#which may or may not be what last nights poll was about HINT HINT

[red-dyed-sarumane]

facing the hardest decision of my life rn how am i supposed to choose which color i want

[musings-of-a-rose]

Meet the Millers - Chapter 2

Pairing: Joel Miller x Benny Miller x Will Miller x f!reader

Word Count: 3400+

Rating: Mature - 18+ ONLY!

Warnings: Bear in mind the pairing of this fic along with the fact it’s set in a post-apocalyptic setting, so there will be themes and elements fitting the setting. Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story.

Notes: I hit 200 followers and wanted to give y’all a little something so I did a poll and let you pick what one shot I write next. This is what y’all picked! I hope I can deliver. I started this out as a one shot and it MAJORLY got away from me, so now it’s a mini series.

-This is set loosely in The Last of Us universe. I’ve only played a bit of the game and watched others play (and the show isn’t out yet), so please forgive any inaccuracies. Also it’s a post-apocalyptic world so I’m taking a bunch of liberties here. Because fan fiction.

-Ages at the time of this story (so you don’t have to do math):

Reader: 28

Benny: 35

Will: 38

Joel: 50

*Reader is ethnicity inclusive despite stock photo bias

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<<Chapter 1

Meet the Millers Masterlist

Main Masterlist

You happened to have the night off and decided to celebrate by heading to the bar. It was a speakeasy - you needed to know where it was hidden and the password to get in, both of which you were privy to, thanks to Benny. You hadn’t had a drink in a long time and even then it was homemade so you were really looking forward to what they may have. With any luck they’ll have something vintage, pre clickers. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive.

You hadn’t seen Benny in over a week as he was off training, so you were feeling tense in more ways than one. You headed to the unassuming alley that housed a small herb shop. Just past it was an even smaller alleyway with a door about halfway down. Walking up to the door, you knock in a certain way and a panel in the door slides open. Speaking the password, the panel slides shut again and the door opens into another dark hallway. Cautiously you enter and the man behind the door gestures down the hall.

At the end of the hall a pair of thick, velvet plush curtains hang down, no light coming from behind but you can hear faint conversations. You grip the curtains and open them to a dimly lit room, velvet plush couches facing each other line the walls like booths, dark wood tables and elaborately carved chairs were scattered about, and at the other end of the room, the bar takes up the entire wall. Dark wood with gold designs etched into it and leather barstools lined up under the bar. The wall behind it has various bottles of alcohol, most looking homemade. At one point, the shelves holding the alcohol were probably full but now, there’s maybe 15 bottles. There’s music playing but it’s not blaring, some sort of dance tune, and people are dancing to it in a cleared area of the room. Most other people are milling about on the couches or hanging out in chairs or at the bar.

Spotting an open stool, you head for it and sit, staring at the bottles of liquor. The labels all had various numbers or words on them and as you focused, you could see that it was a list of items. Money didn’t exist now like it did pre clickers - most people bartered using ration cards or whatever they had. Scanning the bottles, you see that you could afford some of the homemade drinks, but you had eyes on the one bottle that had an official label. It was whiskey, that much you could tell from the label, and very expensive, which is probably why it was still nearly full.

“It’s theft.” A man speaks beside you, a hint of a drawl to it. It reminds you of Benny but not as deep. You turn to look at the man. He has blonde hair that comes to about his shoulders, tucked behind his ears, light facial hair, and light blue grey eyes. Even under his clothes you can tell he was built.

“What?”

The man nods to the bottle of whiskey. “The cost of it. It’s not even good whiskey but it’s a lot better than the piss they make now.”

You chuckle, watching the man take a sip from his own drink, his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. This apparently does something for you as you feel a heat growing between your thighs.

“You ever have pre-clicker booze?” the man asks you.

Shaking your head, you reply. “No. Only ever had the piss stuff.”

“Then you should at least try it. Shouldn’t go around thinking all booze tastes like it was made in a cow’s ass.”

“I’ll have to go sell my kidney first.”

The man’s blue eyes roam down your body and back up, a smile tugging at his mouth.

“Keep your kidneys, darlin’.” He waves down the bartender and orders not one but two shots of the whiskey. He hands a small stack of ration cards to the bartender and slides one of the shot glasses to you. You stare down at it in disbelief, looking back up at the blonde man.

“I- you don’t have to do that. It’s-it’s way too much.” You slide the shot glass towards him, but the blonde man gently grips your wrist and slides it back in front of you.

“I insist.”

He hasn’t let go of your wrist, making sure you’ll accept. Nodding, he finally lets go and lifts his own shot glass.

“Cheers.” He clinks it with your glass and takes the shot, tossing his head back and clearing his throat after, setting the glass down on the bar.

You’d never had this kind of alcohol before, but you were very familiar with trying to not taste what you were drinking. Taking the shot, you slam the glass on the counter as you cough, the whiskey burning your throat as you swallow. Immediately you feel a slight warmth settle through your muscles and you relax a little.

“I’m Will.” The blonde man sticks his hand out and you shake it, telling him your name and nickname.

The both of you chat for some time and he makes you feel comfortable, safe. You hadn’t had any more to drink either so you knew your feelings and thoughts were genuine - and the need between your thighs intensified.

“You wanna get out of here, darlin’?”

“With you? Absolutely.”

Will escorts you back out the front door and out of the alley. Fully expecting him to just turn off somewhere and have you drop your pants, you’re surprised when he takes your hand gently and walks you a couple of blocks to a building about 6 stories tall.

“Up for some stairs?”

“Sure.”

Both of you breathing heavier by the time you reach the top, Will goes up one more half floor to the roof entrance. He pushes the door open and you follow him, surprised by the view. The building faced one of the parks in Boston and you could clearly see the city from an entirely different perspective than the one you were used to. Will heads over to two lounge chairs and pulls them out, pushing them close together and angling them towards the view.

“Welcome to my secret spot.”

“I bet you say that to all the ladies.”

“Only the special ones.” He winks and you feel yourself melt as you sit in the chair, stretching your legs out to rest.

“This is a nice view, Will.”

“Yeah. Sometimes I like to come here and clear my head. Wish I could get up higher but I’m not walkin’ up all those stairs. 6 flights is enough for me.”

“I get that.”

You’re both quiet for a moment, staring out at the sparse lighting and darkness that blankets the city of Boston, the wall looming in the background, more dark than the darkness surrounding it.

Will places his hand on your thigh and you shift, knowing this touch signaled the reason why he brought you up here and the reason why you followed. But if you were being honest with yourself, you actually kind of liked Will. He was calm, like an anchor, and you could tell he was hiding some dark shit, which honestly just turned you on more. Spreading your legs a little wider, you turn to look at Will.

“I don’t want you thinkin’ you owe me anything, darlin’. I’m not that kind of guy.”

“Says the man who already had two chairs waiting up here.”

Will was quiet for a moment. “One was for my son. He died about 10 years ago.”

You turn to look at him, embarrassed by your assumption. “I’m so sorry.”

He waits another moment. “Illness. Not a clicker, but a basic flu. It was really cold that winter and the generators all seized. He just…didn’t wake up.”

You could see the tears dancing at the corners of his eyes as he shared this part of his past with you and you felt compelled to share something from yours.

“I watched my brother get killed. Raiders. He…told me to hide and led them away from me so I could escape. But not before I saw…”

Will’s hand on your thigh tightens and you look down at it, placing your hand over his and squeezing it.

“Guess we’re both sort of fucked up, huh?” You chuckle darkly, Will with a small grin on his face as he nods and chuckles with you.

His eyes find yours as he leans in close to you, finding your lips with his own. It’s gentle at first, but then he pushes you down and deepens the kiss, his hand sliding between your jean covered thighs. You moan into his mouth as you pull him closer to you, gripping handfuls of his blonde hair and pulling on it. Will moans back and moves his hand up to undo your pants, sliding his hand in beneath your underwear. Your hips buck up at his touch and you break the kiss, whining out loud at his sudden touch.

“You’re already wet for me, darlin’.” It wasn’t a question but a statement, spoken into your neck just before he bit there.

“Fuck, Will. I-” his finger danced over your clit and you gripped his forearm, not entirely used to this sensation. Pulling his head back to meet his gaze, you see the lust in his blue eyes.

“Fuck me, Will.”

“I might not be nice.” His voice went straight to your core and you know he felt you get wetter at that.

“I won’t break.”

Will growls and yanks his hand from your pants and grabs you, flipping you over so you’re on all fours. He moves to kneel behind you, yanking your pants and underwear down to your ankles and removing your boots. He gets them off and yanks your pants off the rest of the way, exposing your entire bottom half to the cool night air. He pulls his own pants down, pulling himself out and stroking himself a few times. You can’t help but turn and look. He’s shorter than Benny but thicker and confident. Will sees you looking and smirks, pushing your legs open a little wider before putting a hand on your back and pushing you down. You feel him at your entrance, heavy and already leaking a little.

“Are you sure, darlin’?”

“Don’t hold back.” You wink at him as you face forward gripping the sides of the chair and bracing yourself. Will doesn’t hesitate and thrusts into you, hard. You cry out, half from pleasure and half from pain, but you don’t have time to think about how much you loved it because Will sets a rough pace, gripping your hips hard, fingertips digging into your flesh as he fucks you. The chair starts to scrape across the cement floor and your head starts to hit the back of the chair. With every thrust you moan out, alternating between swears, random sounds, and Will’s name.

Your ograsm builds quickly as he rubs your gspot. Will senses you tighten and he grabs your hair, pulling you up and holding you to his chest, wrapping his other arm around you and pinching your nipple as he continues to fuck into you.

“Come for me, darlin’. Come on my cock.” His voice is lower and filled with a fierce lust and you come at his command, crying out his name as your arousal coats him.

“That’s a good girl.”

Shit, that shouldn’t turn you on so much, especially since you just came, but Will feels your walls tighten around him again and he comes, grunts and moans of his own escaping his lips and you love the way they sound. He comes down from his release and kisses your shoulder and your neck, slowly pushing you down to all fours so he can pull out of you. You flip around and lay on your back, rubbing your knees and feeling the imprint of the chair on them.

“That was…damn, Will.”

“Who says I’m done with you, yet?”

You turn your head to look at him and see him already stroking himself for another round. You reach your hand out and swat his away, gripping him and pumping him yourself. It only takes a few pumps of your delicate touch before he’s ready to go again and this time he lays you on your back, pulling your shirt up to play with your boobs as he fucks you just as hard as before, pulling one of your legs up over his shoulder to hit you deeper. You squeeze his well toned biceps as you slide up and down the chair, little pants escaping your lips as your second orgasm quickly overtakes you.

“Fuckfuckfuck!” you grunt out as you come, digging your nails into Will’s arms.

Will continues to thrust roughly into you as you come, carrying you through your orgasm. His own builds quickly and he comes, burying his face in your chest as he grunts, biting your breast, his hips thrusting a few more times as he spills himself inside you. You both lay there another moment, heavy breathing and you bring a hand up to massage the back of Will’s head. He seems to melt into your touch and you stay like that for several seconds until Will sits up and pulls out. Will lays on the chair next to you and catches his breath.

“I know you said I didn’t owe you for the shot but damn I think I also came out ahead here. Twice.” You chuckled but Will snaps his head to you.

“Excuse me?”

You look at him and see that he’s genuinely upset, his jaw clenching and anger firing in his eyes.

“It-it was an expensive shot?”

“I’m not that kind of man, darlin’. I thought that we had a connection.” His voice grows quiet on that last word, which breaks your heart. You reach out to touch his arm, which is now covered in tiny nail marks from you.

“I like you, Will. I just…I”m not looking for anything exclusive. I don’t do this. Typically. I’m not that kind of girl. I’ve seen what that gets you into, and I’ve seen what attachment gets you.”

“So,” he says after a few moments of contemplation. “You want to be friends…who have sex?”

“I’d love that.”

He takes a few moments to think before leaning forward to kiss you. “Deal.”

—----

You made the same deal with Will as you did with Benny: just friends, not exclusive, and if you found someone else you want to be with romantically, you tell the other and the deal is off, no hard feelings. There were also some rules in there about other things, cleanliness, house locations, feelings, etc, but you knew they had nothing to worry about from you.

This was really not in your nature - before that first night with Benny, you had only been with a couple of guys and even then, it wasn’t anything special. Men on the outside only wanted sex as a barder or leverage for something and you supposed men on the inside of the walls weren’t much different.

You continued on for nearly 2 months, spending nights with Benny and sometimes the day with Will. It was going great, but there was one teensy tiny problem. It was nothing really. Insignificant. Miniscule.

You were falling in love. With both of them.

Telling yourself you had to break it off with them both, the words would die on your lips the moment theirs touched yours and you’d vow to yourself to call it off next time…next time…next time… oh well. The only person who would get hurt is you and you’ll deal, right?

One night off, you meet Will at a different speakeasy in an unfamiliar sector of Boston. Will is head of internal sector security so he gets you a pass card easily. That was the only time you ever talked about work (another rule). You spent a couple hours at the bar chatting and making out, finally deciding to leave. When you exit the bar, Will looks down at his watch.

“Shit, it’s really late, Ghost.”

“It’s ok. I enjoyed my time.”

He smiles at you but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “Listen, I know it’s a rule, but I know you live a couple sectors over-”

“Did you look me up?”

“Not..exactly. I needed to know what sector you were coming from to get you a proper pass. I found you and only looked at your address. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“I understand.”

Will stops walking to face you. “Look, I don’t want you walking that far, this late. My home isn’t far from here. Just…come stay the night? And I’ll make sure you get home safe in the morning.”

“Will-”

“I know, I know. It’s a rule to not go to each other’s home. But it’s for your safety. And my brothers are both out at work so we’ll have the place to ourselves all night.” He winks and you look away, trying to choke down the smile that threatens to cross your lips. He knows he has you.

“Alright. But only because your brothers are out.”

Will’s home is just a few blocks away in one of the nicer towers. You suppose he gets a nice place because of his job and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little impressed.

Entering the condo, you look around. It’s modest, simple furniture, a dining table, an operable kitchen, and a decent view of the city from the long window that spans the length of the wall. There’s a couple hallways that fan out from here and Will tells you one takes you to 2 bedrooms and bathrooms and the other to the master bedroom and bathroom.

“There’s an office of sorts in there too but it’s small. Hardly even a room, just happens to have a door.”

“Wanna show me your room?”

Will makes sure you’re well acquainted with his bed by the time you both pass out from exhaustion, thoroughly spent and relaxed.

—----

Light shines through the blinds and cascades across your face, gently waking you from your sleep. Blinking, you stretch your muscles, smiling at the new marks Will had left on your skin, and find Will still fast asleep next to you, his back rising and falling with his breathing. You look around and find a shirt, one of Will’s, and decide to head to the kitchen where you think you saw an actual coffee pot. You’d only ever had it from Benny, but you were dying to try it again. And Will had said to make yourself at home.

Patting the shirt down, you quietly head out of the room and make your way to the kitchen, finding you were right - on the counter sits a basic coffee maker, some white paper circles, a bag of coffee sitting next to it with a scoop. You stare at the scoop for a moment before opening the bag of coffee and inhaling, its scent tickling spots in your brain you didn’t know could be tickled. Picking up the spoon, you scoop some coffee grounds in it and turn to look at the machine. You’d only ever seen your parents make coffee in a machine like this, and you were 8 the last time you saw that. Tentatively, you raise the lid on the top of the machine and look inside, wondering where you put the coffee grinds. You vaguely remember something white your parents would put in the top and you look at the paper circles sitting next to the machine. You pick one up, scoop of coffee still in your other hand, and look down into the top of the machine, looking back at the paper circle in your hand, feeling your brain finally trying to wake up and figure this out, and feeling slightly stupid. You decide to go for it, shoving the paper circle into the top of the machine, flattening it against the sides so it lines the basket. Satisfied, you pour the coffee grounds into it and close the lid. You know water is next so you grab the coffee pot and a bottle of water sitting on the counter, pouring it into the pot. Now what? You stand there holding the pot of water and staring at the machine, trying to figure out where you were supposed to pour it.

“The reservoir’s on the side.”

You jump and the pot clatters to the floor, smashing to pieces as you turn and meet the eyes of…

“Benny?”

Benny looks at you, obviously just as shocked as you were. “Ghost?”

—----

Chapter 3>>

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[cellsshapedlikestars]

Your stories & regency movies are my happy place currently in a world of awful. Also, so glad you're inspired to start into On the Run again because I love it! ALSO ALSO - another reality show prompt if you're interested lolol. Sansa is the host of a reality show (dating? survivor-y? Skill-based forged in fire-y?) and Jon is on the show. Maybe fans of the show are obsessed with them?

first - thank you anon, I'm so happy you like my writing! That's so sweet

second - funnily enough, @hilarychuff and I MAY have gone on a tangent a long time ago about alternate Bachelor stories, including one where Sansa was hosting Bachelor in Paradise (and I even wrote a bit at that time, too). Smash cut to me getting this prompt, and I was immediately reminded of that. So thank you anon, for the prompt, which got me to finish the snippet I had started writing, and thank you to hil, for helping brainstorm & come up with ideas! I didn't even get to use most of them, but they will live rent free in my head.

third - this is in no way related to my full Bachelor story, I just have a problem. And yes, I did write this during the 3 hour Bachelorette finale last night. It kept me sane.

.

read it here:

ephemera, chapter 30

.

Sansa rolls her luggage into the hotel room, depositing it near the foot of the bed before turning and flopping face down onto the mattress.

She can't believe she's back.

One would think, after two disastrous runs on this show, that she would know better than to sign another contract.

First, her time on Joffrey's season that had ended with her in tears, humiliated on national television. Watching that season back had been a revelation. Watching him lie to her. Watching her eat it up. She remembers in the Fantasy Suite, he'd told her he loved her and hinted she was going to be his winner, and she had agreed to sleep with him, thinking he'd be her fiance in another two weeks - only to be dumped in the finale for Margaery.

And then, while she was still emotionally destroyed and with her dignity in ruins, she had agreed to be Bachelorette. She'd signed the contract with the producers telling her this would be her comeback, she would be redeemed, she would get her love story. Instead, what she got was Harry. An actor and musician who she only found out later, after she picked him (after he put a ring on her finger), had a girlfriend already. He was using the show - using her – to further his career.

God, why did she agree to come back?

At least she's only the host this time.

…

Free vacation, she reminds herself as she sits down with Tyrion, and Varys for her debriefing. That's what they're calling it – debriefing – as if this is some top secret mission and not a reality TV show that, ultimately, is meaningless.

She's reminding herself why she's doing this. Free vacation, and the fat paycheck she would get from it. A big paycheck. They're desperate, after the scandal that ousted Jaime from his iconic host role – one he'd held for over a decade. They had called her up and practically begged her to come to Paradise. They needed the ratings she could bring. Twice-dumped Sansa. Even now, a year and a different Bachelorette later, people are still calling for her return.

It's sweet, really, that people want her to have her love story. It's sweet that they care. And she's lucky, she knows, to have come out the other side of this with a relatively positive reputation within Bachelor Nation. There was even a recent poll where she was voted the most popular Bachelorette of all time.

But the thing is, Sansa can't do this again. She can't have her heart broken on television, in front of millions of people, again.

So she'd turned them down. A hard no. And no, there's nothing they could do to convince her.

Well, that was her stance, until they offered her the host gig. Take over Jaime's role, instead of coming on as a contestant. Get on camera to welcome the actual contestants to Paradise, say a few lines at the elimination ceremonies, do some narration in post-production. Minimal work, considering the amount of money they're throwing at her just so she'll come back. Just so she'll help them rebuild a bit of their crumbling reputation after the scandal.

She can do this.

Free vacation, minimal work, lots of money.

…

The first round goes fine.

Sansa stands at the entrance to Paradise and greets each new cast member as they show up. She's friends with some of them, and familiar with almost all of them – Dany arrives first, her pale blonde hair in a crown of intricate braids and wearing a silver bikini she barely hides under a wrap. The show had tried to paint her as a villain on Daario's season, but most of the audience ended up liking her anyway, and now she's set to be the star of the beach this season. Sansa can already picture the men tripping over themselves to get with her.

Next comes Theon, from Val's season, all cocky smile and waggling eyebrows as she greets him. Then Mya, Dickon, Myranda... the list goes on. She loses track of who she greets, and by the end of it, her cheeks hurt from smiling. Then she goes and gives the group a welcome speech, hands out the date card, and she's done.

Back to the hotel for a massage and a drink (or two).

