#yes i swapped my bois roles around that's not illegal

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Hobbit Soulmate Pt 40

“Time to celebrate with food,” your dad said easing the book in front of him shut glad he at least had the figures for a rough estimate on how much wood in each type you’d be wanting. “I’ll take these back down and get the meat ready for the burgers.”

“Oh I’ll have to get some stuff,”

“No hurry,” he said lifting them all as you eased back on your heeled wedges and collected your bag on the way out joining him on the trip down the stairs to share what you’d told him you’d like for flooring, the islands and shelves to settle those plans for the installation right away.

Once in the cool air again you turned for the market and at the ring from your phone you pulled it from your pocket seeing Liv’s name on the screen.

“Hey, thought you were still on your honeymoon.”

“Barbados was lovely. I’m so sorry you had to work.”

“That’s ok I’m glad you loved your destination wedding.”

“Well we just got back in yesterday morning, how have you been? You’re still in Canada right?”

“Well I’m in New  York this week dad got nominated for an MTV award so I’m going with him.”

“Oh that’s amazing! We’re going too! We can have a get together after, at least a dinner.”

“Ya, sounds great hear a good chunk of the guys and Peter will be there too for their noms.”

“So what have you been up to in the city? Wandering again?”

“Dad actually set up a tour of a brownstone for me, put down some money on it and got the keys.”

“That’s so incredible, I want to know everything!”

“Well it’s five stories with the basement level, eight bedrooms seven bath,”

“That is huge compared to mine, did you get a good deal? Mine was nearly a tear down had to gut the whole thing.”

“Well the old tenant trashed the place and the landlord had been doing some repairs replacing a bunch after my dad sort of reserved it for me by putting some of his money down. Took out some walls to make more living room, space for the kitchen and an actual dining room. And it needs new floors and cabinets but the plumbing and wiring and heat, ac and fireplaces have been fixed, water heater and I think he said they redid the roof too when they had to fix a beam up there. So it’s rough but it’s so pretty in my head. And it has the cutest guest bath on the main floor under the stairs and all these arches and beams through the house.”

“Aww, I love my guest bath too and the beams always add great character to help if you go the classic look. You have to show us all after the show. Give us the full tour.”

“Ok, should be fun Dad’s talking to the Landlord now to set the floor appointments. Is it weird that I want carpet, everywhere I go they always talk nonstop about their wood floors but I really want some carpet.”

“Not at all I love the carpet in my bedroom and on the second floor. Oh this is so much fun, we can swap stories when you get done with this show and I can help take you shopping if you like to decorate. So much fun.”

“Yes, might take a while though, Rich is glad I’m interested in making my own home here that we can share but I don’t want to make it too much mine, you know?”

“He’ll love anything you do with it as long as he’s got his space he can explode in as he likes.”

“Well there’s this kind of cute open study on the top floor by our bedroom I was gonna give him to have all his for his pacing or rehearsing or whatnot. And I can take the little strip of a room on the main floor behind the stairs for a sort of library reading nook.”

“I love it already and I haven’t even seen it. You got a good price on it?”

“1.5 mil, everything else on the block is three plus. It was more till it got trashed.”

“No judgment there I thought mine was a horror show. Especially the basement, right out of a horror flick. But the bones were so beautiful. I know it’s terrifying having your first grown up home I was your age roughly when I got mine, and trust me it is worth it.”

“Well it will be fun to show off and I can stash your wedding present there for when we get there.”

“Oh you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Yes I did, couldn’t just leave the poor thing on the shelf when I saw it.”

“I can’t wait.” She heard the mingling of voices while you approached the door to the store and asked, “Are you in the subway?”

“No, heading to pick up some things for dinner. Dad said he wants burgers. Have the meat just need some sides.”

Her doorbell rang and you could hear her move to climb onto her couch to peer out the front window at the door to say as her hubby got the food from the delivery boy, “Perfect timing here’s our dinner too. I’ll let you hunt for food and see you tomorrow, Love you hun.”

“Love you too,” you said, with her hang up signaling you to close the phone to pocket it again.

A circle of a display of canned sauces drew your focus to the hatted man with camera hanging against his belly that moved from tailing you at the sight of towards Nicholas Cage on his way to scout for something down the grocery aisles. Looking away you continued on to pick out some barbecue sauce knowing you were out along with ketchup and some pickles you added to the basket you’d tucked in the crook of your arm. Buns were added as well and you were off to the noodles. A pasta salad would be simple to go with some potatoes and veggies you were off to get next over macaroni you didn’t want to make from scratch right now as the boxes were all gone. French fries were still locked in your freezer with the frozen meat patties so you were good there.

Aloofly again your eyes scanned over the display of corn looking less than top of the line to pick from and with bag in hand you lifted your first choice turning it over only to hear, “What are you doing here?”

The tone of harsh superiority scolding of an assumed inferior let you know just which idiot the familiar voice belonged to, Adrien Brody stood on your left in a focused stare down at you and adding the corn to the bag. You said, “I feel like this is a trick question.”

“You really have to come here to shop in Lower Manhattan?”

“Ya.” You said turning your head to the corn selecting another to twist on the bag you added to your basket to move onto the potatoes baffling the actor even more.

“Honestly there’s nowhere else you can shop? This is where I shop.”

While you grabbed a bag of potatoes you replied, “I should warn you there’s a strong policy against people urinating in public places this place enforces should you be trying to mark it like a tree.” Towards a teen worker being shouted at you walked with eyes narrowing at the man who felt he had the right to shout over nothing.

Adrien scoffed following after you at a distance. Then watched as the man turn clearly recognizing you, “When are you going to get some decent help here?! I’ve been trying to tell this little illegal here that I’m looking for the chocolate chili powdered mixed nuts in the blue Planters tin with cashews and walnuts, and clearly this concept is just beyond his grasp!”

Splotchy in what food based Filipino you knew around the brand name you translated for the teen what the guy wanted and the teen scoffed saying in English, “Why didn’t he just say that?” Turning to head to the wall where the display had been moved, not twenty feet from the now red faced man. “Shout about illegal, I’m from Boise.” He grabbed the top tray with a flat expression returned allowing the man to promptly grab his four tins and turn to the registers to flee while you shared an elbow bump with your former coworker that turned to put the tray back.

Continuing on you went to grab some cheese and sour cream with Adrien again at your side, “Do you now him?”

“I trained him,” You said glancing up at him, “Worked here for years, if anything you’ll have a hard time having me barred from your tree, Cupcake.”

“Not a cupcake.” He looked to his basket, “Maybe then you’d know where they’d be hiding the lemon juice.”

“Juice aisle,”

“Looked there,”

“Top shelf by the sparkling cider and the glass apple juice jars. Try tilting your head back, I know, foreign concept for you possibly from your altitude.”

In a disbelieving tone he said, “Fine, I’ll humor you, but if it isn’t there I win.”

“What do I get if I win?” You teased and he huffed turning to check your guess for the location. While the cheese was found and passing the aisle you caught his glare at the juice right where you said it’d be and smirked on your way up to the registers.

Glancing down the register aisles for who was working you picked the one you knew would have the least trouble with your produce and waited. Four people were in front of you while in Adrien’s approach to the line on your right with two people he smirked your way assuming he’d picked the faster path home until his face dropped at a voice asking from behind you, “Miss Pear?”

A smile eased across your lips in a turn that once you saw who was behind you, Nicholas Cage stood with smile spreading recognizing your eyes right away, “I thought it was you by the cheese. My old lady must have seen your movie nine times in theaters while I was off filming, pinned me down when I got back to watch it on tape, it is fantastic.”

“Thank you,” You said with grin creeping wider awkwardly.

“Almost didn’t realize you with your hair different, and she didn’t believe me when I said you used to work here. You have any other roles for the hair change?”

“Ya, filming in Canada, finishing it up next couple months after this week off. Tv show set a couple years out, have a mini series on BBC set to be out next year, then I’m going blonde for King Kong.”

“Really, I hadn’t heard that. I bet it’s going to be fantastic. After the Beast I can’t imagine you couldn’t wow in anything. I’ll keep my eyes open for your name, now if you’ll excuse me I have to hunt down someone to grab me a balloon.”

“Ooh, um, the red headed guy in the soup loves the balloons, least pops out of the guys here.”

“Soup aisle, thank you. See you round.” He said hurrying off to go hunt down the balloon guy to add those to his bouquet of flowers he had clearly planning something big.

Smiling to yourself you turned to see Adrien with his brow raised at you, “Oh you know that was cool. Your just pretending to hate me. I’d be happy for you if you were in my spot.”

He shook his head and stepped forward with his cart to what he assumed to be his sign he’d leave first only to watch the people in front of you get rung up quickly once the receipt roll was swapped out. A glance past him showed the woman on the next register clearly scouring her purse for more funds she didn’t have and sigh realizing she’d have to choose what to pull off the receipt to fit her cash in hand. Soundly her sleeping baby in the carrier inside the cart showed why the young woman was struggling. And once you accepted your large paper bag your cashier watched you fold the bills you palmed to make them wrinkled and passing him Adrien watched with lips parted still being rung up at your faked dip between her cart and the register to lift extending the bills. “You dropped this, Miss.”

A wave of relief washed over her face in her smiling turn to the cashier, who smirked to herself having recognized you and this trick you’d played more than once before even when it was the last of the funds you had to the name back when you worked together. “Thank you, so much. Must have slipped right out, darn broken zipper.” Out you went not lingering in the moment as the actor had assumed any person might, to make a show of themselves saving the day to gift funds to someone in need. Simply alone now save for his circling thoughts he waited to be rung up so he could head out to his flashy car and drive back to his penthouse apartment in an area with far more expensive shops that drive him here for a bargain.

You had beaten your Dad back and getting the fries started you began to cut the rinsed and peeled corn from the cob to heat up along with the noodles you put on to boil next. In a spicy chili of sorts your own take on pasta salad came to life and widely grinning while you set that aside to cool your dad came in breaking out the patties he thawed in a move to the fridge earlier to use your ridged skillet to cook them up.

Breaking the content silence you voiced a thought you didn’t know when to say, “I’m going to need a list of all the light bulbs and filters. And candles for when power goes out, with matches.”

Lowly he chuckled, “I will have that readied for you by the time you get back. Along with a list of some small things you might also need to get started out.”

Moving each cooked patty to a plate off to the side sharing how the job was settled for the following week to tear up the wood floors and by the time that was done the tiles and carpet would be delivered to be installed the following day. Until then the team in charge of the shelves would be out the day after you’d flown back with the wood you wanted he would ensure was right up to par with the designs you had drafted up.

This was his baby girl’s home and he couldn’t be prouder at how you’d earned the funds for it and had taken charge after a timid blink of a moment to get what you wanted set to come to life. He couldn’t wait for Richard to get back out here to help you furnish and paint this monster of a home and get to settling knowing just how he’d love to have a beginning here too. You shared similar tastes and even without his input he knew as long as you were here Richard would feel at home.

The apartment had been good to get used to one another better. But if he was to have grand babies there would need to be some space to allow them to be made and to grow. And if you were to be climbing five flights of stairs he wanted it to be inside your own home with ample places to curl up in between if you were too tired to get up to the top floor. Most of all he wanted this to be perfect to help bolster your courage that you could succeed, you were new and knowing how famous actors knew your name and liked your jobs you’d chosen he wanted that to be common and not an out of place thing. Beast of Bards had done that, you had splashed onto scene and now the world just had to catch up to how indescribable you are.

After the meal was eaten and cleared it was time to bed so you’d be rested for the awards the following afternoon.

.

‘Hello Neighbor’ was the tagline for the story playing on the news blasting the news of your tour of the brownstone beside Keanu’s apartment with a picture of your meeting. Emphasized estimates of the block average price were given you might be dropping after the huge success Bard had grown to with an added note that the film had flown off the shelves with several stores on a backlist to get more copies in at the demand.

The anchor stated plainly that you must have made a killing with your previous films and were set to make even more with Kong when it did come out with a brief mention of a ‘project’ you were working on out in Canada currently. Concluding that you were a star to be reckoned with and weren’t going anywhere close to having Beast be a one time fluke for your success on film.

