#that not agreeing with them on one thing makes you disillusioned with trying to interact with the entire effing system

[germiyahu]

Can

Can I say, from an atheist perspective? I think it’s rather self centered to assume atheist feel like they’re “missing something” because they arent part of an ancient bronze age belief system or traditions.

Like, we don’t need it to feel valuable and important, I at least am not jealous and don’t think that your religion is free of the same trappings that every other religion has.

This idea that atheists are “missing something” or are “jealous” of people, especially people as you’ve said have religious trauma related to Judaism yet apparently still “interact with the religion” seems kinda self centered? Like, there are Jewish atheists out there who do consider themselves to no longer be part of the religion.

To be fair I am not a Jewish raised atheist, or Jewish atheist as I’m aware those aren’t considered contradictory, etc, so admittedly I can’t speak for them.

But I can also say they atheists don’t need to have suffered religious trauma to be atheists,

So like, we agree your religion isn’t leftist but I think you missed OP’s point

No, you cannot. Nothing you're saying here relates at all to anything I've claimed or talked about. You're grasping at straws, and trying to make me into a strawman that makes strawmen out of atheists. Like are you okay?

Either go back and reread my posts more closely or stop embarrassing yourself. I guess I'll just tell you what I think as I doubt you'll actually do either.

Most American atheists are not born into some kind of autochthonous atheist community, they are born into religious families and later drift away from those religions and become disillusioned with them. Many don't have the kind of religious trauma I describe but many do. I suspect you're one of the former because that group invariably has a huge chip on their shoulders about religious people saying anything about atheists. And from the little pot shots you take at a religion I'm earnestly converting to, that answers that doesn't it? You're very hurt and offended.

Jews are not just a religion, but a people. The vast majority of atheist Jews are still 100% connected to Jewish institutions, still practice Jewish culture (which is often pretty indistinguishable from worship to an outsider), and are still involved in Jewish communities that include religious Jews. This is not really a problem for anyone outside of really stringent Orthodox communities perhaps. There are Jews with religious trauma but, if this kind of thing were measured scientifically, I'd bet my life savings it's at a much lower rate than former Christians. The amount of Jews who leave a toxic community but then never again interact with any other Jews is vanishingly small.

Contrast this with an ex Christian, who can go their whole life avoiding churches, Christian events, overtly religious Christians trying to preach to them, and can find community with like minded people and continuing to practice their values and their general American culture more or less the same.

An atheist Jew, even one with trauma, even one who has completely disavowed Judaism as an organized religion, is just not the same kind of person as an ex Christian atheist who has all the same trauma and animosity. These are different experiences. The mere fact that atheist Jews are still calling themselves Jews as opposed to ex Christians who just call themselves atheists should tell you a lot.

A lot of non Jewish atheists are exposed to Jews who share in their values and politics, and I have observed noticeable envy for the fact that these Jews have genuine religious/cultural experiences that reinforce and support their politics, not just awkwardly tolerate them. I'm not claiming these atheists yearn for God or wish to be Jews, but they envy the lack of religious trauma that a lot of Jews have. They envy that these left wing Jews have families and communities that don't ostracize them for their nonconformity, or even agree with them outright. The envy has nothing to do with an organized religion and everything to do with a cultural group of people. Throw in all the misconceptions and mistruths about Jews and Judaism that (ex) Christians have/say and it's a big mess.

I myself have been an atheist for like a decade. I haven't followed an organized religion nor felt any kind of spirituality within myself. My reasons for gravitating toward Judaism are complicated and I'm not obligated to share them with non Jews. But I do not think atheists are stupid or unfulfilled in life you fucking goober.

You are correct that an atheist doesn't need to be fleeing religious trauma to have their beliefs. The "facts and logic" atheist typecast as a smug "debate pervert" is pretty common too. And this group too looks upon Jews who do not eschew "bronze age belief systems" with disdain. They're uncomfortable that people who are just as smart and educated as them, who care about logic and reasoning just as much as them, who fight for the same political goals as them, believe in the quote unquote same ~*fairy tales*~ that they rejected growing up.

So no, I did not miss anyone's point. Non Jewish atheists are very incapable of being normal about Jewish people when they grew up in a philosemitic Christian society, and all the baggage, projection, envy, scapegoating, and resentment that entails. Jews, Jewish atheists, left wing Jews, whatever, were not the Christians who hurt you, and they're not the Christians you look down on as stupid yokels either. A lot of atheists have a lot of feelings to unpack and process when it comes to Christians long before they have the right to say anything about Jews or Judaism lol!

#antisemitism #atheist antisemitism #atheists

[seafoamreadings]

week of october 9th, 2022

aries: mercury goes back into libra, your relationships/commitments house, after its retrograde back into virgo briefly. it is still in the "shadow" of its retrograde, but partnership-related strangeness or chaos will now begin to dissipate, if it hasn't already.

taurus: this very venusian week is great for you, whether you want to go out or stay in or do a mix of both (in which case, go out earlier in the week and do your relaxing later on for best results!). you can upgrade aesthetically AND romantically, if that's something you'd like to do!

gemini: mercury back into libra as well as a general airy vibe all week including a gemini moon later on are all good supportive aspects for you. if your last couple weeks/mercury retrograde were rough for you, you can look forward to this week.

cancerians: recently, plutonic activity may have had your relationships in upheaval. this week is a nice rest from it if so. some aftermath may remain to be cleaned up (hopefully it's not that dramatic...) but the actual earthquakes have ended.

leo: energy from both libra and aries supports you throughout your week. boost it further by finding some way to merge aesthetics and broadening your proverbial horizons, especially if you can do so by writing. even if no one ever sees it besides yourself.

virgo: there's substantially less activity in your sign this week as mercury makes its ingress into libra after what i think we can all agree was QUITE a retrograde. yet your "modern" ruler, the "asteroid" ceres, remains in your sign, likely blessing you with one form or another of bountiful harvest.

libra: your sign is a serious focal point this week and there's activity involving your house of relationships as well. your interactions with others in the world serve as your mirror and also a source of healing, whether they seem easy or challenging.

scorpio: this period is gently supportive to your committed partnerships. if it doesn't seem so, take the opportunity to assess that relationship, but for most of you this will be a mainly pleasant time and for single scorps, if you're looking, some very eligible candidate may be about to enter the scene.

sagittarius: your relationships are your focus this week and if you try to avoid a conflict, mars in gemini assures you will be forced into confrontation, so you might as well go in calmly rather than kicking and screaming. prepare to be disillusioned, but appreciate the perks of seeing the truth.

capricorn: if your day to day routines have been thrown off in any way recently, this is the time to correct them. the impending retrograde of mars will not do you any favors at all unless you have set a healthy and stabilizing foundation for it to work upon.

aquarius: your special symbol this week is the smell of ozone mixed with a little petrichor. definite thunderstorm vibes occur, figuratively speaking, but whether it's a pleasant ambience of gentle thunder and the patter of rain or hail damage and lightning struck trees depends a lot on how you're personally handling things.

pisces: those of you who have had recent chaos around your relationships and commitments may be relieved to know that mercury is now moving from virgo back into libra again after, yeah, that weird retrograde. this is a shift for you from commitment to intimacy, or the integration of those things.

#astrology #transits #horoscopes #weekly horoscope #signs #zodiac #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces

[rielzero]

I feel so disillusioned by Marvel’s Pop Culture Critics as of late.

Warning: May contain spoilers for several marvel movies / series. Do not engage with this post to try and debate my opinions. these are just genuine feelings, you don’t need to agree with me. I’m just sad. It’s a bit of a vent as well. --- There’s a lot of media out there, especially for the mcu. They are kind of pumping and not hitting the brakes, so cracks are showing of course. Sometimes they hire someone who isn’t as great at writing as you’d want them to be. Or the Vfx is way behind the other movies and shows.

There’s easy answers for that of course, the lack of competence, or- people are overworked. Quality drops. HOWEVER.

I still enjoy majority of what's coming out, while still viewing it under a critical lense. I worry that the stuff people are complaining about is clouding their judgement or their ability to enjoy something. As well- Not every title that drops is in taste for everyone. I have mixed feelings about the MS Marvel show myself, or the new Thor movie.

I also always add for myself: the mcu is not the comic universe. Changing stuff can be forgiven if it doesn’t fully wreck the character.

I don’t like Captain Marvel’s movie- but thats because I don’t like captain marvel as a character. I also don’t like marvel’s street fighters personally, but this does not mean the movies and shows are necessarily bad. They just are, objectively for me, not as enjoyable. And that's alright. I can still respect it. I don’t really feel like I need to complain about it. It actually makes me happy when I see people write about things I dislike- because they are enjoying themselves. I think that’s wonderful.

What mostly bothers me is that they use one mistake from a series to really hype up or hype down another show too much. Moon Knight was an universal hit- but Ms marvel wasn’t. Why?

Character’s were not properly explored in Ms Marvel, majority of the episodes focused on the lore changes, and made surface level villains, who are bad for the sake of being bad. The rest of the show? Had good scenes. I personally enjoyed seeing Kamala in her element- The episodes that include school, and nerd nerdy stuff, are the best. You get to meet her family, you really see where this character works and were it doesn’t.

As for Moon Knight- people mainly disliked some of the cgi and vfx, If I recall. But none of the characters were that flat. Even the minor characters that interact with Steven are interesting.

Multiverse of Madness- I think, really failed because it was overhyped. The movie was good as it was for me, it was fine, felt like it could have had a few more scenes here and there. But it wasn’t bad. What was bad is that- the entire fandom- theorized it would be infinity war level of cameos. Really- they went crazy on theories- and once you saw the movie, all you get is people complaining about America chavez and Dr strange’s character development. But in no way home- he did get development by the end, he didn’t remember peter parker- but he does know spider-man is a kid, and sacrificed something- he didn’t have to kill someone to do so. That stuck with Stephen- even if people don’t realize that- which is why he was so eager to save Chavez, and prove he’s a different kind of dr strange. The writing on majority of shows / movies have different feelings now than the core phase 1, 2, 3 do. Thor went into a comedy direction, which at times is a bit too much. My disappointment is mostly because I really liked the gorr the god butcher comic arc. It was very thrilling with beautiful art. But those comic scenes were left as stills, for very short lived scenes. And gorr- beyond his gorey teeth, while having a good actor- was a completely different character. You felt more empathy for him- but he’s not as intimidating as he was in the comics. His arc was shorter. Mighty Thor’s arc was also short lived in the movie- while in the war of the realms it was really long and emotional. I do appreciate the scene were Jane sees the hammer float next to her hospital bed. When reading that a while back- I fucking cried. I felt that again watching the movie. Knowing that she was going to die if she turned again. But the movie rushed every scene, made too many jokes, and while some scenes were very emotional- kinda fell flat on some places: It’s still not a bad movie.

What upsets me the most is the she-hulk discourse. Before the series even started- people are upset because its a woman. Wow. She was written by stan lee himself, but for some reason people don’t know that. People complain about ms marvel- because of her ethnicity. People complain about she-hulk because of her gender, people complain about captain marvel, because idk, they don’t like brie larson. And while some opinions and critiques are totally valid- sometimes.. It’s like. Shut the fuck up. I like she-hulk, I like ms marvel. They’re just different shows. VERY DIFFERENT SHOWS. But now that we are in phase 4, you’ll mostly notice: every movie and every show HAS A DIFFERENT VIBE. You can’t compare Moon Knight to Hawkeye. Hawkeye has a christmas family get to getter vibe, as well as a ‘’time to beat up street level crimes.’’ kinda feel. Moon Knight has a psychological ride- mystery, mythology, fucking egyptian stuff. Moon Knight doesn’t even mention the rest of the mcu for the entirety of its run. And I enjoyed both shows. Why? They’re different. Their aesthetic, vibe, their themes. And I think people have to get used to that. When I rewatch every one of the infinity saga phases, all of those movies and parts have a different feeling to them. Which is why people need to calm down with their extreme opinions and paranoia about stuff they’re not really sure about. You can complain about women’s issues in she-hulk- but this she-hulk might not be the exact same personality as she-hulk in the comics. AND! Idk, I kinda can understand were this she-hulk’s coming from? But thats the character’s perspective. Characters aren’t perfect- and they will complain or not understand what other characters are saying at times.  (aka the convo with bruce about anger issues.) My main worry is just that people need to get used to the idea that we’re threading strange waters in the mcu, but just like marvel comics is doing constantly with their series. Marvel has ALWAYS been woke, Marvel has always been diverse. Female superheroes exist. Get over it. Stop crying and just let people enjoy stuff- It’s very difficult to do so when your first impression is from someone who may not always fully vibe with the show or movie they’re watching. tldr: every critique is allowed to exist- a lot of them are valid, sometimes its just nitpicky, sometimes its unfair, and sometimes people just gotta sit down and see for themselves. Every show has people who enjoy watching it. Same for the movies. I’m just tired about seeing people complaining about very trivial and insignificant things which can be answered easily. Opinion, taste, writer, changes, theme, accuracy, all that stuff. Everything matters, sometimes it just doesn’t. And thats okay.

#this is also why i havent posted about the comics ive read lately #i finished like 6 black clover mangas recently #marvel do make some good shows though #cgi and vfx can look cringey but please let them unionize and give them a break #people are breaking their backs for the mcu #give them some rest #sometimes a writer just sucks #anyone even watched eternals? #i do wanna see the marvels though #kamala khan is cool #i also wanna see miles morales drop by #anyone hyped for spiderverse 2 p1? #she hulk is a good show you guys just dont like women who talk back

[tenthgrove]

Yandere Bruno squad headcanons perhaps :0?

Yandere Team Buccelati

Content Warnings: Yandere behaviour, stalking, abduction

A/N: Apologies, but I've decided that I'm not really comfortable writing under 18s as yandere characters, so I'll just be doing Buccialati, Abbacchio and Mista for this one. Extra warning that this is really bad (I'm particularly not happy with Mista's section) because I wrote this late at night and didn't know what I was saying as I wrote it, so double apologies for that.

Bruno Buccelati

In spite of his occupation, Bruno has no qualms befriending the civilian population of Naples and doing good for them. He holds a profound pity for the victims of organised crime, and is eager to help where he can. So when you approach him on the street, asking for help with ridding yourself of a creepy stranger who had made it his business to follow and harass you, Bruno is quick to ensure your would-be stalker never looks your way again.

Although Bruno saw to it that you were escorted home safely, he can't help but feel some well-intentioned worry for your well-being over the coming days. He checks in on you again, which you find to be very sweet, but as the days pass by again his worry returns. Continuing to visit you would seem odd, he knows, but surely there's no harm in asking Narancia to check through your window once in a while?

At first it really is just concern for your safety, but after a while, Bruno is forced to accept that he is genuinely infatuated with you. His feelings are far too strong to simply sweep under the rug, and approaching you the normal way could put you in danger, provided it even works. He isn't going to kidnap you, that would leave him no better than the thugs he chases off of the streets, but to make you his he's going to resort to something unorthodox.

