i like to think everyone has a colour associated with them, whether its just your fave colour or what you generally wear most of or what colour your bedroom walls are. i always associate the name sophie with dark blue, my mum is always a nice turquoise, i like to think my colour is a bright sunflower yellow.
if you have a specific shade pls tell me i adore when ppl have associated colours and tell me them, bc i think of them when i see that colour
'What if I put a clock pendulum in my torso' was the sort of question Bruce had come to expect when visiting Oracle.
"Pendulums are dependant on a stable base," he replied, because the last time he'd assumed they were being unserious Tim had tried to fit a chemistry test lab in his mouth and accidentally leaked the fumes through his mask.
"It'd be so aesthetic though," said Barbara, not looking up from the dozen screens she was surrounded by. "Listen. It would look so cool - Spoiler, robbery on fifth and main - Especially if I put a clock face over my heart."
"I thought you were trying to fit a super computer in it?"
"I was, but progress is slow. It's hard to fit it and enough padding to protect it plus leave enough room for ventilation. If I add the pendulum I might at least get inspiration." She gave a heavy sigh and pushed away from the desk, gliding in her chair to where her doll body was resting on a table, the glue separating the two halves of the smashed torso still glistening. Bruce followed, peering over her at the many scanners and wires hooked into it, flashing and beeping.
"Any luck?" he asked, and they both knew he wasn't talking about the computer anymore.
"Nothing."
He squeezed her shoulder, and she leant into it. They stayed there for a long moment.
"I just don't understand!" Barbara finally burst out, hands clenching on her chair arms. "I glued nearly every single piece back together! I made sure every splinter I could find went exactly where it should! I know the contract is still there. She's worked with more missing pieces before. But she's just not responding!"
"It's not you," Bruce soothed. "You've more than enough determination and strength to puppet, and we know the human body's state doesn't affect performance."
"That's the thing!" Barbara threw her hands up angrily, nearly smacking Bruce in the face. There was a chatter over comms, and both reached for their own. "One second," she said tightly, and wheeled back into the glow of the monitors. "Copy. BW, you're nearest? Thanks. Try and avoid the sniper this time. Wing, backup is in five."
She muted again and spun around, pinning Bruce with a heavy stare. "Is there anything, anything you can think of? We've - nothing I've tried has worked."
"Well...." He trailed off, one hand coming up to rub at the chin of his mask - a quiet night meant the opportunity to forgo the practical but muffling gas mask for his favoured plain black.
It was far from the first time a doll had been horrifically damaged. The incident with Bane came to mind - Batman had been in a very similar condition, body shorn clean in two and tossed to opposite corners. It was an awful memory, but the expression on Bane and the audience's faces as his bloodless body fell apart like a rotting tree trunk and then kept moving was a silver lining he'd always treasure.
But he'd been repaired and back on his feet in weeks, if bearing the incandescent fury of the doll for several more. It had been months for Barbara, and still nothing was happening.
"There's something we're missing, and I doubt it's on your side."
"I know THAT-"
"Listen," he demanded, and her jaw clicked shut mutinously. "There's something we're not seeing. Batgirl is in no shape to demand it herself, it seems. So its inaction is something we can't fully rely on."
"You've got the most experience with the dolls of all of us. Can you.. I don't know, sense anything?"
"Nothing more than the usual, with the Patriarch Doll, but we might get more if we return to the doll house -"
"No." Barbara interrupted again, but Bruce did not take offence. "She's not going anywhere. She doesn't want to head back to the cave."
Oh?
"She doesn't want to, or she doesn't care to?"
"I say she doesn't."
Interesting. This was likely a case of the doll exerting its will. The bats were well versed in avoiding the few lines their wooden bodies drew in the sand, treating them with the wary respect one would give a favorite blade or a highly trained attack dog. They could work together, share the highs and lows of life with them, but never get complacent. The dolls were forever a foreign, inhuman presence, and as with all wild creatures they would never be so arrogant as to assume full understanding. For Barbara to so strongly decide for the doll meant she was most likely not the only one deciding.
Which meant the solution would not be found in the cave.
"Perhaps there are upgrades she wishes to have?"
Oracle paused.
