#deploy the prodigy

[disastrouscarrots]

rb to f1 grid 2015: hello everyone here's the paddock maknae. he's going to be a little pain in the asses. he's going to exude pest behavior. your sideview mirrors are never going to be safe again. pls take care of him.

[rosy-crow]

Yeah, about hero!Sephiroth….

Crisis Core and The First Soldier are not tone deaf when it comes to Sephiroth’s writing. At all.

I know they have weak execution in areas, but they have a point they want to make about characters like Zack and Sephiroth and Cloud that you are supposed to understand for a reason.

It’s clear to me that some FF7 fans refuse, for whatever reason, to acknowledge that the entire point of hero! Sephiroth’s character these days is to show that his fall from grace was literally a fall from grace by standards entirely separate from Shinra. If you go by Shinra’s “morals” or illusions of righteousness, he was never actually a hero at all. He fell from nothing “good” whatsoever.

He was a war machine painted like a great figure by the company’s own propaganda, sent to finish an extermination of the people of Rhadore for his first mission and later sent over to Wutai to fight in the war that Shinra unjustly perpetuated and began when he was a child.

Yes, Shinra called him a hero before he was ever even in the Wutai war. Before he was ever even deployed. He was around 8-9 when it began and Shinra needed plenty of recruits to build an army before they deployed him specifically. He was showing great promise as a boy in training, so what better way to lure in other children than to rely on the image of a young prodigy to inspire them?

That was why FS revealed this almost immediately. Shinra crafted a war hero image for Sephiroth to use as propaganda long before he did anything special on the battlefield, and this was the very image he loathed, resented, and expressed his desire to be free from. He didn’t want to be a “hero” because all he knew was Shinra’s illusion of one. And Shinra’s illusion is what we’re meant to see through when we look at the meaning of a hero as well.

We’re supposed to understand this distinction by now because it was already shown through Zack and Cloud. Both of them became heroes beyond Shinra despite initially falling for the company’s propaganda and being massively screwed over. They came to understand that Shinra’s definition of a hero was warped, and Sephiroth was already aware of this long before them.

But now we have The First Soldier, which is cold canon. And we know a little more about Sephiroth’s true hero status.

It’s Nojima’s explanation for why we could have once called Sephiroth a real hero, because while he was certainly still in the process of attaining the title in truth and sincerity (by way of using his strength to save others instead of kill them), he was taking his first steps towards following his own heart (which was naturally inclined towards kindness and care for others when healthy and tended to).

Yes, the call of Sephiroth’s heart was once pure and he was embracing it in his early 20s, when Shinra’s struggle with Wutai was coming to a halt. Yes, Nibelheim broke that resolve into pieces. But Sephiroth was once trying to be the good person he naturally was inclined to be even beneath Shinra’s endless suppression. He was once trying to be a hero that dodged the hateful battlefield and instead rushed to save others in need.

And this is a miracle, because despite what I have seen others try to say, this was a child born and raised inside Shinra, sent to face the cruelest form of “war” at 14 with the mindset of “kill or die, even when they’re children your age….because like you, they may be trained to murder….”

And before then? Sephiroth was training under Hojo since early childhood. He may not have been on the actual frontlines from before he was ten years like the CC Ultimania/Complete Guide claimed, but he was being readied for it.

Do you really think he gained those skills in battle overnight? That conditioned mindset? Do you think he had memories of limit-breaking pain and dreams of his mother saving him from Hojo’s live tests with monsters for no reason?

Do you really think this child didn’t understand the concept of having fun or that he wasn’t familiar with enjoying the outside world, eating good food with a normal family, learning to socialize with people that didn’t see him as an object, or feeling free to think outside his mission because he was raised well and cared for? By anyone other than Hojo?

He was ruthlessly taught to kill or be killed from early on, and repeatedly lied to about his identity by his own “caretakers” because he was their machine. He was not recruited. The only children that compared to him inside Shinra were those in Deepground, and their fully human psyches/bodies fractured under the endurance of training and trials that Sephiroth was just inhuman enough to survive and grow stronger from.

There is no “sad childhood” to be spoken of in this because there is no childhood to be spoken of at all. Sephiroth’s story goes beyond that.

Sephiroth was a weapon produced inside Hojo’s laboratory. Hojo. The Hojo. Not just some dark and gloomy room with hazard lights. The mad scientist’s lair where Hojo unethically groomed a desired monster that longed to embrace his Shinra-stifled humanity and was finally able to do so the moment he met his first team. Glenn said it himself. He knew Sephiroth had compassion in him and the boy melted on the spot thanks to the smallest bit of affection and kindness. All his previous fear-based violence wilted in the face of the cycle being broken.

After that, Sephiroth helped to properly bury the Rhadorans, he came to understand what they had fought for alongside his team, and then he risked his life to try and save the sole survivor of their race.

Yes, it ended in tragedy and disaster, but that experience shaped Sephiroth for the rest of his sane life. He began to try and spare his enemies, he fought to save his comrades, he became kind at heart, and he was a step away from leaving Shinra.

You want to know why some Turks questioned Shinra for a longer period of time perhaps?

Cissnei, for instance? She was around the same age as Sephiroth when on the field, and like him…trained before then. She was compassionate, empathetic, dreamed of freedom, and eventually left the company. She was just like Sephiroth if he hadn’t lost everything. It’s stated that Cissnei learned to open up and trust others because of her friends in the Turks division. She found her family and began to heal from the cold isolation and detachment that a childhood in Shinra produced. She followed through with that healing inside her heart and ended up free, finding a good life away from Shinra.

Sephiroth was no different when he met Team Glenn. He defied Shinra for them, he bent rules fpr their sake, and he allowed a sweet, soft part of his true childlike personality to blossom when in their presence. For a moment, Sephiroth discovered a glimpse of childhood….something he never knew.

But then he lost those people just as he began to heal and regain innocence.

Yes, he came back to life and once again began to improve after he met Angeal and Genesis. But as FS2 is revealing, this was not easy, because the layers of psychological and familial trauma that were woven into his mind already at the age of 14-15 after an inhumane background and losing his first found family were so brutally devastating, that he was almost lost to madness and delusion long before Nibelheim.

Sephiroth was mentally ill for years and there was a fucking space alien and imperialist megacorp working together to make it ten times worse with lies surrounding his identity on top of his preexisting issues. This development was a different beast from the Turks and…yeah, even Deepground.

Do you wonder why the Deepground soldiers rebelled against Shinra with “villainous rage” some have claimed Sephiroth himself did not “earn?”

It’s because their existences were not swathed in layers of lies and half-truths about their origins that kept them desperate for answers and largely unaware of what they were or where they could potentially belong. It’s because they did not get a chance to see (and be subsequently ripped away from) the other side of life where the grass was greener and hopes for safety, childhood, and innocence could be grasped at like Sephiroth did.

The Deepground soldiers knew their situations were fucked up because they were humans being treated like dogs from day one and they could see that. Their cages were not painted in gold and dressed up to look like glorious arenas. Their cages were not sometimes left open for them to experience hope before being dragged back inside.

The Deepground warriors came to understand that they were prisoners and were literally being restricted as the strongest humans alive. Of course there was conditioning and learned helplessness involved, but they were also a league, often allied, of humans with unique powers that banded together in order to tear down Shinra’s obvious oppression. They became a community of violent rebels working to break free.

But Sephiroth was always a solitary case, always a little too inhuman, a little too special, and different from everyone, even his fellow SOLDIERS and certainly average humans.

He could not connect with others in his environment and was tied down to his hidden origin. Shinra was his prison just as much as it was for the others I mentioned, but he knew it as his only home because of the sinister way in which they crafted his reality.

He saw the inhumanity of his environment and admitted to feelings of dehumanization after apparently growing up in a cell beneath Hojo’s lab, and he dreamt of his mother taking him away from it, he longed for home and family, but where would he find such things in a world that he didn’t fit into because of his unique existence? Why would the inhumanity of his environment not be suited to a modified human weapon like himself? The abuse and isolation would only be unjust if he were not somewhat of a monster. That’s how he reasoned even if his heart ached for normalcy and humanity.

His missing and seemingly human mother was his only hope. His friends and comrades were his only reprieve from being othered. And even then, where others escaped, questioned, healed, and rebelled, Sephiroth lost everything just as he was considering abandoning Shinra. A desire he expressed before Zack or Cloud. A desire that had been growing inside him for a long time. He was so close, and he was truly becoming a hero with his heart in the right place for the first time. He was trying, healing, inching his way towards that sweet escape.

