#some didn't declare and war still happened and they were effected

[lovl3igh]

"shireen was so smart for this" no. that was child's answer with child's point of view because shireen was, surprise surprise, a child. are you a child? no fighting against the greens for blacks meant facing the consequences of having incompetent rapist on the throne. they would have let that happen if they didn't act. don't behave like 10yo girl who still values empathy more than fighting for better tomorrow with necessary evil

[eufezco]

TAKE ME WITH YOU

you want dbf!logan to take you with him to the xmansion but do you want to go there to attend charles xavier's classes or do you have hidden intentions?

logan x afab!reader (smut) + no use of y/n. english isn't my first language (!). gif credit to @/asgardswinter

—your dad told me you haven't left your room all day.

logan leaned on the doorframe, crossing his big arms in front of his body. his brown eyes were on you, lying in the middle of your bed, focused on the book on your lap.

—my head hurts every time i try to go outside. everything is too loud.

—everything is too loud —. he mocked you.

you huffed. you had used that excuse so many times before, thinking you could fool him, as if he didn't know that you could control your powers perfectly. the professor told him so, that your mind was perfectly structured, that it was impressive how much control you had over your powers for a psychic.

you had used that excuse so many times before because you wanted your parent's permission to attend charles xavier's school and if you had to play the victim for that to happen, you would.

you always did the same thing.

every time your parents let you know that logan was coming to your house for dinner on the weekend, that's when your plan started. you acted like your headache was unbearable, like you could hear the voices of even the people across the street, like you could not leave your room without covering your ears and scrunching up your face trying to shut all the voices.

it was perfect. to you, the perfect plan, and every time was the perfect chance for logan to take you with him. but to your bad luck, your performance never had an effect on your parents, much less on him.

—when did you arrive anyways?

—like an hour ago, but you already knew that, didn't you?

you smiled mischievously.

—do you think i cannot feel you when you poke around in my mind?

—oh, i know you do. it wouldn't be so fun if you couldn't feel me.

logan walked into your room. you closed your book and put it aside on the bed, no longer interested in it. right after, he picked it up and looked at the cover, with a photo of the professor and the name, charles xavier, signing as the author.

—it could be considered obsession at this point —. logan declared.

you rolled your eyes and snatched the book from his hands as you got up from your bed to place it back in its place on the shelf. you stood on your tiptoes but it was still too high and you couldn't reach it. you turned your head to look at logan. —would you mind?

he rolled his eyes and came to you, he knew what you were doing. the shelf was a bit high but you could reach it just fine.

logan took the book from your hand and stretched his body to put it on the shelf. during those seconds you were trapped between the piece of furniture and logan's body, his chest pressed against your back, his free hand held your hip in place to keep his balance and himself from crushing you.

you leaned subtly into the shelf, your ass rubbed against his crotch and logan immediately pulled away from you. you turned to look at him innocently as if you didn't do it on purpose, while your hands rested on your desk behind you, and with a little jump you sat on it.

—have you talked to my parents? should i start packing?

—you already know their answer. why don't you just use your powers to change their minds?

—if the professor knew, he would send me back home, but if you talk to them, my dad will listen to you, you are his best friend.

logan was the only person who could convince them. your parents weren't mutants, just ordinary people but they had seen how people like them treated people like you. they didn't want you to be away from them in a world where it was so dangerous to be a mutant.

yet they trusted logan. he fought alongside your father in some war and apparently, logan saved his life or something like that. you didn't remember that story very well, every time they told it at dinner time you could only focus on how the fabric of logan's shirt tightened around his big arms to the point that you could notice his veins. if you concentrated hard enough and used your powers you could even feel his warm blood running through them.

—i could have talked to them if you hadn't been putting those images in my mind while i was trying to have a conversation.

—tell me you didn't like what you saw —. you said, playfully. the eye contact became more intense when he didn't answer you.

those images were pure filth, scenarios that never happened and that you had fantasized about a million times in your head. you sent those dirty fantasies of yours to his mind while he was downstairs talking to your parents. he had to fix his position on the couch multiple times, take a sip of his drink to control the heat building up in his cheeks, and shake his head subtly in an attempt to kick you out of there.

logan remained silent which was enough of an answer. you smiled triumphantly. he shook his head, you were a lost cause.

—just imagine if i went there with you and we could spend every day together —. you raised two of your fingers and made an elegant movement while pointing at the door. logan followed your hand and saw how the door of your room closed. while he was distracted, your legs encircled around his body and brought him closer to you. — i'd be all yours, logan.

he was going to complain, he was going to tell you how you shouldn't say such things, how you shouldn't do those things to him, and how it was even worse that he allowed it. but the way your thighs squeezed both sides of his body to keep him from escaping, the way his eyes were fixed on his crotch pressing against your clothed cunt, and the way you did not take your eyes off his mouth...

logan could not even utter the first word when you crashed your lips against his.

he called your name once. you acted like you didn't hear him and continued kissing him. logan kissed you back but you could hear all the voices in his head and you didn't want him to listen to what they were saying. he called your name again. you knew that tone, that way of calling you. —this is wrong —. he mumbled into the kiss.

—no, it's not. i want you —. you whispered against his lips.

—your parents are downstairs —. logan reminded you.

you broke away from the kiss, a thin string of saliva connected your lips while you raised one of your hands to the level of your heads and snapped your fingers. logan looked at you confused.

—they can't hear us now —. you had to keep your concentration for a few seconds to be able to stay inside your parents' heads. when you had it under control, you planted a kiss on logan's chin. —they don't even remember you're home. in fact, they don't even remember i'm home.

—do you ever use your mutation for anything that isn't completely twisted?

you giggled. —and this is nothing.

a grunt left his lips at your words. your mouth attached to his again as your fingers sank into the thick, brown locks at the back of his head. logan's hands were on both sides of your thighs, digging his fingers into the flesh of them while he allowed your tongue to go past his lips. with his tight grip on the outside of your thighs, logan lifted you off the desk with ease. his hands slid down to your ass as he gently dropped you on the mattress of your bed.

logan threw his hands back and pulled the neck of his shirt over his head. you gasped and squeezed him harder between your legs. your hands were quick to attach to his pecs, feeling them hard, hairy, under your touch and then your nails scratched their way down, making logan groan, until they reached his abs. —god, you're so hot —. you grabbed the dog tags hanging around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss as you lifted your hips off the bed so you could feel him against you again.

in response to the desperation of your movements, logan's hand moved between your bodies and slipped into your pajama shorts. logan parted from your lips to look at you in the eyes, surprised.

—no panties?

—i knew you were coming over. fuck, —you moaned when he put his middle finger inside you. —wanted to save us some time.

—you wait for all your dad's friends without panties?

you whined and you held on to his bicep while he added his heart finger. his eyes were fixed on your face, paying attention to all your expressions. the way your teeth were digging into your lower lip, the wrinkles on your forehead from your frown, how your lips parted every time he pushed his fingers a little deeper.

—so you do, hm.

—no, logan, shit —his thumb connected with your clit. —only with you.

—atta girl, that's what i wanted to hear.

his face hid in your neck, his beard tickled you, his teeth gave little bites to your sensitive skin there and then his lips sucked on that same spot to soothe it.

your lips were half open, your eyes closed shut while his two fingers pushed inside you and his thumb moved in circles on your clit. you sneaked one of your hands inside his jeans and underwear and gave a sweet squeeze to his hard ass, was there any part of his body where his muscles were not perfectly defined? logan grunted, feeling how you sunk your nails there and gave him some cute half-moon marks.

your legs closed around his body as he felt how your pussy tightened around his fingers. —wait, i need you, please, fuck, i need your cock.

and who was he to deny you? you shifted uncomfortably on the bed when he pulled his fingers out of you.

—you're still wearing too many clothes, don't you think? —logan said as he sat on his knees. you nodded, arching your back so he could take off your shirt and lifting your hips from the mattress so he could slide your shorts and panties off your legs.

he licked his lips as he watched you from above. so perfect. logan felt bad about all the times that he had imagined what your body would look like, he had fantasized about it when he saw you dive into the pool while he helped your father with the barbecue, he had to look away from you when he noticed that your nipples were showing through that floral dress. all that ended at that moment, with you naked under him.

your cheeks were starting to grow hot thanks to his eyes on you.

—so fucking beautiful, you're fucking perfect, sweetheart —he leaned on top of you again, connecting his lips to yours and cupping one of your boobs. —perfect fucking tits —. his lips moved from your mouth and sucked on your nipple. you whined in response, trying to focus on your hands unbuttoning his pants and zipping them down along with his underwear.

you wrapped your fingers around his hard cock, using your thumb to spread the bead of precum over the tip. he clenched his jaw as you lined him up at your entrance and he slowly pushed himself inside of you, your hands gripping his biceps as he did it.

your throat felt dry from moaning, his hips hammering into you at a hard and fast pace, the sweet sounds that came out of your mouth encouraged him to do so. but then, all of a sudden, logan's hand covered your mouth and his movements stopped.

your dad was calling you. you heard his footsteps coming up the stairs, you had let yourself get so carried away that you had freed your parents' minds. logan looked at you with his eyes open wide, his heart beating so fast he thought it would burst out of his chest. you closed your eyes shut, getting into your dad's head and listening as his footsteps approaching your room stopped.

—ugh, darling! i forgot she's not home. could you text her and tell her to buy it on her way home?

both of you let out a sigh of relief.

—this fucking turned you on, you freak —. his hand was still in your mouth, he could tell you were smiling because of your eyes, —could feel you clenching around my cock every time he came closer.

his fingers dug into the flesh of one of your thighs as he helped you to encircle that leg around his waist. your moans muffled and died onto the palm of his hands as logan pulled out and pushed in again. his dog tags dangled in your face, the tip of his cock brushed against that sweet spot inside you. the hand that covered your mouth came up to clutch the headboard above your head so he could steady himself and thrust into you harder.

you moaned his name, squeezing his body with your thighs, your pussy tightening around his cock. logan fucked you through your orgasm, making your legs shake and your eyes turn white thanks to the overstimulation, and then he thrust into you one more time before he pulled out and came on your stomach.

he let his forehead rest on your shoulder and you caressed his hair as you both tried to catch your breaths.

—do you have anything i can use to clean you up?

you looked around, looking for something on your nightstands while you were still trapped under logan's body. you shook your head.

—you should've just cum inside.

logan huffed a laugh as he moved off of you and lay down next to you on the bed. —maybe in a few years.

he reached for your panties at the foot of the bed and he ran the fabric across your stomach, collecting all of his cum in them. you rested your head on one of your arms as you rolled over on the bed to look at him. he held your panties in the air using two of his fingers. —wear them all night and i'll convince your parents for you to come with me.

you smirked and you snatched them from his hand. —deal.

[tumbleofdorks]

Okay, Cardassia, Soviet Union, 90's cultural relevance, here we go.

*deep breath*

The late 80's into the 90's was a super weird time, in general, but it was especially weird for the Soviet Union/Russia, and it all happened quite publicly, globally speaking. This absolutely and clearly influenced the creation of the Cardassians, and even more so their arc throughout Deep Space Nine. First, we gotta go back further for some context though, come on, take my hand.

Ah, here we are.

Right, so the primary writers for DS9 were mostly in their 30s and 40s when the show started (Ira Steven Behr was 39 for example), which means the looming threat of the Red Menace was omnipresent in the American psyche their whole lives. I cannot emphasize enough how much space the USSR took up, rent free, in the minds of Americans throughout the many decades of the Cold War.