By the time she's nice and relaxed and laying by the hotel pool, she thinks she definitely made the right decision.

…

The day after the first elimination round, Sansa stands at the top of the stairs leading down to Paradise, waiting for the new arrivals. As she's waiting, she reads the card that has the basic info of the new contestants again, just to make sure she's got it.

First will be Domeric, he was on one of the earlier seasons. She doesn't remember him, and she wonders if the audience will.

Then it's Jon. She does remember him – he'd been on Val's season, the year after Sansa's.

Sansa remembers Jon the way everyone else does – because Twitter went crazy over him. He'd been eliminated night one, and Twitter had gone into an uproar about it. The hashtag #MechanicJon was trending through the whole season, memes were made, a petition was created to make him the next Bachelor. All for a guy who was eliminated night one, who didn't even have an Instagram account until he became internet famous and had to create one because of all the fake accounts that were popping up.

She's surprised he's here, honestly.

Though to be fair, the contestants are actually paid for Paradise, so he probably figured why not – a couple grand for three weeks of shooting, plus a free vacation to Sayulita? She's here for the same reasons.

Domeric comes down first and he's nice enough. She greets him and hands him the date card, and he heads in, no issues.

Then Sansa's dabbed with oil blotters, she's given a fresh coat of powder to try and hide how ungodly hot it is here, and then she's back in position, waiting for the next arrival.

Jon comes down next, and she will admit, she does understand the appeal of him. He's so unlike most of the other contestants – he's a mechanic from Boston (which actually isn't too far from her hometown). From the brief minutes of screentime he got, plus the bits she's seen of him on social media, he almost seems like a sort of anti-contestant. Someone she never could have imagined would go on the show. She thinks she remembers some article, where he said his niece had begged him to go on, which is the only reason he did.

“Welcome to Paradise,” she greets when he makes it to her. He's even more handsome in person, she thinks idly.

“Uh, thanks,” he says, then seems to rethink it and adds, “it's great to be here.”

He's a bit awkward, she thinks he doesn't really know how to hold himself in front of cameras. It's refreshing, actually, and sort of cute. He gives her a tentative smile that she returns in full, and her smile seems to give him a bit of confidence - she watches his shoulders square and his spine straighten, and his own smile gets wider.

“Now, you had such a short run on the show, are you excited for the possibility of finding love here in Paradise?”

“Yeah,” he says, though he doesn't sound convinced.

“Let's try that again, with a bit more enthusiasm,” Tyrion calls from behind the camera, and Jon winces. “Say you're excited to get a real chance at love. You're looking for The One.”

She can see Jon hesitate, and she realizes now why he was sent home night one. He doesn't seem as willing to play the game as most of the others, and if Val was on the fence about him, Sansa can imagine the producers telling her to cut him, knowing he wouldn't be easy to control.

That's what they like, she knows. Easily controllable contestants, or the ones who create explosive drama. Jon, it seems, is neither. She thinks the only reason he made it to paradise is because of his sudden spike of popularity.

“I'm really excited to... see what comes out of this for me,” is what he ends up saying, and Sansa tries to suppress her smile, just knowing Tyrion is likely fuming. The producers want the contestants to talk about love as much as possible, and Jon isn't giving them what they want.

“Well, here's a date card for your first chance at love here in Paradise,” she says, holding out the envelope to him. “You can ask anyone.”

Jon nods, looks at the envelope, then back up at her, eyes flicking over her briefly. “Would you want to go?” he asks, and for a moment all Sansa can do is stare.

“Me?” she asks, completely dumbfounded.

“Yeah,” he shrugs, giving her another one of his smiles.

To her utter horror, she feels a swirl of butterflies in her stomach.

“Uh,” she looks towards production for help, but Tyrion is watching them intently and hasn't cut. “I'm the host,” she says, turning back to Jon.

“Oh,” Jon's brows furrow a bit. “So... I can't take you on the date?”

“Yeah, that's not really how it works,” she glances over at Tyrion again, who remains silent. “Um, you take the card down to the beach and you talk to the women – or men, whatever you prefer – and see which one of them you'd like to take on a date.” She tries to make her voice light and airy, tries to add a bit of laughter, but she's not sure how well it works.

“You were on the show before, right?” he asks, and she's actually a bit surprised that he doesn't know who she is, considering how much of a mess both her "journeys" had been. He must have gone on the show without ever watching an episode.

“Right,” she nods.

“But I can't ask you,” he says, brows furrowing even deeper. For a second she wonders if he's an idiot, but then she sees the slight quirk to his lips, and she narrows her eyes at him. He's being obtuse on purpose.

“I'm off limits,” she says archly, flicking her hair over her shoulder, and she watches his lips twitch, like he's trying to hold back a smile.

“Okay, I think I've got it now,” Jon nods slowly.

Sansa rolls her eyes at him, and he finally gives her a full grin. It makes the corners of his eyes crinkle, and sends those butterflies in her tummy going again.

“Then you should go on down,” she gestures towards the stairs that lead down to the beach.

He gives her once last look, his eyes raking over her fully, before he heads past her.

Once he's gone, Sansa's knees almost feel like they're about to give out.

It's just the heat, she tells herself, as she heads over to where the cameras are set up.

“Why didn't you jump in?” she asks Tyrion when she reaches them, pulling at the microphone taped to her before Pod even gets there to help her.

Tyrion gives her an appraising look and just shrugs. “That'll make for good TV,” he says, though there's something in his voice Sansa doesn't like. She's been around him enough by now to hear the things he doesn't say, and Tyrion's tone is... well, if she didn't know any better, she'd say he sounds almost giddy.

“Won't it muddle the story?” she frowns, grabbing one of the portable fans from Pod and closing her eyes for a moment as she turns it on her face. “You can't seriously be thinking of airing that. You should be focusing on the actual contestants and whatever romance he finds there.”

Sansa tries to think of the women here and she can't imagine who would even be Jon's type.

Not that she knows what Jon's type is.

She doesn't know Jon at all.

Sansa heads towards the car waiting to take her back to the hotel, and she really does not like the gleam in Tyrion's eye.

…

“And just to be clear,” Jon says, as everyone watches him pick up a rose from the table, “I'm not allowed to give this to you?”

Sansa can feel her face go hot, just like it does every time he flirts with her.

Everyone on the beach knows he tried to ask her on the date when he first arrived, and now it's a thing. The girls are keeping him on, giving him a rose at every elimination ceremony where they have the power, even though he hasn't formed a romantic connection with any of them. They're keeping him around for this – for the moments when Sansa is on set and Jon will, inevitably, ask if he can give her a rose or take her on a date.

There's a few cheers from the contestants, and Sansa turns a glare on them. Her friends, and even the ones she's not all that close with, are really enjoying this.

“That's against the rules,” she tells Jon, just like she has the last two times.

“Right, right,” he nods, which gets a laugh from the others. Then he turns back, holds up the rose, and says, “Missandei?” Missandei tears up as she steps forward. She'd just had her heart stomped on, and Sansa hates how sad she looks. Luckily she's made friends with a lot of the girls, especially Dany, so Sansa knows she at least has a support system here. “I think you deserve another shot at love,” Jon says as she walks over to him. “Will you accept this rose?”

“Thank you,” Missandei sniffs, giving him a watery smile.

Sansa watches and narrates the rest of the ceremony, then says goodbye to those who were eliminated. As they're wrapping up, Jon makes his way over to her.

“You're still alright?” he asks, murmurs it to her as the crew starts to herd the contestants away. But they leave Jon alone, and she knows it's because Tyrion has told them to. In fact, she's fairly certain there's a camera somewhere, trained on them right now. “Just tell me if-”

“It's fine,” she whispers. He had asked, the first time he did this, if his flirting made her uncomfortable. She had stuttered through her response, which ended up being – no. No, it didn't make her uncomfortable. The only thing that does is that they're being filmed, and she swore she'd never do this again in front of cameras.

“Alright,” he nods, eyes searching her face, like he's trying to make sure she isn't lying. “I'll see you next time, then?”

“Good night, Jon,” she says, trying to sound professional. But it's hard when he gives her a soft smile and his gaze drops to her lips, before he finally turns around and heads off with the other contestants.

“Stop filming me,” she scolds Tyrion the moment they're gone.

“What?” Tyrion says, eyes wide and innocent. “We film everything.”

“I told you I don't want to be a contestant,” she huffs. “So stop-” she waves around at the cameras that are now being packed away, now that Jon's gone.

“Seems to me,” Tyrion hums, eyebrows raised, “you could tell him to stop anytime and he would. Then we'd have nothing to film.”

Tyrion spins on his heel and walks away and she stares after him, mouth agape.

…

Sansa groans as she zips up her makeup bag, looking at herself one last time in the mirror before she heads back into the living quarters of her hotel room.

Production had interrupted her very important sipping-margaritas-by-the-pool time to tell her she had to get camera ready. She wasn't supposed to film today, so she has no idea what's going on.

There's a knock at her door and she makes her way over to it, expecting Tyrion to be on the other side.

Instead, it's Jon.

“Hi,” she says, eyes immediately darting around the hall to look for the cameras.

Except there aren't any. At least not that she can see. Just a production assistant waiting a distance away.

“Hey,” he says, giving her that same soft, warm smile. “I just wanted to let you know, I've uh... I've decided to leave.”

“Leave?”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “I mean, obviously this isn't for me. I've known that since I got here. I should've left earlier, if I'm being honest, but...”

His eyes meet hers, and something swoops low in her belly that she tries to ignore.

“Anyway,” he continues. “I just wanted to um... here.” He hands her a piece of paper and she unfolds it to find- “My number,” he says, as if she couldn't figure that out. “In case you ever wanted to call me. I don't really look at any social media, so if you tried to contact me that way... but yeah. You can call me if you want.”

Her head feels completely empty of words, and all she can do is nod.

He leaves, then, escorted out by the production assistant who had been waiting down the hall, and Sansa slowly closes the door and goes to sit on the couch.

She's not sure how long she sits there, staring blankly into the distance, when a knock comes at the door and she jolts out of her reverie.

It is Tyrion this time, and he gives her a look.

“Did you get the footage you wanted?” she asks, trying to sound annoyed, though she's still reeling. Still clutching that scrap of paper.

“Didn't get any footage,” Tyrion drawls. “Did you see a camera around?”

She hadn't, but they're sneaky sometimes.

“He asked to come up, but said he wouldn't if we followed him with cameras, so-” Tyrion shrugs.

“Why would you agree to that?”

A look passes over Tyrion's face, something she might almost describe as soft. Affectionate. Or, she would, if she didn't know Tyrion better than that.

“I know we're usually all cynics here,” he says, “and hey, maybe the show's finally brainwashed me, but I think you deserve that love story you were looking for.”

Sansa sucks in a breath as Tyrion reaches out and places a hand on her arm, just for a moment, before he lets go and leaves her hotel room.

Still in a daze, she walks back and sits on the couch, before pulling out her phone, and adding his number.

Hi, she types. This is Sansa Stark.

[greatqueenanna]

10/03/22

Long time no see friends and followers! It’s been a little bit since the last update, and I’ve been a little absent for some time - until my recent analysis. I honestly don’t have much of an excuse, except that real life gets in the way. Also, I'm just honestly bad at staying in contact. Many of my friends can testify to that (haha...sorry -.-). However, Thank you all for sticking around anyway! There are 421 of you guys now, and I'm so thankful for every single one of you!

-----

Before I go into some updates, I want to point out some other socials of mine that you can go and check out.

I have a Twitter page! @AnnaQue87671831

Although my activeness is a little random, I always update whenever I have a new analysis or another original post. You can also see the link on my main Tumblr page, but I'll go ahead and post it here too.

I have a side blog! @gqa-lite

I made this side blog so that I can post more unorganized and heated thoughts, shipping, and occasionally my own fan art without mudding up my main page. I also post about non-frozen topics - I'm currently obsessed with Kingdom Hearts (specifically Kairi) and Lore Olympus (specifically Demeter) so be warned haha.

-----

A. As you may or may not have seen, I am working on my Frozen Canon Talk! Fourth Edition. Since the last version, my overall views on what's canon have become a lot more complex. I've been doing much more research and trying to figure out how to better label and organize all Frozen content. Below is a proof of concept for you guys.

--------

B. For a while, I kept hinting at a theoretical Frozen Character Trivia post, where I basically go over all of the information we know about the Frozen characters (personality types, ages, birthdays, etc.) In the last update, I mentioned that I'm trying o figure out the best method to introduce it because I didn't want it to just be a rehash of what you would find in a fan Wiki. Being completely transparent - I still haven't got a clue. I've tested different ideas here on Tumblr, and the site honestly doesn't support anything creative without it going blurry. Thus, I'm still experimenting with different ideas, possibly going with PowerPoint (even though that's also a bit boring) but it may still take some time. Sorry about that.

-----

C. Another thing I keep bringing up is the possibility of a Frozen Podcast. As said before, this is currently in development hell. I'm looking into the new Tumblr Post + subscription system - why? because If I have co-hosts and guests, I would have to pay them haha...ha...so anyway, if this doesn't work out, I may just do a solo podcast series on youtube.

-----

D. So what's next on the analysis schedule? Good question. Obviously, A Polar Nights Review is long overdue so that's a given - expect it to come hopefully mid-October. After this, I will be updating Kingdom of Plenty to add Polar Nights additions - you can expect this sometime in early November.

For other subjects, a poll! Below you'll see a link with some analysis ideas and you can go ahead and vote for which one you want to see next. You can pick multiple if you'd like. Also, as always, If you have any analysis requests, collab ideas, or just want to hear my opinion on something, do not hesitate to send me a message!

*Poll Here*

[mostshipshape]

Action Report Two - "Windbound"

And so we meet again! The last half of this report that involves the results of players’ actions may be found here.

This week, our public weekly poll is about rumours, and tactics... or is it strategy? Do not tell me, I shall work it out eventually. In any case, this is a public poll that anyone can answer, which will influence the game in the weeks to come.

The deadline for this report and poll will be Monday 27th of July GMT 12am / GMT+10 10am, but I may leave the report submissions open for a day after that.

Now, on with the show!

Waves Breaking against the Wind - Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1840

Captain Swanmay spends the final day or so actually on board, and it seems they aim to make up for lost time. They are friendly, introducing themselves effusively to the officers- and perhaps they come across as rather too interested. Midshipman Fairwell complains at every opportunity she can that this captain is rather too interested in her education, at which Midshipman Crawford tried to suggest that maybe that is rather the point of being a midshipman? But even Lieutenant Davies remarks, idly perhaps to Price, Tillbury or Morgan, that Swanmay is understandably enthusiastic for a new captain, and the way he says understandably is primed with implication.

The day that the HMS Pickle sets off is not what one would call fine. One could call it blustery and grey, rain spitting from the heavens and the sea lively but not so tempestuous. 

Before the ship sets off, a peculiar delivery is made. A boat manned by marines, accompanying a person dressed in fine clothes, fair of skin, wearing a veil that shrouds their features. An honoured guest? Surely not, for they are taken to a specific cabin set up with fine furniture and sturdy locks on the outside. The guest does not speak, and most on board are forbidden to interact with this guest… except for the cook, to deliver food, and the officers are not strictly forbidden here.

Captain Swanmay says this man is a guest, but does not say much more than that, only that their safety on this voyage to sail to a rendezvous startlingly near the Gallian city of Recouvrance. The captain might betray a hint of frustration while saying this, but nothing more.

There is little incident as the order to under weigh and make sail is carried out and the ship is piloted out of the port. 

I am not quite a sailor, myself, merely a clerk tasked to record and observe, but I believe the wind was quite mischievous, favourable one day and antagonistic the next, and so at times the Pickle has found herself in the sorry position of being windbound. 

In this state, there is not much one can do except to try and make way, or to anchor at night at the nearby port of Aberfal. Even if the captain’s secret orders appear to require haste and discretion, there is not so much one can do against the weather that so rules this world of wood and wind!

And so the captain has ordered some exercising of the guns and the sails. Perhaps you are involved in these drills, exercising your Gunnery, Maritime or Seamanship, or taking Command of such things to try and impress your captain or to become a fit fighting and sailing force? If your rank requires you to be involved in this, why, I will assume that you are participating anyway- but to specifically respond to this prompt for your report submission is to roll the dice and to see if you can not just be passable at the job, but competent or even exceptional.

Or are you taking the moment to socialise? The enlisted sailors who have Reputation: Gun Deck on their character sheets may elect to focus on socialising with other sailors using their personal Courtesy skills, though there is not quite enough alcohol on board to justify bonding through alcoholic consumption. Perhaps they are socialising through merriment and gambling, or friendly platonic wrestling, or even… rat racing?

But there are more ways to ingratiate yourself with the crew than just talk. Perhaps you could impress people with your Maritime or Seamanship skills and knowledge, find a way to bring up an Expertise if it is not so awkward. This may be a little trickier, but perhaps it will pay off?

Or maybe you are trying to lurk in the Shadows, to eavesdrop on more rumours about the captain, or the ship, or even the strange prisoner in that locked room?

If you have Reputation: Ward Room on your sheet, then why, your socialising happens among the graced presence of the wardroom officers. For the most part, these are the Lieutenants, let us say the Midshipmen and the five Wardroom Officers - the Chaplain, the Surgeon, the Master, the Purser and the Lieutenant of Marines. Perhaps you are trying to use your Courtesy to come across as affable to them as a group, or perhaps you are trying to build up a friendship with one in particular?

First Lieutenant Davies seems to have much on his mind, but he is not so distracted as to take more than a second to evaluate the situation. Dr Ibbot, the Surgeon, seems a little busy and harried. Mx Glyl, the Master, is more of a practical pilot than a true navigator, but they are reasonably competent at their job. Ms Bynes, the Purser, is impatient and snappish, especially after Midshipman Fairwell keeps trying to get under her skin. Lieutenant Murffey of the Marines is worldly and enjoys speaking of exotic locales.

The captain dines apart from the wardroom, of course, but Davies has invited them to a dinner with the wardroom. During this dinner, they, of course, lead the conversation, and in the interests of trying to enlighten the young midshipmen, they speak of grand naval victories of the past in a rather teacherly fashion. If you wished to try and impress the captain, you could speak of the Seamanship used in such manoeuvres or analyse the Command or Awareness of those historied figures, the Diplomacy of the institutions involved, or something else - and test your own grasp of those same skills in the process.

Or maybe you have other plans? Using Provisioning to locate luxuries? (or you could try to convince Ms Bynes the Purser to let you have one, though beware, she is not so easily convinced.) First Aid to help with Dr Ibbot’s work? Do recall that your position on the ship does dictate what activities you may or may not do, but you may ask me if you are unsure of your course of action.

Here is a link to the submission box to tell me of your intentions, and remember, anyone may ask me about NPCs, settings or clarifications.

I do remain your most obedient servant-

@cadmusfly ---

Subscription List:

@clove-pinks @sailorpants @stunsls @rhaill @linnadhiell @contemporarypotato @gniew777

[ad1thi]

@starklysteve  rhae asked for some winteriron recs (read: i volunteered to spam rhae w buckytony fics because i adore them), so in no particular order, and based on my memory alone, here are some of my favourite buckytony fics!!

(please remember to leave kudos and comments!!)

American Memorial: @/spqr

“Pick up the shield,” Tony said. Understandably, Bucky told him to go fuck himself

Losing You (Is My Supervillain Origin Story):  @amethystinawrites

There are a lot of things that Bucky regrets. The list is, quite frankly, longer than he can handle on most days and, right at the very top, is lying to Tony about who killed his parents. Bucky has known even from before they started dating, but he simply can't bring himself to say anything — to ruin one of the few good things he has in his life. It's selfish and wrong, but Bucky just doesn't know how to tell Tony that he is the one responsible for Howard and Maria Stark's deaths.

So when he starts receiving anonymous emails, threatening to expose the truth to Tony and the rest of the world, Bucky is desperate enough to agree to the blackmailer's terms, even if it means breaking up with Tony. Bucky cannot, under any circumstances, let Tony find out about his parents from anyone but Bucky himself.

Too late Bucky realizes that there is much more to the blackmailer's scheme than just having Bucky break Tony's heart. Too late Bucky realizes that despite his best intentions, he will still end up losing everything — in a much more permanent way than he could ever have imagined.

Hindsight: @amethystinawrites

Ever since he was a little boy, Bucky has dreamed of becoming an astronaut together with Steve, and he can hardly believe their luck when both of them are picked for the Ares 3 crew — the third expedition sent to explore Mars. It is, quite literally, a dream come true.

