#( jordan wake

[danothan]

my friend @/bugpun04 (IG) drew my superblorbs, i’m so lucky to have the friends that i do ;__; 💞

[nicklesbam]

Hii:) can i request Jordan Li x Marie Moreau x fem!reader confessing their feelings after they wake up in the same bed in ep5

ofc!! it’s gonna be changed a bit

TW: swearing, sexual assault, fluff

I awoke with sunlight shining down on me. I groaned and moved onto my side when suddenly my eyes opened wide in shock. Two arms were wrapped around me, one from Jordan Li and the other from Marie Moreau. I covered my mouth in shock, i have two of the hottest people in bed with me which by the way… whose bed is this?

I look around and I don’t recognize a single thing. I look down at the two confused. I mean I’ve always had a thing for the both of them but how did this happen? I didn’t think they even liked me at all, maybe they still don’t. Suddenly the door opens and it’s Andre and Cate. They stutter over their words in disbelief and hurried out waking the other two

‘Oh shit’

“Uh hey” Jordan spoke first awkwardly

“Hey..” Marie follows. I awkwardly look to both of them making very awkward eye contact. They quickly turn on each side of the bed and hurry to put their clothes on, can’t say I blame them. I laid there with a sheet covering myself and awkwardly avoided looking at the two of them as they got dressed

“Uhm here, I think these are yours” Marie hands me a skirt and a cropped long sleeved black shirt, she also handed me my underwear and bra. I gave a sheepish smile

“Thanks” and took them. I started changing into my clothes on the bed in a hurry so they wouldn’t be done before me. A long beat of silence deafens the room until Marie turns around

“Look this is going to sound super fucked up and weird but I don’t remember what happened last night” Marie says awkwardly avoiding eye contact. Jordan breathes a breath of relief

“Oh my god, neither do I” they both turn to me and I just shake my head as to say ‘me neither’

“Oh… where the fuck are we?” Marie looks around

“I’ve been trying to figure that out” I speak up finally. Marie turns awkwardly to look over at me and Jordan

“Did we..?” She looked to Jordan and me. Jordan looked to me and started to smile at me and Marie. Jordan’s smile was contagious as both me and Marie started smiling

We finally got fully dressed and while me and Jordan went to find cate and Andre, Marie went alone to find Emma. We found Cate and Andre already smoking, they looked so relaxed but I couldn’t feel more of the opposite

As they talked I zoned out until I decided to go out for some fresh air. I got up to leave

“Where are you going?” Jordan asked, a tiny bit of sadness in his tone

“Just going for a walk, get some fresh air. I’ll be back” with that I left and walked somewhat through the woods. What I didn’t know is Andre teased Jordan about being ‘clingy’

I’ve liked Jordan since I started at GodU freshman year. They were a sophomore and sure they were deemed as ‘cold’ but every interaction I’ve had with them has been very nice and sweet. I started to like Marie since I saw her in the dorms of our first day. I was walking to professor Brinks office as another professors TA when I saw Jordan talking with Marie, at first I was jealous but then I saw her and how brave she was for talking to Brink the way she did

I didn’t know what to say to the two but I guess the words will come at the right moment. I walk back to the house to see them all standing outside

“Oh hey Emma” I smile at the girl, Marie looked confused and looked between us

“You two know each other?” She asks. I smile and chuckle

“We bumped into each other on the first day and got to know each other. It’s very good to see you again” I turn towards the girl again. She smiles and while she may look a little disheveled, she still looks beautiful

“Hey y/n, it’s great to see you too” I could feel someone looking at me, more like two people looking. I look up to see Jordan, male presenting and Marie both looking at me with.. jealousy? nope, no way. I’m being delusional

After some conversation of basically all of us saying we don’t remember anything that happened last night..or for the past couple of days, I pull my phone out to see multiple notifications. I look on TikTok and there are multiple videos of a party where we’re all tagged. I sat on a couch next to Jordan and across from us sat Cate and Andre

Suddenly this girl pans the screen over to Marie and Jordan kissing, I look at it confused on where I come in. Suddenly Jordan breaks away from Marie and pulls me into a kiss touching wherever they could. Marie came from behind and started leaving kisses on my jaw down to my neck

Pink spread all across my cheeks as I locked my phone again. I look up to Jordan to see they’re already looking at me, I look away quickly as my face turns to a deeper red. Andre and Cate stare at the interaction almost laughing. I sighed as I brought my feet up close

“So..you guys don’t remember either?” I looked up to the two. Cate shakes her head

“Nope” Andre sounds, popping the ‘P’

A kid in a robe holding a blinder walks out. Jordan grabbed him by the arm tightly

“Fuck you do to us dusty?!” The drink in the blender spills a bit. I hold my hand out in reaction

“Hey Jordan! He’s just a kid” I try to reason. Andre speaks up

“Dusty’s like 28” he says it like it’s the most casual thing which at this point, is. He says something pervertedly stupid then Cate speaks up

“I think I know who did this” she looks up quickly then down at her phone again. She turns her phone as we all gather around

“Rufus was here last night” was all she had to say to send me into a spiral

“Fuck” was all I could say. Jordan turns to me confused

“Shit, of course it’s him” Marie spoke, I turned to her quizzically

“Why?” Andre questioned. Marie swallowed thickly

“I sort of..blew his dick off” I take a look of surprise on my face and turn to her. She looked to me nervously

“Well damn, wish I could’ve done it. Well done Marie!” I laugh towards the end and she gave a nervous chuckle. Andre was full on laughing with me and we got sent into a spiral. After a few seconds we calm down

“So what you’re saying is that Rufus has to piss sitting down forever. Did you do it on purpose?” It took everything in me not to laugh but as Andre spoke, his voice trembles from holding in his laughs

“No, it was an accident. I’m not even sure how I did it” she looked between all of us, Jordan spoke after

“He fucking deserved it” I turn around and take a breath blocking everything else out. After everything that he had done I hoped a bus would’ve at least hit him by now, might have to do it myself

After we all sat down Cate revealed what that fucker did to her and I’ve never been more angry in my life, well actually yeah I have. After we decided to go after Simon we split into two groups. It was me, Jordan, and Marie while Andre was already gone. Cate had went to find Andre

While we were on the lookout for Simon, Jordan was the first to bring up the elephant in the room

“So about last night-“ I cut them off

“Look I’m going to say something and I need you two to listen and answer me when I’m done” I spoke quickly. They both looked a little surprised at my burst of confidence. I took a deep breath before speaking again

“I like you- both of you. I know we don’t remember what happened last night or, I guess the past couple of days but anyways. I’ve had a crush on you,” I looked to Jordan while they listened intently, “since I started here and you,” it was Marie’s turn now, “since I saw you talking to Jordan and brink” I took another deep breath. It felt amazing to get it off my chest

“Did you guys feel anything?” I looked up nervously, all my confidence depleted. They both smiled, Jordan’s smile, a half smirk almost made me melt on the spot

“Well I mean I wasn’t gonna say anything but… yeah” Marie smiled, her cheeks flushing a bit pink. She turned to Jordan, her interest peaked at their reaction. After they saw we were both looking to them, they put on that confident facade we all know

“Pfft, maybe” they puffed air out and looked away with a smile, I could see their cheeks were tinted a deep red. I smiled and chuckled

“Ok well,” I walked to Jordan, grabbed their cheeks, and kissed them with all the passion I could after holding in my feelings for so long, “did that help decide anything?” They cleared their throat after standing up straight

“Yes” they smiled brightly

sorry that took so long guys, lmk if there’s anything you see that I can improve on or yk let me know if you liked it. thank you babes

[onyour-right]

Y'all, I don't know what made Gen V writers think they had the right to hurt me this badly. PLEASE, WHAT WAS THIS EPISODE??? The way this episode tugged at my heartstrings was unforgiveable.

My precious baby girl Cate, she did many things wrong but at the same time did absolutely nothing wrong and I need for her to know that. Her mother was trash to the core & needs to choke. What she needs now is a good ole hug and some hot cocoa because the way she must have been suffering all those years knowing so much and having nobody to tell... I'm glad she now has Marie. Also, now that she's off those pill blockers or whatever they were, the full range of her powers is gonna be immenseeee.

Jordannnnnn my beloved, the love of my life. Nah, the way it hurt me to see him crying. Derek Luh you were phenomenal. Like, they've literally never done anything wrong EVER. They are so precious to me. The guilt they must have been carrying knowing that they saw the interaction between Luke and Brink but bought into the lies & manipulation. At least they questioned it though, some people would have just outright ignored it.. I also kinda feel like Marie reminded them of their original goal to be a hero and what it truly meant and how detrimental being selfish is which is why they were so ruffled by her. Also, Andre can choke for the way he spoke to Jordan... "just always looking out for yourself" EXCUSE YOU, THE PERSON FUCKING HIS BFFs GIRLFRIEND!!!

Andre, bruhhhh. Like I get why he was mad but he was acting like the moral police meanwhileeeeeeee absolute trash. I actually for one second thought him, Cate & Luke were in some polyamorous relationship kinda thing BUT they werent.. he just is "that guy". The only good thing he did was telling Cate to wake tf up. Also, the tone he took with Marie too, like boy if you don't sit your ass down somewhere.. You're on thin ice pal!!

Marieeeee, my precious angel, my beautiful baby girl. She is the definition of a girl's girl. I love her so much omggggg and the fact her sister thinks she's a monster makes my heart break for her. Also love that she was the only one to stand up for Cate and openly give her another chance!!! Jaz absolutely killed it.

Marie/Jordan. THE EYES NEVER LIE. These two kept looking at each other, standing next to each other... like, it's married couple material right there. The both of them need to sit down and talk but I also love that they're going the slow burn route with them.

Emma and Sam were cute but reallyyyyy?? Everyone's fighting for their life but they're just having sex lmaoooo. Good for them though.

Shetty needs to die, as does the Dr. Sorry, I make the rules. It would be poetic justice for Sam to be the one to kill them after all the shit they've done to him.

Also, next week's episode is titled 'Sick'. I have a feeling that the supes (the main 6) are gonna be infected maybe at the end of the episode & Marie will have to find a way to save them. Because of her blood powers she might not be susceptible to catching the disease, which is why the Dr wanted to test on her so badly. OMG WHAT IF JORDAN STARTS SHOWING SYMPTOMS WHILE THEM AND MARIE ARE DOING DETECTIVE THINGS. Thats honestly fanfic material right there...

[pluckyredhead]

We made it, you guys! I'm wrapping up my blitz through all the Fourth World canon. I've already covered the comics of the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, and the 00s, so now let's get into everything post-Flashpoint!

Wonder Woman (2011): I'll be honest: this series is Not Valid, and Orion only shows up as a supporting character for about a dozen issues, so I just skimmed his appearances rather than actually reading the whole volume. Anyway this version of Orion slaps Diana's ass and hits on her relentlessly and isn't even from Apokolips. Highfather is emotionally abusive. No one else from the Fourth World even shows up. Throw it all directly in the trash.

