#<<<did we ever decide which of these we're using. whatever it doesn't matter

[torchickentacos]

So was nobody going to tell me May gets three roses* before she even wins her first ribbon, or was I just supposed to find this out through the archived version of those old bulbapedia ship articles that I found?

*the third rose is technically AFTER she won her first ribbon, but it's still the same episode as the ribbon obtainment, so close enough

[estellardreams]

I JUST HAD A HUGE THEORY!

So, y'know how Deltarune shares a lot of similarities to Undertale? With the monsters on the surface and having the main human able to be controlled by the player?

Well, I kept considering the theory that Deltarune is an alternate timeline of Undertale. But I kept trying to figure out how this could work.

According to Deltatraveler (I know it's not canon just stay with me here) there is a younger Noelle and Susie, and Frisk was commented by Dess to be a "Younger Kris".

However, I immediately ran into a road-block over Kris and Frisk. The idea of Frisk being Kris from the past came to mind but then I remembered that Frisk is their true name and not whatever you entered in. The name you entered in is the first child's name.

(Fwi: It's NOT Chara. Yes, Chara is called "The true name" but Chara is just short for Character so it doesn't count. Regardless, whatever you name the human doesn't matter in this situation. The human we play as is named Frisk, end of question)

And now we're left with either two options: Kris and Frisk are seperate entities or Frisk died/changed name and Kris took their place in the Dreemurr family.

Now, let's go with the former thought: Frisk and Kris are seperate. That means we need to at least confirm that the pacifist ending where we split off and go our seperate ways is canon. Frisk becomes the monster ambassador and Toriel later adopts Kris.

Okay, now what? Seems seamless, right- WRONG! We're missing someone...

Asriel. He's in college in deltarune, but a flower in Undertale. Yes, he's back to normal in the pacifist ending but does revert back into a flower later on so this doesn't make any sense.

So either A. Asriel never died at all in this timeline which I doubt (until later) OR B. Flowey got a soul and became Asriel again. Also no, I doubt this.

But as I got to thinking, I came to a realization... Don't Toriel and Asgore look older than their counterparts in Undertale? Boss monsters don't age unless they have children who are alive.

AND THEN I HIT AN EPIPHANY! The only way Deltarune and Undertale could differentiate in the timeline is when Asriel was BORN.

That explains why he's still alive and in college! But then we might be asking about Frisk, and I have an explanation for that!

Frisk... Still exists. It's just that they chose not to stay with the monsters and became the main ambassador for them on the surface.

The story goes that Asgore and Toriel used to live together. Then the first human fell and they took them in. Unfortunately they died due to buttercup poisoning and with Asgore realizing he could use their soul to break the barrier and placing this plan in motion, Toriel divorced him.

Then the next five humans came down until we finally encountered Frisk, who, through sheer determination, used their soul to help shatter the barrier. Monsters reached the surface and they agreed to become their ambassador before splitting off.

After monsters integrated back into society, they took up normal human jobs and roles. But Toriel slowly began to miss having a child around. Asgore eventually made amends with her and the two finally decided to have a child together; Asriel. Things kept going smoothly until Toriel, while visiting a human town, came across Kris in an orphanage and decided to adopt them.

The two Dreemurrs seemingly got into a feud over money due to having another child and got divorced yet again, this time for real. With Asgore scraping by and Toriel with a stable job, she continued to raise both kids with Asgore not having much custody besides visitation rights.

Soon enough Asriel went off to college and Kris got into school. And the rest is soon-to-be history.

Magic did slowly fade out since rarely anyone ever used it, seeing as being in the underground was now millenia ago. It's such a distant memory that no one acknowledges this dark part of their past.

And that's it! Thank you for hearing me out.

[astarlow]

I'm currently unmotivated to write anything long and especially after the devs did us so dirty for the PVE announcement so here are some headcanons, imagines- whatever you want to call this to comfort me from the fact we're not getting the PVE we were promised 4 years ago

Overwatch crews

Slumber party whenever a mission is accomplished. Don't matter if everyone's weary as hell, with Lena and Hana running around you are sure to get yourself a slumber party every month. If said mission isn't a success though, it's more of  a chill hangout with the members of the team Hana, Satya and Angela will bring your ass to a shopping spree. Whether you like it or not so be prepared because with them, you're gonna spend the whole day out there. Honestly though, if you don't like it Lena, Fareeha and Brigitte are by the arcades or the sport terrain near the shopping alley. So whenever you feel like it, you can go there to play with them There’s another tradition going around, twice a month, a member of the team cooks for the rest of the crew. It started with Mei, Aleksandra and you talking about your culture’s food. Mei offered to cook for you two to taste Chinese cuisine which you gladly accepted. In return, you two would also cook your culture’s food. With time passing by, other members joined the tradition and now, Echo chooses who would cook for this month’s tasting food session It turned into a competition when Lena decided to vote for the best month’s food Mei, Ana and Brigitte for the moment are on the podium sharing the first place Lena and Hana have zero points. Lena almost burnt the kitchen once. Luckily, you were there to put out the fire She doesn’t have the patience to wait for things to cook For Hana, ever since she entered MEKA, she didn’t have the time to prepare food. The best she could do is boil water and put it on her noodles. Though, ever since she joined Overwatch, she has had a little bit more time so she takes lessons from Mei and Brigitte. Lena watches but never fully join because else, it’ll turn into a mess Every week, Vivian holds a shooting session training. The best shooter of the week gets a gift from her and is exempted from chores for the week Ana has been exempted from participating in this shooting session ever since she won five times in a row

Talon crews

Olivia doesn't stop her pranks, so either you decide to team up with her to prank the others or you go against her. If you prank her, she will at least remind you this once a  week. "Amigo/amiga, how could you do this to your best friend in the world?" sighs dramatically while placing an arm on her forehead "Can you believe this? My best friend, betraying me..." Or "oh no, the betrayal. Who could have foreseen  such an event?" Amelie is more often than not the victim of Olivia's pranks. It's gotten so bad one time Olivia and you couldn't set a foot near the base or she would snipe you from afar She's "kind" Enough to not use real bullets but let's say you had bruises for the following weeks Moira is a target you two don't prank because you've been under her wrath and let's just say, it's not pleasant at all Olivia does try to get all of you to enjoy some vacation time. She does separate Amelie and  Moira, because she knows Amelie is showing more and more emotions and she doesn't want her to return to that cold emotionless assassin Talon turned her into. So for her sake, she keeps Moira away from her When Olivia, Amelie and yourself are out for a mission or a vacation, Amelie will make sure to make at least one comment on the food. She grew up with the finest food so she knows what good food is or not. You once bought her a baguette from a supermarket, she did not appreciate it. She could have stopped if not for  Olivia's intervention "It's just a baguette, how bad can it be?" And that's how you all three didn't get any sleep because of Amelie's monologue on baguette Olivia is a lot more laid back so she takes you sightseeing and if she trusts you enough, she takes you to her hometown. She even lets you meet up with Baptiste.

No-faction Ladies

Kiriko

Kiriko is dragging your ass across the city and showing you the finest spots If you're dating, it's one of your monthly dates to walk around the city and discover new paths or stands/shops. Even if she knows her city like the back of her hand, she's still pleased you're enjoying showing her shops you like She also practices her kunai throwing with you. It’s a lot of fun for her to see you mess up so many times. Although, you get closer to the target with each training session and she holds great pride in seeing your progress She trusts you enough after some time spent together, as well as some missions done together, to show you the group in which she belongs: The Yōkai You spend some fun times with them and seeing as they all have some masks, you decided to craft one for Kiriko. Of course, it’s a fox one. Kiriko loves it so much she doesn’t wear it, in fear she breaks it but she places it in her apartment.

Junker Queen

Odessa doesn't get out of Junkertown a lot, if not at all since she got her Junker Queen title. So if you're travelling fairly often, you give her pictures of your travels. "Oi! You should take me out here, sounds lots of fun!" "I tried, you say you were too busy ruling things around here." "Ey, doesn't mean I can't get to travel from time to time with me partner." Every time you come back from your travels, whether it is for business or for yourself, you always tell how you trip went down. Of course, with pictures to accompany your story. Odessa finds it easier to follow if she has pictures in front of her

Ashe

Liz loves to experiment with her outfits, if you have any good idea she’s going to bring it to life. If one of your ideas doesn’t please her, she’s going to give you interesting feedback. She is a firm believer in constructive criticism She often asks BOB to watch over you when she’s gone for a heist but sometimes, it does seem like you’re the babysitter You teach BOB about some customs he might not have been aware of. It’s a lot of fun watching him learn new things

ps: i still have a lot of asks from the 700 celebration event, I'll try to get to it as soon as i am a little bit more free

[caputvulpinum]

ok hi i was the person who sent the ask in what is now your pinned post. i have 2 things to say!

your response helped me, like, a lot. like a LOT. i dont wanna go into detail but you worded things in a way that was kinda like aloe on a sunburn that's been festering for um. years? i genuinely feel like what you had to say did more for me in the reclaiming "queer" department than uh... the actual therapy i was in. idk if i'll ever really be at the point of being able to use it for myself, but the idea doesn't seem as big now? if that makes sense? so for real, thank you

i think you should be allowed to bite people who do intentionally misinterpret the post. possibly you should also be allowed to kill them with a gun

but yeah for real thank you

I'm really grateful what I said was able to help you, even a little bit. This is what I mean when I say the entirety of the "queer is a slur" thing just enrages me: It turns the focus intracommunity, makes an us vs them out of the same people being hurt by these things.