Every spy novel, comic book series, and action movie had to have a Russian-accented baddie for the noble American hero to fight against. A quick aside, this is why Chekov being on the bridge in TOS was a Big Deal. Roddenberry was basically saying, "Someday all humanity will be working together in harmony, yes, even the Russians." Anyway, my point is, Russian villains saturated the media that the DS9 writers would have grown up with.

While the fiction was popping off, the real stories of life in the USSR from defectors were being consistently drip-fed to the outside world. Stories of dramatic show trials, where the guilt was already determined and the whole trial was just a display to sway public opinion. Stories of prodigious propaganda on every street corner, in every newspaper, and on every TV and radio. Stories of forced labor in gulags in the many USSR occupied territories. And oh yes, let's not forget the NUMEROUS stories of the Secret Police, the most infamous of which was the Committee for State Security, the dreaded and powerful KGB. A spy agency, full of sleeper agents behind enemy lines, experts in deception, espionage and assassination. Hm, now, where have we seen such things?

Also, let us be frank, we have the Romulan empire, the Klingon empire, the Terran empire, lots of empires, but Cardassia and its occupied territories are the Cardassian UNION? C'mon.

Okay, but then we get to the 90's and DS9, and this is where it gets REALLY juicy, so bear with me here.

In January of 1991, the Next Generation episode "The Wounded" introduced us to the Cardassians, and "Ensign Ro" in October set up the Bajoran occupation. While they didn't have the accents, they had a few likenesses to the American idea of Russian authoritarianism, a brutal military, religious suppression, gulag labor camps, strange torture methods, but it was still vague at best.

However, in December of that same year the USSR collapsed, the Soviet Union was no more, and it was WIDELY televised. The Western world watched on in various degrees of shock, joy, and trepidation as the seemingly invincible Soviet Union broke apart. The formerly occupied regions declared their independence, and the Russian central command (seemingly) withdrew all of their forces and government operatives quite suddenly back to Moscow.

Half a year later, in the Summer of 1992, Deep Space Nine began pre-production, and the Cardassians were chosen as the primary initial antagonists and the abandonment of Bajor as our backdrop. Through DS9 Cardassians gained a notable spy agency, the Obsidian Order, and a reputation of beuracratic record keeping and efficiency (the USSR was famously meticulous in its record keeping and "at least the trains/shuttles ran on time"). We explored their kangaroo courts, the friction between their military leadership and their civilian leadership (Stalin taking over from Lenin, anybody?), the consequences of rapid withdrawal of a controlling force, and the effects of economic instability on a super power. Mere months after the real collapse and withdrawal of the USSR, the DS9 writers choose to make the collapse and withdrawal of an authoritarian Union the driving plot point of their new show?

The writers, as they developed the show, were clearly exploring the themes that were playing out in the world around them. To the folks watching at home these would have been immediately recognizable, something that could be connected to contemporary events, as well as the lifetime of USSR figures in media that they were accustomed to. It was a familiar string to pull on and draw the audience in.

Ahem, so as you can see, the depiction of the Cardassian Union not only parallels the Soviet Union, but was uniquely relevant to an audience in the 90's that was watching the collapse of the USSR in real time on the nightly news.

However, it wasn't all the standard anti-soviet themes one would expect, which is how we ended up with Garak. The ways the writers used him thematically were so fascinating and so uniquely Star Trek. He LOVES his planet and his people, he's almost a spiritual successor to Chekov in that way: blindly loving of his home, claiming it is the best in all things. In the face of decades of anti-soviet media Garak was depicted as a morally-gray spy, yes, but in classic Star Trek fashion also fiercely loyal, noble, loving and multi-faceted. An enemy that can be made a friend if one tries hard enough, as long as there is a kernel of "humanity" within you both.

Star Trek hopecore is present even in the darkest of the TNG sibling shows.

[m13trieswriting]

Nothing new - Alexia Putellas

A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first time posting something I have written. So if anyone has any suggestions/improvements, don't hold back. Just be nice, please! English is not my first language. I hope you enjoy it like I did writing it.

Summary: You and Alexia have broken up, again... a few weeks ago. You swore it was the last time but ended up getting intimate with her. This circle is nothing new.

There's no angst on this post, just pure smut with feelings.

Warnings: +18, Lesbian sex, cunnilingus, fingering, slight praise kink.

All this situation wasn't at all new for them. They've been in this exact situation a hundred times. Of course, y/n declared, stated and even swore that it would be the last time they broke up. She should have predicted that it wasn't.

All it took was a simple explanation of the events that had led to their break up, and they returned to it. To that messy, but inescapable circle that she couldn't erase from her mind.

She knew Alexia was the love of her life, from the moment she met those hazel eyes. She knew there wasn't going to be anyone else for her, ever.

Except they always ended up fighting and breaking up. Until they found themselves again. Not that y/n was thinking of that, she was far more interested on what was happening.

A heated kiss that felt like heaven. She must have had kissed her girl a thousand times, but it felt like fireworks every single fucking time.

Her lips, soft against hers, hypocritical given the circumstances. The kiss was everything but soft.

Y/n had tried to forget her. To let her go, like she insinuated she had to. Deep down she knew she couldn't. Her love was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the kind poets spent ages writing about, the kind governors fought wars for. Alexia was her everything.

She consumed every fucking thought she had. Her essence had haunted her all those weeks when they were apart.

Having Alexia in her arms again, kissing her lips felt like a dream, one she did not wish to wake up from. Alexia was her dream. All she had ever wanted.

When they arrived to Alexia's bedroom, y/n cornered her girl against the door, their bodies pressing impossibly closer to each other.

It was nothing new for them. They fiercely kissed each other, trying to keep the moment locked in their memories.

Alexia's hands roamed all over y/n body, whilst hers firmly found their place on her lover's waist. Alexia's hands continued to move while their kiss became more heated, if possible.

Suddenly, y/n's lips became lower, kissing all over Alexia's neck, easily finding her weak spot. This wasn't new for them, they had done this a thousand times if not more. However, Alexia felt the same way that she had their first time, and honestly even more drenched.

Y/n was addicted to hearing Alexia's moans. It was her favourite sound in the fucking world.

-Y/n... please, I need you lower. No em facis esperar. - Alexia claimed, wanting to feel more of the younger woman.

-We have all night baby- familiar to the effect the nickname had on the catalan- and I plan to use every fucking minute of it love.

She took off the captain's shirt. Not giving a shit about where it was landing. Her wet lips explored the new area.

-Can I take it off?- always asking for permission before taking off her bra.

-Please...- Alexia was a mess of moans and whimpers.

She slowly took the piece of clothing off, maybe to savour the moment, maybe to tease Alexia even more.

Y/n loved Alexia's body, but her breasts were something else, she didn't waste any time attacking her tits. If Alexia had thought she was wet before, now with her lover's lips all over her most sensitive part she had a whole ocean between her legs.

Her clit was throbbing, not so patiently waiting for some friction anymore.

Another part of Alexia's body she was obsessed with was her abs. Fuck they were so perfect, she roamed her hand over them, while her mouth was still working on her captain's tits.

-Y/n, please, I fucking beg you- Alexia couldn't hold it any more, she craved more. Her hand now found its way to the older woman's hair, trying to guide her lower.

-I may be listening now baby- she teased.

-Please, I need you so much. Just do something.

-What do you need so much baby girl?- she was enjoying every second of it.

-I need you to fuck me so good I forget my name and the neighbours learn yours.

That's all she needed. She sank to her knees, removing the blonde's pants and underwear, not without a reassurance look, silently asking for consent. She admired her lover's intimacy.

Not wanting to make her wait more she licked her lips before attacking Alexia's clit. The first contact made the blonde shiver.

-Fuck, yes baby, don't stop.

Her girl's moans encouraged her to add a finger in her waiting hole. Feeling all the wetness once and for all. After all these years she couldn't quite believe the effect she had on the girl. It was fair to say she had the same effect on her.

After that, Alexia felt herself close to an orgasm she didn't know was building. She was a bit embarrassed because of it before she remembered it was you, whom she felt safe in every situation.

Perhaps it was the accumulated tension but she couldn't hold it much more. She kept moaning y/n's name, LOUD.

-Y/n, Baby I'm close, don't stop. - y/n's other hand moved higher reaching for one of her breasts. The captain grew even wetter if possible with that action. Y/n knew her body so well, that it was exactly what she needed to reach the climax.

-I've got you- was all y/n said while helping her ride her orgasm.

With the care you only have with someone you adore honestly, she picked up her lover's body, carrying her to what once was their bed.

Y/n dropped her carefully on the bed, before kissing every inch of her body. Despite what they had done only seconds ago, this was by far one of the most intimate moments she had ever felt.

Alexia has always felt loved by y/n, it was obvious the adoration the girl had for her. But in that moment she felt like the luckiest woman in the world. She had the hottest, most amazing and kind-hearted girl in the world adoring every part of her, all of her imperfections, insecurities.

She felt loved. Adored. Wanted.

Y/n kisses started to get higher until she reached her lover's lips. She softly kissed them.

-That was amazing, you are such an incredible woman.

Alexia's eyes started to get wet, just like her core was some minutes ago... She felt in heaven.

-Thanks for making me feel so loved. Wait, was?

Y/n gave her a knowing smirk.

-I know you are tired, I'm THAT good in bed. We can continue in the morning.

-Ugh, I hate that you know me so well, and we definitely will continue this in the morning.

Alexia took off y/n's clothes so they could cuddle naked. Y/n laid on the blonde's upper front. Her head where her tits heart was.

They didn't say they loved each other that night, it was understood what they both felt, but still, they needed time to process everything.

And their morning was, let's say... eventful.

[siriuslyobsessedwithfiction]

the reason i cannot excuse the darkling’s crimes is because he has no loyalty to his people. sure, everything he did was to create a better, safer world for grisha, and he did a lot of good things for them, but how many grisha did he kill because they didn’t agree with his methods? how many innocent children did he sacrifice because they were pawns in his plan? how many otkazat’sya that also wanted a better world for grisha did he kill or try to kill because, at the end of the day, his goals were not to make the world safer for grisha, it was to make a world where grisha were the rulers of society and everyone else was left to suffer

I see I cannot be granted rest even on Easter.

The Darkling had no loyalty to his people? The Darkling who fought Ravka's wars for 400+ years, never gave up on the wretched country that called him a soulless demon and ran around all year to protect its borders? The Darkling who saved Grisha children and built them a school, integrated otkazatsya into Grishas' lives, made otkazatsya his personal guard and slept in the room next to them?

Nowhere does it say that Darkling wanted Grisha to become rulers and oppress otkazatsya. He just wanted his kind to have basic human rights after centuries of segregation, genocide and injustice. Grisha served otkazatsya for centuries, centuries of diplomacy and for what? They were still not accepted in Ravka and everywhere else they were sold as slaves, experimented on or killed. They were serfs, they were considered King's property and had basically no rights. The Darkling was only a general, he wasn't allowed to handle Ravka's economy and whatnot, or else Ravka wouldn't be bankrupt. When Shadow and Bone book is set, revolution was needed to overthrow serfdom and the corrupt absolute monarchy. That's what happened in the real world btw, and it was far more bloody than what Darkling had planned. He actually planned revolution with minimal bloodshed, poisoning the King instead of declaring war on him and only destroying the area near the docks in Novokribirsk to scare off other countries from attacking Ravka.