And then Shinra’s legacy dragged him back with more lies to lead him towards their favorite specimen in Jenova and have him finally, truly fall for the complete lie that he was never human at all. Just a monster that couldn’t save or help anyone with its strength. Just a lab creation that had been used for its power for years. Just an othered being striving and longing for things it could never have because they only were granted to real humans. Not him or his equally solitary mother. All hope became despair.

That’s when Sephiroth’s humanity died just as it was coming to life in completion for the first time.

And why the hell do I care so much about this you ask? Why go through all this trouble to yap and defend pre-Nibelheim Sephiroth? Because I think it matters that we treat his writing with the respect we treat Cloud’s, even if it’s not as clearly spelled out or if you gotta read the fine print. YOU HAVE TO READ THE FINE PRINT.

Sephiroth is not the born evil villain you want him to be. He fell from a place of growth and healing that many other characters are shown obtaining after terrible life experiences and identity crises. Sephiroth is the one that loses the battle and it’s the REASON he is the cruel, cold-hearted villain he is. His “cool factor” and his war crimes as a villain are only strengthened in intensity because of who he once was, what he once experienced.

There is no harm in admitting that this villain is a tragic creation and always has been.

[caterpillarskimono]

So anyway, like Robby x Jack’s Little Sister Reader right?

You’re twenty years younger than Jack. His mother married your piece of shit father, and you’ve always, always been a wild child. So much so that Jack and his wife, Sarah, essentially raised you off and on throughout the years. Mainly Sarah while Jack was deployed, but he’s still your big brother, you still have wanted nothing more in your entire life than to be like him and make him proud of you. In fact, all you have ever wanted was for someone, anyone to be proud of you.

But you’re like your father, aren’t you? You’re a fucking fuck up, it’s in the DNA. At least, that’s what you tell yourself. That’s what makes sense to you at 2am, as you stumble drunkenly into your apartment, lips and cunt pressed to some deadbeat fuck you picked up at a bar. Your father didn’t want you, your mother died - the one loss you and Jack share aside from Sarah’s death - and you are just so tired and what else are you good for besides this? What else are you good at besides opening your legs and letting someone else take their pleasure from your body?

You aren’t supposed to be here, you were never supposed to happen. You’re the result of a drunken one night stand between your parents, and somehow, someway they both bought into the fucked idea that the right thing to do in their situation was to get married and stay married, despite how miserable they made themselves and everyone around them:

And it doesn’t matter how many times your big brother or his adoring wife or even Uncle Robby have told you the opposite of that over the years - you know what you are, who you are, what you were meant for, and love and being cherished and being treated like a human being are not and never will be in the cards for you.

So you’re 30, and you’ve been wild for long enough, and Jack puts his foot down. You have a nursing degree already, though you barely put it to use, but he calls in a few favors (he was always way more charming with Gloria than Robby) and suddenly you’re working day shift at PTMC. You even befriend a young R1 prodigy, a sweet but shy girl who is years more brilliant than those around her, and who looks at your brother Jack like he hung the fucking moon.

And at first, it’s great. Except Robby hates you. He’s not even your boss, Dana is. But he fucking sneers at you, cuts barbs every chance he gets. He hasn’t seen you in 10 fucking years, but he knows the hell you’ve put Jack through, the hell you put Sarah through before she died. He knows you’re an Uno Reverse, the wildest fucking draw in the game, and he resents you for it.

But it’s not just that, is it? It’s not just his resentment for what you put his best friend through over the years. If it was, he never would’ve followed you behind the pub that night, never would’ve pushed your panties to the side, backing you against the brick wall of the alley, slipping one finger, two, groaning to try and fit three inside your tight cunt as he kissed you messily and visibly grimaced when you teasingly called him, “Uncle Robby.” He never would’ve pressed a calloused thumb at your clit and rolled the tender nub beneath his digit until you were clamoring against him, your orgasm shaking your whole body so fucking hard and violently that he reached behind to hold you the minute your back began to scrape against the grit of the stone behind you.

And after months of this, this secret whatever the fuck you two have had going on, he wouldn’t be here now (or rather, you wouldn’t be naked in his California king bed, his body hulking above yours, wringing out every tremble and moan of pleasure from you he could manage.

Robby…" you whimper beneath him, a shuddered inhale escaping you as his mouth sucks a bruise into your abdomen, his large hands holding you still by your waist. Your hands shake as they grip his hair, and you move to dig your nails into his shoulders. Anything to keep you grounded in reality.

"I've got you, sweetheart," he whispers. Those big brown eyes are boring holes into yours as he sits up, kissing your kneecaps so tenderly, his calloused fingertips tracing up and down your thighs, looking at you with such reverence that unshed tears burn at the corners of your eyes.

Something pulses hot and heavy in your veins. It's intense, too intense, and you look away, turning your head to the side of the pillow, shutting your eyes so tightly you see stars in the darkness behind your lids.

"No, baby, c'mon," Robby says. And then he's hovering over you again, his lips pressing soft kisses to your neck, below your ear, your jawline, your lips. You gasp at the sensation, the feel of his hard cock pressed between your bodies. It makes your cunt ache hungrily, needing to be filled with him.

"Look at me," he continues. "Need your pretty eyes on me right now, ok? Need you to open up your legs for me and let me make you feel good."

[quirkwizard]

New Leaf

So I recently realized I've never talked about a lot of the League as heroes. Now I really wanted to talk about it. Though for now, it will be in a short list of general summary of them. And if any of you want me to go more in depth with how I think the some of these villains would be as heroes, like what I did with Twice and Dabi, you're more then welcome to ask.

Magne-The Pole Hero, Flux: Flux was never the most notable hero in any regards, yet was always there whenever needed, constantly changing the flow of a fight with powerful magnetic pushes and pulls.

Moonfish-The Devouring Hero, Sawtooth: A bizarre, silent hero that never fails to scared anyone that sees him. Both villain and civilian alike. In spite of this bizarre persona, he remains one of the most prominent heroes in the field of rescue work.

Giran-The Forgetful Hero, Mindful: Mindful was an underground hero if there ever was one. He'd go deep undercover, finding any and all connections between members of the underworld. And if anything went wrong, he'd always had his Quirk to bail him out.

Mustard-The Small Box Hero, Gaseous: A controversial figure thanks to his dangerous ability, Gaseous' was rarely deployed to do any major hero work. Yet when he was used, it was to great effect, able to take out whole gangs of villains without even a single punch thrown.

Muscular-The Shredded Hero, Strongman: A hero who just wants to fight. Something he did with great proficney and greater brutality. He was known to be just as tough on his sidekicks, pushing them harder and harder until they became the pinnacle of the heroes they were meant to be.

Kurogiri-The Overcast Hero, Dark Cloud: A dark and mysterious figure of a man. Nobody knew who he was or where he came from. Only that he served as mission control for heroes everywhere, making sure that the exact hero was right where they needed to be to help the most people.

Mr. Compress-The Spectacular Hero, Marbolous: A hero that was more celebrity then anything, eating up all the attention with his big personality. Yet in spite of his big personality, there hid a figure far more clever then anyone would expect, constantly outsmarting any villain that interrupted him.

Spinner-The Climbing Hero, Scaler: A generally unremarkable hero, Scaler seemed regulated to minor issues beneath most heroes. However, his endearing drive for heroics, his underdog status, and overall relatability has made him a fan favorite figure among hero diehard nerds and certain mutants.

Toga-The Imitation Hero, Youngblood: A seemingly average girl and figure you'd never recognize on the street. Youngblood was the go to girl for any and all infiltration work. Work she did with great tack and proficiency. Yet she'd never be far from a rescue situation, saving someone by transfusing their own blood.

Dabi-The Ignited Hero, Prodigy: In spite of his early issues in life, Toya became spitting image of his father. A bright, powerful flame that refused to give in and die no matter what villain came his way. Hands down the biggest heartthrob within the hero world, only rivaled by Hawks.

Double-The Friendly Hero, Twofold: On the surface, Twofold was an goofy, but harmless guy, always ready to make someone happy. Underneath was one of the most valuable assests to the heroes' side, promising that a horde of heroes would be around to save you no matter what.

Tomura-The Dust Hero, Breakthrough: A boy born from a dark past. A lost cause that was saved by a hero. Now, he lives out his childhood dreams to be a hero. He would right straight into the most dangerous of accidents and rescue situations, desperate to help and to destroy any debris in his path.

