#they said fuck everybody else who lives in the united states

[deobienthusiast]

they said svt reach into the hat and pull out five cities…..BAM ✨US tour✨💀💀💀💀

[sassypantsjaxon]

Fuck it. UA instructors as...things the staff from my college have done, I guess?

Because it's been three and a half years since I graduated and I miss that place every single day

Principal Nezu

Principal Nezu has everybody's names, faces, and quirks memorized before the first day of school. This is never acknowledged.

(Recovery Girl also learns everybody pretty much right away, but she interacts with them a bit more directly than Nezu, so it doesn't seem quite as weird)

Somehow Nezu manages to both be so chill and yet have no chill.

Nezu once texted Mic to ask if he was available for a call about some program at school and when Mic didn't answer within 15 minutes because he was DRIVING Nezu just called him anyway and was like "is this a bad time? I can call you back :)" Like, no,no, We're both here now, let's have this conversation now. Go ahead

One time Nezu pulled the Big Three out of their classes and brought them into his office to sit them down like he was about to have a Big Serious Conversation, and then he just says "Do you think...it would be possible for you to visit the first year hero classes...and tell them about your experiences? :)" Mirio and Nejire are both going "yeah, sure", while thinking why did we have to get pulled out of class like this was something really important? Amajiki is hyperventilating.

Power loader

Power Loader is like some kind of cryptid.

He just shows up when things need to be fixed, fixes them, and then disappears again. He never says a word. Don't question it, just be grateful and let him stay in his hiding place

Random knowledge. Whenever the rest of the staff has some random question that no one else can answer. Ask Power Loader. He knows. He always know. Don't question that either, he's just one of those kind of people

Power loader and All Might are the only two teachers who were asked to come to UA instead of having to apply

13

Actually 13 falls somewhere inbetween applying and being asked to join the staff, because she kind of created her own job.

She just had a meeting with Nezu one day to be like "Your students need an Unforeseen Simulation Joint! Here's what that means and why you need it" And Nezu went "... :) You're hired!"

All Might

Toughest person anybody knows. Can not handle spicy food.

Everybody loves him. Anybody who doesn't isn't cut out for hero school. This is not bragging, it just happens to be true.

All Might once listed one of his credentials as BAMF. (Izuku absolutely lost it that day)

While discussing I Island with Izuku, All Might very casually stated "My ex husband lives there" as if that isn't an Absolute Bombshell to drop You can't just Say That and NOT ELABORATE WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE AN EXHUSBAND!?!!???? (Izuku lost it even more that day)

Present Mic

Mic has a bad habit of talking a little too fast. Nobody's ever 100% sure what he said.

Also he swears. Like. A lot. Like, he would get in trouble as a student for swearing.

There is a drawer on Mic's desk that's labeled 'Present Mic's Top Secret Hiding Place' and anybody who notices it is just like ??? because it's clearly labeled and Not a Secret. But Mic is very scatter brained and will lose anything as soon as it leaves his eyesight. Having a specific place to put things help with that.

EraserMic

Married. But they don't really talk about it, and they don't act married in front of the students, so a lot of them don't realize it

It's actually surprising because they have pictures of them and their kids on their desks. All you have to do is go to the teacher's office. It's not a secret. It's right there.

There's a class for the second years on like, heroism and personal lives or something. Eraser and Mic get to teach part of that unit because they have experience being married heroes.

One year when Aizawa says that he's married to Mic one of the students asks him why

That same year, when Aizawa reveals that there is one teacher he will never be friends with (like, even more than all the other teachers), just because they have nothing in common other than working at UA, and the same student asks him if it's Mic

People assume Mic gets special treatment as Aizawa's husband. This is not true. If anything, he's more likely to get the short end of the stick and be asked to cover for Aizawa.

Eraser Head

Aizawa forgot that there was supposed to be a chaperone for the remedial licensing training and said he would probably be the one doing it. He was not. He sent Mic. Thus proving the previous statement true.

Bad at interpersonal relationships

Has a bad habit of mumbling. Students are never 100% sure what he said

At some point, the people around him start referring to doing anything overly rational as 'pulling an Aizawa'. Yeah. ...yeah...

[deadpresidents]

Hypothetically what do you think would have happened if the january 6 rioters had gotten to pence or pelosi before they got safe?

At this point, I almost dread answering questions like this anymore because I know the kind of hate mail it will unleash for the next few days, but it's important to keep talking about what happened on January 6, 2021 since so many people are trying to normalize it. That includes many people whose lives were in danger that day, as well as the former President who tried to hold on to power by encouraging his supporters to launch a violent insurrection and is now referring to those who have been brought to justice for attempting a coup as "patriots" and "hostages".

I genuinely believe that there were people in that crowd who would have killed Vice President Pence, Speaker Pelosi, and certain Congressional leaders if they had reached them on January 6th. I think there are people in that crowd who were ready to hold lawmakers hostage. Why else did they have handcuffs and zip ties? To help the Capitol Police maintain order? (Oh yeah...that's right, thanks for reminding me: they violently attacked the police -- some even beat police officers with the "Blue Lives Matter" flags that they brought with them.) Now, I do not think that everybody who was at the Capitol on January 6th -- or even the majority of those who took part in the insurrection -- were willing to go that far. I think a lot of them got swept up in what was happening and went with the flow. That doesn't excuse what they did. The flow that they got swept up in was still a fucking insurrection, and anyone who took part in that deserves to be held accountable. But I think there were certain elements embedded throughout that crowd that were much more organized and prepared to fully execute their plans for a coup after disrupting the certification of the Electoral College votes.

I actually think Vice President Pence was probably in more danger than even Speaker Pelosi or some of the Democratic leaders because Trump was so actively calling him out in the days and hours before the insurrection. I think that's why Pence is so adamant now about not supporting Trump. I mean, think about how disgustingly loyal and subservient Pence was to Trump throughout those four years until basically the first few days of January 2021. But even as other Republican leaders are crumbling and offering their allegiance to Trump again in 2024, Pence is standing by his decision not to endorse or support Trump, and I think that's because he realizes that Trump absolutely almost got him (and his family, who were with him in the Capitol on that day) killed on January 6th. Shit, even Mitch McConnell has folded and endorsed Trump again despite the fact that Trump has spent the last three years not only insulting him but also making racist attacks and questioning McConnell's wife's loyalty to the United States all because Elaine Chao had the audacity to resign from Trump's Cabinet in the wake of the insurrection. Yet Mike Pence -- who spent the better part of four years following Trump around like Paul Heyman follows Roman Reigns...

...THAT same Mike Pence is steadfastly refusing to endorse Trump because he has personal experience about how real of an existential threat Trump is. Some of those people at the Capitol were very serious about following through on their chants to "Hang Mike Pence", and not only does Pence realize that, but he also knows now that Trump -- who refused to take actions that would have helped clear the Capitol more quickly -- said "he deserves it" when hearing about those chants.

That's what is so scary about the insurrection, its aftermath, and the Trump Republican Party's redefinition of what happened that day. It almost worked. They stormed the United States Capitol and invaded both chambers of Congress. They carried Confederate flags into the United States Capitol -- even the fucking Confederate States of America didn't successfully invade Washington, D.C. and plant their flag in the Capitol. They were willing to hurt and probably kill some of America's elected leaders. And the people who helped plan and instigate the events of January 6th have spent the three-plus years since then learning from their mistakes and figuring out how to be successful next time. And guess what? "Next time" is only a few months away.

[xf-cases-solved]

S2E5: Duane Barry

Case: Our episode finds us in Virginia. I know this because it is the literal first thing written down in my notes. I'm learning. (No I'm not.)

Anyway. This episode, which takes place in Virginia, is part one of a three part (+ one weird fever dream episode) plot arc that will be extremely relevant to the rest of the overall plot of the X-Files from here on out. Everybody thank Gillian Anderson's daughter Piper for existing, and also Gillian Anderson for putting up with extremely questionable treatment from the show runners while she was pregnant, instead of just rage quitting like I probably would have. (She went back to work 10 days after having a C-section and they LET her, that's fucking INSANE and makes me so mad on her behalf lol.) 

But I digress.

Duane Barry! He might not have had to go film a TV show ten days after major surgery and like, giving life to a human being, but he sure is going through it, huh? Poor dude can't stop getting abducted by aliens. Probably. That, or he is suffering from a violent and unpredictable psychosis. It's one or the other for sure. And that wouldn't really be anybody's problem, except Duane has decided that he's done with the tests and teeth drilling, tyvm, and would like someone else to have a turn, so he captures his psychiatrist and busts out of the mental institution, intending to offer the psych up as tribute to the aliens. Unfortunately for Duane, however, he doesn't actually remember where the aliens said they'd pick him up at, so he hits up a travel agency, which ultimately devolves into him holding three workers plus the psychiatrist hostage.

Enter Mulder and our favorite punkass bitch sidekick, Alex Krycek! 😃 

Mulder, being the alien abductee whisperer that he is, gains Duane's trust, and we are kept on our toes as the episode does a pretty solid job at drawing out the suspense as we (along with Mulder) are ping-ponged back and forth about whether or not Duane is who and what he says he is. By the end of the episode there is still a lingering doubt, BUT, a very unsettling voicemail on Mulder's answering machine tells us we're gonna have bigger things to worry about now.

An agent, who I just now realized I recognize because she played a doctor on ER, asks Mulder to help with a hostage negotiation because he knows things about alien abductions, and then is surprised and irate when he makes the conversation about alien abductions; that same agent makes Krycek get her a grande 2% cappuccino with vanilla, which earns her my eternal love; Scully buys an entire bag of groceries for $11.14, and also breaks the barcode scanner with an unidentified metal implant and then just sort of shrugs at the store clerk and leaves; and a "Mulder, it's me" phone call ends with the sound of screams for help and broken glass, whuh-oh!

Oh, and this is the episode with the red speedo.

Welcome, friends, to the Abduction Arc!

Does someone die in the cold open: No, but things aren't really going great either. Not that they ever tend to be going great in X-Files' cold opens.

Does Mulder present a slideshow: No. No Mulder+Krycek slideshows 😡

Does the evidence survive the investigation: Ok, so the "case" this time was technically "do the hostage negotiation and get the hostages out alive," so evidence wasn't needed. Ig.

Whodunit: Duane Barry, our favorite kidnapper and alien abductee [citation needed]!

Convictions: Lol, I literally just blew out a sigh and said "ummm" out loud to myself alone in my office, that's embarrassing, but also... we'll come back to this question next episode. 

Did they solve it: Because Mulder did get the hostages out of the building safely, and because I know it's gonna be a minute before he or Scully have any real wins in their lives, I will give them this. 

[how do i determine if a case is solved? check the scale here: x]

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: Bulgaria's maternity leave laws. 58 weeks at 90% pay the entire time. In the United States you are lucky if you get six weeks, and even luckier if it's paid. And sometimes your boss makes you film a TV show ten days after giving birth through a giant gaping wound in your abdomen. (I know they were technically filming in Canada at the time, but it's an American TV show, so I'm counting it as United States bullshit.) Anyway, we treat pregnant people terribly! But let's just. Not think about that. Abduction arc time!!

***

General Total Stats:

(green means stat has changed since last ep; red means new stat added to list)

Total Cases *Definitively* Solved So Far: 15 (not even gonna bother restarting the streak tho. y'all just hang in there for a bit, i'm sure things will start looking up soon. ish. probably)

Total Number of "Mulder/Scully, It's Me": 9 (three in total, and the last one ends poorly)

Total Number of Times Scully Has Conveniently Not Seen Something Crucial: 6

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Been in Mortal Danger: 9 ½ (could have easily been shot at any time) 

Total Number of Times Scully Has Been in Mortal Danger: 9 (went back and forth on this, bc i know how this whole arc ends, but i think that if we look at this episode alone, and don't skip ahead, being kidnapped by a mentally unstable person who is known to be violent definitely counts as being in mortal danger)

Total Number of Sexually Charged, Uncomfortably Intimate, and/or Flirty Moments Between Friendly Coworkers: 14 (no, but dw, this stat is gonna get some mileage here soon)

Total Number of Autopsies Scully Has Performed On Screen: 5 (gdi. i had a funny one liner, but i know for a fact there is at least one person reading these in real time with their first watch-through, so i am trying very hard not to make jokes that are spoilery 🤐)

Total Number of Times Scully Plays Doctor: 2

Total Number of Times Mulder Talks to an Informant: 18 (no X 😔)

Total Number of Times People Making Out in a Car Are Hurt or Killed: 2

Total Number of Times Someone Correctly Guesses a Password: 3 

Total Number of (Plot Relevant) Nosebleeds: 5

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Tasted/Sniffed/Touched Something Questionable Without Following Proper Safety Procedures: 3 (no, but he did repeatedly break hostage negotiation protocol, which is similar in spirit if not practice)

Total Number of Times Someone Says "Trust No One": 3 

Total Number of Times Someone Says "I Want to Believe": 4

Total Number of Times Someone Says "The Truth is Out There": 2 

Total Number of Cigarettes Cigarette Smoking Man Has Smoked: 9

Total Number of Maggie Scully Sightings: 1

Total Number of Lone Gunmen Sightings: 2

Total Number of Alex Krycek Sightings: 2!!!!!! (get that coffee, you loser)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look Up What State the Episode Takes Place in Even Though I Literally Just Watched It: 11½ (i wrote that shit down like a person without an attention deficit disorder, hell yeah 😎)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look at an Episode's Wikipedia Page to Fill This Out Because It Was Fucking Confusing and/or Too Boring for Me to Pay Attention: 5

[tobiasdrake]

So with everything you've said about Wanda's wrongdoings... do you still think she deserves happiness?

A lot of people will tell you that she deserves nothing less than endless punishment for what she has done.

[To be absolutely clear, at the risk of sounding like a heartless sadist, I desperately want her to find peace, but I can where the argument that she has forfeited her right to happiness comes from.]