Bruno makes a few preparations. He does a few favours for your friends and family- gotta make sure they're on his side, He also checks his intel into the area's rival street gangs, since it can't hurt to have a hint of truth to the story he's going to tell. Then, armed with a few empty suitcases and a fake look of concern, he heads to your house late one night.

He announces to you that one of the rival gangs in the area has singled you out as a target for trafficking, and because of your previous interactions with him, they're dead set on taking you. Bruno assures you not to worry and helps you pack away your things, promising that you will be safe in his care while the issue with the gang is sorted out. You'll be staying in his house, of course. It's best he's right on call in case anyone tries to come after you.

Your new life in Bruno's house is a strange one. You cannot leave the house of course, except for the occasional short trip with him or his men to stop your mental health from suffering, but your internet access is unrestricted, you can call your family as much as you want, and you're allowed to buy anything you'd like with your money (or better, have him buy it for you). You have your own room, but Bruno often asks to come in and sit with you late at night. It's all for your comfort, of course.

After a couple of months, Bruno's excuses to keep you longer will start to run out as you start to wonder why he hasn't eliminated the street gang yet. The hope is that by this point, you would have already fallen for Bruno's charm and started to love him, but barring this, he'll simply buy more time by making up more reasons why it's unsafe for you to go home.

But, if all else fails, and you begin to insist on leaving... well, Bruno didn't want to do this, but he can't just let you go. You're locked in your room, windows barred as Bruno explains to you calmly that this is all for your own good. You can come out any time you want, Amore. All you have to do is promise to stay.

Leone Abbacchio

Despite his occasionally cold demeanour, Abbacchio is no stranger to the want for companionship and affection. In fact, it's fair to say he needs it, and that going so long without tenderness has left him empty, miserable and disillusioned. But it's only a matter of time before somebody reawakens his need for warmth.

Both of you were having a bad day. You were downtrodden and lamentful, and as sad people tend to do together, you shared your angsts together as you sat at the bus stop, neither of you caring that this was the first time you'd even seen each other.

Abbacchio does not want the conversation to end. So when the bus arrives, he gets a ticket to your stop instead, and sits with you, continuing to talk. He is sad when you say goodbye. He knows he needs to see you again. He thinks nothing of lingering to see which street you turn onto as you walk home.

Abbacchio gets to work right away. He needs to have you, but cannot see you ever falling for someone like him. Not through normal means instead. His thoughts turn to abduction, but the image of you begging and crying as he drags you to his car saddens him. He knows he could never hurt you that badly. He needs to find a half-way point, between force and natural love.

The first thing he does, once his mind is made up, is go to your boss. Using Passione's name, he quickly convinces them to fire you without any question as to why. It is a similar story with your landlord a few days later. Any friends or relatives who might take you in are also sent a warning phone-call.

You know full-well what has happened. You knew at the time your one-time companion on the bus was a mafioso, his story made that clear. You beat yourself up every minute for not avoiding him then and there. And now, as misfortune after misfortune strikes you, everyone who bears you bad news has the same white-haired stranger to speak of. When, on your first night on the streets, a tall figure approaches you from the black car, you do not feel any surprise.

Both you and Abbacchio know what he is here for, so he does not explain much. He sombrely instructs you to get in the car if you don't want to be stuck on the streets any longer, promising that he will not do you any harm if you comply. He has already struck out every other option for possibly helping yourself. You have little choice but to go with him.

You do not expect much when you arrive at Abbacchio's house, but instead you find all your old possessions lined up for you to decorate your room with. After quickly explaining where the bathroom is and which foods from the kitchen are free for taking, he goes to bed, advising that you do the same. You are completely, and utterly perplexed.

Abbacchio forces little conversation on you in the early weeks. Most of the time, he is out doing work, leaving you with free reign of his house. Soon, you do not feel at all as though you were forced to be here. You dare say your life is better here than it was before. Abbacchio's friends occasionally visit, making sure that Leone isn't mistreating you and you're fully happy here. Eventually, Abbacchio relents to letting you reopen communications with your friends. You cannot say you have anything to complain about.

The only question, is what Abbacchio ever wanted from you. It's so strange how he went to all these lengths to take you only to largely ignore you. The truth is, he's waiting for you to open up to him of your own free will. As he lies in bed alone at night, he dreams of you coming into his room, asking if he can hold you for a minute.

Mista

Guido Mista has dated a few times in the past, and he isn't interested in letting Passione stop him from continuing. It doesn't matter how you met him, just that after a few encounters you began to date, and were very happy with your new beau. You worked well together, what else is there to say?

But after your second date, Buccialati received word of your existence and was concerned. He isn't exactly going to force you to stop dating, Mista is an adult after all and can do as he pleases. But Buccelati wants to make sure you know what you're getting into.

Paying you a visit, Buccelati explains to you that your new boyfriend is involved with the mafia, and continuing to see him will involve certain risks. He is happy for you to take these risks, so long as you are aware of their existence. You thank him for him time, and immediately proceed to shut off all communication with Mista without explanation.

After a brief shouting match with Buccelati once Mista realises what he's done, he marches over to your house to plead with you to take him back. You stand your ground, that Mista lied to you and you refuse to be involved with criminals, but Mista isn't giving up.

The argument escalates. You slam the door in his face. Mista goes home and despairs. You were the best he's ever had, and now he's supposed to accept that you're just... gone?! No... all you need is a little more time. Mista turns right around and heads back to your house. This time, he isn't letting up for anything.

It goes much further than he intended. In a split-moment of instinct, Mista draws his gun and threatens you into letting him in. He really didn't mean to scare you like that, but his emotions are running high right now and he doesn't know how else to make you listen.

So, here you are now, a hostage in your own home, because your barely boyfriend couldn't let you go. In the ultimatum the two of you made after he threatened you, you ended up agreeing not to leave the house at all for the time since he was scared you'd try to run.

Mista doesn't stay with you all the time, but he visits you daily to bring you things and try to repair the relationship. To his credit, he hasn't threatened you at all since the initial incident and seems to regret it intently, but forgiving him is difficult after what he did.

Your commitments are mysteriously all taken care of, your boss inexplicably granting you a long period of furlough at full pay. Buccelati wasn't kidding when he said the group Mista was part of was powerful. You shudder to think of what else he could do.

#team buccellati #team bucciarati #bruno buccellati #bruno buccerati #bruno buccelati x reader #bruno buccerati x reader #leone abbacchio #leone abbacchio x reader #Guido Mista #guido mista x reader #yandere cw #stalking cw #abduction cw

[lucemferto]

Hey girl, don’t mind me, I just quickly went and rewrote Dream SMP Season 2.

I’m focusing on the big plot stuff from Season 2, which makes it really easy for me to make it good, because I don’t have to contend with all the hard parts like dialogue and scene pacing and stuff. As an additional challenge to myself, I try to change as little as possible. If I don’t mention stuff (like the Egg-Arc) then that means I’m fine with them the way they are.

I wrote this in an hour, so don't expect it to be good, pls.

Whether you agree or think this is trash, I'd be so interested to hear your thoughts!

ACT I

Fundy’s early arc with Ghostbur, Eret and Phil is great and should stay the way it is. It sets up the character relationships and potential for conflict that we can explore in the future.

Similarly, I wouldn’t change too much about the conflict during Exile with one exception: Both Tommy and Quackity don’t want to include Technoblade. Instead, they believe that they can take one Dream by themselves – this is important for Techno’s, Tommy’s and Quackity’s personal journey later on. In this rewrite, Quackity also didn’t found El Rapids, but instead recruited George & Sapnap to L’Manburg – because his stated goal is to make L’Manburg the strongest nation on the server, so why would he make a rival nation with a plotline that goes nowhere?

What’s also important is that it’s revealed that Dream has a spy in L’Manburg around here. Maybe Tommy confessed his burning of George’s house during a cabinet meeting and word still got out to Dream. Who knows, but it’s important for later.

Something big that I would change about this Act I is that I would give Techno an actual B-plot. As it stands, Techno’s early plotline was just “Grrr, I’m angry that Tommy would use me like that! Someone killed my cows and robbed me! L’Manburg will know my wrath”

3 weeks later

“Nevermind, I’m a pacifist now and live in the arctic”

Instead, we pick up where S1 left off. Techno is intent on destroying L’Manburg and instituting anarchy. During that time, he comes into conflict with Quackity’s henchmen (Fundy, George, Sapnap, etc.) to establish that L’Manburg could be an actual threat to him.

We also have some conflict with Phil. They’re old war buddies, but Phil’s son built L’Manburg and Phil himself is unofficially Tubbo’s advisor. I think them reconstituting their friendship will take up this early part until Tommy’s exile – it makes for a nice foil to Tommy’s and Tubbo’s friendship falling apart.

Technoblade also tries to recruit people like HBomb and Niki to his cause, but they’re hesitant, because, you know, he sent Withers to destroy their home. Not the best first impression. Techno is hurt, but convinced it’s because of L’Manburg propaganda and they don’t want to work with him, because they don’t see him as useful.

ACT II Part 1

Exile-Arc basically stays exactly the same – with one notable difference. When Technoblade comes to visit Tommy it’s not to mock him – it’s as a final attempt to convince Tommy to join him. It’s a first culmination of Techno’s character journey so far: His previous interactions with the citizenry of L’Manburg has left him shaken, but not shaken enough.

Tommy truly does need “The Blade” right now and he has no reason to further believe L’Manburg’s propaganda. So, by Technoblade’s inner logic, Tommy should accept.

But he doesn’t. Tommy viciously rips into Technoblade and gets very personal (he’s in a bad space, understandably) – Techno can play it off nonchalantly, but either the cinematography or some later moment shows us that he was hurt by this.

Nevertheless, he gives Tommy a compass that points to his HQ, showing us that he cares about Tommy, like he did during their early days in Pogtopia.

This is where we implement some big changes. The story of Technoblade and the Butcher Army becomes the A-plot, while the Exile becomes the B-plot.

It makes perfect sense. The Exile-Arc is a very inward-focused, almost a character study of Tommy and Dream. It doesn’t have a lot of big narrative movement – so the perfect time to execute on that narrative movement in the storyline that has a lot of moving pieces.

So, after Tommy chewed him out, Techno is hurt and meets with Philza. Techno then explains that for him anarchy always was the natural order of things – to fight for a world where only the strongest survive – but pursuing anarchy like that has left him empty. Philza then explains that anarchy should be more about helping people and building an equal community.

We’re all but stating a major thematic conflict of this storyline: Fighting those who wronged you vs. Helping those in need. All this while also exploring the philosophy of anarchy with Techno and Philza serving as symbolic stand-ins for some different thoughts on the matter.

So, while Tommy’s Exile is going on, Techno refines his approach. This goes hand in hand with Quackity using his henchman to turn L’Manburg into a totalitarian police state in order to root out Dream’s traitor (told you it would become important later).

This will be the main conflict here in the first half of Act 2. Quackity and Philza will play shoulder-devil and shoulder-angel respectively for Tubbo and Fundy, pulling them in different directions. Ghostbur also hangs around L’Manburg – a constant reminder for Tubbo of the most sanitized version of President Wilbur and the lofty ideas he stood for.

This is another big thematic conflict for this storyline – externalized in part through Ghostbur’s presence: When do the ends no longer justify the means? It also feeds into the motif of Tubbo and Tommy becoming like Schlatt and Wilbur respectively (even if that’s still mostly superficial).

During this political turmoil, Niki is getting into Quackity’s crosshairs. She opposes his policing and brutal methods. So Quackity really focuses in on her and she has to live with constant surveillance, searches, etc. Niki tries to talk to Tubbo about this, but he says it’s necessary to keep L’Manburg safe. Slowly, Niki grows disillusioned with L’Manburg.

It is during this time that Niki gets into contact with Techno and the two start to form a bond and helping the citizenry hold out hope during this time (I don’t know who would be the citizenry, probably people that don’t have their own storyline going on such as HBomb, Vikkstar, Lazarbeam, etc.)

And we can have a few lorestreams like that, where the conceit is that Techno’s sneaking into L’Manburg to help people and there’s actual tension.

All this culminates in Hog Hunt. Fundy sees Phil, Niki and Techno team-up. He confronts them after Techno left and Phil begs Fundy to not out them – but their divide has grown too deep (and we’ve actually shown that during Fundy’s streams this time).

Quackity has Phil and Niki incarcerated (L’Manburg has a prison now, it’s not as good as Pandora’s Vualt). Tubbo is deeply disturbed that Philza and Niki would betray him by working with the man that took one of his canon lives and finally gives the Butcher Army his presidential approval. Quackity was already prepared and the events of Hog Hunt play out as we know them.

ACT II Part 2

Again, plays out relatively similarly, except for one major difference: Tommy comes to Techno with the explicit purpose of asking for his help. Exile has left him really hardened, probably more so than we have currently.

This would a.) make Tommy a bit more proactive in his partnership with Techno and b.) actually gives some weight to Techno’s later beef with Tommy, because now it’s based on more than just some flimsy phrasing during S1.

Otherwise, this plays out relatively similarly – Techno and Tommy maybe share a few more character moments, just to drive home that Techno cares about Tommy. Also, none of that dumb keeping it a secret whether or not we destroy L’Manburg – that’s some contrived nonsense and I hate it.

Tommy knows that Techno wants to destroy L’Manburg and while he’s conflicted, he ultimately goes along with. Once he gets his discs back, everything will be over after all. The destruction of L’Manburg will have been worth it.

Part of the rising action will be breaking Phil and Niki out of prison instead of the petty bullshit about Techno’s items that he doesn’t need. This is where we have the initial confrontation between Tommy and Tubbo (and Techno doesn’t ruin the moment by being his worst self).

Other plot points include: Techno receives the Wither Skulls over the course of him and Tommy working together by some mysterious benefactor. This is after he and Tommy confronted Dream. He doesn’t tell Tommy who the benefactor is, even though he knows (spoilers: it’s Dream).

Meanwhile, Tommy, Techno, Niki and Phil are secretly rigging New L’Manburg with TNT a la Wilbur, just to really drive that comparison home. Niki is getting really angry; she has suffered enough and she’s really gonna get revenge.

One of her big moments of terrorism before the Green Festival is burning down the L’Mantree (maybe we can include some character conflict Fundy, so we have these two people who were once really close friends now so warped and torn apart by these two sides at war).

Meanwhile, Quackity has figured out that Ranboo was the traitor and is pushing for Tubbo to execute Ranboo for the greater good of L’Manburg. Tubbo is hesitant, but as there’s no moderate voice in the cabinet anymore, he concedes to the idea.

Finally, the Green Festival is here. This part is really … tough to rewrite, because you have to accommodate so many different character arcs, but I’ll try my best.