The problem is that, like so many times outside of theory, both sides of the equation have very real, very valid justifications and reasons for their views. There are countless people who have been called queer as a slur so much that they struggle to reconcile that word as an identity which does not hurt them. In the same vein, validating queer as a slur which can affect huge swathes of noncisgender and/or nonheterosexual people does do calculable harm to those same communities, because it acknowledges the word as a weapon with teeth rather than a radical rallying cry.

By framing queercourse or whatever the term is as "These idiot queers just don't know they HAVE to identify as queer or be okay with that!!!!", we're just hurting each other. The point of this should be empathy, not being right online. There are no words we have for ourselves that have not and will not be used to hurt us. That means fighting against queer as a term is counterproductive, yes, but you can't forget that people are being hurt by it. There are always going to be people who can't call themselves queer. That's normal. That's fine.

What matters is that we frame a narrative so that people who have been traumatized are not perpetrators or offenders for having been traumatized and objecting at being tied to their trauma. What matters is that we frame a narrative where we can acknowledge queer is used as a slur, because so has every other word. What matters is we give our communities the resources and vocabulary to defang queer, gay, lesbo, any other word that's been thrown in our faces. People are traumatized by queer, and just like those people are valid, so is the very real need to make sure that those traumas are addressed and treated.

The root of the issue, in the end, is a matter of narrative and controlling it. It doesn't matter if someone who has been traumatized by the word queer doesn't or does decide to use that terminology to identify themselves as. What matters is that we are making these decisions based on our own choices, and that we are not allowing our traumatizers power and control over ourselves, our communities, and our narratives because they've shouted something at enough of us.

[lyramundana]

Hii how are u??? Hope you're okay

I just wanna know something, HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO WRITE SO PERFECTLY, WHEN I READ YOUR REPLY TO MY LAST ASK I ALMOST FAINTED RIGHT THERE OMG IT'S SO PERFECT💯💯💯💯💯

Anyways I came back with another ask so that's it :

Yan! Minsung x fem! childhood bestie! Reader where she have a crush on someone else and they're like "you're ours sweetie don't you know ? No one can take you from us"and of course you do your magic 😎😎

Thank you🌹🌹🌹❤❤

----🦋 anon----

I'm doing pretty well, honey, thank you!

ajsndkndeckndkvn stop it 😭😭, now you're just trying to flatter me. I'm not that good really, I just write whatever shit comes to my mind. My english vocabulary falls short often and I end up repeating words because I literally don't know more. But putting my language barriers aside, I'm very happy and proud my last work was up to your expectations hehe🤧🥰 I enjoyed the trope and I'll love to hear more of your thoughts about this since it's yours, so pls feel free to message me privately anytime to talk about it!

Anyway, let's get to it:

YANDERE! POLY MINSUNG AS CHILDHOOD BEST FRIENDS

Jisung and Minho have been pillars in her life since she can remember.

She met Jisung in kindergarten, and when they realised that their lunch boxes were identical, they decided they were best friends. Minho appeared on their first day of primary school, being new to the neighbourhood. The other kids found him scary and he never tried to interact with anyone, until one day, Reader noticed him sitting alone during break and eating his lunch in a hidden corner with a sad frown and dragged him towards Jisung. After spending a good while making him talk and sharing food, they found out little Minho was just incredibly shy and having moved to another place where he didn't know anybody made him terribly anxious, so he preferred to not speak much to not embarrass himself.

When school ended that day, the three of them were already inseparable for the remaining time. Jisung and Minho clicked instantly and Reader was the extrovert that pushed them out of their comfort zones.

This dynamic remained more or less the same as they grew. Since they lived in the same area, they hung out every day and created beautiful memories. Minho managed to get out of his lonely bubble and worked on his social skills, while Jisung learnt to take things calmly and rule himself. They witnessed each other's worst and best moments.

Reader had other people around her, but she only ever paid attention to her best friends. Minho and Jisung never interacted much with anyone besides her either. They always said "We only need each other. We're a team. The rest doesn't matter". She was so focused on them she neglected socializing with other people..which the boys didn't mind at all.

As time passed and the three of them remained as close as ever, they realized they needed her, on a visceral level. She was the sun they were constantly rotating around to to keep living. She was their personal ray of sunshine and they couldn't stand the mere notion of being depraved from that light...or having someone else enjoy it. As these thoughts started to get weight in their heads, it changed their behaviour too.

They sneakily isolated her from other people except her own family. They whispered lies in her ear, slowly manipulating her into believing that no one would value her as they did, that most people were out of to hurt her. Everytime she was about to make friends with someone, they cut that off quickly from the sides and dragged her back to them, all with the same kind smiles she grew up with so she never suspected a thing. She genuinely thought she was simply bad at socialising and her besties were her comfort zone, her eternal protectors. Yeah, they brainwashed her.

When high school started, both boys made sure to be inscribed on the same one as her, and with such luck they were placed in the same class. She never sat by herself, always with one of them at her side or both surrounding her, like human shields. For group projects they always paired together, and when the teacher separated them, it was hell for the other people involved.

They've been so smooth and cunning with their antics over the years that she has never felt anything wrong with them. She believes in them blindly. They're her precious best friends, her soulmates, her brothers. Sure, they might be a bit overprotective at times, but because they want her happiness.

At first they truly saw her only as a friend, their friends who belonged to them first. She could hang out with others, but at the end of the day, they should be her priority. They'll be the typical toxic besties that are like "you know her for five months, but we've known her for years" or "Do you seriously prefer to spend time with them over us? We're your best friends, you should think of us first!", or they'll make her cancel plans to go out with them instead. It's what they expect her to do. She must always prioritise them.

However, when their feelings for her started to become romantic, their attitude became worse. She wasn't allowed to go out with others anymore, especially boys. They made sure she was with them at all times, scaring off or threatening anyone that tried to approach her. What if someone stole her away from them, from her rightful place? They can't live without her. What are they supposed to do?

When they start their senior year in highschool (I got no idea how the education system works outside Spain) Han and Minho are in the same class, much to their delight...until they notice she's not there. Their protests are ignored, the graduation is this year and teachers have a lot in their minds to care for some "petty teenagers with separation anxiety." And so they're forced to endure the classes without her, unable to keep an eye on their girl. They're worried sick. What if something happens to her and they're not there? What if someone gets close to her and takes her? No, they can't stand it. No matter how much she promises them she's fine and can handle herself, they know she needs them. She's never been without them for long.

So they find a solution: Track her. They install a spying app on her phone to know where she is and record her conversations. They keep an eye on anyone that speaks to her longer than they like and intervene behind her back to cut off any potential admirers. This was supposed to remain only in school, but they use it even outside.

Years pass and they're already college students. Since they no longer can be in the same class, the boys find a solution: Move to an apartment and live all together. That has been their dream all along, create a routine for life together, as a team, as family. At this point, they're confident their schemes to "protect" Reader and tie her to them have all worked, so they relax a bit. They're sure she feels the same way for them, after all they did for her and all they went through together, she surely loves them just as much. She must have realised she's made for them. They even let her attend college despite hating the idea of not seeing her at all hours, because they trust her. They even slept together a few times already, so that means it's all established, right?

So imagine their surprise when she arrives one day and announces she'll be going on a date with a cute guy from her class. If that revelation wasn't enough to fuck them up, she adds that she's so happy because she's been crushing on him for a while now and wasn't sure he was interested.

All these words sound so wrong in their heads. Blurry, confusing, like she was speaking another language.

When they finally process it, they're furious. More than furious. The three of them have their first big argument since middle school and she leaves. Turns out that in the little time she spent away from them and interacting with other people helped realise that maybe some stuff just doesn't feel right with Han and Minho. She still found ways to excuse them in her head, believing it was all protectiveness but a bit extreme. So she stepped out of he comfort zone a bit and found out how refreshing it felt to have other people to talk to. Specially the guy that sat beside her in class, who always made her heart beat faster and showed her a different, softer kind of affection. One that doesn't suffocate you, doesn't hold you back.

They're mad at her initially but they eventually blame the guy. They blame everyone in the damn uni, for filling her head with lies and corrupting her. Minho claims he knew they shouldn't have supported her going to college without them, but Han says it was all his fault for stopping with their schemes to keep watching over her.

Then, they come up with a plan. One to ensure you have nowhere to go but their side and traps you forever. First, they get rid of the guy (either by intimidation...or something darker), then they comfort her broken heart by telling her that they warned her, that no one would ever love her like they do. Minho suggests having some dinner and drink to get their minds off it.

They get drunk, and they keep refilling her glass to distract her from the pain. They hug her and kiss her face, whispering sweet words in her ears. She's so sad and desperate for some affection there she lets herself go in their arms.