Despite how much I tend to get on my soapbox about redemption arcs being frequently terrible, I'm actually a big fan of restorative justice over punitive justice. I don't think "does she deserve to be happy" is the right question.

Wanda is at once victim and victimizer. Setting aside Multiverse of Madness which is its own kettle of fish, all of her offenses were in one way or another a reaction to an offense committed against her.

Morally, Johannesburg is the worst thing she's ever done. And that was a product of a lifetime of hatred and resentment towards Stark, carried out under the guidance of a Stark weapon. In terms of scale, Westview is the worst thing she's ever done, and that was an emotional breakdown brought on by trauma inflicted from being on the front lines of a war.

Multiverse of Madness complicates things by pushing Wanda much farther beyond the pale. But it also insists that the Darkhold made her do it. So. Uh. Yeah. Wanda's about as morally culpable for anything that happened in that movie as Bucky is for the Winter Soldier. It's not a factor in this conversation.

What Wanda needs and what others need from Wanda are in many ways the same. She doesn't like doing these things any more than anyone else likes her doing these things. We want her to stop lashing out over the latest bullet-riddled corpse of a loved one dropped on her doorstep, and she would very much like that too, thanks. Her life is pretty fucking miserable.

Wanda is kind of like the Hulk. What she needs is an 'out'. Somewhere that she can build a life far away from the endless conga line of traumas that Stark and the United States and the Avengers and the enemies the Avengers fight all keep inflicting on her.

Wanda isn't some genocidal monster who murders people just to feel good about herself. She's a person reacting badly to some of the worst experiences a human being can possibly go through, who unfortunately happens to be so powerful that other people get caught in the crossfire. If you want Wanda to stop hurting people, all you have to do is stop hurting Wanda.

All she needs is a place where she can have a normal, stable life. Where she can meet normal, stable people. Where she can put down her defenses and finally start to heal, the way she never could in the busy and violent life of an Avenger. And where she can live out the rest of her days in peace.

And where nobody she's hurt will ever have to hear her name or see her face again. Then everybody wins.

[lovesongbracket]

Reminder: Vote based on the song, not the artist or specific recording! The tracks referenced are the original artist, aside from a few rare cases where a cover is the most widely known.

Lyrics, videos, info, and notable covers under the cut. (Spotify playlist available in pinned post)

Your Song

Written By: Elton John & Bernie Taupin

Artist: Elton John

Released: 1970

The song was composed and performed by Elton John but the lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin. It originally appeared in his self titled and second album. Elton John hadn’t come out of the closet yet, but Bernie Taupin knew, which is part of the reason why the lyrics avoid using gendered pronouns. In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Elton John said: “What can I say, it’s a perfect song. It gets better every time I sing it. I remember writing it at my parents' apartment in North London, and Bernie giving me the lyrics, sitting down at the piano and looking at it and going, ‘Oh, my God, this is such a great lyric, I can’t fuck this one up.’ It came out in about 20 minutes, and when I was done, I called him in and we both knew. I was 22, and he was 19, and it gave us so much confidence. ‘Empty Sky’ was lovely, but it was very naive. We went on to do more esoteric stuff like ‘Take Me to the Pilot,’ of course, but musically, this was a big step forward. And the older I get, the more I sing these lyrics, and the more they resonate with me.”

[Verse 1] It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside I'm not one of those who can easily hide I don't have much money, but boy if I did I'd buy a big house where we both could live [Verse 2] If I was a sculptor, heh, but then again, no Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do My gift is my song and this one's for you [Chorus] And you can tell everybody this is your song It may be quite simple but now that it's done I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind That I put down in words How wonderful life is while you're in the world [Verse 3] I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss Well, a few of the verses, well, they've got me quite cross But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song It's for people like you that keep it turned on [Verse 4] So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do You see, I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen [Chorus] And you can tell everybody this is your song It may be quite simple but now that it's done I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind That I put down in words How wonderful life is while you're in the world [Outro] I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind That I put down in words How wonderful life is while you're in the world

She Will Be Loved

Written By: Adam Levine & James Valentine

Artist: Maroon 5

Released: 2002

“She Will Be Loved” is the third single released from the band’s 2002 debut album, Songs About Jane. The song peaked at number five in the US (becoming their second top ten there), number four in the United Kingdom and number one in Australia (for five consecutive weeks). As of June 2014, the song has sold more than three million copies in the United States.

[Verse 1] Beauty queen of only eighteen She had some trouble with herself He was always there to help her She always belonged to someone else [Pre-Chorus] I drove for miles and miles And wound up at your door I've had you so many times But somehow, I want more [Chorus] I don't mind spending every day Out on your corner in the pouring rain Look for the girl with the broken smile Ask her if she wants to stay a while [Post-Chorus] And she will be loved And she will be loved [Verse 2] Tap on my window, knock on my door, I Want to make you feel beautiful I know I tend to get so insecure Doesn't matter anymore [Pre-Chorus] It's not always rainbows and butterflies It's compromise that moves us along, yeah My heart is full and my door's always open You come any time you want, yeah [Chorus] I don't mind spending every day Out on your corner in the pouring rain Look for the girl with the broken smile Ask her if she wants to stay a while [Post-Chorus] And she will be loved And she will be loved And she will be loved And she will be loved [Bridge] I know where you hide Alone in your car Know all of the things that make you who you are I know that goodbye means nothing at all Comes back and makes me catch her Every time she falls, yeah [Pre-Chorus] Tap on my window, knock on my door, I Want to make you feel beautiful [Chorus] I don't mind spending every day Out on your corner in the pouring rain, oh Look for the girl with the broken smile Ask her if she wants to stay a while [Post-Chorus] And she will be loved And she will be loved And she will be loved (Please don't try so hard to say goodbye) And she will be loved [Outro] Please don't try so hard to say goodbye (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ooh) Please don't try so hard to say goodbye (I don't mind spending every day, ooh) (Out on your corner in the pouring rain) Please don't try so hard to say goodbye

[queer-coded-camaro-driver]

Queer Metalhead History

It’s time for a brief lesson about the history of queerness and metal music. That’s right, the metal and queer communities are old friends and allies. 

So, the leather community has been around since the late 1920′s/early 1930′s, but leather bars specifically became more popular in the late 1950′s. And you know who was hanging out at leather bars? Gay bikers and veterans, who needed safe places to gather during McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare. In fact, the Satyr Motorcycle Club, the oldest gay biker club in the United States, was recently inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame.

And who was spending time in those clubs and with those gangs? Rob Halford, lead singer and songwriter for the legendary heavy metal band (and my personal favorite band of all time) Judas Priest. His song “Raw Deal” (1977) includes the line: “The true free expression I demand is human rights” and references “Fire Island”, a popular gay hangout in New York. 

He stated in a 2019 interview: “I urge people, LGBTQ, any of us that are still trying to find that moment to break down the door … step forward and say, 'This is who I am and I’m proud of who I am. I'm not going to be intimidated. I'm not going to live in fear. I'm not going to put everybody else before me.”

In 2020 he was interviewed by Rolling Stone and said: “Everything changes when you hit the stage. Just getting out there and holding a mic, there’s something very tangible that shifts in me and suddenly it’s the Metal God. It’s a bit like when Superman went into the phone booth and came out. Whereas he came out in a cape and tights, I come out in leather chaps.”

The title “Metal God” comes from Priest’s sixth studio album, British Steel, which was released in 1980. The album cover depicts a man’s hand holding a razor blade and wearing a spiked leather cuff on his wrist; Halford’s experiences in the leather community forever affected the metal community, who picked up on this trend quickly and spread it through the culture. 

He posted selfies with his favorite cat t-shirts through the entirety of the COVID-19 lockdown, for fuck’s sake, and swaps book recommendations with his life partner, Thomas. 

And yet the metal community remains largely homophobic, with Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx using the f-slur repeatedly, the infamous “AIDS Kills F***s” t-shirt worn by Skid Row’s guitarist Sebastian Bach, and plenty of other examples should you care to learn more. 

This Pride Month, as a metalhead raised by an 80′s metalhead who took my queer ass to see Judas Priest a few years back (love you Dad), let’s say thank you to this badass “stately homosexual”. Let’s remember who’s predominantly responsible (not entirely, but he helped A LOT) for the leather aesthetic in metal. For some of the queerest lyrics of all time (Grinder, anyone? Perhaps Hell Bent for Leather?). For being a general badass Metal God.

Rock on, Rob Halford.

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

My DC Cinematic Universe: Superman (Part V)

Chapter Five: A Support System

This section's gonna be a little different. Might seem kinda like filler at first glance, but it sort of is, in a way. After all, we'll need to fill out the normal everyday world of Clark Kent, and what better way to do that than with his supporting cast. Because Clark has quite a bit of supporting cast, and because we've got other things to focus on in this theoretical film, I'm not gonna go too in-depth this time. Buuuuuut, while this'll be light on character analysis, we'll still need to ask why these characters exist, and how they'll be seen in the film itself.

One more thing: we'll divide this section down by location, and I'll go into those locations just a little bit. After all, a city is its own character, so it makes sense to talk about the environments in which Clark normally finds himself. And so, without further ado...

Smallville: Hometown Drama

OK, sing it with me now, SOMEBODY SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Smallville, Kansas is the town that made Clark Kent. It is and should be the most normal town in the United States of America. What I mean by this is that, unlike the TV series, Smallville, and even unlike the original Superboy comics, literally nothing should happen here. This should be an extremely average and boring place to live. I realize that that's probably a little boring, but...yeah. Fuggin' exactly. Smallville's biggest crisis should be that time the Johnson's cows got loose and interrupted the Smallville High homecoming game. And yeah, the official report was that the fence gate was left open, but everybody knows that Carl Draper snuck over and let them out on purpose just to mess with quarterback Kenny Braverman and the team. 'Cause, y'know, Carl blames Kenny for stealing Whitney Fordman from him, even though Whitney isn't even dating Kenny ever more since he started flirting with Lana Lang during-you get it, you get the idea, you get the point.

But, that said, there are a few people in Smallville who are a part of Clark's adolescent and adult life, so let's talk about them, as well as throwing them into this Cinematic Universe I'm making.

Gotta start with Lana Lang, the girl next door. And I'd like to preface this by saying that the most famous version of this character, from Smallville, is the WORST FUCKING THING ABOUT THAT SHOW. Period. Nothing against Kristin Kreuk, she did well with what she was given. To bad what she was given was just a box of new Cap'n Crunch cereal variety called "Oops, All Cringe!" I fucking hate Smallville Lana Lang. Mostly because her overly dramatic life and persona are completely against who Lana Lang is. And who is Lana Lang?

Like I said, Lana is the girl next door. She and Clark are good friends, as well as unrequited love interests. And that's almost entirely on Clark, because Lana's not as timid or shy. And yes, Clark is extremely reserved in high school, mostly because he's nervous about exposing himself and being a freak. He was NOT the popular kid, and Lana absolutely was. But because Lana is genuinely a nice person with good morals, she really likes Clark. Like, she REALLY likes Clark. And yes, she was ABSOLUTELY his first kiss, and she absolutely initiated it. The Clark-Lana relationship should be sweet and cute, and the most stereotypical teenager love story you've ever seen. But, in the end, Clark went to Metropolis and she went else, and they parted ways. Oh, and for the record, Lana knows that Clark is Superman. Didn't figure it out until a bit after Smallville, but she absolutely knows, and she texted him IMMEDIATELY when she figured it out.

OK, who's next? In Smallville, the show creators gave Clark two best friends, so I think that makes sense here as well. In that case...

Pete Ross, the childhood best friend! Ah, Pete, why do people remember and forget you simultaneously? You were a major supporting character in Smallville, but only for 3 seasons, then didn't appear again until season 7, and never after that. Which is super weird, considering the major role Pete had in the comics. The best friend of a young Clark, Pete Ross is also one of the first people to figure out Clark's secret, independently. In the comics, he figures it out and doesn't tell Clark until way later, but nah. Let's just make it a secret that the two of them share as kids; change things up a little.

My version of Pete is still best friends with Clark to this day. I realize that Jimmy Olsen often takes that role, but he'll be a little different in this universe. No, Pete is Clark's best friend, and I'm tired of people forgetting about him! Yeah, he made a small appearance in Man of Steel, but his role as support was shafted, in my opinion. Pete should be Clark's confidant, then and now.

In high school, Pete, Clark, and Lana are a trio of friends. They each roll in slightly different circles, though. Clark is the quiet loner who reads a lot (he's a library kid); Lana is definitely a theatre kid and a cheerleader; and Pete is the socially aware activist kid who always volunteers for various charity and conservation groups. He's one of the town darlings/annoyances. On a side note, why are the socially conscious activist characters in media always women? I dunno, it's a weird trend in media for some reason. Anyway, Pete will one day become a progressive senator for Kansas, with a lot of hard work and dedication. But for now, he's still Clark's best friend.

Now, these two are the major support, but we can throw in some other main ones. How about Kenny Braverman, school bully? In the comics, he actually becomes a Kryptonite-wielding villain named Conduit, but this version of the character is a bully. Don't need much more than that; after all, this is a movie universe, not a TV series. How about Carl Draper? Draper is a weird one in the comics; he's basically a stalker who always hated Superboy/Superman, and made a giant death prison to kill Superman and impress Lana Lang, his high school crush. Yeah. Um...I'm just gonna make him another bully alongside Kenny, and a former friend of Clark's at the same time. 'Nuff said, I think.

And then, other than people like the Kents' neighbor Ben Hubbard...there isn't really anybody else to talk about. The name drop of Whitney Fordman up there was meant to be a reference to Smallville, but nothing more than...oh...oh, shit, Smallville. Right.

