#so i think people ought to give her more leeway on that like it's pretty obv she and bruce can be equals who love each other

[jostenneil]

i think what ultimately bothers me about the talia and selina discourse on either end is that it’s often framed as being an argument of who is truly a villain and who isn’t and obviously your thoughts on that depend entirely on which characterizations of either character you’re willing to take into account. i do think it’s obvious talia more readily ascribes to bruce’s ideals and world view but at the same time part of that Does come from how she was established as a character to begin with and that’s not to say it’s impossible for selina to ascribe to bruce’s ideals given the right circumstances and she obv has in various capacities throughout her existence. but returning to what i was saying about how it’s framed as an argument i think the real issue is that talia and selina’s respective struggles with bruce are just different and offer appeals that aren’t exactly comparable because they cater to different tastes and outcomes. the appeal with talia is she’s inspired by bruce to do the right thing, and that extends to her building up the courage to break free of her father And bruce to pursue justice in the world without feeling like someone else’s collateral or puppet, while still being driven by her belief in love. the appeal with selina is that she’s someone who largely operates by justice on her own, sometimes selfish and acutely personal terms and that offers an interesting challenge to bruce who can often lose himself to the idea of trying to help everyone and being totally selfless to his own detriment. you could probably make an argument for which dynamic is more viable with regards to a sustainable relationship in the long term but dc is also never going to commit to that with bruce ever so i fail to see the purpose sometimes in mulling over that. both of these dynamics are incredibly interesting for him and offer different perspectives through which to view his character, and the discourse about which ship is ultimately “better” is tiresome bc they’re not traditionally comparable to begin with. people might say they are bc of the villain argument but i personally don’t agree with that reading and i think venturing into it tends to reveal biases about what people want either character to be to suit their own needs, which is boring! 

#talia al ghul #selina kyle #dc #mine:meta #i think the way i worded it on twitter wasn't the best but this is better #like i do agree that bruce's philosophy and sticking to it is very impt to him #so ultimately he will value someone who also ascribes to and values it #but i think where i disagree with criticisms of selina is that like #yes a huge focal point of her character is that her sense of justice is largely personal #and sometimes she reaps more returns than is morally right #but that's exactly the appeal of it i imagine is the tension and differences in outlook between them #that's what makes it an eternally off and on relationship #bc neither of them is going to entirely yield to the other and there's an entertainment in that #and on the flip side i don't think saying talia loves bruce has to be something that's bad. which is crazy that many people think is? #in her earliest comics it's true she's portrayed fairly one dimensionally #but by the time you reach the early 00s she's struck out on her own and is trying to do the right thing on her own #she still loves bruce but her loving bruce doesn't have to mean she just runs after him anymore #and she doesn't. she goes the whole way in lex corp without meeting him once #so i think people ought to give her more leeway on that like it's pretty obv she and bruce can be equals who love each other #even if their circumstances and respective duties ultimately keep them apart #with either batcat or brutalia it's just about different dynamics and tensions #so yes i have a preference but i really don't mind the other #and it's very weird to me when people relentlessly argue about which one is 'better' bc i don't think that's the point

[rokutouxei]

the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

ikemen vampire: temptation through the dark theo van gogh / mc | T | [ ao3 link in bio ]

The challenge seemed pretty simple: to try to befriend the university bookshop’s most sour employee, Theo van Gogh. As a literature major with a boatload of book recommendations on her back, it ought to be a simple task indeed. But as she uncovers what lies between Theo’s pages, the more she finds it harder to become closer to him without having to put the feeling directly into words. What can she learn from Theo about what it means to stay—and how can she teach Theo about what it means to let go? | written for ikevamp big bang 2020!

[ masterpost for all chapters ]

CHAPTER 9 OF 22

You will let my tender hook Catch the folded darkness inside you, let me occupy The dented place at the base of your throat. - "One Life", Carlomar Arcangel Daoana

--

She wakes up late.

Comically late.

No hangover, thank god—but it’s 11am and she’s dressed in lent pajamas in a bed that isn’t her own. She shoots up to sitting position in a second, and standing in a minute, trudging out the room to the bathroom at the end of the hall.

By the time she’s up and out of the room, a little more awake, Dazai and Arthur have already long gone, the only remnants of their presence the bit of glitter that they had wiped onto the sofa they nestled in.

And text messages.

She squints when she reads it, not because she had a hard time reading what it said, but—because she couldn’t believe what it said.

A series of text messages from Dazai:

[ 7:23 | Dazai ] ur still asleep but ur friend kinda hot

[ 7:24 | Dazai ] ofc I woke up first but his eyelashes tho???

[ 8:32 | Dazai ] pls tell me he’s not a douche bc im rly gonna jump him

[ 9:03 | Dazai ] mgonna jump him

[ 10:19 | Dazai ] abt to find out if he’s got the magnum sized dong u promised

Oh, god, what has she done.

With a groan, she heads down the hallway, phone securely in the pocket of the sweatpants, to see Vincent and Theo preparing a meal in the kitchen; Theo preparing some sort of fillet (fish? Chicken?) and Vincent frying some onions and garlic on the stove, filling the kitchen with a nice aroma.

“Good morning,” she says softly, as she shuffles onto one of the dining table chairs.

“Thought you died,” Theo says with a snort; but once he turns around to face her, all derision goes away in his face and is replaced by a quiet surprise.

Vincent beams as he turns to get the fillets from Theo. (It’s chicken.) “Good morning. Did you sleep well? No headache?”

She shakes her head. “Nope, I’m good. Thanks for letting me sleep here last night and for the clothes.”

“Of course, no problem at all,” Vincent answers, turning back to the pan. The chicken makes a sizzle as it meets the oil.

Theo is still staring at her with an odd look on his face.

“Earth to Theo?” she calls out, waving her hand in front of her. “Something wrong?”

“Broer. Why did you lend her my clothes.”

Oh.

“You know how most my shirts are, paint-stained in all the weird places.”

She feels the cling of the cotton around her skin so differently, so suddenly. Oh.

“She wouldn’t have minded, she was drunk.”

That’s correct, but—

Vincent smiles at Theo, the kind of smile one makes when they can see through someone; she’s filled with a kind of relief at knowing that Vincent can do that to Theo. Maybe the man isn’t an impenetrable a character after all. “No need to be shy, Theo.”

“I am not,” he insists, finally tearing his gaze away from her and heading to the sink to wash the used chopping board and the knife. “I just don’t want her wearing my stuff.”

She smirks. He is shy. True, she didn’t get the opportunity to think about what she was putting on last night because she was so tired and knocked out by the alcohol, but…if that was the price she had to pay to see this side of Theo she doesn’t have the opportunity to witness often, then it was worth it. Oh, the ever put-together Theo, brought to his knees by only one person in the world, the one he trusts the most: his brother.  “Is it because your personality is contagious?” she teases, “wouldn’t want to catch that.”

He answers her with a glare. “Reverse. It’s your stupidity that’s contagious.”

“Oh, we’re pretty much equally as stupid, Theo. No need to worry.”

“We are not,” he says, and then Vincent elbows him carefully.

“You really should be a little gentler to your friends,” Vincent comments, as he turns the fillet onto its other side.

Theo grumbles something unintelligible and it makes her laugh. Sitting in the kitchen, watching the two brothers side by side with their back to her as they prepare—she checks the clock—lunch for the three of them, she hums, content. She’s lived alone for all her life here in the campus, and it was one she looked forward to after living in a house crammed with people for most of her life. But sitting here, watching them share the chores and maybe have a little banter with each other—makes her reconsider that maybe, maybe settling down in even the worst of places isn’t that horrible when you’re in good company.

Theo opens the plate cupboard and hands her a set of it with some cutlery. “Set the table at least, freeloader?” He says, though his voice lacks all the venom his words otherwise had.

Okay, she’ll have to reconsider if Theo counts as “good company.”

--

Theo barely survives lunch with her and his brother because of how much he gets teased by the two. He might argue that this is worse than being stuck with her and Arthur because since it is Vincent, he does not get the leeway to have a comeback, only able to grumble in displeasure at being see-through. They stuff their bellies not only with Vincent’s famed chicken with herbs but also with a hefty amount of laughter.

She slides back (slightly disgusted) into her costume to walk back home in, confident that many other students will be trudging along the streets suffering the same fate. (“Not everyone wakes up as late as you.” “There’s bound to be at least one, right?”) When she comes out of the bathroom, there’s a book on top of his neatly-folded clothes.

They speak at the same time.

“I could wash these first before giving it back if you—” “You had that with you all this time?”

Silence.

She breaks it with a laugh. “Yeah, it was a Saturday. I didn’t want to break the schedule.”

“You get so thorough about the weirdest things,” he comments, but he takes the bundle in her arms anyway. “It’s alright, I’ll have them. Let me get you a book, too.”

She follows Theo into the studio, where he crouches in front of some bookshelves. Vincent peeps from behind his easel. “You should walk her home,” he offers, as Theo pulls a few books out of the shelf.

“No, it’s alright, I’ll be fine! I’m not drunk or dizzy. The walk will help clear my head.”

“It’s twenty minutes out,” Theo points out, getting up.