Over your breakfast plate your fork hovered as you said, “All that coming from the show that passed me over to interview a monkey handler.” The statement earned a chortle from your dad already having been smiling at their raving review on you.

“What else is on your mind? I can tell you’re deflecting.”

In a glance over at him you asked, “What do you think about a pirate ship chandelier for a nursery?” That had his grin easing out, “Mom made Peter Pan sketches you hung for mine, we haven’t talked babies seriously, but we have room, and I think the room by the back left corner on the third floor would be a good one.”

“I think that’s a great idea. Do you want me to talk to Rich about babies?”

“It’s not something that we plan on soon or right away, so maybe get the chandelier and just, sort of leave it open for when we need it. We don’t need to go buying a crib he just proposed I don’t want to-,”

“You are not going to scare him away. There is nowhere far enough he could hide from me if he tried. He wants a family told me so, it’s not an easy talk, your mom and I never had a talk, just sort of woke to her passing out on her way to get some grapefruit. You were a remarkable surprise and it was instant nursery planning and no complaints when I came back with armfuls of soft plushy Peter Pan decorations, nice and neutral. I think maybe you could do a mural or two across the wall and he might take the hint, sort of a future possibility room, some cubbies and built ins the mural and chandelier, maybe a rocking chair or loveseat.”

“Thank you.”

“You are so very welcome, babies always come to mind when houses come up.”

“I do want them to know the ranch too.”

“They will, and England, give them a nice round view of the world. Have about five years to think on which country they’ll go to school in, that’ll be a big one. But take your time, maybe it’ll be a job deciding it all.”

“Should we get barn door gates for the stairs like at the ranch?”

“We can, be prepared, even if to just keep guests out. I’ll be glad to handle that for you.”

“I would say glass ones but I can only think of things going badly with that.”

“Oh yes, not safe, and metal ones would only encourage hands to go through only welcoming injuries or attempted break outs.” He said with locked smile glad to have a plan started for the future grandbabies and their intended floor.

“I also have to figure out where the furniture from Canada is going, mine is kinda clear not much to move.” Glancing between him and your plate you asked, “How long do you think it’d take to fix it up?”

His smile came out again, “It is mostly cosmetic once we get the floors handled, island installed, counters replaced and shelving and cabinets in again. We could move in as soon as we pick the appliances if you like. L said you could still keep the apartment as long as you wanted till you felt ready same as Lee, who I know would be glad to have a home out here especially after his surgery scare.”

“I can always ask, his Agent’s trying to get him to the West Coast though for roles.”

“Boy can fly,” making you smirk, “Lord knows you do enough. Least this way he’ll have a room to come back to when he isn’t drug off home to Oklahoma. He’s not vanishing either under my watch he’ll come back if he does try to head off.”

You nodded and said, “Well either way won’t be long till I guess I’ll be back and trying to figure out how to share the place with him. I don’t know how it seems like sometimes I’m so ahead of the game.”

He smiled reaching over to pat your free hand resting on the table, “You take after me, Pumpkin. He grew up traveling while you grew up working the land and grinding hard to the ground for what you want. You have confidence in your ethic he’ll master over time. I felt the same over my younger brothers when they reached 18 and weren’t ready to jump to dad mode like I had, people vary but the influence of those around us help to build us up. We’ll get him there, he’s still young and learning. Plus you can’t forget with grandparents like yours you had a huge head start on working with producers, instructors and near to unreachable expectations. I am so proud of you for that, and I am glad I could have managed to grant you a childhood too before your battle of wills kicked in.”

“I wish you could have had one.”

Deepening his grin, “I did with you. Working with you is, profound. Honestly, I was a bit confused why you wanted to perform, I never doubted you or thought yourself out of bounds talent wise, but just the drive, but working with you I saw it. We taught you to read and opened doors to so many worlds and now you share stories with people bringing them to life, it’s infectious. There’s a bit of a time machine effect where you get to go back in time almost. And somehow I managed to get an award for being big and menacing, never thought I’d get that.”

“You have to tell me though, how jealous are the uncles?” That had him laugh out loud.

“Impossibly. The kids love the award shows and will brag forever that we’re gonna be there for them and their friends to watch.”

“Well shouldn’t be long now for them, takes a bit to get there.”

“Nope, and I can break out my suit to match your fancy dress.”

.

Again in your bathroom with the mirror you eyed the pale blue silk gown with golden panels on your hips feeding from decorative seams to accent your figure on the chunky strapped design smoothing your hands down the sides smoothing a wrinkle out of it. Without the fur wrap the last touch was your shoes, the tall black shoes Jen had helped you to buy with several straps from ankle to the start of your toes, one at a time in your lean against the counter they were put on adding a good help of inches lessening the pool of silk around your feet. Out you went to find your dad waiting with tie fixed into place smiling in his look over the skirt of your dress gauging how likely you might be to trip as he always did. At the call from your arrived driver downstairs a black clutch was grabbed and down you went.

All through the drive you held onto his arm resting over your legs in his try to calm him down by chatting. The carpet however managed that a tad better as your friends from Hugh Jackman to both Jens, Ben Affleck, Colin Farrell, but most especially your friends from the trilogy who all took their turns hugging the both of you and adding you both to more group shots like those you took with your other friends on the way inside. Briefly to his shock Adrien spotted you and your massive shadow casting father through the entrance pictures. Once you went in you found yourselves far from him, tucked on the end of the aisle in the square of seats for the trilogy stars. All chatting until the auditorium was full and the show began.

Breakthrough Female came first with Hugh Jackman and Famke Janssen coming out to present it. For Daredevil Jennifer Garner won and you clapped along with the crowd.

Queen Latifah and Adrien Brody came out next and to the sight of the same guy who had been bothering you, softly you sighed through the raucous greeting that died down as the names for Best Kiss nominations were given. Spider-Man’s Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst at their naming came up to collect their golden popcorn bucket statue while your friends in Daredevil Ben and Jen G’s relaxed at not having to go up to stay with their partners they’d rather cuddle up to and steal quick pecks on cheeks from. Avoiding having to fumble who makes the speech or what to say about their on stage kiss on the spot.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence were next out for presenting Best Comedic Performance, that Mike Myers accepted for Austin Powers in Goldmember.

Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett called Kirsten Dunst up again for another win for Spider-Man for the Breakthrough Female Award.

Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell were up next to name the winner of Best Fight. And with the crowd you cheered for your not present friend, Christopher Lee who won with Yoda from his role in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. A representative came out from the Star Wars film who gave a quick thanks and went back to his seat for a quick shift to the next award.

Beyoncé and Johnny Knoxville next named Breakthrough Male, accepted by Eminem for 8 Mile.

Mark Wahlberg and Mýa came out next to introduce Pink for her performance of Feel Good Time. While she performed your dad leaned over to chat quietly with you at his nerves amping up again after hearing from Jen in her trip backstage that the award was up after this performance.

Ashton Kutcher and P. Diddy after the darkened pause of the stage approached the mic stand to name those nominated for Best Villain. Again Mike Myers was up with Colin Farrell, Daniel Day-Lewis, Willem Dafoe and your dad in a good mix from comedic to sinister Villains.

“And the winner is,” the pair together spoke while P. Diddy opened the envelope to say while Ashton’s fingers shifted around the popcorn statue. “Joe Pear!” Smiling widely you giggled and hugged your dad’s arm pulling him from his moment of shock and you saw the camera men step back in the aisle angling the camera to get his rising body to stay in the frame. His seat on the aisle kept you from having to tuck your legs out of his way and clapping and giggling to Viggo’s comment leaning in from your right you watched him stroll up onto the stage where both the men straightened up and peered up at the stunningly tall man over a head taller than the both of them.

In accepting the award your dad moved closer to the mic hunching over the podium to be closer to the mic stand. “Um, thank you for this award. I never really saw myself acting, in the audience yes, but starting over in films after a long time apart I get to work with my little girl, and it’s the most phenomenal job I could have asked for, so it means a lot to have had so many people who enjoy a film we worked so hard on. This is going up on the wall back home next to her awards while growing up.”

To the applause when he straightened up he glanced at the pair of men who hinted he had to go through the back of the stage causing him to glance your way. A silent signal that had you giggle and gather your skirt to sneak to your feet and slip into the aisle to stroll to the stage. That had the duo around your smiling dad smirk watching your smiling path to his side with eyes shining in the lights along with the giggling smile matching his widening one that even in your lightened hair you still his mini twin. His hand extended and at his side you moved folding yours in it to show him through the process of the mysterious back as well as you could guess at not being back there yourself either.

For those not among the cheering crowd grew quieter to the signal of the switch of award presenters only to be joined by the rest seeing who it was, the main focus was the vast difference of height accentuated by your 5 ft 2 in self over a foot and seven inches shorter than him even with six inch heels.

Best Trans-Atlantic Performance was next with David and Victoria Beckham pitting Orlando and Colin against one another while your dad handed over the award being told that his engraved statue would be delivered to the ranch address he gave them. A few questions were asked backstage lasting long enough for Colin, who won, to join you both there.

Soon to be joined by Viggo and Orlando who accepted the award on Peter’s behalf for the Best Action Sequence presented by Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson for the Battle of Helms Deep scene in The Two Towers.

Sharon Osbourne next introduced 50 Cent performing "In Da Club" / "Wanksta". Both of which providing cover for your slip back out to your seats.

Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan presented Best On-Screen Team. Won by Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, and Andy Serkis. That pulled them from their seats for their own interviews backstage while you nestled against your dad’s arm at his pleased mood from his and your friends’ wins. Waiting for the day his award would be mailed off, beyond eager to hear that it had arrived at the ranch.

Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson presented Best Virtual Performance that beating out Scooby Doo, Kangaroo Jack, Dobby and Yoda Andy came back to the stage at Gollum’s win.

Amanda Bynes and Hilary Duff introduced t.A.T.u. who performed "All the Things She Said" / "Not Gonna Get Us"

Demi Moore presented Best Male Performance, that in beating out Viggo, Eminem was back out again on stage for 8 Mile.

With a grin your new neighbor Keanu was out to present Best Movie with the Two Towers, Barbershop, 8 Mile, Beast of Bards and Spider-Man up for it. Two Towers was named and Viggo helped you back up to your feet for your group to head up together so that you could all sneak out at once.

Back in the middle of actors on your way through the crowded back halls to a side door where the limo were waiting Ian claimed hold of your hand luring a curious smile across your lips catching his eye. Low and close to you he asked in a murmur, “I might have been mistaken, however, was it true, I heard that you had come out as queer?”

“I, how did you hear that?”

Smirking at you he replied shifting to avoid another celeb passing by him, “As you always say my dear, everyone has ears.”

Softly you exhaled and avoided a statuesque model passing between you and the wall mid gulp of her martini from one of the mini parties in the back room she was exiting then came back to his side saying, “Well. I always knew I was something, but one of the Queens who does my hair helped me realize I’m ace.”

Parting his lips, “Truly one of a kind you are in every angle of you.”

That had you giggle and say, “Well I always used to just call myself Tigger, from Winnie the Pooh.” That had his brow tick up till you said, “Cuz I’m the only one.”

Lowly he chuckled and replied, “You are not. And I must say welcome. There are very few even rumored ace performers in the world. You are in fine company even I have heard through a friend that I’m Marilyn Monroe’s journals there is evidence she was possibly ace herself. So very fine company indeed. You are not the only one.”

You smirked again, “Then we all must be blindfolded in this forest because we are exceptionally hard to find and silent as ever in our own confusion.”

That had him chuckle through your soft giggle causing Viggo in front of you to steal a grinning glance back at you two ensuring you hadn’t been lost. “True it is a difficult thing to voice I can imagine. Does your father and Richard know?”