The morning after, she wakes up with hangover and realises they had sex, several times. It's not the first time, so she doesn't think too much about it, except for the slight uncomfortably feeling of not remembering everything. She stands up to shower herself...and doesn't check the trash cans, where there are no signs of condoms.

When she gets told that she's pregnant, it's way too late for her.

[valpogossip]

VALPOGOSSIP TEACAP: APRIL 2024

You lot sure have be busy the last month. If I was of lesser mind or simply someone with something better to do, I would have resigned myself to my silence and let you all carry on. But business pays. And unfortunately for you, it's yours that pays me, and you're all not going to believe this.

It's always the ones in the most denial that scream the loudest and Abril is a banshee. While at La Fiesta De Vindimia, Abril confronted our favorite blonde bombshell, Mallory Jade, about song she assumed was about her. Now theres something about a fight over a song like Pretty Girls ending in a kiss that just doesn't feel all that... straight to me. But Abril was quick to prove all of us wrong by locking in with Giovanni !

Speaking of Giovanni, the timing of this is quite suspicious considering he had a bit of his own meet-not-so-cute with a Yazmin. The two getting off on the wrong food but helping each other find the right one another and getting all cozy enough to take a nap outside. I don't about you all, but I don't think i've ever been that comfortable. Wonder with Yazmin thinks of this. Or Abril for that matter.

We could also ask Aivryn for her opinion on the matter considering how upset she was when Abril's new beau launched to the world to see. Apparently, even as her best friend, Aivryn found out at the same time everyone else did. I can't help but wonder why that is.

In more confusing but entertaining news, Omar and Dante are going on a date to decide which one gets to take which...one... on a... date ? I think I'm reading that correctly. Yes, bowling date. Loser takes other on date. No, yeah that's right. Well, whatever love looks like for you. Whenever there's a Dominguez-Herrera involved we're sure it'll be healthy and sane.

Maybe it's the bowling date nerves that led Dante to break Drew's nose? We hope that's healing up just fine.

Every month we hope Alba will stand up, and this month they came really close ! It was much of a hunch, but hey we'll take it. After a cold war, Milani raised the first white flag but all it took was one. You'll get there Al, we believe in you !

The festival seemed to be a hub for rekindling kisses, as Arlo and Esme were spotted liplocked on one of the benches. Sad thing about Leia bearing eye witness. Has anyone checked on her? What is it about good wine that makes you want to relive the past? Maybe they can go on a double date with Mallory and Abril and relive the past together.

Speaking of rekindling, but this time no kisses, exes Elijah and Sariyah, and Luna and Enzo were both spotted with frowns on their faces and eyes that were looking everywhere but each other. What conversation has you guys that deep in thought? Maybe you should take a drive, we here that helps.

If you're looking for a palette cleanser from all the mess, look no further than Jasper and Hunter. Gentle conversations and cutely planned dates. We wish them nothing but the best and maybe they could teach our many ( many ) confused couples a thing or two.

We hope that's enough to hold you over until next month. And if I missed anything, don't hesitate to send in a little tip to us via our anon box.

Here's some things we're keeping a close eye on for next month:

Ysla and Adem seem to be getting extremely close to little Emmie. Is it all just for her benefit? Astrid and Kaito already have the perfect starter for next month's tea cap, I wonder what else they'll get up to. What's the history there? How is Sariyah involved? Why does vic hate birthdays so much and why does esme suddenly care so much about his? Ximena and Bryce seem to also be spending a lot more time together. Aksel and Sarah's dinner table keeps getting bigger and bigger whole Luna's looks to be getting smaller, why is that? Will Drew ever get his double date? Is Luna like... okay?

If you didn't make this rounds teacap don't worry, we're still watching closely.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #313: THIEVES HONOR

January, 1990

The ULTIMATE Super-Villain Team-Up! Plus -> Beginning -- the FATE of the SCARLET WITCH!

Plus, it's the 90s! Dark times ahead! Allegedly! Things still feel pretty 80s around here, to be honest but we've only just got here.

Also, hi, Black Widow! Guess you're here to capitalize on the more fluid roster of the Byrne run. Should we call you the Gray Widow now? Because of that costume?

(I've been a little rude to the Wizard during Acts of Vengeance but c'mon, the ultimate team-up is the Wizard and Silver Samurai oh that's the Mandarin. Still not very ultimate. Now if Thanos and Doom worked together, that'd be scary.)

Last times in Acts of Vengeance: Some Doom robots sank Avengers Island while the Avengers were busy elsewhere. The U-Foes tried to burn down the Avengers West Coast Mansion. Freedom Force attacked Avengers Park, for some reason unrelated to Acts of Vengeance. Mole Man attacked Los Angeles with giant monsters, convinced that the Avengers attacked him first.

Slowly, the Avengers have realized that someone is targeting them, using the general chaos of villains picking unusual fights as cover. But they don't know yet that the someone is a big conspiracy among top villains and the Wizard.

Also, not just in Acts of Vengeance but in general, Scarlet Witch's life has been horrible! Her husband was dismantled, rebuilt without emotions, and decided to professionally separate from her. Not just that but she was crammed full of racism goo and then her babies turned out to be Actually Satan. Then Agatha Harkness erased her memory of ever having children. So because of some or all of that, Wanda keeps lapsing into catatonia.

She's having a difficult time.

Speaking of difficult times, on top of all the villain attacks and HQ destruction, the public has turned against superheroes and Congress is debating a superpower registration act.

Times are tough.

Jarvis, watching the unruly crowd on the security monitors, asks Captain America if there's nothing the Avengers can do to calm the crowd.

Captain America: "Unfortunately not, Jarvis. We're just great when it comes to dealing with super-villains and cosmic menaces... but public opinion is something we cant' possibly control."

That's pretty big talk from a dude wearing a flag. Who gives such great speeches that he has on multiple occasions turned a mob around!

Weirdly, Captain America is sometimes portrayed as just bad and disinterested in PR.

During Kurt Busiek's later run, Cap found himself unable to deal with a concerted PR campaign against the Avengers and turned leadership over to the Wasp.

Which. Okay. That makes sense. I can see her as the Avenger leader great at PR.

(Still though. Captain America talks down mobs so much. You don't even want to try, Cap??)

In this specific instance, the Avengers have other stuff to attend to.

Captain America, Vision, and Wonder Man are going to be diving to where Avengers Island sank to see if they can salvage anything.

I don't know why Wonder Man is here. He was just in California. I'm glad that the Avengers are being more fluid between the East and West but I can't fathom why people are coming and going.

In the meantime, Hawkeye and Mockingbird are holding down the fort in the Midwest with the Great Lakes Avengers.

Who we haven't seen in a bit? Did Byrne backburner whatever he was doing with them?

Meanwhile, the Mandarin lands in Avengers Park and is immediately met with racism.

He is a villain but geez, NYPD officer. Don't be a dick.

Also, I really did mistake the Mandarin for Silver Samurai on first glance. I guess he's upped his game with power armor to better match Iron Man.

A police officer, maybe even the same one that was racist, runs up to the Mandarin and tells him he doesn't know who he is but maybe he better take a hike before he gets arrested for something.

The Mandarin: "Amazing... Do I face a bold warrior, or a blustering buffoon? It matters not."

And then he burns the guy to death with one of his special rings.

The police open fire on the Mandarin but he blocks the bullets with a force field and then starts killing cops.

Although, really, he's here to fight the Avengers.

Back at "Prime Movers" HQ, Doctor Doom is outraged at how dumb the Mandarin is.

VICTOR VON DOOM: "Dolt! Moron! How has this fool survived so long as a foe of Iron Man... when his every word and action shows him to have the fighting sense of a novice in a nunnery!!"

Doom says that if Doom were in the Mandarin's place, Doom would have reduced the Avengers' backup HQ to a crater instead of wasting time terrorizing cops.

Red Skull comes in just in time to zing Doom by pointing out how often Doom gets ousted from his own kingdom.

Doom doesn't like being talked to like that but Red Skull persists, saying... uh... I'm pretty sure he's saying that in his time (World War II) he would have had someone like Doom (guess) tortured and killed just for funsies.

It's really cathartic when Doom backhands Red Skull and tells him off for "angering your betters!"

But Red Skull turns being slapped across the room into a flip and pulls a science gun on Doom.

Apparently, Red Skull has been placed into a new peak-human body? I don't really know what's been going on with him but I suspect there's always something like that happening with the Skull so he can keep up with Captain America.

Red Skull's science gun must be really potent because he shoots Doctor Doom and the guy goes flying to smash into one of those big computer monitors.

Kingpin comes in at the noise and is not impressed with his fellow top villains.

Kingpin: "Well, well, well... The childre are at play again, I see."

Red Skull threatens to shoot him too but crime man has more dunking to do.

Kingpin: "Spare me your preachings, Nazi. If I have learned nothing else in my brief association with you and Doctor Doom... I have learned that neither of you understands the true meaning, the true source of the power you claim to possess. You are infants in the modern world... playing your little games of world conquest... feint and counter feint... While all the while the true power slips ever through your fingers." Red Skull: "You... dare... ?!!" Kingpin: "Yes, Skull. I dare. The Kingpin of crime dares all."