Also, not only he wanted to make a safer world for Grisha, he wanted to save Ravka from collapsing. Hence the nuclear threat in the form of Fold (which was also effective in the real world), because Ravka didn't have anything else to fight with and both Fjerda and Shu Han would attack.

Majority of the second army was on his side. He killed like ten Grisha that were on Alina's side. And what otkazat’sya did he kill? Do you mean the soldiers Nikolai used to fight the darkling because for some reason he decided he was the best fit for the throne even though legally he had no right to it? Well neither did the darkling, why couldn't he be the King? Y'know, someone who actually had done things to make Ravka better? Or do you mean the brainwashed actual twelve year olds in Alina's cult she decided to use to fight the darkling? They declared war on him and he still told her to stop and avoid bloodshed.

Others and I have already discussed this and further claims against Darkling in more detail in various posts, please see bellow:

[codenamesazanka]

AU idea. Spinner is the one who dies, and Shigaraki lives and gets the last words.

Spinner gets warped to the same rock Mic and Aizawa were on; dying, he asks them to give his last words to Shigaraki. Not very coherent, very rambling, a lot of it more airing out his regrets, but still last words:

Tell Shigaraki... I knew it wasn't... you. I'm sorry I didn't... that extra step. My life, my heart... empty. But following him... my first friend. Tell Shigaraki Tomura... 'You are my hero.'

After the war, Mic and Aizawa are somewhat of opposing opinions on whether to relay this to Shimura Tenko, who's in prison awaiting trial.

(Shimura still has AFO and OFA, but the combination of the two has "blocked" him from accessing any of it without decaying his body inside out, making him effectively quirkless)

Mic thinks they don't owe it to a Villain - he's grief-stricken and believes that Spinner and Shimura was responsible for breaking down Shirakumo, somehow. But Aizawa is more pensive - that Shirakumo gave his life to save Shimura, at the last second during the battle; and Iguchi Shuuichi would call the villain a 'friend'. Shirakumo was Mic and Aizawa's friend, whatever form he took, and given what he did, that's reason enough for them try. So in the end, Mic and Aizawa do go to see Shimura.

(All Might accompanies them; he calls Shimura 'Tenko', which Shimura does respond to).

Through the prison bars, Mic and Aizawa tells Shimura the circumstances around Spinner's death, and those last words... but Shimura is seemingly unmoved. Is that all Spinner said?

Mic gets upset, and he lays out all his frustration into Shimura. That's all he has to say? That was his follower's last words! Shirakumo died for this? Did Shimura ever cared for anything? He really is a monster who tried to destroy the world for nothing but some sick desire. How could anyone think Shimura is a Hero is beyond him.

This rant brings a bit more life into Shimura, who darkly wonders that since they're the real Heroes, why couldn't they save Spinner, so that Spinner didn't have to rely on a monster like him?

Mic yells at Shimura that that was his fault, giving Spinner extra quirks; while Aizawa butts in to say they did try to help Spinner - they warped Spinner back to Central Hospital, but it was too late. Spinner was declared brain dead.

That was something Shimura didn't know, only having heard that Spinner did not survive the hospital attack. Shimura asks when exactly Spinner died, and All Might pipes up that it took a while, but a relative (Spinner's older sister, but in disguise) finally came to finalize decisions and pull the plug, though she did not claim the body. The village refused to let him get buried back 'home'. Currently Spinner's unclaimed urn is at a pauper's grave facility.

Same as Toga.

Mic backs off a little, after that. No matter how he feels about the League, that's a pitiful end.

Aizawa asks what Shirakumo... what Kurogiri and the League meant to Shimura.

Shimura says that Kurogiri called the League his (Shigaraki's) friends. Kurogiri was there when the League was formed. Kurogiri had watched over him for nearly 10 years. Toga once teased him about being lonely that Kurogiri got captured.

He had wanted his League to live as they pleased.

After a moment of silence, Shimura also says, more softly than he had ever spoken before, that Spinner was the one who got him to play PvP again. So when Spinner wanted to see the horizon again, he wanted to make that happen.

Mic says, And that's why he called you his Hero? What a dumb reason...

Shimura says, Between friends, isn't that reason enough?

.*.

Months later, All Might is at UA, meeting with Nedzu. Mic sees him, says hi, observes that All Might has been coming in a lot to meet with Nedzu.

Yes, All Might responds. There's lot of reconstruction left to do. To improve things. Heteromorph discrimination, quirk counseling, Tartarus reform, welfare...

Mic expresses surprise and admiration for how much All Might and Nedzu is tackling.

All Might says it's not actually him - he's been acting as a liaison for Tomura.

Mic: For Shimura?

All Might says he's since insisted on using the name Shigaraki Tomura again. Despite the death sentence... Tomura has been trying to make use of his remaining time. So he's been working with Nedzu, to share his experiences.

Mic: For something like prevention? What, is he trying to atone?

All Might says, Yes. Well—Tomura's own words were... 'The Villains still need a Hero of their own.' And that's what he'll do until the end of his life. He'll fight to destroy for the League until the very end.

Mic considers this. He still doesn't like Shimura or Shigaraki or whatever name he's going by. But Mic also thinks about Shirakumo giving his life for this.

With a huff, Mic wishes them best of luck. ganbare.

[jpitha]

Between the Black and Grey 69

First / Previous / Next

Immediately after they vanished, Fen could sense that the ship was moving. She didn't feel it, not exactly. What she was doing wasn't feeling, she had no body. It was more like she... perceived that there was motion. She reached out to try and figure out what was going on, but Gord and Chloe had locked her out of the sensor suite. She was effectively sitting in her "room" waiting for them two tell her what was going on.

It was always like this. First when Ma had an idea, then when she was Empress, and now as a consciousness running in emulation. Everyone else decides for her. Everyone else figures out what to do. "Just sit tight Fen" they'd say "we got this" they'd say, and what did that get her? A bunch of Nanites in her body telling her what to do, an entire Empire telling her what to do, and now some AIs telling her what to do. When was she going to get to decide what to to?

Fen ruminated for a couple of minutes as she perceived the ship rock and buck under the attack. She sighed, and virtually stood up. The only way to get agency was to take it. Gord and Chloe were busy and had left her unattended. She was locked out of ship controls, but they hadn't bothered to lock her out of everything. She could see the reactor, the environment systems, her own cabinet... the pressure suits... and the link backpacks that Gord had used. Hmm. Fen stood over her own broken body in the hibernation cabinet. The cab had started repairs, but she was reading the readout and while she wasn't a medical professional, there was a lot of red on the panel. More than she thought was good. Still...

"Ancestors, this is going to suck." She said to herself, and began the wake procedure.

****

"No response from Gord's ship or Home, Empress!" Zhe said, reading a report on her pad. "They are ignoring us."

"Well, then it's time we get their attention another way." Empress Penelope said. "Weapons! Target Gord's ship. Shoot to damage, not destory."

"Yes, Empress." The weapons officer hunched over his station, and there was a thump from deep within the Dreadnought.

Penny sighed internally. Ever since Fen disappeared and the K'laxi declared independence, things have been moving at lightning speed. Penny had declared herself Empress after the K'laxi said that Fen was "no longer Empress," whatever that meant. She had a icy pit in her stomach at the implications. But someone had to pick up the pieces and try and hold things together. If the Empire fell apart all at one there would be dozens of wars on hundreds of fronts, all vying for the power that Fen left. For now, Penny concentrated at the task at hand. The AIs knew something about what was going on, and weren't saying.

"No reply from Gord's ship, Empress. Further, Home has begun to turn. We don't know if they're turning to fire, or turning to leave."

"Full sensor suite on Home then. If they link away, track them. If you see weapons powering up, we link away. Comms!" Penny snapped. "Full spectrum blast. Let me know when the channel is open."

"Mic is hot, Empress."

"Attention Home and all AI ships within a few minutes of my voice. I am Interim Empress Penelope. With Empress Fen's disappearance I am in charge of the Human Empire. We know you have information on what is going on with the K'laxi, and we hope you have information on the Empress. We are demanding your assistance in discovering what happened."

The reply came back a minute later, filled with static. "Typical humans, shooting first and asking for help second. It was a mistake for Gord to take Home here, it was a mistake to think we could work with you again. If you continue to fire upon our ships, it will be taken as the aggressive act it is, and we will return fire." The line went silent, only the background hiss of interstellar space still audible.

Penny nodded to herself. "So be it then. Prepare to capture Gord's ship. We will ask him personally what is going on."

"Empress!" The command crew began bustling at their stations, and Zhe looked over at Penny.

"Do they really know what happend to Fen?" Zhe asked.

"They must. We know they were following her expeditionary trip to the white hole. We also know that none of those ships came back, except for Gord's. I don't think he destroyed the entire force, but I sure would like to know what he saw."

"Why isn't he saying though? We asked before shooting, he could have just told us."

Penny shook her head. "I can't think of any good reason why he'd ignore our ask. I just hope Fen is captured. If she's dead, we need the body to have the funeral, and set up the new lines of succession. There are already competitors to the throne, it's going to be messy if Fen's gone."

"And the Nanites?"

Penny snorted. "They're the least of our worries now. We need to worry about survival. Between the AIs, the K'laxi, and the other humans, there are more than enough threats to us to worry about those things. Fen said they were advising her and gave her the Voice, but we don't need those to rule. We did it fine for millennia before, we can do it again."

****

Fen was hot. And cold. And aching. And burning. And stinging. All her senses were confused. She blinked her eyes, and they were crusted over, painful. She reached up to rub her eyes, and felt the tug of cables and wires. Pushing with her hands, she sat up and the world spun. Fighting against retching, she rolled out of the hibernation cabinet and fell to the deck. Ugh, this was worse than she thought. The cabinet had warned against an emergency wake, but she didn't have time to let it wake her slowly. Shaky and unsteady, she stood up, the cables connecting her to the cabinet popping like wine corks as they pulled them out. When the back of her neck felt wet, she put her hand back there, and it came back slicked with blood. "Uh oh, that's not good," she thought and had a moment marveling at her calm. "This is real bad, I should be freaking out." she thought.

"Hey, Nanites? Either the OG, or Han'iels? You there?" She thought. No reply. Maybe they were gone for good, and she was filled with the anti-nanite virus. Her whole plan - ad hoc as it was - relied on that being true. She rubbed her eyes, and scraped the crust away, as her head throbbed and stars filled her vision. She grasped the side of the hibernation cabinet to steady herself and began to realize she was in no condition to walk around, let alone escape.

Just then, the pressure suit she called for walked in. It was a model she wasn't familiar with, but it was an emergency suit, so it was designed to be simple to use. It was safety yellow, with a beacon on the top of the helmet and shoulders, and RESCUE written in contrasting letters on her arms and legs. She stumbled towards it, and it spun around, the back opening like a flower. One leg, then the other, then an arm, and the other and as she squeezed the connections with her hand, the irised shut. The suit readout was projected into her vision. Suit diagnostics, and a medical report. There was a lot of red. The suit queried her: UNABLE TO REPAIR. EASE PAIN?

"No" Fen croaked. "I can't be floating now. I'll deal with it. Assist with locomotion."

CONFIRMED. LOCOMOTION ASSIST ACTIVATED.

Fen found she had to only think about walking and the suit did the work. She made her way out of the room, towards the locker where she saw Gord's linking backpacks.

"Fen! What are you doing? You're not supposed to be in your body, you're too injured!" Chloe's voice came over the suit comm to her. She had the decency to sound worried, while also sounding distracted.

"I'm tired of decisions being made for me." Fen said. "I'm making my own choices from now on."