“Just promise that if you find me asleep on the street you’ll pick me up?”

Handing Murakami’s Dance, Dance, Dance to her, Theo grins. “I can’t promise that.”

“Oh, Theo, you know you will.”

Even when she is long out of his sight, the smile on his face does not go away. Even as the day shifts into mundanity. Even as he’s carting a bagful of clothes to the launderette. Even as he picks up some groceries on the way home. Even as he prepares dinner for Vincent, who is a few hours deep into painting.

Maybe for a moment, it goes away, but—

He thinks of her and the smile comes back full force.

--

She spends the rest of Sunday recovering and hiding away in her room after the very socially draining party, but by Monday she’s hopped onto her bike and headed for the literature club’s little gazebo. She’s left a message for Dazai, asking for company. Sure, they spent quite a lot of time together in the past week, after having jumped through thrift stores and boutiques for the perfect Night Circus costume (and yes, she made him read the book beforehand too, for good measure) but Saturday was quite a day. She’s brought a couple of cookies for sharing with him, sitting at their usual spot, looking out at the quadrangle next to it.

“Toshiko-san! Sorry we kept you waiting!”

The plural takes her off guard, and she turns to find that Dazai has brought a rather distracted-looking Isaac along, his hands in the pockets of his slacks. Isaac is always dressed so well—she supposes it’s part of the uniform or something of being seen as a respectable professor—but she sure does want to see him dress down once. T-shirt, shorts, that kind—Isaac seems to take everything too seriously.

The pleasant feeling of seeing a friend she hasn’t met up with in a long time is quickly replaced by confusion, as the science complex is nowhere near the Arts building. “Nice to see you here, Isaac,” she says, but also with the lilt of a question.

Dazai answers said question. “He’s here because he has nothing better to do, so I asked him to come.”

Isaac makes a face that’s both resignation and panic. “He passed by my office.” –and dragged me out because he wouldn’t take no for an answer, she finishes in her head.

“I see,” she answers, even though that’s not really an explanation in itself.

She knows Isaac through Dazai, and Dazai knows Isaac through a very peculiar class: Occultism 101.

A class team-taught by three major colleges in the university—the College of Arts, the College of Science, and the College of Social Sciences—Occultism 101 is one of the more controversial classes on campus because of its nature. It goes through a long history of the evolution and persistence of supernatural beliefs and practices among nations in the world, in that nice gray area between religion and science. There are only two kinds of students in Occultism 101: those who believe and who are genuinely interested, and those who do not believe and would like to spend an entire semester saying “bah! That’s not true!” to themselves all the time.

Occultism 101 is typically taught by professors from the College of Social Sciences and College of Arts with backgrounds in religious practices and other mystical behavior (whether in history or art), and then occasionally, in the middle of the semester, guest lecturers from the College of Science come in to give lectures on how these “supernatural events” may be explainable through scientific means. Say, how the piping system in a building can cause haunted “cold spots”, or how floating dust particles can come up in a photograph as “orbs”, or the likes.

And she doesn’t want to be very stereotypical about it, but a lot of people in the College of Science are pretty… well, square, and so no one really wants to teach Occultism 101, even if it’s only a few meetings in a semester. This is how this job ends up to unwilling, no-choice Ph.D. students such as Isaac.

It was just his luck that Dazai was in the section he taught.

“So, Osamu, care to tell us about your little date last Sunday?” she asks, as the other two have taken their seats across her. Dazai swoons a little at the mention of Sunday. Isaac looks at him with unsureness.

(Isaac has had the miserable experience of being the victim of Dazai’s flirtation at some point in time. One can see how that has instead simmer into a rather tentative friendship. All is well.)

Dazai rests his elbows on the table and places his chin on the palms of his hands. “He’s so dreamy.”

“No he isn’t,” she swiftly replies, without thought.

But Dazai pretends not to have heard it. “He’s not looking for a serious relationship though,” he adds. “Not that I am, either.”

“You aren’t?”

“No, sweetie,” Dazai explains. “But he’s my type and I’m his type and we couldn’t just leave it at that so I have his number now, and a little… arrangement.”

The word hangs in between them, swaying.

Oh no, that’s not any good. “What arrangement.”

“You don’t need to sound so concerned.”

“This is Arthur we’re talking about,” she insists, and the name makes Isaac flinch a little.

“Doyle, the med student?” Isaac asks, and she turns to him, blinking.

“You know him?” Remembering Arthur during the party, her mouth falls into a small o. “He knows you too, doesn’t he?”

Isaac scoffs. “Who in this university doesn’t?” Arthur’s pretty well-known to be a flirt. Something like having a checklist of bedding at least one person in every department—a rumor that would have been a little more shameful if the rumors also didn’t say how he was so good at it.

She nods. “Well, fair enough.”

“No, no, he’s an absolute sweetheart to me, so it’s definitely a you problem,” Dazai insists. “It’s just a friendship with benefits, yanno?” He emphasizes every of the following syllables with his tone and his hands: “Nice, big, hefty benefits.”

And even Isaac, who usually refrains from commenting no matter how much he has to say, has to quip with “Terrible choice, really.”

And she has to agree. “I respect you, but not your taste, Osamu.”

Dazai grins. “Understandable.” He picks up one of the sandwiches she’s prepared. “You make it sound like I’m the only one making bad decisions though.”

“Excuse me?”

He turns to Isaac. “You should have gone to the Halloween party. She brought her little boy toy.”

She scoffs. “He is not my boy toy.”

“You sure do have him around your finger though, getting in matching costumes and all that,” Dazai says. “Spends Saturdates with him all the time.”

The only strategy that will work in times like these is straight-up ignoring him. “Anyway—” she begins, about to steer the conversation away when Isaac speaks up.

“It’s nice to hear you’re getting close to other people,” he says softly. Isaac has a way of speaking that makes it always seem like he’s spent so much time thinking about what he said before he actually said it; so sometimes it’s hard to gauge if he’s saying it casually or entirely seriously.

So she blinks. “You make it seem like I have no friends, Isaac.”

“I-It’s not that!” he suddenly blurts. Ah, there. There’s the usual Isaac. “You’ve spent so much time focusing on your work lately, it’s nice to know you’re relaxing with other people sometimes.”

And he doesn’t say it, but she sure does hear it: the you haven’t been to the astronomy club in a while and it’s made me worried about you.

She doesn’t go religiously, but she used to attend fairly often to hang out with the other members and just look up at the stars. Isaac tries to organize at least two sessions in a month, one to look at the moon, and another to point at the stars. She hasn’t been able to catch them in a bit.

But then, slowly, as the image of the view outside the astronomy club’s hangout is refreshed in her mind, the way the physics building rooftop is just high enough to provide a good view of the rest of the campus below, the city downtown, just at the right place on campus that at night, the rest of the sprawling town’s streetlights trickle out like golden LED veins through the threes—an idea begins to implant itself into her head.

Taking root immediately.

She likes to go up here to think. She really shouldn’t have had permission to go up there on her own, in her free time, since they have rules about club hours and the likes, but Isaac is a close friend and gave her a spare key, so she can come and go as she pleases. And sure, the Grove is a nice, quiet place for book clubs and maybe doing homework if one doesn’t need an electric socket, but up here in the astronomy club’s “the Rooftop”, she feels like she can float away into the vast ocean of her thoughts and get lost in them for a moment.

She feels small up there. And that’s a good feeling.

She won’t tell it to Isaac’s face but it’s one of the primary reasons why she applied for the astronomy club in the first place. The stars are great no matter how dumb she is at physics, but the view—it’s really something else.

What does the world look like from the point of view of a star? How tiny are human lives in the vast expanse of the universe? How long have these stars been out there, how long will they stay out there, how much longer will they stay in this universe more than we will?

…This is why Theo teases her for being a literature major: all these goddamn metaphors.

And for a split second, she thinks…

Maybe it isn’t that bad to share that same quiet space with him?

…You know, to talk books.

“About that…”

Isaac and Dazai turn to her.

“Mind if I sneak in an outsider to the Roof?” she asks, facing Isaac with genuine hope in her voice.

Isaac only shrugs. “Do as you please,” he says casually, taking a cookie from her little box on the table.

And she grins like he’d just given her the light of the world. “Thank you, Isaac.”

Dazai shakes his head, because he knows she’s got no denying herself out of this one the next time.

#the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart #ikemen vampire #ikevamp theo

[missmarthanightingale]

ryan sinclair in s11

basic facts:

at the start of the season he’s 19 (my guess is close to 20), a warehouse worker studying to qualify as a mechanic, & seems to be living independently of his family, though he presumably moved out fairly recently.  he’s a fan of grime music.  his mother died when he was 13, with him being the one to find her, & his dad subsequently was largely absent from his life, leaving him to be raised by grace.

character traits:

observant/curious/clever

ryan is, especially at the beginning, the one with wonder in his eyes, like his grandmother.  he sees glowing shapes in the air & touches them; he sees an alien spacecraft appear & goes over to investigate; he finds himself on an alien planet & can’t help but be delighted.  he walks into the tardis & immediately wants to press the buttons.   he’s curious & wide-eyed & enjoying himself very much.  he’s every companion who ran away with the doctor, not because it was the doctor, but because the doctor was a doorway to so much more.  it’s possible that i’m projecting a bit.