Things get complicated when Bucky finds himself inconveniently attracted to their mechanical engineer, however. Tony Stark is funny, competent, and absolutely captivating, but considering NASA's strict non-fraternization policy, Bucky knows it's better to keep his interest to himself — at least until they return to Earth. He can wait.

Not once does Bucky consider the possibility that all of them might not make it back alive, or just how much he'll come to regret not acting when he had the chance.

Arsenal: @tangodancer91 (part of a series) (also my all time favourite buckytony series ever)

Two years after the Civil War that tore apart everything she’d bled to build, Toni Stark sacrificed herself for her newly-reinstated teammates and ended up stranded in the past. Freed of her name, her fortune, and her hostile ex-teammates, she built herself a life as an agent for the OSS, the American secret service, and, having nothing to lose, accepted a mission to infiltrate the newest player in the war: an organization that call themselves HYDRA.

Then, she met a young draftee with a dreadfully familiar face, and they clicked like she had never clicked with anyone before. By the time she realized she’d fallen for the man who’d cost her everything, it was too late, but she’d always been an all or nothing type of girl, and if she was damning herself, well then…might as well go all the way.

Yield: @aurumacadicus (this is an a/b/o verse fic)

All Bucky has ever wanted was to win the contest for Tony's hand in marriage. It's a bit harder now that he's down to one arm, but luckily his friends are willing to help make up the difference.

Barnes Family Motors Inc: @phlintandsteel-ao3 (this is an a/b/o verse fic)

In a world where alphas legally own omegas, Bucky is just a small time mechanic from Brooklyn who gets lucky in a poker game. Tony is an omega whose life is fraught with abuse, until his luck suddenly takes a turn for the better.

In the grand scheme of things they may only be able to make little differences in the lives of those around them, but that doesn't mean it's not worth making them. After all, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

The Long Con (don’t kid yourself): @phlintandsteel-ao3

When Tony finds out that Howard is thinking about changing the terms of Tony’s trust fund, he embarks on a not-so-elaborate scheme to prove that he’s totally settling down and not in continued need of Howard’s “guidance” until 25 instead of 21. Step 1: Get a fiance Step 2: ??? Step 3: Profit (Finally be free of Howard)

Unfortunately, Tony Stark is the worst con-artist ever, and may only be kidding himself..

Hot Mess:  @/niki

“Would serve him right if we had the world's most ill-advised one night stand.”

Imperceptions and Assumptions: @/NarutoRox

Afterward, Bucky would look back on their first meeting with fondness and a healthy dose of amusement. At the time, though, he’d mostly been confused - and more than a little embarrassed.

Bucky hadn’t paid much attention to the media in his early days, and hadn’t bothered really reading up on the team or anything, either, so when Steve had said ‘Tony Stark’, Bucky had just assumed.

The same way he’d looked at the three people who’d walked through the door - an imposing redhead in heels, a bored-looking brunette who dimpled when she saw him and Steve, and a sturdy-looking man wearing a slight glower - locked eyes on the man, and assumed him to be the infamous Tony Stark Steve wouldn’t shut up about.

It was Bucky’s first lesson when it came to Natasha Antonia ‘Toni’ Stark - never assume.

~

In which Tony Stark is actually Natasha Antonia 'Toni' Stark (which everyone knows) as well as Iron Man (which everyone does not know), assumptions are made, and there are misunderstandings.

From this prompt: How about a cross between my two favorite tropes? Nobody knows who iron man is other than Natasha/Antonia Stark's bodyguard but Bucky is in love with one or both of them

i know, you know (that i’m not telling the truth) : @imposter-human

psychic tony stark is called to work a routine case with detective bucky barnes; only, he seems to be more connected to the case than anyone thought

or, a psych au!!

the new romeo and juliet: @imposter-human

Bucky and Tony weren’t dating, because a firefighter and a detective couldn’t date (never mind that Tony hadn’t slept with anyone else since their thing had started, and he and Bucky hung out with an alarming frequency, and the whole precinct thought that they were an item). It didn't matter how many nights they spent together, how Bucky had a drawer of Tony's things and vice versa, they just couldn't.

It was a classic Romeo and Juliet situation, if Romeo and Juliet actively disliked each other on top of everything.

if found, please return to: @capnshellhead

Tony Stark shows up at Bucky's bar after a really tough break up and Bucky decides to look after him

gods of carnage:  @deathsweetqueen (part of a series)

On May 29, 1970, the Winter Soldier feels a burning sensation and looks down at his wrist to find a single name written in enduring ink: Antonia Margaret Stark.

HYDRA, fearing the defiance of their greatest asset due to a bond that cannot and will not be denied its due, immediately dispatches the Soldier, to locate, collect and deliver this newborn girl to HYDRA, which will become her new home, her new family and her entire world - to be raised as another one of HYDRA’s great warriors: their Engineer.

But the Engineer is a faulty asset. She thinks things that may get her killed one day. She wants things that she shouldn’t, that are not hers to want. She has a mind and body that belong more to herself than any handler, than any commander she may have.

And if she cuts her strings, when she cuts her strings, well, when you put sheep next to wolves, you ask for a bloodbath.

where i walk, you follow (where i burn, you burn):  @deathsweetqueen

At his father's command, Anthony Stark trades in his northern keep for a southern crown, wedded and bedded by Alexander of House Pierce, First of His Name.

Tony does his duty, becomes a wolf in name only, toothless and clawless, and a dark, gleaming ornament for the King, even if he would make himself a widower a hundred times over.

Honour demanded it of him, and so he did.

But it is Ser James Barnes, named the Kingslayer for his sins during the Rebellion, that draws his eye, gives him comfort in this pit of liars and monsters

So, what is honour compared to a good man's love? They are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love.

[Fic by deathsweetqueen, Art by MassiveSpaceWren]

Cat Parenting (And Other Meet Cutes):  @singingwithoutwords (this is an a/b/o verse fic)

Of all the ways Bucky could have finally gotten a chance to speak to his crush, why did it have to be his cat getting Tony's cat pregnant?

Codename Heartbreaker:  @rinnwrites (part of a series)

Today was a day that, contrary to popular belief, Tony Stark had most certainly not been looking forward to. It was election day, or election night, rather, and the polls were closed, the results were in; Howard Stark was the next President of the United States of America.

or

Tony Stark Bingo - R3: Election Day

Fate Strings Not Required: @akira-of-the-twilight

“Hey doll,” a new voice said from Tony’s side.

Tony glanced at the person approaching.

Someone was working the rugged, bad boy look. The new guy rocked a leather jacket and blue jeans.

His blue eyes lit up with joy as he approached Tony. “Something wrong here?” The new guy gave the first guy--the one insisting he was Tony's soul mate--a once over then turned his full attention on Tony. “You’re looking a little stressed, anything I can do?”

Tony took the hint.

Tony wrapped his hand around the new guy’s elbow. He kept his touch light and breakable in case he’d misread the cue.

“Just some guy claiming to be my soul mate, babe.”

The new guy’s eyebrows rose to his hairline in surprise. He chuckled and gave the first guy a smirk. “Strange. Last time I checked we were soul mates.”

Siren’s Treasure: @akira-of-the-twilight

Prompt: I really love the idea of playboy!Bucky flirt of the seven seas first-mate to Captain Rogers, falling completely overboard in love with our Blacksmith-Inventor Inexperienced!Tony who goes from confident captive to shy woe-begone man in the presence of Bucky's fierce affections. Virgin!Tony wonders what a siren like Bucky could possibly want with him. Bucky wants to know what the fuck Logan thinks he's doing flirting with the man who stole his heart like sunken treasures. Happy ending please?

“Sirens killed your crew?” Steve repeated.

The dark haired man nodded. Just an hour ago the Avenger crew had found the man clinging to driftwood in the middle of the ocean. Now he clutched the flask of rum Bucky had given him like it was all that kept him buoyant during these tumultuous times.

The man—Tony—had already downed more than half the flask and was still sober. “Not exactly my crew, but close enough. Yeah.” Tony uncapped the flask and threw back a mouthful.

Steve frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Tony shrugged. “I wasn’t captain of the ship.”

“So what were you?” Steve pressed.

Road hazards: @riotwritesthings

Steve and Bucky's BFF road trip is not going well. For starters, Steve couldn't even make it, and for some bizarre reason asked Tony to take his place. The fact that it’s only a couple days before someone is trying to kill them isn’t nearly as stressful as the fact that Bucky and Tony have never really had an actual conversation.

It’s hard to avoid someone when stuck in a car with them though, and if they manage to stay alive they just might learn a thing or two.

Once Upon a Wintertime: @iam93percentstardust (this is an a/b/o verse fic)

Look, Bucky knows that he’s fulfilling every cliché in the book right now. He knows that, as a bodyguard, he’s not supposed to fall in love with his client. But Tony’s good and sweet and so, so lonely and how could Bucky not? He thinks he’s got a shot after Tony breaks up with his boyfriend but on a trip across the country, he finds out that Tony needs a bondmate or the board will steal SI—and Ty’s already said yes.

little bird: @thxngam

Bucky laughs, and it’s loud and unbidden, a way he hadn’t laughed for years before, tugging his giggling omega into his lap. Tony quiets and nestles into Bucky’s chest like he was made to belong there, and Bucky has noticed several times that Tony is much smaller than he is, but he never quite noticed how Tony always seemed to curl into him as a reason for his size.

Tony nestles like a little bird.

Teenage Dream:  @anthonyed

Tony Stark develops a crush on the school's bad boy who is too cool to hang out with anyone. At least, it's what Tony thinks. He never considered that James Barnes is probably as lonely as he is.

(in the process of editing)

The Best Laid Plans (of Mice and Men):  @arboreal-elm-ash-oak

His Dark Materials AU

It was Annalise who noticed their small visitor first.

“Tony,” the spider daemon said softly, skittering up the collar of his dress shirt, two of her eight legs resting delicately against his cheek, “Don’t startle them, but I believe we have a guest. Look, by the coffee table.”

A Kitten and a Soldier: @/ThatDamnKennedyKid

Bucky hadn't heard from Rumlow in years - since the whole Winter Soldier fiasco in Siberia. They've been discharged for nearly six years, but when he gets a message that only says "I need your help" , he grabs his jacket and keys.

The Prince’s Bride: @hddnone

After Tony loses the love of his life to pirates on the high sea, not much matters to him. He agrees to wed Prince Justin Hammer to gain access to vibranium and shut himself away in his workshop until the end of time, but a group of ruffians kidnap Tony to take him to Hydra.

Tony's rescue takes on an unlikely form - the Dread Pirate Rogers, who killed the love of his life five years ago.

A Princess Bride AU

A Kind of Destiny: @weethreequarter

A chance meeting at a wedding brings together an American war veteran and the Prince of Wales. Little do they know, the wheels have been set in motion for a relationship which will change not only their lives, but the monarchy itself. Bucky and Tony strike up a friendship at Steve and Peggy’s wedding, a friendship that soon develops into more. But it’s not so simple: Tony is the Prince of Wales, and heir to the throne of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Any relationship is played out in the press and public eye, and then there's that pesky issue of succession to consider too. But Bucky is no coward, and when he finds something he wants, he’s prepared to fight for it. And fight he will, at Tony's side, for their very own fairy tale ending.

[justimagineitblog]

“You Used To Love Me”: Michael Gray Fan Fiction - Chapter 1

A/N: Please enjoy getting caught up in this love story :) 

Like / reblog and let me know if you would like to be added to a tag list for the next chapters to come .... 

thankyou my loves and don’t fook with the peaky blinders! ;) xx

It’s the usual smog and cold air as I make my way down town, dirt and gravel roads crunching beneath my heels. Mostly, I concentrate on trying not to lose my footing and dodging the young boys who are playing tag in the street. But there’s a very small, tucked away portion of my brain who is constantly, subconsciously, thinking about him. Michael Gray. Even though its months since the day he left, months since I’ve seen or heard from him, it still feels strange to walk these streets without his hand locked firmly with mine. These days I just bury my hands deep in my coat pockets, trying to distract myself from how empty they feel. And from how fucking cold it is.

I round the last corner, away from the houses and straight into the Main Street. Busy and bustling with people leaving and entering businesses, horse and cart, cars all adding to the noise. In a crowd of people, a familiar face sticks out.

Polly Gray. Standing outside of the train station. A smile falls over my face immediately upon spotting her. If there’s one woman I love like my own mother, it’s Polly Gray. When Michael and I began dating and he first brought me home to his family, Polly opened her arms to me like she’d known me her whole life. Like I was already Michael’s wife. They all did.

But when Michael left for America, he didn’t just cut of communication with me. He cut of communication with everyone. Even his own family. The only way we knew he was still alive was through the rest of the staff Shelby Limited has in America. Apart from that, Michael may as well have been dead. Or at least we were, to him. Despite this, Polly and the Shelby’s didn’t just cast me off like I was a dead weight. Like an extra person that they didn’t need the burden of hanging around. Once you’re in the Shelby family, you’re in for life. I still work at the pub for Tommy. Still come around every Sunday for roast. And I know part of it is the guilt that Polly feels for what her son did to me. To us. To our love. But I know she genuinely loves me, too.

Only a few meters away from her now, I call out to her, waving my hand.

She turns towards my voice with a smile, but the moment her eyes fall over me, it disappears.

“Isabelle, my darling…” she greets me with a smile that just doesn’t seem… right “What are you doing here?”

I furrow my brows “Well I could ask you the same thing, standing outside the train station of all places” I chuckle softly but she just gives me that same, nervous smile.

“Poll, what’s wrong?” I look around suspiciously, for someone who might be causing her to act like this “Is there someone here that shouldn’t be?” It’s a rare occasion that Polly Gray acts anything but confident and calm.

When I look back to her for an answer, she just stutters. Glancing between me and the entry to the station anxiously, she shakes her head.

“Um, now isn’t the time darling, maybe you should go-“

But before I can even figure out what on earth has got her acting this way, the answer to my question walks out of the station lobby and into the street.

Michael.

Suddenly, the obnoxiously loud street becomes muffled, everything sounds like I’m listening from underwater.

Once our eyes lock, he freezes in his tracks, like someone hit the pause button and now all either of us can do is stare at one another.

“Shit” I hear Polly hiss under her breath beside me.

6 months. 6 months of nothing. No calls. No letters. No explanation. 6 months of anticipation. Crying myself to sleep. Making myself sick with worry. Wondering if he ever loved me at all. And how he could just leave me like this. Did he feel bad at all? 6 months has all come down to this moment. And here he stands. Alive and well. A little older. A little more well dressed. And perfectly fine.

Michael.

Acutely aware of my pounding heart, my breath begins to quicken too, my chest rising and falling rapidly beneath my dress.

And if my complete shock or lack of oxygen hasn’t made me completely delusional, I begin to see the smallest hint of something in his eyes. Like a flicker of light through a crack in a concrete wall. It’s gentle. Warm. Hopeful. Is it a smile? Or… love?

“Michael, baby?” A heavily accented woman’s voice cuts through the heavy air around us like a knife.

And just as fleetingly as the look came, it is whisked away. Before I got a chance to read what he’s even thinking after seeing me, the girl he was supposed to be in love with, for the first time in 6 months, the page was ripped away.

It’s replaced by a cold, empty stare and it soon dawns on me why. The heavily accented voice calling his name belongs to someone. Arrogant and proud, she strolls out into the side walk and straight to Michael, placing a possessive hand on his shoulder.

Like watching a car accident, in which my heart is the car and every moment that follows is another piling up on top of it, I can’t look away.

She’s tall, slender, blonde. And she leans into Michael, pressing her red lips against his cheek. The cheek that I used to kiss like that. Leaving a faint lip stick stain like I used to.

My eyes lock with Michaels and again I find another hidden message behind them. Does he look… guilty?

“Baby?” The American demands, her sharp and commanding voice finally snapping us both out of our trance.

“Yes honey, sorry” Michael apologises quickly, dragging his eyes away from mine as he turns to the woman with a smile on his face.

“Well aren’t you going to introduce me?” She chuckles, with a hint of irritation behind it.

He stares at her, his mouth parted ready to speak, but no sound follows it’s lead. The woman gives him one final, warning glare and Michael swallows, turning back to Polly and I.

“This is Gina… Gina Gray”

My head shoots to Polly immediately, and she just shakes her head at me. Polly must have already known. How long has she known about this.

She doesn’t say anything but her her eyes are screaming.

‘I’m sorry’ they cry.

Gina. Gina Gray. Gray.

She’s Michael’s wife.

“Sorry, do we know you?” She asks me pointedly, right as I’m trying to understand what has unfolded in a matter of minutes. So she doesn’t know about me? Michael hasn’t told her. He never mentioned the woman he has been in love with for 4 years. Never crossed his mind? Was our love not worth a mention? Was I not worth it?

I feel Michael’s eyes burning into me as he waits for me to answer, but what am I supposed to say?

‘Oh I was just your husbands lover before he left for America, where I never heard from him in 6 months, but apparently he met you and now you’re married so I guess I’m just some jaded ex lover’

Michael never was a man of God, but I bet he’s praying to whatever God is listening right now. Praying that I don’t reveal his secret. Expose his big lie. Reveal his double life?

“This is Isabelle,” Polly’s voice pushes in very suddenly, but as she goes to continue, Michael cuts her off before she even can.

“A family friend” he interjects quickly, almost tripping over his own words with urgency.

A family friend.

If there was a moment to describe the feeling of twisting the knife once you’ve already been stabbed, this was it.

The sentence rattles around in my brain. How can he just stand there, look me in the eyes, and call me that.

Maybe if we had of broken up before he left, then he would be justified in calling me nothing but a family friend, if he doesn’t want to say I used to be his lover. His girlfriend. His person.

But I clearly remember how he made love to me the night before he left. How he kissed me at the station before he left. How we both cried and held each other, almost causing him to miss the train. And I know he remembers it too. But yet here he stands. With my heart in his hands, and clenching it tightly as he calls me nothing but a family friend.

I’m suddenly painfully aware of the silence between us all, and realise I haven’t spoken once this entire time.

“Yes, sorry” I nod quickly “I’ve known the family a long time”

“How sweet” Gina replies with a tight smile, as she looks me up and down.

A feeling of sickness washes over me the same way her eyes do. I don’t belong here. Standing like a complete fool as Michael and this woman, his wife, pretending to be someone I’m not, just as much as Michael is.

“I’ll let you guys get on your way” I shake my head “I’ve uh, I’ve got a shift to get to anyway”

Gina nods with another sickly sweet and clearly fake smile, and Michael just stands there, still watching me nervously.

“Bye Poll” I breathe at Polly who is biting her lip, doing a terrible job at hiding the distraught look on her face. I can’t even imagine what mine looks like.

I give one last nod at them all, my eyes catching Michaels for the last time as I begin to walk away. My legs feel like lead as I force myself to walk away from them, moving from the spot I felt as though I was frozen to.

[ohshcscenerios]

Beach House

Chapter Twenty One - Choose Your Own Adventure

Result of previous poll: Chicken fight

Haruhi perked up at the mention of another game. Based on how their games have been played she wasn’t sure if she could stomach another aggressive round between her friends. 

“What game do you have in mind, Hika-chan?” Mitsukuni asked, his eyes wide with happy anticipation. The small lolita paddled towards the shore in his pink tub with Takashi stepping beside him. 

Hikaru rested the beach ball on his hip and grinned, “Have you guys every played chicken fight? It’s where two teams of two go against each other in the water. In each team one person sits on the other’s shoulders. The goal is to use their strength to push the other team into the water.” 

Kyoya rolled his eyes, “That sounds a little barbaric, don’t you think?” 

Kaoru scoffed, “If you’re not willing to play then you shouldn’t have an opinion.” He looked away just as Kyoya arched an eyebrow at him. 

“That sounds like fun, right Takashi?” Mitsukuni cheered, finally reaching the shore where he could stand on the sand. Takashi nodded, agreeing with his cousin, although he wasn’t sure how his height could be considered fair in this game. He may have to sit this one out and watch beside Kyoya. 

Haruhi’s eyes bounced between her friends, slowly understanding what would happen next. It sounded like a fun game to watch but she became certain she wasn’t allowed to sit in the audience. She was small enough to sit on someone’s shoulders. 

Hikaru walked towards her and offered his hand to pull her up, “Haruhi, do you want to be on my team?” 

She looked at him for a second before sighing and accepting his hand. With one strong pull he had her on her feet. Still holding her hand he dragged her into the water to join the others. 