[imsosleepyofyourbull]

Trey Clover Playlist + Analysis

Okay, so first and foremost; this playlist is a WORK IN PROGRESS that I will be slowly adding to as I find more neat songs and further develop my understanding of Trey as a character. He’s a very neat little dude who has rather unexpectedly become my #1 favorite (skating right past Ruggie who had been my #1 since I first found the game) and I wish more people talked about him. This is me trying to get people to talk about him, and also me making up an excuse to yap some more.

Here’s the playlist on YouTube Music!

Here it is again on Spotify!

And if you listen to it while you read, you may notice that a lot of these songs have some vaguely conflicting themes. That’s because I’m insane and LOVE exploring the way Trey’s ingrained instinct to watch out for the people around him gets in the way of his personal desire to be perceived as an unremarkable person, and how that meshes with his unexpectedly sly nature. Many of the songs I included are clearly sung from the perspective of a caretaker trying to do their best to hold their loved one together. The Rockrose and The Thistle and Welly Boots are the most obvious examples of this, but it’s also in Achilles Come Down and Coraline (once you translate Coraline’s lyrics.)

This is a pretty obvious reference to the way that Trey plays the peace maker and reliable right hand within the structure of Heartslabyul, as well as his complex dynamic with Riddle as the result of his childhood guilt. At the same time, however, there are songs like The Harpy and the Hare and And the Hound, which create an image of a caretaker who is (unintentionally or deliberately) smothering their wards. This is in reference to the way that multiple characters call out how dangerous it can be for Trey to cover up for everyone’s mistakes and concerns, as it can lead to them being unable to take care of themselves and messing up really badly when Trey isn’t there. Further, there are songs like Over&Over or Timekeeper’s Heartbeat where I play with Trey’s exhaustion and burnout.

These pieces all contribute to the mystery of Trey’s character, and who he is as a person.

His care for the people around him is undeniably sincere, especially for Riddle, but it also seems to be a learned response from his position as both the oldest son in his family and vice housewarden of Heartslabyul. The reliable older brother to much more interesting and energetic younger siblings. The steady but unremarkable right hand to the rose red prodigy tyrant. And that’s just the image he wants to cultivate, isn’t it? That’s how he wants people to look at him, right? He’s repeatedly told everyone around him that he prefers to not draw any more attention than he has to, because he’s a perfectly normal guy who isn’t worth it.

But how much of that comes from a place of genuine wanting, and how much of it is the result of his experience as “the guardian?” When he says that his care for the people around him isn’t as kind as people believe it is, I wonder if that means he’s aware of the box he’s built around himself in an effort to keep being everyone else’s safety net. It even plays into his unique magic and how it’s revealed to us! He doesn’t go to any effort to hide what it does, and willingly uses it to change the flavor of their dessert when Cater asks him. As far as anyone else is aware, Doodle Suit is a harmless trick incapable of causing any real harm.

But then he uses it to overwrite the spells of one of the most prodigious and powerful mages that attends their school.

He clearly knew what it was capable of for quite a while before he used it like this too, given the ease with which he deploys it in action. He’s a total wolf in sheep’s clothing; but for whom he chooses to play the harmless woolen prey, the sharp-toothed predator under the moon, and the protector of the pack changes from moment to moment. It seems to depend on whether it’s his own personal desire or his built in response to put the people around him above himself that takes precedence. But the vast majority of people he interacts with don’t end up ever realizing this about him because of how his motivations manifest. He doesn’t want trouble, so he prevents trouble from being able to occur in the first place by getting in the way to solve it.

His image is his mask, and his cage.

[likeniobe]

Juliet’s artfulness is often ignored. It is common to cast her as a girlish victim of desires beyond her control, and the long tradition of playing her as wide-eyed and naive prevents us from seeing her any other way. Nonetheless, Shakespeare’s first great heroine is an extravagant foreign prodigy with a wider emotive range than that of passion-torn heroines in classical and Renaissance tragedy, while her Italianate theatricality and poetic brilliance set her apart from the more prosaic Juliets of his sources. To pull off this feat, he deftly deployed theatergrams shaped by the great Italian divas abroad and the appeal of the skilled boy player at home. 

Like the ardent innamorata of the Italians, Juliet is self-aware, hyper-literary, and charged with erotic will. […] To her first spectators Juliet’s amorous precocity was an index of her Italianness. The English stereotyped Italian girls as prematurely lusty in comparison to English girls, and Italian women as prone to romantic melodrama and tragedies of passion. […] Shakespeare makes Juliet’s ardor hot-blooded and violent, and thus disturbingly foreign. No mere name change [from Giulietta to the Anglicized Juliet] could translate this tragic prodigy into a sweet and star-crossed English girl. It took an Anglocentric critical tradition and centuries of naive Juliets to domesticate the Italian innamorata accesa.

from pamela allen brown, the diva's gift to the shakespearean stage: agency, theatricality, and the innamorata

[starlightshadowsworld]

I got bored so I'm rambling through all of my Bungou Stray Dogs AU's.

The Sheep King and his Demon AU

Aka Bsd except Chuuya doesn't join the Port Mafia.

The Sheep never betray Chuuya. In fact they are basically one big dysfunctional and loving family.

Chuuya still goes on the search for Arahabaki and meets Dazai. But the Sheep trust him, their wary of Dazai but not Chuuya.

As time goes on, the Sheep warm up to Dazai and basically adopt him like a stray cat. Chuuya and Dazai get together, the Sheep tease them relentlessly for it.

Just a silly lil AU on their antics and Soukoko being Soukoko even though Chuuya remains King of the Sheep.

Agency informant Izaya

Izaya Orihara from Durarara in the world of Bungou Stray Dogs. However this Izaya is quite different, essentially everything in Durarara still happened.

The final fight with Shizuo and the brutal humbling reminder that Izaya was still very much human.

This is an Izaya who has changed, who tries every day to be a better person than who he was.

He came to Yokohama because he was curious if the famous Demon Prodigy was in fact a Demon. And ended up with a whole new life.

He learned to let people in, he learned how to love people. And became the human Shinra always said he could be.

No one from Durarara shows up because Izaya has erased all evidence of him online. He has left Ikebukuro behind and will never return.

Izaya is like Katai in the way he's not technically a member of the Agency but he's still with the Agency. The Agency adore him, Dazai is basically his little brother at this point.

Sometimes Izaya wonders if he deserves this, but he's thankful anyway.

Izaya's firecely protective over them all, and helps out when shit goes down. Usually from behind the scenes.

He has an ability, Sunsets Last Applause, that functions like Ango's except it works through looking at people rather than touching objects.

An AU that takes place across different moments and arcs in canon, either about Izaya or he's in someway involved.

The Port Mafia brothers AU

Aka Bsd except Akutugawa and Dazai have a good sibling relationship

Basically that.

Dazai finds Akutugawa and recruits him into the Port Mafia. What Dazai didn't expect was for Mori to put him in charge of Akutugawa.

Dazai freaks out, because he's in no way equipped to raise a child (child in question is 2 years younger than him.)

The reason Dazai freaks out is because he wants to do right by Akutugawa. He saw a scared kid and wanted to help him, but he doesn't know what to do.

Oda is there to give him advice and reassure him that he'll be fine. That Akutugawa will have to learn to stand on his own two feet in this organisation.

You need to guide him, be a helping hand. Dazai doesn't abuse Akutugawa in this, at all.

In the Port Mafia, Akutugawa is basically Dazai's shadow. He's silent, he's never far from him and almost treated like the furniture, a bodyguard.

For his own protection, no one can know their true relationship especially Mori.

Outside of the Port Mafia Akutugawa is Dazai's silly, bitchy little brother and Dazai is his dramatic, dumbass older brother. Their idiots and they love each other.

Silly lil AU that's basically Dazai and Akutugawa's antics, along with Gin. And Oda keeping an eye on them with Ango.

Moonlit Butterfly

When Atsushi's ability manifested, the Orphanage called the Special Division of Unusual Powers to take him away.

They were fascinated by his ability, see they wanted to start the Hunting Dogs programme. But they didn't have proof a human could survive the procedures.

Hence, where Atsushi came in as their lab rat.

However at some point, Fukuchi learned of him and said such a strong ability couldn't just be wasted like this.

So along side being a lab rat, now Atsushi was being trained by Fukuchi. And let's just say Fukuchi was not a kind instructor. No one treated Atsushi like he was human.