& he’s clever, more clever than he might seem on the surface.  quite apart from anything else, if he can successfully track down accurate instructions for how to operate a crane given 5 minutes & a smartphone, he must be a pretty competent researcher.  he’s always figuring things out & making connections & asking the right questions, & he often notices small things that the others miss.  when he’s the one coming up with plans they’re unorthodox but pretty brilliant - i’m never going to be over the use of stormzy in arachnids, or the conveyer adventure in kerblam.  he figures out the boat engine in ghost monument, & the speaker setup in it takes you away (i really wish they’d let him be a mechanic more often).  he also has a level of emotional intelligence which i really didn’t pick up on until my last rewatch, & that scene with king james.  he picks up on emotions, he just doesn’t necessarily know how to act on the things he notices.

impulsive/brave/determined

running out to fight evil robots shouting about call of duty is nothing if not impulsive, bless him.  throwing his bike of the cliff was clearly on an impulse, too, one which gave us a glimpse of his temper.  he clearly has a temper, but grace taught him to reign it in, so he tends to burn cold & express his anger through snarky outbursts, like we see in rosa, or stranding someone in prehistory if they really, really deserve it.  remind you of anyone?

but most of his impulsive moments are brave ones.  he’s the first to run after the doctor when she goes haring off to chase t’zim-sha.  those moments where he hesitated to climb onto ladders & conveyor belts aren’t just about self-confidence; if something goes wrong, he could seriously injure himself, & it’s much more likely that something will go wrong for him.  he’s also constantly following people into danger, from climbing onto the train to find grace to going after hanne in the antizone, to following the doctor wherever she leads, all with very little hesitation.

perhaps an extension of this, ryan sticks to his guns.  once he decides to ride that bike, for grace, he refuses to give up.  once he’s decided that someone matters to him, he won’t change his mind easily.  once he’s decided on a course of action, he’s committed, & to hell with what gets in his way.

sensible/responsible/helpful

for the most part, anyhow; we have to give him some leeway for being an impulsive 19yo dumbass.

i think the best illustration of these traits is actually right at the start of twwfte, wherein ryan finds a weird spaceship in the woods & reacts by calling the authorities & staying with the ship until they arrive - partly out of curiosity, sure, but that was also probably the most reasonable thing to do in that scenario.  he’s good in unexpected situations, we see over & over again, rarely rendered useless by panic or fear when he feels it.  he might not know what’s going on, but he’s great at figuring out what he, personally, is going to do about it, which is often “enable someone more capable to handle it” by either fetching help or buying time, which we see in arachnids when they find the spider in the bedroom & again in demons of the punjab when the doctor goes missing.

he has a very mature sense of responsibility, as well.  he easily owns up to touching the squares when he realises what it might mean, accepts a level of culpability for what’s happening even though it’s barely his fault, & quickly moves on to the most relevant part of having made a mistake - how he can help fix it.  when he decides there’s something he ought to be doing, he does it.  in rosa, the doctor gives him an easy out from a difficult situation, but since ryan feels like he ought to stay & help then by god, he will do so.  i think this is very much tied in to the moral code he learned from grace, whose immediate reaction to people in crisis tended to be “we should take care of this person to the best of our ability, if they’ll allow it”.   if you can help, you should help, & ryan is determined to do whatever he feels he should, especially when it means correcting his mistakes, like when he follows hanne to the antizone.  he also frequently encourages people around him to do the same, both with words & by example.

grandaddy issues

it’s not a character trait, per se, but it’s an important part of his character’s arc so i think i have to discuss it.

his issues with graham are largely an extension of his issues with his own father.  sure, there might be an element of “you won’t ever replace my real grandad” in the mix, but considering we don’t know anything about grace’s first husband?  i’m much more inclined to blame it on aaron.  we know that aaron pretty much abandoned ryan after his mother died, which in ryan’s own opinion he did because he saw too much of her in ryan.   we also know that there was a time when ryan felt like there was something he had done to make himself unlovable to aaron (& probably wondered if it was the dyspraxia), though from the way he talks about it in resolution he doesn’t think that anymore, presumably because grace would have shut that right down the second she learned about it.

i think a lot of his resistance to allowing graham to have a role in his life as Family is born of a reluctance to get emotionally invested in someone who might just let him down again.  his only connection to graham is through grace, & he’s unconvinced that graham would stick around if the going got tough, since he has even less reason to do so than aaron did.  although graham obviously does continue to be there for him after grace dies, the emotional turmoil of her death combined with the letdown of aaron’s absence has him maintaining his distance for the next few episodes.

so what changes?  rosa was definitely an episode where the going got tough & graham refused to stop being there for ryan & calling him family, which was probably a big factor in him ‘proving’ that he was committed to ryan, as his own person, despite grace no longer being in the picture.  that was followed up by aaron’s letter in arachnids about ryan’s ‘proper’ family, which probably helped him realise that he does consider graham to be his family, despite what he might have told himself.  the next major development is it takes you away, in which ryan finally calls graham grandad; he might have done that to cheer the man up after the emotionally draining episode, but i do think it’s at least in part because graham showed that ryan matters more to him than the reflection of his late wife, which is exactly what aaron failed to do.

ryan defines being a good parent - being a good anything, really - above all as being there. you can make mistakes, you probably will, but the important part is sticking around to fix them.  the only way graham was ever going to earn ryan’s trust was by being there for him, constantly, which fortunately was exactly what graham wanted to do.

the doctor:

ryan, of the current companions, is definitely the most like the doctor.  he lets his curiosity get the better of him much like she does; his anger expresses itself in a similar way; he can be impulsive & reckless & maybe a little too inclined to judge people.  he has the same attitude of “it’s my duty to help wherever i can”.  he always seems to ask exactly the right question & the number of times he & the doctor appear to be on the same wavelength is actually really impressive, when you’re looking for it.  interesting how the doctor almost never goes off alone with him.

i think he’s also, perhaps because of this, the one she most connects with emotionally.  she’s watching him as he rides that bike over & over.  they have a really interesting conversation at the end of twwfte about reliability (responsibility), which i’m convinced had a strong effect on the way she interacts with her companions; we see her apologising for letting them down after she’d made a promise at the end of the next epsiode.  he’s the only one she ever really attempts to provide with any emotional support without prompting or a situation which really blatantly calls for it.  also, not for nothing, he’s the one who saw her glowing with regeneration energy, so i think he’s arguably the one who’s most able to comprehend that she’s Something Alien; he’s also the one who witnessed her excellent “earth is under my protection” bit in demons of the punjab.

in summary, this relationship means a lot to me & s12 should have them bonding over being mechanics.

#it's DONE #now i gotta finish the other two & start the one on the doctor #doctor who #dw meta #ryan sinclair #original #long post #they're about to meet nicola tesla so fingers crossed those 3 get to geek out together

[fuckyeahcharmcaster]

Pot, Meet Kettle

So, was looking for more Charmcaster content and came upon these comments related to the reboot episode “What Rhymes With Omnitrix?”  And...wow. I won’t name names out of respect for privacy and will put this all under a cut so that only those interested can read it, but the hypocrisy here is just so mind-numbing that I needed to comment on it.

Kevin stans unwilling to admit to his faults, do not engage.

What she did to Kevin was not conning in any way, that was clearly and blatantly magical enslavement complete with chains, torture, and mindcontrol. You can’t just downplay that shit like this and expect me to go along with it, not when the sequel series already tended to pull that, especially with regards to Charmcaster doing that sorta shit. You do not get to blatantly show Kevin being forced to do things against his will, being tortured for fighting back, and then try to pass it off as him having been tricked into working with her. What the fuck is with this franchise with having Charm do horribly evil shit and then just waving it off?

Remind me: how much horribly evil shit did Kevin commit, even in the sequel series themselves where he was a good guy, that got downplayed, justified, waved off or swept under the rug? Murder, war profiteering, aiding other criminals when it suited his interests, letting his friends take the rap for his crimes, etc?  

Sequel series Charm was incredibly shitty, there’s no denying that, probably shittier than sequel series Kevin honestly given the sheer lack of consistency in her character and over-the-top extremes they had her go to. But guess what, that doesn’t make sequel series Kevin un-shitty. If you’re not holding the same standard to how they’re written, your argument loses credibility because it is intellectually dishonest.

More to the point, what about all of the crap that reboot Kevin has pulled? Does none of it bother you? Is him walking free sensible given the stuff he’s done? Ex: he enslaved Glitch, who is a sentient being, against his will twice. He wasn’t taken to task for it afterward, even though he felt no remorse and went on to do more evil deeds. Before getting controlled by Charm, he was about to beat Ben to death. And even before he got his Antitrix he was a vicious bully who traumatized Ben to the point of being scared of public bathrooms. So why is all of that excusable and you can “go along with it” when the show doesn’t dwell on any of it afterward, but you draw a line in the sand when Charm, a villain, does something bad to Kevin, another fucking villain? That’s like hating on Kevin for manipulating the Weatherheads or Steam Smythe and expecting the show to make a bigger deal out of that, or hating on Zombozo for screwing Vilgax over or hypnotizing Kevin and expecting the show to make a bigger deal out of that; it makes no logical sense. Villains are gonna villain, it’s what they do.