“Oh ya. I mean they knew before I had the name. Dad used to take it as I was a June Cleaver with only eyes for my hubby I was head over heels for. Nothing to be cross about. Rich’s brother Chris is a bit jealous he loved the nickname ace when they were kids. Always wanted to be his name when they played cowboys or race car drivers,” widening the grin across Ian’s face. “I tried explaining it to Lee before but like most teenagers I tried to express the meaning behind how I saw people, I guess, intimately, it all sort of got muddled. So he’s happy for me, still doesn’t get it really but I suppose it’d be hard for him to. Always saw it like the Titanic, no one really got how that marvelous beauty could drown. But everyone on the Titanic is saying you didn’t see that fucking iceberg come out of nowhere.”

“Well put.” He chuckled out and let you go first through the door Viggo was holding for you leading outside. “Very well put.”

Pt 41

#Awards Show #Lee Pace x Reader OC #Father Daughter Time #House Plans

[littlemisssquiggles]

So I recently sent a response to Shannon McCormick, Oz's voice actor: "I know you said the group is gonna trust Oz again and reconcile, but I'm not feeling very hopeful. They're still so bitter towards him and not trying to understand him... and are doing the same things they demonized him for, yet it's being treated like it's okay. I know you can't give spoilers and I don't expect you to, but it's something that's got me really down." He responded with: "Keep the faith."

Hey Miki-chan. Ah yes, good ole Shannon coming in clutch with that boast of optimism. I’m actually curious as to whether or not, we will even get to see Oz return for V7. The opening certainly didn’t give any indication of it; sadly to say. If I’m expecting Oz to return at all, it’s probably by the end of the season.

While I do want Oz to return and reconcile with the group, I’m skeptical about having it go back to the way things were before with Ozpin constantly taking control of Oscar’s body and more or less eclipsing his development. I miss Oz but I don’t miss that. This is why I liked how they showed him as a more of guiding voice for Oscar at the end of V6 with the airship crash.In my opinion, that’s what I initially assumed their dynamic was going to belike until the show revealed the soul swapping technique in V5.

I want Oscar to shine on his own, if possible, for V7. If Oz were to return to the story, I hope his role is relegated to being more of a literal voice of reasonand guidance taking up full residence inside of Oscar’s head; not really takingover as much as he used to but lending instructions to Oscar on how to moveespecially in combat while allowing the young boy to think on his feet and makeuse of that good ole muscle memory he is expected to inherit. If Oscar isbecome Ozpin’s successor and successful one to boot, Oz can’t keep holding his hand. He’s got to let Oscar grow into the role and I think he’s being goinggood so far. But he still does need Oz to be there to help. Hence why I’mhoping that, if Oz is to return, I really wish for Oscar to be the one to go inafter him to bring him back.

Since Oscar was the only seen to show Oz a bit of sympathy last season, I wish for this to continue as it can definitely push the growth of the bond between the Two Souls. If there is one person I’m expecting to vouch on Oz’s behalf at this point, it’s Oscar. Ruby was another character I was hoping would certainly join him in that court. However…things are a little complicated right now with our little red rose and the path she seems to be taking this season.  I’ll discuss this more under thread.

While we’re on the topic of Oz’ reconciliation with the hero group, I’m really sorry to hear that this development has had you disappointed and feeling down, Miki-chan. I get where your frustration is coming from but at the same time, I also agree with Shannon on keeping the faith.

Similar to how Oz’s skeletons coming out of the closet was a narrative slow-burn that’s been churning since as early as V5, I feel as if it’s going to be the same forhis path to redemption with the team and regaining their trust. The only thingI dislike about this plot point is how we still have everyone more or less sharingthe same opinion of Oz with little indication on whether or not anyone isreally starting to consider that the other side of the coin where Oz wasjustified in his actions.

When this plot point first dropped back in V6, what was fascinating about it was how divided it made the fandom. It opened the grounds for discussion and debating with everyone sharing their different outlooks on the scenario and that was quite neat.

I just wished that the Writers had mimicked that in the series; y’know? When I first saw the V6 volume poster, art with Oz and Oscar at the centre while Team RWBY were all divided around the two of them; I figured that that was what the season was going to be like more or less.

With the team being divided on their overall trust Oz and growing trust in Oscar with some folks, such as Ruby and possibly Blake standing in the court that defended both souls whereas Weiss and Yang weren’t as convinced.

It would’ve been great to see everyone sharing different outlooks and reactions to the news about Oz’s past with Salem and her immortality; Team RWBY’s as well as JNR’s.  

It would’ve been great to see that because it could have even leant itself to paving the road towards Ozpin’s eventual reconciliation in this new season or whenever the showrunners decided to have it happen down the line.

However, instead, thus far it’s mostly been everyone sharing the same opinion—Oz was wrong and is not to be trusted anymore.This is now made even worse by the notion that the heroes are currently committing the same action of ‘deceiving and/or withholding vital info from your allies’ as Oz once did with them.

However what’s almost comical is how the narrative—the PLOT—is trying to get us as the audience to think that the heroes are in the right when really…they’re not?

At least to me, they’re not. I’ve seen examples of other FNDM fam members taking a supportive stance for the actions of Ruby and the other heroes’ deceit with Ironwood and their Atlesian allies. This squiggle meister, on the other hand, has not been that easily convinced. Sorry.  

I think what bugs me the most regarding the execution of this subplot is how much the heroes are able to get away with when it comes to their actions. I understand that the Writers are more or less attempting to show a parallel between our gaggle of heroes and Ozpin by having them take greater risks for the sake of fulfilling their mission while additionally making questionable choices. 

That idea is fine and I like that they’re doing this with them especially since I think it could still lend to them eventually making up with Oz by understanding why he did the things he did since now they’ve been in his shoes. That part of it is good. Great even.

However, somehow, I dunno—for me, our heroes’ recent actions don’t have the same kind of impact on me as Ozpin’s did. I guess where I’m really getting at here is that when I learnt the truth about Oz last season, my main reason for staying in his court was because I understood his reasons for doing the things he did.

While I’ll call Oz out for his wrong in lying and keeping his secrets from people he believed were his most trusted allies, I was still sympathetic towards Oz because I genuinely felt that his actions were justified especially following the events of the Lost Fable.

The PLOT wants me to believe that Oz is this morally grey type of man and he is, to some degree. However the PLOT also wishes for me as the audience to believe that Oz has been nothing but this deceitful person throughout history and that the heroes are perfectly in the right for choosing to never trust in him again. But here’s the thing with that—I see Oz as being more…smart than fraudulent.

Yes Oz told lies and half-truths and kept important secrets that could shake the world of Remnant—but what some people seem to be forgetting is that there was good, valid reason behind the way Oz chose to do things. Oz was careful. Meticulous with the kind of people he chose to disclose the truth to as well as the information he chose to tell them and the right time to revealsaid information as well.

I’d like to think that this is how Oz was able to successfully keep things under wraps for so many lives as a means of more or less keeping the peace. Because of how careful he’d chose to move along with the kind of people he decided to place his trust in. Oz was cautious and as he explained in V6, his vigilance was backed up mostly by his experience over the centuries especially his first one with Salem

This is the issue I’m having with our heroes. Although they are committing the same actions as Oz, especially the part of choosing to hide the truth from Ironwood—their actions feel reckless and unwarranted in my opinion and I can’t get behind it as well as I did with Ozpin because I personally don’t feel the heroes are as justified in their actions as Oz was.

Even though the PLOT is trying to paint this picture that James shouldn’t be completely trusted and our heroes are in the right in not trusting him fully with the truth about Salem, for me, I honestly felt like our heroes jumped the gun on that one, just like how they jumped the gun back in Argus in choosing to illegally commandeer an airship to Atlas as opposed to trying any other means that could’ve rendered them the same results with less repercussions involving trouble with the military and the safety of the citizens of Argus.

According to the PLOT, Ruby was correct in making the call to not reveal the whole truth to Ironwood given how he and his forces have been treating the poor people of Mantle; not to mention our heroes upon their arrival in Atlas. This isevidenced by Ruby in V7CH3 in her response to Yang’s questioning.  

“Can we talk about that again?”“What about it?”

“We’re really not going to tellIronwood about what happened to Oz? What we learned about Jinn? About Salem?”

“…We are! We…will. But you saw howthings looked when we flew into Atlas.”

“The General’s heart seems to be inthe right place but…that doesn’t mean we should trust him yet.”

“Why don’t we play along for a whilebefore we make any major decisions?”  

I’d like to highlight Ruby’s indifference to her own actions again. Just something I pegged noteworthy since it reminded me of her attitude towards revealing her true feelings regarding the Aftermath of the Fall of Beacon—how she nonchalantly seemed to shrug away Oscar’s attempt at telling her that it’s alright for her to be open with him about how she’s truly feeling… right before Oscar switches his approach and firmly calls her out on his indifference which in turn finally forced her to come clean and be straight with him.

While I understand that the whole Mantle situation is a complicated matter, to me, that still doesn’t rule out it being a good reason for the heroes to lie to Ironwood.

I’d understand it more if it was a matter of Ruby being strategic in the information that she discloses to Ironwood but that’s not what the case is here. It’s not to saythat Ruby told James some of the truth and was very careful with what she chose to disclose and how she worded said information. It’s that she flat out liedand then repeated the same lie that Oz had fed them about the Relic ofKnowledge back in Mistral.

I know Ruby is trying to say she can’t trust Ironwood 100% because of how things are looking in Mantle and Atlas because of his actions. But on the other hand, I’m surprised it didn’t inspire her to be more upfront rather than the opposite take.

Based on what Pietro said in the first episode, Ironwood has been paranoid and on higher maintenance since the Fall of Beacon. That being said, why chose to withhold information from a man who is already fearful of being betrayed again by those closest to him since it was mentioned earlier in the season that it was one of his Atlas’ own—someone who worked closely with Atlas’ security and the military (Watts)  that contributed to the destruction of Beacon Academy and so much more in chaos in Vale?

“The Fall of Beacon took a toll on all of us. James was no different. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is he saw there, but it changed him. He’s—”

“…He’s scared.”

“Paranoid would be the more appropriate term. You have to understand, it wasn’t just the Grimm. Someone completely dismantled Atlas’ security code. Made it their plaything and made us look like traitors to some and buffoons to everyone else. Whoever managed to do that is either a genius or one of our own. I fear the answer may be both and so does the General.”

Again, with that thought in mind I ask again, why did Ruby think it was a wise choice to lie to Ironwood given what she learned specifically from Pietro regarding his frame of mind right now?

See why the hero’s actions are having the opposite effect for me?

While I get why it’s a possible motive, I still think what the heroes are doing with James is unwarranted. As a matter of fact, I feel like they’ve only made thingsworse for themselves by withholding info from Ironwood given his current frameof mind.

I’d like to think that Ironwood’s experience in Vale has made him more than just paranoid. He’s become more…I wouldn’t say soft but emotionally vulnerable than he was when we first met him.

This is why I don’t wish for Ruby’s mistrust of Ironwood to come back to appear as if she took advantage of Ironwood in his vulnerable state. Because I feel like that could easily feed into Ironwood’s paranoia—to learn that he couldn’t eventrust the people he placed fate in and showed kindness to. To show that heextended them his hand in reliance only for them to not do the same of him.

I know one of the common FNDM theories is that Ironwood isn’t being completely honest with our heroes, however I’m starting to think otherwise. Up until this point in the plot, Ironwood has been upfront with JNR_RWBY and Qrow about everything. Every question they’ve asked of him, he’s told them in full confidence. So far, I haven’t gotten the impression that James has been lying to the heroes at all.

Since he returned the Relic of Knowledge to Ruby and reassured her of his trust,I genuinely feel like he’s been nothing but upfront with the group abouteverything including all that’s been going down with him and his kingdom—bothsides of it.

If Ironwood was shown to be shady as well then I could’ve easily bought into theheroes doing the same thing with him because then their actions would’ve beenreasonable. If Ironwood was the same man he was shown to be back in V2 and was shown to be withholding important information from our heroes especially when they asked him vital questions in need of clarification, similar to how Oz had done with them, then I could’ve gotten behind our heroes taking that mindful approach.

However, this isn’t what I’ve seen from the show’s execution. Instead I’m seeingIronwood behaving pretty trustworthy while the heroes are the ones beingdeceitful and it all feels so very wrong on the heroes’ part. Especially when you have some of them behaving that they were right in keeping secrets from James. What especially bothered me a little was what Qrow told Ruby in the recent CH4.