In a move not unlike during the Red Festival, Ranboo is revealed as the traitor and put in the execution cage (because those parallels). Tubbo feels really bad about it.

This is when Tommy and Techno start their assault and unleash the whithers. L’Manburg is under attack and we have the big fight between Tubbo and Tommy. We get the big shout-out “The discs were worth more than you ever were” and the ensuing epiphany on Tommy part.

Techno’s calling for him to explode the TNT, but he doesn’t do it.

Quackity is calling for Tubbo to execute Ranboo, but Tubbo has an epiphany himself and refuses. Both their personal conflicts are resolved here. Also, we have some nice parallelism between Quackity and Techno as Tubbo’s and Tommy’s respective bad influences.

Techno – understandably this time – feels betrayed and hurt. He and Tommy have their shouting match. Quackity tries to attack Techno, but during their match they accidentally trigger the TNT. Quackity’s hunger for power has created the grave of his ambitions.

(Niki is also pissed at Tommy and Fundy is fully distraught, because L’Manburg was everything he had left from Wilbur).

Dream steps out of the shadows and reveals that he was Techno’s mysterious benefactor. He gets his hands on the second disc and gloats to Tommy. The scene from Doomsday plays out only that Techno shows some stings of remorse for helping Dream accomplish what he wanted. (Quackity flees the ensuing chaos).

Dream tries to goad Tommy with the discs, but Tommy doesn’t bite, because he has resolved his Want vs. Need now. Dream is frustrated, but retreats for now.

ACT III

In the aftermath of ACT II, I think it’s very important to hammer home that this wasn’t a win for Techno, Niki or Phil. For that to work I think it’s important to make clear that Tommy’s and Techno’s bond was genuine and that they really cared for each other during the Bedrock Bros thing. Neither of them is happy for how this turned.

Niki is plagued by nightmares and sleeps in a prison cell like in the current canon. She stands in symbolic for the emptiness that vengeance brings. Phil is shaken from his talk to Ghostbur and he’s the one who brings up that maybe what they did wasn’t for the best.

Then Techno and Phil have a discussion about the nature of anarchy again, calling back to that earlier conversation at the beginning of Act 2. Techno also feels empty – his vengeance and the destruction he wrought left him no happier.

Meanwhile, Punz and Tommy are actually spending some quality bonding time. Thanks to the medium, they could simulate that pretty well. Punz actually gets attached and when Dream mentions his coup-de-grâce, the cinematography shows that Punz isn’t too happy about it.

Tommy and Tubbo prepare to fight Dream on their own terms. They know, they have to stop him lest he hurts the people they care about (this makes both of them a bit more proactive in the finale). Punz (as per Dream’s orders) tells Tommy where Dream is hiding. Tommy thanks him, oblivious that Punz is a traitor, but Punz feels bad. He has grown attached to Tommy.

During the Final Disc War we actually get two perspectives: One is Tommy’s and Tubbo’s as we know it (only without the constant “Your discs or Tubbo”-stuff) and the other is Punz’s. He has decided to help Tommy even though there’s nothing monetarily in it for him.

First, he goes to Quackity, but Quackity says that Tommy has betrayed him and L’Manburg and that he gets what’s coming to him.

In a last-ditch effort, he goes to Techno. Here’s where we resolve that thematic conflict (Vengeance vs. Charity) for the Techno-Butcher Army storyline: Quackity has chosen to perpetuate the cycle of vengeance (because he will be the villain in S3), but we want some nice character development for Techno.

Niki is against it and stays put, but Techno and Philza ultimately decide to go with Punz and the others to help Tommy.

Finale plays out the same. Stuff’s still awkward between Techno and Tommy/Tubbo; they haven’t resolved all their problems, but it’s a first step. Some good set-up for S3.

And that’s my basic rewrite. It’s long and probably not the best.

#dream smp #dsmpblr #dsmp #dreamsmp #dream smp analysis #dsmp analysis #tommyinnit #dsmp tommy #dsmp tommyinnit #tubbo #dsmp tubbo #technoblade #dsmp technoblade #dsmp techno #bladeblr #dream #dreamwastaken #dsmp dream #dsmp dreamwastaken #quackity #dsmp quackity #niki nihachu #nihachu #dsmp niki #dsmp nihachu #dsmp niki nihachu #dream smp season 2 #philza #dsmp phil #dsmp philza

[greenhappyseed]

BnHA Ch 316 - Things I noticed and comparisons

If the last chapter was AFO Rising, this one formally introduces us to Great Explosion Murder Devil AFO. Of course, it’s not new that AFO loves explosions. His attack on Nana involved an explosion and he used a big BOOM twice during Kamino; once at the beginning and once mid-fight to separate All Might from Best Jeanist, Kamui Woods, Mt Lady, and Endeavor (panels below). You know, the pros who were “easing [All Might’s] burden” and are now there for Deku.

We open the chapter with Endeavor saying he “got word from All Might,” which is weird phrasing because All Might clearly called, so I suppose the Top 3 hero brain trust sent him to voicemail. Also, Deku must be very confused about how All Might knew about Nagant and Overhaul. (And Deku doesn’t know All Might was attacked!!) But really, take a close look at this panel because I have NO idea what sequence of events lead to this image. I think Endeavor was trying to fly while carrying Hawks, and then when Hawks saw Nagant he yeeted himself towards her, falling with style until he realized those nubby wings couldn’t support them both. Plus, tiny Hawks looks like a scarecrow. Bones should have fun animating this someday.

Serious question time: Is Nagant a hero, as Hawks says? (Deku says she has the soul of a hero but doesn’t say she IS a hero.) “Hero” was once her job title, sure. But she wasn’t a “saving” hero — she murdered innocent people to protect the image of “heroes.” Then she became disillusioned with murdering and murdered the HPSC president so she wouldn’t have to murder anymore. Later, at some point while in Tartarus, she listened to AFO’s Caged Wisdom video series and believed he could solve society’s problems. Upon jailbreak she agreed to assault and kidnap a teenager so AFO could presumably torture him. (Whatever AFO wants with the kid, she had to know it wasn’t good.)

While Izuku faux 100%ed her into redemption, has she ever been a real “hero”? I think the answer is no, and what we are seeing is Hawks projecting because he wants to reassure himself that HE is a hero. He is an optimist. He is a good person, and he was just used by some bad people….right? Like how he was ordered to kill Twice, right????

It sure seems like the heroes are trying HARD to rally behind Nagant even when, objectively, she’s never been much of a hero. I can’t tell if we are supposed to cheer Deku and Hawks for giving a “villain traitor hero” a chance to do some good or if we’re supposed to see this as an example of heroes rallying around their own no matter how corrupt. I guess the real test is, would Deku and Hawks say the same things about a heroic soul to someone from the League of Villains?

Let’s get Overhaul over with. The official translation is far better than the leak summaries. It’s clear Deku isn’t going to take Overhaul’s bullshit AND won’t allow Overhaul to get anywhere near Eri. Instead, he says IF Overhaul will direct his “energy” towards saying sorry to Eri, he’ll fulfill Nagant’s “deal.” In other words, on our villain spectrum, if Muscular was unrepentant and deserved to be one-shotted, Overhaul shows he’s CAPABLE of remorse —but he doesn’t direct that towards all of his victims. He’s selectively repentant, so he doesn’t get full redemption, only the most base level of politeness required by society (that is, fulfilling a contract). In fact, note the repeated “contract” and “deal” language used for AFO/Nagant and the “subcontract” between Nagant/Overhaul. Contracts are a highly literal, unemotional type of basic trust transaction necessary for society to operate. It’s not about redemption or ideals or heroism; it’s “I give you x and you give me y” and we are both reliable.

Dadmight and Hercules are BACK baby! (Does All Might even tell anyone he was assaulted? Is HE okay?) Is he allowed to interact with anyone in this story anymore??) Top panel below is from 316; after that is one from 313 and below that is 3 pics of the Jeanistmobile with 1 of Hercules on the bottom right. Speaking of which, where the hell is Jeanist? Did Hawks stuff him inside a bag again?

Sorry Dadmight, but Deku’s not okay (TALK TO HIM, ghkhkjrjw). He’s badly injured and AFO is after his soul, which has caused badasses like Nagant to crack wide open. (Deku says Nagant has the soul of a hero in the last chapter, but here she says her soul is worn out. Chasing AFO takes a heavy toll.) Even so, look how Deku is doing his best, sitting tenderly by Nagant’s side and keeping his arm outstretched to her. This kid, indeed.

Apparently we just timeskip to everyone healed and ready to storm the mansion (sigh). Not that I need more hospital scenes, but it feels so rushed. Deku going with the Top 3 heroes and the Lurkers into a mansion to fight AFO should be an epic “I am here” moment. But there’s no moment for Deku to reflect — given the dire circumstances he’s just charging ahead and not listening to Endeavor’s warnings. Oh, and his gauntlet is still broken from the Nagant fight so there should be consequences? Maybe? At least (1) we found Jeanist so he can join the mansion raid; and (2) it seems Hawks (and All Might? Unclear!) are in a separate location, keeping in touch via radio comms.

Oooooo, AFO turning All Might’s “your turn” line towards Deku in Chapter 94 and now again in 316 before making mansion go boom. Except in 94, we all thought he meant the heroes vs villains battle passed to the next generation. Nope! AFO said in 296 that its HIS turn now, and his turn will never end, so “your” turn means you’re his latest plaything to torment.

Finally, I love how AFO squeezed in an insult to All Might, calling him an oaf. I mean, he IS an oaf, but that’s part of his charm. Oh, and I don’t believe for a second that AFO has actually lost interest in tormenting anyone, especially All Might. We KNOW how AFO holds on to petty grudges (he says so himself!).

I’m assuming the pros or a new quirk takes care of the boom, so tune in next week for more of Deku’s monster villain hunt! (If we didn’t get reunited with the hospital bed this week, I can’t imagine we will next week.) AFO now has an army or something, so in addition to Stain we could have more Nagant-style fights with brand new, completely disposable baddies! (I’m hoping not, and that AFO’s army is like Thanos’s random alien army in Avengers: Endgame, but we will see!)

#mha #my hero academia #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #all might #mha all might #bnha all might #izuku midoriya #midoriya izuku #mha deku #bnha deku #bnha afo #all for one #bnha 316 #mha 316 #bnha izuku #mha izuku #long post #bnha meta

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Little things I loved about the Chosen season finale:

"I know what the prophecies say about my appearance. Is this you trying to change that?"

Yeshua says this in reference to Isaiah 53:2-3, which states that the Messiah would not be anyone particularly attractive or striking in appearance. He would be a normal man (which is why--SPOILERS! (lol)--Judas has to designate which one He is when He is eventually betrayed). Yeshua's making a bit of a joke, while also affirming Himself as Messiah!

Also loved the whole ascension/opening-the-veil symbolism at the end (as I broke down in my other post). That gave me chills! Especially since James and John are at His sides because this is the first step of His earthly "ascension" just as they'd requested to be on either side of Him when He fully ascended to heaven (which we saw on the show and occurs in Mark 10:35-45)!

The conversation with Quintus (ik ik this was episode 7 but I have to mention it)?? Ooh that was good, especially the

I'm sorry to have caused such confusion over matters of flesh and bone!

Like HMM wonder what that could be referencing??? Another nice little nod which I'm so glad we keep getting to see.

The way the disciples interacted just felt so natural, and the conflicts that occurred stemmed from genuine hurt feelings, fear, and doubt. And it also was so realistic how they all had different ideas and interpretations of Yeshua's words and just wanted to do what was right but couldn't agree.

JUDASSSS I knew it was him as soon as the scene in the bar started and it really hurts my heart to know that he will be remembered, for the rest of time, just like he wanted--but not for anything good...it's so easy to picture him becoming gradually disillusioned with this "supposed" Messiah because he didn't understand what Yeshua's actual mission was. This is gonna hurt so much...

I also love the great way they showed us the Lord's Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount. They were so personal and intimate, which is exactly how they were intended. Especially the Sermon's introduction being directed to the disciples. The lines to Matthew about being unjustly treated really touched me. It made the whole thing seem directed at individuals, just like how John would preach! And how Simon was the first one to ask Yeshua how to pray--he is the first in so many things. There's a reason he's going to be called Peter!

Also also loved how Yeshua explained why He speaks in metaphors that might be hard to understand. He wants people who seek out the truth and really think about His words, and not everyone will.

The explanation of the salt of the earth honestly was something I hadn't thought of. He says so much with so little, and He means it not just for them (although he certainly was thinking of his disciples) but also for us. That's who we are called to be--what an exhortation!

The fact that the proposed colors for Yeshua's sash (which made Him stand out instead of being a disembodied voice?? Like how God's voice in the past has always been since no one could look upon His face??) all represented different and yet all completely true aspects of Himself? And how the one they chose was to show Him as Peacemaker, which is an important thing to emphasize because He will be saying many hard things and is now being seen as more of a threat by the Pharisees and Rome. As He said to Matthew, He came to make changes--but also to bring peace.

Speaking of that, how they chose the colors together?? How Matthew's input was valued?? How Mary designed the flyers and everyone else handed them out?? How Yeshua trusted the disciples to plan the way the sermon would be organized???? Basically how God values our contributions and uses our skills and talents to further His purposes and also appreciates them as the beautiful things they are and parts of what make us who we are and just He loves us, somehow, for some reason, He loves us and wants us to help Him accomplish His will!! Feeling like John out here, just in awe of His love

There's so much more but I just really loved like everything about this episode and I cannot wait to see what happens next!!

#the chosen tv series #the chosen #meta #scripture #my meta posts #yeshua #quality meta seal of approval #not to hype my own post up i just put that on all meta posts so that i can find them #kay can i just catch my breath for a second

[teacup-set]

Giants

Summary: 'Thank you for the recipe', her note says, but what she really means is 'thank you for raising me, thank you for making me who I am.' She knows mama will know what she means, she always does. [SSS family]

Read on: AO3, FFN

x

The sun is low on the horizon and the sky looks like it's on fire. The contrast of the world has shifted, and the aged rust-orange of the hokage tower looks burning red like its early days. The villagers often joke that the sun burns brighter these days because there is a flame-fanning uchiwa in the hokage office, that the will-of-fire that was once a flickering flame is now a ferocious katon. 

In her office chamber, Sarada feels much more muted, heaving under the weight of the faith people put in her. This had always been her dream and she harbored no disillusion about how difficult it is to be hokage. And yet, she is crumbling. The kage summit that she is organizing looms on the horizon, and every half hour there seems to be a new logistical difficulty without fail. Just the administrative nightmare that is hosting the world's most powerful dignitaries in an event that is without a doubt a beacon for those with ill-intent has eaten up all her time. She hasn't even gotten to thinking about the delicate issues and negotiations she has to raise at the summit. She is overwhelmed, but people depend on her so she can't let it show. Part of her wants to run to her parents home, because there she is still a child, free from the weight of the world on her shoulders. There is no time for that though. Her parents, along with the Uzumakis, moved out from Konoha some years ago, choosing to spend their retirement away from the shinobi world in a rural part of Fire country. It would take too long to make the trip, and there is still much to do for the summit. 