Kaoru looked around for Mitsukuni and found him sliding out of his swimming tube by their blankets. “Hunny-senpai, do you want to be my partner? You and Haruhi are about the same height.” He called towards him while waving his hand. 

Mitsukuni blithely agreed and ran back into the water. Kaoru got down on his knees for the short blonde to climb his shoulders and Hikaru did the same for Haruhi, although he had to guide her legs wrap around his neck when she was too nervous to close her legs on him. He carefully stood with her on top, griping her thighs for balance, and walked deeper into the ocean until the water splashed against his chest. Kaoru stood a foot away, mirroring his brother’s cocky smirk. 

Tamaki and Takashi sat beside Kyoya to watch, admittedly interested in how this would play out. Even Kyoya looked away from his tablet to watch the two tall figures facing each other. 

Mitsukuni flashed Haruhi a mischievous smile, a rare occurrence she had seen only a handful of times since she’s known him. His brash smile and crinkled eyebrows spoke of one thing - Dark Hunny was joining their game.

“Don’t worry Haru-chan, I’ll go easy on you.” He said. His promise sent shivers down her spine, making her second guess her participation. 

Hikaru lightly bounced her on his shoulders, forcing her to grab onto his red hair for balance, “Don’t worry Haruhi, we’ll shove them in so fast they won’t know what hit em!”

The twins began their game by counting down from three. The second they shouted “one” the brothers charged each other with one determined partner stretching his arms forward and one panicked partner gripping handfuls of hair in her fists. 

“Haruhi, you have to push him! Let go of my hair!” Hikaru shouted, shaking his head to free her grip. 

Haruhi whimpered as she released his hair and stretched her shaking arms ahead. Now she was sure this wasn’t a good idea. 

Hikaru’s hands tightened around her thighs as he leaned forward, angling her towards Mitsukuni. Her hands met with his and instantly felt his strength pushing her towards the side. She fought back as best she could, even re-angling her grasp on his hands for better leverage, however Mitsukuni was too strong and within a minute she was shove into the water. Hikaru’s tight grasp on her thighs unfortunately brought him down with her. 

“We won! We won!” Mitsukuni cheered, pumping his fists into the air. Kaoru let go of one his thighs to wave his own fist too, celebrating their quick victory. 

Haruhi felt Hikaru loosen his hold allowing her float for a moment unassisted. Just as she began to kick her legs toward the surface she felt his arms slip beneath her knees and frame her back, lifting her above water in his embrace. 

“We’ll get them next time.” Hikaru whispered with a wink before pressing a kiss into her wet hair line. Haruhi could only stare at him wide eyed as he carried her towards the shore. 

Mitsukuni and Kaoru had already joined the others and were sharing a round of high fives. Hikaru let Haruhi down on the sand and ran towards his brother for a tackling hug.

“You cheat, you had the advantage with Hunny-senpai!” Hikaru yelled as he rolled in the sand with his brother laughing beneath him. 

“It’s not my fault they’re practically the same height!” Kaoru chuckled, fighting off Hikaru’s playful fists. 

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Mitsukuni asked with sorrowful eyes as he walked up to Haruhi. He looked at her hands for any bruises and was happy to see none. 

Haruhi smiled and shook her head, “No, it’s alright. It was actually kind of fun.” She wasn’t sure if she should have admitted it but it was true. Once she got over the initial fear it was all very thrilling. She felt adrenaline rush through her body as she and Mitsukuni squared off. 

There was something else she secretly enjoyed, something she could never confess out loud. She liked the way Hikaru held her in place. His firm hands on her thighs helped her feel safe and confident, allowing her to have fun. She wasn’t sure how to place it or even if she should have liked it but... it felt nice. 

Kyoya stood up and shook the sand from his swimming trunks before addressing his friends, “It’s nearly noon, shall we begin lunch?”

As if on cue, Haruhi’s stomach grumbled. She wrapped her arms around her waist, very embarrassed, but Tamaki’s and Kaoru’s stomachs echoed her hunger. 

Kyoya nodded, “I take that as a yes. Let’s go, I’d like to wash off sand where it’s not supposed to be.” He grumbled the last part as he began walking toward the beach house.

This poll will be different. It will be a multiple choice poll, meaning you can choose more than one answer. Every host has had an opportunity to hint their feelings for Haruhi. She’s slowly beginning to catch on but our oblivious maiden still hasn’t completely figured it out. This gives our hosts a second chance to win her heart. 

Vote which hosts should be considered the top contending participants to win over Haruhi. The top three characters with the most votes will advance into the next round. 

Which three hosts should progress forward? (Click to Vote)

Let’s again pretend I’m not updating an hour late (I got distracted when my sister in law paid me a visit with Dairy Queen). Because I began writing so late today I will continue writing late into the night. Let’s do this!

Next update should be around 10:00pm (ETS) Can we really trust that though? Poll will end 30 minutes prior. 

[newstfionline]

Monday, October 26, 2020

California girds for most dangerous fire weather of year (AP) California, which has endured its worst wildfire season in history, is bracing for the most dangerous winds of the year, a forecast that prompted the largest utility to announce plans to cut power Sunday to nearly 1 million people to guard against its equipment sparking new blazes. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said the outages would start in far Northern California and ultimately could affect 386,000 customers in 38 counties, with many of the shutoffs concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area. At a Saturday night briefing, utility officials said high winds were expected to arrive midday Sunday and reach 40 to 60 mph (64 to 97 kph) with higher gusts in the mountains. Winds that strong can topple trees and send branches into power lines. Some of the largest and deadliest fires in recent years were started by utility equipment being damaged by high winds, so PG&E has been aggressive about pre-emptively cutting power when fire conditions are most dangerous. This will be the fifth time PG&E has cut power to customers this year and by far the largest shutdown.

Tropical Storm Zeta to threaten Gulf Coast as 2020 ties record for most named storms (Washington Post) Tropical Storm Zeta formed in the western Caribbean very early Sunday morning and is set to drift north and unleash wind, heavy rainfall and, potentially, ocean surge concerns as it approaches the U.S. Gulf Coast Tuesday night and Wednesday. Zeta becomes the record-tying 27th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, matching 2005 for the most names used in a season. Zeta is most likely to come ashore the Gulf Coast on Wednesday at tropical-storm strength, but there’s an outside chance that it could cross the coast as a hurricane. According to the Hurricane Center, Zeta “could bring storm surge, rainfall, and wind impacts to areas from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.”

Foreign students show less zeal for US since Trump took over (AP) On a recruiting trip to India’s tech hub of Bangalore, Alan Cramb, the president of a reputable Chicago university, answered questions not just about dorms or tuition but also American work visas. The session with parents fell in the chaotic first months of Donald Trump’s presidency. After an inaugural address proclaiming “America first,” two travel bans, a suspended refugee program and hints at restricting skilled worker visas widely used by Indians, parents doubted their children’s futures in the U.S. “Nothing is happening here that isn’t being watched or interpreted around the world,” said Cramb, who leads the Illinois Institute of Technology, where international scholars have been half the student body. America was considered the premier destination for international students, with the promise of top-notch universities and unrivaled job opportunities. Yet, 2016 marked the start of a steep decline of new enrollees, something expected to continue with fresh rules limiting student visas, competition from other countries and a haphazard coronavirus response. The effect on the workforce will be considerable, experts predict, no matter the outcome of November’s election. For colleges that fear dwindling tuition and companies that worry about losing talent, the broader impact is harder to quantify: America seemingly losing its luster on a global stage. Roughly 5.3 million students study outside their home countries, a number that’s more than doubled since 2001. But the U.S. share dropped from 28% in 2001 to 21% last year, according to the Association of International Educators, or NAFSA.

Watching U.S. presidential vote, much of the world sees a less-strong America (LA Times) In the eyes of much of the world the United States is a potent, yet faltering force, a conflicted nation heading into an election that will either redeem it or tug it farther away from the myths and promise that for generations defined it in capitals from Singapore to Paris and Buenos Aires to Nairobi. The stature and standing of the U.S. have plummeted in recent years, a number of international polls suggest. That trend has been exacerbated this year by what is widely perceived to be a disorderly and ineffectual governmental response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now by a chaotic electoral process. For some, a once-bright beacon of egalitarian values has faded into an aloof, disfigured power. “The United States was always a model to follow,” said Gloria Jácome Torres, a 41-year-old lawyer in Mexico City. “Since I was a student, I always viewed the United States with admiration—everything they did there with respect to human rights, the level of education, personal liberties.” But particularly during the last four years, her view has been soured by what she sees as a pattern of cruelty and callousness emanating from U.S. officialdom, as seen in the mistreatment of migrants and racial injustice laid bare. “Honestly, I believe that the United States is not the same as before,” she said. “One sees the news and thinks, ‘Is this really what the United States has become?’” In many parts of the world, a broad sense of disillusionment directed at the United States cannot be laid solely at the feet of President Trump, who began his term in January 2017. Particularly in regions such as Latin America and the Middle East, where the U.S. for decades propped up repressive regimes, historic grievances long predate Trump’s headlong America-first presidency.

Indigenous Colombians, Facing New Wave of Brutality, Demand Government Action (NYT) Protesters descended by the thousands on Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, this week, horrified by a brutal wave of violence sweeping the country, one so intense that mass killings have taken place every other day on average. Most traveled hundreds of miles, from the rural Indigenous communities that have been particularly ravaged by the violence, which they trace to government failures to protect them under the country’s halting peace process. “If we don’t stand before the world and say, ‘This is happening,’” said Ermes Pete, 38, an Indigenous leader from the country’s southwest, “we will be exterminated.” Four years ago, the government signed a historic peace deal with the country’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, ending the longest-running conflict in the Americas. The accord called for the Colombian government to provide basic services—education, health care and safety—in areas battered by the long civil war. But many protesters said that when the FARC moved out of their communities, the government never moved in. Instead, new criminal groups arrived. As new criminal groups have moved into former FARC territory, Indigenous communities, often located on drug routes and in areas rich with minerals and timber, have been among the most vulnerable. The criminal groups have used deadly violence to stifle dissent and discourage people from working with rivals.

Spain orders nationwide curfew to stem worsening outbreak (AP) Spain declared a second nationwide state of emergency Sunday and ordered an overnight curfew across the country in hopes of stemming a resurgence in coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said. The Socialist leader told the nation in a televised address that the extraordinary measure will go into effect on Sunday night. Sánchez said that his government is using the state of emergency to impose an 11 p.m.-6 a.m. nationwide curfew, except in the Canary Islands. Spain’s 19 regional leaders will have authority to set different hours for the curfew as long as they are stricter, close regional borders to travel and limit gatherings to six people who don’t live together, the prime minister said. The leader added that he would ask Parliament this week to extend the state of emergency for six months, until May.

France recalls ambassador from Turkey after Erdogan says Macron needs ‘mental’ treatment (Washington Post) The French foreign ministry said Sunday it was recalling its ambassador to Turkey, a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sharply criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s response to the beheading of a teacher who had shown students pictures of the prophet Muhammad, strictly prohibited by the Muslim faith. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the country was withdrawing Ambassador Herve Magro from its NATO ally because of a “hateful and slanderous propaganda against France, testifying to a desire to stir up hatred against us and our heart” as well as “direct insults against the President of the Republic, expressed at the highest level of the Turkish state.” In the week since the attack in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, Macron’s government has ordered a crackdown on Muslim organizations it accuses of spreading hatred, and defended the caricatures of Muhammad as emblematic of the French values of secularism and free expression, even if they’re deeply offensive to many of France’s own Muslim citizens, among its largest minority populations. “What is the problem of this person called Macron with Muslims and Islam?” Erdogan asked during a speech to members of his political party on Saturday. “Macron needs treatment on a mental level.” “What else can be said to a head of state who does not understand freedom of belief and who behaves in this way to millions of people living in his country who are members of a different faith?”

Virus is pummeling Europe’s eateries—and winter is coming (AP) A resurgence of the coronavirus is dealing a second blow to the continent’s restaurants, which already suffered under lockdowns in the spring. From Northern Ireland to the Netherlands, European governments have shuttered eateries or severely curtailed how they operate. More than just jobs and revenue are at stake—restaurants lie at the heart of European life. Their closures are threatening the social fabric by shutting the places where neighbors mix, extended families gather and the seeds of new families are sown. This time, the closures are particularly painful because they might stretch into the Christmas season, nixing everything from pre-holiday office drinks to a special meal on the day. When it comes to purely calories and vitamins, “of course we can live without restaurants,” said food historian professor Peter Scholliers. But, he asked: “We can live without being social? No, we can’t.” Successful restaurants have always had to adapt quickly—but never has there been a challenge like this. The European Union said the hotel and restaurant industry suffered a jaw-dropping 79.3% decline in production between February and April. Summer brought some respite. But then came fall. Any giddiness that the fallout from the pandemic could somehow be contained faced the sobering reality of relentlessly rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Government leaders are now warning things will get worse before they get better.

Berlin’s new airport is opening at last (NYT) Berlin-Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport, conceived 30 years ago in the giddy aftermath of German reunification as a symbol of freedom and modernity, has instead become the butt of jokes. The litany of engineering blunders, corruption scandals and lawsuits that have plagued what was once Europe’s biggest building site have chipped away at the story Germany likes to tell about itself as a model of efficiency. Miles of cables were incorrectly installed. Firewalls turned out to be just walls. Escalators came up short. Screens had to be replaced, having reached the end of their lives. Under construction for 14 years, the airport is nine years past its original opening date and more than $4 billion over budget. Every month, it costs several million dollars just to keep the unused airport running. Airport staff are paid to flush all the toilets to keep the plumbing working. Ghost trains run to the ghost terminal at night to stop the tunnels from molding. With so many costly setbacks, T-shirts spotted in the city offer this advice: “Let’s just move the city of Berlin to a functioning airport.” Even Ms. Merkel has publicly aired her exasperation: “The very Chinese with whom we have government consultations are asking themselves, ‘what on earth is going on in Berlin that they can’t even build an airport with two runways’,” she said two years ago.

As China Clamps Down, Activists Flee Hong Kong for Refuge in the West (NYT) In Western democracies, they have been welcomed as refugees escaping Beijing’s tightening grip over Hong Kong. In China, they have been denounced as violent criminals escaping punishment for their seditious activities. A group of Hong Kong activists who have been granted asylum in the United States, Canada and Germany in recent weeks are the latest catalyst for deteriorating relations between China and the West. Western leaders have asserted that they will stand up for human rights in Hong Kong, while Chinese officials have rebuked the countries for what they called interference in Beijing’s affairs. The protesters’ newly conferred status has made clear how profoundly Hong Kong has changed since China imposed a tough new security law this summer. For decades, the city had been a place of shelter for people escaping war, famine and political oppression in mainland China. Now the semiautonomous city has become a source of asylum seekers.

Police cracking down on Thailand’s landmark protests aren’t sure what side they are on (Washington Post) The 21-year-old police officer arrived in Bangkok just after midnight on Oct. 15 with clear instructions: Disperse all protesters gathered in front of the prime minister’s office, with force if necessary. The young officer’s commander ordered the operation to start at 4:20 a.m., shortly after the Thai government issued an emergency decree aimed at quashing the demonstrations that had rocked Bangkok over the summer, challenging the once-untouchable monarchy. Protected by their shields, the police bore down on the young protesters, some officers kicking and punching as they went, before arresting more than a dozen leaders of the youth movement. “The commander in charge of our operation was quite aggressive and I was worried about that. I thought our actions were very unnecessary,” said the officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions. “It made me feel ashamed of myself as a human being, and like I was a coward, betraying my principles.” His views are shared by half a dozen officers interviewed by The Washington Post, reflecting a growing disaffection inside the Royal Thai Police with the three institutions that have long dominated politics in the kingdom: the army, the government and the monarchy. Over the past week, several police officers have been photographed raising the three-finger salute, a symbol of resistance and solidarity that the young demonstrators borrowed from the Hunger Games series.On social media, stories have circulated of officers helping protect demonstrators from water cannons and allowing them to escape without arrest. The predicament reflects a reality for many governments across the globe that have in recent months faced popular protests, including the United States, Hong Kong, Belarus and elsewhere, where some of the police officers tasked with crushing the demonstrations would rather be on the other side.

Philippines: Typhoon leaves 13 missing, displaces thousands (AP) A fast-moving typhoon blew away from the Philippines on Monday after leaving at least 13 people missing, forcing thousands of villagers to flee to safety and flooding rural villages, disaster-response officials said. The typhoon was blowing west toward the South China Sea with sustained winds of 125 kilometers (77 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 150 kph (93 mph). It roared overnight through island provinces south of the capital, Manila, which was lashed by strong winds but escaped major damage. At least 25,000 villagers were displaced, with about 20,000 taking shelter in schools and government buildings that were turned into evacuation centers, the Office of Civil Defense said, but officials added that some have returned home in regions where the weather has cleared.

Taliban show they can launch attacks anywhere across Afghanistan, even as peace talks continue (Washington Post) In the past several weeks, Taliban fighters have staged ground attacks and bombings in 24 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, leaving scores dead. In northeastern Takhar they ambushed and killed at least 40 soldiers and police. In northwestern Ghowr, a car bomb killed 19 civilians. In southern Helmand, Taliban fighters are still clashing with Afghan forces after a two-week assault on the provincial capital region. The message of the surge is clear and coldblooded. Even as Taliban delegates continue to nominally participate in peace talks with Afghan leaders in Qatar, the insurgents have shown no intention of reducing violence. Instead, they appear out to prove they can wreak havoc everywhere. In the past week alone, Afghan security officials said Saturday that the Taliban had staged 356 attacks, two suicide bombings and 52 mine explosions across the country, killing 51 civilians and wounding 157. They said more than 400 insurgents were killed but did not give casualty figures for Afghan forces. As the violence spreads, Afghans have expressed outrage and several prominent Middle Eastern religious scholars have condemned the attacks, especially against civilians, as un-Islamic. But Taliban leaders, partly in response to the criticism, reiterated that they have the right to kill anyone connected with the Afghan government or its foreign backers.

[uwunnie]

Updates (December 17, 6:30 PM US Mountain Time)

There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s get into it.

-

Voting:

Seoul Music Awards

Android link

Apple link

3 votes daily

Voting ends January 22, 2020

Global Disk Awards

App link

3 daily votes & 2 additional votes if you share the link (there’s full instructions on the link)

Voting ends December 27, 2019

Global Golden Hands (fan-video for Wonho)

Stream the video

There’s also a poll on their YouTube channel page, I think, but I can’t pull it up from my app right now.

Voting ends December 20, 2019

HoneyPop Artist of the Year

Vote here

Twitter: #VoteTHPMonstaX

Voting ends December 20, 2019 - 11:59 PM EST

Idol Champ (Best Song)

Download app

I think you get 30 votes per day

This ends today, but I’m pretty sure there’s always new categories to vote in.

Streaming:

Middle of the Night

Follow and Someone’s Someone on Spotify (Spotify Awards)

Follow performance (MAMA 2019)

Forever & Never Die (MAMA 2019)

MX Moments (MAMA 2019)

⚠️ Remember to not skip ads nor put the videos on the mute. Do not replay otherwise the algorithm thinks you’re a bot. Watch the entire video - especially the mv - without pausing or skipping. Don’t play Spotify songs on loop, and listen to at least 30 seconds otherwise it won’t count. ⚠️

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Twotuckgom videos:

I made a playlist of all the recent ttg videos. Please stream them! Minhyuk has mentioned that he wishes there were more views so that they could gain more publicity, so let’s stream them for him and all of OT7!

Playlist here.

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Concerts:

Japanese MBB did the OT7 fan chant at MX’s most recent show in Japan.

At one of the recent shows, MBBs holding Wonho slogans and signs were encouraged by the boys to raise them higher.

If I’m correct, I believe Jooheon actually had a ment where he encouraged MBB to raise their signs up. He mentioned that the signs were very beautiful and that he wanted to see them and asked MBB to raise them up one more time. He didn’t specify exactly which signs, but it’s pretty easy to assume he was referring to the Wonho ones because of him mentioning he noticed MBB were hesitant to hold them up and MBB tweeting from that show explained how the ones holding Wonho signs were afraid of holding them up because they didn’t know if they could.

@joohoneybunch created an OT7 fan chant for their final jingle performance and I believe mbb used it

I think that may be it for concerts.

-

Appearances:

Going back a bit, Monsta X won two awards at MAMA 2019.

Fast-forwarding to more recent events, the active members went to the US for Jingle Ball and it wasn’t too chaotic.