“I’m trying to do what I think is best but…I really can’t tell if what’sbest is what’s right or if I’m no different from Oz”

Then is an excellent question for Ruby to ask of herself. It’s great because it highlights that she’s taken into consideration what her teammates have toldher—particularly Oscar. It shows that Oscar’s questioning of her actions mimicking Ozpin’s has weighed on her mind-set. So I’m pleased with this frame of thinking from Ruby. However, this moment is short-lived for me by what Qrow says next in response to Ruby’s statement.

“…Ruby, Oz only trusted himself with the whole truth. You’re trusting others, making sure they prove themselves first. I think that’s a pretty big difference.”

…Okay….One thing admittedly right about that statement, yes. Yes; Oz did only trust himself with the whole truth. That is indeed correct. But, there’s also some clear wrong in that statement as well.

Qrow…I get that you’re probably still very, very upset that Oz deceived you and hurt you on a personal level. However, what I am in completely disbelief of is—how could Qrow say that Ruby is no different than Oz because she trusts in others, making sure that they prove themselves worthy of her trust before giving the whole truth?

I’m sorry…WHAT! But…but…Qrow; how can YOU of all people say that with a straight face? How can you remotely imply that at all? Especially the line about Oz only trusting himself and putting his faith in those he believes trustworthy. I’m sorry but that line comes off like utter rubbish to my ears.

Qrow Branwen—you are a living, breathing exemplar of earning Ozpin’s trust. Oz trusted you! He trusted James. He trusted Glynda. He trusted LeonardoLionheart. The entire Inner Circle of Oz only exists because Oz decided to place his trust in a handful of people he deemed worthy of knowing the truth.

While he kept the main truth about Salem’s immortality to himself; that doesn’t erase the fact that he trusted his Inner Circle with everything else. The Maidens. The Relics. Even his own immortality curse and reincarnation cycle. Oz told it all to this particular small group of people because he believed he could trust in them. Oz believed in the integrity of ALL members of his Inner Circle because he trusted each and everyone of them….EVEN when they stab him in the back. Right V2 Ironwood? Right Lionheart?

He even believed in Team STRQ! I’m actually curious to know how muchdid this team know about the truth. We know he trusted Raven and Qrow byturning them into birds with his magic. So I’m curious to know if Summer andTai were also fully aware of ¾ of the truth that Oz trusted his main peoplewith. I’m assuming they did and they kept it as part of their secrets as well.

Speaking of—Qrow, are you forgetting that you also helped Oz keep and uphold some of those secrets?  He entrusted you with ¾ of the whole truth and you’ve been sitting on it as well as your own secrets that you were keeping from your family; particularly your young nieces.

In a nutshell, Qrow’s statement to Ruby further highlight’s the hero’s hypocrisywith Oz. For me, this line didn’t serve to debunk the fact that Ruby is turningto Oz. It only embellished it for me. It affirmed it.

Ruby is indeed turning into Oz and what’s sad is that Qrow, her own beloved uncle and mentor figure, is oblivious to this fact because he’s currently too blinded by both his sustained resentment towards Oz and his love for his niece.  

And it’s pretty much the same for everyone else. Weiss and Blake are pretty complacent with following Ruby’s lead and backing her up on her actions with Ironwood. Yang shows uncertainty but is otherwise complacent too. We still don’t know how Jaune, Nora and Ren feel in regards to this. I’d actually like to hear them weigh in their thoughts on Oz and Ruby’s actions towards James. But I’mconcerned we might not get that since, as evidenced by the PLOT, I think it’spretty clear who are the key drivers of this subplot for V7.

I feel like it’s going to be mostly our veteran Rosebuds—Ruby and Oscar—presenting the two differing sides of this subplot with deceiving Ironwood and I feel like Oz’s reconciliation is prevalent on the results of it.

My theory is that Oscar will be the key to jumpstarting the path to Oz’s reconciliation with the team.

Moreover, I feel like Oscar is going to need Ruby’s support in vouchingfor Oz with the rest of the team; especially with Qrow and possibly Yang and Jaune.

Since the running thing is that most of the hero team follow Ruby’s leadership, I think it can be safe to say that so long as Ruby still shows uncertainty with Oz, it’s going to be mirrored by the others. I think if Oscar gets Oz to come back fromhis isolation in his mind and then gains Ruby’s full trust by helping see thewrong in what she’s doing now by doing the exact thing Oz did while alsohelping her to understand where Oz was coming from.

The only person I think this isn’t go to win over is Qrow. At least, I think Qrow might end up needing more time to work out whatever is going on with him before he can “forgive Oz” since his anger towards him is all wrapped up in his issues with himself and his semblance which encompasses his entire life thus far basically. 

Before, Qrow looked to Oz for validation in the good that he was doing which was why the revelation hit him harder than anyone else. So until Qrow works out his inner skeletons, I think he’ll still be resistant to facing Oz again. Thisseason teased Qrow sharing good “comradery” with Clover. I’m curious to seewhere that will go and whether or not it will lead into Qrow dishing out somedetails on what his past was like with Oz back when he met him as a student ofBeacon.

As a matter of fact, I’m intrigued by any info regarding what Oz’s relationship was like with all the members of his Inner Circle since I believe it can lend to Oscar’s turn with the Merge. 

Like I have a Tin Solider headcanon that Ironwood has actually known Oz from since back when he used to be old self—meaning the man I’ll dub Zoroaster Ozpin, nicknamed ‘Zo’ for short BEFORE he became the man we know as Professor Ozpin.

We know who Oz is but…who was Oz before he became Oz? Who was Zo and did Ironwood know him personally?

Ironwood’s remark to Oscar about Oz’s disappearance not being normal definitely gave me that impression. I think it could be pretty cool if one of Oz’s closest known allies actually knew him before and after the Merge. It could help shed some much needed perspective for Oscar on what the Merge entails for him especially if he heard it from the mouth of someone who knew Oz closely for basically two lifetimes? I’d really love to see something like that done for the canon.  

But that’s only my hunch.

I’d honestly wish to discuss more on this subject since there is surprisingly more I can say about this. However this is getting a little too long for a simple response post. Just another day, am I right? XD So I’m going to end it right here.

I know you didn’t really ask me a question Miki-chan but I still wanted to provide my take on the subject matter you presented and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Feel free to answer or inbox me another message if you’d like as always ^u^)b Peace!

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

#miki-13 #squiggles answers: rwby #professor ozpin #oscar pine #ruby rose #oscar and ozpin #rwby theories #rwby volume 7 theories

[trendingnewsb]

Growing Up in Pornland: How Porn-Addicted Boys Are “Sexual Bullying” Our Teen Daughters

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By Melinda Tankard Reist

“[I want] better education regarding sex for both boys and girls [and] information about pornography, and the way it influences harmful sexual practices.”

These are the words of Lucy, aged 15, one of 600 young Australian women and girls who took part in a just-released survey commissioned by Plan Australia and Our Watch. The survey, conducted by Ipsos, gathered responses from the girls and young women aged 15-19 in all states and territories.

In the survey report, titled Don’t send me that pic, participants reported that online sexual abuse and harassment were becoming a normal part of their everyday interactions. And while the behavior seemed so common, more than 80 percent said it was unacceptable for boyfriends to request naked images.

Sexual bullying and harassment are part of daily life for many girls growing up as a part of this digital generation. Young girls are speaking out more and more about how these practices have links with pornography—because it’s directly affecting them.

Pornography is molding and conditioning the sexual behaviors and attitudes of boys, and girls are being left without the resources to deal with these porn-saturated boys.

If there are still any questions about whether porn has an impact on young people’s sexual attitudes and behaviors, perhaps it’s time to listen to young people themselves. Girls and young women describe boys pressuring them to provide acts inspired by the porn they consume routinely. Girls tell of being expected to put up with things they don’t enjoy.

Some see sex only in terms of performance, where what counts most is the boy enjoying it. I asked a 15-year-old about her first sexual experience. She replied: “I think my body looked OK. He seemed to enjoy it.” Many girls seem cut off from their own sense of pleasure or intimacy. The main marker of a “good” sexual encounter is only if he enjoyed it. Girls and young women are under a lot of pressure to give boys and men what they want, to become a real-life embodiment of what the boys have watched in porn, adopting exaggerated roles and behaviors and providing their bodies as mere sex aids. Growing up in today’s porn culture, girls quickly learn that they are service stations for male gratification and pleasure.

When asked, “How do you know a guy likes you?” an 8th-grade girl replied: “He still wants to talk to you after you [give him oral sex].” A male high school student said to a girl: “If you [give me oral sex] I’ll give you a kiss.” Girls are expected to provide sex acts for tokens of affection and are coached through it by porn-taught boys. A 15-year-old girl said she didn’t enjoy sex at all, but that getting it out of the way quickly was the only way her boyfriend would stop pressuring her and watch a movie.

Seventh-grade girls are increasingly seeking help on what to do about requests for naked images. Receiving texts like “send me a picture of your tits” is an almost daily occurrence for many young girls. The girl asks: “How do I say no without hurting his feelings?”

As the Plan Australia/Our Watch report found, girls are tired of being pressured for images they don’t want to send, but they seem resigned to send them anyway because of how normal the practice has become. Boys then typically use the images as a form of currency, to swap and share with their friends. Often times boys will use the revealing pics to humiliate girls publicly if there is a bad break up.

Seventh-grade girls are asking questions about bondage and S&M. Many of them have seen 50 Shades of Grey, and wonder if a boy wants to hit me, tie me up and stalk me, does that mean he loves me? Girls are tolerating demeaning and disrespectful behaviors, and thereby internalizing pornography’s messages about their submissive role.

Girls describe being groped in the schoolyard and being routinely sexually harassed at school or on the school bus on the way home. They are saying that boys act like they are entitled to girls’ bodies, like girls are only there to pleasure them. It is partially true what defenders of porn often say, porn does provide sex education—but not in the way they think. It teaches middle school boys that women and girls are there for his pleasure and that they are always up for sex. To them, no just means persuade me.

Girls describe being ranked at school on their bodies, and are sometimes compared to the bodies of porn stars. They know they can’t compete, but that doesn’t stop them from thinking that they have to. Requests for genital surgery have tripled in a little over a decade among young women aged 15-24. Girls who don’t undergo porn-inspired waxing are often considered ugly, dirty or gross by boys, as well as by other girls.

Some girls suffer physical injury from porn-inspired sexual acts, including anal sex. The director of a domestic violence centre on the Gold Coast wrote to Collective Shout about the increase in porn-related injuries to girls aged 14 and up, from acts including torture:

“In the past few years we have had a huge increase in intimate partner rape of women from 14 to 80+. The biggest common denominator is consumption of porn by the offender. With offenders not able to differentiate between fantasy and reality, believing women are ‘up for it’ 24/7, ascribing to the myth that ‘no means yes and yes means anal,’ oblivious to injuries caused and never ever considering consent. We have seen a huge increase in deprivation of liberty, physical injuries, torture, drugging, filming and sharing footage without consent.”

The Australian Psychological Society estimates that adolescent boys are responsible for around 20 percent of rapes of adult women and between 30 percent and 50 percent of all reported sexual assaults of children. Just last week, Emeritus Professor Freda Briggs argued that online pornography is turning children into copycat sexual predators, acting out on other children what they are seeing in porn.

A 2012 review of research on “The Impact of Internet Pornography on Adolescents”��found that adolescent consumption of Internet porn was linked to attitudinal changes, including acceptance of male dominance and female submission as the primary sexual paradigm, with women viewed as “sexual playthings eager to fulfill male sexual desires.” The authors found that “adolescents who are intentionally exposed to violent sexually explicit material were six times more likely to be sexually aggressive than those who were not exposed.”

The proliferation and globalization of hypersexualized imagery and pornographic themes make healthy sexual exploration almost impossible. Sexual conquest and domination are untempered by the bounds of respect, intimacy and authentic human connection. Young people are not learning about intimacy, friendship and love, but about cruelty and humiliation. As a recent study found:

“Online mainstream pornography overwhelmingly centered on acts of violence and degradation toward women, the sexual behaviors exemplified in pornography skew away from intimacy and tenderness and typify patriarchal constructions of masculinity and femininity.”