I think he talks a big game but he is consistently slapped down when he tries to reach past really powerful at normal crime. But then again, he usually isn't interested in anything beyond that. There's no profit in the end of the world, etc etc.

Meanwhile, Captain America and Wonder Man (who doesn't need a diving helmet but is wearing one anyway to be like the cool kids) dive down to the sunken Avengers Island.

Alas, fair island headquarters. We barely knew ye.

The good news is that since Avengers Island was a floating artificial island, a lot of the equipment was water-proofed Just In Case.

Water-proofed enough to be salvageable after sitting at the bottom of the ocean for a day or so?

They won't know until they haul stuff out. Which isn't today. Today is just poking around and moving some smaller stuff.

They're interrupted by Jarvis calling on the emergency channel.

Jarvis who is wearing his eyepatch again.

The book really goes back and forth on whether he needs it or is just wearing it to look cool.

It looks very cool. You do you, Jarvis.

Anyway, he reports that some dude is trying to blast through the ground of Avengers Park to get to the sub-basement.

Captain America ID's the guy as the Mandarin and the three Avengers haul ass towards New York.

Captain America: "Jarvis is a good man, but we've left him holding the fort too many times in the past." Vision: "I concur, Captain America. And against a foe like the Mandarin I fear even one so resourceful as Jarvis may be at a loss."

I like that it sounds like Vision is saying, with his computer logic, that if it was someone less than the Mandarin, Jarvis would kick their ass.

If it was Stilt-Man, Jarvis would have him flat on his ass in no time.

In the most recent Avengers comic as of this typing, (Avengers vol 9 #11) Jarvis and Jarvis' assistant beat the shit out of the Mad Thinker. Jarvis can throw hands.

Anyway.

The Wizard is also flying towards the Mandarin.

He noticed the guy leave the very secret headquarters and went to go call him an idiot for messing up the Wizard's very well-planned Acts of Vengeance. Yup, this is Wizard's plan and the Mandarin is screwing it up by attacking the Avengers too soon!

Then the Wizard gets tackled by Wonder Man because he wasn't watching his own ass.

The Wizard breaks free, blasting Wonder Man into the ground, while mocking that he wasted time with bluster like all heroes do.

Vision tries to tangle with Wizard next but he also made the mistake of loudly announcing his presence.

You'd think his computer brain would have told him not to do that.

Wizard easily dodges away from Vision's grasp and then Russian reversals by fisting Vision instead of vice versa.

Alas, Vision. Turns out losing your emotions has not made you a more efficient fighter. You get punked basically the same as always.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in California, the Avengers West Coast Compound and specifically Wanda's house.

After getting back from the Quinjet crash, I guess Hank and Wasp just propped Wanda up in a chair and left her to Agatha Harkness to watch.

Because that's where she is.

Propped up catatonic in a chair and being watched by Agatha Harkness.

Agatha Harkness: "*Sigh* It is still no use, Ebony. My former pupil is utterly unresponsive. She has suffered too many traumas in the past few weeks even for her to bear. Her robot husband, kidnapped, dismantled, reprogrammed... Her beloved children revealed as nothing more than figments of her mutant imagination. And, most recently, having her mind stolen from her by the Deviant known as Ghaur, part of his plan to turn her into one of the Brides of..."

I notice you conveniently left out where you magically wiped her memories of ever having children.

And I feel that very well could be related to whatever is going on with her brain.

Agatha.

Anyway, Agatha gets distracted. She feels like someone is coming up to the house but none of the proximity alarms are alarming.

She goes outside and sees no one, not even with her Special Eyes.

(Special magic eyes)

Then the house launches into space, without her.

Surprise, it's Magneto.

(Also surprisingly funny, it's implied that launching a house into orbit was his anti-magic contingency for getting one over on Agatha)

Magneto: "Now it is time for a long delayed reunion. Good afternoon, daughter. What a pity you cannot express your joy on seeing me again."

I don't know that she would if she could.

Although, I guess in the Vision and Scarlet Witch Vol 2, she did sorta reconcile with Magneto.

But in these circumstances, I don't think she'd be thrilled to see him.

Especially considering how he continues that thought.

Magneto: "But soon enough will come a time when you will know joy beyond your wildest dreams! The joy only absolute power can bring!"

Go home, old man.

Anyway, back over in the A-plot, Captain America arrives at Avengers Park in a Quinjet. Hellcat and Black Widow also arrive, but by leaping and swinging over rooftops.

Cap promptly gets shot down by the Mandarin.

Right when he was telling the two to hang back since they don't have superpowers.

Mandarin: "You worry so much about others, Captain... When it is you who are most at hazard!"

Ya burnt.

(Also, c'mon, Cap. Black Widow doesn't have powers, maybe, but Hellcat is wearing a suit that jacks her up to superhuman levels. C'mon with that. C'mon.)

Also, also, god damn, another Quinjet going down? Not to mention all the ones that fell into the ocean when Avengers Island sank? That's a lot of damaged and destroyed Quinjets lately.

This has to be hurting Tony in the bank account.

Mandarin tries to chop Captain America. An honorable death for an honorable foe. I mean sure, he's passed out after a plane crash but definitely an honorable death.

Black Widow and Hellcat jump Mandarin to save Cap. They punk him a bit but he manages to toss them away and blast them.

But this gives Cap enough time to recover and he bonks the Mandarin in the head with his shield.

It makes a WHONG! sound against Mandarin's helmet.

Love a good sound effect.

Captain America: "You must be really tired of being corrected by now, Mandarin... So I won't bother telling you how wrong you are. You're quite bright enough to figure it out for yourself!"

Burned.

The Mandarin uses his rings to freeze Cap's feet in a giant block of ice. And then Wizard swoops in to blast Cap.

Captain America flips out of the way, even with the ice weighing him down.

And Wonder Man recovers enough from his earlier attack on the Wizard to fly in and pop the guy in the noggin.

Even looks like he dented his helmet. Nice.

Mandarin complains that the Wizard's interference ruined his plan, which was clearly going so well before.

Then he gets hit by Mjolnir and his day gets worse.

Vision melts the ice block off of Cap's legs so now the full team of Thor, Black Widow, Wonder Man, Vision, Captain America, and Hellcat confront the Mandarin and the Wizard.

The Mandarin decides 'fuck this, actually', uses his black light ring to befuddle the heroes, and then ditches.

Ditches the Wizard to be caught by the Avengers.

Hah!

They think he's just one small fish in the conspiracy but Wizard loudly insists that he's the mastermind.

Captain America: "And you're going to tell us everything you know. We've deduced this current madness is part of some overall scheme to destroy the Avengers. We also know, courtesy of Cloak and Dagger, that Doctor Doom is somehow behind it all..." Wizard: "Then you know nothing, Captain. Do you really think a blustering charlatan such as Doom could craft a plan so ingenious in its multifarious texturings? This plan is mine, and mine alone! The others who I have recruited to my needs may well believe each move they make is of their own devising... But it is the wondrous Wizard who conceived the scheme... and it is I who shall enjoy the final victory!"

Definitely Loki is scrying this interrogation and laughs at how Wizard thinks he's the mastermind when, actually, Definitely Loki is the one pulling the strings.

But Definitely Loki gets interrupted from his favorite hobby in this event, watching things and being smug about it, by the noise of his pawns (the Prime Movers) bickering again.

Red Skull is yelling at the returned Mandarin for ditching the Wizard. Also, he throws in some racism. Because, Red Skull.

Mandarin shoots back that it was Wizard's own fault he got captured, for being stupid.

Definitely Loki points out that maybe they should spring Wizard before he spills too many beans, out of spite.

The Mandarin takes issue with Definitely Loki's presumption and Kingpin implies that he's the mastermind, confusing Red Skull who thinks he's the mastermind.

But then Doom explodes.

Revealing that the Doom that Red Skull easily punked was a Doombot.

(A very Byrne move)

Doom was never directly involved in this plot. He sent a Doombot because he didn't feel like the scheme was worth his attention.

So when this inevitably falls apart, it doesn't reflect on Doom at all!

Kind of a weak point to end an issue on but I love the drama of Doom blowing up from the earlier tussle, revealing it was just a robot.

Next time, Avengers West Coast #55, Acts of Vengeance concludes.

It has felt very bearable, covering only the Avengers parts.

Follow @essential-avengers. Like and reblog these posts, maybe.

[theprettiest-7]

Manifesting good grades:

Now, this is simple. All you gotta do is live in the end. All you gotta do is affirm, repeat and persist. That's it. Seems way too simple, right? Well, it actually is.

Did you ever study too hard but ended up getting bad grades? Or do you have friends who don't study at all but they end up getting the best grades? This just shows that hard work doesn't give you good results, it's your mindset which is responsible for that. Once you think like you already have the best grades AKA live in the end, it's done. It's all done. You have it all now. That's it. You're God. You decide things in your reality. You don't need to work hard for anything. You can get whatever you want without even lifting a finger.

Doubts:

We're usually brought up to have a mindset that shows that we have to work hard in order to be successful. But now that yk the law and the fact that your mind is responsible for everything, you know that you don't have to exhaust yourself in order to be successful. Don't worry. Don't give af about other things. Live in the end. Affirm, repeat and persist.