"Maybe," she conceded. "But there's practically a limitless amount of things I could do, and I wouldn't know where to start. And I could more easily do them when she's up and walking."
Not that then. If the doll wanted something to change but not receive upgrades or heal, than what?
... Not heal.
Batman hurried to the table. Oracle watched him with hawk eyes, but another call on the comms turned her away with a final warning glance.
Recovering every single splinter from a damaged wooden object and perfectly reattaching it was nigh impossible on a good day, never mind in the dead of night with a moving target. The dolls always returned to the cave to regenerate scratches and nicks they couldn't buff out, or accepted plaster to transmute with whatever supernatural power guided them.
The batgirl on the table, divested of all covering and armour, was still as chipped and scuffed as the day nightwing recovered last splinter.
The pieces fell into place.
"She doesn't want to be perfectly rebuilt," he realised. "She doesn't want the damage to disappear as it normally does... She wants it to remain visible. A different type of repair, then."
Oracle spun in her wheelchair to face him.
"Why?" she asked, something sharp in her eyes. Bruce chose his next words carefully.
"Perhaps she thinks such damage doesn't need to be hidden away," he said, slowly, and didn't comment when she turned away. Though she put on a strong face, and the doctors had recently released her full time, it would be a long time until the young hero was able to truly heal her mind.
"She doesn't need to do that for me. She's just causing me trouble."
"I don't think she is," he tried. "Dolls tend to reflect their puppeteer even after they accept us. You can't deny your trajectory has been changed."
They both sent a significant look to the enormous super computer taking up the wall.
"You've said you almost feel better able to protect Gotham now, with your reach and skills. Do you really feel that way?"
"I - I don't -" her mouth worked silently, and Bruce waited. "I mean I guess... But a part of me always assumed it'd be temporary, you know? Once I fixed batgirl.. It'd all return to normal." Her voice wobbled, and Bruce didn't hesitate to crouch before her, wrapping her in a long armed hug. She buried herself in his chest, regardless of the chilled metal.
"It's okay if you don't," he whispered into her hair, and held her as she shook. "I'm just throwing ideas around."
"I do though," she rasped. "I think I do feel that way. There's so much that can't be solved by violence, and it feels good to be out there but... I think I can help even more people, this way."
"That's good," he praised, "that's good. You can do whatever you set your mind to."
"You stole that from a parenting book verbatim."
"It's applicable to the current situation."
"Fine," she sighed, and pushed him away to roughly scrub at her eyes. "I'll give the doll another chance. Find some glitter glue or something, I don't know."
"Any materials you need will be provided," he promised. "I wouldn't recommend glitter glue or our usual tar."
He moved to pat her on the hair as the emotions of the moment faded, making sure to keep his unsheathed claws out of her hair.
"Once you fix her, though, I would recommend you puppet the doll during night hours still," he told her. "It wouldn't be good to put your body through twenty hour days."
"I've got a good system set up for now, but thank, B-man."
The computer dinged with another alert, and oracle spun to squint at it with a muffled curse, typing furiously. Batman escaped to the other side of the room, where the folders he'd originally come looking for lay. She waved, distracted, as he left, and although the doll could not smile, he could feel it on his face all the same.