Infinity Man and the Forever People (2014): Genuinely who was asking for a New 52 book about the Forever People (the most optimistic of Kirby's creations) written by Dan DiDio (a man on the record as saying he wanted "to take the smile out of comics")? Shockingly, it's not as bad as I was bracing myself for. I mean, the lore changes are baffling (Darkseid and Highfather are brothers! the Infinity Man is Highfather's conscience and that's why New 52 Highfather's such a dick all the time! Big Bear is from Apokolips and has a secret, angrier face because he's like a bonus Orion now!). And the art rotates through four or five different artists and all of the issues not drawn by Tom Grummett are hideous. But mostly it's just very boring and pointless? Let's all ignore it forever.

Green Lantern/New Gods (2014): Hey, do you remember when Green Lantern was one of DC's most successful franchises and they were publishing five simultaneous GL-related ongoings and they oversaturated the market so badly they could barely keep one GL book going until recently? I'm not saying shit like this is what killed the goose that laid the golden egg, but...I'm not not saying that either. (No seriously, I am genuinely fascinated by whatever the fuck DC did to the Lanterns in the 2000s and 2010s as, like, a publishing cautionary tale, but that's a story for another post.)

This was a three-month crossover across all five GL books - Green Lantern (Hal's book), Green Lantern Corps (John's book), Green Lantern: New Guardians (Kyle's book), Red Lanterns (Guy's book), and Sinestro - plus a New Gods one shot and a GL annual. That's 17 issues that are meant to be read in order to follow the story, and then you can optionally also read the tie-in issues of Infinity Man and the Forever People, which makes a whopping total of 20 issues dedicated to this storyline.

So what was the plot of this grand saga? Uh...Highfather tries to steal all the rings of every Corps like he's the fucking Trix Rabbit or something. The end.

Yeah, it's a mystery what killed the GL publishing juggernaut. 🙄

(Side note: this crossover adds a brand new Original Character Do Not Steal who is from Apokolips and was raised by Highfather and has a Secret Rage Face. After Infinity Man and the Forever People also gave Big Bear a Secret Rage Face. STOP STEALING ORION'S SHIT. You don't need extra bonus Orions, Regular Orion is right there!)

Bug! The Adventures of Forager (2017): This is a very charming, very strange series that isn't in continuity (it was part of the Young Animal imprint) and doesn't really forward the plot of the New Gods in any way, but it's funny and enjoyable. Basically, Forager wakes up after his death in Cosmic Odyssey (29 years prior, for those keeping track) and goes on a time- and reality-hopping adventure in which he interacts with various characters Kirby wrote and drew for DC over the years (although oddly, very few New Gods). It's the sort of series that rewards the long-time comic book reader, but I still enjoyed it even though I was very aware I was missing references. I wouldn't recommend it if you're brand new to comics, though.

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps (2016): Orion's in a couple arcs of this run, and they're pretty fun. Orion's heart gets removed from his body and Kyle keeps him alive with a construct! Hal races Lightray! Orion helps the GLs fight a shit ton of Darkstars! There isn't much in the way of advancing New Gods Lore (TM) here, but this is a pretty good series in general. A fun time!

Mister Miracle (2017): Sigh.

You know, the frustrating thing about this series is that some aspects of it are really good. The art is superb. Some of the humor really lands. Funky Flashman as the Frees' nanny is an utter delight. (The bit where he retells the Galactus Trilogy as "Jake's story" is especially charming.) The subtler take on Granny and the way Scott is still wrestling with her abuse and his complicated feelings about her is heartbreaking. And the big twist, when Darkseid demands baby Jacob in exchange for peace, and Scott's agony over the decision, is utterly wrenching. It's such a good conflict to give Scott, to have him try to wrestle with the decision his own father made and what the right answer is. I even believe King read more than one issue of Mister Miracle (1971) to research this! I mean, he references the Lump. That's a pretty deep cut.

But it's all undercut by his decision to make Orion a villain. King's Orion isn't just brutal and wrongheaded, like some earlier writers have portrayed him - he's a vindictive sadist who craves power and enjoys humiliating someone who, in all previous canon, he eagerly embraced as a brother. He has elaborately cruel plans and enjoys making others know their place - Orion, who is historically as subtle and refined as a two-by-four to the head. He's out of character in basically every possible way.

But this isn't just me being like "How dare you get my blorbo wrong?!" (That's my reaction to King's depiction of Lightray as a simpering toady.) Making Orion a villain, as I have said many times at this point, betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the Fourth World's central concept, which is, like...not a hard concept to grok. The point of the baby swap isn't to see whether nature or nurture is stronger. It's that both babies grow up to be heroes. It's that good is stronger than evil. And if Orion isn't a hero, the whole thing falls apart. Instead, we get a bleak and fundamentally unbalanced take on the Fourth World that begins with a suicide attempt and ends with Scott resigning himself to a life from which he desperately wants to escape. And again, again, King's pessimism is mistaken for depth because someone else drew it real good.

Anyway I hate this comic, the end.

Justice League Odyssey (2018): The New Gods didn't really have a home base post-Flashpoint, which is why I'm covering so many books that aren't really New Gods books (Wonder Woman, the various GL books), because my crops are dying and I'm desperate for Orion to show up on his little scooter. Anyway this is actually first and foremost a Jessica Cruz book, which isn't really a complaint because I love her. Basically, Cyborg, Starfire, and Azrael (who is pretty OOC and also why is he here??? he doesn't know these people and he can't breathe in space?????) decide to go on an Illegal Space Adventure and Jessica tries to stop them and they all get swept up into an incredibly convoluted plan by Darkseid to turn everyone but Jessica into a NEW New God and take over the universe? Or maybe destroy it? UNCLEAR. Also the last time they all saw Darkseid he was a baby but now he's not anymore. How? UNCLEAR.

Darkseid kills Jessica but it doesn't take because she's the GOAT, but now he's taken control of Vic, Kori, and JPV, so Jessica has to team up with Orion, Blackfire, and Dex-Starr the Red Lantern cat to defeat Darkseid and rescue the others. Overall this book is so unrelentingly high stakes and cosmic that I kind of tuned out. After a while I just hit "we have to save the universe!!!" fatigue. But a huge part of the second half of the series is just Jessica yelling at Orion until he grumpily does what she tells him, and I truly could have read 40 more issues of that. I hope when it was all over he went and pouted at Lightray about how the Green Lantern was SO MEAN to him (he deserved it).

Verdict: Don't bother to read for New Gods continuity, do read if you love Jessica Cruz.

Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom (2021): This book reintroduces Shilo Norman to the post-Flashpoint universe as a celebrity superhero and escape artist who aggressively protects his secret identity, because his predecessor Thaddeus Brown, who is Black in this series (and presumably going forward), had a public identity and dealt with horrible racism from the public. But his mask is partially torn off when he's attacked by N'vir Free, the daughter of Scott and Barda Free - who Shilo has never heard of. While Shilo tries to figure out who the Frees are and why N'vir thinks he stole her father's legacy, he also discovers that Thaddeus was secretly his grandfather, and has to unpack all of his emotional hangups about his own identity and legacy.

This is a great book for the humans of Kirby's Mister Miracle and a terrible one for the New Gods. Scott and Barda are not only dead, but their memories have been erased from most people's minds. N'vir is an awful character with a stupid name, and also a fascist dictator, which is...a choice for Scott and Barda's kid. (I'm assuming all of this is either taking place in a different universe than the main DCU, or has been retconned away, because Barda is currently appearing in Birds of Prey and is perfectly fine. And perfectly perfect. Please read Birds of Prey.) Orion does show up for a bit and he's great here, but he doesn't remember Scott either, which hurt my heart.

But it's a great book for Shilo, who gets to be a complicated, endearing but flawed protagonist instead of a sidekick who tends to get forgotten for years at a time. I'm a bit torn on having him be related to Thaddeus, since I like the idea of Shilo becoming a hero on his own smarts and spunkiness rather than inheriting it, but it allows for some really beautiful themes about legacy and being proud of where you come from, so it suits the story really well. And Oberon is a delight the whole way through (as always). Overall a good book, but somewhat to the side of the overall New Gods saga.

THE END. We did it, you guys! Now DC please greenlight a new New Gods book, thank you.

(Actually it should be double length and reversible so when you hold it one way it's a New Gods book and when you flip it to the "back" cover it's a Mister Miracle book and the stories intertwine. Do you see the vision???)

[damnedrainbows]

RULES:

These are five years old and are going to change with things to be added in the next few days, but they’re mostly the same! A i was informed they weren’t showing up on my blog so I made a pin for now

Muses:

Generally the entire show, but my mains are Alastor, Lucifer, and Charlie

Following and Unfollowing

I am selective.

I will only follow back blogs I actively wish to RP with. Or people I’ve made friends with. I’ll be ever grateful for every follower I get, but it doesn’t mean I’ll follow you back.

You don’t have to be an rp blog for me to rp with you. One of my partners is just a normal fandom blog. Writing is writing C:

I don’t do exclusives. For me I find it takes a lot of the opportunities away to get to know more cool people. If you want to make me an exclusive for something…go right ahead, but I won’t do the same. You’ll simply stay my partner. I want to be able to interact with everyone. That being said, I do mains! That doesn’t really mean anything other than your blog would be the first I tag if I see something that reminds me of our muses, that sorta thing.

If I hear wind that you’re harassing any of my friends you’re done. And if you’re harassing me in any way. I do not put up with bad treatment of my friends or me. You don’t want a block from me. Jordan doesn’t block ANYBODY.

Threads and Communication

Sometimes I’ll have long posts, sometimes short ones. It depends purely on my inspiration at the time, but I’ll always put my best effort in. I want you to do so too!

Before writing any verse you want to do, please talk to me first C:

I LIVE FOR RANDOM STARTERS TBH. It’s like…waking up to Christmas morning and seeing your present. Mutuals please drop me a random starter any time.

I play my characters the way I want to play them, the way I interpret them. So if you don’t like how they’re played, that’s fine, but I’m not likely to change it.

If you send IC memes please specify the muse, since…well, I have the whole show.

I’m of age so I do smut but nothing too-too graphic. It will be tagged of course.

My threads are for my PARTNER only. Or partners if it’s a threeway. Please do not reblog them. You can like em, you can use the little reply button to say something–if you really want to talk about something that’s happening in them shoot me a message-but do not reblog unless you are said partner. C:

For the love of God, don’t hound me. I’m aware I can take a while to reply, but I have a lot of threads usually at the same time and some I have more muse for than others. Please don’t link me to our thread, please don’t say “it’s your turn” or some sort of variation of passive aggressive harassment. You aren’t going to make me respond faster. You are just going to spark my anxiety and make me resent our rp. If it’s been four days feel free to message me–not four hours.

Unless you’re a canon character my muse needs to get to know you a bit. C: So it’s unlikely you can just pop up to one of my muses, never having met, like ‘hi, how you been?’ and not have them be like “who da fuck are you"

Shipping

Shipping will mainly be thread-dependent. If you feel like our muses may mesh, go for it!