Changkyun said Monsta Truck is about a truck for Monbebe that he wants us all to get on..sure, yeah, def.

When prompted to answer what MBB have taught MX, Minhyuk said ‘love,’ Hyungwon said ‘live,’ and Shownu said ‘dougie.’

They appeared on Ryan & Kelley.

Their B96 interviews are up!

Here’s a Spotify link, but I think there’s videos up on YouTube as well - especially their performances.

VLives were done.

Jooheon had fallen ill prior to coming to the US, but he’s since returned and informed everyone at the last US concert that he’s okay. In addition, at one of the recent shows, he said how MBB have been his strength for getting through his mental and physical sickness.

Back in SK, ISAC commenced and it was...chaotic good?

MX was two hours late - I presume because they had just flown in from America and went directly to ISAC.

MBBs attending ISAC fell asleep while waiting and one of the managers told them to wake up because it was “time to support.” 🥺

MBB said the food provided didn’t taste good.

Minhyuk told MBB to go home and rest.

MX only participated in the categories they had to - I think they were hoping to get banned tbh.

Despite their semi-obvious efforts to lose, MX ended up going to finals.

In addition, despite their efforts to lose and the fact that they had absolutely zero practice beforehand, arrived late, and just came back from the US with probably less than four hours of sleep - they won second place overall.

Hyungwon wore this shirt:

Kihyun basically dyed his hair blue after MBB talked about it on fc.

They’re aware of everything we’ve adopted and bought for them.

-

SBS/KBS:

The top two major news angencies played OT7 footage when talking about MX. This is very unusual, but a good sign because usually when an idol is terminated and/or no longer respected, they get blurred from footage or cropped out, but there was actually a Wonho focus throughout most of the broadcasts’ durations.

This could hint that the general public no longer views him negatively.

-

In addition to new merch for the active members, from my understanding, Twotuckgom has also restocked old Bebegom products, and continues putting a small BBG in the comics.

They also had one comic in particular that showcased one of the goms as a magician who is looking for the ‘rabbit in its hat.’ When it looks inside it’s hat, there’s another gom dresser as a bunny lifting weights with a little BBG hidden in the background. I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds like they’re finding Bebegom like we’re finding Wonho.

TTG’s Twitter also retweeted a rendition that a MBB made of the goms involved in the The Ugly Duckling (I think?) fairytale. Basically, Bebegom leaves because it doesn’t feel like it belongs and the other goms search everywhere until they find each other again.

-

There are projects going on, but I’m not going to post about any until I research them. There’s certain groups I do not support because their intentions are ill, but they hide behind a sort of..veil. When I get time to properly look into everything, I’ll make a post.

-

Searches have been cleared for the most part, but please continue a little bit more since some bad things still pop up when searching certain members.

-

Interesting things are happening with the 🐍🐍, but I’m not going to talk about it publicly. Maybe at some point I’ll release a post, but not until more info emerges.

In the meantime, please refrain from leaving negative comments on either of their social profiles. Don’t make posts, either - even if you think your profile is small enough that no one will see. Trust me, eyes are everywhere and a negative post on an account with so much as 0 followers will still pop up and travel like one for someone with 1000 followers.

-

I think this pretty much sums up what’s been happening as of late. Sorry for being slow - all of this occurred during finals, so I didn’t really have a lot of time to make long posts. Now that I’m on break for a month, I’ll catch up with the recaps and go back to the steady updates.

Continue with your efforts and try to ignore the hypocrites who continue spewing toxicity despite spreading positive mantras.

Honestly, Monbebes have accomplished a lot and made steps towards a positive change in both the industry and the world. In addition, at the end of the day, our goal isn’t to please other fandoms, but win justice for Wonho and other artists who have been wronged, as well as prevent the wrongdoings from incoming and current trainees.

Be proud of being part of the “sticky-note fandom” because regardless of other people’s opinions, we’re not only inspiring and demanding change, but succeeding in doing so.

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 121 Results

The chapter 121 poll closed with 1,812 responses. Thank you to everyone for participating!

  RATE THE CHAPTER 1,644 Responses

Welp, it’s official. Chapter 121, the 10th anniversary chapter of Attack on Titan, was the highest rated chapter this year. In fact, in the last two years, the only chapter that scored higher was 112. Bravo, Isayama!

Attack on Titan can’t get any crazier after THAT chapter!” I say for the fourth month in a row, like a fool.

Jesus Christ Im so happy I was born at the time aot was created

Eren is *chef’s kiss* so perfect and well written and scary and amazing. The best character of anything I’ve ever watched or read, I’ll love him for a very long time.

I had to physically lie down, I was that confused.

It was perfect. From the reveal of Eren to Zekes meeting with Grisha. This chapter changed our whole view not just on the characters, but the whole story itself. Simply amazing.

I honestly think this was the most mind blowing chapter since the Basement reveal chapter. To think Future Eren was the one who convinced Grisha at the last second to massacre the Reiss family blew my mind!

This was an amazing chapter. Regardless of what you think of Eren, he has to be one of the most well developed characters in all of manga. I like the direction of the story and can't wait to see what Isayama has in store for our beloved characters.

This chapter solidifies SnK as manga of the decade.

I'm not sure if Isayama planned this from day n°1, but him saying the story is about surpassing the father takes up a whole new meaning: how can your father enslave you when you enslave him yourself?

The next big twist? “Oh-ho, onii-chan, I was the Founder Ymir all along!”

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 1,684 Responses

There were a LOT of moments in this chapter, and a lot of people had a lot of different favorites. The one that seems to stand out the most was the reveal of the Attack Titan’s ability, beating almost every other answer by double digits. Other favorites include Eren reliving the famous childhood scene with Mikasa, the significance of the royal kiss, and Eren breaking free of the PATHS chains. Interestingly, “You haven’t gotten to the part where I eat our old man yet,” and Grisha telling Zeke to stop Eren had a nearly identical number of responses, with a difference of only 2.

I'd choose not have any time travel shenanigans in this franchise if I was asked for an opinion beforehand, but it has been executed really well.

The real question is: could Zeke or Grisha feel the hug?

i want to hug mikasa

  WHAT IS “THE SIGHT” (FAN TRANSLATION "THE SCENERY" ) THAT EREN SEES FONDLY? 1,646 Responses

Oof. The majority (37.2%) believe “the sight” Eren sees fondly is the trampled burning earth, post -rumbling. “His friends living freely”(16.2%)  was the second option followed by “The child from the final panel” (13.5%) in third.

"Something beyond that hell..."

Eren saw his own death. His death is somehow going to be the set up for a peaceful future. That’s why Grisha was so upset. His *actual* death is going to be gruesome af. Definitely more gruesome than getting his head blown awff.

I do not understand Eren at all, so I won't even try to give an answer to this

I think it is possibly a ruse since I am still thinking he has some plan concerning Founder Ymir. I actually still believe VERY strongly that Eren is obviously aiming a future where he can save many. But... For the sake of answering this question shortly: not too sure atm on the ‘fixed’ sight, but I think it’s possible he is seeing a ‘way’ for the Titan curse to finally end. I think every shifter, including Armin, will die still tbh. :P

The rumbling scene we saw in chapter 106, when Eren was smiling

The Walls destroyed and the colossus titans inside freed and marching, but it doesn't necessarly end with world scale rumbling.

I know it may not be moral, and maybe it's not even going to happen, but i REALLY hope "that sight" is the world-scale rumbling actually happening.

Grisha knew about the rumbling, and I don't think that happening nearly as horrified as he looked. My first theory was Eren was going to end the ability of Eldians being able to transform into titans, now I believe he wants the rest of the world to become titans.

The fact of being able to tell to the child of the latest panel "You're free now", we all know that freedom is Eren's weak spot

he saw a jo jo reference

  HOW DO YOU VIEW GRISHA’S UNWILLINGNESS TO KILL CHILDREN? 1,673 Responses

SnK is relatively (in?)famous for its "gray morality" takes. It has been pretty consistent that you probably shouldn't kill children though, and Grisha seems to agree. 41% of you guys admire him for at least temporarily rethinking his plan to kill the Reiss children. 52.5% of you don’t fault him for hesitating, but understand that it was ultimately necessary to achieve the end goal, and 6.5% of you think it was weak given the circumstances.

Seeing Grisha how he talks about not being able to kill kids since he's a doctor and then seeing said kids cheering on their sis to kill him was :((((

Grisha has moved from "ugh, I despise him" to "guess he's slightly better than Rod Reiss?"

  WE HAVEN’T SEEN EREN RECEIVE ANY FUTURE MEMORIES, AND HE'S VERY CERTAIN THAT HE'S NEVER BEEN CONTROLLED BY ANYONE ELSE. DOES THIS MEAN THAT EREN IS THE LAST ATTACK TITAN? 1,668 Responses

Just over 70 percent of you think that Eren is the last holder of the Attack Titan; that’s pretty cut and dry! The next largest group was ‘I don’t know’ at just over 21 percent, with most other responses negligible. It seems that most readers therefore think that, one way or another, the Attack Titan’s path ends with the Eren’s story.

Eren is the Attack Titan. Period.

He's the first and the last.

I think it's just possible that Eren is the only one who is able to have complete control over the Attack Titans abilities. It is mentioned in this chapter that the previous holders of the Attack Titan didn't have full control over it...

What if a more future attack titan manipulated Eren so that he cannot see future memories

I think it's likely, but something Kruger says prevents me from being positive. In chapter 89 "If you want to save them all; Mikasa, Armin and the others; carry out your mission to the end." This could be a message from Eren to Eren, from Eren to Grisha, or from someone unknown to Eren.

  IN CHAPTER 1, DID GRISHA SEE CURRENT EREN WHEN TALKING ABOUT THE BASEMENT? 1,673 Responses

For all these years, we thought  Grisha was just being rude - not even looking at Eren as he promised to show him the basement. Finally, an alternative explanation! 81.5% of us choose to believe that Grisha was looking at Eren - just not the smol Eren of Chapter 1.

  WHEN ZEKE AND EREN BREAK CONTACT, EREN MENTIONS ZEKE NOT YET SEEING THE NIGHT HE ATE HIS FATHER. IS THIS SIGNIFICANT? 1,677 Responses

As much as we've learned about what's driving Eren this chapter, he's still sketchy enough to raise some questions. 59% of you guys think he still has more information to share with Zeke, and by proxy, with us, about the memory of the night he ate Grisha. ~28% think he was just mocking Zeke and the fresh wounds of his reunion with Grisha, and about 12% aren't sure.

Grisha received more memories of Eren's plan, and gave the Attack Titan willingly

Maybe...? Maybe there's something else Grisha tells Eren while injecting him. Something other than the words we've already seen.

It felt like Eren was mocking Zeke, almost as if Zeke bailed out of the memory at a convenient point where he and his dad reconcile to the point seeing the latter's death to Pure Titan Eren later on could have hit him hard.

Oh lawd

  THE ATTACK TITAN’S ABILITY REVEALED! WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS TWIST? 1,665 Responses

Despite some initial confusion, nearly two thirds of the fandom (72.6%) are delighted with the Attack Titan’s ability to see the memories of future. However, while not an option on the poll, a significant number of write-ins believe that Grisha was wrong and this isn’t a typical Attack Titan ability at all, but rather the result of Eren entering the PATHS realm.

Totally supported this! As Time-Loop Conspirist! xD

AoT shouldn't be a story with time travel (memory transfer is still time travel in my book)

But I don't think it is the Attack Titan's ability at all?? That is just Grisha's conclusion from his very limited experiences. But we can actually see in this chapter that his conclusion is not true when considering the larger context. The only one who can show people the future is Eren while in possesion of the Founding Titan being in PATHS realm while touching another shifter with royal blood. That are very specific conditions to be met. Without them there is no future memory shenanigans. So while it seems like being able to get glimpses of the future is the ability of the Attack Titan to Grisha, it is only an ability of Eren's Foundig Titan under very strict circumstances. I think any other titan shifter could pull of the future memory thing as well given the right circumstances.  

Calling it an asspull means you're a speedreader, Kruger mentioned Mikasa and Armin by name years before they were born, it gave us a hint at the Attack Titan's power without telling us directly

Grisha misinterpreted this. He's wrong.

Didn't feel like a twist since we already knew since Kruger that it was possible to see into the future. It was just confirmation.

I just hope Isayama develops this time-thing concept a little more, and for it not to be a kind of fix-all-the-plot-holes narrative magic trick.

It's cool but it still made me roll my eyes so hard you could hear it

So if the founder cant do that, does that make the attack titan the strongest there is ?

  EREN LOST HIS THUMB WHEN HE BROKE FREE FROM THE CHAINS TO STOP SAND YMIR. IS IT IMPORTANT THAT HE LOST HIS THUMB, OR JUST THAT HE BROKE FREE? 1,671 Responses

A majority of you (59.6%) think that Eren’s thumb being lost is merely to show how he managed to break free from the chains, and has no deeper meaning. However, almost a quarter of respondents believe that Eren losing his preferred method of shifting is significant going forward (perhaps indicating he will lose his titan powers in the future if not necessarily his life?) Some of you even brought up that it might be significant that this happened in the Paths dimension itself.

I only noticed the thumb when taking this poll.

It’s foreshadowing for sure, lots of focus on that panel. The literal cost for his freedom from shackles was his preferred method of transforming. We can’t tell yet, but Eren lost his thumb in paths land. As far as we know no one has been injured in this place. It could be permanent. Also worth noting that he’s about to touch Ymir with a bloody hand... blood, sins of the past... there’s something there

It’s only important that he broke free of the chains

It’s to show how heavy those chains were. That, or to show that Eren has literally the pain tolerance of the one guy who got stuck in a canyon and sawed off his arm.

Eren losing his thumb is very important, it happened in the paths dimension.

  IF YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT, WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEANS? 1,463 Responses

Building on the last question, we asked those of you who think Eren’s loss of his thumb important to say why. 57.8% of you think it was an important display of his determination. However, the point was brought up by some of you that the Devil as drawn in the manga and anime only has four digits on his hand!

He can no longer show approval

Grisha stabbed himself in the right hand, the one that led Faye to her death. And now, Eren's left thumb is chopped off, the classical symbol of his ability to lead humanity to salvation/destruction. It might not have any deeper narrative impact than just reminding the reader these Jaegers are at fault for whatever the outcome is, shaped by their own hand.

The devil depicted in the book is shown with only 4 fingers.

Is it too late to say I'm just in this for the fight scenes?

Because we haven't had a gratuitous moment in over five pages.

  RATE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT: AT THIS POINT IN THE STORY, EREN IS A VILLAIN. 1,673 Responses

Another point on that gray morality, how many of you think Eren is a villain at this point in the story? 5.5% of you strongly agreed with that idea, 15.2% agreed, but a little less, and 37.2% were neutral. On the other hand, 24.3% disagreed, and 17.8% look at the aforementioned 24.3% disagreers and say, “I’m you, but stronger.”

  IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ONLY ONE OPTION, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY EREN’S MAIN MOTIVATION IS? 1,662 Responses

Just over three quarters of you (76%) believe Eren’s main motivation is still Freedom; the alpha and omega of the manga, his driving force as much now as it ever was. Just over 17% of you think that Eren’s main motivation is his friends, a shockingly low number, unless many of you believe Freedom for himself and for his friends is one and the same. Very small numbers of you believe that he is motivated by an external force, such as the will of a Titan, or his country.

I wish Eren showed Zeke the pain the Warriors suffered due to their lack of freedom.

Does Historia fall under friends for Erens motivation?

You can't chain freedom

Eren’s about to have a heated freedom fighter moment and destroy the whole world

I think Eren kind of knows that he is doing a bad thing. We just have to look his eyes during  the Reiss attack to see that he knows he is taking a big risk. But I am sure he does that for his people and his freedom.

  ON A SCALE OF 1 TO HANNIBAL LECTOR, HOW MUCH OF A PSYCHOPATH IS EREN? 1,672 Responses

We got some bombshells this chapter about Eren. Some answered questions, some raised them. Of the 1,672 responses, 78.5% of you, when factoring in this new information, rated Eren Jaeger a 3 or higher on the Psychopath Scale™, with 4 being the most popular rating. 12.4% of you rated him a 2, and 9% rated him a 1.

  REGARDLESS OF HIS MORALITY, HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE EREN JAEGER ANYWAY? 1,672 Responses

Regardless of any perceived psychopathy, about 56% of you guys still dedicate your hearts to Eren Jaeger. 21.5% of you dedicate like, 80% of your heart to him. ~14% rated their love at a 3, 3.9% rated it a 2, and 5.6% rated it a 1.

  DO YOU THINK ISAYAMA'S "EVIL" PORTRAYAL OF EREN IS A RUSE? 1,654 Responses

We are clearly a fandom divided with almost an equal number of yes’s and no’s. The remainder of the fandom is unwilling to commit but holding out hope. This wasn’t the only three-way split on the poll. The question “Does the ends justify the means?” has a similar result. Maybe there’s a connection.

The thing I love about attack on Titan is that there is no good and evil. There’s more nuance to the characters’ motivations and actions. Eren is not evil. He just is. His actions may be viewed as evil by those adversely affected by him, but I don’t think Isayama is portraying him as evil or as an antagonist. He just is. And I’m looking forward to seeing what it is exactly that he’s fighting so hard for.

Even so after what Eren did to Grisha, of how he persuaded him to remind him his hatred, plus this "EVIL" dye of his persona, I want to believe that this is his only option, it's the sacrifice that is worth paying if that means making reality " that scenario." And it is evident seeing his expression that he does not enjoy doing this at all.

Zeke and Eren are supposed to appear as an angel and a demon on each of Grisha’s shoulders, but neither is fully evil or good, so I’m not sure where Isayama is going with this.

This fandom has been in constant denial about Eren character direction, the reaction to this chapter is another show of that. I cannot wait to see what mental gymnastics they do to justify genocide once the full Rumbling Is confirmed as Eren plan.

If eren indeed become the final antagonist and plans on mass murder/ending the world.... REINER HELOS BRAUN, PLEASE SAVE US ALL.

  ARE YOU HAPPY ZEKE AND GRISHA RECONCILED? 1,671 Responses

Whether or not you like Grisha and/or Zeke, most of us (63.5%) thought the moment the two of them shared this chapter was beautiful. 23.1% are hesitant to jump to conclusions however, and think it is too soon to be certain of the authenticity of this reconciliation.

Grisha's feelings were unambiguously genuine, but it wasn't reconciliation he sought. As for Zeke, I'd say his current full opinion of Grisha remains to be seen, likely even by Zeke himself.

I actually teared up omg they deserve it

I know, I'm supposed to feel good about that moment and probably pity Zeke, but I just don't have it in me to sympathize with a person working hard to euthanize a whole race of people, tragic backstory or not. I do, however, sympathize with Grisha. Constantly struggling with his knowledge of the outside world and the past, struggling to bring his mission to an end because the greater good doesn't seem so great when you have to kill innocent children for it, etc. I'm happy he got some closure with Zeke at least, even if it was just in PATHS realm.

It's nice this moment happened but it still does not erase what horrible things grisha did to zeke as a father

It's nice to see Grisha has redeeming qualities and to see Zeke making a slip of the tongue and calling him dad. I loved how Zeke contrasted with Eren in comparison to Grisha.

Meh. Zeke got closure with his father, fuckin yay. -_-

  HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ELEMENT OF TIME TRAVEL? 1,669 Responses

It’s finally confirmed! Almost half of the fandom (48.7%) can get behind Isayama throwing time travel into the mix since he’s been dropping hints since chapter one.  25% of respondents straight up love it, and 9.3% say the concept is growing on them.

Confused, but I'm loving the direction of the story. I was hoping there'd be a sci-fi element to the story, and it seems like we're starting to get it.

I do like the time travel concept but it doesn't fit in SnK universe, imho.

If AoT world indeed works in predetermined fashion it nullifies element of freewill for me. And it kinda cheapens the struggle of characters which is sad. Like, now it's all as if Eren is just following sophisticated instruction. Does that all matter? I hope so.

I'm worried about it but I hope Yams can pull it off amazingly

I don't know how people could think that the Attack Titan's ability came out of nowhere, it has been foreshadowed since literally the start and time loop theories have been going around for years. Not just based on the first few panels either but on Eren instinctively knowing how to use the power, and when Kruger got memories from the future it was pretty much confirmed.

