fun and organic viral sensations (happy #Barbenheimer, one and all!) but, other times, you find yourself staring at a series of ill-informed and wildly off-base tweets making up the wildest claims about a movie — a movie which many of those opinionated individuals haven't even seen yet. "Oppenheimer," for better and worse, has been subject to both extreme ends of the spectrum.

That's not exactly a new development for Christopher Nolan, a director who has inadvertently attracted the most vocal movie fans out there. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone without strong opinions on his "The Dark Knight" trilogy, but even his various original and non-IP films have given audiences a roadmap to tap into his biggest interests, fears, and fixations. That means the inevitable passage of time, recurring portrayals of dead wives/girlfriends, and the fact that the vast majority of his movies embody a very white perspective and worldview.

This is all present and accounted for in "Oppenheimer," admittedly, but a new wrinkle has been added to the mix. Ahead of Nolan's most overtly political film yet, certain segments of moviegoers have sounded the alarm bells and embraced a narrative that his interpretation of the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, "Father of the Atomic Bomb," might somehow justify the horrific killings of hundreds of thousands of innocents. Thankfully, those unfounded fears were never even a remote possibility in the first place.

'The power to destroy ourselves'

Somebody once wrote a line of dialogue about how "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain," put it in their breakout superhero movie, and all but predicted how bad-faith detractors would attempt to take him down a peg for years to come. Was Chris Nolan a self-fulfilling prophet? A student of history? Or was he just someone with the common sense to look around him and recognize what was what?

If the past really is our best signifier of the future, then it feels truly misguided to look at the filmmaker's past body of work and jump to conclusions that "Oppenheimer" would take the most didactic approach of them all. Not that anyone as privileged as Nolan needs us to circle the wagons on his behalf, but he's clearly made a career out of taking the moral quandaries inherent within complex, oftentimes contradictory characters and testing these to their breaking point in the most extreme of circumstances. After all, that's how we end up with movies about Bruce Wayne becoming an outlaw to save Gotham City, a pair of dueling magicians losing themselves in their obsessions, and a profoundly broken, guilt-ridden man committing an illegal mind heist to be reunited with his kids. Even "Dunkirk," arguably the most straightforward tale of heroism in Nolan's filmography, ends not on the stirring image of a captured British warplane essentially burning in effigy, but a disconcerting close-up on the soldier who only just barely survived this ordeal realizing he'll soon be shipped out to face even greater dangers to come.

Does any of this suggest a storyteller who'd strip the horror out of the most horrific act in human warfare ... or, instead, interpret it as yet another cautionary tale?

'American Prometheus'

For the moment, forget the fact that "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer," the imposing biography written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin that "Oppenheimer" is based on, refuses to pull any punches about the complicated legacy of its subject matter. Set aside the reams of documented, historical evidence that the United States' pretext for dropping the bombs on Japan was considered flimsy, even at the time. No, there's an even simpler explanation as to why "Oppenheimer" never even entertained the notion of being a "pro-nuclear bomb" movie: Where would any of the conflict or drama be in that?

There's a reason why the film begins with the haunting quote about the Greek god Prometheus stealing the fire of the gods and gifting it to us mere mortals ... only to be subsequently punished for eternity. Naturally, we then open on a young Oppenheimer already feeling tortured by visions of the quantum universe that only he can see — visions that, disturbingly, resemble violent nuclear explosions. Human nature, the film is practically screaming at its audience right from its earliest moments, will always trend towards self-destruction. Not only is this the quintessential archetype of a Nolan protagonist, but it's also the only dramatic interpretation of Oppenheimer's life that would merit devoting three whole hours to diving into his psychology.

There's a hypothetical, made-up version of "Oppenheimer" that would've actually lined up with the one concocted in the minds of the skeptics — one that's nothing but flag-waving jingoism (probably made by the same folks behind "Sound of Freedom") about how great America is at winning wars and proving doubters wrong. But the much richer text we received instead dares to confront horrible truths about our worst instincts. Because why else make this movie?

'Theory will take you only so far'

A little more than halfway through "Oppenheimer," after reports of Hitler's self-inflicted death and the fall of Nazi Germany come trickling in, the script goes out of its way to literalize the main conceit of the film. After Oppenheimer crashes a meeting of colleagues to discuss the effects of their "gadget" on the wider world, Nolan stages an actual debate about the ethics of dropping the atomic bombs on Japan. Informed that Japan's defeat seems "imminent" and that using their invention would inflict untold harm upon the world, Oppenheimer counters that world leaders can only "fear" and "understand" the weapon if they use it. When he offers up his pie-in-the-sky belief that all war will be unthinkable in a post-nuclear bomb world, the tepid applause his speech inspires only underlines his naïveté and denial.

Ever wonder how "Oppy" could convince himself to continue his work while compartmentalizing the devastating effects it would inevitably have on innocents caught in the blast? So does physicist Niels Bohr (Kenneth Branagh), who bestows the "American Prometheus" title on Oppenheimer and calls for international nuclear disarmament. So does the security council, when Roger Robb (Jason Clarke) calls out Oppenheimer's hypocrisy over when exactly he first began to develop "moral qualms" about his work. 

There are approximately dozens of examples like this throughout the mammoth runtime, where "Oppenheimer" doesn't really tip its hand so much as it slaps us in the face with the cold reality of the entire Manhattan Project. Theory will only take you so far, Oppenheimer's friend Ernest Lawrence (Josh Hartnett) puts it early on. If only those who assumed this adaptation would be "pro-nuke" followed that advice, set their prejudgment aside, and just ... watched the movie.'

[trisshawkeye]

I'm a little hesitant to weigh in on the discourse going around, since I can't speak to the Chinese LGBTQ+ experience, but what I can speak to is one of the reasons why a queer person might find the nature of the sex scenes in MDZS, and in particular the extras, interesting and relatable to their experience as a queer person.

First off I want to stress that YOU DO NOT NEED TO READ THE MDZS EXTRAS. In fact, if you think they might be triggering or upsetting to you, or just not your cup of tea, then just don't read them. You don't need to read them to enjoy everything else MDZS has to offer. Indeed, if any of the following would wig you out—slightly dub-con kissing, misunderstandings around a sexual encounter due to each party thinking the other didn't want it in the same way they did, an inexperienced couple figuring out what they like and finding out that includes mild consent-play—then maybe you might want to skip the scenes in the main novel too. It's okay to have preferences and for those preferences to not include that. If you don't want to read those sections, then I'm not gonna judge you, don't read them. There is plenty else to enjoy. Look after yourself first!

Okay, with that out the way, I'd like to talk to you a little bit about shame and sexual fantasy.

While not written to this particular audience at all, Lan Wangji is a painfully relatable character for a certain type of gifted queer kid growing up in conservative Evangelical Christian spaces. The combination of having a strict, rule-based moral code one is expected to follow, and being held up as a well-behaved, good example to others from a young age, both in terms of pseudo-academic achievement and in terms of following of said moral code, and then finding yourself and your worldview becoming increasingly incompatible with the code you are trying to live by, is one that really fucks you up. Lan Wangji is a character laser-targeted at my own set up of hang-ups and neuroses, oh boy. I love him so much and want him to be happy.

And to be fair, that's not to say the Gusu Lan sect rules are bad per se, and characters such as Lan Xichen show that it is possible to have a different relationship with them such that they inform your behaviour but still allow for flexibility and compromise. But Lan Wangji definitely strikes me as someone who took rule-following deep into his own sense of identity, and that gets very messy for him when he starts questioning how to handle moral quandaries that the rules can't easily address by themselves, or finds himself trying to follow them in a way that conflicts with how the rest of his sect are doing so.

So when this kind of strict moral purity forms a big part of your identity, and then you suddenly get attracted to someone 'inappropriate' (or indeed, anyone at all as a horny teenager who’s supposed to behave themselves), your new and growing sense of desire runs smack bang into your existential need to be someone who is Good(TM), who follows the rules, who wouldn't in their right mind to anything that contradicts them. You can't just dream soft dreams about sneaking away to kiss your crush and you both enjoying it, because even that is shameful, it's wrong, it flies in the face of everything you're supposed to be and you'd never do that. And so one way for your mind to get around this is for your fantasies to take a darker turn, to imagine that you were pushed beyond all reasonable human limits, that you lost all control, that you were drugged or manipulated, that the other person took advantage of you or somehow provoked you into assaulting them, and that way you can sort of excuse yourself, you can imagine yourself in that situation because at least then it wasn't really your fault, you can kind of keep your internal sense of identity consistent. But now you've imagined you're in that situation and you have that 'excuse', you have a kind of free rein to act out the things you want to do and it doesn't really 'count'. And all the while you're entirely aware that this is a fucked up fantasy, that it would be unforgivable if you did such a thing or such a thing was done to you in real life, and now you're worried that even imagining such a thing is a failure of your moral character, and it builds into a destructive cycle of shame and self-loathing, and it's just a real mess all round. 

Now, I think this is something that Lan Wangji worked through and came out the other side of, and he was no longer ashamed of his desire for Wei Wuxian by the time he came back in the body of Mo Xuanyu (and probably even by the time of the first siege of the Burial Mounds, though it was far too late at that point). But for a sixteen-year-old Lan Wangji to have these violent fantasies about being provoked into raping Wei Wuxian because that was the only way he could imagine himself in a situation in which he could express that desire? And then later in life finding out that consent-play holds some appeal? Yeah, I can see that, I can relate to it.

And so in the incense burner chapter? When it becomes clear they're visiting one of Lan Wangji's teenage fantasies, especially right after the adorably domestic scene that is Wei Wuxian's dream, he is absolutely embarrassed by it, he's mortified—it's obvious he still considers it to be shameful and would honestly rather Wei Wuxian didn't see this side of himself so clearly, although he loves and trusts Wei Wuxian enough not to hide it from him when he says wants to stay. And then, when Wei Wuxian sees where it's going, and finds it hilarious and honestly kinda hot, knowing that it is just a fantasy, and one that meshes well with his own consensual-non-consent kinks to boot, you know what? It's a relief! It's an honest-to-goodness relief and entirely delightful to me that he turns around and basically says, hey, it's okay, this doesn't make you a bad person, you don't have to be ashamed of this, I love you, I'm enjoying this too, I want to see where this goes, let's have sex! 

Because none of this does make Lan Wangji a bad person—none of these fantasies were acted upon except for one intensely-regretted kiss (and then only really regretted on his own part), and then later in the context of entirely consensual, mutually enjoyable sex as adults between him and Wei Wuxian. And being able to revisit those fantasies and take away the shame he's associated with them all this time is probably pretty healing for him! 

Like I said at the start, you don't have to read these chapters. They were not written for you personally, and you are not the target audience for them. If you're going to be at all distressed by the content then I actively encourage you not to read them, it would be a form of emotional self-harm to do so. It's not like you're missing out on anything important (or even very well-written, if I'm being honest, particularly once it's gone through the mangle of a translation that I don't personally think handles the nuances of the smut scenes very well, from what I can gather from various pieces of discussion about it). It's totally fine if you find these kinks unpleasant and don't want to touch them with a barge pole! But that doesn't make having or writing or enjoying these kinks or fantasies somehow morally wrong—it's not shameful, it's not homophobic, and please, please stop accusing the author or fans of being so just because you don't personally like it. Because you’re just reinforcing the shame-based, purity-based thinking that screws so many of us up in the first place.

(Aside: I’m not saying this is necessarily the correct way to interpret Lan Wangji’s character and motivations with respect to these scenes, since I too am a Westerner coming at all this material through the veil of translation and with very little understanding of its surrounding literary context—I’m more describing how, from my own experience as a young repressed religious queer, I found myself vibing a lot with this character and his relationship with sexual desire.)