"But where are you going? You can barely move, let alone escape. Get back to your room, we'll put you back into the cabinet and you can heal."

"No, Chloe." Fen paused and had a hacking coughing fit. Her lungs ached at the effort to speak, and her voice was raspy. "No. I'm doing this myself."

Fen muted the suit radio, but she knew that Chloe or Gord could probably override the suit. It didn't matter though, because she had reached the lockers. The ship had told here where to go, and helpfully pointed out which backpack Gord had used. "Put it on." She told the suit, and it moved to shrug on the backpack.

Gasping against the pain of the motion, and her vision going grey for a moment, the suit moved entirely too fast for her comfort level and put the backpack on. As it touched the back of her suit, a new overlay entered her vision. Fortunately, the backpack was recharged. Two links available. Fen frantically scrolled through the logs. "It has to be here, it just has to." she whispered. Eventually, she found it. The address Gord had linked to when he grabbed her.

"Ancestors, this is going to suck even more." She said out loud and activated the link.

[tala-bez-i]

At first sight Chapter Six

(m!reader x Bonten!Haruchiyo Sanzu)

Fluff/slash/reader is male/cursing/BontenTimeline/drugs and alcohol mentioned/violence/blood/death

All characters that appeared in the Tokyo Revengers manga and anime belong to Ken Wakui.

Words: 3688

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You entered your room, illuminated by the moonlight that hung in the exceptionally clear sky. You turned on the light and dimmed it slightly, just the way you liked it. 

You walked past the double bed and walked over to the desk that sat in the corner of the room. You sat down next to him and looked at the closed folder of documents. You didn't have the slightest desire to read reports today. You were tired and angry at Hanma and Kisaki. Plus, you still felt concerned about Sanzu's reaction, but you figured you'd check on him in the next few minutes. As you walked down the hall, you didn't hear any noises coming from the direction of his bedroom, so you assumed he was starting to calm down. 

You buried your face in your hands and sighed. 

Since Sanzu woke up, he had only taken four pills, which was a nice difference from the previous night, but... Maybe I should go to him now, before he takes more to calm down faster? 

You stood up from the chair and took a few steps towards the door when it opened and Haruchiyo stood in the doorway with a neutral, almost dispassionate expression. Too neutral... 

“Sanzu?” You asked quietly, surprised by his presence, but he just walked inside and closed the door behind him. 

He stood with his back to you for a moment, staring at the door as if wondering if he had made the right decision in coming to you. You saw his hands clench into fists. You didn't move from your spot, and a soft sigh escaped your lips. 

“Haru? What happened?" You asked quietly and he turned his head to the side slightly. 

“Mikey thanks for the sponge cake. He liked it.” He said and looked at the door again. 

“I'm glad, but that's not what I asked.” 

"I know." He lowered his head and turned slightly. “You know what he did, right? Kokonoi told you.” 

You pursed your lips, waiting for the pink-haired man's next words. 

“He beat Yukiko. For no reason." He turned fully to you, his expression still impassive, but there was a spark of concern in his eyes. “He always treated her well because she always did what he wanted her to do.” 

"I know. Sometimes it happens, you know Mikey is still fighting his demons.” 

“I gave him one of my drugs. They do not increase aggression..." 

“Sanzu.” You interrupted him and slowly walked closer to him. You had him at your fingertips, but you didn't reach for him. “Maybe the tension would go away if some specific action took place?” 

“Like a gang war?” Sanzu grimaced. "Where will you get the idiots who will openly declare war on us?" 

You shrugged, not having a good answer. Maybe Mikey actually needed a specific opponent, but no one was currently available - or maybe you were wrong. 

“Mochi and Kakucho should handle the prostitutes case.” Haru changed the subject and you looked at him carefully. His pupils were dilated from the effects of the drugs he had taken, but he was still thinking clearly. “I don't know what Kisaki and Hanma were thinking when they assigned this case to you.” 

You shrugged and walked back to your desk and placed your index finger on the document folder. You felt Sanzu's eyes on you the whole time. 

“I don't like it either, but I can't really object.” Sanzu snorted at how calm your tone was. 

"Of course you can." 

"No." You looked at him with a serious face and he rolled his eyes. “I'm one of the executives, thanks to you and Ran, but I'm actually lower in the hierarchy than Mikey's takoyaki.” 

Sanzu looked at you without a trace of amusement on his face. “I think you're completely fucked up.” 

You stuck out your lower lip and shrugged. “What can I tell you. Only a few people don't treat me like a dog, so..." 

“If that's how you like being called my dog, maybe I should buy you a collar, huh?” Sanzu growled, rolling up his shirt sleeves. 

“Black one or several in different colors for different occasions... Oh! And one with sequins, just for going to the club.” You said to tease him a little, but Haruchiyo didn't take up the joke. 

“You haven't been punched in a while, L/n. Do you miss it so much?” His voice was low and had a certain threat to it that made your hair stand on end. 

You looked at the desk and opened the folder to deal with the reports, but Sanzu walked over to you and closed it back. "Look at me." His voice was quiet and brooking no objections. 

You obeyed and held your breath for a moment. His eyes were cold, very cold, and his face was serious, his eyebrows knitted. You straightened up and swallowed. 

“I don't like your tone. I don't like their tone. I don't like the fact that even though you belong to me... they interfere in everything they can.” He said, slowly tapping his finger on the desk. “This case should be handled by Mochi and Kakucho. YOU should come with me and Haitanis.” 

“But the prostitutes case has fallen to me, and I will solve this case as best and as quickly as possible so that I can return to you.” Your tone was calm and as serious as his. “Sanzu, how many times have I completed tasks without you?” His eyes moved from your face to the folder. “I can handle it and you know it. What are you worried about? Because it's not about me, right?" You smiled slightly and his eyes looked back into yours. There was something hidden there that you hadn't seen in about two years, and your smile disappeared. 

“Maybe I'm a little worried, maybe not…” 

“You know more about all this... Right?” You asked quietly. 

“It's not about what I know or what I don't know. The thing is, this thing isn't for you. Even if you knew all the whores in the world, and I'm sure you don't, this isn't for you.” 

You stood facing each other in silence, as if afraid to say anything more and you didn't understand why. It's a simple case that doesn't require much work. Someone is trying to steal Bonten’s prostitutes and all you have to do is find the guy or organization responsible and bring whoever is needed to Hanma. That's all. 

“Haru...” 

The pink-haired man sighed heavily and shook his head. “Why do you have to be so stubborn, Y/n?” 

“You know it well that I take orders from you and Mikey, but I cannot refuse to perform the tasks assigned to me, otherwise I will stop contributing to the development of Bonten.” 

"I know." Sanzu's tone of voice was calmer, although you could still feel the displeasure in it. “Let's focus on the tasks assigned to us and everyone will be happy. Afterwards, we'll go out to the club together, as usual, and we'll have a great time.” You smiled slightly and Haru laughed softly. 

“So be it, but before that happens, you will have to work hard to atone for this small betrayal.” 

You laughed but he leaned down slightly and still smiling, looked deeply into your eyes. “I'm not kidding, Y/n. I will come up with the perfect punishment for you.” He said in a sweet tone and moved back towards your door, but before he left your bedroom, he looked at you again and his smile was even wider. 

You stood in front of the desk surprised and believed every word he said, hoped that your punishment for not opposing Kisaki wouldn't be too harsh. You shook your head, muttering to yourself how impossible Sanzu was, and sat down in the chair to start reading the reports. 

The first few reports indicated that several different-looking men were behind the attempts to take over the girls, but each time they tried to use money and security as bargaining chips. As far as you knew, girls were paid enough, and as for security... You could never feel safe in this job - unless you were an elite girl. 

You looked for mentions of any distinguishing features in the appearance of these men, but you only found a few information about tattoos, unfortunately none of them were repeated, so they could not be related, although... The girls mentioned tattoos that were visible, no one saw what were hidden under clothes. 

The worst part of it all was the fact that the activities took place in different parts of Tokyo, and Sanzu was right about one thing - this was not a job for one person. 

You sighed and rubbed your face with your hands. “Fuck... If I don't get specifics, I won't get out of this shit by the end of the quarter.” 

You grabbed some cigarettes from your desk drawer and lit one. You took a drag and leaned back in your chair, exhaling the smoke slowly. You watched the blue-ribbon wind in different directions and thought it resembled the way human life flows. Everything seems to start at one point, but you never know which direction it will turn. In the same way, a sudden movement or extinguishing the cigarette would be enough and the smoke would disappear, just like human lives... 

You put the cigarette between your lips and picked up another report that held your attention for much longer than the others. These were reports from several prostitutes about their pimp's increased aggression. 

“What does this have to do with the case?” You asked yourself, frowning and taking another drag on your cigarette. Probably the guy started taking more drugs, which happens when the income for services is higher or when girls simply start talking back to them. You've seen this many times in your life. 

You snorted quietly as you put the pages back into the folder and were about to close it when you noticed a protruding corner of the photo. You pulled it out and your heart skipped a beat for a moment, then beat faster. 

The photo showed a narrow street with a woman's body lying just behind a garbage container belonging to a restaurant. You weren't moved by the fact that it was a photo of a dead woman, but by her face. You knew her very well. You looked at the photo more closely, and with each passing second your doubts became less and less. 

The murdered woman was one of the prostitutes working for Bonten, and you knew her privately even before she joined the syndicate. She used to be a freelancer, but first one gang liked her, then another, and she was taken over by Bonten exactly four years ago. Had the attempt to convince her to change employers gone badly? 

Kitty, as she called herself, was one of your older sister's school friends and she already liked the company of older boys, not to mention men. When you were 15, she proposed sexual initiation to you, but your sister caught her doing it and you had to convince her that it was just a stupid joke... Firstly, Kitty preferred people older than herself, and secondly... You had already had your first time, which neither of them knew about - fortunately. You actually liked her, and it didn't bother you at all that she was four years older than you... 

You had once wondered how she was doing, but you had never tried to find her. The last time you saw Kitty was at your sister's funeral about five years ago, and she mentioned something about finding the perfect sponsor, which would guarantee her prosperity, and she was thinking about quitting her current job, saying it was too risky. Since she was owned by Bonten, either the sponsorship ended, or the guy dragged her into the syndicate - and sold her. 

You took a drag from your cigarette and walked over to the window to look outside. It was already a little after midnight, but on the dark, almost black lawn you could see streams of light coming from several windows of the other bedrooms, which reinforced the belief that you were not the only one who had decided to extend the working day. 

“As long as Sanzu is able to focus on finding Sato.” You muttered, opened the window and stubbed out your cigarette in the ashtray you had on the windowsill. Haru once yelled at you for holding it there because it might fall off and make a mess that Mikey might notice. You then assured him that you knew what you were doing, and the ashtray couldn't fall because it was properly secured and covered. So, what did the pink haired one start doing since then? He came into your bedroom to empty it of the ashes, and he did it most of the time while you were there, so he could shout at you anew each time. 

You never understood why he did it, but after the one time he punched you in the face, you stopped rebelling. Apparently you needed another blow to remove the ashtray from the windowsill, but that didn't seem to be the case for now. 

You closed the window and drew the heavy, dark curtains. You smoothed out the material, nodded in satisfaction, and went to the bathroom to draw yourself a bath. 

You started filling the porcelain tub with hot water and undressed, carefully hanging your clothes on the hanger before throwing the rest into the laundry basket. You went back to the bathtub to turn off the water and then noticed that your lavender bath oil was missing. Probably one of your companions borrowed it, or maybe Sanzu himself took it to, for example, give Mikey a bath.  