Hoo boy, Chloe Sullivan. Again, given the fact that this is a movie and not a TV series, Chloe as a character really doesn't matter. a character created for Smallville, she was the journalism kid, as well as a cousin to Lois Lane, and meant to be the other girl next door love interest character for Clark. And she was played by...Allison Mack. Cult leader Allison Mack. Yeah. Yikes. So, I'll just say this: I like Chloe as a character and character concept, but she carries a LOT of baggage. So instead, we'll bring in character Billie Cramer, who is the same in concept, but named after a male character in the comics who later goes to Metropolis University with Clark. Sorry, Chloe. Allison Mack kinda fucked over your character for me.

From there, Smallville is basically covered. Small town, small stories, and not much happening. But still, the people there molded Clark. And so, by the time he heads out of Smallville, he'll be going into a much bigger world. And with that...

Metropolis: City of Tomorrow

Where in the fuck is Metropolis? DC, you really need to make a decision here. Because the most common location for Metropolis is New York. Which, frankly, is dumb. New York has both New York City AND Metropolis? That's a lot of city for a small area, just saying. Plus, would Clark have wanted to go very far from home? So, where is my Metropolis? Easy: Illinois. "But what about Chicago," you say? Well, one, it's closer to Kansas, and Clark wouldn't want to be too far from home, for his parents' sake. Two, we can place the city along the Mississippi River, which forms the western coast of Illinois and gives us the water that we need for Metropolis. Three, this'll be at the very tip of southern Illinois, far away from Chicago, and in a place where no major city exists. And five, and most importantly for me, that's where the REAL Metropolis actually is. It is, in fact, maybe the real-world place that loves Superman the most. Let's give 'em some love back.

But OK, with that said and done, why Metropolis? Well, Clark wants to go to school for journalism, because he believes in uncovering the truth, and he wants to be in touch with all sides of humanity, both the good and the bad. Basically, journalism allows Clark to stay down-to-Earth in some very literal ways. And Metropolis University in this universe is a pretty big deal, especially considering that the city is the home to major newspaper The Daily Planet. After graduating from Metropolis U, Clark settles in the city and gets a job at the Daily Planet, his dream job. One of his colleagues is, of course, Lois Lane, but the people of the Daily Planet are an extremely important supporting cast. Considering Clark rarely goes anywhere else, we should talk about them a bit. So, we'll start with the most obvious.

Jimmy Olsen, the new best friend! I was SO tempted to give Jimmy his own post, but this series is gonna be long enough; I dunno if I can talk that much about Jimmy. That's a lie, actually, because I can talk a LOT about him. Now, some of you may be wondering why I used this GIF of Olsen from Superman: The Movie, instead of Mehcad Brooks from Supergirl, or Aaron Ashmore from Smallville. And the reason is that NEITHER OF THEM WERE JIMMY. The latter was his older brother named Henry James "Jimmy" Olsen, which YES, is stupid. And the former? That is Jimmy Olsen in name only. And why? Because...ah, shit, I'm getting into Jimmy in detail. OK, then, let's do this.

Jimmy Olsen is a kid. He's a dweeb, he's kinda naive, and he matches Clark for sheer optimism. He's either the most likeable person in the room, or the most annoying, or somehow both simultaneously. He's not suave, like Mehcad Brooks' version of the character. Honestly, that's the least Jimmy Olsen-like character I've ever goddamn seen. You know who actually was a lot more like Jimmy? Winn. Winn was Supergirl's Jimmy Olsen, and I DEFY YOU TO TELL ME OTHERWISE.

Ahem. Anyway, back to Jimmy.

Jimmy is the unpaid intern who gets hired, and is then surprised that there's a paid option for this job, despite that being his career. He's the kid in high school who took pictures of EVERYTHING, and then just never stopped. He's not entirely sure who the mayor of the city is, but knows in excruciating detail through experience and an overly detailed annotated map where the best goddamn hot dog in the city is, and every hot dog vendor in a ten-block radius knows him and his order by heart. Jimmy is a city kid who somehow seems like he came from the country. Jimmy should be a massive nerd, kind of a ditz, and definitely a clutz, but not only is he the best photographer the Planet has to offer, he's also somebody who you want to hang out with. Jimmy Olsen is maybe, maybe about to turn 21, but has not and will not drink. He is the most vanilla human being possible, and I goddamn love him for it. He's also gone through a TON OF INSANE SHIT in the comics, from being turned into a giant turtle Godzilla, to getting becoming a superhero in his own right MULTIPLE TIMES, to becoming the love-interest to a fledgling God for a hot second...a lot, is what I'm saying. Jimmy Olsen is my favorite Superman supporting character, and that is a hill I am glad to die on.

...Jesus. That was a lot of overly specific headcanon to vomit out, even for me. But really, all of that? That's my Jimmy Olsen. Clark's best friend in the city, even if he is a few years younger, as well as a damned good photographer and...well, a pal. There's a reason he's called Superman's Pal, after all.

Perry White, the stern-but-caring boss! Editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet, Perry's a strict traditionalist when it comes to this whole newspaper thing. Perry's actually had quite a lot of history in the comics, and while it is all genuinely interesting, I'm not gonna go into it here. Just know that Perry is a caring boss, but extremely strict when it comes to his job and those who write for him. One of the last great reporters and writers, as well as a genuinely good man with his own problems and troubles, Perry White is an understatedly important character in the Superman mythos. In truth, there doesn't need to be too much to Perry.

In terms of his relationship with Clark, he shouldn't be too involved with his personal life, but should be willing to offer advice if Clark looks like he needs it. He should choose his employees based upon their talent and their moral fiber, as he wants his reporters to find the truth, and nothing but the truth. If you lie, alter facts, or otherwise obscure the truth in your reporting, you're OUT, pal! And honestly, that's my Perry White: a classic reporter who expects only the truth from his employees and from himself.

Speaking of the reporters of the Daily Planet, let's get into Clark's co-workers! Cat Grant is one of the best known, thanks to Power Girl, and as the gossip and fashion columnist, she makes her presence known basically immediately when she enters the office. While she's definitely a bit blunt, in person and in her writing, people actually do enjoy her blogs and writing, and she has a pretty good on-screen presence as well. She's a bit of an acquired taste, but Perry values her honesty. Also, she's a little bit of a rival to Lois in multiple ways, including initially for Clark's affection, but mostly in terms of her reporting and popularity. Cat Grant is considered by many to be the public face of the Daily Planet, and she doesn't shy away from that title, either.

Steve Lombard made a VERY random appearance in Man of Steel, as was a very different version of the character than what we see in the comics. My version of Lombard is a massive blowhard, as well as the Planet's sports reporter, which aligns with the comic-book version of the character. He's hired by Perry because of his absurdly accurate sports reporting, and his sheer knowledge of the sport, as well as for his incredibly accurate predictions. The one downside about the dude is that he's the epitome of a meathead. His intelligence in in sports, and that's basically it. Still, he's VERY good at his job. Also, he THINKS that he's a rival to Clark for Lois' affections, but literally nobody else thinks that.

OK, last major person here is Ron Troupe, whom I can't find a GIF for. Makes sense; he's relatively obscure, and hasn't been in enough media for a lot of exposure. My version of Troupe is the politics and editorials writer for the Planet, as well as being one of the more serious and uptight members of the Planet bullpen staff. He tends not to go out into the field too much, but is well-known on paper. Perry hired him because of his objectivity and practicality, as well as a feverish devotion to the truth. And of everybody, Ron is the reporter most likely to succeed Perry White as editor-in-chief one day in this universe. YES! Not Lois, not Clark, RON. Somebody give Ron his day in court, please, he's way too neglected in comics and media nowadays.

Let's get out of the bullpen, and into the city! Now, some people won't be featured in this first film, since it's a big city with a lot of parts to it. I actually do have some ideas for other films, but let's get through this first one before anything else. No cart before the horse, and all that. But since we're talking about the city, let's talk about Superman's predecessors: the cops.

The Metropolis Police Department, unlike the Gotham cops, are not corrupt and actually do their jobs. After all, Metropolis is a pretty safe city before Superman comes around. Supes definitely shouldn't be the savior from street crime, for should he be trying to replace the cops. Superman is there to stop the accidents, disasters, and large-scale crimes that the police can't handle on their own. This means that while the police are efficient, the villains of this movie are going to be a bit too much for them to handle. But, because Superman isn't a detective or a cop, he'll need to talk to and work with the police to stop these villains. So, who are our cops?

The main liaison for Clark is Maggie Sawyer, a no-nonsense captain and leader of the newly-established Special Crimes Unit. As such, she's got a pretty good relationship with Superman. She prefers police work over relying on a vigilante, but Superman is hard not to trust in a lot of ways. So, she willingly works with him. Oh, and obviously she's happily married to her wife, Toby, who works for the Daily Planet alongside Clark. Maggie's one of the first out-lesbians in comics, and that ain't gonna end with me!

Maggie's the main policeman featured in this universe, but her partner Dan "Terrible" Turpin will also appear alongside her. Another hard-nosed detective, he grew up in the worst parts of Metropolis, and grew up to defend the parts of the city that don't get a lot of attention. Won't get too much of Turpin in this film, but we will use him to get across the idea that not all cops think Superman is necessary. He's not Superman's biggest fan, but he doesn't turn him away, either. Sort of like Harvey Bullock to Batman, if you get my drift.

Finally, I'll just mention that the chief of police is William Henderson, who respects Superman fine enough, and is on his way out, ready for retirement. Not much to say about Henderson, and he could honestly just be a name-drop by Maggie at some point. But with that, we move on to our final citizen of Metropolis...and one of my favorites.

Meet the one and only Bo "Bibbo" Bibbowski. You might wonder why I included an image here when I didn't for Ron Troupe. And frankly, it's because Bibbo is too important. Because Bibbo, to me, is a representative of the civilian public that Superman is trying to save. The reporters of the Daily Planet are often putting themselves in danger in order to get the story, and they're supposed to remain objective. The cops are...well, the cops; of course they're in danger. But Bibbo is just...a guy. He was a sailor and former military man, he's a small business owner, and he's a guy on the streets of Metropolis. And, of course, he's Superman's biggest fan.

Now, that's not to say Superman only fights for those people who like him, and I actually want to reflect that through my version of Bibbo. Bibbo'll actually be one of the ways we start the movie, and how we're initially introduced to Metropolis. And because Superman is a fairly new figure in the city, he's not a fan when the movie starts. He's not an active detractor, but he isn't exactly a fan of anybody with power who places themselves above the little guy. And Superman does that literally, so why would he like him? Just another person playing dress-up and pretending to be hero. He listens to local shock jock Leslie Willis, who regularly expresses the same sentiments, but he's not as harsh as she is to Superman. He just doesn't really care for the guy. Over the course of the movie, we'll check in with Bibbo, whose establishment, the Ace o' Clubs, is a regular haunt of Jimmy Olsen and his friend Clark Kent. And so, Clark will get an idea of how Bibbo feels pretty early on, and he'll have to reflect on that.

However, over the course of the movie, Superman will act in ways that begin to change Bibbo's mind. As we check in on him over the course of the movie, the change in his attitude will be noticeable, if somewhat subtle throughout most of the movie. But then, the last time we see Bibbo, he'll be wearing his signature Superman shirt. Because by the end of the movie, Superman will have saved the "little guys" of the city, possibly even saving Bibbo directly. And that makes him considerably different than the other person in Metropolis with power who puts themselves above the city. That person, the real focus of Bibbo's ire...is the topic of the next entry in this series.

Index: Superman

Part I: Why I Love Superman

Part II: On Lois Lane

Part III: The Kents

Part IV: The 'Rents

Part V: The...Frendts?

Part VI: Lex Luthor

Part VII: The Real Villains

Part VIII: Superman's Rogues Gallery

Part IX: The Story - Act One

Part X: The Story (Acts Two and Three)

Part XI: The Story - Climax

Part XII: Epilogue (Part One)

Part XIII: Epilogue (Part Two)

[hintsofhoney]

alright, *cracks fingers*. so. I’ve written up a transcript just to lay it all out for myself and get the most important parts. listen, everyone. for all intents and purposes and legal reasons, THIS WAS A DREAM. alright? I dreamt this. and he is literally the nicest human being ever so I don’t want to just like... put our whole convo out there like that, but I think he said some stuff that was important for people to hear so... here we go

my *dreamt* zoom call with thee crowley below the cut

The first five minutes (of my dream) was just a bunch of introduction stuff and talking about my favorite Supernatural seasons which eventually led to him telling me how they filmed the Season 8 finale (which they did over the span of three days, and in between takes the crew members were like dead silent, as to keep the moment going, which Mark thought was really cool. Said it was one of his favorite things they did on Supernatural.) Anyways, he eventually asked me if I had any questions, so, I’ll start there.

MARK: So, do you have any questions you want to ask me about aaaaaannyyyythingggg? 