Isn't it more like "mind travel" at this stage?

its interesting but i dont think its as complex or crazy as its made out to be

I really didn't like the time travel aspect as it leads to a paradox. I get that it was foreshadowed, but I just wish it had been handled better. Time travel is easy mess up, and these recent chapters has given me doubts on the story's direction.

Ouch. Please. How??? Why?? I still don’t get it.

Seems to have been woven into the story incredibly well and I do not really see it has time travel.  Instead it seems to be that the memories of certain titans are linked and can trancend time.

  ARE OG YMIR'S EYES CLOSED, OR ARE THEY OPEN BUT BLANK? 1,666 Responses

This chapter provided us with a better look at OG Ymir, but even that wasn’t enough to settle the issue of her eyes. While half the fandom believes they are closed, the other half isn’t so sure, selecting the “Open and blank” or “I’m not sure” options.

  TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS? 1,649 Responses

The fandom is fairly evenly split three ways here on the morality question.  Slightly more than a third (34.8%) say that sometimes things can be taken Too Far and there are some lines that should not be crossed.  The remainder of the fandom was divided, with 31% believing that any action can be justified if the outcome is favorable, and 31% being unsure on this one.  There were a ton of write-ins on this one:

Any outcome is justified if you win

Since Isayama introduced us to very interesting topic of time as not a progression of events, but as a big ball of things happening all at the same moment, I think that gives us a cue to think about the artificiality of the idea that some things are just means while others are just ends, and that they are unrelated. Means and outcomes are an item, I don't think it's posible to get a good outcome from cruel means.  

In real life: it depends. Here, reading a fictional story: anything goes. You guys take it this too seriously.

I lean pretty heavy into consequentialism, so I do believe in the ends justifying the means, but you also have to be careful that the means don't make you lose sight of the end. Having all the information you possibly can regarding how to reach said end is vital. Eren's ends are possibly noble, but he's working with incomplete information and could easily end up causing something terrible because of this, which is what I think will happen.

*Erwin has entered the chat*

Regardless of my own personal opinions. I do enjoy reading about characters who will do anything to get to their desired “end”

It's completely unethical to kill humans for a 'better future'. That's what Thanos and Daenarys did and they both were villains. It keeps the story spicy but I will could never write off what Eren did, even if he saves everyone in the end.

If it benefits Paradis then yes. If it benefits Marley, absofuckinlutely not

I believe in the end justify the means if it involves saving a lot of people. Not as a personal use, just like Eren is doing.

Depends on the ends and depends on the means. Context matters.

Eh I don’t know. A favourable outcome is subjective and the cost of getting there is also subjective. If I have lines I think should ever be crossed, then why shouldn’t they be crossed? What if my perspective changes afterwards? No one knows how things will turn out in the end.

"No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise."

  WHO DO YOU HOPE WINS THIS COSMIC BATTLE? 1,749 Responses

Morally questionable or not - most respondents (66.6%) want Eren to be successful and carry out his plan. In contrast, only 2.3% want Zeke’s plan to come to fruition. Pretty much everyone else wants both of these problematic brothers to be stopped.

A meteor. Just put them all out of their misery.

Both of them are awful so I hope everybody will join hands and stop them. This way the other characters will receive the spotlights they deserve as well. After all this series shouldn't revolve only around the Yeager bros for god sake. I'm sick of their shit.

Everything is already preordained, Erens plan will come to light. Its just interesting to see how it unfolds.

I hope someone (my boy Reiner needs his redemption, please) stops them both

I just want to know how the story will end. I don't want to have any expectations.

I think Armin will come into play somehow. He was brought back for a reason and that Eren was right when he said Armin would be the saviour of humanity.

I want Eren to just “Win”!⚡️ (But also say sorry in some way to people he has hurt >:()

I want to see eren carry out his plan BUT not because I’m rooting for him just because I have no idea what he’s trying to do now and im confused

I'm still a slave because of my ignorance so I can't make that choice for myself yet.

  WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,764 Responses

Once you got PATHS™, you never go back - or at least that’s how almost half of respondents felt. Levi and Hange are certainly missed though, almost a quarter of respondents are hoping to see them next chapter.

Each chapter I get more and more confused by what's going on i'm so confused pls isayama i beg you just leave us on a cliffhanger for like 3 chapters and take us to levi and hange at least that wouldnt have confusing plot points.

MOAR P A T H S and Annie plz

It's about fith or sixth time I'm choosing "levi and hange" when questioned what I'm hoping to see next chapter. Someone go tell Isayama...

Too tired of the Yeager Bros. Wanting my Levi and Hange back.

I *would* like to see what happens when Eren catches OG Ymir, but next chapter, can we please cut away to all of the above?

I hope we get to see Ymir's memories in the next chapter, at least the memory related to where it all started

PATHSland is great, but the travels through Grisha's memories were getting a bit boring. I'm glad we're back in current PATHSland and am excited to see what happens with Eren and Ymir next chapter.

Ugh I just really REALLY want to see Historia after these Path dimension shenanigans. Non-pregnant Historia. Please.

Memories of Ymir the Founder first and foremost. Not holding my breath for a Historia cliffhanger but it would be nice too.

(Guys, where is the Floch option, I miss him)

  WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,607 Responses

While Reddit continues to make up the majority of our respondents, the Attack on Titan fandom is everywhere. Wherever you choose to discuss the series, we appreciate your support of this chapter poll!

Add an option for discussing the series on Snapchat. We have been discussing on snap since chapter 91

  ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER? 250 Responses

Eren was his daddy's daddy

It has come to my attention that I am too stupid for this manga

Gotta love the irony : Zeke wanting to save eren from grisha's brainwashing while in fact grisha's been lowkey brainwashed by Eren the whole time. Also zeke turning out to be Dad's favourite, who would have thought ? And remember when Eren wanted to die because he learned that his dad slaughtered the Reiss family ? Yeah, didn't age well...

Probabaly one of the better chapters. Much explanation and dialog. Less Titan action and SC flying around. Just how I like it.

Thank fuck Isayama has the IQ of Einstein hopped up on speed, any lesser writer would've fucked up the time travel aspect.

So Grisha is asking his older son, who murdered maaaaany people for the sake of his terrible plan, to stop his younger son from executing his terrible plan and murder more people? The Jeagers are all psychopaths.

Having mixed thoughts about all of this. I've been getting more and more skeptical at each chapter about the direction of this whole arc, and I wonder how Isayama will wrap up all of this in a satisfying manner under a year.

shit wus hapening

Gimme rumbling pls.

I think the roller coaster has just begun

Eren told Isayama to make Reiner suffer

i am patiently waiting for isayama to finish the series and THEN comment whether it was bad writing or not. I just hope he is not writing himself into a corner and pull a GoT ending....

I hate both Zeke and Eren’s plans ( if Eren’s plan truly is the rumbling) . However, if I had to chose one to carry out I’d probably go with Zeke’s. Euthanasia is terrible but if Eren’s plan truly is the rumbling then that would kill almost everyone. At least with Zeke’s plan less people will die. Killing off one race is better than killing off almost everyone.

Eren Kruger telling Grisha that Mikasa and Armin need to be saved despite the fact neither were born at the time makes perfect sense now: it was Kruger's Attack Titan powers kicking in where he received a future vision of when Grisha would pass the Attack Titan to his son. That was the earliest foreshadow I was able to pinpoint regarding the Attack Titan twist, but the title "To you, 2000 years in the future," seems to also tie into this as well since it addresses someone in the future, as if someone from long ago is talking to someone from the future (a future Attack Titan user--most likely Eren)!

this chapter is mind blowing. the moment where grisha reconciled with zeke, i wonder if eren purposely made it to save his father from regret before died and to save his brother from his dead father's shadow.

Since the next chapter is the final chapter of the volume I feel like we will get the conclusion of the path realm arc thingie, it wouldn't make sense if they were going to do a levi chapter at the last chapter of the volume

So far, chapter 50 is still my favorite anniversary chapter. I feel like the actual climax of the story, which is possibly what we heard in the ending audio, will be the chapter that's most likely to be able to top that. I genuinely enjoyed this chapter as well, but I was expecting a bit more out of it than what we got considering this chapter marked the 10th anniversary of the manga's serialization. Regardless of that, this chapter did offer very important revelations that I'm excited to see play out in future chapters.

Look, I just want Eldians of both Paradis and Liberio live freely and happily and I don't want the entire world to be destroyed. Eren wants the first part (at least for Paradis) and Zeke wants the second. Armin save us!

I don’t see why so many fans are surprised about Eren’s behavior. He was 9 when he killed two men willingly. He’s always so full of hate during some of his titan fights. That boy will always prioritize what he personally believes is right in the moment, even if it ruins his friendships. He does care a lot, which is why he’s so passionate about his actions, & that’s dangerous.

I really liked the visuals, I feel like Issayama is having a lot of fun drawing these paths chapters.

The Reiss kids actively wanted Frieda to kill Grisha so why was he even conflicted about killing them, smh

We have Three-eyed raven time travel magic now, won’t be surprised to see Greenseers, Skinchangers or dragons in the future.

I tear up every chapter recently man. every time we revisit old memories, something is revealed or people talk about their dreams. It all just makes me realize how much time has passed and how we’re so close to the end. Fantastic 10th anniversary chapter and a fitting reveal of the Attack Titan’s power. It really highlights how while this is Eren/Grisha’s story, but really it’s the Attack Titan’s. They’re connected through that Titan but simply because of that Titan this entire history can be made. And that’s why the work’s title is also the name of the one thing that drives this story, much like itself, forward. 進撃の巨人

Zeke’s PowerPoint presentation was completely hijacked. There is no objective truth regarding heroes and villains. However, it remains unclear whether what Eren wants is ideal for everyone, eldians or just the people Who aren’t important people to him. I still think the rumbling is bogus. It’s been talked about way too much, if it were to happen where’s the shock? Also it screws everyone over because of how fire tornadoes work.  

I wish Eren would teach me 9D chess

You think they have sour cream in paths? (PT:: We missed you!)

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Election Day isn’t one day anymore. The 2020 election is shaping up to be a whole “election month” — or even election months, depending how things go.

Instead of Americans going to the polls en masse on Nov. 3, many voters will probably make their decisions and cast their ballots over the course of October. And instead of learning who won on election night, we’ll likely have to wait days — or in some states, weeks — for full results, as the counting of mail ballots proceeds at a much slower pace than we are accustomed to.

The coronavirus pandemic is responsible for this: Concerns over public health have prompted dozens of states to change their election laws and procedures to make it easier to vote before Election Day. Not every state has followed suit, but the changes have been pretty sweeping so far:

Four places (California, Nevada, Vermont and Washington, D.C.) are mailing ballots to all voters, joining the five states (Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington) that already did that before the pandemic. Montana is also giving individual counties the option to mail ballots to voters.

Twelve states (Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming) decided to mail absentee-ballot applications to all or most voters, joining Ohio, which has done so in every general election since 2012.

Eight states (Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire and West Virginia) have loosened their requirement that voters give a reason to vote absentee so anyone can request a ballot.

Six states (California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada and New York) have extended the deadline for mail ballots to be sent or received.

Five states (Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Rhode Island) have totally or partially eased requirements that mail ballot envelopes be notarized or signed by a witness.

Three states (Georgia, Michigan and New York) are building or have launched a portal to allow voters to request absentee ballots online.

Two states (Massachusetts and Texas) are providing more days of early voting.

It’s dizzying enough to keep up with all of the changes and deadlines in your state — let alone across the entire nation. So FiveThirtyEight is doing it for you. Today we’re proud to unveil our new state-by-state guide on how to vote in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., which not only aggregates these changes by state and category but is also a compendium of election laws that existed before the pandemic even started.

First and foremost, this is a public service project meant to help voters navigate the latest voting rules in their state. Maybe you feel more comfortable voting by mail this year, but you’re not sure how; we’ll tell you how to request an absentee ballot (and mail it back in time to count). Maybe you prefer voting in person; we’ve got info on whether polling places will be open as usual and when you might be able to vote early. Maybe you’re not even registered yet; we’ve got all you need to know about joining the rolls.

And since states aren’t done making changes, neither are we: We’ve highlighted aspects of election administration that are still in flux in the “What we’re watching” section for relevant states, and we’ll keep the guide up to date with further revisions to each state’s voting process — right up until Nov. 3. We’ve made every effort to ensure the guide is accurate, but it must be said: Always double-check this information with your local election official before acting upon it. Election laws in the age of COVID-19 are moving targets, and certain voters — like those living overseas or in the armed forces — may be subject to special rules. Always follow directions from official sources, like those on your absentee-ballot envelope, over ours. If you ever see something you think is wrong or needs to be updated, please shoot us an email.

We also created the guide in part to get a holistic sense for how different the 2020 election might look. That includes how different it might look from past elections, and also how different the 2020 election might look in one state versus another. Thanks to the U.S.’s decentralized election system, each state is responding to the pandemic in different ways — as is clear from the map at the top of the guide, which illustrates which states have the most permissive mail-voting laws and which have the most restrictive. For instance, as of the publication of this article, only eight states are not planning to allow all voters to vote absentee. And as you can see in our map, they are, by and large, Southern states with Republican-controlled legislatures. (New York is a notable exception.)

We’re also using this guide to help us anticipate which states might encounter problems during election month — either because they failed to adapt their election procedures to the pandemic, or because they made a big change that they are not up to the task of implementing. One very real possibility is that states that are mailing ballots, or even applications for mail-in ballots, to every voter for the first time overwhelm the election workers tasked with processing those materials. In primary elections over the last few months, states that rapidly expanded mail voting often had trouble delivering ballots to voters on time.

Another common problem in primaries has been long lines (sometimes as long as seven hours!) to vote in person in states that opened fewer polling places. This is not usually a deliberate change; rather, jurisdictions have been forced to consolidate polling places because so many poll workers — who tend to be older and thus at higher risk from the coronavirus — have opted out. Accordingly, we don’t yet know much about what in-person voting access will look like on Nov. 3; as far as we’ve been able to ascertain, only Maryland, Montana, North Dakota and Washington, D.C., have announced plans to offer fewer in-person polling places on Election Day itself. (However, two states — California and Nevada — have passed new rules about polling-place consolidation in an attempt to mitigate its ill effects.) But more will almost certainly join them, and given the potential it brings for Election Day chaos, we will add that information to the guide as it emerges.

Lastly, there’s a very real chance that we won’t know the winner of the election on election night, or even the day after. This is the other half of election month: the multiple weeks that it will probably take to count every vote. We will likely know the winner of the election before that, though, because some states will count much quicker than others — something else the guide can help with. In general, states that encourage voting by mail will likely be slower to count their votes, since mail-in ballots take longer to process than in-person votes: Their envelopes need to be opened, signatures need to be verified and special machines are often needed to count them.

In addition, a number of states only require ballots to be postmarked by Nov. 3. That means many valid ballots will still be in the mail on election night in those states, so it will be impossible for initial results there to be complete. This was only an issue in a handful of states (e.g., California, Utah, Washington) before 2020, because few people voted by mail in most states with postmark deadlines (e.g., Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina) — but that won’t be the case this year. And the list of slow-counting states will only grow if more states decide to switch to postmark deadlines in response to the pandemic or recent issues with slow postal service.

And with the caveat that a thorough count is better than a fast one, there is a particular sense of urgency that this election be resolved quickly to avoid claims that the election is illegitimate. President Trump has already decried mail ballots as fraudulent and hinted he will not concede the election, and polls show that Americans are already losing faith in the electoral process.

The spread of vote by mail, missing ballots, in-person voting access, delayed results — these are just some of the issues FiveThirtyEight will be using the guide to track over the next three months. We invite you to do so as well. But if nothing else, make a plan to vote today.

[writeanapocalae]

Surprise it’s a tutorial!

Because @tenacious-scripturient​ and @agnodice-writes​ asked for help making characters earlier and it just so happened that I need to design a character RIGHT NOW I thought I’d do a bit of a tutorial while I do it? I’ve never done something like this so I hope it works. 

1) Inspiration - Last night I watched the original Charlie’s Angels and I remembered my absolute love for the Creepy Thin Man. Since I am always making more evil men and my story needs an evil man I’m taking some of the aspects of that character for my own. I’m going to take the sharp look and the nonverbal characteristics while dumping the hair pulling, screaming, and smoking. 

You can take your inspiration from just a look, from an art piece, from someone you know, or from other characters you have. If you have a film character that can be helpful to draw you back to the basics if you ever get away from them. You can also combine multiple inspirations and make them one.

2) Image- This part is so much fun for me and I’m hoping that it is for others too! I personally draw my characters but creating some imagery for your character can be done through picrew, pinterest (hiss), faceclaims, or video game character creations! While I draw my character I try to imagine things about them. Here’s a 3 minute sketch of my character

His face is a lot softer than the inspiration, he’s got a kinder personality and is far more patient. He has terrible posture, which lets me know how he sits and stands and gives me a hint as to how to write his idle motions. He has this loose sort of Bluth hair and he’s not wearing a full suit like the other characters in the story are, so he’s a lot more casual than they are. He’s wearing a turtleneck so there may be something that he’s hiding about his throat or he just knows he looks good in them. If your character has scars or tattoos or anything like that, this could be a good step to figure out where they came from. I definitely find this step the most useful for coming up with backstories and the like. 

(A secret step to this that I find helpful is having a friend who you know will find the character super hot. Instant validation)

Things to keep in mind

the world - there are blogs and pinterest folders and all sorts of things based off of aesthetics! If you’re writing a western, you should keep an eye on western blogs! If you’re writing fantasy, keep an eye on @armthearmour​ and blogs of that ilk! Having a character that greatly clashes with the setting can work but it has to be shown as an oddity or you’re writing about space travel or something. 

the story - If you’re writing an action/adventure story, having your character in a dress and heels doesn’t really make sense. Writing a story about the rise and fall of corporate life could be awkward if your lead always wears baggy lounge wear. Keep in mind what they’re going to be doing and the pros and cons of their outfitting for the setting. 

the character’s aesthetics - What is your character like and what sort of things do they carry with them? Do they wear clothes that they should probably get in trouble for? Are they trying to distract or bring attention to something? Do they always wear the same color? Is there something sentimental that they always have with them? 

the character’s job - My personal aesthetic does not pair well with my work uniform but I understand the importance of my work clothes (sometimes). The fact that I wear a button up, a name tag, and nice jeans makes it easier for customers to recognize me as an employee. Can I sneak some jewelry and as many skulls as possible into there? Not always. A character may not like what they have to wear, but that can tell us a lot about them and can come into play if they are working in the story. 

3) Names - There are a lot of different ways to go about naming your characters.There are a million baby names sites and there’s also generators. Usually, by this point of the character creation I have an idea as to what I want their name to be, just from learning about them, but I often make my names up instead of going with realistic ones. If you’re making up names though, you have to make up everyone’s names, or most of them, otherwise it will be jarring every time your character’s name is said and can create a “spot the protagonist” situation. Since my character is a hitman, he needs both a name and a code name. Luckily the code name was super easy since all of the other guards that he’s blending with have animal code names so he became Jackal. 

Remember that friend that thinks our character is hot? They can be super useful here. Come up with a couple names, for this guy I’m thinking.... Jack (duh), Jacopo, Raffaele, or Giorgio. And just like that he became Italian! That’s a new development! For the main character of the story Jackal is from I ran a poll on twitter and 15 out of 16 people voted for Anson, so that’s why I went with that for the main characters name!

4) Worksheets - I haven’t seen people use worksheets for their characters but when I was new to writing I filled out worksheets for my characters obsessively. I still do now, I guess, but without the actual form. They make you think of all these little details for your character, including their backstory! A worksheet can also be useful as a quick reference guide for your characters in the middle of the story if you forget the name of a spouse or of some location they’ve been. Here are a few worksheets to fill out if you find that useful! epiguide | novel software | freelance writing

5) Backstory - For this I would recommend working backwards. For Jackal here, I know that he’s a hitman, he’s nonverbal, he is terribly soft but that’s all hidden away, and he’s gay (of course). So I have to explain how he came to be these things or how he came to realize them. Most hitmen take on the job for economic reasons, so I have to figure out what the factors were for that. I’m going to go with a family member being terribly sick with no hope of recovery with the families current finances, which also explains his secret softness. He will kill, it’s business, he doesn’t see his targets as people as such since that will make it hard to complete a contract, but all of his money is going to the hospital and, if he has to deal with someone in a similar situation it may affect him differently. He’s nonverbal because (just researched this and I’m sorry if I’m wrong) he suffered some brain damage before he was born which affects his breathing. This leads to my decision that this damage occurred when his mother came down with the disease aforementioned and now I know that there are breathing problems involved with this form of nonverbalism which may come into play in the story. His being gay? Well, I don’t need to figure out how that came to be since that’s not how being gay works, but he probably realized that he was gay while on a job, falling, not for a target, but for an employer. And just like that I have a slightly cliche but still decent start to a backstory!