I will not tolerate hate for what I ship. I don’t need to be told I’m shipping something unhealthy because chances are I’ll state it’s unhealthy and I by no means condone dating a psychopath in real life. Hate will be deleted and blocked.

When it comes to OC ships and any ship really, ship needs chemistry. Do not force a ship onto my muses. They need to get to know each other, and this mainly applies to OC ships–not so much the pr-established characters in the show. If I already ship it, I’m down to jumping straight into a shipping thread.

Crossovers

I am mildly less selective with crossovers since this show is literally…all about crossing over into other media. I’m still selective but not as much. For my own comfort I won’t be rping with characters from the Sonic franchise.

Triggers and Tagging

I know very little about triggers myself and what people consider a trigger. IF you want something tagged you’ll have to ask. I’ll be clueless otherwise, but I will tag all ships. And the basic gore and blood and such. Be aware of the fact I have bad memory problems. If I forget to tag something you asked me to tag I’m sorry, it wasn’t on purpose.

This is an insanely dark show and there will be a lot of blood and gore and horror. There will be torture and killing talk, but it will still be tagged.

Mun Notes

I have serious memory problems. Like, really bad due to a combo of illnesses. Cut me some slack, I’m going to forget rules and probably certain triggers if I’m not used to tagging them. You have no ida how many friggin rule pages I’ve read on this blog. I’ll do my best but I’m going to forget, and probably more than once. It’s not my fault, I’m trying my hardest.

I do not do passcodes. For some reason they make me…severely anxious and I don’t know why. If we rp, I’ve read your rules, rest assured. If you really really depend on a passcode…well, we probably won’t be rping then. ;-; sorry.

I’m a physically disabled person who’s online rather…all the time because I can’t work really. So rp is like all I got going on right now as I work on my animation portfolio at home.

I’m a very sweet twenty two four old that loves to talk to people. Talk to me any time about my muse, about anything! Feel free to approach me just to talk in general. I really love people! We don’t have to rp to be friends.

And finally, what I write, my characters’ views do not reflect my own. I do not condone the destruction of entire civilization or eating babies. Unless they are tasty babies.

[coolcattime]

Waves Lapping Where the Children Grew: Chapter One

Relationships: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefoxx

Characters: Skipper Redbeard, Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefoxx, Jordan Captainsparklez

> 1 < - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10

Since she was a child, Capsize has lived with the knowledge that she is cursed. That not long into her adulthood, the kingdom she was born into will fall and her birthday will be marked by her falling into a magic slumber that she can only awake from when she received true love’s kiss. She attempted to flee her fate, to find any way to remove the curse before it triggers. However, the curse has come to pass, and the pirate captain rests on the verge of life and death, awaiting the one who will awake her.

A year has passed since then, Redbeard has not left the island of the home since the curse struck. As he’s able to break the curse himself, he remains guarding his sister from any threats that come for her. Though he attempts to remain strong, the lack of any sign of the curse breaking has left him with dwindling hope.

The year before, her last year uncursed, Capsize feels just as hopeless until she meets a witch that she believes could change her fate.

AO3 Link

Afterwards: Autumn

Redbeard was not a big fan of hero types. That fact had been festering throughout the year, but now it had become concrete in his mind as he found himself once again facing Jordan having the same argument.

If he was being honest with himself, he still didn’t dislike the man. At least, he didn't think it did. But it had become frustrating explaining to the man over and over that he could not break the curse on his sister. Trying once, sure, Redbeard had humoured that mostly out of desperation. He'd tried, it hadn't worked. Everyone else who had tried had gone away and not returned at that point.

Jordan, however, had continued to return month after month. Never with a new plan, always just insisting that he be allowed to try waking her again. And frankly Red was beginning to regret even humouring him the first time. He couldn’t be entirely unsympathetic towards the champion. Most of his desperation about breaking the curse seemed to have stemmed from Lady Ianite’s reaction. But if he was being frank, he didn’t care for the why of it. Capsize was still the person who was cursed. He wasn’t in the mood for the way that Jordan was forming a martyr complex around her.

"Nothing’s going to change Jordan. You can't wake her up," He tried to speak gently, he really did, but it had been a year. A full year of Capsize being asleep. A full year of Jordan turning up at least once every two weeks insisting that he be allowed to try and wake her again. As if he had somehow become her true love since the last time he'd visited.

At this point, his last scraps of gentleness left were hanging by fraying thread. He couldn’t even say the man was good company at this point. Being alone on this island guarding what may as well be a corpse given the lack of process that they had made did leave him carving human interaction. Obviously it did. Yet, that just made having this same conversation over and over even more frustrating.

“Please, just let me try again. It’ll be different this time,” Jordan said. He was not quite begging, though he was certainly desperate in a way that Red found confusing.

The champion seemed to flicker between what seemed like an almost unhealthy need to save Capsize and a blatant frustration that she hadn’t just woken up when he had kissed her. It was not entirely unlike how he had acted prior to the curse. Though, Redbeard was far more fed up with it than he had before.

When she had been awake, she had been able to handle his weird flirting herself. It had been okay for him to tease her a little by suggesting ways for him to win her over. Because it very much wasn’t going to happen and Capsize was very much open about that fact.

Now, though? Now she was unable to defend herself, so he had to do it. And if it was his responsibility to defend her then he wasn’t going to let the champion near her until he actually had any sort of alternative than just trying to kiss her again.

“How could it possibly be different? Have you suddenly become her true love?” He scoffed without fully meaning to. And he didn’t miss the anger that flared on the champion’s face. Frankly, he couldn’t care less. This wasn’t about Jordan.

This was about Capsize. She was the one stuck between life and death in a magical slumber that she could very well never wake up from. And, while he was open to other methods if they were at all possible, there was only one method that he knew for sure would wake her up: true love's kiss. And, whether the man wanted to admit it or not, Jordan was clearly not her true love. He wasn’t her love of any kind.

It wasn’t as if Redbeard had told him he couldn’t help at all. In fact, he’d asked if he could try to contact Dianite’s champion since he and Capsize had always been friends. The thought had been that surely he would know any potential people with an actual chance to break the curse. Jordan had taken the ask as a personal offence.

He was more dead set than he ever had been that he would be the one to wake up Capsize. Hence he had most certainly not contacted the other champion. Redbeard was left with nothing more than a strong feeling of wanting to bash his head into a wall. “She isn’t staying asleep to spite you, you know.”

“She could be. It’ll be just like her,” Jordan said. He looked as if he wanted to say more, but quieted as he received a frankly murderous look from the pirate.

Redbeard fought back against the overwhelming urge to just attack the champion here and now. A single cut from his weapon would banish him away from the island back to wherever he had come from. A gift from Lady Ianite to keep away the worst of those who might come for Capsize.

However, he had the unfortunate feeling that Jordan would use his magical knowledge to figure out a way around the banishment to return. Even if he distinctly hadn’t been using it to research alternative methods to wake Capsize. After all, no matter what argument they had and how he stormed away, the champion always returned wanting to try again.

Jordan took a breath and tried to bite back his frustrations. Lady Ianite was still so worried about Capsize. So clearly it was his duty as her champion to wake the captain. But Redbeard wasn’t even letting him try! Still, before he had set out this time, his Lady had asked him to try and be calmer. So he would try for her sake. “What else am I supposed to do?”

“Go and find Dianite’s champion, like I asked months ago!”

Redbeard received a glare in return for those words. He gave a more than bitter and annoyed huff.

“Or go with the lead with less clues. She’d met someone in the year before the curse, go find her,” He said, beyond exasperated. It was the lead that he wanted the other champion’s help with, because he was sure that Capsize would’ve discussed the mystery woman with him.

Frankly, Redbeard just hoped that the mystery woman was actually real. He didn’t think it was like Capsize to lie. She was a lot more forthright than him, for example. But given that he had never mentioned any details to him about the woman, he did sometimes fear that she had been just making up stories to give him some comfort that the curse would eventually be broken.

But if the apparent hero before him was going to be insistent on not going to find the only man that could possibly have more details for help, then he could go on the wild goose chase for an unknown woman himself.

Jordan’s face turned sour. Clearly the man was about to start complaining again. This time, however, Redbeard was out of patience. “Or don’t look! Figure out how to give the ocean human form so they can have a go for all I care! But you better leave and go do something because you aren’t kissing her again!”

"But I—!”

“Leave! Before I force you to. Don’t come back unless you’re bringing somebody else,” It was hard for Redbeard to keep his voice steady. As frustrating as Jordan’s visits were becoming, he was one of the only consistent presences he had had all year. He didn’t particularly want to forbid him from returning, but the loneliness would hurt less than the frustrations and false hope of the champion.

There was a flickering of different emotions on Jordan’s face. He appeared to be considering continuing to argue. Redbeard rested his hand on the handle of his cutlass. He didn’t want to attack him, he really didn’t, but he couldn’t keep playing this game with him. Thankfully though, Jordan did seem to actually have sense this time.

The champion turned on his heel and stalked off towards the docks. Under his breath he was muttering what were likely more complaints about himself and Capsize. Redbeard rolled his eyes as he stopped paying attention. He gave it a month before he came back, if he was lucky.

Redbeard turned back to the building he was standing in front of, the ruins of his childhood home. Actually, though that description was accurate, it always felt like he was underselling it. Because, when he said something like that, most people pictured some pirate haven, not the ruins of a castle he currently stood in front of. But he had preferred it that way. The kingdom was gone, he never really wanted to be reminded of how they were runaway nobility. Now, however, his surroundings were a constant reminder of that fact. Of all they had abandoned.

Before the curse, neither of them had been back to their home in close to a decade. Since the two of them had stolen away in the night in a desperate attempt to help her escape her fate. Though in retrospect it hadn’t been successful, he still remembered the smile that Capsize had worn that night.

She’d woken him up with such a bright look in her eyes. She already had a bag packed and a ship that she wanted to steal. She was practically bouncing as she whispered her plan. They’d go and find Lady Ianite, they’d travel to the ends of the earth if needed. He was willing to go with her, of course he was. But when he’d asked his only question as to why exactly they were going to find a goddess, his sister had looked at him with a far too wide smile and said that Lady Ianite was going to break her curse.

He had never questioned if she thought that the goddess could break the curse with her powers, or by the intended method. Even once they arrived, he wouldn’t have been able to guess. Given everything, he supposed it didn’t matter as she hadn’t been able to help via either method. She had immediately tried with her powers and attempted further methods once the curse had actually triggered, but apparently whatever enchantment had been used for the curse, it was more powerful than even the gods.

As for love, well, it was undeniable that something had formed between the two, but it was not love in the way that the curse required. Though the goddess had still tried and looked heartbroken when all her attempts had failed to awaken Capsize. Since then, she’d done so much for him to try and help, it was only thanks to her that this place was in any way liveable. It was still very much a ruin, but it was far better than it had been when he’d arrived back to find that the worst had happened.