With Charmcaster, it was a case of Kevin trying to puff himself up and seem big and bad and Charm responding with ‘great, let me have your brain for my own’, followed by an episode of him fighting viciously against her control until she took 100% over. But he was ‘working with her’, the writers say. And given how much the sequel series were into brushing the awful shit she did under the rug, I really don’t have patience for it here.

Again, I ask if you’ve checked under Kevin’s rug from the sequel series lately. Lot of awful shit there. And if you had the patience for all of that, you can have the patience for this.

And as for what sparked this whole outburst, the ‘working with her’ thing was in reference to that in his puffing Kevin outright said that she ought to take control of him. She told him upfront that she wanted to control Ben against his will to have him attack Gwen, and told him to be on his way because he wasn’t Ben. Kevin could have gotten out unscathed. But, not thinking straight because of jealousy, he protested and said that she should want to control him because he’s more powerful. Charm’s response (basically “OK, if you insist!”) made him realize all too late what he had just said and what it actually meant would happen to him.

It’s not trying to excuse what Charm did as right or justifiable or undermine it in any way, it’s just acknowledging that Kevin also played a willful part in making it happen too due to his hate-boner for Ben, just as Charm did due to her hate-boner for Gwen.  He wasn’t just minding his own business until Charm up and took control of him for no reason: he was about to murder Ben and got accidentally pulled over to Charm who mistook him for Ben, she told him to leave when she realized her mistake, and then Kevin insisted that her plan to control Ben was dumb because Ben was weak; she should want him because he’s stronger. His claim of Charm “conning” him into getting controlled is him lying to himself about what happened, acting as though Charm deliberately manipulated his jealousy to make him say what he did, rather than admit that he had been a stupid, jealous kid who badly fucked up.

It’s not even that they don’t treat her as being in the wrong, it’s that they want her to both be redeemable and also to do things that may or may not be irredeemable. It’s a theme of every sequel series and now the reboot as well.

Except that Charmcaster hasn’t done anything remotely irredeemable in the reboot series. And if you think that she did, then you’re being intellectually dishonest because, again, Kevin has done literally the exact same things and usually for the exact same reasons. He’s not against controlling, enslaving, manipulating or relishing in inflicting pain on people either. He may not be a psychopath, but he still is written as lacking in basic empathy, just like Charm.

It was also absolutely a theme for him as well in the sequel series, probably even moreso since they did a whole fucking arc about it w/ Ultimate Kevin, where he did horrific things that were irredeemable and yet he’s still redeemed and those actions are swept under the rug with the whole “it wasn’t his fault, it was the energy he absorbed that made him do it!” excuse, which is the same kind of cop-out as the Alpha Rune was for sequel series Charmcaster. If you can buy wholesale into that excuse but can’t for the Alpha Rune, you are operating under a double standard. Either both are cases of awful character writing that exist purely for the writers to avoid having to write actual redemption arcs, or neither of them are. Pick one.

SO they have her do these things and then either sweep them under the rug, downplay the shit out of them, or tell us that we should feel sorry for her that she felt the need to do that.

....I...I really can’t right now.  I just can’t.

This literally describes Kevin too. Swap names and gender pronouns, and it’s the same.

And yet every time Kevin does something horrible, your reaction seems to be “oh, my son!”, sweeping it under the rug or downplaying it, and you feel sorry for him that he felt the need to do it; you still understand and sympathize with his troubled mental state regardless of what inexcusable acts of villainy it drives him to do. But when it’s Charmcaster? Fuck that bitch and cue violent fantasies of what Kevin should do to her for revenge just because he happened to be the victim of her actions (oh yeah, and about those: what the actual fuck!? Honestly, the hypocritical bitching about Charm being some kind of writers’ pet wouldn’t bug me half as much without this totally uncalled-for shit accompanying it.)

It sounds to me that this has nothing to do with morality: it has everything to do with a bias toward your fave and anger that he got hurt.  It sounds to me that Kevin can hurt Ben, Gwen, Grandpa Max, Glitch, or anyone else and you’re fine with it - heck, he can hurt Charm and you’re fine with it given the aforementioned fantasies. But when Kevin is hurt, the one who did it MUST be held accountable at every turn and suffer the painful consequences!

He’s your fave, I get it, but the emotions involved with that should not rule out objectivity. Nor should it fuel torture porn fantasies toward another character, especially a female child one who already has being physically abused by a boy as part of her goddamn backstory. (Humiliating slapstick like the show itself uses is fine though, she definitely deserves it.)

The way you are going about it, you come off as a pitiful MRA-type always bitching about how them damn women get away with everything and men get screwed as a result, even when it’s not at all reflective of reality. If you really think the writers of the Ben 10 franchise have historically held some kind of bias toward Charm and didn’t toward Kevin, then just look at Kevin’s screentime throughout the franchise compared to Charm and then come back at me with that shit (same goes for Gwen for that matter; stack her up against Ben and Kevin in terms of significant arcs, actions and development, and you’ll find she falls woefully short.)

And the thing is, for the reboot at least, she’s young enough I’m willing to give her some leeway, but the tempering damages that by making it feel like the writers don’t see what she does as an issue.

It’s not that the writers don’t see what she does as an issue. It’s that you see it as way too big of an issue while also not seeing the same thing happening with Kevin as an issue at all. It’s a double standard, pure and simple: Kevin is your fave and so he can get away with anything in your eyes and you don’t consider it to be troubling writing if he gets let off with a slap on the wrist for it. But you can’t do the same for Charm because she’s not your fave and - more importantly - Kevin is negatively impacted by what she does. If he wasn’t, then I’m pretty damn sure that no evil deed she commits would actually bother you at all. You want the show to fixate on how evil what she did was not because you hold some standard against magical mental enslavement in general, but because you’re angry that she did it to Kevin. This is all about you taking offense on behalf of your fave, not about the writers messing up in any way.

And before anyone gets on my case for bashing Kevin, I’m not! I love reboot Kevin! None of what I described above about him bothers me in any way because I can look at him objectively and enjoy him as the troubled but undeniably nasty little shit that he is, just as I do with reboot Charm. They’re both villains who do villainous things, and the show’s lax attitude toward it is due to its light-hearted tone and the fact that they’re both children (ditto for the likes of Billy Billions and Simon Sez). But more to the point, they’re supposed to be hypocrites in regards to each other, because what they hate about each other is actually the worst of themselves reflected right back at them. They are the same kind of person and they project like crazy, this is a certified fact per Word of God. Their FANS, however, shouldn’t be following their example because they ought to be smarter and more mature than that.

It goes all the way back to this post, and what I said there still applies: Why are male characters allowed to be bitter, angry, hateful, vengeful, insolent, insulting, anti-social, violent and manipulative without reproach while female characters always get demonized for it?  Why does such behavior in a male character get the “my precious son!” reaction, while the exact same behavior in a female character get the “that horrible bitch!” reaction? Why are bad things a female character does to a male character considered irredeemably awful, but what bad things that male character might do to her for revenge considered an appealing fantasy and totally justified? Why can a male character be allowed nuance despite their deplorable acts of villainy, and yet when it’s done with a female character it’s proof that “the writers don’t get that what she did was wrong because otherwise why try to make her appealing or sympathetic in any way?” Why this double standard?

I don’t know, but I do know that it’s wrong and I am not here for it.

Tl;dr: don’t hate on Charm for things your fave is equally guilty of or things that a witch-themed supervillain is gonna naturally do just because it’s your fave who gets hurt by it.

[everlarkficexchange]

Prompt 45.

Written by: @butrfac14

My fic is based off of prompt 45: They fell in love young, they married young. People keep telling them that it’s not going to last. Well, they are proving them wrong. [submitted by @animekpopxx]

AN: This is part one of a new four chapter wip, and doesn’t exactly get into the details of the prompt yet (next chapter, I promise), but it’s (hopefully) a fun read. Thanks for the great prompt! 

16

“Later boys!” Johanna calls to them, pulling her shirt back down to cover her breasts once the light turns green. The tires make a chirping sound and she sways back and forth from her perch on the truck’s toolbox as the vehicle rounds the corner.

Katniss secretly wishes that she’d fallen off the back.

Finnick doubles over with laughter once Johanna is out of sight. “Holy shit!” He slaps Peeta on the back after straightening up. “Come on man, even you have to admit they looked nice.”

Peeta shrugs. He seems embarrassed, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck.

“Dude, that was for you-she knows that I’m taken!”

Katniss fumes from where she stands, leaning against the hood of Finnick’s car. Why is she even here tonight?

Panem is host to the phenomenon of “lapping”. Teenagers through mid twenty year olds pile into their best looking vehicles on Friday nights, from early spring through late fall, and drive the streets of Panem to see and be seen after dark.

There are no hard and fast rules to lapping, only designated groups.

Gearheads drive fast American cars. You didn’t dare show up with anything less than a V6 under the hood of your Ford, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, or Dodge, and there were even a few lucky guys with classic muscle cars like Finnick, who had managed to get his hands on a 1968 Chevelle SS that he’d promptly christened Justine.