Sarada eyes the phone on her desk. 'I could call, I suppose.'

Without thinking about it too much, she dials the number. By the second ring, she remembers to cough and clear her throat lest her voice gives away her frustration. By the fourth, her mother picks up. 

"Hello?" 

"Hi, mama!" says Sarada, forcing cheer into her voice. 

"Sarada! How are you sweetie?" Sakura chimes. Already, Sarada feels lighter. 

"I am good, mama. How are you and papa?" asks Sarada, resting her chin on her palm. 

"We are both well sweetheart, though you and the others should drop by once in a while," her mother's voice becomes fainter as she speaks, like she is turning away from the mouthpiece, "Otherwise your father and uncle Naruto will keep trying to fill the void by acting like children themselves." and Sarada imagines her mother is eyeing some mess they have made in the background. She laughs. 

"Okay, okay, I will try to make a trip soon." she concedes. The line is silent for a second. 

"Sarada, is everything okay?" Sakura asks, and immediately Sarada wants to kick herself for thinking she could ever fool her mother. Both her and her papa agree, they could give the whole world the slip, but mama knows them by heart. 

"Yeah, of course." Sarada attempts, and from the silence from the other end she knows she has failed. "It's nothing, mama. Just stressed. The hokage summit is next week and Konoha is hosting." she admits in defeat. 

"Oh darling, that's a lot of work. Are you holding up okay?" 

Sarada wants to refrain from worrying her mother, but it is a chance to finally vent out all that she has been holding in and she is verging on desperate so she bites. 

"I...don't know mama. There is a lot to do." she starts, "I am still trying to take care of all the security measures. There is tension between Kumo and Hoshi, and they will not allow the Raikage delegation to cross into the land of fire." 

"Iwa and Oto have also been bickering. I really hope they will behave at the summit, otherwise I don't know how I'll handle them." she sighs and continues as Sakura patiently listens, "Even beyond the kage summit there is more to do. There have been a few bad harvests near the south east border, and sending provisions from the center's stock takes too long. Most of it rots by the time it gets there. The Fire Daimyo asked the Daimyo of Tea country to help since they are closer, but they refuse. Apparently we have 'a history of not interfering in each other's affairs' and that's how they want to keep it. Can you believe that?" she huffs angrily. 

"Sarada, is this line secure?" Sakura asks, her voice level. 

"Uh, yeah. I am calling from my office." Sarada replies, taken aback by her mother's sudden question. 

"Okay." Sakura begins, "The daimyo is wrong. Fire country and Tea country don't interact because of Tea country's reluctance to interact with nations that have shinobi villages. But during the time Lord Second was Hokage, Tea was experiencing tensions with Sea Country. Something to do with ships from Sea Country intercepting the cargo from Tea, I think? Anyway, they had requested help from Fire country then." 

Sarada sits up straighter, listening attentively. 

"They requested the Leaf to assassinate one of the people involved. They happened to be a higher-up in Sea country's government, and if the responsible party was discovered it would have caused a scandal." Sakura explained, "An ANBU unit was dispatched to take care of it, without any official mission report or paper transaction to make sure it would not be traced. But just in case they were discovered, to ensure that the Leaf would not be held responsible as the perpetrator, the Second kept a signed declaration from the Tea Daimyo sealed away. You should be able to find it in Lord Second's section of the records room. Not only is it proof that Fire and Tea have been involved in each other's affairs, this is information that Tea would very much like to avoid from entering the public domain. It might help you make your case, though I can't imagine how wicked someone would have to be to refuse to feed the hungry." Sakura finishes, sounding angered. 

Sarada is stunned. After quickly jotting down a note to check the records room, she pauses. Then slowly realization dawns. To her, mama is mama. Mama who braids her hair, always overcooks the fish, and doesn't believe in separating laundry by colours. But mama is also Uchiha Sakura. She was trained by two hokage, and was also on the same team as one (-and a half). For the longest time, she was also the director of the hospital and one of Konoha's most prestigious diplomats. There is perhaps no one in the village who has been in and out of the hokage building more than mama has. Of course she would know. Mama always has the answers, after all. 

"I...thank you, mama." Sarada stumbles, still basking in the awe of her belated realization. 

"Shh, sweetheart, don't thank me." from behind her, Sarada hears movement in the background, and then her papa's voice- 

"Who is it?" Sasuke inquires, asking Sakura. 

"It's Sarada, my love." Sarada blushes slightly, still embarrassed by her parents' affections towards each other, as she listens to her mother catch her father up on their conversation. In the next instant, her papa is on the phone. 

"Sarada. There is an alternate route from Kumo to Konoha through a set of islands near Whirlpool. I am sending you a map, await my hawk." her father's steady, reassuring voice carries through the phone. 

Once again, Sarada has to reckon with who her parents really are. Her memories of her father revolve around eating breakfast in the early mornings, packing lunches for mama, and throwing Kunai in the afternoons. But her father has traveled the whole world, and not just this one. He has inherited knowledge from the founder of the shinobi world itself. There is so much in this world that only he knows. 

"I will, papa, thank you." Sarada says, in a daze. 

"Hn." her father replies, satisfied, and then her parents have swapped the phone again. 

"Sweetie, is there anything else we can do?" worry rings in her mother's voice. 

The laundry list of tasks she has to complete is still infinite, but suddenly Sarada's heart is inflated again. She is ready. 

"No, mama, I can handle the rest." she says with confidence. 

She hears the smile in her mama's voice. "Of course you can, love." 

"You're doing a much better job than the idiot." Her father mutters in the background. 

Sarada gazes at her reflection in the window of her office. Staring back at her are her father's eyes, and the purple diamond on her forehead passed down from her mother. Her eyes trail to the hokage regalia hanging next to the door, but instead of feeling daunted, she is reminded of her earliest memory of them. The same cloak and hat, hanging on the back of a dining chair in her childhood home, first when Lord Sixth would come over for dinner, and then Lord Seventh. The same cloak that would hang between her father's dark one and her mother's lab coat, the same place it still belongs. It dawns on her simply. She was born to giants. She was raised by giants. And she is a giant too. 

Her reverie is broken by her mother's voice carrying through the phone. 

"Sarada, have you eaten dinner?" 

Suddenly Sarada wants to burst out laughing. Only her mother could go from delicate, high-risk politics to dinner without a pause. 

"No mama, not yet." she answers, smiling. 

"Sarada!" her mother exclaims, and her father clucks his tongue in disapproval. 

"You must eat, Sarada." her father's stern voice reminds her, and Sarada feels her heart soar. Some things are still simple, and for that she is grateful. 

"Oh, Sarada! Your father and I tried a new silken tofu recipe! You will like it, I am sure. I will send it with your father's hawk!" her mother gushes, then turns to her father, "Darling, do you think we could send some of the cucumbers we harvested, too? They will pair well." 

Her father grunts in approval and already Sarada can hear him walking away, no doubt to ready his bird. 

"We won't keep you anymore sweetie, you have work to do. Just make sure you eat!" her mother chides. 

Sarada wants to tell her, 'You aren't keeping me from anything. I will make time for you always. I love you with all my heart.' Instead she says- 

"Okay, mama. I will see you both soon." because she will, and then she will tell them. 

"Alright then. Bye sweetheart." Sarada savors the cadence of her mother's voice and then the phone disconnects, leaving her in the silence of her office. 

Outside the sun has set, but Sarada's heart is ablaze anew.

x

The hokage summit is completed, treaties are negotiated, the famine is tackled, and just as it always has been, new problems swiftly replace the old ones. Sarada is unflinching, she knows she will solve them, just as she always has. 

She finishes tying an envelope to the messenger hawk she is sending her parents’ way. Inside is a photograph of the silken tofu she made, and a note. 

'Thank you for the recipe', it says, but what she really means is 'thank you for raising me, thank you for making me who I am.' She knows mama will know what she means, she always does.

Fin.

AN: Inspired by the poem “My mother texts me instructions to cook silken tofu” by Sue Zhao, and my general dislike of being grown up. 

#sss family #naruto fanfiction

[hubz88]

So Aaron asking Ben to move in and this plot about his dad seemed to be more about the parallels with Liv’s drinking problem then any real character development for Ben or their relationship.  Surprise, surprise. 

I had a few people jumping on a twitter response of mine last week, don't really do twitter much and wasn’t hoping to invite a conversation from Ben fans, Ben/Aaron fans, but anyway I was completely baffled, fascinated and mad and had to get my thoughts down.

Firstly my comment was about how weird I find it that on top of having this abusive father his whole life, Ben was so happy to forgive and forget the bullying that Aaron put him through, that made him want to die, within a day and a vague apology wanted to date him and it was brushed under the carpet.  I got two different responses from the fans that I want to look into because it has been on my mind all weekend.

1) About 2 or 3 people commented that I have clearly missed some episodes

This is hilarious to me, not only have I never missed an episode, but I have over analysed all Ben and Aaron scenes a thousand times over, without ever watching back I remember a great detail of what was said, weird dialog, acting/directing choices and facial expressions.

But mainly on this I am just hugely confused by what scenes they actually think I missed? There have been very little actually story about this bullying backstory full stop, no real content and no real resolution or explanation as to how come Ben got over it so quickly.  Given that I was referring to the first week or so on screen, it literally went like this.  Ben having no words in the Hop whilst Liv was acting like Aaron goes their all the time to see Ben at the Hop.  Ben orders a jacket potato and chilli whilst Chas awkwardly tries to suggest that Aaron gets back on the dating horse, hint hint hint to this random man who we know nothing about at this point and if he is even gay/into men.  Ben with Al and Kayak’s getting introduced to Aaron.  Aaron going back on his own to ask about Kayak lesson when Ben flips with the you don’t remember me, now I can hit back and you made me want to die etc. Ben’s car breaks down, Aaron says he can help, gets his number to text about parts or something.  They go for a drink as you do with your school bully.  Aaron explains vaguely about having a tough up-bringing and struggling with sexuality.  Ben has no reason to really trust him at this point or take his word for it but decides to awkwardly start trying to flirt and talks about the bullying he suffered as “reminiscing”, (weirdest line to use in context, I certainly don't reminisce about the kid that used to call me names at school let alone actually kick my head in on the daily). Then Aaron goes to the Hop and asks about a lesson, clear indication of a date.  This was all over a few days episodes, but one actual date time-wise.  That is is, whole story wrapped up.  No Ben talking to other people in the village that tell him to give Aaron a chance, no forced to work together, share friendship group, locked in a room together or whatever contrived plots soaps like to use to get people talking.  No longer story of getting to know each other, Aaron proving he had changed.  Just one conversation and it was all fine. Like what was the point?

Then from that point on we got a couple of episodes were Ben turned up out of nowhere, no build up, no aftermath, again no discussions with other people in the village, friends, co-workers, so we never saw his motivations or reasons for wanting to be with Aaron he just showed up apologizing for their disaster pint or Aaron apologised.  So much so that Ben was only in 11 episodes from September to January and many of those were like one or a couple of scenes, which is so poor when you compare to the other new characters introduction, interactions and multiple mini stories that played out.

The 4.5 months Ben was off screen was also used as a reason some how to explain how the lack of actual relationship discussion makes sense, like they talked again when he came back, (about his sister being an alcoholic), as if that suddenly makes it ok that they haven’t address the bullying or that argument again before Ben became a literal cardboard cut out glued to Aaron’s side. 

2) There was one person who replied saying it wasn’t a date at that point with the first lot of pints, which those terrible pint plots arguably were meant to be a date, but in any case they were still planning to meet up just the two of them, Ben kicked off after Ben didn’t turn up after divorce papers and Kayak lesson etc. So it still doesn’t make sense to want to get so pally with your ex bully. Through-out this point Aaron was pretty hot and cold and damn right rude at times.  Yet Ben kept following him around and showing up wanting to talk and try again and they suggest a pint several times.  One person did not like my response about him following Aaron around as if it was Aaron following Ben around because Aaron was the one that suggested the Kayak lesson to begin with.  But this person clearly hadn’t seen the scenes where Ben kept showing up out of nowhere wanting to get in Aaron’s orbit, Aaron largely seemed uninterested and said about them being friends beginning of December, (I think), which was never shown on screen and apparently didn’t happen according to January scenes at Aaron’s birthday when Ben said the friendship thing hadn’t worked out. 

3) There were the comments of the conversations on his return in May and the scene in the Hop discussing the bullying over some table football, you know do completely casual.  Again ignoring this does not change the facts of how this story started and how poorly it was executed regarding the bullying. Also in my opinion that chat was way little too late, they were official at this point and had only really been seen discussing Liv, her drinking problem, Liv being missing, Ben’s alcoholic dad and oh the mystery guy Ben put in a taxi.  Therefore no actual relationship or feelings chat anyway at this point, other than I’m miserable and we apparently have a laugh despite the fact we haven’t seen that onscreen. So why would I expect any in depth relationship story.  Even the Aaron Ben fan said they “try” with the Hop chat.  And like fair play, if you are happy with such shit a story and effort, then go live your best life hun.  But wow really, what are you liking here?

In actual fact Aaron still seemed quite offish on many occasions with Ben and snappy upon Ben’s initial return once again and yeah he was worried about his sister but why would Ben want to be around this permeantly, with someone he barely knows still, and would have possibly been triggering for him but yet he is promising to support him no matter what, you aren’t on your own Aaron, you have me, we and us etc. .

On the point of proving Aaron had changed the show has made a point this last year of many characters talking about how aggressive Aaron is, Liv about how he pushed her instead of Luke that whole time and calling him a control freak and lots of nasty names.  Mandy calling him a bully when Paul first died before she found out the truth.  Luke calling him a violent thug or something whilst Ben was there and talking about bad boys and stuff moments later, Ethan and Charles talking about him being scary and the same from Vinny at as well.  On top of the Pollard nonsense plot with the brooch and Ben was well aware that he was up for a bulgary/assault charge of which Ben had no real reason to believe he was innocent again he didn’t really know. He had only just re-connected with him after months off screen following the toxic argument, which also never got resolved, no sorry I didn’t realise Liv had a drink problem, I get your concern now, sorry for what I said, sorry for how I treated you, which as much as I don’t like Ben I feel he sort of would have deserved after how Aaron spoke to him.

Finally, and I realise no one is going to read this haha.  In one of my responses to these people before I gave up and said we are never going to agree, let’s leave it. I said content wise the story has been poor, there has been such little effort with the writing and Ben isn’t really a character right now, still only serving for other Aaron related plot and after 10 months on the show has only one small chat about gay marriage with Charles and the weird gay app conversation with Vic, Ethan and Luke outside of Aaron which is just not a proper character on a soap that it is 6 times a week.  Funnily enough, I got no response on that, no comeback or pathetic or disillusioned excuse. So do they all know how bad the story is and choosing to fight on the missing episodes I haven’t seen, whether those pints were dates or the fact they spoke after Ben’s disappearing act, which does nothing but really prove what a nothing of a character he actually is more than anything as there is no way I really believe it was all just down to COVID when other plots didn’t suffer the same way.