sometimes i think about penny turner and how much she must love her brilliant, beautiful son, her only child, and how proud she must be of him, but how much she must've worried about him too over the years (and probably still does sometimes) and then i cry a little 🥺
gif credit @ihatealexturner [X]
more emo thoughts about this under the cut because it's just that kind of night i suppose
like, we know alex and his mum (both his parents actually) have a great relationship and they love each other very much, so i have no doubt that she's so very proud of alex for how hard he works and how driven and talented he is, so proud of everything he's achieved, knowing how much he and his creations mean to a huge number of people
but then also, how could she not worry about him, knowing that yes, he is living his dream, but he's also flying all across the world every few years, a different city every night, performing to the point of exhaustion, only to have to come up with the next big thing all over again? that's a lot of pressure on his shoulders, even if he does share a lot of it with the rest of the band. and alex handles it admirably of course, but still, if even i worry about him sometimes, i can't imagine how it must be for his mother (and father, of course, all of this probably goes for him just as much)
i also think about how she must have felt when alex moved to the usa, and how relieved she must've been when he decided to move back to the uk/europe, to have him closer again. and i wonder how she must've felt watching all those different personas and eras he created appear and disappear, maybe sometimes fearing he'd lose himself somewhere along the way, but still always seeing her boy underneath it all. i'm sure she's gotten used to it to some extent, but it must still be overwhelming sometimes, seeing all the hype and the scrutiny and the expectations and the temptations he has to deal with, especially knowing better than anyone how special and sensitive he is deep down. i can imagine she wishes she could protect him while at the same time knowing he's a big boy now, and he was always destined to make his mark on the world in a way that required him to spread his wings and leave the warm nest she'd created for him
and then i think she must also be so grateful to know that he's always got his best friends with him when he's on the road, to support him and share the load, and that he has so many more friends who adore him and always have his back, and how much of a reassurance that must be and then I just 😭😭😭😭 you know? 🥺
To the public, little is known of the families behind some of the world’s most renowned bioterrorists, but the question remains: did they play a role in causing their children to walk down the path that they did? Or are these individuals simply ambitious criminals with delusions of grandeur?
For Diana Wesker (née Afanasyeva), her introduction into the bioweapons black market trade was upon discovering her employers were using her research into limb regeneration with salamanders to further their experiments in creating enhanced soldiers, instead of developing human therapies with which she was recruited for. Although the prospect of using biological weapons in the military did not appeal to her, the concept remained fascinating for her own selfish endeavours. Born on the 27th of October, 1963 in Sydney, Australia to Russian immigrant parents, Diana had harsh expectations placed upon her at a young age, ones that no matter how hard she tried she could never live up to. Her mother, Tatyana, was an unfeeling woman, absent for long stretches of time with little regard to how it affected her daughters, much more concerned with her craft as an accomplished opera singer. Viktor was no better. A strict man whose role as father and ballet master blurred, he pushed his girls to one day follow in his footsteps. Whilst Sofia enjoyed ballet, and went on to become a professional ballet dancer, Diana’s heart was set on going into the field of biology. She wished to make a name for herself, separate from her family – to which she succeeded.
Diana was married to former U.S. Marine, Dave Monroe, for only a year until he was declared dead in 1992 after succumbing to injuries sustained in a horrific car accident. Foul play was ruled out while Diana played the role of the grief-stricken widow, but in reality, she had snapped after years of mistreatment at her husband’s hands, and opted for something she could pass off as an accident to be free of him. For years she believed he was dead – and he was, legally – but that proved to not be the case when he found his way back into her life again in 1999. Unbeknownst to her, she had been lied to by the police and coroner, who were paid off by her employers when they took Dave’s body for themselves and used him as one of their first test subjects in developing supersoldiers. Before he could ever hurt her again, Diana’s second husband, Albert Wesker, tracked the man down, captured him and tortured him, before allowing Diana to get her violent and bloody revenge.
The origins of Albert Wesker’s involvement in bioterrorism, alongside his twin sister, Alex, are much different than that of Diana’s. The two hail from London, Canada, but unfortunately, they hold no memories of their lives there, nor what happened to their biological parents when they were eight years old. Agents of Oswell E. Spencer, an aristocratic billionaire and eugenicist, took the twins from their home and executed their parents as per Spencer’s orders. Albert and Alex were then placed in a home funded by the Spencer Foundation where they were given new names and a privileged upbringing. They had access to the best education possible, free to pursue whichever field they decided, but it was by no accident they both went into virology and bioengineering; at home, their adoptive parents – agents whom they believed to be their real parents – instilled them with the beliefs of Oswell E. Spencer, harbouring disdain for war and pestilence, and believing humans to be an evolutionary dead-end in need of a rebirth. They were only two of the hundreds of children “adopted” as part of what is known as Project W, a plan intended to develop an advanced race of human beings. The most promising candidates were headhunted by Umbrella Pharmaceuticals, the twins amongst them, where they went on to create bioweapons for the company founded by none other than the man who had handpicked them for his plan. The final stage of this was to infect the thirteen Spencer saw fit, however, only two survived; Albert received the intended effects, now possessing superhuman abilities, however, Alex was only offered more time to live due to her terminal degenerative illness.