ME: Um, I guess the number one thing I wanna know… um, so, I know you can’t speak for Dean and I don’t want to talk about Dean because you’re not Jensen, but, there’s like a lot of questions I guess or subtext or whatever concerning Dean’s sexuality and what not, but I want to know about demon Dean and Crowley’s relationship and if there was, I don’t know, anything like, any implied –

MARK: Well I think – I think you’re talking about… there’s a massive difference between sex and love. There’s a massive difference between, um, well, they can intertwine perfectly, that’s not the issue, but I mean you would believe with all the things that Crowley did for the Winchesters, that he was – that he very much loved Sam and Dean or loved who they are or what they are. To reduce it to, you know, a crush, or to something that – I mean, I don’t know, I think Crowley is very probably pansexual more than anything else; I don’t think anything phased him. I think, that’s why the whole stuff with Lucifer and licking the floor was kind of really stupidly boring for me because Crowley did weirder and crazier things on his own. I mean, it became this joke of trying to humiliate somebody who can’t be humiliated. There’s nothing you can humiliate Crowley with. So, that never sort of made sense, that was just a sort of writer’s glitch of thinking, “oooh, this would be funny to knock him down into subservience” and that’s what he does on a Wednesday, I mean it’s like the most un-inspiring thing. I think so much is projected onto the relationship between, certainly the four main characters, um, and, you know, look, getting comfortable with one’s sexuality and one’s identity is a massively complicated things, and if you want to live vicariously through what you believe people’s identity is and you can relate to that, great!  Who cares? I mean, can I be absolutely honest? Apart from – what I do care about, you know, don’t ever take this and piece me or misquote it, because it’s very, very specific – um, somebody stopping somebody being able to express their own identity or whatever is an issue for me. That will always be an issue for me. Um, we should all be treated equally, and we all have the rights to believe and follow those things that we wish to follow, but to project relationships onto characters is an odd thing to do. I mean, it’s wishful thinking in a lot of ways, I mean, actually it’s quite… it’s quite reasonable because in the past if you think about it, if you ask your parents or anyone else, the only way sexuality was used was to, uh, literally demonize somebody. It was only ever used to say somebody was bad because this who they’re in love with. You know, that’s, that’s the thing. And it’s a massive change in the world that we’re moving towards, I should say, uh – a lack of consequence for who one loves, apart from the obvious consequences of human nature. You know, political consequences for who one loves – I’ve just watched Pete Butteigieg being, you know, sitting in congress with his husband there with him; that’s the first time that’s ever happened in United States congress and I’m so proud of that. Not just because the man is gay and happily married – that’s not even the issue for me, it’s because he’s the best man for the job and one of the smartest people on the planet. You know, it’s like using sexual templates, as they were, or gender templates as they are, or orientation templates as they are, we always use to disclude people from things. They were always used to discriminate. You know, labeling somebody was a way of discrimination. And where as labels are very important, to ones self, and they’re very important politically and they’re very important socio-economically and they’re very important in all those aspects, I yearn for a time when nobody gives a damn. I really do. But I mean, we have to go through so much to get there. I mean, let’s be honest, you can’t, you know, right the wrongs of hundreds of years of oppression in 20 minutes by saying, “let’s all move forward”. It just doesn’t work that way, it never has. But there’s a responsibility there, that if you’re going to represent, that you represent all. That you don’t just represent you. So, one has to be careful with a television program or, or, you know, Misha or myself, or, not speaking for the boys, but just generally, um, you have to be careful that what you advocate is inclusive, not disinclusive. Not excluding people... and it’s so hard to frame these conversations, that they’re equitable, it’s so hard to do that. And so, you know, we spend years pointing out the inequity and the injustice and the unfairness of the whole situation, and… I don’t know if the trick is to rise above, or, uh, maybe it’s as simple as love and coming together as a human race and make it very difficult for people to discriminate and exclude based on gender, race, color, religion, any of the subsets of humanity that we’ve decided we have. So, I think personal responsibility is the most important thing, but if one is in a position of power on a TV show, you got to remember what you’re representing, that you have a, you know, you have to cover all or cover none. So, you know, but if you stick to a story and you have a story about a person or two people and their journey, that’s shining light on things. If you try to advocate for all, I think it becomes a little more complicated. Does that make sense?

so, i just feel like he said some important things there, but like I also don’t really understand what he’s getting at really, y’know? oh! also, he didn’t watch the finale lmao 

also! there’s this:

MARK: Because if you come down on one side or another, you’re admitting the sides, and that has its own political ramifications. If you push the ball up in the air and say, “you decide”, I don’t think that’s copping out. I think that’s, maybe not fulfilling everybody’s expectations, or not fulfilling everybody’s hopes, but at least you’re getting the question asked. You know, at least you’re getting the question asked. At least people are relating to it and going, “well, what if?”. Because it’s all “what if”, I mean, it’s a TV show, so it’s “what if”, you know? It’s not Misha being in love with Jensen, I mean as much as he loves Jensen, I don’t think that’s his thing – I mean you never know – but I’m saying yet again, I don’t exclude anything from anybody (I LITERALLY CAN’T BELIEVE HE SAID THIS LMAO). But to force my opinion or my identity belief upon a situation has a cost. It may be right, it may be absolutely right, and it may be necessary in many, many cases. But, in that circumstance, I think… there are a lot of people in the world that say that Jesus, for example, was anti-homosexual and that he was – and none of that is true, and none of that is provable in the New Testament, and I’m not talking about Leviticus and I’m not talking about early Bible and I’m not talking about the fact that more than 25,000 words have been changed in the King James edition and all of this stuff, but these things that people hold so sacred, the confusion that arises from that is being told that a man loving a man or a woman loving a woman or a man loving a man and a woman or whatever combination being there is either right or wrong because you’re being told by a pastor or the leaders of your church, is a very difficult thing to break down. I think what you have to do is at least put it out there so it’s visible, and so it becomes less and less deniable. And you know, people change over years, that’s the trouble with youth, is shit doesn’t move fast enough. “I need a decision now!”, and unfortunately, when you’re dealing with centuries of prejudice and centuries of un-enlightenment, I think that sometimes the best thing to do is reach as many people as possible and pose the question. And sometimes it’s essential to make a statement, absolutely, no question. It is essential to make a stand, in some circumstances. But to polarize a TV show, can be very disingenuous to those who need to go ask their own questions, who need to go say, “well, where does Jesus say this is wrong?” you know, if that’s your beliefs.

he also said, when we went off on a tangent about doom patrol:

MARK: There are issues that are being addressed here [on Doom Patrol] that are not being addressed on other shows, and yet again, we have the format, and I don’t know that Supernatural ever had the format because it was on the CW.

anywho, in conclusion, fuck the cw.

also, again, for all intents and purposes this was a dream I had :)))))))

[nevermindirah]

Do you have any thoughts on the use of AAVE for Nile (or lack thereof) in TOG fanfiction? I've been reading some Book of Nile fic and some writers seem to write her as a Millennial™ (using words like "fave" and "woke") but never acknowledge her Blackness in her patterns of speech. I know we don't see her use as much AAVE in the films, but I would argue she's in situations where code-switching would be valued (first in a "professional" environment in the army, then around a group of non-Black strangers).

Hi anon! I have many thoughts on this and I'm honored you asked me! But I should start by saying I'm white and any thoughts Black fans and especially Black American fans have on this that they want to share would be beyond lovely. (I'm not gonna tag anybody bc that feels rude but please add onto this post if any of y'all see this and want to!)

The main reason I personally avoid AAVE for Nile in my own fics is because I'm not Black. But Nile-centric fics by Black writers tend to avoid using much of it too, at least from what I've noticed/understood, and my guess is it's largely for the reason you mention, that she's in situations that encourage code-switching.

In movie canon Nile is highly competent at tailoring her language to each situation she finds herself in. This fantastic linguistics analysis meta shows how skillfully Nile chooses her vocabulary and grammar to meet her goals with different conversation partners in different contexts. In comics canon Nile had a bunch of different civilian jobs before joining the Marines, so she would've had experience code-switching in the ways that made sense for all those different contexts as well as the Marines and her family and high school and wherever else she spent her time before we met her. And now she's spending her time with a handful of immortals none of whom are native English speakers and a fellow Black American but one with a Queen's English UK accent whose professional experience is in the CIA where high-status code-switching is often an absolute must for success or even survival.

Fics featuring Nile are charged with extrapolating from that to how it might show up in her use of language that she's coping with a traumatic separation from her family and her career and pretty much everything she's ever known and now she needs to be able to make herself understood to people who seem to care about her and each other but are super duper in crisis, three (soon to be four) of whom predate Modern English entirely and the only one who's anywhere near her contemporary she's not supposed to talk to for a century. All of these people are telling her that pretty much any contact with any mortals poses an existential threat to her and the rest of the group. How the FUCK is she supposed to cope with that, like, generally? And would it be a more effective way for her to cope if she talked to Andy Joe and Nicky using the speech patterns that she used to use with her mom and brother, to at least retain that part of her identity even if it means having to do a lot of explaining, or would it meet her needs better to prioritize Andy Joe and Nicky understanding what she means with her words over using the particular words and grammar forms she used with her family?

I've seen several fics, both Nile-centric / BoN and otherwise, explore this a little bit in how/whether Nile uses Millennial™ speak. It's often a theme in Nile texting Booker despite the exile because of the popular headcanon that he as The Tech Guy is the only other immortal who understands memes. But Nile's much-younger-than-Booker mom probably uses Boomer and/or Gen X memes and Andy has been adapting to new communication styles for forever as evidenced by her canon high level of fluency with standard-American-accented English.

Which brings us back to people avoiding AAVE because they're not Black and they don't want to make mistakes (or they're not Black and they don't want to get yelled at for making mistakes, though I think many people overestimate how much they'll get yelled at while underestimating how much these mistakes can hurt). I can imagine some Black fans hold back from using much AAVE in fic because they don't want to share in-group stuff with white people who are likely to then adopt and ruin it, as white people so often do with Black cultural stuff. Some links about this including a great Khadija Mbowe video. I'm saying this gently, anon, because you might not know: woke, an example you cited as Millennial™ speak, is AAVE, and that's gotten erased by so many white people appropriating it and using it incorrectly online.

And also there's the part where fandom is a hobby and you never know when you're reading a fic that's the very first thing someone's ever written outside of a school assignment. This cultural considerations of language shit takes a level of effort and skill that not everybody puts into every fic, or even could if they wanted to because they haven't had time to build their skills yet. It's definitely easier for non-Black fans to project our millennial feels onto Nile than to do the layers of research and self-reflection it requires to depict what Blackness might mean to Nile, and it's not surprising that often people sharing their hobby creations on the internet have gone the easier route. There's not even necessarily shame in doing what's easier. It's just frustrating and often hurtful when structural white supremacy means that 3-dimensional Black characters are rare in media and thoughtful explorations of them in fandom are seen by the majority of fans as not-easy to make and therefore Nile Freeman, the main character in The Old Guard (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood, has the least fic and meta and art made about her of our 5 main immortals.

I've been active in different fandoms off and on for twenty years and I barely managed to write 5,000 words about Sam Wilson across multiple different fics in the 7 years since I fell in love with him. There's an alchemy to which characters we connect with, and on top of that which characters we connect with in a way that causes us to create stuff about them. Something about Nile Freeman finally tipped me over the edge from a voracious reader to a voracious writer. It's not for me to judge which characters speak to other individuals to the level of creating content about them, but I do think it's important for us to notice, and then work to fight, the pattern where across this fandom as a whole Nile gets way less content, and way less depth in so much of the content that's in theory about her, than any of these other characters.

Anyway, back to language. My two long fics feature Nile with several Black friends — Copley and OCs and cameos from other media — but all of those characters except Alec Hardison from Leverage aren't American. It's very possible I'm guilty of stereotyping Black British speech patterns in I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore. I watched hours and hours of Black haircare YouTube videos in the research for that fic and I modeled my OCs' speech patterns on what I heard from some of those YouTubers as well as what I've heard people like John Boyega and Idris Elba saying in interviews, but the thing about doing your best is you still might fuck up.

I'm slowly making progress on my WIP where Nile and Sam Wilson are cousins, and what ways of talking with a family member might be authentic for Nile is a major question I need to figure out. For that, I'm largely modeling my writing choices on how I hear my Black friends and colleagues talking to each other. I haven't overheard colleagues talking in an office in a long-ass time, but back when that was a thing, I remember seeing a ton of nuance in the different ways many of my Black colleagues would talk to each other. Different people have different personalities! And backgrounds! And priorities! A few jobs ago my department was about 1/3 Black and we worked closely with Obama administration staff many of whom were Black and there was SO MUCH VARIETY in how Black people talked to each other, about work and workplace-appropriate personal stuff, where I and other white coworkers could hear. There are a few work friends in particular who I have in my head when I'm trying to imagine how Sam and Nile might talk to each other. From the outside looking in, God DAMN is shit complicated, intellectually and interpersonally and spiritually, for Black people who are devoting their professional lives to public service in the United States.

One more aspect of this that I have big thoughts on but I need to take extra care in talking about is the idea of acknowledging Nile's Blackness in her patterns of speech. There's no one right way to be Black, and Nile's a fictional character created by a white dude but there are plenty of real-life Black Americans who don't use much or even any AAVE, for reasons that are complicated because of white supremacy. (Highly highly recommend this video by Shanspeare on the harms of the Oreo stereotype.)

Something that's not the same but has enough similarity that I think it's worth talking about is my personal experience with authenticity and American Jewish speech patterns. My Jewish family members don't talk like they're in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and I've known lots of people who do talk that way (or the millennial version of it), some of whom have questioned my Jewishness because I don't talk that way. That hurts me. Sometimes when another Jew tells me some shit like "I've never heard a Jew say y'all'd've," I can respond with "well now you have asshole, bless your Yankee-ass heart," because the myth of Dixie is a racist lie but I will totally call white Northerners Yankees when they're being shitty to me for being Southern, and this particular Jew fucking revels in using "bless your heart" with maximum polite aggression, especially with said Yankees. But sometimes I don't have it in me to say anything and it just quietly hurts having an important part of me disbelieved by someone who shares that important part of me. The sting isn't quite the same when non-Jews disbelieve or discount my Jewishness, but that hurts too.

Who counts as authentically Jewish is a messy in-group conversation and it doesn't really make sense to explain it all here. Who counts as authentically Jewish is a matter of legal status for immigration, citizenship, and civil rights in Israel, and it's my number 2 reason after horrific treatment of Palestinians that I'm antizionist. But outside that extremely high-stakes legal situation, it can just feel really shitty to not be recognized as One Of Us, especially by your own people.

It can also feel really shitty to be The Only One of Your Kind in a group, even if that group is an immortal chosen family who all loves each other dearly. Sometimes especially in a situation like that where you know those people love you but there are certain things they don't get about you and will never quite be able to. I'm definitely projecting at least a little bit of my "lonely Jew who will be alone again for yet another Jewish holiday" stuff onto Nile when at the end of I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore she's thinking about being the only Black immortal and moving away from the community she'd built with a mostly-Black group of mortals in that fic. Maybe that tracks, or maybe that's fucked up of me.