Mental health:

We've all experienced stress because of school. Let's face it, it might get really overwhelming at times and the pressure that you have in order to get good grades doesn't help at all. You should know that how you write your answers or how well you do in your exams doesn't matter. It's your mindset that matters. You might study 24/7 and still get bad grades. It's all in your mind. As a student myself, I prefer to not stress over school. I choose to not stress over anything because ik that my mind is responsible for everything that I experience.

Conclusion:

You're God. Your mind is the reason why you have what you have. You're always manifesting. You can never 'not manifest'. Claim your power. Don't stress about your grades. They don't define you but getting good grades is important and ik that very well as I'm a student too. But don't stress yourself, don't overwork yourself. Yk the law so use it to your advantage. I'm not saying that you shouldn't study. You should but don't stress yourself. Life is supposed to be simple. Just because other people who don't know about the law say that life is supposed to be difficult, doesn't mean that you're supposed to follow their steps. You're your own person. You have your life ahead of you. Don't let it go to waste. You're God<3 you have it all now. You have everything under your control and it's scientifically proven that the law exists. Yall can't deny science now, can ya? Lmao

[scienceoftheidiot]

@qs63 keeps feeding me ideas, and thus very serious meta discussion ends up with me having to write a silly fic. Expect this to happen regularly.

Summary :

Roy's a liar and a manipulator, but we have canon examples of him showing he doesn't really like lying or when other people lie, and notably when they do so to themselves. What if.... That makes him horrendously bad at poker?

End is not what I expected but I can't really say I'm sorry.

You can read it under the cut here or over on AO3

The atmosphere in the office was tense.

Or maybe it was just him.

Roy shot a suspicious glance over his hand at the whole party, sat at the table with him.

The office was filled with Havoc's cigarette smoke, and lit brightly by the neons on the ceiling. The whole team sat around the central table, cards and multi coloured chips disorderly spread on the dark wooden surface.

Havoc looked back, his face blank, an arm casually thrown over the back of his chair in his usual laid back manner. His hand that was not holding his cards shot up to his mouth to take the cigarette he'd planted there, shook the cinders in the ashtray he kept near him, then put the cigarette back. He did everything without breaking eye contact, his face betraying nothing.

Breda was munching on bretzels he'd taken out of nowhere, and returned his stare with a raised eyebrow, shaking the piece of bread around.

"Want one, boss?"

Roy shook his head with a frown. Breda better clean off the crumbs he was throwing everywhere on the office meeting table when they'd be done.

Hawkeye and Falman, both at opposite ends, looked incredibly sereine, unfazed by anything. Falman was looking at his hand calmly. Hawkeye gave Roy his glance back with a solicitous "Sir?" and an incredibly deadpan face.

And Fuery, small Fuery, on his left, was sweating buckets, and kept pushing his glasses up his nose.

Roy felt a muscle spasm in his cheek, tugging at his lips.

Havoc let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Take your time, boss. Take all your time. After all, none of us have a girlfriend or family. We can stay here until the end of time and no one will ask about us. We can wait."

"Speak for yourself, Havoc."

"What, Breda, cause you got a beautiful creature waiting for you right now, in your bed, with big –"

"Havoc." Hawkeye tutted without even looking up from her cards.

"Big breasts ain't really my thing," Breda replied with a lot more seriousness than necessary. "Besides, right now, the only thing I want is for our dear Colonel to decide if he will follow or fold so we can finally get to showdown."

Roy, his eyes on his cards, right hand fingers drumming on the table, grumbled.

"Don't be so loud about wanting me, Breda."

"Shut up and play, Colonel. We're all waiting." Hawkeye's face was just about as blank as all of the others.

The only one displaying anything was Fuery, on his left, practically vibrating. He was the next in line to play.

A simple pair of jacks. That was all Roy got. He'd lost all the turns until now. Damn it, he was the boss! He was the youngest Alchemist to ever get the State license! He was smart! He was brave, reckless, even! He never went down, whatever hand he was dealt with! How come he was always defeated by Breda or Hawkeye, no matter what they had in hand?

Falman, too.

In fact, the only one who had, like him, not won any round was Fuery.

Roy shot him a side glance as the Master Sergeant took off his glasses to wipe off the condensation on them.

Roy ran the numbers in his head again. Falman had a pretty good straight at the precedent turn. That was 0,39% in odds, before the first draw. What were the odds, now? Havoc had folded, which meant his hand must have been awful - no figures, nothing. Falman, Breda and Hawkeye had bet. Fuery would probably fold, considering the –

"Come on, Boss, this isn't a fucking game of chess!" Havoc was making big gestures with his arms, ready to light another cigarette.

"Of course it's not, I'd have beaten you up all long ago!"

"Colonel," Hawkeye scolded him. "Stop being a child, and tell us if you follow or if you fold."

"Yeah, Colonel," Breda quipped while picking up a new bretzel. "Well all know you got a shitty hand. Either own it or not, but please free us."

Roy's head jerked up from his hand.

"What? How?"

"You're a terrible liar, sir. And terrible at seeing through us, too."

Havoc snickered at Breda's retort, Falman and Fuery hid their faces behind their cards, and even Hawkeye couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching up for a split second.

Roy scowled, deeply offended.

"I am the best liar in this room. And you all know it."

Hawkeye leaned towards him.

"Of course, sir, in the right context. You're calculating. You can talk anyone out of their wits, seduce them and turn them around like no one else."

Roy frowned at the mocking glance Breda and Havoc exchanged.

"But poker doesn't ask of you to talk and manipulate people with speech. It asks for a pokerface," Hawkeye continued, giving him her best rendition of it.

"I don't think his hand is that bad," she concluded placidly as she turned to Breda, "I think he's got a couple of figures and he's calculating the probabilities for each one of us to have a better game."

Roy scrunched up his nose and opened his mouth, ready to reply. But nothing came out, and he closed his mouth again with a sour scowl. Looked at his hand. And sighed.

"Alright, alright."

He knocked on the table once. He would not fold. He had honour.

"Thank you, sir." Breda said with a flourish. "Fuery?"

Fuery, blinking rapidly, placed his hand down on the table.

"I – folding."

"I'm glad we opted out of the strip poker option," Havoc sneered, and it pulled a short laugh from poor Fuery.

"You were the only one who wanted it, Havoc." Hawkeye said in her usual dry tone.

"No one can be foolish enough to play strip poker against Lieutenant Hawkeye," Falman added, extremely serious.

"Now, now that you say it," Hawkeye frowned, side eyeing Roy, who felt a sudden wave of warmth climb up his nape, "Maybe this is what we should have done, so I could be kept up on how that scar's healing, sir."

Hawkeye. Good old Hawkeye, throwing her lines like a bucket of ice cold water onto his head, as usual.

"None of your business, Lieutenant."

"I'm your bodyguard, sir. If I want to do my job properly I have to assess your health. Be sure you won't start limping if we ever need to make for a quick cover."

"I do not –"

"Right, showdown," Breda interrupted, just as Roy's hand uncontrollably shot down to the top of his right thigh, where a bullet had grazed a week before.

"You got hurt, sir?" Fuery piped, oblivious of the dark look Roy threw at him for keeping Riza focused on him this way, and the glare Breda and Havoc shot him for yet again derailing from the game.

"Yeah, during the operation last week," Riza stated in a slightly too formal voice as she showed her hand. Three of a kind, queens. "He managed to hide it until I saw him limp around the day after," she added with a scowl, avoiding Roy's annoyed looks.

"It was just a scratch," Roy grumbled, his mood plummeting yet lower when Breda uncovered a flush in hearts.

Falman showed a pair of tens with a sheepish smile.

"I tried," he said, pushing his chips towards Breda.

Roy groaned and hid his face behind his right hand as he showed his cards.

He groaned yet lounder when Fuery quipped from over his shoulder : "Oh, I had a pair of kings !"

"That's it, I'm done," Roy pushed all his chips and cards towards Breda. "This game is only about luck. There is no skill and no honour in winning at poker."

"No honour, maybe, but you owe me a hundred cenz, boss," laughed Breda as he grabbed the chips and counted them. "And I won two rounds with less than what you had on your current hand."

"Pokerface, boss! Gotta work on yours." Havoc clapped Roy's back.

"Work on being a better loser, too, maybe?" Breda snatched the couple of notes Roy was handing him. "At least Fuery is gracious about it."

Roy got up with another groan, leaning on his closed fists on the table.

"I should have you sacked, the lot of you."

"Nah, boss, you'd miss us."

"Everyone's so fond of you, where else would you get your reality check?"

Roy glared at Havoc. The line was very fine between playful banter and insubordination, and he and Breda were currently doing somersaults over it.

"Clean this all and get out, before I snap."

The two of them sneered, but did as they were ordered, picking up the cards and chips. Falman and Fuery cleaned where they'd sat, pushing their chairs in place. All of them saluted and bid the others – and their boss – good night before they took their leave.

Hawkeye took her time, turning around the central table to look for forgotten chips or bretzel crumbs, checking some papers on her own desk that didn't need to be checked, before she walked towards Roy's desk, where he'd retreated to sulk in peace.