It is intimacy and tenderness that so many girls and young women say they are looking for. But how will young women find these sensual, slow-burn experiences in men indoctrinated by pornography? Psychologist Philip Zimbardo says of young men: “They don’t know the language of face-to-face contact… Constant arousal, change, novelty, excitement makes them out of sync with slow developing relationships—relationships which build slowly.”

Most importantly, it’s young people themselves demanding change. Josie, 18, is quoted in the Plan Australia/Our Watch report:

“We need some sort of crack down on the violent pornography that is currently accessible to boys and men. This violent pornography should be illegal to make or view in Australia as we clearly have a problem with violence, and boys are watching a lot of pornography which can be very violent… This is influencing men’s attitude toward women and what they think is acceptable. Violent pornography is infiltrating Australian relationships.”

Girls like Lucy and Josie deserve our response. It is wrong to leave sexual formation in the hands of the global sex industry. We need to do more to help young people stand up against warped notions of sexuality conveyed in pornography.

Visit Fight The New Drug today to learn more about how you can join this mission. 

**This version originally published on Fight The New Drug.

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[nuzblog]

October 26th, 2017

I have come before you tonight with dreadful news. One member of my party will not make it out of this entry alive. This very sad fact makes me very sad, and it will make you very sad when it happens.

But before I can tell you that story, I must first tell you this story.

Mt. Moon, as you may be aware... is a difficult dungeon for Nuzlockers. I go ahead and do the obvious thing, walking inside back and forth for a little bit. My first encounter is not nearly as lucky as the Jigglypuff or Weedle. No matter how much I could be hoping for Paras (the pre-evolved form of my favorite Gen 1 Pokemon), Zubat is what I get. Still, it's not as though I dislike Zubat. I go ahead and catch it. I name it Kenny. By the by, my nicknaming scheme has been guessed correctly. I won't say it here, in case anyone else wants a chance to guess - you might also get one of the Pokemon from this journey when it's over! At this point though it's pretty obvious, I think.

Randy only knows Leech Life, which is not yet a useful move, but IS one of the 3 damaging Bug moves that exist. This comes in pretty handy, actually, despite its low power.

Anyway, now that I've got a full team of 6, I go ahead and... grind! For like ever. I walk all the way back through Pewter, then Viridian Forest, then south to Palett, to heal at home... and then walk back to Route 3 where strong enough Pokemon to grind off of are. I do this like 3 times over, to where my two new guys are Level 10, before I start to venture a little further into Mt. Moon, fighting trainers, still going back home whenever healing is needed.

I collect the TM for Water Gun. Shelley could learn it, but she's gonna learn it from level up soon anyway. Lemmy could learn it... but so could Randy. And Randy's movepool is pretty limited right now. And he's lower leveled, so could use the anti-Geodude weapon, to keep more XP for himself. So I teach it to Randy.

I later collect the TM for Mega Punch. This also goes to Randy, filling his moveset out to a full 4. Around this time, Lemmy learns Hyper Fang - both moves have 80 base damage, when previously, my highest base damage was 40 on moves such as Quick Attack and Pound, so this is a pretty huge boost for my two Normal types.

Speaking of moves, can we briefly talk about the move Wrap? It might not be too bad in this game, since Ekans isn't wild (unlike in Red), but in Generation 1, moves such as Wrap, Bind and Constrict are... very silly. Whereas in later games, being squeezed in that manner is essentially identical to things like Fire Spin or Sand Tomb - inability to escape, and recurring damage at the end of each turn - Gen 1 makes them also prevent either you or the opponent from moving. Even though it makes sense to be able to bite someone who's grappling you, in the Pokemon World of Red, Blue, Green and Yellow, when you are constricted by a snake, your only hope is that its incremental damage will be low and it uses Leer on its next turn of action, or it will simply rewrap you. The one Rocket with an Ekans in Mt. Moon was pretty annoying as a result.

I also found a Moon Stone, and had a bit of a debate with myself on whether or not to use it on Randy now. I looked at its level up movepools between both Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff in Generation 1, and learned that Defense Curl (useless), Body Slam, and Double Edge (which is a TM) would be unavailable to me. Body Slam isn't a huge loss, and TMs can pick up the slack, so I go ahead and evolve Randy, giving it all 3 of these nice items I've found in Mt. Moon.

I walk past the Rocket I recall has a Raticate, since Raticate Rocket is a real rapscallion who ravaged my previous party.

At the end of Mt. Moon, there is a Super Nerd who has a Koffing, Voltorb, and Grimer. (My name in Pokemon Go, which is my Trainer Class and then as much of my name as would fit, is SuperNerdSter. Irrelevant, but also... relevant.) I would like to take this opportunity to discuss sprite oddities in Gen 1, since Koffing's sprite here has the skull and crossbones above its eyes, which is different from the classic Koffing design. In general, these earlier games took a lot more liberties with the designs. For my favorite example, you can look no further than my own party - Kenny's evolution into Golbat will also give it a huge, actively slobbering tongue to go with that enormous mouth, as well as squinty eyes that make it look both creepy and like it is bothered by light, both of which are slightly better than the regular eyes it has now, but still far far worse than the no eyes that its pre-evolution has. I feel that if Golbat had no eyes like Zubat, and still had its tongue, it would be one of my favorite ever Pokemon, instead of just one that I think is fine. Maybe not surpassing Parasect, but coming close.

Another notable sprite change is in a Pokemon I've encountered a few times before as well, Kakuna. In Gen 1, it has ARMS! The arms are still there in later generations, but are constantly flush to its body and no longer seem to have any range of movement. Which is a bummer! I loved Kakuna's arms.

Anyway. I chose the Dome Fossil, which I like, but I'm not gonna use it. I have... other plans, for Cinnabar Island. ;)

By the time I get onto the other side of Mt. Moon, my team is level 15. I could progress from here to Cerulean...

But first. I have some unfinished business.

I go ahead and walk all the way home again - for the last time. until after the Diglett Tunnel. And then I go back... to finish off the completion for Mt. Moon. I pick a fight with Raticate Rocket and his illegal Raticate, who murdalized my guys last time I fought him. This time, he is not so lucky.

Anyway. Back to progress. Unlike the two sides of Viridian Forest, the entrance and exit to Mt. Moon are on different Routes! Route 4 is new, so I hop down, now unable to return home, and run around, finding a... drumroll please... Sandshrew! I've never actually used one of these before, except I might have in one of my millions of Emerald playthroughs, where they are pretty plentiful in the desert. I also can't find one to save my life in Pokemon Go, since I started playing after they were removed from eggs. So I'm pretty jazzed to see this little fella. He's also Level 12, which is the maximum for the route, and pretty close to the rest of my team! His name is, after much debate, Leopold.

I add him to the party and heal at the Pokemon Center, setting Lemmy in the PC for now. I might as well take this opportunity to lock in a rule addendum I've been adhering to, but not specifically mentioned, so I no longer have the potential to weasel out of it. I did say these rules might be changing a little as we do this first game.

Rule 4c: At any given Pokemon Center, that Center's heal comes before any outstanding Notable Battle Heals that haven't been spent yet.

So for example, healing here at the Cerulean City Pokemon Center is the Cerulean City Heal, and not the Brock Heal. Got it? Good.

Now, I go ahead and have a pretty unsuccessful grinding session, on a similar "until I need healing" basis to one of them previous grinding sessions. Leopold gets to Level 14, and Randy gets to 16, but it's otherwise not great. Ah well. I heal again, since I have no way of progress without making another Notable Battle happen and I don't want to waste a heal. (In retrospect I could have knocked down some gym trainers, maybe gotten better XP than the grass gave.)

And then, I head North to Nugget Bridge, ready for yet another face off against Ash. I do like how frequently you encounter him in this game. Later Pokemon Games have a steadily shrinking rival presence, and a steadily more nonantagonistic role for the "rival." Like, the last 3 generations, your rival is actually just your friend who likes to fight Pokemon sometimes.

Unfortunately... I am underleveled. Pretty badly, looks like - Pidgeotto is Level EIGHTEEN. Whoops. I head into combat anyway, switching out when things look hairy, starting off with my two powerhouses, Randy and Lemmy...

Sadly, and tragically, an unexpected critical hit knocked just over the edge of Randy's health. Randy... is dead.

October 25th, 2017 - October 26th, 2017.

Poor Randy. We barely knew ye. And we funneled a bunch of resourced into ye that have now been wasted and are unrecoverable. :,(

Pidgeotto goes down fine after that, though - next is Abra, who only knows teleport, so I take the opportunity to use my last two Potions on Lemmy and on Shelley, whose high defense was the difference against the Pidgeotto. I then use Kenny's super effective WAIT SHIT AS I'M WRITING THIS I LITERALLY ONLY JUST NOW REALIZED I BROKE RULE 3.

Um. Whoops.

In all fairness, looking at HP and PP totals, I never actually used Windy or Bebe during that fight, so technically I did only use 4 Pokemon, but I did forget to box two of them. Boy, rules are hard to remember!

Leech Life. It's the super effective one. Remember how I said it would be useful? It was.

Then came Rattata, who I fought with my own Rattata. My Hyper Fang caused a flinch, and dropped it low enough for Quick Attack to finish it off.

After that, I switched back to Kenny, because thanks to Bug being weirdly good on Poison, Leech Life is Double Super Effective on Ash's Bulbasaur. Victory, despite being underleveled, with only one casualty.

And that's where I am - I'm at the Pokemon Center, in front of the PC, where I've swapped the deceased Randy for the extant Leopold.

Ah... poor Randy. You shall be missed.

#pokemon #pokemon blue #nuzlocke #entries

[fuckyeahoutsidexbox]

Show of the Week - Darksiders 2

Next one giffed and transcribed! Let me know if there are mistakes!

Also @outsidexboxofficial, is that Andy under that mask?

(Jane)

Hello and welcome to OutsideXbox’s Show of the Week. It’s a show, it’s weekly, and this time we’re all about Darksiders 2 and its hero, death.  

 (Andy)

Death, that reminds me, Mike died.

 (Jane)

What?

 (Andy)

Yeah, yeah, he died. He said that we should claim on his life insurance to use the money to build a better studio.

 (Jane)

But, how, how did that happen?

 (Andy)

Uh, that lighting rig. Remember from last week that fell on him.

 [Dramatic/sad music plays]

 (Jane)

Oh. Well I guess we’ll have to just try and move on and what better way than with our game of the week. The original Darksiders, released back in 2010, starred the first of its four horsemen of the apocalypse. That was War, who was framed for starting Armageddon too early. Now in Darksiders 2 you play as his bony brother, Death.

 (Death)

The tree of life is where I will find my brother’s absolution.

 (Jane)

As Death, you are out to clear War’s name and you’re going to do it with crunchy combat, nimble platforming and lot of lovely loot. Like the first game, Darksiders 2 does a great job of spicing God of War like action with a Zelda style hub and dungeon structure. New though is the Prince of Persia like platforming for clamboring around and the loot system for kitting out Skullface McNoMouth with ever better weapons and armour. As this grim reaper, you’ll be harvesting more random item drops than human skulls and among the rarest are possessed level weapons. These are weapons you can individually level up by permanently sacrificing other items to them. Very cool. And that’s all without delving into the skill trees that let you summon ghouls and crows or Death’s unholy winged reaper thorn. Darksiders 2 is an enormous adventure, with masses of variety but does credit to its many inspirations. For that, it’s out game of the week.

 (Mike)

So here I am, genuinely dead. In limbo, killed after the pilot. And waiting for death to come and claim me. Um, I should probably check out this handbook for the recently deceased and see what I’m up against. Turns out I can challenge death to the game of my choice for a chance to claim back my soul.

[Electronic music plays]

 (Mike)

How are you so good at this? You don’t even have ligaments!

 (Andy)

What are we going to do for content now that Mike’s dead? He was supposed to do this feature, what is the deal with FPS’s? I was looking forward to that.