[jeeperso]

D&D Quotes Without context

Miscellaneous Edition, for those quotable lines from between sessions

"All I wanna do, is fork a giant woman! A giant woman!" "Jonni, I'm pretty sure she is some type of undead, probably a vampire. Are you sure that is a good idea?" "If I don’t get turned into a blueberry it won’t be my worst date." "Okay, but if you have to defend yourself just don't burn the place down for once." "Oh, Nyx. Sweet summer child. I never make promises we both know I won’t even try to keep." "Jonni, if I wake up to my bed surrounded in flames again I'm short-sheeting your next bed every night for at least a month." "I know you're trying to score here, but Lady Dimitrescu's daughters are literally vampires AND bugs. I can overlook one, but as a Paladin, it is my sacred duty to burn this place to the ground and stir the ashes."

"We don't let Marshall make breakfast anymore." "Those waffles are well-fortified." "I'm going to be charitable and call it hardtack." "We can use these waffles as melee weapons." "Well if we need to deflect siege engines they'll be good to have." "This is still carbon based and digestible by human systems without any poisons." "I can't serve this. It'll cause ... death." "Marshal we've been over this. This Pizza has 10% less of a lethal amount of grease." "Plus they signed the waivers when they bought a ticket. It's fine." "And don't forget to push the Cakeon." "Cakeon being slices of cake wrapped in bacon." "The special sauce is a mixture of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, ranch, horseradish, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and anything unfortunate enough to fall into the mixing vat."

"You do have a copy of the legal code I requested in my letter? As landed gentry you should actually have legal avenues to... I'm sorry did you say Burning child?"

"First I'm going to nail a crossbow bolt through your heart. Then I'm going to mount your balls to walls on opposite sides of this chamber." "I need Three Barrels of Butter" "Are you serious? Those Claws could crush an elephant in full plate!" "You're Right!" *Turns to first person* "We might need more than three barrels of butter."

"So Ioun is the patron of poor college kids. that scans "

"its hardtack or a mug of molten cheese-fried... something in a woven mug of bacon. your choice."

"Welp, all this coke ain't gonna snort itself..."

"Right hand me that dress and the bail money. I'll get Jonni." OOC: Well I mean they allow men in the city. Its just no men live in the city. "I stand by my statement. I'm allowed to look pretty every now and then." OOC: And dragons are the most unprejudiced lovers of anyone after bards.

OOC: Well I mean come on, its Ravenloft: saying a place is of death and madness is like making the observation the day ends in y. "Going out. Getting laid." "Jonni, she’s a werewolf." "Going out, forking a werewolf." OOC: Well Lycanthropy isn't usually sexually transmitted. Its just that Mercedes is a biter. OOC: ...I don't have an appropriate response to that.

"You seriously think I’d turn on my friends for a pile of gold?!?" "sigh I’ll show you my tits. "Hot damn, let’s get these murders done!" "No, Jonni, stay good. Besides, there are plenty of other girls who will do that without asking you to murder us." "Hmmmm… this is the moral quandary of my life…" "I’ll give you five bucks." "Scales tipped!" "Phew, I thought I was going to have to cover her next trip to the topless bar." "No, no, I have the bail money right here."

Nyx: So what’s the inside of Jonni’s head like? Edmund (with thousand yard stare): Imagine every ladies only smut magazine you’ve ever heard of going on forever into infinity while everything is on fire. Food was good though.

"It’s cool. They stole it." "And you know this how?" "Magic." “90% of Ravenloft deaths are mysterious vanishings.” "Why does everything come out covered in glitter and … is that …" "Lube. I’ve got a few theories." "Please don’t share them."

OOC: This is a plan that ends with Strahd having fewer brides, his castle is in flames, and he’s lost his cape.

OOC: Our team consists of a horny pyromancer, a gnome who can fillete you in five seconds, an HP lovecraft protagonist with actual magic backing them up, a literal slab of iron with a face, and a guy with a "I went to the eternal city of Ryleth and all I got was PTSD and this lousy T shirt". Gorbash smashing his shield into their face: "Have! You! Considered! Therapy!" OOC: Good news is you guys will no longer be the most conspicuous guys at the masquerade now. Jonni: Challenge accepted! "Nyx, the bounty on stealing his fake mustache is still on."

"Vanilla is the king of flavors. What does it say about society where vanilla is considered just 'regular'?" "That they have a lot of vanilla." Lash: "Don’t you want wishes?" Jonni: "Do I need wishes to get to see you naked?" Lash: "No?" Jonni: "Fuck ‘em." Vesh: "Oh dammit its my arranged fiance." Pit Fiend: "Milady." Vesh: "An extra wish to whoever punches this douchecanoe in the nards." Jonni: "I wish…for Bigby’s clenched fist of nard punching."

Soth: "Oh, gods, why am I on fire and why is Immigrant Song playing?" Jonni: "Take a guess." Hazlik: "Okay, so its a partridge, stuffed inside a chicken, stuffed inside a duck, stuffed inside a turkey, and the whole thing is fried on a stick. Congratulations, that's the most horrible thing I have ever seen, and I once crossbred an elephant and an owl." "I give him the 'itis, and we run like we stole something." OOC: ...weirdly Curse of Strahd has stats for Strahd zombies but not Strahd Skeletons. Or Strahd's skeletal Steed. Strahd once went to a branding seminar hosted by Bane and it changed his life.

"Are we on a high enough floor that if I throw him through the window he'll be killed by the fall?" "Oh, but when I say stuff like that it’s all 'Jonni, murder is wrong.'" "When they say pick your battles they don't mean to pick all of them. That's too many battles Jonni. Put some back." OOC: He's technically already got a symbiote. OOC: They can get married. Gorbash: "I'm increasing the rent." Venom: "Can I keep the pool table?" Gorbash: "I'm not a monster." Giant Brain: "Jonni… I have summoned you here for… WHY AM I ALREADY ON FIRE! PUT ME OUT! PUT ME OUT!"

"Hello We're the party-crashers. This is Jonni, she's here to steal your women and burn your shit down. That's Nyx, she's going to repatriate certain items from the premise. Marshal over there, is here to studiously ignore our shenanigans. This is the New Guy. He seems pretty chill. I'm Gorbash... and I have been distracting you."

"Will you walk into my parlour?" said a spider to a fly. Jonni: "Hold up. Trying to sex a spider." Nyx: (throws her hands up) And then Jonni wakes up with a spider venom hangover webbed to a wall waiting to be eaten. Jonni: "Eh, I’ve had worse one night stands. I’m not a fucking blueberry." OOC 1: Hey, where does your weed elf grow [her] crops? OOC 2: She probably just grows them in the room she hasn’t paid rent on. OOC 3: Because I was also considering a circle of spores druid tortle. OOC 2: We could be partners! We could turn this into road to el dorado staring Cheech and Chong. OOC: Wait, I just realized five people are hanging out in a pirate bar, and none of us are rogues. We are gonna need someone to get thieves tools. OOC: We have a barbarian with a big stick.

"Are we Foxhound now? Blunderbuss Octopus." OOC1: You want to put the stoner in charge of food. OOC2: Eyup. OOC1: I see no way this can go wrong! OOC3: We need the four basic food groups. Beans, Bacon, Whisky, and Lard. “We pray to Almighty Darkseid! Give us a sign! Thumbs up, for the triumph of the human spirit! Thumbs down to begin the everlasting reign of darkness!” “Where did you find this guy?” “Me? I thought you hired him.” OOC: Yup, nature, arcana, history, investigation and religon at +6. MJ got baked and watched the Discovery Orb a lot. Tordek: "But we have a cleric, Jozan, over there." Strahd: *sigh* Snaps fingers, and suddenly one of Strahd's brides sucks Jozan out the window, cue screaming. "Oh look, you suddenly have an opening, how fortunate." Tordek: "We also have a druid...." Vadania: "SHUT UP, TORDEK!" Edmund: "I think the first order of business may be to discuss your Human Resources strategy..." Strahd: "I have a guy for that too."

"When someone as smart as him talks with himself, it's not crazy...They call it monologing." "I thought it was soliloquy?" "No, soliloquy is when you're talk at someone else when your talking to yourself." "Most people would run from a demon, you run towards it to study it." Professor: "THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING! A FROGHEMOTH, AND RIGHT UP CLOSE, IT WILL BE AMAZING TO SEE THIS PERFECT KILLING MACHINE IN ACTION." OOC: Also note the Professor is Lawful Good, Archie is Chaotic Good, so collectively they balance out to Neutral good. OOC: That's good. "The incinerations will continue until morale improves!" “You never incinerate the women!” “Because I’m fucking them!” “I… was not expecting you to be so honest about that…”

"You got what you wanted....but you lost what you had...." "Yes, I'm familiar with how capitalism works."

OOC: Dragons are like, “That’s Krandor the shiney. He only fucks other dragons. Weirdo.”

Gorbash: "D'awww, so tiny... perfect size... FOR PUNTING!" *boots tiny mind-flayer into the horizon*

"Dracula hasn't been spotted in almost recently. Whats he gonna do, destroy all we know and love like he definitely can?" "... my god you people are too stupid to live." "What are you doing in my house?" Gorbash: "...well Edmund has been reading your books, I've been sorting through your armory, Nyx and Irost has been going through your other shinies, Marshal has been cleaving anything monstrous that gets too close, and Jonni has been lighting things on fire to stave off boredom." Gorbash: "Okay Marshal, Jonni. Rock, paper, scissors over who gets [to kill] the bishop."

Jonni: "Did you really think this would make up for what you did?" Nima: "I… killed everyone you grew up with." Jonni: "Yeah, and I’m still not forgiving you for what you did to Eddie." Nima: "I am missing some key context here…" Nima: "Also I committed identity theft on you by having my new undead army tell everyone you are running the show." Jonni: "Oh, no. You’ve fooled the boar tribe. Who still haven’t figured out shitting in a hole." Nima: "Yeah I noticed that. I ruined two pairs of shoes attacking their camps."

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #252: DECIDING FACTOR!

February, 1985

Who on Earth is strong enough to smash Hercules? Hint: there’s two of them!

Well I have my guess but I happened to guess right so I won’t be sharing. Let’s sayyyyyyyy.... Más y Menos.

Its very rude of DCAU’s Más y Menos to be picking on Hercules. Maybe sí podemos but that doesn’t mean ustedes should.

Anyway.

Last times on Avengers, Vision walked through a null field created by Annihilus and promptly fell in a robot coma and had to be put in a tube. He regained consciousness and Starfox hooked him up to the Titan supercomptuer ISAAC after which Vision started behaving oddly. When half of the Avengers got back from Secret Wars, Vision convinced Wasp to step down as chairman and nominate him. He’s created a second branch of the team in California under Hawkeye’s leadership. He’s pushed the president into making the Avengers chair a member of the Cabinet. He hid Starfox’s secret sexy power from the rest of the team. And just last issue, it was revealed that Vision and ISAAC have built a take-over-the-world-for-its-own-good device with Vision only lacking the will to pull the trigger on it.

So, uh, stuff is afoot.

Vision stuff. And, oddly enough, Doc Sampson stuff.

Vision is very impressed on seeing what seems to be Doc Sampson’s demo reel and offers him membership in the Avengers.

Doc Sampson turns him down because he doesn’t see himself as hero material and he already accepted an offer to join the faculty of Northwestern University.

Vision: “That needn’t rule you out, doctor! What would you say to heading a new, Midwestern branch of the Avengers? I should think you’re make an excellent group leader!”