6) Asks - ask games, talking about your characters, and just open conversation can help you come up with minor details about your character. Yesterday I was asked what kind of candy my characters like and how they feel about Christmas in November. Will my characters celebrate Christmas in story or eat candy? Probably not but having to come up on the spot with an answer for these questions still taught me things about the characters. I learned that Anson loves nostalgia and has no interest in decorating for himself. And I learned that Jackal has very good control over his sugar intake, is more fond of bitter flavors, and is annoyed by the inequality of America’s Christian obsession. These are aspects of personality and those will effect the story more than what the actual answer to the question was will.

That’s a lot longer than intended! Hopefully me walking through my process for creating this character will be helpful for you! I know I know a lot more about this guy than I did before I started!

[can-youimagine]

The Selection Chapter 2

Summary: You are Manhattan royalty, making your marriage one people want to watch. What happens when the Avengers are your suitors?

Chapter TW: female reader, mention of sex, swearing

Chapter Word Count: 1406

A/N: I’m posting this a bit early because based on the poll the first date should be with Carol but this may change that. Basically, I’m torn between two options and I need help 

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Vote on what happens next!

You nervously wring your hands as you wait for everyone to show up. Unlike first impressions, you had no idea who would come in when. You had absolutely no way to prepare for this.

Your best friend laughs at you. “They aren’t supposed to be here for half an hour. What are you stressing about?”

“How am I supposed to pick one of them?”

“You aren’t expected to pick anyone today. Or even this week. Hell, if you want to throw this all away and marry a random construction worker, that’d be fine too.”

“Gina. You know I can’t do that.”

“Not yet anyway. If all these people turn out to be assholes, then you can argue that it would look great for your family is you lowered yourself down to an unknown commoner, and then you could marry your true love.”

“You know, I’ve never even considered that I could find love. I was just hoping for like. Or even tolerate.”

She grabs you by your shoulders. “(Y/N), you deserve so much more than that. You know you do. Besides, I’m sure you can love one of these people. Best of the best, right?”

“I guess.”

“There’s got to be at least one person you could see yourself with.”

You nod, smiling as you think back to their arrival. “There are a few I’d like to know better.”

Gina smiles widely. “There you go! Come on! Tell me about them.”

You shrug. “There’s not much to tell. I mean, I just met them.”

A dramatic sigh leaves her lips. “As your best friend, you are contractually obligated to tell about any person you want to have any sort of relationship with, even if it’s just sexual.”

“Gina!” you scold. “Now, I’m definitely not telling you.”

She pouts. “Fine. Whatever. I don’t care.” With crossed arms, she turns away from you, her bottom lip jutting out.

Before you have time to respond, one of the women from last night hesitantly opens the door. “I’m so sorry I’m early. I was just so worried about being late that I’m early.” She laughs nervously. “I can leave if you want.”

Gina looks between the two of you as you take the woman’s hand. “Of course not. Actually, I prefer you to be early. I should apologize. Gina and I were so busy chatting that we didn’t finish setting up.”

“I’d be happy to help.”

You open your mouth to tell her that you would love her help, but Gina has always been a faster talker than you. “So, who’s your friend?”

You glare at her. “Wanda. Wanda Maximoff. Why don’t you go make sure that the food’s ready?”

“I already checked five minu-” Gina protests.

“Gina. Check. Please.”

Finally taking the hint, she winks about you before leaving.

“I’m sorry about her.”

Wanda shakes her head. “No, no, it’s fine. She just cares about you.”

“A bit too much,” you mutter. “How was your first night?”

“It was very nice. Everyone has been so nice, even the other people here for you. I was surprised.”

You smile. “I’m glad. I hope it stays that way.”

“I promise to tell you if it doesn’t.”

You giggle, making her blush slightly. “Please do.” A moment of silence passes before you say, “I’m sorry we didn’t really get to talk last night.”

At the same time, she opens her mouth, words tumbling out quickly and uncertainly. “Did you kiss everyone last night?”

You stare at her. To say you weren’t surprised at her question would be a lie. Though, you should have expected it. “No.” You swallow, suddenly nervous. “Just you.”

“Why?” her voice is barely a whisper as she returns to being timid. 

How do you answer that? ‘Because you were so nervous I just wanted to comfort you.’ ‘Because you were so beautiful that I couldn’t stop myself.’ ‘Because I have no idea what will happen next and wanted that with you.’ or completely honestly?

“I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Her eyes widen. “I didn’t-”

“Hello again, Ms. (L/N),” a confident voice greets. 

You smile up at the woman. “Hello again, Captain Danvers. How was your night?”

She sits next to you. “Wonderful, thank you.”

You nod, your focus still on Wanda who has gone to busy herself with a floral arrangement. “You made quite the impression.”

“A good one, I hope,” she says.

“Wonderful, Captain.”

“Is there a reason you won’t use my name?”

You shake your head, with a smirk. “I didn’t know I could, Captain.”

“You certainly can, Ms. (L/N).” Her expression mimics yours.

“Then, I am just (Y/N), Carol.” 

Her smile softens once she hears her name. “Gorgeous.”

“Isn’t she?” a new voice calls from behind you. 

You turn back to him. “Hello, Loki. Did you have a good evening?”

“Of course. The room is much nicer than anything I’m used to.”

You raise your eyebrows. “I never would have known. You carry yourself like a prince.”

He laughs loudly. “I’m glad you think so.”

He sits down across from you as Thor comes into the room, which Loki takes as his cue to leave.

“I hope my brother didn’t trouble you too much.”

“Brother? I had no idea you two were related.”

“I hope that that doesn’t impact your decision.”

You shake your head. “Of course not.”

The two of you talk for a while about your families and how growing up in such an important family changed you before Natasha walks in. You make some excuse to Thor before rushing over to see her. 

“Ms. Romanoff,”  you call, coming up to her. “I don’t think we’ve properly met.”

“You know my name. And I know yours. Is that not the definition of a meeting?”

You groan internally. “I hope that we could get to know each other a little better, given our situation.”

“Take me on a date, and maybe we can do something about that.” She turns and walks away from you.

There was something about her that was so infatuating and completely infuriating about her that made you want to send her home and keep her as close as possible at the same time. 

Luckily, a few men walk in to demand your attention. Two of them are engrossed in conversation while the other two seem to want nothing more than to outdo each other. 

As Peter and Scott try to win your attention without giving up whatever they are arguing about. Wanting a much less stressful interaction, you go over to the other pair.

“Steve, Bucky,” you greet, giving each of them a quick hug. “How was your first night?”

They both respond that it was fine. The three of you stare at each other for a moment before Steve asks, “Are we late? I thought it said noon, but I could be wrong.”

You shake your head with a small smile. “No, no. You were right. Everyone just seemed to be here incredibly early.” With a small laugh, you change the subject. “Did you two know each other before this? You get along much better than anyone else.” 

“We’ve been friends forever,” Bucky answers. “It’s nice to go into this knowing someone.”

“I’d imagine so.”

You mill around the room, talking to everyone a little more and taking note of who got along and who didn’t, as you wait for the final suitor to arrive.

It isn’t until 12:30 that Tony Stark bursts into the room. 

“Always one to make an impression,” you remark, walking over to him.

He wraps an arm around you, pulling you close. “Gotta make sure you remember me.”

You untangle yourself. “I’m sure I will.” You make your way to the center of the room, standing on a chair before addressing the room. “I want to thank you all again for coming. I understand that this is not the easiest thing for you, but I hope that this will be worth it in the end. Today is not only a chance for me to get to know you but also it is a chance for you to get to know each other.” You look between the different groups of people. “My goal is to make this as enjoyable as possible, for everyone involved, so if you will please do your part to help me, I will be incredibly grateful.”

You step off and make your way back into the groups.

Let me know what you thought!

Taglist (click here if you want to be added): @divinediego @pinkgeek96 @misschiefs1996 @jezzula @jyanasia @fansanctuary @the-hufflepuff-hunter @leasly @fangirlwithasweettooth @livlynn24 @sunobare @song-chaerin @marvelgirl7 @thatgirlwholikesgirls @foreverlostgirll @doctor-howard-potts @skyella01 @gabrielsgoldengrace

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[chiseler]

Imagine Electing Pete

On September 12, 2019, during the Democratic Primary debate in Houston, Texas, something strange, even epiphanous occurred. At least for me. The current Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, one Pete Buttigieg, evidently (for this was by no means visible to the eye) fell into a trance-like state and began to channel a voice that was, oddly, not of the spirit world.

The voice was that of Disc Jockey Glenn Beck, and the words were from a 2009 Mission Statement that he had composed for some extraordinary thing he'd started called the 9/12 Movement; a kind of protest/support group for those citizens longing for the rare fragrance of unity and togetherness which intoxicated all of America, we were told, on September 12, 2001; just one day after that thing happened in Lower Manhattan. "We were not obsessed with Red States, Blue States or political parties, the color of your skin, or what religion you practiced. We were united as Americans, standing together to protect the greatest nation ever created. We want to get everyone thinking like it is September 12th, 2001 again." Beck continued. "On September 12th, and for a short time after that, we really promised ourselves that we would focus on the things that were important -- our family, our friends, the eternal principles that allowed America to become the world's beacon of freedom." Amen. I suppose. Of course, how formidable the words, and how entirely sincere (or not) the sentiment may have been -- one cannot, I suspect, locate much nostalgia for that moment beating in the hearts of this country's Muslim communities, ever since marked for harassment (and frequently far, far worse) at the hands of those basking 'neath freedom's beacon -- it seems to have been a uniquely durable one. Personally, I had completely forgotten that . . . anyone . . . had told ev'ry little star just how sweet they thought everything was on that day. What I remember most Is the kind of unusually animated daze people were walking around in. The American Imagination was in high style that day. All anybody could talk about was What Happens Next, with many of these people consumed with their own, homemade fantasies of national vengeance toward those responsible. Their hearts were full, and grim. The Mayor of South Bend, as I say, appears to remember things rather differently, and one cannot question it. Six years later -- the clear sky of American unity having, for the rest of us, clouded over once more -- Buttigieg would remain so enthralled by this singular hour in Our American Story that he would leave his two jobs (it was, yes, that kind of economy) as a consultant for McKinsey & Co., and as a Fellow at the Truman National Security Project. He would enlist, voluntarily, in the United States Navy, jumping into our ongoing war of military aggression against the country of Afghanistan with both feet for a period of fourteen months. He ran numbers and drove officers around. Not exactly Audie Murphy in 'To Hell and Back' . . . or Abbott & Costello in 'Buck Privates' for that matter (if he triple-tapped an elementary school or watched our drones wipe out a house party or two, he has not admitted to it) . . . but it provided this future Presidential candidate a chance to build character (and, naturally, his resume). So, unlike a professional grifter such as Glenn Beck, when Buttigieg waxes nostalgic for those days of unity, one doubts his sincerity at one's peril. Buttigieg, during the debate in Houston, stated "All day today, I’ve been thinking about Sept. 12, the way it felt when for a moment we came together as a country. Imagine if we had been able to sustain that unity. Imagine what would be possible right now with ideas that are bold enough to meet the challenges of our time, but big enough, as well, that they could unify the American people. That’s what presidential leadership can do. That’s what the presidency is for." He concluded, of course, with, "And that is why I’m asking for your vote." To someone like Buttigieg, September 12, 2001 is a day that, I'm certain, he wishes could have gone on forever. But whatever he wants people to think, it was a day when the entire country was crouching as one, it seemed, gazing at everyone around them in fear and outright bafflement; a day that our rulers could have done (and in some senses did do) anything they wanted with us, and we probably would have gone along with all of it because we didn't know what else there was to do; a day, in other words, when our empire was never more firmly in the grasp of those who own it. Despite the loftiness of his rhetoric on the debate stage -- a mode of high school valedictorian speech he is often given to -- Pete Buttigieg is, underneath it all, a born technocrat; a classic, Eisenhower-era Republican; a creature of our institutions. He is not Franklin Roosevelt (that Bolshevik). He does not aspire to lift a frightened nation out of its slough of despond and keep its people safe from Capitalism's consequences and depredations; or anything, by all evidence, more inspiring  the citizenry than the 'Shut Up and Shop' society finally urged upon us in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. He is only here to apply for a job to manage this empire of ours, nothing more. But I can't help feeling there's something quietly monstrous about his true, evident nostalgia for that time when unity was accessible to some Americans and not to others. I had my first inkling of this a couple months back when he had to get off the campaign trail for a day or two because the cops in South Bend had been for too long conducting themselves like Cossacks under Nicholas II, rampaging with too much impunity through that city's Black neighborhoods (safely separated from the more upper class College Town South Bend is known for being), finally dropping too many bodies with too little pretext. After pleading to the national press that he had essentially no control, no control at all, over the police in his city, and every poll showing that Black voters utterly despise him, he headed over to the part of town in question to inform the residents to please stay on the line, as it were; their questions and concerns were important to him. In full Damage Control mode, Pete Buttigieg read his statement through a bullhorn to a group of women, members of a grossly victimized community, all of whom had had enough and were giving their Mayor the earful his White ass deserved. And he stood before them, this diminutive block of American cheese in shirtsleeves, collar and tie; the guy who blankly tells you he's sorry, but you're being let go and there's nothing he can do about it; standing with a bullhorn in his hand and not a hint of emotion in his voice as he droned into the instrument to his city's Black community: "I'm not asking for your vote." Some people in this country, you see, are asked for their vote; others are not. Matters of race aside -- and not much good can be said on Buttigieg and that subject; which is not to suggest, I hasten to add, that the man is racist. With his background he's probably never had to think very much about race -- one thing was clear to me: He's a real calm customer, this guy; doesn't break a sweat. Everyone says so. Smart as a whip, too. You hear that one constantly from his supporters: swooning over his credentials, his evident intellect, his grasp of languages ("Norwegian! Can you believe it?!"). It all feeds into the overarching perception of his ability to handle crises with the right character of detachment. Our media adores him, largely for this reason; and why shouldn't they? He's perhaps the closest thing to a polar opposite in this race to the dread Donald Trump without his skin being at all darker. With Pete Buttigieg as President, I have been told, we won't have to think and worry so much about what's going on in the world, the way we do now. We won't be on pins and needles, waiting to see what the President of the United States does next. We can, at long last, relax again; get some sleep. He's got this. I can understand the enthusiasm for Buttigieg on the part of those who wish to see him elected President (there aren't too many of them, if polling has anything to say about it, but they do make themselves known). I even can find it in me to share it. To some extent, anyway. There is, after all, true intrinsic value in the election, should it happen, of the first (openly) gay President of the United States; just as Barack Obama's election possessed similar intrinsic value; just as the election of our first Woman President will when it happens. It's the only, unambiguously good thing about a prospective Pete Buttigieg Presidency. But beyond that, and the fact that most of what is claimed for him is probably true, I actually dread his ever being President (that he is not the only candidate currently in the race who I can say this about does little to ease my anxiety). Last night's single file march down 9/12 Memory Lane tore it for me. I know what he is now, and no mistake. He is a living, breathing, competent, talented, educated, cultured (no Alfred E. Neuman for this guy), credentialed throwback to the brain trusts and planners of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, Rostow, McNamara, Bundy; every Ivy League war criminal Halberstam wrote about in 'The Best and the Brightest', who cooly, carefully ran the numbers, made their calculations, and executed a wholesale genocide in Southeast Asia. Buttigieg has the potential to be precisely the kind of cool, detached, analytical monster that will tell us, sorry, but entitlements have to be cut (numbers don't lie) or, worse, successfully oversee the ongoing, unending US war on Islam while our once again fat, dumb, happy country sleeps an untroubled sleep. In that sense (if no other), Pete Buttigieg is the most dangerous of all the candidates currently in the race. He's what Noam Chomsky warned us about fifty years ago.

by R.J. Lambert

[eggman-empire]

Evil Overlords Have Feelings Too - Part 1

Evil Overlords Have Feelings Too by Jenifer Irwin **** This is a fanfic based off of my own version of the Sonic the Hedgehog Universe, which is a combination of a lot of stuff that happened in Sonic Adventure 2, and some amusing things that I threw in to flesh the characters out (such as my theory that Robotnik's favorite drink would be Dr Pepper.) Various footnotes are included throughout for those who may not understand things I make references to. See the very last page for details on which characters and things are property of who. Mentioning them all here might ruin surprises. Many thanks goes out to people who answered polls on the GameTalk forums to give me ideas, and also to my good friend Ian (ShadowNinja/Bob) for helping me come up with ideas throughout the series. Thanks also goes out to readers and those who have given me comments of any sort to help me make it better. I warn you now, this story is intentionally corny in many places for humor purposes. Just sit back and enjoy... don’t analyze too much... it is a cartoon, after all! ****