Then there were the farm kids. The boys always drive trucks or suvs, the bigger the better. Within the group there is a plethora of plaid and Wranglers. Boots and ball caps are strongly encouraged.

Import drivers make the circuit in foreign cars with aftermarket exhaust systems and huge trunk deck spoilers. They usually spend as much money on their stereo systems as they did on the cars themselves.

Girls are definitely afforded more leeway when it comes to the condition of their vehicles. The guys are always happy just to see them show up, because no group of boys in their right mind would turn up their noses at a carload of girls, even if they do arrive in their dad’s old station wagon.

There are designated spots for each group, and the locals mostly stay put in their parking lots or alleyways. They hang out beside their vehicles, only taking a lap occasionally, while the kids coming from out of town cruise almost the entire time.

The generally recognized “loop” starts down by the courthouse, continuing up the main drag before turning right through the alley beside Haymitch’s sporting goods store, and back around to the other side of the building before dumping you out beside the light.

If the light happens to be red then you have just been afforded another opportunity to rev your engine and show off, and on warm summer nights like this the traffic is bumper to bumper.

Finnick gives Katniss an evil smile that makes her feel like hurting him. “What do you think about that, Kitty Cat? Do you think our friend here ought to take a lap around the block with Johanna, maybe see what happens?”

“I think that you should watch what you say while your girlfriend is at work, Finnick. And I don’t give a damn what Peeta does,” Katniss grits out. It’s a total lie of course, but what else is she supposed to say? Her pride is on the line. “It’s his business, not mine.” Her words sound too sharp, but there’s nothing she can do about it now.

As painful as it is for her to admit, she notices Peeta.

All of the time.

In fact she can’t seem to stop noticing him.

It started innocently enough one morning when Katniss was sitting in their third period Geometry class. She happened to glance over at Peeta and found herself mesmerized by him. It was bright out that morning, and she noticed how the sunshine lit up his eyelashes. They looked like spun gold (That’s ridiculous, Katniss thought, who says things like “spun gold” anyway?), and she couldn’t tear her eyes away- she simply had to watch and see if the strands would get tangled up in each other when he blinked.

Her gaze moved on to Peeta’s broad shoulders, which looked pretty darn good in the tight Panem High Wrestling t-shirt he was wearing. His kissable (kissable?) lips were pursed as if he was in deep thought, and the eraser end of his pencil tapped out a rhythm against the desk. She glanced down to look at the sketch he was working on- a dandelion turned white, with its puffy tipped seeds spilling up into the corner of the page. Peeta cleared his throat, and at the sound she looked up into his inquisitive eyes.

Katniss felt herself flush. “I didn’t know that you liked to draw.” That had been another lie, but it was the only thing that she could think to say to him.

And why had she been staring at him in the first place? Katniss felt embarrassed, so she turned and faced forward after that, vowing that he wouldn’t catch her looking at him again.

The funny thing was, Katniss realized that she wasn’t the only one looking. She could feel his eyes on her during class, but as soon as she turned her head Peeta would look away. Days, weeks, and months went by this way.

By now it was July, and school had been out for over a month without a word from him. Frankly it all just irked her. If Peeta couldn’t be man enough to say something to her, than she would just forget about him, and his stupid beautiful face. And those eyelashes. And those shoulders…

It was actually pretty hard to forget someone when you spend such a disproportionate amount of your time thinking about them.

Katniss is closely examining her nail beds when she hears the rumble of a large motor. “What does this asshole want?” She hears Peeta say in a low tone, gesturing toward the truck that has pulled in.

Gale Hawthorne.

The lanky farm boy slides out of his F350 and shuts the door, smoothing his dark hair back before reaching through the window to grab his hat. “Hey Catnip,” he calls out, striding her way.

Gale Hawthorne is a bit of a conundrum. He’s known around town as a player, showing up every weekend with a new girl to ride shotgun beside him in his truck. For some strange reason, he’s started to show an interest in her, and Katniss hates it.

Kind of. The attention is nice, but she doesn’t want to encourage him.

Tonight though, she is feeling pretty pissed off- at Johanna for showing off her ‘assets’ and flirting with Peeta, and at Finnick for going on and on about it. They all knew that Katniss would rather die than do something like that, and the fact that her own ‘assets’ were much smaller than Johanna’s didn’t help either.

Most of all she feels pissed off at Peeta for ignoring her. Still.

“Hi Gale, how you been?” She pushes herself off of the hood of Justine, walking closer to him, flashing him her best smile. Without even turning around, she can feel Peeta’s eyes bore into the back of her head.

Good.

Gale’s eyes light up. She’s never openly expressed any sort of an interest in him, and he seems thrilled at the attention. “I just thought that I’d pull in to see if you want to take a ride through town with me.”

“Yeah, I’d love to. That’s a nice looking truck you’ve got there.” Katniss gestures towards his vehicle, fully aware that she is laying the flattery on so thick that she ought to be wearing waders.

“You guys going to be here for awhile?” she asks Finnick after a moment, since he is her ride.

“Yeah, sure.” He leans back against his car, arms folded over his chest with a smirk on his face, while Peeta stands next to his friend, avoiding her eyes. His jaw is clenched tight. He’s staring off into the street, and the irritation practically radiates off of him.

“Okay, lets go.” Gale opened the drivers side door, gesturing for her to climb in. His monstrosity of a pickup truck has a lift kit and oversize tires, making it a difficult for Katniss to pull her short frame up into the cab. She struggles for a moment, trying to get in, before strong hands wrap around her waist and lift her up onto the bench seat.

Katniss moves across to the passenger side of the truck while Gale makes a pouty face at her, patting the empty space beside him. “There’s plenty of room right here, Catnip.”

Why not? Might as well make it look good. She scoots over to the middle seat and he throws the truck into drive, pulling out of the parking lot and into traffic. Katniss glances over her shoulder at the other boys as they leave, noticing that the two of them seem to be having an animated conversation. Finnick is pointing his finger at Gale’s truck, while Peeta shakes his head, before looking away once again.

“So how’s the summer treating you so far?” Gale asks, reaching over to turn down his radio.

The wind comes in through the open windows, blowing the loose strands of hair from her braid. She attempts to tuck them behind her ear. “It’s okay. I’ve just been working a lot. I’m trying to save money to buy my own car.”

“That’s cool. The farm keeps me pretty busy, too.”

Katniss stares out the front window, and feels uncomfortable with the lull in conversation. She racks her brain, trying to come up with something else to talk about. She doesn’t really know Gale very well, and hadn’t thought this far ahead when she agreed to ride along with him. All she really had planned on doing was pissing Peeta off. Now here she is, stuck with Gale, and realizing as the minutes pass in silence that conversation isn’t exactly her strong point.

Gale runs his hands back and forth across the top of the steering wheel once they come to a stop at a red light. “Cato’s mom and dad are gone for the weekend, and he’s going to have a party at his house tonight. I’m actually headed out there now - if you want to go with me. His parties are usually pretty fun, there’s always a bonfire and lots of alcohol.”

Katniss sneaks a quick look at him before glancing away. Gale is good looking, but there really isn’t anything about him that makes much of an impression on her. He’s just sort of there, in a dark and broody way.

She realizes that going to Cato’s party with him is actually the last thing she wants to do. “No, I don’t think I’d better. I have to work in the morning.”

Gale shrugs his shoulders. “Okay. I’d better drop you off with your friends then.  I told Cato that I’d be out to help him tap the keg.”

Thank goodness, she thinks as Gale circles around the corner and pulls into the lot next to Finnick’s car. He throws the truck into park, and turns to look at Katniss.

Gale clears his throat “Maybe I’ll see you later?”

“Maybe.” She glances out the passenger side window at Peeta, who is currently choosing to look at the ground again. Great. There’s a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she wonders why this little trip with Gale seemed like a good idea in the first place. Her anger has faded, and now all she feels is disappointment in the pit of her stomach. Maybe she’ll just ask Fininick to run her home when Gale leaves.

Katniss is just getting ready to scoot across the bench to open the passenger side door, when Gale puts a hand on her cheek and leans in quickly to kiss her on the lips, catching her completely by surprise.

Her first kiss.

From Gale freaking Hawthorne.

Katniss feels like she’s been robbed of something, and is pretty sure that a first kiss isn’t supposed to make you feel this way.

“I just had to do that, at least once.” Gale says as he opens his door and gets out. He holds it open for a minute, waiting for her to follow.  Katniss slides across the vinyl seat and jumps out of the passenger side door instead, slamming the thing closed before stalking towards Justine as a feeling of shame washes over her.

Which is stupid, because she didn’t ask Gale to do that.

“Katniss?” It’s Peeta-now he’s paying attention, of course. He sounds angry, but his focus is not on her. His blue eyes are blazing and wholly focused on Gale. “What the hell was that, Hawthorne?”

Gale shoots him a cocky grin, and leans against the side of his truck, shrugging his shoulders. “What’s it to you, Mellark? Last time I checked you weren’t her boyfriend.”