The great war came and Atsushi, now 10 years old was deployed as a soilder. Which is where he met the other kid in his regiment, 11 year old Yosano Akiko.

Yosano had been working at a sweets shop just last week, but was persuaded by Doctor Mori to join the war effort. He told her she could save lives with her ability, and she wanted too.

Neither really knew what they'd signed up for, though it wasn't like either had a choice.

Yosano is the first person to show Atsushi kindness, the first to treat him like a human. Both of them have a sibling relationship and everyone else in the regiment keeps their distance.

They love Yosano one moment and than hate the next as their angel of death. And Atsushi is deemed a demon simply for existing.

Well, not everyone thinks that. The only person outside of the duo who are kind to them is Shunzen Tachihara.

He's an older sibling to them. Yosano and Atsushi remind him of his little brother and Shunzen's always there to let them have those little pockets of ease and joy during the war.

(Entire regiment: that's an angel/Demon

Shunzen Tachihara: Those are children, leave them alone!)

AU is basically the embodiment of the universe bought them together, ripped them apart and somewhere along the way they found each other again.

Because Shunzen... Meets his canon fate, Yosano and Atsushi are seperated after the war. Yosano to the psychiatric hospital, Atsushi back to the lab.

But with the efforts of one Genuis Detective they are bought back together again.

And if I can figure out a plot, this one might become an actual fic. Mostly centers on them in the war but does include afterwards.

The Wary Weretiger

The Orphanage never let Atsushi forget who he was. Atsushi remembers killing Shibusawa and was told about why he came.

Shibusawa wanted the tiger, most people want the tiger. Atsushi doesn't really know why, just that it's unique the tiger and because of the power it holds.

The Headmaster really told Atsushi almost everything. The man was many things but a liar wasn't one of them.

He taught Atsushi that the only one you can trust is yourself and Atsushi took that seriously. The only being Atsushi trusts other than himself is the tiger.

The tiger and Atsushi are close, they are the only one each other have. Because of that Atsushi has better control but not completely.

Atsushi doesn't trust anyone else. Every adult in his life has let him down, has tortured and abuse him.

He runs away from the Orphanage and lives on the streets.

He knows the Guild are after him, he's met Fitzgerald and knows about Fyodor. Atsushi has even met Doctor Mori, who was an old friend of the Headmaster and curious about his ability.

So when Atsushi gets asked to join the Agency, he refuses. Because he believes they just want his ability. They did start the whole thing by searching for the tiger, so... Fair assumption.

And while, true the fact the rampaging tiger is actually a homeless teenager definitely shifts everyone's priorities.

They work to build up trust with Atsushi, wanting to show they truly want to help him.

But Atsushi doesn't want their help, he's gotten this far on his own. He's been hunted his whole life, known pain as a constant companion.

He doesn't know what to do in the face of genuine kindness.

Unfortunately the threat will continue to grow and Atsushi will end up having to ally with the tiger.

He's smart, cold and has a short temper. But underneath it all he's just a kid that wants a home.

The Agency swear they'll give him one, one day.

[12-seconds-to-live]

(Un)Lost: Goodbye

Pairing: F12022/3!Grid! x Fem!Driver!oc

Warnings: DNF’s, angst, a little bit of love, episodes of anxiety, Seb’s retirement, harsh words.

“Welcome to the last briefing of the season. Is everybody here? All right”

I was sit next to Lewis, both of us in the back of the room. Everybody seem happy today. Except me, I wake up with a strange feeling, everything looks normal. My dad is here with me, Lando and I are going strong, but I can understand this.

“You’re okay? You’re not smiling today” Lewis asked

“I feel off. I have a feeling��� I looke at him, almost the same as that day in 2021 after his race “You’re the one who looks odd”

“This used to be my favourite place, not anymore. And If you have a feeling, make it a good one”

“I will”

“Smile, after the race I’m gonna take you to the cheesecake factory”

“Promise?”

“Promise, baby” He hug me and smile “Lando is throwing knives at me through his gaze“

“Oh, that’s normal, just wave at him” We did it and Lando start walking to us “Uh, run Lewis”

“What was that?” Lando kissed my cheek

“Nothing my love, just talking about food with Lewis” He hold my hand

“I’m gonna start working as a bodyguard from now on”

“Oh my... Also I have a weird feeling”

“Why’s that?” He looked at my, those green eyes screw me over

“A feeling of losing, I believe”

“You’re not the first in this WDC but you’re the one in my heart, love”

“That’s enough. I love you”

“To Pluto and back”

“Radio check”

“What a voice. It’s fair that you sing to me, Adam. Considering that this is the last race. I mean, sadly we’re not world champions but we did pretty good” I started to put on my gloves and check the steering wheel

“You have to wait ‘till the end of the race. I have a unique voice, kid”

“Oh wow, I’m gonna race as fast as I can then” We laugh

“Just do it safely”

“No promises, I live for wins and podiums”

The same feeling of this morning came back to me. It’s not normal anymore. I’m on P4 and Lando on P5. I turned my head a little and saw his face, I waved to him, but the real thing is that I want to jump out of the car and run out of the circuit, something is about to happen, something bad, as bad as death

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. It’s lights out and away we go

LAP 1/58

“What a start for the last race of the season here in Abu Dhabi, turn one and Max Verstappen remains as race leader and...oh the McLaren prodigy Charlotte just pass Charles Leclerc, even she’s number two this season we never missed to get impress by her”

LAP 21/58 

“Can you check the tyres, please? I felt something in turn 6″

“Copy”

Curently I’m P6, a safety car was deployed after one of the Alfa Romeo just lost their engine. The race has been good, the feeling is there. Lando is P3 at the moment, hope we can have this podium together.

“Box, box, your tyres are cooling too fast”

“Copy, set a record on this one”

LAP 47/58

“This race is getting more excited, Charlotte Robyn-Jones is leading the Abu Dhabi GP, but what is happening?... She just go straight on turn 11, she doesn’t sound good on that radio with her engineer”

“I can’t control my breaking, I might crash and...”

“The Mclaren driver spin and go straight to the barrier, we need the marshall go to her and a red flag has been deployed, all the cars has been called to the pits and we don’t have any movement on her”

“I see blood... I wanna vomit ... help ...please”

“Charlotte, stay calm, stay still, marshals are on their way”

“Can you please tell Lando that I’m sorry to ruin the race... I don’t” 

“Stay still Char... you’re going to be...”

“No, I...I see blood running down my nose and I wanna... Everbody hates red flags and I hate them too and I hate not being world champion and I hate not to tell Lando that I love...”

“Charlotte? Can you hear me?” Adam look at Zack in the eyes, it was like everything and everybody stopped, they don’t want to thin that your last radio message was heard from everybody ... everywhere.

All the cars started entering pits and on the big screen the image of the marshals and the safety care destroying the halo to get you out was horrific.

Carlos was the first to aproach Lando who look lost looking at the screen. The british wanted to cry, he believed in your words of joy and happiness everytime you say that’s their moment to perform better, but, early that day you had a bad feeling. Almost all the members of the teams surronded outside their garages to see how they took your body out of the car.

You were passed, like a sleeping baby, this time like a nightmare, your suit have blood around your left leg, your visor broken, your eyes closed. They put you on the floor and a white large tent was put above you, that was the signal to know that your heart stopped and they have to start moving fast before the worst.

“Is she...?” started Pierre looking at Carlos

“Don’t finish that phrase man, we don’t wanna...” He tried to talk but then Lando started crying and his intentions were clear, he wanted to be next to you, hold your hand, beg you to fight, beg you to stay, say goodbye and don’t ruin it, not again.

“Lando...Lando no” Max and a few other aproach to the driver to help him stay in the garage, avoiding the image of you.

“Leave me. She can’t be dead, man. Put in my damn shoes, imagine that is Kelly or Daniel, one of us” Max’s eyes looked glossy to see his friend looking so broken. Your dad hug Lando, who as much as the driver wanted answers. He knows that his daughter is a fighter, strong but at the end, maybe his wife was starting to call her daughter to be by her side

“She’s going to be ok” He said to Lando. On the big screen the tent was opened and your body was taken to the ambulance, your helmet gone and an oxygen mask arounf your face.

“She’s out... we have to go and... and...Screw this race...We don’t race as one anymore”

“Muppet, they’re going to cancel the race, we can go” Carlos guide Lando to change his fireproofs and go to the hospital. At this point Lando knew, just as you, something bad happened.