I will shut up now!

#emmerdale #emmerdale thoughts #aaron x ben #anti ben #anti ben tucker #anti Aaron x Ben anti Benron #antibearon

[detective-inspector-mee]

Predictions for post-raid

Major spoilers for the manga below, I can't hide them on phone so just close your eyes and scroll ig

Post-raid-arc will be centered around the crumbling hero society due mainly to the numerous failures involved with the raid as well as the information Dabi revealed about Endeavor, this as far as I'm aware has been more or less confirmed.

It's also confirmed that a Tartarus prison break WILL happen, though currently it isn't clear who will escape other than AFO. One obvious candidate is Kurogiri.

But I have a mounting suspicion that in the chaos of the nomu attack on Tartarus, many more villains will escape. I could easily see All For One trying to amass an army (as he did in his prime) consisting of many currently unknown Tartarus villains (alongside the possible use of known villains such as Muscular and Moonfish)

Overhaul is another one very likely to escape, though it's unclear how him interacting with All For One would go, and whether he would be willing to join him.

But more importantly:

I am here to give my two cents on the possibility of a Stain Return Arc/sub-arc.

It would be weird to have a Tartarus prison break without at least mentioning everyone's favourite hero killer, and I have my suspicions that he may play a larger role in what's to come.

Currently, the remaining league members consist of entirely people who were brought in by a belief in or obsession with Chizome Akaguro, aka Stain's ideology.

Currently, AFO is in control of Shigaraki's body, and we can assume that whether or not he allows Shigaraki to have his body back, All For One plans to remain in control of everything. Spinner has already shown a dislike for AFO's actions, being distressed by the fact that he abandoned Toga and Mr Compress. All For One is also Shigaraki's abuser, and anyone can see that Spinner cares deeply (and pretty gayly, let's not lie to ourselves) about Shigaraki. I doubt AFO assuming control will go down well with our remaining crew, if not because of Shigaraki's wellbeing, then because All for One serves as a more tyrannical leader. Anyone on his side is his puppet, unlike Shigaraki, who outside of Important events generally allowed the league to do as they please.

Along with Midoriya's interest in saving Shigaraki from All for One, I believe Spinner, Toga (and possibly Dabi, though how he will react to AFO is less clear given current events) will split off from All for One, and join Stain. Though Toga initially only liked Stain because of her admiration and desire to kill him, I believe her current disillusion with heroes (after her conversation with Uraraka) puts her further in line with Stain's philosophy. She has matured a lot very fast, and I believe she may be more interested in Stain's cause alongside Spinner, who would join Stain with the hope of taking down All for One and saving Shigaraki.

The reason I believe Stain is the perfect candidate for this position is because of his he interacts with the heroes. Stain hates heroes, and villains without a purpose equally, and has killed many of both in the past. Very few heroes have passed his ideals, with one exception being Midoriya. The reason this is important is because I very much doubt we'll ever see a villain group allied with the heroes, but Stain is the closest we can come to that WITHOUT it being an alliance, as he is the only villain with ideals that would cause him to help Midoriya in a climactic final fight.

Other events which could be set off by Stain are things such as a possible attempted assassination on Hawks by Toga, who's emotions are currently a Chekhov's gun type deal, as she is too angry and too distraught for it not to lead to anything. Whether she succeeds in killing Hawks or not doesn't matter.

Secondly, and far more importantly in my opinion is that Spinner, Toga (and again, possibly Dabi) will likely want to save Me Compress. You may be quick to think that it would be uncharacteristic for Stain to agree to help in this endeavour, but I would like you to take a look at these following images.

Oji Harima, Compress' great grandfather, and Chizome Akaguro share an all-too-coincidental resemblance. As far as facial shape and smile go, I would go so far as to argue Stain better resembles Oji than Mr Compress does.

The two of them also share very similar ideals, with Oji's purpose having been to steal from heroes he deemed fake, and Stain's being to kill the same. It could be that the similarity between these ideals is only to make Stain's influence over Compress make more sense, but I believe there's a possibility that Stain IS related to Oji Harima, and by extent, Mr Compress, and that Stain's philosophy after being beaten and disfigured by Knuckleduster is a twisted adoption of Oji Harima's.

In conclusion, I believe it's possible that after escaping Tartarus, Stain will be joined by Spinner, Toga and maybe Dabi, after which a familial connection to Mr Compress will be revealed, leading to the Stain splinter group stealing our favourite handsome masked bastard back from the heroes.

#bnha #mha #bnha manga #enji todoroki #my hero academia #akaguro chizome #spinner #toga himiko #chapter 296 #chapter 297 #manga spoilers #touya todoroki #dabi #all for one #one for all #midoriya izuku #prediction

[wicoppi]

what do you head canon as the origins for the blade of marmora ? like all of the lore n stuff. im curious to know your thoughts on all of this :)

In s7 with Macidus, Krolia has some very interesting lines circling around safe houses and old secret communication codes that make me think she and Kolivan are founding members or, at most, second generation leadership. I tend towards them being og because with Keith taking over after them it ties in thematically with other leadership transitions in the show. 

In s2, there’s a line from Ulaz while introducing the Blade of Marmora about how their members are Galra who became disillusioned with the empire. Meaning they were at some point on board with Zarkon and his expansion.. probably before the casual, regular decimation of planets- something we know Zarkon started doing early on based on Lotor’s story about colonizing a planet in the name of the Galra Empire. 

And in s3 during Lotor’s introduction scene Throk says, “We’ve fought be Zarkon’s side forever, and now we are passed over by this exiled brat.” So 1. Lotor, who is approx. 10,000 years old, is relatively young compared to Throk and most high ranking officers and 2. said officers have been doing Zarkon’s work for a long,, long time.. since before Lotor.. since before the rift. Hell, when Honerva jumps realities + back in time to young!Lotor and Zarkon, we see a version of Sendak that supports this. I.e. many of the key Galra we encounter are old, older than this war. And served under Zarkon at some point. 

These are the main points that lead me to believe the Blade of Marmora is not that old relative to the Galra Empire or even Zarkon’s reign. 

Furthermore, it is interesting that one of the first planets conquered by the Galra Empire, Planet Feyiv, home to the Kral Zera, is shown as kept intact (read: not decimated) and sparse of intelligent life-forms. It reminds me of sayings like “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and “Evil isn’t born, it’s made.” 

There’s hints across canon and specifically within Coran’s story about the paladins of old that leads me to believe both Alteans and the Galra were spreading their culture before the destruction of Daibazaal, but after Alfor tried to destroy the rift, the Galra had to be more earnest in their conquest because they needed a new home. 

So what’s likely is that as the Galra Empire rose from the ashes and grew beyond expectations and various acceptable limits, blade!Galra hit epiphany moments where they realized how unsustainable Zarkon’s methods/actions were, gained perspective, and felt a call to action to correct things. 

And it’s unlikely these epiphanies happened at the same time. What are the chances scores of Galra just woke up one day and said “this must stop” and all set out to find each other? 

So for headcanons, I see the Blade of Marmora as having formed quite organically and informally before finally accumulating enough members and independence to pull together in person and establish protocols, bases, chain of command, bitchin’ uniforms, etc. 

Going more into personal headcanons: 

I would wager the BoM started more as a “we need to course correct” movement before hitting the “oh. oh, no. we gotta stop this shit full tilt” realization and forming a proper organization. 

Galra, as a species, are opportunistic as fuck. It’s not unique to empire-loyal, “evil” Galra. Lotor didn’t get all that shit from Honerva. Kolivan and other Galra probably started out as individuals lying in wait, gathering information, maybe making small sabotages, and keeping their ears open for others sympathetic to stopping the empire for the good of the universe (as opposed to Galra who were interested in sabotage in the name of taking control for themselves.) 

Basically, there have always been mutinous, self-serving, power-hungry Galra who did not agree with Zarkon’s version of the Galra Empire and felt they could do it better. Just look at how they all behaved at the Kral Zera ffs. 

But Zarkon had the respect, fear, and/or admiration of his people despite being a HIGHLY liberal Galra: in the early days he worked with rather than over non-Galra, he allowed Alteans onto Daibazaal and gave them a foothold to do dumbass science on what was destroying their planet. He married a non-Galra for crying out loud. 

But Zarkon also ended an endless war that spanned generations (think about how long Galra live), he made peace with their planetary system, he unlocked the secrets of Altean technology in order to advance Galra tech faster than they could have on their own. Zarkon kept his people alive, carved them out home in the universe, lifted and expanded their empire at a time when they were at their lowest. Under Zarkon, the Galra Empire not only survived, but thrived. 

Of course his people, blade!Galra included, would learn to look past Zarkon’s liberal oddities, his murderous tendencies, would make him the exception to their prejudices while shaming half-breeds, would find ways to justify his imperialism.

And speaking of half-breeds, let’s talk about a part of the Blade of Marmora’s foundation: recruiting. Yes, the Galra love the fuck out of their pure-bloods. And the BoM had to be in keeping with that culture if they wanted to successfully infiltrate the highest parts of the command chain (see: Thace, Krolia). But Keith is also brought into the mix. Goes on missions with Regris who has a prehensile tail. Kolivan’s right-hand man, Antok, is of atypical, stocky build also with a tail. Clearly the blades did a lot of recruiting within marginalized Galra communities. 

Back to origins, I can see a story where the original gambit was to identify the Galra who agreed the empire could be doing things better than straight up destroying planets, enslaving populations, casually committing genocide.. and started spreading doubt and raising concerns through Zarkon’s ranks, found the ones close to Zarkon who could try to sway him with reason. Only for that mission to end with Zarkon condemning those advisors and Haggar creating her first robeasts out of them. Leaving Kolivan, Krolia, and crew to firmly break away and formally gather, creating the Blade of Marmora. 

Ultimately, I kind of like that the Blade of Marmora remains shrouded in mystery; it lends to their aesthetic. But I also crave their backstory, even if it were just a comic series or whatever. I want to know who/what “Marmora” was to the Galra; that name has to be tied up in symbolism in a similar manner as “vrepit sa” and “palen bo.” I want to know how Kolivan and Krolia met. See interactions between Krolia, Ulaz, and Thace. How did the BoM operate before they found Slav? How did Kolivan become their leader? What did he do to earn that respect over others? If the empire values strength (Victory or Death) and that’s how they choose their leaders, what does Kolivan know (Knowledge or Death) that put him in the top echelon? 

#blade of marmora #bom #galra #voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #oh sweet anon thank you for encouraging me to bring my ramblings back on main #i really do have a lot of feelings about the bom #i thought this resonse was going to be just a few paragraph #there's like.. 5 meta that could spin off from this #krolia #kolivan #go loose coppi #vld.schematics #vld.hc #vldgen

[utterlyinevitable]

On The Subject of Love

Paring: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Rebecca Lao)  Word Count: 3.3k Warning: Tame. A few curse words and mentions of sex.  Summary: Becca coaxes Ethan into talking about his experience with love during their visit to Leland Bloom's yacht.  

Author’s Note: this took waaaaay too long to write and i’m still not sure i’m happy with it :/ but thank you @aylamwrites for pre-reading and leaving hilarious comments ❤

________________________________________

The drive to Leland Bloom’s yacht was staid, a direct contrast to the glorious sunshine surrounding the bubble of the sedan. Ethan was navigating the unfamiliar route to the private yacht club with extreme disdain. His ego wanted to resolve this case and finally put an end to this petulant competition with Mass Kenmore Hospital. Sitting in the passenger seat of his car was his favorite accomplice, Becca, calmly staring blankly out the window and still so unsure of his feelings towards her. 

She knew she riled him up when she went behind his back to seek out the first high-profile patient, influencer Gwenyth Monroe. Though, in her defense, the man wasn’t actively trying to save the Diagnostics Team from the budgetary chopping block. Ethan Ramsey was always so blinded by his pride and ethics - He did the same with their future as well. But, Becca also knew she stepped over the line this morning when she called him a spoiled child in front of Baz and June at Mr. Bloom’s estate. Though she didn't really regret it because someone had to tell him off, the interaction still left a bad taste in her mouth. 

Becca wasn’t too sure where they stood - professionally or romantically. The words Ethan spoke not too long ago in the dark of his office rang through her head: I want to know you as you truly are. 

That was a few weeks ago. There he was breaking down their simply professional facade once again. It was a constant tug-of-war with him. Some days Ethan would let the wall crumble by letting her in or grabbing her hand, and others where he’d build it higher than before just to keep the force of Becca at bay. She didn’t realize how sweet of a memory the two of them creating his Pictagram account during that late-night research session would become. 

He’s such an old man… 

Ethan cut through her reverie, “What are you thinking about?” 

With her gaze fixed on the passing trees and her mind still half-stuck in her daydream, she responded without further consideration, “Do you really never want to get married?”  

Ethan’s brow furrowed at the random intrusion, needing to think before settling on a response. “Are you still stuck on this?”

The two sometimes-lovers spoke briefly about his views on the subject while working on Gwenyth’s case late into the evening. To Becca it was one of the most important questions in building their not-so-subtle budding relationship - she needed to know if Ethan was worth all the… complications. He spoke about how he didn’t believe in soulmates, unconditional love, and his doubts on marriage as an intuition. He never once spoke about his experience with love.   

Looking out the window into the cloudless end of summer day, Becca boldly asked, “Haven’t you ever been in love? Wanted to spend the rest of your life with someone you’ve dated?” 

“Oh god, no,” he scoffed with wide pale blue eyes. “I told you, Rookie, I don’t see the point.”

She rolled her disbelieving brown eyes and let the conversation pause there as they pulled up to the dock. 

***

After the yacht set sail the doctors waited around the stern in a restive silence for 45 minutes while Mr. Bloom wrapped up his business meeting. Once safely away from the prying eyes of investors and colleagues in the yacht's master bedroom, Ethan and Becca begin to run tests and scans on the deteriorating businessman. 

“Mr. Bloom, can I ask you and Caroline a question?” Becca asked as she drew a few samples of blood. “It has nothing to do with your case. Me and my friend here are debating something,” she nodded her head at Ethan’s general direction.  

The patient looked between the two with a devious smile, “Sure, swing.” 

Becca quickly peered over at Ethan standing at an expensive gold and glass table with the mobile sonogram machine, his arms crossed and waiting for her to enlighten the room with her inquiry. 

She shot him a coy smile before turning back to the worldly man and asking, “How did you know you wanted to get married?” 

Ethan stifled a surprising cough. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought she’d ask a complete stranger that. 