“No, asshole, I’m not. But I am her friend, and I don’t think that she wanted you to do whatever that was in there you just did. Not every girl wants your stupid paws all over her.” Peeta walks over to where Katniss is standing and puts his hand on the small of her back. “Are you okay? Do you want me to kick his ass?” Peeta’s voice is low, and he steers Katniss around so that she is facing away from Gale.

She laughs weakly, shaking her head. “It’s okay, Peeta. I’m alright.”

“That’s rich, Mellark. I’d like to see you try it,” Gale taunts, while Peeta chooses to ignore the dig directed his way. “I’ll see you later, Katniss,” he calls out, climbing back into the cab of his truck.

“Don’t count on it.” Katniss mumbles, staring at her feet. She steps out of the way to let Gale pull out and doesn’t look up again until she hears the screech of his tires across the blacktop. Katniss lets out the breath she has been holding, and looks up into Peeta’s concerned gaze. “I’m sorry.” Katniss tells him, crossing her arms over her chest to cover herself.

Peeta scowls at her. “Why are you apologizing to me?”

“I kind of feel like I brought that on myself.” Katniss looks over his shoulder, feeling angry tears welling in the corner of her eyes. “I don’t even like him, and I just feel so ughh. Stupid. Why did I get in there with him? I know what Gale’s like.”

“I should have kicked his ass,” Peeta fumes. “A guy forcing himself on you is never your fault.” He cracks his knuckles. “What a dick.”

Just being in this close proximity to him is enough to help her relax, and she looks up into his face, studying his features. Why have I been waiting so long for him to tell me?  Katniss thinks, It’s obvious how he feels about me, I’d have to be an idiot not to see it.

There’s some irony to it- the girl who isn’t good with words is going to be the one to say it first. “That was my first kiss, you know.” Katniss tells him.

Peeta just huffs, shuffling his feet in place.

Katniss finds that she isn’t that upset anymore. Maybe she’s just starting to look at the kiss from Gale as a springboard, the catalyst to get her to this place with Peeta right now. “Do you want to know the worst part? The only thing it made me feel was disappointed, because it wasn’t you.”

Peeta stares at her, the shock evident in his features. He swallows hard and then opens his mouth a few times, trying to find his words. For someone who is normally so eloquent, it’s pretty funny, and the way that his mouth flaps reminds her of a fish.

Eventually though, he does come up with a one-word response. “Really?”

Katniss nods. “Definitely.” She steps near him, tipping her head back to look up at his face. She rests her hands on his biceps and waits patiently.

Peeta gives her a sweet, shy smile before bending down to meet her.  “How about if I’m your second then?” He speaks the words into her lips, and then he’s there. It’s just a whisper of a kiss at first, but Katniss whimpers, the feel of lightning shooting down her spine. She moves closer to him, opening her mouth to get more, pouring all her pent-up frustration into the kiss. Peeta grunts in surprise but slips his tongue into her mouth, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tightly against him.

Somewhere in the midst of their frantic kissing she hears Finnick holler, “Finally!” Peeta just waves a hand to shoo their friend off while horns blare and the sounds of catcalls and whistles can be heard from the cars that pass them by.

He pulls back from her eventually, breathing hard. “Katniss, I can’t believe this. Does this mean… does this mean that you’ll be my girlfriend?”

The smile on her’ face is ear to ear, and she leans forward to kiss him again. But the moment is cut short when Finnick approaches the pair, seizing the opportunity to talk before the two of them start going at it again.

“Hey lovebirds, congratulations on finally getting your shit together. I hate to break up the party, but I have to go pick up Annie at work. Do you guys want to take a spin through town before we head to the drugstore?”

Katniss raises her eyebrows. Time alone with Peeta in the back of Finnick’s car? That’s a no-brainer.

Maybe if she’s lucky one of Gale’s friends saw them making out and would pass the word along to Hotlips Hawthorne.

“Yeah,” Katniss says, climbing into the backseat of Justine and practically dragging Peeta in after her. “Let’s go for a ride.”

#Springtime Edition 2019 #submission #butrfac14 #animekpopxx #prompt 45

[angryhausfrau-writes]

I Travel Troubled Oceans: Chapter 3 - The Celebration

After a suitable interval, and when he's sure everyone has gone back inside to the drugs and debauchery, Jack wanders over to where Charles is still laying on the stoop of Eleanor's door.

His shoulders are shaking and his face is pressed into his hands. At first, Jack thinks that he's crying – and he begins to wonder if this was such a good plan after all. If Charles doesn't still harbor feelings for Eleanor and this has torn open the wound.

But he gets closer and realizes that Charles is laughing.

Big, silent, shoulder-shaking bouts of laughter. It might edge slightly into the hysterical, but Jack puts a consoling (or at least it will be read that way by anyone who may happen to glance out the window) hand on Charles's shoulder and he settles down enough to peel himself off the pavement and sit up.

“Fucking glad that's over with,” Charles says.

“You did a masterful job, Charles.” Jack holds out a hand to him, ready to help him to his feet. “Perhaps you ought to consider a career in the theater.”

Charles snorts derisively but takes Jacks hand and Jack hauls him up to standing – a difficult feat given how much larger Charles is than him, but Jack's had plenty of practice hauling Charles out of the gutter. And that usually involves far less assistance from Charles himself, if not active resistance. This Charles practically springs to his feet before turning to face the house.

“Anne and the new guy get out ok?”

“Yeah,” Jack says, and holds his phone up for Charles to see. Anne has texted him a kebab emoji and a question mark. “They're getting kebabs.”

Charles nods. Spits on Eleanor's doorstep. Says, “Let's go.”

So Jack texts Anne a thumbs up and he and Charles head off to dinner and a cool thirty million in cash.

--

They get there pretty much right as Max's car pulls up – with Mr. Scott also in the back seat. And Anne and the new guy rush out, laden with bags of takeaway and the cash.

“Good timing, Jack. Was afraid we'd have to go hunt you down.” Anne grins, sharp and sincere. Glad they all made it out all right.

And Jack is too, if he's being honest. They'd willingly entered the dragon's den – and of course they'd planned everything best they could. But no plan survives contact with the enemy and all that.

But they'd made it out with life and limb and money. Money he's sure Max and Mr. Scott are eager to see for themselves once they get out of here.

Jack clambers into the back of the Range Rover and holds out his hands for the cash. Anne passes him the food first, so it's easy to see what her priorities are. But Charles climbs in after it with the suitcase and the new guy follows with the backpack and then Anne's climbing in after and then they're away – whisked off to wherever Max wants to take them.

Which is apparently a poncy hotel downtown. And she's booked a suite of rooms on the top floor, so they won't be disturbed during the all important money counting and divvying out. A far cry from how Jack's used to doing it, which is hurriedly and in a dark alley that reeks of piss. But he supposes they've hit the big time now – and he's certainly not complaining about the change in circumstances.

Neither is Anne, who kicks off her boots and immediately plops face down on the ridiculously large bed in the Master bedroom. Which is so plush, she sinks several inches into the duvet. Jack can't wait to try it himself, but business first.

Max might give Anne an awful lot of leeway, but Jack knows he'll get none. So he starts unloading the suitcase onto the table in the sort of dining area of the suite. And the new guy follows suit and unpacks his backpack. And by the time they're finished with that, Anne has gotten up and wandered over to the giant pile of money and started unloading her pockets along with Jack and New Guy.

Max grins a sharp, self-satisfied smile at the stacks of cash. One that Mr. Scott echoes, although his version is slightly less frightening. But only slightly.

Jack watches as Max counts the money. Because it's not that he doesn't trust her. But he doesn't trust her.

And she clearly feels the same way – watching Jack just as closely when it's his turn to recount. But they both come up with the same number (astronomical) and it doesn't appear that there's been any attempts at shenanigans. So Jack lets Max count out Mr. Scott's share, which he recounts and then promptly disappears with, leaving the five of them alone in the hotel room.

The last time Jack was in a hotel room with Max and Anne, they'd had a pretty terrible threesome. Eager to avoid any additional reminiscences about that night, Jack dives into counting out Max's share.

Given that she's already received an absolute fortune from Flint to disappear off to America with the former Lord Hamilton's formerly disgraced son and another, slightly smaller fortune from Silver to disappear up North with Madi, she's sitting pretty. Add in Jack's gift of Flint's painting and she's a good way towards owning the entire street. So she'd been willing to forgo her rightful share in exchange for a smaller finder's fee and the promise that, if this job was a success, Jack would continue working for her.

He'd initially been against the idea – working for your partner's girlfriend mixes love and money in a way he isn't particularly comfortable with. But, on the other hand, with Lord Hamilton and now Eleanor and Woodes Rogers out of the picture, Max is about the only major player left in the game. And Jack would much rather be under her protection than trying to carve out a niche for himself on the streets she owns.

So Jack counts out a meager five percent for her – still an absolute boatload of cash, but nowhere near her rightful share – waves her out the door, and gets down to the serious business of getting drunk on the bottles of high-end champagne Anne and Charles ordered up to the room while he was otherwise engaged.

It's somewhere between their second and third bottle, kebabs long demolished and the four of them lounging drunkenly – Anne upside down with her head hanging off the side of the bed – that New Guy starts bitching about Woodes Rogers's pitiful attempts at flirting.