“Carlos?” Lando asked when they were in the car

“Yeah?”

“It’s just, I will never accept her loss. I will accept I will be living with it, until I take my last breath and I’m reunited with her again”

Until then

“You can’t make that public. What is wrong with you?”

“Man, the moment we signed our contracts, we know that this could go on a public record. It’s almost fair to the fans and friends”

“No, it’s not. What about his dad? And you? We can’t go through this all over again”

“Lando, please. His dad gave us his consent” Lando sit in the back of the room. A small conference room when the drivers and team principals we’re going to watch a video made by you, every driver has one but considering the circunstances, nobody wanted to remember that tragedy. And a couple days later, everybody around the world could watch this video too.

When I die, give what is left of me to children and elders who hope to die. If you need to cry, cry for your brother and sister who walk down the street next to you. And when you need me, hug anyone and give them whatever you need to give me. I want to leave you something, something better than words or sounds.

Look for me in the people I've known or loved. If you can't tell me, at least let me live in your eyes, and not in your mind. You can love me more by letting the hands touch the hands, letting the hearts touch the hearts, and letting go of the spirits who need to be free.

Love doesn't die, bodies do. So, when all that's left of me is love, give me.

I want to make sure, you’re fine, ‘cause right now I’m living a life where I don’t know what would I do If you’re not in there anymore

You must be proud of yourself. Despite everything you've been through, you're still here.

You are very strong. You have overcome things that others can't even imagine. You thought you wouldn't make it and you got it.

You will do it again. Keep living the life you want, not the one that others expect. And feel proud to be the way you are.

You must be proud to challenge yourself every day, to find yourself when you think everything is lost. You wake up wanting to continue. Even if you have an abyss in front of you, you do everything you can to be well.

You fight for yourself when no one else does.

You are someone worth fighting for.

And If this is the last time, I never meant to say goodbye this way. To my family, dad, you know that mom is gonna take care of me. To the Sainz’s, thank you. To my grid family, this happens, just remember all those memories that we built together, even If you have your eyes full of tears, you know that my legacy has been written. To Lando, you know that this is the hardest part of the job, I love you and I’m sure that maybe in another life, we will last longer, I was lost without you and now I found my place. I’ll waiting for you in our next life. Goodbye for now.

“Hello Charlotte, me again, hope you’re not bored of me” Lando showed a side smile

“The world stopped turning the day you died. I felt it. In my heart. In every fibre of my being. I felt it. The sun stopped being warm. The night stopped being cool. When you died, the world as I knew it did too. I did too.”

Lando started crying looking around the cemetery

“Everybody has changed. Carlos lost his sparkle and has a photo of you in his motorhome and as his lookscreen. Daniel has your name on his helmet, he said you still helping him on his decisions, Alex stayed with your dad for two weeks, he felt so lost that we cried together just talking about you. Your dad is doing well, he moved to Madrid to be closer to the Sainz, they begged him to do that.”

“You’ll always be my number one, Charlotte. I wasn’t with you holding your hand ‘till your last breath, I spend days in your hospital room, just waiting. When they told me you were gone, I screamed, I cried as loud as I could, I halfway hoped that If you could hear me screaming on your way to heaven, you would turn around and come back to me, but you never did”

“It’s been weeks and many people call me everyday, checking on me, I’m gratefull but I came to realize that the reason why it’s so hard to let you go is because this goodbye to you has to let go to a version of me that you got to know so well and at the same time, even If I could go back, I wouldn’t belong there anymore, not without you. I cannot accept to have a teammate that is not you, to just look at your pictures, full of joy and passion and then, I remember that my house is empty, no more hugs, no more kisses, no more you”

“And even I know that you’re not coming back, I’m happy for share all the things that make you happy, for get to know you and for how gratefull I’m with time for allowing you and I to live in the same lifetime. I’ll love you in this and as many lifetimes we have”

Taglist: @evans-dejong @omgsuperstarg @bibissparkles @hoely-maria @mochimommy2002 @noope306 @eugene-emt-roe​ @80sloverry​ @rens-daylight @honeydanny​

part one

part two

part three

part four

[veny-many]

Two aggressive Clone Commanders threw their Jedi superior Officers in the middle of the chaos of battlefield after not so smooth strategy meeting

In other words, two crazy Commander asks each other what the heck happened with your General.

Wolffe: So the problem is, we have a high chance of facing heavy enemy ambush while this patrol. We will spread out and reduce casualties as much as we can.

Bacara: I have a better idea. We will deploy Jedis first, and once they confirm there's no heavy danger, the rest of the squad can end the patrol.

Wolffe:

Wolffe: You serious?

Bacara: I have seen many crazy Jedi shits more than you. I believe if they are high General, they will able to take care of themselves with their Force.

Bacara: Am I right, General?

Ki-Adi:

Ki-Adi: You ridiculous lad.

Ki-Adi: Well then, I must not fail your trust in me, Commander.

Wolffe: You are the one. The one that sponsored Bacara to be more aggressive and grumpy and crazy by accepting his crazy strategy!

Ki-Adi: I call them 'a thing of prodigy'.

Plo:

Wolffe: Well, fortunately, it seems like they didn't have the guts to take down the Jedi Generals. We can finish this patrol way more smoothly than I expected.

Bacara: Whatever. Just make this quick.

Wolffe: Weren't you worried about your General?

Bacara: He is professional. I believe he won't do any stupid. Or too weak to handle some stupid Droids.

Bacara: You need to stop mother henning your Jedi. They are skilled and stronger than many of us.

Wolffe: This isn't about the need or protection.

Wolffe: This is a promise that we will never ever lose our brothers in Wolfpack.

Wolffe: General Plo will do anything to protect us, including throwing his life to danger. And we will do the same for him. We will gladly march to death and afterlife with him.

Bacara:

Bacara: What the kark now I'm scared

Ki-Adi:

Plo:

Ki-Adi: What have you done, Master Plo Koon?

Plo:

Cody: In my perception, you are all crazy.

Wolffe: You are calling us crazy when you are punching Droids with your blasters fully loaded.

Rex: This GAR is just full of crazy Jedis and Clones sharing only one braincell.

[hellfiresky]

Shuffle the music game

Thanks for the tag, @orangez3st!

Rules:

• Put your music library on shuffle, then list the first five songs that come up in a poll to let people vote for which one they like the most!

• Then tag Tumblr friends to keep the game going!

Okay - since I’m currently working on my Wolffe x Journalist!OC fic, here’s a shuffle of Written in Red playlist:

Honourable mentions: La Ciruela by Nico Play and House of the Rising Sun by The Animals.

Fun fact: OC and I kind of share the same job, and these are also the songs that I often play when I’m deployed in a conflict area (except the Bad Bunny one lol that’s a new addition).

NPT: @arliganzey @filamentlights

[radioactive-metal]

AL Warship classes

ok I reckon this will be my last long pure conjecture post for the AL. But here we go! Ship classes (Tyler isn’t even a real person and I can tell he is salivating over reading this list lol)

Struck through vessel classes indicate they are out of service.

Terran Cutter Class picket ship: the original 6 man AL vessel. Huge amounts of these were mothballed after the end of the Terra-Trask war due to a radical shift in TDF doctrine away from Quantity over quality. The AL were effectively given the ships, as the mothball maintenance costs on the TDF were huge. These ships were taken to shipyards orbiting Trask, and given full refits to A: better accommodate their beretreskan crews, and B: receive modernization packages. This vessels had a prodigious service history, with the last one only being removed from frontline service in AL:75. Further Aurora labs upgrade packages means that some hulls still see use as specialist SIGINT, Reconnaissance, and repair craft. 2 base models still in service with the Aurora Legion Memorial Flight.

Kysshakk Class frigate: One of two classes of non AL frigates to serve with the legion, these ships hailed from Trask’s Orbital dockyards, where they had been sitting due to the end of naval conscription. These ships would operate in pairs, and would very rarely not fly with Cutter class vessels, or even later Longbow MK.1s. One remains in service with the ALMF, one is a parts hulk, and the other 4 vessels were lost in the line of duty.

Terran Indomitable Class Destroyer: These were the heavy weapons of the early legion. They exclusively operated Anti-Piracy missions, and even after the introduction of the Stream System, did not carry brains or faces aboard. These were warships, and were the spearpoint of the legion. Multiple times, pirate fleets were noticed fleeing immediately upon the appearance of an Indomitable class in AL colors, due to the reputation these vessels carried. Last vessel retired in AL:90 after a policy ship away from military might.