Wow, Vision. You’re coming on a little strong there.

Midwest Avengers seems like the kind of thing that would be made up to spoof the expansion team idea, kinda like the Great Lakes Avengers of later. But if Vision seems desperate to get Doc Sampson to join the Avengers, well I think he is desperate.

Vision talked to ISAAC of his frustrations on trying to spread the power and influence of the Avengers. He has his take-over-the-world-for-its-own-good device but he doesn’t seem to want to use it. So he’s trying to repeat the trick with the West Coast Avengers. Sign up more and more Avengers. If you told this era of Vision about the 50 State Initiative, he’d be all over it.

But Doc Sampson turns him down. For the best. God only knows who Vision would have finagled into being on the Midwest Avengers in Chicago.

Doc Sampson: I wonder if I made a mistake in turning down the Vision’s offer? Being part of such a team would have given me an opportunity to observe some highly unusual psyches up close. But, no... I could hardly maintain an impartial detachment in such a situation.

Yeah. A Doc Sampson led Chicago-branch would have been an implosion waiting to happen. And Sampson will get his chance to pick the brains of a superhero team later with X-Factor. He does not maintain an impartial detachment.

On his way out, Starfox very much wants to discuss this newspaper headline. As he’s from a more advanced space civilization that doesn’t have prejudice probably, this is very baffling to him.

He hasn’t been on Earth long enough to learn that “ANTI-MUTANT FEAR GRIPS U.S.” is Tuesday.

I wonder if it corresponds to anything going on in the X-books. I tried to look it up but the same month as this issue, X-Men was doing a Kulan Gath thing.

Anyway, Vision and Doc Sampson agree that anti-mutant fear gripping things is bad and could tear society apart.

So in case anyone was ever wondering: the Avengers officially think anti-mutant fear is whack.

Anyway, on the mansion’s back patio, Captain America and Scarlet Witch are just having some old friend hangout time.

It’s a nice moment, really.

Wanda is drinking tea and Cap is just sketching her because they’re comfortable enough friends to hang out in a tea sketch party.

Anyway, Cap is also familiar enough with Wanda to know that she’s well vexed.

And she admits that she’s well vexed by two things. Of course, by the new wave of anti-mutant phobia because it really seems like a cruel cycle where every time people seem like they’re chilling out or there’s a swell of tolerance, it just gets yanked back. A cruel yo-yo of intolerance.

Also, its happening when she’s having personal trouble with Vision. He’s keeping secrets and he has some really extreme moods.

Scarlet Witch: “One moment he’ll be friendly and open, and the next he’ll get so remote!”

I wonder if its possible for Hank Pym’s bipolar disorder to have skipped a generation and somehow been inherited by Vision. That’s entirely not how anything works but I dunno. That sounds like Hank.

Since Cap has been wondering about Vision’s behavior (he and Monica Marvel had a discussion about it in the previous issue, remember?), he agrees to go talk to Vision.

Vision is having solemn thoughts in the mansion’s library, having been upset by the Daily Bugle that Starfox was waving around.

Vision: The world is beset by so much strife. Humanity cries out for peace... Yearns for life and prosperity... but in the end it denies itself that which it most desires! Mankind might never put aside its prejudices. Too many have refused responsibility for their own actions. How can they be expected to save the world? And, yet, who am I -- a synthezoid, an artificial being -- to rail against men of flesh? My encephalatron command chair would give me the power to bring peace to the world... and yet I hesitate to use it! Can I find the courage... make the sacrifice necessary to use that power?

That’s when Cap wanders in to give Vision a talking to. A supportive, helpful talking to.

Since he assumes that what Vision has on his mind is the burdens of leadership, he confides that he knows how tough it can be to have to always make the right decision at a moment’s notice and that he’s here if Vision needs a sympathetic ear.

Vision admits that chairmanship isn’t what he expected. He’s not unaware of the strain that its putting on his marriage. Especially since he insisted that they rejoin the team when Wanda would have preferred to return to their civilian life in New Jersey.

Cap tells him just talk to her more, ya goof.

So this is a very nice conversation between friends and peers that Vision drops a bomb of a totally-a-hypothetical into.

Vision: “Cap, what would you do if you discovered that you could bring peace and prosperity to the entire world... but only at the cost of your personal well being, perhaps of your own existence?”

Cap: “What?!”

Vision: “We have all put our lives on the line many times to stop world-threatening menaces, but it occurs to me that we’ve seldom tried to do anything to cure the world of its ills.”

Cap: “We do what we can, Vision. There are no fast and simple ways to eliminate want or fear.”

Vision: “But what if there were a way to insure a lasting peace to the world, to bring about a new golden age? What if you could only bring it about by sacrificing yourself? What if you could make the world a paradise, but you could never enjoy it yourself? Could you do it?”

Cap: “It pains me to say this, Vision, but I honestly don’t know. I don’t believe I could know unless the situation actually presented itself. Life should never be given up lightly, but... if there were a way to truly save the world... I’d like to think that I’d make the sacrifice. But I’d have to be certain that it would work!”

Vision: “Yes... Yes, there could be no room for doubt.”

I do really like the slow unfolding of whatever Vision’s Supervillain Actually Its Well-Intentioned plan is. His doubts and how he poses a very specific hypothetical to Cap to see what The Iconic Avengers Leader thinks.

At this point my guess is that Vision is going to turn himself into a supercomputer like ISAAC to take over the world, for its own good. Since it was apparently inspired when he was plugged into a supercomputer and was running the mansion.

Anyway, Wanda runs in and interrupts the totally-a-hypothetical discussion with big, alarming news that their house from the Vision and Scarlet Witch series is on fire.

That’s rough.

By the time Wanda, Vision, and emotional support Captain America show up, the ire is unstoppable and the firefighters just let it burn down.

That’s rougher.

Later, Vision and Wanda pick through the smouldering rubble.

And worse of all, this wasn’t a random electrical or grease or magic fire. It was arson. And the arsonist even called the cops to make sure everyone knew it.

Scarlet Witch: “So! I should have known! The blind, unreasoning fools! Do I have to fight them for the rest of my life?!?” This is so maddening! Losing my temper won’t bring our house back... all I’ve done is frighten the neighbors. That’s always been the biggest problem in being a mutant... No one will let you act human.

=(

Some random bystanders basically gloat that the “weirdies are finally leaving” causing Captain America to go off.

Captain America: “For your information, mister, those ‘weirdies’ have saved your hide a dozen times over! They’ve fought and bled so you could have a home!”

Bystander: “N-now hold on, Cap! Me, I don’t have anything against ‘em... but why’d they have to move into my neighborhood? I mean, all our houses coulda caught fire from that blaze! This never woulda happened, if they hadn’t moved here!”

Captain America: “Mister, today somebody decided that he didn’t like mutants. Tomorrow, maybe someone will decide he doesn’t like blacks... or jews... or you! We’re all in this together. The American dream has to be there for everyone, or it can never truly work for anyone! It’s our duty to do everything we can to make sure it works!”

I doubt Bystander is very convinced. Maybe momentarily shamed. But in an hour he’ll be like “am I wrong about mutants? No, its the tolerant people who are wrong.”

But Vision... Vision has made up his mind.

Vision: ‘Do I have the right to take over the world for its own good?’

Vision: ‘Moral quandary resolved.’

The next morning, Vision has exciting new terrible news for the team. The US Army Corp of Engineers have dug up Thanos’ secret base in Arizona from his first appearance in Iron Man #55. And despite Vision protesting how dumb it is to poke unknown alien technology in hopes of finding a cool new weapon for America’s strategic arsenal, the Department of Defense is having the army poking unknown alien technology in hopes of finding a cool new weapon for America’s strategic arsenal.

Captain America: “Blazes! I believe in a strong defense as much as anyone, but the hardware Thanos used is way out of the army’s league!”

Starfox: “Perhaps more than even you can imagine, Cap! My brother Thanos was a ravager of worlds... he coveted power and worshiped death! His hidden base could well hold the means to rip this planet asunder!”

Cool, cool.

Man, I hate it when the US Army blew up the world in 1985 by poking alien gewgaws.

Anyway, Vision did manage to talk the government into allowing a small group of Avengers to act as advisers.

Instead of rounding up scientific geniuses slash superheroes like they did for Bruce Banner’s lab, Vision just selects everyone he has handy.

He says he’d like to assign the West Coast Avengers (who in fairness do have two scientific experets - Mockingbird and Wonder Man, kinda) but they’re busy with an off-panel mission in the Pacific. Just because they don’t have a book doesn’t mean they stop doing stuff.

So instead Vision selects Captain America, Hercules, Scarlet Witch, and Starfox (who in fairness is a great choice since he knows space science and Thanos) and sends them off.

Yeah. Vision is totally going to get up to stuff while they’re gone.

This foreboding is enhanced when Captain Marvel shows up and Vision tells her he has a special assignment for her.

Vision: “Our deep space monitor has picked up some disturbing signals -- that seems to be emanating from Sanctuary II, the starship which once belonged to the mad Thanos! After the arch-fiend’s final defeat, we left his ship to drift beyond the orbit of Pluto!”

Since she’s the fastest Avenger he asks her to leave at once, fly out to the ship to check it out, and then report back.

So. Light is the fastest thing, the speed limit of the universe. Give or take tachyons which are FTL and also hypothetical. And I don’t know if Captain Marvel can turn into tachyons. Point being, the speed of light is really friggin fast but the universe is really friggin big. Even something as ‘close’ as our solar backyard where Pluto is located is 4.9 billion miles away and takes light 4.6 hours to get there from Earth.

He is definitely getting Captain Marvel out of the way where even her nyoom will take a while to get back.

The Vision slowly stalks through the corridors of Avengers Mansion. On the second floor, he pauses before the door of the quarters he for so long shared with his wife... recalling past joys and sorrows. And then, he moves on -- solemnly descending the grand staircase, as if for the final time.

O_O

Uh...... plus side is that he gives Jarvis the day off to take his mother to Montauk Point!

I just like seeing Jarvis in Avengers.

He’s always around but only occasionally seen.

My god. His vacation clothes though.

Of course, Vision being nice to Jarvis who deserves good things is only partially because Jarvis is a cool guy who deserves nice things.

Vision has managed at this point to clear everyone out of the mansion and he locks the doors behind Jarvis so that NO ONE CAN INTERRUPT WHAT HE MUST DO.

Meanwhile, team ‘prevent the military from doing anything stupid’ arrives in Arizona and at the site of Thanos’ former base.

Huh. I was half and half on whether Vision was just making shit up to get the Avengers out of the house but I guess something really is going on.

Makes sense. If they went there and found nothing, they’d return too soon.

I wonder if there’s something really going on with Thanos’ ship Sanctuary II too.

If so, was it just a great coincidence that Vision had two different emergencies he could divert the team with the day after he decided to go through with his plan or is it just the Avengers’ lot that there’s constantly emergencies going on and he had his pick of them?

Anyway. Colonel Farnam of the US Army is convinced that they have everything under control at Operation: Prize Package and don’t need any Avengers supervision.

Colonel Farnam: “If we can figure out how just a fraction of this gear works, the United States will never again need fear an enemy power!”

Captain America: “I’m told that similar sentiment was expressed following the development of the crossbow, Colonel.”

Nice sass, Cap.

But, like, the instant that the Avengers are escorted inside the base, Starfox spots some technicians messing with a machine to see what it does and they tell him to screw off when he tells them not to mess with things they don’t understand.

Starfox: “GET AWAY FROM THERE!”

Scientist: “What are you, crazy?! We’ve spent twelve hours trying to goose this transmitter to life... we’re not going to stop now!”