Given her efforts, the inside looked a lot nicer than the outside. Not quite the way he remembered, but still far nicer than anywhere he really suited anymore. Whenever strangers came, there was always the look of confusion when they first saw him. They were all people who had just heard of the curse by rumour or legend, thinking that they could appear and break it and gain an easy way into nobility. They always expected an unguarded princess. Not a pirate captain being guarded by a crew member.

If that general shock didn’t annoy them enough, him questioning them typically did. He thought that asking them basic questions about his sister was fine enough given that they were presenting themselves as her true love, but he supposed that was the thing with heroes. Always pleasant right up until you questioned them in any way.

He always dreaded the idea that one of them would actually succeed. He knew that Capsize would prefer to sleep forever than to have someone that thought of her as a princess wake her up.

As he walked through the empty halls, he breathed a small sigh of relief as he felt Jordan’s presence leave the island. He could always tell when someone was somewhere on the island. It was a power gifted to him by Lady Ianite to better protect Capsize. After all, there was no telling who could show up and what their intentions would be. It was a strong enough feeling to wake him if he was asleep. Well, it didn’t have to, Lady Ianite had shown him a way to activate and deactivate the power, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn it off.

Until Capsize was awake, he could do this. An ever-present guard for her. His own, self-inflicted curse.

Because technically, there was nothing stopping him from leaving this place. He could leave at any time if he so chose. But someone needed to stay here with her. If not, she’d be left at the mercy of anyone who appeared. Better he took the role of guard than Jordan.

Sure, maybe the isolation was getting to him. But even if he had to guard her for the rest of his life, it was still a better fate than Capsize’s. So, he would stay here until someone found a way to break the curse.

Even though he knew nothing would’ve changed, he still could only feel a dull disappointment as he entered Capsize’s bedroom to find her still sleeping.

It was the bedroom of a princess in all its finery, looking exactly the same it had on the night they had left as teenagers. Except Capsize wasn’t the same at all. She’d never been the most stereotypical princess. Frankly, even without the curse Redbeard assumed she would’ve run off eventually, but Captain Capsize was completely unrecognisable from the girl she had been growing up.

There she lay in her long blue coat and loose shirt. A mess of curls silhouetted her head like a halo. She had the piercings and tattoos and scars that she had gained over the years. She looked almost exactly like she should, except for the fact that she hadn’t opened her eyes in a year.

She was alive. Her chest still rose and fell as she drew breath. Her heart still beat. But she was closer to death than life.

When he had first arrived back here and found her, Lady Ianite had come alongside him. After being able to wake her with the intended mention, she had attempted to use her power to figure out the curse, to untangle it and break it by any other means. She hadn’t managed to do so. But she had discovered just how deeply woven the curse was.

She wouldn’t age, wouldn’t need anything to remain alive. Given how terrified the goddess had seemed by the sheer extent of the magical blinding, Redbeard wondered if she was even able to die. But that was something he didn’t dare question out loud as he did know what to know the answer.

However, though she certainly was alive, she didn’t look it. Frankly she looked near dead. He didn’t know what had happened that night. How she got back here and what had happened before the curse had finally struck. But whatever had happened, it had left her with a nasty wound on her neck that she certainly hadn’t had that morning. Even now, it still looked fresh and painful.

Looking at her like this, it just left Redbeard with a numb hopelessness. Mostly just because it was entirely unfair. She had so much left ahead of her. She had always looked so alive once they had left, once she had been exploring the oceans. She’d been so determined to break the curse so she could just keep sailing. So why had her fate been overwritten so she was stuck just awaiting a saviour? Why could absolutely nothing overwrite the magic of the sorcerer who had done this to her?

He laughed bitterly. If he ever met the bastard who started all this, he didn’t know if he’d kill them or imprison them so the job could be finished by Capsize. A thought to consider another day. After all, today was special even if it just felt like a terrible reminder.

He grabbed a bottle from near the unlit fireplace. It was autumn now, still just warm enough that he didn’t need to light it. He didn’t know if Capsize could feel the cold in her current state, but he wasn’t going to risk the potential that she did.

He took a good swig of the alcohol as he slumped down next to the bed. It was some fancy bottle he’d found in the basement, the kind of thing his parents would’ve lectured him for even looking at. However, he couldn’t even really taste it. He just felt numb as he tried to drown his sorrows.

It was their birthday. One full year since the start of the curse. The first birthday in their lives where he and Capsize wouldn’t share a word with each other. If he didn’t drink, then he might just fall into despair.

So drank he did.

As the sun set, the alcohol did not numb the pain of the fact that even after a year no progress had been made on waking her. It did not silence the terrible lingering thoughts that he could never shake that they would never figure out how to break the curse and this was how Capsize would remain the rest of eternity.

[butterflydm]

WoT reread: The Strike at Shayol Ghul & some final thoughts, post-reread

So, I was not planning to do a full reread back when I first picked EotW back up again! My primary motivation was to refresh myself on books 1-3 so that I would be prepared for S2 of the show, lol.

But I'm glad that I did this reread. There was a lot in the books that I had forgotten or where I'd bought into the fandom party line despite the books themselves not supporting the arguments imo, so it was great to dive into them again and see what I think and not simply what general fandom thinks. Thanks so much to everyone who commented on or interacted with my reread posts. <3

While this next bit is technically not a reread because I never got around to reading it when it first came out, I went ahead and read "The Strike at Shayol Ghul" (written in 1996 by Jordan). Thanks to @wafflelovingbatgirl for reminding me about its existence! I may try to get around to reading "River of Souls" (about Demandred, by Sanderson) at some point, but TSaSG was easy to find online.

here there be spoilers

The Strike at Shayol Ghul

It's pretty short -- it's "an introduction" written by someone in-world -- Jorille Mondevin, who is the Royal Historian for the Queen of Kandor. Looks like the Queen that we know in the series -- Queen Ethenielle. Nice. I always enjoy 'in-world" texts, so this is very interesting.

She's telling the queen about a recent discovery of a "partial copy" of a "history of the world" from the drilling of the Bore until the end of the Breaking of the World. We get a worldbuilding note here: that the practice of printing survived the Breaking "when so much did not", which helps explain the high literacy level in the Westlands. While many inventions were lost, the printing press survived! Though most of the actual writings were lost during the Trolloc Wars and the War of the Hundred Years.

"We must marvel at any writing that has survived more than three thousand years." So true, bestie. (I've decided that Jorille and I are besties) "What we know is based on fragments, copied and recopied a thousand times, but at least we know something from them. Even a little knowledge is better than ignorance."

I love how this feeds into the basic concept we're dealing with -- history becomes legend. We're talking about that process here, of knowledge being reduced to fragments that are passed on.

Oh, man, reading this does remind me about reading about IRL fragmentary texts. "Such a history would no doubt be a vast, multi-volume work, yet of the two hundred and twelve surviving pages, the largest number of consecutive pages number six, and nowhere else more than two."

She notes that the dates given in the text make no sense, because "no calendar dating from the Age of Legends has ever been found". There are references both to large-scale events such as cities destroyed by balefire during the War of the Shadow, as well as mentions of individuals' personal appearances. But nothing that tells the special significance of most of the people mentioned.

The six consecutive pages that survived are of particular interest, because they are about the sealing of the Bore by Lews Therin Telamon and the Hundred Companions.

"We still cannot be certain how long passed between the creation of the Bore and the actual beginning of what would come to be called the War of the Shadow, yet plainly at least fifty years and possibly more than one hundred were marked by a rapid decline in the social order". During the first three years of the War of the Shadow, the Shadow made great in-roads and then during the next four, Lews Therin pushed them back to reclaim some of what was lost.

But ultimately, the Shadow began to prevail because it did not care if it left disaster in its wake. It was soon clear that they were losing again and their losses were accelerating. "If they were to win at all, it must be done quickly".

There were two plans proposed at the time that are mentioned here: first Lews Therin's idea of directly attacking the Bore itself. The Seals were going to be used to shut the Dark One away from the world. The plan was considered risky due to the Dark One's influence on the immediate area surrounding Shayol Ghul, with Lews Therin admitting that he expected few or perhaps none of his "raiding party" (of twenty thousand soldiers and 13 Aes Sedai) would survive. Additionally, there was a concern that if the seals were not placed in precisely the right locations, the strain of them would rip open the Bore entirely and free the Dark One.

The other plan, in opposition to this, was proposed by Latra Posae Decume. Her plan was to use two massive sa'angreal (the ones that Rand ended up using during the cleansing of saidin) to push the Shadow's forces back and erect a barrier around Shayol Ghul until... you know, they figured something better out. Downsides to this plan: the Bore has kept getting bigger since it was first drilled, so it might continue to do so behind this barrier as well, and if the Dark One got loose inside the barrier, the barrier itself might come undone under the strain.

Latra and Lews were both, apparently, very convincing speakers, with Latra getting every female Aes Sedai "of significant strength" to sign what the manuscript calls "the Fateful Accord" though Jorille doubts that's what it was called at the time. I wonder if the 'strength level' was "Nynaeve-level" or if it was lower and more like "Egwene/Elayne-level". It was believed that the signing of this accord killed Lews Therin's plan in the water, because "men cannot create a circle, only be brought into one created by a woman".

Work on the massive sa'angreal was rushed into production. There is, Jorille says, a lot of speculation among historians about whether or not the sa'angreal would have worked as Latra had proposed. She also mentions speculation about whether or not women going with Lews Therin into his plan would have protected saidin from the taint or if it would have only meant that saidar was tainted as well.

But disaster struck as the sa'angreal were completed. The place where the access ter'angreal were created (needing to be done remotely due to "uncontrolled resonances during the finale stages" -- Jorille doesn't know what that might mean, but I'm guessing it would mean feedback leading to a big boom) was overrun by Sammael and the forces of the Shadow, though they did not find the access ter'angreal.

With the sa'angreal unusable, Lews Therin argued again for his plan but Latra wouldn't budge. As time had passed, even more of the female Aes Sedai had pledged to the Accord, even though they weren't strong enough to be part of the circle anyway. "Tempers and passions rose, and an apparently unprecedented division along male-female lines began to develop among the Aes Sedai in general, if not within the Hall itself". The Hall decided to stay with Latra's plan, attempting to smuggle the access ter'angreal out of the area now controlled by Sammael.

Jorille notes that all those making the attempt to find the access ter'angreal were later found out to have been captured, tortured, and killed, though none of them betrayed the location of the ter'angreal to Sammael.

As the Shadow swept forward, there was the "re-emergence of the peace faction" who argued that negotiations should be held with the Forsaken. Jorille notes that this peace faction, over the course of the War, would send people on its own to try to negotiate with the Forsaken but, upon the return of the delegations, they would act out plans that aided the Shadow's cause "though it seems that in some instances, they were completely unaware of what they had done" (aka Compulsion).