Terran Dreadnaught Class light Cruiser: These were the weapons of last resort for the legion, only being deployed to combat upstart pirate kings or large scale terrorist organizations. These were officially the only vessels to ever use nuclear warheads while flying under AL colors, during the Centarian succession crisis of AL:80. These vessels remained in service until the Battle of Orion, where the last vessel was destroyed by a Warbreed vessel ID’d as the Andarael.

Titan Class Battleship: The Original flagship of the legion, the Titan class, known as the Indefatigable, was 1.2km of weapons and fighters, but also of Medbays and machine shops and refugee accommodation. She was retrofitted through AL:10, retaining her punching power but also adding facilities for humanitarian aid. She became a Hospital Ship, a Refugee Transport, A battleship, and a Symbol. She was lost in Black ‘63 along with admiral Nari Kim while responding to a Terran colony distress call. Later review of the data after The battle of Orion ID’d the fleet she fought as a Syldrathi Hunter killer fleet.

Long Bow MK.1: The first internally produced AL vessel, the Long Bow MK.1 took all the lessons learn from the Cutter Class and made them into a truely formidable foe. Widely considered to be one of the greatest Naval craft of its Era, the longbow MK.1 was versatile, easy to repair, cheap to produce, punchy, and survivable. In the few outright wars the AL participated in, 9 times out of ten, a total loss of a longbow would have 0 casualties. Quite often downed squads would be issued a new vessel within the week, and the shortest turnaround was Squad 926, who were downed, and flew their next combat sortie 1.5 hours later, a record that stands to this day. Depending on the mission, Longbows were fitted with extra medical equipment, extra armor, more weapons, external cargo pods, and even on rare occasions, a Orbital drop pod for Spec ops. Multiple serving with the ALMF, Aurora Labs as test beds, and Several serving with [DATA REDACTED].

Longbow MK.2: If the MK.1 was one of the best of its time, the MK.2 was THE best. The already famous ease of repair was augmented by auto repair systems, the reactor was uprated, and engine output was increased by 25%. A Longbow MK.2 currently holds the all time speed record (with out gravity assists) of a production vessel at 16% the speed of light. Currently still in active frontline service, though being phased out for the MK.3

Polearm MK.1: the first Frigate to come out of Aurora Yards, the Polearms are designed to fill the roles of the Kysshakk class Frigates, the Indomitable Class destroyers, and Mercy class Hospital ships (not discussed here). Manned by 6 squads, they are stuffed to the gills with the finest tech Aurora Yards could “Borrow” from Aurora Labs. Most of the ship is designed to be swapped out depending on the mission, so everything from fleet defense to hauling is possible. One vessel during the Terra-Syldra War scored a total of 50 victories against Other vessels, and was officially bestowed the honor of the Flagship of AL Group 4.

Blockhouse MK.1 Carrier: Aurora Yards first foray into Capital class ships, The Blockhouse is designed to remain at the back of fleets and provide overwhelming fighter support. Capable of carrying no less than 50 Wraith class Fleet defense fighters, it is the spaceborne equivalent of a wasp nest. And Like any good wasps nest, it has a Queen. Generally a heavily modified cutter class, though recently some have been deployed with Longbow MK.3s with Speical equipment packages, the queen acts as a traffic controller, shuttle, and SWACS (Spaceborne warning and control ship) all in one. On more peaceful missions, the phantom bays are swapped out for launch tube for Hospitaller class aid shuttles and Kindness class orbital supply pods.

Longbow MK.3: the Pinnacle of Aurora yards shipbuilding, the MK.3 is stronger, faster, and hardier than the MK.2. Most electronics have been hardened against electromagnetic interference, hauling capacity has been increased, and fuel burn has been reduced. The auto repair systems have been upgraded to the level where anything besides the reactor can be repaired given enough time. Most functions can be swapped by mission modules, allowing for extra hauling capacity, increased firepower, or even extra speed. Production halted after AL:150 due to resource constraints. Next vessel expected AL:156.

Iron Cannon Class cruisers: a much rarer ship, built from the same basic design as the Blockhouses, but with the fighter wings and control craft replaced with anti vessel railguns and torpedo launchers. These craft are mean lean killing machines, and do not carry faces or brains aboard. They are the spiritual successor to the Dreadnaughts, and inherit the same naming scheme of their ancestors. First three were the Dreadnaught, the Inflexible, and the Formidable. Having seen service at the tail end of the Terra-Syldra war, they maintained a kill ratio of 5:1. Notably, no one of these vessels was seized by the Rahaam, though 3 were lost when their captains overloaded their reactors rather than risk capture and assimilation.

Gladius Class Gunboat: Built from the stripped down hulls of Longbow MK.1s, the Gladius class is the first new class of vessel commissioned by the legion since AL:150. Due to manpower shortages across the legion, these vessels are designed to operate with only 4 crew, with empty positions filled with advanced automated systems. Due to these limitations, these vessels only serve humanitarian missions, and are never used on the front lines unless desperately needed. Due to glaring shortfalls in overall effectiveness, the class is slated for retirement by AL:160.

[Admin Credentials Accepted, Welcome Founder_03]

Longbow MK.4: Equipped with experimental AL manufacture Pulse Cannons, Beretreskan plasma drives, and the finest ballistic grade titanium composite plating the Legion can build, the MK.4 is the crème de la crème of legion ship building. In simulated combat, 3 MK.4s can defeat Iron cannon class Cruisers, 50x their displacement. When these vessels reach mass production and issue, it will represent the largest jump in AL fleet capabilities since the introduction of the MK.1. Current low rate production estimates suggest it will be AL:158 before non spec ops squads are issued the MK.4.

Special Project 274, Codename “Brannock”: The Hulk of TDF carrier Kusanagi was recovered in exceptional condition after it was found in late AL:181. The hulk was then towed to site 00 and gutted. It was decided in AL:183 that the ship was to be converted into the newest flagship for the legion, the Brannock. Currently under development, most hangar bays are being replaced with railgun mounts, torpedo tubes, and in one case, the largest pulse cannon ever manufactured. She will be the red right hand of the legion, and instill a warning into the pirate fleets that ravage the galaxy: “We are coming. Run”

Special Project 275, Codename “Madran”: much like project 274, The Madran is built from a recovered ship hulk, this time the wreck of the original Indefatigable, recovered from an Unbroken salvage fleet circa AL:154. Currently undergoing extensive repair and upgrade, the Madran with be the kind smile of the legion. Almost all weaponry is being stripped, and replaced with further humanitarian facilities, to in effect become the single largest aid vessel in the galaxy. She is designed to be the sister ship to the Brannock, and will, when deployed alongside her, act as a huge Signal jamming and targeting vessel. Giving free rain for rail guns and pulse cannons to shred renegade syldrathi and pirate fleets

[mareislandfoundation]

Valentine for Hirohito

The United States entered World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor under emperor Hirohito of Japan.  Following that attack, Valentine’s Day 1942 was especially poignant in the United States as nationwide couples were being separated by what became the bloodiest war in history. At a time when nearly all war news was bad and just 38 days following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor there was a glimmer of hope as the Gato class submarine USS Wahoo (SS238) was launched symbolizing the mobilization of America’s arsenal of defense. She became the first of fifteen submarines to be built at Mare Island during WWII. Wahoo joined seven of her sister Mare Island built submarines already in the fight in a campaign that would gut Japanese industrial and military strength, and she would be emblematic of that campaign. During her short history she was one of the top performing boats of the war before being sunk by hostile action on October 11, 1943.

Wahoo and her sister submarines contributions to the war effort were out of proportion to our nation’s investment, but the cost in submariners’ lives was another matter, those losses were terrible. US Pacific submarines sank 4.9 million tons of Japanese Merchant Marine vessels during the war accounting for 60% of all Japanese losses. Additionally, submarines sank 700,000 tons of Japanese naval ships accounting for 30% of the total lost including 8 aircraft carriers, 1 battleship and 11 cruisers. A total of 288 submarines were deployed throughout the war and 52 submarines were lost. There were 22 Mare Island built submarines that fought in the war and of those, 8 or 36% were sunk (two by their own torpedoes). The Pacific submariners comprised only 1.6% of the Navy, but they suffered one of the highest loss rates in the U.S. Armed Forces, with 22% of our brave sailors killed.