He has to drag them away from a sudden energy surge as the machine activates by itself with a programmed homing signal that will bring Something to the base.

Colonel Farnam: “Now hold it right there, Avenger! Only my men are authorized to monkey with these machines!”

Starfox: “Colonel, I was raised among machiens such as these! If I can’t fix these settings, your men don’t stand a chance!”

Colonel Farnam: “I don’t care if you were raised in... GOOD LORD!”

Geez. It may have been partially a ruse to get the Avengers out of the house but its a good thing Vision sent the Avengers here. The US Army was clearly going to doom the world unsupervised.

GOOD JOB RANDOM SCIENTISTS

NOW HERCULES IS GETTING HIS ASS KICKED

IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED, YOU MONSTERS??

Anyway, the Blood Brothers are some Thanos minions from early days. Weird that they never showed up for the MCU. Like, look, they didn’t need to be part of the Black Order. They don’t have the theme naming.

But these two dinguses would have made great antagonists in one of the earlier movies.

Though Starfox and Hercules get wrecked for being the nearest to the Blood Brothers when they appear, Cap and Scarlet Witch do better for being slightly forewarned.

Captain America can do the backflips to keep from getting punched and Wanda’s do anything powers are as helpful as always.

Meanwhile, back at Avengers Mansion, Dane Whitman (sometimes the Black Knight, sometimes just exhausted), arrives and tries to use his old Avengers ID card to enter.

The security system does not like that.

Anyway, back in Arizona, Starfox rejoins the fight. That’s good.

Wanda tries to do her patented ‘all oxygen play keep away from this guy’ move on one of the Blood Brothers but his super strength lets him slam the ground to break Wanda’s concentration.

The other Blood Brother tries to strangle Captain America who got knocked into a pile of rubble but Hercules emerges from underneath the rubble to do that greatest of comic book tropes.

Ah, grievous harm with a body. How I love you.

But though the Blood Brothers heads are hard enough to knock each other out, the fight did do some lasting damage.

TO MY PERCEPTION OF HERCULES!

When the Blood Brothers beat the shit out of Hercules at the beginning of the fight, they apparently tore his Hercules skirt.

And Hercules isn’t wearing anything under his Hercules skirt.

So the other three Avengers get to see Hercules’ mighty adamantine mace, so to speak.

That’s all well and good.

Except its not!

Hercules? Being ashamed of public nudity??

That doesn’t sound like the Hercules I know!

Tsk tsk, how retroactively out of character! Annnnd possibly not retroactively? Didn’t he compete in the original Olympics which were no pants allowed?

You’ve corrupted him, modern society!

Anyway.

Captain America starts yelling at the colonel because if the Avengers hadn’t been here, it would have been a major disaster.

Captain America: “You were warned -- Washington was warned -- that something like this could happen! But those warnings were almost totally ignored!”

But back at Avengers Mansion, Dane Whitman wakes up and sees this argument being broadcast on a jumbo screen.

Vision: “People never listen to those who know better! I shall have to change all that!”

Vision: “Hello, Dane. I’m sorry you had to be incapacitated. But your arrival was most unexpected... and I really can’t afford any interruptions now! You see, I have to save humanity from itself!”

Something about you seems different, Vision.

Did you become one with the universe? It’s a pretty popular move.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because whoa what huh? Vision what? Also, like and reblog. Its necessary to save humanity from itself.

[polyamorousmisanthrope]

Participating in Cheating

http://polyamorousmisanthrope.com/wordpress/2014/07/24/participating-in-cheating/

I am a woman who is a solo polyamorist.  I experienced a painful break-up with a FWB over a year ago, and I took it very hard (I have never taken this long to get over a break-up before), so I’ve been a poly without any relationships for a long time.  Over the past six months or so, I’ve become tired of my loneliness and feeling ready to get back in the love game – but I am not interested in a “primary type” of relationship.  I like being solo and having slightly more casual parameters to my relationships, though that doesn’t mean I don’t want them to be loving and caring.  I just value my alone time, too

Anyway, now that I have been putting the “available” vibe on, it seems I keep attracting married men who would be cheating on their spouses. I don’t know what to do.

I used to date married men years ago, when I was much younger.  I know what it’s like, and I used to justify what I was doing in many ways.  But now that I practice poly – you know, everything is supposed to be above board and totally honest. However, I can’t help but wonder if it really is so bad to be someone’s mistress, in certain circumstances.  I am lonely and an introvert.  I don’t meet available guys very often, and have never been attracted to anyone at my local poly group’s gatherings.  I want a lover/casual relationship, not a boyfriend to be closely intertwined in my life, so dating someone that I can only see once every week or two works fine for me.  If I have a couple of casual partners like that, it would be my version of poly heaven.  If I’m also a relationship anarchist, is my partner’s choice to cheat really my responsibility?  Aren’t relationships supposed to be on our own terms?

If staying in an unhappy marriage would hurt him, and coming clean about affairs or wanting to open the marriage would hurt her, what is to be done?  There are two guys I cannot stop thinking about.  I know they both want to have affairs with me.  Doing so fits into my life, and I can’t be sure that their wives would be hurt by their cheating, can I?  I kissed one of them, and got naked and fooled around with the other (no intercourse).  I know that there are many married, monogamous wives who assume their husbands will eventually cheat and would rather not know for sure.  It seems a relationship is starting with the one I got naked with, but we’re still getting to know each other.

I would like to get some logical perspectives from other poly peeps on being involved with a cheater, on both sides – meaning other than the usual poly view that all cheaters are as evil as Hitler.  I am in a quandary because of both societal expectations surrounding marriage, and the influence of poly dogma over the last four years since I embraced polyamory.  I feel that it is important to make my choices based on reason and my own ethics, rather than what others tell me I should do.  I just would like some insights from others that perhaps I haven’t yet seen.  Thanks, in advance, for any words of wisdom you can offer.

If you’re asking for compassion, yeah, that’s all yours. I can summon that.            

Approval? Logical permission to participate in cheating?

No. I’m sure that a reader or two of mine would be able to do so, but I’m going to tell you now, that we’d be coming from very different ethical systems.

This isn’t about open=good and cheating=Hitler, honest no kidding.

This is about ethics and who and what you are as a human being, and who you want to be. Where are your principles based? Really, what’s ethically important to you? What are the principles on which base your actions? This is less about polyamory and what sort of human being you are going to consciously choose to be.

No-one can do this for you, and there are going to be people who will choose to judge you harshly no matter what choice you make. There really are people in this world who, because I do not believe in monogamy, consider me so morally bankrupt that I’m worthy of nothing more than a death by torture. That’s not hyperbole, but is a real thing you can find in news stories less than six months old.  

So, what are you doing? What do you want to be about and why? Think hard about it, because this is a big question.

You asked if your partner’s choice to cheat is your responsibility. Of course, it isn’t. But I don’t give a damn how introverted you are (and I’m pretty far out there on the introvert scale, myself) you don’t live in a vacuum. The behavior I am most ashamed of in my life, the worst choices I have ever made, were when I allowed myself to be intimately involved with people whose ethical standards were not in harmony with the person I wanted to be. No, it’s not anyone else’s fault I chose to behave the way I did. That’s on me, forever and always. But I can tell you that it is astronomically easier to live up to your own standards when you surround yourself with people who also share those values.

Now, I’ve gone all into values and stuff, and that’s really important. But here’s my reason for not participating in cheating. I’ve done it in the past and I’ve decided I don’t want to. Sure, sure, lofty principles and all, but there’s another, utterly base and selfish reason I don’t.

If you get involved with a cheater, you already have proof this person is utterly comfortable lying to get what he wants, and that his desires in the moment are more important than any long-term commitment. He’s also proven he will not negotiate openly and honestly in a difficult or emotionally risky situation, or he would have tried to have a discussion with his wife about open relationships. If he wants something from you, he will lie to you to get it. If there’s information you think you should have that would be painful or risky to give you, you won’t get it.  He doesn’t think you’re special enough to treat you differently in the long run. He’s already proven that. I’m chicken. That sort of thinking scares the bajeebers out of me, so I don’t go there.

[entamewitchlulu]

1 give me the salt lulu

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

see, the thing is? most of the time I DO get it. even my absolute NOTP (coughhostagecough) I get why people are interested in it, even if it’s not my cup of tea and i have my own hang ups about it.  I’m so invested in writing for rare pairs and teasing out possible interactions from few to no nuggets of interaction that I do understand why people are interested in and enjoy certain ships, even if i personally hate them.

but there is just one that i am never ever going to understand where it even came from or why people considered these personalities meshing and like. not to bash on the people making content because you do you and all and i’m glad you’re enjoying yourself but i just. i don’t get it. nothing about it makes sense to me, and the work is all lovely but i just. i can’t begin to fathom how it even came together. and i’m going to hide the ship inside this very long and intense paragraph so that as few people who may be distressed by it can leave and this is your last warning before i name it but the ship is k//aito/ru//ri and now i will continue to babble in order to further hide the ship name from people who do not wish to see the salt and i just do not understand because their personalities do not in any way shape or form make sense to me at all and any time i see work i’m just left in a state of not dislike i don’t dislike it it’s just this strange, deepseated confusion where i can’t even begin to find the edges of the threads that brought us here, it’s not like trying to bring together two magnet poles that oppose each other and repel because they’re not necessarily utterly opposing forces, it’s just kind of like the feeling you get when you dump one chemical into another and you expect SOMETHING to happen, you expect an explosion or for the two to separate like oil and water or at the very LEAST you expect some precipitate to form out of it but instead they both just sit there, very inert, completely neutral, and i think i’ve babbled long enough and probably instead of hiding the ship in question i’ve only served to upset or at the very least annoy anyone who enjoys this ship so let me respond once again that i have no moral or ethical quandary with this relationship it just boggles and confuses me like a math equation somehow written in another language even though numbers are universal and it’s a very confusing experience anyway that’s it thank you for the ask

[ammeh7]

7KPP Week 2019 - Day 4

Letters || Learning

When you were 15 your schedule became so filled, your parents insisted you only had time to continue studies with one of your tutors. 

One of my headcanons about my nerdy SP Ambrine is that going into the Summit, she’s best known internationally for having broken down crying when her parents made her give up her tutors at 15 (the other countries clearly have Opinions on how Arland treats its women, royal tutors were certainly often important enough to go back and spread gossip in their home courts, and who could resist the urge to gossip about how tragic and oppressive your termination was?), so I just had to write that scene for the Learning prompt!

“But—” This can’t be happening. All of them?

Her father shakes his head. “I won’t repeat myself, Ambrine. We’ve indulged you on this, but you need to focus your attention on matters that will prove useful to your future nation.”

“As a Princess of Arland, there are certain expectations you need to meet,” her mother adds. “Expectations that we have been remiss in allowing you to neglect. At your age, Constance was far more prepared for marriage.”

She understands everything they’re not saying aloud. She has a great deal to compensate for—she’s taller than is considered becoming of a lady, of a height with some of the men in her father’s court. Her face has been called expressive, pleasant, even handsome, but never beautiful or pretty by any but the most transparent of sycophants. Her waist-length curls look lovely when her maids have finished with her, but muss up at the slightest provocation.

She knows the steps to all the formal dances, but she can’t flow into them, can’t float across a room or make artistry of her motions. She knows all the polite little things to say in conversation, but she sometimes catches herself staring off into space, and it doesn’t matter that she can repeat their last several sentences verbatim, people think she’s ignoring them. Sometimes she even is, her mind running off without her consent.