Basically, this got very long but it's complicated, writing about experiences that aren't your own takes skill which in turn takes time and practice to build, writing about experiences not your own that our society maligns can cause a lot of harm if done badly, it can also cause a lot of harm when a large enough portion of a fandom just decides to nope out of something that's difficult and risky because then there's just not much content about a character who deserves just a shit ton of loving and nuanced content, people are individuals and two people who come from the exact same cultural context might show that influence in all kinds of different ways, identity is complicated, language is complicated, writing is hard, and empathy and humility and doing our best aren't a guarantee of avoiding harm but they do go a long way in helping people create thoughtful content about a character as awesome and powerful and kind and messy and scared and curious and WORTHY as Nile Freeman.

[shimmershae]

My thoughts on Caryl canon--as if you lovelies actually asked, lol, go a little something like this.

We’re getting a spin-off.  

I know the antis and the haters are doing whatever is in their limited, petty ass power to sink said spin-off and who knows?  Maybe they will somehow succeed (highly doubtful).  But they can piss and moan about it all they want and they still will not be able to change the fact that a spin-off is and has been planned. 

To hear Kang and Norman and Melissa talk, it’s been in the planning stages for quite awhile.  

Coincidentally (I think not), Carol’s story (Daryl’s too but I’m going to focus more on Carol here) started to become a little more defined around the time that this spin-off idea was born.  It might not have been obvious at the time, maybe it still isn’t quite yet--we’ve been burned so much over the years--but Kang pumped the brakes and reversed course on a storyline that has seen Carol sentenced to continually rolling a stone up a steep hill for what has felt like all eternity.  She started dismantling the relationship between Carol and EZ really before it found its feet and not only that?  She cut the anchor of Henry from around Carol’s ankle.  

Now at first, the deconstruction of the Kingdom family unit seemed like more of the same, essentially another misery arc for Carol, and to a certain extent it was.  But the thing is?  

Kang might have shoved Carol harshly to the ground and given her a kick for good measure, several in fact, but something that might be lost a bit in the shuffle of everybody crying this is nothing but rinse and repeat of the same old, same old, is the fact that Carol has clawed her way out of yet another abyss and whether she’s wanted to or not, she’s starting to feel it.  All the losses she’s endured along the way, and she’s learning how to stand on her feet and rise in spite of them.  

All those little boxes she’s shoved her past traumas into are popping open one by one and the ghosts are spilling out and she’s having to face them head on and that’s just as much thanks to Daryl as anything else because he’s been right there with her.  

Daryl, who she sees. Daryl, who she can’t lose.  

The above statements have always been true, but Kang’s added another little wrinkle to this relationship.  

Daryl, who Carol dreams about a life of domestic peace with.  

It’s a shift in Carol’s perception of Daryl’s role/potential role in her life that’s perhaps too subtle for some.  Or maybe, just maybe, it was the first warning shot to them.  The one that made them sit up and take notice.  

I know which one I think it was.  Do you?  

Remember.  The spin-off had already been conceived at this point.  The groundwork to lead these two out of their status quo had already been started.  That’s important.  That nugget informs everything that’s unfolded onscreen since.  

Leadership was thrust upon Daryl in the latter part of Season 9 and the whole of Season 10 and he rose to meet that mantle, but through all of that?  Carol and her mental, emotional, and physical well-being remained a priority to him.  

What’s more, Daryl Dixon ‘manned up’ and stepped outside of his comfort zone.  He found his words and used them to tell Carol all the different ways that he could without shoving them both off of a precipice they weren’t completely ready for how he felt.  

Seriously.  How much more explicit can you get than “we have a future?”  Than offering multiple times to run away together?  

Those weren’t just aimless shots in the dark, although many took them to be.  We all know who they are.  

Again, we’re getting a spin-off.  It’s in the planning stages at least.  Kang might not have all the pit stops mapped out but I do think she’s got a general destination in mind.  She’s just making a few stops to fuel up and get supplies first. 

Let me ask ya’ll something.  To any outsider, anybody that might live underneath a rock and might not have seen an actual episode of TWD, how do you think this plot might read to them?  Without any physical descriptors, without knowing these two characters’ history as longtime friends and even with knowing it, what do you think they might glean from the fact that Kang has chosen to lead them back to each other? That she has chosen to emphasize the strength of their bond before pushing at its limits until it is so strained it has no choice but to either break permanently or weave itself tighter together with a new type of thread?  

Once again, I am going to remind anybody reading this that there is a spin-off in the works.  A spin-off featuring Carol AND Daryl.  

Carol and Daryl’s relationship over the years and seasons has evolved from strangers to friends to best friends and now?  Now they seem to be standing at the edge of a cliff staring into the unknown because seemingly Kang has decided to deconstruct their relationship.  She’s in the process of breaking it down into its base parts right now and causing Carol in particular to really examine what it is that she wants.  

She’s already given us all, Carol included, hints along the way.  

She’s paralleled these two characters’ separate journeys to each others’ sides.  

We’re ten years in.  With a spin-off impending and a bit of a been there, done that aspect hovering over the whole Carol and Daryl friendship, does anybody other than the antis and haters really and truly believe that Kang is deconstructing Carol and Daryl’s relationship only to return it to its original state?  

Does anybody really believe that there aren’t various romantic tropes being employed here?  That this story is being framed in anything other than an unabashedly shippy way?  Seriously.  How many fucking times has the sheer LONGING between these two jumped literally out of the screen and attacked us with its intensity?  

Pining has taken on a whole new meaning and yet, there are so many still (willfully) blind.  

Or maybe they’re not as blind as they claim.  Maybe they see the writing on the wall that so many that have actually longed for Carol and Daryl to take this step are afraid to really hope for and that’s why they are big time mad and ramping up their efforts to delegitimize romantic Carol and Daryl before it can be an undeniable reality.  Maybe that’s why so many of them are having hissy tizzy fits over a spin-off that was born in spite of what they claim is their majority.  

My personal opinion is too many exposed nerves are being hit and hit rather forcefully with a narrative that is becoming more overtly romantic all the time.  

Kang is bright-lighting us all with Caryl canon and because of past events some of fandom is still too stunned to see it coming.  

The rest sees it but some of them are still in big time denial.  They think they can keep speeding ahead and force it to swerve completely off the road.  

I don’t know about ya’ll but I’m going to respectfully pull over to the side of the road, do a U-turn, and follow these two to New Mexico and beyond. 

[emma-nation]

The Devil In I - Bela x OC (Resident Evil Village AU)

“Step inside, see the Devil in I”

Summary: Aleena Novak is a 19 years old orphan who desired more than living in a village in the middle of nowhere. A talented artist with a big future ahead, she gets the scholarship of her dreams in United States. But everything changes when her twin brother, Auryk, steals an important artifact from Castle Dimitrescu.

In this adventure, Aleena will find way more than she expected.

“You’ll realize I’m not your Devil anymore”

Pairing: Bela Dimitrescu x OC

Genre: Between T and M (Trigger warning for violence, blood, abuse and eventual smut)

Tag List: @nydeiri

Notes: This is my first RES fic, so I'm sorry if I mess it up a bit. English is also not my main language, so a mistake or two may happen. I hope you enjoy it :)

Trigger Warning: Language, abuse, blood and violence.

Eastern Europe - July, 2009

"If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?"

Mother closed the book, placing it on the bedside table between Auryk's bed and mine. Then, she lowered herself and kissed my forehead like she did every night. Her long, blonde hair tickled my face and left a trace of her sweet lavender fragrance in the air. I giggled.

"Good night, sweetheart," she spoke.

"Good night, momma."

"Cherish your last night as a six years old. Tomorrow you will become a..."

"Princess?!"

"A seven years old girl. The prettiest girl in the village."

"Pffft," Auryk let out a displeased grunt from his bed, covering his head with the pillow to avoid listening another word from the conversation.

"And you too," mother sat by his side on the bed and repeated her nightly ritual of kissing his forehead to wish him a good night too. "You'll become the most handsome and brave warrior in this village. Do you understand?"

"I hope so. Good night, mom."

"Good night, buddy."

Mother left the room, leaving us both in the dark. However, we couldn't sleep. Not because we were thrilled about our incoming birthday party as any regular child, but because we knew our lives were about to change. Seven years old was the age every child from our village was introduced to the truth and started being trained to fight the evil that haunted our lands. Auryk and I spent minutes, or maybe hours, in silence, staring at the ceiling.

"Leena?" He was the first one to speak. "Do you believe a spell can broken? I mean, like a curse?"

"I don't know, Ryk," I answered, feeling my thoughts starting to drift away. "Maybe we're doomed after all. Or... we could learn how to love the beasts."

The birthday parties always happened during the daytime, rules of the village. We could no longer be outside after 6 PM. Mother got help from the other women to prepare the treats and organize the decorations. Auryk was disguised as a pirate and I... I was Belle, from the Beauty and the Beast.

"So, what do you think you will be getting this year?" My best friend Elena asked while we were playing with our dolls. She was about two years older than us.

"I don't know," I shrugged. Being a merchant, my father always returned home with the most unusual gifts: a magical music box, a voodoo doll that had a life on its own or a fragrance that chased away the monsters - and everybody else too. "A new book. I'm hoping for a new book."

It was only by the end of the party Adrian Novak made his entrance. That was the mystery about him. Nobody knew when he would show up, or if he would show up at all. He still had that same annoying smirk on his face. The corner of his mouth holding a cigarette. The months away made his beard grow longer, as well as his dark hair. In the sunlight, the scar above his eye was even more visible.

"Auryk," he shouted, "come here, son. I've got something for ya."

My twin brother, who had been climbing trees with his friends stop frozen in spot for a second. I couldn't tell if he hated or feared that man. Maybe both. He slowly followed father's command, approaching him cautiously.

"Hi, dad."

"Happy birthday, son," father ruffled his dark straight hair with his strong and calloused hand. "It's about time you grow up."

He handed my brother a large package. From our experience, we knew exactly what it was, a shotgun.

"T-Thank you, dad."

"I'll be spending some time at home. Tomorrow we'll start practicing."

Auryk consented. He shot me a quick glance. From our twin bond I could tell my brother was far from happy. When he blew his candles that afternoon, he didn't wish for a weapon. We wished to be a normal child.

"What did you get, Leena?" He asked once we were locked in the safety of our bedroom.

"Pencils and a drawing book. Dad thinks I'm talented."

Not really. Adrian Novak would never allow his daughter to hold a shotgun. That was, according to him, 'a man thing'.

"Good, at least one of us got what they wanted. Happy birthday, sister."

"Happy birthday, brother."

4 Years Later - October, 2013

It wasn't easy to be the weakest of the twins. Although he was born first, Auryk was the tinniest. The one who was always getting sick or getting injured. The one who couldn't hit a single fucking target when he had the alcoholic breath of his father on his neck.

He aimed for a crow, sitting still on a fence. How hard could it be? Even the eldest man from the village could do any better than that.

BANG! He shot again. And missed.

"Again?!" Adrian angered, shoving him hard on the shoulder. "What the hell is your problem, kid?"

"I don't know, okay? This gun... it's heavy!"

"Heavy? And why do you think we've been exercising for all these years, huh?! We do not live in Disneyland, Auryk. We need to fight monsters, abominations. Someday I won't be home and you need to be prepared to protect our people. Do you understand?"

Tears started forming in the corners of the boy's blue eyes. He couldn't cry. Not in front of him. Crying was a sign of weakness and he couldn't be weak. Not right now. Auryk started to think about all the things he could be doing. He thought about the ocean, as he had seen on TV and books. He could feel the warmness of the sun on his skin. The sand between his toes. His mom and sister were also there, of course - they'd carry them with him everywhere. And he would study Math and Physics. There would be no guns, no monsters, no blood, only numbers, only formulas, only theories. He smiled. He no longer felt like crying.

"I'm sorry, dad," kindness was always the answer, his mother said. "But this isn't for me, you know? I don't like it. I... Remember that boarding school my teacher mentioned? I thought maybe I..."

His words were interrupted by a hard slap on his face. Auryk could taste a small amount of blood coming out from his lower lip.

"So that's what you want? To become one of those little fancy fags? Maybe you're not my son after all."

Adrian started walking away, leaving his son alone, sitting on the floor.

"I AM!" Auryk yelled, enraged. "I am your son."

"Then prove it."

"You shouldn't take so hard on him," Savannah poured her husband a cup of tea. "He's just a boy."

"He's eleven years old, for god's sake," the husband punched the table strong enough to make it shake. "He needs to man up a bit. You should stop spoiling him."

As I left my bedroom I found my brother sitting on the stairs. He didn't have to be so close to listen to the conversation between our parents, father's voice was loud enough to echo through every wall of our small and cozy home.

I sat down by his side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"Maybe you should do it, Leena. You'd do it better, I know."

"I'm not so sure. Remember when I tried to shoot a scarecrow and almost shot that old witch?"

"Come on, you aimed on purpose! I know."

Auryk finally let out a small laugh at the memory.

"You're good at everything, Leena," he spoke fondly. "You're an extrovert, you're everybody's friend, you can cook, you can draw and paint... you're a true artist. I'm a mistake."

"You're not a mistake, Ryk," I pulled my brother closer, resting my cheek against the side of his face. "We're only at the wrong place and you know it."

Going back to our bedroom, we pulled from the drawers the postcards our grandma Louise sent us from San Diego. Mom had been born in California and lived there her entire life, until she met father during one of his trips. God knows what made her fall in love with that man. Adventure? Danger? I expected better from myself when I turned eighteen. Otherwise, I'd never want to fall in love. Love could be my ruin, just like my mom's.

"Leena..." Auryk held the postcard tightly, "do you think... if he died... do you think mom would take us to nana's home?"