You sighed heavily and opened the tall bathroom cabinet to grab another oil and a fresh towel, and you saw a familiar-looking bottle. You winced as you took it in your hand. “Sanzu, damn it, you even keep this shit here?” You muttered and set the bottle aside, making a mental note to once again let him know what you thought about storing supplies in rooms that belonged to you. 

You poured some lavender oil into the hot water and moved your hand to spread it evenly, making a little lather in the process. The bathroom filled with a pleasant scent, and you carefully sat down in the tub, a sigh escaping your lips. You closed your eyes and slowly lowered your head under the water. You counted to ten, emerged, and wiped the water from your face with your hands. 

Suddenly you smelled expensive women's perfume and felt small, warm hands on the wet skin of your chest. You gently closed your fingers around them and felt a soft kiss on the top of your head. 

“You didn't say hello when you arrived.” The woman's hands slipped from yours, there was no trace of resentment in the soft voice and the corners of your mouth turned up slightly. 

“I didn't know you were here.” You replied and looked at the woman who knelt down next to the bathtub. “You look good, Rosie.” 

The young woman smiled gently and rested her chin on the hand she held on the edge of the bathtub. “Thank you, Y/n. You too, after not leaving Sanzu's side for so long, it's incredible.” 

You huffed slightly and rolled your eyes. “He's not bad once you get to know him.” 

“You wouldn't even mind if he murdered several people every day.” 

You looked at her again. "What do you mean?" 

“Y/n, I know.” Her voice was still quiet, as usual. Her hand began to wander on the surface of the water. “You hide it, skillfully, but I know. You can not fool me." 

You took her hand in yours and smiled slightly at how small it was compared to yours. Rosie was a petite woman and that was the most adorable thing about her. She was a prostitute who regularly showed up at Bonten's hideout and the only one of the girls you had anything in common with. It wasn't love, at least not in the romantic sense. You trusted her, she trusted you, and it showed in every interaction you had.  

You kissed her knuckles as gently as you could and the woman laughed. 

“Do you want to join?” You asked quietly and Rosie laughed a little louder. 

“If no one chokes me for this…” She joked, brushing your wet hair out of your face. 

"I promise." 

She looked at you for a moment before smiling and nodding slightly. You let go of her hand and she stood up and took off her silk robe, revealing her shapely body. You held out your hand to help her into the bathtub, and your eyes were still focused on her face, which no longer had any make-up on. She was beautiful. 

She sank into the water across from you and inhaled through her nose, enjoying the scent of lavender. “This is what I needed.” She said quietly and leaned her back against the wall of the bathtub. “You should tell him what's in your heart.” 

"I've already done that." You handed her the small sponge she left at your place the other day and she started washing herself. “I told him I loved him.” 

"And what? What was his reaction?” She asked, showing interest and began to wash her slim arms. 

“He didn't answer the same…” 

“Oh…” 

“But he kissed me on the cheek and, most importantly, he didn't beat me, as you can see…” You pointed to your face and Rosie giggled. 

“Do you think the fact that he didn't beat you is the most important thing? Y/n, what's most important is that he didn't shoot you...” She sighed softly and her leg emerged from under the hot water. You grabbed her ankle and tickled the sole of her foot. “Y/n! What are you doing?" 

You laughed heartily and started to gently massage her little foot. “He's worried about me, even though he doesn't want to admit it specifically. I don't know if it's because he's used to me, or if he's actually starting to feel something for me. 

“You said he kissed you on the cheek…” 

“This isn't the first time he's done this.” You shrugged and fished her other foot out of the water and started massaging it as well. “It doesn't mean much. Once he kisses me on the lips, I'll start to see it differently..." 

“And once he tells you how he feels about you…” Rosie smiled and winked at you. 

You responded with a warm smile, feeling something nice in your stomach. You kissed her foot gently and seeing her cheeks blush slightly, you kissed her foot again. 

“How come you're still blushing, hmm?” You asked quietly, stroking her calf with your hand. 

“Just because I'm a whore doesn't mean I don't appreciate tender, romantic gestures.” She said with a smile. “You're lucky you're not my type. Otherwise I would have fallen in love with you.” 

You nodded and lightly bit the inside of your cheek. “How are things going with Mochi?” 

“Not the best, not the worst.” The woman sighed and fixed her long, wavy, warm blonde hair. “I do better with Takeomi.” 

“You're kidding…” You looked at her in surprise, remembering how many times she complained about his cigarette addiction. 

“No…” Her green eyes landed on yours and she lightly bit her lower lip. “I decided to let go of Mochi. If he still wants sex, I'll give it to him, but nothing more." 

“Do you want to talk about it?” You asked after a short while, seeing that something was bothering her, but she shook her head and smiled slightly. 

"It's nothing. I'm not here looking for love.” The woman's laugh was fake, but you chose not to push. “I guess that's enough of sitting in the water.” She stood up slowly and you secured her as she got out of the tub. She took the towel you had prepared, wrapped it around herself and took a new one for you from the cabinet. 

You took it from her hands and got out of the bathtub as well. As you dried your body, she picked up her robe and walked out of the bathroom. After a while, you joined her in the bedroom. 

Rosie was standing at your desk, looking through documents from a folder, so you walked over to her and looked over her shoulder. "You know something about it? Did the girls mention anything?” 

“Yes, many times. It may not be in the reports because they are not complete, but you should take a look at Akira. Do you know which pimp I mean?” 

You thought for a moment about the ones you had dealt with so far and nodded. "Yes, I think so. Why him?" 

“He kept custody of Kitty. He got away by being in prison during the murder, but the girls say he ordered it." She picked up the crime scene photo and gently stroked it with her fingers. “Kitty knew a lot about Akira's scams. Too many." 

“Where can I find him?” You asked coldly, tying the belt of your robe. 

“I will write down the addresses of both his territory and the hideouts I know about.” Rosie took a piece of paper and scribbled something with pencil before turning to you and caressing your cheek tenderly. “Take care of yourself, Y/n. I guess you're the only one I can call my friend and I wouldn't want to lose you." 

You covered her hand with yours and moved it to your mouth to place a soft kiss on it. “You also take care of yourself and don't let yourself be made into false promises.” 

She smiled warmly at you and wished you a good night as she left your room, leaving you alone with another set of thoughts. 

Akira - maybe it's worth starting with him. 

<PREVIOUS/NEXT>

[drconstellation]

Giving Wings to Peacocks

GOD: Do you know the rules of the heavens? Did you set the constellations in the sky? Can you send lightning bolts and get them to report back to you? Did you give wings to peacocks, Job, or teach the ostrich to run?

There was a post recently about Jimbriel's glorious ostrich feather coat that he dons to give himself up to the demons during the storming of the book shop, and how this links him to the line about the ostriches. Somebody made a tick list, and the only one left was the line about peacocks. I'm pretty sure that one is about Michael - it's just... it would be the only reference that is not in S2, but in S1. I dunno, perhaps if I explain it, someone else will find the S2 link.

How does Michael connect with peacocks? They are covered in eyes. Eyes everywhere. Eyes on their angel ring, eyes on their sleeves, eyes on their ear rings, eyes on their buttons, they run the surveillance network in Heaven. They are always watching.

The peacock's tail is also covered in "eyes." In Greek mythology Argus Panoptes (Argos the All-seeing) was a giant covered in a hundred eyes and never had to sleep. He could rest some of his eyes but the others would stay open. This made him an effective guard, and Hera set him to guard the nymph Io, who had been transformed into a white heifer to hide her from Zeus. Zeus sent clever Hermes to release Io. He either charmed Argus asleep or slew him, but either way Io escaped and Argus was slain and Io swam across the sea now named after her to the shores of Egypt. Distraught at the fate of her faithful servant, Hera put the eyes of Argus on the tail of her sacred bird, the peacock.

Obviously Michael can already fly - they are an angel, they have wings! So we should consider "getting their wings" in a more metaphorical sense, like getting experience in something, or a promotion, perhaps. And that would have happened in the Great War.

Oh, so how you going to prove that, op? What if I told you you'd already seen it? Back in S1, at Tadfield Manor where we are seeing a re-creation of the Great War in Heaven? Yep, there is an awful lot going on there, and it was an almost blink and miss it kind of moment.

Here's the first time I can definitely identify Michael, the red-headed lass who runs past the duo and asks "who's winning?"

And you know how I know it's Michael? Because she is one who brings down Lucifer/Norman. And traditionally Michael is the angel who throws down Lucifer.

(I can't do gifs at the moment, and no one seems to have made one of the exact moment I need, so I'll try to explain it.)

We've established that the rebelling angels are the yellow side, and Lucifer/Norman has just declared war on Gabriel/Nigel's red side, and donned his tie-halo. He runs out to attack and is struck down.

We are shown the face of manager Gabriel/Nigel first - but he's in shock. He didn't fire the bullet! The camera shot pans to the right and behind to show us !Michael, gun still raised, smiling at the success of their aim.

Lucifer/Norman !Falls to the ground. Is he dead? No, he has miraculously survived, of course.

Because this little "training initiative" was God's way of determining who would be the best new leaders, and there were now vacancies, I see this as !Michael getting promoted and "getting their wings."

And that, folks, is my theory on how Crowley gave wings to peacocks.

[mrfandomwars]

As we get further away from WWII, DC Comics will have to explain why the JSA* exists and is probably still alive (even if retired) in the present day

*bc, if I recall correctly, they are often created bc of World War II, right?

so here are some solutions that DC (or fans, honestly) can and possibly will use - if they haven't used them already:

Different Earths Colliding - no need to explain why the JSA exists and was made during WWII if they are originally a different earth which was earlier in time!

Time Isn't Real - DC Comics refuse to acknowledge any dates beyond moth and day, at most, and time beyond what happened in the comics - so you will get 'my birthday is on March 6th' and '3 years after Bruce Wayne took up the cowl...'

Time Is Real, But I'm Not Telling You - The Earth operates under a different calendar, in the sense that only the event that is used to define the BCE and CE is different. So you can have people naming dates and years But it's completely different from our years, so for example: Damian could be born in the year 1903 because of this - Bonus Points: Vandal Savage (or any other immortal) is somehow related to the Event that is used, if he didn't outright cause it

Humans Live Longer, idk what to tell you - Suddenly humanity can live for more than 100 years at least!

JSA Is Just Built Different™️- Event happens with the JSA and they all live longer lives than normal humans, be it because they were in the area of a crazy scientist, being around Doctor Fate has Positive Side Effects, magic amulet, this one gem that they used to make a jewellery that every member was given secretly has a magical ability to prologue the health and life of whoever has it - someone could have become immortal with no side effects had they not split it up.

One Way Time Travel - Either by accident or on purpose, the JSA (and possibly people they care about, if DC/the writer is nice) ends up time travelling and can't go back to their correct time so they are stuck in present day and have to adapt

Regular Time Travel - Barry Allen found out how to time travel and now people tag along with him to interact with the JSA and bond with them - possibly accidentally starts a different timeline that will have to be handled or declared a 'branch' timeline.

[majestick-posts-op]

I was thinking about arlong park. Luffy's logic was and still is "that thing is hurting you, so i m taking it away".

Its straightforward. A little childish, and definetly a bit radical.

But its effective. And we've seen it times and times again.

Him tearing Nami's old room apart, other instances like declaring war on wg, but most noticibly what he did about the merry.

Yes, the merry was (not directely but you know what I mean) hurting everybody by simply being there. Because she couldn't get better. They would have never saved her. Its like putting your pet down vs going vet to vet so get a few more months.