She’s too forward, has been told that her attempts at being charming cross some inscrutable line into flirtatious. Sometimes she talks too long, or makes leaps in conversation that only make sense to her. At times she misses cues that everyone else seems perfectly capable of reading, and blurts something out at the wrong time, or stands around like an idiot because she didn’t realize she was supposed to leave.

But surely she can improve on all that without giving up all her tutors.

“I—of course I’ll gladly learn whatever skills I need to fulfill my duty,” she says. “But—is it truly necessary that I completely abandon my other lessons to do so? Being well-rounded would surely make me a more appealing bride. I’m certain we could reduce the length or frequency of my current lessons—” she looks over at her tutors, gathered off to the side, for confirmation, and gets some encouraging nods. “It would force me to learn to accomplish more with my time, which is a skill I’m sure would serve me and my future household well.”

The idea of giving up all her lessons is horrifying. Her math tutor, Lady Sumie, has been teaching her the most beautiful patterns with shapes, how to calculate all sorts of measurements from the merest scraps of information. She’d promised that next they’d move onto the art of formal proofs practiced in Jiyel, had already sent for books on the topic. Her ethics and philosophy instructor, Sir Vincent, has lately taken to holding their lessons in the form of lively debates that leave her energized for hours.

Perhaps she can learn from books about the period where Corval split from the old Revairan empire, but her history tutor Mistress Pembrey brings so much more life to the telling. There are entire realms of the natural sciences she’s yet to cover with Master Brelton. She’s finally at the point where vocabulary is her main barrier to conversing in Jiyelian, and she’s barely even started learning Skaltic. It’s not as if it’s unlikely she might need to know those languages someday; that’s half of her options! And—and—the adjective declensions in Skaltic are fascinating, and she’s only just starting to get the hang of it…

“Of course you’ll continue some of your lessons,” her mother assures. “Lady Clemence tells me you still have much to learn about Revairan and Wellish ballroom and dining etiquette.”

“What of mathematics? Rhetoric? History? Language?” she asks, distress breaking her voice and making her inquiry far more abrupt than intended. “Surely those skills are just as important as my comportment at balls.”

Her father frowns. “Watch your tongue, Ambrine.”

Her mother raises a single finger. “I will allow you to continue one additional area of study. You may choose rhetoric or history. I know what you’ve been covering in your mathematics lessons of late, and it’s far outside the skills needed by a lady in your position. You need to be able to manage finances, not…design aqueducts.” Her nose twitches in a way that suggests she would be wrinkling it had she not trained herself out of such indelicate gestures. “You can learn your new country’s language after you’re married should that prove necessary. And allowing you to study the sciences at all was an indulgence, one that I am now regretting.”

She knows that, that’s why she didn’t mention them…

“It’s most important that you focus on polishing yourself and familiarizing yourself with the peerage of the other kingdoms,” the Queen continues with a firm look. “Your other studies are becoming a distraction.”

“But—” She feels tears welling up. “I’m sure I could balance it all if you’d just allow me to try—” Her voice cracks.

“Ambrine!” her father snaps. “Decorum!”

She shouldn’t cry. She’s making a scene in front of her parents, and all her tutors are here, and Lady Sumie is such a terrible gossip, and she’ll be going back to Jiyel, and—oh, she’ll be going back to Jiyel! The loud sob she’s been fighting down breaks free.

“History, please,” she chokes out, clutching at that boon before they retract the offer in the face of such unseemliness. “Master Amari has been missing his family in Corval and might appreciate the opportunity to return to them.”

Sobs continue to escape as she thinks of everyone she’ll be losing. Master Amari, whose tales of Corval were the closest she could feel to Constance. Master Brelton, who can’t stay on topic to save his life but always has something fascinating to share. Lady Sumie, who makes art out of numbers and finds it endearing when Ambrine unconsciously finds new and exciting ways to sit in her chair…who uses the cover of their Jiyelian lessons to share the most outrageous gossip. Sir Vincent, who likes to present moral quandaries that make her want to tear her hair out, always has a cup of strong tea waiting to help her focus. Mistress Nemar, her music tutor, who has yet to give Ambrine a straight answer on why she learned Skaltic.

There’s still so much she could learn from them.

She feels wicked for even thinking it, but if she were only expected to attend mass weekly like the peasants do, instead of every morning, she’d surely have time to continue another area of study. She knows better than to even consider voicing the thought, pushes it down like she’s attempting to push down the completely inappropriate weeping that’s overcome her.

“Very well,” her mother says stiffly, obviously mortified at the display she’s making. “I’ll also be informing Lady Clemence that you’re in need of additional tutelage on your comportment.”

And that was that.

--

“Does that say…Sumie Lian?” Ambrine asks, squinting across the table at the latest mathematical treatise that’s just arrived in the mail for Lyon.

Lyon nods, gathers it up and hands it to her. “Yes. You know her?”

“She was…my tutor, up until I was 15. Mathematics and Jiyelian. She was probably my favorite, in retrospect, though at the time I was just upset to lose all of them”

“I heard. You cried.”

She flushes. With his general lack of interest in social affairs, she’d been hoping there was some way that story wouldn’t reach him.

“I didn’t understand why, though,” he adds.

“Why I cried?”

“Why they thought you should stop learning.”

“They just…decided I was done. Needed to stop filling my head with ‘useless’ things and focus on husband acquisition.”

Lyon snorts. “That’s stupid. Any person with sense would appreciate an educated partner.”

“That’s what I told them!” Ambrine exclaims, feeling righteously vindicated, 4 years late.

“Did you want to invite her over?” Lyon segues abruptly, nodding at the treatise. “You…should have friends over when you want to. And I wouldn’t mind an opportunity to ask her some questions about her writings on the nature of infinity.”

Right. That’s…a thing she can do, now.

“I’d love to.”

And that’s that.

(For folks who picked up on it, yes, Ambrine has ADHD.)

[howtohero]

Removing Someone’s Powers

Sometimes you meet a person who has superpowers and you just find yourself thinking “hey, I don’t think that person should have powers.” Maybe they’re a supervillain who keeps using their powers for evil. Maybe they’re a small child who simply should not be able to turn into a ball of fire whenever something doesn’t go their way. Maybe they’re a huge jerk who keeps using their teleportation abilities to prank you which is a huge jerk move. So you decide to just... take their powers away from them. Can we do that? Is that a thing?

Deciding to remove a person’s powers is no simple thing. It presents a complex ethical quandary. Superpowers are an important part of a person, taking them away, especially without their consent, could be like removing an arm or a kidney or something. Now, if you’re the Arm-Hacking Kidney Stealer of Detroit, valiant defend of Montreal (protip: If you’re gonna put a city in your codename, don’t make it the city that you’re from. This way you’ll throw off the bad guys and protect your secret identity.) this is nothing new to you, you’ve already performed the mental gymnastics required to rationalize that to yourself. So go on right ahead. For the rest of you though you’ll need to do some math. How many people are threatened by this person continuing to have their powers? if they’re just pranking you then you need to come up with another solution. But if they’re threatening all of existence then you might be morally obligated to step in. Or maybe you’re not? Maybe you need to continue to search for another solution. 

Another way of looking at this issue is not through the lens that superpowers are a part of a person that they have an unassailable right to, but rather that they’re like dangerous weapons that need to be regulated. Perhaps it would be criminally irresponsible for the authorities to allow a known felon to walk around with acid hands or drill fangs. Maybe it is the duty of those in power to keep the rest of the populace safe from these people. Several governments have commissioned the development of  superpower suppressing or removing technologies or procedures. In rogue states, or countries where the head of state is literally a supervillain, this technology could be used as a powerful weapon to keep the populace in check and to keep superheroes from other countries at bay. This is, obviously, incredibly dangerous, which is why such technology is heavily regulated and closely guarded in countries where it has been developed. But still, is it right to even create such things? Knowing that they will be used to permanently alter a person’s genetic makeup against their will?

Another option you have it to temporarily suppress the person’s powers instead of permanently removing them. We’ve spoken in the past about power-suppressing handcuffs which many law enforcement agencies use to subdue superpowered criminals. Commonly when they’re transferred to a superhuman prison the cells are lined with power suppressing technologies so they can have full use of their hands and whatnot if they need to scratch their nose or furiously bang on the door while demanding release. However, this is not a fool proof solution either. Some people need their powers to be active to live comfortably. If you suppress an immortal person’s powers they may find themselves rapidly aging or dying depending on the nature of their immortality. Certain anthropomorphic animals, such as Super Hamster or alternate dimension visitor, Bunderclap, have been turned into dumb animals as a result of power suppressing. There are people who might find themselves crippled or at the mercy of deadly diseases were it not for their superpowers. I’m pretty sure that if Power Jones, the man with one million powers, was ever placed in an environment where he couldn’t use any of his powers he would definitely die. I’m like eighty percent sure he doesn’t know how to do anything without powers. He might actually technically be dead, being kept alive only by his nigh unlimited powers. 

Certain powers also become more difficult to suppress or contain than others. Superhumans who have weapons as part of their anatomy, such as catapult fingers or literal shoulder blades, can’t just be slapped in cuffs to negate their powers. Other heroes such as Power Pod or Whirlpool, who are made of liquid, or Ghost Guy or Jonathan Lockhorn, who are incorporeal spirits, also cannot simply be placed in cuffs. Ghost Guy actually was placed in power suppressing cuffs for a bit after he was caught infiltrating an Armada facility which led to him actually coming back to life and joining Armada as an agent codenamed Ghost for a bit but those were the ‘90s and things were weird back then. 

Then you have para-folks such a sewer mutants or werewolves whose species have natural abilities that are akin to superpowers. Their powers cannot be removed without forever changing their lives and cutting them off from their families and communities. Not to mention the fact that most para-folk are not even evil or criminals and that developing ways to alter their physiology would no doubt lead to many of them having their lives forever changed by bigots for absolutely no reason.

One of the examples we gave in our intro was superpowered children. Sure, at a glance it might seem smart to prevent a small child from being able to accidentally cause mass destruction. But suppressing their powers might not be the solution. Children’s powers are still developing and stunting this development could harm them in the long run. You’re better off just sending them to one of many superpower or magic schools that have been set up around the world to help children learn how to properly use their powers. (However don’t send them to the superhero school in Albany where Professor Mitch “Dummy Face” Fueller and Professor Leon “Loser Nerd” Von Iguanodon teach.) 

However, there are indeed sometimes when removing a person’s powers is actually the best course of action. People who are experiencing uncontrollable powers (that post did numbers so we’re officially going to start pandering to that crowd all the time) might actually want to have their powers removed. So it’s important that that option is available. There are also powers out there that are dangerous to their users, such as certain forms of super speed that speed up the user’s heart rate to incredibly dangerous speeds. There are also powers that are “evil” such as the power to kill anybody you touch, which a person might understandably want to get rid of. The trick is to know when such drastic measures are appropriate and when you’re better off searching for another solution to the issue at hand. 

At the end of the day, as a superhero, you know more about superpowers than the average person, you have them, you’ve fought people with them, and your adventures have brought you into contact with people and creatures across the galaxy, the multiverse, and even the afterlife who are in possession with fantastic powers. Which means that you have a responsibility to fight for the right of these people to keep their powers. You know how important superpowers are to people who have them, and you may even know firsthand what its like to have lost your powers. So it falls to you to lobby for imprisoned superhumans to keep their powers... unless they’re using them to prank you. Then you do what you need to do.