Mr. Bloom smiled as he instantly recalled every moment he has ever spent with his now-wife. 

Closing his eyes he recited, “We’ve been business partners for decades - since college, actually. We were married about 11 years ago. I’ve known her my entire adult life and waited until I was almost 50 to tell her how I really felt.” 

His eyes opened and found Caroline sitting in the chair by the large bay window immediately. The two looking adoringly at one another for a few seconds, speaking volumes in the language of love. For a moment Becca’s heart panged with hope that she could have that level of fondness with a man - that unconditional and unencumbered attachment that precedes words. 

“My recommendation is to tell the other person you have feelings for them from the get-go. It’ll buy you time together. Its - it’s the most precious thing in the world to be with the one you love most.”   

The way Leland Bloom spoke about his wife humanized him - he wasn’t a cut-throat businessman with oligarch-like wealth. He was a man who wanted as much time with his loved one as this world would permit, no matter the cost. 

“But how did you know she was the one?” Becca quizzed further. 

Mr. Bloom looked at Ethan's awkward form first and then to Becca as he asked, “Have you ever been in love?”

Ethan’s attention was focused on watching the images printing, deeply embarrassed by Becca’s brazen question and wanting no part of the conversation. Feeling everyone’s gaze on him he took in the three expectant stares and exclaimed incredulously, “Wha - Of course I have!”   

Becca smiled at the old man, “Yes.” 

“Do you remember how it felt?” Leland’s eyes bore into Becca’s begging the memories to surface. 

She nodded. 

Becca peered over at Ethan for a split second, his eyes meeting hers. She could see the curiosity swirling around his dark blue orbs alongside something else. Feeling ashamed for getting caught staring she bit her lip and tore her eyes away from him before she could even try to pinpoint just what the mystery emotion was.

“It’s like that,” Leland reassured. “But you’re constantly drawn to one another. The simplest and meaningless of tasks make you the happiest. You can sit in the same room in your own little world of silence together. Your heart swells when you look at them.” Like before his eyes flashed over to Caroline. “You’re never bored. And you can rely on them. The most telling sign was that I knew I needed her in my life even before I knew I had feelings for her. The intimacy was an added bonus.” 

He smiled up at his wife who now stood close by with an affectionate hand on her husband’s shoulder.  

“Would you agree, darling?” 

She nodded only for him. “I knew he was my person when he’d stand up for me. He wouldn’t let anyone belittle me or my intelligence. He challenged me to be a better person and comforted me when I needed it. He’s the best partner I could ask for.” Caroline’s body shifted to Becca though her eyes never left Leland’s, “Does that help your debate?” 

Becca looked over at Ethan who didn’t have an inkling of amusement in his features. “I think you’ve just proved my point, but I'll give him a few minutes to form a rebuttal,” she winked at the couple. 

They shared a pleasant laughter at Ethan’s expense. 

“Ok, Mr. Bloom, you’re all set,” Becca beamed as they finished their examination. “We’ll give you a call once we have the results from the lab later today.” 

With a nod of his head Mr. Bloom replied, “Good evening, doctors.” 

Ethan didn’t say a word as they disembarked the vessel. 

“So…” she started, expecting him to begin arguing his case on the disillusion of soulmates. 

Ethan wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. 

The walk back to his sedan was stewing in awkward tension under the afternoon raging heat. More than halfway back to the car Becca had just come to accept the fact that Ethan wasn’t going to engage in their little intellectual tiff when he spoke with a critical eye;   

“How many people have you presumably been in love with?” 

She certainly didn’t expect that to be his first rebuttal. It almost made Becca drop the medical bag she was holding. Almost.  

She simply responded, “Two. You?” 

Over her shoulder she saw Ethan walking straight and stoically, eyes fixed ahead. He was ever so expertly guarded and displaying no telling emotions. 

“Three, maybe,” he shrugged, not giving it a second thought.  

“Maybe?” 

“I don’t think teenage relationships could really count as love.”

“So we won’t count it,” Becca agreed with a small nod. “My number stands at 2.”  

They made it to the car and Ethan popped the truck for them to put the gear. He fussed with the equipment, taking slightly longer than necessary to make sure the bag with the blood samples were safe and secure. Becca eyed him carefully from the sidelines expectantly. 

With a loud thunk of the trunk and eyes glued to the license plate, he hesitated, “One.” 

“Tell me about her.” Becca demanded sweetly as she moved to open the passenger side door. “Or I can go first?” 

“Please,” he motioned for her to continue as they settled into his sedan. 

Becca took a cleansing breath as she buckled herself in for the journey. 

“It was my first year of undergrad. His name was Mack.” Becca could almost hear the roll of Ethan’s eyes as she stared out her window. “We dated for a year and broke up because my workload got intense and I couldn't go out much.” She took a pause as she remembered all those meaningful moments that came to define her adult-self. “He was a liberal arts major, really outgoing. He brought me out of my shell and taught me to be the person I am today. I’m really thankful for him, but more grateful that it didn’t work. I loved him, but I know now I definitely wasn’t in love with him. Looking back I don't even know how we would have made anything work.” Becca chuckled to herself. “He works in television now.”

There was a pause before she continued onto the second romantic love she’s ever experienced. Part of her hoped Ethan would jump in with an antidote. 

Still, he kept his eyes on the road ahead. 

“My last relationship was during med school. He was something else,” Becca continued with a vibrant smile. “We had great chemistry and a good time together.” 

The affection in her voice for the nameless man instinctively had Ethan gripping at the wheel just tight enough for his knuckles to turn white. Medical school wasn’t more than two years in her past, still enough time for the exes to find their way back to one another… 

“We thought we were supposed to be together because that’s what you’re told as a kid - go to school, find your soulmate, get that good job, get married and have babies. We groomed each other to be all that. But the pressure of trying to be someone’s perfect person was too much. He went to California and I went to Boston. I don’t know what he’s up to today.”

Her smile faltered as she wordlessly recalled the day she and Thomas Miller III walked out of one another’s life for good. Ethan would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little relieved to know her break up was not amicable.  

“Your turn.” 

Becca didn’t have the strength to turn and face him, the still-raw memories were playing out against the glass of the rear-view mirror and she couldn’t banish them just yet.

Ethan began to recite his past relationship like a bulleted list, checking off any sort of pertinent information; “It was for nearly 10 months. During medical school. She was gracious and brilliant. We never saw much of each other but when we did we had the most riveting medical debates. It was good fun.” 

“That’s it?” Becca questioned in astonishment. Her brows were furrowed as she tried to keep her mouth from hanging open. How could someone look back on their first love with such displeasure? Even if it ended horribly the feeling of being in love is magical... and shouldn’t that in itself be celebrated?  

He nodded. 

Becca folded her arms across her chest and bit her lip as she pondered his words. 

With the slightest scoff Becca boldly concluded, “I don’t think you were in love.” 

Ethan was taken aback, clenching his jaw tightly in blatant refusal of conveying his surprise at her account of what happened with his heart while she was still in grade school. “How would you know?” he retorted.  

“Because if you were you’d see each other all the time,” she responded simply and with a jovial lightness - like she’d cracked an undefined code. “You’d forgo sleep to spend some time together. You’d talk about your insecurities, your family, your dreams of the future. Not just medicine and cases.” 

“You’re romanticising it.”  

That one phrase stirred something up deep inside Becca. Who was he to tell her those things didn’t matter in a relationship? Those are the things they talk about and she… she wouldn’t admit to it. With that one romantic phrase they dove back into the quarrel Ethan so desperately didn’t want to be having. 

Undeterred by consequences she countered, “How often did you have sex?”  

“Excuse me.”  

“You heard me,” she challenged.  

Ethan let out a long breath of air. They were stuck together for at least another 25 minutes and there wasn’t a single thing he could say to dodge his way out of this one. Although he didn’t like the fact, they both were acutely aware that Rebecca is the only person who could ever ask him an impudent question. She had earned that right that night he crossed the line and they ruined one another in the most pleasurable of ways.

“Once, maybe twice a month, I think.”

“Months!?” Becca practically jumped out of her seat. Her head whipped around to face him.  

Ethan hadn’t moved from the upright position and tight grip on the steering wheel she noted when they began their journey back to Edenbrook. The only thing that was running through Becca’s mind as she gawked at the admirable DNA of the man beside her was: How?  

“It was a long time ago,” Ethan said, still completely unflappable. “I can’t remember correctly.” 

“I was lucky to have sex twice a week.” Gosh, there were so many questions fluttering around Becca’s mind that she just couldn’t find the right words to articulate how unfathomable his confession seemed. 

She watched as he raised an eyebrow, “You had other priorities.”  

“No,” she stopped him right there with a point of her finger. “I had the same education as you. In between classes, assignments and reading your entire body of work I found time to find time.” 

The corner of Ethan’s lip twitched when she mentioned her devotion to his life’s work. 

Becca couldn’t believe he dared question her priorities - he read her application, he knows just how diligent and qualified she is. 

She wanted to continue arguing but knew it was futile. Instead she asked another innocent question, “How many relationships have you been in since her?” 

“Hurm, one,” Ethan grumbled, “Harper.” He paused to look at Becca out the corner of his eye for any sort of reaction. She gave him no ill indications - Her alert brown eyes were on him and brows rose high, awaiting further explanation. The two have had a quick quip on his history with the surgeon, but nothing past hearsay. “We’ve been on and off since residency,” he told her once more. “Now can we stop talking about this?”

Becca conceded, settling back into the shiny black leather. “I can’t believe you dated Harper,” she mused as she played with her seatbelt strap, “You two are so…” 

“Different?” Ethan finished for her. “We actually have a lot of the same interests.”  

“Intense,” Becca grinned as she finished her train of thought. “But I'm glad you got along.”  

“We didn’t.”  

If she wasn’t confused by the attendings’ relationship before she sure as hell was now. “Wha- How? You just said you have a lot in common.”  

“Having similar interests and getting along are not mutually exclusive, Doctor,” Ethan smirked. 

With a slack jaw and eyes trained on him once more, Becca all but demanded, “Explain please.”  

“We were two people at the top of our respective classes,” he began. “Medical journal leeches were pitching us again and again. Everyone was pushing us together - a power couple, if you will.” 

“The pride of Edenbrook,” she muttered in understanding.  

Ethan nodded, “Pretty much.”  

“Did Naveen orchestrate your coupling?” she asked. “He loves a good gossip story.”  

Ethan shook his head once, “Naveen just wants me to be happy. At that moment he thought she’d make me happy.”  

Becca let his words settle amongst them. She shouldn’t feel unsettled by his honesty, yet she did. There were too many comparable variables coming to light today. 

Becca chewed on her bottom lip for a few pensive seconds before asking the fated question; “Did you like her?” 

As soon as the words fell off her tongue she shut her eyes. She didn't want to see the damage the words could cause, and yet her body craved the answer. 

“I had an affinity for her, if that’s what you mean,” he asked but didn’t give her the chance to clarify. “We had the same interests; both of us very career-orientated. Ultimately that’s what got in the way.” He paused for a moment, thinking carefully about his next words. He said them slowly and a decibel quieter than the last, “And that I didn’t have highly romantic feelings for her.” Just then Becca’s eyes shot open, fixed at his loosened grip of the steering wheel. “I still have a lot of respect and admiration for her.” 

A small smile crept up on Rebecca. Those words alone held all she needed to know - Harper Emery never was and never will be a contender for Ethan’s heart. 

“Then why do it?” 

He shrugged as his features settled back into their default stoicism, “It was the right thing to do. If we didn’t… people would spend the rest of our lives forcing us together.” 

She cocked an eyebrow, “So your relationship was a PR stunt…?”

“Absolutely not. I’m not a low-life, Becca.” He took pure offense that she thought he would do anything without a saturation of intention. “We tried because it seemed right. It seemed… inevitable... to try.”

“Huh, ok.” 

He used her words against her. ‘Inevitable’ was what they were. Does he feel the same way about their relationship that he felt about Harper? Surely he didn’t, but she’d have no way to know. Ethan Ramsey kept pushing her away, and yet years ago he refused to wait and chose to explore those ineludible feelings with someone else. 

Was Harper the reason we aren’t together, since he’s done the whole ‘inevitable’ tango before? She speculated.  

Ethan’s next comment broke through her trance, “Aside from those disasters called relationships I have spent time with a few other women. You can rest assured I’m not completely incapable of intimacy.” 

“I know you’re not a robot, Ethan,” she lamented. I’m happy to be one of those women. 

Becca was glad he opened up to her, and for their intimacy all those months ago. Though, the gnawing of how many other women Ethan Ramsey had taken to bed in the days without her or Harper Emery plagued her mind. She wanted to press further but knew not to - she pushed her luck too much for one day.

_____________________________________

Taglist: @ohchoices @dulceghernandez @aylamreads @binny1985 @ramseysno1rookie @interobanginyourmom @queencarb @perriewinklenerdie @rookiefromedenbrook @eramsey28 @choicesficwriterscreations @heauxplesslydevoted @schnitzelbutterfingers @purpledragonturtles @ramseyandrys @ermidc @mrsdrakewalkerblog @doilooklikeiknow @overwhelminglyaquarius @drethanramslay @edgiestwinter @rookieoh @lucy-268 @mvalentine @lilyvalentine @starrystarrytrouble​ @custaroonie​   @pitchblackstars @angela8756 @sanchita012 @thegreentwin @openheart12 @tsrookie​ @adrex04​ @togetherwearerapture @ezekielbhandarivalleros

#open heart #open heart fanfic #choices open heart #ethan x mc #ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x harper #choices oph2 #oph series #oph ff #choices fanfic #ohsy

[andyquynhnickyjoebookernile]

The Betrayal

So, I was reading this amazing fic which is death, suspended by BeesKnees in the middle of the night and I was hit with this barrage of epiphanies. Also, before I get into those epiphanies, ‘death, suspended’ is an amazing fic that explores the idea of Joe and Nicky having been separated after the van scene. So if that intrigues you definitely check it out.

Anyhow, getting back to why I’m writing this post. I saw “The Old Guard” sometime this week and I know it is a utter tragedy that I don’t remember the date, so in the future I could pinpoint the moment my life changed but since that day I have been in a haze and when it cleared, I went to tumblr. I love tumblr, just going through the huge number of posts on the movie and especially Joe x Nicky has been the best part of the last two days. But, as I digged deeper I eventually got to the Booker discourse and Joe.

Truthfully, after having seen the movie, I would have been totally okay if they went along with Nile on Booker’s punishment because I got where he was coming from and I truly believed it wasn’t a malicious intent, it was self-serving but it wasn’t outright cruel but now, I’m rethinking that.

Let’s start with Nile. Nile was the one who was ready to forgive Booker immediately after and I realized this was because Booker didn’t betray her. Whenever Booker came up with this plan he didn’t account for Nile. Nile was a happy accident and she did get caught up in the fallout but she wasn’t the one being betrayed therefore, she was judging Booker on her own interactions with him which had been pretty good and even till the very end, I felt like if Nile had slipped away she could have escaped getting caught and being made into a lab rat. So, it makes sense that she is the most forgiving of this crime that wasn’t perpetrated against her.