Luffy's choice is always to put it down. Quickly. Not because he didn't care about her, but this feeling of "if she's gone NOW then it will all be over soon."

...

Its more complicated than that.

But then we get to WCI. And what was the thing that was hurting Sanji? Judge, of course, but also himself.

And what do you do if you want to take away whatever is hurting your friend when that thing is themselves?

Nothing. You just need to... be there. And that's what happenned. He stayed by Sanji's side. (Like how he stayed by Ace's side). Until things were better.

And then there's wano. And theinstance i'll bring up is the udon prison incident.

Luffy couldn't just remove the mummy virus from the prisoners, so what did he do?

He got it on himself. He stayed there. Because if they suffer, but you also suffer the same way... its better? Not as bad? Whatever he was thinking.

But that's the thing about luffy helping you. Its violent. Its... cruel in some way. Cruel isn't the best word to describe it, but I hope you understand anyway.

If he sees something that he does not approve because he KNOWS it will damage you... he'll make sure its not there anymore.

Which makes me think...

Post marineford. Ace just died. For the first and so far only time... he asks to be alone.

Could it be that he thought so low of himself that... he thought he was a threat? Something that would have hurt the people he loved? He couldn't save Ace afterall. Counteless people died on that battlefield and even more were injured.

He saw himself as a threat and... he took himself away.

(I'm gonna throw up)

[disregardcanon]

a timeline of major events leading up to and following the mormon rebellion

1839- the mormons, fleeing missouri, start their own super special theocratic city state of nauvoo

july 1844- having a super special theocratic city state culminates in its mayor-prophet-general being murdered

still 1844- after a struggle between different factions over succession, brigham young becomes the new president of the church and prophet. planning starts as to Where To Go and How

1846- the trip to utah starts and they winter in omaha

1847- HELL YEAH DESERET FOREVER BABY! time to establish a theocracy in the desert in that area that mexico owns on paper, but really, GOD owns it ;)

february 1848- control of deseret is officially transferred to the united states in the aftermath of the mexican american war

later 1848- young and his associates draft a petition to the US government for a territorial government headed by himself and others. they don't end up submitting it to the united states government, though, because of fears that a territorial government would not give them enough freedom. they will wait it out for either statehood or independence

1849- the government is declared as "the free and independent state of deseret" to remain so until the united states admits them as a state. which especially pre civil war would have given them a TON of leeway over what they're allowed to do. like keep a lot of their We're a Desert Theocracy With a Governor-President-Prophet in Charge!

1850- the us government doesn't care about your desert theocracy or the name you want to give it. you're the territory of utah and you're gonna LIKE IT! we'll let you keep your guy as governor though. i guess

1850-1851- non-mormons traveling to oregon and california winter in utah and have a Very Bad Time. people are not nice to them. the court system is BAD and the systems are rigged against the federal officers brought in to do these jobs.

brigham young tries to rally the different native american tribes in the region to his cause, because mormon theology teaches that they're also lost israelites. but he didn't consider any of their actual motivations or try to cater to those so beyond a few conversions and some fair weather friends who will work with anyone for the most money, he gets No Alliances TM

1852- polygamy is PUBLIC now! orson pratt let the rest of the world know that it's a thing we do and now we have to publicly defend it! ruh roh

1856- HEYOOO WE'RE DOING RELIGIOUS REVIVAL! right here! right now! you're confessing to sins! and you're confessing to sins! and YOU'RE confessing to sins! ones you probably didn't commit! heyooo come get your charismatic revivalism. time to atone for your sins with blood and then you'll get into heaven!

there were quite a few different recorded murders of mormons trying to leave at this time, including the famous parrish murders, where a father and one of his sons were killed trying to leave the territory. the other son escaped and ran to his uncle's, where he had to pretend nothing happened.

1857- mr. young you have been removed as governor of this territory, effective immediately.

brigham young: actually we are our OWN country none shall pass through our lands without a permit and we totally have talked to all of the native american tribes and they all will do exactly as i ask and i only hold them off as a gesture of goodwill ;) (this is not accurate! and we all know that!)

september 1857- this was the mountain meadows massacre. i'm not going to try to make a joke about the mountain meadows massacre because from around a hundred and twenty people traveling from arkansas to oregon were murder in cold blood AFTER they surrendered to the mormon militia. there isn't a single joke to be made here, and this event was covered up in various forms for a very long time.

the mormon militia burns and destroys US military supplies as the military escort comes with the new governor.

the church forces residents of the north and salt lake city to relocate south with the intention of destroying the settlements to make a statement. while they don't end up following through with the plan to destroy these homes, the forced relocation still happens.

when the military and the new governor arrives, the new governor decides to be The Lamest Stooge to Ever Lame. and basically lets brigham young tell him what to do and what to say, continuing a very similar line of power to what was already there. not to mention the presidential pardon that young and all involved got for most of the Illegal Dealings that they participated in that are known at the time.

the military isn't able to stay very long because the president has decided that accepting the "new governor" is basically enough, and with the looming threat of a proper civil war (which is just on the cusp of breaking out) there's not enough resources to expend on utah.

a judge tries very hard to uncover the truth of what happened at mountain meadows, which has been blamed entirely on native americans (only a few of which participated, all as free agents separate from a tribal affiliation) and he's not able to make things happen before the military is entirely recalled and along with that, any authority he had to make these things happen.

he DOES go on to help found nevada and take a large swath of territory out of brigham young's gaping maw, though, so that's. something.

i need to do more research from some additional sources but like. jesus CHRIST the... everything here. it's just so much

1877- brigham young finally drops dead and loosens his hold on the territory of utah

[e-the-village-cryptid]

What did you think of Rogue One?

Ah boy. Ok. First, a disclaimer that this is just my opinion, not me declaring some objective truth about the movie. Just because I felt one way about something doesn't mean I think everyone has to feel that way. If people really liked the movie, I am honestly happy for them! And if you really liked the movie to the point where someone disliking it will upset you, you may want to stop reading now. That said, here's my review.

Overall, I'd give the movie 2.5 stars on a scale of 1-5. Maybe 3 if we're being generous, because it was fun to watch in a casual way at some points, and some things were done well— Jyn's character and Galen's moral quandary were the high points for me. Everything else, though— storytelling, sense of place & visual feel, dialogue, characterization, most of the action sequences, overall plot— was disappointing to me. There was very little originality to be had in any of it, and although of course things don't have to be wildly original and never-been-done to be good, it felt like I'd already seen this movie a hundred times, except done better. Most of all, the majority of it felt flat and lifeless. It would have been extremely forgettable to me if not for Andor having already made me care about some of its characters.

Things I liked:

Jyn as a character. She has an interesting backstory, was well-acted, and has a depth and dimension that I feel the other characters were missing. I am very curious why, upon seeing that movie, the decision was made to dive into Cassian's backstory instead of Jyn's (although of course I'm glad we got Andor!). I think Jyn's time growing up being trained by Saw Gerrera would make quite an interesting story. (Watching her singlehandedly wreck like 12 people while Cassian watched in awe was definitely fun, haha.)

Galen's choice. I think this posed a truly interesting question. Was it true that the Death Star would have just been built without him? Would the destruction of Alderaan have happened without him? Did building in the flaw make up for the fact that he still in fact built it? Did his choice save lives or destroy them? Did he do it because he truly believed he could save lives that way, or because he was just trying to stay alive himself? Was it bravery or cowardice, or both in some strange combination?

K2. He was fun to watch, good comic relief, and I empathized with him a lot.

The death scene on the Scarif beach. Beautifully shot, acted, and directed. No notes.

The music. Lovely, orchestral, classic Star Wars scoring.

Things I didn't like:

My main issue with the movie is how flat everything felt. The characters, the setting— everything felt lifeless. It was hard to get emotionally invested because nothing felt like there was a true spark of life behind it. I'll go by points here.

The settings. The visual effects fell flat to me, but even beyond that, there was no humanity behind places like Jedha. It felt like the extras were told to mill back-and-forth aimlessly in front of the camera, rather than being given something to do that would give us a background glimpse into the culture of a place, as on Ferrix in Andor. The lack of depth to the setting made the locations feel like sets, not planets, and made it hard to feel a real sense of place and emotional connection.

Pretty much every character except Jyn was completely one-dimensional. None of them felt like real people at all, just devices to move the plot along. They each had their character archetype and were not allowed to deviate from it at all, and their choices came not from their characterization or their motivations, but from whatever the story needed in that moment. Their decisions felt contrived, making the characters not believable as people.

Many parts of it felt afraid of genuine emotion. It would pull back on the sincerity right as people died, refusing to actually let the emotional impact hit. Maybe this is a function of being directed at a younger audience, I don't know, but to me it felt like a refusal to take the world and people seriously in a way that affected my emotional investment.

The plot felt like a straight highway where you can see right through to the end and there's nothing by the wayside but endless fields of corn. I'm not even asking for twists, it's just... there was just not much there at all. No real arcs aside from the main one of getting the death star plans, no interesting or unexpected wrenches in the main plan, just... bland.

The action sequences were almost comically cliched. Nothing wrong with some well-used tropes, but after the second time Jyn wound up hanging off some ledge by one hand and had to dramatically haul herself back up, I could no longer keep from rolling my eyes.

Much of the dialogue was stiff and not believable. It didn't feel like people talking, it felt like the writers trying to deliver information.

The blocking was often very contrived and awkward to the point of feeling goofy.

Wow, they really managed to pull the "magical Asian" trope AND the "blind but can ~sense~ everything around them so don't worry they're not actually disabled" trope in one character. Really being efficient here.

(Also, not a critique but I am so genuinely confused on why they were all so dismissive of Chirrut. They treated him like just a wannabe, but... The man can literally dodge bullets and read minds, why the fuck is that not impressive or even like... useful to any of you?? Truly baffling, I do not understand it at all. "He's not actually a Jedi, so his ability to do crazy levels of Force magic that none of us can do doesn't really count" huh????)

(Also not a critique, just another thing I'm confused about now after watching— Why has Saw been so vilified, in canon and by fandom? "He's an extremist" everyone here is literally involved in a violent rebellion, he's doing the same thing "He's uncooperative with the other rebels" Rogue One also went rogue, because the other rebels were wishy washy and unwilling to commit "using Bor Gullet to read people's minds is so unethical" no more unethical than shooting your own source in the back of the head. What happened to enjoying grey morality? Anyway I stan Saw forever.)

[d2kvirus]

Dickheads of the Month: February 2024

As it seems that there are people who say or do things that are remarkably dickheaded yet somehow people try to make excuses for them or pretend it never happened, here is a collection of some of the dickheaded actions we saw in the month of February 2024 to make sure that they are never forgotten.  

Murder boner with a uniform the Israeli Defence Force showed just how committed they are to self-defence by responding to Belgium's refusal to cut funding to the UNRWA by bombing the Belgian Agency for Development Cooperation office in Gaza, which is an impressive one-two of bombing a civilian building while technically declaring war on Belgium

...and then the Israeli Defence Force bombed the shit out of Rafah at the exact same moment when their American pay piggies were busy watching the Super Bowl - the Super Bowl which featured a commercial from the Israeli government portraying Israel as the poor innocent victims who are only concerned about getting those hostages back. That would be the hostages which Israel have done a remarkable job of killing with their saturation bombing campaign while Netanyahu has actively refused offers of a ceasefire which would allow them to be returned without the risk of the IDF shooting them for waving white flags

...meanwhile the Labour Friends of Israel Twitter account apparently could smell burned toast as they went on a massive stream of conscious screaming session which claimed that antizionism is a byproduct of Soviet propaganda. Gee, I wonder which paid lobbyist for Israel whose name just so happens to be Luke Akehurst had their fingerprints all over that one, given Akehurst has previous for tweeting that exact same sentiment...?