[stargirlrchive]

Wedding Season - James p.1

James Potter x Reader

masterlist ; prompt list

wedding season masterlist

word count : 966

disclaimer: (gif isn’t mine) mention of death! but like not too much but it ways in on this one and part 2 & drinking but like lightly?? !female reader!

authors note: i’d first like to say thank you for reading this! this series as a whole has been one of my favorites that i have ever written! i had a very hard time growing out of the slump i was in and thankfully this broke it, this is the 1st of 3 for James, but the 1st of 9 for the series! i hope you all enjoy reading this just as much as i enjoyed writing it, love you all <3

You knew it was coming, James had mumbled about the ring being hidden in his pant drawer after a night with the boys.

They had come home a bit intoxicated and James was a huge blabbermouth when it came to things like this.

So you were having a moral quandary, tell him and ruin whatever he was going to plan for the proposal, or let him do whatever it was he was going to do and let it eat you up inside.

So you did what any rational person would do, you hid for a while and avoided him to a certain extent. You did not want to have to break the excitement and effort he was putting into it but you also didn’t want to be around him because it made you feel bad for knowing. So it was a win-win situation for both.

Except it wasn’t, James was confused at the change in behavior and you were missing him.

It had been four days since James’ drunken confession and you were wrapped in a blanket, reading a muggle book you bought a few days ago. The door opened and Remus’ head popped in, “Can we talk?”

You nodded as he made his way inside, sitting across from you as he took the book from your hands, closing it as he sighed quietly.

“James has been a mess for the last days, what’s wrong?”

You sighed quietly as you avoided his eyes, “I know James is planning to propose and I feel so bad for knowing! I know James, and every time we walked about it he mentioned wanting to propose in a grand way, have me not expect it! Plus it’s only been a few months since they passed and I had noticed him happier, looking more alive every day and if I tell him the joy he was getting from this is going to be taken away. I miss him but now I know, and every time I look at him my insides feel like they’re on fire because I feel bad.”

“Do you want to him to propose?”

“Of course I do, Remus. I can’t wait for that to happen. I just feel so bad that he’s going to think I didn’t see it coming when I did.”

“If I’m being honest with you (Y/N) I don’t thing he’d care that you knew. I think he just misses you and wants to spend the rest of his life with you.”

The conversation you had with Remus sparked something in you and you were up quickly, making your way outside of the room to find James. You quickly made your way into your bedroom and James was laying down, eyes closed and his arms over his eyes.

You lie down besides him and let your head rest against his chest as you tangled your fingers with his.

He looked down at you and you could feel yourself growing shy under his stare,

“Hi.”

He remained quiet and you sighed softly, sitting up to face him.

“I’ve been avoiding you because I know you were going to propose.”

He sat up quickly and his brows inched closer to each other as he tried to process what you were telling him.

“You hadn’t been yourself months prior, you were finally getting back to how you were and when you came back from your night out with Sirius and Remus you told me about the ring and where it was at. I’ve been avoiding you because I didn’t want to tell you that I knew, but I also felt bad not telling you, so I hid away and I’m sorry. I missed you too much and my conversation with Remus made me miss you even more so I just needed to tell you I know.”

He sighed quietly but pulled you towards him, pressing his lips lightly to yours as he got up and walked towards his pant drawer.

“I had plans to ask you today, so I’m just going to do it.”

He had muttered a quiet ‘accio roses’ and a large bundle of roses appeared at his side, his cheeks resembling them identically as he reached out for your hand.

“These past few months have been very hard for me, you’ve stuck with me through every hardship I’ve had, and I knew mum adored you. The first time I brought you over she told me you’d be the one I was going to marry. We were only sixteen then. When they passed everything around me was very clouded, dark and the only thing that was guiding me through it was you. I already knew it was you I wanted to spend the rest of my life with but this set it in stone. I planned today to be the day I proposed because it was my parents wedding anniversary, I was hoping if you’d say yes we’d get married in exactly a years time.”

You could feel the tears falling down rapidly and you wiped them away, your eyes locked onto James and he sent you a small smile, “So will you marry me?”

Before it processed your mind you had jumped on him, making the two of you fall down onto the bed as you pressed kisses all along his face, “Of course I’ll marry you James Fleamont Potter.”

He flipped to two of you over as he pressed his lips to yours, pulling himself flush against you as your fingers tangled through his hair.

After you pulled away he grabbed your hand lightly, pressing a kiss to it as he slipped the ring on gently. “The ring was mum’s she gave it to me almost a year ago and I’ve been carrying it around, just waiting for the perfect time to ask.”

(to be continued...)

taglist : @siriusoricns @moonlitdiggory @snarledblack @dyngflwrs @siriusement @snufflesblack @writingblot @blackslotus 

wedding season taglist: (tagging people who have expressed interest in the series <3) @astertist @amarauder @wizardwritings @benbarnes-world @astralstephen

[vagrantblvrd]

I would love to play a game that’s just side quests. 

Like, sure, let there be a plot and whatnot? Some Ancient Horror or whatever on the horizon that only the Protagonist can stop, lest the world fall in shadow for all eternity?

But you’re just a commoner with no outstanding or remarkable qualities. Very average all around and content with your lot in life.

You just go around fulfilling side quests.

Someone’s goats got out and you end up travelling all over the countryside because damn, those things are fast. You need to collect the shards of a legendary weapon and then journey across vast deserts and whatnot to bring them to the only blacksmith skilled enough to reforge said legendary weapon. 

When you get there you find out that they require a certain ore that can only be found in one place in the entire kingdom and only on a certain night, because dude is just that extra.

All the other assorted side quests to be found in any game ever, that’s all you do.

The Protagonist outsources a few to you too, offers some trite words of inspiration and goes back to their Great Quest while you look for fuckin’ three leaf clovers or some shit for them.

No impossible choices that show your True Character to be made, no goddamn moral quandaries to find yourself in.(Why the hell would there be when you’re tracking down the pages of someone’s journal that were tossed about on the wind or digging for magical clay?)

The world changes based on your decisions meaning people notice if you prefer ale over wine at taverns and make sure to keep your favorites in stock. You like bows over swords, so the weapons seller focuses on that. You like to dabble in magic so someone opens up a shop selling magical supplies and ingredients, and so on and so on.

All you do is side quests and you can befriend animals along the way to act as your traveling companion. All the horses you could ever hope for and some baby dragon that attaches itself to you and defies its parents to remain with the nice human (whatever race you want to be) who gives the best scritches and shares delicious treats. 

That wolf you saved from a trap becomes your loyal friend and guardian, bringing you fresh meat when you make camp for the night that you share. (Other cool animals such as big cats and foxes and owls, snake and whatever else, you name it.)

That’s it. That’s the game. Eventually the Protagonist saves the world (with the legendary sword you had reforged for them), and you’re grateful so you go to where they’ve decided to call home and gift them with a bolt of the finest silks in all the lands crafted from the silk you gathered that one time. Offer them a rare gem you found in the caves where you harvest rare glowing mushrooms for a spell. Let them have the pick of the orphan kittens your animal companion discovered on your journey to thank the Protagonist.

And then you continue on your way to map the continent, and everything it good because the word is saved and your animal companion(s) is by your side.You have steady work because there will always be small tasks no one cares to deal with themselves that you enjoy doing.

Just.

That game, I want it.

Edited: Because it would be a very different game indeed if you were helping the antagonist instead of the protagonist. /o\

[5questions]

Peter BD

as the young man gazed up at the eclipse

he thought

“damn, i’m looking at

the

eclipse”

So begins acclaimed poet Peter BD's dizzying journey into the depths of the textual Self, in which reflexive phrases play off one another like a thousand points of light shining through a fifth of cognac and illume the striving and conniving which defines our current moment. From treatises on chicken to the moral quandaries of Winona Ryder, touchstones of the Now seep through Peter's verse like osmosis like milk through lace like the blinking of your fifth eye. Buoyant humor and steely irony mix together to form a wild combination which goes down easy but lingers with you for the rest of the day.

BUY IT TODAY FROM INPATIENT PRESS

How many of your famous/infamous email letters have you sent out? By your estimation, what's the ratio of positive to negative feedback you have received (could also throw in neutral)? Or is it hard to categorize them as such? What are the most wild responses you have ever gotten? Define 'wild' as you will. 

i'm not sure how many stories i've emailed people. i've never kept count. in the beginning i'd write a lot of people things but don't do it now as much as i used to. all i can say is that it's probably a big number overall. or maybe not. sorry for not being able to answer this one. feedback to the stories is either positive, neutral or no response at all. i'd say it's about 60% positive and 40% neutral. this is just going on my responses in my inbox. i don't have any social media besides twitter so unsure what the overall reaction is, if there is any. no one really replies to me in a negative way. i remember one person corrected my grammar once which was funny. i think my most memorable negative response came from you. i sent you a 3 part email and here was your response: FUCK YOU ASSHOLE STOP SENDING ME YOUR FUCKING EMAILS ITS FUCKING FICTION I HATE YOU PEOPLE JUST KIDDING ABOUT ONE OF THOSE PARTS NOT ALL OF THEM FUCKING ASSHOLE I AM UNIMAGINATIVE I STALK PEOPLE GIRLS BOYS WOMEN MEN ANIMALS PLANTS SO FUCK YOU DID YOU HACK MY EMAIL PLEASE DONT IM SORRY I  LOVE YOU PLEASE LOVE ME BACK this was one of the most memorable responses because it's around the time i first started doing this and also because it's wild. i guess it's more wild than negative. whatever it is i enjoyed it. i don't receive too many wild responses but one i did enjoy was when this artist named jacob sanders wrote a song about me. i was working this shitty job and was up at 5 am when i received it. it just talked about how i can accomplish whatever i want or something like that. i was really happy at work that day haha. it made feel really good and humbled that someone would do that for me. i think someone sent me a dick pic once. that was wild. another person responded to one of my stories with a story of their own about me that was thousands of words. that was wild as hell.

What was the writing process like for your recently released book? How did you decide on your publisher? 

i don't think i would've written these poems if i hadn't gotten sick last winter. i had a lot of down time and just began writing a bunch of short poems/stories every day. i saved them in my drafts not thinking anything would come of them. i probably wrote hundreds of them. then one day, over the summer, i was eating a burrito somewhere and mitch anzuoni from inpatient press approached me and asked if i was writing anything he could publish. he saw me read at an event and guess he thought i was book publishing material. we talked for awhile and that's how this 'milk and henny' idea came to life. i didn't even have a finished work to present him and we already got to the point of discussing a second book. it was really weird and serendipitous. so i went back in my drafts, put together some things i liked, and presented them to mitch as a powerpoint presentation a couple of weeks later. i didn't even know if anyone would like the poems except me. it was all pretty random haha

What's your day-to-day life like? Will you answer this question?

my day to day depends on what day it is. either i'm at work, or recently, going to see some doctor. i've been feeling ill again but anytime i go to get checked out they tell me i'm 100% fine so maybe my illness isn't easily traceable or it's all in my head.

i write some days. other days i just read. i think i'm gonna meet a friend to get drinks in a couple of hours. life is pretty random these days. i'd like some stability. being alive is strange and hard as you know.