 (Jane)

I, uh, guess we could contact him beyond the veil and see if he’s got any ideas for content.

 (Andy)

Yeah, good idea. Let me call the psychic hotline.

(On the Phone) Hello? Uh yes I’m looking to get in contact with my friend Mike. He’s dead you see. Yeah. About 5’10, curly hair, doesn’t wear hats. Yes, yes, that’s the one.

(To Jane) Apparently, he’s left a message for us.

 (Mike)

Alright guys sorry I can’t come to the phone. Currently locked in competition with the Grim Reaper in a selection of Xbox 360 games. Tell you what though, I had a snoop around his IMDB page while I waited for him to turn up. This guy is prolific. Turns out Death features heavily in video games and not just in the “I was repeatedly capped by a 12-year-old Call of Duty prodigy” sense either. The skeletal personification of Death, the Grim Reaper, must have a great agent because he’s more ubiquitous than Fearne Cotton. And very nearly as skinny too. Death might have a rare starring role in Darksiders 2 but arguably his most famous gaming appearance is in The Sims. Turning up like an unwelcome party guest to claim the souls of your neglected, malnourished, urine saturated virtual people. Previous games allowed other Sims to plead for the life of the victims but as of The Sims 3, the first in the series on Xbox 360, you have to beat him at Chess. If he’s not too busy playing Burnout Paradise, that is. Of course, when it comes to beating Death you can take a more hands on approach and thump him until he gives up. In Dante’s Inferno, the Reaper gets his bony arse handed to him within the first ten minutes of the game. Which begs the question, if his scythe isn’t powerful enough to kill a single puny poet, why does Dante bother to steal it and use it for the entire rest of the game? By and large, Paperboy was filled with pretty believable occupational hazards for a newspaper delivery boy. Dogs, skateboarders, the gradual decline of the print media, that sort of thing. Something of a surprise then to see Death turning up in suburban America with the express intention of clotheslining you off your BMX. Classic PC adventure game, Grim Fandango, featured an entire bureau of Grim Reapers of which hero Manny Calavera is one. In his role of Death, he acts as a sort of travel agent to the afterlife. Wonder how in competes with the ones offering a weekend call through with flights for less than 500 quid. Death’s a regular in Guitar Hero turning up as the “Grim Ripper” in no less than four of the games. Naturally, rather than a regular guitar he plays a heavily modified scythe. And it turns out you can perform fancy fretwork even if you have no flesh on your fingertips. Final Fantasy VII had a variety of weird and wonderful summons and while Hades shares a name with the Greek God of the Underworld, he’s the opposite of a strapping, bearded deity. With that hood and skull for a face, he’s clearly the Grim Reaper. Though he swapped his scythe for a more unwieldy cauldron. Perhaps he reaps souls with salmonella instead. Wouldn’t want to put money on which end it would come out though.

 (To Death) Ah, friendly reaper inbound, right? Yeah? You know? Reaper? It’s ironic, right?

 (Andy)

Well, I guess we should go through Mike’s will.

 (Jane)

Yeah, right. Um. Huh, it looks like it’s just instructions on getting an achievement in Darksiders 2.

 (Andy)

Weird, what does it say?

 (Jane)

To whom it may concern, how are you? I am fine. If you’re reading this, I’m already dead. If you knew me, Mike Channel, in life you know I was a selfless, thoughtful kind of guy. That’s why I want my Last Will and Testament to bequeath ten easy gamer score on everyone. Or at least everyone who is playing Darksiders 2. The Triple Lindy is an easy but secret achievement and unlike most of Darksiders 2 ‘chivos it’s not one you’ll pick up just by completing the main quests and collecting all the collectibles. A few hours into the game, when you’re on the Heart of the Mountain main quest, you get access to The Foundry. As you’re working your way through this dungeon, you’ll come to this enormous open area over a big pool of water. On this wall to your left, up high, are three balconies. Now, you’re going to take Death for a swim. Jump in the pool, climb up the wall using the vines and your death grip power, turn right at the top and take a high dive back down into the water below. Swim back to the wall with the stroke of your choice, climb back on up and take a left at the top. Find the next balcony and take another dive. Try a somersault on the way down. Then it’s rinse and repeat, literally ha ha, as you reclimb the wall, go left again at the top and go for a triple pike back down into the water where you’ll find ten sweet gamer score waiting for you. So, there you go, my final gift to the world. Remember me for that, okay? And not whatever you find in my flat.

 (Mike)

(singing) Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you.

 [Sounds of bells and whistling wind]

 (Mike)

HA! In your face Death! You should have rubbed it on your cloak, see ya!

 (To Andy) Ahhhh. I’ve defeated Death and managed to breach the barrier between the land of the living and the land of the dead. So, all I’ve gotta do now is finish my earthly business and then I can rest in peace.

 (Andy)

Well Jane’s gone for coffee, do you have time to do the feedback with me?

 (Mike)

Yeah, I’ve got five minutes.

 (Andy)

In this week’s comments, we hear what you make of subterranean bounty hunter adventure Star Wars 1313 which may or may not be the salvation of the floundering Star Wars franchise. On Facebook, James Chiswell-Carter said “As far as I’m concerned, it can’t be as bad as Star Wars Kinect or Episodes 1-3, sticky tongue out face”. While Paul Lawrence asks “What was wrong with Stars War Kinect? Hahaha, fooled you, yeah it was rubbish!”. Aw man, classic bait and switch there. He sent us one way than bam, went the other.

 (Mike)

Jedi mind trick. In a feedback for Andy’s preview of 1313, DivineJayBob says of the placeholder protagonist “stick a hipster beard on him and he looks a bit like Andy. Maybe Andy’s Boba Fett”.

 (Andy)

Yeah, I don’t see it.

 (Mike)

How do you feel about hunting bounties?

 (Andy)

Ambivalent at best

 (Mike)

Yeah, not a big fan of coconut either. Also on your Star Wars 1313 preview, Craig Dav… urgh, David Craig… [interrupted]

 (Andy)

Oh god, not this again.

 (Mike)

And John Brogan… [interrupted]

 (Andy)

Yeah I was doing a… [interrupted]

 (Mike)

And SpazzidNinjaDude all took issue with your pronunciation of coruscant.

 (Andy)

And that was the best take we got.

 [clip of Andy saying the word “Coruscant” in more increasingly bizarre ways ending with saying it as “Karen Carpenter”]

 (Jane)

Dear insurance agency, as you can see from this episode of Show of the Week, Mike is definitely definitely dead and that’s why we as his close friends and beneficiaries of his estate should receive his life insurance pay out in full.

 (Andy)

Thank you for watching.

 (On the phone) Mike? Yeah, they bought it.

 (Jane)

Camera’s still on.

 (Andy)

It went off without a hitch.

 (Jane)

Camera’s still on.

 (Andy)

Oh, sorry, sorry.

 (On the phone) Yeah, so we’ll split the money three ways.

 (Jane)

Still on!

 (Andy)

Oh, yeah sorry, sorry. Illegal things are the best!

#outsidexbox #andy farrant #mike channell #jane douglas #transcript #show of the week

[hymn2000]

The Slight of My Hand is Now A Quick-Pull Trigger - ‘Dyfty’ family Crime Circle AU fic

AU of my AU where Dylan is part of an underground crime circle. More of a setting-scene fic that anything else. Reference pics available upon request

This could be set in the modern day, it could be set in the 70′s, it could even be set in 1910. Take your pick, cos I have absolutely no idea. It’s ambiguous. I finally managed to come up with an idea loosely based on Pumped Up Kicks (hence the title)

I’m proud of this so I hope you all like it too - please leave me reviews if you can!

Warnings/themes: Guns, crime/illegal activity

-

Dylan Keogh: high class doctor on the surface. Respectable, noble, humane. Beneath the surface, however, was a stronghold of a nature that not many could imagine and far fewer would ever have cause to witness. 

White shirts and stethoscope during the day swapped for a black trench coat and pistol in the evenings. Like most in his circle, the pistols were almost exclusively for self defensive.

It could be a dangerous game, so personal residents were rarely used as meeting points. Instead, in the high end of town was a terrace of highly valuable properties. The street had been subject to many renovations and changes throughout the years, but the final three houses were permanently stated as the rings headquarters. Everyone involved had their own key and almost free reign of the properties. During busy times, members would take up residence there for a few days at a time. The huge house often looked derelict, with a dull exterior and windows which appeared blacked out. It was a perfect front for the plans often unraveling behind closed doors.

-

The house had a strange habit of making time almost disappear. 3pm often felt like 6pm, and 6pm often felt like 10pm. The lights were dim and the houses were furnished with a lot of dark wood. Comparing Dr Keogh’s homely houseboat to the HQ would be a perfect metaphor for how people’s identity and appearance changed so drastically when at the terrace. 

-

Dr Keogh was at the middle house tonight. The clock was just striking six (feeling like ten), and he was leaning against an old stained oak welsh dresser, a cigar fixed firmly between his teeth. As the dull thud announcing the hour ended, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the old grandfather clock. It felt antiqued in atmosphere, and Keogh was deep in thought, going over various aspects of his double life which needed planning out or reviewing. His train of thought was broken when he suddenly became aware of a presence beside him. Quick as a flash, he whipped his pistol out and stood to attention, almost hitting the figure in the head as his reflexes kicked in.

The figure froze, hands raised to shoulder level. With the dim lights shrouding his vision, it took him a moment more to realise he recognised the newcomer.

He lowered the pistol slowly and replaced it in his holster. 

“You ought to make heavier footsteps, my girl” 

-

Ah yes, young Benny Chiltern, Keogh’s pride and joy. Stolen from a drug addicted woman close to death and acquired legally with help from his doctoring career and right hand man both shrouding the full truth of the situation. Without a doubt the girl was his, and with the biological mother long gone, there was nothing to say that he didn’t adopt a poorly baby girl in anything other than the proper way, sixteen years previous. 

The girl had acquired her father’s skill for blank unapologetic expressions and a keen interest in medicine. She was much like her father in that she had two separate identities herself: the one she showed to the general public and the one reserved for her father’s ‘private business’, to which it was so often referred.

Both father and daughter also possessed a third identity; the one they would show only to each other and those who acted as family to the two of them. It was this identity which took over now, as he pulled the girl into a hug. In all his life, only two things had managed to touch his soft core: dogs, and Benny. Because of this, like other offspring of the circle, Benny was under extra protection, lest they be used against their parents. 

Though she may be Keogh’s weakness, Benny herself was not weak. She was small but she had fight and was feisty and determined in everything she did. Her early years had given her need for long term medical treatment on separate occasions, and she was known to give her cut of HQ successes to the hospital which had looked after her. This was her choice but she acknowledged the type of full-circle it caused, since it was her father’s hospital, not to mention the hospital of many members of the circle. But that was her prerogative.

-

“Were you in lessons today?” 

“I was still feeling rough from yesterday so I didn’t go” Benny said, stepping back from her father’s embrace. 

“I thought as much. I didn’t see the full state of your knees last night” Keogh said, gesturing at the cuts which were just visible thanks to her slipping knee high socks. “Still, you did well”

“I know. We’re doing the other one tonight” 

Keogh nodded, taking another drag of his cigar. “I’m not directly involved, but I’ll be assisting in surveillance for your sake” 

“I rather think I’m old enough to look after myself” 

“And I rather think you lose yourself in the childish dream of being a spy and forget the potential damage we all risk within the circle” he snapped, receiving quite the glare in return for it. “You’re very good, but you’re still low-level” 

Benny knew that all too well, although her recent workload lead her to believe otherwise. Sir had grown increasingly fond of her and her skills throughout the past 18 months and had taken her under his wing. Meaning, he incorporated her into his plans and put her under a training scheme which used carrot and stick to keep consistency up. Benny had started at HQ abnormally young, assisting in the circles dirty deeds from as young as age 3. Her role was steadily moving up and becoming more front line. Although it sometimes made her feel dirty and scared, she was growing to accept the importance of her role and the circle’s work. Sir and her father had made special effort with her, given her success in her younger years. 

-

“We haven’t practiced for a while” 

“Practiced what?” Benny asked. 