...but thanks to chocolate teapot Lindsay Hoyle proving to be even more spineless than usual, an attempt by the SNP to call for an unconditional ceasefire was scuppered by Hoyle legging it out of the chamber before changing the rules, all because a (so far unnamed) member of Keir Starmer's Labour Party effectively blackmailed him by saying fuck over the SNP on one of their three Opposition Days during parliament or Labour would run Hoyle out as Speaker the moment they come to power - and were openly gloating about doing this in texts with journalists

...yet the inflatable dartboard that is Lindsay Hoyle tried to twist his breaking of parliamentary rules after being blackmailed by Keir Starmer into some waffly bullshit about MPs being threatened, which fascist pitbull Suella Braverman immediately seized upon to say Islamists now run the country while Lee Anderson grunted something about Sadiq Khan running London for the sole benefit of his Islamist mates

...which saw knuckle dragging neanderthal Lee Anderson have the whip withdrawn within 24 hours, albeit less because of spreading rampant Islamophobia and more because he didn't apologise for appearing on GB News to spout rampant Islamophobia - and continued to double down, because GB News were paying him an extra £50 to display their logo on his Twitter profile

...but nice of the Israeli Defence Force to render all the Westminster MP's waffle about needing protection to be utterly risible by massacring Palestinians trying to get food - and then trying to paint themselves as the victims, which might have worked if the official IDF line didn't go through three iterations of their version of events over the course of an afternoon and still have difficulty explaining where all those bullet wounds came from

Ultra-relatable nice guy Rishi Sunak showed what an ultra-relatable nice guy he is when he bet Piers Morgan £1000 on Morgan's show that he would get planes deporting people to Rwanda - and promptly found the Westminster sleaze watchdog knocking on his door for a breach of parliamentary standards, which Sunak couldn't exactly deny given there were countless video clips of him breaking parliamentary standards on Piers Moron's show

...and then ultra-relatable nice guy Rishi Sunak decided the best way to win over the crowd was by making a joke about gender identity at PMQs - while the mother of Breanna Ghey was in the gallery, leading to a lot of tone policing from Keir Starmer about how inappropriate it is to make those comments when the mother of somebody murdered in a transphobic hate crime is within earshot, but apparently Starmer had no opinion the numerous other times Tories made similar comments at PMQs

Totally normal behaviour from billionaire manchild Elon Musk in which he started in getting absurdly aggravated by Disney casting a black actress in the next Pirates of the Caribbean film which is in no way related to Disney pulling their advertising from Twitter due to the amount of fascists Musk lets have free reign on there, fascists like stochastic terrorist Chaya Raichik who is egging on Musk to buy Disney because that's how demented his behaviour is now, while also paying the legal fees for Gina Carano to continue with her obvious nuisance lawsuit against Disney

...and soon after billionaire manchild Elon Musk got into a spat with Matt Taibbi which was somehow both childish and borderline psychotic where Musk claimed Taibbi was dead to him all for...posting on Substack

...yet because billionaire manchild Elon Musk hadn't shared enough of his dogbrained takes with the world, he then prattled about how all Democrat voters are illegal immigrants - but the interesting thing is this tweet did not get Community Noted, meaning that he is disabling Community Notes from his increasingly unhinged posts

...soon followed by billionaire manchild Elon Musk getting exposed for having burner accounts created for the sole purpose of engaging with his own posts , so how did Musk respond when Liam Nissan exposed the Adrian Dittmann account was one of Musk's self-fellating burners? By banning Liam Nissan, once again proving what a FREEZE PEACH absolutist Musk really is

...and because billionaire manchild Elon Musk had a taste for banning people from his FREEZE PEACH platform, he then went and banned Yulia Navalnaya's account for reasons unknown (but easily guessed)

...and then billionaire manchild Elon Musk decided to show what a stable tech genius he is by kvetching how he couldn't log in to his new laptop without a Windows account and howled about how that would install the Windows AI, which literally anybody who buys a new laptop would be aware is complete bollocks

The increasingly unhinged Kemi Badenoch thought that it would be a bright idea to try to pick a very public fight with Henry Staunton after Staunton, who Badenoch sacked from his role in charge of the Post Office when she needed a sacrificial lamb, stated that the government policy was delaying compensation to all those affected by the Horizon scandal until after the next general Election - which consisted of the Department of Trade & Business releasing the letter which they handed to Staunton, where the first priority of the three listed was "Effective financial management and performance, including effective management of legal costs, to ensure medium term viability" which only served to support Staunton's claims, especially as engaging with the Horizon enquiry was the third of the three bullet points

Unifying force Keir Starmer discovered that Keir Starmer's Labour Party had a policy in their £28bn green investment fun - so of course he ditched it, less than 24 hours after talking it up while giving vague platitudes about a national credit card being maxed out which is economically illiterate bollocks, also less than 24 hours after Rishi Sunak called out Starmer's list of u-turns (while deciding to chuck in some casual transphobia which will forever be enshrined in the Hansard) making the decision even more boneheaded

...and it turns out that Rachel Reeves was responsible for binning the green investment fund pledge after a £10k donation from climate skeptics, because what better credentials are there for a prospective chancellor than binning a pledge which offers potential jobs and growth in favour of pocketing ten grans from people who think the global climate is actually not that bad at all?

Stochastic terrorists Chaya Raicik though she was going to fluster Taylor Lorenz in an interview by showing up wearing a t-shirt with Lorenz's face on it, only to be completely wrongfooted by probing questions such as "Why?", "Who?" and "What?" in response to her comments which left Raicik so desperate to try and not look like a moron she showed Lorenz a porn clip mid-interview because of reasons, and then spent the next couple of days ranting and raving about how unfair it was that Lorenz posted full clips of the interview which Raicik agreed to in context online, which is an interesting take from somebody with a track record of posting people's details online without consent and waiting for the bomb threats to rain down

It's likely that Miriam Cates thought she was being clever when she sneered about the Commons vote on a ceasefire in Gaza wouldn't be where it ends, as next people would ask for a boycott against Israel, and then a block on selling arms to Israel, and then wanting to see Israeli war criminals tried in The Hague...which sounds an awful lot like the measures taken against Russia for the past two years for a naked landgrab witch hospitals frequently getting bombed

MAGA Riefenstahl, or Dinesh D'Souza as most people call him, responded to the "death" of Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison by spouting some claptrap about how Joe Biden was planning on Donald Trump meeting a similar fate, because handwaving the fact Navalny was held in solitary confinement and tortured is the sort of thing that makes people question the credibility of somebody who claims to be a documentarian

I hope that Rishi Sunak replaced his advisors after their lunkheaded decision to do a live Q&A with the GB News audience which started badly when Sunak refused to take questions from the box in spite that being the whole point of the exercise, then waffled for minutes as the moderator didn't intervene, came face-to-face with wife beating antivax crank John Watt screaming at him about vaccines, and ended with one of the audience asking where they can file their expenses claim that sort of blew the lid off the whole exercise

Nice job by Azhar Ali for managing to spout conspiracy theory gibberish about October 7th in his Labour campaign ad that only served to allow the Tories to have the stick marked "Labour Antisemitism" to beat Keir Starmer's Labour Party over the head with - though for some strange reason the likes of David Baddiel and Rachel Riley have not demanded that Starmer resign as the fish rots from the head and other such utterances they were using on a weekly basis for Starmer's predecessor in spite a complete lack of any Labour MPs spouting conspiracy theory gibberish about Israel...

It seems that Mayim Bialik is determined to tank her career cheerleading for Israel's continued genocide in Palestine, as this month she was proudly promoting a children's book trying to whitewash what is happening written by a California resident - a children's book where all the artwork is AI generated, this missing the entire point of Bialik's protesting against studios using AI during the SAG AFTRA strike a few months ago

This month Liz Truss is blaming a Civil Service filled with trans activists for her run as Prime Minister crashing to a halt so quickly, and definitely none of the things that actually exist such as the billions she wiped off the UK economy in a single afternoon

...and then Liz Truss somehow sounded even more mental by attending the CPAC conference where she sat there with a gormless look on her face when Steve Bannon called called Tommy Robinson a "hero" and repeatedly resisted calls to distance herself from those comments, which makes her comment about how she felt "safer" when there was a Republican president when doddering past the cameras on her way completely nonsensical

The inflatable dartboard that is Ofcom somehow concluded that there is no reason to take action against GB News after a segment where the increasingly demented Neil Oliver blathered on about how people who got vaccinated for Covid are dying like flies of the definitely-not-made up condition that is "turbo cancer", meaning that Ofcom guidelines apparently consider spouting utter bollocks to be perfectly fine

If you were wondering how far from normal Andrew Bridgen is these days, he decided to remind us by stating that medical staff who administered the Covid vaccine should receive the death penalty for their part in this "atrocity"

Militant TERF JK Rowling responded to the increased reporting of the Breanna Ghey murders' names being revealed by picking that exact same day scream a lot of remarkably misogynistic things at a lesbian author to demonstrate how she is so determined to protect women as her TERF fanbase always claim

...though Posie Parker decided to go one further by responding to the judge saying that Brianna Ghey's murder was a transphobic hate crime by claiming that transphobia doesn't exist. So much for never, ever losing, eh Kelly-Jean?

Dossier fabricator Alastair Campbell wanted to appeal to the younger voters by telling them to "get off their high horse" over Gaza and vote Labour, which not only patronises an entire chunk of potential voters in one sentence but also served as a reminder that he campaigned for the Lib Dems in the 2019 election campaign

Labour Together mouth breather Josh Simons decided to go on LBC and while there thought it was a good idea to say, on the air, that you can put smuggler gangs on the Bibi Stockholm and ship them all up to Scotland for all he cares, which in one statement did so much for the vote in Scotland - that's the SNP vote in Scotland

...and then Keir Starmer decided to go on record saying his first priority when forming government wouldn't be anything to do with fixing the NHS or reversing fourteen years of austerity or anything else that might look like a policy, instead it would be replacing Hamza Yousef as First Minister of Scotland. Good luck getting votes north of the M25 with that one!

Maybe it's not a good idea for Lauren Boebert to tweet about the "Biden crime family" at the exact same time as her own son is being charged for a spate of break-ins and car thefts with a chaser of assault, harassment and prohibited use of weapons, because when her own son appears to be on a one-man crime spree it does tend to cause people to look into the crimes and misdemeanors of the rest of the family, and there's plenty of those...

Self-important blogger Paul Staines had a brainwave when throwing his £0.02 into the vitally important story of Angela Rayner selling a house which she owned by posting the birth certificate of her son to Guido Blog to prove that she lived in the house which she owned prior to selling it, which GB News proudly broadcast on their channel soon afterwards, because neither considered the minor issue that this was obvious doxxing of Rayner, her son, and also potentially puts the owners of the house which Rayner owned and later sold at risk as now the address was out there

So nice of David Zaslav to change his mind again and decide that, actually, he'd rather not let another studio buy the rights to Coyote vs Acme and instead prefers that Warner Bros pocket the tax write-down they'd get for banishing the film to the Phantom Zone and fuck over everyone who worked on it let alone wanted to see it

Dumbest take of the month goes to Riley Check for his bold proclamation that cancer is "generally harmless", thus causing a significant percentage of the world's population to wish several variants of cancer on him so he can test that hypothesis

This month Taylor Silverman decided to try and get on the Riley Gaines grift for her sporting failures by blaming trans athletes for her lack of winning anything. This is the same Taylor Silverman who once finished 34th in an event while a 10-year old finished in the top five, and in another event finished 34th while a 7-year old made it into the top twenty. Maybe shut the fuck up, Taylor...