But, Booker did make his plans fully aware of the fact that he would be betraying Andy, Joe and Nicky and they should be the ones to judge his actions because they are the ones most affected by it.

And, this is when I realized that irrespective of how desperate and depressed he had become, he was fully aware of how cruel his actions would be especially towards Joe and Nicky.

For a moment, I truly believe that he thought that Andy could possibly see his side of things. I feel like he really believed she would get where he was coming from and maybe even agree to his proposition for finding a cure to the immortal condition but that is something Joe and Nicky would never agree to.

For, Joe and Nicky immortality has been the biggest boon, it is the reason they found each other and centuries of happiness. I don’t believe either of them would chose mortality, if it really was their choice, anytime soon so they could never agree to Booker’s plan and Booker knows it.

Therefore, instead of convincing them and I believe he had a good chance of convincing Andy, he dupes them. And the moment he turns to outside forces, the more likelier it becomes that none of them can escape the fallout of his actions and decisions.

I briefly considered the fact that he was trading in the secret to immortality for a cure for himself and therefore he might have believed that Andy, Joe and Nicky could probably get out of this trial with their immortality and their lives intact. But, the more I think about it the more this line of reasoning falls through.

If this idea was something he had brought up to the other three, I feel like it would have been rejected, because Joe and Nicky don’t want a cure to immortality and they truly don’t believe that science can find a way to replicate it. Andy has the benefit of understanding both point of views, she gets why Joe and Nicky don’t want to get involved and why Booker does, so it’s anyone’s idea what her decision would have been. But, one thing the movie makes clear is that it isn’t Andy making the decision, it’s all of them and they all take equal responsibility for the decision they make as a team. In such a dynamic, Booker definitely wasn’t going to get his way of things.

So he looks outside for help and he finds it, he sets up the deal and his prize for honouring it. Logistically, anyone looking to help him through the scientific method would require all subjects because that way you can isolate the anomalies each individual might have and then cross-reference them to find the common ones making it easier to pinpoint the source of their immortality. So, to any outside presence it becomes vital that they get their hands on all four of the immortals they are aware of. Therefore, Booker essentially bargains three lives for want of one. This also works the other way around, finding a cure means finding multiple subjects to test it on and after animal trials you eventually do have to test it on humans and knowing all this, there is a very limited chance that any of them would have survived the fallout especially given the moral compass of the people in charge of this endeavour. Also, we have no idea what they might have looked at, one abject possibility is making them die of different causes to find out what brings them back and what doesn’t to find the answer to both questions.

This seems like a nightmare from anyone’s perspective, it’s already very clear that Joe and Nicky are horrified of dying and leaving the other behind and even more terrified of being the one left behind. To witness your loved one getting tortured or even being aware of the fact and not knowing when they won’t wake up multiplied with the uncertainty of them ever escaping this nightmare, is already horrific without taking into account the fact that they are also going to be aware of the same happening to Andy and possibly even Booker, makes it even worse.

And, maybe Booker really hasn’t thought this far ahead and he really believes they make it out, each with what they want, it still means that in doing this he was fully aware of the fact that the team wouldn’t agree as a whole and instead of living with this he decides to take their choice away.

I also wonder if Booker was to some extent motivated by jealousy because truthfully there doesn’t seem to be anything countering this particular point.

Which brings me full circle, to the fact that Booker’s betrayal is extremely pointed towards Joe and Nicky, they are the victims here and unfortunately the story makes them suffer the most for it as all. So, now I get why they can’t and why they won’t and truthfully why they shouldn’t let Booker off the hook.

Interestingly the only reason, I feel like Andy isn’t equally incensed as Joe and Nicky even though she has had her choice taken away just as much as they have, and this betrayal has been fully against her as well even though thankfully, she doesn’t have to suffer through it as much, is because she invariably gets everything she wants. She gets back her purpose for life through Nile and she now has an expiration date for it as well. She manages to come out of this ordeal better as a great testimony to who she is.

Also, for someone who seems to have lost her faith in humanity seemingly fairly recently, you also can’t discount how many chances she has given it. She is over six thousand years old and she seems to have managed to look at the very worst of humanity, has died because of it countless times and she can still at the end of the die find her way back to humanity. That just gives you an idea of her calibre for forgiveness because I have been on this Earth for some two decades and I haven’t remotely witnessed the worst of humanity and I’m still disillusioned by it. I mean I totally get why Andy was able to face and hug Booker at the end of it. She was also the best person to talk to him about it because she can see both sides of the coin and now having had her faith and purpose in life restored she can still look forward to it even knowing that she now has an out.

Also, faintly I wonder if Booker wasn’t actually horrified by what mortality would mean once he is faced with the fact that he could be the reason Andy dies, like I feel like that moment jolted him out of his head space and actually made him face what the consequences of his actions looked like. I even wonder if Booker was just skeptical about what Andy was telling them about Lykon until this point, given that she is the only witness to the event that he knows of, which now makes incredible sense. Having Andy turn mortal means that Booker has to realize that the fear that Joe, Andy and Nicky have is real and something that he should have also feared that their immortality and their life wouldn’t jump back into their lap every time and that there would be one final time to it. The very fear that have we have seen manifested in Andy and Joe’s eyes towards Booker and Nicky’s deaths respectively.

This definitely turned out way longer than expected and I unexpectedly ended up answering a question I didn’t even know I was trying to answer - why Andy turns mortal in a divergence from the comic canon?

#the old guard #booker #sebastian le livre #andy #andromache the scythian #nile #nile freeman #joe #yusuf al kaysani #nicky #nicolo di genova #joe x nicky #immortal husbands #kaysanova #meta

[singledarkshade]

New Old Friend

Part Five

(Part One,  Part Two, Part Three  and Part Four can be found here)

 Jack sat and waited for Henry to speak.

“Alright,” the other man took a seat, “As you know, before I came to Eureka I was working at NASA. I was disillusioned with what I was doing and the people I was working with. I had received the offer to come to Eureka but wasn’t going to accept.” He paused thinking back before glancing at Rip, “And then a light filled the room leaving a man on the floor with a brightly glowing shard of glass.”

Jack looked at him, looked at Rip then looked back and laughed, “You’re winding me up.”

“No,” Henry replied, “I’m not. Rip is not from around here.”

“You mean like England?”

“Technically that is correct, but I am also from an alternate universe,” Rip told him, pausing for a moment as Jack’s eyes widened in shock before continuing, “I was a time traveller and used the core from my ship to stop a demon from destroying time. When it exploded, I was thrown into another universe and I will leave once I find the shard of the core that landed here.”

Jack stared at him before asking amused, “Of course and I suppose you need my help to find it?”

“Actually, it’s currently in Global Dynamics,” Rip replied.

Jack looked between Henry and Rip before demanding, “This is an elaborate joke.”

“No,” Henry assured him, “Jack, I know how bizarre this is, but I promise you that this is real. You’ve dealt with enough during your time in Eureka not to close your mind to the possibilities.”

Laughing Jack demanded, “But time travel? Alternate realities? That’s science fiction. Even Stark would agree with me.”

“I’ll admit,” Henry said, “Until I met Rip, I believed that too but it’s not. He’s the reason I came to Eureka because he told me I would, because that was when he first met me. And that this was my home.”

Frowning, Jack asked, “What?”

“I met Henry for the first time when I stepped into the Sheriff’s station earlier today,” Rip told him, “But I will see him again when I leave here. Although I have no idea when that will be.”

“I am not sure this was a good idea, Captain,” Gideon noted as she stood at Rip’s side watching Jack pace thinking over all they’d told him. They’d decided to turn off the interface while talking to the Sheriff as having Gideon there would possibly be a distraction from what they were explaining, “He is finding it difficult to accept the information you and Dr Deacon are imparting.”

“I really don’t think being arrested right now is helpful,” Rip murmured to her, “Telling him is our best option to avoid having to break out of jail…again.”

Jack turned to him, “Where did the papers you wrote come from? Are you taking credit for someone else’s work?”

“Both papers I wrote,” Rip replied, “Presumably when I meet Henry again.”

“So, you just knocked out two papers in the few hours you were there that people like Stark and Alison think are real,” Jack demanded.

Rip shrugged, “Actually they were papers I wrote in my first year of training. I have an eidetic memory, so it won’t take me long to rewrite or dictate them.”

“Training?” Jack asked, looking confused, “For time travel?”

Rip nodded, “I belonged to an organisation called the Time Masters. Our mission was to protect time from those who tried to change it to their own advantage.”

He left out the rest, not wanting to get into what had happened to his family, to the Time Masters, or with the Legends.

“What about the AI you had following you around?” Jack asked, “Did you do that in a few hours.”

Pulling out the disc, Rip smiled, “Gideon is the AI for my time ship, the Waverider. We have a telepathic connection which allows her to connect to me wherever I end up. Henry created the interface to let her to interact with this world.”

“This is crazy,” Jack shook his head.

Activating the interface, Rip turned to Gideon, “Can you show him the shard?”

“Of course, Captain Hunter,” Gideon replied before turning to the Sheriff, “Please direct your attention to the screen, Sheriff Carter.”

Confused Jack turned as she activated the viewscreen, showing the security footage from the lab where the shard was sitting glowing.

“That could be anything,” Jack noted.

“Wait till Rip gets near it,” Henry chuckled, “He glows too.”

Jack rubbed his hand over his face, “Alright, say I believe you. What now?”

“We need to work out how to get to the lab it’s in without Nathan or Alison finding out,” Henry told him.

“As it has been a long day,” Gideon spoke up, “I believe you should discuss this while having your evening meal.”

Rip rolled his eyes as the other two laughed, “Ignore my mother hen.”

“Captain, we had an agreement,” Gideon reminded him.

“But she is right,” Rip acquiesced because he’d still be nagged by her if he turned off the link, “And thinking about it, I could use something to eat.”

Henry nodded, “Well, I promised Vincent I would bring you back to Café Diem. Jack, want to join us?”

“Why not?” he shrugged.

 Rip mused as he thought over what he wanted to eat as they found a booth. Gideon was looking around interested, Rip had left the interface on so she could interact with the others. He knew she liked being seen and heard by more than him.

“Welcome,” Vincent appeared, “What can I get for you?”

Jack grinned, “I’ll take my usual.”

“One burger and chips for the Sheriff,” Vincent sighed before adding, “One of these days I’ll get you to try something different.”

Henry laughed, “I’ll have the risotto.”

“And you two?” Vincent turned to Rip and Gideon.

Rip shrugged, “I think I will let you choose for me today.”

Vincent’s eyes lit up, “I will make you something very special. And for the lady?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t eat,” Gideon replied with a sweet smile, “But thank you.”

At Vincent’s confused look she passed her hand through the table, and he nodded in understanding. Rip smiled, Eureka was in some ways the perfect place for people like him and part of him wished he could stay here but he needed to get back to Gideon properly.

“Okay,” Jack said, “I may not fully believe you but,” he grinned, “I do want to hear some time travel stories.”

                                 *********************************************

 “Nathan,” Alison walked into the lab, “What do you have?”

He turned to her and smiled, “The energy coming off this thing is incredible. We could power the town with this for hundreds of years.”

Alison stared at him, “That’s not good, Nathan. This thing appeared from nowhere in the highest security section of GD, we have no idea where it came from or what it’s doing here. We need to be careful. Remember the artifact.”

Nathan flinched slightly at the thought before replying, “I am just testing it, Ali. I promise no protocols will be missed and no steps will be skipped.”

“Good,” she replied, “And keep me up to date on absolutely everything that happens.”

                                 *********************************************

 Gideon watched her Captain as he talked to the other two men. She could see he was enjoying himself, especially as he could be himself and there was no pretence he had to remember.

She theorised if she could find a way to transport the Waverider here and allow him to stay. Unfortunately, it was not possible. Which she already knew but for her Captain, she wanted to check fully. He deserved to be happy, he’d lost so much.

“Here we go,” Vincent appeared once more, “Burger and chips for the Sheriff, risotto for Henry and for Dr Hunter I have roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes with honey glazed carrots and parsnips.”

Rip took an appreciative sniff of the plate and smiled at Vincent, “This looks incredible, thank you.”

As they all began to eat, Gideon excused herself to wander for a little while. She wasn’t sure how far away from Rip she could be and still be seen by the residents of the small town. She knew how far she could be from him and still be connected to this world and wondered if it would be the same.

People greeted her as she sat outside the café, taking in the view. No one knew she wasn’t human, that she wasn’t one of them and she liked it. The only one who treated her like this normally was Rip, to him she had always been more than just an AI.

She wanted him home with her but getting to spend time with him like this was something she would never have been able to experience if Rip had not used the core against Mallus.

An alarm sounded and Gideon checked the Waverider quickly surprised to find it was all quiet. Looking around she saw that no one appeared to have noticed the siren which meant she was receiving data through the interface.

Focussing on the alert, Gideon grimaced, this was not good.

 Rip finished his meal and agreed instantly when Vincent offered them dessert.

“Is there anything particular you like?” Vincent asked him.

Rip shrugged, “I will leave it entirely in your hands.”

Excitement covered Vincent’s face, “Oh, you will not regret that.”

“You won’t,” Jack agreed, “Everything Vincent makes is incredible. If SARAH didn’t nag me, I would eat every meal here every day.”

Chuckling Rip leaned back, “You have an impressive world. There is nothing like this in my own. A town dedicated to learning and discovery is an impressive feat.”

“We try our best,” Henry nodded, “Don’t always succeed but we do try.”

Jack laughed, “It’s a miracle we’re all still here considering some of the things those lunatics get up to.”

“I should introduce you to some of the people I used to work with,” Rip murmured.

Vincent reappeared suddenly, “Here we go, gentlemen. Triple chocolate fudge cake, Chantilly cream, with chocolate and salted caramel sauce.”

Taking a spoonful, Rip closed his eyes. Gideon would not be happy if he ate this too often but for the moment, he was sure she would permit the indulgence.

Just as he was finishing, Gideon returned looking grim. She motioned him to deactivate the interface which he did instantly.

“Captain,” she said, “There is a problem with the shard. I set up an alert so I would know if anyone interfered with it. The scientists in Global Dynamics are scanning the energy it is releasing. That energy is connected to you and even with the primitive equipment, could trace it.”

“Rip?” Henry asked worriedly, “Is something wrong? Is Gideon alright, has the interface damaged her?”

Frowning, Rip turned to his friend, “We may have a problem.”