“Your reflexes” Keogh produced a key from around his neck, which he used to unlock one of the drawers on the welsh dresser, from which he produced a holstered pistol. “Let’s see how you’re doing” 

Benny obediently raised the right side of her frilly skirt and allowed the doctor to fasten the holster high up on her thigh so it would be completely hidden. The straps cut in and rubbed uncomfortably, but there was nothing much that could be done about that. 

"Your gun isn’t loaded. Neither is mine. Now, we’ll do it on a count: Five steps, five seconds, fire. That’s simple enough. Come now, back to back” 

She did as she was told, listening carefully as he counted their steps. The pause when they stilled felt like a lifetime. It almost made her jump when the final countdown commenced.

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One”

Benny acted in haste rather than skill, making the mistake of forgetting about the button which held the gun into the holster. She grabbed her gun as she spun to face her father, but instead of her goal, all she managed was a stumble and the smarting pain of the straps and buckle of the holster catching and digging on her inner thigh punishing her for her infantile mistake.

“I would’ve killed you by now” 

She looked up, still bent-double. Her father’s gun was barely a foot from her head, held confidently at the end of his outstretched right arm. His sideways position was one of professionalism and confidence. As always, he looked the absolute poster-boy of gun stance.

“I ruined that a bit. It’s been a while” she said, straightening up and rubbing her thigh where the buckle caught. 

“You’re lucky it’s me:- Sir would have smacked you” he ruffled her hair. “Let’s try that one again” 

-

Benny was a little taken aback at what came in place of the second countdown of the practice. 

“It seems you’ve tracked me down after all. People do amaze me sometimes, and by sometimes, I mean; not often” It was hard to recognise the voice as her father’s, and it was a little unnerving. 

“I know why you’re here” The Voice continued. “I’ve heard of the falling of many like me. The lover’s of the finer things, shall we say”

Benny felt through the side of her skirt and unpopped the snap fastener on the holster. She heard a sinister laugh from her father’s side of the room. 

“Let’s see what you’ve got” 

Taking this as her cue, this second attempt was perfect as a stage show: a flawless turn and smooth removal of the gun from the holster landing her in a soldier’s guns stance, mirror imaging her father.

“So this is what they send. My little weakness” The source of the voice continued, his gun faltering. “Not exactly the assassin look I was expecting: they usually have less frills”

“Thought they’d give you a good show before you go” She said, her voice almost as unrecognisable as that of her counterpart. 

“Oh they’ve certainly achieved that” The figure lowered his gun, taking a few steps towards her. He tipped her chin up with the barrel of his gun. “I could kill you just as easily as you could kill me”

“Oh I’m sure of it” She used her own gun to push his aside. She resumed her position as the other stepped back and did the same. 

“How unfortunate that we had to meet in circumstances such as this” he laughed again, shaking his head. “Is this goodbye?” 

Benny didn’t respond beyond taking a step forward. Her arm was beginning to ache. 

“You don’t have the guts, girl. It sets us apart” his gun was raised again. “Don’t think I won’t. You’re an easy target. It’s just the two of us. You won’t do it” 

“What makes you so sure”

“Nothing at all” he watched her, at her unfaltering expression and the dark look in her eyes. “Do it” he hissed.

She felt conflicted. She knew in the back of her mind that this was a scenario and this was her father, but at the forefront it felt real. She felt hot inside but a cold sweat had broken out over her body. She straightened her back a little more, raised her gun a little higher. 

“DO IT! This is why you’re here, isn’t it? To put an end to the last of us, the last of our city’s lover’s of the finer things. Do it, get it over with if you’ve got the nerve”

Suddenly he had hold of her wrist in his left hand, and he yanked her closer. Still she clung to her gun, but she could feel panic rising up in her stomach. 

“What are you doing to do now, my little weakness?” 

She had absolutely no idea, and shocked herself as her body seemed to act off it’s own accord. She delivered a quick headbutt to the mouth, and as the figure’s own reflexes kicked in, he dropped both Benny and his gun. It wasn’t until she was stood back with a gun in either hand that she realised what she’d done. She panicked a little more, getting her fingers ready on the triggers - and there was clapping behind her. She froze as she was, not faltering her position but beginning to worry visibly. 

It wasn’t until the doctor broke out of his role and put his hands on the guns to make her lower them that she let her guard down and let him take them from her. 

-

“Well well well, quite the performance” A voice sounded. 

Benny watched her father locking the guns away. He took her by the shoulders and turned her round. 

“Good evening, Sir” he said. 

“Good evening Keogh. Benny. Getting a bit of scenario training in, are we?” 

“It would appear so, Sir” Keogh said, keeping his hands on Benny’s shoulders. “It had been a while since we’d done so” 

“Still, an impressive performance. You’re quite the actor: I barely recognised you” Sir approached them, tipping Benny’s chin up. “You’re coming along well, my dear” He looked her over in his usual unearthly calm manner. “Is it your time of month, Benny?” 

“What?” She looked down and noticed the trickle of blood. “Oh. No, uh, the holster...”

“You didn’t tell me it had cut you” her father said, suddenly concerned. 

"I didn’t really notice...” she unstrapped the holster from herself and inspected the wound. “It’s nothing serious” 

“I’ll have a look for you in a moment” 

Sir took her face in his hand roughly. “Remember we’re using you as bait again tonight. Get yourself cleaned up, and don’t you dare let me down”

-

Dylan pulled her close for a hug as they watched Sir leave. 

“It’s just until you go off to do your nursing degree. Just hold out a few more years” 

“I don’t want to go tonight” 

Dylan took her over to the other end of the room and sat her down on the dark sofa, taking his pocket first aid kit from his jacket to tend to her leg. 

“When you turn twenty-one, Sir will sit you down and give you two options: stay in the circle and become an official member, or leave this part of your life behind you and go on to live a normal life. You must choose the latter” he said, focusing on her wound so as not to make eye contact. “This is not the life I chose for you. I can’t stop Sir from using you to achieve circle goals, but you can in five years. You’re the only one who can protect yourself from being used as bait all your life. I hate the way he treats you, and I can only dampen it so much” 

“Dad... I’m so scared about tonight. I know our scenario just now was completely different, but I know you were playing the man we’re after tonight” 

“Iain will be there at all times, and you’ll have your signal if it gets too much. It’ll only be an hour or two. Three at most” he packed away his little first aid kit and pulled her close, resting his head on hers. “Once we’re finished and back here, we’ll grab our stuff and go back to the boat. We’ve been staying at HQ for a few days too long now. We both need a break” 

Benny closed her eyes, sighing silently. “Are you ever gonna leave?” 

“Myself, Zoe, and Iain all have contracts which terminate in ten years time, and we don’t plan to renew them. The circle has given me a lot, and it does good work, but I want to be boring and spend my free time fishing and reading books and watching old telly. This circle is exhausting at times. It’ll be well out of my life by the time you have children” 

“Are you scared as well?” 

There was quite the silence. Dylan help his daughter tighter, closer, trying not to think of anything, which was incredibly difficult. Benny curled up against her father, snuggling into his chest like an infant and rubbing her nose against the fabric of her jacket. Her pulse was beating strongly all over her body, and just like earlier, she was hot on the inside with a cold sweat on the outside. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on the feel of her father’s arms. Dylan held her even tighter as the clock began announcing the hour. He stayed as he was for a couple of minutes after the last chime, but all too soon he had to loosen his grip. 

“It’s time for you to get ready”

*

#my writing #shoelace fandom #buckle fandom #dyfty #please please read this it's very different to my usual stuff but I think it worked?

[wavenetinfo]

GRETNA, Neb. — Lanyard Burgett sits uncomfortably outside a coffee shop in an outlet mall, occasionally craning his neck to see whether someone is behind him. Burgett says he served in the Air Force in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, but was never as afraid there as he is right now.

His angst is over the events of a youth soccer tournament in Nebraska last weekend.

Burgett says his life has been threatened, and his phone has been bombarded with numerous intimidating calls from blocked numbers. He has filed a report with the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office. Burgett is not normally a paranoid man, but he was awoken Tuesday night to what he believes was the sound of someone trying to break into his house. He’d been asleep for three hours at that point. It was one of the longest nights he has slept since all this started five days ago.

His body language is a contorted mess of anger, fear and resignation. Burgett has been a ref and a coach and a soccer dad, but right now, the volunteer director of the Ray Heimes Springfield Soccer Invitational never wants to be involved in a soccer tournament again. He is seated across from a public relations person named Gina Pappas, and has come with a stapled packet of soccer rules and a roster — evidence, if you will. Less than a week ago, Burgett’s world was grandkids and making sure he had enough medals for his tournament — a simple life in the small town of Springfield, Nebraska, population 1,600. Now Burgett has a P.R. person.

About 30 minutes away, in Omaha, an 8-year-old girl is being flooded with media requests. Mili Hernandez had two TV interviews on Tuesday night, and she was late because her father, Gerardo, couldn’t find her. She was out playing with a friend, oblivious to the fact that she has become the face of a debate over sports and gender rights. Mili doesn’t have Barbie dolls; she has soccer balls. On Sunday, when her Azzurri Cachorros Chicas team was disqualified from the tournament in Springfield, reportedly because tournament officials were convinced the short-haired Mili was a boy, the story took off, thrusting her into international prominence.

U.S. Soccer legends Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach sent their support to young Mili, whose full name is Milagros, which in Spanish means “miracles.”

“You’re inspiring,” Wambach told Mili in a video. “You’re a natural-born leader, honey, and I’m so proud of you.”

But like most scenarios involving parents, youth sports and about 1,000 kids running around a grassy patch of land, this story is far from simple.

Burgett tugs on his plastic water bottle. At least twice in the conversation, he looks as if he’s going to cry. He was torn when he heard about Hamm and Wambach reaching out to Mili. He’s happy that the little girl might get to meet them, and upset that he, in this equation, is portrayed as the monster who created the controversy.

He thumbs through his packet of soccer papers, which are marked in yellow highlighter. Two decades in the military taught him to be regimented, even in chaos. It taught him to follow the rules.

“I would like to have the opportunity to maybe sit down with the parents and talk to them and apologize to her,” he says. “Because I want her to know it wasn’t about her. I’ve got grandkids. I wouldn’t want somebody to do it to them when they play soccer.

“I’d like to give them my side. They might understand; they might not. At least then they’d know from my side why I did what I did.”

Many sides to the story

Where do we begin? With the coach who complained about a rule that has nothing to do with gender confusion? With the anonymous parents who asked why a boy was playing on a girls’ team?

Burgett contends that young Mili had nothing to do with the Azzurri girls’ team being kicked out of the Springfield tournament Saturday night. He says he disqualified three Azzurri teams, not just Mili’s. Yes, there was a dispute over whether Mili was a girl that became even more confusing when the team’s roster, a list that has been used for months, had an “M” for male next to her name. There are 14 girls on that roster, and the only one who fell victim to the typo is the kid who just happens to have short hair. How that happened remains unclear.

But Burgett says the teams were disqualified because they violated another rule. Azzurri played kids on multiple teams in the tournament. Burgett presents a piece of paper that Mo Farivari, the director of the Azzurri soccer club, signed at check-in. Six lines above his signature, in caps, is a sentence that says if illegal players are caught, they face possible removal from the tournament. Then Burgett shows a highlighted page that explains the rule, that a kid can’t play on two teams.

Farivari doesn’t deny that the club had players competing on multiple teams during the tournament. Three girls on Mili’s team also played for Azzurri’s 11/12 boys’ team during the tournament. So did a few players on the club’s 10-and-under boys’ team. But Farivari says they’ve done this before, it’s legal at his tournament, and he was never told that it was against Springfield’s rules. Farivari is also convinced Mili’s team was disqualified because of the gender controversy.

“The only reason he disqualified them,” Farivari says, “is because Mili looks like a boy and is listed [with] a typo on the roster. I went over this to clarify, but he didn’t want to listen.”