He observed her little game from the corner of his eye until she stopped in front of him.

She placed something he'd seen her retrieve from her desk drawer in front of him.

One painkiller and one antibiotic. When had she taken those from him, already?

"Oh, so that's why I played so bad. Drugging our superior, are we, Lieutenant?"

"I wish. You should have taken those two hours ago."

Roy's first impulse was to tell her to get lost, still grumpy as he was to have been made to look like a fool in front of his subordinates. Then he remembered. All those years ago, he'd pushed the same pills in her hand. And when she couldn't herself, he'd pushed them through her lips, and held her head for her to drink some water to swallow. He'd done that for days. Watched her sleep, guilt and fear for this girl he in fact barely knew gnawing at his brain. He hoped he would never have to do it again, but if he had to, he would.

That instantly wiped any offended ego feelings off his mind. Who was he to push her away when she wanted to show the same concern?

Roy shrugged, but he grabbed the pills, and gulped them down, using what remained of cold coffee in a cup that was lying around his desk. Hawkeye went on, sitting on the desk, while he winced – that coffee had been older than he thought.

"And no, I don't think you lost because of this, and pain is no excuse either – you might not lie to people or even yourself that well, and I know you don't like it, but where pain is concerned I know you can be stubborn enough to forget it."

"That bad, uh?"

Hawkeye had left her pokerface behind – her subtle expressions might not be noticeably different for the untrained eye, but Roy'd had years to train. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, and her mouth imperceptibly curved upwards.

He smiled in return.

"That bad. Please do not play poker ever again. It was awful."

"Oh, not gonna happen, Lieutenant. I don't like to lose."

"Oh, really? Didn't notice." Hawkeye saluted, the small smile not leaving her lips. "Good night, Colonel."

She turned around and went to leave, but Roy called her.

"Hawkeye?"

She turned back.

"Sir?"

"The wound is alright. Cleaned and closed and supervised. Don't worry, please."

"Take your antibiotics, sir."

"Promise, Lieutenant. Good night."

"Good night."

[aita-blorbos]

WIBTA if I decided to leave my siblings?

I'd ask you to read the full post before deciding, but the crux of the matter really lies in the title.

I (17m) have a lot of siblings, but right now I'm specifically talking about the three I was raised with. (in age order: A is 17m, K is 15m, and D is 13m. Relevant also are G, 18F, and her/our mom, E, 50s?F. E has more of our siblings but they're not relevant here.)

A, K, D, and I were all raised by our dad (762M). He wasn't even supposed to /be/ our dad -- we were given to him by our biological (kind of, we're all test tube babies) father as repayment for something he'd stolen. He was /supposed/ to give back the thing or some money or something but, nope, toddlers. Our dad kept us as his anyway and he really did do his best. He was a famously dangerous type but he spent who knows how much money on dealing with A's scandals without ever saying anything about it, he stopped wearing leather because D wanted to sit by him but the sound bothered him, he taught all of us the skills of the trade, he fully funded all of our hobbies, whatever. Hell, when I finally told him I'd been going farther from home than I was supposed to and met some of our other siblings, he was upset, sure, but he gave me permission to leave the city and invited them to come by pretty much whenever they wanted. The associates who knew him before we showed up claim that we made him soft, and I believe it.

Doesn't mean he was a perfect dad, we got in a huge fight about some of my issues with him the last time we talked, but none of it was ever /that/ serious. I would take the fight back if I could.

So with that context, he died recently. None of us were expecting it, it was very sudden and violent, but my siblings (the ones I met last year) and I accidentally got involved in this whole mess of stuff regarding our bio dad's world domination plans or whatever and dad just.... died. For us, which makes it extra rough.

According to K, I apparently just shut down so bad G had to pick me up and carry me out and I then I cried so hard I threw up. I really don't remember, so he could be lying, but E immediately put on the whole stern mom voice about how it wasn't kind to make fun of me for that, so. K and A are also trying really hard to insist that he's still alive, but they didn't see him die, /I/ did, and G agreed there's no chance he's still alive but they won't believe me on it.

We've been living at E's place ever since.

And I don't know, I just don't feel like I can do anything else here. D got freaked out by something and nearly took out G's eye and she handled it so well that he's been following her around like a puppy since. (Not exaggerating. E and I still haven't been able to get the blood out of the carpet). Meanwhile A made ONE comment about me not having loved our father enough or something and I got so nasty with him that we're not on speaking terms right now.

I don't know what exactly it would help if I left, but it's not as if they would be ALONE. A has hit it off really well with one of our siblings and they've declared themselves bonded brothers and spend all of their time together. D is pretty much ignoring everyone else in favour of G and she's endlessly patient with him, so he'll do fine. K found out E still knows all our genetic codes by memory (from helping to create us) and has been pestering her about it, plus he's started some kind of friendly engineering competition with another one of our siblings. It's just me that's not settling in, and having more of us makes us more difficult to hide. E kept her kids entirely away from our creator until last year and he still doesn't know how to find them when he wants to, but she has a lot less resources than our dad had.

[ramrage]

God, I'm going to fucking kill myself i swear to fucking god. I don't know how I could've fucked my morning any more than I already fucking have. Here, let me detail to you how I am a fucking incompetent idiot:

Phone fucking shut off in the middle of the night so I get woken up an hour late. Shit's not turning on so I scramble to my laptop to tell my boss about the situation. This is perhaps the one thing that is not my fault, but tbh the list on such things starts and ends here

I decide that as it would lead me to being an hour late at least, it'd be better if I worked from home and so I let my boss know that my phone fucking shat itself and as such I'll be working from home lest I be terribly late. because that would be annoying right? well this was the wrong move, for anyone who is in a similar situation. he says something to the effect of "okay whatever you can work from home but not sure how a broken phone necessitates this"a nd like. whatever. fair. i could've. it wouldve been a bit more difficult since i have my train tickets on my phone but i could by more in person and then id be phoneless throughout the day and ideally id fix this shit asap but i dont have to

we're working on this post, which should've been entirely resolved and ready to go this morning, but i sent him the wrong copy for the post which we had discussed last night, so he was like wtf no dont you remember the change? and ugh. yes. i do. i did. belatedly. strike one.

then he wants to tag companies associated with the post except for one company. im fucking frazzled by my completely stupid fuck up and misread it as "tag companies associated with the post LIKE that one company" which struck me as odd since they're apparently weird about us posting about them. whatever. so i go through and list all the companies and send it his way to get an okay, but he's like. write out the company names properly. and this part is just a misunderstanding because the names will correct to the company's page name so it doesn't matter, but i guess he didn't know this which is fine and given my idiot fuckup not moments prior, a reasonable concern

i explain this, fine, and send him a screenshot of the drafted post with the tagged companies. including the one he said to not tag. fuck. now he's pissed like, i literally said to tag everyone /but/ them are you even paying attention. it would appear as if im not. what strike are we on now?

i correct that. he asks me to tag another company, which i do. turns out i didn't tag one of the /other/ companies that i had sent in the shorthand list and now he's fucking PISSED sending in all caps that i need to proof my work and that this post shouldn't be taking 30 minutes. absolutely correct, sir, it should not. i don't even know what to tell you at this point.

like holy shit. this was fucking brutal. i dont think i have ever been so fucking off my shit, and it was fucking THING after THING you would assume that after the first gaff, i'd be extra sensitive to making my list and checking it several fucking times over, but im just, fucking frazzled and i know we wanted this up before the start of the work day ideally so I'm rushing, and i already fucked up with the whole going in thing, which i honestly dont do much because i am scheduled to come in only twice a week and have somehow been managing to get sick on those days and i feel fucking awful that it looks like im probably playing hookie and shit because come on most people hardly miss work and they're there more often i just.

i used to be able to believe in my capabilities, at least a little bit, but im fucking up this ridiculously easy shit like what the hell. and its not in ways that seem to be entirely out of character for me. like, am i always going to be this fucking way? no. i dont have to be. i could put in the two fucking ounces of effort to get better, to improve myself, but i don't. for example, instead of making up shit to do, im writing this fucking sob story about something that probably doesnt even fucking matter that much and definitely isn't a big issue compared to the quotidien horrid shit people encounter.

an aside, as an honest assessment, i don't have much to do at this job which i guess is nice, but it makes me feel so useless and unnecessary. part of the reason i was more eager to just, work from home. obviously it's more comfortable for me, but i feel like im wasting my time and everyone's time and their water and tea and whatever, because im just taking up space and at least i dont have to pretend im busy if im home and i can get food and not be hunger braindead like i am when im there because im too normally-braindead to leave and get fucking food. like an idiot.

i need to get a new fucking job. i can't fucking come in next week (again, only work two days a week because this is a fucking pity job that i only landed because my dad likes networking, like a sociopath) like how do i face fucking anyone. just sit there like a stupid little bimbo looking nepo pity hire, the fucking child in the kitchen that you allow to tear bread into breadcrumbs because it's fine if they fuck it up, which they will, but it's something you can deal with because it doesn't fucking matter anyhow.

i feel like such a burden despite just sitting there. i am so fucking embarrassed and pissed i fucking. ugh. i