"I don't know, Ryk," I didn't want to think of my father's possible death. But I also dreamed of a better life. "Maybe."

"What the hell?" Father's voice in the kitchen made me jump in fear. I knew that tone. I grew up used to that. Something was wrong in the village. We had to hide.

"To the basement, now!" He emerged at the bedroom, holding a rifle. "Lycans were seen surrounding the area."

We barely had any time to react, mom came and dragged us both to the basement. Father left, carrying his arsenal of weapons as usual. There were other hunters in the village but we always knew how badly it could end. Somebody could always get seriously hurt. Or worse.

The basement had been carefully prepared for that kind of situation years before. It had a big bed, two armchairs, a heating source, some stored food and a shelf. Mom sighed and forced a smile.

"So," she walked to the shelf, "what is it going to be today?"

"Frankenstein," Auryk suggested. My brother loved mystery and horror. As if his life hadn't enough of it.

"Romeo and Juliet," I spoke. There was something about forbidden romance that always caught my interest.

"Okay. I... I'm gonna say a prayer and you two can read the books you picked by yourselves. What do you think?"

"Great!"

Mom kneeled down by the bed's side, holding a crucifix. I could join her if I wanted to, but I'd rather watch in silence. I grabbed my book, sitting on one of the armchairs and pretending to pay attention, while I tried to distract myself from the fact my father could be the Lycans' next prey. Or all of us, if they managed to break into our house.

"Leena?" I woke up hours later with my mom shaking me. "Leena?! Where's Auryk? Where's your brother, Leena?"

I had no idea. I had fallen asleep and apparently, so did mom. She checked for the basement's door, it had been locked from outside.

"No..." she tried to force it open. "No! I can't be..."

All Auryk had to do was to successfully kill and take a Lycan's carcass as a trophy to his father, right? That was what that old douchebag wanted him to do, to prove his courage, his manhood. We had his shotgun, a binoculars and a knife, that should be enough, but first, he needed a good plan.

Looking down to his hands, he had the most perfect idea. Without thinking twice, he sliced a cut through his palm, letting some blood pour on the ground. Then, he found a tall tree. He climbed it and observed. The smell of blood his trail left behind should be enough to attract a creature.

"Come on... come on..."

From a distance, Auryk could hear the sound of destruction and death. There was a battle going on somewhere nearby. Once again Lycans should have found a family or a group of hunters.

And then, he could hear it. The heavy footsteps, the screeching sounds, the sniffing. The mutant creature was only a few meters away from the tree. He aimed, but it was still too distant. He needed to move to a closer branch.

It all happened in one second. He was almost there, reaching for the spot he had picked, but his weight was too much for the tree's branch. In a blink of an eye, he was lying on the ground. His vision was blurred. His head hurt intensely, as well as his arm. It was broken for sure. He possibly had a concussion too. He tried to stand up and run but his legs wouldn't follow his commands. The Lycan was coming straight at him.

"AURYK!" His mother screamed behind him. "NO!"

Time seemed to freeze in that fraction of second. How did she manage to escape the basement? How could she have found him?

But without hesitation, Savannah threw herself on top of her son, protecting him from the jaws and claws of the monster. Auryk couldn't see much, but he could smell it. He could feel it. Blood. There was blood everywhere. He couldn't tell who it belonged to, he or his mom's.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A fast sequence of shots suggested the hunters had found them. The creature stopped moving, stopped howling. It was finally dead.

"M-Mom... it's dead. We... We're safe."

She didn't answer. Instead, he heard another familiar voice.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" It was from his father. "Savannah! Savannah!"

"D-Dad..." Auryk tried to speak, but the words got lost along the way. "I... I..."

Adrian lifted him by his jacket, holding him inches above the ground.

"YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED YOUR MOM, YOUR STUPID BASTARD!"

"I..." tears streamed down the boy's face, his injured brain trying to process what had just happened. "I'm sorry.'

After he was thrown back to the ground, he was hit with a hard kick on his stomach. He turned his head around to notice a small figure hiding behind a tree, watching the whole scene in pure horror.

"L-Leena..." he muttered.

"This is all your fault, Auryk. You're a disgrace to this family."

And then, he passed out. Rumors said he was unconscious for days or maybe weeks. When he woke up, he wished everything had been a nightmare.

Present Days - July, 2021

Nobody mourned Adrian Novak when he died. Not his children. Not his village mates. No human being would ever feel any sympathy for a man who abused and blamed his eleven years old son for his mother's death. It had been two years since Adrian left this world and I couldn't feel any more free.

"Hey," I left another message on my brother's voicemail, "in case you've forgotten it's our birthday today. I'd like to have my twin home, you know? Call me when you get this message."

It was useless, I knew. Auryk would only pick up his phone when he wanted to. Or when he was too drunk. God knew where that guy would be at that time, probably waking up at some girl's bed or getting some rest from... working.

After grabbing myself a cup of coffee, I checked the door's mat. Bills, bills, newspaper and... California Institute Of Arts? I remember having an argument with Auryk about this matter at some point. He wanted me to fill the application and send them my portfolio. I insisted we had no money, not even to pay for the tuition. I won - I always win every argument by the way.

"Your damn son of a..." I placed the envelope on the kitchen's table. I was a coward, I confess. However, I didn't know which pain was worse - to be sure I wasn't good enough or to be sure I was, indeed, but I'd never have money to leave that hellhole. Anyways, I decided to leave it alone. I had more important things to do.

My morning routine: to go to the middle of the woods and do some training. My father used to say fighting wasn't a girl thing, but I was no regular girl. And never in this life I'd allow someone to tell me what to do.

After running, climbing and doing a set of push-ups, it was time for combat training. Travelers from abroad taught me some different set of moves, I'd like to think I created my own fighting style. I was also very good with knifes, daggers or any kinds of short blades, they were useful during a close distance combat. My shooting was a work in progress, once or twice I'd miss the center of my handmade targets.

Then, like everyday, I'd go back home, shower and follow to my shift at the village's pub.

"Hiya, Leena," Gustav greeted me when I arrived. "I heard today is a special day... the day a little girl..."

"NO!" I stopped him. Gustav was my best friend. We had known each other since we were children and somehow, he liked to make my birthday a special - and embarrassing - event.

He placed a handmade fairytale-like book on the table. There were some edited pictures, mixed with some messed up drawings about my birth and childhood. He called it 'The Princess Who Carried The Light'.

"God, you're soooo stupid..." I rolled my eyes and moaned, before wrapping him into a very tight hug. "I love you, you know that?"

"I know. You'd probably marry me, if you weren't into girls."

We laughed together, as Olga, our boss emerged from the kitchen, bringing a cake with nineteen candles.

"Here's to another year," the older woman opened a wrinkled smile, "make a wish, my darling."

I fell pensive for a moment, besides having my twin brother back home, safe and sound, what else could I wish for? California, that scholarship, a new life... that's for sure.

"I wish for... a new life, a new adventure," I pronounced aloud while blowing the candles.

"Careful," a male voice spoke behind me, "words have power, little sister. You may get what you want."

"Ryk!"

I jumped straight to my brother's arms. I could swear that in only a few weeks he had gotten a little bit taller, and stronger too.

"I wouldn't miss my own birthday, right?" He smirked. "So, where's the cake? Please, chocolate... tell me it's chocolate."

"Your silly boy," Olga spread some icing on his nose. "Of course it's chocolate, as you love. And with cherries too."

Auryk responded with a satisfied smile. Olga and her husband, Kristoff, were those responsible for taking care of him after the Lycan attack, years ago. They sort of adopted him like one of their biological children.

"Oh!" The woman exclaimed taking a closer look at Ryk's forearm. He had gotten a tattoo. I hadn't been informed of those news either. Apparently, my brother had more secrets than I could even start to imagine. "This is... new. It seems like my kids are really growing up."

"And only now you noticed that, Olga?" Gustav joked.

Olga shook her head, grinning at herself and returned to the kitchen. The customers were starting to fill the pub. I stared at Ryk again, wondering what other secrets my brother could be keeping.

"So, what does that mean?" I pointed to his newly gotten tattoo, a strange and ancient symbol it seemed.

"Protection from the evil. This is what we need the most in our lives, especially in a place like this. What reminds me -" we turned around, taking a small box from the pocket of his jacket. "Your gift."

I took the black velvet box from his hands, it contained a golden necklace with a magenta gemstone as pendant. My blue eyes drowned themselves in the stone. It had a mysterious glow. Something hypnotizing. Something magical.

"Whoa..." was everything my mouth could pronounce. "And I bought you an Astronomy book."

Auryk stood up from his chair and went behind me, taking the necklace from my hands to wear it around my neck himself.

"This is supposed to protect you from any supernatural and inhumane beings. I won't lose you to them, Aleena. Not like I lost mom."

"Ryk, I... I can't even thank you enough."

"You don't have to. Just... stay alive."

First, I was overflowing with happiness. It either had to do with the fact my brother was home, alcohol, or both. Also, Olga should thank me. Most of the costumers of the day only stopped by the bar because of me. They absolutely loved me and knowing it was my birthday, they had to come and see me. A few of them even gave me some extra tips or a small gift, which was even greater.

"Okay, party girl..." Auryk helped me to get inside of the house as I tripped over the door mat. "Time to go to bed now. Don't you think?"

"Come on, Ryk! Have some spirit! You're home, Olga gave me the day off tomorrow, I earned some money..."

"You told Mrs. Hansen you secretly had a crush on her daughter during Middle School, you danced on top of a table, you're gonna get a hangover..."

"Party pooper!"

I threw myself at the couch. Auryk stood in front of me with arms crossed, looking like a father about to give his child a lecture.

"What?!" I yelled. "It's not like you've never been drunk before. Remember when you stole Adrian's..." I started to laugh, remembering the episode.

"When you were going to tell me about this, Leena?" He showed me the envelope. The Art Institute envelope. The one I had been struggling to open.

"Oh! I forgot. My bad, I didn't open it myself yet. I probably didn't get in anyways."

"You did."

I did?

"It's not like we have money to pay for my tuition. Also, how are we supposed to move to California, Ryk? I work at a pub and you..."

"I've gotten more than enough for that. You know that getting out of this place has always been the plan, since we were children. Leena, I've done some big jobs those last few months. I have the money to grant us a comfortable life in California."

"Smuggling, Ryk!" I raised my voice, saying aloud the information that was supposed to be a secret or not. "You've been stealing to grant us this life."

My brother stared at me in silence. I couldn't tell if he felt offended or embarrassed about my words.

"I'm getting out of here, whatever it takes," he ran a hand through his dark hair. "And you are coming with me. In two weeks, we move to United States for your enrollment."

"But..."

What I was trying to protest against? Leaving the village and starting a new life with my brother was everything I always dreamed.

"Look, I promise you," Auryk placed both of his firm hands on my shoulders, "once we settle down, no more smuggling."

"Okay," I sighed. "We leave in two weeks then."

There was a loud knock on the door. Being drunk as I was, I figured out I should have forgotten my purse at the pub. Or it could be a neighbor with some very stupid emergency.

Auryk opened the door and there was a strange looking man standing there. We wore sunglasses and a hat, behind his back he was carrying a giant hammer. According to the rumors and stories I heard from my parents, that was one of the Lords of The Four Houses, Karl Heisenberg.

"Auryk Novak?" He asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Come with me, kid. You've gotten yourself in big trouble."

[daniclaytcn]

Hey, i love your blog and reading your thoughts on all things Buddie and there’s something i would love to have your input on. I don’t know if you saw posts like this, too, but there is an ongoing trend of people stating that there are two ways the show can go on with this, and that’s 1) keep on developing Buck and Eddie’s relationship (essentially leading to them becoming canon) or 2) untangle and distance them from each other and build up other love interests as the most important person in their life, leaving their friendship to be only referred to and rarely shown. And while i absolutely get where they are coming from and have seen mainstream tv taking that second path many times (don’t expect it from 911 though, i have faith in those writers)i think it’s simply not true that these are the only ways to write Buck and Eddie’s relationship going forward.

It absolutely is possible to keep their relationship as it is and still write different love interests for them. There will be less scenes with them together and I sure won’t fucking like it, but there is no need to have them become less important to each other. I hate that so many people seem to be not only of the impression that the most important person in someone’s life always HAS to be the romantic partner, but also that this place can’t be shared with someone else, like a best friend or some other platonically beloved person. I hate that people seem to be convinced that this is some kind of popularity contest that the love interest wins by default and that getting in a relationship with someone automatically makes your bond with others less important, automatically makes you invest less in those relationships. Not saying that that can’t happen, it sadly does quite often, but in 98% of those cases it’s because of a severe lack of trying from one party. It’s truly not in the nature of friendships that they deteriorate when not the sole focus of a person, you just have to be willing to put a little work in.

Anyway, rant over, would love to hear your thoughts on that matter.

hi, nonnie! first off, i'm so glad you like my blog and want my input on this! i do have a lot of thoughts on this, so here we go!

i have seen these takes going around, and while i don't necessarily disagree with them, i do agree with what you're saying. i don't know if buddie will go canon, but even if they don't, i highly doubt the show will shove their relationship to the side to prop up their new love interests. because look. the show has had every—and i mean every opportunity to take a step back from them since s2. they could've kept them at the place they were in the s2 finale, cute and shippable but not necessarily something fans would get invested in. they did not have to go as hard as they did with the tsunami and lawsuit arc. they didn't have to take every opportunity possible to cement them in each others' lives. these were all conscious choices, and this relationship is clearly too important to the writers to throw away just because both of them have new love interests. putting the rest under a cut:

onto your main point, while i don't really care for buddie staying platonic since they don't behave like other platonic relationships on the show and we have enough of that in media already, if they were to stay completely platonic, i don't see their relationship being diminished or undervalued by the writers and idk why people think that. it's like you said, just because you enter into a romantic relationship with someone else, doesn't mean your friends become less important. platonic love is only a different sort of love, not a lesser form. the writers have put way too much work into developing the buckley-diaz family unit, at the expense of buck and eddie's respective love interests, for them to suddenly sideline them completely in s5, regardless of whether they stay platonic or not. eddie was dating ana for about half a season and his relationship with buck never wavered, it only got stronger even. a bunch of the big buckxtaylor moments were overshadowed by buddie completely. whether you want to read buddie as platonic or not, their relationship with each other isn't gonna become any less important just because they have different love interests (who are side characters to boot, and won't even get as much screentime as either of them do. and this is assuming ana even shows up next season.)