Part One *WHACK!* "You piece of junk! Why aren't you working right?!" the doctor growled, pounding angrily on the control panel. "Because you installed Windows on me, you cruel beast," the computer responded, drives whirring and clicking frantically. "AGH! ANOTHER ONE! A fatal exception 0E has--*zrrmmm*" It made a small whining noise as Robotnik pulled the plug. "You're obsolete anyway. I built you a whole month ago. You'll be good metal for the next Egg Walker I build," Robotnik said, pulling the entire machine apart and tossing the pieces into the 'Spare Parts' container nearby--one of about 50 similar containers in his home base. Wandering arrogantly through the halls as he did on a regular basis, Robotnik basked in the personal glory gained from having built the entire 200-room base with nothing but his hands, several tons of spare parts and a broken screwdriver. It was the greatest of his personal achievements, and an extension of that achievement was the fact that nobody had ever broken into it to this day. Floating above a secluded mountain range, it was the perfect place to build and scheme. He grabbed a Snickers bar out of one of the several candy dispensers he had installed throughout the base as he headed to the chao room. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he loved the little creatures he'd raised. As long as they were fit, anyway. Chao that weren't up to par in terms of ability potential were promptly sent away. Those that were fit enough, however, were quite literally doted on by their owner. He always pet them when they ran up to him, and he installed lots of neat high-tech stuff in the chamber for them to play with. It was probably the only time he ever showed that a softer side (other than that giant stomach of his) even existed in him, because Evil Scheming Overlords most certainly can't let their archenemies know that. As the chamber opened up, 4 little chao looked up with eyes wide in anticipation. The familiar figure stepped into the room and was swarmed by the creatures, all of them begging to be pet. He bent down, chuckling, and pet each of them in turn, then headed around the room to check on all of the equipment. A broken screen here, a frayed wire there, all were fixed or replaced in minutes. The oldest and most powerful chao, Devlin the Devil Chao, hopped in the mini-Egg Walker and started moving around, clapping his little fiery hands in glee. He was 20 years old, going on about 1. Balor, one of the chao in 'Project SSSSS,' Robotnik's project to develop an ultra-elite chao, skipped about kicking a ball around, and Cade sat down at a small computer to program something. Darken got a crayon and started drawing on the wall. Robotnik grinned at the antics of the chao and threw a few packs of candy to them from a dispenser. Arashi was speechless as she watched all this through a very small hole in the wall, drilled there the night before when she exploited an easily overlooked but very critical flaw in the security system of the base. Nobody else, even one of her primary employers, Tails, could spot the flaw. Of course, he and Robotnik were also more into mechanical things--Arashi was a dedicated master of computer programming, debugging... and hacking. Particularly security systems. Tails had met her at her job in a bank and offered her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity--in exchange for regular transportation back and forth from the base and the ability to speak with one of the greatest geniuses of all time, she would keep an eye on him and make sure that any plans he had for world takeover were somehow thwarted before he could even try to enact them. The way she could find out just how to do this would be to be on the inside of his plots, then either distract him to another project or alert any who would be affected so that they could change their position or what they were doing in order to make him change his plans. Of course... she didn't plan on following this at all. With all her expertise, she was able to quietly hack the base and disable the alarms. They appeared to be still working, but if something actually happened, the alarm simply wouldn't produce any sound. And now she was within the heart of the stronghold of the only person she respected as much as she did herself, the only person she figured she could ever carry on an interesting conversation with. Nobody else knew as much about computers and other technology, except Tails, but he wasn't evil and nasty, so he wasn't interesting. Robotnik, however, was. ...and he was playing gleefully with his pet chao. Something had to be seriously wrong with the multiverse. This was just not right. The Evil Overlord Robotnik... playing with tiny pet creatures? Nooo, noo, wait a second here. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. He was still there, grinning down at the chao in the mini-egg-walker. Wasn't there at least a hint of evilness in that look? She had to look hard... to find nothing evil about it. The cute devil chao looked more evil than Robotnik did at this moment! Arashi's eyes glazed over at the sight, and she went into a minor state of shock. What was this... thing, that was her evil genius hero? He liked cute creatures! He kept them as pets! He gave them candy and toys! This wasn't evil! It didn't make sense at all! She fainted. Thud. ** The sensation of a hand shaking her shoulder woke Arashi up and she found herself strapped to a chair. The first thing she saw was Robotnik glaring down at her. Yes. Just like he should look. That was him. Not the smiling jolly man she saw in the chao chamber earlier. "You have no idea how relieved I am to see this," Arashi said dramatically, causing Robotnik to get a totally confused look on his face. Usually his prisoners screamed or at least whined upon seeing him. "Um... ok. Well, anyway, first of all. I'm impressed. You hacked my alarms," he said, holding up her laptop. "Now, if you tell me how you did it... I won't kill you," he threatened, his favorite laser gun in hand. Arashi smiled calmly. "Top compartment on the front of my backpack," she said simply, a little smugly. Robotnik tilted his head slightly in curiosity, then picked up the small pack that he'd taken from her before she woke, and dug around in the aforementioned compartment. The only thing he managed to produce other than some coins and a drink or two was a sheet of paper with some code printed on it. He read over it for a moment, recognizing his own security code, and his mouth opened slightly as he came to the section where she had written in the few missing lines that would have prevented the hack had they been there. Raising a brow as he peered at Arashi, Robotnik asked, "Who are you?" Nobody gets into his base. Surely, this pale-skinned woman with light blue, slightly spiked-up hair wouldn't be any different... She couldn't be any older than 23. No way she could have done this. Could she? "Arashi Codiv," the young woman replied, managing to squeeze a hand through the straps enough to offer him a handshake. He accepted it, though it was obvious he was deep in thought, seeming to look through her instead of at her. He turned abruptly, leaving her in the chair as he walked up to a computer that was installed in the wall, and logged into his coding program. A little searching for the particular section and about 10 seconds of typing later, he put a special key into a lock that turned the alarm system off. The computer quickly recompiled the program and he implemented it, then pressed a button to turn on the alarm system (much easier than the process for turning it off), and several floodlights in the room instantly trained themselves on the woman in the chair as alarms screamed all over the base and the location of the intruder flashed up on the screen. Robotnik hit a few keys and the blaring stopped, the system having accepted her presence at his command. "You're good. Really good," he said, glancing over at her oddly. She grinned smugly, responding with, "I know." A slight, wry smirk appeared on Robotnik's face as he thought to himself, "She reminds me of me..." ** "So... I know you must be here for more than just to offer a helpful correction in my code," the doctor said, gesturing as he ambled down a corridor with Arashi, his laser gun drawn, but held casually down at his side, just in case she tried anything funny. "I've always wanted to meet you. And build things. Maybe even rule the world. You're the only person who I think I could ever identify with," she said truthfully, adjusting her backpack so it sat better on her shoulders. "Nobody else understands me," she said with a slight sigh. Robotnik glanced over at the girl with a look that said he knew exactly what she meant, and put the laser gun back in its holster. "Yes. I could never figure out what's so hard to understand about the physics required to reverse gravity. The last time I tried to explain it to someone, his head exploded. Come to think, maybe I should do that the next time I see Sonic..." He thought about it for a moment, a hint of irritation entering his eyes. "Not that it would work. I wish Sega would let me win for once... I'm hungry," he said mostly to himself, opening a door and walking in, straight to a very advanced refrigerator. His mind was certainly one-track at times, Arashi could tell that already. He proceeded to pull an entire turkey out of the refrigerator, instant-cook it in a high-tech oven, and sit down at the table with the whole thing on his plate. Ripping a drumstick off, he started eating like a total pig, much to Arashi's amusement. "So... D'you think I could program and build things around here?" she asked hopefully. "Ah thin' we cou' arrangh shm'fn, yah," Robotnik managed to say around a mouthful of food. "Whu' y'shtar'n at?" "Oh, nothing," Arashi said, snickering. She took a seat at the table and brought out one of her drinks, thinking to herself, "This is funny. I thought for some reason he had more class than this... Well, I guess when you're alone all the time, manners aren't exactly top priority." She thoughtfully took a few drinks and looked around the kitchen, which was devoid of any decoration whatsoever, but it was a nice kitchen nonetheless. The entire base seemed quite well-kept, and she knew there had to be cleaning robots all over the place, because Robotnik was a slob and nobody would be able to keep such a large base clean by themselves anyway. Before long, all that was left of the turkey were bones. The large man picked contentedly at his teeth with a toothpick for a while, then said, "I suppose it's too late to ask you if you want any," with a snicker. Arashi laughed and shook her head. This guy really was much different in private and when his immediate goal in mind wasn't to take over the world. Pressing a button that was on the underside of the table, Robotnik watched as a hidden alcove opened up and a robot walked out, cleaning the bones off the plate and table, then quickly washing the plate and setting it back in the dish rack. Arashi smiled slightly as she said to herself, "I knew it." "Well then, shall we get to work? I've got something particularly nice I've been working on," he said, standing up from the table as he wiped his hands off on the towel that the robot held out. Arashi grinned and stood up, following him. "This isn't the ultimate of all my creations, simply because if I said that, it'd be so cliché. Let's just say I really like it and it rocks," Robotnik said arrogantly as he pushed a button and tapped something into a small terminal on the wall, causing a heavily reinforced door to open up. He and Arashi stepped into a dim and -very- large room, where a huge coil of some sort of strong metal lay, taking up most of the room. The coil was at least 10 feet in diameter, and it was a strange silvery color with odd scales all over it... it looked just like... Arashi took a step back, alarmed as a giant robotic snake's head rose up from behind some of the coil, staring down at the two humans with cold, metallic eyes and flicking a flexible steel tongue. "I'm testing a new type of forging for the metals I use... and it seems to be working. I've managed to make steel that's as flexible as rubber," Robotnik said as he grinned evilly. Arashi stared at him in awe. He glanced at her and said in a lower voice, "And that's not even the best part." Robotnik turned his gaze back to the giant snake and closed his eyes, folding his arms over his chest and saying, "Take something out of your backpack." The girl looked at him confusedly, but took off her backpack and drew out some random item. The snake tilted its head slightly, and the doctor said a bit amusedly, "A portable hard drive. Women keep anything in their purses and packs..." Arashi looked at him. He was still facing away from her, and had never turned around. The surface of the snake wasn't reflective, and there were no mirrors anywhere, and he wasn't holding anything to look at... She looked up at the snake. It grinned at her. "...uh... holy crap," were the only words she could find for a stunned moment. "You can control that thing with your MIND? And see through its eyes!?" Opening his own eyes again, Robotnik said in a quiet but triumphant tone, "It was one of the most difficult things I've ever managed. I mean, I had the chip all nice and ready pretty quickly, but drilling into my skull to put it there was hard. It broke most of my best drill bits." Arashi started laughing uncontrollably. ** After some fun with the robotic snake and a few random transformations of harmless objects into Death Machines, the two decided to turn in for the night, Arashi allowed to sleep in the best guest bedroom in the base. She got out her radio and quietly started talking. "Sonic... You there?" "Yeah. Didja get any info? Is he working on anything big?" "No," she lied through her teeth. "He actually suffered a few setbacks lately. See, I just got into that job at the bank lately and they used my security code for all the other banks in the world. He can't hack for money anymore, so he has had to resort to older machines. Getting him is going to be a breeze." "Awesome! When should we attack?" "I'll let you know tomorrow." "Alright. Keep watching him!" the hedgehog replied. "You bet," Arashi said, grinning. The radio beeped, and an evil little giggle of, "...gullible..." came from in the room. Robotnik took the sound-amplifying device away from the surface of the door, grinning evilly. "So... she exploited my enemy to get in here and help me out... I love it!" He turned and headed toward his room, laughing quietly. ** Arashi woke up and yawned, sitting up to find Robotnik standing right beside her bed, arms folded over his chest. "I heard you talking to Sonic last night," he said in a solemn tone. Thinking he only heard part of the conversation, she paled and stuttered, "Wait, let me explain, I--" "And it's going to be a pleasure luring him into a trap like you've planned," he said, grinning suddenly. She blinked and stopped for a moment before the both of them burst into diabolical laughter. "C'mon, let's go make some more intricate battle plans," he said, turning and walking from the room. Arashi stood up and followed, grabbing her backpack and putting it on as she went. When they got to the battle room, Robotnik got out a pile of maps and rifled through them until he found a particular one that he put on the table. It was uncooperative at first and kept trying to roll back up until he dropped an old hard drive, a video card and two floppy drives, grabbed randomly from some shelves, at the corners. The map depicted his mountain range and the city 100 miles away where Sonic and Tails lived. He pointed to a spot that was roughly between the two points. "Right here is an area with a bunker that would be perfect to hide the Steel Snake in. What I want you to do is to tell Sonic to meet you there for some creative reason. That is where we will launch the attack--he'll never see it coming!" Arashi nodded. "That's an excellent plan. And it's pretty simple. When do we do it?" "After breakfast." ** 5 gallons of 'Death by Chocolate' ice cream later, the two stood up and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the cleaning robot to its job. They walked quietly through the corridors until they came to the door that concealed the Steel Snake's room. The large door opened up after the password was entered, revealing the snake in its eerie, motionless slumber. Suddenly, it rose up, wide awake, blinking silently as it flicked its tongue. "We've got a hedgehog to catch," it hissed menacingly in a metallic voice, grinning. Its back opened up, and a large pod with two comfortable seats rose out of the opening, the heavily armored clear top flipping open. Robotnik jumped up in one of the seats, grinning evilly as he asked, "Care for a ride?" Arashi climbed up into the pod, marveling at the nice interior, the bucket seats, and the really big rocket launchers protruding out of it, triggers at the two mad scientists' hands. This, to her, was like taking a ride in a brand new Corvette convertible to anyone else. The top flipped down and snapped into place and the snake stretched slightly. "I've wanted to give this a test ride for the longest time," Robotnik said, and the machine darted out of the room at a speed unbelievable for such a large thing. Slithering along the ground at a rate of at least 100 miles an hour, the snake very quickly made its way toward the bunker. "Wow! This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Arashi exclaimed, giggling as the snake slipped up a hill and quickly down the other side, doing the same odd thing to her stomach that an unexpected, sudden downward hill in a car does. "You think this is neat... I can do better," Robotnik said, snickering, and a great deal of energy could be felt in the air. The sides of the snake opened up and a few clanking noises were heard. Arashi looked into the conveniently placed rear-view mirror and saw several huge jets extend from the openings, blasting fire as the snake rose off the ground thanks to gravity reversal. Without ground to push from, however, it wouldn't be able to go very far without the jets, which began to push it along, steering it effortlessly. Robotnik let loose a brief, evil laugh from deep in his chest. "Excellent..." This really was the ultimate of his creations. Never before had he made rubber-flexible steel, and he also hadn't made something able to be controlled with his mind alone. Its unusual shape made it hard to detect on radar, and its top speed in the air was about 1000 miles an hour. It had bomb compartments and guns. Simply, it rocked. Keeping the snake low to the ground to avoid being seen in the air by anyone, Robotnik sent it blazing over the plains and eventually twisting through hills and valleys. Both geniuses were in a continual state of euphoria as they watched the landscape hurtle past them at high speed. They got to the bunker a little faster than they really wanted to, and the giant snake stopped outside, peering down at the small control panel that was installed next to the door. A plated scale slid back on the snake's side and out extended a robotic arm, tapping some things onto the panel, and the bunker door slid open. The inside of the bunker was huge. It appeared to be a weapons storage facility in the case of desperate emergency. It doubled as a testing lab, and was big enough to house 5 Steel Snakes comfortably. The ceiling was 100 feet above, with spare parts and weapons stacked all the way up on every wall. The majority of the bunker, the center, was completely devoid of anything. Perfect testing grounds... or an ambush point. The two began to organize their attack plan. ** Robotnik looked over at Arashi and nodded expectantly, watching as she pulled out her radio and motioned for him to be silent. "Sonic?" "Yeah, Arashi? Got battle plans?" "Yes, I do. Robotnik's sleeping. But he found a way to fix his security system--the only way we're going to get past it is to get a few special computer chips from a bunker that's about 50 miles southwest of his base. Just come on over, the door is open. It's in the Silent Hills." Turning the radio off, Arashi looked over at Robotnik. "How was that?" "Perfect." They exchanged diabolical grins, and waited. ** 15 minutes later, Sonic and Tails stood outside the open door. Sonic yelled, "Arashi?" No answer. "Guess she didn't hear us," he said, unconcerned, and headed into the doorway, Tails close behind. "Nice place," he said, admiring the stacks and stacks of weapons... until they heard a loud slam of the door behind them and felt something very large above them moving toward them at very high speed. Tails barely had time to gasp and scream. *SNAP!* The robotic snake swallowed loudly and spit out a single, severed tail. Sonic stared down at it in horror for a moment, then looked back up at the snake slowly. "You're going to PAY FOR THAT!" the hedgehog screamed angrily, and promptly turned around and started running. The snake remained motionless. Around the bunker Sonic went, looking frantically along the walls for something... but he couldn't find it... "Looking for these, Sonic?" an all too familiar voice asked as a shadow fell over him during a brief, motionless second of thought. He turned around and looked up at Robotnik, who stood about 10 feet away gripping a handful of rings and grinning. "What have you done with Arashi!? How did you find out!?" Sonic asked, unable to mask his terror. Never before had Robotnik been smart enough to strike so quickly... or to kill Tails... or to collect all the rings prior to battle... "What have I done with her? Oh, no, it's not 'what have I done with her.' More like... 'what has she done with me.'" The doctor grinned evilly as Sonic looked at him in confused terror. "I know you're a strong believer in the motto, 'Live and Learn.' But apparently, Sonic, you haven't lived enough to learn that I'm not the only person in the world who can't be trusted..." Robotnik glanced back over his shoulder as Arashi stepped out from behind one of the large shelves, walking up to his side with an evil grin. Sonic nearly went into shock as he watched his trusted spy put a hand on Robotnik's shoulder and give it an encouraging... almost... affectionate... squeeze... Managing to regain his presence of mind, the hedgehog screamed, raging over the loss of Tails, "Prepare to DIE, BOTH OF YOU!" and started charging up a spin-dash, ignoring the fact that he had no rings. The snake darted across the bunker instantly and whipped its tail around at Sonic, smacking him into a shelf suddenly and causing about 200 pounds of spare parts to fall on him, pinning him. Robotnik chuckled evilly and wandered over towards Sonic, who struggled hard to get out from underneath the pile of metal and plastic. The doctor waited amusedly, taunting Sonic as he squirmed his way out and crawled to the floor, glaring up at his enemy before he stood up into a crouched position. The camera panned out and revolved around the two as they slowly, instinctively, moved out to the middle of the floor. "So, Sonic... it's come to this. A final showdown. More final than any other. I have rings... you don't. Sega has never put you in a position quite like this before, have they? I like whoever wrote this plot," Robotnik said, grinning evilly as he tucked the handful of rings in his pocket. Sonic decided there was enough talk. The battle was now. It was the battle of all battles... one that only real men could win at. Childish Insults! "You're a big poo-head!" he yelled viciously. Robotnik fell down from the force of the insult, rings bouncing out of his pocket. He managed to grab a few, but Sonic swiped some himself, too. "Oh, yeah? You're ugly!" Robotnik growled, pointing at Sonic, who twitched as the rings fell out of his hand. He managed to get all but one before the doctor did. "You smell!" the hedgehog yelled in a classic kindergarten-whiny-kid tone. Robotnik stumbled backwards, dropping a few rings. Again, both picked up a couple. "You're dumb!" "Your mom's fat!" "At least my mom didn't have a retard for a kid!" "Come here, I want to check out my reflection on your head!" "At least my head isn't bigger than the whole rest of my body!" Over and over, they slung insults back and forth. Sonic got knocked back so far by some of them that Robotnik was able to get most of the rings before he did. The insults didn't send the gluttonous doctor flying very far due to his weight. Eventually, Robotnik had all the rings and he flung his insult. "Your shoes suck!" That was it. Sonic had no rings left. Rings were his lifeblood... his confidence... He sat down and started crying. Robotnik laughed and walked towards Sonic. "Hah! Weakling fool! You thought you could defeat -me- in a battle of wits!? I have an IQ of 300, you idiot!" Sonic twitched violently from the further insults. "Why are you kicking me while I'm down!? Have you no honor?" "Honor is what makes Evil Overlords -lose.- I'll have none of that!" Robotnik grinned evilly as he drew his laser gun. "It's the end of the road for you, Sonic! You've taken your last step! Eaten your last chilidog! Charged your last spin dash! Jumped your last jump!" He got louder and louder with each statement, waving the gun around. "Run your last mile! Smashed your last badnik! Pulled your last loop--" Arashi walked up and shook his shoulder gently. "Ivo, shut up and shoot him." "She called me by my first name... nobody ever does that," Robotnik thought to himself, blinking at her. She gave him a look, still urging him to shoot, and he nodded. "Right." He turned towards Sonic again and raised the laser gun, grinning at the weakened hedgehog who pleaded for mercy with his eyes, raising a hand defensively. As he watched the horror on his archenemy's face grow, he very slowly began to pull the trigger. "Farewell... Sonic the Hedgehog!" ...*click* Robotnik looked at the gun incredulously. "Oh, bother, I had the blasted safety on." He flipped a small switch, held up the gun again and pulled the trigger unceremoniously, sending a high-powered laser beam burning through Sonic's head, killing him instantly. As the blue hedgehog slumped to the floor, lifeless, Robotnik stood motionless for a moment, in shock. He had really done it. Finally, he had destroyed his enemy, and it was no longer in the way. There was nothing standing between him and world domination. He turned and traded grins with Arashi. And she hugged him gleefully. He staggered back, flailing his arms madly in confusion, stuttering, "That--that was uncalled for! Whatever it was! It made me feel all... warm and fuzzy inside! What did you do!? And how can your arms be long enough to get around me!?" He blinked at Arashi, who was laughing by now. She knew good and well that he knew what a hug was, he just didn't want to admit he liked it. He'd never turned a deeper shade of red even in his worst moment of anger. "Come on. Let's go home and take over the world," she said, giggling slightly. "After lunch!" ** Arashi hacked the mainframes of the world, sending everything linked the internet into total chaos. Communications systems were obliterated by viruses and the world was thrown into a panic. From there on out, it was simply a joyride around the world in the Steel Snake destroying everyone that resisted takeover. Under a week later, the last bit of resistance was vanquished. All others bowed to the will of the usurpers. Dr. Ivo Robotnik and Arashi Codiv were now the rulers of the world. So, the day had finally come. The bad guys won. And the two lived happily ever after... for the next few days or so. ** Robotnik tore off a drumstick from the turkey and bit into it, chewing glumly. After swallowing, he asked for the 300th time, "So... what are we going to do now?" "I dunno," Arashi said, picking at a piece of food. "We've already done it all... Killed Sonic... Conquered the world... amassed all the money there is... got all 180 emblems..." "Hey, let's brainwash the entire population!" "We did that yesterday, remember?" "Oh, yeah..." Robotnik sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring at the table. He took out his laser gun and started toying with it, dismantling and reconstructing it several times, but it just didn't seem as fun anymore. "Blast... mum, you were right," he mumbled to himself. "Yeah, mine was too," Arashi said absently. "'Why do you want to take over the world so much?' she'd say. 'Once you have it all, there's nothing else to do...'" A small computer terminal in the kitchen brought up a screen, with a special news report starting. The same reporter that spoke of Shadow the Hedgehog robbing the bank during the last failed campaign to take over the world began to report, "Up-to-the-minute sources claim that several unidentified flying objects are attacking all of the major cities in the world. Research groups have received word from whoever is controlling these objects that Earth is to be taken over for its resources--and there is nothing we can do unless Emperor Robotnik decides to take action." The two rulers traded slight, calm smiles and Robotnik pushed his goggles down over his eyes. "A mad scientist's work is never done," he proclaimed, and they both stood up and headed for the Steel Snake's lair.