#fic #rip fic #legends of tomorrow #rip hunter #gideon #eureka #henry deacon #jack carter

[mousehole5000]

okay im rewriting tgcf (only in my head im lazy) here are my notes on hua/lian specifically this is long bc fuck it. major spoilers obviously and same trigger warnings as the content of the book

disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer that i dont know anything about the cultural background of anything in tgcf or story tropes etc etc this is just I Think It Would Be Neat If..

there’s not really any reason to keep hc as a kid in the backstory BUT in the story in the intro (which i like narratively) it still says that it was a child who xie lian caught. it’s one of those things that got added to the legend to make xie lian seem even more noble, there are also probably a few other inaccuracies in the intro that get found out as the story progresses. in actuality hc was kind of a known troublemaker to the city guards or whatever or had been in the past. maybe his mother just passed after a long illness and his tumble off the wall was intentional. either way he’s kind of pissed at xie lian for saving him. xie lian is concerned about his health so he has to stay at the palace for a while he recovers and only interacts with xie lian a few times. there is a point where he says out loud all the things about the divide between the rich and the poor that have been illustrated by the scenes with mu qing. feng xin tells him to shut up but mq goes dead silent bc he kind of agrees but can’t say and does have his loyalty to xie lian (its a whole thing) and the resentment begins

also i think young hc’s personality is similar to his personality in the present but a bit more reserved and he’s got like this plucky streak or something. also he is unquestionably gay

anyway hc sneaks out of the palace and xie lian catches him obviously but they have a brief little heart to heart where xie lian is like “look you can go if you want here take this money food” etc and demonstrates that he has actually listened to what hc has to say and hc is like “wow no one other than my mom has ever listened to me in my life so thats what that feels like i kind of like it” and he probably is a bit awestruck by xie lian in different ways and after that is like “okay this kingdom sucks but.. that guys not so bad”

sad ironic sense that if xie lian hadnt ascended until he was older he may have actually be able to do something about the problems in the kindgom but alas we have a cycle to perpetuate

the “take me as the meaning of your life” scene still happens p much the same but xl doesnt recognize hc who is actually now at his lowest point. hc tried to find ways to make things better for people like him but he simply did not succeed (maybe his were efforts quashed by the corrupt authorities? its implied probably) and he’s more disillusioned with the kingdom and life than ever but still is holding on to those memories of xie lian as proof that it doesnt have to be like this but that thread is slipping until!! whose fucking voice is that??? thats right its the one person you ever believed was truly good and went and proved you right by ascending to the heavens at age 17!!! guess its time to stan him forever

anyway hc joins the army but legally or whatever and tbh i would have hated the flower cave scene regardless of anything i just hate any sort of s*x pollen trope or anything so thats gone (they can have a wound tending scene or something tho thats the good shit) and instead we have HL getting overwhelmed by some other demons or something together and xie lian protects hc and they both get injured very badly (maybe hc would lose a limb but im not sure how that would work once hes a ghost so thats on hold for now until i figure it out) and xl is fine but this situation ends up being part of why mq kicks hc out of the army but yes hc still ends up dying on the battlefield anyway </3

the wuming stuff is the same i think but also at some point xl is despairing and says something about that guy he saved from falling and wonders what happened to him and fire ghost wuming is like !!!!! (wait does this happen in canon? honestly it should)

in mount tong’lu i was tempted to actually have hc have a similar moment to the bamboo hat scene with the humans who are trapped in there but im not sure if i just want it to be the same as xie lian’s story... also i like the idea of hc needing to hang onto his devotion to get through his first few centuries of being a ghost so maybe he’s just inspired by xie lian’s sacrifice with the sword and the souls and thats why he claws his own eye out as a sacrifice

so this can go one of two ways from here!!! both are me projecting hardcore so take them with a grain of salt im not saying im right about the way relationships should be these a re just my thoughts <3

1. (the not fun one but it still has a happy ending) the story more or less continues the same as canon. pure and simple devotion is what carries hc through the centuries. we get to see some ghost city antics and its fun but there is nothing complicated about the devotion hc just wants to find xl and protect him. hualian eventually meet. they get along pretty well!! eventually there are cracks. when you hold someone in your mind for so long you have expectations for them that no person can meet consistently. hc thinks that since he’s seen xl during the worst time in his life that he can handle anything but it turns out that as amazing as xl is, he is also just a person and sometimes he is wrong or irrational or annoying. xl is so happy to have someone who will listen to him talk that he kind of neglects to really get to know who hc is as a person and hc is kind of like “huh i didnt expect this but im kind of hurt. i genuinely thought that i just wanted to serve and protect you but actually im my own person and this is weird” but he doesnt say anything he thinks he has to stick to his promise and it gets kind of uncomfortable!! maybe his luck goes haywire bc his faith gets rocked for the first time ever and they end up having to talk it out but their relationship is stronger for it <3

2. (i think this one is fun) hc struggles with waiting. he does it but its hard. he has doubts and when all his efforts to find xl are fruitless he starts to grow bitter and curses the day that xl saved him. his faith burns low but doesnt go out. then ghost city!! hc realizes that he can finally help people like him, even if theyre ghosts now and hes grateful for the chance to do this and grateful to xl and resigns himself to waiting. but its still hard!! he realizes that his luck is tied to his devotion and gets kind of pissed about it!!! he tries to remember all the good things about xl but its hard!!! his search becomes more about repaying a debt so he can be free than anything else, he just wants to help the common people spirits with no strings attached (this actually allows him to keep his luck bc he has the same wish as xl and thats what makes him a true believer!! is this corny? does it make sense? i dont care) and so eventually when he finds xl he’s like okay how quickly can i repay this debt/how can i keep my powers but then xie lian is... so good... and hc actually really likes him he remembers why he swore his devotion in the first place. now hes conflicted!!! dont worry they fall in love tho <3

wow this was really long if you read this hiiiii. anyway when i reread ill try to pay more attention to yin yu and he xuan for hc’s 800 years. hua cheng we’re gonna get you some friends and lore i swear to god

#agenda on the whole: hc character exploration #more ling wen and she gets a gf #i am making fq so fucking canon #sqx also gets a gf it is not [redacted] #less pm less qr #more lady rainmaster esp relevance wrt to agriculture!! it affects so much!!! #mouse mumbles #tgcf textp #move

[lovetheonlyyouthereis]

Jikook shippers often question why Jungkook seems particularly sensitive to interactions between Jimin and RM.

Considering we know he doesn't dislike RM by any means, and probably isn't intimidated by him in any significant way romantically speaking, it’s honestly a bit befuddling to try and work out why he seems to have a clear aversion to Minjoon’s interactions.

I think Bangtan Attic may have given us a glimpse into what's behind that dynamic. Keep in mind this is PURELY a theory. Feel no obligation to believe it.

1) Jeonlous appears when Jimin says "RM, I love you."

Perfect example of Jungkook’s particular sensitivity to Minjoon. Around 18:25-ish, when Jimin says he loves RM, JK stares at Jimin for a hot sec before the camera pulls away. When it returns, all the sudden he's crouched over/looking down and grasping onto Suga's shoulder randomly (this is the only time in the video that I can recall where he acted this way). The camera pulls away again, and when it comes back, JK has is eyes closed/sighs. (Did no one notice this? Just me? Does someone with talent want to, GIF it?)

I screenshotted the progression because I can, at least, do that:

To me, it seems like he’s telling himself, “I hated that so much, but it’s not a big deal. IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL, JUNGKOOK!”

2) Jungkook admits he feels he's insignificant IRL because he didn't study.

He said he thinks he’s “slower” than other proplr, and all the boys were quick to tell him not to be hard on himself, including Jimin, who said he's "learning about life."

I don't think it's a coincidence that Jungkook's main insecurity is something RM excels at and something JK looks up to RM greatly for. Jungkook is in awe of RM's brain all the time and he says it. And so does Jimin.

So perhaps that, plays into the dynamic of why he often seems significantly more bothered by RM's interactions with JM than with some of the other boys. It’s possibly this weird intersection of JK feeling intimidated by him, not because he thinks Jimin would wake up one day and be interested in RM, but simply because RM has something he greatly admires that he feels he does not: booksmarts. (I have my own Suga-esque beliefs about this, but also don’t want to invalidate Jungkook’s feelings. I feel him!)

3) Jungkook & Jimin discussed RM "monitoring".

This is where things get REALLY interesting and veer deeply into the theoretical. When the question, “How have you changed since debut?” is asked, they all agree to talk about the person next to them, which means Jungkook has to talk about RM.

Guys... the way alarm bells were going off in my head through Jungkook’s whole answer.

Let’s go through it (I’m going to put JK’s words in bold and my analysis in italics):

“I joined our label because of RM. He was really awesome. In my eyes, he was really handsome. I joined because he was awesome and rapped so well.” Jungkook is expressing how he idolized RM in debut days, maybe even more so than he still does now. It seemed like hero worship levels to me. That’s understandable, because RM is an impressive BOSS. But the next line is interesting.

“But then I was soon surprised.” [shakes head] Here, Jungkook seems to be confirming there was, at some point, a shift in his view of RM and based on the way Jungkook delivered this part of his story it, frankly, does not seem like it was a positive shift. Almost as if something led him to being somewhat disillusioned from hero-worship levels of adoration.

DISCLAIMER: If you think I’m about to veer into, “Then Jungkook developed feelings for Jimin and Jungkook hates RM now because he’s burning up with jealous,” territory, you’re very wrong.

“That's when I got to learn about RM. It was just... I started to make sense of things after debut, so I don't remember much before. I only remember having fun and laughing together. But not long after our debut, because RM is our group leader, he had so much on his mind. He tried not to let it show, but he struggled. That went on for a long time. I hoped he would monitor less, and stuff like that. But these days... I think you're doing that less these days. I can tell that RM is more relaxed now.” 

So all this seems rather normal. RM is, in fact, the leader of BTS, and therefore, it is his job to make sure everything is in order. It’s not hard to understand why he would worry and fuss over the members. Even now, I was just understanding this story to mean that Jungkook was saying he wished RM would stop worrying about the members so much because it would be better for RM’s situation.

But now we get to the REAL, REAL interesting part. Jimin jumps in and adds:

“I talked to him [RM] for three hours because of what you [Jungkook] said. Four hours before our morning schedule, I told him we should talk. I sat him down and told him not to be like that for three hours. And then things got better.”

This is where my brain was like:

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.... Let me get this straight...

So, Jungkook notices RM tends to worry a lot, but instead of talking to RM, he talks to Jimin. Jimin then feels so passionate about what Jungkook had just told him that he wakes RM up four hours before their schedule to discuss it (without Jungkook) for THREE HOURS? 

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!?!?

That’s when I started thinking about the words he used to describe what he’d noticed about RM. What I was hearing was, “I hoped he would worry less,” but then I realized he actually used the word “monitor,” not worry.

While to worry means to “dwell on difficulty or troubles,” the definition of monitor is to “observe something over a period of time; keep under systematic review.”

I could just brush off the choice of word again like I did at first, but what Jimin revealed made me think more about the discussion and what Jungkook may have really been getting at here.  Because it’s an interesting choice of word. If we take the word literally (and I’m assuming we can because these were official subtitles uploaded by Big Hit), Jungkook may be saying he felt like he was being watched and reviewed by RM regularly.

What’s interesting to also note about this answer is that there was barely any feedback from the peanut gallery. All of BTS has always acknowledged that RM is a BOSS for how much he juggles and handles, but no one has ever referred to it as “monitoring” and no one in BTS seemed to be reacting in any significant way to suggest they related to JK’s story.

Only Jimin, apparently, who revealed that Jungkook said something to him about RM’s monitoring, which spurred Jimin to discuss the issue with RM for three hours.

To me, if Jungkook was just worried about RM’s tendency to worry about the members, he would have just talked to RM about it personally. It’s not something that seems like it would be particularly hard to talk about, right? There’s nothing particularly awkward about expressing what the boys have long expressed before: That RM has a lot on his plate and they wish to take a load off his shoulders and wish he didn’t have to worry so much about them.

The only reason I can square away why he would talk to Jimin about it instead of RM is that he was actually growing frustrated over RM’s tendency to monitor him.

JK then goes to Jimin with whatever he is feeling about this monitoring situation, prompting Jimin to go and have a three-hour discussion with RM about it. Based on that, it seems to me that Jimin agreed with whatever Jungkook had expressed to him. Because Jimin, by all accounts, is good at following instructions from his hyungs, so I highly doubt he would have a three hour discussion with RM about something RM needed to change about himself unless he himself also agreed with it 100%. And the very fact that the conversation lasted three hours suggest, to me, that there may have been some push back from RM. Perhaps him pleading his case about why the “monitoring” was well-intentioned and necessary?

So, what monitoring could Jikook be referring to that they both acknowledge?

Well...1-800-Save-Namjoon.

We all joke about RM’s tendency to pop up as a barrier whenever Jikook are having an interaction because, honestly, it’s hilarious.We can’t blame him when Jikook are being so damn obvious.

But if we really, really put ourselves in Jungkook’s or Jimin’s shoes, the tendency for RM to hover around them and make sure they’re “behaving” and make sure they’re “in check,” could, understandably, become a bit tiresome and, dare I say, annoying?

And for Jimin, who is great at following instruction, I could imagine it was not quite as frustrating for him as it was for someone like Jungkook, who’s motto is literally, “Live as you want.” If you want to study, study. If you don’t, don’t. If you want to take a nap, nap. If you want to nibble Jimin’s ear, nibble Jimin’s ear.

It reminded me of moments like at GMA when RM really did seem to be playing interference between Jimin and Jungkook’s flirting. Jimin can be quite passive in those situations, just pretending he has no clue what’s happening, while Jungkook does not let up. No, RM, I’m going to flirt with Jimin and you can stand between us while it’s happening if you want to but this is the way it is, bruh.

We joke about these moments, but perhaps Jungkook does get genuinely frustrated that he feels like he can’t do whatever he wants to do without someone playing interference?

So, in conclusion,

My theory is as follows: I think Jungkook revealed that he had a problem with RM monitoring him, and he went to Jimin about it because the monitoring most-likely revolved around him and Jimin (since there’s nothing like a Jikook moment to put RM in his monitoring mode). Jimin, acknowledging Jungkook’s concern was valid, felt the solution was to sit down with RM for three hours to talk it out. After which, “things got better.”

And then back to the opening of this post: Why does Jungkook seem to react particularly to Minjoon interactions?

Well, I think it could, perhaps be a mixture of A) idolization, and B) resentment of the fact that the very person that’s constantly monitoring his interactions with Jimin gets to interact with him freely without consequence.

OK, I hope this all made sense, but my brain has stopped working. Just note that I am not AT ALL suggesting there’s some feud going on or there’s any bad guy in this situation. BTS are all in a super exceptional situation and everyone’s feelings in this situation (whether it’s RM feeling like, as leader, he needs to monitor JM and JK’s behavior or Jungkook, as an individual, feeling RM needs to back off) are valid and understandable.

That is, if this theory even holds any water, which I acknowledge, it may not!

So, with that, I bid you good night!

#Jikook #Kookmin