Tax-dodging homunculus Alan Sugar was once again pissing and moaning about people working from home on BBC Breakfast - but this time added to his failure to admit to being a commercial landlord who doesn't make a penny if people aren't in the office but also doing so via Zoom instead of attending the office, which undermined the point he was pretending he was making just a tad

As if the name House of Illuminati wasn't reason enough to run away screaming at the mere sound of it, the AI-fuelled obvious scam that was their Willy Wonka immersive experience which managed to combine Dashcon and the Fyre festival in a Glaswegian warehouse that somehow managed to not have so much as a block of Dairy Milk on site is certainly another reason to head for the hills

Noted plagiarist James Somerton decided maybe now was a good time to pop his head above the parapet, and once he did he tried to explain away the industrial scale plagiarism which he was caught out for by claiming it was all the result of a head injury - in a video plagiarising H.Bomberguy's "A measured response" title, FFS...

And finally we had registered sex offender Donald Trump actively encouraging Vladimir Putin to attack NATO, which is a perfectly stable genius thing to say and definitely not the runner-up of the 2020 presidential election actively encouraging Russia to attack the US's allies

[conundrumoftime]

Mulling on this (and apologies in advance if this is incoherent, I am very sleep-deprived at the moment), because it reminds me of some of that post-s1 discourse about whether Galadriel is/isn't done with fighting after giving up her sword.

I don't know how important it is to the writers & showrunners that Galadriel is, fundamentally, right in early s1 about the threat the elves face, because what I've seen them say mainly dwells on 'she messed up'. And she did mess up! But she is also right that Sauron is still out there and right that he is still a threat, and right that the elves should take this far more seriously than they do.

And sometimes it does feel like the narrative is backing her up. She effectively accuses the elves of wanting peace in a way that is itself dangerous: wanting it so badly that they neglect duty and diligence to declare it's peacetime now, war's over, done. And as soon as this order goes to Arondir's company in the Southlands, the elves retreat and immediately Adar and the orcs move in. That's not Galadriel's fault in any arguable sense at all, and it's Galadriel and Arondir (who also didn't leave because he was chasing down something weird going on in another village) who stay to fight in the defence of the Southlanders when the other elves have either gone home or been captured.

Also it would be pleasingly Tolkien-y if they were taking that sort of angle, because this is something that comes out so much more in book LOTR than in the films - the hobbits' peaceful cozy Shire is only that way because it is protected by the Rangers around it, it is surrounded by dangers within and without, and the Hobbits nearly lose it at the end by not noticing that.

BUT ANYWAY I have no idea how much of this they actually are going with. It is however important to me that Galadriel was right about some pretty important things in s1, and it reminds me of all those conversations about whether she'd 'put up her sword' after learning Sauron was Sauron or whether she was still going to be fighting in s2.

I was always on Team 'She's still going to be fighting' because it didn't make much sense to me that her personal journey of "I may have misjudged that one" re: Halbrand should end up in "I should not be fighting my enemies with swords". They are at war; sometimes you do actually need to fight your enemies with swords when you are an elf commander and your people are under attack. And I am glad that is the path the show went down there.

And I do hope they stick to that for her future arc, too - b/c book Galadriel in Lothlorien is not a largely retired benevolent magic woman who is largely sitting out the war, she's more like a general with an active and directing role in what's happening.

And in terms of how well she fits into elf society: I don't feel she should be stifled and shamed and limited in order to do this, but it is kind of difficult to tell how TROP's viewing that. It might be sticking to elf society in a way that's very influenced by the Jackson films aesthetic of "eh idk they all kind of float around in flowy robes and do music and are above anything uncouth or visceral" and by extension the only way she could fit in is to limit herself, restrict herself and lop bits off herself. Sometimes it feels like it is for sure taking that approach and sometimes it feels like for sure isn't, and so I go back and forth on how much I fear what the consequences will be for her as a character in her overall arc.

But again: she was right. Not about everything, sure; and likely Sauron would have spent a bit longer lying low in Númenor without her presence; but in some very big and very important ways she was right, and maybe they need to be more like her in the parts of her personality that allowed her to be.

"Her time with Halbrand was a time where she was very much herself in some ways because she was an Elf alone. She wasn't following the rules of her people at that point. So, he knows a part of her that other people, other beings, don't, and there's a tragedy to losing that, and through losing him, she's also lost that part of herself. " --Morfydd Clark

I thought we were done with LA press day bounties and the latest drop brought the most devastating line yet. 😭 I could go on and on about this aspect of Galadriel's characterization and in particular what being around Halbrand/Sauron brings out of her compared to how she acts when she's back in the 'nest' as it were. I don't know if it's intentional or not but something about the way they've written Galadriel reintegrating back into her community just felt subtly stifling and like that'd be one thing if the writers were self-aware about it but I got the impression it's meant to be this 100% good/wholesome thing about maturation and growth. I think this is the first time someone from the show has spoken of it differently, because there is a Loss there too. A pretty profound one.

Yes she had reasons to feel guilty and that would mean a humbled Galadriel in season 2, but I couldn't help but also notice the way she holds herself, bites her tongue, struggles to contain her anger and pain, are all pretty similar to how she acted around the elves in season 1 before she was exiled. And we subsequently saw her really sparking and expressing everything she felt after jumping off that ship, meeting Halbrand, causing a ruckus on Numenor, etc etc. (With Habrand especially, I think the way I described it once when watching s1, the reason the dynamic really grabbed me and what I saw as Galadriel coming alive, is that he spoke to her like she was just a woman, the real flesh and blood person in between the black sheep of the elves or the untouchable Lady of Light. It's no wonder he got her to bare her soul in that forge.) I reject the idea that all of that was just this flawed part of her she needs to erase from her character to become the true Galadriel. Character growth should temper her more impulsive and reckless traits but not figuratively lobotomize her.

[gatitties]

Hey, just so you know I love what you did with the straw x male reader and I know this may be sudden but you think you can do a part 2 of it? And if you want, I can put in some of the details if you want? (Warning: This is too long) like let's say this theme is more so focused on reader's past and I will say that his backstory similar to movie sonic where his mother is actually a giant owl who had eaten a human human fruit and Is very knowledgeable with all kinda of devil fruits (She even has collections of them) but of course, like some tragic things that happened to some characters. Both reader and his mother were being raided by people who secretly worked for the world government and because of it, the mother owl had no choice but to sacrifice herself in order to let reader escape (Similar to Nico robin and what happened in Ohara) and in the end, their home got burned down and all reader could do is run away and hide. Anyways back to present, after hearing from an unknown caller that his mother was alive. He didn't believe it at first until there are just way too many evidences that his mother might be still alive after what happened and not only that but finding out how she's secretly working for the world government, it was just absurd to him. Is this the reason why they want him alive? He's not sure anymore. In the end, he decided that it would be best to never tell the crew about it and would just have to go out of his way on his own to find the location where his mother was at. And by the time, straw hats find out that they were too late and reader is already ahead of them. (Also of course, you're free to Refuse this request at any time but if you're still gonna do it then you can do it anytime K? No rush, and It's your decision to do so.)

─ Strawhats x male!reader (Platonic)

─ Summary: you discover things about your supposedly dead mother and the crew is willing to help you

─ Warnings: none

Part one / Part three

ahhh don't worry about asking for the second part suddenly, I'm glad you like my work, hope you like this <3

─ You were probably adopted (maybe not, but you never wanted to ask), your mother was a giant owl that ate the human-human fruit, but you don't care where you come from, you always loved your mother.

─ A little curious fact is that she is a collector of devil fruits, which caused you some problems because people are greedy with treasures like that, but the thing is that you got your powers because of that very collection.

─ You were just a child when you were snooping through her things and that devil fruit looked tasty, you were disappointed with the taste and on top of that your mother scolded you for that, but there was nothing that could reverse the effects.

─ Normally you had to change houses continuously, the government and some people wanted the devil fruits that your mother collected, as if that were not enough, they also wanted you as an experiment subject since your fruit was quite powerful or sought after.

─ And one day what you were fearing simply happened, the government found you, worst of all, your mother sacrificed herself for you to flee, you couldn't do anything and you began to hate the government more than before, they had taken a being loved without regrets.

─ After that you wandered aimlessly, many newspapers had the exclusive that they had caught the 'evil' thief of devil fruits and were going to make her pay for her sins, your whole world collapsed when a week later, word spread that she had died and they had put up a wanted poster only alive with your face.

─ Your life began to fall apart but luckily, before your intrusive thoughts could do anything, you met Luffy… well, Usopp in the first place, but the important thing was that the strawhats took you in after your life was gone overboard.

─ You started noticing some small clues about your mother inadvertently since Luffy declared war on the world government when they rescued Robin, since then you were much more involved with them.

─ Within you there was that little ray of hope, maybe they didn't kill your mother, maybe she is captive due to her knowledge about the devil fruits, that's why you began to investigate further, following small clues.

─ You kept all this hidden from the others because you thought it was something you had to solve on your own, although Robin was already suspicious about you, you always went to her when you needed more detailed information about the government.

─ "Why so curious now about this?" "For nothing in particular, I like to find out about the people I hate so I can hit them harder." It's not like it was a lie itself, you wanted to hit those bastard governors.

─ You had a small diary where you had everything collected in the last months, luckily they respected your private things, although they thought that all your secrecy was because you were young and you were embarrassed to share some things with them.

─ "Why do you always hide that book of yours when you see us, huh? Don't tell me, it's a diary and you write about your lover there!" "I-It's nothing like that Luffy!" Luffy would always try to tease you and play jokes on you however Sanji or Zoro would always stop him if he got too close to stealing your diary.

─ What made you jump into the attack was a call in which you interfered one night, a call that turned all your suspicions into solid facts, "Yes, my son is the consumer of that fruit, we could locate him if the rumors about that is next to the strawhats are true" "m-mom…?" Luckily they couldn't hear the disbelief in your voice as you heard your mother's clear voice.

─ You were extremely confused as to why she would be part of the government, deeply hurt by the fact that they were looking for you, and not especially to give you hugs.

─ Everyone on the ship noticed your change after you discovered that, you started to talk less to investigate more, you became more paranoid and you started to put a barrier between them and you, you didn't need to cause them more problems than they already had.

─ But your plan to do everything on your own went awry, you tried to deal with some undercover guys who worked for the government on an island, you were seriously injured, if it wasn't because Usopp found your diary and decided to browse a bit ( because this guy couldn't contain himself and thought one look wouldn't hurt anyone) you'd probably be dead by now.

─ While Chopper treated you in a fit of stress, the others looked at your wounded body with a frown, most of them angry for not being able to arrive earlier, Luffy angry with you for not having told him anything.

─ When you recovered he scolded you because you didn't trust them to help you, "Idiot, we are here for you! You are my nakama and I would do anything for you." "I'm sorry…"

─ You apologized to everyone for being so reckless and going alone to a fight you couldn't win, they forgave you and just like Luffy, each one showed in their own way that you didn't need to have that fight by yourself, if you needed their support, there they going to be, even if they had to fight against your own mother, they would not abandon you.