The Wahoo conducted a total of seven war patrols, the last five under Commander Dudley “Mush” Morton. Wahoo returned to Mare Island for overhaul before deploying for her final war patrol. Noted naval historian Theodore Roscoe said about Morton "Few skippers equaled Morton's initiative, and none had a larger reserve of nerve, combining capability with dynamic aggressiveness, Morton feared nothing on or under the sea." Morton is credited with sinking 19 ships totaling nearly 55,000 tons; his total was second only to his own executive officer, Richard H. O'Kane. Retired Rear Adm. O'Kane went on to command the Mare Island built USS Tang (SS 306). Adm. O'Kane who retired to Petaluma, California survived the sinking of the Tang by her own torpedo. Wahoo’s performance under Morton was so prodigious that on his fourth patrol the American submarine command in Pearl Harbor reported to him that the "Japanese think a submarine wolf pack operating in Yellow Sea. All shipping tied up.” The wolf pack was the Wahoo operating alone. Morton was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and an athletic field on Mare Island is named Morton Field in his honor. This field was chosen as the location of the final closure ceremony on March 29, 1996, when Mare Island Naval Shipyard's 142 years of service came to an end.

Dennis Kelly

[liestookmydoubts]

II. Bedside conversations.

Menelaus could feel it as they returned to the Achaean camp; their hopeful, fervoured eyes. Their hateful, censorious gazes. The night, which seemed to slowly fade away, had plunged into the waves, from which the next dawn emerged from the same waters. But there was her gaze, too, Helen's, and it was like a dagger sinking in between his ribs. She didn't blame him for the destruction that had been caused, and he didn't blame her for the many sleepless nights. He could tell she wanted to return the bright and blinding smiles, but her own were muted and controlled in comparison. He'd tried to soothe her, kissing the tension in her brows as she ached. As they both ached, it seemed.

He couldn't ease the frown off her face as the wretched son of Achilles rampaged the lands that had so readily defended her honor. There was no reasoning with that kid, lest one was willing to risk a spear through the narrow space between their ribs- and so his Helen could only watch as the role of concubine was thrust upon the still grieving wife of Hektor.

Neoptolemus was little more than a weapon, one refined and sharpened to infinitesimal precision; a sword bred for war. He sought only one thing; revenge. And yet- he didn't even seem to know what it was he ought to avenge; he hadn't known his father, the young prodigy that had willingly joined this entire mess of a war. All he had were the often exaggerated stories the men passed around; perhaps his mother had shared some of her own experiences, but somehow Menelaus had a hard time imagining Deidameia had alot of good to say about Achilles. Cleaving Achilles. The bitter taste abandonment left on your tongue wasn't so easily washed away with honeyed words- Menelaus would know, he mused

Back in Sparta these thoughts persisted, even as a flash of curly blond entering his chambers caught his eye. A familiar warmth embraced him from behind, and silent tears wet the fabric of his chiton and clung to his shoulders.

More and more often she'd come to him crying. When prompted for a reason, she merely shook her head and kissed him- it was a much too effective distraction for Menelaus to bother trying to raise the question again. Not when his tongue counted those faint few freckles on her thighs that usually showed more in the summer, and not when the calloused pads of his fingers trace over each vertebrae of Helen her spine as if trying to count them. And especially not when his mind starts to drift, and suddenly the plush skin of her thigh has a scar wrapping around-

Even when they returned to Sparta, she would come to his room with tears streaming down her beautiful face.

Until one night, about 3 months since their return, as they lay in silence on his bed, merely gazing at eachother, does she finally speak.

"Menelaus," she says,

"Darling," he automatically replies.

And for a moment, whatever it is she has to say seems too much for her to bear- and her eyelashes flutter gently. She leans in to kiss him, but this time Menelaus ushers her back. "My love," he calls out once more, admittedly firmer. He knows Helen's weaknesses, and the tricks she deploys to cover for them. He won't let her hold back this time. "If there's something you must say, then please just say it. I fought a war for you- won't you, if even just this once, humor me?"

Something within his words made it so her eyebrows met just a little closer on her forehead. Her hand touches upon his collarbone, searching. "You have a soft heart," Her hand is placed on the left side of his chest, as if to touch this softness with her own hands. He wondered if she could feel the way it pounded as if trying to break out from his ribcage- "I don't know what you mean."

"You don't have to."

Menelaus had taken the opportunity to kiss her the way he had been itching to. It wasn't the most eloquent response, but it was the one he decided upon. "I want to," he spoke into her open mouth, "I want to understand you, Helen."

And moreso, he wants to understand why his thoughts keep drifting to a rugged land, too cramped for driving horses though it is hardly poor, under Mount Neion's windblown robe of leaves.

"And what would you do with understanding?" Helen asked, her voice a soft murmur, tinged with something Menelaus could not quite place. Was it resignation? Hope? Helen cupped his face in her hands, her touch so light it could have been the wind. For a moment, she was still, her fingers tracing the hollow of his throat. Then she closed her eyes, as if summoning courage. “Do you?” she asked softly. “Do you truly want to understand me, Menelaus? Or are you hoping to bury the war beneath layers of affection and pretend we can be as we once were?”

Her words were not an accusation, but a plea—a raw, unfiltered truth that caught him off guard. Menelaus exhaled deeply, his thumb brushing away a tear that escaped down her cheek. “I fought a war for you,” he repeated, “but I never expected to come out of it unscarred—inside or out. I don’t want to bury anything, Helen. I just want us to find peace.”

Helen leaned her forehead against his, golden hair spilling over his shoulders. “Peace,” she echoed, as if testing the word’s weight on her tongue. “You make it sound so simple.”

“It’s not,” Menelaus admitted. “But nothing worth having ever is.”

[sptiap]

Reconnaissance Marines are considered among the best trained and toughest in the Corps. [...] They are physical prodigies who can run twelve miles loaded with 150-pound packs, then jump in the ocean and swim several more miles, still wearing their boots, fatigues and carrying their weapons and packs. They are trained to parachute, scuba dive, snowshoe, mountain climb and rappel from helicopters. [...] almost none are trained to drive Humvees and fight in them as a unit. What they are doing in Iraq – seeking out ambushes and fighting through them – is something they only started training for around Christmas, a month before being deployed to Kuwait. Cpl. Person, the team’s primary driver, doesn’t even have a military operator’s license for a Humvee and has only practiced driving in a convoy at night a handful of times. — Evan Wright, The Killer Elite, Rolling Stone, June 26, 2003

[detroitpedxing]

In Interviews, Kamala Harris Continues to Bob and Weave

Her media swing showed how she often responds to uncomfortable questions by acknowledging them, yet not fully answering them.

Running an abbreviated campaign in the final sprint before Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris blitzed the media this week in a series of interviews to speak to voters who say they still don’t know enough about her.

One thing they learned: how she keeps answering the question she wants, not the one that was asked.

Politicians, and presidents in particular, have long treated the ability to bob and weave through uncomfortable questions while remaining on message as a skill to be mastered, like the precise footing required of a carpenter navigating a high-pitched roof.

Bill Clinton’s famous line, “I feel your pain,” was deployed to diffuse an activist’s plea for details on how to end the AIDS epidemic. George W. Bush sabotaged questions about climate change by treating facts as partisan assertions. Barack Obama took his message to social media and largely avoided interviews with White House beat reporters.

This week, Ms. Harris put her own stamp on the art of the dodge.

On “60 Minutes,” she declined to answer a question about whether she considered Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, to be a close ally. She also refused to detail how she would pay for a $3 trillion economic plan.

When asked on ABC’s popular daytime show, “The View,” about accusations from Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida that she had only offered to help with a hurricane as a presidential candidate, she swiftly implicated the criticism as proof of his own partisanship. When Howard Stern asked her on his SiriusXM program later that afternoon if she would select Liz Cheney, the Republican former congresswoman, for her cabinet, Ms. Harris refused to be buttonholed. “I gotta win, Howard,” she said with an air of first-things-first. “I gotta win. I gotta win.”

Her media swing provided a glimpse into how she often responds to unpleasant questions without answering them, questions the very premise of questions she finds unfair and can take it upon herself to reword a query she considers unhelpful.

Ms. Harris, 59, can turn the typically defensive crouch of a non-answer into a bit of verbal jujitsu, as she did in declining the opportunity to identify Mr. Netanyahu as an ally. She can nimbly field a query and quickly lace her reply with trip wire for her opponent, as she did last month in her debate with former President Donald J. Trump.