Despite how dire the situation had grown, Latra's resistance to Lews Therin's plan held firm. "the lines of division had hardened to a point where many female Aes Sedai refused to speak to male Aes Sedai, and the reverse as well". Lews Therin decides to act on his own, without the Hall.

Jorille notes at this point that Latra had earned the name Shadar Nor, translated as "Cutter/Slicer of the Shadow" but what deeds earned her that title have been lost to history.

So, Lews Therin launches his own assault against Shayol Ghul, with the "Hundred Companions" (though Jorille says that text notes they numbered 113 at this point) and ten thousand regular soldiers.

"Exactly what occurred that day can never be known, only the results. Of the soldiers, not a single man or woman returned to give any account." It is known that the seals were placed safely, that "all thirteen of the Forsaken" were at Shayol Ghul and trapped in the sealing along with the Dark One. If that had been the only result of the attack, then the world would likely have recovered well over the next few years, Jorille speculates. "Civilization has retained a large degreee of cohesion in the ares held by the Light" and without the top generals, the armies of the Shadow fell into struggles for power among themselves. "In any case, the War of the Shadow must be said to have ended that day at Shayol Ghul."

But, Jorille adds, this was not the only result of the assault. "Instead, there was the counterstroke from the Dark One at the moment of sealing, and saidin itself was tainted." Lews Therin and his companions "went insane on the instant" and by the time the taint was discovered, hundreds more male Aes Sedai had been driven mad by the taint. "That fateful day at Shayol Ghul ended the war, and began the Breaking of the World."

She says that the manuscript itself, in its own introduction, speaks for what the people at the time were suffering: "Whoever reads this, if any remain to read it, weep for us who have no more tears. Pray for us who are damned alive."

Very informative and pretty evocative as well. One of the things that I love about WoT is the post-apocalyptic setting and one of the things that I love about that setting is learning about the world before and during the world-breaking event (one of the reasons I also love the Horizon Zero Dawn games).

I have no clue why I didn't read that back when it was first published. It's great and it's pretty short. Though I realize that a lot of that information had kinda filtered into my world-knowledge already, lol.

My personal ranklist for the WoT books:

The Fires of Heaven (😍)

The Shadow Rising (😘)

The Dragon Reborn (😘)

The Path of Daggers (😘)

New Spring (😘)

The Great Hunt (😄)

The Gathering Storm (😄)

Lord of Chaos (😄)

The Eye of the World (😄)

A Memory of Light (🙂)

Towers of Midnight (🙂)

A Crown of Swords (🙂)

Winter’s Heart (🙂)

...

...

...

...

...

Crossroads of Twilight (😒)

Knife of Dreams (😒)

While I am glad that I did a full reread this time, there are definitely parts of the books that mostly frustrated me and I'll probably just skim past them in future rereads (I suspect I will want to do at least some rereading after S2 airs) -- I'm not sure if I'll ever reread Mat & Perrin's sections of CoT & KoD again. That's essentially the heart of the Slog right there.

Some things that definitely changed for me during this reread:

a. I noticed how much shipping material there is for Cauthor as a pairing (obviously this is mostly in the first five books but there are crumbs even after they separate). Very exciting to me! I didn't go into my reread expecting much, because fanon had definitely affected my memories of Cauthor and I was assuming that their friendship permanently broke in TGH after Mat found out that Rand could channel. Very untrue! I (and many of the other readers, I must assume) was just too young to pick up on all of Mat's subtext back when I first read the books.

b. Gawyn's stock massively rose for me. One of the best points that @markantonys made to me about Gawyn is how similar his 'coping with trauma' behavior is from the outside to Rand's is -- we just spend so much more time in Rand's head that we understand him and his choices better than Gawyn's. And I think that the TV show bears that out a lot because show!Rand got a lot of the same complaints thrown at him as book!Gawyn does. I gained a lot of sympathy for Gawyn over the course of this reread.

c. Min's stock, on the other hand, massively fell. I remembered her as my least favorite of Rand's romances but was still fond of her, but wow, my reread burned away so much of that fondness. Which is kinda a shame, because now it's going to be a genuine effort to make sure that I don't hold the sins of book!Min against show!Min, whereas before I did my reread, I was liking show!Min a lot. But between her (admitted to in her own PoV!) manipulation of Rand to get him to fall in love with (the invented version of) her, the way she acts in their relationship (to pick a few things: trying to force him to be jealous because she thinks it makes the sex hotter; threatening him with knives; reading his mail and trying to burn it before he gets the chance to read it himself; punching him hard enough to make him grunt), and the way she changes herself to suit the person she believes she needs to be to get and keep Rand's attention... it's just yikes all over. She's not my least favorite character in the books, but she's definitely the character who fell the furthest down on my list after my reread.

d. While I didn't like Tuon any better in this reread, Sanderson does set up the Mat & Tuon relationship to be much less.... character-breaking for Mat than it was in CoT & KoD. Mat's brain starts working again around Tuon in AMoL and she actually experiences some minor consequences for her actions, it seems like, instead of just skating through everything on brainwashed autopilot like she did in the Jordan books. I actually feel like the Mat in AMoL is prepared to Do Something about the Seanchan Empire and slavery, while it felt like CoT & KoD Mat would have just rolled over and let Tuon do whatever she wanted because (much like Min) he'd given up his morals and personality for the sake of his prophesied romance.

e. I was able to really parse through and see what I liked and disliked about some of the 'plot shortcuts' that Jordan used -- the ta'veren shortcut of coincidences is mostly fun, because it forces the plot to happen when the main characters are there but gives an explanation for it, but it also affects random things (like people falling off buildings or the rate of weddings in a town), but wow did I dislike some of the heavy-handed romance prophecies and how they mostly seemed to be used to bypass crucial relationship development (especially in Rand/Min and Mat/Tuon).

f. There are also the two major Mat-related plotholes I noticed that still bug me so much, even now, one during Jordan-era and one during Sanderson-era:

Everyone's vow of silence about Mat being trapped in Ebou Dar (Nynaeve is the worst offender because she spends weeks/months with Rand and never bothers to tell him that his best friend was left behind in enemy territory).

Mat's magical teleportation to Ebou Dar at the start of AMoL that completely breaks the logistics of the narrative.

Both in clumsy service of attaching Mat to the Seanchan storyline At All Costs (Even Logic), which really does stand out to me as the worst plot choice that Jordan locked himself into way too early on via prophecy and then didn't know how to handle when it actually showed up on the page.

[blogger360ncislarules]

When Young Sheldon heads to Caltech, he leaves behind a mother and twin sister in mourning.

Neither Mary nor Missy are in a particularly great place in 1994, when the Big Bang Theory prequel wraps its seven-season run. Mary has thrown herself into her religion (as foretold by Big Bang) and is largely ignoring her children’s needs. Missy, meanwhile, is angry at the universe for taking her father.

Now that Georgie, Mandy and CeeCee live across town with Mandy’s parents, and Meemaw lives with Dale, Mary and Missy have the Cooper residence — which, at one point this season, housed seven people — all to themselves, until Mary sells the house at an unspecified point in the future.

Fans of The Big Bang Theory know that Mary and Missy turn out OK… but what about all those Young Sheldon fans who have never seen Big Bang — a reasonably large and growing faction of the audience as new generations discover the series on streaming?

“It’s interesting because we definitely have seen — especially since the show went to Netflix — a younger audience has found it that I don’t think is that familiar with Big Bang,” executive producer Steve Holland tells TVLine. “We were trying to use these last episodes to start [Zoe Perry] on a road towards the Mary [we know] in Big Bang Theory, who we know is even more religious than Mary [in Young Sheldon]. This was the beginning of that path.

“To me, it doesn’t feel like a dark place to leave her. It feels real,” the EP says. “She’s still grieving the death of George and she has turned to religion. She says ‘Jesus is helping me through it,’ and I don’t think that that’s a depressing place to leave her. We don’t leave her bouncing back from the death of [her husband], but that also just didn’t feel real to us.”

Holland argues the same is true for Missy. “We know from Big Bang that she goes off the rails a little bit in the wake of George’s death, so it’s hinting at that future for Missy but also trying not to leave her in such a dark place that it’s just depressing,” he says. “She’s obviously angry, and she’s grieving, and that also felt real, but we didn’t want to leave her in a really grim place at the end of this show” — hence Missy’s final interaction with Sheldon before he leaves to start his new life in Pasadena, Calif.

Even still, portrayer Raegan Revord says she feels bad for her character as Young Sheldon comes to an end. “It breaks my heart,” the 16-year-old tells TVLine. “She just doesn’t have it easy. Her whole life, she was kind of ignored because of her [twin] brother, and the one person who paid her attention died. She’s left with a grieving mom who probably [isn’t] there for her the way that she should have been because they’re all dealing with [George’s death] in their own way. Mary very much leans into her religion… and in Big Bang, Missy’s a waitress, she’s got all these kids [and] she’s the least successful Cooper kid.”

Whether it happens between the events of Young Sheldon and Big Bang, or after the events of Big Bang, Revord hopes that Missy “finds some peace and happiness.” Could that come in the form of a storyline on CBS’ forthcoming spinoff, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage?

“I think, you know, we’ve always talked about this new show as this world getting to continue,” Holland says of the Montana Jordan and Emily Osment-led continuation. “It’s important for us that it create its own identity and it isn’t just Young Sheldon Season 8 — part of the move to multi-cam is for it to have its own identity — but at the same time, these people are family, and they live in the same town, and it is always our hope that this is a world where they’re going to pop up, and that these stories will get to continue in some fashion.”

Review Mary and Missy Cooper’s Big Bang Theory futures below, then leave a comment and let us know if you’d like to see Zoe Perry and Raegan Revord reprise their roles on Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.

Mary Cooper's Big Bang Timeline

Laurie Metcalf's debut as Mary Cooper in 'The Big Bang Theory' Season 1, Episode 4: "The Luminous Fish Effect" (OAD: Oct. 15, 2007)

Photo : Monty Brinton/CBS/Everett Collection

Season 1, Episode 4: Laurie Metcalf makes her first of 14 appearances as Mary Cooper. She develops an attraction to Sheldon’s new boss, Dr. Eric Gablehauser.

Season 3, Episode 1: Sheldon pays Mary a visit in Texas. 

Season 4, Episode 3: Mary returns to Pasadena, helps Sheldon and Amy work through their first fight using reverse psychology.

Season 5, Episode 6: Mary returns to Pasadena. Sheldon competes with his friends for her attention.

Season 7, Episode 18: Sheldon pays Mary a surprise visit and finds her mid-coitus with her boyfriend, fellow church parishioner Ron, who she meet at her prayer meeting.

Season 8, Episode 23: Mary returns to Pasadena and meets Leonard’s mother Beverly for the first time.

Season 9, Episode 24: Mary returns to Pasadena for Leonard and Penny’s wedding and has a fling with Leonard’s father Albert.

Season 10, Episode 12: Sheldon and Amy visit Mary in Texas and tell her that they’re living together. Mary gives them her blessing.