“It's not that I really mind being flirted with so much,” he says. “Not that I would have gone to bed with him or anything. It's just that he was so terrible at it.” New Guy flops over next to Anne. “Like, I just think that if I'm going to be drunkenly flirted with by a guy – he should at least do a convincing job of it.”

Anne nods sympathetically, still upside down.

Jack wonders if he didn't make a mistake by letting New Guy join their little gang once Lord Hamilton's son dropped him to run off with flint. This is edging a little too close to casual homophobia for comfort.

“I mean, I'm not even a guy!” New Guy? says.

Ok, so maybe not.

“And I tried to tell him that I was a woman, but he wouldn't listen to a word I said. Just kept repeating how rich and cool and good in bed he was, as if that would change my mind after the first five times he said it!”

“Wait,” Jack says, not exactly firing on all cylinders at the moment, “you're not a guy?”

New Girl crosses her arms over her chest and looks pissed off. “No!”

“You're not by any chance a lesbian are you?” Jack asks nervously.

Now she's definitely pissed off. “So what if I am? Are you going to tell me that you of all people are homophobic?”

Jack would attempt to look affronted, but he's too drunk at this point to make it convincing. “Never, darling. It's just,” and this is embarrassing, “all of my friends turn out to be lesbians.”

Anne. Max, although maybe friend isn't the right word. Business associate. Probably others that Jack can't remember right now. Because he's got to have more than three friends, right?

Jack peers suspiciously at Charles. “You're not a lesbian are you Chaz?”

“Don't think so,” Charles replies after a minute of self-reflection. “And I told you you should go down the pub during some sort of sporting event. Buy a round. Make some friends that way.”

“I tried that,” Jack bemoans. “Attached myself to the mascest group of football hooligans I could find. But they all turned out to be lesbians too.”

“I think it's the mullet,” Anne interjects. She's deigned to sit upright for this important conversation and she's blinking drunkenly at Jack – or his hair, it's hard to tell which.

“That's true,” New Girl pipes up. “It's not the eighties anymore – the only people who still have mullets are lesbians and stupid fucks who live in Camden.”

“And American ice hockey players,” Jack adds, just to be difficult.

“Maybe you should move to Camden to be a stupid fuck,” Anne suggests. “At least then you'd fit in.”

Jack flips her off.

“And nobody'd believe you were an American ice hockey player,” Chaz adds.

Jack flips him off too.

“Maybe you're secretly a lesbian instead of Charles” is New Girl's contribution.

Ah, no. Most certainly not. He'd done enough anxious self-reflection as a teen to know that much.

“I'm bored of this conversation,” Charles says. “And there's a Jacuzzi in the bathroom.” He stands and takes off his pants.

Jack, tired of being made fun of, flounces off after him, leaving Anne and New Girl to their own drunken, giggly devices.

#black sails #max/anne #charles vane/jack rackham #i travel troubled oceans #chapter 3

[thewul]

Predictive Dialer

Here we are again boys and girls, I will let the rest of my resume answer for itself for now. This book is not so much an admission of guilt but to answer for the many challenges that face intelligence agencies around the world to keep the place manageable. Like I said we needed to make it tidy so lets jump right to Newscorp.

One of the first things I told many people that they themselves knew about is bringing the press industry and the media in check. Better than that to assimilate them same as we gobbled the arms industry with army intelligence agencies. And they had the stomach for it, all we needed was the money which started pouring by distributing a string of armament budgets and contracts.

It was a global rapid succession of purchases by regional branches. Newscorp accounts today for almost all of it, print, TV, and the internet. It has regional policies which its staff our staff coming from different intelligence agencies respects to the letter, we have gotten to the point where we can make someone vanish from public interest, for good. Agents do a fine work as journalists, they go to select journalism schools, journalism is a career they can pursue for years even decades and it makes for a nice cover, well paid too. They practice being synthetic and accurate from their reporting and articles they write, we know way before the public does, its all pluses.

Newscorp brought us much more peace of mind, for example it allowed different, many in fact, governments to work on solving issues rather than having an irresponsible press pour more negative public opinions over it, we now have responsible people who answer to a chain of command. Its quite soulless too, if someone has to bounce from politics, business or otherwise not only that person gets blanketed from the media globally but even its past coverage gets deprecated over time to account in a decade or two, tree even so for nothing at all. Meanwhile people have other preoccupations they moved with.

Hundreds of billions went through the banking system for this operation which was swift and ruthless. The government was now entitled to it all, I convinced it and sent it tumbling down on stock markets. Its one big bully when it wants something and I used that, they are all the same pretty much. People who didn’t buy out, well they died of the usual causes of death. Businesses kept rolling and ownerships changed.

There is something to holding a press concern that is akin to holding state power which frankly I wanted for myself, to shield myself and Nakashimura from public scrutiny to start with. Its not tomorrow I am appearing in a tabloid or in a front column branded as a mass consumption victim. It’s bad enough that I left the love of my life in some city. It’s not good enough for me, since I been with you I’m gonna sip on this drink, when I’m fucked up I should know how to pick up I’m gonna catch the rhythm while she push up against me Ooh, and she tipsy I had enough convo for 24 I peep’d you from across the room Pretty little body, dancing like GoGo But you are unforgettable I need to get you alone Why not? A fucking good time, never hurt nobody I got a little drink but it’s not Bacardi If you loved your girl then I’m so, so sorry I got to give it to her like we in a marriage Oh, like we in a hurry No, no I won’t tell nobody You’re on your level too Try'in do what lovers do. Maybe someone is reading this who knows at least there goes my effort. I know those other types are, everyone is curious as to how I framed them. I gave them what they wanted, and when they had it I was the only one who could use it.

Maybe they knew all along. I am only telling because I made it legal. I studied law, and I found out that executive powers gave all of the needed leeway inasmuch as they were in the right hands. Which you can take them from those hands if you know how even if it is better to put your people there to start with which is the way to go about it.

And then there are special powers which you are learning about. Put them with military and intelligence services cut the ball in two with politics by subtracting the press. Legal authorities can only smile at that they distributed the powers not the suits. Everything I do is constitutional.

Hey wow new material for this book and for people who purchased the book, if not you can read it online. I should start to look into a book cover. So yes there is an information war going on, and abuse of power that need to be looked into. And we are.

And it points in the direction of a strong ICANN, way more powerful than it is to protect everyone’s interests mine included. More centrally located too, yes I also work at ICANN.

We are indeed going towards producing national, meaning TLD based and regional versions of the internet, meaning firewalled. Where the different countries that are party to ICANN can themselves set their versions of ICANN’s domains database, and chose which sites or even TLD’s are served and which are not. And its a variety of issues ranging from porn to malware, satanism, racism, hate talk, immigration and visa frauds. Counterfeited goods and drugs. Its a free for all.

So we and its a large we of people who are concerned, need to address those issues because it affects the daily lives and morals of generations around the globe.

Also in our firewalled regional subnets the FDA can suspend all it wants, such an infrastructure implies that services, any services and all services that are live such as Tumblr be run regionally, meaning present in the region and not serviced from out of region based servers.

The free world is also the internet, in the wealth of knowledge that it has to offer, and the people that maybe don’t know each others, maybe never will, but keep an eye on what others are doing. 

We built this thing its all hacker stuff that you’re using everyday, you think you’re going to own it now? Hackers built your cellphone, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun its all hackers, hackers wrote the code that you think you can come bother us with.

Hackers wrote the hacker Manifesto that we go by everyday while you take the people’s money and will not even respect your constitutional duty to protect their civil rights. You say you live in the free world ain’t the free world. This is the free world.

This is the free world that tells all of you that are concerned to do your job as regards the people before you come knocking at our door. Its the free world that knows no distinction of gender or income or nationality or race, all we’re looking at all day long is the internet.

While you was after me I was maturing as a hacker, pleased to meet you I hack life in general same as I hack computers. Its what got you interested in the first place and here we are, I hack organizations, administrations, governments do you copy. I hack and I engineer, re engineer them.

People are reading this because it is valuable to them. They value the free speech of a free citizen of the free world. Unlike not being able to say what’s on your mind, hierarchy, bla bla blah hey we know you.

And your bosses, well hey its the big boys they know wassup they know what to do. That they’re not doing because the punk above them didn’t say nothing plus he can say all he wants and after that its the politicians. You’re Mr Clean living with Greasy.

All of you who don’t live for a pat on the back reading this, ie hackers, from all walks of life and from law enforcement. I know you’re out there and you know that I know. Hackers don’t live for a pat on the back, hackers don’t want to be known its years of jail if you get caught stealing state secrets if only to know what’s up fuck that pat on the back.

Fuck that pat on the back and do your jobs, say it like it is your duty as regards the rights of people to a decent life and future not to be abused online by scumbags.

This here is the free world. The indomitable world, the world that will not bow down nor cease to overcome. And we can tell all the difference in the world with what you are proposing.

The day after

And you ought too to rise up with your hacking skills see its not about tricking dummy into thinking you’re a network node or stealing SSL certificates from your nearest multinational, life is there waiting to be hacked, life itself and that means change for billions towards that which we want to build, a fair and free, open, transparent, prosperous, society. Its not what we have. We got to hack what we have into it.