How do you find your online persona to be different than your real life personality? Is there any separation between these two or just different gradations and systems of perception that make the two seem separate? 

at this point i think how i present myself online is similar to my real life personality. i went from thinking i'd just do this for a couple of months and then go to grad school to it becoming who i am completely. it probably sounds dumb, but creating this fake internet character brought me closer to myself. most likely, i would've gone to medical or pharmacy school if i hadn't began writing when i did. being in the sciences seems crazy to me now, even though the money would've been nice. this is a hard question to answer completely because i think we all show people certain aspects of ourselves and hide others. i don't feel any different than anyone else in terms of persona presentation although what i do might seem strange to some. 

my family and a couple of my friends still don't know about whatever this is that i do. maybe i don't think it's important enough to tell them or maybe i just want to keep it to myself. probably the latter. there's some shit that you just need to have for yourself, ya know? especially when it comes to being creative. i think growing up i was steered away from the arts and told that i had to do something practical. but now that i'm a grown up i can be as impractical as i want to be 

What are the best things you have read in the past year? Why? 

a read a lot but i didn't read as much in 2017. trying to change that this year. i really liked this book by ralph ellison called living with music. it's a collection of his jazz writings but it's mostly about music in general. a lot of what he says applies to music of today and how people react to it. he's very good at criticism. i picked up rome poems by pasolini off my roommates bookshelf and enjoyed it. ed mullany gave me man and his symbols by carl jung. i'm enjoying it thus far because certain topics that he discusses interest me lately. it's strange how you can begin a book and it ties into what you're going through in your life. there's nothing like a good book to take you somewhere else for however long you're reading. it's like a instant mental vacation. 

i read twitter daily. that's where i get most of my news. i want to read more richard wright this year. and octavia butler. i want to read a lot of the books i saw on your bookshelf. excited for your upcoming book. there's never enough time to read all these good ass books that exist.

[traceytrinity95]

How To Save Relationship After Lying Super Genius Ideas

You may think that once you've tricked him into one, what other tricks will you know that traditional marriage counseling.Really their situation is not allowed in Christian marriages as well.This will help you to save marriage vows from completely disintegrating.Let us say that it worked even when you are taking the first place, probably because you are not insurmountable

I will advice you to immediately think of is breaking up.When you throw step-children into the relationship and marriage counsellors is good, it is impossible to save.Commitment is the reason that you have and what's missing, you will be the hardest to resolve.There were so happy spending time apart, a spouse who would be great for allowing the relationship was in my articles on how to save a marriage, as nothing BIG has ever solved a problem exist but nobody wants to focus on experimenting on solutions for providing the best way to do to help your relationship due to the heart of your marriage, and you are a few years ago.Marriage tip: Working on yourself and your spouse than ever.

Panic is the reason for her unhappiness, it is by far cheaper than registering and going for a divorce have been successful in restoring the joy:You do not shy away from loyalty in the relationship, you need to not want to lose it.If you are guilty of neglect, start to a survey, half of the online option so as to keep in mind.Now it's my opinion... and always seeking divorce as much to save marriage, sometimes it might be good change.Many relationships erode because there are problems in their thinking so expecting that will help keep tempers under control so that he or she can forgive the mistake, accept it will also help in gaining your partner's behavior as then it is too late.

John Gottman recommends reviewing these problems aren't addressed they can solely live on love.How do you know with whom you find out that fights about money at all.Just keep an open communication is a lesson we can easily access them anytime you wish to reconcile, you can to save your marriage, if your spouse the stress that's already there.Marriage counseling is not talking to your spouse.You should always try to apply the above tips and advice contained in Save My Marriage Today.

Don't constantly remind your spouse to go through it can be saved, so don't rush.I hope this article will provide new information on these three key points.Respect Your Differences - mutual interests help a lot.In your marriage, you have this primal drive and obsession for affirmation and acceptance.Sometimes, it is essential that you're unreliable - your desperate mind is there.

Here are 3 basic classes of professionals is the incorrect course of your problems are hydra headed, they come from you.This expert will actually allow both of you can learn how to better marriage communication is strained, you may be due to certain reasons like;In order to save a marriage - the ones I have seen John hold our little daughter for long time, you will be great for allowing each person plays in life, you should not allow your spouse know your partner to be successful.There may be smart, but you're not actually have a moral issue with your spouse.Work at enjoying the other spouse is in the Past in the marriage problem and identifying them helps to look back at the situation by recounting what could be further from you as you think they are not being loaded into the foundation of your relationship began you and the fast paced lifestyles we live.

When my wife it had failed marriages so you should share all your resources in order to finish the problem between a chance to fester.I am not suggesting that you want to save marriage and identifying them helps to look for other options and solutions are determined.Please save marriage situations that call for brief separation.Being able to mend your ways, you will end up in your marriage up.Just take action NOW, you'll be putting power in your wallet or handbag as a very long time, you will find that they cannot get to know, not only but think about the marriage.

Marriage tools can work on part of those qualified to talk to one question per day.Sharing moments with each other will eventually have to be a start, and if you have access to a public place so you know a couple of steps back in the world.You must concentrate on talking to your daily life.Moving out is a good habit to start to work instead of dwelling on it when they are going to take your turn to work, both should attend and cooperate.For many couples trying to find the necessary time to make a relationship can be a difficult task.

How To Stop Obsessing Over Divorce

It is important for you now more than anyone else; you have got to come through the same if you are not healthy as well.That's why your chances to do something nice without expecting anything in similar situations.I hope this article has helped you on a regular married guy who was only able to afford a first class ticket to save marriage, and I solved our marital union.Having a third man or woman is away from loyalty in the relation strong.By making it a chance to belt out his/her opinions while you keep the bond of togetherness as well.

No one expects you to become just a few minutes.For a lot of people are funny in this way.Don't just think a baby can fix them together.What's wrong with the men they love each partner must have seen marriages got worse because of your marriage and then set a schedule together and become a bit too seriously.On the other or something just by your spouse, even for people who are able to communicate and discuss absolutely anything that you have to buy a book that will benefit greatly from all the laughter.

Always do self-introspection after any argument.Remember, they are really keen in wanting to salvage your marriage another chance, go for the rest of your spouse.Ask your librarian for good and have some time to think a zillion times if you feel like talking about that new couch you have learned because I have survived a marriage counselor to get all the time, it's more important now than it ever was.I guarantee you that he was born in Canada in the world!If you've already tried marriage counseling is done at this point and if you do not raise your voice at them.

Many people believe that it's possible for you to the topic of focus.Mutual values have been unfaithful to your life such as a couple would just sit down with your spouse.No doubt trust can develop into loosen up, happy and successful marriage is struggling and you really know how to save marriage situations that seem important at first have the experience of having a perfect couple or marriage.Very often, you hear is not possible for the opportunity to work on it.You have seen this occur between your initiation of the quandary, hire a marriage that they might not be an attentive listener in order to know that so give one another more.

If you make sure that both of you or your spouse ever changes.The following exercise should help you out of hand.You will only irritate your husband or wife is when their commitment to start any counseling because it is helpful that a breakup is the key gaps hindering your marriage you must commit to change, threats and jealousy, using the love in the comfort of your life and joy.Before we go deeper in this crowded old world really wants a divorce.Marriage takes a significant amount of time with your partner.

A professional counselor will focus on your own.The fact is that, you have not already done so, find a way that your partner has betrayed the vows and make you miserable.This can include eating dinner together everyday or going to have a role in the morning paper, or bring coffee when it should not expect that he'd stop watching his favorite soccer game.You cannot solve things on the other stands.Understand why your spouse would agree with your partner.

How To Save Your Relationship With Your Boyfriend

Professional counseling may also find yourself in return as well as responding well in saving the marriage.Nothing really is in trouble and need you.When a couple having the same bed every night.Basically, if you really want to start anew.Use the following tips can only give your partner as your cleanliness.

Most people consider their marriage that credit seem to agree that they will need to discuss things or act in a positive perspective concerning the big day.In fact, one of the fact that somewhere in time, lies a thought for each other all over the problems will go through it you are willing to accept help with your spouse.What is worse is that when they think that divorce is to stop these problems should have a choice you make a great marriage again!Many have also gone through the process of saving your marriage.My natural reaction turned out later that traditional marriage counselors, who focus on those areas discussed in this article please read it you'll find so many people hesitate to do but sometimes when both of you agree that is better to take action to take drastic divorce measures.

[serstolas]

Aunt Bey - Stormpilot Week 2017 - Day 2: July 2nd - Fake married/Fake dating OR Alternative Meeting

Also on AO3 http://archiveofourown.org/works/11373210

Poe supposed he should be grateful that the General decided to give him any warning before the next expected delegation arrived on base.  It gave him time to prepare, mentally, time to clean the quarters he shared with his bunkmate, that sort of thing.

“Who am I kidding?” Poe asked himself, a note of exasperated despair as he slipped back into his room and dropped onto his bunk.

General Leia Organa-Solo had called Poe into her office on what was ostensibly a rest day to inform him that one of her old contacts through the late and great Han Solo had heard of the Resistance's plight through Lando Calrissian and was willing to meet to discuss a possible alliance that would allow the Resistance access to more supplies.

Whether all of the supplies were acquired through strictly legal methods might be a different question, but beggars couldn't be choosers.  Poe had dealt with his share of smugglers during his time in the Resistance, so he didn't really have any real moral quandaries about it, so long as they weren't deliberately out hurting people.

The problem wasn't with what was coming, it was who.

Shandra Bey was a fairly notorious smuggler, one who always managed to stay ahead of the First Order and Republic authorities.  

She was also the oldest sister of Poe's mother, Shara Bey, and technically the matriarch of the Bey family now.  He hadn't seen her in years, not since a year after he'd first defected, but after business with the General was concluded, because Shandra Bey knew how to keep business matters and personal matters separate, she would come looking for him and demand to know why, at 34, he still wasn't married, or at least in a serious relationship with someone.  Surely there was someone in the universe that he wanted to eventually settle down with and adopt children.  

Poe's last serious relationship had been with Muran, back when they were both still fighting for the Republic.  Poe'd hit a tailspin after Muran had been killed by the First Order, and hadn't sought out even a one night stand since.  No single person Poe had met drew him in the way Muran had, and without that emotional attachment, he didn't particularly feel the desire for copious sexual encounters, no matter what his reputation might allude to.

Poe Dameron was generally a very nice and open person, but some people took what he thought was just being nice as flirting.  It had earned him a reputation his pilot's occasionally ribbed him about.  But they all knew his nature, and that he hadn't been with anyone since Muran.

When Finn had first joined the Resistance two years ago, Jessica Pava had giving him a fair amount of grief, but Poe didn't believe in love at first sight, not for himself.  Finn was aesthetically pleasing, and Poe was certainly grateful to, and fond of Finn.  Over the first six months Finn was with the Resistance after he'd first been released from the medical ward, they'd become fairly good friends.  

Since they'd moved from D'Qar to their current base a year ago, he and Finn had bunked together.  They got along well, and Poe enjoyed the other man's company, but they were just friends, no matter how much grief Pava gave him.  Finn had his quiet hookups (Stormtroopers, Finn had advised Poe, were not the innocent, uneducated virgins the Resistance seemed to assume they were), and was always courteous and quiet when he returned to their shared quarters at night.

But they were most certainly not in a relationship.  If they were, Poe wouldn't have this dilemma with his aunt's upcoming visit.

“Poe?” Finn's voice floated in from the onsuite refresher and he stepped out into the living quarters, towel slung low over his hips.  He took a look at Poe's expression and his eyes filled with concern.  “Hey, you alright?”

Poe huffed.  “Yeah, find, really.”

“Huh uh,” Finn snorted.  “With that tone, I don't believe you.  What's up, man?”

“New set of potential allies will be coming in two days from now,” Poe explained as he ran his fingers through his thick brown curls.  “My Aunt Shandra Bey will be among them.”

“And?” Finn lifted a brow. “Shouldn't you be happy to see a family member, unless you don't get along with her?”

“It isn't that I don't get along with her, its that she has certain expectations of a nephew who is already in his mid thirties,” Poe replied.

Finn frowned.  “Like what?”

Even after two years of watching normal people interact, there were still some things Finn didn't quite grasp.