In the summer of 1995, Diana was working undercover within Umbrella to gather development data on their projects for her company. Here, she had a chance encounter with Albert, an intelligence officer at the time, which permanently altered the course of her life. The two were never seen far from one another’s side, marrying in 1998, and they went on to become notorious in the bioweapons industry. The development of the Uroboros virus was where things took a turn for the worst. Although Diana’s infection was successful and she bore abilities that rivalled her husband’s, the plan itself did not succeed as they had hoped, and almost cost Albert his life at the hands of his former subordinates.
Now, they work within the shadows, with Diana declared missing and Albert believed to be dead. Their legacy, however, lives on with the mark they left on the world. As visionaries in their field, they influenced bioterror attacks carried out by countless individuals and organisations. In turn, they also inspired others to fight against such atrocities. One such person happens to be Albert’s son from a former relationship, Jake Müller, whose existence he was unaware of.
This might be controversial, but I've never had this idea of Britannia as being a particularly warm maternal figure. Like, I think she definitely loved her kids, but she was more concerned with their survival than with letting them be children if that makes sense. Her way of showing love was trying her damndest to protect them, and to make sure they could survive on their own after she was gone. It was less explicit "I love you"'s and more compliments on their progress or stern scoldings when they'd gotten themselves into danger. The British Isles Siblings are hard pressed to remember the last time their mother hugged them or sang to them, but they remember her pressing a blade into their hands, kissing their foreheads, and telling them to be brave. They know their worth because of her, but what tenderness they gained they learned elsewhere.
dropped my water bottle down the stairs...let out a soft "no" as i watched it bounce...it was reminiscent of an indian lady falling down the stairs...i could see the shitty edits happening before my eyes...
(Heads up, Yowapeda is going on a bit of a hiatus for the next three weeks! So there will be no new chapter until 8/3!)
Ride 737: New pedals
Pag 1
3: New... “pedals”
4: Yeah
Pag 2
1: Try using them
You'll probably be able to use them!!
Pag 3
2: Huh
3: …..!! Be able to use them!?
4: The.... pedals!?
5: Rokudai-kun
Ye-yessir, teh
The senpai of my senpai, the “super senpai”!!
6: Sorry but could you please bring here Onoda's bike?
Pag 4
1: Yessir!! Right away!!
3: So fast
3: Here!!
Thank you
Thanks
He's really so fast!! As expected of his hardcore manager spirit!!
Pag 5
1: Waaaa.... I officially touched Back-ga-.... Onoda-san's bike....!!
Why are you being all bashful by yourself now, Rokudai....
2: I'll install them right away
3: Ah-uhm
4: Uhm.... actually
I can't accept them
7: Teh!?
Onoda-san refused them..!!
Pag 6
1: You purposely cam here to encourage us, you even offered me a drink – I can't accept the “pedals” too, in addition to that!!
2: You even greeted the first years
That's plenty, thank you so much!
Onoda-san....
4: Is that so?
Yes!!
5: I thought they would suit you, Onoda, but..
Pag 7
1: I- I wanted to see the new pedals, teh...
He said “he'll be able to use them”, I wonder what that meant
2: Maybe the shape is different?
Maybe they're difficult to use? Like there are two on both sides
How would you even step on them, teh
3: I actually got these for myself....
4: With my style of pedaling I tend to lose torque near the limit, so I tried using these
5: But it didn't suit me
So I went back to use the old pedals
7: And while doing so I suddenly thought
8: That you, Onoda... your pedals
Pag 8
1: How long has it been since you last changed them...?
2: Huh
6: The pedals used for bicycles racing are consumable
Pag 9
1: When you fall, they're the first thing that hit the ground, and they're shaved by the impact
2: The structure is simple but surprisingly useful, but still metal isn't perfect
3: They receive the torque and the force from the legs, so you can say the pedals are one of the most important part of a bike
And there's no guarantee they'll never break right during an important race
4: A race...!!
5: Of course you usually bring your bike to Touji-san, and I don't think he'd fail to notice something like this
6: But, has it ever happened before that your feet unfastened during an important moment and you had troubles because of it?
Pag 10
2: …. during the Inter High's third day... at the end...