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (760): Tue 16th Apr 2024

Today was supposed to be the day that I Was going to take Lucy to the vets for an operation to have her remaining teeth removed which the vets warned me she could die from. However I decided that I'd rather not have my heart shatter into a million pieces and so instead today Lucy and I spent most of the afternoon in the back garden where she soaked in the sun on the grass while I read more of Philip K Dick's Voices From The Street. I've been agonising over this decision ever since Lucy and I left the vet's office. I kept trying to reassure myself that as professionals they would take good care of her while she was under but a phone conversation with my sister awakened me to the fact that I was just trying to delude myself and that if we did take her in for the operation she probably wouldn't come back and even if she did she would have to live the remainder of her life with no fucking teeth which would be hell for her. The main reason I changed my mind on the operation was because i had this recurring vision in my head of me signalling to Lucy that we were going out for a walk and her excitedly sitting still while I put her leash on and then hopping out ther door not knowing that this might be the last time she leaves the house. I know that the picture the vets painted wasn't good but she never outright said that she is in pain she just said if she is in pain it might get to the point that she starts refusing to eat food but if she was in pain she'd constantly be yelping and crying all the time so I don't think it's that bad. Plus she doesn't seem to have a problem with the dental sticks I give her every day and ever since I started giving her these tablets the vet gave me (whatever they are) her breath has started to smell normal again. All this considered what she had was probably just a mild infection that has now fucked off. We're not sure how old Lucy is exactly but we're guessing roughly around fifteen so we're not sure how long she might have left with us. I'd hate it if I'd have cut short her life for something that turned out couldn've been treated relatively easily. I know that I might be being cruel and selfish by going against the vets orders but I just can't bring myself to go through with it. Lucy is my pal and I want her around for as long as possible. 

Voices From The Street is a great installment in Philip K Dick's early bibliography. Although it's not a science fiction story that doesn't really matter because the main character of Stuart Hadley, the grittiness of the story and the mood Dick creates for it which I would compare to the feeling you get when you read a novel by Kafka or a film by David Lynch makes this an emmensly enjoyable read. I really empathise with the main character Stuart Hadley who is convinced there is something missing in his life that he just hasn't bumped into yet and is frustrated because he's actively trying everything that he thinks could be his saving grace but nothing seems to fit. It's strange to me that Dick decided to exclusively write science fiction novels because he was incredibly gifted at realistic character study type books where he just lets you spend time with one or more of the characters he's created and let's you get a feel for them and make up your own mind about whether they are good or bad. In my opinion he could have made a good living writing these kinds of stories but obviously I'm glad he got bitten by whatever bug that pushed him in the sci-fi direction or else we never would have gotten Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

[igiveanf]

Keep Trying

My oldest son was cutting some paper when the scissors slipped and split the fabric on our couch wide open.

This wasn't the first time, and I hate to say it, but it probably won't be the last either. Accidents happen, and honestly with three boys, they tend to happen a little more frequently than I would prefer. (It's the reason Graham and I don't own expensive furniture yet).

Right away I got the needle and thread out to fix the cushion the best that I could. I'm not a sewer but I can navigate the basics fairly well, and I knew I needed to get it done quickly.

I've parented three boys long enough to know that if I didn't sew it up fast, one of my boys was bound to pull on it and make it even worse. If left for too long, I wouls soon be in need of a new couch.

The only needle I could find was so tiny it made threading very difficult. I tried and tried and tried, but still I couldn't get it threaded. My husband came in the room and tried as well but he couldn't get it either.

My youngest son watched as I tried again and again and again and still didn't have success. He wanted to help too so he suggested I dip the thread in water, which I did a number of times, but still it didn't work.

I thought about giving up. My middle son even suggested it out loud. The temptation to quit came just as I could feel the frustration building within me but for some reason, the longer I failed at threading that needle, the more motivated I became to do it.

Rather than open the door to frustration and let it convince me to quit, I decided to preservere. I made the choice, in that moment of temptation, that I would persist for however long it took me, no matter what. I was determined to thread that needle.

We all know the expression; 'if at first you don't succeed then try, try again' but in this case the tries needed to be multiplied by at least ten. Truthfully, it felt as if I had tried a hundred times.

It took me thirty minutes to get that thread through the needle but I finally did it, and when I did, the sense of accomplishment I felt was so much bigger than it would have ever been, had I gotten it in on only the first or second attempt.

The whole family cheered and as I sewed that tare, I couldn't help but see how much we all love to celebrate success. It's in our nature to be happy for others, especially when weve witnessed them fail over and over agin.

The longer someone takes to succeed, the more we cheer for them and the more we want to celebrate with them when they do. Persistence is inspirational. Watching it teaches us that not giving up is so important.

The whole experience got me thinking; most people don't actually achieve their goal after the first or second try. If you research some of the most amazing inventions, you'll discover that many of the greats behind them, had a perseverance beyond human understanding. They tried thousands of times before they ever came close to achieving their goal, and their secret to success was that they never gave up trying.

I wonder how many times someone told Thomas Edison to throw in the towel. I wonder how many times he thought about quitting himself. I'm certain that at some point the temptation to quit was big enough to in the least, entertain the thought.

January is on the horizon. With that comes a new year, and many times, new goals. Among those are weight loss goals, health goals, financial goals and so on. The average new years resolution lasts only seventeen days.

To ensure your success, it's important to remember that whatever you set out to achieve, you may have to try more than once in order to achieve it. You may even have to keep trying after nine failed attempts.

It doesn't make you less than if it takes multiple tries, it makes you human. We all have seasons where it feels like nothing we try is working but if we keep trying, we're bound to win.

In order to achieve your next goal, what you'll need most are perseverance and the wisdom to never stop trying, even when the temptation to quit beacons; and it absolutely will. When it does, know this; that even if you don't get to your goal after the first or second or tenth attempt, so long as you keep trying, you will get there.

And guess what? The failed attempts are never truly fails because rather than fail, you'll learn; you'll simply learn how not to do it and then you'll learn how to do it.

If you can keep your chin up, keep getting back up and have relentless perseverance and determination, you absolutely will get there, and the celebration will be so much bigger because it took you a few more tries.

My hope for you is that you won't give up trying. My hope is that if at first or second or tenth, you don't succeed, you'll keep trying until you do because if so, you absolutely will.

So, as you set out to embrace a new year and a new goal remember this; success is only a guarantee, if stopping is not an option.

Decide not to stop, even if the needle you're holding seems impossible to thread, because I promise you this; you will get there if you just keep trying, that's the only magic pill that works.

KEEP TRYING!

You got this.

[casspurrjoybell-29]

Healing Ties - Chapter 19 - Part 2

*Warning Adult Content*

A few weeks of life after being purchased was a particularly grim fate for a Companion but at a certain point was living longer any better?

And yet, a new reality was standing in front of him.

One in which Danya looked alive and healthy and far more confident in himself than he ever had been at the House.

Fanner dropped his gaze as he did his best to wrangle his emotions back in and his eyes landed on the strange, furry child.

He was clutching at the hem of Danya's shirt, watching Fanner with reserved curiosity.

"Who's this?"

"Oh, yes," Danya placed an arm around the boy's shoulders.

"This, this, is Jasper. My son."

"Oh," was all Fanner could think to say to that.

Danya laughed.

"Adopted, of course. It's a long story. Jas, this is your Uncle Fanner."

For a moment panic flooded Fanner's gut because how did he know and what else did he know and... and... and then he realised that Danya hadn't meant 'uncle' literally.

They had always considered themselves like brothers.

Fanner hesitated.

Should he tell Danya the truth?

Fanner had thought Danya was dead.

He hadn't had the chance to think this over yet.

But... Danya should know this.

Maybe other things as well because he was also a part of this whole mess in a way but for now Fanner wanted him to at least know this one thing.

"Um, we are actually," Fanner said.

When Danya looked confused, Fanner clarified.

"Brothers, I mean. Real brothers. Or, well, real half brothers. We have the same mother. Mr Burrows told me after we thought you died."

Danya let out a slow breath and took a moment to just look at Fanner.

"You know, I always would have told you that it doesn't matter whether or not we're related by blood. That I love you like my brother regardless. But now that I know... it does matter. Not in making me love you any more or les but... it matters."

"That maybe explains some things," Yore said.

"He has some unusual aspects to his magic. Although, we always thought yours came from your father being a Soldier, didn't we? But you share a mother."

Yore's eyes cut to Fanner and he frowned slightly.

Could he hear the sudden increase in Fanner's heart rate?

Fanner should have kept everything to himself because he knew the answers to these questions and now he would have to deliberately withhold them or tell them everything and he wasn't ready to tell them everything.

Danya looked at Fanner.

"Unusual aspects? You never told me anything about that."

"Well you didn't tell me about yours either."

"I know. I was in the same situation so I don't blame you one bit. Being different at the House was a scary thing. Will you tell me about it now?"

"Well, I..."

How little could he get away with revealing? Yore already knew some things.

"I have this thing. It's called energy shaping. I can control energy... move it around... so I can keep myself balanced."

"It's a bit more than that," Yore said.

"He pulled energy out of me and knocked me out for a few minutes. He didn't know I was trying to help him at that point so I don't blame him for it but it certainly was something."