A trained prosecutor, Ms. Harris is lawyerly, argumentative and fundamentally defensive. She often deflects or sidesteps. She can speak passionately about her values in a way that leaves listeners feeling as if the question had been acknowledged, even if the substance remained unaddressed. To avoid delineating her stance on some issues, she will instead focus on her dedication to progress and inclusion.

Her verbal acrobatics may be contributing to the impression that some voters have that they do not know her or her policy views very well. It has become a key weakness as she rushes to sway millions of undecided voters in the battleground states.

Her opponent is playing a different rhetorical game, maybe a different sport. Mr. Trump continues to shatter the norms of generally accepted practices of political communications. He is known for defending blatant lies. He rambles and reverts to nearly decade-old slogans to avoid answering a question. He regularly sheds a prodigious amount of exaggerations and falsehoods. After two presidential campaigns in which he took pride in ignoring fact-checkers, he has recently refused to participate in interviews or debates that include fact-checking.

The roughly three dozen interviews Mr. Trump has given in the past five weeks have been almost exclusively with conservative outlets or with hosts who are openly supportive of his White House bid. He has declined an invitation for a second debate with Ms. Harris, and canceled an interview he had previously agreed to with “60 Minutes.”

There is no fair way to assess Ms. Harris’s performance while sharing the spotlight with Mr. Trump, an opponent who, earlier this week, insisted he had visited the Gaza Strip, the site of a violent war he has claimed he would end within days of taking office, without any record of him setting foot in that part of the Middle East.

But voters’ lack of familiarity with Ms. Harris means she has little choice but to endure the inequity. In a New York Times/Siena College poll last month, one out of every four voters said they needed to learn more about Ms. Harris — compared with just one of every 10 who said the same about Mr. Trump.

Voters wanting more information about Ms. Harris were primarily young and Black or Hispanic, according to the poll. They typically did not identify with either political party and largely consumed news from social media or online outlets rather than newspapers or cable networks.

Of former President Donald J. Trump’s recent interviews, all but one have been with conservative outlets or with hosts who are openly supportive of his White House bid.

Ms. Harris’s schedule was essentially a media map of those specific demographics.

During her appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, a chatty entertainment program popular with Gen Z and millennial women, Ms. Harris took aim for the first time at comments made by Senator JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice-presidential nominee. She called his remarks about “childless cat ladies” in positions of power “mean and mean spirited.”

It was the 65 minutes she spent with Mr. Stern that was the most personally revealing.

Within the first few minutes alone, she engaged in a debate over Prince’s best album (she said it was “1999,” while Mr. Stern maintained it was the “Batman” soundtrack) and drolly dismissed her husband, Doug Emhoff, as a Depeche Mode fan from her perch as a self-described “hip-hop girl.”

Oct. 2, 2024

David Axelrod, the former Obama strategist who had publicly urged Ms. Harris to engage more deliberately with the media, praised her performance this week.

“Most candidates hone those skills during primary campaigns,” Mr. Axelrod said of Ms. Harris’s truncated campaign. “She was thrown into the deep end of the deepest pool there is 90 days before a general election. And if she isn’t exactly Katie Ledecky yet, she seemed a lot more comfortable than she was a few weeks ago — and the sheer repetition of doing these will help.”

Her appearance on “60 Minutes,” the one traditional news program she agreed to this week, offered some of the clearest examples of her weaving talking points with hints of policy.

Bill Whitaker, the correspondent conducting the interview, asked how she would pay for her $3 trillion economic plan, and Ms. Harris responded by touting the potential benefits for the middle class. When he pressed her, she suggested raising taxes on the highest earners. When he doubted Congress would agree, she said, in not so many words, that she was trying to win an election — not a favorable score from the Congressional Budget Office.

“I cannot afford to be myopic in terms of how I think about strengthening America’s economy,” Ms. Harris said. “Let me tell you something: I am a devout public servant. You know that. I am also a capitalist. And I know the limitations of government.”

In one revealing exchange, she was repeatedly pressed on the war in Gaza and the wedge that conflict had driven between Washington and Jerusalem as Mr. Netanyahu has refused calls for a cease-fire and defied America’s appeals for restraint by invading Lebanon.

Asked if the United States had “no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Ms. Harris described diplomatic relations with him as “an ongoing pursuit.”

Mr. Whitaker pushed back. Mr. Netanyahu “was not listening,” he said. Ms. Harris responded with a similar answer: The administration was “not going to stop pursuing” an end to the war.

Mr. Whitaker made a third attempt. This time, he asked bluntly whether she considered Mr. Netanyahu to be “a real close ally.” Ms. Harris seized control of the questions.

“With all due respect,” she began, “the better question is, ‘Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people?’ And the answer to that question is yes.”

It was a move that at first blush appeared to be an audacious display of chutzpah over what was or was not a “better question.” Instead, it may stand as a historic marker in U.S. foreign policy: The potential 47th president of the United States deliberately declined the opportunity to call the Israeli prime minister an ally. And did so with an artful dodge.

[itfitsitshipsart]

Resident Evil Insert

Left to right: Pregame through first game, Code:Veronica, RE5

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Name: Evelyn (Birkin) Wesker

DoB: July, 1973

Age: 25 (RE, Code:Veronica), 36 (RE5)

Blood Type: A

Height: 5’5”

Weight: 120lbs

Occupations: Art Teacher (1993 - 1998), H.C.F. Tech Assistant (1998), Albert Wesker's Personal Assistant/Housewife (1998 - 2009)

Relationships: William Birkin (elder brother), Albert Wesker (husband), S.T.A.R.S. members (friends), Excella Gionne (enemy), Michael Wesker (son), Gabrielle Wesker (daughter), Jake Muller (AU - stepson)

History

Born in the summer of 1973, Evelyn Birkin was quickly seen as a bright child, excelling in technology and botany, though not considered a prodigy like her elder brother, William. Because of their age difference, William paid little attention to his sister, barely acknowledging her presence. She did not receive special schooling, showing more interest in the arts, and proceeded through school only slightly faster than the average child. Evelyn pursued a career as a teacher, earning her degree in 1994, at the age of 21. She acquired a job at Racoon City's Private Academy in later that year, teaching art to Elementary students.

In 1994, Evelyn met Albert Wesker by coincidence, the two of them starting a romantic relationship with each other. William quickly switched from uncaring to protective upon learning who his sister was dating, his vocal distaste only pushing Evelyn and Albert closer together. In May, 1998, the two married, and Evelyn took Wesker as her last name. In the year before marrying, Albert disclosed a limited amount of information about Umbrella, making her give his full support and trust.

Evelyn was devastated to believe she lost her new husband after the events taking place at the Arklay laboratory, shutting down and not talking with anyone, despite Chris Redfield taking time to try and help her. A week after the news, in the middle of the night, Evelyn was awoken by the sound of an intruder, surprised to find Albert alive. With little explanation, Evelyn packed a few things and followed him, vanishing from the public and leaving everything and everyone else behind.

Evelyn Insisted on being of help to Albert, joining him as a Tech Assistant on his mission to Rockfort Island. She managed the technical side of things, including tracking and deploying both scanners and drones.

Evelyn proceeded to follow Albert closely wherever his work brought him, loosely being considered his personal assistant. She found herself pregnant multiple times through the years, never successfully having a living child. Both of them came to the conclusion it was very likely they'd never succeed in having children due to the genetic mutations Albert had undergone. This took a heavy toll on Evelyn, both mentally and physically.

Evelyn clung possessively to Albert during his work at Tricell, growing antagonistic towards anyone who showed romantic or sexual interest towards him, especially Tricell Exec. Excella Gionne. Both of them were quietly hostile to each other in public, in private Evelyn complaining to Albert about the “bitch” and wanting her gone. She happily helped get rid of her with Albert, assisting with his Uroboros project as well. She remotely controlled the bomber used to release the virus, watching from the monitors as she lost contact with the bomber crashing Into the volcano.

Afterwards, she fled from the BSAA tracking her, and a few months later, was captured by Chris Redfield, peacefully giving up after almost successfully shooting him. She was once again with child and was carefully monitored by the BSAA. Ironically, after the many years of longing, she gave birth to a pair of healthy twins, which she gave the angel names of Michael and Gabrielle. They stayed under the heavy supervision of the BSAA, due to the nature of the children being Albert Wesker's biological children.

AU Fun

I have a favorite AU which the main difference is Albert raises Jake as a single father until Evelyn shows up, absolutely adoring the child and loving him as her own.