It’s truly not in the nature of friendships that they deteriorate when not the sole focus of a person, you just have to be willing to put a little work in. this is so true, and in buck and eddie's case, both of them have always put a lot of hard work into their relationship and fought for it, in one way or the other. it hasn't been all sunshine and roses (contrast that to eddie's it's easy being with her in reference to ana). they're definitely not gonna forget about each other just because they're dating other people, especially in light of the finale.

i think a lot of this thinking ultimately boils down to heteronormativity. people are quick to assume that the m/f ship will automatically 'win' and receive better treatment than the bond between these two men, whether these people are buddie shippers or antis. people were (and still are) so hesitant to refer to buck, eddie and chris as a familial unit, but instantly jumped on the bandwagon after a couple of cute scenes with eddie, ana and chris. and i'm not trying to dunk on anybody—everybody is entitled to their own opinion and i respect that—it's just that its very telling that two men can go through so much together, form an unbreakable bond over three whole seasons, be completely devoted to each other, form a sort of a family unit along with one of their's son, have the other one who's not a parent yet even so fill in a parental sort of role, and people will still insist that seeing anything more is delusional, while automatically accepting that two women who have been on the show for about 6 episodes are gonna be there indefinitely and that the m/f ships are definitely endgame, and the bond between these two men will be sidelined in favor of that. it's all a very black and white sort of thinking, people need to understand that the story is deeper than that.

thank you for sharing your thoughts, nonnie!

[deadmandairyland]

Guess who’s back with another tier list!

So I found another Black Lagoon tier list, this one including both Fabiola and Ginji, and this time I decided to go a different route with the list. Maybe some time I will use it to make a new, actual tier list, but today I decided to talk about probably one of the most confusing things about Black Lagoon (especially in the anime): the language barrier!

...So basically this list is just what languages the characters are speaking based on what I picked up on over the past decade of being a fan of this series.

This list was inspired by the fact that people watching the anime tend to be very confused on what languages the characters are actually speaking because unfortunately there is no perfect dub of Black Lagoon that actually shows what characters are actually speaking at any given time. Don’t get me wrong, still one of the best English anime dubs of all time, I’m in full agreement of that, but both the Japanese and English dubs of this anime fall apart when the language barrier becomes a key component in the series. And honestly it’s not their fault. I imagine translating this over to anime must have been hell for both dubs.

One important thing to mention: I do not claim that this is 100% accurate. This is what I’ve picked up on as I read the manga and watched the show, but obviously there may be other languages these characters speak that either I missed or was just never really addressed in the series. Also in several places I filled in the blanks myself because, well, obviously English isn’t going to be the first language for, for example, Ibraha.

I also remember reading in a few places that it was confirmed that English is a common language in Roanapur, but I cannot find the official source that said this. This is one of the reasons why I’m not claiming that this is 100% accurate, because while I do think this is probably what was intended for the story, no proof means no proof at the end of the day. But it’s also worth noting that--spoilers btw--the United States basically runs the city behind the scenes, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Another reason why I’m not claiming that this is 100% accurate is because human beings are fallible and as shown in some of my corrections below I know I’ve made a few mistakes here and there in the list, and there could be more that I’m missing or that I’ve got wrong. At the end of the day, this list is not to be seen as a definitive answer to the question of “What languages do these characters speak?” but rather something to look at to get a better understanding of some of the more confusing parts of Black Lagoon wherever language is a key component in the story.

One final note: at one point I refer to the main mob bosses of Roanapur as the Big Four. This is just a name I came up with to describe the balance of power among the four mob bosses, so it’s not an official name as far as I’m personally aware. I figured I should point that out to clear up any confusion.

So with that being said, here’s the breakdown. Expect lots of spoilers.

Revy speaks English, and a small handful of words or phrases in Cantonese (as mentioned in The Wired Red Wild Card), and that seems to be it. She is the most likely person to tell some to speak English when they speak another language to her, or to just say that she doesn’t speak whatever language they’re speaking. In the Japan arc especially, if you’re reading the manga or watching the Japanese dub, it’s clear that she doesn’t understand what most of the Japanese characters are saying. Canonically the vendor she has a shouting match with is actually shouting at her to speak Japanese and she thinks he’s insulting her (and her being unable to talk to the vendor is why Rock goes back and forth between them in the first place to talk about the fixed game), she never actually communicates with Ginji or the kids verbally (she talks to them, but they don’t understand each other’s words), when Rock asks her if she and Ginji can work together in the anime’s English dub when they enter the bowling alley he’s actually asking if they can communicate (Revy basically says when the action starts, they’ll be in sync without needing to talk to each other), and the dude who’s like “I GIVE UP, SERIOUSLY, I GIVE UP” is actually desperately trying to say he gives up in English. Also if you’re only familiar with the English dub, this video is a great example of why this arc is so confusing for everybody, and why the English dub was like “Fuck it, we’re not bothering with the language barrier subplot.”

Benny speaks English. He’s also Jewish, so it’s possible he may know Hebrew or another Semitic language.

Eda speaks English. She’s a CIA agent who claims to be from Alabama and is shown to be very patriotic when in CIA mode. Not that I’m saying this automatically means she doesn’t know any other language, but I haven’t seen any proof that she does.

Lotton... is mostly speculation based on everyone else, particularly Sawyer and Shenhua. I don’t even think he has an official nationality, he just... exists.

Sawyer speaks English. She is British and her name is of English origin. It is possible she speaks a Chinese dialect as well since she seems to do jobs for the Triad and befriends Shenhua, but she seems to be more freelance than a member of the Triad so this isn’t very clear.

Rowan is also mostly speculation. His name is of Irish origin, his last name is likely Pigeon, and Revy can understand him.

Chief Watsup is the chief of police in Roanapur and is the only recurring character in the show who is actually Thai. He can communicate with both Revy and Balalaika, so whether or not he speaks English depends heavily on whether or not Revy and Balalaika speak Thai (and given that Revy says in The Wired Red Wild Card that she only speaks English and a tiny bit of Cantonese, it’s more likely that he knows English).

Yukio and Ginji speak Japanese and do not appear to speak English. It is ignored in the English dub of the anime, but everywhere else it is often brought up that Revy can’t understand what they’re saying and they can’t understand what Revy is saying. To add on to what I mentioned above in Revy’s section, also consider that Yukio curiously asks Rock if Revy is Japanese when they first meet, with the thought in mind that the first thing Yukio and Ginji see when they first meet Rock and Revy is Revy shouting in English at a Japanese vendor who is yelling at her to speak Japanese.

Mr. Kageyama obviously speaks Japanese, and I assume he speaks English as well as he seems to be able to speak to both Dutch and Balalaika, the latter of whom is confirmed to not know Japanese.

Chaka canonically speaks both Japanese and English. Not only can he and Revy understand each other, but being able to speak English is one of the things he brags about to Revy when they first meet, saying something along the lines of “Can’t run a place like this without being able to speak English.”

Takenaka obviously speaks Japanese, more than likely speaks English as he’s able to communicate with Revy, and likely speaks Arabic as he has allied himself with Ibraha.

Ibraha obviously would have Arabic as his first language and he presumably speaks English as well (and possibly French as he’s from Lebanon, but this isn’t relevant). The important thing is that he does NOT know Japanese, because it is implied that THIS is the reason why he gets angry out of nowhere during the interrogation. Takenaka and Rock are speaking in Japanese during the interrogation (signified by a change in font in the manga, which would only be important if the language barrier is important to the scene) and Ibraha interrupts by saying something along the lines of “Even I know this is no longer an interrogation!”

All of the canonically English-speaking cast can understand Roberta, Garcia, and Fabiola, whose first language is obviously Spanish. Rock and Fabiola both act as interpreters in different points of the series. It’s also worth noting that Lovelace is obviously of English origin, which suggests to me that the Lovelace family in particular has a very ethnically diverse background.

Rico communicates with Revy and Eda, but judging by his name he probably can also speak Spanish (or possibly Portuguese, but Spanish is more likely as there are many Spanish speakers in town).

Balalaika and Boris obviously speak Russian, but they can communicate with the English-speaking Lagoon Company as well as Roberta.

Hansel and Gretel are Romanian, can communicate with several English-speaking characters including Revy and Eda, and are working for the Italians.

Verrocchio obviously speaks Italian, and presumably English as well as he’s part of the Big Four of Roanapur (this again ties into the idea that English is a common language in Roanapur). Also where IS Ronnie the Jaws? Or Abrego for that matter? This list said “All Characters.” False advertising smh

Bao is Vietnamese, but often speaks to characters that don’t speak Vietnamese (e.g. Revy).

Mr. Chang would likely speak Cantonese as a leading figure of the Hong Kong Triad and would likely know Mandarin as well. He can communicate with Revy, who according to The Wired Red Wild Card only knows bits and pieces of Cantonese and likely not enough to hold a whole conversation. He is also the CIA’s lapdog, so unless Eda speaks Cantonese they are probably talking to each other in English.

Shenhua is from Taiwan and as such would most likely speak Taiwanese Mandarin. She speaks with Revy who makes fun of her for her thick accent and way of speaking when she speaks English. She also might speak Cantonese as well since she works for the Hong Kong Triad.

Ahbe from the WWII flashback obviously speaks German.

Sir Alfred the old Nazi fuck would also speak German, but he’s able to talk to Dutch over the phone and he has American Neo-Nazis doing his bidding so he likely speaks English as well. He is also apparently living in Spain so it’s possible he might also speak Spanish.

Caxton and Yolanda speak English as they are constantly speaking with known English speakers throughout their appearances. Caxton in particular is about as ‘Murican as it gets without being a negative stereotype. It is unknown if they know any other language.

Jane is almost always speaking with English speakers. She is from India, so she likely also speaks Hindi. She is also part of an international team of counterfeiters, so it’s likely she knows other languages as well. After I made this tier list I remembered she also speaks German at one point and I think Theo was also from Germany, so she probably speaks German fluently as well, but I’m not redoing this list.

Leigharch speaks drugs... and presumably English and Irish as well.

Rock pretty much knows every language that ever existed in the history of mankind. He is basically the go to guy to translate anything. That being said, Japanese and English are the languages he’s most fluent in.

Dutch knows English, and--spoilers for L’homme Sombre btw--probably French as well, and also probably one of the many languages spoken in Burkina Faso, especially if he was born there (which I sadly didn’t think about until after I made the list). This arc is still ongoing in the manga, and more than anything I’m just excited to see Dutch's backstory being explored. It was long overdue. (Now we just gotta hope that the same happens for Benny.)

As I mentioned in that caveat, Roanapur is in Thailand, and it’s possible the people living in Roanapur may know Thai, but actual local Thai citizens are a rarity in Black Lagoon (with Chief Watsup being the only recurring Thai character), and American influence is so strong in the city that it’s probably the reason why people drive on the right side of the road with steering wheels on the left side, in a country where people drive on the left, and why US currency is accepted along with Thai currency, so that’s worth pointing out.

[you-can-call-me-wanda]

Saying Goodbye

Pairing: Izzy Stradlin x Reader (Requested)

Author’s Note: I hope you enjoy! This is my first ever Guns N Roses imagine!

“Hey (Y/N), you coming to the party?”

You looked up from what you were doing to meet the gaze of your coworker, Chase. He stood across from you, wrapping up cables and sorting them before putting them away. He looked at you expectantly.

“Is there a party tonight?” you asked him. As a roadie, you weren’t commonly invited to parties. Sure, the road crew hung out after shows quite often, but those weren’t official hang outs really.

Chase chuckled. “Yeah, everyone’s headed over to some bar after we finish packing up the gear,” he said.

“Who’s everyone?” you asked.

“Everyone,” Chase said. He looked around and lowered his voice dramatically. “I think even Axl is gonna be there.”

“Hmm,” you hummed, thinking about whether you felt up to go out tonight. The party sounded intriguing, but you still had quite a bit of work to do before you’d be able to leave. It was rare that the members of Guns N Roses would be attending the same “party” as the rest of the crew. They were rising to fame, you were not. However, it wasn’t like you knew any of them very well, so it really didn’t matter too much that they were going to be joining everybody at the bar. Not to mention the fact that you were pretty shy and large social gatherings intimidated you greatly.

“I think I’ll probably just skip it,” you decided after thinking it through. “I’m pretty beat from the past couple of shows.” Guns N Roses had just played three nights in a row and you were tired from the constant rigging and unrigging of lights.

“Aw,” Chase said with a frown. “Well, if you change your mind, feel free to find me.” He finished packing up his box of cables and made his way down the hall, presumably to the buses outside.

You just sighed as you continued to work at dismantling some stupid light for travel.

  You found yourself meandering through the hotel after you finally finished up your work for the night. It seemed like everyone else had gone over to the bar already, so you were on your own for the night though you didn’t mind too much. You figured you’d head outside for a breath of fresh air and maybe a quick smoke before going to bed early.

As you made your way through the lobby though, you quite literally bumped into someone.

“Oh, I am so sorry,” you said, gasping as your body collided with another. You looked up and were slightly mortified to see none other than Izzy Stradlin standing in front of you.

“It’s okay,” he said, giving you an awkward smile. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Neither was I,” you confessed, returning the smile.

You both stood there for an uncomfortable moment filled with silence.