The gender flap, in and of itself, is confusing. Soccer clubs have a registrar who types in the names of each player, along with information such as date of birth and gender. Months ago, when Azzurri’s registrar was inputting the 300-plus club names into the Nebraska State Soccer Association system, Farivari says, the registrar accidentally hit “male” instead of “female” for Mili. That error apparently was never corrected.

So for months, Mili played soccer games with the wrong gender attached to her name, and heard nary a peep about it. Even a rules-stickler like Burgett didn’t notice during registration as he pored through hundreds of names last week.

Tournament officials first noticed it Saturday. Burgett was gone for a few hours to attend a wedding, leaving duties to his assistants. That morning, Mili’s team was scheduled to play the Norris Titans Blue team after 11 o’clock. Norris had played earlier that morning, and members of the team were watching a boys’ game before warm-ups.

When three girls who played on that Azzurri boys’ team took the field for warm-ups before the Titans’ girls’ game against Mili’s team, Norris coach Brad Kester took notice. It bothered him a bit. “If that was legal,” Kester says, “I would’ve had two teams in the tournament if I could’ve shared players.”

There are reasons for that rule, Kester says. Temperatures climbed into the 90s in Eastern Nebraska this past weekend, and he says safety is an issue when a kid is possibly playing eight games over the course of three days.

Kester alerted a referee about the rules infraction, but he did not protest the game, which he says Norris won 4-0. It was the Chicas’ first loss of the tournament. During the game, Kester says that his players could hear parents yelling for Azzurri to “pass HIM the ball.” That puzzled Kester. He says the shouts were coming from Azzurri parents.

“It didn’t really matter to me,” Kester says. “We didn’t complain about Mili’s role in the game. It had no impact on the game. It’s not like we saw Mili before the game and we’re like, ‘Hey, that player looks like a boy.'”

After the game, when Kester was talking to a tournament official about the player-swapping infraction, he said at least one parent from Norris chimed in and asked, “Why do they have a boy on the team?” Kester declined to identify the parent. Burgett says multiple parents asked that question.

By late Saturday, Burgett and his staff were investigating both issues. Burgett went through the roster and saw the “M” for male. He says he did not actually see what Mili looked like until Monday night, when he finally turned on a television and saw her on the news. (He says he intentionally avoided TV and the internet before that.) Burgett says it didn’t matter what documentation Mili’s family, or the club, presented. His official document, the roster, said she was a boy. And in his mind, the point was moot anyway, because her team, along with two other Azzurri squads, were being disqualified for the player-sharing infraction.

At 11:12 p.m. on Saturday night, he sent Farivari an email informing him that the teams were disqualified. In detail, he listed four infractions. Three of them were about sharing players. But the first one on the list dealt with Mili.

She was not named — Burgett says he made a point throughout the whole process not to single her out — but the paragraph said the Chicas’ first infraction was having a male play three games on a female team.

“I am sorry to inform of this decision,” Burgett wrote about the infractions, “but cheating is not taken lightly and they will forfeit their remaining games.”

Mili back on the field; Burgett not so quick to return

Gerardo Hernandez’s phone has been ringing nonstop. When he got word Sunday morning that his daughter’s team was being disqualified from the tournament, he rushed from his home in midtown Omaha to Springfield, desperately — and unthinkably — trying to prove that Mili was a girl.

Gerardo was angry, but he had to get there so Mili’s team could play. He brought with him an insurance card to prove his daughter’s gender. He was ready to recite any information they needed.

“I said I have something in my wallet I want to show him,” Gerardo says. “He didn’t even take it. He didn’t care. He said somebody was a boy on the team, and there’s nothing we can do.”

Mili went with him to Springfield. Gerardo says she felt like the whole team got kicked out because of her, and she felt terrible. She cried the whole ride home, he says.

“She went to sleep thinking she was going to play … ” Gerardo says. “Early morning, they told her she was out.”

The Nebraska State Soccer Association did not respond to questions from espnW.com, but said in an email that Springfield tournament officials disqualified an all-girls team for incorrectly listing a member as “male” on its roster in violation of tournament rules. The NSSA said that despite initial media reports, team officials said the squad was not disqualified because of physical appearances but because of incorrect paperwork submitted. The NSSA said it was suspending the sanctioning of the Springfield Invitational until a detailed review took place.

In a statement, executive director Casey Mann said Nebraska State Soccer “was founded on the values of teamwork and inclusion.”

Mili hasn’t had to worry about exclusion in the days since her story went viral. Hamm has invited her to her camp this summer, and Mili plans to go. Farivari says he got a call from Columbus, Nebraska, offering the team a chance to play in a tournament there this weekend, free of charge.

Thursday night, according to Azzurri coach Mario Torres, Mili’s teammates plan to cut their hair after practice as a sign of support for her.

Mili is kicking a soccer ball around again and playing with her friends. She seems ready for things to go back to normal. “I want to forget about all this,” she told Omaha ABC affiliate KETV.

Burgett isn’t sure when things will be normal again, but he has no plans to help out with soccer anymore. “I don’t have the passion for it right now,” he says.

For years, when he handed out medals at the tournament, he choked up with emotion. He’s not quite sure why a strict military man would do that, almost cry when a kid received a medal. He just did.

“I’ve had angry parents, angry coaches when I’ve refereed,” he says. “But I’ve never felt that I had to protect myself.

“My wife and daughter are worried right now. They’re just worried because we’ve never been in this situation.”

9 June 2017 | 10:25 am

Source : ABC News

>>>Click Here To View Original Press Release>>>

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Growing Up in Pornland: How Porn-Addicted Boys Are “Sexual Bullying” Our Teen Daughters

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By Melinda Tankard Reist

“[I want] better education regarding sex for both boys and girls [and] information about pornography, and the way it influences harmful sexual practices.”

These are the words of Lucy, aged 15, one of 600 young Australian women and girls who took part in a just-released survey commissioned by Plan Australia and Our Watch. The survey, conducted by Ipsos, gathered responses from the girls and young women aged 15-19 in all states and territories.

In the survey report, titled Don’t send me that pic, participants reported that online sexual abuse and harassment were becoming a normal part of their everyday interactions. And while the behavior seemed so common, more than 80 percent said it was unacceptable for boyfriends to request naked images.

Sexual bullying and harassment are part of daily life for many girls growing up as a part of this digital generation. Young girls are speaking out more and more about how these practices have links with pornography—because it’s directly affecting them.

Pornography is molding and conditioning the sexual behaviors and attitudes of boys, and girls are being left without the resources to deal with these porn-saturated boys.

If there are still any questions about whether porn has an impact on young people’s sexual attitudes and behaviors, perhaps it’s time to listen to young people themselves. Girls and young women describe boys pressuring them to provide acts inspired by the porn they consume routinely. Girls tell of being expected to put up with things they don’t enjoy.

Some see sex only in terms of performance, where what counts most is the boy enjoying it. I asked a 15-year-old about her first sexual experience. She replied: “I think my body looked OK. He seemed to enjoy it.” Many girls seem cut off from their own sense of pleasure or intimacy. The main marker of a “good” sexual encounter is only if he enjoyed it. Girls and young women are under a lot of pressure to give boys and men what they want, to become a real-life embodiment of what the boys have watched in porn, adopting exaggerated roles and behaviors and providing their bodies as mere sex aids. Growing up in today’s porn culture, girls quickly learn that they are service stations for male gratification and pleasure.

When asked, “How do you know a guy likes you?” an 8th-grade girl replied: “He still wants to talk to you after you [give him oral sex].” A male high school student said to a girl: “If you [give me oral sex] I’ll give you a kiss.” Girls are expected to provide sex acts for tokens of affection and are coached through it by porn-taught boys. A 15-year-old girl said she didn’t enjoy sex at all, but that getting it out of the way quickly was the only way her boyfriend would stop pressuring her and watch a movie.

Seventh-grade girls are increasingly seeking help on what to do about requests for naked images. Receiving texts like “send me a picture of your tits” is an almost daily occurrence for many young girls. The girl asks: “How do I say no without hurting his feelings?”

As the Plan Australia/Our Watch report found, girls are tired of being pressured for images they don’t want to send, but they seem resigned to send them anyway because of how normal the practice has become. Boys then typically use the images as a form of currency, to swap and share with their friends. Often times boys will use the revealing pics to humiliate girls publicly if there is a bad break up.

Seventh-grade girls are asking questions about bondage and S&M. Many of them have seen 50 Shades of Grey, and wonder if a boy wants to hit me, tie me up and stalk me, does that mean he loves me? Girls are tolerating demeaning and disrespectful behaviors, and thereby internalizing pornography’s messages about their submissive role.

Girls describe being groped in the schoolyard and being routinely sexually harassed at school or on the school bus on the way home. They are saying that boys act like they are entitled to girls’ bodies, like girls are only there to pleasure them. It is partially true what defenders of porn often say, porn does provide sex education—but not in the way they think. It teaches middle school boys that women and girls are there for his pleasure and that they are always up for sex. To them, no just means persuade me.

Girls describe being ranked at school on their bodies, and are sometimes compared to the bodies of porn stars. They know they can’t compete, but that doesn’t stop them from thinking that they have to. Requests for genital surgery have tripled in a little over a decade among young women aged 15-24. Girls who don’t undergo porn-inspired waxing are often considered ugly, dirty or gross by boys, as well as by other girls.

Some girls suffer physical injury from porn-inspired sexual acts, including anal sex. The director of a domestic violence centre on the Gold Coast wrote to Collective Shout about the increase in porn-related injuries to girls aged 14 and up, from acts including torture:

“In the past few years we have had a huge increase in intimate partner rape of women from 14 to 80+. The biggest common denominator is consumption of porn by the offender. With offenders not able to differentiate between fantasy and reality, believing women are ‘up for it’ 24/7, ascribing to the myth that ‘no means yes and yes means anal,’ oblivious to injuries caused and never ever considering consent. We have seen a huge increase in deprivation of liberty, physical injuries, torture, drugging, filming and sharing footage without consent.”

The Australian Psychological Society estimates that adolescent boys are responsible for around 20 percent of rapes of adult women and between 30 percent and 50 percent of all reported sexual assaults of children. Just last week, Emeritus Professor Freda Briggs argued that online pornography is turning children into copycat sexual predators, acting out on other children what they are seeing in porn.

A 2012 review of research on “The Impact of Internet Pornography on Adolescents” found that adolescent consumption of Internet porn was linked to attitudinal changes, including acceptance of male dominance and female submission as the primary sexual paradigm, with women viewed as “sexual playthings eager to fulfill male sexual desires.” The authors found that “adolescents who are intentionally exposed to violent sexually explicit material were six times more likely to be sexually aggressive than those who were not exposed.”

The proliferation and globalization of hypersexualized imagery and pornographic themes make healthy sexual exploration almost impossible. Sexual conquest and domination are untempered by the bounds of respect, intimacy and authentic human connection. Young people are not learning about intimacy, friendship and love, but about cruelty and humiliation. As a recent study found:

“Online mainstream pornography overwhelmingly centered on acts of violence and degradation toward women, the sexual behaviors exemplified in pornography skew away from intimacy and tenderness and typify patriarchal constructions of masculinity and femininity.”

It is intimacy and tenderness that so many girls and young women say they are looking for. But how will young women find these sensual, slow-burn experiences in men indoctrinated by pornography? Psychologist Philip Zimbardo says of young men: “They don’t know the language of face-to-face contact… Constant arousal, change, novelty, excitement makes them out of sync with slow developing relationships—relationships which build slowly.”

Most importantly, it’s young people themselves demanding change. Josie, 18, is quoted in the Plan Australia/Our Watch report:

“We need some sort of crack down on the violent pornography that is currently accessible to boys and men. This violent pornography should be illegal to make or view in Australia as we clearly have a problem with violence, and boys are watching a lot of pornography which can be very violent… This is influencing men’s attitude toward women and what they think is acceptable. Violent pornography is infiltrating Australian relationships.”

Girls like Lucy and Josie deserve our response. It is wrong to leave sexual formation in the hands of the global sex industry. We need to do more to help young people stand up against warped notions of sexuality conveyed in pornography.

Visit Fight The New Drug today to learn more about how you can join this mission. 

**This version originally published on Fight The New Drug.

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