Yes, it happened....
3: You fought in the Inter High twice
4: You ran in the prefectural qualifiers, every day you use your bike for practice
5: And you're overusing it now during training camp
6: When they'll break it won't be surprising
Onoda, sometimes.... caring... isn't just about the club members....
Pag 11
1: It's about your own bike, too!!
2: The pedals I received from Teshima-san on that rainy day during training camp onmy first year
3: I asked Touji-san to fix them on my new bike, since they were important to me
5: Looking closely, they're all ruined
Pag 12
1: The bike that connects me to everyone
And what connects me to this bike
2: The pedals
3: You went to the Inter High with the pedals I gave you, and you delievered our jersey to the final gate in the end
4: Twice
And I, who gave you those pedals, also am happy and want to thank you
5: But, it's enough
They carried out their role perfectly
Pag 13
1: Let them rest
3: Waaa it's already this late!? That's bad, I got a lecture tomorrow next period
4: I have to go back!
Th- that's bad!
5: …. ah, but you refused these new pedals. I can't give them to you... you said
Ah- wa-
Ahh, what should I do
Ah-
6: Well it can't be helped
Pag 14
1: I'll forget them in the lobby and leave
4: Do your best during this training camp!
Yes- thank you so much for coming here!!
5: Say hi to the others for me, too
6: Share those with everyone and eat them
Pag 15
1: Thank you so much...!!
If you speak so loudly you'll wake everyone...
He....
He's such a nice senpai...
2: I could see ans feel the Sohoku bond, teh!!
Righ!! It's so strong!!
3: I'll change them now
4: The pedals!!
6: I wonder what kind are they, teh, these new pedals!
He said “you'll be able to use them”!?
7: Huh!?
These are the pedals!?
It's the first time I see them in this shape, the... the tip...
Pag 16
1: is round!!
Pag 17
1: The part where I put my feet is a round pedal...!!
2: Amazing, since this pedal is round
3: I can move my heel left and right
4: With incredibly wide movements!!
5: My ankles... and my knees are incredibly free to move!!
And also, these pedals...
Pag 18
1: They feel so close to the sole of my feet
2: I feel like I can turn my pedals so much more like this!!
3: Thank you so much, Teshima-san!!
Pag 19
1: Have you noticed, Hotshot?
Onoda-kun's....
Yeah, his pedals are new
2: “Speed play”
3: It's the only kind of pedal in the world that has the cleat and fastening mechanism on the side
4: Your legs' range of motion left and right becomes wider, so when you're swinging the bike you can still under all circumstances pedal at an high cadence and apply torque
It's perfect for Onoda's pedaling style
5: Was it Touj-san?
Who knows... I sense some kind of intention behind the guess of giving him those pedals
ive managed to somewhat get my parents into dungeon meshi and its brilliant. i only started watching it when the anime began, and since then i've managed to get at least one of them watching it with me on thursday nights. its hilarious because they're equally seeming to take the piss and genuinely enjoy it. today my dad got home midway through (roughly near the senshi hair washing scene iirc), came into the living room and was all 'oh of course', then they both started laughing at laios eating the parasite. 10/10 best way of watching it no notes.
ive never felt more rural than i have in the past few weeks since hanging out with a lad who has only ever lived in cities. what do you MEAN YOU'VE NEVER DONE A MORRIS DANCE
The thing is I am definitely not happy or chill in the Immediate Sense lately but I am, big picture, so fucking happy with the person I am.
It's like. My brain was made by and for consistent trauma and since that trauma stopped about 5-7 years ago, it is incredible what the amount of resilience and cleverness and flexibility and thoughtfulness I developed to survive can do when it's not being all spent on surviving. like I had a hundred ton weight on me so I had to get REALLY STRONG to stay in the same place and not get 100% crushed, and when that weight came off I found I can use the strength it used to take to stand up and I can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
I was talking to my mum the other day and she said, "you've got the 'fuck it' energy at 30 that most women don't find until their fifties at least" and I'm like yeah man. Imagine how unstoppable I'll be in 20 years.
I love mums and I love to see kids getting creative with them but I will admit I don't understand the appeal of one without any flowers at all like that's what it's named for