“Um, your name’s (Y/N), right?” Izzy asked, reaching up to scratch the back of his head.

“Yeah,” you answered, surprised that he knew who you were. “And you’re Izzy,” you added, kicking yourself after saying so. Obviously, he was Izzy. He was part of Guns N Roses for fucks sake!

Izzy laughed a little at that. “Yeah. You’re not out with the rest of the crew tonight?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Nah,” you replied. “Not really my scene.”

“Me neither,” Izzy surprised you by saying. “I’m not a huge party kind of guy.”

“Really?” you couldn’t help but ask. You had assumed Izzy went out with the band all the time.

He shrugged. “It’s not so fun when everyone knows who you are.”

“Oh,” you answered, not really sure what to say. “Well, I’m just going out for a smoke,” you said, beginning to move past him.

“You mind if I join you?” he asked. Truth be told, he had just come back inside from a smoke outside, but you didn’t need to know that. He found you interesting and wanted to stay in your company for a little bit longer.

You surprised yourself by nodding. “Okay,” you said.

The two of you made your way outside and to the side of the hotel building. There, you stood, leaned against the brick wall. Izzy lit yours and his cigarette with his lighter and the two of you smoked together in the quiet darkness.

After some time had passed and both of your cigarettes were down to the filter, Izzy spoke again.

“This is nice,” he mumbled, stamping out the cigarette but on the pavement. “It’s nice to have some quiet, y’know?”

You nodded in agreement. “Yeah, don’t get too much of that on this tour,” you said.

“Tell me about it,” Izzy responded. “I think you and I are the only people who know how to stop talking.”

You blushed slightly at his comment. This was your first time ever talking to Izzy and he was already grouping you and him together as the quiet ones.

“Well,” you said, gathering up some courage, “if you ever need some quiet company, just come and find me.”

That’s exactly what Izzy did.

In the following weeks, you and Izzy became fast friends. He would find you during the day, setting up for the show, and promptly drag you away from your work to go grab lunch with him. After his concerts, you would rush to finish packing up so you could go back to the tour bus or the hotel and find Izzy.

You and he were often left to do your own thing. So, while the rest of the band or crew would go clubbing or bar hopping, you and Izzy would go sightseeing or out for a meal. The tour took you all across the United States and the two of you spent your shared free time exploring all the new sights and attractions each city brought.

Of course, your favorite part of all this was getting to spend time with Izzy. He was quickly becoming one of your best friends and sometimes you would even catch yourself thinking of him as something more.

The feelings were requited. Izzy felt like he had found his other half in you. Someone who was more laidback and quieter like him, but also someone he felt he could talk to for hours on end.

The North American leg of the tour was quickly drawing to an end though and both of you were nervous for what the future had in store for your relationship. While you would like nothing more than to continue travelling with Guns N Roses as part of their crew, your contract would be ending with this part of the tour. You would be headed back home to your normal life and Izzy would be going to Europe.

Being a roadie had been a bit of a last-minute decision. You’d been in need for a paycheck and a friend of yours had known a guy who was able to get you this gig. It was kind of amazing actually that you were able to be part of such a big tour, but they had been pretty desperate for another set of hands that could start right away so you were hired. In your mind, this had always been a temporary position. You always knew you would return home and work towards finding a career that was more stable and didn’t take you so far from home for so long.

Izzy knew of your plans too. You had told him weeks ago, but knowing you were going to be leaving him ahead of time did nothing to ease the pain of knowing that he would be without you once again.

So, neither of you said anything about your feelings and instead chose to pretend like the end wasn’t coming.

It was at the airport where everything finally came out.

You weren’t even needed there but Izzy had insisted you come with him for a last goodbye. During the drive over, he slipped his hand into yours and gave it a tight squeeze. No words needed to be spoken for you to understand what he was trying to say. You squeezed his hand in return and rested your head on his shoulder. Out of the corner of your eyes, you watched the world quickly pass by through the window. You found yourself wishing time would just slow down.

When you got to the airport, most of the crew was tasked with unloading all the equipment and taking it to where it needed to be checked in. You made your way inside with Izzy and the rest of the band though, your job already over.

Izzy was still holding your hand as you walked in. He slowed his pace, letting the rest of his band pass the two of you by, so you and he could have a moment alone to say your goodbyes.

“You could come with us,” Izzy proposed, knowing entirely that you would reject the idea.

“Izzy,” you sighed, tears welling up in your eyes, “My whole life is here. My family, my friends- all of that is here.” You blinked your eyes shut tightly, trying to stop the tears from falling.

Izzy reached up to gently wipe away a stray tear that had managed to cascade down your cheek. He continued to cradle your cheek after drying your face.

“I know,” he said. His voice with tight with emotion.

You forced a smile onto your face. “Guns N Roses is going places, Izzy. You’re going to be flying all around the world, touring, and recording albums, and constantly moving. We’d be living in different worlds.”

“You don’t have to explain it to me,” he said softly. “I get it. Can you just promise me one thing?”

“What’s that?” you asked.

“Promise me you’ll always remember that I love you,” he said.

You pulled him into a passionate kiss the second the words left his mouth. Waves of emotion wracked through your body as your lips met his. It would have been the perfect kiss if you hadn’t known it would be your last shared with him.

“I promise,” you whispered, pulling away from him.

Izzy just nodded, not trusting himself to say much more without breaking down. He planted a small kiss to your forehead before taking a step back from you and picking up his suitcase.

“I guess this is goodbye,” he said, his own eyes now watery.

“I guess so,” you agreed. “Goodbye Izzy.”

“Goodbye (Y/N).”

All you could do was watch as Izzy turned away from you and made his way over to the rest of the band and the crew members that would be accompanying them on the next leg of their tour. Upon his arrival, Axl threw an arm around Izzy’s shoulders and threw a glance back at you. You paid him no mind though, too focused on Izzy’s retreating figure. You stood frozen in place as you watched them make their way together over to the terminal and eventually out of sight.

When he was gone, you tentatively raised your hand to your lips, remembering how his lips had felt against yours and heartbroken that you would never know the sensation again.

[basilone]

Hey Eva! All these holiday feels floating around have got me thinking - what does the Form and Void universe do for holidays? Is it more seasonal, like the solstices? Do Gods have feast days or particular times of year when they like to be honored?

Hi Merc! *waves* Ahhh, I’m all up in my holiday feels for sure! It’s so cool to get to talk about the Form & Void equivalent of these.. though I wound up pouring this into a small fic format, as inspiration suddenly struck! Hope you’ll enjoy the read, haha. ;) Thank you for this one!

-----------------------------------------------

He’s somewhat fond of foxholes.

Sure, it’s not ideal that the ground is really hard and that the air all around nips into freezing temperatures even during the brightest part of the day. Tab doesn’t much care for the fact that his toes feel like they’re never going to be warm again, nor does he care about the veritable piles of snow that surround them worse than the Germans do. The earth is difficult to sleep on, though the hibernation mode that exists in Easy thankfully extends to most of the bugs that he knows normally have no issue with making a nuisance of themselves.

His foxhole, however, feels remarkably cozy during these evening hours. Tab’s certain that a huge part of that is the present company and the three spare blankets they were able to get a hold of between them. Another part, he’s not loathe to admit, is the fact that present company is now huddled up against him and perfectly content to be pulled into his arms.

“Almost midwinter now,” murmurs Chuck. “No Festival of Peace this year.. It’s a really big thing down in San Francisco. They go nuts with the lights and everything.”

“Yeah, Babe’s been chatting big game about the Philly lights too.” Tab laughs and shakes his head. “Way he carries on, you’d think Philly – will-fight-anything-Philly, Chuck, of all places – is Peace’s favorite spot to hang out in. Any city that birthed the likes of Guarnere should automatically be exempt from that, right?”

“Yeah, absolutely. Do they have it up in Indiana, too?”

“Small pockets, maybe, but not really where I live. They’re bigger on the harvest celebrations. Lots of random prayers and celebrations for weather gods down in the fields. Fire’s got a healthy hold on the general public, too.”

“When was Fire’s big day, again? November?” Chuck blinks up at him, then sits bolt upright. “Joe Toye Day!”

“Joe Toye Day, yeah.” He grins up at the man. “What was it he said? ‘My god’s just gonna have to share?’”

“What a character, honestly. Even you don’t say that about the week-long debauchery you’ve got going in spring.”

“Hey,” he says, playing up the indignation, “it’s not that big of a debauch. We’re just very free love about things in that week. People like it. Lots of babies, lots of flowers, lots of marriages.”

“Your god’s celebrations are banned in, like, fifty different cities that I know of,” laughs Chuck, crawling back into the warmth of his embrace now that the cool night air begins to take hold. “They upped your dosage of the suppressants around that time just so none of us would feel the urge to jump your bones, man. That’s some serious free love shit.”

“There’s plenty of me to go around.”

“Gods spare us.” Chuck’s tone is teasing and remarkably free of condemnation. It’s one of the reasons why he’s so fond of the Californian, even when the man’s life choices remain utterly baffling at times. “Hey, do you think Wisdom’s got a celebration?”

“If she does, it’s probably midsummer or something? Winters doesn’t look too pleased with the snow and Nixon’s been complaining about the cold for a day and an age now. Doesn’t seem likely she’d have a celebration when her chosen hate the cold, huh?”

“Right. Some don’t seem big on celebrations, though.”

“Or we just don’t know about ’em. That happens, too.” He shrugs. Wraps his arms tighter around Chuck. “Couldn’t tell ya about Fate, or Home, or what something like Chaos would want for a celebration..”

“What about War?”

He snorts out amusement. “I wondered when you’d get to her.”

“Shut up.”

“It’s cute, really,” Tab says, “you trying to figure her out from this very safe distance. I tend to think.. She’s got everybody on their knees for her right now, with this fighting we’re doing. Probably doesn’t need a celebration for it.” He hums as pink and golden hues dance upon Chuck’s skin a moment. Smiles at the knowledge he’s still entrusted with, even in the midst of this icy winter that’s trying so hard to keep him away from his god. “You should ask her when you see her next. She’s been out there walking the line. Shifty almost shot her the other day.”

“No fucking way.”

“Way. He says she just laughed at him and complimented him in the same voice Speirs uses when he’s impressed but doesn’t want to show it.”

“I’m not gonna ask her.”

“Ask who?” interrupts Lieb’s voice from above them. “Mind if I..?”

Tab extends an arm upward. “Hop in, you little shit,” he says. “I’m trying to get Chuck to go talk to War about her celebrations.”

“Does War even have those?”

“Ow, Lieb, fuck, keep your bony knees away from my thigh,” complains Chuck.

“Chuck, seriously, you don’t have to elbow –” Tab hisses as a particularly sharp jab lands in his ribs. “Lieb, for fuck’s sake, don’t dislocate my – Settle the fuck down.”

Lieb’s unruly hair tickles his chin. “Shut up, I’m barely even touching you,” the other Californian grumbles despite the fact that his head has come to rest on Tab’s chest beside Chuck. Not for the first time, Tab wonders how it is that his arms always wind up being home to the two unruly members of the golden state. “Why the fuck were you talking about War? Are you on your Speirs bender again?”

“I don’t have a Speirs bender.”

“Yeah, you do!”

Chuck sighs as Tab and Lieb both unite their voices to let him know just what they think about that. Tab pats his head in mock-compassion. He’s gotten used to Chuck’s intermittent comments about Speirs and that god of his, marked by the threads of affection he can see clear as day in the man’s countenance when he does. Tab’s not cruel, mind – he’s seen flashes of it in Speirs, so blink-and-you-will-miss-it that he would be convinced he missed it if he hadn’t seen War’s eyes trace Chuck’s presence for well over a fortnight now – but Chuck doesn’t seem to want to believe that there’s anything there at all.

“Changing the subject,” says Chuck, then, and this too is predictable, “does yours have any celebration, Lieb?”

“Fuck yeah. Several throughout the year. Most of them are a they-tried-to-kill-us-but-here-we-are vibe, you know, because historically we’ve been persecuted a lot?” Lieb’s voice is barely more than a mumble. There’s something frosty in his breath that makes Tab shiver. “I like the sea-parting stories that happen at some celebrations a lot. Some older Ocean-chosen can do that. I can do it in a glass of water, but nothing else.”

“Seriously? I wanna see that. Why the fuck didn’t you show us?”

“Chuck, man, fuck off, I learned how to right before we got to Mourmelon. It’s too cold for it now anyway.”

“We could melt the snow.”

“Fucking great, genius,” snipes Chuck at Tab’s murmur, “let’s melt the snow with our minds or something because there’s no way we’re gonna be warm enough to melt anything otherwise.”

“Could ask Toye?”

“Yeah, and have Guarnere remark about how water-splicing is a useless talent again? I think the fuck not.”

“Like he’s any use, sitting there getting stabby about our enemies as if they’re just gonna magically appear in front of him if he wishes really hard,” snorts Chuck, relentlessly unforgiving of any remark that’s set to harm Lieb. “I think it’s cool. You’re cool.”

“Did you hear, Tab? I’m cool now.”

“That’s great, Joe, real great.” Tab yawns. “Can you two shut your yaps now? We’re on noise discipline.”

“We’re on noise discipline,” mocks Chuck halfheartedly, snuggling closer to Tab’s side as he does. “Do you think your god’s gonna celebrate the removal of that stick from your ass?”

“Yeah, that stick’s gotta come out before the grand debauch.”

“It’s not a fucking –”

“Gentlemen,” interrupts Nixon’s amused voice from above them, “debauch or not, we’re on orders. Keep it down. Set an example.”

“Yes, sir.”

Yes, Tab thinks warmly to himself as Lieb buries his laughter against his uniform and Chuck’s body shakes with barely contained giggles, foxholes are good for sharing. He brushes a fleeting kiss against their brows. Isn’t surprised when there’s sighing instead of complaints. Even unruly Californians, after all, need a mark of love to drag them through the cold.