Season 11, Episode 1: Sheldon calls Mary and tells her that he and Amy are engaged. She’s happy, but not surprised, as she’d been praying for them. 

Season 11, Episode 24: Laurie Metcalf makes her 14th (and final) appearance as Mary Cooper. At Sheldon and Amy’s wedding, mother and son acknowledge how much they miss George Sr.

Missy Cooper's Big Bang Timeline

Courtney Henggeler's first appearance as Missy Cooper in The Big Bang Theory Season 1, Episode 15: "The Porkchop Indeterminacy" (OAD: May 5, 2008)

Photo : Sonja Flemming/CBS/Everett Collection

Season 1, Episode 1: Sheldon mentions a sister who hostesses at Fuddruckers.

Season 1, Episode 15: Courtney Henggeler makes her first of two appearances as Missy Cooper.

Season 7, Episode 11: Missy gives birth to a baby in Texas. Sheldon flies in to assist as Missy’s unnamed husband recovers from a motorcycle accident. 

Season 11, Episode 23: Georgie mentions that Mary was a mess after George Sr. died and Missy was just a “dumb teenager.”

Season 11, Episode 24: Courtney Henggeler makes her second (and final) appearance. Missy, now separated from her husband, is pregnant with their second child. 

[blindrapture]

FRIDAY JULY 15TH, 2011 ("yes, quite nice")

9:10 AM WHERE THE FUCK IS DONNIE OH GOD

9:11 AM Oh. Bathroom. Hahaha. Haaaaaaaaalet’s just go.

9:39 AM This fucking apocalypse, man. It was maybe sorta getting somewhere approximating the direction of "Cool" for a bit? But now I just want to get to the rabbit hole and decode the next goddamn Cipher. Seeing people get murdered left and right kinda puts a damper on the fun. So we're off. We're out. On the road again.

10:20 AM "Jordan?" Yeah? "Are you.. feeling alright?" Yeah, what's up? Did I do something? "No, I'm just worried." Well, all things being equal? Accounting for the shit we're witnessing on a daily basis, and the physical strain of unpredictable survival? Like, accounting for that. "Yes, accounting for that. I've seen you through some hard stuff. You look tense even for that." I do? ...actually, no, yeah. Sorry, guess I'm waking up. Yeah. Yeah, I am tense. "We need to keep an open communication. Talk to me." It's. I think it's the prospect of new Fears. Can't know what we're in for. "Mm. Was it the cold one yesterday?" ...yeah. ._. "I felt it too, y'know. I lost sight of you, and I quickly lost all memory of you. By extension, all memory of anyone but my mother. I thought I was still living with her, that it was me and her in this apocalypse, that I had to depend on her during this. That's... a nightmare I've had for years. Not that I expected literally this to happen to the world, but my mother is just not dependable... and I would fear that I'd be put in a position where something did happen to the world and she was still my only guardian…" I can.. understand. That cold wave.. it got.. it got us deep. It was powerful. "I want you to talk to me about your nightmare." It's.. well, like yours, it's a nightmare I'd been having a lot even before the apocalypse happened. When my family moved back to England, it didn't just remove me from my friends, it removed me from any life or culture that I had been prepared for. And I had taken quite some preparing. I didn't get back into school in England. That was my parents' responsibility, I was underage even by English law, and culturally, like... I'd never lived in a town like that before... I'd never interacted with a British school... well, like, I had faint memories of it when I was 5, 6. Anyway. The point is I didn't get in in time. And I was too young to get a part-time job, according to my dad. So I was literally just.. in my room all the time. Bare white walls. Tiny, closet-sized room. Giant window that couldn't close properly, giving me direct access to the British winter temperatures... we didn't even have internet for a few months, I'd have to go to the library and log onto those computers just to go on Facebook and see all my American friends moving on with their lives, assuming I was doing okay, and like, even if I wasn't, what could they do? So. So it was. Cabin fever. Alien world outside, sure England still speaks the same language as America, but... no it fucking doesn't. England has a completely alien culture. Everything's a joke. The environments are hostile, the people treat everything like a meme, and I was a fucking outsider with a thick American accent who was prepared for a very different world. Hell, I was ready to struggle in America, it wasn't gonna be easy, but I'd prepared myself for that struggle. So. Isolation. Depending on my family. And they had their own shit going on. I just got in the way. So. I had the very vivid fear that... come ten years, I'd still be there. Still in England. Still living with my parents. Still not quite used to English society. Still just fucking floating. No support, except maybe the bare minimum from my parents so I'm not even allowed to say I have no support. Floating... watching my own mind, watching my own memories… I think I'd probably dive into a drug addiction. That's my idea of cold. I don't like thinking about it. But, oh yeah, I've seen it coming... it's been a long year… huggg "It's really important we acknowledge these fears, as it looks like we're going to deal with creatures who know how to drag them out of us." Yeah. "Your nightmare is.. scary." So is yours. "And what's important here is they don't apply to this situation we're in now. We aren't helpless, legally bound to our parents. We're here, you and me. We crossed an ocean, and we're crossing a whole continent." Yes. We might still have moments of sadness, loneliness, doubt, but they're just moments. They're not a backdrop, a whole reality. "Yes." :) :)

10:28 AM Our conversation has turned to video games, a comfortable subject to us both.

12:23 PM …wait Something about this highway looks odd. The sky’s blue. Is Rapture over? Wait, no. We’re just in a rabbit hole. Dammit. We must have been in it for the past hour, shit. It doesn’t feel like a rabbit hole. They’ve been getting less and less crazy lately.

12:30 PM CAR It’s stopping for us. It stopped up ahead.

12:31 PM I opened the passenger seat and then a skeleton popped out. I like this world. And hey, free car!

12:40 PM Donnie’s driving this time. I get to be the skeleton. :D

12:49 PM Will this world ever do anything ope. guess I tempted fate. Now we’re out of the rabbit hole! …that was seriously one of the least-rabbit hole-esque rabbit holes I’ve ever been in. But we have a car now!

1:12 PM That road sign said we’re close to “Falls City, Nebraska.” We’re in Nebraska! :DDDD God, we’re making some serious progress now. And look, Rapture’s over, everyone’s happy! …no, just kidding. xD

1:45 PM Donnie asked for some music. So I put in some Foxtrot.

2:34 PM Colors!

3:38 PM The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway! Donnie needs to hear this album at least once in her life. :3

5:02 PM God, we are just speeding along. Quiet day today, I assume. Either that, or it’s an “It’s quiet here, too quiet” day. … The Great Misdirect time!

6:04 PM Now how about some We Excavate? c:

7:10 PM DRAW A STAIRWAY FOR MY GOD TO SPITE THE SOFA OF MY FAITH!

7:14 PM WHOA That sign says “Oshkosh, Nebraska— HOME OF THE WORLD’S BIGGEST CIPHER!” It’s spraypainted on, I assume by another survivor who knows of the things.

7:30 PM This. This town isn’t even a town. This is, like… a coupla buildings. This should be some easy shit. Now where’s that rabbit hole?

7:40 PM Oh. The.. the airport has a gigantic Door in it. Big closed wooden door, like we saw under New York. But in the middle of the runway. What kind of small town even has an airport? "Maybe this is actually an airport with a town in it." I feel like it's probably still just a town, with an airport in it. "Yeah, but. As you said, what kind of small town has an airport? It's gotta be one big airport. With a town in it." This is.. a silly argument. An airport's gotta be somewhere. This airport is in a town. "Not necessarily! Airports can be on, like, mountains. This is an airport, with a town in it." I. Really? But. There is a town... and it's like, an airport may be physically bigger, but it's never gonna take, like, jurisdictional... priority... over the classification of a town. "I want to drive my car into the rabbit hole. The rabbit hole inside the runway, which is in the airport, and not the town." You.. you can do whatever you like, baby. It's your car. "Thank you." But this is a town with an airport in it.

7:49 PM We broke into a nearby house and raided the kitchen. We’re gonna think our plan through over some coffee.

8:00 PM Okay, we’ve decided a couple stuff. We’re driving into the Door and praying we don’t spawn in front of some wall. We’re gonna stick together at all times. And we got each other’s back. Frying pan and Tiger Stripes. Yeah, we got each other.

8:02 PM And, uh.. when we make it deep enough. When we reach the Cipher’s realm, we’re gonna look for each other immediately. Stick together.

8:04 PM Okay, getting into the car. ..I wanna name this car. I wanna name it, like.. the Friendcaror something. ..but not that; that’s a stupid name. Uh. The Survivor. The Raptor. …YES. The Raptor. It’s like “Rapture” but not. And it’s cool! The Raptor! Donnie just smiled at me and rolled her eyes. Yeah, she’s just jelly of my naming skills. >W>

8:10 PM Donnie’s lining us up on the runway. Guess I gotta go open the Oh. The Door’s opening by itself. …that’s a NASCAR track in there; perfect! This oughta be interesting. Okay, line it up… ready? WAITWAITWAIT WHO’S THAT Someone’s running on the runway, shouting for us to hold on.

8:11 PM It’s someone in a big black cloak. Their hood's covering their face really well. Who are you? "Don't worry about that! I have something you're going to need!" donnie "I think your identity is a reasonable worry to have!" "Please, just!" reaching into their robe oh shit it's like three boxes of rifle ammo "This is good for the exact rifle you have." How do you know? "Well, do you think you're hiding your inventory that well?" ...fair point. I say we take the ammo. donnie "But what if this is a Fear?" "Do you want me to load the ammo in your gun for you? Fire a shot? Prove that it's just ammo?" donnie "Okay, okay. Just. Give us the boxes. And thanks." Why are you helping us? Can you tell us that? "You're going after a Cipher. That's kind of really cool." ..again, fair point. now they're waving goodbye donnie and I are looking at each other apprehensively "that was weird" there's been a lot of 'weird' this summer let's just go "yeah okay" THROUGH THE DOOR WE GO!

8:18 PM NASCARNASCARNASCARNASCARNASCAR This is actually more exciting than I thought it’d be. All these cars racing along with us, except those aren’t just cars! ..well, they literally are just cars! No people! It’s a race! The Raptor versus Ghost Cars!

8:22 PM RACE RACE RACE THAT GHOST CAR’S OVERTAKING US. LET’S KICK ITS ASS 9vjifdj WHOA THEY’RE FUCKING BUMPING INTO US. Okay. Okay! Okay, you wanna play like that, Ghost Cars? Well. I got Tiger Stripes. Imma open some fuckin’ windows.

8:24 PM BAM, opened up that fucker’s side window. He’s swerving now. …riiight into the wall.

8:29 PM This is fun so far. Donnie’s doing a rad job at keeping us in first place. A time like this calls for… Muse! Black Holes and Revelations! In memory of the band that got torn to shreds. D:

9:03 PM ..okay, this is a long race. How many laps are there?

9:04 PM That sign reads “Infinite laps.” Oh hell no. Do you think you could drive us to an exit?