Yes we’re back, freedom not an empty word, freedom is when everyone is free from the invisible chains of bondage and slavery. Society offers a vast panorama of resources that are over exploited, under exploited or plainly neglected and untapped by the people themselves who’s business it is to discover their potentialities and express them. Freedom is a vast project when everyone can fulfill their potential and express it, freedom is the expression of potential. 

And that potential has to be constructive and positive to be of value. Freedom is not what you make it, freedom is what it makes you.

#GITS #TPM

[mmiblog1]

we have: Obtained: from unidentified (HELO 60.17.139.96) (221.200.13.158) by mail1.myserver.xx with SMTP; 7 Nov 2006 10:54:16 -0000.Men report an increase in sexual activity when posting viagra review is in truth the best medication that have to to treat erectile dysfunction as well as erection problems. Most of the time, every single time a man is suffering from impotence, ought to due in order to physical condition and is pretty common as men grow older. They simply do not feature the blood flowing to where it must be get even though once completed. However, when they take viagra, they feel a lot better about themselves. May be engage in sexual intercourse when they take prescription drugs and individuals also for some time couples bond well together.”Both Tiger and Padraig are aware that you can’t have anybody particular group falling behind the others without your action being taken,” Paramor told the Guardian.Tip! With G-Lock SpamCombat youll have the ability to very easily preview not only the message text likewise all among the fields from message header . Conditions decide from the preview format by your thoughts. You are able to watch the communication as HTML, decoded concept, or concept production.You can find also many Obtained: fields inside the header just about every single meaning. E mail applications dont normally show the Acquired: lines nevertheless the Acquired: lines may be extremely useful for tracing the spam history.The Urologist obligingly went along with Jake’s suggestion of a venous leek and performed what’s referred to as a Doppler test on his penis. And guess that which? Yes you have got it, Jake was right again; he did possess a venous wish! Surgery was organised to fix this defect, three month later and no improvement and Jake, now a bit desperate it should be admitted, was online availing of my $19.00. online services. He presented himself like a victim of series of stupid doctors who collectively could not fix his ED. He stated very li http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/how-much-is-a-pill-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-free-samples-packs/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-caseiro/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/how-good-is-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/sample-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-discount-prices/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-and-glaucoma/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-net-worth/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/long-term-use-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/caverject-vs-viagra/

t next? Paola and his wife, Kristine, disappeared in the kitchen and went to function. When they came back a bit later includes to present us with terrific basil pesto fettuccine pasta. OH MY, can it get compared to this? Topped with freshly shredded parmesan cheese, which Paola assured, was really Italian viagra, it paired wonderfully light and portable semi dry Muskat, a white wine from an identical KISS vineyard. Eating, drinking, chatting, drinking even more! Kristine explained the ingredients of the fresh pesto sauce and how Paola only use pasta that he or she has made himself. YIKES, I enjoy it!No argument there. Other than slow play plaguing benefits as well as your weekend outing at the area muni, „pick up the pace” is really a reasonable catchphrase for every golf. But if network television is truly the reason why the officials put the Bridgestone leaders on the clock, Woods has a legit beef with during the event went cutting. And so, surely, does Padraig Harrington.If this sounds familiar, then require only a few to consider buying one of the major medical plans available this morning. One of efforts will help cover massive of a worldwide medical incident such as a long hospital stay, surgery, or catastrophic accident. It will not cover the costs of in order to be the doctor for a check-up within the other hand. But, since usually do not do it that often, you quite possibly away with paying cash for those visits. Diets are worthy of people which young and good health. It helps them save money medical insurance premiums without losing some type coverage. They also have choice of adding health discount dental plans and health savings accounts as thoroughly.Some women choose employ herbal products, including black cohosh extract and soy isoflavones. All these have cons. One of them is roughly the same as prescription HRT; an increased risk for hormone related cancers.Harrington took the high road. „There are rules, and the members make guidelines and providing http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/how-much-is-a-pill-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-free-samples-packs/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-caseiro/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/how-good-is-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/sample-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-discount-prices/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-and-glaucoma/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-net-worth/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/long-term-use-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/caverject-vs-viagra/

mail for signing up to web pages. Instead use a free account like Google’s G mail or offerings reported. You get an a hundred of these if such as and it’ll keep earth email protected.”If you’re asking a person two or three groups ahead in the lead perform within troubles performing time frame, it’s unfair to supply the steady leaders any leeway,” he explained.Consider the truth of Alice Renwick. At 65, she believed she was at little or no risk for Hiv. She was an infection control nurse in Detroit and knew all about using condoms to lower the . But then she met a man – an ancient heroin user – who had no issue attracting the women. After being together for five years, they stopped using condoms. For a few years nothing happened, on the web . he was diagnosed with HIV. When he died Alice was emotionally vulnerable. Adding to her misery: the belief that she was probably infected as well. She had seen doctors the particular years, for throat infections and other ailments symptomatic with HIV, but no doctor ever suggested she be proven. Eventually she pushed for the test and was found positive. She’s 80 now, and already been fighting the virus for discussed 15 years.Encourage your spouse to pursue a favorite hobby or develop an alternative interest. For my husband, it was cooking. He previously learned some cooking within when his kids were kids and he previously to prepare something when he had custody industry experts for times. He decided to learn more info on cooking certain to is pretty expert on-line. As a matter of fact, he has gotten so territorial about the kitchen now, that he states he prefer be in command of doing the majority of the cooking.The best alternative way to collect the e-mail addresses is always to build opt-in page. In this page form a space for entering historical past of the and e-mail address of the visitor. If, the customers wants to hold your website and to help get more content, he/she will surely subscribe. This way, together with other method http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/how-much-is-a-pill-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-free-samples-packs/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-caseiro/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/how-good-is-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/sample-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-discount-prices/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-and-glaucoma/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-net-worth/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/long-term-use-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/caverject-vs-viagra/

afner, another Austrian winery, satisfied our dessert cravings. A lovely blush color, just the right sweetness it made the whole celebration seemingly come together perfectly. The candle light reflected up from the wine glasses and most of us decided this was another Wine Food Pairing being successful! CHEERS!Will be interested in major medical plans? Let’s say you are a young single person, male or female. You discovered a full time job the college. You are active and healthy. Your employer offers within the health care coverage. It covers everything from Viagra to parental. But, you don’t need that amount of quote. You might visit a doctor every couple of years if you have influenza or need a refill regarding your birth control pills. Who in order to pay for that big medical policy when you don’t actually need it? But, your parents caution you. You need some medical coverage just in case something happens such as an accident or unexpected major illness.Indeed they do – a survey done by the University of Chicago in 1994 proved that vigour does may not be compulsory fade after 50. Plenty of seniors are experiencing sex, and many seniors are receiving infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Still, they don’t fret so much about the risk of AIDS, they think that. The reasons they don’t are several, but the principal one it seems to be that seniors simply are not aware of the basic facts.Make sure you explore the instructions on the pill carefully and take as ordered. viagra should be taken about one hour before sexual intercourse, Cialis needs around 30 minutes for it to function while Levitra needs 60 minutes to an hour for results. Make sure you give enough time for your impotence pill to are employed your body of a human.There are however exceptions to this rule, there are times to perhaps acknowledge that the old docs could possibly know legitimate because it are referfing to sometimes. A strong example of such an is in the management of erectile dysfunction in tee http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/how-much-is-a-pill-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-free-samples-packs/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-caseiro/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/how-good-is-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/sample-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-discount-prices/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-and-glaucoma/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/viagra-net-worth/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/long-term-use-of-viagra/ http://mmiblog.com/uncategorized/caverject-vs-viagra/

a natural treatment that works almost 95% of the time. The reason why it works is while the body offers an ‚internal intelligence’ and a problem right help, is entirely capable of healing by itself. And you can cure yourself in literally hours! Here is how!A real clinic with the where a good doctor functions best. They can ask some questions and actually treat you online for non fatal conditions. People tend to this regarding far a lot more than in order to wait to appointment for your doctor. Prolong it in order to the issue of buying viagra, well, it is a lot less embarrassing too. Most men, once they want spend money on viagra, don’t want to have inform the doctor about this in turn. They just want to consider getting the viagra UK and be done with it, without having to tell their doctor about their sexual overall. No one wants to this kind.Another person who might become in major medical plans is someone between jobs. COBRA is too costly. Most people cannot put food using the table while paying for COBRA insurance premiums. Getting a policy to cover catastrophic medical costs will be the right fit during these occassions. It will protect you and your health without bankrupting the associated with your every day. Many people use this type of medical coverage in between jobs or semesters attending college. It is a good thing to have if you limited money to invest in health care costs.The best alternative approach to collect the email addresses can be always to build opt-in page. In this page have a space for entering common history and e-mail address of visitors. If, the customer wants enable your website and for you to get more content, he/she will surely subscribe. This way, utilizing other methods, can be employed to make a long subscriber list. No doubt, these methods take some time but, require it and it get all the genuine addresses and together with the program without any risk of spamming.You should have got mails stating: purchase 1,000,000 contact inform

from http://mmi.web9e.com/uncategorized/get-things-back-on-track-with-viagra/