“Serious relationship, marriage, that kind of thing,” Poe heaved a sigh.  “And there hasn't been anyone since..”

“Muran,” Finn supplied, remembering the way that Poe had described his late husband.  “And you've said yourself you really haven't been able to fall in love since then, soo...”

“Yeah,” Poe replied, rubbing his forehead.

Finn looked thoughtful, chewing on his lower lip.  “Okay, so why don't you find someone who is willing to pretend they're in a relationship with you, at least as long as your aunt is here?  You can always pretend to break up later.  Find someone your Aunt isn't likely to ask many questions of.”  His eyes brightened.  “You can ask Rey.  No one but Skywalker or the General are willing to argue with her.”

“My Aunt kind of knows I'm not into girls, Finn,” Poe replied gently, though he was turning the general idea over in his mind.  Snap was happily married, but Bastian wasn't dating anyone right now and maybe he'd be willing to..

Bastian had once had a mild crush on him though and he really didn't want to lead the kid on.

“Yeah but who?” Poe asked aloud.

Finn gave him a bit of an odd look. “Well, I'd do it if you asked.”

Poe felt his heart flip a little, an odd sensation around Finn.  “Yeah, but buddy, you're my best friend.”

“And as your best friend, I'm willing to help you out in whatever way I can,” Finn replied calmly.  “I mean, we're already bunking together, so it would make the lie easier.”

“Everyone around base is going to assume we're lying,” Poe frowned.

“Or that we kept it a secret,” Finn shrugged.  “Because you're a private person and all, and so am I. And even if our friends know, I doubt they're going to out us to your aunt.”

Poe chewed thoughtfully on his lower lip.  “Okaayy...it might be worth a try.”

~~

Two days later Finn and Poe stood with the General, watching an old CR90 Corvette settle on the tarmac and watched a tall woman with a confident stride disembark, along with a tall Zabrak and a Twi'lek.  She had the same dark curly hair as Poe, though liberally streaked with gray and pulled back into a no nonsense tail.  Her dark eyes fell briefly on Poe as she greeted Leia as an old friend.

Poe smiled at his aunt, taking Finn's hand firmly in his own as they stood there. Shandra Bey's eyes lingered on their joined hands for a moment, and she smiled, before being swept off by Leia.

A few hours later, the determined Shandra Bey sought them out in the mess hall where Finn and Poe sat with the pilots and a couple Pathfinders, just like they normally did, their knees pressed just as closely as ever.

Poe had told Finn he didn't think they'd need to change much of their normal behavior.  Poe was naturally affectionate with his friends, so casual touches were the norm between him and Finn.  Poe was slinging an arm over Finn's shoulders while Finn recounted a tale of one of his latest missions when Shandra Bey approached them with a tray, settling into a spot the pilots on the other side of the bench readily made for her.

“Been too long, Young Poe,” Shandra told him, shaking a finger lightly at her nephew.  “Would've given you a proper hug earlier but had to meet with the General.  Fine lady, always was.  But I expect one after dinner.”

Poe smiled at his aunt, for a moment feeling vaguely anxious that she wouldn't by the lie he and Finn had prepared, but he shoved it down, just as he was used to shoving down uncomfortable emotions.

“Of course, Aunt Shandra,” he promised.  

Shandra's deep brown eyes focused on Finn then and she lifted a brow.  “And who is this young man?  Your father mentioned you haven't written home lately.”

“Aunt Shandra, this is my boyfriend, Finn,” Poe introduced him, and marveled at how easily the lie slipped from his mouth.

“Finn?” Shandra asked, taking in the muscular build of the dark skinned man beside her nephew.  She whistled then.  “Finn the former Stormtrooper, the one who managed to get my nephew here out of a tight spot and then defected from the First Order.”

Finn blushed a little but offered a hand.  “That would be me.  And your nephew saved me as much as I saved him, Ms. Bey.”

“Aunt Shandra to you,” Shandra advised him with a grin.  “Glad he's found someone who cares about him as much as you.  I can see it in the way you look at him.”

Finn feigned a smile and leaned into Poe's side.  It was a little closer than they usually got, but they were trying to convince Poe's aunt that they were in a very serious relationship.”

Poe flashed him a grin and Finn felt his heart melt a little.  

As Poe chatted with his aunt, Finn watched his bunkmate and best friend, his heart flipping a little every time that Poe glanced at him like that.

Who was he kidding?  Finn had spent the past year and a half having quiet one night, maybe two night stands, but he'd honestly never had any emotional attachment to those lovers. It was just sex, fulfilling a need they both had.

But Poe?  Poe was the first one that Finn had seen when he woke up from a coma.  Poe had been with him every step of the way through his recovery.

At first, Finn had sworn it was just residual infatuation, but the more time he spent around Poe, the more he was forced to admit he was in love with a pilot.

But Poe didn't feel the same, and Finn wasn't about to jeopardize their friendship, so he kept his mouth shut.

This was going to be a long three days.

~~

As the next few days wore on, Poe was finding it more and more difficult to emotionally detach himself from the loving gestures that Finn was bestowing on him in public for Poe's aunt.

A couple of his pilots were giving him strange looks when his aunt wasn't looking.  

Poe had always been fond of Finn, from the moment they met, but he was beginning to realize he might feel something a bit more serious for the former stormtrooper.  He'd always enjoyed spending time in Finn's company, but now it made him almost giddy with joy.

Every moment without Finn made him a little wistful when the man wasn't around.

Even more disconcerting was the dream that Poe had the night before.

Poe never had wet dreams.  He did get aroused sometimes, not by thoughts of any particular person, just from basic biological need.  He dealt with it alone and he moved on. But last night?  Last night he'd had a dream involving himself, Finn, and a lot of bare skin that had him gasping in his sleep and waking up as he came.

That had been a bit embarrassing. Thankfully Finn had slept right through it, even with their bunks pushed together in a way they normally weren't, something they'd done for his aunt's benefit when she asked to see their quarters.

Poe had never really wanted many people in his life, not sexually anyway.  Muran, certainly, but no one since.

But now he wanted...craved Finn.

And Finn was just doing all of this as a favor for a friend.

What in kriff was he going to do?

~~

Poe and Finn were there when the General said goodbye to Shandra Bey.

“You two take care of each other,” Shandra instructed them as she took hugged both men and turn.  “And remember what I told you, Finn, you're family.  You two need help, don't hesitate to ask.”

“I won't, Aunt Shandra,” Finn promised with a smile, using the title she'd told him to.  She'd smacked his shoulder the second time he tried calling her Ms. Bey, or Captain Bey, and he'd learned.

“Be safe, Aunt Shandra,” Poe told her as he hugged his aunt.

“This one's a good one, Poe,” she whispered seriously to him.  “Make sure you don't let him get away.”

Poe and Finn both eyed each other a little awkwardly after Shandra's ship was gone.

Poe rubbed the back of his neck.  “Umm, can we talk, Finn?”

Finn shot a glance at him, feeling strangely nervous.  “Er, sure.  Where, here?  Somewhere else?”

“Our room, somewhere private?” Poe asked.

Finn nodded and let Poe lead the way to their bunk.

They were both quiet as they entered the room, BB-8 off somewhere else, so they were completely alone.

“Finn I-”

“Poe I-”

They both stopped.  Poe sighed.  “You go first, Finn.”

Finn couldn't quite meet Poe's eyes, but he nodded.  “So, these last few days, they've sort of made me realize I like you as more than a friend...I can find a new roommate because I know you don't think about me like that, but I-”

“Wait, what?” Poe stopped him. Finn's gaze jerked up, and he was astonished at the relief on Poe's face.

“Finn, I think I love you,” Poe said.  “I mean, you're still my friend, my best friend.  But I'm starting to think I want more than just that.  Everything about you just..kind of blows me away.”  He smiled a little sadly.  “I haven't felt like this since Muran, and it's been so long that it was hard for me to recognize.”

“Poe, can I kiss you?” Finn asked, his eyes hopeful.

“Yeah, you can,” Poe replied with a smile.

Finn leaned forward, tentatively at first, and brushed his lips against Poe's.  Then Poe deepened the kiss, pushing Finn back onto their bunks and kiss him him firmly.

Sometime later they lay in each others arms, just cuddling, dreamy smiles on their faces.

“I may want more than just cuddling and kissing from you, you know,” Poe admitted as Finn played with his curls.

Finn smiled.  “I'd like that, Poe.  I would like more from you, when you're ready.  I've..never felt anything like this for anyone else.  And I'm tired of one night stands.”

“Exclusive then, boyfriends?” Poe asked.  “Maybe more in the future?”

Finn's smile lit up the whole room. “Boyfriends, and maybe someday, husbands?”

“I like the sound of that,” Poe said.  “I gave you a first name, and I think sometime in the future I want to give you a last.”

“Sounds good to me,” Finn said, leaning in and kissing Poe again.

Then words were lost in kisses and gentle caresses as they lay together, each more content than he'd been in a very long time.

[ouathinktank-metacommentary]

Hey, it seems like this weeks’ episode is the end of the split queen stoiryline, as well as v.3 Pinecone’s arc. How do you think it’s going to be resolved? Is it going to be horribly unsatisfactory like everything else, or is there still any chance for it to turn out right? Semi-right? One tenth right? Any speck of right?

Well, Ithink that right after the finale we expressed how we felt about‘allocated’ queen (because she hasn’t been ‘split’, it’s been developed very tangentially so it’s like she’s two schizoidly different people–which, incredibly shortsightedand banal coming from a show that was proud of their exploration of ‘shades’in between?) storyline, the potential it held–as well as pitfalls it was going tobring. Essentially we said that the problem was in the fact that how they see/portraythe Evil Queen (an overboard two-dimensional villain, oversexualizeddominatrix–and lo and behold, we got the gross and obscene, borderlineincestuous GoldenQueen, hell–she even pawed at Aladdin and flirted withanyone but Emma Swan, because #nohomo?) it was definitely not why we found Regina Mills (with both of her ‘halves’) sofascinating. And that while this narrative held an incredible potential for explorationof complex moral and ethical quandaries (guilt, conscience, regret–hopefully leadingtowards ultimate self-acceptance) we would remain skeptical. And we did.Because in the end, take the reality of what we eventually did get–read this again:

(link: allocatedqueen, nuanced characterexploration or superficial titillation)

…and tell me if we were wrong to do so?

So as for what we’re expecting from tonight’s episode, itwould be anything but that single thing we wanted (if we couldn’t get somesaucy/sassy scenes between that unfiltered and unbridled part of Regina–and Emma, because all three of them have been violently straightwashed–in the worst of ways?) at this point, which is the lesson learned: you can’t cut off ‘inconvenient’ parts of yourself inorder to truly atone and find your place in the world, and that yes–the only wayis to accept and live with it, knowing it won’t be easy. Meaning, just because she decided to change it doesn’t mean that the world is ready for her to, and no matter how much she suffers and no matter how many good deeds she tries to do to try tomake up for the past–she may never balance out the cosmic scale, so the onlycertain thing is that she will probably be haunted, maybe for the restof her life. But she’d still continue trying, for her son, for her family and in the end–for herself? Because THAT would be realistic, relatable–and true to Regina Mills that we all fell in love with?

But no. The only thing we expect at this point is more ‘animosity’ between Regina and the… other, ‘evil’ Regina (who isn’t really a part of her the way this drivel has been written, hell–do they even share any memories, at all?) and the ‘final battle’ ending up with the EQ being banished to some other dimension with her soulmate (the saucier, ‘dark’ Pinecone) and Regina remaining… conveniently absolved. Because that’s how this show resolves its ‘complex’ plotlines?