9:10 PM Where the hell are the exits?! o_o

9:13 PM The Ghost Cars are all morphing togeth OH MY GOD IT’S A SUPER CARBRA

9:14 PM Okay. Listen up. The Carbra is a dangerous beast. I’ve.. never actually destroyed one before. Let alone a Super Carbra. o_o;; Just.. keep driving! I've gotta get this sunroof open.

9:16 PM trying to balance on the roof of the Raptor this isn’t gonna end well

9:17 PM DIEDIEDIE EAT TIGER STRIPES. YOUR MOTHER WAS A HORSE. THAT ACTUALLY VAGUELY MADE SENSE. YEAH YEAH YEAH. …YEAH. RUN. WE’LL SEE YOU IN A MINUTE WHEN THE TRACK LOOPS AROUND.

9:22 PM SMACK GOES THE WEASEL BIDDLY-BOP EAT WEASEL, YOU CAR REACTOR WHAT AM I EVEN SAYING DIE DIDDLY-IE WHACKBACK. THAT’S A WORD NOW. WHACKBACK TO YOU TOO, SUPER CARBA. IT’S SHOWING DAMAGE. MAYBE I CAN DO MORE DAMAGE IF I’M NOT WRITING AT THE SAME TIME.

9:42 PM The Super Carbra crashed into a wall, ripping it open for us. Inside, we can clearly see a night sky, in stark contrast to the blue sky above us right now. Looks like it’s time to continue down the rabbit hole.I'm climbing back into the passenger seat.

9:53 PM Night sky, highway with the occasional streetlight. I know we’re still in the rabbit hole ‘cause the real sky is a dark red at night! “Thanks, Captain Obvious.” You’re welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm! :D

10:06 PM Road sign. “Sleepville, ten miles.” Sleepville. That sounds really pleasant. :3

10:20 PM The town of Sleepville is… well. Sleepy. Rolling hills going on for light years. The hills are actually giant pillows, and the sky is covered by a blanket of.. well, blanket! There are thousands of creatures, dangerous and safe, friendly and foreign, sleeping in every direction. I wonder if even the slender man sleeps in Sleepville. .w.

10:25 PM We’ve found a nice open patch of pillow. Night-night, journal. ^w^

(Attached: "On the matter of rabbit holes: There are lots. Just when you think you've seen all of the worlds behind that Door, you go find another and yet another more. On the matter of sleep: There's never enough. Sleepville might be the cruelest world simply because it promises a necessity, a much-needed escape from the horrors of the world from which we all came, but that escape never lets go. It's almost as if specifically designed to give you so much of what you want so as to make you desperately no longer want it. And yes, I say that knowing full well how obvious it sounds. Did I ever mention how painfully boring it gets here in this library? It makes the obvious the only thing you want to say. Kinda turns most subjects into a sort of small-talk, like how people at a bus stop will casually talk about the weather with obvious statements such as 'Nice weather we're having,' as if I can't bother to look up and see the giant expanse of-- yes, quite nice-- weather. There was a time when I used to hate small-talk and only want to talk about bigger matters. That time's long gone.")

[PREV LOG] [TABLE OF CONTENTS] [NEXT LOG]

[steveyockey]

[full article text below]

At one time in New York City, if you wanted to see Michael Jackson, you looked for Jordan Neely. Even among the performers in Times Square, who get every high-pitched “ee-hee” right and moonwalk seamlessly, Neely was exceptional. “He’s actually famous here,” YouTuber and Jackson fan Gadget Trish said about Neely on May 3, two days after he was killed by another passenger on the F train. Moses Harper called him more than an impersonator — he was a “tribute artist.”

In the wake of Neely’s murder on May 1, the community of Michael Jackson impersonators and fans, who call themselves a “fanmily,” is mourning the loss of one of their own. The person they saw referred to in the press as an “aggressive homeless man” with an arrest record was a talented friend and fellow performer. Brenna Crowley, who knew Neely, wrote on Facebook that it had been years since she’d seen him, “but I was always in awe seeing him dance when I did.” He had something special.

Also on Facebook, Harper recounted first meeting a “kind-hearted, sweet” Neely in 2009 as a wunderkind teenager performing as Jackson in Times Square. He was just 16 and didn’t even have a costume yet, but she was struck by his genuine interactions with the crowd and his obvious love for performing. “The tourists, they adored him,” she said. Neely asked Harper, a fellow tribute artist, for dance tips, and honed his craft over the next few years, eventually buying a jacket with epaulets and mastering the full look. “He became known,” Harper said. “I loved watching it.”

Lance Clarke, an attorney, first saw Neely perform as Jackson at a family member’s birthday party ten years ago. Neely “was the guy,” he told me over the phone. “The kids thought he really was Michael.” Over the years, Clarke said he frequently saw Neely performing on the A train, but he appeared to be going through progressively harder times. “First he was performing with the costume, then the costume got tattered,” he said. “Then no costume. Then he couldn’t do the moves, the kicks. Then no performing at all.” A few years ago, Clarke brought Neely home with him and gave him some food and a few bags of clothes. “He put his soul into performing and after a few years on the street, he had no soul left,” Clarke says. “He was just begging for help.”

It also would have been hard for him to make a living as a subway performer, according to TT, the manager and backup dancer for another MJ impersonator named “Michael’s Mirror.” “Full-time MJ impersonators mostly do the Vegas circuit and shows like Legends in Concert,” she told me. “But Jordan never seemed to know how good he was. I guess that he performed in the subway and streets just because he loved it so much.”

Relatives of Neely’s have said that he suffered from severe mental-health issues stemming from the loss of his mother, who was killed by Neely’s stepfather in 2007, when Neely was only 14. They described his condition worsening over the last several years — particularly the last two, according to one close family friend. Harper said on Facebook that she had also seen Neely struggling. When she last saw him in 2016, “he tried to put his head down and walk past me and I said, ‘No, no, no.’ ‘You’re getting off at the next stop with me.’” She lost track of him after that. But people in the MJ community kept searching. TT said she was looking for Neely in the last few months, hoping he might perform at a June tribute to Jackson. “It wasn’t just me, there were a lot of us who were looking for him,” Harper said. “It’s tragic that this is how we found him.”

[pbandjesse]

I felt pretty good today. My allergies continue to plague me but I was in a good mood this morning. I didn't sleep amazing, waking up with a very upset stomach in the middle of the night again. But I was able to sleep after that and felt pretty good when my alarm went off.

I got up and got dressed and felt happy. My eyes were hurting and my sinuses were making my ears very closed up. But I was still very excited for the market.

James made the bed and we left together. We would have to come back pretty quick when I realized I forgot my tablet. But it was not a big deal. We stopped for my tablet. And headed to the museum. A pit stop for McDonald's breakfast. And then we went to set up.

And I had a lot of fun! I got lots of hugs and was really happy to see my market friends. Give them updates like how we bought our house. It was a good day.

I would set up. James would help and than stay outside for a bit to collect some forms for insurance from vendors. And I was having a very nice morning.

I would buy some brownies and a chocolate pop tart and then a whole bunch of strawberries. Which were super dark red and lovely.

I wasn't sure how my day was going to go though. I wasn't sure I would sell anything. So I just focused on the craft I brought with me.

I would spend most of the morning catching up on my knitting and I am totally caught up now. And I would work on sewing down my ends from last months square. That still has work to be done but it was nice to have something to focus on.

But I would make sale! I actually did really good today. I sold 8 stuffies and a bunch of stickers and even some prints. I was having a great time. I made my sales goal for the day by 1030. So the rest of the day felt easy and fun.

I would have some great interactions too. People being super kind about loving my designs. Making a deal with a 4 year old after she asked for a stuffie and I told her she has to ask her parents because they cost money. And so she tells me "my daddy has so much money" which was hilarious. And when she came back with her dad a few minutes later and I said hello again, her dad went "again?" And I explained she had said he has so much money and he laughed and seemed flabbergasted and then gave her $20. So I bargained with her and we shook hands very seriously at the end of the transaction which was just the best.

I would also have some lovely conversations with Anne and Ginny and Stan and also Jordan. We would talk for a long time and while we were talking I noticed a man who sails with the downtown sailing center waiting near the market table. And I knew as soon as Jordan left he would come over. And I was absolutely right.

He wasn't weird or anything but he was hitting on me. Asking if I have a man. And I am like yes I have a whole husband! But we would still chat and exchanged Instagrams because he makes tshirts and I like connecting with other small businesses in the city. I have seen him around the market plenty of times. He's hard to miss. He is a young black man in a wheel chair who is a double amputee. His whole deal on Instagram is about overcoming the hardships so you know there's a story there. Maybe he'll tell me sometime. I told him to come chat with me next Saturday before he goes sailing again.

I think it's hard making friends. Both because I mostly just want to be alone. I am mainly not interesting in hanging out. But also that people think I'm flirting with them. I am not trying to!!! I am just friendly! But I am still trying to make those connections.

And I think I did a good job at that today. Making more market friends. I even met a girl who's job is curate Jellycat collections?? What a neat job! She was so sweet. I joked with her that she was 100% my audience and she was like I get that a lot!

Callie would come to the market today. And it was so nice to sit with her for an hour. I shared my strawberries with her and we talked and caught up and discussed camp. There is apparently a meeting on Tuesday night for senior staff to discuss the schedule. I hope that goes well.

I spent most of the last hour drawing on my tablet. I wanted to design a silly logo for the events team. I was just having fun. And then Jesse came through and I got to show him briefly and was just having a nice time.

At 1 I would pack up. I had made a few trips around the market. To say hi to people. To go say hi to James and enjoy the AC for a bit. But once I was totally packed up and everything was in the car (which was a little bit of a struggle, and I would replace the rope handles on my box because the current ones were to short and hurt my hands) I would go sit at the front desk with James and Jordan. And talked for a bit. James went to get their bike off the car and warmed up their lunch. But once they were back and calling for the last tour of the day, I would head home.

Getting home took almost a half hour though because there was a music festival downtown that made me go home in the most bizarre way. It was not fun for me!! If I had known earlier I would have taken the tunnel. People were driving so stupid and someone tried to go around me and I was so mad about it. Almost caused a multiple car accident!! People need to calm down.

When I got home I brought one of my baskets in. To sort and clean up. When James got home later they brought in the rest for me to sort through. But I was a bit tired. And very hungry.

So I made a little lunch. A small frozen pizza because that's the only thing I want for eat for some reason. And spent time just resting on the couch. Sweetp was outside. I trimmed my nails and watched videos and it was a nice afternoon. I never a really slept like I had originally planned. But it was all okay. Just having a nice time.

James would come home and were very sweaty. They would go clean up and then come to lay with me. And we would spend a lot of the afternoon resting together.

But not all of it. James would run to the hardware store. To inquire about ladder rentals and to get fly tape to capture the annoying flies that have come in the house. And while they were gone I would sort my market boxes and then I would work on sewing panels on the dress I got last week. And it actually fits me now so I am very happy. It needs slightly more fixing but I think it's going to be a really great option for the musuem. I am pretty excited to be able to have a place to wear slightly nicer things.