"Huh," Danya said. "I can't do anything like that."

"It doesn't matter," Fanner said.

"I'm not going to do it ever again. I don't need to be balanced so you don't have to worry about me but that's all."

"You're much more assertive than you used to be. That's good. And I don't want to undermine that but..." Danya heaved out a sigh.

"I feel like you're in the same place I was when I first got my freedom. I felt like I could only be a Companion, that I only wanted to be a Companion, that everything else I could do was bad and shameful. You can be whatever you want to be now, Fanner."

Fanner stared straight ahead, at the side of one of the cabins.

"I want to be a Companion."

"Ultimately that's for you to decide but we're going to keep talking about this, okay? I don't want you to make that decision out of fear and I can see that you're scared."

Fanner wanted to say no, that he didn't want to talk about it or even think about it, that he wanted to push that part of himself deep inside where it couldn't hurt anyone else or be used to hurt him.

Instead, he nodded.

"Fanner," Yore said and Fanner looked up.

"I really need to get going. Will you be okay?"

"Yes, I... Thank you for..."

There were so many things Fanner wanted to thank Yore for but none of them were materialising into words in his mind.

"Thank you."

Yore gave him a gentle smile.

"You'll be fine."

Fanner nodded, though he didn't feel so sure.

"Oh, before I go..." Yore said to the others.

"There's this strange creature that we met at The Inn that's been following Fanner around. Grey, hairless, generally unpleasant to look at. She has no eyes, ears or nose but somehow has sharper senses than I do. She's harmless and her name is Cookie. Fanner has made friends with her and she seems to be quite protective of him, so make sure if anyone sees her they don't scare her off or hurt her."

"You know, when you started telling us that there's a scary monster that's been following Fanner, that's not where I expected you to end up," Hamish commented.

"I'd hope everyone knows not to initiate violence against any creature that doesn't start it, regardless of how it looks but I'll make sure everyone knows," Danya assured Yore.

"Thanks. I'll try to come and visit in a few days, Fanner."

"Wait," Fanner said as Yore turned to leave.

As soon as Yore turned back around, Fanner wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug.

"Thank you."

Yore hugged him back and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

"You'll be fine."

As Yore started to walk away, Hamish called out to him.

"Hey Yore, can I get a kiss on my head too? Or anywhere, really. I'm not picky."

Yore didn't acknowledge him.

[ashtcnirwin]

excuse me, i'm just gonna jot down some post-tour/-trip musings, mainly for myself tbh, i don't think any of it is gonna be interesting to anyone else

that sounds very negatively loaded, doesn't it? it's not, it's just random thoughts about misc tour-/trip-related things

i'm so fucking grateful that we ended up doing the london show despite having decided pre-tour date drop to avoid london if we could. not only was it my second favourite show i attended on this tour but i also finally got a chance to meet leesh in person after ten fucking years of knowing each other and it was amazing. and also the o2 was overall an amazing venue. like, i knew it was iconic ofc but i didn't know it was this whole thing with a damn shopping mall and food places and bars and whatnot inside the building itself. it was also just a very pleasant venue to be at tbh, like it was spacious and the air quality was good and the lines were never horrific for anything we needed

english love affair was the dice song i desperately wanted to see performed at least once. i got it three times and it was perfect cos i got the first ever live performance of it, i got what very well might be the last ever live performance of it, and i got it in london

in hindsight, i'm thoroughly astounded that neither me nor amanda succumbed to exhaustion in any way at any point, cos we were going full speed for almost two weeks, we both got sick, we were constantly going from one place to another, always having somewhere we needed to be, be it a train station or an airport or a show, often running on very little or straight up no sleep, and occasionally on less than ideal types of food. and despite all that, we managed to do what we set out to do, which was to not waste a single moment and see and experience as much as we could in every place we went to, and we did it without fighting or even arguing unless a couple of small disagreements that were settled by compromise within five minutes count. i don't think there's another person on earth i could have done something like that with without losing my will to live at some point. that includes my boyfriend, tho admittedly that's mainly because he would've been miserable on that type of trip

sorta related to the previous point: i've experienced it before with other people but it's always interesting to me how certain types of situations/experiences/whatever will truly bring out people's strengths and weaknesses. and in mine and amanda's cases, it seems that we balanced each other extremely well on that front, like...my weaknesses were her strengths and vice versa. which ig isn't that much of a surprise when i think about it and what we're like as people but it never occurred to me beforehand, it's something i'm only realising now

i really wonder what happened with the soundcheck schedule in budapest cos in the email i got, it said that check-in started at 3pm, so we got there a little before 3, at which point it turned out that check-in had started at the normal 1:30pm time, which we only found out by chance really. kinda tempted to send funcode hungary an email and ask, not cos it matters but cos i'm curious

our hotel in manchester had one of those bathrooms that's basically just a glass cube. thankfully it was frosted glass but there was no real door, just a stall door type of thing, like there were gaps at the top and bottom, and it also didn't lock or anything, and tbh it wasn't as much a problem as it was just really fucking funny but alsoooo amanda made a comment about how awkward it would be if two coworkers were sharing that room and i don't remember which one of us said that heyyyy that's some solid ficspo but bottom line is that i wanna write that fic

more of a not-entirely-positivity-loaded note to myself to keep in mind in the future than an actual musing: the mental toll it takes on me to be "trapped" in my spot in the pit between soundcheck and the actual show is severe enough that i don't think i wanna do it again. or, no, i wanna do soundcheck and i wanna do pit, but i don't wanna do the thing where i go in for soundcheck and stay rooted in my spot for the rest of the night. had i been a little taller, it probably would've been 100% worth it cos in terms of distance to the stage it's fucking great to be row 4-5-6, but the thing is that while i had an amazing time at the shows i did soundcheck at this round, i'm of very average height, which essentially means that to have a good view in the pit, i either have to be row 1, 2 or 3, or far enough back that i can easily see over everyone's heads. or be extremely lucky and have the people in front of me be 5'1'' or shorter ig. so being row 4-5-6 mostly leads to a constant struggle to see anything, which is exhausting and annoying

[the1975attheirverybest]

I hate that swifties just turned against Joe without any actual evidence and when the pictures of him looking rough came out, they were celebrating and going after his looks (like they are doing with Matty) and it made me want to punch them (not literally) and I'm not part of the fandom at all, it simply was trending on twitter and checked what happened. And now recently they've been putting Matty against Joe and while the majority is hyping Joe up again simply because they hate Matty, the ones who prefer Matty instead also get on my nerves because they are like "he's problematic but at least he displays affection publicly" and the reason why that upsets me so much is because everyone likes really shy introverts when they need someone they can trust but then suddenly we're "cold" and "too reserved" and "should change" the minute we're no longer useful and seeing those tweets just makes me so fucking sad because I am so quiet in public and I really don't do the whole PDA thing but my heart is feeling with love for the people I'm close with and I sympathize with how Joe must be feeling. There was a video going around of Joe at her show and you can see the heart eyes filled with emotion but you can also see that he's so shy and anxious about being in public.

And people being like "she deserves more" has broken my heart. it just triggered something in me. Everyone who's just a little bit like Joe knows the feeling of dating an extrovert or simply someone with a lot of friends and trying so hard to overcome our limitations and still seeing our efforts being ignored. And then people acting like Taylor did him a huge favor for dating him because in their heads "no way she'd be truly happy with someone like that"... We're not all bad, we've got our flaws but we deserve love too and we've got a lot of love to give... (sorry this is more like a personal rant)

As the self-appointed queen of introverts, I completely agree with you. In fact, now you're making me wonder if that's the reason I like joe? haha. I had never psychoanalyzed my soft spot for him, but, when you mentioned the videos of Joe standing in the audience and watching Taylor, you reminded me of a moment from my teens when we were at some big family party and...well, I get anxious asking the Barista for a straw at starbucks, I'm not a dancer. So, I was just kind of in the corner, clapping. much like Joe is in that clip, still having a good time in my own lil way, and my mom came up to me and gave me this whole ass speech about how I don't know how to have fun, lol.

BUT, whatever the swifties or Joe haters say, the facts speak for themselves. Fact: This has been Taylor's longest ever relationship. Fact: she literally wrote him a song that says "people think loves for show but i would die for you in secret." Is that not the best response to these idiots? Fact: she said she'd give him a child if he wanted. Does that sound like someone who isn't truly happy? Fact: one of her songs promises to marry him with paper rings even though she "likes shiny things." If the literary scholars who analyze every single word she writes and its meanings are ignoring these facts, it's because they're looking for someone to hate. Doesn't matter. Taylor and Joe know the love that they shared.

In fact, I'm feeling kind of the opposite haha. people are hating on joe's introverted nature now that he's left Taylor, but im enjoying Matty's weird nervousness around her friends now that he's enter her space. Sure he's sweet when he dances and wears her merch, but what's more important is that he's unsure and out of his element but trying his best anyway. which is how I feel in all social situations hahahaha.

everyone is just trying to get through this miserable life giving love and hoping to receive it in return. why would we make things extra hard on each other by comparing partners or deciding what Taylor should value or whatever? its dumb and pointless and breeds misery.