James would make me vegan fish fillets for dinner. And we watched videos together. James would play a video game. And we just enjoyed being together. Talking and making plans. I was feeling really happy.

My allergies started hurting again. I would take a shower and it helped even if my eyes were burning. I would take more meds and they are finally kicking in so I am slightly less unhappy.

I am going to go brush my teeth and get in bed now though. I am hoping to have lots of energy tomorrow. I want to be productive and have fun. So wish me luck. Sleep well everyone. Wash your hands and take care of eachother!!

[transandor]

jordan's the type of guy to travel through the void, crash land in a new realm directly on top of a boat, get dragged to safety and wake up for a few seconds and directly tell andor conway "oh fuck i forgot to wash to my dishes" and then pass out again with a guarantee that he won't remember that interaction at all.

[jojameswinter]

When talking about Cleo and Sarah I thought Sarah always knew there was something there that was unsaid since the party episode where she suddenly runs into his arms all you have to do is look at how they interact with each other to know as for Cleo I assume as soon as she met them she was like Kiara is JJ's girlfriend no need to ask about that.

Okay my mind was on S3 and I had to ask Jordan - I think you're talking about the Midsummers spinny hug from S1??? 😍

I took Sarah's longing look at that moment to mean that she wishes to be released of the bubble wrap, to join the Pogues in their adventure. But who knows what vibes she might've picked up on just in general in her time with the Pogues or even prior during Kie's Kook year! I mean JJ isn't exactly nice to Sarah at first and he's established solidly that "he's always picking Kie" so...? The way he behaves is a little beyond Pogue loyalty.

As for Cleo, yeah, what else would she think??? When she had first met jiara they were about to drown together in the ocean, only for JJ to wake up and lock in a loving gaze with Kie. Then to live on an island with them for a month were it was established they sleep together, hunt together, etc. My assumption is that she senses some level of their togetherness from the jump.

[consoledacup]

Hypothetically how would a friendship between Spencer and Layla look like in season 6. I really enjoyed their interactions in season 5, they are so funny as friends, made me miss their friendship from earlier seasons. I would like to see them maybe talk about Jordan, like the relationship Layla has with Asher now.

I loved it too!! And I also miss it. I think it'll be more humorous interactions. They're both such serious characters, but now that they've found love with each other people right for them, they're far lighter. Layla might continue to help with his branding and/or she'll definitely be at their games. It's unfortunate, though understandable, that Spencer pushed everyone away in the wake of his grief. I think they would've leaned on each other and encouraged each other as necessary supports for the family they loved so fiercely.

I can't wait to see how their friendship will grow and strengthen next season! Also, maybe a (finally!) double date???

[mon-chert]

Is nyx and Ranboo a symbiote situation? Does nyx have a form outside of his host? How did Ranboo come to accept being a host for a cannibalistic entity? What do other people think of this?

Sorry if these are dumb questions or if they have already been answered. I think nyx is p neat

OH GOD YOU ARE MISTAKING NYX FOR THE ENTITY AHAHA, okay i realize some people may not be familiar with nyx so let me explain

the entity (the one you are thinking about) is the antagonist of my generation loss au. it is ONLY referred to as the entity, or just "it" ↓

nyx is an oc of mine, who is ranboo's tethered from an Us au (Us is a horror movie by jordan peele and my favourite movie of all time; and without spoiling much, the tethered are clones of american citizens). ive made the au standalone though so that it isnt confined to the worldbuilding of the movie. he's just a silly little guy ↓

as for the answers for your questions about the entity, ill put them under this cut since the post is already a bit long!

Is [the entity] and Ranboo a symbiote situation?

closer to a parasite, actually. i get where youre coming from by symbiote with venom and all, but theres absolutely nothing mutually beneficial about the relationship between ranboo and the entity. and no the entity isnt meant to be similar to venom at all, that just kind of happened

Does [the entity] have a form outside of his host?

(the entity is referred to with it/its pronouns btw) sort of, yes it does, but it needs a host to properly interact with the physical world because of what its made of. the closest description to a physical form for it is a conglomeration of dark matter, but when it enters our levels of reality it takes on something that has properties closer to a blood virus or parasite. if you want to know how it looks appearance wise? i promise this isnt a cop out, but i genuinely dont think it would be describable

How did Ranboo come to accept being a host for a cannibalistic entity?

it took having to wake up next to a half-digested body for them to stop denying what was happening to them, and them accepting the entity's presence is... very much just resignation to the fact that they cant do anything about it. theyre just going along with what it makes them do, because they know otherwise they and everyone else they know will suffer grave consequences

What do other people think of this?

they dont—ranboo's main goal is to keep the entity's existence a secret both from those around him and the authorities, which is obviously really difficult. the only person that knows of it is sneeg, and the entity only kept him around because of his legal prowess, to use him to keep ranboo out of getting caught by authorities (sneeg only goes along with this cause of the threat to his life). and the only other person that learned of it... lets just say they werent so lucky.

Sorry if these are dumb questions or if they have already been answered. I think [the entity] is p neat

youre all good!! dont worry about that, always love talking about my ocs hehe

[dankusner]

Zuckerberg to Jim Jordan

Here is the full text of the Zuckerberg letter on censorship.

It's a tremendously important text, admitting what has cost enormous amounts in time and money to discover and litigate. And yet here he admits it all. * * * * *

The Honorable Jim Jordan

Chairman Committee on the Judiciary United States House of Representatives 2138 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515

Chairman Jordan:

I appreciate the Committee's interest in content moderation on online platforms.

As you are aware, Meta has produced thousands of documents as part of your investigation and made a dozen employees available for transcribed interviews.

Further to our cooperation with your investigation, I welcome the opportunity to share what I've taken away from this process.

There's a lot of talk right now around how the U.S. government interacts with companies like Meta, and I want to be clear about our position.

Our platforms are for everyone - we're about promoting speech and helping people connect in a safe and secure way.

As part of this, we regularly hear from governments around the world and others with various concerns around public discourse and public safety.

In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn't agree.

Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take content down, and we own our decisions, including COVID-19-related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure.

I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.

I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn't make today.

Like I said to our teams at the time, I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction - and we're ready to push back if something like this happens again.

In a separate situation, the FBI warned us about a potential Russian disinformation operation about the Biden family and Burisma in the lead up to the 2020 election.

That fall, when we saw a New York Post story reporting on corruption allegations involving then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's family, we sent that story to fact-checkers for review and temporarily demoted it while waiting for a reply.

It's since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn't have demoted the story.

We've changed our policies and processes to make sure this doesn't happen again -- for instance, we no longer temporarily demote things in the U.S. while waiting for fact-checkers.

Apart from content moderation, I want to address the contributions I made during the last presidential cycle to support electoral infrastructure.

The idea here was to make sure local election jurisdictions across the country had the resources they needed to help people vote safely during a global pandemic.

I made these contributions through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

They were designed to be non-partisan -- spread across urban, rural, and suburban communities.

Still, despite the analyses I've seen showing otherwise, I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other.

My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another - or to even appear to be playing a role.

So I don't plan on making a similar contribution this cycle.

Respectfully, /s/ Mark Zuckerberg Mark Zuckerberg Founder, Chairman & CEO Meta Platforms, Inc.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Meta backs up on post policing

CEO says firm will not automatically ‘demote’ possibly false content

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, that the Biden administration in 2021 “repeatedly pressured” his company to take down certain posts related to COVID-19 and was “wrong” to do so.

“In 2021, senior officials from the Biden administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain covid-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter sent Sunday. “Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take content down.”

Zuckerberg also reiterated that Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, had erred in temporarily suppressing a 2020 New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop and said the company has since changed its policies to avoid any similar move. Specifically, he said Meta’s social networks would no longer “demote” potentially false posts or stories while it awaits a verdict from its fact-checking partners. Instead, it will wait for the results of the fact checks before taking any action.

The letter to Jordan shows Meta attempting to mend fences with the political right ahead of the 2024 election, amid a yearslong, ongoing Republican-led investigation into the content moderation policies of major social networks. While President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders have criticized the company at times for failing to rein in false information about the 2020 election and the pandemic, Jordan and other House Republicans have been vocal in accusing Meta and other tech giants of overreacting by “censoring” conservatives’ speech.

In June, the Supreme Court rejected a bid led by Republican state attorneys general to restrict contacts between the White House and tech companies. And in July, it threw out lower-court decisions that would have limited social networks’ right to moderate users’ posts.

Content moderation

Zuckerberg’s letter marks the first time Meta has weighed in publicly on the lawsuit brought by the Republican attorneys general, which alleges that the Biden administration’s pressure on it and other tech giants to crack down on COVID-19 misinformation amounted to illegal censorship. The Meta chief’s use of the word “censor” mirrors that of Jordan and other Republicans, as does his criticism of the Biden administration.

But Zuckerberg also said Meta’s content moderation actions were its own and not the result of government compulsion — a characterization consistent with the Supreme Court’s ruling that the plaintiffs failed to show a direct connection between government pressure and the removal of their posts.

“We own our decisions, including Covid-19-related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure,” Zuckerberg wrote. He added: “I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction — and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.”

Political involvement

Zuckerberg’s criticism of the Biden administration and pledge to pull back on demoting potentially false content was greeted as a victory by some on the right.

“Big win for free speech,” the House Judiciary Republicans posted on X.

The announcement that Meta will no longer demote stories flagged as potential violations of its misinformation policies could mean that falsehoods will circulate more freely on its networks before and after a contentious 2024 presidential election. Since suspending Donald Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Meta and other major tech firms have reinstated him and lifted restrictions on his accounts.

Also in the letter, Zuckerberg confirmed reports that he will no longer donate money for local election infrastructure through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a program that some called “Zuckerbucks.” The Post reported this month that he would no longer support the program — potentially leaving funding gaps for elections in small jurisdictions.

“They were designed to be nonpartisan — spread across urban, rural and suburban communities,” Zuckerberg wrote. “Still, despite the analyses I’ve seen showing otherwise, I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other. My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another — or to even appear to be playing a role. So I don’t plan on making a similar contribution this cycle.”

‘Conflicting reactions’

Katie Harbath, CEO of the tech consultancy Anchor Change and a former Facebook official, said she has “conflicting reactions” to Zuckerberg’s letter. While she said the effort to clear the air with House Republicans ahead of the election is understandable, she questioned Zuckerberg’s decision to address Republicans’ concerns but not those of Democrats, who see Jordan’s committee as applying undue government pressure of its own.

David Kaye, a professor at UC Irvine School of Law and former U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of expression, was more critical of the letter, which he called “cynical” and “obsequious.”

Zuckerberg’s missive, he said, “reinforces the sense of many activists around the world that Zuckerberg does not necessarily stand with his rules but can be swayed by government pressure — even while his letter tries to disclaim that perception.”

Meta declined to comment beyond confirming the letter’s authenticity.